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Coyotes Troy Stecher Out Four-To-Six Weeks With Lower-Body Injury

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The Arizona Coyotes have announced that defenseman Troy Stecher is out four to six weeks with a lower-body injury. Stecher has appeared in 42 of Arizona’s 44 games this season. He’s recorded five points, 20 penalty minutes, and a +7.

Stecher is in his second stint with the Arizona Coyotes, starting last season with the team but getting traded to the Calgary Flames ahead of the 2023 NHL Trade Deadline. He re-signed in Arizona on July 1st, inking a one-year, $1.1MM contract. The Coyotes are one of five NHL teams that Stecher has played for, with his career headlined by four seasons with the Vancouver Canucks. Stecher has accumulated 482 career NHL games and 108 career points – an impressive mark for the undrafted defender who didn’t sign his first pro contract until his age-22 season – joining the AHL’s Utica Comets for four games in the 2016-17 season.

The Coyotes’ depth will be tested with Stecher set to miss significant time. The team is already facing injuries to Barrett Hayton, Travis Boyd, and Vladislav Kolyachonok – limiting their ability to ice an ideal lineup. The Yotes will have to turn to Juuso Valimaki, who has operated as the team’s seventh defenseman recently and has six points in 30 appearances this season. This injury likely also means an expanded role for Josh Brown and Michael Kesselring – a duo that’s operated as the team’s bottom pairing in recent outings.

Carson Soucy Out Five-To-Six Weeks With Hand Injury

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Vancouver Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet has confirmed that defenseman Carson Soucy will miss five-to-six weeks with a hand injury. Soucy sustained the injury while blocking a shot in the team’s Saturday win over the Toronto Maple Leafs.

This is yet another long-term absence for Soucy, who already missed 23 games with a lower-body injury suffered in mid-November. He’s managed 21 games when healthy this season, netting six points, four penalty minutes, and a +6. The 29-year-old defender has served in a prominent role when he does play, averaging over 17 minutes of ice time on a Canucks blue-line that’s rotated all three pairings this year. The Canucks signed Soucy to a three-year, $9.8MM contract on July 1st – controlling him at a $3.25MM cap hit through the 2025-26 season.

Soucy has carved out a strong NHL career since being selected in the fifth round of the 2013 NHL Draft. He played four seasons at the University of Minnesota-Duluth after his draft year, making his pro debut with the AHL’s Iowa Wild at the end of the 2016-17 season. Soucy would go on to play in two more AHL seasons before getting his first prolonged stint in the NHL in 2019-20. He recorded 14 points, 18 penalty minutes, and a +16 in 55 games that season as a part of a strong Minnesota Wild blueline. He would go on to serve as the selection from the Minnesota Wild in the 2021 NHL Expansion Draft, playing in two seasons with the Seattle Kraken before making his way to Vancouver.

Pacific Notes: Perry, Soucy, Kylington, Markström

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When the Oilers made Corey Perry’s signing official earlier Monday, they disclosed his $775K cap hit deal included an unspecified amount of performance bonuses. CapFriendly later reported the specifics – a $225K bonus if he hits 10 games played, a $50K bonus if the Oilers advance to the Western Conference Final and Perry plays in at least half of the games in Round 2 or Rounds 1 and 2, and a $50K bonus if the Oilers advance to the Stanley Cup Final if Perry plays in at least half of the Conference Final series or half of Rounds 1 through 3 overall.

That’s a total of $325K in potential bonuses, which will add to an already hefty cap overage expected from Connor Brown’s similarly structured contract this season. Brown signed a one-year, $775K deal to join Edmonton last summer after playing four games last season in Washington due to an ACL injury, which included a $3.225MM bonus if he hit 10 games played on the season. After a poor start through nine games, many called on the Oilers to waive Brown to avoid his unaffordable bonus kicking in. They opted not to, which now looks like an extremely poor decision in hindsight. Brown is yet to score a goal in 35 games this season and has only three assists. Whatever amount of Brown’s $3.225MM bonus that they can’t fit under the salary cap at the end of the season will carry over as a penalty in their 2024-25 cap, which will increase with whatever bonuses Perry garners.

More from the Pacific Division:

  • An unfortunate season for Canucks blue-liner Carson Soucy continues. He’s likely out of the lineup for three to four weeks with a “possible” hand injury, CHEK’s Rick Dhaliwal reports. The 29-year-old skated 13:40 in last weekend’s win over the Maple Leafs but did not play in the third period. He was on the ice for all three Toronto goals against in the second period. After signing a three-year, $9.75MM deal with Vancouver last summer, he’s missed 25 of Vancouver’s 46 games with lower-body injuries. He’s been decent when in the lineup, contributing two goals and six points with a +6 rating in 21 contests, averaging 17:24 per game.
  • Flames defenseman Oliver Kylington is inching his way back toward playing in his first NHL game since April 2022. He practiced with the Flames today for the first time since being recalled from his AHL conditioning stint over the weekend, clearing a path for him to return just before the All-Star break or soon after. The 26-year-old took a leave of absence for mental health reasons that lasted the entire 2022-23 campaign before landing on LTIR to begin 2023-24.
  • Also nearing a return for Calgary is starting netminder Jacob Markström, who was a full participant in practice today for the first time since sustaining a lower-body injury last week, per Sportsnet 960’s Pat Steinberg. He’s missed three games but will return to at least back up Daniel Vladař against the Blues tomorrow, if not start. The 33-year-old is having a solid bounce-back season, posting a .912 SV% and stopping 6.7 goals above average in 26 appearances. The Flames went 1-2-0 in Markström’s absence and sit four points back of the Predators for the second Wild Card spot in the Western Conference.

Devils Notes: Hughes, Miller, Nosek, Palát

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Devils star center Jack Hughes has missed seven games with an upper-body injury, and that number will climb for at least a couple of weeks. Head coach Lindy Ruff told reporters Monday that the team doesn’t expect Hughes to return to practice before the All-Star break, let alone game action (via the team’s Amanda Stein).

The news puts his availability for the 2024 edition of the event in question. Hughes had been tabbed to serve as an assistant captain under his brother, Canucks defenseman Quinn Hughes, for one of the four teams participating in next month’s game. He’ll now miss at least 10 games with his injury, as being out until the All-Star break rules him out of the team’s next three games.

Despite the extended absence, he’s only recently been passed as the team’s leading scorer by winger Jesper Bratt, who’s posted 47 points in 44 games. Hughes’ per-game production still leads the team by far, however – his 15 goals and 45 points in 32 games is good enough for 1.41 per game, a 116-point pace. The 22-year-old leads Devils forwards in ice time this season (20:30 per game) and has been extremely effective at controlling possession, posting a 58% Corsi share at even strength and controlling 59.2% of expected goals when on the ice with Bratt and Tyler Toffoli, per MoneyPuck.

Other notes from Ruff this morning:

  • Defenseman Colin Miller will miss tonight’s game against the Golden Knights with an illness, making him the fourth Devils defender to be held out of the lineup at the moment. The 31-year-old has been a good value pickup for the Devils after coming over from the Stars via trade last summer, posting five points in 25 games while dominating his bottom-pairing minutes in the possession department. His absence means 23-year-old Santeri Hatakka will make his New Jersey debut after the team recalled him last week.
  • It’s not all bad news on the injury front. Injured forwards Tomáš Nosek and Ondřej Palát have begun skating on their own as they work their way back from respective foot and lower-body injuries, per Ruff. They’ve yet to return to practice, but a return is now in sight for the players who haven’t suited up since the calendar flipped to 2024. Palát, who has 14 points in 35 games in his second season in New Jersey, has missed the team’s last nine games. Nosek hasn’t played since late November after undergoing foot surgery.

Injury Notes: Hamonic, Svechnikov, Wild

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Ottawa Senators defenseman Travis Hamonic sustained an upper-body injury in today’s game against the Philadelphia Flyers, and did not return to the game.  Hamonic played in a little over five minutes before the injury forced him out of the action. The 33-year-old veteran has played in 40 games this season for the Senators and registered five points, averaging 14:59 time-on-ice per game.

Should Hamonic miss any time, the Senators would need to fill in for him on their third pairing. Should Hamonic miss any time, the Senators could plug their seventh defenseman, Erik Brännström, into the lineup in Hamonic’s place. Brännström is a quicker, transition-oriented defenseman which means his skillset differs quite drastically compared to Hamonic, a stay-at-home blueliner, so if he does re-enter the lineup in a Hamonic absence the Senators’ pairings could end up a little shuffled.

Some other injury updates from across the NHL:

  • Yesterday, we covered how Carolina Hurricanes star Andrei Svechnikov missed practice due to health reasons. Today, the Hurricanes announced that Svechnikov will miss tonight’s game due to due to an upper-body injury. Svechnikov has battled injuries over the last two years but has been brilliant, as expected, when healthy. He’s scored 30 points in 29 games this season.
  • The Athletic’s Joe Smith relayed word from Minnesota Wild head coach John Hynes related to injuries to numerous Wild players. Hynes offered no update on the status of either Marc-Andre Fleury or Frederick Gaudreau, though he did not rule out Fleury potentially playing later in the week. He also added that Vinni Lettieri is skating back in St. Paul. Lettieri has not played yet in 2024 but has skated in 19 games with the Wild this season, his most since his 2021-22 season with the Anaheim Ducks.

Injury Notes: Blackhawks, Red Wings, Engvall

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The Chicago Blackhawks saw a string of players progress in their injury recovery, with Nick Foligno (fractured finger) and Ryan Donato (illness) fully returning to the team’s practice on Sunday, while Connor Bedard (jaw), Samuel Savoie (leg), and Tyler Johnson (undisclosed) were all on the ice for varying times before the team skate started. Connor Murphy was not able to take part in the team’s skate, though, continuing to miss time with a lower-body injury.

Donato has missed the Hawks’ last two games with an illness, while Foligno has sat out of seven games thanks to a placement on injured reserve earlier in the month. Both players are trending towards a return, finally bringing some form of relief to a Chicago lineup that’s currently experiencing injuries to 10 different players. Foligno went down on the same night that star rookie Bedard was injured. Both players falling out of the lineup effectively fractured Chicago’s top six, with the team going 3-4-0 – including one overtime and one shootout win – and scoring just 13 goals since the pair got hurt. That averages out to 1.85 goals-per-game – a mark that’s significantly held up by the two four-goal outings Chicago has had since Bedard’s injury.

Other notes from around the league:

Calgary Flames Make Several Roster Moves

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With less than an hour to go before the Battle of Alberta, the Calgary Flames made a few transactions earlier today that will shape their roster for this evening’s matchup against the Edmonton Oilers. Today, the team announced that forward Martin Pospisil would be placed on injured reserve, and defenseman Dennis Gilbert would be activated off of injured reserve. Furthermore, in the same announcement, the team has recalled defenseman Oliver Kylington from his LTI conditioning loan in the AHL, meaning he could be activated off of LTIR very shortly.

Pospisil is dealing with an upper-body injury suffered in the team’s most recent game against the Toronto Maple Leafs, and it will likely keep him out until after the NHL All-Star break in a couple of weeks. Primarily serving as a bottom/middle six player for Calgary this season, Pospisil has scored four goals and 11 points in 33 games up to this point in the year.

Also suffering from an upper-body injury, Gilbert had been out for a couple of weeks, having not played since the team’s January 4th game against the Nashville Predators. Gilbert will draw back into the team’s bottom-pairing on defense, a role that has seen him score one goal and seven points in 28 games this season.

Most importantly, the Flames are nearing the long-awaited return of Kylington, who has not played in an NHL game since May 26th, 2022. Feeling ready to return to hockey, he received a two-game stint with Calgary’s AHL affiliate, the Calgary Wranglers, but was unable to score a point throughout his conditioning loan.

There is by no means that Kylington will come back into the lineup and become a new groundbreaking defenseman for the Flames, but with a plethora of defensemen set for unrestricted free agency this upcoming offseason, a strong start from Kylington may make the team more comfortable to sell off some of their defensive core by the time the trade deadline comes around.

Metro Notes: Jiricek, Islanders, Gustafsson

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A few days ago, to create a roster spot upon the return of captain Boone Jenner, the Columbus Blue Jackets decided to send promising young defenseman David Jiricek back to their AHL affiliate, the Cleveland Monsters. Even though it has been a relatively mediocre season for Jiricek up to this point, it was still surprising to see Jiricek as the head eventually put on the chopping block.

Nevertheless, in an article today from Aaron Portzline of The Athletic, he reports that the plan for Jiricek is to have him play two games this week for the Monsters until the team eventually recalls him in a week. The organization may be looking to give Jiricek an extra boost of confidence before the Blue Jackets’ upcoming five-game road trip before the All-Star game.

As one of the more hyped-up Columbus prospects heading into the season, many expectations placed upon Jiricek before the season were largely unfair, as he has not gotten off to a hot start with the team. In 36 games for the Blue Jackets already this season, Jiricek has scored one goal and nine points, managing just under 15 minutes of ice time per night, without receiving much time on either the powerplay or penalty kill.

Other Metro notes:

  • After a surprise announcement today naming Patrick Roy the new head coach of the New York Islanders, many began to wonder if the organization would eventually look to go in a different direction with any assistant coaches. The General Manager of the Islanders, Lou Lamoriello, was asked precisely this question and assured that no other changes would be coming to New York’s bench any time soon (X Link).
  • Earlier today, Arthur Staple of The Athletic reported that New York Rangers defenseman Erik Gustafsson is considered day-to-day with a lower-body injury, and would not be in the team’s lineup tonight. Playing on an extremely valuable one-year, $825K contract this year, Gustafsson has scored four goals and 21 points in 44 games, sitting second on the team in scoring amongst defensemen.

Alex Killorn To Undergo Knee Surgery

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Alex Killorn’s first season with the Ducks has been somewhat of a struggle due to injury and the veteran will be out for a while once again.  The team announced that the winger will undergo arthroscopic left knee surgery next week and he is expected to miss the next four to six weeks.

The 34-year-old signed with Anaheim in free agency, inking a four-year, $25MM contract, good for the highest AAV ($6.25MM) among any forward to sign on the open market this summer.  However, his start to the year was delayed due to a fractured finger sustained in the preseason, one that caused him to miss nearly a month.

Since returning in early November, Killorn has played as expected.  While no one should have been anticipating another career year offensively, he was brought in to be a stabilizing presence in Anaheim’s top six and play alongside some of their younger talents.  He has done just that while still contributing at a reasonable clip, notching six goals and 13 assists in 34 games while taking a regular turn on both special teams units.

With the injury just being announced, the Ducks have not yet placed Killorn on injured reserve.  However, with the team carrying a full-sized roster right now, he’ll likely land on IR in the near future, freeing up a roster spot to bring someone up from AHL San Diego.

Wild Place Connor Dewar On IR, Recall Jake Lucchini

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The Wild picked up a big win last night in Florida but it came at a cost with goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury (upper body) and center Connor Dewar (lower body) leaving with injury.  The latter’s injury will keep him out for at least the next week as Michael Russo of The Athletic reports (Twitter link) that Dewar has been placed on injured reserve.  Taking his place on the roster will be winger Jake Lucchini who has been recalled from AHL Iowa.

Dewar only has nine points for Minnesota this season but seven of those have been goals, marking a new career-high for the 24-year-old.  He has spent the majority of the season on the fourth line while averaging just shy of 11 minutes a night so far.  A good chunk of that has come on the penalty kill where he’s the third-most-used forward on the Wild in that situation.  Joe Smith of The Athletic reports (Twitter link) that Dewar is expected to miss a couple of weeks and might not return until after the All-Star break and Minnesota’s bye week.

As for Lucchini, this is his third recall in the last month as he has played his way into being a top option for promotion when injuries strike.  That’s thanks to a strong season in the minors where he has 11 goals and 11 assists in 28 games with Iowa.  The 28-year-old has played in four games so far for Minnesota and is looking for his first point of the year.  Lucchini has 15 career appearances at the top level under his belt where he has a single goal to his name.

While the Wild have been cap-strapped for most of the season, that changed with the season-ending injury to Jared Spurgeon.  With the blueliner landing on LTIR, Minnesota has ample cap space to carry a full roster, even including injury recalls.

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