NHL Hockey Player News

William Lockwood(RW)|FLA
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Lockwood has cleared waivers and been reassigned to Charlotte (AHL).

Amongst the flurry of trades made by Florida during the deadline, William Lockwood was reassigned to Charlotte (AHL) after clearing waivers on Thursday. The 25-year-old offers the Panthers some forward depth in the minors as he had an assist, 19 SOG, 16 PIMs and a +2 plus/minus in 26 games played before being waived.

Source:
Florida Panthers 2024-03-07T22:22:40.272Z
William Lockwood
Hunter Shepard(G)|WAS
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Shepard has been recalled from Hershey (AHL) on Thursday.

With Darcy Kuemper's status for Thursday's game against the Pittsburgh Penguins uncertain due to an illness, the Capitals have recalled Shepard from the Hershey Bears (AHL). Hunter played reasonably in a four-game stint with the Capitals earlier this season but has spent most of his time in the AHL, posting a 2.00 GAA and .919 SV% in 26 games (21-3-2) with the Bears.

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Washington Capitals 2024-03-07T19:33:11.004Z
Hunter Shepard
Adam Beckman(LW)|NYI
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Call Up
Beckman has been recalled from Iowa (AHL) on Thursday.

With Marcus Johansson being placed on IR due to a lower-body injury, Beckman has been recalled from Iowa (AHL). Beckman was Minnesota's 75th overall pick in the 2019 NHL Entry Draft but has been limited to only 12 career NHL games. In 48 games with the Iowa Wild, Beckman has 29 points (16G / 13A).

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Minnesota Wild 2024-03-07T17:14:19.312Z
Adam Beckman
Ondrej Pavel(C)|NSH
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Pavel has been reassigned to the Colorado Eagles (AHL).

Pavel was a late call-up for the Avalanche on Wednesday due to several trades opening up temporary roster spots and played 5:13 time-on-ice in a 7-2 win over the Detroit Red Wings. Pavel is an undrafted forward out of the Czech Republic who made his NHL debut with the Avalanche earlier this season. Pavel has seven points (3G / 4A) in 48 games with the Colorado Eagles (AHL) this season.

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Aarif Deen 2024-03-07T16:02:23.993Z
Ondrej Pavel
Jean-Luc Foudy(C)|COL
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Foudy has been reassigned to the Colorado Eagles (AHL).

Foudy was a late call-up for the Avalanche on Wednesday due to several trades opening up temporary roster spots and scored a goal in a 7-2 win over the Detroit Red Wings while playing 10:54 time-on-ice. Foudy was the 75th overall pick of the Avalanche in the 2020 NHL Entry Draft. In 12 games with the Colorado Eagles (AHL), Foudy has six points (2G / 4A) this season.

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Aarif Deen 2024-03-07T16:00:04.120Z
Jean-Luc Foudy
Sam Gagner(C)|FA
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Gagner has been reassigned to Bakersfield (AHL) after clearing waivers on Wednesday.

The Oilers signed Gagner at the end of October, but he had been a healthy scratch most of the last month and was placed on waivers on Wednesday. The 34-year-old Gagner registered 10 points (5G / 5A) and 48 shots in 27 games this season.

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Edmonton Oilers 2024-03-07T15:21:38.479Z
Sam Gagner
Dylan Holloway(LW)|STL
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Holloway has been loaned to Bakersfield (AHL) on Thursday.

Holloway has struggled to assert himself offensively in the NHL, tallying only four points (3G / 1A) in 32 games with the Oilers this season. With the impending trade deadline approaching, his reassignment to the Bakersfield Condors (AHL) suggests the Oilers could be trying to alleviate cap space ahead to make an acquisition.

Source:
Edmonton Oilers 2024-03-07T15:20:17.541Z
Dylan Holloway
Jean-Luc Foudy(C)|COL
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Foudy has been recalled from the Colorado Eagles (AHL) and is expected to suit up on Wednesday.

Foudy was the 75th overall pick of the Avalanche in the 2020 NHL Entry Draft and is expected to make his season debut on Wednesday against the Detroit Red Wings. In 12 games with the Colorado Eagles (AHL), Foudy has six points (2G / 4A) this season.

Source:
Colorado Avalanche 2024-03-06T20:16:02.823Z
Jean-Luc Foudy
Luke Philp(C)|WAS
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Philp (torn Achilles) has been activated from Injured Reserve and reassigned to Rockford (AHL).

Philp had the potential to make the Blackhawks' opening night roster but was placed on the injured reserve after undergoing Achilles surgery in the offseason. The 27-year-old forward appeared in three games for Chicago in 2022-23 and picked up an assist and two PIMs. He played the majority of last season in Rockford, where he had 29 goals, 53 points and a +17 plus/minus in 60 games played.

Source:
Rockford IceHogs 2024-03-06T19:55:35.170Z
Luke Philp
Maxime Comtois(C)|FA
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Comtois has cleared waivers and been reassigned to the Chicago Wolves (AHL).

Comtois cleared through waivers after signing with the Hurricanes on Monday. The 25-year-old Comtois spent the last five seasons with the Anaheim Ducks, tallying 86 points (38G / 48A), 193 penalty minutes, and 373 hits in 210 games.

Source:
Walt Ruff 2024-03-06T19:55:02.187Z
Maxime Comtois

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.