NHL Transactions & Roster Moves

Samuel Honzek(C)|CAL
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Honzek has been reassinged to the Calgary Wranglers (AHL).

The 19-year-old Slovak was the 16th overall pick of the Flames in the 2023 NHL Entry Draft. In five games this season, Honzek has zero points, six shots, and six hits while averaging 12:24 time-on-ice. In a corresponding move, the Flames recalled Matt Coronato from the Calgary Wranglers (AHL).

Source:
Pat Steinberg 2024-10-31T21:56:22.570Z
Samuel Honzek
Matt Coronato(RW)|CAL
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Coronato has been recalled from Calgary (AHL).

Coronato played five games with the Flames earlier this season, scoring two points (2G / 0A), and will likely draw back into their lineup after Samuel Honzek was reassigned to the Calgary Wranglers (AHL). Coronato was the 13th overall pick of the Flames in the 2021 NHL Entry Draft and had an excellent 2023-24 campaign with the Wranglers, scoring 42 points (15G / 27A) in 41 games.

Source:
Pat Steinberg 2024-10-31T21:57:48.260Z
Matt Coronato
Arshdeep Bains(LW)|VAN
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Bains has been reassigned to Abbotsford (AHL).

Bains recorded his first career NHL goal on Saturday and has been impressive in Vancouver this season but continues to be a part of paper transactions sending him back to Abbotsford (AHL) due to salary cap implications. Last season with Abbotsford (AHL), Bains was an offensive stalwart, producing 55 points (16G / 39A) in 59 games, but the 23-year-old has played exclusively at the NHL level this season.

Source:
Vancouver Canucks 2024-10-31T17:36:21.773Z
Arshdeep Bains
Austin Watson(LW)|DET
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Watson has been reassigned to Grand Rapids (AHL).

Watson played his second game of the season on Wednesday, filling in for Vladimir Tarasenko (illness), playing 9:06 time-on-ice, recording four hits and a -1 plus/minus. Watson had a one-game stint with the Red Wings earlier this season but has spent most of the 2024-25 campaign in the AHL, scoring six points (0G / 6A) in seven games with the Grand Rapids Griffins.

Source:
Detroit Red Wings 2024-10-31T15:37:35.547Z
Austin Watson
Vasily Ponomarev(C)|PIT
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Ponomarev has been activated from Injured//Non-Roster and assigned to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (AHL).

Ponomarev was the 53rd overall pick of the Carolina Hurricanes in the 2020 NHL Draft. The 22-year-old had a two-game stint with the Hurricanes in the 2022-23 season, scoring two points (1G / 1A), but has predominantly been an AHL player so far in his career.

Source:
Pittsburgh Penguins 2024-10-31T14:35:40.681Z
Vasily Ponomarev
Austin Watson(LW)|DET
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Watson has been recalled from Grand Rapids (AHL) under emergency conditions.

Watson had a one-game stint with the Red Wings earlier this season but has spent most of the 2024-25 campaign in the AHL, scoring six points (0G / 6A) in seven games with the Grand Rapids Griffins. The 32-year-old Watson had 118 points (60G / 58A) in 516 career NHL games and could draw into the Red Wings lineup on Wednesday if Vladimir Tarasenko (illness) is not able to play.

Source:
Detroit Red Wings 2024-10-30T19:04:28.303Z
Austin Watson
Graeme Clarke(RW)|MIN
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Clarke has cleared waivers and been assigned to Iowa (AHL).

Clarke was a third-round pick, 80th overall, of the New Jersey Devils in the 2019 NHL Entry Draft. The 23-year-old has three games of NHL experience but has primarily played in the AHL, most recently scoring 49 points (25G / 24A) in 67 games with the Utica Comets last season.

Source:
Puck Pedia 2024-10-30T18:59:24.834Z
Graeme Clarke
Marc Del Gaizo(D)|FA
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Del Gaizo has been recalled from Milwaukee (AHL).

Del Gaizo has played three games with the Predators this season, splitting time with the Milwaukee Admirals (AHL). The 25-year-old has predominantly played in the AHL since being drafted in the fourth-round by the Predators in the 2019 NHL Entry Draft, including a 34 point campaign (8G / 26A) in 60 games with Milwaukee last season.

Source:
Nashville Predators 2024-10-30T16:10:27.485Z
Marc Del Gaizo
Adam Gaudette(RW)|FA
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Gaudette has been loaned to the Belleville Senators (AHL).

Gaudette has been in Ottawa's lineup for all but one game this season but has regularly been a part of paper transactions, assigning him to Belleville (AHL) for salary cap implications. The 28-year-old Gaudette has been productive for Ottawa lately, with two two-goal games in his last three contests.

Source:
Sens Communications 2024-10-30T14:42:53.381Z
Adam Gaudette
T.J. Tynan(C)|FA
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Tynan has been recalled from the Colorado Eagles (AHL).

Tynan has been recalled from the Eagles (AHL) as a result of a Miles Wood (undisclosed) injury that will prevent him from playing on Wednesday night. The 32-year-old Tynan has 21 games of NHL experience but has not played in the NHL since a two-game stint with the Los Angeles Kings in the 2021-22 season. Tynan has four points (0G / 4A) in six games with the Eagles this season.

Source:
Evan Rawal 2024-10-30T14:21:23.034Z
T.J. Tynan
Noah Philp(C)|EDM
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Philp has been recalled from Bakersfield (AHL).

With Connor McDavid's status uncertain after suffering a lower-body injury on Monday, the Oilers have recalled Drake Caggiula and Noah Philp from the Bakersfield Condors (AHL). The 26-year-old Philp has spent the last three seasons in Bakersfield awaiting his NHL debut. Philp has three points (2G / 1A) in six games with Bakersfield this season.

Source:
Elliotte Friedman 2024-10-29T20:47:29.256Z
Noah Philp
Drake Caggiula(LW)|FA
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Caggiula has been recalled from Bakersfield (AHL).

With Connor McDavid's status uncertain after suffering a lower-body injury on Monday, the Oilers have recalled Drake Caggiula and Noah Philp from the Bakersfield Condors (AHL). The 30-year-old Caggiula has 282 games of NHL experience but has played exclusively in the AHL since a four-game stint with the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 2022-23 season. Caggiula has five points (2G / 3A) in five games with Bakersfield this season.

Source:
Elliotte Friedman 2024-10-29T20:46:13.946Z
Drake Caggiula
Gabriel Fortier(LW)|FA
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Fortier has cleared waivers and been assigned to Syracuse (AHL).

Fortier was a second-round pick of the Tampa Bay Lightning in the 2018 NHL Entry Draft. The 24-year-old has 11 games of NHL experience but has not played since the 2022-23 season. He spent the entirety of the 2023-24 campaign with the Syracuse Crunch (AHL), tallying 26 points (13G / 13A) in 62 games.

Source:
Syracuse Crunch 2024-10-29T19:33:23.925Z
Gabriel Fortier
Adam Jiříček(D)|STL
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Jiricek has been re-assigned to Brantford (OHL) for the remainder of the 2024-25 season.

Jiricek was the 16th overall selection of the Blues in the 2024 NHL Entry Draft and will spent the 2024-25 season with the Brantford Bulldogs (OHL). The 18-year-old defenseman had three points (0G / 3A) in 31 games with Plzen HC (Czech) over the past two seasons.

Source:
Brantford Bulldogs 2024-10-29T17:21:56.289Z
Adam Jiříček

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.