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Mike Smith Out 1-2 Weeks With Injured Thumb Tendon

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The Edmonton Oilers will be without their preferred starter for another little while, as head coach Dave Tippett announced today that Mike Smith will be out one to two weeks with a partially torn thumb tendon. Daniel Nugent-Bowman of The Athletic reports that the plan is to recall Stuart Skinner, but the team is awaiting COVID testing results.

Smith returned from injury in late December and has played three games, his last coming on January 5. That only took his total on the year to six, however, as he has continued to miss time throughout the year due to various setbacks. That has left Mikko Koskinen as the regular starter, but he has struggled to carry the load and currently has a .900 save percentage. Koskinen and Tippett minced words through the media earlier this month, frustrations that will have to be quashed for the time being while Smith is out.

The question now will become whether Skinner, a 23-year-old netminder with just one game of NHL experience prior to this season, could run with the job. In ten appearances this year he has a .916 save percentage, though five of those games have ended in a loss. He’s been excellent in his rare appearances for the Bakersfield Condors too, and perhaps is ready for a jump to the next level.

Edmonton though has high hopes for this season, despite their recent struggles. Evander Kane has been linked strongly to the team as a potential free agent signing, while general manager Ken Holland recently said that he believes the answer is going to come from internal growth. The team is set to resume their season on Saturday against the Ottawa Senators, playing for the first time in ten days. They are currently on a five-game losing streak and now sit sixth in the Pacific Division.

Smith meanwhile is signed through next season, despite turning 40 in March and now missing almost the entire first half of this year. The veteran netminder carries a cap hit of $2.2MM on a new two-year deal he signed last July, and will actually earn a larger salary ($2.5MM) in 2022-23 than he is owed this season.

Buffalo Sabres Sign Michael Houser; Update Injury Statuses

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The Buffalo Sabres are going to have a goaltending tandem of Aaron Dell and Michael Houser for a while. The team has signed the latter to a new one-year contract worth $750K at the NHL level, after announcing that Malcolm Subban, Dustin Tokarski, and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen are all out at least on a week-to-week basis. Subban will be even longer than that, as he’s listed month-to-month with an upper-body injury. Craig Anderson remains out month-to-month as well.

Houser, 29, was in a similar situation last season when he signed a one-year, league-minimum deal with the Sabres on March 19 to provide some emergency cover. The organization has refused to add more NHL depth to the position and now will be stuck once again with a netminder who has spent more time in the ECHL than the AHL.

Over a long mostly minor league career, Houser has made 213 appearances in the ECHL, 88 in the AHL, and four in the NHL. His save percentages at all three are above .900, but it’s hard to believe he could really carry the load for the Sabres and have them stay competitive in the tough Atlantic Division.

Dell meanwhile has also been recalled from the AHL, while Jack Quinn and Casey Fitzgerald were sent back to Rochester. The 32-year-old veteran netminder has been brutal this season during his time in Buffalo, posting an .872 save percentage and 4.52 goals-against-average. He’s been better in the AHL, but his time in the NHL appears to be running out.

The Sabres, now 10-19-6 on the season, have lost six straight and now own a -33 goal differential.

Rem Pitlick Placed On Waivers

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The Minnesota Wild have placed Rem Pitlick on waivers, according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet. The 24-year-old forward was claimed off waivers by Minnesota earlier this season, meaning the Nashville Predators could potentially send him directly to the minor leagues if they are the only team to put in a claim this time around.

Through 20 games with Minnesota, he actually has six goals and 11 points, but has seen his ice time drop to just a handful of minutes over the last while. In Saturday’s game against the Washington Capitals, Pitlick played just 5:35 and seemed obviously on his way out of the lineup. With Joel Eriksson Ek approaching a return and Kirill Kaprizov avoiding major injury, Pitlick’s time in Minnesota could be over.

Should he clear, the team could send him to the minor leagues but not the taxi squad. Since he was on the active roster for most of the season, he isn’t eligible to be placed there despite his salary being under the $1MM threshold. Pitlick is on a one-year, two-way deal that carries a cap hit of $917,831 and will be a Group VI unrestricted free agent at the end of the year unless he plays in an additional 59 games this season.

Islanders, Blackhawks Announce More COVID Placements

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The New York Islanders will not have Barry Trotz behind the bench when the team takes on the New Jersey Devils on Thursday, as the head coach has been placed in the COVID protocol. Unfortunately, it doesn’t end there as Ryan Pulock has also found his way to the protocol today despite being injured.

Pulock hasn’t played since the middle of November as he deals with a lower-body injury, but now won’t even be able to get on the ice to rehab for the next little while. The loss of the 27-year-old defenseman has been one of the biggest problems for the Islanders this season. After receiving Norris Trophy votes and Olympic consideration, Pulock has played in just 12 games so far.

The COVID announcements don’t end there. The Chicago Blackhawks have placed Jake McCabe and head athletic trainer Mike Gapski in the protocol, according to Mark Lazerus of The Athletic. Jakub Galvas has been recalled from the taxi squad to take McCabe’s place and could be making his NHL debut should he get into the lineup tonight against the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Galvas, 22, is in his first year of North American hockey after several years in Czechia and Finland. Through 20 games with the Rockford IceHogs, the fifth-round pick has six points but has shown enough to earn this recall to the NHL squad. While perhaps not a full-time solution at this point, filling in for a few days while McCabe goes through his isolation period shouldn’t be an issue.

Flyers Notes: Cancelation, Giroux, Brown, Hextall

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The late-night cancelation of today’s Philadelphia Flyers-Carolina Hurricanes game is raising eyebrows all across the league, especially after the Flyers took the ice today for practice. The team seemingly has enough players to continue their season, even if several key ones would be missing tonight’s game. In an email to Sam Carchidi of Philly Hockey Now, deputy commissioner Bill Daly wrote that the decision to postpone was “based on totality of circumstances” and that the league stands by it.

A bit later, the Flyers announced that Rasmus Ristolainen has been added to the COVID protocol. Perhaps his test is what predicated the postponement, as the league has always tried to contain spreading outbreaks.

More from Flyers practice:

  • Claude Giroux has exited the COVID protocol and rejoined practice today, skating for the first time since isolating a week ago. The Flyers captain is still leading the club in scoring with 29 points in 32 games despite the recent time off and is putting up a strong case for a new contract in the offseason. While his days in Philadelphia seem numbered if only because of the lack of team success the group has had, Giroux is proving to be a top offensive player in the league. An unrestricted free agent at the end of the year, he’ll turn 34 tomorrow.
  • The Flyers will be without Patrick Brown for the next month after he suffered an MCL sprain in Saturday’s game. The 29-year-old center has four points in 20 games this season but was a necessary option with so many others out with injury. Brown, who was claimed on waivers at the beginning of the season, is in the first season of a two-year deal that pays him the league minimum of $750K.
  • On the latest edition of the Cam and Strick Podcast, Flyers’ legend Bobby Clarke discusses Ron Hextall’s time as the Philadelphia general manager and specifically confirms that the team’s scouts wanted to select Cale Makar over Nolan Patrick with the second overall pick in 2017. Makar ended up going fourth to the Colorado Avalanche after the Dallas Stars took Miro Heiskanen third overall.

Panthers, Ducks Announce More COVID Protocol Additions

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The Florida Panthers will not have Patric Hornqvist in the lineup this evening when they take on the Carolina Hurricanes, as he has entered the COVID protocol. Hornqvist joins Mason Marchment, Sam Reinhart, and Spencer Knight, stealing quite a few important names from the team’s regular roster.

The Panthers, among the league’s elite teams so far this season, lost their last game against the Dallas Stars in a shootout and have now called two points behind the Tampa Bay Lightning for first place in the Atlantic Division. The team is not only without these key players due to COVID-related absences, but also names like Sam Bennett due to a suspension and Markus Nutivaara due to injury. Despite that, they will need to try to take down the red hot Metropolitan-leading Hurricanes.

Lucas Carlsson and Aleksi Heponiemi will both enter the lineup tonight, while Sergei Bobrovsky will take the net again, his fifth start since returning from the holiday break.

In Anaheim, the Ducks are facing their own COVID absences. Vinni Lettieri is the latest addition to the protocol, where he will join John Gibson, Hampus Lindholm, Derek Grant, and Sam Carrick. Ryan Getzlaf has technically left the protocol, but he’ll also miss tonight’s game against the New York Rangers as the team gets him back up to speed.

The Ducks have recalled five players ahead of the game. Benoit-Olivier Groulx, Jacob Perreault, Buddy Robinson, Greg Pateryn, and Lukas Dostal are all up from the San Diego Gulls. Perreault, still just 19, would be making his NHL debut when he hits the ice tonight (he is expected to play with Trevor Zegras and Sonny Milano). Selected 27th overall in 2020, Perreault has 18 points in 23 games for the Gulls this season as one of the few junior-aged players eligible to play in the minor leagues. That’s thanks to the number of games he played last season–27–during the OHL’s postponed campaign. The son of longtime NHL forward Yanic Perreault, he would be the 16th player from the 2020 first round to make his debut–the second for Anaheim, after Jamie Drysdale.

More Injury Troubles For Minnesota Wild

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The Minnesota Wild won last night, with the winner going to Matt Boldy on his first career goal and Kaapo Kahkonen stopping 36 of 38 shots. The future looks bright in Minnesota, but the present, not so much.

Kirill Kaprizov was helped to the locker room after being hit by Boston Bruins forward Trent Frederic, a play which head coach Dean Evason called “predatory.” Michael Russo of The Athletic reports that Kaprizov is still being evaluated but the reporter has been told it is “not good.”

But the injury concerns from last night don’t end there. Marcus Foligno was given a maintenance day after blocking a shot at the end of the game, but Jonas Brodin was also missing from practice as he is evaluated for a similar block. Once again, Russo tweets that it “doesn’t sound good” for Brodin, who only just returned from a stint on the COVID-19 protocol.

The Wild are already missing Joel Eriksson Ek, Jared Spurgeon, Cam Talbot, Jordan Greenway, Nick Bjugstad, and Brandon Duhaime, meaning any new injuries would take their toll. But Kaprizov and Brodin are arguably the two most important players on the roster even when it’s at full strength, and would be a devastating loss for the Wild if they are out for any significant amount of time.

With the win last night, the Wild are currently tied with the Colorado Avalanche for third place in the Central Division by standings points. They would actually be ahead of the St. Louis Blues and almost even with the Nashville Predators (but behind Colorado) if sorted by points percentage, given their 20-10-2 record.

Luckily, if this situation can be called that at all, the Wild have only one game (tomorrow) between now and January 14. Only three between now and January 21. That would, in theory, give them an opportunity to heal some wounds, though it isn’t clear how long Kaprizov and Brodin will be out at this point. Every team goes through injuries, but this is certainly going to be a difficult stretch for the Wild.

Central Notes: Bjugstad, Olausson, Beagle

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There’s bad news coming on the injury front for the Minnesota Wild. Head coach Dean Evason said today that forward Nick Bjugstad will be out “for a while” with an upper-body injury. Things certainly haven’t gone smoothly for Bjugstad in his second season with the Wild. In 28 games, he has just five points, and his defensive game has slipped from last year as well. Bjugstad’s entire career has been marred by injuries, and it’s always tough to see when the Minnesota native experiences another setback. Hopefully, he can recover by the end of the season to help out the Wild on a playoff push.

More notes from the Central Division today:

  • There’s movement on the prospect front for the Colorado Avalanche, as 2021 first-round pick Oskar Olausson was moved in the OHL today, traded to the Oshawa Generals from the Barrie Colts. Olausson joins Bruins prospect Brett Harrison and Oilers prospect Ty Tullio in Oshawa, where they hope Olausson’s talent can add a punch to their team. Olausson had 25 points in 22 games with Barrie.
  • Arizona Coyotes general manager Bill Armstrong said today that forward Jay Beagle had lower-body surgery and could miss anywhere between eight weeks and the rest of the season. While a defensive center first and foremost, Beagle had just one point in 21 games with Arizona. He’s in the final year of his contract with a $3MM cap hit.

Atlantic Notes: Kucherov, McAvoy, Hagg

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Tampa Bay Lightning forward Nikita Kucherov is coming off long-term injured reserve and is making his 2022 debut tonight against Calgary, according to head coach Jon Cooper. Kucherov hasn’t played since the third game of the 2021-22 season, and he’s been out with a lower-body injury ever since. He’ll likely slot back into his home on the top line alongside Ondrej Palat and Brayden Point. Save for Ross Colton, who’s currently in COVID protocol, the Lightning have a fully healthy forward group for the first time since October.

Elsewhere in the Atlantic Division:

  • Per ESPN’s Greg Wyshynski, Boston Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy is out for tonight’s game against Minnesota with a lower-body injury, although he notes it’s not a long-term ailment. It goes without saying that McAvoy is the rock for Boston’s blue line, scoring 20 points in 28 games and averaging 24:22 per game. In his place, 31-year-old John Moore likely slides into the lineup for just the fifth time this season.
  • The Buffalo Sabres have been without defenseman Robert Hagg since mid-December, but he could be close to returning. The Athletic’s John Vogl reports that he took part in practice with his teammates today, his first time doing so since suffering a lower-body injury on December 14. Acquired from Philadelphia this offseason, Hagg has five points in 25 games.

Senators Notes: White, Forsberg, Kuzmenko

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During general manager Pierre Dorion’s interview with TSN 1200 today, he gave a variety of updates related to the short- and long-term future of the team. One of those updates surrounded forward Colin White, who hasn’t played this season due to a shoulder injury suffered during the preseason. Dorion says that White still isn’t close to returning, and hopes for an early-March season debut as the best scenario. That jives with White’s original five-month timeline on the injury, but many hoped for an earlier return. The 24-year-old forward is under contract for three seasons following this one with a $4.75MM cap hit.

More from the Senators on this Thursday morning:

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