Headlines

Go To MLB Trade Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Afternoon Notes: Seguin, Orlov, Hutson, Ostman

at CDT | by 1 Comment

The Dallas Stars may take inspiration from their Central Division rival, the Colorado Avalanche, when it comes to easing a star player back into the lineup. Head coach Pete DeBoer shared that the team is deciding whether or not to place winger Tyler Seguin on an AHL conditioning loan as he eases his way back from a hip injury, per Sam Nestler of DLLS Sports. Seguin has missed Dallas’ last 55 games with injury. He is expected to be back to full health in time for the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, but may not be up to full speed in time to contribute to must-win games. Colorado recently assigned team captain Gabriel Landeskog to an AHL conditioning loan. Neither Seguin nor Landeskog have played any AHL games in their careers.

Seguin was a major piece of the Stars lineup at the beginning of the season. He scored nine goals and 20 points in 19 games to start the year, good for third on the team in points and fourth in goals at the time of his injury. It was an offensive explosion for Seguin, who has struggled to cross the 50-point mark in each of his last four healthy seasons. Regardless of a minor-league conditioning stint, Seguin will soon return to a very different Stars lineup – with feisty youngster Logan Stankoven replaced by high-upside veterans Mikko Rantanen and Mikael Granlund. Adding another flashy winger to that mix could make Dallas a sneaky favorite to win games this postseason.

Other notes from around the league:

  • Carolina Hurricanes defenseman Dmitry Orlov is set to hit unrestricted free agency this season, and seems unlikely to receive a confident extension from the cap-strapped Hurricanes. Speculation has connected Orlov to his native KHL for much of the season, but Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman dispelled those rumors in his recent 32 Thoughts article. Orlov is instead expected to stick in the NHL, where he’ll no doubt get plenty of attention from needy teams this summer. Orlov fills a premium, well-rounded role in Carolina. He has scored six goals and 26 points in 71 games this season, averages 20 minutes of ice time each game, and leads the Hurricanes defense with 97 hits. Those marks fall closely in line with how Orlov has performed throughout his 13-year career in the NHL – maintaining the role of well-rounded bruiser through tenures with the Washington Capitals and Boston Bruins. Orlov signed a two-year contract with Carolina in the summer of 2023 – his first time entering unrestricted free agency.
  • Friedman also reported that there’s plenty of Western Conference interest in Boston University forward Quinn Hutson, with the end of his collegiate career in sight. Hutson has been a major contributor to the Terriers offense over the last three seasons. His scoring has improved in every year – growing from 28 points, to 36, and to 50 this year. Those improvements have been coupled with clear growth in his game. He’s become a stronger skater and more confident in finding space in the middle of the ice. Those improvements – and his scoring track record – lend themselves to clear pro upside. Hutson, who had a late start to his juniors career, went undrafted through the 2020, 2021, and 2022 NHL drafts. With this news, a team could soon reverse their mistake in looking past him and award the third of four Hutson brothers with his pro hockey debut.
  • Finally, the Seattle Kraken have reassigned goaltender Victor Ostman to the minor leagues. Ostman made his NHL debut in relief of Joey Daccord on Tuesday, after the latter allowed seven goals on 22 shots through the first two periods. Ostman saved all 12 of the shots he faced in relief. The 24-year-old netminder is playing through his first season of professional hockey, after spending the last four years at the University of Maine. He’s spent the bulk of the year in the ECHL, where he’s recorded a 21-7-4 record and .903 save percentage in 32 games. Ostman has also contributed a stout 2-1-1 record and .927 save percentage in four AHL games this season. He will head back to the AHL with this move, and could get a chance at plenty more ice time with a clean sheet in the NHL under his belt.

Oilers Expecting Healthy Lineup For Playoffs

at CDT | by 1 Comment

A laundry list of injuries has pulled the end of the Edmonton Oilers season into disarray. The bunch of inactive Oilers is led by superstars Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid, who has missed the team’s last two and eight games respectively. They’re joined by a seemingly endless list of impactful Oilers on the sideline – including starting goaltender Stuart Skinner (six missed games), top-four defensemen John Klingberg (five games) and Mattias Ekholm (six games), and freshly-injured top-six centerman Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. On top of that, Edmonton has only received one game out of Trade Deadline acquisition Trent Frederic, and continues to grapple with uncertainty around Evander Kane.

But with so much to bear through, Edmonton isn’t expecting the injuries to carry into the postseason. Head coach Kris Knoblauch shared in a Wednesday press conference that he expects to get “everybody” back from injury before the end of the season. He further specified that McDavid and Draisaitl will remain out on a day-to-day basis, up to a week. That timeframe puts the pair of superstars on track to return just ahead of Edmonton’s final games of the regular season, which take place on Monday April 14th and Wednesday April 16th.

The Oilers haven’t technically clinched a playoff spot just yet – but with a six-point advantage over the rest of the Pacific Division, a locked-in spot is a matter of when not if. That will make their half-strength run through the end of the season a bit easier to withstand, though the Oilers will still be icing an unprecedented lineup on Wednesday night. They’ll be without eight routine NHL players including Kane. That equates to $42.2MM in cap space that will be left on the shelf, as shared by Jason Gregor of Sports 1440.

The decimated Oilers will move forward with rookies Noah Philp and Olivier Rodrigue respectively filling the role of fourth-line center and backup goaltender. Second-year defenseman Ty Emberson will also stick in the Oilers lineup with this news, giving him a chance to continue the search for his first goal of the season. Emberson has 10 assists in 71 games this season, while Philp has recorded two assists in the first 12 games of his NHL career this year. Rodrigue has also played in the first two games of his NHL career this season, and has 25 saves on 29 shots (0.862 save percentage) and a 0-1-0 record.

Together, the trio of young additions will look to push Edmonton past a hard-nosed St. Louis Blues team, fresh off the end of a 12-game win-streak, on Wednesday night. They’ll be rewarded with a lighter game against the San Jose Sharks on Friday, but then close the year with matchups against the top-ranked Winnipeg Jets, playoff competition Los Angeles Kings, and another match against San Jose.

Wild Activate Kirill Kaprizov, Joel Eriksson Ek; Reassign Two

at CDT | by 1 Comment

3:00 PM: Minnesota has made the activation of Kaprizov and Eriksson Ek official. Both players could have a chance to play as soon as Wednesday night’s game against San Jose. To make space for this move, the Wild have reassigned forwards Brendan Gaunce and Devin Shore to the minor leagues. Shore has been a frequent part of Minnesota’s lineup as of late, but has no scoring and a minus-two through his last five games. Gaunce hasn’t been in the lineup since March 25th and recorded his only point of the season – through 12 games – on March 22nd.

8:00 AM: The Wild could activate star winger Kirill Kaprizov and top matchup center Joel Eriksson Ek for tonight’s game against the Sharks “if today’s morning skate goes well,” Michael Russo of The Athletic reports. They won’t require a corresponding move for the latter’s activation, but they will for Kaprizov since his $9MM cap hit is on long-term injured reserve. They’re currently short $1.32MM in space and will need to remove two skaters from their active roster, likely meaning depth forwards Brendan Gaunce and Devin Shore will be on their way down to AHL Iowa.

Minnesota gets key reinforcements at a pivotal time. They’ve fallen behind the Blues and now sit in the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference. The Wild still have a decent cushion, leading the Flames by four points with four games remaining, but Calgary has a game in hand. MoneyPuck still gives them 91% odds of outlasting the Flames and Canucks for the final berth, but having a pair of lineup pillars available undoubtedly boosts that number to a more certain degree.

The Wild have been without Kaprizov, still their third-place scorer, for over half the season. After dominating with 23-27–50 and a +21 rating through his first 34 games, he exited the lineup with a lower-body muscular issue in late December. He returned for three games in January, posting two assists and a minus-two rating, before aggravating the injury and opting for surgery.

That procedure was expected to keep him sidelined for at least four weeks. Instead, he’s been unavailable for over two months as Minnesota slipped from a top-three spot in the Central Division to fighting for their wild-card lives. Since Kaprizov went for his first extended absence around Christmas, the Wild are 21-19-3 while scoring 2.51 goals per game. Through their 35 prior contests, they were 21-10-4 while scoring 2.97 goals per game.

Of course, they’ve also been without the minute-munching Eriksson Ek for a good portion of that time. He’s been limited to 42 showings this season with multiple lower-body injuries, and his current one has kept him out since Feb. 22. The nagging issues have contributed to a down season offensively for Eriksson Ek, whose 0.57 points per game are his worst since the COVID-shortened 2020-21 campaign. They’ll also likely keep him out of the top 10 in Selke Trophy voting for the first time since 2020.

If they’re both fully healthy and the Wild secure a playoff berth, that dramatically changes Minnesota’s outlook. The Wild were one of the league’s best teams in the early going until injury issues derailed their season. They’ve gotten solid goaltending throughout from a resurgent Filip Gustavsson and remain one of the league’s staunchest defensive teams (2.31 xGA/60 per Natural Stat Trick, fifth in the NHL). Special teams, however, remain a significant concern and hinder their chances of an upset, even with Kaprizov and Eriksson Ek healthy. A matchup with the Jets in the first round and their league-best power play could prove futile with Minnesota’s penalty kill operating at just 72.7%, 30th in the league.

Nonetheless, even if one of Kaprizov and Eriksson Ek isn’t quite ready to return tonight, having this discussion now almost certainly ensures they’ll be in the Game 1 lineup for a first-round series. Minnesota hasn’t won a playoff series in the Kaprizov era and has lost seven straight series dating back to their first-round win in 2015.

Rangers Sign Anton Blidh To Two-Year Extension

at CDT | by 1 Comment

The Rangers announced today they’ve agreed to terms with depth winger Anton Blidh on a two-year, two-way extension. PuckPedia reported yesterday the deal carries a league-minimum $775K NHL salary and cap hit with a $350K AHL salary and a $385K guarantee each season.

Blidh’s extension is identical to the two-year, two-way deal he signed to join the Blueshirts as an unrestricted free agent in 2023. The 30-year-old Swede was a sixth-round pick of the Bruins back in 2013 and is now in his 10th professional season in North America. He’s seen AHL action in nine of them, spending all of this year on assignment to AHL Hartford, aside from a brief emergency recall last month that didn’t result in any playing time.

A high-energy, defensively responsible winger, Blidh has 85 NHL games to his name. Seventy of those came with the Bruins, where he played a limited call-up role and appeared in six straight campaigns from 2016-17 to 2021-22. He has 4-8–12 with a -14 rating over his career, which also includes a brief stop with the Avalanche in 2022-23.

He’s never been a big point producer in the minors either, but Blidh has done well as a secondary scorer in Hartford this year while logging heavy shorthanded usage. He’s put together a career-high 17-13–30 scoring line in 66 games, sitting third on the club in scoring alongside 80 PIMs and a plus-one rating.

Blidh was set to be an unrestricted free agent this summer but will now wait until 2027 to test the open market again. He’s a likely candidate to pass through waivers next fall and return to Hartford.

Lightning’s Isaac Howard Returning To Michigan State

at CDT | by 8 Comments

The Lightning will not be signing top prospect Isaac Howard now or this offseason. The 2022 first-round pick plans to return to Michigan State University for his senior season, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports, opening the door for his signing rights to expire in August 2026.

Howard, 21, is coming off an outright dominant junior showing with the Spartans. The 5’11”, 190-lb left winger erupted for 26-26–52 in 37 games, tied for third in the NCAA in goals and sitting alone in fifth place in overall scoring. Most expected him to sign with Tampa after Michigan State was bounced in the national tournament a couple of weeks ago as a result, but there wasn’t much progress. Scott Wheeler of The Athletic relayed that was related to Howard’s desire to join the team immediately and burn a year off his entry-level contract, something the Lightning didn’t and still don’t have the cap space to accommodate.

However those discussions transpired, it’s now clear Howard and the Lightning aren’t quite on the same page regarding his immediate future, Friedman wrote. That will lead to Michigan State unexpectedly keeping their top scorer in the fold next year while he decides whether he still wants to sign with the Bolts. While Tampa could technically lose his signing rights next August and receive a compensatory pick from the league, it’s likelier they’d trade his signing rights for a richer return before things get to that point if he informs the Lightning he won’t sign with them.

The Lightning can ill afford to lose Howard without acquiring a comparable young asset to replace him. He’s ranked as the No. 55 prospect in the league and No. 2 in Tampa’s pipeline behind center Conor Geekie, Wheeler wrote midseason. They’re the only two forwards in the Lightning’s system with legitimate top-six upside.

A top-three finalist for this year’s Hobey Baker Award, any Howard trade would follow a similar framework to last year’s swap of Rutger McGroarty and Brayden Yager between the Jets and Penguins. They’d be getting another team’s top or second-best wing prospect in return. While it’s certainly disappointing to see a divide pop up between Howard and the organization, there’s little reason to think Tampa couldn’t leverage him to acquire a similarly projectable talent.

Image courtesy of Nick King-Lansing State Journal.

Ray Shero Passes Away

at CDT | by 7 Comments

Wild senior advisor and longtime Penguins and Devils general manager Ray Shero has passed away, Minnesota’s public relations department said Wednesday. He was 62 years old.

Shero, a St. Paul native, got his start as a player at St. Lawrence University in upstate New York after attending the New Hampton School in New Hampshire. He played four seasons for the Saints as a center from 1980 to 1985, scoring 58-77–135 in 125 games while serving as captain in his senior season. While drafted by the Kings midway through his collegiate tenure, he never turned pro.

Eight years later, Shero made the NHL in a front-office role. Hired by the Senators as an assistant general manager for the 1993-94 season, their second in franchise history, that move kicked off a lifetime’s worth of executive work at the game’s highest level. The son of Stanley Cup-winning head coach Fred Shero remained in Ottawa until the expansion Predators plucked him to serve in an AGM role in 1998. Working under David Poile in Nashville, the league’s all-time leader in wins overseen by a GM, he got a chance to lead his own staff nearly a decade later when the Penguins named him GM and executive VP of hockey operations ahead of the 2006-07 season.

His task: take a young core in Pittsburgh led by Sidney Crosby, Marc-André Fleury, and Evgeni Malkin to the next level. He accomplished that feat within just two years, swinging a blockbuster deal for star winger Marián Hossa at the 2008 trade deadline to help guide the Pens to the 2008 Stanley Cup Final. While they fell to the Red Wings, they set themselves up for a rematch the year later and emerged victorious. Three years after taking over a team that posted a 22-46-14 record in the season preceding his hiring, Shero was a Stanley Cup champion.

Shero remained in his post through the 2013-14 season, helping the Penguins extend their championship contention window. He was named the league’s General Manager of the Year in the lockout-shortened 2012-13 campaign after helping Pittsburgh capture a regular season conference title and was also an AGM for the United States at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.

While the Pens fired Shero following a first-round elimination in the 2014 playoffs, he emerged a year later with the Devils. They brought him in ahead of the 2015-16 season to replace longtime GM Lou Lamoriello. He immediately began one of the most aggressive retools of the 2010s, signing or trading for names like Taylor Hall, Kyle Palmieri, and P.K. Subban while drafting New Jersey’s current core three forwards in Jesper Bratt, Nico Hischier, and Jack Hughes. He was replaced by current GM Tom Fitzgerald midway through the 2019-20 campaign.

Shero had served as a senior advisor to Wild GM Bill Guerin, who he picked up from the Islanders at the 2009 deadline to help the Pens to a Cup, since the 2021-22 season. “Whenever we ran into each other at a rink when he was scouting, it was clear he loved what he was doing and I always marveled at his infectious enthusiasm,” NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said in a statement. “The entire National Hockey League family mourns his passing and sends our deepest condolences to the Shero family and Ray’s many friends throughout the hockey world.”

All of us at PHR extend our condolences to the Shero family and his numerous friends and colleagues throughout the league.

Image courtesy of Charles LeClaire-USPRESSWIRE.

Senators Considering Shutting Down Nick Jensen For Regular Season

at CDT | by 2 Comments

The Senators are mulling shutting down defenseman Nick Jensen for their final few regular season games after clinching a playoff berth last night, general manager Steve Staios told Bruce Garrioch of Postmedia on Wednesday.

Jensen, 34, is still dealing with the mid-to-lower-body injury that’s cost him small stretches of games since late January. He last sat out a quartet of contests in mid-March but has made nine consecutive appearances since then.

Ottawa acquired the veteran righty last summer in the trade that sent Jakob Chychrun to the Capitals. He’s fit well into his usual second-pairing role, spending the season almost exclusively with Thomas Chabot. The duo has been paired in 68 of Jensen’s 69 appearances as a Senator and has controlled 49.2% of expected goals at 5-on-5 while outscoring opponents 44-36, per MoneyPuck.

Removing Jensen from his top-four spot would force either Travis Hamonic or Nikolas Matinpalo into extended minutes alongside Chabot for Ottawa’s final four games of the season before he presumably returns for Game 1 of the first round. With Matinpalo gelling well with Tyler Kleven on the Sens’ third pairing, it’ll likely be the former. Hamonic has arguably been Ottawa’s worst skater this season, resulting in him spending the last eight games in the press box. He’s posted just 1-5–6 in 56 showings with a team-worst -17 rating.

Jensen’s averaged over 20 minutes per game with the Sens, just the second time in his nine-year career he’s done so. The Minnesota native was a fifth-round pick by the Red Wings back in 2009 but didn’t debut with Detroit until the 2016-17 campaign after years of serving as a farmhand. He’s been a full-time NHLer ever since as a dependable two-way piece. He’s churned out 3-17–20 with a +19 rating this year, the second-highest points per game pace of his career (0.29).

Central Notes: Seguin, Middleton, Wagner

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

Dallas Stars’ head coach Pete DeBoer stated today that alternate captain Tyler Seguin is “close to returning,” per Lia Assimakopoulos of the Dallas News. However, DeBoer added that Seguin has not yet been cleared for full contact.

Seguin’s season was derailed by a left hip injury that occurred in December and required two surgeries. Prior to the injury, the 33-year-old recorded 9 goals and 20 points and a plus-14 rating in 19 games.

Seguin’s eventual return should support Dallas’ Stanley Cup aspirations, especially with the additions of Mikael Granlund and Mikko Rantanen. Seguin, who remains on long term injured reserve, still has two years remaining on his deal with a $9.85MM cap hit. He has recorded 808 points in 988 career games.

With just five games remaining in the regular season, it will be interesting to see if Seguin can return before the playoffs begin. The Stars currently sit second in the Central Division with 105 points.

Elsewhere in the Central:

  • Minnesota Wild defender Jake Middleton didn’t skate at practice today and has been ruled out of tomorrow’s game, per NHL.com reporter Jessi Pierce. Middleton sustained an upper-body injury was hit from behind during last Friday night’s loss to the New York Islanders by forward Bo Horvat and was originally listed as day-to-day. In 66 games on the season, Middleton has recorded eight goals, 20 points, and a plus-12 rating. He has also averaged 21:56 of total ice time per game, recorded 98 hits, and blocked 155 shots. His return will greatly support Minnesota’s hopes to clinch a playoff spot down the stretch. The team currently sits four points ahead of the Flames for the final wild card spot in the west.
  • The Colorado Avalanche have recalled forward Chris Wagner from the AHL, per a team announcement. Wagner, 33, has produced one goal and 51 hits in 24 games for the Avs this season. He has added 19 goals and 31 points in the AHL this season. A veteran of 397-career NHL games, Wagner is in the lineup tonight against the Golden Knights, skating on the fourth line with Jack Drury and Parker Kelly.

Evgeny Kuznetsov’s KHL Contract Terminated

at CDT | by 4 Comments

Ex-NHL staple Evgeny Kuznetsov has mutually terminated his contract with SKA St. Petersburg of the KHL today, per a team announcement. The player and team agreed to part ways despite Kuznetsov signing a four-year deal with the club last summer. He put up 12 goals and 37 points in 39 games and led the team in points-per-game.

His return to Russia came after 11 years in the NHL. As a staple for the Washington Capitals, Kuznetsov put up 568 points for the team in 723 games. He added 73 points in 97 playoff games for Washington, including an incredible 32 points on their way to securing the Stanley Cup in 2018. As recent as the 2021-22 season, “Kuzy” put up nearly a point-per-game (78 points in 79 games). It was a rapid decline from that point on, and last season Washington dumped the last year and a half of his $7.8MM cap-hit contract on the Hurricanes at 50% retention in a deadline deal.

Before being traded to Carolina, Kuznetsov spent time in the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program and was placed on waivers, but no team claimed the full remainder of his contract. After appearing in just 20 games for the Canes, he had his contract terminated and became an unrestricted free agent, setting the stage for his return to his home country.

The news of Kuznetsov’s departure from his most recent contract comes on the same day that ex-teammate Ivan Demidov signed his three-year, entry-level deal with the Montreal Canadiens. Kuznetsov served as a De facto mentor for the young Demidov this season, and it will be interesting to see if he follows his fellow countryman back to North America for the return to the NHL.

At just 32, Kuznetsov may still have more left in the tank, especially after noting to Russian news outlet Sport-Express that he has learned how to better manage his rheumatoid arthritis that impacted his performance last season.

Pro Hockey Rumors is not affiliated with National Hockey League, NHL or NHL.com

Do not Sell or Share My Personal Information

scroll to top