Oilers’ Leon Draisaitl Expected To Miss Remaining Regular Season
The Edmonton Oilers will be missing major firepower for Tuesday night’s divisional matchup against the San Jose Sharks. Superstar Leon Draisaitl has been declared out for the matchup due to a lower-body injury sustained in Sunday’s win over the Nashville Predators. Draisaitl left that game in the first period after taking a hard bump from Predators winger Ozzy Wiesblatt. No update was provided after the game.
After announcing that he would miss Tuesday night’s game, the Oilers released an additional statement sharing that Draisaitl will have to miss the remaining regular season. He will not need surgery for the injury and should be available for the start of playoffs, general manager Stan Bowman told Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman.
This news will be a major blow to the Oilers offense as they look to seal their spot in the top-three of the Pacific Division. Draisaitl has stayed red-hot since Edmonton returned from the Olympic break. He has six goals and 17 points in his last 10 games, bringing his year-long totals up to 35 goals and 97 points in just 65 games. The 30 year old ranks second on the Oilers in scoring behind Connor McDavid, who has already reached 114 points in 68 games. The two are one of the best duos in the league whether they’re playing alongside each other or not – making Edmonton’s task of replacing Draisaitl that much more challenging.
Max Jones will step into the lineup to fill Draisaitl’s hole. Jones has appeared in nine NHL games, and scored one point, this season. He has also racked up 10 goals, 18 points, and 61 penalty minutes in 39 AHL games. He is a veteran of 293 NHL games with 66 points, split evenly, to show for it. Jones should assume a bottom-line role, while Vasily Podkolzin and Matthew Savoie move up the lineup to bridge the top-six. Podkolzin has three points in his last six games and 30 points on the year, while Savoie has two points in his last two games and 27 points in total. The two should keep play moving just enough to earn Edmonton’s other star talent – McDavid, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, and Zach Hyman – scoring chances. Meanwhile the Oilers brass will hold their breath until a clearer timeline for Draisaitl’s return becomes available. The team expects to have updates before the weekend.
If that will be enough to sustain Edmonton’s offense across their remaining 14 games will be a larger question. The Oilers have scored the second-most goals in the NHL (238) behind only the Colorado Avalanche (249). Much of that scoring came from the one-two punch that is McDavid and Draisaitl. Without one of those hooks, the Oilers will need to look towards Hyman to make up for short-term scoring. This could also be a major opportunity for Savoie or Isaac Howard to step up as scoring pieces, after quieter starts to their pro careers than many expected.
Doug Armstrong Steps Down As Team Canada GM
Following the 2026 Winter Olympics, Doug Armstrong has stepped down as the general manager of Team Canada’s Olympic men’s hockey team per Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic. Armstrong led Canada to a silver medal finish at the latest Olympics, losing in a heartbreak overtime to Team USA. The tournament was led in scoring by two Canadian players – superstar Connor McDavid and Macklin Celebrini, the youngest NHL player to suit up for Canada’s Olympic men’s team. In an interview with LeBrun, Armstrong said that the result of the tournament was not why he was stepping down. Instead, he felt it was time for change:
I’ve enjoyed every aspect of it. Obviously, you wish you could go out on top. But it would be selfish to want to do it again. It’s such a great experience and I think more people should enjoy it.
Armstrong’s tenure in Canada’s upper management stretches all the way back to the 2002 World Championship, when he worked under Lanny McDonald‘s lead. He has since won seven Gold medals and six Silver medals at the World Championship. Armstrong also worked under Steve Yzerman to put together Canada’s Gold medal-winning rosters at the 2010 and 2014 Winter Olympics.
Throughout his reign over the country’s national team, Armstrong has been no stranger to bold decisions. He chose to ignore Celebrini’s age when rostering him for the 2026 Olympics and leaned on a goalie he could trust – the goalie who earned Armstrong his first Stanley Cup win, Jordan Binnington. Those patterns for bold decisions stretch back to the inclusion of players like Braden Schneider, Chris Kunitz, and Dan Hamhuis on international rosters. The decisions often benefited chemistry and morale where they didn’t boost the scoresheet – helping Canada continue blazing their trail of international success.
Naturally, the conversation will shift towards who will become Armstrong’s heir leading Canada’s men’s roster. The triple-gold-winning GM didn’t have any thoughts on immediate successors but did tell LeBrun that he thinks Sidney Crosby would be a perfect fit on the other side of his playing days. Armstrong praised Crosby’s “dignity and grace” on top of his wealth of hockey experience and drive to win. Where Canada tries to act professional and classy, Crosby takes it to another level. Armstrong said he also sees those traits in McDavid.
Armstrong will move forward with a focus on his final days in the St. Louis Blues’ GM role, which is set to turnover to Alexander Steen this summer while Armstrong moves into a full-time President of Hockey Operations role. Team Canada won’t need to worry about a replacement immediately, though they’ll have a great list of options available. Dallas Stars GM Jim Nill, Tampa Bay Lightning GM Julien BriseBois, and Boston Bruins GM Don Sweeney were all assistants to Armstrong at the 2026 Olympics. The team’s management staff also employed Pittsburgh Penguins GM Kyle Dubas and up-and-coming managerial advisor Ryan Getzlaf.
It seems any of the reigning Silver medal winners could take on the big chair – with Nill and Sweeney offering experience, Dubas offering youth, and BriseBois offering unique approaches. Canada has also called on Yzerman, Shane Doan, and even Wayne Gretzky to manage international rosters. Their star-studded list of candidates will keep news around Team Canada exciting, even as they lose a core part of their management for more than 20 years.
Flames’ Yan Kuznetsov Out Day-To-Day
The Calgary Flames will need to shake up their blue-line before Monday night’s matchup against the Detroit Red Wings. Defenseman Yan Kuznetsov is out day-to-day with an upper-body injury, head coach Ryan Huska told Pat Steinberg of Sportsnet 960. Kuznetsov filled a second-pair role in Calgary’s Saturday night loss to the New York Islanders. He and partner Zach Whitecloud were the only Flames pairing to record a plus-minus and outshoot their opponents in that matchup.
Kuznetsov, in his rookie season, has grown into a bigger role in the lineup following the departure of Rasmus Andersson. He has now played 10 games with at least 20 minutes of ice time, since Andersson’s trade – bringing Kuznetsov up to 33 such games on the year. His 20:09 in average ice time ranks fourth among current Flames defenders.
The 24-year-old Russian has racked up four goals, 12 points, and a minus-nine in 52 games this season. He is the second-highest scoring defenseman on the current Flames roster, behind Kevin Bahl who has 16 points. That’s an impressive jump for Kuznetsov, who spent the entire 2024-25 season with the AHL’s Calgary Wranglers. He totaled 21 points in 72 AHL games last season, bringing his career totals in the minors up to 53 points in 216 games. Kuznetsov also recorded two goals in 10 AHL games to start this season, before earning a full-time call-up in early-November. He has played in 52 consecutive NHL games since that recall, a streak that will end on Monday.
Kuznetsov’s absence will force fellow rookie Zayne Parekh up the lineup. Parekh has just two points, both assists, in 21 NHL games this season. It has been a quiet year despite the 19 year old scoring five points in four AHL games throughout the season. A bump into the top-four should represent a chance to find his scoring behind Calgary’s top forward lines – though the Flames will need to lean on Whitecloud and Bahl to make up for Kuznetsov’s physical role.
This move will also promote another rookie, Hunter Brzustewicz, into the lineup. Brzustewicz recorded 15 minutes of ice time, and three shots on goal, in Calgary’s March 12th win over the New Jersey Devils. That was his first NHL appearance since late-January. In total, he has scored two points in 19 NHL games and 13 points in 34 AHL games this season. He too will sit in a prove-it role as Calgary looks for who can replace one of their most impactful rookies this season.
NHL Announce 2028 World Cup Of Hockey
NHL general managers are convening in Palm Beach, Florida for a week of GM meetings beginning on Monday. A top agenda item will be preparing the announcement for the 2028 World Cup of Hockey, per Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic. The tournament has been held three times between 1996 and 2016. It was most recently held from September 17 to September 29, 2016, in Toronto. The 2028 iteration of the tournament was originally announced in February 2025.
Despite claims that the tournament will move forward without IIHF involvement, the NHL has announced that they are partnering with the international body to help ensure players from outside the NHL can be made available per NHL.com’s Dan Rosen.
The league made the official announcement at 12:30 P.M. ET on Monday. In it, Calgary and Edmonton, Canada, and Prague, Czechia, were revealed as the hosts cities. The event will take place in February, 2028 – in the middle of the 2027-28 season. Prague and Calgary will each host half of the round robin section of the tournament, while Edmonton will host the semi-finals and finals.
Further, the NHL announced that the tournament will use NHL rules rather than international rules per LeBrun. Most notably, that will mean that overtime periods are five-on-five, rather than three-on-three.
The last iteration of the tournament brought together six countries – America, Canada, Russia, Finland, Sweden, and Czechia – as well as two specialized teams, one featuring talent from other European countries and another featuring the top U24 players in America and Canada. The resulting Team North America brought together many NHL superstars well ahead of their prime, including Connor McDavid, Jack Eichel, Aaron Ekblad, Nathan MacKinnon, and more.
Team North America posted a 2-1-0 record and scored an 11-to-eight goal-differential – but ultimately lost out to Russia’s fewer goals-against (five) in the standings. Russia lost to Team Canada in the first round of the knockout stage, while Team Europe beat Sweden on the other side. Canada would go on to win the tournament, proudly led by leading scorer Sidney Crosby. Alongside Patrice Bergeron, Jonathan Toews, Brad Marchand, and Carey Price – Crosby was able to lead Canada to a win over Europe’s Mats Zuccarello, Anze Kopitar, Marian Gaborik, and Leon Draisaitl.
The next iteration of the World Cup of Hockey should similarly bring together world class talent in a best-on-best competition in the years leading up to the 2030 Winter Olympics. One questoin the NHL will need to be prepared to answer is if, and where, Russian talent will fit into the conversation. The country has been, and continues to be, excluded from all IIHF competition dating back to 2022, after Russia invaded Ukraine. The NHL will not have to abide by the IIHF’s decision but has previously said that Russia is not expected to be invited to the event, however the NHL did not confirm this in their press conference following the official announcement.
If the NHL chooses to bolster the number of contending teams with another Team Europe or Team North America will also be closely followed. The league has no shortage of young talent breaking through – with stars like Macklin Celebrini and Matthew Schaefer even making their case for league-best titles.
Islanders’ Max Shabanov Out Day-To-Day
The New York Islanders’ Monday practice was laden with positive injury updates, including the brief return of Pierre Engvall, Alexander Romanov, and Sergei Varlamov at various points around practice. Even with the positives, New York will need to adjust their lineup, as winger Max Shabanov recovers from a day-to-day, lower-body injury per NHL.com’s Stefen Rosner.
The Islanders iced depth winger Kyle MacLean and listed Shabanov as a healthy scratch in Saturday’s win over the Calgary Flames. MacLean contributed one assist to the Islanders’ three-goal effort. That brought him up to seven points in 48 games this season. MacLean has spent many of those games in a fourth-line role that should continue on until Shabanov returns to a lineup role. New York could also lean on Marc Gatcomb, who has scored four points in 36 games this season.
Shabanov has had a tough time transitioning to the NHL after a standout season in Russia’s KHL last season. He finished the 2024-25 season with 23 goals and 67 points in 65 KHL games, the third-most points in the league. That production made Shabanov a top free agent last summer. Multiple teams were in on the race to sign the stickhandling wizard, with the Islanders ultimately winning out.
New York began the season with Shabanov in a middle-six role. He scored 10 points in his first 19 NHL games, while averaging just over 14 minutes a game. That hot streak was followed by a nine-game stretch where Shabanov only scored one point, beginning in mid-December. He kicked the bug for a bit, only to fall into another cold streak recently, with one point in his last 12 games.
The Islanders have responded to the dwindling scoring by demoting Shabanov to a fourth-line role and even healthy scratching the scoring winger. He sits with four goals and 16 points in 42 games in his NHL rookie season. A short-term injury will offer Shabanov a chance to rest up after a tough stretch and prepare to once again contribute strong scoring as the Islanders push for their first playoff appearance since 2024.
PHR Mailbag: Blackhawks, Mammoth, Oilers, Blackhawks, MacKinnon, CBA
Topics in this edition of the PHR Mailbag include thoughts on what Utah did and didn’t do at the trade deadline, the rescinding of Nathan MacKinnon’s major penalty, and more. If your question doesn’t appear here, watch for it in our next two mailbag columns.
SpeakOfTheDevils: I know what he said in his after-deadline presser but what are the odds that Tom Fitzgerald is fired as the GM of the NJ Devils this offseason? Second part, who would be the top three choices to replace him???
General managers typically get a longer leash than coaches but he’s had the role since January 2020 when he took over in an interim capacity, getting the tag lifted soon after. He’s had five full seasons in charge and the Devils have won just one playoff round in that span. Barring a miracle comeback over the final month, they won’t get a chance to add to that number this spring. Yes, they’ve had some injuries, but they can’t use that as a crutch again. Based on that, you might be inclined to think the odds are rather high that he’d be fired.
But he’s also the team president, a role he has only held since January 2024. His contract terms weren’t disclosed but there are probably a couple of years left on it. And if ownership still believes in his vision, maybe he stays.
Maybe there’s an in-between option, one we’ve seen more frequently in recent years. What if Fitzgerald is moved to just president duties and cedes the GM role? Is that viewed as a possible compromise? I could see that happening, so maybe the odds of him not being GM could be in the 50-60% range and the odds of him leaving the organization outright more in the 30-40% territory.
As for part two, if Fitzgerald is out as GM, a lot depends on if he’s out altogether or just as GM. If they remove the GM title but keep him as president, Dan MacKinnon, their assistant GM, would be the logical choice to move up and take on a bigger role. If he’s gone altogether, I think Marc Bergevin would get consideration. He has been up for a couple of jobs lately and it feels like a matter of when, not if, he gets another crack. Brendan Shanahan is believed to be looking to get back into things. That one might be more of a president role but I think he’d be on the list. I also expect Ryan Martin to land one of the GM jobs soon. A veteran of 20 years in various front offices, he’s second in command with the Rangers at the moment and a chance to steal someone from a key rival might be appealing.
bottlesup: With the addition of Weegar, could you see the Mammoth possibly upsetting whoever the Pacific Division champ is in the 1st round? Assuming Utah continues to hold a firm grip on the WC1.
I’ll preface this by saying that I like the MacKenzie Weegar pickup for Utah. Yes, he’s having a down year but the track record is solid and if he’s in more of a second-pairing role for the Mammoth which he’s better suited to, I think he’ll bounce back a bit. So far, the early returns have been decent. But is he a big needle-mover? I’m not sure he materially affects their odds of winning a series. He helps get them there, but I don’t think his addition necessarily gives them a big leg up against a Pacific team.
Having said that, I think Utah has a legitimate chance to pull off an upset, simply because the Pacific Division just isn’t that great. Anaheim is playing well but like Utah, they’re very inexperienced in the playoffs so that could be a toss-up. Vegas isn’t turning things around like many expected them to. However, they have a good enough track record in the playoffs that they’d probably be the favorite in a hypothetical series. The same can be said about Edmonton. The Kings and Sharks aren’t entirely out of it but probably aren’t getting into first place so I won’t cover them here. Utah has a shot at making it through the first round if they can hold onto that top Wild Card spot.
Gbear: Feels to me that Utah missed a chance at the deadline to add a top-six winger (the whole Thomas thing from the Blues was a non-starter) and really give themselves a chance to win a round or two. Keller deserved that chance. Thoughts?
After they picked up Weegar without moving any of their top assets, I thought Utah GM Bill Armstrong was well-positioned to make a splash up front but it obviously didn’t happen. I don’t know how much of a chance was missed, though. Which top-six wingers actually moved? Bobby Brink has been one before, Conor Garland (who the team is familiar with from their days in Arizona), and, well, that’s about it. Centers and defensemen were the currency and that’s something Utah didn’t need to dabble in, especially knowing they were nearing an extension with Nick Schmaltz that has since been finalized and that they had already acquired Weegar.
It’s not a bad thing either that they didn’t push in a bunch of chips. There’s something to be said for getting some playoff experience and then using that to shape their next aggressive swing over the summer. And, as noted above, they’re in a spot where they could very well get through the first round if they wind up in the Pacific bracket. I expect there will be more opportunities to add a top-six winger over the offseason than there were at the trade deadline so in the end, they might wind up being better off for having waited, assuming they get something across the finish line a few months from now.
sovietcanuckistanian: I don’t know about you, but did Edmonton miss the boat by not significantly upgrading either/both of its defense corps and goalie at the trade deadline? With Florida almost assuredly not making the playoffs (injury bug), it seems like a missed opportunity – especially since McDavid is on that only two-year extension.
I’m going to flip the order of these so I can pick up on the theme from the last question about how realistic a move for a goalie upgrade there was. There wasn’t a single NHL goaltender moved at or leading up to the deadline. I know there was speculation about Sergei Bobrovsky but I don’t think trade talks got far considering Florida is trying to re-sign him. Jordan Binnington’s name was out there but the Oilers can’t afford to take on the contract and I don’t think St. Louis would have retained salary. Was anyone else out there really an upgrade? There were rumblings about a Toronto goalie but that feels more like an offseason decision. Samuel Montembeault’s name was thought to be in play but is he an improvement given how his season has gone? It’s hard to be too critical in that sense since there wasn’t much out there that they could do.
Granted, some of that is self-inflicted. GM Stan Bowman traded for Tristan Jarry’s contract in full, cutting into their financial flexibility. He also signed Andrew Mangiapane to a contract that they wound up having to pay a high price to get out of, also cutting into that flexibility. That Jarry trade was risky at the time it was made and hasn’t aged well since then.
That financial situation also limited what they could do defensively, although I think they did well enough with what they had to work with. Connor Murphy isn’t a top-four player anymore but he should stabilize things defensively and help on the penalty kill. They didn’t have the cap space to do much more than a depth deal, nor did they have the prospect or draft assets to get into the bidding on some of the more prominent blueliners to move.
It’s a missed opportunity in the sense that Florida isn’t in the playoffs and the division is up for grabs. Edmonton could very well have bolstered their chances to take the division and give them a chance to make the Conference Final once again. But in terms of their limitations (asset and cap-wise), I don’t think they did terribly. It wasn’t an ‘A’ deadline but a ‘B-‘ or ‘C+’ one.
tucsontoro: The Hawks lead the league in blown leads. It’s great that they have Boisvert and Frondell on the verge of joining the big club. But if they don’t find a way to keep the puck out of their own net, they won’t be going anywhere for a long time. Where does the defense come from?
In a nutshell, time and external acquisitions. Unfortunately for rebuilding teams, there is no fast-forward button when it comes to defensive development. While young forwards can sometimes make a big impact right away, it doesn’t generally happen as often with defensemen. Generally, the thought is a blueliner needs at least 200 to 250 NHL games before they’re truly ready and might not hit their prime for a little while after that. Chicago only has two players in that range and one of them (Matt Grzelcyk) is on an expiring deal; Alex Vlasic is the other at 243.
Sam Rinzel will get there. So will Artyom Levshunov. But they’re a couple more years away at least from getting to a baseline level of reliability defensively and likely longer before they’re consistently counted on as shutdown players.
In the meantime, GM Kyle Davidson will need to look outside the organization to bring in some help. They have a boatload of draft assets and prospects to deal from, particularly down the middle; with centers being in high demand, they can take advantage of it. An external add or two like that over the next few seasons will help in those late-game situations but it’s going to take some time before Chicago is much more reliable when it comes to holding the lead. It’s something that a lot of young teams go through and the process can rarely be sped up.
Red Wings Recall Sheldon Dries, John Leonard, Eduards Tralmaks
The Detroit Red Wings have utilized emergency recalls to call-up three forwards from the AHL. Sheldon Dries, John Leonard, and Eduards Tralmaks will all join the Red Wings with two games left on their current road trip. These moves come after Detroit center Andrew Copp sustained a lower-body injury in Tuesday night’s loss to the Florida Panthers. He has been downgraded to doubtful for Thursday’s match against the Tampa Bay Lightning, at least, per Detroit Free Press’ Helene St. James.
Three more forwards will help Detroit balance lines at Wednesday’s practice without captain Dylan Larkin, in addition to Copp’s injury and a recent string of maintenance days for winger Lucas Raymond. Detroit also added winger David Perron to their injured reserve after acquiring him from the Ottawa Senators for a fourth-round pick at the Trade Deadline.
The Red Wings have split their two games since Larkin sustained a day-to-day, lower-body injury. Copp was promoted to the top line in Larkin’s spot and recorded two assists and six shots on net before going down with his own injury. That could force the Red Wings to lean on Marco Kasper as their top center, even if Copp is able to play. Kasper scored one goal on four shots in Tuesday’s loss, bringing him to 10 points in his last 17 games dating back to mid-January. A bump in minutes could be well-timed for Kasper, who has not recorded a game with more than 20 minutes of ice time this season. The former eighth-overall pick had three such games in his rookie season last year. He finished with 19 goals and 37 points in 77 games.
Both Dries and Leonard have played a handful of NHL games this season, with Leonard scoring four points in nine games and Dries scoring one goal in six games with Detroit. The two rank first and third on the AHL’s Grand Rapids Griffins in scoring with 41 and 37 points respectively. Sixth on the list is Tralmaks, who is receiving the first call-up of his NHL career with this move.
After a quiet three seasons in the Providence Bruins’ organization to begin his pro career, Tralmaks spent the last two seasons with the Kladno Knights in Czechia’s top pro league. He scored 21 goals and 32 points in 52 games of his first Czech season, then jumped to a league-leading 51 points in 48 games last season. He signed with the Red Wings on the heels of that season and has since found his confidence in the AHL. Tralmaks has 18 goals and 28 points in 49 games with Grand Rapids this season. This call-up could now give the six-foot-four, 225-pound Latvian a chance to make his NHL debut.
Detroit may not need to lean on any of their call-ups if Copp can play on Thursday. If not, it will be centerman Dries who gets tapped to fill-in, unless the Red Wings move a winger to the center spot to fit-in the hot-scoring Leonard, or rookie Tralmaks. Bottom-six winger Dominik Shine has filled both forward positions through his career but has only taken one faceoff in the NHL.
Kraken Activate Matt Murray From IR
Another goaltender is set to join the Seattle Kraken depth chart. Matt Murray has been activated off of injured reserve after recovering from a lower-body injury sustained in November. Murray was originally expected to miss six weeks with the injury but instead totaled nearly four months out.
Murray has been working over injury complications since 2023. He underwent bilateral hip surgery in October 2023 to address nagging injuries. That procedure forced him to miss the entire 2023-24 season and the bulk of 2024-25. He made a brief appearance with the Toronto Maple Leafs in December 2024 before being knocked out of the lineup again until May. Murray seemed well over the injury headed into the 2025 summer, prompting the Kraken to sign him to a one-year, $1MM contract for this season.
The two-time Stanley Cup-winning netminder began the season in a normal role with the Kraken – but only managed five appearances before going down with another injury. He allowed eight goals on 102 shots – good for a .922 save percentage – in his limited appearances. His injury pushed the Kraken back towards a tandem of Joey Daccord and Philipp Grubauer for the bulk of this season. Both are having strong years backing a Kraken team that has allowed the ninth-fewest goals-against (182) this season. Daccord has set 18 wins and a .902 save percentage in 37 games, while Grubauer has 11 wins and a .913 save percentage in 24 games.
The Kraken are likely to continue leaning on their de facto duo while allowing Murray a chance to ease back from injury. He has not played more than 30 games in a single season since the 2019-20 campaign. In total, Murray has recorded 147 wins and a .910 save percentage in 279 career games, and 10 seasons in the NHL. He could be a timely addition to Seattle’s depth chart as they fight to hang onto the Western Conference Wild Card. They sit one point ahead of the San Jose Sharks and Los Angeles Kings in the Wild Card race.
Penguins’ Justin Brazeau Out Week-To-Week
It appears the Pittsburgh Penguins lineup will stay shaken up by injury. Three players have been designated as out with upper-body injuries. Winger Justin Brazeau is out on a week-to-week basis, while center Kevin Hayes and defenseman Samuel Girard are out day-to-day. Brazeau and Hayes missed Sunday’s overtime win over the Boston Bruins while Girard played 18 minutes in the matchup. It is not clear when exactly the trio of injuries were sustained.
Brazeau was originally deemed as out day-to-day. His downgraded status will be bad news for a Penguins’ top-six already without Sidney Crosby or Evgeni Malkin. Brazeau has emerged as a hot hand in the Penguins lineup this season. He has 16 goals and 30 points in 48 games, fourth on the team in goals and seventh in total scoring. It is a breakout year after Brazeau stamped his NHL spot with 20 points in 57 games with the Boston Bruins last season. He finished his 2024-25 campaign with the Minnesota Wild but moved on after only scoring two points in 19 games with the club. Brazeau signed a two-year, $3MM contract with Pittsburgh on July 1st.
Another man down will force another promotion into the Penguins’ top-six. Wingers Egor Chinakhov and Ville Koivunen earned increased minutes in the wake of Pittsburgh’s superstar injuries, while Rickard Rakell moved to a center role. Chinakhov has earned his keep with five points in seven games since the return from the Winter Olympic break – but Pittsburgh’s offense overall has dwindled to a 3.00 goals-per-game average in that span, down from their 3.37 average across the full season.
While attempting to patch holes in the top-six, Pittsburgh will also need to make up for Hayes and Girard on their bottom lines. Rookies Avery Hayes and Benjamin Kindel have recently split center duties in the bottom-six, while Connor Clifton will draw back onto the blue-line. The Penguins success this season has largely been driven by their rookie forwards, making the boost in minutes timely. Clifton only has five points in 32 appearances this season – though he has stayed above bar with a plus-two, one of seven Penguins defensemen with a positive plus-minus.
The Penguins will likely lean on their top lines and veteran skaters as they take on the top team in the Metropolitan Division, the Carolina Hurricanes, on Tuesday night. Pittsburgh sits second in their division, eight points behind Carolina.
Afternoon Notes: Hutson, Ovechkin, Carlson
The Washington Capitals will be watching closely as top prospect Cole Hutson heads to the Hockey East postseason this weekend. The defenseman could head to Washington as soon as Boston University’s season ends per Chris Cerullo of RMNB. Both team and player have expressed interest in coming together soon, with Capitals general manager Chris Patrick recently mentioning that trade acquisition Timothy Liljegren could be a smart veteran partner for Hutson if he leaves college, “like [the team] hopes”.
Hutson has emerged as a star prospect since joining the Terriers last season. He scored 14 goals and 48 points in 39 games as a freshman, becoming the X-factor addition that drove Boston University to their first National Championship appearance since Jack Eichel‘s great 2014-15 season. Hutson has dwindled to 30 points in 33 games this season, on the back of a struggling Terriers offense as a whole. Those struggles will be their challenge as the playoffs roll around. If and when Hutson moves to the pros, he will rival Rasmus Sandin and Martin Fehervary for minutes on the left-side, and could be the reason one of the veterans moves to the right-side as the team tries to replace John Carlson.
Other notes from around the NHL:
- Sticking in Washington, franchise great Alex Ovechkin said that his retirement decision will hinge on how his body feels in an interview with Ian Oland of RMNB. Ovechkin has scored 24 goals and 50 points in 64 games this season, keeping up a tendency for strong scoring into his age-40 season, though he’s dipped from the pace that led him to 44 goals and 73 points in 65 games of his historic 2024-25 season. Ovechkin holds the NHL’s all-time goals record, racking up 921 in 1,555 career games so far. How many he’ll add to those totals seems to be up in the air as he continues to weigh a closely-followed retirement decision.
- Speaking of Carlson, the former Capitals star is hoping to make his debut with the Anaheim Ducks at the end of their current, four-game road trip as he works back from a day-to-day, lower-body injury per Derek Lee of The Hockey News. The Ducks’ road-trip ends with a back-to-back against Ottawa and Montreal on Saturday and Sunday. Anaheim pulled off the surprise of the Trade Deadline in their acquisition of Carlson for conditional-first-round and third-round draft pick. Carlson scored 10 goals and 46 points in 55 games with the Capitals before the trade. He has surpassed the 50-point mark in each of the last two seasons and reached 71 points in 78 games of the 2021-22 season. He should bring a boost of offense to a veteran Ducks blue-line.