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Injury

Tomas Nosek To Miss At Least Four Weeks

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The Bruins will be without a key depth veteran for the next little while as the team announced that center Tomas Nosek suffered a non-displaced fracture in his left foot on Thursday night.  He will miss at least the next four weeks due to the injury and will be re-evaluated at that time.

The 30-year-old is in his second season with Boston after signing a two-year, $3.5MM deal with them last summer.  Nosek is one of their most-used penalty killers, ranking second to only Charlie Coyle in shorthanded ice time among forwards while he has won over 58% of his faceoffs, good for second on the team behind Patrice Bergeron.  Offensively, he has chipped in with three goals and five assists in 42 games but his biggest contributions certainly come at the defensive end.

Notably, this injury dropped the Bruins down to 11 healthy forwards on their active roster so a recall from AHL Providence was expected.  While not announced by the team yet, they have recalled forward Joona Koppanen, per the AHL’s transactions log.  While they have next to no cap space, they do have plenty of flexibility in LTIR with Jake DeBrusk and his $4MM AAV on there while Nosek is eligible to be moved to LTIR as well considering how long he is set to miss and Koppanen’s recall will trim that space.

Islanders Recall Aatu Raty, Cal Clutterbuck Out Indefinitely

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Islanders winger Cal Clutterbuck suffered an upper-body injury on Thursday against Buffalo that will keep him out indefinitely.  The team has decided who will take his place on the roster, announcing (Twitter link) that center Aatu Raty has been recalled from AHL Bridgeport.

Raty is in his first full season in North America and has spent the bulk of the year so far in the minors, notching seven goals and eight assists in 27 games.  The 20-year-old has gotten into seven games with New York as well, collecting a pair of goals while averaging 8:25 per game.

Notably, Raty was still 19 as of September 15th which means the nine-game threshold for junior-aged players still applies.  Once he plays in his tenth NHL game this season, he will officially burn the first year of his entry-level contract.  If he plays in fewer than that, he’ll still have three years left on his contract after this season.  That’s something the team will certainly be keeping in mind with this move.

If Raty sticks around for a while on this recall and pushes past that threshold, the next one for them to consider would be 40 games on the active roster which would accrue him a season of eligibility for unrestricted free agency.  However, they’re a long way from that point at the moment.

As for Clutterbuck, it has been a tough season for the 35-year-old who has battled an upper-body injury a couple of times already.  He has suited up in 34 games for the Isles, picking up four goals and four assists while chipping in with 130 hits.

Max Pacioretty Suffers Torn Achilles

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5:04 PM: The Hurricanes have now officially announced the news.

4:55 PM: It turns out Pacioretty’s MRI was done today, not on Monday as originally reported. In what is absolutely awful news for both Pacioretty and hockey fans everywhere, the MRI revealed, as reported by Luke DeCock of the Raleigh News & Observer, that Pacioretty tore his right Achilles tendon, just two weeks after returning to action. It’s the same injury he suffered in August, and although no firm timeline has been released by the team, it will in all likelihood knock him out for the rest of the season.

This news likely confirms that Pacioretty will eventually end up placed on long-term injured reserve. While Pacioretty’s health and recovery will undoubtedly be the Hurricanes’ first priority here, this development does impact their roster-building plans for the rest of the season. The additional cap space afforded by a Pacioretty LTIR placement could have a significant impact on the rest of the team’s season and the trade market as a whole.

For Pacioretty, the priority will be getting his health back in a good place. The 34-year-old forward has played some of the best hockey of his career in recent years, but he has been limited to only sporadic availability due to injuries. With this bit of news, it’s clear he now faces another long recovery on his road back to the ice.

12:47 PM: After just five games, Max Pacioretty is back on injured reserve. The Carolina Hurricanes moved the veteran winger after he suffered a non-contact injury last night to the same leg that underwent surgery to repair a torn Achilles tendon last summer.

The Hurricanes have not given a timeline for Pacioretty’s recovery, and according to Luke DeCock of the Raleigh News & Observer, won’t be making a determination until next week. They’ve moved his scheduled MRI to Monday.

It is brutal news for a player that worked so hard to come back, especially given how well he had fit into the Carolina lineup. Pacioretty had three goals in his first three games with the team, though was also held out for two games recently due to a lower-body injury.

If it is another torn Achilles, Pacioretty would be out for the rest of the season. Injuries have become something of a pattern for the 34-year-old in the back half of his career. A player once known for his durability and consistency, Pacioretty has now played just 44 games since the start of 2021-22.

Even worse, his contract will expire at the end of this season, making him an unrestricted free agent. If the injury is as serious as it seems, another months-long rehab will be a difficult pill to swallow, with no guarantee of a financial or competitive future.

For the Hurricanes, it could mean they suddenly have some extra cap flexibility to play with. Should Pacioretty head back to long-term injured reserve, the team could make any number of moves at the deadline. His entire $7MM salary could essentially be replaced if he is not going to return this season.

Kasperi Kapanen Out Week-To-Week

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The nightmare season for Kasperi Kapanen continues. The Pittsburgh Penguins have announced that Kapanen will be out on a week-to-week basis with a lower-body injury.

It’s brutal timing for the 26-year-old, as Kapanen had just started to find a consistent level of play. Through healthy scratches, benchings, and demotions, he has 17 points in 35 games so far. While only one of those points had come in his last seven appearances, there were some encouraging signs that he could fit into a bottom-six role for the rest of the season.

Now, with a weeks-long injury, he’s back to square one. The Penguins gave Kapanen a two-year, $6.4MM contract in the offseason when many wondered whether he would even get a qualifying offer. The deal now looks like one of the worst on the team, with Pittsburgh desperate for cap space to make a deadline addition.

An injury of this length could be a worst-case scenario. It might not be long enough to justify long-term injured reserve (and even if it is, they’ll have to keep room open for his activation), but keeps him off the active roster as the deadline approaches.

For other injury updates, the head coach Mike Sullivan called Jeff Petry and Ryan Poehling game-time decisions, while Kris Letang, Josh Archibald, and Jan Rutta are not yet ready to return.

Los Angeles Kings Make Several Roster Moves

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The Los Angeles Kings have completed a handful of moves, starting with the placement of Carl Grundstrom on injured reserve. He is expected to be out through the All-Star break, according to team reporter Zach Dooley. With Gabriel Vilardi also dealing with a minor injury, the team has recalled both Samuel Fagemo and Alex Turcotte from the minor leagues. Tobias Bjornfot is coming with them, giving the Kings another body on defense.

Grundstrom, 25, is having a season just like his first two, chipping in some offense while generally being a pain on the forecheck. Through 37 games he has six goals and ten points while racking up 93 hits. The Kings signed him to a two-year deal worth $1.3MM per season to be exactly that, and his absence will certainly be noticed.

Still, it’s not a huge loss for a club that has so many young prospects to fill the void. Fagemo, 22, has 12 goals through 27 games with the Ontario Reign this year and has been excellent when given a chance in the NHL. Turcotte, meanwhile, is still trying to find his way after being the fifth-overall pick in 2019. The 21-year-old has 12 points in 19 games for the Reign but is still looking for his first at the NHL level.

East Notes: Norris, Bastian, Slafkovsky

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It was a long wait to return from a shoulder injury for Ottawa Senators center Josh Norris, but still shorter than most expected. He’ll be returning to the lineup tonight as the Senators take on the Pittsburgh Penguins, as told to reporters pregame, including the Ottawa Sun’s Bruce Garrioch.

Norris told reporters that he was “excited” to face such a tough challenge down the middle in his first game back since October 22, where he’ll be competing against some of the world’s best in Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. But with no exhibition games or conditioning stint to test out his shoulder, don’t expect him to be active in the faceoff dot just yet. He’s been placed on a line between Alex DeBrincat and Claude Giroux, and while Norris may play center during actual gameplay, Giroux will take the lion’s share of the draws when that unit is deployed. Norris’ return is a huge boost for the Senators’ dwindling playoff hopes, as they remain among the bottom teams in the Eastern Conference with a 19-21-3 record.

  • Another lengthy absence could come to a close this week, as New Jersey Devils head coach Lindy Ruff told reporters that winger Nathan Bastian is a possibility for Thursday’s matchup against Seattle. Bastian hasn’t played since sustaining an upper-body injury early in a November 26 game against Washington, leading to almost a two-month absence. The 25-year-old has eight points through 21 games after recording a double-digit goal total for the first time last season.
  • With 2022 first overall pick Juraj Slafkovsky now likely shut down for the season with a knee injury, some have questioned Montreal Canadiens general manager Kent Hughes’ decision not to give Slafkovsky any time in the AHL. Hughes told reporters in a press conference today that the organization didn’t want concerns around Slafkovsky’s development to come primarily about offensive production, as he feared might happen if the Slovak forward spent extended time with the Laval Rocket. Instead, the organization opted to keep “a close eye” on him and keep him focused on holistic development with Canadiens coaches. Hughes said that an AHL loan in the near future wasn’t out of the question for Slafkovsky, but that’s now out of the question given his injury.

Cale Makar Out Day-To-Day

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The Colorado Avalanche will again be absent a core piece, albeit for a short while. Head coach Jared Bednar said today that defenseman Cale Makar is day-to-day with an undisclosed injury but traveled with the team on their road trip.

Last year’s Conn Smythe and Norris Trophy winner, Makar sustained the injury in a three-point effort on Monday against the Detroit Red Wings. With 43 points in 42 games in 2022-23, Makar is amidst his third consecutive season at a point-per-game pace.

Colorado will be without its superstar defenseman tonight as they take on the Calgary Flames. However, Makar hasn’t been ruled out for the remaining two games of their northwest swing against Vancouver and Seattle.

As injuries to core pieces continue throughout the season, the concerning trend is truly beginning to wear down the defending Stanley Cup champions. The team is 3-6-1 in their past ten games, and they sit four points back of the Flames for the final Wild Card spot in the Western Conference, making tonight’s game all the more critical.

In Makar’s hopefully short-term absence, veteran defender Erik Johnson slots in alongside Devon Toews on the team’s top pairing. They’re already without Bowen Byram and Josh Manson due to injury, meaning Colorado will be missing half their normal defense core tonight.

Ottawa Senators Place Artem Zub On Injured Reserve

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The Ottawa Senators sent Jake Lucchini to the minor leagues to clear room for Josh Norris’s return, but another transaction won’t be quite as popular. Artem Zub has been moved back to injured reserve, retroactive to his last appearance on January 14.

Zub suffered a lower-body injury against the Colorado Avalanche and left the game after just 13 minutes of ice time. Jacob Bernard-Docker replaced him on Monday, and ended up playing nearly 21 minutes, behind only Thomas Chabot’s 26:48 among Senators defensemen.

Bernard-Docker is an excellent replacement, but the Senators have shown repeatedly this season that they struggle defensively with Zub out of the lineup. The 27-year-old averages more than 21 minutes a night when he does play, with more than 19 coming at even strength.

Unfortunately, that has only been in 21 games so far, as he keeps finding himself on the injured list. Zub signed a new four-year extension in December, but he’ll have to stay healthy for it to pay off.

Juraj Slafkovsky Out Three Months With Lower-Body Injury

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The Montreal Canadiens have provided updates on several injured players, and none of them are good. Juraj Slafkovsky, the first-overall pick from 2022, will miss three months with a lower-body injury that does not require surgery. Jake Evans will also not need surgery, but is out for 8-10 weeks. Jonathan Drouin and Joel Armia will be out until the All-Star break (the Canadiens return to play on February 11), and Jake Allen will be out a minimum of a week.

A three-month timeline essentially ends Slafkovsky’s rookie season. The Canadiens will wrap up their schedule on April 13, unless a miraculous playoff run is made in the second half.

With that in mind, 39 games and 10 points are not totals the Canadiens had hoped for. The big winger failed to record a point in his last 15 games, posting a -12 rating during that time and recording just 11 shots on goal. He looked overmatched for long stretches, with many suggesting that he should have been playing in the World Juniors or AHL, instead of struggling with Montreal.

Now, he’ll have to work through this injury and try to come back more prepared in 2022-23, when the Canadiens will hopefully be more competitive. The team is 19-23-3 on the year and very well may position themselves at the deadline to lose as many games as possible down the stretch. They sit 26th in the league overall, and like every other team that isn’t in playoff contention, hope to get closer to the first-overall pick.

Washington Capitals Recall Aliaksei Protas

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After sending him down earlier this month, Aliaksei Protas has been recalled once again by the Washington Capitals. This move follows the announcement that Nic Dowd will miss some time with a lower-body injury.

Protas, 22, played five games with the Hershey Bears during his demotion, recording three assists in the process. Previously, he had played 41 games with the Capitals, scoring three goals and ten points. The 6’6″ forward saw less average ice time than a year ago, and before his send-down was getting just a handful of shifts.

Selected 91st overall in 2019, Protas hasn’t quite developed the offensive touch that the team had hoped for but is a reasonably reliable option to stick in the bottom six. He still doesn’t use his massive frame all that effectively (or at least all that aggressively), but has generated positive possession results so far, even in tough deployments.

Whether he gets into the lineup right away remains to be seen, as the Capitals head out on the road for three games. They’ll take on the Arizona Coyotes tomorrow night before having a pair of tough matchups in Vegas and Colorado to follow.

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