NHL Transactions & Roster Moves

Miles Wood(LW)|COL
Call up / Send down
Call up / Send down
The Devils have sent Miles Wood to Albany (AHL).

Wood, 21, had no points in two games with the Devils to start the season and with Sergey Kalinin returning to the lineup on Saturday, Wood has been sent to Albany. He had 35 points (10G / 25A) in 37 games with Boston College last year and should have no trouble picking up points in the AHL.

Source:
Leo Scaglione Jr 2016-10-22T13:37:50.000Z
Miles Wood
Gemel Smith(C)|TBL
Call up / Send down
Call up / Send down
The Stars have recalled Gemel Smith from Texas (AHL).

Smith, 22, was a fourth round pick (104th overall) in 2012 and it looks like he will make his NHL debut on Saturday. The Stars are dealing with injuries to Patrick Sharp and Patrick Eaves, so it looks like Smith will draw in on the fourth line. He had 26 points (13G / 13A) in 65 games with Texas (AHL) last year and one goal in three games to start this season.

Source:
Dallas Stars 2016-10-22T10:49:08.000Z
Gemel Smith
Kyle Rau(C)|FA
Call up / Send down
Call up / Send down
The Panthers have recalled Kyle Rau from Springfield (AHL).

Rau, 23, was a third round pick in 2011 (91st overall), but has only appeared in nine career NHL games (all last year). Rau has no points in two games with Springfield so far this season, but it looks like he will replace Jussi Jokinen in the Panthers’ lineup on Saturday.

Source:
George Richards 2016-10-22T10:34:50.000Z
Kyle Rau
Zane McIntyre(G)|FA
Call up / Send down
Call up / Send down
The Bruins have recalled Zane McIntyre from Providence (AHL).

McIntyre, 24, is 1-0-0 with a 0.44 GAA and .977 SV% in three games with Providence (AHL) so far this season. He has been recalled presumably to backup Anton Khudobin on Saturday because Tuukka Rask, who missed Friday’s practice, is dealing with a minor injury.

Source:
Joe Haggerty 2016-10-22T10:32:28.000Z
Zane McIntyre
David Warsofsky(LD)|FA
Call up / Send down
Call up / Send down
The Penguins have recalled David Warsofsky from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (AHL).

Warsofsky, 26, recorded one goal and one assist in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s season opener and has been recalled because Kris Letang and Derrick Pouliot are both dealing with injuries. Warsofsky had one goal and one assist in 22 games with the Penguins and Devils last season.

Source:
Jason Mackey 2016-10-21T12:34:02.000Z
David Warsofsky
Mike Reilly(D)|FA
Call up / Send down
Call up / Send down
The Wild have recalled Mike Reilly from Iowa (AHL).

Reilly, 23, has not recorded a point in one game at both the NHL and AHL level. Tonight he is expected to draw back into the Wild lineup for Mathew Dumba. Reilly has a lot of offensive ability, but that has yet to translate into his NHL game.

Source:
Michael Russo 2016-10-20T12:11:31.000Z
Mike Reilly
Ben Betker(D)|
Call up / Send down
Call up / Send down
The Oilers have recalled Ben Betker from Bakersfield (AHL).

Betker, 22, was a sixth round pick in 2013 and has never appeared in an NHL game. He has not appeared in an AHL game this season, but had two assists in 14 games with Bakersfield a year ago.

Source:
@EdmontonOilers 2016-10-20T10:11:55.000Z
Ben Betker
Sven Andrighetto(RW)|
Call up / Send down
Call up / Send down
Andrighetto has cleared waivers and been assigned St. John’s (AHL).

Andrighetto, 23, had 17 points (7G / 10A) in 44 games with Montreal and 23 points (10G / 13A) in 26 games with St. John’s a season ago. He will start this year in St. John’s, but should be one of the first forwards recalled.

Source:
Arpon Basu 2016-10-15T13:07:07.000Z
Sven Andrighetto
Nick Baptiste(RW)|
Call up / Send down
Call up / Send down
The Sabres have recalled Nick Baptiste from Rochester (AHL).

The Sabres have been hit hard by injuries to start the season, losing both Jack Eichel and Evander Kane to week-to-week injuries and Baptiste is the first call-up from Rochester. Baptiste has never appeared in an NHL game, but had 28 points (13G / 15A) in 62 AHL games last year and one goal and one assist in Rochester’s season opener.

Source:
Buffalo Sabres 2016-10-15T10:20:53.000Z
Nick Baptiste
Mikko Rantanen(RW)|DAL
Call up / Send down
Call up / Send down
Rantanen (ankle) is expected to be sent to San Antonio (AHL).

Rantanen battled an ankle injury throughout the preseason and is expected to go back to the AHL, as basically a conditioning stint, before he will likely return to the Avalanche when he’s back up to speed. The 19-year-old had 60 points (24G / 36A) in 52 games with San Antonio last season.

Source:
Terry Frei 2016-10-14T15:00:57.000Z
Mikko Rantanen
Scott Harrington(LD)|FA
Call up / Send down
Call up / Send down
The Blue Jackets have sent Scott Harrington to Cleveland (AHL) for a conditioning stint.

Harrington, 23, was acquired in a trade from the Maple Leafs this summer and was scratched in their season opener on Thursday. There’s no word what, if anything is ailing Harrington, but he heads to the AHL, where he had three points (1G / 2A) in 17 games last season.

Source:
Aaron Portzline 2016-10-14T12:21:10.000Z
Scott Harrington
Roland McKeown(RD)|FA
Call up / Send down
Call up / Send down
The Hurricanes have sent Roland McKeown to Charlotte (AHL).

McKeown, 20, was drafted 50th overall in 2014 and was acquired from the Kings last season in a trade that sent Kris Versteeg to Los Angeles. McKeown spent last year in Kingston (OHL), posting 42 points (7G / 35A) in 59 games.

Source:
Ken Preston 2016-10-14T10:21:23.000Z
Roland McKeown
Charlie Lindgren(G)|WAS
Call up / Send down
Call up / Send down
The Canadiens have recalled Charlie Lindgren from St. John’s (AHL).

With Carey Price (illness) out for the season opener, Lindgren comes up from St. John’s to backup Al Montoya on Thursday. Lindgren won his NHL debut last year and posted a 30-9-1 record, 2.13 GAA and .925 SV% with St. Cloud State (NCHC) before signing with the Habs.

Source:
Renaud Lavoie 2016-10-12T12:13:29.000Z
Charlie Lindgren
Brooks Laich(C)|
Call up / Send down
Call up / Send down
The Maple Leafs have sent Brooks Laich to Toronto (AHL).

Laich had seven points (1G / 6A) in 21 games with the Maple Leafs last year, equalling his total from the first 60 games of the year with Washington. The veteran seemed to have found a nice fit in Toronto, but the youth movement has forced him back to the AHL for the first time since 2005-06.

Source:
James Mirtle 2016-10-11T17:17:17.000Z
Brooks Laich

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.