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Evening Notes: Canucks, O’Brien, Broberg, Barkov, MacEwen

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When looking back on previous NHL seasons, each seems to have one or two stories that, even if it wasn’t the most memorable part of that season, dominated the headlines. Last season, that story seemed to be the availability of Jakob Chychrun, which has carried into this season, and the year before was COVID absences and protocols, which carried into last season too. This season’s headlines, besides Chychrun, seem to be dominated by the Vancouver Canucks: their struggles, their work on extensions, and now, the availability of their players in trades.

Earlier this evening on Hockey Night in Canada’s 32 Thoughts segment, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman continued that discussion. Friedman clarified the Canucks’ position, who apparently have just one untouchable player: Elias Pettersson. That one might feel obvious, but immediately begs another question: what about Quinn Hughes? As Friedman reports, while Hughes isn’t an untouchable, it would take “an absolutely mammoth offer” to pry the defenseman away from the Canucks. Despite having just the one untouchable, Friedman adds that the team isn’t interested in a rebuild or complete teardown, but instead is looking to change their mix and breath new life into the team. Finally from Friedman, it appears Vancouver isn’t willing to give Bo Horvat more than the $56MM J.T. Miller was extended for, however Horvat’s career-year has now put him over that number.

  • Arizona Coyotes forward Liam O’Brien is out week-to-week with an upper-body injury suffered last night against the New York Islanders, the team announced. The forward played just 9:41 last night in the win over the Islanders, lower than his 12:01 average this season. Not shy from fighting, it is notable that O’Brien did have a fight in the third period against Islanders’ defenseman Scott Mayfield, who’s experienced in that regard too.
  • Edmonton Oilers defenseman Philip Broberg, who was scratched for today’s loss to the Anaheim Ducks, missed the game with an injury he suffered yesterday, head coach Jay Woodcroft confirmed postgame, via The Athletic’s Daniel Nugent-Bowman. Given Broberg’s play in 11 games this season, a healthy scratch wouldn’t be confusing, but certainly wasn’t deserved either, so news of an injury does make sense. It also further explains the decision to recall fellow defenseman Markus Niemelainen yesterday. Woodcroft did not elaborate further on the details or severity of Broberg’s injury.
  • Florida Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov was forced to leave tonight’s game against the New Jersey Devils early with a lower-body injury, the team announced. Barkov appeared to be experiencing some discomfort after taking a faceoff earlier in the game. The center has played the last five games after missing two weeks with a bout of pneumonia. The extent of Barkov’s injury is unclear at this point.
  • Philadelphia Flyers forward Zack MacEwen missed this evening’s game against the New York Rangers with an illness, reports The Athletic’s Charlie O’Connor. Of course, no forced absence is a good thing, however one would expect an injury to carry a shorter timeframe, which would be preferable to getting MacEwen back into the lineup. MacEwen has just eight points in 28 games this season, but with Philadelphia showing value in grit this year, the forward’s 38 penalty minutes are much appreciated.

Injury Notes: Sabres, Canucks Illnesses, Aho, Capitals

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Things haven’t necessarily gone as planned for the Buffalo Sabres to start this season, the team coming into tonight with a 14-14-2 record thus far, tying them with the Ottawa Senators and Montreal Canadiens for the bottom three positions in the Atlantic Division. There are some bright spots, such as the further breakouts of Tage Thompson and Rasmus Dahlin, or that record being partially influencex by an eight game losing streak that came with zero points, and there are reasons for the struggles, such as poor goaltending and a myriad of injury issues. Those injury issues continue to persist, but with injuries does come injury updates and the Sabres were able to provide a few of those today.

Forwards Jeff Skinner, who was suspended, and Kyle Okposo, will both rejoin the lineup tonight, reports Mike Harrington of The Buffalo News. Okposo had only missed one game, Thursday at the Colorado Avalanche, but has dealt with his share of injuries this season. Harrington adds that defensemen Owen Power and Jacob Bryson, who both missed Thursday’s game will not play this evening. Fortunately for Power, he’s only considered day-to-day, however Bryson has been shutdown for the remainder of the road trip and will be re-evaluated when the team gets home. Their road trip concludes Monday in Vegas. Lastly, per Harrington, defenseman Ilya Lyubushkin, who is currently on IR and hasn’t played since November 28th, is still not ready to return.

  • The Vancouver Canucks could be down a pair of star forwards this evening, with both Elias Pettersson and Brock Boeser under the weather according to Sportsnet’s Brendan Batchelor, who spoke with head coach Bruce Boudreau. Boeser also missed Wednesday’s game with an illness and while Pettersson did not, recall that he had actually been sent home from practice on Sunday after showing up sick. Even with the turmoil surrounding Boeser and the likelihood that he ends up being dealt this season, Vancouver will need both players in the lineup with the hope that they can produce and get their season back on track going forward. Boeser has 16 points in 22 games thus far, while Pettersson appears to be taking the next step with 34 points in 29 games to date.
  • Carolina Hurricanes forward Sebastian Aho, who has been out of the lineup since December 6th with a lower-body injury will not play tonight against the Dallas Stars or tomorrow afternoon against the Pittsburgh Penguins, says Hurricanes team reporter Walt Ruff, who spoke with head coach Rod Brind’Amour prior to tonight’s game. On a positive note, Brind’Amour added that Aho was on the ice earlier today, indicating a return could be sooner rather than later. Interestingly, Carolina has done just fine without Aho in the lineup, going 3-0-0 in the process, including back-to-back shutouts of the New York Islanders and Detroit Red Wings. Obviously, the team would still prefer to get one of the NHL’s very best centers back into their lineup as soon as possible, especially considering schedule doesn’t get any easier after tomorrow, facing the New Jersey Devils and the Penguins again this week.
  • Washington Capitals forward Nic Dowd will miss tonight’s game with a lower-body injury, reports The Athletics Tarik El-Bashir. It’s unclear what exactly is ailing Dowd or how serious the injury might be, however he did leave Thursday’s game a touch early, playing just 9:39 in the game, down from his season average of 13:03. Also of note, goaltender Hunter Shepard has been ruled out of tonight’s game with an upper-body injury, which would explain the team’s earlier recall of netminder Zachary Fucale.

Florida Panthers Loan Alex Lyon To AHL

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Dec 14, 4:16 pm: The Panthers have returned Lyon to AHL Charlotte, according to a team announcement. Knight is now healthy and fully recovered from illness after missing four games, per Florida Hockey Now’s George Richards.

Dec 8, 4:28 pm: The Florida Panthers have since announced that Knight is dealing with a non-COVID illness and will not play tonight. Sergei Bobrovsky will get the start in net. Forward Anton Lundell is also dealing with a non-COVID illness.

Dec 8, 3:28 pm: The Florida Panthers have made a roster swap, recalling veteran netminder Alex Lyon from the Charlotte Checkers, their AHL affiliate, and sending forward Aleksi Heponiemi to Charlotte. The move leaves Florida still with the maximum 23 skaters, something they haven’t been able to have for much of this season.

It’s unclear what the exact basis is for recalling Lyon, as neither Spencer Knight nor Sergei Bobrovsky appear to be injured at this time. Knight had been pulled from last night’s game against the Winnipeg Jets early on in the second period, however that appeared to be performance related, with the goaltender allowing three goals on 15 shots. Bobrovsky replaced Knight and finished out that game.

Given Bobrovsky’s struggles this season and not wanting to burn out Knight, adding Lyon into the mix could serve to push Bobrovsky while giving Knight a bit of a break. Lyon has had a solid season thus far with the Checkers, recording a 2.80 goals-against and .903 save-percentage in 12 games.

As for the 23-year-old Heponiemi, the forward has bounced around between the NHL and AHL plenty this season, and was most recently recalled on an emergency basis on December 4th. The shuffling hasn’t hurt him too much, recording two points in seven NHL games this season, as well as seven points in 16 games in the AHL.

Snapshots: Flames, Board Of Governors, Capitals

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The Calgary Flames are without two key players tonight as they take on the Montreal Canadiens. Before puck drop, the team announced center Elias Lindholm and defenseman MacKenzie Weegar are out with an upper-body injury and a non-COVID illness, respectively.

Mikael Backlund slides up to the top line in Lindholm’s absence, while Connor Mackey makes his sixth appearance of the season in place of Weegar. Lindholm isn’t quite producing at last year’s clip, but he still leads the team in scoring with 23 points in 28 games. Weegar’s yet to score his first goal as a member of the Flames, but has six assists in 28 games and is averaging over 20 minutes per game. Still, Calgary would like some more offense out of Weegar, who had a career-high 44 points last season as a member of the Florida Panthers.

  • Today wasn’t the most eventful opening day of the NHL’s Board of Governors’ meeting in Florida, but NHL.com’s Dan Rosen expects that to change tomorrow. Rosen notes that tomorrow’s docket includes salary cap projections for the 2023-24 season, updates regarding the ongoing sale process for the Ottawa Senators, and a potential fan code of conduct. NHL commissioner Gary Bettman will likely issue an update after tomorrow’s meetings conclude.
  • Speaking to reporters, including ESPN’s Greg Wyshynski, Washington Capitals owner Ted Leonsis said the team won’t enter a rebuild while Alex Ovechkin is still chasing the NHL’s all-time goals record. Ovechkin has noted a desire to remain competitive while chasing the record, vying for team and individual success. Leonsis also noted that Wayne Gretzky himself will be in attendance for all Capitals games as Ovechkin inches toward his record of 894 career goals.

San Jose Sharks Activate James Reimer, Reassign Eetu Mäkiniemi

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The San Jose Sharks have activated goaltender James Reimer from injured reserve and reassigned Eetu Mäkiniemi to the AHL’s San Jose Barracuda; the team announced Monday evening.

Reimer landed on injured reserve back on November 28 after playing through a lower-body injury. The injury caused him to miss eight games, dating back to a pre-Thanksgiving contest against the Seattle Kraken on November 23.

A free agent acquisition a year and a half ago, Reimer’s numbers flattened out after a strong October. Still, his .903 save percentage and 3.00 goals-against average are much better than his counterpart Kaapo Kähkönen, and he’ll undoubtedly return to the starter’s role now that he’s healthy.

Mäkiniemi got into two games during his callup, the first of his NHL career. Acquired from the Carolina Hurricanes this past offseason in the Brent Burns trade, the 2017 fourth-round pick got the win in his only start against the Anaheim Ducks on December 9, making 23 saves on 24 shots. With a strong AHL track record so far (.920 save percentage across the last year and a half), expect Mäkiniemi to continue to get callups when injuries strike and even potentially unseat Kähkönen if his poor play continues.

Michael McCarron Enters Players Assistance Program

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The NHL and NHLPA jointly announced this afternoon that Nashville Predators forward Michael McCarron has entered the Players Assistance Program effective immediately. McCarron will be away from the team for an indefinite amount of time while he receives the care he needs through the program.

McCarron will be eligible to return to on-ice activity once cleared by the program administrators, per the release. His care will be administered pursuant to the NHL/NHLPA assistance program.

The 27-year-old, a former first-round pick, has played parts of six seasons with Nashville and the Montreal Canadiens. The forward has split this season between the AHL and NHL, last playing on Thursday against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Everyone here at PHR wishes McCarron the very best while he gets the help he needs.

Injury Notes: Capitals, Jets, Krug

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It’s been a tough season thus far for the Washington Capitals, who sit three points out of the New York Rangers and a Wild Card spot in the East and six points back of the Pittsburgh Penguins and Carolina Hurricanes for a spot in the Metropolitan Division. No team will ever make excuses, however injuries have been unrelenting for Washington even before the puck dropped on the 2022-23 season. The organization expected a tough go of it early on without some of their stars and all things considered, 30 points in 29 games is not half bad. They’ll have to have a strong season the rest of the way to get into the postseason, but as of right now, injury updates look positive.

Earlier today, the Capitals placed defenseman Alexander Alexeyev and goaltender Darcy Kuemper on IR and recalled defensemen Lucas Johansen and Dylan McIlrath. For Kuemper, that’s not expected to be much of an issue, eligible to come off of IR as soon as Tuesday, and according to NHL.com’s Tom Gulitti, the netminder participated in the team’s morning skate today for the first time since suffering the injury. Also from Gulitti, veteran Dmitry Orlov, who has not played since November 5th due to a lower-body injury, also skated this morning. Perhaps the best news, even if nothing is imminent, is forwards Nicklas Backstrom and Tom Wilson skated this morning in non-contact jerseys, traveling with the team on the road for the first time this season, which appears to be the norm going forward. Both core pieces of this generation’s Capitals squad, getting either back in the lineup would be a massive boost not only to on-ice production, but to off-ice morale too. Still, one bit of bad news, both Alexeyev and Martin Fehervary did not skate this morning, and fellow defenseman Erik Gustafsson left practice early, head coach Peter Laviolette telling Gulitti the Capitals and Gustafsson are “working through some things.”

  • The Winnipeg Jets will be without forward Saku Maenalanen and defenseman Logan Stanley when they take on the Capitals this evening says Scott Billeck of the Winnipeg Sun. No update beyond that was given by associate coach Scott Arniel. Billeck adds that the Jets are trying to get an additional player called up from the Manitoba Moose to join the Jets at home this evening. Billeck adds the Moose, who actually share an arena with the Jets, are on their way to Calgary, however getting a player back from Calgary to Winnipeg by tonight shouldn’t be an issue. As for the injured players, Maenalanen has impressed in a depth role for the Jets this year, recording six points in 25 games, averaging 11:30 a night, his first NHL action since a stint with the Carolina Hurricanes back in 2018-19. Unfortunately for Stanley, who missed a-month-and-a-half, was able to play just two games after coming back before being forced out of the lineup once again.
  • The St. Louis Blues confirmed defenseman Torey Krug would rejoin the lineup Sunday after missing two games with an upper-body injury. The veteran, much like his Blues, has had a shaky start to 2022-23, recording 11 points in 24 games, but comes with a -22 rating, the worst mark in the league. Even amid his struggles, if the Blues hope to re-write their 2022-23 story, it’s more likely than not that Krug will have to be part of the solution, and having him in the lineup would be a start. Though Krug is back, forward Pavel Buchnevich, who also hasn’t played since December 5th, will not play this afternoon, the Blues announced.

Washington Capitals Place Alexeyev, Kuemper On IR; Recall Johansen, McIlrath

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11:28 am: According to NHL.com’s Tom Gulitti, the Capitals have indeed made those corresponding moves. Alexeyev, as well as goaltender Darcy Kuemper, have both been placed on IR. Kuemper’s IR placement shouldn’t come as too much of a concern, as it is retroactive to December 3rd, meaning he could come back as soon as Tuesday when the team is in Chicago to take on the Blackhawks.

10:44 am: The Washington Capitals announced they’ve recalled a pair of defensemen in that of Lucas Johansen and Dylan McIlrath from the Hershey Bears, their AHL affiliate. While no other corresponding moves were formally announced, the Capitals’ roster is already full at 23 players. The moves could signal an IR stint for defenseman Alexander Alexeyev, who suffered an upper-body injury in Friday night’s game against the Seattle Kraken. Despite being at 23 skaters, the Capitals had just six defenseman before the recalls, which included Alexeyev.

Notably, these two recalls seem to cap off a morning of defenseman shuffling in the Capitals organization. Earlier, the Hershey Bears announced they’ve recalled defenseman Martin Has from the South Carolina Stingrays of the ECHL. That recall came not only with Johansen and McIlrath’s recalls in mind, but after the Bears lost defenseman Bobby Nardella during the first period of last night’s game with an undisclosed injury. For Has, 21, he could have a chance to take the next step in his development after a solid start to this season in the ECHL with three points in 14 games. This is the defenseman’s first professional season in North America, spending last season with the Shawinigan Cataractes of the QMJHL.

Johansen, 25, is a former first-round pick of the Capitals back in 2016, but has played in just two NHL games to date, one in each of the last two seasons. He may not have hit the ceiling expected of him as a first-round selection however he has turned into a solid defenseman at the AHL level. Given Washington’s injury issues on defense this season, which include Alexeyev and Dmitry Orlov, both left-handed, the left-handed Johansen may get a chance to shine.

McIlrath, 30, is a longtime veteran of the AHL and NHL as well. The former 10th-overall pick back in 2010 to the New York Rangers, has played in 66 NHL games total, spread over six different seasons between the Rangers, Florida Panthers, and Detroit Red Wings. The veteran hasn’t played in the NHL since 2019-20, when he got into 16 games with Detroit. This is McIlrath’s second season with Hershey, recording just five assists in 22 games to start this season, but does have a respectable 36 penalty minutes in that span, playing the role of physical shutdown defenseman.

Interestingly, McIlrath did appear to have a two game NHL suspension awaiting him upon his recall. He had been suspended during the 2021 preseason for two preseason games and two regular season games, but hadn’t played in the NHL, during the regular season, since. However, as NHL.com’s Tom Gulitti reports, according to the Capitals organization, the NHL and NHLPA reached a settlement agreement this fall that allowed McIlrath’s two regular season games to be served during this preseason. Thus, McIlrath should be eligible to play tonight against the Winnipeg Jets, should Washington choose to dress him. Gulitti was also the first to raise the question about the suspension.

Morning Notes: Puljujarvi, Heritage Classic, Matheson

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Earlier this week, an interview with Edmonton Oilers forward Jesse Puljujarvi in a Finnish newspaper came out, with Puljujarvi saying in sum that he wants to be a productive first line forward, but isn’t sure if he can do that in the NHL. His frustration and lack of confidence is a bit understandable, the former fourth-overall pick struggling to just six points in 28 games to start the season. Last night on Hockey Night in Canada’s 32 Thoughts segment, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman gave an update on the winger and where things stand with Edmonton. According to Friedman, the Oilers and Puljujarvi’s representatives agreed before the season that if things did not go well for Puljujarvi, that Edmonton would try to move him.

It’s not exactly a new story that Edmonton would be interested in moving on from Puljujarvi, the team trying to do so this summer for salary cap purposes, but now it appears both sides are interested in the idea for the benefit of the player. Friedman adds that he does expect the trade to happen eventually, but that it might take time. One reason for this is Edmonton’s injury issues at forward and the fact that they don’t currently have any salary cap issues, at least not until Evander Kane returns to the lineup. There’s no doubt Puljujarvi has struggled to meet expectation this season, however he still can be better than some alternatives while the team works through its injury troubles.

  • Also from Hockey Night In Canada’s 32 Thoughts last night, the NHL has confirmed that the Heritage Classic will be returning to Edmonton next season. The game is expected to be played at Commonwealth Stadium sometime in October and will feature a Battle of Alberta between the Oilers and the Calgary Flames.
  • After he didn’t play last night against the Los Angeles Kings, the Montreal Canadiens confirmed that defenseman Mike Matheson is in-fact injured, dealing with a lower-body injury. Fortunately, this doesn’t seem to be as bad as the abdominal injury that kept him out the first 17 games of the season., the team announcing the injury as day-to-day. The veteran has only played in nine games so far this season while dealing with injury, but does have an impressive six points in that span. Matheson is in his first season with Montreal after coming back the other way from the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Jeff Petry trade.

Snapshots: Guenther, Barkov, Toporowski

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With World Junior camps opening, many expected a handful of NHLers such as Shane Wright, Brandt Clarke and Dylan Guenther to leave their NHL teams for a short time to compete for gold. All three of those players will join their native Canada, making an already formidable squad just that much better. Although Wright and Clarke struggled to find consistent playing time and production with their NHL teams, both ultimately sent to the AHL on conditioning loans, the same cannot be said for Guenther. The 19-year-old, who was selected by the Arizona Coyotes ninth-overall in 2021, has 11 points in 21 games already, playing just over 12 minutes per game.

While Guenther’s loan to Team Canada wasn’t exactly shocking news, it also wasn’t the lock that Clarke and Wright’s loans appeared to be. PHNX Sports’ Craig Morgan had a chance to discuss Guenther with Coyotes GM Bill Armstrong, who said he wanted to see how prospects performed “under fire.” Armstrong continued, “[y]ou like to see them in those pressure situations because you find out a lot about them and they really tend to grow for them.” The GM cited two of his former St. Louis Blues players, Robert Thomas and Jordan Kyrou, who were sent to the World Juniors, and the impact the experience had on their development.

  • After it was reported yesterday that Aleksander Barkov was expected to return today from a bout with pneumonia, the Florida Panthers confirmed their captain would play tonight against the Detroit Red Wings. Adding the superstar back into the lineup will no doubt give Florida, who went 2-3-2 in his absence, a big boost. Still, illness will continue to hold them back. The team announced that goaltender Spencer Knight and forward Anton Lundell are both missing tonight’s game with non-COVID illnesses.
  • NHL.com’s Mark Divver wonders if the Boston Bruins termination of Victor Berglund’s contract could pave the way to an NHL contract for forward Luke Toporowski. As Divver points out, this will leave the Bruins with 47 contracts, perhaps enough flexibility to add one back in that of Toporowski. NHL teams are allowed to carry a maximum of 50 contracts within the organization, but generally prefer to stay away from having 50, or even 49, in order to give them flexibility in certain situations. Divver adds there is interest from other teams in Toporowski, but Boston has exclusive rights with him until January 1st, and even thereafter can match any other offer Toporowski accepts. A product of both the WHL and USHL, Toporowski went undrafted but signed on with the Providence Bruins this offseason after scoring 35 goals in just 49 games between the Spokane Chiefs and Kamloops Blazers last season. The 21-year-old has 17 points in 21 AHL games so far this season.

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