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West Notes: Zegras, Barabanov, Milne

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After moving out Jamie Drysdale, some are wondering if Ducks GM Pat Verbeek might have another big move up his sleeve.  To that end, Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli reports that Verbeek has discussed center Trevor Zegras with teams this season although it’s not known how far those discussions advanced.  After a tough contract negotiation that eventually yielded a three-year bridge deal with a $5.75MM cap hit, things have not gone well for the 22-year-old.  Injuries have limited him to 19 games heading into tonight’s action while he has struggled offensively with just four goals and three assists.  Unfortunately for Zegras and Anaheim, he suffered a lower-body injury during tonight’s game against Nashville in the first period and did not return.  Any extended absence could put the idea of a possible trade on hold fairly quickly.

More from the Western Conference:

  • Back in the summer, Sharks GM Mike Grier acknowledged that there was some merit to the idea of extending pending unrestricted free agent winger Alexander Barabanov. However, Curtis Pashelka of The Mercury News reports that there have yet to be discussions about a new contract for the 29-year-old.  Like many San Jose players this season, 2023-24 has been a struggle for Barabanov who has just seven points in 20 games after coming off a career year that saw him collect 47 points in 68 games.  He has a $2.5MM cap charge and if a new deal isn’t reached, he’ll be one of their more intriguing trade chips in the coming weeks.
  • The Wild activated forward Michael Milne off season-opening IR and assigned him to AHL Iowa, Michael Russo of The Athletic reports (Twitter link). The 21-year-old is in his second professional season after picking up 13 points in 57 AHL contests last year and after missing the first few months of the season due to injury, is expected to play this weekend.  Milne was a third-round pick in 2022 (89th overall) after a breakout season offensively in the WHL that saw him put up 81 points in 68 games.

Atlantic Notes: Woll, Cernak, Zub

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One of the most oft-used members of the Toronto Maple Leafs goalie carousel, Joseph Woll has found himself on the team’s injured reserve for a month, suffering from a high ankle sprain on December 8th. In some positive news for the organization, David Alter of The Hockey News reports that Woll was back on the ice this morning, although under limited movement and intensity.

To push back on the idea that Woll may be close to returning after being seen at practice, in a follow-up report, Alter indicated that Woll was still “a ways away” and that there is still no concrete timeline for his return. In the meantime, the Maple Leafs will continue to roll with the combination of Martin Jones and Dennis Hildeby, as the latter is still looking to make his NHL debut in the crease.

Fortunately for Toronto, even with the injury to Woll, and the unfortunate demise of Ilya Samsonov between the pipes, they have received incredible play from Jones, who has produced some of the better goaltending numbers across the league in the last month. Making his initial debut with the Maple Leafs on December 7th, Jones has produced a 7-3-0 record in his last 11 games, carrying a .932 save percentage in the process.

Other Atlantic notes:

  • In their matchup tonight against the Los Angeles Kings, the Tampa Bay Lightning will be welcoming back defenseman Erik Cernak, according to Eduardo Encina of the Tampa Bay Times. Cernak has missed the last three games for the Lightning, suffering an upper-body injury on the team’s New Year’s Eve game against the Montreal Canadiens. Primarily a shutdown defenseman, Cernak has skated in 37 games for Tampa Bay so far this season, tallying five assists in an approximate average of 19 and a half minutes of ice time per night.
  • Interim head coach of the Ottawa Senators, Jacques Martin, called defenseman Artem Zub a game-time decision tonight against the Calgary Flames, as Zub has been dealing with an illness since Monday (X Link). Although missing a few games earlier in the year, Zub has been quite productive for the Senators this season, scoring three goals and 11 points in 28 games, which places him third in total scoring in Ottawa amongst defensemen.

Metropolitan Notes: Kakko, Trouba, Pelech, Oshie

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Although there has been some recent speculation that New York Rangers’ forward, Kaapo Kakko, could be making his return soon, Larry Brooks of the New York Post states that is not the case. Unfortunately, Brooks notes that Kakko has still not been cleared to return to play, meaning the Rangers will have to call up a forward from their AHL affiliate, the Hartford Wolf Pack, before their game on Thursday.

Suffering from a lower-body injury in late November, Kakko has been on the team’s long-term injured reserve since November 28th. Although he has satisfied the LTIR requirements to return by a healthy amount, team doctors clearly do not think he is ready to return.  In what is shaping up to be yet another disappointing season for Kakko, he has skated in 20 games for the Rangers up to this point in the season, scoring two goals and three points all while averaging about 13 and a half minutes a night.

At the very least, Kakko is back on the ice skating, as Arthur Staple of The Athletic pointed out that Kakko was present at practice this morning in a non-contact jersey. Unfortunately, in a side note on the initial report, Staple indicated that New York captain, Jacob Trouba, was not at practice this morning due to personal reasons. The expectation is that Trouba will be available to the team as they take on the St.Louis Blues in a few days, depending on the severity of the personal reason keeping him out this morning.

Other Metropolitan notes:

  •  Heading a few miles east of the Rangers, the New York Islanders will see the reinforcement of Adam Pelech tonight, as Stefen Rosner of The Hockey News reports that the defenseman will make his return to the ice after missing the last 20 games. With additional injuries on the blue line, the addition of Pelech back into the lineup should give a major boost to the Islanders’ defensive core, as he has historically been one of the best defenders in the organization. Through 16 games so far this season, Pelech has tallied three assists, averaging nearly 20 minutes of ice time per game.
  • Sammi Silber of The Hockey News reports that veteran forward for the Washington Capitals, T.J. Oshie, was back at practice this morning skating in a full-contact jersey. The entirety of the 2023-24 season up to this point has been mired by injuries for Oshie, who is currently experiencing one of the least productive seasons of his long career. In 21 games so far, he has scored two goals and four points, missing time in November, December, and now in January.

Devils Jack Hughes Out Week-To-Week, Other Injuries Not Close

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New Jersey Devils head coach Lindy Ruff shared updates on the team’s long list of injuries, most notably sharing that star forward Jack Hughes’ upper-body injury is more a matter of weeks than it is months. The 22-year-old will be evaluated on a week-to-week basis and is slated to miss some time. Ruff also shared that Timo Meier has returned in a, “limited fashion”, and that he will return to practice sooner rather than later. The team’s other injured players – including Ondrej Palat, Tomas Nosek, and Dougie Hamilton – are not expected back soon – all per Devils team reporter Amanda Stein.

New Jersey is facing a long list of injuries, moving top defender Jonas Siegenthaler to injured reserve on Tuesday morning and recalling Shane Bowers and Callan Foote from the minor leagues. Both minor leaguers took the ice for the team’s Tuesday practice, suggesting that they could slot into the lineup with so many missing pieces. Neither player has played in the NHL this season, though Foote does have 141 games of NHL experience under his belt. Bowers has only played in one NHL game, suiting up for the Colorado Avalanche two seasons ago, and has since been a feature presence in the AHL. The 24-year-old Bowers has six goals and seven points in 29 AHL games this year.

The long string of injuries has been incredibly detrimental to a Devils team that entered the season as an early Stanley Cup favorite. Now without their star centerman for the second stretch this season, New Jersey will need to once again lean on their depth pieces to pull them through the middle of the year. Hughes has been electric when he has been on the ice, scoring 15 goals and 45 points in only 32 games. That’s a pace of 38 goals and 97 points across 82 games, though Hughes will struggle to reach that mark after already missing six games this season. Hughes scored 43 goals and 99 points in 78 games last season. If and when his elustrious 100-point year will come is once again uncertain.

Injury Notes: Capitals, Sabres, Blackhawks

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The Washington Capitals will be without both Rasmus Sandin and Tom Wilson, as both players have been designated as day-to-day with upper-body injuries. Wilson was on the receiving end of the butt-end of Alex Laferriere’s stick in the team’s recent matchup against the Los Angeles Kings, leaving Wilson bloodied and forcing him out of action for a brief moment, though the winger returned before the final horn.

Both players have played extended time for the Capitals this season, with Sandin appearing in 36 games and Wilson one of only six players to appear in all 38 of the team’s games. Sandin’s 11 assists on the season rank fourth on the Capitals, though the 23-year-old defenseman has yet to score his first goal of the year. Washington brought in Sandin ahead of last season’s trade deadline, sending the Toronto Maple Leafs Erik Gustafsson and the 28th-overall pick in the 2023 NHL Draft, which Toronto used to bring in Easton Cowan.

Sandin has averaged 22 minutes of ice time this season, ranked second among the team’s skaters, while Wilson has averaged roughly 18-and-a-half. Both players are core lineup pieces that the Capitals will want back as soon as possible.

Other injury notes from around the league:

Devils Place Jonas Siegenthaler On IR, Recall Two From AHL

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The Devils announced that defenseman Jonas Siegenthaler was placed on injured reserve today, likely retroactive to his last appearance on January 6, with a foot fracture. Forward Shane Bowers and defensemen Cal Foote were recalled from AHL Utica in corresponding moves.

Head coach Lindy Ruff said last weekend that Siegenthaler, 26, would likely miss significant time. As such, he’s expected to remain on IR longer than the minimum seven-day stay. The team’s secondary shutdown defender behind John Marino has six goals, 37 assists, 43 points, and a +15 rating in 196 contests with the Devils since coming over to New Jersey from the Capitals in an April 2021 trade.

Now in the first season of a five-year, $17MM extension signed shortly after he became eligible for one in July 2022, Siegenthaler has spent this season riding shotgun with Dougie Hamilton or Simon Nemec on the Devils’ top pairing. Hamilton has been out since late November with a left pectoral muscle tear and is expected to miss the remainder of the season. Meanwhile, the 19-year-old Nemec has effectively shouldered heavy minutes in his first NHL stint since being selected second overall in the 2022 draft.

Before his injury, Siegenthaler had one goal, seven assists and a -1 rating while averaging 19:54 of ice time through 38 games.

Bowers and Foote come up to alleviate the pains of a Devils roster currently without Hamilton and Siegenthaler on defense and Jack Hughes, Timo Meier, Tomáš Nosek, and Ondřej Palát at forward all due to injuries. The two recalls get the Devils to the minimum 18 skaters on the active roster, meaning they’ll both draw in for their season debuts against the Lightning on Thursday.

New Jersey acquired the signing rights for the 24-year-old Bowers, who was originally the Senators’ 28th overall pick in the 2017 draft, from the Bruins in exchange for the rights to minor-league defenseman Reilly Walsh in a June 2023 trade, the third time Bowers has been traded in his young professional career. The Devils promptly inked Bowers to a one-year, two-way deal, which carries a $775K cap hit and sees him earn $125K in the minors this year, where he has six goals and just one assist in 29 games with Utica. The Nova Scotian has one NHL game to his name, taking three shifts as a member of the Avalanche against the Predators in November 2022 before exiting with injury.

Foote was also a first-round pick, selected 14 spots ahead of Bowers by the Lightning in 2017. Dealt to the Predators last season in the Tanner Jeannot trade, he became a UFA last July after not receiving a qualifying offer. The Devils snapped him up in August, joining him in the organization with his brother, Nolan Foote, on a one-year, two-way deal with an $800K cap hit. The 25-year-old didn’t make the team out of camp, but this is not his first recall of the season. He was rostered for eight games in late October and early November, although he was a healthy scratch for all of them. He’s logged nine points and a -14 rating in 24 games with Utica.

Given their pedestrian minor-league performance, Bowers and Foote will likely see limited usage during their time on the NHL roster. Foote’s recall gives the Devils four right-shot defensemen, meaning one of Foote, Marino, Nemec, or Colin Miller will need to shift to their off-side for Thursday’s game and beyond.

Injury Updates: Wild, Sabres, Lehkonen

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The Minnesota Wild have been dealing with an absolutely massive slate of injuries in their recent stretch of games, but there is a light at the end of the tunnel for the team. The Athletic’s Michael Russo reported today that the trio of core pillars for the Wild, Kirill Kaprizov, Filip Gustavsson, and Jared Spurgeon are all “progressing and skating,” and thereby in their “next phase” toward full returns to the ice.

Adding Kaprizov, Spurgeon, and Gustavsson back to their roster would give the Wild their number-one winger, number-one defenseman, and number-one goalie back. The team has been strong under new head coach John Hynes, but in order for them to truly have a chance of keeping up in the Central Division that trio of players will need to return to the ice sooner rather than later.

Some other injury updates from across the NHL:

  • As reported by the Buffalo Times Herald’s Bill Hoppe, Buffalo Sabres wingers Victor Olofsson and Jordan Greenway are currently sick and out on a day-to-day timeline for the team. Olofsson was a healthy scratch for the team’s most recent game in favor of Eric Robinson, while Greenway skated on their third line alongside Zach Benson and Casey Mittelstadt. With captain Kyle Okposo now out week-to-week, the possibility both Greenway and Olofsson miss tomorrow’s game against the Seattle Kraken would mean the team could potentially need to recall a forward or two from the AHL’s Rochester Americans.
  • Colorado Hockey Now’s Evan Rawal reports that forward Artturi Lehkonen is skating at Avalanche practice in a white jersey, meaning he has officially moved past the non-contact stage of his injury recovery. The 28-year-old Finnish winger had a breakout campaign last season when he scored at a 27-goal, 65-point 82-game pace and had scored eight points in 12 games this season before suffering his significant injury.

Injury Updates: Sandin Pellikka, Bennett, Ovechkin

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Axel Sandin Pellikka, one of the Detroit Red Wings’ top prospects, played the gold medal game of the recent IIHF World Junior Championship through an injury. Additionally, Sandin Pellikka will at the very least miss this full next week as he awaits further information on the injury, which could have a “longer recovery period” according to Swedish outlet Sportbladet.

Although Sandin Pellikka couldn’t quite manage to lead Sweden to the gold medal, he nonetheless had an extremely strong tournament with six points in seven games. He’s played club hockey this year for Skellefteå AIK, one of the SHL’s better teams. Playing as the team’s number-two defenseman, Sandin Pellikka has had a strong start to the season with nine goals and 13 points in 25 games.

Some other injury notes from around the NHL:

  • Florida Panthers forward Sam Bennett sustained an upper-body injury, according to head coach Paul Maurice. (via AP’s Colby Guy) Maurice added that they’re “not too concerned” about the injury, indicating that it’s likely his injury will not keep him out for much longer than a day-to-day timeline. Bennett is currently slotted in as the Panthers’ second-line center in between Matthew Tkachuk and Carter Verhaeghe, and he has scored seven goals and 14 points in 27 games this season.
  • The Hockey News’ Sammi Silber reports that Washington Capitals star Alex Ovechkin is a game-time decision for today’s contest against the Los Angeles Kings. Ovechkin played in the Capitals’ most recent game but was held out of yesterday’s practice as a maintenance day. Ovechkin’s absence would leave a hole on the Capitals’ first line to be filled, with healthy scratch Matthew Phillips potentially taking up his role next to Evgeny Kuznetsov and Tom Wilson.

Jonas Siegenthaler Likely Out Longer-Term With Broken Foot

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Devils blueliner Jonas Siegenthaler sustained a broken foot in last night’s 6-4 loss to the Canucks and will be out for a “bit,” head coach Lindy Ruff told reporters postgame (including the team’s Amanda Stein). Siegenthaler sustained the injury while blocking a shot early in the second period but stayed on the ice trying to defend as the team couldn’t exit the zone, eventually resulting in a Vancouver goal against (video link, viewer discretion advised).

With number-one defenseman Dougie Hamilton already on the shelf as he recovers from surgery to repair a torn pectoral muscle that may sideline him through the end of the regular season, the Devils are now without both halves of their top defense pairing to begin the season. Their injury bug, which already held forwards Jack Hughes, Timo Meier and Ondřej Palát out of last night’s loss, has officially reached their defense corps, too.

The left-shot defender began his career as a depth defender for the Capitals before the Devils snagged him for a third-round pick in an April 2021 trade. It’s since emerged as one of the best deals of GM Tom Fitzgerald’s tenure, as Siegenthaler immediately emerged as a top-four threat with consistently above-average defensive impacts. He notched five goals and 35 points, along with a +22 rating in 150 games throughout his first two seasons in the Garden State, averaging 20:21 per game.

His average ice time is down to 19:54 this season, although that’s dragged down significantly after he logged only 9:34 in last night’s loss before exiting with the foot fracture. Once again occupying top-pairing duties alongside Hamilton and now rookie Simon Nemec, Siegenthaler has a goal and seven assists in 38 games this year while posting a career-high Corsi share of 53% at even strength.

Siegenthaler’s injury will surely lead to more ice time for the Devils’ other star rookie blueliner, Luke Hughes, on the left side. Hughes leads Devils blueliners with seven goals and 23 points in 38 games this season.

The defensive load, however, will more likely shift to the two right-shot defenders behind Nemec on the depth chart: veterans John Marino and Colin Miller. Marino has made his living in the NHL as a shutdown defender, and his pairing with Hughes has been on the ice for just 4.8 expected goals against in 126 minutes together, per MoneyPuck. Miller, while averaging only 14:45 per game, leads Devils defenders with a +10 rating and his pairing with 23-year-old Kevin Bahl has controlled a remarkable 70.4% of expected goals in limited minutes together.

New Jersey now only has five healthy defensemen on the active roster, so they’ll need to recall a sixth from AHL Utica in the coming days. They have plenty of time to make a choice, though, as they don’t play again until next Thursday against the Lightning. They created a roster spot for one today, however, returning forward Graeme Clarke to Utica after he made his NHL debut last night against Vancouver. Clarke, 22, logged a +1 rating and one shot attempt in 9:32 of ice time, all of which came at even strength.

Avalanche Place Bowen Byram On IR

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The Avalanche quietly placed defenseman Bowen Byram on injured reserve over the weekend, per CapFriendly’s transactions log. Head coach Jared Bednar confirmed the news yesterday after their 8-4 loss to the Panthers, saying that Byram’s lower-body injury isn’t considered severe and is expected to sideline him for seven to 14 days (via DNVR Sports’ Meghan Angley).

Drafted by the Avalanche with the fourth overall pick in 2019, Byram had a breakout campaign last season with ten goals, 14 assists, 24 points and a +7 rating in 42 games despite being hampered significantly by a lower-body injury that sidelined him for over three months in the first half of the campaign. After reaching restricted free agency last summer, that performance earned him a two-year, $7.7MM deal to remain in Denver.

For the first time since turning pro in 2020, Byram started the season by staying healthy for a long stretch, playing in every one of the Avalanche’s games until missing yesterday’s loss to Florida. While he isn’t producing as much as last season with 12 points in 39 games, his defensive game has taken a step forward. Per Hockey Reference, Byram has been on the ice for 0.76 expected goals against per game at even strength while logging 18:22 per game at 5-on-5 or 4-on-4, down significantly from his 0.85 xGA per game last season.

While the knowledge he won’t be out long-term is reassuring, it’s another tough break for a young player who’s already had his development significantly marred by injuries. The 22-year-old does look well on his way to being a bona fide second-pairing defender throughout his time in the NHL, but the likelihood of him reaching his top-pairing ceiling is diminishing. According to data from NHL Injury Viz, Byram has missed 126 regular season games due to illness or injury over his first four seasons.

After last night’s game, the Avalanche also reassigned forward Ben Meyers to AHL Colorado after bringing him up to play fourth-line duties the day prior while depth winger Miles Wood is sidelined with an illness. The two transactions leave the Avalanche with 21 out of a maximum of 23 players on the active roster. Thus, Meyers could return to the Avalanche before tomorrow’s game against the Bruins if Wood isn’t healthy enough to play. Including last night, the 25-year-old Meyers has one goal in nine NHL appearances this season, averaging a career-low 9:34 per game.

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