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Minor Transactions: 12/18/17

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A new week begins in the NHL and teams must make their final few roster moves before a freeze is put in effect tomorrow night. We’ll keep track of any last minute moves around the league right here. Make sure to refresh throughout the day.

  • As expected, Madison Bowey and Jakub Vrana have both been recalled today. Their assignment to Hershey yesterday was nothing more than a cap saving measure, and both players weren’t expected to miss any time. Vrana is skating with T.J. Oshie—back at Washington Capitals practice today after missing several games with a concussion—and Evgeny Kuznetsov, an impressive line for the young forward.
  • Ville Pokka is on his way back to the AHL without having played a game for the Chicago Blackhawks. Unfortunately, the 23-year old hasn’t been able to make an impact with the team since being acquired several years ago, and is still waiting to make his NHL debut. The Rockford IceHogs will welcome him back, but he’ll have to do more to crack the Blackhawks lineup down the road.
  • The St. Louis Blues have recalled Tage Thompson from the AHL, while moving Samuel Blais to injured reserve. Thompson, 20, is a top prospect for the Blues who has already played four games for the club this season. Selected in the first round of the 2016 draft, Thompson turned pro out of the University of Connecticut last spring and so far has 16 points in 24 games for the San Antonio Rampage of the AHL.
  • With Brock Boeser out with a foot injury for the time being, the Vancouver Canucks have recalled Reid Boucher to help up front. Because the extent of Boeser’s injury is unclear and he hasn’t been placed on injured reserve yet, the team sent down defensmean Ashton Sautner to make room for Boucher’s return.
  • Edmonton has activated Adam Larsson from injured reserve and sent Anton Slepyshev to the minor leagues to make room. Larsson will be welcomed back with open arms after the team has started to play better of late. While still several points out of playoff contention, the Oilers have started to turn around what was a dreadful start of the year. Getting Larsson back after missing nearly three weeks will be sure to help.
  • With Jacob Josefson returning to the lineup, the Buffalo Sabres have sent Hudson Fasching back to the minor leagues. Fasching has been held scoreless in five games for the Sabres this season, and has yet to make much of an impact on the organization since being acquired in 2014.
  • The Ottawa Senators have recalled Ben Harpur from the minor leagues, bringing them to just 22 players on the active roster. The Senators had been operating with just 21 players on the active roster for some time, likely connected with the recent comments of owner Eugene Melnyk about cutting payroll. Harpur has played 12 games for the Senators this season, recording one point. It’s unclear if he’ll get into the lineup right away, or if he’s just up for insurance as the team takes on the Minnesota Wild tomorrow night.

Minor Transactions: 12/17/17

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After an 11-game schedule last night that included the Centennial Classic at Lansdowne Park between the Ottawa Senators and the Montreal Canadiens, the NHL has just four games on Sunday, but after all that action, many teams are likely going to make some moves to shuffle their rosters.

  • NHL.com’s Brian Hedger reports that the Columbus Blue Jackets will make a few roster changes after the team’s 2-1 loss to Carolina Saturday. The team plans to recall winger Sonny Milano and defenseman Cameron Gaunce and intend to assign forward Jordan Schroeder and defenseman Gabriel Carlsson to the Cleveland Monsters of the AHL. For many of these players, they have been rotating back and forth between clubs most of the season. Milano has been one of those players. The 21-year-old has been with Cleveland for the past week and has two assists in four games there. He has played 25 games for the Blue Jackets, but has had trouble finding the net after a hot start. Gaunce will be recalled for the first time this season. The 27-year-old, who signed with Columbus in the offseason, has five assists in 20 AHL games. The team will return Schroeder, who has been up and down, but is slowly crossing the 10-game barrier that would force the team to place him on waivers again. The team placed the 27-year-old wing on waivers on Oct. 23. He has played eight games for Columbus with no points. Carlsson, has also been a two-way player quite often this year. The 20-year-old former first-round pick in 2015 has one assist in 10 games with Columbus and has played in just five games with Cleveland. He has been with the team since Dec. 1.
  • The Florida Panthers announced the team has loaned winger Dryden Hunt to the Springfield Thunderbirds of the AHL as the team is starting to get healthy again. The 22-year-old has been with the team since Nov. 9, but has just one assist in 11 games with the Panthers. Hunt had been playing well with Springfield to start the season, which is what prompted his promotion to Florida after he put up five goals and three assists in 13 games.
  • The St. Louis Blues unsurprisingly activated defenseman Alex Pietrangelo Sunday, according to Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Pietrangelo was activated after missing the last four games with a foot injury that he suffered in a Dec. 9 game against Detroit when he took a shot off his foot. The 27-year-old captain’s seven goals ranks third among NHL defenseman and his 23 points ranks him ninth among defenseman.
  • Isabelle Khurshudyan of the Washington Post tweets that the Washington Capitals made a couple of roster moves today, sending defenseman Madison Bowey and winger Jakub Vrana to the Hershey Bears of the AHL. However, Khurshudyan adds that it is just a paper move to give Washington a small amount of cap space as both are not expected to leave town and will be recalled tomorrow morning.

T.J. Oshie Won't Play Saturday, Brooks Orpik Dealing With Upper-Body Injury

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  • Capitals winger T.J. Oshie took part in a partial practice today but will not suit up tomorrow night against Anaheim, reports Callie Caplan of the Washington Post. As a result, he’ll miss his sixth straight game.  From the same report, defenseman Brooks Orpik is dealing with an upper-body issue.  He’s set to be re-evaluated tomorrow but it seems likely that he will also miss Saturday’s contest.  Washington doesn’t have enough salary cap space to call anyone up but they have one extra defender on their roster so they still should be able to ice a full lineup.

Capitals Likely To Get Ilya Samsonov Signed For 2018-19

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  • On the heels of Tuesday’s report that Capitals GM Brian MacLellan was in Moscow to speak to top goalie prospect Ilya Samsonov about signing for next season, TSN’s Bob McKenzie reports (Twitter link) that it’s reasonably safe to believe that Samsonov will be on an NHL contract for 2018-19. The 20-year-old, Washington’s first-round pick in 2015, is off to a slower start to his season with a .909 SV% in 17 KHL games but is still viewed as one of the top goalie prospects in the league, if not the best.  If management shares the same belief that Samsonov will be able to sign, it will be interesting to see if they make current backup Philipp Grubauer available between now and the trade deadline or if they wait until Samsonov officially signs before doing so.

Washington Capitals Working On Ilya Samsonov

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The Washington Capitals don’t have a goaltending problem. Braden Holtby hasn’t been quite himself this season, but is still one of the more consistent netminders in the league. Behind him, Philipp Grubauer also hasn’t had quite the season some had hoped, but his is a small sample and could turn at any moment.

Ilya SamsonovStill, the team is looking towards their future in goal. Igor Eronko of Sport-Express reports that Capitals GM Brian MacLellan is in Moscow to speak with Ilya Samsonov’s representatives, as they try to bring him over to North America after his current deal is up. Samsonov is under contract with Magnitogorsk through April 2018, after which he could sign his entry-level deal with the Capitals.

It’s not often you see teams spend first-round picks on goaltenders anymore, as so many have been burned by the inconsistent development of young netminders. The Capitals weren’t afraid though when they strode up to the podium in 2015, selecting Samsonov 22nd-overall even while other names like Brock Boeser, Travis Konecny and Jack Roslovic were still available.

Samsonov showed why the Capitals were so high on him the next season, when he jumped into the KHL and recorded a .925 save percentage in 19 games. He would even play in six postseason games and help Magnitogorsk win the Gagarin Cup as a rookie. He also took home a silver as part of the Russian World Junior team. All he did the next season was post a .936 save percentage in 27 KHL games and take over the net for the World Junior squad, earning a bronze medal this time around, but being named a tournament All-Star.

It’s clear that Samsonov is a top goaltending prospect, even if this year his numbers are down a bit on a worse KHL team. He stands 6’4″ at age-20, and has the potential to be an elite goaltender in the NHL one day. Getting him signed and into the Capitals development system is the next step, especially with Grubauer a restricted free agent once again this summer and Holtby only signed through 2019-20.

Bowey, Djoos, And Stephenson Sticking Around; Oshie Won't Play Monday

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One of the more thrilling moments for rookies in the NHL is when the team tells them to move out of the hotel and find a place of their own to live.  As Isabelle Khurshudyan of the Washington Post notes, the Capitals have told three of their four rookies just that as defensemen Madison Bowey and Christian Djoos, as well as center Chandler Stephenson, got the news that they’ll be sticking around for the foreseeable future with the big club.

Interestingly enough, the lone rookie who did not receive that notification is Jakub Vrana who has played in all but one of Washington’s games so far this season and sits fourth overall on the team with eight goals.  However, given that the Capitals have very limited cap room and Vrana remains exempt from waivers, perhaps they will look to send him back and forth a bit as the season progresses to free up a bit more space.

  • Still with the Capitals, winger T.J. Oshie resumed skating for the first time since suffering an upper-body injury on December 4th, reports Tarik El-Bashir of NBC Sports Washington. However, he has already been ruled out of their game on Monday as he did not make the trip to Brooklyn where they will play the Islanders; a team spokesperson told El-Bashir that Oshie remains listed as day-to-day.

Minor Transactions: 12/07/17

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While teams get ready for a busy Thursday night of action, slight adjustments will be made to rosters across the league. As always, we’ll keep track of all the minor moves right here.

  • The Pittsburgh Penguins have placed Justin Schultz on injured reserve and recalled Frank Corrado from the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. Schultz is dealing with a lower-body injury, and is expected to miss “weeks”. Corrado has played three games for Pittsburgh this season, and could end up facing his old team as the Penguins take on the Maple Leafs this weekend.
  • The Washington Capitals have sent Travis Boyd to the minor leagues, after the 24-year old forward made his NHL debut on Monday. Boyd has shown elite offensive ability at the AHL level, but was held scoreless in his two NHL contests. The undersized forward will likely get another chance at some point, but for now will return to Hershey where he has 20 points in 23 games. For the Capitals, Boyd’s assignment likely means that Andre Burakovsky is ready to return to the lineup.
  • With Ben Bishop dealing with a sore back and not on the Dallas Stars current road trip, the team has recalled goaltender Mike McKenna from the AHL according to Mark Stepneski of NHL.com. McKenna isn’t expected to get much in the way of starts unless Bishop remains out through next weekend. The Stars don’t have a back-to-back situation until Friday and Saturday of next week.
  • Ville Husso has been called up to the St. Louis Blues on emergency conditions, after Carter Hutton suffered a lower-body injury. Husso will be used as a backup tonight behind Jake Allen, but since he might not make it on time local goaltender Tyler Stewart will take warm-ups with the team. To make room for Husso on the roster, Samuel Blais has been sent back to the minor leagues.

Brenden Dillon Suspended One Game For Slashing

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Wednesday: Dillon indeed has been suspended for one game for the slash. As the video explanation notes:

It is important to note that this is not a slash delivered as part of a hockey play. Dillon is not attempting to alert an opponent to his presence, or to make a defensive play on a player with the puck. This is simply a frustrated player delivering a retaliatory and forceful slash to a vulnerable area of an opponent’s body.

Tuesday: TSN’s Bob McKenzie predicted it this morning and now it has come to fruition: San Jose Sharks defenseman Brenden Dillon will have a hearing with the NHL Department of Player Safety this evening regarding his actions in last night’s game against the Washington Capitals. The incident is question was a slash by Dillon on the Caps’ Madison Bowey late in the contest.

With just five seconds remaining in the game, a 4-1 Washington win, Dillon hit Bowey with a two-handed slash. The action earned him a five-minute major and game misconduct – serious albeit meaningless penalties with nearly no time left. Should Dillon receive a suspension, that could very well play a role in the decision. However, the overall intensity of the game could play in his favor. It was a chippy affair throughout, including a questionable hit by Joe Thornton on T.J. Oshie and even a roughing penalty for Bowey in response to Dillon’s slash. An outburst at the end of a combative game may not be seen as an individual attack by Dillon that warrants a suspension. It also helps Dillon’s case that Patrick Kane was just recently given only a fine for a similar two-handed chop.

While the Sharks await word on whether they will lose Dillon to suspension or not, they’ll need a contingency plan. San Jose has worked hard to climb back into playoff position in the Pacific Division and don’t want to drop one or more of their upcoming games against the Carolina Hurricanes, Ottawa Senators, and Minnesota Wild because they couldn’t properly replace Dillon, given the recent injury to frequent backup Tim Heed. A strong defensive rearguard and a left shot, Dillon has been regularly skating alongside Brent Burns one the top pair this season, especially with Paul Martin sidelined. While the easy fix, should he miss time, would simply be to move Marc-Edouard Vlasic up a pair, but that could leave the bottom four too weak. Instead, moving Joakim Ryan up to the top pair and/or calling up young Jeremy Roy could be the solution.

Capitals' Stephenson Day-To-Day; Team Recalls Boyd

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  • Isabelle Khurshudyan of The Washigton Post tweets that after suffering an injury in Saturday’s game against the Columbus Blue Jackets, Washington Capitals wing Chandler Stephenson is day-to-day. However, the team recalled Travis Boyd this afternoon from the Hershey Bears of the AHL, which suggests that Stephenson might miss some time. Stephenson, a bottom-line center, has two goals and six points in 18 games this season. Boyd has never played in the NHL before. He has three goals and 17 assists in 23 games for the Bears.

Burakovsky Resumes Skating, Expected To Return Within Next Three Weeks

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