Penguins’ Caleb Jones Undergoes Shoulder Surgery, Done For Season
Penguins defenseman Caleb Jones hasn’t played an NHL game since Oct. 23. He won’t be getting back into the lineup again this season, as the Pens announced Friday he underwent shoulder surgery back on March 18. There’s a four-to-six-month recovery timeline attached, which may stretch a bit into next season’s training camp on the long end but shouldn’t take him out of any regular-season action in 2026-27.
Barring a trade or contract termination, Jones will be back in Pittsburgh next season. He joined the Pens on a two-year, $1.8MM deal last summer that will pay him $1MM in actual salary in 2026-27.
The 28-year-old will compete for a roster spot next year, having played just 13 NHL games over the last two seasons. He spent 2024-25 on a two-way deal with the Kings that saw him play mostly in the AHL, only getting six games in L.A. across a few call-ups throughout the year. He saw seven games with the Pens to open this year as a #6/7 option but sustained a lower-body injury that ended up costing him nearly three months of game time. He was assigned to AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on a conditioning stint and suited up once for them on Jan. 14, sustaining what would eventually be his season-ending shoulder injury that night.
Jones was then suspended for 20 games in early February for violating the NHL’s rules regarding performance-enhancing substances. He wasn’t healthy enough to play anyway, so it didn’t matter much. Jones finished serving that suspension earlier this week but still won’t be an option as Pittsburgh heads toward its first playoff berth since 2022.
Jones didn’t look out of place at all in his small sample at the beginning of the season. He had one assist and a +1 rating while averaging 17:10 of ice time per game, blocking a career-high 2.14 shots per game. His under-the-hood numbers weren’t great – Pittsburgh only controlled 41.4% of shot attempts with Jones on the ice at 5-on-5 – but he was starting his shifts in the defensive zone two-thirds of the time. He skated primarily on the third pairing with since-demoted rookie Harrison Brunicke, with that unit controlling a promising 54.3% of expected goals, according to MoneyPuck.
Still, it’s hard to see Jones playing a significant NHL role next year. The team’s midseason pickup of Samuel Girard pushed him further down the left-side depth chart. If the Pens can manage to re-sign pending unrestricted free agent Ryan Shea, Jones will likely enter camp as the #5 lefty on the depth chart at best behind Girard, Shea, Parker Wotherspoon, and Ryan Graves. That’s not even considering the competition that group could face from 2022 first-rounder Owen Pickering.
Jets Reassign Danny Zhilkin
The Jets loaned forward Danil Zhilkin to AHL Manitoba on Friday, per a team announcement. Since his recall last week came under emergency conditions, Zhilkin needed to be returned to the minors as soon as he was no longer needed for Winnipeg to ice 12 forwards. That happened last night as he was scratched for their 3-0 loss to the Stars.
Zhilkin, 22, was a third-round pick by Winnipeg in 2022. The Russo-Canadian centerman has logged the first six appearances of his NHL career this season, including back-to-back performances against the Avalanche and Blackhawks on Saturday and Tuesday. His first career point came in the latter outing, notching the primary assist on an Isak Rosen goal in an eventual 4-3 overtime win.
The skill forward had solid offensive output in junior hockey, scoring 0.88 points per game over his final two OHL seasons. His December birthdate meant he was eligible to turn pro out of the CHL in his second season post-draft, one year earlier than most. The adjustment to the pros wasn’t kind to Zhilkin, although Manitoba has been a horrid offensive environment for the Jets to develop their prospects over the past few years.
The Moose are having another tough year in the goal-scoring column, only managing 2.49 per game, but Zhilkin has been able to take something of a step forward in his third year in the pros. The 6’1″ middleman has 11 goals and 22 points in 54 games, along with a career-best -9 rating. That’s more than double the goal output and more than the cumulative point output he’d come up with over his first two AHL seasons.
Zhilkin ranked #13 in Scott Wheeler of The Athletic’s overview of the Jets’ pool last month. He still has another year left on his entry-level contract. Another step forward in Manitoba in 2026-27 will likely be necessary for him to warrant a qualifying offer from Winnipeg.
Blue Jackets’ Damon Severson Undergoes Shoulder Surgery, Out For Season
April 3: After additional evaluation, Severson won’t be an option this season again at all. He underwent shoulder surgery yesterday and will not be an option to play again in 2025-26, per a team release Friday. It’s unclear if his return timeline could drag into training camp in the fall.
March 27: Blue Jackets defenseman Damon Severson is out week-to-week with the upper-body injury he sustained in last night’s loss to the Canadiens, head coach Rick Bowness said Friday.
Severson scored Columbus’ only goal in the 2-1 regulation loss before taking a hard hit from Zachary Bolduc, who scored the eventual game-winner, with 8:04 remaining in the third period. He skated off and immediately went to the room, favoring his left shoulder.
The Blue Jackets obviously lost a bit of ground in the Eastern Conference playoff race with the loss, but their strong underlying numbers still leave them with a 77.9% chance of making the playoffs, per MoneyPuck, despite having the league’s third-most difficult remaining strength of schedule. At 87 points, they’re tied with the Islanders for third place in the Metropolitan Division but have a game in hand, winning the tiebreaker and pushing the Isles to the second wild-card slot.
That playoff likelihood drops a bit without Severson, who is having a resurgent campaign in Columbus. The 31-year-old righty had a pair of underwhelming seasons after signing an eight-year, $50MM deal in 2023 as part of a sign-and-trade with the Devils, even sitting as a healthy scratch for a few games last season, but has re-emerged as a does-it-all top-four piece with the best possession numbers of his career.
Through 71 games, Severson has an 8-24–32 scoring line while averaging 21:04 of ice time per game. Coupled with a career-best +18 rating, it’s his best offensive showing as a Blue Jacket and the third-best of his 12-year career on a per-game basis.
It’s what Severson has done to drive play at even strength, though, that has made him especially valuable. The Blue Jackets are controlling 54.4% of shot attempts at even strength with him on the ice – a number that even eclipses Zach Werenski – and can step in as a second-unit power play quarterback when needed.
Columbus doesn’t have an extra righty sitting around on the active roster. Youngster Denton Mateychuk, who’s gotten comfortable playing his offside on a pairing next to Ivan Provorov at points over the last couple of years, will shift back there for the time being. Egor Zamula, a healthy scratch in nine of the Jackets’ last 10 games, will presumably step back into the lineup in a bottom-pairing role.
Lightning Place Victor Hedman On LTIR
April 2nd: According to PuckPedia, the Lightning have placed Hedman on long-term injured reserve. Per the requirements for activation, Hedman must miss 10 games and 24 days before he’s eligible to return. That means that Hedman won’t be able to play until their penultimate regular-season matchup against the Detroit Red Wings on April 13th.
March 25th: 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.
Oilers Sign Owen Michaels To Entry-Level Deal
The Oilers announced Thursday that they’ve signed Western Michigan University captain Owen Michaels to a one-year, entry-level deal. There’s conflicting information on when the contract takes effect; the team press release stated the deal will run for the last few weeks of this season, while the team tweet announcing the signing indicated the deal was for 2026-27.
In any event, the 23-year-old Michaels turns pro after a highly successful three-year run with the Broncos. The 6’0″ right-shot forward broke out as a top-of-the-lineup threat as a sophomore after being buried in the lineup as a freshman, erupting for 18 goals and 36 points in 42 games in 2024-25 en route to Western Michigan’s first-ever national championship. While the Broncos were knocked off by Denver in a regional final upset in the national tournament last week, Michaels was still relatively productive this year with a 13-13–26 line in 39 games.
At his age, the usual curve for an undrafted talent suggests he’ll top out as a high-end AHL contributor with some call-up potential, particularly since he never sniffed the point-per-game threshold in college. As Steven Ellis of Daily Faceoff relays, it’s his skating that will likely hold him back from becoming an everyday NHL piece. Still, he should be a good play-driver in AHL Bakersfield as a strong support piece for the Oilers’ higher-ceiling forward talent.
If Michaels’ contract is for next year (or if it takes effect immediately and he re-ups as a restricted free agent this offseason), Edmonton will have 33 deals on the books. If Michaels signed for 2025-26, he will be eligible to make his NHL debut in the regular season but won’t be eligible to play in any playoff games for the Oilers, much like they did with Quinn Hutson last year.
Lightning Recall Mitchell Chaffee
The Lightning have recalled right winger Mitchell Chaffee from AHL Syracuse, per a team announcement Thursday.
Chaffee, who has been in Syracuse since clearing waivers in late October, will make his first NHL appearance in over five months tonight against the Penguins. He and Oliver Bjorkstrand are entering the lineup in place of Scott Sabourin and Brandon Hagel, who both sustained undisclosed injuries in Tuesday’s loss to the Canadiens but aren’t expected to miss more than a couple of games at most.
It wasn’t too long ago that Chaffee had made himself a bottom-six regular in Tampa. The 28-year-old made a career-high 66 appearances last season, notching 12 goals and six assists along the way. He was a welcome physical presence, ranking third on the team with 133 hits, and the 6’1″ righty was one of their most efficient scorers with a 17.6% shooting percentage.
Chaffee slipped down the Bolts’ depth chart after they acquired Bjorkstrand and Yanni Gourde from the Kraken at last year’s trade deadline and signed Pontus Holmberg in free agency last summer, though. Through seven games in October, he went without a point and was averaging only 9:29 of ice time per game. The Bolts opted to waive him, in part due to wanting to give Dominic James an extended look.
Since returning to a high-leverage AHL role in Syracuse, Chaffee has been spectacular. He ranks fourth on the Crunch in scoring with 24 goals and 31 assists for 55 points in 52 games.
He now projects to get another look in a fourth-line role with Nick Paul and Corey Perry while Sabourin, Hagel, and the IR-bound James all remain unavailable. He should stick around until the day-to-day Hagel and Sabourin can get back into the rotation.
These could be Chaffee’s final games for the Lightning. He’s a pending unrestricted free agent wrapping up a two-year, $1.6MM extension he signed in 2024.
Flyers To Activate Tyson Foerster From Injured Reserve
The Flyers will activate winger Tyson Foerster from injured reserve before tonight’s game against the Red Wings, the team announced. He underwent arm surgery in mid-December and wasn’t expected to be an option until mid-May, making his return roughly six weeks ahead of schedule.
Things couldn’t look much brighter at the moment for the Flyers, who have made themselves a late entrant in the Eastern Conference playoff push. They’ve gotten some help with the Islanders, Blue Jackets, Red Wings, and Senators all cooling off, but have done their job to make themselves competitive, going 7-2-1 in their last 10. They’re now just two points back of Columbus for the playoff cutoff with a game in hand, but still have Detroit and Ottawa to leapfrog, too. The crowded field still has the Flyers’ playoff odds down at 22.3%, per MoneyPuck, but that’s still a tangible chance this late in the year.
Foerster returning only stands to boost their chances. A strong two-way piece who looks to be a consistent 20-goal man for years to come, he started his season with 10 tallies in only 21 games before sustaining the fracture.
The 23rd overall pick in 2020, Foerster is scoring at a 25-goal, 42-point pace per 82 games so far in his NHL career. With only 187 games under his belt, there’s plenty of room to grow. The 24-year-old inked a two-year, $7.5MM bridge deal before reaching restricted free agency last summer but was rewarded with plenty of ice time to begin the year, skating on the left wing in a familiar top-nine slot with Noah Cates and the now-traded Bobby Brink while averaging a career-high 17:27 per game.
Head coach Rick Tocchet has done a good bit of line shuffling since the last time Foerster was available, and they’ve also welcomed a pair of rookies, Denver Barkey and Porter Martone, into the regular forward rotation. Even with that, they trialed Foerster as their first-line left wing at this morning’s practice alongside Trevor Zegras and Owen Tippett, per Charlie O’Connor of PHLY Sports, so it doesn’t appear he’ll be limited at all despite his early return.
Senators Recall Cameron Crotty
The Senators have recalled defenseman Cameron Crotty from AHL Belleville, the team announced Thursday.
Crotty gets elevated to the NHL blue line amid yet another injury in Ottawa. Top defense prospect Carter Yakemchuk, who was an injury-related call-up in his own right last week after Thomas Chabot needed surgery on his right forearm, left the Sens’ loss to the Panthers on Tuesday after a hit from Noah Gregor left him dazed. He presumably won’t be playing tonight against the Sabres with his upper-body injury, although it’s unclear whether he’s in concussion protocol.
And, while #1 option Jake Sanderson is close to returning from the upper-body injury that’s sidelined him for the last 12 games, that won’t happen tonight, per Bruce Garrioch of Postmedia. He’s been upgraded to day-to-day but still carried a non-contact designation at Thursday morning’s practice. With Dennis Gilbert also out another two weeks with an upper-body issue and Nick Jensen done for the regular season, that’s five defense options, including three regulars, that the Sens are missing as they chase down a wild-card spot.
As such, Crotty will make his Ottawa debut and just his third career NHL appearance tonight against Buffalo with a long-awaited playoff berth for their opponent on the line. The 26-year-old is an Ottawa-area native and signed a two-year, two-way pact with the Sens last offseason.
The Sens are Crotty’s third NHL organization. He was a third-round pick by the Coyotes in 2017 and stayed in Arizona until becoming a Group VI unrestricted free agent in 2024. He then signed a two-way deal with the Wild, spending just last year with Minnesota before landing in Ottawa.
Crotty’s two career NHL appearances came at the tail ends of the 2023-24 and 2024-25 campaigns with the Coyotes and Wild, respectively. The 6’3″ defensive-minded righty didn’t record a point in either, logging a -2 rating with two blocks and four hits with only 15:11 of total time on ice.
In 49 games with Belleville this season, Crotty has three goals and seven assists for 10 points with a -4 rating. He’s now up to 59 points in 332 career AHL outings over the last six seasons.
All these injuries will leave Tyler Kleven as Ottawa’s lone left-shot option on defense tonight. That means Nikolas Matinpalo and Lassi Thomson will dress on their off-sides on the second and third pairings, respectively.
William Nylander Wants To Stay With Maple Leafs Through Retool
The Maple Leafs’ next general manager will likely be the most important move Keith Pelley makes as president of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment. He admitted as much in his media availability Tuesday after announcing the firing of Brad Treliving the night before (via Kristen Shilton of ESPN).
Teetering on the edge between a more conservative, short-term retool and a blow-it-all-up rebuild, that decision will determine whether the foundational pieces still remaining from their post-lockout decade of darkness have a chance to end their careers in Toronto. If it’s the latter option with the goal of returning to consistent playoff contention within a year or two, star winger William Nylander told Jonas Siegel of The Athletic on Wednesday that “I still want to be here” if the Leafs’ head executive doesn’t opt for a full teardown.
Of course, any full rebuild would involve at least entertaining the idea of moving Nylander, the Leafs’ all-around offensive centerpiece who turns 30 next month. He holds all the cards with a no-movement clause for all six years remaining on his $11.5MM AAV contract, but if it comes to that, his desire to stay would be “a different story,” he told Siegel. He stopped short of admitting it was a foregone conclusion that he would be open to a move if Toronto opted to sell off the rest of their valuable pieces, but it’s clear it would be something he would consider.
The retool-or-rebuild decision comes down to whether the Leafs’ incoming GM believes there’s enough they can do to return to a playoff spot within the next two years. Auston Matthews will be an unrestricted free agent in 2028. They’re not in a long-term position where they can even think about risking losing him for nothing.
If they can do enough surgery on the rest of the roster, which is headed for a bottom-three finish in the East this year for the first time in a decade, to give them a bright enough long-term outlook to convince Matthews to stay, then it makes sense to keep rolling as long as they can given their bevy of other long-term commitments on the books. If not, the best time to sell off names like Matthews, Nylander, and Matthew Knies is this summer, when their cost-control levels are highest, and they have the most years of effective play remaining.
Nylander has clinched his fourth consecutive season above a point per game and leads the Leafs with 71 points despite missing over 15 games this season with various injuries. The second of two Mikko Rantanen trades last season, which netted the Hurricanes a pair of first-round picks, a pair of thirds, and a long-term top-nine fixture in Logan Stankoven, would be a direct comparable if they did opt to rebuild and look to move him.
Of course, the three-time 40-goal scorer’s remarkable consistency in production as of late makes him, as Pelley said Tuesday, an incredibly strong foundational piece to continue building around. That remains ownership’s preference, but he signaled they would be open to a more aggressive rebuilding approach if that’s what his hire of choice believes is the best path forward.
Blue Jackets Recall Zach Aston-Reese
The Blue Jackets have recalled forward Zach Aston-Reese from the AHL’s Cleveland Monsters under emergency conditions, the team announced Wednesday.
Aston-Reese, 31, spent the first several months of the season on the active roster before clearing waivers in January. He’s been with Cleveland ever since, but could get a look in spot duty here after center Isac Lundeström left last night’s loss to the Hurricanes with an undisclosed injury.
The Blue Jackets had made up significant ground in the Eastern Conference playoff race with their seemingly perpetual hot streak under new head coach Rick Bowness, but a rash of injuries has put a stop to that for now. Damon Severson, Dmitri Voronkov, Mathieu Olivier, and now Lundeström have landed designations in recent days, leaving them winless in their last four while falling back into the second wild-card slot in the Eastern Conference.
Columbus recalled center Luca Del Bel Belluz from Cleveland on Monday. He was the lone extra forward for last night’s game, so it remains to be seen whether he or Aston-Reese will enter the lineup for tomorrow’s rematch against Carolina. Regardless, the Jackets will have an extra forward to spare even if Lundeström needs to sit out a game.
Aston-Reese, once a fourth-line mainstay for the Penguins, Ducks, and Maple Leafs, has swung between an NHL option and an AHL regular over the last few seasons. He logged just three NHL appearances while on a two-way deal with the Red Wings in 2023-24. He signed with the Golden Knights the following offseason but was claimed by Columbus during training camp. He stuck with the Blue Jackets full-time, rebounding to play in a career-high 79 games while tying his career high of 17 points.
The defensive-minded winger slipped down the depth chart to start this year, though. Amid their midseason pickups of Danton Heinen and Mason Marchment, Aston-Reese hit waivers again after only managing 1-4–5 scoring line in 26 outings while averaging just 9:37 per game.
He can still be a solid plug-and-play physical presence. Only Olivier has more hits per game among Columbus skaters this season than Aston-Reese at 2.73, and he’s been a top-nine factor in Cleveland with seven goals and 14 points there in 25 games. He is a natural center but has played mostly on the wing throughout his NHL career, in no small part due to his 35.5% lifetime faceoff win percentage.