Conor Sheary Leaves Game And Unable To Return
The Tampa Bay Lightning have announced that forward Conor Sheary left tonight’s game with what is being described as an upper-body injury. The 31-year-old was hit up high by a shot on his first shift of the game and remained on the bench. The puck may have hit Sheary on the wrist or possibly in the hand, however, it is difficult to tell from the video footage. Sheary did not come out to start the second period and a short time later the Lightning announced that he was done for the evening. There’s no information at this time on the severity of the ailment, or how long Sheary could be out of the lineup. At the moment he is listed as day-to-day.
Sheary signed a three-year $6MM contract in the offseason as a free agent and has struggled with his new team to start the year with just a goal and two assists in his first 12 games. The two-time Stanley Cup champion has been a good depth scoring option throughout his career and posted 34 goals and 46 assists over the last two seasons with the Washington Capitals in 153 games. Sheary was a big part of the Pittsburgh Penguins back-to-back Stanley Cup victories in 2016 and 2017 and appeared as though he could be a fixture in the top-6 for the future. However, as his career has gone on he has become more of a middle -6 option for teams.
If Sheary is unable to play on Thursday when Tampa Bay takes on the Chicago Blackhawks, then it is likely that Austin Watson will take his place. Watson has dressed in four games so far this season and has yet to register a point. The 31-year-old was a late signing after converting a PTO into a one-year deal with the Lightning. Watson won’t put up points at the same pace as Sheary, but he does add sandpaper and size to the team’s bottom six.
Evening Notes: Canucks, Sharks, Carter
TSN Insider Darren Dreger is reporting that the Vancouver Canucks are looking for a right-shot defenseman. The surprising Canucks have started the season 9-2-1 and are currently among the league’s elite a month into the regular season. Vancouver was projected to be a bubble team this year but have outperformed expectations to this point. The Canucks have considerable depth in their forward group, particularly on the wing and are hoping to be able to use an excess winger to acquire a defenseman.
Unfortunately for the Canucks, most of the teams they are talking trade with have little to no interest in acquiring a player and are looking for futures. This further complicates a potential move for Vancouver as they have precious little cap space to facilitate such a transaction. According to CapFriendly, the Canucks have $162,500 in cap space, meaning that they wouldn’t even be able to add a player on a league minimum contract.
In other notes:
- TSN Insider Chris Johnston is reporting that he doesn’t believe the San Jose Sharks will make a big trade or a coaching change in the coming weeks as they weather one of the worst starts to a season in NHL history. The Sharks were expected to finish the season near the bottom of the NHL standings, but no one predicted they would start the season this poorly. Johnston adds that Sharks general manager Mike Grier met with the team yesterday and stated that any improvements would need to come from within the group, although Grier didn’t rule out making changes if the Sharks don’t show any improvement in the coming weeks.
- NHL.com is reporting that Pittsburgh Penguins forward Jeff Carter will be a healthy scratch for the second game in a row tonight when the Penguins take on the Anaheim Ducks. It is just the second time in his 19-year NHL career that the veteran will be scratched after he has struggled to start the season. Carter has no points in nine games and was part of a struggling fourth line that failed to provide a single point in the first nine games of the season. Head coach Mike Sullivan scratched Carter for the last game and opted to dress Vinnie Hinostroza against the San Jose Sharks in a game the Penguins won 10-2. Hinostroza had a goal and an assist, and fellow fourth-liners Matt Nieto and Noel Acciari produced their first points of the season as well.
Metropolitan Notes: Horvat, Nedeljkovic, Ludvig
New York Islanders reporter Andrew Gross has tweeted that New York Islanders forward Bo Horvat did not dress for tonight’s game against the Minnesota Wild. It is the first game Horvat has missed as a member of the Islanders since he was acquired via trade from the Vancouver Canucks this past January. The 28-year-old was considered a game-time decision after blocking a shot late in Saturday night’s overtime loss to the Carolina Hurricanes but ultimately did not dress.
Horvat is off to a solid start this season with four goals and five assists in his first 10 games of the season and his absence will create a rather large hole for the Islanders to try and fill. The club has had to deal with multiple injuries to start the season with Adam Pelech, Scott Mayfield and now Horvat all missing some time. Should he miss an extended period, the Islanders will have to do more shuffling of the lines to try and fill the void. The team has started the season well all things considered, at 5-2-3 the Islanders are currently tied for the second wild card spot in the Eastern Conference.
In other Metropolitan notes:
- Josh Yohe of The Athletic reported today that Pittsburgh Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan offered an update on injured Penguins goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic. Sullivan told the media that the 27-year-old netminder is back on the ice and is making progress towards a return. Not much is known about Nedeljkovic’s lower-body injury as he was hurt back on October 24th in a 4-1 loss to the Dallas Stars. He was placed on LTIR the very next day meaning that the earliest he can return to the Penguins lineup is on November 19th.
- Josh Yohe also reported that Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman John Ludvig is also back on the ice skating and is making progress towards a return. Ludvig suffered a concussion on October 24th against the Dallas Stars after laying a hit that resulted in him sustaining the head injury. Mike Sullivan told reporters that the team will see what happens after their road trip meaning that the likeliest the 23-year-old could return is November 11th. Ludvig was acquired off waivers before the season and has dressed in one game thus far this season.
Afternoon Notes: Tippett, Drysdale, Vegas
The Fourth Period’s Anthony Di Marco reported that the Philadelphia Flyers are willing to sign 24-year-old winger Owen Tippett to a long-term deal, as long as the average annual value is reasonable. Di Marco added that “long-term” could mean a deal similar to the eight-year extension that Brandon Hagel received in Tampa Bay, although Hagel’s $6.5MM AAV would be “a little high” for Tippett, a source told Di Marco.
The Flyers only have five players currently signed beyond the 2025-26 season. Of that list, only one – 23-year-old Joel Farabee – is under 27. So the interest in signing young players to long-term deals is both timely and refreshing. It’s another step in new general manager Daniel Briere building out something sustainable over time, and locking up core lineup pieces like Tippett is a great way to start. While the young winger hasn’t jumped off the page with his scoring – recording over half of his career scoring when he netted 49 points last season – he’s found other ways to make his impact felt, ranking fourth on the team in CF% (Corsi-For Percentage) since 2021-22, among plays with 25-or-more games.
Tippett’s pending extension, and how it affects other young pieces of the Flyers lineup, will be exciting to monitor over the course of the season.
Other notes from around the league:
- Anaheim Ducks head coach Greg Cronin shared an update on Jamie Drysdale‘s lower-body injury, saying that it’s a hard injury to pinpoint a recovery timeline for. Cronin said that Drysdale is working closely with the team’s training staff and that the Ducks will want him, “fully healed” before he comes back. The exact nature of Drysdale’s injury hasn’t been revealed, although he was placed on injured reserve in late-October, retroactive to October 15th.
- Vegas Golden Knights head coach Bruce Cassidy shared a pair of injury updates, noting that Alec Martinez is expected to play in the team’s Wednesday game while Nicolas Roy is expected to sit out, despite skating with the team today. Roy has been on injured reserve since October 29th, nursing an undisclosed injury.
Max Pacioretty Hopeful To Return This Season
Max Pacioretty rejoined the Washington Capitals team skates this week, providing the first big step in his return from his second torn Achilles’ tendon. And now, per NHL.com’s Mike Vogel, both the team and the player are hopeful that a return could come soon. Pacioretty told Vogel, “I feel like I’m getting my life back… I’m having fun. I’ve only skated three times, but this is what I was born to do, so it feels like there’s some normalcy in my life, and I definitely have much more of a smile on my face now that I’m skating.” Pacioretty went on to mention that there was a point where he considered whether this injury would bring an end to his career or not, but that he ultimately felt he had more hockey in the tank.
That’s incredibly exciting news for the Capitals. The club took a flyer on the 34-year-old winger this summer, signing him to a one-year, $2MM contract, despite the second Achilles injury, hoping they could bring Pacioretty back to the goal-scoring prowess that he had earlier in his career. Pacioretty has scored 30 or more goals in six different seasons, including a career-high 39 goals in the 2013-14 season. And despite missing pieces of the last three seasons with injury, he’s maintained his production into his veteran years. The winger scored three goals in five games with Carolina last season, and had 19 goals and 37 points in 39 games with Vegas in 2021-22: his last taste of substantial ice time. In fact, Pacioretty hasn’t scored below 35 points since the 2010-11 season, excluding last year.
That’s encouraging consistency that could be nicely timed for a Washington team faced with the absence of star centerman Nicklas Backstrom. The team hasn’t released an official timeline for when Pacioretty may be able to return but the optimism from both parties hints that it may not be a terribly long wait. Regardless of when he’s able to return, Pacioretty’s eagerness to get back to where he was is exciting to see.
Injury Notes: Couturier, Barabanov, Golden Knights, Hoffman, Knyzhov
Philadelphia Flyers center Sean Couturier, who has not played in either of the team’s last two games, will return tonight against the San Jose Sharks, according to Kevin Kurz of The Athletic. It will be an important reinforcement for the Flyers who are currently on a 1-4-0 stretch in their last five games.
After missing the entire 2022-23 regular season due to injury, Couturier has picked up right where he left off in Philadelphia. In 10 games played up to this point, he has scored two goals and six assists, tied for fifth on the team in scoring. Still maintaining a positive faceoff percentage, as well as solid possession numbers, Couturier is still a player the Flyers can trust with heavy usage.
Unfortunately, when one player returns from injury, another player must exit the lineup, and Kurz also reports that Morgan Frost will be a healthy scratch for the game tonight. Trying desperately to earn more minutes for Philadelphia, Frost has played in six games so far, scoring zero points after averaging over 15 minutes of ice time per night.
Other notes:
- Max Miller of The Hockey News reports there is still no timeline for the return of Sharks winger, Alexander Barabanov, but he is progressing nicely from injury. Barbanov has been out of the lineup with a finger injury since the team’s game against the Florida Panthers on October 24th. After finishing fifth on the team in scoring last season, Barabanov is one of six members of San Jose’s forward core that has not scored a point yet this year.
- As he is rehabbing his way back from injury, Vegas Golden Knights’ defenseman, Zach Whitecloud, was practicing with the team today in a non-contact jersey (X Link). Other notable pieces missing from today’s practice were Nicolas Roy, Nicolas Hague, Alec Martinez, and Chandler Stephenson. For the last three mentioned, it is likely that they were merely taking maintenance days, as no injury concern was alluded to in the report.
- Back to the Sharks, Max Miller also mentioned that Mike Hoffman and Nikolai Knyzhov were late additions to today’s practice, meaning they may be out of the lineup tonight against the Flyers. Both players were present during the team’s blowout loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday night.
Snapshots: Ruzicka, Kuznetsov, Suzdalev
After missing the last four games with a shoulder injury, Pat Steinberg of Sportsnet is reporting that Calgary Flames’ forward, Adam Ruzicka, will return to game action tonight. As one of the top-performing members of the team in limited action, Ruzicka has two goals and two assists in seven games so far this season.
One of the more unheralded members of the Flames organization, Ruzicka was drafted 109th overall by Calgary in the 2017 NHL Draft and finally made his debut with the team during the 2020-21 regular season. In the best season of his career up to this point, Ruzicka played in 44 games last year, scoring six goals and 14 assists over the course of the year. He has also maintained solid possession numbers over the course of his career, evidenced by his 58.8% CF%.
Tonight, as the team takes on the Nashville Predators, Ruzicka will likely join A.J. Greer and Walker Duehr on the team’s fourth line, as well as the second power-play unit. In his absence, Calgary has gone 1-3-0, being outscored 15-11 over that small stretch.
Other snapshots:
- Receiving the most time of any forward in the team’s recent win against the Columbus Blue Jackets, Washington Capitals forward, Evgeny Kuznetsov was notably missing at the team’s practice this morning, according to Stephen Whyno of the Associated Press. Apparently, Kuznetsov is dealing with a minor illness and will remain questionable for the team’s game tomorrow night against the Florida Panthers. In 10 games played so far this year, Kuznetsov has one goal and four assists, all while averaging nearly 22 minutes of ice time per game.
- Sticking with the Capitals, the team has announced it has loaned prospect, Alexander Suzdalev from the Hershey Bears to Mono IK of the HockeyAllsvenskan. Suzdalev was a third-round selection of Washington in the 2022 NHL Draft and has not suited up for the Bears in any games this season. Last year, playing for the Regina Pats of the WHL, Suzdalev scored 38 goals and 48 assists, benefitting tremendously from being on the same line as Connor Bedard.
Detroit Red Wings Activate Robby Fabbri Off IR
As alluded to yesterday, the Detroit Red Wings have officially activated forward Robby Fabbri off of the injured reserve, and he will be in the lineup tonight as the team takes on the New York Rangers. Up to this point in the season, Fabbri has only played in the opening game of the year, missing the last 11 games with a lower-body injury.
In the second year of a three-year, $12MM contract extension signed with Detroit back in 2021, Fabbri has been an off-again on-again player for the Red Wings, losing plenty of games due to injuries. Throughout his career, Fabbri has primarily dealt with knee issues, losing significant time to ACL tears in the 2016-17, 2017-18, and 2021-22 regular seasons.
When healthy, Fabbri has been a solid complimentary piece for the Red Wings, scoring 49 goals and 47 assists in 167 games played over the last five seasons. However, his most successful stretch with Detroit came shortly after he was acquired from the St.Louis Blues, capping off the 2019-20 season with 14 goals and 17 assists in 52 games played.
During the team’s opening night game against the New Jersey Devils, Fabbri played on the second forward line next to J.T. Compher and Lucas Raymond, but with David Perron and Andrew Copp now taking over on the wings, it is reasonable to assume that Fabbri will be bumped down to the third line as he transitions back out onto the ice.
Florida Panthers Send Jonah Gadjovich To AHL On Conditioning Loan
The Florida Panthers have announced that forward Jonah Gadjovich has been sent to the AHL’s Charlotte Checkers under the terms of a conditioning loan.
Gadjovich has been on injured reserve for the team while recovering from an upper-body injury, and he was slated to return at some point in November. He’ll now be able to hit the ice for the Checkers, returning to the AHL for the first time since 2020-21.
Gadjovich, 25, has played in 79 career NHL games, almost entirely with the San Jose Sharks. A 2017 second-round pick, the Sharks claimed Gadjovich off of waivers from the Vancouver Canucks, an organization Gadjovich had risen standing with thanks to a 2020-21 campaign where he scored 15 goals in just 19 AHL games.
Gadjovich’s goal-scoring abilities from the OHL (he scored 46 goals in one season for the Owen Sound Attack) and AHL have not translated to the NHL level, where he’s played more as a grinder and occasional fighter. Gadjovich has racked up 148 penalty minutes in his NHL career, and it’s likely that his best chance at carving out a long career at the game’s top level lies in his physicality.
The Panthers lost quite a bit of bite in the offseason when Radko Gudas signed in Anaheim, so the return of Gadjovich to full health could help beef up their NHL lineup. Should Gadjovich land on head coach Paul Maurice’s fourth line in Sunrise, a player such as William Lockwood may shift to the AHL, as he’s currently scoreless through five NHL games but is a relatively established AHL scorer.
Metro Injury Notes: Capitals, Fox, Chytil, Shesterkin
The Washington Capitals got off to a slow start under rookie head coach Spencer Carbery, but more recently they have begun to turn things around. They are currently right in the thick of a hotly contested Metropolitan Division, and they have as much of a chance to return to the playoffs after last year’s miss as any team. One of the major things that has hurt the Capitals this season has been injuries, although the team could be getting good news on that front soon.
GM Brian MacLellan told team reporter Tarik El-Bashir that defenseman Joel Edmundson and forward Nic Dowd are nearing a return from injury, and the hope is that both can return to team practice later this week. Edmundson has yet to make his debut for the Capitals, who acquired him for third and seventh-round picks this summer, but he would likely take Alexander Alexeyev‘s spot on the left side of the Washington defense. Dowd, 33, is a veteran fourth-liner who has played for the Capitals since 2018-19. His return would likely allow the team to return its current fourth-line center, Hendrix Lapierre, back to the AHL, a move that might better suit his development.
Some more injury notes from the Metro:
- The New York Post’s Mollie Walker relays word from New York Rangers head coach Peter Laviolette that Adam Fox and Filip Chytil are both progressing from their injuries, but have not returned to skating yet. That means any return to game action is still a ways off, though it is encouraging that Laviolette appears to expect both to return to the Rangers without any massive absence. With Fox on LTIR after a nasty collision against the Hurricanes, there was some worry in the New York market that their top defenseman’s season was in question. Now, based on Laviolette’s comments, it appears Fox’s season is not in danger.
- Walker also delivered an update on Rangers star netminder Igor Shesterkin, who is out with an injury of his own. Walker reports that Shesterkin skated this morning, although he’s not quite ready to return to full game action. As a result, Jonathan Quick will start for the Rangers tonight against the Detroit Red Wings, while veteran Louis Domingue will serve as the backup.