Sidney Crosby Leaves Game With Apparent Lower-Body Injury
Penguins captain Sidney Crosby left Thursday’s game against the Senators early in the second period and was subsequently ruled out for the remainder of the contest, per a team announcement.
Crosby went down the tunnel and didn’t return after taking the opening shift of the period. He previously left the bench late in the first period, favoring his left leg following a seemingly innocuous collision with Ottawa forward Nick Cousins (video via Gino Hard on X).
If there’s a saving grace, that’s not the same knee Crosby sustained a Grade 2 MCL sprain in last month when he fell awkwardly on a hit from Czechia’s Radko Gudas while representing Canada at the Olympics. That cost the three-time Stanley Cup champion 11 games coming out of the Olympic break, returning to the lineup just over a week ago.
In Crosby’s first four games back in the lineup, he was immediately back to being his old self offensively. He had at least one point in each outing, totaling a goal and four assists with an uncharacteristic -4 rating. He had a +1 rating and one shot on goal in 6:39 of ice time tonight before bowing out of the contest.
Pittsburgh’s injury situation, particularly among its forwards, has been tenuous of late. Evgeni Malkin is dealing with an upper-body injury and is missing his second consecutive game tonight. Anthony Mantha missed Wednesday’s practice with a lower-body injury but was healthy enough to dress tonight. Blake Lizotte is likely done for the regular season with an upper-body issue, but should be an option for the first round of the playoffs.
That’s if the Penguins can weather the storm – both from inside and out – and hold onto a playoff berth. The Blue Jackets’ recent surge has unseated the Pens from the second-place spot they’ve held in the Metropolitan Division for most of the season. They’re still a relatively safe bet to make it at 74.2%, but have next to no cushion. At the time of writing, they’ve been leapfrogged by the Islanders, who defeated the Stars in regulation tonight, for third in the division and have slipped to the second wild-card slot.
Red Wings Recall Michal Postava
The Red Wings announced Thursday that they’ve recalled goaltender Michal Postava from AHL Grand Rapids under emergency conditions. He is expected to back up John Gibson tomorrow against the Sabres after head coach Todd McLellan ruled Cam Talbot out earlier today due to a minor tweak (via Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press).
It will be Postava’s first time dressing for an NHL contest. The 24-year-old is in his first season in the organization, having signed an entry-level deal as an undrafted free agent last summer.
Before coming stateside, the 6’2″, 205-lb netminder spent several years climbing the ladder in his native Czechia. Only in 2024-25 did he emerge as a full-time option in the country’s top division, Extraliga, doing so with a bang.
In 42 showings for HC Kometa Brno, he erupted for a .921 SV%, 2.39 GAA, three shutouts, and a 23-18-0 record. He went on to author a Cinderella run for the mid-tier Brno all the way to an Extraliga championship, posting a league-leading .940 SV% in 17 playoff games.
Now in Grand Rapids, he’s played second fiddle to top prospect Sebastian Cossa. In most any other environment, he would have emerged as a clear-cut #3 by now. Through 21 games, he’s logged a .932 SV%, 1.86 GAA, two shutouts, and a 13-6-0 record.
Postava remains under contract through next season before becoming a restricted free agent. Given his play, it’s hard to see a universe in which he or Cossa aren’t the backup option to Gibson next season, replacing the pending UFA Talbot.
Flyers’ Nikita Grebenkin Out At Least A Week
Flyers winger Nikita Grebenkin won’t be an option for at least the next four games as Philadelphia aims to keep its slim playoff hopes alive. The team announced Thursday that he’ll be out at least seven to 10 days before being reevaluated.
Grebenkin was scratched for the first time in two months when the Flyers suffered a hugely damaging 3-2 regulation loss to the Blue Jackets on Tuesday. It’s still unclear if he was hurt or sustained his upper-body injury separately.
The 22-year-old was a fifth-round pick by the Maple Leafs in 2022. He suited up seven times for Toronto last year, making his NHL debut, before being sent to the Flyers in the deadline deal that brought Scott Laughton to Toronto.
After finishing out last season in AHL Lehigh Valley, Grebenkin broke camp with the Flyers last fall and hasn’t looked back. The 6’2″, 210-lb always projected as a depth checking forward with a bit of a scoring touch and has already lived up to his billing less than five years after being a fifth-round pick.
In 55 outings this season, the Russian has a 4-10–14 scoring line with a -7 rating. He’s averaging 11:17 per night and ranks seventh on the club with 86 hits.
Shot generation is something Grebenkin will look to improve; he has only 32 shots on goal for a 0.58 shots-per-game rate, which is nearly the worst figure on the team. Nonetheless, his defensive impacts have been strong – a relative Corsi for percentage of +1.1% at 5-on-5 grades out well.
Sabres Reassign Zach Metsa
The Sabres announced Thursday that they’ve reassigned defenseman Zach Metsa to AHL Rochester.
Metsa, 27, has been on the NHL roster since early December, outside of two inconsequential minor-league assignments over the Olympic break and at the trade deadline to make him AHL-eligible for the rest of the season. He’s played in 18 of the Sabres’ last 21 games but was scratched in Wednesday’s overtime loss to the Bruins to make way for Conor Timmins, who was returning after being sidelined for three months with a broken leg.
Buffalo already has Michael Kesselring and trade-deadline pickup Luke Schenn available as extra right-shot options, so keeping Metsa up wasn’t a necessity for injury insurance. Instead, they’ll take advantage of his waiver-exempt status to make sure he keeps getting playing time in Rochester while they give the more veteran trio of Timmins, Kesselring, and Schenn more reps, keeping Metsa fresh in case they do decide to insert him into the lineup in the postseason.
Metsa returning and playing a regular role for Buffalo in the playoffs is still very much a possibility. The 5’9″ rookie righty likely takes home the award for the league’s luckiest results this season, but his impact has been impressive nonetheless. Through his first 38 NHL contests, the Quinnipiac product has managed a +20 rating, ranking second among Sabres defenders behind Mattias Samuelsson‘s +34.
That’s despite Metsa averaging just 10:19 of ice time per game. Despite only controlling 45.7% of shot attempts at 5-on-5, Metsa has only been on the ice for two goals against all season long. No defenseman in the league with at least 10 games played has been on the ice for fewer goals against per 60 minutes at 5-on-5 than Metsa at just 0.31.
Considering his xGA/60 is way up at 2.66, per Natural Stat Trick, those results were never likely to hold. The Sabres likely took a significant amount of stock in that figure in today’s decision, realizing that Kesselring’s underlying defensive impacts as a #6/7 option this season (2.44 xGA/60) are preferable.
Still, Metsa’s run this season has been a great success story for a late bloomer who earned his first NHL contract just last summer. He captained Quinnipiac to a national championship in 2023 and had spent the last two seasons in Rochester on minor-league deals before the Sabres finally decided to ink him last July. He’s still under contract through next season but will lose his waiver exemption.
Red Wings Reassign Sheldon Dries
The Red Wings announced Thursday that they’ve reassigned center Sheldon Dries to AHL Grand Rapids. He was the odd man out when captain Dylan Larkin made his return to the lineup against the Senators on Tuesday, ending the emergency conditions he was summoned under earlier this month.
Dries’ demotion won’t be the only roster move coming from the Wings in the next several hours. Head coach Todd McLellan told reporters earlier today that goaltender Cam Talbot will be unavailable to back up John Gibson on Friday against the Sabres after tweaking something, so they’ll need to recall a goalie from Grand Rapids before tomorrow evening (via Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press).
Dries, 31, had been filling in as the Wings’ fourth-line center for the last five games due to the domino effect caused by injuries to Larkin, Andrew Copp, and Michael Rasmussen, among others. While he’d been recalled several times earlier in the year, none of those resulted in playing time.
As such, his time in the lineup this month marked his first NHL appearances since April 2023 with the Canucks. The Michigan native did not record a point but at least managed to not be on the ice for a goal against at 5-on-5, averaging just 6:58 of ice time per game while winning 42.9% of his faceoffs.
While Rasmussen and Emmitt Finnie remain out of the picture for Detroit’s forward group at present, that’s still the healthiest they’ve been in a while. That’s good news for their playoff push, especially seeing as their regulation loss to Ottawa on Tuesday has dropped their postseason odds to 42.4% entering play tonight, per MoneyPuck.
Grand Rapids will gladly take Dries back. The 5’10” pivot has never been more than a depth scoring touch in his NHL minutes but has been a major impact piece in a leadership role for the Griffins since signing a two-way deal with the Wings in 2024, racking up a 20-17–37 scoring line with a +22 rating in 48 AHL outings this season.
Barrett Hayton Out Week-To-Week With Upper-Body Injury
Mammoth head coach Andre Tourigny said Thursday that center Barrett Hayton is considered week-to-week with an upper-body injury, per Brogan Houston of the Deseret News.
Hayton’s outing against the Oilers on Tuesday lasted just 17 seconds. He left the game following an awkward collision with teammate Jack McBain, leaving Utah with only 11 forwards for virtually the entire game, which ended up being a 5-2 loss for the Mammoth.
It’s another blip in what has been a disappointing campaign from the former fifth overall pick. The 25-year-old finally looked like he could be a solid, two-way top-six threat last season with 20 goals and 46 points in 82 games, suiting up almost exclusively beside Clayton Keller as the team’s top-line pivot to give Logan Cooley some easier matchups in the #2 slot.
Hayton’s production drove speeding off a cliff to begin 2025-26, though. He had just five points in 23 games through the end of November and was quickly moved out of a top-line job, with Tourigny opting to promote the resurgent Lawson Crouse while shifting Nick Schmaltz from the wing to his natural center position.
Hayton’s role in the lineup has shifted frequently in the several weeks since. His production picked up a bit in January and February but has gone cold again following the trade deadline. All in all, he’s managed a 10-15–25 scoring line in 67 games – 0.37 points per game after reaching a career-high 0.56 mark last year.
While he may not be scoring as much as they’d like, Hayton has remained a valuable defensive presence. The 6’1″, 200-lb pivot isn’t an overly physical threat but has won 52.6% of his faceoffs this year while posting a strong 54.1% Corsi for percentage at even strength. That’s despite Hayton starting 53.9% of his shifts in the defensive zone, the fourth-highest figure among Utah forwards.
2023 first-rounder Danil But, recalled from AHL Tucson yesterday, will be stepping into the lineup tonight alongside Cooley and Dylan Guenther as the club’s second-line left wing, per Houston. He’s amassed seven points through his first 28 NHL games.
Artturi Lehkonen Returning To Avalanche Lineup
Avalanche left-winger Artturi Lehkonen will make his return to the lineup from an upper-body injury on Thursday against the Jets, head coach Jared Bednar told reporters after morning skate (via Ken Wiebe of the Winnipeg Free Press).
Lehkonen, who’s remained a top-line fixture with Nathan MacKinnon and Martin Necas this season, will instead return in a more limited role as Colorado looks to spread out their scoring depth while easing him back into the lineup. He’ll be skating on a new-look third line with trade deadline acquisition Nazem Kadri down the middle and Logan O’Connor, who made his season debut after hip surgery and various unrelated complications had him sidelined long-term, on the right wing, per Aarif Deen of Colorado Hockey Now.
The 30-year-old left a March 2 game against the Kings with his upper-body injury and was subsequently ruled out indefinitely. There weren’t many updates in the interim, but they’ll be happy to get him back in the rotation tonight after going 7-3-1 in 11 games without him, especially after receiving news that they’ll be without Nicolas Roy for several games as well.
Injuries have been a constant for Lehkonen ever since joining the Avs at the 2022 trade deadline. He’s yet to play more than 70 games in a season, but could finally hit that mark this year if he plays in 11 of Colorado’s 12 remaining games.
Had he been healthy over the past four years, he would be money in the bank for at least 55 points a year. Instead, he’s only technically hit the 50-point mark once in his career, back in 2022-23. He’s nonetheless been quite consistent when healthy and is averaging 0.71 points per game this season with a 19-23–42 scoring line in 59 games, the third-highest rate of his 10-year career.
Rookie Zakhar Bardakov will be the one exiting the lineup to make way for Lehkonen’s insertion. The versatile 25-year-old Russian has played in all but one game since the Olympic break and has been a fine fourth-line piece, scoring 10 points with a +5 rating in 56 games despite averaging just 7:09 of ice time per game.
Wild To Activate Marcus Foligno From Injured Reserve
Wild left-winger Marcus Foligno will play in tonight’s game against the Panthers, Joe Smith of The Athletic reports. He will need to be activated off injured reserve before then, which will bring Minnesota’s active roster up to 26 – including 16 forwards, all of which are now healthy, so they have no shortage of depth options available heading into the final ten games of the regular season.
Foligno, 34, has been out with a lower-body injury since the beginning of the month. After missing 12 games, he’ll dress alongside his older brother Nick Foligno, acquired from the Blackhawks at the trade deadline for future considerations, for the first time at any level.
Widely regarded as one of the league’s better defensive wingers, Foligno had some tough sledding this year before landing on the shelf. He previously missed nine games with another lower-body issue in November and December and hasn’t been all that effective when he’s dressed. In 48 games, he has a 6-5–11 scoring line with a -11 rating, the latter figure being the second-worst of his 15-year career.
Foligno began the season on a 14-game pointless streak and a 30-game goalless streak, and things haven’t gotten much better from there on the offensive side of the puck. Half of his total goal production on the year came in one game, recording a hat trick against the Maple Leafs on Jan. 19.
He will return in a fourth-line role, suiting up alongside his brother and Yakov Trenin to form a heavy checking unit that averages 6’2″ and 212 lbs. The elder Foligno brother, who’s a natural left-winger like Marcus but has played a good bit down the middle, will center that line after starting his Wild tenure 18-for-33 (54.5%) on faceoffs, per Smith.
Evidently, rookie Danila Yurov is exiting the lineup to make way for Foligno. That’s surprising at first glance – his 10-15–25 scoring line in 65 games is 10th on the team. However, he’s gone without a point in his last five outings and has seen his ice time slip amid Ryan Hartman being elevated back to a top-six center role. Foligno and McCarron have both been staking their claim for regular spots in the lineup with some strong defensive play since their acquisitions as well.
Victor Hedman Taking Leave Of Absence
The Lightning announced Wednesday that captain Victor Hedman will be out for at least one additional game as he takes a temporary leave of absence for personal reasons.
Hedman has already missed Tampa Bay’s last three contests. He left their game against the Canucks last Thursday after less than five minutes of ice time and didn’t return due to what the team labeled an illness.
That, plus a whole host of other injuries, has limited the usually durable Hedman to under half of the Bolts’ games this season. He has only managed 33 appearances, currently tracking for a career low, including lockout and COVID-shortened seasons.
Hedman, who finished fifth in Norris Trophy voting just last year, hasn’t had nearly the same effect when dressed, either. At 18:52 of ice time per game, he’s averaging under 20 minutes for the first time in his 17-year career, and his 0.52 points per game is his worst output since his early 20s.
The Bolts have maintained a 27-7-3 record without Hedman dressed this season, including a 2-0-1 stretch in their last three without him. They certainly miss his presence, even lower in the lineup, with depth options Declan Carlile and Maxwell Crozier sidelined, but they’ve been able to keep their system rolling and intact this season amid a bevy of other injuries on defense.
At this point in the season, the Lightning have essentially locked up home ice in the first round with a 89.5% chance of finishing in the top two in the Atlantic Division, per MoneyPuck. A playoff spot is all but clinched, but the race with the Sabres for the division title is still wide open.
Jets Sign Lucas Wahlin To Two-Way Deal
The Jets announced they’ve signed college free agent forward Lucas Wahlin to a two-way contract for next season with a cap hit of $850K. He’ll report to AHL Manitoba on a tryout for the remainder of 2025-26.
Wahlin, 25 in May, is too old to be eligible for an entry-level deal, so his first NHL contract is a standard one. His signing today is a bookend to one of the more unlikely development stories of the past few seasons. He turns pro after spending all four NCAA years at the University of St. Thomas, where he’s served as team captain since his sophomore year and has helped guide the program to top-20 status nationally, still early in its Division I years.
A remarkably consistent two-way producer, Wahlin was named the CCHA’s best defensive forward this season and finishes his collegiate career with a 56-75–131 scoring line in 137 games for the Tommies. His worst points-per-game rate was still a strong 0.81 figure as a freshman, topping out with a pair of 1.08 points-per-game seasons as a junior and senior.
The fact that Wahlin, a three-position forward who checks in at 6’0″ and 170 lbs, even became an effective NCAA producer is shocking considering his development path. Initially draft-eligible way back in 2019 out of the Minnesota high school circuit, he spent his post-draft season way down in tier III juniors with the North Iowa Bulls of the NA3HL. Even when jumping to a more competitive tier II junior environment with Alaska’s Kenai River Brown Bears as a 19-year-old, his output was still limited to a middling 27 points in 44 games.
Wahlin only played one season of high-level junior hockey – as an overage 20-year-old, at that – before landing at St. Thomas. It was the 2021-22 campaign, spent with the USHL’s Lincoln Stars, that seemed to finally unlock his two-way game at a high level. He exploded for 31 goals and 61 points with a +26 rating in 59 games there.
Now, after captaining the Tommies to back-to-back CCHA championship game appearances, he’ll land not too far from home in Winnipeg to begin his pro career. The Jets will welcome any sort of forward depth, especially on the farm. Manitoba has only scored 2.54 goals per game this season, and the NHL side isn’t much better at 2.83.
Wahlin’s relatively advanced age for a player signing his first NHL deal makes his pro impact harder to project. Nonetheless, given his run of collegiate success, he’ll at least be given a long look for a fourth-line role in training camp next fall.