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Atlantic Notes: Samuelsson, McAvoy, Arvidsson, Zacha

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Sabres defenseman Mattias Samuelsson exited Friday’s game against New Jersey after going into concussion protocol, notes Bill Hoppe of the Olean Times Herald.  He was hit with around 12 minutes left in the third and left the ice bleeding; head coach Lindy Ruff didn’t have an update on him after the game.  Samuelsson has had a strong bounce-back showing this season, picking up 12 points in 22 games (just two shy of tying his career best from a year ago) while recording 52 blocked shots.  Notably, he is logging just under 22 minutes per game, second only to Rasmus Dahlin and was showing that he could consistently handle the top-four role that GM Kevyn Adams had envisioned when he signed the blueliner to a seven-year deal coming off his entry-level contract in 2022.

Elsewhere in the Atlantic:

  • Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy and winger Viktor Arvidsson skated today as they work their way back from respective face and lower-body injuries, relays Steve Conroy of the Boston Herald (Twitter links). McAvoy still has a ways to go before returning but Arvidsson appears to be getting closer to returning but won’t play tonight.  McAvoy hasn’t played in two weeks and still sits second on the team in assists while Arvidsson was quietly off to a solid start to his tenure in Boston with six goals and 52 shots in 20 games.
  • Still with the Bruins, Conroy adds (Twitter link) that center Pavel Zacha is listed as a game-time decision for tonight’s contest against Detroit. He missed yesterday’s contest against the Rangers with an undisclosed injury.  Zacha sits third on the team in scoring with 17 points in 25 games and with David Pastrnak out again tonight, getting Zacha back would help boost an offensive group that has been thinned out as of late, even with Casey Mittelstadt’s return.

Senators Recall Dennis Gilbert, Place Thomas Chabot On IR

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The Senators have made a pair of roster moves heading into their next game in Dallas on Sunday as the team announced that they’ve recalled Dennis Gilbert from AHL Belleville.  While not noted as part of the announcement, Ottawa has shifted defenseman Thomas Chabot to IR to make room for Gilbert on the active roster.

Gilbert will officially begin his second stint with the Senators with this promotion.  Acquired at the trade deadline last season from Buffalo, the 29-year-old played a sparing role down the stretch, suiting up just four times, where he had an assist and 11 hits in 13:02 per game of playing time.  Over the season between the two teams, Gilbert had six assists in 29 outings but logged just 10:29 per contest.

The Flyers signed Gilbert to a one-year, $875K deal over the summer but he wound up on waivers in training camp, passing through unclaimed resulting in a demotion to AHL Lehigh Valley.  He got into six games with the Phantoms where he had one assist before suffering an injury that kept him out for the better part of a month.

During that time, the Sens swung a move to bring him back into the fold, dealing the rights to unsigned RFA defenseman Max Guenette to get him.  Gilbert got into three games with Belleville following the swap and was more productive, collecting three helpers.

Chabot’s stint on Ottawa’s active roster didn’t last very long.  Activated off injured reserve last weekend, he played just once and has been listed as out with an upper-body injury since then.  If they backdate the placement to his last game played (November 22nd), he’ll technically be eligible to be activated at any time.  The 28-year-old has two goals and eight assists in 18 games so far this season.

Canucks Recall Jonathan Lekkerimaki, Assign Jiri Patera To AHL

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The Canucks have made a pair of roster moves heading into their game tonight against Los Angeles.  The team announced (Twitter link) that winger Jonathan Lekkerimaki has been recalled from AHL Abbotsford.  To make room for him on the roster, goaltender Jiri Patera has been sent down.

Lekkerimaki started the season with Vancouver but suffered an upper-body injury in the fourth game of the season.  That landed him on injured reserve for more than three weeks and upon being activated, he was sent to Abbotsford for what felt like a conditioning stint.  The 21-year-old played in five games in the AHL and was productive, notching three goals and two assists.

Lekkerimaki has a goal in his four outings at the top level this season in just under 10 minutes a night of playing time.  For his career, the 2022 first-round pick has four goals and three assists in 28 NHL outings.  It wouldn’t be surprising to see him jump right back into a bottom-six role with Lukas Reichel being a candidate to lose his spot once again.

As for Patera, he was brought up on Tuesday when Kevin Lankinen stepped away from the team for a personal matter.  He didn’t see any game action on this recall but did get into one game earlier this month where he allowed seven goals on 40 shots.  The 26-year-old has a 3.10 GAA and a .894 SV% in five games with Abbotsford.  While not announced by the team, this move suggests that Lankinen is back with the team with he and Nikita Tolopilo comprising the tandem that should dress against the Kings.

Kyle Palmieri Out For Six To Eight Months

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Earlier today, ESPN’s Emily Kaplan reported (Twitter link) that the Islanders were fearing the worst-case scenario when it came to winger Kyle Palmieri.  That is indeed the case as the team announced that the veteran will undergo surgery to repair a torn ACL in his left knee.  The recovery timeline for this procedure is six to eight months, meaning he is out for the remainder of the regular season and multiple playoff rounds (should they get that far) at a minimum.

The veteran was injured in the second period of yesterday’s game against the Flyers.  While trying to get back to the bench, he wound up intercepting the puck and made a quick pass that eventually led to an assist.  Unfortunately for Palmieri and the Isles, it will be his final point of the season, capping his 2025-26 totals at six goals and 12 assists in 25 games.  It will also put an end to his team ironman streak which had lasted 223 consecutive games.

The injury is certainly a big blow to a New York attack that sits in the middle of the pack heading into today’s action.  Palmieri had notched 54 goals over the last two seasons combined which had earned the 34-year-old a two-year, $9.5MM deal back in the spring.  At first glance, either rookie Max Shabanov or veteran Anthony Duclair seem likely to get the first chance to take Palmieri’s spot in their top six forward group.  They should also get center Jean-Gabriel Pageau (upper body) back before the holiday break.

This is the second major long-term injury for the Isles within the last seven days.  Back on Sunday, it was revealed that defenseman Alexander Romanov would miss five to six months due to shoulder surgery, taking a key veteran off their back end.

The Islanders are carrying a roster that narrowly operates outside LTIR at the moment, checking in with a projection of $32K in cap space, per PuckPedia.  It’s likely that will be changing in the near future if they elect to call someone up from AHL Bridgeport to take Palmieri’s place.  Pierre Engvall, who is out for the season with an ankle injury, is already on LTIR.  With them knowing that his season is over already and Romanov at least eligible for regular LTIR (carrying $3.82MM in potential added flexibility instead of the full contract value), New York shouldn’t get to a point where they need to make a decision on putting Palmieri on season-ending LTIR which would make him ineligible to return late in the playoffs.

But operating in LTIR for the foreseeable future – if not the rest of the season – will have consequences down the road.  Matthew Schaefer and Shabanov have significant performance bonuses in their respective deals ($7MM combined) so any of those will likely now be charged against their 2026-27 books as a team that finishes up the year in LTIR has to take any bonuses earned as a carryover penalty.

Snapshots: Nichushkin, Blumel, Salaries, Walcott

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The Avalanche could soon be getting a key player back in their lineup.  Jesse Montano of Guerilla Sports relays (Twitter link) that winger Valeri Nichushkin was a full participant in practice today and while he won’t accompany the team on the road to play in Minnesota on Friday, he could return to the lineup Saturday versus Montreal.  The 30-year-old has missed the last two weeks due to a lower-body injury.  Nichushkin hadn’t been producing at quite the same rate as previous years in his first 17 outings this season but he still has five goals and seven assists to his name and should jump right back into a top-six role once he gets the green light.

Elsewhere around the hockey world:

  • Bruins winger Matej Blumel will be out for a bit with a lower-body injury sustained in Wednesday’s game, head coach Marco Sturm told reporters (video link). The 25-year-old signed a one-year, $875K one-way deal with Boston this past summer as a Group Six unrestricted free agent but didn’t crack the roster out of training camp, instead starting with AHL Providence.  He averaged a point per game through his first 13 games with them, earning a recall early last week.  Blumel has been held off the scoresheet in four games since then and now it’ll be a little while before he has a chance to get on the board.
  • As part of the 50-50 revenue sharing between players and owners, there is a mechanism that allow players to receive more than their stated contracts if revenues exceed projections and the sum of money received by players is lower than 50%. It has never happened before but in his latest mailbag for The Athletic (subscription link), Chris Johnston reported that early revenue projections for the league suggest that this could happen.  While it likely wouldn’t be a big financial windfall for players, a bit more money would be a nice surprise following many years of losing money to escrow, something that has been phased out as part of the new CBA extension that kicks in next fall.  If it happens, it would be a one-time occurrence for this season and wouldn’t automatically roll over moving forward.
  • Veteran forward Daniel Walcott has caught on with a team as AHL Hartford announced that they’ve signed him to a PTO deal. The 31-year-old spent the last decade in Tampa Bay’s system with Syracuse but only made one NHL appearance back in 2020-21.  However, despite 494 appearances with the Crunch, Walcott will technically be returning to where his professional career began as he got into one game on a tryout deal with Hartford back in 2015 before his rights were moved to the Lightning a few weeks later.

Jets Not Looking For Goalie Help In Connor Hellebuyck’s Absence

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The Jets find themselves in a tough situation with star goaltender Connor Hellebuyck out for several more weeks.  In the meantime, they’ve only won one of four games without him and as a result, they now sit sixth in the Central Division and outside a playoff spot.

However, it doesn’t appear that Winnipeg will be looking for some short-term help.  In the latest TSN Insider Trading segment, The Athletic’s Chris Johnston reported that the Jets aren’t shopping for a netminder.  Instead, they’re content going with backup Eric Comrie and prospect Thomas Milic until the back-to-back Vezina winner returns.

Comrie, a pending unrestricted free agent, had a great return season in 2024-25, posting a strong 2.39 GAA with a .914 SV%, his best numbers since his last year in Winnipeg in the 2021-22 campaign.  Things haven’t gone as well this season, however, as those marks check in at 3.02 and .897 respectively, a little below league average through his first eight appearances.  Still, he has shown enough over his stints with the Jets to warrant some trust to try to get them through this stretch.

As for Milic, he’s in his third professional season after splitting time between AHL Manitoba and ECHL Norfolk in an effort to get him as much game action as possible; he logged 90 games between the two leagues over the last two seasons.  This year, he was off to a strong start with the Moose before being recalled as he had a 2.14 GAA and a .921 SV% in nine outings.

With Winnipeg starting a back-to-back road set on Friday, it seems likely that Milic will make his NHL debut in the near future.  If he does well, that would go a long way toward giving GM Kevin Cheveldayoff the confidence to stay the course while waiting for Hellebuyck to return.

Injury Updates: Kapanen, Roslovic, Pageau, Granlund

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Recent reporting suggested that the Oilers could get winger Kasperi Kapanen back in their lineup in the near future after missing the last five-plus weeks with a lower-body injury.  However, that may no longer be the case.  TSN’s Ryan Rishaug noted (Twitter link) that the veteran appeared to injure himself at practice today; he left the ice and did not return.  Kapanen has been limited to just six games this season where he has a pair of assists in a little more than 12 minutes a night of playing time.  Kapanen is currently on LTIR so his activation was going to require some cap and roster movement but if this injury at practice stops him from being ready to play Saturday, they won’t have to do anything to accommodate his return just yet.

Other injury news from around the NHL:

  • Still with the Oilers, winger Jack Roslovic didn’t take part in practice today after blocking a shot in their last game against Dallas, mentions Daily Faceoff’s Jason Gregor (Twitter link). Roslovic has been one of the best free agent signings in the early going this season as he has 10 goals and eight assists through 23 games, good for fourth on Edmonton in scoring.  That’s certainly strong value for a $1.5MM price tag and a potential absence would certainly be a big blow to their offense.  He’s listed as questionable for Saturday’s game against Seattle.
  • Islanders center Jean-Gabriel Pageau is listed as week-to-week with an upper-body injury but it appears that it should be too extended of an absence for him. The team announced Wednesday (Twitter link) that the veteran should return before the holiday break next month.  Pageau has a dozen points in 22 games so far while winning nearly 60% of his faceoffs; if the Isles wind up selling by the deadline, Pageau and his expiring contract should be one of their better trade chips.
  • Ducks center Mikael Granlund is making some progress as he works his way back from a lower-body injury, relays Derek Lee of The Hockey News (Twitter link). However, head coach Joel Quenneville suggested he’s still probably a week away from returning.  Granlund, who was moved retroactively to injured reserve on Wednesday, has missed the last two weeks due to the injury.  In his first season with Anaheim, the 33-year-old has done well when he has played, averaging a point per game but injuries have limited him to just nine appearances so far.

Mammoth Recall Kevin Rooney, Place Olli Maatta On IR

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Kevin Rooney’s latest stint in the minors was short-lived.  After being sent back down over the weekend, the Mammoth announced today (Twitter link) that they’ve recalled the forward from AHL Tucson.  In a corresponding move, defenseman Olli Maatta was placed on injured reserve.

Rooney signed a one-year, two-way deal with Utah at the end of the preseason and quickly cleared waivers, allowing him to start the season with the Roadrunners.  In eight games with them, he has fared rather well offensively, collecting five goals and an assist.  That performance has now earned him a third recall in less than five weeks although he’s still looking to make his official Mammoth debut.

The 32-year-old played in a career-high 70 games last season with Calgary where he had five goals and five assists.  Over his career, he has 32 goals and 28 helpers in 330 NHL appearances.  Rooney may have to wait a little while yet to add to that count as he projects to be their 14th forward for the time being.

As for Maatta, he missed last night’s game against Montreal due to an undisclosed injury which has now been revealed as an upper-body issue, one that will now keep him out for the next week.  The 31-year-old is in his first full season with Utah and while he fared well last season after being acquired from Detroit in an early swap, things haven’t gone as well this season.  Through 16 outings, Maatta has just one assist while his ice time is down below 12 minutes a night, well below his career ATOI of 18:18.

With the moves, Utah’s roster remains at the maximum of 23.

Evgenii Dadonov To Miss Some Time

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It has been a tough season for Devils winger Evgenii Dadonov.  He missed 17 games due to a hand injury sustained in his debut with the team last month, returning to the lineup last week.  Now, he’s out of the lineup again as head coach Sheldon Keefe told reporters today (video link) that the veteran will be out “for a period of time” due to another injury.  At this time, they are still doing testing so the timeline for his potential return is not yet known.

The 36-year-old is in his first season with the Devils after signing a one-year deal with them over the summer.  He ultimately accepted a bonus-laden pact, one that carries a $1MM base salary plus an additional $2.25MM in performance bonuses.  Some are tied to playoff performance and success but more than half are geared toward regular season outings, maxing out at 50.  Another extended absence could put the ability to hit that mark out of reach.

The undisclosed injury occurred in Monday’s victory over Detroit and it appeared to worsen on Tuesday, leading to further testing and this announcement that he’ll be out for at least a bit.  When healthy, Dadonov has been quiet offensively, being held off the scoresheet in his five outings while averaging a little over 11 minutes per night of playing time.

Juho Lammikko took Dadonov’s spot in the lineup tonight against St. Louis.  With blueliners Brett Pesce and Johnathan Kovacevic on LTIR, New Jersey has several million in flexibility at the moment per PuckPedia, so a recall from AHL Utica is likely coming in the near future.  Meanwhile, Dadonov joins those two along with center Jack Hughes and winger Zack MacEwen in New Jersey’s infirmary.

West Notes: Wedgewood, Brossoit, Mammoth, Canucks

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Avalanche goaltender Scott Wedgewood has been added to Canada’s list for potential Olympic participation, reports TSN’s Darren Dreger (Twitter link).  It has been a breakout season for the 33-year-old who took on the starting job when Mackenzie Blackwood was injured to start the season and he hasn’t relinquished it.  Through 17 appearances, he has a 13-1-2 record with a 2.09 GAA and a .918 SV%.  While his international experience is also rather limited (just a World Juniors appearance in 2011), Wedgewood has certainly done well enough to warrant late consideration, especially with Canada’s goaltending group still in some question.

More from out West:

  • Laurent Brossoit’s tenure with the Blackhawks hasn’t gone as planned. Signed to a two-year deal in 2024, he hasn’t played a second of hockey since then thanks to multiple injuries.  That should be changing soon, however.  The netminder told Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times that he’s actually ahead of schedule in his recovery from his most recent hip surgery which has him likely nearing a conditioning stint with AHL Rockford in the near future.  Once cleared to do so, he can spend up to two weeks in the minors before needing to be added to Chicago’s roster or placed on waivers.
  • While the trade market is still in the process of getting established this early in the season, several teams know they will be looking to buy when the opportunity arises. One team that hasn’t done a lot of that in-season lately is the Mammoth but it appears that will be changing.  Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman notes in his latest 32 Thoughts column that Utah is definitely looking to add to its current group.  While they’ve scuffled a bit as of late in the win-loss column, they enter play tonight in a Wild Card spot and with them projecting to finish the year more than $5MM under the salary cap per PuckPedia, they have ample flexibility on that front to make a move along with one of the better prospect pools in the league.
  • Canucks goaltender Kevin Lankinen could rejoin the team on their current road trip, relays Sportsnet’s Iain MacIntyre (Twitter link). It was announced yesterday that he was taking a leave for personal reasons but it appears that his absence will be a short-term one.  Meanwhile, MacIntyre adds that their other netminder Thatcher Demko along with winger Nils Hoglander are expected in Los Angeles on Saturday to skate with the team, suggesting they’re nearing a return as well.  Vancouver has been decimated with injuries in the early going this season but some help could be on the horizon.

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