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Archives for December 2024

Washington Capitals To Activate Alex Ovechkin From Injured Reserve

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The wait is over for the Washington Capitals. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports that the Capitals are expected to activate Alex Ovechkin from the team’s injured reserve tonight against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Ovechkin has missed the last 16 games for Washington after suffering a broken fibula against the Utah Hockey Club on November 18th. The injury was a major buzzkill to Ovechkin’s season as the veteran sniper got off to a torrid start with 15 goals and 25 points in 18 games.

His hot start put him only 27 goals away from breaking Wayne Gretzky’s record of 894 career goals. Ovechkin will still have 48 games to break Gretzky’s record this season despite missing over a month due to injury. Not only will Ovechkin chase the goal-scoring record for the remaining regular season games but will also help Washington pursue the team’s first Metropolitan Division title since the 2019-20 season.

He’s now moved to second behind Connor McMichael in goal-scoring for the Capitals this season. Still, Washington performed well in their captain’s absence with a 10-5-1 record. Outside of their record, the Capitals have surprisingly excelled in areas of the game that Ovechkin would otherwise excel in.

Washington managed a 16.4% powerplay percentage with nine goals in 55 opportunities with Ovechkin in the lineup at the beginning of the year but has turned things around with 13 goals in 47 attempts (27.7%) in his absence. Still, their 5on5 goal-scoring has taken quite a hit dropping to 3.68 GF/G after averaging 4.33 with Ovechkin.

The Capitals won’t have to make any corresponding roster move for Ovechkin’s activation since they’re reportedly keeping Lars Eller on the team’s injured reserve due to illness. Former first-round pick Hendrix Lapierre will slot down the middle of the team’s third line while Ovechkin will reprise his role on the team’s top line.

Ovechkin has publicly stated he’s putting the Capitals’ playoff aspirations above his chase for the goal-scoring record. If he can’t break it this season, he’ll have one more year under his current contract giving him plenty of time to eventually take the crown.

Nashville Predators Recall Vinnie Hinostroza

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Journeyman Vinnie Hinostroza is set to play for the sixth franchise of his 10-year NHL career. The Nashville Predators announce they’ve recalled Hinostroza from their AHL affiliate, the Milwaukee Admirals.

Hinostroza is in his first year with the Predators organization after signing a two-year, $1.55MM contract on the third day of this past offseason. He’s spent the entirety of the 2024-25 in Milwaukee where he’s been the highest-scoring player up to this point.

He’s not only Milwaukee’s highest-scoring player but leads the entire American Hockey League with 11 goals and 33 points in 26 games. Hinostroza is only two points shy of his total production in 42 games last year with the Pittsburgh Penguins AHL affiliate, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.

Hinostroza’s recall seems like another move from general manager Barry Trotz to introduce more scoring into Nashville’s lineup. The Predators have infamously been one of the most disappointing teams this season after an explosive flurry of signings this past summer.

He won’t be the final answer for a lethargic Nashville offense but Hinostroza should at least help the organization increase their second-to-last-place 2.44 GF/G average. The Predators generate enough shots and offensive chances but aren’t connecting on their opportunities. There’s little expectation Hinostroza’s 21.2% AHL shooting percentage will translate to the NHL level but it’s a step in the right direction for the Predators.

Los Angeles Kings Recall Arthur Kaliyev, Place Trevor Moore On IR

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Arthur Kaliyev is expected to play in his first NHL contest in the last 269 days. The Los Angeles Kings announced they’ve activated Kaliyev from the injured reserve and recalled him from his conditioning loan while placing Trevor Moore on the injured reserve in a corresponding roster move.

Kaliyev hasn’t played for the Kings since last year’s regular season. He got off to a solid start last season with six goals and 13 points through his first 25 games but his production dissipated quickly. Los Angeles did everything they could to jumpstart Kaliyev’s scoring output but he finished the 2023-24 season with one goal and two points in his subsequent 26 games.

His comeback effort didn’t start on the right foot. Kaliyev suffered a broken collarbone on the second day of training camp this year, precluding him from starting the regular season on time. He was finally cleared to play on December 10th when the Kings originally sent him to the AHL on his conditioning loan. His time with AHL’s Ontario Reign produced mixed results after scoring one goal and two points in five contests.

Los Angeles will hope Kaliyev can re-establish his offensive production this season. He’s only two years removed from scoring 13 goals and 28 points for the Kings in 56 games and is still only 23 years old. His play down the stretch of the 2024-25 season will likely dictate Kaliyev’s future in the Kings organization.

Still, Kaliyev is likely the best internal option at the Kings’ disposal to replace Moore in the lineup. The veteran winger has missed Los Angeles’ last five games due to an upper-body injury and isn’t ready to return. Moore is tied for the sixth on the Kings in goal-scoring with six goals in 28 games after finishing last year as the team’s best goal-scorer with 31 goals in 82 contests.

Ottawa Senators Recall Nikolas Matinpalo, Place Three On IR

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The Ottawa Senators announced they’ve recalled depth defenseman Nikolas Matinpalo from their AHL affiliate, the Belleville Senators. The roster move marks the second time in three weeks that Matinpalo has been recalled to serve as the team’s seventh defenseman.

Ottawa had to make additional roster moves given that Matinpalo is the fifth player recalled by the organization in the last 24 hours. TSN’s Steve Lloyd reported that the Senators have retroactively placed David Perron, Anton Forsberg, and Artem Zub on the team’s injured reserve opening up the necessary roster spots. Perron and Zub reportedly returned to practice yesterday meaning Matinpalo’s time on the active roster should be short-lived.

Matinpalo is in his second year with the Senators organization signing back-to-back one-year contracts out of the Finnish Liiga. He was a quality two-way defenseman for the AHL Senators last year scoring four goals and 14 points in 67 games with a +15 rating. He went scoreless through his first seven AHL postseason contests but still finished with a positive +1 rating.

The Espoo, Finland also debuted in the NHL last year skating in four games for Ottawa from late October through early November. He was rarely used during those contests shouldering seven minutes of ice time a night on average but still found the time to deliver four hits.

He’s had a small uptick in scoring this year in the AHL with two goals and seven points in 23 games but isn’t expected to greatly extrapolate on last season’s totals. He’ll continue to serve as Ottawa’s seventh defenseman for the time being with the team four games through a nine-game road trip.

Matthew Schaefer Likely Out Two to Three Months With Broken Collarbone

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Last night’s World Junior matchup between Team Canada and Team Latvia had severe implications beyond a round-robin matchup. Hockey Canada announced top defenseman and prospect for the 2025 NHL Draft, Matthew Schaefer will miss the remainder of the World Junior Championships due to an injury suffered yesterday evening.

TSN draft analyst, Bob McKenzie added more context to the injury this morning sharing that Schaefer suffered a broken collarbone and will likely miss the next two to three months of action. Hockey Canada has replaced Shaefer with Vancouver Canucks’ prospect Sawyer Mynio and could still add Seattle Kraken prospect Carson Rehkopf to secure a full 25-man roster.

Schaefer was already a top-five prospect for the 2025 NHL Draft heading into the season but his play to start the year had some mock drafts moving him up to the first overall selection. He’s scored five goals and 22 points in 17 games for the OHL’s Erie Otters while managing a +21 rating. He’s a solid skating defenseman with size and has displayed an exceptional hockey IQ this season in Erie.

Given his maturity and responsibility on both sides of the puck, there’s no question why Schaefer was considered a top prospect for the upcoming draft. Unfortunately, given that he’ll miss time on the world stage with Team Canada and a few months in the OHL, this injury likely nixes any chance for Schaefer to be selected with the first overall pick.

The injury shouldn’t move him too far down the draft board as there’s recent precedent for teams selecting players after injury-riddled draft years. The St. Louis Blues selected defenseman Adam Jiříček with the 16th overall pick of the 2024 NHL Draft after missing most of the season due to a knee injury. Given that Schaefer has a much higher ceiling than Jiříček it’s safe to say he’ll still be a top-five selection.

Dallas Stars Recall Justin Hryckowian; Mason Marchment Likely Out

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According to a team announcement, the Dallas Stars have recalled Justin Hryckowian for the third time this month. Hryckowian hasn’t debuted in the NHL over the first two recalls but there’s reason to believe he’ll do that tomorrow against the Chicago Blackhawks.

There’s growing concern the Stars will be without Mason Marchment tomorrow, leading to the idea that Hryckowian will be called upon to make his debut. Last night, Marchment took a puck to the face in a scary scene and was helped off the ice by the team. He was immediately taken to the hospital and head Peter DeBoer shared (X Link) that Marchment is ’okay in a broader sense’ but is unsure how long he’ll be sidelined.

If Marchment isn’t available Dallas will be limited to 12 healthy forwards. Hryckowian will likely slot on the team’s fourth line next to Oskar Back and Sam Steel with Logan Stankoven moving back to the team’s second line.

The Stars may even replace Marchment with Hryckowian on the team’s second line considering the strength of Dallas’ opponent tomorrow night. The former captain of Northeastern University has exceeded expectations in his first full AHL season scoring 12 goals and 26 points through his first 27 games. He may not be a longer-term player for the Stars yet but he’s certainly growing his prospect pedigree in the organization.

Joey Daccord Not Travelling With Kraken, Burakovsky Day-To-Day

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Kate Shefte of the Seattle Times Sports is reporting that goaltender Joey Daccord isn’t travelling with the Seattle Kraken meaning that Philipp Grubauer will start in net tonight in Vancouver. Daccord reportedly suffered an undisclosed injury during last Sunday’s game against Colorado but managed to finish out the game.

The 28-year-old had a career year last season and is off to a great start this year as well, posting a 12-9-2 record with a .912 save percentage and a 2.51 goals-against average. On the surface, Daccord’s numbers look pretty pedestrian, however, his 9.2 goals saved above expected tells a more detailed story (as per Money Puck).

If Daccord is out for any length of time, Grubauer will likely see a lot more action. The former Stanley Cup Champion has struggled this season, posting a 3-10 record with an .877 save percentage and a 3.63 goals-against average.

Kate Shefte also reported that Kraken forward Andre Burakovsky is day-to-day with an illness. Like Daccord, Burakovsky also stayed back in Seattle and is not travelling with the team to Vancouver.

The 29-year-old Burakovsky has struggled to score this season, carrying over his lack of offensive production from last season. The Klagenfurt, Austria native is just three years removed from posting 61 points in 80 games with Colorado but has registered just 22 goals and 45 assists in 132 games since signing a massive five-year $27.5MM deal as a free agent in July 2022.

Kings Recall Andre Lee From AHL

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The Los Angeles Kings have recalled forward Andre Lee from the Ontario Reign of the American Hockey League. Lee was sent to the AHL on December 24th, after making his first NHL appearance in December last Sunday. The 24-year-old Lee has spent the bulk of this season playing in the NHL for Los Angeles, dressing in 17 games and registering two points.

Before this year, Lee had spent his entire professional career in the AHL with the Reign. His AHL appearances have been limited this season, dressing in just four games and registering a goal and an assist. Over the course of his four-year AHL career, Lee has dressed in 109 games and tallied 15 goals and 11 assists.

The former seventh-round pick doesn’t provide much offense but is a good forechecker and can make space for his linemates. However, he isn’t overly physical given his 6’4” 205-pound frame and may need to find other ways to produce if he hopes to stick around in the NHL.

Lee spent the first month of the season in Los Angeles, but since then he has bounced back and forth between the NHL and AHL and will likely continue to do so for the remainder of this season unless he can start to produce a bit of offense in a bottom six role.

Avalanche Activate Josh Manson Off Injured Reserve

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The Colorado Avalanche activated defenseman Josh Manson off injured reserve yesterday before their 4-1 win over the Utah Hockey Club. Manson went on to dress last night, recording three shots on goal, two hits, a blocked shot and a +1. The 33-year-old hadn’t played in almost a month, missing 12 consecutive games due to an upper-body injury.

Manson skated alongside Samuel Girard last evening, the two are familiar with one another having formed a solid pairing when the Avalanche won the Stanley Cup in 2022. During Manson’s absence, Girard played well as he was paired with Cale Makar and Sam Malinski. In nearly 250 minutes paired together Girard and Manson didn’t have much success, bleeding opportunities against before eventually getting separated before Manson’s injury. With Manson back in the fold, Colorado has some options on the back end. The pairing of Devon Toews and Makar is elite, but the Avalanche could always opt to break them up if Girard and Manson can’t find their game as a unit.

Manson won’t provide much offense, having notched just a goal and five assists in 25 games this season. However, he does take on tough assignments and unfavorable deployment, starting nearly 60% of his shifts in the defensive zone at even strength.

Manson was okay in his return to the ice yesterday, making some good plays, but also showing a bit of rust which is to be expected after missing nearly a month of action. He’ll have some time to get comfortable before the Avalanche play against as they are off until New Year’s Eve.

Kirill Kaprizov Out Day-To-Day

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Minnesota Wild forward Kirill Kaprizov is missing tonight’s game against the Dallas Stars with a lower-body injury (Twitter link). Kaprizov didn’t travel with the Wild to Dallas and will miss just his second game of the second. The 27-year-old reportedly had some pain heading into the holiday break that is unrelated to the lower-body injury that kept him out of Minnesota’s game on November 23rd.

Kaprizov currently sits fourth in the NHL in points with 50 on the season, and second in goals with 23. His 56 goals in 2024 have him tied with Florida Panthers forward Sam Reinhart for the most this calendar year. Kaprizov has heated up recently, tallying points in 12 of his last 15 games, including five goals in his last six games.

Minnesota started the season red hot going 16-4-4 in October and November. However, since the calendar switched to December the Wild have cooled off with the season, going a pedestrian 6-6. Despite the December slump, Minnesota remains in second place in the Central Division, five points back of first-place Winnipeg.

The Wild return home Sunday to take on the Ottawa Senators and there is no word yet on whether Kaprizov will play. The 2020-21 Calder Trophy winner has yet to play a full season in the NHL, playing over 80 games just once, back in 2021-22.

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