Canadiens’ David Savard Out Six To Eight Weeks
The Montreal Canadiens have announced that defenseman David Savard will miss the next six to eight weeks with a fractured hand. Savard suffered the injury attempting to block a Tage Thompson slapshot in Montreal’s Monday night win against the Buffalo Sabres. The Canadiens have used an emergency recall on Gustav Lindstrom in light of Savard’s injury.
This is a major blow for Montreal, who has faced a significant injury in three of their first five games of the season. Savard becomes the fifth Hab to be sidelined, joining Kirby Dach, Christian Dvorak, Chris Wideman, and Kaiden Guhle. These injuries have forced Montreal to take on a much different look than what they entered the season with, primarily on the blue line, where Justin Barron, Jordan Harris, and Lindstrom have been able to establish roles that weren’t previously there for them. Barron is taking particular advantage of the opportunity, netting two goals in three games through the early season, operating on Montreal’s top pair alongside Mike Matheson.
Savard’s long-term injury is another damper on the season. The 33-year-old has two points through Montreal’s five games this season; now in his third year with the club. Savard is signed through the 2024-25 season to a contract carrying an annual average value of $3.5MM. It’s the second-most expensive contract on Montreal’s blue line. Savard is a 740-game veteran of the NHL, playing his rookie season in 2011-12. Nearly 600 of those games came with the Columbus Blue Jackets, whom Savard spent a decade with, before joining the Tampa Bay Lightning for 14 games and a Stanley Cup run and then finding his way to Montreal. With Savard out of the lineup, the average age of Montreal’s defense drops to 23.9.
Penguins Rookie John Ludvig Leaves Game
The Pittsburgh Penguins have announced that defenseman John Ludvig will not return to tonight’s game against the Dallas Stars. The 23-year-old rookie left the game with an injury after laying a hit on Dallas forward Radek Faksa. The two men appeared to bump heads at high speed as Ludvig stepped up to complete a check. Faksa was able to bounce back up from the hit while Ludvig fell to the ice face-first and did not move.
The good news is that Ludvig was able to leave the ice under his own power, however, the Kamloops, British Columbia native didn’t look steady on his skates as he was escorted by teammates to the bench. It was a sad ending to what was a special night for Ludvig as tonight’s game was his NHL debut.
Ludvig spent three years in the AHL after being drafted in the third round of the 2019 NHL entry draft by the Florida Panthers. The Penguins claimed him off waivers prior to the start of the season and have kept him with the big club, although he had only practiced with the team prior to tonight. Today he was inserted into the lineup to replace healthy scratch Chad Ruhwedel.
The Penguins have offered no update on Ludvig’s condition yet and are saying that they will provide updates at a later time. The young defender had shown aggressiveness and physicality during his limited time on the ice, and it was something the Penguins desperately needed to add to their lineup. Hopefully, for both Ludvig and the Penguins he will be okay and able to get back into the lineup sooner than later.
Milan Lucic Out With Lower Body Injury
Boston Globe reporter Kevin Paul Dupont tweeted today that Boston Bruins forward Milan Lucic is out with a lower-body injury and will be re-evaluated tomorrow or Thursday. No word yet on the exact nature of the injury to the 35-year-old but he did miss Sunday night’s game against the Anaheim Ducks after taking the pre-game warmup. Lucic did one lap with the team and immediately went to the dressing room and did not return.
Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery told the media prior to Sunday’s game that one of their players was dealing with a day-to-day thing and was questionable for the Anaheim game. Given what has transpired this week it appears to have been Lucic.
Lucic took a slap shot in the foot in Saturday night’s 4-2 Bruins win against the Los Angeles Kings and missed some shifts shortly after. But there is no word yet on whether that is the cause of the additional testing later this week.
Lucic returned to the Bruins this summer signing a one-year $1MM (plus bonuses) deal after spending the last four seasons with the Calgary Flames. The native of Vancouver, British Columbia was brought in on a value deal in the hopes of being able to provide the Bruins with a net-front presence and some physicality. Although he is not the player he was when Boston traded him to Los Angeles in 2015, he has still been a productive NHLer, and big men are always in demand.
In Boston this season, Lucic is off to an uneven start with two assists in four games, while those offensive numbers are above his recent averages, his possession numbers and many of his underlying numbers aren’t great thus far.
Florida Panthers Recall Samoskevich, Barkov Out Tonight
Earlier today, the Florida Panthers announced they had recalled forward Mackie Samoskevich from their AHL affiliate, the Charlotte Checkers. Without a corresponding roster move made, CapFriendly would report that captain Aleksander Barkov is out of the lineup tonight as the team takes on the San Jose Sharks, giving context to the callup.
The 24th overall selection of the 2021 NHL Draft, Samoskevich finally made his way to Sunrise after an electric career at the University of Michigan in the NCAA. In 79 games over two years, rostered on one of the most talented college hockey teams of all time, Samoskevich would score 30 goals and 42 assists, en route to finally joining the Checkers at the end of last season.
Making the Panthers out of camp, Samoskevich has gotten off to an unimpressive start, albeit only after two games played in his young career. Florida had given him just under 15 minutes of ice time per game, with Samoskevich getting four shots on net, and generating a -2 rating.
The team had previously sent Samoskevich down to the AHL a week ago in favor of William Lockwood, but will now need to cover for the team as they deal with a mysterious absence from Barkov. It is unconfirmed at this point whether or not Barkov is dealing with an injury or something else altogether, it is only confirmed that the Panthers will be without their third-highest-scorer tonight.
Poll: Which Is The Most Surprising Team To Start The Year?
A little over a week and a half into the 2023-24 NHL season, it’s still tough to gauge for most teams where they will end up in the standings in April. Between teams reaching well beyond expectations, and other teams reaching well short, there have been a handful of surprises out of the gate.
By far and away the team most dramatically outperforming expectations is the Detroit Red Wings. Led by Alex DeBrincat and Dylan Larkin, the Red Wings bring a 5-1-0 record into tonight’s game against the Seattle Kraken, looking to extend their winning streak to six games. Detroit had primarily been projected as a fringe playoff candidate coming out of the Eastern Conference this year, but with DeBrincat and Larkin one and two in league scoring, respectively, and the Red Wings leading the entire NHL in GF/G, their offense could easily carry them to postseason hockey.
On the other end of the spectrum, the Edmonton Oilers have failed to deliver on some lofty expectations coming into this season. After finishing sixth in the league standings last year thanks to a generational season by superstar Connor McDavid, as well as losing to the eventual Stanley Cup Champions in back-to-back postseasons, the Oilers were considered the third likeliest team to win the Cup by Vegas oddsmakers. Nevertheless, the team has gotten off to a 1-3-1 start, in large part due to the subpar play of their defensive core and goaltenders.
In a similar vein to the Oilers, the Carolina Hurricanes had incredibly high expectations heading into this season, carrying some of the best defensive depth in the entirety of the NHL. The Hurricanes still have plenty of time to recover from a 3-3-0 start, but they will need their goaltending to bounce back in a big way. After finishing second in the NHL last season in terms of GA/P, Carolina now sits alone in last place to start the 2023-24 campaign. Combining the trio of Frederik Andersen, Antti Raanta, and Pyotr Kochetkov, the Hurricanes goaltending trio holds a 3-3-0 record, with a .833 SV% and a 4.50 GAA.
So there you have it, even though the season is young, there are still plenty of emerging storylines to follow throughout the season. Now it’s time for the vote, which team do you think is off to the most surprising start?
Stars Loan Chase Wheatcroft To Minors
The Stars activated forward prospect Chase Wheatcroft from season-opening injured reserve and loaned him to AHL Texas on Tuesday, per a team announcement.
The 21-year-old Wheatcroft stayed in junior hockey for an over-age season with the WHL’s Prince George Cougars last season, a choice that made him one of the most dominant scorers in the league. Aside from Connor Bedard, Wheatcroft was the only player in the WHL to crack the 100-point mark in 2022-23, scoring 47 goals and adding 60 assists for 107 points in 68 contests. After going undrafted, Wheatcroft signed a three-year ELC with the Stars as a free agent in March, keeping him in Dallas’ organization through 2026.
An undisclosed injury sustained late in training camp prevented the Stars from assigning him to the minors before opening-night rosters were due, meaning he started the season on season-opening injured reserve – a special designation for players on a two-way contract that are injured to begin the campaign. Now healthy, he can be assigned to the AHL without needing waivers.
The 6-foot-2, 176-pound winger will now get his first taste of pro hockey in Cedar Park. He joins a Texas team off to a solid 3-2-0 start, led in scoring by a pair of future Dallas cornerstones in Mavrik Bourque and Logan Stankoven.
NHL Upholds Rasmus Andersson’s Four-Game Suspension
NHL commissioner Gary Bettman has upheld the four-game suspension assessed to Flames defenseman Rasmus Andersson last weekend, according to a league release. The NHLPA filed an appeal on behalf of Andersson, which resulted in a meeting with Bettman on Monday. As a result, Andersson will remain ineligible to play for the remainder of the month and, notably, in this weekend’s Heritage Classic.
Andersson was assessed the suspension after charging Blue Jackets forward Patrik Laine with just seconds remaining in the third period of last Friday’s game. He was assessed a major penalty and game misconduct for elbowing on the play, which prompted a hearing with NHL Player Safety the following day. After serving the first game of his suspension in Sunday’s blowout loss against the Red Wings, Andersson will miss Calgary’s three remaining games this month, including tonight’s tilt against the Rangers.
Laine sustained an upper-body injury on the play and is currently on IR, guaranteed to miss at least the rest of this week. In his full ruling on the appeal, Bettman said that the NHLPA only appealed to reduce the suspension to three games, which would have allowed Andersson to participate in the outdoor Heritage Classic. He also said Andersson acknowledged the hit was “not perfect” and said Andersson took responsibility for the play but found the severity of the hit and its timing late in the game warranted the full four-game length.
That means Sunday’s contest against the Oilers, the first outdoor game on the 2023-24 schedule, will take place without Calgary’s number-one defenseman and, likely, without Oilers captain and superstar center Connor McDavid. It’s a tough break for a marquee early-season rivalry game under an already increased spotlight.
Snapshots: Vlasic, Ristolainen, Buchnevich
Veteran defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic is slated to be a healthy scratch for San Jose’s game against the Florida Panthers. It’s his first scratching since January 4, 2022 – when Vlasic was held out of a matchup against the Detroit Red Wings. He returned to the lineup in the team’s next game and appeared in 48 more games throughout the 2021-22 season.
San Jose dressed seven defenders in their most recent game and Vlasic proved the odd-man-out, receiving a team-low six minutes of ice time. The matchup was another trip in a tumbling year for the 36-year-old defenseman, who has lost games to injury and now a scratching this season. Vlasic is signed to an annual cap hit of $7MM through the 2025-26 season, with a modified-no trade clause in each of his final three seasons and a signing bonus in the final two. It’s a lofty contract for a player that will now find himself in a press box. Vlasic is a veteran of 1243 NHL games – all of which were spent with the Sharks franchise. He was a pivotal piece of the team’s hefty roster through the 2010s but may be looking back on his glory days at this point in his career. How the veteran responds to the healthy scratching will be worth following for Sharks fans hoping Vlasic can find ways to make an impact.
Other notes around the league:
- Rasmus Ristolainen has experienced a setback in his recovery from an undisclosed injury, pushing his return to action back. No updated timetable for a return has been provided. Ristolainen was hoped to be the fill-in for Marc Staal, who was designated to injured reserve with an upper-body injury. With those hopes now delayed, it looks like Philadelphia will need to rely on U23 defensemen Emil Andrae and Yegor Zamula. The duo have each played in three games this year, with Andrae currently without a point and Zamula tallying one goal and two assists.
- Pavel Buchnevich has been announced as a game-time decision for the St. Louis Blues. The winger sustained an upper-body injury on October 12th and has been sidelined ever since. The veteran was seen interchanging practice reps with Jake Neighbours, operating on a line with Brayden Schenn and Kasperi Kapanen. Brandon Saad has joined the line of Robert Thomas and Jordan Kyrou.
Snapshots: Carlsson, Petry, Devils
When the Anaheim Ducks made a somewhat unexpected choice at the 2023 NHL draft to select Swedish pivot Leo Carlsson over Hobey Baker winner Adam Fantilli, many had circled today as a date to watch on the NHL calendar. That’s because Carlsson’s Ducks are set to play Fantilli’s Blue Jackets tonight, and with both players likely to be in the NHL today’s contest was viewed to be the first chance to watch the two players go head-to-head.
Fans will have to wait to get that chance, though, as Ducks team reporter Aly Lozoff confirms that Carlsson will not dress for today’s game. Carlsson began this season dealing with an injury and the Ducks have reportedly been attempting to “ease” Carlsson into the rigors of the NHL schedule. That means he’ll sit tonight, and as a result, fans will have to wait until the Blue Jackets travel to Orange County in February to get the chance to see Carlsson and Fantilli face off.
- Detroit Red Wings defenseman Jeff Petry did not skate this morning and is day-to-day with a lower-body injury, according to Red Wings head coach Derek Lalonde. Petry, 35, was acquired from the Pittsburgh Penguins (via the Montreal Canadiens) this offseason and has thus far skated in four games for the Red Wings. The Red Wings’ defensive depth is an area of strength, so while Petry’s injury is definitely unfortunate, the Red Wings are well-equipped to survive in his absence.
- As relayed by Devils team reporter Sam Kasan, forwards Erik Haula and Nico Hischier “will be able to play” in tonight’s game against the Montreal Canadiens, according to head coach Lindy Ruff. Hischier, the Devils’ captain, missed the later stages of the Devils’ last game with an upper-body injury, while Haula hasn’t appeared in the lineup since October 16th. With Tomáš Nosek out with an injury, these two players returning to health is an important development in helping the Devils maintain their impressive strength at the center position.
Minor Transactions: 10/24/23
It’s the busiest day in the world of hockey in recent memory. Every one of the NHL’s 32 member clubs play tonight as part of the NHL’s “Frozen Frenzy” coverage. In addition to the NHL, teams in the SHL, Liiga, Swiss NL, KHL, AHL, and more are also playing today.
There are far more hours of competitive pro hockey on offer today than anyone could realistically expect to keep up with, though that’s not to say many won’t try. Just as many fans will be looking to keep track of all the hockey on the schedule today, we’ll keep track of all the notable transactions from minor and overseas leagues here.
- Former AHL All-Star Andy Welinski has signed a PTO with the AHL’s Iowa Wild, according to a team announcement. Welinski, 30, split last season between the AHL’s Hartford Wolf Pack and Rockford IceHogs, scoring 19 points in 54 games. The injury situation facing the Minnesota Wild’s blueliners (Jared Spurgeon and Alex Goligoski are injured) has had a ripple effect for Iowa, as two of its more important defenders (Daemon Hunt, Dakota Mermis) have been called up to the NHL. Welinski will provide some cover for the Wild in the midst of these injury issues, offering nearly 300 games of AHL experience. His experience looks needed at this moment, as Iowa has surrendered the second-most goals against in the AHL so far this season and has won just one of its first four games. Seeing as the development of top goalie prospect Jesper Wallstedt is a major priority for Iowa this season, Welinski could even have a chance to earn a full-time AHL contract if he plays well, as Iowa may not want to let a quality defensive player go after he settles into their lineup.
- Rihards Bukarts, a 27-year-old forward and hero of Latvia’s historic bronze medal-winning run at the 2023 IIHF Men’s World Championships, has signed in Switzerland. The National League’s EHC Biel-Bienne have signed Bukarts to a contract set to run through the end of January. Citing injury issues, Biel-Bienne have added Bukarts to reinforce an offensive attack that has sputtered so far this season, scoring the third-fewest goals in league play. Bukarts, once the top rookie goal scorer in the WHL for the Brandon Wheat Kings, played for Klagenfurt in the ICEHL last season and scored 25 points in 28 games.
- TPS Turku of the Finnish Liiga have signed netminder Julius Pohjanoksa to a contract valid through November 4th. Starting goalie, former Pittsburgh Penguins farmhand Filip Lindberg, is currently dealing with an illness and backup Eetu Anttila is injured, prompting the need for an extra body in net. Pohjanoksa has played in 17 games total for TPS, most of them coming in 2019-20. He spent last season in Finland’s second division, Mestis, posting a .909 save percentage in 18 games for TUTO Turku.
- Another team is making moves in net: the EIHL’s Cardiff Devils. The Welsh squad, who compete in the EIHL, the top tier of professional hockey in the United Kingdom, have parted ways with former Carolina Hurricanes prospect Callum Booth and replaced him with former New York Rangers prospect Tyler Wall. Booth, 26, signed in Wales after bouncing between three teams last season, but didn’t end up skating in any league games for the Devils. As for Wall, the 25-year-old starred at UMass-Lowell during his college hockey days. As a professional, Wall has struggled to see the ice but last season finally got a chance to be a full-time member of a tandem. He posted a solid .912 save percentage for the ECHL’s South Carolina Stingrays, posting a 22-10-1 record in the process. Wall will compete with longtime Devils goalie and three-time EIHL Netminder of the Year Ben Bowns for starts in Cardiff.
- 23-year-old German-Swedish forward Magnus Eisenmenger has signed a one-year contract with AIK of the HockeyAllsvenskan, Sweden’s second tier of pro hockey. Eisenmenger is a defensive center at heart, having led his peers in face-off percentage playing in Sweden’s U-18 level. He cut his teeth in professional hockey with the Frankfurt Lions, then of the German second-tier DEL2, before breaking into the DEL full-time with the Augsburg Panthers in 2021-22. Last season, Eisenmenger split his season between the Lions in the DEL and the Allsvenskan’s Almtuna IS. While he’s not much of a scorer, (Eisenmenger has just three points in 20 career Allsvenskan games, and 13 points in 87 DEL games) this signing could help bolster AIK’s forward depth in the midst of some injury issues, and help them patch up a team defense that has surrendered the seventh-most goals in league play.
- Polish-Geman defenseman Arkadiusz Dziambor has signed a contract with the DEL’s Schwenninger Wild Wings. Dziambor is a 21-year-old left-shot defenseman with above-average size at six-foot-two, nearly 200 pounds. Despite his young age, Dziambor already has 91 career DEL games under his belt, mostly coming with Adler Mannheim between 2021 and 2023. Dziambor even got to represent Mannheim in eight Champions Hockey League contests, though he didn’t make Mannheim’s squad for this season. So far this year he’s played on loan with the DEL2’s Bietigheim Steelers, but now with this signing, he’ll return to Germany’s top league with the Wild Wings.
- Big changes have hit the historic Romanian club SC Csíkszereda. The 15-time Romanian Cup champions have gotten off to a horrific start in the Erste Liga, a league comprising of Hungarian and Romanian pro teams. The club has lost all of its first 10 games and has surrendered 53 goals against, with the next-highest team having surrendered just 32. As a result, the team has released head coach Bradley Gratton, as well as two import players: Fabrizio Ricci and Brandon McNally. Gratton has coached across Europe and once in the ECHL, including last season with the AlpsHL’s Meran/Merano. Ricci, 28, is the former captain of the EIHL’s Dundee Stars and former ECHL All-Star who scored six points in seven games in Romania. McNally, 31, is a former ECHL power forward who scored three points in seven games for Csíkszereda. The trio will now continue their careers elsewhere as the club they leave behind looks to turn around what has so far been a dreadful campaign.
- Former New York Rangers prospect Dávid Skokan has announced his retirement on social media today. The 34-year-old was a 2007 seventh-round pick of the New York Rangers who played three total seasons of hockey in North America, all in the QMJHL with the Rimouski Oceanic. Skokan had a long and successful career in Europe, winning a Slovak Extraliga title in 2011-12 and Slovak Extraliga All-Star honors in 2020-21, after a scored 52 points in 49 games for HK Poprad. Skokan also had the honor of representing his country internationally over the course of his career, earning Slovakia caps at three IIHF Men’s World Junior Championship tournaments and two IIHF Men’s World Championships.
This page may be updated throughout the day.