Headlines

Go To MLB Trade Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Justin Barron Out Day-To-Day With Upper-Body Injury, No Supplemental Discipline For Jacob Trouba

at CDT | by 10 Comments

After a blowout loss to the New York Rangers last night, the Montreal Canadiens are suffering an additional loss on their blue line. The team announced earlier that defenseman Justin Barron is considered day-to-day with an upper-body injury and is likely to be re-evaluated before the team’s next game against the St. Louis Blues.

Barron’s injury stems from a massive body check delivered by Rangers’ captain Jacob Trouba in the third period of last night’s contest which consequently ended Barron’s evening. The hit (Video Link) came with approximately 13 minutes remaining in the game with New York already holding a three-goal lead. Barron attempted to carry the puck into the offensive zone until he was immediately stopped in his tracks by Trouba.

It’s made clear in the video that Trouba came into contact with Barron’s head as a result of the hit which had a few members of the Canadiens’ organization seeking supplemental discipline for Trouba. Longtime veteran of Montreal, Brendan Gallagher, was publicly discomposed with the lack of penalty called on the play saying, “They had a clean hit on the ice, we have a hit to the head from a player that’s had multiple, multiple warnings. So, whether the league decides to do the right thing, whether he gets another pass, that’s up to them“.

ESPN’s Greg Wyshynski reported earlier that the league’s department of player safety won’t be issuing any supplemental discipline for Trouba. The league interpreted Barron’s chest as the main point of contact with the blow to the head being excused by Rule 48.1 of the NHL’s Official Rules which states: “whether the player attempted to hit squarely through the opponent’s body and the head was not ’picked’ as a result of poor timing, poor angle of approach, or unnecessary extension of the body upward or outward“.

Central Notes: Hall, Lehkonen, Drouin, Perunovich

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

It’s not common for a 10-plus-year NHL veteran to have a strong desire to play for a rebuilding club, especially without having played in a Stanley Cup Final. According to an interview with Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff, the Chicago Blackhawks’ Taylor Hall has different ideas about his future.

If Hall has his way he would be with the Blackhawks’ organization through their rebuild and into their next competitive window. Seravalli quoted Hall as saying, “I’d love to stay and be part of this. I’ve moved around quite a bit, maybe more than I would’ve liked or planned at the start of my career. But it’s brought me and led me to some amazing people, and I’ve had a lot of great life experiences, and that’s made me grow up a lot. In saying that, I like it here, I like the organization. Most of all, I really like this team and the group of guys we have. I think I can be a good piece for us as we keep growing“.

It makes sense for Hall to finally settle down with an organization for the twilight years of his career. The former first-overall pick of the 2010 NHL Draft has played for six organizations throughout his 15-year NHL career five of which coming in the past six seasons. He’s only in his age-33 season meaning he could theoretically be a part of Chicago’s reemergence into contention depending on the pace of their rebuild with phenom Connor Bedard.

Other Central notes:

  •  Evan Rawal of The Denver Gazette shared a few injury updates regarding Colorado Avalanche forwards Artturi Lehkonen and Jonathan Drouin. Lehkonen, who has not played since Colorado’s series-clinching loss to the Dallas Stars in Round Two of the 2024 Stanley Cup playoffs, is continuing to recover from offseason shoulder surgery. He is meeting with doctors once the team returns to Denver later this week and is hopeful he will be cleared. Drouin is working his way back from an upper-body injury and will be re-examined once the team returns from their three-game road trip.
  • According to Lou Korac of The Hockey News, St. Louis Blues defenseman Scott Perunovich is expected to make his season debut tomorrow night. Perunovich is buried on the Blues’ depth chart to start the season thanks to offseason additions Ryan Suter and Pierre-Olivier Joseph. He managed 17 assists last year in St. Louis in 52 games played but there were considerable concerns with his play on the defensive side of the puck. Perunovich may find himself on the waiver wire in the coming days when Nick Leddy is activated so his inclusion in tomorrow’s lineup could be interpreted as an informal tryout.

Blues Place Robert Thomas On Injured Reserve, Activate Oskar Sundqvist

at CDT | by 1 Comment

12:35 p.m.: The Blues have activated Sundqvist off IR, per a team release. That fills Thomas’ vacant roster spot and has the Blues back at the maximum of 23 players. He’ll likely play tomorrow for the first time since sustaining a torn ACL against the Golden Knights in late March.

11:18 a.m.: The Blues have placed center Robert Thomas on injured reserve, per a team release. The star forward sustained a fractured ankle in last night’s loss to the Jets and will be re-evaluated in six weeks.

Thomas left the game in the second period after blocking a shot from Winnipeg’s Neal Pionk. A standard IR placement means he’d be eligible to return on Oct. 29, but he’ll be out until at least Dec. 4. That means Thomas will miss St. Louis’ next 19 games at the very least – nearly a quarter of the regular season.

The 2017 first-round pick has a laundry list of minor injuries throughout his seven-year NHL career, but seldom few have lasted more than a couple of weeks. Only one, a broken left thumb sustained in February 2021, sidelined him for as long as this ankle fracture will.

However, no injuries affected Thomas last season; he played in all 82 games for the first time. Various injuries and illnesses cost him nine games in 2022-23, and he’s also had a pair of semi-serious shoulder injuries in the past few years. But he’s still made at least 70 appearances on four occasions, including last year’s career-best 60-assist, 86-point campaign.

Now in his prime, the 25-year-old is emerging as the Blues’ top forward and one of the league’s better playmaking centers. He’s produced precisely a point per game since the beginning of the 2021-22 season, tied for 30th in the league over that timeframe. He’s also become a strong option in the dot, winning over half his draws the past few years. That was especially important for St. Louis after making natural winger Pavel Buchnevich their No. 2 center, a tricky proposition considering his career 32.5 FOW%. This year, Thomas had a goal and five assists through seven games.

Thomas joins Nick Leddy and Oskar Sundqvist on injured reserve (Torey Krug is on LTIR and out for the season after ankle surgery). They’ve opened up a roster spot with his IR placement. With Alexey Toropchenko still day-to-day with a lower-body injury, they’ll likely summon a forward from AHL Springfield before tomorrow’s game against the Maple Leafs. Captain Brayden Schenn, who has just two points through seven games but a 51.5 FOW%, could replace Thomas as their top-line center.

Sean Durzi, John Marino Undergo Surgery; Maveric Lamoureux Recalled

at CDT | by 3 Comments

Utah defensemen Sean Durzi and John Marino have both undergone surgeries that will see them sit out most of the season, the team announced. Durzi will be out four to six months after having his right shoulder surgically repaired, while Marino will miss three to four months after undergoing surgery to address a lower back issue. The team later said that they’ve recalled 2022 first-rounder Maveric Lamoureux from AHL Tucson, but with a full 23-man roster, there’s still a corresponding move coming.

The team didn’t disclose when each player underwent surgery. However, if Durzi underwent it within the last few days, a six-month timeline would mean his regular season is over after just four appearances. Meanwhile, Marino should return in the lead-up to or after the league’s schedule pauses for the 2025 4 Nations Face-Off. Both players are already on injured reserve, and with over $8MM in cap space, a transfer to LTIR is unlikely for either.

It’s a regrettable development for both players and the team, although it’s not unexpected. Reports from Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet and Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff indicated earlier this month that an absence of at least four months awaited Durzi. Utah head coach André Tourigny said last Friday that Marino would still be unavailable for “months.”

Durzi, who turned 26 on Monday, is in the first year of the four-year, $24MM extension he signed in June to keep him off this summer’s RFA market. Acquired by the Coyotes from the Kings in the 2023 offseason, he excelled in a top-pairing role in the desert, controlling 54.8% of shot attempts at even strength and posting 41 points (9 G, 32 A) in 76 games. Unfortunately, he’ll now miss most of his first season under that contract.

The 2018 second-round pick of the Maple Leafs has been traded twice – first from Toronto to Los Angeles in 2019’s Jake Muzzin trade and again from L.A. to Arizona in 2023. He’s now averaged 20:48 per game across 216 NHL appearances, recording 108 points with a -20 rating but a strong 51.8 CF%. Through four games this year before sustaining the injury on a hit from Devils defenseman Jonas Siegenthaler over a week ago, he had two assists and a +2 rating.

Durzi is a left-shot but played the right side throughout much of last season in Arizona. He did so again to begin 2024-25, suiting up on the right side on Utah’s first pairing alongside offseason trade acquisition Mikhail Sergachev. With Marino also out long-term, Utah will be without its top two right defensemen for most of its inaugural season.

Marino, also a trade pickup by general manager Bill Armstrong over the summer, has yet to play a game for Utah. He sustained the back injury during offseason training and never practiced with the team during training camp. He was initially listed as week-to-week and was later upgraded to day-to-day, signaling a potential return was near, but an evident setback landed him on IR to start the regular season.

Despite their recent aggressiveness in the trade market, don’t expect Utah to swing a deal for a right-shot defenseman in the coming days. Chris Johnston of The Athletic and TSN reports they “intend to lean on internal solutions,” at least for now. One of those internal solutions is the 20-year-old Lamoureux, a hulking 6’7″ right-shot defender who’s off to a hot start with Tucson in his first professional season. The former QMJHL champion and All-Star has two goals and an assist through his first four AHL games.

Utah’s injured players were already on IR before today’s news, so they’re likely sending someone down to accommodate Lamoureux’s addition to the roster. That will be depth defender Patrik Koch, Belle Fraser of the Salt Lake Tribune reports. Utah recalled the 27-year-old last week after Durzi’s injury, but he was a healthy scratch in three straight contests. Koch, a mainstay in pro leagues in Czechia and Slovakia, jumped to North America with the Coyotes organization last season. He spent most of the year in Tucson but made his NHL debut in March, posting a shot on goal and receiving a 10-minute misconduct penalty in a game against the Wild.

Lamoureux joins Robert Bortuzzo and Michael Kesselring as the right-shot defensemen on Utah’s active roster. However, both Ian Cole and Juuso Välimäki can and have played on their off side in recent days. He could make his NHL debut tomorrow against the Avalanche.

West Notes: Hartman, Joshua, Nordh

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

Minnesota Wild centerman Ryan Hartman missed Tuesday night’s game with an upper-body injury, head coach John Hynes told reporters( via Sarah McLellan of The Minnesota Star Tribune). Hartman sat out of the team’s Saturday matchup after initially being designated a game-time decision. He’s since been labeled as day-to-day and will continue to miss action despite returning to practice in full.

Hartman scored two goals on 12 shots and six hits in Minnesota’s first four games. He’s one of five Wild forwards with multiple goals, though Mats Zuccarello’s three scores lead the way. Hartman has played the least of any of Minnesota’s multi-goal scorers, averaging just 15:21 in ice time while serving as the team’s third-line center. His role has declined every season since he served as the team’s top center and scored a career-high 65 points in the 2021-22 campaign. Joel Eriksson Ek and Marco Rossi have taken complete hold of the top six in Hartman’s place. Hartman has stayed productive in the declining role, netting 21 goals and 45 points in 74 games last season. He’ll aim to return to the third line and spot starts on the power play when Minnesota takes on Tampa Bay on Thursday.

Other notes from around the league:

  • The Canucks also shared that forward Dakota Joshua is a couple of weeks away from a return after undergoing surgery to remove a cancerous lump this summer, per Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff. Joshua earned a hardy lineup role toward the end of Vancouver’s 2023-24 season, ending the year with 18 goals and 32 points in 63 regular season games and adding eight points in 13 playoff games. He’ll quickly slot back into the lineup when he’s healthy, likely stepping over Nils Aman, Teddy Blueger, and Kiefer Sherwood for minutes in the bottom six.
  • The Utah Hockey Club has returned 2023 draft pick Noel Nordh to the OHL’s Soo Greyhounds after a two-game conditioning stint with the AHL’s Tuscon Roadrunners. Nordh, a third-round draft pick, failed to score in his first two games in North American pros. He’ll now begin a career in Canadian juniors after earning professional ice time in Sweden with resilient U20 performances. His Swedish career was capped off with a HockeyAllsvenskan championship with Brynas last season. Nordh contributed 15 points in 50 games.

Justin Schultz Signs With HC Lugano

at CDT | by 1 Comment

HC Lugano of the Swiss National League has agreed to a one-year deal with UFA defenseman Justin Schultz, per a team release. He’s headed overseas after failing to land a one-way deal, two-way deal, or even a PTO from an NHL club this offseason.

Schultz, 34, had spent the last two years in Seattle after inking a two-year, $6MM contract with the Kraken in free agency. He remained what he has been for much of the last few years, a capable depth puck-moving presence with too many defensive shortcomings to truly lock down a top-four role. He made 143 appearances in a Kraken jersey, posting 60 points (14 G, 46 A), a -19 rating, and 62 PIMs.

A second-round pick of the Ducks back in 2008, Schultz didn’t sign with Anaheim coming out of a three-year run at Wisconsin in 2012 and instead landed with the Oilers as a free agent. The two-time NCAA All-American broke into the NHL immediately, playing in all 48 games for Edmonton during the lockout-shortened 2012-13 season and finishing seventh in Calder Trophy voting. He was a top-four fixture for the Oilers, averaging over 22 minutes per night over 248 appearances in parts of four seasons, but his box stats clearly paint the picture of a one-dimensional blue-line threat – 101 points with a -78 rating.

Edmonton traded Schultz to the Penguins near the 2016 trade deadline, where he’d have the best years of his career. While Kris Letang missed significant time with injury in the 2016-17 campaign, Schultz was briefly Pittsburgh’s No. 1 defenseman. He had a career-high 12 goals, 39 assists, and 51 points with a +27 rating in 78 games for the Pens that year, finishing 10th in Norris voting, before adding 13 points in 21 playoff games to help Pittsburgh to its second straight Stanley Cup championship.

Schultz’s offensive production and all-around play continually declined from that point, though. Upon finishing up a three-year, $16.5MM extension in 2020, he landed a two-year deal with the Capitals. He played 120 games for Washington, posting 50 points (7 G, 43 A) with a -3 rating, before heading to Seattle.

A move overseas well into his 30s could signal the end of Schultz’s NHL career. If so, he finishes with 71 goals, 253 assists, 324 points, a -57 rating, and a 49.4 CF% in 745 regular season games. He joins a Lugano defense corps with two other former NHLers, Carl Dahlström and Mirco Müller.

Evening Notes: Matheson, Benson, Front Offices

at CDT | by 9 Comments

Montreal Canadiens defenseman Mike Matheson is in the lineup tonight against the New York Rangers (as per  Eric Engels of Sportsnet). Matheson left the Canadiens game last Thursday night with an apparent upper-body injury after playing just 7:35 during the first period. He didn’t return for the second period and was ruled out of the game. The 30-year-old then returned to the Canadiens lineup on Saturday night against the Islanders and played over 28 minutes, tallying an assist.

Matheson’s dressing tonight left fellow defenseman Arber Xhekaj on the outside looking in as the Hamilton, Ontario native was made a healthy scratch. It marks the second game in a row that the 23-year-old has had to watch from the press box as he didn’t dress in New York on Saturday night.

In other evening notes:

  • Buffalo Sabres forward Zach Benson sat out tonight’s game and has been dealing with an issue since the team opened the season in Prague (as per Joe Yerdon of Noted Hockey). Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff credited the youngster with trying to play through the injury but said the ailment was beginning to affect his play. The 13th overall pick in 2023 is pointless through six games this season but has very strong underlying numbers and could benefit from a bit of rest to try and deal with the issue that has been nagging him. Buffalo doesn’t play again until Saturday.
  • The Athletic ran a poll with 40 high-ranking league executives to see who they believe is the NHL’s top front office. Among the participants were scouting directors, senior advisors, general managers, and assistant general managers. The top three clubs in the rankings were the Dallas Stars at one, the Tampa Bay Lightning second, and the Florida Panthers in third. The Golden Knights and Bruins rounded out the top five.  It’s no surprise to see three recent Stanley Cup winners in the top five, but what is surprising is seeing the number one ranking go to a team that hasn’t won a Stanley Cup since 1999. Although, the Stars did go to a Stanley Cup Final in 2020.

East Notes: Jarry, Blue Jackets, Ekman-Larsson

at CDT | by 1 Comment

Matt Vensel of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette is reporting that Pittsburgh Penguins goaltender Tristan Jarry will be a healthy scratch for a second straight game tonight when the Pens take on the Calgary Flames. Jarry sat out Sunday’s 6-3 loss to the Winnipeg Jets and hasn’t played since he gave up three goals on five shots last Wednesday against the Buffalo Sabres.

The Penguins are currently carrying three NHL goaltenders on their road trip through Western Canada and have been reportedly trying to get extra work in for Jarry in practice as he tries to steady his game and move on from the struggles that plagued him since late last season.

In other Eastern Conference notes:

  • Columbus Blue Jackets general manager Don Waddell isn’t in a hurry to add to his roster via trade despite a rash of injuries (as per James Murphy of Responsible Gambler). The Blue Jackets will be without key contributors Boone Jenner, Erik Gudbranson and Kent Johnson for quite a while, but as Waddell puts it, the team knows where they are at, and they know that acquiring short-term pieces doesn’t make sense at this stage of their rebuild. The Blue Jackets have been turning over their roster for five years now and appear unwilling to rush themselves back into the playoff picture by sacrificing the future. The Blue Jackets have several young players on their NHL roster who have performed well in the early going and have a decent pipeline of prospects on the way to the NHL.
  • The NHL Department of Player Safety has announced that Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson has been fined $5000 for running interference on Tampa Bay Lightning forward Jake Guentzel in last night’s contest. On the play, Ekman-Larsson was the puck carrier and threw a reverse hit on an unsuspecting Guentzel knocking him to the ice. Guentzel remained down for a brief moment before getting back to his feet. OEL received a minor penalty on the play for interference. The fine is the maximum allowable under the Collective Bargaining Agreement and the money from it will go to the Players’ Emergency Assistance Fund.

Panthers Sign Paul Maurice To Multi-Year Extension

at CDT | by 4 Comments

The Florida Panthers have announced a multi-year contract extension for head coach Paul Maurice. The exact duration or terms of the contract haven’t yet been revealed.

Maurice has already stamped his place in Florida’s record books, joining the team ahead of the 2022-23 season and immediately leading the Panthers to their first Stanley Cup Final since 1996. They’d ultimately fall to a red-hot Vegas Golden Knights team, but Maurice one-upped the performance last season when he returned Florida to the Cup Finals and this time trumped Edmonton in a seven-game series. For all of the efforts of Florida’s stars – namely Matthew Tkachuk, Aleksander Barkov, and Sergei Bobrovsky – in the postseason runs, it was the full-team-effort driving Florida’s ship in both years. Players like Evan Rodrigues, Anton Lundell, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, and Vladimir Tarasenko all found ways to step up at the perfect moments, speaking to Maurice’s ability to motivate his team from top-to-bottom.

Now in the early going of his third year with the club, Maurice has already become the third-winningest coach (98 wins) in Panthers history – behind Jacques Martin (110 wins) and Peter DeBoer (103 wins). Maurice has also won more playoff games (45) than any other Panthers coach. Interestingly, this multi-year extension will make Maurice the longest-tenured coach in Panthers history. Nine different coaches – including DeBoer, Martin, Joel Quenneville, and Mike Keenan – have coached three seasons in Florida, but only Maurice has found the success needed to stick around longer.

Maurice’s success in the hockey world extends far beyond his time in Florida. He began his coaching career in 1987-88, when he served as a player/coach for the OHL’s Windsor Compuware Spitfires. That was his fourth year of OHL hockey – and while he only managed 40 points in 189 games as a player, he clearly found a fit behind the bench. He stuck around Windsor for two more years before supporting youth hockey in Detroit for six years – then taking his talents to the NHL’s Hartford Whalers bench in 1995-96. He started as an assistant coach, but was promoted to head coach less than a month into the season. Maurice took control of an absolutely loaded roster, led by Brendan Shanahan, Geoff Sanderson, and Jeff Brown. He stuck with the team through their move to Carolina in 1997, and even stuck around long enough to watch over his modern day competition – current Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour and Buffalo Sabres general manager Kevyn Adams.

Maurice missed the playoffs in five of his eight years with the Whalers/Hurricanes – and not even a Finals appearance in 2002 was enough to protect him from being fired after a 8-12-10 start to the 2003-04 season. He took one season away – but returned as the AHL Toronto Marlies head coach in 2005-06, and returned to NHL coaching in 2006-07. He’s been leading top-tier benches ever since, with his journey taking him through a brief stint in Toronto, a return to Carolina, and even one year with the KHL’s Metallurg during the 2012 NHL lockout. Maurice returned from the vacation to Russia as the head coach of the Winnipeg Jets, where he’d spend the next nine seasons. He made the postseason in five of those campaigns, pulling Winnipeg from a middling role in the Central Division into playoff consistency that continues even today.

Including his 4-2-1 record to start this season, Maurice has accrued an 873-738-99-145 record across 28 seasons in the NHL. He ranks second in all-time games coached (1,909) behind all-time-great Scotty Bowman (2,141). Maurice would need to coach three more seasons to pass Bowman’s record. He’ll need to keep winning to catch up to other records – leading all active coaches in wins but ranked fourth in all-time wins (873) behind Bowman (1,244), Quenneville (969), and Barry Trotz (914).

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