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Jets Place Nikolaj Ehlers On IR, Recall Brad Lambert

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The Jets announced Tuesday that they’ve placed winger Nikolaj Ehlers on injured reserve retroactive to Nov. 29 with his lower-body injury. His roster spot is going to forward prospect Brad Lambert, who was recalled from AHL Manitoba in a corresponding move.

Ehlers has already missed one game with the issue. The IR placement rules him out for the next two games, but he’s eligible to return Saturday against the Blackhawks. He remains day-to-day and hasn’t been ruled out past the minimum requirements for injured reserve.

It puts a damper on what’s been an electric start to the season for the pending unrestricted free agent. Ehlers is third on the jets in scoring with 25 points (9 G, 16 A) in 24 games and is on pace to crack the point-per-game mark for the first time in his career after narrowly failing to do so in 2020-21.

The 28-year-old Dane is doing so despite averaging only 15:33 per game, a story similar to those of years past. He’s tied with the Stars’ Mason Marchment for most points per game (1.04) among skaters averaging fewer than 16 minutes per night.

Nonetheless, the 2014 first-rounder remains without an extension in the final year of his seven-year, $42MM deal signed back in 2017. Ehlers is seventh in Jets/Thrashers franchise history with 629 games played, sixth with 210 goals, sixth with 482 points, and first with a +97 rating.

He’s been skating on Winnipeg’s second line with Vladislav Namestnikov and Cole Perfetti, and Lambert may fill his top-six role tonight against the Blues. The 20-year-old, who the Jets selected 30th overall in 2022, is second on Manitoba in scoring with three goals and eight assists for 11 points in 16 games.

Lambert, the nephew of former Islanders head coach and current Leafs assistant Lane Lambert, recorded an assist in his NHL debut last season against the Canucks. Otherwise, he has 69 points in 94 games for Manitoba since Winnipeg brought him to North America in 2022.

Canadiens Activate Patrik Laine From Long-Term Injured Reserve

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The Canadiens announced they’ve activated winger Patrik Laine from long-term injured reserve ahead of Tuesday’s game against the Islanders. He’ll make his Montreal debut after sustaining a left knee sprain during the preseason.

Montreal had a pair of open roster spots, but they’re $317.5K short of having ample space to remove his $8.7MM cap hit from LTIR. Without a corresponding move, that suggests the Habs have transferred goaltender Carey Price’s contract from IR to LTIR to keep them compliant for the time being.

Laine’s Canadiens regular-season debut comes earlier than most expected after receiving a knee-on-knee hit from Cédric Paré in an exhibition game against the Maple Leafs in late September. Subsequent imaging revealed a sprain but no structural damage, easily the best-case scenario. The team issued a two-to-three-month return timeline for Laine, a window he entered a few days ago.

The 26-year-old Finn will skate in a second-line role at left wing alongside Kirby Dach and Juraj Slafkovsky, reports Kenzie Lalonde of TSN. It’s unclear how much his minutes will be restricted in his first NHL contest in 355 days.

Montreal acquired Laine from the Blue Jackets in a long-awaited move out of Columbus in August. They parted ways with defenseman Jordan Harris but received a 2026 second-round pick to take on the last two seasons of the oft-injured winger’s four-year, $34.8MM contract without any salary retention.

Laine’s 2023-24 campaign was truncated at the 18-game mark due to a collarbone fracture and subsequent lengthy stay in the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program. It marked the fifth straight season in which the 2016 second-overall pick missed at least 10 games due to injury after missing just nine total games combined in the first three seasons of his NHL career.

While the high-ceiling sniper hasn’t hit 30 goals since the 2018-19 campaign, he produced a 34-goal, 74-point clip per 82 games over his three full seasons as a Jacket. He’s a major offensive boost to a Canadiens team in the bottom half of the league at 2.83 goals per game.

Laine enters the lineup for sophomore Joshua Roy, who was reassigned to AHL Laval last night. Enforcer Michael Pezzetta is expected to be a healthy scratch against the Isles for the 16th straight game.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Central Notes: Montgomery, Jiříček, Hall

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Clear communication and detailed feedback are the early hallmarks of Jim Montgomery’s tenure as Blues head coach, multiple players told Jeremy Rutherford of The Athletic. They’ve yet to lose in regulation since signing the ex-Bruins bench boss to a five-year contract and relieving Drew Bannister of his duties, going 2-0-1 since the change.

Among the players praising Montgomery early on was captain Brayden Schenn, who said Montgomery had garnered a “tremendous amount of respect” from both the team’s veterans and up-and-comers. It’s not Montgomery’s first go-around with a good portion of the roster – the 2023 Jack Adams Award winner served as an assistant for the Blues in the 2020-21 and 2021-22 campaigns.

There’s still significant room for improvement if the 11-12-2 Blues want to sneak into a playoff spot. While they’ve outscored opponents 10-5 so far under Montgomery, they’ve been outshot slightly 92-91 in all situations and only control 44.2% of shot attempts at even strength.

“He’s not afraid to talk on the bench, and he’s quick on feedback, and I really like that from him,” sophomore forward Zachary Bolduc said. “It happened in New York and in New Jersey, too. I love getting feedback — good or bad. It’s always great to get during the game.”

More from the Central Division:

  • The Wild are dealing with an injury to stalwart defender Jonas Brodin, which should provide more opportunity than otherwise expected for new trade pickup David Jiříček out of the gate. Head coach John Hynes told Michael Russo of The Athletic that Minnesota will be patient with the 21-year-old as he makes the adjustment from Columbus to Minnesota but that they’ll lean on the puck-moving elements of his game and give him some power-play reps, likely bumping Declan Chisholm off the man-advantage units.
  • Blackhawks veteran Taylor Hall reaffirmed his desire to see through Chicago’s rebuild in a recent sitdown with Mark Lazerus of The Athletic. The pending unrestricted free agent said that he’d “like to stick around here and be a part of making this thing grow” but fully recognizes the possibility he’ll be on the move by deadline day to help the Blackhawks add some additional futures to their system. Injuries have significantly hamstrung the 33-year-old since Chicago acquired him from the Bruins in the summer of 2023, limiting him to seven goals and 14 points in 34 appearances while sticking in a middle-six role,

Senators Recall Nikolas Matinpalo

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The Senators announced they’ve recalled right-shot defenseman Nikolas Matinpalo from AHL Belleville. He’ll serve as Ottawa’s extra defender for the time being while lefty Donovan Sebrango, whom they summoned last week before scratching him for three straight games, returned to the minors in a corresponding move.

Matinpalo has four career NHL games, all coming in an Ottawa uniform last season. The Sens signed the 26-year-old Finn as an undrafted free agent from Liiga’s Ässät in 2023, playing him mostly with Belleville since.

A defensive-minded blue liner with good size at 6’3″ and 212 lbs, Matinpalo averaged just seven minutes per game across last year’s early-season call-up. He recorded a +1 rating, two shots, two blocks, and four hits while controlling 53.6% of shot attempts at even strength, but he’s still looking for his first NHL point.

In 84 games for the B-Sens since the beginning of last season, Matinpalo has six goals and 14 assists for 20 points with a +13 rating. He signed a one-year, two-way extension in June, shortly before his one-year entry-level agreement was set to expire.

Meanwhile, Sebrango’s first NHL recall ends without incident. The 22-year-old, whom Ottawa acquired from the Red Wings in 2023’s Alex DeBrincat trade, is on pace for the best season of his five-year professional career with six points in 14 games for Belleville this year.

Sebrango, a third-round pick of Detroit in 2020, is set to be a restricted free agent next summer. The 6’1″, 220-lb lefty will likely stay out of NHL action until an injury affects one of the Sens’ other lefties – with their injury-related absence being righty Artem Zub, it made sense to swap Sebrango for Matinpalo on the active roster. Matinpalo will require waivers to return to Belleville if he remains on Ottawa’s roster for over 30 days or plays 10 or more games.

West Notes: Stone, Skinner, Ingram, Daccord, Yager

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The Golden Knights could be getting their top winger back relatively soon.  Danny Webster of the Las Vegas Review-Journal relays (Twitter link) that Mark Stone took part in practice today in a non-contact jersey.  The 32-year-old got off to his best offensive start, recording six goals and 15 assists in the first 13 games of the season before suffering a lower-body injury that has kept him out of the lineup for the last three weeks.  Stone is only on regular injured reserve, not LTIR so he doesn’t have to miss at least 10 games before being activated; he can be re-added to the roster as soon as he gets the green light from team doctors.

More from the Western Conference:

  • The NHL announced that Oilers winger Jeff Skinner has been fined $2K for embellishment. It’s the second time he has been flagged for that this season with the first only drawing a warning.  The 32-year-old has struggled in his first year with Edmonton, notching just four goals and four assists in 24 games while averaging just 13:38 per game, a career-low ATOI.
  • Utah Hockey Club netminder Connor Ingram is not close to returning to the lineup, head coach Andre Tourigny told reporters including Cole Bagley of KSL Sports (Twitter link). The reigning Masterton Trophy winner had a rocky start to his season, posting a 3.61 GAA with a .871 SV%, a 36-point drop in that category compared to 2023-24.  Ingram sustained an upper-body injury last month and was only ruled out for their road trip at that time but clearly, he’ll be out for a while yet.
  • While Kraken goaltender Joey Daccord was a speculative candidate to make Canada’s roster for the 4 Nations Cup since he holds Canadian citizenship, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported over the weekend that this is not the case. Daccord does not have a Canadian passport which is one of the eligibility criteria for the tournament.  However, it’s expected that he will get one in the near future, making him eligible to be named as a replacement should one of the three netminders named on Wednesday get injured leading up to the event.  Regardless of whether he suits up in this event, he remains eligible to play for Canada, the United States, and Switzerland internationally.
  • Jets prospect Brayden Yager is on the move in the WHL. Lethbridge announced that they’ve acquired the center as part of a five-player, six-pick trade with Moose Jaw.  The 19-year-old was drafted 14th overall by Pittsburgh in 2023 and was flipped to Winnipeg in the Rutger McGroarty trade over the offseason.  Yager had 30 points in 21 games prior to the swap and projects to be an impact player for Canada at the upcoming World Juniors.

Avalanche Place Ross Colton On LTIR, Recall Four From AHL

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The Avalanche made a series of roster moves today as they continue their trend of making close to daily transactions.  PuckPedia notes (Twitter link) that forward Ross Colton has been placed on LTIR.  With the extra cap space, the team announced (Twitter link) that forwards Chris Wagner, Ivan Ivan, Nikita Prishchepov, and defenseman Keaton Middleton were all recalled from AHL Colorado.

While Colton’s LTIR placement might imply that he’s not close to returning, that isn’t the case.  Evan Rawal of Colorado Hockey Now relays (Twitter link) that the 28-year-old will accompany the team on its five-game road trip and that when he does return, he’ll start on the wing even though he’s a natural center.  What the placement does is open up one extra roster spot, allowing them to have a bit more depth on their roster heading into the start of that trip.

Colton got off to a particularly strong start for the Avs this season, tallying eight goals and an assist while averaging 18:38 per game, well above his career average of under 13 minutes a night.  However, he suffered a foot injury in late October and only resumed skating recently.

The three forwards have been shuffled back and forth on a frequent basis this season in an effort to bank cap space and were papered down to the minors on Sunday.  Ivan has been the most successful by far, tallying five goals and three assists while playing in all 25 games.  Meanwhile, Wagner has a goal in 14 outings while Prishchepov, a seventh-round pick back in June, has been held off the scoresheet in his first seven career NHL appearances.

As for Middleton, it’s his first NHL recall since 2021 when he got into three games with the Avalanche.  Since then, the 26-year-old has played exclusively in the minors with the Eagles.  After putting up 15 points and 136 penalty minutes in 71 games last season, Middleton has four assists and 11 penalty minutes in 17 AHL appearances in 2024-25.  He’ll be eligible for unrestricted free agency next summer.

Maple Leafs Have Discussed Contract Extension With John Tavares

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The Maple Leafs have two prominent pending unrestricted free agent forwards in winger Mitch Marner and center John Tavares.  While it appears that there haven’t been many discussions with Marner, Chris Johnston of The Athletic reported in a recent TSN Insider Trading segment that Toronto has engaged in talks with Tavares though obviously, the two sides aren’t in agreement on a new deal just yet.

Tavares signed a seven-year, $77MM contract with his hometown team back in 2018 and while the $11MM price tag was among the league leaders at the time, the 34-year-old has delivered.  Tavares has three seasons of at least 76 points over that span and overall, has 440 points in 462 games with the Maple Leafs.  That 0.952 points-per-game average is actually slightly better than the 0.928 he put up with the Islanders.  His playoff performance hasn’t been as strong, however, as Tavares has collected 24 points in 38 postseason outings with Toronto.

But while Tavares has produced at or near the level of a top-line center for the majority of his time with Toronto, it’s also fair to assume it’s unlikely this will be the case much longer; he’ll be entering his age-35 season in 2025-26.  While he could still put up above-average production for a little while longer, he’s certainly not going to be able to command $11MM on the open market at this stage of his career.  Accordingly, a drop in pay is a near certainty.

How much of one is the big question.  At this point, he’s still producing as a top-six forward at a minimum so it’s not as if Toronto can conceivably ask him to cut that price tag in half (or by even more) even though, as Johnston noted, Tavares has made it clear he doesn’t want to test free agency and wants to remain with the Maple Leafs.  His value on the open market might still be in the $7MM to $8MM range if he were to actually make it there.

One way around that might be to utilize deferred compensation.  Carolina utilized that with a pair of contracts over the summer while the Maple Leafs also took advantage of it on the recent Jake McCabe extension.  Using deferred salary would allow the cap hit to go a bit lower while still giving Tavares’ camp the total compensation it might be seeking.  How long he’d have to wait for that deferred salary would ultimately dictate how much cap savings Toronto could receive.

At his age, it’s quite possible that this is the final contract that Tavares receives so there is a bit of incentive to consider deferred salary when he’d be in a lower tax bracket and potentially a jurisdiction with lower tax rates.  We’ll see in the coming weeks if that’s enough to bridge the current gap between the two sides to keep Tavares in Toronto a little longer.

Hurricanes Recall Riley Stillman, Assign Yaniv Perets To AHL

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The Hurricanes have made a pair of roster moves leading up to Tuesday’s game against Seattle.  The team announced that they’ve recalled defenseman Riley Stillman from AHL Chicago while they returned goaltender Yaniv Perets to the Wolves.

Stillman signed a one-year, two-way deal with Carolina early in free agency back in the summer.  However, the 26-year-old suffered a lower-body injury in training camp that kept him out of the lineup for the first 14 games of the season.  He was waived upon being cleared to return and has gotten into six games with Chicago since then, picking up a pair of assists.

Stillman has 158 career NHL appearances to his name so far between four different organizations.  Over that stretch, he has 26 points, 197 blocks, and 318 hits while averaging a little under 16 minutes a night.  However, he didn’t see any NHL action last season, instead playing exclusively with AHL Rochester where he had six points and 49 penalty minutes in 47 games before being non-tendered by Buffalo in June.

As for Perets, he served as Carolina’s backup in recent days with Frederik Andersen and Pyotr Kochetkov both banged up.  However, the team is hopeful that Kochetkov can return against the Kraken, allowing him and Spencer Martin to be the tandem.  Perets stopped six of seven shots in relief on Saturday for his first NHL appearance of the season.  He has a 3.67 GAA and a .825 SV% in three games with the Wolves so far this year.

Canadiens Assign Joshua Roy To Laval

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A week after recalling him, Joshua Roy is back in the minors.  The Canadiens announced on Monday that the winger has been re-assigned to AHL Laval.

The 21-year-old played in 23 games with Montreal last season, notching nine points in that stretch which had him as a presumptive favorite to land a roster spot coming out of training camp.  However, Roy struggled in the preseason, resulting in him being one of the final cuts in October.

Roy got off to a nice start with the Rocket this season, tallying eight goals and eight assists in 17 games to earn a recall to the big club.  But the offensive success didn’t follow him to the Canadiens as he was held off the scoresheet in four appearances with Montreal while he was limited to just under 11 minutes of action per game.

With the assignment, the Canadiens now have two open roster spots and are only carrying the minimum number of forwards.  However, Roy’s re-assignment could signal that Patrik Laine is ready to return to the lineup.  He sustained a knee injury during the preseason and while he was able to avoid surgery, he has missed the better part of two months rehabbing from it and it appears as if he may be in line to make his Montreal debut on Tuesday.

Flyers Notes: Konecny, Sanheim, Grans, Ersson

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There are only two days until rosters are announced for the 4 Nations Face-Off but we may already have a sneak peek at a couple of players that will play for Team Canada. According to Anthony Di Marco of Daily Faceoff, Philadelphia Flyers’ players Travis Konecny and Travis Sanheim will be named to Canada’s roster.

Konecny would be an unsurprising addition to Team Canada. He’s been a point-per-game player for the Flyers over the last three years with 77 goals and 159 points in 161 games and has represented Canada well in the past. Konecny tallied eight assists in 10 games during the 2017 IIHF World Championships and two points in five games for Team Canada’s U20 team during the 2016 IIHF World Junior Championships.

Sanheim’s inclusion on the roster would be an interesting development. Along with increased ice time, his scoring has increased over the last two years but Sanheim’s name typically isn’t mentioned with the top Canadian defenseman. He hasn’t suited up for Team Canada since the 2022 IIHF World Championships when he scored one goal and four points in 10 tournament games.

Other Flyers notes:

  • The Flyers organization announced a small roster move earlier today by loaning defenseman Helge Grans back to their AHL affiliate, the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. Grans’ demotion could correlate with the return of defenseman Jamie Drysdale or the team may not feel the need to carry eight defensemen on the active roster. The Ljungby, Sweden native tallied one assist over six games with Philadelphia averaging 14:28 of ice time per game.
  • Philadelphia is nearing the reality of a full goaltending trio as Jackie Spiegel of The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that goaltender Samuel Ersson was a full participant at today’s practice. Ersson hasn’t played since November 11th due to a lower-body injury. Still, over 11 games with the Flyers this year, he’s managed a 5-2-2 record with a .902 save percentage and 2.70 goals against average.

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