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Jakub Vrana Placed In NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program

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As announced today by the NHL, Detroit Red Wings forward Jakub Vrana has been placed in the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program. Vrana will be unavailable for an indefinite period of time while he receives care as prescribed and overseen by the program.

Vrana will return to game action for Detroit when he is cleared for on-ice competition by the program’s administrators, according to the release.

26 years old, Vrana is entering his second full season with the Red Wings. The Prague-born forward had a goal and an assist in his first two games with Detroit this year after he missed 56 games last season with a shoulder injury.

PHR sends its best wishes to Vrana while he gets the help he needs.

Snapshots: Buchnevich, Allen, Ingham

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The St. Louis Blues could be without an impact piece tonight when they visit the Seattle Kraken. Top-six winger Pavel Buchnevich left the ice early during their morning skate today and will be a game-time decision tonight with a lower-body injury, according to head coach Craig Berube.

The Blues were one of the last teams to open their season and, as a result, have only played one game so far. Buchnevich was one of their best players in a road outing against Columbus, though, notching a goal and an assist and leading the team with a +3 rating. The Russian winger is coming off a gargantuan season in which he broke the point-per-game plateau for the first time, scoring 76 points in 73 games. If Buchnevich can’t go, the team would either replace him in the lineup with Josh Leivo or dress 11 forwards and seven defensemen, getting Calle Rosen in for his season debut.

  • Goalie Jake Allen will return to the Montreal Canadiens crease tomorrow night after welcoming the birth of his third daughter. Allen is expected to get his third start of the season against the Arizona Coyotes, who are coming off an impressive 4-2 win in Toronto. The 32-year-old Canadian has a sparkling .943 save percentage through two games this season, his third as a Canadien.
  • A top goalie prospect for the Los Angeles Kings is set to undergo surgery. Mayor’s Manor’s John Hoven reports that Jacob Ingham had back surgery yesterday and is expected to be out for five to six months. It’s a tough blow for Ingham, who’s played sparingly in both the AHL and ECHL over the past two seasons since turning pro. The Kings selected him in the sixth round of the 2018 NHL Draft.

Minnesota Wild Sign Michael Milne

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The Minnesota Wild have inked another prospect, signing Michael Milne to a three-year entry-level contract. The third-round draft pick had been with the Iowa Wild on an amateur tryout but now will be assigned there on his new NHL deal.

Milne is eligible for the AHL despite being drafted this summer as he was an overage pick who turned 20 in September. He was incredibly effective in the WHL last season, scoring 38 goals and 81 points in 68 games. Sometimes he even seemed like the most dangerous player on the ice, an impressive feat on a team that also boasted top picks Matthew Savoie and Conor Geekie.

His off-the-rush scoring ability was nearly unmatched, and Milne will now have to find a way to translate that offense to the professional level. He’s already done enough to earn an entry-level deal, now he’ll need to focus on developing and improving his all-around game before being considered for the Wild roster.

With two first-round picks, two seconds, and what looks like a tidy third-round selection in Milne, the 2022 draft class is shaping up to be a nice one for the Wild. Add that to a 2021 class that also had two firsts (including Milne’s younger Winnipeg teammate Carson Lambos, in an interesting wrinkle), and a pair of previous first-rounders in Matt Boldy and Marco Rossi that look like hits, and the Minnesota pipeline is starting to look pretty impressive.

Matt Kiersted, Seth Barton Activated From Season-Opening Injured Reserve

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A pair of defensemen have been activated from season-opening injured reserve (SOIR) and are headed to their respective teams’ AHL affiliates. The Florida Panthers have assigned Matt Kiersted to the Charlotte Checkers, per CapFriendly, and the Detroit Red Wings have assigned Seth Barton to the Grand Rapids Griffins, per the team.

Season-opening injured reserve is generally used for players who did not make the team out of training camp, but can’t be involved in any NHL to AHL transactions due to their injured status.

Kiersted, 24, is a candidate to find himself back in the NHL sooner rather than later given the organization’s weak defensive depth. An undrafted free agent signing out of the University of North Dakota in 2021, Kiersted’s appeared in 17 NHL games over the past two seasons, registering a goal and an assist and averaging 14:31 per night. He had 20 points in 63 games with the Checkers last season in his first professional campaign, and he’s destined to play a top-four role again there when not on the NHL roster.

Barton was a third-round selection by the Red Wings in 2018. He’s entering his second full professional campaign after spending three seasons at UMass-Lowell from 2018 to 2021 and recorded six points in 20 AHL games during his rookie campaign with the Griffins in 2021-22. It’ll be a struggle for playing time in Grand Rapids, which now boasts some of the team’s top defense prospects such as Simon Edvinsson, Albert Johansson, and Eemil Viro. A return to the ECHL’s Toledo Walleye, where Barton played five games last season, could be in the cards.

Buffalo Sabres Activate Riley Sheahan

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The Buffalo Sabres have activated F Riley Sheahan off injured reserve, according to CapFriendly.

Sheahan suffered a muscular injury during training camp and was originally classified as day-to-day, but the injury was severe enough to warrant placing him on injured reserve to begin the season. It did open up a roster spot for both Jack Quinn and John-Jason Peterka to make the opening night roster, though.

Interestingly enough, the Sabres opted not to send either of them down to make room for Sheahan on the active roster. Quinn and Peterka do not require waivers, and Quinn is a healthy scratch for tonight’s game after a somewhat rough start to the year. Instead, the team opted to waive Anders Bjork, who had not played yet this season. He passed through today unclaimed.

Sheahan returns to the Sabres organization after spending the 2020-21 season there, where he recorded 13 points in 53 games. Signed to a two-way contract in August, it’s unclear how long Sheahan will be on the team’s NHL roster before he too gets exposed to the waiver wire.

Colorado Avalanche Recall Martin Kaut

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After failing to make the team out of camp, a highly-drafted Colorado Avalanche prospect is getting another chance with the big club. The team announced today they’ve recalled F Martin Kaut from the AHL’s Colorado Eagles, hours after waiving Lukas Sedlak and sending down Ben Meyers.

The 16th overall pick in the 2018 NHL Draft has yet to make a significant NHL impact, recording just two goals and an assist across 20 games spread over the past three seasons. Kaut started his AHL season strong this year, though, recording three points through his first two games.

With Sedlak and Meyers out of the picture (for now), there appears to be a fit for Kaut in the team’s top-nine forward group at the moment, allowing the Avalanche to bump one of Andrew Cogliano or Logan O’Connor back to a more comfortable fourth-line role. With Gabriel Landeskog’s and Darren Helm’s injuries affecting their offensive depth, another goal-scorer in the picture gives their roster a more well-rounded look.

Kaut had 19 goals, 12 assists, and 31 points in 46 games with the Eagles in 2021-22.

Salary Cap Could Increase More Than Expected In 2023

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Speaking with the media today, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said there’s a “good probability” that the remaining COVID-related escrow balance could be paid by the players this season, and remains optimistic about revenues. If the escrow balance gets paid off, the salary cap could jump more than the predicted $1MM incremental increase, two years sooner than originally expected coming out of the pandemic.

Bettman did note that it would be a close call, but if the revenue numbers hit, the cap could jump roughly $4MM to a figure of around $86.5MM for the 2023-24 season. The league’s cap growth would then mirror pre-pandemic trends, if not more.

This is gigantic news for a number of teams, especially those who have big-name free agents due for contracts by July 1 of next year. It also bodes well for teams tight to the salary cap to be able to have more roster flexibility in the offseason.

That list of big-name unrestricted free agents next summer is no joke, and a ~$4MM salary cap increase would have a massive effect on many negotiations. Ryan O’Reilly in St. Louis, David Pastrnak in Boston, Dylan Larkin in Detroit, Bo Horvat in Vancouver, and Frederik Andersen in Carolina are some notables who could re-sign with their current teams for a big payday.

It also makes life easier for teams like the Vegas Golden Knights, who are poised to get a healthy Robin Lehner back but already remain well over the currently projected $83.5MM salary cap for 2023-24.

Vancouver Canucks Activate Ilya Mikheyev, Tyler Myers; Reassign Noah Juulsen

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Today, Vancouver Canucks general manager Patrik Allvin announced that the team had activated F Ilya Mikheyev and D Tyler Myers from injured reserve, sending down D Noah Juulsen to the AHL’s Abbotsford Canucks in a corresponding transaction.

Mikheyev and Myers began the regular season on injured reserve and have yet to suit up. Mikheyev has been absent from the Canucks’ lineup since suffering a lower-body injury in a preseason game on September 25 against the Calgary Flames, missing approximately three weeks. Myers’ return to the lineup comes well ahead of expectation, as he was expected to miss three weeks of action starting from October 6.

Both players could be in line to make their season debuts tonight in Columbus. The Canucks are in the second half of a back-to-back set and have lost their first three games. They set an NHL record last night in Washington by becoming the first team to blow multi-goal leads in three consecutive games to begin a season.

Mikheyev, who arrived this offseason as a free agent from the Toronto Maple Leafs, is expected to make his Canucks debut at right wing alongside Elias Pettersson and Andrei Kuzmenko. Pettersson leads the Canucks with four points through his first three games. Myers is expected to play on a pairing with Riley Stillman, who was acquired from the Chicago Blackhawks just prior to the season in exchange for Jason Dickinson.

Juulsen, 25, logged nearly 11 minutes in his season debut yesterday against Washington and recorded a shot on goal. While waiver-eligible, Juulsen cleared waivers less than 30 days ago and therefore can currently be shuttled down at will by the Canucks until November 4.

Evening Notes: Muzzin, Brown, Utica

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Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Jake Muzzin left the game earlier this evening with a neck injury and will not return, the team announced. The injury appeared to occur after Muzzin and Arizona Coyotes forward Clayton Keller came together in an awkward collision in the corner, Muzzin tumbling to the ice, leaving gingerly. It’s unclear how severe the injury is and whether or not Muzzin will miss any additional time after tonight.

Being without the veteran defenseman would be another tough injury break for the Maple Leafs, who already lost goaltender Matt Murray to an abdominal injury this weekend. The silver lining with Murray hitting LTIR was that it allowed the cap-tight Maple Leafs to recall three players, including defenseman Victor Mete. If Muzzin were to miss time, but not enough to warrant a trip to LTIR, Toronto still has just south of $1.6MM in LTIR to utilize, meaning they could recall another player.

  • Also done for the night is Washington Capitals forward Connor Brown, who suffered a lower-body injury, said the team. Brown was the recipient of a big hit from Vancouver Canucks defenseman Noah Juulsen. According to NHL.com’s Tom Gulitti, Brown immediately grabbed at his right knee before leaving the ice without putting any weight on it. For the Capitals, who are carrying 14 forwards and have roughly $2MM remaining in LTIR space they can utilize, managing their roster should Brown miss any bit of time won’t be the challenge it has been for other teams this season, but that of course doesn’t account for the talent Brown himself brings to the lineup. Through three-plus games this season, Brown had yet to register a point, but did have 39 points over 64 games last season with the Ottawa Senators.
  • An interesting situation in the AHL tonight, as a local power outage forced the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins and Utica Comets game to be paused with 2:43 remaining in the second period. Crews attempted to restore power to the arena, however not too long after, the AHL announced the game would be suspended and made up at a later date. Odd as the situation may be, it wasn’t too long ago that a 2021 preseason game between the New York Islanders and New Jersey Devils had to be cancelled just minutes before puck drop after a power outage at the Prudential Center. Ironically, Utica is New Jersey’s AHL affiliate.

Edmonton Oilers Recall Markus Niemelainen, Loan Brad Malone To AHL

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Earlier this evening, the Edmonton Oilers announced that they have recalled defenseman Markus Niemelainen from the Bakersfield Condors of the AHL and in turn, loaned forward Brad Malone to Bakersfield. This gives Edmonton an active roster with twelve forwards, seven defensemen and two goalies now, two less players than the 23-man limit.

The swapping of players did appear expected, with The Athletic’s Daniel Nugent-Bowman reporting that expectation yesterday. Operating with 21 of 23 skaters is a challenge for any team, but does allow the Oilers, who are currently using $7.103MM out of $7.117MM of available LTIR, to stay cap compliant. Having the extra player on the roster is of course some element of insurance, one that the Florida Panthers for example, are without, leading them to dress only 17 skaters this evening. To that point, having that 19th skater be a defenseman is key in the event another Oilers defenseman were to come down with injury. Should that happen, Niemelainen could seamlessly slide into the lineup. But, had it been Malone in that situation, the team would be forced to play a forward on defense, or go with an uncomfortable thirteen forwards and five defensemen lineup.

Malone has played in both of Edmonton’s games to date this season, failing to record a point. He played in just eight games for the Oilers last season, but had a solid 39 points in 52 games for Bakersfield. Should Malone once again become a regular member of their lineup, they should be able to count on strong production from their long-time forward.

Niemelainen, like Malone, has played in two games this season, though both with Bakersfield, recording an assist in the process. The hulking 6’6″ defenseman made his NHL debut the Oilers last season, tallying just one point in 20 games. With the call-up, the 24-year-old could get an opportunity to earn more NHL minutes and continue his development at this level.

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