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Simon Nemec Injured In Olympic Qualifier Game

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The New Jersey Devils will be waiting on bated breath over the next 48 hours to get a clearer picture of the injury sustained by defenseman Simon Nemec in the Olympic qualifier event earlier today between Slovakia and Hungary (Article Link). Beat reporter James Nichols quickly reported that the prognosis was good as Team Slovakia’s doctor does not believe anything is broken or dislocated but more tests will be run tomorrow.

It does not appear that Nemec will be out long-term without a break or dislocation so he should still be in line to start the year on time with New Jersey. The play in question took place in the back half of the second period with Nemec colliding into the corner boards with a player from Team Hungary which precluded him from participating in the rest of Friday’s action. Team Slovakia went on to win the game by a score of 7-3 and will take on Team Kazakhstan to advance.

The young Slovakian defenseman is on the eve of starting his sophomore campaign at the NHL on the heels of a solid rookie season. Nemec played in 60 games for the Devils last year and put up three goals and 19 points overall. He wasn’t a game-changer on the back end nor a liability which is more than many 19-year-olds can say about their first taste of NHL action. New Jersey will be hoping for more on both sides of the puck but it is already apparent they trust him as he finished fourth on the team in average ice time in 5-on-5 play.

The Devils may be able to gear down Nemec’s responsibilities for the 2024-25 season after a few key free-agent additions on the back end. The organization could slot Nemec into a more comfortable role on the bottom-pairing next to Brenden Dillon to give him more room to grow.

New Jersey can’t afford to lose as many defensemen as they did last year to injury; this news is a major avoidance of that. Luke Hughes was the only defenseman on the roster last season available to play in all 82 games and the man-games lost to injury had a major part in their 31-point drop in the standings year-on-year.

Snapshots: Norris, Fehervary, Bjorkstrand, Johansson

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After undergoing shoulder surgery back in March, Senators center Josh Norris is expected to be a full participant when training camp gets underway next month, reports Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch.  The 25-year-old has had three separate shoulder procedures done and he has yet to play more than 66 games in a single season.  Last season, Norris played in 50 games for Ottawa, recording 16 goals and 14 assists.  He has six years remaining on his contract with a $7.95MM cap charge and the Sens will be counting on him to stay healthy and play a prominent role in 2024-25.

Elsewhere around the hockey world:

  • Capitals defenseman Martin Fehervary will not suit up for Slovakia in the Olympic Qualifying Tournament, Hockey Slovakia announced. The blueliner recently indicated that he has been dealing with a minor injury and clearly, he hasn’t fully recovered from it to be able to play.  The 24-year-old had 16 points in 66 games for Washington last season while adding 188 hits and 109 blocked shots in 19:38 per night and would have played a prominent role for the Slovaks in the tournament.
  • Kraken winger Oliver Bjorkstrand was a late scratch for Denmark in their Olympic Qualifying Tournament game against Great Britain today. Team radio host Mike Benton relays (Twitter link) that the injury, which occurred in a tune-up game for the tournament, isn’t believed to be serious but GM Ron Francis noted that it’s something that needs to be looked at which means it’s highly unlikely he’ll play in the other two games.  Bjorkstrand, who had 20 goals and a career-high 39 assists last season, is expected to be ready to participate in training camp.
  • While unrestricted free agent Simon Johansson has received interest from overseas (particularly SHL Djurgarden), the blueliner is focusing on playing in North America this season, notes Hockey Sverige’s Mans Karlsson. The 25-year-old spent the last two seasons in Minnesota’s system and recorded 21 points in 72 games with AHL Iowa in 2023-24.  However, he was still non-tendered back in June.

Jesper Fast To Miss 2024-25 Season After Neck Surgery

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The Carolina Hurricanes have announced that forward Jesper Fast will miss the entirety of the 2024-25 season after undergoing neck surgery. Fast suffered the injury in Carolina’s final game of the regular season, and missed out on the entirety of the postseason as a result. The injury capped off his season at 19 points in 73 games – the lowest that Fast has scored in a full season since his rookie year in 2014-15.

Fast will now miss a full year after a career of consistency. He’s never missed more than 16 games in a season since becoming a full-time pro, playing in 634 of a possible 712 games since the 2015-16 season. His career kicked off with the New York Rangers, who selected him in the sixth round of the 2010 NHL Draft. Fast moved to the AHL full-time three seasons later, quickly working his way into the NHL with reliable two-way play on the wings. That style hasn’t elicited much scoring, with Fast boasting a career-high of just 33 points, but it’s been enough to earn him a concrete NHL role, and even Selke Trophy votes in the 2015-16 and 2021-22 campaigns.

Fast brought those talents to Carolina with a free-agent contract in 2021 – moving on from a seven-year tenure with the New York Rangers. He’s since become a glue piece in Carolina’s bottom six, serving as an energy piece around budding roster pieces like Jack Drury and Jesperi Kotkaniemi. That would have been the role awaiting him again next season, but Carolina will now have to pivot – and maybe even turn toward top prospects to pick up the slack. The Hurricanes have Bradly Nadeau, Jackson Blake, and Gleb Trikozov all signed to entry-level contracts. Each of the quartet holds a claim to the NHL lineup, but will have to fend off the pressure of veteran fourth-liners Eric Robinson and Tyson Jost and other quick-rising prospects like Felix Unger Sorum and Justin Robidas.

Laurent Brossoit To Miss Five To Seven Weeks From Knee Surgery

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Goaltender for the Chicago Blackhawks, Laurent Brossoit, is confirmed to be out most of if not all of training camp as the team announced he is set to miss five to seven weeks while recovering from meniscus surgery yesterday. The team recently signed Brossoit to a two-year, $6.6MM contract on the opening day of free agency this summer.

The Blackhawks are set to take on the Utah Hockey Club for their first game of the regular season on October 8th which means Brossoit could miss up to four games if he takes seven weeks to recover. If Brossoit can rebound on the quicker end of the prognosis he would be able to participate in Chicago’s last two preseason games against the Minnesota Wild and St. Louis Blues on October 4th and 5th, respectively.

Luckily even if Brossoit takes the maximum amount of time the Blackhawks will not be in too much of a hole at the goaltending position as they could recall last year’s backup, Arvid Soderblom, to stay with the team through the first week of the regular season. Soderblom would objectively serve as a downgrade to Brossoit but four games in early October should not make-or-break Chicago’s season.

Brossoit should ultimately serve as a co-starter in the Blackhawks’ net alongside Petr Mrazek. He has spent nearly all his career in a backup role and sought a share of the starts in his next home. Chicago served as an ideal choice for this as although Mrazek performed amicably for the team last season they needed a better option outside of Soderblom.

The Port Alberni, BC native has arguably been one of the better backup goaltenders over the last two years albeit surviving multiple stints on the injured reserve. Brossoit has amassed a 22-5-5 record over 34 games split between the Vegas Golden Knights and Winnipeg Jets since the start of the 2022-23 season with a .927 save percentage and 2.05 goals-against average. He will no longer have the defensive core in front of him that he’s had in seasons past which could negatively impact his numbers next year.

The Blackhawks have nothing to lose by giving Brossoit a two-year deal this summer as the team has little hope of contending over the next two seasons. Nevertheless, Brossoit will put them in a much better position to win this season comparing last year’s options.

Cayden Lindstrom Ruled Out For Rookie Camp, Still Recovering From Back Injury

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Blue Jackets general manager Don Waddell said last week that star center prospect Cayden Lindstrom was unlikely to suit up in next month’s NHL Prospects Challenge in Buffalo. Speaking to Aaron Portzline of The Athletic, Waddell confirmed Lindstrom won’t participate in the event and won’t be fully cleared at the beginning of training camp as he recovers from a disc herniation that cost him much of his draft year.

The back issue shouldn’t plague Lindstrom deep into the regular season. Waddell and Lindstrom’s agent, Wasserman Hockey’s Daren Hermiston, “agreed that he’s getting close to a return,” Portzline said. There’s a distinct air of caution in how the Blue Jackets choose to handle Lindstrom’s return to full contact, prioritizing the long-term help of a player they hope can be a top-six answer down the middle for years to come.

Lindstrom, 18, played only 36 total games with the Medicine Hat Tigers of the Western Hockey League last season. His regular season ended in mid-December, and he battled through the injury to play four postseason games. But when he was in the lineup, the British Columbia native showed why he was one of the most unique talents in this summer’s draft. He was the Tigers’ best pure sniper with 27 goals in 32 regular-season contests, and his 1.44 points per game were tied for second on the team behind projected 2026 first-overall selection Gavin McKenna (1.59). The pivot has NHL-ready size at 6’3″ and 214 lbs and is involved physically, sometimes crossing the line, as evidenced by his 66 PIMs.

Recurring back problems could be debilitating for a player who thrives on Lindstrom’s type of style, so it’s no surprise that Columbus won’t give him a full clearance until he’s truly 100%. “Before we drafted him, we had all of the MRIs, all the tests, and everything else from his agents and doctors,” Waddell told Portzline. “This is something he’s going to get better from, but we want to be really careful with it. I’ve said all along we’re going to slow-play this one. I’m going to be the conservative one here.”

The injury does, however, likely remove any slim chances he had of making the NHL roster out of camp. Waddell, entering his first year in Columbus after six years as GM of the Hurricanes, is no stranger to letting prospects overbake, so it was always likely Lindstrom would spend all of 2024-25 back in Medicine Hat. Giving him a nine-game trial of NHL action without a whole training camp to work up to it certainly goes against the “conservative” ethos Waddell describes.

Lindstrom, who the Blue Jackets selected No. 4 overall in June, is the only member of the top four yet to sign his entry-level contract. But that delay isn’t related to his injury, Waddell said. He told Portzline that he’s “assuming we’ll sign him in training camp” after saying this to Hermiston earlier this summer.

Evening Notes: Jagr, Baertschi, Necas

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Hockey legend Jaromir Jagr has hit a lull in his off-season prep, announcing in an Instagram post that he’s suffered a torn hamstring. He’ll now be out for three-to-six weeks, adding that the injury was likely a result of overtraining, which team physio Pavel Kolar warned him against. In a quote translated from Czech by Derek O’Brien of The Hockey News, Jagr said, “When I talked to the physiotherapist Pavel Kolář about the fact that I would like to properly train, he warned me not to do anything that my body is not used to. Of course, I didn’t listen to him… I went for a run. Not the sprints I used to do uphill, but normally straight. But I put weights on my ankles and tore my hamstring.”

Jagr, a partial owner of Kladno, will now miss the team’s remaining four pre-season games and could be out for the start of the Czech Extraliga season on Sep. 18. Kladno has a game roughly every other day from there on out, eating into Jagr’s goal to play in every Extraliga game this season. The inevitable Hall-of-Fame winger has stayed productive into his 50s, scoring 18 points across his last 31 Extraliga games, dating back to 2022. He’s never shown any reason for doubt, and even through a hamstring injury, he hopes to continue a productive playing career in Kladno as soon as possible.

Other quick notes from around the NHL:

  • Former Vancouver Canucks winger Sven Baertschi has joined the WHL’s Portland Winterhawks as an assistant coach, shares Ryan Pike of Flames Nation. Baertschi spent two years with the Winterhawks in 2010 and 2011, ultimately scoring a dazzling 240 points in 156 games with the club. That was enough to motivate the Calgary Flames to select Baertschi with the 13th overall selection in the 2011 NHL Draft, though he never managed to live up to that precedent. His career year came with Vancouver in 2016-17, when he posted 18 goals and 35 points in 68 games. Baertschi finished his NHL career with 138 points in 292 games, playing in parts of 10 seasons. That’s a hockey career to be proud of – meager scoring or not – and Baertschi will now look to carry his experience back to the juniors team that helmed his early career.
  • Plenty of teams expressed interest in former top trade piece and recent Hurricanes re-signee Martin Necas, shares Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman in the latest written 32 Thoughts. Among the interested parties were the Winnipeg Jets and Columbus Blue Jackets, though Necas was ultimately swayed to stay in Carolina thanks to the support of his teammates off the ice. Necas will now look to make the most of his two-year contract after posting 71 and 53 points in the last two seasons, respectively. That’s strong production, and Necas should earn an impressive contract when he becomes an unrestricted free agent, pending any collapse over the next two years.

Thatcher Demko Not Expected To Play In Preseason

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The injury situation for Thatcher Demko has been a topic of some intrigue in recent days following the report that the team was looking into external goalie depth options with Thatcher Demko’s knee injury recovering at a rate that was slower than anticipated.

Now, it sounds like his availability for the start of the regular season is now in some question.  Rick Dhaliwal and Thomas Drance of The Athletic report (subscription link) that Demko won’t be ready to participate in training camp next month or play in any exhibition games.  Vancouver remains hopeful that the 28-year-old will be ready for the start of the regular season but with how things have gone to this point, they can’t necessarily count on that happening.

Demko sustained the injury early in Vancouver’s first-round series against Nashville with Casey DeSmith and eventually Arturs Silovs taking over between the pipes as the postseason progressed.

The injury then kicked off plenty of speculation at the time when it came to his recovery.  Early on, there were reports suggesting he’d only miss one round, some for multiple rounds, and others saying the full playoffs were in jeopardy had the Canucks made it that far.  Officially, he was only ever listed as out week-to-week.

When free agency came around, Vancouver elected not to look for a veteran second-string option or even some goaltending insurance.  Instead, their plan was to have Silovs serve as Demko’s backup with Jiri Patera being brought in to serve as his replacement with AHL Abbotsford.  That decision implied that management expected Demko would be fully recovered to start the season.

Instead, they now appear to be going through the few options remaining on the open market with Dhaliwal reporting yesterday that veteran Kevin Lankinen appears to be their target.  Lankinen has spent the last four seasons between Chicago and Nashville, posting a 3.07 GAA with a .905 SV%.  He wouldn’t be pushing Demko for starts when healthy but he’d at least give them an experienced option to split time with Silovs if Demko’s slow recovery continues.

It has been a summer of turnover in Vancouver with Elias Lindholm, Nikita Zadorov, and Ilya Mikheyev among those that have moved on while Jake DeBrusk being the headliner among those joining the Canucks.  Now, it certainly looks like they’re going to need another newcomer between the pipes with Demko’s potential return getting pushed back several more weeks and potentially more.

East Notes: Suzuki, Falk, Pulkkinen

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The Canadiens essentially picked up two new top-six forwards, which should give them the offense they need to challenge for a playoff spot this season, captain Nick Suzuki told Arpon Basu of The Athletic.

“I think we can beat anybody,” Suzuki said. “I thought last year we competed against really good teams all the time. We’re still a young group, but with the addition of (Patrik Laine), and (Kirby Dach) coming back up front, it makes our forward unit look pretty scary.”

Montreal’s offense is largely headed in the right direction, especially with the emergence of 2022 first-overall pick Juraj Slafkovsky as a legitimate top-six option. But last year, especially with Dach sustaining a season-ending knee injury in the second game of the campaign, their top unit of Slafkovsky, Suzuki and Cole Caufield was their only true impact line. As Basu points out, a more legitimate secondary attack spearheaded by Dach and Laine should force defending teams to spread their matchups, alleviating some defensive pressure against the Suzuki line.

Elsewhere in the Eastern Conference:

  • Former Sabres depth defenseman Justin Falk has returned to the team as a scout, reports Lance Lysowski of The Buffalo News. Falk, 35, retired after splitting the 2019 season between the Avalanche and Senators organizations and has spent the last three years as the general manager and head coach of Manitoba’s Winkler Flyers, a Junior ’A’ club. He spent two years as a Sabre, posting a goal and nine assists with a -19 rating in 98 games in the 2016-17 and 2017-18 campaigns. He made 279 NHL appearances over a 10-year career, also suiting up for the Avs, Blue Jackets, Rangers, and Wild.
  • Defenseman Jesse Pulkkinen became the first member of the Islanders’ 2024 draft class to put pen to paper on his entry-level contract last month, but his on-ice debut with the team may have to wait. The 19-year-old has sustained a lower-body injury that may prevent him from participating in training camp, as relayed by Stefen Rosner of The Hockey News. The overage 6’6″, 220-lb blue liner was the No. 54 overall selection earlier this summer and will be loaned back to his Finnish club, JYP, in the fall.

Evening Notes: Lankinen, Nichushkin, Pieniniemi

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The Vancouver Canucks are narrowing in on a deal with goaltender Kevin Lankinen reports CHEK’s Rick Dhaliwal. He’ll support the team as they await the return of Thatcher Demko, who is taking longer than expected to recover from his knee injury.

A deal in Vancouver would move Lankinen on from four seasons in the Central Division – split between the Chicago Blackhawks and Nashville Predators. He debuted as Chicago’s starter in the shortened 2020-21 season, recording 17 wins and a .909 save percentage across 37 games. It was an impressive start to the undrafted free agent’s career, though not strong enough to hang onto the starting role when Chicago signed Marc-Andre Fleury that summer. Lankinen has been a proud backup ever since, with his ice time dwindling to just 24 games with Nashville last season.

Vancouver could offer Lankinen his first true shot at a starting role in a while – though he’ll have to beat out postseason wonder Arturs Silovs. Silovs took over for Demko in last year’s Stanley Cup Playoffs with just nine career games to his name. He’d end up playing 10 more, posting a .898 save percentage and showing plenty of ability to win games when his team needed him. Silovs will be the favorite for the starting role entering camp, but Lankinen could offer quick relief should he struggle.

Other notes from around the league:

  • Sergey Fedotov, a former scout for the Russian National Team, told Russia’s Sports.ru that Colorado Avalanche winger Valeri Nichushkin will be ready to return to the NHL in November. Nichushkin entered the NHL Player’s Assistance Program in May, missing out on the bulk of the postseason after a red-hot start – nine goals and 10 points in eight games. Nichushkin scored a collective 63 points in 62 games this season and will stand as a top option in Colorado’s lineup when he returns, though speculation will remain until the team formally announces his return.
  • Pittsburgh Penguins defense prospect Emil Pieniniemi – the 91st pick in the 2023 NHL Draft – has signed with the OHL’s Kingston Frontenacs for the 2024-25 season. The move kicks off his career in North America after growing up through Kärpät’s junior system and playing 39 games with the Liiga club. He scored six points in those appearances but has already looked more impressive in international play this summer – posting four points in four games during Finland’s U20 friendlies. He’ll now look to maintain that scoring momentum into the much-quicker-paced CHL next season.

Evander Kane Likely To Undergo Surgery, Start Season On LTIR

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The Oilers will likely be without forward Evander Kane to start this season as he recovers from a yet-to-be-performed undisclosed surgery, according to the team’s Bob Stauffer (X link).

Kane played through a good chunk of last season with a sports hernia, he revealed to reporters in April. It plagued him through the Oilers’ run to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final, holding him out of five of Edmonton’s 25 playoff games. It’s unclear if today’s news is related.

The recovery from the undisclosed surgery would likely sideline him for at least the first 10 games and 24 days of the 2024-25 campaign, meaning the Oilers can place him on long-term injured reserve. Doing so would allow them to gain temporary relief from his $5.125MM cap hit, giving new general manager Stan Bowman some much-needed financial flexibility. Edmonton’s roster currently projects to check in at more than $350K over the $88MM upper limit, per PuckPedia. Not only do the Oilers need space for day-to-day transactions, but they also still need to come to agreements with RFAs Philip Broberg and Dylan Holloway.

After an underwhelming 2023-24 season, the 33-year-old Kane may have seemed like a probable trade candidate for Edmonton to clear cap space. But a full no-movement clause through July 1, 2025, meant he could have blocked any move, including a waiver placement, and the second year of term remaining on his deal makes him a tougher sell to interested teams.

In fact, it’s been an underwhelming couple of seasons for Kane after a strong initial showing in Edmonton. His 44 points in 77 games last season were especially poor production for the power forward, and his 0.57 points per game were his worst since the 2015-16 season. He didn’t fare much better in an injury-plagued 2022-23 campaign either, limited to 16 goals and 28 points in 41 games. His 0.68 points per game that year cratered from the year prior, when he put up 0.91 per game after signing with the Oilers midseason following a contract termination by the Sharks.

The two-time 30-goal scorer still finished fourth on the Oilers in goals (24) and led them in hits (250) last year, but his 16:47 ATOI was his lowest usage since his rookie season with the Atlanta Thrashers in 2009-10.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

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