Call up / Send down
Galiardi has cleared waivers and the Jets have reassigned him to St. John’s (AHL).
Galiardi has scored just one goal in 26 games with the Jets this season. He heads back to the AHL for the first time since 2010-11.
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NHL Transactions & Roster Moves
Call up / Send down
The Avalanche have recalled Stefan Elliott from Lake Erie (AHL).
Elliott, 24, has recorded 12 goals and 14 assists (26 points) in 40 games with Lake Erie. Today he turns 24 today, but likely won’t be in the lineup tonight vs. the Predators. He has 18 points (6G / 12A) in 58 career NHL games.
Call up / Send down
The Blues have recalled Ty Rattie from Chicago (AHL).
With Patrik Berglund and Jori Lehtera going down last night, the Blues had just 11 healthy forwards, so they have recalled Rattie and he will be in the lineup tonight vs. Carolina. Rattie has 17 goals and 11 assists (28 points) in 43 games with Chicago.
The Blue Jackets have sent Josh Anderson back to Springfield (AHL).
Anderson, 20, recorded one assist in six games with the Blue Jackets. He heads back to the AHL to make room for Ryan Murray to be activated from IR. He has 11 points (4G / 7A) in 39 games with Springfield (AHL).
Call up / Send down
The Bruins have recalled Malcolm Subban from Providence (AHL).
Niklas Svedberg has not started a game since January 8th, so he will go to Providence to play a few games this weekend, while Subban will likely serve as Tuukka Rask’s backup on Saturday before returning to the AHL next week. Subban is 9-10-2 with a 2.47 GAA and .921 SV% with Providence.
Call up / Send down
The Bruins have sent Niklas Svedberg to Providence (AHL) on a conditioning stint.
Svedberg has not played in an NHL game since January 8th, so he has been sent to Providence to get in a few games this weekend and will likely return to the Bruins next week.
Call up / Send down
The Islanders recalled Colin McDonald from Bridgeport (AHL) on an emergency basis.
McDonald’s recall suggests that one of the Islanders forwards was injured last night and their status for Saturday’s game is uncertain. McDonald, who has just 36 points (16G / 20A) in 124 career NHL games, leads Bridgeport in points with 34 (14G / 20A) in 38 games.
Call up / Send down
The Sharks recalled Daniil Tarasov from Worcester (AHL).
Tarasov, 23, has registered 10 goals and 15 assists (25 points) in 41 games with Worcester. With Tyler Kennedy out, Tarasov has been recalled and could make his NHL debut during his call-up.
Call up / Send down
The Wild have recalled Mathew Dumba from Iowa (AHL); expected to play vs. the Flames.
Dumba, 20, who played his junior hockey in Red Deer, Alberta, is expected to play tonight in nearby Calgary. Dumba has five points (2G / 3A) in 23 games with Minnesota. With his time in Iowa, he has collected 14 points (5G / 9A) in 20 games.
Call up / Send down
The Senators have recalled Andrew Hammond from Binghamton (AHL) on an emergency basis.
Craig Anderson is out with a hand injury, so Hammond has been called up to serve as Robin Lehner’s backup tonight vs. the Stars. Hammond is 7-13-2 with a 3.51 GAA and .898 SV% with Binghamton this season.
Call up / Send down
The Panthers recalled Alex Petrovic from San Antonio (AHL) on Wednesday.
Petrovic, 22, leads all San Antonio defensemen in points with 19 (3G / 16A) in 39 games. He has yet to play with the Panthers this season, but has one assist in 13 career games over the last two years.
Call up / Send down
The Maple Leafs have reassigned Josh Leivo to Toronto (AHL).
Leivo was a healthy scratch on Wednesday and with Leo Komarov and Peter Holland back in the lineup, Leivo wasn’t getting in the lineup anytime soon.
Call up / Send down
Kennedy (lower-body) will not play on Thursday.
Kennedy skated on Tuesday in the Sharks’ first practice after the All-Star break, but was not on the ice on Wednesday. “He skated well yesterday, and was sore after,” Coach McLellan said. The Sharks have yet to determine if a player will be recalled from Worcester,
Call up / Send down
The Stars have sent Jyrki Jokipakka back to Texas (AHL).
Jokipakka did not get into the lineup on Tuesday, so as the eighth defenseman, the Stars have reassigned him to Texas.
Call up / Send down
The Coyotes recalled Brendan Shinnimin from Portland (AHL).
Shinnimin has appeared in two games with the Coyotes this season. The 5-foot-10, 185-pound forward has also registered nine goals and 16 assists (25 points) and 45 penalty minutes in 40 games with the Pirates.
Call up / Send down
The Canadiens recalled Gabriel Dumont from Hamilton (AHL) on Tuesday.
Dumont, 24, has registered 12 goals and 15 assists (27 points) in 40 games with Hamilton this season. He has one goal and twi assists in 15 career NHL games. He skated as the extra forward in Habs practice on Wednesday, so don’t expect him to be in the lineup on Thursday.
Call up / Send down
The Flyers have sent Rob Zepp back to Lehigh Valley (AHL).
Zepp, 33, was 3-1-0 with a 2.92 GAA and .889 SV% in his time with the Flyers. With Steve Mason back from his knee injury, Zepp has been reassigned to Lehigh Valley, where he is 11-5–4 with a 2.57 GAA and .921 SV% this season.
Call up / Send down
Richards will report to Manchester (AHL) on Wednesday.
Richards, who cleared waivers this afternoon, will be sent to Manchester tomorrow. The $5.725M centre will give the Kings $925K of cap-relief by reporting to the minors. He had 15 points (7G / 8A) in 14 AHL playoff games back in 2004-05, his only AHL action of his career.
Call up / Send down
The Sharks have recalled Mirco Mueller from Worcester (AHL).
Mueller, 19, was sent down to play a few AHL games during the All Star break. He has one goal in three games in Worcester and three points (1G / 2A) in 24 games with San Jose.
Call up / Send down
The Sharks have recalled Barclay Goodrow from Worcester (AHL).
Goodrow, 21, was sent down during the All Star break, but is back and will likely be in the lineup on Thursday vs. the Ducks. He has two goals and five assists (7 points) in 31 games with the Sharks 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.