Boston Bruins Recall Oskar Steen
Before their important game three against the Florida Panthers Friday evening, the Boston Bruins have announced they have recalled forward Oskar Steen on an emergency basis. So far through two games, the Bruins have been without forward Patrice Bergeron (upper-body), but have still managed to produce a deep rotation of 12 forwards.
Although managing to play about a quarter of the season in Boston last season, Steen was back to primarily back to playing for their AHL affiliate Providence Bruins for the majority of this year. In 64 games for Providence, Steen scored 14 goals and 17 assists, helping propel the baby Bruins to the Atlantic Division semifinals in the Calder Cup playoffs.
Without Bergeron in the lineup, the Bruins have found themselves in a tied series as they head into game three. They did manage to get out to an early lead in the series thanks to a 3-1 win against the Panthers on April 17th, but Florida bounced back in game two, beating the Bruins by a score of 6-3. In game one, Boston heavily relied on their Vezina candidate goaltender Linus Ullmark, who made 31 saves in 32 attempts.
As the Bruins look to take back the series, there is a chance that Steen will find himself in the lineup. Steen is another physical presence that Boston can throw into their active roster, and with strong possession numbers in his limited professional performance, Steen could help the Bruins control the puck more against a surging Panthers team.
Snapshots: Kartye, King, Bellamy
Earlier today, the American Hockey League announced a major award winner from the 2022-23 season, naming Tye Kartye of the Coachella Valley Firebirds as the Dudley (Red) Garrett Memorial Award winner, which goes to the league’s most outstanding rookie each season. Kartye is under contract with the Seattle Kraken of the NHL, signing towards the end of last season after a three-year stint for the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds of the OHL.
As an undrafted free agent after the 2022 season in the OHL, Kartye may have had an extra chip on his shoulder when he joined the Firebirds this year. Scoring over a point-per-game basis in his last season for the Greyhounds, Kartye followed that up with a 28-goal and 29-assist performance over 72 games this year.
For the most part, over the last quarter century, only a handful of the Dudley Garrett Memorial Award winners have become household names in the NHL. Players such as Daniel Briere, Matt Murray, and Mikko Rantanen have all taken home the award within the last 25 years, and have gone on to be notable names for Stanley Cup contenders. Still only 21 years old, Kartye still has plenty of time to grow his game and make the jump to the NHL.
Other snapshots:
- According to a press release from the Vancouver Canucks, General Manager Patrik Allvin announces that Assistant Coach Jason King will not return to the Canucks for the 2023-24 season. King was originally drafted by the Canucks in the seventh round of the 2001 NHL Draft. Playing in 59 games (55 of which for Vancouver) split between the Canucks and the Anaheim Ducks throughout his career, King scored 11 goals and 12 assists. King has been behind the bench for the Canucks since the 2020-21 season and spent the five years prior working in the same capacity for Vancouver’s AHL affiliate.
- Outside of the NHL, Hailey Salvian of The Athletic reports that Kacey Bellamy has signed a 1-year, $122K contract to play for the Connecticut Whale next season. In her last taste of professional play back in the 2016-17 season, Bellamy played for the Boston Pride, Bellamy scored nine points in 17 games. Unfortunately for Bellamy and the Pride that season, they would lose 3-2 in the Isobel Cup Championship against the Buffalo Beauts.
Alexandre Texier Will Return For 2023-24
Citing personal issues and needing to be closer to family, Alexandre Texier spent the 2022-23 season in Switzerland, playing for Zurich SC. The French-born forward stepped away from his NHL life with the Columbus Blue Jackets, and it was unclear what his future would hold.
After all, this season was supposed to be the second and final year of the contract he signed in 2021, meaning he would be a restricted free agent this summer. That’s not the case, though, as yesterday, the Blue Jackets announced that Texier’s deal would toll to cover the 2023-24 season instead of this one. That means he didn’t earn any of the $1.75MM salary but will return to the NHL in the fall to resume that contract.
In a statement, general manager Jarmo Kekalainen explained:
Alexandre Texier is an outstanding, young player who is an important part of our team and we are excited that he will be rejoining the club as expected next season. His well-being has been our sole priority and we couldn’t be happier that he is ready to resume what is a very promising NHL career at this time.
Today, Texier was back in Columbus with the organization and met with the media. He explained that he was excited to resume his career, and happy to see some familiar faces around the building. The young forward last appeared in an NHL game over a year ago. He suffered a finger injury in January 2022 that kept him out of the lineup before eventually departing following the “loss of people very close to him.”
Now, he has nothing but good things to say about how the organization handled his situation:
I’m just glad that the Blue Jackets and Zurich helped me to go through that, and now my goal is to get ready for September. (The Blue Jackets) were great. I have nothing bad to say. They just helped me, and they came all the way during the season to watch me. It means a lot that they were following me. Now everything is done and I have to play some hockey.
A second-round pick in 2017, Texier burst onto the scene as a high-flying rookie in 2019, playing a handful of minor league games before jumping into a playoff run with Columbus. He had a career-high 11 goals and 20 points in 36 games before his season ended in 2021-22, and appeared to be well on his way to becoming an impact talent in the league.
Normally, a year away from the team might be considered a step back in development. But Texier wasn’t away from hockey entirely. He scored 35 points in 46 games for Zurich, and will soon participate in the World Championships. He confirmed today that he will play for France at the tournament set to start three weeks from now.
Jan Rutta Undergoes Surgery
The Pittsburgh Penguins failed to make the playoffs for the first time in many years, allowing some players to get cleanup surgeries. This week, Jan Rutta went under the knife for a procedure to repair a core muscle injury. The surgery was performed in St. Louis and will keep Rutta out for an estimated eight to ten weeks.
That timeline leaves him plenty of time to get ready for next season, though core muscle injuries are notorious for affecting performance longer than the initial recovery.
Rutta, 32, suited up for 56 games this season in Pittsburgh after signing a three-year, $8.25MM contract in the summer. The deal was a significant payday for the former Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman, who has never had a contract longer than two years previously.
While he’ll never offer much offensive upside, Rutta was given brutal defensive deployment this year in Pittsburgh. While his possession numbers look ugly, the results weren’t nearly as bad. The Penguins outscored their opponents 33-32 while Rutta was on the ice at even strength. Given his strong contribution on the penalty kill, he should continue to play a solid (though limited) role for Pittsburgh moving forward.
Joe Pavelski Will Not Travel With Stars
The Dallas Stars evened up their series against the Minnesota Wild last night, exciting the hometown crowd with seven goals (including a four-goal second period). That was possible without one of their best players after Joe Pavelski was knocked out of game one by a massive hit from Matt Dumba. Now, as the series shifts to Minnesota for the next two games, it appears as though they’ll still have to battle without the veteran.
Pavelski will not travel with Dallas, according to team reporter Mike Heika. Head coach Pete DeBoer said he hopes Pavelski can return this series but won’t be involved in the next two games at least.
Though he doesn’t always get the same amount of press as other stars, Pavelski’s performance for Dallas has been incredible. At age 38 this season, he scored 28 goals and 77 points in 82 games, breaking the 1,000-point mark for his career. In fact, with 1,001 in 1,250 games, his career is starting to look more like that of a Hall of Famer, despite rarely getting much attention as one of the league’s best players. He’s never won an individual trophy, but has played in 169 career playoff games, already good enough for 56th all-time. His 126 postseason points put him 53rd, tied with Maurice Richard.
Despite last night’s win, that’s a huge piece to pull out of the Dallas lineup for two critical road games.
Lightning Notes: Hedman, Jeannot, Eyssimont
The Tampa Bay Lightning could have Victor Hedman back in the lineup tonight against the Toronto Maple Leafs. The big defenseman took the morning skate, and is a game-time decision. Hedman left game one early with what head coach Jon Cooper deemed a”new” injury, but might not miss much important action. The Lightning rolled over Toronto in game one while playing shorthanded, after Erik Cernak also left with a head injury.
Cernak has been ruled out, but it is a good sign for Lightning fans that Hedman is this close, even if he happens to miss tonight.
Here are some more Lightning injury notes:
- All indications are that Tanner Jeannot will make his Tampa Bay postseason debut tonight, less than two weeks after suffering what appeared to be a serious injury. The former Nashville Predators forward was the team’s big deadline addition and could add another level of physicality to the series. Jeannot scored just one goal in 20 games with the Lightning after the trade but racked up 77 hits, even averaging fewer than 12 minutes a night.
- Mikey Eyssimont, who also left game one after a big hit, has been ruled out for game two but took part in morning skate. That’s another good sign that he could return this series, giving the Lightning some more depth as they try to knock Toronto out for the second year in a row.
Carolina Hurricanes Recall Mackenzie MacEachern
With Teuvo Teravainen headed for surgery, the Carolina Hurricanes have recalled Mackenzie MacEachern from the minor leagues.
Given the Chicago Wolves missed the playoffs, MacEachern can stay with the club and add some much-needed depth to the Carolina roster. The 29-year-old had an excellent season in the AHL, potting 11 goals and 30 points in 37 games.
He won’t be asked to score much if he does get into the Carolina lineup. Instead, the Hurricanes will need him to play the same physical style he showed during his last playoff call-up. In 2020 with the St. Louis Blues, MacEachern recorded 14 hits in five games for the Blues despite averaging fewer than seven minutes a night.
The 6’2″ forward has 19 points in 111 regular season games, all coming with the Blues. Should he get into the playoff lineup at some point, it would be his Carolina debut.
Teuvo Teravainen To Undergo Surgery
The Carolina Hurricanes will be without Teuvo Teravainen for at least the first round, after suffering a broken hand last night against the New York Islanders. Teravainen will undergo surgery on the hand today, according to Kurt Dusterberg of NHL.com.
Head coach Rod Brind’Amour explained that he was “a little pissed” at the “tomahawk chop” from Jean-Gabriel Pageau that led to the injury late in the third period. Teravainen left with a few minutes remaining, and was unavailable to the Hurricanes in overtime as they managed to take game two. Now out indefinitely, he’ll have to hope that the Hurricanes put together a long playoff run if he wants to play again this season.
While this was a down year by Teravainen’s standards, scoring just 37 points in 68 games, he is still an important part of the deep Carolina forward group. The club is known for rolling out line after line of effective players, wearing you down with a never-ending forecheck. Even if he’s not producing at an elite level, like when he scored 76 points in 2018-19 or 65 last season, pulling Teravainen out of the lineup is a significant loss.
Jack Drury moved to the top line with Sebastian Aho and Seth Jarvis at the end of the game, and could get a huge opportunity to make an impact early in his career. The 23-year-old forward has just 40 regular season games under his belt to this point.
Despite the considerable depth, injuries are starting to pile up for Carolina. They already lost Max Pacioretty, Ondrej Kase, and Andrei Svechnikov before the playoffs began, and now will be without Teravainen for the foreseeable future.
Injury Notes: Vilardi, Andersen, Jeannot, Hartman
The Los Angeles Kings stole Game 1 away from the Edmonton Oilers with some late-game heroics from Anze Kopitar to tie it up with 17 seconds to play and a power play goal from Alex Iafallo to give the team an overtime victory. They will look to take a commanding 2-0 series lead on Wednesday night, and appear to have some reinforcements that could help them.
Eric Stephens of The Athletic reports Gabriel Vilardi will be ready to return to the Kings lineup in Game 2. The 23-year-old right winger had a breakout season for the Kings, scoring 23 goals and 41 points in 63 games. Vilardi has not played since March 26 with an upper-body injury. His return will certainly give the Kings another offensive boost as they look to match the offensive juggernaut of the Oilers and add to their series lead.
- Per a team release, Carolina Hurricanes goaltender Frederik Andersen will not suit up in Game 2 of their series with the New York Islanders. The 33-year-old goaltender, who battled injuries all season and played just 33 games, is out with an illness. In a bit of a surprising move, Antti Raanta was the Game 1 starter anyway, and he will get the call once again for the Hurricanes in Game 2.
- Eduardo A. Encina of the Tampa Bay Times reports Tanner Jeannot could be back in the Lightning lineup for Game 2. The feisty winger arrived in Tampa Bay at the trade deadline, for a surprisingly large haul of draft picks, and scored four points in 20 regular season games with the team. With Michael Eyssimont leaving Game 1 with injury, it would be perfect timing to have Jeannot return and fill that role in the Lightning’s bottom six. Jeannot last played on April 6 when he fell awkwardly and looked to be seriously injured. Luckily, he appears ready to go just two weeks later.
- Minnesota Wild forward Ryan Hartman was the hero in Game 1, scoring in double overtime to secure the win and take a 1-0 series lead. Unfortunately, he will not get the same chance in Game 2. Per a team release, Hartman will not play when the Wild meet the Dallas Stars looking to take a two game series lead. The 28-year-old forward had 15 goals and 37 points in 59 games for the Wild in the regular season. He has been dealing with a lower-body injury that he battled through to win Game 1 for the Wild, but it will keep him from suiting up in Game 2.
Minor Notes: Wolf, U18, Viveiros
The Calgary Flames had a disappointing season that ended with them on the outside of the playoff picture. Their AHL affiliate, on the other hand, has been enjoying a tremendous 2022-23 season and finished first in the AHL standings with a 51-17-4 record. They ended up in first place in the AHL standings and will begin their Calder Cup chase next week. That is little consolation to Flames fans today, who were expecting a competitive NHL team this season, and not just a great minor league team to hand their hat on.
One reason for future hope in Calgary is goaltender Dustin Wolf who played a huge role in the Calgary Wranglers leading the way in the AHL. Wolf was named the winner of the Aldege “Baz” Bastien Memorial Award as the AHL’s best goaltender. The 22-year-old goaltender was the leader in goals-against average (2.09) save percentage (.932) and shutouts with seven. In his final two years of Junior, Wolf was named the top goaltender in the WHL and now he has won that award in his first two pro seasons at the AHL level.
- USA Hockey announced its roster for the upcoming World Under-18 Championships. The team promises to be a high-scoring one as the roster is headlined by forwards Will Smith, Gabe Perreault, Ryan Leonard, Oliver Moore who will all be selected in the first round of the upcoming 2023 NHL Draft. Cole Eiserman, a top-ranked prospect for the 2024 NHL Draft is also on the roster. USA begins its tournament with a game tomorrow against Latvia. The event is taking place in Switzerland. USA will be looking for its first gold medal at the event since 2017.
- Per a team release, the Vegas Golden Knights announced Manny Viveiros will be leaving the organization. Viveiros has been the head coach of the AHL’s Henderson Silver Knights since their inception in 2020. In their first year of existence, the team had a 25-13-1 record in a Covid-shortened season, and followed that up with a 34-28-5 record in 2021-22. The team struggled this season however, finished outside the Calder Cup Playoffs with a record of 29-38-5. Viveiros’ contract is set to expire on June 30 and it will not be renewed.