Call up / Send down
The Bruins have reassigned Jordan Caron to Providence (AHL).
Caron did not play in Saturday’s game vs. Montreal. He heads back to Providence where he has posted nine points in nine games.
NHL Transactions & Roster Moves
Call up / Send down
The Bruins have sent Zach Trotman to Providence (AHL).
Trotman did not get into a game during his most recent recall. With Trotman going down the Bruins have just six active defensemen.
Call up / Send down
The Bruins recalled Matt Lindblad from Providence (AHL).
Lindblad, 24, has two goals and four assists in 16 games with Providence. He failed to record a point in his only two NHL games with the Bruins last season.
Call up / Send down
The Bruins recalled Jordan Caron from Providence (AHL).
Caron, 24, failed to record a point in his only game with the Bruins this season. While in Providence, he registered five goals and four assists in nine games. No word on if he will crack the lineup tonight vs. the Canadiens.
Call up / Send down
The Flames recalled Corban Knight from Adirondack (AHL) on Friday.
Knight, 24, has scored five goals and three assists in 16 games with Adirondack prior to his recall. He is expected to suit up on the Flames’ fourth line tonight vs. the Devils.
Call up / Send down
The Flames reassigned Max Reinhart to Adirondack (AHL) on Friday.
Reinhart, 22, failed to record a point in four games with the Flames. He heads back to Adirondack where he has one goal and four assists in 12 games. Corban Knight was recalled to swap places with Reinhart.
Call up / Send down
The Capitals have reassigned Chris Brown to Hershey (AHL).
Brown, 23, registered one goal in five games with the Capitals. He heads to Hershey where he has two goals and one assist in six games.
Call up / Send down
The Penguins have recalled Jayson Megna from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (AHL).
Megna, 24, has recorded a team-high nine goals with three assists (12 points) in 17 games with WBS before his recall. He has yet to suit up for the Penguins this season, but has nine points (5G / 4A) in 36 career games (all in 2013-14). There’s no word on if this recall is related to an injury to current Penguins forward.
Call up / Send down
The Avalanche have recalled Tomas Vincour from Lake Erie (AHL).
With injuries to Dennis Everberg, Alex Tanguay and Jamie McGinn, the Avalanche recalled three forwards on Friday. Vincour, 24, has one goal and one assist in three games with Lake Erie this season. He spent the majority of last season in the KHL, but has the most NHL experience of any of the call-ups; he has 16 points (7G / 9A) in 88 career NHL games (all with Dallas).
Call up / Send down
The Avalanche have recalled Andrew Agozzino from Lake Erie (AHL).
With injuries to Dennis Everberg, Alex Tanguay and Jamie McGinn, the Avalanche recalled three forwards on Friday. Agozzino, 23, has three goals and five assists in 14 games with Lake Erie this morning. The undrafted free agent finished tied for the team lead with 49 points (17G / 32A) in 75 games last season.
Call up / Send down
The Avalanche have recalled Ben Street from Lake Erie (AHL).
With injuries to Dennis Everberg, Alex Tanguay and Jamie McGinn, the Avalanche recalled three forwards on Friday. Street, 27, has one goal and one assist in four games with Lake Erie. The former Calgary Flames’ centre has two assists in 19 career NHL games.
Call up / Send down
The Canucks have recalled Frank Corrado from Utica (AHL).
Corrado, 21, has been recalled because Dan Hamhuis suffered a lower-body injury on Thursday night. He has appeared in 11 games with the Comets this season recording three points (2-1-3) and 13 penalty minutes. Last season he appeared in 15 games for the Canucks, collecting one goal.
Call up / Send down
The Blackhawks have recalled Philip Danault from Rockford (AHL).
Danault, 21, was the Blackhawks first-round pick (26th overall) in 2011. Danault has registered three goals and seven assists (10 points) in 14 games with Rockford prior to his recall.
Call up / Send down
The Maple Leafs have assigned David Booth (foot) to the Toronto Marlies (AHL) on a conditioning assignment.
Booth returned to practice at the start of the week as he works his way back from a broken foot that he suffered in the preseason. He was originally expected to be out 4-6 weeks, but today marks the 10 1/2 week mark. He is expected to play with the Marlies tonight and likely Sunday, before returning to the Maple Leafs next week.
Call up / Send down
The Bruins recalled Alexander Khokhlachev from Providence (AHL) on an emergency basis.
Khokhlachev has skated in 15 games for the Providence Bruins this season, recording five goals (first on the team) and 11 assists (second on the team) for 16 points (tied for first on the team) with a plus-two rating. In total, the forward has appeared in 91 games with Providence from 2012 to 2014, racking up 28 goals and 48 assists.
Call up / Send down
The Bruins have recalled Zach Trotman from Providence (AHL).
Trotman was sent down when Kevan Miller was reactivated, but with Adam McQuaid out for 6-8 weeks, Trotman has been recalled as the Bruins’ seventh defenseman again.
Call up / Send down
The Red Wings have recalled Xavier Ouellet from Grand Rapids (AHL).
The Red Wings placed Brendan Smith (hand) on the seven-day IR so Ouellet has been recalled to serve as the Red Wings seventh defenseman. Ouellet had a great training camp and nearly made the Red Wings. He has recorded one goal and four assists in 13 games with Grand Rapids this season and could see action in the next week while Smith is sidelined.
Call up / Send down
The Sabres have recalled Nathan Lieuwen from Rochester (AHL).
With Michal Neuvirth out with a lower-body injury, the Sabres have recalled Lieuwen to serve as Jhonas Enroth’s backup. Lieuwen has gone 3-4-0 with a 3.53 GAA and .876 SV% with Rochester this season.
Call up / Send down
The Blue Jackets have assigned Michael Chaput to Springfield (AHL).
Chaput, 22, has recorded two assists with eight penalty minutes and averaged 10:51 of ice time while playing in all 18 games this season with the Blue Jackets. With a healthy Matt Calvert and Jack Skille set to return on Friday, there was no longer room for Chaput.
Call up / Send down
Scott Laughton was recalled on Tuesday and will make his season debut on Wednesday.
Laughton, 20, was the Flyers first round pick (20th overall) in 2012. He had registered 11 points (6G / 5A) in 13 games prior to yesterday’s recall. He will skate on the Flyers’ third line with Vincent Lecavalier and Pierre-Edouard Bellemare.
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.