East Notes: Capitals, Penguins, Drouin
Washington Capitals head coach Peter Laviolette gave updates today on some of his injured players, noting that defenseman Nick Jensen will be a game-time decision tonight against the St. Louis Blues. He also mentioned that forward Sonny Milano will draw back into the lineup after missing two games with a non-COVID illness.
Jensen has been Washington’s de facto number-one defenseman for much of the season with John Carlson out due to injury, although that title has now been usurped by youngster Rasmus Sandin. The 32-year-old is ailing from an undisclosed injury and also missed three games with an upper-body issue earlier in the month. He has a career-high 24 points in 66 games and recently signed a three-year, $12.15MM extension with Washington.
Milano, a productive early-season pickup for the Caps, is projected to skate on a line with Nicklas Bäckström and Craig Smith in his return.
More notes out of the Eastern Conference today:
- The Pittsburgh Penguins were without their top two right-shot defensemen at practice today, and head coach Mike Sullivan issued updates on both players. Kris Letang had a maintenance day, and Jeff Petry is still being evaluated, leaving last night’s game against the New York Rangers after taking an elbow to the face from winger Tyler Motte. The two veterans are Pittsburgh’s highest-scoring defensemen this season, despite both missing significant time with multiple injuries.
- Montreal Canadiens forward Jonathan Drouin was held out from practice today after missing a team meeting this morning, according to head coach Martin St. Louis. As a consequence, St. Louis said he may also opt to scratch Drouin for tomorrow’s game against Tampa, his former team. The 27-year-old forward has one goal and 24 assists in 45 games this year.
Mason Marchment To Sit Out For Dallas Stars
Saad Yousuf of The Athletic reports that Dallas Stars forward Mason Marchment will be out of tonight’s game against the Vancouver Canucks with an upper-body injury. Yousuf also mentions that Marchment has been flown back to Dallas, which likely means he will not play in the team’s upcoming games against the Edmonton Oilers and Calgary Flames.
After signing a 4-year, $18MM with Dallas this past summer, Marchment has been primarily playing on a line with Tyler Seguin. One of the major themes heading into the trade deadline was that the Stars were looking for another top-six forward to play on that line. After addressing the issue by acquiring Max Domi from the Chicago Blackhawks, Dallas is now back to square one after losing Marchment.
After scoring a career-high 47 points in 54 games last season for the Florida Panthers, Marchment has become a valuable piece of the Stars’ forward unit, producing 31 points in 67 games so far this year. Enjoying a 7-2-1 record in their last ten games, the Stars have lengthened their lead as the top team in the Central Division. Heading into play Tuesday night, they sit three points ahead of the second-place Minnesota Wild, with the same amount of games played.
Ryan McDonagh To Sit Out For Predators
Shortly before their game against the Detroit Red Wings, the Nashville Predators announced that defenseman Ryan McDonagh will sit out of the game due to an upper-body injury. This announcement from Nashville likely corresponds to the recall of defenseman Kevin Gravel earlier this afternoon.
In 57 games so far this year, Ryan McDonagh has scored one goal and 14 assists and is currently a team-leading +12 +/-. Long ago are the days that McDonagh was able to lead the blue line for the New York Rangers, and after spending several seasons with the Tampa Bay Lightning, he has become a very stable addition to the Predators’ back end. He has continued to average over 20 minutes of ice time and is still one of the more effective shot blockers in the game.
In his absence, the Predators will look to continue their good play of late against the struggling Detroit Red Wings. Sellers at the trade deadline, Nashville has actually managed to find themselves in the playoff hunt in the Western Conference. Going 7-2-1 in their last ten games, they are six points behind the Winnipeg Jets, with three games in hand.
Injury Notes: Ovechkin, Stamkos, Morrissey
Shortly after the announcement that Alex Ovechkin would be a game-time decision for the Washington Capitals tonight, the team confirmed that their captain will be sitting out with a lower-body injury. This will only be the 53rd game that Ovechkin has missed due to injury in his entire career.
The Capitals chose to be sellers at the deadline, but they still sit only a few points back of the Eastern Conference wild-card race. As they looked to pick up a crucial two points against their Metropolitan rival tonight, it will now be even more difficult without their top scorer in the lineup. Replacing Ovechkin in the lineup will be recent callup, Joe Snively. Although Snively has yet to score at a consistent level in the NHL, he has been a very productive forward for the Capitals’ AHL affiliate Hershey Bears.
Other notes:
- Similar to Washington, the Tampa Bay Lightning announced that their captain will also be sitting out tonight with a lower-body injury. During a game against the Chicago Blackhawks on March 11th, Steven Stamkos awkwardly collided with Blackhawks forward Joey Anderson, sending him to the dressing room for the remainder of the game. Although he did play Sunday against the Winnipeg Jets, he will not play in tonight’s game against the New Jersey Devils, likely to make sure his left leg has fully recovered.
- After sitting out on Sunday’s game against the Tampa Bay Lightning, Ken Wiebe of Sportsnet reports that Jets’ defenseman Josh Morrissey will not play in tonight’s game against the Carolina Hurricanes as well. In his absence, the Jets will give depth defenseman Kyle Capobianco the nod as he will replace Morrissey in the lineup.
Ryan O’Reilly Expected Back Before Playoffs
The Toronto Maple Leafs spent big at the NHL trade deadline to try and improve their team before the playoffs but ended up losing Ryan O’Reilly after just a few games when he was accidentally hit with an Auston Matthews shot. Today, general manager Kyle Dubas told reporters, including Chris Johnston of NorthStar Bets that O’Reilly should be able to return ahead of the playoffs.
After breaking a finger, the veteran forward was moved to long-term injured reserve on March 6, meaning he can return at the end of the month. The team has eight games in April to get him back up to speed, should he be ready to go for April 1.
It seemed like a perfect fit for the Maple Leafs and O’Reilly through his first few games with the team. After scoring just 19 points in 40 games with St. Louis, he had five in his three with Toronto, including an impressive hat trick performance against the Buffalo Sabres. However, things had gone quiet before the injury, as O’Reilly was scoreless in his other five games with the Maple Leafs.
While he won’t be asked to carry the load offensively, his addition was meant to give the team another high-impact forward for the playoffs. Winning faceoffs and playing strong defense is one thing, but it’s not exactly what the team was hoping for when they used several high draft picks to acquire him from the St. Louis Blues.
Luckily for Toronto, the other player they received in that deal—Noel Acciari—has also been making an impact, including a pair of goals against the Edmonton Oilers a few days ago. The bang-and-crash forward has already recorded 40 hits in his 11 games as a Maple Leaf, taking him over 200 on the season.
Arizona Coyotes Reassign Bokondji Imama, Milos Kelemen
Monday, Mar. 13, 4:50 p.m.: Arizona reassigned both Imama and Kelemen to the minors today after yesterday’s overtime win against Minnesota. Both forwards played under 10 minutes and neither recorded a point, but Imama did fight Ryan Reaves early in the game.
Imama won’t be immediately eligible to play upon his return to Tucson, however. He received an automatic one-game suspension from the AHL for receiving an instigator penalty in the final five minutes of the third period of his last game. He’ll have to sit out Tucson’s game Friday against the Calgary Wranglers.
Sunday, Mar. 12, 5:31 p.m.: Forwards Bokondji Imama and Milos Kelemen are headed back up from the minors to the Arizona Coyotes, a team tweet Sunday afternoon reveals.
The reinforcements from the AHL’s Tucson Roadrunners come as an injury could affect the Coyotes’ lineup, per PHNX Sports’ Craig Morgan. Winger Christian Fischer left last night’s game against the Colorado Avalanche with a lower-body injury.
Both Imama and Kelemen have seen recent paper transactions. Imama was reassigned to Tucson on March 8 after a one-game emergency recall, recording three hits and a blocked shot in 9:38 of ice time against the St. Louis Blues. Kelemen was sent down on March 4 after his second recall of the season.
Kelemen, an under-the-radar free agent signing out of Czechia last offseason, has put up some decent offensive numbers in Tucson, recording 14 goals and 27 points in 55 games. Another recall could give him the opportunity to register his first NHL point.
Imama, a pending restricted free agent with arbitration rights, has 12 points in 41 appearances with Tucson this season.
Central Notes: Toews, Seguin, Foligno
As the season ticks away, Chicago Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews remains away from game action. Head coach Luke Richardson told reporters today that Toews’ activity has been limited to gym workouts, and the team still doesn’t have a timeline on his return to the ice from general illness that’s kept him out since the All-Star break.
With every day that passes, speculation increases that Toews has played his last game of the season — and potentially his career. Chronic immune response syndrome kept Toews sidelined for the shortened 2020-21 season. He told fans in a statement last month that those symptoms, along with those of long COVID, are impeding his ability to play effectively. In their captain’s absence, the team is 7-9-2.
Other notes on some Central Division injuries:
- The Athletic’s Joe Smith says not to expect an update on Minnesota Wild winger Marcus Foligno today. Foligno left yesterday’s game with a lower-body injury, and the team could provide an update at practice tomorrow. While he hasn’t missed an extended period of time this season, he has suffered multiple minor injuries. To make matters more concerning, CapFriendly lists Foligno’s current absence as his third lower-body injury in the span of a month. Expectedly so, the 31-year-old’s offense has taken a step back with six goals and 19 points in 53 games, down from a career-high 23 goals and 42 points last year.
- Dallas Stars senior staff writer Mike Heika reports that center Tyler Seguin is not currently with the team after sustaining a laceration to his left leg in last week’s 10-4 win against Buffalo. However, it’s a possibility he rejoins the team on their current road trip. Seguin is listed as day-to-day, and the team has four more games remaining on a Pacific Northwest swing.
Snapshots: Juulsen, Svechnikov, Kolesar, Boudon
The Canucks have started extension discussions with defenseman Noah Juulsen, report Thomas Drance and Rick Dhaliwal in a column for The Athletic (subscription link). The 25-year-old has played in eight games with Vancouver so far this season with five of those coming this month as he plays his way into a regular role. Juulsen, a 2015 first-round pick by Montreal, also has 20 points in 49 games with AHL Abbotsford this season. He’s on a two-way contract worth $750K in the NHL and $250K in the minors and has a chance of remaining a restricted free agent if he plays in 16 of their final 17 games this season. An early extension for Juulsen would obviously take that particular consideration off the table.
Elsewhere around the hockey world:
- The Hurricanes were without winger Andrei Svechnikov due to what the team listed as (Twitter link) a lower-body injury. The 22-year-old came into tonight’s action tied for second on Carolina in scoring with 23 goals and 32 assists in 63 games while he also leads the team in hits with 140. There’s no word on how long Svechnikov will be out of the lineup but if it’s an extended absence, that could be a tough blow to a team that’s in a tight battle for the top spot in the Metropolitan Division.
- The Golden Knights announced (Twitter link) that winger Keegan Kolesar is listed as day-to-day with an upper-body injury. The 25-year-old is fifth in the NHL in hits this season with 240 while chipping in with 16 points in 64 games. Pavel Dorofeyev suited up in Kolesar’s absence against St. Louis after being recalled yesterday and picked up his first career point.
- The Canadiens’ AHL affiliate announced (Twitter link) that they’ve signed college free agent Louis Boudon to a tryout agreement. The 24-year-old wrapped up his college career at Lake Superior State this season, notching 24 points in 36 games. Over his four seasons with the Lakers, Boudon had 39 goals and 75 assists in 139 contests.
Jets Injury Notes: Morrissey, Dubois, Lowry
The Winnipeg Jets will have some notable absences from the lineup when they take on the Tampa Bay Lightning tonight. The most notable of them is breakout star Josh Morrissey, who head coach Rick Bowness says is day-to-day with a lower-body injury.
Morrissey, 27, left yesterday’s game against the Florida Panthers with a non-contact injury, appearing to favor his hip. It won’t be a long-term absence, though, as Morrissey hopes to play Tuesday when the Jets wrap up their Southeastern road trip. The 13th overall pick in 2013 has trampled over his previous career-high in points, recording 67 in 66 games this year. Any extended absence is a tough blow for Winnipeg, who’s sliding fast as the playoffs approach.
Some other injury notes from Winnipeg:
- The news isn’t so positive for Pierre-Luc Dubois, who Bowness doesn’t expect to see return for another two games at least. Dubois has missed five of the last six games with two different injuries and is now listed as day-to-day with an upper-body injury. The 24-year-old is on pace for career-highs in goals and points, recording 24 goals and 55 points in 61 games.
- Adam Lowry is “feeling better” after leaving last night’s game late in the third period with an undisclosed injury and is a game-time decision against Tampa, per Bowness. Bowness told reporters last night that both Morrissey and Lowry were “very doubtful” for today’s game, so it’s certainly a positive development for Lowry’s status. With 27 points in 66 games, Lowry is Winnipeg’s highest-scoring bottom-six forward and a crucial piece in the lineup at the third-line center position.
Mattias Samuelsson Listed As Week-To-Week
The Buffalo Sabres reported on Sunday morning that defenseman Mattias Samuelsson will be listed as week-to-week with an upper-body injury after the team’s overtime loss to the New York Rangers last night. Already without top defenseman Rasmus Dahlin in the lineup, the Sabres will once again be looking for different players to step up on their back end in the team’s pursuit of a playoff spot.
Unlike Dahlin, Samuelsson is not known for his offensive prowess coming from the blue line. Drafted 32nd overall by the Sabres in the 2018 NHL draft, Samuelsson has become a very serviceable defenseman for Buffalo. With only eight points so far this season, before the injury, Samuelsson was well on his way to recording over 100 blocks and 100 hits this season. Becoming one of the more physical players on the Sabres’ back end, the team rewarded his work ethic with a 7-year, $30MM contract extension which will kick in next year.
Thankfully for Sabres fans, Scott Harrington of TBN Sports reports that head coach Don Granato clarified it is not a season-ending injury for Samuelsson. As the Sabres continue their hunt towards making the playoffs for the first time since the 2010-11 season, they will be without one of their most physical players for the foreseeable future.