Headlines

Go To MLB Trade Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Penguins Activate Bryan Rust, Place Cody Glass On IR

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

The Pittsburgh Penguins will have one forward in the lineup tonight exchanged for another. The organization announced it has activated Bryan Rust off the injured reserve while placing Cody Glass on it.

Rust has been dealing with a lower-body injury for the last little while, and it’s related to the injury that kept him out of the lineup at the beginning of the season. The veteran didn’t make his 2024-25 debut until October 12th and managed three goals and four points in eight contests before re-aggravating the lower-body concern on October 26th.

The Penguins expect Rust to serve in a top-six role this evening and could even rediscover his role on the team’s first line. He’s typically been Sidney Crosby’s linemate, but the team may opt for Rust to play on the second line in light of Evgeni Malkin and Rickard Rakell playing on the captain’s wings.

It’s not all good news on the injury front in Pittsburgh. Glass, who’s nursing an upper-body injury, lands on the injured reserve for the first time this season.

After leaving the contest without a return, Glass was seemingly injured in last night’s game against the Carolina Hurricanes. In his first year with the franchise, he’s played in 14 contests for the Penguins but has only collected four assists while posting a -7 rating.

He’s primarily played in a bottom-six role averaging 11:48 of ice time per game so there shouldn’t be too much roster maneuvering for Pittsburgh. Still, with the team sitting toward the bottom of the Metropolitan Division standings, it’s more insult to injury for Pittsburgh.

Jets Activate, Reassign Jaret Anderson-Dolan

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

In a minor move heading into the weekend, the Winnipeg Jets activated forward Jaret Anderson-Dolan and reassigned him to their AHL affiliate, the Manitoba Moose. Anderson-Dolan signed a two-year, $1.55MM with the Jets on the second day of free agency this past offseason.

Anderson-Dolan landed on the injured reserve shortly before the regular season started due to a broken foot. He featured in three preseason contests for the Jets but failed to find the scoresheet besides posting a +1 rating.

He’ll likely feature as a flex forward in Winnipeg for much of the season. If the last few seasons are any indication, Anderson-Dolan should spend most of his time in the AHL unless there’s an injury at the NHL level.

Aside from a few injuries, Anderson-Dolan suited up for the Los Angeles Kings from 2018-2023 collecting 15 goals and 28 points in 126 games. The Nashville Predators claimed Anderson-Dolan off waivers last season but he only featured in one game.

He’ll now head to a Moose team that’s struggled out of the gates to start the 2024-25 AHL campaign. After qualifying for the Calder Cup playoffs last year as the fifth-ranked team in the Central Division, the Moose have started this year 3-5-0-0 and sit seventh in the division.

Maple Leafs Place Auston Matthews On IR, Activate Connor Dewar

at CDT | by 1 Comment

The Maple Leafs have moved Auston Matthews to injured reserve with his upper-body injury retroactive to Nov. 3, the team announced. They’re using the open spot to reinstate forward Connor Dewar from his LTIR conditioning loan and add him to the active roster.

The IR placement only minimally affects Matthews’ timeline for a return. Head coach Craig Berube already told reporters that the superstar would miss his second straight game tonight against the Red Wings and that he was doubtful for tomorrow’s game against the Canadiens. He’s now been ruled out against Montreal thanks to the move to IR but could return for Tuesday’s matchup against the Senators. He’ll miss at least three games in total with the ailment, which he’s been playing through for a good chunk of the season.

Meanwhile, Dewar was one of two players for the Leafs in the AHL on LTIR conditioning stints. They assigned both he and defenseman Jani Hakanpää to the minors at the beginning of the month as they each got their feet back under them after offseason surgeries – in Dewar’s case, a shoulder procedure. LTIR conditioning stints can only last up to three games or six days, and the time constraint ends today. The lack of news regarding Hakanpää indicates he’s not entirely cleared to return to full-time action and will remain on LTIR for a tad longer.

Matthews’ IR placement buys the Leafs a little bit of time, but they’ll still need to make a roster move when the captain is ready to return next week and another one when Hakanpää is eventually ready to play. They have $1.83MM left in their LTIR pool after today’s transactions with Hakanpää, Calle Järnkrok and Dakota Mermis still on the list.

In his lone appearance on his conditioning stint, Dewar had a goal and an assist in what amounted to his first AHL action since the 2021-22 campaign. Acquired from the Wild at last season’s trade deadline, Dewar had a goal and four assists in 17 games for Toronto down the stretch and avoided arbitration over the summer with a one-year, $1.18MM settlement.

The high-energy 5’10” forward can play both center and wing and was a fixture on the Leafs’ penalty kill to close out 2023-24, averaging nearly two-and-a-half minutes per game shorthanded. He’s projected to serve as a healthy scratch against Detroit tonight while Steven Lorentz, David Kämpf and Ryan Reaves remain in fourth-line roles, but he could get a chance to play against the Habs tomorrow.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Metropolitan Notes: Chychrun, Milano, Sullivan, Stillman

at CDT | by 2 Comments

After fellow first-year Capital Matt Roy returned to action from a lengthy injury absence on Wednesday, Jakob Chychrun is close to following in his footsteps. Chychrun shed his no-contact designation in practice this morning, per NHL.com’s Tom Gulitti, who adds that he’s questionable to come off injured reserve for tonight’s game against the Penguins.

Prior to sustaining an upper-body injury against the Rangers last week, Chychrun had two goals and two assists while averaging 21:14 through Washington’s first seven games, around the average level of production we’ve come to expect from him after some wild year-to-year swings.

It’s a big year for Chychrun, who’s in the final season of the six-year, $27.6MM extension he signed with the Coyotes way back in 2018 and will be an unrestricted free agent next July. The Caps surrendered Nick Jensen and a third-round pick to acquire him from the Senators, who held onto him for just over one season after sending a trio of draft picks to Arizona to acquire him at the 2023 trade deadline. He put up 41 points (14 G, 27 A) from Ottawa’s blue line last season in 82 games, his highest offensive totals in three years. He’d been skating in a top-pairing role in Washington alongside John Carlson, controlling 56.1% of expected goals, per MoneyPuck.

While Washington may get Chychrun back, they’ll be without winger Sonny Milano after he sustained an upper-body injury versus the Predators on Wednesday, head coach Spencer Carbery told Gulitti. Before the injury, Milano had been a healthy scratch in all but three Caps games this season. Jakub Vrána will re-enter the lineup in his place after sitting in favor of Milano for the last two games, while they’ll likely recall a forward from AHL Hershey to have a healthy extra for their one-off road game in St. Louis on Saturday.

Here’s more on the Metropolitan:

  • Almost nothing has gone right this season for the Penguins, who now sit seventh in the Metro with a 5-8-2 record entering tonight’s rivalry matchup with Washington. It’s the second half of a back-to-back for them – they outshot the Hurricanes last night 36-18 but still lost 5-1. “I thought we had a lot of guys who played really hard and didn’t get rewarded for their efforts,” head coach Mike Sullivan said postgame (via Josh Yohe of The Athletic). “But I think there were a few guys that didn’t live up to the expectations. It’s hard. We need everybody to bring it every night to have a chance to win.” Yohe wrote that he’s “never heard him question the effort of individual players in the manner in which he did after this game.“
  • Hurricanes depth defenseman Riley Stillman is “getting close” to being cleared to play after sitting out the first month with a lower-body injury, head coach Rod Brind’Amour told the team’s Walt Ruff. He’ll travel with the club on their upcoming three-game road swing. After spending all of last season in the AHL with the Sabres’ affiliate in Rochester, the 26-year-old inked a two-way deal with the Canes in free agency and could stick around as a seventh defenseman.

Atlantic Notes: Matthews, Pinto, Lyon

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

Maple Leafs center Auston Matthews (upper body) remains unavailable for Friday’s home game versus the Red Wings, as head coach Craig Berube told David Alter of The Hockey News.

Terry Koshan of the Toronto Sun reported earlier today that Matthews did not participate in this morning’s optional skate. Berube added that Matthews’ recovery is “going in the right direction,” although he also remains doubtful for Saturday’s game against the Canadiens as Toronto closes out a back-to-back. In all likelihood, it appears the captain’s absence will last three games and he’ll return Tuesday against the Senators.

A few more injury-related notes from around the Atlantic:

  • Senators center Shane Pinto (undisclosed) could return Saturday in Boston after missing over two weeks, head coach Travis Green told TSN 1200 Ottawa. The club was without No. 1 pivot Tim Stützle in practice today, but that was only due to a black eye he sustained in yesterday’s loss to the Senators and he won’t miss any time. Pinto had a goal and two assists through his first six games of the season before exiting the lineup.
  • Red Wings goaltender Alex Lyon, who was slated to start tonight’s matchup in Toronto, is instead on the shelf with a minor lower-body injury that he sustained in practice Thursday, head coach Derek Lalonde relayed to FanDuel Sports Network Detroit’s Daniella Bruce. His absence explains the recall of Ville Husso from AHL Grand Rapids earlier today under emergency conditions. He’ll back up while Cam Talbot starts his third straight game. Lalonde is “not overly concerned about [Lyon’s injury] being long term,” Bruce said.

Tyler Benson Signs In Sweden

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

Former Oilers left-winger Tyler Benson has found a place to play for 2024-25 after going unsigned for the campaign’s first month. MoDo of the Swedish Hockey League announced they’ve signed the 26-year-old to an agreement for the remainder of the season.

Benson last suited up in the NHL in the 2022-23 campaign. A 2016 second-round pick, he never really caught on in Edmonton despite showing some intriguing offensive upside at the AHL level.

In 38 career appearances, Benson only managed a paltry three points (one goal, two assists) and never got any looks higher up in the lineup, averaging just 8:46 per game. But he was a high-end offensive threat for their AHL affiliate in Bakersfield for several years. The Edmonton native turned heads in his first professional season, impressing with 66 points in 68 games in 2018-19 in his first minor-league go-around after completing his major junior career with the Western Hockey League’s Vancouver Giants. He continued to hover around a point per game with Bakersfield while getting a few NHL call-ups until 2022-23 when he turned out just five goals and 23 points in 43 appearances.

By the time the 2023 offseason rolled around, he had turned 25, and with only those 38 NHL games under his belt, he was eligible for Group VI unrestricted free agency. The Oilers didn’t bring him back, and no other NHL offers came his way. Benson settled for an AHL contract with the Henderson Silver Knights, the Golden Knights’ affiliate. He failed to rediscover his game there, again limited to just five goals with 20 assists for 25 points in 52 games, barely cracking the top 10 in team scoring.

It’s been a sharp fall from grace for Benson over the past couple of seasons, a trend he’ll now look to reverse in Sweden. Regarded as a high-energy playmaker who’s effective on the forecheck when he’s on his game, he joins a MoDo club headlined by ex-Avalanche winger Sampo Ranta. They’re off to a horrid 2-10-1-3 start and appear well on their way to being relegated back to the second-tier HockeyAllsvenskan after being promoted in 2023. However, they hope Benson’s acquisition could help get them out of the basement.

Red Wings Recall Ville Husso Under Emergency Conditions

at CDT | by 10 Comments

The Red Wings announced they’ve recalled Ville Husso from AHL Grand Rapids under emergency conditions. Summoning the netminder indicates that either Alex Lyon or Cam Talbot is at risk of being unavailable for this evening’s game against the Maple Leafs. However, the team hasn’t disclosed who might be out or why.

Husso, 29, started Detroit’s season opener against the Penguins but allowed four goals on 14 shots and was pulled from the game early in the second period. That poor showing put a quick end to the Wings’ brief three-goalie rotation experiment for this season, as he was placed on waivers the following weekend and was subsequently assigned to Grand Rapids.

The Finnish netminder was on a short leash after a tough stretch of play last season. He managed a .893 SV% in 18 appearances to start 2023-24 before sustaining a lower-body injury that put him on the shelf for over a month. After a brief conditioning assignment with Grand Rapids, he attempted to return. However, he allowed a goal on seven shots against the Oilers on Feb. 13 before being pulled from the game with a reaggravation of his injury less than nine minutes in. Husso got another brief AHL conditioning stint at the end of the season but never suited up again for Detroit due to the ailment.

The Red Wings haven’t gotten the level of play out of Husso they anticipated when they acquired his signing rights from the Blues in 2022 and subsequently inked him to a three-year, $14.25MM extension. In 76 appearances for the Wings, he has a 35-28-9 record but has poor numbers to support it with a .894 SV%, 3.25 GAA, four shutouts, and -21.3 GSAA. They’re in the home stretch of that deal, which carries a $4.75MM cap hit ($3.6MM when he’s in the minors) and expires next summer.

If there’s a silver lining, Husso has been lights out in brief action for Grand Rapids this season. He has a .958 SV%, 1.23 GAA, a shutout, and a 2-0-0 record in three appearances.

Pacific Notes: Kraken, Walman, Turcotte, Janmark, Stonehouse

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

With another day off after losing to the Colorado Avalanche on November 5th, the Seattle Kraken have made a few transactions to shore up their cap space. The organization announced they reassigned Cale Fleury, John Hayden, and Ryan Winterton to their AHL affiliate, the Coachella Valley Firebirds, although all three are expected to return tomorrow.

Each of the trio has played in limited action at this point in the regular season as Fleury leads the pack with only two games played. Considering how close the Kraken are to the salary cap limit it’s likely not the last team these three will be papered down to the AHL this year.

On the injury front, Seattle won’t have Philipp Grubauer for the next few days with reports indicating he had an “unfortunate accident” at home (X Link). There weren’t specifics offered for Grubauer’s injury though it’s not expected to be long-term.

It’s not all bad news on the injury front for the Kraken as the team’s radio host Mike Benton shared that defenseman Vince Dunn is expected to begin skating soon. Dunn hasn’t played since October 17th after starting the year with one goal and three points in four games.

Other Pacific notes:

  • Defenseman Jake Walman was surprisingly listed as a healthy scratch for the San Jose Sharks’ most recent game against the Columbus Blue Jackets. However, this may not have been the full story with Max Miller of The Hockey News reporting Walman won’t play tonight due to an upper-body injury. He’s been a bright spot on the Sharks’ roster this season with nine points in 13 games while averaging 22:42 of ice time per game.
  • Los Angeles Kings’ manager of editorial content, Zach Dooley, reported earlier that forward Alex Turcotte will not play tonight due to an upper-body injury. Dooley noted that it’s not a head injury for Turcotte but he will still miss a second straight game. He’s only scored one goal and five points in 13 games this season but he has been one of the Kings’ most formidable players with a team-leading 3.6 E +/- according to Hockey Reference.
  • In more injury news from the Pacific Division, Edmonton Oilers’ reporter Tony Brar shared that Mattias Janmark is considered day-to-day with an undisclosed injury. There won’t be a major shakeup in Edmonton’s roster in Janmark’s absence with the veteran forward averaging under 13 minutes a night on the season.
  • Staying in Edmonton, the organization announced Brady Stonehouse had been activated from the season-opening injured reserve and loaned back to the OHL’s Ottawa 67’s. Stonehouse will begin his fourth season with the 67’s after signing his entry-level contract with the Oilers 13 months ago. In his first three years with OHL Ottawa Stonehouse has collected 75 goals and 136 points in 200 games.

Central Notes: Holloway, Kapanen, Makar, Novak, Sissons, Marchment, Vlasic

at CDT | by 1 Comment

In an impressive feat, St. Louis Blues’ forward Dylan Holloway will return to the lineup tonight after leaving the team’s most recent game after taking a puck to the neck (X Link). He left the game on a stretcher and was taken to an emergency department following the incident.

He’s been a solid addition to the Blues this season, as he’s off to the best scoring pace of his career to start the season. Four goals and six points in 13 games don’t necessarily jump off the page but considering he’s only managed nine points in 2022-23 and 2023-24, it’s a good improvement.

Unfortunately for St. Louis, the team will still be without forward Kasperi Kapanen tonight. Jeremy Rutherford of The Athletic reported the projected lineup for tonight’s game and it didn’t include Kapanan meaning he’s likely still recovering from his upper-body injury.

Other Central notes:

  • Marc Moser of the Colorado Avalanche originally reported earlier that defenseman Cale Makar would be a game-time decision for the team’s contest tonight. As it turns out, Makar is expected to play in tonight’s action. Makar left during the second period of the team’s recent game against the Seattle Kraken but returned for less than a minute in the third period. He’s been the team’s best and arguably the league’s best player this season with five goals and 23 points in 13 games.
  • The Nashville Predators are without a few middle-six forwards tonight as the team announced Thomas Novak is considered day-to-day with an upper-body injury and Colton Sissons has a similar injury designation. The news will inevitably hurt the Predators in one of their least productive areas as their 2.38 GF/G currently ranks 27th in the NHL.
  • Brien Rea of Victory+ reports that Dallas Stars’ forward Mason Marchment is considered day-to-day with an undisclosed injury. This means that Marchment won’t be in the lineup tonight but could make his return this weekend against the Winnipeg Jets. He’s gotten off to a decent start on the year with two goals and eight points in 11 games.
  • Chicago Blackhawks’ defenseman Alex Vlasic had an impressive defensive season last year with a 90.6% on-ice save percentage in all situations on a basement-dwelling Blackhawks roster. Now that he’s recorded seven assists in 14 games this year, Scott Powers and Mark Lazerus of The Athletic share that Vlasic is now getting outside consideration for Team USA’s roster for the 4 Nations Face-Off. He played internationally for the United States this past summer recording two assists in eight games in the 2024 IIHF World Championships.

Atlantic Notes: Matthews, Point, Gadjovich

at CDT | by 7 Comments

Toronto Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews didn’t practice or skate with the team today and is questionable to play this weekend. He’s been battling an upper-body injury for much of the week and didn’t play in the team’s most recent matchup against the Boston Bruins a few days ago.

Jonas Siegel of The Athletic provided a quote about Matthews’ availability earlier from head coach Craig Berube saying, “That’s to be determined still. It’s hard for me to answer that question knowing what I know right now with him today.” The Maple Leafs have back-to-back matchups against Original Six rivals this weekend in the Detroit Red Wings and Montreal Canadiens.

Although Toronto is objectively better with Matthews in the lineup it appears the team is taking a more measured approach to his recovery. The American superstar has five goals and 11 points through 13 games to start the campaign and the Maple Leafs are looking to be safer than sorry with their leader.

Other Atlantic notes:

  • The Tampa Bay Lightning are again without their first-line center Brayden Point this evening as they face off against the Philadelphia Flyers. Erik Erlendsson of Lightning Insider reported earlier that Point is still out with a lower-body injury although he did resume skating this morning. It will be the second straight missed game for Point after starting the season with eight goals and 13 points in 12 contests.
  • Heading southeast to Sunrise, Florida, Colby Guy of the Associated Press confirmed there are no lineup changes for the Florida Panthers tonight meaning forward Jonah Gadjovich won’t return to the ice. Gadjovich hasn’t played since October 17th due to a back injury. The physical bottom-six presence should pick up where he left off before the injury as he’s collected a whopping 26 hits in only six games in the current campaign.

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