Injury Notes: Roslovic, Hartman, Foegele
Oilers Head Coach Kris Knoblauch shared several updates, as reported by Jason Gregor of Sports 1440; most notably, Jack Roslovic is set to miss multiple weeks. Kasperi Kapanen will be out at least one week, possibly longer, and Jake Walman is making progress, in time for a possible return next week.
Just yesterday it was thought that Roslovic could be just questionable for Saturday’s game, so the week-to-week diagnosis is a surprise. The forward has been a tremendous fit in Edmonton, with 10 goals and 18 points in 23 games, and will be sorely missed as the team faces mounting pressure to get on track. 21-year-old Matthew Savoie will have an opportunity to step up offensively, as the Oilers will desperately fight for a strong December. Roslovic left last Tuesday against Dallas after blocking a shot.
Meanwhile, Kapanen was back in practice yesterday after a five-week absence, but appeared to re-aggravate the injury, and was visibly frustrated leaving the ice. Walman has been out since November 20th, avoiding the IR, and will be eager to return to the lineup to prove his worth after inking a major long-term extension in October.
Elsewhere across the league:
- Ahead of their hosting of Colorado this afternoon, the Minnesota Wild announced that Ryan Hartman has been activated from injured reserve, and Nicolas Aubé-Kubel has been reassigned to AHL Iowa in a corresponding move. Hartman, thought to be week-to-week with a lower-body injury earlier in the month, is a welcome addition especially with Marcus Foligno set to miss time. Hartman, 31, has seven points in 20 games, a far cry from his 34-goal output four years ago, but the South Carolina native remains a solid third line center for the club. Meanwhile, Aubé-Kubel was called up just yesterday, but is headed back to Iowa without yet appearing for Minnesota this season.
- Zach Dooley, Manager of Editorial Content for the Los Angeles Kings, shared that forward Warren Foegele will not play this afternoon in Anaheim. Foegele, a fixture of the Kings’ bottom six, left practice yesterday with an apparent injury. The 29-year-old has four goals in 18 games this year, after setting a career high 24 in his first season with the black and silver in 2024-25. In his absence, fellow 29-year-old Jeff Malott enters the lineup, bringing major size and physicality in a fourth line role.
Injury Updates: Kapanen, Roslovic, Pageau, Granlund
Recent reporting suggested that the Oilers could get winger Kasperi Kapanen back in their lineup in the near future after missing the last five-plus weeks with a lower-body injury. However, that may no longer be the case. TSN’s Ryan Rishaug noted (Twitter link) that the veteran appeared to injure himself at practice today; he left the ice and did not return. Kapanen has been limited to just six games this season where he has a pair of assists in a little more than 12 minutes a night of playing time. Kapanen is currently on LTIR so his activation was going to require some cap and roster movement but if this injury at practice stops him from being ready to play Saturday, they won’t have to do anything to accommodate his return just yet.
Other injury news from around the NHL:
- Still with the Oilers, winger Jack Roslovic didn’t take part in practice today after blocking a shot in their last game against Dallas, mentions Daily Faceoff’s Jason Gregor (Twitter link). Roslovic has been one of the best free agent signings in the early going this season as he has 10 goals and eight assists through 23 games, good for fourth on Edmonton in scoring. That’s certainly strong value for a $1.5MM price tag and a potential absence would certainly be a big blow to their offense. He’s listed as questionable for Saturday’s game against Seattle.
- Islanders center Jean-Gabriel Pageau is listed as week-to-week with an upper-body injury but it appears that it should be too extended of an absence for him. The team announced Wednesday (Twitter link) that the veteran should return before the holiday break next month. Pageau has a dozen points in 22 games so far while winning nearly 60% of his faceoffs; if the Isles wind up selling by the deadline, Pageau and his expiring contract should be one of their better trade chips.
- Ducks center Mikael Granlund is making some progress as he works his way back from a lower-body injury, relays Derek Lee of The Hockey News (Twitter link). However, head coach Joel Quenneville suggested he’s still probably a week away from returning. Granlund, who was moved retroactively to injured reserve on Wednesday, has missed the last two weeks due to the injury. In his first season with Anaheim, the 33-year-old has done well when he has played, averaging a point per game but injuries have limited him to just nine appearances so far.
Drew Doughty Returns To, Warren Foegele Leaves Kings’ Practice
Thursday’s practice left the Los Angeles Kings with positives and negatives on the injury front. Star defenseman Drew Doughty return to the ice with individual drills, but isn’t expected back soon, while winger Warren Foegele left practice early with an injury per team reporter Zach Dooley. No update has been provided on Foegele’s injury.
Doughty has missed the last four games with a week-to-week, lower-body injury sustained on a blocked shot in Los Angeles’ November 15th matchup versus the Otttawa Senators. He had returned to his role as Los Angeles’ top defender before going down with injury. Doughty averaged a team-leading 22:33 in ice time through 19 games before going down with injury. He rewarded that top role with eight points, a plus-seven, and 30 blocked shots. The Kings haev been pushed to ice Joel Edmundson, on his off-hand, in a top-pair role with Doughty out of the lineup. That will make this injury update well-anticipated, even if Doughty still has a step to go until he’s back in full.
Meanwhile, Foegele’s absence could leave a glaring hole in the team’s bottom-six. Foegele has four goals, 18 hits, and 22 shots on goal in 18 games this season. He missed a few games with a right-shoulder injury in October, but returned with force on November 9th. He scored two goals in his first three games back, then spurred a four-game scoring drought with a goal in Los Angeles’ Monday matchup versus Ottawa.
The Kings will need to turn towards either Alex Turcotte or Jeff Malott, should Foegele be forced out of the lineup. Turcotte has recorded three assists, a minus-four, and 11 penalty minutes in 22 games this season. He sat out of Los Angeles’ most recent matchup, but could find a quick path back with Foegele’s absence. Malott would bring a much more enforcing style, already boasting two goals and 23 penalty minutes in 16 games this season. He stands at 6-foot-5, 208-pounds and offers a heap of grit, in comparison to Turcotte’s skill.
Evgenii Dadonov To Miss Some Time
It has been a tough season for Devils winger Evgenii Dadonov. He missed 17 games due to a hand injury sustained in his debut with the team last month, returning to the lineup last week. Now, he’s out of the lineup again as head coach Sheldon Keefe told reporters today (video link) that the veteran will be out “for a period of time” due to another injury. At this time, they are still doing testing so the timeline for his potential return is not yet known.
The 36-year-old is in his first season with the Devils after signing a one-year deal with them over the summer. He ultimately accepted a bonus-laden pact, one that carries a $1MM base salary plus an additional $2.25MM in performance bonuses. Some are tied to playoff performance and success but more than half are geared toward regular season outings, maxing out at 50. Another extended absence could put the ability to hit that mark out of reach.
The undisclosed injury occurred in Monday’s victory over Detroit and it appeared to worsen on Tuesday, leading to further testing and this announcement that he’ll be out for at least a bit. When healthy, Dadonov has been quiet offensively, being held off the scoresheet in his five outings while averaging a little over 11 minutes per night of playing time.
Juho Lammikko took Dadonov’s spot in the lineup tonight against St. Louis. With blueliners Brett Pesce and Johnathan Kovacevic on LTIR, New Jersey has several million in flexibility at the moment per PuckPedia, so a recall from AHL Utica is likely coming in the near future. Meanwhile, Dadonov joins those two along with center Jack Hughes and winger Zack MacEwen in New Jersey’s infirmary.
Red Wings Activate Elmer Söderblom, Place Michael Rasmussen On IR
The Detroit Red Wings announced they’ve activated bottom-six forward Elmer Söderblom from the injured reserve. In a corresponding roster move, the team has placed forward Michael Rasmussen on injured reserve, retroactive to November 20th.
Söderblom ends his tenure on the injured reserve after nearly three weeks. The former sixth-round pick, who made the Red Wings’ opening night roster, had been out of the lineup with an undisclosed injury since November 9th.
Regardless, Söderblom’s start to the 2025-26 season raises the question of whether he was injured before officially being removed from the lineup. In his 11 games leading up to the injury, Söderblom had only tallied one goal with a -4 rating, averaging 10:27 of ice time per game.
It’s a far cry from the jolt of energy he provided to Detroit toward the end of last season. Waiting until January for his full-time recall, Söderblom scored four goals and 11 points in 26 games for the Red Wings last year, managing a 91.2% on-ice save percentage at even strength as one of the better defensive forwards on the team. This season, he’s only managed an 89.4%.
Meanwhile, Rasmussen has been similarly disappointing throughout the current campaign. As one of the last vestiges of the Ken Holland era in Detroit, Rasmussen had scored two goals and five points in 19 games, largely relegated to a bottom-six role.
Although his CorsiFor% at even strength has continued to increase this season under a full year of Todd McLellan‘s stewardship, his defensive metrics have similarly dropped like Söderblom’s. Regardless, Detroit may have to stick it out with Rasmussen even if he doesn’t improve, as he’s signed through the 2027-28 campaign, though he doesn’t have any trade protection.
Penguins Activate Tristan Jarry, Ville Koivunen; Reassign Sergei Murashov
The Pittsburgh Penguins have activated starting goaltender Tristan Jarry and winger Ville Koivunen off of injured reserve. Both are expected to step back into the lineup for Wednesday’s game against the Buffalo Sabres. To make room for Jarry, Pittsburgh has reassigned rookie goalie Sergey Murashov to the AHL. The Penguins also plan to healthy scratch rookie Benjamin Kindel, for development purposes, and to make room for Koivunen’s return and Tristan Broz‘s NHL debut.
Murashov played in the first four games, and made the first three starts, of his NHL career on his latest recall. He was sharp throughout, posting a 1-1-1 record, one shutout, a .913 save percentage, and a 1.90 goals-against-average. Murashov will return to the AHL as the league’s reigning ‘Goalie of the Month’, after he began the season with a 5-1-0 record, .935 Sv%, and 1.68 GAA in seven games. He should step right back into Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s starting role, bringing a big boost to a club that’s 5-1-0 in their last six games.
Pittsburgh won’t lose much steam swapping back to Jarry. The 10-year-veteran was in the midst of a big resurgence to start the season, after posting the first sub-.900 Sv% of his career last season. He started this yaer with a 5-2-0 record, .911 Sv%, and 2.60 GAA – firmly locking in his spot as Pittsburgh’s starter less than one year after being placed on waivers. He will look to stay hot in his return to the lineup, after missing seven games due to injury. Jarry should resume starting duties, with Arturs Silovs serving as backup.
The Penguins make a similar swap in their forward group. Kindel has been among the most exciting rookies to start the year, but appears to finally be slowing down. He has recorded one point, 11 shots on goal, and five blocks in his last six games – a quiet spell after he scored six points in seven games as October turned over to November. The Penguins have already committed to holding Kindel past his nine-game trial, helping to remove the pressure to rush the 18-year-old into a starring role. He will get a chance to take a brief break, and recollect, but should get a chance to return to the lineup soon.
Koivunen could prove a barrier to that, if he can return from injury with a hot hand. He only scored two points in 11 games before going down, a disappointing result compared to the 11 points he has scored in six AHL games. He was a star scorer for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton last season as well, netting 56 points in 63 games, and recording seven assists in the first eight NHL games of his career. Koivunen seems to have an NHL breakout incoming, and will get a chance to continue fighting for it following these roster moves.
Mammoth To Activate Sean Durzi Off IR
The Utah Mammoth will see the return of defenseman Sean Durzi in Wednesday night’s game against the Montreal Canadiens, head coach Andre Tourigny told Cole Bagley of KSL Sports. Durzi sustained an upper-body injury in the second game of Utah’s season. He has sat out of 21 games since. The Mammoth will need to activate him off of injured reserve before Wednesday’s game, but already have a roster spot availabel for his return.
This is the second year that Durzi has started the year with a long-term absence due to an upper-body injury. He sustained a shoulder injury in October of last season that required him to undergo surgery. The injury held Durzi out of the lineup until February, and limited him to only 30 appearances on the year. He was a core part of the Mammoth lineup when he was healthy, netting 11 points and a plus-four while averaging more than 20 minutes of ice time every night. He also recorded 52 blocked shots, which ranked fifth on the blue-line and seventh on the team despite Durzi missing more than 50 games.
He seemed to be stepping right back into that role this season. Durzi played nearly 21 minutes in Utah’s season-opener, and recorded two blocks, one hit, and no scoring. He ramped up in their second game, recording one point, two blocks, and two hits in 17 minutes of ice time before getting injured.
Durzi has only been able to show Utah fans a glimpse of his impact through two seasons with the Mammoth. He had a standout year in his first year with the organization – the 2023-24 season, prior to the Arizona Coyotes’ move to Utah. Durzi scored a career-high 41 points in 76 games that year, while also posting career-highs with 63 penalty minutes and 160 blocked shots. He racked up 65 points, 105 penalty minutes, and 263 blocks in 136 games with the Los Angeles Kings prior to his move to Arizona.
Durzi is an established, top-four defender when he’s at full health. He’ll now get a chance to bring that impact to a Utah lineup in need. The Mammoth have won their last two games, but only have four wins through their last 13 games. They have allowed the 10th-most goals in the NHL (44) in that span, and the eighth-most on a per-game average (3.38).
Capitals Recall Bogdan Trineyev, Place Nic Dowd On IR
The Washington Capitals have awarded one of their top AHL scorers with the first NHL call-up of his career. Winger Bogdan Trineyev has been recalled after recording six points and 15 shots on goal in the Hershey Bears’ last six games. Trineyev is up to 12 points in 15 games this season, second-most on the team.
Washington has placed Nic Dowd on injured reserve, retroactive to his last game on November 17th, to create the roster space for Trineyev’s recall. Dowd has missed the last four games with an upper-body injury. He appears to be headed for a fifth absence, after being dubbed a game-time decision for Wednesday’s match against the Winnipeg Jets, the same designation he carried for Monday’s game against the Columbus Blue Jackets, per Sammi Silber of The Hockey News in her newsletter, DCBackcheck.
Trineyev is expected to be listed as Washington’s extra forward on Wednesday. The Capitals will stick with Sonny Milano and Ethen Frank on their fourth-line wings. That duo has been red-hot as of late, with three points and five points over the last three games respectively.
A chance to be close with the NHL lineup will still be a nice reward for Trineyev, who seems to be amid his first true breakout in North America. He has held up near point-per-game scoring through the early season after posting seven points in eight games of last year’s Calder Cup Playoffs. Trineyev had previously only scored 42 points in 149 AHL games, riding a slow climb through Hershey’s lineup that was marked by incremental improvements. Trineyev played in 53 games in Russia’s KHL before moving over to the AHL full-time in 2023. He scored 13 points in his final 39 KHL games, his only scoring in the league.
Trineyev is a strong, skilled power-forward, standing at 6-foot-3 and 205 pounds. He has a hard shot and soft hands – and has grown his ability to get involved in play significantly over his first two full AHL seasons. Washington will now recognize that growth by providing the 23-year-old a chance to learn from NHL veterans.
East Injury Updates: Miller, Quick, Maple Leafs
As the New York Rangers attempt to spark a push up the Eastern Conference standings tonight during their game against the St. Louis Blues, they’ll need to do so without the on-ice help of captain J.T. Miller. Newsday’s Colin Stephenson reported today that Miller remains out with an upper-body injury on a day-to-day timeline. While the injury appears highly unlikely to keep Miller out of action for very long, it is a discouraging development nonetheless in what has been a troubling start to the season for both Miller and the Rangers as a whole. The Rangers traded two promising young players in Filip Chytil and Victor Mancini, as well as a first-round pick, to the Vancouver Canucks to acquire Miller, and at the time the move seemed easily defensible as Miller had very recently scored 37 goals and 103 points. Centers capable of that level of production are very rarely made available, and since the Rangers already had a cornerstone defenseman (Adam Fox) and franchise goalie (Igor Shesterkin), paying that price to add a true number-one center was seen as a “win” for the team.
But since Miller has arrived in New York, he’s only been able to match the level of play he set in Vancouver on a sporadic basis. Miller scored a solid 35 points in 32 games last season, but the Rangers failed to reach the playoffs. So far this year, Miller has struggled to produce as consistently, and has just 12 points in 22 games. That’s a 45-point 82-game pace. For a player making $8MM against the cap with the clear expectation to be a leading scorer on a playoff team, that’s simply not enough production for the Rangers to get where they want to go as a team. While this injury will sideline Miller for a short while, it won’t rob him of his chance to turn around his season whenever he recovers and returns to the ice. For the Rangers to restore their status as true Stanley Cup contenders, a status they lived up to by reaching two Eastern Conference Finals in three seasons, they’ll need Miller healthy and firing on all cylinders.
Other injury notes from the Eastern Conference:
- Stephenson also reported that veteran Rangers backup goalie Jonathan Quick has a lower-body injury and is still being evaluated. While the Rangers have a young, capable No. 3 goalie in their organization in the form of Dylan Garand, who was an AHL All-Star last season, any extended absence faced by Quick would damage the Rangers’ ability to turn around their season. Through six games played this year, Quick has turned back the clock, putting forward performances reminiscent of his prime years backstopping the Los Angeles Kings to Stanley Cup championships. Quick is 3-3-0 in his six starts with a .944 save percentage and 1.69 goals-against-average. While he’s 39 years old and a pending UFA, he’s making the case to remain the Rangers’ backup for next season with his form early in 2025-26. His current lower-body injury threatens the momentum he’s built so far this year, though, and the Rangers are likely hoping his absence is a brief one.
- Toronto Maple Leafs blueliners Chris Tanev and Marshall Rifai were on the ice before practice today, according to The Hockey News’ Nick Barden. Tanev, 35, hasn’t played since he was helped off the ice in the team’s Nov. 1 game against the Philadelphia Flyers. Tanev remains without a firm recovery timeline, though he is not expected to return anytime soon. Rifai, 27, has spent most of his time in the Maple Leafs organization at the AHL level, save for two games in 2023-24. He’s working his way back from wrist surgery and will likely be assigned to the AHL’s Toronto Marlies whenever his recovery concludes.
Wild Place Vinnie Hinostroza On Injured Reserve
Nov. 24: Hinostroza was placed on injured reserve today and handed a week-to-week designation, the team announced. He’s been ruled out for tomorrow’s game against the Blackhawks as a result, but is slated to miss more time than that. They haven’t made a corresponding recall yet, but could do so on Tuesday.
Nov. 22: The Minnesota Wild faced another negative injury update after Friday’s game against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Forward Vinnie Hinostroza left the match six minutes into the second period after taking an awkward stumble against the end boards. He appeared to be in immediate pain but was able to get off the ice under his own power. The resulting lower-body injury is considered serious and will force Hinostroza to miss “awhile,” head coach John Hynes told Michael Russo of The Athletic after the game.
Hinostroza has been a fixture of Minnesota’s bottom-six through the start of the season. He has appeared in all 22 games this season and recorded five points, 20 hits, and 22 shots on goal. This is his first full season in the Wild organization, after joining the club off waivers from the Nashville Predators last February. He finished the 2024-25 season with 25 games, eight points, and 37 shots on goal in a Wild jersey.
Hinstroza has built a commendable NHL career as a journeyman depth forward. He began his career with four seasons in Chicago starting in 2015. That was the longest he has spent with one club. A move to the Arizona Coyotes in 2018 kicked off a string of one-or two-year tenures across the NHL. He has played for seven clubs throughout his career, appearing on four different AHL rosters. In that time, Hinostroza has racked up 61 goals and 166 points in 434 NHL games. His career year was the 2018-19 season, when he tallied 16 goals and 39 points in 72 games with the Coyotes. He’s a utility winger who finds responsibility playing off of his team’s stars.
Another injured forward will be the last thing Minnesota needs. Marco Rossi, Vladimir Tarasenko, and Ryan Hartman are all already on the Wild’s injured reserve, which has pushed rookie Danila Yurov into a starring role and Liam Ohgren and Ben Jones back into the nightly lineup. Now, Minnesota could need to turn towards another rookie – Hunter Haight – to fill Hinostroza’s spot on the fourth line. Haight managed no scoring and a minus-two in the first two games of his NHL career earlier this season. He also has five points in 13 AHL games. He’ll compete with Ohgren, Jones, and Tyler Pitlick for a fourth-line spot – at least until Minnesota opts to recall a player like Nicolas Aube-Kubel or Oskar Olausson from the minor leagues.
The need for another recall should become clearer as Minnesota learns more about Hinostroza’s timeline.