Headlines

Go To MLB Trade Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Injury

Alex Iafallo Placed On Injured Reserve

at CDT | by 3 Comments

The Los Angeles Kings have lost a key player for the next little while, as Alex Iafallo has been placed on injured reserve. The speedy forward suffered a lower-body injury last night against the Detroit Red Wings after delivering a hit in the third period. He limped off the ice and now will be sidelined for at least the next several games. Jon Rosen of NHL Network tweets that Iafallo is out “week-to-week” and is headed back to Los Angeles for further evaluation.

In his roster spot, the team has recalled defenseman Jacob Moverare from the AHL. The 24-year-old played 19 games for the team last season but failed to make the NHL roster out of camp. He gives the team an additional defender as they deal with a less serious injury for Alex Edler, who got hit in the face with a puck in warmup last night.

It is unfortunate news for Iafallo, who was off to a brilliant start this season with five points while registering at least one in all four games. The 28-year-old is in the second season of a four-year, $16MM contract he signed in 2021 and is one of the many talented wingers that make the Kings lineup so deep. He plays a strong two-way game without taking any penalties (he has just 14 minutes since the start of 2020-21) and offers a solid amount of secondary scoring.

Without him, the teams will have to shuffle things around a bit and perhaps give a bit more opportunity to a young player. Arthur Kaliyev (who didn’t play yesterday) is the most likely fit, though there has been a lack of trust for the 21-year-old early this year. He is averaging just over nine minutes of ice time in the three games he has played, though that has still resulted in a goal and assist for the talented young forward. An opportunity like this could be just what he needs to build on a strong rookie season, where he scored 14 goals and 27 points in 80 games.

Frank Nazar To Undergo Surgery

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

Just as Kirby Dach makes his first real impact for the Montreal Canadiens, scoring an overtime winner against the Pittsburgh Penguins, the player the Chicago Blackhawks got for him is going under the knife. Frank Nazar, the prospect that Chicago selected with the 13th overall pick this year, a pick acquired on draft day in exchange for Dach, will have surgery to fix a lower-body injury and could potentially miss the entire college hockey season, according to Scott Powers of The Athletic.

Powers’ information comes from Michigan interim head coach Brandon Naruato, who explained that Nazar was already injured when he arrived at school and will be out until at least February. The Wolverines will not rush back their freshman recruit, with Naurato explaining that he won’t be back until he’s 100 percent healthy.

Nazar, 18, is a brilliant offensive talent that was picked with the Blackhawks’ second of three first-round picks. Kevin Korchinski (7th overall), Nazar (13th), and Sam Rinzel (25th) lead an impressive 11-player draft class that has the potential to drive the rebuild timeline in Chicago. Eight of the picks were in the first 90 selections, and players like Nazar have high hopes for their star potential.

Missing an entire development year at this point can be devastating to the development of a prospect. While Nazar will still be included in team activities and will benefit from the world-class facilities at Michigan, missing out on this much game action at his age can severely limit his ceiling. We’ll have to wait and see what happens for Nazar, but it’s not a great start for the Chicago draft class.

Evening Notes: Muzzin, Brown, Utica

at CDT | by 4 Comments

Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Jake Muzzin left the game earlier this evening with a neck injury and will not return, the team announced. The injury appeared to occur after Muzzin and Arizona Coyotes forward Clayton Keller came together in an awkward collision in the corner, Muzzin tumbling to the ice, leaving gingerly. It’s unclear how severe the injury is and whether or not Muzzin will miss any additional time after tonight.

Being without the veteran defenseman would be another tough injury break for the Maple Leafs, who already lost goaltender Matt Murray to an abdominal injury this weekend. The silver lining with Murray hitting LTIR was that it allowed the cap-tight Maple Leafs to recall three players, including defenseman Victor Mete. If Muzzin were to miss time, but not enough to warrant a trip to LTIR, Toronto still has just south of $1.6MM in LTIR to utilize, meaning they could recall another player.

  • Also done for the night is Washington Capitals forward Connor Brown, who suffered a lower-body injury, said the team. Brown was the recipient of a big hit from Vancouver Canucks defenseman Noah Juulsen. According to NHL.com’s Tom Gulitti, Brown immediately grabbed at his right knee before leaving the ice without putting any weight on it. For the Capitals, who are carrying 14 forwards and have roughly $2MM remaining in LTIR space they can utilize, managing their roster should Brown miss any bit of time won’t be the challenge it has been for other teams this season, but that of course doesn’t account for the talent Brown himself brings to the lineup. Through three-plus games this season, Brown had yet to register a point, but did have 39 points over 64 games last season with the Ottawa Senators.
  • An interesting situation in the AHL tonight, as a local power outage forced the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins and Utica Comets game to be paused with 2:43 remaining in the second period. Crews attempted to restore power to the arena, however not too long after, the AHL announced the game would be suspended and made up at a later date. Odd as the situation may be, it wasn’t too long ago that a 2021 preseason game between the New York Islanders and New Jersey Devils had to be cancelled just minutes before puck drop after a power outage at the Prudential Center. Ironically, Utica is New Jersey’s AHL affiliate.

Injury Updates: Montour, Timmins, DeBrusk, Edler

at CDT | by 1 Comment

Just ahead of their game this evening, the Florida Panthers announced that defenseman Brandon Montour would not play. Per the team announcement, Montour is suffering from an upper-body injury. It’s unclear exactly how Montour suffered the injury; the defenseman has played in each of the team’s first two games this season, playing 24:56 opening night and 21:44 in Saturday’s game against the Buffalo Sabres.

An interesting wrinkle in this is, because the Panthers have had to carry a light roster due to their position against the salary cap, they will not be replacing Montour in the lineup. Instead, the team will run with 17 skaters – twelve forwards and five on defense. Considering teams only need 18 skaters and a pair of goaltenders to field a full team, it would seem practical for a team in such a cap situation to only carry 18 players on the roster, however a situation like the one Florida faces this evening is a prime example of why that strategy could cause issues down the line.

  • Arizona Coyotes defenseman Conor Timmins will miss tonight’s game against the Toronto Maple Leafs with an upper-body injury, says the team. Fortunately for Timmins, who missed significant time last season due to injury, it appears he is only day-to-day.
  • Jake DeBrusk will make his return to the Boston Bruins lineup this evening after missing Boston’s last game. The winger was injured in the team’s opening night game against the Washington Capitals after playing just 11:06. Given Boston’s slate of injury issues, especially to winger Brad Marchand, getting the offensive-minded forward back in the lineup will be key to staying in contention while the team’s stars recover. DeBrusk will be taking the place of forward Jakub Lauko in the lineup. The Athletic’s Fluto Shinzawa was the first to report DeBrusk had re-entered the lineup.
  • Per the Los Angeles Kings, defenseman Alex Edler will not play in tonight’s game against the Detroit Red Wings. Edler was originally expected to be in the lineup, but took a puck to the face during warmups. The veteran defenseman will be replaced by Sean Walker. No update is available yet on how severe the injury is.

Nick Schmaltz Out 6-8 Weeks With Upper-Body Injury

at CDT | by 1 Comment

The Arizona Coyotes don’t have a lot of offensive skill in the lineup this season, and they are going to have even less for the next several weeks. Nick Schmaltz has been ruled out for the next six to eight weeks according to Craig Morgan of PHNX Sports, after he suffered an injury in the team’s season-opening match against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Connor Timmins is also out day-to-day with an upper-body injury.

Schmaltz, 26, quietly had a very good season in Arizona last year, scoring 59 points in 63 games to finish second in team scoring behind Clayton Keller. That was a career-high on both accounts for the playmaking forward, who has been moved out of the center role and onto right wing. He managed to play just 2:26 before exiting, and now faces a long recovery timeline that will steal a good chunk of his season.

While the team isn’t trying to compete this season, it’s still not a great place to be in for either the Coyotes or Schmaltz. Like they’ve shown with the rest of their roster, the team is willing to trade anyone for the right price, and sitting on the sideline certainly won’t help Schmaltz’s market. With three more years remaining on his contract (after this one) he probably isn’t the top target for teams around the league, though if he was scoring at nearly a point-per-game again, he likely would have drawn some interest.

With their arena not yet ready to house them, the Coyotes are on a six-game road trip to start the year. After allowing 12 goals in their first two games (and 95 shots against, much to the chagrin of Karel Vejmelka), they now face the Toronto Maple Leafs tonight, before heading to Montreal, Ottawa, and Columbus. They won’t play at home until October 28, and won’t have one of their best offensive pieces in the lineup for up to two months.

It’s going to be a long season in the desert.

Rasmus Ristolainen Moved To Injured Reserve

at CDT | by 4 Comments

The Philadelphia Flyers are 2-0 and they have only allowed four goals on the year. They’ve been able to do that without highly-paid defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen, who is dealing with an undisclosed injury suffered late in camp. Today, they have moved Ristolainen to injured reserve and recalled Zack MacEwen and Louis Belpedio, meaning they’ll have to keep playing without the big Finn for the next little while.

Given that the IR placement is retroactive, Ristolainen can come back basically at any point. But moving him off the roster at least suggests that he’s going to miss some more time.

Many fans of the team will be excited about the move, given it brings back tough guy MacEwen, who became a favorite last season when he was racking up 110 penalty minutes in 75 games. The 26-year-old forward gives the team another player who can skate and throw huge hits, while dropping the gloves whenever necessary.

Belpedio, meanwhile, gives the team another defensive option, though the group has looked pretty good so far. The 26-year-old has played in just four games at the NHL level in the past but is a strong two-way presence in the minor leagues and is coming off an impressive Calder Cup playoff run with the Laval Rocket.

Tyler Bertuzzi Out 4-6 Weeks With Upper-Body Injury

at CDT | by 8 Comments

The Detroit Red Wings are off to a fast start this season but will be without one of their key forwards for the next month. Tyler Bertuzzi has been ruled out for four to six weeks with an upper-body injury suffered over the weekend. Bertuzzi was removed from the game on Saturday after just eight minutes and did not return. The team will also be without Jakub Vrana tonight who is away for personal reasons.

Somewhat quietly, Bertuzzi had the best season of his career in 2021-22, scoring 30 goals and 62 points in 68 games. While the Red Wings finished well out of the playoffs, he was one of the players who showed real promise, after missing almost the entire previous year due to injury. Now, approaching unrestricted free agency next summer, it was a big year for Bertuzzi, who could set himself up for a massive extension with the Red Wings or an even bigger deal on the open market.

A six-week absence certainly isn’t going to help his case, though there aren’t many players on the Red Wings roster who can replace his mix of skill and grit. In the meantime, Dominik Kubalik is getting the first crack at the first line, with Filip Zadina jumping into the second group beside Andrew Copp and David Perron. It is quite an opportunity for Kubalik, who was cut loose by the Chicago Blackhawks and signed a two-year, $5MM contract with the Red Wings. He has averaged just 12 minutes of ice time through the first two games but did score on Saturday and has shown an ability to skate with good players in the past.

As a rookie, Kubalik scored 30 goals playing mostly with Jonathan Toews. If he can find that same kind of chemistry with Dylan Larkin, perhaps he can rediscover that scoring touch on a more regular basis.

Injury Updates: Barabanov, Blueger, Texier

at CDT | by 1 Comment

The Sharks could get some help on the wing on Tuesday as Curtis Pashelka of The Mercury News reports that winger Alexander Barabanov could be activated from injured reserve for their game against the Islanders.  The 28-year-old didn’t play at all in the preseason due to a lower-body injury and while they were hopeful he’d be good to go for their international games, that clearly wasn’t the case.  Barabanov had 39 points in 70 games last season and head coach David Quinn acknowledged that the winger could find himself on the top line in short order.  San Jose has scored just six goals in four games so far this season so any help up front will certainly be welcomed.

Other injury news from around the NHL:

  • Although Penguins forward Teddy Blueger has made some gradual progress as he works his way back from an undisclosed injury, he did not accompany the team to Montreal in advance of their game on Monday, notes Seth Rorabaugh of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. The injury was originally suffered nearly three weeks ago and originally had a day-to-day designation but clearly, the recovery has been slower than anticipated.  Fortunately for Pittsburgh, Blueger was cleared for contact in practice so his season debut should be coming in the near future.
  • While Blue Jackets forward Alexandre Texier is playing in Switzerland this season, his year got off to a slow start when he broke his wrist in the first game of the year. However, Aaron Portzline of The Athletic notes (subscription link) that the 23-year-old was able to return to the lineup on Saturday which was slightly ahead of schedule while he scored in the shootout.

Afternoon Notes: Marchand, Rangers Injuries, Pitlick

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

If the Boston Bruins wish to stay in the playoff hunt throughout this season, they will certainly have to do a lot with a little in the early months. The team is without a number of key players to start the season, including Matt Grzelcyk, Charlie McAvoy, Brad Marchand, and now apparently, Brandon Carlo, who was injured in the team’s second game of the season. So far, so good it seems, as Boston is off to a 2-0 start with commanding wins over the Washington Capitals and Arizona Coyotes.

On top of that, there seems to be more good news for the Bruins: Marchand practiced with the team today for the first time this season, says the Boston Globe’s Matt Porter. It’s hard to say who is a bigger loss for Boston, the perennial Hart candidate, Marchand, or the perennial Norris candidate, McAvoy, but having Marchand back on the ice with the group, his timetable for a post-Thanksgiving return still intact, is a bit of bright news. Recovering from hip surgery and returning successfully is always a tough task for an NHLer, and doing so after double hip surgery is likely no easier, but a strong, timely comeback from one of their superstars will not only ease the burden on the healthy group of Bruins, but perhaps add a burst of energy when he returns.

  • Larry Brooks of the New York Post provided some injury updates from today’s New York Rangers practice. Forward Ryan Carpenter, who was cut by Dylan DeMelo’s skate during Friday night’s loss at the Winnipeg Jets, did not skate today. Winger Vitali Kravtsov, who was hurt early in the Rangers’ opening night game on Tuesday against the Tampa Bay Lightning, skated today in a non-contact jersey, a positive step forward for a player trying to finally make it as an NHL-regular. Finally, Sammy Blais, who missed the first three games of this season after a preseason injury, skated on a line in practice with Filip Chytil and Jimmy Vesey, both of whom look to be regulars in the Rangers lineup this season.
  • Last week, the St. Louis Blues released veteran forward Tyler Pitlick from his PTO. Already into their LTIR and with 14 forward on the roster, it appears the team simply didn’t have room for the forward, no matter how he played. However, NHL.com’s Lou Korac reports, Pitlick was skating today with St. Louis. It’s not a sure sign that a formal reunion is imminent, but the arrangement isn’t unheard of either. Should the Blues encounter a further injury issue, Pitlick will be fresh and already acclimated to the group, providing for a seamless transition, and for Pitlick, it provides him with a place to skate with NHLers and NHL eyes on him.

Vancouver Canucks Recall Noah Juulsen, Assign Sheldon Dries To AHL

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

The Vancouver Canucks and GM Patrik Allvin announced a pair of corresponding moves this afternoon. The club has recalled defenseman Noah Juulsen from the Abbotsford Canucks of the AHL and in turn has assigned forward Sheldon Dries to Abbotsford. No other related moves have been made.

Although the moves seems to be a simple swap of a forward for a defenseman, it does come on the back of defenseman Tucker Poolman leaving Vancouver’s game yesterday with an undisclosed injury. While Poolman hasn’t been placed on IR, it appears the Canucks feels the need to add another person to their blueline for now. Poolman has been dealing with migraine issues for a while now, but appeared to finally turn a corner, skating in each of Vancouver’s first two games. One would certainly hope whatever was ailing Poolman yesterday is not another long-term issue.

Juulsen, a former first-round pick of the Montreal Canadiens, has played parts of four NHL seasons with Montreal, Vancouver, and the Florida Panthers. Like Poolman, Juulsen is a right-handed shot, minimizing the overall impact the change could have. Dries hadn’t played in either of Vancouver’s first two games this season, but will likely get a chance to play top minutes with Abbotsford if he stays long enough. The forward was among the very best in the AHL last season, scoring 35 goals along with 27 assists in just 54 games.

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

scroll to top