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Erik Kallgren Placed On Unconditional Waivers

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Wednesday: Craig Morgan of The Athletic reports that Kallgren has cleared waivers and will return to Sweden.

Tuesday: The Arizona Coyotes have placed Erik Kallgren on unconditional waivers according to Chris Johnston of Sportsnet. The move usually precedes a mutual contract termination, meaning the 23-year old goaltender is likely on his way back to Europe.

Kallgren was only signed a few months ago by the Coyotes, inking a two-year entry-level contract in April. The fact that he has spent just as much time in the ECHL as AHL likely contributes to his desire to return home, even though he has found success early on. In three games with the Rapid City Rush he has a .924 save percentage, and he only allowed one goal on 30 shots for the Tucson Roadrunners.

Still, the Coyotes goaltending depth has only gotten better since they claimed Eric Comrie off waivers, and it would have been difficult for Kallgren to get regular AHL playing time. A contract termination will make him an unrestricted free agent and a name to remember in the future as teams follow his progress back in Sweden.

Lightning Place Luke Witkowski On Waivers

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Sunday: Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports that Witkowski has cleared waivers and the team announced that he has been assigned to the Syracuse Crunch in the AHL.

Saturday: It’s not a move that will suggest a major shakeup is on the way but the scuffling Lightning have decided to change up their roster slightly as Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports (Twitter link) that they have placed winger/defenseman Luke Witkowski on waivers.

Witkowski is in his first season back with Tampa Bay after spending the past two seasons in Detroit.  While he has played on the blue line in a pinch over the last couple of years, he has been primarily deployed as a physical fourth line winger and has 33 hits in just 12 games so far this season, a mark that leads the team.  However, his offensive upside is rather limited and it appears that the Lightning would prefer someone that can contribute more at that end in that spot.

The 29-year-old is in the first season of a two-year, two-way contract that pays the league minimum of $700K at the NHL level.  Considering his positional versatility and that small of a financial commitment, it’s certainly possible that he attracts some interest on the wire.  If not, his entire contract will come off the books if and when he’s sent to AHL Syracuse which would give Tampa Bay some much-needed cap flexibility as they only have a little over $1MM in current cap room at their disposal.

League Notes: Waiver Priority, Power Play, AHL Trades

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November 1st marks an important day on the NHL calendar, but one many may not be aware of. Fortunately, CapFriendly is here for the reminder. This day marks the official change over to the waiver priority by current NHL standings. In the first month of the season, as the sample size is too small to truly judge the weak from the strong in many cases, the league uses the reverse order of the prior year’s regular season standings as the waiver priority for all of October. Up until now, the Ottawa Senators have had the first chance at available players on waivers, followed by the Los Angeles Kings, New Jersey Devils, and all the way to the Tampa Bay Lighting. But as of today, the top priority goes to… well, the Kings, who move up just one spot. The Senators slide back to third, with the Minnesota Wild occupying the second position. As of right now, it is the Boston Bruins who have the very last opportunity to claim a player on waivers. Waiver priority will now change constantly based on the reverse order of the league standings by points percentage.

However, at the current rate, waiver priority won’t matter too much this season. The Winnipeg Jets, who have occupied the 22nd waiver priority spot until today, have claimed defensemen Carl Dahlstrom and Luca Sbisa, and the Arizona Coyotes, who previously held spot No. 14, claimed goaltender Eric Comrie. Those have been the only claims thus far in 2019-20, an unusually low count even this early in the season.

  • The mark of success so far this season? Power play efficiency. As John Dietz of the Chicago Daily Herald points out, there is no stronger correlation between wins and losses this year than how a team performs man-up. The top six teams in power play percentage are all also among the top nine in points percentage. This includes the Boston Bruins and Buffalo Sabres at No. 1 and 2 in both statistics. Down at the bottom, five of the six worst power play teams are among the bottom the eight teams in points percentage. The only outlier appears to be the Anaheim Ducks, who have managed to overcome a 29th-ranked power play thus far to get off to an 8-6-0 start. As the skill level in the NHL improves each year and the game becomes more about using space to create offense, it only makes sense that man-up efficiency will matter more and more, with the start to this season as the perfect example.
  • A strange occurrence early on this season has also been not one, but two AHL trades. AHL trades are extremely rare, as the NHL teams that manage their farm team rosters often lack any incentive to make such a deal. In general, the only motivation to make a deal that solely impacts an AHL squad is to improve depth at a certain position, either to avoid the overexposure of prospects or, later in the year, to give the team a push toward securing a playoff spot. However, even then AHL GM’s tend to eye other players on two-way NHL contracts to swap rather than players on minor league pacts. Not so far this year, though. On Tuesday, the Grand Rapids Griffins acquired forward Marcus Vela from San Jose Barracuda for defenseman Marcus Crawford in a move that wasn’t even about addressing depth, as Vela was immediately reassigned to the ECHL. Just two days later, the San Diego Gulls acquired veteran defenseman Ryan Johnston, a player who had been a healthy scratch for every game so far this season, from the Toronto Marlies for future considerations. Perhaps this is a new trend in organizational roster management or perhaps it is simply a coincidence, but either way it is an intriguing attachment to this young season.

Tobias Rieder Placed On Waivers

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Tuesday: According to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet, Rieder has cleared waivers and can be assigned to the minor leagues.

Monday: The Calgary Flames have decided to place Tobias Rieder on waivers, according to James Mirtle of The Athletic. Rieder has just one goals and zero assists in nine games this season, after signing a one-year, two-way contract with the Flames in September.

Even though Rieder hasn’t been quite the offensive catalyst the team may have hoped for, this move reeks of cap implications more than performance. The Flames in the midst of a delicate cap ceiling dance thanks to injuries, and getting another player through waivers would give them some flexibility. Should Rieder clear tomorrow he could be shuttled back and forth between the NHL and AHL for quite some time, as players don’t need waivers again until they have played in ten NHL games or spent 30 days on the NHL roster.

Still, that lack of offensive production is still concerning for a player that struggled so mightily last season. Rieder was infamously unable to score a single goal for the Edmonton Oilers in 67 games, leading to plenty of frustration from the team leadership.

After earning a contract after skating with the Flames on a professional tryout, there was some hope that Rieder could get back to the level that had him recording double-digit goal totals in four consecutive seasons between 2014-18. This latest move may be a sign that he isn’t ever going to be an impact player for the Flames, though there perhaps will be another team that believes they could use him.

Zach Trotman Clears Waivers

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Saturday: Trotman has cleared waivers, Friedman reports.  That paves the way for him to be assigned to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the AHL.

Friday: The Pittsburgh Penguins have placed Zach Trotman on waivers, according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet. That suggests the defenseman is healthy enough to return to action after starting the year on season-opening injured reserve.

Trotman, 29, was actually re-signed by the Penguins earlier this year to a two-year contract after serving as injury depth the last couple of seasons. A seventh-round pick of the Boston Bruins, he’s carved out a place as a short-term bottom-pairing option. In 83 NHL games, he has 13 points.

His contract length and uncertain health status will likely keep him from being claimed, meaning the Penguins can use him the same way they did last season when he’s ready to return. Expect to see him at some point this year, but he likely won’t be an impact player for Pittsburgh.

Daniel Walcott Placed On Waivers

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Thursday: According to CapFriendly, Walcott has cleared waivers.

Wednesday: The Tampa Bay Lightning have placed Daniel Walcott on waivers, indicating that he is healthy enough to return to action after starting the year on season-opening injured reserve. Walcott missed almost all of the 2018-19 season with a shoulder injury, playing just five games with the Syracuse Crunch.

A fifth-round pick of the New York Rangers in 2014, Walcott is already 25 and has yet to play in a single NHL game. He was re-signed by the Lightning in June to a one-year, two-way deal just before he would have become a Group VI unrestricted free agent, obviously loyal to the organization that had worked with him through his rehab.

While he’s not expected to play a big role with the Lightning anytime soon, Walcott will be a welcome addition to the Crunch who are off to a slow start in the AHL. Any claiming team would need to keep him in the NHL, something that is very unlikely at this point.

Winnipeg Jets Claim Luca Sbisa

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In a surprising turn of events, the Winnipeg Jets have claimed Luca Sbisa off waivers. Sbisa was only just signing with the Anaheim Ducks after previously being without a team, but the Jets will take him instead on the same one-year, one-way $750K contract. If the Jets want to send Sbisa to the minor leagues as the Ducks had planned, they will have to try to send him through waivers again.

Sbisa, 29, will land in Winnipeg as inexpensive veteran depth for a team that has seen their defense corps ravaged over the last few months. Dustin Byfuglien, Jacob Trouba, Tyler Myers and Ben Chiarot are all gone (for now at least), while Nathan Beaulieu has been dealing with injury.

The team has been using 2019 draft pick Ville Heinola as a full-time option, but the claim of Sbisa does beg the question of what happens next for the young defenseman. Heinola played just over 13 minutes against the Los Angeles Kings, and is approaching the 10-game threshold for his entry-level contract. With eight games under his belt, Heinola can play just one more before his deal would kick in and burn the first year.

Betting that Sbisa can take over that role however comes with plenty of risk. The smooth-skating defenseman has played just 39 regular season games since the start of the 2017-18 season, including just nine last year with the New York Islanders. He couldn’t find a deal this summer and had been skating with New York on a professional tryout, but that’s far from being ready for NHL game action.

With Byfuglien’s future still up in the air however, the Jets don’t have much flexibility to acquire another more expensive defender. Sbisa’s new contract comes just barely over the minimum, and can be completely buried in the minor leagues if necessary.

Jonathan Ericsson, Luca Sbisa Placed On Waivers

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Wednesday: Ericsson has cleared waivers and will be assigned to the AHL, while Sbisa was claimed by the Winnipeg Jets. The Red Wings recalled Alex Biega to take Ericsson’s place on the roster.

Tuesday: According to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet, the Detroit Red Wings have placed Jonathan Ericsson on waivers. That must mean he’s healthy enough to return, given he has been on injured reserve all season. Luca Sbisa has also been placed on waivers, and Friedman reports that he’ll be signing with the Anaheim Ducks after skating with the New York Islanders on a professional tryout.

Ericsson, 35, has been a staple in the Red Wings lineup for more than a decade, making his debut in 2008 and playing 662 regular season games for the team. Unfortunately, his play has declined with age and his minutes reduced accordingly. The Red Wings have now seemingly moved on from their previous core, with Ericsson likely being the latest victim of their turn to the younger generation of talent.

Still, the veteran defenseman has one year left on his contract that carries a $4.25MM cap hit. That will almost certainly mean he clears waivers, at which point he could be buried in the minor leagues if the Red Wings decide to do so. If they do send him to the AHL, $1.075MM of his contract would be removed from the Red Wings cap total.

Sbisa meanwhile is just trying to hold on to an NHL career that was so promising a few years ago. The 29-year old defenseman has played in just 39 regular season games since the start of the 2017-18 season, including just nine last year with the Islanders. A first round pick of the Philadelphia Flyers in 2008, his skating ability made him a strong option early in his career. Perhaps the Ducks can reclaim some greatness out of the veteran, as they were the team that Sbisa recorded his career-high 24 points for in 2011-12.

Daniel Carr Placed On Waivers

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Wednesday: Carr has cleared waivers according to Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic, but won’t be heading to the minor leagues after all. After Filip Forsberg suffered an injury last night, Carr will stay with the Predators for now.

Tuesday: The Nashville Predators have placed Daniel Carr on waivers today, likely with the intention of sending him to the minor leagues should he clear.

Carr, 27, could be a very interesting candidate for several teams around the league who are dealing with injuries or inconsistencies up front. Though he played just six games for the Vegas Golden Knights last season, it was still a successful one for Carr, who dominated the AHL. Recording 71 points in 52 games, he led the Chicago Wolves in scoring and finished third league-wide.

That kind of offensive upside has always been interesting, but the veteran forward hasn’t ever really been able to land a full-time NHL role. Through 102 games in his career he has 35 points, but does carry just a $700K cap hit.

Andy Welinski Placed On Waivers By Philadelphia

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Tuesday: Welinski has cleared waivers and will head to the Phantoms.

Monday: The Philadelphia Flyers likely planned to have free agent addition Andy Welinski hit the waiver wire just before the start of the regular season, when waivers is saturated with talent and teams are not as likely to make an addition to their roster. However, Welinski suffered a lower-body injury in training camp and began the year on the Flyers’ injured reserve. Finally healthy, the team is forced to place Welinski on waivers now, as reported by Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, in order to send him to the AHL’s Lehigh Valley Phantoms. With NHL teams having two weeks of games to look at as well as injury losses in need of a response, it’s fair to wonder if Welinksi will clear waivers.

Welinksi, 26, hit the open market this summer as a Group 6 unrestricted free agent. A standout for his hometown University of Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs, Welinksi enjoyed a full four-year collegiate career before signing with the Anaheim Ducks, who had selected him in the third round in 2011. In his first two pro seasons, Welinski only played in seven games for the Ducks, instead producing at a high level as a top defenseman for the AHL’s San Diego Gulls. However, in 2018-19, Welinski became a valuable depth piece on the Anaheim blue line. His split his season between the parent club and farm team, skating in 26 games for the Ducks and recording four points. However, even with his emergence as an NHL option for Anaheim, he was still far short of the 80 games needed by age 25 to remain a restricted free agents. Welinksi opted to take his talents to Philadelphia, where a young defense corps undergoing an overhaul offered the potential for another NHL opportunity.

The question now is whether Welinski’s next appearance at the top level will be with Philadelphia or elsewhere. Although the Phantoms feature other NHL veterans, such as Nate Prosser and T.J. Brennan, Welinski would likely be the next man up in the event of an injury in Philly. However, other teams may be willing to offer him a depth role right away. Given the injuries to Niklas Hjalmarsson in Arizona and Adam Larsson in Edmonton, not to mention the depth concerns in Winnipeg and New Jersey, that is already four teams that could consider taking a flier on Welinski. He may not be a household name or even an established NHLer at this point in career, but for now he’s a free option with demand for defense on the rise.

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