Call up / Send down
The Jets have re-assigned defenseman Julian Melchiori to St. John's (AHL).
Melchiori did not appear in a game with the Jets, he goes back to St. John's where he has four assists in 14 games with a plus-2 rating.
NHL Hockey Player News
Call up / Send down
The Panthers have recalled Dylan Olsen from San Antonio (AHL).
Olsen was acquired from the Chicago Blackhawks in the Kris Versteeg trade. He had eight assists in 16 games with Chicago's AHL affiliate (Rockford), since coming to San Antonio he has one goal and a minus-1 rating in three games.
Call up / Send down
The Ducks have recalled Nolan Yonkman from Norfolk (AHL).
Yonkman, 33, is a journeyman defenceman who has three assists in 18 games with Norfolk. He is not fantasy relevant.
Call up / Send down
The Ducks have recalled Frederik Andersen from Norfolk on Saturday.
In seven starts with Ducks this season, Andersen is 6-1-0 with a 1.66 GAA and .943 SV%. Viktor Fasth has been placed on IR and will miss the next 3-4 week, so Andersen re-gains some of that fantasy value he had earlier this month.
Call up / Send down
The Sabres have recalled Alexander Sulzer from Rochester (AHL).
Sulzer has appeared in one game with the Sabres this season, but has spent 10 games with Rochester where he had two goals and five assists. He is not fantasy relevant, having recored just 20 points in his first 107 NHL games.
Call up / Send down
The Ducks have recalled Sami Vatanen from Norfolk (AHL).
Vatanen posted one goal and four assists in 17 games with the Ducks earlier in the season. During his stop in Norfolk he has one goal and two assists in two games. He has an incredibly bright future ahead of him, but until he lands a permanent spot on the Ducks blueline he is not a legit fantasy consideration.
Call up / Send down
The Lightning have reassigned Brett Connolly to Syracuse (AHL).
Connolly recorded just one goal and a minus-5 rating in 11 games. "[Connolly is] struggling to find his game. He's not getting things accomplished, GM Steve Yzerman said. "We just feel it's better for him to go back." Tampa Bay is expected to recall another winger in the near future.
Call up / Send down
The Jets have reassigned Zach Redmond to St. John's (AHL).
Redmond, 25, has played in three games with the Jets since his recall on November 3. He will return to the IceCaps where he has played in two games so far this season for two points (1G / 1A) and two penalty minutes. Redmond has played in 115 career AHL games between Chicago and St. John’s for 52 career points (17G / 35A) and 73 career penalty minutes.
Call up / Send down
The Hurricanes have returned Chris Terry to the Charlotte Checkers (AHL) and recalled Elias Lindholm.
In seven games with the Hurricanes, Terry failed to record a point and was a minus-3. He returns to Charlotte where he has six goals and 10 points in 10 games.
Call up / Send down
The Carolina Hurricanes have recalled Elias Lindholm from Charlotte (AHL).
Lindholm, 18, was selected fifth overall in the 2013 NHL Draft had one goal and one assist in 10 games with the Hurricanes before being sent to Charlotte. With the Checkers he posted a goal and two assists in six games. He arrives in town to help revive Carolina's struggling power-play. They rank 28th in the NHL with a 11.9% success rate on the PP. Chris Terry has been returned to the AHL to make room for Lindholm.
Call up / Send down
Matt Hunwick has been sent down to Lake Erie (AHL).
Hunwick made his season debut on Saturday, he played 17:27 but did not record a point. He returns to the AHL where he has two assists and a minus-2 rating in five games.
Call up / Send down
As expected, the Red Wings have officially recalled Gustav Nyquist and he will be in the lineup tonight.
After he plays two games, he will be there to stay because he will have to go through waivers to get back to the AHL. The Red Wings will obviously not place him on waivers, because he would immediately be claimed. Nyquist led the Grand Rapids Griffins with 21 points (7G / 14A) in 15 games. Hopefully the talented forward sparks the Red Wings quiet offence. Expect him to skate on a line with Henrik Zetterberg and Johan Franzen.
Call up / Send down
The Toronto Maple Leafs have reassigned Carter Ashton to Toronto Marlies (AHL).
Ashton appeared in 13 games with the Maple Leafs, registering one assist while averaging 7:56 TOI. His designation to the AHL could be paving the way for Tyler Bozak (hamstring) to return tonight.
Call up / Send down
Kevan Miller recalled from Providence on emergency basis.
Dennis Seidenberg was hurt last night so Miller gets the call-up in case he can not play tomorrow vs. St. Louis. Miller has spent the last three season with Providence. He has never played at the NHL level but has one goal and two assists in 12 games in the AHL this season.
Call up / Send down
The Lightning have reassigned Dmitry Korobov to Syracuse (AHL).
Korobov's assignment suggests either Mark Barberio and/or Keith Aulie are ready to return to the lineup tomorrow. Korobov played 13:21 in his NHL debut on Tuesday. He returns to the AHL where he has six assists in 13 games.
Call up / Send down
The Red Wings will recall Nyquist from Grand Rapids either later tonight after the Griffins game or Thursday morning.
Gustav Nyquist earned a spot on the Detroit Red Wings' roster based on his performance last season but was a victim of the salary cap and the club's roster squeeze. Nyquist leads the Griffins with 21 points (seven goals, 14 assists) in 15 games. Once he plays two more NHL games, he is here to stay, because he would then need to pass through waivers to be sent back to the AHL. Perhaps Nyquist will play on a line with Henrik Zetterberg and Johan Franzen, since there was an open space there in practice Wednesday.
Call up / Send down
The Red Wings have recalled Trevor Parkes from Grand Rapids (AHL).
Parkes has been recalled to maximize their cap space for long-term IR purposes. He'll be sent down when the Red Wings recall Gustav Nyquist tomorrow.
Call up / Send down
The WIld have recalled Jason Zucker from Iowa (AHL).
Zucker seemed to be a shoo-in to make the roster before training camp began, but the emergence of Mikael Granlund and Nino Niederreiter cost Zucker his opening night gig because Zucker would be a waste on the fourth line. Zucker also strained his groin at an inopportune part of training camp. Zucker has tallied four goals and eight points, including three power-play goals, in 12 games with Iowa this season. Zucker played one scoreless game for the Wild earlier this season.
Call up / Send down
The Stars have recalled Kevin Connauton from his conditioning assignment with Texas (AHL).
Connauton, 23, has one assist and a minus-4 rating with Texas. He has appeared in one game with Dallas this season, he played 16:06 and was a plus-2. The Stars have placed tough-guy Lane MacDermid in on Waivers to clear room for Connauton.
Call up / Send down
The Coyotes have recalled forward Tim Kennedy from the Portland (AHL).
Kennedy has played in six games with the Coyotes this season, totaling three assists and a plus-one rating. He has also registered two assists with six PIM in six games with the Pirates. He has recorded 13 goals 34 points with 56 PIM in 131 career NHL games.
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.