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Senators Recall Mads Søgaard, Anton Forsberg Likely Headed To LTIR

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The Senators recalled top organizational goalie prospect Mads Søgaard from AHL Belleville today, a team release states. As Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch points out, this is likely a precursor to number-two netminder Anton Forsberg being placed on long-term injured reserve, as the Senators would otherwise not have the cap space available to execute the transaction.

Forsberg, 31, left last night’s loss against the Sabres late in the first period with a groin injury and did not return. Head coach Jacques Martin told TSN 1200 this morning that Forsberg’s absence was not expected to be short-term, although he did receive an MRI today to determine the extent of the injury and, correspondingly, a recovery timeline.

It’s been a tough season for Ottawa’s goalie tandem of Forsberg and Joonas Korpisalo, but more so for Forsberg. After missing the last 32 games of the 2022-23 season with a freak double MCL tear, the Swede was looking to re-establish himself after proving he could be a capable NHL option since joining the Sens in 2020.

Instead, he and Korpisalo have been among the ten worst goalies in the league this season. Korpisalo has allowed the third most goals above expected with 9.5, per MoneyPuck, trailing only the Maple Leafs’ Ilya Samsonov and the Devils’ Vítek Vaněček. Forsberg is seventh on the list with 7.9 goals allowed above expected, despite playing in 16 games compared to Korpisalo’s 26. His box stats read out as a 7-8-0 record, .889 SV%, 3.35 GAA, and one shutout.

An LTIR placement rules Forsberg out through the All-Star break in early February. He would be eligible to return to action for the team’s February 10 home game against Toronto.

That means the 23-year-old Søgaard is in for a month-long stint on the NHL roster, his longest of the season. The 6-foot-7 Dane had been recalled on two occasions this year to serve as short-term injury insurance but has not appeared in an NHL game since playing in 19 of them last season. In his first example of extended NHL action, Ottawa’s 2019 second-round pick posted an 8-6-3 record and .889 SV% being an injury-depleted team at the tail end of the campaign.

This season in Belleville, Søgaard’s numbers are pristine. His .920 SV% in 16 games is tied for sixth among AHL netminders with at least ten appearances, and it’s a significant leap forward from his pedestrian numbers in his first two full professional seasons. Carrying that momentum forward into some appearances with Ottawa could help him steal the lion’s share of the starts away from Korpisalo, at least until Forsberg returns.

Injury Updates: Smith, Scheifele, Wild

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Pittsburgh Penguins forward Reilly Smith has had a slow start to his first campaign with the team, as his 41-point scoring pace is a notable decline from last season, when he scored 56 points in 78 games. Smith has been struck with even worse luck, as after a hit from Nikita Zadorov in last night’s game Smith is believed to be out “longer-term” with an upper-body injury. (via SportsNet Pittsburgh’s Hailey Hunter)

Smith is currently playing third-line minutes alongside Lars Eller and Valtteri Puustinen, and will need to be replaced for the foreseeable future. Big Radim Zahorna has been a healthy scratch and could step right in, or alternatively, the team could opt to call up a player from its AHL affiliate, the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins. The Penguins traded Wilkes-Barre Scranton’s leading scorer, Rem Pitlick, to the Chicago Blackhawks earlier this month, so it’s likely if there is a recall a player such as Alex Nylander is the one who receives it.

Other injury updates:

  • The Winnipeg Free Press’ Mike McIntyre relayed word this afternoon from Jets head coach Rick Bowness on the injury status of Mark Scheifele. Bowness said Scheifele is day-to-day, and not ruled out for tomorrow’s game. He also called that development “very good news.” He’s certainly correct on that point as the Jets are among the NHL’s best teams this season and Scheifele’s production is all but irreplaceable. He’s got 14 goals and 41 points this season after setting a career-high mark of 42 goals in 2022-23.
  • The Athletic’s Michael Russo reports that injured Minnesota Wild stars Kirill Kaprizov, Jonas Brodin, and Filip Gustavsson are all “getting extra work and contact now.” Russo notes that “how they respond will determine when they can play,” adding that there is a possibility for some to even play in the team’s game tomorrow against the Arizona Coyotes. Getting just one of those players back at the very least would be a massively positive development for a Wild team that looked really strong at the start of new coach John Hynes’ tenure only to fall back as injuries to key contributors built up.

Injury Notes: Gibson, Kochetkov, Forsberg

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Anaheim Ducks goaltender John Gibson left the team’s Thursday night game with an upper-body injury, being replaced by backup Lukas Dostal. Gibson has missed time for a variety of reasons this season, being placed on the non-active list earlier in the year for the birth of his child, missing one game due to illness, and now nursing an injury that could limit him further. The absences have kept Gibson to just 26 appearances this season, with the former William Jennings Trophy-winner recording a 7-17-0 record and .900 save percentage on the season. He leads the league in losses.

While Dostal has shown promise, his stat line doesn’t fair much better than Gibson’s, with the 23-year-old goaltender setting a 7-9-1 record and .903 save percentage in 19 games this season. Dostal entered the season with just 23 NHL games under his belt, setting a combined .902 save percentage since making his debut in the 2021-22 season. The Ducks acquired Dostal in the third round of the 2018 NHL Draft. He was the sixth goalie to be taken that year and currently carries the most games played of any goalie in the class.

Other injury notes:

  • The Carolina Hurricanes also lost their goaltender, with Pyotr Kochetkov leaving the team’s game after a collision with Anaheim’s Isac Lundestrom. Kochetkov was hit in the head but seemed to get his leg awkwardly stretched, making it hard to speculate what injury he could be facing. The 24-year-old has played in 23 games this season, goin 11-7-3 and setting a .900 save percentage.
  • Ottawa Senators’ goaltender Anton Forsberg also joined the long list of injuries to occur on Thursday, leaving the team’s game after apparently tweaking something in his groin. The 31-year-old has managed 16 games, a 7-8-0 record, and a .889 save percentage this season.

Trevor Zegras, Pavel Mintyukov Out Long-Term

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Ducks center Trevor Zegras and rookie defenseman Pavel Mintyukov both sustained long-term injuries Tuesday night against the Predators, the team announced. Zegras will undergo surgery on a fractured ankle and miss six to eight weeks, while Mintyukov will be sidelined for six weeks with a separated shoulder.

Zegras has struggled with his health and consistency this season as he already missed 20 straight games earlier this season and has scored just four goals and three assists in 20 games since his return. It’s been a tough few months for the 22-year-old as he had contentious contract negotiations with the Ducks in the summer and missed training camp. After he returned from injury, he struggled to get to his game in recent weeks and even found his name bandied about in trade rumors over the past few days before getting hurt.

Mintyukov is the Ducks’ 10th overall pick from 2022 and has been a pleasant surprise this year on their backend with two goals and 17 assists in 40 games. On top of being a solid offensive contributor, the 20-year-old has provided the Ducks with a physical presence as well as some solid work in the defensive zone. The Ducks figure to utilize newly acquired Gustav Lindstrom in Mintyukov’s absence.

Ducks’ general manager Pat Verbeek has been active on the trade market over the past week, and it will be interesting to see if he re-ignites the Zegras trade talks when he is healthy once again.

Bruins Place Brandon Carlo On IR, Recall Brandon Bussi

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The Bruins placed defenseman Brandon Carlo on injured reserve retroactive to January 8, according to a team release. In a corresponding transaction, the team elevated netminder Brandon Bussi from AHL Providence on an emergency basis. Head coach Jim Montgomery said that 2023 Vezina Trophy winner Linus Ullmark is day-to-day with a lower-body injury and will not play tonight against the Golden Knights, so Bussi will back up Ullmark’s tandem partner, Jeremy Swayman.

Ullmark isn’t the only player who sustained an injury in Tuesday’s overtime loss to the Coyotes. Rookie Matthew Poitras suffered a shoulder injury and will also miss tonight’s game. He, too, is listed as day-to-day.

Carlo left the team’s game on Monday against the Avalanche in the second period with an upper-body injury, although it wasn’t clear what caused the premature exit. As a result of the IR placement, the 27-year-old has been ruled out of the team’s next three games. He will be eligible to return next Thursday against the Avalanche.

In 39 games this season, the Bruins’ top shutdown defender has two goals, eight assists, ten points, and a team-high +15 rating while averaging over 20 minutes per game. AHL call-up Parker Wotherspoon, who has two assists and a +2 rating in 13 NHL appearances this season, is projected to remain in a second-pairing role alongside Hampus Lindholm in Carlo’s absence.

Luckily for the Bruins, it doesn’t appear anyone else’s absence is extremely long-term, either. It’s a tough loss to go without Ullmark for a stretch, who’s again been one of the better goalies in the league with a .915 SV% and 8.1 goals saved above average in 20 starts (21 appearances), but Swayman has put up slightly better numbers this season in the same amount of action.

In his place for now will be the 25-year-old Bussi. Named to the AHL’s All-Rookie Team last season after he posted a .924 SV% in 32 appearances for Providence in his first season after completing his collegiate career at Western Michigan, he’s taken a significant step back this year with a .901 SV% and 10-6-3 record in 20 appearances. He’s been recalled on multiple occasions over the past two years due to short-term injuries to Swayman and Ullmark, and although he’s solidly third on Boston’s depth chart, he’s still yet to make his NHL debut.

Poitras, 19, was injured in his third game back after representing Canada at the 2024 IIHF World Junior Championship in Sweden. The 2022 second-round pick has five goals and 15 points while averaging 13:46 through his first 30 NHL contests.

Gabriel Landeskog Skates For First Time Since Cartilage Transplant

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Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog skated on his own today for the first time since undergoing a cartilage transplant in his right knee last May, Colorado Hockey Now’s Evan Rawal relays.

It’s an incredibly promising development for Colorado’s captain. He hasn’t played an NHL game since June 26, 2022, when the Avalanche won Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final over the Lightning to win their third championship in franchise history. His cartilage transplant is the third surgery on his right knee dating back to March 2022.

Landeskog’s second surgery, which took place early in the 2022-23 season, was only expected to keep him out for three months and have him back in the lineup by the All-Star break. Instead, he missed the entire campaign, thus determining a more invasive surgery was needed to correct the issue and improve his long-term quality of life.

While today’s news increases optimism that the 31-year-old will resume his career at some point, expect the Avalanche to be overly cautious with his recovery timeline. Given the nature of a cartilage transplant surgery in an athlete, even a small setback in his progress will take him “back to square one,” Avalanche GM Chris MacFarland told ESPN’s Emily Kaplan last October.

With three months to go until postseason play, it’s too early to rule Landeskog out of playoff action. The Avalanche will be in the mix come April, with 98% odds of making the playoffs and 15% odds of taking the Central Division title from the league-best Winnipeg Jets, per Hockey Reference. Even if he’s cleared to return, though, the likelihood of the Avalanche plopping him into the most rough-and-tumble environment of the season after nearly two years off seems low.

Colorado is certainly of the mind of winning the Cup this season, but it’s fair to assume MacFarland would like to extend the team’s window to compete beyond 2024. Letting Landeskog rest as long as possible in hopes of 2024-25 behind his first season with 70+ games played in six years would help achieve that goal.

At the time of writing, Landeskog’s 738 games played rank sixth in Avalanche history. His 248 goals, 323 assists, and 571 points rank seventh, ninth, and eighth, respectively. His 1.16 points-per-game pace in his final season before the injury, 2021-22, was a career-high.

Jeff Skinner Out Week-To-Week With Upper-Body Injury

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The Buffalo Sabres have announced that forward Jeff Skinner is out with an upper-body injury on a week-to-week basis.

It was previously understood that Skinner would be undergoing further testing to determine the full extent of his injury, but there was some hope that it’d be classified as at most a day-to-day absence. That has proven not to be the case. Now, the Sabres will have to make do without a player who ranks second in team scoring.

The 31-year-old has had an impressive career renaissance under head coach Don Granato, going from healthy scratches and just 14 points of production under former coach Ralph Krueger in 2020-21 to a career-high 82 points in 2022-23.

Owner of a $9MM AAV contract, Skinner has become one of the Sabres’ most important offensive generators. Losing Skinner on a week-to-week basis could be a potentially fatal blow to Buffalo’s long-shot playoff hopes. MoneyPuck currently pegs the Sabres at a 7.9% chance of making the playoffs, which is certainly low but not completely impossible.

Without Skinner, it’ll be even tougher for the Sabres to beat the odds and end the league’s most extensive playoff drought. On a team where key offensive players such as Dylan Cozens, Victor Olofsson, Peyton Krebs have failed to take desired steps forward in terms of production, the points Skinner provides on a consistent basis are invaluable.

Without him occupying his typical first-line left-wing slot, the Sabres could turn to Olofsson in that role. Olofsson has previously served as a healthy scratch, but did score 28 goals last season. The Sabres could also opt to elevate their leading scorer Casey Mittelstadt to Skinner’s role, thereby helping replace some of the playmaking Skinner provides, though it would potentially come at the cost of de-stabilizing the Sabres’ third line, leaving Zach Benson and Jordan Greenway in limbo.

Whichever route the Sabres choose to go down in terms of replacing Skinner in the immediate term, one thing is clear: this is a different team without the 2011 Calder Trophy winner, and a team that will find itself even harder-pressed to generate offense.

Vegas Recalls Isaiah Saville With Adin Hill, Michael Amadio Out

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The Vegas Golden Knights have recalled goaltender Isaiah Saville ahead of their Wednesday night game, as expected starter Adin Hill is not yet ready to return. The Golden Knights also shared that forward Michael Amadio will miss Wednesday’s matchup with illness.

Saville will serve as the team’s backup against the Colorado Avalanche, with Jiri Patera set to make his fourth start of the season. It’s only the sixth start of Patera’s career, which kicked off with two NHL appearances last season. He’s set a 3-2-0 record and .908 save percentage in his limited NHL career, though he’s spent more of his time operating as the starter for the AHL’s Henderson Silver Knights. He’s appeared in 14 AHL games this year, setting a 6-6-2 record and .900 save percentage. He’s been backed up by a platoon of goalies, including Saville, who has managed a 4-3-0 record and .914 save percentages in seven games of his own. The sudden recall is only the second of Saville’s career, though the 23-year-old has yet to play in his first NHL game.

Hill’s unexpected setback now makes nine consecutive games that he’s missed with an undisclosed injury. The 27-year-old has continued to look fantastic in the ice time he has managed, setting a league-leading .933 save percentage and 1.93 goals-against-average in the 15 games he’s played this season. His injury forces Vegas to turn to their AHL netminders, as the team is also missing Logan Thompson due to illness. Thompson has served as the de facto starter in Hill’s absence, setting a 12-8 record and .902 save percentage in 24 games.

Injury Updates: Skinner, Nečas, Capitals

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Although the Sabres have the longest active playoff drought in the NHL and one that seems likelier and likelier to extend through 2023-24, their lack of team progress has not stopped individual Sabres from taking major steps forward in their career. $9MM AAV forward Jeff Skinner is coming off of a career year in which he scored 82 points, and currently has 33 points in 38 games. He’s among Buffalo’s most reliable offensive generators, which makes it all the more distressing that he’s suffered an upper-body injury, according to The Athletic’s Matthew Fairburn.

Fairburn reports that “the Sabres are waiting for the results” of the imaging Skinner underwent this morning in order to determine a timetable for his recovery. Any significant Skinner absence could be a potential killing blow to the Sabres’ long-shot playoff hopes. He’s skated on the team’s first line alongside Alex Tuch and Tage Thompson, and although three-time 20-goal scorer Victor Olofsson would see more regular time in the lineup in Skinner’s absence, the Sabres don’t have any players who appear capable of replicating Skinner’s playmaking abilities.

Other injury notes from across the NHL:

  • Carolina Hurricanes team reporter Walt Ruff has provided updates from head coach Rod Brind’Amour, who says that forward Martin Nečas’ upper-body injury “isn’t too serious,” though it may keep him out of the lineup tomorrow. Necas last played in Carolina’s December 2nd win against the New York Rangers, before getting injured. After scoring 28 goals and 71 points last season Necas is scoring at a 20-goal, 56-point pace this season.
  • The Washington Post’s Bailey Johnson reports that both Alex Ovechkin and Tom Wilson were on the ice ahead of team practice this morning. Wilson was wearing a “fishbowl” helmet to protect his broken nose. Both players skated in the team’s most recent game Sunday against the Los Angeles Kings, but there was some fear that neither would be available tomorrow against Seattle due to injury. They’re still not confirmed to be ready to play, but today’s reporting does point in a positive direction in that regard.

Connor Bedard Undergoes Surgery On Jaw, Out 6-8 Weeks

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Blackhawks star rookie Connor Bedard underwent surgery on Monday to repair his fractured jaw, Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli reports. Bedard will be sidelined between six and eight weeks as a result of the procedure and will miss next month’s 2024 NHL All-Star Game in Toronto. The Blackhawks later confirmed the timeline.

The Blackhawks already placed Bedard on injured reserve last weekend, but he’ll miss far more than the minimum seven days required for an IR stay. The 2023 first-overall pick sustained the injury on an open-ice hit from Devils bruiser Brendan Smith last Friday.

Bedard, still just 18, has bar-none been the Blackhawks’ best offensive player in his first NHL campaign. The team is on pace for only 24 wins and 52 points at the halfway mark of the season, but Bedard has still managed a team-leading 15 goals, 18 assists and 33 points in 39 games while leading Chicago forwards with an average ice time of 19:04. His longer-term injury is reminiscent of Oilers superstar Connor McDavid, who was sidelined for 37 games during his rookie 2015-16 campaign after a big hit from then-Flyers defenseman Brandon Manning.

It will be an extremely tough go for the embattled Blackhawks without Bedard’s services, which could take them up to the March 8 trade deadline. Taylor Hall is done for the season, while Andreas Athanasiou, Anthony Beauvillier, Nick Foligno, and Tyler Johnson are all sidelined longer-term with injuries. It’s forced them to dress a first line composed of Philipp Kurashev, recent trade pickup Rem Pitlick, who’s spent the entire season in the AHL up to this point, and Taylor Raddysh. For a team already sitting near the very bottom of the league, things will get worse before they get better.

In terms of an All-Star Game replacement for Bedard, the league could look to send defenseman Seth Jones to Toronto. Chicago’s highest-paid defender is currently on injured reserve with an upper-body injury, but he’s returned to practice and will likely be cleared to play before the festivities in early February. Jones has no goals and 11 assists in 27 games this year, averaging over 25 minutes per game and posting a respectable -5 rating on a poor defensive team.

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