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Sabres Recall Jiri Kulich, Place Tage Thompson On IR

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The Buffalo Sabres have placed top-line forward Tage Thompson on injured reserve retroactive to November, 11th, shares Lance Lysowski of The Buffalo News. Buffalo has recalled top prospect Jiri Kulich in a corresponding move.

Thompson was pulled from Buffalo’s Monday loss to Montreal after the first period with a lower-body injury. He ended his night with one goal in 6:49 of ice time, continuing his scoring streak into its fourth game. He went on to miss Buffalo’s Thursday win over St. Louis, and will now miss at least one more game before being eligible to return on November 18th. He’s continued to stand as one of Buffalo’s absolute best, currently leading the team with 11 goals, 18 points, and 114 shot attempts through 16 games. Thompson has scored an NHL-leading 10 of his goals at even-strength.

Buffalo also announced that winger Jordan Greenway has been playing through an injury and is now questionable for Saturday night. The news is a bit of a surprise, with Greenway continuing to serve in a go-to bruiser role over the last five games. He only has one point, but has added 16 hits and one fight in that span. That emerging injury has prompted Buffalo to bring Kulich back to the NHL lineup after four games in the AHL. He was productive in a return to the minors, totaling two goals, three points, and 17 shots. The Sabres will hope that spur of scoring will spark Kulich’s game at the NHL level as well, with the rookie currently sitting with just one goal in eight NHL games this season.

Sam Lafferty stepped into the lineup in Thompson’s absence, while Ryan McLeod filled his hole on the top line. McLeod recorded one goal and one assist with the boosted minutes, and should hang onto a strong hold of ice time. Meanwhile, Lafferty and Kulich will battle for the role of fourth-line center, unless Greenway is unable to play.

Golden Knights Sign Brayden McNabb To Three-Year Extension

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12:36 p.m.: McNabb’s extension will be in the three-year, $9MM range, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports. The team later confirmed a three-year term with a $3.65MM AAV, meaning it’s worth $10.95MM in total.

9:38 a.m.: The Golden Knights are closing in on a multi-year extension to keep defenseman Brayden McNabb off next year’s unrestricted free agent market, Chris Johnston of TSN and The Athletic reports.

It’s the second time in as many months that Vegas will announce a fresh contract for a member of the franchise’s inaugural blue line back in the 2017-18 season. Shea Theodore inked a seven-year, $51.975MM deal just over three weeks ago.

McNabb’s extension won’t be nearly as rich or as long, but it’s still an important bit of business for a franchise looking to extend what’s been a nonstop championship contention window since they entered the league. His 518 games played for the Knights are a franchise record, passing Jonathan Marchessault earlier this month. His +104 rating is second in franchise history to William Karlsson and his 300 PIMs are the most, as are his 1,256 hits and 1,144 blocks.

McNabb and Theodore have been regular defense partners since the Knights traded away Nate Schmidt and signed Alex Pietrangelo in the 2020 offseason. The 33-year-old left-shot defender has averaged 19:42 per game since arriving in Sin City in 2017, compiling 22 goals and 89 assists for 111 points.

The 6’4″, 215-lb defender has continued to serve in a top-four capacity this season, especially with Nicolas Hague spending about half the season on the shelf with lower-body and undisclosed injuries. Through 16 games, he has two points and leads the club with a +11 rating despite a pedestrian 46.2% share of shot attempts at even strength. Per usual, his 36 blocked shots lead the team while his 28 hits lead Vegas defensemen.

This will be the third contract McNabb, represented by O2K Management’s Dean Grillo, signs with the Knights. He signed a four-year, $10MM extension early on in Vegas’ inaugural season after being plucked from the Kings in the expansion draft before inking a three-year, $8.55MM deal a few months before his previous extension was set to expire in 2022.

His previous deals with the Golden Knights have carried cap hits of $2.5MM and $2.85MM, respectively. It’s hard to imagine his new deal differing much from that figure, especially as he enters the twilight of his 13-year, 756-game NHL career.

It’s fair to wonder what McNabb’s extension means for Hague’s future in Nevada. The 25-year-old, who was a second-round pick in Vegas’ inaugural 2017 draft class, is a restricted free agent next summer with arbitration rights and is due a $2.7MM qualifying offer. That’s reasonable for his services, but with McNabb in tow, the Golden Knights now already have seven defensemen signed to one-way contracts for 2025-26, including depth options Ben Hutton and Kaedan Korczak. Hague is the only defenseman on the active roster without a contract past this season.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Wild Place Mats Zuccarello On Injured Reserve, Out 3-4 Weeks

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The Wild placed winger Mats Zuccarello on injured reserve with a lower-body issue, Michael Russo of The Athletic reports Friday. He left Thursday’s win over the Canadiens in the first period and did not return after taking a Brock Faber shot to the groin. As a result, Russo added, he’s expected to miss three to four weeks. The injury required minor surgery, which Zuccarello underwent successfully after the game last night.

Minnesota will also issue an update on center Joel Eriksson Ek’s status later today, Russo said. He also left last night’s win in the first period with an undisclosed injury just one shift after Zuccarello departed the game.

Now in his age-37 season, Zuccarello has once again been an extremely valuable secondary scoring piece for the Wild. Age hasn’t slowed the diminutive Norwegian down one bit, and he ranks third on the team in scoring with 14 points (6 G, 8 A) in 16 games while averaging 17:26 of ice time. His line with Kirill Kaprizov and Marco Rossi has been one of the NHL’s best en route to an 11-2-3 start to the season for Minnesota, which is currently on pace for its best record in franchise history by a considerable margin.

Zuccarello’s IR placement leaves the Wild with 12 forwards on the active roster, a number that will drop to 11 healthy ones if Eriksson Ek misses any time. Expect a recall ahead of Saturday’s game against the Stars, which everything indicates will be Michael Milne’s NHL debut after the 22-year-old left-winger was initially recalled from AHL Iowa earlier this month. Options for another recall include Liam Ohgren, who has four goals in four games since being reassigned at the end of October, or veteran Travis Boyd, who leads Iowa in scoring with 11 points in 11 games.

Zuccarello is in the first season of the two-year, $8.25MM extension he inked in September 2023.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Penguins Recall Owen Pickering

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The Penguins announced that they’ve recalled defenseman Owen Pickering from AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. The 2022 first-round pick could make his NHL debut Friday against the Blue Jackets. Pittsburgh doesn’t have an open roster spot after recalling Matthew Nieto and Vasiliy Ponomarev yesterday, so a corresponding transaction is coming.

Pickering, 20, has been the best defense prospect in the organization since they selected him 21st overall two years ago. He checked in at fourth overall in the Pens’ pool in McKeen’s Hockey’s 2024-25 preseason ranking behind forwards Ville Koivunen and Rutger McGroarty and goaltender Joel Blomqvist.

The Manitoba native is in his first full season of professional hockey after four major junior seasons with the WHL’s Swift Current Broncos. He was a First-Team All-Star in the Central Division each of the past two seasons while serving as the Broncos’ captain, capping off his WHL career with 46 points and a career-best +18 rating in 59 games last season.

Pickering receives his first NHL recall in arguably his most important season yet developmentally, as Josh Bell wrote for McKeen’s. “While Pickering’s potential as a future top-four defenceman remains, his development hinges on ironing out his inconsistencies and making smarter decisions with the puck,” he said. “This season will be crucial in determining if he can take that next step.”

Evidently, the Penguins’ front office has liked what they’ve seen from Pickering to begin the regular season. It’s not quite his first taste of AHL hockey – he played eight games for WBS at the end of the 2022-23 season after his campaign with Swift Current ended. Through 12 games, he has just one point, a goal, but is third on the team with a +5 rating.

The left-shot defender already has towering size at 6’5″ and 185 lbs, although he’ll likely look to grow the latter number as he gets more NHL action. It’s unclear who he may unseat from Pittsburgh’s current crop of lefties to enter the lineup, although Ryan Graves, who has no points through 18 games and is averaging squarely third-pairing minutes at 15:22 per game, may be an option to head to the press box.

Pickering is in the first season of his entry-level contract, which carries an $887K cap hit. He’ll be a restricted free agent for the first time in 2027 at age 23.

Avalanche Activate Jonathan Drouin, Miles Wood From IR

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The Avalanche have taken wingers Jonathan Drouin and Miles Wood off injured reserve ahead of tomorrow’s game against the Capitals, the team announced. They reassigned forwards T.J. Tynan and Nikita Prishchepov to AHL Colorado early Thursday morning to create roster space.

Colorado, as previously reported, is also getting Valeri Nichushkin back in the lineup now that he’s served his six-month suspension as dictated by Stage 3 of the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program. That means three regular forwards – two of them top-six pieces – are coming in to aid an Avalanche group that’s been absolutely decimated by injuries so far in 2024-25.

Drouin, 29, sustained an upper-body injury in the season opener and hasn’t played since. The winger was initially only ticketed to miss a few games but ended up missing over five weeks with the ailment.

Signed as an unrestricted free agent in 2023, Drouin has thrived in Colorado while playing alongside former major junior teammate Nathan MacKinnon. After initially inking a one-year, $825K pact, he recorded career-highs in assists (37), points (56), rating (+12), and ATOI (18:11) in 2023-24. He then signed a one-year, $2.5MM deal shortly after free agency opened this past summer to return to Denver.

For most of the campaign to date, the Avs had been without all of Drouin, Nichushkin, Gabriel Landeskog, and Artturi Lehkonen – leaving them without four of their top five wingers. Now, just Landeskog remains unavailable as he continues to attempt a comeback from the multiple knee surgeries that have kept him out of action since the 2022 Stanley Cup Final. Lehkonen returned to action earlier this month after offseason shoulder surgery and already has six points in five games.

Drouin is expected to make his second appearance of the season on Colorado’s top line alongside MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen. Nichushkin will return in a second-line role alongside Lehkonen and Casey Mittelstadt.

Meanwhile, Wood makes his return to the lineup after missing the last seven games with an upper-body injury. The 29-year-old is in his second season with the Avalanche after inking a six-year, $15MM commitment in free agency in 2023. He had just one goal in 10 games before exiting the lineup but was averaging 13:40 per game, deployment that will allow overtaxed youngsters like Ivan Ivan and Nikolai Kovalenko to face some easier competition along with Drouin’s and Nichushkin’s returns.

After all of today’s moves, the Avs’ active roster stands at the maximum 23 players. They have about $1.185MM remaining in their LTIR pool with Landeskog and Tucker Poolman still on the shelf, so they’ll still need to clear some significant salary if Landeskog and his $7MM cap hit are cleared to return.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Penguins Recall Matt Nieto, Vasiliy Ponomarev; Reassign Joel Blomqvist

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The Penguins announced Thursday that they’ve reinstated Matthew Nieto from his LTIR conditioning loan and recalled forward Vasiliy Ponomarev from AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. Pittsburgh reassigned goaltender Joel Blomqvist to WBS to open a necessary roster space.

Nieto, 32, has not seen NHL ice since Nov. 30, 2023, against the Lightning. The veteran sustained a left knee injury that game that, after a few setbacks, required laparoscopic surgery in early January.

Even after the initial surgery, setbacks persisted. The procedure wasn’t expected to be season-ending, but Nieto’s late February return window came and went without much news.

In May, the Penguins announced that Nieto underwent reconstructive MCL surgery on the knee, one that carried a far lengthier recovery window but would ideally stop the persistent setbacks. So far, that’s been the case. He’ll look to make his season debut on Friday against the Blue Jackets, six and a half months after his last surgery and nearly one year after his last NHL game.

The second-round pick of the Sharks in 2011 landed with the Pens in free agency in 2023, signing a two-year, $1.8MM contract. The 5’11” left-winger recorded one goal and three assists in 22 games last season, averaging 11:37 per contest, before being shut down.

Nieto scored once in two games for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on his conditioning loan over the past few days. It was his first AHL action in over a decade, last touching minor-league ice while with the Sharks organization in 2013-14.

Recalling both Nieto and Ponomarev indicates that center Blake Lizotte may be unavailable for tomorrow’s game after taking a puck to the face Wednesday against the Red Wings. Lizotte, 26, already missed the first 11 games of the regular season with a concussion he sustained in a similar incident during the preseason. He had two goals in seven games since coming off LTIR at the end of October.

The Penguins acquired Ponomarev, 22, as one of the centerpieces of last season’s trade that sent star winger Jake Guentzel to the Hurricanes. Drafted 53rd overall by Carolina in 2020, the Russian center scored a goal and an assist in two games in his first taste of NHL action last season for the Canes.

Ponomarev sustained an upper-body injury in preseason for Pittsburgh and started the year on IR but was cleared to play a little over two weeks ago. He has one assist in five games for WBS since being assigned there on Halloween.

Combined with last season’s one goal in four games for the Baby Pens after the trade, it’s a little bit of a concerning start in the Pittsburgh organization for Ponomarev. Two points in nine contests is a far cry from the 35 goals and 85 points he’d put up in 114 games for AHL Chicago while in the Hurricanes organization.

Despite those two rather significant storylines, Blomqvist’s demotion may be the most notable of the three roster moves. The 22-year-old had been the Penguins’ best goaltender through the first five weeks of the season, filling in admirably with Alex Nedeljkovic starting the season on IR and de facto starter Tristan Jarry struggling enough to earn a two-week conditioning stint in the minors.

Like Ponomarev, the 6’2″ Finn was a member of the second round in the 2020 draft. He leads Penguins goalies in wins (3), SV% (.904), quality starts (4), and GSAA (1.0). It was a strong showing on the heels of a dominant 2023-24 season for WBS, earning All-Rookie Team and Second Team All-Star honors after posting a .921 SV%, 2.16 GAA and 25-12-6 record for the AHL club.

Yet leaving Blomqvist as part of a three-goalie rotation isn’t what’s best for his development, nor is it what’s best for hopefully getting Jarry back on track after his horrid start to the season. Jarry, who had a .836 SV% in three games before his conditioning loan, is expected to make his first NHL start in nearly a month tomorrow against Columbus. He has four seasons remaining on his contract at a $5.375MM cap hit.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Bruins’ Hampus Lindholm To Miss Weeks With Lower-Body Injury

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Boston Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery shared that top defender Hampus Lindholm will be out for “weeks” with a lower-body injury, suffered while blocking a shot from St. Louis’ Justin Faulk on Tuesday night. The shot appeared to hit Lindholm’s left knee and forced him out of the game after just eight minutes of ice time.

Lindholm’s departure from the lineup is dismal news for the Bruins. He’s received the second-highest ice time on the team, averaging just under 21 minutes through 17 games – only behind Charlie McAvoy’s 24 minutes of average ice time. Lindholm has recorded three goals and seven points in that span, adding 17 blocked shots and five hits. He’s returned as a pillar of Boston’s play in the defensive half alongside D-partner Brandon Carlo, with the pairing also handling top-unit penalty-killing duties in addition to their heavy usage at even-strength.

Lindholm’s prominent role will make him a challenge to replace. Boston recalled veteran defender Jordan Oesterle on Wednesday morning, giving him a chance to debut with the team after spending the last three seasons in Detroit and Calgary. Oesterle should provide some of the stalwart defense that Boston now finds themselves without – and could even bring an offensive spark, sitting with eight points in nine AHL games this year.

Oesterle will likely step into a depth role while the team waits for one of Lindholm or Andrew Peeke – designated as week-to-week with an upper-body injury last week – to return to full health. That should also provide a boost in ice time for Mason Lohrei, who’s scored four points in 13 games this year but also boasts the highest xGA/60 of all Bruins defenders, per Natural Stat Trick.

The Bruins will get a bit of relief in their schedule after visiting Dallas on Thursday, with Vancouver standing as their toughest competition before the end of November. They’ll hope to take full advantage of that respite, and either advance one of their shutdown defenders back from injury or find a suitable replacement in their shallow defensive depth.

Sabres Place Mattias Samuelsson On IR With Lower-Body Injury

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1:07 p.m.: The Sabres have placed Samuelsson on injured reserve to create a roster spot for Reimer, who they reclaimed off waivers from the Ducks, Lance Lysowski of The Buffalo News reports.

10:55 a.m.: Sabres defenseman Mattias Samuelsson will miss multiple weeks with a lower-body injury, the team announced Wednesday. Head coach Lindy Ruff said Samuelsson’s absence could stretch past the one-month mark but is unlikely to be season-ending and won’t require surgery, per Paul Hamilton of WGR Sports Radio 550.

It’s much better news for star center Tage Thompson and starting netminder Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, who, like Samuelsson, left Monday’s loss to the Canadiens with injuries. Ruff said they’re both day-to-day and haven’t been ruled out for Thursday’s game against the Blues.

It’s unclear when exactly Samuelsson sustained the injury, but it took him out of action about midway through the game. The 24-year-old was making his first appearance since Nov. 2 after being a healthy scratch in three straight Sabres wins.

Very quickly, the seven-year, $30MM extension Samuelsson signed at the beginning of the 2022-23 campaign looks like an incredibly premature decision from general manager Kevyn Adams. Injuries have significantly hampered the 2018 second-round pick at every turn during his five-year NHL career, and he’s never played more than 55 games in a single season. Last year, shoulder surgery ended his season in January after 41 games. Knee and upper-body issues also kept him out for lengthy stretches of 2022-23.

In years past, Samuelsson was still an effective stay-at-home defender when healthy, often having a tangible impact on the Sabres’ record when in the lineup. It’s been almost the opposite this year, though. Samuelsson has one assist and a -2 rating while averaging a career-low 16:05 per game, and Buffalo is 4-8-1 with him in the lineup compared to 3-0-0 without him.

The Sabres still have Dennis Gilbert and Henri Jokiharju on hand as extra defenders to re-enter the lineup against the Blues tomorrow in place of Samuelsson. Still, expect the defenseman to land on IR at some point in the next 24 hours to give Buffalo roster flexibility to summon potential injury replacements from AHL Rochester for Thompson and Luukkonen.

Samuelsson still has five seasons left on his contract after this one at a $4.286MM cap hit. He doesn’t carry any trade protection.

Meanwhile, losing Thompson for any length of time, even for just a game, is tough news for the Sabres to swallow as they try to climb over .500 and put themselves back in the conversation for a wild-card spot in the East. His 18 points in 16 games lead the team, and his 10 even-strength goals are tied with Leon Draisaitl and Nikita Kucherov for the league lead.

Luukkonen has also been quite solid for the Sabres this season, taking over in the early going as their true starter instead of splitting duties with 23-year-old Devon Levi, as most expected. After signing a five-year, $23.75MM deal over the summer, he has a 6-4-1 record, .903 SV%, 2.83 GAA, and 1.2 GSAA in 12 starts. If he can’t go, perhaps James Reimer could back up Levi tomorrow if Buffalo re-claims him off waivers from the Ducks.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Catch Every Goal With Amazon Prime! (Sponsored)

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Washington Capitals Acquire Lars Eller From Penguins

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Lars Eller is headed back to the Washington Capitals. The organization announced they have acquired Eller from the Pittsburgh Penguins for a third-round pick in 2027 and Chicago’s fifth-round pick in 2025.

Eller spent much of his career with the Capitals from 2016-17 until being traded to the Colorado Avalanche at the 2022-23 trade deadline. He’s not well known for his offensive exploits but did score one of the most important goals in Capitals history, the Stanley Cup-clinching goal in Game 5 of the 2018 Stanley Cup Final.

His time in Washington was certainly the prime of his career. Eller scored 87 goals and 208 points for the Capitals in 488 games, with another nine goals and 31 points in 59 postseason contests. He was also an effective asset down the middle of the ice securing over 3,000 faceoff wins in the District of Columbia with a 50.1% success rate.

The Capitals jumped early on an obvious area of need. The team had recently been deploying Michael Sgarbossa as the center of the team’s third line making Eller a huge improvement. The Danish veteran had scored four goals and seven points in 17 games for the Penguins this season with a 56.0% faceoff success rate. Eller could also help the Capitals on the penalty kill although there’s little room for improvement with the team already fourth in the league with a 86.96% penalty kill.

While one team gains something, another team loses something. The Penguins currently own a 6-9-2 record on the year and are only one day removed from being blown out by the Dallas Stars. Moving Eller may be the first sign of things to come for Pittsburgh.

He wasn’t the only veteran on an expiring deal for the Penguins. Should the team continue barreling toward the bottom of the NHL standings; Marcus Pettersson, Drew O’Connor, Anthony Beauvillier, and Matt Grzelcyk could become available via trade. Given how disappointing the team has been to start the 2024-25 campaign, they may not limit themselves to only moving out expiring deals.

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