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Injury Notes: Chicago, Colorado, Raymond

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The Chicago Blackhawks issued a few injury updates today, including that Dylan Strome has been put in the concussion protocol. Strome, who has essentially been working as Chicago’s top center this season, is a huge loss for a team that is still very much in the thick of a playoff race. The Blackhawks are sitting third in the Central Division, though have already played 19 games—Tampa Bay and Dallas, two teams chasing them, have only had 15 and 12 respectively.

Lucas Carlsson will also miss some time and has been placed on injured reserve. The defenseman is dealing with a strained groin and is expected to miss 10-14 days. It’s not all bad news though. Connor Murphy, who hasn’t played since February 7 while dealing with a hip injury, has been activated from injured reserve. Murphy is averaging a career-high 22:45 through 13 games this season.

  • Dennis Gilbert may not be a Blackhawks defenseman anymore, but he’s getting injured like one. The Colorado Avalanche blueliner will be out four to six weeks after undergoing facial surgery according to Peter Baugh of The Athletic. The injury was presumably suffered in a fight with Keegan Kolesar last week, which resulted in Gilbert’s exit after fewer than two minutes of ice time. Erik Johnson and Pavel Francouz meanwhile are both still out long-term, according to head coach Jared Bednar.
  • Detroit Red Wings top prospect Lucas Raymond suffered an elbow injury while playing in Sweden and according to Ted Kulfan of the Detroit News, will have surgery that is expected to keep him out eight weeks. There is no long-term concern for Raymond, the fourth-overall pick from the 2020 draft. The young winger had 18 points in 34 games for Frolunda this season and still needs to sign his entry-level contract with the Red Wings.

Snapshots: Muzzin, Blais, Three Stars

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The Toronto Maple Leafs will be without Jake Muzzin for the next little while after the veteran defenseman suffered a broken bone in his last game. According to Kristen Shilton of TSN, Muzzin won’t play tonight for Toronto and will be wearing a full-face shield when he does eventually return. The Maple Leafs will also be without Zach Hyman and Joe Thornton this evening as both wingers are listed as day-to-day.

In Muzzin’s place, Travis Dermott will be elevated to the second pair, an interesting assignment given how little the young defenseman has actually played this season. Despite suiting up in 15 games, Dermott has averaged just over 11 minutes a night, seeing no powerplay or penalty kill time. With rumors swirling about the Maple Leafs’ apparent interest in acquiring another top-six winger, Dermott’s name has come up in trade speculation. The 24-year-old will be an arbitration-eligible restricted free agent this summer and has an opportunity now to really show what he is capable of.

  • The St. Louis Blues will have Sammy Blais available to them tonight after he was previously placed on the COVID Protocol list. Blues head coach Craig Berube confirmed that it was a false positive that led to Blais’ placement there and he will be eligible to return this evening. The 24-year-old forward is expected to play on the second line alongside Brayden Schenn and Mike Hoffman. That’s quite the step up for Blais, who has just ten goals and 23 points in his 91-game NHL career. Jaden Schwartz and Colton Parayko will not dress as they continue to deal with injury.
  • Hard to find a more dynamic trio than Auston Matthews, Connor McDavid, and David Pastrnak. Those are your NHL Three Stars of the week, with Matthews taking the top spot following his seven-goal output. The Maple Leafs forward leads the entire league in goals with 18 through his first 18 games this season, six ahead of McDavid and Brock Boeser who are tied for second. Pastrnak meanwhile has nine in his first nine games after starting the year on injured reserve, including a hat trick in last night’s Lake Tahoe game.

Columbus’ Elvis Merzlikins Out Week-To-Week

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The Columbus Blue Jackets have two quality young goaltenders, but can’t seem to get either one back to their 2019-20 form. The team hasn’t got the production it wanted from Joonas Korpisalo, who has struggled with a 3.46 GAA and a .889 save percentage. And despite already being out with an injury once this year, Elvis Merzlikins looks like he’s going back onto injured reserve after the team announced that he will be out week-to-week after suffering an upper-body injury.

Merzlikins suffered what is believed to be a left arm or shoulder injury during the game against Nashville Saturday, according to The Athletic’s Aaron Portzline. No word if the injury is related to Merzlikins first trip to IR, also with an upper-body injury.

Merzlikins has only appeared in seven games this year, and has been quite inconsistent himself with a few flashes of brilliance in between. His numbers remain acceptable with a 2.94 GAA and a .905 save percentage, but not up to his fifth-place finish in Vezina Trophy voting last year either.

The team will now have to put their faith in Korpisalo to find his game with Matiss Kivlenieks serving as the backup until Merzlikins is able to return.

Winnipeg Jets Activate Pierre-Luc Dubois, Move Him To Wing

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The Winnipeg Jets announced they have activated center Pierre-Luc Dubois off of injured reserve and he’s expected to play Sunday against the Vancouver Canucks. The 22-year-old has missed four games with a lower-body injury. However, Dubois isn’t expected to center a line. Instead, it looks like head coach Paul Maurice has moved him to the wing to play next to Mark Scheifele and Blake Wheeler.

Dubois, acquired from Columbus along with a 2022 third-round pick for Patrik Laine and Jack Roslovic in January, only appeared in two games before going down with what Dubois referred to as a “muscle injury.” Maurice said that he believes that moving Dubois to the wing should prevent Dubois from overworking himself as well as pick up good habits from his linemates.

“There is a bunch of things there,” said Maurice (via Sportsnet’s Ken Wiebe). “The first is wear and tear and minutes in his first game back. He’s had a big chunk of time off the ice. The centreman covers a lot more ice and there is a lot more grind to that. He did a great job with his shift length in his first game, we expect him to do the same. He’s still a young man, he’s got a version of Mark’s game in him – that ability to slow the game down, find holes and make plays. He also has the ability to have Blake’s game – a hard-driving, heavy in the corners type of player. I think that over time, the players I’ve played with Mark and Blake have developed that in their game. It was good for Nik Ehlers. It was good for Kyle Connor. The other option is going to be Paul Stastny and he flipping. I may do that over the course of the game.”

The current lines stand with Dubois, Scheifele and Wheeler on the first line with Stastny, Connor and Nikolaj Ehlers on the second line. loading up their top two lines. Adam Lowry would center the team’s third line.

Sabres Prepared That Jake McCabe May Miss Rest Of Season

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The Buffalo Sabres were fearful after defenseman Jake McCabe left Saturday’s game with a lower-body injury. McCabe left the game against New Jersey midway through the third period after trying to hit Nico Hischier against the boards, but instead, his right leg buckled and he clutched his knee after going down. Head coach Ralph Krueger said Sunday that McCabe has left the team to return home and is expected to get an MRI today with results expected Monday. However, he doesn’t believe the injury looks good at all. Buffalo News’ Mike Harrington adds the team is preparing that he will be out for the season.

“I’ll be honest with you,” said Krueger. “Not very optimistic about the diagnosis that will come out of this. The lower-body injury is serious.”

If McCabe misses significant time, as expected, that would be a big blow to a team that has struggled to put together an effective defensive lineup and will miss their alternate captain and his defensive presence on the ice. While not an offensive player (one goal, three points in 13 games), he does make up for it on defense. He has averaged 19:11 of ATOI and has 22 hits and 15 blocked shots this season, while playing all over the lineup.

The team has been without Rasmus Ristolainen, who could miss extended time after a suffering through a significant case of COVID-19. Defenseman William Borgen is out day-to-day and the team has had to depend others to step up their game, including Colin Miller, Matt Irwin and now will have to depend more on Henri Jokiharju and Brandon Davidson to get by with McCabe likely to be out of the lineup for some time.

Snapshots: Rescheduling, Avalanche, Wild, Thompson

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In a season that has been disrupted by several COVID-19 outbreaks and historically-bad weather in Texas, the NHL schedule maker has been forced to constantly snip and edit things to fit in all 56 games. Today, the league announced that tomorrow’s game between the Chicago Blackhawks and Carolina Hurricanes will be postponed to another date, with the Hurricanes taking on Tampa Bay Saturday night instead. The Lightning and Hurricanes were already set to start a three-game series on Monday, meaning they’ll now face each other in four consecutive games. The Blackhawks-Hurricanes game? It doesn’t have a date yet.

Some more updates from around the league:

  • The Colorado Avalanche have almost everyone available for tomorrow’s outdoor game at Lake Tahoe, including captain Gabriel Landeskog and defenseman Samuel Girard, who were recently on the COVID Protocol Related Absences list. That doesn’t necessarily mean Girard, who was still on the list as of yesterday, will play but he is eligible to. According to Dan Rosen of NHL.com, Cale Makar is still a game-time decision as he continues to deal with an upper-body injury.
  • The Minnesota Wild also welcomed back several familiar faces to practice today, now that the team is down to just Andrew Hammond on the COVID Protocol list. Michael Russo of The Athletic reports that Dakota Mermis, Luke Johnson and Kyle Rau have all been sent to the taxi squad to make room for the returning players, though Calen Addison will currently stay on the active roster.
  • Nate Thompson has been activated from injured reserve by the Winnipeg Jets and he is expected to be in the lineup tonight when the team faces off against the Vancouver Canucks. Thompson has played just four games for the Jets this season after signing a one-year, $750K deal in October. The veteran forward is expected to take the spot of Kristian Vesalainen, who is still looking for his first NHL goal.

Ivan Barbashev Out At Least Six Weeks

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The St. Louis Blues will be without Ivan Barbashev for at least six weeks after he suffered a left ankle injury in last night’s game. The team says he will be re-evaluated at that time, meaning it could be even longer. In a corresponding move, the Blues have recalled Nathan Walker from the AHL and moved Barbashev to injured reserve.

The 25-year-old forward had six points in 17 games on the season and was being used more and more by head coach Craig Berube of late. Versatile and talented, he’ll be a tough player to replace even for the West-leading Blues. Six weeks means he’ll miss close to 20 games, more than a third of the shortened season.

Not only does that remove a piece of the Blues lineup as they try to secure their position, but for Barbashev, it means this injury could cost him real dollars too. The young forward is scheduled to become a restricted free agent at the end of the year and still hasn’t experienced much of an offensive breakout. With just 83 points in 249 games so far in his career, his arbitration case won’t be very strong. That’s a silver lining for the Blues, but they would obviously want him in the lineup instead of rehabbing an injured ankle.

West Notes: Karlsson, Lehner, Parayko, Walker

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The Sharks will be without defenseman Erik Karlsson for at least the next two games, notes Jon Williams of NBC Sports Bay Area.  The veteran is dealing with another groin injury though it’s not believed to be related to his previous groin injuries.  Nevertheless, head coach Bob Boughner indicated yesterday to reporters, including Curtis Pashelka of The Mercury News, that Karlsson’s injury is a nagging one that he had been playing through.  However, with just four assists in 13 games this season, it’s certainly fair to wonder if the veteran would be better served by sitting for a little while and trying to come back at full strength.  With a record-setting $11.5MM AAV, San Jose needs much more offense than they’ve received from Karlsson thus far and perhaps this groin issue is at least partially to blame.

Elsewhere in the West Division:

  • Golden Knights goaltender Robin Lehner isn’t expected to travel with the team for this weekend’s outdoor game at Lake Tahoe, reports David Schoen of the Las Vegas Review-Journal (Twitter link). However, he is expected to return to the Vegas lineup sooner than later.  Lehner last played on February 7th and has been battling an upper-body injury.  Marc-Andre Fleury has been quite strong in his absence as he tries to retake his former number one role.
  • While the Blues are getting Marco Scandella and Torey Krug back tonight from their respective upper-body injuries, it’s not all good news for their back end as Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch relays that Colton Parayko’s nagging injury is enough to keep him out of the lineup. The 27-year-old was expected to have a big season following the departure of Alex Pietrangelo but has managed just a goal and seven assists through 16 games and was only able to play 15 minutes on Monday against Arizona.
  • The Kings are close to welcoming back Sean Walker to their lineup as Lisa Dillman of The Athletic reports (Twitter link) that the defenseman is expected to play at some point on their six-game road trip. The 26-year-old has missed the last six games after undergoing nasal surgery after he took a slapshot to the face in late-January.

Injury Notes: Dubois, Lindholm, Sandin

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The Winnipeg Jets have officially moved Pierre-Luc Dubois to injured reserve, a disappointing outcome for a player that is having a season full of them. The young forward has played just two games since his trade from the Columbus Blue Jackets and just seven on the season thanks to a long quarantine. He was injured last week, though it’s still not exactly clear what happened or how long he’ll be out.

Dubois failed to record a shot in either of his games with the Jets and now has just one point on the season. When he does get back on the active roster, he’ll have to really push to get back to the top-line center he appeared to be in recent years.

  • Chicago Blackhawks prospect Anton Lindholm will be out for four to six weeks with a broken thumb, his AHL team announced today. Lindholm sustained the injury last Friday, meaning his season will be truncated by at least a month. The 26-year-old defenseman was part of the trade that saw Brandon Saad go to the Colorado Avalanche in the offseason but had yet to get into the NHL lineup with the Blackhawks. In 66 career games, he has five points.
  • Another minor-league defenseman, this time Rasmus Sandin, will also be out a while. The young defenseman suffered a foot injury and will be out for several weeks, according to Chris Johnston of Sportsnet. Sandin, one of the Toronto Maple Leafs’ top prospects, played in one NHL game earlier this season and recorded a point. The 20-year-old is still waiting for his chance to crack the roster full-time and was supposed to get his game back up to speed in the minor leagues. Now, unfortunately, he’ll be sidelined instead.

Jacob Trouba Out 4-6 Weeks

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The New York Rangers have announced that defenseman Jacob Trouba will be out four to six weeks with an upper-body injury. Head coach David Quinn later told reporters including Stephen Whyno of the Associated Press that Trouba broke his thumb. In a condensed schedule, that means he’ll miss a huge chunk of the season.

Trouba, 26, may never get back to the 50-point defenseman he was in 2018-19, but he is still one of the most important players on the Rangers team, logging huge minutes in all situations. Overshadowed at times this season by younger players like Adam Fox and K’Andre Miller, there’s something to be said about averaging nearly 22 minutes a night and doing it quietly.

Without him, the Rangers blueline suddenly looks rather inexperienced, unless you believe Jack Johnson can find his way to becoming a capable defender again.

It wasn’t all bad news today though, as Dan Rosen of NHL.com reports that both Artemi Panarin and Miller were practicing with the team. If the Rangers are to turn the season around (a tough task without Trouba for the next month), they’ll need those two playing at their best.

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