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Miro Heiskanen Out Month-To-Month Following Knee Surgery

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Feb. 4: Heiskanen had successful knee surgery this morning and has been downgraded to month-to-month, DeBoer told reporters Tuesday (including Mike Heika of NHL.com). It’s unclear if he’ll be back during the regular season.

Jan. 30, 1:21 p.m.: Heiskanen has officially been ruled out of the 4 Nations Face-Off, per Chris Johnston of TSN and The Athletic, robbing Finland of their top defenseman. They’ll need an injury replacement in short order, presumably the Rangers’ Urho Vaakanainen or the Sabres’ Henri Jokiharju.

Jan. 30, 11:38 a.m.: Stars defenseman Miro Heiskanen is out week-to-week with the lower-body injury he sustained in Tuesday’s overtime win over the Golden Knights, head coach Pete DeBoer told reporters Thursday (including Lia Assimakopoulos of the Dallas Morning News). As a result, the star blue-liner has been ruled doubtful for next month’s 4 Nations Face-Off, which would have marked his first international appearance for Finland since the 2022 World Championship.

Heiskanen left the game in the third period after a controversial collision with Vegas captain Mark Stone. The Golden Knights winger, who alleged he tripped over the stick of Dallas center Roope Hintz, fell into Heiskanen’s left knee and thigh (video via ESPN) and was assessed a minor penalty for tripping. Heiskanen needed assistance leaving the ice.

DeBoer said the initial injury designation came after Heiskanen underwent an MRI on Wednesday. They’ll have a firmer idea of his return timeline after a meeting with a specialist today.

Aside from his participation in the 4 Nations tournament, Heiskanen’s absence is a humongous loss for a thinned-out Dallas defense group in the lead-up to the break. The 25-year-old has taken on increased importance this season after they lost Chris Tanev and Jani Hakanpää to free agency and bought out Ryan Suter, averaging north of 25 minutes per game for the second time in his career.

Still, the ever-steady Heiskanen is having a down season offensively. That can partially be attributed to Dallas’ struggling power play – he has just seven points with the man advantage through 50 games after notching 21 power-play points in 71 appearances last season. But overall, his 0.50 points per game is his lowest pace in four years.

While he still leads Dallas blue-liners in scoring, possession metrics also point to Thomas Harley, not Heiskanen, as their most effective two-way threat this season. That’s not to say Heiskanen has been concerning defensively by any stretch, but the Stars control 55.5% of shot attempts with Harley on the ice at even strength compared to 53.5% with Heiskanen. They’ve spent a decent portion of the season on different pairings after routinely serving as partners last season, but Heiskanen’s possession numbers still improve when paired with Harley this year.

Nonetheless, Dallas’ weakened blue-line depth will be tested with news that Nils Lundkvist is also dealing with an upper-body injury after sitting out the last three games as a presumed healthy scratch, DeBoer told Assimakopoulos. The team announced they’ve recalled defenseman Kyle Capobianco from AHL Texas in a corresponding transaction, and he’ll make his season debut against the Canucks on Friday.

Capobianco, 27, signed a two-year, two-way deal with the Stars over the summer after two years in the Jets organization. He cleared waivers to begin the season and headed to AHL Texas, where he’s served as their top power-play option and leads team D in scoring with 28 points (2 G, 26 A) in 35 games. His +13 rating also leads Baby Stars defenders. Tomorrow will mark his first NHL game since suiting up once with Winnipeg in the 2023 postseason.

Initially a third-round pick by the Coyotes in 2015, Capobianco has 12 points (5 G, 7 A) in 73 career NHL appearances. Forty-five games came with the Yotes in the 2021-22 campaign, his final season in the organization. He’s historically graded out slightly below average defensively in his NHL minutes and will likely see far more limited even-strength usage than Heiskanen, although he could be in line to take a chunk of his power-play minutes with Lundkvist also sidelined.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Utah Activates Dylan Guenther From Injured Reserve

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Utah will activate winger Dylan Guenther from injured reserve before Tuesday’s game against the Flyers, head coach André Tourigny told reporters, including Cole Bagley of KSL Sports. They don’t have an open roster spot and will need to make a corresponding transaction, likely moving center Logan Cooley to IR. The team announced last week he’s out indefinitely with a lower-body injury.

Guenther, 21, last played on Jan. 8 against the Panthers. Utah announced the following day that he’d be sidelined indefinitely with a lower-body issue. However, his absence was not as long as the team feared. He began skating last week, after which Tourigny told reporters he had been upgraded to day-to-day.

At the time of his injury, Guenther was Utah’s leader in goals with 16 through 40 games. He’s since been surpassed by Clayton Keller, who now has 18, but still ranks second. Adding 18 assists for 34 points, he’s a vital piece of Utah’s present and future offense – a belief the organization shares, considering they inked him to an eight-year, $57.14MM extension during training camp.

He’s operated at a 70-point pace through his first season in Salt Lake after ending last season with 35 points in 45 games for the Coyotes. The 2021 ninth-overall pick did exit the lineup amid a dry spell with two assists in his last eight games, but he’ll look to get back on track on a line with Michael Carcone and Barrett Hayton.

Coming out of the lineup to make room for Guenther is alternate captain Lawson Crouse, Tourigny said. The 27-year-old figures to be a healthy scratch for the first time since the 2019-20 season. He’s had a cataclysmic 2024-25 campaign, limited to just seven goals and 11 points through 52 games.

Utah has fallen below the .500 mark after a five-game losing streak and ranks 24th in the league with 2.77 goals per game, a figure Guenther will be key in improving down the stretch. Utah’s playoff chances have fallen to 10% as a result of their recent struggles, per Hockey Reference.

Rangers’ Adam Edstrom Out Roughly Three Months With Lower-Body Injury

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Rangers depth winger Adam Edstrom will be unavailable for the next two and a half to three and a half months while recovering from a lower-body injury, the team told Mollie Walker of the New York Post on Tuesday. It’s likely a season-ending absence for Edstrom, although a return during the postseason is possible if the Blueshirts make the cut.

Edstrom already missed Sunday’s win over the Golden Knights with the injury, which he sustained at some point in Saturday’s loss to the Bruins. He left midway through the second period after recording a minus-one rating, one hit, and one giveaway in 4:22 of ice time.

The 24-year-old has established himself as a regular on the Rangers’ fourth line this season, playing in all but one of their 52 games. He hasn’t been a factor offensively with four goals and nine points and averages just 9:16 per game, but the hulking 6’6″, 241-lb winger ranks fourth on the team with 11.92 hits per 60 minutes and ranks second among Rangers forwards with 34 blocks.

His willingness to get involved physically has contributed to good two-way results from the Rangers’ most common iteration of their fourth line this season. In 166 minutes together, the trio of Edstrom, Sam Carrick and Jimmy Vesey have controlled 52.3% of expected goals, per MoneyPuck. Their 2.27 xGA/60 is 0.03 short of being the Rangers’ best defensive trio with at least 150 minutes together this season.

His limited minutes mean he’s not a season-altering loss, but he does leave a sizable void in the bottom six. His absence allows Vesey to step back into regular minutes after being scratched for 10 of their last 12 games, prompting the veteran to publicly voice his displeasure with his lack of playing time.

Edstrom is in the final season of his entry-level contract and will be a restricted free agent with arbitration rights this summer. He’s due a qualifying offer of $813,750, although with his everyday role and an increasing salary cap, he has an argument to earn north of $1MM annually on his next deal.

Blues Activate Nick Leddy From Injured Reserve

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Blues veteran defenseman Nick Leddy will play Tuesday against the Oilers after a nearly four-month absence, according to a team announcement. He’s been activated from injured reserve following a 49-game absence due to a lower-body injury.

Leddy will replace Tyler Tucker in his return to the lineup. Tucker left Sunday’s win over Utah late in the third period after falling into the boards and sustaining an upper-body injury. He’s day-to-day and could return Thursday against the Panthers, Lou Korac of NHL.com reports.

Whatever injury Leddy sustained wasn’t apparent during a game, and he hadn’t missed time with a lower-body issue since before the COVID-19 pandemic, it likely wasn’t plaguing him heading into the season. Nonetheless, he only recently ramped up activity in practice after being held out of the lineup since the Blues’ fourth game of the season against the Wild on Oct. 15.

After initially being labeled day-to-day, St. Louis became increasingly doubtful about whether he’d return to the lineup at all in 2024-25. His lingering ailment was a contributing factor in general manager Doug Armstrong’s decision to acquire Cam Fowler from the Ducks, he said at the time, giving them a sixth defenseman with a cap hit of at least $4MM.

Leddy, 33, failed to record a point and had a minus-three rating in his first four outings this season. He averaged 22:09 per game and controlled 53.2% of shot attempts at even strength, a number that now stands second on the team among active skaters behind Tucker.

Now in the third season of a four-year, $16MM deal, Leddy remains a serviceable top-four option. While his possession metrics haven’t been kind, he’s still turned out a +18 rating in 184 games as a Blue since they acquired him from the Red Wings before the 2022 trade deadline. He appeared in all 82 games last season, averaging 22:22 per game and recording 28 points with 127 blocks, second on the team behind Colton Parayko’s 218.

The lefty could return to the lineup playing on his off side on the third pairing with Ryan Suter, Korac relayed. Philip Broberg and Cam Fowler, both of whom have excelled in top-four usage for the Blues this season, will remain in their second-pairing and first-pairing posts, respectively.

St. Louis never placed Leddy on LTIR throughout his absence, so his activation has no salary cap impact. They opened a roster spot yesterday by reassigning Matthew Kessel to AHL Springfield.

Wild Activate Jonas Brodin, Marcus Johansson

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As expected, the Wild announced they’ve activated defenseman Jonas Brodin from long-term injured reserve and winger Marcus Johansson from standard IR ahead of Tuesday’s game against the Bruins. Minnesota assigned forward Ben Jones to AHL Iowa in a corresponding transaction to open a required space on the active roster.

Brodin and Johansson were full participants in practice Monday, leading most to assume they’d be in tonight’s lineup. The former has missed 12 games with a lower-body injury sustained against the Hurricanes on Jan. 7, while Johansson sat out the last eight with a concussion he suffered on an elbow from Oilers star Connor McDavid on Jan. 15.

Their returns are key reinforcements for the Wild amid Kirill Kaprizov’s LTIR stint following lower-body surgery last week and a 10-game suspension to winger Ryan Hartman handed down yesterday by the Department of Player Safety. In the interim, Minnesota will have plenty of cap flexibility, with Kaprizov fueling a $9.02MM LTIR pool. However, roster management will be an issue, as Hartman still takes up a spot during his suspension.

Brodin likely returns to a top-four role besides captain Jared Spurgeon following his third multi-game absence of the season. He missed a pair of contests in November with an upper-body injury before sitting out another eight with a similar injury weeks later.

The Wild went 5-7-0 without Brodin in their last 12 games and have a 12-10-0 without his services on the season. When healthy, the 31-year-old has the best offensive campaign of his 13-year career. He has 16 points through 31 appearances for a career-high 0.51 points per game, averaging north of 23 minutes per game for the second straight season and anchoring the team’s top penalty-kill unit.

He aims to stabilize a Minnesota defense that has faltered since the calendar flipped to 2025. Since New Year’s, they have allowed 3.20 goals against per game, ranking 26th out of 32 teams. Similarly, their 31.3 shots against per game rank 28th.

It’s not time to hit the panic button in the State of Hockey yet. They still have a two-point cushion on the Avalanche for third place in the Central Division with a game in hand, and Hockey Reference still gives them a 97.1% chance of making the playoffs. But it’s been ugly when they’ve lost – four of their seven Ls since the beginning of January have been by at least four goals.

While Johansson hasn’t had the offensive impact they hoped for this year, he’s still an upgrade over most of their depth options and will take pressure off other overtaxed wingers in Kaprizov’s and Hartman’s absence. The 15-year veteran is averaging 16 minutes per game this season and has five goals and 11 assists in 44 games. He’s shooting at a career-low 7.4% rate but posts decent possession metrics, with a 48.5 CF% and +2.1 expected rating at even strength.

Johansson will skate at left wing on a line with Marcus Foligno and Marco Rossi, Joe Smith of The Athletic reports. He’s also likely to continue seeing second powerplay unit duties as he has for most of the year.

Jones, 25, returns to Iowa after being recalled last week following the news of Kaprizov’s surgery. He was only rostered as an extra forward and did not play in any of the Wild’s three games since being added to the roster.

He’s still looking for his first NHL point, failing to produce any offense across 26 appearances throughout the year. While he’s been a non-factor in the NHL, he’s been a top-six contributor for Iowa with 14 points in 20 games. He’s in the first season of a two-year, two-way commitment he signed as a free agent last summer.

Russia, Belarus Remain Expelled From 2025-26 IIHF Competition, Olympic Participation Undecided

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The IIHF announced Tuesday that the Russian and Belarusian national teams will remain barred from competition for at least another year. The International Olympic Committee still has to decide whether to include the former in the 2026 Winter Olympics.

However, that means the clubs won’t be able to field squads for the 2026 World Championship or the 2026 World Juniors, among other competitions. This marks the fourth straight competition season without the two countries. “As the current security conditions do not allow the necessary requirements for the organization of tournaments guaranteeing the safety of all, the IIHF must maintain the current status quo until further notice,” the international governing body said in a statement.

The IIHF initially suspended all Russian and Belarusian national teams and clubs in February 2022 following the former country’s illegal invasion of Ukraine with Belarusian support. By May 2026, they will determine whether it’s “safe to reincorporate” the two countries into international play for the 2026-27 season.

Belarus was already disqualified from next year’s Olympics because it was barred from participating in the required qualification tournament. Russia, whose world ranking is high enough that it doesn’t need a qualification tournament to get in, could still field a team for the tournament if the IOC allows it. No Russian or Belarusian teams were allowed to participate in any sport at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. Still, some individuals from both countries participated under an Individual Neutral Athletes banner.

“One of the IIHF’s arguments for not permitting Russia to compete in its tournaments is the issue of safety,” ex-NHLer and Russian Hockey Federation representative Pavel Bure told Steven Ellis of Daily Faceoff. “In our opinion, this argument does not hold enough strength. More than 50 Russians play in the NHL. Russian swimmers, chess players and representatives of other sports are participating in international competitions without any incidents being recorded. One of our suggestions was to finance additional security for Russia, in order to allow fans across the planet to watch one of the world’s best teams in action again.“

Lightning Reassign Conor Geekie

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The Lightning reassigned top prospect Conor Geekie to AHL Syracuse on Tuesday, per a team announcement. The team now has two open spots on the active roster.

While the move indicates Geekie won’t miss any time after leaving Saturday’s overtime loss to the Islanders with an apparent arm injury, he won’t be in the lineup tonight against the Senators. He heads to the minors for the first time this season after posting no points and a minus-five rating in his last nine games, posting a 43.4 CF% in that span. He hasn’t been on the ice for an even-strength goal since his most recent point, a tally against the Bruins on Jan. 14.

The Bolts’ front office has determined that Geekie needs more development time due to his lack of individual offensive output and recent drag on the team’s possession play. Acquired from Utah in last summer’s Mikhail Sergachev trade, the 2022 11th overall pick was the only Lightning prospect listed in Scott Wheeler of The Athletic’s offseason league-wide top 100 ranking, which ranked him No. 74.

Entering the season, the 6’4″, 207-lb 20-year-old had just two games of professional experience, both coming with the AHL’s Tucson Roadrunners in last year’s Calder Cup Playoffs. He’s yet to see regular-season action in the minors, making the Lightning roster out of camp following a 43-goal, 99-point showing in the Western Hockey League in 2023-24 with the Wenatchee Wild and Swift Current Broncos.

Projecting as a top-six, two-way center with strong physical tools, Geekie has understandably spent most of his rookie season on the wing since Brayden Point, Anthony Cirelli, Nick Paul, and Luke Glendening were already locked in down the middle. He’s gotten plenty of looks in second-line minutes alongside Cirelli and Brandon Hagel, but it hasn’t led to much individual production. He has 12 points (6 G, 6 A) through 49 games and a minus-three rating while averaging 12:09 per game, none of which has come on the penalty kill and less than a minute of which has come on the power play. His even-strength production pales to that of his most common linemates, the latter of which ranks second on the team behind Nikita Kucherov with 20 EVG and 21 EVA.

The Lightning haven’t gotten much secondary scoring outside of their top five forwards and Paul, but an electric 26.4% power play and point-per-game seasons from Kucherov, Point, Hagel, and Jake Guentzel still means they have the league’s fourth-best offense. They’re still likely looking for another piece to complement Hagel and Cirelli on the second line, though, and since Geekie’s failed to lock down that spot, they’ll see what he can do in heavy usage in the minors.

Geekie still has two seasons remaining on his entry-level contract, which carries a cap hit of $867K.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Evening Notes: Evangelista, Rakell, Brodin, Johansson

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Nashville Predators forward Luke Evangelista did not dress tonight against the Ottawa Senators and is out day-to-day with a lower-body injury. Evangelista only recently returned from an eight-game absence and left Saturday’s game against the Pittsburgh Penguins for a brief period before he returned to the bench. The extended absence was due to a lower-body injury, and it is not yet known if the two injuries are related. Vinnie Hinostroza suited up for the Predators in place of Evangelista and joined Ryan O’Reilly and Filip Forsberg on the second line.

The 22-year-old Evangelista has dressed in 31 games this season, tallying five goals and ten assists while averaging just shy of 13 minutes of ice time per game. The Toronto, Ontario native garnered some Calder Trophy consideration last season for the top rookie after a solid campaign that saw him post 16 goals and 23 assists in 80 games.

In other evening notes:

  • Pittsburgh Penguins forward Rickard Rakell will replace Vegas Golden Knights forward William Karlsson on Team Sweden at the upcoming 4 Nations Face-Off (as per Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff). Rakell is having a nice bounce-back season, registering 23 goals and 22 assists in 53 games, and he will have an opportunity to add to a solid international career that has seen him capture gold medals in the 2012 World Juniors as well as the 2018 IIHF World Championship. Karlsson, on the other hand, has been sidelined for the last six games due to a lower-body injury and will unfortunately miss out on the opportunity to represent his home country.
  • The Minnesota Wild will be without the services of Ryan Hartman for the next few weeks but will likely be getting Jonas Brodin and Marcus Johansson back tomorrow night (as per Sarah McLellan of the Minneapolis Star Tribune). Brodin hasn’t played since January 7th, missing 12 consecutive games with a lower-body injury. The timing of the injury was unfortunate as the 31-year-old was heating up at the time with seven points in his past seven games. Johansson’s return would come after an eight-game absence, and he could slide into the lineup in place of Hartman. Johansson has struggled offensively this season, posting just five goals and 11 assists in 44 games.

Ryan Hartman Suspended Ten Games By NHL Department Of Player Safety

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The NHL’s Department of Player Safety has suspended Minnesota Wild forward Ryan Hartman for ten games for roughing Ottawa Senators forward Tim Stützle. Hartman was a repeat offender and as a result of his suspension will forfeit $487,804.88 in salary. The money from the fine will go to the Players’ Emergency Assistance Fund.

The incident occurred in a 6-0 blowout on Saturday night that saw Ottawa dominate Minnesota. Near the end of the second period of the game, Hartman took a faceoff against Stützle and immediately jumped on Stützle after the puck hit the ice and drove him straight down, face-first into the ice. Stützle suffered a facial injury on the play and was bleeding from a cut above his eye when he left the ice. Hartman was given a match penalty on the play for attempting to injure Stützle, which put the play under automatic review. He was offered an in-person hearing earlier today.

The suspension is the fifth of Hartman’s career, which certainly played into the length of the suspension. He has also been fined an additional seven times. The DOPS described Hartman’s actions on the play as intentional, inherently dangerous and unacceptable. Hartman and Stützle had an incident earlier in the game when Stützle was given a two-minute penalty for slashing Hartman, which may or may not have played into Hartman’s actions.

Hartman’s last suspension occurred last April against the Vegas Golden Knights when he threw his stick on the ice from the bench toward an official after an overtime loss against the Vegas Golden Knights. Overall, Hartman has received four suspensions in less than two years.

Hartman now will have 48 hours to decide if he wants to appeal the suspension. His first appeal would be to NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman. The second appeal would be to an independent arbitrator.

Maple Leafs Recall Dakota Mermis, Assign Fraser Minten To AHL

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The Toronto Maple Leafs have announced a pair of moves recalling defenseman Dakota Mermis from the Toronto Marlies of the AHL while also sending forward Fraser Minten back to the Marlies. The move likely comes as a response to Oliver Ekman-Larsson’s lower-body injury that he suffered at some point in Saturday night’s game against Edmonton. Ekman-Larsson has been listed as day-to-day and the Maple Leafs are expected to provide an update on him tomorrow.

Mermis was plucked off waivers from Utah last month after he was waived by Toronto back in December and claimed by Utah. The 31-year-old has dressed in just one NHL game this season (with Utah) and hasn’t seen much AHL action either, suiting up for just a dozen AHL games and posting three assists with the Marlies.

For the 20-year-old Minten, his demotion likely means an opportunity to play bigger minutes which should aid in his development. The Maple Leafs’ second-round pick in 2022 (38th overall) has played 15 NHL games this season, tallying two goals and two assists while averaging just over 12 minutes a night of ice time. In the AHL, Minten has had an opportunity to play more of an offensive role and his numbers reflect that as he has five goals and five assists in 16 games with the Marlies.

Given Toronto’s roster moves today it seems likely that defenseman Philippe Myers could be inserted into the lineup for tomorrow night’s game against the Calgary Flames. Myers last played on Wednesday night against the Minnesota Wild.

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