Stars Reassign Kyle Capobianco
The Stars assigned defenseman Kyle Capobianco to AHL Texas today, according to the minor league’s transactions log.
Dallas recalled Capobianco, 27, from Texas last weekend as extra injury insurance while the team traveled to Finland for their Global Series contests against the Panthers. He wasn’t needed, serving as a healthy scratch for both losses. Now that the team has returned stateside, he’ll return to the minors.
After spending the last two seasons in the Jets organization, Capobianco reached Group VI free agency and inked a two-year, partial two-way deal with the Stars in July. This season carries a two-way structure, so he earns a salary of $475K while on assignment to Texas compared to his $775K NHL salary. He’ll earn that $775K league minimum regardless of where he plays next season.
Capobianco cleared waivers during the preseason. His call-up lasted eight days, so he can remain on the NHL roster for 22 more across multiple call-ups before he requires waivers to head back to the minors. The 6’1″ left-shot defender had a goal, two assists and a -1 rating in six appearances with Texas to start the season.
A 2015 third-round pick of the Coyotes, Capobianco has 73 NHL games under his belt but none since appearing with Winnipeg in the 2022-23 campaign. He has 12 points (5 G, 7 A) with a -17 rating in those appearances, all of which have come with Arizona and Winnipeg. He’s averaged 15:04 per game and controlled 47.2% of shot attempts and 44.2% of expected goals when on the ice at even strength.
The Stars now have an open roster spot and $1.68MM in current cap space, per PuckPedia.
Philip Broberg Out 4-6 Weeks With Lower-Body Injury
Blues defenseman Philip Broberg will be sidelined for four to six weeks with the lower-body injury he sustained Saturday against the Maple Leafs, head coach Drew Bannister told reporters today, including Jeremy Rutherford of The Athletic.
Broberg hasn’t yet landed on injured reserve. Without an open roster spot and with only one extra defenseman, Scott Perunovich, on hand before his injury, it wouldn’t be surprising to see him land there before tomorrow’s game against the Lightning or shortly after that. Given his return timeline, he’s eligible for long-term injured reserve, but the Blues already have plenty of space in their LTIR pool with Torey Krug and his $6.5MM cap hit there.
Many feared a longer-term, potentially season-ending absence for Broberg after he fell awkwardly on his right leg following a collision with Toronto star Mitch Marner. He needed help skating off the ice and clutched his right knee while lying on the ice for several minutes after the injury. However, Bannister’s announcement aligns with a report from Andy Strickland of FanDuel Sports Network Midwest earlier today that Broberg’s absence wouldn’t be as long as initially feared.
Signed to a two-year, $9.16MM offer sheet and plucked away from the Oilers in August, Broberg has been instrumental in filling the gap vacated by Krug’s season-long absence, plus a lengthy stretch without Nick Leddy in the lineup. He’d taken over as their best left-shot defender in the interim, posting two goals, seven assists, and nine points with a +6 rating in his first 12 games with St. Louis.
Broberg appeared in just 12 regular-season contests with Edmonton all of last season, spending most of the campaign in the AHL. He’s on pace this year to avoid a minor-league assignment entirely for the first time since being drafted eighth overall in 2019 and subsequently arriving in North America with the Oilers two years later. The projected length of his absence still gives him a chance to crack his previous career-high of 46 NHL games set in 2022-23. After just two goals and 13 points in 81 showings in Edmonton, his offensive game was finally thriving in a much more significant role in St. Louis. Drafted as a two-way defender with the potential for decent NHL point totals, Broberg had 38 points (5 G, 33 A) in 49 games for AHL Bakersfield last season.
At even strength, Broberg had been skating in a second-pairing role alongside Justin Faulk while 40-year-old Ryan Suter held down top-pairing duties with Colton Parayko with Leddy out. Pierre-Olivier Joseph slid up alongside Faulk in practice today, according to Lou Korac of NHL.com. He will replace a good portion of Broberg’s minutes, at least for now. Perunovich is expected to re-enter the lineup in a third-pairing role alongside Matthew Kessel after serving as a healthy scratch in two of the Blues’ last three games.
Broberg’s contract costs $4.58MM against the cap. He’s signed through 2025-26 and will become a restricted free agent with arbitration rights upon expiry.
Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.
Avalanche Place Miles Wood On IR, Valeri Nichushkin Cleared To Practice
The Avalanche announced today that they’ve summoned forwards Ivan Ivan, Nikolai Kovalenko and Nikita Prishchepov back up from AHL Colorado after papering them down yesterday. They only had two open spots on the active roster after activating Artturi Lehkonen from injured reserve, so winger Miles Wood was placed on IR retroactive to Oct. 28 in a corresponding transaction to open the extra spot. Additionally, the team confirmed that Valeri Nichushkin has been cleared to practice with the team as he enters the final few days of his participation in Stage 3 of the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program and corresponding suspension.
Wood would be eligible to come off IR as soon as tomorrow’s game against the Kraken, but that won’t happen. Head coach Jared Bednar said on Oct. 30 that Wood was set to miss around seven to 10 days with the upper-body injury that’s kept him out of Colorado’s last two contests. That pushes his return to the lineup to Thursday against the Jets or the Hurricanes next weekend.
The 29-year-old’s absence adds to a laundry list of injuries at forward for the Avalanche, although they’ll certainly take a swap of him for Lehkonen coming off IR. The checking winger hadn’t been much of a factor for the Avs yet this season, limited to one goal on 19 shots and no assists through 10 games. He had averaged 13:40 per game, one second lower than last season, despite Colorado being without Lehkonen, Nichushkin and Gabriel Landeskog throughout the entire campaign to date.
With Lehkonen back and the aforementioned trio recalled, the Avs may be able to dress 12 forwards tomorrow for the first time since Wood’s injury. Defenseman Oliver Kylington had suited up on the wing in back-to-back games with Wood out and no roster flexibility for an additional recall from the AHL.
Ivan and Kovalenko each have four points through 12 games this season, both their first regular-season contests in the NHL. Ivan had no previous major-league experience, while Kovalenko suited up twice for the Avs in last year’s playoffs. Meanwhile, all signs point to Prishchepov playing his second NHL game tomorrow. The 20-year-old was selected 217th overall just a few months ago in the 2024 draft and logged 13:30 in his debut against the Predators on Saturday, registering two shots and three hits.
For Nichushkin, his being cleared to practice indicates that he’s fulfilled all the requirements of his Stage 3 placement so far. His corresponding six-month suspension was handed out on May 13, 2024, while the Avalanche were amid their Second Round series against the Stars. He’s eligible to return to the lineup on Nov. 13 against the Kings, and with a nine-day run-up to practice, it’s looking likelier than not that he’ll play.
While a separate stint in the Player Assistance Program limited Nichushkin to 54 games last season, he’s coming off the best campaign of his nine-year NHL career. The 6’4″, 210-lb Russian winger notched 28 goals and 53 points for a career-high 0.98 points per game, also averaging a career-high 21:21 per night. Despite the extended absence, he also led the club with 16 power-play goals.
Nichushkin has six years remaining on the eight-year, $49MM extension he signed in 2022 to keep him off the open market. Many speculated the Avs would try and move that contract given Nichushkin’s struggles to stay in the lineup since the deal began (he’s only played in 107 of 164 possible regular-season games). But given their bevy of injuries and correspondingly underwhelming 5-7-0 record, it makes little sense to part ways with a player who’s been an invaluable part of their top six when healthy.
Panthers Sign Gracyn Sawchyn To Entry-Level Contract
The Panthers have signed center prospect Gracyn Sawchyn to a three-year, entry-level contract, per a team announcement. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Florida selected Sawchyn, 19, late in the second round of the 2023 draft (63rd overall). His exclusive signing rights were set to expire on June 1, 2025.
Sawchyn, an Alberta-born pivot, will remain with his junior club, the Western Hockey League’s Edmonton Oil Kings, for the rest of the 2024-25 season. The lanky 6’0″ forward has eight goals and 12 assists for 20 points in 12 games this season, leading them in scoring while also leading them in PIMs (24) and tying for the team lead with a +5 rating.
The Panthers drafted Sawchyn from the Seattle Thunderbirds, who traded him to the Oil Kings early last season. But in Seattle, Sawchyn had 58 points in 58 games in his draft year to help spark the Thunderbirds to a WHL championship. However, he was held without a point in five Memorial Cup games.
In their draft-year scouting report of Sawchyn, Elite Prospects called his game “not a complex one.” McKeen’s Hockey ranked Sawchyn as the No. 4 prospect in the Panthers’ system in their 2024-25 NHL Yearbook, calling out his “intriguing blend of skill and tenacity” while criticizing his still sometimes inconsistent production at the WHL level. In the early going this season, he’s quieted those concerns. After improving his output to 1.19 points per game last season from his point-per-game draft year, he’s clicking at 1.67 points per game in 2024-25.
Since Sawchyn is signing his entry-level contract at age 19 and doesn’t turn 20 until after January 1, his ELC is eligible to slide once. He won’t play 10 NHL games this season, so his deal will go into effect for the 2025-26 campaign. He’ll become a restricted free agent upon expiry in the 2028 offseason.
Avalanche Activate Artturi Lehkonen From Injured Reserve
12:00 PM: Colorado has assigned Prishchepov, Ivan Ivan, and Nikolai Kovalenko to the AHL for salary cap reasons, per Meghan Angley of Guerilla Sports. Angley adds that more roster moves are expected before Colorado hosts Seattle on Tuesday, likely suggesting that some of these transactions are paper moves.
10:30 AM: The Avalanche announced today that they’ve activated winger Artturi Lehkonen from injured reserve. There’s no open spot for him on the active roster, so they’ve assumedly assigned a player to the minors in a corresponding transaction. That’s likely 2024 seventh-round pick Nikita Prishchepov, who made his NHL debut in yesterday’s loss to the Predators.
Lehkonen will likely make his season debut on Tuesday against the Kraken. The 29-year-old had missed Colorado’s first 12 games after undergoing a shoulder procedure early in the offseason. He wasn’t ready for training camp, but there was mild optimism that he could play by the beginning of the regular season. That was quashed when Lehkonen landed on IR when the Avalanche submitted their opening night roster, with head coach Jared Bednar quickly saying Lehkonen would be out through at least Oct. 28 – the date of his next evaluation by team doctors.
Evidently, the evaluation went well, and Lehkonen was cleared to play. He’s been skating in a non-contact jersey for much of the past month, so he won’t be coming into the lineup completely cold. With most of Colorado’s top-nine forward group ravaged by injuries, he’ll be relied upon heavily from the get-go. Lehkonen, Gabriel Landeskog and Valeri Nichushkin were unavailable since the start of the season, and he’s the first to return from that group. Since the season opener, Ross Colton and Jonathan Drouin have joined them on IR, while Miles Wood has missed the last two games with an upper-body injury and won’t be back until late this week at the soonest.
Lehkonen has become a fixture in Colorado’s top six since the Avs acquired him from the Canadiens before the 2022 trade deadline. He had 14 points in 20 playoff games en route to the Avalanche winning the Stanley Cup in 2022. While he’s missed 55 games over the following two seasons due to injuries, he’s churned out legitimate top-six offensive production while retaining the excellent defensive and physical game that made him a standout depth piece in Montreal. A neck injury cost him nearly half of last season, but he still managed 16 goals and 34 points in 45 games, a 62-point pace, while averaging 18:28 per game. The Avs controlled 56.9% of shot attempts with Lehkonen on the ice at even strength compared to 52.4% without him.
Whether Lehkonen lines up alongside Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen on the Avalanche’s first line or is deployed in second-line minutes to give Casey Mittelstadt some help remains to be seen, but he’ll indeed be deployed in that same top-six role against Seattle next week. His return couldn’t have come soon enough – the Avalanche have lost three in a row and have fallen to 5-7-0 on the season, placing sixth in the Central Division.
Lehkonen was on IR, not LTIR, so his activation has no negative cap impacts. They’ll actually gain cap space with the move by opening up a roster spot for him.
Senators Reassign Zack Ostapchuk
The Senators announced they’ve loaned center Zack Ostapchuk to AHL Belleville. It’s likely a temporary move to accrue cap space that will be reversed before Tuesday’s game against the Sabres.
It’s the second time this season that the Senators have recalled and reassigned Ostapchuk in short order, only keeping him rostered when necessary for game days. Usually, those transactions have been accompanied by a recall or reassignment for forward Adam Gaudette as they attempted to draw out his temporary waiver exemption as long as possible. Gaudette played in his 10th game of the season yesterday night against the Kraken, though, meaning he now requires waivers to head back to Belleville. With six goals in those 10 games, it’s hard to imagine Ottawa risking exposing him to the rest of the league.
Ostapchuk, 21, has played in the Sens’ last three games. The 2021 second-round pick recorded his first career NHL point in his first appearance of the season against the Blues on Oct. 29, and he’s posted a +1 rating with four blocks and four hits while averaging 11:55 per game. He and Gaudette have been serving as fill-ins while Shane Pinto is week-to-week with an undisclosed injury, and David Perron is on personal leave. However, Gaudette has likely leapfrogged someone like Zack MacEwen for a spot in the lineup when the Sens return to total health.
While with Belleville this season, Ostapchuk has done well with a goal and four assists in six appearances. The 6’3″, 205-lb Edmonton native serves as an alternate captain in his second professional season. Up in his small NHL sample, his possession play looks much improved from last season’s underwhelming seven-game trial. The Sens control 60% of expected goals with Ostapchuk on the ice at even strength, although only 46.3% of shot attempts. The latter number is fair, considering Ostapchuk has started 60% of his zone starts in the defensive end.
Ostapchuk has one season after this one on his entry-level contract at a cap hit of $825K. He’ll be a restricted free agent in the summer of 2026.
Philip Broberg Leaves Game With Leg Injury
Blues defenseman Philip Broberg left tonight’s game against the Maple Leafs after sustaining an apparent right leg injury in the second period. The Blues informed reporters, including Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, that he wouldn’t return to the contest.
At first glance, Broberg’s injury may lead to a long-term absence. The 23-year-old defender got tangled up in a collision along the boards with Toronto winger Mitch Marner, getting his right ankle area caught before falling awkwardly on the rest of the leg. He immediately clutched his knee in pain and remained on the ice for several minutes before skating off with assistance from St. Louis’ trainer. He didn’t put any weight on his injured leg while doing so.
It abruptly pauses what had been a promising start to the season for Broberg. The Blues acquired the 2019 eighth-overall pick from the Oilers via an offer sheet, plucking the restricted free agent away from Edmonton on a two-year, $9.16MM contract. The corresponding $4.58MM cap hit was certainly hefty for a player who spent most of 2023-24 in the minors, though, making only 12 regular-season NHL appearances with the Oilers with underwhelming numbers.
Viewed as a payment based on potential, it seems Broberg’s ceiling has arrived earlier than anticipated. The Swede has thrived in a top-four role for St. Louis with a season-ending injury to Torey Krug and another injury to Nick Leddy, creating ample opportunity on the left side. He had two goals and seven assists in 11 games entering tonight’s action, already setting a new career-high with nine points. That was tied with Jordan Kyrou for the team lead in scoring at the time of writing. He was averaging 20:25 per game and led the team with a +6 rating,
The possession numbers aren’t quite as glorifying for Broberg. The Blues controlled 47.6% of shot attempts with him on the ice at even strength compared to 49.9% without him. But still, he had been operating as their de facto No. 1 left-shot defender in Leddy’s absence, making him a massive loss for a team already without Mathieu Joseph, Kasperi Kapanen and Robert Thomas up front in addition to their injury issues on the blue line.
The Blues don’t play again until Tuesday against the Lightning, so they have a few days to evaluate Broberg’s injury, determine if surgery is necessary, and release a timeline. But it’s nearly a given he won’t be available next week, and although Leddy appears somewhat close to returning, his availability isn’t imminent. That means extra minutes for the 40-year-old Ryan Suter and potential top-four usage for depth offseason pickup Pierre-Olivier Joseph. Scott Perunovich is on hand as an extra defenseman and should be expected to play next week.
East Notes: Senators, Michkov, Rust
The Senators are .500 through their first 10 games, but that’s been enough to stay on the verge of a playoff position in an Atlantic Division that’s been mainly underwhelming to begin the season. Injuries have played a significant factor, with new starter Linus Ullmark missing a few games and other essential pieces, namely center Shane Pinto and right-shot defenseman Artem Zub, currently sidelined with significant but not ultra-long-term ailments.
Those latter two absences have led the Senators to consider adding more depth to those positions in particular, general manager Steve Staios told Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Citizen yesterday. That’s likely an action item for later in the season, though. Staios still wants to give some runway to their internal options to prove they can step up in relief. “I believe that leads to stability as well as confidence in the group,” he said.
So far, those internal options have done the job and likely lessened Staios’ urgency to make a move. Depth pivot Adam Gaudette has five goals in nine games as an injury fill-in after spending most of last season in the AHL, while 24-year-old Jacob Bernard-Docker has posted solid possession numbers (57.7 CF%, 50.0 xGF%) while relieving Zub on the back end.
Elsewhere in the Eastern Conference:
- It’s been a bit of a rough stretch for current Calder Trophy frontrunner Matvei Michkov over the past couple of games. After going point-per-game through his first nine appearances and taking home NHL Rookie of the Month honors for October, he’s gone without a point in his past four and recorded a season-low 13:56 on Thursday against the Blues before posting a -3 rating in a shutout loss to the Bruins earlier today. That’s led to intermittent benchings from John Tortorella, something neither coach nor player views as a real cause for concern, writes Kevin Kurz of The Athletic. “I just wanted him to sit (on the bench), relax, think about what I said to him,” Tortorella said. “I think it was two or three rotations, we put him back out there. He may miss games, who knows? I don’t know what’s going to happen. But that’s part of the development of a 19-year-old kid.“
- Penguins winger Bryan Rust skated today for the first time since landing on injured reserve with a lower-body injury, relays Seth Rorabaugh of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. The 32-year-old has now missed a pair of games with the injury, which he sustained on Oct. 26 against the Canucks. He’ll be eligible to come off IR anytime but is still listed as week-to-week. He had three goals and an assist in eight appearances before exiting the lineup.
John Carlson’s Resurgence Driving Capitals’ Hot Start
The Capitals have been in no man’s land for the past few seasons. Their record has steadily regressed as Alex Ovechkin continues to chase Wayne Gretzky‘s all-time goal-scoring record, a mark he’ll likely hit this season. In 2023, they missed the playoffs entirely for the first time in nine years, and they’ve yet to win a postseason series since lifting the Stanley Cup in 2018.
Washington got back into the playoff picture last season, but most viewed it as a mirage – and rightfully so. The team’s 40-31-11 record translated to 91 points, which would have kept them seven out of a berth in the Western Conference. They also squeaked in with an astonishing -37 goal differential, a bottom-five offense, and below-league-average 5-on-5 analytics and special teams. Put nicely, it was a fluke. Unsurprisingly, they were outscored 15-7 by the Rangers in the first round and exited without a win.
But entering Saturday’s games, the Caps had a 7-2-0 record and a .778 points percentage, tied with the Hurricanes for the best in the East. Last year’s sputtering offense has suddenly come alive, averaging 4.11 goals per game. At the time of writing, they’re set to improve that total after a six-goal effort in the first half of their game against the Blue Jackets.
Nearly every red flag from last season’s showing has been erased as they enter their second season with Spencer Carbery as head coach. They’ve been a legitimately dominant force at even strength. Heading into the weekend, the Caps’ 54.6 CF% at 5-on-5 was fourth in the league, as was their 55.4 SCF%. Their 55.3% share of high-danger chances at 5-on-5 was seventh.
Ovechkin (5 G, 5 A) and center Dylan Strome, who leads the club with 10 assists and 13 points, have the flashiest point totals. However, chugging along on the back end is John Carlson, who, despite turning 35 in a couple of months, is arguably having the best start of his career in terms of two-way play.
Carlson has remained a minute muncher in his twilight years. Last year, he led the league in average time on ice at 25:54 per game. Washington made a concerted effort to get him more help this offseason, swapping Nick Jensen for Jakob Chychrun and inking top-four fixture Matt Roy in free agency. Roy’s acquisition was mainly targeted to relieve Carlson’s workload as a much-improved No. 2 right-shot option, but he’s been out since the season opener with a lower-body injury.
That hasn’t affected Carlson in the slightest. He’s averaging a whopping 26:25 per game, still leading the league while posting the best possession metrics of his life. His newfound ability to control possession at even strength is arguably the most significant impetus behind Washington’s early-season success. The Caps control 57% of shot attempts at even strength with Carlson on the ice compared to 51.5% without him. The Capitals lifer has never had that much of an impact on Washington’s even-strength possession control in his 16-year career. He’s had a fair amount of seasons, especially early in his career, where he was a drain on their 5-on-5 possession play. Overall, his numbers have been about in line with the Capitals’ team averages.
He’s also turned back the clock offensively with a pair of goals and six assists for eight points in nine games. After continuing to hover near a point per game in the early days of the post-COVID era, he was limited to 0.66 points per game over the 2022-23 and 2023-24 campaigns. That’s led to him not receiving even any outside Norris Trophy consideration after finishing no lower than 12th in five straight years from 2018 to 2022. His +11 rating is also tied with the Golden Knights’ Brayden McNabb and the Lightning’s J.J. Moser for the league lead. Most of that point production has come at even strength, too, with only one each of those goals and assists coming on the power play.
At least so far, all those advanced numbers point to Carlson’s resurgence as sustainable, at least for this season. He also ranks fourth on the team in blocks (14), seventh in hits (14), and is tied with Chychrun for the team lead with seven takeaways.
His re-emergence as a top-flight defenseman also leads to a rarity for Washington – the last couple of years of a max-term extension being worth face value. Carlson is still locked in at $8MM against the cap through the 2025-26 season. It was a contract that gave Washington great value through the first couple of years but started to look dicey at the midway point, a commonality with long-term pacts. But his early-season showing suggests he’s still worth that money, if not more, in terms of market value.
While the Capitals’ roster has been rejuvenated with some newly drafted and developed talent, it’s still an excellent story for a member of the old guard to be a legitimate factor in the team’s on-ice success as the franchise turns the page. Carlson owns nearly every franchise record among defenders. He’s the only D-man to play over 1,000 career games in a Capitals uniform, and he also owns team records for career goals (153), assists (529), points (682), and shots (2,375) among defenders.
Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.
Ducks Reassign Tristan Luneau
The Ducks announced Friday that they sent defenseman Tristan Luneau down to AHL San Diego. The move opens up a roster spot, one they’ll need to take goaltender John Gibson off injured reserve when he’s fully recovered from his preseason appendectomy surgery.
Gibson’s return is likely imminent, but even without the roster math, Luneau heading down to the minors is likely best for the blueliner’s development. The 20-year-old played in Anaheim’s first five games of the season but has been a healthy scratch in four out of the last five. He’s averaged 16:33 of ice time through six total appearances, posting a -5 rating, nine blocks, and five hits.
A 2022 second-round pick, Luneau cracked the Ducks’ opening night roster last season. He made just seven appearances through the first couple of months, also spending some time in San Diego on a conditioning stint before being loaned to Team Canada for the 2024 World Juniors. He never got to suit up in the tournament, though. He developed a viral infection shortly after joining the national junior team that sidelined him for the remainder of the 2023-24 season.
Now fully healthy, the 2022-23 QMJHL Defenseman of the Year can get his development back on track. The 6’1″ right-shot defenseman was dominant in his junior career, totaling 144 points and a +53 rating in 159 appearances for the Gatineau Olympiques from 2020 to 2023. In 13 total NHL appearances over the past two seasons, he has a goal and two assists with a -4 rating. With Luneau on the ice at even strength, the Ducks have controlled 46.3% of shot attempts. In his short time with San Diego last season, he had two assists in six games.
His entry-level contract didn’t go into effect last season because he didn’t play 10 NHL games. That means he’s still got two seasons left on his deal after this one and won’t be a restricted free agent until 2027.