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Jonathan Lekkerimaki Expected To Miss Two Months With Foot Injury

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It has already been a rather disappointing post-draft season for Vancouver Canucks prospect Jonathan Lekkerimaki, the 15th overall pick from 2022. Now, after suffering a foot injury at practice, he is expected to miss the next eight weeks.

Through 29 games with Djurgardens IF this season, Lekkerimaki has scored just three goals and nine points. That’s despite the club being relegated and playing in the Swedish second tier this year, after being in the SHL during 2021-22. The young forward was also part of the World Junior team that lost to Czechia in the semi finals and then fell 8-7 to the United States in the bronze medal match.

While there have been very few players from the 2022 draft to suit up in the NHL to this point, many of those selected below Lekkerimaki have had more encouraging seasons. An absence of eight weeks won’t help his case, even though there is a long time before any expectations should be placed on the 18-year-old.

As a late-July birthday, Lekkerimaki was one of the younger players in his draft class and still has exceptional upside as an offensive winger. Perhaps some time off to recover will grant him a reset and allow him to return with some extra confidence.

Interestingly, he is only signed to his club through the end of this season, meaning an entry-level deal could be on the horizon. Next month, teams can start signing ELCs that begin in 2023-24 – Lekkerimaki is a good candidate, though he isn’t expected to push for an NHL job anytime soon.

New York Islanders Activate Hudson Fasching

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The New York Islanders have announced that forward Hudson Fasching has been activated off of the team’s injured reserve list in advance of tonight’s game against the Philadelphia Flyers. The move leaves the team with a full 23-man roster.

Fasching has been out since a January 18th contest against the Boston Bruins due to a lower-body injury. He will in all likelihood resume his role on the Islanders’ fourth line, filling the role now-injured Cal Clutterbuck has long occupied next to Casey Cizikas and Matt Martin.

The 27-year-old has been a nice find for the Islanders this season and has set a new career-high in NHL games played with 19. While he hasn’t scored much (he has just three goals and five points) he’s provided head coach Lane Lambert with the kind of physicality and energy the organization has long valued in its bottom sixers.

Fasching arrived in the Islanders organization over the summer, signing a one-year, two-way contract. The prior season, Fasching had served as the captain of the AHL’s Tucson Roadrunners for the Arizona Coyotes organization and scored 37 points in 51 AHL games.

Instead of serving as a leader and valuable power forward for the Islanders’ AHL affiliate, Fasching has firmly placed himself in the NHL mix as a depth forward and has likely earned himself another NHL deal in the process.

For players on the NHL-AHL bubble, life can sometimes lack stability as teams generally view these players as expendable. While Fasching’s play hasn’t changed that overall reality, it has so far changed his reality as he’s proved he could have more value to an NHL team than many might have believed a year ago.

Chaz Lucius Undergoes Surgery; Will Miss Rest Of Season

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The Winnipeg Jets have announced disappointing prospect news, tweeting that Chaz Lucius underwent shoulder surgery today and will miss the rest of the season. The young forward had been playing with the Portland Winterhawks of the WHL after being loaned back to junior last month.

Lucius, 19, was the 18th overall pick in 2021 and has taken an odd development path in the time since. He first went to the University of Minnesota for just one year, before turning pro and joining the Manitoba Moose at the beginning of this season. After just 12 games there (and a shoulder injury that kept him out for a while), he was headed to the CHL.

The NCAA-AHL-CHL route isn’t often taken, but it appeared to be paying off for Lucius, who had five goals and 15 points in his first six games for Portland. He dominated the younger, more inexperienced competition and built plenty of confidence along the way.

Now with this injury, he’ll have an odd little six-game footnote on his career. Given that he will turn 20 in May, Lucius will almost certainly return to the AHL next year instead of going to junior as an overage player, meaning his time in the WHL is over. His contract, meanwhile, will slide forward, meaning he will now reach restricted free agency in the summer of 2026.

Florida Panthers To Activate Sergei Bobrovsky

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The Florida Panthers will have another $10MM man in the lineup tonight, as Sergei Bobrovsky will be activated from injured reserve and start. Spencer Knight will serve as the backup, meaning Alex Lyon is likely returning to the minor leagues.

Bobrovsky, 34, last played on January 19, but lasted just two minutes before being pulled with a lower-body injury. That was his 30th appearance of the season, and things haven’t gone very well. One of the most inconsistent netminders in recent history, Bobrovsky can alternate between Vezina-caliber superstar and backup-level cap anchor on a near daily basis.

Almost no one can compete with his athletic ability if he is fully healthy and playing his best. A two-time Vezina winner, he also led the league in wins just last season when he posted a .913 save percentage. This year that number has dropped all the way to .897, and Bobrovsky has lost more times than he has won.

Despite his poor play, the Panthers have managed to stay within striking distance of the playoffs. The club is just three points behind the Pittsburgh Penguins for the second wildcard and has enough talent on the roster to make a run. To do that, though, they’ll need a goaltending tandem performing much better than they did in the first half. It starts tonight, with Bobrovsky trying to keep the Tampa Bay Lightning shooters at bay.

Filip Zadina Activated, Sent On Conditioning Stint

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02/05/23: With Adam Erne clearing waivers today, the Red Wings have recalled Zadina from his conditioning stint. He’ll be eligible to play in the Red Wings’ next game, which is Tuesday versus the Edmonton Oilers.

02/02/23: The Detroit Red Wings are on break, meaning Filip Zadina is going to get a bit of extra time to prepare for his return. The team activated the young forward today and loaned him to the Grand Rapids Griffins on a conditioning stint.

The loan can last up to two weeks, meaning Zadina can potentially play in five games before returning to the Red Wings.

Last appearing in a game on November 5, Zadina has been out for close to three months after blocking a shot against the New York Islanders. That means he’s only played nine games so far this year and has no points to show for it.

It’s been a tough career so far for the sixth-overall pick, with just 25 goals and 61 points in 169 games. Flashes of potential have come and gone without much consistent play at the NHL level. Last season he set career highs with ten goals and 24 points in 74 games, but those totals pale in comparison to the huge expectations he had coming out of junior.

Perhaps this latest injury gave him some time to readjust some things in his game and he’ll come back stronger, especially with the confidence that the Red Wings put in him last summer. Zadina signed a three-year deal that carries a $1.825MM cap hit in August.

San Jose Sharks Activate, Re-Assign Nikolai Knyzhov

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The San Jose Sharks have announced that defenseman Nikolai Knyzhov has been activated from his long-term injury conditioning loan, and re-assigned to the Sharks’ AHL affiliate, the San Jose Barracuda.

This return is a long time coming for Knyzhov, 24, who has been recovering from an Achilles injury for over a year. Before his conditioning stint began in January, Knyzhov had last played competitive hockey in May 2021, when he skated in over 21 minutes of a Sharks 6-0 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights.

Before his injury, Knyzhov had steadily developed for the Sharks, going from a depth defenseman in 2019-20 to a candidate for top-four ice time in 2020-21. He’d taken a bit of a wild road to that point, with stops in the WHL, his native Russia, and the NAHL.

Now, Knyzhov has worked his way back to full health and has re-entered the Sharks’ defensive picture. He’s largely skated in a top-four role during his three-game conditioning stint with the Barracuda and will head back there to in all likelihood play a major role for the squad.

The Sharks currently carry seven defenseman, five of whom either have significant NHL experience or have been leaned on by coach David Quinn. It’s possible that Knyzhov unseats Scott Harrington or Jacob MacDonald for a role in the NHL lineup, although he’ll likely need to spend some time in the AHL getting back up to speed first.

Ilya Mikheyev Undergoes Season-Ending Surgery

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Feb 2: The Canucks have announced Mikheyev underwent successful knee surgery today, though still did not give a concrete timeline for his recovery.

Jan 28: Although Canucks winger Ilya Mikheyev scored the game-winner in last night’s victory over Columbus, it will be his last goal (and game) for a while. Following the contest, the team announced (video link) that Mikheyev will miss the remainder of the season and will undergo knee surgery.  An exact timeline for his recovery is not yet known.  However, the expectation is that he will be ready for the start of training camp.

The injury actually occurred back in the preseason when he partially tore his ACL.  At the time, the team opted to classify it as a lower-body injury but the 28-year-old only missed the first three games of the year before returning on October 18th.  To his credit, Mikheyev did pretty well under the circumstances, collecting 13 goals and 15 assists (tying his career high) in 46 games despite being slowed down due to the tear.  Those numbers were fairly close to the ones he had with Toronto the year before that helped him land a four-year $19MM contract this summer.

Since he will be out for the year, Vancouver will be able to put Mikheyev and his $4.75MM AAV on LTIR, giving them some extra flexibility to navigate the salary cap for the stretch run.  While the Canucks aren’t likely to be buyers (they sit sixth in the Pacific Division and are a dozen points out of a Wild Card spot), this will give them a chance to be a bit more creative when it comes to salary retention or taking an expiring contract back to facilitate a trade.

Although Vancouver was only carrying 13 healthy forwards on their roster for Friday’s game (including Mikheyev), the team also revealed postgame (Twitter link) that winger Phillip Di Giuseppe was assigned to AHL Abbotsford.  The 28-year-old was a healthy scratch against Columbus and has just one NHL appearance under his belt this season.  With now just 11 forwards on their roster, more roster moves will be expected once their schedule resumes after the All-Star break.

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.

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