- Hurricanes prospect Patrik Puistola has signed a one-year extension with Jukurit through the 2023-24 season, the Finnish team announced. The 21-year-old was a third-rounder back in 2019 (77th overall) and is off to a nice start to his season with nine points in 17 games. Notably, Carolina only has until June 1st to sign Puistola to an NHL deal and the fact he is already signed in Finland now for next year probably won’t help his chances of landing an entry-level contract.
Hurricanes Rumors
Injury Notes: Slafkovsky, Nichushkin, Lyubushkin, Stepan, Capitals
Some good news is abound tonight for Montreal Canadiens fans, as 2022 first-overall pick Juraj Slafkovsky is returning to the lineup tonight against the St. Louis Blues. Slafkovsky had not played in nine days.
The Slovak phenom suffered the injury after getting hit hard by Arizona Coyotes defenseman Josh Brown, but then immediately proceeded to score his first NHL goal, leading to what was an intense stare during his goal celebration. It was then reported earlier this week that Slafkovsky was undergoing tests on an upper-body issue, but they appear to have concluded that it was nothing major. The goal is his lone NHL point so far through five games.
- Colorado Avalanche forward Valeri Nichushkin will miss his second straight game tonight with a lower-body injury, per The Denver Post’s Bennett Durando. Nichushkin remains day-to-day and the team’s “hope” is that he rejoins the squad for their first practice in Finland, ahead of their Global Series matchup next week against the Columbus Blue Jackets in Tampere. Despite missing a game already, Nichushkin still holds the team lead in goals (seven) and points (12).
- Half of the Buffalo Sabres blueline is out of game action now. The Buffalo News’ Lance Lysowski reports that Ilya Lyubushkin is not playing tonight due to a lower-body injury, with Lawrence Pilut drawing back into the lineup in his place. Lyubushkin missed a game earlier in the season with a lower-body injury, and it’s unclear whether the two are related. He has one assist in six games to begin his Sabres career.
- The Carolina Hurricanes announced tonight that forward Derek Stepan would not return to their game against the Philadelphia Flyers. Per the team, Stepan suffered an upper-body injury. We will likely receive more information on the nature of Stepan’s absence tomorrow.
- The Washington Capitals have issued two injury updates of their own. Per a team announcement, both John Carlson and T.J. Oshie are doubtful to return to tonight’s contest against the Nashville Predators due to lower-body injuries. Like with Stepan, we will likely get more information on these injuries tomorrow.
Vancouver Canucks Acquire Ethan Bear
The Vancouver Canucks just got their first win of their season last night, and their front office remains busy. After acquiring Jack Studnicka from the Boston Bruins yesterday, the team has completed another trade.
As first reported by ESPN’s Kevin Weekes, (with additional details from The Athletic’s Thomas Drance) the Canucks have acquired defenseman Ethan Bear and forward Lane Pederson. In exchange, Carolina is receiving a 5th round pick. According to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, the Hurricanes are retaining $400k on Bear’s contract as part of the trade. The deal has now been officially announced.
In a corresponding move, the Canucks announced that forward William Lockwood has been reassigned to their AHL affiliate, the Abbotsford Canucks.
For the Canucks, this trade could not come at a better time. Vancouver’s blueline has been absolutely ravaged by injuries, and the team is in desperate need of reinforcements on that front. Their help now comes in the form of Bear, a 25-year-old defenseman with nearly 200 games of NHL experience.
Bear never really seemed to find his footing in Carolina, and didn’t play in any of the team’s playoff games last season.
Before he was a Hurricane, though, Bear was seen as a promising young defenseman in the Edmonton Oilers organization, and perhaps the Canucks believe a change of scenery can help him get back to the form he showed as an Oiler.
Even if he doesn’t return to that level of play, he still represents a likely improvement over the current depth blueliners the Canucks are relying on.
In addition to Bear, Vancouver is receiving a forward, Pederson. The 25-year-old was acquired by the Hurricanes as part of the Brent Burns trade, and will now be shipped to Vancouver having played just four AHL games as a member of the Hurricanes organization.
Pederson is a capable AHL scorer who should help bolster the Abbotsford Canucks, and he also has 44 games of NHL experience, albeit with just five points scored.
Possibly the most important aspect of this deal is the fact that the Hurricanes are retaining salary. Bear is on a $2.2MM cap hit this season, a cap hit the Canucks would be hard-pressed to absorb. Now, they’ve found a way to fit him in and will get an upgrade to their defense, an upgrade they desperately need.
For the Hurricanes, the team receives a fifth-round draft pick for a defenseman who they seemingly had no long-term plans for. As mentioned, Bear was never really a fit in Carolina, and now his time there is over.
Just on the basis of his play, Bear is likely more valuable than the fifth-round pick they received for him. But when you factor in how difficult moving money is in today’s cap-strapped NHL, it’s likely that finding a taker willing to take on Bear’s full salary and pay more than a fifth-rounder to do so would have been a challenge.
Pictures courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
More On Sabres’ Defense Search
Buffalo Sabres general manager Kevyn Adams was clear this week that the team might make a move to add some defensive depth in the wake of injuries to Mattias Samuelsson and Henri Jokiharju. The executive claimed it wouldn’t be a big move though, striking some of the top names off the speculation board. One that remained was Ethan Bear, given his situation with the Carolina Hurricanes.
Bear requested a trade in the past and hasn’t played at all this season, despite signing a one-year, $2.2MM deal in the summer. The right-shot defenseman might seem like the perfect answer for the Sabres right now, especially given his relatively young age. While Buffalo has discussed Bear with the Hurricanes, according to Darren Dreger of TSN, he doesn’t believe they are willing to give up an asset at this point.
The Hurricanes are clearly not willing to just give Bear away, even with the awkwardness surrounding the situation. The 25-year-old does still hold some value as an asset. It also makes sense that the Sabres aren’t willing to pay for someone like that, given they won’t have much room for him once everyone is healthy. Samuelsson avoided a long-term injury and is expected back in a few weeks, meaning the available minutes will quickly disappear.
If the Sabres do make an addition, it seems more likely to be a veteran depth player that can move in and out of the lineup when necessary. For Carolina, that means one fewer team on the market for Bear, who they seem in no rush to move.
Progress Being Made In Bear Trade Talks?
The Canucks have received some interest in winger Nils Hoglander including from the Hurricanes in possible trade talks for Ethan Bear, CHEK’s Rick Dhaliwal reports (Twitter link). However, Vancouver is making it known that they have no desire to part with the 21-year-old. Hoglander is off to a slow start this season with just one assist in five games, continuing his trend from last season where his production and role decreased. It’s understandable that teams are seeing him as a possible buy-low candidate but Vancouver certainly isn’t in a position to trade a cost-controllable young player unless they’re getting a similarly-priced young asset back. While they like Bear, he’s not in that price range at $2.2MM. Dhaliwal notes that he’s heard that Carolina is making some progress on moving the blueliner so if it’s not going to be Hoglander, Canucks GM Patrik Allvin will need to find another option that Carolina likes if they want to land him.
Snapshots: Samuelsson, Bear, Wright
Buffalo Sabres fans held their breath last night when freshly extended defenseman Mattias Samuelsson went down with an injury in their game against Vancouver. Now, The Buffalo News’ Lance Lysowski reports that Samuelsson avoided a long-term injury but is still set to miss at least “a few weeks,” joining Henri Jokiharju on the list of injured Sabres top-four defensemen.
An exact timeline won’t be had on Samuelsson until the team returns to Buffalo, head coach Don Granato said today, and the injury will force some depth defenders to shine in order for Buffalo to keep up its strong start. Lawrence Pilut will make his season debut in the team’s next game after two seasons overseas, and free-agent acquisition Ilya Lyubushkin will be tasked with replacing Samuelsson as the defensive anchor on the top pairing alongside the red-hot Rasmus Dahlin.
- It’s no secret the Canucks are in trouble, winless so far to start the year. With injuries and general positional depth weakness hampering their defense, the team has been looking to add, and Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported on 32 Thoughts that the team has checked in on defenseman Ethan Bear as a potential trade acquisition. Bear, the 25-year-old right-shot defenseman, has been thrust down the depth chart in Carolina and has yet to appear in a game this season. The Hurricanes were shopping him prior to the season’s start, and the Canucks have more than enough room thanks to LTIR to accommodate his $2.2MM cap hit. He still has some upside and could provide some better matchups once Quinn Hughes returns to the lineup.
- Sportsnet’s Jason Bukala ponders whether the Seattle Kraken may opt to send Shane Wright back to the OHL’s Kingston Frontenacs after an unimpactful start to the season. Wright hasn’t received many opportunities, he has shown smooth skating and pace, but Bukala points out that Wright’s had some positional issues defensively and may need a bit more development before being able to execute his playstyle properly at the NHL level.
Ethan Bear Situation Expected To Be Resolved Soon
On the topic of young defensemen expected to be dealt, it’s Jakob Chychrun’s name that comes up more times than not and given his talent, that’s not unfair. However, another young defenseman that could be dealt is that of Carolina Hurricanes blueliner Ethan Bear. Perhaps not the talent Chychrun is, Bear is a solid player in his own right, but has had his share of issues in regards to getting in the lineup and overall playing time since the Hurricanes acquired him from the Edmonton Oilers for forward Warren Foegele in the summer of 2021.
According to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman on tonight’s 32 Thoughts segment of Hockey Night in Canada, a decision on Bear could be coming soon. Bear, who hasn’t played a game yet this season, wants to play, says Friedman, but the team has been unable to find a trade they like. According to Friedman, interested teams have asked Carolina to retain a certain percentage of Bear’s salary cap in order to create a trade package to the Hurricanes’ liking. Carolina, in turn, has told teams that they don’t plan to retain any cap given the fact that their reason for dealing Bear would not be at all cap related. Ultimately, as relayed by Friedman, the situation is expected to resolve itself shortly. It would seem at this point, if Carolina cannot get a better offer for the defenseman, their options would be to accept an offer they think is under-valued, put Bear on waivers, play him, or continue to scratch him, potentially doing harm to the relationship.
Ondrej Kase Being Evaluated For Possible Concussion
Carolina Hurricanes forward Ondrej Kase is returning to Raleigh to be evaluated for a possible concussion, according to team reporter Walt Ruff. While an injury like this may not always make headlines, in the case of Kase, there is a long history of head injuries to consider.
In April, the Toronto Maple Leafs announced that Kase was dealing with a concussion that had held him out for weeks. He suffered the injury on March 19, and didn’t return during the regular season. He would make it back in the playoffs, suiting up in early May against the Tampa Bay Lightning, but struggled to live up to his previous level of play and was quickly moved down the lineup.
That was not his first concussion. James Mirtle of The Athletic detailed the long history Kase has with head and neck injuries, which began in just his third game in North America, while playing for the San Diego Gulls of the AHL. When that story was written, before the Maple Leafs incident and this one with the Hurricanes, the number of concussions that Kase had experienced was unknown but “plausibly into the double digits.”
After the Maple Leafs decided not to issue him a qualifying offer this summer, he ended up with the Hurricanes on a one-year, $1.5MM contract. The 26-year-old has shown an excellent ability to play strong two-way hockey whenever healthy – the problem is that he has struggled to stay in the lineup for years now. In his debut for Carolina, he played just 11 minutes and failed to register a point. If he does have another concussion, it is completely unclear how long it will keep him out.
Carolina Hurricanes Recall Jordan Martinook
After clearing waivers a few days ago, beloved forward Jordan Martinook is back up on an NHL roster with the Carolina Hurricanes. Evidently, the team has made the salary cap moves necessary to accommodate him on the active roster.
In a corresponding move, the team assigned forward Jamieson Rees and goalie Pyotr Kochetkov to the AHL’s Chicago Wolves.
Waiving Martinook and temporarily assigning him to the AHL allowed Carolina to optimize their cap space as much as possible prior to placing defenseman Jake Gardiner on long-term injured reserve to start the season. With Gardiner and his $4.05MM cap hit now on LTIR, the team now had the flexibility to recall Martinook.
He’ll likely reprise his role as the team’s fourth-line left wing, with AHL superstar Stefan Noesen serving as the team’s 13th forward for the time being. He’ll likely flank Derek Stepan and Ondrej Kase, making for a dynamic fourth line.
Carolina Hurricanes Sign Derek Stepan
As expected, Derek Stepan has managed to convert his PTO into an NHL contract. The Carolina Hurricanes have signed the veteran forward to a one-year, $750K deal. General manager Don Waddell explained exactly why:
Having Derek in Carolina last season, we know what he brings to the table and what he adds to our team. He gives us additional forward depth and provides us with yet another veteran presence in the locker room.
The move suggests that the Hurricanes have moved Max Pacioretty to long-term injured reserve to make room for the additional cap space required for Stepan’s new deal.
Now 32, Stepan is coming off a solid season with the Hurricanes that saw him rack up nine goals and 19 points in 58 games, despiting averaging fewer than 11 minutes a night. Playing the veteran mentor to many of the team’s younger players, he once again will return as valuable depth for a club with Stanley Cup aspirations.
While we’re now several years removed from Stepan’s prime when he was a locked-and-loaded 50-point center, there’s still plenty of value in adding him to the group. Not only can he bring a bit of depth scoring but he posted a 55.9% faceoff percentage last season, destroying his career total.
If he can keep that up, there actually may be even more situations when head coach Rod Brind’Amour relies on him. Remember, the Hurricanes lost Vincent Trocheck in the offseason, their only other right-handed center. While Seth Jarvis and Martin Necas do have some experience there, the veteran Stepan will likely be relied on in certain defensive situations.