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Devils’ Nathan Bastian Week-To-Week With Jaw Injury

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New Jersey Devils forward Nathan Bastian is expected to miss “several weeks” with a jaw injury, head coach Sheldon Keefe told Devils beat reporter Amanda Stein. Bastian suffered the injury in a fight with Calgary’s Ryan Lomberg on Friday. Bastian instigated the fight late in the first period, following a hard hit on Paul Cotter, and didn’t return for the start of the second period. He’d end the day with just five shifts and 3:30 of ice time – though he racked up two hits and 17 penalty minutes in that span.

Bastian has returned as a proud member of New Jersey’s fourth-line this season, leading the team’s forwards in penalty minutes and ranking seventh in hits. He’s totaled those stats despite averaging the lowest ice time (10:29) of any consistent feature of New Jersey’s lineup – and has even managed five points, already a quarter of a way towards breaking his career-high 18 points set in 2021-22. Bastian is in his sixth season with New Jersey, though his tenure was briefly intercut with a trip to Seattle in the 2021 NHL Expansion Draft. He played 12 games with the Kraken before being placed on waivers, where New Jersey quickly reclaimed him. He’s been on the NHL roster ever since, now in the last year of a two-year, $2.7MM contract signed last summer.

Bastian will join Curtis Lazar on the absentee list, giving New Jersey a second bottom-six role to fill for the long term. Next up is veteran minor-leaguer Justin Dowling, who’s already recorded one assist in two NHL games this season. He’s also scored four points in six AHL games, continuing his near point-per-game scoring through a seventh season. Dowling has totaled 20 points in 102 career NHL games, kicking off his career with the Dallas Stars in 2016-17. With a week-to-week absence in store, New Jersey could also turn towards a minor-league call-up to replace Bastian. Nolan Foote currently leads the Utica Comets in scoring with eight points in eight games.

Islanders’ Mike Reilly, Alexander Romanov Out With Injury

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The New York Islanders have designated both Mike Reilly (upper-body) and Alexander Romanov (upper-body) as day-to-day with injury per NHL.com’s Stefen Rosner. Both players will miss the Islanders’ bout with the Rangers on Sunday.

New York’s defense will be cut in half for their rivalry matchup, with Adam Pelech also sitting out with an upper-body injury. That news doesn’t bode well for an Islanders team currently leaning on their ability to suppress chances. The team ranks eighth in the NHL with an average of 2.91 goals against per game, while starter Ilya Sorokin boasts the third-highest save percentage (.928) of any goalie with five or more starts. Unfortunately, the Rangers rank higher in both categories – with the lowest goals-against average of any team (2.20) and Igor Shesterkin boasting the second-highest save percentage (.931) among starters.

Dennis Cholowski stepped into the lineup to relieve Pelech, so far scoring one goal – his first NHL goal since 2020 – in three appearances. With two more pillars falling, the Islanders are expected to slot Samuel Bolduc and Grant Hutton back into the lineup. Both started the season with the AHL’s Bridgeport Islanders, with Bolduc sitting on one goal and five points and Hutton recording two assists through the team’s first nine games. The duo were also both features of New York’s revolving door on defense last season. Bolduc appeared in 34 games and scored six points in the year’s second half, while Hutton slotted into just two NHL games and failed to score.

With New York’s entire left-side now missing, the left-shot Bolduc should prove the better fill-in while Hutton may be forced to take shifts on his off-side. The Islanders have sheltered Cholowski in his trio of starts while boosting the ice time of Scott Mayfield and Reilly, before the latter left with injury. Bolduc and Hutton should help to soften that burden on New York’s star defenders, though the team will certainly be eager for the return of more reliable options in Reilly and Romanov.

Philip Broberg Leaves Game With Leg Injury

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Blues defenseman Philip Broberg left tonight’s game against the Maple Leafs after sustaining an apparent right leg injury in the second period. The Blues informed reporters, including Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, that he wouldn’t return to the contest.

At first glance, Broberg’s injury may lead to a long-term absence. The 23-year-old defender got tangled up in a collision along the boards with Toronto winger Mitch Marner, getting his right ankle area caught before falling awkwardly on the rest of the leg. He immediately clutched his knee in pain and remained on the ice for several minutes before skating off with assistance from St. Louis’ trainer. He didn’t put any weight on his injured leg while doing so.

It abruptly pauses what had been a promising start to the season for Broberg. The Blues acquired the 2019 eighth-overall pick from the Oilers via an offer sheet, plucking the restricted free agent away from Edmonton on a two-year, $9.16MM contract. The corresponding $4.58MM cap hit was certainly hefty for a player who spent most of 2023-24 in the minors, though, making only 12 regular-season NHL appearances with the Oilers with underwhelming numbers.

Viewed as a payment based on potential, it seems Broberg’s ceiling has arrived earlier than anticipated. The Swede has thrived in a top-four role for St. Louis with a season-ending injury to Torey Krug and another injury to Nick Leddy, creating ample opportunity on the left side. He had two goals and seven assists in 11 games entering tonight’s action, already setting a new career-high with nine points. That was tied with Jordan Kyrou for the team lead in scoring at the time of writing. He was averaging 20:25 per game and led the team with a +6 rating,

The possession numbers aren’t quite as glorifying for Broberg. The Blues controlled 47.6% of shot attempts with him on the ice at even strength compared to 49.9% without him. But still, he had been operating as their de facto No. 1 left-shot defender in Leddy’s absence, making him a massive loss for a team already without Mathieu Joseph, Kasperi Kapanen and Robert Thomas up front in addition to their injury issues on the blue line.

The Blues don’t play again until Tuesday against the Lightning, so they have a few days to evaluate Broberg’s injury, determine if surgery is necessary, and release a timeline. But it’s nearly a given he won’t be available next week, and although Leddy appears somewhat close to returning, his availability isn’t imminent. That means extra minutes for the 40-year-old Ryan Suter and potential top-four usage for depth offseason pickup Pierre-Olivier Joseph. Scott Perunovich is on hand as an extra defenseman and should be expected to play next week.

Capitals Place Jakob Chychrun On IR, Recall Vincent Iorio

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The Washington Capitals have placed defenseman Jakob Chychrun on injured reserve with an upper-body injury. In a corresponding move, they’ve also recalled defender Vincent Iorio for the first time this season.

Little details have been revealed about Chychrun’s injury. He hasn’t hit the ice since leaving Tuesday’s win over the New York Rangers after just four shifts. There wasn’t any clear moment where Chychrun appeared to get injured, though he was seen clutching at his ribs in his last shift. Chychrun sat out of Washington’s Thursday win over Montreal, and will now have to miss at least one more week of action. With his move to IR not retroactive, this move will force Chychrun out of at least four games. His next chance to play will be when Washington visits St. Louis on Saturday, November 9th.

This news brings a screeching halt to Chychrun’s hot start in Washington. He’s been the team’s clear-cut top left-defender, averaging over 21 minutes of ice time and recording four points in seven games prior to injury. Chychrun joined the Capitals via trade this summer, with Washington dealing Nick Jensen and a third-round pick back to the Ottawa Senators – just over one year after Ottawa traded a first-round and two second-round picks for the defender. For all of his moves over the last two seasons, Chychrun has seemed to find a home in Washington – and could even set a new career-high in scoring should he maintain his current scoring pace.

With Chychrun headed to the shelf, Washington is once again turning towards top defenseman Vincent Iorio. Iorio was the 55th-overall pick in the 2021 NHL Draft and turned pro in the 2022-23 season, finding a spot on the Hershey Bears’ blue-line and ultimately posting 36 points in 123 games over the last two seasons. Iorio showed plenty of mature, two-way ability early into his career – enough to earn call-ups to the NHL roster in both of his pro years so far, though it’s only resulted in one assist across nine games.

Iorio has just three points in nine AHL games this year, but could still stand for a strong chance at ice time behind a depleted Capitals blue-line behind John Carlson and Rasmus Sandin. He’ll most likely step in for Dylan McIlrath, who’s slotted onto the third-pair for eight games this season and recorded two assists. McIlrath and Iorio could also cede ice time to Matt Roy when he returns from an October 12th injury.

Injury Updates: Blues, Vlasic, McKegg

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Blues winger Kasperi Kapanen skated before practice today after missing Thursday’s game with an upper-body injury, notes Lou Korac of The Hockey News.  Head coach Drew Bannister labeled the 28-year-old as out day-to-day.  Kapanen has a goal in eight games so far this season while averaging just under 12 minutes per game and has been the subject of speculation that he could be a waiver candidate when everyone up front is healthy.

Meanwhile, Korac added that winger Mathieu Joseph and defenseman Nick Leddy also skated before practice as they work their way back from lower-body injuries that cost them the last two and seven games respectively; they are also listed as out day-to-day.  However, neither of them nor Kapanen is expected to play against Toronto on Saturday.

Other injury news from around the hockey world:

  • Sharks defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic has resumed skating on his own as he works his way back from a back injury, relays Curtis Pashelka of The Mercury News. The 37-year-old was only hoping to miss part of training camp with the issue but instead, he has yet to play this season.  Vlasic has seen his role drop sharply in recent years as he’s no longer the high-end shutdown defender he was in his prime but is rather more of a depth piece now and is likely to be in a sixth or seventh role when he returns; head coach Ryan Warsofsky didn’t have a timeline for when Vlasic could start to skate with the team.
  • After spending the last two seasons in the minors, veteran forward Greg McKegg decided to sign in the Czech Extraliga this summer. However, he won’t play for BK Mlada Boleslav after all as the team announced that he is dealing with a significant knee injury, one that appears to have been pre-existing before he came to the team before it flared up in practice early in training camp.  The 32-year-old will now undergo surgery for the injury.  McKegg has 233 NHL appearances over nine seasons and 454 career AHL games under his belt and might look to try to sign with a North American team again next summer.

East Notes: Michkov, Benson, Poltapov

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One player has taken a clear lead in the heated race for the 2024-25 Calder Trophy as the league’s best rookie. The Philadelphia Flyers announced rookie forward Matvei Michkov has been named the NHL Rookie of the Month for the opening month of the NHL calendar.

The award likely came down to the wire with Montreal Canadiens’ Lane Hutson and Dallas Stars’ Logan Stankoven getting off to strong starts in their own right. Michkov still had the edge with four goals and nine points in 11 contests to begin his NHL career.

He’s also gotten off to an impressive start in the possession game with a 49.3% CorsiFor% at even strength. This metric adds even more credibility to Michkov’s Calder pursuit considering the Flyers are 24th in the league in the category with a 47.8% mark.

Other notes from the Eastern Conference:

  • The Buffalo Sabres could be getting a boost to their offense. Heather Engel of NHL.com reports forward Zach Benson is “for sure” a possibility next week. The Sabres’ youngster hasn’t suited up since October 19th due to a lower-body injury and there’s some indication he was playing through the injury toward the start of the season. He’s already skated in six games for Buffalo this year but went scoreless while averaging 14:10 of ice time per night. The Sabres’ coaching staff is hopeful that Benson’s full recovery can put his offensive output back on the right track.
  • In worse news for the Sabres organization, Lance Lysowski of The Buffalo News reports Buffalo prospect Prokhor Poltapov has signed a two-year extension with the KHL’s CSKA Moskva. Poltapov was eligible to sign his entry-level contract with the Sabres at the end of the current KHL season but will likely stay through the 2026-27 KHL season. Buffalo drafted Poltapov with the 33rd overall pick of the 2021 NHL Draft and the St. Petersburg, Russia native has seven goals and 16 points through 21 games to start the year.

Pacific Notes: Brännström, Bains, Dellandrea, Couture

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With a game tomorrow night against the San Jose Sharks, the Vancouver Canucks are continuing their tradition of an off-day paper transaction. Typical recipients Erik Brännström and Arshdeep Bains are back on the NHL roster for tomorrow’s action as announced by the organization.

It’s the fourth time this season that both players have been involved in a paper transaction. The Canucks are continuing to accrue cap space with both players off the roster with a projected deadline cap space of $8.75MM according to PuckPedia.

Neither player has been an eye-popping talent for Vancouver to start the year, but they have been noticeable in their own ways. Brännström has tallied one assist in six contests with a +3 rating while averaging 14:15 of ice time per game, while Bains has recorded one goal in six games while distributing 10 hits in the process.

Other Pacific notes:

  • Curtis Pashelka of the Bay Area News Group reported that San Jose Sharks forward Ty Dellandrea’s injury status has been demoted to day-to-day. Dellandrea suffered the injury on October 26th against the Vegas Golden Knights and the team officially put him on the injured reserve two days later. Players on the shelf must spend at least seven days on the injured reserve meaning the Sharks can activate Dellandrea on November 5th. However, it appears he’ll be medically cleared before that.
  • Still in San Jose — arguably the most important player in the locker room is not expected back anytime soon. Sheng Peng of San Jose Hockey Now reports Sharks’ captain Logan Couture still hasn’t resumed skating although he is staying involved with the team. Couture is unfortunately still suffering from Osteitis pubis which limited him to only six regular season matchups last year and has prohibited him from taking the ice up to this point in the 2024-25 campaign.

Mathew Barzal Leaves Road Trip, Being Evaluated For Upper-Body Injury

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The Islanders announced Friday that star forward Mathew Barzal has left their road trip and has returned to New York to be evaluated for an upper-body injury. The club will announce a return timeframe in the next few days after he meets with doctors.

Things keep shifting from bad to worse for the Isles, who have dropped three straight and are now last in the Metropolitan Division with a 3-5-2 record. However, they do have games in hand on the sixth-place Flyers and seventh-place Penguins, both of whom they trail by one point. Their league-worst 2.10 goals per game is the major culprit of their struggles, though, and Barzal’s absence certainly won’t help.

It had been an underwhelming start to the season for Barzal, now in his ninth season on Long Island, before sustaining the injury. It’s unclear when it occurred – he logged a whopping 22:46 of ice time against the Blue Jackets in Wednesday’s shutout loss. But he’s been limited to two goals and three assists in 10 appearances with a -3 rating, a rate of production that’s been sliced in half from last year’s point-per-game showing. He’s averaging 2.3 shots on goal per game, down from 3.0 last season. His possession numbers are still substantial, even if his partnership with Bo Horvat on the team’s first line hasn’t been gelling after new linemate Anthony Duclair landed on LTIR with a leg injury last week.

Simon Holmström had been a fixture as the top-line left wing alongside Barzal and Horvat since Duclair’s injury. That experiment will end with Barzal out as the Islanders turn to their veterans for more offense. Anders Lee and Jean-Gabriel Pageau will move up from middle-six roles to flank Horvat on the first line tonight against the Sabres, reports Andrew Gross of Newsday. After sitting as a healthy scratch for three straight, Oliver Wahlstrom will re-enter the lineup.

However, the Isles’ injury situation is not all bad. Head coach Patrick Roy told reporters, including Stefen Rosner of NHL.com and The Hockey News, that defenseman Alexander Romanov will be a game-time decision but will likely return after missing three games with an upper-body injury. He’ll return to his top-pairing role with Noah Dobson – the duo has controlled 51.4% of expected goals when deployed together this season, per MoneyPuck. Romanov, 24, had two assists in seven games before exiting the lineup.

Evening Notes: Jankowski, Chychrun, Roy, Alexeyev

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Just before puck drop of tonight’s contest between the Nashville Predators and Edmonton Oilers, the former announced an injury update for one of their forwards. The Predators shared Mark Jankowski would not suit up in tonight’s action as he’s day-to-day with an upper-body injury.

The injury was likely suffered in the team’s most recent game against the Tampa Bay Lightning on October 28th or during practice on one of the following days. Per the announcement from Nashville, Jankowski is considered day-to-day meaning his availability for Saturday’s game against the Colorado Avalanche may be questionable.

Before tonight’s injury designation, Jankowski had suited up in all nine of the Predators’ games to start the season. He’s only tallied one assist while primarily playing left wing on the team’s third line averaging 12:43 of ice time per game. Juuso Pärssinen drew in for the injured Jankowski tonight marking his second game of the season and could draw in again on Saturday.

Other notes from earlier:

  • The Washington Capitals are deploying a shell of their potential blue line with defensemen Jakob Chychrun and Matt Roy nursing separate injuries. Neither blue liner drew into tonight’s contest against the Montreal Canadiens but all signs indicate this reality may not last much longer. Bailey Johnson of the Washington Post reported earlier that both defensemen were skating in non-contact jerseys earlier today hinting that their return may be close. Roy, the Capitals impact free agent signing from the offseason, has only suited up in one game in Washington this season before suffering a lower-body injury.
  • Washington did get one reinforcement back on the blue line with Alexander Alexeyev returning to the team from personal leave (X Link). Alexeyev and his wife were celebrating the birth of their first child and now the St. Petersburg, Russia native will play his first game of the 2024-25 NHL season. He skated in 39 games for the Capitals last season registering one goal and three points while averaging 13:42 of ice time per game.

New Jersey’s Curtis Lazar Out Indefinitely After Knee Procedure

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The New Jersey Devils will be without a key bottom-six forward for the foreseeable future. The organization announced that Curtis Lazar is out indefinitely after undergoing a procedure on his left knee.

The team shared that Lazar sustained the injury in Sunday night’s win against the Anaheim Ducks. Expectations are that the Devils will utilize Justin Dowling to replace Lazar in the bottom six as the veteran center tallied one assist in his season debut yesterday.

Lazar has been a solid contributor for New Jersey since the organization acquired him from the Vancouver Canucks during the 2022-23 season. He skated in 71 games for the Devils last year scoring seven goals and 25 points while managing a +10 rating and racking up 179 hits.

His offensive play from last year hasn’t translated to the early part of this season but there are little expectations from a bottom-six forward. New Jersey has historically utilized Lazar for his defensive makeup with 62.1% of his shift starts coming in the defensive zone.

He’s responded well in the defensive zone with a 92.1% on-ice save percentage in all situations through 12 games — a slight uptick compared to his career average. The team will also have to look elsewhere for an experienced penalty killer with Lazar helping the Devils to their current 81.08% kill percentage.

Recovery from knee injuries typically takes a long time but the vagueness of New Jersey’s announcement clouds Lazar’s timeline. The team opted to use the word ’procedure’ rather than ’surgery’ indicating that Lazar didn’t have his knee opened up under the knife which would shorten his time on the shelf.

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