West Notes: Jones, Larsen, Lomberg, Stephens
Blackhawks defenseman Seth Jones skated before practice today as he works his way back from a right foot injury, notes WGN Radio’s Charlie Roumeliotis (Twitter link). The 30-year-old was originally pegged to be out around four weeks with the injury and he has missed the last three so resuming on-ice skating now suggests he’s pretty much on track in his recovery. Jones has played in 17 games so far this season where he has 10 points while logging 25:43 per night, his highest ATOI since his first season with Chicago back in 2021-22.
More from out West:
- The Flames announced (Twitter link) that assistant coach Brad Larsen has taken an indefinite leave of absence from the team to attend to a family matter. Larsen is in his first season with Calgary after joining them as an assistant coach this past offseason following a year away from the league after being fired as head coach with Columbus after two seasons.
- Still with the Flames, winger Ryan Lomberg did not accompany the team on its trip to Dallas and won’t be in the lineup tonight, relays Sportsnet 960’s Derek Wills (Twitter link). His absence isn’t injury-related; instead, he stayed back in Calgary to be with his wife with the birth of their child pending. Lomberg has three assists, 22 penalty minutes, and 47 hits in 27 games this season in his second stint with the Flames after signing a two-year, $4MM contract with them back in July.
- A day after being sent to the minors, the Kraken recalled center Mitchell Stephens per the AHL’s transactions log. The move ultimately allowed them to delay his waiver clock by one day. The 27-year-old went into today’s action with four games played with Seattle where he had been held off the scoresheet in a little over nine minutes per game of ice time.
Metropolitan Notes: Provorov, Rangers, Stillman
It appears the Blue Jackets may be without a key defenseman for the foreseeable future. Brian Hedger of the Columbus Dispatch notes that Ivan Provorov left Friday’s game with an upper-body injury. The injury occurred early in the second period when he dove for a puck with his hand hitting the boards; his thumb took the brunt of the impact. There’s no word yet on how long he might miss. Provorov has nine points in 26 games so far this season while logging over 23 minutes a night of playing time. A pending unrestricted free agent, he’s widely expected to be a key trade chip for Columbus in the second half of the year as long as this injury doesn’t keep him out for an extended period of time.
More from the Metropolitan:
- With the Rangers trading Jacob Trouba to Anaheim yesterday, they now find themselves without a captain. However, don’t expect that vacancy to be filled right away. Head coach Peter Laviolette told reporters including NHL.com’s Dan Rosen (Twitter link) that the team is not planning to name a new captain. They’re open to appointing another alternate (to join Adam Fox, Chris Kreider, Artemi Panarin, and Mika Zibanejad) but that won’t happen right away. New York has now moved its last three captains in midseason swaps with Trouba joining Ryan McDonagh and Ryan Callahan in that category.
- The Hurricanes announced that they have re-assigned defenseman Riley Stillman to AHL Chicago. The 26-year-old has been sent back and forth a few times in recent weeks but he hasn’t seen any game action yet with Carolina. Stillman has been limited to just six games with the Wolves after starting the season on injured reserve and has two assists in those outings. With the move, the Hurricanes now have two vacancies on their active roster for the time being.
Injury Updates: Faulk, Thomas, Red Wings, Vaakanainen
The Blues will welcome back a key blueliner tonight against Edmonton. Team reporter Chris Pinkert reports that Justin Faulk will return to the lineup after missing the last two games due to an upper-body injury. The 32-year-old has been more limited than usual offensively over the first couple of months as he has just one goal and six assists so far in 25 games. However, Faulk is carrying a big workload, averaging a team-high 23:26 per night, his highest ATOI since the shortened 2020-21 campaign.
Other injury news from around the NHL:
- The Kings announced (Twitter link) that they’ve activated forward Akil Thomas off injured reserve. The 24-year-old had missed the last week due to an undisclosed injury. Thomas has been limited to just ten games so far in his first full NHL season and has a goal and an assist while logging a little more than 11 minutes a night of playing time. Los Angeles had two open roster spots so no corresponding move was needed to bring Thomas back to the active roster.
- The Red Wings won’t have goaltenders Cam Talbot and Alex Lyon available for a little while longer. MLive’s Ansar Khan relays (Twitter link) that the netminders will likely miss the next two games as they continue to deal with lower-body injuries. Talbot has posted an impressive .915 SV% in 15 games in his first season with Detroit while Lyon is only a few points lower at .911 in his first nine outings. Ville Husso will continue to serve as the starter for the time being while prospect Sebastian Cossa is back with the team after being papered down on Friday for cap reasons and will serve as Husso’s backup.
- New Rangers defenseman Urho Vaakanainen took part in the team’s optional practice today in a non-contact jersey, notes NHL.com’s Dan Rosen (Twitter link). The 25-year-old has missed more than three weeks with an upper-body injury and is still likely a few games away from being cleared to return. Vaakanainen has played in just five games so far this season, those coming with Anaheim before being part of yesterday’s Jacob Trouba trade.
Maple Leafs Activate Max Pacioretty, Place Jake McCabe On IR
The Maple Leafs have made a pair of roster moves heading into tonight’s game against Pittsburgh. The team announced (Twitter link) that winger Max Pacioretty has been activated from LTIR. To make room on the roster, blueliner Jake McCabe was placed on IR retroactive to November 30th.
Pacioretty will wind up missing only the minimum of 10 games since his placement last month when he sustained a lower-body injury against Montreal. The 36-year-old has been limited to just 13 games so far in his first season with Toronto. However, he has been relatively productive in those outings, collecting four goals and two assists despite averaging just 12:11 of playing time per night, a career low.
Pacioretty has already reached the first half of his $626,230 bonus pool when he played in his tenth game of the season early last month. He needs to get to 35 to collect the other half of it so he’ll be looking to stay healthy the rest of the way.
As for McCabe, he has missed the last week due to an upper-body injury sustained against Tampa Bay at the end of November. Thanks to the retroactive placement, he has already missed the required seven days and thus is eligible to be activated as soon as he’s cleared to return.
After putting up a career-high 28 points last season, the 31-year-old earned a five-year, $23.5MM extension back in late October. However, he has been a bit quieter offensively so far this season, collecting just five assists through his first 23 games although he’s averaging a career-best 21:20 in playing time. After being a frequent healthy scratch early on, Philippe Myers has played the last three games in McCabe’s absence.
Avalanche Activate Ross Colton, Place Jonathan Drouin On IR
The Avalanche will welcome back an important forward tonight as the team announced (Twitter link) that forward Ross Colton has been activated off LTIR. To make room for him on the active roster, winger Jonathan Drouin has been moved to injured reserve retroactive to November 23rd.
Colton will make his return versus Detroit tonight after missing the last 17 games. The 28-year-old was shifted to LTIR earlier this week but since it was retroactive to late October when he first sustained his foot injury, he has already missed the required 10 games and 24 days to return to the lineup.
Before being injured, Colton was off to a hot start with eight goals and an assist while logging 18:38 per game, more than five minutes higher than his career average ATOI. He’s expected to start on the second line but head coach Jared Bednar has indicated that he wants to move Colton onto the top line in the near future.
As for Drouin, he has missed the last two weeks due to an upper-body injury but has been skating in recent days. The retroactive placement for him means he’s already missed the required seven days to return to the lineup so as soon as he’s cleared by team doctors, he can be activated.
His second season with the Avs hasn’t gone as well as his first. After putting up 19 goals and 37 assists for a career-best 56 points in 2023-24, Drouin’s upper-body injury troubles have limited him to just five games so far. While he has been relatively productive in those with two goals and two assists, this certainly hasn’t been the start to the season he has wanted, especially with it being another contract year after inking a one-year, $2.5MM deal to return to the Avs in free agency back in the summer.
Blue Jackets Open Extension Talks With Mathieu Olivier
Rugged winger Mathieu Olivier is eligible to become an unrestricted free agent for the first time this summer. However, it appears he’s open to remaining in Columbus as TSN’s Darren Dreger reports that Olivier’s camp and the Blue Jackets have engaged in preliminary discussions about a contract extension.
The 27-year-old is in his sixth NHL season and over the first five, he rightly earned a reputation as a typical fourth-line pugilist. While he chipped in a bit more offensively after being acquired by Columbus back in 2022, his career-high in goals heading into this season was only five.
However, Olivier has found another gear offensively in 2024-25. He already has eight tallies through the first 26 games of the season and while his 25.8 shooting percentage is certainly bound to come down, there’s a good chance he’ll pass the double-digit mark in that regard while also eclipsing his previous best for points (15 set back in 2022-23). On top of that, Olivier is also seeing a bit more shorthanded action per game, logging a little under a minute a night on average, helping boost his overall ATOI past 13 minutes a night, another benchmark.
Heading into the season, it looked like Olivier might be in line for a small raise on his current $1.1MM price tag, potentially landing him in the $1.25MM to $1.5MM range on a multi-year deal. Now, while his current start is likely unsustainable, it wouldn’t be shocking to see his new AAV start with a two. Though that’s a higher price to pay for someone who is arguably best suited as a fourth liner, the Blue Jackets could certainly afford to pay a premium for Olivier’s services in the short term with the team having less than $47MM on the books for 2025-26, per PuckPedia. We’ll see in the coming weeks if the two sides can find common ground on a deal to keep him in Columbus for the foreseeable future.
East Notes: Canadiens, Guhle, Senators, Robertson
While the Canadiens sit in the basement of the Atlantic Division once again and are speculated to be likely to move out more veterans, Stu Cowan of the Montreal Gazette argues that Montreal might be better off retaining two in particular, defenseman Mike Matheson and center Jake Evans. Matheson has one more year left on his contract at an affordable $4.875MM and had 15 points in 24 games so far this season after finishing in the top ten in scoring among NHL defenders in 2023-24. But with Lane Hutson impressing early on, some have wondered if he’d be available.
As for Evans, the 28-year-old is off to a career-best start with five goals and nine assists through 26 outings while logging 16 minutes a game while leading all NHL forwards in shorthanded ice time. A pending unrestricted free agent, he could conceivably double his current $1.7MM price tag on the open market. With his low cost this season, Evans could be one of the Canadiens’ better trade chips but Cowan suggests that he and Matheson might be the right types of veterans to keep around as Montreal tries to emerge from its rebuild in the coming seasons.
Elsewhere in the Eastern Conference:
- Still with Montreal, Canadiens defenseman Kaiden Guhle missed Thursday’s game against Nashville due to illness. However, TVA Sports’ Renaud Lavoie reports (Twitter link) that indications are that the 22-year-old will return to the lineup tonight. Guhle has recorded six points, 48 blocks, and 26 hits in 20 games so far while averaging a career-best 21:34 per night.
- While the Senators may have had cursory discussions about acquiring Jacob Trouba, those talks wouldn’t have gone far, reports Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch. The veteran blueliner made it known that he had no interest in playing for a Canadian-based team which also took Montreal, a speculative landing spot with former Ranger GM Jeff Gorton in the front office, off the table. Trouba eventually accepted a deal to Anaheim on Friday.
- After being recalled yesterday, the Rangers announced (Twitter link) that defenseman Matthew Robertson has been re-assigned to AHL Hartford. The 23-year-old hasn’t made his NHL debut just yet but has started well with the Wolf Pack this season, notching eight points in 19 games so far. New York is now down to just six healthy blueliners on its roster so this could be a case of Robertson (or someone else) being brought up on game days to serve as a seventh option for the time being.
Pacific Notes: Stone, Smith, Gourde, Parekh
As expected, the Golden Knights will welcome back winger Mark Stone to their lineup tonight, notes Danny Webster of the Las Vegas Review-Journal. The 32-year-old wound up missing 14 games overall due to a pulled muscle, stalling what was a very strong start to his season. Stone had six goals and 15 assists in 13 games prior to the injury, putting him among Vegas’ top scorers along with linemate Jack Eichel. With them being off for five days after this game, this is a good chance to test him while ensuring he’ll have ample time off to make sure he’s fully healthy. Prior to his activation, the Golden Knights had two active roster spots so no corresponding transaction needed to be made.
More from the Pacific:
- Sharks center Will Smith is listed as a game-time decision for Saturday’s game versus Florida, relays Max Miller of The Hockey News. Head coach Ryan Warsofsky indicated that the rookie is dealing with an upper-body injury but wasn’t sure when it happened. Smith is off to a decent start to his NHL career, posting five goals and six assists while averaging a little over 14 minutes a night as San Jose tries to ease him in to an extent.
- Kraken center Yanni Gourde missed tonight’s game versus New Jersey with an undisclosed injury, per NHL.com’s Mike Morreale (Twitter link). The 32-year-old has four goals and eight assists in 27 games so far while averaging just 15:29 per night, his lowest ATOI since the 2019-20 campaign when he was with Tampa Bay. Gourde missed the final 17 minutes of action on Thursday night while the injury is not believed to be a long-term issue.
- Flames prospect Zayne Parekh has been added to Canada’s World Junior camp roster as first reported by TSN’s Bob McKenzie (Twitter link). Calgary drafted the blueliner ninth overall back in June following a dominant showing with OHL Saginaw that saw him record 33 goals and 63 assists in 66 games. He’s at a slightly lesser pace this season but still has eight goals and 22 helpers in 23 appearances. Parekh will take the place of Penguins prospect Harrison Brunicke who was initially named to the camp roster but won’t be able to participate due to injury.
Canucks Activate Thatcher Demko
The Canucks are about to get a key player back in their lineup. The team announced (Twitter link) that goaltender Thatcher Demko has been activated from Injured Non-Roster status. He’s expected to serve as the backup goaltender tonight against Columbus.
It has been a long road back for the 28-year-old. Demko last played in the opening round of the playoffs where he suffered a popliteal muscle injury. Since then, there have been multiple times when they hoped Demko was nearing a return but instead, his ramp-up had to be slowed down. Now, it appears he’s in good enough condition to at least serve in the second-string role against Columbus.
Demko had his best season in 2023-24, posting a 2.45 GAA, a .918 SV%, and five shutouts in 51 starts for Vancouver. That performance made him the Vezina Trophy runner-up to Winnipeg’s Connor Hellebuyck. However, he only suited up once in the postseason before being unable to play through the injury. His return will certainly be a welcome one with the Canucks sitting in the middle of the pack in the Pacific Division.
For the moment, at least, Vancouver has three goalies on its active roster with Kevin Lankinen (starting tonight) and Arturs Silovs (who eventually became the starter in the playoffs once Demko was injured) being the other two. Silovs is off to a particularly rough start (he has a 4.11 GAA and a .847 SV%) in his first seven outings and is waiver-exempt, making him an easy choice to send down to AHL Abbotsford at some point.
That said, if the Canucks want to ease Demko in, it wouldn’t be shocking to see Silovs stay up for the time being to dress as the backup at times or to lighten the workload at practice. With the team recently moving Filip Hronek to LTIR and sending Jonathan Lekkerimaki and Cole McWard down after doing so, Vancouver has ample roster and cap space to keep all three on the active roster if they decide that’s the route they want to take.
East Notes: Greenway, Samuelsson, Robertson, Bruins
The Sabres are getting close to getting a couple of players back in the lineup. Team reporter Justin Alpert relays that winger Jordan Greenway and defenseman Mattias Samuelsson both took part in practice today in regular (contact) jerseys after previously being limited to non-contact drills. Greenway has been out for nearly three weeks due to a middle-body injury and has three goals and three assists through 16 games so far. As for Samuelsson, he last played nearly four weeks ago due to a lower-body issue. It has been a struggle for him this season as his playing time is down by more than four minutes a night while also briefly spending time as a healthy scratch. Both players probably aren’t going to be ready for Saturday’s game versus Utah but they should be back soon after that.
Elsewhere in the East:
- It turns out that Victor Mancini isn’t the only blueliner that the Rangers will bring up today. The team announced (Twitter link) that Matthew Robertson has been recalled from AHL Hartford. The 23-year-old has yet to play at the NHL level but is off to a good start with the Wolf Pack this season, collecting eight points in 19 games so far. He’s expected to serve as the seventh defender for the time being with recently acquired rearguard Urho Vaakanainen still out with an upper-body injury.
- A day after papering them to the minors, the Bruins have recalled forward Marc McLaughlin and defenseman Jordan Oesterle from Providence, per the AHL’s transactions log. The move has been made frequently with both players as Boston attempts to bank some extra cap space to utilize later in the season. McLaughlin has been held off the scoresheet in four games with the big club while Oesterle has three assists in his first six NHL games this season.