NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – October 9, 2023
Several notable players hit the waiver wire before setting their season-opening rosters, an update on Penguins winger Jake Guentzel, the Leafs and Canucks make a trade, and more in today’s NHL Morning Coffee Headlines.
DAILY FACEOFF: Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender Martin Jones, Montreal Canadiens forward Joel Armia and Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Zach Bogosian are among 46 players to be placed on waivers Sunday as the 32 NHL teams make final preparations to set their season-opening rosters by 5 pm ET today.
Others on the list include (in order of team): Alex Stalock, Anaheim Ducks; Zach Aston-Reese, Detroit Red Wings; Raphael Lavoie, Edmonton Oilers; Jaret Anderson-Dolan, Los Angeles Kings; Mark Friedman, Magnus Hellberg, Vinnie Hinostroza and Colin White, Pittsburgh Penguins; Calle Rosen, St. Louis Blues; Simon Benoit, Kyle Clifford, and Dylan Gambrell, Toronto Maple Leafs.
Pittsburgh Penguins winger Jake Guentzel (NHL Images)
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Most of those 46 players will be heading to the AHL once they clear waivers. Some, like Armia, will probably go unclaimed because of their contracts and might not be sent down as doing so won’t clear much cap space for their respective teams.
White and Aston-Reese recently signed affordable one-year, two-way contracts with their respective clubs. Both could end up claimed by other teams before today’s noon ET deadline.
PITTSBURGH HOCKEY NOW: Penguins winger Jake Guentzel could be in his club’s opening-night lineup on Tuesday against the Chicago Blackhawks. The 29-year-old winger underwent ankle surgery on Aug. 1 and was slated to be re-evaluated on Nov. 1. However, he began skating early in training camp and rejoined his teammates in full practice last week.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: That’s good news for the Penguins as they’ll have their first-line left winger back in the fold well ahead of schedule.
TORONTO SUN/THE PROVINCE: The Maple Leafs shipped forward Sam Lafferty to the Vancouver Canucks on Sunday in exchange for a fifth-round pick in the 2024 NHL Draft.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: As per the reports, the Leafs made this move (along with putting six other players on waivers yesterday) to become cap-compliant before their season opener on Wednesday. Shipping out Lafferty removes his $1.15 million cap hit from their books, creating room to potentially sign free agent forward Noah Gregor off his professional tryout offer (PTO).
The Canucks, meanwhile, add more size, grit and speed to their checking lines for the coming season. Lafferty, 28, is in the final season of his contract and could become a useful bargaining chip later in the season if the Canucks are out of playoff contention by the March 8 trade deadline.
SPORTSNET: Speaking of the Canucks, defenseman Carson Soucy is listed as week-to-week after suffering an undisclosed injury during Friday’s preseason game against the Calgary Flames.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The injury appeared to be to Soucy’s left knee after he became entangled with Flames forward Yegor Sharangovich.
THE HOCKEY NEWS: Six noteworthy players were recently released from their professional tryout offers. They were Ryan Dzingel, who played with the Arizona Coyotes; Artem Anisimov by the Detroit Red Wings; Josh Bailey by the Ottawa Senators; Nick Ritchie by the St. Louis Blues; Scott Harrington by the Anaheim Ducks; and Nathan Beaulieu by the Carolina Hurricanes.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Many players recently released from their PTOs will be scrambling to find work in other leagues or face the end of their playing careers. A handful, however, could land with other NHL clubs based on their preseason performances. I’d keep an eye on Bailey, who had six points in as many preseason contests with the Senators.
I suspect that Danton Heinen will turn his pto into a contract offer. Heinen won’t hurt defensively.
Rasmus Dahlin 8yrs @ $11m per. nice deal.
Great news re: Guentzel 👍👍
Leafs…. Looking at CapFriendly listings after trade; then removing Jones and Gambrell (waiver) 20 NON injured players showing total a hair under $83 M…..so ~ $0.5 M space
Per CF…. 11 Fwds….JT, MM, AM, WW, Bert, Domi, Kampf, Jarnkrok, Reaves; Knies, Holmberg; 7 D….Reilly, Brodie; Klinger; McCabe; Liljegten; Timmons; Giordano; plus Woll and Samso
20 players….. what your supposed to dress every night…. No real room to maneuver; any new non LTIR injury…. Play with 19?
Team looks good…. But IMHO…. Still not built to get out of East
Pens…. Waived Smith (last week); Friedman (yesterday); kept their 10th (maybe 11th or 12 th ) best D (#2) UP…. When waiving him was thr smartest move (zero teams would have ANY interest picking him up….. could be called up from WBS ANYTIME for an emergency; w/o
ever being in danger of being claimed)
This move is all Sully….. he’ll go down swinging by playing #2….. just a complete waste and will drag down team and especially P-O J….. Sully …. Shame on you….. Dooby…., shame on you for letting Sully bully you like that
Nylander and Zoho waived…. And Nietto still up?????
When White clears…. Pens will be at 20….. 12-6-2…. And $1.7 M in space….. they better sign Psyk!!!
Why would they sign Pysyk? All signs point to his career being over at this point. I don’t care for Ruhwedal either but he’s the 8th guys so it r EA lily doesn’t matter much. As far as the forwards go they got better defensively but did not address the secondary scoring issues that plagued them last year. Poulin amd Pusstinan should have gotten better looks than they did because this teams needs a few younger faces that can put the puck in the net.
Bolts
Per CF…. 20 Non injured players; plus buyouts; plus buried…. ~ $74 M…. So plenty of room while Vazy on LTIR…. As at now; when he returns…. 21 basically AT ceiling….. so 2 months of Cap room…. Should definitely be picking up Jones
Josh Bailey, as with Shane Pinto, fell victim to the “cap crunch” – something not heard in Ottawa in a long time. He played well-enough during pre-season games to have earned a spot on the roster … but with Pinto also dangling in limbo and at least another $1.7 mil needing to be freed up to get him signed, there was just no way to fit Bailey in. I think some team needing a veteran presence will offer him a contract.
It doesn’t help that the Norris situation is not even close to resolved. LTIR for one season would solve some issues. But it looks like if that hasn’t happened yet maybe it won’t…
Lyle. anyone, clarification please:
“Some, like Armia, will probably go unclaimed because of their contracts and might not be sent down as doing so won’t clear much cap space for their respective teams.”
So these players continue to get paid, but aren’t playing in either the AHL or the NHL? They effectively become part of an NHL team’s taxi squad, practicing only?
Hi LJ
Sending down (waiving to AHL) any player earning $1.15 M or *more….. buries $1.15 M (Savings); but team down a player…. Cheapest replacement (league min) is $775 K…. So entire move nets $375 K max… so the quick calc to GMs…. Are guys like Armia worth (on the roster) $375 K MORE than a league min replacement player????
* earn $1.15 M or less and waive to AHL….Entire contract does NOT count at all on the NHL Cap roster
If Armia goes unclaimed, the Canadiens will either keep him on their roster (assuming they don’t have a trade in the works) or send him to the AHL. Given his $3.4 million AAV, sending him to the minors would only give the Canadiens $1.15 million in cap relief.
https://puckpedia.com/salary-cap/minimum-nhl-salary-buried-cap-hit
Taxi squads don’t exist anymore. They were solely for the COVID-shortened 2020-21 season and for the 2021-22 season as COVID impacted rosters during that period.
I think he’ll be sent to the minors. The cap is not the issue. It’s the fact that he’d be taking a roster spot from a young player.
No he will probably still play in the NHL. Boston did the same thing with Foligno at the start of last season, just hoping someone would claim him and his salary.
Thanks Pengy and Lyle.
Armia in Laval is addition by subtraction, he wouldn’t be the first call up either.
Pengy,
Good assessment on the Leafs. Not built to get out of the east. Not yet anyway.