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Tyler Seguin To Undergo Hip Surgery, Out 4-6 Months

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The Stars announced that forward Tyler Seguin will undergo extensive hip surgery on Thursday and miss the next four to six months. He’ll have two procedures, both on his left hip – one to address a femoroacetabular impingement creating joint damage and one to repair a labral tear.

It’s not necessarily season-ending, but it’s certainly possible. If he returns at the optimistic end of that timeline, the Stars would still have four or five regular-season games left on their schedule for him to play. A return to play during the postseason is the most likely outcome for Seguin given the wide timeline, though, allowing the Stars to keep his $9.85MM cap hit on long-term injured reserve for a massive amount of spending flexibility at the trade deadline.

Seguin has missed five games this year with a recurring lower-body injury, now clearly a hip issue. He was placed on IR before Monday’s game against Utah. He previously missed three straight games in October.

It’s tough news for Seguin, who missed nearly all of the 2020-21 campaign after undergoing a similar surgery on his right hip. He was extremely open about his arduous recovery process from that procedure, which ended up yielding a separate knee surgery and essentially required him to re-learn how to walk.

Past injury issues aside, the news also puts an incredible damper on what had been something of a renaissance season for the 2010 second-overall pick. Seguin had nine goals and 11 assists for 20 points through his first 19 games, on pace to break the point-per-game mark for the first time in nine years while placing third on the team in scoring behind linemates Matt Duchene and Mason Marchment.

Missing Seguin’s services offensively is also of legitimate concern for Dallas, who ranks ninth in the league with 3.38 goals per game but has also faced underwhelming starts from top-liners Jason Robertson (5-9–14 in 24 GP) and Wyatt Johnston (4-10–14 in 24 GP). They’ll need to turn that around quickly to help the Stars stay in the top three of the Central Division while also looking at some depth players like rookie Mavrik Bourque to take on some of the offensive burden. Bourque has averaged under 11 minutes per game this season after being crowned the AHL’s most valuable player last season, scoring only once in 19 games.

Seguin, 32, is in the sixth season of the eight-year, $78.8MM extension he inked in 2018. He’ll be an unrestricted free agent in 2027.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Carolina Hurricanes Sign, Waive Dustin Tokarski

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Dec. 3: Tokarski passed through waivers unclaimed, per Friedman. He’ll return to AHL Chicago with Martin remaining on the NHL roster for now, unless Kochetkov can’t go tonight.

Dec. 2: The Carolina Hurricanes are adding more goaltending depth to the NHL roster due to injuries to Frederik Andersen and Pyotr Kochetkov. TSN’s Chris Johnston reported that the Hurricanes have signed goaltender Dustin Tokarski to a one-year, two-way agreement. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman followed up the report by sharing that Carolina has placed Tokarski on waivers.

Placing Tokarski on waivers is a prudent move by the Hurricanes organization. Team reporter Walt Ruff shared earlier that Kochetkov still needs to pass one more test to be medically cleared from concussion protocol. The team is hopeful he’ll be able to return tomorrow night against the Seattle Kraken. Tokarski will back up Kochetkov tomorrow night, assuming he passes through waivers and Kochetkov is medically cleared. He won’t need to go through waivers again for another 30 days, giving the team more flexibility with their netminders.

Tokarski isn’t unfamiliar with the Hurricanes organization either. Up to this point in the season he’s been playing on an AHL contract with the team’s AHL affiliate, the Chicago Wolves. The veteran netminder has managed a 4-1-0 record in five games for the Wolves with a .933 save percentage and 1.61 goals against average.

The signing of Tokarski also sheds some light on the team’s lack of confidence in third-string goaltender Spencer Martin. Carolina acquired Martin from the Columbus Blue Jackets last year for situations like this and he hasn’t been able to hold his own at the NHL level. Martin appeared in nine games for the Hurricanes in November but disappointed with a .846 SV% and 3.89 GAA.

The organization will now take a different approach to their goaltending with Tokarski. He hasn’t played in an NHL contest since his time with the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 2022-23 regular season but could get into action again should Carolina deal with continued injuries in the crease.

Jets Place Nikolaj Ehlers On IR, Recall Brad Lambert

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The Jets announced Tuesday that they’ve placed winger Nikolaj Ehlers on injured reserve retroactive to Nov. 29 with his lower-body injury. His roster spot is going to forward prospect Brad Lambert, who was recalled from AHL Manitoba in a corresponding move.

Ehlers has already missed one game with the issue. The IR placement rules him out for the next two games, but he’s eligible to return Saturday against the Blackhawks. He remains day-to-day and hasn’t been ruled out past the minimum requirements for injured reserve.

It puts a damper on what’s been an electric start to the season for the pending unrestricted free agent. Ehlers is third on the jets in scoring with 25 points (9 G, 16 A) in 24 games and is on pace to crack the point-per-game mark for the first time in his career after narrowly failing to do so in 2020-21.

The 28-year-old Dane is doing so despite averaging only 15:33 per game, a story similar to those of years past. He’s tied with the Stars’ Mason Marchment for most points per game (1.04) among skaters averaging fewer than 16 minutes per night.

Nonetheless, the 2014 first-rounder remains without an extension in the final year of his seven-year, $42MM deal signed back in 2017. Ehlers is seventh in Jets/Thrashers franchise history with 629 games played, sixth with 210 goals, sixth with 482 points, and first with a +97 rating.

He’s been skating on Winnipeg’s second line with Vladislav Namestnikov and Cole Perfetti, and Lambert may fill his top-six role tonight against the Blues. The 20-year-old, who the Jets selected 30th overall in 2022, is second on Manitoba in scoring with three goals and eight assists for 11 points in 16 games.

Lambert, the nephew of former Islanders head coach and current Leafs assistant Lane Lambert, recorded an assist in his NHL debut last season against the Canucks. Otherwise, he has 69 points in 94 games for Manitoba since Winnipeg brought him to North America in 2022.

Canadiens Activate Patrik Laine From Long-Term Injured Reserve

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The Canadiens announced they’ve activated winger Patrik Laine from long-term injured reserve ahead of Tuesday’s game against the Islanders. He’ll make his Montreal debut after sustaining a left knee sprain during the preseason.

Montreal had a pair of open roster spots, but they’re $317.5K short of having ample space to remove his $8.7MM cap hit from LTIR. Without a corresponding move, that suggests the Habs have transferred goaltender Carey Price’s contract from IR to LTIR to keep them compliant for the time being.

Laine’s Canadiens regular-season debut comes earlier than most expected after receiving a knee-on-knee hit from Cédric Paré in an exhibition game against the Maple Leafs in late September. Subsequent imaging revealed a sprain but no structural damage, easily the best-case scenario. The team issued a two-to-three-month return timeline for Laine, a window he entered a few days ago.

The 26-year-old Finn will skate in a second-line role at left wing alongside Kirby Dach and Juraj Slafkovsky, reports Kenzie Lalonde of TSN. It’s unclear how much his minutes will be restricted in his first NHL contest in 355 days.

Montreal acquired Laine from the Blue Jackets in a long-awaited move out of Columbus in August. They parted ways with defenseman Jordan Harris but received a 2026 second-round pick to take on the last two seasons of the oft-injured winger’s four-year, $34.8MM contract without any salary retention.

Laine’s 2023-24 campaign was truncated at the 18-game mark due to a collarbone fracture and subsequent lengthy stay in the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program. It marked the fifth straight season in which the 2016 second-overall pick missed at least 10 games due to injury after missing just nine total games combined in the first three seasons of his NHL career.

While the high-ceiling sniper hasn’t hit 30 goals since the 2018-19 campaign, he produced a 34-goal, 74-point clip per 82 games over his three full seasons as a Jacket. He’s a major offensive boost to a Canadiens team in the bottom half of the league at 2.83 goals per game.

Laine enters the lineup for sophomore Joshua Roy, who was reassigned to AHL Laval last night. Enforcer Michael Pezzetta is expected to be a healthy scratch against the Isles for the 16th straight game.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Stars Place Tyler Seguin On IR, Recall Justin Hryckowian

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The Dallas Stars have shifted things around ahead of their Monday matchup against Utah. They’ve recalled forward Justin Hryckowian and assigned defender Alexander Petrovic. Additionally, star forward Tyler Seguin has been placed on injured reserve with a lower-body injury.

Seguin has carried a lingering lower-body injury through most of the season, and was expected to miss at least one up coming game to nurse the issue. Seguin has been on-fire recently despite the teetering health. He has multi-point games in two of Dallas’ last four outings, including a two-point effort on Friday. The Stars’ star has nine goals and 20 points in 19 games this season, ranking third on the team in scoring.

Seguin will be replaced by young forward Hryckowian, who’s yet to make his NHL debut. The 23-year-old winger is in the first full season of his career. He played in 12 AHL games, and scored three points, at the end of last season – signing with the Texas Stars as an undrafted college free agent. He’s played exceptionally well in the pro setting, with a team-leading 16 points in 17 AHL games this season.

Meanwhile, Petrovic will return to the minors after two games, and no scoring, on the Dallas roster. Petrovic has nine points in 14 AHL games this season, the highest scoring pace of his 14-year professional career. He’s totaled 50 points in 266 career NHL games; and 160 points in 441 AHL games.

Minnesota Wild Acquire David Jiříček From Columbus

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According to a team announcement, the Minnesota Wild have acquired defensive prospect David Jiříček and a 2025 fifth-round pick from the Columbus Blue Jackets. The Wild organization is sending back defenseman Daemon Hunt, a conditional 2025 first-round pick, Colorado’s 2026 third-round pick, Toronto’s 2026 fourth-round pick, and a 2027 second-round pick to Columbus.

It’s been a long time coming for the former sixth-overall pick of the 2022 NHL Draft. Jiříček will join the second organization of his very young career after several inconsistent years with the Blue Jackets. After scoring five goals and 11 points in 29 games for Czechia’s HC Plzeň, Jiříček was ranked as the fourth-best European skater and second-best defenseman by NHL Central Scouting before the 2022 NHL Draft.

Jiříček immediately came to the Blue Jackets organization upon being drafted, suiting up in 55 games for the AHL’s Cleveland Monsters. He impressed with six goals and 38 points in his rookie campaign in the AHL but unfortunately missed out on the league’s All-Rookie Team. Arguably Jiříček’s most impressive performance of the season came in the middle of the year during the 2023 IIHF World Junior Championship.

He scored three goals and seven points in seven games for Team Czechia while posting a +10 rating throughout the tournament. He was voted the best defenseman by the directorate and helped guide Czechia to the country’s first silver medal since 1985 when they shared a country with Slovakia.

Jiříček managed to debut in the NHL in the 2022-23 season but went scoreless over a brief four-game stretch. The following season allowed Jiříček his largest opportunity to make an impact with the Blue Jackets.

He scored one goal and 10 points over 43 games in Columbus last year. The organization kept him incredibly sheltered as the young defenseman only averaged 14:36 of ice time per game. Still, he showed flashes of being an elite two-way defenseman with a 92.4% on-ice save percentage in all situations which was especially good considering the Blue Jackets finished 31st in the NHL in goals-against per game.

Still, infrequent demotions and recalls by Columbus throughout the regular season prohibited Jiříček from gaining any traction for the Blue Jackets or Monsters. He finished the 2023-24 AHL season with seven goals and 19 assists in 29 games for Cleveland with another three goals and 11 points in 14 postseason contests.

The beginning of the 2024-25 season likely put the nail in the coffin for Jiříček’s future in Columbus. He cracked the team’s roster out of training camp but was hardly used by new head coach Dean Evason. He only suited up in six of the Blue Jackets’ first 18 games before being reassigned to the AHL on November 20th. His average ice time slipped even further with Jiříček only averaging 11:12 of ice time.

Jiříček will now join a Minnesota defense that projects to be one of the best in the league in a few years. The organization already deploys defensemen Brock Faber and Jared Spurgeon on the right side of the defense. Things look equally as impressive on the left side of the blue line with Jonas Brodin and recent draft pick Zeev Buium also projected in long-term roles.

The Wild’s already solid defense has helped them to a 15-4-4 record to start the 2024-25 NHL season making this year’s first-round pick expendable. Minnesota announced that the conditions on the first-round pick include top-five protection. The inclusion of a first-round pick was likely a bare minimum for the Blue Jackets organization despite this one likely falling outside of the lottery.  The other three draft draft selections heading to Columbus give the organization eight for the 2026 NHL Draft and eight for the 2027 NHL Draft.

Hunt, reportedly the final part of the deal, is in a similar situation, albeit a lower profile, to that of Jiříček. He’ll be familiar with Evason after having played a handful of games for him last season but didn’t have any legitimate pathway to the NHL in Minnesota. He had been enjoying a quietly productive season with the AHL’s Iowa Wild tallying four assists in nine games.

Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman was the first to report the Wild were finalizing a deal for Jiříček.
TSN’s Pierre LeBrun was the first to report Hunt’s inclusion in the deal.
Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli was the first to report a majority of the trade package.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Predators Acquire Justus Annunen From Avalanche

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The Nashville Predators have acquired goaltender Justus Annunen and a 2025 sixth-round pick from the Colorado Avalanche, in exchange for veteran goaltender Scott Wedgewood.

Goaltending has been the sore spot of Colorado’s early season. They’ve already iced four different goaltenders while dealing with nagging injury and inconsistent play from both Annunen and starter Alexandar Georgiev. The latter has seemed to finally get his feet back under him, posting three wins and a .891 save percentage over Colorado’s last five games – an improvement over his season-long stat line of seven wins and a .872 save percentage in 15 games. Perhaps on the back of that momentum, Colorado has decided to buy some added veteran experience for their backup role – acquiring the 32-year-old Wedgewood in his seventh NHL season.

Wedgewood is off to a bit of a shaky start this year, with just one win and a .878 Sv% through five games with Nashville so far. He was a much more notable piece of the Dallas Stars’ success over the last two seasons, recording a .915 in 21 games in 2022-23 and a .899 in 32 games last year. Both performances stood well behind perennial Stars starter Jake Oettinger, convincing Nashville to sign the veteran Wedgewood to a two-year, $3MM contract this summer. That deal, coupled with starter Juuse Saros’ eight-year, $61.92MM contract extension, effectively pushed top prospect Yaroslav Askarov out of the Predators organization. With no clear path to a starting or backup role in the NHL, Askarov was instead traded to the San Jose Sharks for top prospect David Edstrom, goalie prospect Magnus Chrona, and a 2025 first-round pick.

Predators general manager Barry Trotz told Sportsnet at the time of his trade that the Predators had a robust development plan for Askarov – one that would track him into the Nashville starting role. With the star Russian moved out, Nashville will now replace their role of top goalie prospect with the 24-year-old Annunen. It was meant to be a breakout year for the Finnish netminder, after posting a dazzling .928 in 14 games with Colorado last season; and adding a .908 in 23 AHL games. He won Colorado’s backup role out of training camp, but hasn’t found the same success he showed last season – with a meager six wins and .872 save percentage in 11 appearances. Annunen, originally a third-round pick in 2018, has been lauded as one of the best goalie prospects across the hockey world in recent years – spurred by a four-year, 49-game career in Finland’s Liiga, where he posted 22 wins and a .906. He’s stayed productive in North American pros, with a collective .905 across 114 career AHL games, and a .902 in 29 NHL games, over the last four seasons.

With Wedgewood moved out, Annunen should have a clear path to Nashville’s backup role behind Saros. Starting minutes will be hard to come by – Saros has a .912 in 20 games this season – but Annunen should offer far more upside than career depth-goaltender Wedgewood. Nashville will hope to bank on that upside, while Colorado hopes a greater veteran presence can right their ship – sensible approaches for the teams that respectively rank seventh and fourth in the Central Division.

Blues Activate Philip Broberg Off IR, Assign Corey Schueneman

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St. Louis Blues defender Philip Broberg has been activated off of injured reserve and is expected to return to the lineup on Saturday. Broberg has missed St. Louis’ last 12 games since suffering a lower-body injury on an awkward collision with Mitch Marner in the team’s November 2nd win over Toronto.

Broberg was the feel-good story of St. Louis’ early season. He was a buzzer-beater addition to the Blues lineup before the start of the season, with general manager Doug Armstrong successfully offer-sheeting both Broberg and forward Dylan Holloway away from the Edmonton Oilers. Broberg instantly stepped up in his new setting, recording a point in each of his first six games with the Blues. That production, and injuries to Nick Leddy and Torey Krug, were enough for Broberg to climb into a top-line role with the Blues – working his way up to averaging 20:25 in ice time before suffering his injury. He now sits with nine points through 12 games – a 70-game pace of 53 points.

It’s new signs of life for the 23-year-old Broberg who, prior to this year, many classified as the defining bust from the 2019 NHL Draft – where Edmonton selected him eighth overall. Broberg followed his draft selection with two seasons for Sweden’s Skelleftea AIK before joining the Oilers in 2021-22. He started that year in the minors, but earned a call-up after scoring 10 points in his first 14 games. Broberg recorded an assist in his NHL debut, but quickly hit a skid that carried through the end of his tenure in Edmonton. He recorded just 13 points across three seasons and 81 games with the Oilers, spending most of his time bouncing between the NHL and AHL rosters. It was a dismal start to his NHL career – making Broberg’s breakout in St. Louis all the more impressive. He’ll look to stay hot after nearly a month away, and under a new head coach – with Drew Bannister being replaced by Jim Montgomery on November 25th. Montgomery has so far led the Blues to a 2-0-0 record and 8-to-2 goal differential.

In a corresponding move, St. Louis has also assigned veteran depth defender Corey Schueneman back to the AHL. Schueneman returns to the minors after no scoring in four games. He recorded four shots on goal and seven blocked shots, but otherwise stayed quiet while rotating into the lineup with Pierre-Olivier Joseph. Schueneman already has five points in 13 games with the Springfield Thunderbirds. He’s a seven-year veteran of the minor leagues, with 95 points and 257 career AHL games – and seven points in 31 appearances with the Montreal Canadiens between 2021 and 2022.

Maple Leafs To Activate Auston Matthews From Injured Reserve

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Maple Leafs superstar Auston Matthews will return to the lineup Saturday against the Lightning, he told reporters today, including David Alter of The Hockey News. He’ll need to come off injured reserve, so Toronto will need to make a corresponding transaction to open a spot on the active roster.

So ends a lengthy saga that’s seen Matthews sit out the last nine games, missing nearly a month with an upper-body injury that was initially termed day-to-day. While not a significant injury, it was potentially concerning enough long-term for the Leafs to hold him out and for him to even briefly head overseas last week to see a specialist in Germany that he’s worked with before.

Toronto went on quite the run without the services of their star goal-scorer, going 7-2-0 and outscoring opponents 26-18. That was even as additional injuries to top-nine fixtures like Max Domi and Matthew Knies piled up, at one point leaving them without seven of their usual top 12 forwards in the lineup.

That number could drop to five against Tampa, with Knies also taking line rushes alongside Matthews and William Nylander in today’s practice, per Luke Fox of Sportsnet. He’s also on IR, so if he’s ready to return, a second corresponding transaction would be required.

Things did come to a bit of a head for the Leafs in their last outing, losing 5-1 to the Panthers and seeing their Atlantic Division lead drop to one point. The pending returns of some important forwards will allow overmatched AHL fixtures like Alexander Nylander and Alex Steeves to return to the farm, as could youngsters Nikita Grebenkin and Fraser Minten.

Matthews’ injury had been plaguing him a bit this season before he exited the lineup, evidenced by his subpar five goals and six assists for 11 points in 13 games. He was shooting at a career-low 8.9% rate, though, so his numbers should come alive in short order with natural regression and improved health. The 27-year-old has taken home the Rocket Richard Trophy three times in the past four years, including last season’s career-high 69 tallies (51 at even strength).

Sabres Reassign Isak Rosen, Activate Tage Thompson

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Nov. 27, 10:25 a.m.: Thompson will come off injured reserve and play tonight against the Wild, head coach Lindy Ruff confirmed to reporters, including Heather Engel of NHL.com.

Nov. 26, 5:50 p.m.: The Buffalo Sabres have assigned top prospect Isak Rosen back to the minor leagues, clearing up the room to activate star forward Tage Thompson off of injured reserve per Lance Lysowski of The Buffalo News. Thompson has missed Buffalo’s last five games after suffering a lower-body injury in the team’s November 11th matchup against Montreal. He returned to practice in full earlier today and shared that he’ll be good to go on Wednesday with reporters, including Jonathan Acosta of WGRZ.

Thompson will return to the lineup with an intact four-game goal streak since he scored once in the game when he sustained his injury. He has 11 goals and 18 points in 16 games this season and is still the only Sabre to cross 10 goals despite five fewer appearances. Thompson has continued to serve as the heart of Buffalo’s lineup this season, averaging over 19 minutes of ice time and a key role on the power-play. He’ll jump right back into a top role when Buffalo hosts Minnesota on Wednesday, likely between his usual wing pair of JJ Peterka and Alex Tuch.

Buffalo has persevered through Thompson’s absence, setting a 4-1-0 record in their last five games. But the offense has taken a notable hit, with Buffalo averaging just 2.8 goals-per-game without Thompson – down from the 3.44 goals they averaged in their first 16 games. It’s been defender Bowen Byram and goaltenders Devon Levi and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen stepping up in response, with Byram averaging nearly 24 minutes of ice time and the netminders averaging 2.40 goals against without Thompson.

Meanwhile, Rosen will return to the minors after receiving 6:30 of ice time in Buffalo’s Saturday win over San Jose. He didn’t record any points in the outing, pulling Rosen through his eighth career NHL game with still no scoring. That’s despite the young Swede serving as the Rochester Americans’ leading scorer, with 13 points through 14 games this year. He ranked second on the team in scoring last year, with 50 points in 67 games as an AHL rookie. Rosen still stands as one of Buffalo’s top-shelf prospects, and will rejoin company like Konsta Helenius, Viktor Neuchev, and Anton Wahlberg in Rochester. All four prospects will fight to climb Buffalo’s call-up list before the winter break by righting a sinking Rochester lineup currently on a seven-game losing streak.

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