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NHL Transactions & Roster Moves

Nathan Gerbe(LW)|FA
Call Up
Call Up
Gerbe was called up from Cleveland (AHL) and will make his season debut on Monday.

Gerbe has scored eight goals with 17 assists (25 points) in 30 AHL games this season. He has appeared in 396 career NHL games but hasn't played since 2017-18 but will get a chance on Monday with Oliver Bjorkstrand out for one month.

Source:
Jeff Svoboda 2019-12-23T16:03:11.934Z
Nathan Gerbe
Daniel Sprong(RW)|FA
Call Up
Call Up
Sprong has been recalled from San Diego (AHL) and is expected to make his season debut on Sunday.

Ryan Getzlaf and Jakob Silfverberg are out with the flu and Rickard Rakell has an upper-body injury, paving the way for Sprong to appear in his 90th career NHL game on Sunday. The 22-year-old has 18 points (7G / 11A) in 24 AHL games this season and had 19 points (14G / 5A) in 47 NHL games last year.

Source:
Alyson Lozoff 2019-12-22T16:06:22.518Z
Daniel Sprong
Thomas Di Pauli(C)|FA
Call Up
Call Up
The Penguins have recalled Thomas Di Pauli from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (AHL).

Di Pauli was originally a fourth-round pick of the Capitals in 2012 but signed with the Penguins in 2016 and has appeared in 127 AHL games since. The 25-year-old forward has four goals and five assists (nine points) inn 19 AHL games this season.

Source:
Pittsburgh Penguins 2019-12-20T17:57:51.958Z
Thomas Di Pauli
Kevin Czuczman(D)|FA
Call Up
Call Up
The Penguins have recalled Kevin Czuczman from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (AHL).

Czuczman is in his third year with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and has one goal and seven assists (eight points) in 21 games. He has not played in the NHL since 2013-14 when he had two assists in 13 games. He'll be the Penguins' seventh defenseman with Justin Schultz out week-to-week.

Source:
Pittsburgh Penguins 2019-12-20T17:56:05.263Z
Kevin Czuczman
Marko Dano(C)|FA
Send Down
Send Down
The Blue Jackets have reassigned Marko Dano to Cleveland (AHL).

Dano played in three games during his call-up but played just 5:52 TOI on Thursday. Even with Cam Atkinson getting hurt in the game, they've sent Dano back to the AHL, so expect them to give another Cleveland forward a look. Dano has three goals and nine assists (12 points) in 25 AHL games.

Source:
Brian Hedger 2019-12-20T17:30:17.967Z
Marko Dano
Gabriel Carlsson(D)|WSH
Call Up
Call Up
The Blue Jackets have recalled Gabriel Carlsson from Cleveland (AHL).

Carlsson has scored one goal with eight assists (nine points) in 28 games with the Monsters this season. The former first-round pick (No.29 overall in 2015)has appeared in 17 career NHL games to-date and gets his first call-up of the season with Andrew Peeke (broken finger) going on IR.

Source:
Alison Lukan 2019-12-19T18:26:08.691Z
Gabriel Carlsson
Mathieu Joseph(RW)|LAK
Send Down
Send Down
The Lightning have reassigned Mathieu Joseph to Syracuse (AHL).

Joseph started the season at a decent pace, posting seven points (4G / 3A) while playing 12:36 ATOI in his first 21 games but has no points and a minus-4 rating while playing just 9:43 ATOI in his last 10. He'll go back to Syracuse to get his game back in order, which means that Mitchell Stephens will remain with the Lightning and play on the fourth line on Thursday.

Source:
Erik Erlendsson 2019-12-19T18:22:49.519Z
Mathieu Joseph
Jansen Harkins(C)|ANA
Call Up
Call Up
The Jets have recalled Jansen Harkins from Manitoba (AHL).

Harkins was a second-round pick (No.47 overall) in 2015 and has played in 156 AHL games since. This year the 22-year-old winger leads the Manitoba Moose with 31 points (7G / 24A) in 30 games. He could make his NHL debut before the Christmas break with Mathieu Perreault and Andrew Copp both going on IR on Wednesday.

Source:
Ken Wiebe 2019-12-19T17:05:47.240Z
Jansen Harkins
Mason Appleton(C)|DET
Call Up
Call Up
The Jets have recalled Mason Appleton from Manitoba (AHL).

Appleton was recently assigned to Manitoba after returning to full health but was called up on Wednesday with Andrew Copp going on IR. Appleton has one assist in four AHL games and no points in nine NHL games this season. He is expected to skate on the third line with Adam Lowry and Gabriel Bourque on Thursday.

Source:
Ken Wiebe 2019-12-19T17:03:48.793Z
Mason Appleton
Robbie Russo(D)|FA
Send Down
Send Down
The Coyotes have reassigned Robbie Russo to Tucson (AHL).

Russo was called up over a week ago but sat as a reserve defenseman for four games. He swaps spots with Jordan Gross so that Russo doesn't sit for too long. The 26-year-old has eight points (1G / 7A) in 23 AHL games this season.

Source:
Matt Layman 2019-12-18T19:02:48.133Z
Robbie Russo

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.