Islanders To Activate Casey Cizikas, Reassign Kyle MacLean
The Islanders will activate center Casey Cizikas from long-term injured reserve ahead of tonight’s game against the Lightning, as implied by his full participation in Thursday’s morning skate (via Newsday’s Andrew Gross). Center Kyle MacLean has been returned to AHL Bridgeport to open a roster spot.
Cizikas, 32, is still listed as a game-time decision after being upgraded Wednesday night. However, with Hudson Fasching still out with a lower-body injury, the Islanders don’t have an extra healthy forward on the roster and would need to dress seven defensemen if Cizikas is a late scratch.
As expected, Cizikas will return to his long-time home on the team’s fourth line between Matt Martin and Cal Clutterbuck. Now in his 13th season with the team, Cizikas has five goals and 11 points in 39 contests while averaging 13:30 per game. He remains under contract until 2027 with a $2.5MM cap hit.
Meanwhile, the 24-year-old MacLean returns to Bridgeport on a more permanent basis after being ferried up and down in Cizikas’ absence. The son of Isles assistant coach John MacLean scored his first NHL goal Monday night against the Maple Leafs, his only point during the first six games of his NHL career.
MacLean saw limited action under new head coach Patrick Roy, averaging 8:11 per game. He struggled in the faceoff dot, winning 14 out of 44 draws, and recorded a 47.8% Corsi share at even strength.
The New Jersey native has six goals and 19 points in 38 games with Bridgeport this season, on pace for AHL career-highs. He will be a restricted free agent with arbitration rights this summer upon completion of a one-year, two-way contract worth $800K in the NHL and $82.5K in the AHL.
Blues Recall Calle Rosén
The Blues recalled defenseman Calle Rosén from AHL Springfield on Thursday, per a team release.
Rosén, who turned 30 earlier this month, joins the Blues with Justin Faulk and Scott Perunovich out of the lineup with lower-body injuries. The recall gives them seven healthy defensemen on the active roster in case their two injured defenders can’t re-join the team by Saturday’s game against the Sabres, their first after the All-Star break.
This is Rosén’s first recall since clearing waivers during training camp and heading to the minors in October. He’s scored twice and added 23 assists – which ranks first among Springfield defensemen – in 44 games, along with a +3 rating.
23-year-old right-shot defenseman Matthew Kessel drew into the lineup in 14 straight games before the break, averaging 17:17 per contest. He didn’t get on the scoresheet, however, and despite his even rating, his 43.1% Corsi share at even strength left something to be desired. If the Blues opt to replace Kessel with Rosén in the lineup, or if one of Faulk or Perunovich is ready to return, Kessel would not need waivers to return to Springfield.
After playing in a career-high 49 NHL games last season, it’s surprising it took until February for Rosén to see his first recall of 2023-24. He was quietly one of the best depth defenders in the league, posting eight goals and 10 assists for 18 points with a +19 rating despite logging only 15:36 per game. His 46.8% Corsi share at even strength was third among Blues defensemen behind Torey Krug and Tyler Tucker, and his expected +2.5 rating was second on the entire team behind depth winger Josh Leivo.
The Blues’ roster size is now at the 23-player maximum after Rosén’s recall. He is in the second season of a two-year, $1.525MM extension signed in 2022 that carries a $762.5K cap hit. A pending UFA, Rosén can return to Springfield without clearing waivers if he plays less than 10 games and stays on the roster for less than 30 days.
Joining the league as an undrafted free agent signed by the Maple Leafs in 2017, Rosén has since appeared in 87 games across five seasons for Toronto, Colorado and St. Louis. He’s played more of a role since coming to St. Louis in 2021, recording 10 goals and 25 points in 67 appearances.
Metropolitan Notes: Rangers, Cizikas, Fasching
The Rangers are unwilling to move their first-round pick in the 2024 draft in their pursuit of a forward ahead of the March 8 trade deadline, TSN’s Darren Dreger said on Tuesday’s edition of “Insider Trading.” That directive comes from owner James Dolan, who wants the Rangers to be a part of the final fully in-person draft before decentralization at Sphere in Las Vegas. Dolan is the majority owner of the Sphere property.
Dreger doesn’t rule out the Rangers shopping their 2025 first-round selection in a deal for an impact forward, although that would leave them with just two selections in the first three rounds over the next two drafts. GM Chris Drury dealt away both the Rangers’ 2024 and 2025 third-round picks in deals for wingers Patrick Kane and Vladimir Tarasenko before last season’s trade deadline.
The Rangers’ need for a middle-six impact piece is once again obvious if they want to pull ahead of the crowded playoff field in the Eastern Conference, especially with center Filip Chytil sidelined for the remainder of the season. Dreger said the Rangers made an offer to the Flames for Elias Lindholm before they traded him to the Canucks last week, although it’s unclear whether Drury shopped his 2025 first-round pick to do so.
No Ranger on the team’s third or fourth line has cracked ten goals this season, and fourth-line center Barclay Goodrow boasts some of the league’s worst even-strength possession numbers this season. A domino effect-type acquisition would allow 30-year-old Jonny Brodzinski, who’s been effective in a major-league role this season, to slide down to the fourth line and provide added value.
Elsewhere from the Metropolitan Division on Wednesday morning:
- Islanders center Casey Cizikas skated in a regular jersey at practice for the first time since sustaining a lower-body injury on Jan. 9, per NHL.com’s Stefen Rosner. Cizikas, 32, returned to practice with a non-contact designation on Sunday and is eligible for activation off long-term injured reserve ahead of Thursday’s game against the Lightning. Now in the third season of a six-year, $15MM contract, the Toronto native has five goals and 11 points in 39 games in his usual fourth-line role between veteran enforcers Cal Clutterbuck and Matt Martin.
- Staying on Long Island, Islanders winger Hudson Fasching was not at practice Wednesday and remains out on a day-to-day basis with a lower-body injury, Rosner said. The 28-year-old has not skated since sustaining the injury in a loss to the Canadiens on Jan. 25. Fasching has been a healthy scratch for multiple stretches this season but played in eight consecutive games prior to the injury. The veteran minor-leaguer earned a two-year, one-way extension worth $1.55MM after working his way into a full-time role in New York in the back half of last season but has been largely ineffective with three goals and eight points in 35 games in 2023-24.
Latest On Noah Hanifin
Flames defenseman Noah Hanifin‘s agents are expected to present their decision on a contract extension to team management “in the coming days,” TSN’s Chris Johnston reports on Tuesday’s edition of “Insider Trading.” Hanifin, 27, is a pending UFA and would immediately become the top defenseman available on the trade market if the Flames make him available ahead of the March 8 deadline.
As of now, they haven’t done so. Hanifin has changed his willingness to sign an extension in Calgary multiple times over the past nine months, dating back to an initial report from TSN’s Pierre LeBrun in June that Hanifin would not sign a new deal.
Multiple teams have documented interest in Hanifin. The Panthers inquired about him soon after the June report went public, while the Coyotes showed interest in him as recently as December.
There was renewed optimism for an extension after Hanifin publically reversed course during the 2023 preseason, saying he was “absolutely” willing to remain in Calgary. Multiple sources reported the Flames and Hanifin made progress on an eight-year extension carrying a $7.5MM AAV ($60MM total value), but the team then paused contract talks with all pending UFAs after a 2-6-1 skid to start the season. The two sides have not engaged in further talks, but the deal is reportedly still on the table for Hanifin if he opts to extend.
Johnston doesn’t know which way Hanifin’s camp will sway, although one option is ruled out: letting him walk for nothing in July. “If Calgary is not able to reach some kind of contract extension with Hanifin, they will use the time between now and March 8th to find a suitor somewhere to trade him,” Johnston said.
The good news for Calgary is that Hanifin is having one of the best seasons of his career. He’s third among a deep Flames defense corps in scoring, but his nine goals and 26 points through 50 games have him on pace to crack the 40-point plateau for the second time in the last three years despite a decrease in power-play time.
Hanifin is also logging the most minutes of his career at 23:33 per game – a figure that will increase as the deadline draws closer based on his recent usage. He’s seen significant penalty kill time with positive possession control results relative to his teammates, too. However, at even strength, his 49.6% Corsi share is a career-low.
Combine his potential on-ice impact with his bargain-bin $4.95MM cap hit, which Calgary could easily retain up to 50% of, and they’ll likely net their second first-round pick of deadline season after fetching one from the Canucks as part of the return for center Elias Lindholm last week – if Hanifin doesn’t sign an extension, of course.
Evgeny Kuznetsov Enters NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program
Capitals center Evgeny Kuznetsov entered the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program on Monday, the league announced.
Kuznetsov was absent from practice this morning for what the team labeled “personal reasons.” 31-year-old AHL veteran Michael Sgarbossa was recalled from AHL Hershey to replace Kuznetsov on the active roster.
The Russian center will now be out indefinitely while he receives care from the program, and he will not be cleared to return until PAP administrators clear him for on-ice competition. The 31-year-old is in his 11th season with the Capitals after the franchise selected him 26th overall in the 2010 draft.
This is Kuznetsov’s second time entering the program, which was previously known as the NHL/NHLPA Substance Abuse and Behavioral Health Program. He did so voluntarily in 2019 after a positive drug test for cocaine while playing for Russia at the 2019 IIHF World Championship.
Kuznetsov’s 0.40 points per game this season are the lowest of his career, including his limited rookie showing in the 2013-14 campaign. Through 43 games, he has six goals, 11 assists, 17 points, and a 43.2% Corsi share at even strength while averaging 18:47 per game.
He’s only two years removed from a 24-goal, 78-point season, both of which were the second-best numbers of his career. He has one season after this remaining on an eight-year, $62.4MM deal signed in July 2017 that carries a $7.8MM cap hit. The contract carries a modified no-trade clause which awards Kuznetsov a 10-team no-trade list.
With Kuznetsov out for the foreseeable future, Sgarbossa is expected to make his season debut for the Capitals on Tuesday against the Canadiens in a third-line role between Anthony Mantha and Max Pacioretty. Sgarbossa likely won’t be a longer-term fixture in Washington’s top-nine, however, and Kuznetsov’s absence could influence the Capitals to give 21-year-old Hendrix Lapierre another shot after playing 25 games earlier this season. Lapierre, the 22nd overall pick in the 2020 draft, is currently on assignment to Hershey, where he has 11 points in 16 games this season.
Kings Hire D.J. Smith As Assistant Coach
2/6: The Kings have officially announced the hiring of Smith as an assistant coach for the remainder of the 2023-24 season.
2/5: The Kings are adding former Senators head coach D.J. Smith as an assistant, The Athletic’s Eric Stephens reports Monday.
Smith fills the hole created on the Kings’ bench when they promoted assistant Jim Hiller to an interim head coach role on Friday after firing Todd McLellan. The Senators let go of Smith as their head coach on Dec. 18 after an 11-15-0 start to the season.
Before accepting the head coaching job with Ottawa for the 2019-20 season, Smith spent four years on the Maple Leafs bench as an assistant under Mike Babcock, primarily working with the team’s penalty kill unit. Over that time, Toronto’s penalty kill had an 81.4% success rate, good enough for 12th in the league.
If there’s one area where the struggling Kings don’t need help, however, it’s their penalty kill. At 87.3%, they own the league’s best shorthanded unit by a 1.4% margin.
As a player, Smith spent parts of three seasons in the league between 1996 and 2003, notching a goal and an assist in 45 career outings with the Maple Leafs and Avalanche. Primarily a defenseman at the AHL level, Smith slotted into the Avs’ lineup as an enforcer for 34 games in the 2002-03 campaign.
The Kings have a slower return to play than most other teams coming out of the All-Star break. They don’t suit up again until Saturday against the Oilers, by which time Smith is expected to join the team. Per Stephens, Los Angeles returns to full practice on Thursday.
Central Notes: Lucchini, Brodin, Johnson
After sending him down at the beginning of the All-Star break, the Wild recalled forward Jake Lucchini from AHL Iowa on Monday, per The Athletic’s Michael Russo. The move gives them a 12th healthy forward for Wednesday’s game against the Blackhawks. Pat Maroon, Connor Dewar and Vinni Lettieri remain on injured reserve and are not expected to be available.
Lucchini, 28, has yet to record a point in eight games with the Wild, averaging 8:21 per contest and posting a -1 rating. It’s been a much better showing in the minors for the veteran depth forward, who ranks among Iowa’s best point-per-game producers with 11 goals and 23 points in 30 appearances.
He’s dangerously close to losing his temporary waiver exemption after passing through unclaimed during training camp. If he plays in two more contests, a likely scenario given the Wild’s injury situation, he’ll need waivers once again to head to Iowa.
Notably, the Wild did not recall top goaltending prospect Jesper Wallstedt today. He’d been on the active roster leading into the All-Star break with Marc-André Fleury on the shelf with an upper-body injury, meaning the veteran is likely ready to dress against his former team later this week. Wallstedt allowed seven goals on 34 shots in his lone NHL appearance this season.
Elsewhere from the Central Division:
- Sticking with Minnesota, top shutdown blue-liner Jonas Brodin was absent from today’s practice with an illness, according to Russo. The 30-year-old had three assists in his last four games heading into the All-Star break, and his status for Wednesday is unknown. The 12-year veteran missed 17 games earlier this season with an upper-body injury, putting immense pressure on rookie Brock Faber to shoulder all-situations responsibilities in his first NHL campaign. Faber’s done so well, leading Wild defenders in points (29) and average ice time (24:51). Brodin has one goal through his 32 showings this year and is second behind Faber in ice time, averaging 23:42 per game.
- Blackhawks veteran Tyler Johnson is expected to return to the lineup against the Wild on Wednesday, head coach Luke Richardson said (via NBC Sports Chicago’s Charlie Roumeliotis). The 33-year-old missed all of Chicago’s 14 games in January with a foot fracture sustained on New Year’s Eve against the Stars. His pending IR activation brings Chicago’s injured forwards count to four, and he’s expected to resume a top-six role in his return in the continued absence of rookie Connor Bedard due to a broken jaw. The pending UFA has nine goals, 13 points, and a -15 rating in 35 contests.
Metropolitan Notes: Hughes, Svechnikov, Pelech, Pulock
Devils center Jack Hughes practiced with the team in a non-contact jersey Monday, Amanda Stein of the team’s official site reports. Subsequently, head coach Lindy Ruff informed reporters that Hughes’ status had been upgraded to day-to-day, and he could return during the Devils’ three games this week.
Hughes was a part of Thursday’s festivities at All-Star Weekend in Toronto but could not play in the event due to his upper-body injury, which has kept him out since Jan. 5 against the Blackhawks. The 22-year-old is on injured reserve, but the Devils have an open roster spot and won’t need to make a corresponding transaction in order to activate him.
Separate injuries have limited Hughes to 32 games this season, but he’s managed to churn out a career-best 1.41 points-per-game pace and still sits second on the team in scoring with 45 points. He leads Devils forwards in average ice time (20:30) and has a career-high Corsi share of 58% at even strength.
Other updates from the Metropolitan Division to kick off the week:
- Hurricanes winger Andrei Svechnikov was not a full participant in practice today and likely remains out for Tuesday’s game against the Canucks, per Cory Lavalette of the North State Journal. Svechnikov missed the last four games before the All-Star break with an upper-body injury, his third multi-game absence of the season. He’s been electric when healthy, cracking the point-per-game plateau for the first time in his career with 11 goals and 19 assists in 29 games. The 2018 second-overall pick has missed 19 games this season due to multiple upper-body injuries, an illness, and continued recovery from knee surgery that ended his 2022-23 campaign last March.
- The Islanders could be getting a pair of important blue-liners back tonight against the Maple Leafs as both Adam Pelech and Ryan Pulock will be game-time decisions, head coach Patrick Roy told Newsday’s Andrew Gross. Pelech missed the final game before the All-Star break with an upper-body injury after he was on the receiving end of an elbow to the head from Canadiens winger Brendan Gallagher on Jan. 25 that earned him a five-game suspension. Pulock, meanwhile, was activated from injured reserve over the weekend and missed nearly two months with a lower-body injury sustained Dec. 7 against the Blue Jackets. The Islanders’ longtime number-one pairing has been downgraded in minutes this season thanks to the two-way emergence of both Noah Dobson and Alexander Romanov, who are both averaging over 22 minutes per game and have quietly been one of the league’s better pairings.
Atlantic Notes: Woll, Kämpf, Poitras, Forbort, Chaffee, Jeannot
Maple Leafs netminder Joseph Woll is ramping up his workload in practice as he recovers from a high ankle sprain, head coach Sheldon Keefe said Monday (via Lance Hornby of the Toronto Sun). However, the 25-year-old’s return to game action remains up in the air as his absence stretches into its third month.
Keefe said the Leafs are targeting Woll’s return sometime in the middle of February, but his status has not yet been upgraded to day-to-day. Woll has also not been a full participant in practice since returning to the ice.
The team’s leader in SV% (.916) and goals saved above average (6.2) has been sidelined since a rather innocuous play in the third period of a Dec. 7 contest against the Senators. Luckily for Toronto, they’ve been able to get some solid goaltending performances in his absence – Ilya Samsonov has a 3-1-0 record and .939 SV% in four appearances since clearing waivers at the beginning of January, and third-string veteran Martin Jones has held the fort with a .911 SV% and two shutouts in 17 appearances, along with a 9-6-1 record.
Elsewhere from the Atlantic Division:
- Sticking with Toronto, Keefe said center David Kämpf will miss at least a week with an undisclosed injury after undergoing an MRI yesterday (via TSN’s Mark Masters). He’s been ruled out for the next three games, opening the door for 24-year-old Pontus Holmberg to get an extended look on Toronto’s fourth line. Kämpf’s status will be upgraded to day-to-day next Monday and could return for the team’s Feb. 13 contest against the Blues. The Maple Leafs do not have cap space to recall a player to replace Kämpf, so they’d likely dress 11 forwards and seven defensemen if an additional injury occurs on offense in the next week.
- Bruins rookie Matthew Poitras is questionable for Tuesday’s game against the Flames, head coach Jim Montgomery told reporters (including independent Bruins reporter Ty Anderson). He’s only played in three out of Boston’s last nine games and missed the final contest before the All-Star break with an undisclosed injury. The 19-year-old has two assists in six games since returning from representing Canada at the 2024 IIHF World Juniors, in which they failed to medal for the first time since 2019.
- Montgomery also said defenseman Derek Forbort, who also missed Boston’s last game with an undisclosed injury, won’t be ready for tomorrow’s contest. He confirmed this injury isn’t related to the lower-body injury that’s limited him to 24 games this season and has been lingering since training camp. He played only four games in January after returning from a 20-game absence, logging a +3 rating in bottom-pairing minutes.
- The Lightning recalled winger Mitchell Chaffee from AHL Syracuse on Monday, per team reporter Chris Krenn. Chaffee, 26, had played in Tampa Bay’s final two games before the All-Star break but was loaned back to Syracuse during their bye week. With Tanner Jeannot and Austin Watson still sidelined, Chaffee will draw into the lineup for his fourth appearance of the season on Wednesday against the Rangers. He’s scored once and added an assist in his three showings thus far, averaging 8:25 per game.
- While Jeannot remains out Wednesday, it won’t be long until the middle-six grinder is ready to return. Head coach Jon Cooper informed reporters Monday that the team expects him to return at some point during their upcoming four-game road trip, which concludes with a Feb. 13 contest in Boston. Jeannot has struggled in his first full season in the Sunshine State, scoring six goals and 12 points in 41 games while averaging 12:35 per game. It’s the production or role expected of him after Lightning GM Julien BriseBois swung big for his services ahead of last season’s trade deadline, parting with five draft picks, including a 2025 first-round selection. He’s been out of the lineup for nearly a month, sustaining a lower-body injury against the Bruins on Jan. 6.
Capitals Recall Michael Sgarbossa
The Capitals have recalled center Michael Sgarbossa from AHL Hershey, the team announced Monday.
Sgarbossa, 31, joins the Capitals’ roster to provide veteran injury insurance during a packed schedule this week. Washington has four games in six days to kick off their post-All-Star break schedule, starting at home against the Canadiens on Tuesday.
He’s yet to suit up for the Capitals this season, but he’s been recalled for one-day stints on the roster twice to serve as a healthy scratch. The Campbellville, Ontario, native cleared waivers after being cut from training camp on Oct. 6 and has played exclusively for Hershey.
Now in his sixth season in the Capitals organization, Sgarbossa continues to be one of the most consistently productive players at the AHL level. He’s going through a down season in the goal-scoring department, only lighting the lamp seven times in 44 games, but his 36 assists lead the league, and his 43 points are fourth league-wide.
Sgarbossa is in the first season of a two-year, two-way, $1.55MM extension he signed in May of 2023. The contract has a cap hit of $775K and pays him $525K at the minor-league level, making it one of the most lucrative two-way deals in the league.
An undrafted free agent signing by the Sharks in 2010, Sgarbossa has since played 65 NHL games while appearing in parts of seven seasons with the Avalanche, Ducks, Panthers, and Capitals. He last suited up for an NHL game in January of 2022, capping off a 10-game stint in Washington in which he scored twice and added two assists.
The Capitals had 23 contracts on the roster before this transaction, so a corresponding move is coming later on Monday. Evgeny Kuznetsov is absent from today’s practice due to personal reasons, per the team (via Sammi Silber of The Hockey News), so he’s likely headed for the non-roster list to free up a spot.