Max Pacioretty Activated From Injured Reserve
The Vegas Golden Knights are one step closer to full health. Winger Max Pacioretty has been activated from injured reserve and could return to the lineup Wednesday night against the Nashville Predators.
It goes without saying that this is a huge step for a beleaguered Golden Knights team. Pacioretty played in just two games this season before getting injured, but was arguably their best player in that time frame, notching two goals and an assist.
Pacioretty and his $7MM cap hit now come off long-term injured reserve, but with Jack Eichel‘s $10MM still there, they won’t have any problems being cap compliant (yet).
Now, Vegas will be able to reunite what’s been their top line for the past while, as Pacioretty will be able to slot in beside Mark Stone and Chandler Stephenson. Stephenson has stepped up in a big way to help carry a shattered Knights team through a tough stretch, posting 17 points in 19 games.
Eichel and William Karlsson‘s absences are now the last remaining pieces of the puzzle in what shapes up to be one of the best forward groups in the league. Their depth has done more than enough work, keeping the team afloat with an 11-8-0 record this season. With Pacioretty back in the fold, expect the Knights to take on more of their old form.
Victor Olofsson Activated From Injured Reserve
Ahead of Sunday’s road tilt against the New York Rangers, the Buffalo Sabres activated winger Victor Olofsson from injured reserve, per a team tweet.
Olofsson carried a day-to-day classification but has still been out of the lineup for the better part of the month. He’s missed the team’s last eight games with an undisclosed injury.
The 26-year-old Olofsson will be in the lineup Sunday and he enters as the team’s only player at or above a point per game. Prior to the injury, Olofsson had five goals and four assists for nine points in eight games, his best career pace.
He rejoins the active roster for a Sabres team that’s had an impressive start despite injuries to much of their young talent, including Casey Mittelstadt and Henri Jokiharju. They’ve gotten decent production throughout the lineup and good goaltending from a cost-effective tandem of Craig Anderson and Dustin Tokarski.
Olofsson is the team’s premier offensive talent after the departures of Sam Reinhart and Jack Eichel, and he figures to be the team’s leading scorer this season if he can keep his pace. It’s a promising year for the Swede, who could be an important part of the team as they finally could begin to emerge from a lengthy rebuild.
Anthony Beauvillier Removed; Kieffer Bellows Added To COVID Protocol
According to New York Islanders general manager Lou Lamoriello, forward Kieffer Bellows has entered the league’s COVID protocol. However, forward Anthony Beauvillier, who was placed on the list Saturday prior to their game against the Calgary Flames, has been deemed a false positive and is eligible to play in their Sunday night game against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
The Islanders still have six players in COVID protocol, including Josh Bailey, who still remains quarantined in Florida where he originally tested positive.
Getting Beauvillier back into the fold is huge for this Islanders team, who dropped their first-ever game at UBS Arena 5-2 to Calgary. Beauvillier returns to the team’s top-six forward group and has three goals and four assists in 13 games this season. In his absence, Andy Andreoff rode shotgun on the second line with Brock Nelson and Oliver Wahlstrom.
Bellows was in the lineup against Calgary, playing first-line duties with Zach Parise and Mathew Barzal. Through five games this season, the 23-year-old Bellows has just one assist and has been limited to just 11:37 per game.
In addition to Bailey, the team remains without captain Anders Lee, Adam Pelech, Ross Johnston, and Andy Greene.
Brayden Point Out Indefinitely With Upper-Body Injury
4:21 pm: Just minutes into Sunday’s game, the Lightning have now announced that Point is out indefinitely with an upper-body injury. It’s a tough pill to swallow for the defending champions, who are now without Point and Nikita Kucherov for the foreseeable future.
3:39 pm: Per the Tampa Bay Times’ Eduardo A. Encina, Tampa Bay Lightning center Brayden Point isn’t taking pregame warmups and will be absent for Tampa’s game Sunday against the Minnesota Wild.
Point collided with the boards during Saturday night’s game versus the New Jersey Devils after he was tripped on a breakaway. Referees awarded him a penalty shot on the play, which he was able to take, and he stayed in for the rest of the game.
Hopefully, that means Point won’t be missing too much time. The Lightning have yet to give Point an official injury designation.
Point has four points in his last five games, but he was held scoreless by New Jersey in a tough loss Saturday, registering a -3 rating. With seven goals and 13 points through 16 games, Point is averaging the most ice time per game of his career at 20 minutes a night.
The 25-year-old Point has led the Lightning in goals for both of their back-to-back Stanley Cup victories.
Government Of Quebec Talks With NHL About Potential Nordiques Return
On this week’s edition of Sportsnet’s 32 Thoughts intermission segment, Jeff Marek reported “public musings” from Quebec premier Francois Legault about the revival of the Quebec Nordiques, who played their last NHL season in 1994-95 before relocating to Denver as the Colorado Avalanche.
It continues what’s been a long-running push to bring NHL hockey back to Quebec City, but at virtually every point, the NHL has remained uninterested. While it’s unknown if their stance as changed, Legault has said publicly this week that the Quebec government plans to meet with commissioner Gary Bettman.
It’s strong messaging from Legault, who Marek reports went on to say that the government of Quebec would be willing to invest their capital in a project that would see the Nordiques return to Quebec. Marek notes that this project would be a consortium — rather, not a single investor or group that would be financially responsible for funding the team.
In terms of recent history, it seems unprecedented that a provincial government would provide significant financial backing for a professional sports team.
Marek reports that NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly confirms that he’s spoken over the phone with Legault, and while Daly admits dialogue may continue, he says “[the league] is obviously pleased with what we have right now.”
It’s worth noting that Quebec City does have a suitable venue in place. The Videotron Centre, which opened in September 2015, has a capacity of 18,259 for ice hockey. That’s greater capacity than highly regarded NHL arenas such as Madison Square Garden, the fresh-off-the-press UBS Arena, T-Mobile Arena, and TD Garden.
Injury Notes: Forsberg, Cousins, Brown
The Nashville Predators are on a roll, winning seven out of their past 10 games, but they’ve been without their best forward in Filip Forsberg since early November. Placed on injured reserve with an upper-body injury, Forsberg is now “trending in the right direction” according to head coach John Hynes. Forsberg is now skating, a good sign for the 27-year-old Swede. At the time of his injury, he’d scored four goals and seven points in nine games while averaging a tick over 18 minutes per game. Forwards like Mikael Granlund and Matt Duchene (both with 16 points in 16 games) have done an admirable job stepping up in his absence, but still, Forsberg’s return to this lineup gives this team an added scoring boost. Hynes notes, however, that there’s no definitive timetable for Forsberg’s return.
More injury notes from around the league:
- There’s more good news on the Predators front, as the team’s activated forward Nick Cousins from injured reserve. Cousins was originally placed on injured reserve on November 7 and he’s missed the team’s past four games. The versatile 28-year-old forward has been spending most of his time on the wing this season, scoring three points in 12 games while averaging 12:24 per game. He’s expected to ride shotgun with Ryan Johansen and Eeli Tolvanen in his return to the lineup.
- Newly claimed Philadelphia Flyers forward Patrick Brown didn’t get much of a chance to show what he can do with the team before suffering a dislocated thumb earlier in the month. Listed as week-to-week, Brown is now deciding between rehab or surgery for the thumb, per head coach Alain Vigneault. The 29-year-old Brown had gotten into just six games with Philadelphia, notching one assist while playing 9:18 per game. It’s a hit for a team that’s seen a lot of turnover in its bottom six in this short season, gaining Zack MacEwen but losing Nicolas Aube-Kubel to waivers.
Three New York Islanders Added To COVID Protocol
Just under two hours ahead of the New York Islanders’ home opener against the Calgary Flames, Anthony Beauvillier, Adam Pelech, and Andy Greene were added to the NHL’s COVID protocol, per Newsday’s Andrew Gross.
It’s an extremely tough situation for the team, which now has six total players in COVID protocol. Josh Bailey, Anders Lee, and Ross Johnston were added over the past week. Their number one defenseman, Ryan Pulock, is on injured reserve.
The Islanders recalled forwards Richard Panik and Andy Andreoff as well as defensemen Grant Hutton and Paul LaDue today from the AHL’s Bridgeport Islanders. Hutton, along with Robin Salo, who the Islanders recalled earlier, could make his NHL debut.
Losing Beauvillier and Pelech, in particular, is tough to swallow for the Islanders, who sit third-last in the Eastern Conference with a 5-6-2 record after their season-opening 13-game road trip. Beauvillier is one of the team’s top point producers with three goals and seven points through 13 games this season. While Pelech has just two assists, he’s counted on for his defense, not his scoring ability. He’s averaged 21:07 per game and with a +4 rating, his minutes will be tough to replace.
Washington Capitals Activate T.J. Oshie, Nic Dowd
The Washington Capitals activated forwards T.J. Oshie and Nic Dowd from injured reserve today, per a team release. In a corresponding move, the release states the team also reassigned forward Brett Leason to the AHL’s Hershey Bears.
Oshie’s been absent from the Capitals lineup since October 28, when he was designated as week-to-week with a lower-body injury. At the time, he was in the middle of a good start to the 2021-22 campaign with four goals and six points in seven games.
Dowd, however, has missed just a week and a half with this undisclosed injury. He’s been in and out of the lineup due to injury this year, but after the placement on injured reserve, the Capitals hope he’s good to go at 100%. The 31-year-old has a goal in nine games.
As Washington deals with a variety of absences that include Nicklas Backstrom, Anthony Mantha, and Lars Eller, Oshie’s and Dowd’s returns couldn’t come at a better time. Oshie likely returns as a veteran presence on a line with Axel Jonsson-Fjallby and Garrett Pilon, while Dowd reprises his role as the fourth-line center between Carl Hagelin and Garnet Hathaway.
Despite all the injuries, Washington’s soldiered on to a 10-2-5 record this year and sit at second place in the Metropolitan Division.
Arizona Coyotes Activate Ryan Dzingel
As reported by AZCentral Sports’ Jose M. Romero, the Arizona Coyotes have officially activated forward Ryan Dzingel from injured reserve.
The Coyotes originally placed Dzingel on injured reserve on October 27th with an upper-body injury. He’s missed the team’s last 10 games.
Like much of the Coyotes squad this year, Dzingel was having an uninspiring start prior to the injury. He’s netted two assists in six games, averaging 13:18 per game. Dzingel is expected to flank Jan Jenik on the team’s fourth line in his return to the lineup, with Liam O’Brien on the other wing.
Still, those two points are tied for tenth on the team in scoring. The Coyotes have scored just 26 goals through 16 games en route to a 2-13-1 record. That’s just 1.63 goals per game.
The team hopes that Dzingel, a two-time 20-goal scorer, can help provide some scoring punch to the team’s bottom six. However, he’s got just 16 goals in his past 110 games as it’s been a really rough go for the former Ottawa Senator.
Injury Notes: Hayes, Golden Knights, Carrier
Center Kevin Hayes didn’t take warmups and isn’t playing for the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday night against the Tampa Bay Lightning, as originally reported by the Philadelphia Inquirer’s Sam Carchidi. Head coach Alain Vigneault originally expected Hayes to play and he nor the team have yet to offer an update on Hayes’ absence. Max Willman was recalled from Lehigh Valley today under emergency conditions and is in the lineup for that game. Hayes has two points in two games this season after missing the team’s first 12 games while recovering from offseason core muscle surgery.
More injury notes from around the NHL:
- The injury parade continues for the Vegas Golden Knights, as The Athletic’s Jesse Granger reports defenseman Shea Theodore is unlikely to suit up for Thursday’s contest against the Detroit Red Wings. Theodore fell awkwardly during the Knights’ last game Tuesday against the Carolina Hurricanes, a 4-2 loss. The team hasn’t moved Theodore to injured reserve, but he joins Alec Martinez on the list of Golden Knights defensemen absent from the lineup. However, Granger notes that Zach Whitecloud is “progressing quickly” and could potentially suit up for the Detroit game.
- Per Nashville Predators head coach John Hynes, defenseman Alexandre Carrier could return to the team’s lineup Saturday versus the Montreal Canadiens. Carrier isn’t on injured reserve, but he’s been out of the lineup for the past week with an undisclosed injury. In 13 games this season, the 25-year-old has five points while averaging nearly 20 minutes per game.