Snapshots: Kessel, Faulk, Sanderson
Over the last several weeks, the league has seen long-time NHL veterans such as Zach Parise and Corey Perry find new homes well into the 2023-24 season. One veteran who has seen his name pop up in more chatter over the last couple of days is Phil Kessel.
In a report today, Rick Dhaliwal of The Athletic mentions that the Vancouver Canucks are one of the teams checking in on the three-time Stanley Cup champion. If Kessel can regain form relatively quickly, the Canucks could field one of the deepest teams entering the 2024 Stanley Cup playoffs, especially after having acquired Elias Lindholm and Nikita Zadorov this year via trade. It is important to note that from 2015-17, Kessel played under the current Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet when Tocchet was an assistant coach for the Pittsburgh Penguins from 2014-2017.
Nevertheless, it has been nearly 10 months since Kessel skated in his last NHL game, coming on April 24th in the Vegas Golden Knights’ opening-round matchup against the Winnipeg Jets in last year’s playoffs. Over the full length of last season, Kessel was relatively successful, scoring 14 goals and 36 assists in all 82 games while averaging a touch under 13 minutes of ice time per night, the lowest mark of his career.
Other snapshots:
- Per a team announcement, the St.Louis Blues have placed defenseman Justin Faulk on the team’s injured reserve for the second time this calendar year. Once again suffering from a lower-body injury, it does not appear to be connected to the injury that kept Faulk on the injured reserve from January 4th to January 11th. However, unlike his last injury, Faulk’s timeline has been listed as week-to-week.
- Leaving the team’s bench in the first period of their final game before the All-Star break, TSN’s Bruce Garrioch reports that Ottawa Senators defenseman Jake Sanderson will not play this weekend, and there is no timeline for his return. Playing in the ‘Battle of Ontario’ in a few days, the loss of Sanderson will surely be felt by the team, as the pairing of Sanderson alongside Jakob Chychrun has been one of the best in the league in terms of Expected Goals For and Expected Goals Against per 60 minutes according to MoneyPuck.
Mikhail Sergachev Undergoes Surgery For Fractured Tibia And Fibula
Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Mikhail Sergachev has undergone surgery to stabilize a fractured tibia and fibula in his left leg, per a statement from the team. No formal timetable for a return has been established, though head coach Jon Cooper told reporters including Eduardo A. Encina of the Tampa Bay Times that he will be out for at least the remainder of the regular season. Sergachev suffered the injury in the second period of Tampa Bay’s Wednesday night loss to the New York Rangers. He was making his return from a separate lower-body injury that earned him a place on long-term injured reserve in December.
Sergachev has only appeared in 34 of Tampa’s 50 games this season, though his 19 points rank second among the team’s defensemen in scoring. He’s been clearly valuable to the team when he’s healthy, averaging over 22 minutes a night for the third season in a row. The 25-year-old is in the eighth season of his NHL career, totaling 475 career games and 257 career points. All but four of those games have come with Tampa Bay, who acquired the defenseman in a one-for-one swap with the Montreal Canadiens in 2017, sending Jonathan Drouin the other way.
Tampa Bay has leaned on multiple defensemen to fill in for Sergachev’s absence, with Calvin De Haan the most likely to slot in right away. De Haan has seven points through 45 games this season, playing in just over 16 minutes a night. The Lightning could also have Haydn Fleury as an extra on the NHL roster. Fleury has four points through 12 games this season. He’s also appeared in five AHL games, going without a point and recording six penalty minutes.
East Notes: Hughes, Toffoli, Svechnikov, Lockwood
Devils center Jack Hughes will be activated from injured reserve and return to the lineup Thursday against the Flames, he told reporters, including the team’s own Amanda Stein. The 22-year-old had been out since Jan. 5 with an upper-body injury.
Hughes took line rushes with Tyler Toffoli and Alexander Holtz in this morning’s skate, but he may have different linemates against Calgary, said head coach Lindy Ruff. Toffoli is also expected to draw back into the lineup tonight after missing the team’s win over the Avalanche on Tuesday with an illness.
The 2019 first-overall pick continues to be New Jersey’s most dominant offensive force and leads the team with 1.41 points per game. He’s missed over 30% of the Devils’ games with injuries this season, though, although his 30 assists and 45 points still rank second on the team behind leading scorer Jesper Bratt.
A healthy Hughes for the rest of the season is one of the Devils’ biggest keys to clinching back-to-back playoff berths for the first time since 2009 and 2010. They sit five points back of the Red Wings for the final Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference but have two games in hand.
Elsewhere in the Eastern Conference on Thursday:
- Hurricanes winger Andrei Svechnikov has been upgraded to being a game-time decision Thursday against the Avalanche, per the team’s Walt Ruff. He has yet to practice in a full-contact jersey since sustaining an upper-body injury on Jan. 21 but has remained day-to-day throughout the recovery process. Injuries have limited the high-flying Russian to 29 games on the year, but he’s managed to push through multiple disruptions to post the first point-per-game season of his career with 11 goals and 19 assists for 30 points.
- Panthers winger William Lockwood remains out with a concussion and won’t return to the lineup Thursday against the Capitals, head coach Paul Maurice said (via the team’s Jameson Olive). Lockwood, 25, has not played since sustaining the concussion in a collision with Wild netminder Marc-André Fleury in a game on Jan. 20. Lockwood earned a three-game suspension on the play, which has long since been satisfied. He has a lone assist in 23 games with the Panthers this season, his first in Florida.
Pat Maroon Undergoes Back Surgery
Earlier this week, the Wild placed winger Pat Maroon on injured reserve. We now know how long he’ll be out of the lineup as the team announced (Twitter link) that the veteran underwent successful back surgery on Tuesday and is set to miss the next four to six weeks.
The 35-year-old is in his first season with Minnesota after the Wild acquired him back in July for a seventh-round pick. The change of scenery has certainly helped Maroon’s offensive game as he had 16 points in 49 games before the injury after putting up just 14 in 80 contests last season. Of course, Maroon is also known for his physicality – he led the NHL in penalty minutes in 2022-23 – and while his hit total is down considerably, he’s averaging more than a hit and penalty minute per game.
A three-time Stanley Cup winner, Maroon has 150 career NHL playoff appearances under his belt. That, coupled with a low-cost contract (Minnesota is only responsible for $800K of his $1MM contract), makes him an interesting depth addition for teams should Minnesota not get back into the playoff picture. To that end, Michael Russo of The Athletic relays (Twitter link) that Maroon should start skating again in a few weeks so while he might not be completely cleared to return by the March 8th deadline, he should be far enough along in his recovery that interested teams shouldn’t be scared off by the injury.
Matthew Poitras Out For The Season
Matthew Poitras was one of the bright spots for the Bruins this season, earning a roster spot in training camp and largely playing a regular role since then. However, his rookie year has come to an early end as the team announced that Poitras has undergone a successful right shoulder open stabilization. That procedure carries a five-month recovery time, ending his season. GM Don Sweeney released the following statement on the procedure:
Our medical staff made the recommendation for Matt to proceed with the surgery rather than continue playing with an unstable shoulder and risking further damage. Everyone involved supported the decision as to do what was best for him at this time. Matt is just starting his Bruins career and is a key part of our future.
The 2022 second-round pick had a strong preseason showing to help him break camp with the big club in October and he didn’t look back. Poitras had five goals and ten assists in 33 games while averaging over 13 minutes a night, a strong first taste of NHL action. Boston opted to loan him to play for Canada at the World Juniors back in December and he has some success offensively in that event, recording two goals and two helpers in five contests. Upon returning, his playing time had been more sporadic with this shoulder injury clearly being the reason for that.
Boston is currently using LTIR and will likely be placing Poitras on there in the near future, giving the team a little extra salary cap flexibility. However, with Poitras on his entry-level contract, the potential cap savings will be limited as his AAV is just $870K with most of that likely being earmarked for whoever the Bruins elect to recall to take his spot on the roster. Speculatively, Patrick Brown, who has been back and forth several times this season, could be brought up to serve in the reserve forward role while it wouldn’t be surprising to see Sweeney look for some extra depth down the middle before next month’s trade deadline.
While Poitras officially burned the first year of his contract early in the season, the surgery will prevent him from hitting the 40-game benchmark which would have allowed him to accrue a year of service time toward UFA eligibility. Instead, he won’t be eligible to hit the open market until he turns 27 in 2031.
Wild Notes: Lettieri, Brodin, Chisholm, Raška
The Minnesota Wild have activated forward Vinni Lettieri from injured reserve. Lettieri has been out since December 30th with a lower-body injury, missing the team’s last 14 games. He’s appeared in 19 games when healthy this year, scoring three goals and four points. He has also scored eight points in 10 AHL games.
Lettieri will return to the lineup looking to top 20 games in a season for only the third time in his career. The 29-year-old has played in 102 career NHL games over the last six seasons, though much of them have come in a relief role. The 2021-22 season marked the most that Lettieri has played in one season, as he appeared in 31 games and scored 10 points with the Anaheim Ducks. His only other season of more than 20 games came in the 2018-19 season – Lettieri’s rookie year – which saw the centerman net three points across 27 games.
Lettieri has also totaled 237 points across 277 career AHL games.
Other Minnesota Wild notes:
- The Wild will be without both Jonas Brodin and Declan Chisholm for their Wednesday night matchup against the Chicago Blackhawks, per team reporter Sarah McLellan. McLellan shares that both players haven’t skated much, as Brodin is facing illness and Chisholm was traveling internationally after the team claimed him off waivers from the Winnipeg Jets last week. Both will look to enter the lineup when Minnesota hosts the Pittsburgh Penguins on Friday.
- Minnesota has sent forward Adam Raška to the minor leagues. Raška has spent a month with the NHL roster, slotting into five games but failing to change his stat line. The 22-year-old winger has also played in 20 AHL games this season, recording one goal, 61 penalty minutes, and a -5. Raška has appeared in 13 NHL games over the last three seasons, though he’s still searching for his first point. That search will be delayed a bit longer as the former seventh-round pick rejoins the Iowa Wild.
Winnipeg Activates Mark Scheifele, Axel Jonsson-Fjällby Clears Waivers
2/7: Jonsson-Fjällby has cleared waivers. He will be assigned to the AHL’s Manitoba Moose, per the Winnipeg Free Press’ Ken Wiebe.
2/6: The Winnipeg Jets have placed forward Axel Jonsson-Fjällby on waivers to make space for the return of star forward Mark Scheifele. Scheifele has been out since January 11th, missing the team’s last six games. Winnipeg has felt the effects of Scheifele’s absence, going 2-3-1 without the forward, getting outscored nine to 14. The team’s performance has been a far, far cry from the dazzling 16-1-2 record they set in Scheifele’s most recent 18 games.
Scheifele was nursing a four-game point streak prior to his injury, helping build his season total to 14 goals and 41 points in 41 games – a mark that still leads the team in scoring despite his absences. Scheifele has been Winnipeg’s most-used forward, averaging just over 20 minutes of ice time this season. The mark has brought his career average ice time to an even 20 minutes through 764 career games. Every single one of those games has been spent with the Jets, who drafted Scheifele seventh overall in the 2011 NHL Draft. He has since played in the 10th-most games of anyone in that draft class, though he’s scored the fourth-most points. Scheifele was part of a loaded 2011 Draft that also featured Nikita Kucherov, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Mika Zibanejad, and Dougie Hamilton.
With Scheifele returning, the Jets will now risk losing winger Jonsson-Fjällby, who is in his second season with the organization after being claimed off of waivers from the Washington Capitals. Jonsson-Fjällby was drafted by Washington in the fifth round of the 2016 NHL Draft and made his professional debut with the AHL’s Hershey Bears in 2018-19. He’s since played in 99 career NHL games, scoring 23 points. Jonsson-Fjällby has five points in 26 NHL games this year, as well as five points in 10 AHL games. He will look to jump back into the NHL lineup soon, eyeing the 100th game of his NHL career.
Brenden Dillon To Have Hearing With Department Of Player Safety
The NHL’s Department of Player Safety tweeted this morning that Winnipeg Jets defenseman Brenden Dillon will have a hearing today for his illegal check to the head of Pittsburgh Penguins forward Noel Acciari. According to Frank Seravalli of DailyFaceoff, the hearing will be a phone hearing, meaning that Dillon will receive a suspension of five games or less.
The hit happened at the 4:15 mark of the second period in a game that was 1-0 Pittsburgh at the time. Dillon was originally given a two-minute penalty and then received a match penalty on the play after it was reviewed.
Acciari hit the ice hard and in a scary moment tried to get up to his feet but fell back to the ice. He eventually skated off with assistance from the Penguins training staff and left the game with an undisclosed injury. Acciari was visibly bloody from the incident. The Penguins scored twice on the five-minute powerplay and eventually beat the Jets 3-0.
It wasn’t Dillon’s first run-in with the Penguins as Dillon has had some tough battles with Pittsburgh while he was a member of the Washington Capitals. He also had an incident back in January 2022 where he broke the jaw of former Penguins’ center Teddy Blueger with what appeared to be a check to the head. Dillon escaped discipline for that hit, but that doesn’t appear to be the case this time around.
Dillon’s absence will create a hole on the Jets’ backend as he has been playing over 18 minutes a night this season and is having one of his better offensive seasons while still providing sound defensive play for the team.
Metropolitan Notes: Rangers, Cizikas, Fasching
The Rangers are unwilling to move their first-round pick in the 2024 draft in their pursuit of a forward ahead of the March 8 trade deadline, TSN’s Darren Dreger said on Tuesday’s edition of “Insider Trading.” That directive comes from owner James Dolan, who wants the Rangers to be a part of the final fully in-person draft before decentralization at Sphere in Las Vegas. Dolan is the majority owner of the Sphere property.
Dreger doesn’t rule out the Rangers shopping their 2025 first-round selection in a deal for an impact forward, although that would leave them with just two selections in the first three rounds over the next two drafts. GM Chris Drury dealt away both the Rangers’ 2024 and 2025 third-round picks in deals for wingers Patrick Kane and Vladimir Tarasenko before last season’s trade deadline.
The Rangers’ need for a middle-six impact piece is once again obvious if they want to pull ahead of the crowded playoff field in the Eastern Conference, especially with center Filip Chytil sidelined for the remainder of the season. Dreger said the Rangers made an offer to the Flames for Elias Lindholm before they traded him to the Canucks last week, although it’s unclear whether Drury shopped his 2025 first-round pick to do so.
No Ranger on the team’s third or fourth line has cracked ten goals this season, and fourth-line center Barclay Goodrow boasts some of the league’s worst even-strength possession numbers this season. A domino effect-type acquisition would allow 30-year-old Jonny Brodzinski, who’s been effective in a major-league role this season, to slide down to the fourth line and provide added value.
Elsewhere from the Metropolitan Division on Wednesday morning:
- Islanders center Casey Cizikas skated in a regular jersey at practice for the first time since sustaining a lower-body injury on Jan. 9, per NHL.com’s Stefen Rosner. Cizikas, 32, returned to practice with a non-contact designation on Sunday and is eligible for activation off long-term injured reserve ahead of Thursday’s game against the Lightning. Now in the third season of a six-year, $15MM contract, the Toronto native has five goals and 11 points in 39 games in his usual fourth-line role between veteran enforcers Cal Clutterbuck and Matt Martin.
- Staying on Long Island, Islanders winger Hudson Fasching was not at practice Wednesday and remains out on a day-to-day basis with a lower-body injury, Rosner said. The 28-year-old has not skated since sustaining the injury in a loss to the Canadiens on Jan. 25. Fasching has been a healthy scratch for multiple stretches this season but played in eight consecutive games prior to the injury. The veteran minor-leaguer earned a two-year, one-way extension worth $1.55MM after working his way into a full-time role in New York in the back half of last season but has been largely ineffective with three goals and eight points in 35 games in 2023-24.
Injury Notes: Nosek, Spurgeon, Toffoli
Earlier today, the New Jersey Devils announced that the team has activated forward Tomas Nosek off of long-term injured reserve. After signing a one-year, $1MM contract with the Devils as an unrestricted free agent this past offseason, foot surgery has kept him out of the lineup since early November, limiting him to only six games on the season.
Nosek was originally brought in to be an effective fourth-line center option for the Devils, a title that has since been held by multiple different players. In his six games on the year, Nosek has gone scoreless while averaging a career-low in average time on ice.
With top forward Jack Hughes still out of the lineup, Nosek will not exactly fill in any void left by Hughes, but nonetheless fills a hole in the forward unit. For a team that has had very little stability down the middle of the ice at the bottom of the lineup, the return of Nosek will at least give them that moving forward.
Other injury notes:
- On January 18th, it was announced that Minnesota Wild captain Jared Spurgeon would miss the rest of the 2023-24 season due to surgery on his back and his hip. Today, Michael Russo of The Athletic reports that Spurgeon underwent successful surgery on his back, and will undergo hip surgery in approximately a month. In a lost season for both player and team, Spurgeon will have finished with a career-low 16 games played for the Wild, only tallying five assists overall.
- Back in New Jersey, before their game tonight against the Colorado Avalanche, Ryan Novozinsky of Star-Ledger reported that forward Tyler Toffoli would miss the action tonight due to illness. In his stead, depth forward Maxwell Willman will draw back into the lineup, lining up on the wing next to Curtis Lazar and Nathan Bastian against their Central Division-leading opponents.