Filip Chytil Sustains Reported Setback In Recovery From Upper-Body Injury
Rangers center Filip Chytil had to be helped off the ice after an undisclosed injury sustained during Friday’s optional skate left him on the ice for “several minutes,” Peter Botte of the New York Post reports. Post colleague Larry Brooks adds that Chytil has completed evaluation and has returned to his New York home, and the injury sustained today is related to the suspected concussion that’s kept him out since Nov. 2.
Today was the 24-year-old’s second day skating with the team after returning to practice in a non-contact jersey Thursday. Chytil, who has a history of suspected concussions, returned to his native Czechia at the end of December to continue his recovery and arrived back in New York earlier this week.
The 21st overall pick in the 2017 draft posted six assists through 10 games to start the campaign. His average time on ice of 15:56 was a career-high.
A setback in his recovery will likely extend an already lengthy recovery process. Chytil has missed 37 games with the injury, which the Rangers have only officially labeled as upper-body.
Chytil is in the first season of a four-year, $17.75MM deal with a $4.44MM cap hit signed in March 2023. He posted career-highs in every offensive category last season, recording 22 goals, 23 assists and 45 points with a +15 rating in 74 games.
Without his services, the Rangers remain stretched for depth at center. Vincent Trocheck and Mika Zibanejad are capable in the top-six, both producing over 0.96 points per game and averaging over 19 minutes. The bottom six, however, features 30-year-old AHL call-up Jonny Brodzinski on the third line and declining checking forward (and natural winger) Barclay Goodrow on the fourth. Goodrow, who’s in the third year of a six-year, $21.85MM deal with trade protection, has one goal and five points in 45 games this season with extremely poor possession metrics. Offseason veteran signing Nick Bonino hasn’t been any better and was assigned to AHL Hartford on Friday after clearing waivers.
The Rangers are still in first place in the Metropolitan Division with 61 points but have a 3-5-2 record in their last 10 games. They’re two points ahead with no games in hand on the surging Hurricanes, who have won two straight and seven of their last 10.
Chytil will stay on long-term injured reserve, where he’s been since Nov. 28. As such, the Rangers have $3.67MM in their LTIR pool available for use, per CapFriendly.
Maple Leafs Place Bobby McMann On IR
Maple Leafs forward Bobby McMann is heading to injured reserve with a lingering undisclosed injury, head coach Sheldon Keefe said Friday (via Joshua Kloke of The Athletic). The move keeps McMann with the team for the time being after speculation earlier Friday that he was headed for waivers. In placing him on IR, Toronto has now opened a roster spot to activate winger Tyler Bertuzzi from the non-roster list for Saturday’s game against the Jets.
McMann, 27, has two goals and five assists for seven points in 23 games. He’s averaged 9:22 per contest and is putting up passable possession numbers, recording a 49.4% Corsi share at even strength despite starting nearly 70% of his zone starts coming in defensive usage.
Undrafted, Toronto signed McMann to his first NHL contract in 2022 after he spent two seasons suiting up with their AHL affiliate on minor-league deals. He’s transitioned into more of a full-time NHL role this season, skating in only six AHL contests.
McMann played in 19 of Toronto’s last 21 games as a fourth-line fill-in, providing a noticeable two-way upgrade on the services of injured enforcer Ryan Reaves. He missed one game earlier in January against the Red Wings with an undisclosed injury and was listed as a healthy scratch in Sunday’s game against the Kraken.
The IR placement rules McMann out of tomorrow’s game but no further. It coincides well with the timing of the All-Star break, during which his seven-day absence requirement will be satisfied. If he’s healthy, he’ll be eligible to return for the Maple Leafs’ first post-break game against the Islanders on Feb. 5.
New Jersey Devils Move Jack Hughes To IR, Dougie Hamilton To LTIR
The New Jersey Devils have moved star forward Jack Hughes to injured reserve, retroactive to his last game on January 5th, and moved star defenseman Dougie Hamilton to long-term injured reserve, per team reporter James Nichols. Hughes will be eligible to return as soon as he’s healthy, which isn’t expected to come until after the All-Star break, but Hamilton will now be set to miss at least 24 days of action. The top defender is recovering from a pectoral injury that required surgery earlier in the season.
The Devils have missed both Hughes and Hamilton for prolonged periods this season. Hamilton appeared in the team’s first 20 games before being knocked out of the lineup. He scored admirably in those games, netting 16 points – a mark that still ranks second among Devils defensemen in scoring.
Hughes has managed a bit more ice time, appearing in 32 games and ranking second on the team with 45 points. The 22-year-old centerman is scoring at a 115-point pace across 82 games, which would mark the most points any Devils player has ever recorded. It’s a record Hughes already set last season, with his 99 points in 78 games beating out the 96 points Patrik Elias scored in 2000-01. While injuries have clouded his red-hot season, Hughes is working hard to solidify himself as New Jersey’s next franchise centerman and is already outplaying the eight-year, $64MM contract extension he was signed to midway through the 2021-22 season.
Afternoon Notes: Panthers, Myers, Johnson
Top Florida Panthers centerman Aleksander Barkov will be a game-time decision for the team’s Wednesday night game against the Arizona Coyotes, per head coach Paul Maurice. Barkov has missed the last three games with a lower-body injury. Maurice also shared that defenseman Gustav Forsling is expected to make his return from a personal absence that held him out of Monday night’s game.
The Panthers performed admirably despite Barkov and Forsling’s absence, beating the Nashville Predators 4-1, bringing an end to a four-game losing streak. Interestingly, the losing streak came immediately after a nine-game winning streak that dated back to the holiday season. Florida will look to get back to their festive feelings with the return of both their second-highest-scoring forward and defenseman on a point-per-game basis.
Centerman Nick Cousins also made his return to Florida’s practices on Monday, wearing a no-contact jersey. Cousins has been out since January 2nd with a concussion. He’s appeared in 37 games this year, netting five points, 20 penalty minutes, and a -10.
Other notes from around the league:
- The Tampa Bay Lightning have sent defenseman Philippe Myers to the AHL. Myers has been with the top club since January 1st, appearing in five games and failing to score a point. He’s spent the majority of his season with the AHL’s Syracuse Crunch, where he’s managed a team-leading +20, in addition to nine points and 43 penalty minutes, through 28 games.
- Colorado Avalanche defenseman Jack Johnson will miss the team’s Wednesday night game with a nagging lower-body injury, per head coach Jared Bednar. He’s been designated as day-to-day. Johnson has played in 47 games this year, netting nine points, 34 penalty minutes, and a +6 – though he’s averaging just under 15 minutes of ice time, a step down from the 17 minutes he averaged last season.
Red Wings Notes: Kane, Chiarot, Rafferty, Compher
Red Wings forward Patrick Kane was a limited participant in Wednesday’s practice, Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press reports. It’s his first time joining the team at practice since sustaining a lower-body injury against the Maple Leafs on Jan. 14, nearly a week and a half ago.
Per St. James, the Red Wings hope Kane can return to action in one of their three games before the All-Star break but are still unsure of an exact return timeline. The 35-year-old has been out with a lower-body injury – a concerning designation given his recent hip surgery – but the two don’t appear to be related. Since signing his one-year, $2.75MM deal with Detroit, Kane has assumed a top-six role and posted seven goals and 16 points in 19 games, much closer to the level of production expected from the future Hall-of-Famer at this stage in his career. The Red Wings, who have a slim lead on the Devils for the second Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference, are 8-9-2 with a -9 goal differential in Kane’s 19 appearances this season.
Elsewhere from the Red Wings today:
- St. James also relays that defenseman Ben Chiarot is not practicing today as he remains out with an upper-body injury. He’s listed as day-to-day and has missed the last two games, most recently suiting up against the Hurricanes on Jan. 19. Chiarot, who’s rebounding somewhat after a ghastly defensive performance in his first campaign in Detroit, had averaged 19:31 per game and has 12 points in 45 contests. Given he isn’t yet ready to return to practice, he’ll likely miss tomorrow’s game against the Flyers. A day-to-day designation suggests he may return before the All-Star break, though.
- The carousel continues for depth defenseman Brogan Rafferty, who the Red Wings returned to AHL Grand Rapids today, per a team release. The 28-year-old hasn’t played for Detroit this season despite being recalled three times in the past two weeks, only serving as insurance given their minor injuries on the blue line. This is Rafferty’s fourth transaction in the last four days, and with Chiarot likely out for tomorrow’s contest, the Red Wings will likely recall him again.
- Also absent from practice today was center J.T. Compher, who head coach Derek Lalonde says is questionable for tomorrow against Philadelphia as he battles the flu. Compher has three points in his last three games after going pointless in six, bringing his total to 27 in 42 appearances during his first season in Detroit. His per-game pace is roughly the same as last year’s breakout performance with the Avalanche when he used his 52 points and 20:32 average time on ice to cash in with a five-year, $25.5MM commitment from the Red Wings in free agency.
Coyotes’ Matt Dumba Out Week-To-Week
Coyotes defenseman Matt Dumba is listed as week-to-week with an upper-body injury, per the team. The 29-year-old did not play the second and third periods of Monday’s 5-2 win over the Penguins, although it’s unclear when he sustained the injury during the first period. He did not accompany the team on their three-game road trip through the southeastern United States, and he will remain out through the All-Star break at the least, according to PHNX Sports’ Craig Morgan.
It’s not all bad news on the injury front for Arizona. Per Morgan, forward Nick Schmaltz will return tonight against the Panthers after missing three games with an upper-body injury. The 27-year-old had points in six of his last eight games before exiting the lineup.
This is another dent in what’s been a trying season for Dumba in the desert. The 600-game veteran is still shouldering significant ice time, logging just over 20 minutes per game, but has just two goals and five points in 44 contests while posting some of the worst possession numbers on the team. He’s with Arizona by way of a one-year, $3.9MM contract signed in free agency last August.
While he won’t draw in tonight, per Morgan, the open spot in the lineup should provide some opportunity for 2019 11th-overall pick Victor Söderström. The 22-year-old Swede hasn’t appeared in an NHL game yet this season but has taken strides forward with AHL Tucson, leading their defensemen with 13 assists and 21 points in 38 games. The team recalled him this week in the wake of a long-term injury to another depth defenseman, Troy Stecher.
The Coyotes have kept pace in the Western Conference playoff race, sitting slimly ahead of the Predators for the second Wild Card spot by points percentage after their win over Pittsburgh earlier in the week.
Austin Watson Out Week-To-Week
In a bit of a knock to their depth, beat writer for the Tampa Bay Lightning, Chris Krenn reports that forward Austin Watson is considered week-to-week with a lower-body injury. Watson originally came to the Lightning organization as an unrestricted free agent shortly before the start of the regular season after the team mutually parted ways with forward Josh Archibald.
Watson’s first season in Tampa Bay has been relatively quiet, as he has only managed to average a little under seven minutes of ice time a game, also having been regularly a healthy scratch. Suiting up in 26 games for the Lightning up to this point, Watson has scored two goals and one assist while also producing a total of 69 PIMs already.
At face value, the loss of Watson alone will not serve as a massive missing piece for Tampa Bay, but with Tanner Jeannot and Erik Cernak also out of the lineup, the top three leaders in hits for the team are now all out with injury. Serving as one of the more physical teams, especially in the Eastern Conference, the Lightning’s preferred style of play will be lost for the next few games. In the meantime, on the active roster, the new leader in hits for the team falls to Luke Glendening, who has thrown a total of 58 so far this season.
Metro Notes: Toffoli, Tippett, Chytil, Svechnikov
In his press conference this afternoon, the General Manager of the New Jersey Devils, Tom Fitzgerald, spoke on the upcoming unrestricted free agency of forward Tyler Toffoli and his interest in extending Toffoli beyond this season (X Link). Fitzgerald mentioned that he has had multiple agents with Toffoli’s agent to gauge the interest in Toffoli returning to the Devils for the next several years.
Acquired from the Calgary Flames over the offseason, the trade for Toffoli will likely be one of the bigger win-win trades for both teams. With Yegor Sharangovich producing rather well in Calgary, Toffoli currently sits third on the Devils in points with 20 goals and 33 points in 45 games.
At 31 years of age, it is unlikely that Toffoli will command a long-term contract by any stretch, but with his production over the last couple of seasons, he may command anywhere from $6MM-$7MM on the open market. Having just over $67MM in commitments for next season, New Jersey will have around $20MM in cap space next summer, giving them an adequate amount of space to retain Toffoli under that dollar value. However, with Michael McLeod and Dawson Mercer also needing contracts after this season, the Devils may look to spend their money elsewhere.
Other Metro notes:
- With several roster moves taking place today for the Philadelphia Flyers, the team also announced that they have placed forward Owen Tippett on injured reserve retroactive to January 21st. Unfortunately, with the Flyers’ last game before the All-Star break coming on January 27th, this means that Tippett will have to wait until February 6th to get back into a game. On a similar pace to last season, Tippett has scored 18 goals and 30 points in 46 games for Philadelphia so far this year.
- Having been on the New York Rangers’ long-term injured reserve since November 28th, there is still no timeline for the return of Filip Chytil according to head coach Peter Laviolette (X Link). Hoping to build off his successful 2022-23 season under a new coach, Chytil has only managed 10 games before suffering an upper-body injury in early November, limiting his production to a total of six assists on the season.
- In an undisclosed injury up to this point, Cory Lavalette of the North State Journal is reporting that Carolina Hurricanes’ forward Andrei Svechnikov would miss the team’s game against the Boston Bruins. Already dealing with injuries earlier in the season, Svechnikov has returned at a scorching pace, scoring 11 goals and 30 points in 29 games. In later reporting, Lavalette noted that Svechnikov’s current injury is unrelated to his injury struggles earlier in the year.
Atlantic Notes: Reaves, Bertuzzi, Johnson, Rafferty, Cernak
In preparation for the team’s high-profile game against the Winnipeg Jets tomorrow night, the lineup for the Toronto Maple Leafs will look a bit different. Jonas Siegel of The Athletic reports that the team has activated forward Ryan Reaves off of the injured reserve while designating forward Tyler Bertuzzi as a non-roster player as he prepares for the birth of a child.
With Bertuzzi not expected to miss a significant amount of time with the birth of his child, the lineup change will be short-lived. Suffice it to say, after having acquired both forwards in the offseason as unrestricted free agents, the Maple Leafs have not gotten a particularly good return on investment in either player.
Having been out for a little over a month with a lower-body injury, Reaves has scored one goal in 21 games for Toronto so far this year and still carries a team-worst -11 rating on the year after signing a three-year, $4.05MM contract with the Maple Leafs in July. Comparatively, as the highest-paid forward beyond the ‘Big Four’ in Toronto, Bertuzzi has managed only six goals in 45 games played, on pace for his lowest-goal total in his career throughout a full season.
Other Atlantic notes:
- Mike Harrington of Buffalo News Sports reports that Buffalo Sabres’ defenseman Erik Johnson will be out of the lineup both today and tomorrow. Although he would be eligible to return Saturday against the San Jose Sharks, Harrington points out that Johnson is only considered a possibility for that game, as the team may keep him out until after the All-Star break. Brought over in the offseason to shore up the right side of the team’s defense, Johnson has scored three goals for Buffalo this season while averaging the lowest total ice time of his career.
- Prior to the team’s game tonight against the Dallas Stars, the Detroit Red Wings announced they had recalled defenseman Brogan Rafferty from their AHL affiliate, the Grand Rapids Griffins. This being his third recall of the year, Rafferty has yet to play in a game for the Red Wings although he already has two goals and 15 points for the Griffins this season.
- Not included in the team’s game tonight against the Philadelphia Flyers, Erik Cernak has returned to practice for the Tampa Bay Lightning (X Link). Cernak has been out of the lineup since January 11th with an upper-body injury but could make his return before the All-Star break. In 39 games for the Lightning this season, Cernak has managed to tally five assists while averaging a touch over 19 minutes of ice time a night.
Pacific Notes: Hill, Ferraro, Bjorkstrand, Kemp
As alluded to this morning in the team’s reassignment of goaltender Jiri Patera to their AHL affiliate, Danny Webster of the Las Vegas Sun reports that the Vegas Golden Knights have removed Adin Hill from the injured reserve, and he is on track to dress in the team’s game tonight against the New York Islanders. Even though he will be back in the lineup, it is unclear if Hill will start in tonight’s contest, or if the Golden Knights will continue to utilize Logan Thompson.
Being one of the better success stories of last season, there were high expectations for Hill coming off an impressive run to the Stanley Cup last year. When he has been healthy, Hill has once again been one of the better netminders in the league, producing a 10-2-2 record in 15 games with a league-leading .933 SV% and 1.99 GAA to boot.
However, for the fourth time in his career and already the second time this season, Hill has missed a significant amount of time with injury, being one of the main drivers of Vegas’ fall in the standings. Since recovering from his current injury suffered on December 17th, the Golden Knights have only managed a 6-8-1 record, falling to eighth in the league standings.
Other Pacific notes:
- After suffering an undisclosed injury in the team’s most recent game, Curtis Pashelka of the Bay Area News Group reports that San Jose Sharks defenseman Mario Ferraro will not play tonight. Fortunately, subsequent reporting indicated that the injury to Ferraro was not as bad as expected, but the Sharks will likely be keeping him out through the All-Star break to fully recover.
- Kate Shefte of Seattle Times Sports reported that Seattle Kraken forward Oliver Bjorkstrand had missed the team’s practice today due to personal reasons. With a game tomorrow night against the Chicago Blackhawks, it is unclear if Bjorkstrand will be in the lineup or not. As the Kraken’s lone All-Star representative, Bjorkstrand is putting together quite the season, scoring 12 goals and 36 points in all 46 games for the team.
- Having spent two weeks with the team since being recalled on January 9th, the Edmonton Oilers announced they have loaned defenseman Philip Kemp to their AHL affiliate, the Bakersfield Condors. Making his NHL debut on January 13th, Kemp was unable to score his first NHL point after only managing two minutes of ice time. With Kemp now back in Bakersfield, the Oilers were able to comfortably place the new contract of Corey Perry onto their active roster.