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Metropolitan Notes: Capitals, Konecny, Palat, Greaves

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Taking the ice for practice this morning, Tarik El-Bashir of Monumental Sports Network provided several updates to injured members of the Washington Capitals. He reports that forward T.J. Oshie skated once again, but is still considered week-to-week, while Nic Dowd and Martin Fehervary both skated in non-contact jerseys and are confirmed to miss the team’s next game against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

All three players currently find themselves on the team’s injured reserve and have limited Washington’s depth up and down the lineup. However, even with all three members having been out since at least February 22nd, the Capitals have earned a 2-2-1 record in that stretch, maintaining their position near the Eastern Conference wild-card spot.

The largest concern will surround Oshie, who has only managed to suit up in 38 games for Washington this season. Dealing with injuries in the past, Oshie still has another year left on his contract after this season for $5.75MM. In those 38 games, his production continues to tail off towards the end of his career, as he has only managed 10 goals and 18 points up to this point.

Other Metro notes:

  • Philadelphia Flyers forward Travis Konecny could return to the lineup as soon as Thursday after Sam Carchidi of Philly Hockey Now reports Konecny was a full participant in practice this morning. Konecny, who has missed the last six games for the Flyers, will be as important a return as any to Philadelphia’s lineup, as he still leads the team in scoring even after having missed time. Still thriving under head coach John Tortorella, Konecny has scored 27 goals and 54 points for the Flyers this season, leading the team in the latter category by a margin of nine points.
  • Missing last night’s game with a lower-body injury, team reporter Amanda Stein is reporting that New Jersey Devils forward Ondrej Palat was also absent from the team’s practice this morning. Currently on a three-game losing streak, the loss of Palat will do nothing to help the Devils’ hopes of qualifying for the 2024 Stanley Cup playoffs. In 51 games for New Jersey this season, Palat has scored nine goals and 24 points, which is a similar pace to his production last year.
  • The Columbus Blue Jackets have sent down goaltender Jet Greaves to their AHL affiliate, the Cleveland Monsters, per a team announcement. Greaves was able to play in one game for the Blue Jackets after being recalled on March 4th, stopping 26 of 31 shots in the team’s loss against the Penguins last night.

Philadelphia Flyers Extend Nick Seeler

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3:40 pm: The Philadelphia Flyers have announced the signing, confirming that it will be a four-year, $10.8MM contract extension for Seeler. The deal will also carry a M-NTC for Seeler in the first two years of the contract.

9:59 am: Half of the Flyers’ top shutdown pairing appears to be off the trade block — for multiple reasons. Not only has Nick Seeler landed on injured reserve Wednesday with a lower-body injury, but his camp is making significant progress on a contract extension to keep him in Philly, Darren Dreger of TSN reports. Anthony Di Marco of The Fourth Period adds the deal is expected to be three or four years in length and will carry an average annual value of around $3.3MM.

In a transaction corresponding with Seeler’s IR placement, the Flyers recalled blue-liner Adam Ginning from AHL Lehigh Valley. It’s the 24-year-old’s first recall of the season.

Seeler, 30, has emerged from the woodwork to emerge one of the league’s most competent two-way defensive pairs alongside Sean Walker, who’s also seen his name bandied about heavily in trade talks. The two pending UFAs have been crucial in helping the Flyers break out for a likely playoff berth, posting a team-high 55.9% expected goals share in their 645 minutes together this season, per MoneyPuck. Seeler’s seen more limited usage at even strength – averaging 14:46 per game compared to Walker’s 16:47 – but he is tied for the team lead with a +15 rating alongside top scorer Travis Konecny. His overall 16:58 average per game is a career-high.

He’s slowly developed into a multi-competent NHL player after starting his career as a bottom-of-the-lineup enforcer with the Wild in the late 2010s. Since joining the Flyers in 2021, Seeler has accumulated six goals, 23 assists, and 29 points in 183 games. One of those goals and 12 points have come in 63 games this year.

While not guaranteed, Seeler’s extension increases the likelihood of Walker finding a new home within 48 hours. The Flyers are far ahead of schedule in their rebuild, and GM Daniel Brière has preached patience and not sacrificing long-term success for short-term gains in the weeks leading up to the deadline. Walker could command a first- or second-round pick plus a handful of other desirable assets based on the market set by the Chris Tanev swap last month after the Flyers took him on as a cap dump in a three-way trade with the Blue Jackets and Kings last summer involving Ivan Provorov.

Seeler is in the final season of a two-year, $1.55MM extension he signed in May 2022. His deal carries a two-way structure this season ($775K NHL/$350K AHL/$375K gt’d), although at no point has an AHL assignment been considered for him.

Unfortunately, the Minnesota native will miss a handful of contests as the Flyers try to maintain third place in the Metropolitan Division. Assuming his IR placement is backdated to when he sustained the injury on Monday against the Blues, he’s been ruled out for a pair of pivotal contests against the Panthers and Lightning this week.

Ginning, a second-round pick in 2018, could make his season debut if Walker is dealt by Friday or if the Flyers opt to dress seven defensemen. He’s appeared in 52 contests with Lehigh Valley this season, scoring twice and adding 11 assists for 13 points with a -9 rating. He’ll be an RFA with arbitration rights this summer after completing his two-year, $1.85MM entry-level contract.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports.

TSN’s Darren Dreger was the first to report the official deal for Seeler. 

Senators Expected To Scratch Vladimir Tarasenko For Trade-Related Reasons

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The Senators will likely scratch pending UFA winger Vladimir Tarasenko for trade-related reasons Wednesday against the Ducks, Bruce Garrioch of Postmedia reports. Ottawa recalled winger Matthew Highmore from AHL Belleville in a corresponding transaction, a team announcement states.

In recent days, Tarasenko has generated interest from multiple teams. The Bruins, Oilers, Golden Knights, Hurricanes, Panthers, and Rangers have all inquired about picking him up before Friday’s trade deadline, Garrioch said Monday.

His one-year, $5MM contract contains a no-trade clause, so he can block a trade to any team he chooses. Per Garrioch, Tarasenko reportedly prefers the defending Eastern Conference champion Panthers as his post-deadline home, but it doesn’t appear he’ll force his way into a move to South Florida if another contender serves up an offer more to Sens GM Steve Staios’ liking.

Tarasenko, 32, has picked things up after a slow start in the Canadian capital, posting 17 goals, 24 assists and 41 points in 57 games. His 0.72 points per game matches last season’s rate split between the Blues and Rangers, albeit in a little less ice time. Tarasenko’s averaging 16:03 per game, his lowest usage in 10 years.

Interestingly, he’s been a much-improved player at controlling possession quality from his later days in St. Louis. He has a 0.2 expected rating, his first time in the black in an entire season since winning the Stanley Cup with the Blues in 2019.

As such, Ottawa will follow in the footsteps of the Kraken (Alexander Wennberg) and Coyotes (Jason Zucker) and scratch their most likely trade asset to avoid a pre-deadline injury. Tarasenko, who has four points in his last four games, will be a scratch for the first time since taking a brief personal leave in December.

He’ll be replaced in the lineup by the 28-year-old Highmore, who comes up from Belleville for the third time this season. The Nova Scotia-born winger made six appearances for the Sens in November and December, recording an assist, a -1 rating and one shot on goal while averaging a career-low 7:59 per game.

The former Blackhawks, Blues and Canucks depth forward is in his first season in Ottawa after inking a one-year, two-way deal ($775K NHL/$400K AHL) on July 1 last year. He’s spent most of the year with Belleville, scoring nine goals and adding 20 assists for 29 points in 40 games. It’s a significant step back from last year’s minor-league showing when he posted 61 points in 68 games with St. Louis’ affiliate, the Springfield Thunderbirds.

As long as Highmore’s recall lasts under 10 days and sees him play four games or less, he won’t need waivers to return to the B-Sens. He’ll likely factor in on Ottawa’s fourth line tonight with Mark Kastelic and Parker Kelly. Zack MacEwen, who was quietly moved to injured reserve yesterday, per CapFriendly, is out with a lower-body injury.

Atlantic Notes: White, Harvey-Pinard, Lindholm, Kampf, Timmins

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Eric Engels of Sportsnet is reporting that the Montreal Canadiens have placed forward Colin White on the injured reserve, and have activated forward Rafael Harvey-Pinard from it. Earlier reporting suggested that White suffered an upper-body injury in practice, and is only considered day-to-day.

White originally joined the Canadiens organization via waiver claim on February 22nd, coming over from the Pittsburgh Penguins. In 16 games this season, five of which have been in Montreal, White has been unable to register any points so far. He has received more ice time with the Canadiens but is still receiving playing time in the bottom six nonetheless.

Harvey-Pinard, on the other hand, has had his season mired by injuries. With injury concerns limiting him to 24 games on the year, Harvey-Pinard has scored one goal and seven points for the Canadiens this season. Hoping for health moving forward, Montreal will be waiting to see if they can get back last year’s version of Harvey-Pinard, who scored 14 goals and 20 points in 36 games.

Other Atlantic notes:

  • There is still no official timeline on the return of Boston Bruins’ defenseman Hampus Lindholm, but Conor Ryan of the Boston Globe is reporting that Lindholm is close to a return. Lindholm has been out for a little over a week with an upper-body injury which has marked his first significant injury since the 2021-22 season. Seeing a marketable decrease in his production this season, Lindholm has put up one goal and 19 points in 56 games for the Bruins this year.
  • Absent from the team’s practice today, Toronto Maple Leafs forward David Kampf is reportedly out with an illness (X Link). The Maple Leafs do play against the Buffalo Sabres tomorrow night, and Kampf’s status is currently up in the air. In 47 games for Toronto this season, Kampf has produced at a respectable level, scoring five goals and 11 points overall.
  • Sticking in Toronto, Mark Masters of TSN is reporting that defenseman Conor Timmins is back at practice for the first time since his mononucleosis diagnosis back in early February. It is undetermined when Timmins will be able to re-enter the lineup for the Maple Leafs, but he has scored one goal and six points in 16 games for Toronto already this season.

Metropolitan Notes: Seeler, Koppanen, Acciari

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One of the most popular names on the rumor mill may be out until the trade deadline. Kevin Kurz of The Athletic is reporting that defenseman Nick Seeler of the Philadelphia Flyers will be out for a short period with an injury and that the injury is not serious.

In now his third season with the Flyers organization, Seeler has taken upon more responsibility this year, averaging nearly 17 minutes a night for the first time in his career. A valuable shutdown defenseman, Seeler sits first on the team in blocked shots with 184, and first on the team amongst defensemen in hits with 112 on the year up to this point.

As a pending unrestricted free agent, Philadelphia is at least gauging the trade interest across the league for Seeler’s services, but are notably asking for a first-round pick in return. If the Flyers asking price is not met, they will carry Seeler and pending UFA Sean Walker into the postseason as they currently sit comfortably in third place in the Metropolitan Division.

Other Metropolitan notes:

  • Pittsburgh Penguins forward Noel Acciari is being evaluated for an upper-body injury and will not play tonight according to a team announcement. Acciari’s absence will open up a spot in the bottom six of Pittsburgh’s forward core, allowing the team to make a call-up. In 45 games for the Penguins this season, Acciari has averaged a total of 13 minutes of ice time per night, scoring two goals and five points overall.
  • To fill the void left by Acciari, the Penguins have called up forward Joona Koppanen from their AHL affiliate, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (X Link). Koppanen has already played in three games for Pittsburgh this year, registering zero points overall. At the AHL level, Koppanen has seen plenty of action, suiting up in 49 games for WBS, scoring five points and 16 points up to this point.

Pacific Notes: Soucy, Pospisil, Zary, Stalock

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Harman Dayal of The Athletic is reporting that the Vancouver Canucks defenseman Carson Soucy will return to the lineup tonight as the team takes on the Los Angeles Kings. Soucy has been out of the lineup for a month and a half with a broken hand suffered on January 20th against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

It is the second time this season that Soucy has broken a bone with the first being a broken leg that kept him out of the lineup for two months. On the year, injuries have limited Soucy to just 21 games with Vancouver, scoring two goals and six points overall.

Signed to a three-year, $9.75MM contract with the Canucks this past summer, Soucy still has plenty of time to recover and become an important factor of Vancouver’s defensive core. With Soucy now back in the mix, the Canucks should be able to field one of the league’s deepest defensive units come playoff time, as long as Tyler Myers can return in due time from his undisclosed injury.

Other Pacific notes:

  • Calgary Flames forward Martin Pospisil is set to have a hearing for boarding Seattle Kraken’s Vince Dunn yesterday evening, according to the Department of Player Safety. During the play in question, Dunn received the puck below the goal line in Seattle’s defensive zone, with his back completely turned to the rest of the ice. Pospisil delivered a body check to Dunn while he was in a vulnerable spot, and was issued a five-minute major penalty on the play.
  • Sticking in Calgary, Ryan Pike of Flames Nation is reporting that the Flames have placed forward Connor Zary on the team’s injured reserve, retroactively to the team’s game on Saturday. This allowed Calgary to open up a roster this afternoon to claim defenseman Joel Hanley off of waivers from the Dallas Stars.
  • The Anaheim Ducks have reassigned goaltender Alex Stalock to their AHL affiliate, the San Diego Gulls, per a team announcement. Even with this transaction marking the fourth time that Stalock has been brought up to the NHL level this year, he has yet to suit up in a game for Anaheim. At the AHL level, Stalock has appeared in 11 contests for the Gulls, earning a 1-9-1 record with a .892 SV%.

Metropolitan Notes: Capitals, Fehérváry, Toffoli, Palát, Islanders

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The Capitals had multiple injury updates from Tuesday morning’s practice, per Tarik El-Bashir of Monumental Sports Network. Namely, winger T.J. Oshie skated for the first time since sustaining a non-contact upper-body injury on Feb. 22 against the Lightning. The 37-year-old has missed five games and remains week to week, but signs are pointing toward the 2018 Stanley Cup champ coming off injured reserve before the end of the regular season.

Depth center Nic Dowd, who’s likely to be in play at Friday’s trade deadline if the Caps drop a key matchup against the Penguins in their pursuit of a wild-card spot on Thursday, also took a step forward in his recovery from an upper-body injury. While still wearing a no-contact jersey, El-Bashir says he “looked full-go” and could return against Pittsburgh. The 33-year-old is regarded as one of the better fourth-line centers in the league, consistently boasting above-average possession impacts with the ability to add some tertiary scoring. He’s got eight goals and 16 points in 45 games on the season, being elevated in the lineup at times and averaging a career-high 15:27 per game.

Defenseman Martin Fehérváry also skated in a no-contact jersey but didn’t look close to returning, El-Bashir said. The 24-year-old hasn’t played since sustaining a lower-body injury on Feb. 17 against the Canadiens and has now missed Washington’s last seven games. The 2018 second-round pick has again logged top-four usage this year, recording 12 points in 47 games with a -6 rating while averaging 18:45 per game. His absence has been a silver lining for the younger Rasmus Sandin, who’s regained some confidence in a top-pairing role alongside John Carlson and is now up to 20 points in 52 games while logging 21:19 per game.

Other updates from Metropolitan Division teams mired in the wild-card race:

  • The Devils made it known earlier this week they’d prefer to keep winger Tyler Toffoli past the trade deadline and continue working on an extension. Today, GM Tom Fitzgerald said the two sides are close on salary but still have a gap to bridge regarding contract length (via Amanda Stein of the Devils’ official site). It’s not clear which side prefers a longer-term deal than the other, however. Toffoli leads the Devils in goals with 26 in 60 games and is wrapping up a four-year, $17MM deal signed with Montreal in 2020.
  • New Jersey will also be without winger Ondřej Palát due to a lower-body injury as they aim to get back in the playoff race tonight against the conference-leading Panthers, interim head coach Travis Green said (via Stein). Palát has had a middling second year with the Devils, recording nine goals and 24 points in 51 games, but the two-time Cup champ with the Lightning has always been regarded for his playoff production rather than regular season point totals. Veteran center Chris Tierney, who’s averaged just 9:06 per game this year, will slide into a third-line role alongside Curtis Lazar and Dawson Mercer in Green’s debut leading the New Jersey bench.
  • Sticking in the Tri-State Area, Islanders GM Lou Lamoriello issued a handful of injury updates during his media availability Tuesday morning (via Arthur Staple of The Athletic). Depth blue-liner Robert Bortuzzo, who remains on LTIR with a lower-body injury, should return within a week. He put up a -3 rating in 11 games for the Isles after a mid-season trade from St. Louis before exiting the lineup in early January, now missing over two months with the ailment. He’ll give them a more experienced option to slot into the lineup as they stay in the race for a playoff spot and look to add some help before Friday’s deadline. Lamoriello added that veteran enforcer Matt Martin, who left Saturday’s win over the Bruins early, is cleared to play tonight against the Blues. The 34-year-old has three points and 31 PIMs in 38 games in what could be his final season with the team.

Islanders To Place Scott Mayfield On LTIR, Out 4-6 Weeks

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11:02 a.m.: The Islanders made Mayfield’s LTIR placement official in an announcement, activating winger Hudson Fasching off LTIR in a corresponding transaction. Fasching could suit up tonight against the Blues for the first time since sustaining a lower-body injury at the end of January.

10:30 a.m.: The Islanders will move defenseman Scott Mayfield to long-term injured reserve, GM Lou Lamoriello said Tuesday (via Arthur Staple of The Athletic). Mayfield, who has already missed four games with a lower-body injury, will miss an additional four to six weeks.

The 31-year-old was previously listed as day-to-day. He has not played since Feb. 22 against the Blues and has been dealing with the lingering effects of an ankle injury he sustained in the first game of the season, as he confirmed to Ethan Sears of the New York Post last month.

A six-week recovery timeline from today puts him back in the lineup for Game 82 of the regular season, a potential but unlikely playoff-berth-deciding matchup against the Penguins. Given the chronic nature of the Missouri native’s injury, he could be done for the regular season, allowing the Isles to use his $3.5MM cap hit by next Friday’s trade deadline to make a playoff push. Sitting ninth in the Eastern Conference and six points out of a playoff spot, they won’t be aggressive buyers, but Lamoriello said Tuesday that he’s open to adding if the acquisition cost makes sense.

Suppose Mayfield is done for the regular season. In that case, the injury ends a challenging first year of the seven-year, $24.5MM deal with trade protection he signed to stay on Long Island after briefly reaching unrestricted free agency on July 1. His five assists in 41 games are disappointing. However, his decline in usage from 21:02 last season to 18:46 this year is downright concerning this early in the contract, especially considering his career-worst possession metrics (40.0 Corsi-for percentage at even strength, -8.7 expected rating).

His absence could influence the Isles to focus on blue-line insurance over the next 72 hours. Their top four, Noah Dobson, Adam Pelech, Ryan Pulock, and Alexander Romanov, are passable for a playoff-bound team, especially considering Dobson’s resurgence, but a pair of fringe NHLers, Sebastian Aho and Mike Reilly, make up their bottom pairing with no better internal options. 23-year-old Samuel Bolduc remains on the roster after completing a recent conditioning stint in AHL Bridgeport. However, his possession metrics are among the worst on the team and trail Aho and Reilly’s decent even-strength play by a wide margin.

Assuming Mayfield’s LTIR placement is retroactive to his last appearance, he would be eligible to return on March 17 against the Rangers. However, his recovery timeline dictates he won’t play again until April at the earliest. He remains under contract with the Isles until 2030.

Dylan Larkin Out 2 Weeks With Lower-Body Injury

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Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin will miss approximately two weeks with a lower-body injury, head coach Derek Lalonde said Monday.

Larkin sustained the injury in Saturday’s 4-0 loss to the Panthers, although it’s unclear which play caused it. He did not play the final 10 minutes of the third period and was replaced by Joe Veleno on his line with Patrick Kane and Lucas Raymond for their final two shifts.

With their captain out for a crucial stretch of games as they try and maintain their grip on a wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference, Detroit’s recent record becomes all the more critical. They’ve gone 7-4-0 since the All-Star break, giving themselves a six-point cushion on a playoff spot with one more game played than the ninth-place Islanders. While they’ve posted a +6 goal differential in that time, their shot differential was -23, highlighting some concern. They were outshot 64-46 over their past two games, both losses against the Isles and Panthers.

Larkin remains the focal point of the Red Wings’ offense, leading the team with 26 goals and 54 points in 55 games. His 19:52 average time on ice is the highest among Detroit forwards, as is his 54.7 FO%. He has a team-high 51.4 CF% at even strength, although that hasn’t translated into dominating shot quality. His expected -3.6 rating places him in the middle of the pack among Red Wings skaters.

The 24-year-old Veleno will occupy Larkin’s top-line role for now, per multiple reports. He will center Kane and Alex DeBrincat as the Red Wings embark on a four-game road trip that concludes with a pivotal matchup against the Sabres for both teams next week.

Veleno, the 30th overall pick in 2018, has been elevated in the lineup multiple times this year but hasn’t quite done enough to solidify a top-six role. A 100-point scorer at the major junior level, COVID partially derailed his development, but he’s still settled into a top-nine role with decent long-term certainty. He has 11 goals and 26 points in 59 games this year while averaging 14:32, all career highs. However, his possession impacts are markedly worse than Larkin’s, recording a 45.6 CF% at even strength and a -5.9 expected rating. His performance in a top-line role is something to monitor for a Detroit team that’s already struggled to dominate the shot counter as of late.

Larkin can be placed on IR to free up roster space, but the expected length of his absence doesn’t make him eligible for LTIR to free up salary cap space ahead of the March 8 trade deadline. Lalonde said Monday that he doesn’t anticipate making any initial recalls to replace Larkin, so he may remain on the active roster unless another forward sustains an injury.

Flames Recall Matthew Coronato

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The Flames have recalled one of their top forward prospects, summoning winger Matthew Coronato to the NHL for the third time this season. With a roster spot previously open, no corresponding transactions are needed.

Coronato is expected to replace another rookie forward, Connor Zary, in the lineup against the Kraken tonight. The 22-year-old is listed as day-to-day with an upper-body injury sustained in Saturday’s comeback win over the Penguins, per the team.

Coronato, 21, was Calgary’s first-round pick in 2021. Since being selected 13th overall that year, the speedy winger has exceeded his expected benchmarks, eclipsing the point-per-game mark in his two seasons playing collegiate hockey at Harvard.

In his first full season of professional hockey, Coronato has dominated at the minor-league level with the AHL’s Calgary Wranglers. His 27 assists and 42 points in 40 games lead the team and are second in rookie scoring league-wide behind Stars prospect Logan Stankoven.

He’s yet to blow the doors off in the majors, scoring a goal and two assists in 15 appearances with the Flames across his various recalls this year. He’s been given a bit of runway, too, averaging 14:11 per game under first-year head coach Ryan Huska, showing that a bit of AHL time to adjust to the pro game is the right call.

Losing Zary, Calgary’s first-round pick a year before Coronato, is not a tiny bit of news for a Flames team trying to crawl their way into a playoff spot. His 29 points through 50 games after an early-season callup from the Wranglers have him positioned to earn a fair amount of Calder Trophy votes, and he’s slid relatively seamlessly into shouldering top-nine minutes. Calgary is 7-3-0 in their last 10 games, but they remain seven points behind the eighth-place Predators with two games in hand for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference.

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