Jack Hughes Suffers Upper-Body Injury
November 5th: In more unfortunate news surrounding Hughes, the Devils announce that Hughes will be on a week-to-week recovery timeline, and he has not traveled with the team to Chicago.
November 4th: New Jersey Devils superstar forward Jack Hughes left last night’s eventual 4-1 loss to the St. Louis Blues with an upper-body injury, per team reporter Amanda Stein.
Midway through the first period, Hughes crashed into the boards at a significant velocity, and he was slow to get up with the impact appearing to largely be endured by his head and right shoulder. Hughes is still to be fully evaluated by the team, meaning the full extent of the injury he suffered is, at this moment, unknown.
Should Hughes miss any time, his absence would represent the biggest loss the Devils could possibly suffer from any one injury.
Hughes, 22, is the Devils’ most important player. He currently leads the entire NHL in scoring with 20 points in just 10 games, and he could even be considered an early contender for the Hart Trophy due to Connor McDavid‘s injury and the Oilers’ general struggles.
He plays in the all-important first-line center role for the Devils, skating in between Timo Meier and Tyler Toffoli. In the case that Hughes does miss some time, the Devils’ depth chart at center would be dealt another blow.
Team captain and second-line center Nico Hischier did not dress for last night’s game due to injury, meaning any Hughes absence could come at a time when the team is also missing its second-best pivot.
The result of both players being absent at one time could be that crucial top-six center roles are trusted to players originally planned to be bottom-six pivots, such as Erik Haula or Michael McLeod.
Any extended Hughes absence, especially when combined with injuries to Hischier and Tomas Nosek, could have a ripple effect covering the entire Devils’ organization. Veteran Chris Tierney is already in the Devils’ NHL lineup now, and a Hughes injury could even prompt the team to recall another center from their AHL affiliate, the Uitca Comets, just in order to be able to dress four players at the position.
The Comets are currently led in scoring by Xavier Parent and Max Willman, two players who are far from established top-end AHL players. The ripple effect of the Hughes injury could make it so Utica is even more reliant on those two centers, which might not be ideal if their early-season success is not an indication of how they’ll be able to produce on an extended basis.
Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Latest On Morgan Frost
At this early juncture in the 2023-24 NHL season, a look at Philadelphia Flyers center Morgan Frost‘s stat line might raise some eyebrows. Despite putting together a breakout season of sorts in 2022-23 and being entirely healthy so far this year, Frost has played in just three total contests, tied for the fewest among Flyers skaters this season.
This has led to speculation in some parts that the Flyers might be looking to trade Frost, 24, as his six consecutive games spent as a healthy scratch would seem to indicate that he no longer held a place in the Flyers’ long-term plans.
That speculation appears to not be grounded in the reality of the situation, though, according to a report from The Athletic’s Kevin Kurz. (subscription link) Kurz reports from a league source that the Flyers ” aren’t looking to move” Frost to another team, and “haven’t engaged in any serious discussions” on a Frost trade. Moreover, Kurz adds that the Flyers still view [Frost] as one of the young players they want to grow with the organization” as the team continues its rebuilding plan.
It appears that Frost’s lengthy stay in the press box was more due to the newfound depth the Flyers have at the center position rather than any mistake Frost had made in the two games he played to start the season.
With Sean Couturier once again healthy, the Flyers boast a deep group of pivots that also includes veteran Scott Laughton and Noah Cates.
Couturier is inarguably the team’s top center, but the issue for Frost has been more about Laughton and Cates. Both players scored at a comparable rate to Frost last season while also providing considerably more on the defensive side of the equation.
Laughton is a widely respected veteran with a well-known commitment to two-way hockey, while Cates was so impressive in his rookie season that he even garnered consideration on the Selke Trophy ballot.
With offseason signing Ryan Poehling offering more speed and grit than Frost could provide centering Garnet Hathaway and Nicolas Deslauriers on the Flyers’ fourth line, it becomes easier to see why Frost hasn’t been able to crack head coach John Tortorella’s nightly lineup.
Tortorella did get Frost back into the mix for their last game, placing him in the second-line center role between Travis Konecny and Tyson Foerster. That shifted Laughton down to the fourth line and Poehling to the press box, and it’ll be interesting to see whether the Flyers stick with that arrangement or choose to return Frost to healthy scratch status.
In any case, the Flyers’ decent 4-4-1 start has been partly off the back of their increased depth at the center position. It’s that depth — rather than any desire to make a change-of-scenery trade, according to Kurz’s reporting — that has caused Frost’s frequent healthy scratches so far this season.
Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Ottawa Senators To Forfeit First-Round Pick
The NHL has announced that the Ottawa Senators will forfeit a first-round draft pick for their role in the July 2021 trade of Evgenii Dadonov from the Senators to the Vegas Golden Knights and the subsequent, invalidated March 2022 Dadonov trade between the Golden Knights and the Anaheim Ducks.
According to the league’s announcement, the Senators will have 24 hours after the conclusion of the NHL Draft lottery to determine if they will surrender their first-round pick in that given year, and they will be able to choose between giving up a pick in either the 2024, 2025, or 2026 drafts.
The Vegas Golden Knights issued a statement regarding the Senators’ punishment, stating:
We appreciate the league’s diligence on this matter and respect the decision. The club will have no further comment.
This issue originates from 2021, when the Golden Knights acquired Dadonov from Ottawa. No official statement regarding how exactly the Senators mishandled that trade has been released, but The Athletic’s Jesse Granger writes on X that the issue relates to the Senators’ handling of the no-trade list in Dadonov’s contract. 
While the league did not elaborate on any specifics as to what the Senators did that merited such a punishment, the fact that a first-round pick has been docked sends a signal that the league deemed serious punishment in order for the Senators.
Per the league’s statement, the NHL nor any of the involved clubs will comment further on this matter, meaning no official explanation of the reasons for this punishment will come.
Thankfully, reporting from Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch sheds some light on the situation. Garrioch reported that today’s punishment has come “as a result of general manager Pierre Dorion giving the Knights the wrong information about the existence of Dadonov’s 10-team ‘no move’ clause.”
The Golden Knights, seemingly believing that Dadonov did not possess no-trade protection, attempted to trade the player to the Anaheim Ducks in a move that was eventually vetoed by the league.
Garrioch added: “The Knights were under the impression that Dadonov hadn’t entered a 10-team no-trade list before the 2021-22 campaign so he no longer had one.”
This appears to have been an issue for Golden Knights management, as Garrioch cites a source who said: “Vegas president of hockey operations George McPhee and GM Kelly McCrimmon refused to let this matter go and appealed to the NHL’s head office to look into it,” a move that resulted in today’s punishment.
Garrioch also laid out the Senators’ argument in defense of their actions, stating that at the time of the trade, the Senators “argued that Vegas had the contract on its books for eight months” and had not looked “at the details” of the contract. While it’s true that the Golden Knights had employed Dadonov for quite a bit of time before the trade, it seems this argument was not sufficient to stave off punishment from the league.
This reported chain of events has not been officially confirmed, and the league’s statement today makes clear that no official confirmation is set to come. But regardless of what exactly happened in Ottawa to merit this kind of punishment, the reality the Senators now face is that they have lost a key asset for their future.
Their right to choose which draft pick they surrender does offer them some crucial flexibility in the matter, especially if the team misses the playoffs this season and ends up in the draft lottery. Just a few years after the Senators had to watch the Colorado Avalanche draft Bowen Byram fourth-overall with a draft pick that once belonged to them, the Senators will not want a repeat of that situation.
Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Boston Bruins Place Matt Grzelcyk On Long-Term Injured Reserve, Recall Three
The Boston Bruins have placed defenseman Matt Grzelcyk on long-term injured reserve, according to a team announcement. As a result, Grzelcyk will not be eligible to play until late November.
In addition to placing Grzelcyk on LTIR, the team has also placed forward Jakub Lauko on traditional injured reserve, and recalled defensemen Mason Lohrei, Ian Mitchell, and Parker Wotherspoon from their AHL affiliate, the Providence Bruins.
Grzelcyk, 29, lands on LTIR after leaving the Bruins’ October 30th contest with an upper-body injury. Grzelcyk has established himself as a top-four defenseman in Boston, having scored at least 20 points in four consecutive seasons and averaged over 18 minutes of ice time per game in his NHL career.
He’s gotten off to a slow start this season, but thanks to his $3.687MM cap hit his LTIR placement provides the Bruins with the financial headroom to make this trio of recalls.
The most noable name in the list of players called up is Lohrei, who ranks among the top prospects in a thin Bruins prospect system. Set to turn 23 in January, the 2020 second-round pick is a rangy, mobile blueliner who scored well across his two-year collegiate career with the Ohio State Buckeyes.
So far, Lohrei has just 15 professional games on his resume. But with this recall, he is now positioned to potentially make his NHL debut on a Bruins’ roster that, before these recalls, boasted just four defensemen eligible to play.
As for Mitchell and Wotherspoon, neither holds the kind of upside or top prospect intrigue that Lohrei has. What they do have that Lohrei doesn’t, though, is significant experience playing pro hockey and some NHL experience. Mitchell, 24, has played 84 career NHL games while Wotherspoon has 12 NHL games and nearly 300 in the AHL.
As a right-shot blueliner, Mitchell is the likeliest candidate to immediately land in the NHL lineup while head coach Jim Montgomery will have to choose between Wotherspoon and Lohrei as to which left-shot defensemen he’ll dress for games.
That being said, the left-shot blueliners may stand a stronger chance at lasting on the NHL roster beyond the next four games. Once Charlie McAvoy‘s suspension ends, a major void on the right side of the Bruins’ defense gets filled.
Meanwhile, Grzelcyk is set for a more extended absence, meaning Lohrei or Wotherspoon could extend their stay on the NHL roster beyond Mitchell, assuming they can handle the NHL minutes thrown their way.
Nicklas Bäckström To Take Leave Of Absence
Washington Capitals center Nicklas Bäckström has decided to step away from the team as he deals with a lingering injury situation, the Capitals announced today.
Bäckström issued a statement on his decision, which reads as follows:
Given my ongoing injury situation, I decided to take some time and step away from the game. This is a difficult decision, but one that I feel is right for my health at this time. I want to thank my teammates, the organization, and fans for their unwavering support throughout this process. I ask for privacy at this time as I determine my next steps and viable options moving forward.
Capitals general manager Brian MacLellan issued a statement of his own, which reads:
We stand behind Nicklas and will support him throughout this process. We know firsthand how hard he has worked and how determined he is to get back to full health. Our organization stands fully behind him while he takes his leave of absence from the team and takes time to evaluate his current health situation.
Bäckström, 35, had hip resurfacing surgery in June 2022, and it was initially believed that the process could cost him the entirety of the 2022-23 season. That didn’t end up happening, though, as Bäckström managed to return to the Capitals’ lineup and skate in 39 games.
To start this season, there was some belief that the hardest phase of Bäckström’s injury-related troubles was behind him, at least based on the fact that he played so many games in 2022-23. The hope was that he would be able to be a full contributor to the Capitals’ efforts to return to the postseason.
But after eight difficult games in which he managed one assist, Bäckström has made the decision to prioritize his long-term health. That’s a reasonable decision for any player dealing with considerable injury issues, let alone a player who has accomplished as much as Bäckström. 
Bäckström has played over 1,100 games in the NHL, and is Washington’s all-time leader in assists.
For years the partner-in-crime to franchise face Alex Ovechkin, Bäckström is a former All-Star, Selke Trophy vote-getter, and a Stanley Cup champion.
As to where Bäckström’s decision leaves the Capitals, rookie head coach Spencer Carbery likely won’t be able to replace what Bäckström brings both on and off the ice.
That being said, he does have some options to help fill the void now created in their depth chart.
Rookie Hendrix Lapierre, the 22nd overall pick at the 2020 NHL draft, is still finding his footing in pro hockey but offers considerable offensive skill. Assuming Sonny Milano can return to the lineup, that return could shift Connor McMichael back to the center position and place him in Bäckström’s vacated third-line center role.
This unfortunate news does pose one minor silver lining for the Capitals, related to their salary-cap situation. CapFriendly writes that the Capitals are likely to place Bäckström on long-term injured reserve, adding the player’s $9.2MM cap hit to their LTIR salary pool. The result is an increased cap flexibility to not only add players from other teams via trade but also activate currently injured players such as Max Pacioretty or Joel Edmundson.
In any case, this is undoubtedly a difficult development for both the player and team side of the equation. For Bäckström, one cannot underestimate how hard it must be for the veteran pivot to step away from his teammates in order to prioritize his health. For the Capitals, despite the player’s struggles to start the season, Bäckström remains a crucial part of the franchise’s efforts to return to the playoffs.
This is an unfortunate situation for all involved, but regardless of the on-ice implications of this decision the hope has to be that, by stepping away from the game, Bäckström can achieve the improvements to his health that he both desires and deserves.
Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Nathan Beaulieu Signs In Switzerland
Veteran NHL defenseman Nathan Beaulieu has made the decision to head overseas to continue his professional career. According to a team announcement, he’s signed with EHC Kloten, a club in Switzerland’s National League.
The move puts Beaulieu, 30, in a European professional league for the first time in his career. The 471-game NHL veteran began this season on a PTO with the Carolina Hurricanes, but Beaulieu was not able to earn a NHL contract with the club.
Before this signing, Beaulieu had spent nine consecutive seasons as a full-time NHLer, skating in just four games outside the NHL in that span.
The 2011 first-round pick never quite lived up to the offensive potential he flashed in his QMJHL days, though he had solidified himself as a reliable depth defender on the Winnipeg Jets.
Beaulieu has averaged 16:18 time-on-ice per game over the course of his NHL career, and now at age 30 it appears the player prefers to try his luck playing overseas rather than potentially settle for an AHL contract.
In landing in Kloten, Beaulieu provides the team with an instant replacement for Lucas Ekeståhl Jonsson, who this morning left Kloten to sign with the SHL’s Rögle BK. Ekeståhl Jonsson was Kloten’s highest-scoring defenseman last season, but this year has managed just three points in 16 games.
Alongside Ekeståhl Jonsson’s declined production, he has also seen his role on the team slow down, as he’s averaging just 16:42 time-on-ice per game this season, compared to 21:50 last season. With Beaulieu now in the fold, Kloten may have landed an immediate upgrade for their departed blueliner.
Though it may take him some time to settle into his new surroundings, there’s the potential for Beaulieu to play a major top-pairing role for Kloten.
As a left-shot defenseman, the former Montreal Canadiens top defensive prospect could end up paired with current Canadiens top defensive prospect David Reinbacher, who is playing this season on loan at Kloten. Reinbacher has been out with an injury since October 13th, but once he’s healthy it’s possible the two are paired together.
That role would be a strong opportunity for Beaulieu, as its likely that the eyes of many NHL scouts would be on him, something that could heighten his odds of getting a shot to return to the NHL for next season.
For Kloten, the signing is more about finding an instant replacement (and upgrade, assuming Beaulieu can hit the ground running) for their departed defenseman, a move that needed to be made in order for the club to make a push to avoid the threat of relegation.
Kloten currently sit second to last in the National League with a 6-12-1 record, meaning they will need Beaulieu to step in and make an impact sooner rather than later in order to bank away some valuable standings points and keep their spot in the top level of Swiss hockey.
Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Tomáš Plekanec Announces Retirement
1001-game NHL veteran Tomáš Plekanec has announced his retirement from the game, via Czech journalist Matěj Hejda. Citing health issues as the reason for his decision, Plekanec ends his playing career several years removed from his last NHL game, after three full, highly productive seasons playing in the Czech Extraliga.
A third-round pick of the Canadiens at the 2001 NHL draft, the versatile center would become one of the faces of the Canadiens franchise in the team’s post-lockout era. After back-to-back AHL All-Star campaigns, Plekanec broke into the league at the age of 23, scoring 29 points in 67 games.
Early in his career, Plekanec was defined by how quickly he climbed the Canadiens’ depth chart.
In his age-24 season, Plekanec scored 20 goals and 47 points, beginning to establish himself as a true top-six center in the NHL.
In his age-25 season, Plekanec had soared to 29 goals and 69 points, a performance that helped the Canadiens to the second round of the playoffs and earned him a third-place Selke Trophy vote.
In 2009-10, Plekanec had the best season of his career, scoring 25 goals and 70 points. He was the top scorer on an underdog Canadiens team that took out two heavyweight Eastern Conference contenders en route to the Conference Finals, helping the Canadiens on their deepest playoff run since their 1993 Stanley Cup championship.
That playoff run marked the beginning of a competitive era for the Canadiens that included three division titles and another run to the Eastern Conference Finals.
By 2017-18, the Canadiens’ decline had mirrored Plekanec’s fading on-ice value, and near the end of that season the Canadiens made the shocking move of trading their beloved two-way center to their arch-nemesis Toronto Maple Leafs.
Plekanec spent a short period of the following campaign with the Canadiens, a move that allowed him to play his 1,000th NHL game with the team before departing for Czechia. This season has been Plekanec’s third as captain of Rytíři Kladno, a team he has also led in scoring during that span.
Beyond just his consistently strong NHL career as a member of the Canadiens, Plekanec also had a highly respectable international career.
He represented Czechia at two World Junior Championships, eleven IIHF Men’s World Championships, and two Winter Olympics.
A valuable leader, Plekanec had the honor of captaining Czechia on multiple occasions, including at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.
Although a gold medal eluded him as team captain, he won the gold at the 2001 World Juniors and also took home two bronze medals and a silver at the World Championships.
Although it’s unfortunate that health issues have ended Plekanec’s career before he might have wanted to hang up his skates, he nonetheless ends his professional career with so much to be proud of.
He wasn’t the flashiest player, but he was a consistent two-way force. Sporting his signature turtleneck, Plekanec was one of the faces of the most competitive era of hockey in recent Montreal Canadiens history. We at PHR would like to extend our best wishes to Plekanec and his family as he begins his retirement.
Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Ottawa Senators Recall Tyler Kleven, Nikolas Matinpalo
The Ottawa Senators have announced that defensemen Tyler Kleven and Nikolas Matinpalo have been recalled from the club’s AHL affiliate, the Belleville Senators.
These moves have been made in the aftermath of two significant injuries that have hit the Senators’ blueline. Yesterday, it was announced that Thomas Chabot would miss significant time with a fractured hand, while defenseman Erik Brännström also suffered an injury as well.
In a corresponding move to create the necessary cap space for these recalls, CapFriendly reports that Chabot has been placed on long-term injured reserve, creating $8MM in LTIR relief for Ottawa. 
The result of this absence: the Senators have a massive number of minutes that need to be filled on their blueline.
Chabot is the club’s most highly-utilized defenseman, soaking up time at both even strength and on the power play. There’s no way what he offers the Senators can be truly replaced by any call-ups, although that’s not to say the Senators’ call-up options aren’t quality players in their own right.
Kleven, 21, is an expected call-up as he’s widely viewed as the top Senators defenseman in Belleville. The 21-year-old 2020 second-round pick got a small taste of life in the NHL at the end of last season, skating in eight games for the Senators after the conclusion of his three-year NCAA career at the University of North Dakota.
The six-foot-four, 200-pound stay-at-home blueliner excels in his own end and will be able to offer size, physicality, and shutdown ability to head coach D.J. Smith.
As for Matinpalo, he’s a player with a very different background and someone who has taken a very different path to receiving this call-up. Like Kleven, Matinpalo also offers above-average size (he’s six-foot-three, 207 pounds) as well as defensive responsibility.
But unlike Kleven, Matinpalo’s standing in the Senators organization isn’t backed by a valuable draft pick they invested in him.
The 25-year-old wasn’t a high draft pick like Kleven, instead he’s an undrafted player who only joined the organization this past summer, signing his one-year entry-level deal after establishing himself in his home country’s Finnish Liiga for three seasons with Ässät Pori.
As a result, this recall represents a massive opportunity for Matinpalo. With Chabot injured, the right side of the Senators’ defense is relatively wide open. Artem Zub is still dealing with an upper-body injury and did not travel with the Senators for their two-game road trip.
As a result, Matinpalo is positioned to make his NHL debut against the Pittsburgh Penguins tonight, and he has just two healthy players ahead of him on the team’s right-shot depth chart: Travis Hamonic and Jacob Bernard-Docker.
With some strong play as well as some luck, Matinpalo stands a chance of playing a bigger role in the NHL than anyone could have anticipated, at least for one game, which would be a major opportunity for him to showcase his skills.
While these Senators’ injuries are hardly ideal, they do offer opportunities for two less-experienced Senators defensemen to get into NHL contests.
Ottawa’s competitive chances have undoubtedly been reduced by these injuries, but the silver lining of this situation is that the Senators now has the chance to evaluate the progress of two younger blueliners at the NHL level.
Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Atlantic Notes: Petry, Bennett, Samoskevich
Detroit Red Wings head coach Derek Lalonde told the media, including MLive’s Ansar Khan, that veteran defenseman Jeff Petry is healthy and will play in tomorrow’s game in Boston. Petry has been out with a lower-body injury and has not played since October 21st.
Petry’s return to the Red Wings lineup again puts into focus the logjam of quality defensemen the team is currently dealing with. With Petry healthy, a veteran such as Justin Holl or Olli Määtta would need to exit the lineup in order for Petry to play. Petry himself has been a healthy scratch at times this season, and it’s possible this impressive blueline depth and the ability for Lalonde to rotate his defensive lineup has helped contribute to Detroit’s stellar start to the season.
Some other notes from the Atlantic Division:
- Florida Panthers team reporter Katie Engleson relays word from head coach Paul Maurice who says forward Sam Bennett and defenseman Dmitry Kulikov are game-time decisions for the team’s Saturday game against the Seattle Kraken. Yesterday, we covered Bennett nearing a return to play and now Maurice has clarified his status, saying he’s not guaranteed to be in the lineup on Saturday. As for Kulikov, he’s occupied an important second-pairing role next to Niko Mikkola and any injury-related absence from him would represent a significant blow to a Panthers blueline already lacking in depth.
- Florida Hockey Now’s George Richards reports that the Panthers have returned forward Mackie Samoskevich to the team’s AHL affiliate, the Charlotte Checkers. Samoskevich, the team’s 2021 first-round pick, broke camp with the Panthers but was sent down for the Checkers’ road trip to Toronto. He was recalled on the 25th and played 8:16 in the Panthers’ last game. Now he returns to the AHL for what will be his rookie AHL campaign.
Arizona Coyotes Recall Jan Jeník
The Arizona Coyotes have recalled forward Jan Jeník from their AHL affiliate, the Tucson Roadrunners. Jeník was originally sent down on Wednesday but now he returns to the NHL roster in advance of tonight’s game against the Los Angeles Kings.
PHNX Sports’ Craig Morgan wrote on X that Jeník’s recall was likely made for the purpose of him serving as the club’s spare forward for tonight’s game.
Coyotes head coach André Tourigny told the media today that forward Lawson Crouse is sick and is unlikely to play in tonight’s game. So with Crouse likely to miss the contest, veteran Zach Sanford will most probably draw into the lineup in Crouse’s place.
Sanford’s move into the nightly lineup necessitates this Jeník recall so that the team can have an extra forward on its roster as a precaution. The cost of this to the larger Coyotes organization is that Jeník won’t be able to appear with the Roadrunners in their game today against the Bakersfield Condors.
Jeník, 23, has scored at an almost point-per-game rate in Tucson since 2021-22, so not having him in their lineup is a major loss for the Roadrunners.
But the NHL club and its chase of a Central Division playoff spot is of the utmost importance, and this recall gives Tourigny an extra option to work with as he looks to put together a winning formula for tonight’s game against the Kings.