Kasperi Kapanen Out Week-To-Week
The nightmare season for Kasperi Kapanen continues. The Pittsburgh Penguins have announced that Kapanen will be out on a week-to-week basis with a lower-body injury.
It’s brutal timing for the 26-year-old, as Kapanen had just started to find a consistent level of play. Through healthy scratches, benchings, and demotions, he has 17 points in 35 games so far. While only one of those points had come in his last seven appearances, there were some encouraging signs that he could fit into a bottom-six role for the rest of the season.
Now, with a weeks-long injury, he’s back to square one. The Penguins gave Kapanen a two-year, $6.4MM contract in the offseason when many wondered whether he would even get a qualifying offer. The deal now looks like one of the worst on the team, with Pittsburgh desperate for cap space to make a deadline addition.
An injury of this length could be a worst-case scenario. It might not be long enough to justify long-term injured reserve (and even if it is, they’ll have to keep room open for his activation), but keeps him off the active roster as the deadline approaches.
For other injury updates, the head coach Mike Sullivan called Jeff Petry and Ryan Poehling game-time decisions, while Kris Letang, Josh Archibald, and Jan Rutta are not yet ready to return.
Daniil Tarasov Reassigned To Minor Leagues
The Columbus Blue Jackets have returned Daniil Tarasov to the minor leagues, less than a week after he was activated from injured reserve. The young netminder played once during that time, stopping 26 of 28 shots in a loss to the Nashville Predators on Tuesday
Through 13 appearances this season, Tarasov continues to show that he has the potential to be a full-time NHL option for the Blue Jackets in the near future. The 23-year-old now has a .914 save percentage in his 17-game career, and has arguably outperformed both Joonas Korpisalo and Elvis Merzlikins this season, even if most of his appearances still result in losses (most of the Blue Jackets’ games do).
With Korpisalo on an expiring deal and Tarasov signed to a new three-year contract last summer, his time is coming. The question now will be whether Merzlikins can bounce back from his dreadful 2022-23 season or if there will be a goaltending controversy in Columbus next year.
For now, it doesn’t really matter who plays for the team. Columbus is destined for the bottom of the standings, and letting Tarasov play in the minor leagues may be a better use of his talent. He won’t be waiver-exempt next year, meaning this is the last chance they have to move him freely between leagues.
Latest On Bo Horvat
The Vancouver Canucks have an anchor around their necks. The team has lost eight of ten, appear to be on the brink of a coaching change, and seems to be ready to move on from captain Bo Horvat. President Jim Rutherford recently explained that the team’s best offer didn’t line up with Horvat’s performance this season, suggesting an extension wasn’t going to be possible.
One other notable thing about Rutherford is that he often likes to make his big midseason moves well ahead of the trade deadline. He’s often been the first to act in an arms race, and now the spotlight is on him as a seller. On the latest 32 Thoughts podcast, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet discussed which teams he has heard most connected to Horvat:
I think Seattle’s in it. I think Minnesota’s been around it, but can only do him as a rental. I think Boston’s been around it, but it is not easy for them to do.
The Carolina Hurricanes have also been linked to the Horvat sweepstakes, especially since Max Pacioretty‘s injury last night. Friedman noted several times that the Hurricanes “don’t do rentals,” suggesting that a deal like that would need to come with an extension.
That is perhaps the most interesting part of the Horvat situation. Sometimes, players on expiring contracts are looking forward to testing the full open market. It doesn’t matter where they are or where they end up, the process of free agency is something they want to experience. From the outside, that doesn’t seem to be the case with Horvat’s negotiations in Vancouver. From all reports, he has been working in good faith with the desire to stay long-term with the Canucks – the two sides just can’t find a common ground.
If he is dealt, especially if it is soon, an acquiring team would have a little while to convince him to stay. Friedman reports that as of the podcast taping (Thursday night), no teams have been given permission to talk with Horvat’s representatives on an extension.
There are probably a dozen teams in the league that could use the 27-year-old for a serious playoff run, especially as he works his way through a career year. Already to 30 goals, his assists have also recently started to rack up, giving Horvat 49 points in 44 games. Positional versatility, goal scoring, leadership – all things that teams value greatly this time of year (anytime, really). A Horvat move could legitimately change the makeup of a team’s top-six for years to come, or offer a difference-making third-line pivot for a Stanley Cup run.
Felix Sandstrom Recalled From Conditioning Loan
Now that his two-week maximum is over, Felix Sandstrom‘s conditioning loan has come to an end. The Philadelphia Flyers goaltender has been recalled, with Samuel Ersson reassigned back to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms in his place.
It’s kind of an odd situation, given how well Ersson has played. The 23-year-old netminder has a .918 save percentage in seven appearances and is 5-0 on the year. But the Flyers, despite their recent play, are still seventh in the Metropolitan Division. The front office knows that securing a higher draft position is important, if they aren’t going to compete for the playoffs.
So up comes Sandstrom, and down goes Ersson. The former has posted an .888 in nine appearances, losing all but one of them this year. There’s little doubt that right now, Ersson is playing better. There’s also a decent chance that Sandstrom would clear waivers if assigned, given his performance so far this year. But it isn’t worth the risk at this point, given where the Flyers sit.
Instead, they’ll go back to Carter Hart handling the lion’s share of the work. His play, like the rest of Philadelphia, has been inconsistent this year. One night he will be dragging the team to a victory, while the next he’s getting pulled early on. A .907 save percentage has resulted in 20 losses across his 33 appearances so far.
Ersson, who missed almost all of 2021-22 with injury, needs to play as much as possible. The fifth-round pick appeared in just five games last season but has shown enough this year for the Flyers to really value his future. He’ll get a lot more playing time in Lehigh Valley than he would as Hart’s backup down the stretch.
Injury Updates: Carlo, Staal, Crouse, Pacioretty
The Boston Bruins have announced that defenseman Brandon Carlo has suffered a lower-body injury, and is unlikely to return to tonight’s game against the New York Rangers. Carlo, a 26-year-old stay-at-home defenseman, is no stranger to injury issues, although this one is thankfully of the lower-body variety. While no injury is ever good news for a player, Carlo has battled concussions during his tenure as a Bruin, meaning the fact that this injury isn’t adding to that history is worth being thankful for.
Carlo blocked a hard shot from New York Rangers forward Mika Zibanejad in the second period of tonight’s game, and it’s likely that this injury has something to do with that block. The Bruins will hope that Carlo leaving tonight’s game proves to be an ultimately unnecessary precaution, as Carlo has been an important part of the team’s defensive formula and they’re likely to want him back on the ice as soon as he’s able.
Some other injury updates from across the NHL:
- Another Florida Panther has left tonight’s game against the Montreal Canadiens: Eric Staal. After starting netminder Sergei Bobrovsky left early in the game, the team announced that Staal had suffered an upper-body injury and would not return for the rest of the match. The injury seemed to come after Staal took a hit from Canadiens defenseman Mike Matheson.
- The Arizona Coyotes have announced that forward Lawson Crouse will miss tonight’s game with an upper-body injury. The 25-year-old 2015 first-round pick is in the middle of what is shaping up to be the best season of his career. He’s already scored 16 goals in just 43 games of action, and the team has to be hoping that he can return to action as soon as possible.
- There was a terrible scene in the dying seconds of tonight’s Carolina Hurricanes game. Forward Max Pacioretty, who just recently returned to the ice after surgery to repair a torn Achilles, needed to be helped off the ice after suffering a non-contact lower-body injury. The News and Observer’s Luke DeCock noted that the leg Pacioretty injured tonight was the same as where he had his Achilles injury, which is obviously not a good sign for Pacioretty and the Hurricanes whatsoever. But until the Hurricanes get a closer look at Pacioretty’s status, all anyone can do is hope this ends up simply being a minor scare, and not a potential setback in the recovery from his offseason surgery.
Minor Transactions: 01/19/23
It’s a busy night on the NHL schedule, with 13 games set to be played. Highlights include the league-leading Boston Bruins taking on Eastern Conference rivals, the New York Rangers, the Edmonton Oilers facing the Tampa Bay Lightning, and the Toronto Maple Leafs battling the Winnipeg Jets. As fans across the world enjoy all this NHL action, teams in minor and overseas leagues are making tweaks to their rosters. We’ll keep track of those moves here.
- Former Vancouver Canucks and Florida Panthers forward Juho Lammikko has signed a two-year extension to remain with his current club, Switzerland’s ZSC Lions. Lammikko will remain in Zurich after signing there from Vancouver in the summer. He’s been a quality contributor at Switzerland’s highest level, leading the Lions in goals with 15 in 24 games.
- The Montreal Canadiens organization has swapped the levels of two of its minor league netminders. Big Joe Vrbetic, a seventh-round pick at the 2021 draft, is headed to the ECHL, while Philippe Desrosiers is headed to the team’s AHL affiliate, the Laval Rocket. Vrbetic has struggled thusfar in his professional debut, with a .872 save percentage in 11 games.
- On January 11th, we covered how former ECHL star Darik Angeli had left his club, the EIHL’s Belfast Giants. We now know where Angeli is headed. He’s signed a contract with Vienna Capitals, a team in the ICEHL, a league comprising of teams in Austria, Italy, Hungary, and Slovenia. He heads to the Austrian capital after a moderately successful stint with Belfast, where he scored 12 points in 24 games.
- The Toledo Blade’s Mark Monroe has reported that ECHL defenseman Cole Fraser has left his current club, the Toledo Walleye, to sign with the EIHL’s Dundee Stars. The 23-year-old blueliner was a fifth-round pick of the Detroit Red Wings in 2017, and has played in the ECHL for the bulk of his professional career.
- The ECHL’s South Carolina Stingrays acquired forward Jackson Leppard from the Allen Americans in exchange for forward Gavin Gould. It’s a change of scenery deal for each player, as Leppard has struggled after an impressive 20-goal, 35-point professional debut, while Gould, who has just eight points this season, heads back to Allen after scoring above a point-per-game there last season.
Snapshots: Tocchet, Fasching, Bobrovsky
Based on recent media reports, it seems as though the Vancouver Canucks are rapidly approaching a coaching change. We recently covered how former NHL star defenseman Sergei Gonchar was linked to a position in Vancouver on presumed new coach Rick Tocchet’s incoming staff. Today, NorthStar Bets’ Chris Johnston issued some clarity on Tocchet’s status on TSN’s Insider Trading program.
According to Johnston, it’s a “question of when, not if” the Canucks will end up replacing their current coach, Bruce Boudreau, with Tocchet. Johnston reports that the Canucks are currently in contract negotiations with Tocchet and that an official signing (and the coaching change that would result from that) could be coming “in the next few days.”
For some other notes from across the NHL:
- New York Islanders forward Hudson Fasching has quietly set a career-high in NHL games played this season, already having skated in 19 contests for the Islanders. He’ll have to wait to add to that number, though, as the Islanders have announced that Fasching is out with a lower-body injury. Per the team, his status is considered day-to-day.
- The Florida Panthers have had a highly disappointing season so far, and their inconsistent form is made all that much worse by the fact that their first-round pick belongs to the Montreal Canadiens. Starting netminder Sergei Bobrovsky‘s play has been a contributing factor to that disappointment, as he has an .897 save percentage through 29 games this year. Bobrovsky seems to have hit another speed bump this season as he left the ice tonight’s game against Montreal in its early stages. With backup goalie Spencer Knight already sidelined with his own injury, the team will now turn to Calder Cup champion Alex Lyon between the pipes.
Anaheim Ducks Activate Isac Lundestrom
The Anaheim Ducks have announced that forward Isac Lundestrom will be playing in tonight’s game against the Columbus Blue Jackets, meaning he has been activated off of injured reserve.
In addition to the news that Lundestrom is back in the lineup, the Ducks have announced that 2021 third-overall pick Mason McTavish is out with a lower-body injury.
On January 11th, we covered how Lundestrom was reportedly nearing a return from the fractured finger that had kept him out of commission for a month. Now, that return has finally come.
The 23-year-old Swede was a first-round pick at the 2018 draft and has been with the Ducks since the 2018-19 season. Last year was Lundestrom’s best in his young career, as he scored 16 goals and 29 points and cemented himself as a regular face in coach Dallas Eakins’ lineup.
This year, Lundestrom’s offense has dried up, and he has just six points in 24 games. He has remained an important penalty killer in Anaheim, though, and is generally regarded to be more of a defensive player. He’ll head back to the lineup and straight into a prominent role, centering veteran Adam Henrique and All-Star Troy Terry.
For McTavish, this absence due to a lower-body injury is the first in his young NHL career. He’s had an impressive rookie season thus far, often looking like a veteran player despite being just 19 years old. He has scored 27 points in 45 games this season, and could garner some Calder Trophy votes with a hot second half to his season.
As McTavish has been one of the few-and-far-between bright spots to the Ducks’ season, the team is undoubtedly hoping that the injury keeping him out of the lineup tonight is a minor one.
New Jersey Devils Activate Nathan Bastian From Injured Reserve
The New Jersey Devils are getting an important reinforcement, as Nathan Bastian has been activated from injured reserve. To make room on the roster, Nolan Foote has been returned to the AHL.
Bastian, 25, hasn’t played since going down in November with an upper-body injury. The physical forward had eight points in his first 21 games of the year, while seeing regular time as a net-front option on the powerplay. He was averaging just under 10 minutes a night at even-strength but is a beloved part of the dressing room and an important energy player for the Devils. He’s also a key penalty killer, a role he will likely go right back to now that he’s ready to return.
For Foote, it’s the end of a rather uneventful call-up. The 22-year-old played in three games, but failed to record a point and received just five shifts in his most recent appearance. The 2019 first-round pick hasn’t been able to crack the league just yet, suiting up only 16 times in the NHL so far. Things have been rather inconsistent in the minor leagues as well, where he has 13 goals but just five assists through 33 games.
It appears as though Bastian will return to the fourth line with Michael McLeod and Miles Wood, an incredibly fast, physical group that can chip in offensively. After a bit of a slump, the Devils are red-hot again, and have won five straight. That pulls them within one point of the Carolina Hurricanes for the division lead and into a great spot in the Metropolitan playoff race.
New York Islanders Reassign William Dufour
Jan 19: After receiving just seven shifts and still registering a -2 rating, Dufour has been returned to the minor leagues. The young forward will have to wait patiently for his next opportunity.
Jan 18: The New York Islanders have made a couple of roster moves, after blowing a lead Monday night against the Washington Capitals. Dennis Cholowski and William Dufour have been recalled. This is the first recall of Dufour’s career.
Cholowski, 24, was picked 20th overall by the Detroit Red Wings back in 2016 but has rarely had the opportunity to play in the NHL. The left-shot defenseman has patrolled an AHL blue line all season, racking up 17 points in 35 games with the Bridgeport Islanders. On Monday, Parker Wotherspoon played just over 12 minutes, as the team desperately awaits the return of Adam Pelech, one of their most important players.
It’s Dufour that will grab the attention today though. The 20-year-old forward was a fifth-round draft pick in 2020 but experienced an incredible breakout during his last season of junior hockey. After scoring just 29 points in 23 games during 2020-21, Dufour scored 56 goals and 116 points in 66 with the Saint John Sea Dogs in 2021-22, winning a Memorial Cup and helping Canada win gold at the World Juniors.
That performance ended up in a Memorial Cup MVP and QMJHL MVP, and skyrocketed Dufour’s confidence. He’s carried it over into the professional ranks, with 25 points in 37 games so far in Bridgeport.
The Islanders may have nabbed a late-bloomer that can be an impact player in the NHL, given this isn’t your typical undersized junior scorer. Dufour stands 6’2″ and plays a heavy, physical game. So impressive, that it’s going to earn him a look beside Mathew Barzal and Josh Bailey on the first line, if the practice groups play out. The big right winger could have asked for a better opportunity to make his NHL debut.