NHL Hockey Player News

Jan Jenik(C)|OTT
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Jan Jenik has been reassigned to Tucson (AHL) following the conclusion of Arizona's season.

Jenik failed to pick up a point in his two-game showing with Arizona but had four PIMs before being reassigned to Tucson (AHL) on Friday. The 22-year-old returns to the Roadrunners, where he has seven goals, 16 assists, 50 PIMs and a +3 plus/minus through 30 games.

Source:
Arizona Coyotes 2023-04-14T18:43:18.420Z
Jan Jenik
Michael Kesselring(D)|UTA
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Michael Kesselring has been reassigned to Tucson (AHL) following the conclusion of the Coyotes' season.

Kesselring had three assists, eight SOG, six PIMs and a -1 plus/minus through nine games this season with Arizona but has been assigned to Tucson (AHL) Friday following the conclusion of Arizona's season. The 23-year-old returns to the AHL, where he had 14 goals, 14 assists, 45 PIMs and a +10 plus/minus through 58 games with Tucson (AHL) and Bakersfield (AHL) this season.

Source:
Arizona Coyotes 2023-04-14T18:45:12.689Z
Michael Kesselring
Victor Soderstrom(D)|CHI
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Victor Soderstrom has been reassigned to Tucson (AHL) following the end of the Coyotes' season.

Soderstrom had nine assists, 31 SOG, 24 PIMs and a -3 plus/minus through 30 games with Arizona this season and has been reassigned to Tucson (AHL) following the conclusion of Arizona's season. The 22-year-old returns to the minors, where he concluded his season with two goals, 21 points, 28 PIMs and a -11 plus/minus through 44 games played.

Source:
Arizona Coyotes 2023-04-14T18:47:00.215Z
Victor Soderstrom
Ivan Prosvetov(G)|FA
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Ivan Prosvetov has been reassigned to Tucson (AHL).

Prosvetov was 4-3-0 with a .880 SV% and 3.98 GAA with Arizona but will be reassigned to Tucson (AHL) Friday. The 24-year-old returns to Tucson (AHL) just in time for the playoffs, after posting a 16-13-4 record, .900 SV% and 3.06 GAA earlier in the season.

Source:
Arizona Coyotes 2023-04-14T18:49:37.313Z
Ivan Prosvetov
Dominic Toninato(C)|WPG
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Dominic Toninato has been reassigned to Manitoba (AHL).

Toninanto had an assist, seven SOG, and two PIMs across five games with Winnipeg but has been reassigned to Manitoba (AHL) on Friday. The 29-year-old returns to the Moose, where he had 19 goals, 14 assists, 24 PIMs and a +7 plus/minus in 49 games prior to his call-up.

Source:
Winnipeg Jets 2023-04-14T17:34:21.892Z
Dominic Toninato
Alex Galchenyuk(LW)|ARI
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Call Up
Alex Galchenyuk has been recalled from the Colorado Eagles (AHL) and is expected to suit up Friday vs. Nashville.

Galchenyuk had 16 goals, 25 assists, 18 PIMs and a +4 plus/minus in 41 games with the Colorado Eagles (AHL) and has been recalled to the Avalanche on Friday. The 29-year-old returns to the Avalanche, where he has yet to pick up a point but has eight shots and a -6 plus/minus through 10 games during a spell earlier in the season.

Source:
Meghan Angley 2023-04-14T16:44:31.693Z
Alex Galchenyuk
Damien Giroux(C)|MIN
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Damien Giroux has been reassigned to Iowa (AHL).

Giroux picked up an assist on 13:57 TOI with two PIMs in his first NHL game Thursday vs. Nashville but has been reassigned to Iowa (AHL) on Friday. The 23-year-old returns to Iowa, where he had three goals, 18 assists, 28 PIMs and a -5 plus/minus through 65 games this season.

Source:
Michael Russo 2023-04-14T15:21:42.134Z
Damien Giroux
Marco Rossi(C)|MIN
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Marco Rossi has been reassigned to Iowa (AHL).

Rossi had an assist, 13 SOG, eight PIMs and a -7 plus/minus across 19 games with Minnesota but has been reassigned to Iowa (AHL) on Friday. The 21-year-old returns to the minors, where he had 16 goals, 50 points and a 46 PIMs across 51 games played.

Source:
Michael Russo 2023-04-14T15:55:20.203Z
Marco Rossi
Nick Swaney(RW)|FA
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Nick Swaney has been reassigned to Iowa (AHL).

Swaney made his NHL debut Thursday, playing 9:33 TOI while failing to pick up a point in his limited game action and has been reassigned to Iowa (AHL) on Friday. The 25-year-old returns to Iowa (AHL), where he had 16 goals and 28 points in 46 games prior to his call-up.

Source:
Michael russo 2023-04-14T15:56:36.695Z
Nick Swaney
Sammy Walker(C)|UTA
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Sammy Walker has been reassigned to Iowa (AHL).

Walker has a goal, two points, eight SOG and a -1 plus/minus through nine games this season with Minnesota but has been reassigned to Iowa (AHL) on Friday. The 23-year-old returns to Iowa, where he had 26 goals, 20 assists, 23 PIMs and a +18 plus/minus through 54 games played prior to his call up.

Source:
Michael Russo 2023-04-14T15:59:42.973Z
Sammy Walker
Vadim Zherenko(G)|STL
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Vadim Zherenko has been reassigned to Springfield (AHL).

Zherenko, unfortunately, did not get to see any NHL action during his callup to the Blues and has been reassigned to Springfield (AHL) Friday for their playoff push. The 22-year-old returns to Springfield, where he was 10-8-3 with a .918 SV% and 2.96 GAA as the backup for the Thunderbirds.

Source:
St. Louis Blues 2023-04-14T14:45:50.303Z
Vadim Zherenko
Tyler Tucker(D)|STL
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Tyler Tucker has been reassigned to Springfield (AHL).

Tucker had a goal, three assists, 21 SOG, 31 PIMs and a -9 plus/minus through 26 games this season with St. Louis but has been reassigned to Springfield (AHL) for their playoff push. The 23-year-old returns to Springfield, where he had three goals, 18 assists, 77 PIMs and a +18 plus/minus through 39 games prior to his call-up.

Source:
St. Louis Blues 2023-04-14T14:43:27.491Z
Tyler Tucker
Lucas Condotta(LW)|MON
Call Up
Call Up
Lucas Condotta has been recalled from Laval (AHL) on an emergency basis and is expected to make his NHL debut Thursday.

Condotta had 16 goals, 14 assists, 61 PIMs and a +1 plus/minus in 71 games with the Laval Rocket (AHL) and has been recalled to Montreal on an emergency basis and is expected to make his NHL debut Thursday. The 25-year-old joined the Canadiens as an undrafted free agent in 2021-22 after finishing school at UMass-Lowell (NCAA).

Source:
Montreal Canadiens 2023-04-13T21:33:14.025Z
Lucas Condotta
Akira Schmid(G)|VGK
Call Up
Call Up
Akira Schmid has been recalled from the Binghamton Devils (AHL) and is on the Devils' active roster.

Schmid was 11-7-4 with a .905 SV% and 2.62 GAA with the Utica Comets (AHL) and has been recalled and placed on the Devils' active roster Thursday. The 22-year-old returns to New Jersey, where he has been incredibly successful in previous callups, with his 8-5-2 record, 2.24 GAA and .918 SV%.

Source:
Tom Gulitti 2023-04-13T20:38:37.570Z
Akira Schmid

NHL Roster Moves

NHL roster moves are essentially transactions that alter a team’s lineup. The roster move could make the team better or worse. In some cases, the move is inconsequential. Fan favourites could leave for greener pastures. A struggling player could get sent down to the farm team. A lousy contract might get put on waivers. Even worse, players may get strategically buried on the long-term injury reserve list because they’re not worth the cap hit. The possibilities are somewhat endless.

Types of NHL Roster Moves

Don’t worry; Daily Faceoff has you covered when trying to grasp the concept of a league ruled by the complexities of the almighty salary cap. Below, we break down the strategy behind roster moves so you can get a leg up in your DFS league.

Free agent signings

NHL rosters are primarily constructed by player signings. The front office reaches out to what are referred to as “free agents.” Both the front office and the player’s agent work out the terms of a deal. How teams sign deals varies depending on what type of free agents they’re dealing with.

Rookie Deals

Rookie’s sign something called an entry-level contract which is usually capped at a certain amount of money per year. Under the NHL’s current collective bargaining agreement, the longest an entry-level contract can be signed is three years.

Restricted Free Agent Contracts

After that, a player becomes a restricted free agent (RFA). Technically, they can sign with teams outside of who they played for in the past season by accepting an offer sheet. That said, if the player’s first team extends a qualifying offer, any team competing for the player’s services will have to offer up a certain amount of compensation in the form of draft picks. Of course, that’s if the player agrees to the offer sheet and their current team doesn’t match it.

Unrestricted Free Agent Contracts

Players can become unrestricted free agents (UFA) when their current RFA deal is up and they can go wherever they want. If they sign a contract extension, they can sign for up to eight years. Alternatively, they can sign a seven-year deal if they test the open market. Fun fact: pending UFAs might be motivated to play their hearts out to secure the bag in their next deal. Keep that in mind, fantasy players.

Blockbuster trades

Trades make for some of the most interesting NHL roster moves. To this day, the infamous Patrick Roy deal still gets talked about in NHL circles. What happens in a trade is that two or maybe even three teams link up and iron out a deal. There might be deals that are referred to as “hockey trades,” meaning that both teams get something of equal value. For example, one team gives up a first-line centre for a top-pairing right-handed defenceman. Some NHL trades involve bad teams selling off their moveable assets, such as upcoming free agents, for future considerations, including draft picks or prospects.

Injuries

Depending on how badly a player gets injured, several things can happen. They can be out of a game or two, with the team opting to keep the severity of the injury private (a common pet peeve for fantasy players). Players can be put on the injury reserve for injuries that can keep them out for a calendar week. This frees up a roster spot so someone from within the team’s system, or sometimes outside of it, can come in and replace them while they’re getting back in tip-top shape. If the player needs over a week to recover after a serious injury, they will get put on long-term injury reserve.

Waivers

In typical NHL roster moves jargon, when a player goes on waivers, other teams can claim them from their current team. A player usually goes on waivers when they’re signed to a one-way deal, meaning they can’t be sent down to the minors willy-nilly like a rookie on a two-way deal. Before the player gets sent down, other teams can claim the player on the “waiver wire.” If the player isn’t claimed, they go to the minors to play in the AHL.

Call Ups

Outside of signings, player callups are one of the most popular NHL transactions. Most teams call up players when they’re performing well in the AHL or if there’s an injury on the main roster. Usually, when a player gets called up to the NHL, one gets sent down to the minors.

Contract Buyouts

Of course, you’ve probably worked with someone who’s pretty lazy. People from afar think that person is a “good fit,” but internally, everyone hates the person. Oftentimes, that person finds a way to get fired. Well, newsflash: the same thing happens in NHL dressing rooms. Sometime players who have a history of poor performance have the audacity to ask for more money come contract time. Their team has the option to buyout their contract, or in extreme cases of misconduct, their contract can be terminated. If they’re not being bought out, the front office is laughing while the player’s agent is showing themselves out of the building. For the players who are actually good and could command big bucks on the open market, teams hustle to get them signed up for a new deal. If the player hits the open market, all bets are off…. Coaching Changes

Losing a head coach that sucked at their job and replacing them with a new one can ignite a team. Historically, decent teams perform strongly when they get a new coach. For how long those “strong performances” sustain themselves over the course of a season is a whole other story.

Rules Around NHL Roster Moves

NHL rules aren’t made to be broken. If they’re written in the collective bargaining agreement (CBA), you may as well say they’re written in stone. Let’s talk about those “set in stone” rules.

Trade Deadline

Teams have a certain amount of time each season to make NHL trades and signings. The date varies from season to season, but it usually falls between the end of February and early March so that roster’s are set before the Stanley Cup playoffs begin. After the deadline, players can still be moved, but they will not be eligible to play for the rest of the regular season or playoffs. You’ll usually see prospects who are playing abroad get dealt after the deadline, if any trades are made at all.

[Editor’s note: can include link to new DFO Stanley Cup page here]

Strategy Behind NHL Roster Moves

General managers and hands-on hockey ops executives are always thinking about the future. If their team is going to miss the playoffs and it’s a good draft year, they might be inclined to sell, meaning they’ll try to offload decent players in return for cap space, draft picks and younger players. The opposite can be said for good teams. They’ll be looking to add to what they already have to make a run for the cup.

If you’re a DFS player or even in a dynasty league, you can exploit that by buying low on players who are playing for bad teams but have the potential to increase their production if they get traded to a good team. Having access to a good data set can help ease the trouble of anticipating how good a player will be going to and from a certain team.

The Salary Cap

When general managers sleep at night, they probably have nightmares about the salary cap. “The cap,” as hockey insiders like Frank Seravalli refer to it when discussing NHL transactions, dictates how much a team can spend on its roster. There’s a “floor,” meaning a team has to spend at least this much per year. Then, there’s a “ceiling” that teams can’t go over lest they pay the price in draft pick compensation and fines, amongst other things. The salary cap makes it difficult for teams to trade players with high cap hits. It also creates a market in itself for teams that want to get over the “floor” by taking on other teams’ bad contracts. In a world beyond reality, most would favour a luxury tax system like the one Major League Baseball implements.

How NHL Roster Moves Impact Sports Betting

Look, if you don’t want to put up with another year of getting beat by your co-worker’s child in fantasy, you have to put as much effort into your team as that 10-year-old weasel will. That means keeping up with the news. Changing your lineups on a daily basis. Trading players at their peak value. Buying them from others when they’re at their lowest. For the love all of things good, change your injured players out for healthy ones. If you’re a sports bettor, any NHL roster can change the money line or the total in a game, especially if a star player is hurt or a team is playing its third-string goalie. Staying in the loop will give bettors a better chance at finding an edge.