Snapshots: Zuccarello, Arniel, Predators, Andrae, Johnston

The Wild found themselves without a key winger in the second game of their series tonight against Dallas.  Before the game, the team announced (Twitter link) that Mats Zuccarello is listed as day-to-day with an upper-body injury.  The 38-year-old finished third on the team in scoring this season despite missing 23 games, posting 15 goals and 39 assists in 18:39 per game of playing time.  He had a productive start to the playoffs as well, notching three helpers in the opening game of the series but was injured late in the game.  Bobby Brink, one of their trade deadline pickups, took Zuccarello’s place in the lineup.

Elsewhere around the NHL:

• In his end-of-season press conference today (video link), Jets GM Kevin Cheveldayoff was asked about the future of head coach Scott Arniel. He ultimately didn’t give a definitive answer, citing the need to still meet with the coaching staff and continue to evaluate.  Arniel has been Winnipeg’s head coach for two seasons now.  The first one went quite well as they finished first overall but fell in the second round.  However, this year, they were out of contention early and while they made a push late, they fell short of a Wild Card spot.  That has led to some calls for some changes, including from star netminder Connor Hellebuyck, who lamented the team’s complacency.  We won’t know for a while yet if one of those changes will be behind the bench.
• Predators outgoing GM Barry Trotz met the media today and noted to those in attendance, including team reporter Brooks Bratten (Twitter link), that he expects the roster to largely remain intact this summer. The hope is that doing so will allow them to get back to the playoffs as soon as possible after a late-season run came up a little short this year.  The team appears to be making progress in its GM search so it will be interesting to see if the incoming manager feels the same way about the roster.
• The Flyers announced (Twitter link) that defenseman Emil Andrae is listed as day-to-day with an upper-body injury. The 24-year-old played in 61 games during the regular season, picking up 13 points along with 58 blocks and 68 hits in 15:20 per night of playing time.  He played in the first game of their series against Pittsburgh but was limited to just 9:39 of ice time, his lowest TOI in more than a month.  Veteran Noah Juulsen took Andrae’s spot on Philadelphia’s third pairing.
• Ducks winger Ross Johnston wasn’t in the lineup tonight in the series opener against Edmonton but is expected to play in this series, relays Derek Lee of The Hockey News (Twitter link). The 32-year-old has missed the last month with a lower-body injury, one that carried an expected recovery time of three to four weeks.  Johnston had a career-high 14 points in 62 games this season with 107 penalty minutes and 192 hits, also a career-best.