West Notes: Thomas, Kuzmenko, Castagna
As the Blues continue to remain within striking distance of a Wild Card spot in the West, they’ll welcome back a key piece to the lineup. Lou Korac of The Hockey News relays (Twitter link) that Robert Thomas will return after missing Thursday’s game due to an upper-body injury sustained earlier this week against Washington. The 26-year-old was featured in trade speculation leading up to the deadline earlier this month but ultimately stayed in St. Louis. Thomas leads the Blues in scoring despite missing 18 games due to injury, collecting 16 goals and 30 assists in 53 appearances so far this season.
More from out West:
- Kings winger Andrei Kuzmenko has resumed skating as he works his way back from a meniscus injury, notes Zach Dooley of LA Kings Insider. He has missed the last month due to the injury and was initially ruled as being out for the remainder of the regular season. However, while it appears that he’s back on the ice a little earlier than anticipated, the team is still proceeding as if he won’t return before the playoffs, should the team qualify. Kuzmenko, in his first full season with Los Angeles, has 13 goals and 12 assists in 52 games this season.
- With Cornell being eliminated from the NCAA tournament yesterday, the Flames have sent two front office staff to speak to Jonathan Castagna to try to get him to sign, reports Sportsnet’s Eric Francis (Twitter link). The 20-year-old was acquired as part of the return for MacKenzie Weegar earlier this month and is coming off a strong season that saw him record 15 goals and 19 assists in 34 games. Sportsnet 960’s Pat Steinberg adds (Twitter link) that Calgary has two contract slots remaining and wants Castagna to fill one of those, suggesting that if he agrees to sign, his deal will begin this season.
Rangers Assign Juuso Parssinen To AHL
With center Noah Laba nearing a return to the lineup, the Rangers have made a roster move. The team announced (Twitter link) that they’ve assigned center Juuso Parssinen to AHL Hartford.
After showing some promise down the stretch in New York last season where he had five points in 11 games, the Rangers signed him to a two-year, $2.5MM pact with the hopes that he could emerge as a capable contributor in the bottom six. However, that hasn’t exactly been the case. He has just two goals and one assist in 20 contests this season and cleared waivers back in November. Parssinen only has a few days left in his waiver exemption and since he hasn’t played much lately – just once in the last two weeks – it makes sense for him to be playing back in Hartford over sitting in the press box in New York.
Parssinen has been more productive with the Wolf Pack, albeit in limited action. Despite spending more than three months in Hartford, injuries limited him to just 11 games although he has five goals and an assist in those appearances. Hartford enters play today six points out of the sixth and final playoff spot in the Atlantic Division and he should be a key piece for them as they try to get back into the postseason picture.
Oilers Activate Curtis Lazar Off LTIR
Earlier this week, the Oilers had indicated that Curtis Lazar was expected to rejoin the team sometime next month. Instead, he’s ahead of schedule as the team announced (Twitter link) that he would be centering Edmonton’s fourth line today against Anaheim, meaning he has been activated off LTIR.
The 31-year-old is in his first season with the Oilers after signing a one-year deal with them for the minimum salary back in free agency. The hope was that he’d add some grit and faceoff prowess to the fourth line and he has done just that. In just 38 games, he has 77 hits with a 61.4% success rate at the dot, the highest average of his career by a considerable margin.
However, Lazar hasn’t been particularly productive in those outings, contributing just three goals and two assists while averaging just under nine minutes of playing time. He has played in just five games since the start of February, leaving injured in two of them. The most recent one came back on March 3rd when he sustained an undisclosed injury against Ottawa. The LTIR placement meant he had to miss at least 10 games and 24 days which he has now done.
The Oilers now have a decision to make. They have three forwards up on an emergency basis – Josh Samanski, Max Jones, and Roby Jarventie. The latter is slated to be a healthy scratch today which means emergency conditions for his recall no longer exist. That means Edmonton either has to send Jarventie down or convert him to one of five allowable post-deadline regular recalls.
Penguins Recall Rutger McGroarty, Assign Two To AHL
As the Penguins continue their battle for a playoff spot, they’ve made a trio of roster moves. The team announced (Twitter link) that winger Rutger McGroarty has been recalled from AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. In corresponding moves, winger Avery Hayes and center Joona Koppanen were both sent back down after being brought up on Thursday.
It’s the third recall of the season for McGroarty. He played in 20 games between his first two stints with the big club, collecting two goals and three assists in a little under 12 minutes per night of ice time. The 21-year-old also had three points in eight contests last season. Meanwhile, in the minors, McGroarty has been quite productive, checking in at just over a point per game with seven goals and 19 assists in 25 appearances to earn this promotion.
Hayes, meanwhile, made quite the first impression in his NHL debut last month when he scored twice against Buffalo. However, he has been held off the scoresheet since then over several different stints with Pittsburgh and has only played more than 10 minutes once in the last five games so a chance to go back to a top-six scoring role might be best right now. The 23-year-old has 20 goals in just 38 games with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, while tacking on a dozen assists as well.
As for Koppanen, he got into ten games with Pittsburgh over the first two months of the season (where he picked up one assist) but has yet to play at the top level since then. He’s producing at a reasonable clip in the minors with seven goals and 12 assists through 37 games, the second-best point-per-game rate of his career.
Meanwhile, the team also announced (Twitter link) that they’ll be without two key veterans today against Dallas. Sidney Crosby left Thursday’s game with a lower-body injury and is listed as day-to-day while Evgeni Malkin’s upper-body injury that he sustained last weekend will keep him out again; he’s also day-to-day. Crosby has 28 goals and 36 assists through 61 games this season, keeping his career-long point-per-game streak intact. Meanwhile, Malkin is also over the point-per-game mark for the first time since 2022-23 with 15 goals and 37 assists through 50 appearances.
East Notes: Lightning, Rangers, Thomson
The Lightning found themselves down a pair of important contributors up front today against Ottawa. Prior to the contest, the team announced (Twitter link) that winger Nikita Kucherov and center Nick Paul were both scratched due to illness. Kucherov entered play today in a share of the league lead in scoring with 121 points, tied with Edmonton’s Connor McDavid. This is now the fifth game this season that he has missed. As for Paul, he has been fairly quiet since returning from the injury midway through the month, recording just one assist in seven games since then, bringing him to 13 points in 41 games on the campaign. Without enough cap space to recall a replacement forward, the team went with just 11 forwards and seven defensemen versus the Sens.
Elsewhere in the East:
- The Rangers will have to wait at least one more game to get veteran goaltender Jonathan Quick back. Vince Z. Mercogliano of The Athletic relays (Twitter link) that Quick won’t dress on Sunday but is still considered to be day-to-day. Once he returns, it wouldn’t be surprising to see them use all three goalies, allowing Dylan Garand to get a bit more action at the top level. There is some good news on the injury front for New York, however. In a separate tweet, Mercogliano adds that center Noah Laba has been listed as a game-time decision for tomorrow’s contest. The 22-year-old was listed as being out week-to-week less than two weeks ago, suggesting his return is going to be ahead of schedule.
- The Senators welcomed back one of their injured defenders today as Julian McKenzie of The Athletic noted (Twitter link) that Lassi Thomson was cleared to return from his lower-body injury. The 25-year-old was an injury recall earlier this month and then was injured less than five minutes into his season debut on Monday. He took the place of Jorian Donovan in the lineup; Ottawa will now have to decide if they want to convert Donovan’s recall to a regular one (counting against their post-deadline limit) or return him to AHL Belleville.
Flames Recall Brennan Othmann
The Flames will be getting a look at one of their newest prospects for the stretch run. The team announced (Twitter link) that winger Brennan Othmann has been recalled from AHL Calgary.
The 23-year-old was a first-round pick by the Rangers back in 2023 but hasn’t had much success at the NHL level so far. Heading into the season, he had just two assists in 25 career games, leading to some speculation that a change of scenery could be coming. Othmann then bounced back and forth between New York and AHL Hartford throughout the first two-thirds of the campaign. He got into 17 more games with the big club but managed just one point, his first NHL goal, along with 40 hits.
At the trade deadline, Othmann indeed received his change of scenery, getting sent to Calgary in exchange for junior prospect winger Jacob Battaglia. But rather than bring him up right away, the Flames elected to have Othmann start with the Wranglers. He has five assists in ten games with them, bringing his season totals to eight goals and 13 helpers in 36 contests when adding in his time with Hartford.
Calgary already had 12 healthy forwards on its roster, meaning this does not qualify as an emergency recall and thus counts against their post-deadline limit of five. Sportsnet 960’s Pat Steinberg adds (Twitter link) that the Flames have now used three of those.
Stars Activate Mikko Rantanen Off Injured Reserve
The Stars will welcome back one of their top players as they kick off a back-to-back set this afternoon in Pittsburgh. The team announced (Twitter link) they have have activated winger Mikko Rantanen off injured reserve.
Rantanen was one of several impactful NHL players to be injured at the Olympics last month. He sustained a lower-body injury in the semi-final game against Canada and hasn’t played since then. Considering the long break for the Olympics, Rantanen last suited up for Dallas back on February 4th.
At that time, Rantanen led the team in assists and points. He’s still the team leader in assists with 49 although he now sits third on the team in points with 69 through 53 games. He’s now 16 behind Jason Robertson and nine behind Wyatt Johnston, both of whom have played in all 72 appearances this season.
Rantanen’s absence was never originally expected to keep him out this long. At the time he landed on IR last month, he had previously been listed as doubtful for their first game back after the break and questionable after that. Instead, he wound up missing 15 games.
At this point, it’s highly unlikely that Dallas will be able to chase down Colorado for the Central Division lead; they enter play today with a nine-point deficit in that regard. With that in mind, their focus will likely just be trying to lock down home ice advantage for their eventual first-round matchup against Minnesota.
With that in mind and Dallas playing in a back-to-back set, it wouldn’t be entirely surprising if Rantanen played today but was given tomorrow off for precautionary reasons over throwing him into two games in barely 24 hours. At any rate, getting a top-line winger back should be a big lift for the Stars heading into the stretch run.
Atlantic Notes: Greenway, Bennett, Djurasevic
Sabres winger Jordan Greenway has resumed skating as he works his way back from an abdominal injury that has kept him out for the last 23 games, notes Bill Hoppe of the Olean Times Herald. His latest rehab has been much more successful than previous ones over the past couple of seasons which has him optimistic that he can be much more of a contributor heading into the playoffs. When healthy this season, Greenway has been limited to just one goal and four assists in 33 games but when he’s at full strength, his track record demonstrates that he can be more of a two-way threat than just a penalty killer. It stands to reason that Buffalo will still be careful with him when he gets the green light from team doctors but Greenway could be a useful addition for the Sabres down the stretch.
More from the Atlantic:
- The ever-growing absence list in Florida just got longer. Panthers head coach Paul Maurice told reporters today including Stefan Rosner of The Hockey News (Twitter link) that center Sam Bennett won’t play tonight against the Islanders. He’s dealing with an undisclosed issue although Maurice added that it’s not concerning. Bennett has had a career year offensively, recording 25 goals and 29 assists in 70 games this season, with a career-best ATOI of 18:29 as well. His absence justifies the recent promotion of Jack Studnicka, who was recalled earlier today.
- The Maple Leafs have dipped into college free agency again. This time, their AHL affiliate announced that they’ve signed defenseman Frank Djurasevic to a two-year deal beginning next season. The blueliner will still join the Marlies now, just on a tryout agreement. Djurasevic had one year of eligibility remaining but instead will turn pro now. This season, the 24-year-old saw his production get cut in half at the University of Maine. In 2024-25, Djurasevic had 28 points in 37 games but he was limited to just 14 in 34 contests this season.
Injury Updates: Steel, Honzek, Jets
Stars center Sam Steel has returned home early from their road trip due to an undisclosed injury sustained on Thursday, relays team reporter Mike Heika (Twitter link). With three games left on the trip, it stands to reason that he’ll now be out at least that long. The 28-year-old is in the middle of a career year, posting 12 goals and 21 assists through 72 appearances. Dallas is now down to just 12 healthy forwards at the moment although the hope is that winger Mikko Rantanen may be ready to return for one of their games this weekend.
Other injury news from around the NHL:
- Flames forward Samuel Honzek returned to practice today for the first time since suffering an upper-body injury in a collision with teammate Mikael Backlund back in mid-November, reports Danny Austin of the Calgary Herald. However, the team has already indicated that even though he’s skating ahead of schedule, he remains out for the season. The 21-year-old was a first-round pick in 2023 and had four points in 18 games. While he won’t be able to add to that total, the fact that he’s back on the ice now suggests he’ll be primed for a full offseason and perhaps a stint for Slovakia at the Worlds in May.
- While the Jets needed to bring two players up under emergency conditions today, that situation may not exist for too long. Mike McIntyre of the Winnipeg Free Press mentions that forwards Nino Niederreiter and Vladislav Namestnikov are on Winnipeg’s road trip and could be options to return within the next week. Both veterans are in the middle of down years, with Niederreiter notching just 19 points in 55 games and Namestnikov currently with only 13 points in 57 contests. However, both would still be viewed as welcome returns next week as the team looks to hang around in the battle for a Wild Card spot.
Wild Assign Hunter Haight To AHL
The Wild made a roster move on their off day, announcing that center Hunter Haight has been sent back to AHL Iowa. He was on a regular recall – Minnesota’s first – meaning that they have four non-emergency promotions remaining this season.
The 21-year-old has been shuffled back and forth quite frequently this season, six times, in fact. For all those promotions, Haight hasn’t seen a lot of NHL action. He got into two games with Minnesota on this most recent stint where he picked up his first assist and point of the season against Chicago. Overall, he has suited up in seven games with the big club and is averaging just under 10 minutes a night of playing time.
Haight has been considerably more productive with Iowa, however. Through 43 games with them, he has 12 goals and 11 assists, good for sixth on the team in scoring. He has one season remaining on his entry-level contract after this one.
When Haight was brought up a week and a half ago, Minnesota was dealing with some injuries. However, Bobby Brink and Joel Eriksson Ek (injured at the time) have since returned to the lineup, giving them 15 healthy forwards at the moment. With that in mind, it makes much more sense to have Haight playing back in Iowa over sitting in the press box in Minnesota.