Five Key Stories: 2/2/26 – 2/8/26
The Olympic break is now upon us with the men’s tournament set to start in a few days. Meanwhile, there was certainly some news of note around the NHL over the past seven days which is recapped in our key stories.
Bjugstad To Devils: The fact that New Jersey is currently out of a playoff spot didn’t stop them from buying as they acquired center Nick Bjugstad from St. Louis in exchange for minor leaguer Thomas Bordeleau and a fourth-round pick. The 33-year-old hasn’t had a great year and has been limited to 36 games due to injuries and healthy scratches; he has six goals and one assist in those outings. Still, Bjugstad is only two years removed from a 45-point season and gives them some extra center depth and grit for their fourth line. He has one year left on his contract after this one at $1.75MM, meaning he’s not a rental player for them. Meanwhile, Juho Lammikko lost his roster spot with New Jersey after the move. He declined to go to the minors and was subsequently released and has since signed in Switzerland.
Done For The Season: With the playoffs out of reach, the Flames have decided to shut down veteran winger Jonathan Huberdeau for the rest of the season to allow him to undergo hip resurfacing surgery. The injury is one that he has been dealing with all season and there’s no confirmation at this time that he’ll be available for training camp. He had been struggling before being shut down as he had just 10 goals and 15 assists in 50 games, a point total well below the 62 he had last season. Huberdeau still has five years left on his contract, one that carries a $10.5MM cap charge and has not aged particularly well since his career year with Florida back in 2021-22.
Panarin On The Move: With Artemi Panarin being sat out for future trade purposes, the Rangers were able to get a deal done just before the trade freeze. The veteran was dealt to the Kings (with 50% retention on his expiring contract) in exchange for winger Liam Greentree along with a 2026 conditional third-round pick that upgrades to a second-round selection if Los Angeles wins a round. If the Kings win two, New York adds an extra 2028 fourth-rounder. Panarin, who quickly signed a two-year, $22MM extension (spurning much bigger offers), gives the Kings a legitimate top-line scoring threat on a team that has struggled mightily offensively this season, ranking 31st in the league in goals scored. Panarin made it known that Los Angeles was the only team he’d waive his trade protection for, hindering New York’s ability to get a top return. Still, in Greentree, they add an intriguing big winger who was a first-round pick in 2024 and has been quite productive in the OHL, giving them a big add to their prospect pool.
Trotz To Retire: It has been an eventful few years for Barry Trotz as the GM of the Predators. Taking on that role for the first time following a long and successful coaching career, he went on a big spending spree in the 2024 offseason, adding Steven Stamkos, Jonathan Marchessault, and Brady Skjei in an effort to turn his team into a contender. Instead, they’ve floundered and after missing the playoffs last season, they’re on the outside looking again at the break. Meanwhile, Trotz announced this week that he has decided to retire from the role, though he will remain on the job through the trade deadline and until a successor is found. The team had hoped to use CAA Executive Search to help find a replacement but as CAA Hockey has 153 NHL clients, it was deemed a conflict of interest and CAA has since withdrawn from that engagement. The search will now be done in-house.
Suspended For 20: Penguins defenseman Caleb Jones has been sidelined for the better part of the month after being injured on a conditioning stint (to wrap up recovery from a separate injury). Now, he won’t be in the lineup no matter what for the bulk of the rest of the season as the NHL gave him a 20-game suspension for violating the terms of the NHL/NHLPA Performance Enhancing Substances Program. Additionally, he has been referred to the Player Assistance Program for evaluation and possible treatment. Jones is in the first season of a two-year deal with Pittsburgh and barring a late-season return after the suspension is lifted, he’ll wind up with just seven games with the Penguins and the one brief appearance in the minors.
Photo courtesy of Brad Penner-Imagn Images.
PHR Mailbag: Stars, Jets, Mammoth, Blackhawks, Fourth Lines, Playoffs, Draft
Topics in this edition of the mailbag include the types of moves Utah should look to make, the top fourth lines in the NHL, and much more. If your question doesn’t appear here, check back in one of our last two mailbag columns.
bottlesup: With what the Avalanche are doing right now and with Vegas acquiring Rasmus Andersson, is there a world in which my Stars can possibly make the Stanley Cup Final?
At this point, I wouldn’t be as concerned about Vegas. Yes, they’re better, but they’re a third-round opponent (Dallas isn’t dropping to a Wild Card spot and lining up with the Pacific Division) and with shaky goaltending this season, they’re beatable in a seven-game series. Not saying the Stars would for sure win but they’d have a solid chance.
Now, assuming they get past Minnesota in the first round, Colorado is its own unique test. Yes, they slumped before the break but let’s face it, teams that have a runaway first half tend to take their foot of the gas a little, so to speak. That doesn’t worry me. The Avs would be the favorites in that series but they’re also not unbeatable. I’d say that Jake Oettinger would need to be sharper than he has been this season for them to have a chance.
For Dallas to get the best chance to make it through to the Cup Final, they need to add defensive help. They have a strong top three but then are piecing it together from there with iffier options that you might not want to rely on for 16-plus minutes per game in the postseason. A solid defensive second-pairing blueliner that can help the penalty kill and take some pressure off the third pairing would help. A bit more firepower in the bottom six would help their chances as well. Once they get a better sense of whether Tyler Seguin can return (keeping their LTIR pool intact) or not (an SELTIR placement would add nearly $6MM to that pool), they’ll see how feasible those acquisitions could be.
Long story short, there’s definitely a world in which Dallas gets there. They’re one of the top teams in the league for a reason. They have a strong, experienced core group that has had some playoff success before. They’re not the favorite to come out of the West today but someone has to survive the gauntlet and it could very well be them.
Cla23: The Winnipeg Jets always claimed to be a draft-and-develop team. Meanwhile, they are one of the oldest teams, the Moose are not very good, and a lot of young players want out as they feel they are not getting a chance with the big club; their drafting is poor as well.
Do you think it is time to shake up the management and scouting staff? Scott Arniel should be safe as he doesn’t have much to work with.
It’s fair to say that Winnipeg’s drafting and development hasn’t been great as of late. Part of that is not having some of their better picks as a result of making win-now trades. Losing a first-round pick to retirement at 21 due to a hereditary tissue disorder was something out of their control. But, in general, if you look at their draft history (HockeyDB has a quick snapshot), the results aren’t pretty. And the end result is a system that’s certainly toward the bottom of the league.
As to whether an overhaul is needed, that’s a little harder to answer. We know the Jets are one of the stricter-budget teams in the league and their scouting group is on the smaller side. So is their player development group. Is this a case of simply needing more eyes that could aid on the drafting side and a bigger development team to help those prospects? It’s definitely possible. I’d like to think that could fix at least some of the problem without overhauling things.
I think the only way that an overhaul would be considered is if ownership decided that the current core has gone as far as they can and that it’s time to commit to a multi-year rebuild. At that time, maybe you bring in some new decision makers in management and scouting. I’m not sure the market could survive any sort of extended rebuild from an attendance and revenue standpoint and the fact they’ve re-signed all the veteran players they have suggests that’s not even being considered. So, for now, the more realistic hope would be that the front office gets a bigger budget to work with to rectify some of the drafting and development issues and hope that over time, that gets things back in the right direction.
GBear: The Mammoth seem to be a legit threat to make the playoffs, what move(s) do you foresee them making near the trade deadline? I’ll hang up and listen for the answer. ☎️
I’ll start with a question of my own. Where does GM Bill Armstrong feel his team is within the rebuilding cycle? Are they in the ‘happy to be here’ phase or aiming higher? The answer to that dictates the answer to your question.
I have them in the former. They’re not a top-three team in the loaded Central Division and I don’t think they beat Vegas or Edmonton if they wind up crossing over. I suspect Armstrong feels the same way so it’s probably not the time to swing big.
However, he should also want to reward his roster with some reinforcements, albeit more of the depth variety. An upgrade over Nick DeSimone and Olli Maatta is a small move that can give the back end a bit of help. There should be several of those players on the move that would only cost the Mammoth one of their previously-acquired selections. Up front, getting Logan Cooley back should be enough of an upgrade down the middle so I’d look at the wing. Someone like Michael Bunting makes a lot of sense. With the right fit, he can play basically on any line, allowing them to deepen the lineup. He plays with some jam which should appeal to Andre Tourigny. And he’s only 30; it’s plausible that they’d want to give him a multi-year deal if things went well so he feels like a fit on that front as well. And, again, their surplus picks should cover a big chunk of the acquisition cost.
Even if they wind up shoring up their group for an early playoff exit, a team can learn a lot from that short series by getting that taste. That’s worth using some assets to try to help solidify while also being restrained knowing that the bigger moves (that we know Armstrong will sniff around on) will likely come in the offseason.
Unclemike1526: With Frondell and Kantserov coming late this year in all likelihood, and Murphy and maybe Dickinson too being moved, Name the one guy (under 30) the Hawks could get in a trade that can put the puck in the net? A flat-out scorer. They need that more than anything. Frondell can take Dickinson’s spot eventually and Del Mastro can take Murphy’s; there has to be somebody out there, right? I don’t want to move Mikheyev or Grzelcyk and would rather re-sign them. Grzelcyk is solid and Mikheyev is too valuable as a PK guy. They need a scorer, right? The time for draft picks is over. Thanks.
Unfortunately, this isn’t the time of year when a lot of under-30 impact scorers tend to be moved. But if St. Louis is ready to shake things up, making a run at Jordan Kyrou makes sense. He’s not having a great year this season but before that, he had three straight 30-plus-goal seasons so that should fit the bill for what you’re looking for. He’s 27 and signed for five more years after this one at $8.125MM, a price tag and term the Blackhawks can afford. It’d take parting with a key youngster and a quality pick or prospect but if the goal is to get an upgrade to help take the next step, he might be it. Admittedly, I’m not sure he’s a great fit with Connor Bedard but talent is talent and he’d be a big upgrade.
On a smaller scale, they’re the type of team I could see wanting to take a look at Patrik Laine. It’s starting to sound like Montreal is willing to retain money to move him and take a negligible at best return for him to open up cap space for themselves. Chicago has loads of cap space and a six-week flyer to see how the 27-year-old might fare with a fresh start and if he might be a short-term solution for a couple of years after this. It runs counter to them being a seller but if the cost is next to nothing (or nothing), it’s a dart throw that might be worth making.
Daniel M: Blake Lizotte’s recent re-signing has me wondering if the Penguins have the best 4th line in the NHL right now. Their underlying numbers look really good, even though they start a ton of their shifts in the defensive zone. They contribute offensively too. What are some of the NHL’s best 4th lines?
Pittsburgh’s trio would be right up there. They’ve really impressed and have been together enough to show that it’s not just short-term good luck. Right now, they may very well be the best.
I pushed this question to the last mailbag so I could watch some games with this question in the back of my mind. Two fourth lines, in particular, stood out. One was Buffalo’s with Jordan Greenway and Beck Malenstyn being centered by Peyton Krebs. It’s a line with a lot of size and physicality but some solid defensive play and a bit of offensive upside to go along with a cycle game. Greenway’s continuing injury woes are certainly a concern moving forward, however.
The other one that caught my eye was Boston’s trio of Tanner Jeannot, Sean Kuraly, and Mark Kastelic. A little penalty-prone, sure, but that’s an energy line with some defensive acumen, a bit of offensive touch, and an ability to cycle a team to death in the attacking zone. That type of line can do some damage as the checking gets a little tighter down the stretch and into the playoffs and I could see it being more successful in the coming weeks.
One of the challenges in evaluating fourth lines is that they’re forever fluid. It’s rare to find a combination that works for an extended period of time. Players get hurt, shuffled in and out of the lineup, or moved up if things are going well. Per MoneyPuck, Pittsburgh’s fourth line of Connor Dewar, Noel Acciari, and Lizotte, is the 18th-most-used line in the league. Not just among fourth lines, that’s all lines. That type of consistency is extremely rare for a fourth line and probably gives it a leg up on the rest overall.
Switzerland Hoping To Climb International Ladder At Olympics
Next week, NHL players will take the ice at the Winter Olympics for the first time since 2014. As much has changed in the 12 years since, the medal odds have remained the same. This year’s tournament is expected to be – above all else – a showdown between Team Canada and Team USA rosters stocked to the brim with NHL stars of past and present. Sweden and Finland fall in naturally behind the North American countries, rounding out the usual four-headed fight to leave with a medal. But thanks to some injuries to the top dogs, one underdog seems to stand out from the rest of the pack.
No – it’s not Czechia, which won the 2024 World Championship on the backs of the same players who will anchor their Olympic roster. Lukas Dostal, David Pastrnak, Martin Necas, and Tomas Hertl will pose major threats on Olympic ice – but injuries to Pavel Zacha and Filip Chytil may have irreparably damaged their depth chart. Instead, this year’s underdogs could be the Swiss, who have honed a roster of veterans into the perfect mix of reliability and explosivity.
Switzerland is led by one-time Norris Trophy winner Roman Josi, who continues to bring a dominant impact to both ends of the ice, even after losing 29 games of last season to injury. Josi poise, control, and perspective needed to lead a surging lineup. In speaking about Switzerland’s approach with NHL.com’s Dan Rosen, Josi said:
We know the teams that are coming here, the players that are here, but I think we can have a lot of confidence in our game. Obviously, this is a different beast than World Championships, but we’ve played some really good World Championship tournaments and got some momentum.
Josi added that this is the first time that Switzerland’s stars have had a chance to play at full strength. This is only the second time in the last five years that Switzerland has had each of Roman Josi, Nico Hischier, Kevin Fiala, and budding top-defender J.J. Moser on an international lineup. The other instance was at the 2024 World Championship, where the Swiss went on a mad dash to the Gold medal game, only to lose to the aforementioned Czechia. While Josi didn’t return for the 2025 tournament, Switzerland still managed to repeat as Silver medalists, this time losing to Team USA in their first World Championship win of the 2000s.
Back-to-back silver medal wins brought Switzerland up to four second-place finishes across the last 13 years. Before then, the Swiss hadn’t medaled in 14 years, not since their trifecta of medals won between 1994 and 1997.
Now, Switzerland faces the ultimate test. They have never medaled at an Olympic game with NHL talent – but this year offer an interesting mix of talent. Josi and Hischier offer stalwart reliability at both positions, capable as both playmakers and defenders. They’re complimented by Kevin Fiala, an electric scorer who seems to bring a bit extra to international competition. Fiala has led Switzerland’s last three World Championship rosters in points-per-game scoring and should continue to pop next to stars.
More than their top-end, Switzerland is bringing the fifth-most NHL talent in the tournament – the most outside the typical big-four. That standing has been propped up by injuries to other clubs but Switzerland’s flanks bring a lot of heft. Moser looks capable of standing up to the ever-important #2 role, while Jonas Siegenthaler‘s upside as a shutdown defender should hedge the team’s second pair. They’ll get similar support from Timo Meier and Nino Niederreiter on offense. Meier has 28 points in 52 NHL games and Niederreiter has 19 points in 55 games, down years for both players though they’ve also shown some extra spark in past international games.
The Nati will be rounded out with some shreds of upside. Philipp Kurashev was having a career-year before running into injury at the end of 2025. He has totaled 17 points and a plus-three in 34 games – notably his first NHL season with a positive plus-minus. Former Colorado Avalanche winger Sven Andrighetto has stepped up as a star scorer in Switzerland’s top pro league in his post-NHL days. He is one of five players scoring at a point-per-game pace in that league, with 35 points in as many games. Also on that list is former Florida Panthers and Toronto Maple Leafs forward Denis Malgin, who has 41 points in 41 games. That duo will stand as potential X-factors who can score important goals ,even if their point totals don’t pop.
These strengths are built on what is, still, a lineup far away from the strength of the top-four. Switzerland is rolling out Akira Schmid as their starting goaltender. He has played a career-high 29 NHL games this season and has 16 wins and a .895 save percentage to show for it – stout marks behind a strong Vegas Golden Knights club. But goaltending will still be Switzerland’s biggest weaknesses, not supported by a similarly shaky defense behind their three NHL talents.
Sweden is missing Lucas Carlsson and Jonas Brodin, two hard-hitters who would have filled important roles this tournament. Finland is missing star center Aleksander Barkov. Could those absences leave enough room for Switzerland to push into medal contention? If they bring the might they’ve shown at the World Championships, it could be. Even if the Swiss don’t medal, a standout tournament could put them at the level of, or even above, fellow up-and-comers like Czechia and Slovakia.
Golden Knights’ Jonas Rondbjerg Ruled Out Of Olympics
2/8: Denmark has announced their replacement following Rondbjerg’s injury. They’ve added left-defenseman Malte Setkov, bringing the roster to a conventional 14 forwards and seven defenders after Denmark originally rostered 15 forwards. Setkov has spent the last four seasons in Denmark’s top league. He has 13 goals and 30 points in 39 games this season, a career-high scoring pace.
2/6: Team Denmark will enter the 2026 Winter Olympics without one of their five NHL forwards. Vegas Golden Knights winger Jonas Rondbjerg has been ruled out due to a lower-body injury sustained during Vegas’ Sunday loss to the Anaheim Ducks, Denmark general manager Morten Green told local news channel TV 2 Sport.
Rondbjerg was placed on Vegas’ injured reserve on Monday. He missed the Golden Knights’ last two games before the Winter Olympics break, replaced by rookie forward Kai Uchacz.
Now, Rondbjerg will lose his first chance to represent Denmark at the Olympic Games. He joined the country at the Olympic Game Qualifiers in 2025 and scored one goal in three games. That chip, and his physical presence, helped lift Denmark to the top of Group F.
Rondbjerg was one of only seven NHL players on Denmarks 2026 Olympics roster. His peers include the Hurricanes’ Nikolaj Ehlers, Lightning’s Oliver Bjorkstrand, Senators’ Lars Eller, and Kraken’s Oscar Fisker Molgaard on offense.
That bunch will make up the bulk of Denmark’s top lines, while Rondbjerg was set for a pillaring role in the team’s bottom-six. The 6-foot-2 forward has split the season between the NHL and AHL, netting one point in four games with Vegas and 23 points in 36 games with the Henderson Silver Knights. He offers a reserved, physical presence that could have boosted Denmark’s odds against physical teams like Finland and USA.
Who Denmark will choose to replace Rondbjerg will be an interesting question to answer. Winger Felix Maegaard Scheel, 33, joined Denmark’s national team for three games earlier this season. He has served an extra forward role at the last four World Championships and currently has 11 points in 29 games in Germany’s DEL. Denmark could also opt for Viktors Čubars, who leads the country’s top league in scoring with 57 points in 40 games. Other local options could include Patrick Bjorkstrand or Oliver True, Ehlers’ cousin.
Or, if Denmark wants to maintain their NHL connection, they could opt for former Chicago Blackhawks draft pick (2016 fifth-round) Mathias From, who has 53 points in 42 games in Austria’s IceHL.
Kings’ Surplus At Forward Could Make Warren Foegele Expendable
The Los Angeles Kings could stick around the trade market when the NHL returns from their three-week break for the Winter Olympics. General manager Ken Holland joined TNT Sports’ NHL Game Break to breakdown the team’s acquisition of star winger Artemi Panarin, and referenced the team’s wealth of forwards with their latest addition. Specifically, Holland pointed out forward Warren Foegele as a player who they’ll “work the phones” around after a strong year last season turned into healthy scratches this season.
Foegele had a career-year in his first season with the Kings. He appeared in all 82 games and reached 24 goals, 46 points, and a plus-36 – all new career-highs for the 28-year-old winger. That performance came after Foegele reached 20 goals and 41 points in all 82 games of the dmonton Oilers’ 2023-24 season. He appeared to have reached another level, but his hot hand has gone cold to start the season. Foegele remains a utility, two-way winger when he’s in the lineup but has only posted eight points and a minus-five in 43 games this season.
With another forward in the depth chart, Foegele could become an interesting trade chip. He has proven an ability to provide an impact through a change of teams and could be enough to swing Los Angeles a mid-round draft pick that they can package in a bigger market buy.
Flyers’ Ty Murchison Expected To Be Out For Season With Injury
The Philadelphia Flyers will lose a strong call-up option for the rest of the year. Defenseman Ty Murchison, who made his NHL debut in December, has sustained an upper-body injury and isn’t expected to return this season per Lehigh Valley Phantoms broadcaster Bob Rotruck. Murchison sustained the injury during Lehigh Valley’s January 11th loss to the Providence Bruins. He has missed eight games since.
Murchison was having a succesful start to his pro career. The AHL rookie only had six points in 29 games – but his 46 penalty minutes ranked third on Lehigh Valley, and his staunch defense earned him a call-up to the NHL while Philadelphia adjusted to blue-line injuries. Murchison went on to play in three games with the Flyers, netting no scoring and a plus-one. He earned incremently more ice time over those three games, before being reassigned.
Murchison brings an physical, defense-first presence that proved quickly valuable in Lehigh Valley. That continues the pattern of hard-earned hockey that followed Murchison through four years at Arizona State University. He only scored 23 points in 145 games with the Sun Devils – but, again, his propensity for hard-hitting hockey proved intimidating at the college flight.
The 23-year-old Murchison seems well set to vie for a bottom-pair role in Philadelphia one day. He could have even earned that role at the tail-end of this season, after Philadelphia traded Egor Zamula following Murchison’s NHL debut. Now, it seems he’ll have to wait for a smooth recovery next season before he rejoins the fight for NHL minutes.
Lightning Place Jack Finley On Waivers
The Tampa Bay Lightning have made another roster move ahead of the NHL’s looming break, placing centerman Jack Finley on waivers per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman.
Finley lost his waiver exemption just over two weeks ago, after being called up on December 20th. Teams across the NHL will now have a chance to add the 23-year-old, former second-round draft pick.
Finley has spent the bulk of the season on Tampa Bay’s roster. He won an extra forward role out of training camp and rotated into the lineup throughout November. The Lightning briefly assigned Finley to the minors in mid-December on the heels of a five-game scoring drought. The move seemed to provide a spark. Finley scored three points in three AHL games, returned to the NHL with a two-point performance, and earned an outright fourth-line role amid a handful of injuries.
But Finley hasn’t kept his hot streak alive in a nightly role. He has recorded no points and a minus-one over his last 10 appearances, even despite Tampa Bay posting a 9-0-1 record and +19 goal differntial in those games. Finley has bridged his lack of production by averaging the fourth-most hits per game on the team.
Tampa Bay will need more than that to keep the offense firing on all cylinders. A waiver designation could give the Lightning a chance to assign Finley to the minors, where he racked up 60 points in 92 games over the last two seasons. That is, if another team isn’t interested in locking Finley into their own bottom-six role.
2026 NHL Draft Star Gavin McKenna Facing Misdemeanor Charges
Feb. 6: The felony charge against McKenna has been withdrawn by Pennsylvania prosecutors, according to Ryan Graffius and Gary Sinderson of WJAC. He is still facing a misdemeanor charge of simple assault and summary offenses for harassment and disorderly conduct.
Feb. 5: McKenna’s court date will be Wednesday, February 11, per a media release from the State College, Pennsylvania, police department.
Feb. 4: Projected 2026 first-overall pick and Penn State University winger Gavin McKenna was arrested and charged with felony aggravated assault on Saturday night, per court documents obtained by The Athletic. McKenna reportedly got into an altercation with another individual during a private team event on Saturday night, says Mike McMahon of College Hockey News. McMahon further reported in his newsletter that McKenna broke the other individual’s jaw with a punch. No information has been released on McKenna’s court arraignment – and no statement has been released by the school.
McKenna is a Nittany Lions star who currently leads the school’s men’s hockey team in scoring with 32 points in 24 games. He is in his freshman season and on a record-setting NIL deal after winning the WHL Championship with the Medicine Hat Tigers last season. McKenna scored 41 goals and 129 points in 56 games in his final WHL season. He became the third U18 player to score 120 points in the WHL since 2000, joining Connor Bedard (143 points, 2023) and Nic Petan (120 points, 2013). Those marks made McKenna the first blue-chip recruit to pursue the NCAA after the league began allowing CHL talent.
Now, it appears the remainder of McKenna’s draft season could be drawn into question. The dynamic winger is a star scorer when he’s on the ice, with flashy stickhandling and sharp vision. He has improved his ability to play a physical, 200-foot game as part of the Big Ten, though that growth could soon be overshadowed by pressing legal challenges. Pro Hockey Rumors will update this story with further information as it becomes available.
Penguins Recall Avery Hayes, Three Out
The Pittsburgh Penguins are facing a shakeup on offense in their final game before the Olympic break. Winger Avery Hayes was recalled to the NHL and will make his NHL debut to help Pittsburgh address absences for Noel Acciari, Rickard Rakell, and Blake Lizotte.
Acciari entered the day with an illness. He was designated as a game-time decision and ultimately scratched. Rakell has been designated as day-to-day with a lower-body injury. It isn’t yet clear if or how that injury will impact his availability for the Olympic games. Finally, Lizotte will be away from the team to attend to the birth of his child. All injury updates come per Josh Yohe of The Athletic.
The lineup shift will leave Penguins forward Benjamin Kindel and Egor Chinakhov as focal pieces of the offense, with the rookie Kindel even earning top power-play reps. Chinakhov has scored six points in his last six games, while Kindel has five points. They will help make up for the glaring holes left by Pittsburgh’s absentees. All three have made their marks felt over the last two weeks, though surprisingly Lizotte and Acciari have proven the hotter hands, with four points to Rakell’s three.
Pittsburgh will get another boost from one of their AHL leading scorers. Hayes has racked up 23 points and 41 penalty minutes in 31 AHL games this season. It’s a ramped up year across the board after the two-way winger posted 23 goals, 42 points, and 58 PIMs in 60 games last season. The undrafted Hayes is in his third AHL season. He was a two-time OHL champion across four years in the league, where he made a name for himself as a plug-and-play winger capable of fitting next to any linemates. Pittsburgh will hope Hayes brings that same flexibility into his first game at the top flight.
Senators’ Linus Ullmark Out With Illness, Hunter Shepard Recalled
The Ottawa Senators will be without their star goaltender in their final game before the NHL’s break for the Winter Olympics. Linus Ullmark will sit out due to flu-like sympyoms, per TSN’s Bruce Garrioch. The news comes just under an hour before puck drop. James Reimer will assume the starting role in Ullmark’s absence, while Hunter Shepard has been recalled to the NHL to serve as backup.
Reimer is back in the NHL after a mid-season professional try-out turned into a one-year contract with the Senators. He has recorded two wins and a .862 save percentage in six games with Ottawa, while adding another loss and .786 Sv% in his sole AHL game. Both numbers are far south from the 10 wins and .883 Sv% that Reimer recorded in 24 games last season – 22 spent with the Buffalo Sabres and two with the Anaheim Ducks. The 37 year old has continued to offer a presence in the crease, though he’ll still be a shaky hand to rely on as Ottawa looks to continue a 4-1 record over their last five games.
The Senators have only received marginally better play from de facto starter Ullmark. The former Vezina Trophy winner has posted 16 wins and a .884 save percentage in 30 games this season. It is his first year with a save percentage south of .900 – a feat he has curbed in each of his 10 other seasons in the league. That includes his first year with Ottawa last season, when Ullmark put up 25 wins and a .910 Sv% in 44 games. That was the seventh-highest save percentage from any NHL starter last season.
Shepard, who will serve as backup, has posted six wins and a .888 Sv% in 14 AHL games this season. He managed a .891 Sv% in 39 games with the Hershey Bears last season.
Such a late scratch should indicate that Ullmark will be good-to-go when Ottawa returns on February 26th. The Senators currently sit last in the Atlantic Division, though they’re tied with the Florida Panthers in total points (61). They are the only club in the bototm five of the Eastern Conference with a positive goal-differential (+6).