Penguins Place Bryan Rust On IR, Recall Jonathan Gruden
The Pittsburgh Penguins have placed winger Bryan Rust on injured reserve. The team designated Rust as week-to-week on Tuesday, as he’s recovering from an upper-body injury. Many of the details around the injury, including when exactly Rust may return, are still unclear.
This news comes with an extra sting, as Rust’s linemate Jake Guentzel is also out until mid-March with an upper-body injury of his own. This leaves Sidney Crosby as the last healthy member of the team’s top line, now flanked by Reilly Smith and Rickard Rakell. The Penguins have had Guentzel and Rust both healthy for just 37 games this season. They’ve outscored opponents 108-to-103 in those matchups, setting a 15-16-6 record. Guentzel is one of just two Penguins, along with Crosby, still scoring at a point-per-game pace, with 52 points in 50 games. Rust has fallen a bit behind his co-leads, scoring 36 points in 42 games of his own.
Pittsburgh recalled forward Jonathan Gruden in response to Rust’s IR placement. Gruden has already played in five NHL games this season, going without a point and setting a -2. The outings have brought his career totals up to eight NHL games – the other three coming last season – with Gruden still looking for his first appearance on the scoresheet. The 23-year-old centerman has also appeared in 41 AHL games this season, scoring 13 goals and 23 points. Gruden will join a Penguins lineup with spots open – likely set to battle with Jesse Puljujarvi, Valtteri Puustinen, and newcomer Matthew Phillips for key depth roles.
Flyers Place Jamie Drysdale On IR, Recall Two
The Flyers have announced multiple roster moves, including recalling defender Ronnie Attard from AHL Lehigh Valley. To open up a spot on the active roster, the team moved Jamie Drysdale to injured reserve. He’s been listed as week to week with an upper-body injury sustained Sunday against the Penguins.
In another pair of moves, the Flyers said they’ve loaned netminder Calvin Petersen to Lehigh Valley and recalled Felix Sandström as starter Samuel Ersson‘s backup. However, this transaction cannot be registered until Petersen clears waivers later today.
The IR placement doesn’t reflect Drysdale’s timeline for a return; it’s solely to create roster space for an additional recall on defense. He’s expected to miss more than the seven days required for an IR stint. Concerns remain that his upper-body injury is related to the torn labrum that sidelined him for nearly all of last season, although the team hasn’t disclosed any specifics.
Drysdale hasn’t exactly been impressive since coming over in a blockbuster swap with the Ducks for top forward prospect Cutter Gauthier early last month, recording four points and a -9 rating in 17 games while averaging 18:37. The 2020 sixth-overall pick still carries high upside, however, and experience logging important minutes down the stretch while the Flyers attempt to secure their first playoff berth in four years would have been beneficial.
The Flyers are slowly losing their grip on third place in the Metropolitan Division, however, and the gap could continue to close between them and the Devils and Capitals as long as leading scorer Travis Konecny remains sidelined with an upper-body injury. They’re expected to deal one or both of their high-end shutdown defense pairing of Nick Seeler and Sean Walker before the March 8 trade deadline, too.
Drysdale missing extended time leaves the Flyers with only one right-shot blue-liner in the lineup in Walker, so it makes sense that Philly would want to summon another righty option to compete for minutes with depth defenders like Marc Staal and Yegor Zamula. In comes the 24-year-old Attard, who leads Phantoms defenders in goals with 10 and has added 15 assists in 46 games, along with a +2 rating.
A third-round pick in 2019, Attard signed his entry-level deal with the Flyers after wrapping up his collegiate career at Western Michigan in 2022 and has since become a top-four fixture for Lehigh Valley. He hasn’t seen NHL action yet this season, although he’ll likely draw into the lineup at some point over their next few games, given head coach John Tortorella’s penchant for rotating his cast of third-pairing defenders.
After representing the United States at the World Championship last year, Attard inked a two-year, $1.7MM deal to remain in Philly after reaching restricted free agency. A two-way deal this year that sees him earn $775K in the NHL and $125K in the minors, it shifts to a one-way deal in 2024-25 and will pay him $925K no matter which league he’s assigned to.
The Flyers hope Sandström can provide a tad more relief for Ersson than Petersen, who struggled with a .864 SV% in his five appearances this season. Sandström’s .880 SV% in 20 games last season doesn’t offer much more optimism, though, nor does his .882 SV% and 3.23 GAA in 20 games for Lehigh Valley this season.
In fact, both Petersen and Sandström have been significantly outplayed by 30-year-old ECHL mainstay Parker Gahagen, who’s played a career-high 14 AHL games for the Phantoms with a 5-6-3 record and .908 SV%. He’s not signed to an NHL contract, however, and can’t be recalled by the Flyers unless that changes.
Morning Notes: Senators, Khusnutdinov, Wild/Predators
The Senators’ top four on defense has rarely been healthy at the same time this season, mainly due to Thomas Chabot and Artem Zub struggling to stay healthy. Zub has missed the last three games with a lower-body injury, and although he appears ready to return tomorrow against the Coyotes, it could be one step forward and as much as three steps back, notes Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch. Chabot, Jake Sanderson, and center Joshua Norris all underwent MRIs for undisclosed (upper-body in Norris’ case) ailments yesterday, per interim head coach Jacques Martin, putting their statuses for the Arizona game in doubt.
Aside from the on-ice impact derailing their recent momentum, it’ll be quite the roster puzzle to make corresponding recalls. Zub is the only extra skater on the Ottawa roster, and despite that, they have no cap space for any standard recalls unless they determine one of their three newly injured players will miss at least 10 games and 24 days, in which case they can be placed on LTIR. For a $0 emergency recall, Ottawa would have to play short a player for one game, meaning they could be limited to just 16 skaters tomorrow. They could then recall two players whose cap hits are $850K or less for Saturday’s road game in Philadelphia.
Other things to keep an eye on this morning with the deadline approaching:
- The Wild hope to have newly signed prospect Marat Khusnutdinov with the team by the end of next week, GM Bill Guerin told Joe Smith of The Athletic on Wednesday. After inking his two-year, entry-level deal yesterday, the 21-year-old Russian center will now begin the work visa and immigration process. Guerin confirmed that Minnesota would start him in the NHL upon his arrival and forego an initial assignment to AHL Iowa and anticipates him stepping into a center role down the stretch. The 2020 second-round pick had six goals, 14 assists, 20 points, and a -14 rating in 55 games with the KHL’s SKA St. Petersburg and HK Sochi this season.
- Sticking with Minnesota, their game on the road in Nashville tonight will likely go a long way toward informing trade deadline strategies and playoff outcomes for both teams. The Predators now have a five-point gap between them and ninth-place Calgary for the final playoff spot in the West, while the Wild are looking to swing two points in their favor to draw within four of the postseason cutoff with a game in hand. Minnesota’s 8-2-1 run since the All-Star break has them squarely back in the playoff conversation after falling out of it entirely a couple of months ago, but a similarly scorching stretch from Nashville has helped them tighten their grip on a playoff berth for the 16th time in the last 20 seasons.
Injury Notes: Capitals, Terry, Seider, Soucy, Joshua
After a loss to the Detroit Red Wings last night, the Washington Capitals should see the return of several players back into the lineup. Tarik El-Bashir of Monumental Sports Network is reporting that Sonny Milano, Nic Dowd, and Nick Jensen have all returned to the ice for practice.
The return of Jensen from a lower-body injury adds to the team’s already above-average defensive depth, and may even make the team more comfortable moving out pending unrestricted free agent Joel Edmundson before the March 8th trade deadline. In regards to the return of Milano and Dowd, the Capitals will be able to return Michael Sgarbossa and Pierrick Dube to their AHL affiliate, the Hershey Bears, where they have each spent most of the year up to this point.
In eight games leading up to last night’s loss, Washington began building some serious momentum toward a playoff berth, putting together a 5-1-2 record. After yesterday’s game, the Capitals are now six points back of the final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference, with only three games remaining until the trade deadline.
Other injury notes:
- According to Derek Lee of the Sporting Tribune, Anaheim Ducks forward Troy Terry was practicing today in a non-contact jersey and will travel with the team for their upcoming road game against the San Jose Sharks. Thankfully, Terry has only been out a total of four days, so it does not sound like the upper-body injury will keep him out of the lineup long-term. Enjoying a mildly healthier season than last year, Terry has skated in a total of 54 games for the Ducks this season, scoring 17 goals and 45 points in the process.
- Blocking a total of five shots in last night’s game against the Capitals, Red Wings defenseman Moritz Seider was in visible pain for much of the game. Heavily utilized by Detroit, Seider has averaged 22:14 minutes a night throughout this season, but would only play in about 18 minutes of yesterday’s contest. In positive news, the team announced that there is no injury concern for their top defenseman, and he will be good to go tomorrow.
- In an update on a couple of injured members of the Vancouver Canucks, Brendan Batchelor of Sportsnet reports that defenseman Carson Soucy will see the team doctor today, and that forward Dakota Joshua will see the team doctor later this week. In his first year with the organization, Soucy has seemingly been injured for much of the year, already having missed half the season with still 20 games to go. The team will be hoping for positive news coming out of the meeting with the team doctor, as the Canucks would like to get Soucy back into the lineup in preparation for the 2024 Stanley Cup playoffs.
Sharks Place Mackenzie Blackwood On Injured Reserve
3:09 p.m.: Blackwood is expected to miss between seven and 15 days with the injury, Sharks coach David Quinn said Wednesday (via Max Miller of The Hockey News).
12:48 p.m.: Before tomorrow’s game against the Ducks, the Sharks placed goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood on injured reserve with an undisclosed injury. Magnus Chrona was called up from AHL San Jose in a corresponding move to give starter Kaapo Kähkönen his backup for the next few games.
Blackwood will not be available for the Sharks’ weekend back-to-back against the Wild and Stars. He can be activated before Tuesday’s game against Dallas at the earliest, although it’s unclear how much time he’ll miss. He left yesterday’s loss to the Devils in the first period after catching a shot in the midsection from a New Jersey player (video link).
In his first season with the Sharks, Blackwood has posted a 9-18-3 record with one shutout over 32 starts and three relief appearances, recording a .899 SV%. It’s been a nice bounceback season for the 27-year-old, who signed a two-year, $4.7MM deal with the Sharks last summer after they acquired his signing rights from the Devils for a 2023 sixth-round pick.
The 2015 second-round pick has saved 2.6 goals above expected in all situations, per MoneyPuck, his first season in the black since he finished sixth in Calder voting with New Jersey in 2019-20. He’s done so while facing 34.5 shots per 60 minutes, the most of any starter in the league.
Despite starting eight fewer games, Kähkönen has put up slightly better numbers with a .901 SV% and 4.1 goals saved above expected in 28 appearances. Slated for UFA status this summer and carrying a reasonable $2.75MM cap hit, he could be on the move at the deadline as an attractive option for teams looking for more affordable goalie help. If Blackwood will miss extended time past his minimum seven-day IR stint, however, that could dissuade the Sharks from moving Kähkönen unless they can get an NHL-capable goalie to carry them down the stretch.
That’s because the 23-year-old Chrona has struggled in his limited NHL minutes this season, conceding eight goals on just 29 shots across one start and one relief appearance. While still a promising prospect, he’s not ready for the major-league level, and the Sharks would prefer to keep him in the AHL as much as possible.
Bruins Notes: DeBrusk, Lindholm, Geekie
The Bruins’ relationship with top-six winger Jake DeBrusk has been roller coaster-like, seeing their 2015 14th-overall pick submit and rescind a trade request over his seven-season tenure with the team. Now slated to be a UFA for the first time this summer, there hasn’t been any progress between the two parties on an extension, DeBrusk said Wednesday (via Steve Conroy of the Boston Herald).
The likelihood of DeBrusk extending likely has little bearing on Boston’s deadline plans – unless they feel they can package him for an upgrade. Sitting at second in the Atlantic Division and hungry to avenge last season’s massive upset at the hands of the Panthers in the first round, the Bruins can ill-afford to solely detract from their overachieving forward group.
Moving him at the deadline would also be selling low on the three-time 25-goal scorer. He’s been underwhelming this year with 13 goals, 14 assists and 27 points in 58 games, under a 40-point pace for only the second time in his career.
The 27-year-old does cost $4MM against the cap, though, and if he informs the Bruins he’s willing to discuss extensions with other teams, he could help Boston clear any financial hurdle in trade talks. DeBrusk has been a full-time Bruin ever since his NHL debut in 2017, recording 132 goals, 121 assists and 253 points in 443 games throughout his NHL career.
- Flipping from pending UFA forward to long-term defenseman, Hampus Lindholm has been ruled out of the Bruins’ two remaining games this week, head coach Jim Montgomery said (via Scott McLaughlin of WEEI 93.7 FM). Lindholm has missed four games with an undisclosed injury that sidelined him on a week-to-week basis after a Feb. 19 contest against the Stars, and he’s yet to practice with the team following the injury. He skated on his own before this morning’s practice and will be evaluated closer to the weekend, per Montgomery, so more clarity on his return to the lineup could come ahead of two crucial contests next week against the Maple Leafs, their likely first-round playoff opponent.
- Center Morgan Geekie was a full participant in practice today after taking a puck to his right cheek against the Kraken on Monday, albeit in a full face shield, The Athletic’s Fluto Shinzawa reports. The former Seattle and Carolina pivot has been a revelation in the third-line center spot, hitting the 10-goal plateau for the first time and on pace for career highs with 27 points in 54 games. Averaging 15:26 per game, his $2MM cap hit through 2025 looks like a bargain-bin pickup for GM Don Sweeney. He’s set to reprise his third-line role with wingers Trent Frederic and Danton Heinen against the Golden Knights tomorrow.
Snaphots: Zegras, Lajoie, Timmins
In a report from Eric Stephens of The Athletic, Anaheim Ducks forward Trevor Zegras has been off crutches for about a week and can return to the ice in a week or two. If the predicted time of his return is accurate, the Ducks may have a potential trade chip available for the March 8th trade deadline.
Over the last few months, Zegras has been mentioned in some trade rumors, especially after Anaheim parted ways with Jamie Drysdale earlier in January. Still, at only 22 years old, Zegras represents a viable second-line center option for many contending teams, as well as a potential long-term fit with a handful of rebuilding teams.
Outside of this season, Zegras has typically maintained a clean bill of health, averaging over 75 games in his first two full-time seasons in the NHL. Over four years with the Ducks, Zegras has played in a total of 200 games in Anaheim, scoring a total of 53 goals and 146 points in the process.
Other notes:
- Per a team announcement, the Toronto Maple Leafs have recalled defenseman Maxime Lajoie from their AHL affiliate, the Toronto Marlies. Primarily used as a depth defenseman in Toronto’s system this year, Lajoie has only played in seven games for the Maple Leafs this season, tallying one assist in total. With the Marlies this season, Lajoie has been much more productive, scoring two goals and 17 points in 31 games played.
- Sticking in Toronto, TSN’s Mark Masters reported that Maple Leafs defenseman Conor Timmins is not quite cleared for contact yet, but can begin skating again. According to the report, Timmins is dealing with an internal injury, which has kept him from playing since January 24th. In the games that Timmins has been able to play in, he has scored one goal and six points from Toronto’s blue line.
West Notes: Lankinen, Kempe, Pouliot
During media availability today, the General Manager of the Nashville Predators, Barry Trotz, mentioned that the team has received trade calls on backup goaltender Kevin Lankinen (X Link). This announcement now confirms that both Nashville goaltenders are receiving trade interest, as some viable playoff candidates remain interested in Juuse Saros, as well.
In his second season within the Predators organization, Lankinen has continued to be a serviceable backup option for the team, producing an 8-4-0 record in 17 games played, coupled with a .892 SV% and 3.23 GAA. For any acquiring team, it is more than unlikely that Lankinen will become a serviceable starting option, although he has been required to play nearly half the season earlier in his career with the Chicago Blackhawks.
Fortunately, if Nashville ends up moving either goalie in their current tandem at this year’s deadline, Yaroslav Askarov appears ready to make the full-time jump to the NHL. Currently rostered on the Milwaukee Admirals, Askarov holds a 21-7-1 record, a .920 SV%, 2.11 GAA, as well as riding a current 19-game winning streak in the American Hockey League.
Other West notes:
- TSN’s Darren Dreger is reporting that Los Angeles Kings forward Adrian Kempe is returning to California to receive an MRI. Although the Kings have not performed as well as initially expected this season, the team still sits in the first wild-card spot in the Western Conference. With Kempe being the team’s leading scorer at this point in the year, and the recent injury to forward Viktor Arvidsson, Los Angeles may be an active team at the deadline in acquiring a top-six forward.
- The Dallas Stars have loaned defenseman Derrick Pouliot to their AHL affiliate, the Texas Stars, per a team announcement. Taking part in a critical game against the Colorado Avalanche tonight, the loan of Pouliot means that either Nils Lundkvist or Jani Hakanpaa are ready to return to the lineup tonight. In five games with the Stars since February 19th, Pouliot has failed to score a point while averaging a touch over 12 minutes of ice time per night.
Metro Notes: Flyers, Rust, Chatfield
Earlier today, the Philadelphia Flyers announced a plethora of injuries, revealing that Rasmus Ristolainen and Jamie Drysdale would both be out week-to-week with upper-body injuries and that Travis Konecny would be out day-to-day with an upper-body injury. Still holding strong in their attempt to make the playoffs, these injuries could impact the Flyers’ competitiveness moving forward over their next several games.
Not only will Philadelphia be playing without some of their regular players for the next couple of games, but it will take a potential trade chip off the board in Ristolainen. Although he does carry a relatively expensive cap hit of $5.1MM until after the 2026-27 NHL season, Ristolainen has appeared in some trade chatter over the last several weeks. Dealing with some injury concerns earlier in the season, Ristolainen has responded with one goal and four points over 31 games with the Flyers, averaging 16:41 of ice time per game.
The major concern, however, will be with Drysdale, who is building an extensive injury history in only his fourth season in the NHL. Last season, Drysdale infamously lost the entirety of the year after eight games for a shoulder injury that would require surgery and did miss two months of action earlier this season when he was still a member of the Anaheim Ducks with a lower-body injury.
Other Metro notes:
- Matt Vensel of Post-Gazette Sports is reporting that Pittsburgh Penguins forward Bryan Rust will be out week-to-week with an upper-body injury. Falling further and further out of contention, the loss of Rust for the next few weeks will certainly not help Pittsburgh rise in the standings. Potentially becoming one of the deadline’s more important sellers, losing both Rust and Jake Guentzel over the last few days may ultimately force the Penguins’ hand in their eventual deadline approach.
- Missing the team’s last four games with an upper-body injury, Carolina Hurricanes defenseman Jalen Chatfield is set to return tonight according to the Hurricanes’ Editorial Content Producer, Walt Ruff. Chatfield has been solid for Carolina this season, scoring five goals and 14 points in 49 games, while holding a strong CorsiFor% of 58.4%.
Central Notes: Zaitsev, Murphy, Athanasiou, Stecher
Struggling to keep their defensive core intact through multiple injuries this season, the Chicago Blackhawks could see the return of Nikita Zaitsev rather soon, as the veteran defenseman returned to practice today (X Link). Unfortunately, as highlighted in the same report, Chicago will have to wait for the return of Connor Murphy, who has recovered slower than expected from his lower-body injury.
Although keeping the likes of Zaitsev and Murphy in the lineup each night would ultimately make the Blackhawks a more competitive team this season, they are still in the middle of their rebuild, without having any intention of competing in the Western Conference anytime soon. Being that it is never positive when a player gets injured, it becomes a touch more bittersweet in Chicago as the team can call up prospects to test their mettle at the top level without much pressure on their shoulders.
This season alone, the Blackhawks have been able to graduate defensemen Kevin Korchinski and Louis Crevier to the NHL level, and both have shown flashes of being regular parts of the lineup moving forward. Nevertheless, especially in the early years of their rebuild, Chicago will have to balance calling prospects up too early and giving them meaningful minutes at the professional level, meaning veterans such as Murphy and Zaitsev still hold a valuable spot on the active roster.
Other Central notes:
- Staying in Chicago, Mario Tirabassi of CHGO Blackhawks reports that although forward Andreas Athanasiou has recently been a full participant in practice, there is still no timetable for his return. Signed to a two-year, $8.5MM contract extension at the end of last season, Athanasiou has only mustered 11 games for the Blackhawks this season after suffering a lower-body injury in early November. With one more year on his contract after this season, Athanasiou still has plenty of time to recover from his lost season to recoup some value potentially.
- Moving southwest, Craig Morgan of PHNX Sports is reporting that the Arizona Coyotes will see the return of defenseman Troy Stecher tonight in their game against the Montreal Canadiens. Stecher has missed the last 13 games for the Coyotes after suffering a lower-body injury on January 20th. Choosing to return to Arizona after a trade deadline deal with the Calgary Flames last year, Stecher has suited up in 42 games for the Coyotes this season, scoring one goal and five points while averaging 18:41 minutes a night.