Dallas Stars Place Mikko Rantanen On IR
Feb. 24: Rantanen will be out for at least two weeks and possibly longer, head coach Glen Gulutzan told reporters today, although he doesn’t expect the injury to end his regular season (via Lia Assimakopoulos of the Dallas Morning News). That will nonetheless put him out through the trade deadline and keep him out of at least Dallas’ next seven games.
Feb. 23: The Dallas Stars announced today that they have placed star forward Mikko Rantanen on injured reserve, retroactive to Feb. 20, the date of Finland’s loss to Canada in the quarterfinals of the recent Winter Olympic tournament.
Stars head coach Glen Gulutzan told the media today, including Stars Thoughts’ Robert Tiffin, that Rantanen is doubtful to play in the Stars’ first game back from the break, and is questionable beyond that point. According to Tiffin, Gulutzan “didn’t want to speculate” on Rantanen’s status beyond this week.
The team’s roster move suggests Rantanen isn’t set for an extended absence. Since his IR placement was made retroactive to Feb. 20, he will be eligible for activation as early as Feb. 27. If the team held a firm expectation that Rantanen would miss well over a week, it is less likely that they would have directly clarified the retroactive nature of his IR placement in their announcement post.
Rantanen’s injury didn’t end up costing Finland, as they cruised past Slovakia to earn a bronze medal. His injury, while seemingly minor in the grand scheme of the Stars’ season, threatens to seriously impact their odds of winning the games he’s set to miss. Rantanen is arguably Dallas’ most talented forward, currently leading the team in scoring with 69 points in 54 games.
Rantanen leads all Stars forwards in time-on-ice per game and is widely considered one of the game’s top wingers. Missing him, even for a handful of games, will hurt the Stars. With that said, Gulutzan’s comments combined with how the Stars have announced Rantanen’s IR placement suggest the star winger won’t be sidelined for too long, which is certainly good news for Dallas.
Penguins Acquire Samuel Girard From Avalanche
The Penguins acquired left-shot blue-liner Samuel Girard and a 2028 second-round pick from the Avalanche in exchange for defenseman Brett Kulak, both teams announced Tuesday.
Girard has been in the rumor mill for what seems like years. Colorado hoped to make him a future top-four anchor behind Cale Makar and Devon Toews – he actually predates both of them and was the Avs’ longest-tenured defenseman – when they acquired him from the Predators in 2017. After the puck-mover impressed and sniffed 20 minutes per game of ice time in his first full season in Colorado, the Avs inked him to a seven-year, $35MM extension.
Some warned the commitment was premature. Now, in the penultimate season of the contract, they’d be right, at least based on his recent play. Girard’s performance back in the pandemic-shortened 2021 campaign made it look like he’d be the final piece of a true three-headed monster behind Makar and Toews, rattling off 32 points and a +15 rating in 58 games. His trajectory has been largely downhill from there. His minutes were steadily reduced from the 23-plus minutes he logged that year, his playoff performances were negligible, and he never churned out the same level of two-way play. He’s topped 30 points just once since then and has had negative relative Corsi impacts three times in the last five seasons at 5-on-5.
Still, Girard remained Colorado’s clear-cut No. 2 left-shot option behind Toews, especially after the Avs jettisoned Bowen Byram at the 2024 trade deadline. Then came this season. Girard sustained an upper-body injury in Colorado’s second game of the season that left him on the shelf for a month. During that time, veteran righty Brent Burns got the bump up to second-pairing minutes with Josh Manson moving to his offside in lieu of Girard. That duo, with over 2,200 combined games of NHL experience, has put up fantastic results – even posting better possession numbers than Makar and Toews have with a 56.8 xGF%, per MoneyPuck.
That pushed Girard down to a third-pairing role along with Sam Malinski, averaging only 17:41 of ice time per game. Even there, Malinski’s 25-point, +30 breakout through 55 games had rendered Girard as something of an expensive depth redundancy, especially with Malinski now extended through 2029-30 and Girard costing $5MM against the cap.
That cap impact, in a season where the Avs are the top Cup favorites by a significant margin, is why general manager Chris McFarland was willing to offload a second-round pick to get out of the last year and a half of his deal – especially if they’re receiving a much cheaper third-pairing option in Kulak in return, who’s having a strong season. Swapping out Girard for the pending UFA Kulak, who costs only $2.75MM, now leaves the Avs with a projected $10.82MM in cap space on deadline day, per PuckPedia. They’ve also given themselves $13MM even in cap space for next season, up from just $8MM to fill seven spots before the deal.
Kulak’s time in Pittsburgh ends after 25 games. It’s his second time being traded this season, having been acquired from the Oilers in December as part of the Tristan Jarry/Stuart Skinner swap. During that time, he’d gotten a bump in minutes alongside Kris Letang in top-four deployment and showed he was up to the task. He’s having a tough season offensively, even by his limited standards as a shutdown bottom-four piece, but managed seven points with a +2 rating while playing almost exclusively with Letang. That duo controlled 52.2% of expected goals as well, per MoneyPuck.
Given how both players grade out this season, it’s likely a lateral move at worst for both clubs. It’s a bit more of a long-term focused move for the Pens, though. They have little to no long-term security in their top four. Parker Wotherspoon has impressed this season, elevated as a top-pairing shutdown partner for Erik Karlsson, although he’s been a career third-pairing option and, at age 28, the prospects for regression next season are bright. Ryan Shea is, like Kulak, a pending UFA. Their veteran depth options are uninspiring, and it’s questionable if 2022 first-rounder Owen Pickering will be ready to log NHL minutes next season.
They now have a year and change of a 27-year-old Girard, plus the ability to discuss an extension with him starting July 1. He immediately becomes their most offensively dynamic threat on the left side and becomes the youngest name in Pittsburgh’s aging top-four group. They’re banking on Girard, who has 12 points in 40 outings this season, to return to his 30-plus point form back in expanded minutes, but considering he’s averaged over 20 minutes per game for his career, it’ll be a familiar situation for him.
Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet was first to report the trade.
Image courtesy of Steven Bisig-Imagn Images.
Latest On Josh Morrissey
Winnipeg Jets star Josh Morrissey suffered an upper-body injury at the recently-concluded men’s hockey tournament at the Winter Olympics, the full extent of which has yet to be revealed. Morrissey was unable to get back onto the ice for Canada after suffering the injury, and TSN insider Darren Dreger said today that Morrissey is expected to miss “a good chunk of time” as a result of the injury.
Jets head coach Scott Arniel didn’t go as far when asked about Morrissey after Jets practice today. As relayed by Ken Wiebe of the Winnipeg Free Press, Arniel confirmed that the defenseman won’t play on Wednesday when the team resumes its schedule against the Vancouver Canucks, but added that he could meet the team on its upcoming road trip after he is evaluated by team doctors.
It goes without saying that the Jets hope their evaluation of Morrissey’s injury ends up in a more positive prognosis. The blueliner, who has finished inside the top-10 of Norris Trophy voting in each of the last three seasons, is easily Winnipeg’s most important defenseman.
He’s a true No. 1 in every sense, averaging 24:37 time on ice per game, which is the most on the Jets by a wide margin. That level of usage per game places him No. 11 in time on ice per game among all defensemen in the NHL. Morrissey is also Winnipeg’s top power play quarterback, averaging 3:09 time on ice per game on the man advantage, and has scored 10 goals and 42 points in 56 games.
Losing Morrissey for an extended period would not only take the Jets’ most important blueliner out of their lineup, the trickle-down effect of losing him would also be felt by the rest of the defense, who would have to play increased roles as a result of his absence.
Of course, even if Morrissey does miss some time and the Jets suffer as a result, their overall direction for the season is unlikely to change dramatically. Even with a healthy Morrissey, the Jets entered the Olympic break No. 28 in the NHL with a 22-26-8 record. Their playoff odds sit at just 5.5% according to Moneypuck, so Morrissey’s injury and its exact timeline is unlikely to make or break their season.
But in any case, the team is still likely hoping to get Morrissey back as soon as possible, so that they can at least put up a fight down the stretch and hope to potentially shock the hockey world and make a push upwards in the standings.
United States Wins Gold Medal At 2026 Winter Olympics
The United States have won the gold medal at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milano Cortina, capturing their first gold medal since the legendary “Miracle on Ice” team of 1980.
The golden goal, coming from New Jersey Devils star Jack Hughes, came early in the game’s three-on-three overtime period. It ended what was an iconic game between two hockey heavyweights. An early goal from Minnesota Wild forward Matt Boldy gave the Americans a 1-0 lead, but the ice began to tilt in the second period. A goal from Colorado Avalanche defender Cale Makar tied the game in the second period.
Canadian pressure was relentless for the rest of regulation time. The Canadians piled up quality scoring chances, but reigning Hart Trophy winner Connor Hellebuyck made save after save to keep the game tied. Hellebuyck’s paddle save on Canadian defenseman Devon Toews, breaking up a prime scoring opportunity, will likely now go down as one of the most iconic saves in the history of USA Hockey.
Minnesota Wild GM Bill Guerin, who constructed this American roster, came under significant criticism during the lead-up to the tournament for some of his roster decisions. His choice to include a pair of New York Rangers veterans, J.T. Miller and Vincent Trocheck, rather than lethal goal scorers Jason Robertson and Cole Caufield, was one that drew considerable fire. But Guerin maintained all along that he was looking to build not the “best” team, one that would have as many all-stars as possible, but instead the “right” team, one capable of handling all of the adversity a short best-on-best tournament typically provides.
The Americans went through the tournament without a significant amount of adversity, though, at least compared to the Canadians. Sweden gave them a scare during the quarterfinals when Mika Zibanejad tied the game late, but superstar Quinn Hughes pushed the Americans forward with a fast overtime marker. The Americans flew past the Slovaks in the semifinals, and the United States’ games in the knockout round felt very different from Canada’s games, which were marked by late deficits and dramatic comebacks.
In the end, the margin between the United States and Canada was razor thin. While Canada dominated much of the final two periods of the game, the nature of three-on-three overtime is that it provides a clean slate for every team – it is a distinctly different form of hockey than five-on-five. Hellebuyck kept the Americans in the game, and gave them a chance to win it by delivering them to the overtime period. While Canada had a few chances in overtime, Hughes was the first to convert his, and in doing so, he etched his name into international hockey history.
Mikko Rantanen To Miss Bronze Medal Game Due To Injury
A handful of key NHL players have been sidelined with an injury at the 2026 Olympics. Another player has been added to that list as Lejionat’s Jaakko Pertilla reported that Finnish winger Mikko Rantanen was scratched for the Bronze Medal Game against Slovakia due to a lower-body injury.
Rantanen was a full participant in Saturday’s semi-final matchup against Canada. He scored the opening goal of the game and logged 16:09 of ice time in 25 shifts. The 29-year-old came into today’s game as Finland’s leading scorer with two goals and four assists in five games with an ATOI of 18:14.
Of course, this is significant news for Rantanen’s NHL team as well as the veteran is the leading scorer for the Stars this season. In 54 games, he has 20 goals and 49 assists while averaging more than 20 minutes a night of playing time. Any absence from NHL games would be significant.
To that end, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports (Twitter link) that the injury occurred in the third period on Saturday and is not considered to be season-ending. He’s expected to be evaluated when he returns to Dallas to determine the exact severity and how much time he could miss.
Taking Rantanen’s spot on Finland’s top line is Oliver Kapanen, who has been scratched for three games and dressed as the 13th forward without seeing the ice in the other two. Meanwhile, Eeli Tolvanen will return to the lineup after being healthy-scratched versus Canada.
Canucks’ Filip Chytil Out Indefinitely With Facial Fracture
Canucks center Filip Chytil sustained a facial fracture in Wednesday’s practice and will be out indefinitely, Jeff Paterson of Rink Wide: Vancouver reports.
Considering Chytil’s long history of concussions, a simple fracture is far from the worst-case scenario after he was dazed by taking a puck to the face in the session. The 26-year-old has only been good for 12 appearances this season, missing three months early in the season with an upper-body injury that was suspected to be at least his third concussion in the last three years. He returned for a six-game stretch before the Olympic break, before sitting out of Vancouver’s last contest with migraine headaches.
Concussions and facial injuries have now limited Chytil to less than a full season’s worth of games over the past three years. He’s only played in 78 of 221 possible regular-season games, equal to 35.3%, since the beginning of the 2023-24 campaign. That window of inavailability came just after the Czech center finally seemed to break through into a top-nine role with the Rangers, rattling off a career-high 22 goals and 45 points in 74 games in the 2022-23 campaign.
That type of production might just be too far gone for Chytil to get back to that level, though. Acquired from New York in last year’s J.T. Miller trade, he’s suited up 27 times for Vancouver in the last 13 months with five goals and four assists for nine points with a -18 rating. That’s a 15-goal, 27-point pace over 82 games – closer to fourth-line production than the second-line role behind Elias Pettersson they were initially hoping he could fill.
There’s little left to play for in Vancouver. They’re already 21 points back of the playoff cutoff in the West and are in a seven-point hole for last place in the league. While not mathematically eliminated from playoff contention, they’re a non-factor by all intents and purposes. That means the stretch run is exclusively about trying to get individual talents back on the right track – including Chytil – but whether he’ll heal enough to get back in the lineup before mid-April now remains to be seen.
Sidney Crosby Ruled Out Of Semifinals, Possible For Medal Game
Feb. 20: Crosby will not play in today’s semifinal matchup against Finland, Hockey Canada announced. As IIHF rules stipulate a captain must be named for each game, Connor McDavid will wear the ‘C’ in his absence. Crosby, who by all accounts avoided a worst-case injury, is still questionable for either the bronze or gold medal game pending today’s result.
Feb. 18: During Canada’s dramatic overtime victory over Czechia in the quarterfinals of the ongoing Winter Olympics men’s hockey tournament, Pittsburgh Penguins forward Sidney Crosby was forced out of the game with an injury.
ESPN’s Emily Kaplan relayed word from Canadian head coach Jon Cooper post-game, who said that he didn’t know the extent of Crosby’s injury. According to Kaplan, Crosby will undergo medical imaging to determine the extent of the lower-body injury he suffered. The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun reported that Hockey Canada is expected to issue an update on Crosby’s status on Thursday.
As one of the most iconic players in the history of Canadian international hockey competition, Crosby’s status is one of the key storylines to watch as the tournament progresses into the semifinal stage. At this point in time, one can only speculate on whether Crosby will be available for the rest of the tournament.
If Crosby is unavailable, it goes without saying that would be a massive loss for Canada. Crosby has six points in the tournament and his line with Mitch Marner and Mark Stone has been one of Canada’s best.
Any extended absence would also impact the Penguins. Pittsburgh is in the thick of the Eastern Conference playoff race, in large part powered by Crosby’s 59 points in 56 games. Losing Crosby, even for a brief period of time, would make winning on a nightly basis far more challenging for the Penguins.
As of right now, all Canada and Penguins fans can do is wait for Hockey Canada to issue an update regarding Crosby and hope it’s positive.
Sharks, Jeff Skinner Terminate Contract
Feb. 17: Skinner cleared unconditional waivers and has had his contract terminated, per Friedman. He is now an unrestricted free agent.
Feb. 16: The Sharks have placed winger Jeff Skinner on unconditional waivers for purposes of contract termination, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports. He’ll become an unrestricted free agent tomorrow if no one claims the remainder of his existing $3MM cap hit for this season.
The timing of the maneuver suggests Skinner has tangible interest from at least one other NHL team, but they weren’t interested in acquiring him from the Sharks – even for future considerations – at his current cap hit. With San Jose only carrying one salary retention slot until the end of next season, they’ll be picky about how they use it and likely aren’t willing to retain money on the veteran winger to complete a trade.
As such, he’ll need to walk away from the remainder of his guaranteed $3MM salary for this season and sign on elsewhere for close to, if not at, the league minimum for the stretch run. He signed with the Sharks nearly two weeks into free agency last summer to give them some additional top-nine scoring help, but the fit just hasn’t been there. He’s been limited to six goals and 13 points in 32 appearances and was relegated to the press box for 10 straight games heading into the Olympic break, last suiting up on Jan. 11.
With Michael Misa being thrust into top-six duties on the other side of the World Juniors and their pickup of Kiefer Sherwood from the Canucks pushing Skinner down the depth chart, there was no longer a home or need for him in a depth scoring role. He finishes his Sharks tenure averaging 12:21 of ice time per game with a -8 rating.
If a playoff contender is looking for a third-line boost with boatloads of NHL experience, they’ll have a perfect pickup in Skinner. The 2010 seventh overall pick crossed the 1,100-game threshold earlier this season and has averaged 28 goals and 53 points per 82 games for his career, although he’s produced closer to a 30-point pace since the beginning of last season.
One thing the 5’11” winger is light on is postseason experience. He didn’t have any until signing a one-year deal with the Oilers in free agency in 2024, and even then, he appeared in only five games during their run to last year’s Stanley Cup Final, having slipped to a No. 13/14 forward by the time the playoffs rolled around.
As for the Sharks, they’ll clear up a bit of cap space heading into the deadline, but more importantly, they’ll shed a contract. They were at the 50-contract limit until Vincent Iorio got claimed off waivers by the Rangers last month, so that’s been a concern for them from the jump this year. They’ll now have a bit more breathing room with two open slots heading into the deadline.
Hurricanes Sign Brandon Bussi To Three-Year Extension
The Hurricanes announced they’ve signed goaltender Brandon Bussi to a three-year extension. The deal is worth $1.9MM annually for a total value of $5.7MM. He was set to be an unrestricted free agent this summer, but the new deal will keep him under contract with Carolina through the 2028-29 campaign. He’ll earn a $850K salary and $150K signing bonus in 2026-27, a $1MM salary and $850K signing bonus in 2027-28, and a $1MM salary with a $1.85MM signing bonus in the last year, per PuckPedia. He’ll also carry a 10-team no-trade clause in 2028-29.
Bussi, 27, has had a dream start to his NHL career. Claimed off waivers from the Panthers at the beginning of the season to serve as the third-stringer behind Frederik Andersen and Pyotr Kochetkov, the undrafted free agent has since emerged as the Canes’ clear starting option in what’s been a tumultuous season for the rest of their crease.
While the Western Michigan product had a strong AHL track record entering the year, he didn’t have a single NHL start to his name. He’s now made 27 of them with a raucous 23-3-1 record, putting up a .906 SV% and 2.16 GAA with two shutouts. Just before the break, he broke into the top 10 in the league in terms of goals saved above expected with 11.0, per MoneyPuck.
With the struggling Andersen set to ride off into the open market this summer and Kochetkov likely done for the year with a hip injury, Carolina has a ton invested in Bussi being able to keep up that level of play. With no blue-chip prospects ready to succeed Andersen as the starter and no high-end long-term options set to be available in free agency, the Canes needed some insurance past this season as well. Retaining Bussi at such a marginal cap hit gives them that insurance with virtually no risk, even if his numbers regress and he settles back in as more of a No. 2/3 option.
Bussi’s strong career minor-league numbers suggest he’s got a good chance of being able to keep this up, though. Signed by the Bruins as an undrafted free agent in 2022, he was an AHL All-Star as a rookie while putting up a .924 SV% and 22-5-4 record in 32 games for Providence. He remained in the Boston organization until reaching unrestricted free agent status last summer, landing a two-way deal with the Panthers before being lost on waivers in training camp. In four AHL seasons before hitting the open market, he made 111 appearances with a 2.61 GAA, .915 SV%, eight shutouts, and a 63-31-13 record.
His lack of NHL experience was always going to make it hard for him to land an eye-popping cap hit on his next deal, though. Reports emerged last month that the Canes were working to get him extended. The few reasonable comparables for Bussi’s camp in the last several years all topped out in the high $1MM range on a short-term multi-year deal, so this one doesn’t push the envelope by very much.
It’s nonetheless a shrewd signing by general manager Eric Tulsky, who’s essentially given Carolina a worst-case scenario of Bussi and Kochetkov as next season’s tandem if Andersen walks and they don’t pursue an external replacement via trade or free agency. Bussi will be 31 years old when his deal is up, joining a potential 2029 UFA goalie class of Thatcher Demko, Spencer Knight, Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, and Linus Ullmark.
Kings’ Kevin Fiala Sustains Multiple Left Leg Fractures, Out For The Season
Sunday: The Los Angeles Kings updated today that Fiala underwent successful surgery due to fractures in his lower left leg. As expected, he will miss the remainder of the season, and will be reevaluated in the spring.
Saturday: Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports that Fiala is having surgery today. There still is no word on the precise nature of the injury but Friedman adds that it is indeed season-ending, a significant blow for both Switzerland and the Kings. Fiala will now be eligible to be placed on LTIR but with Los Angeles having ample cap space, it’s unlikely they’ll need to put him there.
Friday: One of the main reasons NHL teams opposed player participation in the Olympics was the concern over injuries that could be avoided. That fear has come to fruition for the Los Angeles Kings. Toward the end of today’s game between Canada and Switzerland, Kevin Fiala had to be stretchered off the ice due to an apparent leg or knee injury.
As mentioned, the injury happened with approximately three minutes left in the game. Fiala absorbed a hit from Tom Wilson and was in immediate pain on the ice. Although the hit was leveled, the incident causing the injury seemed accidental, and more like a freak play. According to Mark Lazerus of The Athletic, after the game, Wilson said, “It’s the Olympic Games and I feel terrible that he may not be able to keep playing. Just sending his family and him my best. You never want to see a guy go down, in a tournament like this, especially.”
Still, accident or not, it doesn’t make the situation any easier for the Kings. Fiala is the team’s second-highest scorer with 18 goals and 40 points in 56 games while averaging over 19 minutes of ice time per game.
Considering how starved Los Angeles is for offense, it’s a worst-case scenario. The team recently acquired high-scoring Artemi Panarin before the Olympic break, but that didn’t relieve all of the team’s goal-scoring woes. No, the Kings haven’t yet played with Panarin on the ice, but losing a player with Fiala’s goal-scoring capabilities will objectively make it more difficult for them to put the puck in the net.
There haven’t been many updates regarding Fiala’s immediate status. Arpon Basu of The Athletic reported that Fiala has been taken to a local hospital, and there are concerns that the injury could be season-ending. If that’s the case, the Kings’ uphill climb toward playoff contention just became remarkably more difficult.