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Edmonton Oilers’ Ty Rattie To Miss A Couple Of Weeks

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Sunday: The Oilers announced they have placed Rattie on injured reserve. The team has recalled Cooper Marody from the Bakersfield Condors of the AHL to replace him on the roster. The Oilers acquired Marody’s rights from Philadelphia in March and were able to sign him away from the University of Michigan. The 21-year-old already has two goals and six points in the Condors first five games.

Saturday: The Edmonton Oilers announced that Ty Rattie, who was forced to leave Thursday’s game against Boston with an apparent injury, will be without the promising winger for a couple of weeks with a muscle injury in his midsection.

The 25-year-old winger made a name for himself in the preseason when he led the league in goals with seven. That string of performances won him a spot on the team’s first line next to Connor McDavid and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, but Rattie has not been able to continue his goal-scoring streak into the regular season. He has a goal and an assist in five games. The injury is a big blow to a player who has been working hard to earn a full-time role in the Edmonton lineup. He has played 54 games in the NHL, but spread out over six seasons.

The Oilers intend to promote 2017 first-round pick Kailer Yamamoto to the top line while Rattie is out. The fast-skating 20-year-old has a goal in five games, but if he can find some chemistry with McDavid as many people have predicted could happen, that could end Rattie’s time on the first line, one of the best lineup opportunities in the NHL.

Central Notes: Dano, Kamenev, Blackhawks, Bouwmeester

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It’s been six days since winger Marko Dano was claimed by the Colorado Avalanche and the 23-year-old forward finally got an opportunity to practice with the team Sunday, but no one is quite sure when he may make his Avalanche debut, but it could come as early as Monday, according to NHL.com’s Callie Parmele.

Dano already has some familiarity with the team, especially with head coach Jared Bednar and assistant coach Nolan Pratt, who both were on the Springfield Falcons coaching staff during the 2013-14 season when Dano made his North American debut in the AHL for the team’s final 10 games. Bednar was promoted to head coach the following year where he had even more time with Dano.

“We had a good run in Springfield, and it’s always good when you know the coach,” Dano said of his relationship with Bednar. “We haven’t seen each other for a long time, and I am excited to work with him and I appreciate the chance they have given to me.”

  • Still with the Avalanche, the team likes what it sees in Vladislav Kamenev, who received the most ice time of his career on Thursday when he skated 12:36 against the New Jersey Devils. Although he hasn’t turned that extra time into offense (he has no points in five games this season), he is building trust in his head coach. “We feel like from watching him work in practice in that area, we can give him those minutes,” Bednar said Friday. “We trust him with those minutes. He’s done a nice job in the games so far. I think he’s getting better and better as he feels more comfortable and feels like he belongs, which is normal. I just want him to keep pushing himself and try and be a difference maker every night.”
  • While Chicago Blackhawks Stan Bowman hardly can admit victory in his offseason trade a year ago when he traded Artemi Panarin to Columbus for Brandon Saad and Anton Forsberg, he knew that the Panarin’s contract situation would be a problem for the Blackhawks too had they chosen to hold onto him, according to Mark Lazerus of The Athletic (subscription required), who analyzes who won last year’s trade. Saad has struggled in his return to Chicago and is struggling on the bottom-six, while Forsberg hasn’t fared any better in net for the team, but Bowman knew there were going to be problems with Panarin, who has shown little to no interest in signing an extension in Columbus and has put the team in a tough position as he plays out the final year of his contract while they are trying to compete for a playoff spot. “They’re in a tough spot now,” Bowman told The Athletic on Saturday night. “What do you do with him? I saw that coming as a challenge.”
  • Tom Timmermann of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch writes that considering how well the St. Louis Blues defense played on Saturday, he doubts whether the team will put defenseman Jay Bouwmeester back on the ice for Monday’s game against Winnipeg. The veteran was scratched for the first time in his career Saturday as his play hasn’t been up to his usual standards. The Blues put forth one of the best games of the season, defeating the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-1.

Pacific Notes: Gibson, Tuch, Eriksson, Thornton

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The Anaheim Ducks know they can’t keep relying on the play of goaltender John Gibson, who has saved the team with his impressive play. Most recently Gibson sustained a 44-shot performance on Saturday (many of which were high-danger shots) against the Golden Knights, who walked away with a 3-1 win. Gibson wasn’t thrilled with the team’s inability to keep those shots down, according to The Athletic’s Josh Cooper (subscription required).

“I think we just need to be better. It’s getting old,” Gibson said with a little smirk after the 3-1 loss where he made 42 saves and his team managed just 18 shots on goal. “You see the game. You can see what we’re doing. It’s pretty self explanatory. We’re not playing to the level that I think we’re capable of playing and I think we’re just being too satisfied with just being average.”

Anaheim remains in first place in the Pacific Division at 5-2-1, but are dead last in the NHL in shots allowed as they have yielded an average of 37.0 shots per game. Gibson has been able to protect the team with his play as he boasts a .949 save percentage in his seven appearances and has a 1.91 GAA so far, but it’s unlikely he can keep that up.

“We’re not playing the right way,” coach Randy Carlyle said. “We’re loose in coverage and we’re not competitive enough and when you’re not competitive enough it means they’re starting with the puck and winning more of those battles and they have the puck more than you do.”

  • The Vegas Golden Knights finally got winger Alex Tuch back on the ice Sunday as the practiced with the team in a non-contact sweater, according to Las Vegas Review-Journal’s David Schoen. Tuch, who just signed a seven-year, $33.25MM contract, hasn’t appeared in a game for Vegas this season. The 22-year-old has been out since Sept. 30 with an injury. With that new deal in hand, The Athletic’s Jesse Granger (subscription required) wonders how good Tuch can actually be, considering the team only has his rookie season’s numbers of 15 goals and 37 points, which mostly had him on the team’s third line. The 6-foot-4, 220-pounder is great at getting into the corners and doing the dirty work and the scribe compares him to a young Milan Lucic, who also put up similar numbers as a rookie and eventually become a consistent 20-goal scorer for years. “We’re expecting him to get better every year, and we’re expecting big things from him this year and he should be back soon,” coach Gerard Gallant said. “He’s a good young player but he has to keep getting better. He’s not elite yet. He’s far from elite, and we want him to get to be elite someday.”
  • With no goals in eight games, there has been quite a bit of criticism that has been thrown at Vancouver Canucks winger Loui Eriksson, the team’s highest paid player at $6MM per year. Regardless head coach Travis Green vigorously defended his veteran forward on Saturday, according to TSN’s Jeff Patterson. “He’s second on our team in 5-on-5 points and second in plus-minus and it’s seven games, not 50,” said Green. “He’s on the second power-play unit and not the first. He has done some good things and it’s not just about goals with Loui. There a lots of guys I want more out of and if I say I want more out of Loui, everyone is up in arms about it. I thought he was playing good with Elias Pettersson. He was good defensively and does some subtle things that people don’t notice — nor does he get recognition for – and I’m not worried about Eriksson, I can tell you that.”
  • The Athletic’s Kevin Kurz reports that center Joe Thornton remains day-to-day after he was placed on injured reserve due to swelling in his surgically repaired knee. However, the 39-year-old is expected to travel with the team for their upcoming three-game road trip. “I don’t know if he’ll play or not,” said Sharks coach Peter DeBoer. Thornton, however, said he hopes to play this week.

Metropolitan Notes: Wang, Darling, Jones

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The New York Islanders suffered a loss today as former owner Charles B. Wang passed away Sunday at the age of 74, according to Newsday’s David Schwartz. Wang, best known for keeping the Islanders in the New York area, bought the Islanders in 2000 when the team was in an uncertain future with the idea of bringing the franchise back into a top-class organization.

“We are heartbroken by the news of Charles Wang’s passing. New York Islanders’s co-owners Dewey Shay, Scott Malkin and I were privileged to be selected by Charles to be his partners in the team. Charles loved the Islanders unconditionally. The arena at Belmont Park will be just one of his many legacies left to the team and to Long Island. His unique personality, his wonderful sense of humor and his extraordinary wisdom will be greatly missed,” said Islanders co-owner Jon Ledecky.

Wang served as majority owner until 2016 before becoming a minority co-owner. He is survived by his wife and three children. We at Pro Hockey Rumors offer our condolences to the family.

  • NHL.com’s Michael Smith writes Carolina Hurricanes head coach Rod Brind’Amour said that goaltender Scott Darling, who has been injured since the preseason, is expected to make a rehab start with the Charlotte Checkers of the AHL on Wednesday. He could return to the Hurricanes for their Friday game against San Jose. Darling, who struggled in his first year in Carolina with a .888 save percentage last year, will force the team to make an interesting decision as the team already has two goaltenders on their active roster in Curtis McElhinney and Petr Mrazek. Neither goaltender has been stellar so far for the Hurricanes. McElhinney has been their top goaltender so far in four games, putting up a 2.76 GAA and a .876 save percentage. Mrazek has struggled more, posting a 3.07 GAA and a .874 save percentage in four games. Will the team keep three goalies or put on of them on waivers in the next week?
  • Seth Jones, who is rumored to be coming close to a return, skated with the team for a sixth consecutive day on Saturday, according to The Athletic’s Aaron Portzline (subscription required). Then, however, he stayed on for a hard skate with the players who weren’t dressing against the Blackhawks. The scribe writes that Tuesday against Arizona could be a potential return date, which would make it four weeks to the day that he strained a knee ligament. “I can’t give you a specific date,” Jones said. “Nor can the trainers, I don’t think. I don’t know how it’s going to do on Monday at practice. We’ll just see. It’s just day by day, how confident I am on it, with contact and all that stuff.”

Atlantic Notes: Backes, Kotkaniemi, Cholowski

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A last minute scratch on Saturday has many people worrying that Boston Bruins forward David Backes might have a more serious problem when they look back to a hit that Backes took a shoulder to the head in Thursday’s game against Edmonton from defenseman Matt Benning in the first shift of the game. He was checked for a concussion and cleared to return, but only skated 6:28 during the game.

While the 34-year-old participated in Saturday’s morning skate, there are many concerned that Backes, who has suffered numerous concussions over the course of his career, has another, according to Matt Porter of The Boston Globe. Head coach Bruce Cassidy said he was “absolutely” worried about Backes.

“We’ll list it as an upper-body injury,” Cassidy said. “I think we all saw the hit. You want to be cautious, first of all. This is a player’s health, that left at the end of last year with a concussion.”

  • The Montreal Canadiens got a great game out of 18-year-old Jesperi Kotkaniemi despite losing to Ottawa Saturday. The third-overall pick in this year’s draft is starting to show his skills and while he only has three points in seven games so far, he is clearly making a positive impact on the Canadiens, according to The Athletic’s Marc Dumont (subscription required). Throw in the fact that Kotkaniemi has made fewer than a half dozen mistakes on the ice, Montreal has a big piece in place for the future.
  • Another player receiving quite a bit of praise is Detroit Red Wings defenseman Dennis Cholowski. The 20-year-old has received a big opportunity with injuries to Mike Green, Niklas Kronwall, Jonathan Ericsson and Danny DeKeyser, and has taken advantage of it, according to Detroit Free Press’ Helene St. James. The 2016 first-round pick has shown off smooth skating and on-ice intelligence and has shown an offensive instinct, posting two goals and five point in six minutes. Dylan Larkin believes that Cholowski is a big piece to their future. “His head is always up and he’s always there to make passes and get it in the forwards’ hands,” Larkin said of Cholowski. “He reminds me a lot of Zach Werenski in that sense, where their posture with the puck is almost if you’re forechecking him, you don’t know what he is going to do because he’s got his head up and his feet are moving. It’s awesome having him back there.”

Eastern Notes: Aho, Rasmussen, Bruins Offense, Blue Jackets’ Defense

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One player the Carolina Hurricanes are keeping a close eye on is William Nylander. While the Hurricanes wouldn’t mind acquiring the restricted free agent if Toronto opts to move him, The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun (subscription required) writes that the Hurricanes are also keeping a close eye on whether the team even signs him as Nylander’s contract (assuming he signs) could have a huge effect on one of their own players — Sebastian Aho.

Aho’s entry-level deal runs out after this year and with the way the 21-year-old has developed, could command a high price from Carolina this offseason. With Carolina well known to be frugal when it comes to handing out long-term deals, Aho is a must. The forward has started strong this season, scoring four goals and eight assists in the team’s first seven games, suggesting he could have another breakout season after scoring 29 goals a season ago. Regardless, Nylander’s contract could be a significant comparable for Carolina in the coming weeks or months. If Nylander’s holdout is successful, it could cost the Hurricanes quite a bit as well.

  • In a mailbag series, Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press writes that the Detroit Red Wings are still discussing what to do with rookie forward Michael Rasmussen. The 19-year-old either has to stay with the team or be returned to juniors, but Rasmussen has struggled so far in transitioning to the NHL. He has just one assist in six games and has seen his ice time dip to just 9:56 on Thursday against Tampa Bay. The scribe writes that the team would prefer not to return him to the Tri-City Americans of the WHL, but Rasmussen only has three more games to prove himself to management, before they have to make a decision. If Rasmussen reaches 10 NHL games, he burns his first year of his entry-level deal.
  • In a mailbag of his own, NBC Sports Joe Haggerty writes that the Boston Bruins are in need of another quality top-six player and believes the Bruins should look to make a trade. He suggests the team should be open to moving one of their young talents as part of any package, including Anders Bjork, Danton Heinen, Ryan Donato or even Matt Grzelcyk to make a deal happen. The scribe also believes that the team needs to move David Backes from the second line into their bottom-six.
  • With Seth Jones close to returning to the Columbus Blue Jackets’ lineup, The Athletic’s Aaron Portzline reports that head coach John Tortorella has already said that Jones will return to the top defensive line opposite of Zach Werenski. The coach also admitted that he loves the combination of Marcus Nutivaara and Ryan Murray as the team’s second pairing. Which means that David Savard will move out of the team’s top-four.

Central Notes: Makar, Dunn, Morrissey, Vesalainen

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The Colorado Avalanche may be focused on the present, but their future looks bright as well. Not only do the Avalanche have the Ottawa Senators first-round pick this season, which could be a lottery pick despite the team’s success early on this year, the team likes what it sees from Cale Makar, the fourth-overall pick in 2017.

The 19-year-old, who is in his sophomore year at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, has been dominating so far in the early games of the season. UMass reports that Makar leads the NCAA already in points/game with 2.33 as he has three goals and seven points in three games. Makar, who had a good season last year, had just 21 points in 34 games last season, putting him way ahead of where he was a year ago. There continue to be rumors that he’ll sign with the Avalanche after this collegiate season.

  • The Athletic’s Jeremy Rutherford (subscription required) answers questions in a mailbag session and points out that the St. Louis Blues intend to put more responsibilities on the shoulders of second-year defenseman Vince Dunn, who has struggled getting minutes early in the season and has been scratched twice. However, Rutherford writes that the Blues believe he’s been one of their most effective defenders and is likely to receive top-four minutes from now on. Evidently, Dunn suffered through back issues over the summer and wasn’t able to get into top shape before the season started. Now that he’s almost back to the shape he was in last year, Dunn is likely to see an uptick in minutes. He’s already expected to be paired on the top defensive line with Alex Pietrangelo.
  • In a notebook, The Athletic’s Eric Duhatschek (subscription required) writes that Winnipeg Jets defenseman Josh Morrissey is developing nicely after being drafted as an offensive-only defenseman back in 2013. Since then, he’s developed into an excellent shutdown defender and with Jacob Trouba, combine as the team’s shutdown defensive line against other team’s top players. However, when veteran defenseman Dustin Byfuglien went down with an injury last week, Morrissey was given his job on the No. 1 powerplay and still maintains that job despite Byfuglien’s return. Byfuglien has moved to the No. 2 power play role.
  • With the Winnipeg Jets sending 2017 first-round pick Kristian Vesalainen down to Manitoba of the AHL Friday, Moose head coach Pascal Vincent said that the goal is to give the 19-year-old lots of minutes, especially on the power play to get him more ready to eventually return to Winnpeg. “…we want to put him in a position to be successful so he is going to play a lot of minutes and on the power play and I think for his development that’s the right thing,” Vincent said (via Dave Minuk of illegalcurve.com).

Nashville Predators Place Pekka Rinne On Injured Reserve

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The Nashville Predators have placed goaltender Pekka Rinne on injured reserve after leaving Friday night’s game in Calgary, according to TSN’s Ryan Rishaug. The transaction means that Rinne will be out a minimum of three games and won’t be able to return until next Saturday against Edmonton.

Rinne exited the ice early in the third period soon after colliding with teammate Kevin Fiala as the two got tangled up on Sam Bennett’s goal 2:20 minutes into the period. Rinne stayed in for another 2:43 seconds before finally being replaced by Juuse Saros. According to the Tennessean’s Paul Skrbina, head coach Peter Laviolette said it wasn’t the team’s or Rinne’s decision to leave the game. He left due to the league’s concussion protocol.

“We didn’t pull him, so something was wrong,” Laviolette said.

Saros is expected to fill in for the Predators for tonight’s game against Edmonton. The team intends to recall Miroslav Svoboda from Atlanta of the ECHL for tonight’s game, adds Rishaug, but considering that he’s in Atlanta and the game in Edmonton, it might be a challenge to get him there by game time.

It’s a big loss for the Predators. Rinne, last year’s Vezina Trophy winner, is 3-1 through five starts this year, posting a 2.10 GAA and an impressive .929 save percentage. The team is lucky to have Saros, who is Rinne’s eventual successor, although Nashville has been discussing an extension with Rinne recently. Saros has won all three of his appearances this season and boasts a 2.23 GAA and a .919 save percentage. Svoboda, the team’s seventh-rounder in 2015, has been impressive in two appearances in the ECHL, posting a 1.50 GAA and a .946 save percentage.

St. Louis Blues Scratch Jay Bouwmeester For First Time In Career

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St. Louis Blues head coach Mike Yeo said that veteran defenseman Jay Bouwmeester will be a healthy scratch for the first time in his career in today’s game against the Toronto Maple Leafs, according to Canadian Press’ Joshua Clipperton.

The 35-year-old is in the final year of a five-year, $27MM deal at $5.4MM AAV, but hasn’t been as effective as he’s usually been since missing all, but 35 games in the 2017-18 season. The team, which was expected to compete at a much higher level after acquiring a number of offensive players during the offseason, including Ryan O’Reilly, David Perron, Tyler Bozak and Pat Maroon, have struggled with a 1-5 start. The defense was supposed to be their strong point, but it has struggled this year. Bouwmeester, who is third on the team with an ATOI of 20:50, hasn’t helped with a minus-four this year in six games.

“Obviously decisions like this come when you’re not winning hockey games,” said Yeo (via the Athletic’s Jeremy Rutherford). “We’re forced into a position where we have to make difficult decisions. I think part of it is that Schmaltz and Dunn have been playing very well for us. It’s a very, very difficult decision for me as a coach when you’ve got a player you respect like Bouw and what he’s accomplished in his career. Really what it comes down to is we see Bouw at a very high level and we value what he can bring… (But) we don’t feel it’s quite at that level. Maybe it’s the time off from last year, maybe it’s confidence, I’m not sure. But hopefully a game like this gives him a chance to reset and get to that level.”

The Blues are well-known for moving out contracts of veterans who are in their last year of their contract at the trade deadline even when they are fighting for a playoff spotand could be considering moving on from him later this season. The team moved Kevin Shattenkirk in 2016-17 and then moved out Paul Stastny last year. Bouwmeester has played 1,112 games over the course of his NHL career, 362 of which have come in St. Louis.

St. Louis Assigns Nikita Soshnikov To AHL For Conditioning Stint

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The St. Louis Blues have activated forward Nikita Soshnikov from LTIR and have announced they have loaned him to the San Antonio Rampage of the AHL for a five-game LTI conditioning stint.

Soshnikov, who suffered a concussion in the preseason after taking a puck to the ear, will try to regain his form over those five AHL games and could be eligible to return to the Blues for their Nov. 1 game at home against Vegas.

The 25-year-old was acquired by St. Louis in a mid-season trade from Toronto last season in exchange for a 2019 fourth-round pick. Soshnikov, who couldn’t crack the Maple Leafs’ lineup last season, did appear in 12 games for the Blues once he arrived, posting a goal and an assist. He did play in 56 games for Toronto during the 2016-17 season, posting five goals and nine points. Upon his return, he should compete for bottom-six minutes with the team.

Soshnikov’s agent, Dan Milstein, first announced the transaction.

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