Canadiens Activate Patrik Laine From Long-Term Injured Reserve
The Canadiens announced they’ve activated winger Patrik Laine from long-term injured reserve ahead of Tuesday’s game against the Islanders. He’ll make his Montreal debut after sustaining a left knee sprain during the preseason.
Montreal had a pair of open roster spots, but they’re $317.5K short of having ample space to remove his $8.7MM cap hit from LTIR. Without a corresponding move, that suggests the Habs have transferred goaltender Carey Price‘s contract from IR to LTIR to keep them compliant for the time being.
Laine’s Canadiens regular-season debut comes earlier than most expected after receiving a knee-on-knee hit from Cédric Paré in an exhibition game against the Maple Leafs in late September. Subsequent imaging revealed a sprain but no structural damage, easily the best-case scenario. The team issued a two-to-three-month return timeline for Laine, a window he entered a few days ago.
The 26-year-old Finn will skate in a second-line role at left wing alongside Kirby Dach and Juraj Slafkovsky, reports Kenzie Lalonde of TSN. It’s unclear how much his minutes will be restricted in his first NHL contest in 355 days.
Montreal acquired Laine from the Blue Jackets in a long-awaited move out of Columbus in August. They parted ways with defenseman Jordan Harris but received a 2026 second-round pick to take on the last two seasons of the oft-injured winger’s four-year, $34.8MM contract without any salary retention.
Laine’s 2023-24 campaign was truncated at the 18-game mark due to a collarbone fracture and subsequent lengthy stay in the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program. It marked the fifth straight season in which the 2016 second-overall pick missed at least 10 games due to injury after missing just nine total games combined in the first three seasons of his NHL career.
While the high-ceiling sniper hasn’t hit 30 goals since the 2018-19 campaign, he produced a 34-goal, 74-point clip per 82 games over his three full seasons as a Jacket. He’s a major offensive boost to a Canadiens team in the bottom half of the league at 2.83 goals per game.
Laine enters the lineup for sophomore Joshua Roy, who was reassigned to AHL Laval last night. Enforcer Michael Pezzetta is expected to be a healthy scratch against the Isles for the 16th straight game.
Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.
Central Notes: Montgomery, Jiříček, Hall
Clear communication and detailed feedback are the early hallmarks of Jim Montgomery‘s tenure as Blues head coach, multiple players told Jeremy Rutherford of The Athletic. They’ve yet to lose in regulation since signing the ex-Bruins bench boss to a five-year contract and relieving Drew Bannister of his duties, going 2-0-1 since the change.
Among the players praising Montgomery early on was captain Brayden Schenn, who said Montgomery had garnered a “tremendous amount of respect” from both the team’s veterans and up-and-comers. It’s not Montgomery’s first go-around with a good portion of the roster – the 2023 Jack Adams Award winner served as an assistant for the Blues in the 2020-21 and 2021-22 campaigns.
There’s still significant room for improvement if the 11-12-2 Blues want to sneak into a playoff spot. While they’ve outscored opponents 10-5 so far under Montgomery, they’ve been outshot slightly 92-91 in all situations and only control 44.2% of shot attempts at even strength.
“He’s not afraid to talk on the bench, and he’s quick on feedback, and I really like that from him,” sophomore forward Zachary Bolduc said. “It happened in New York and in New Jersey, too. I love getting feedback — good or bad. It’s always great to get during the game.”
More from the Central Division:
- The Wild are dealing with an injury to stalwart defender Jonas Brodin, which should provide more opportunity than otherwise expected for new trade pickup David Jiříček out of the gate. Head coach John Hynes told Michael Russo of The Athletic that Minnesota will be patient with the 21-year-old as he makes the adjustment from Columbus to Minnesota but that they’ll lean on the puck-moving elements of his game and give him some power-play reps, likely bumping Declan Chisholm off the man-advantage units.
- Blackhawks veteran Taylor Hall reaffirmed his desire to see through Chicago’s rebuild in a recent sitdown with Mark Lazerus of The Athletic. The pending unrestricted free agent said that he’d “like to stick around here and be a part of making this thing grow” but fully recognizes the possibility he’ll be on the move by deadline day to help the Blackhawks add some additional futures to their system. Injuries have significantly hamstrung the 33-year-old since Chicago acquired him from the Bruins in the summer of 2023, limiting him to seven goals and 14 points in 34 appearances while sticking in a middle-six role,
Senators Recall Nikolas Matinpalo
The Senators announced they’ve recalled right-shot defenseman Nikolas Matinpalo from AHL Belleville. He’ll serve as Ottawa’s extra defender for the time being while lefty Donovan Sebrango, whom they summoned last week before scratching him for three straight games, returned to the minors in a corresponding move.
Matinpalo has four career NHL games, all coming in an Ottawa uniform last season. The Sens signed the 26-year-old Finn as an undrafted free agent from Liiga’s Ässät in 2023, playing him mostly with Belleville since.
A defensive-minded blue liner with good size at 6’3″ and 212 lbs, Matinpalo averaged just seven minutes per game across last year’s early-season call-up. He recorded a +1 rating, two shots, two blocks, and four hits while controlling 53.6% of shot attempts at even strength, but he’s still looking for his first NHL point.
In 84 games for the B-Sens since the beginning of last season, Matinpalo has six goals and 14 assists for 20 points with a +13 rating. He signed a one-year, two-way extension in June, shortly before his one-year entry-level agreement was set to expire.
Meanwhile, Sebrango’s first NHL recall ends without incident. The 22-year-old, whom Ottawa acquired from the Red Wings in 2023’s Alex DeBrincat trade, is on pace for the best season of his five-year professional career with six points in 14 games for Belleville this year.
Sebrango, a third-round pick of Detroit in 2020, is set to be a restricted free agent next summer. The 6’1″, 220-lb lefty will likely stay out of NHL action until an injury affects one of the Sens’ other lefties – with their injury-related absence being righty Artem Zub, it made sense to swap Sebrango for Matinpalo on the active roster. Matinpalo will require waivers to return to Belleville if he remains on Ottawa’s roster for over 30 days or plays 10 or more games.
Maple Leafs To Activate Auston Matthews From Injured Reserve
Maple Leafs superstar Auston Matthews will return to the lineup Saturday against the Lightning, he told reporters today, including David Alter of The Hockey News. He’ll need to come off injured reserve, so Toronto will need to make a corresponding transaction to open a spot on the active roster.
So ends a lengthy saga that’s seen Matthews sit out the last nine games, missing nearly a month with an upper-body injury that was initially termed day-to-day. While not a significant injury, it was potentially concerning enough long-term for the Leafs to hold him out and for him to even briefly head overseas last week to see a specialist in Germany that he’s worked with before.
Toronto went on quite the run without the services of their star goal-scorer, going 7-2-0 and outscoring opponents 26-18. That was even as additional injuries to top-nine fixtures like Max Domi and Matthew Knies piled up, at one point leaving them without seven of their usual top 12 forwards in the lineup.
That number could drop to five against Tampa, with Knies also taking line rushes alongside Matthews and William Nylander in today’s practice, per Luke Fox of Sportsnet. He’s also on IR, so if he’s ready to return, a second corresponding transaction would be required.
Things did come to a bit of a head for the Leafs in their last outing, losing 5-1 to the Panthers and seeing their Atlantic Division lead drop to one point. The pending returns of some important forwards will allow overmatched AHL fixtures like Alexander Nylander and Alex Steeves to return to the farm, as could youngsters Nikita Grebenkin and Fraser Minten.
Matthews’ injury had been plaguing him a bit this season before he exited the lineup, evidenced by his subpar five goals and six assists for 11 points in 13 games. He was shooting at a career-low 8.9% rate, though, so his numbers should come alive in short order with natural regression and improved health. The 27-year-old has taken home the Rocket Richard Trophy three times in the past four years, including last season’s career-high 69 tallies (51 at even strength).
Blue Jackets Sign, Waive Joseph LaBate
The Blue Jackets announced Friday that they’ve signed unrestricted free agent center Joseph LaBate to a two-way contract for the remainder of 2024-25. The team subsequently placed him on waivers for assignment to AHL Cleveland.
LaBate, 31, has 13 games of NHL experience to his name. However, they came quite some time ago – seven years, to be exact, suiting up in a fringe fourth-line role for the 2016-17 Canucks.
Since then, he’s spent most of his time in the minors. After his NHL contract with Vancouver ran out following the 2017-18 campaign, he spent the next five seasons on AHL contracts with Belleville, Milwaukee and Chicago.
The Minnesota native ventured overseas for the first time last season, inking a one-year pact with Kazakhstan’s Barys Astana in the Kontinental Hockey League. The 6’5″, 209-lb enforcer posted 18 points and 53 PIMs in 49 games before deciding to take his talents back stateside.
LaBate had technically already been in the Columbus organization before today. He landed a tryout with Cleveland last month, and after scoring once and adding three assists through five games, he’s earned a contract and the opportunity for his first NHL call-up since his age-23 season.
The Blue Jackets didn’t disclose LaBate’s NHL or AHL salary, but the contract is presumably worth the prorated league minimum of $775K at the NHL level. In any event, he’ll be an unrestricted free agent next summer. Columbus now has 46 of a maximum of 50 contracts on the books.
Kings Recall Andre Lee, Place Akil Thomas On IR
The Kings called up forward Andre Lee from AHL Ontario under emergency conditions on Friday, per a team announcement. Center Akil Thomas landed on injured reserve in a corresponding transaction to open a roster spot.
Lee, 24, returns to the NHL roster after spending most of the season with the big club. He didn’t quite crack the opening night roster but was recalled just a couple of days later, making his NHL debut and skating in 15 out of 18 contests after his recall.
The 6’5″, 206-lb winger didn’t make much of an impact offensively with two assists, but he did make his mark physically with 32 hits without being a significant drag on the Kings’ possession numbers. L.A. controlled 49.6% of shot attempts and 53.8% of expected goals with Lee on the ice at 5-on-5, perfectly serviceable stats for a fourth-line piece.
Selected in the seventh round in 2019, Lee had one assist and a +1 rating in a pair of appearances for Ontario over the past week and a half, his first pair of the season. The Karlstad, Sweden, native had a career-high eight goals and 13 points in 36 AHL games last season and signed a fresh two-way extension in June to avoid restricted free agency.
Meanwhile, Thomas lands on IR with an undisclosed ailment despite being listed as a healthy scratch for their last outing, a 4-1 win over the Jets. If he was banged up, they could make his placement retroactive to his last appearance on Nov. 25 against the Sharks, which means he’d be eligible to return next Wednesday against the Stars. He’ll miss at least two more games with the injury.
Thomas, 24, has been a frequent healthy scratch this season, only appearing in 10 of the Kings’ 23 games. He has a goal and an assist while averaging 11:07 per game. The 2018 second-round pick is fourth-worst on the team with a 50.0 CF% and has managed 14 shots on goal.
Metropolitan Notes: Ersson, Duclair, Chytil, Kreider
Flyers goaltender Samuel Ersson will be out for the eighth straight time with his reaggravated lower-body injury when they take on the Rangers today, Jordan Hall of NBC Sports Philadelphia reports.
The injury has limited Ersson, 25, to starting only three of the Flyers’ 12 games in November. When healthy, he’s far and away been Philadelphia’s best netminder. He still leads the team with 10 starts and five wins despite the extended absence, as does his .902 SV%, 2.70 GAA, one shutout, and 0.2 GSAA.
Ersson’s lack of availability means the Philly crease has been guarded by a tandem of rookies Ivan Fedotov and Aleksei Kolosov for most of the past few weeks. The former is starting today against the Blueshirts but has struggled in eight appearances this season, logging a .874 SV% and 3.69 GAA. The younger Kolosov’s numbers are slightly better but still unimpressive, with an .885 SV% and 3.11 GAA in six appearances.
Ersson remains on injured reserve but can be activated at any time since he’s missed well over a week.
More out of the Metropolitan Division:
- Islanders winger Anthony Duclair has begun skating on his own as he begins the first tangible step in his recovery from the leg injury he sustained last month, Stefen Rosner of NHL.com relayed Friday. The 29-year-old had two goals and an assist in his first five games with the Isles in a top-line role alongside Mathew Barzal and Bo Horvat before leaving an Oct. 19 tilt against the Canadiens. He’s missed 18 games and is near the end of his initial four-to-six-week timeline, so since he’s yet to practice with the team and take contact, his return will likely push past that mark.
- The Rangers will still be without forwards Chris Kreider and Filip Chytil in the lineup against the Flyers as they remain day-to-day with upper-body injuries, head coach Peter Laviolette told Vince Z. Mercogliano of USA Today Sports. It’s Kreider’s third straight absence – they’re 0-2-0 without him as part of a four-game skid – while Chytil has been day-to-day for over two weeks and hasn’t played since Nov. 14 despite skating with the team.
Blue Jackets Recall Jet Greaves
The Blue Jackets announced Friday that they’ve recalled goaltender Jet Greaves under emergency conditions. He’ll back up Elvis Merzļikins this afternoon against the Flames instead of Daniil Tarasov, who Aaron Portzline of The Athletic reports is dealing with an illness.
It’s the second recall of the season for the 23-year-old Greaves. He was summoned to back up Tarasov for a pair of games in mid-October while Merzļikins was dealing with an upper-body injury, but he did not play.
Greaves, an Ontario native, is now in his fourth season of pro hockey, all of them coming in the Columbus organization. He’s been decent so far for Cleveland this season, posting a 3.23 GAA, .908 SV%, one shutout, and a 7-3-1 record in 11 games.
However, it’s not really the step forward in his development that the Jackets were hoping for. Columbus appeared to have found a diamond in the rough with Greaves, who they inked as an undrafted free agent out of the OHL’s Barrie Colts. He’s been solidly above average in his limited NHL action to date, posting a .912 SV% and 3.44 GAA in nine starts and one relief appearance for the Jackets over the past two seasons despite facing over 34 shots per game on average.
The 6’0″ Greaves may not have yet taken a demonstrable step forward in his play in Cleveland this season, but there’s still plenty of runway left in 2024-25 to do so. He remains waiver-exempt this season but will need them to head to the AHL starting with 2025-26.
Tarasov, meanwhile, hasn’t played since Nov. 16 and has backed up Merzļikins for four straight. The 25-year-old has had a tough year, logging a career-low .861 SV% and 4.04 GAA with a 3-4-1 record in eight starts.
Lightning Recall Matt Tomkins
The Lightning announced Friday that they’ve recalled goaltender Matt Tomkins from AHL Syracuse. Presumably, Jonas Johansson or Andrei Vasilevskiy is unavailable or uncertain for this afternoon’s game against the Predators, although the team hasn’t confirmed either’s status yet. The Lightning have an open roster spot and $1.43MM in current cap space, per PuckPedia, so they don’t need to make a corresponding transaction to accommodate Tomkins’ addition.
Tomkins, 30, has a subpar .890 SV% and 3.12 GAA in eight showings for Syracuse this season, although it’s somewhat irrelevant what his numbers are. Tampa Bay has no other option for a recall – they only have three goaltenders under contract. They would likely need to sign 28-year-old Brandon Halverson, who’s outperformed Tomkins by a wide margin in Syracuse this season while on an AHL contract, to an NHL deal if either Johansson or Vasilevskiy is out for any time.
Tomkins, an Edmonton native, is in his second season with the Bolts. The Ohio State grad started last season as Johansson’s backup while Vasilevskiy was on the shelf recovering from back surgery, posting a 3-2-1 record in six starts with a .892 SV% and 3.33 GAA in his first-ever NHL action.
A seventh-round pick of the Blackhawks in 2012, Tomkins spent four seasons playing for their AHL and ECHL affiliates before reaching unrestricted free agency in 2021 and heading overseas, playing two seasons in the Swedish Hockey League with Frölunda HC and Färjestad BK. He also appeared for Canada at the 2022 Winter Olympics and World Championship, winning a silver medal at the latter as the third-stringer behind Chris Driedger and Logan Thompson.
Tomkins passed through waivers unclaimed at the beginning of the season. He can remain on the Bolts’ roster for up to 30 days or appear in 10 games before he requires them again to return to Syracuse.
Rangers Have Shown Interest In Canucks’ J.T. Miller
The Rangers have “recently inquired” with the Canucks about the trade availability of star center J.T. Miller, a league source told Arthur Staple and Peter Baugh of The Athletic.
Those discussions have likely taken place in the last week or so amid general manager Chris Drury putting up an open-for-business sign on Monday, with Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reporting that he’d made both captain Jacob Trouba and three-time 30-goal scorer Chris Kreider available for trade. Four straight regulation losses and some concerning shot-attempt and scoring-chance numbers at 5-on-5 throughout the season have set Drury’s urgency dial to high as he tries to avoid last year’s Presidents’ Trophy winners slipping out of a playoff spot.
There’s still a fair bit of cushion for the Rangers, who have slipped to a wild-card spot but have games in hand on the three teams ahead of them in the Metropolitan Division. But they’re now on pace for 98 points after finishing with 114 a season ago and have a 29% chance of missing the playoffs, per The Athletic.
That could mean the Rangers are willing to leverage one of their aforementioned trade chips, or more likely struggling center Mika Zibanejad, to bring Miller back to where he started his NHL career. But as Staple and Baugh write, it’s “a long shot” to make a midseason move for such a rich contract – Miller is signed through the 2029-30 season at an $8MM cap hit. Moving Zibanejad, who’s signed for the same length at an $8.5MM cap hit, would likely require some salary retention amid his poor start and may be impossible regardless, thanks to his full no-movement clause.
There’s also the question of whether Miller, who also has an NMC in his contract with Vancouver, would entertain a move back to Manhattan. The 31-year-old does have six goals and 16 points in 17 games this season with a +1 rating but is currently out indefinitely while on a leave of absence for personal reasons.
Even though Miller is on pace for his lowest offensive output since the 2020-21 season, he would still be a significant upgrade over Zibanejad’s performance this year, which would likely require a larger package heading Vancouver’s way than a one-for-one swap. Zibanejad has been a relative non-factor with just four goals in 21 games, only three hits, and the worst possession numbers of his 14-year career by far with a 42.8 CF% and 40.9 xGF% at even strength.
While Drury’s initial inquiry likely won’t lead to a move, at least not imminently, it’s likely not the last time he’ll gauge Miller’s availability this season. As Baugh and Staple write, they also had interest in a reunion at the 2022 trade deadline when he was slated to become an unrestricted free agent the following summer, but he ended up sticking in Vancouver and inking his aforementioned extension.
Miller, selected 15th overall by the Rangers back in 2011, had 72 goals, 100 assists and 172 points in 341 games with the Blueshirts before he was traded to the Lightning at the 2018 deadline. After being flipped to Vancouver in the 2019 offseason, he’s had over a point per game in four of his five full seasons as a Canuck.