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Capitals Notes: Fehervary, Oshie, Pacioretty, Edmundson

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Bailey Johnson of The Washington Post is reporting that Washington Capitals defenseman Martin Fehervary didn’t practice this morning and will not play in tomorrow night’s game against the Vegas Golden Knights. Capitals head coach Spencer Carbery also told reporters that Fehervary is a maybe for Saturday night’s game against the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Fehervary is currently on injured reserve and wouldn’t have been eligible to return tomorrow even if he was healthy enough to play but is eligible to play Saturday if he can. The 24-year-old has had a decent start to the year and has been very good on the Capitals’ penalty kill. While he has just two assists in 12 games, he has been much more effective at even strength this year despite starting most of his shifts in the defensive zone.

In other Capitals notes:

  • Bailey Johnson also reported that Capitals forward T.J. Oshie took a maintenance day today and did not practice with the team. Oshie has had a brutal start to the season with just one assist in 13 games thus far and it appears the Capitals are hoping that some rest can help kickstart some offense for the 36-year-old. Oshie has seen over three minutes of powerplay time per game this season which is about the same average time he saw last year, but even with the work on the first powerplay unit he has been unable to find the back of the net.
  • The NHL Network’s Tarik El-Bashir is reporting that Capitals forward Max Pacioretty skated on his own this morning before the team’s practice as he attempts to ramp back up to return to game action. The 34-year-old faces a long battle back after tearing his right Achilles for the second time this past January and there is no timetable for his potential return. Both the Capitals and Pacioretty appear to be very cautious in their approach to a return which makes sense given how difficult the past 15 months have been for the six-time 30-goal scorer.
  • Bailey Johnson tweeted that Capitals defenseman Joel Edmundson is getting closer to a return after he was a full participant in practice today. Edmundson is trying to work his way back from a hand injury and was dressed in a non-contact jersey during this morning’s practice. The 30-year-old has yet to make his debut in Washington after he was acquired in July for two draft picks. He injured his hand in preseason and required surgery which has ultimately delayed the start to his Capitals career. A return to action would be good news for Washington as they are currently without defensemen Fehervary and Trevor van Riemsdyk.

Injury Notes: Zub, Miller, Vasilevskiy

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TSN 1200 out of Ottawa is reporting that Ottawa Senators head coach D.J. Smith told reporters this morning in Sweden that defenseman Artem Zub is day-to-day and didn’t practice with the team. The 28-year-old only just returned from an injury on November 9th in a loss against the Vancouver Canucks. He then dressed in the Senators victory over the Calgary Flames on Saturday night.

Smith said that Zub was more sore today and that was why he didn’t practice. He also added that the team would wait and see how he is for practice on Wednesday as tomorrow is a day off for the group.

Zub has dressed in just six games so far this season for Ottawa and has been very productive in that time with two goals and two assists. The expectations for Zub this season were quite high after he signed a four-year $18.4MM extension last December to remain with the club. Normally a defensive specialist, Zub is almost halfway to last season’s point total of ten in just six games.

In other injury notes:

  • New Jersey Devils reporter Amanda Stein is reporting that defenseman Colin Miller was a full participant in team practice this morning after being on the IR since October 19th with an undisclosed injury. Miller has yet to make his debut with the Devils after being acquired on July 1st from the Dallas Stars for a 2025 fifth-round draft pick. Miller practiced on the fourth defensive pairing alongside extra forward Maxwell Willman. No timetable for Miller’s return has been released yet.
  • The Tampa Bay Lightning tweeted this morning that star goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy has returned to practice with the team. The news sparked curiosity as to when the former Vezina Trophy winner might return to the lineup. The Lightning have been without Vasilevskiy for the entire first six weeks of the season but have kept their heads above water going 6-5-4 in their first 15 games. The Lightning currently sit tied for fifth in the Atlantic Division but are just two points out of a playoff spot with a lot of season left.

Pavel Francouz To Miss Rest Of The Season

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Although he has not played in a game since April 9th of the 2022-23 regular season, the Colorado Avalanche have announced that backup goaltender Pavel Francouz will miss the rest of the 2023-24 season with a lower-body injury. In the meantime, Francouz will return to the Czech Republic to be with his family and will be an unrestricted free agent at season’s end.

From the perspective of the Avalanche, Francouz’s status does give the team more long-term clarity on his LTIR relief, meaning the team will be guaranteed that Francouz’s $2MM salary will be off the books come the trade deadline. Unfortunately, the goaltender’s status does create a bit of an issue in the crease for the Stanley Cup contenders moving forward.

Although he has been a part of the team for the last five seasons, signing a one-year, $690 thousand contract out of the KHL before the 2018-19 season, Francouz will forever be a part of Avalanche history after his performance in the 2021-22 season. In 21 games played serving behind Darcy Kuemper, Francouz held a 15-5-1 record, with a .916 SV% and a 2.55 GAA, which are generally considered very solid numbers for a backup goaltender.

In the 2022 Stanley Cup playoffs, Francouz had to fill in on several different occasions as the starting netminder, especially during the Western Conference Finals against the Edmonton Oilers. In six games played during those playoffs, Francouz held a 5-0-0 record with a .907 SV%, including a shutout in game two of the team’s series against Edmonton, becoming a fundamental factor in their Stanley Cup victory.

Receiving an adductor surgery after the team’s first-round loss to the Seattle Kraken in last year’s playoffs, Francouz’s groin is still giving him too much trouble to compete at the NHL level. To replace Francouz in the backup spot, the team nabbed Ivan Prosvetov shortly before the start of the regular season on waivers, who had previously played for the Arizona Coyotes.

With Alexandar Georgiev receiving the healthy majority of starts in Colorado’s net, Prosvetov has only managed to squeak into four games, carrying a 1-1-0 record, coupled with a .899 SV% and a 2.90 GAA. The production has not been much better from Georgiev, who has a 7-4-0 record in 11 games but holds a .887 SV% and a 3.29 GAA, showing a stark falloff early in the season from where the Avalanche’s goaltending situation was only a season ago.

Avalanche Issue Injury Updates, Recall Riley Tufte And Caleb Jones

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11/12: Riley Tufte has been re-assigned to the Colorado Eagles of the AHL.

11/11: Colorado finds itself down a pair of forwards for tonight’s game against St. Louis as head coach Jared Bednar told reporters including NHL.com’s Ryan Boulding that forwards Artturi Lehkonen and Andrew Cogliano are both out of the lineup.  Lehkonen is expected to miss several weeks with an upper-body injury while Cogliano is day-to-day with an undisclosed injury.  In a corresponding move, the team announced (Twitter links) the recall of forward Riley Tufte and defenseman Caleb Jones from AHL Colorado.

Lehkonen suffered the injury after crashing head-first into the boards on Thursday against Seattle.  That said, Bednar clarified that the upper-body issue that the 28-year-old has is not a head injury.

Last season, Lehkonen put up career highs across the board in his first full season with the Avs, notching 21 goals and 30 assists in 64 games while seeing his playing time surpass the 20-minute-a-night mark for the first time.  His numbers are down a bit this year but he still has been an important part of their top six, picking up three goals and five helpers in a dozen contests while logging 18:30 per contest.  There is no firm timeline for how long he will be out for.

As for Cogliano, the 36-year-old has been a regular on Colorado’s fourth line this season and is their second-most used forward on the penalty kill behind Logan O’Connor.  He has three assists in 11 games so far after missing the season opener as he finished recovering from two fractured vertebrae in his neck that occurred during the playoffs last spring.

Jones, meanwhile, signed with Carolina during the offseason but after clearing waivers and being loaned to AHL Colorado, the Avs acquired his NHL rights last month.  This will be his second recall of the season although he didn’t see any action during his first one.  The 26-year-old has 213 career NHL appearances under his belt and has six assists in a dozen games with the Eagles so far this season.

The Avalanche had two open roster spots following Tufte’s paper demotion to the minors yesterday so no corresponding moves needed to be made to add him or Jones onto the active roster.  Speculatively, Lehkonen will likely be heading for injured reserve at some point which would open up another spot on the roster.

Coyotes’ Jack McBain Out Week-To-Week

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Update November 13th, 10:57am: McBain has been placed on Injured Reserve today as per CapFriendly.

November 11th: Arizona Coyotes forward Jack McBain is now listed as week-to-week with a lower-body injury, the team said Saturday evening.

McBain sustained the injury late in Thursday’s game against the Winnipeg Jets, likely suffering something related to his left leg after crashing into the boards. The 23-year-old is off to a solid start with four goals and three assists in 13 games this season, including a two-goal, four-point showing against the Chicago Blackhawks on October 30.

A third-round pick of the Minnesota Wild in 2018, the Coyotes acquired McBain’s signing rights in a March 2022 trade after he posted 33 points in 24 games during his senior season at Boston College and representing Canada at the 2022 Winter Olympics. He played in all 82 games during his rookie season last year, finishing 12th on the team in scoring with 26 points while averaging nearly 14 minutes per game.

After hitting restricted free agency last summer and filing for salary arbitration, the Coyotes and McBain settled on a two-year, $3.2MM contract just before his scheduled hearing. He will again be a restricted free agent with arbitration rights when the deal expires in 2025.

McBain has seen his ice time decreased somewhat this season to around the 12-minute mark, given the team’s increased forward depth. However, he’s still been a solid contributor in the team’s bottom six, and he’s out-produced many of the Coyotes’ third- and fourth-line regulars, including summer UFA signings Alexander Kerfoot and Jason Zucker.

The Coyotes have not moved McBain to IR or LTIR, but they’ll need to make a corresponding transaction if they wish to recall a forward from the AHL’s Tucson Roadrunners to replace him, as their 23-player roster is full.

Metropolitan Notes: Ponomarev, Miller, Pelech, Mackey

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In a peculiar move, the Carolina Hurricanes reassigned forward prospect Vasily Ponomarev from the AHL’s Tucson Roadrunners to the AHL’s Chicago Wolves on Saturday, per a team announcement.

The Wolves had been the Hurricanes’ AHL affiliate since the 2020-21 season, but the independently-owned squad opted to sever their ties with the Hurricanes this summer and act as the AHL’s only non-NHL-affiliated team in 2023-24 (and for the foreseeable future). It was not an amicable split between the two teams, and Wolves GM Wendell Young inferred over the summer that the team would not accept any Hurricanes prospects on loan once the season started. That practice has broken with Ponomarev here, though, who becomes just the second NHL-affiliated player on the Wolves roster, joining New Jersey Devils-contracted netminder Keith Kinkaid. The remainder of the Wolves roster is filled out by players on AHL contracts.

Ponomarev is a rather intriguing prospect, too. A second-round pick of the ’Canes in 2020, Ponomarev was quite solid with the Wolves last season in his first North American pro season, leading the team with 24 goals in 64 games and second with 46 points. Recently returning from a season-opening injury, Ponomarev had no points in two contests with Tucson.

Elsewhere in the Metropolitan Division tonight:

  • The New Jersey Devils are hopeful that defenseman Colin Miller can join the team on their upcoming road trip, head coach Lindy Ruff said today. Miller sustained an undisclosed injury in practice that has kept him out of the last ten games, although he’s still yet to make his Devils debut after sitting as a healthy scratch for the team’s first three contests. The 31-year-old, currently on injured reserve, joined New Jersey via trade this summer from the Dallas Stars, with whom he registered 21 points and a +23 rating in 79 games last season.
  • Staying in the Tri-State area, New York Islanders shutdown star Adam Pelech is missing a second consecutive game with a lower-body injury tonight against the Capitals, head coach Lane Lambert said this morning. The 29-year-old has just one assist through ten games this year and has yet again posted positive relative possession numbers, although his 20:22 average time on ice is the lowest in five years. Left-shot defender Samuel Bolduc, who’s struggled mightily this season with a -4 rating in nine games despite playing under ten minutes per game, remains in the lineup.
  • The New York Rangers have brought defenseman Connor Mackey back up to the active roster, per a team announcement. Mackey, who is serving as the team’s extra defender while Adam Fox is sidelined with a lower-body injury, has been recalled and returned to AHL Hartford four times in the past week as the team keeps him on the roster as little as possible to extend his waiver-exempt clock. Mackey, who signed a one-year, two-way contract with the Rangers last summer, passed through waivers unclaimed at the beginning of the season but can only remain on the NHL roster for 30 days until he needs to clear them again to return to Hartford. He has not yet played in an NHL game for New York this season after skating in 30 last season for the Flames and Coyotes.

Capitals Place Martin Fehervary On IR, Recall Dylan McIlrath

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Capitals defenseman Martin Fehervary left last night’s game with a lower-body injury last night and it appears the injury will keep him out for a little while.  NHL.com’s Tom Gulitti relays (Twitter link) that Washington has placed the blueliner on injured reserve.  In a corresponding move, blueliner Dylan McIlrath was recalled from AHL Hershey.

Speaking with reporters postgame on Friday (video link), head coach Spencer Carbery didn’t provide any specifics about Fehervary’s injury, only saying that it was not ideal.  That’s certainly a fair assessment as the 24-year-old went into last night’s contest averaging over 19 minutes a game while holding down a spot in their top four.

So far this season, Fehervary has a pair of assists in a dozen appearances along with 20 hits and 29 blocked shots.  He also takes a regular turn on Washington’s second penalty killing unit so his absence will be hard to fill internally.  Alexander Alexeyev was the reserve blueliner on Friday so it stands to reason that he’ll get the first chance to do so while Lucas Johansen and Hardy Haman Aktell will each have to cover more minutes as well.

As for McIlrath, the 31-year-old is in his third season in Washington’s system.  He got into six games with the Caps last year, his first taste of NHL action since the 2019-20 campaign when he was with Detroit.  McIlrath is best known for his physicality but he does have three assists in 11 games so far with the Bears this season, along with 23 penalty minutes.  Last year in the minors, he had 13 helpers in 60 contests plus 102 minutes in the box.

Injury Notes: Markstrom, Nosek, Zegras, Whitecloud

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Calgary Flames head coach Ryan Huska shared that starting goaltender Jacob Markstrom is day-to-day with an upper-body injury. He will sit out of the team’s Friday night game, with Daniel Vladar taking over the starting role.

This is timely news, as the Flames just recalled back-to-back AHL Goalie of the Year winner Dustin Wolf to the NHL club. Wolf has yet to carve out an NHL presence but the 22-year-old goaltender has more than proven his capability, going as far as winning the AHL’s Les Cunningham Award last season, given to the league’s most valuable player. Calgary plays Toronto on Friday and Ottawa on Saturday, which could give Wolf a chance to relieve Vladar.

The team will hope that their backups getting added opportunities can turn into some sort of spark in net. Markstrom has struggled through the early season, recording a .896 save percentage and 2-6-1 record across nine games played. Vladar has managed better outcomes in his appearances, earning a 2-1-0 record in his three games, but carries a .844 save percentage.

Wolf has recorded a .924 save percentage and 5-1-0 record in six AHL games this season.

Other injury notes from around the league:

Atlantic Notes: McCabe, Klingberg, Bennett, Montour, McAvoy, Czarnik

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Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Jake McCabe will draw back into the lineup Friday against the Calgary Flames after missing six games with a groin injury, head coach Sheldon Keefe informed reporters today (via David Alter of Sports Illustrated). The shutdown defenseman is expected to factor in on the second pairing, playing on his off-side along 40-year-old veteran Mark Giordano.

McCabe sustained the injury on his first shift in an October 26 game against the Dallas Stars, skating only ten seconds before leaving the game. The 2023 trade deadline acquisition from the Chicago Blackhawks hasn’t registered a point yet this season and has a -4 rating in seven games, and his possession metrics have dipped significantly (albeit in a small sample) from last season’s strong play.

That dip can’t be entirely attributed to him, however. His partner for most of the season before exiting the lineup was John Klingberg, who Keefe said will not suit up against Calgary as he deals with an undisclosed injury. Klingberg has five assists through 13 games but has posted a -8 rating, including two -3 performances in his last three games.

Klingberg’s logged the worst defensive numbers of any Maple Leafs defender this season and will be looking for a reset once he gets back to full health. McCabe, meanwhile, has excelled this season in small increments away from Klingberg – his pairing with the now-injured Timothy Liljegren has been the Leafs’ best at controlling shot quality this season, posting an expected goals share of 58.1% in nearly 50 minutes together, per MoneyPuck.

Elsewhere in the Atlantic Division:

  • Things are looking up in the Sunshine State for the Florida Panthers, as they sit second in the Atlantic Division with a .625 points percentage. They’re about to get some reinforcements, too, as head coach Paul Maurice said today that center Sam Bennett is possible (but unlikely) to return from a lower-body injury on Sunday against the Blackhawks. Even if he doesn’t return to the lineup this weekend, that likely means Bennett could factor in next Tuesday against the San Jose Sharks. The feisty secondary scorer has missed all but one game this season due to separate lower-body injuries, last appearing October 30 against the Boston Bruins and playing just 7:54. The 27-year-old had 16 goals and 40 points in 63 games last season and will immediately help bolster their top six upon returning. 22-year-old Anton Lundell, who’s filled in as their second-line center in Bennett’s absence, has scored just once in 12 games.
  • Florida is also likely to get defenseman Brandon Montour back soon, with Maurice saying the two-way defender could make his season debut as early as next week. Montour, who underwent shoulder surgery following the Panthers’ run to the 2023 Stanley Cup Final, was initially expected back around training camp but had his recovery timeline extended over the summer. The 29-year-old finished 12th in Norris Trophy voting last season, exploding for a career-high 73 points in 80 games and adding eight goals in 21 playoff games in Florida’s run to the Final. Florida’s defense has held up surprisingly well in his (and Aaron Ekblad’s) absence, but his return to action is still something to look forward to.
  • Another big-time defender returning to action imminently is Boston Bruins star Charlie McAvoy, who has completed his four-game suspension for an illegal check to the head of Panthers defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson and is eligible to return to the lineup Saturday against the Canadiens. McAvoy had easily been the Bruins’ best defenseman through nine games, scoring two goals and six assists with a +6 rating while averaging 23:52 per game. McAvoy’s return to the lineup, along with shutdown defender Derek Forbort’s return from injury, meant the Bruins were able to return depth defenseman Parker Wotherspoon to AHL Providence earlier today.
  • Detroit Red Wings forward Austin Czarnik will be unavailable for Saturday’s game against the Blue Jackets for undisclosed reasons, per head coach Derek Lalonde. Czarnik has made 11 appearances for the Red Wings this year but has recorded just one assist and a -3 rating in less than nine minutes per game of ice time. The 30-year-old is in the second season of a two-year, two-way deal carrying a $762.5K cap hit and will be an unrestricted free agent next summer.

Sabres Notes: Tuch, Savoie, Cozens, Samuelsson

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Buffalo Sabres winger Alex Tuch is listed as questionable for Friday’s game against the Minnesota Wild, head coach Don Granato said today. Granato said Tuch has been dealing with some “soreness,” explaining a rash of missed practices lately, and will likely only play one of two games of their back-to-back today and tomorrow.

Tuch, 27, has rebounded nicely after a slow start to the season. Recently reunited with Jeff Skinner and Tage Thompson on the team’s top line after some shuffling, Tuch has three goals and six points in his last five contests and has seen his ice time creep north of 20 minutes in the previous two games. He’s also dominating possession, recording a career-high relative Corsi share of 6.3% at even strength.

His potential absence has created some opportunity for 2022 ninth-overall pick Matthew Savoie, who Granato says will make his NHL debut Friday regardless of Tuch’s status. Savoie had a strong rookie camp but sustained a shoulder injury that kept him out for most of the preseason and the first few weeks of October. He returned to action later in the month when the Sabres assigned him to the AHL’s Rochester Americans on a conditioning stint, during which he racked up two goals and three assists in six games. The Sabres recalled him from his conditioning stint earlier this week, although he was a healthy scratch for Tuesday’s game against the Carolina Hurricanes.

Other Sabres items of interest:

  • Granato confirmed that center Dylan Cozens is returning to the lineup Friday after missing two games with an upper-body injury. Cozens sustained the injury in a fight with Philadelphia Flyers winger Garnet Hathaway late in a 5-1 loss one week ago today. The 22-year-old has three goals and four assists through 11 contests this season after breaking out for 31 goals and 68 points in 2022-23. Cozens and Savoie entering the lineup tonight means one or two out of Tyson Jost, Victor Olofsson and Lukáš Rousek will sit, depending on Tuch’s availability.
  • Lastly, Granato said defenseman Mattias Samuelsson could return to the lineup for Saturday’s road tilt against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Samuelsson will miss a third straight game with a lower-body injury tonight, which was sustained in the first period of last Friday’s loss to the Flyers. Samuelsson’s play has been okay this season after signing a seven-year, $30MM extension, recording four points through 11 games and a Corsi share of 48% at even strength. His impending return means rookie Ryan Johnson will likely return to AHL Rochester tomorrow after a three-game trial with the big club.

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