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Vince Dunn To Miss Three More Weeks With Mid-Body Injury

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Star Kraken defenseman Vince Dunn may begin skating with the team this weekend but is still around three weeks away from returning from his mid-body injury, general manager Ron Francis told Alison Lukan of the Kraken Hockey Network.

Dunn originally sustained an upper-body injury in Seattle’s second game of the season on Oct. 12. He sat out the next game but returned for just two more, getting banged up again in the middle of an Oct. 17 contest against the Flyers. He hasn’t played since, and while he was initially listed as day-to-day, the team placed him on long-term injured reserve a few days later, ruling him out for the past few weeks.

The 28-year-old was theoretically eligible to come off LTIR ahead of Tuesday’s game against the Blue Jackets, but it’ll still be a while before he’s back on the ice. A three-week return timeline from yesterday keeps him out past Thanksgiving and puts his next game on Nov. 29 against the Sharks, meaning he’s still set to miss around nine contests.

Dunn has been a mainstay on Seattle’s top pairing since he was plucked from the Blues in the 2021 expansion draft, but injury troubles have now limited him to 63 combined appearances since the beginning of last season. In his four appearances in 2024-25, he has a goal and two assists while averaging 18:49 per game, dragged down by leaving multiple games prematurely.

With the Kraken off to a 6-8-1 start despite spending big on Chandler Stephenson and Brandon Montour in free agency, it’s an inauspicious sign for their chances of returning to the postseason. Dunn’s spot at left defense alongside Adam Larsson has been filled by sophomore Ryker Evans, who’s filling in admirably with eight points in 15 appearances while averaging over 20 minutes per game. But Seattle has controlled just 38.3% of expected goals with Evans and Larsson on the ice compared to 49.5% with Dunn and Larsson last year, per MoneyPuck, a key culprit in their defensive struggles. They’re allowing 3.20 goals per game, tied with the Blackhawks for 20th in the league.

Dunn is in the second season of the four-year, $29.4MM deal he signed in 2023 after becoming a restricted free agent.

Predators Place Dante Fabbro On Waivers

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Dante Fabbro has been a speculative trade candidate in Nashville for a few years now and it appears he could be on the move although not via a trade.  Instead, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports (Twitter link) that the Predators have placed the blueliner on waivers.

A few years ago, the 26-year-old looked like another fixture on the back end for the Preds.  He had three seasons averaging more than 19 minutes a night (primarily on the second pairing) between 2019-20 and 2021-22, even putting up a breakout 24-point effort in the 2021-22 campaign, making his then-$2.4MM price tag look like a bargain.

However, things haven’t gone as well since then.  Fabbro’s playing time has dipped since then, dropping to 17:27 per night in 2022-23 and then 16:21 last season.  This year, it’s even lower when he has been in the lineup as he has logged just 13:06 per game in his six appearances where he has been held off the scoresheet thus far.  In Nashville’s other eight games, Fabbro has been a healthy scratch.

Fabbro is making $2.5MM this season on a one-year deal he signed at last year’s trade deadline, locking him in at the same rate as the year before without any potential for uncertainty in what would have been his final year with arbitration eligibility; he could have very easily been a non-tender candidate had he been unsigned heading into late June.

That price tag would be difficult for quite a few cap-strapped teams to absorb but even so, it’s possible that Fabbro could be claimed.  A rebuilding team might want to get a look at him to see if he’s worth keeping around longer-term or to try to build up his value and then flip him (possibly with salary retention) closer to the March 7th trade deadline.  With over 300 NHL games under his belt, he could be a worthwhile pickup for some teams looking for depth and experience on their back end.  Teams will have until 1 PM CT on Sunday to place a claim on him.

Kraken Acquire Daniel Sprong From Canucks

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It appears Daniel Sprong will be returning to a team he’s already familiar with.  The Canucks announced that they have dealt the winger to the Kraken in exchange for future considerations.

Sprong has been a productive player over the last couple of seasons but it hasn’t resulted in him getting much stability.  In 2022-23, he had a breakout year in Seattle, notching 21 goals and 25 assists in 66 games.  Before that, his previous career-high in points was 23.  However, despite only being owed a qualifying offer of $787.5K, Seattle opted to non-tender him, getting out of a potential arbitration hearing in the process.

Still, the 27-year-old was able to do relatively well in free agency in 2023, landing a one-year, $2MM deal with Detroit.  He showed that his production the year before wasn’t a one-off, as he collected 18 goals and 25 assists in 76 games while only averaging 12 minutes a night of action.  But once again, he was non-tendered as the Red Wings opted to avoid the risk of arbitration as well.

Unfortunately for Sprong, the market wasn’t as strong this time around.  It took nearly three weeks into free agency before he found a contract when Vancouver signed him to a one-year, $975K contract, cutting his pay from the year before by more than half in the process.  It looked like a relatively shrewd pickup for a Canucks franchise that didn’t have much salary cap flexibility but wanted to add more offensive depth.

But things didn’t go as planned.  Sprong has been healthy scratched three times already this season and when he has played, he hasn’t been able to produce at the same level, tallying just one goal and two assists in nine games while averaging 11:39 per night.  Clearly, Vancouver had seen enough and decided the time was right to move on.

The Canucks are expected to welcome Dakota Joshua back to the lineup soon and it appears that this move will open up the roster spot to do so.  In the meantime, they’ve upped their cap space to over $1.9MM per PuckPedia, giving them much more in-season flexibility than they’ve had in recent years.  As for Seattle, they’re presently in LTIR and this move will push them a little deeper into it.  However, they’re still close enough to the $88MM cap that it shouldn’t be too difficult to get back under that amount when Vince Dunn is able to return.

Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman was the first to report the trade.

Maple Leafs Place Auston Matthews On IR, Activate Connor Dewar

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The Maple Leafs have moved Auston Matthews to injured reserve with his upper-body injury retroactive to Nov. 3, the team announced. They’re using the open spot to reinstate forward Connor Dewar from his LTIR conditioning loan and add him to the active roster.

The IR placement only minimally affects Matthews’ timeline for a return. Head coach Craig Berube already told reporters that the superstar would miss his second straight game tonight against the Red Wings and that he was doubtful for tomorrow’s game against the Canadiens. He’s now been ruled out against Montreal thanks to the move to IR but could return for Tuesday’s matchup against the Senators. He’ll miss at least three games in total with the ailment, which he’s been playing through for a good chunk of the season.

Meanwhile, Dewar was one of two players for the Leafs in the AHL on LTIR conditioning stints. They assigned both he and defenseman Jani Hakanpää to the minors at the beginning of the month as they each got their feet back under them after offseason surgeries – in Dewar’s case, a shoulder procedure. LTIR conditioning stints can only last up to three games or six days, and the time constraint ends today. The lack of news regarding Hakanpää indicates he’s not entirely cleared to return to full-time action and will remain on LTIR for a tad longer.

Matthews’ IR placement buys the Leafs a little bit of time, but they’ll still need to make a roster move when the captain is ready to return next week and another one when Hakanpää is eventually ready to play. They have $1.83MM left in their LTIR pool after today’s transactions with Hakanpää, Calle Järnkrok and Dakota Mermis still on the list.

In his lone appearance on his conditioning stint, Dewar had a goal and an assist in what amounted to his first AHL action since the 2021-22 campaign. Acquired from the Wild at last season’s trade deadline, Dewar had a goal and four assists in 17 games for Toronto down the stretch and avoided arbitration over the summer with a one-year, $1.18MM settlement.

The high-energy 5’10” forward can play both center and wing and was a fixture on the Leafs’ penalty kill to close out 2023-24, averaging nearly two-and-a-half minutes per game shorthanded. He’s projected to serve as a healthy scratch against Detroit tonight while Steven Lorentz, David Kämpf and Ryan Reaves remain in fourth-line roles, but he could get a chance to play against the Habs tomorrow.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

New Jersey Devils Reassign Simon Nemec

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According to a team announcement, the New Jersey Devils have reassigned defenseman Simon Nemec to their AHL affiliate, the Utica Comets. Due to a slow start to the season and a fully healthy New Jersey blue line, Nemec hasn’t seen game action with the Devils since October 22nd.

It’s reasonable that any organization would want regular playing time for one of their highest-ranked prospects, especially one drafted second overall only three years ago. Still, the move back to Utica feels like a step backward in Nemec’s development.

It’ll be his first playing time in the AHL since last year although he only suited up in 13 games for the Comets. However, his familiarity with the team doesn’t begin there, as Nemec played 65 games for Utica in the 2022-23 AHL season, scoring 12 goals and 34 points from the blue line.

Nemec debuted and got an extended look in New Jersey last year, thanks to a few key injuries on the team’s blue line. He scored three goals and 19 points in 60 games while averaging 19:52 of ice time per game. His 50.6 CF% in all situations and final expected rating of 6.9 showed that he held his own defensively despite being only 19 years old.

The first nine games of the 2024-25 NHL season haven’t gone as well for Nemec who’s experiencing a dropoff in nearly every statistical category. The decline in play lost him some confidence with the coaching staff too as his ice time was cut by almost four minutes on average.

Upon the return of Luke Hughes and Brett Pesce, he quickly became a healthy scratch. Now that they’re fully healthy, both defensemen should have a consistent role in the lineup, meaning the team needed to find playing time elsewhere for Nemec.

Nemec’s not entering the best situation in Utica with the Comets being the only AHL team still searching for their first win on the 2024-25 campaign. Still, the silver lining is Nemec immediately becomes the best defenseman on the team and should have a regular role in most situations.

Flames Place Anthony Mantha On Injured Reserve, Recall Dryden Hunt

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Flames winger Anthony Mantha has landed on injured reserve, per Wes Gilbertson of Postmedia. Head coach Ryan Huska told reporters earlier in the day, including Sportsnet 960’s Pat Steinberg, that Mantha was still undergoing evaluation for a lower-body injury and would miss tonight’s game against the Bruins. The open roster spot is going to forward Dryden Hunt, who the team announced has been recalled from AHL Calgary.

Given his IR placement is retroactive to his last game (Nov. 5), Mantha will miss Calgary’s next three games and can return as soon as next Tuesday against the Canucks. The organization has yet to give him an official injury designation, so it’s unclear how much time, if any, he’ll miss past the mandatory minimum.

Mantha suffered the injury on Tuesday versus Montreal after falling awkwardly on his right knee after a hit from Emil Heineman. He got up under his own power and skated off the ice, albeit slowly, without the assistance of a trainer. He didn’t return to the game.

It’s been an inconsistent start in Calgary for Mantha, who inked a one-year, $3.5MM contract in free agency. The 6’5″ winger had two goals and two assists in his first three games but has gone cold since then, limited to three points in his last 10 appearances.

He’s averaging only 1.15 shots on goal per game, something Huska recently said has to change. “You saw tonight, there were multiple times he was standing right in front of the net,” Huska told reporters (including Gilbertson) after Sunday’s loss to the Oilers. “That’s how he scored his goal. And for a guy that is his size and has his ability with the puck, that’s what we need out of him.”

Kevin Rooney will enter the lineup in Mantha’s place after sitting as a healthy scratch three times in the last seven games, per Derek Willis of Sportsnet 960. Hunt comes up to serve as an extra body in case the Flames sustain any more injuries up front and need a last-minute fill-in. The 28-year-old had eight points in 28 games for Calgary last year and has 10 points in 12 AHL games so far this season.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

NCAA Votes To Expand Collegiate Eligibility To CHL Players

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The NCAA’s Division I Council has voted to adopt a rule change in men’s ice hockey, allowing players with previous involvement with professional teams to play for collegiate squads, the organization announced Thursday. As expected, the decision will enable prospects who played major junior hockey in the CHL to transfer to NCAA teams beginning next season.

Under NCAA bylaws, the three CHL sub-leagues (OHL, QMJHL, WHL) had been declared professional organizations despite being comprised solely of major junior players because players receive stipends from their clubs while under Scholarship and Development Agreements. Their restrictions against players with “professional” experience appearing for NCAA Division I member clubs thus previously barred a player who had dressed for a CHL team at any point from going on to play top-level college hockey.

With those restrictions removed, players drafted by NHL teams out of the CHL could theoretically play Division I hockey as an intermediary before signing an entry-level contract with their NHL team. Additionally, players with outstanding NCAA commitments can play CHL hockey without losing their eligibility – a new outlet that quite a few players have already taken advantage of in anticipation of today’s ruling.

The rule change also opens the door for NHL-drafted, unsigned prospects playing Division I hockey to attend their club’s rookie and training camps “as long as they don’t receive compensation above expenses and don’t play in any external scrimmages or exhibitions,” according to PHR’s Gabriel Foley. That means DI players are still unable to participate in NHL preseason action while still enrolled with their school, and they still won’t be able to sign entry-level contracts until they’re ready to turn pro.

It’s good news for both the CHL and NCAA, who expand their potential talent pools by a significant margin with today’s vote. It’s not so good news for other major junior alternatives like the USHL and junior ’A’ leagues in Canada, such as the BCHL and AJHL, who weren’t affected by the NCAA’s previous rules. Those leagues are no longer unique in being the only viable high-level pre-Division I option for players, meaning they’re likely to lose a lot of top-level talents to the CHL in the coming years.

Connor McDavid Returning To Oilers’ Lineup Ahead Of Schedule

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Oilers star Connor McDavid will be in the lineup Wednesday against the Golden Knights just nine days after he sustained an ankle injury, the team informed reporters, including Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman.

McDavid sustained the injury just 37 seconds into his first shift against the Blue Jackets on Oct. 28. He fell awkwardly into the boards on his left leg while attempting to cut around Columbus defenseman Ivan Provorov.

The Oilers initially said McDavid would miss two to three weeks with the injury. The earliest that timeline would have allowed him to return was next Tuesday against the Islanders. Instead, he’s back in the lineup five days and two games ahead of schedule.

An early return isn’t entirely unexpected after McDavid returned to practice earlier this week and declared himself day-to-day. Speaking with reporters on Monday, he implied he was targeting Saturday against the Canucks as a return date. However, a quick turnaround time means he’s back in to face a key divisional rival in Vegas.

Before the injury, McDavid was off to a slow start by his standards. The five-time Art Ross Trophy winner had three goals and seven assists for 10 points in 10 games, on pace for the worst point-per-game rate of his 10-year NHL career. He’s still got plenty of time to turn things around, though, and a three-game absence won’t take a bite out of his end-of-season totals too much. He missed six contests last season with various injuries and still managed to tie for the league lead with 100 assists.

McDavid, 27, will center Zach Hyman and Jeff Skinner in his return tonight, per team TV host Tony Brar. It’s a bit of a new look. He’d spent nearly all of his time with Hyman before the injury but had alternated between Leon Draisaitl and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins on his other wing.

The Oilers will take the help and the return of their captain as they begin to hit their stride. After dropping their first three games, the defending Western Conference champions are 6-3-1 in their past 10 and are one point back of the Blues for the second wild card spot.

McDavid never landed on injured reserve, so no transactions are required for him to return to play.

Sharks Activate Macklin Celebrini, Ty Dellandrea From IR

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Nov. 5: As expected, Cardwell and Gushchin have been sent down to make way for Celebrini’s and Dellandrea’s activations, head coach Ryan Warsofsky told Pashelka. The Sharks organization later confirmed that Celebrini and Dellandrea have been activated for tonight’s contest.

Nov. 4: Sharks forwards Macklin Celebrini and Ty Dellandrea will make their returns to the lineup tomorrow against the Blue Jackets, they each told reporters today, including Curtis Pashelka of The Mercury News. They’ll need to come off injured reserve, meaning the Sharks will have to open up a pair of roster spots in short order.

Celebrini, the first overall pick in this year’s draft, has missed all but San Jose’s season opener with a lower-body injury. The 18-year-old told Pashelka that he sustained it on his first shift, but he still managed to record a goal and an assist in 17:35 of ice time against the Blues. After a 12-game absence, he’ll likely be back centering their first line between William Eklund and Tyler Toffoli. That would leave Mikael Granlund and his team-leading 14 points in 13 games in a second-line role, greatly improving the Sharks’ scoring depth.

After an initial bleak stretch without Celebrini, the Sharks have turned things around – somewhat. They still sit last in the league with a 3-8-2 record, but they’ve won three out of their last four games and have outscored opponents 14-11 during that stretch. It’s certainly a step in the right direction for a club that recently became the first in NHL history to start back-to-back seasons with nine-game losing streaks.

They’ll also have Dellandrea available against Columbus. The 24-year-old had a goal in nine games after being acquired from the Stars over the offseason but sustained a hand injury against the Golden Knights over a week ago. He’s back after missing four contests with the injury, and he’ll almost surely slot back in after playing a season-high 15:13 against the Kings on Oct. 24, his last fully healthy game.

The Sharks have three likely candidates who are waiver-exempt to head to the minors to make room for the duo – forwards Ethan Cardwell, Daniil Gushchin, and defenseman Jack Thompson. San Jose has carried 15 forwards and six defenders at points this season, so they may opt to send down Thompson to get back to that formation, although that’s unlikely given he’s currently ninth on the team in scoring with three assists in six games. Gushchin has just one assist in 10 appearances after cracking the opening night roster, while Cardwell has no points and a -2 rating in three appearances since being called up to replace Dellandrea.

Auston Matthews Out Day-To-Day With Upper-Body Injury

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Maple Leafs star Auston Matthews is out with an upper-body injury and will miss tonight’s contest against the Bruins, the team announced. He’ll be evaluated daily and hasn’t been ruled out for Friday’s game against the Red Wings.

It’s unclear when Matthews sustained the injury. In all likelihood, it’s something he’s been playing through for at least a couple of games, or it was sustained off-ice. He logged over 22 minutes in Sunday’s overtime loss to the Wild and didn’t miss a shift.

If the injury is something he’s been playing through, it could be part of the explanation for why the 27-year-old is off to a sluggish start by his standards. With five goals in 13 games, he’s tied with John Tavares for third on the team and has been out-scored by Matthew Knies (six) and William Nylander (nine). In overall scoring, he’s tied with Tavares for third on the team with 11 points behind Nylander (13) and Mitch Marner (14). Those numbers put him on pace for just 32 goals and 69 points over a full season.

It’s not for a lack of trying, though. Matthews is shooting an unsustainably low 8.9% by his standards. His previous career-low was 12.2%, set in 2022-23 when he still managed 40 goals. He currently leads the league with 56 shots on goal, on pace to sit atop the NHL in that stat for the third time in his nine-year career.

Outside of the surprisingly low goal and point totals, it’s been business as usual for Matthews. The newly-minted captain of the Maple Leafs remains one of the best two-way centers in the league. He’s averaged nearly 21 minutes per game, won 55.6% of his draws, and is controlling a team-high 57.3% of shot attempts when on the ice at even strength. Among the 14 forward lines in the NHL to play at least 100 minutes together this season, Matthews’ unit with Knies and Marner ranks third with a 63.6% expected goals share, per MoneyPuck.

In Matthews’ absence, Max Domi will slide up from the third line to center the top line, per Terry Koshan of the Toronto Sun. Pontus Holmberg will return to the lineup and replace Domi as third-line center after serving as a healthy scratch in Minnesota, relays Jonas Siegel of The Athletic. Head coach Craig Berube hopes the temporary promotion can help jumpstart Domi, who’s yet to score a goal this season and only has 15 shots in 13 appearances, a rate that’s down sharply from his 137 SOG in 80 games last season.

The Leafs don’t have room to make a corresponding recall for Matthews without placing him on injured reserve. Doing so retroactive to Sunday would also rule him out of Friday and Saturday’s home back-to-back against the Red Wings and Canadiens, meaning he’d miss a minimum of three games with the injury.

Matthews is in the first season of the four-year, $53MM extension he inked in August 2023. He carries a cap hit of $13.25MM, currently the highest in the league.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

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