Brown has been reassigned to Belleville (AHL).
Brown played in the last 11 games but heads back to the AHL following the Christmas break. He has seven points (3G / 4A) in five AHL games this season.
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NHL Transactions & Roster Moves
The Senators recalled Christian Jaros from Belleville (AHL).
With only five healthy defensemen on the roster, Jaros comes back up from Belleville and will play on the third pair on Sunday. Jaros has one goal and nine assists (10 points) in 21 AHL games this season and one goal and nine assists (10 points) in 64 career NHL games.
The Senators recalled J.C. Beaudin from Belleville (AHL).
Beaudin has spent most of his season with Ottawa (20 games) but has one goal and three assists in eight games with Belleville as well. He comes up to replace Logan Brown on the roster and will skate on the fourth line on Sunday.
The Kings have recalled Kale Clague from Ontario (AHL).
Clague made his NHL debut last Saturday but was a healthy scratch on Monday. He could draw back into the lineup tonight in San Jose. The 2016 second-round pick (No.51 overall) has 15 points (6G / 9A) in 27 AHL games this season.
The Kings have recalled Martin Frk from Ontario (AHL).
Frk was called up prior to Monday's game vs. the Blues but did not play. This time he might get a chance. Dustin Brown is out with an illness, so Frk could make his Kings debut on Friday.
The Red Wings have recalled Calvin Pickard from Grand Rapids (AHL).
With Jonathan Bernier banged up, Pickard comes back up and could get a start this weekend with the Red Wings having a back-to-back in Florida. He has struggled at both levels this season but has gone 9-7-3 with a 3.03 GAA and .893 SV% in 19 AHL games.
The Red Wings have recalled Brian Lashoff from Grand Rapids (AHL).
Lashoff played in one game with Red Wings before the break but was a healthy scratch in their most recent game. The 29-year-old has six points (2G / 4A) in 25 AHL games this season.
The Red Wings have recalled Filip Zadina from Grand Rapids (AHL).
Zadina has played in the last 13 games with the Red Wings and has started heating up, scoring three goals with five assists (8 points) in his last 10 games--ranking second among rookies in Pts/Gm (0.80) over that stretch.
The Predators have recalled Jarred Tinordi from Milwaukee (AHL).
Nashville has a game on Friday but heads out on a four-game road trip on Saturday, so Tinordi will likely serve as an extra defenseman. Tinordi has five assists in 28 AHL games this season.
The Predators have recalled Colin Blackwell from Milwaukee (AHL).
Blackwell was with the Predators prior to the break, picking up one assist in six games before being sent down for the break. Blackwell is third on the team in points (23) in 26 games with the Admirals this season.
The Blues have recalled Jake Walman from San Antonio (AHL).
Walman has four goals and 14 assists (18 points) in 32 AHL games this season. Walman has never appeared in an NHL game in his career and he will likely serve as an extra defenseman on their one-game trip to Winnipeg.
The Capitals have recalled Christian Djoos from Hershey (AHL).
Both Radko Gudas and Michal Kempny reportedly sick and game-time decisions, Djoos could make his season debut on Friday. The 25-year-old blueliner has scored three goals with 15 assists (18 points) in 25 AHL games this season.
Call Up
The Bruins have recalled Steven Kampfer Providence (AHL) on an emergency basis.
Kampfer hasn't played a lot of hockey this season, appearing in just four games with Boston (0 points) and six with Providence (4 assists). He could draw into the lineup on Friday with Torey Krug landing on IR with an upper-body injury that he suffered just before the break.
The Blue Jackets have recalled Adam Clendening from Cleveland (AHL).
Clendening has not appeared in an NHL game this season but has 90 career games under his belt. Clendening has enjoyed a strong AHL campaign to-date, scoring five goals with 13 assists (18 points) in 26 games.
The Blue Jackets have recalled Gabriel Carlsson from Cleveland (AHL).
Carlsson appeared in two games before the break but was a healthy scratch in their last game. Overall, he has no points in two NHL games but has accumulated nine points (1G / 8A) in 28 AHL contests.
Call Up
The Blue Jackets have recalled Jakob Lilja from Cleveland (AHL).
Lilja was reassigned for the Christmas break but appeared in the final two games before the break, averaging 9:59 TOI/gm. He has just two assists in 12 games with the Blue Jackets this season and nine points (4G / 5A) in 18 AHL games.
The Blue Jackets have recalled Ryan MacInnis from Cleveland (AHL).
MacInnis played with the Blue Jackets for the final two games before the Christmas break but was sent back to Cleveland for the break. The 23-year-old, former second-round pick has not registered a point with Columbus but has three goals and 12 assists (15 points) in 28 AHL games this year.
The Kings have recalled Martin Frk from Ontario (AHL).
Frk has played great in the AHL this season, leading Ontario with 23 points (14G / 9A) in 26 games. He could make his Kings debut on Monday with Trevor Lewis dealing with an upper-body injury.
The Maple Leafs have recalled Jeremy Bracco from Toronto (AHL).
Bracco was a second-round pick in 2015 and got called up this afternoon because Trevor Moore is out again. Bracco has 22 points (3G / 19A) in 28 AHL games this season and has never appeared in an NHL game.
Quenneville was called up from Rockford (AHL) and will make his Blackhawks debut on Monday.
Quenneville was acquired from the Devils for John Hayden in the summer and will make his season debut tonight vs. his former team. Quenneville has scored eight goals with five assists (13 points) in 19 AHL games this season and will replace Dylan Sikura and could skate with Jonathan Toews.
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.