Islanders To Place Scott Mayfield On LTIR, Out 4-6 Weeks
11:02 a.m.: The Islanders made Mayfield’s LTIR placement official in an announcement, activating winger Hudson Fasching off LTIR in a corresponding transaction. Fasching could suit up tonight against the Blues for the first time since sustaining a lower-body injury at the end of January.
10:30 a.m.: The Islanders will move defenseman Scott Mayfield to long-term injured reserve, GM Lou Lamoriello said Tuesday (via Arthur Staple of The Athletic). Mayfield, who has already missed four games with a lower-body injury, will miss an additional four to six weeks.
The 31-year-old was previously listed as day-to-day. He has not played since Feb. 22 against the Blues and has been dealing with the lingering effects of an ankle injury he sustained in the first game of the season, as he confirmed to Ethan Sears of the New York Post last month.
A six-week recovery timeline from today puts him back in the lineup for Game 82 of the regular season, a potential but unlikely playoff-berth-deciding matchup against the Penguins. Given the chronic nature of the Missouri native’s injury, he could be done for the regular season, allowing the Isles to use his $3.5MM cap hit by next Friday’s trade deadline to make a playoff push. Sitting ninth in the Eastern Conference and six points out of a playoff spot, they won’t be aggressive buyers, but Lamoriello said Tuesday that he’s open to adding if the acquisition cost makes sense.
Suppose Mayfield is done for the regular season. In that case, the injury ends a challenging first year of the seven-year, $24.5MM deal with trade protection he signed to stay on Long Island after briefly reaching unrestricted free agency on July 1. His five assists in 41 games are disappointing. However, his decline in usage from 21:02 last season to 18:46 this year is downright concerning this early in the contract, especially considering his career-worst possession metrics (40.0 Corsi-for percentage at even strength, -8.7 expected rating).
His absence could influence the Isles to focus on blue-line insurance over the next 72 hours. Their top four, Noah Dobson, Adam Pelech, Ryan Pulock, and Alexander Romanov, are passable for a playoff-bound team, especially considering Dobson’s resurgence, but a pair of fringe NHLers, Sebastian Aho and Mike Reilly, make up their bottom pairing with no better internal options. 23-year-old Samuel Bolduc remains on the roster after completing a recent conditioning stint in AHL Bridgeport. However, his possession metrics are among the worst on the team and trail Aho and Reilly’s decent even-strength play by a wide margin.
Assuming Mayfield’s LTIR placement is retroactive to his last appearance, he would be eligible to return on March 17 against the Rangers. However, his recovery timeline dictates he won’t play again until April at the earliest. He remains under contract with the Isles until 2030.
Dylan Larkin Out 2 Weeks With Lower-Body Injury
Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin will miss approximately two weeks with a lower-body injury, head coach Derek Lalonde said Monday.
Larkin sustained the injury in Saturday’s 4-0 loss to the Panthers, although it’s unclear which play caused it. He did not play the final 10 minutes of the third period and was replaced by Joe Veleno on his line with Patrick Kane and Lucas Raymond for their final two shifts.
With their captain out for a crucial stretch of games as they try and maintain their grip on a wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference, Detroit’s recent record becomes all the more critical. They’ve gone 7-4-0 since the All-Star break, giving themselves a six-point cushion on a playoff spot with one more game played than the ninth-place Islanders. While they’ve posted a +6 goal differential in that time, their shot differential was -23, highlighting some concern. They were outshot 64-46 over their past two games, both losses against the Isles and Panthers.
Larkin remains the focal point of the Red Wings’ offense, leading the team with 26 goals and 54 points in 55 games. His 19:52 average time on ice is the highest among Detroit forwards, as is his 54.7 FO%. He has a team-high 51.4 CF% at even strength, although that hasn’t translated into dominating shot quality. His expected -3.6 rating places him in the middle of the pack among Red Wings skaters.
The 24-year-old Veleno will occupy Larkin’s top-line role for now, per multiple reports. He will center Kane and Alex DeBrincat as the Red Wings embark on a four-game road trip that concludes with a pivotal matchup against the Sabres for both teams next week.
Veleno, the 30th overall pick in 2018, has been elevated in the lineup multiple times this year but hasn’t quite done enough to solidify a top-six role. A 100-point scorer at the major junior level, COVID partially derailed his development, but he’s still settled into a top-nine role with decent long-term certainty. He has 11 goals and 26 points in 59 games this year while averaging 14:32, all career highs. However, his possession impacts are markedly worse than Larkin’s, recording a 45.6 CF% at even strength and a -5.9 expected rating. His performance in a top-line role is something to monitor for a Detroit team that’s already struggled to dominate the shot counter as of late.
Larkin can be placed on IR to free up roster space, but the expected length of his absence doesn’t make him eligible for LTIR to free up salary cap space ahead of the March 8 trade deadline. Lalonde said Monday that he doesn’t anticipate making any initial recalls to replace Larkin, so he may remain on the active roster unless another forward sustains an injury.
Flames Recall Matthew Coronato
The Flames have recalled one of their top forward prospects, summoning winger Matthew Coronato to the NHL for the third time this season. With a roster spot previously open, no corresponding transactions are needed.
Coronato is expected to replace another rookie forward, Connor Zary, in the lineup against the Kraken tonight. The 22-year-old is listed as day-to-day with an upper-body injury sustained in Saturday’s comeback win over the Penguins, per the team.
Coronato, 21, was Calgary’s first-round pick in 2021. Since being selected 13th overall that year, the speedy winger has exceeded his expected benchmarks, eclipsing the point-per-game mark in his two seasons playing collegiate hockey at Harvard.
In his first full season of professional hockey, Coronato has dominated at the minor-league level with the AHL’s Calgary Wranglers. His 27 assists and 42 points in 40 games lead the team and are second in rookie scoring league-wide behind Stars prospect Logan Stankoven.
He’s yet to blow the doors off in the majors, scoring a goal and two assists in 15 appearances with the Flames across his various recalls this year. He’s been given a bit of runway, too, averaging 14:11 per game under first-year head coach Ryan Huska, showing that a bit of AHL time to adjust to the pro game is the right call.
Losing Zary, Calgary’s first-round pick a year before Coronato, is not a tiny bit of news for a Flames team trying to crawl their way into a playoff spot. His 29 points through 50 games after an early-season callup from the Wranglers have him positioned to earn a fair amount of Calder Trophy votes, and he’s slid relatively seamlessly into shouldering top-nine minutes. Calgary is 7-3-0 in their last 10 games, but they remain seven points behind the eighth-place Predators with two games in hand for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference.
East Notes: Bolduc, Konecny, Merzļikins, Lyubushkin
The Islanders have reinstated defenseman Samuel Bolduc after assigning him to AHL Bridgeport on a conditioning loan late last month, Stefen Rosner of NHL.com reports. Bolduc remained on the active roster and counted against the cap while on his conditioning stint, so no corresponding transaction is necessary.
Bolduc, 23, scored a goal and earned a +2 rating in five games for Bridgeport over the past week and a half. It was his first minor-league action in 11 months after cracking the NHL roster out of training camp for the first time this season. The 2019 second-round pick has not played for the Isles since Jan. 27 and was a healthy scratch in seven straight before his assignment to Bridgeport. He’s averaged just 12:56 per game this season, the lowest among active Islanders defenders, and has three points and a -5 rating in 33 games. He’s struggled to control possession in his limited minutes, too, logging a 43.4 CF% at even strength.
Other updates from the Eastern Conference:
- Flyers winger Travis Konecny remains out Monday against the Blues. However, he returned to practice with the team this morning, albeit in a non-contact jersey, per Charlie O’Connor of PHLY Sports. It’s the first time he’s been on the ice with the team since sustaining an upper-body injury last month that’s cost him five games. Despite the absence, he remains Philadelphia’s leading scorer with 27 goals and 54 points in 57 games, leaving quite a large hole in their lineup as they aim to hold on to a playoff berth and third place in the Metropolitan Division down the stretch.
- Blue Jackets netminder Elvis Merzļikins‘ absence is not a guise for a potential trade, Aaron Portzline of The Athletic reports. His day-to-day designation with an upper-body injury is legitimate, and the 29-year-old will miss tonight’s game against the Golden Knights as such. Rookie Jet Greaves was recalled under emergency conditions from AHL Cleveland yesterday and is expected to back up Daniil Tarasov, who will start for the second time in three games. Trade speculation surrounds Merzļikins amidst a bounce-back season from the Latvian goaltender, who has a robust .904 SV% and 12-13-7 record in 35 games behind a rebuilding Blue Jackets squad.
- The new-but-familiar Ilya Lyubushkin won’t miss any time for the Maple Leafs after sustaining a head injury in Saturday’s shootout win over the Rangers, per David Alter of The Hockey News. Lyubushkin was a full participant in Monday’s morning skate alongside Morgan Rielly and will suit up for his second game since last week’s trade from the Ducks in a likely first-round preview against the Bruins tonight. The Russian blue-liner, who has four assists in 56 games this year, was on the receiving end of a controversial hit from towering New York enforcer Matt Rempe in the second period over the weekend and did not return to the game.
Blue Jackets’ Kent Johnson Out For Season With Torn Labrum
The Columbus Blue Jackets have placed sophomore forward Kent Johnson on injured reserve and announced he’s expected to miss the remainder of the season, set to undergo surgery to address a torn labrum in his left shoulder. The Blue Jackets also recalled goaltender Jet Greaves on an emergency basis, with Elvis Merzlikins out day-to-day with an upper-body injury.
Johnson suffered the injury in Columbus’ February 28th game against the New York Rangers but he didn’t miss any shifts, playing to the last minute and getting involved in the team’s only goal – though not getting credited with an assist. Johnson was on a 19-game streak without a goal prior to his injury, recording three assists and a -4 in that stretch. His season will now end with just six goals and 16 points in 42 games – a significant step down from the 16 goals and 40 points he managed in 79 games as a rookie last year.
The news of Johnson’s injury is a gut punch to a Blue Jackets lineup already down star rookie Adam Fantilli, who suffered a calf laceration in the team’s January 28th game against the Seattle Kraken. The 2023 third-overall pick will battle to return before the end of season, with his prognosis at the time designating an early April return.
Merzlikins will now miss even more ice time, after losing games to injury and a scratching earlier in the season. He’s served as the team’s de facto starter, recording 12 wins and a .904 save percentage in 35 games. The Blue Jackets will once again need to turn to Daniil Tarasov and Greaves to man the net. Tarasov has a modest .888 in 14 games, while Greaves saved 71 of the 76 shots he’s faced in just two games.
Western Conference Notes: Eichel, Myers, Vilardi, Stankoven
Vegas Golden Knights star Jack Eichel won’t make his return from injury on Saturday, says head coach Bruce Cassidy. His next chance to return will come when Vegas visits the Columbus Blue Jackets on Monday. Eichel has been out since January 11th, missing the team’s last 18 games with a knee injury that required surgery. He made his return to the team’s practices on Wednesday, quickly upgrading to a full-contact jersey and nearing a return.
Eichel’s return will offer major relief to a Vegas lineup that’s gone 2-5-1 in their last eight games – with opponents outscoring the Golden Knights 31-to-27. Eichel is the only Golden Knight scoring above a point-per-game pace this season, with 44 points in 42 games. Vegas has set a much more commanding 24-13-5 record in games Eichel has been healthy for.
Other notes from around the league:
- Vancouver Canucks defenseman Tyler Myers has been designated as week-to-week with an undisclosed injury. Mark Friedman will slot into his spot in the lineup. That will bring Friedman up to 21 NHL games this season, spending much of the year as an injury fill-in. He’s managed just one assist alongside 21 penalty minutes and a +5. Myers has so far appeared in all 62 Canucks games this season – a feat that, impressively, eight different Canucks have managed, including three defensemen.
- Winnipeg Jets forward Gabriel Vilardi has returned to Winnipeg to seek further evaluation for an upper-body injury suffered in the team’s Thursday night loss to the Dallas Stars. Vilardi left the game after just 10 minutes of ice time. He missed Winnipeg’s Saturday morning win over the Carolina Hurricanes and will now miss one more game as the Jets round out their road trip on Sunday. Vilardi has scored 16 goals and 30 points in 38 games this season, though he’s been heavily limited by a string of injuries. The Jets have gone 26-10-2 in games Vilardi has appeared in this season.
- The Dallas Stars have recalled impressive rookie Logan Stankoven, who was briefly sent down to the minors after the team’s Thursday night game. But with this recall, Dallas shows that move was purely transactional, and that Stankoven will indeed continue in an NHL role after recording three goals and four points in his first four career games. Stankoven has also recorded 57 points in 47 games this season, battling for the league’s top scorer title all season long.
Atlantic Notes: Tkachuk, Gadjovich, Johnson, Liljegren
The Ottawa Senators have announced that team captain Brady Tkachuk will miss the team’s Saturday night game with an upper-body injury. This announcement came just over 20 minutes before game time. The nature of the injury isn’t clear, though Tkachuk did leave the team’s Friday night game early after colliding with Arizona Coyotes forward Liam O’Brien early in the third period. He managed roughly 19 minutes of ice time, six hits, and a +2 before exiting.
Tkachuk has been a major contributor this season, leading the team in goals with 26 and ranked third in points with 50. He’s also recorded 104 penalty minutes on the year – one of just three NHL players to cross the century mark in penalty minutes, with O’Brien leading the league in that category. Ottawa is not currently carrying an extra forward, likely meaning they’ll play Saturday down a player – which would make them eligible for an emergency call-up after the game. Rourke Chartier has served as the team’s de facto recall this season, playing in 34 NHL games and scoring three points, though he’s one of five different Belleville Senators forwards to play with Ottawa this season.
Other notes around the Division:
- Florida Panthers forward Jonah Gadjovich is expected to return when the team visits the New York Rangers on Monday, per the team’s Senior Digital Content Manager Jameson Olive. Olive describes Gadjovich’s injury as “minor”. Gadjovich also sat out of Florida’s Thursday night win over the Montreal Canadiens. He’s recorded four points, split evenly, and 90 penalty minutes in 31 games this season.
- Buffalo Sabres defenseman Erik Johnson will continue to sit out of the lineup with illness, per Lance Lysowski of the Buffalo News. Johnson also missed Buffalo’s Thursday night game, after being a surprise absentee from the team’s practice. He’s appeared in 50 games this season, with three goals marking his only scoring. Johnson is in the 16th season of his career, totaling 970 games and 340 points in the league.
- Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Timothy Liljegren will be a game-time decision on Saturday, per TSN’s Mark Masters. The 24-year-old defenseman took part in the team’s practice on Saturday, making progress from an undisclosed injury that’s held him out of the team’s last two games. He has 16 points in 40 games this season.
Ty Emberson Week-To-Week After Lower-Body Laceration
San Jose Sharks defenseman Ty Emberson has been designated as week-to-week after suffering a lower-body laceration, says team reporter Sheng Peng. Emberson suffered the injury in the team’s Thursday night game against the Anaheim Ducks, leaving after just six minutes of ice time. He’s missed 27 games this season, suffering from a string of injuries and going on injured reserve twice already. The Sharks claimed Emberson off waivers from the New York Rangers ahead of the season, moving the rookie defenseman to his third NHL franchise before he even made his NHL debut. He’s since appeared in 30 games, scoring one goal and 10 points.
The Sharks will also be without Alexander Barabanov, who has been designated as day-to-day with a lower-body injury. He also suffered his injury in the team’s Thursday outing and didn’t travel with the team on their two-game road trip. Barabanov has managed three goals and 10 points in 37 games this season, a long step down from the 15 goals and 47 points he managed in 68 games last year.
Emberson and Barabanov join a long, long list of injured Sharks. The team is currently missing three forwards, three defenders, and platoon goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood. Their absentee list also includes leading-scorer Tomas Hertl and team captain Logan Couture. The string of vacant lineup spots has given Givani Smith, Henry Thrun, and Magnus Chrona each a chance at extended NHL action. Smith was recently activated off injured reserve, after missing roughly two months with a lower-body injury. He and Thrun have each played in 27 games, with Thrun’s four points narrowly beating out Smith’s three points on the season. Meanwhile, Chrona is receiving the first NHL action of his career, setting a .724 save percentage in his first two games. It’s an impressive feat for the 23-year-old Chrona, who has already played in the NHL, AHL, and ECHL, despite being in his first season of professional hockey.
Maple Leafs Notes: Trade Deadline, Giordano, Lyubushkin, Liljegren, Järnkrok
The Maple Leafs are willing to part with a first-round pick at the trade deadline for the right deal, GM Brad Treliving said Friday (via Jonas Siegel of The Athletic). That deal won’t take the form of a rental acquisition, as Treliving preached being “careful with first-round picks for short-term help,” which falls in line with the organization’s reported unwillingness to surrender one in a deal for former Flames blue-liner Chris Tanev, now traded to the Stars.
In terms of blue-line targets, that could include Capitals shutdown man Nick Jensen, who Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman said the Maple Leafs may have interest in on Friday’s “32 Thoughts” podcast episode. He’s having a down year offensively, with eight assists in 56 games, but he logs top-four minutes consistently. He’s also controlled possession quality well over the past few seasons in shutdown-only usage.
Jensen’s $4.05MM cap hit through 2026 may be too much term for Treliving’s liking, though, especially if the Capitals are averse to retaining salary. With Jensen locked up for a few more years, there’s also little incentive for Washington to move him while they’re in the middle of a playoff race unless a significant offer is tabled.
Other updates from the Leafs:
- Veteran defenseman Mark Giordano sustained a concussion when he crashed into the boards during the first period of yesterday’s 4-2 win over the Coyotes, head coach Sheldon Keefe confirmed (via Lance Hornby of the Toronto Sun). He has been designated for injured reserve before tomorrow’s game against the Rangers, opening the roster spot necessary for Ilya Lyubushkin after the team acquired him from the Ducks last night. The Leafs are hoping Lyubushkin can debut in his second stint with Toronto tomorrow if travel issues don’t pose any threats, Keefe said. If he makes it, he’s expected to be reunited with former partner Morgan Rielly. He would replace Giordano in the lineup and allow T.J. Brodie to slide back to his natural left side along with Jake McCabe on a shutdown second pairing.
- Another question mark for tomorrow is the health of Timothy Liljegren, who did not practice today but hasn’t been ruled out against the Rangers, Keefe said. Liljegren, 24, has now missed two games with an undisclosed injury but would provide the Leafs with two right-shot options if he and Lyubushkin are both okay to play. His return would push William Lagesson to the press box, and he would likely replace McCabe on the second pairing alongside Brodie. That duo was quite effective during Rielly’s recent five-game suspension, dominating possession play while shouldering top-pairing minutes. McCabe would then form a third pairing with Simon Benoit, giving Toronto perhaps their most well-rounded defense lineup of the season.
- Someone who could force an additional roster move is winger Calle Järnkrok, who practiced today and is nearing a return from a knuckle fracture that’s kept him out since late January. Keefe did not rule him out for tomorrow’s game, although he seems unlikely to return just yet. The Leafs will need to open a spot on the roster for his return, which could result in placing recent frequent healthy scratch Noah Gregor on waivers or demoting their lone waiver-exempt depth forward, Nicholas Robertson, to the AHL’s Toronto Marlies. Järnkrok replaced Robertson’s role in the lineup during line rushes at this morning’s practice, skating alongside Bobby McMann and captain John Tavares in his new third-line role.
Mark Stone Questionable To Return During Playoffs
Golden Knights captain Mark Stone is expected to miss the balance of the regular season and is questionable to return during the Stanley Cup Playoffs, TSN’s Darren Dreger said on Thursday’s episode of “Insider Trading.” Stone has missed four games with an upper-body injury, which, per multiple reports, is a lacerated spleen.
Vegas placed the 31-year-old on standard injured reserve last week, meaning they aren’t receiving the potential long-term injured reserve relief provided by his $9.5MM cap hit. That will change before the March 8 trade deadline, though, and they’ll be able to use that space as they please to make deadline acquisitions for the second straight season.
Unlike Stone, first-line center Jack Eichel and his $10MM cap hit is on LTIR. However, as indicated by wearing a full-contact sweater in practice Thursday, Eichel will return to the lineup in the coming days.
The Golden Knights, who have also been using the LTIR relief provided by goaltender Robin Lehner‘s $5MM cap hit to stay compliant throughout the season, will likely place Stone on LTIR along with activating Eichel in corresponding transactions when the latter is ready to return. The latter has missed 18 games after undergoing knee surgery in January.
Lost in the cap space shuffle is the significance of Stone’s absence. No player that GM Kelly McCrimmon could acquire over the next week will be an upgrade on their captain, who remains in a very elite class of two-way wingers. He finishes his season with 16 goals, 37 assists, 53 points, and a +1 rating in 56 games.
That works out to 0.95 points per game, his highest rate since his 61-in-55 campaign in 2020-21, which placed him ninth in Hart Trophy voting and third in Selke Trophy voting. Serious long-term and, frankly, random injuries continue to plague the Winnipeg-born star, who’s played more than 60 games in a season just once since arriving in Nevada.
Stone’s absence will mean an extended opportunity for many down the stretch, namely 2020 first-round pick Brendan Brisson. While his production with AHL Henderson this season has been disappointing, he has a goal and four assists in 11 showings with Vegas. He was promoted to the top line alongside original Knights William Karlsson and Jonathan Marchessault for last night’s 5-4 loss against the Bruins.
It also means that McCrimmon can be more aggressive in pursuing help at the deadline than his division rival and likely first-round playoff opponent, the Oilers. Dreger said McCrimmon “will utilize [Stone’s] cap space” to add another top-six forward, much like their pickup of Ivan Barbashev from the Blues at last year’s deadline.
Vegas and Edmonton will be in the hunt for many of the same targets, which Dreger says could include the Blues’ Pavel Buchnevich, the Kraken’s Jordan Eberle, and, if extension talks fall through, the Devils’ Tyler Toffoli. A third Pacific Division team, the Kings, has also been linked to Toffoli.
After swapping Eichel and Stone on LTIR (and activating defenseman Tobias Björnfot, currently on an LTI conditioning loan to Henderson), the Golden Knights will have approximately $5.6MM of cap space available. That’s nearly twice as much as the Oilers’ $2.4MM projected deadline availability, which is already artificially high given their slim 21-player roster.
For Vegas’ purposes, Buchnevich would be the closest stylistic replacement for Stone. He would also carry a higher acquisition cost and likely a minimal amount of salary retention by the Blues, as, unlike Eberle and Toffoli, he’s signed through next season at a cap hit of $5.8MM, slightly above the Golden Knights’ projected deadline availability.
Buchnevich, 28, leads the Blues in goals with 24 and is second on the team in scoring with 48 points in 57 games. He’s not producing at the point-per-game-plus pace we’ve seen from him over the past two years, but his possession impacts are the strongest of his eight-year career: an incredible 11% relative Corsi share at even strength to pair with a strong +6.9 expected rating. He wouldn’t replace the massive hole Stone’s leadership leaves in the chemistry of Vegas’ forward group, but his on-ice results go a long way toward softening the blow.