Wednesday, September 12, 2018

Evening Training Camp Notes (Sep 12)

It's the time of year where all the NHL teams are starting training camp and rosters are starting to trickle in and I get to update my roster notes. The Sabres kick things off on this post, as they have omitted forward Matt Moulson from their training camp roster, as they buried him in the AHL last season and it looks like they will continue to do so this season, unless someone comes calling for him.  The Sabres won't save very much on his buried contract, only $1.025 million, leaving them with a cap hit of $3.975 million still counting this season.

Unless Moulson does find himself a spot on another NHL roster, his projections for the coming season are now nixed out and the Sabres will definitely struggle to find anyone to eat that $5 million cap hit.  Thankfully for Buffalo, they still have $5.6 million in cap space.

I don't think this was going to be of much consequence, as the early season projection wasn't very positive for Nashville forward Austin Watson, but on the day that the Predators announced their training camp roster, the 26-year old was suspended 27 games for unacceptable off-ice behaviour, related to a domestic violence incident that he plead no-contest to.  The NHLPA will file an appeal on his behalf, but it does seem rather unlikely that that number will improve, nor will his points projection.

The Anaheim Ducks are no stranger to injuries, but the way their training camp roster looks right now, I don't think anyone is feeling overly optimistic, but I could be wrong.  Ryan Kesler and Patrick Eaves highlight the five injured forwards on the list, which includes rookie Max Jones as well, while defenseman Korbinian Holzer is also on the shelf with an ailment.  I haven't collected all the information quite yet, but they have been singled out on the training camp roster as injured and are all likely to miss some (or all) of training camp at this point.

Of course, that should open up some competition for some new bubble spots on the roster and we'll get more information as the preseason goes.  We'll be keeping a close eye on this team, for sure.



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