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NHL Transactions & Roster Moves

Andrew Campbell(D)|FA
Call up / Send down
Call up / Send down
The Coyotes recalled Andrew Campbell from Portland (AHL) on Monday.

Campbell, 26, got the call-up before Brandon Gormley and Philip Samuelsson following the All Star break because he has played better in Portland recently according to coach Dave Tippett. Campbell has 12 points (3G / 9A) in 40 games with Portland.

Source:
Sarah McLellan 2015-01-27T09:14:05.000Z
Andrew Campbell
Marek Mazanec(G)|
Call up / Send down
Call up / Send down
The Predators recalled Marek Mazanec from Milwaukee (AHL).

Mazanec allowed two goals on 20 shots after coming in for Carter Hutton in his only NHL appearance this season. He got in some work with Milwaukee during the All Star break, but is ready to pick things up as the Preds’ number-2, starting Tuesday vs. Colorado.

Source:
Brooks Bratten 2015-01-27T08:37:34.000Z
Marek Mazanec
Scott Wilson(C)|FA
Call up / Send down
Call up / Send down
The Penguins recalled Scott Wilson from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (AHL).

Wilson has been out with a lower-body injury since early December that he suffered in his NHL debut. He has 19 points (8G / 11A) in 26 games with WBS this year. He could be back in the lineup tonight vs. the Jets after skating on the third line in practice yesterday.

Source:
Seth Rorabaugh 2015-01-27T08:31:44.000Z
Scott Wilson
Scott Harrington(D)|FA
Call up / Send down
Call up / Send down
The Penguins recalled Scott Harrington from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (AHL).

Harrington appeared in three of the Penguins final four games before the All Star break. Overall he has no points and a minus-9 rating in nine games with Pittsburgh this season. Look for him to be paired with Rob Scuderi tonight vs. the Jets.

Source:
Seth Rorabaugh 2015-01-27T08:29:38.000Z
Scott Harrington
Bryan Rust(RW)|PIT
Call up / Send down
Call up / Send down
The Penguins recalled Bryan Rust from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (AHL).

Rust, 22, has a goal and one assist in 14 games with the Penguins this season. In his time with WBS, he has registered 10 goals and five assists in 28 games. He skated on the Penguins fourth line in practice on Monday, so there is a chance he does not play on Tuesday.

Source:
Seth Rorabaugh 2015-01-27T08:27:16.000Z
Bryan Rust
Nick Shore(C)|FA
Call up / Send down
Call up / Send down
The Kings have recalled Nick Shore from Manchester (AHL).

Shore had one assist in three games with the Kings before the All Star break. The Kings placed Mike Richards on waivers this morning which suggests that Shore’s call-up will be permanent this time around. He has 42 points (20G / 22A) in 38 games with Manchester this season.

Source:
Manchester Monarchs 2015-01-26T19:48:19.000Z
Nick Shore
Matt Ellis(LW)|
Call up / Send down
Call up / Send down
The Sabres have recalled Matt Ellis from Rochester (AHL).

Ellis will join the Sabres for his second recall of the 2014-15 season after appearing in four NHL games leading up to the All-Star break. In parts of nine NHL seasons with the Sabres, Los Angeles Kings and Detroit Red Wings, Ellis has appeared in 321 games and recorded 47 points (20G / 27A).

Source:
Kevin Snow 2015-01-26T19:43:43.000Z
Matt Ellis
Matthew Hackett(G)|FA
Call up / Send down
Call up / Send down
The Sabres have recalled Matt Hackett from Rochester (AHL).

Hackett who began the season on injured reserve with the Sabres, returns to Buffalo after joining the Americans before the AHL All-Star break in January for his first three starts of the season, going 1-2-0 with a 3.10 GAA and .886 SV%. He has been recalled because Michal Neuvirth is out with a lower-body injury.

Source:
Kevin Snow 2015-01-26T19:41:48.000Z
Matthew Hackett
Reto Berra(G)|FA
Call up / Send down
Call up / Send down
The Avalanche have recalled Reto Berra from Lake Erie (AHL).

Berra was with Lake Erie on a conditioning stint, where he went 3-1-1 with a 2.57 GAA and .914 SV% in five games. He will serve as Semyon Varlamov’s backup—he is 2-2-1 with a 3.57 GAA and .882 SV% with the Avalanche this season.

Source:
@Avalanche 2015-01-26T19:20:46.000Z
Reto Berra
Petter Granberg(D)|
Call up / Send down
Call up / Send down
The Maple Leafs recalled Petter Granberg from Toronto (AHL).

Granberg, 22, is a 6-foot-3, 200 lbs. blue liner who has seven points (1G / 6A) in 28 games with the Marlies this season. He was held off of the scoresheet in his only NHL game with the Leafs last season.

Source:
James Mirtle 2015-01-26T13:58:57.000Z
Petter Granberg
David Wolf(LW)|
Call up / Send down
Call up / Send down
The Flames have recalled David Wolf from Adirondack (AHL).

Wolf, 25, is a 6-foot-2, 216 lbs. forward who is in his first season in North American. The German winger has scored 12 goals and nine assists (21 points) in 35 games with Adirondack this season. He could make his NHL debut on Tuesday vs. Buffalo.

Source:
Wes Gilbertson 2015-01-26T13:54:14.000Z
David Wolf

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.