NHL Hockey Player News

Corey Potter(D)|
Call up / Send down
Call up / Send down
The Flames have recalled Corey Potter from Adirondack (AHL).

Potter, 30, has registered five assists in 19 games with Adirondack in his first year with the Flames organization. With Ladislav Smid on IR, Potter will serve as the Flames’ seventh defenseman.

Source:
Pat Steinberg 2014-12-13T17:10:51.000Z
Corey Potter
Jayson Megna(RW)|FA
Call up / Send down
Call up / Send down
The Penguins have sent Jayson Megna back to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (AHL).

Megna took four minor penalties in the Penguins win over the Flames last night. Taking four penalties when you’re on a recall is not a great way to stick with the big-club, so he will be replaced by Bryan Rust tonight vs. the Blue Jackets.

Source:
Bob Pompeani 2014-12-13T11:41:09.000Z
Jayson Megna
Kerby Rychel(LW)|
Call up / Send down
Call up / Send down
The Blue Jackets have recalled Kerby Rychel from Springfield (AHL).

Rychel was just sent down the other day after Brandon Dubinsky returned to the lineup, but with Scott Hartnell sidelined for the next two weeks with a broken finger that he suffered on Thursday, Rychel has been recalled and will likely be with the team until Christmas. Rychel made his NHL debut on November 29 at Nashville and picked up three assists and two penalty minutes in four games with the Blue Jackets.

Source:
Columbus Blue Jackets 2014-12-12T17:13:44.000Z
Kerby Rychel
Karl Stollery(D)|
Call up / Send down
Call up / Send down
The Avalanche have sent Karl Stollery back to Lake Erie (AHL).

Stollery had no points and a plus-3 rating in five games during his call-up. With Dennis Everberg returning to the lineup last night and Marc-Andre Cliche returning tomorrow, the Avs will move Nick Holden back to the blue line, bumping Stollery back to the AHL.

Source:
@Avalanche 2014-12-12T16:42:02.000Z
Karl Stollery
Patrice Cormier(C)|
Call up / Send down
Call up / Send down
The Jets have sent Patrice Cormier back to St. John’s (AHL).

Cormier did not get into a game during his recall. He served as the Jets extra forward for the last two games. With Evander Kane ready to return on Saturday, Cormier’s services were no longer needed.

Source:
Winnipeg Jets 2014-12-12T15:11:52.000Z
Patrice Cormier
Alex Biega(RD)|FA
Call up / Send down
Call up / Send down
The Canucks have recalled Alex Biega from Utica (AHL).

Biega, 26, has collected 10 points (2G / 8A) in 25 games with the Comets this season. He currently ranks second amongst Comets defencemen in scoring. The Montreal, Quebec native spent the 2013.14 season with the Utica Comets, collecting 22 points (3G / 19A) in 73 games played.

Source:
Vancouver Canucks 2014-12-12T13:04:04.000Z
Alex Biega
Dany Heatley(LW)|
Call up / Send down
Call up / Send down
The Ducks have sent Dany Heatley (groin) to Norfolk (AHL) on a conditioning stint.

Heatley continues to work his way back from a groin injury he had a surgical procedure done on in November. He will play with Norfolk over the weekend and likely return to the Ducks next week. This is the first time that Heatley has ever been in the AHL.

Source:
Eric Stephens 2014-12-11T16:09:15.000Z
Dany Heatley
Matt Tennyson(RD)|FA
Call up / Send down
Call up / Send down
The Sharks recalled Matt Tennyson from Worcester (AHL).

Tennyson, 24, failed to record a point in his only game with the Sharks this season. In the AHL he has piled up six points (3G / 3A) in 19 games with Worcester. He will be in the lineup tonight because Marc-Edouard Vlasic is out with an upper-body injury.

Source:
Kevin Kurz 2014-12-11T15:52:11.000Z
Matt Tennyson
Chris Tierney(C)|FA
Call up / Send down
Call up / Send down
The Sharks recalled Chris Tierney from Worcester (AHL).

Tierney, 20, has two assists in 11 games with the Sharks this season. While in the AHL he has collected 10 points (1G / 9A) in 12 games. He will centre the fourth line tonight with Mike Brown out with an injury.

Source:
Kevin Kurz 2014-12-11T15:50:43.000Z
Chris Tierney
Kerby Rychel(LW)|
Call up / Send down
Call up / Send down
The Blue Jackets have assigned Kerby Rychel to Springfield (AHL).

Rychel, 20, had a nice first career NHL stint, positing three assists in four games. The 2013 first round pick (19th overall) heads back to the AHL where he has 13 points (6G / 7A) in 22 games this season.

Source:
Columbus Blue Jackets 2014-12-10T10:16:24.000Z
Kerby Rychel
Cody Goloubef(D)|FA
Call up / Send down
Call up / Send down
The Blue Jackets have activated Cody Goloubef and assigned him to Springfield (AHL) on a conditioning stint.

Goloubef has been sidelined with a knee injury since November 1st. Before getting hurt he had no points and a minus-1 rating while averaging 12:23 TOI in three games. The addition of Kevin Connauton and Jordan Leopold might squeeze Goloubef back to the AHL.

Source:
Columbus Blue Jackets 2014-12-10T10:14:39.000Z
Cody Goloubef

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.