Philadelphia Flyers Waive Sam Gagner

The Philadelphia Flyers have Mark Streit coming off of long-term injury reserve and needed to clear cap space in order to keep rookie, Shayne Gostisbehere in the NHL.

The Flyers had some options such as a trade or placing someone else on waivers, but the team decided it was best to place forward Sam Gagner on waivers. The Flyers could have sent forward Scott Laughton down to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms and he would not
have had to clear waivers. The Flyers could have made a trade or even put one of the other veterans on waivers like RJ Umberger or Nick Schultz.

If Gagner clears waivers, the Flyers will gain about $950,000 more in cap space, but $2.25 million of his $3.2 million will still count towards the salary cap for the Flyers. The Flyers needed to clear cap space in order for Streit to return and to keep Gostisbehere without being over the cap.  Once Gagner clears waivers he could be sent to the AHL and join defenseman Andrew MacDonald to play on the  Phantoms.

Gagner had two goals, three assists and five total points in just 18 games this season. He was a healthy scratch at times, and missed the last 14 games due to a concussion. The Flyers could have waived him in the offseason, but decided against it because the thought was that he could help the second power play unit. He has one power play goal and only 23 shots on goal. He has only won 20 of the 44 face-offs that he took, which gives him a 31.2 face-off winning percentage on the season.

Gagner was demoted to the fourth line and only see the ice for 11:51 per game. The last
time he scored a goal was on October 21 against the Boston Bruins. The last time he
registered a point was on October 30 against the Buffalo Sabres. Gagner is a former
first round draft pick of the Edmonton Oilers, and he has declined in all aspects of his
game from producing points to winning face-offs. Gagner is set to become an unrestricted
free agent at the end of the season.

The Flyers will keep eight defensemen on the roster for now. Michael Del Zotto was injured
in a game against the St. Louis Blues before the break, and is considered day-to-day.

Rookies Making An Impact Around the NHL

This year's NHL rookie class is turning out to be a good one, despite the absence of Connor McDavid, the first overall draft pick in 2015. McDavid has been out since suffering a broken collarbone on November 3.

There have been some unexpected players leading the way like Chicago's Artemi Panarin, Arizona's Max Domi and Anthony Duclair, and Detroit's Dylan Larkin just to name a few. Most of the rookies made the rosters because of strong play during training camp and preseason, but some were called up due to injury. Philadelphia's Shayne Gostisbehere was one of those rookies, and he's made the most of his time registering 14 points in only 18 games played. Buffalo's Linus Ullmark was called up due to an injury to goaltender Robin Lehner, and has been playing decent since his call up.

The rookie forwards have some help since most of them are playing with veteran players, who know how to create offense. Panarin plays with Patick Kane and Artem Anisimov at even strength. Sam Reinhart, one of the Buffalo Sabres' rookies, is playing with Jamie McGinn and Ryan O'Reilly. The other Sabres' rookie, Jack Eichel, has been playing with Evander Kane and Tyler Ennis at even strength. Joonas Donskoi is taking even strength shifts with Patrick Marleau and Matt Nieto.

The rookies are also seeing some significant time on the man advantage. They are spending time on either his team's first or second unit depending on how each unit was before the rookie's arrival. Panarin leads the way with eight power play points, but Gostisbehere is right behind him with seven points on the man advantage. Gostisbehere has four power play goals which leads all rookies. Max Domi has six power play points for the Coyotes.

The rookies have been producing in clutch moments as well because their coaches aren't afraid to use them in a critical situation. Larkin leads not only all rookies, but the whole NHL at a plus 21. Gostisbehere has three game-winning goals, all of which have come in the overtime session. Larkin, Sam Reinhart, and Colton Parayko also have three game-winning goals this season.

There are not many rookies that have the chance to be on the ice for the penalty kill, but there are a few. Edmonton's rookie defenseman, Darnell Nurse sees about 1:27 of shorthanded ice time per game, while Chicago's Trevor van Riemsdyk sees about 1:42 of ice time on the penalty kill. Brett Pesce sees 1:03 of shorthanded ice time per game, and Jordan Martinook spends over 2:30 of his ice time per game on the penalty kill.

The rookie goaltenders weren't projected to be in the NHL at the start of preseason, but beat out another goalie, or got called up because of injury. Mike Condon, the Montreal Canadien's goalie, got his chance in goal due to an injury to Carey Price. Linus Ullmark got called up when Robin Lehner got hurt early in the season and has been spending his time backing up Chad Johnson for the Sabres. Anders Nilsson beat out Ben Scrivens for a roster spot, and has been splitting time with Cam Talbot for the Oilers this season.

The rookie class this year is contributing in every aspect of play from even strength to the penalty kill to the power play, but it could even better when Connor McDavid returns.

Radko Gudas Suspended Three Games

The Philadelphia Flyers have lost another defenseman, but this time to a suspension handed down by the NHL Deparment of Player Safety.

Radko Gudas was suspended for three games for an illegal check to the head of Ottawa Senators player, Mika Zibanejad. A faceoff win by the Senators sent the puck back to Zibanejad, who was in shooting position. Gudas stepped around a Senators' player, took a stride and lunged towards Zibanejad. Gudas lunged upwards out of his crouched position, and his forearm made contact with Zibanejad's head. Zibanejad went down to the ice and didn't return to the game after taking the hit.

There was no penalty assessed to Gudas during game action. Gudas is a first time offender and had no fines or suspensions assessed to him prior to the hit on Zibanejad. Gudas will sit out the three games without pay, and the money will go to the Players' Emergency Assistance Fund. He'll lose $15,944.62 while not playing.

The Flyers are already short-handed on defense with the injuries to Mark Streit and Nick Schultz. Mark Streit is out for six weeks, possibly longer depending on his recovery. Schultz, who took a heavy hit against the New York Islanders, is day-to-day with an upper body injury. The five remaining healthy defensemen are rookie Shayne Gostisbehere, Michael Del Zotto, Evgeny Medvedev, Brandon Manning and Luke Schenn. The Flyers next game is Friday night against the New Jersey Devils so hopefully Nick Schultz will be ready to go by then.

Gudas has played in 22 games this season and only has one point. He has 37 shots on goal, 118 hits and 36 blocked shots. He is averaging 20:44 of ice time per game. Gudas has been logging over 20:00 of ice time in the nine games since Streit went down with an injury. He has also been a big part of the Flyers penalty kill, which has killed off the last 20 man advantages against. Gudas isn't afraid to block shots either.

He is one of the Flyers more physical defenseman with Luke Schenn being the other. Gudas isn't afraid to throw hits along the boards or in open ice. He will take the occasional bad penalty because of the open ice hit, which can come back to hurt his team. Gudas is an aggressive defenseman that will hit the opposing player and try to disrupt his offensive play.

The Flyers will have to find someone else to take his minutes during a game or spread them out among the remaining defensemen.