Snapshots: Guentzel, Holmstrom, Chernyshov, Bains
It’s one of the busiest nights of the hockey year. Unlike in years past, the Winter Classic is no longer a standalone event. The NHL has 12 other games on the docket, all backlit by Team Canada taking on Team USA in an exhilarating World Junior Championships tournament. The heap of action has pulled together sparked plenty of news from around the league.
Most notably, Tampa Bay Lightning winger Jake Guentzel returned to the team’s practices in a no-contact jersey on Tuesday, per NHL.com’s Eduardo A Encina. It was his first time skating since suffering an upper-body injury in the team’s Saturday game. He was designated as day-to-day, and missed his first game of the season on Sunday. Tampa Bay have until Thursday to prepare for a three-game slate this weekend. Guentzel’s return to the ice could be an indication that the Bolts will be getting another star scorer to support the effort.
Guentzel has been fantastic in his first season in Tampa Bay. He’s recorded 20 goals and 37 points through 33 games this season. That equals out to a 1.12 points-per-game scoring pace, which stands as the highest of Guentzel’s nine-year career and puts him on pace for 50 goals and 91 points across 81 games. He’ll need to return soon to uphold those numbers, and continue contributing to a Lightning top-six with three players outscoring him.
Across the Eastern Division, the New York Islanders have lost forward Simon Holmström to an upper-body injury. He has been designated as day-to-day, per a team announcement, and missed his first game of the season on Tuesday. Holmstrom has been a rare bright spot in the Islanders lineup, posting nine goals and 22 points across 37 games so far. He’s nearly past his career-high of 25 points set in 75 games last season, and has slowly climbed the Islanders lineup as a result. The Islanders scored just one goal in his absence on Tuesday, pulling their record to 4-6-0 in their last 10 games. All four of those wins required four-or-more goals, meaning New York now faces the challenge of maintaining their offense without one of their top scorers.
Traveling to the other coast – San Jose Sharks prospect Igor Chernyshov has shared that he hopes to return to game action in January, per Curtis Pashelka of Mercury News. Chernyshov – the fisrt pick of the second round in last year’s draft – has been skating with Sharks staff to support his recovery. He was a top prospect in last year’s class, with many even dubbing him a first-round talent. But a shoulder surgery in August has so far held him out of all 2024-25 action. He is expected to head to the OHL’s Saginaw Spirit when he returns to full health.
Finally, Vancouver Canucks winger Arshdeep Bains has changed agents, now represented by Wasserman’s Darren Hermiston per PuckPedia. Bains is in the final year of his entry-level contract. He began the year in the minor leagues, but was the clear top option on Vancouver’s call-up chart. He’s already been recalled seven times this season, resulting in Bains stepping into 11 NHL games. Unfortunately, he hasn’t done much to make the call-ups stick – with just one assist and a -4. He’s been much more active in the minors, recording 11 points, 20 penalty minutes, and a -5 in 12 games. Bains ranked second on the Abbotsford Canucks in scoring last season with 55 points in 59 games. His change of representation months before a new deal could be a step towards fighting for a hardier chance at the top flight.
Penguins Activate Marcus Pettersson, Place Kris Letang On IR
The Pittsburgh Penguins have swapped defenders on injured reserve, activating Marcus Pettersson (lower-body) and shelving Kris Letang (lower-body). Pettersson suffered his injury from an awkward hit into the boards during Pittsburgh’s December 14th loss to the Ottawa Senators. He’s since missed the Penguins’ last six games. Where Letang was injured is less clear. He was a late scratch for Sunday’s game against the New York Islanders, and has been designated as day-to-day per Hailey Hunter of SportsNet Pittsburgh. The Penguins will have the ability to make Letang’s IR placement retroactive to December 29th, making him eligible to return as soon as January 5th against the Carolina Hurricanes.
Pittsburgh swaps two of their most utilized defenders with this move. Letang leads the team’s skaters in ice time, averaging 23:24 through 34 games this season. Despite that, he’s been unusually unproductive, with 16 points marking his lowest scoring pace since 2009-10. Pettersson is working to catch Letang in scoring, with 13 points in 32 games while averaging 21:47 in ice time. His scoring pace puts him on track just narrowly beat out his career-high of 30 points set last season. Pettersson also brings a healthy wave of defense back to the Penguins lineup, leading the Penguins defense in Corsi For (52.93 percent) and ranked second in plus-minus (-4). That’ll be a welcome addition to a Penguins roster that’s averaged both 3.29 goals-for and goals-against in seven games without Pettersson, including the game he was injured in.
Pettersson’s return will bump Nathan Clurman out of the lineup. Clurman made his NHL debut on Monday, recording one penalty and no scoring in 11 minutes of ice time. Letang’s move to IR allows Pittsburgh to keep Clurman as their seventh defenseman, while Pettersson lines up to Pierre-Olivier Joseph on the second pair.
Rangers To Place Igor Shesterkin On IR, Recall Louis Domingue
The New York Rangers will place franchise goaltender Igor Shesterkin on injured reserve with an upper-body injury. To fill his role, New York has also recalled goaltender Louis Domingue from the AHL’s Hartford Wolf Pack. No details of Shesterkin’s injury or timeline have been released. This IR placement will force him out of New York’s next three games, at least. Shesterkin played through the entirety of New York’s December 30th loss to the Florida Panthers, allowing four goals on 25 shots.
Losing Shesterkin for any duration is hard news to bear, especially for a Rangers club that’s gone 3-10-0 in the month of December. That’s in part thanks to Shesterkin slightly caving in – posting a .891 save percentage in 10 games this month, fourth-lowest among starting goaltenders. Backup Jonathan Quick didn’t perform much better, with a .847 Sv% through three appearances. The pair have totaled a more admirable .906 and .907 save percentage over the course of the season, though limiting opponent chances remains a major weakness for New York.
The Rangers will turn towards 12-year-pro Domingue to back up Quick in the short-term. Domingue has split AHL starts with top prospect Dylan Garand, recording a measly 4-9-1 record and .888 Sv% in 14 appearances. This is the first call-up of his season, and gives Domingue a chance to play in just his second game as a Ranger, after he recorded a 25-win for the team last season. He’s a veteran of eight NHL seasons, totaling a 60-60-10 record and .905 Sv% across 143 career games.
Utah Loans Connor Ingram To AHL, Places Robert Bortuzzo On IR
The Utah Hockey Club have assigned goaltender Connor Ingram to the AHL’s Tucson Roadrunners on a conditioning loan. Ingram has missed Utah’s last 18 games with an upper-body injury. He was placed on injured reserve on November 20th and returned to skating on December 14th. He’ll now head to the AHL to take the next steps in his recovery.
In a corresponding move, Utah has also placed defenseman Robert Bortuzzo on injured reserve with a lower-body injury. The move is retroactive to the date of Bortuzzo’s last game on December 10th. He left that match halfway through the second period after being spilled into the boards by Minnesota Wild forward Devin Shore. Bortuzzo is out indefinitely, though his move to IR clears the roster space to activate Ingram after his conditioning stint.
Ingram served as Utah’s starter prior to his injury, but performed uncharacteristically poorly – recording a .871 save percentage and 3.61 goals-against-average in 13 games, both career-lows. He stood much taller in Utah’s starting net last season, recording a .907 Sv%, a 2.91 GAA, and six shutouts across 50 games in what was Ingram’s first season as a full-time NHL starter. He could now lose the job just one year later, with Utah’s backup Karel Vejmelka posting an impressive .917 Sv%, 2.33 GAA, and 7-6-2 record in 15 games since Ingram’s injury. Vejmelka should hang onto his starting role even as Ingram returns, though Utah could get the perk of riding the hot hand if Ingram is able to bounce back to form.
Sharks Place William Eklund On IR, Recall Collin Graf
The San Jose Sharks are getting some much-needed forward depth before their game tonight against the Philadelphia Flyers. The organization announced they recalled Collin Graf from their AHL affiliate, the San Jose Barracuda, and placed forward William Eklund on injured reserve to open up the roster spot.
There are no surprises with Eklund’s placement on the injured reserve. It’s been known for over a week that he would miss a few games with an upper-body injury making his transaction a formality. He’s eligible to return any day now considering the move was retroactive to December 23rd.
Still, he’s an important piece missing from the lineup. He’s still dealing with some growing pains at the NHL level but has been productive this season with seven goals and 20 assists in 36 games. He’s tied with Macklin Celebrini for second on the team in scoring despite being drafted only four years ago.
Graf doesn’t carry the same prospect pedigree as Eklund but has been an electric factory for the Barracuda this season. He’s scored six goals and 26 points in 29 games in his first full season with AHL San Jose good for second on the team in scoring.
The call-up should be a good opportunity for Graf to prove his long-term worth in the NHL. Should he continue his pace in the AHL, he’ll likely become a consistent player on the Sharks after their expected trade deadline activity.
Dallas Stars Activate Matt Dumba
The Dallas Stars’ defensive core is back to fully healthy. The organization announced they’ve activated Mathew Dumba from the injured reserve after missing the last eight games with a lower-body injury.
Dumba has produced nearly identical numbers in Dallas as he did with the Tampa Bay Lightning last year. The veteran blue-liner tallied two assists in 18 games for the Lightning after being acquired from the Arizona Coyotes at the trade deadline. Still, he was effective physically and on the defensive side of the puck but is no longer the puck-moving threat he used to be with the Minnesota Wild.
That’s largely the production the Stars received from Dumba this year when healthy. He’s added one assist in 19 games averaging the lowest ice time of his career since his sophomore campaign in 2014-15. He’s managed a solid 51.0% CorsiFor% but that should regress toward his career average of 49.2% with increased playing time.
There’s typically a casualty of any player’s activation especially on a contending team such as the Stars. The casualty of Dumba’s activation will be Lian Bichsel who won’t be recalled to Dallas for now.
The former 18th overall pick of the 2022 NHL Draft skated in all eight games that Dumba missed and scored the first goal of his NHL career during his debut on December 12th.
Bichsel seemingly made a positive first impression with the Stars but will continue developing in the AHL with the Texas Stars. He’s been similarly effective with AHL Texas scoring three goals and nine points in 21 games.
Penguins’ Jesse Puljujärvi Clears Waivers
Dec. 31: Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman shared that Puljujärvi has been successfully passed through waivers. The Penguins organization can now send him to the AHL unencumbered.
Dec. 30: The Penguins have placed winger Jesse Puljujärvi on waivers for the purposes of assignment to AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, per Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet.
Puljujärvi, the fourth overall pick of the 2016 draft by the Oilers, lands on waivers for the first time in his eight-year NHL career. The 26-year-old has played just once since Nov. 23, last suiting up on Dec. 7 against the Maple Leafs and serving as a healthy scratch in 14 of the Pens’ last 15 games.
That run of scratches has less to do with Puljujärvi’s performance than with the Penguins’ unwillingness to mess with a good thing. Pittsburgh has gone 10-4-1 since Thanksgiving and has thus kept its forward lineup intact on a nightly basis, with injuries allowing, understandably not leading to many opportunities for playing time for the once highly-touted Finn.
In 21 games with the Penguins this season, Puljujärvi had mustered three goals and five assists for eight points with a -2 rating. He did so while averaging 11:37 per game, up from the paltry 9:11 he received in a 22-game run with Pittsburgh last year. The 6’4″, 201-lb winger has added 30 hits and played an extremely effective game defensively. Despite starting 58.3% of his shifts at 5-on-5 in the defensive zone, the Pens still controlled 50.6% of shot attempts with Puljujärvi on the ice compared to 49.5% without him.
Those latter numbers make it a tad surprising to see him become available to the rest of the league for free, although it’s become clear there isn’t much of a role for him in Pittsburgh anymore. He’s in the back half of a two-year, $1.6MM contract he signed with the Pens in February 2024 after a lengthy stint on the free-agent market following double hip surgery.
It’s become clear that Puljujärvi likely won’t recapture the form that saw him produce a career-high 0.55 points per game back with Edmonton in 2021-22, but he remains a legitimately useful piece for a bottom-six shutdown unit. With a cap hit of $800K and no commitment past this season, it won’t be surprising if he ends up landing with another NHL club tomorrow.
Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.
Seattle Kraken Reassign Gustav Olofsson
Defenseman Gustav Olofsson‘s time on an NHL roster is over for now. The Seattle Kraken announced they’ve reassigned Olofsson to their AHL affiliate, the Coachella Valley Firebirds.
The roster move likely serves as a paper transaction given the Kraken don’t play again for a few more days. They’ll go down to six healthy defensemen on the roster but will likely want some available insurance with upcoming matchups against the Vancouver Canucks, Edmonton Oilers, and New Jersey Devils.
Despite spending nearly a week on the active roster, Olofsson hasn’t factored into any games for the Kraken this season. His only playing time has come in AHL Coachella Valley where he’s scored two goals and 11 points in 29 contests.
Seattle’s upper management may keep Olofsson in the AHL for some time. The Firebirds are pursuing their third-straight appearance in the Calder Cup Final but have struggled this season. They’ve managed a 14-11-1-4 record through 33 games this season and sit in sixth place in the Pacific Division.
There are a few more options in Coachella Valley they could choose from. Defensemen Maxime Lajoie and Cale Fleury have NHL experience and are available to recall although the former is on a one-way contract. Whatever the case may be, the Kraken are expected to call up one of the trio over the next few days.
Avalanche Activate Jonathan Drouin, Place Ivan Ivan On IR
Dec. 31st: As expected, the Avalanche have officially activated Drouin from the injured reserve for today’s matchup. On the flip side, the team has also placed Ivan on the injured reserve with multiple reports indicating he’ll be out for the next few weeks.
Dec. 30th: The Colorado Avalanche are expected to activate forward Jonathan Drouin off the injured reserve tomorrow, meaning that the 29-year-old would be back in the lineup tomorrow night against the Winnipeg Jets (as per Corey Masisak of The Denver Post). Drouin has been dealing with an upper-body injury that caused him to miss 16 games, and it was his second extended absence of the season.
Drouin has been good when healthy, dressing in just five games this year for Colorado, posting two goals and two assists while averaging 20:40 of ice time. The former third-overall pick was terrific for Colorado last year with 56 points in 79 games but was unable to secure a long-term deal in free agency this past summer, opting instead to return to the Avalanche on a one-year deal worth $2.5MM. Drouin will have roughly half the season to prove his worth before hitting free agency once again next summer.
In other Avalanche news, forward Ivan Ivan has an upper-body injury and may miss some time, although he is still being evaluated. The 22-year-old was likely coming out of the lineup with the return of Drouin and could be scratched tomorrow regardless of his health. Ivan probably wasn’t ready to be thrust into an NHL role this season, but circumstance has allowed him to dress in 37 games for the Avalanche where he has played just over ten minutes a night, chipping in five goals and three assists.
Chicago Blackhawks Activate Craig Smith
Veteran forward Craig Smith has the opportunity to play in today’s Winter Classic after all. The Chicago Blackhawks announced they’ve activated Smith from the injured reserve after missing the last eight games with a back injury.
Smith is expected to reprise his role on the Blackhawks’ fourth line next to Pat Maroon and Lukas Reichel. He scored six goals and 10 points in 26 games before going down with an injury in mid-December.
Unlike many of his fellow teammates in Chicago, this won’t be the first time Smith has skated in a Winter Classic. He participated in the 2023 Winter Classic between the Boston Bruins and Pittsburgh Penguins as a member of the former but failed to find the scoresheet after skating in only 5:32 of the game.
Beyond the 2023 matchup, Smith also went scoreless in the 2020 Winter Classic as a member of the Nashville Predators. Since today will be the third outdoor game of his career, Smith will tie for 46th on the NHL’s record of outdoor games played.
Although Smith’s scoring has moderately increased compared to last year with the Dallas Stars, his defensive play has seen some shortcomings. He’s typically hovered between 91% to 93% in on-ice save percentage in all situations but it has fallen to 88.7% this year with the Blackhawks.
Thankfully, he doesn’t have too much responsibility when healthy allowing some of the defensive shortcomings to be overlooked. Still, as one of multiple veteran players brought in last summer, Smith holds an important task in helping develop some of his younger peers.