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Philadelphia Flyers Activate Owen Tippett Off Injured Reserve

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Spending two weeks on the team’s injured reserve with a lower-body injury, Owen Tippett will be back in the lineup tonight for the Philadelphia Flyers as the team announced they had activated him from the injured reserve. The news of his return also comes 11 days after Tippett signed an eight-year, $49.6MM extension in Philadelphia that will run through the 2031-32 NHL season.

Returning to the lineup tonight, it will be the first time playing his former team, the Florida Panthers, as a visiting player. Before his trade to the City of Brotherly Love during the 2021-22 season, Tippett played in 94 games for the Panthers spread out over three seasons, scoring 14 goals and 33 points altogether.

Now in a more elevated role with the Flyers, Tippett surpassed his totals in Florida relatively quickly in Philadelphia, scoring 27 goals and 49 points over 77 games last season. In a similarly productive season this year, Tippett has played in 46 games for the Flyers up to this point, scoring 18 goals and 30 points.

On a rather interesting note, even though Tippett is producing slightly better this season than last, he has lost nearly two minutes in average time on the ice as compared to last year. In a 10-game stretch from November 4th to November 25th, Tippett scored five goals and eight points but only played about 14 and a half minutes of those games on average. However, in his most recent 10-game stretch, head coach John Tortorella has seemingly extended his leash, playing Tippett nearly 18 minutes a night on average.

Nevertheless, while taking his recent playing time as well as the contract extension into consideration, it goes without saying that the Flyers view Tippett as being a long-term fixture in their forward core. Even though he has not scored 30 goals yet in a singular season, Tippett is well on his way to becoming one of the select few players who can average the mark over several years.

Florida Panthers To Activate Nick Cousins Off Injured Reserve

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According to Colby Guy of The Associated Press, the Florida Panthers are set to activate forward Nick Cousins off of injured reserve. Without a corresponding roster move, this will put Florida at the 23-man roster limit for their game on Thursday against the Washington Capitals.

It has been over a month since Cousins last suited up in a game, suffering a concussion after being hit from behind by Arizona Coyotes’ forward Jason Zucker. Outside of that injury, Cousins has sustained a healthy season, scoring two goals and five points in 37 games for the Panthers.

Not much of an offensive threat as compared to previous seasons, Cousins has still maintained his high possession and defensive metrics for Florida this year. Cousins is producing a Corsi For % in All Situations by a magnitude of 5% better than his career average, helping the Panthers rank second in the NHL in that particular metric.

To most viewers of the game outside of Florida’s immediate fanbase, Cousins has developed the mantra of a persistent agitator by many; but his style of play is helping the Panthers become a much more difficult team to play against. Although William Lockwood is still sitting out of the lineup with his injury, the activation of Cousins will give Florida a completely healthy lineup just in time for the final stretch run of the regular season.

Rangers Place Nick Bonino On Unconditional Waivers

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After placing the veteran forward on waivers a little over a week ago, Chris Johnston of TSN is reporting the New York Rangers have placed Nick Bonino on unconditional waivers to terminate his contract. After signing a one-year, $800K contract with the Rangers this past summer, Bonino will once again be free to join any team with approximately 30 games left in the regular season.

Being a quick turnaround from his original waivers placement on January 26th, Larry Brooks of the New York Post is reporting that New York gave Bonino time during the All-Star break to think about his future with the organization, and he ultimately decided he was unwilling to join the Hartford Wolf Pack. Now being placed on unconditional waivers, the Rangers have chosen to honor Bonino’s desires.

As far as a potential landing spot for Bonino, he will likely be looking at a team with a significant amount of injuries to their forward core, such as the Chicago Blackhawks, San Jose Sharks, or Washington Capitals. However, even with some teams in desperate need of forward depth, it is tough to ascertain how much of an upgrade Bonino would be this season.

In 45 games for New York this year, Bonino had very little production, only scoring one goal and five points while averaging a touch over 12 minutes of ice time per night. Furthermore, per MoneyPuck, his typical linemates of Jimmy Vesey and Barclay Goodrow produced an expected goals against per 60 minutes of 3.19, which ranks the highest on the team for lines that have played more than 90 minutes together over the season.

Being unwilling to report to an AHL for the first time since the 2011-12 season, it appears that Bonino firmly believes he has more left in the tank to offer an NHL team. Without the same pedigree, players such as Corey Perry and Zach Parise have found landing spots deep into the regular season, perhaps giving Bonino some confidence that he too can find another home.

 

Injury Updates: Blackhawks, Girgensons, Johnson, McMann

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Returning to practice after the All-Star break, Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times issued updates on several injured members of the Chicago Blackhawks. Pope reports that Connor Bedard and Anthony Beauvillier were both present in non-contact jerseys, while Connor Murphy only skated for the first half of practice.

Heavily impacted by injuries this season, the Blackhawks have lost a total of 228 man games to injury this year, placing them second in the league in the category behind the Vegas Golden Knights. Although Chicago had no plans on contending this season, the slate of injuries has completely prohibited the team from taking any noticeable step forward in their rebuilding process.

Nevertheless, the organization must get Bedard back into action as quickly and safely as possible. While missing the last four weeks with a broken jaw, Bedard continues to lead the Blackhawks in scoring, setting the team lead with 15 goals and 33 points in 39 games.

Other notes:

  • The Buffalo Sabres are ready to get Zemgus Girgensons and Erik Johnson back into the lineup, as both players have been medically cleared by the team according to Joe Yerdon of Bleacher Report. Johnson had previously missed the team’s last four games, while Girgensons only missed the team’s last game before the All-Star break. Likely a seller at this year’s deadline, both players are obvious trade candidates leading up to the March 8th trade deadline.
  • David Alter of The Hockey News reported today that the Toronto Maple Leafs have activated forward Bobby McMann from the team’s injured reserve. McMann was originally placed on the team’s injured reserve on January 26th with an undisclosed injury. Missing the team’s last game before the All-Star break, McMann has played in a total of 23 games for the Maple Leafs this season, scoring a total of seven points overall.

Transaction Notes: Brisson, Rempal, Malinski, Beckman

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The Vegas Golden Knights have recalled forwards Brendan Brisson and Sheldon Rempal per a team announcement. In the same announcement, the team also recalled Jonas Rondbjerg as well as returning Daniil Miromanov from his conditioning stint, which was reported last night.

This set of transactions will give the Golden Knights a total of 14 forwards and seven defensemen available for their game tomorrow night against the Edmonton Oilers. Seeing their team decimated by several injuries already this season, Vegas’ organizational depth has been tested after their Stanley Cup Championship run last spring.

Playing in a combined eight games this year for the Golden Knights, Brisson, and Rempal will likely serve in the team’s bottom six, as neither player has averaged more than 12 minutes of ice time a game. Outside of the NHL, both Brisson and Rempal have been successful this year with the team’s AHL affiliate, the Henderson Silver Knights, scoring 12 goals and 20 goals, respectively.

Other notes:

  • The Colorado Avalanche have announced that the team has recalled defenseman Sam Malinski from their AHL affiliate, the Colorado Eagles. Signing with the team as an undrafted free agent last season, Malinski’s first full season with the organization has been productive. In 22 games for the Eagles, Malinski has scored four goals and 13 points in 22 games, sitting third on the team in scoring among defensemen. In the exact amount of games played for the Avalanche, Malinski has put up three goals and 10 points while averaging a touch over 14 minutes of ice time per game.
  • With Pat Maroon, Connor Dewar, and Vinni Lettieri still on the injured reserve, the Minnesota Wild have recalled forward Adam Beckman from the Iowa Wild to round out their depth. This will be Beckman’s first call-up of the 2023-24 season after failing to make the team out of training camp. Playing in 37 games for Iowa this year, Beckman has been relatively productive, scoring nine goals and 19 points in total.

Hockey Canada Issues Updates On 2018 Investigation

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Earlier today, after the London Police Service held a press conference regarding the investigation into several players of the 2018 U20 Team Canada roster, Hockey Canada released several updates of their own. The major takeaway from the report is that all members of the 2018 U20 Team Canada roster remain suspended from Hockey Canada-sanctioned events, pending an appeal process started in 2023.

For this specifically, Hockey Canada is investigating whether or not any team members breached the organization’s code of conduct and what sanctions should be imposed on the individual players. With respect to the investigation and the legal process, Hockey Canada was unable to comment further and did not give a clear timeline as to when the appeals process may reach its conclusion.

Depending on the timeline, this will bar all players from the 2018 U20 Team Canada roster from playing in any international events, except the “4 Nations Face-Off” in 2025, as it is an NHL-sanctioned event. Without getting into the specifics, the President and Chief Executive Officer of Hockey Canada, Katherine Henderson was quoted as saying:

“Hockey Canada recognizes that in the past we have been too slow to act and that in order to deliver the meaningful change that Canadians expect of us, we must work diligently and urgently to ensure that we are putting in place the necessary measures to regain their trust, and provide all participants with a safe, welcoming and inclusive environment on and off the ice”.

Outside of Hockey Canada, TSN’s Darren Dreger reports that the Calgary Flames, New Jersey Devils, and Philadelphia Flyers will receive cap relief for players currently on leave who have been charged in the 2018 Team Canada legal proceedings. Without specifying how much cap relief the teams would receive, it is reasonable to assume that the full dollar amount of each player’s contract will now be taken off the books for the foreseeable future, meaning $2.3MM, $2.2MM, and $3.98MM, respectively.

Trade Deadline Primer: Chicago Blackhawks

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With the All-Star break approaching, the trade deadline looms large and is about a month and a half away. Where does each team stand, and what moves should they be looking to make? We continue our look around the league with the Chicago Blackhawks.

After completely tearing down the team over the last several years, there was no question that the Blackhawks would be one of the lower-tier teams entering this season. After drafting Connor Bedard with the first overall selection last summer, the team attempted to put veteran players such as Taylor Hall, Nick Foligno, and Corey Perry around the young phenom to help his transition into the NHL; but even that plan has not entirely gone to plan. Outside of injury, Bedard has been exactly as advertised for Chicago, but a slew of injuries has prohibited the organization from taking any noticeable steps forward this season.

Record

14-34-2, 8th in the Central

Deadline Status

Seller

Deadline Cap Space

$41.8MM on deadline day, 1/3 retention slots used, 45/50 contracts used, per CapFriendly.

Upcoming Draft Picks

2024: CHI 1st, TB 1st*, CHI 2nd, VAN 2nd, LA 2nd, CHI 3rd, OTT 3rd, CHI 6th
2025: CHI 1st, TOR 1st**, CHI 2nd, DAL 2nd, CHI 3rd***, CHI 4th, NYR 4th, CHI 5th***, CHI 6th, CHI 7th

* If the Tampa Bay Lightning’s 2024 first-round pick falls within the top 10, they will not need to move the draft pick to the Blackhawks. 
** If the Toronto Maple Leafs’ 2025 first-round pick falls within the top 10, they will not need to move the draft pick to the Blackhawks. 
*** If Jake McCabe plays in less than 50% of Toronto’s 2023 Playoff games OR less than 25% of Toronto’s 2023-24 regular season games, Chicago will transfer their 2025 3rd round pick instead of their 2025 5th round pick.

Trade Chips

Chicago has already taken several trade chips off the board, signing Jason Dickinson, Petr Mrazek, and Foligno each to two-year extensions. The team may look to peddle veteran forwards such as Tyler Johnson and Anthony Beauvillier; but with both currently on the team’s injured reserve, the Blackhawks could be very limited in what they can move this trade deadline season.

If the team does end up trading any of their pending unrestricted or restricted free agents, they will most certainly need to retain salary in any move considering the team is currently only $5.3MM above the salary cap floor. With $29MM currently on the team’s injured reserve, one of the biggest trade chips Chicago has to offer is their available cap space and roster space.

Outside of Beauvillier and Johnson, the Blackhawks simply do not have that much to offer teams outside of cap space at this year’s deadline. With one sizeable trade already out of the way with Elias Lindholm heading to the Vancouver Canucks, look for Chicago to be a salary broker in any future trade involving a cash-strapped buyer in the future.

Team Needs

1) Star Next To Bedard: With Bedard already penciled into the Blackhawks’ long-term plans, it is now time to find another player that he can rely on for much of his career. Nearly a month ago, Chicago missed out on budding star Cutter Gauthier, whom the Philadelphia Flyers moved to the Anaheim Ducks. While no other players similar to Gauthier have been brought up in any trade conversation; he is the right kind of player that Chicago should be targeting if any become available at the deadline. Nevertheless, with having the projected number one overall selection for the second year in a row, the Blackhawks could certainly fill this void with Macklin Celebrini in the upcoming draft.

2) Thin Out The Herd: By design, Chicago has 11 players set to hit unrestricted free agency this summer, while a whopping 14 players will become restricted free agents. Appearing to be somewhat of a crossroads for the franchise, the organization will have to determine which players are worth investing in for the future of the franchise. As things currently stand, Chicago has a roster full of bubble players, and more ice time will have to be allocated to players that the team is convinced should be around for the future. Without any chance of competing for this year’s playoffs, the Blackhawks simply have nothing to lose by giving unofficial tryouts to several of these bubble players throughout the last stretch of the season.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Snapshots: DeBrusk, Bruins, Perry

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In an article today by Steve Conroy of the Boston Herald, he discusses the pressing matter of a Jake DeBrusk extension with the Boston Bruins. Moving forward, Conroy asserts that if the Bruins cannot extend DeBrusk at a reasonable price, he could be the central piece in a trade bringing in some top-level talent to Boston.

After requesting a trade from the Bruins only two seasons ago, DeBrusk has rebounded nicely in the last several years, scoring 39 goals and 75 points in 111 games over the 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons. Even though most teams would gladly accept a player of DeBrusk’s talent, his status as a pending unrestricted free agent this upcoming offseason would make him an odd trade chip for most selling teams. Suppose DeBrusk is not willing to discuss an extension until after the season has concluded; in that case, Boston will be hard-pressed to find a team willing to acquire him, unless the Bruins are comfortable selling him for additional trade assets in a separate deal.

If Boston can extend DeBrusk before the March 8th trade deadline, Conroy points to the new eight-year, $49.6MM extension recently handed to Owen Tippett of the Philadelphia Flyers as a reasonable comparison. Although Tippett does not have a similar track record of success compared to DeBrusk, a contract value of around $52MM-$55MM over eight years seems reasonable for DeBrusk’s talents.

Other snapshots:

  • Sticking in Boston, Nick Goss of NBC Sports Boston wrote an article highlighting two of the Bruins’ biggest needs leading into the deadline: a middle-six forward and a physical veteran defenseman. Without a draft pick until the fourth round of the 2024 NHL Draft, it’s going to be incredibly difficult for Boston to procure said talent, so they may have to shop at the bottom-tier options at this year’s deadline. With an incredibly saturated roster, the Bruins may able to pry pending unrestricted free agents Victor Olofsson and Erik Johnson from the Buffalo Sabres by the deadline for a lower price comparatively.
  • The NHLPA has extended the deadline for Corey Perry to file for grievance against the Chicago Blackhawks according to Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times. The original deadline was January 27th, a full 60 days after his contract was originally terminated by the Blackhawks on November 28th, 2023. Perry believes that Chicago did not have proper grounds to terminate his previous contract, while Commissioner Gary Bettman does not have any issue with how the situation was handled by the Blackhawks.

Vancouver Canucks Acquire Elias Lindholm

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The Vancouver Canucks announced that the team has acquired forward Elias Lindholm from the Calgary Flames. In return, the Canucks will send Andrei Kuzmenko, Hunter Brzustewicz, and Joni Jurmo, a first-round pick in 2024, and a conditional fourth-round pick in 2024. The Flames have also confirmed the deal.

Being a part of the Flames organization for the better parts of six seasons, Lindholm has turned into an effective two-way threat across the league. During his time in Calgary, Lindholm played in a total of 418 regular season games, scoring 148 goals and 357 points in the process. His best offensive output came during the 2021-22 season, scoring 42 goals and 82 points in all 82 games, helping the Flames finish third place in the Western Conference.

With their eyes already set on the 2024 Stanley Cup playoffs in this deal, Lindholm brings limited postseason experience. Over his five full seasons in Calgary, Lindholm managed to take part in the postseason in three of those seasons, going as far as the Western Conference semi-finals. In 27 postseason games, Lindholm has scored eight goals and 17 points as well as a 55.5% success rate on the faceoff date, a bit of an improvement over his 53.3% regular season average throughout his career.

It will be interesting to see how exactly the Canucks deploy Lindholm, as J.T. Miller has shown considerable effectiveness as the team’s second-line center. With Lindholm’s versatility up and down the lineup, the team may opt to move either player to the wing to keep them both in the top six. Nevertheless, now tied at the top of the league standings, it will be increasingly difficult for any opponent to match up against a combination of Lindholm, Miller, Elias Petterson, and Brock Boeser on any given night.

After the deal was first reported, Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic reported that no extension talks have been discussed between Lindholm and the Canucks. If Vancouver is indeed viewing him as a rental, the Flames received quite a haul for an asset the Canucks may only have for a few months.

Originally, Calgary was reportedly on Kuzmenko’s 12-team no-trade list, but LeBrun later confirmed that Kuzmenko signed off on his inclusion in the deal. Not fitting into Rick Tocchet’s system in Vancouver, the Canucks have been looking to move on from Kuzmenko for nearly the whole season.

In the first season of a two-year, $11MM extension signed with Vancouver last season, Kuzmenko brings much-needed offensive prowess to the top of the Flames’ lineup. In a forgotten season last year for the organization, Kuzmenko finished fourth on the team in scoring, putting up 39 goals and 74 points in 81 games.

Setting aside some healthy scratches earlier in the year, Kuzmenko has still produced respectably this season, scoring eight goals and 21 points in 43 games. Furthermore, Kuzmenko’s powerplay abilities have led him to 17 goals already in his young career, which should help a Flames powerplay unit that currently sits 29th in the NHL.

As far as the prospects heading to Alberta, Brzustewicz was originally drafted 75th overall by the Canucks in last year’s draft. Suiting up for the Kitchener Rangers of the OHL this year, Brzustewicz appears to be somewhat of a diamond in the rough. In 47 games played for the Rangers, Brzustewicz has scored eight goals and a whopping 61 assists, which is an impressive 17 more than the next closest player. With the Flames set to miss several defensemen to either trade or free agency by next season, the right-handed shooting Brzustewicz could feature in the lineup as soon as next year.

Jurmo, another defenseman, was also a third-round selection of Vancouver going 82nd overall in the 2020 NHL Draft. Not having made his professional debut in North America yet, Jurmo does not bring a similar offensive pedigree to the table as Brzustewicz. Nevertheless, standing at 6’4″, Jarmo can cover large swaths of ice for the Flames defensive core. Still playing in his native Finland, Jurmo has scored a total of four points in 35 games split between Ilves and KooKoo of the Finnish Liiga this year.

In the draft picks, the first-round selection acquired in the deal will undoubtedly be at the bottom of the draft, given that Vancouver is on pace to win this year’s President’s Trophy. Owning both their own and the New Jersey Devils’ fourth-round pick in the 2024 NHL Draft, the Canucks will be able to choose which pick exactly ends up in Calgary.

Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman was the first to report that talks were intensifying between Calgary and Vancouver. 

Frank Seravalli of the Daily Faceoff was the first to confirm that Lindholm was headed to the Canucks. 

Friedman was the first to report that Brzustewicz would be headed to Calgary. 

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Trade Deadline Primer: Buffalo Sabres

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With the All-Star break approaching, the trade deadline looms large and is about a month and a half away. Where does each team stand, and what moves should they be looking to make? We continue our look around the league with the Buffalo Sabres.

On the tail of a 91-point finish in the 2022-23 regular season, the Sabres looked ready to break their 13-year postseason drought this year. Even after some offseason acquisitions to improve areas of weakness in the organization, Buffalo has appeared to have taken a step back. As things currently stand, the Sabres are on pace for a 37-38-7 record on the season, which would once again put them in a strong lottery position in the 2024 NHL Draft. With the hope of competing this year and plenty of talent to do so, Buffalo is one of the more interesting teams leading into the deadline season.

Record

22-23-4, 6th in the Atlantic

Deadline Status

Conservative Seller

Deadline Cap Space

$36.8MM on deadline day, 0/3 retention slots used, 44/50 contracts used, per CapFriendly.

Upcoming Draft Picks

2024: BUF 1st, BUF 2nd, BUF 3rd, BUF 4th, BUF 6th, BUF 7th
2025: BUF 1st, BUF 2nd, BUF 3rd, BUF 4th, MIN 4th, BUF 5th, BUF 6th, BUF 7th, NSH 7th*

*If Eric Robinson plays 45 games for the Sabres over the regular season, Buffalo will send Nashville’s seventh-round draft pick in the 2025 NHL Draft to the Columbus Blue Jackets. 

Trade Chips

Even with sizeable long-term extensions kicking in next season for defensemen Rasmus Dahlin and Owen Power, the Sabres still have quite a bit of cap flexibility to use, currently projecting around $26.14MM next summer if the cap does rise to the reported $87.7MM. With only Casey Mittelstadt and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen set to receive notable raises over their current deals, Buffalo may look to acquire a player with term this March, even through a sign-and-trade.

With where their record currently stands, the Sabres certainly have the makings of a seller at this year’s trade deadline. However, even if they were to involve themselves in the rental market this spring, the return value on players such as Zemgus Girgensons, Kyle Okposo, Victor Olofsson, and Erik Johnson may not make it worthwhile.

Assuming that Buffalo already has their sights set on next season, they could dangle their 2025 first-round selection to acquire a long-term piece, as it would take a surprise star player to enter the market for the Sabres to part with their lottery-projected 2024 first-round pick. Without much to sell, and in a position to only acquire long-term pieces, it would not be a surprise to see Buffalo be one of the more quiet teams at this year’s deadline.

Team Needs

1) Right-Shot Defenseman: Last summer, the Sabres brought in Johnson and Connor Clifton to help improve the right side of their defensive core. As things played out, neither addition has worked out as Buffalo may have hoped, as out of 29 total players, Clifton ranks 21st on the team in Corsi-For %, and Johnson ranks 24th. Desperately needing to find a serviceable option next to Power on their second defensive line, the Sabres could get aggressive and try to pry David Jiricek from the Blue Jackets, who has reportedly expressed frustration over his situation in Columbus.

2) A Definitive Solution In The Crease: An answer in the net has been one of the primary questions following Buffalo around for the last several years. Without a lot of game-changing answers on the market, it appears this question will take another year to figure out. Now, Buffalo’s goaltender prayers may be answered by either Luukkonen or Devon Levi, but neither has suggested they can fully assume that mantle. Of the two, Luukkonen has been the better option by far this season but has been extremely streaky which leads to concern. In his first eight games of the year, Luukonen produced a serviceable 3-3-1 record with a .910 SV% but followed it up with a 3-5-1 record and .876 SV% in his next nine games. Once again on a hot streak, Luukonen looks nearly unbeatable with a 6-3-0 in his last nine games coupled with a .940 SV%.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports.

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