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Injury Notes: Sharks, Flyers, Danault, Erne

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Two San Jose Sharks forwards left yesterday’s dramatic comeback victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins with injuries: Philipp Kurashev and Will Smith. Smith left the game after a hit from Penguins defender Parker Wotherspoon, while Kurashev also left the game with his own apparent upper-body injury. Sharks head coach Ryan Warsofsky did not have any update to give regarding the status of either player.

Since the Sharks have a day off Sunday, it’s likely the earliest the club announces an update related to the injury suffered by either player is Monday. If either player misses time, that would be a serious blow to the Sharks’ competitive hopes. Smith, the 2023 No. 4 overall pick, has scored 12 goals and 29 points in 33 games this season. His growing chemistry with franchise face Macklin Celebrini has made Sharks hockey must-watch television.

While Kurashev isn’t quite as important to the Sharks’ present and future as Smith, he nonetheless has been having himself a quality campaign. The versatile Swiss forward scored 18 goals and 54 points in 2023-24 playing alongside Blackhawks star Connor Bedard. Playing once again on a team with one of the game’s emerging superstar talents has clearly had its benefits for Kurashev. He’s scored 15 points in 31 games this season, a 40-point full-season scoring pace. That represents a significant improvement over last season, when Kurashev only managed 14 points in 51 games, a performance that got him non-tendered by the Blackhawks over the summer. With key injury updates likely set to come Monday, the Sharks will have to hope that their two forwards have only suffered something minor.

Other injury notes from across the NHL:

  • Philadelphia Flyers head coach Rick Tocchet told the media, including the Philadelphia Inquirer’s Jackie Spiegel, that injured Flyers blueliners Rasmus Ristolainen and Cam York will travel with the team on its upcoming road trip, and are each nearing a return to the lineup. Tocchet said specifically that he expects York to play either today against the Carolina Hurricanes or Tuesday against the Montreal Canadiens, while he expects Ristolainen to return soon as well. York has been sidelined with an upper-body injury and last played Dec. 3, while Ristolainen has not yet played in 2025-26 as he’s been recovering from 2024-25’s season-ending surgery.
  • Some eyebrows were raised yesterday when it was revealed that Los Angeles Kings forward Phillip Danault would not play in the Kings’ Saturday contest against the Calgary Flames, due to the player’s name popping up in trade rumors over the last week. But while Danault remains a possibility to be traded, his absence yesterday was not for trade-related reasons; the veteran forward was ill, and unable to play as a result. It was reported on Dec. 8 that the Kings were exploring their options to provide Danault with a change-of-scenery type trade, but no deal has since materialized. The 32-year-old has scored at least 40 points in each of his four full seasons as a King, but has just five points in 30 games this year. He’s under contract at a $5.5MM AAV through next season.
  • Dallas Stars forward Adam Erne is continuing to progress in his recovery from his lower-body injury, and is now considered day-to-day, according to Stars head coach Glen Gulutzan. (via The Dallas Morning News’ Lia Assimakopoulos) Erne last played Nov. 11 and has missed 16 consecutive games. The 30-year-old winger signed a one-year, two-way deal with the Stars in October and scored three points in 14 games before his injury. Erne played in just 10 games last season, all coming in the AHL with the Hartford Wolf Pack. He has nearly 400 career NHL games to his name, but hasn’t played a full season entirely at the NHL level since his 2021-22 campaign with the Detroit Red Wings.

Morning Notes: Sherwood, Hiller, Edvinsson

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The Vancouver Canucks are considering a significant re-adjustment in their immediate competitive priorities, and one of the first steps in that process is considering trades for the club’s pending unrestricted free agents. One of the top players for the Canucks to shop is veteran winger Kiefer Sherwood, who led the NHL in hits last season and is on pace for a career year offensively. The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun reported this morning that the Canucks are “getting lots of interest” from teams interested in acquiring the veteran winger.

LeBrun specifically named the Minnesota Wild, Dallas Stars, and Montreal Canadiens as clubs who have expressed interest in acquiring Sherwood. Sherwood clearly fits the mold of the kind of player Wild GM Bill Guerin appears to covet, as a hard-to-play-against forward who blends relentless physicality with some scoring ability. Both Dallas and Montreal have significant injuries to deal with in their forward groups, something that may ratchet up the pressure on each club to acquire external scoring help. It was previously reported that the Canucks were seeking, at minimum, a second-round pick for Sherwood. The more clubs enter the bidding to acquire the player, the more likely it becomes that the Canucks will be able to ultimately exceed that asking price once they pull the trigger on trading Sherwood.

Other notes from around the NHL:

  • The Los Angeles Kings have struggled offensively this season, ranking 29th in the NHL in goals scored per game. The club’s low-scoring loss to the Chicago Blackhawks last night only further raised questions about the state of the Kings as a Stanley Cup hopeful. Former LA Times sports columnist Helene Elliott reported that fans in attendance were vocal in their displeasure for how the team performed against Chicago. While the Kings’ offensive struggles have prompted some to consider whether it’s time for the club to consider a coaching change, John Hoven of Mayor’s Manor wrote that he is “not expecting a change in the LA Kings head coach anytime soon.” He noted that while the Kings have had great difficulty scoring at even strength and on the power play, “they’re still in every game,” and that the best path for the team moving forward would be for some of its scorers to return to their prior levels of offensive production.
  • Detroit Red Wings defenseman Simon Edvinsson, a top pick at the 2021 draft, has firmly established himself as a core part of Detroit’s future on defense. As a result, interest is picking up on what exactly Edvinsson’s next contract will look like. The trend has been for teams to sign key young players to contract extensions with as much term as possible, and Edvinsson could be no different. The Athletic’s Max Bultman wrote today that “it’s very possible Edvinsson lands close to Moritz Seider’s $8.55 million AAV” on his upcoming extension. Bultman cited Anaheim Ducks defenseman Jackson LaCombe, who will make $9MM AAV on his next deal, as a key comparable. LaCombe scored 43 points playing 22:18 time on ice per game in 2024-25, while Edvinsson scored 31 points and played 21:07 per game.

Morning Notes: Tourigny, Dowd, Verhaeghe

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The Utah Mammoth have been one of the league’s more confounding teams so far in 2025-26, as at one point, they looked like one of the NHL’s top teams and seemed a likely candidate to reach the postseason. But Utah has won just two of its last 10 games and is currently on a four-game losing streak, a stretch that has brought their record back to .500 and left them one point adrift of a Western Conference Wild Card spot, which is occupied by the Seattle Kraken, who hold three games in hand on Utah.

Utah’s recent downturn could potentially have an impact on its head coach. Frank Seravalli said yesterday on Bleacher Report’s Insider Notebook that it’s “fair to suggest that Andre Tourigny’s hot seat is getting turned up a bit.” Seravalli did add that he doesn’t feel Tourigny is under any immense, immediate pressure just yet, but rather that his status could increasingly come into question given the fact that Utah feels it can, and should, be a legitimate playoff contender in the Western Conference this season. Tourigny has been the head coach of the Mammoth (who were previously the Utah Hockey Club and the Arizona Coyotes) since 2021-22, and has overseen both strong development outcomes for individual players and a gradual, steady improvement of the team’s fortunes. But that gradual improvement hasn’t yet materialized into an actual playoff appearance, which could be contributing to the level of pressure felt in Utah this season.

Other notes from around the NHL:

  • Washington Capitals forward Nic Dowd missed his eighth consecutive game due to an upper-body injury last night, and The Hockey News’ Sammi Silber relayed word from head coach Spencer Carbery who said there is currently no timetable for when Dowd might return. Dowd, 35, has been a reliable fourth-line center in Washington for more than a half-decade, dating back to when Washington signed him in July of 2018. His loss as a defensive specialist is a significant one for the Capitals: he leads the team in shorthanded ice time per game by a wide margin and even got down-ballot Selke Trophy consideration in each of the last two seasons.
  • Florida Panthers forward Carter Verhaeghe didn’t play in the team’s loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs last night, but it wasn’t an injury that kept the former 40-goal scorer out of the lineup. TSN’s Mark Masters reported yesterday that Verhaeghe instead missed the game due to personal reasons, or more specifically, due to the fact that his wife is expecting a child. That Verhaeghe’s absence appears to be an entirely temporary one is very important to the Panthers. The team has struggled immensely with injuries so far in 2025-26 and losing a player like Verhaeghe (who has 16 points in 24 games) to injury would only further deplete their lineup.

Snapshots: Rangers, Maple Leafs, Hyman

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While we’re still a ways away from prime trading season in the NHL, it’s not too early to at least begin considering which teams might target which sorts of players to acquire. The Athletic’s Vincent Z. Mercogliano did just that today with the New York Rangers, identifying a puck-moving defenseman with legitimate offensive ability as one of the Rangers’ top priorities in terms of who they might want to acquire in a deal.

While the Rangers are led by Norris Trophy winner Adam Fox, who is having another strong season, the top offensive blueliners behind him are Vladislav Gavrikov and Braden Schneider – neither of whom profiles as a real candidate to quarterback a power play. The Rangers acquired top prospect Scott Morrow, who carries that profile, in this offseason’s K’Andre Miller trade, but Mercogliano wrote that “the early whispers” from AHL Hartford regarding Morrow “haven’t been overly positive.” As a result, if the Rangers continue to hang around the playoff race and appear in need of external reinforcement, expect the club to target a blueliner who fills that specific offensively-oriented role.

Other notes from the Eastern Conference:

  • The Toronto Maple Leafs have gotten off to a poor start to their 2025-26 campaign, and currently sit 25th in the NHL with an 8-8-2 record. The team’s struggles have led those covering the team to consider the club’s various options to dig itself out of its slump. The Athletic’s Jonas Siegel wrote today that while “a lot of the Leafs’ struggles right now do appear to be systems-related,” it’s unclear whether a coaching change would be legitimately considered at this time. Head coach Craig Berube still has two seasons remaining on his contract beyond this one, and changing coaches so early in the season would not be a decision team ownership “will love,” per Siegel. But he did add that a coaching change “will have to become a serious consideration” if the team’s struggles persist. At the moment, the top veteran coaching free agent appears to be Peter DeBoer, the former Dallas Stars head coach whose teams have made a run to the Western Conference Final in five of the past six seasons.
  • Earlier this week, we covered news that Edmonton Oilers forward Zach Hyman was set to make his season debut very soon. Today, the Oilers confirmed that, barring something unforeseen, Hyman will make his season debut tonight in Raleigh when Edmonton takes on the Carolina Hurricanes. Hyman’s return is a major boost for the Oilers. The 33-year-old scored 54 goals in 2023-24 and ranked fifth on the team in scoring in 2024-25.

Predators Confident Amidst Improved Start

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Ryan Kennedy of The Hockey News wrote earlier today on how Nashville has turned the page, and there is a feeling of fresh air in the organization. Although they lost to Toronto last night, in a small sample size, there are signs the group has rounded a corner, and that Head Coach Andrew Brunette’s adjustments could prove effective. At this point he, along with members of the team, are tired of talking about last season’s failure and are looking ahead. 

When GM Barry Trotz took over for icon David Poile, it appeared that the organization was finally set to do a full rebuild. Trotz picked up an assortment of veterans headlined by Ryan O’Reilly, who were mainly expected to lead through the team’s dog days. Brunette, Trotz’s former player, who scored the team’s first goal in franchise history, was brought in as head coach. 

Instead, in 2023-24 Nashville surprised everybody, and although they were defeated in the first round of the playoffs by Vancouver, it appeared the core may not be done. Likely motivated to give stalwarts such as Roman Josi and Filip Forsberg one more shot, Trotz stunned the hockey world, signing Steven Stamkos, Jonathan Marchessault, and Brady Skjei in free agency. 

As glamorous as the signings were, Trotz lost key role players in Kiefer Sherwood and Jason Zucker, both who have proven their value with their new clubs. And as we all know, the big signings did not translate. Nashville got off to a brutal start to 2024-25 and never clawed their way out of the hole. Trotz made questionable moves such as waiving defenseman Dante Fabbro, who immediately revitalized his career in Columbus. It was a brutal season all around. 

The struggles rewarded the Preds with the #5 pick in the draft, which was sorely needed, considering that the last time the team had picked in the top 10 was Seth Jones in 2013. While the streak is impressive, it’s equally incriminating, showing the organization’s long time stuck in the middle. Trotz fell for the well-rounded game of Brady Martin, passing on potentially higher offensive upside players. So far Martin has made a great impression; however he is expected to return to the OHL soon, as the team looks to properly develop the young center. 

Trotz also went for a less-flashy offseason this time around, and so far, the team is off to a good start. Juuse Saros looks the part, while the team’s defense corps look improved, with Nick Perbix playing well, along with the emergence of a more under-the-radar prospect in Adam Wilsby. As Kennedy noted, the team has a more balanced scoring attack as well. Nashville is caught in a brutal division, but with the way the roster is constructed, a turnaround is in their best interest, even if modest. 

For as long as Saros, Josi, and Forsberg are on the team, perhaps Nashville has no choice but to push for contention. Three games in, there’s a long way to go, but the group looks rejuvenated and they hope to prove doubters wrong. 

Hockey Canada Announces Coaching Staff For 2026 Winter Olympics

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Unsurprisingly, there will be no changes coming to Team Canada’s bench for the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan. According to a public announcement, Team Canada will have an identical coaching staff to that of the 4 Nations Face-Off this past February, sharing that Bruce Cassidy (Vegas Golden Knights), Peter DeBoer, Rick Tocchet (Philadelphia Flyers), and Misha Donskov will be assistant coaches for Team Canada behind head coach Jon Cooper (Tampa Bay Lightning).

The 4 Nations Face-Off proved to be a positive litmus test for Team Canada, as the United States has become a more potent competitor in recent years. Still, despite suffering a Round Robin loss to Team USA, Canada won the tournament, defeating their North American counterpart in overtime of the championship on a goal from Connor McDavid. There could be some mild changes coming to the roster for the upcoming Olympic tournament, but Canada will likely have the fewest tweaks.

Like their eventual roster, Canada has a star-studded coaching staff. Even without factoring in the playing careers of those who played in the NHL, Team Canada’s coaching staff has six Stanley Cups, three IIHF World Championship gold medals, and two Jack Adams awards.

All four assistant coaches have extensive international hockey experience, including their work in the NHL and the 4 Nations Face-Off tournament, although none have previously coached in the Olympic Games. Cassidy and Tocchet are more recognized for their international ice hockey careers, while DeBoer and Donskov, former coaches of the Dallas Stars, have achieved significant success in the World Junior Championships.

Flyers Promote John Snowden To AHL Head Coach, Hire Two Assistants

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The Philadelphia Flyers have promoted John Snowden to the role of Lehigh Valley Phantoms head coach. He will fill a hole opened when Ian Laperrière was appointed an advisor to NHL general manager Daniel Briere in June. The Flyers also announced they’ve hired Nick Schultz and Terrence Wallin as AHL assistant coaches.

Lehigh Valley will move forward under the charge of Snowden, who served as an assistant coach to Lapierre through the last two seasons. He has nine years of experience in various roles throughout ECHL and AHL hockey. That includes one year as the Newfoundland Growlers’ head coach, one year as the club’s Director of Hockey Operations, and two years as an assistant with the Toronto Marlies.

Snowden’s roots as a coach run as far back as his own days as a minor league player. He played through five seasons in both the ECHL and former Central Hockey League (CHL), and stepped up as a player-coach for the Bloomington PrairieThunder during their sole CHL season in 2010-11. He scored 36 points in 66 games, and supported Bloomington to a loss in the first round of the playoffs. Snowden ultimately totaled 239 points in 304 CHL games, and 210 points in 305 ECHL games.

Philidelphia will also promote Schultz into the first bench role of his professional career next season. He has spent the last two seasons as the Assistant Director of Player Development with the NHL club, and has served as a development coach for the club since 2019. Schultz also coached the Philadelphia Flyers Elite AAA club’s 2007 birth-year from 13U to 16U. He led the team to an AYHL 14U championship in 2022.

Schultz is much better known as a former stalwart defender in the NHL. He was the 33rd-overall pick in 2000, and went on to amass 1,066 NHL games across 15 seasons and four clubs. He served as captain for the Minnesota Wild in 2007-08, and an assistant captain role with the Wild and Edmonton Oilers from 2010 to 2014. Schultz closed his career with three seasons in Philadelphia, where he totaled 29 points in 189 games. He opted to stick around the club after retiring in 2017, and will now kickoff the next chapter of his career in the Flyers’ system.

Wallin will also receive his first AHL coaching role on Lehigh Valley’s turned over bench. He was formerly a rooted member of the ECHL, playing through five seasons in the league from 2015-16 to 2019-20. But his club – the Maine Mariners – opted to not participate in the 2020-21 season. When they returned in 2021-22, Wallin had moved from player to assistant coach. He was promoted to the head coach role in 2022, and added the general manager title in 2023. In four years with Wallin on the bench, the Mariners posted a 140-125-23 record and made three playoff appearances.

Edmonton Oilers Make Multiple Coaching Changes

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Some changes are coming to the Edmonton Oilers’ coaching staff for the 2025-26 campaign. The Oilers announced they’ve hired Paul McFarland as an assistant coach, Peter Aubry as a goaltending coach, and Conor Allen as a skills coach. Making room for McFarland as an assistant, Edmonton also shared that legendary defenseman Paul Coffey will return to his previous role as a special advisor to ownership and hockey operations.

It’ll mark a return to the NHL for McFarland. He’s had three brief trips through the NHL, spending two years as an assistant coach for the Florida Panthers, one year as an assistant coach for the Toronto Maple Leafs, and three years as an assistant coach for the Seattle Kraken.

The Richmond Hill, Ontario native spent last season serving as the head coach of the WHL’s Calgary Hitmen, guiding them back into the WHL postseason. McFarland coached the Hitmen to a 45-17-3-3 record with a +83 differential. Unfortunately, their success ended relatively early, losing in the second round of the WHL playoffs to the Lethbridge Hurricanes in seven games.

Meanwhile, Aubry replaces Dustin Schwartz as the Oilers’ goaltending coach, who had been serving in the role since the 2014-15 season. Schwartz had presided over some strong play from Cam Talbot, Mikko Koskinen, and Stuart Skinner over the last decade, but the team’s performance in the crease over the past two years warranted a change in mentorship.

Despite serving as the associate coach for the NCAA’s University of Nebraska-Omaha for the past two years, Aubrey has plenty of professional experience to fall back on. He served as the developmental goaltending coach for the Chicago Blackhawks from 2015 to 2023, helping graduate prospects such as Anton Forsberg, Kevin Lankinen, and Collin Delia to the NHL level. Unfortunately, since the Blackhawks had Corey Crawford for much of Aubrey’s time, none of his proteges had a real opportunity to flourish in Chicago.

Lastly, Allen is making the long trek from Plymouth, MI, to Alberta after being an assistant coach for the U.S. National U17 team last season. He’s a veteran of 284 games at the AHL level, scoring 22 goals and 93 points with a -37 rating, and of seven NHL contests with the New York Rangers from 2013 to 2015.

Jeff Marek of Daily Faceoff was the first to report that the Oilers were expected to hire McFarland. 

Islanders Hire David Cunniff, Chad Kolarik To AHL Assistant Coach Roles

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The New York Islanders have rounded out their minor-league coaching staff, hiring David Cunniff and Chad Kolarik as assistant coaches for the Bridgeport Islanders per a team release. The duo will join recently named head coach Rocky Thompson at Bridgeport’s helm.

Both Cunniff and Kolarik have deep roots in minor-league hockey. Cunniff played through parts of three seasons in the AHL and five in the ECHL during the late-1990’s. He gained a reputation for bruising minutes, and racked up 168 penalty minutes in 62 games of the 1997-98 season at his peak. Cunniff retired at the age of 30, in the 2001-02 season, and quickly turned his sights towards a coaching career. He was hired as an assistant coach for the Cleveland Barons in the 2002-03 season, and continued on in the role for the next four seasons. He then moved on to eight seasons with the Worcester Sharks, four seasons with the Iowa Wild, one year with the Hartford Wolf Pack, and two seasons with the Utica Comets.

Cunniff’s journeyman career around AHL benches has taken him to just five postseasons over the last 22 years. He’s a stout defensively-minded coach, who should bring regiment to a Bridgeport lineup that struggled last season.

Cunniff will be complimented by rookie pro coach Kolarik. He has only appeared in one coaching season through his hockey career: an assistant coach role with the USHL’s Waterloo Black Hawks in 2021-22. Prior to then, Kolarik trekked through an international playing career. He began as a seventh-round pick in the 2004 NHL Draft, and turned towards an AHL career in the 2008-09 season. He scored 100 points in 152 games over his first three AHL seasons – enough to earn two NHL games with the 2009-10 Columbus Blue Jackets. He went without any scoring, and would continue through four more seasons as a full-time minor-leaguer, with just four more games – and one assist – in the NHL.

Kolarik opted to move to Sweden’s SHL in the 2013-14 season, kicking off a journey around European hockey. He spent two years in Sweden and one year in both Russia and Switzerland, before kicking off a three-year career in Germany’s DEL that ended with a league title. He finished his playing career with one year in Austria’s top league in the 2019-20 season. Kolarik will offer an offensive eye and rich playing experience

Pacific Notes: Woodcroft, Klingberg, Perry

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Although he failed to find a new role as a head coach in this summer’s coaching carousel, Jay Woodcroft will return to the NHL next season. According to Frank Seravalli of the Daily Faceoff, the Anaheim Ducks are expected to hire Woodcroft as an assistant coach to serve on Joel Quenneville’s staff.

It’ll be a few days before the Ducks formalize Woodcroft’s hire. His previous contract with the Edmonton Oilers runs through July 1st, so an announcement should be coming then. Woodcroft hasn’t coached in the NHL since the 2023-24 season, when he was fired as the Oilers’ head coach on November 12th.

As valuable as the Ducks likely perceive Woodcroft’s previous head coaching experience, they likely targeted him to help improve the team’s offense. The Toronto, Ontario native coached Edmonton to a 79-41-13 record in 133 games (64.3% win percentage), while the team finished eighth in GF/G at the end of the 2021-22 season, and first in the league during the 2022-23 season.

Other notes from the Pacific Division:

  • After a largely successful return to the NHL this past season with the Oilers, it doesn’t appear that defenseman John Klingberg will return to the team this summer. Speaking on the Chris Johnston Show, host Chris Johnston reported that Klingberg is likely to become an unrestricted free agent. That doesn’t necessarily mean he won’t return to Edmonton, but he may find more lucrative offers elsewhere. Although injuries limited his return during the regular season, Klingberg finished the postseason on a high note, scoring one goal and four points in 19 games with a +3 rating, averaging 19:08 of ice time per game.
  • Unlike Klingberg, the same doesn’t appear to be true regarding veteran Corey Perry. In today’s episode of Sportsnet’s Around the NHL with Elliotte Friedman, a segment on Sportsnet 590, Friedman shares that Perry and the Oilers are working towards a new deal. Assuming a relatively cheap deal for Perry, there’s little to lose for Edmonton. The 40-year-old veteran is coming off his 20th NHL season, scoring 19 goals and 30 points in 81 regular-season contests, with another 10 goals and 14 points in 22 postseason games.

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