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NHL Transactions & Roster Moves

Bryan Rust(RW)|PIT
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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.

Source:
Josh Yohe 2014-12-05T10:06:22.000Z
Bryan Rust
Adam Clendening(D)|FA
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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.

Source:
Scott King 2014-12-04T17:57:18.000Z
Adam Clendening
Klas Dahlbeck(LD)|
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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.

Source:
Scott King 2014-12-04T17:55:32.000Z
Klas Dahlbeck
Anders Lindback(G)|
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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.

Source:
Mark Stepneski 2014-12-04T14:42:33.000Z
Anders Lindback
Julien Brouillette(D)|FA
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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.

Source:
Winnipeg Jets 2014-12-04T14:40:38.000Z
Julien Brouillette
Petteri Lindbohm(D)|FA
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Call up / Send down
The Blues recalled Petteri Lindbohm from Chicago (AHL).

Lindbohm was sent down on Monday, mostly because the Blues were expecting to have Jay Bouwmeester back last night vs. Chicago. With Bouwmeester out, another defenseman may have suffered an injury last night and Lindbohm could be in tonight vs. the Predators.

Source:
Lou Korac 2014-12-04T12:26:01.000Z
Petteri Lindbohm
Michael Bournival(LW)|
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Call up / Send down
The Canadiens have sent Michael Bournival back to Hamilton (AHL).

Bournival has been sidelined with a shoulder injury since November 5th, so the Habs have sent him back to the AHL to get three games in over the weekend. Expect him to be recalled next week and return to the lineup soon.

Source:
Amanda Stein 2014-12-04T12:17:45.000Z
Michael Bournival
Vladislav Namestnikov(C)|WPG
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Call up / Send down
The Lightning have sent Vladislav Namestnikov back to Syracuse (AHL).

Namestnikov, 22, has skated in 23 games with the Lightning this season, posting three goals and seven points to go along with four penalty minutes. He recorded his first career NHL goal and assist on October 13 against the Montreal Canadiens. Namestnikov has played in 27 career NHL games, all with the Lightning over the past two seasons.

Source:
Tampa Bay Lightning 2014-12-04T11:37:48.000Z
Vladislav Namestnikov
Drew MacIntyre(G)|
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Call up / Send down
The Hurricanes have recalled Drew MacIntyre from Charlotte (AHL) on an emergency basis.

MacIntyre, 31, has posted a 6-8-1 record, a 2.82 GAA and a .909 SV% in 15 games with Charlotte this season. He has been recalled to serve as Anton Khudobin’s backup tonight, because Cam Ward (undisclosed) is not expected to be available.

Source:
Ken Preston 2014-12-04T10:48:26.000Z
Drew MacIntyre
Karl Stollery(D)|
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Call up / Send down
The Avalanche recalled Karl Stollery from Lake Erie (AHL).

The Avalanche are extremely banged up right now and they will dress 11 forwards and seven defensemen on Thursday vs. Calgary. Nick Holden will play as a forward, which leaves Stollery to draw in on the third pairing.

Source:
Nick Groke 2014-12-03T15:19:57.000Z
Karl Stollery
Corban Knight(C)|
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Call up / Send down
The Flames have assigned Corban Knight to Adirondack (AHL).

Knight appeared in two games during his recall but served as a healthy scratch in each of the Flames last three games. With Matt Stajan ready to return from a knee injury, Knight had to be sent back to the AHL.

Source:
Calgary Flames 2014-12-03T12:46:12.000Z
Corban Knight
Jussi Rynnas(G)|
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Call up / Send down
The Stars have recalled Jussi Rynnas from Texas (AHL).

The Stars have placed Anders Lindback on waivers and recalled Rynnas to be Kari Lehtonen’s backup. Rynnas has posted a 5-1-4 record with a 2.58 GAA and .913 SV% in Texas. He has three career NHL appearances.

Source:
Mike Heika 2014-12-03T12:21:19.000Z
Jussi Rynnas
Griffin Reinhart(D)|
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Call up / Send down
The Islanders have recalled Griffin Reinhart from Bridgeport (AHL).

The Isles placed Johnny Boychuk and Lubomir Visnovsky on IR to make room to call Reinhart. Reinhart, 20, has two goals and six assists in 15 games with Bridgeport this season. He has no points in three career games with the Islanders.

Source:
New York Islanders 2014-12-03T11:00:08.000Z
Griffin Reinhart

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.