Noah Laba And Urho Vaakanainen Out Week-To-Week
With the Rangers well out of playoff contention and playing out the stretch, this is the time of year when it would be good to get some of their younger players or depth pieces a bit more playing time to help evaluate things for next season. That won’t be happening for a pair of players, however. Newsday’s Denis P. Gorman relays (Twitter link) that center Noah Laba and defenseman Urho Vaakanainen are listed as out week-to-week.
Laba sustained a lower-body injury on Wednesday against New Jersey. The 22-year-old came into training camp, locked down a roster spot to start the year, and hasn’t looked back since as he has been a regular in New York’s bottom six. Through 65 games this season, Laba has nine goals and 12 assists while winning just over half of his faceoffs. He has also chipped in with 90 hits while logging over 13 minutes a night of ice time, a solid freshman year overall.
As for Vaakanainen, he also was injured against the Devils, though with an upper-body injury. The 27-year-old has been a depth defender for the Rangers since coming over as part of the Jacob Trouba trade early last season. Through 33 games, he has six assists and 26 blocks in 13:48 per game of ice time. Instead of possibly getting a chance to make a case for a more stable role down the stretch, he’ll now be sidelined for the next little while.
With Connor Mackey being recalled on Thursday and New York still having 12 healthy forwards on the roster, it’s unlikely that there will be any further promotions from AHL Hartford for the time being. If they do elect to call up someone, that move would count against their post-deadline limit of five since they have enough healthy players to not be eligible for an emergency recall.
Trent Frederic Out Indefinitely
It has been a rough few weeks on the injury front for the Oilers, particularly up front. Within the last few weeks, Mattias Janmark, Curtis Lazar, Colton Dach, and Leon Draisaitl have all landed on LTIR, with Janmark being done for the season.
Now, another forward can be added to the injury list. Speaking after practice today, head coach Kris Knoblauch told reporters including Sportsnet’s Gene Principe (Twitter link) that winger Trent Frederic is dealing with an injury with no timeline for his return.
The injury was sustained on Thursday against Florida late in the second period while forechecking. He was able to get up and finish the shift but didn’t return to the game for the third.
This is Frederic’s first full season with Edmonton and to say he has underwhelmed would certainly be fair. Signed to an eight-year contract worth $3.85MM per season back in June, the 28-year-old has struggled offensively. Through 67 games this season, he has just four goals and two assists in a little under 11 minutes a night of playing time. However, he does sit second on the team in hits with 170, only behind winger Vasily Podkolzin.
The next man up approach has been used a lot lately thanks to these injuries and the one who will get the next opportunity is winger Roby Jarventie, recalled into the cap space opened up by Draisaitl’s LTIR placement. It will be Jarventie’s first NHL action since November 2023.
In the meantime, Edmonton has more than ample cap space to bring yet another forward up from AHL Bakersfield. However, given that they still have 12 healthy forwards on the roster, they won’t be in a position to utilize an emergency recall. Accordingly, any forward that comes up from the Condors would count against their post-deadline limit of five. If the Oilers want to keep some flexibility on that front for later in the year or into the playoffs should they qualify, they might elect not to bring up a replacement for Frederic right away.
Flyers’ Sean Couturier, Denver Barkey, Luke Glendening Out
The Philadelphia Flyers will be without a forward for Thursday night’s game against the Los Angeles Kings. Sean Couturier has been announced as out day-to-day with an upper-body injury, head coach Rick Tocchet told Kevin Kurz of The Athletic. Tocchet did not have an official timeline for Couturier’s injury, though said he doesn’t believe it will be long-term. Philadelphia was also without winger Denver Barkey due to an upper-body injury, and Luke Glendening to a lower-body injury. Both share Couturier’s day-to-day designation.
Couturier was on the ice for the Flyers’ opening goal in their 3-2 overtime win over the Anaheim Ducks on Wednesday. He appeared in just over 15 minutes of ice time in that matchup, sticking to the bottom-six role that he has spent much of the year’s second half in. Couturier has seven goals and 29 points in 66 games this season, his lowest scoring pace since the 2012-13 season – his second year in the NHL. He is also averaging his lowest ice time, 17 minutes a game, since that season.
Couturier’s slide into a smaller lineup role has coincided with handful of injuries over the last five seasons. He missed much of the second half of 2021-22, and all of the 2022-23 season, due to a string of injuries including back surgery. He has missed 12 games since returning to a full-time role in 2023-24 season.
Glendening has split a center role with Couturier since joining the team via waivers just after the NHL Trade Deadline. He has two points in five games and a 57.9 faceoff percentage on 38 faceoffs so far. That reliability has helped form an all-three-zones bottom line next to Couturier and Garnet Hathaway.
Rookie winger Barkey has also spent the majority of his time in Philadelphia’s bottom-six. He has three goals and 11 points in 32 NHL games this season, to go with 16 points in 26 AHL games.
The Flyers will have to look towards their extra forwards to fill Couturier’s lineup role. They currently carry two extra forwards: Carl Grundstrom and Garrett Wilson. Grundstrom has been the de facto option this season, stepping into 37 games and scoring 12 points on the year. The hard-nosed winger could again slot into a fourth-line role, while the top of Philadelphia’s lineup remains unchanged.
Wilson played in 84 NHL games between 2013 and 2019, recording eight points and 42 penalty minutes. He has spent the last seven seasons in a full-time, AHL role where his grinder presence stands tall. Wilson leads the Lehigh Valley Phantoms with 101 penalty minutes in 54 games this season. He racked up 134 PIMs in 63 games last season and a career-high 216 PIMs in 59 games in the year prior. The grinder made his Flyers debut filling in for the trio of injuries on Thursday.
Wild’s Kirill Kaprizov Out Day-To-Day
The Minnesota Wild won’t have their superstar winger on Thursday night. Kirill Kaprizov is out day-to-day with a lower-body injury sustained in the team’s last game against the Chicago Blackhawks per Michael Russo of The Athletic. Specifically, Kaprizov’s injury was sustained on a check from Blackhawks forward Ryan Donato, per Russo, and his absence from the lineup is a precaution after Kaprizov skated in full at Thursday morning’s practice. In-season trade acquisition Quinn Hughes will serve as an alternative captain in Kaprizov’s spot.
Minnesota will struggle to make up for Kaprizov’s absence. He brings a nightly impact, including recording one assist and a team-high six shots on goal in Tuesday’s overtime win over the Blackhawks despite getting injured. He leads the Wild with 38 goals and 80 points in 69 games this season. Kaprizov was also one of only four Wild skaters – alongside Brock Faber, Yakov Trenin, and Jared Spurgeon – to appear in every game this season. That streak will come to an end on Thursday, forcing Minnesota to find a replacement for their star winger on top of replacing injured center Joel Eriksson Ek.
Centerman Hunter Haight will step into the lineup for Kaprizov. This will be the rookie’s first NHL game since a three-game stint in the lineup in mid-January. He has no points and a minus-four in five NHL games, and 23 points in 43 AHL games, this season. Haight should assume a bottom-line role, while speedy winger Bobby Brink joins Matt Boldy and Danila Yurov on Minnesota’s top line. Brink scored one goal in three games with the Wild after being acquired at the Trade Deadline, and before going down with an injury that’s held him out of the last nine days. He’ll return to the lineup in a big way, with Minnesota seeking additional scoring in lieu of Kaprizov. Brink could be fighting to stick in the top-nine after Kaprizov returns with this spot start next to one of Minnesota’s top scorers.
Auston Matthews Undergoes MCL Surgery, Out For Season
March 19: Matthews underwent successful surgery to repair his MCL tear today in New York City, the team announced. The procedure carries a 12-week recovery timeline, meaning he shouldn’t have any issue hitting the ground running for training camp in the fall.
March 13: After sustaining a knee-on-knee hit from Anaheim’s Radko Gudas on Thursday night, the Maple Leafs won’t have their captain down the stretch. The team announced (Twitter link) that center Auston Matthews will miss the remainder of the season due to a Grade Three MCL tear. He will be reevaluated in two weeks and a further update will be provided at that time.
The injury brings a premature end to what has been a tough season for the 28-year-old. After lingering injuries slowed Matthews down off and on at times last season, the hope was that he’d come into this year fully healthy and get back to the level that saw him win three Rocket Richard trophies for the most goals in four years. With Mitch Marner now in Vegas, they were counting on him to be able to shoulder more of the load offensively.
However, that hasn’t happened. In between dealing with a pair of short-term lower-body injuries, Matthews saw his production drop even further this season. After putting up 78 points in 63 games in 2024-25, he was limited to just 27 goals and 26 assists in 60 outings this season. His goal earlier in Friday’s game snapped a 12-game goalless drought, allowing him to avoid tying his career-long stretch in that regard, set back in his rookie season back in 2016-17. Instead of leading the way offensively, Matthews finds himself fourth in team scoring and will likely stay there with Oliver Ekman-Larsson (who’s fifth) being 18 points behind.
Matthews has two years remaining on his current contract, one that carries a $13.25MM AAV that was briefly the richest in NHL history. It’s fair to say that Toronto hasn’t received fair value on that agreement so far given his reduction in production over the past two years. They’ll have to hope that the extended time off before next season will help spur his offense forward in the second half of the agreement.
His absence could also have an impact in the draft lottery. Toronto will retain its first-round pick if they land in the top five of the draft after the lottery. (If they pick outside that range, the selection goes to Boston.) The Maple Leafs are tied for eighth-last in the league right now, five points ahead of St. Louis, which is currently 28th. However, without their number one center in the lineup down the stretch, they could be primed to fall a little further in the standings.
Meanwhile, Gudas had a phone hearing with the Department of Player Safety earlier today as part of the supplemental discipline process. That will cap a potential suspension at no more than five games. With Anaheim in action both Saturday and Sunday, a decision on that front should come before too long.
Panthers Place Brad Marchand On LTIR, Expected To Activate Seth Jones
The second half of the season is becoming clearer for the Florida Panthers, who saw multiple players progress and regress from extended injuries. Defenseman Seth Jones and center Jonah Gadjovich, both on long-term injured reserve, have each taken a step forward but both still aren’t ready to return yet, head coach Paul Maurice told reporters including Miami Herald’s Jordan McPherson.
Maurice spoke more in depth about winger Brad Marchand who will see doctors on Tuesday to determine if he needs surgery for a nagging, undisclosed injury. Marchand has dealt with the injury for most of the season, pushing Maurice to try and control his rest. That task has become tougher as a condensed back-half of the season rolls around. Marchand hasn’t been able to stand up to his top-six role since March rolled around, averaging just 13:30 in ice time over his last four games – over four minutes under his season-long average. The team expects to have an answer on his status for the rest of the season before the week ends.
After a week to weigh his decision, Marchand will indeed land on long-term injured reserve for the Panthers. This move will give the Panthers enough cap room to activate Jones off of LTIR per George Richards of Florida Hockey Now. Marchand will be eligible to return as soon as April 6th, when the Panthers have five games remaining in the regular season. If he will be healthy enough to play those games – or, if they’re worth the risk at all – will be the next question facing the Panthers winger.
Marchand has been a cornerstone of Florida’s offense, even while playing through injuries. He has scored 54 points – split evenly – in 52 games, making him one of only two Panthers scoring above a point-per-game alongside Matthew Tkachuk. Marchand’s ability to produce consistently from the first or second line has supported Tkachuk as he’s eased back from a season-opening injury and heavy role at the Winter Olympics.
The Panthers will turn towards trade acquisition Vinnie Hinostroza to fill in the lineup chart with Marchand on the shelf. He scored three goals and 10 points in 48 games with the Minnesota Wild before moving to Florida at the Trade Deadline for future considerations. He will step into a fourth-line role with the Panthers, while Eetu Luostarinen earns a bump into unrivaled, top-six minutes. Luostarinen has 24 points in 55 games this season and is in the midst of a seven-game scoring drought. He and Carter Verhaeghe should be the biggest beneficiary of Marchand’s available minutes.
Florida is missing another major piece in Jones, who ranks second on the defense in scoring with 24 points in 40 games. He led the team in ice time per-game before going down with injury, averaging 23:29 – a good stride above Gustav Forsling‘s 22:44 ranked second. Jones has stood up to a top role in Florida’s offense after being acquired from the Chicago Blackhawks for a steep price in 2025. Jones’ return will fortify Florida’s blue-line alongside Aaron Ekblad.
Meanwhile, Gadjovich’s return will round out Florida’s depth alongside waiver acquisition Cole Reinhardt. Gadjovich recorded three assists in 10 games before going down with injury on October 25th. He has missed 53 games, and the Winter Olympics, since.
The Panthers will move forward with a dented lineup as they try to climb back from an 11-point deficit in the standings. It seems they are much more likely to miss the postseason on the heels of back-to-back Stanley Cup wins, an outcome that – at the least – would allow more time for stars Tkachuk, Marchand, and Jones to work to full health by next season.
Wild’s Joel Eriksson Ek Out Day-To-Day
The Minnesota Wild will once again need to shore up their center depth due to injury. This time it is Joel Eriksson Ek headed to the mend with a day-to-day, lower-body injury per NHL.com’s Joe Smith. Minnesota will move Robby Fabbri into the lineup while Danila Yurov and Ryan Hartman platoon the top-center role.
Eriksson Ek is expected to miss at least three games with this injury, general manager Bill Guerin told Michael Russo of The Athletic. That means Minnesota will be without their top center for a home-and-home slate against the Chicago Blackhawks, then an important bout with the Dallas Stars. Should this timeline hold true, Eriksson Ek would be next available when Minnesota begins a three-game road trip to the East coast next Tuesday.
Eriksson Ek has had a tough go as of late, netting two points and a minus-one over his last nine games. That cold streak came after Eriksson Ek caught fire before the Olympics, netting eight points in Minnesota’s six games before the break, then adding two more points in the Wild’s return. The Wild haven’t found much more scoring from their other centers as of late, with both Yurov and Hartman boasting three points in their last nine games.
Those small totals could put weight on trade acquisition Michael McCarron to begin carving out his spot in Minnesota’s lineup. He has long been an effective defensive-center, routinely posting a faceoff percentage north of 50 percent and at least 100 hits a season. This year, McCarron has racked up 179 hits, 67 shot blocks, and a 53.1 faceoff percentage in 65 games split between Minnesota and the Nashville Predators.
McCarron will bring a tidy bit of two-way responsibility, while the Wild look towards their star scorers to spur the offense. Matt Boldy and Quinn Hughes have each scored nine points in their last nine games while Kirill Kaprizov, Vladimir Tarasenko, and Mats Zuccarello each have seven points. Even with their spark, Minnesota has fallen to a 3-4-2 record – including two shootout losses – since February 27th. They will need to find another X-factor to tilt even matchups until Eriksson Ek is back to full health.
Penguins’ Blake Lizotte Out A Month, Justin Brazeau And Evgeni Malkin Back
Another lineup change is inbound for the Pittsburgh Penguins. The team will add star Evgeni Malkin back into the fold in Monday night’s game against the Colorado Avalanche after the conclusion of a five-game suspension for slashing. Pittsburgh will also have scoring winger Justin Brazeau back from an injury that held him out of the last four games per Josh Getzoff of Sportsnet Pittsburgh. One of the decisions for who to remove from the lineup will be made for Pittsburgh, as centerman Blake Lizotte is out with an upper-body injury.
After missing Monday night’s game, the Penguins announced that Lizotte would not be re-evaluated for at least four weeks. He will stay on the shelf and could land on injured reserve, while Pittsburgh will be faced with how to make up for an impactful, bottom-six center.
Malkin and Brazeau are expected to resume their roles filling out Pittsburgh’s right-wing depth chart. The former has continued to serve as a cornerstone of the Penguins lineup even in his age-39 season. Malkin has scored 13 goals and 47 points in 46 games this season. That is the second-highest points-per-game on the team behind only Sidney Crosby, who has 59 points in 56 games. The pair of future Hall-of-Famers continue to drive Pittsburgh’s offense, though the Penguins will only be able to lean on Malkin in the short-term, as Crosby continues to recover from an injury of his own.
While Malkin fortifies the top of the lineup, Brazeau will bring a goal-scoring presence back to the middle-six. He has racked up 16 goals and 30 points in 48 games this season, while averaging 13 minutes of ice time each game. It has been a breakout year for Brazeau, who split the 2024-25 season between the Boston Bruins and Minnesota Wild, ultimately totaling 22 points in 76 games. A hot start to the year with Boston encouraged a Spring trade, but after netting just two points in 19 games with Minnesota, Brazeau was left on the open market this summer. Pittsburgh swooped in to land a 27 year old capable of filling a veteran presence among their young forward group.
Even with two strong scorers back in the lineup, Pittsburgh will feel the brunt of losing Lizotte to injury. He has served as a hard-working center all season long, often filling defensive and utility roles to help clear space for Pittsburgh’s stars. Lizotte ranks third on the Penguins, behind Crosby and Noel Acciari, with a 50.0 faceoff percentage on 476 draws this season. He also ranks sixth on the offense in hits (49) and shot blocks (35).
Lizotte’s absence will leave a hole that will require some shifting to fill. Rookie Benjamin Kindel is likely to move to the center position, while Bryan Rust is able to move back to his natural wing with Pittsburgh’s pair of returns. These changes will leave one of Avery Hayes or Elmer Soderblom outside of the lineup on Monday. Hayes has gone without a point in his last 10 games after scoring two goals in his NHL debut. Soderblom, who seems more likely to stick in the lineup, has yet to record a point in four games with the Penguins. He was acquired from the Detroit Red Wings prior to the Trade Deadline.
Oilers’ Leon Draisaitl Expected To Miss Remaining Regular Season
The Edmonton Oilers will be missing major firepower for Tuesday night’s divisional matchup against the San Jose Sharks. Superstar Leon Draisaitl has been declared out for the matchup due to a lower-body injury sustained in Sunday’s win over the Nashville Predators. Draisaitl left that game in the first period after taking a hard bump from Predators winger Ozzy Wiesblatt. No update was provided after the game.
After announcing that he would miss Tuesday night’s game, the Oilers released an additional statement sharing that Draisaitl will have to miss the remaining regular season. He will not need surgery for the injury and should be available for the start of playoffs, general manager Stan Bowman told Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman.
This news will be a major blow to the Oilers offense as they look to seal their spot in the top-three of the Pacific Division. Draisaitl has stayed red-hot since Edmonton returned from the Olympic break. He has six goals and 17 points in his last 10 games, bringing his year-long totals up to 35 goals and 97 points in just 65 games. The 30 year old ranks second on the Oilers in scoring behind Connor McDavid, who has already reached 114 points in 68 games. The two are one of the best duos in the league whether they’re playing alongside each other or not – making Edmonton’s task of replacing Draisaitl that much more challenging.
Max Jones will step into the lineup to fill Draisaitl’s hole. Jones has appeared in nine NHL games, and scored one point, this season. He has also racked up 10 goals, 18 points, and 61 penalty minutes in 39 AHL games. He is a veteran of 293 NHL games with 66 points, split evenly, to show for it. Jones should assume a bottom-line role, while Vasily Podkolzin and Matthew Savoie move up the lineup to bridge the top-six. Podkolzin has three points in his last six games and 30 points on the year, while Savoie has two points in his last two games and 27 points in total. The two should keep play moving just enough to earn Edmonton’s other star talent – McDavid, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, and Zach Hyman – scoring chances. Meanwhile the Oilers brass will hold their breath until a clearer timeline for Draisaitl’s return becomes available. The team expects to have updates before the weekend.
If that will be enough to sustain Edmonton’s offense across their remaining 14 games will be a larger question. The Oilers have scored the second-most goals in the NHL (238) behind only the Colorado Avalanche (249). Much of that scoring came from the one-two punch that is McDavid and Draisaitl. Without one of those hooks, the Oilers will need to look towards Hyman to make up for short-term scoring. This could also be a major opportunity for Savoie or Isaac Howard to step up as scoring pieces, after quieter starts to their pro careers than many expected.
Stars Notes: Rantanen, Coleman, Hintz, Faksa
The Dallas Stars will be without their highest-paid player for a little while longer. According to radio analyst Bruce LeVine, winger Mikko Rantanen is 10 to 14 days away from returning, if not more.
Owen Newkirk of DLLS Sports offered additional context, providing a quote from head coach Glen Gulutzan, saying, “We are hoping somewhere in the 2-2.5 week range we could have him back.” At the longer end of that timeline, that means that Rantanen may not return to the Stars’ lineup until the first week of April.
Rantanen suffered his current lower-body injury during the Olympics, missing the Bronze medal game for Team Finland. Regardless, Dallas has performed remarkably well in his absence, managing an 8-0-1 record since returning from the Olympics, outscoring opponents by a margin of 21.
Additional Stars notes:
- Despite acquiring Michael Bunting from the Nashville Predators a day before the deadline, the Stars weren’t necessarily satisfied with their forward corps. According to David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period, Dallas circled back with the Calgary Flames regarding Blake Coleman. Unfortunately, any potential Coleman acquisition would have necessitated the Stars moving out another contract, which they were unable to accomplish before the deadline.
- In the previous report from LeVine, he added that Roope Hintz and Radek Faksa are further away from returning than Rantanen. Hintz (lower-body) has been out for the last week and a half, but he was fortunately able to avoid surgery. Unfortunately, the outlook is more grim on Faksa, who sustained a lower-body injury in his recovery from the upper-body injury he suffered during the Olympics. He is unlikely to return during the regular season.