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Nikolaj Ehlers Undergoes Surgery

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Nov 23: Ehlers underwent surgery today in Detroit, according to Sean Reynolds of Sportsnet. Team reporter Sara Orlesky tweets that the expected recovery period is between six and eight weeks. Even that timeline seems optimistic, and sports hernia surgeries are notorious for affecting hockey performance long after a player is medically cleared.

Nov 19: It has been a tough year so far for Jets winger Nikolaj Ehlers.  He suffered an injury in the second game of the season and hasn’t played since then, missing a month.  It’ll be quite a while before he’s back as head coach Rick Bowness told reporters, including Scott Billeck of the Winnipeg Sun that Ehlers will undergo sports hernia surgery next week with no timetable for his return.  However, he is expected to return at some point this season.

The 26-year-old has been a key part of Winnipeg’s attack for several years now and was coming off arguably his best season in 2021-22 when he had 28 goals and 27 assists in 62 games.  He was even productive in his lone two appearances with a trio of assists this year.  Unsurprisingly, his absence has been a blow to the Jets’ offense this season as they enter play today sitting 28th in the league in goals scored although strong goaltending has helped lead them to a 10-4-1 record.  Ehlers had taken part in a skate with the team back on Wednesday in the hopes of returning but clearly, something didn’t go as planned.

Winnipeg is one of only nine teams with at least $1MM in cap space at the moment, per CapFriendly which gives them at least a little bit of flexibility to work with.  They’re currently carrying eight defensemen and could move out one of those to free up a bit more space to add a replacement forward beyond a recall from AHL Manitoba which is how they’ve managed so far even with forwards Morgan Barron and Mason Appleton out after undergoing wrist surgeries.  While GM Kevin Cheveldayoff was likely wanting to hold onto his cap space to maximize his options at the trade deadline, a prolonged absence for one of his top forwards might be enough to force his hand sooner than he’d have liked to.

Scott Laughton Placed On Injured Reserve

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The Philadelphia Flyers will be without Scott Laughton for the next little while and have placed him on injured reserve. Laughton is dealing with an upper-body injury and is expected to miss two weeks, according to Adam Kimelman of NHL.com.

In his place, the team has recalled Jackson Cates from the AHL. The team also released injury updates on several other players. Travis Konecny will be out 10-14 days with an upper-body injury, Wade Allison is out two or three weeks with a hip pointer, and Cam Atkinson remains week-to-week. Sean Couturier and James van Riemsdyk are still on their respective schedules after surgery.

Laughton, 28, was seeing more ice time than ever before in his career, averaging more than 19 minutes a night through his first 18 appearances. That resulted in seven points on the year to go along with his regular brand of physical hockey.

He had been moved to wing recently, a move that the team also made with Kevin Hayes last night, with head coach John Tortorella explaining that he trusted Noah Cates more defensively in the middle of the ice.

That position has been a challenge this season for the Flyers, who don’t have a single center even above 48% on faceoffs and few players living up to their potential. Hayes and Konecny lead the team in scoring with 19 points but beyond those two and Owen Tippett, no other player even has five goals on the year.

Jackson Cates, the older of the two brothers, was scoreless in three games with the Flyers earlier this year. In 11 contests with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, he has scored four goals and seven points.

Morgan Rielly Placed On Long-Term Injured Reserve

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The Toronto Maple Leafs are without their top three defensemen now, after Morgan Rielly exited last night with a knee injury. Rielly has been quickly moved to long-term injured reserve, with Darren Dreger of TSN tweeting that there are “rumblings” of a grade 1 or 2 MCL injury. That would come with a four to six-week recovery, according to Dreger.

In his place, the team has recalled Victor Mete and Mac Hollowell from the AHL.

At a very minimum, the veteran defenseman will miss 10 games and 24 days with his LTIR placement. Given he is expected back this season, the cap flexibility awarded with this move is temporary. The Maple Leafs could not for instance replace Rielly’s cap hit with an external option, as they’ll need it to activate him again down the road.

With Rielly, Jake Muzzin, and T.J. Brodie out all at the same time – the latter was on the ice before practice today testing out his oblique injury – the Maple Leafs are in a tough spot. The team’s most reliable defender becomes 39-year-old Mark Giordano, with some mix of Justin Holl, Timothy Liljegren, Rasmus Sandin, and Jordie Benn behind him.

Mete obviously has plenty of NHL experience as well, but Hollowell would be making his debut should he get into the lineup.

With that in mind, there will be plenty of speculation surrounding the Maple Leafs in the next few weeks. The team had already been linked to several defensemen around the league, and if Muzzin is out for the rest of the season, as expected, they do have a bit of cap room to work with.

Latest On Cam Atkinson

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The Philadelphia Flyers are decimated by injuries once again, this time to their forward corps. They’re dealing with six lineup regulars sitting on the shelf – including Cam Atkinson, who’s not technically on injured reserve but is out indefinitely with an upper-body injury sustained during training camp.

A more definite timeline is coming into view now, though. The Fourth Period’s Anthony Di Marco relays from a team source that the team hopes Atkinson can make his season debut before New Year’s Day.

When exactly that return happens is still anyone’s guess, though. Di Marco reports that the organization is unsure whether Atkinson’s return could come within the next week or within the next month. It’s evident that the Flyers are being cautious, especially considering the team’s recent string of poor injury luck.

Atkinson is still waiting to be reunited for a regular-season game with head coach John Tortorella, who mentored Atkinson throughout the majority of his 10 seasons with the Columbus Blue Jackets. In 2018-19 under Tortorella, Atkinson enjoyed a career-best 41-goal, 69-point season.

Despite a rocky year for the rest of the Flyers last year, though, Atkinson actually had his best performance since that season in Columbus. His 23 goals, 27 assists, and 50 points were all second on the Flyers.

While the Flyers’ record is much-improved this season under Tortorella, it’s due in large part to the spectacular play of Carter Hart in goal. The Flyers’ goal-scoring ranks 26th in the NHL, with 46 through 18 games. The team sits at just .500 and remains a long shot for the playoffs, but Atkinson returning and providing a 25-to-30-goal pace would improve their waning chances.

Injury Notes: Parayko, Kassian, Red Wings

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The St. Louis Blues are streaking – again. They’ve nearly wiped out a franchise-record eight-game losing streak by rattling off six straight wins, the latter half of which have come without defenseman Colton Parayko in the lineup. Considered day-to-day with a lower-body injury, Parayko will be a game-time decision tonight when the Blues take on the Anaheim Ducks.

Berube even went so far as to say he was “confident” that Parayko would be back in the lineup, but still, it’s not assured. He’ll be an important piece for the Blues this season as he enters the first season of his eight-year, $52MM contract extension. His defensive play this year has been better than his -9 rating would suggest, with his sample size being weighed down by poor goaltending during the Blues’ losing streak. Tyler Tucker will draw out in place of Parayko after playing his first three NHL games, and Vladimir Tarasenko will miss a second straight game with an undisclosed illness.

  • In activating Jakob Chychrun and Nick Schmaltz from injured reserve, the Arizona Coyotes have replaced them with forward Zack Kassian to stay under the 23-player roster limit, according to PHNX Sports’ Craig Morgan. Kassian has not played since November 1 and is still day-to-day with a lower-body injury, even though he’s missed nearly three weeks now. He’s eligible to return at any time given he’s well past the seven-day injured minimum required to be on IR, although the team will need to send someone down to accommodate.
  • Forward Elmer Soderblom remains day-to-day for the Detroit Red Wings despite not playing for weeks, per head coach Derek Lalonde today. Lalonde said Soderblom’s return from a lower-body injury is “probably going to take some time,” and there’s still no clear indication when the rookie could return. Defenseman Gustav Lindstrom could play this week, though. The Swede is also day-to-day with a lower-body injury.

Injury Notes: Brodie, Armia, Yamamoto

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The Toronto Maple Leafs won’t have T.J. Brodie back for a little while, as the defenseman is not progressing as hoped, according to head coach Sheldon Keefe. David Alter of Sports Illustrated reports that Brodie will not travel with the team as they head out for four road games after tonight’s matchup with the New York Islanders.

Here are some more injury updates from around the league:

  • The Montreal Canadiens had Joel Armia back on the ice in a non-contact jersey today, according to Eric Engels of Sportsnet. The versatile forward hasn’t played in over a week, and even then was having a brutal start to the year. With no points in seven games this season and just 14 in 2021-22, the four-year extension Armia signed in 2021 isn’t looking great at this point. While still an excellent defensive presence, the Canadiens need to get some offense out of his $3.4MM cap hit.
  • Meanwhile, Mike Hoffman was missing from Canadiens practice due to a medical evaluation for a lower-body injury. The veteran forward left Saturday’s game early putting an end to what had been a nice little stretch for Hoffman with six points in six games.
  • Mark Spector of Sportsnet reports that Kailer Yamamoto is not with the Edmonton Oilers on their road trip that starts tonight in New Jersey. The 24-year-old forward hasn’t played since November 11 and hasn’t registered a single goal this season. Spector notes that Yamamoto “hasn’t been right” since a big collision in the preseason.

Jacob Bernard-Docker Out One Month, Thomas Chabot Day-To-Day

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Some injury updates are coming in today concerning the Ottawa Senators’ defense, courtesy of Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch. While star defenseman Thomas Chabot is now day-to-day with a concussion, Jacob Bernard-Docker is out for at least one month with a high ankle sprain.

Chabot sustained the concussion in a November 12 game against the Philadelphia Flyers. After being checked into the boards by Travis Konecny, the team placed Chabot on injured reserve the following day. Sportsnet’s Wayne Scanlan reported at the time Chabot’s timeline was at least one week.

It’s unclear when Bernard-Docker suffered the ankle injury. He played the full game yesterday in a 5-1 loss to the red-hot New Jersey Devils, logging 16:46 of ice time and a -1 rating. The young defender has been solid in a bottom-four role, contributing an assist in six games between call-ups from the Belleville Senators.

At least for Ottawa, the Bernard-Docker injury comes after Artem Zub, their best defensive defenseman, was cleared to return to play. Zub’s presence is the highlighting factor for Ottawa’s right side on defense, and he’ll ease the depth issues created by Bernard-Docker’s absence.

With Chabot likely healthy by the time Bernard-Docker is ready to go again, expect Ottawa to assign the latter back to the minors.

Snapshots: Roslovic, Yamamoto, Barron

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The Columbus Blue Jackets and Vancouver Canucks have been two of the most disappointing teams in the league to start the year. But over the summer, there were talks between the two teams about a potential Jack Roslovic trade, according to The Athletic’s Aaron Portzline.

Portzline reports the Canucks inquired about Roslovic, looking to add to what was becoming a deep forward core, but the Blue Jackets were reluctant to move him. While Columbus’ subsequent start and Roslovic’s mediocre stat line (one goal, six points in 15 games) may make it look like a poor decision in hindsight, it’s understandable why Columbus wanted to hold onto their assets in an effort to be competitive. Many viewed Roslovic as a potential candidate to center a line between Johnny Gaudreau and Patrik Laine after he broke out for a 22-goal campaign last year, but with Laine never really getting his feet under him, and Roslovic not playing up to the bar he set for himself, that trio has seen just 21 minutes together at even strength, per MoneyPuck.

  • Edmonton Oilers winger Kailer Yamamoto has returned to the ice after sustaining an undisclosed injury over a week ago. Head coach Jay Woodcroft said today that Yamamoto skated on his own, and he remains hopeful Yamamoto joins the team “at some point” on their upcoming three-game New York/New Jersey road trip. The Oilers hope that Yamamoto can come back refreshed and help spark some depth scoring, which has been a serious issue for Edmonton this season.
  • Winnipeg Jets team reporter Mitchell Clinton notes that forward Morgan Barron is back on the ice shooting after undergoing wrist surgery earlier this month. It’s a great sign for Barron, whose five-week timeline pegged a return date somewhere around December 8. The 23-year-old had gotten off to a solid start to 2022-23 with a goal and three assists in nine games.

Washington Capitals Loan Connor McMichael To AHL

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The Washington Capitals announced they have loaned young forward Connor McMichael to the Hershey Bears, their AHL affiliate. No corresponding move was made. Of note, however, is that T..J. Oshie, who is currently on IR with a lower-body injury, was seen warming up at Capitals practice this morning in a regular jersey, as opposed to the non-contact jersey he had been wearing, according to NHL.com’s Tom Gulitti. The Washington Post’s Samantha Pell suggests that not only Oshie, but also defenseman Dmitry Orlov could be ready for a return to action. Should both activated, the Capitals would have to send another player down. Washington next plays on Wednesday night at home against the Philadelphia Flyers.

The choice to loan McMichael to Hershey, especially if it is in fact to make room for Oshie, does make good sense. For one, McMichael, unlike many of his Capitals teammates, is exempt from waivers. On top of that, the forward hasn’t played much this season despite being healthy, getting into just six of the team’s 20 games to date. Having been considered one of Washington’s top prospects since they drafted him 25th overall in 2019, McMichael hasn’t been able to truly take the next step in his development as an NHLer, recording just 18 points in 75 career games.

Sending McMichael down today also makes sense for Washington with Hershey set to take on the Hartford Wolf Pack this afternoon at home. Although the Ontario native has already shown he can handle AHL hockey, putting up 27 points in 33 games in his only appearance back in 2020-21, the trip back to Hershey may simply be an opportunity for McMichael to skate in every game and receive important minutes in the process, something he had not been getting with Washington, as the NHL club looks to dig out of an early hole in the standings.

Columbus Blue Jackets Place Elvis Merzlikins On IR

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The Columbus Blue Jackets announced Sunday morning that they have placed goaltender Elvis Merzlikins on IR. In a corresponding move, the team has also recalled winger Trey Fix-Wolansky from the Cleveland Monsters of the AHL. Merzlikins suffered a lower-body injury in Tuesday’s game against the Philadelphia Flyers. The team had already recalled goaltender Daniil Tarasov on an emergency basis with the news that Merzlikins was expected to be out at least 1-2 weeks. Now with the goaltender on IR, the team could recall a forward as they deal with a rash of injuries.

Merzlikins had been off to a rough start to this season, recording a 4.74 goals-against average and .864 save-percentage in nine games. The injury clearly isn’t good news per se, however a break to rest, recuperate, and gather his thoughts might be helpful to Merzlikins nonetheless. As a replacement, Tarasov really hasn’t been much better this season with a 3.57 goals-against average and .893 save-percentage, but the organization does have high hopes overall for the 23-year-old.

In Fix-Wolansky, 23, the Blue Jackets will find quality depth and someone who has been, in a word, sensational with Cleveland this season, notching 10 goals to go with 12 assists in a mere 14 games. Yes, the NHL does get tougher and the winger has just six games of experience at the top level, all last year, but given the Blue Jackets’ struggles to start this season and their recent injuries, giving Fix-Wolansky a chance in the lineup might be on the horizon.

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