Sharks’ Henry Thrun, Jan Rutta Out With Injury Long-Term
The San Jose Sharks are dealing with a pair of injured defenders who could be done for the year per Max Miller of The Hockey News. Head coach Ryan Warsofsky told Miller that veteran Jan Rutta is still weeks away from returning, and hasn’t yet returned to the team’s practices. Warsofsky was a bit less decisive on Henry Thrun, who he dubbed as being just beyond week-to-week. Miller adds that Rutta is at risk of missing the remaining five weeks of the season, while Thrun will continue to fight for a return.
Rutta hasn’t played since suffering a lower-body injury in San Jose’s January 23rd loss to the Nashville Predators. He’s missed 14 games since – a number that would double should Rutta miss the rest of the year. His season would end on a bad note if he does, with Rutta boasting just eight points, 28 penalty minutes, and a minus-six in 51 games. That, surprisingly, marks the lowest scoring pace of Rutta’s historically uneventful career – narrowly beating out his nine points in 56 games of the 2022-23 season. Rutta split the time between that down year and this one with a small resurgence last season. He recorded 19 points, 38 penalty minutes, and a minus-21 in 69 games of the 2023-24 campaign – the most he’s scored since he managed 20 points in 57 games as an NHL rookie.
Rutta filled a menial bottom-pair role throughout the season. San Jose has turned back to career-long Shark Marc-Édouard Vlasic to fill in Rutta’s role. Vlasic has played in nine games in relief, posting no scoring, a minus-eight, and two shots on net. He’s averaged 16 minutes of ice time each night across that stand.
But the Sharks haven’t wanted to tap into their defense depth behind Vlasic, leaving Thrun’s vacancy in the top-four a bit tougher to fill. He has worked his way into more-and-more ice time this season, ultimately rivaling upwards of 24 minutes of ice time in one of his most recent games. Thrun’s new absence comes after he reaggravated the upper-body injury that held him out for a week-and-a-half in early March. He’ll be set to miss even more time, after already missing five games due to the injury.
San Jose has recalled career minor-leaguer Jimmy Schuldt to step into the lineup with Thrun out. Schuldt has scored 18 points in 54 AHL games this season. He’s in his first season in the Sharks organization after spending the last two years with the Seattle Kraken’s AHL affiliate, the Coachella Valley Firebirds. Schuldt tallied 56 points in 139 games with the Firebirds. He’s tagged into two NHL games over the course of his seven-year pro career – one just days after signing his first pro deal with the Vegas Golden Knights in 2018-19, and one earlier this season with San Jose. He has one assist in the pair of outings. The Sharks could need an extended fill-in for Thrun, which could pave the way for Schuldt to find his first NHL goal.
NHL Suspends Aaron Ekblad 20 Games For Performance Enhancing Substances
Panthers star defenseman Aaron Ekblad will miss the remainder of the regular season and first two games of the postseason after being suspended 20 games for violating the terms of the NHL/NHLPA Performance Enhancing Substances Program, the league announced today. The suspension is without pay is accompanied by “mandatory referral to the NHL/NHLPA Program for Substance Abuse and Behavioral Health for evaluation and possible treatment.”
Suspensions for PEDs are quite rare in the NHL, but based on previous precedent, the length is to be expected. Nate Schmidt, now Ekblad’s teammate in Florida, was the most recent player to be suspended under the program while he was with the Golden Knights in training camp in 2018. He was also handed out a 20-game ban to begin the regular season, during which time he inked a six-year extension with Vegas.
Ekblad is just the sixth player to be suspended for PEDs since the 2012 lockout. Unlike in Schmidt’s case, where he testified he “could not have received any performance enhancement benefit from the trace amount that inadvertently got into my system,” Ekblad will not appeal the suspension and released the following statement (via Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman):
The news that I had failed a random drug test was a shock. Ultimately, I made a mistake by taking something to help me recover from recent injuries without first checking with proper medical and team personnel. I have let my teammates, the Panthers organization and our great fans down. For that, I am truly sorry. I have accepted responsibility for my mistake and will be fully prepared to return to my team when my suspension is over. I have learned a hard lesson and cannot wait to be back with my teammates.
The 29-year-old will not carry a cap hit for the remainder of the regular season, PuckPedia confirms, although that’s somewhat moot with the trade deadline now in the rearview. He ends his regular season on a six-game point streak (seven assists, plus-three rating) and has 3-30–33 in 56 games on the year, a raucous return to form for the veteran. He’d seen his point totals drop steadily in the past few years as his power-play opportunities dwindled, bottoming out with a career-low 18 points in 51 games last year before Florida’s run to the Stanley Cup. He’s reclaimed top power-play minutes this year after Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Brandon Montour left in free agency, though, and his performance (and ice time) have benefitted as a result.
His top-pairing minutes alongside Gustav Forsling will now presumably go to fresh trade pickup Seth Jones down the stretch. The Cats still have plenty of meaningful games remaining as they try to battle out the Maple Leafs and Lightning for the Atlantic Division title and secure home ice through the first two rounds of the playoffs, simultaneously avoiding having to play both powerhouses in Tampa Bay in Toronto in back-to-back rounds as they attempt to gain a third consecutive Eastern Conference Final berth. Jones, who’s averaged 21 minutes per game since the trade while quarterbacking the Panthers’ second power-play unit, is still looking for his first point in a Florida uniform.
It’s worth noting Ekblad, the Panthers’ franchise leader in games played among defensemen, may have ended his regular-season tenure in South Florida on a sour note. He’s a pending unrestricted free agent and could head elsewhere on the open market in July.
Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.
Penguins Sign Daniel Laatsch To Entry-Level Contract
The Penguins announced they’ve signed defenseman Daniel Laatsch to a two-year, entry-level contract covering the 2025-26 and 2026-27 campaigns. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Pittsburgh selected Laatsch in the seventh round of the 2021 draft, and they were at risk of losing the 23-year-old’s signing rights if they didn’t agree on an ELC by Aug. 15. The 6’5″ lefty is the second collegiate Pens prospect to sign his entry-level contract in as many days, joining Michigan Tech defender Chase Pietila.
Laatsch, 23, just wrapped up his fourth and final season at Wisconsin. The Badgers lost their Big 10 playoff series against Ohio State last weekend and aren’t expected to garner a berth for the national tournament. Laatsch’s point totals indicate a pure stay-at-home presence, completing his collegiate career with just 6-20–26 in 126 games with a plus-five rating. Injuries limited Laatsch to 22 appearances in 2024-25, logging 2-3–5 with a plus-one rating.
He’s a player the organization’s liked for a while. Pittsburgh director of player development Tom Kostopoulos said last summer they mused signing Laatsch after his junior season but opted to have him return to Wisconsin for his senior campaign. Knocks on Laatsch will consist of his lanky frame for his height (just 183 lbs). While he plays an intelligent defensive game, he does so without crossing the line physically – he recorded just 18 PIMs across four seasons at Wisconsin.
He can report to AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton down the stretch on a tryout but is ineligible to make his NHL debut until next season. He’ll be a restricted free agent upon expiry of his deal in the 2027 offseason.
Laatsch was one of five picks Pittsburgh made in the 2021 draft. None have played NHL games yet, and they already relinquished the signing rights to one of the picks (defenseman Ryan McCleary).
Blackhawks Activate Jason Dickinson From Injured Reserve
Blackhawks forward Jason Dickinson will return to the lineup for tonight’s game against the Avalanche, Mark Lazerus of The Athletic reports. The team announced he’s been activated from injured reserve, and since the 23-man roster limit is no longer in effect after the trade deadline, no corresponding transaction is coming.
The 29-year-old has played center for the entire season but will shift to right wing alongside Connor Bedard in his return. He missed just over a month after sustaining a high ankle sprain against the Oilers on Feb. 5. The 4 Nations break limited the number of games he missed to 11.
Once a depth piece for the Stars and Canucks, Dickinson has emerged as a leadership piece for Chicago along with being one of their better two-way forwards. The alternate captain posted a career-high 22 goals and 35 points while playing in all 82 games last season, earning himself a two-year, $8.25MM extension in the process.
This year hasn’t been as fruitful offensively for Dickinson, who’s posted a more conservative 7-9–16 scoring line through 53 games. He’s averaging 15:56 per game, down slightly from last season, and has won 49% of his draws. After finishing 12th in Selke Trophy voting last season, his possession numbers have also dipped. He’s posted a minus-seven rating after logging a plus-four last year (on a team with a -111 goal differential), and his even-strength CF% has dropped by three percentage points from 46.4 to 43.4.
Now, he’ll head to Bedard’s wing while no doubt taking most of the faceoffs in an effort to help boost the 19-year-old’s two-way play. Bedard, Chicago’s most-used forward by a humongous margin at 20:22 per game, has a 43.4% shot attempt share at even strength that’s 0.6% worse than his off-ice share. Dickinson, despite his absence, still leads Blackhawks forwards in blocks (49) and ranks third in hits (93).
Per this morning’s line rushes, Pat Maroon heads to the press box to make way for Dickinson’s return. The veteran grinder had played in 13 straight games, recording 2-3–5 with a minus-one rating and five PIMs.
Snapshots: Rantanen, Husso, Poitras
The Avalanche’s final offer to winger Mikko Rantanen in extension negotiations earlier this season was an eight-year, $93.2MM deal worth $11.65MM per season, Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic confirmed today. While that obviously wasn’t an offer Rantanen agreed to, it was close enough to encourage the winger’s camp to keep negotiating throughout the rest of the regular season – a plan foiled when Colorado instead opted to deal him to the Hurricanes. LeBrun reaffirms the notion at the time that Rantanen and his camp were blindsided by the deal, instead believing they were close enough in talks to continue ironing out a deal to keep him in Colorado. He also confirmed that the Canes’ offer to Rantanen was an eight-year, $100MM deal as previously reported, but that he ended up taking less in last week’s trade-and-sign with the Stars because he “just wasn’t feeling the fit in Carolina.”
More from around the league today:
- The Ducks announced they’ve reassigned goaltender Ville Husso to AHL San Diego. The veteran third-stringer, acquired from the Red Wings last month, backed up Lukáš Dostál for the second straight contest in last night’s win over the Islanders while John Gibson remains sidelined with a lower-body issue. They’ve sent him to the minors on off-days during Gibson’s absence, so today’s move isn’t necessarily an indication Gibson will be ready to return when Anaheim hosts the Capitals tomorrow. Husso has yet to play for the Ducks since the swap, but the 30-year-old has a .894 SV%, 3.27 GAA, one shutout, and a 3-1-0 record in four showings for San Diego.
- While the Bruins’ reassignment of Matthew Poitras on Friday was expected to be a short-term one to make him eligible for the AHL playoffs, Steve Conroy of the Boston Herald reports that isn’t the case. The 21-year-old center remains in Providence as this week gets underway and will remain there for the foreseeable future, potentially the rest of the regular season. The 2022 second-rounder has 1-10–11 in 33 NHL appearances this season after notching 5-10–15 in the exact same number of showings last year.
Sharks Recall Jimmy Schuldt
They waited a few days after sending him down Friday for AHL playoff eligibility purposes, but the Sharks announced today they’ve added defenseman Jimmy Schuldt back to their roster. They now have an extra defenseman available for tomorrow’s game against the Predators after rolling without one for Saturday’s loss to the Islanders.
Schuldt, 29, suited up in San Jose’s final game before the trade deadline after they recalled him from the minors earlier in the week. It was the 6’1″ lefty’s first NHL appearance in nearly six years and just the second of his career after debuting in April 2019 as a member of the Golden Knights.
Signed by Vegas as an undrafted free agent that year out of St. Cloud State, the Minnesota native has spent the last six years as a farmhand for the Knights, Sabres, Kraken, and now Sharks. A two-way defender with good puck-moving skills, he’s now the captain of San Jose’s AHL club after signing a two-way deal last summer with an $800K cap hit and $400K guarantee. He has 5-13–18 in 54 games for the Barracuda this season, ranking second on the club with a +15 rating.
Schuldt logged 14:15 in his Sharks debut against the Avalanche last week and posted three shots on goal with one hit. He had a good showing in sheltered minutes, controlling shots 9-3 at 5v5 and scoring chances 7-4, per Natural Stat Trick.
The fledgling Sharks would love to continue getting that play out of Schuldt as a third-pairing fill-in down the stretch. San Jose will have increased opportunity for depth blue-liners down the stretch after trading No. 1 option Jake Walman to the Oilers last week, creating space for young names like Shakir Mukhamadullin and Henry Thrun while also providing more playing time for depth vets like Schuldt. San Jose now has 22 players on their active roster and has used up one of their four post-deadline recalls.
Latest On The Pittsburgh Penguins
Josh Yohe of The Athletic writes that the Pittsburgh Penguins never came close to dealing forward Rickard Rakell prior to the NHL Trade Deadline. The Penguins reportedly didn’t care to deal Rakell and were happy to hold onto him, despite receiving several offers for his services. Pittsburgh general manager Kyle Dubas doesn’t want the Penguins to tank over the next few years and instead hopes to mirror the retool that the Washington Capitals recently went through.
Dubas did make plenty of moves leading up to the deadline, but didn’t move any of the bigger names such as Rakell or Erik Karlsson. Yohe believes that the Penguins would like to move Karlsson in the summer and are willing to retain as much as $3MM to facilitate a move. Karlsson hasn’t been terrible in Pittsburgh, but his style of play has not meshed well, and he has not been the Norris Trophy defenseman that Pittsburgh thought they were trading for in the summer of 2023.
If the Penguins move on from Karlsson, it will put more pressure on defenseman Kris Letang. Although it’s questionable as to whether he will stick around. Yohe speculates that Dubas will approach Letang to see if he still has interest in remaining in Pittsburgh during their roster turnover. Letang has a full no trade clause and three years remaining on his contract at a $6.1MM AAV. His actual salary in those three years will be $4.8MM per year, which could be appealing for teams on an internal budget. Letang is having arguably the worst season of his professional career but remains a top four NHL defenseman. He hasn’t publicly expressed any interest in moving on from the Penguins.
Yohe expects teams to call Pittsburgh this summer about forward Bryan Rust as his full no movement clause expires. While teams will be interested, Yohe doesn’t believe the Penguins want to move the veteran, who is playing some of the best hockey of his career with 21 goals and 26 assists in 55 games this season.
Given the nature of the Penguins’ deadline, and a desire to keep high character veterans in the fold, it looks as though the Penguins intend to turn things around quickly rather than enduring a five-year rebuild. Yohe acknowledges that next year will be tough for Pittsburgh, but the Penguins are hoping to contend for a playoff spot again in the next two years.
Utah’s Juuso Välimäki Undergoes ACL Surgery, Out 8-9 Months
Utah announced today defenseman Juuso Välimäki underwent surgery to repair a torn ACL and will need eight to nine months for recovery. As a result, the 26-year-old’s season is over. He’ll also miss the first one to two months of the 2025-26 campaign.
It’s a brutal end to a forgettable season for the Finnish defenseman. He hasn’t been on the NHL roster since Feb. 24, when he cleared waivers and was subsequently sent to AHL Tucson for his first minor-league assignment since the 2021-22 campaign. Välimäki sustained the ACL tear in his first game with Tucson on Feb. 28.
While the 2017 first-rounder has finally emerged as a fringe top-four option on the Coyotes’ blue line before the team was sold and moved operations to Salt Lake City, he’s tumbled down the depth chart in Utah despite early-season injuries to Sean Durzi and John Marino creating additional opportunities for depth players for much of the campaign. Touted as an offensive defenseman, the 6’2″ lefty has just 2-3–5 in 43 NHL showings this year. That’s down considerably from the heights of his 34-point campaign in 78 games for Arizona two years ago, when he featured heavily on their power play and led Coyotes defenders with 30 assists (19 EV, 11 PP).
Välimäki’s role this season was naturally going to decrease with their offseason pickups of Marino, Ian Cole, and Mikhail Sergachev, and his role was further reduced when Utah acquired (and now extended) countryman Olli Määttä early in the season. Not being available during training camp next season also doesn’t bode well for his hopes of re-emerging as a regular. Signed through next year at a $2MM cap hit, Välimäki is already the seventh defenseman under contract on a one-way deal next year after the Club recently extended Määttä and Cole. While veterans Nick DeSimone and Robert Bortuzzo are pending UFAs and questionable to return, they’ve also got 2022 first-rounder Maveric Lamoureux in the system who should be pushing for an opening-night roster spot after skating in 15 games earlier this year.
Thus, Välimäki may not have an NHL job waiting for him when he returns to health next year. He costs $850K against Utah’s cap when buried in the minors. He’s destined for unrestricted free agency when his deal expires in 2026 and, save for an unexpected resurgence in 2025-26, won’t be re-signing unless he desires a minor-league role.
More concerning is the Finn’s history with ACL tears and lower-body issues. He missed significant chunks of his early development in the Flames organization, including the first half of the 2018-19 campaign with a lower-body injury and all of the 2019-20 season after undergoing ACL surgery during training camp. He’s managed to stay mostly healthy since then, though. It’s not known whether the tears occurred in the same knee.
Jonathan Toews Pushing For NHL Comeback
Former Chicago Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews remains serious about an NHL comeback at the age of 37 even though he hasn’t played a professional hockey game in almost two years (as per Mark Lazerus of The Athletic). The three-time Stanley Cup Champion has been plagued by health issues for several years now but says he is in a good place both mentally and physically and has even begun skating in Arizona as he begins an attempted comeback. Toews never officially retired when he wrapped up his time in Chicago and refers to his time away from the game as a “hiatus.”
With Toews ready to give hockey one last shot, many people will wonder about potential suitors for his services. One team that he will not play for is the Blackhawks as they have made it clear in the past that they were ready to move on from Toews and hand the keys over to their new core. Toews holds no hard feelings over this and acknowledged that he understands their reasoning.
Toews had skated just once since last playing in the NHL back on April 13th, 2023, dressing in a charity exhibition game in Slovakia. He returned to the United States last month and had his hockey gear sent to him in Arizona. Since then, he’s been doing skill work and conditioning skates but admits he doesn’t have his legs under him yet, which is understandable given the length of his absence. Toews tells Lazerus that he is excited to skate with other NHLers when their seasons end and will have a better idea at that time whether or not an NHL comeback is feasible.
Toews returning to the NHL would make for an exciting story, given the challenges he has dealt with. The Winnipeg, Manitoba native has nothing left to prove at any level of hockey but does admit that the desire to play in the NHL again is still burning strong.
Canadiens Recall Joshua Roy, Assign Owen Beck To AHL
The Montreal Canadiens announced that they’ve recalled forward Joshua Roy on an emergency basis and sent forward Owen Beck to the Laval Rocket of the AHL. Due to the nature of the recall, Roy will not count against Montreal’s team limit of four recalls. The Canadiens play a back-to-back this week on Tuesday and Wednesday in Vancouver and Seattle and needed a change at forward.
It’s the second time this season that Roy has been recalled from the AHL. In his first NHL stint, the 21-year-old dressed in four games and was held pointless. With Laval in the AHL, Roy has tallied 20 goals and 15 assists in 40 games and was named an AHL All-Star last month. He’s been on a heater as of late with goals in three straight games, and four in his last five.
Beck is also an AHL All-Star this season and was named as a late replacement for Roy of all people. The Peterborough, Ontario native has dressed in 12 NHL games this season with the Canadiens but has had limited success with just a single assist and a -2 plus/minus. The 2022 second round pick (33rd overall) has seen limited ice time, skating less than 10 minutes per game, but has decent underlying numbers and has made his presence known with 23 hits. Beck is in his first season as a professional and has posted solid AHL numbers with 13 goals and 19 assists in 47 games. His demotion will allow him to play more minutes and re-capture his scoring touch with a top AHL team.