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East Notes: Thompson, Pesce, Pacioretty, Pulock

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Team USA has been given permission to bring Sabres center Tage Thompson and Devils defenseman Brett Pesce to Boston as standby players for Thursday’s 4 Nations Face-Off finale, reports Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli.  As was the case with Quinn Hughes who was initially intended as the reserve player, the only way Thompson or Pesce could suit up versus Canada is if Team USA drops below 12 healthy forwards or six healthy blueliners.  Thompson was one of the more notable omissions from the initial roster and is averaging a point per game through 48 outings in Buffalo.  Meanwhile, Pesce has been as advertised in his first season with New Jersey, logging nearly 21 minutes a night in a shutdown role in his 48 appearances.

More from the Eastern Conference:

  • Maple Leafs winger Max Pacioretty left practice early today with head coach Craig Berube telling reporters including Terry Koshan of the Toronto Sun that the veteran tweaked something when he took to the ice. Berube added the injury isn’t believed to be too serious at first glance.  Pacioretty has dealt with injuries off and on throughout the season and has been limited to 37 outings where he has five goals and eight assists while logging just 13:30 per game, his lowest ATOI since his rookie year back in 2008-09.
  • Islanders defenseman Ryan Pulock took part in today’s practice in a non-contact jersey as he works his way back from an undisclosed injury sustained late last month. However, head coach Patrick Roy noted to reporters including Stefen Rosner of The Hockey News (Twitter link) that the blueliner’s availability for Sunday’s contest against Dallas remains uncertain.  Pulock is logging nearly 22 minutes a night and has 16 points in 48 games and with the Isles just three points out of a share of the last playoff spot, getting him back soon would certainly help their fortunes.

Seth Jones, Blackhawks Discussing Trade Possibilities

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Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Seth Jones has been the focal point of trade rumors spanning the last few seasons, but it seems the chances of a move are heating up ahead of next month’s Trade Deadline. Jones told Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times that he’d welcome a move if Chicago can find one, though he hasn’t yet formally requested a trade. Jones said, “If it happens, it happens. Obviously, while I’m here with the Blackhawks, they have my full effort [and] full attention.” He added that he’d hope a trade would give him a chance to join a playoff contender.

The Blackhawks have reportedly been contacted by multiple teams interested in acquiring Jones, but his lofty contract is a wedge in any negotiations. He’s in year three of an eight-year, $76MM contract signed on the same day he was traded to Chicago in July of 2021. His $9.5MM cap hit makes Jones the seventh-most expensive defender in the NHL, but his 26 points in 38 games this season ranks 14th in points-per-game among defensemen. Jones’ stat-line is rounded out with a minus-12, 16 penalty minutes, and 55 hits – continuing to paint him as a high-offense, low-defense puck-mover.

Jones has stood as Chicago’s number-one defenseman through each of the last four seasons, rivaling an average of 25 minutes of ice time in every year. He’s totaled 145 points in 255 games with the Hawks – the third-most of any Chicago defender since 2000, behind Blackhawks legends Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook. Jones hasn’t led the team to the same heights as his company, but he has provided a consistent, veteran presence in front of a rebuilding Chicago lineup. The Hawks haven’t helped Jones along too much either. They’ve finished seventh or eighth in the Central Division and ranked in the bottom-four of NHL scoring in every year he’s spent with the club. Jones has been vocal about the emotional weight of that persistent losing in the past, telling Pope last season that the losing nature isn’t fun for anyone involved.

A timely trade to a playoff contender could go a long way towards spurring the 30-year-old Jones. He’s still a productive scorer capable of filling important roles at even-strength and on special teams. If a team can work around his hefty cap hit, Jones could be a quick way to boost the blue-line on a playoff hopeful. Chicago will likely need to retain part of his salary to make that happen, and may need convincing before they part ways with their clear-number-one. But top prospects like Artyom Levshunov and Sam Rinzel are both commanding more respect in Chicago’s pipeline, and could be apt replacements for Jones should his top-end role open up.

Penguins’ Evgeni Malkin To Return, Squashes Retirement And Trade Rumors

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Pittsburgh Penguins star Evgeni Malkin has shared that he is planning to play when the team returns from break on Saturday, per Rob Rossi of The Athletic. Malkin has missed Pittsburgh’s last six games after suffering an injury in the team’s January 25th loss to Seattle. He sustained the injury roughly halfway through the first period, after the skate of Kraken forward Chandler Stephenson seemed to catch Malkin in the thigh. He attempted to return for a brief shift later in the first, but was ruled out before the game’s second period. Pittsburgh placed Malkin on injured reserve just two days later. He’ll need to be activated off of IR before Saturday’s game, which will force Pittsburgh to reassign a player like Vasiliy Ponomarev or Bokondji Imama.

The return of one of their lineup pillars will be great news in Pittsburgh. Malkin has continued to perform at a premier level this year, with his 34 points in 47 games ranked fifth on the team in total scoring. In even better news, Malkin went on to emphasize to Rossi that he has no intentions of retiring this summer or playing anywhere else. He told The Athletic, “[I’ll] retire with Pittsburgh. The Penguins are my team… When I retire, [it’ll be] here.” Malkin added that, despite speculation, he has no plans of playing anymore Russian hockey either – save for potentially a one-game send-off with his hometown Metallurg Magnitogorsk when all is said and done.

Malkin is signed through the end of the 2025-26 season, setting him up for at least one more full year in Pittsburgh’s black-and-gold. He’s squashed talks of a potential retirement this summer, which will naturally push attention back until his deal ends in 2026. But Malkin continues to hold down a strong, middle-six role for the Penguins, averaging north of 18 minutes of ice time each game this season. Fellow Penguins legend Sidney Crosby is signed through the end of the 2026-27 campaign, which could be enough to convince Malkin to find an extra gear and retire alongside his longtime partner-in-crime. Malkin entered the NHL in 2006-07, one year after Crosby’s debut. Crosby scored a career-high 120 points in his first year alongside Malkin, while the latter managed his career-high of 113 points in their second year together.

Few duos in hockey history have stood as tall as Crosby and Malkin. The two have led three Stanley Cup wins and recorded the sole assist on each the other’s 500th NHL goal. They’re a ubiquitous tandem, and Malkin’s imminent return from lower-body injury sets him up to continue his role second to Crosby on the depth chart.

Malkin’s return will likely push one of Ponomarev, Blake Lizotte, or Emil Bemstrom out of the lineup. Lizotte and Bemstrom have each scored one goal through their last 10 games, while Ponomarev is still searching for his first point after four NHL games this season. Should Ponomarev be the odd man out, he’ll likely head back to a red-hot minor-league season. Ponomarev ranks fourth on the AHL’s Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in scoring with 29 points in 34 games.

Quinn Hughes Not Cleared For 4 Nations Championship

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Feb. 19: Team USA has been informed that Hughes was not medically cleared to join the roster before Thursday, per Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic. LeBrun shares that USA is looking into adding another defender to the lineup as an insurance option, given the illness circulating the 4-Nations tournament. Team USA would need to have less than six healthy defenseman to ice a player not currently on the roster.

Feb. 18: The United States may have reigning Norris Trophy winner Quinn Hughes available for Thursday’s 4 Nations Face-Off championship against Canada, head coach Mike Sullivan told reporters Tuesday (including Chris Johnston of TSN and The Athletic). He’s traveling to meet the team in Boston in the wake of an upper-body injury to Charlie McAvoy, but NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly confirmed to Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic that Hughes won’t be able to practice or play unless the Americans sustain another injury on defense ahead of the championship.

After being named as one of the first six players on the team last offseason, Hughes was on the Americans’ roster for the tournament up until last week, when he was ruled out after missing the Canucks’ final four games before the break with an oblique injury. Initially replaced by Jake Sanderson, he’s evidently now healthy and will be available if needed as the United States goes for its first best-on-best title since the 1996 World Cup of Hockey.

Luckily for the United States, they’re unlikely to need any more injury replacements. Star sniper Auston Matthews is expected to play in the championship after serving as a late scratch in last night’s loss to Sweden because of upper-body soreness, Sullivan said (via Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet). He added both Brady Tkachuk and Matthew Tkachuk will likely play after the former left Monday’s loss and the latter left Saturday’s win over Canada.

The Americans’ roster situation mirrors that of Canada’s after they lost defenseman Shea Theodore to an upper-body injury in their opening game against Sweden. Thomas Harley was allowed to fly out and meet the team but couldn’t practice or play unless they were unable to ice six defensemen. When Cale Makar was ruled out of their game against the U.S. due to illness, only then was Harley eligible to enter the lineup. He was not dressed when Makar returned to play yesterday against Finland.

At the very least, it’s a strong sign the Canucks will have their captain back when they return to play in Vegas on Saturday. The 25-year-old Hughes has improved further on last season’s elite two-way showing, bumping his points per game up to 1.26 from 1.12 and has posted career-highs in even-strength CF% (57.8) and relative CF% (+15.7).

There are three clear-cut Norris nominees in him, Makar, and Team USA teammate Zach Werenski. If Hughes takes home the hardware, he’d be the first back-to-back winner since the Red Wings’ Nicklas Lidström won three straight from 2006 to 2008.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Flames Recall Yan Kuznetsov, Ilya Solovyov

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The Flames announced Wednesday they’ve recalled defensemen Yan Kuznetsov and Ilya Solovyov from AHL Calgary. The pair gives the Flames 22 players – including nine defensemen – on their active roster, so further moves will be made before they return to action against the Sharks on Sunday.

Kuznetsov, 22, lands his first recall since being cut from the team’s training camp roster in October. The 2020 second-round pick made his NHL debut last season, posting a minus-one rating in 12 minutes of ice time against the Senators on Jan. 9, 2024, in his lone big-league showing.

A massive 6’5″, 220-lb lefty who specializes as a stay-at-home piece, Kuznetsov is enjoying a breakout campaign in the minors. He’s posted a respectable 3-11–14 scoring line through 49 games, and his pairing with Solovyov has been the best the club offers. Kuznetsov and Solovyov rank first and second on the team with +22 and +16 ratings, respectively, a +11 margin over third place among defenders.

Kuznetsov’s defensive awareness and physical game are intriguing, especially since he does so without taking a ton of penalties. He’s never topped 30 PIMs in an AHL season and has 22 this year. A rare USHL (2019 with the Sioux Falls Stampede) and Memorial Cup (2022 with the Saint John Sea Dogs) champion with a collegiate stint at UConn in between, he’s taken a winding road to NHL minutes and will now get another look on the roster with Kevin Bahl on injured reserve.

Solovyov’s recall is a paper move. Calgary recalled the 24-year-old Belarusian shortly before the 4 Nations break. He made his season debut against the Kraken on Feb. 8, skating over 19 minutes in his 11th career NHL appearance. The 2020 seventh-rounder has three assists with a minus-four rating in the NHL dating back to his debut last year, taking 12 shots on goal and averaging north of 16 minutes per game.

The latter plays the more offensively involved game of the two, relying more on his puckhandling ability and breakout passing to be effective. The lefty still has great size at 6’3″ and 209 lbs, though, and has posted a career-best 6-15–21 scoring line through 43 AHL appearances this season.

NHL Met With Group Interested In New Orleans Expansion

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The NHL held a recent meeting with a group interested in acquiring an expansion team for the New Orleans market at the league’s offices in New York, deputy commissioner Bill Daly told Kevin Weekes of ESPN on Wednesday.

In terms of expansion interest and likelihood, this is about as preliminary as it can get. League commissioner Gary Bettman has remained as noncommittal as possible about when the league will increase past 32 teams after incorporating Vegas and Seattle in the last decade. The league’s preference for team No. 33 will be a return to the Phoenix area after facilitating the Coyotes’ sale to Utah and, through a complicated process, retaining the club’s intellectual and branding rights. A local group comprised of government and business officials met with Bettman last month, but the area still needs a new arena to house an NHL franchise – which there’s been no tangible progress toward completing since the Coyotes’ departure.

New Orleans joins a long list of cities interested in an NHL club. Houston and Atlanta either already have or are in the process of constructing an NHL-ready arena and have had multiple groups express interest in acquiring a franchise within the last two years. Cincinnati, Hamilton, Kansas City, Omaha, Quebec City, and Saskatoon continue as speculative destinations for a further round of expansion – it’s difficult to imagine some combination of Atlanta, Houston, and Phoenix comprising teams 33 and 34.

The only professional team to carry a New Orleans moniker was the ECHL’s New Orleans Brass, who were briefly affiliated with the Sharks and spent five years in the league from 1997-98 to 2001-02. They were the first tenant of what’s now called the Smoothie King Center, home to the NBA’s New Orleans Pelicans, but were forced to fold when the city demanded them to shoulder the costs of converting the arena to a basketball configuration. The building held a capacity of 16,900 when configured for hockey.

The Baton Rouge Zydeco of the FPHL, two levels of play below the ECHL, is the only professional hockey team currently operational in Louisiana. They’re in just their second season of play.

Canadiens Activate, Reassign David Reinbacher

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The Canadiens have assigned top defense prospect David Reinbacher to AHL Laval, per a team announcement. Reinbacher had spent the first four and a half months of the season on the non-roster list after undergoing left knee surgery on Oct. 1 but will now get his campaign underway in the minors.

Reinbacher, 20, was selected fifth overall in the 2023 draft. He signed his entry-level contract a week later but was loaned back to Switzerland’s EHC Kloten for most of the 2023-24 regular season. This year was set to be his first full-time in North America, but a knee injury sustained in a preseason contest against the Maple Leafs trashed most of his campaign.

The 6’2″, 194-lb righty looked good to close out last season in Laval. He suited up 11 times down the stretch in the AHL after his Swiss National League season ended, scoring two goals and three assists with a plus-six rating. On a high note, he also began the 2024-25 campaign with two assists in three games for Austria at the final Olympic qualification tournament, although they didn’t make the cut.

Reinbacher exploded in his draft year, scoring 3-19–22 in 46 games with Kloten and earning a plus-seven rating, but a disastrous campaign for the club in 2023-24 saw his totals step back to 1-10–11 in 35 games and a -15 rating. The Canadiens and most others were willing to write that off as an outlier, especially considering his finish to the season after coming across the Atlantic.

There’s no roster math involved for the Habs with this move, as Reinbacher didn’t count toward their 23-player limit or the salary cap. He’ll now get a look at top-four usage in Laval before a potential late-season call-up to Montreal.

Latest On The Blues’ Deadline Plans

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The Blues’ reported openness to dealing away captain Brayden Schenn has made the team one of the more intriguing clubs to watch leading up to the trade deadline on March 7. The Fourth Period’s David Pagnotta noted this morning that St. Louis was one of the most active teams in trade conversations during the 4 Nations break and has also begun to receive calls on core forwards Pavel Buchnevich and Jordan Kyrou. Pagnotta adds the former’s reported availability “had a trickle effect” on additional talks, but more teams have expressed firm interest in Schenn than the others as they’ve had more time to marinate.

While Schenn has been seen as a speculative fit for a few teams, namely the Avalanche, there hasn’t been any mention yet of a team demonstrating clear interest. That changes with Pagnotta’s report, as he notes the Golden Knights are one of “several” teams that have contacted St. Louis general manager Doug Armstrong about a Schenn trade:

[The Golden Knights] have cap space. Obviously, Shea Theodore is out. We had heard the initial prognosis was six-to-eight weeks, which would take them right towards the end of the season. So, we’ll see kind of where that goes. But (Schenn’s) on their radar and a few other teams, as well.

How high the Blues set the asking price for Schenn remains to be seen. It’s been a seller’s market thus far, but Schenn has a full no-trade clause and carries a $6.5MM cap hit that’s already a tad steep for what he’s provided offensively over the last two seasons. Considering he’s 33 years old and signed through the 2027-28 campaign, there won’t be an oversized list of teams willing to take on that contract.

St. Louis does have all three of its salary retention slots available. Still, there’s an inherent risk of limiting their retention availability for that many seasons if the Blues endure a longer retool or rebuild than expected. If someone steps up for them, they certainly won’t be keeping any money on Buchnevich or Kyrou, both signed through the 2030-31 season.

It stands to reason that Kyrou would land the most significant return of the trio. He’s the youngest at age 26 and leads the team in scoring with 23-21–44 through 56 games. He’s tied his career-best +10 rating, and while his offensive production is his worst per-game basis in four years, he boasts more substantial possession impacts than in the past and has added a bit more physicality to his game with a career-high 31 hits. An $8.125MM cap hit may stand as a small overpay at present but checks in at market value once the salary cap begins its meteoric rise next season, assuming his current 64-pace is where he bottoms out. He’s averaged 33 goals and 73 points per 82 games since his breakout 2021-22 campaign.

Buchnevich put pen to paper on a six-year, $48MM extension one day after becoming eligible to sign one last summer, but his production has continued to slide after back-to-back seasons above a point per game in 2021-22 and 2022-23. His totals dropped to 63 points in 80 games last year, and he’s only pace for 52 points over an 82-game schedule in 2024-25 with 11-23–34 through 54 appearances. His minus-two rating is his worst since arriving in St. Louis four years ago, as is his 11.1% shooting rate. With so much term attached at an $8MM annual commitment, a Buchnevich trade will likely need to wait until the summer at the earliest for teams to gauge whether the chance at a resurgence is worth the risk of him plateauing at 50-65 points per season.

Utah To Activate Sean Durzi From Injured Reserve

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Utah is set to activate right-shot defender Sean Durzi from injured reserve before Saturday’s game against the Kings, head coach André Tourigny told reporters (including Brogan Houston of Deseret News) yesterday evening. Utah’s active roster currently has a maximum of 23 players, so they must make a corresponding move before activating him.

Durzi, 26, made it four games into the 2024-25 season before requiring right shoulder surgery in October. He was fresh off a career-best 32-assist, 41-point year with the Coyotes that led to a four-year, $24MM extension from Utah one day before he was set to reach restricted free agency last offseason.

He’ll return to the lineup after a four-month absence against his former team. Durzi skated his first two NHL seasons in Los Angeles, who acquired his signing rights from the Maple Leafs in the 2019 Jake Muzzin trade. He immediately solidified himself as a top-four option after making his NHL debut in 2021, averaging 19:42 over 136 games with the Kings and recording a 12-53–65 scoring line with a -21 rating. While he was already their secondary power-play option behind Drew Doughty and still had room to grow, younger names in the pool, like Brandt Clarke and Jordan Spence, made him expendable. Halfway through a two-year, $3.4MM bridge deal with the Kings, L.A. traded him to Arizona in the 2023 offseason for a second-round pick.

It was a prudent move for the now-Utah-based franchise. Durzi was the Coyotes’ bona fide No. 1 defenseman in his lone season in the desert, leading skaters in average ice time with 22:43 and notching 41 points in 76 games. His defensive impacts exploded, too. His +3.1 expected rating led the team, and his 52.2 CF% at even strength finished second among qualified skaters behind Barrett Hayton. Established as a genuine top-pairing threat, Utah general manager Bill Armstrong got him some help on the trade market last offseason by picking up top-four stalwarts Mikhail Sergachev and John Marino.

Utah will have all three of those names in the lineup for the first time this season on Saturday. Marino didn’t make his season debut until mid-January after undergoing back surgery at the same time as Durzi. The former will hold down top-pairing duties alongside Sergachev. At the same time, Durzi will be eased back into the lineup in a third-pairing role alongside presumably Olli Määttä, Houston relayed from yesterday’s practice.

Durzi had two assists and a plus-two rating through his first four games in Utah before a hit from Devils defenseman Jonas Siegenthaler put his season on pause. Utah is six points behind the Canucks for a wild-card spot and stands as a conservative seller on deadline day as things stand. Still, a fully healthy defense with another offensive weapon in Durzi could fuel a hot streak to put them back in the postseason conversation. The Western Conference’s mediocre depth means Utah only has Vancouver and the Flames to jump for a wild card spot, so their playoff chances still check in at 15.8%, according to MoneyPuck. Those could jump to north of 20% with a regulation win against Los Angeles.

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