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Injury Notes: Norris, Perfetti, Matheson

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Bruce Garrioch of Postmedia is reporting that Ottawa Senators center Josh Norris is practicing once again in a normal contact jersey today. The 24-year-old shed his yellow non-contact jersey for yesterday’s practice after he tweaked something two weeks ago at the start of training camp. Norris has missed 90 games over the past two seasons with a shoulder injury and has continued to deal with the ailment despite several surgical and rehabilitation efforts.

Last season, Norris injured the shoulder while taking a faceoff against the Arizona Coyotes in October, he attempted to do rehab and came back to play in January, but then re-injured his shoulder after three games. He finished the year with two goals and a single assist in just eight games in what was a very disappointing first year of an eight-year $63.6MM contract.

In other injury notes:

  • Sportsnet is reporting that Cole Perfetti left the Winnipeg Jets preseason game last night against the Calgary Flames after taking a dangerous hit from Martin Pospisil. Perfetti didn’t return to the game and was absent from practice this morning when it began. However, according to Winnipeg Sun reporter Scott Billeck, Perfetti did practice in a smaller group of just five players. Ken Wiebe of the Winnipeg Free Press is reporting that Perfetti is day-to-day at the moment.
  • Renaud Lavoie of TVA Sports is reporting that Montreal Canadiens defenseman Mike Matheson didn’t practice today with the team. The 29-year-old was a late scratch last night for the Canadiens preseason game against the Ottawa Senators in what was said to be precautionary. Matheson dealt with several injuries last season, which makes any scratch worrisome at this point. Eric Engels of Sportsnet reported last night that Matheson is dealing with a lower body injury that is unrelated to the groin and abdominal injuries he dealt with last season and would’ve played through the injury had the game been a regular season matchup.

Devils Offered Tomáš Tatar A One Year Contract

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Colorado Avalanche forward Tomáš Tatar lingered in free agency peril for most of the summer before he finally signed a one-year deal with the team for $1.5MM. However, he recently told the Boris a Brambor Podcast that the New Jersey Devils had offered him a one-year contract earlier in the offseason.

When discussing the one-year offer from the Devils, Tatar said he wanted more term from the Devils when they made their offer, but only realized later in free agency that a multi-year deal wasn’t possible. By the time he’d changed his mind, the Devils had already acquired forward Tyler Toffoli from the Calgary Flames, making his return to New Jersey improbable.

Given Tatar’s timeline of events, it seems likely the Devils made their offer prior to June 27th when Toffoli was dealt to New Jersey. It’s hard to fault Tatar for thinking he could get a multi-year deal as he was coming off a good season in which he scored 20 goals and 28 assists in 82 games. His run-in free agency was one of the more puzzling things that happened this summer in hockey as he didn’t come close to getting the contract that many pundits predicted he would. The Athletic had Tatar projected to receive a three-year contract with an average annual value of $3.9MM but the flat cap and an underwhelming playoff hurt his earning potential.

Tatar’s situation is not unlike that of Evan Rodrigues last summer, he also signed with Colorado on a one-year deal after lingering in free agency for quite a while. Rodrigues signed a four-year $12MM contract this year with the Florida Panthers, something that Tatar could mimic next summer if he has another good year.

Free agency is often a guessing game, and it is sometimes hard to project who will take a one-year deal and who can get term. Many people were blindsided by which players received term on their new deals (Ryan Reaves) and which players took one-year deals (Jason Zucker). But with the flat cap, free agency has become harder than ever as evidenced by a useful middle six forward like Tatar going more than two months unsigned.

Vancouver Canucks Expected To Waive Spencer Martin

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The Vancouver Canucks are expected to place goaltender Spencer Martin on waivers today unless a trade materializes in the next few hours, reports Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman. Martin, a candidate to compete for the backup job behind Thatcher Demko just a few weeks ago, was pushed down the team’s depth chart after the Canucks acquired Casey DeSmith in a trade with Montreal last week.

Even without acquiring DeSmith, the path to a roster spot in Vancouver for Martin wasn’t solid. After falling flat in his first shot at full-time NHL duties last season, many speculated that 22-year-old netminder Arturs Silovs may get the backup spot to start the season after a strong showing at the World Championship, guiding Latvia to a bronze medal. With DeSmith now in the fold, however, that point is moot, and both netminders are slated for AHL Abbotsford to start the season.

However, sending both netminders down will make for quite the crowded crease in Abbotsford. Vancouver also has Zach Sawchenko and Nikita Tolopilo signed to two-way contracts, plus 22-year-old Jonathan Lemieux is signed to an AHL contract for 2023-24. Lemieux is likely destined for assignment to ECHL Kalamazoo, but that would still leave four goalies competing for ice time at the AHL level. It’s clear why Vancouver would look to move on from Martin, the most veteran of the bunch at 28 years old.

Martin had been an AHL netminder for all of his pro career up until last season. A six-game stint near the end of 2021-22 with Vancouver earned him the upper hand on capturing the backup spot behind Demko to start 2022-23, going 3-0-3 in six starts with a sparkling .950 save percentage and 1.74 goals-against average. However, that momentum failed to translate when Martin did assume the backup role. He was arguably one of the worst netminders in the NHL last season – while his 11-15-1 record in 27 starts wasn’t awful, his .871 save percentage and 3.99 goals-against average fell far below the league average. To visualize it better, Martin conceded 27.5 more goals than the average NHL netminder would have given the same workload and shot volume.

That being said, he could still get some interest on the trade market from teams looking to fill a third-string-shaped hole on their goalie depth chart. The Columbus Blue Jackets come to mind with few options behind Elvis Merzlikins and Daniil Tarasov, both of whom have recent injury histories. 130-game NHL veteran Aaron Dell is in camp on a professional tryout, however.

Chris Snow Will Not Wake Up After Brain Injury

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This article has been updated with the link to the Flames’ donation page for ALS research at Canadian institutes. You can contribute to ALS research here.

Calgary Flames assistant general manager Chris Snow will not wake up after sustaining a catastrophic brain injury caused by lack of oxygen due to cardiac arrest Tuesday, his wife, Kelsie, confirmed this morning. Snow, who has been battling ALS since his diagnosis in 2019, is 42 years old.

Snow began his career in hockey as a beat writer for both the Minneapolis Star-Tribune and Boston Globe but got a prominent chance with an NHL team early on in his career. He transitioned directly into a hefty role with the Minnesota Wild, named their director of hockey operations for the 2006-07 season at age 25. He served in that role for the following four seasons, after which he immediately joined the Flames as their director of statistical and video analysis in 2010.

He held that role in Calgary for a full decade before earning a well-deserved promotion to assistant general manager under then-GM Brad Treliving in 2020, less than one year after his ALS diagnosis. This summer, along with promoting Craig Conroy to GM after Treliving’s departure, Snow had the title of vice president of data/analytics added to his AGM title.

Snow was one of the most inspirational figures in the hockey community over his career, beginning with his meteoric ascent to front-office roles all the way through his family’s very transparent approach to handling ALS. Both Chris and Kelsie became very public advocates for ALS research, something Chris participated in via clinical trials multiple times.

Conroy was visibly emotional at yesterday’s press conference introducing Mikael Backlund as the team’s new captain, saying, “It doesn’t seem right not have Snowy here with me.” Multiple reports indicated Treliving, now the general manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs, left the team to be in Calgary yesterday with the Snow family.

PHR and the entire hockey community send their deepest condolences to the Snow family, their friends, and the Flames organizations during this incredibly difficult time.

East Notes: Palmieri, Laine, Matheson

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The New York Islanders may not have forward Kyle Palmieri available to them to begin the season, head coach Lane Lambert told reporters today (link via Ethan Sears of the New York Post). Palmieri has yet to practice with the team during training camp, and this certainly seems like a more significant injury issue than what the Islanders called “maintenance” almost a week ago.

Palmieri has been skating on his own throughout camp but has not come close to appearing in a preseason contest. It does seem unlikely that Palmieri’s absence will stretch into something significantly long-term, but missing the season opener would mean at least a three-week absence from the original undisclosed injury, which is certainly nothing to brush off. It will be a significant hole for the Islanders to fill if he does miss time, given the 32-year-old winger is again ticketed for a top-six role, likely alongside Pierre Engvall and Brock Nelson. Palmieri was limited to 55 games last season due to injury, but he did manage to increase his production pace after a poor 2021-22 campaign, recording 16 goals and 33 points.

More updates from around the Eastern Conference tonight:

  • Even after the departure of Mike Babcock and Brad Larsen behind the Columbus Blue Jackets bench, the Patrik Laine at center experiment hasn’t ended yet. The Athletic’s Aaron Portzline reports that Laine has taken line rushes at center during each of the past two Blue Jackets practices and today was centering the team’s top line between Johnny Gaudreau and Kirill Marchenko. Shifting Laine to center full-time would certainly take the load off rookie Adam Fantilli, who could start the season in a more sheltered third-line role down the middle. It would also relieve the responsibilities of captain Boone Jenner, who was forced into averaging over 20 minutes per game last season thanks to the team’s thin depth down the middle. Laine did play a few games at center last season before an arm injury ended his campaign in late March.
  • Montreal Canadiens defenseman Mike Matheson was a late scratch for tonight’s preseason tilt against the Ottawa Senators, and Sportsnet’s Eric Engels reports the circumstances surrounding said scratch are still unknown. If it’s injury-related, Habs fans can hope it’s only precautionary for their de facto number-one defenseman. If the team has any hopes of making noise with their young core in a suffocatingly tight Atlantic Division, Matheson’s play will be a huge part of it. The 29-year-old notched a career-high 34 points last season despite playing in just 48 games and still managed a +7 rating on a bottom-feeding team.

West Snapshots: Duclair, Tippett, Hintz

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Speaking with offseason acquisition, Anthony Duclair of the San Jose Sharks, Sharks beat writer, Curtis Pashelka, reports that the new forward may have some interest in signing an extension in San Jose. Duclair did indicate that there have been contract talks up to this point, as he looks to remain focused for the upcoming season.

Largely a salary dump addition by the Sharks this summer, Duclair is coming off a largely successful three-year run with the Florida Panthers. In 137 games in Sunrise since the start of the 2020-21 NHL season, Duclair has 43 goals and 56 assists, which amounts to the most points scored for any team he has played on throughout his career. Nevertheless, there is some injury concern along with him, as he was unable to play in the regular season last year until late February due to an Achilles injury.

Acquired at the start of free agency by the Sharks for forward Steven Lorentz and a 2025 fifth-round draft pick, Duclair should get plenty of opportunity in San Jose this year. Clearly in a rebuilding effort, Duclair is one of eight expiring contracts on the roster and should see an ample amount of time in the team’s top six. If Duclair remains healthy and continues to perform well, he is poised to be a probable mover at next year’s trade deadline if the two parties cannot come to a contract extension.

Other snapshots:

  • Before accepting the position as head coach of the Edmonton Oilers from 2019-22, Dave Tippett was working as a Senior Advisor for the upstart Seattle expansion franchise, before they had even been given a formal name. After taking a year away from the game, the Seattle Kraken announced that Tippett would rejoin the organization, this time as a Coaching Consultant. A head coach of nearly 1,300 games, Tippett will bring a wealth of experience to the coaching staff of the Kraken, who are hoping to return to the playoffs for the upcoming 2023-24 season.
  • Mike Heika, a Senior Staff Writer for the Dallas Stars, reports that forward Roope Hintz is to be considered day-to-day, with the Stars remaining cautious on his timeline. Dealing with an upper-body injury, Hintz was unable to practice with the team today. The organization has only played two preseason matchups up to this point, one against the Arizona Coyotes, and the other against the Minnesota Wild, with Hintz being scratched for both matchups.

Winnipeg Jets Injury Notes: Ehlers, Capobianco, Barlow

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Unable to play in either contest against the Edmonton Oilers earlier in the week, Nikolaj Ehlers appears to be out even longer. Still dealing with the lingering effects of neck spasms, Ken Wiebe of the Winnipeg Free Press reports that Ehlers will miss tonight’s game against the Calgary Flames, as well as Friday’s game against the Ottawa Senators.

Missing a handful of regular season games from 2020-2022, Ehlers spent one of his longest bouts on the injured reserve last season, missing six weeks of action due to a hernia. Only suiting up in 45 games, the Winnipeg Jets are hoping this injury does not continue to linger.

There is reason for optimism, as Wiebe notes that Ehlers is progressing nicely through the injury, but without being able to play a single game in the preseason, Ehlers may need a bit longer to acclimate himself than other players on the opening night roster. Although this is positive news in terms of his eventual return to the ice for Winnipeg, there is no specific timetable set for Ehlers’ return.

Other Winnipeg injury notes:

  •  In the same report, Wiebe writes that Jets’ depth defenseman, Kyle Capobianco, will be left off the roster for tonight’s game against the Flames due to a groin injury. Instead, the 164th overall selection of the 2020 NHL Draft, Tyrel Bauer, will take his place in the lineup. After agreeing to a deal with defenseman Logan Stanley in mid-August for the 2023-24 NHL season, Capobianco will be hard-pressed to find a spot on the Jets’ blue line to start the season, even after playing in 14 games for the team last year.
  • Lastly, in his return from an illness that kept him out a few days, Winnipeg’s first-round pick in the 2023 NHL Draft, Colby Barlow, will return to the ice with the team. Unable to find himself in the lineup for a preseason game up to this point, Barlow could see his first taste of professional action as early as tonight against Calgary.

Blues Injury Notes: Kyrou, Faulk, Kapanen, Ratcliffe, Burns

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Speaking with head coach Craig Berube of the St. Louis Blues today, Matthew DeFranks of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that two of the most important players on the Blues roster, defenseman Justin Faulk, and forward Jordan Kyrou are both “fine” and should be back with the team relatively soon.

Both players are dealing with lower-body injuries, likely sustained in their most recent preseason matchups. In Faulk, he played in the team’s winning effort against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday, playing a little over 16 minutes, failing to land on the scoresheet. Kyrou, on the other hand, has not played since the team’s split-squad matchup against the Arizona Coyotes on September 23rd, where he would play in almost 18 minutes of that game, scoring one goal and one assist.

It is unknown whether or not either player will play in the team’s upcoming matchup against the Chicago Blackhawks tomorrow night, or this weekend’s game against the Dallas Stars. Nevertheless, it appears that both are dealing with minor injuries and should be available for either of those two games.

Other Blues injury notes:

  • In the same report, DeFranks mentions that Blues’ forward Kasperi Kapanen is dealing with an upper-body injury, and should be able to return to practice tomorrow. Much like the status of Faulk and Kyrou, it is unknown whether or not Kapanen will play in the organization’s upcoming games this week, but should be ready to factor in if necessary. Kapanen has only played one game this preseason, playing just over 18 minutes of the team’s win against Arizona, registering zero points.
  • For some longer-term injury notes, St. Louis forward Isaac Ratcliffe is confirmed out at the moment, with no timetable for his return. Factoring into Tuesday’s game against the Blue Jackets, Ratcliffe tallied a goal in 13 minutes of ice time, earning the third star of the game. On the bubble of the Blues’ roster heading into this season, for his own personal benefit, Ratcliffe can not afford to miss too much time if he hopes to crack the regular season lineup.
  • St. Louis’ third-round selection of the 2023 NHL Draft, Quinton Burns, has been unable to return to practice following a lower-body injury sustained in the game against the Coyotes. In all likelihood, even without the injury, the young defenseman would have been returned to his OHL team, the Kingston Frontenacs, for the 2023-24 season. In his game against Arizona, Burns accrued 16 minutes of ice time, earning 2 PIMs and one registered hit.

Dylan Gambrell Sustains Concussion, Out Long-Term

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Toronto Maple Leafs center Dylan Gambrell sustained a concussion in practice yesterday and is “out for the foreseeable future,” head coach Sheldon Keefe informed reporters today (relayed by Mark Masters of TSN). Gambrell signed a one-year, one-way league-minimum deal to join Toronto shortly after free agency opened in July.

It’s an unfortunate development for Gambrell, who hoped to compete for a fourth-line role to start the season in Toronto. That already became less likely with William Nylander shifting to center, bumping David Kämpf down to the fourth line, but it now seems even more likely Gambrell will be waived when healthy and, if he clears, assigned to the AHL’s Toronto Marlies. There is no current timeline for his return, but if he’s expected to miss at least ten games and 24 days to start the season, he could join Matt Murray and Jake Muzzin on long-term injured reserve, giving Toronto some much-needed salary cap maneuverability to start the season, even with just his marginal $775K cap hit. With the unpredictability of recovery timelines from concussions, this scenario could very well play out.

Gambrell, 27, is entering his seventh NHL season. After beginning his career with the San Jose Sharks, he spent the last two seasons with the Ottawa Senators, playing a fourth-line center role. Despite recording over a point per game during all three of his collegiate campaigns at the University of Denver, he hasn’t had any sustained success at the NHL level. Last season, he recorded four goals, six assists and ten points in 60 games, winning just 45.1% of his draws and posting quite poor possession numbers (44.8% Corsi For, -8.2% relative Corsi For at even strength). Overall, he’s notched 40 points in 223 games, along with a -28 rating throughout his six-year career.

This opens up a clearer path for one of his former Sharks teammates, Noah Gregor, to sign a contract with the team after attending camp on a PTO. Gregor has routinely taken line rushes at left wing alongside Kämpf and Ryan Reaves throughout camp and hit the ten-goal mark for the first time in his four-year career last season with San Jose.

Calgary Flames Extend Mikael Backlund; Name Him Captain

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4:13 p.m.: The Calgary Flames have officially announced the contract according to a team press release. Confirming a lot of the rumors circulating about the reported contract extension, the Flames have also made Backlund their 21st captain in franchise history.

3:14 p.m.: CapFriendly has confirmed Backlund’s two-year, $4.5MM 35+ contract is filed with the league. Despite the eligibility for performance bonuses, it appears initially the entire $9MM value of the contract is paid out in base salary. TSN’s Pierre LeBrun adds the deal includes a full no-movement clause that actually kicks in immediately and will retroactively apply to the final season of his current contract. There is also a 15-team no-trade list that will kick in on January 1, 2026.

2:25 p.m.: The Calgary Flames are close to finalizing a contract extension with captaincy candidate Mikael Backlund, per a report from TSN’s Chris Johnston. The deal is pending some “final issues” that need to be resolved, but it appears the Flames will retain at least one of their many pending unrestricted free agents. Johnston reports that, when finalized, the deal will carry a $4.5MM average annual value for two seasons, keeping him in Calgary through 2025-26.

Backlund, 34, has been one of the Flames’ most consistent talents of the past decade and is coming off one of the best seasons of his career. He’s far from an elite shooter, but he makes up for that deficiency in spades with solid playmaking, high-end work ethic, and strong defensive play at even strength and on the penalty kill. His 60.6% Corsi For at even strength last season was the second-best mark on the team behind defenseman MacKenzie Weegar, and he averaged roughly two minutes per game on both special teams units. Combined with a career-high 37 assists, plus 19 goals and 56 total points, Backlund was arguably the Flames’ third-best forward last season behind the team’s goals leader, Tyler Toffoli, and their assists leader, Elias Lindholm.

Over the years, Calgary also leaned on Backlund heavily in the faceoff dot. While his career win rate of 48.9% is nothing special, the sheer volume of draws he takes is staggering for a non-top-line center. He took 1,386 faceoffs last season – tied for the fourteenth most in the league with Columbus’ Boone Jenner and Minnesota’s Joel Eriksson Ek.

This deal marks a decrease in pay for Backlund, which wasn’t the expectation after his strong season. Backlund is coming off the only long-term deal of his career: a six-year, $32.1MM extension signed before the 2018-19 season. With this season remaining at a $5.35MM cap hit, Backlund’s given the Flames 77 goals, 142 assists, 219 points, and a +70 rating in 365 games played while averaging 17:45 per game over the life of the deal. Consistency has been the name of the game for Calgary’s future captain, who also has ten goals and 17 points in 27 postseason games since 2019.

However, this offseason opened with hesitancy regarding Backlund’s future in Calgary. Shortly after the Flames were eliminated from playoff contention in April, Backlund expressed uncertainty about re-upping with the only NHL organization he’s ever known. That plotline continued through to July, where Backlund again said he wasn’t sure he’d remain in Calgary and tied his willingness to extend to the team’s performance out of the gate after a disappointing 2022-23 campaign. The tide finally turned yesterday when Johnston reported the two sides had commenced extension talks.

The next logical question to raise is the future of Elias Lindholm. If Backlund’s extension influences Lindholm to fast-track a deal to remain in Calgary past this season, it will solidify one of the more well-rounded center corps in the Pacific Division for the next three seasons with Nazem Kadri in the mix long-term as well. That gives plenty of runway for 2020 first-round pick Connor Zary, as the 22-year-old now looks back on track to make an impact in the NHL soon after a breakout 2022-23 with the AHL’s Calgary Wranglers.

Backlund is currently projected to center the team’s second line out of the gate with Blake Coleman and Andrew Mangiapane on his wings. If that holds up, don’t expect his ice time to dip too much below the 18:09 per game he saw last season, especially if new head coach Ryan Huska continues to use Backlund consistently on both special teams units. A responsible two-way center who can shoulder heavy minutes for a $4.5MM cap hit seems like a great value proposition, even if he will be 37 by the time the deal expires.

In getting this deal done early, the Flames also gain some more financial certainty for the 2024-25 season, something they need desperately, with eight rostered players currently slated for unrestricted free agency and an additional three for restricted free agency. With Backlund’s new cap hit, CapFriendly projects the Flames at $30.95MM in cap space assuming a roster size of 12 and a raised Upper Limit of $87.5MM.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

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