Already without Frederik Andersen long-term, the Hurricanes won’t have fellow goaltender Pyotr Kochetkov for the time being as he’s now in concussion protocol, meaning their current tandem is Spencer Martin and Yaniv Perets. To that end, ESPN’s Kevin Weekes reports (Twitter link) that Carolina is looking into what options might exist on the trade market. Andersen is out for at least two more months while Kochetkov’s timeline is less certain. The Hurricanes are almost right at the salary cap limit per PuckPedia while they do have nearly $2.4MM in LTIR room if needed. With that in mind, it wouldn’t be surprising if Carolina was looking into players on lower-cost deals to try to give them a small upgrade between the pipes in the short term.
Elsewhere around the NHL:
- Barring any issues arising from today’s practice, Canucks winger Brock Boeser could return to the lineup on Tuesday in Boston, mentions Sportsnet’s Iain MacIntyre. The 27-year-old has missed nearly three weeks due to a concussion, putting a strong start to his season on pause. In his contract year, Boeser has six goals and five assists in a dozen outings so far.
- Avalanche winger Jonathan Drouin has been limited to just five games this season after missing more than a month due to an upper-body injury. Now, the team announced (Twitter link) that he’s dealing with another upper-body injury, one that kept him out of the lineup against Tampa Bay. Drouin has been productive when in the lineup as he has two goals and two helpers in his limited appearances so far.
- Senators winger David Perron was a late scratch for tonight’s game against Calgary due to an upper-body injury, relays TSN’s Claire Hanna (Twitter link). The veteran returned to Ottawa’s lineup a little over a week ago after taking time away when his newborn daughter needed to undergo surgery. It has been a rough go on the ice for Perron’s first season with the Sens as he has been held without a point for his first nine games of the season.
- Lightning forward Nick Paul will miss at least this week with the undisclosed injury that has held him out for nearly a week now, notes Erik Erlendsson of Lightning Insider (Twitter link). The 29-year-old had gotten off to a nice start offensively before the injury, notching five goals and eight assists in 17 games while seeing time at both center and the wing.
- Islanders defenseman Alexander Romanov just returned to the lineup after recovering from a nagging injury but was a late scratch tonight. However, it wasn’t a recurrence of the injury as the team announced (Twitter link) that the 24-year-old was scratched due to being sick and is listed as day-to-day. Romanov has two assists, 27 blocks, and 31 hits in 11 games so far this season.
I’m just here for wilf’s comments.
Perron was a bad signing based on his age alone, Drouin has been toxic most of his career, It’s like he looks for reasons not to be in the lineup.
And just like that it’s announced that Kochetkov will most likely be back within the week.