Call up / Send down
The Oilers have recalled Jordan Oesterle from Bakersfield (AHL).
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NHL Transactions & Roster Moves
Call up / Send down
The Blackhawks have recalled Spencer Abbott from Rockford (AHL).
Abbott hasn’t appeared in an NHL games since 2013-14, but it looks like he will get a chance on Thursday. The 28-year-old forward has eight goals and 13 assists (21 points) in 30 games with Rockford and he skated with Jonathan Toews and Marian Hossa in Wednesday’s practice.
Call up / Send down
The Lightning have reassigned Yanni Gourde to Syracuse (AHL).
Gourde, 25, failed to record a point in either game during his call-up, so he returns to Syracuse where he has 10 goals and 16 assists (26 points) in 29 games this season.
Call up / Send down
The Hurricanes have recalled Michael Leighton from Charlotte (AHL).
Daniel Altshuller was Cam Ward’s backup on Tuesday, but Leighton will take over that role until Eddie Lack is back from a concussion. Leighton has gone 8-5-0 with a 2.17 GAA and .923 SV% in 16 games with Charlotte and 2-1-0 with a 3.53 GAA and .875 SV% in three NHL games.
Call up / Send down
The Hurricanes have sent Daniel Altshuller to Charlotte (AHL).
Altshuller, 22, served as Cam Ward’s backup last night, but returns to Charlotte, where he has gone 1-2-0 with a 3.44 GAA and .884 SV%. Michael Leighton has been recalled to serve as Ward’s backup.
Call up / Send down
The Panthers have sent Dylan McIlrath to Springfield (AHL) on a conditioning stint.
McIlrath has been a healthy scratch for the last seven games and heads to Springfield to get some games in. The former 10th overall pick has one goal in four games with the Panthers and could spend as many as two weeks in the AHL before being recalled.
Call up / Send down
The Flyers have sent Anthony Stolarz to Lehigh Valley (AHL).
While Michal Neuvirth was sidelined, Stolarz made the most of his opportunities, even though they were few and far between. The 22-year-old went 2-0-0 with a 1.79 GAA and .938 SV% with the Flyers and returns to the Phantoms, where he has gone 6-2-0 with a 2.39 GAA and .927 SV%. The Flyers appear to have a good one in the 6-foot-6 American netminder.
Call up / Send down
The Predators have recalled Harry Zolnierczyk from Milwaukee (AHL).
Zolnierczyk has 16 points (6G / 10A) in 24 games with Milwaukee this season. He failed to pick up a point in his lone NHL game this season and just nine points (5G / 4A) in 61 career NHL games.
Call up / Send down
The Wild have recalled Kurtis Gabriel from Iowa (AHL).
Gabriel, 23, as split his season between the NHL and AHL. The former third round pick (81st overall in 2013) has one assist and 24 PIMS in 10 games with Minnesota and five points (4G / 1A) and 35 PIMS in 22 games with Iowa.
Call up / Send down
The Sharks have recalled Mirco Mueller from San Jose (AHL).
Mueller has eight assists in 25 games with the Barracuda this season. The No.18 pick in 2013 has been recalled because Marc-Edouard Vlasic (face) was placed on IR on Monday and David Schlemko (upper-body) is questionable to play vs. the Kings, so Mueller could make his season debut. The 21-year-old has one goal and three assists (four points) in 50 career NHL games.
Call up / Send down
The Blackhawks have reassigned Tyler Motte to Rockford (AHL).
Motte, 21, has scored four goals with three assists in 32 games with the Blackhawks this season. Motte started the year with the Blackhawks, so he heads to Rockford for the first time this season. He had five points (2G / 3A) in five AHL games a season ago.
Call up / Send down
The Hurricanes have recalled Daniel Altshuller from Charlotte (AHL).
Altshuller, 22, has gone 1-2-0 with a 3.44 GAA and .884 SV% in three games with Charlotte this season. With Eddie Lack battling a concussion, Altshuller has been recalled and is expected to be Cam Ward’s backup tonight.
Call up / Send down
The Edmonton Oilers have recalled Anton Lander from Bakersfield (AHL).
Lander, 25, has had a tough time scoring in the NHL, but has lit up the AHL this season, picking up 10 goals and 11 assists (21 points) in 13 games with Bakersfield. He should draw into the lineup on Tuesday.
Call up / Send down
The Devils recalled Steven Santini from Albany (AHL) and he will make his season debut on Monday.
Santini, 21, made his NHL debut last season and will make his season debut tonight vs. the Bruins. The 2013 second round pick (42nd overall) has no points in 15 games with Albany this season. Expect him to skate on the right side of Jon Merrill.
Call up / Send down
The Lightning recalled Adam Erne from Syracuse (AHL) on Sunday.
Erne, 21, was a second round pick in 2013 (33rd overall) and it looks like he could make his NHL debut on Tuesday. Erne has been recalled because Brian Boyle is day-to-day. He comes to the Lightning have scored eight goals with 10 assists (18 points) in 31 games with Syracuse.
Call up / Send down
The Maple Leafs have sent Bryron Froese to Toronto (AHL).
Froese appeared in two games with the Maple Leafs, but has been a healthy scratch for the last three games. The 25-year-old returns to the Marlies, where he has 12 goals and five assists (17 points) in 27 games this season.
Call up / Send down
The Maple Leafs have sent Frank Corrado to Toronto (AHL) on a conditioning stint.
Corrado has sat around waiting for a chance to play all season long. Corrado has only appeared in one game with the Maple Leafs, so he head to the Marlies where he will likely play with them for the full two weeks that you’re allotted while on a conditioning stint. The 23-year-old had three assists in seven games with the Marlies last season.
Call up / Send down
The Ducks have sent Shea Theodore back to San Diego (AHL).
Theodore has been a healthy scratch in three of the last six games and with Brandon Montour up and playing well, Theodore will return to San Diego to get more playing time.
Call up / Send down
The Flyers have sent Taylor Leier to Lehigh Valley (AHL).
Leier appeared in the last eight games with the Flyers and has one goal and one assist in 10 games with Philadelphia this season. With Matt Read back in the lineup tonight, Leier will return to the AHL.
Call up / Send down
Halak has cleared waivers and been sent to Bridgeport (AHL).
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.