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Ryan Ellis Out 4-6 Weeks

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Nov 18: Vigneault gave an updated timeline for Ellis today, telling reporters including Sam Carchidi of the Philadelphia Inquirer that the defenseman will miss four to six weeks. The plan right now is rehab, not surgery.

Nov 15: The Philadelphia Flyers got Ryan Ellis back for less than 19 minutes of ice time. The veteran defenseman re-injured himself in Saturday’s game and is now out week-to-week, according to head coach Alain Vigneault.

It’s a brutal setback for one of the Flyers’ big offseason acquisitions, who has played extremely well whenever he’s been healthy enough to do so. Ellis has five points in four games on the year but now faces another uncertain timeline for his return. The team has had a very up-and-down season so far, with a 7-4-2 record through 13 games. They’ve looked both like a tight-checking contender (with strong goaltending to boot) and a disorganized mess at times, flip-flopping through performances like the ones they had at Carolina and Dallas the last two games. Losing Ellis, who was expected to step into a huge role on the back end, means that there will be more shuffling to try and figure out the best lineup moving forward.

Not only is this a concern for this season, but Ellis has certainly not been a model of health over the last several seasons. In 2017-18 he missed half the year following knee surgery, in 2019-20 he spent nearly two months on injured reserve after suffering a concussion in the Winter Classic, and last season played just 35 games after shattering his knuckle. While those are obviously very separate incidents, it’s been a tough go for the 30-year-old defenseman.

When the Flyers acquired him, Ellis was seen as a potential fixture on the blueline for the next half-decade. His contract, which carries a $6.25MM cap hit, extends through 2026-27. A supremely talented two-way defender, the Flyers will have to hope he can get back on the ice in the coming weeks to start paying dividends on that deal.

Snapshots: Islanders, Norlinder, Fix-Wolansky

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The New York Islanders were dealt a tough hand to start the season with a 13-game road trip, but things aren’t exactly looking up with the news that defenseman Ryan Pulock will miss the next four to six weeks with a lower-body injury. The Islanders sit with a 5-6-2 record, and while it’s certainly recoverable, especially considering their track record, they find themselves in an extremely competitive division with seven teams ahead of them. With a defense core that’s looked troubling at times, the team could look to get outside help via the form of a trade. The Athletic’s Arthur Staple says that while the team could put faith into their staff in AHL Bridgeport to help bridge the gap until Pulock’s return, there’s a variety of trade targets they could examine. While D-men who have experience playing on the right side aren’t usually available for trade, he lists Seattle’s Vince Dunn as a potential option who could still prove to pay dividends on the power play once Pulock returns, a role that hasn’t been filled properly since the departure of Devon Toews.

More from around the NHL:

  • Montreal Canadiens prospect Mattias Norlinder is set to make his NHL debut on Thursday. The defenseman is healthy after a preseason injury sidelined him up until the last week, where he spent three games with the AHL’s Laval Rocket on a conditioning stint. The 64th overall pick in 2019 is expected to play on the second pairing alongside veteran David Savard, who’ll give him what should be a reliable defensive partner to open his NHL career.
  • It’s another prospect returning to the lineup as Columbus’ Trey Fix-Wolansky is making his season debut for AHL Cleveland tonight after an eight-month absence. The Hockey Writers’ Mark Scheig notes that the forward had ACL surgery in March. Fix-Wolansky wasn’t picked until the seventh round in 2018, likely due to his 5′ 8″ height, but proceeded to light up the WHL the following season with the Edmonton Oil Kings, scoring 37 goals and 102 points in just 65 games. After having an impressive first professional go-around with Cleveland last year as well, look for Fix-Wolansky to get an NHL look sooner rather than later.

Chicago Blackhawks Activate Caleb Jones

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According to PuckPedia, the Chicago Blackhawks activated defenseman Caleb Jones from long-term injured reserve today, adding him and his $850,000 cap hit back to the active roster.

The Blackhawks originally placed Jones on LTIR retroactive to October 6, 2021, when he sustained a wrist injury during training camp. His return is in line with his expected recovery time of six weeks.

Chicago acquired Jones as part of the return for long-time Blackhawks defenseman Duncan Keith in one of the most talked-about trades of the summer. Caleb, the younger brother of offseason acquisition Seth Jones, is a strong candidate to push Riley Stillman out of the lineup in order to make his Blackhawks debut.

20-year-old Isaak Phillips, who’s averaged just 10:51 through three games this season, will likely be sent down to the AHL’s Rockford IceHogs to accommodate Jones as he doesn’t require waivers.

Originally a fourth-round pick of the Edmonton Oilers, Jones is only seven games short of hitting the century mark in games played. Through 93 games across the past three seasons, all with Edmonton, the 24-year-old has five goals and 14 assists for 19 points.

Jones is in the final season of a two-year, $1.7MM contract extension he signed with the Oilers on January 15, 2020.

Andrei Kuzmenko Drawing NHL Interest

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Every year there is a player or two from the KHL that piques the interest of teams in North America. They’re often undrafted talents from smaller Russian cities that may have been overlooked for years by NHL scouts. This year’s edition is Andrei Kuzmenko, who Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports is drawing “a lot of interest.”

Kuzmenko, born in Yakutsk–a city more than 3,000 miles from Moscow–and set to turn 26 in February, is in his fifth full season in the KHL and has 29 points in 26 games for SKA St. Petersburg. In all, the right-shot left-winger has 176 points in 296 KHL regular season games, but those numbers have steadily increased in recent years. While he’s still far behind the league-leading Vadim Shipachyov (another undrafted talent that was once the big name KHL free agent), those 29 points put Kuzmenko in a tie for sixth in KHL scoring.

This isn’t the first time Kuzmenko’s name has come up in relation to the NHL though, teams have been watching him for some time. Back in 2018, his North American agent Dan Milstein of Gold Star Hockey told Championat that 24 teams had expressed interest in his client. In the same interview, he spoke about the interest in Ilya Mikheyev and Artem Zub, who subsequently came over and found success. Those NHL scouts will be reminded of him often too, given he has spent time on the same line as potential 2023 first-overall pick Matvei Michkov.

Hugely skilled, there will be no shortage of hype for Kuzmenko should he decide to try his hand in North America next season. Whether he finds success is still to be determined, but there are certainly strong footsteps for him to follow. One interesting thing to consider is whether this hot start will get him onto the Russian Olympic roster, where he could potentially showcase himself against NHL talent.

Guillaume Brisebois Clears Waivers

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Nov 17: While Brooks was claimed by the Vegas Golden Knights, Brisebois cleared and has been assigned to the AHL.

Nov 16: The Montreal Canadiens have placed Adam Brooks back on waivers after suiting up just four times with the team. Brooks had been claimed from the Toronto Maple Leafs off waivers earlier this season. Should Toronto put in a claim and are the only team to do so, they would be able to send him directly to the AHL. The Canadiens have also moved Mike Hoffman to injured reserve, retroactive to Saturday.

Meanwhile in Vancouver, the Canucks have placed Guillaume Brisebois on waivers, designating him for assignment to the AHL should he clear. Brisebois was on season-opening injured reserve, but this move suggests he’s nearing a return to action.

Brooks, 25, registered a single point in those four appearances for Montreal. The 2016 fourth-round pick has just 22 NHL regular season games under his belt, with four goals and nine points total. A natural center, he has shown the ability to score at a high rate in junior and the AHL, but is undersized and has yet to receive a true top-six opportunity.

Toronto does have an open roster spot and the cap space to carry Brooks, after sending Joey Anderson back to the minors yesterday.

It seems unlikely that Brisebois will be claimed, given he is coming off injury and has just nine games of NHL experience. This is a move that would have been done at the end of training camp in a normal situation, but the Canucks shouldn’t have much trouble getting him through to the minor leagues where he can get back up to speed.

Ryan Pulock Out 4-6 Weeks With Lower-Body Injury

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When it was revealed just before puck drop that the New York Islanders would be without two key players, alarm bells went up over the health of Ryan Pulock. He was ruled out with a lower-body injury, with the team explaining that he would be re-evaluated upon their return to New York. That evaluation appears to have occurred, as the team announced that Pulock is out for four to six weeks with a lower-body injury.

Pulock played just 16:45 on Monday but exited early after blocking a shot while shorthanded. It’s a huge blow for an Islanders team already reeling, embarrassed 6-1 last night by the Florida Panthers without him in the lineup. The normally stingy defensive unit has now allowed 19 goals over their last four games, losing all of them. Taking one of the team’s most important defensive players out of the lineup isn’t going to help those own-end issues, meaning the group will have to find another way to fill those minutes effectively.

If he returns four weeks from today, Pulock would still miss a total of 14 games. Six weeks would take him over the Christmas break, and take his total absences closer to 20.

The team does have some depth in the minor leagues, but one of the players that could have been an option–Bode Wilde–was loaned overseas when he declined the COVID-19 vaccination. Paul Ladue, one of the few other right-shot options, has just two NHL games under his belt since the 2018-19 season. Whoever they do recall likely won’t have to play right away, but the Islanders’ defensive depth is going to be tested with Pulock out for a while.

Michael Amadio Added To COVID Protocol

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Another Vegas Golden Knight is now unavailable to the team, as Michael Amadio has been placed in the COVID protocol. His designation further explains why the team claimed Adam Brooks off waivers today, as they continue to deal with injuries and COVID-related absences this season. The team has also canceled their media availability for this afternoon.

Amadio joins William Carrier and Jonathan Marchessault in the protocol, meaning the team is down three forwards in addition to Max Pacioretty, Nolan Patrick, and Jack Eichel who are on injured reserve. The team hasn’t had a full roster all season and saw their winning streak snapped last night by the Carolina Hurricanes.

In that game, Amadio played 13 minutes of ice time. The team has not confirmed whether or not he has tested positive for coronavirus, but he will be unavailable for the time being. If he has tested positive and presents any symptoms, he’ll be kept out for a minimum of 10 days. The Golden Knights are currently scheduled to play tomorrow against the Detroit Red Wings, who had their own key player enter the COVID protocol last night.

Chicago Blackhawks Hire Rob Cookson

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The Chicago Blackhawks have made some changes to the NHL coaching staff, hiring Rob Cookson as an additional assistant and promoting Marc Crawford to associate coach. Kyle Davidson, the team’s interim general manager, explained the Cookson hire:

Rob’s extensive NHL experience will complement our staff immediately. It’s his fresh perspective, however, that will really benefit the team as we work on this transition. We look forward to Rob meeting us on this road trip and I know he is eager to get going with this group.

As the release points out, Cookson has experience as an assistant with HC Lugano in Switzerland, where he coached Blackhawks forward Philipp Kurashev. For several years, he served under Crawford with the ZSC Lions, winning the championship in 2016 when Auston Matthews was on the roster. He also has plenty of experience in the NHL, spending more than a decade as an assistant with the Calgary Flames and Ottawa Senators.

When the team relieved Jeremy Colliton of his duties earlier this month, they also moved on from assistants Tomas Mitell and Sheldon Brookbank. They promised then that they would be adding an assistant coach to help new interim head coach Derek King, though he would be leaning heavily on Marc Crawford for the rest of the season. That support has resulted in an increased title, as Crawford has been elevated to an associate.

There is still going to be a head coaching search for the Blackhawks moving forward, but King (and perhaps Crawford) are making a case for themselves. Since the change, the team has won three straight games and is climbing out of the brutal 1-9-2 start that they had under Colliton.

Vegas Golden Knights Claim Adam Brooks

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The Vegas Golden Knights have added a depth forward, claiming Adam Brooks off waivers from the Montreal Canadiens according to Renaud Lavoie of TVA Sports.

This is the second player to start the year with the Toronto Maple Leafs and end up with Vegas through waivers, as Brooks will re-join Michael Amadio with the Golden Knights. Today’s claim comes from the Canadiens though, where Brooks played four games after being snatched earlier this season.

The 25-year-old forward has experience at wing and his natural center position but has only suited up for 22 regular season games to this point. There is real skill in the former Regina Pats superstar, but Brooks has been limited to bottom-six roles to this point. Perhaps Vegas, who are dealing with several injuries and COVID absences, will give him a shot in more offensive opportunities in the coming days.

It’s an interesting connection between Brooks and Golden Knights GM Kelly McCrimmon. The former is from Manitoba and played his junior hockey in Saskatchewan, while the latter is from Saskatchewan and ran the Brandon Wheat Kings in Manitoba for decades. In fact, McCrimmon would have seen Brooks up close and personal during his breakout 2015-16 season, when he scored 120 points in 72 games in the WHL.

Matt Boldy Activated, Assigned To AHL

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After breaking his ankle and missing the first part of the season, Minnesota Wild prospect Matt Boldy is ready to return to action. The team has activated the young forward off the injured non-roster list and assigned him to the Iowa Wild. Michael Russo of The Athletic reports that Boldy is expected to make his season debut this weekend for Iowa.

After signing his entry-level contract near the end of last season, Boldy stepped into the AHL and showed he could dominate that level just as much as he did in college. Through 14 games for Iowa, he registered 18 points and looked like he might be ready to step directly into the NHL for the 2021-22 season. The 12th-overall pick in 2019, Boldy was having a strong camp until his injury, which was originally given a four- to six-week recovery timeline.

Now, as he returns from the injury, he’ll have to get up to speed at the minor league level once again. How long he’ll stay down there remains to be seen, but with Minnesota in a strong position and winning their share of games, there isn’t a rush to bring him up. The team is 10-5-0 on the year and sits second in the Central Division, despite losing last night to the San Jose Sharks.

If he does come up, the Wild would be adding a big, talented winger with a history of racking up points at every level. The 6’2″ Boldy had 31 points in just 22 games during his sophomore (and final) season with Boston College, making him a finalist for the Hobey Baker Award. He also took home a World Junior gold medal, scoring five goals in seven games. For now, the focus will be on making sure he’s healthy enough to get his career back on track, but in time the Wild will have another exciting forward to add to the group.

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