Nick Cousins Returns to Senators Lineup
Ottawa Senators forward Nick Cousins has been activated from LTIR and is in the lineup for today’s afternoon tilt against the Flyers, per TSN’s Bruce Garrioch. It represents his first game action since suffering a knee injury in late January. He is skating on a Sens’ third line alongside center Shane Pinto and Michael Amadio.
Originally expected to miss three months with the injury, GM Steve Staios recently stated the 31-year-old Cousins has been “attacking his rehab,” and he now returns ahead of his recovery timeline and in time to help make an impact in the playoffs. Cousins will provide the Sens with a reliable bottom-six option for their playoff lineup, as well as a trustworthy penalty killer. In his career, Cousins has appeared in 63 playoff contests and helped the Panthers capture the Stanley Cup just last season. In 47 games this season, Cousins has produced five goals, 13 points, 80 hits, and 24 blocked shots while averaging just under 12 minutes of ice time per game.
Coach Travis Green told reporters Saturday that he’s happy to see Cousins return to the lineup but added he will be rusty and that the team will have to get him up to speed.
Garrioch adds that forwards David Perron and Ridly Greig and defenders Nikolas Matinpalo and Nick Jensen are out of the lineup today, while Cousins, Angus Crookshank, Dennis Gilbert and Travis Hamonic are all playing. As Garrioch notes, Jensen has been playing with an unspecified lower-body injury for some time, and with the Sens already locked into a playoff spot, now serves as good time to give the veteran some recovery time. With Jensen and Matinpalo out, the door was opened for Hamonic and Gilbert to return to the lineup. Hamonic, who has played in 56 games this season and recorded six points and -17 rating, is skating on the team’s second pairing with Thomas Chabot, while Gilbert is skating with Tyler Kleven on the team’s third pairing. Gilbert has skated in 26 games this season and has recorded five points.
While the other absences from today’s game don’t appear to be serious in nature, Green noted the team is also not mailing in these final games of the season, per Garrioch. Green added that experienced teams understand that the intensity picks up in the playoffs, so he’ll look for his team to continue to showcase that energy in the final games of the season. It’s also one of the reasons the team recently recalled winger Hayden Hodgson to add some physicality to the lineup.
Lightning’s Oliver Bjorkstrand Out Week-To-Week
The Lightning will be without deadline pickup Oliver Bjorkstrand to begin the playoffs. Head coach Jon Cooper told reporters this morning he’s out week-to-week with a lower-body injury, per Eduardo A. Encina of the Tampa Bay Times. They’re not ruling him out for the entirety of the postseason, but his availability anytime during the first round is certainly in doubt.
That offers some context for Tampa opting to recall top prospect Conor Geekie from AHL Syracuse this morning, aside from just giving him another crack at NHL minutes. With Cam Atkinson sent to Syracuse to make room for Geekie’s recall, Bjorkstrand’s absence will force the Bolts to dress 11 forwards and seven defensemen this evening against the Sabres.
Bjorkstrand hasn’t been quite as productive as Tampa hoped for after acquiring him and Yanni Gourde from the Kraken at the trade deadline. He’s posted 5-4–9 through 18 games, down from his point pace with Seattle prior to the trade and, if projecting over a full season, his worst point pace since the 2018-19 campaign. It’s understandable, though, considering his more conservative deployment. While he’s gotten some power play reps, he’s spent virtually all of his even-strength deployment in third-line minutes and is only averaging 14:03 per game overall.
Still, missing Bjorkstrand aggravates Tampa’s most significant weakness before his acquisition: secondary scoring. It makes the Gourde pickup all the more essential to help reduce the workload of players like Nick Paul, Geekie, and Gage Goncalves, with Bjorkstrand likely to miss at least a few playoff games. It won’t mark the end of Bjorkstrand’s Lightning tenure if he does not get into postseason action. He’s signed through next season at a $5.4MM cap hit.
Blackhawks Sign Ryan Greene To Entry-Level Deal
The Blackhawks have signed center Ryan Greene to a three-year, entry-level contract, a source tells Scott Powers of The Athletic. The deal begins immediately and he’s expected to make his NHL debut tomorrow against the Canadiens. Chicago quickly confirmed the deal, which carries a $950K cap hit.
Greene, 21, turns pro after three seasons at Boston University. A second-round pick by Chicago in 2022, he captained the Terriers to a berth in the national championship game but lost 6-2 to Western Michigan last night. The 6’2″ pivot finished his junior season with a career-best 13 goals, 25 assists, and 38 points in 40 games to rank third on the team in scoring.
The Newfoundland native is the No. 12 prospect in Chicago’s system, as ranked by Scott Wheeler of The Athletic, but that’s more a testament to the Blackhawks’ exceedingly deep talent pool. A good two-way piece, it’s unclear if he has the offensive ceiling to develop past a third-line role, but he should get an early audition in that spot here. This comes in advance of the Blackhawks anticipating Greene on their opening night roster next fall, Powers reports.
That puts him as Chicago’s third-line pivot for the foreseeable future behind Connor Bedard and Frank Nazar, who are both ending the season playing their natural center position while anchoring the Hawks’ first and second lines. Despite just signing his first NHL contract, Greene’s October 2003 birthday already makes him the oldest of the bunch. As for captain Nick Foligno, who’s played center for much of the year and is currently anchoring Chicago’s third line, he could shift to a fourth-line role in the final season of his contract next year or slide back over to the wing. There’s also 2023 first-rounder Oliver Moore as an option down the middle, but he’s taken frequent reps on the wing since making his NHL debut late last month.
Greene will remain bound by his entry-level contract through the 2026-27 season. He’ll be a restricted free agent the following summer, the same year Chicago will need to negotiate extensions for fellow RFAs Moore, Artyom Levshunov, Sam Rinzel, and Landon Slaggert.
Wild Sign Zeev Buium To Entry-Level Deal
April 13: Buium signed his three-year entry-level deal today and will join the team immediately, Minnesota confirmed. Per Michael Russo of The Athletic, his deal carries a $975K cap hit, including $97.5K in signing bonuses per season. There’s a $25K bonus in his deal if he wins the Conn Smythe Trophy this season, allowing Minnesota to max out his Schedule ‘A’ performance bonuses in the second and third years of the contract.
April 11: The Minnesota Wild are expected to sign star defense prospect Zeev Buium to his entry-level contract in the coming days. Wild general manager Bill Guerin appeared on Minnesota’s KFAN-1003 to share the news per Joe Smith of The Athletic. Buium later told Smith that he would join the Wild at their Monday practice, just ahead of their season finale on Tuesday. Minnesota has all but clinched the top Western Conference Wild Card – though they could theoretically lose their top spot should they lose their final three games, the Calgary Flames win each of their final four games, and the St. Louis Blues win at least one of their final two games.
The Wild will lean on Buium to help them through their final push towards the postseason. When discussing his ice time, Guerin remarked, “He’ll play. These kids are different, man. They’re ready for this stuff.”
It’s hard to question Guerin’s claim. Buium was far and away the star of the Denver lineup over his two seasons in school. He supported the school to a national championship in his freshman year while leading all collegiate defensemen in scoring with 50 points in 42 games. He also recorded a plus-33 – tied with his brother Shai Buium for fourth-highest in the league. With brother Shai and star partner Sean Behrens both signing in the AHL, Zeev was able to graduate to Denver’s No. 1 defender role this year. He repeated as the NCAA’s top-scoring defenseman with 48 points in 41 games and helped push Denver to the Frozen Four before their semi-final elimination at the hands of a double-overtime loss to Western Michigan University.
Buium was worth the price of admission with the Pioneers. He was constantly involved in play through all three zones and moved quickly up the ice with long strides. Buium earned control of the puck quickly and stayed on it with strong stickhandling. He drove Denver’s movement up the ice and had a special knack for creating time and space from off the offensive blue line. Buium beat opponents cleanly and repeatedly this season. With this news, he’ll get to test his fancy puck-handling and nose for the net against the top flight. His 1.18 points per game in college hockey are the third-highest from a defender through multiple seasons since 2000 – behind Lane Hutson (1.26) and Adam Fox (1.20).
Photo courtesy of Jeff Curry-Imagn Images.
Sharks’ Nikolai Kovalenko Eyeing KHL Return
It’s looking unlikely that Sharks pending RFA winger Nikolai Kovalenko will sign a new contract with San Jose. The 25-year-old has been unhappy with his deployment after the Sharks acquired him from the Avalanche in December and is considering a return to the Kontinental Hockey League with Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod next season, his father, ex-NHLer Andrei Kovalenko, told Russia Hockey.
“It was understandable when Nikolai played in the third line of Colorado in the first half of the season, after all, this club is a contender for the championship, the competition in the top lines is extremely high,” Kovalenko said (translated from Russian). “In San Jose, with all due respect, the situation is different. It is obvious that there are personal sympathies on the part of the coach – and there is no agreement with the management policy. Watch the Sharks’ games – and you will see who deserves what.”
“I know that Nikolai’s agent is in contact with Torpedo’s management, and various options are possible,” Kovalenko continued. Nizhny Novgorod still holds Kovalenko’s KHL signing rights after he left the club last year to report to the Avalanche.
A sixth-round pick by Colorado back in 2018, Kovalenko arrived in Denver last spring to much fanfare. He’d been one of the KHL’s top scorers over the 2022-23 and 2023-24 campaigns, scoring 32-57–89 in 98 games with Torpedo after they acquired him from Ak Bars Kazan. He made his NHL debut for the Avs in the 2024 playoffs after a brief AHL stint and, unsurprisingly, made Colorado’s opening night roster.
But even amid a plethora of injuries for the Avs out of the gate, Kovalenko never commanded anything more than a third-line role. After averaging 12 minutes per game through his first 28 appearances, posting four goals and eight points, Colorado dealt him to San Jose in the trade that saw Mackenzie Blackwood head to Denver.
As the elder Kovalenko alluded to, Nikolai’s ice time has barely changed in San Jose. In and out of the lineup due to injury, he’s averaged 12:24 per game. Despite that, his offensive production has increased, totaling 3-9–12 through 26 games post-trade. He’s also seen increased usage in the past three games, averaging north of 15 minutes per night during that stretch, and has a three-game point streak as a result.
He’s shown the ability to be a dependable top-nine presence with even some upward second-line mobility, boasting acceptable possession impacts while playing a physical game. He’s recorded 24 blocks and 79 hits in 54 total appearances and would be on pace for 30 points over an 82-game schedule. Nonetheless, he believes he’s capable of more and won’t achieve that development with the Sharks.
Even if Kovalenko opts to return to Russia, the Sharks can retain his signing rights until 2027 by giving him a qualifying offer. If he desires an NHL return before then, he’ll either need to sign with San Jose or get them to trade his rights for an asset.
Lightning Recall Conor Geekie
The Lightning have recalled top center prospect Conor Geekie from AHL Syracuse, per a team announcement. He’s expected to play in this evening’s game against the Sabres. To keep Tampa cap-compliant, they reassigned winger Cam Atkinson to Syracuse in a corresponding move.
Geekie, 20, gets the call for the first time since the Bolts sent him to the minors in early February. The 2022 first-round pick, whom Tampa acquired from Utah in last summer’s Mikhail Sergachev trade, made the Lightning’s opening night roster but had seen his ice time dwindle as the season progressed.
As expected, Geekie has been a force for Syracuse since the demotion. The 6’4″, 207-lb center has 11-9–20 through his first 24 minor-league games in the Lightning organization, ranking third among active Crunch skaters in points per game with 0.83. Evidently, that’s enough momentum to get him another look in NHL minutes over the Bolts’ final three games as they continue to mull their Game 1 lineup when their first-round series begins next weekend.
It’s not as if Geekie was a complete non-factor before the AHL stint. He had 6-6–12 in 49 appearances while averaging 12:09 per game, routinely getting second-line opportunities on the wing with Brandon Hagel and Anthony Cirelli. Such an opportunity may still be available. Head coach Jon Cooper has opted to deploy youngster Gage Goncalves in that role in recent days while keeping veteran trade-deadline pickups Oliver Bjorkstrand and Yanni Gourde in a third-line role with Nick Paul. Might the higher-ceiling Geekie get another look at the 2RW spot while Goncalves slides down to fourth-line duties?
The organization’s top-ranked prospect (via Scott Wheeler of The Athletic) may have ended up with a minus-three rating, but his possession metrics with Hagel and Cirelli were strong. He’s also made his mark as one of the team’s more physical forwards, posting 8.67 hits per 60 minutes to rank fourth on the club among qualified skaters. In any event, the younger brother of Bruins forward Morgan Geekie has done enough between his initial NHL stint and his minor-league assignment to secure a second straight appearance on the opening night roster next fall.
As for Atkinson, the veteran winger continues to be a cap casualty after clearing waivers last month. The Bolts have now sent the 35-year-old down to Syracuse on three occasions in the last several weeks, although it’s never for very long and he doesn’t actually report to the minor-league affiliate. This time surely won’t be any different, and the veteran of over 800 NHL games should be back on the roster when the postseason begins. He’s been limited to 4-5–9 in 38 showings with the Bolts after signing a one-year deal last summer.
Photo courtesy of Nick Turchiaro-Imagn Images.
Minor Transactions: Bemström, Semptimphelter, Valis
The Penguins reassigned winger Emil Bemström to AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton earlier today, per a team announcement. Pittsburgh recalled Bemström on Thursday under emergency conditions, and he entered the lineup to play 8:23 against the Devils yesterday while recording one shot on goal. If they don’t recall him tomorrow before their afternoon matchup against the Bruins, they’ll roll 11 forwards and seven defensemen. It could also be an indication that winger Philip Tomasino is ready to return after missing three games with a concussion. Every other injured Penguin is out for the season. Bemström, 25, has just one assist in 14 games with the Pens this year despite recording over a point per game in the minors.
Other minor moves from around hockey today:
- Free agent goaltender T.J. Semptimphelter has joined the Islanders organization on a tryout with AHL Bridgeport, the team said. A frequent mention in our college free agent previews over the last couple of years, the 22-year-old turns pro after four collegiate seasons – the last of which was spent with North Dakota after transferring from Arizona State. In 31 games for the Fighting Hawks, he put up a 2.64 GAA, .910 SV%, one shutout, and an 18-11-2 record. He was previously a Hobey Baker nominee after his standout sophomore season with ASU, in which he posted a 2.84 GAA and .913 SV% in 36 showings for the then-independent program.
- Recent Maple Leafs signing Borya Valis will finish the season with AHL Toronto, the minor league’s transactions log reflects. His Prince George Cougars were recently eliminated in the first round of the Western Hockey League playoffs by the Portland Winterhawks – he had 3-4–7 in the seven-game defeat. He’ll finish his breakout 80-point season by making his professional debut.
Atlantic Notes: Sandin-Pellikka, Hakanpää, Link
Red Wings top defense prospect Axel Sandin-Pellikka will finish out the season with either Detroit or AHL Grand Rapids but doesn’t know exactly when he’ll join the team, he told Hans Abrahamsson and Jonatan Pinheiro Diamant of Aftonbladet.se. The 20-year-old has already signed his entry-level contract, is the Red Wings’ top-ranked prospect overall, and is widely expected to be on the team’s opening night roster in 2025-26. His Swedish Hockey League club, Skellefteå AIK, was eliminated by top-seeded Brynäs IF in the playoff semifinals today. He led U-20 SHLers in goals (12) and points (29) in his third season at the top level of Swedish hockey. While the Red Wings’ playoff hopes are slim to none, Grand Rapids has clinched a spot in the Calder Cup Playoffs, and he could be an impact addition there.
Other items of note out of the Atlantic Division:
- Could injury-plagued defenseman Jani Hakanpää be an option for the Maple Leafs in the playoffs? The defender remains hopeful he can suit up again for Toronto and says his recovery from continued knee problems is “trending really good,” per Evan Doerfler of The Hockey News. Hakanpää, whose 2023-24 season ended prematurely due to arthroscopic knee surgery, only got into a pair of games for Toronto in November as he continues to deal with lingering issues. The 6’7″, 225-lb Finn will be a UFA this summer after signing a one-year, $1.47MM deal with the Leafs late in the summer after a drawn-out saga.
- The Bruins have invited Colorado College winger Bret Link to this summer’s development camp, per Mark Divver of the New England Hockey Journal. Development camp invites are routinely an indication a team is considering signing an undrafted free agent to an entry-level contract but isn’t ready to do so yet. In NCAA players’ case, they can’t sign before ending their collegiate career. Link, 23, has 11-25–36 in 72 games with Colorado College over the last two seasons. The Alaska native stands at 6’3″ and 196 lbs and could opt to turn pro if his offense continues progressing upward in his junior season.
Metropolitan Notes: Thompson, Protas, Hamilton, Carrier, Gostisbehere
Capitals goaltender Logan Thompson began on-ice recovery today as he nears a return from an upper-body injury, Emily Kaplan of ESPN said on today’s broadcast of Washington’s loss in Columbus (via Tom Gulitti of NHL.com). He skated today along with the NHL’s new all-time goals leader, Alex Ovechkin, who stayed home to rest with the Caps’ place atop the Eastern Conference clinched. The presumptive Vezina Trophy finalist has missed the last four games with an upper-body injury and remains questionable for the beginning of Washington’s first-round playoff series against whichever team ends up in the second wild-card spot. Backup Charlie Lindgren hasn’t been particularly inspiring in his absence, posting a .866 SV% since taking over for Thompson when the latter left an April 2 loss to the Hurricanes. Lindgren was not in the crease today for the Caps’ 7-0 defeat; third-stringer Hunter Shepard was. Winger Aliaksei Protas is also expected to skate Monday for the first time since sustaining a laceration from a skate on his left foot on April 4, Kaplan said. “There is some concern about how the location of the skate cut (under skate tongue) will impact the rest of Protas’ foot, but they’re hopeful he’ll be ready for the start of the playoffs,” Gulitti relayed. The 24-year-old remains an invaluable part of the Caps’ league-best offense, erupting for a career-best 30-36–66 scoring line in 76 showings.
Elsewhere in the Metro:
- Devils defenseman Dougie Hamilton continues to inch closer to a return but won’t play tomorrow against the Islanders, head coach Sheldon Keefe told the team’s Amanda Stein. Initially expected to be out until the second round of the playoffs after sustaining a lower-body injury in early March, he’s been upgraded to day-to-day. He will almost certainly be an option to begin their first-round series against the Hurricanes. He’s a key return amid a blue line missing Jonas Siegenthaler and a forward group missing star center Jack Hughes. Hamilton’s 40 points in 63 games rank seventh on the Devils and second among rearguards behind Luke Hughes‘ 42.
- The Hurricanes had winger William Carrier in the lineup against the Rangers today for the first time since he underwent lower-body surgery in January. An important depth add to their bottom six ahead of the postseason, the 30-year-old had an assist, four hits, and a plus-one rating in 10:48 of ice time in his return. They were without top backend point-producer Shayne Gostisbehere, though, who Cory Lavalette of the North State Journal relays is dealing with a lower back injury. It’s his second straight absence. The 31-year-old has 44 points in 68 showings this year, his fourth straight season above 40 points. He ranks fifth on Carolina in scoring while averaging 18:29 per game. He remains day-to-day and should be back for Game 1 against New Jersey.
Alec Martinez Announces Retirement
Today will be Blackhawks defenseman Alec Martinez‘s final NHL game, he told Chicago Sports Network’s Darren Pang during warmups (via Tab Bamford of Bleacher Nation). He joins teammate Pat Maroon in retiring following the season, but neither will travel for the team’s season-ending road trip through Montreal and Ottawa.
Martinez’s NHL dream began in 2007 when the Kings selected him in the fourth round out of Miami University. He had been passed over in the 2005 and 2006 drafts but was selected following a strong sophomore showing with the RedHawks. His post-draft season saw him record a career-high in points and CCHA Best Defensive Defenseman honors, earning him an entry-level contract with Los Angeles the following summer. He spent most of the 2008-09 and 2009-10 seasons with their AHL affiliate, then the Manchester Monarchs, but made his NHL debut with a four-game trial in the latter campaign.
After a strong start to 2010-11 in Manchester, the Kings recalled him in November, and he never looked back. He scored his first NHL goal in his first game of the season and stuck around as a bottom-pairing fixture, posting 5-11–16 in 60 games with a +11 rating as the Kings made the playoffs but lost to the Sharks in the Western Conference Quarterfinals.
In 2011-12, Martinez spent the first half of the year as a frequent healthy scratch but got regular reps after L.A. traded rearguard Jack Johnson to the Blue Jackets for Jeff Carter. Of course, that trade was one of the most consequential of the decade – Carter flourished in a top-six role as the eighth-seeded Kings dominated the 2012 postseason en route to the franchise’s first Stanley Cup. Martinez played in all 20 playoff games, now a third-pairing regular with Johnson out of the picture, and posted three points with a plus-five rating while averaging 14:28 per game.
That’s not the Cup run Kings fans will remember Martinez for, though. Now established as a consistent championship contender, Martinez posted a career-high 22 points in the 2013-14 regular season before scoring two overtime series-clinching goals – one to send the Kings to the 2014 Stanley Cup Final and the other to win it over the Rangers a couple of weeks later. Those were two of the five goals Martinez scored during that playoff run, the same number as star blue-liner Drew Doughty, as he forever established himself as a legend in Los Angeles sporting lore.
In his late 20s, Martinez began taking on consistent top-four minutes as the Kings’ championship window drew to a close. His most divisive season came on a 2016-17 Kings club that missed the playoffs, posting a career-high 39 points in 82 games while finishing with a career-worst -17 rating.
While Martinez’s point totals began to dwindle in the late 2010s, he remained a shot-blocking extraordinaire with a well-rounded defensive game. Amid his fifth consecutive season averaging over 20 minutes per game, his time in Los Angeles came to an end when they traded him to the Golden Knights ahead of the 2020 deadline.
The trade to Vegas breathed new life into Martinez’s two-way game. He made multiple deep playoff runs with the club, including his third Stanley Cup ring in 2023, while continuing to serve as a top-four presence, commonly alongside Alex Pietrangelo. He also had the best offensive campaign of his career in 2020-21 with 0.60 points per game – 0.12 above his previous career high – but the COVID-shortened season prevented him from setting a career-high in points outright. In Vegas’ first Stanley Cup championship in 2023, Martinez’s +13 rating ranked fifth on the team, and he naturally led the club with 57 blocks in the postseason.
Injuries also began to stunt Martinez’s availability, though. After making just 26 appearances in the 2021-22 season, multiple injuries cost him a significant chunk of the 2023-24 campaign. With his ice time and normally staunch possession impacts dwindling, Vegas opted not to re-sign him with his three-year, $15.75MM contract coming to a close.
The Blackhawks stepped up to offer the respected veteran a one-year, $4MM commitment on the open market, and the 37-year-old Martinez arrived in Chicago to help anchor one of the league’s most inexperienced blue lines. Groin and neck injuries limited him to 43 appearances, but he served as an alternate captain and contributed 12 points with a -15 rating while averaging 18:45 per game. Of course, his 5.95 blocks per 60 minutes finished second on the team behind Connor Murphy.
Martinez finishes his career with an 88-201–289 scoring line in 861 games. Among 2007 draftees, he ranks 17th in games played – of course, tremendous value for a fourth-round pick. His career +73 rating also ranks sixth in the class. Only five players – Pietrangelo, John Carlson, Mark Giordano, Ryan McDonagh, and Kris Russell – have blocked more shots than Martinez since he debuted.
All of us at PHR wish Martinez all the best as he ends the playing phase of his hockey career and congratulate him on his spectacular career.
Image courtesy of Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images.