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Injury

Josh Norris Out Several Months

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Oct 26: The results of the MRI are not what any Senators fan wanted to hear. Ian Mendes of TSN reports that Norris will be out long-term (three to five months was a rough estimate), though surgery has not been confirmed yet. Head coach D.J. Smith is not confident that the young forward will even play again this season, though he is holding out hope.

Oct 24: The Ottawa Senators will be without one of their top centers for at least the next two weeks. Josh Norris will miss that time after suffering a shoulder injury over the weekend, according to Bruce Garrioch of Postmedia, who adds that the young forward is waiting on the results of an MRI before getting a more accurate timeline.

Ottawa moved Derick Brassard into the second-line center role, for the time being, quite an opportunity for a player on a PTO just a few weeks ago. He’ll line up between Alex DeBrincat and Claude Giroux, though the team could always move Shane Pinto into that role during Norris’ absence.

It’s a tough start for the 23-year-old Norris, who is coming off a breakout 35-goal campaign and starting an eight-year, $63.6MM contract. Norris did score against the Arizona Coyotes on Saturday but ended up playing just 14:32. Missing a couple of weeks isn’t the end of the world, but if the injury is deemed more serious and keeps Norris out for longer than that, it could be a huge blow to an Ottawa team that has turned things around after a slow start.

With wins in each of their last three, the Senators are now back in the mix in the Atlantic Division, exactly what they expected after an impressive offseason. Their potential was always tied to the forward depth they accumulated but now with Norris on the sideline and Alex Formenton still unsigned, there are some cracks showing.

The team is back in action tonight against the Dallas Stars.

Injury Notes: Palat, Guentzel, Zucker

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The New Jersey Devils will be without forward Ondrej Palat tonight as they look to avenge their home-opener loss to the Detroit Red Wings, according to the team. The team noted Palat has a lower-body injury and did not list a timeline.

Palat played over 20 minutes in last night’s game against the Washington Capitals, and it’s unclear as to when he suffered the injury. 23-year-old Fabian Zetterlund, who has an assist in his only NHL appearance this season (which came against the Red Wings), will draw in tonight.

  • Jake Guentzel will remain out with an ear injury for the third straight game tonight, according to the Pittsburgh Penguins. Guentzel had five points in four games before going down with the injury against the Los Angeles Kings on October 20. His status remains day-to-day, and Danton Heinen will continue to sub in for Guentzel on the team’s top line.
  • The Penguins also noted that forward Jason Zucker will miss tonight’s game against the Calgary Flames and that his status is day-to-day. In his place, 2019 first-round pick Samuel Poulin will make his NHL debut. Zucker was also in the midst of a strong start, notching six points through six games.

Miro Heiskanen Out Tonight; Listed As Day-To-Day

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The Dallas Stars will be without one of their best players as they take on the red-hot Boston Bruins tonight on the road. As announced by the team prior to puck drop, defenseman Miro Heiskanen is out for the game and is day-to-day with an upper-body injury. Heiskanen logged nearly 27 minutes in last night’s game against the Ottawa Senators, and it’s unclear when he suffered the injury.

Heiskanen has had a solid start to the season defensively, but he has just one point at even strength through six games (and none at five-on-five). He’s matched up back on his natural left side alongside Colin Miller, and together, the two-way play of the pairing’s been a big reason behind Dallas’ 4-1-1 start to the year. The third overall pick in the 2017 NHL Draft finally has the spotlight to himself on the Dallas blueline with the departure of John Klingberg in free agency.

It appears the injury is short-term at this time, as the team has opted not to place him on injured reserve (at least not yet). In his place, Joel Hanley will draw in on the third pairing for his first appearance of the season, while Esa Lindell will move up alongside Miller.

James Van Riemsdyk To Undergo Surgery

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The Philadelphia Flyers will be without James van Riemsdyk for the next while, as head coach John Tortorella announced today the veteran winger will have finger surgery on Friday. While Tortorella doesn’t think it is “season-ending”, as Giana Han of the Philadelphia Inquirer reports, there won’t be a real timeline until after the procedure.

On Cam Atkinson, another injured Flyers forward, Tortorella explained that while he doesn’t expect it to be a month-to-month thing, Atkinson isn’t ready to practice yet.

After a nice start to the season, things weren’t nearly as rosy in Philadelphia on Sunday. The team was shutout 3-0 by the San Jose Sharks, while Travis Konecny and Kevin Hayes were both benched in the third period. Tortorella is clearly making an impact on the team (one way or another) but the loss of van Riemsdyk will test their forward group even more.

The 33-year-old forward was off to a good start with five points in his first five games, before exiting just five shifts into his sixth. A free agent at the end of the year, van Riemsdyk still has the ability to put the puck in the net and is coming off his seventh 20+ goal season in 2021-22. An injury like this will certainly not help any thought of another multi-year contract on the open market, especially because of how important his hands are to his overall game. Not the fleetest of foot, van Riemsdyk has always scored from close to (or in) the blue paint of the crease.

For his and the Flyers’ sake, hopefully, this surgery doesn’t take away any of that in-tight touch. Given how long he’ll be out, the Flyers could move van Riemsdyk to long-term injured reserve to gain more flexibility, though they already have $7MM of that space with Ryan Ellis and Patrick Brown on the shelf.

Snapshots: Samuelsson, Bear, Wright

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Buffalo Sabres fans held their breath last night when freshly extended defenseman Mattias Samuelsson went down with an injury in their game against Vancouver. Now, The Buffalo News’ Lance Lysowski reports that Samuelsson avoided a long-term injury but is still set to miss at least “a few weeks,” joining Henri Jokiharju on the list of injured Sabres top-four defensemen.

An exact timeline won’t be had on Samuelsson until the team returns to Buffalo, head coach Don Granato said today, and the injury will force some depth defenders to shine in order for Buffalo to keep up its strong start. Lawrence Pilut will make his season debut in the team’s next game after two seasons overseas, and free-agent acquisition Ilya Lyubushkin will be tasked with replacing Samuelsson as the defensive anchor on the top pairing alongside the red-hot Rasmus Dahlin.

  • It’s no secret the Canucks are in trouble, winless so far to start the year. With injuries and general positional depth weakness hampering their defense, the team has been looking to add, and Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported on 32 Thoughts that the team has checked in on defenseman Ethan Bear as a potential trade acquisition. Bear, the 25-year-old right-shot defenseman, has been thrust down the depth chart in Carolina and has yet to appear in a game this season. The Hurricanes were shopping him prior to the season’s start, and the Canucks have more than enough room thanks to LTIR to accommodate his $2.2MM cap hit. He still has some upside and could provide some better matchups once Quinn Hughes returns to the lineup.
  • Sportsnet’s Jason Bukala ponders whether the Seattle Kraken may opt to send Shane Wright back to the OHL’s Kingston Frontenacs after an unimpactful start to the season. Wright hasn’t received many opportunities, he has shown smooth skating and pace, but Bukala points out that Wright’s had some positional issues defensively and may need a bit more development before being able to execute his playstyle properly at the NHL level.

Alex Iafallo Moved To LTIR, Austin Wagner Shuttled

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October 24: The Kings have now loaned Wagner back to the Reign, according to the team. The Kings did not have a game yesterday, and Wagner’s recall was likely just a paper transaction to optimize LTIR relief.

October 23: The Los Angeles Kings announced a series of roster moves this afternoon, headlined by forward Alex Iafallo, who has been moved from regular IR to LTIR. In addition to Iafallo, the Kings have loaned defenseman Jacob Moverare to the Ontario Reign of the AHL and recalled forward Austin Wagner. The move gives Los Angeles 14 forwards to go along with seven defensemen on its active roster.

Iafallo had already been out and on IR since October 18th with a lower-body injury which he suffered in a game on October 17th against the Detroit Red Wings, but placing him on LTIR will create additional cap space that allows the Kings to call up Wagner, who carries a $1.133MM cap hit while sending down Moverare and his $762.5K cap hit. Prior to the transaction, Los Angeles had $521K in cap space. Of note, due to Iafallo’s $4MM cap hit, his trip to LTIR will give the organization more than enough room to work with on the salary cap front while he’s out. Despite the injury, Iafallo has had a tremendous start to the season, contributing two goals and three assists in four games.

Sending Moverare down simply gives the Kings more flexibility when setting a lineup by subtracting their eighth defenseman for another forward, flexibility they’ll continue to need in Iafallo’s absence. The defenseman had yet to play a game this season in the NHL, but does have a pair of AHL contests under his belt in 2022-23, prior to his call-up on October 18th. Wagner on the other hand, is receiving his first call-up of the season after starting the year with Ontario. There, he has two points in three games to start.

Injury Notes: Chytil, Danforth, Carlo

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The New York Rangers will be without one of their young forwards for the next little while, telling reporters including Mollie Walker of the New York Post that Filip Chytil will be out for at least a week. While they called it an upper-body injury, Larry Brooks of the New York Post tweets that it is believed to be a concussion keeping Chytil off the ice.

The injury likely occurred on a hit from Cole Sillinger at the very beginning of yesterday’s game against the Columbus Blue Jackets, which left Chytil on the ice for several moments. The 23-year-old had been one of the team’s best players through the first part of the year, with Vince Mercogliano of USA Today noting that he is the only regular who hasn’t been on the ice for a goal against to this point.

  • Justin Danforth is out indefinitely with an upper-body injury, though there is also no clarification on his timeline. The Blue Jackets forward left Saturday’s game against the Pittsburgh Penguins and missed yesterday’s tilt against the Rangers. The 29-year-old had two goals and three points in his first five games, even playing a whopping 20:23 in the second game of the year.
  • Brandon Carlo was back on the ice today practicing in a regular jersey, and head coach Jim Montgomery said he was “getting close” to a return. He also said that he’ll be cautious with the big defender though, as Carlo confirmed he suffered another concussion – his fifth since entering the NHL in 2016 – against the Arizona Coyotes last week. He’s been out since then, and the Bruins will do everything they can to make sure he is at no further risk before he re-enters the lineup.

Juraj Slafkovsky Undergoing Tests On Upper-Body Injury

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There was a big absence at Montreal Canadiens practice today, as Juraj Slafkovsky was nowhere to be seen. The team released some information on the situation, noting that the first-overall pick is undergoing testing on his upper-body injury. Renaud Lavoie of TVA Sports tweets that there is expected to be an additional update Wednesday on “how long he’ll be out.”

It has been an up-and-down start for the top prospect, as he at times looked completely overmatched by the speed of the NHL game. His only point came during his last game when he released a brilliant shot after getting hit hard by Josh Brown. He would end up seeing his highest amount of playing time in the game against the Arizona Coyotes, but missed Saturday’s match and now appears headed for the shelf.

Given there was already some debate over whether Slafkovsky should receive some time in the minor leagues to continue his development, an injury at this point in the year isn’t going to help things. There’s no doubting his talent, but in two of his five games on the year Slafkovsky failed to receive even ten minutes of ice time.

Should he end up out long-term, or even if it is more of a day-to-day thing, the Canadiens could still send him to the AHL when he is ready to return. For now, we’ll wait to see what kind of diagnosis is coming down the pipe.

Injury Notes: Canucks, Chytil, Blankenburg

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These days, most news on the Vancouver Canucks relates to their early struggles to start the season. Given their 0-4-2 start after a tough 8-15-2 start last season, flanked by their extensions with Brock Boeser and J.T. Miller, but lack of extension with Bo Horvat, the team’s captain, the questions are fair and the storylines sensible. That said, Canucks head coach Bruce Boudreau did provide a few updates to the media this afternoon, including The Athletic’s Harman Dayal, regarding the team’s injuries.

Defenseman Quinn Hughes, who missed last night’s game against the Buffalo Sabres, a 5-1 loss in Vancouver’s home-opener, is still considered day-to-day as of right now, good news for one of the team’s best players, who is currently averaging 27:14 of time-on-ice per night, a career-high so far. No real update was given on defenseman Tucker Poolman, who has played in just three games this season, Boudreau calling it a “tough situation,” the 29-year-old having “good days and bad days.” It’s unclear exactly what is bothering Poolman, but he did miss a large chunk of last season while dealing with migraine issues. Defenseman Travis Dermott, who suffered a concussion in late September, has been progressing well, Boudreau said, but will not play this week.

  • The New York Rangers and Columbus Blue Jackets will each have to finish their game shorthanded this evening. For the Rangers, center Filip Chytil left the game with an upper-body injury and will not return, says The Athletic’s Arthur Staple. Chytil had been tripped up earlier in the game, crashing hard to the ice and slow to get up, presumably the cause of the injury.
  • Also leaving that game is Columbus defenseman Nick Blankenburg, who suffered an upper-body injury, the team confirms. Blankenburg had been involved in an awkward collision earlier in the game, appearing to injure his left arm, writes Aaron Portzline of The Athletic. The defenseman attempted to play through the injury, but ultimately left the game early in the second period.

Buffalo Sabres Recall Kale Clague

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Amid a brief wave of injuries to their defenseman, the Buffalo Sabres announced that they have recalled defenseman Kale Clague from the Rochester Americans of the AHL. No corresponding move has been announced. The Sabres, who have $19MM in cap space, didn’t make the move for any cap purposes, but instead had a spot to give after Mattias Samuelsson left last night’s game with a lower-body injury. Though not specified in the Sabres announcement, Samuelsson has been placed on IR reports Lance Lysowski of The Buffalo News.

Buffalo is clearly having itself a tough weekend on the injury front, losing not only Samuelsson, but defenseman Henri Jokiharju as well, who was placed on IR on Friday with an upper-body injury. In response to that injury, the Sabres recalled defenseman Lawrence Pilut from Rochester the same day. Should they play, Pilut and Clague will have a chance to make an impact on a Buffalo team that appears to finally be turning a corner, off to a 4-1-0 start early on this season.

If and when Clague plays, it’ll be his first game in a Sabres sweater. The 24-year-old was originally a 2016 draft pick of the Los Angeles Kings, where he played parts of three seasons before the Montreal Canadiens selected him off waivers last December. Montreal failed to quality him this summer, and he hit the free agent market, where the Sabres signed him to a one-year, two-way contract. This season, Clague has three points, all assists in five games at the AHL level. For his NHL career, he has 16 points in 58 games.

As much as these injuries impact the Sabres, they can be felt in Rochester too. With Pilut and Clague making the trip up the road from Rochester to Buffalo, the Americans are out a pair of defensemen themselves. As a result, the team appears to have recalled defenseman Zach Berzolla from the Cincinnati Cyclones, their ECHL affiliate.

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