The Tampa Bay Lightning have traded goaltender Peter Budaj back to the LA Kings in exchange for depth left winger Andy Andreoff.
Not to be outdone by Steve Yzerman, Julien Brisebois has announced the signings of two AHL deals. Troy Bourke and Brady Brassart have both agreed to one-year deals to play with the Syracuse Crunch and ECHL Adirondack Thunder.
We have signed forwards Troy Bourke (@TroyBourke_20) and Brady Brassart (@BradyBrassart) to one-year AHL deals. https://t.co/5AsQRVvSYR
— Syracuse Crunch (@SyracuseCrunch) June 13, 2018
Bourke, a 3rd round pick of the Colorado Avalanche in 2012, is an ECHL scorer who put up 32 points (10g, 22a) in 22 games, and who was also called up for six games by the Crunch last year, scoring one goal in the process.
Brassart, on the other hand, is a newcomer to our organization. The undrafted center started his professional career in the Minnesota Wild organization before moving to Vancouver Canucks group last year. In nine AHL games with the Utica Comets, Brassart did not put up any points, but in 50 ECHL games, he put up a very good 54 points (23g, 31a) as the Idaho Steelheads fourth-leading scorer.
And the home team strikes first!
Brady Brassart gets @Steelheads on the board about halfway through the 1st period of Game 7 with @AllenAmericans #KellyCupPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/7XWVjyfTUG
— ECHL (@ECHL) April 26, 2018
Okay, getting back to the first piece of news of the day, let’s talk about Budaj’s short but interesting stint in Tampa Bay before we get into our new winger. Budaj was acquired by the Bolts at the 2017 trade deadline along with Erik Cernak and some picks, in exchange for Ben Bishop and a fifth. He spent the end of the season as Andrei Vasilevskiy’s backup, and did well in that role. After being extended for two years by the Lightning, Budaj started the season as the backup goalie for Vasy.
However, at the end of December, Budaj suffered a lower-body injury and was placed on injured reserve (IR). While on the shelf, he lost his job to in-season acquisition Louis Domingue. General Manager Steve Yzerman used some roster trickery to keep Domingue on the team without having to risk losing Budaj via waivers.
Moving forward, the Kings appear to be utilizing Budaj the way the Lightning would’ve liked to last season, as the third goalie in the AHL who doubles as a mentor for a young prospect.
Plan is for Jack Campbell to remain Kings backup, Budaj brought back to be No. 3 depth guy, Kings believe he’ll work well with goalie Cal Petersen in Ontario (AHL) https://t.co/FgoNZ0WmAc
— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) June 13, 2018
Moving on to Andreoff, the 27-year-old winger will carry a cap hit of $677,500 for one year, and becomes a UFA in the next summer. He has spent the past three full seasons in and out of the lineup with the Kings, totaling 21 points (11g, 10a) and 196 penalty minutes in 141 games.
In their press release, the Kings felt the need to mention that Andreoff scored one of his assists against the Bolts last year.
Looking at his ice time, he does not spend time on the power play or penalty kill, and the Kings deployed him for a little over 11 minutes per game at even strength over the past three seasons.
Andy Andreoff (traded to Tampa for Budaj) is a 4th liner. pic.twitter.com/27KJxUekWu
— Micah Blake McCurdy (@IneffectiveMath) June 13, 2018
Geo asked me to include this:
Andyoff has 4th line results pic.twitter.com/Z9XizqI41Z
— feebs (@FeebleMath) June 13, 2018
Andreoff put up a lot of numbers in the AHL during his time there, including lots of points and even more penalty minutes.
The Pickering, Ontario native has also played in 157 career American Hockey League games, all with Manchester over four seasons, recording 30 goals and 72 points to go along with 259 penalty minutes. Andreoff last played in the AHL during the 2014-15 season when he posted five goals and 10 points in seven games with the Monarchs. [NHL.com]
