Call up / Send down
The Avalanche have sent Ben Street back to Lake Erie (AHL).
Street has failed to register a point in three games with Colorado this season. While in Lake Erie he has one goal and one assist in four games.
NHL Transactions & Roster Moves
Call up / Send down
The Predators have recalled Marek Mazanec from Milwaukee (AHL).
With Pekka Rinne out for at least the next three games, Mazanec has been recalled to serve as the Predaotrs second goalie. The 23-year-old net minder has gone 11-8-3 with a 2.49 GAA and .907 SV% with Milwaukee this season.
Call up / Send down
The Coyotes have recalled Mike Lee from Gwinnett (ECHL).
The 24-year-old Lee has posted a 1-3-1 record with a 2.98 goals against average (GAA) and an .897 save percentage (SV%) in five games with the Gladiators this season. Lee will serve as Mike Smith's backup tonight vs. the Flames.
Call up / Send down
The Maple Leafs have recalled Matt Frattin from Toronto (AHL).
The Maple Leafs are without Leo Komarov and David Booth, who was injured last night, so Frattin has been recalled and is expected to play tonight vs. the Sharks. He registered 10 goals and three assists (13 points) in 22 games with the Marlies.
Call up / Send down
The Wild have recalled Mathew Dumba from Iowa (AHL).
Dumba, 20, had one goal and three assists in 20 games with the Wild before being sent down. In Iowa he scored four goals with eight assists for 12 points in 17 games. Expect him to be in the lineup tomorrow in Buffalo.
Call up / Send down
The Penguins have assigned defenseman Taylor Chorney to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (AHL).
Chorney was recalled as insurance for Tuesday’s game; he did not get into the lineup, so he heads back to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton where he has nine points (2G / 7A) in 34 games.
Call up / Send down
The Penguins have assigned forward Bryan Rust to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (AHL).
Rust, 22, had one goal and one assist in 14 games with the Penguins. He returns to the AHL where he has amassed 10 goals and four assists in 25 games this season.
Call up / Send down
The Flames have recalled Drew Shore from Adirondack (AHL).
Shore, who was acquired by the Flames in a trade on January 9th, was drafted by the Florida Panthers in the second round (44th overall) in the 2009 NHL Draft.He didn’t get a chance to debut for Adirondack, but he was second on San Antonio (AHL) in scoring with 30 points (9G / 21A) in 35 games.
Call up / Send down
The Hurricanes have recalled Andrej Nestrasil from his conditioning stint with Charlotte (AHL).
Nestrasil, 23, did not record a point in three games with Charlotte. He returns to the Hurricanes where he has recorded one goal and two assists in eight games.
Call up / Send down
The Coyotes have recalled Philip Samuelsson from Portland (AHL).
Samuelsson, 23, was acquired from the Penguins in the Rob Klinkhammer trade in early December. The 2009 second-round pick has registered one goal and two assist in 16 games with Portland and has a total of seven points (1G / 6A) in 38 AHL games this season. He could make his Coyotes debut tonight vs. San Jose.
Call up / Send down
The Sabres have recalled Matt Ellis from Rochester (AHL).
Sabres’ forward Chris Stewart has been battling the flu and likely won’t play tonight so Ellis has been recalled and should be in the lineup for the Sabres. The reason to recall Ellis instead of another forward is that Dominik Hasek’s jersey will be retired tonight and Ellis is the only current Sabre to have played with Hasek.
Call up / Send down
The Capitals have recalled Steven Oleksy from Hershey (AHL).
With Dmitri Orlov not quite ready and the long-term injury to Nate Schmidt, the Capitals recall Oleksy to serve as their seventh defenseman.
Call up / Send down
The Penguins have recalled Taylor Chorney from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (AHL).
Kris Letang missed Monday’s practice, so if he is unable to go, then Chorney would play, but he is likely just being recalled as an insurance defenseman. He has two goals and seven assists in 34 games with WBS this season.
Call up / Send down
The Lightning have recalled Vladislav Namestnikov from Syracuse (AHL).
The Lightning lost their leading scorer Tyler Johnson to a lower-body injury last night, so Namestnikov is being recalled to play for Johnson if he is unable to go. The 22-year-old forward had seven points (3G / 4A) in 24 games with the Lightning before being sent down. Since being sent down he has registered 17 points (7G / 10A) in 16 games with Syracuse.
Call up / Send down
The Sharks have sent Freddie Hamilton back to Worcester (AHL).
Hamilton did not record a point in his only game during his recall. He leads Worcester in points (21) and ranks tied for fifth on the team in goals (6). He has played in 12 career NHL games, all with the Sharks, registering 13 shots.
Call up / Send down
The Kings have recalled Nick Shore from Manchester (AHL).
Shore, 22, was the Kings third round pick (82nd overall) in the 2011 draft. He is tied for the AHL lead in goals with 20 and is second in points with 41. With Tanner Pearson out with a broken bone in his leg, Shore could with the Kings for awhile.
Call up / Send down
The Sabres have recalled Zac Dalpe from Rochester (AHL).
Dalpe, 25, has seven goals and six assists (13 points) in 31 games with Rochester. He has not been recalled this season—he had seven points (4G / 3A) in 55 games with Vancouver last season.
Call up / Send down
The Sabres have recalled Phil Varone from Rochester (AHL).
Varone was sent down on Saturday morning, likely because of cap reasons because the Sabres were off until Tuesday, but he is back and expected to be in the lineup on Tuesday.
Call up / Send down
The Capitals have sent Pheonix Copley to Hershey (AHL).
Copley served as Braden Holtby’s backup over the weekend while Justin Peters was on a conditioning stint with Hershey.
Call up / Send down
The Capitals have recalled Justin Peters from Hershey (AHL).
Peters hadn’t started an NHL game since November 29th, so the Capitals sent hime down to the AHL to get a few games in over the weekend. He went 1-1-0 with a 1.51 GAA, .948 SV% and one shutout.
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.