Los Angeles Kings Place Viktor Arvidsson, Gabriel Vilardi In COVID-19 Protocol
The Los Angeles Kings placed forwards Viktor Arvidsson and Gabriel Vilardi in COVID-19 protocol just minutes ahead of puck drop of Sunday’s game against the Buffalo Sabres, per the team’s public relations department.
Arvidsson has had a decent start to his Kings career, scoring two goals and five points in eight games while averaging 18:25 per game, his most in three seasons. He’s posted great possession numbers to begin the season and has been a remarkable complement to the team’s top-six forward group.
Vilardi has just one goal in seven games after a strong rookie season last year, scoring 10 goals and 23 points in 54 games. He’s struggled to play meaningful minutes with the addition of Phillip Danault to the team, averaging just 12:58 per game as compared to 14:45 in 2020-21.
They’re big losses that add to a long list of crucial absences for the Los Angeles Kings, which includes Drew Doughty and Sean Walker on the back end.
Injury Notes: Canadiens, Lightning, Watson
The Montreal Canadiens are facing two big game-time decisions for Sunday’s game against the Anaheim Ducks in defenseman Jeff Petry and forward Brendan Gallagher, as reported by The Athletic’s Arpon Basu. Basu notes that Sami Niku will draw in for Petry if he’s unavailable, while Jake Evans, who’s still not 100 percent in his recovery from an undisclosed injury, would play in place of Gallagher if needed. It’s tough news for an already banged-up team that also lost Mathieu Perreault to injury today for two-to-three weeks. Petry and Gallagher have both had extremely slow starts, as Petry has no points through nine games with Gallagher has just a goal and an assist. It’ll undoubtedly force a lineup shakeup for Sunday’s game.
More injury notes from around the league:
- The status of Tampa Bay Lightning forwards Steven Stamkos and Boris Katchouk is uncertain for Monday night’s game against the Washington Capitals. The Athletic’s Joe Smith reports that Stamkos was absent from practice Sunday, taking a maintenance day, and head coach Jon Cooper is “hopeful” he’ll play Monday night but isn’t certain. Katchouk was hurt in practice Sunday and could be out longer. The 23-year-old forward has gotten into four games this season and is still searching for his first NHL point.
- Ottawa Senators forward Austin Watson is close to returning and could be ready for the team’s game against the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday, per head coach D.J. Smith. Watson hasn’t played this season due to an ankle injury suffered during training camp. The return comes slightly ahead of the four-week timeline issued on October 10th. He could draw into the lineup in place of Logan Shaw, who’s registered no points in seven games while playing just 8:08 per game.
Mathieu Perreault Out Two To Three Weeks With Eye Injury
Montreal Canadiens forward Mathieu Perreault will miss two to three weeks of game action due to an eye injury, per Sportsnet’s Eric Engels.
Canadiens head coach Dominique Ducharme mentions that the injury to Perreault did not occur during the team’s last game against the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday, and Perreault had instead been playing through the injury for some time. Team doctors determined that Perreault would miss the aforementioned time period after a consultation.
Perreault had moved to the center position in recent games as Jake Evans has been absent from the lineup with a day-to-day status, playing between Tyler Toffoli and Cole Caufield. The Quebec native has done well early in his Montreal tenure, scoring four points (including a hat trick) in eight games. That’s tied for fourth in points on the Habs.
The 34-year-old Perreault makes a homecoming to Montreal this season after a 12-season NHL career split between the Washington Capitals, Anaheim Ducks, and mainly, the Winnipeg Jets. Perreault signed a one-year, $950,000 contract with Montreal in late July after a seven-year tenure with Winnipeg.
In Perreault’s absence, the team will likely rely more on Adam Brooks to get into some games after being claimed off waivers prior to the season from the Toronto Maple Leafs.
AHL Shuffle: 10/31/21
There’s a light schedule on this Halloween Sunday, with only five games on the NHL’s docket. Nevertheless, there should be some action on the recall and reassignment front as teams deal with short-term roster absences. We’ll keep track of those moves here.
Atlantic Division
- The Tampa Bay Lightning recalled defenseman Cal Foote from his conditioning stint with the Syracuse Crunch today, per a team release. The 22-year-old, who’s arguably Tampa Bay’s top defense prospect, hasn’t played in the NHL yet this season after undergoing finger surgery during training camp. He’ll likely draw into the lineup on the team’s third pairing with Mikhail Sergachev, letting veteran Andrej Sustr, who’s averaged just 10:48 per game in seven contests, return to the press box or minors.
- According to Florida Hockey Now’s George Richards, the Florida Panthers are re-assigning forward Zac Dalpe and defenseman Chase Priskie to the Charlotte Checkers. Dalpe was recalled just yesterday but was forced into action with Sam Bennett unable to go. Priskie’s shuffled up and down multiple times this season due to him not being waiver-eligible but hasn’t gotten into game action yet with the Panthers.
- The Toronto Maple Leafs returned goalie Michael Hutchinson to the Toronto Marlies yesterday. Petr Mrazek is once again healthy and after playing against the Detroit Red Wings last night, Hutchinson’s emergency recall is now over.
- Forward Jack Studnicka has been returned to Providence by the Boston Bruins, according to the AHL’s transactions page. Studnicka, one of their top forward prospects, has one assist in three games with the big club this season.
Metropolitan Division
- The Pittsburgh Penguins have recalled defenseman Pierre-Olivier Joseph from the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, per the team. The move comes after Marcus Pettersson and Chad Ruhwedel were added to the COVID-19 protocol today. Joseph will likely make his season debut during this call-up after notching five points in 16 games with Pittsburgh last year, his first NHL action.
Central Division
- St. Louis Blues head coach Craig Berube says that the team will recall goalie Joel Hofer from the Springfield Thunderbirds after Ville Husso entered COVID-19 protocol today. The 21-year-old Hofer was a fourth-round selection by the Blues in 2018 and could make his NHL debut this coming week as the team’s next two games fall on back-to-back nights. A WHL and World Junior champion, Hofer’s started strong with a .936 save percentage and 3-0-1 record in Springfield this year.
Pacific Division
- The Anaheim Ducks recalled Sam Carrick from the San Diego Gulls after announcing forward Jakob Silfverberg entered the league’s COVID-19 protocol today, per The Athletic’s Eric Stephens. The news comes after Silfverberg’s mysterious brief disappearance from the Ducks’ public roster yesterday. This is Carrick’s second NHL stint this season, playing 9:51 in his only game with the Ducks in 2021-22.
This page will be updated throughout the day.
Ville Husso Placed In COVID Protocol
The St. Louis Blues didn’t have Ville Husso on the ice at practice this morning, and it’s because he has been added to the COVID protocol. He joins Ryan O’Reilly, who has been unavailable the last several days. Brandon Saad, who had previously been in the protocol, rejoined the team this weekend and was on the ice this morning. Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff tweets that his colleague and former pro goaltender Mike McKenna will strap on the pads again to help out the Blues at practice.
If Husso is a confirmed positive and held out for the next little while, the Blues will need to find a new backup goaltender for their games later this week. The team is off until Wednesday, giving some flexibility for testing, but it seems likely that Charlie Lindgren could be recalled for the first time this season. The 27-year-old Lindgren signed a one-year, two-way contract with the Blues this summer after hitting free agency, and has played in two games for the Springfield Thunderbirds so far.
There have been many players ruled out because of COVID testing this year, but goaltenders, in particular, are obviously a tough situation for any team. This is exactly why some clubs expressed a desire to keep a taxi squad of sorts for that specific position, allowing every team to travel with a third netminder. If the Blues were playing in Los Angeles tonight instead of Wednesday, it may have been difficult to get someone across the country in time–McKenna’s appearance at practice exemplifies that.
Aatu Raty Changes Liiga Teams
A few years ago, Aatu Raty was on track to challenge for the first overall pick in the 2021 NHL draft. That seems insane now, given how far he fell this fall, but it’s true–the young Finnish forward was a hugely touted minor and junior prospect, who made his Liiga debut in 2019-20 and starred at the World Junior Championship despite being the youngest player in the tournament. Unfortunately, the years since haven’t been nearly as successful, stuck at the bottom of the lineup for Karpat and left off last year’s WJC team altogether. Raty ended up going 52nd overall to the New York Islanders, nearly dropping all the way to the third round.
Now, after another brutal start to his Liiga season, with just one point and barely any playing time in six games, Raty is getting a new opportunity. Karpat has officially announced a move that will send Raty (along with Veli-Matti Tiuraniemi) to Jukurit in exchange for Axel Rindell, a Toronto Maple Leafs sixth-round pick.
To be clear, this isn’t a move to a contender for Raty. In fact, Karpat is one of the most consistently powerful teams in Liiga, while Jukurit certainly doesn’t stand in that category. This season, the former is near the top of the table once again, while the latter is struggling to reach a .500 winning percentage. That’s exactly the point though, as Raty should be given a much bigger role in the Jukurit lineup and hopefully will be able to get his development back on track.
The Islanders signed Raty to a three-year entry-level deal in August, but loaned him back overseas after a few preseason appearances. They likely had at least some sort of influence on the move, hoping to get their young forward more playing time. They could technically recall him and put him in the AHL if they felt it was a better option, though current success at that level seems unlikely for the 18-year-old.
Seth Jarvis To Make NHL Debut; Nino Niederreiter Out
Despite putting up 11 points in nine games for the Chicago Wolves of the AHL last season, Carolina Hurricanes forward Seth Jarvis was not eligible to return to the minor leagues this time around. He’s still just 19, and given he didn’t cross the 20-game threshold to secure a one-time AHL exemption like some other prospects, if he failed to make the Hurricanes he would have to return to the Portland Winterhawks of the WHL.
At the end of training camp, the team did not send Jarvis back, but also didn’t put him in the NHL lineup. The Hurricanes have played in seven games (and won them all); Jarvis has played in none.
That will change this afternoon when the young forward enters the lineup for his NHL debut. After Nino Niederreiter suffered a lower-body injury on Friday night, the Hurricanes have confirmed that Jarvis comes in against the Arizona Coyotes. Niederreiter is expected to be out a few weeks with the ankle injury, a big blow for a player that was off to a nice start to the season. With three goals already, the 29-year-old was well on his way to another 20-goal campaign, a level he returned to in 2020-21 after a disappointing performance the year prior.
Selected 13th overall in 2020, Jarvis has already shown he can dominate the junior ranks and has little to prove with the Winterhawks. He even showed he could be an electric presence at the AHL level with seven goals in nine games last season, and was a highlight reel every night in the preseason. Whether that huge offensive upside lends itself to real NHL action right away remains to be seen, but he’ll get a chance this afternoon.
Of note, like with any prospect his age, is that Jarvis’ entry-level contract will not kick in until he plays in ten games this season. Should he hit that threshold, the first year will be burned and he will become a restricted free agent in 2024. If he plays fewer, that RFA summer would become 2025.
Snapshots: Eichel, Campbell, Sillinger
The Jack Eichel saga continues, though things are coming to a head according to several NHL insiders. Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff tweets that the Vegas Golden Knights are “well down the track” in Eichel talks with the Buffalo Sabres, but notes that there are still plenty of moving parts. Kevin Weekes of ESPN adds that the Calgary Flames are with the Golden Knights as potential destinations still, though he too notes that things remain “fluid and complex.”
It is important to remember that there are many factors involved here, including the Sabres’ own cap situation. Eichel is not on long-term injured reserve for Buffalo, and moving him off the cap would put them well below the lower limit. Any potential deal will likely have multiple players coming back, in addition to whatever draft picks are involved.
- The Toronto Maple Leafs locked up Morgan Rielly yesterday, signing him before he got anywhere close to unrestricted free agency next summer. Another one of their pending UFAs, Jack Campbell, is playing very well for the club in the early going and setting himself up for a big payday. According to David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period, there have only been preliminary talks between the Maple Leafs front office and Campbell’s representatives, and that happened before the start of the season. The Maple Leafs of course signed Petr Mrazek to a three-year deal this summer, which carries a $3.8MM cap hit. Mrazek is playing tonight for the club as he returns from injury.
- Cole Sillinger has been great for the Columbus Blue Jackets in the early going, stepping directly into the NHL after being selected 12th overall in this year’s draft. The question now is whether the Blue Jackets will keep him through the ten-game threshold, which would start the clock on his entry-level contract and burn its first year, or send him back to junior where he could dominate for the Medicine Hat Tigers of the WHL. Notably, as Brian Hedger of The Columbus Dispatch points out though, Sillinger is also actually eligible to play in the AHL this season because he spent last year with the USHL instead of playing in the COVID-shortened WHL campaign. Minor league games do not count toward that ten-game threshold, meaning the young forward could spend the year in professional hockey but not burn the first year of his ELC. With seven games played already, the Blue Jackets will have to make a decision on that front soon. One other thing to note for Sillinger is that sometimes, teams focus more on the 40-game threshold instead of ten. At that point, the season not only would burn the first year of his ELC, but it would also count toward Sillinger’s future UFA status.
Florida Panthers’ Sam Bennett Day-To-Day With Upper Body Injury
Florida Panthers reporter Jameson Olive tweets that forward Sam Bennett is out of the lineup Saturday night against the Boston Bruins with an upper-body injury. His status is day-to-day.
In his place, Zac Dalpe, who was recalled today from the Charlotte Checkers, will make his Panthers debut. As corresponding roster moves, Anton Lundell and Joe Thornton have been placed on injured reserve, per the team.
Bennett has flourished after being dealt to the Panthers at the trade deadline last season. Centering the Panthers’ second line between Jonathan Huberdeau and Owen Tippett, Bennett has four goals and three assists in seven games for the undefeated Panthers this year. Combined with his incredible finish to last season, he has 22 points through his first 18 games as a Panther.
If this injury bug persists for Florida, they’ve already built up a five-point cushion on first place in the Atlantic Division. Undefeated through eight games, they’ll rely on their solid forward depth now to keep them at the top of the league.
Minor Transactions: 10/30/21
The NHL’s got a busy schedule today as the Florida Panthers attempt to maintain their undefeated record today on the road against a strong Boston Bruins team. Yet still, there are still many minor moves to keep track of across the AHL and ECHL on this busy Saturday. We’ll keep a record of those right here:
- The AHL’s Henderson Silver Knights have added a pair of forwards to the roster in Lynden McCallum and Colt Conrad, per a team release. McCallum signed a one-year contract after spending five games with the team on a professional tryout contract, impressing with a goal and three assists in those games. Conrad joins the team on a PTO after spending the 2020-21 campaign with the AHL’s Toronto Marlies, scoring four points in 22 games. The Golden Knights organization faces a thin forward group at the NHL level due to injury, which has cost the Silver Knights some players early on that they expected to be important contributors.
- Per a team tweet, the AHL’s Stockton Heat released forward Ryan Francis from his PTO, assigning him to the QMJHL’s Saint John Sea Dogs. Francis went pointless in four games with the Heat before being released from the PTO. A fifth-round pick of the Flames in 2020, Francis was old enough to spend the entire season in the AHL, but the team has decided that his development would be better served with an overage season in the QMJHL.
- The AHL’s Belleville Senators recalled defenseman Xavier Bernard from the ECHL’s Atlanta Gladiators today and signed forward Kameron Kielly to a PTO, per a team tweet. Bernard was a 2018 fourth-round pick of the New Jersey Devils but was never signed and now finds himself in the Senators organization playing his first professional season. He has no points and a +1 rating with the Gladiators this season. Kielly is a 24-year-old entering his second professional season looking to play his first AHL game. He totalled 19 points in 39 ECHL games last season, split between the Allen Americans and Indy Fuel.