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Wild To Reassign Travis Boyd, Expected To Activate Jakub Lauko

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The Minnesota Wild are swapping out one forward in favor of another. Michael Russo of The Athletic reports the Wild organization has reassigned forward Travis Boyd to the American Hockey League with Jakub Lauko expected back on Tuesday.

It’s the third time the 31-year-old Boyd has been reassigned back to the AHL’s Iowa Wild this season. The Hopkins, Minnesota native has only made two appearances for the Wild this season going scoreless while averaging 7:39 of ice time per game.

His production in Iowa has been understandably more fruitful. It’s his first stretch in the AHL since the 2019-20 season and he’s collected two goals and 11 points in 13 games. The AHL Wild will now have their third-highest scorer back as they look to stay competitive in a top-heavy AHL Central Division.

Lauko, who’s been on Minnesota’s injured reserve since November 26th due to a lower-body injury, is expected to return to the lineup against the Utah Hockey Club on Tuesday. He won’t help fill the voids in the top-six forward group but will add a stabilizing presence to the bottom of the forward core.

He’s skated in 21 games throughout his first year in Minnesota adding two goals and four points overall. Lauko will provide a more physical presence compared to Boyd and should cause some trepidation from opposing teams if he’s placed on a line with Yakov Trenin.

Vancouver Canucks Reassign Arturs Silovs To AHL

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Thatcher Demko is officially back for the Vancouver Canucks and with that came the expectation that the Canucks would reassign one of their other two netminders. That time has come as the organization announced they have reassigned goaltender Arturs Silovs to their AHL affiliate, the Abbotsford Canucks.

Silovs became the obvious man-out in Vancouver on the heels of an abysmal start to the 2024-25 NHL season. There was some optimism that Silovs was a potential breakout candidate this year after backstopping the Canucks to Game Seven of their Round Two matchup against the Edmonton Oilers in the 2024 Stanley Cup playoffs.

He finished the 2024 postseason with a 5-5-0 record in 10 starts with a .898 save percentage and a 2.91 goals-against average. It was the longest chain of starts for Silovs in his young NHL career and he proved relatively reliable in Demko’s absence.

That optimism and confidence have evaporated with Silovs starting the 2024-25 NHL season with a 1-4-1 record in six starts, a .847 SV%, and a 4.11 GAA. It’s quickly become necessary for Silovs to continue his development in AHL Abbotsford.

It’ll be a familiar environment for the Riga, Latvia native. He’s been exceptionally consistent throughout his time in Abbotsford boasting a career record of 46-30-11, a .906 SV%, 2.62 GAA, and nine shutouts in 90 career AHL contests.

Silovs will look to regain his confidence in the AHL barring any more injuries at the NHL level. The Canucks, who are in third place in the Pacific Division, should be more than fine staying competitive with their current duo.

Sharks Place Givani Smith On Waivers

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The San Jose Sharks are making a small change at the bottom of their lineup. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported earlier that San Jose had placed forward Givani Smith on waivers to reassign him to the AHL should he clear.

Smith’s usage has been dramatically slashed this year with the Sharks. He scored one goal and four points in 36 games last year for the Bay Area franchise but has gone scoreless in six games this year. His ice time has dropped by nearly 90 seconds this season which is a relatively large amount considering Smith was only averaging 7:49 last year.

He’s known for demonstrating a physical edge to his game from his tenure with the Detroit Red Wings. San Jose could theoretically use this toughness in their lineup to protect younger stars such as William Eklund, Macklin Celebrini, or Will Smith but they haven’t found a real need for it yet.

Smith’s skill set unfortunately isolates him in this role. If a team doesn’t need toughness, he won’t have a genuine place on the roster.

This makes Smith a relatively cheap and reliable option for any team looking to add toughness to their lineup, however. At the very least, if he goes unclaimed within the next 24 hours, Smith should find a much more consistent role with the AHL’s San Jose Barracuda. It would be Smith’s first AHL action since the 2022-23 season when he scored two goals and five points in 22 games split between the Charlotte Checkers and Grand Rapids Griffins.

Ducks To Place Trevor Zegras On IR, Activate Brock McGinn

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12/7: Zegras will undergo additional testing on Monday to determine how long he’ll miss, per Sporstnet’s Elliotte Friedman on Saturday Headlines. This could be a chance to learn more about what seemed to be a low-contact injury. Zegras underwent surgery in January to repair a fracture in his left ankle – the same ankle that he seemed to injure on Wednesday – though it’s unclear if the two injuries are related in any way.

12/6: Trevor Zegras’ game-ending injury from a few nights ago will now extend over at least a week. The depth chart manager for The Hockey News and PuckPedia reported that the Anaheim Ducks would place Zegras on injured reserve with a lower-body injury and activate Brock McGinn (X Link).

Zegras quickly left partway through the second period of Wednesday’s contest and couldn’t put any weight on one of his legs. The Anaheim youngster finished the game with a -1 rating over 6:08 of ice time.

There have been no further updates regarding the severity of Zegras’ injury. Still, it was expected he wouldn’t play in the Ducks’ next game after Derek Lee of The Hockey News reported he wasn’t at practice this morning. Zegras will only miss two games should he miss the minimum seven days on the injured reserve. It may be a chance for him to reset on the season as the former 65-point scorer only has four goals and 10 points through 24 contests this year.

McGinn’s return to the active roster might not be Anaheim’s only positive injury development. Lee also shared that Robby Fabbri was back on the ice for the team’s practice this morning despite being on week three of a six-week recovery timeline. Lee’s fellow writer at The Hockey News, Patrick Present, additionally reported that Leo Carlsson was back on the ice in a non-contact jersey.

Anaheim has had a fair number of injury concerns through the first quarter of the 2024-25 NHL season but that appears to be ending soon. The Ducks are on a pathway toward a fully healthy lineup in the coming weeks combined with today’s acquisition of defenseman Jacob Trouba from the New York Rangers.

Rangers Sign Igor Shesterkin To Eight-Year Extension

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Saturday: The Rangers officially announced that they’ve signed Shesterkin to an eight-year extension.  Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman adds that the deal contains a full no-move clause and $85MM of the contract will be paid in the form of signing bonuses.

Friday: The New York Rangers have used their new-found cap space relatively quickly. ESPN’s Kevin Weekes reports the Rangers have signed goaltender Igor Shesterkin to an eight-year extension paying the netminder between $11.5MM and $12MM a year. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman confirmed it will be an eight-year, $92MM extension for Shesterkin.

Once the deal is finalized it will usurp Carey Price’s record-breaking eight-year, $84MM extension with the Montreal Canadiens by $8MM. Shesterkin and his camp have been adamant about setting the market for goaltenders and he appears to have done just that.

New York will get Shesterkin back on a cheaper deal than Price from a certain point of view. Price’s contract accounted for 13.2% of the cap when it took effect starting in the 2018-19 season. Shesterkin’s contract, assuming the reports are accurate on an $11.5MM salary, will only account for 12.4% of the cap should it rise to the reported $92.5MM for the 2025-26 season.

The Moscow, Russia native landed his desired salary despite having a depressed season compared to the rest of his career. He’s produced an 8-9-1 record in 18 starts for the Rangers with a .908 save percentage and a 3.05 goals-against average.

It’s difficult to disagree with the price point. He’s arguably been one of the league’s top netminders since the 2020-21 season and the Rangers are now rewarding him for his efforts. He took over as the Rangers starting goaltender in the 2021-22 season and the team has failed to miss the playoffs since.

His career records speak for themselves. Shesterkin boasts a career winning percentage of 63.2%, a .920 SV%, and a 2.48 GAA over 226 career starts. The only goalie to post even similar numbers to Shesterkin through their first six seasons is fellow top-netminder Connor Hellebuyck of the Winnipeg Jets.

New York’s competitive window begins and ends between the pipes with Shesterkin. He’s produced tremendous value for the Rangers over the last six campaigns and will now continue to do so for the next eight beyond this season. The eight-year extension will take Shesterkin to the 2032-33 NHL season when he will be 38 years old.

If today is any indication, the Rangers will be a very active team up to the 2025 NHL trade deadline. General manager Chris Drury will likely pivot toward extending his young crop of expiring talent including Kaapo Kakko, K’Andre Miller, and William Cuylle over the next few weeks so the pieces are in place for the team’s future.

Still, Drury and the Rangers are focused on moving out high-priced veteran talent such as Chris Kreider to create serious change toward the top of the lineup. New York has failed to make it beyond the Eastern Conference Final since the 2014 Stanley Cup playoffs despite consistently being one of the better teams throughout the regular season. Drury has been aggressive in his pursuit of re-tooling the roster and today’s moves may only be the beginning.

Photo courtesy of USA Sports images. 

Poll: Which Team Will Win The 4 Nations Face-Off?

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We are nearly two months away from the start of the 4 Nations Face-Off. NHL players from Canada, Finland, Sweden, and the United States will compete in the best-on-best matchup for an in-season tournament from February 12 through 20th, 2025. Rosters were recently released on December 4th and each country has a reason to be optimistic about their chances.

Canada objectively has the most star power on their roster and it’s not close. Most teams have trouble dealing with Edmonton Oilers’ Connor McDavid on any given night and he’ll now be joined by the likes of Sidney Crosby, Nathan MacKinnon, Mitch Marner, and Cale Makar, among others, in the lineup. The only question mark for Team Canada will be in the crease as the combination of Jordan Binnington, Adin Hill, and Sam Montembeault have only combined for an approximated .900 SV% for their respective clubs this season.

One team’s weakness is another team’s strength. The United States will deploy the trio of Connor Hellebuyck, Jake Oettinger, and Jeremy Swayman in the net giving them an automatic chance to win every game. Team USA should be able to spread the wealth on offense by separating the trio of Auston Matthews, Jack Eichel, and Kyle Connor onto their lines and allowing the puck-movers on defense to lead from the blue line. There were some notable absences from Team USA’s eventual roster but it’s tough to count them out of any game with their impressive conglomeration of netminders.

Team Sweden won’t have nearly the same star power on offense as their North American counterparts but does arguably have the tournament’s best blue line. Erik Karlsson, Victor Hedman, Rasmus Andersson, and Rasmus Dahlin are more than capable puck-moving defensive while Mattias Ekholm, Gustav Forsling, and Jonas Brodin are some of the best shutdown defensemen in the league. Sweden’s success in this tournament will be directly correlated with their defensive core.

Rounding out the group is Team Finland who will be bringing one of the stingiest groups to Montreal and Boston. Finland’s success will be connected to how well they can keep games close between their respective counterparts. Sebastian Aho, Aleksander Barkov, and Mikko Rantanen will be relied upon for most of Finland’s offense. Opposing teams will run into annoyance with Finland, having to beat Juuse Saros after getting through a staunch defense.

The rosters can and likely will change based on the health and availability of players heading into the tournament but the final group will look similar to how they are constructed today. Now the crystal ball is being passed to you — who do you think will win the 4 Nations Face-Off in February? Vote below!

Mobile users, click here to vote!

Mathew Barzal, Anthony Duclair Close To Returning For Islanders

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The 2024-25 NHL season hasn’t gone as planned for the New York Islanders. They are the only team in the Eastern Conference unable to amass double-digit win totals in the regular season and sit three points back of the last wild-card position with three more games played.

Some blame can be placed on New York’s inability to stay healthy this season. Defenseman Adam Pelech and Mike Reilly are currently positioned on the team’s injured reserve and forwards Mathew Barzal and Anthony Duclair are on the team’s long-term injured reserve. Stefen Rosner of The Hockey News shares that things are about to change with the two latter players.

Rosner writes that Barzal has finally resumed skating for the Islanders after missing his 17th straight game a few nights ago. New York’s most talented player has been dealing with an upper-body injury since late October after blocking a shot from Columbus Blue Jackets’ forward Yegor Chinakhov. Likewise, Duclair has been skating for the last few weeks and should be activated from LTIR before Barzal.

The two have missed a combined 39 games for the Islanders this season and their offense has struggled in their absence. New York has typically hovered around three goals per game since the 2018-19 season but has now fallen to last in the Eastern Conference with a 2.48 GF/G average.

Barzal wasn’t a game-changing threat when healthy this season scoring two goals and five points through his first 10 games. His absence was felt elsewhere though as teammate Bo Horvat has lost nearly all goal-scoring touch without his typical linemate. Horvat scored three goals in 10 games with Barzal and has only two scored two goals in the 17 subsequent games without him.

Duclair’s absence has also aided in the offense’s stalling out. He’s typically a surefire bet to score 25 goals when healthy and potted two in his first five games with the Islanders. Furthermore, New York’s powerplay has dropped to 31st in the league with an 11.84% success rate with the man advantage.

The Islanders still have 55 remaining games to recover the season and there should be growing optimism with Barzal and Duclair’s return on the horizon. It’s difficult to imagine New York qualifying for the playoffs for the sixth time in seven seasons if their offense doesn’t recover from the dismal start.

Wild Issue Multiple Injury Updates, Place Eriksson Ek On IR

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12/6: According to a team announcement, the Wild have placed Eriksson Ek on injured reserve as expected. His placement on the team’s injured reserve will likely be made retroactive to December 4th.

12/4: Depth is becoming an important factor for the best team in the league. This afternoon, the Minnesota Wild issued multiple injury updates regarding the status of Joel Eriksson Ek, Jonas Brodin, Mats Zuccarello, and Jakub Lauko.

The organization confirmed the earlier report from Michael Russo of The Athletic stating that top center Eriksson Ek would be considered week-to-week with a lower-body injury. If there’s one area of weakness Minnesota could enhance via the trade market, it would be their center depth. The Wild have managed a 1-1-1 record in the three games Eriksson Ek has already missed this season and they will now have to rely on Marco Rossi as their first-line middleman.

Rossi is adequate for this role but it thins out behind him. Minnesota will deploy a rotation of Frederick Gaudreau, Marat Khusnutdinov, and Ben Jones to center the remaining three lines which isn’t typically the quality seen from first-place teams.

The Wild could gauge the trade market for a center depending on the severity of Eriksson Ek’s injury. Minnesota already swung one of the season’s biggest trades when they acquired David Jiříček from the Columbus Blue Jackets. Jake Evans of the Montreal Canadiens comes to mind as a rental piece with playoff experience that would boost Minnesota’s depth down the middle.

The remaining injury updates didn’t have any surprises. Brodin and Zuccarello are still considered week-to-week with their respective injuries while Lauko is only on a day-to-day basis. Brodin and Lauko are on the team’s injured reserve while Zuccarello and his $4.125MM salary are on the long-term injured reserve. Still, with six out of their next 10 games against opponents currently positioned for a playoff spot, the Wild’s depth will surely be tested.

Atlantic Notes: Tkachuk, Yzerman, Nečas, Buffalo

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Before the New York Rangers traded defenseman Jacob Trouba to the Anaheim Ducks, rumors began to swirl around the team’s reported interest in Ottawa Senators captain Brady Tkachuk. These rumors were quickly squashed when Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Citizen immediately reported the Senators had no interest in moving on from their leader.

General manager Steve Staios was more than displeased to see Tkachuk’s name in the rumor mill. Garrioch hinted that any working relationship between the Senators and Rangers organization may have been tarnished. In his article regarding the speculation, Garrioch wrote, “Rangers GM Chris Drury may have some explaining to do to the Senators organization due to this talk. Staios won’t be the least bit pleased to hear Tkachuk’s name floating around out there. It’s believed Staios planned to have a conversation with Tkachuk to reiterate there is absolutely nothing to this“.

This update from Garrioch should quiet any future rumors regarding Ottawa and their captain. Tkachuk is in the fourth year of a seven-year contract signed with the Senators in 2021 and there’s been no indication from the player or the team that Tkachuk is close to leaving.

Other Atlantic notes:

  • If Steve Yzerman had his way, Trouba would wear the ’Winged Wheel’ instead of a duck-inspired goalie mask. ESPN’s Emily Kaplan reported the Detroit Red Wings were again interested in acquiring Trouba from the Rangers but the two sides couldn’t agree on a working trade. It likely wasn’t a question of assets given the eventual return package for Trouba. The Red Wings likely needed a third team’s involvement to retain salary as they don’t have the salary cap space to absorb Trouba’s $8MM salary for this year and next.
  • In a long-lasting meeting with the press in Buffalo, Sabres’ general manager Kevyn Adams could be kicking himself for not capitalizing on an offseason trade. Mike Harrington of Buffalo News Sports reported it was all but confirmed that Buffalo had a deal on the table this past summer for Carolina Hurricanes’ forward Martin Nečas but never went through with it. To Adams’ credit, few analysts predicted Nečas would lead the league in points by early December. He’s scored 14 goals and 41 points in 26 games for the Hurricanes through the first quarter of the regular season.
  • According to Heather Engel of NHL.com, Adams offered another interesting tidbit at today’s presser. Engel quoted Adams as saying, “We’re not a destination city right now where you’re going to be able to go out and UFAs that are key guys“. It’s typically uncommon for an active general manager to publicly assert that free agents don’t perceive his organization as a viable landing spot. Still, Adams’ omission is a sign that he agrees there is more work to be done to the Sabres roster.

Canadiens, Oilers Complete Minor Swap

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Two of the league’s storied Canadian franchises have gotten together on a minor-league deal. According to a press release from the Montreal Canadiens, the former is sending forward Jacob Perreault to the Edmonton Oilers for defenseman Noel Hoefenmayer.

Hoefenmayer is an older prospect being drafted with the 108th overall pick of the 2017 NHL Draft by the Arizona Coyotes. He transitioned to professional hockey for the 2020-21 season but spent much of his first two years in the Toronto Maple Leafs’ ECHL affiliates.

The last three years have given Hoefenmayer more consistent playing in the AHL with the Toronto Marlies and Bakersfield Condors. He scored 11 goals and 38 points in 65 games for the Marlies in 2022-23 while adding 114 PIMs. His move to Bakersfield has been far less productive scoring only eight goals and 25 points in 58 games with the Condors.

Perreault is the only player in the swap to make his NHL debut. He was originally drafted by the Anaheim Ducks organization and selected 27th overall in the 2020 NHL Draft. He fell out of favor rather quickly in Anaheim, largely due to his defensive inefficiencies, and was traded to the Canadiens this past March for fellow 2020 draftee, Jan Mysak.

The deal is between two teams heading in different directions in the AHL standings. The Laval Rocket are fourth overall in the league standings with a 14-6-1 record through 21 games while the Condors sit in 25th with a 7-8-2-1 record through 18.

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