Call up / Send down
The Red Wings recalled Tom McCollum from Grand Rapids (AHL).
McCollum, 25, has gone 10-8-3 with a 2.33 GAA and .911 SV% in 21 games with Grand Rapids this season. He will backup Petr Mrazek while Jimmy Howard is out.
NHL Hockey Player News
Call up / Send down
The Flyers have officially recalled Rob Zepp from Lehigh Valley (AHL).
With Steve Mason out, Zepp has been recalled to join Ray Emery as the Flyers goalie tandem for the next week. Zepp stopped 25 of 28 shots in a win over the Jets in his only NHL start.
Call up / Send down
The Capitals have sent Steven Olesky back to Hershey (AHL).
Olesky was recalled prior to Saturday’s game, but served as a healthy scratch. His stay with the Capitals was short-lived.
Call up / Send down
The Bruins sent Seth Griffith back to Providence (AHL).
Griffith, 22, registered 10 points (6G / 4A) in 30 games with the Bruins. He served as a healthy scratch the two games, so he heads back to the AHL to get some playing time.
Call up / Send down
Brian McGrattan cleared waivers and was reassigned to Adirondack (AHL) on Saturday.
The enforcer seems to be a dying breed in the NHL, so the 33-year-old McGrattan went unclaimed on waivers. He heads the to AHL for the first time since 2012-13, when he played with Milwaukee.
Call up / Send down
The Capitals have sent Nate Schmidt back to Hershey (AHL).
Schmidt, 23, registered three assists in a career-high 33 games with Washington this season. He had been a healthy scratch in five of the last six games.
Call up / Send down
The Capitals have recalled Steven Oleksy from Hershey (AHL).
Oleksy has skated in 33 games with the Hershey Bears (AHL) this season, earning nine points (four goals, five assists) and 80 penalty minutes. Oleksy has registered 19 points (three goals, 16 assists) and 86 penalty minutes in 61 career games with the Capitals.
Call up / Send down
The Sabres have sent Philip Varone back to Rochester (AHL).
Varone, 24, scored two goals on Thursday against the Hurricanes. Those were the only two points he registered in the three games during his recall.
Call up / Send down
The Predators have sent Miikka Salomaki back to Milwaukee (AHL).
Salomaki scored a goal on four shots in his NHL debut last night. Despite a strong debut, with Matt Cullen and Taylor Beck coming back from IR, he has been squeezed back to the minors.
Call up / Send down
Bickel has cleared waivers and been assigned to Iowa (AHL).
Bickel had one assist in nine games with the Wild this season. He heads back to the AHL where he has three assists in nine games.
Call up / Send down
The Canadiens recalled Christian Thomas from Hamilton (AHL).
Thomas, 22, has nine goals and five assists (14 points) in 29 games with Hamilton this season. He has no points in three career NHL games. He skated on the Habs’ fourth line with Manny Malhotra and Michael Bournival.
Call up / Send down
The Red Wings have recalled Teemu Pulkkinen from Grand Rapids (AHL).
Pulkkinen, 23, leads the AHL with 20 goals and is tied for second in points with 39. He failed to record a point in three games with the Red Wings last season. He is likely to make his season debut on Saturday in Washington.
Call up / Send down
The Capitals plan to recall goaltender Phoenix Copley on Friday.
Copley, 22, has gone 6-3-1 with a 2.00 GAA and .921 SV% in 11 games with Hershey (AHL) this season. Justin Peters will go down to Hershey on a conditioning stint tomorrow and Copley is the most likely candidate to be recalled. He will likely backup Braden Holtby vs. Detroit on Saturday.
Call up / Send down
Peters will be assigned on a conditioning loan on Friday.
Braden Holtby will make his 23rd straight appearance tonight, which means that Peters has not started a game since November 29th vs. the Maple Leafs. He will start two games for Hershey (AHL) this weekend before returning to the team next week. That means Holtby will start his 24th straight on Saturday.
Call up / Send down
The Panthers have reassigned Sam Brittain to Cincinnati (ECHL).
Brittain got to travel and practice with the team for the early part of the week while Al Montoya was with his wife during the birth of their child.
Call up / Send down
The Flames have recalled Joni Ortio from Adirondack (AHL).
Ortio, 23, has gone 17-8-1 with a 2.52 GAA and .916 SV% in 27 games with Adirondack this season. He has been recalled to serve as Jonas Hiller’s backup with Karri Ramo on IR.
Call up / Send down
The Flames have recalled Markus Granlund from Adirondack (AHL).
Granlund was demoted yesterday, but with Josh Jooris placed on IR, he has been recalled again today. He has five goals and eight assists (13 points) in 29 games with the Flames this season.
Call up / Send down
Zach Boychuk has cleared waivers and has been assigned to Charlotte (AHL).
Boychuk, 25, had three goals and three assists in 31 games with the Hurricanes. He heads back to the AHL where he led the Checkers with 74 points (36G / 38A) in 69 games last season.
Call up / Send down
Michal Jordan has cleared waivers and has been assigned to Charlotte (AHL).
Jordan, 24, had no points in 16 games with the Hurricanes. He heads back to Charlotte where he has registered seven points (2G / 5A) in 15 games.
Call up / Send down
The Wild have recalled Jordan Schroeder from Iowa (AHL).
Schroeder, 24, has registered 10 goals and 14 assists (24 points) in 28 games with Iowa this season. Tonight he is expected to skate on an all University of Minnesota line with Thomas Vanek and Erik Haula.
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.