The Blues have reassigned Jake Neighbours to Springfield (AHL).
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NHL Transactions & Roster Moves
Austin Czarnik has been recalled from the Grand Rapids Griffins (AHL).
Czarnik will head back to Detroit from Grand Rapids (AHL) where he enjoyed a strong opening to the season with 14 points (6G/8A) in 12 games played. In his brief stint with the Red Wings, he was solid, picking up a goal off four SOG in four games while averaging only 11:50 in a bottom-six role.
Tyler Madden has been recalled from Ontario (AHL).
Madden scored five goals and three assists with four PIMs through 16 games with Ontario (AHL) prior to being promoted to the NHL Thursday. If Madden cracks the Kings' lineup it will be the 23-year-olds NHL debut.
Phoenix Copley (G) has been recalled from Ontario (AHL) and will back up Jonathan Quick Thursday.
Copley has been recalled from Ontario (AHL) to replace Cal Peterson, who was waived on Wednesday. Copley has enjoyed a strong season in the minors, with a 6-4-2 record, a 2.48 GAA and a .913 SV%. He will back-up Jonathan Quick on Thursday.
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Nico Daws has been returned to Utica (AHL).
Daws did not see any action as he backed up Vitek Vanecek for a game and will head back to Utica (AHL) after being reassigned there Thursday. Prior to his promotion, the 22-year-old netminder had a 3-4-1 record, a .906 SV% and a 2.46 GAA. He played in 25 games with the Devils last season, struggling with a .893 SV% and 3.11 GAA.
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Magnus Hellberg has been assigned to the Grand Rapids Griffins (AHL) for conditioning.
Detroit was Hellberg's third NHL team this season after playing one game between both Ottawa and Seattle where he won after stopping 29 of 31 shots (.935 SV%). The 31-year-old veteran has six career NHL games and has won three of them. He has been assigned to the Grand Rapids Griffins (AHL) for conditioning.
Daniil Tarasov has been assigned to the Cleveland Monsters (AHL).
Tarasov will head back to the Cleveland Monsters (AHL) after Elvis Merzlikins was activated from the injured reserve (hip) Thursday. Tarasov did a fine job while called up to Columbus, posting a 2-3-1 record with a .912 SV% and 3.17 GAA.
Ian Mitchell has been recalled from the Rockford IceHogs (AHL).
Mitchell has been recalled by the Blackhawks for the second time this season after having a very productive start to the season in Rockford (AHL) where the defenseman had two goals, four assists and a +6 plus/minus through five games. He was pointless with a -4 plus/minus in his two games with Chicago earlier this season when called up the first time.
Call Up
Nikita Zaitsev has been recalled from Belleville (AHL).
Zaitsev will be called up to Ottawa as a depth piece and will likely only be up with the big club for the weekend. The 31-year-old had one assist and six PIMs through seven games earlier in the season prior to being demoted.
Andrej Sustr has been recalled from the Iowa Wild (AHL).
Sustr should serve as the extra defenseman with Jonas Brodin being announced injured Thursday. The 32-year-old had five assists and a +6 plus/minus through 15 games with Iowa (AHL) this season. If he does crack the lineup for the Wild he will build off his 69 points (11G/58A) and 333 SOG through 361 career NHL games played.
Cole Bardreau has been recalled from loan from Bridgeport (AHL).
Bardreau has five goals, four assists and 23 PIMs through 19 games with Bridgeport (AHL) prior to his call-up Thursday. The 29-year-old last played in the NHL in 2019-20 where he played in 10 games, picking up a goal, an assist and 10 SOG through.
Hudson Fasching has been recalled from Bridgeport (AHL).
Fasching earned his call-up as he had seven goals, three assists and 10 PIMs through 18 games with Bridgeport (AHL) prior to the news he had been recalled. The 27-year-old has never played in more than 11 games in a season but has made an NHL appearance in five separate ones, picking up a goal and two assists and a -6 plus/minus across 38 total NHL games played.
The Golden Knights have recalled Daniil Miromanov for Henderson (AHL).
Miromanov will likely serve as an extra defenseman in Pittsburgh, with Alex Pietrangelo sidelined due a personal matter. If Miromanov ends up playing, he will replace Ben Hutton in the lineup.
Erik Kallgren has been loaned to the Toronto Marlies (AHL).
Ilya Samsonov's return from injury means Kallgren will head to the Marlies (AHL) after posting a 3-2-4 record, 2.67 GAA and .898 SV% in 10 GP with the Maple Leafs prior to his demotion. In one game played with the Marlies earlier in the season, he posted a 4.35 GAA and .889 SV%.
Samuel Fagemo will be loaned back to the Ontario Reign (AHL).
Fagemo has been loaned by to Ontario where he posted six goals, two assists and a -7 plus/minus through 15 games with the Reign (AHL). He will hope to head back to Los Angeles where he will look to build off the four career NHL games played with zero points he has in previous seasons if he is called up and makes the lineup again.
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Zane McIntyre has been reassigned to the Iowa Wild (AHL).
McIntrye was called up after Filip Gustavsson was announced out late Sunday but will head back down to Iowa of the AHL. He will head back to Iowa where he has a 4-3-0 record, a .903 SV% and a 3.08 GAA.
Jackson Cates has been reassigned to Lehigh Valley (AHL).
Cates will head back to Lehigh Valley of the AHL after failing to pick up any points and four SOG through five games while averaging very limited minutes with 8:59 ATOI. He heads back to the AHL where he had four goals and seven points in 11 games prior to his previous promotion.
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Lias Andersson has been loaned to the Ontario Reign (AHL).
Andersson will head back to the Ontario Reign (AHL) for the second time this season where he had five goals and nine points in 12 games prior to his callup. In his one game with Los Angeles, he had one shot and 8.37 TOI in limited minutes.
Jordan Spence has been recalled by the Ontario Reign (AHL).
Spence has been having a a very strong season with Ontario (AHL) posting just under a point-per-game with a goal and 15 assists and 14 PIMs through 17 games. Spence played in 24 games with Los Angeles in 2021-22 and had two goals and six assists with 41 SOG.
Samuel Fagemo has been recalled from the Ontario Reign (AHL).
Fagemo has earned the call-up after posting six goals, two assists and a -7 plus/minus through 15 games with the Ontario Reign (AHL). He heads up to Los Angeles where he will look to build off the four career NHL games played with zero points he has in previous seasons.
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.