Call up / Send down
The Golden Knights have sent Dylan Ferguson to Kamloops (WHL).
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NHL Transactions & Roster Moves
Call up / Send down
The Red Wings have recalled Brian Lashoff from Grand Rapids (AHL).
Lashoff has been recalled because Trevor Daley (upper-body) is questionable to play on Friday and Danny DeKeyser is still recovering from an ankle injury. The 6-foot-3, 221 lbs. defenseman has just one goal and one assist in 13 AHL games this season, so he doesn’t bring any daily fantasy appeal to tonight’s two-game slate.
Call up / Send down
The Avalanche have sent Tyson Jost (lower-body) to San Antonio (AHL).
Call up / Send down
The Kings have recalled Jonny Brodzinski from Ontario (AHL).
Call up / Send down
The Sabres have recalled Casey Nelson from Rochester (AHL).
Nelson has one goal and three assists in 14 games with the Americans this season. The 25-year-old defenseman has four assists in 18 career NHL games and could make his season debut in Detroit on Friday.
Call up / Send down
The Sabres have recalled Kyle Criscuolo from Rochester (AHL).
Criscuolo has registered 11 points (5G / 6A) in 14 AHL games this season. This is his first year in the Sabres organization after a few years with the Red Wings. Criscuolo could make his NHL debut Friday in Detroit.
Call up / Send down
The Senators have recalled Nick Paul from Belleville (AHL).
Paul was sent back to Belleville after the Senators got home from Sweden because they had four days off. On Wednesday the Senators skated with 11 forwards and seven defensemen, but Paul’s call-up suggests that he may play and Chris Wideman will be a healthy scratch. The 22-year-old has five assists in 12 AHL games this season and five points (2G / 3A) in 26 career NHL games.
Call up / Send down
The Predators have recalled Anders Lindback from Milwaukee (AHL).
Lindback has gone 8-3-0 with a 2.46 GAA and .918 SV% in 11 starts with Milwaukee this season. With Juuse Saros struggling with the Predators, Lindback comes up to serve as the Predators’ No.2 netminder for the time being. The 29-year-old has a 2.87 GAA and .904 SV% in 130 career NHL games.
Call up / Send down
The Predators have assigned Juuse Saros to Milwaukee (AHL).
It looked like Saros would have a chance to carve out a nice role this season after going 10-8-3 with a 2.35 GAA and .923 SV% last year. This year did not start well, with the 22-year-old going 1-3-0 with a 3.94 GAA and .855 SV% in his first four starts. Anders Lindback has been recalled to serve as the Predators No.2 netminder.
Call up / Send down
The Avalanche have sent Rocco Grimaldi to San Antonio (AHL).
Grimaldi picked up one goal and two assists in five games with the Avalanche during his call-up, but he will swap placed with Vladislav Kamenev and head back to San Antonio and await another opportunity.
Call up / Send down
The Avalanche have recalled Vladislav Kamenev from San Antonio (AHL).
Kamenev, 21, was acquired in the Matt Duchene traded and has picked up four assists in four games with San Antonio since, bringing his season total to 12 points (3G / 8A) in 14 AHL games. Kamenev will likely make his Avalanche debut Thursday vs. the Capitals—he will skate with Sven Andrighetto and Nail Yakupov.
Call up / Send down
The Flames have recalled Jon Gillies from Stockton (AHL).
Gillies, 23, accompanied the team to Detroit and is expected to serve as Eddie Lack’s backup with Mike Smith (undisclosed) out. Gillies has gone 4-3-1 with a 2.50 GAA and .918 SV% in eight AHL games this season.
Call up / Send down
The Kings have recalled Andrew Crescenzi from Ontario (AHL).
This is Crescenzi’s first NHL call-up but he heads to the Kings with just two goals and one assist in 11 AHL games. Crescenzi is considered a solid two-way forward, so don’t expect him to bring any offence or fantasy relevance to the table.
Call up / Send down
The Blues have sent Beau Bennett to Chicago (AHL).
Bennett got into the Blues lineup on Monday and got to play with Jaden Schwartz and Brayden Schenn, but only recorded just one shot in 12:19 TOI. With Bennett now in the AHL, look for Magnus Paajarvi to draw back in on Thursday.
Call up / Send down
The Panthers recalled Curtis Valk from Springfield (AHL) on Monday.
Valk, 24, is an undrafted free agent who is expected to make his NHL debut on Tuesday after recording six goals and nine assists (15 points) in 16 games with the Thunderbirds. Valk is expected to make his debut on the fourth line with Connor Brickley and Michael Haley.
Call up / Send down
The Maple Leafs have sent Frederik Gauthier to Toronto (AHL).
Nikita Soshnikov had to be recalled by today according to a clause in his contract so Gauthier is the victim of a numbers game and returns to the Marlies having not appeared in an NHL game during his call-up—he has two assists in eight games with the Marlies.
Call up / Send down
The Maple Leafs have recalled Nikita Soshnikov from Toronto (AHL).
Soshnikov had to be recalled today by the latest or he was eligible to return to the KHL according to a clause in his contract. The 24-year-old also earned a call-up by recording five goals and seven assists (12 points) in 14 games with the Marlies. Soshnikov has seven goals and seven assists (14 points) in 67 career games with the Maple Leafs.
Call up / Send down
The Jets have assigned Brendan Lemieux to Manitoba (AHL).
With Mathieu Perreault set to return in the near future, Lemieux returns to Manitoba where he has registered three goals and two assists (five points) in four games this season. The 21-year-old had one goal in seven games during his call-up.
Call up / Send down
The Senators have assigned Ben Harpur to Belleville (AHL).
Harpur was a minus-1 with one blocked shot during two games during the Senators Global Series in Sweden. With Mark Borowiecki ready to return to the lineup on Thursday, Harpur returns to Belleville where he has no points and 13 PIMS in three games.
Call up / Send down
The Senators have assigned Jack Rodewald to Belleville (AHL).
Rodewald failed to record a point while averaging 7:18 TOI/GM in four games with the Senators. With Bobby Ryan ready to return on Thursday, Rodewald returns to Belleville where he has three goals and one assist in five games this season.
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.