- While the hope was that Shayne Gostisbehere’s lower-body injury wasn’t serious, it will hold him out for at least the next two games. The Hurricanes announced that they have sent him back to Raleigh for further evaluation, meaning he will miss the last two games of their road trip. The 32-year-old got off to a hot start before the injury, picking up a goal and six assists in his first five games this season, notching at least one point in his first four outings.
Hurricanes Rumors
Injury Notes: Gostisbehere, McCann, Liljegren
This afternoon, Carolina Head Coach Rod Brind’Amour told Michael Russo of The Athletic that the team believes Shayne Gostisbehere’s injury is not serious, and that he remains with the team on their trip west.
The offensive defenseman has been off to a dynamite start so far, with 7 points in just 5 games. Just two days ago, Gostisbehere left in the Canes’ win over Los Angeles due to a lower-body-injury.
Despite the good news, Gostisbehere will be absent tonight vs Vegas, as Charles-Alexis Legault is expected to make his NHL debut. The 6’4” defenseman was drafted in the fifth round of the 2023 draft by Carolina, turning pro last season with AHL Chicago, where he was a steady presence in 63 games for the Wolves.
Elsewhere across the league:
- The Seattle Kraken announced earlier today that key forward Jared McCann would not play in tonight’s game at Philadelphia, due to a lower-body-injury. It is expected that the 29-year-old will be day-to-day, thankfully not worse as Seattle is currently missing Kaapo Kakko, Frederick Gaudreau, and Ryker Evans due to injury. In McCann’s place, top prospect Berkly Catton has made his NHL debut.
- Max Miller, San Jose’s beat reporter, noted earlier today that defenseman Timothy Liljegren returned to the ice as a normal participant. The Swede remains on the team’s injured reserve, having been placed last week with an upper-body injury, however, he seems to be ramping up for a return on Thursday as the Sharks travel to take on the Rangers.
Shayne Gostisbehere Leaves Game With Injury
Carolina Hurricanes defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere left last night’s victory over the Los Angeles Kings with a lower-body injury, according to a team announcement. After the game, head coach Rod Brind’Amour told the media, including team reporter Walt Ruff, that Gostisbehere “tweaked something,” and could add to the list of injured Hurricanes defensemen – one that already includes star blueliner Jaccob Slavin, who is out indefinitely with a lower-body injury of his own.
If Gostisbehere is to miss any games with this injury, beyond just the portion of the game he missed last night, it would be a serious blow to the Hurricanes defense. Despite playing in the fewest even-strength minutes per game of any Hurricanes blueliner so far this season, Gostisbehere quarterbacks Carolina’s top power play unit and is tied for the league lead in points by a defenseman with seven in five games. In Gostisbehere absence, offseason addition K’Andre Miller took over the team’s top power play unit, and in terms of who could draw into the lineup in the case that Gostisbehere misses game action moving forward, rookie Charles-Alexis Legault is in position as the team’s current spare blueliner.
Evening Notes: Brunicke, Crozier, Hurricanes
The Penguins announced tonight that young defenseman Harrison Brunicke will not play tonight versus Anaheim. Brunicke has looked the part in his first three NHL games, notching a goal, but at just 19-years-old, the Penguins are taking it easy with their key prospect. Although fans may be disappointed, the silver lining is that Kris Letang could return. New Head Coach Dan Muse emphasized the need to put Brunicke along with fellow youngster Ben Kindel in positions to succeed, and given his strong pedigree coaching across junior, collegiate, and professional hockey, it seems the Penguins have the right eyes on their young prospects, as they face a fascinating crossroads which will play out this season.
Elsewhere across the league:
- The Lightning have announced mid-game that defenseman Max Crozier will not return due to injury. The 25-year-old more unassuming player, who has spent most of his professional career in the AHL after being drafted 120th overall in 2019, has been off to a great start for Tampa Bay this season with three assists in as many games. Further details on the severity of the injury are unknown at this time.
- On today’s episode of Bleacher Report’s Insider Notebook, Insider Frank Seravalli said that the Carolina Hurricanes are watching the waiver wire closely for goalies, and that it would be no surprise if the team made some sort of move for one. Thankfully for the team, Frederik Andersen has won both games so far, but given his injury history, along with Pyotr Kochetkov’s inconsistency and current injury, the Canes could be looking for more stability. Carolina claimed Brandon Bussi on waivers earlier this month, but as a 27-year-old yet to debut in the NHL, and with AHL numbers which don’t necessarily jump off the page, GM Eric Tulsky could have another trick up his sleeve soon; especially if the team wants to reach new heights come spring.
Jaccob Slavin Undergoing Additional Testing
- Yesterday, the Carolina Hurricanes announced that defenseman Jaccob Slavin is suffering from a lower-body injury, but were relatively vague regarding the severity. Today, in a small update, head coach Rod Brind’Amour said, “He went for some more testing. I think we’re just going to keep him out for a while. I don’t think it’s super serious, but he doesn’t quite feel right. So, for right now, he’s not on this trip.“
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Carolina Hurricanes Recall Charles-Alexis Legault
The Carolina Hurricanes have recalled defenseman Charles-Alexis Legault from their AHL affiliate, the Chicago Wolves. In a corresponding move, the Hurricanes placed netminder Pyotr Kochetkov on injured reserve, and made the move retroactive to Oct. 5 to provide some more flexibility as to when Kochetkov is allowed to be recalled.
The move puts Legault, 22, in line to potentially make his NHL debut on the Hurricanes’ western road trip this month. Legault’s recall appears at first glance to be directly connected to the injury news announced by the team related to top blueliner Jaccob Slavin. As we covered earlier, Slavin is currently being evaluated for an injury and may not travel with the team on its upcoming road trip. By recalling Legault, the Hurricanes have given coach Rod Brind’Amour another defenseman to work with in case Slavin misses some time.
Legault is a 6’4 right-shot defenseman who made his pro debut last season. His 2024-25 campaign was spent entirely with the AHL’s Chicago Wolves, and he scored 14 points in 63 games playing a defense-first role. Before his days in the pro ranks, Legault manned the blueline for Quinnipiac University, winning the men’s hockey national championship in 2022-23 and back-to-back regular-season titles in the ECAC conference.
The Hurricanes have thus far absorbed the loss of Slavin by slotting veteran Mike Reilly onto the left side of their defense, but this recall gives them a right-handed option with which to further augment their defensive pairings. Reilly has the experience advantage over Legault (he has played in over 400 NHL games) but Legault brings an element of size and a physical edge that Reilly cannot match.
Should he end up making his NHL debut, Legault will become the third member of the 2022-23 National Champion Bobcats to make his NHL debut with the Hurricanes, joining forward Skyler Brind’Amour and netminder Yaniv Perets.
Latest On Jaccob Slavin, Pyotr Kochetkov
Carolina Hurricanes head coach Rod Brind’Amour issued injury updates to two key players today: Jaccob Slavin and Pyotr Kochetkov. As relayed by team reporter Walt Ruff, Slavin is still “being evaluated” for a lower-body injury, and is currently questionable to travel with the team on its upcoming six-game road trip. Additionally, Kochetkov will not travel due to his own lower-body injury, though they did add the caveat that he may join the team on the road at some point. Finally, Brind’Amour said that waiver addition Brandon Bussi will get to start a game “at some point” on their road trip.
While the full extent of Slavin’s injury is not known at this point, any extended Slavin absence would be a massive loss for Carolina. Slavin is the team’s most important defenseman and is in the eyes of many the league’s premier shutdown defender. He was the team’s number-one defenseman last season and averaged nearly three minutes a night on its penalty kill. Meanwhile the loss of Kochetkov is also notable, though the Hurricanes are more well-equipped to handle his absence. They already have experienced veteran Frederik Andersen on their roster, and Bussi’s resume from the AHL suggests he very well could be able to handle a backup’s workload while Kochetkov recovers.
Slavin Injured On Saturday
- Hurricanes defenseman Jaccob Slavin left Saturday’s game against Philadelphia in the third period with what looks to be a knee injury, relays Cory Lavalette of the North State Journal. It’s expected that the team will know more on his status on Monday. Slavin has been a critical piece of Carolina’s back end for several years now and was off to a solid start before the injury. If he’s unable to play in their next game on Tuesday against San Jose, veteran Mike Reilly would likely make his Carolina debut.
Pyotr Kochetkov To Miss At Least One Week
Carolina is one of the rare teams choosing to carry three goaltenders this season and that depth is going to come in handy early on. The team announced that Pyotr Kochetkov will be out for at least a week due to a lower-body injury, noting that while it’s not a serious injury, the recovery timeline is longer than head coach Rod Brind’Amour was hoping for.
The timeline of at least a week suggests that Carolina intends to place him on injured reserve. That designation means that a player must be out for at least a week. But with a full 23-player roster, putting Kochetkov on IR would allow the Hurricanes to bring someone up from the minors, though likely not a goalie with Brandon Bussi already with the team after a late-camp waiver claim.
Kochetkov has been the de facto starter the last two seasons, at times on merit and others with Frederik Andersen being on the shelf. Two years ago, it looked like the 26-year-old had taken a big step forward when he posted a 2.33 GAA and a .911 SV% in 42 outings.
However, things didn’t go quite as well last season. While he made a career-high 47 starts, his numbers weren’t as strong, checking in at 2.60 GAA and a .897 SV% while he struggled in the playoffs, playing to a 3.60 GAA and .855 SV% in just four outings, two of those coming in relief. In between, he dealt with a concussion and noted after the season that he had been playing through an injury.
With Kochetkov on the shelf, Andersen now becomes the clear-cut starter, a role that he hasn’t been able to hold onto for extended stretches in recent years due to his own injuries. Over the last three seasons, he hasn’t made more than 33 starts in a single one so if Kochetkov’s absence winds up being more longer-term, Andersen will be tested much more than he has been in recent years while Bussi could get a chance to make his NHL debut as well.
Goalie Notes: Vasilevskiy, Kochetkov, Vladar, Nedeljkovic
Lightning star Andrei Vasilevskiy will indeed get the start for Tampa’s home opener against the Senators tonight, head coach Jon Cooper told Benjamin Pierce of NHL.com. It’s the expected result following a bit of a saga during training camp that saw his workload early on limited. He practiced to start camp, but then disappeared from sessions for over a week due to what Cooper called “player management,” and there was enough concern about his status for the start of the season for the Bolts to claim Pheonix Copley off waivers from the Kings as insurance. Vasilevskiy ended up returning to practice in late September and made a preseason appearance against the Panthers, though, so it seemed for a while that opening night wouldn’t be a concern. With the reigning Vezina runner-up firmly back in the fold, there might be a deal in place to return Copley to Los Angeles, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet wrote earlier this week.
More updates from the world of goaltending:
- Hurricanes tandem partner Pyotr Kochetkov will not dress against the Devils tonight after being “nicked up” in preseason, head coach Rod Brind’Amour told Walt Ruff of NHL.com. He’s day-to-day, and his injury offers up the missing context as to why Carolina claimed Brandon Bussi off waivers from the Panthers earlier this week. Frederik Andersen will get the start and will presumably see a higher-than-normal workload until Kochetkov returns – a risky bet considering injuries have limited Andersen to an average of 24 starts over the last three years. Bussi would be in line for his NHL debut should he see action during this stretch.
- Free-agent signing Daniel Vladař is getting the start over Samuel Ersson as the Flyers open their season tonight, head coach Rick Tocchet told Charlie O’Connor of PHLY Sports. It was essentially a coin flip between the two, Tocchet said, signaling they’re likely set to receive similar workloads out of the gate. Both struggled in preseason samples, but Vladař was the better of the two with a .875 SV% and 2.32 GAA in a pair of appearances. Ersson played three exhibition games, logging a .841 SV% and 4.44 GAA.
- In another toss-up, the Sharks are going with veteran addition Alex Nedeljkovic between the pipes to kick off their season over top prospect Yaroslav Askarov, relays Curtis Pashelka of the Bay Area News Group. It’s an earned reward for the 29-year-old, who stopped all but one of the 53 shots he faced in two preseason showings for San Jose for a staggering .981 SV% and 0.50 GAA. Askarov, while still locked into a full-time NHL role for the first time this year, struggled in exhibition play with a .855 SV% and 3.79 GAA in a team-high three appearances.