Injury Notes: Jets, Marino, Shabanov, Malott
The Winnipeg Jets were all but eliminated from playoff contention yesterday, suffering a 7-1 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers. With three games remaining on the schedule, they’ll need to win all three, as well as get considerable outside help, in order to return to the playoffs. As they seek a miracle over these next three games, they’ll need to do so without winger Morgan Barron. Barron has missed three straight games with a lower-body injury and Jets head coach Scott Arniel told the media yesterday, including Ken Wiebe of the Winnipeg Free Press, that Barron is done for the regular season. The 27-year-old finishes his 2025-26 season with 11 goals and 23 points in 65 games, a career high in offensive production. He’s under contract through next season at a $1.85MM AAV before he’s set to become a UFA.
In addition to Barron, Arniel also provided an update on the status of injured defenseman Elias Salomonsson. Arniel said Salomonsson is still dealing with concussion symptoms and has not yet returned to the ice. The 21-year-old defenseman suffered his injury April 2 against the Dallas Stars, and has missed four consecutive games. Salomonsson, who was recently ranked the No. 1 prospect in the Jets’ system by The Athletic’s Scott Wheeler, has averaged 17:57 time on ice per game across 32 NHL contests this season.
Other injury notes from around the NHL:
- Utah Mammoth defenseman John Marino couldn’t play in yesterday’s game against the Carolina Hurricanes as the result of an upper-body injury. The team officially classified his status as day-to-day. The 28-year-old has had a strong bounce-back season for the Mammoth after an injury-plagued 2024-25 campaign. He’s been Utah’s No. 3 defenseman in terms of ice time this season, and is a regular penalty killer. He’s also hit a career high in terms of scoring this season, with 35 points in 78 games. With their first playoff series in franchise history coming soon, the Mammoth will hope that Marino can return to 100 percent health, or a reasonable approximation of that, sooner rather than later.
- New York Islanders forward Maxim Shabanov missed yesterday’s loss to the Ottawa Senators with an upper-body injury, per a team announcement. The 25-year-old has dressed for just four Islanders games since the start of February, dealing with a mix of injuries and healthy scratches. His first campaign in the NHL hasn’t gone totally to plan, though he has had his moments. In total, he’s scored five goals and 18 points in 44 games this season.
- Los Angeles Kings forward Jeff Malott missed yesterday’s shutout win over the Edmonton Oilers with an undisclosed injury, per head coach D.J. Smith. The 29-year-old has had the most successful season of his pro career, finally breaking into the NHL on a full-time basis. Malott scored at least 40 points in each of his last four AHL campaigns, but before this season wasn’t able to land an NHL role on more than a spot basis. That changed this year, as he’s skated in 58 contests for the Kings and none in the AHL. The 6’5″ winger has registered nine points and 166 hits in those 58 games this season.
Capitals Recall Clay Stevenson
The Washington Capitals announced that they have recalled goaltender Clay Stevenson from their AHL affiliate, the Hershey Bears. In a corresponding move, netminder Mitchell Gibson has been reassigned to the Bears.
These two transactions have likely been made with Hershey’s best interests in mind. The Capitals need to have a goalie from the Bears on their NHL roster because incumbent backup Charlie Lindgren is sidelined with an upper-body injury. Stevenson, 27, started Hershey’s game yesterday against the Charlotte Checkers, saving 21 of 22 shots in a 2-1 victory.
Hershey plays this afternoon against the Charlotte Checkers. Reassigning Gibson puts him in a position to potentially start that game. With just four games remaining on their schedule, today’s contest is very important to the Bears as they look to clinch their spot in the playoffs.
By swapping Gibson for Stevenson on the Capitals’ NHL roster, the team has switched who will back up Logan Thompson for today’s game against the Pittsburgh Penguins. It’ll now be Stevenson. Since he played last night, the Capitals are now carrying some added risk: in the event Thompson is unavailable due to injury or other circumstances, they could be forced to play a goalie in Stevenson who played just last night, and has had to travel on short notice. That would hardly be ideal for a team that needs to avoid a regulation loss to keep their slim playoff hopes alive.
But in exchange for taking on the additional risk that comes with running Stevenson as the backup today, the Capitals have significantly upgraded the goalie available to Hershey for its important matchup today against Charlotte. Gibson, 26, has thoroughly outplayed Hershey’s No. 3 goalie, 23-year-old Garin Bjorklund, this season. Gibson has a .907 save percentage in 22 games compared to Bjorklund’s .876 save percentage in 17 games.
Put simply: this transaction may allow the Bears to start Gibson against the Checkers instead of Bjorklund, which could notably increase the team’s odds of winning an important late-season game.
There is some risk at the NHL level attached to this transaction, as was previously mentioned. But the Capitals have long proven to be an organization that is deeply invested in the success of their AHL affiliate, and today’s transaction further underscores that fact.
Latest On Arvid Soderblom
Chicago Blackhawks netminder Arvid Söderblom made what is likely to be the final starting appearance of his 2025-26 season last night, registering 23 saves on 28 shots in the team’s 5-3 loss to the St. Louis Blues.
With Söderblom’s campaign now over, focus has shifted to his future in Chicago, which at this moment looks uncertain. The Athletic’s Scott Powers wrote after the game that “the Blackhawks need to decide before next training camp” specifically “where the bar is for their No. 2 goalie,” and whether Söderblom meets that bar.
The Blackhawks’ future in net in terms of No. 1 goalie is not really in question – 24-year-old Spencer Knight had a solid season, posting a .904 save percentage in 53 games played. He’s under contract at a $5.83MM AAV for three more years. What is in question is who will back up Knight, someone Powers said is in line to receive around 60 starts per season moving forward.
Söderblom, 26, has shown flashes of promise in the NHL. Overall, though, his time at the game’s highest level has been characterized by its inconsistency. 
This season, Söderblom has gone 8-13-3 with an .880 save percentage. Last year, he was 10-18-7 with an .898 save percentage.
Of course, these recent Blackhawks teams have not been the most favorable for a goalie to play behind. That is certainly a factor to take into account when considering Söderblom’s performances.
But even still, the reality is he has not shown the level of consistency in his performances teams often look for in their goaltenders. That leaves him vulnerable to challenges for Chicago’s No. 2 goalie role entering next season.
Söderblom is under contract for 2026-27 at a $2.75MM cap hit. That means he’s likely to at least begin the season within the Blackhawks organization, barring a trade. That cap hit also means that he’s unlikely to be claimed off of waivers, as players who come with less of a financial commitment attached are often prioritized on the waiver wire, especially at the start of the season. That could pave the way for 23-year-old 2020 second-round pick Drew Commesso to swipe the team’s backup role from Söderblom.
With that said, Commesso won’t require waivers next season, so if there is any fear that Söderblom might not clear and be able to be assigned to the Rockford IceHogs, the principle of asset management might prevail and allow Söderblom to retain his NHL role. There is also the possibility, however slim, that the Blackhawks might look outside their organization in order to add veteran support behind Knight.
In any case, Söderblom’s 2025-26 is now in the books, shifting the focus to what will be a crucially important summer for the future of his time in Chicago. As Powers noted, he still has a legitimate chance to return as the team’s No. 2 goalie next season, but it would be a mistake to classify his hold on that role as anything but vulnerable.
Photos courtesy of Brad Penner-Imagn Images
Noah Dobson Out Week-To-Week, Canadiens Recall David Reinbacher
Montreal Canadiens defenseman Noah Dobson left last night’s loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets with an apparent thumb injury, reports Eric Engels of Sportsnet. Dobson appeared to suffer the injury after blocking a shot, his league-leading 188th blocked shot of the 2025-26 season.
The team announced Sunday morning that Dobson sustained an upper-body injury and would be re-evaluated in two weeks. The team also announced that 2023 No. 5 pick David Reinbacher has been recalled from the Laval Rocket.
The news is a brutal development for a team that, at this moment, looks to be one of the league’s most promising. It’s difficult to overstate just how important Dobson is to the Canadiens.
The 26-year-old has been the Canadiens’ No. 3 defenseman in terms of ice time this season, averaging 22:29 per game. While that puts him behind Mike Matheson and Lane Hutson in Montreal, that’s a number high enough to rank No. 1 or No. 2 on other teams.
Dobson brings an immense amount of value to the Canadiens on a nightly basis, on both ends of the ice. His pairing with Matheson weathers some of the team’s most difficult defensive matchups, and he’s often relied upon when the team is defending a late lead. He’s also a key penalty killer, and he pairs that defensive ability with a strong offensive touch, putting up 12 goals and 47 points in his debut campaign as a Canadien.
Montreal surrendered a high price to the Islanders to acquire Dobson – two first-round picks and a solid NHL-ready young forward in Emil Heineman. The way Dobson has played has more than justified that asset expenditure, as well as the $9.5MM AAV contract extension he received.
But at this moment, Dobson’s value only serves to reinforce just how catastrophic this injury could be to the Canadiens’ hopes of making a deep playoff run. His injury exposes the most significant lineup weakness in Montreal: a lack of capable right-shot defensemen. Veteran Alexandre Carrier has already been sidelined with an injury of his own on a week-to-week basis, meaning that after Dobson’s injury, the Canadiens were left without a single right-shot blueliner in their lineup. Hutson and Arber Xhekaj, both lefties, played on the right side of the team’s defense last night.
Dobson’s injury left Montreal without a single healthy right-shot defenseman on their roster just a few days before the start of the playoffs. That’s not an ideal situation for any team to be in, let alone a club with designs on having an extended stay in the postseason, and it’s why they recalled Reinbacher.
The Canadiens are lucky that several of their left-shot defensemen, namely Hutson, Kaiden Guhle, and rookie Adam Engstrom, have real experience on the right side. But both Hutson and Guhle have also demonstrated that while they can certainly handle playing on the right, both players are not quite as effective when forced to play from that side.
With that said, the Canadiens appear to not have an appetite to dress a defense made up entirely of lefties. As a result, Reinbacher has been recalled. While the Austrian blueliner’s development has been slowed due to injuries, he’s still made steady progress with the Rocket and has emerged as their best all-around defenseman. On another team, it’s entirely possible he’d have been in the NHL already, and with Dobson’s injury, he’ll get the chance to make his NHL debut.
Is it ideal for Reinbacher that he might make his NHL debut in such important, high-stakes games for the Canadiens? Probably not, as it doesn’t leave him much room for error. But this injury to Dobson has forced Montreal’s hand in the matter.
At the very least, it’s not as though Reinbacher is without experience. While he hasn’t yet played in the NHL, he does have considerable experience at the pro level, starting all the way back in 2021-22 when Reinbacher helped EHC Kloten win promotion to the top division of Swiss hockey. He also skated in 13 playoff games for Laval last season, helping the club reach the AHL’s Eastern Conference Finals.
The hope for Montreal will be, undoubtedly, that Dobson’s injury does not end up being as severe as it may have initially looked, and that his absence is limited to just a few games. But if he does indeed miss time on a more extended basis, the impact on the Canadiens will be significant – and all eyes will point to one of the team’s top prospects to help fill the significant hole created in Montreal’s lineup by Dobson’s absence.
Photos courtesy of Jerome Miron-Imagn Images
Predators Recall Kevin Gravel, Nicolas Hague Out Day-To-Day
The Nashville Predators recalled veteran defenseman Kevin Gravel from the AHL’s Milwaukee Admirals before Saturday’s game over the Minnesota Wild. Gravel was a healthy scratch for the matchup but offered emergency depth for defenseman Nicolas Hague, who is out day-to-day with an upper-body injury per NHL.com’s Brooks Bratten. Predators captain Roman Josi was also questionable before the game started but did end up playing, filling the hole in the lineup left by Hague.
Gravel, Milwaukee’s captain, has been a reliable anchor at the top of the Admirals’ lineup. He has played in nearly all of the team’s games dating back to his move to Milwaukee in 2022, though did have a 23-game stint with the Predators in 2022-23. Gravel has often stood out on the defensive side of the puck, where his long reach and strong frame make scoring difficult for opponents. That has also largely kept him off the scoresheet in his years in the Preadators organization. He has two points in 29 NHL games, and 54 points in 238 AHL games in the last four seasons.
With questions around who was healthy and who was not, the Predators opted to bring Gravel up as a contingency option. He is unlikely to stick with the NHL club through the rest of the season, unless Hague or Josi need an extended stay out of the lineup. It’s more likely that Gravel returns to the minors soon, where he’ll look to lead the Admirals in locking up a spot in the Calder Cup Playoffs.
Meanwhile, Nashville will hope Hague can return to his versatile, depth role soon. The 27 year old has scored 15 points in 62 games this season, two points shy of his career-high reached twice with the Vegas Golden Knights. He is in his first season with the Predators and has averaged 19:38 a night while operating behind Brady Skjei on the depth chart.
Atlantic Notes: Stolarz, Holinka, Lightning, Ostlund
The Maple Leafs are shutting down goaltender Anthony Stolarz for the final few games of their season after he was injured on Wednesday against Washington, relays David Alter of The Hockey News. On top of that, head coach Craig Berube noted that while surgery isn’t required, the injury could ultimately affect Stolarz’s offseason training plans, which suggests this isn’t a minor issue. After a breakout effort last season that netted him a four-year, $15MM extension in the preseason, it has been a rough year for Stolarz in 2025-26. Injuries have limited him to just 26 appearances while he hasn’t been particularly sharp, putting up a 3.28 GAA and a .893 SV% after having the highest SV% in the NHL in the previous two seasons. Now, it looks like his offseason training could be impacted, adding one more negative note to a year that has had plenty.
More from the Atlantic:
- Still with the Maple Leafs, the AHL Marlies announced (Twitter link) that forward Miroslav Holinka is joining the team. The 20-year-old was a fifth-round pick by Toronto back in 2024 and is coming off a very productive junior season with WHL Edmonton. Holinka played in 59 games with the Oil Kings during the regular season, notching 37 goals and 43 assists, good for second on the team in scoring. He was even more productive in their first-round playoff loss, tallying seven goals and four assists in seven games. Eligible to play full-time with the Marlies next season, Holinka will now get an early taste of the pros.
- While the Lightning welcomed back Brandon Hagel this afternoon versus Boston, they were without a pair of other regulars. Team reporter Benjamin Pierce relayed (Twitter link) that center Zemgus Girgensons and defenseman Darren Raddysh are out with day-to-day injuries. Girgensons was limited after blocking a shot on Thursday in Montreal while Raddysh’s injury is a little harder to pin down after he scored the game-tying goal late in that one. At this point, there doesn’t appear to be any concern about their playoff availability.
- The Sabres are hopeful that center Noah Ostlund will be ready to return for the playoffs, notes Mike Harrington of The Buffalo News (Twitter link). He has missed the last two weeks with an upper-body injury; head coach Lindy Ruff indicated that the 22-year-old is skating daily and that it’s a pain management issue at this point. Ostlund has 11 goals and 16 assists in 60 games for Buffalo this season and should slot back into a bottom-six spot once he’s cleared to return to the lineup.
Capitals’ Pierre-Luc Dubois, Rasmus Sandin Leave With Injury
The Washington Capitals lost two important players during Saturday’s game against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Center Pierre-Luc Dubois sustained an upper-body injury after crashing into the boards on the first goal of the game, while defenseman Rasmus Sandin was helped off the ice with a lower-body injury later in the game. No update or timeline was provided for either player per NHL.com’s Tom Gulitti.
Both players have filled key roles for the Capitals all season long. Dubois missed 48 games between November and February due to a lower-body injury that required surgery. He returned to a top-six role in early-February and has scored 17 points in 21 games since. That production has provided a nice spark after Dubois failed to score in his first six games of the season. The 27 year old notched a career-high 66 points in 82 games during his first season with the Capitals last year. Sandin has stayed glued into Washington’s top-four and has 29 points and a plus-four in 72 games this season. He scored 30 points in 82 games last year.
With the duo out of the lineup, Washington will need to lean more on rookies Ilya Protas and Cole Hutson to continue bringing an impact. Both players are off to hot starts in their NHL careers. Protas has four points in his first two games, while Hutson has scored eight points in his first 11 games. Both have already worked their way onto Washington’s top powerplay unit, which fired on all cylinders during Saturday’s win. They will look to directly make up for Dubois and Sandin, while forward Ethen Frank and defenseman Timothy Liljegren could be called down from the press box.
The Capitals have two games remaining in their season and sit well outside of playoff contention. A pair of injuries could quickly redirect Washington’s focus towards deploying their young hopefuls, and resting their veterans, in preparation for a better season next year.
Bruins Recall Lukas Reichel
4/11: One day later, the Bruins have reversed Reichel’s assignment, recalling him back to the NHL roster ahead of Sunday’s game against the Columbus Blue Jackets. He will offer another forward option should Boston decide not to ice Hagens.
4/10: The Bruins assigned forward Lukas Reichel to AHL Providence on Friday, per a team announcement. It’s not expected to be a long-term demotion, though, Ty Anderson of 98.5 The Sports Hub relays. He’ll get into action for Providence tonight before being added back to the roster as early as Saturday.
That makes sense considering he’s sat out of two of Boston’s last three games. While head coach Marco Sturm confirmed new rookie addition James Hagens will be a healthy scratch tomorrow morning against the Lightning, his inclusion on the roster only makes NHL playing time for Reichel a tougher battle to fight.
Boston acquired Reichel, the 17th overall pick in 2020, from the Canucks at the trade deadline for a sixth-round pick. Vancouver had acquired the struggling 23-year-old from the Blackhawks just a few months prior for a fourth.
At the time of the trade, he was on an AHL assignment after clearing waivers, so he reported to Providence to begin his B’s tenure. The German sharpshooter looked like a natural there, racking up a goal and four assists through his first three games.
That earned him a quick recall to Boston. Since then, he’s averaged 12:53 of ice time across nine contests, scoring once and adding a pair of assists.
Reichel’s physicality remains a non-factor, but his possession impacts, an area of concern throughout his career in Chicago and still through his pit stop in Vancouver this year, have seen improvement in a small sample. Boston has controlled 53.0% of shot attempts with Reichel on the ice at 5-on-5 despite him receiving the least defensively sheltered usage of his career.
That’s mostly due to Reichel being able to effectively gel on a high-event third line with Elias Lindholm and Morgan Geekie. They gave up considerable quality defensively in their nine games together but were able to produce enough quality chances to offset, controlling 52.2% of expected goals and outscoring opponents 6-2, per MoneyPuck.
If Reichel can keep up that level of play, there are worse options to toss into that position in the playoffs if a need arises. With Geekie and Lindholm now being bumped up the lineup to skate with David Pastrňák, though, there’s less of a fit for Reichel in the lineup with less two-way support available for him in the middle six.
Reichel is a pending restricted free agent with arbitration rights. His inability to hold down a full-time NHL job this season makes it unlikely that the Bruins will risk themselves getting roped into an award, nor will they likely be willing to extend him the $1.3MM qualifying offer he’s owed. While a strong non-tender candidate, Boston could look to bring him back on a cheaper deal if both sides have liked the fit thus far.
Hurricanes Announce Eight Out With Injury
The Carolina Hurricanes have been hit with a wave of injuries with only three games left in the season. According to NHL.com’s Walt Ruff, the Hurricanes were without forwards Jackson Blake, William Carrier, Taylor Hall, Mark Jankowski, and Logan Stankoven; defenseman Jalen Chatfield and K’Andre Miller; and goaltender Pyotr Kochetkov in Saturday’s game against the Utah Mammoth. No details or timelines have been revealed for any injuries. That is except for Kochetkov, who is currently on a conditioning loan with the AHL’s Chicago Wolves after missing most of the season with a lower-body injury that required surgery.
The Hurricanes were forced to overhaul their lineup with so many players out. Skyler Brind’Amour, Josiah Slavin, and Bradly Nadeau were recalled from the AHL to make up Carolina’s fourth-line, while Nicolas Deslauriers stepped onto a line with Eric Robinson and Jesperi Kotkaniemi. Defensemen Mike Reilly and Charles-Alexis Legault also stepped onto the blue-line. This is the second NHL game of the season for Brind’Amour and the younger Slavin. The duo have scored 34 and 25 points in 66 AHL games this season respectively. The NHL appearance is a bigger deal for Nadeau, a top Hurricanes prospect who notched 53 points in 51 AHL games this year. Nadeau also has two goals in nine NHL games this season. Leagult has matched Nadeau’s NHL scoring, with two points in nine games, on top of seven points in 22 AHL games.
It is not yet clear how the Hurricanes will move forward in the face of so many injuries. With only two games left after Saturday’s matchup, Carolina could afford to rest all seven injured NHL skaters for the rest of the regular season. The Hurricanes have locked up the top spot in the Metropolitan Division with a 51-22-6 record this season. They sit 10 points above the Pittsburgh Penguins in second place. Carolina is set to enter the postseason as a favorite to win the Stanley Cup out of the Eastern Conference. They will need to have all hands on deck to acheive that feat, with a first round matchup against the Boston Bruins or Ottawa Senators on the table.
Canadiens’ Michael Hage Expected To Return To College
The Montreal Canadiens will have to wait another season before they can entertain signing one of their top prospects. Center Michael Hage is expected to return to the University of Michigan for his junior season per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman. Hage and the Michigan Wolverines recently lost a double-overtime matchup against the Denver Pioneers in the Frozen Four. The Montreal prospect had one assist in the 3-4 loss.
Another season in college will give Hage a chance to push for Michigan’s first National Championship since 1998. More than that, the high-energy Hage will be a top candidate for Michigan’s captaincy after senior T.J. Hughes signed a deal with the Colorado Avalanche. Hage has been an integral part of the Wolverines’ offense since moving to school in 2024. He scored 13 goals and 34 points in 33 games with Michigan in his freshman season – becoming just the 10th Michigan freshman to score above a point-per-game since 2000.
The second-line flowed through Hage’s shooting ability in his freshman year. As a sophomore, he grew into a true starring role. Hage took over Michigan’s top-line center role and matched his 13 goals, en route to 52 points in 39 games – second-most on the Wolverines to Hughes’ 57 points. Hage proved to be a capable and confident playmaker, a mantra he carried through to his first international tournament. After being passed over at younger tournaments, while playing in America’s USHL, Hage finally made his Team Canada debut at the 2026 World Junior Championship. He stood out as the team’s star, leading the tournament with a staggering 13 assists and 15 points in seven games.
The World Juniors performance brought Hage’s stock to international acclaim – but the Michigan star is in no rush to turn that into pro hopes. The Canadiens are already stocked with young, emerging forwards – like Ivan Demidov and Oliver Kapanen – while the Laval Rockets’ depth chart is crowded by Owen Beck, Sean Farrell, and Joshua Roy. Rather than fight through that crowd, Hage will return to one of the highest roles in college hockey. He will be a candidate for 20 minutes a night in his junior season and could set his sights on putting together a season worthy of the Hobey Baker Award. Those hopes will only be bolstered by Michigan’s additions, including the return of Henry Mews from injury and top 2026 NHL Draft prospect J.P. Hurlbert. The young Montreal roster has time on their side, a privilege Hage will use to chase another National Championship.