NHL Hockey Player News

Jakub Lauko(C)|BOS
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Jakub Lauko has been re-assigned to Providence (AHL)

Lauko will head back to Providence Monday as it was announced Craig Smith would be returning to the Bruins' lineup from injury. In seven games prior to his demotion, Lauko had a goal and an assist while only playing 10:21 ATOI.

Source:
Mark Divver 2022-11-07T18:30:09.406Z
Jakub Lauko
Steven Fogarty(C)|FA
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Steven Fogarty has been assigned to Iowa (AHL)

Fogarty will head back down to Iowa Friday after playing two games for the big club where he failed to collect both a point or even a shot on goal while playing around 10 minutes of ice per night. The six-year NHL veteran will hope to receive the call again so that he can add to his three career NHL points in 31 games.

Source:
Minnesota Wild 2022-11-04T15:07:39.469Z
Steven Fogarty
Wayne Simmonds(RW)|PHI
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Wayne Simmonds has been recalled from the Toronto Marlies (AHL)

Simmonds will head back to the Maple Leafs after being sent down to Toronto of the AHL earlier in the week. The 34-year-old veteran has one assist in his first three games while playing a fourth-line role with the Maple Leafs. In 1,022 career games played in the NHL, he has 263 goals and 262 assists, and 1,268 PIMs.

Source:
Leafs PR 2022-11-04T14:59:10.772Z
Wayne Simmonds
Filip Kral(D)|PIT
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Filip Kral has been loaned to the Toronto Marlies (AHL)

Kral will head back to the Toronto Marlies (AHL) after getting a quick cup of tea in the NHL. Across two games the 23-year-old only managed to see an average TOI of 9:58, while getting one shot and zero points. He will hope to return to the big club sooner rather than later.

Source:
Leafs PR 2022-11-04T14:56:07.656Z
Filip Kral
Sonny Milano(LW)|WAS
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Sonny Milano has been called up from Hershey (AHL)

Milano had a breakout season with Anaheim in 2021-22, scoring 14 goals and 34 points across 66 games. He started this season in Hershey (AHL) after getting cut from Calgary off a PTO and signing with Washington days later. It will be his third NHL team when he takes the ice for Washington's next game he is dressed.

Source:
Sammi Silber 2022-11-02T20:14:08.662Z
Sonny Milano
Keith Kinkaid(G)|FA
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Keith Kinkaid has been called up from Providence (AHL)

It seems Jeremy Swayman's injury from Wednesday is worse than originally hoped as Keith Kinkaid was recalled from Providence of the AHL Wednesday. The Bruins will be the 33-year-olds fourth NHL team as he has amassed 69 wins and a .905 SV% across 167 career games played.

Source:
Mark Divver 2022-11-02T17:19:01.335Z
Keith Kinkaid
Jansen Harkins(C)|ANA
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Jansen Harkins has been recalled on an emergency basis from Manitoba (AHL)

Harkins has been enjoying an incredible start to his AHL season with Manitoba (AHL), scoring five goals and nine points in the team's first six games prior to his promotion Wednesday. In his 132 career NHL games, he has 22 points (10G/12A) and 24 PIMs.

Source:
Winnipeg Jets PR 2022-11-02T15:23:14.008Z
Jansen Harkins
Chris Gibson(G)|SEA
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Christopher Gibson has been recalled from Coachella Valley (AHL)

Gibson was recalled Tuesday from the Coachella Valley Firebirds after being demoted last week and passing through waivers. The 29-year-old has struggled mightily this year, posting a glaringly high 7.61 GAA and .706 SV% in two games played with the Firebirds.

Source:
Seattle Kraken 2022-11-01T20:16:43.960Z
Chris Gibson
Alec Regula(D)|EDM
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Alec Regula was recalled from Rockford (AHL) Tuesday

Regula was recalled from the Rockford Ice Hogs (AHL) after it was announced Tuesday that star defenseman Seth Jones will be heading to the injured reserve. Regula only played one game his previous time up with Chicago, pick up two PIMs across 17:15 TOI.

Source:
Ben Pope 2022-11-01T15:21:16.772Z
Alec Regula

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.