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NHL Transactions & Roster Moves

Stephen Johns(RD)|
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Send Down
The Stars have loaned Stephen Johns to Texas (AHL) on a conditioning stint.

Johns missed all of last season and the first half of this year with post-traumatic headaches but he's ready to play hockey again. Johns will get his start with Texas, where he'll likely play at least a couple of games before making his season debut with Dallas. The last time he suited up with Texas, he had three goals in two games.

Source:
Dallas Stars 2020-01-08T17:52:35.743Z
Stephen Johns
Kaapo Kahkonen(G)|MTL
Call Up
Call Up
The Wild have recalled Kaapo Kahkonen from Iowa (AHL) under emergency conditions.

There is no word if Devan Dubnyk or Alex Stalock are dealing with injuries but it could be related to the personal reasons that forced Dubnyk to leave the team earlier in the year. The 23-year-old Kahkonen has gone 13-3-1 with a 2.56 GAA and .906 SV% in 17 AHL games this season.

Source:
Jessi Pierce 2020-01-07T15:28:34.303Z
Kaapo Kahkonen
Matt Tennyson(RD)|FA
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Tennyson has cleared waivers, been activated from IR and been assigned to Binghamton (AHL).

Tennyson has been sidelined by an upper-body injury since December 3rd and heads to the AHL with seven healthy defensemen already on the Devils roster. The 29-year-old has three assists in 19 NHL games and no points in one AHL game this season.

Source:
@NJDevils 2020-01-06T17:26:58.566Z
Matt Tennyson
Niko Mikkola(D)|FLA
Call Up
Call Up
The Blues have recalled Niko Mikkola from San Antonio (AHL).

Mikkola was a fifth-round pick of the Blues in n2015 and this is his first career call-up. The 23-year-old Finnish defenseman has registered two goals and nine assists (11 points) in 30 games this season, his second professional season in North America.

Source:
Jim Thomas 2020-01-06T16:59:16.160Z
Niko Mikkola
Thomas Di Pauli(C)|FA
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The Penguins have reassigned Thomas Di Pauli to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (AHL).

Di Pauli made his NHL debut on Saturday and played again on Sunday but will switch places with Andrew Agozzino and head back to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, where he has six goals and six assists (12 points) in 22 games.

Source:
@penguins 2020-01-06T16:25:07.913Z
Thomas Di Pauli
Andrew Agozzino(LW)|UTA
Call Up
Call Up
The Penguins have recalled Andrew Agozzino from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (AHL).

Agozzino takes the place of Thomas Di Pauli, who played in his first two NHL games last week. Agozzino has been Wilkes-Barre/Scranton best offensive weapon this season, scoring a team-leading 14 goals and 31 points in 35 games.

Source:
@penguins 2020-01-06T16:23:52.325Z
Andrew Agozzino
Igor Shesterkin(G)|NYR
Call Up
Call Up
The Rangers have recalled Igor Shesterkin from Hartford (AHL).

Shesterkin is the Rangers' top goalie prospect and one of the best goalie prospects in the entire NHL. The 24-year-old was a fourth-round pick in 2014 and came over to North America this year. He has dominated at the AHL-level, going 15-4-3 with a 1.93 GAA and .932 SV% and deserves a look at the NHL-level. He had ridiculous numbers in the KHL over the last three seasons, never having a GAA over 1.69 and while posting a .940 SV% and winning 71 of 95 games.

Source:
@NYRangers 2020-01-06T15:18:50.543Z
Igor Shesterkin
Ivan Prosvetov(G)|CGY
Call Up
Call Up
The Coyotes have recalled Ivan Prosvetov from Tucson (AHL).

Prosvetov was a fourth-round pick in 2018 and has gone 11-3-0 with a 2.38 GAA and .931 SV% in his first season with Tucson. Prosvetov was called up because Antti Raanta was hurt on Saturday, so he'll serve as the No.2 option behind Adin Hill while Raanta and Darcy Kuemper are sidelined.

Source:
Arizona Coyotes 2020-01-05T17:06:47.839Z
Ivan Prosvetov
Ben Street(RW)|FA
Call Up
Call Up
Street was called up from Binghamton (AHL) and will make his Devils debut on Saturday.

Street has been a terrific point producer at the AHL-level throughout his career but has just eight points (3G / 5A) in 56 career NHL games with the Flames, Avalanche, Red Wings and Ducks. In his first year with the Devils, Street leads Binghamton with 33 points (13G / 20A) in 33 games. He will centre the third line with Jesper Bratt out with an undisclosed injury on Saturday.

Source:
Abbey Mastracco 2020-01-04T16:16:03.600Z
Ben Street

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.