Metropolitan Notes: Couturier, Lindgren Brothers, Nosek, Mayfield
Philadelphia Flyers center Sean Couturier has been off to a strong start since returning from back injuries that sidelined him for nearly two years, notching an assist and a team-high +3 rating in two contests while averaging over 20 minutes per game. However, he’s hit a hiccup in his re-acclimation to everyday play. He is “banged up” and missed practice today, although head coach John Tortorella did confirm nothing is wrong with his back.
Couturier is locking down the team’s first line with Joel Farabee on his left flank, and youngsters Bobby Brink and Tyson Foerster are rotating in on his right. The Flyers likely won’t be sniffing playoff contention this season, but having the 30-year-old Couturier back in action is a huge boost development-wise for a team looking to usher in, quite literally, a new era of orange this season.
Other injury considerations around the Metro this morning:
- Both of the Lindgren brothers are dealing with injuries, starting with New York Rangers defender Ryan Lindgren. He was a late scratch for their loss to Columbus on Saturday, and head coach Peter Laviolette said he’ll once again be a game-time decision for tonight’s contest against the Coyotes. The 25-year-old logged 19:50 in their season-opening win against Buffalo last week.
- Washington Capitals backup Charlie Lindgren is also questionable, leaving practice this morning. Head coach Spencer Carbery could not confirm Lindgren’s status for tonight’s game against Calgary after he allowed four goals in the team’s season opener against Pittsburgh last Friday. He played in relief of starter Darcy Kuemper, who returns to the team tonight after welcoming a son last week.
- New Jersey Devils forward Tomas Nosek is officially out of the lineup tonight after being absent from practice yesterday. He’s day-to-day with a lower-body injury, per Devils reporter Amanda Stein, and Curtis Lazar is expected to return to the lineup tonight against Florida. Nosek, who’s logged 12:10 per game in two contests, is still looking for his first point as a Devil.
- New York Islanders defenseman Scott Mayfield is day-to-day after blocking a shot late in Saturday’s win against Buffalo, says head coach Lane Lambert. Mayfield did not practice today due to swelling in his leg, and his status for Tuesday’s game against the Coyotes is uncertain. He played 16:47 in that contest, and Samuel Bolduc will make his season debut on the third pairing should Mayfield be unavailable.
Taylor Hall To Return To Lineup Monday
Oct. 16, 10:06 a.m.: Call it a miraculously short recovery period for Hall, who says he expects to draw into the lineup Monday night against Toronto. “I wouldn’t say I’m 110 percent, but definitely good enough to play and much better than I was even two days ago,” Hall said. It’s great news for Chicago, who wasn’t expecting to see their top-line winger for quite a while longer.
Oct. 13, 1:56 p.m.: Per Chicago Blackhawks head coach Luke Richardson, Taylor Hall has been upgraded from week-to-week to day-to-day with an upper-body injury. NBCS Chicago’s Charlie Roumeliotis, Hall told Richardson he feels like a “miracle healer” with how quickly he’s bounced back from the Wednesday night injury. He even felt good enough to skate at the Blackhawks’ practice today and, while he’s set to miss Saturday’s game against the Montreal Canadiens, could be eyeing a quick return.
This would be great news for Blackhawks fans, as Hall has spent nearly all of his ice time playing alongside rookie sensation Connor Bedard, even providing the primary assist on the 18-year-old’s first NHL goal. Their line, which is completed by winger Ryan Donato, has been a focal piece in Chicago’s early season, with Bedard averaging 21-and-a-half minutes of ice time through the first two games.
The Blackhawks acquired Hall this off-season, looking to add a sparkplug to work with Bedard. Hall has played for five different clubs over the last seven seasons and has struggled to return to the 90-point upside he flashed in the 2017-18 season. The closest he’s gotten was in 2021-22 when he netted 61 points in 81 games with the Boston Bruins. Hall will look to regain his former scoring potential, now playing alongside a historic talent and fellow first-overall draftee.
In Hall’s absence, Andreas Athanasiou joined Bedard and Donato on the team’s top line. However, it was Taylor Raddysh who skated with the duo at the team’s Friday practice, while Athanasiou worked with Raddysh’s old line of Lukas Reichel and Tyler Johnson. With Hall slated to miss at least one game, who the Blackhawks decide to pair with Bedard could be interesting.
Blue Jackets Recall Jet Greaves Under Emergency Conditions
The Columbus Blue Jackets have announced that goalie Jet Greaves has been recalled from the AHL’s Cleveland Monsters under emergency conditions. The move suggests that starter Elvis Merzļikins, who left Saturday’s win over the New York Rangers after two periods due to flu symptoms, is not healthy enough to dress for tonight’s contest against Detroit. Greaves will likely back up Spencer Martin, who’s in line to make his first start as a member of the Blue Jackets after making 15 saves on 17 shots in relief on Saturday.
Greaves, 22, made his NHL debut late last season when injuries ravaged the Blue Jackets’ crease. An undrafted free agent signing out of the OHL’s Barrie Colts in 2021, Greaves has quickly worked his way up a thin organizational depth chart and has claimed the starting role in Cleveland. He’s off to a good start this season in the minors, stopping 29 of 31 shots in a 5-2 win over Lehigh Valley over the weekend.
It’s a tough early-season interruption for Merzļikins, who has excelled thus far after a rough 2022-23 campaign. Despite taking a season-opening loss against Philadelphia last week, Merzlikins has allowed just three goals on 60 shots faced and boasts a sparkling .950 save percentage through 1 2/3 outings. If the Blue Jackets are going to make any headway in a tough Eastern Conference battle, they’ll need a big bounce-back effort from Elvis, who finished near the bottom of the league with a .876 save percentage and 4.23 goals-against average in 27 starts last season.
Five Key Stories: 10/9/23 – 10/15/23
The first week of the NHL season is in the books and as is often the case, it was a busy week on the transactions front with extensions highlighting the majority of the key stories.
Seven For Toews: Term was believed to be a sticking point in extension talks between the Avalanche and defenseman Devon Toews but the two sides were able to bridge that, agreeing to a seven-year, $50.75MM extension. The 29-year-old has become a key cog on Colorado’s back end after being acquired from the Islanders for a pair of second-round picks, very quietly putting up back-to-back years of at least 50 points while logging at least 25 minutes a night in both of them. While this deal starts at age 30 meaning that it could carry a bit of risk at the end, it’s fair to suggest that Toews took a bit less than he could have received on the open market to make sure he stays with the Avs for the long haul.
Ruff’s Sticking Around: A year ago in the early going, there were chants of “fire Lindy” from some of the crowd in New Jersey after the Devils got off to a slow start. Of course, they rebounded, putting up their highest point total in franchise history while getting to the second round. Not surprisingly, New Jersey has rewarded head coach Lindy Ruff for his efforts, inking him to a multi-year contract extension. His original deal had expired but Ruff had exercised his option for this season, creating a ‘lame duck’ situation that teams often try to avoid with their bench bosses. Ruff is now set to lead the Devils for the foreseeable future.
Sticking Around: Well, we can forget about the idea of Connor Hellebuyck and Mark Scheifele testing the market next summer. Widely speculated to be unwilling to extend with Winnipeg to the point where trade options were explored, the two decided to stay with the Jets after all as both players signed identical seven-year, $59.5MM contract extensions. Hellebuyck has been a workhorse between the pipes for most of his now nine-year career, leading the league in shots faced four times and games played four times. This contract makes him fourth in AAV among all netminders. As for Scheifele, the franchise’s first pick after they moved back to Winnipeg has been a dependable scorer for a long time now, having picked up at least 60 points in eight straight years. Both players now have chances to play out their entire careers with the Jets, a scenario that didn’t seem plausible just a few weeks ago.
Sabres Lock Up Blueliners: There was an expectation that contract extensions would get done for Rasmus Dahlin and Owen Power during the offseason. They might have come later than expected but they did get done. First, they made Rasmus Dahlin one of the highest-paid players in the league, giving him an eight-year, $88MM extension. The 2018 top pick has blossomed under head coach Don Granato, becoming one of the top offensive rearguards in the league while being an all-situations player. He will be the third-highest-paid defenseman in the league.
Meanwhile, Owen Power’s extension was completed a little later in the week as well; he received a seven-year, $58.45MM pact. The 2021 top selection has less than 90 games of NHL experience under his belt so this comes with some risk but if he becomes a true number one option as well, Buffalo’s back end will be a strong spot for years to come. Notably, the agreement only buys the Sabres two extra years of club control.
Garland On The Block: The Canucks freed up some payroll last month when they moved Tanner Pearson to Montreal but they have more work to do on that front. To help accomplish that, they’ve given Conor Garland and his agent permission to try to work on a trade. The 27-year-old is coming off a 46-point season which isn’t bad but with three years left at a $4.95MM cap charge, they haven’t gotten the best bang for their buck. A handful of teams are believed to have shown interest so far while Vancouver is thought to be hoping to open up $1MM to $2MM in room in a trade while adding some help on the back end.
Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
East Notes: Stamkos, Lindgren, Shea
Lightning center Steven Stamkos was a late scratch before their game tonight against Ottawa. The team announced (Twitter link) that the captain is dealing with a lower-body injury and is listed as day-to-day. Stamkos is off to a nice start to his 16th NHL season, notching two goals and two assists in his first two appearances. However, he was banged up in last night’s game against Detroit. Stamkos is set to become an unrestricted free agent this summer and has already expressed some frustration with the fact an extension isn’t yet in place. One won’t be coming anytime soon though with GM Julien BriseBois telling Stamkos that discussions about a new deal won’t come until after the season comes to an end.
Elsewhere in the Eastern Conference:
- Rangers blueliner Ryan Lindgren was a surprising scratch for last night’s game against Columbus. Mollie Walker of the New York Post relays that Lindgren sat with what the team called an upper-body injury. The defenseman took a shot off the hand in New York’s season opener back on Thursday but was a full participant in practice Friday and in the morning skate Saturday. The fact he was fine to participate in those two suggests that the Rangers are primarily being precautionary with Lindgren and that he shouldn’t be out for too long.
- Penguins defenseman Ryan Shea acknowledged to Seth Rorabaugh of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review that Pittsburgh was the runner-up when NHL teams were pursuing him out of college back in 2020. The 26-year-old ultimately signed with Dallas at the time but never suited up for the Stars despite being recalled for a handful of days here and there. Shea somewhat surprisingly cracked Pittsburgh’s opening roster after signing with them this past summer with a good showing in training camp and could get a chance to make his NHL debut in the coming days.
Hurricanes Prospect Noel Gunler Linked To Finnish League
When Carolina assigned Noel Gunler to the ECHL earlier this month, it felt like it was an untenable situation. The Hurricanes don’t have an AHL affiliate and having one of their better prospects playing down a level is hardly ideal. Earlier this week, a report surfaced that Gunler was likely to play in Sweden this season.
However, it appears that this is now unlikely to be the case. SportExpressen’s Johan Svensson reports that the Hurricanes weren’t able to reach a loan agreement with an SHL team. Instead, Gunler is expected to be going to Finland to play for Karpat Oulu.
It’s a bit surprising that no SHL team could work something out for Gunler as the 22-year-old came up in Lulea’s system and also spent time with Brynas as recently as the 2021-22 campaign where he had 23 points in 52 games. Speculatively, the fact that Carolina would retain the rights to recall him might have played a role but adding a promising young player to the lineup is still generally worth doing, even if you wind up losing him to a recall at some point.
Gunler is in the second season of his entry-level deal and has had a bit of a nomadic journey since being picked in the second round in 2020. Since then, he has played a full season in Sweden split between two teams, a half year in Sweden that also gave him some AHL action, and last season, he had 18 points in 31 games with AHL Chicago. Now, it appears he’ll be off to Finland, further continuing that trend.
Max Comtois Reportedly Signs With AHL’s Chicago Wolves
5:15 PM: Sportsnet’s Jeff Marek reports that Comtois’ contract with the Wolves contains an NHL out, meaning Comtois will be free to join any NHL team that wants him on an NHL deal.
2:45 PM: Former Anaheim Ducks forward Max Comtois has signed an AHL contract with the Chicago Wolves, according to a report from Inside AHL Hockey’s Tony Androckitis.
If made official, the deal would land Comtois with the AHL’s only independent franchise. The Wolves are exclusively focused on capturing their second Calder Cup championship in three seasons, meaning Comtois is entering a bit of a different team environment compared to other AHL franchises, teams that may place more of a priority on producing NHL players for their big-league affiliates.
As a result, Comtois joins an AHL club stocked with quite a bit of talent up front. Cole Schneider, Rocco Grimaldi, Cory Conacher, and Chris Terry are all in the team’s forward corps and all have extensive experience as quality AHL scorers. The team also has some intriguing younger forwards, such as former high-flying WHL scorer Connor McClennon and 2017 35th overall pick Isaac Ratcliffe.
This will likely mean that although Comtois will face stiff competition for a scoring-line role in Chicago, it also means that Comtois will have some truly high-end players to play with assuming he can seize one of those starring roles.
Comtois, 24, only has 35 games of AHL experience, but has had success at the NHL level before, namely when he scored 16 goals and 33 points in 55 games in 2020-21. Having such experienced AHLers alongside him will likely aid Comtois as he adjusts to life in the AHL.
While Comtois must surely be disappointed to have not earned an NHL deal off the back of his PTO with the Vegas Golden Knights, he’s landing in a strong situation with the Wolves. And for the Wolves, an already talent-filled group of forwards adds one more significant name.
Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Minor Transactions: 10/15/23
It’s another busy day across the hockey world, although the NHL schedule is a bit sparse. Just two NHL games are set to be played today, though there has been quite a bit of action in the wider world of hockey.
Reigning German champions EHC Red Bull München were dismantled 6-2 by rivals Eisbären Berlin, thanks to two goals a piece from former NHLer Zach Boychuk and former AHLer Yannick Veilleux. Over in Scotland, a four-point performance from New York Islanders defenseman Adam Pelech‘s brother, Michael Pelech, was not enough for the Glasgow Clan to overcome the Nottingham Panthers.
As one would expect, just as the schedule is busy across the world of pro hockey, so is the transaction wire. We’ll keep track of notable player movement here.
- Just shortly after his release from Kazakh club Barys Astana, former Toronto Maple Leafs prospect Jeremy Bracco signed a one-year contract with HK Sochi, a rival KHL club. Bracco, 26, joins two top NHL prospects (Matvei Michkov and Marat Khusnutdinov) in Sochi. Bracco has been a strong offensive producer outside the NHL, and is a former AHL First-Team All-Star and a one-time 40-point scorer in the KHL. Although Sochi already has quite a bit of offensive talent in their two NHL prospects, the addition of Bracco could bolster their attack even further.
- Former Tri-City Americans captain Kyle Olson has signed overseas, officially heading to Europe for the first time in his young professional career. The 24-year-old 2017 Anaheim Ducks mid-round draft pick did not receive an entry-level deal from the club that drafted him and instead began his professional career three seasons ago on an AHL contract with the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins. After three seasons in Wilkes-Barre Scranton where he tallied just 33 points in 149 games, he found an ECHL contract in September of this year. Rather than play the season in the ECHL with the Reading Royals, though, Olson appears to have instead opted to play for HC La Chaux-de-Fonds in the Swiss SL, the second tier of hockey in Switzerland.
- L.J. Mooney, a potential top 2025 draft prospect, has decided to follow in the footsteps of his cousin Logan Cooley and commit to play college hockey at the University of Minnesota. Cooley, now an Arizona Coyotes forward, tore college hockey apart in his lone season as a Golden Gopher, forming a deadly trio alongside Matthew Knies and Jimmy Snuggerud to pile points. While at this moment in time, it’s not easy to say that Mooney will end up the same caliber of player as Cooley, he remains a highly intriguing prospect and someone who could end up making a big impact for the Golden Gophers.
- 23-year-old forward D-Jay Jerome has been traded in the ECHL, as he was sent from the Trois-Rivières Lions to the Newfoundland Growlers in exchange for cash considerations. Jerome split last season between the third-tier ECHL and fourth-tier SPHL, skating in 14 games and scoring eight points in each spell. Jerome has prior ECHL experience from the year prior, when he skated in 30 games for the Allen Americans and registered 10 points.
This page may be updated throughout the day.
Injury Updates: Dach, Hall, Buchnevich, Merzļikins
Montreal Canadiens forward Kirby Dach left last night’s contest against the Chicago Blackhawks with a lower-body injury, according to an announcement from the club. Dach was the recipient of a big hit from Blackhawks defenseman Jarred Tinordi, one that sent Dach into the Blackhawks’ bench. It appears as though Dach’s injury came from that hit, and at this moment the team has not released any additional details on Dach’s absence.
Should the Canadiens lose Dach for any notable period, it would be a significant early blow to the team’s season. Not only would it represent an unfortunate setback given the time Dach missed last season, it would also represent a significant loss to the Canadiens’ ability to both win games and develop their players. As head coach Martin St. Louis’ second-line center, Dach had a crucial role helping the growth of his two wingers: offseason trade acquisition Alex Newhook and 2022 first overall pick Juraj Slafkovský. In an admittedly small sample size that line appeared dominant at times, and the one game they played entirely together was called Slafkovský’s best game of his career by local media. The development of those players is of the most important aspect of this Canadiens season, so whether Dach’s injury will keep him out long-term is an extremely important storyline to track for Canadiens fans.
- Chicago Blackhawks forward Taylor Hall told the media today, including the Chicago Sun-Times’ Ben Pope, that he’s preparing to play Monday night in Toronto against the Maple Leafs. Such a return would represent a quick turnaround for Hall, who suffered a shoulder injury in the Blackhawks’ second game of the season, against his former team the Boston Bruins. Hall said that although his shoulder still “doesn’t feel great” it’s good enough to allow him to return to the lineup.
- Earlier today, we covered reports out of St. Louis stating that Blues star forward Pavel Buchnevich could be staring down an extended absence due to the injury he suffered last night. NHL.com’s Lou Korac relays word from Blues head coach Craig Berube who said Buchnevich is feeling better today. Korac added that the tone surrounding the injury “sounds more encouraging” than it did last night, adding that the Blues “may have dodged serious injury” to Buchnevich, which would be incredible news for St. Louis.
- Columbus Blue Jackets head coach Pascal Vincent said via team reporter Jeff Svoboda that netminder Elvis Merzļikins “has a stomach bug” and missed today’s practice after leaving last night’s game. Per Vincent, Merzļikins’ status for tonight’s game is in question, and as a result, Spencer Martin (who saved 15 of 17 shots last night in relief against the New York Rangers) could start his first game as a Blue Jacket tomorrow night when the team hosts the Detroit Red Wings.
Blue Jackets Activate Mathieu Olivier, Eric Robinson Clears Waivers
10/15/23 1:00 PM: Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports that Robinson has cleared waivers, and The Athletic’s Aaron Portzline reports that the Blue Jackets will be sending Robinson to the AHL’s Cleveland Monsters.
10/14/23 1:02 PM: With winger Mathieu Olivier expected to come off injured reserve tonight, the Blue Jackets needed to open up a roster spot. That spot is being vacated by winger Eric Robinson as the team announced that Robinson has been placed on waivers. He has been designated as waivers/non-roster, opening up the spot immediately even though he’ll be on waivers until 1 PM CT on Sunday.
Olivier missed the season opener for Columbus due to a leg injury and with an IR placement being able to be back-dated, they were able to stash him on there even though he winds up missing less than a week of action. The 26-year-old played in a career-best 66 games last season for the Blue Jackets, picking up five goals and ten assists along with 81 penalty minutes and 178 hits while logging 11:38 per night. That was enough to earn him a two-year, $2.2MM deal back in June, one that bought out his final season of RFA eligibility while giving them an extra year of club control.
As for Robinson, he has done well in a slightly elevated role the last couple of years, putting up a career-high 27 points in 2021-22 while following that up with 24 points and a career-best 12 goals last season despite averaging less than 14 minutes per night in each year. On the surface, it would seem like someone with that production might be a candidate to be claimed. However, the 28-year-old has a $1.6MM cap charge this season and with so many teams tight to the cap, there’s a good chance he’ll go through unclaimed. If that happens, Columbus can clear a pro-rated $1.15MM of his contract by sending Robinson to the minors.
Columbus could have elected to send one of their five waiver-exempt players down with the logical candidate being David Jiricek who was just recalled yesterday. However, with the Blue Jackets down to just seven defenders including Jiricek, they decided that waiving Robinson was the safest route to take to get Olivier back into the lineup.