Considering the pandemic that has substantially altered all our lives, this NHL season is vastly different than in years previous. There is the quarantine period between all teams, rapid covid test daily to ensure safety within the league, and the different divisional alignments among so many more. One of my absolute favorite changes has been the introduction of the NHL Taxi Squad. For those of you who are unaware, the NHL Taxi Squad is an addition to the NHL Roster that is not eligible to play in games nor counts against the salary cap. For all bookkeeping purposes, it is as though they are in the minors. Yet the key difference is that they skate and stay with the NHL club. The NHL introduced this season if teams had a covid outbreak and rapidly needed players to fill the spots. So far, it has worked well, as most teams have dipped into their Taxi Squad at one point or another for depth or to switch players in and out. This season alone there has been a 400% increase in the number of roster transactions around the league, due to the constant day-to-day shuffling teams are doing. The NHL might not keep this roster addition for future, non-COVID seasons but here are some of the reasons I personally would like to see its inclusion in the framework of the NHL going forward.
First and foremost, the Taxi Squad has allowed players to practice with the NHL roster while also not being a factor in the game-time decisions. This is wildly important for rookies trying to impress the coaching staff enough to earn a spot on a game-day roster but also for veterans to get rest days as an intense season grinds on. So many different types of players have gotten looks with the NHL club because of this like Auston Strand in Los Angeles as well as Michael Bunting in Arizona. The increased roster allows for a coach to make more day-to-day roster changes which elevates the game and growth of players.
Secondly, the ability to shuffle players to and from the Taxi Squad allows GMs to get creative with the overall salary cap structure they have. With a flat cap for the next few years, teams will likely be using every cent they can get. Having the Taxi Squad allows for players like Paul Byron or Shane Gostisbehere to be loaned to the Taxi Squad, have part of their salary hidden, and still be called up to play NHL games. Montreal has done this extremely well this season and has saved enough daily cap space to where they could afford Corey Perry on the active NHL roster full time.
Finally, and most importantly, if anything happens to a rostered player (injury, illness, suspension, the birth of a child, etc.), the NHL team already has the players capable of filling that void already from their Taxi Squad. If anyone saw the Vegas vs. Minnesota game yesterday, Vegas only played with 10 forwards. This was in part to salary cap restrictions, multiple injuries that happened in the previous game, and a very warranted 3 game suspension for Chandler Stephenson on a disgusting hit to the head of Tobias Bjornfot. The sudden loss of players necessitated the emergency recall of Dylan Coghlan for the injured Zach Whitecloud, yet the removal of Stephenson and an undisclosed injury to Ryan Reaves made Vegas play only with 10 forwards. If they had a bit more cap space, the Taxi Squad could have been extremely helpful in filling the voids and helping Vegas to ice a full roster.
In an ideal world, you would have all your contracted players playing for either one of your NHL, AHL, or ECHL teams. Having guys sit for an extended time because they are the next best internal help does not help to keep them fresh. However, the goal of every team is to win the Stanley Cup and, by having a Taxi Squad for the upcoming seasons, will help each team ice the most competitive roster each game day. Once a player is on the Taxi Squad, teams can send them to and from the AHL team without limitations, in such a way that both Michael Frolik and Charlie Lindgren both got two games apiece to help get their game legs and keep them ready for when Montreal calls. Another way in which the NHL team can maximize the Taxi Squad is when they know they will not need the taxi squad players right away, they can swap them with other players who are injured or in another way unable to play. Earlier this season, Montreal has Olofsson on the Taxi Squad even though he was out for a few weeks after the birth of his first child. Currently, they have Vejedmo (injured) and Caufeid (quarantine) on the Taxi Squad to fulfill the requirement. I believe that the Taxi Squad has done significantly better for the leagues' ability to ice competitive teams as well as the growth and development of the players/prospects themselves.
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