Kris Letang Out At Least Four Weeks With Fractured Foot
As the Penguins head toward next week’s Olympic break, they’ll be without one of their key defensemen. The team announced (Twitter link) that Kris Letang will miss at least the next four weeks due to a fracture in his foot. He has been placed on injured reserve as a result.
The 38-year-old has bounced back a bit offensively this season, picking up 25 points in 50 games after managing just 30 in 74 contests in 2024-25. Of course, that’s still a far cry from the routine showings of 40-plus points that Letang has had for the majority of his career but his point total is still good enough to sit second among Pittsburgh defenders behind only Erik Karlsson.
On top of still being one of their more productive players from the back end, Letang is also one of their top minute-munchers, logging over 22 minutes per contests for the 16th straight season while taking a regular turn on both special teams units. That also ranks second behind Karlsson.
This is the second injury of note on Pittsburgh’s back end this week. The team is also without Jack St. Ivany for the next couple of months after he recently underwent hand surgery. Now, with Letang on injured reserve, the Penguins only have six healthy blueliners on their active roster so a roster move to bring someone up from AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton seems likely. In the interim, Connor Clifton will return to the lineup after being a scratch for the past week.
This injury comes on the heels of Letang missing a pair of games last week due to an undisclosed injury. Head coach Dan Muse told reporters including Seth Rorabaugh of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (Twitter link) that the injury from last week is unrelated to this one.
If there was ever a good time for a player to miss four weeks with an injury, this is it. With the NHL shutting down for more than three weeks for the Olympics, Letang is only slated to miss the next five games. Of course, if the fracture doesn’t heal as quickly as expected, he’ll miss more time than that but as things stand, they shouldn’t be without one of their top blueliners for too long overall.
Devils’ Jack Hughes Out, Olympic Status Believed To Be Unaffected
Saturday: The Devils announced that Hughes won’t play against Ottawa and that he’s officially listed as day-to-day with a lower-body injury.
Friday: The New Jersey Devils will once again move forward without a star forward. Jack Hughes is back on the shelf after leaving Thursday’s win over the Nashville Predators early. Devils head coach Sheldon Keefe said that the team has no update on Hughes’ injury, other than to mention that he will undergo further testing, per team reporter Amanda Stein. Hughes is not expected to travel with the team to Saturday’s game in Ottawa. The Devils return for a two-game homestand at the start of next week, before the NHL enters its three-week break for the 2026 Winter Olympics.
Despite the poor timing, Hughes’ availability for the Olympics is not believed to be in doubt, per Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic. Hughes will undoubtedly be a focal piece of the Team USA roster, if healthy. The 24-year-old captained the U.S. National Team Development Program prior to his first-overall selection in 2019, but hasn’t had many chances to appear with USA since then, due to injury and playoff appearances. Hughes recorded one assist in four games at the 2025 4-Nations Face-Off – his first appearance with the country’s men’s team since making the NHL.
Hughes has remained an electric piece of New Jersey’s offense when he’s on the ice. He has scored 36 points in 36 games this season, making him the only Devil still scoring at a point-per-game pace. Hughes has met that scoring mark in each of the last five seasons. He scored 56 points in 49 games of the 2021-22 season, then set a franchise record with 99 points in 78 games of the 2022-23 campaign. Those performances served as his breakout years – but routine injury has kept the star forward from becoming the first Devil to break the century scoring mark.
Hughes has averaged 39 goals and 96 points per 82 games played over the last five seasons. He has also averaged 25 missed games per season in that span. Injury has been a recurring challenge for the dynamo scorer, whether short-term or long-term, or brought on by freak accident. Hughes falling out of the lineup once again will force another shakeup of New Jersey’s offense.
The Devils elevated Timo Meier to play next to Dawson Mercer and Jesper Bratt following Hughes’ exit on Thursday; while demoting Evgenii Dadonov to a line with Connor Brown and Paul Cotter. Those lines should stick through Saturday’s game against Ottawa, while Nico Hischier and Arseny Gritsyuk are flanked by Lenni Hameenaho or Maxim Tsyplakov. The Devils will certainly hope these adjustments are only temporary, and that Hughes’ further testing confirms what is believed to be a short-term injury.
Kings Activate Anze Kopitar, Place Alex Turcotte On IR
The Kings have made a pair of roster moves heading into today’s matinee against Philadelphia. The team announced that they’ve activated center Anze Kopitar off injured reserve. To make room on the roster, center Alex Turcotte has been placed on IR.
Kopitar’s return will certainly be a welcome one for a Los Angeles team that scuffled in his absence, having lost seven of the 11 games they played while he was sidelined with a lower-body injury. As a result, they’ve slipped to sixth in the Pacific Division and are on the outside looking in at a playoff spot.
In his final NHL season, the 38-year-old has been quieter than usual offensively, being limited to six goals and 15 assists in 37 games. However, Kopitar continues to be elite at the faceoff dot and plays a regular role on both special teams units while holding down a top-six role at five-on-five. With his absence and Phillip Danault’s trade to Montreal last month, the Kings had been pretty thin down the middle in recent weeks.
As for Turcotte, he last played on January 24th due to an upper-body injury. Assuming that they backdate his placement, he’ll have already served the seven days after today, making him eligible to be activated at any time. That said, he has already been ruled out for Sunday’s road trip finale in Carolina and will likely be reevaluated after that time.
Turcotte has played in 49 games with the Kings this season and had been pressed into third-line action recently in Kopitar’s absence. He has three goals and nine assists on the campaign along with a solid 55.7% success rate on draws while averaging just under 11 minutes per night.
Evening Notes: Sherwood, Marchand, Fabbro
The San Jose Sharks likely won’t have to wait much longer for their recent trade acquisition to make his debut with the club. According to Sheng Peng of San Jose Hockey Now, winger Kiefer Sherwood looked good in practice today and could enter the team’s lineup tomorrow.
Despite acquiring him from the Vancouver Canucks more than 10 days ago, Sherwood has yet to appear for the Sharks as he works his way back from an undisclosed injury. The 30-year-old winger last appeared on January 10th and has 17 goals and 23 points across 44 games this season.
Furthermore, his lack of availability thus far may be the main reason why the Sharks are hesitant to commit to an extension with their new forward. Sherwood is a known commodity at this point, being an uber-physical winger capable of being a quality secondary scorer. Still, San Jose will ultimately want to see that he can mesh well with the team during gameplay before signing him to a new contract.
Additional notes from this evening:
- David Dwork of The Hockey News reported that there’s some concern from the Florida Panthers that Brad Marchand‘s recent injury against the St. Louis Blues could cost him a few games. He finished the game with a -1 rating over 11:19 of action. Most of the concern is from the fact that Marchand missed several weeks earlier this month with an undisclosed injury.
- Unfortunately for the Columbus Blue Jackets, it’s unlikely that defenseman Dante Fabbro will rejoin the lineup for the Olympic break. According to regional writer Jeff Svoboda, Fabbro had a setback in the lower-body injury that’s kept him out of the team’s lineup since January 17th, and he’s expected to resume skating by early next week. The eight-year blueliner has scored four goals and seven points in 48 games for Columbus this season, averaging 16:07 of ice time per game.
West Notes: Levshunov, Foligno, Boeser
According to Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times, the Chicago Blackhawks have healthy-scratched defenseman Artyom Levshunov tonight. Pope added that the Blackhawks have put Levshunov into an internal program to fix some “foundational” parts of his game, and he likely wouldn’t play until the league resumes after the Olympics.
Scott Powers of The Athletic added some specifics, reporting that the Blackhawks wanted Levshunov to focus on his play with the puck, defensive fundamentals, and shooting technique. Rather than move Levshunov to the AHL, as they did with fellow prospect Kevin Korchinski, Chicago hopes that their current skills coaches can correct some of Levshunov’s flaws.
Levshunov is having a significantly better season than last year, but he still hasn’t met the Blackhawks’ expectations after being selected with the second overall pick in the 2024 NHL Draft. He is the team leader in scoring among defensemen, with two goals and 21 points in 52 games. His even-strength Corsi For percentage stands at 47.4%, and he has an on-ice save percentage of 88.3%, along with a -27 rating.
Other notes from the Western Conference:
- Staying in Chicago, the team is without their captain tonight against the Columbus Blue Jackets. Before tonight’s lone NHL contest, Charlie Roumeliotis of WGN Radio reported that Nick Foligno is considered day-to-day with an undisclosed injury. The 38-year-old veteran has played in 17 games for the Blackhawks since returning from a longer-term injury in late December, scoring two goals and four points.
- Moving further west, there is a possibility that Brock Boeser will return to the Vancouver Canucks’ lineup during their upcoming roadtrip. According to Jeff Paterson of Canucks Army, Boeser will join the Canucks when they travel to Utah and Las Vegas. Still, it’s far likelier that Vancouver will hold Boeser out through the Olympic break as he recovers from an upper-body injury that warranted a suspension to Pittsburgh Penguins’ forward Bryan Rust.
Bruins’ Elias Lindholm, Pavel Zacha Expected To Miss Stadium Series
The Boston Bruins could be without two centers when they take on the Tampa Bay Lightning in the 2026 NHL Stadium Series on Sunday. Both Elias Lindholm and Pavel Zacha will not be joining the Bruins on their trip to Florida due to injury per Conor Ryan of the Boston Globe.
Lindholm was designated as out day-to-day with an upper-body injury after leaving Boston’s Tuesday win over the Nashville Predators early. Zacha left Thursday’s win over the Philadelphia Flyers with an upper-body injury of his own, sustained on a hit from Philadelphia’s Nicolas Deslauriers. No timeline has been provided for Zacha’s injury.
Boston recalled Matthew Poitras to fill in for Lindholm’s absence on Thursday. Poitras, playing in his first NHL game of the season, recorded one penalty and five shots in 11 minutes of ice time. He filled a fourth-line, winger role while Tanner Jeannot and Marat Khusnutdinov moved into elevated roles.
The Bruins beat Philadelphia handedly – by a score of 6-3 – largely thanks to the performance of their sole healthy line. The trio of Viktor Arvidsson, Casey Mittelstadt, and Fraser Minten combined for three goals and seven shots on net in Thursday’s game. That brings Minten up to 14 poitns in 14 games in January, third-most on the team behind David Pastrnak (25 points) and Charlie McAvoy (16).
Now down yet another center, the Bruins are sure to lean on their high-performing second-line in a tough matchup on Sunday. That focus will leave Pastrnak and wing partner Morgan Geekie free to support a fill-in center to round out the team’s top-six. Through the mess of injuries, this could present a rare chance for Khusnutdinov to step between strong wingers. The 23-year-old, Russian centerman has an impressive 11 points in 14 games this month – fifth-most on the Bruins – to go with a plus-nine and 15 shots on net. He has looked capable of handling the tempo of his top teammates – but has struggled at the faceoff dot, with a bleak 45.1 faceoff percentage on the season.
That could push the Bruins to give Mark Kastelic – and his team-leading 60.0 faceoff percentage – a bit more responsibility. Kastelic platooned with Jeannot on Boston’s third-line following Zacha’s absence. His season has favored the other side of the scoresheet, marked by 15 points and 106 penalty minutes in 55 games. That will limit Kastelic’s ability to fit into the top of the lineup. It could also push Boston to move Minten or Poitras from the wing to center, while leaving Khusnutdinov and Kastelic as alternatives on the wing.
The Bruins are not currently carrying an extra forward. They will need to make a recall before Sunday if they want to ice 12 forwards. Top candidates for a call-up include Fabian Lysell and high-speed winger Matej Blumel. Blumel managed no scoring and a minus-three in four NHL games earlier this season, while Lysell hasn’t appeared in the NHL since last year, when he scored three points in the first 12 games of his NHL career. The former first-round pick ranks second on the AHL’s Providence Bruins in scoring with 34 points in 35 games.
Injury Notes: Malkin, Letang, Halliday, Glass
The Pittsburgh Penguins announced today that veteran center Evgeni Malkin and defenseman Kris Letang both will not practice today. The club did not divulge any additional details as to why the pair will not practice, only adding that “their statuses will be updated tomorrow.” According to Seth Rorabaugh of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Malkin “has been laboring with an apparent shoulder injury since December,” something that could be the source of his absence today. As for Letang, there is no indication as to if he is injured, but Rorabaugh noted he “had some struggles” during the team’s win Thursday over the Chicago Blackhawks.
Both Malkin and Letang have been pillars of the Penguins franchise for the last two decades, though their contributions have, to varying degrees, declined as they’ve gotten deeper into their thirties. Malkin, 39, is having a vintage season with 41 points in 39 games, but Letang, 38, has struggled and is no longer widely considered Pittsburgh’s best blueliner. Any extended absence faced by the two of them would deal a blow to the Penguins’ ability to hold onto their current position in the standings, which is second in the Metropolitan Division.
Other injury notes from around the NHL:
- Ottawa Senators center Stephen Halliday missed the team’s game against the Colorado Avalanche on Jan. 28 due to an upper-body injury, and was classified as day-to-day. Today, Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch reported that Halliday was at Senators practice, albeit in a non-contact jersey. That would appear to indicate that Halliday is working his way back, but still has some way to go before he’s fully ready to return to head coach Travis Green’s lineup. Halliday, 23, has 10 points in 21 NHL games for the Senators this season, and 26 points in 22 AHL games.
- New Jersey Devils center Cody Glass will travel with the team on their upcoming road trip to Ottawa, per team reporter Amanda Stein. Glass missed the Devils’ game Thursday against the Nashville Predators with an undisclosed injury. The 26-year-old has carved out a steady role in the middle of the Devils lineup and has scored 13 goals and 18 points in 42 games so far this year.
Blues Place Dylan Holloway On Injured Reserve
3:00 p.m.: According to regional reporter Lou Korac, the Blues have already returned Luff and McGing to AHL Springfield from their emergency call-ups. Korac hinted that this likely means either Jordan Kyrou or Jake Neighbours would return to the lineup tonight.
10:30 a.m.: Dylan Holloway‘s return from a high ankle sprain will be short-lived. According to a team announcement, the St. Louis Blues have placed Holloway back on the injured reserve and recalled Matt Luff and Hugh McGing under emergency conditions.
After suffering a high ankle sprain in his right foot against the Chicago Blackhawks on December 12th, Holloway missed a month of action. He returned against the Edmonton Oilers on January 18th, but has missed the Blues’ last four games. Combined, since mid-December, Holloway has missed 19 games, and that absence is expected to grow.
Technically speaking, Holloway is eligible to return this upcoming Saturday against the Columbus Blue Jackets. However, given his injury struggles of late, it’s far likelier that St. Louis will hold him out through the Olympic break, giving him ample time to recover fully.
Regardless, it’s been a difficult follow-up campaign for Holloway’s breakout last season. In his first year with the Blues during the 2024-25 season, Holloway scored 26 goals and 63 points in 77 games, helping the team qualify for the Stanley Cup playoffs. Due to the multiple injuries, Holloway has been limited to 34 appearances this year, registering eight goals and 17 points.
Meanwhile, St. Louis has recalled a pair of relatively older options from the AHL’s Springfield Thunderbirds to fill out the rest of their forward core as they conclude their four-game homestand. The pair have combined for eight games with the Blues this season, scoring two goals and three points.
In Springfield, however, the difference between the two is clear. Luff is leading the team in scoring by a healthy margin, putting up 13 goals and 33 points in 33 games. McGing, on the other hand, has provided more tertiary scoring, providing four goals and 12 points in 35 games.
Atlantic Notes: Luukkonen, Panarin, Lindholm
The red-hot Buffalo Sabres are going to be down a netminder for the next little while. According to Paul Hamilton of WGR Sports Radio, the Sabres expect Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen to miss the next week with a lower-body injury.
Since the calendar turned to December, Buffalo has a 20-6-1 record in their last 27 games, carrying a team SV% of .906. Luukkonen has played an integral role in stabilizing the crease, earning a 9-4-1 record in 14 games with a .908 SV%. The team will now have to rely on the combination of Alex Lyon and Colten Ellis, likely up until the upcoming Olympic break.
Fortunately, the Sabres are likely comfortable with that. Since the hot streak began in December, not only has Lyon been a boon to the team, but he’s been one of the league’s best over that stretch. The 33-year-old netminder has won nine out of 10 games with a .928 SV% since December 1st.
Other notes from the Atlantic Division:
- The jury is still out on which team will ultimately acquire Artemi Panarin from the New York Rangers. On today’s episode of Insider Trading, TSN’s Pierre LeBrun indicated that Panarin’s camp has contacted the Florida Panthers (among others) about potentially facilitating a trade. Still, LeBrun poured some cold water on that idea, indicating that it would be nearly impossible for the Panthers to afford an extension, and Panarin has reportedly made that a requirement.
- The Boston Bruins will be without their first-line center tonight. According to Steve Conroy of The Boston Herald, forward Elias Lindholm is considered day-to-day with an undisclosed injury. However, Conroy hinted that Lindholm’s recovery timeline could extend beyond that, given that he’s meeting with team doctors today.
Capitals Recall Clay Stevenson
According to a team announcement, the Washington Capitals have recalled netminder Clay Stevenson from the AHL’s Hershey Bears. The Capitals already have a full 23-man roster, so they’ll need to make a corresponding roster move before tonight’s game against the Detroit Red Wings.
Stevenson’s recall immediately indicated that Washington would be down a typical netminder for tonight’s contest. According to Bailey Johnson of The Washington Post, Logan Thompson was not with the team for this morning’s practice, so he won’t be available in Detroit.
After practice, Johnson confirmed that Thompson is dealing with an upper-body injury that’s expected to keep him out for the next few days. During the Capitals’ six-game road trip, Thompson started in three games, achieving a record of 1-2-0 with a .880 SV%.
Meanwhile, Stevenson, 26, returns to Washington for the second time this season. His first recall came back in early December, though he failed to participate in any games. His last, and only, NHL contest came back in mid-April of last season, where he stopped 33 of 38 shots in a loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Taking over as the de facto starter with Hershey after Hunter Shepard departed in free agency, Stevenson has performed well. Through 24 games this season, he’s managed an 11-8-4 record with a .912 SV% and 2.57 GAA.