Call up / Send down
The Oilers have recalled Steve MacIntyre from Oklahoma City (AHL).
MacIntyre has been recalled because Matt Hendricks and Nail Yakupov are both questionable for Thursday.
NHL Transactions & Roster Moves
Call up / Send down
The Red WIngs have recalled Adam Almqvist from Grand Rapids (AHL).
Almqvist likely won't get into the lineup with six healthy defensemen ahead of him. However, the way Red Wings are dropping lately, he could be on the blueline by Saturday.
Call up / Send down
The Oilers have recalled Tyler Pitlick from Oklahoma City (AHL) on an emergency basis.
Pitlick, 22, has eight goals and 14 assists (22 points) in 38 games with OKC this season. He scored his first NHL goal on October 26 and then promptly got hurt in the same game. That goal is his only point in three games with the Oilers this season.
Call up / Send down
The Coyotes sent Andy Miele back to the AHL on Tuesday.
Miele has recorded two assists with five penalty minutes in seven games with the Coyotes this season. The 5-foot-9, 175-pound forward has also posted 23 goals, 34 assists and 60 PIM in 56 games with Portland (AHL).
Call up / Send down
The Hurricanes have sent Chris Terry back to Charlotte (AHL).
Terry played 13:47 with no points in last night's win over the Blue Jackets, but has been sent back to the AHL which suggests that Elias Lindholm (illness) will be ready for Friday.
Call up / Send down
The Penguins have sent Jayson Megna back to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (AHL).
Megna has skated in 26 games with Pittsburgh, tallying five goals and eight points. Megna appeared to be the better of the Penguins call-ups over the weekend, but after taking a seat as a healthy scratch on Tuesday, this move was pretty obvious.
Call up / Send down
The Red Wings have reassigned Jordin Tootoo to Grand Rapids (AHL).
On Sunday, Tootoo saw just 7:20 TOI in his first game since December 21. He will return to the AHL with the Red Wings electing to recall Landon Ferraro and moving Brendan Smith from defence to forward.
Call up / Send down
The Capitals have recalled defenseman Patrick Wey from the Hershey Bears (AHL).
Wey, 22, has played in three games with the Capitals this season, registering two assists. The 6’3”, 212-pound defenseman made his NHL debut on Dec. 7 against Nashville and earned his first NHL point with an assist on Feb. 6 against Winnipeg. Wey appeared in 28 games with Hershey this season, registering six points (one goal, five assists) and 26 penalty minutes.
Call up / Send down
The Flames have sent Corban Knight back to Abbotsford (AHL)
Knight recorded one goal in seven games with the Flames, but will now return to the AHL where he has collected 37 points (14G / 23A) in 57 games.
Call up / Send down
Garrett Wilson has been recalled from the San Antonio Rampage (AHL).
Wilson, 23, has appeared in 60 games for San Antonio this season, collecting 24 points (12G / 12A) and 45 penalty minutes. He has played in 97 career AHL game over three seasons with the Rampage (2011-14), recording 30 points (16G / 14A) and 66 penalty minutes. Wilson has yet to appear in an NHL game.
Call up / Send down
The Ducks have recalled Sami Vatanen from Norfolk (AHL).
Vatanen has 14 points (6G / 8A) in 41 games with the Ducks this season. While in Norfolk he had two goals and five assists in eight games, but has been dealing with a lower-body injury as of late.
Call up / Send down
The Red Wings have recalled Landon Ferraro from Grand Rapids (AHL) on an emergency basis.
Justin Abdelkader was injured in Sunday's loss to the Blackhawks, so Ferraro has been recalled and will likely dress on Tuesday vs. Toronto. Ferraro, 22, is the son of former NHLer and current TSN broadcaster Ray Ferraro. He has 13 goals and 15 assists (28 points) in 60 games with Grand Rapids this season. Should he be in the lineup tomorrow, it would be his NHL debut.
Call up / Send down
The Canadiens have assigned forward Michael Bournival to Hamilton (AHL) for conditioning.
Bournival has not played since February 8 because of a concussion. He will play a couple of games with Hamilton this week before retuning to Montreal. He has 13 points (6G / 7A) in 50 games this season.
Call up / Send down
The Stars have reassigned goaltender Cristopher Nilstorp to the Texas Stars (AHL).
Nilstorp, 30, stopped 14 of 17 shots after replacing Tim Thomas in last night's loss to the Jets. His return to the AHL suggests that Kari Lehtonen (concussion) is ready to return to action.
Call up / Send down
The Blues recalled forward Dmitrij Jaskin from the AHL on an emergency basis.
Vlad Tarasenko will miss six weeks due to hand surgery, so Jaskin has been recalled to round out the Blues roster. Jaskin has one goal and one assist in nine games with the blues this season.
Call up / Send down
The Sabres have reclled Nathan Lieuwen from Rochester on an emergency basis.
It's the first time the 22-year-old has been summoned to the NHL. The emergency basis means either Jhonas Enroth or Michal Neuvirth is sick or injured. Lieuwen has excelled with the Amerks this season. The organization originally expected him to merely compete with Connor Knapp for the backup job, but he's wrestled the starting role away from Matt Hackett. Lieuwen, drafted in the sixth round in 2011, has appeared in 32 games with a 17-11-2 record, 2.34 GAA and .922 SV%.
Call up / Send down
The Jets have recalled Patrice Cormier from St. John's (AHL).
Cormier has six goals and 15 assists (21 points) with 89 penalty minutes in 54 games in the AHL this season. He could suit up for his fourth game with the Jets tonight.
Call up / Send down
The Red Wings have recalled Jordin Tootoo from Grand Rapids (AHL).
Tootoo has four goals and 10 assists (14 points) with 74 penalty minutes in 38 games with Grand Rapids this season. He will suit up for his 11th game with the Red Wings on Sunday.
Call up / Send down
The Jets have have recalled goaltender Michael Hutchinson from the St. John’s IceCaps (AHL).
Hutchinson, 24, has played in 22 games with the IceCaps this season for a 15-5-1 record, 2.33 GAA and .923 SV%. He has played in 109 career AHL games, between Providence and St. John’s, for a 54-42-4 career record.
Call up / Send down
The Maple Leafs have recalled Drew MacIntyre from Toronto (AHL).
MacInyre's recall suggests that Jonathan Bernier will not suit up on Sunday vs. the Capitals. MacIntyre is 25-15-3 with a 2.47 GAA and .919 SV% with the Marlies this season. Look for James Reimer to start tomorrow.
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.