Headlines

Go To MLB Trade Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Injury

Washington Capitals’ Nic Dowd To Miss Time

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

In the midst of a defensively excellent season, there will be a significant setback for Washington Capitals forward Nic Dowd. Head coach Peter Laviolette told reporters today that Dowd “will be out a while” as he undergoes evaluations on a lower-body injury.

Dowd sustained the injury last night, leaving after just two shifts against the New York Islanders. It’s his second lower-body injury this season, as one earlier caused him to miss a December 17 contest against Toronto. It’s unclear if the two are related.

The Alabama product has been a consistent fourth-line pivot since joining the Capitals in 2018. He has ten goals and 19 points in 44 games this season and continues to be a cornerstone presence defensively for Washington’s forwards.

He’s added more points this season, though, and is on a solid pace to break his career-high mark of 24, set last season. Lars Eller will have to do a lot of heavy lifting defensively in Dowd’s absence, and getting the legendary Nicklas Backstrom back in the fold recently eases the loss.

Evander Kane Activated From Long-Term Injured Reserve

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

As expected, the Edmonton Oilers have activated Evander Kane, allowing him to return just over two months after his scary wrist injury. To make room, the team has moved Kailer Yamamoto and Ryan Murray to long-term injured reserve. Today, the team announced that Yamamoto’s injury would keep him out weeks, while Murray – who has already been out for a while – is still dealing with a long-term absence.

Kane’s return comes at a key time for the Oilers, who are finally playing some consistent hockey and find themselves within striking distance of a divisional playoff spot. The club has won three in a row, including a statement win over the division-leading Vegas Golden Knights on Saturday.

One of the biggest critiques of the Oilers this season has been a lack of emotion when things go wrong or players on the other team take liberties with Connor McDavid. While Kane isn’t an enforcer by any means, he does seem to light a fire under his teammates, and never shies away from physical battles. He also has done nothing but score since joining Edmonton, racking up 27 goals and 52 points in 57 regular season games.

It will be interesting to see how much ice time Kane receives in his return, but expect him to approach 20 minutes a night before long. With him in the lineup, the Oilers forward group looks much more imposing, even if it did come at the cost of Yamamoto.

With him and Murray on LTIR, the team actually has enough space to make another recall when necessary. That won’t be the case once he’s eligible to return, at which point some hard decisions will need to be made.

Chicago Blackhawks Recall Jaxson Stauber

at CDT | by 2 Comments

Another day, another recall for Jaxson Stauber of the Chicago Blackhawks. The minor league goaltender is back up after Petr Mrazek was run out of the building on Saturday. Mrazek allowed four goals on five shots before being pulled against the Seattle Kraken.

If you want a strong signal that the Blackhawks management is focused on the first overall pick, Mrazek’s continued presence is it. The veteran goaltender has an .875 save percentage on the year, a 4.26 goals-against average, and has won just three of his 16 appearances.

Stauber’s recall could suggest that there is an injury, or perhaps that Alex Stalock isn’t ready yet. Yesterday, the coaching staff told reporters including Mark Lazerus of The Athletic that Stalock would likely start against the Buffalo Sabres. Lazerus adds that Stalock is not on the ice for morning skate. (Update: Stalock is in concussion protocol and will not play)

The 23-year-old Stauber has played 12 professional games, all of them with the Rockford IceHogs. He has an .896 save percentage in those appearances. Undrafted, he was signed out of Providence College last year.

Injury Notes: Tarasenko, Avalanche, Carrier

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

Originally slated to be out for at least a month, St. Louis Blues star winger Vladimir Tarasenko could be back in the lineup sooner than expected. Lou Korac of NHL.com and Inside the Blues reports that Tarasenko was a full participant in Blues practice on Sunday morning, just two weeks after sustaining a hand injury on New Year’s Eve.

Now 31, Tarasenko is having another solid season after missing the majority of play between 2019 and 2021 with injuries. While he’s not on his point-per-game-plus pace from last season, he does have a respectable ten goals and 29 points in 34 games. The six-time 30-goal scorer could be important trade bait for the Blues in March if they continue to slip out of the playoff race.

  • While injury news for the Colorado Avalanche has been rather bleak, there was a tidbit of good news today when head coach Jared Bednar told reporters that Valeri Nichushkin is “potentially” an option tomorrow when they host the Detroit Red Wings. He’s been limited to 15 games this season but has played extraordinarily well when healthy, recording seven goals and 16 points. The news wasn’t so positive for Darren Helm, however, who’s re-injured the lower-body ailment that caused him to miss the start of the season. The team isn’t positive that Helm will return to play in 2022-23.
  • The Vegas Golden Knights will be without forward William Carrier tomorrow, as he has an upper-body injury that will keep him out against Dallas. Carrier seemed to sustain the injury late in yesterday’s tough loss against the Edmonton Oilers. He’s already set a career-high in goals, scoring 11 times in 43 games in largely a fourth-line role to provide important depth scoring.

Tampa Bay Lightning Assign Rudolfs Balcers On Conditioning Stint

at CDT | by 1 Comment

The Tampa Bay Lightning assigned forward Rudolfs Balcers to the AHL’s Syracuse Crunch today on a conditioning stint, according to a team release.

The move signifies Balcers could be close to returning from an upper-body injury that has kept him out of the lineup since Thanksgiving. Claimed on waivers earlier in the season from their intrastate rival Florida Panthers, Balcers has suited up just three times for his new team.

It has been a very tough go of things for Balcers in 2022-23. He was somewhat of a surprise free agent, left unqualified by the San Jose Sharks after a respectable 23 points in 61 games last season. Florida picked Balcers up but then waived him after he scored twice in 14 games. He’s added one goal in his three Lightning appearances.

This figures to be Balcers’ first AHL action since 2019-20 as a member of the Ottawa Senators organization. He scored 36 goals in 33 games with AHL Belleville, and he’ll hope to keep up strong numbers in a short stint with Syracuse to show the Lightning he’s still ready for NHL action.

Senators Notes: Norris, Zub, Bernard-Docker

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

It’s been an important practice today for the Ottawa Senators, with numerous updates from head coach D.J. Smith relayed by the Ottawa Sun’s Bruce Garrioch. The most consequential of them surrounds the status of star center Josh Norris, who Smith says is closing in on a return to the lineup, which could come this week.

The updates surrounding Norris’ injury status have been growing consistently more positive since the original shoulder injury occurred in late October, with the original fear being that Norris could miss the entire season. It was later determined that Norris wouldn’t require surgery, and he eventually returned to Senators practice in a full-contact jersey in mid-December.

Signed to an eight-year extension before the season, Norris is coming off a 35-goal season. Although he had just two points in five games before sustaining the shoulder injury, team chemistry is much-improved after their offseason additions have had time to settle in.

  • On the flip side of things, an injury-plagued season for defensive stalwart Artem Zub may be continuing. He wasn’t present at practice today according to Garrioch, He left Ottawa’s 7-0 blowout loss at the hands of the Colorado Avalanche yesterday with a lower-body injury, and his availability is in doubt for their game tomorrow against the Blues. Zub’s missed exactly half of Ottawa’s season thus far, only playing in 21 out of 42 games.
  • In response to the Zub injury, the team recalled Jacob Bernard-Docker from the AHL’s Belleville Senators. The 22-year-old first-round pick has one assist in nine games with Ottawa this year and could slot in Zub’s top-pairing role alongside Thomas Chabot.

Jake Evans Suffers Lower-Body Injury

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

One of the interesting developments recently for the Montreal Canadiens has been the play of Jake Evans. The 26-year-old forward has taken over the second-line center role and was receiving more minutes than he has seen through most of his career. The top eight ice times of his seasons have all been since the start of December, with a 19-minute effort coming just two nights ago in a win against the Nashville Predators.

Unfortunately, he won’t come close to that number tonight. Evans left the game against the New York Islanders after getting landed on during a scrummed faceoff. He needed help to get off the ice and the team quickly ruled him out for the rest of the night with a lower-body injury.

With four points in his last four games, Evans was playing his best hockey of the year. If he’s out for any length of time, all of that momentum will be stopped, and he’ll have to try to build it back up down the road.

This isn’t a player that is headed to the open market or a potential trade candidate. Evans signed a new three-year contract in the summer to be part of the solution in Montreal. That $5.1MM deal was expected to pay him as a fourth or possibly third-line center, so anything more is a huge boost for the Canadiens. If he can keep playing like he has the last few weeks, they would be getting lots of value for his $1.7MM cap hit.

Hopefully, this injury won’t be as bad as it looks, and Evans will be back out there in the next few games. But if not, the team will have some minutes to fill, and not a ton of natural centers to take them.

Injury Notes: Duclair, Pettersson, Kane

at CDT | by 1 Comment

The Florida Panthers had a nice bonus at practice today when Anthony Duclair joined the group, albeit in a non-contact sweater. The injured forward is coming back from an Achilles tear last summer, and finally getting closer to getting back into game action. Head coach Paul Maurice spoke with reporters including David Dwork of WPLG Local 10, explaining that the timeline.

I’m hopeful we can get him into a full practice prior to the [All-Star] break, where he’s banging. That way he knows how to train in the break. There’s a chance [he could play] before, but realistically we’re thinking just after the break he can be a player for us. 

Maurice went on to explain that as soon as he is fully healthy, Duclair will go right back into the lineup, even if there is some rust on his game. Of course, to activate him the Panthers will need to make some other transactions, as some of his $3MM in cap space is currently being used while he is on long-term injured reserve. Duclair had 31 goals and 58 points in 74 games last season.

  • Not only is Marcus Pettersson out of the lineup tonight for the Pittsburgh Penguins – he’s not even on the trip. Pettersson did not travel and is still dealing with the illness that has kept him off the ice. The 26-year-old has turned into one of the team’s most reliable players this year, logging nearly 21 minutes a night and providing outstanding defense in a bigger role.
  • As expected, Patrick Kane confirmed to reporters including Mark Lazerus of The Athletic that he will make his return to the Chicago Blackhawks lineup tonight after missing a few games with a lower-body injury. All eyes are on Kane as the trade deadline approaches, and while he continues to climb up the all-time points list. His 1,207 regular season points put him 48th, just two behind Bernie Nicholls and three behind Bobby Clarke.

Uncertainty Surrounding Tanner Pearson’s Ability To Play Next Season

at CDT | by 1 Comment

Yesterday, the Canucks announced that Tanner Pearson’s season has come to an end as the winger needed to undergo additional hand surgery.  It’s at least the second known procedure he has had while Rick Dhaliwal of CHEK and The Athletic reports (Twitter link) that it’s possible that he has had one or two other procedures on his hand with there being concerns of an infection and perhaps more surgeries to come.

At the moment, the expected recovery time from Pearson’s latest surgery is six months if all goes well.  However, Dhaliwal cautions that it’s possible that Pearson misses time next season or isn’t able to play at all should further surgeries be needed.  At this point, it appears to be too early to tell either way.

Speaking with reporters postgame yesterday including Sportsnet’s Iain MacIntyre, Vancouver defenseman Quinn Hughes voiced some frustration with how things were handled with Pearson, stating that “it wasn’t handled properly”.  Today, the NHLPA acknowledged to Patrick Johnston of the Vancouver Province that it’s looking into the matter but declined to comment any further than that.  MacIntyre adds that the Canucks themselves will conduct an investigation into their handling of the injury.  Team president Jim Rutherford stated the following:

We take the situation very seriously. We certainly have to look at everything here when something like this happens, and we’re going to continue to do that. We want to talk about what happened, the decisions that were made and why. We want everyone involved to have a say and be able to talk to each other and ask questions. That’s very important.

Pearson originally suffered the injury back in November and underwent surgery the next day with an expected recovery timeline of four to six weeks.  He had been skating periodically to keep up his conditioning with the expectation that he’d be back at that time or soon after.  Now, a little more than two months later, he’s facing a six-month recovery at a minimum in what appears to be the best-case scenario.

It’s hardly an ideal situation for anyone involved as Pearson wraps up his season with just a goal and four assists in 14 games, not a great return on his $3.25MM cap hit.  Some have suggested that Vancouver might want to consider buying out the 30-year-old but teams can’t buy out an injured player and with Pearson’s expected timeline, that puts him past the June buyout period.  Meanwhile, with now at least a bit of uncertainty of his availability for next season and the NHLPA taking a closer look at things, there are still plenty of questions to be answered on this front in the days and weeks to come.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Darren Helm Out Indefinitely

at CDT | by 1 Comment

It has been a tough season for Avalanche forward Darren Helm.  He missed the first 35 games of the season due to a hip injury but recently returned to the lineup.  However, that return wound up being short-lived as he suffered a lower-body injury last night against Chicago.  Head coach Jared Bednar told reporters including Peter Baugh of The Athletic (Twitter link) that the injury is related to the one that kept him out of the start of the season and that he’s going to miss some time.  How long he’ll be out is not yet known.

Helm was brought in by Colorado last season in free agency and he fared well in a depth role, notching 15 points in 68 games during the regular season while playing in all 20 postseason contests as the Avs won the Stanley Cup.  That was good enough for the team to bring him back on a one-year $1.25MM contract in the summer but Helm’s hip troubles have limited him to just five appearances so far.

Injuries have caused the Avalanche to dress 24 different forwards this season as they look to find some options for the fourth line.  The return of Helm was supposed to help in that regard but instead, that search for consistent depth forwards will continue as it appears that it will be at least a little while before the veteran is able to return.

Colorado also is without wingers Valeri Nichushkin, Gabriel Landeskog, and Denis Malgin plus defensemen Bowen Byram and Josh Manson.  None of them appear to be close to returning so the Avs will be trying to get back into the playoff picture with the roster that they currently have.

Pro Hockey Rumors is not affiliated with National Hockey League, NHL or NHL.com

Do not Sell or Share My Personal Information

scroll to top