Injury Updates: McLeod, Kulikov, Jenner, Vlasic, Larkin
The Oilers welcomed back one of their centers before their game tonight against Colorado, announcing (Twitter link) that Ryan McLeod was activated off LTIR. The 23-year-old missed four weeks with an upper-body injury and was retroactively shuffled to LTIR over the weekend. McLeod has put up nearly identical numbers compared to his rookie season, notching 11 goals and 11 assists in 55 games heading into tonight’s action although he got to those numbers in 16 fewer contests than a year ago.
Other injury news around the NHL:
- Prior to their game tonight against Chicago, the Penguins announced that they activated defenseman Dmitry Kulikov off LTIR. The 32-year-old was brought in from Anaheim at the trade deadline but suffered a lower-body injury in just his fourth game with his new team. Kulikov has 16 points, 107 blocks, and 93 hits in 65 games this season and suited up on the third pairing.
- The Blue Jackets announced (Twitter link) that center Boone Jenner is listed as day-to-day with an upper-body injury. He took the pregame warmup but was a late scratch. Jenner has had a nice season, notching 26 goals, the second-highest total of his career while winning nearly 55% of his faceoffs. While it would be easy to say Columbus should shut him down for their final two games after tonight, their AHL affiliate is currently one point out of a playoff spot and keeping Jenner out would result in Cleveland losing another player to recall, hurting their postseason chances.
- Sharks defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic did not accompany the team on their season-ending road trip, notes Curtis Pashelka of The Mercury News, meaning his campaign has come to an early end. The 36-year-old suffered a lower-body injury in their home finale against Edmonton over the weekend. Vlasic saw his playing time increase by more than two minutes per game this season to 17:28 but with a $7MM AAV for three more years after this one, San Jose still didn’t get a great return on this contract this season.
- The Red Wings announced (Twitter link) that center Dylan Larkin is dealing with a lower-body injury, keeping him out of the lineup tonight against Carolina. The captain is averaging a point per game for the first time, collecting 32 goals and 47 assists in 79 games. His absence created the emergency conditions to bring up Danny O’Regan earlier today although they opted to play seven defensemen instead.
Tanner Jeannot Won’t Be Ready For Start Of Playoffs
The Lightning paid a high price to acquire Tanner Jeannot from Nashville prior to the trade deadline, sending five picks (one in each round, first through fifth) along with defenseman Cal Foote to get the winger with the hopes he’d play an important role in the playoffs. Instead, he won’t be available when they start next week as head coach Jon Cooper told reporters (video link) that while they’re hopeful he’ll be available at some point, it won’t be at the beginning of their first-round series against Toronto:
You’d have to sit here and say he’s more than day-to-day. Hopefully he’ll be back here at some point in the playoffs, but he’s definitely not going to start with us in the playoffs.
When asked if Jeannot is expected to miss the whole series against the Maple Leafs due to his lower-body injury, Cooper wouldn’t go that far, only indicating that he’s not going to be ready to play when the series opens up.
The 25-year-old was a big surprise last season with the Predators, tallying 24 goals and 17 assists in 81 games, albeit with a particularly high shooting percentage of 19.4%. In the process, he looked like he’d become a part of their long-term core.
But things didn’t go as well this year as Jeannot notched just five tallies with nine helpers in 56 contests, resulting in GM David Poile opting to move him. However, things haven’t gone any better for him since the move as Jeannot has only a goal and three helpers in 20 games.
Of course, Jeannot also brings a significant physical presence as he sits sixth in the NHL in hits with 290 after putting up 318 in 2021-22. At a minimum, even if he’s not producing, he can still impact the game in a lesser role. Unfortunately for Tampa Bay that impact won’t be coming at the start of the series.
San Jose Sharks Reassign Adam Raska
April 11: San Jose reassigned Raska to the Barracuda today, per the team, ending his five-day stint with the team. The 21-year-old recorded blanks across the board in three games, including an even plus/minus rating, while registering just one shot on goal and 13 hits.
April 6: The San Jose Sharks have added another young forward to their group, recalling Adam Raska from the AHL. He’ll join them ahead of tonight’s game against the Colorado Avalanche, with four more matches following it before the end of the season.
Raska, 21, is not your standard late-season call-up. While these games are often filled with high-scoring youngsters, trying to get their feet wet at the professional level, Raska is an in-your-face bottom-sixer that has shown very little offensive upside in the AHL.
Through 53 games for the San Jose Barracuda this season, he has just four goals and 11 points, while racking up 121 penalty minutes. That includes six fighting majors, as the young forward never backs down from a confrontation.
An easy player to root for, Raska was a seventh-round pick in 2020 that plays with unlimited energy. During his five-game stint with the Sharks last season, he racked up 15 hits and fought veteran defenseman, Mark Giordano.
While the likes of William Eklund and Thomas Bordeleau may be the future of the team’s offense, Raska could have a role as a fourth-liner soon.
Seattle Kraken Sign Logan Morrison
The Seattle Kraken have signed forward Logan Morrison from the Ottawa 67’s. Morrison will be paid $950K in the NHL, and $82.5K in the AHL over the course of three years, as the contract begins at the start of the 2023-24 season.
For the majority of his career in the OHL, Morrison primarily played for the Hamilton Bulldogs. Last season, he set career highs in goals and points, scoring 34 goals and 100 points over the course of the OHL season. Aside from the regular season, Morrison provided a lot of offense on the Bulldogs’ run to the Memorial Cup Finals, scoring 17 goals and 22 assists in 19 playoff games.
This season, Morrison has been up to much of the same, scoring 40 goals and 54 assists split between Hamilton and Ottawa. The move to Ottawa came from a January trade, where Morrison was moved from Hamilton for six future draft picks.
In the playoffs this season, Ottawa has already moved on to the second round, beating the Oshawa Generals in five games. In those five games, Morrison scored seven goals and also added in three assists. Up next, the 67’s will take on the Peterborough Petes, and the first-place team will be a team to watch as the OHL playoffs continue.
East Notes: Samoskevich, Kulikov, Maple Leafs
Another star player from the University of Michigan will be joining the AHL, as Colby Guy of Florida Hockey Now reports that Mackie Samoskevich will be joining the Charlotte Checkers on an amateur tryout agreement for the rest of the season. Samoskevich was drafted 24th overall by the Florida Panthers in the Michigan-loaded 2021 NHL Draft.
Featuring such players as Matthew Beniers, Owen Power, Kent Johnson, and Luke Hughes, among others, Samoskevich was a part of one of the most star-studded NCAA teams of all time. In the 2021 NHL Draft, four of the top five picks were products of the University of Michigan, and Samoskevich would make five total players drafted in the first round altogether.
Helping the team to two straight Frozen Four appearances, Samoskevich’s freshman season included 40 games played, tallying 10 goals and 19 assists. This season, showing steady progression, Samoskevich played in 39 games, scoring a total of 20 goals and 23 assists.
In joining the Checkers, Samoskevich will continue his run in the postseason, as the team has already clinched a spot in the Calder Cup playoffs. If the season ended today, the team would play the St.Louis Blues AHL affiliate Springfield Thunderbirds in a best-of-three opening round.
Other notes from the Eastern Conference:
- Before tonight’s important game against the Chicago Blackhawks, a trade deadline acquisition of the Pittsburgh Penguins, Dmitry Kulikov, is expected to be in the lineup. After 14 games on the long-term injured reserve, Seth Rorabaugh of Tribune-Review Sports reports that after dealing with a suspected foot injury, Kulikov will be returning to the Penguins. Kulikov has only managed four games in Pittsburgh since being acquired from the Anaheim Ducks, and now currently on the outside looking in for the 2023 Stanley Cup playoffs, the Penguins could certainly use all the help they can get to win their final two games.
- In the last 48 hours, the Toronto Maple Leafs have had one of the most interesting goaltending carousels of all season. After recently signing both Jett Alexander and Nick Chenard for one game each to be backup goaltender, Chris Johnston of TSN reported that two new unknown goalies were seen at Toronto’s practice this morning. Later on, Jeff Marek of Sportsnet mentioned that one of the mystery goaltenders may be Windsor Spitfires product Matt Onuska. Fortunately for the Maple Leafs, the dust has completely settled, as Jonas Siegel from The Athletic reports that Toronto has been able to emergency recall goaltender Joseph Woll, and he is on the active roster for tonight’s game against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Blackhawks Extend Jarred Tinordi
Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times is reporting that the Chicago Blackhawks have signed Jarred Tinordi to an extension for the 2023-24 season. The deal will only be a 1-year extension, and Tinordi will make $1.25MM next year.
In his first season in Chicago, Tinordi has provided a bit of value to the rebuilding Blackhawks. Throughout this season, Tinordi has played in a total of 44 games, scoring eight points in total, and also throwing 139 hits, a career-high in that category.
Since the 2015-16 season, Tinordi has played for six different organizations, and only seeing playing time in the NHL for five of those. Tinordi has come a long way since being drafted 22nd overall in the 2010 NHL Draft but has seemed to have found a place in Chicago for the time being.
After eight seasons in the NHL, this will actually be the first time in his career that Tinordi will be making over $1MM in a season. It is widely expected that the Blackhawks will once again be rebuilding next year, and Tinordi will at the very least provide a stabilizing presence for them on the back end.
David Krejci Shut Down For Regular Season
Boston Bruins star center, David Krejci, will not be in the lineup for Boston’s final two games of the regular season. Joe Haggerty of Boston Hockey Now reports that Krejci will be out with a lower-body injury.
In missing the final two games of the season, this will be the sixth game Krejci has missed in a row and the 12th that he has missed all season. Krejci did skate this morning, and Boston head coach Jim Montgomery said, “Today was his best day. That has us optimistic about where he’s going to be for Game 1 [of the playoffs]”.
In his return to Boston this season, Krejci has shown the Bruins what they were missing last year, scoring 16 goals and 40 assists in 70 games played for the President’s Trophy winners. Last year, after a 15-year stretch in Boston, Krejci famously left for Czechia, joining HC Olomouc for the 2021-22 season.
In his return to New England, Krejci has filled a vital role, aiding the Bruins on their quest to break the all-time single-season win record, something they did against the Philadelphia Flyers last Sunday. Outside of the regular season, Krejci’s playoff performances in his career have become legends in Boston.
During their Stanley Cup championship run in the 2011 playoffs, Krejci played in 25 games, scoring 12 goals and 11 assists, leading the playoffs in scoring. Two years later, the Bruins again returned to the Stanley Cup Final, and once again Krejci led the way for all players. In 22 games, Krejci scored nine goals and 17 assists, unfortunately failing to the Chicago Blackhawks for the sport’s greatest trophy.
In Krejci’s absence, the Bruins have received exceptional play at the center position from both Charlie Coyle and Pavel Zacha. However, when it comes to the playoffs, Krejci has historically been one of the very best, and Boston is optimistic that he will join the team for their effort.
Capitals Notes: Laviolette, Oshie, Sheary, Smith
Tarik El-Bashir of The Athletic is reporting that the Washington Capitals are preparing for a potentially big offseason in which a lot of personnel decisions will need to be made. The Capitals missed the playoffs for the first time since the 2013-14 season and while much of their 2018 Stanley Cup championship roster has moved on, some very important pieces remain.
El-Bashir reports that there is no update on the status of head coach Peter Laviolette. The veteran coach is a free agent at the end of this season and would still be in demand should he or the Capitals elect to part ways and start fresh next season. It is believed that Laviolette still has the support of many of the veterans in the Washington dressing room, but the recent stretch of games would give anyone pause as the Capitals have seemed indifferent at times. Laviolette is in his third season as the Capitals head coach and is the eighth winningest coach in NHL history. The 58-year-old has led three different organizations to the Stanley Cup final in his career, including a Stanley Cup victory in 2005-06 with the Carolina Hurricanes. However, in Washington he hasn’t been able to get the Capitals back over the hump and out of the first round.
In other Washington notes:
- T.J. Oshie was shut down earlier this week with the same back injury that has caused him problems all season. Oshie missed a total of 22 games this year after dressing in just 44 games last season. El-Bashir writes in The Athletic that he is being told that Oshie shouldn’t require surgery on his ailing back and that he should be able to recover with rest and rehab. For his part the 36-year-old Oshie has seen his offensive production slide the last two seasons. He’s failed to reach 40 points two years in a row now after missing that number just once in the previous 12 seasons. Oshie can still score, evidenced by his 19 goals this season in 58 games, but Washington will be counting on him to stay healthy going forward, especially with two years left on his contract.
- El-Bashir also writes in The Athletic that he expects the Capitals to move on from Conor Sheary and Craig Smith. Sheary is in his third season with Washington and has been a good depth scoring option with 37 points in 80 games. His scoring is down from last year, but the 30-year-old two-time cup winner should find an NHL job for next season as a depth forward with speed who can chip in on offence.
- Craig Smith will also be looking for a new job this summer. The former Nashville Predator has seen his numbers fall off a cliff this season as he bounced between the Boston Bruins and Washington. The 2009 fourth round pick had topped 30 points in five straight seasons as a dependable third liner but hasn’t been able to duplicate that success this season. He is in the final year of a three-year contract he originally signed with Boston and will likely be forced to take a one-year deal around league minimum to secure an NHL job in 2023-24.
Montreal Canadiens Recall Two Players From AHL
The Montreal Canadiens announced today that they have recalled forward Joël Teasdale and defenseman Frédéric Allard from the Laval Rocket of the AHL. Kent Hughes and Martin St-Louis told both players after their game last night for Laval. The Canadiens will be back in action on Wednesday night as they try to play spoiler against the New York Islanders.
Teasdale has finally found his footing in the AHL after years of setbacks due to injuries. He has provided the Rocket with secondary scoring in a season that they have needed it due to the litany of recalls they’ve had to endure thanks to Montreal’s injury situation this season. Teasdale has 23 goals and 38 points in 57 games in his third year with the Rocket. The 24-year-old doesn’t play the prettiest brand of hockey but has put up numbers in the AHL by getting to the net and winning puck battles. His hard work has been rewarded as he will dress in his first career NHL game.
Frédéric Allard was a third-round pick of the Nashville Predators back in 2016 but has yet to establish himself as an everyday NHLer. He was acquired by the Canadiens from the Los Angeles Kings back in early March and has played one game for Montreal thus far. In 40 AHL games this season, the 25-year-old Allard has just two goals and five assists. His offensive numbers in the AHL this season have really fallen off from his previous five years in the league. Allard had established himself as a solid two-way defenseman capable of chipping in 20+ points but has failed to come close to replicating that offensive success this year.
The call-ups are an interesting move by the Canadiens, they could have called up Rafael Harvey-Pinard who has already scored 20 points in 34 games this season in the NHL, but they elected to call up players who play supporting roles in Laval. The Rocket also play tomorrow night against the Toronto Marlies in AHL action and are pushing towards the playoffs. Removing Harvey-Pinard from the lineup would have been a significant blow to the Rocket’s chances of knocking off the best team in the AHL’s North Division.
Skyler Brind’Amour Not Expected To Sign With Oilers
In August, many NCAA players will see their exclusive draft rights expire, allowing them unrestricted free agents to sign with any organization. The decision has already been made for one of those players, Skyler Brind’Amour.
Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff reports that Brind’Amour, fresh off a national championship with Quinnipiac, will not sign with the Edmonton Oilers. Jason Gregor of TSN adds that Brind’Amour informed the Oilers that there would be a better opportunity elsewhere as he tries to transition to professional hockey.
If he doesn’t change his mind and is still unsigned through August 15, Brind’Amour—son of Carolina Hurricanes head coach Rod Brind’Amour—will be an unrestricted free agent. As a sixth-round pick in 2017, the Oilers will not receive draft compensation.
They could, however, work out a trade with his preferred destination, though that club could simply wait until August if they have confidence in him signing at that point. The 23-year-old forward was a key part of the Bobcats’ first-ever NCAA title, and scored 32 points in 41 games this season.
A workhorse that seems to always be attacking the puck carrier, Brind’Amour’s potential at the NHL level likely tops out as a bottom-six energy player. Even that projection will be tested next year as he transitions, starting his professional career at the age of 24.