NJ and NYR looking at Meier, Ottawa trying to acquire a D-Men, B’s and Bolts looking at Schenn and Karlsson asking price plus waiver and injury news.
Here is my latest blog post as today I give my opinion on some recent Waiver news, and a few recent trade rumours involving the Devils and Rangers having interest in Meier, as well as Schenn in Vancouver, Ottawa’s search for a D-Men, and the Sharks asking price for Karlsson.
Rangers and Devils have serious interest in Meier.
Now according to a few reports over the last couple of weeks, the Sharks seem to be willing to move good top 6 forward Meier for a good price and it seems like two New York teams could have some serious interest in acquiring him. Now the Sharks seem intent on being sellers this season and have already started their selling by moving on from Matt Nieto a week ago, but now it seems like the next domino to fall for San Jose might be Meier as the team hasn’t really gotten far in negotiations with Meier and could look to get a pretty sizeable return for him. Now their seems to be a handful of teams interested and even some of the teams who are not consider contenders like the Buffalo Sabres have called in on Meier but there does seem to be 2 front runners for Meier right now and that would be NYR and New Jersey. Now for NYR there were multiple sources who said that the Rangers may be transitioning from Patrick Kane to Meier, and that Meier may be their top target now. Now we know the Rangers seem keen on adding a top 6 forward and they have been linked to multiple significant additions such as Boeser, Kane, and Tarasenko but it does seem like they may now have Meier at the top of their list of players to go after. Now Meier is a RFA with a $10 Million dollar qualifying offer but the Rangers would be a team who doesn’t really have the money to qualify him so they may use him as just a rental and I think they could probably put together a package that could intrigue the Sharks as I would probably propose they put together a package of their 2023 1RD pick, Kravtsov and another asset, maybe Blais to make the cap work but I definitely think the Rangers have some serious interest in him and he would fit great in the Rangers top six, maybe playing with Panarin and Trocheck on the 2nd line and I would definitely keep an eye on the Rangers with Meier, but I think the front runner right now and the team which I like to land Meier would have to be New Jersey. Now the Devils make a lot of sense in trying to acquire Meier, first off they have enough cap space right now and in the future to not only sign Meier to his $10 Million dollar qualifying, but possibly work out a long term extension that may be a bit lower then his qualifying offer but is good value to him, and they have the assets to pull off a trade, as I could the Devils moving their 2023 1RD pick, Alex Holtz and maybe one of Tatar/Johnsson in exchange for Meier and I think the Sharks would be willing to do a deal like that and long term they could put Meier on either line 1 with Hischier or line 2 with Hughes and could continue to be the dominant point producer he has shown he could be the past couple of years. So I strongly feel that Meier’s future is not in San Jose and his time with the Sharks is coming to an end, and I also feel that there are other teams who could try to acquire Meier, such as Toronto, Carolina, Boston, Winnipeg or Calgary, but I think the Rangers have got to be one of the front runners and I believe that the Devils are the leader to acquire Meier and stand the best chance to get him.
Sens to add a defensemen regardless if they are in a playoff spot or if he is a pending UFA.
Now we know the Senators are currently on the outside looking in when it come to the playoffs and playoffs for them are looking very bleak, but it sounds that regardless of where the Sens are in the standings, they will try to acquire a defensemen before the trade deadline, and they could even try to acquire someone who would be viewed as a rental. Now we know the Senators are heavily interested in acquiring a defensmen and have been interested since the offseason to try and upgrade that blueline, but now it sounds like they are going to try and upgrade that blueline even if they are not in a position to make the playoffs and that surprises me a bit. I think the Sens do desperately need some blueline help as a lot of the reasons that that they have not done well is due to the bad defence as guys like Chabot, Zub and Brannstrom have been injured at one time or another, and the supporting cast hasn’t been able to hold their own for Ottawa so it seems like a defensive improvement would help the team, but I also think that if they are going to get someone before the deadline and they are not in the playoffs then they better be careful who they get and what the price is. Now I don’t think the Sens should be moving a 1RD pick this year for a rental as they could wind up giving up a great prospect for a player who wouldn’t even stay past this season, and I don’t even think I would do it for a player with term, but the Sens do have a few 2RD pick over the next few years and maybe they go after a smaller defensmen for a decent prospect and 2nd round pick. Now I know they have been linked to guys like Gostisbehere and Dumba who are pending UFA’s and also Chychrun and Karlsson who I think the price is too high to acquire, but I think if they were to go after maybe a player who they could give a smaller return for such as, Walker in LA, Soucy in Seattle, McCabe in Chicago, Joseph in Pittsburgh or maybe Jensen in Washington or some one else who wouldn’t take to much to acquire then I think they would do it. So maybe with the Sens not looking like a playoffs they don’t go after a huge name that would cost them good assets, but maybe they look at someone a bit easier to trade for and maybe they do look at a UFA or two as well, but if they do acquire a UFA, then they will have to have some reasoning that they could come to a extension to keep the player in Seattle beyond this season.
Sharks want 3 1RD picks for Karlsson.
San Jose is going through a major rebuild right now and they have expressed interest in moving on from high priced offensive defensemen Erik Karlsson, and while the Sharks do seem willing to retain some salary to make a trade, the asking price that they seem to want for him seems to be a little much in my opinion. So now we know the Sharks are in the middle of a rebuild, and don’t want to have all these big money long term deals on their books (Karlsson, Vlasic and Couture), and it seems like in the next couple years they will try and move on from as many as they can and there has definitely been some interest this year in Erik Karlsson since the Sharks had announced they would consider moving the high priced forward. Now according to Frank Seravalli a couple of weeks ago, it sounds like the Sharks would be willing to trade Erik Karlsson but they want a kings ransom in return. As he said, the Canucks would be willing to retain (18% or $2.07 Million) which would mean the Sharks would be willing to move Karlsson at a $9.43 Million dollar cap hit and in exchange they want a monster return of 3 1RD picks for him. Now I know the Sharks probably want to get as many assets back as they can from the acquiring team after they gave up a huge amount to Ottawa to get him and wound up giving up Stutzle, Norris, Ostapchuk and Søgaard both as prospects and picks and all have become good pieces for Otttawa and they even got a few players, like DeMelo and Tierney as well so I know that the Sharks would love to have a big return on Karlsson, but in my opinion as good as Karlsson has been this year (16 goals and 66 points in 51 games), no team in their right mind would move 3 1RD picks for Karlsson even if the Sharks do shave just over 2 Million in cap space. Now I still think a team could maybe give up a 1RD pick plus maybe a 2ND or 3RD round pick and a B level prospect to San Jose in exchange for Karlsson with that much retained salary, but if the Sharks are seriously looking for 3 1RD picks in exchange for Horvat, then I think they will be sadly disappointed when no one wants to meet that asking price, and I also don’t think that Karlsson could get more then Chychrun in a trade especially when Chychrun is younger, on a better contract and has short term. So I feel that while I also don’t think he will be moved before the deadline and a trade will most likely happen in the offseason, if the Sharks are really interested in moving Karlsson and want to get the contract off their books, they will almost certainly in my opinion have to lower that asking price before a team considers a trade.
Luke Schenn drawing interest from Boston and Tampa.
Now we now the Canucks are going to be sellers prior to the trade deadline, and it seems as thought a Pending UFA defensemen who they may consider moving is currently drawing interest from 2 top contending teams in the eastern conference. Now we know that Schenn has been talked about as a possible trade deadline acquisition for some teams, and that even though his preference may be to stay with Vancouver, given who he has turned into as a very good top 4 defender and the fact that hr is a Pending UFA with a very low $.950 Thousand dollar cap hit, it does seem more likely that he would be traded. Now there have been a few recent reports over the past couple of weeks that have linked Schenn to east contenders in Boston and Tampa. Now we now that Boston is one of the front runners for Horvat and it seems like they could pull off a trade with Vancouver, but if they are already going for it with acquiring Horvat, is their some way that they could also get Schenn as well in a trade. Now the Bruins have a decent and deep defensive corp and a pretty good top 4 on the blueline but it does sound like they would want to upgrade on the blueline and if they were to get Horvat a lot of people think Carlo would have to be part of the return package and in that case they could use Schenn to replace him on the short term. Now I think for Schenn if he was included in the Horvat deal then I am not too sure what sort of package they would have to give up, but if they were to acquire Schenn by himself I would think that they would probably have to give up at least a 3RD round pick and a prospect to get him so well he might be a tad expensive to get I definitely think he is a likely landing destination and could be something we need to keep out eye on. As for Tampa Bay we know that they don’t have much draft capital (no 1RD pick this year or next and no 2RD pick this year), and we have even seen the GM of Tampa say that he will have to go after some smaller and cheaper help at the deadline. Now Schenn wouldn’t cost as much as some of the bigger names at the deadline and given they don’t have much cap space to work with, getting Schenn who only has $.950 thousand dollars on his cap hit could be a really smart move for the Bolts, and Schenn is also familiar with Tampa having won a cup with them before, so I think Tampa could be a extremely likely landing spot for the Bolts, if you look at what Tampa could give in exchange for Schenn, I think they would probably have to give a 3RD pick as part of the deal, and given they don’t have much high end prospect talent, maybe the Lightning would be willing to include one of Koepke, Barre-Boulet or Foote as all three have some limited NHL experience but could do well in a bigger role, so I think the Bolts are another place we will have to keep our eye on when it comes to Schenn as they need players on good contracts, and Schenn might be one of the better ones out there, and it seems very likely at the moment that the Canucks will wind up moving out Schenn before the deadline and could get a pretty nice return from a team like Tampa or Boston.
Here is the Injuries from JAN 23rd to JAN 25th.
Detroit
Filip Zadina: has had his injury status for his LBI updated to now being day to day.
Matt Luff: has recovered from his wrist injury and is now back into game action in the AHL.
Florida
Sam Bennett: had a LBI and was day to day with the injury.
Tampa Bay
Patrick Maroon: has recovered from an undisclosed injury and has now gotten back into game action.
Nick Perbix: has recovered from his undisclosed injury and has returned to game action.
Carolina
Frederik Andersen: has returned from his UBI and should get back into game action in the near future for Carolina.
Pittsburgh
Kris Letang: has recovered from his LBI and has returned to game action.
Tristan Jarry: has an undisclosed injury and is going to be out for an unknown period of time.
Washington
Alex Ovechkin: has recovered from his LBI and has returned to game action.
Tom Wilson: has suffered a LBI and is now day to day with the LBI.
Calgary
Chris Tanev: is dealing with an undisclosed injury and is going to be out for an unknown period of time.
San Jose
Nikolai Knyzhov: has recovered from his achilles injury and has gotten back into game action in the AHL.
Vancouver
Will Lockwood: has suffered a concussion and is going to be out of action for an unknown period of time.
Dallas
Roope Hintz: has recovered from his UBI and has returned to game action.
Nashville
Alex Carrier: has a UBI and will be out for approximately 5 weeks, which will keep him out of game action until late February at the earliest.
Winnipeg
Logan Stanley: has returned from his LBI and has now returned to game action.
Here is what has happened with the waiver wire from JAN 4th to JAN 11th.
Players who Cleared Waivers
Carolina
Cavan Fitzgerald LD (1 year left $.750 Thousand dollars)
Edmonton
Justin Bailey RW (1 year left $.750 Thousand dollars)
Washington
Joe Snively LW (2 years left $.800 Thousand dollars)
Players claimed off of waivers
Casey Fitzgerald RD (1 year left $.750 Thousand dollars) was placed on waivers by the Sabres and was claimed by the Panthers.
Michael Eyssimont RW,C (1 year left $.750 Thousand dollars) was placed on waivers by the Jets and was claimed by the Sharks.
Analysis: over this time frame there were definitely a few interesting names on the waiver wire, and there were a couple low end players who wound up being claimed off of the waiver wire. Now first with the Players who cleared and I will start with Cavan Fitzgerald. Now the only reason that Fitzgerald was placed on waivers right now, was due to the fact that he was just activated off of SOIR or (Season opening injury reserve) and that he needed waivers to be sent down to the minors. Now Fitzgerald hasn’t even played a NHL game in his career yet, but he did have a pretty good season last year in the AHL, putting up 3 goals and 10 points in 53 games and while the Canes depth on defence will probably keep him in the AHL for now, I do think in a year or two he could be a call up option for Carolina, but given he hasn’t even played a NHL game yet I don’t think it is much of a surprise that he wound up clearing waivers and now that he is in the minors, he will try and prove he could be a call up option for Carolina. Next with Bailey, now he was placed on waivers by the Oilers due to the fact that he signed a new NHL level contract with Edmonton, and he needed to be placed on waivers to be sent back to the minors. Now Bailey had been bouncing around the NHL over the last few seasons, starting with Buffalo, then going to Philly, and had spent the past couple seasons with Vancouver, but he wasn’t able to earn a NHL level deal this year even though he was able to get a PTO with Edmonton before they released him. But he did sign with Edmonton’s AHL affiliate in Bakersfield and was able to impress the Oilers enough to get a 2-way NHL contract. Now Bailey has been a depth forwards for a while now, so I don’t think it is too surprising that he wasn’t on the NHL roster after signing, and I also don’t think it is too surprising he cleared waivers given the fact that any team could’ve signed him in the offseason. So now he should continue to play in the minors where he has 12 points in 23 games and should try to show the Oilers that he would be a good call up option for them. And lastly with Snively as I definitely thought there was a good chance that he would be the one who wound up being claimed. Now Snively had his first taste of NHL action last year when he got into 12 NHL games and put up 4 goals and 7 points, but he really shined in the AHL putting up 15 goals and 38 points in 35 AHL games, and he showed that he looked like he could get a longer look for the NHL this year. And he did as with the Caps starting the season injured they had Snively start the year in the NHL, but even though he made the NHL roster he was only able to get into 6 games putting up 1 assist and being utilized more as a 13th or 14th forward, and with the Caps finally getting healthy they needed to send someone down and that wound up being Snively. Now I thought a team who lacked a bit of depth up front or was dealing with injuries of their own could wind up claiming Snively as he showed he was a good depth forward, but he did indeed clear so now he is in the minors (where he has 4 points in 5 games), and I expect him to do well in the Minors until he can earn his next call up opportunity.
Now for the two waiver claims and I will start with the more surprising one as the Sharks claim Eyssimont from Winnipeg. Now Eyssimont was mostly a AHL player before this year, as he had only 1 game of NHL experience that came last year but he did have a solid AHL season last year, putting up 42 points in 58 games but it wasn’t enough to make the NHL roster out of training camp as he started the season in the AHL, but after putting up 9 points in 9 games and due to a slew of injuries for Winnipeg he was called up and actually played quite well in a bottom six role, putting up his first NHL goal and having 5 points in 19 NHL games with Winnipeg and looked like a solid bottom six forward but with the Jets becoming more healthy they needed to move someone down and it wound up being Eyssimont, but the Sharks liked what they saw enough to wind up claiming him, and so far he has only gotten into 8 games with the Sharks but does have 2 assists with them and I think he could be a good 4th line forward in the NHL going forward and he is definitely showing that to the NHL right now. And finally with the other Fitzgerald as with the Sabres getting healthier and having a 3 headed monster in Net they needed to move someone down and tried to sneak Casey through Waivers but the Panthers wound up claiming him. Now Fitzgerald was a 3RD round pick back in 2016 for Buffalo and had only been a AHL player until last year when he got into 36 NHL games for Buffalo and put up 6 assists, and also had a good AHL season putting up 4 goals and 12 points in 28 games, and he was able to make the Sabres starting lineup out of training camp this year and was the Sabres 7th defensemen but got into some games due to injuries, as he played 23 games with Buffalo and was able to put up 3 assists, but with Buffalo wanting to keep Luukkonen in the NHL and the team not having many injury troubles now, they decided to try to send him down on the waiver wire, but with the Panthers needing some more depth on defence they went and claimed Fitzgerald to help on their backend. Now Fitzgerald hasn’t gotten into any game action as of yet with Florida, but I definitely expect to get into some game action in the next few weeks as he continues to look for his first NHL goal, and while the loss will sting for Buffalo, I think they still have enough on their backend to make do right now if they run into injury trouble.
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