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Gabriel Landeskog To Undergo Surgery, Samuel Girard To Miss A Month

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While the Avalanche had some good news today when they extended Pavel Francouz, they also got some bad news as they will be without two key players for the next little while.  The team announced (Twitter link) that winger Gabriel Landeskog is set to undergo knee surgery on Monday.  There is no firm timetable for his return but Colorado hopes to have him back for the stretch run which would take any thought of putting him on LTIR for the rest of the regular season to open up cap space off the table.

This isn’t a newly-suffered injury for Landeskog as he played in nearly 19 minutes on Thursday against Carolina before receiving a misconduct penalty in the dying seconds of regulation.  Instead, head coach Jared Bednar indicated that this is an issue that has been nagging him for a little bit and they’ve decided to get it fixed before the playoffs.  The knee problem hasn’t really held Landeskog back, however, as he has 30 goals and 29 assists in 51 games this season, good for fifth in team scoring.

Meanwhile, Peter Baugh of The Athletic adds (Twitter link) that blueliner Samuel Girard will miss the next four weeks with a lower-body injury.  While that makes him LTIR-eligible as well, that’s a recovery timeline that would easily have him back by the end of the season so Colorado, who doesn’t have a lot of cap space to work with at the upcoming trade deadline, won’t get much help on that front either.

Girard’s numbers are down slightly this season although he has still managed to pick up 27 points in 56 games while logging nearly 22 minutes a night.  Kurtis MacDermid took Girard’s place in the lineup on Thursday and with the Avs having seven other blueliners on the active roster, they shouldn’t need to recall anyone from AHL Colorado to take his place on the roster.  Such a move will likely need to be made for Landeskog, however, unless they decide to shift MacDermid to the wing and put Jack Johnson back in on defense.  Either way, lineup changes are coming in advance of their game tomorrow against Calgary.

Meanwhile, Mike Chambers of the Denver Post relays that blueliner Bowen Byram participated in his first full practice today in more than two months.  He has been dealing with post-concussion symptoms so the Avs will undoubtedly be cautious when it comes to working the 20-year-old back into the lineup but if he’s able to return soon, he’d certainly help absorb the blow of Girard’s absence.

Injury Notes: Matheson, Edmundson, Donskoi

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The Pittsburgh Penguins activated defenseman Mike Matheson from injured reserve today, per the team, sending down young Pierre-Olivier Joseph to the AHL to make way for Matheson’s return. Matheson’s been absent from the lineup for about two weeks, originally classified as week-to-week with an upper-body injury. His offensive production has been a nice surprise for Pittsburgh this season, as he’s on the best pace of his career with 21 points in 50 games. He’s been a solid bottom-four rock in Pittsburgh this season, but he’ll jump up alongside Kris Letang in his return to the ice with Brian Dumoulin out of the lineup.

More injury notes from around the league:

  • In what’s been a solid recent surge for the Montreal Canadiens, they could be getting a fan-favorite back into the lineup soon. Defenseman Joel Edmundson has been sidelined all season with an injury, but the team said today that he’s close to making his season debut. What was originally an undisclosed day-to-day injury during training camp in September snowballed into a back injury that’s prevented him from taking the ice this season. He’d be, in effect, Ben Chiarot’s replacement in the lineup after Chiarot is inevitably dealt at the Trade Deadline, which is arguably an upgrade for the team if Edmundson is at full strength and form. He’s in the second season of a four-year, $14M deal.
  • In the midst of a tough season, Seattle Kraken forward Joonas Donskoi has landed on injured reserve. The Kraken recalled forward Kole Lind from the Charlotte Checkers in his place. Donskoi suffered an undisclosed injury during the team’s March 8 game against Toronto. He has just two goals in 57 games this year, shooting at a rate of just 3.0%. Locked in through next season, hopefully, the tides turn over the offseason for Donskoi’s scoring luck.

Senators Notes: Sanderson, Murray, Forsberg

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The Ottawa Senators are expecting Jake Sanderson to join them after his college season ends. While that isn’t much of a surprise given how NHL-ready Sanderson has appeared this season, general manager Pierre Dorion confirmed to reporters including Bruce Garrioch of Postmedia that he and VP of player development Pierre McGuire both recently went to have dinner with him in Grand Forks.

Tyler Kleven, Sanderson’s teammate at the University of North Dakota, has also been invited to come to Ottawa after the college season. The NCHC quarterfinals kick off tonight for UND, where they’ll take on Colorado College. Both would need entry-level contracts before suiting up for Ottawa.

  • In more disappointing news, Dorion explained that Matt Murray won’t be back anytime soon. Murray has had a very up-and-down season including a stint in the minor leagues, but actually has his best save percentage in three years. An injury now is terrible timing for the veteran goaltender, as he tried to get his career back on track. He’s now out with an injury while sitting on a six-game losing streak.
  • With Murray out, it means that Anton Forsberg will have to carry a good chunk of the goaltending load down the stretch, meaning he’s now basically off the trade market. Dorion explained that he wants Forsberg to stay for the rest of the year and actually suggested that the Senators will be very quiet at the deadline in general.

Robby Fabbri Out Indefinitely; Could Miss Rest Of Season

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The Detroit Red Wings could be without Robby Fabbri for the rest of the year, as head coach Jeff Blashill told reporters today that the team suspects he suffered a torn ACL. While he is still undergoing further evaluation, the expectation at this point is that Fabbri will not play again this season.

In a likely related move, the Red Wings have recalled Taro Hirose from the AHL. Hirose, 25, is one of the players that will become a Group VI unrestricted free agent this summer given how little opportunity he’s had at the NHL level to this point. In the minor leagues, the undrafted Michigan State star has been outstanding, with 45 points in 52 games this season. In the NHL, just one game for the Red Wings this season and 43 over parts of four years.

For Fabbri specifically, an ACL injury is the last thing anyone wants to hear. The 26-year-old forward has already undergone multiple knee surgeries in his career, which at one point threatened to derail it completely. He missed the entire 2017-18 season and played just 32 games in 2018-19, only finding his way back to top-six relevance after a trade to Detroit. Those surgeries were on his left knee, and this injury is to his right.

This season, he’d been one of the team’s most consistent players, with 17 goals and 30 points in 56 games. The fact that he’ll be sidelined with another knee injury is obviously going to once again cloud his future in the NHL. Luckily for him, he signed a three-year contract extension with the Red Wings in December–one that pays him an average salary of $4MM through 2024-25. While he’ll hopefully be able to recover in time to start next season, ACL surgery would certainly not guarantee that outcome.

Alexandre Texier Granted Leave Of Absence

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The nightmare season for Alexandre Texier continues. The young forward has been granted an indefinite leave of absence from the Columbus Blue Jackets for personal reasons. Blue Jackets general manager Jarmo Kekalainen explained:

Recently, Tex has experienced personal losses of people very close to him and our priority right now is to support him in every way possible. We are going to give him the time he needs and look forward to welcoming him back to the Blue Jackets family when he is ready.

Texier, 22, hasn’t played since January because of a fractured finger, which stopped a successful season in its tracks. He had 11 goals 20 points in 36 games before the injury took him out of the lineup, with still no clear date for his return. Now, with this personal loss, it’s completely unclear when Texier will hit the ice again for the Blue Jackets.

The young French forward has scored 22 goals and 39 points in his 123-game NHL career to this point, after bursting onto the scene as a teenager in 2019. Signed through 2022-23 at a $1.525MM cap hit, he has also been included in some trade speculation, though the team has never seemed eager to move him. Something like this should put all of that speculation on pause, as the Blue Jackets and the rest of hockey support Texier while he goes through this period.

Jack Campbell Out With Rib Injury; Erik Kallgren Recalled

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The Toronto Maple Leafs have recalled Erik Kallgren from the AHL under emergency conditions, as Jack Campbell will be out for a minimum of two weeks with a rib injury. This is Kallgren’s first recall to the regular roster this season.

With Campbell out, the focus will turn to Petr Mrazek, the inconsistent netminder that Toronto signed to a three-year contract in the offseason. Mrazek dealt with injuries of his own early in the season and has made just 15 appearances so far, posting an .890 save percentage in those games. He does have a 10-5 record as the Maple Leafs have been able to outscore their goaltending woes fairly regularly, but with the pressure now squarely on Mrazek’s shoulders, things are going to have to improve.

In the case of Kallgren, the team has an interesting name to pivot to in this situation. A seventh-round pick of the Arizona Coyotes in 2015, the 25-year-old netminder spent the last two seasons playing in Europe, where he rediscovered his game and earned another NHL contract. With the Toronto Marlies this season, Kallgren has a 15-8-1 record and a .904 save percentage in 26 appearances. Whether he’s ready to help the Maple Leafs or not, he’ll serve as the backup for the time being.

Joseph Woll, the other young netminder that the Maple Leafs have used this season, played two days ago for the Marlies and stopped 27 of 29 shots. His .903 AHL save percentage on the season isn’t much different than Kallgren, however, and it’s unclear who would really be able to step up if Mrazek were to suffer an injury or struggle.

Injury Notes: Vrana, Blueger, Karlsson

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The Detroit Red Wings have officially activated Jakub Vrana from injured reserve, and expect him to play in tonight’s game against the Arizona Coyotes. Vrana has yet to play this season after undergoing shoulder surgery in late September, a procedure that has kept him out much longer than the initial four-month timeline. Vrana lit Detroit on fire last season after coming over from the Washington Capitals, scoring eight times in 11 games including a four-goal effort in his fourth appearance. He’ll try to continue that success now that he’s back, though it certainly may take him some time to get up to speed.

Interestingly enough, the Red Wings have actually moved Danny DeKeyser to injured reserve to make room. DeKeyser cleared waivers earlier today, which means he could have been assigned to the minor leagues. Instead, he’ll go to the injured list meaning he can stay with the team as he deals with whatever this new ailment is.

  • The Pittsburgh Penguins have their own forward returning, as they have activated Teddy Blueger from injured reserve. Blueger hasn’t played since he suffered a broken jaw in a January game against the Winnipeg Jets, but is expected to resume his spot as a checking-line center for the Penguins tonight. The 27-year-old was actually on track to blow by his career-highs in goals and points before the injury (and still likely will by the end of the season) after scoring eight goals and 17 points in his first 40 games. Blueger missed 16 games following his jaw surgery.
  • Erik Karlsson could be back this week as well, as San Jose Sharks head coach Bob Boughner told reporters including Curtis Pashelka of the Bay Area News Group that the veteran defenseman could suit up on Thursday. Karlsson was in the midst of a bounce-back season before undergoing forearm surgery in January and hasn’t played in nearly two months. In his first 33 games, the two-time Norris Trophy winner had 26 points, already eclipsing his total from the 2020-21 season.

Lias Andersson Recalled From Conditioning Loan

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March 8: After four excellent games with the Reign, Andersson has been recalled from his conditioning loan and activated from injured reserve. The young forward scored six goals in those four games, actually matching his previous minor league high in just a week’s time. To make room on the Kings’ active roster, Brendan Lemieux has been moved to injured reserve, retroactive to March 4.

March 2: Los Angeles Kings forward Lias Andersson has been sent to the AHL on a conditioning loan, suggesting he is nearing a return from the undisclosed injury that has kept him out for nearly two months.

The loan is of the long-term injury variety, meaning he does not need to be activated before sending him down and he will still not appear on the Kings’ roster while he plays in the minor leagues. He hasn’t played an NHL game since January 8 and has just 13 appearances this season.

Last season, when Andersson spent some time in the AHL, he dominated the competition, scoring 17 points in 15 games for the Ontario Reign. That success hasn’t carried over to the Kings this year though, as the 2017 seventh-overall pick still can’t seem to find any consistency at the NHL level. In those 13 appearances this season, he has just a single point, taking his career total to 16 in 102 games.

An arbitration-eligible restricted free agent at the end of the season, Andersson is getting dangerously close to going unqualified, given he will be 24 in October and has shown very rare flashes of NHL-quality play to this point. Perhaps the Kings believe he can still take that next step, but a good stretch run this season would be huge for the future of his professional career in North America.

Antoine Roussel Out Six Weeks With Lower-Body Injury

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The Arizona Coyotes will be without Antoine Roussel for a good chunk of the remaining season, as the veteran forward has been ruled out for the next six weeks with a lower-body injury. The Coyotes recalled Hudson Fasching yesterday, a move that would likely be explained by Roussel’s absence.

While it’s not like the Coyotes were going to be competing for the playoffs, losing Roussel does still hurt given his status as a pending free agent. The team could have potentially flipped him at the deadline for an asset of some sort (even a late-round pick), given his experience and defensive ability. The 32-year-old certainly isn’t the player that was a rock-solid bottom-sixer for the Dallas Stars several years ago, posting double-digit goal totals in four consecutive seasons, but he’s still a decent penalty killing option that brings more than 600 games of NHL experience to the table.

With a six-week timeline, there likely isn’t a market for his services unless it’s as a long-term injury salary cap play. An acquiring team could potentially grab him, move him to LTIR and keep him out until the playoffs–six weeks from now gets him relatively close to the end of the current schedule–where his cap wouldn’t be an issue any longer. The Toronto Maple Leafs did a similar thing with Coyotes’ teammate Riley Nash last season, giving the Columbus Blue Jackets a conditional seventh-round pick for the injured forward, only to have him back in the lineup during their first-round playoff series.

Still, Roussel was never going to generate a ton of interest given how much his offensive game has deteriorated, meaning this is really nothing more than an opportunity for the younger players in Arizona to get some additional minutes. An unrestricted free agent in the summer, Roussel’s future in the NHL looks tenuous at best after recording just three goals and six points in 47 games this season.

Capitals Issue Injury Updates On Carl Hagelin, Joe Snively

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The Washington Capitals have announced updates to the injury situations of two of their wingers. Per the team, Carl Hagelin had surgery on his left eye, and will be out “indefinitely.” Additionally, rookie Joe Snively underwent a procedure to address an issue in his left wrist and, according to the team, will be out “four to six weeks.”

This news comes as the Capitals jockey for position in the Eastern Conference’s playoff picture. The team has a middling 5-5-0 record in their last ten games and with 69 points is set as the clear second wild-card team at the moment, meaning they are pencilled in for a potential playoff matchup against juggernaut teams like the Florida Panthers, Tampa Bay Lightning, or Carolina Hurricanes.

With the losses of Hagelin and Snively, the Capitals lose two wingers with clear roles on their NHL roster. Hagelin, 33, has been an important veteran bottom-sixer for the team since the 2018-19 season and has three goals and 14 points in 53 games so far this year. Hagelin is a veteran of 713 NHL games and coach Peter Laviolette is sure to miss his mature two-way play as the team battles for a higher seed down the stretch.

Joe Snively, on the other hand, has only 12 NHL games to his name, but is potentially a more disappointing loss for the Capitals. The former Yale Bulldog is a 26-year-old undrafted rookie who has had an impressive seven points in those 12 games at the NHL level, building off of his productive 35 game run this season with the AHL’s Hershey Bears, where he has 15 goals and 38 points.

The Capitals have a deep team and have won their past two games in impressive fashion without either Snively or Hagelin. But despite that recent success, this is clearly a team that would prefer to have those two in the fold, and this update to their injury situations will come as a disappointment to the Capitals faithful.

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