Injury Notes: Bennett, Jarry, Golden Knights, Backstrom, Klingberg
Unfortunately, there’s a lot of minor injury news to report from tonight’s games. We start in Florida, where head coach Paul Maurice said pregame that Sam Bennett wouldn’t be in the lineup when they take on the Penguins tonight.
Bennett took an awkward fall in yesterday night’s loss to the Rangers, immediately leaving the game and staying in the room through the first intermission. It didn’t hold him out of the rest of the game, however, as he would later return. While he won’t suit up tonight, it does seem to be a short-term absence for Bennett, who’s been in and out of the lineup over the past month with some minor injury concerns. Eetu Luostarinen, who’s impressed with 10 goals and 22 points in 49 games this year, slides into the top six with Bennett out.
- After leaving injured reserve a few days ago, Pittsburgh Penguins goalie Tristan Jarry is back out of the lineup with an injury. His absence leaves both Pittsburgh and Florida without backup goalies on the bench for tonight’s game, as Spencer Knight was unexpectedly still unable to play and was a late absence from the Florida lineup. It’s hopefully a short-term absence for Jarry, who’s been spectacular with a .921 save percentage in 27 appearances for the Penguins this year.
- There’s some positive news on Vegas Golden Knights captain Mark Stone, says ESPN’s Emily Kaplan. While he’ll be out through the All-Star break as expected, his back issue is different than the one that plagued him throughout last season, greatly reducing the likelihood of his long-term career being affected. Kaplan also says defenseman Shea Theodore, who’s been out since early December with an undisclosed injury, is an option for Friday’s game against the Rangers.
- Days after returning from significant hip surgery recovery, Nicklas Backstrom is back out of the Washington Capitals lineup with a non-COVID illness and is day-to-day. The 35-year-old has three assists in seven games since returning to the lineup.
- The Anaheim Ducks will also be down a player due to illness: defenseman John Klingberg. 25-year-old call-up Colton White moves into Anaheim’s top-four in Klingberg’s absence, playing on his off-side. Klingberg has just 15 points in 40 games this season, a career-low as he’s destined for free agency once again this offseason.
All-Star Notes: Women’s Hockey, New Events, Luongo
The NHL will once again use its All-Star weekend to showcase some of the best and brightest in women’s hockey. This year will see five international women’s hockey stars join the Skills Competition: United States forwards Alex Carpenter and Hilary Knight and Canadian forwards Sarah Nurse, Rebecca Johnston, and Emily Clark.
A trend began by Kendall Coyne Schofield‘s participation in the Fastest Skater competition at the 2019 All-Star game, women’s hockey participation in men’s professional All-Star events has steadily increased since, mainly at the NHL and ECHL levels. The Athletic’s Hailey Salvian doesn’t believe this is confirmation that the five players will actually participate in the skills events, however, they will be involved somehow in the weekend’s events.
- Florida Panthers hometown fans at the All-Star game will see a familiar face: Hall-of-Fame netminder and Panthers legend Roberto Luongo. The only retired number in Panthers history, Luongo will suit up as the league’s “celebrity netminder” in the Breakaway Challenge. At last year’s All-Star Game in Las Vegas, the first Breakaway Challenge since 2016, women’s hockey legend Manon Rheaume and actor Wyatt Russell made appearances in the event.
- Lastly, the 2023 South Florida edition of the weekend will see three new events for the skills portion: the Enterprise NHL Splash Shot, Chipotle NHL Pitch ‘n Puck, and Discover NHL Tendy Tandem. The Splash Shot competition is a dunk-tank style target-based event with a twist: it takes place on the beach in Fort Lauderdale. The Pitch ‘n Puck event is a hockey/golf combination, where players will compete using both hockey and golf shots to sink the puck (or ball) into a par-four hole. The Tendy Tandem event is all-goalie, with a tandem from each division competing as shooters and as netminders.
Vegas Golden Knights Activate Brett Howden
The Vegas Golden Knights have activated forward Brett Howden from injured reserve, the team announced Tuesday evening.
The 24-year-old Howden is set to return to the lineup tonight against the New Jersey Devils, centering a line with Jonas Rondbjerg and Phil Kessel. He’s missed the last two months and 27 games with a lower-body injury.
Before missing the latter half of the season, Howden had just a goal and two assists in 21 games. It’s a step back for the youngster, who seized a more significant role last season when injuries struck the Golden Knights. In 2021-22, he matched a career-high nine goals and added 11 assists for 20 points in 47 games.
Howden is with his third NHL organization after the Tampa Bay Lightning selected him 27th overall in 2016. However, he never played a game for the Lightning, as he was shipped to the New York Rangers in the blockbuster Ryan McDonagh and J.T. Miller trade in 2018.
He is set to be a restricted free agent this offseason after his one-year, $1.5MM contract expires, but with continued poor production post-injury, he may not see a qualifying offer from Vegas.
Winnipeg Jets Activate Logan Stanley
The Winnipeg Jets have activated defenseman Logan Stanley from injured reserve today, according to a team tweet. In a corresponding transaction, the Jets reassigned youngster Ville Heinola to the Manitoba Moose of the AHL.
Associate coach Scott Arniel told reporters last weekend that Stanley could return on Tuesday, and it turns out he was correct. The roster move suggests Stanley will be ready to go when Winnipeg takes on the Nashville Predators in an important divisional matchup tonight.
A pair of lower-body injuries have limited Stanley to seven NHL games this season, recording one assist in just 13:34 of ice time per game. He’s been on injured reserve with a lower-body injury since December 11 and missed 18 games earlier in the season with a fractured foot.
He’ll have to fight for minutes with another 24-year-old left-shot defenseman: Dylan Samberg. Samberg has impressed defensively in his first steady NHL season, is averaging over 15 minutes per game, and has eight points in 37 games.
Heinola, Winnipeg’s 2019 first-round pick, continues to scratch and claw for NHL time in Winnipeg. He’s played in just 10 out of Winnipeg’s 48 games and has been given little opportunity, playing 13:16 per game and recording one assist. The 21-year-old returns to Manitoba, where he has 11 points and a staggering +17 rating in just 14 games.
Detroit Red Wings Activate, Reassign Matt Luff
In November, Juraj Slafkovsky was given a two-game suspension for boarding. Unfortunately, the player he hit, Matt Luff of the Detroit Red Wings, was out much longer.
Luff needed wrist surgery and hasn’t played since. Today, he was activated by the Red Wings from injured reserve and loaned to the AHL. Despite playing seven games in the NHL, he remains waiver-exempt for the time being.
Through seven games this season, the depth forward was averaging just over eight minutes a game and had scored one goal. In the AHL, where he has always been excellent, he had seven points in five contests.
The Grand Rapids Griffins could certainly use his help. They sit 15-19-4 on the year and have only scored 103 goals in 38 games.
Kris Letang Activated From Injured Reserve
The Pittsburgh Penguins have their defensive leader back, activating Kris Letang from injured reserve. The veteran hasn’t played since December as he dealt with an injury and the death of his father.
To make room, the team has moved Jan Rutta to long-term injured reserve and Kasperi Kapanen to regular injured reserve. Both moves are retroactive, meaning they can be activated whenever ready to return.
Letang, 35, has been in and out of the lineup all season, playing just 29 games to this point. Incredibly, his 16 points during those games still lead all Penguins defenders, showing just how important he is to the group. While his average ice time is slightly down, Letang still sees more than 24 minutes a night playing in all situations.
The Penguins are welcoming in Florida this evening, as they try to get things rolling in the right direction. The 23-15-8 record they have so far is only good enough for fifth in the Metropolitan Division, though they do have some games in hand on Washington, who are immediately ahead of them.
Without Letang, the race for the playoffs would be incredibly difficult. Even at his age, he completely changes the look of the Pittsburgh defense corps and allows the others to fit into a more comfortable spot in the lineup. While there may be some rust, his return is a welcome one for Penguins fans.
Arizona Coyotes Extend Juuso Valimaki
The Arizona Coyotes have signed Juuso Valimaki to a one-year contract extension, avoiding restricted free agency this summer. Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports that the deal will be worth $1MM. Coyotes general manager Bill Armstrong released a statement:
We are very pleased to sign Juuso to a one-year extension. He is a big, strong, two-way defenseman who has been a great addition to our defensive corps. We look forward to having him on our roster next season.
Valimaki, 24, was claimed off waivers from the Calgary Flames in October and has found a home in Arizona. Playing a depth role, he has 12 points in 43 games and looks to have put his injury troubles behind him. This extension is a nice piece of work by Armstrong and the Coyotes front office, given that Valimaki would have been due a qualifying offer substantially higher in the offseason, or else hit the open market as an unrestricted free agent.
Signed to a two-year deal by Calgary in 2021, he currently carries a $1.55MM cap hit. The qualifying offer would have been $1.86MM, and Valimaki has arbitration rights. With a $1MM deal in place, he’ll not only come in below that but remain under team control and on schedule to become an RFA in the summer of 2024 once again.
The 16th overall pick of 2017, Valimaki suffered a torn ACL in 2019 that cost him an entire season of development. The young defenseman has struggled to live up to the early hype since, and now looks more like he’ll settle into a bottom-pairing or seventh-defenseman role in the NHL. While that is still relatively valuable, the $1MM contract points to the lack of real upside that is present in his game today.
Valimaki becomes the fifth defenseman in Arizona signed to a one-way deal for 2023-24, joining Jakob Chychrun, Patrik Nemeth, Josh Brown, and Dysin Mayo (currently in the AHL). The team is likely going fill its ranks with youngsters in the years to come, as they start to turn from rebuilding to more competitive status. It remains to be seen whether Valimaki can continue to hold down a regular role once that transition takes place, but his age certainly fits into the timeline.
Toronto Maple Leafs Recall Joey Anderson
On December 10, Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe said he would give Joey Anderson some run with the NHL club, to see if he could handle regular duty on the fourth line. A few games later he found himself out of the lineup and back in the minor leagues.
Now, the 24-year-old has been recalled and appears set to return to Toronto’s lineup. He practiced on the fourth line, and Lance Hornby of the Toronto Sun reports that Zach Aston-Reese will come out to keep a healthy competition for minutes between the team’s depth forwards.
Anderson has been one of the Toronto Marlies’ best players again this year, scoring 14 goals and 27 points in 30 games. But that kind of production has never followed him to the NHL, where he has just 14 points in 65 career games.
As Toronto approaches the trade deadline, many are expecting them to upgrade the second-line left wing spot beside John Tavares, which has been something of a rotating cast for the last few seasons. Calle Jarnkrok is currently there, but has never really produced at a top-six level. If the team does make an addition, Jarnkork will likely drop down and push one of those depth forwards out of the lineup.
The competition is only going to get tougher from here, meaning if Anderson has any hope of establishing himself in the NHL this season, he’ll need to make an impact right away.
Seattle Kraken Recall John Hayden From AHL
Jan 24: Up and down he goes. Hayden has been recalled once again.
Jan 22: The Seattle Kraken have announced that forward John Hayden has been re-assigned to the team’s AHL affiliate, the Coachella Valley Firebirds. The re-assignment opens a spot on the Kraken’s 23-man roster in order for GM Ron Francis to make any additional desired moves.
Hayden, 27, was originally recalled from Coachella Valley on January 16th. After four straight seasons as an NHL-only player who offered limited, low-scoring depth play to his team, Hayden got a chance to be a top AHL player when he signed a two-way deal with the Kraken over the summer.
He’s given the Kraken and Firebirds a great return on their investment, having scored 25 points in 34 AHL games. That performance earned Hayden his first NHL game of the season, and he skated in just over eight minutes in the Kraken’s shootout loss to the Colorado Avalanche last night.
He now heads back to Coachella Valley where he’s expected to resume his role as a top-six forward for the team. The Firebirds have been one of the best teams in the AHL so far this season, and the return of Hayden to their squad should only bolster head coach Dan Bylsma as he attempts to fend off the Calgary Wranglers’ attempts to pass them for first place in the AHL’s Pacific Division.
Dallas Stars Reassign Fredrik Olofsson
After a relatively successful stint with the NHL club, Fredrik Olofsson is headed back to the minor leagues. The Dallas Stars have loaned him back to Texas as they try to accrue some cap space for the trade deadline.
Olofsson, 26, recorded four points in 13 games for the Stars while averaging fewer than ten minutes per night. With Roope Hintz healthy and back in the lineup, Olofsson was left in the press box last night against the Buffalo Sabres.
If that’s his fate, the team might as well take advantage of his waiver-exempt status to send him to the minor leagues. Olofsson can continue to stay fresh with game action, and the Stars can save a little bit more for a mid-season addition.
The club isn’t playing on the road until February 17, meaning they can afford to have a short roster for the time being.