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Rasmus Dahlin To Replace Tage Thompson At All-Star Game

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One of the most obvious snubs of All-Star season has gotten an invite, even if it was a little late. Buffalo Sabres defenseman Rasmus Dahlin has been added to the festivities, replacing teammate Tage Thompson, who will miss the event due to injury.

In reality, Dahlin should have already been on the roster. The 22-year-old defenseman has a career-high 55 poinits through 49 games, putting him 21st among all NHL skater. On defense, he trails only Erik Karlsson in both goals and points, while also sitting 13th in plus-minus.

There is little doubt that he is among the best in the league this season, and will be rewarded with his second appearance at the All-Star event.

It is disappointing for Thompson, of course, as he is also having an outstanding season. With 34 goals in 50 games, he’s become one of the most dominant power forwards in the league. He’ll miss out, but there will likely be plenty more All-Star recognition for Thompson in the future.

Boston Bruins Place Vinni Lettieri On Injured Reserve

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The Boston Bruins placed forward Vinni Lettieri on injured reserve Wednesday, per a tweet from CapFriendly.

Lettieri lands on injured reserve just a day after Boston recalled him from the AHL’s Providence Bruins. Originally expected to join the team for their ongoing game against the Toronto Maple Leafs, he sustained a lower-body injury in Providence’s last matchup and did not travel with the team, head coach Jim Montgomery told reporters yesterday morning.

Boston can activate Lettieri as soon as Wednesday, February 8. With the timing of the All-Star break, the team doesn’t have another game during that timeframe. As Jake DeBrusk is an option to return by the time the Bruins play again on February 11, Boston will likely re-assign Lettieri to Providence when his stint on injured reserve is over.

It’s disappointing for Lettieri, who still stands out as a strong AHL presence. He leads Providence with 37 points in 41 games this season and got his first taste of international experience last year at the World Championships with Team USA.

Gustav Nyquist Out Rest Of Regular Season

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The Columbus Blue Jackets have an interesting scenario on their hands as the deadline approaches. Gustav Nyquist, previously ruled out indefinitely, now has a recovery timeline. He is expected to miss the rest of the regular season but will not require surgery on a shoulder injury suffered last month.

While that would seem to remove him from trade talks, it should be noted that the announcement only states he will miss the regular season – not postseason, necessarily. Nyquist could still be acquired by a contending team with hopes that he could provide some depth in the playoffs, if he recovers in time.

That is certainly a gamble and one that will likely not result in any substantial return for the Blue Jackets, if it does happen at all. Nyquist was going to be a nice asset for them to flip at the deadline, given his history of success in the league and versatility to play up and down the lineup.

It also could impact his future. Should the 33-year-old return even for a handful of games, he would go into free agency with something to build on. Coming off a four-year, $22MM deal with the Blue Jackets, Nyquist could have been looking at one last multi-year deal had he stayed healthy. Now, his market might be more limited – especially if he is unable to return this year.

Dylan Cozens, Mattias Samuelsson Close To Returning

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As the Buffalo Sabres continue to remain in the playoff hunt, they may get a pair of crucial support pieces back in the lineup for their final game before the All-Star break. Head coach Don Granato said today that injured forward Dylan Cozens and defenseman Mattias Samuelsson are “progressing well.”

Both could return to play Wednesday night when Buffalo hosts the Metropolitan Division-leading Carolina Hurricanes. Although it may be a tall task, a win of any kind would propel Buffalo into the second Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference as the break begins, leapfrogging Pittsburgh. Buffalo is in a de facto playoff spot as it stands, as their .571 points percentage sits ahead of Washington’s .558 mark for eighth in the Conference.

Cozens’ and Samuelsson’s injuries have both been short-term, thankfully. Samuelsson missed the past two games with a lower-body injury and should return to his usual place alongside Rasmus Dahlin on the team’s top pairing. Cozens missed just one whole game after leaving last Thursday’s contest against Winnipeg with an upper-body injury late in the game. He’s quietly amidst a strong breakout season, scoring 43 points in 48 games while holding down a top-six center spot behind Tage Thompson.

Rasmus Asplund, despite his solid two-way play, has fallen out of the team’s top 12 forwards this season after the waiver claim of Tyson Jost. He’ll likely exit the lineup for Cozens to make his return.

Snapshots: Three Stars, Schenn, Thompson

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The NHL released its Three Stars for last week, with Ottawa Senators forward Claude Giroux taking home the top spot. The veteran scored four goals and seven points in three games, taking him to 19 and 47 on the year. Giroux is now 30 points shy of 1,000 for his career, and is scoring at nearly a point-per-game rate with the Senators, even at age 35.

It was an Atlantic Division sweep this week, as William Nylander of the Toronto Maple Leafs and Andrei Vasilevskiy of the Tampa Bay Lightning took home second and third place respectively. Nylander continues to play at a different level for Toronto this year, scoring 28 goals and 59 points in 51 games. Vasilevskiy allowed just six goals on 102 shots across three games, winning them all. After leading the league in wins for five-straight seasons, Vasilevskiy has now closed the gap and trails Linus Ullmark by just two.

  • Luke Schenn has emerged as one of the most talked-about trade deadline chips, thanks to his low salary, Stanley Cup experience, and physicality. Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff takes a deep dive into Schenn’s market, suggesting clubs like Boston, Minnesota, Calgary, Dallas, Tampa Bay, and Vegas could all benefit from adding the veteran defenseman.
  • Tage Thompson is listed as day-to-day for the Buffalo Sabres, with head coach Don Granato telling reporters including Mike Harrington of the Buffalo News that the star forward has been dealing with some nagging injuries. Granato does expect Thompson to be on the ice tomorrow and isn’t ruling him out for Wednesday’s game. What that means for his All-Star appearance isn’t clear, as it would provide a good chance for him to recover, if still bothered by injury later this week.

Josh Norris To Undergo Surgery; Out For Season

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Jan 30: Hanna reports that Norris’ surgery is scheduled for the next few days.

Jan 23: Excitement for Ridly Greig’s recall quickly turned to sadness for Ottawa Senators fans, as the team announced Josh Norris’s season is over. He will be going for shoulder surgery in the near future. It is the same injury as earlier this season. Norris has been moved to injured reserve.

After scoring 35 goals in 66 games last season, life was good for Norris. He signed a new eight-year, $63.6MM contract that entrenched him as one of the league’s young stars, and was ready to leverage the team’s improved forward depth for an even better year.

Then he suffered a serious shoulder injury in October after just five games. Weeks went by with Norris consulting five different doctors and two specialists before it was determined that he wouldn’t need surgery.

Senators general manager Pierre Dorion told Claire Hanna of TSN that Norris “felt a subluxation” over the weekend, leading to this decision. He had returned just three games ago, meaning he’ll finish this season appearing in only eight. His two goals and three points are a far cry from what was expected, especially with a new $7.95MM cap hit in hand.

Now he faces another lengthy rehab, while the Senators try to salvage anything this season. The club is slipping down the standings, and has completely shuffled its lines around at practice today in an attempt to get things back on track.

Without Norris, the Ottawa center depth looks mighty thin, with Greig inserted into the second line between Alex DeBrincat and Claude Giroux before ever playing a game at the NHL level.

Zack MacEwen Undergoes Surgery

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The Philadelphia Flyers won’t have Zack MacEwen in the lineup for a while, announcing that he underwent surgery today to repair a broken jaw, according to Olivia Reiner of the Philadelphia Inquirer. His recovery timeline has been set at five weeks.

MacEwen likely suffered the injury during his fight against Minnesota Wild forward Marcus Foligno on Thursday, one of the three-straight fights that the two teams were involved in. He didn’t see a shift after that, and now will be out through the trade deadline.

Claimed off waivers from the Vancouver Canucks in 2021, MacEwen has established himself as one of the identity players that the organization is relying on to try and turn things around. He has played 121 games since the start of last season, racking up 164 penalty minutes in the process. While he doesn’t offer much offensive production – just nine points so far this season – head coach John Tortorella has significantly increased his ice time from a year ago.

MacEwen now averages more than 12 minutes a night and has even seen some powerplay time as the net front option on the second unit. On a contender, that likely doesn’t happen given his lack of scoring. But Tortorella is trying to install a culture that rewards hard work, something MacEwen has never lacked.

Undrafted he fought his way up the Canucks depth chart and debuted in 2018-19 in just his second professional season. Now with 176 games under his belt and a regular spot in the Flyers lineup when healthy, he heads into RFA negotiations this summer with a chance at a multi-year extension. The 26-year-old is one year away from unrestricted free agency, and currently carries a $925K cap hit.

Gustav Nyquist Out Indefinitely With Upper-Body Injury

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It’s starting to get closer to the time of year when teams will be holding out potential trade assets to protect them from injury. Unfortunately, the Columbus Blue Jackets hadn’t reached that point yet with Gustav Nyquist, who suffered an injury on Wednesday against the Edmonton Oilers. Today, the Blue Jackets have announced that Nyquist is out indefinitely with an upper-body ailment.

It was less than two weeks ago that reports emerged about the Blue Jackets talking to teams about Nyquist, who is on an expiring contract and comes with plenty of experience. The 33-year-old has ten goals and 22 points on the season and was playing nearly 18 minutes a night for the banged-up Columbus squad.

Just five shifts into his night against the Oilers, though, he collided with Jesse Puljujarvi and left the game. At the time, head coach Brad Larsen told Brian Hedger of the Columbus Dispatch that Nyquist would be re-evaluated on Thursday. Announcing an indefinite absence is an ominous conclusion to that evaluation, though it doesn’t necessarily mean anything long-term.

What it does mean, is there will now be plenty of confusion around his deadline value. Nyquist already was showing signs of slowing down, but was still an important two-way player for the Blue Jackets and an ideal trade deadline candidate for many teams.

Just last season he scored 53 points, and given his ability to play both wings, could fit onto a third line almost anywhere. While his $5.5MM cap hit does cause a problem, the Blue Jackets have shown a willingness to retain at the deadline in the past, and could have squeezed a nice asset out of a Nyquist trade.

Now, there’s no telling if he’ll even be moved.

Cole Caufield Out For The Season With A Shoulder Injury

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Jan 27: Caufield will undergo surgery on February 1 in Colorado, according to Eric Engels of Sportsnet.

Jan 21: The Canadiens have struggled offensively this season and scoring goals just got a lot harder as the team announced that winger Cole Caufield suffered a season-ending shoulder injury and will undergo surgery in the near future.  There is no timeline for how long the recovery period will take with an update being expected after the medical procedures are completed.

Caufield played in Thursday’s loss to Florida and was a full participant in practice on Friday so the announcement comes as somewhat of a surprise.  TVA Sports’ Renaud Lavoie notes (Twitter link) that the injury isn’t something that just happened but has instead been lingering for the past several weeks.  The 22-year-old is tied for 11th in the league in goals this season with 26 while TSN noted earlier this week that he’s tied for eighth in the league in goals since Martin St. Louis took over behind the bench a little less than a year ago.  Caufield has over 21% of Montreal’s goals this season with the team ranking 28th in the league in goals scored heading into Saturday’s action.

Caufield is set to become a restricted free agent this summer without salary arbitration eligibility.  His case is one of some intrigue given how productive he has become under St. Louis while GM Kent Hughes indicated earlier this week that preliminary discussions are underway with a desire to lock him up on a long-term contract.  However, with his first season being a short one having burned his first entry-level year after his college campaign, Caufield only has 123 career regular season contests under his belt which is considerably less than what most players that sign a long-term, big-money agreement after their first contract have.

In a corresponding roster move, the Canadiens announced (Twitter link) that forward Alex Belzile has been recalled from AHL Laval.  The 31-year-old has 13 career games of NHL experience with Montreal over the last two seasons and has 13 goals and 12 assists in 29 games with the Rocket this season.  Even with this recall, Montreal only has 11 healthy forwards on their active roster and they are expected to dress seven defensemen tonight against Toronto.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Auston Matthews Out Three Weeks With Knee Sprain

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The Toronto Maple Leafs will be missing their best player for the next little while, as Auston Matthews is expected to miss a minimum of three weeks with a knee sprain. The injury was suffered against the New York Rangers on Wednesday night. This would also rule Matthews out for the All-Star festivities next week.

There were a number of hard hits delivered by the Rangers earlier this week, though there is no clear answer as to when Matthews sustained the injury. The star center still played nearly 22 minutes in the game, blocking three shots and delivering four shots on net.

In his place, rookie Pontus Holmberg was skating between Calle Jarnkrok and William Nylander, while John Tavares assumes top-line duty. The lack of offensive center depth is a concern for the Maple Leafs, and potentially could become an area of focus at the upcoming trade deadline.

It has been a frustrating season for Matthews, who has missed a handful of games with undisclosed injuries, and isn’t scoring at quite the same pace he is used to. Though he does have 53 points in 47 games, just 25 of those are goals. It would be the first time in his career that he finished with more assists than goals, should that trend continue.

Even more surprising is his lack of even-strength scoring, an area he has dominated throughout his career. In four of Matthews’ six seasons, he has led the league in even-strength goals, including last year when he potted 44 of them. Just 15 tallies this year have come at even strength, with his shooting percentage much lower than his career norm.

Some have speculated that other injuries have disrupted that timing all season, so perhaps Maple Leafs fans will see this time away with a bit of a silver lining. If on his return, Toronto gets the fully-recovered 60-goal superstar that won the Hart Trophy last season, a three-week absence will be a fine price to pay.

In his place at the All-Star game will be Aleksander Barkov of the Florida Panthers.

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