Evening Notes: Tortorella, Lohrei, Olivier, Bunting
Earlier this afternoon, the Vegas Golden Knights sent waves through the NHL by firing head coach Bruce Cassidy and replacing him with veteran bench boss John Tortorella. Still, the Golden Knights didn’t give Tortorella a long leash.
According to TSN’s Darren Dreger, Tortorella’s contract with Vegas only runs through the rest of the 2025-26 season. He’ll be guaranteed the last eight games of the regular season for the Golden Knights, and, assuming they make the playoffs, their last game of the postseason. Unless an extension is agreed to beforehand, the Golden Knights may be looking for a new head coach in a few months.
It’s a similar move to what the Columbus Blue Jackets did with Rick Bowness, albeit with much more time remaining in the season. However, even if the Tortorella experiment isn’t fruitful, the Golden Knights could explore a reunion with Peter DeBoer, hire Jay Woodcroft away from the Anaheim Ducks, or take a run at David Carle at the University of Denver. That’s all before any other teams make changes leading into the summer.
Additional evening notes:
- The Boston Bruins were without one of their top-four defensemen in their comeback win over the Blue Jackets earlier today. Before the game, Boston’s play-by-play broadcaster, Ryan Johnson, shared that Mason Lohrei is dealing with a minor lower-body injury and is considered day-to-day. Despite the Bruins’ success, Lohrei has had a difficult month, scoring one goal and two points in 14 games with a +2 rating.
- On the other side of the game, the Blue Jackets lost middle-six forward Mathieu Olivier to an upper-body injury during the game, as announced by the club. Olivier skated in 3:06 of action across six shifts, registering one shot on goal and two hits. His injury is likely connected to fighting Bruins forward Mark Kastelic late in the first period.
- Already dealing with a few injuries to their forward corps, the trend continues for the Dallas Stars. During their ongoing contest against the Philadelphia Flyers, the Stars shared that Michael Bunting is unlikely to return due to a lower-body injury. Bunting has not returned after skating for six shifts, and the injury update was vague.
West Notes: Hintz, Faksa, Helenius, Hejduk
The Dallas Stars got a major boost to their forward corps yesterday when they welcomed back Mikko Rantanen. Unfortunately, they’ll likely have to wait until the Stanley Cup playoffs to have all of their forward depth back.
According to the deputy managing editor, Adam Kimelman, injured forwards Roope Hintz and Radek Faksa are more than a week and a half away from returning. Still, they are making positive strides in their recoveries, as both skated today and are expected to return for the postseason.
Like Rantanen, Faksa is dealing with an injury he suffered during the Winter Olympics in Milan. Meanwhile, Hintz has been recovering from a lower-body injury he suffered during the Stars’ loss to the Colorado Avalanche on March 6th. Regardless, being one of only two teams to have already clinched a spot in the 2026 Stanley Cup playoffs, the Stars will spend their remaining nine games ensuring home-ice advantage against the Minnesota Wild in Round One.
Additional notes from the Western Conference:
- Team content manager, Zach Dooley, shared that the Los Angeles Kings were without forward Samuel Helenius at practice today. Dooley indicated that Helenius was “dinged up” in the Kings’ loss to the Utah Mammoth last night and is considered day-to-day with an undisclosed injury. Helenius, 23, is in his second year with Los Angeles, registering four goals and eight points in 45 games throughout his sophomore campaign.
- The ECHL affiliate of the Colorado Avalanche, the Utah Grizzlies, has brought in the son of one of the franchise’s former legends. According to Brogan Houston of Deseret News Sports, the Grizzlies have signed Marek Hejduk, son of Milan Hejduk, to a professional contract. Hejduk recently concluded his collegiate career at Harvard University, scoring two goals and seven points in 32 games throughout his senior season. Over his entire tenure with the Crimson, Hejduk registered 17 goals and 32 points in 124 contests.
Injury Notes: Penguins, Voronkov, Bastian
Pittsburgh Penguins legends Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin both were full participants in practice today, while Bryan Rust and Noel Acciari were absent for maintenance days, reported by Michelle Crechiolo, Penguins Team Reporter.
Head coach Dan Muse went on to say that all besides Malkin will travel with the team for tomorrow’s game at the Islanders, while his status requires further evaluation.
Crosby left mid-game at Ottawa last week, and missed yesterday’s 6-3 loss to Dallas. Meanwhile, Malkin has been out for the Pens’ last three games. As a result, they’ve secured just two points in that time while short handed up front. Pittsburgh has just one regulation win in their last seven tries, but the team is still expected to return to the postseason this year and cap off an impressive rejuvenating campaign.
Even if they’re not back to full strength tomorrow in a big inter-divisional tilt on Long Island, Muse should have his stars back in time for Tuesday against the desperate Red Wings.
Elsewhere across the league:
- The Blue Jackets will be missing Dmitri Voronkov tonight against Boston, per Aaron Portzline of The Athletic. The forward left their last game after blocking a shot in the hand area. He’s thought to be week-to-week. Voronkov has 32 points in 63 games, a slight dip from last year’s breakout 47 point effort. The numbers are hardly an issue as he’s mainly deployed in a complementary role, and the team supplemented their forward corps by adding Mason Marchment and Conor Garland. Currently holding onto the second Wild Card spot, the club hopes they’ll be playing into late April, enough time for Voronkov to return.
- Stars forward Nathan Bastian won’t play tonight in Philadelphia, noted by Mike Heika, Senior Staff Writer for Stars.com. The forward was injured last night against the Penguins after a hand injury from a shot, similar to Voronkov’s above, and left mid-game. As a result Adam Erne will fill in. Both Bastian and Erne are virtually identical in their roles for the Stars. The former second-round picks were both signed for $775k to provide fourth line depth for the high flying club. Bastian has played 36 games so far to Erne’s 37. They have essentially the same stat lines, with six and five goals respectively, one assist each.
Blackhawks’ Artyom Levshunov Suffers Hand Fracture
Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Artyom Levshunov sustained a fracture in his left hand last Tuesday against the Islanders and played through it in the two games since, reported by Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times.
Requiring further evaluation, he’s now set to depart the lineup starting tonight against New Jersey. Kevin Korchinski will fill in after he was recalled this morning.
With just nine games left on the schedule, it’s unclear how long Levshunov could be out, and if his season has come to an end. With no drop in usage since the injury, it’s unexpected news, however the last few games playing unhealthy haven’t necessarily been kind to the youngster who has been a -5 since the Islanders contest.
It has been a tough campaign for the 2024 second overall pick. Still at just 20-years-old, he has been thrown into the fire as a top defender, currently ranking third on the team in ice time at 19:35 a night. The Blackhawks have showcased progression this season, but the results still aren’t pretty. Levshunov’s -41 ranks dead last in the league, with a sub-par 45% corsi for at five-on-five.
In more encouraging news, Levshunov has posted 24 points, his offensive ability on display as he gels with the team’s skilled young core. There have been bright spots in his heavy usage, mostly on the power play, amidst the growing pains.
The 6’2” righty absolutely has top pairing upside, and facing a difficult learning curve is common for such defensive prospects. Doing so on a bottom-ranked team doesn’t do any favors, either. However, it may be time for Chicago to reevaluate their development plans for Levshunov, giving him a bit more shelter.
Holding the most cap space in the entire league, the Blackhawks would benefit from adding an experienced top four-capable defenseman this summer to help out their extremely young blueline. Even if done so in another cap-casualty type trade which netted them more assets, as opposed to an aggressive big free agency ticket, it would be similar to how the additions of 31-year-olds Tyler Bertuzzi and Teuvo Teräväinen have paid dividends up front.
Regardless, even if his 2025-26 has come to an untimely end, it may be best to simply take the time to get healthy. Looking ahead to a fresh start next fall and building off his 86 games of learning so far, Chicago doesn’t have much at stake in April to rush Levshunov back for.
Evening Notes: Musa, Stramel, Spurgeon
The scoring leader for the University of Massachusetts has spurned multiple NHL teams to return to Amherst for his senior season. According to Mark Divver of the New England Hockey Journal, forward Jack Musa has turned down interest from several NHL teams, including the Boston Bruins, to return to the Minutemen for the 2026-27 NCAA season.
It’s a fairly surprising update given Musa’s production throughout his collegiate career. Undrafted, Musa, 22, has scored 46 goals and 100 points in 111 games with a +40 rating since debuting in the 2023-24 season. This season, leading the team in scoring, Musa finished with 16 goals and 36 points in 34 games.
If Musa continues his scoring pace for his senior campaign, he has a good chance of breaking school records. At the time of writing, forward Bobby Trivigno ranks fourth all-time in program scoring with 131 points, and Musa will have a good opportunity to break it. Unfortunately, unless he finds a completely different level, he’s unlikely to surpass Warren Norris, who scored 155 points from 1993-1997.
More evening updates:
- Not only did Minnesota Wild prospect Charlie Stramel lose the last game of his collegiate career, but he also left the game with a broken ankle. According to Dylan Loucks of The Hockey News, Stramel, 21, left the first period against his former club, the University of Wisconsin, after taking a shot off his ankle. The Michigan State University Spartan finished his senior campaign with 19 goals and 44 points in 37 games.
- The Minnesota Wild were without their captain tonight in their loss against the Boston Bruins. In an update from head coach John Hynes, defenseman Jared Spurgeon wasn’t available today due to a lower-body injury, and he is expected to miss the next few games. Fortunately, the Wild have a few days until their upcoming matchup against the Vancouver Canucks, so Spurgeon will likely return then.
East Notes: Ostlund, Voronkov, Gostisbehere
The Buffalo Sabres may be without one of their up-and-coming players for some time. According to Bill Hoppe of the Times Herald, Noah Ostlund‘s upper-body injury is expected to take some time to recover from.
Fortunately, the Sabres can afford to give Ostlund all the time he needs. Although the team hasn’t technically qualified for the postseason yet, MoneyPuck gives Buffalo a 99.94% chance of making the postseason, which is essentially a lock. All that matters now is where they’ll finish.
Like many of his teammates, Ostlund has had a quality 2025-26 campaign. Throughout his second season, the former 16th-overall pick has scored 16 goals and 27 points in 60 games, averaging 13:58 of ice time per game.
Additional notes from the Eastern Conference:
- The Columbus Blue Jackets didn’t exit the ice tonight with just a regulation loss. Before the conclusion of the game, the Blue Jackets announced that winger Dmitri Voronkov had left the game with an upper-body injury. Before leaving the game with an injury, Voronkov registered 4:03 of ice time in seven shifts, adding one blocked shot and two hits.
- Defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere was welcomed back to the Carolina Hurricanes tonight after missing the last nine games with a lower-body injury. The offensive blueliner picked up right where he left off, scoring one goal and two points tonight with a +1 rating, accruing 17:42 of ice time.
Pacific Notes: Gudas, Mintyukov, Wright, Romani
The Anaheim Ducks were playing fairly shorthanded in today’s loss to the Edmonton Oilers. Ahead of the game, the Ducks announced that defensemen Radko Gudas and Pavel Mintyukov would miss due to lower-body injuries.
Gudas, 35, only recently returned from a five-game suspension for a knee-on-knee hit on Auston Matthews that cost the latter his season. Meanwhile, Mintyukov, 22, hasn’t missed a game for Anaheim since the Olympic break, scoring two goals and five points in 16 games.
The lack of defensive depth showed tonight, but not to a significant degree. The Ducks have typically averaged 28 shots against this season, and allowed 34 shots to the Oilers tonight, who also had three power plays. Anaheim didn’t indicate how long either defenseman was expected to miss with their respective injuries.
Additional notes from the Pacific Division:
- In tonight’s game between the Seattle Kraken and Buffalo Sabres, the former will leave with some injury concerns for their center corps. After only 3:36 of ice time, the Kraken announced that center Shane Wright exited the game due to injury. Wright was not obviously injured during a specific play, but he had been hurt in Thursday’s game against the Tampa Bay Lightning, which means he may have started tonight’s game in discomfort.
- According to Rick Dhaliwal of The Athletic, the Vancouver Canucks are not expected to sign recent sixth-round pick Anthony Romani to his entry-level contract. Romani, playing at Michigan State University, had his season ended today in overtime against the University of Wisconsin. Romani had 14 goals and 27 points in 36 games this season, and is expected to return to the Spartans for his sophomore season.
Penguins Recall Rutger McGroarty, Assign Two To AHL
As the Penguins continue their battle for a playoff spot, they’ve made a trio of roster moves. The team announced (Twitter link) that winger Rutger McGroarty has been recalled from AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. In corresponding moves, winger Avery Hayes and center Joona Koppanen were both sent back down after being brought up on Thursday.
It’s the third recall of the season for McGroarty. He played in 20 games between his first two stints with the big club, collecting two goals and three assists in a little under 12 minutes per night of ice time. The 21-year-old also had three points in eight contests last season. Meanwhile, in the minors, McGroarty has been quite productive, checking in at just over a point per game with seven goals and 19 assists in 25 appearances to earn this promotion.
Hayes, meanwhile, made quite the first impression in his NHL debut last month when he scored twice against Buffalo. However, he has been held off the scoresheet since then over several different stints with Pittsburgh and has only played more than 10 minutes once in the last five games so a chance to go back to a top-six scoring role might be best right now. The 23-year-old has 20 goals in just 38 games with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, while tacking on a dozen assists as well.
As for Koppanen, he got into ten games with Pittsburgh over the first two months of the season (where he picked up one assist) but has yet to play at the top level since then. He’s producing at a reasonable clip in the minors with seven goals and 12 assists through 37 games, the second-best point-per-game rate of his career.
Meanwhile, the team also announced (Twitter link) that they’ll be without two key veterans today against Dallas. Sidney Crosby left Thursday’s game with a lower-body injury and is listed as day-to-day while Evgeni Malkin’s upper-body injury that he sustained last weekend will keep him out again; he’s also day-to-day. Crosby has 28 goals and 36 assists through 61 games this season, keeping his career-long point-per-game streak intact. Meanwhile, Malkin is also over the point-per-game mark for the first time since 2022-23 with 15 goals and 37 assists through 50 appearances.
Injury Updates: Steel, Honzek, Jets
Stars center Sam Steel has returned home early from their road trip due to an undisclosed injury sustained on Thursday, relays team reporter Mike Heika (Twitter link). With three games left on the trip, it stands to reason that he’ll now be out at least that long. The 28-year-old is in the middle of a career year, posting 12 goals and 21 assists through 72 appearances. Dallas is now down to just 12 healthy forwards at the moment although the hope is that winger Mikko Rantanen may be ready to return for one of their games this weekend.
Other injury news from around the NHL:
- Flames forward Samuel Honzek returned to practice today for the first time since suffering an upper-body injury in a collision with teammate Mikael Backlund back in mid-November, reports Danny Austin of the Calgary Herald. However, the team has already indicated that even though he’s skating ahead of schedule, he remains out for the season. The 21-year-old was a first-round pick in 2023 and had four points in 18 games. While he won’t be able to add to that total, the fact that he’s back on the ice now suggests he’ll be primed for a full offseason and perhaps a stint for Slovakia at the Worlds in May.
- While the Jets needed to bring two players up under emergency conditions today, that situation may not exist for too long. Mike McIntyre of the Winnipeg Free Press mentions that forwards Nino Niederreiter and Vladislav Namestnikov are on Winnipeg’s road trip and could be options to return within the next week. Both veterans are in the middle of down years, with Niederreiter notching just 19 points in 55 games and Namestnikov currently with only 13 points in 57 contests. However, both would still be viewed as welcome returns next week as the team looks to hang around in the battle for a Wild Card spot.
Sharks Recall Laurent Brossoit
The San Jose Sharks have recalled depth goaltender Laurent Brossoit from the AHL. He will help shore up the depth chart after starter Yaroslav Askarov was injured in the second period of Thursday’s game against the St. Louis Blues per Curtis Pashelka of Bay Area News Group. Askarov was injured after Blues winger Nathan Walker was knocked into the crease by Sharks defenseman Vincent Desharnais. The Sharks haven’t yet designated the nature of Askarov’s injury.
Thursday marked Askarov’s return from a previous injury that held him out of 16 days and seven games. He has served as San Jose’s go-to goaltender when healthy. Playing through his first season in a full-time NHL role, Askarov has recorded 19 wins, an .887 save percentage, and a 3.52 goals-against-average through 41 games.
Brossoit made his own return from injury in early December. He played his first games of the season with the AHL’s Rockford IceHogs, after missing the entirety of the 2024-25 season with multiple lower-body injuries. The Sharks traded for Brossoit in early January. He quickly took over the starting role for the San Jose Barracuda, where he has posted an impressive 11 wins and .915 save percentage in 15 appearances. On the long haul back from injury, the former William M. Jennings Trophy-winner received his first call up to the Sharks roster on March 13th. He played in his first NHL game since April, 2024 two days later and allowed six goals on 23 shots in a 4-7 loss to the Ottawa Senators.
Brossoit moved to the backup role for the remainder of Askarov’s absence, then returned to the AHL with a 31-save performance on Wednesday. Now, another injury to Askarov will pull Brossoit back into the NHL, where he’ll continue to backup Alex Nedeljkovic. It is unclear if he’ll have a chance at returning to the starter’s crease, though another NHL appearance will mean a chance to get back on track after a rough return to the league.