Headlines

Go To MLB Trade Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Injury

Central Notes: Coyotes, Zuccarello, Gaudreau, Krug, Neighbours

at CDT | by 6 Comments

A relocation to Salt Lake City for 2024-25 seems the overwhelmingly likely end to a years-long solution to the Coyotes’ long-term future in Arizona. Reporting yesterday indicated significant progress had been made between Coyotes owner Alex Meruelo, the NHL, and prospective Salt Lake owner Smith Entertainment Group on an agreement to sell the club. Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli and Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman also told PHNX Sports that a move to Utah had a “90 to 95 percent chance” of going through.

What’s less certain is a timeline. Speaking on “Insider Trading” on Thursday, TSN’s Pierre LeBrun said an official announcement coming immediately after the Coyotes’ season ends next week is “a little hopeful.” Out of the multiple reports that circulated yesterday, a few suggested the sale to SEG could be announced as soon as April 18. When the Atlanta Thrashers moved to Winnipeg in 2011, the most recent instance of NHL relocation, the sale wasn’t made official until late May. However, LeBrun says that’s too far down a potential timeline. If the league hasn’t confirmed a move to Salt Lake before then, it’s likely not happening this offseason, and another season in Arizona at Tempe’s Mullett Arena is likely in store.

Other news and notes from the Central:

  • Wild forwards Frédérick Gaudreau and Mats Zuccarello did not travel with the team on their West Coast road trip due to personal reasons and are both doubtful tomorrow against the Golden Knights, head coach John Hynes told Michael Russo of The Athletic. Considering there’s a possibility they may travel and join the team in Las Vegas tomorrow, it’s unlikely they’ll miss the entirety of Minnesota’s three-game road swing, their last of the season. Regardless of their availability, 2022 first-round pick Liam Öhgren will make his NHL debut, said Hynes, although it may impact where he plays in the lineup. He’s currently projected to occupy a third-line role at left wing alongside Marat Khusnutdinov and Vinni Lettieri. Gaudreau, 30, has struggled mightily in the first season of a five-year, $10.5MM extension, limited to five goals and 15 points in 65 games while posting a team-worst -21 rating. Meanwhile, Zuccarello is chugging along in his age-36 season, still sitting just south of point-per-game territory with 62 in 68 appearances.
  • The Blues could be without defenseman Torey Krug and winger Jake Neighbours tomorrow against the Hurricanes due to upper-body injuries. Krug is listed as questionable, while Neighbours has already been ruled out, interim head coach Drew Bannister told Lou Korac of NHL.com and The Hockey News. The former has missed a couple of games recently, sitting out last weekend’s contest against the Sharks due to illness and missing a late-March contest against the Senators with a lower-body injury. He’s been hot lately when in the lineup, recording three points in his last three games. He’s got 39 in 77 appearances, tying last season for his worst points-per-game rate since 2015. It’s been a more successful campaign for the 22-year-old Neighbours, who’s broken out for 27 goals and 38 points in 77 games in his sophomore campaign.

Pacific Notes: Coleman, Honzek, Lipinski, McDavid, Carrick

at CDT | by 3 Comments

The Calgary Flames will be without forward Blake Coleman, who is day-to-day with an upper-body injury, per Sportsnet’s Pat Steinberg (Twitter link). Coleman suffered the injury on a hard hit from San Jose Sharks defenseman Kyle Burroughs, though he finished out the game.

Coleman has found a new layer to his game on the struggling Flames roster, posting an impressive 29 goals, 23 assists, and 52 points in 77 games. Each of those represents a career-high for the 32-year-old, who hasn’t topped even 40 points in any of his seven seasons up to this point. He and winger Yegor Sharangovich—who’s posted 30 goals of his own—have been pivotal to the Flames this season, setting the pace for the team’s limited offense.

The Flames are well outside of a playoff spot, removing some of the stress of finding a fill-in for Coleman. Kevin Rooney is expected to slot into the lineup for the short term. Calgary has five games left in its season.

One player who won’t be filling in is 2023 first-round pick Samuel Hoznek, who is in Calgary after the end of his WHL season, though he’s nursing an injury that could hold him out, per Ryan Pike of Flames Nation (Twitter link). Calgary signed Honzek last summer, loaning him to the WHL’s Vancouver Giants for the season. He returns to the Calgary organization alongside WHL teammate Jaden Lipinski, who has signed an amateur try-out contract with the AHL’s Calgary Wranglers. Honzek will also close out the season with the Wranglers once he’s cleared to play.

Elsewhere in the Pacific:

  • The Edmonton Oilers haven’t received any positive news about superstar Connor McDavid, who remains day-to-day and questionable for the team’s next game, per TSN’s Ryan Rishaug (Twitter link). McDavid will be poised to miss his second game with a lower-body injury. He’s been filled in for by Dylan Holloway, who was recalled ahead of the team’s Wednesday matchup against the Vegas Golden Knights. Holloway scored his first NHL goal since February 13th in the spot start.
  • The Oilers will also be without forward Sam Carrick, who is day-to-day with an upper-body injury suffered during the team’s Wednesday night matchup, per NHL Network’s Tom Gazzola (Twitter link). Carrick, who moved to Edmonton alongside Adam Henrique at the Trade Deadline, has recorded four points and 12 penalty minutes in his first 12 games with the Oilers. He’ll likely be replaced by Connor Brown.

Atlantic Notes: Byram, Dahlin, Edmundson, Lyubushkin

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

The Buffalo Sabres will be without newcomer defenseman Bowen Byram on Thursday due to a personal matter (Twitter link). Byram also missed the team’s morning practice. He has so far played in 16 games with the Sabres, netting three goals and seven points. That’s a 0.438 point-per-game pace, a significant boost over the 0.363 scoring pace he managed prior to being traded, when he scored 20 points in 55 games with the Colorado Avalanche. His combined 27 points in 71 games mark a new career-high for Byram, topping his 24 points last season.

Buffalo will now be back to square one, trying to make up for a lack of defense depth now without Byram or Erik Johnson, who was also traded at the Trade Deadline. This likely opens the door for Kale Clague to step back into the lineup for Buffalo’s last three games. Clague has made two other appearances in the Sabres lineup this season, recording one assist and one penalty. He was a much more frequent lineup piece last season, playing in 33 games with Buffalo and recording four assists, but he lost his platoon role to rookie Ryan Johnson this year. Johnson, who has played in his first 41 NHL games this year, is currently assigned to the minor-leagues but could receive a call-up if Buffalo wants added depth to close out the season.

Other notes from around the league:

  • Staying with the Sabres defense, star Rasmus Dahlin has shared that he is ready to take on the Sabres captaincy, if the opportunity presents itself, per Paul Hamilton of WGR550 (Twitter link). Buffalo recently traded two-year captain Kyle Okposo, leaving the role once again vacant. Dahlin is serving alongside Zemgus Girgensons as the team’s assistant captains, though Girgensons is on an expiring deal and faced trade rumors earlier in the season. That leaves Dahlin, who is signed through the 2031-32 season, as seemingly the last man up in Buffalo’s search for leadership. He could face competition from top centerman Tage Thompson, long-tenured veteran Jeff Skinner, or grizzled personality-piece Alex Tuch – though it’s hard to envision the Sabres not once again placing their trust in Dahlin, who this season became the first Sabres defender since Phil Housley to score 20 goals.
  • Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Joel Edmundson has shared that he’s good to go, after missing the team’s last eight games with an undisclosed injury, shares TSN’s Mark Masters (Twitter link). He will be joined in re-entering the lineup by Ilya Lyubushkin, who has missed Toronto’s last three games. Masters adds that Conor Timmins and Jake McCabe will step out of the lineup – with McCabe getting rested after an extended stint in the lineup.

Pacific Notes: Morin, Nesterenko, Turcotte

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

With his 2023-24 season coming to an end with the Moncton Wildcats of the QMJHL, the Calgary Flames announced that Etienne Morin has been reassigned to the organization’s AHL affiliate, the Calgary Wranglers. Having yet to sign his entry-level contract with the Flames organization, Morin will play with the Wranglers for the remainder of the season on an amateur tryout agreement.

Morin originally came to the Flames organization by way of the 48th overall pick of the 2023 NHL Draft. In his draft year, Morin was a very efficient defenseman for the Wildcats, scoring 21 goals and 72 points in 67 games while also achieving a +/- rating of 29.

While his year-on-year offensive production certainly took a dip in the 2023-24 season, Morin became even more effective as a physical player on the blue line. With the Wranglers having already clinched a playoff spot in the 2024 Calder Cup playoffs, Morin is set to receive valuable experience as the organization prepares for the postseason.

Other Pacific notes:

  • After having spent five days with the Anaheim Ducks, Nikita Nesterenko is headed back down to the AHL as the organization announced they have reassigned back to their AHL affiliate, the San Diego Gulls. Nesterenko was able to make his season debut with the Ducks over this emergency recall, suiting up in three games while scoring one goal. Now returning to San Diego, the former sixth-round pick will look to build upon his 15-goal, 33-point campaign in the last few contests.
  • Out of the lineup for the Los Angeles Kings for nearly a month, it appears that forward Alex Turcotte is close to returning for the club. In an update today, the Kings organization announced that Turcotte has been assigned to their AHL affiliate, the Ontario Reign, on a conditioning loan. Before going down with an undisclosed injury in March, Turcotte was not a heavily utilized player by Los Angeles, scoring one goal and four points in 20 games while only averaging 9:17 of ice time per night.

Red Wings Recall Zach Aston-Reese

at CDT | by 3 Comments

The Red Wings announced that forward Zach Aston-Reese has been recalled from AHL Grand Rapids on an emergency loan. He could replace Andrew Copp, who left yesterday’s loss to the Capitals with a suspected broken cheekbone, in the lineup tomorrow in a must-win game against the Penguins.

Copp sustained the injury on a high-sticking infraction from Capitals winger Nicolas Aubé-Kubel that referees missed with less than six minutes remaining in the contest. He didn’t return to the game and could be out for Detroit’s four remaining regular season games if imaging confirms the break. The Red Wings are also without winger Michael Rasmussen (upper body, day-to-day), which would leave them with only 11 healthy forwards against Pittsburgh if neither he nor Copp can play, necessitating a forward recall from Grand Rapids today.

The Wings signed Copp to a five-year, $28.1MM deal in 2022, expecting him to slot in as their second-line center behind Dylan Larkin. He was coming off a career year and an electric finish, recording 18 points in 16 games with the Rangers after they picked him up from the Jets at the 2022 trade deadline. He’s been underwhelming offensively, though, scoring only nine goals in 82 games last season after four straight seasons of double-digit totals. While he’s put the puck in the net more this season with 13 markers, his overall production is down, limited to 33 points in 77 games. His 0.43 points per game are his lowest in five years, and he’s been a negative relative possession player in both of his campaigns in Detroit.

Aston-Reese will now play spot duty as the Red Wings fight to make the playoffs for the first time in eight years. Their chances of doing so tumbled nearly 25% after yesterday’s loss and now sit at 27.9%, per MoneyPuck. Detroit signed Aston-Reese for experienced organizational depth in early October after he was released from a PTO with the Hurricanes, but the 29-year-old has only played one NHL game this season. He’s spent most of the season in the minors for the first time since 2017-18, his first professional season. In 59 games with Grand Rapids, the versatile checking forward has 14 goals, 15 assists, 29 points, a +4 rating, and 51 PIMs.

Coyotes’ Travis Dermott Out For The Season With Injury

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

The Arizona Coyotes have announced that defenseman Travis Dermott will be sidelined for the rest of the season with an upper-body injury. Forward Nick Bjugstad is also facing an upper-body injury, carrying a day-to-day designation (Twitter link). The Coyotes have five games remaining in their season, including a Tuesday night matchup with the Seattle Kraken.

Dermott has been limited to just 50 games this season, with a month-long absence in November headlining an injury-plagued year. It’s been a disappointing start to Dermott’s time in Arizona after he signed a one-year deal with the team this summer. It was his first time signing a free-agent contract, with all of his previous deals coming with the Toronto Maple Leafs. Dermott certainly found an improved role in the desert, averaging 17:17 in ice time that flirted with his career-high. But it didn’t lead to improved scoring, as he managed just two goals and seven points, matching the measly scoring he posted in 60 games last year. Dermott will be set to re-enter free agency this summer, with this injury likely not helping his bid for a new team if the Coyotes don’t re-sign him.

Rookie Maksymillian Szuber is expected to make his NHL debut in Dermott’s place. Szuber has recorded six goals and 24 points in 67 games as an AHL rookie, after spending the last three seasons in Germany’s DEL. He’ll become the first skater selected outside of 2022’s top two rounds to play in the NHL. Szuber moving into the lineup removes Arizona’s extra defender, though the team could recall an option like Victor Soderstrom or Vladislav Kolyachonok for added depth.

Blues’ Justin Faulk Week-To-Week, Likely Out For Season

at CDT | by 3 Comments

An upper-body injury is expected to hold Justin Faulk out for an extended time, per Matthew DeFranks of the St. Louis Dispatch (Twitter link). DeFranks shares that head coach Drew Bannister designated Faulk as week-to-week, adding that he’s likely done for the year. The Blues have four games left in their season.

Faulk left the Blues’ Saturday game early, following a fight with San Jose Sharks forward Luke Kunin. He instigated the fight after a bad hit on teammate Jake Neighbours that also forced an early exit. Bannister designated Neighbours as day-to-day with a resulting upper-body injury on Tuesday, per NHL.com’s Lou Korac (Twitter link).

Faulk has again served as a top defender for the Blues, averaging nearly 22 minutes of ice time through 60 games this season. But he hasn’t been nearly as productive as usual, with just two goals and 30 points – a far cry from his 50 points last year. Injuries could be to blame, with Faulk missing significant time in December, January, and February with a nagging lower-body injury. He’ll now end his season having played in his fewest games since 2013, excluding the shortened 2020-21 season where he played in all 56 games.

Faulk’s absence will give Matthew Kessel and Tyler Tucker more lineup security, though they’ll each still compete with Marco Scandella. None of the three have reached 10 points yet, with Scandella’s eight points in 66 games leading the group. Meanwhile, rookies Zach Dean and Zachary Bolduc could hang onto a role with Neighbours out. St. Louis is currently five points back from a Wild Card, and one game in the hole, though they’re not yet mathematically eliminated.

West Notes: Demko, Dunn, McCann, Rantanen

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

The Vancouver Canucks welcomed starting goaltender Thatcher Demko back to practice on Tuesday and could return him to the lineup as soon as Saturday, head coach Rick Tocchet shares with TSN’s Farhan Lalji (Twitter link). Demko is currently on Vancouver’s long-term injured reserve with a knee injury. He hasn’t played since March 9th, missing Vancouver’s last 12 games.

While Tocchet added that the team wants to be careful in easing Demko back in, there’s no doubting they’re ecstatic to have him back in time for playoffs. Demko’s success has been a big part of the Canucks’ climb up the standings, with the 28-year-old posting 34 wins and a .917 save percentage across 49 appearances this season. He ranks third in the league in wins and fifth in save percentage, among starting goalies.

Demko’s strong performances this season have continued his ascension, with the three-year starter in a good position to receive Vezina Trophy votes for just the second time in his career – joining his seventh-place finish in 2022, after he posted 33 wins and a .915 save percentage in 64 games. But he’ll have bigger goals in mind, with Vancouver poised to make the playoffs for just the third time since 2014.

Other notes from around the league:

  • Both Jared McCann and Vince Dunn will miss the Seattle Kraken’s Tuesday game against the Arizona Coyotes, per team reporter Alison Lukan (Twitter link). Head coach Dave Hakstol shared that both players remain day-to-day, with McCann facing a lower-body injury and Dunn nursing an upper-body injury. The pair have been highly impactful this year, each ranked in the top-three of scoring in Seattle, with McCann boasting a team-leading 60 points in 75 games while Dunn has 46 points in 59 games.
  • Colorado Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar has shared that forward Mikko Rantanen could return on Saturday, per Ryan Boulding of NHL.com (Twitter link). The star winger has been in concussion protocol after taking a heavy hit from Edmonton Oilers defesneman Mattias Ekholm on Friday. Rantanen eclipsed the 100-point mark for the second-straight seaosn this year, currently carrying 40 goals and 102 points through 77 games.

Devils’ Jack Hughes To Undergo Season-Ending Surgery

at CDT | by 1 Comment

The New Jersey Devils have announced that star centerman Jack Hughes will undergo season-ending shoulder surgery on April 10th (Twitter link). His season will come to a close after just 62 games, with Hughes scoring 27 goals and 74 points.

This news finally brings an end to what’s been an injury-riddled year for Hughes. He missed two weeks of action in November with a right shoulder injury and earned a spot on injured reserve for one month in January with another upper-body injury. And while Hughes has been consistently in the lineup since February 8th, he hasn’t seemed to be in full health – shying away from physicality and not taking a single faceoff since his last injury.

But even when hobbled, Hughes was still a dominant player for the Devils. He’s scored 29 points in 30 games since February 8th, while averaging 21:28 in ice time. That ranks Hughes second on the team in scoring in that span, behind Nico Hischier and tied with Timo Meier. It also ranks him in the top 30 in league scoring over the last two months.

New Jersey has gone 31-31 with Hughes in the lineup, compared to 6-10 in the games he’s missed, and 12-16 since his return from injured reserve. They’ll now have to finish the year off without him, though there’s not much left to fight for – with New Jersey sat five points, and five spots, away from an Eastern Conference Wild Card. Nolan Foote is expected to make his season debut in Hughes’ absence on Tuesday. Foote has missed a large portion of the season with an upper-body injury suffered during the preseason. He’ll be playing in his 20th career NHL game, and his first since March of 2023.

Devils Notes: Hughes, Marino, Foote

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

The New Jersey Devils will be without star forward Jack Hughes tonight, and potentially longer according to Ryan Novozinsky of NJ.com. Officially, Hughes will be out tonight with an undisclosed injury, and head coach Travis Green alluded to the idea that Hughes could miss the remainder of New Jersey’s regular season.

It will be the second time in three seasons that Hughes will have his season significantly shortened by injury, as his last complete year came back in the 2020-21 NHL season, although he did compete in 78 games last year. If Hughes is indeed done for the remaining schedule, he will have finished with 27 goals and 74 points in 62 games, the second-highest points-per-game mark of his young career.

In a season to forget for the Devils organization, the team will only be able to finish with a maximum of 87 points, a 25-point drop off from just a season ago. With 16 games missed on the season, New Jersey has only been able to procure a 6-9-1 record without their top player this season, partially leading to their fall in the standings.

Other Devils notes:

  • After having missed the last two games due to an undisclosed injury, it appears that defenseman John Marino could be returning tonight for the Devils (X Link). Much like Hughes and several other members of New Jersey’s roster, Marino has missed a handful of games across the season due to injuries. When healthy, Marino has been able to suit up in 71 games for the Devils up to this point, scoring four goals and 29 points overall while averaging 20:51 of ice time per night.
  • Now that Hughes has officially been ruled out for tonight’s game, team reporter for the Devils, Amanda Stein, is reporting that forward Nolan Foote could be making his season debut with the club. Having recently been activated from Season Opening Injured Reserve on March 11th, Foote has only managed four games for the team’s AHL affiliate altogether this season, scoring three goals and four points in a small sample size.

Pro Hockey Rumors is not affiliated with National Hockey League, NHL or NHL.com

Do not Sell or Share My Personal Information

scroll to top