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NHL Transactions & Roster Moves

Chris Driedger(G)|FA
Call up / Send down
Call up / Send down
The Senators have recalled Chris Driedger from Binghamton (AHL).

Driedger, 22, is on the ice for the Senators morning skate and Craig Anderson is not. This suggests something is up with Anderson and Driedger will serve as Mike Condon’s backup tonight. Stay tuned.

Source:
@Senators 2017-03-14T10:26:22.000Z
Chris Driedger
Miikka Salomaki(RW)|FA
Call up / Send down
Call up / Send down
The Predators have recalled Miikka Salomaki from his long-term injury loan.

Salomaki, 24, hasn’t played in the NHL since October 15th and played four games with Milwaukee (AHL) as he worked his way back from a lower-body injury. He had one goal in four games with the Admirals and has 11 points (6G / 5A) in 64 career NHL games.

Source:
Adam Vingan 2017-03-13T11:40:38.000Z
Miikka Salomaki
Josh Archibald(RW)|FA
Call up / Send down
Call up / Send down
The Penguins have recalled Josh Archibald from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (AHL).

Archibald, 24, has recorded 14 goals and 13 assists (27 points) in 57 games with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton this season. He has two goals in two NHL games this year and could draw into the lineup tonight with Carl Hagelin out for one month.

Source:
@penguins 2017-03-13T11:06:39.000Z
Josh Archibald
Byron Froese(C)|FA
Call up / Send down
Call up / Send down
The Lightning have recalled Byron Froese from Syracuse (AHL).

Froese, 26, was a part of the Brian Boyle trade that sent the forward to Toronto. Froese has two goals and one assist in two games with Syracuse since the trade, which gives him 26 goals and 16 assists (42 points) in 50 AHL games this season. He is expected to make his Lightning debut on Monday.

Source:
Erik Erlendsson 2017-03-13T10:10:15.000Z
Byron Froese
Rasmus Andersson(D)|CGY
Call up / Send down
Call up / Send down
The Flames recalled Rasmus Andersson from Stockton (AHL).

Andersson, 20, was a second round pick (No.53 overall) in 2015 and has earned his first NHL call-up. Andersson has recorded three goals and 19 assists (22 points) in 50 AHL games this season. He could make his NHL debut on Saturday with Dougie Hamilton and Michael Stone listed as questionable.

Source:
Pat Steinberg 2017-03-11T10:21:43.000Z
Rasmus Andersson
Matthew Peca(C)|FA
Call up / Send down
Call up / Send down
The Lightning have recalled Matthew Peca from Syracuse (AHL).

The Lightning are riddled with injuries so Peca has been recalled and should draw into the lineup on Saturday. Peca has one goal and one assist in nine games with the Lightning this season and 30 points (8G / 22A) in 53 AHL games.

Source:
Joe Smith 2017-03-11T10:15:24.000Z
Matthew Peca
Matt Dumba(D)|PIT
Call up / Send down
Call up / Send down
Dumba (illness) will return to the Wild lineup on Friday.

Dumba missed the last two games, including last night’s contest with an illness, but is set to go on the tail-end of the Wild’s Florida back-to-back. Dumba is expected to replace Gustav Olofsson in the lineup and enters play with 25 points (7G / 18A) in 59 games this season.

Source:
Michael Russo 2017-03-10T12:04:45.000Z
Matt Dumba
Phil Varone(C)|FA
Call up / Send down
Call up / Send down
The Senators have recalled Phil Varone from Binghamton (AHL).

There are reports that Mark Stone suffered an injury in last night’s game against the Coyotes and that is why Varone has been recalled. The 26-year-old forward has not made an impact in six games with the Senators this season, but has 42 points (13G / 29A) in 51 games to lead Binghamton this season.

Source:
Bruce Garrioch 2017-03-10T10:48:09.000Z
Phil Varone
Brandon Halverson(G)|TBL
Call up / Send down
Call up / Send down
The Rangers have recalled Brandon Halverson from Greenville (ECHL) on an emergency basis.

Halverson, 20, was a second round pick (No.59 overall) in 2014 and turned pro this season after spending three years with Sault Ste. Marie (OHL). Halverson has gone 9-14-0 with a 3.40 GAA and .886 SV% in 24 games with Hartford (AHL) and 3-1-0 with a 1.70 GAA and .943 SV% in four games with the Swamp Rabbits. He will serve as Antti Raanta’s backup with Henrik Lundqvist (lower-body) day-to-day.

Source:
@NYRangers 2017-03-09T13:10:57.000Z
Brandon Halverson
Valentin Zykov(RW)|FA
Call up / Send down
Call up / Send down
The Hurricanes have recalled Valentin Zykov from Charlotte (AHL).

Zykov, 21, was a second round pick of the Kings (No. 37 overall) in 2013 and it looks like he could make his NHL debut on Thursday. Zykov has recorded 15 goals and 15 assists (30 points) in 55 games with the Checkers this season. He is expected to play on the Hurricanes’ top line with Jordan Staal and Sebastien Aho.

Source:
Nicholas Niedzielski 2017-03-09T10:38:21.000Z
Valentin Zykov
Jimmy Howard(G)|FA
Call up / Send down
Call up / Send down
The Red Wings have recalled Jimmy Howard from Grand Rapids (AHL).

Howard’s conditioning stint stopping 31 of 33 shots in a 5-2 win over Texas on Saturday and posted a 21-save shutout against San Antonio on Tuesday. Howard’s conditioning stint was a success and he should start Friday vs. Chicago or Sunday vs. the Rangers.

Source:
Kyle Kujawa 2017-03-08T17:02:08.000Z
Jimmy Howard
Tom Sestito(LW)|
Call up / Send down
Call up / Send down
The Penguins have recalled Tom Sestito from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (AHL).

The Penguins are in Winnipeg to take on a heavy Jets team, so Sestito has been recalled and will likely draw in on the fourth line. The 6-foot-5, 228 lbs. winger has one assist and 24 PIMS in eight games with the Penguins this season. The 29-year-old has 16 points (6G / 10A) in 33 games with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.

Source:
Pittsburgh Penguins 2017-03-08T10:53:28.000Z
Tom Sestito
Austin Czarnik(C)|FA
Call up / Send down
Call up / Send down
The Bruins have recalled Austin Czarnik from Providence (AHL).

Czarnik, 24, had 13 points (5G / 8A) in 47 games with the Bruins this season, but was sent to Providence in late February. In seven games with the “baby Bruins” the centre registered two goals and six assists (eight points). He is expected to draw into the lineup on Wednesday because Ryan Spooner is out with a concussion.

Source:
Kevin Dupont 2017-03-08T10:46:34.000Z
Austin Czarnik

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.