Atlantic Injury Updates: Bruins, Bennett, Sanderson
After a report yesterday signaling that Boston Bruins star center David Krejci would be shut down for the remainder of the regular season, head coach Jim Montgomery announces that he will be ready for Game 1 of the NHL playoffs. This is good news for the Bruins, as Krejci is one of their best playoff performers in franchise history.
Montgomery also made time for several other injury updates, noting that Vezina candidate Linus Ullmark would not make the trip with the team as they head to Montreal for their final game of the season. Nothing is imminent on that front, as Ullmark snagged the win against the Washington Capitals last night, but Montgomery notes that the team is trying to be precautionary with their goalie.
For their depth players, primarily about injured defenseman Derek Forbort and forward Nick Foligno, the Bruins head coach says they are both, “checking boxes”. It’s unclear whether either will be ready for the Bruins’ first-round playoff matchup. With the depth Boston added to their blue line at the trade deadline, it’s also unclear whether Forbort would play for the Bruins in the playoffs regardless. Foligno would be a much more lethal addition, rebounding from a disastrous 2021-22 season, scoring 10 goals and 16 assists for the Bruins this year.
For this year’s playoffs, the Bruins will have a home-ice advantage throughout the entirety. Although the Eastern Conference wild-card race has not been entirely settled yet, they will play the Florida Panthers, New York Islanders, or the Pittsburgh Penguins for their opening-round matchup.
Other injury updates from the Atlantic Division:
- Jameson Olive, the Senior Digital Content Manager for the Panthers, relays on a message from head coach Paul Maurice, announcing that forward Sam Bennett will not play in Florida’s final regular season game. Although the Panthers clinched a spot in the playoffs last night, they don’t know if they will be playing the Bruins or the winner of the Metropolitan division. The team has played well in Bennett’s absence, as the forward has not played since their March 20th win against the Detroit Red Wings. Bennett has had a similar year to his last, scoring 16 goals and 24 assists for the Panthers this season.
- Spending last summer rehabbing from an injury, Ottawa Senators defenseman Jake Sanderson is looking to get a proper summer of training under his belt. In doing so, Bruce Garrioch of TSN is reporting that Sanderson has declined to play for Team USA in the upcoming World Championship. In 76 games for the Senators during his rookie season, the young defenseman has scored four goals and 27 assists. If they weren’t quite ready for it this season, the Senators are fully prepared to make a run to the playoffs next year. After the addition of Jakob Chychrun at this year’s trade deadline, they will have a lethal blue line if Sanderson can continue progressing this summer.
Nashville Predators Reassign Egor Afanasyev To AHL
The Nashville Predators have reassigned forward Egor Afanasyev to the AHL’s Milwaukee Admirals, according to an announcement made by the team Wednesday.
Afanasyev, 22, scored his first career NHL goal in Monday’s win versus the Calgary Flames. He made his NHL debut on March 11 versus the Los Angeles Kings and went on to appear in 17 total games, averaging 10:51 of ice time with 23 hits and 13 blocked shots.
The 6-foot-4, 211-pound forward has also scored a career-high 13 goals for Milwaukee, adding 13 assists for 26 points in 55 contests at the AHL level. Nashville selected Afanasyev with the 45th overall pick in the 2019 NHL Draft.
He may not be ready yet for full-time NHL action, but Afanasyev remains a talented shooter with a power-forward type game that makes him one of the more tantalizing prospects in the Nashville system. With his first lengthy NHL recall under his belt, he’ll return to Milwaukee a more seasoned professional, especially after competing in high-stakes games with the Predators down the stretch.
Ryan Hartman Suspended One Game
2:13 pm: Hartman has been suspended for one game as a result of the play, NHL Player Safety announced Wednesday afternoon.
9:07 am: The NHL’s Department of Player Safety announced that Minnesota Wild forward Ryan Hartman will face a hearing today for interference against Winnipeg Jets forward Nikolaj Ehlers during last night’s game.
The incident occurred with 8:30 left in a contentious game between the Central Division rivals. Hartman received two minor penalties on the hit, one for interference on Ehlers and one for roughing after the play. He laid an open-ice check on Ehlers after playing the puck, with Ehlers leaving the ice surface holding the back of his head. He did not return to the game.
This isn’t Hartman’s first time in hot water with the Department of Player Safety. The 28-year-old forward has been suspended once before, for a high hit in 2018 when he was playing for the Nashville Predators.
The Wild have nothing left to play for this season with one game remaining. A regulation loss last night and a Colorado overtime loss locked them into third place in the Central.
Still, a potential Hartman absence from the lineup harms the Wild at their most vulnerable position. With Joel Eriksson Ek already sidelined week-to-week and not expected to be ready for the beginning of the playoffs, the team could be involuntarily without their top two centers for their final game of the season against Nashville on Thursday.
Michael Benning Signs With Florida Panthers
2:11 pm: CapFriendly clarifies that the contract does in fact begin this season, meaning Benning will burn the first year of his entry-level contract and become an RFA in 2025. The contract carries a cap hit of $916,700.
1:06 pm: Florida Panthers defense prospect Michael Benning has ended his college career at Denver University and signed his entry-level contract with the team, reports Florida Hockey Now’s George Richards.
Benning is locked into a three-year contract starting next season, according to the Panthers, meaning he won’t be able to play in this year’s playoffs. He’ll become a restricted free agent in 2026. The 21-year-old was named the most outstanding player of the 2022 NCAA Men’s Frozen Four, where Denver won the national championship.
Panthers general manager Bill Zito offered a statement on Benning’s signing:
Mike is a gifted two-way defenseman who has had an outstanding collegiate career. We are thrilled for him to take the next step in his career with the Panthers and look forward to his continued development within our organization.
A 2020 fourth-round pick, Benning has excelled during his sophomore and junior seasons at Denver, seeing a massive improvement in his play on both sides of the puck. His offensive acumen is the most tantalizing part of his game, though, a theme sure to fit in with Florida’s scoring-heavy system.
If there’s a knock to Benning’s game, it’s a question of how his smaller stature will transfer to the NHL, especially as a defenseman. He stands 5-foot-9 and may struggle with the strength of NHL opponents.
Arizona Coyotes Recall Jan Jeník
The Arizona Coyotes have recalled forward Jan Jeník from the AHL’s Tucson Roadrunners, according to a team tweet Wednesday.
Arizona needed an extra body from the minors after Laurent Dauphin sustained an upper-body injury in Monday night’s game against the Seattle Kraken. Jeník, 22, will suit up for Arizona’s final game of the season, a home matchup Thursday against the Vancouver Canucks.
The team’s third-round pick in 2018 has battled through injuries at times in his development, but Jeník has still managed to show offensive promise when healthy for extended periods of time. This season hasn’t been smooth for him, though, with injuries limiting him to 30 games with Tucson, where he’s recorded seven goals and 23 points.
Jeník made one NHL appearance earlier this season, playing just four minutes in a December 17 game against the Buffalo Sabres. The Czech prospect has four goals and an assist in 16 career games with the Coyotes thus far.
A skilled skater who makes intelligent plays, Jeník still has top-six upside as a prospect if he can manage to round out his game in Tucson next season. He may end up limited to a fourth-line role against Vancouver, though, replacing Dauphin’s spot on the roster.
Colorado Avalanche Re-Sign Callahan Burke
The Colorado Avalanche have re-signed depth forward Callahan Burke, the team announced Wednesday afternoon. The Denver Post’s Bennett Durando says it’s a one-year extension for Burke, who will remain in Colorado through 2024.
Burke, 26, will stick around as an impactful top-nine forward in the minors for the Colorado Eagles. Brought into the organization on an AHL contract by the Eagles out of the University of Notre Dame, Burke made his NHL debut earlier this season for an injury-ravaged Avalanche team. After playing in two games in December 2022, he’s still looking for his first NHL point.
A two-time Big Ten champion with Notre Dame in 2018 and 2019, it’s been a long road to NHL relevancy for Burke. Yet he’s managed to work his way into a rather important spot for the Eagles, where he sits third in scoring with 37 points (16 goals, 21 assists) in 68 games.
Burke was a pending restricted free agent with arbitration rights before agreeing to the extension. He’ll be an unrestricted free agent in the summer of 2024.
Minnesota Wild To Recall Sammy Walker, Nick Swaney
The Minnesota Wild have recalled forwards Sammy Walker and Nick Swaney from AHL Iowa ahead of their final game of the regular season against the Nashville Predators tomorrow, The Athletic’s Michael Russo reports.
Minnesota could square off against Nashville without the services of three forwards who dressed for last night’s game against Winnipeg: Marcus Johansson, Ryan Hartman, and Sam Steel. Johansson’s status for Thursday is questionable after sustaining an upper-body injury on a cross-check from Jets defenseman Neal Pionk, while Steel left the game in the second period with an undisclosed illness. Meanwhile, Hartman is facing a suspension today for a hit on Jets forward Nikolaj Ehlers.
Hence the recalls, which could yield an NHL debut for Swaney, 25, in the team’s last game of the 2022-23 regular season. Born in Lakeville, Minn., Swaney was a 2017 seventh-round pick of the Wild and won back-to-back NCAA championships with the University of Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs in 2018 and 2019. In just over two seasons of play in Iowa since, Swaney’s recorded 33 goals, 35 assists, and 68 points in 114 games.
This is a familiar refrain for Walker, though, who’s now earned the fourth recall of his rookie season. The 23-year-old free agent signing out of the University of Minnesota has a goal in eight appearances with the NHL Wild this year while also leading the AHL Wild in goals with 26.
Neal Pionk Avoids Suspension, Earns Fine For Cross-Checking
Winnipeg Jets defenseman Neal Pionk has been fined $5,000 for cross-checking Minnesota Wild forward Marcus Johansson during a heated game between the two teams last night, the NHL Department of Player Safety said Wednesday morning. This is the maximum allowable fine under the Collective Bargaining Agreement.
The incident occurred late in the third period of the game, which the Jets won 3-1. Pionk received a major penalty for cross-checking Johansson, but the league felt that the infraction deserved further punishment.
Johansson was in obvious discomfort after the play, which caused him to fall to the ice. His injury status is currently unknown.
The game between the Jets and the Wild was a physical affair, with other incidents drawing the attention of the league. Wild forward Ryan Hartman is facing a potential suspension for a hit on Jets forward Nikolaj Ehlers, which occurred earlier in the game. The league is expected to make a ruling on Hartman’s status later today.
The decision to hold a hearing for one incident but not the other is sure to draw ire from some. Both incidents had some perceived level of intent, depending on who you ask, and both resulted in potential injuries to the opposing players.
Calgary Flames Recall Dustin Wolf
The Calgary Flames are giving their fans something to look forward to after a disappointing 2022-23 campaign. Top goalie prospect Dustin Wolf has been recalled from the AHL’s Calgary Wranglers, per the team, and will likely make his first NHL start tonight against the San Jose Sharks.
After being eliminated from playoff contention earlier this week, the Flames will let Wolf show what he can do in the best league in the world. He has very little left to prove in the minors, stonewalling the AHL with a 41-9-2 record, seven shutouts, and a .932 save percentage this season in 53 games.
A Calder Cup win is the next empty checkbox for Wolf, who has very quickly cemented himself among the top young netminders in the world after falling to the seventh round of the 2019 NHL Entry Draft.
With both Jacob Markstrom and Daniel Vladar signed through 2025, however, Wolf may have to wait a while to become a full-time NHLer despite being near-ready. The 21-year-old from Gilroy, California, could force the Flames to trade Vladar this offseason, who had a .892 save percentage in 27 games in 2022-23.
Minor Moves: Bussi, Ginning, Samuelsson
The Boston Bruins recalled goaltender Brandon Bussi from the minors on an emergency basis, according to a team release Wednesday morning. Bussi’s recall comes in response to Linus Ullmark leaving yesterday’s game with an undisclosed injury, which head coach Jim Montgomery later told reporters was a precautionary move.
With Ullmark banged up earlier in the week as well, Bussi saw his first NHL recall on April 9 after signing an entry-level contract with Boston last year. It’s Bussi’s third transaction between Boston and AHL Providence in the past four days, as he was returned to the minors after serving as backup for Sunday’s game against the Flyers. The 24-year-old has played 31 games with Providence this season, posting a 21-5-4 record, a 2.38 goals-against average, and a .925 save percentage. As Boston Hockey Now’s Joe Haggerty noted, Bussi could be in line for his first NHL start down the stretch with Boston’s record-setting regular season drawing to a close.
Also from around the NHL beat this morning:
- Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Adam Ginning has been sent back to the AHL, according to The Athletic’s Charlie O’Connor. The 23-year-old made his NHL debut yesterday in the team’s overtime win against Columbus, recording two hits, two blocked shots, and a minor penalty in 16:40 of ice time. Drafted 50th overall in 2018, Ginning has been among the Lehigh Valley Phantoms’ best defensive players this season and will play a pivotal role on the team during the Calder Cup Playoffs.
- Former Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Philip Samuelsson is on the move overseas, joining the DEL’s Straubing Tigers for the 2023-24 season, per the league. Samuelsson, a 2009 second-round pick, recorded 31 points in 47 games last year for the DEL’s Fischtown Penguins and last played in North America in 2018-19. He recorded only 13 games of NHL action during his time with the Penguins and Arizona Coyotes, failing to record a point.