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Metro Notes: Bowers, Clarke, Malenstyn

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The New Jersey Devils announced that they’ve assigned forward Shane Bowers to the Utica Comets of the AHL. The 24-year-old was recalled by the Devils a little over a week ago and went scoreless in five games to finish out the NHL season. The native of Halifax, Nova Scotia appeared in eight games this season, tallying no points, while averaging 9:27 of ice time per game.

A former first-round pick of the Ottawa Senators in 2017 (28th overall), Bowers hasn’t developed into the power forward many thought he could be back when he played for Boston University. He was part of the package that Ottawa traded to the Colorado Avalanche for Matt Duchene but has never been able to find his scoring touch at the AHL level and has bounced around to two more organizations since then. With Utica this season, Bowers has just nine goals and four assists in 40 games and is -11.

In other Metropolitan Division notes:

  • The Devils also assigned forward Graeme Clarke to Utica of the AHL. Clarke appeared in two games during his most recent recall and three NHL games this season. He has yet to register an NHL point, but the 22-year-old has been a solid AHL scoring option in his four-year professional career. The Ottawa, Ontario native has posted 24 goals and 23 assists in 64 AHL games this season and 147 points in 215 career games at the AHL level.
  • Washington Capitals writer Stephen Whyno is reporting that Capitals forward Beck Malenstyn left last night’s game after suffering an upper-body injury. The 26-year-old was skating through the neutral zone with the puck when he sent a pass and was hit late by Boston Bruins forward Trent Frederic. Malenstyn remained on the ice briefly before getting back to his feet and skating to the bench. He immediately walked to the dressing room while receiving assistance from the medical staff. No word yet on the severity of the injury. Malenstyn has dressed in 80 games this season, posting six goals and 15 assists while dishing out 237 hits.

Montreal Canadiens Recall Logan Mailloux

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The Montreal Canadiens have recalled defensive prospect Logan Mailloux from the Laval Rocket of the AHL. The 21-year-old is playing in his first professional season in the AHL and has posted 14 goals and 33 assists in 70 games this year for the Canadiens AHL affiliate.

Mailloux was selected late in the first round of the 2021 NHL Entry Draft but had renounced himself from the draft after being charged and fined in Sweden for taking an intimate photo of a woman and distributing it without her consent. Mailloux was on loan to Sweden’s SK Lejon at the time because the COVID-19 pandemic had led to the Ontario Hockey League suspending their season. Mailloux was eventually suspended by the OHL in September 2021 but was reinstated early in 2022.

He went on to play parts of two seasons with the London Knights, posting 25 goals and 28 assists in 59 games during his final OHL season with the team. Despite multiple NHL teams placing Mailloux on their do not draft lists, the Canadiens elected to select him with a late first-round pick, a move that was met with heavy criticism.

It remains to be seen if Mailloux will play tonight for the Canadiens against the Detroit Red Wings in what will be the final game of Montreal’s season. If he does, he will make his NHL debut less than eight months after having his eligibility to play restored by the NHL. Arpon Basu of The Athletic tweeted a statement from the league with the NHL saying that they’ve met with Mailloux multiple times over the last year and he is cleared to play in the NHL.

Buffalo Sabres Fire Don Granato

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The Buffalo Sabres have relieved head coach Don Granato of his duties after missing the playoffs for the 13th consecutive season. The Sabres have also fired assistant coach Jason Christie as well as video coordinator Matt Smith. The team will now be looking for their eighth coach since last making the playoffs in 2010-11 and have had Lindy Ruff, Ron Rolston, Ted Nolan, Dan Bylsma, Phil Housley, Ralph Krueger and now Granato behind the bench.

Buffalo came into this season with playoff expectations after narrowly missing the postseason last year finishing 10th in the Eastern Conference with 91 points. However, this year they took a step back to just 84 points and were eliminated from postseason contention last week. Many factors led to Buffalo’s ultimate demise, but one of the key contributors was that many of the Sabres top scorers took a big step back this season offensively. Alex Tuch dropped from 79 points to 59, Tage Thompson missed time and went from 94 points to 56, and Rasmus Dahlin fell from 73 points to 59. The biggest falloff was Jeff Skinner who had 83 points last year but tumbled to 46 this season. Unfortunately for Granato, he wasn’t able to get more offense from the Sabres depth players and it ultimately cost him his job.

The 56-year-old was hired by the Sabres midway through the 2020-21 season and went on to coach an additional three years in Buffalo, finishing with a record of 121-125-27 which equates to a .512 points percentage. He began his NHL coaching career as an assistant with the Chicago Blackhawks back in 2017 and could very well end up as an assistant once again after a tumultuous time with the Sabres.

As for Buffalo, they will once again be looking for a new bench boss as they look to end the second-longest playoff drought in all of North American professional sports.

Metro Notes: Dobson, Harkins, Nosek

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Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman tweeted that New York Islanders defenseman Noah Dobson would not play tonight and is still considered day-to-day. The 24-year-old played just 1:28 on Thursday night against the Montreal Canadiens as he suffered an upper-body injury that forced him to miss nearly the entire game. The former 12th overall pick missed Saturday’s game against the Rangers then didn’t practice with the Islanders yesterday and didn’t travel with the team to New Jersey today.

Dobson’s injury doesn’t appear to be long-term and that would be welcome news for the Islanders as the Summerside, Prince Edward Island native has been logging an average of 24:31 a night and has posted 10 goals and 60 assists in 79 games this season. While he is unlikely to win the Norris Trophy, he may get consideration given that he is seventh in NHL scoring by a defenseman.

In other Metropolitan Division notes:

  • The Pittsburgh Penguins welcomed back forward Jansen Harkins off the injured reserve today.  The 26-year-old has been out since March 7th with a hand injury and dressed on the fourth line alongside Jeff Carter and Emil Bemstrom in the Penguins 4-2 victory over the Nashville Predators. Harkins played just 5:38 and registered a single hit making it 19 consecutive games without a point and 44 games on the season without a goal. The Penguins acquired Harkins off waivers from the Winnipeg Jets back on October 2nd, and while he hasn’t offered up much offensively he has been one of the few Penguins forwards to consistently play a physical game.
  • New Jersey Devils forward Tomas Nosek returned to the lineup for the Devils’ final game of the regular season. The 31-year-old hadn’t played since April 9th and played just over 15 minutes tonight as he was held pointless. Nosek had been out with an undisclosed injury and will finish the season with two goals and four assists in 36 games with New Jersey. Nosek is a free agent on July 1st after signing a one-year $1MM contract with the Devils last summer. It seems unlikely he will do much better this summer as his age and lack of offensive production will likely deter teams from offering term and lucrative money to the Pardubice, Czechoslovakia native.

Blue Jackets Notes: Fix-Wolansky, Subban, Jenner

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The Columbus Blue Jackets announced that they’ve assigned forward Trey Fix-Wolansky to the Cleveland Monsters of the American Hockey League. The 24-year-old played in a career-high 11 NHL games this season with the Blue Jackets, posting two goals and an assist. The former seventh-round pick averaged a shade under 11 minutes of ice time per game and appeared to gain more confidence as the season went on. In his final appearance two nights ago he potted two goals against the Predators in 10:49 of ice time.

An undersized forward at 5’7” tall, Fix-Wolansky has been a prolific AHL scorer for the past two seasons but has been unable to carry it over to the NHL level. In 26 career NHL games, the Edmonton, Alberta native has four goals and two assists, numbers that are in stark contrast to his AHL numbers where he has 84 goals and 113 assists in 221 games.

In other Blue Jackets notes:

  • The Columbus Blue Jackets have also assigned goaltender Malcolm Subban to the AHL’s Cleveland Monsters. The 30-year-old netminder is a veteran of 87 NHL games split over eight seasons but has appeared in just five NHL games over the last three years including one this season. The Toronto, Ontario native is with his fifth NHL franchise and has appeared in 206 AHL games posting a record of 89-78-29 with a 2.65 goals-against average and a .911 save percentage.
  • Aaron Portzline of The Athletic is reporting that Blue Jackets forward Boone Jenner was back at team practice today as he looks to return from personal leave. It was Jenner’s first time on the ice since he and his wife Maggie announced that their son Dawson was tragically stillborn. Jenner has missed the Blue Jackets last six games but could be available for the team’s final regular season game tomorrow night against the Carolina Hurricanes. The 30-year-old has spent his entire 11-year NHL career with the Blue Jackets and is the franchise’s all-time leader in games played with 715.

Atlantic Notes: Rasmussen, Copp, Stützle

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Ansar Khan of MLive.com is reporting that Detroit Red Wings center Michael Rasmussen didn’t skate this morning with the team and won’t play tonight against the Montreal Canadiens. Tonight’s absence will be Rasmussen’s sixth game in a row out of the lineup as he deals with an upper-body injury.

The 24-year-old last played back on April 1st in a 4-2 Detroit win over the Tampa Bay Lightning. If he misses both games in Detroit’s back-to-back against Montreal, he will wrap up his fifth NHL season with a career-high 33 points (13 goals and 20 assists) in 75 games.

In other Atlantic Division notes:

  • Less than a week after taking a high stick to the face and breaking his cheekbone, Red Wings forward Andrew Copp has returned to the lineup against the Canadiens. Copp skated with the team this morning sporting a full cage and was called a game-time decision for tonight. He ultimately has dressed in his 78th game of the season as the Red Wings battle for the final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference. Copp missed just two games with the injury.
  • TSN 1200 tweeted that Ottawa Senators center Tim Stützle skated this morning with the team at Madison Square Garden in a non-contact jersey. The Senators play tonight against the Rangers and have just one game on the season remaining. Given the timeline, it seems unlikely that Stützle will return this season from an upper-body injury that has kept him out of the lineup since April 4th. The Senators haven’t made the playoffs since the 2016-17 season and were expected to contend for a playoff spot this year but were out of the race by the midway point of the regular season. The 22-year-old has done his part though, posting 18 goals and 52 assists in 75 games in his fourth NHL season.

Pacific Notes: McDavid, Kane, Coleman

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Edmonton Oilers reporter Tony Brar has confirmed that Oilers superstar Connor McDavid will be returning to the lineup tonight against the San Jose Sharks. McDavid has been sidelined since April 6th with a lower-body injury that caused the 27-year-old to miss three games. Despite the absence, McDavid remains in third place in NHL scoring with 31 goals and 99 assists in 74 games. If he can notch one more assist, he would become just the fourth player in NHL history to tally 100 assists in a season and the first since Wayne Gretzky accomplished the feat in 1990-91.

The Oilers trail the Vancouver Canucks by five points for the Pacific Division title and have three games left on the schedule, while the Canucks have two games remaining. It’s unlikely that Edmonton will catch the Canucks for the division title, but it remains an outside possibility.

In other Pacific Division notes:

  • Sportsnet is reporting that Oilers forward Evander Kane will not dress tonight for Edmonton when they take on San Jose. Kane will take some time to heal from an undisclosed issue and would likely have played tonight if it were a playoff game according to Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch. The 32-year-old Kane has shown no signs of a lingering issue and has been on a bit of a hot streak lately with five points in his last five games, however, he did play less than ten minutes in Edmonton’s victory over the Calgary Flames on April 6th. Kane has posted 24 goals and 20 assists in 77 games this season in what has been one of his least productive offensive seasons of the past decade.
  • Pat Steinberg of Sportsnet 960 is reporting that Calgary Flames forward Blake Coleman will not dress tomorrow night against the Vancouver Canucks due to a lower-body injury. Flames head coach Ryan Huska told reporters he was hopeful that Coleman could return for Calgary’s season finale on Thursday against the Sharks. The 32-year-old has shattered many of his career highs this season, posting 29 goals and 23 assists in 77 games. Coleman had never topped 40 points in a season before this year and has maintained his strong two-way play while finding another gear offensively.

Thatcher Demko Returning To The Lineup Tomorrow

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Vancouver Canucks play-by-play voice Brendan Batchelor is reporting that netminder Thatcher Demko will be returning to the Canucks lineup tomorrow night against the Calgary Flames. Demko has been out since March 9th when he left a game against the Winnipeg Jets with a knee injury. The 28-year-old has missed 14 games with the ailment during which Vancouver has gone 7-5-2.

Demko was in the midst of a career year when he was forced from the lineup due to injury. In 49 appearances this season, the native of San Diego, California has a .917 save percentage and a goals-against average of 2.47. His 34-13-2 record is among the best in the league and his five shutouts have him tied for fourth in the NHL.

In Demko’s absence, career backup Casey DeSmith stepped up to fill the void but could not sustain a stretch of solid play as he posted just four wins in ten appearances since Demko went down. DeSmith started well as he gave up just 11 goals in his first five starts after Demko’s injury, but would go on to give up 17 goals in his four starts after that.

With Demko returning, the Canucks will be hoping he can pick up where he left off before the knee injury. The Canucks have two games left in the regular season to get Demko up to speed before the playoffs. Demko has only dressed in four NHL playoff games in his career and sports a sparkling 0.64 goals-against average and a .985 save percentage.

West Notes: McDavid, Stephenson, Ludwinski

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The Edmonton Oilers are without the services of superstar center Connor McDavid this evening as they take on the Vegas Golden Knights. McDavid was called a game-time decision by head coach Kris Knoblauch earlier today but ultimately missed tonight’s game after suffering a lower-body injury Saturday against the Calgary Flames.

McDavid needs just one assist to reach 100 on the season and would become just the fourth player to ever tally 100 assists in a season alongside Wayne Gretzky, Bobby Orr and Mario Lemieux. The 27-year-old has 31 goals to go along with his 99 helpers in 74 games this season as he and the Oilers sit second in the Pacific Division behind the Vancouver Canucks.

In other Western Conference notes:

  • Vegas Golden Knights forward Chandler Stephenson didn’t dress tonight against the Oilers for personal reasons. The 29-year-old is an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season and has seen his numbers dip this season from a career high 65 points last year. In 73 games, Stephenson has 16 goals and 31 assists and a -11 plus/minus. Recent callup Brendan Brisson replaced Stephenson in the Golden Knights lineup.
  • The Chicago Blackhawks have loaned forward Paul Ludwinski to the Rockford IceHogs of the AHL. The 19-year-old was assigned to Rockford last year as well but didn’t appear in any games. A native of Toronto, Ontario, Ludwinski was selected in the second round of the 2022 NHL entry draft by Chicago and appeared in 60 games this season for the Kingston Frontenacs of the Ontario Hockey League. He set career highs in most offensive categories as he tallied 23 goals and 46 assists and added six points in five playoff games.

Evening Notes: Tortorella, Fantilli, Jones, Vlasic

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Despite their recent collapse, it doesn’t appear as though the Philadelphia Flyers are planning to make a coaching change to replace John Tortorella anytime soon. This news comes from TSN’s Darren Dreger who reports that Flyers sources have told him that “Torts is not leaving the bench.” The speculation around Tortorella’s job security makes sense given that the team is mired in a 1-6-3 streak in their last ten and are currently chasing a playoff spot after sitting comfortably in third place in the Metropolitan Division just a few short weeks ago.

The Flyers are winless in eight straight games and have looked lost the last month, particularly in their last three games where they have been outscored 19-7 by the Buffalo Sabres, Columbus Blue Jackets and Montreal Canadiens. Last night’s 9-3 loss to Montreal was particularly difficult to watch as the Canadiens dominated the Flyers from start to finish which further added to speculation about Tortorella’s future.

In other evening notes:

  • Aaron Portzline of The Athletic is reporting that Columbus Blue Jackets forward Adam Fantilli won’t play again this season after suffering a lacerated calf against the Seattle Kraken back on January 28th. While that news isn’t overly surprising given that there are just a handful of games left on the NHL schedule, what is surprising to hear is that the 19-year-old rookie might play for Team Canada at the IIHF World Championships if he is healthy a month from now. Fantilli played for Team Canada last year at the tournament and could return on May 10th if he is at 100 percent. Last year’s third-overall pick will finish his first NHL regular season with 12 goals and 15 assists in 49 games.
  • Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times is reporting that Chicago Blackhawks defensemen Seth Jones and Alex Vlasic will suit up for Team U.S.A. at the IIHF World Championships. The 22-year-old Vlasic hasn’t represented the United States internationally for over five years, last suiting up for the Americans at the U18 World Championship in 2018-19. Jones last suited up internationally two years ago at the World Championships when he captained the Americans to a fourth-place finish.

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