Call up / Send down
The Wild recalled Stu Bickel from Iowa (AHL).
Bickel, 28, has one assist in nine game with Minnesota this year. In 23 appearances with Iowa he has collected eight points (2G / 6A) in 23 games.
NHL Transactions & Roster Moves
Call up / Send down
The Wild recalled Brett Sutter from Iowa (AHL).
Sutter, 27, has three assists in five games with the Wild this season. In Iowa he has collected seven goals and 11 assists (18 points) in 45 games. Sutter is expected to be in the lineup tonight with Ryan Carter and Jason Zucker out.
Call up / Send down
The Avalanche have reassigned Karl Stollery to Lake Erie (AHL).
Stollery did not get into the lineup during his recall. With Tyson Barrie back, Stollery became the Avs’ eighth defenseman. He returns to Lake Erie, where he has 12 points (4G / 8A) in 38 games.
Call up / Send down
The Oilers have recalled Richard Bachman from Oklahoma City (AHL) on an emergency basis.
Ben Scrivens is out with an injury on Tuesday, so Bachman has been recalled to backup Viktor Fasth. Bachman has gone 14-4-3 with a 2.30 GAA and .921 SV% with Oklahoma City this season.
Call up / Send down
The Oilers have recalled Ryan Hamilton from Oklahoma City (AHL).
Hamilton, 29, has registered 15 goals and 14 assists (29 points) in 32 games with OKC this season. He has three assists in 14 career NHL games with the Maple Leafs and Oilers.
Call up / Send down
The Ducks have recalled John Gibson from Norfolk (AHL).
Gibson, 21, has gone 6-3-2 with a 2.07 GAA and .935 SV% in 11 games with Norfolk. He has played well at both levels this season and could see the majority of the work while Frederik Andersen (head/neck) is sidelined.
Call up / Send down
The Predators have recalled Viktor Stalberg from Milwaukee (AHL).
Stalberg has three assists in 10 games with the Predators this season. In 14 games with Milwaukee, he has registered seven goals and five assists (12 points). His recall is likely bad news for Colin Wilson’s injury.
Call up / Send down
The Predators have recalled Anthony Bitetto from Milwaukee (AHL).
Bitetto, 24, has 25 points (2G / 23A) in 46 games with Milwaukee this season. His recall is likely bad news for Mattias Ekholm, who was injured on Sunday. Bitetto made his NHL debut on January 17th in Detroit.
Call up / Send down
The Capitals recalled Steven Oleksy from Hershey (AHL).
Oleksy, 29, has not played a game with the Capitals this season. He has 13 points (4G / 9A) and 106 PIMS in 44 games with Hershey. He has 10 points (2G / 8A) and 53 PIMS in 33 games with the Capitals last year.
Call up / Send down
The Blues reassigned Ty Rattie to Chicago (AHL) on Monday.
Rattie had one assist, two PIMS and three shots on goal while averaging 8:56 TOI in five games during his recall. With Jori Lehtera set to return on Tuesday, the Blues had to make room.
Call up / Send down
The Penguins have reassigned Scott Harrington to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (AHL).
Harrington has been a healthy scratch in the last four games and has been reassigned to WBS. Harrington has played in 10 NHL games with Pittsburgh this season, averaging 15:48 minutes.
Call up / Send down
The Flyers recalled Anthony Stolarz from Lehigh Valley (AHL).
Stolarz, 21, was a second-round pick (45th overall) of the Flyers in 2012. He has gone 7-10-1 with a 3.04 GAA and .911 SV% in his rookie season with Lehigh Valley. He is likely not ready to play in the NHL, but with Steve Mason out at the NHL level and Rob Zepp out at the AHL level, the Flyers did not have a choice. He will back-up Ray Emery on Tuesday.
Call up / Send down
The Coyotes have reassigned Louis Domingue to Portland (AHL).
With Mike Smith getting all of the action at the NHL level, the Coyotes will likely rotate Domingue and Mike McKenna to keep both of them fresh. Domingue heads back to the AHL where he is 8-4-1 with a 2.40 GAA And .922 SV%.
Call up / Send down
The Coyotes have recalled Mike McKenna from Portland (AHL).
With Mike Smith getting all of the action at the NHL level, the Coyotes will likely rotate McKenna and Domingue to keep both of them fresh. McKenna is 18-14-2 with a 2.09 GAA and .933 SV% with Portland this season.
Call up / Send down
The Bruins have reassigned Malcolm Subban to Providence (AHL).
With Niklas Svedberg’s conditioning stint finished, Subban gets sent down without seeing any NHL action. He has gone 9-10-2 with a 2.47 GAA and .921 SV% in 22 games with Providence this season.
Call up / Send down
The Capitals have sent Cameron Schilling back to Hershey (AHL).
Schilling played on Friday vs. the Ducks, recording one shot and a plus-1 rating in 13:42. He was a healthy scratch last night with Mike Green returning to the lineup, so Schilling heads back to Hershey before the Capitals leave for their California road-trip.
Call up / Send down
The Sharks recalled Dylan DeMelo from Worcester (AHL) on Sunday.
DeMelo, 21, has registered four goals and 11 assists (15 points) in 45 games with Worcester this season. With Marc-Edouard Vlasic on IR, DeMelo could make his NHL debut at some point this week.
Call up / Send down
The Bruins recalled Niklas Svedberg from Providence (AHL).
Svedberg went 3-1-0 with a 2.76 GAA and .911 SV% in his four-game conditioning stint with Providence. Despite being back with the Bruins, they only have two games this week, so Tuukka Rask will likely start both of those contests.
Call up / Send down
The Maple Leafs reassigned Petter Granberg to Toronto (AHL) on Sunday.
Granberg was recalled as insurance for Cody Franson, who was a game-time decision for Saturday’s game. Granberg did not get into the game and Dion Phaneuf is expected to return soon so Granberg heads back to the minors.
Call up / Send down
The Maple Leafs reassigned Antoine Bibeau to Toronto (AHL) on Sunday.
Bibeau was recalled to be James Reimer’s backup on Saturday vs. the Oilers. Jonathan Bernier should be healthy enough to return on Tuesday vs. the Rangers, so Bibeau’s services are no longer needed.
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.