Call up / Send down
The Canucks have sent Tom Sestito to Utica (AHL) on a conditioning stint.
Sestito was activated from IR over the weekend, he has been limited to just two games this season because of a lower-body injury.
NHL Transactions & Roster Moves
Call up / Send down
The Capitals have reassigned Liam O’Brien to Hershey (AHL).
O’Brien, 20, registered two points (1G / 1A) in 13 games with the Capitals this season. The 6’1”, 210-pound forward signed with Washington as a free agent on Oct. 6 and made his NHL debut on Oct. 9 against Montreal. O’Brien earned his first NHL point on Oct. 14 against San Jose and scored his first NHL goal on Oct. 26 at Vancouver.
Call up / Send down
The Hurricanes have recalled Chris Terry from Charlotte (AHL).
Terry was with Charlotte on a conditioning stint, and scored one goal with one assist in five games in Charlotte. No word on if he will be in the lineup today vs. the Red Wings.
Call up / Send down
The Penguins have sent Bryan Rust back to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (AHL).
Rust did not get into the lineup during his recall. He was scheduled to play this afternoon, he lost his spot in the lineup when the Penguins acquired Rob Klinkhammer on Friday.
Call up / Send down
The Ducks have sent Mat Clark to Norfolk (AHL).
Clark, 24, has one assist in seven games with the Ducks during his recall. He heads back to Norfolk, where he has two assists in 11 games.
Call up / Send down
The Ducks have recalled Rickard Rakell from Norfolk (AHL).
Rakell, 21, had three assists in 17 games with the Ducks before being sent down. In two games with Norfolk, Rakell tallied ones goal and three assists. He has been recalled because Corey Perry is out with a knee injury.
Call up / Send down
The Coyotes assigned David Schlemko to Portland (AHL) on Friday.
Schlemko, 27, had one goal and three assists with a minus-7 rating in 15 games with the Coyotes. He heads back to the AHL for the first time since 2010-11. The Coyotes recalled Andrew Campbell to take his spot.
Call up / Send down
The Coyotes recalled Andrew Campbell from Portland (AHL) on Friday.
Campbell, 26, was a third round pick (74th overall) of the Kings in 2008. The 6-foot-4 defenseman has three goals and five assists in 20 games in his first year with Portland (AHL). He played three games with the Kings last season, failing to record a point. He is expected to make his Coyotes debut tonight on a pair with Connor Murphy.
Call up / Send down
The Coyotes recalled Jordan Matinook from Portland (AHL) on Friday.
Martinook, 22, was the Coyotes second round pick (58th overall) in 2012. The former Vancouver Giants’ forward has four goals and nine assists (13 points) in 21 games in his third full season with Portland. He is expected to make his NHL debut tonight on a line with Joe Vitale and B.J Crombeen.
Call up / Send down
The Islanders have sent Ryan Pulock back to Bridgeport (AHL).
Pulock, 20, took part in warmups as the seventh defenseman this afternoon, but did not get into the lineup. His return to the AHL suggests that Lubomir Visnovsky will be good to go on Tuesday.
Call up / Send down
The Maple Leafs have recalled Brandon Kozun from Toronto (AHL).
Kozun, 24, had one assist in five game with the Maple Leafs this season. He has not played since October 17th because of a high-ankle sprain. He had one goal in three games with the Marlies during his conditioning stint.
Call up / Send down
The Islanders have recalled Ryan Pulock from Bridgeport (AHL).
With Travis Hamonic on IR, the Islanders have recalled Pulock, 20, who was their first round pick (15th overall) in 2013. The 6-foot-1, 218 lbs. defenseman has eight goals and five assists (13 points) in 20 games in his first full pro season.
Call up / Send down
The Kings have sent Andy Andreoff to Manchester (AHL) for a conditioning assignment.
Andreoff has not played since October 31st, so they will send him to Manchester to get some games in.
Call up / Send down
The Hurricanes have assigned Drew MacIntyre to Charlotte (AHL).
MacIntyre was recalled to serve as Anton Khudobin’s backup last night with Cam Ward out with a minor lower-body injury. With MacIntyre heading back to the AHL that suggests that Ward is back to 100 percent and will be available for Sunday’s game vs. Detroit.
Call up / Send down
The Penguins have recalled Bryan Rust from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (AHL).
Rust, 22, was the Penguins third round pick (80th overall) in 2010. His recall likely means that Patric Hornqvist’s injury last night will keep him sidelined for a little while at least. Rust has 11 points (7G / 4A) in 22 games with WBS.
Call up / Send down
The Blackhawks have sent Adam Clendening back to Rockford (AHL).
Clendening, 22, had a goal and an assist in four games with the Blackhawks during his recall. He had served as a healthy scratch in the last three games, so they are sending him back to Rockford to get some games in.
Call up / Send down
The Blackhawks have recalled Klas Dahlbeck from Rockford (AHL).
Dahlbeck, 23, has registered two goals and four assists in 22 games with Rockford this season. He has yet to play in an NHL contest, but he is expected to play sometime shortly. The 6-foot-2 defenseman was the Blackhawks third round pick (79th overall) in 2011.
Call up / Send down
The Devils have recalled Mike Sislo from Albany (AHL).
The Devils are battling a ton of injuries right now, so they have recalled Sislo, who has 10 points (6G / 4A) in 20 games with Albany this season. He has one assist in 16 career NHL games.
Call up / Send down
Anders Lindback has cleared waivers and been assigned to Texas (AHL).
The Stars placed Lindback on waivers on Wednesday and recalled Jussi Rynnas to take his place as the Stars number-2 net minder. Lindback, who signed with the Stars this offseason, was dreadful, going 0-5-0 with a 4.64 GAA and .861 SV% in four starts and one relief appearance.
Call up / Send down
The Jets have recalled defenceman Julien Brouillette from the St. John’s (AHL).
Brouillette, 27, has played in 11 games this season with the St. John’s IceCaps collecting four points (2G / 2A) and four penalty minutes. Both of the defenceman’s goals scored this season have been game winners for the IceCaps. He comes up after the Jets lost Zach Bogosian on Wednesday for 4-6 weeks.
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.