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Stars Activate Tyler Seguin From Long-Term Injured Reserve

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The Stars have activated center Tyler Seguin from long-term injured reserve, Lia Assimakopoulos of the Dallas Morning News reports. He’s expected to play in tonight’s season finale against the Predators. Dallas assigned defensemen Lian Bichsel and Alexander Petrovic to AHL Texas to remain cap-compliant for their final regular-season contest.

Seguin returns after a four and a half month absence due to a pair of procedures on his left hip. Stars fans held their breath after the announcement – Seguin had similar surgeries done on his right hip in 2020, during which his recovery spiraled and nearly threatened his career. He was given a four-to-six-month recovery timeline, so while today’s news comes at the earlier end of that timeframe, it’s not entirely unexpected. He began practicing last month, and head coach Peter DeBoer said they were expecting him back for their first-round series.

The 33-year-old started the season on a tear before going under the knife, posting 9-11–20 through 19 contests while averaging 16:13 per game. Despite Dallas ranking fourth in the league in goals, Seguin remains the Stars’ only player to notch above a point per game this year. However, Matt Duchene has 81 in 81 and could join him with a multi-point effort tonight. Youngster Logan Stankoven initially stepped into Seguin’s spot on a line with Duchene and Mason Marchment after he exited the lineup. Still, they found a more experienced man for the job when they acquired Mikael Granlund from the Sharks in early February. Stankoven was later traded to the Hurricanes in the second Mikko Rantanen blockbuster of the year.

It’s not clear where Seguin slots into the lineup tonight. DeBoer told the team’s Mike Heika earlier today that there will be some game-time decisions at forward. But when the playoffs begin, it stands to reason Seguin will reclaim his top-six spot and push Granlund down the depth chart. Not only is Granlund’s points-per-game production a downgrade (7-14–21 in 30 GP since the trade), but his possession numbers with Duchene and Marchment are quite underwhelming compared to when Seguin was on the line. The trio has controlled just 37% of expected goals with Granlund compared to 58.9% with Seguin, according to MoneyPuck.

Seguin’s health gives the Stars an even deeper forward lineup, a necessity entering their first-round series against the Avalanche with star defenseman Miro Heiskanen remaining unavailable for the first few games at least. An on-time recovery is also a good sign for his career at large, with two years left on his contract at a $9.85MM cap hit.

As for Bichsel and Petrovic, they’ll presumably be back up with Dallas once the regular season ends and salary-cap restrictions are lifted. Bichsel should be penciled into their Game 1 lineup. The 2022 first-rounder hasn’t served as a healthy scratch since his most recent recall from Texas in February, only exiting the lineup a few times due to concussion protocols and illness. With 4-5–9 and a plus-two rating in 38 appearances this year, he’s been a far more stable depth presence than what Mathew Dumba and Brendan Smith have offered in similar deployment.

Photo courtesy of Timothy T. Ludwig-Imagn Images.

Devils Recall Nico Daws, Mike Hardman

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The Devils announced they’ve recalled goaltender Nico Daws and forward Mike Hardman from AHL Utica. They’ll presumably dress for tonight’s regular-season finale against the Red Wings to allow a couple of players to rest ahead of their pending Game 1 of the playoffs against the Hurricanes.

Daws’ time in New Jersey this year has been short and sweet. There haven’t been many opportunities for upward mobility for him this year, with veterans Jacob Markström and Jake Allen having strong seasons, but when he gets the chance to play due to injuries, he’s seized it. He’s won all three of his starts and made an additional two relief appearances, posting a shining .966 SV% and 0.88 GAA – including a 29-save shutout against the Predators on Feb. 23. That’s good for a remarkable 6.9 goals saved above expected, per MoneyPuck.

Puzzlingly, the 24-year-old hasn’t fared nearly as well in the minors. He’s logged a 3.16 GAA and .893 SV% with one shutout and an 11-20-3 record in 34 showings for the Comets. It’s his second straight AHL season below the .900 mark. The 2020 third-rounder still has another year left on his contract with an $812.5K cap hit. It changes from a two-way to a one-way deal for next year, though, so he’ll get a significant raise even if he stays in the minors.

Hardman has made a lone appearance for the Devils this year, slotting into a game against the Rangers in early December. It was the 38th appearance of his career, which has spanned parts of four NHL seasons. The 26-year-old has been an infrequent call-up option for Chicago and New Jersey over his pro career, signing with the Blackhawks as an undrafted free agent out of Boston College in 2021.

After three-plus years in the Blackhawks organization, Hardman achieved Group VI unrestricted free agent status last summer and inked a two-year, two-way deal in New Jersey, so they’ve got him as depth for next season, too. The 6’2″, 205-lb forward leads Utica with a +11 rating and ranks fourth on the team in scoring with 18-17–35 in 57 games. He has 1-4–5 in his 38 career NHL appearances.

Jets Sign Alex Iafallo To Three-Year Extension

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12:16 p.m.: Iafallo’s deal pays him $4MM in base salary in 2025-26 and 2026-27 before dropping to $3MM in 2027-28, PuckPedia reports. There are no signing bonuses or trade protection in his contract.

9:02 a.m.: Pending unrestricted free agent winger Alex Iafallo is staying with the Jets on a three-year, $11MM extension, the team announced Wednesday. The deal carries a $3.67MM cap hit and will keep him in Winnipeg through the 2027-28 campaign.

The Jets acquired Iafallo in one of the 2023 offseason’s biggest trades. He was part of the haul the Kings sent to Winnipeg for Pierre-Luc Dubois, joining first-rounders Rasmus Kupari and Gabriel Vilardi and a second-round pick that turned into defenseman Alfons Freij. L.A. mostly needed to give him up for salary-balancing purposes – he was on an affordable deal with a $4MM cap hit, was coming off a career-high 0.61 points per game, and had routinely spent time on the Kings’ top line alongside Anže Kopitar.

After averaging north of 17 minutes per game across his first six NHL seasons in Los Angeles, Iafallo’s ice time has been slashed since arriving with the Jets. He was immediately bumped to the bottom-six with the younger Vilardi grabbing a first-line role alongside Kyle Connor and Mark Scheifele, and his production has suffered as a result. He’s posted 26-32–58 in 163 games since the trade, an average of 29 points per 82 games. That’s a good bit south of his career average of 37.

Iafallo has still been among the first players to get elevated into a top-six role when injuries strike. Vilardi has missed much of the last few weeks of the campaign with an upper-body injury, and Iafallo has slotted into his place on the top line. He carries a four-game point streak into the final game of the regular season and has 15-16–31 in 81 games on the year overall, up from last year’s 27 points in 82 games. As such, he’s not missed a game for Winnipeg since his acquisition.

The 31-year-old has also brought sterling possession impacts, particularly this season. He leads Jets forwards with a +21 rating and ranks fifth on the team with a 51.2 CF% at even strength, the highest mark among Winnipeg skaters who have seen the majority of their deployment in the defensive zone. While he doesn’t shoot particularly often, he’s been an effective shooter when he does. He’s scoring at a 14.2% clip and is one of Winnipeg’s best players at turning shot attempts into shots on goal with a 57.3% through rate.

While he hasn’t seen much ice at even strength this year, Iafallo is still averaging north of 13 minutes per game and routinely features on Winnipeg’s second power-play unit and comprises their top penalty-killing forward duo with captain Adam Lowry. That special teams versatility, along with his ability to slide up and down the lineup with good defensive play, makes him a more valuable skater than just his point totals indicate.

The Jets thus retain him for the next three years at a slight discount from what they’re paying him now. It’s a good bit of business that still leaves Winnipeg with $32.7MM in cap space this summer and six roster spots to fill.

Photo courtesy of Terrence Lee-Imagn Images.

Capitals Sign Nic Dowd To Two-Year Extension

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The Capitals announced they’ve re-signed center Nic Dowd to a two-year, $6MM contract. He’ll remain in Washington through the 2026-27 campaign and carry a $3MM cap hit for the next two seasons.

A crucial part of Washington’s bottom-six forward group since his arrival in 2018, the 34-year-old will forego free agency on the heels of a career-best season offensively. Dowd has 14-13–27 in 81 games. While that’s a slightly lower points per game pace than he’s put up over the last few years, this is his first fully healthy season since the shortened 2020-21 campaign.

That production comes despite Dowd being used almost exclusively as a shutdown center at even strength. The Alabama native has started over 80% of his even-strength shifts in the defensive zone, and his 5-on-5 oZS% ranks lowest in the NHL among qualified forwards. He’s also averaging north of 15 minutes per game for the second year in a row, including 2:35 per game shorthanded.

One of the league’s premier fourth-line centers, Dowd has been remarkably consistent over his seven years in Washington. He’s scored 75-75–150 in 450 games as a Cap with a +47 rating. He’s currently on his fourth contract with Washington, joining on a one-year, $650K pact for 2018-19. He landed a three-year, $2.25MM extension the following year and then signed a three-year, $3.9MM deal in November 2021, which is wrapping up this season. He would have been in high command on the open market, potentially even landing a deal north of $3.5MM per season, but instead chooses to stay with what’s been a perfect fit over the last decade-plus as Washington returns to being a playoff and championship contender.

A seventh-round pick of the Kings back in 2009, Dowd is the first NHL player in history from Alabama and will easily play north of 700 career games when all is said and done – high value for such a late-round selection. With the extension, the Caps are now down to $8.6MM in cap space for next season, but only have two roster spots to fill. They’ve been fervent in keeping their pending UFAs off the market, also coming to terms on extensions with Jakob Chychrun, Charlie Lindgren, and Logan Thompson throughout the year. Their only remaining pending UFAs are all depth forwards – Lars Eller, Anthony Beauvillier, Taylor Raddysh, and Andrew Mangiapane. The contracts of LTIR-bound forwards Nicklas Bäckström and T.J. Oshie are also coming off the books.

Photo courtesy of Nick Turchiaro-Imagn Images.

Panthers Reassign Jesse Puljujarvi, Rasmus Asplund, Matt Kiersted

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April 16: The Panthers reassigned the trio back to Charlotte on Wednesday, according to a club announcement. Florida’s regular season schedule ended with yesterday’s playoff preview against the Lightning, so they no longer need the extras from the minors to allow roster players to rest ahead of the postseason.

April 6: The Florida Panthers have recalled forwards Jesse Puljujarvi and Rasmus Asplund, as well as defenseman Matt Kiersted, per the AHL Transactions Log and PuckPedia. This move returns Asplund and Puljujarvi to the NHL ranks for the first time since January, and marks the first call-up of Kiersted’s season.

This is a familiar pattern for Kiersted, who’s spent the last four seasons as one of the top defenders on Florida’s call-up sheet. He hasn’t stepped into the NHL lineup since the 2022-23 season, when he recorded four points, six penalty minutes, and a plus-four across 20 games. Those marks brought Kiersted’s career totals up to six points, 10 penalty minutes, and a minus-eight in 37 games and three seasons in the NHL. He’s found much better footing as a sturdy and physical defensive defenseman in the minor leagues. Over parts of four seasons, Kiersted has totaled 83 points, 199 penalty minutes, and a plus-54 in 232 AHL games. He’ll offer an alternative to Jaycob Megna, who’s stepped onto Florida’s bottom pair for the last two games.

For Puljujarvi and Asplund, a call-up to Florida is still a new experience. Aslpund signed a one-year, league-minimum contract with Florida this summer after joining the team at the 2024 Trade Deadline. He’s only appeared in two NHL games this season, with no notable stat changes. Asplund’s impact has been felt far more in the minors, where he’s totaled 42 points and 21 penalty minutes in 62 games. He ranks third on the Charlotte Checkers in scoring.

Puljujarvi joined the Panthers organization on an AHL contract this February, after being released by the Pittsburgh Penguins. He scored three points in his first seven games with the Charlotte Checkers – enough to earn a two-way NHL contract in early March. With just a handful of games left in the season, Florida will now take advantage of that two-way deal and award Puljujarvi with his first call-up. Should he get a run at icetime, Puljujarvi will be looking to build on the measly nine points he scored in 26 games with the Pittsburgh Penguins earlier this season. The former fourth-overall pick has recorded 127 points in 382 games and eight seasons in the NHL.

Florida doesn’t have any lineup holes to promote their recalled forwards into, but the pair will offer a boost of scoring to the Panthers’ depth. No player on Florida’s fourth line, consisting of A.J. Greer, Tomas Nosek, and Jonah Gadjovich, has managed more than one point over their last 10 games.

Senators Reassign Angus Crookshank

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The Senators loaned winger Angus Crookshank to AHL Belleville on Wednesday, according to a team announcement.

While the move is primarily made with the B-Sens’ Calder Cup Playoff hopes in mind, it does help open the door for captain Brady Tkachuk to return to the lineup in Ottawa’s regular season finale. He’s missed the last eight games with an upper-body injury but is widely expected back for Game 1 of their first-round series against the Maple Leafs at the latest. It’ll likely be up to Tkachuk to decide if he wants a tuneup against the Hurricanes tomorrow before getting into playoff action, head coach Travis Green told Bruce Garrioch of Postmedia.

Crookshank, 25, has been rostered since Tkachuk’s injury at the end of March. He’s played seven of Ottawa’s last nine games and recorded his first point of the season, an assist, on Sunday against the Flyers.

This year didn’t yield as much NHL action for Crookshank as he hoped. The 2018 fifth-rounder made just eight appearances after scoring 2-1–3 in 13 NHL contests last year. The Vancouver native’s still been a force in the minors, tied for the Belleville team lead in goals with 22 in 60 games. Overall, though, his point pace has dragged from last year’s near point-per-game effort in the AHL. He’s added 18 assists for 40 points through his 60 appearances after notching 46 in 50 games last year.

It’ll be curious to see whether Crookshank is part of the Sens’ plans for the future. He was set to be a restricted free agent last summer but signed a one-year, two-way ($775K/$120K) deal to stay with Ottawa before he hit the market. This year, though, the Senators won’t have a qualifying offer as a backup plan to retain his signing rights. His balance of low NHL games played with three years of professional experience means he’s headed for Group VI unrestricted free agency if they don’t re-sign him by July 1.

Poll: Who Will Be The Western Conference Champions?

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The Western Conference playoff field is set after the Wild and Blues took home wins last night in their final regular-season games. They both secure wild-card spots and lock in the following bracket:

C1 Winnipeg Jets vs. WC2 St. Louis Blues
C2 Dallas Stars vs. C3 Colorado Avalanche
P1 Vegas Golden Knights vs. WC1 Minnesota Wild
P2 Los Angeles Kings vs. P3 Edmonton Oilers

That means it’s time to take out our crystal balls and look at who will represent the West in the Stanley Cup Final in a few months. For the wild-card clubs, it’s hard to imagine a more considerable disparity in upset difficulty than this year’s Western Conference. The Blues briefly jumped into the first wild-card spot following a 12-game win streak to get them into postseason position, but a 1-2-1 stretch to end the year had them fall back behind the Wild. That puts them in a Central Division bracket that includes the Presidents’ Trophy winners in Winnipeg and arguably the league’s two deepest offenses in Dallas and Colorado. All three teams finished in the top eight league-wide. There’s still upset potential there, given Jordan Binnington’s playoff history in the net and star center Robert Thomas playing the best hockey of his career (he’s fine after leaving last night’s game with a lower-body injury). Still, it’s a more challenging road on that side of the bracket. The last time Winnipeg and St. Louis met in the first round, though, the latter won the Stanley Cup.

The Jets enter postseason play as a wagon with a bandaged wheel. They got tough news yesterday with winger Nikolaj Ehlers aggravating a foot injury with a week-to-week designation, which almost certainly puts him out for the beginning of their series. While that’s a big blow to the league’s third-ranked offense, they’ll look to their top-ranked defense to hold up. While the skater core has done an exceptional job of limiting high-danger chances at even strength, most of the credit there remains with Vezina frontrunner and Hart candidate Connor Hellebuyck. After posting a .924 SV% and a 2.02 GAA in 62 appearances, can he replicate those numbers in postseason play? In the Hellebuyck era, the Jets have only won a playoff series when he records a save percentage above .920.

The Stars and Avs would likely end up being a second- or third-round matchup in a conference-based playoff format compared to the current divisional one. Perhaps no series has a more compelling storyline to open up the playoffs. Forget the Mikko Rantanen bowl – Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog is trending toward a Game 1 return after missing nearly three years with right knee issues. Dallas, of course, will have to stop the Avs’ retooled offense, now featuring Charlie Coyle, Martin Nečas, and Brock Nelson, without star defenseman Miro Heiskanen to start the series and potentially for the entire first round. That’s in contrast to a Colorado skater core trending toward being fully healthy to begin the postseason. There is a risk for both of these clubs meeting so early on in the playoffs, though – can they get through this series and have enough energy left to spend on three more in their pursuit of the Cup?

On the Pacific side, the Knights are coming off their fifth division title in eight years as they begin their chase for their second Stanley Cup. Unlike past years, there was no deadline spending spree. Reacquiring 2023 Stanley Cup champion and Original Misfit Reilly Smith was their only move, along with signing free agent Brandon Saad mid-season. Amid injuries to core players Mark Stone and Shea Theodore, and even after losing multiple key names on the UFA market last summer, Vegas has chugged along with the league’s sixth-ranked offense and fourth-ranked defense. They continue to control play at 5-on-5, have one of the league’s best power plays, and have gotten strong play out of starter Adin Hill. Will breakout goal-scoring efforts from players like Pavel Dorofeyev and Brett Howden hold up to give Vegas enough secondary scoring to make their third Stanley Cup Final appearance?

They’ll first have to unseat the Wild in the first round. Minnesota has been a shell of itself in the second half of the season and only went 9-8-3 after the trade deadline. Their key to playing spoiler is the return of forward cornerstones Joel Eriksson Ek and Kirill Kaprizov from injury. The former has been spectacular since returning last week, closing the year with five goals in four games, including the game-tying goal that secured a point for the Wild last night and clinched their playoff berth. Filip Gustavsson is having a spectacular season between the pipes. While the Wild have bled low-danger chances at 5-on-5 this year, they’re still one of the better teams in the league at limiting quality looks against. They’ll need to keep games low-scoring for a chance at a Cinderella run.

For the fourth year in a row, the Kings and Oilers meet in the first round. This time, the former holds home ice advantage over the defending conference champions. Los Angeles is hot at the right time as they kick off the postseason and attempt to finally unseat Edmonton after a trio of series losses. They’re 17-4-0 since the trade deadline while outscoring opponents 80-39 – yes, that’s a 3.81 goals per game clip for a team that struggled to score for most of the season. Led by dueling 35-goal campaigns from Kevin Fiala and Adrian Kempe while trade deadline pickup Andrei Kuzmenko has fit like a glove with 17 points in 21 games, they may not have the franchise offensive talent Edmonton boasts, but they enter the series with a more mobile defense core and the clear edge in goaltending with 2022 Stanley Cup champion Darcy Kuemper having a renaissance season.

The Oilers will attempt to begin their journey toward a repeat Final appearance without their top two-way defenseman, Mattias Ekholm. He’s ruled out for the first round with an undisclosed injury and could even be done for the season. That forces Brett Kulak to step back into a top-four role on the blue line alongside Evan Bouchard, Darnell Nurse, and crucial deadline pickup Jake Walman to begin the postseason. Will a continued MVP performance from Leon Draisaitl be enough for them to crack the Kings?

PHR readers, tell us who you think will sit atop the Western Conference when all is said and done and vote in the poll below:

If the poll doesn’t show up for you, click here to vote.

Photos courtesy of Matt Marton-Imagn Images and Sergei Belski-Imagn Images.

Devils Sign Shane Lachance To Entry-Level Contract

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The Devils announced today that they’ve signed left-winger Shane Lachance to a two-year entry-level contract starting next season. The deal carries a $925K cap hit with an $832.5K salary, a $92.5K signing bonus, up to $250K in Schedule ’A’ performance bonuses, and an $80K minors salary each season, according to PuckPedia. He’ll finish the season on a deal with AHL Utica before reporting to training camp in the fall.

New Jersey acquired Lachance’s signing rights from the Oilers last month in the three-team deal that sent Trent Frederic to Edmonton. He’s coming off his sophomore season with Boston University, dropping the national championship game to Western Michigan last weekend.

The 6’5″, 220-lb forward was a sixth-round pick by the Oilers back in 2021 from the Boston Jr. Bruins of the National Collegiate Development Conference, a Tier II junior league. Lachance made the jump to major junior the following year with the Youngstown Phantoms of the USHL, spending two years there before emerging as an elder freshman for BU in 2023-24. After a 27-point effort in his first year, he recorded 12-18–30 in 40 games this season to rank fifth on the team in scoring while sharing the captaincy.

Lachance ends his collegiate career with 25-32–57 in 80 games for the Terriers. The son of longtime NHL defenseman Scott Lachance was named to Hockey East’s All-Academic Team in his freshman year.

The 21-year-old arrives in Jersey with a legitimate shot at carving out a role in their bottom six in short order. It’s likely he remains in Utica to begin next season, but a midseason call-up isn’t out of the questions. He was Edmonton’s No. 6 prospect before the trade, Scott Wheeler of The Athletic wrote. He’s presumably lower on the list in a deeper Devils pool but likely remains a top-10 prospect in the system.

Lachance will be a restricted free agent when his ELC expires in 2027 and will be eligible for unrestricted free agency in 2031.

Kris Letang Undergoes Heart Surgery

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Penguins defenseman Kris Letang underwent successful surgery to close a small hole in his heart called a patent foramen ovale, the team announced. He’ll miss the team’s final regular-season game but is expected back for training camp in the fall. The recovery time for the procedure is four to six weeks.

It’s a scary headline for a player who’s had a few of them in his lengthy career, so such a brief recovery window immediately comes across as good news. The two-time All-Star had strokes that caused him to miss significant portions of the 2013-14 and 2022-23 seasons, as well as a herniated disk in his neck that kept him from suiting up in the Penguins’ run to the Stanley Cup in 2017. While PFOs are usually innocuous and occur in about 25% of people, it does lead to an increased risk of stroke, according to the Mayo Clinic.

Letang, who turns 38 later this month, continued to be a workhorse in his 19th NHL season. His 17:53 of ice time in his final appearance of the campaign against the Bruins on Sunday was a season-low and the first time he’d logged under 20 minutes in a game since Jan. 8, 2024.

As the 2023 Masterton Trophy winner crosses into the second half of the six-year, $36.6MM extension he signed in 2022, his offensive production has begun to decline significantly. He posted 9-21–30 in 74 games this year for a 0.41 points per game rate, his worst since the 2009-10 campaign. The drop-off in point totals this season was accompanied by the worst possession metrics of his career, including a 48.6 CF% at even strength that was 3.1% worse relative to his teammates. His 47.4% expected goals share at even strength was also his worst since the stat was tracked in 2008.

Yet with few impact options on this summer’s free agent market and the future of Erik Karlsson in Pittsburgh in question, Letang will likely again open training camp in the fall as the Pens’ unquestioned No. 1 defender, at least in terms of deployment. Letang has averaged over 21 minutes per game for the last 17 seasons.

Image courtesy of Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images.

Metro Notes: Kreider, Ferschweiler, Nikishin, Pelech, Romanov

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Despite being mentioned in trade rumors for much of the season, New York Rangers forward Chris Kreider spent the entire year in the Big Apple. Don’t expect Kreider’s name to disappear from the trade wire as The Fourth Period reports the Rangers will again look to move their veteran sniper this offseason.

He’ll become mildly more tradeable this summer, having two years and $13MM remaining on his contract. Still, factoring in multiple injuries from this season and the declining foot speed, it’s difficult to say how much interest Kreider will generate.

The Rangers will technically have the opportunity to retain salary if they desire, but it’s likely a non-starter from their perspective. As the article in The Fourth Period mentions, the primary reason for moving Kreider is to shed salary in preparation for K’Andre Miller and William Cuylle’s new deals.

Additional happenings from the Metropolitan Division:

  • As the 2024-25 season closes, the pursuit of a new head coach is ramping up for the Philadelphia Flyers. In that vein, Kevin Kurz of The Athletic reports that Pat Ferschweiler, the head coach of the NCAA’s Western Michigan University Broncos, could be on the Flyers’ radar this summer. Ferschweiler has been the Broncos’ head coach for the last four seasons and recently guided the team to its first National Championship in program history. He’s only had one NHL opportunity in his professional coaching career, being the assistant coach for the Detroit Red Wings from 2015-16 to 2018-19.
  • The Carolina Hurricanes should only be a few days away from their top defensive prospect joining the team for their postseason run. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported that Alexander Nikishin has officially received approval for his work visa in the United States. That leaves an appointment at the U.S. Embassy in Istanbul on his to-do list before being allowed to play for the Hurricanes. In a perfect world, Carolina would likely want Nikishin to get an NHL game under his belt before the playoffs start, but that’s unlikely to be the case given that their regular season will conclude on April 17.
  • Although the New York Islanders failed to make the playoffs for the second time in four years, they received positive news on the injury front this morning. Stefen Rosner of The Hockey News reported that despite entering concussion protocol after leaving Sunday’s game due to a hit from New Jersey Devils forward Paul Cotter, defenseman Adam Pelech “is fine” and suited up for the Islanders tonight against the Capitals. Pelech is no stranger to injuries, having only appeared in 60 of New York’s 81 contests this season.
  • Unfortunately, not every usual defenseman for the Islanders suited up in tonight’s contest, as the team shared just before puck drop that defenseman Alexander Romanov is out of the lineup due to illness. Depth defender Scott Perunovich is filling the Romanov-sized void this evening. He’s tallied three assists in nine games for the Islanders since being acquired from the St. Louis Blues on January 27th.

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