It appears that the Islanders have avoided the worst-case scenario when it comes to injured center Bo Horvat. Stefan Rosner of The Hockey News reports that the initial indication is that the veteran will miss one to three weeks with a lower-body injury but that there was no structural damage. The injury occurred in the second period of Thursday’s game against Anaheim; he left the game and did not return. Horvat is in the middle of a strong showing this season, potting 19 goals and 12 assists through 32 games. Only three players have more goals than he does but that list will certainly be longer by the time he returns.
More from the Metropolitan:
- The Hurricanes announced that they have relieved AHL Chicago head coach Cam Abbott of his duties, replacing him on an interim basis with assistant coach Spiros Anastas. Abbott was in his second season running the Wolves; they finished fourth in the Central in 2024-25 and sit third in the standings this season with a record of 11-7-4. As for Anastas, he’s also in his second year with the club and will be running an AHL bench for the first time. He has also been behind the bench for Greece at the Latam Cup in each of the last three years.
- The Devils announced (Twitter link) that winger Arseny Gritsyuk will miss both games this weekend due to an upper-body injury. The rookie later clarified on Telegram that he hasn’t fully been examined yet which suggests that a longer absence could be on the table. Gritsyuk is in his first season in North America and has been a quality secondary scorer for New Jersey, posting seven goals and nine assists in 31 games, putting him in a tie for fifth in NHL rookie scoring.
Whoof. Replacing an AHL coach mid-season (beyond “We just promoted him to the NHL and need a replacement) is vanishingly rare, and the organization’s terse statement makes it more likely that Something’s Going On. I’ve seen speculation that it has to do with the organization just signing Cal Foote to an AHL contract. One source I’ve seen states that Abbott is remaining with the organization in a different role.
That sounds credible. Organizations do announce bad news on Friday evenings to bury it
Like the Quinn Hughes trade……..just kidding.
I really hate the condensed NHL schedule to play in the Olympics… Single handedly responsible for so many guys getting hurt.
Devils losing Gritsyuk right now is a huge blow to an already heavily depleted front 6.
Wake me up when it’s over.