Call up / Send down
The Ducks have recalled Sami Vatanen from Norfolk (AHL).
Vatanen registered 14 points (6G / 8A) in 39 games with the Ducks this season. He had one goal and five assists in six games while he was with Norfolk.
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NHL Transactions & Roster Moves
Call up / Send down
The Calgary Flames announced today that they have recalled goaltender Joni Ortio from the Abbotsford Heat (AHL).
Ortio has played 25 games with Abbotsford this season. He is top five in the AHL in all goaltending categories with a 19-5 record (2nd) for a .792% winning percentage along with a .930% save percentage (3rd) and a 2.08 GAA (4th).
Call up / Send down
The Blues have recalled Dmitrij Jaskin from Chicago (AHL).
Jaskin has one goal in six games with the Blues this season. When in the AHL he has recorded 13 goals and 12 assists (25 points) with a plus-11 rating in 32 games.
Call up / Send down
The Hurricanes have recalled Cam Ward from Charlotte (AHL) following his conditioning stint.
Ward went 1-1 with a 2.02 GAA and .937 SV% in two AHL games for the Checkers during his conditioning stint. He has missed the Hurricanes’ last 14 games due to a lower-body injury and the conditioning assignment. Prior to the injury, Ward had posted a 6-7-5 record, a 3.15 GAA and an .895 SV% in 19 games with Carolina this season.
Call up / Send down
The Sharks have reassigned John McCarthy to Worcester (AHL).
McCarthy had one assist with a minus-12 rating in 35 games with the Sharks.
Call up / Send down
The Ducks have recalled centre Dave Steckel from Norfolk (AHL).
Steckel has appeared in four games with the Ducks this season and will likely play in a few more after Nick Bonino was injured on Thursday. Steckel has four goals and nine assists (13 points) in 32 games with the Admirals.
Call up / Send down
The Maple Leafs have recalled Greg McKegg from Toronto (AHL).
After trading away Mark Fraser on Friday, the Maple Leafs had an open roster spot, the filled that by recalling McKegg. He was the Leafs third round pick (#62 overall) in 2010. He is currently in his second season with the Marlies where he finds himself at 26 points (9G / 17A) in 35 games. If he is able to crack the lineup tonight, it will be his NHL debut.
Call up / Send down
The Capitals have reassigned Ryan Stoa to Hershey (AHL).
Stoa did not dress for a game during his call-up. He was recalled as insurance for Brooks Laich, who was available for Tuesday and Thursday's contests.
Call up / Send down
The Capitals have recalled Tyson Strachan from Hershey (AHL).
With Mike Green unlikely to play tonight in Detroit, Strachan has been recalled and will slide into Green's spot if he is unavailable. Strachan has no points in nine games with the Capitals this season, but has picked up 14 points (2G / 12A) in 34 games with Hershey.
Call up / Send down
The Canadiens have recalled Christian Thomas from Hamilton (AHL).
Thomas is in his first season with the Habs organization after coming over from the Rangers. He has 14 points (5G / 9A) in 23 games with Hamilton this season.
Call up / Send down
The Flyers have sent Chris VandeVelde back to Adirondack (AHL).
VandeVelde recorded one assist, eight shots, six penalty minutes and a minus-3 rating in 17 games with the Flyers. His assignment opens a roster spot for Zac Rinaldo to be activated from IR.
Call up / Send down
The Hurricanes have officially assigned Ward to Charlotte (AHL) for conditioning.
Ward will join the Checkers in Cleveland as they face the Lake Erie Monsters on Friday. Ward has missed the Hurricanes last 13 games with a lower-body injury. He has posted a 6-7-5 record, a 3.15 GAA and an .895 SV% in 19 games with Carolina this season. Ward is the Hurricanes franchise’s all-time leader in games played by a goaltender (450), wins (220) and shutouts (21). His last AHL stint was in December 2005, when he played two games with the Lowell Lock Monsters during a conditioning stint.
Call up / Send down
The Canucks have recalled Frank Corrado from Utica (AHL).
With Chris Tanev out until after the Olympics with a broken thumb, Corrado has been recalled to serve as the team's seventh defenseman. He has no points in six games with the Canucks this season, but has seven points (3G / 4A) in 36 games with Utica.
Call up / Send down
Jones has been reassigned to Abbotsford (AHL).
Jones cleared waivers this afternoon and has been sent to the AHL. He was a plus-1 in four games during his most recent time with the Flames. He has a total of two goals in 14 games wit Calgary and returns to the AHL where he has eight goals and 13 assists (21 points) in 16 games.
Call up / Send down
The Stars have recalled Dustin Jeffrey from Texas (AHL).
Jeffrey has one assist in 12 games with the Stars this season. During his time in the AHL he was held off of the scoresheet in two contests.
Call up / Send down
After being sent down yesterday, the Islanders have recalled Matt Donovan from Bridgeport (AHL).
With Lubomir Visnovsky being activated from IR on Monday, Donovan had to be sent down, but this morning they placed Travis Hamonic (concussion) on IR so Donovan is back. He will serve as the team's eighth defenseman, but will likely see some action as Matt Carkner and Radek Martinek typically shuffle in and out of the lineup.
Call up / Send down
The Capitals have recalled Ryan Stoa from Hershey (AHL).
Stoa has nine goals and 15 assists (24 points) in 36 games for Hershey this season. He has not played in the NHL since the 2010-11 season with Colorado, he had four points (2G / 2A) in 25 games that year. With Brooks Laich taking a maintenance day on Monday, Stoa is likely insurance in case Laich is unavailable tonight.
Call up / Send down
The Red Wings have reassigned Petr Mrazek to Grand Rapids (AHL).
Mrazek has been good when called upon this season. The 21-year-old is 1-3-0 with a 1.64 GAA and .924 SV% with the Red Wings this season. His demotion tells us that Jimmy Howard is ready to return on Tuesday in Philadelphia.
Call up / Send down
The Blackhawks have recalled Brandon Pirri from Rockford (AHL).
Pirri is back with the Blackhawks after being sent down in early January. In 16 AHL games, Pirri recorded four goals and nine assists (13 points). He totalled 11 points (6G / 5A) in 24 games with Chicago this season. He could find himself centering the second line with Patrick Kane and Brandon Saad, making him a strong add in 12-plus team leagues.
Call up / Send down
The Islanders have sent Anders Nilsson back to Bridgeport (AHL) to make room for Evgeni Nabokov to be activated off of IR.
Nilsson hast posted a 1-2-2 record with a 3.48 GAA and .877 SV% during his call-ups with the Islanders 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.