Injury Notes: Josi, Heiskanen, Gibson, Dewar
In desperate need of a win to keep playoff hopes alive, the Nashville Predators will have to do so without a top player. Just before puck drop in Utah, the team shared that captain Roman Josi won’t play, listed as day-to-day with an upper-body injury.
The news comes as a surprise, but Josi played just 15:31 on Tuesday against Anaheim, far below his team-leading 24:50 average usage. In his place comes Jordan Oesterle, who was recalled earlier in the week with Nicolas Hague also out.
Oesterle, 33, will make his season debut having played over 60 games in the AHL for the first time since 2014-15. As far as fill-in defenders go, teams can certainly do worse than the Michigan native and his over 400 games of NHL experience. Never known for offense at the NHL level, he’s put up 46 points in 65 games with the Milwaukee Admirals, good for second on the team and by far his highest output as a pro.
For Josi to miss such a critical game, it raises the question if he’ll have to miss more of the team’s three remaining contests. Until that’s determined, Nashville must march ahead in their quest to hold off the Kings for a spot in the postseason. They’d be rewarded with a matchup against the league’s top team in Colorado. It would be an unfavorable matchup, to say the least, but a nice ending nonetheless for retiring general manager Barry Trotz.
Elsewhere across the league:
- Top defender Miro Heiskanen of the Dallas Stars left with an apparent lower body injury. He was listed as questionable by the team, but still has not returned, enough cause for concern. The superstar absorbed a routine hit from Minnesota’s Ryan Hartman, but as he fell down, his skate got caught and caused an awkward leg bend. As deep as Dallas is on the back-end, losing Heiskanen now would be devastating as they have a roster quite capable of hoisting the Stanley Cup this spring. It’s the worst fear of any top team in April. The 26-year-old leads all skaters with nearly 26 minutes a night, and fourth in team scoring with 63 points in 76 games. Still not officially ruled out, his status will be watched urgently for updates, as the Stars will be back on Saturday against the Rangers.
- Detroit Red Wings goaltender John Gibson left tonight’s contest against the Flyers with an apparent injury, listed as questionable from the team, and didn’t return. Gibson was run into by Philadelphia’s Owen Tippett, ending his night after 30:40 in the crease, giving up two goals on 15 shots. It would take a relative miracle for the Wings to make the playoffs at this point, but they did themselves favors with a win tonight. Losing Gibson for an extended time could sink remaining hopes, as the 32-year-old has outperformed Cam Talbot all year. Often injured, Gibson has managed 54 games in his first season as a Red Wing, winning 28 of them with a 2.63 goals-against-average. He’ll hope to be back by Saturday, as Detroit hosts New Jersey.
- Pittsburgh Penguins forward Connor Dewar is day-to-day with a lower-body injury, per the team, and was unable to go against New Jersey. Playing without the 26-year-old for the first time this season, the Penguins still took care of business and officially clinched a playoff spot. In 78 games on the season, Dewar has enjoyed a breakout campaign with 14 goals and 30 points, career bests by a wide margin. He has quickly found a home in Pittsburgh, playing the highest minutes of his career and anchoring the penalty kill. With three games left, Dewar figures to be back in time for the playoffs, and could return as soon as Saturday against Washington.
Lightning Activate Declan Carlile
The Tampa Bay Lightning have activated defenseman Declan Carlile off of long-term injured reserve in advance of tonight’s game against the Montreal Canadiens, according to Erik Erlendsson of Lightning Insider.
Carlile, 25, has been sidelined since March 12 with a lower-body injury. Before his injury, Carlile was in the midst of the strongest season of his career at the professional level. The former Merrimack College rearguard has flown past his prior career highs in terms of NHL games played, skating in 38 games for the Lightning this season.
Tampa Bay has developed Carlile into a valuable AHL player, and their work in growing his game has begun to bear fruit for their NHL squad. While he’s still a depth contributor for the Lightning, averaging under 15 minutes of ice time per game, he has shown some promise as a shutdown blueliner. Head coach Jon Cooper has even begun to give him some time on the penalty kill.
Set to hit restricted free agency this summer, Carlile has a big opportunity ahead of him in what remains of the season. If he can find a way to get into Cooper’s lineup in the games left in the regular season, or perhaps even crack the team’s playoff lineup, he could further increase his odds of landing a solid contract extension this summer.
This season, Carlile has played on a two-way contract with a $250K AHL salary and $350K guarantee. Given the steps forward Carlile has taken this year, it seems entirely possible, if not likely, that he’ll earn the first one-way NHL contract of his career this summer. Before he gets to that point, though, he’ll need to finish this season with the Lightning in a strong fashion.
Sabres’ Alex Lyon Suffers Lower-Body Injury
Buffalo Sabres goaltender Alex Lyon strained a lower-body muscle during yesterday’s morning skate and will be re-evaluated in a week, head coach Lindy Ruff announced today. According to Ruff, there is a chance Lyon, who leads Sabres goaltenders in games played this season, will not be fit to return in time for the start of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
Lyon’s injury throws into question who will start in net for the first game of the Sabres’ long-awaited return to the playoffs. As previously mentioned, Lyon has played the most for the team among its goalies this season, with 36 games compared to Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen‘s 34.
Luukkonen has outperformed Lyon by a slim margin in terms of the box score statistics this season, posting a .909 save percentage and 2.53 goals-against average. Lyon has a .907 save percentage and 2.74 goals against average this season, slightly lower than Luukkonen on both counts. But Lyon has the advantage in terms of goals saved above expected, as tracked by Natural Stat Trick.
Since the calendar flipped to 2026, things have been headed more in the direction of Luukkonen. He’s played in 21 games compared to Lyon’s 15 in the new year, and has a .910 save percentage compared to Lyon’s .906 in that span. It could be that, even not factoring in Lyon’s injury, Ruff was already more likely to begin the team’s playoff run with Luukkonen in the crease, rather than Lyon. Today’s injury news has only furthered that likelihood.
It is worth mentioning, though, that the one area where Lyon has a clear advantage over Luukkonen is an important one: playoff experience. Luukkonen hasn’t backstopped a team on a playoff run since his days in the OHL with the Sudbury Wolves, which was back in the 2018-19 season. Lyon, on the other hand, has a more extensive, and more recent, track record in the postseason. He put up a .944 save percentage in 11 playoff games in 2017-18 with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, and backstopped the Chicago Wolves to a Calder Cup championship in 2021-22, posting a .923 save percentage on their run.
Lyon has even won a playoff game in the NHL. He was the starter for the Panthers in the first three games of their run in the 2023 playoffs, winning the second game of the series in Boston. While he eventually lost the starting role to star Sergei Bobrovsky, he nonetheless got valuable playoff experience, something Luukkonen doesn’t yet have. Whether that will factor into Ruff’s decision-making later this month remains to be seen, but what is clear is that Lyon’s injury means Luukkonen is overwhelmingly likely to be the one in the crease when the Sabres begin their first playoff trip in over a decade.
Dmitry Kulikov Out For The Season; Panthers Recall Two From AHL
An already long injury list in Florida has gotten even longer. Speaking with reporters following Tuesday’s game against Montreal (video link), Panthers head coach Paul Maurice indicated that defenseman Dmitry Kulikov sustained a broken finger and will not return this season.
Kulikov, who was already playing with a broken nose, returned to the lineup at the beginning of March after missing nearly five months following an upper-body injury sustained in the second game of the season. As a result, Kulikov winds up with just 19 appearances on the 2025-26 campaign. He was held without a point in those outings along with an ATOI of 18:02. The 35-year-old has two years left on his contract with a $1.15MM AAV.
In corresponding moves, Florida has recalled defensemen Mikulas Hovorka and Ludvig Jansson from AHL Charlotte, per the AHL’s transactions log. As a result of these promotions, the Panthers are down to just two contracted blueliners who aren’t on their active roster: prospects Marek Alscher and Evan Nause.
It’s the third recall of the season for Hovorka and the second of the month. The 24-year-old has played in three games with Florida this season, his first taste of NHL action. Hovorka is still looking for his first point at the top level while he has averaged 13:30 per night in his three outings. Meanwhile, he has played in 53 games with the Checkers, recording four goals and 12 assists, besting his 10 points in 60 contests last season.
Jansson, meanwhile, is getting his first promotion. The 22-year-old is in his first season in North America after signing an entry-level deal with Florida last May. So far, Jansson has 10 points in 29 games which is more production than his final two years in Sweden combined. As the injuries continue to pile up, he may get a chance to make his NHL debut over the next few games.
Snapshots: Kadri, Chatfield, Predators
The Colorado Avalanche shared that Nazem Kadri wouldn’t return against St. Louis as a result of an upper-body injury. It was not immediately evident where the ailment occurred.
Since returning to the Avs at the trade deadline, Kadri has served a middle six role, few teams offering a player of his caliber at third line center. In 15 games so far he’s recorded nine points, clearly no longer the elite scorer at age 35, but a strong player nonetheless.
Kadri’s corsi for at five-on-five expectedly jumped to 55%, although his 52% mark in Calgary was already admirable on a struggling team as opposed to the league’s best. Fully evident of his role change, he’s starting just under 52% of shifts in the defensive zone under head coach Jared Bednar, a drastic flip from his nearly 67% on the attack as a Flame.
With this in mind, Kadri plays a crucial role with match-ups, should the Avalanche go on a deep run this spring. Postgame updates will be watched closely, with the hope that he’ll be good to go for the club’s next game, Thursday, as they host his former team of the Flames.
Elsewhere across the league:
- Carolina Hurricanes head coach Rod Brind’Amour had no postgame update on Jalen Chatfield, noted by Cory Lavalette of The North State Journal. The defenseman left in the third period, bothered with a lower-body injury, and didn’t return. Carolina clinched their Metropolitan Division crown with a back-and-forth overtime win over Boston, but it would be costly if they lost Chatfield for any extended period. At age 29, the shutdown man is averaging over 20 minutes for the first time in his career, continuing to show outstanding possession metrics in a real second pairing role. The Canes will hope Chatfield is back for one of their four remaining regular season games, as soon as Thursday in Chicago.
- Insider Frank Seravalli of Frankly Hockey believes the Nashville Predators will explore former Devils general manager Tom Fitzgerald as a candidate, as noted in the April 7 edition of the podcast. Fired by New Jersey just yesterday, Seravalli suspects that the timing was with this in mind. The 57-year-old is a natural fit with the Predators, having served as their inaugural captain, playing alongside current head coach Andrew Brunette, under the departing general manager Barry Trotz, no less. Fitzgerald stands out as a candidate with over five years of general manager experience at the NHL level, a trait favorable compared to other options. The Predators are thought to be seeking an entirely new voice, but at the very least, Fitzgerald will garner consideration.
Evening Notes: Bahl, Rasmussen, Roadrunners
The Calgary Flames revealed mid-game that Kevin Bahl would not return in Dallas due to a lower-body injury. Bahl went in to deliver a routine check on Thomas Harley, catching an edge badly on his right leg. He completed the hit but immediately favored his knee.
The 25-year-old is hardly a household name, but he’s been a steady presence in Calgary all year. Bahl leads all Flames skaters in ice time at 22:13 a night, serving as a top pairing minute-eater, playing in 75 games and missing just one to this point. His efforts are worthy of a long term extension in Calgary which was inked last June.
Hardly expected to drive offense, Bahl has set a career high with four goals as part of his 18 points across the campaign. His 46.8% corsi for at five-on-five is respectable considering the 6’6” lefty’s workload on a bottom feeding team.
Calgary will hope he’s back for a tall task on Thursday in Colorado, but firmly in the basement, the priority will be Bahl reaching full health as they look ahead to 2026-27.
Elsewhere across the league:
- Detroit Red Wings forward Michael Rasmussen left against Columbus with a lower-body injury and won’t return, per the team. It’s not immediately clear what happened, but his night ended after 10 shifts at 7:57. Turning 27 in 10 days, it’s abundantly clear that the 6’6” center won’t live up to his 9th overall selection billing. However, Rasmussen has also struggled in a grinder role, even point totals (14) aside. With his Red Wings facing the likely disappointment of another year missing the playoffs, they could benefit from exploring a change of scenery for Rasmussen, but he’s signed for two more years at $3.2MM per season. Regardless, the British Columbia native will hope to be back for the team’s four remaining regular season games.
- The AHL’s Tucson Roadrunners, affiliates of the Utah Mammoth, announced that their lease with the City of Tucson has been extended through 2027-28. Next season will mark a decade for the franchise in Arizona, coming over from Springfield, Massachusetts in 2016. Of course, the Roadrunners’ neighboring NHL club unfortunately departed their state two years ago. However, they thankfully remain as the primary professional hockey organization in Arizona, still adoring the classic former Coyotes color scheme as they develop the next members of the Mammoth, an NHL team also not far away geographically. The Roadrunners are currently 19th in the AHL this season, led by Ben McCartney, and supplemented by several standout prospects from Utah such as Dmitri Simashev.
Avalanche’s Valeri Nichushkin, Nicolas Roy Back From Injury
The Colorado Avalanche will have to shake up their lineup in Tuesday’s game against the St. Louis Blues. Forwards Valeri Nichushkin and Nicolas Roy are both set to return from their upper-body injuries per Corey Masisak of The Denver Post. Roy was knocked out of the lineup before March 24th’s win over the Pittsburgh Penguins. It was not clear when he sustained the injury, though head coach Jared Bednar emphasized that the team was being careful to not rush him back. Nichushkin sat out of Sunday’s loss to the Blues but has otherwise had a healthy stretch as of late.
The pair of additions will bring Colorado up to a fully healthy roster, except for one crucial piece. Star defenseman Cale Makar isn’t expected to return for “a few more games” Bednar told Masisak. Makar is still expected to return before the end of the season, which would set his return as one of Colorado’s three games next week.
Colorado will wield a fully-healthy offense, plus Trade Deadline additions Nazem Kadri and Roy, for the first time with this news. The top line of Nathan MacKinnon, Martin Necas, and Artturi Lehkonen is likely inseparable, which would leave Colorado’s middle-six as the housing for Roy and Nichushkin. The latter has spent much of the year alongside Gabriel Landeskog and Brock Nelson. The trio have recorded nine goals-for and six goals-against in their time together – but Kadri’s recent run of seven points in his last 10 games could force Colorado to bump him into the top-six. If it does, Nichushkin will move to Roy’s wing on the third line, likely across from Ross Colton.
That would bring some serious firepower to the Avalanche’s bottom-six. Nichushkin has scored 15 goals and 45 points in 66 games this season. That is a 56-point scoring pace across 82 games, a mark that would narrowly beat out Nichushkin’s career-high 53 points set in 54 games of the 2023-24 season. Roy has notched three goals, 13 penalty minutes, and a minus-two in nine games since joining the Avalanche at the Trade Deadline. The combination of skill and aggression between the pair could be a secret weapon as Colorado looks to make another deep run in the playoffs.
Senators’ Thomas Chabot Could Return Ahead Of Schedule
The Ottawa Senators’ injury situation turned from bad to worse when Thomas Chabot was sidelined with a broken arm six games before Jake Sanderson returned from his own month-long absence. Chabot underwent surgery to address the injury and was expected to be out six-to-eight weeks, which would have placed his return in the Eastern Conference Finals if the Senators were still playing. Roughly two weeks later, it appears Chabot’s recovery is going better than expected. He has already returned to practice and could return ahead of his original window, head coach Travis Green told TSN’s Bruce Garrioch.
Ottawa’s blue-line has faced a long string of injuries since the start of March. The Senators were forced to lean on their few healthy veterans – Tyler Kleven, Jordan Spence, and Artem Zub – in the few games where both Chabot and Sanderson were out. They didn’t leave that plan unscathed, with Kleven sustaining a potential season-ending injury of his own. Sanderson has averaged over 25 minutes of ice time in his two games since returning to the lineup, similar to the deployment Chabot carried before his injury.
Ottawa has fought a war of attrition in their attempt to seal an Eastern Conference Wild Card. Battling through injuries, the Senators have managed the sixth-most wins in the NHL (11) since March 1st. That comes largely thanks to the offense’s scoring ability, with Ottawa also ranked eighth in total goals in that span (61). Even then, the Senators have totaled a measly 10-11-1 record in games without Chabot this season. His absence leaves a major hole in Ottawa’s top-four. He has 31 points in 55 games, second-most on the Senators’ blue-line behind Sanderson’s 49 points. He has also kept up his strong play away from the puck while usually facing opponents’ top players.
Adding Chabot back into the lineup will reinstill the Senators’ one-two punch on defense, no matter when it happens. While news of a quick recovery is an exciting boost, it seems Ottawa may still have to finish the season down a top defender. The Senators currently hold onto the second Wild Card spot with 90 points and five games left. They sit one point ahead of the New York Islanders, with a game in hand, and two points ahead of the Detroit Red Wings and Columbus Blue Jackets.
Canucks Recall Jiri Patera, Kevin Lankinen Out Day-To-Day
The Vancouver Canucks have recalled depth goaltender Jiri Patera under emergency conditions. His recall comes after Kevin Lankinen sustained a day-to-day, upper-body injury during Monday’s morning practice per Rick Dhaliwal of CHEK News. Patera will likely backup Nikita Tolopilo in Tuesday’s game against the Vegas Golden Knights if Lankinen is not ready to return.
Lankinen has been Vancouver’s de facto starter since usual starter Thatcher Demko sustained a season-ending injury in January. Lankinen recorded just one win to go with a .885 save percentage in 11 games during the month of March. That performance brought his year-long totals up to nine wins and a .875 Sv% in 44 appearances. It is the second-most Lankinen has ever played in a single NHL season after he posted 25 wins and a .902 Sv% in 51 games last season. Tolopilo hasn’t yet topped Lankinen’s performance from the backup role, with only five wins and a .880 Sv% in 18 games this season.
Those performances will set a low bar for Patera if he needs to fill out Vancouver’s roster. The 27 year old has appeared in nine NHL games before, including one this season – his only appearance with Vancouver. He has three wins and a .892 Sv% in those appearances. Patera has also recorded 11 wins and a .907 Sv% in 29 AHL games this season. He has planted his feet as a career minor-league goalie after being drafted by the Vegas Golden Knights in the sixth-round of the 2017 NHL Draft. Patera’s stint on Vancouver’s roster will likely be limited to backup duties until Lankinen is back to full health.
Injury Notes: Stars, Red Wings, Hague
The Dallas Stars have been dealing with quite a few injuries at this point in the season, and there has been some concern that the injuries could throw a wrench in the team’s plans of capturing its first Stanley Cup title since 1999. Head coach Glen Gulutzan alleviated some of that concern yesterday, when he expressed optimism to the media that the Stars would be getting back several of their injured players over the next two weeks. In particular, he noted that injured center Roope Hintz, one of the team’s most consistent forwards, is nearing a return to full health.
Hintz has been out since March 6 with a lower-body injury. He has 15 goals and 44 points in 53 games this season, and is Dallas’ No. 2 center behind Wyatt Johnston. Also injured for the Stars is Tyler Seguin, who suffered a torn ACL and is out for the season. Among the players Gulutzan indicated would at some point return in time for the playoffs are Radek Faksa (day-to-day, UBI), Sam Steel (day-to-day, LBI), Nathan Bastian (undisclosed), Michael Bunting (day-to-day, LBI) and Tyler Myers (undisclosed).
Other injury notes from around the NHL:
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- After the Detroit Red Wings’ deflating loss to the New York Rangers yesterday, head coach Todd McLellan told the media that veteran defenseman Justin Faulk and forward Mason Appleton are both questionable to play in today’s game against the Minnesota Wild. Faulk did not play Saturday in New York as the result of an upper-body injury, while Appleton sat out Saturday’s game with a lower-body injury. Appleton’s fourth-line right wing role was taken on by veteran Dominik Shine yesterday. Jacob Bernard-Docker was elevated onto the second pairing to fill Faulk’s shoes, allowing rookie Axel Sandin-Pellika to draw back into the lineup.
- Nashville Predators defenseman Nicolas Hague left yesterday’s crucial win over the San Jose Sharks with an undisclosed injury, according to a team announcement. Hague missed some time earlier this season with a lower-body injury, though it is unclear at this point if what sidelined him yesterday is related to that ailment. Hague has been Nashville’s No. 3 defenseman this season, averaging 19:37 time on ice per game. He’s also a leading penalty killer for the club, averaging 2:04 per game while short-handed. The extent of Hague’s injury has yet to be revealed, but his status before the team’s all-important game Monday against the Los Angeles Kings will be important to track. If he ends up unable to dress for that game, the team is likely to rely more heavily on third-pairing left-shot defenseman Adam Wilsby.