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Boston Bruins Place Jake DeBrusk On Long-Term Injured Reserve

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It’s even worse than originally reported for Jake DeBrusk. The Boston Bruins have placed the forward on long-term injured reserve with hand and lower-body injuries, suffered in the Winter Classic on Monday. DeBrusk was seen after the game in a walking boot and reports suggested he broke his fibula. The Bruins say his recovery timeline is approximately four weeks.

In his place, the team has recalled Chris Wagner from the AHL.

DeBrusk managed to score the tying and winning goals in the outdoor game, but will now be sidelined for at least the next ten Bruins’ matches. Without him, the team is expected to elevate Taylor Hall to the top six, their best chance at replacing DeBrusk’s offensive production. The 26-year-old has flourished under new head coach Jim Montgomery, with 16 goals and 30 points in 36 games so far this year.

If there were ever a team that can absorb a loss for a little while, it might be the Bruins, who have built up a big lead through the first half of the season. The club is an incredible 29-4-4 on the year and sits nine points ahead of their closest division rival. They’ve done it with exquisite depth at every position, meaning they should be able to work through the absence of one player.

Even his roster replacement should not be overlooked. Wagner, 31, has more than 350 games of NHL experience and was a regular with the Bruins as recently as 2020-21. While he doesn’t offer nearly the same offensive upside – he has just 37 goals in his entire career – he can slide into a vacant spot on the fourth line and contribute nicely. The team was already carrying $225K of his $1.35M cap hit despite being buried in the minor leagues.

Because they had such little cap space, DeBrusk needed to be moved to LTIR if a replacement was going to come up. It will also technically give the team enough space to recall another player if they choose, as they had been operating with a 22-man roster to this point.

Minor Transactions: 01/04/23

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As the calendar turns to the new year, most attention in the hockey world is rightfully turned toward the ongoing 2023 World Junior Championship. But other levels of play are back on track, making roster moves and proceeding as normal. We’ll cover all the notable minor moves today from across the hockey sphere right here.

  • A high-end undrafted free agent and NHL camp invite is taking a bit of an unusual path. Defenseman Clay Hanus, who had 74 points in 68 games as the captain of the WHL’s Portland Winterhawks last year, has joined Mount Royal University in Canada for the second half of their season, per Ben Steiner. Hanus was a member of Pittsburgh Penguins camp and played two games this season with their ECHL affiliate, the Wheeling Nailers.
  • The AHL’s Calgary Wranglers today released defenseman Simon Lavigne from his AHL contract, per the league’s transactions log. Lavigne, a first-year pro, had not earned a callup to Calgary, instead notching 12 points in 22 games with the ECHL’s Rapid City Rush.

Snapshots: Hughes, Pacioretty, Rhinehart

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The New Jersey Devils are finally reaping the rewards of their high-end prospect pool, looking to be in a solid playoff position for the first time in years.

They could soon get another important young piece into the lineup, too. 2021 first-round pick Luke Hughes will “very likely” be in the Devils lineup at the end of the 2022-23 season after his college campaign at the University of Michigan ends, said Michigan coach Brandon Naurato speaking with NJ.com’s Ryan Novozinsky. Naurato calls Hughes a “Cale Makar-like” talent, and if Hughes is anything reminiscent of Makar’s late-season debut with Colorado in 2019, the Devils have a much better chance at breaking through an air-tight Eastern Conference.

  • The Carolina Hurricanes made waves today by activating All-Star forward Max Pacioretty off season-opening injured reserve. However, it’s unclear whether Pacioretty will make his Carolina debut tomorrow night. Hurricanes team reporter Walt Ruff notes that the team will not have a morning skate tomorrow, and we likely won’t know whether Pacioretty is playing until head coach Rod Brind’Amour’s pregame media availability in the afternoon.
  • An intriguing unsigned prospect could be getting his first look in the AHL. 21-year-old defenseman Rhett Rhinehart was recalled to the Calgary Wranglers today, according to the ECHL’s transactions log. Rhinehart is valuable in that he’s a tall, right-shot defenseman with some offensive awareness. He served as an alternate captain for the WHL’s Saskatoon Blades last season, where he had 27 points in 53 games.

Arizona Coyotes Return Laurent Dauphin To AHL

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After he played fewer than 10 minutes last night, Laurent Dauphin has been returned to the AHL by the Arizona Coyotes. That’s could be a good sign for Liam O’Brien, who was listed as week-to-week or Zack Kassian, who has been held out recently. It drops the Coyotes to 13 forwards on the roster, though Matias Maccelli is unavailable for the next several weeks and has not yet been moved to injured reserve.

The Coyotes went with just 11 forwards in the game yesterday, and Clayton Keller carried the load with nearly 25 minutes of ice time. Nick Schmaltz was back and playing nearly 20, while Dauphin and Michael Carcone both saw under ten. The 27-year-old Dauphin has played in three games this season without scoring, but did record four shots on goal last night. A long-time minor league veteran, he has 27 points in 26 games for the Tucson Roadrunners this year.

Despite staying competitive in most of their games, Arizona is now 13-18-5 on the year. They’re headed to Philadelphia and Chicago for a couple of basement battles over the next few days, before returning home to welcome in the Pittsburgh Penguins on Sunday.

St. Louis Blues Recall Steven Santini; Reassign Tyler Tucker

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The St. Louis Blues have put Tyler Tucker in the lineup just four times this season, with none of those coming since his latest recall. Instead of staying as the extra defenseman in the NHL, he’s headed back to the minor leagues to play. The Blues have reassigned Tucker to the Springfield Thunderbirds while recalling Steven Santini to take his place on the active roster.

Tucker, 22, was a seventh-round pick of the Blues in 2018 but quickly became a fan favorite at the minor league level thanks to a fearless attitude and all-around ability. In his AHL career, the defenseman has racked up 193 penalty minutes in 125 games, adding 38 points. He was integral to the Thunderbirds’ playoff run last season, and came back this year with a bit more offensive flair to his game. Thirteen of those 38 career points have come in just 24 games.

If the Blues think they might have something in Tucker, he can’t sit in the press box all year. Santini, Despite once being an intriguing prospect in his own right, is now 27 and doesn’t have much developing to do. He can serve as the extra defenseman at the NHL level, where he has 119 games of experience over his career.

The Blues are back in action tomorrow night in New Jersey, before heading to Montreal and Minnesota to finish the road trip.

San Jose Sharks Reassign Nick Cicek

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Jan 4: A couple of days later, Cicek is on his way back to the minor leagues. It is interesting that they waited so long, given they haven’t played since Sunday, but they can now save a bit of money while waiting for their next game.

Jan 1: The San Jose Sharks have recalled defenseman Nick Cicek from the AHL’s San Jose Barracuda, according to a team tweet Sunday.

Cicek returns to the Sharks roster after two weeks in the minors. The 22-year-old left-shot defenseman has four assists this season, coming in his first 10 NHL games.

An undrafted free agent out of the WHL’s Portland Winterhawks, he had a strong professional debut campaign with the Barracuda in 2021-22. His offense hasn’t carried over in the minors this season, though, where he’s without a point in 15 games.

With Radim Simek continuing to deal with some injury issues, Cicek could slot in on the team’s third pairing alongside Mario Ferraro if the team opts to play him over the veteran Scott Harrington.

San Jose is in action tonight against the Chicago Blackhawks, but is off for five days after.

Alex Nedeljkovic Starts AHL Conditioning Stint

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The Detroit Red Wings continue their three-goaltender rotation, this time sending Alex Nedeljkovic to the AHL on a conditioning stint. The netminder can spend up to two weeks in the minor leagues, but that will give him plenty of opportunity to play for the Grand Rapids Griffins, who have two games this weekend and another three next week.

Nedeljkovic, 26, had to sit out a number of games to be eligible for the conditioning loan, though his performance since arriving in Detroit has essentially relegated him to the third-string option anyway. In nine appearances he has an .880 save percentage, following his .901 as the starter a year ago. That’s nowhere near the goaltender that showed up for the Carolina Hurricanes in 2020-21 and posted a .932 save percentage in 23 appearances, finishing third in Calder Trophy voting.

The Hurricanes were always against handing the reins to Nedeljkovic in years past, though, despite strong performances in the minor leagues and struggling goaltenders at the NHL level. When they traded him to the Red Wings for Jonathan Bernier and a third-round pick, many laughed and called it a huge win for Detroit. But Carolina was never willing to give Nedeljkovic the two-year, $6MM contract that he signed with the Red Wings, and perhaps they were right to move him after all.

Now, just 18 months after the trade was made, it appears as though Detroit has essentially moved on from the goaltender. A pending unrestricted free agent, it seems unlikely that the Red Wings will re-sign him, though perhaps he can get his game back together and contribute down the stretch. The conditioning loan does not take him off the active roster, and doesn’t remove his cap hit from the books. If they wanted to do that, Nedeljkovic would need to clear waivers.

Evening Notes: Kirkland, Schmaltz, Johnson

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After recalling him back on December 28th on an emergency basis, it appears the Anaheim Ducks have sent forward Justin Kirkland back to the AHL, according to CapFriendly. This had been Kirkland’s second emergency recall in as many weeks, however it did afford him the opportunity to make his NHL debut.

Originally a draft pick of the Nashville Predators back in 2014, Kirkland has had a strong AHL career, breaking out with 48 points in 66 games last season with the Stockton Heat, then Calgary’s AHL affiliate. This season, Kirkland is again off to a hot start with 13 points in 19 games in the AHL. Since making his NHL debut, the 26-year-old has skated in five games with Anaheim, but hadn’t yet tallied a point.

  • Injuries have been a challenge for Nick Schmaltz this year, who has missed 16 of his Arizona Coyotes’ 35 games coming into this evening. Fortunately for Schmaltz and the Coyotes, the forward was back in the lineup tonight after missing the team’s New Year’s Eve game in Tampa Bay against the Lightning. The forward has 16 points through those 19 games, continuing on from his breakout performance last season and though his absence isn’t a good thing, keeping it to just one game is surely a positive.
  • Just before puck drop tonight against the Tampa Bay Lightning, the Chicago Blackhawks announced that former Lightning forward Tyler Johnson would not skate for them, missing the game with a non-COVID illness. Ultimately, defenseman Caleb Jones played in the game, assuming the role of a forward. Now in his second season with Chicago, Johnson continues to deal with injuries, but has been solid when healthy, recording eight points in 14 games.

Snapshots: Armia, Lafreniere, Nemec

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The Montreal Canadiens will make Joel Armia a healthy scratch tonight, sitting him along with Johnathan Kovacevic in favor of Anthony Richard and David Savard. Armia is in the second season of a four-year, $13.6MM contract he signed in 2021 after the Canadiens’ run to the Stanley Cup Final. Unfortunately, the five goals he scored during that run are exactly five more than he has this season. Armia hasn’t scored yet in 26 games and has just three assists, following a six-goal, 14-point 2021-22 campaign.

It’s understandable for him to be out of the lineup with that kind of production, but it will cause some speculation about his future in Montreal. The 29-year-old Finn was once an incredibly valuable, versatile player that could move up and down the lineup. Now it looks like his NHL career might be coming to an abrupt end.

  • Alexis Lafreniere entered the rumor mill when the New York Rangers decided to make him a healthy scratch recently, but The Athletic’s staff writes that the team has no intention of trading him at this point. The 21-year-old first-overall pick has struggled to find any level of consistency in the NHL, though his supporters will point to an even-strength scoring rate that is encouraging. One thing is clear: if he doesn’t miraculously find another level in the second half, he won’t be getting the massive second contract that many top picks earn. Lafreniere is scheduled to become a restricted free agent without arbitration rights, meaning he could be forced to accept a qualifying offer under $900K for next season, should the Rangers play hardball.
  • After Slovakia was eliminated from the World Juniors by a Connor Bedard overtime goal, captain Simon Nemec has been assigned back to the Utica Comets of the AHL where he’ll continue to play this season. The young defenseman logged huge minutes for his country at the tournament, racking up five points in five games while barely missing out on a chance to play for a medal. When Nemec was drafted, he committed immediately to playing in North America if the New Jersey Devils wanted him to, even if that meant spending the whole year in the minors. For Utica he has looked right at home, recording 11 points in 24 games so far.

Pittsburgh Penguins Recall Dustin Tokarski

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After Tristan Jarry left yesterday’s Winter Classic with an injury, the Pittsburgh Penguins have recalled Dustin Tokarski from the minor leagues. The team has not moved Jarry to injured reserve to make room for the transaction; instead, Kris Letang has been designated non-roster while he is with family following the death of his father.

Tokarski, 33, has spent the entire season at the AHL level but has been excellent for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. With a .926 save percentage in 18 appearances, it’s one of his best performances to date in what has been a long successful career. The veteran netminder should be able to contribute if called upon, though Casey DeSmith will likely carry most of the load if Jarry is out for a little while.

DeSmith has a .911 save percentage in 13 appearances, though incredibly, nine of those have been losses. The 31-year-old has a career .915 and has been one of the most consistent backups in the league since debuting in 2017-18.

Still, losing Jarry is obviously a big blow. The 27-year-old netminder has been strong this year, winning 15 of his 25 appearances and posting a .918 save percentage. Not only does he have the Penguins to perform for, but he’ll also be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the year, meaning he’s playing for a contract. Time on the shelf will obviously hurt those negotiations, though it is a good sign that he wasn’t placed on injured reserve.

There is no timeline for Letang’s return at this point.

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