Injury Notes: Bergeron, Sharks, Scandella
Matt Porter of the Boston Globe reports that Boston Bruins’ captain Patrice Bergeron will not play in tomorrow’s game against the St.Louis Blues. Bruin’s head coach Jim Montgomery shares that Bergeron is dealing with both lower and upper-body “issues”.
As the Bruins continue on one of, if not the all-time best, regular seasons of all time, Bergeron has continued to be an important piece of the puzzle. Although his scoring is technically down this season, the Bruins center has put up 57 points in 74 games. Not only has Bergeron continued his above-average point production, but he has also still played extremely well on the defensive side of the puck. On a three-year stretch of having more takeaways than giveaways, the veteran center has 62 and 52, respectively.
Capping off a historic season, the Bruins will only play two teams within the playoff picture out of their remaining six games. Record books aside, the team has an important job to do come playoff time, and having a rested Bergeron will be a major component in the team realizing that goal.
Other notes:
- The San Jose Sharks released some injury updates today, as Curtis Pashelka, a Sharks beat writer, relays that forward Oskar Lindblom should return this week, and; unfortunately, Alexander Barabanov will likely be out for the remainder of the season. Now in his sixth NHL season, Lindblom currently has 15 points for the Sharks in 73 games played. Coming into his own in San Jose, Barabanov has reached a new career-high, scoring 15 goals and 32 assists with the Sharks this season.
- As the team finished today’s game against the Nashville Predators, the St.Louis Blues announced that defenseman Marco Scandella will be out with a lower-body injury. Unfortunately for the Blues and Scandella, he was only recently activated from the team’s long-term injured reserve on February 20th of this year. In only 19 games played this season, the defenseman has scored two points total.
Central Notes: Morrissey, Meyers, Smith, Stienburg
After missing last night’s game against the Detroit Red Wings, Winnipeg Jets’ defenseman Josh Morrissey is expected back Sunday according to John Lu of TSN. As the Jets look to hang onto the last wild-card spot in the Western Conference, Morrissey is projected back into the lineup as the team faces off against the New Jersey Devils next.
Playing in the best statistical season of his career, Morrissey is likely to finish top five in Norris voting after this season. With 69 points in 73 games, Morrissey is fourth overall in scoring by a defenseman in the NHL this year. Unfortunately for his team, they have slipped further and further back into the Western Conference playoff picture.
Since the trade deadline, the Jets have gone 7-7-1, holding their spot as the last wild-card team in the West. As the season concludes, the Jets hold a two-point advantage over the Calgary Flames and a three-point lead over the Nashville Predators. The Jets will play both teams this upcoming week, and having Morrissey back in the lineup will help their odds considerably in those matchups.
Other notes:
- The Colorado Avalanche have sent down forward Ben Meyers to their AHL affiliate Colorado Eagles. Bennett Durando of the Denver Post explains that Meyers was initially called up in case of an emergency, but the Avalanche will not need him in the lineup tonight as they take on the Dallas Stars. In 38 games played in the NHL throughout his young career, Meyers has scored two goals total.
- As the Arizona Coyotes continue to move players up and down from the minor leagues, the team has announced that forward Nathan Smith will be returned to their AHL affiliate Tuscon Roadrunners from an emergency loan. Smith has played a majority of this season in the AHL, scoring 11 goals and 14 assists in 58 games for the Roadrunners. In the NHL, unfortunately, he has been unable to find the scoresheet in four games played this season.
- The Colorado Eagles have announced they have signed former 63rd overall pick of the 2019 NHL draft, Matt Stienburg to an AHL tryout contract. Playing four seasons at Cornell University, the forward has scored 20 goals and 26 assists in 73 regular-season collegiate games. Thankfully for Stienburg’s benefit, the Eagles have already clinched a playoff position and will be a valuable asset in helping his team on the quest for the Calder Cup.
Pacific Notes: Burakovsky, Comtois, Murray
The hope for the Kraken was that winger Andre Burakovsky would have been back a couple of weeks ago. However, GM Ron Francis acknowledged to Geoff Baker of The Seattle Times that the veteran suffered a setback in his recovery that has delayed his return to the lineup. The 28-year-old has missed nearly two months with a lower-body injury and had a strong first half of the season before that, notching 13 goals and 26 assists in 49 games. Burakovsky has started skating with development coaches but isn’t ready to get back into team drills yet. Francis indicated that even if he isn’t able to get back to full practices by the time the playoffs start, they’ll have no hesitance in putting him back in when Burakovsky is eventually cleared to return.
More from the Pacific:
- This season hasn’t been a great one for Ducks winger Max Comtois. Now two years removed from a 33-point campaign, his point total since then is 33 between 2021-22 and 2022-23. Accordingly, Eric Stephens of The Athletic suggests (subscription link) that it’s unlikely that the 24-year-old will be tendered his $2.55MM qualifying offer this summer. Not long ago, Comtois was viewed as a possible power forward on the rise but Stephens notes that he was available in a trade this season with a swap obviously failing to materialize.
- Oilers defenseman Ryan Murray has resumed skating, relays TSN’s Ryan Rishaug (Twitter link). The 29-year-old has been out with a back injury for the last three months and has been limited to just 13 appearances this season where he has three assists while averaging a little over 13 minutes a night. Murray isn’t likely to crack Edmonton’s top six when he’s cleared to return but he’d at least give them some extra veteran depth for the playoffs.
Islanders Rule Oliver Wahlstrom Out For The Season
If the Islanders are going to earn a Wild Card seed, they’ll be doing so with winger Oliver Wahlstrom. GM Lou Lamoriello announced today that Wahlstrom has been ruled out for the season due to a lower-body injury suffered back in December.
The 22-year-old looked to be on his way to establishing new career highs offensively as he had seven goals and nine assists in 35 games prior to the injury. The uptick in per-game production came despite his playing time remaining relatively flat at just over 12 minutes a night as he seemed to adjust well under first-year coach Lane Lambert.
That said, this certainly isn’t the way that Wahlstrom wanted his entry-level contract to end with only playing half of his platform season. He’s set to become a restricted free agent this summer without arbitration rights and while he’ll undoubtedly earn more than his $874K qualifying offer, he’s almost certainly looking at a short-term bridge contract.
Fortunately for New York, there was also some good news on the injury front as the Isles also revealed that center Mathew Barzal is set to resume skating either today or tomorrow. The 25-year-old has missed more than a month with a lower-body injury but still sits second on the team in scoring with 14 goals and 37 assists in 58 games. Getting Barzal back for the final few games would go a long way toward helping them lock down a playoff position.
Brad Hunt Clears Waivers
Saturday: As expected, Hunt has cleared for the third time, Friedman reports. That allows him to return to the Eagles.
Friday: For the third time this season, Colorado Avalanche defenseman Brad Hunt finds himself on waivers, according to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman. Should Hunt clear waivers, as he has done twice already this season, he will return to the Avalanche’s AHL affiliate, the Colorado Eagles.
Hunt, 34, has split time between the AHL and NHL this season, playing 43 games with the Avalanche and 24 with the Eagles. In the AHL, Hunt is a difference-making offensive defenseman. He has scored 21 points in the AHL this season, and his contributions have helped the Eagles clinch a spot in the Calder Cup playoffs. In the NHL, Hunt’s impact has been more limited, and he has registered just eight points in his 43 games played.
With the once injury-ravaged Avalanche blueline now getting markedly healthier, Colorado has made the decision that Hunt is better served to play a top-pairing, top-scoring role in the AHL rather than spending time in the press box as coach Jared Bednar’s ninth defenseman.
So while he last saw extended AHL time in December, Hunt heads back to the Eagles with the likely possibility that he’ll remain there for the rest of their season, unless any new injuries hit the Avalanche’s blueline. If that ends up being the case, the addition of Hunt will give the Eagles a significant boost in their chase of higher seeding for the AHL’s playoffs.
In order to get that boost, though, Hunt will need to clear waivers first. Seeing as he went unclaimed his prior two go-arounds on the waiver wire, one would assume Hunt will clear once again. But since he has nearly 300 games of NHL experience and has just a $762k cap hit, it’s not a total impossibility that a team desperate for defensive help puts in a claim. But that does seem unlikely, though, seeing as Hunt’s contract does stretch for another season, meaning he wouldn’t quite be a short-term stopgap option.
East Notes: Couturier, Van Riemsdyk, Milano, Canadiens
Flyers center Sean Couturier had been skating for the last few weeks with the hopes of returning to the lineup before the end of the season. Those plans have now changed as head coach John Tortorella told reporters, including Charlie O’Connor of The Athletic (Twitter link) that the 30-year-old has now been shut down for the season. The good news for the Flyers is that Couturier hasn’t suffered a setback. Instead, the team simply decided that there wasn’t much benefit to bringing him back for a few games and that it would be better for the veteran to simply focus on continuing to rehab the back injury that has sidelined him since training camp. Suffice it to say, this was not the way anyone in the organization hoped that the first season of Couturier’s eight-year, $62MM contract was going to go.
Elsewhere in the Eastern Conference:
- Capitals defenseman Trevor van Riemsdyk will miss at least a week due to an upper-body injury, notes Roman Stubbs of The Washington Post (Twitter link). The 31-year-old suffered the injury late in Thursday’s game against Tampa Bay. While Washington has struggled a bit this year, this season has been a good one individually for van Riemsdyk as he has set career highs offensively with seven goals and 23 points while averaging over 19 minutes a night for only the second time. That helped him earn a three-year, $9MM extension last month.
- Still with Washington, winger Sonny Milano was a full participant in practice today and is trending towards playing tomorrow, relays Matt Weyrich of NBC Sports Washington (Twitter link). The 26-year-old has been a nice bargain for the Capitals this season, collecting 32 points in 58 games, a nice return on a league minimum contract. He, too, has a three-year extension in hand already, one that will carry a $1.9MM AAV starting next season.
- The Canadiens announced that winger Rafael Harvey-Pinard won’t play tonight due to a minor injury. The rookie has impressed since being recalled in January, picking up 14 goals, 55 hits, and 55 blocks in 32 games. Winger Joel Armia will return after missing more than a month with an upper respiratory infection. Meanwhile, blueliner David Savard will miss his second straight game due to a lower-body injury.
Sharks Recall Kyle Criscuolo And Danil Gushchin
The Sharks have tweaked their roster in recent days and they continued that trend today, announcing the recalls of forwards Kyle Criscuolo and Danil Gushchin from AHL San Jose. With only 11 healthy forwards on the active roster, at least one of these promotions should be on an emergency basis. CapFriendly notes (Twitter link) that these recalls put them over the salary cap so an LTIR placement was needed, likely Luke Kunin who is out for the year with a knee injury.
Criscuolo is in his first season with San Jose after the Sharks acquired him from Detroit back in January. The change of scenery helped as the 30-year-old has been more productive since the swap, putting up ten goals and five assists in 26 games with the Barracuda after being limited to five goals and five helpers in 28 games with Grand Rapids. Criscuolo, a pending unrestricted free agent, does have 15 career NHL games under his belt, six of which came last season with Detroit where he picked up his first two points, both assists.
As for Gushchin, the 21-year-old is in his first full season in the pros after spending last season with OHL Niagara where he had 71 points in 51 contests. The points haven’t been as easy to come by with the Barracuda but Gushchin does sit tied for fourth on the team in scoring with 16 goals and 20 helpers in 66 appearances, a decent rookie campaign. He still has two years left after this one on his entry-level deal.
Predators Recall Spencer Stastney
Spencer Stastney has had a good first full professional season and he is being rewarded for his efforts as the Predators announced that they’ve recalled the blueliner from AHL Milwaukee. It’s the first recall of his NHL career.
The 22-year-old was a fifth-round pick of the Preds back in 2018 (131st overall) and spent four years at Notre Dame where he picked up 63 points in 143 games before turning pro late last season. He got into a couple of games with the Admirals down the stretch but this has been his first extended campaign in the pros. Stastney has five goals in 56 games for Milwaukee, good for third on the team in goals by a blueliner.
Nashville is dealing with multiple injuries on the back end with Roman Josi, Alexandre Carrier, and Mark Borowiecki out of the lineup. That list is growing by one more as Jeremy Lauzon will not play today due to an upper-body injury, opening up a spot for Stastney to make his NHL debut against St. Louis.
Derick Brassard Undergoes Season-Ending Surgery
The news isn’t great for Senators center Derick Brassard. After being injured in Thursday’s victory over Philadelphia, head coach D.J. Smith told reporters including Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch (Twitter link) that Brassard has undergone surgery to repair a fractured fibula. In a separate tweet, Garrioch adds that the recovery timeline is at least six to eight weeks and that Brassard had a plate put in.
It’s certainly a tough end to the season for the 35-year-old. Brassard had been a quality depth contributor for the Sens this year, chipping in with 13 goals in 62 games, his highest goal total since the 2019-20 campaign. Perhaps more impressive is that he was able to do so while logging just 12:11 per contest, his lowest ATOI since his rookie year back in 2007-08.
Brassard had to settle for a training camp PTO last fall but was able to earn himself a one-year contract at the league minimum. Having bounced around considerably in recent years – Ottawa is his eighth different team since 2018-19 – he’s someone whose ability to earn a contract for next season was already in question. Unfortunately, an injury like this certainly doesn’t help in that regard. Accordingly, it’s quite possible that Brassard will have to settle for a tryout once again if he looks to try to extend his 16-year NHL career any further.
Meanwhile, TSN’s Claire Hanna relays (Twitter link) that defensemen Travis Hamonic (lower body), Thomas Chabot (upper body), and Jakob Chychrun (hamstring) won’t accompany the Sens on their upcoming three-game road trip. Of the three, Smith noted that he’s hopeful that Hamonic will be able to return by the end of the season so it appears Chabot and Chychrun have seen their 2022-23 campaigns come to an end.
Blue Jackets Recall Three, Assign Trey-Fix Wolansky To AHL
Between injuries and illness, the Blue Jackets are currently dealing with a thinned-out roster. Accordingly, they are bringing up more players from the minors as they announced that forwards Joona Luoto and Justin Richards plus defenseman Marcus Bjork are all being recalled from AHL Cleveland. They will be taking the place of Jack Roslovic and Lane Pederson (both injured) and Adam Boqvist (illness). Meanwhile, after oversleeping and missing a team meeting, winger Trey Fix-Wolansky has been assigned back to the Monsters.
Luoto will get his first taste of NHL action tonight since the 2019-20 campaign when he played in 16 games with Winnipeg. After spending last season in Finland, the 25-year-old signed a two-way deal with Columbus last summer. He has 14 goals and 11 assists in 43 games with Cleveland this season and will be set to hit Group VI unrestricted free agency in July.
As for Richards, his NHL experience is even more limited as he made just a single appearance for the Rangers back in 2021, recording his first career NHL assist along the way. The 25-year-old is also in his first year with the Blue Jackets and has been much more productive in the minors this season, picking up 10 goals and 25 assists in 54 games after putting up just six goals and eight helpers a year ago. He’s also eligible for Group VI free agency this summer.
Bjork, meanwhile, certainly hasn’t looked out of place in his first season in North America. He has played in 28 games with the Blue Jackets this season, picking up 11 points while logging nearly 19 minutes a night on the back end. The 25-year-old has also suited up in 40 games for the Monsters, tallying 13 points. He will be a restricted free agent this summer.
Fix-Wolansky had averaged over 13 minutes a night in his last three games in Columbus and was getting a chance to play higher in the lineup due to the injuries so this mistake is a costly one for him as it gets him taken off the roster. He has been quite productive in the minors, however, notching 26 goals and 41 assists in just 53 games and will be a big addition to a Monsters team that finds themselves one point out of a play-in spot heading into tonight’s action.