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Stars Activate Matt Dumba From Injured Reserve

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The Stars will have defenseman Mathew Dumba’s services again starting tonight against the Sabres. He’s been activated from injured reserve and will dress in Buffalo, relays the team’s Mike Heika.

Dumba has skated less than a half-hour’s worth of game action this season. After signing a two-year, $7.5MM deal to join the Stars in free agency over the summer, he sustained a lower-body injury in just his second game of the year against the Islanders on Oct. 12. It’s an awfully quick turnaround time for the injury, which was initially feared to require surgery and had him downgraded from day-to-day to week-to-week. All in all, the 30-year-old only misses about a week and a half and four games’ worth of action.

Also returning to the ice against the Sabres tonight are forwards Tyler Seguin and Sam Steel. Neither was on IR, but Dallas returning Matěj Blümel to the minors over the weekend was still a good indication they’d be back in the fold. Seguin had a lower-body injury that had kept him out for three straight, while Steel missed just one contest with an undisclosed injury.

The Stars are looking to get Dumba back on track after back-to-back underwhelming seasons. The former top-four fixture with the Wild was let go in the 2023 offseason and signed with the Coyotes, where he struggled to the tune of 10 points and a -13 rating in 58 games before being flipped to the Lightning at the trade deadline. He was a non-factor in a bottom-four role in Tampa before signing his multi-year deal with Dallas a few months ago.

In a small sample, early signs weren’t promising. The right-shot defender logged top-pairing minutes alongside Miro Heiskanen, but the duo struggled to control play with an xGF% of just 33.3, per MoneyPuck. Dumba was held off the scoresheet in his brief stint in the lineup and logged three giveaways, but he did end up with a +2 rating and four hits.

The Stars will go back to the Heiskanen-Dumba experiment tonight, per Robert Tiffin of D Magazine. How long it remains past Tuesday’s contest remains to be seen.

Rangers To Activate Ryan Lindgren From Injured Reserve

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Rangers defenseman Ryan Lindgren will make his season debut tonight against the Canadiens, head coach Peter Laviolette told reporters, including Peter Baugh of The Athletic. He’ll need to be taken off injured reserve in the coming hours, but since he was already counting against the salary cap and the Rangers have an open spot on the 23-man roster, there’s no corresponding transaction necessary.

Lindgren won’t be entering the lineup in his usual top-pairing role, however. Laviolette added that he’ll pair Lindgren with rookie Victor Mancini, who’ll be playing in just his sixth career game tonight. The 2022 fifth-round pick out of Nebraska-Omaha was a surprise inclusion on the opening night roster after a strong training camp and has a goal, an assist and a +3 rating through five appearances this season. He’s averaged 15:03 per game, playing a third-pairing role alongside either Zachary Jones or Chad Ruhwedel.

It’s not entirely surprising to see Lindgren taken off his usual top-pairing home, even if it’s just temporary until he gets back up to speed. The 26-year-old is coming off a difficult season that saw him log the worst possession impacts of his career, posting a 47.8 CF% and 48.6 xGF%. Meanwhile, K’Andre Miller has flourished early on this year after being bumped up to first-pairing duties alongside Adam Fox. The two have controlled 71.3% of expected goals when deployed together, per MoneyPuck, and he’s got a goal and an assist to his name thus far.

Lindgren had been out with an upper-body injury he sustained in a preseason game against the Islanders nearly a month ago. It’s a delayed start to what will be an important season for the injury-prone defender, who narrowly avoided arbitration this summer with a one-year, $4.5MM agreement to walk him to unrestricted free agency next year. With Miller’s continued emergence and Lindgren’s declining defensive impacts, it’s unlikely he’ll be brought back if he can’t turn things around quickly.

While a 2016 second-round pick of the Bruins, Manhattan is the only NHL home Lindgren’s ever known. He was part of the return that sent Rick Nash to Boston at the 2018 trade deadline, and he’s since scored 10 goals and 70 assists for 80 points with a +99 rating in 333 games for the Blueshirts.

Blues Sign Jake Neighbours To Two-Year Extension

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The Blues will avoid restricted free agency next summer with young winger Jake Neighbours. He’s put pen to paper on a two-year, $7.5MM extension, per a team release.

It’s a solid bridge deal for the 2020 26th overall pick. Now 22, Neighbours emerged as a top secondary goal-scoring option for St. Louis last season. He tied with Pavel Buchnevich for second on the team in goals with 27, although he only added 11 assists for a more pedestrian 38 points in 77 games. He averaged 15:42 per game, sixth among Blues forwards, and shot at a team-high 18.6%. The 6’0″, 201-lb winger was also one of their more physical players, registering 138 hits.

Neighbours serves in a top-six role, most recently at right wing alongside Buchnevich and sophomore Zachary Bolduc. But last season’s showing demonstrated that the ingredients are there for Neighbours to remain an effective second-line piece or even a complementary first-line one if the Blues return to routine playoff contention soon.

The Calgary native got off to a slow start this season without a point through his first four appearances but rebounded over the past few days with two goals and an assist in wins over the Islanders and the Hurricanes. He’s averaging 15:48 per game so far this season, up slightly over last year’s usage, and has a -2 rating with 12 shots on goal. His luck should continue trending upward – his possession metrics thus far are pristine (59.6 CF%, 50.0 xGF%) compared to last year’s underwhelming totals (45.1 CF%, 46.7 xGF%).

Neighbours is in the final season of his entry-level contract, which counts $835,834 against the cap and pays him just $832.5K in base salary this season. He won’t receive any performance or signing bonuses this year. PuckPedia reports his extension breaks down to a $3.5MM base salary in 2025-26 and a $4MM base salary in 2026-27 with no bonuses included, working out to a cap hit of $3.75MM.

The Blues now have roughly $8.14MM in cap space for next season, with only four roster spots to fill. That’s assuming the upper limit rises to $92.5MM, as expected. They still need to extend or replace a few depth pieces, namely pending RFA netminder Joel Hofer, but there’s no genuinely groundbreaking offseason business left in 2025 for the Blues’ front office.

The base salary breakdown means Neighbours will be due a $4MM qualifying offer upon expiry in 2027. He’ll be an RFA at that time with one year remaining under team control before becoming eligible for unrestricted free agency in 2029.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Juraj Slafkovský Out At Least One Week With Upper-Body Injury

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Canadiens winger Juraj Slafkovský will miss at least the next week with an upper-body injury, the team announced today. He hasn’t been placed on injured reserve but can be if needed. He’ll be absent for the team’s next four games at a minimum before being re-evaluated.

Slafkovský is dealing with a suspected shoulder injury sustained while practicing late last week, but he played through it and recorded two assists in a contest against the Islanders on Saturday. They’re shutting him down for now, though – whether that’s due to a setback or just purely for precautionary reasons remains to be seen.

It puts a damper on what had been a decent start to the campaign for the 2022 first-overall pick. Slafkovský wasn’t shooting the puck with nearly as much aplomb as last season, lighting the lamp once on seven shots through six games, but had added five assists to click at a point-per-game pace alongside Cole Caufield and Nick Suzuki. They’ve really struggled to defend as a unit, though, allowing an eye-popping 4.41 xGA per 60 minutes, per MoneyPuck.

Enforcer Michael Pezzetta will draw into the lineup and make his season debut tonight against the Rangers, the team said. But it’s highly unlikely he’ll shoulder Slafkovský’s vacated first-line minutes. If head coach Martin St. Louis’ deployment last season is any indication, that honor will likely go to Josh Anderson. He logged over 77 minutes alongside Caufield and Suzuki, second to Slafkovský’s whopping 751 minutes.

Slafkovský’s earliest potential return will be against the Capitals on the last day of the month.

Islanders Recall Liam Foudy

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The Islanders announced that forward Julien Gauthier has been assigned to AHL Bridgeport after clearing waivers yesterday. Forward Liam Foudy was recalled to take Gauthier’s place on the active roster and to enter the lineup in place of Anthony Duclair, who will miss multiple weeks after sustaining an apparent left leg injury against the Canadiens over the weekend.

Gauthier clears waivers and heads to the minors after making the Islanders’ opening night roster for the second year in a row. But while it took until February for him to get demoted to Bridgeport last season, his stint on the NHL roster lasted just a couple of weeks this time around. Gauthier sat in the press box for the first four games of the campaign and made his season debut against Montreal, posting zeroes across the board in 7:42 of ice time.

He never reached the potential most expected from him after going No. 21 overall in the 2016 draft. The 27-year-old has never scored more than 10 goals in a season and only hit double-digit points once, notching 14 in a career-high 57 appearances with the Rangers and Senators in 2022-23. Even that career-best production wasn’t enough for the Sens to keep him after acquiring him from the Blueshirts mid-season, opting not to issue him a qualifying offer at the end of the year. He landed with the Islanders on a two-year, $1.575MM contract.

His return to the minors gives Foudy, another former mid-first-round pick struggling to get off the ground, a chance at NHL minutes on Long Island. Once regarded as one of the better prospects in the Blue Jackets system, he’s looking to re-establish himself as a legitimate NHL option after being waived and claimed by the Predators last season and subsequently being non-tendered.

Foudy has split his professional career fairly evenly between the NHL and AHL by looking at total games played, but he was only ever a true fixture in the lineup for one team – the 2022-23 edition of the Blue Jackets. The results weren’t pretty. He tied for 13th on the team in scoring with 14 points (7 G, 7 A) in 62 games, posting a -26 rating and averaging 12:08 per night. The 6’2″, 188-lb winger was responsible with the puck, though, logging 23 takeaways compared to just seven giveaways.

But after making just one appearance for Columbus the following year, Foudy landed on the waiver wire. He was given a fresh start in Nashville, where he managed three assists and a -2 rating in 12 games before landing on waivers again in December. He cleared and was assigned to AHL Milwaukee, where he played out the rest of the campaign. Foudy ended the year with 16 points (10 G, 6 A) and a +7 rating in 28 games in the minors.

Foudy was a late cut from New York’s training camp roster this time around and looked to be high on the list of potential in-season call-ups after once again clearing waivers. After starting the year with four assists in five games for AHL Bridgeport, he’ll look to prove he can carve out a niche for himself at the game’s highest level. He’s one of 12 healthy forwards available with Duclair on the shelf and, as such, should make his Islanders debut tonight against the Red Wings.

Avalanche Place Jonathan Drouin On Injured Reserve

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Oct. 22: According to the league’s media portal, Wagner was returned to AHL Colorado at some point yesterday. He sat in the press box for Sunday’s win over the Sharks.

Oct. 20: The Colorado Avalanche have placed forward Jonathan Drouin on injured reserve with an upper-body injury and recalled Chris Wagner. Drouin played a hardy 21:25 of ice time in Colorado’s season opener and didn’t seem limited, but he hasn’t skated since. Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar recently shared that Drouin would be reevaluated on October 28th, setting him up to miss at least five more games.

Colorado signed Drouin to another one-year contract this summer, awarding him a $1.675MM raise over his previous deal after he scored a career-high 56 points last season. It was a much-needed breakout year for Drouin, who found quick comfort playing next to former Halifax Mooseheads teammate Nathan MacKinnon. The duo contributed to a fantastic 97-14-11 record over two years together in Halifax, capping off their tandem with the first Memorial Cup win in Mooseheads history. Their chemistry translated to Colorado, where Drouin spent 940 minutes, or 65 percent of his total ice time, on the ice with MacKinnon.

Drouin was lined up to continue that top-line role this season, but in his absence, it’s instead gone to Ross Colton. Colton’s taken full advantage of the expanded minutes, scoring four goals and five points in his last four games. Meanwhile, Wagner will join a crowded bottom six, set to compete with Matthew Stienburg and Ivan Ivan for a fourth-line role. Both Stienburg and Ivan are playing through the first games of their NHL careers, though neither has been particularly inspiring – with Stienburg going scoreless through two games and Ivan posting one assist in five games. Wagner hasn’t found much production of his own but does offer 375 games of NHL experience and served as Colorado’s de facto call-up last season. He’ll look to return to his role of fourth-line glue guy quickly as the Avalanche look to buck a dismal 1-4-0 start to the season.

Kraken Recall Cale Fleury, Vince Dunn To LTIR

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The Seattle Kraken have recalled defenseman Cale Fleury from the Coachella Valley Firebirds of the American Hockey League. Fleury is fresh off a hat trick on Friday night against San Diego in what was the Firebirds’ first win of the season.

The 25-year-old Fleury is in his fourth season in the Kraken organization and had a spectacular playoff run with the team last year, posting five goals and nine assists in 18 AHL playoff games. The Calgary, Alberta native has dressed in 22 NHL games for Seattle over parts of three seasons and has one assist.

In a corresponding move, the Kraken have placed defenseman Vince Dunn on the long-term injured reserve in a move that was retroactive to October 17th. The move signals that Dunn’s injury could be more serious than the Kraken previously believed or it could be Seattle trying to navigate the tight confines of the NHL salary cap. Dunn will not be eligible to play again until November 8th against the Ottawa Senators.

Dunn was having a good offensive start to his season before suffering an upper-body injury. In four games the 27-year-old had a goal and two assists and was logging just under 19 minutes of ice time per game. Despite the good scoring numbers, Dunn’s underlying numbers have not been great. His CF% thus far this year is 15% lower than last season and he has committed turnovers at an alarming rate.

Evening Notes: Woll, Guhle, AHL Eligibility

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David Alter of The Hockey News is reporting that Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender Joseph Woll could be ready to return to action as early as Tuesday. The news comes from Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube, who said it’s possible the 26-year-old would play tomorrow night when Toronto takes on the Columbus Blue Jackets. Woll has been dealing with groin tightness since training camp in early October. His injury has thrust summer free agent signing Anthony Stolarz into a lot of work early in the season as the veteran netminder has played five of Toronto’s first six games entering action tonight.

Woll signed a three-year extension early in the summer and appeared to have the inside track to the starter role as he entered training camp. The Dardenne Prairie, Missouri native was terrific last season for the Maple Leafs, posting 7.2 goals saved above expected (as per Money Puck) in 25 games.

In other evening notes:

  • Eric Engels of Sportsnet reports that Montreal Canadiens defenseman Kaiden Guhle is out day-to-day with an upper-body injury and did not participate in Canadiens practice earlier today. Guhle has been dealing with the ailment since late last week and didn’t play on Saturday night against the Islanders. The 22-year-old missed nearly all of Canadiens training camp after having his appendix removed and has had an uneven start to the season, posting good offensive numbers, but has been abysmal on the possession front (34.5% CF% at even strength as per Hockey Reference).
  • Ryan Kennedy of The Hockey News is reporting that a source of his has told him that the next NHL Collective Bargaining Agreement could have AHL eligibility as an option for 19-year-olds written into it. The news could be another challenge for the CHL who are preparing to navigate the new NCAA eligibility rules. However, the news would be good for players such as Sabres forward prospect Matt Savoie who just spent his age-19 season in the WHL last year.

Atlantic Notes: Tkachuk, Perron, Greenway

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The defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers have gotten off to a strong start this season to the tune of a 4-2-1 record which becomes more impressive when considering the team has been without forwards Aleksander Barkov and Matthew Tkachuk for five games. The latter has been out for more than a week with an illness but should return tomorrow night against the Minnesota Wild according to David Dwork of The Hockey News.

Tkachuk managed two assists in two games for the Panthers to start the season before exiting the lineup on October 14th. He’s expected to slot in on the right wing next to familiar linemates Sam Bennett and Carter Verhaeghe.

He should have been a popular candidate to replace Eetu Luostarinen on Florida’s first line but their production over the last few games leaves little room for upgrade. According to Hockey Reference, the combination of Luostarinen, Sam Reinhart, and Anton Lundell has produced 23 points through seven games with an even more impressive E +/- of 8.1.

Other Atlantic notes:

  •  The Ottawa Senators’ most notable unrestricted free agent signing from this past offseason, David Perron, will be away from the team for the foreseeable future due to personal reasons (X Link). Perron joined the Senators on a two-year, $8MM pact to take on a similar role to his tenure with the Detroit Red Wings. He’s gone scoreless through his initial five games with the organization and will look to rebound upon his return.
  • Lance Lysowski of The Buffalo News reported earlier that forward Jordan Greenway has returned to practice for the Buffalo Sabres after suffering an upper-body injury and Mike Harrington of Buffalo News Sports later added he could feature in the lineup tomorrow. Greenway was a surprise scratch in the team’s most recent game against the Chicago Blackhawks a few days ago as it took until after the contest to learn about his upper-body injury. He currently sits tied for fourth on Buffalo in scoring with two goals and four points through the first six games. 

West Notes: Karlsson, Texier, Hartman

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The Vegas Golden Knights received positive news on the injury front as forward William Karlsson returned to the ice this morning in a non-contact jersey (X Link). He didn’t skate with any of the team’s forward lines suggesting he won’t suit up tomorrow night but a follow-up report indicated he could return to the lineup by Friday.

Karlsson hasn’t skated in a month after suffering an undisclosed injury during the preseason. Aside from vague updates every few weeks, the Golden Knights organization hasn’t offered any specifics about his injury. Since he didn’t factor into any preseason games this September, Karlsson’s last game with Vegas was Game Seven of the team’s Round One series loss against the Dallas Stars in the 2024 Stanley Cup playoffs.

Karlsson’s imminent return couldn’t come at a better time for the Golden Knights with winger Victor Olofsson going down with a lower-body injury. Vegas may be light up front tomorrow night against the Los Angeles Kings but should have a formidable top-six against the Ottawa Senators on Friday of this week should Karlsson return.

Other West notes:

  • A formal roster move from the St. Louis Blues is expected tomorrow as Lou Korac of The Hockey News reports Alexandre Texier should be activated from injured reserve for the team’s contest tomorrow night. The Blues have a full 23-man roster at the moment meaning one player will have to be demoted to their AHL affiliate, the Springfield Thunderbirds, or placed on injured reserve in some capacity. Defenseman Nick Leddy should be a popular candidate for the latter option as the veteran defenseman hasn’t suited up since October 15th after sustaining a lower-body injury.
  • Sarah McLellan of Star Tribune Sports reports Minnesota Wild forward Ryan Hartman is considered day-to-day with an upper-body injury. He was originally designated as a game-time decision for the team’s most recent game against the Columbus Blue Jackets, and it now appears the injury is mildly more severe than anticipated. The upper-body ailment shouldn’t keep him out of the lineup too much longer as Hartman looks to expand on his two goals in four games to start the season.

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