Metropolitan Notes: Texier, Pacioretty, Rangers
There was some surprise when it was announced that Blue Jackets winger Alexandre Texier would play this season in Switzerland instead of Columbus at his request to play closer to his family. GM Jarmo Kekalainen told Brian Hedger of the Columbus Dispatch that he’s hopeful that the 23-year-old will be able to return next season. Texier has six goals and 14 assists with SC Bern of the NLA this season, good for seventh on the team in scoring with five of the six ahead of him also having NHL experience. He has been a bit more productive in Champions League action, notching two goals and five assists in six games so far. Texier is in the second and final year of his bridge deal with Columbus but is not counting against their salary cap during his absence.
More from the Metropolitan:
- The Hurricanes won’t have Max Pacioretty in the lineup tonight while he is listed as doubtful tomorrow due to a lower-body injury per team reporter Walt Ruff (Twitter link). However, head coach Rod Brind’Amour indicated that he believes the winger’s injury isn’t believed to be too serious which suggests that Pacioretty shouldn’t be out much longer. He just returned from a torn Achilles earlier this month and was off to a good start with his new team with three goals in four games.
- Rangers winger Chris Kreider skated on his own today but is listed as doubtful for their upcoming games on Sunday and Monday, relays Arthur Staple of The Athletic (Twitter link). He suffered an upper-body injury earlier this week and missed Thursday’s game against Dallas. While he’s not scoring at the rate he was last season when he had 52 goals, Kreider has still been productive with 19 goals and 11 assists through 42 games. Meanwhile, Staple adds that winger Julien Gauthier, who was injured in a collision with teammate Sammy Blais on Thursday, has yet to skate and is out for Sunday’s game and likely Monday’s as well. He has a career-high six goals in 32 games this season.
Golden Knights Recall Byron Froese
The Golden Knights have made a roster move in advance of their game tonight against Edmonton, announcing (Twitter link) that they have recalled center Byron Froese from Henderson of the AHL. Vegas had two open roster spots so no corresponding move needed to be made.
The 31-year-old is in his first season with Vegas after signing a two-year, two-way contract with them last summer in free agency following three seasons in Calgary’s organization. He has made just one appearance with the Golden Knights this year (coming a week and a half ago) but has 117 career appearances at the top level over parts of five seasons.
Froese has been productive at the AHL level with the Silver Knights so far, collecting eight goals and 19 assists in 36 games. That ties him for the team lead in assists with Sheldon Rempal and gives him a share of the points lead with Gage Quinney. He will take the place of Mark Stone in the lineup with the veteran being set to miss some time; Froese will likely play on the fourth line while someone else moves up to take Stone’s spot on the top line.
Blue Jackets Activate Three, Assign Marcus Bjork To AHL
The Blue Jackets have made a series of roster moves in advance of tonight’s game against Detroit. The team announced that center Boone Jenner, winger Eric Robinson, and goaltender Daniil Tarasov have been all activated off injured reserve. To make room on the roster, defenseman Marcus Bjork was sent to AHL Cleveland. Meanwhile, goaltender Joonas Korpisalo is unavailable tonight due to personal reasons.
While several veterans have struggled for Columbus this season, Jenner was one of the exceptions. Prior to fracturing his thumb last month, the 29-year-old had 11 goals and 11 assists in 30 games, a 30-goal and 30-assist pace over a full season. Additionally, Jenner is logging over 20 minutes a night and is winning 55.9% of his faceoffs, a career-high. In his absence, the Blue Jackets won less than 40% of their draws. Sophomore middleman Cole Sillinger will come out of the lineup to make room for Jenner in the lineup.
As for Robinson, he had missed the last five games due to an upper-body injury sustained earlier this month. After setting benchmarks offensively in 2021-22 with 10 goals and 17 assists, the 27-year-old has struggled on that side of the ice this season with just three goals and seven helpers in 38 games so far despite his playing time hovering near 14 minutes a night for the second year in a row. Blueliner Gavin Bayruether will be a healthy scratch to open up a spot for Robinson to return as Columbus will go back to a standard alignment of a dozen forwards and six defensemen.
Tarasov, meanwhile, was injured in practice two weeks ago, causing him to miss the last seven games and delaying their decision on whether or not to carry three goaltenders a little longer. The 23-year-old has a .907 SV% in a dozen appearances with the Blue Jackets with his save percentage being just a single point lower than Korpisalo’s.
There haven’t been many bright spots for Columbus this year but Bjork has been one of them. After signing an entry-level deal back in May, the 25-year-old started the season in the minors before being brought up in November and scored in his NHL debut. Bjork has played in 26 games with the Blue Jackets this season, collecting 11 points while logging just over 19 minutes a game. However, having sat out the last game and the fact that he’s waiver-exempt, they’ve decided that he will be the one to lose his roster spot for the time being.
Atlantic Notes: Matthews, Vrana, Girgensons
The Maple Leafs will welcome back their top center as Auston Matthews confirmed to reporters, including Sports Illustrated’s David Alter (Twitter link) that he is ready to return after missing two games with an undisclosed injury. That’s certainly a big boost for Toronto as the 25-year-old has 20 goals and 27 assists in 41 games while anchoring their top line and power play. However, Matthews indicated that the injury is “something I’m going to have to stay on top of” which suggests that he hasn’t fully recovered from it and that it’s likely going to linger over the second half of the season. Toronto sits nine points behind Boston in the Atlantic heading into tonight’s matchup between the two teams.
More from the Atlantic:
- In the AHL, there is a rule that prohibits teams from loading up on veterans as it is a developmental league. That rule is proving to be a problem for Red Wings winger Jakub Vrana as it was relayed in the preview of their game last night (Twitter link) that the rule was going to keep him out of the lineup for the second time. The 26-year-old has struggled since joining Grand Rapids as he has just an assist in six games and now that he’s part of a veteran rotation, it will be even more difficult for him to rediscover his scoring touch.
- Sabres center Zemgus Girgensons did not accompany the team to Nashville and will miss tonight’s game due to illness, relays Bill Hoppe of the Olean Times Herald. The 29-year-old continues to be a fixture in Buffalo’s bottom six, a role he has held for nearly a decade and has four goals and six assists in 39 games so far this season.
Avalanche Recall Sampo Ranta
With Darren Helm set to miss some time, it was expected that Colorado would need to bring up a forward to replace him. They’ve done just that as Peter Baugh of The Athletic reports (Twitter link) that the Avs have brought up winger Sampo Ranta from AHL Colorado. While they don’t have an open roster spot available, that can easily be covered by shifting Helm to injured reserve.
The 22-year-old has now been recalled six times this season although it hasn’t yielded much in the way of NHL playing opportunities. Ranta has suited up in just five games for the Avalanche so far where he has been held off the scoresheet while averaging barely over seven minutes a night on the fourth line. Ranta also played in ten games at the NHL level last season where he logged a little more than ten minutes a night while failing to record a point.
However, Ranta has had a bit of success offensively in the minors this season with five goals and five assists in 26 games, numbers that put him on pace to match the seven goals and seven helpers in 38 contests from a year ago. If he gets into the lineup, he’ll likely be asked to see spot duty on the fourth line once more but it’s likelier at this point that he’ll serve as the 13th forward.
Colorado has had to dip into LTIR in recent weeks to cover for the long list of injuries that they have and they have ample space to fit in Ranta’s $925K AAV. However, while they’re using LTIR, they aren’t able to bank cap space which will make adding at the trade deadline a little more difficult until they can get enough players healthy to avoid needing to use it. Helm’s injury and Ranta’s recall will make that task a little harder.
Central Notes: Avalanche, Leddy, Commesso
With Colorado not really going out and replacing Nazem Kadri who left in free agency last summer, there has been an expectation that the Avalanche would add an impact center at the trade deadline. While there are several rentals that are expected to be available, Bennett Durando of The Denver Post posits that there could be a different direction they could go. If they’re comfortable with Evan Rodrigues and J.T. Compher as their middle-six middlemen, they could look to upgrade on the wing instead. Durando suggests Panthers winger Anthony Duclair as a plausible target; Florida will have cap issues once he and Patric Hornqvist are able to return so there could be an opportunity to buy low. At a $3MM AAV both this season and next, Duclair could be an intriguing option for Colorado, especially since his speed would fit in well with their style of play.
Elsewhere in the Central:
- The Blues could have defenseman Nick Leddy back in the lineup tonight against Tampa Bay, notes Joe Lyons of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The 31-year-old has missed the last four games due to an upper-body injury. Leddy has 11 assists in 39 games so far this season and with Torey Krug out for a while, he’ll likely be called upon to play a bigger role offensively for St. Louis which is something he has been able to do with success in the past.
- While he has another year of NCAA eligibility remaining, goalie Drew Commesso is likely to turn pro for next season, suggests Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times. The 20-year-old was the 46th pick in 2020 by the Blackhawks and has had a bit of an up-and-down third season with Boston University. His GAA (2.58) and SV% (.910) are actually a little worse than last season although a pair of rough starts out of his 14 appearances skew that somewhat. Commesso has also dealt with a hamstring injury which has limited his playing time thus far.
Uncertainty Surrounding Tanner Pearson’s Ability To Play Next Season
Yesterday, the Canucks announced that Tanner Pearson’s season has come to an end as the winger needed to undergo additional hand surgery. It’s at least the second known procedure he has had while Rick Dhaliwal of CHEK and The Athletic reports (Twitter link) that it’s possible that he has had one or two other procedures on his hand with there being concerns of an infection and perhaps more surgeries to come.
At the moment, the expected recovery time from Pearson’s latest surgery is six months if all goes well. However, Dhaliwal cautions that it’s possible that Pearson misses time next season or isn’t able to play at all should further surgeries be needed. At this point, it appears to be too early to tell either way.
Speaking with reporters postgame yesterday including Sportsnet’s Iain MacIntyre, Vancouver defenseman Quinn Hughes voiced some frustration with how things were handled with Pearson, stating that “it wasn’t handled properly”. Today, the NHLPA acknowledged to Patrick Johnston of the Vancouver Province that it’s looking into the matter but declined to comment any further than that. MacIntyre adds that the Canucks themselves will conduct an investigation into their handling of the injury. Team president Jim Rutherford stated the following:
We take the situation very seriously. We certainly have to look at everything here when something like this happens, and we’re going to continue to do that. We want to talk about what happened, the decisions that were made and why. We want everyone involved to have a say and be able to talk to each other and ask questions. That’s very important.
Pearson originally suffered the injury back in November and underwent surgery the next day with an expected recovery timeline of four to six weeks. He had been skating periodically to keep up his conditioning with the expectation that he’d be back at that time or soon after. Now, a little more than two months later, he’s facing a six-month recovery at a minimum in what appears to be the best-case scenario.
It’s hardly an ideal situation for anyone involved as Pearson wraps up his season with just a goal and four assists in 14 games, not a great return on his $3.25MM cap hit. Some have suggested that Vancouver might want to consider buying out the 30-year-old but teams can’t buy out an injured player and with Pearson’s expected timeline, that puts him past the June buyout period. Meanwhile, with now at least a bit of uncertainty of his availability for next season and the NHLPA taking a closer look at things, there are still plenty of questions to be answered on this front in the days and weeks to come.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Darren Helm Out Indefinitely
It has been a tough season for Avalanche forward Darren Helm. He missed the first 35 games of the season due to a hip injury but recently returned to the lineup. However, that return wound up being short-lived as he suffered a lower-body injury last night against Chicago. Head coach Jared Bednar told reporters including Peter Baugh of The Athletic (Twitter link) that the injury is related to the one that kept him out of the start of the season and that he’s going to miss some time. How long he’ll be out is not yet known.
Helm was brought in by Colorado last season in free agency and he fared well in a depth role, notching 15 points in 68 games during the regular season while playing in all 20 postseason contests as the Avs won the Stanley Cup. That was good enough for the team to bring him back on a one-year $1.25MM contract in the summer but Helm’s hip troubles have limited him to just five appearances so far.
Injuries have caused the Avalanche to dress 24 different forwards this season as they look to find some options for the fourth line. The return of Helm was supposed to help in that regard but instead, that search for consistent depth forwards will continue as it appears that it will be at least a little while before the veteran is able to return.
Colorado also is without wingers Valeri Nichushkin, Gabriel Landeskog, and Denis Malgin plus defensemen Bowen Byram and Josh Manson. None of them appear to be close to returning so the Avs will be trying to get back into the playoff picture with the roster that they currently have.
Pacific Notes: Klingberg, Gregor, Skinner
The Ducks are believed to be seeking a first-round pick for defenseman John Klingberg, reports Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic (subscription link). The 30-year-old didn’t get the long-term contract he was hoping for in the summer so he instead opted for a one-year, $7MM pillow deal with Anaheim to try to rebuild his value. However, it has been a tough season thus far for the veteran as he has just 13 points in 35 games so far with his new squad, by far the lowest point-per-game average of his career. Klingberg’s deal moved from a full no-trade clause to a ten-team clause at the start of this month although with a high price tag on the cap and a high acquisition cost, that trade protection isn’t likely to be the hold-up in any potential move unless Klingberg is able to become more of the offensive threat that he was over eight years in Dallas.
More from the Pacific:
- Sharks winger Noah Gregor will be a healthy scratch for the eighth straight game tonight and he voiced some frustration to Curtis Pashelka of The Mercury News, feeling that there should be more communication coming from the coaching staff as to what they’re expecting from him. It has been a tough year for the 24-year-old; after putting up 23 points in 63 games last season, he has just two goals in 19 contests in 2022-23 while seeing his ice time drop by nearly three minutes per night. The team has added several depth players up front dating back to the summer and that has created much more of a competition for playing time. Gregor is eligible for a conditioning stint but noted that he hasn’t discussed that option with the team right now, stating that his focus is simply on getting back into the NHL lineup.
- Stuart Skinner’s personal leave is likely to be extended a little longer than expected as Sportsnet’s Mark Spector relays (Twitter link) that his wife has not yet given birth. Accordingly, it’s looking less likely that he’ll be able to rejoin the Oilers for tomorrow’s game in Vegas. Jack Campbell could start both ends of the back-to-back or AHL recall Calvin Pickard could see his first NHL action of the season.
Nashville Predators Reassign Yaroslav Askarov
Jan 13: Askarov has been sent back down after making 31 saves in his NHL debut last night.
Jan 11: With Kevin Lankinen unavailable to dress for the Predators tonight in Toronto, they’ve brought up a top prospect to take his place as they announced that netminder Yaroslav Askarov has been recalled from AHL Milwaukee. In a corresponding move, defenseman Roland McKeown was sent back to the Admirals.
The 20-year-old was Nashville’s first-round pick in 2020 (11th overall), the highest a goalie had been taken in a decade. He was dominant in limited action in the KHL over the last couple of seasons and decided to make the jump across the pond for 2022-23. Askarov is off to a good start to his first season in North America, posting a 2.66 GAA along with a .905 SV% and two shutouts in 22 appearances with Milwaukee.
As for McKeown, this is his second trip to the minors this month, an assignment that was needed as Lankinen remains on the active roster for the time being and no word yet on how long he might be out; the team noted (Twitter link) that the move was for precautionary reasons. The blueliner has played in five games for Nashville this season – his first NHL action since 2017-18 – and has eight points in 25 games at the AHL level.