Gabriel Landeskog Skates For First Time Since Cartilage Transplant
Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog skated on his own today for the first time since undergoing a cartilage transplant in his right knee last May, Colorado Hockey Now’s Evan Rawal relays.
It’s an incredibly promising development for Colorado’s captain. He hasn’t played an NHL game since June 26, 2022, when the Avalanche won Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final over the Lightning to win their third championship in franchise history. His cartilage transplant is the third surgery on his right knee dating back to March 2022.
Landeskog’s second surgery, which took place early in the 2022-23 season, was only expected to keep him out for three months and have him back in the lineup by the All-Star break. Instead, he missed the entire campaign, thus determining a more invasive surgery was needed to correct the issue and improve his long-term quality of life.
While today’s news increases optimism that the 31-year-old will resume his career at some point, expect the Avalanche to be overly cautious with his recovery timeline. Given the nature of a cartilage transplant surgery in an athlete, even a small setback in his progress will take him “back to square one,” Avalanche GM Chris MacFarland told ESPN’s Emily Kaplan last October.
With three months to go until postseason play, it’s too early to rule Landeskog out of playoff action. The Avalanche will be in the mix come April, with 98% odds of making the playoffs and 15% odds of taking the Central Division title from the league-best Winnipeg Jets, per Hockey Reference. Even if he’s cleared to return, though, the likelihood of the Avalanche plopping him into the most rough-and-tumble environment of the season after nearly two years off seems low.
Colorado is certainly of the mind of winning the Cup this season, but it’s fair to assume MacFarland would like to extend the team’s window to compete beyond 2024. Letting Landeskog rest as long as possible in hopes of 2024-25 behind his first season with 70+ games played in six years would help achieve that goal.
At the time of writing, Landeskog’s 738 games played rank sixth in Avalanche history. His 248 goals, 323 assists, and 571 points rank seventh, ninth, and eighth, respectively. His 1.16 points-per-game pace in his final season before the injury, 2021-22, was a career-high.
Jeff Skinner Out Week-To-Week With Upper-Body Injury
The Buffalo Sabres have announced that forward Jeff Skinner is out with an upper-body injury on a week-to-week basis.
It was previously understood that Skinner would be undergoing further testing to determine the full extent of his injury, but there was some hope that it’d be classified as at most a day-to-day absence. That has proven not to be the case. Now, the Sabres will have to make do without a player who ranks second in team scoring.
The 31-year-old has had an impressive career renaissance under head coach Don Granato, going from healthy scratches and just 14 points of production under former coach Ralph Krueger in 2020-21 to a career-high 82 points in 2022-23.
Owner of a $9MM AAV contract, Skinner has become one of the Sabres’ most important offensive generators. Losing Skinner on a week-to-week basis could be a potentially fatal blow to Buffalo’s long-shot playoff hopes. MoneyPuck currently pegs the Sabres at a 7.9% chance of making the playoffs, which is certainly low but not completely impossible.
Without Skinner, it’ll be even tougher for the Sabres to beat the odds and end the league’s most extensive playoff drought. On a team where key offensive players such as Dylan Cozens, Victor Olofsson, Peyton Krebs have failed to take desired steps forward in terms of production, the points Skinner provides on a consistent basis are invaluable.
Without him occupying his typical first-line left-wing slot, the Sabres could turn to Olofsson in that role. Olofsson has previously served as a healthy scratch, but did score 28 goals last season. The Sabres could also opt to elevate their leading scorer Casey Mittelstadt to Skinner’s role, thereby helping replace some of the playmaking Skinner provides, though it would potentially come at the cost of de-stabilizing the Sabres’ third line, leaving Zach Benson and Jordan Greenway in limbo.
Whichever route the Sabres choose to go down in terms of replacing Skinner in the immediate term, one thing is clear: this is a different team without the 2011 Calder Trophy winner, and a team that will find itself even harder-pressed to generate offense.
Vegas Recalls Isaiah Saville With Adin Hill, Michael Amadio Out
The Vegas Golden Knights have recalled goaltender Isaiah Saville ahead of their Wednesday night game, as expected starter Adin Hill is not yet ready to return. The Golden Knights also shared that forward Michael Amadio will miss Wednesday’s matchup with illness.
Saville will serve as the team’s backup against the Colorado Avalanche, with Jiri Patera set to make his fourth start of the season. It’s only the sixth start of Patera’s career, which kicked off with two NHL appearances last season. He’s set a 3-2-0 record and .908 save percentage in his limited NHL career, though he’s spent more of his time operating as the starter for the AHL’s Henderson Silver Knights. He’s appeared in 14 AHL games this year, setting a 6-6-2 record and .900 save percentage. He’s been backed up by a platoon of goalies, including Saville, who has managed a 4-3-0 record and .914 save percentages in seven games of his own. The sudden recall is only the second of Saville’s career, though the 23-year-old has yet to play in his first NHL game.
Hill’s unexpected setback now makes nine consecutive games that he’s missed with an undisclosed injury. The 27-year-old has continued to look fantastic in the ice time he has managed, setting a league-leading .933 save percentage and 1.93 goals-against-average in the 15 games he’s played this season. His injury forces Vegas to turn to their AHL netminders, as the team is also missing Logan Thompson due to illness. Thompson has served as the de facto starter in Hill’s absence, setting a 12-8 record and .902 save percentage in 24 games.
Injury Updates: Skinner, Nečas, Capitals
Although the Sabres have the longest active playoff drought in the NHL and one that seems likelier and likelier to extend through 2023-24, their lack of team progress has not stopped individual Sabres from taking major steps forward in their career. $9MM AAV forward Jeff Skinner is coming off of a career year in which he scored 82 points, and currently has 33 points in 38 games. He’s among Buffalo’s most reliable offensive generators, which makes it all the more distressing that he’s suffered an upper-body injury, according to The Athletic’s Matthew Fairburn.
Fairburn reports that “the Sabres are waiting for the results” of the imaging Skinner underwent this morning in order to determine a timetable for his recovery. Any significant Skinner absence could be a potential killing blow to the Sabres’ long-shot playoff hopes. He’s skated on the team’s first line alongside Alex Tuch and Tage Thompson, and although three-time 20-goal scorer Victor Olofsson would see more regular time in the lineup in Skinner’s absence, the Sabres don’t have any players who appear capable of replicating Skinner’s playmaking abilities.
Other injury notes from across the NHL:
- Carolina Hurricanes team reporter Walt Ruff has provided updates from head coach Rod Brind’Amour, who says that forward Martin Nečas‘ upper-body injury “isn’t too serious,” though it may keep him out of the lineup tomorrow. Necas last played in Carolina’s December 2nd win against the New York Rangers, before getting injured. After scoring 28 goals and 71 points last season Necas is scoring at a 20-goal, 56-point pace this season.
- The Washington Post’s Bailey Johnson reports that both Alex Ovechkin and Tom Wilson were on the ice ahead of team practice this morning. Wilson was wearing a “fishbowl” helmet to protect his broken nose. Both players skated in the team’s most recent game Sunday against the Los Angeles Kings, but there was some fear that neither would be available tomorrow against Seattle due to injury. They’re still not confirmed to be ready to play, but today’s reporting does point in a positive direction in that regard.
Connor Bedard Undergoes Surgery On Jaw, Out 6-8 Weeks
Blackhawks star rookie Connor Bedard underwent surgery on Monday to repair his fractured jaw, Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli reports. Bedard will be sidelined between six and eight weeks as a result of the procedure and will miss next month’s 2024 NHL All-Star Game in Toronto. The Blackhawks later confirmed the timeline.
The Blackhawks already placed Bedard on injured reserve last weekend, but he’ll miss far more than the minimum seven days required for an IR stay. The 2023 first-overall pick sustained the injury on an open-ice hit from Devils bruiser Brendan Smith last Friday.
Bedard, still just 18, has bar-none been the Blackhawks’ best offensive player in his first NHL campaign. The team is on pace for only 24 wins and 52 points at the halfway mark of the season, but Bedard has still managed a team-leading 15 goals, 18 assists and 33 points in 39 games while leading Chicago forwards with an average ice time of 19:04. His longer-term injury is reminiscent of Oilers superstar Connor McDavid, who was sidelined for 37 games during his rookie 2015-16 campaign after a big hit from then-Flyers defenseman Brandon Manning.
It will be an extremely tough go for the embattled Blackhawks without Bedard’s services, which could take them up to the March 8 trade deadline. Taylor Hall is done for the season, while Andreas Athanasiou, Anthony Beauvillier, Nick Foligno, and Tyler Johnson are all sidelined longer-term with injuries. It’s forced them to dress a first line composed of Philipp Kurashev, recent trade pickup Rem Pitlick, who’s spent the entire season in the AHL up to this point, and Taylor Raddysh. For a team already sitting near the very bottom of the league, things will get worse before they get better.
In terms of an All-Star Game replacement for Bedard, the league could look to send defenseman Seth Jones to Toronto. Chicago’s highest-paid defender is currently on injured reserve with an upper-body injury, but he’s returned to practice and will likely be cleared to play before the festivities in early February. Jones has no goals and 11 assists in 27 games this year, averaging over 25 minutes per game and posting a respectable -5 rating on a poor defensive team.
West Notes: Zegras, Barabanov, Milne
After moving out Jamie Drysdale, some are wondering if Ducks GM Pat Verbeek might have another big move up his sleeve. To that end, Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli reports that Verbeek has discussed center Trevor Zegras with teams this season although it’s not known how far those discussions advanced. After a tough contract negotiation that eventually yielded a three-year bridge deal with a $5.75MM cap hit, things have not gone well for the 22-year-old. Injuries have limited him to 19 games heading into tonight’s action while he has struggled offensively with just four goals and three assists. Unfortunately for Zegras and Anaheim, he suffered a lower-body injury during tonight’s game against Nashville in the first period and did not return. Any extended absence could put the idea of a possible trade on hold fairly quickly.
More from the Western Conference:
- Back in the summer, Sharks GM Mike Grier acknowledged that there was some merit to the idea of extending pending unrestricted free agent winger Alexander Barabanov. However, Curtis Pashelka of The Mercury News reports that there have yet to be discussions about a new contract for the 29-year-old. Like many San Jose players this season, 2023-24 has been a struggle for Barabanov who has just seven points in 20 games after coming off a career year that saw him collect 47 points in 68 games. He has a $2.5MM cap charge and if a new deal isn’t reached, he’ll be one of their more intriguing trade chips in the coming weeks.
- The Wild activated forward Michael Milne off season-opening IR and assigned him to AHL Iowa, Michael Russo of The Athletic reports (Twitter link). The 21-year-old is in his second professional season after picking up 13 points in 57 AHL contests last year and after missing the first few months of the season due to injury, is expected to play this weekend. Milne was a third-round pick in 2022 (89th overall) after a breakout season offensively in the WHL that saw him put up 81 points in 68 games.
Atlantic Notes: Woll, Cernak, Zub
One of the most oft-used members of the Toronto Maple Leafs goalie carousel, Joseph Woll has found himself on the team’s injured reserve for a month, suffering from a high ankle sprain on December 8th. In some positive news for the organization, David Alter of The Hockey News reports that Woll was back on the ice this morning, although under limited movement and intensity.
To push back on the idea that Woll may be close to returning after being seen at practice, in a follow-up report, Alter indicated that Woll was still “a ways away” and that there is still no concrete timeline for his return. In the meantime, the Maple Leafs will continue to roll with the combination of Martin Jones and Dennis Hildeby, as the latter is still looking to make his NHL debut in the crease.
Fortunately for Toronto, even with the injury to Woll, and the unfortunate demise of Ilya Samsonov between the pipes, they have received incredible play from Jones, who has produced some of the better goaltending numbers across the league in the last month. Making his initial debut with the Maple Leafs on December 7th, Jones has produced a 7-3-0 record in his last 11 games, carrying a .932 save percentage in the process.
Other Atlantic notes:
- In their matchup tonight against the Los Angeles Kings, the Tampa Bay Lightning will be welcoming back defenseman Erik Cernak, according to Eduardo Encina of the Tampa Bay Times. Cernak has missed the last three games for the Lightning, suffering an upper-body injury on the team’s New Year’s Eve game against the Montreal Canadiens. Primarily a shutdown defenseman, Cernak has skated in 37 games for Tampa Bay so far this season, tallying five assists in an approximate average of 19 and a half minutes of ice time per night.
- Interim head coach of the Ottawa Senators, Jacques Martin, called defenseman Artem Zub a game-time decision tonight against the Calgary Flames, as Zub has been dealing with an illness since Monday (X Link). Although missing a few games earlier in the year, Zub has been quite productive for the Senators this season, scoring three goals and 11 points in 28 games, which places him third in total scoring in Ottawa amongst defensemen.
Metropolitan Notes: Kakko, Trouba, Pelech, Oshie
Although there has been some recent speculation that New York Rangers’ forward, Kaapo Kakko, could be making his return soon, Larry Brooks of the New York Post states that is not the case. Unfortunately, Brooks notes that Kakko has still not been cleared to return to play, meaning the Rangers will have to call up a forward from their AHL affiliate, the Hartford Wolf Pack, before their game on Thursday.
Suffering from a lower-body injury in late November, Kakko has been on the team’s long-term injured reserve since November 28th. Although he has satisfied the LTIR requirements to return by a healthy amount, team doctors clearly do not think he is ready to return. In what is shaping up to be yet another disappointing season for Kakko, he has skated in 20 games for the Rangers up to this point in the season, scoring two goals and three points all while averaging about 13 and a half minutes a night.
At the very least, Kakko is back on the ice skating, as Arthur Staple of The Athletic pointed out that Kakko was present at practice this morning in a non-contact jersey. Unfortunately, in a side note on the initial report, Staple indicated that New York captain, Jacob Trouba, was not at practice this morning due to personal reasons. The expectation is that Trouba will be available to the team as they take on the St.Louis Blues in a few days, depending on the severity of the personal reason keeping him out this morning.
Other Metropolitan notes:
- Heading a few miles east of the Rangers, the New York Islanders will see the reinforcement of Adam Pelech tonight, as Stefen Rosner of The Hockey News reports that the defenseman will make his return to the ice after missing the last 20 games. With additional injuries on the blue line, the addition of Pelech back into the lineup should give a major boost to the Islanders’ defensive core, as he has historically been one of the best defenders in the organization. Through 16 games so far this season, Pelech has tallied three assists, averaging nearly 20 minutes of ice time per game.
- Sammi Silber of The Hockey News reports that veteran forward for the Washington Capitals, T.J. Oshie, was back at practice this morning skating in a full-contact jersey. The entirety of the 2023-24 season up to this point has been mired by injuries for Oshie, who is currently experiencing one of the least productive seasons of his long career. In 21 games so far, he has scored two goals and four points, missing time in November, December, and now in January.
Devils Jack Hughes Out Week-To-Week, Other Injuries Not Close
New Jersey Devils head coach Lindy Ruff shared updates on the team’s long list of injuries, most notably sharing that star forward Jack Hughes‘ upper-body injury is more a matter of weeks than it is months. The 22-year-old will be evaluated on a week-to-week basis and is slated to miss some time. Ruff also shared that Timo Meier has returned in a, “limited fashion”, and that he will return to practice sooner rather than later. The team’s other injured players – including Ondrej Palat, Tomas Nosek, and Dougie Hamilton – are not expected back soon – all per Devils team reporter Amanda Stein.
New Jersey is facing a long list of injuries, moving top defender Jonas Siegenthaler to injured reserve on Tuesday morning and recalling Shane Bowers and Callan Foote from the minor leagues. Both minor leaguers took the ice for the team’s Tuesday practice, suggesting that they could slot into the lineup with so many missing pieces. Neither player has played in the NHL this season, though Foote does have 141 games of NHL experience under his belt. Bowers has only played in one NHL game, suiting up for the Colorado Avalanche two seasons ago, and has since been a feature presence in the AHL. The 24-year-old Bowers has six goals and seven points in 29 AHL games this year.
The long string of injuries has been incredibly detrimental to a Devils team that entered the season as an early Stanley Cup favorite. Now without their star centerman for the second stretch this season, New Jersey will need to once again lean on their depth pieces to pull them through the middle of the year. Hughes has been electric when he has been on the ice, scoring 15 goals and 45 points in only 32 games. That’s a pace of 38 goals and 97 points across 82 games, though Hughes will struggle to reach that mark after already missing six games this season. Hughes scored 43 goals and 99 points in 78 games last season. If and when his elustrious 100-point year will come is once again uncertain.
Injury Notes: Capitals, Sabres, Blackhawks
The Washington Capitals will be without both Rasmus Sandin and Tom Wilson, as both players have been designated as day-to-day with upper-body injuries. Wilson was on the receiving end of the butt-end of Alex Laferriere‘s stick in the team’s recent matchup against the Los Angeles Kings, leaving Wilson bloodied and forcing him out of action for a brief moment, though the winger returned before the final horn.
Both players have played extended time for the Capitals this season, with Sandin appearing in 36 games and Wilson one of only six players to appear in all 38 of the team’s games. Sandin’s 11 assists on the season rank fourth on the Capitals, though the 23-year-old defenseman has yet to score his first goal of the year. Washington brought in Sandin ahead of last season’s trade deadline, sending the Toronto Maple Leafs Erik Gustafsson and the 28th-overall pick in the 2023 NHL Draft, which Toronto used to bring in Easton Cowan.
Sandin has averaged 22 minutes of ice time this season, ranked second among the team’s skaters, while Wilson has averaged roughly 18-and-a-half. Both players are core lineup pieces that the Capitals will want back as soon as possible.
Other injury notes from around the league:
- The Buffalo Sabres have opposing news about their ill players, with Jordan Greenway slated to return to the lineup but Victor Olofsson not expected to be ready just yet. Greenway has managed 10 points and 23 penalty minutes in 28 games this season, missing time with an upper-body injury earlier in the year. Olofsson has also missed time, battling injury and serving as a healthy scratch. The 28-year-old winger has 12 points in 31 games this season – a step down from the 28 goals and 40 points he managed last year.
- The Chicago Blackhawks had a slew of players return to practice on Tuesday, with Seth Jones (shoulder), Taylor Raddysh (groin), Joey Anderson (shoulder), and Rem Pitlick all making their way back to the ice. Unlike the former three, Pitlick isn’t returning from injury – instead being acquired via trade on Saturday, with the Hawks sending Pittsburgh a seventh-round pick for the forward. Pitlick’s arrival in Chicago was delayed by the snow storm currently moving through the Midwest.