NHL Roster Cuts & News: Monday

With Tuesday’s roster deadline looming closer, the toughest of decisions face teams as they look to get down to 23 players.

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Most of the players/prospects you see being the last round of NHL roster cuts on their respective teams are the guys that’ll more than likely be back at some point to play some time with the big club.

Injuries, trades, and poor performances always happen, and there’s always guys knocking at the door in the AHL. With that being said, here is Monday’s round of NHL roster cuts and news updates.

Leon Draisaitl sent to AHL’s Bakersfield Condors

Sep 21, 2015; Edmonton, Alberta, CAN; Edmonton Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl (29) skates against the Calgary Flames at Rexall Place. Mandatory Credit: Perry Nelson-USA TODAY Sports

In a bit of a surprise move on Monday, the Edmonton Oilers sent one of their top prospects to their AHL affiliate, Bakersfield Condors.

The move comes as a bit of a surprise after Leon Draisaitl had an excellent training camp and preseason. At one point, he found himself alongside phenom Connor McDavid.

The move gets the Oilers down to 23 players.

The move is purely a matter of depth and ice-time. Draisaitl needs top six minutes and hee may not get that if he began the season with Edmonton.

By going down to Bakersfield, he can get first line minutes to better fine tune his game.

He’ll likely be the first call up due to injuries, poor play, or trades so expect to see a small to moderate dose of Draisaitl this season in Northern Alberta.

Flyers put Andrew MacDonald on waivers. Still owed $23.75 mil over the next 5 years.

Mar 19, 2015; Calgary, Alberta, CAN; Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Andrew MacDonald (47) skates during the warmup period against the Calgary Flames at Scotiabank Saddledome. Calgary Flames won 4-1. Mandatory Credit: Sergei Belski-USA TODAY Sports

Philadelphia could be taking a page out of the Blackhawks book here. Putting Bickell on waivers was meant to send a message that we’re actually looking to shop this guy.

I imagine Philly is doing the same thing. MacDonald has five years left on his contract with a cap hit nearly in the $5 mil range.

MacDonald is coming off one bad season, but is under the microscope being depended upon for big minutes in Philly. There’s little chance that any team would be willing to scoop him up off waivers, but who knows.

We have seen crazier things in the NHL. If a team like Toronto or Arizona were hard up for another d-man, but still unlikely with those 5 years remaining.

Montreal send Charles Hudon and Sven Andrighetto to St.John’s IceCaps of the AHL. Dustin Tokarski and Mark Barberio were not at practice Monday but also expected to be sent down.

Sep 28, 2015; Quebec City, Quebec, CAN; Montreal Canadiens left wing Charles Hudon (54) and Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Tim Erixon (44) battle for the puck during the second period at Videotron Centre. Mandatory Credit: Jean-Yves Ahern-USA TODAY Sports

The Montreal Canadiens announced Monday that Charles Hudon and Sven Andrighetto had both been sent down to AHL affiliate St.John’s IceCaps.

Some experts had Hudon as a likely candidate to crack a roster spot this season, but it is very likely both these guys could see time with Montreal this season.

Hudon tallied 57 points in 75 games with AHL’s Hamilton last season. Andrighetto produced 43 points in 60 games with Hamilton last season.

It was also announced that Dustin Tokarski and Mark Barberio were not at practice Monday morning, but are both expected to join Hudon and Andrighetto down in St.John’s to begin the season.

The speculation that Tokarski could be sent down is not overly surprising after the dreadful job he did at backing up the NHL’s best goaltender last season.

Dylan Larkin makes Red Wings roster. Skated alongside Henrik Zetterberg and Justin Abdelkader on the top line at practice.

Sep 24, 2015; Detroit, MI, USA; Detroit Red Wings center Dylan Larkin (71) scores a goal on Pittsburgh Penguins goalie Matthew Murray (30) in the third period at Joe Louis Arena. Detroit won 6-1. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports

On Monday, Detroit announced that prospect Dylan Larkin will start with the Red Wings to open the regular season.

Larkin skated for the University of Michigan last season producing 47 points in 35 games.

This comes as a slight surprise since we’re used to seeing prospects earn their dues down in the AHL.

Could this be a changing of the guard? Did bench boss Mike Babcock have more control over his roster than people realized? or did Larkin just impress that much?

I choose to believe the latter. Dylan Larkin was spotted skated alongside Henrik Zetterberg and Justin Abdelkader on the Red Wings top line at practice.

Clearly Detroit management believes this kid is ready to make an impact immediately. Let’s see if he can hit the ground running.

Derek Roy released from PTO by WAS. Justin Peters, Aaron Ness, Ryan Stanton, and Liam O’Brien were all cut by the Capitals.

Sep 21, 2015; Washington, DC, USA; Washington Capitals forward Derek Roy (10) celebrates after scoring a goal against the Carolina Hurricanes in the third period at Verizon Center. The Capitals won 2-0. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

It was only about a month or so ago that stories broke from Derek Roy’s agent about how shocked he was that his client was without a contract still.

Well it took a little while, but the Washington Capitals came knocking with a professional tryout offer.

Unfortunately on Monday, Derek Roy was released by the Caps from his PTO and is now looking for work.

While there’s a minute chance an NHL club could still sign him, it’s starting to look more like Derek Roy could end up in Europe this season.

Other NHL roster cuts for Washington were Justin Peters, Aaron Ness, Ryan Stanton, and Liam O’Brien.

With Tuesday’s roster deadline looming, teams opening night rosters are starting to shape up across the entire league.

Panthers send first rounder Lawson Crouse Back to Juniors

Not overly surprising, but Lawson Crouse gets sent back to junior. He did impress in training camp only putting up an assist but played well overall. There’s still a ton of 2015 draft picks kicking around though. This via NHL.com:

“Crouse’s return to junior meant five players picked in the first round of the 2015 draft remain with their NHL teams: Connor McDavid of the Edmonton Oilers (No. 1), Jack Eichel of the Buffalo Sabres(No. 2), Noah Hanifin of the Carolina Hurricanes (No. 5), Pavel Zacha of the New Jersey Devils (No. 6) and Mikko Rantanen of the Colorado Avalanche (No. 10). Also, two players picked in the second round remain, forward Daniel Sprong of the Pittsburgh Penguins (No. 46) and defenseman Brendan Guhle of the Buffalo Sabres (No. 51).”

Calgary Flames name Karri Ramo starter for opening night

Oct 3, 2015; Calgary, Alberta, CAN; Calgary Flames goalie Karri Ramo (31) stops a shot from the Winnipeg Jets at Scotiabank Saddledome. Jets won 3-2. Mandatory Credit: Candice Ward-USA TODAY Sports

In almost shocking news, it looks as though Karri Ramo has outplayed Jonas Hiller for the starting gig in Calgary. Hiller will backup Ramo to begin the season Wednesday night against Vancouver.

Still on the roster is G Joni Ortio, but I would expect he gets sent down before Tuesday’s deadline.

It looks as though the Flames will do what teams like Dallas and Carolina are likely to be doing this season, which is featuring a tandem with a lot of split time in goal.

Teams will ride the hot hand until someone either plays themselves into or out of the starter’s role. Flames goaltending could be another interesting thing to watch this season.

Sharks send Mueller, Goldobin, and Karlsson down to AHL’s San Jose Barracuda

Mar 19, 2015; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; San Jose Sharks center Melker Karlsson (68) is congratulated by center Joe Pavelski (8) after scoring a goal in the second period against the Toronto Maple Leafs at Air Canada Centre. Mandatory Credit: Tom Szczerbowski-USA TODAY Sports

San Jose makes 3 surprising moves on Monday. 2 more than the other as Nikolay Goldobin had more of an outside shot in cracking the squad to begin the season.

Goldobin is still a highly touted prospect who should make an impact for the Sharks sooner rather than later.

Both Mirco Mueller and Melker Karlsson were expected to begin the season with San Jose, and some experts had them as impact players this season.

The two corresponding moves send a message to the rest of the Western Conference that this team is better than they get credit for.

All 3 of these guys had fairly decent training camps, and were beat out by the Sharks underrated depth guys. We could see a dose of all three at some point during the 2015-2016 NHL season though.

Next: Gustavsson signs 1 yr deal with Bruins

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