Call up / Send down
The Sabres have reassigned Kevin Porter to Rochester (AHL).
Porter hadn't dressed since December 21 and has only registered one assist with a minus-5 rating in 12 games with the Sabres.
NHL Hockey Player News
Call up / Send down
The Sabres have reassigned Brayden McNabb to Rochester (AHL).
McNabb played in seven games during his most recent call-up. He failed to record a points and was a plus-1 with seven shots and 14 hits. He returns to Rochester where he has 15 points (3G / 12A) in 20 games.
Call up / Send down
The Predators have recalled Taylor Beck from Milwaukee (AHL).
Beck has not recorded a point in two games with the Predators this season but has played very well in Milwaukee. In 35 games in the AHL he has racked up 11 goals and 16 assists (27 points).
Call up / Send down
The Avalanche have reassigned Brad Malone to Lake Erie (AHL).
Malone has recorded two assists in 15 games with the Avalanche this season, but will return to Lake Erie where he has eight points (4G / 4A) in 15 games. His assignment means that Alex Tanguay is ready too come off of IR.
Call up / Send down
The Sharks have recalled Taylor Doherty from Worcester (AHL).
Doherty is a 22-year-old defenseman who was selected in the second round (57th overall) in 2009. He is currently in his third full season with Worcester where he has eight points (3G / 5A) in 37 games. He has totalled four goals and 20 assists (24 points) in 140 games with Worcester. He was likely recalled as blueline insurance with Scott Hannan on IR.
Call up / Send down
The Wild have reassigned Johan Gustafsson to Iowa (AHL).
Gustafsson had been recalled because Niklas Backstrom was sidelined for a couple of days after receiving a cortisone shot. Gustafsson returns to the AHL where he is 7-7-1 with a 2.75 GAA and .910 SV%.
Call up / Send down
The Ducks have reassigned Sami Vatanen to Norfolk (AHL).
Vatanen was the 106th overall pick in 2009 (4th round). Vatanen recorded 14 points (6G / 8A) in 39 games with the Ducks this season. He has been sent down because of the great blueline depth in Anaheim, he is simply a victim of a numbers game and will see a lot more playing time in Norfolk.
Call up / Send down
The Capitals have recalled Nate Schmidt from Hershey (AHL).
Schmidt has appeared in 28 games with the Capitals this season, he has two goals and four assists. In 16 games with Hershey he had seven points (1G / 6A).
Call up / Send down
Steve Olesky has cleared waivers and been assigned to Hershey (AHL).
Oleksy had been a healthy scratch for the last six games, he had 10 points (2G / 8A) in 33 games for the Capitals this season. Nate Schmidt has been recalled with Olesky going down.
Call up / Send down
The Senators have recalled Stephane Da Costa from Binghamton (AHL).
The recall is Da Costa's second stint with the big club after making the team out of training camp. Da Costa began the 2013-14 season with Ottawa and appeared in four of the club’s first seven games. During that span he was held scoreless and registered two penalty minutes. In 37 AHL games this season, Da Costa has scored 12 goals and added 25 assists for 37 points and a plus-11 rating. Da Costa’s 37 points leave him seventh in league scoring. He will be in the lineup tonight on a line with Colin Greening and Chris Neil.
Call up / Send down
The Bruins have reassigned Zach Trotman to Providence (AHL).
Trotman played 13:19 while recording one shot and two hits in the Bruins loss on Monday. Trotman has skated in 32 games for Providence this season and recorded four goals and seven assists and a team best plus-13 rating.
Call up / Send down
Sbisa is back on the ice with the Ducks after finishing his conditioning stunt with Norfolk.
Sbisa has been out since November 22 after undergoing surgery to repair a torn ligament in his hand. With his conditioning stint behind him, he should be ready to slide back into the lineup this week. The 23-year-old has one assist in nine games this season.
Call up / Send down
The WIld have recalled Johan Gustafsson from AHL Iowa.
Josh Harding is still out with an illness while Niklas Backstrom will be off of the ice for the next few days after receiving a cortisone shot for a nagging lower-body injury. Gustafsson has been recalled to back up Darcy Kuemper on Tuesday night in Dallas.
Call up / Send down
The Capitals have reassigned Philipp Grubauer to Hershey (AHL).
Despite starting 14 of their last 20 games, Grubauer was pulled in each of his last two starts and has been reassigned. This is a tough break for owners who invested on him, but if you did, evaluate the waiver wire options because Caps goalies are terribly risky right now.
Call up / Send down
The Flames have reassigned Derek Smith to Abbotsford (AHL).
Smith has recorded one assist in 14 games with the Flames this season. He returns to the AHL where he has spent five games with Abbotsford this season, he has registered just one goal with the Heat. This clears space for Kris Russell to return from IR this week.
Call up / Send down
The Wild have reassigned Jonathon Blum to Iowa (AHL).
Blum recorded no points and two shots in four games with the Wild. He will return to Iowa and play tonight and could find himself recalled shortly. However this could also suggest that Jared Spurgeon is nearing activation from IR.
Call up / Send down
The Maple Leafs have recalled Troy Bodie from Toronto (AHL).
With David Clarkson and Frazer McLaren recently placed on IR the Leafs were down to just 11 forwards. Bodie is now their 12th forward and will likely be in the lineup tonight vs. the Habs, unless they decide to go with seven defensemen.
Call up / Send down
Klesla has cleared waivers and been assigned to Portland (AHL).
This is the second time this season that Klesla has cleared waivers. He The former 4th overall pick has just four points (1G / 3A) in 25 games with the Coyotes this season. He returns to the AHL where he has one goal and one assist in six games.
Call up / Send down
The Ducks have sent Luca Sbisa to Norfolk (AHL) on a conditioning assignment.
Sbisa has been out since November 22 with a hand injury, but has progressed to the point where he can play with Norfolk until he is back in game shape, at which point he will be recalled by the Ducks.
Call up / Send down
The Ducks have sent John Gibson back to Norfolk (AHL).
With Jonas Hiller back from his illness, the Ducks have reassigned Gibson to Norfolk. His NHL debut will have to wait as he heads back to the AHL were he is 11-9-3 with a 2.61 GAA and .915 SV% 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.