NHL Hockey Player News

Zane McIntyre(G)|FA
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The Wild have assigned Zane MacIntyre to Iowa (AHL).

MacIntyre did not appear in a game during his call-up and returns to the AHL with Marc-Andre Fleury returning to the active roster on Thursday. MacIntyre has gone 4-3-0 with a 3.08 GAA and .903 SV% in seven AHL games this season.

Source:
Michael Russo 2022-11-25T12:50:20.224Z
Zane McIntyre
Lassi Thomson(D)|FA
Call Up
Call Up
Lassi Thomson was called up Tuesday from the Belleville Senators (AHL).

The 2019 1st round pick (19th overall) was recalled for the first time this season after putting up three goals and seven assists along with eight PIMs through 15 games with Belleville (AHL). In 16 career NHL games prior the season, he has five assists through 16 GP.

Source:
TSN 1200 2022-11-23T18:02:40.298Z
Lassi Thomson
Tyler Tucker(D)|STL
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Tyler Tucker has been reassigned to Springfield (AHL).

The 22-year-old defensemen will head back to Springfield (AHL) as it was announced Wednesday that veteran Robert Bortuzzo would be returning from the injured reserve (upper body). Tucker enjoyed a brief four-game spell with the Blues prior to his demotion, failing to pick up any points but picking up four shots while playing limited minutes.

Source:
Lou Korac 2022-11-23T16:43:28.831Z
Tyler Tucker
Jayson Megna(RW)|FA
Call Up
Call Up
Jayson Megna has been recalled just a day after being sent down from the Colorado Eagles (AHL).

Megna will head back to the Avalanche from the Colorado Eagles (AHL) a day after being sent down after failing to pick up a point in eight games with the Avalanche while putting up a -1 plus/minus. Prior to his promotion the first time to the Avalanche, he had three goals and three assists through nine games in the AHL.

Source:
Peter Baugh 2022-11-23T16:19:00.302Z
Jayson Megna
Oskar Olausson(RW)|COL
Call Up
Call Up
Oskar Olausson has been called up from the Colorado Eagles (AHL).

The Avalanches' 2021 1st-round pick (28th overall) has been called up by Colorado for the first time in his career. The 20-year-old had been enjoying a strong first AHL season with the Eagles prior to his promotion, scoring four goals and eight points with four PIMs across 16 games played.

Source:
Peter Baugh 2022-11-23T16:17:03.153Z
Oskar Olausson
Tyler Wotherspoon(D)|FA
Call Up
Call Up
Tyler Wotherspoon has been recalled from Utica Comets (AHL).

Wotherspoon had one assist and eight PIMs along with a -2 plus/minus rating through 13 games with Utica (AHL) prior to being called up Wednesday. The 29-year-old has played in 30 career NHL games prior to this season, picking up five assists and a -8 plus/minus.

Source:
James Nichols 2022-11-23T15:10:40.311Z
Tyler Wotherspoon
Fredrik Karlstrom(C)|FA
Call Up
Call Up
Frederik Karlstrom has been recalled from the Texas Stars (AHL).

Karlstrom will be called up for the first time this season after scoring four goals and an assist through 15 games with the Texas Stars of the AHL. He will make his season debut if slotted into the lineup and has three total career NHL games before this year, collecting zero points in limited minutes.

Source:
Dallas Stars 2022-11-22T22:21:46.975Z
Fredrik Karlstrom
Riley Sheahan(C)|BUF
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Riley Sheahan has been reassigned to the Rochester Americans (AHL).

Sheahan was assigned to Rochester of the AHL after failing to pick up any points in two games for Buffalo, with four PIMs while averaging only 8:19 TOI. He heads back to Rochester (AHL) where he had three assists in six games prior to being called up to Buffalo previously.

Source:
Sabres PR 2022-11-22T21:59:52.558Z
Riley Sheahan
Jayson Megna(RW)|FA
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Send Down
Jayson Megna has been reassigned to the Colorado Eagles (AHL).

Megna will head to the Colorado Eagles (AHL) after failing to pick up a point in eight games with the Avalanche while putting up a -1 plus/minus. Prior to his promotion to the Avalanche, he had three goals and three assists through nine games in the AHL.

Source:
Colorado Avalanche 2022-11-22T22:09:49.618Z
Jayson Megna
Aaron Dell(G)|FA
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Call Up
Aaron Dell has been recalled from the San Jose Barracuda (AHL).

Dell has a 3-3-0 record along with a 3.22 GAA and a .904 SV% with the San Jose Barracuda (AHL) prior to being recalled to the Sharks Tuesday. The 33-year-old veteran has played in 126 career NHL games before, posting a 50-47-13 record with a .905 SV% and 2.93 GAA.

Source:
San Jose Sharks PR 2022-11-22T18:23:21.169Z
Aaron Dell
Jackson Cates(C)|PHI
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Call Up
Jackson Cates has been recalled from Lehigh Valley (AHL).

Cates will join his brother yet again in Philadelphia after being recalled from Lehigh Valley (AHL) for the second time this season. He was productive In 11 games with the Flyers AHL affiliate, picking up four goals and three assists. In three games in the NHL earlier this year, he had no points while averaging only 8:22 ATOI in a bottom-six role.

Source:
Adam Kimelman 2022-11-22T17:58:54.670Z
Jackson Cates
Victor Mete(LD)|FA
Call Up
Call Up
Victor Mete has been recalled from the Toronto Marlies (AHL).

Mete has been recalled after a short stint with the Toronto Marlies (AHL) and will be the likely defensive fill-in after it was announced Morgan Rielly was heading to the injured reserve (knee) Tuesday. In five games with the Maple Leafs his previous time up, he had one assist, two SOG, and a +3 plus/minus rating while playing only 13:16 ATOI.

Source:
Leafs PR 2022-11-22T17:31:07.945Z
Victor Mete
Mac Hollowell(D)|PIT
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Call Up
Mac Hollowell has been recalled from the Toronto Marlies (AHL).

Hollowell has enjoyed a strong campaign with the Marlies (AHL) so far this season with nine assists and six PIM through 11 games played. It will be his second call-up of the year having not cracked the NHL roster his last time up. When he does slot into Toronto's lineup he will make his NHL debut.

Source:
Leafs PR 2022-11-22T17:26:01.034Z
Mac Hollowell
Tanner Laczynski(C)|VGK
Call Up
Call Up
Tanner Lacynski has been recalled from the Lehigh Valley Phantoms (AHL).

Lacynski has been playing great for Lehigh Valley (AHL) since being sent down previously scoring a goal and two assists across three games played for Philadelphia's minor league team. Lacynski has picked up two assists in 12 games with Philadelphia prior to his demotion while playing bottom-six minutes.

Source:
Sam Carchidi 2022-11-21T15:42:20.431Z
Tanner Laczynski

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.