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Alex Galchenyuk “Week-To-Week”, Will Miss Opening Night

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Late last week, it was reported that Arizona Coyotes forward Alex Galchenyuk had been sidelined with an injury. However, the team had not yet evaluated the injury or its severity. Head coach Rick Tocchet was tight-lipped about how it occurred, what type of injury it might be, or how long Galchenyuk could be out for. It seems now that the team has taken the proper time to consider Galchenyuk’s status and the results are not optimal. Arizona announced that Galchenyuk is “week-to-week” with a lower body injury and is expected to miss the team’s opener in Dallas on October 4th.

Missing just one game would be a best case scenario at this point, as there continues to be a lack of details or answers regarding this injury. As the Coyotes biggest off-season acquisition, there was a lot of hype and excitement surrounding the young scoring forward entering this season. Beginning the season without him is less than ideal, but even hinting at a long-term injury would be a tough pill for fans to swallow before the season even begins. “Week-to-week” is a difficult time frame to estimate, especially for a player who has been rather resilient in his career. However, when Galchenyuk did suffer a serious knee injury in 2016-17, he had a tough time getting healthy and would up missing 21 games over two stints on the injured reserve. A similar outlook for this mysterious lower-body ailment would be disastrous for Arizona.

Early indications had Galchenyuk not at center, but at left wing for the Coyotes and certainly in the top-six. Until he returns, his spot will likely return to what it was last season – a revolving door of options including Richard Panik, Brendan Perlini, Mario Kempe, and Lawson Crouse. That lineup is even less appealing than last year, when Max Domi (traded for Galchenyuk), Jordan Martinook (also traded), Tobias Rieder and Anthony Duclair (free agency) were also in the mix. The ’Yotes have to hope that the rest of their forward corps can pick up the slack and could use a hot start from free agent addition Michael Grabner and rookie Dylan Strome. Either way, the team will need Galchenyuk back as soon as possible if they want to take a step forward this season.

Bruins Face Threat Of History Repeating Itself

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The problem that every team wants to have is being too deep. Having a redundancy of talent is nothing to complain about. However, it does make for hard decisions and sometime losing players on waivers or regretting not signing an impressive camp invitee. The Boston Bruins learned this the hard way in 2015-16, when Lee Stempniak worked out with the team all off-season and early in camp only to sign with the New Jersey Devils when no offer came from Boston. The Bruins then had to give up a second- and fourth-round pick to acquire Stempniak at the trade deadline, whose 41 points at that point would have been of use to the team all season long. The Bruins are a much improved team entering 2018-19 than they were three years ago, and are unlikely to be as negatively impacted by a bad call, but still want to make the best decision for the team.

Naturally, Stempniak as well as Daniel Winnik have been in camp on PTO’s and have looked surprisingly good. Winnik looked like one of the Bruins’ best skaters in their first two preseason games and has a goal and an assist through four games, while Stempniak has dominated the team’s last two preseason games, racking up a goal and four assists with a hand in nearly every Bruins tally. Stempniak and Winnik may be 35 and 33 years old respectively, but both are proven veterans with the versatility to play multiple roles. The hard-nosed Winnik, who totaled 23 points with the Minnesota Wild last year, might be better suited for a fourth-line role, while the keen-eyed Stempniak could bounce back from an injury-plagued season with the Carolina Hurricanes to be a serviceable middle-six replacement option. There is no doubt after this preseason that both experienced forward can still help an NHL team, but are either the right call for the Bruins?

The Athletic’s Dom Luszczyszyn recently analyzed the Bruins roster and found data to support the claim that the Bruins have eight forwards who are of top-six caliber, among the best count in the league. Of course, the top line of Patrice Bergeron between Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak is set, while David Krejci and Jake DeBrusk won’t be splitting apart on the second line. One of rookie Ryan Donato or sophomore Danton Heinen will play the off-wing on that line, with the other lining up naturally on the left side with David Backes at right wing. There are the eight top-six forwards, none of whom are losing ice time to Stempniak or Winnik. However, the Bruins also invested in their fourth line this off-season, bringing in Chris Wagner and Joakim Nordstrom to complement Sean Kuraly and Noel Acciari. Winnik would seem like a fit with that group as well, but five veteran grinders fighting for three fourth line spots may not be Boston’s best use of roster space. Finally, the Bruins seem committed to giving a prospect a shot at centering the third line, with Trent Frederic, Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson, and Jack Studnicka all trying out in camp. Winnik or Stempniak would seemingly only make sense if the Bruins had doubts about all three of those options handling the position. Even as injury fallback options, there is a logjam. Anders Bjork and Peter Cehlarik are both young forwards with NHL experience currently slotted for AHL assignment who could benefit from increased opportunity.

Then again, feeling content with the roster is what caused the Bruins to pass up on Stempniak the first time around. Given that Bergeron, Kuraly, and Acciari are all dealing with injuries currently, the team could opt to sign Winnik or Stempniak for the time being and deal with the roster management down the road. Boston could also avoid the sunk-cost bias associated with their recent signing of Nordstrom, who very well could be an inferior option to either of the veterans. At a $1MM salary, the Bruins could completely bury Nordstrom’s cap hit in the minors if he were to clear waivers. Such a decision would then clear room for Stempniak or Winnik (or both) to join the team. There is no easy answer and lots of moving pieces, but Boston knows as well as any one how a training camp roster decision can come back to haunt a team.

Ryan Kesler Cleared For Contact, Aiming For Season Opener

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At one point this off-season, there were major questions about Ryan Kesler’s health and whether the Anaheim Ducks center would play at all in 2018-19. While Kesler has a ways to go before he is back at 100%, he is certainly trending in the right direction and far from the doomsday speculation. According to The Athletic’s Eric Stephens, Kesler has been cleared for contact and may even be available to the Ducks when the team debuts this season on October 3rd.

Kesler, 34, has been dealing with chronic hip issues for the past two seasons. After undergoing surgery during the 2017 off-season, Kesler began last season on the injured reserve and missed the Ducks’ first 37 games of the season. Yet, even once he returned, Kesler was still plagued by a sore hip and it showed in his play. He registered only 14 points in 44 games, saw a decrease in ice time, and was even forced to sit for a game and leave several others early. Kesler continued to rehab his hip this summer, but both he and the Ducks were unsure what the results would be in camp.

Per Stephens, Kesler’s performance to this point has been far better than expectations. Kesler has been skating throughout camp, but working separately from the rest of the team. That changed yesterday, when Kesler finally took part in line rushes and contact drills. Now the only question is how his body handles this increased workload. If Kesler is able to get back to full strength and work through a healthy level of pain management, then perhaps an opening night appearance is not out of the realm of possibility. However, working slowly and avoiding any further setbacks will be the primary focus of Kesler and the team.

Kings Loan Jacob Moverare To SHL’s Frolunda HC

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Los Angeles Kings defensive prospect Jacob Moverare is on the move. After being cut from Kings camp and assigned to Ontario of the AHL on Saturday, the Swedish Hockey League’s Frolunda HC announced today that the 20-year-old blue liner will join their team for the remainder of the season. Moverare has played the past two seasons in North America with the OHL’s Mississauga Steelheads, but will now return to his native Sweden for the foreseeable future.

While it is not out of the ordinary to see a loan of this kind for a young foreign player, the circumstances are somewhat unique. Moverare is not a stranger to the SHL, skating in four games at the top level as a teenager in 2015-16; however, he was brought up in the developmental system of HV71. By now joining Frolunda, it seems likely that Moverare and his agent were given permission to negotiate a new contract in SHL, rather than simply re-joining his old squad. In Frolunda’s press release, Moverare acknowledges that he worked out with the team this summer and felt comfortable skating with the squad this year.

Moverare’s loan should not be considered any indication that he won’t be back in North America in the future. The 2016 fourth-round pick has shown considerable ability and is simply a victim of the numbers game for L.A. Moverare, a right-shot, puck-moving defenseman, plays a strong, competitive game and is known for his vision and positioning on the ice. In Mississauga, Moverare was a productive player who often paired with Vegas Golden Knights prospect Nic Hague to form a formidable duo. However, after missing time last season due to injury, the Kings made the decision that the best thing for his development this year would be guaranteed ice time, which may have been hard to come by with Ontario. Los Angeles has 16 other defensemen under contract, and even with seven or eight slated for L.A., it would have left at least nine in Ontario prior to Moverare’s loan. Rather than compete for ice time with NHL-ready prospects like Daniel Brickley, Kale Clague, and Alex Lintuniemi or veterans such as Kurtis MacDermid and Paul LaDue, it makes more sense for Moverare to spend the season with Frolunda, where he will likely have a regular top-six role.

Eastern Notes: Green, Murray, Neuvirth, Schneider, Ferland

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The Detroit Red Wings have been without defenseman Mike Green since the Traverse City portion of training camp ended when Green complained of fatigue. However, the worst of it is behind him, according to Red Wings’ general manager Ken Holland, who says that according to a infectious disease specialist, Green is “on the backside” of a viral infection, according to Detroit Free-Press’ Helene St. James.

While there is no firm timetable of a return, the team is preparing for the upcoming regular season without Green’s availability.

“Once he feels better, we’ll gradually start to push him a little bit and if his body doesn’t respond, we’ll back off and wait a few more days,” said Holland. “It’s sort of like concussion protocol – slowly see how a player responds. We have no time frame for when he will rejoin the team.”

The team will likely keep two of their four defensive prospects to open up the season for Detroit in Dennis Cholowski, Filip Hronek, Joe Hicketts and Libor Sulak. The Athletic’s Max Bultman (subscription required) handicapped each of the four blueliners chances of making the team.

  • Injuries continue to plague Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman Ryan Murray, who has been out since Tuesday after getting kicked in between the legs in their preseason games against the Chicago Blackhawks. The Athletic’s Aaron Portzline confirms it’s not a back injury, which has been an issue with him in the past, but a groin problem. He suffered a soft-tissue groin injury and could be out between a couple to a few weeks.
  • It doesn’t look like Philadelphia Flyers backup goaltender Michal Neuvirth will be ready for the regular season opener after injuring his groin on Friday, according to Philly.com’s Sam Carchidi. That likely means that the Flyers will start the season with Anthony Stolarz as the team’s backup to Brian Elliott, although Carchidi suggests that 20-year-old phenom Carter Hart is making a strong bid for the opening night roster. “There haven’t been many huge peaks or valleys in his play, and that’s a good place to start when you’re battling for an NHL job,” head coach Dave Hakstol said about the 20-year-old.
  • The Athletic’s Corey Masisak reports that New Jersey Devils goaltender Cory Schneider expects to go to Europe with the team for a preseason game in Bern, Switzerland, on Oct. 1. “We’ll see where it goes from there,” Schneider said. The 32-year-old goaltender, who is recovering from hip surgery practiced with the team’s second unit today and stayed on the ice for extra drills with Keith Kinkaid.
  • Michael Smith of NHL.com reports that Carolina Hurricanes forward Micheal Ferland is dealing with a lower-body injury and is day-to-day, but head coach Rod Brind’Amour said he will hold Ferland out of the lineup for the rest of preseason.

Central Notes: Fabbri, Crawford, Boqvist, Jokiharju, Wild

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St. Louis Blues winger Robby Fabbri may have avoided a scare today when he went down in the first period of today’s preseason game in Columbus with what the team refers to as a lower-body injury. While there is no word on the severity of the injury, the St. Louis Blues tweeted that head coach Mike Yeo reported that the injury is not related to Fabbri’s knee. In fact, St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s Tom Timmermann tweeted that he saw Fabbri walking around after the game as if nothing was wrong.

Optimism had started to grow in St. Louis considering how good Fabbri has looked in training camp and the way he performed in his first preseason game. The 22-year-old showed promise with an 18-goal rookie campaign and had 11 goals in his second season before going down with a knee injury that knocked him out for the rest of the 2016-17 season. He then re-injured the knee in training camp last year and missed the entire 2017-18 season. After a rigorous rehabilitation of his knee, the team can only hope the injury isn’t too serious.

  • The Chicago Blackhawks got good news as The Athletic’s Scott Powers (subscription required) reports that goaltender Corey Crawford may be close to the next step in his recovery from a concussion last season. The scribe writes that Crawford may be ready in the near future to practice with the team after a positive report from goaltending coach Jimmy Waite. “Moving, progressing well, he had a really good day again today, getting closer,” said head coach Joel Quenneville. “I think whether they ratcheted up a little bit more in the workload, but definitely in the right direction. Getting closer to hopefully in a practice.” Quenneville avoided questions on when that might happen, however.
  • In the same piece, Powers writes that both Adam Boqvist and Henry Jokiharju are both still in play to making the Blackhawks roster, although Jokiharju is a little ahead of the two. Quenneville said that Boqvist is expected to play in all of their three exhibition games this week to get a better look at them. While it’s possible the team could keep both players, it seems more likely the team will keep just one.
  • Dan Myers of NHL.com writes that the Minnesota Wild have been really impressed by the preseason line of Jordan Greenway, Charlie Coyle and Joel Eriksson Ek. That combination of players, who have center experience, have really found cohesion in training camp. The three are solid defensively, have offensive firepower and also give the team much needed size as Eriksson Ek is the smallest of the three at 6-foot-2, 210 pounds. Greenway, the least experienced of the group at center, has taken that position over and has fared extremely well. “They just work so hard and they’re all very big and strong guys,” head coach Bruce Boudreau said. “Once they get on you, they’re like a dog on a bone.”

Atlantic Notes: Johnson, Drouin, Bruins, Outdoor Game, Lightning

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The Tampa Bay Lightning have been without winger Tyler Johnson for the last week after suffering an upper-body injury in practice. While the 28-year-old is listed as day-to-day, NHL.com’s Bryan Burns writes that Tampa Bay general manager Julien BriseBois recently hinted that Johnson could miss more time than originally expected, including possibly missing the season opener.

“We’re optimistic that he’ll be ready for the season opener but there are no guarantees,” Brisbois said. “In any event, we don’t expect this to be something that will be long term.”

Johnson is a key player on the Lightning’s top-six as he is coming off a 21-goal, 50-point season and the team needs him on the ice if it wants to make another Stanley Cup run this season.

  • Stu Cowan of the Montreal Gazette writes that Montreal Canadiens Jonathan Drouin, who spent his entire summer working on his skills at the center position was a little surprised when they moved him back to wing on the first day of training camp. “I worked on centre stuff all summer, so I was a bit surprised,” Drouin said. “Starting the season it’s easier to go from centre to wing if you’ve played that. I just need to get my feet wet more a little bit and get back to that elite winger I used to be.” Drouin hopes returning to his original position will give him a chance to develop into the elite winger that Montreal thought they were getting when they traded for him last offseason.
  • The Boston Bruins are still making decisions on who will make their opening day roster, but no matter how you look at it, some very talented youngsters will find themselves on the outside looking in, according to Joe Haggerty of NBC Sports. The scribe writes that some players will have trouble making the roster, including defenseman Matt Grzelcyk as well as Anders Bjork. Grzelcyk played in 61 games, but could find himself in a seventh-man role or worse with the depth on the team’s blueline, while a shoulder injury has hindered the chances of Bjork making the team as Ryan Donato and Danton Heinen seem to have surpassed him on the depth chart. Bjork might get a chance to return for a preseason game or two, but is it too late?
  • NHL.com’s Bryan Burns writes that the Tampa Bay Lightning owner Jeff Vinik believes the team is closing in on the possibility of getting an outdoor game as weather in February may be good enough in Tampa to host a game. However, NHL executive VP Steve Mayer countered (via The Athletic’s Joe Smith) that by saying that while Tampa Bay is one of many teams up for an outdoor game, no decisions have been made yet. An announcement won’t be made until early next year.
  • Two players who were cut by the Tampa Bay Lightning are also going down injured as defenseman Daniel Walcott is expected to be out five to six months with a shoulder injury, while forward Kevin Lynch will miss four to six weeks with a lower-body injury, according to the Lightning. Both will eventually find their way onto the Lightning’s AHL squad once they have healed.

Injury Notes: Coyotes, Blues, Capitals, Sabres

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Although the injuries have not been reported as anything major, fans of the Arizona Coyotes can’t help but feel nervous that two players expected to be major additions to the team’s forward corps this season – trade acquisition Alex Galchenyuk and top prospect Dylan Strome – are currently sidelined with injuries. The Athletic’s Craig Morgan reports that Galchenyuk is currently out with a lower-body injury and has yet to be evaluated and cleared by the medical staff, per head coach Rick Tocchet. Tocchet did not relay when and how the injury occurred and the Coyotes will have to wait for him to be examined to determine the severity and recovery time. Galchenyuk has been a very durable player to this point in his six-year career, but did struggle to return from a knee injury in 2016-17, which ended up costing him 21 games over two stints on the injured reserve. An extended absence to begin his tenure in Arizona would be an unfortunate start for Galchenyuk, who seemed primed to embrace his change of scenery. As for Strome, Morgan writes that he is considered day-to-day with an upper-body injury. One of the knocks on Strome, the third overall pick in 2015, is that he has struggled to fill out his 6’3″ frame. The lanky forward can be pushed around – and thus susceptible to injury – far too often for a player of his stature. Arizona needs Strome to get healthy and toughen up if he wants to be an impact player this season.

  • The quantity, not quality, of injuries for the St. Louis Blues is starting to become a concern. With starting goaltender Jake Allen still not ready for game action due to back spasms and Nikita Soshnikov out indefinitely with a concussion, the team also has three key forwards on the sidelines with minor injuries. The Athletic’s Jeremy Rutherford updated the statuses of David Perron, Tyler Bozak, and Robby Fabbri today. Fabbri’s injury history is well-documented; the undersized winger has had back luck with his knees, missing the final 30 regular season games and all 11 postseason games of the 2016-17 season, only to tear his ACL last preseason and miss the entire 2017-18 season. While Fabbri’s knees seem to be back at full strength, his current injuries could be related to getting back to a game level of skating. Rutherford states that Fabbri did not practice today due to a sore back and hip flexor. Fortunately, these are conditions that the young forward should be able to bounce back from very soon. Meanwhile, veteran free agent additions Perron and Bozak also missed practice today and were pulled from tonight’s preseason roster with matching groin injuries. The experienced forwards, who added significant depth for St. Louis with their signings this summer, have no previous lower-body injury history and should hopefully be back on the ice soon.
  • The Capitals have just three players who have yet to suit up for a preseason game so far: defenseman John Carlson, center Lars Eller, and winger Devante Smith-Pelly. While Carlson and Eller had documented lower-body injuries and are simply being eased back into game action, NBC Sports Washington’s J.J. Regan points out that Smith-Pelly’s absence has been more curious. In speaking with new head coach Todd Reirden, Regan discovered that Smith-Pelly’s conditioning has been an issue and he has been working toward getting back in game shape. Reirden states that the physical forward is not dealing with any injuries, but simply not yet at a level where he would benefit from playing. A short and celebratory summer likely has Smith-Pelly slightly out of shape and fatigued, but it is not an issue that seems likely to impact the regular season and certainly not a Jake Dotchin-type scenario.
  • Injury-prone Buffalo Sabres defenseman Zach Bogosian is taking it easy this preseason. Beat writer Bill Hoppe says that the veteran blue liner is being eased into camp to ensure that he is fully healthy for the start of the regular season. Bogosian has yet to skate in a preseason game and may not see much exhibition action at all. While Bogosian has a lengthy injury history that features IR stints for knees, ribs, groins, wrists, and more, it was his hip that cost Bogosian all but 18 games last year. He missed the final 39 contests after undergoing hip surgery in January. With the Sabres already fighting the injury bug, it is important that Bogosian be given the time he needs to start the season off on the right foot. Hoppe adds that while Conor Sheary appears ready to re-join the team next week, his former Pittsburgh Penguins teammate, defenseman Matt Hunwick will not. Hunwick will not be ready for the start of the regular season due to a neck injury, making Bogosian’s availability all that more important.

Loui Eriksson Out “Week-To-Week” With Lower-Body Injury

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Will Loui Eriksson ever catch a break in Vancouver? The former 30-goal scorer’s tenure with the Canucks has been an unmitigated disaster, with constant injury issues playing a role in two streaky, underwhelming seasons. Eriksson has suited up for just 115 of the Canucks’ 164 combined games over the past two seasons and has registered only 21 goals and 47 points in that time. Eriksson himself surely wants to be better, but the Canucks need him to improve at $6MM per season. The hope was the Eriksson could finally stay healthy and play up to expectations this season. That illusion has already been shattered.

The Province’s Ben Kuzma relayed bad news from Canucks head coach Travis Green earlier today. Accurately, Kuzma says “the injury bug bites Eriksson again”, as the veteran forward is considered week-to-week with a lower-body injury. Eriksson was injured blocking a shot in Vancouver’s preseason game against the Edmonton Oilers on Monday. Green describes the injury as a bone bruise to the leg, which does not sound overly serious. However, given that Eriksson missed 14 games with a knee injury last season (and another 18 with broken ribs), it is possible that the injury could be more serious if located near that same suspect area.

With free agent addition Antoine Roussel also sidelined with a concussion, and no timeline for a return, the Canucks seem likely to begin the season short-handed up front. Given the turnover for Vancouver this off-season, namely the retirement of Henrik and Daniel Sedin, it’s unclear where Eriksson and Roussel would have slotted in if healthy, but both typically line up at left wing. Their absences could mean that Brendan Leipsic or Tim Schaller play elevated roles to begin the year or that Jonathan Dahlen, Tanner Kero, or Tyler Motte have a chance to break camp. Either way, the Canucks will eagerly await the return of two players who need to be at their best if the team can take a step forward this season.

Alex Lyon Out Four Weeks With Lower-Body Injury

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The Philadelphia Flyers have lost one of their intriguing young goaltenders, announcing that Alex Lyon will be out for four weeks with a lower-body injury suffered on Tuesday night against the New York Islanders. Lyon was expected to contend for the starting role with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms this season, but will have to miss the start of the year as he gets healthy.

With basically the entire goaltending group in Flyers training camp either nursing or coming back from injury, the rest of the preseason may feature some more looks at youngster Carter Hart who played on Monday and Wednesday and has impressed so far in preseason action. That’s not unexpected for Hart, who is arguably the best goaltending prospect in the world right now, but good to see for Philadelphia fans worried about the situation in net once again. Brian Elliott and Michal Neuvirth still project as the NHL tandem to start the season, but there’s obviously a lot of pressure on the veteran pair to perform or else be replaced by one of the younger netminders.

Lyon, Hart and even Anthony Stolarz—who is finally healthy and ready to resume his career—are all ready to jump at an NHL opportunity if one presents itself at some point this season. The 25-year old Lyon did play in 11 games last season for the Flyers and posted a 4-2-1 record with a .905 save percentage. Those numbers aren’t outstanding, but the undrafted college netminder has played well in the minor leagues and still has high expectations from the organization.

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