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Injury Notes: Marchand, Pesce, Kreider, Trenin

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Things are trending toward Bruins captain Brad Marchand returning to the lineup as they try and force a Game 7 against the Panthers on Friday night. He practiced with the team today and skated with the first power play unit, reports The Athletic’s Fluto Shinzawa, indicating head coach Jim Montgomery is preparing for him to be available. Montgomery later told reporters that Marchand remains day-to-day, but his status could change tomorrow (via NBC Sports Boston’s Ty Anderson).

Marchand missed Games 4 and 5 after Panthers center Sam Bennett laid out a controversial hit in Game 3, causing him to sustain an upper-body injury. The 35-year-old has been Boston’s best skater in these playoffs, tying for the team lead with 10 points (three goals, seven assists) in 10 games. He hasn’t taken a minor penalty in the Florida series, only being assessed a 10-minute misconduct for his role in a third-period Game 2 melee after Brandon Montour scored shorthanded to put the Cats up 6-1.

The B’s dropped Game 4 without their captain but managed to escape Florida with a 2-1 win in Game 5 to keep their season alive. The Bruins are now 2-2 in potential elimination games this postseason after dropping Games 5 and 6 against the Maple Leafs in the first round despite taking a 3-1 series lead.

Other injury updates as we rapidly near the Conference Finals:

  • The Hurricanes will be without defenseman Brett Pesce as they try and stave off elimination for a third straight game against the Rangers tonight, head coach Rod Brind’Amour confirmed (via Cory Lavalette of the North State Journal). He’s ramped up practicing with the team as he tries to return from a lower-body injury, but he’ll miss his ninth straight contest. Pesce hasn’t played since sustaining the injury midway through Game 2 of Carolina’s first-round win over the Islanders. The pending unrestricted free agent averaged 20:17 per game in the regular season, his lowest usage since his rookie season in 2015-16 while posting three goals and 13 points in 70 games.
  • Rangers winger Chris Kreider was absent from practice yesterday due to maintenance, but it appears the team was underselling whatever’s going on. He confirmed to reporters he’ll play in Game 6, but likely isn’t 100 percent. Earlier this morning, he was downgraded to probable/uncertain for Game 6 tonight, head coach Peter Laviolette told reporters (including USA Today’s Vince Z. Mercogliano). Kreider did return to practice with the team at today’s morning skate, though, something Laviolette called “a real positive.” He had two goals and two assists in Games 1 through 3 against Carolina but has been held without a point in their Game 4 and 5 losses.
  • Avalanche checking forward Yakov Trenin is being evaluated for an upper-body injury after leaving last night’s Game 5 win over the Stars prematurely, Colorado Hockey Now’s Evan Rawal reported mid-game. Picked up from the Predators before the trade deadline, Trenin has one goal in 10 postseason games thus far and has played a smaller role than expected, averaging 10:36 per game. He’s also struggled in the faceoff dot while serving as their fourth-line pivot, winning only 43.6% of his draws. If he’s unable to play in Game 6 on Friday, expect veteran Chris Wagner to draw into the lineup. Wagner’s lone appearance came in their Game 1 overtime win over Dallas last week, logging 8:28 of ice time.

Devils Re-Sign Brian Halonen, Samuel Laberge

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The Devils re-signed depth winger Brian Halonen to a two-year, two-way deal on Thursday, per a team announcement. His extension will cost $775K against the cap when he’s on the NHL roster. New Jersey also inked forward Samuel Laberge to a one-year, two-way extension worth $775K in the NHL.

Halonen, 25, was set to be a restricted free agent this summer after completing his entry-level contract. His new deal carries no signing bonuses and will pay him $175K at the AHL level in 2024-25 and $275K in 2025-26, a raise over the $80K minors salary he earned on his rookie pact. The extension walks him to unrestricted free agency in 2026.

Laberge, meanwhile, turned 27 last month and would have become a UFA this summer if he didn’t re-sign in Jersey. He’ll net $120K at the AHL level next season with a $135K guarantee, per the team.

In inking both to extensions, general manager Tom Fitzgerald will squeeze some more value out of a pair of undrafted free agent signings. Halonen joined the team back in March 2022 after a standout senior season at Michigan Tech, taking home CCHA First All-Star Team honors while leading the Huskies in scoring with 21 goals and 44 points in 37 games.

The Minnesota native took a while to get going last season while on assignment to AHL Utica, struggling to get on the scoresheet much before a brief demotion to ECHL Adirondack in December. He played just one game with Adirondack, posting an assist, before being recalled back to Utica and finishing the season on a tear. He finished 2022-23 with 17 goals and 30 points in 57 games, ranking eighth on the Comets in scoring.

The gifted sniper was limited to 35 games with Utica this season due to injuries, but he more than earned his extension after potting 20 goals to finish second on the team despite playing in less than half of their 72-game schedule. With injuries plaguing the Devils in the latter half of the season, he received his first two NHL recalls down the stretch, making a lone appearance each time. He was used sparingly, though, averaging 8:17 across the pair of games while managing two shots on goal and two hits.

Laberge had been on minor-league contracts with Utica since the 2021-22 campaign but didn’t land an NHL contract until signing with the Devils a couple of months into this season. The 6’2″, 205-lb forward can play center and both wings and has been a solid bottom-six checking forward for the Comets over the past few seasons, totaling 19 goals and 48 points in 155 games with 199 PIMs and a +10 rating. The former captain of the QMJHL’s Rimouski Océanic is entering his eighth professional season.

Like Halonen, Laberge also made his NHL debut this season with a two-game trial. He recorded three hits in just 6:12 of total ice time across a pair of contests he played in November and December, shortly after landing a contract with New Jersey.

Both are likely destined to start 2024-25 in Utica. Halonen still has one season of professional service or 58 NHL games before he requires waivers, but Laberge will no longer be waiver-exempt and will need to hit the wire during the preseason to head to the minors. With the pair of signings, the Devils are now up to 33 out of the maximum 50 standard player contracts on the books next season.

NHL-Affiliated Prospects Playing In 2024 Memorial Cup

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The field for the 2024 Memorial Cup, the top club tournament in junior hockey, is set. The QMJHL’s Drummondville Voltigeurs, the OHL’s London Knights and the WHL’s Moose Jaw Warriors all swept their respective league championship series within the last two days to advance to the CHL championship tournament, joining the host Saginaw Spirit of the OHL.

This year marks the first Memorial Cup held in the United States since 1998, which was hosted by the WHL’s Spokane Chiefs. The Spirit will attempt to become the first U.S.-based team to win since the Chiefs in 2008, and they have a strong chance. They’re stronger than a typical host team, finishing second in the league in the regular season with a 50-16-2 record and trailing London by just two points. They were eliminated by London in six games in the Western Conference Final.

The Knights lead the way with 10 NHL-affiliated prospects on their roster, including two first-round picks in Flyers defenseman Oliver Bonk and Maple Leafs forward Easton Cowan. The latter was named the OHL playoffs MVP after leading the Knights in scoring with 10 goals, 24 assists and 34 points in just 18 games. He had 15 points in four games in their championship sweep over the Oshawa Generals.

If you’re looking for some non-Stanley Cup Playoff hockey to watch, check to see if your favorite NHL team has prospects suiting up in the tournament, which begins May 24:

Drummondville Voltigeurs (QMJHL champion)

D Mikaël Diotte (Devils, free agent signing)
RW Ethan Gauthier (Lightning, 2023, 37th overall)
RW Alexis Gendron (Flyers, 2022, 220th overall)
D Vsevolod Komarov (Sabres, 2022, 134th overall)

NHL Utah 2022 first-round pick D Maveric Lamoureux is out for the season after undergoing shoulder surgery in March.

London Knights (OHL champion)

C Denver Barkey (Flyers, 2023, 95th overall)
D Oliver Bonk (Flyers, 2023, 22nd overall)
C Easton Cowan (Maple Leafs, 2023, 28th overall)
D Jackson Edward (Bruins, 2022, 200th overall)
D Isaiah George (Islanders, 2022, 98th overall)
RW Kasper Halttunen (Sharks, 2023, 36th overall)
C Jacob Julien (Jets, 2023, 146th overall)
C Kaleb Lawrence (Kings, 2022, 215th overall)
C Max McCue (Blue Jackets, free agent signing)
C Landon Sim (Blues, 2022, 184th overall)

Moose Jaw Warriors (WHL champion)

RW Jagger Firkus (Kraken, 2022, 35th overall)
D Denton Mateychuk (Blue Jackets, 2022, 12th overall)
D Kalem Parker (Wild, 2023, 181st overall)
D Vojtech Port (Ducks, 2023, 161st overall)
LW Martin Rysavy (Blue Jackets, 2021, 197th overall)
C Matthew Savoie (Sabres, 2022, 9th overall)
C Brayden Yager (Penguins, 2023, 14th overall)

Saginaw Spirit (host)

C Owen Beck (Canadiens, 2022, 33rd overall)
LW Josh Bloom (Canucks, acquired from Sabres in 2023 trade for Riley Stillman)
D Rodwin Dionicio (Ducks, 2023, 129th overall)
D Jorian Donovan (Senators, 2022, 136th overall)
C Hunter Haight (Wild, 2022, 47th overall)
C Ethan Hay (Lightning, 2023, 211th overall)
G Nolan Lalonde (Blue Jackets, free agent signing)
C Matyas Sapovaliv (Golden Knights, 2022, 48th overall)
C Joseph Willis (Predators, 2023, 111th overall)

Snapshots: Demko, Nelson, Pesce

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The Canucks have managed a split through the first four games of their series against Edmonton despite being without their starting goalie.  However, it appears that there’s a chance that Thatcher Demko will hit the ice at some point this round.  Speaking with reporters today (video link), head coach Rick Tocchet stated that his netminder has “improved immensely the last 72 hours” although he didn’t go as far as confirming that Demko would suit up in the coming days.  However, Rick Dhaliwal of CHEK and The Athletic adds (Twitter link) that a return in Game Six or Seven is a possibility for Demko.  The 28-year-old posted a career-best .918 SV% in 51 starts during the regular season and was expected to be a big part of their playoff run before suffering a knee injury in the first game of the first round versus Nashville.

More from around the NHL:

  • The Jets are among the teams looking for a new head coach following the retirement of Rick Bowness. In the latest 32 Thoughts podcast (audio link), Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman suggested that some believe Todd Nelson could be a viable candidate to take over behind the bench in Winnipeg.  Nelson doesn’t have much experience as a head coach in the NHL (just 51 games with Edmonton in 2014-15) but is a very experienced coach.  He has been an assistant at the top level with Atlanta and Dallas (spanning six years combined) and is in his tenth season as an AHL head coach; he currently is with Hershey who led the league with 111 points during the regular season.
  • Hurricanes defenseman Brett Pesce returned to practice today as he works his way back from a lower-body injury, notes team reporter Walt Ruff. The 29-year-old has been out since being injured in the second game of the playoffs and consistently logs big minutes for Carolina while helping to anchor their penalty kill.  While Pesce skated today, head coach Rod Brind’Amour indicated that they’re still operating under the expectation that he won’t be back this round but would consider putting him in if he was cleared to return in this series.

Lightning Sign Niko Huuhtanen

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The Lightning have signed one of their prospects as CapFriendly reports (Twitter link) that they’ve signed forward Niko Huuhtanen to a three-year, entry-level contract.  The deal carries an AAV of $925K and breaks down as follows:

2024-25: $775K salary, $92.5K signing bonus, $57.5K games played bonus
2025-26: $775K salary, $92.5K signing bonus, $57.5K games played bonus
2026-27: $775K salary, $92.5K signing bonus, $57.5K games played bonus

The 20-year-old was a seventh-round pick back in 2021, being taken with the 224th and final selection of that draft class.  Since then, his stock has gone up considerably.  Huuhtanen spent his post-draft season in junior with WHL Everett, collecting 37 goals and 40 assists in 65 games.

However, Huuhtanen decided to go back home and play professionally over staying in junior.  He has spent the last two seasons with Jukurit in Finland’s Liiga.  After putting up a respectable 30 points in 48 games in his rookie season, Huuhtanen was even better this year, collecting 19 goals and 27 assists in 52 contests to lead his team in scoring while finishing inside the top 20 league-wide.

While his season in Finland is over, Huuhtanen’s campaign hasn’t ended just yet.  He’s currently with AHL Syracuse on a tryout agreement as their playoff run continues (they begin the North Division Finals tonight) and is likely heading for a longer stay with them next season.

Connor Ingram Wins 2024 Masterton Trophy

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On Tuesday, the NHL revealed the winner of the Mark Messier Leadership Award.  Today, they announced that goaltender Connor Ingram is the recipient of the 2024 Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy, awarded to the player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to hockey.

The 27-year-old was mired in the minors early on in his career before stepping aside in 2021 to treat a previously undiagnosed obsessive-compulsive disorder and lingering depression, entering the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program.  He returned for the 2021-22 season, making his NHL debut with Nashville while putting up strong numbers with AHL Milwaukee.

That performance was enough for Arizona to put in a claim for him on waivers in 2022-23, a move that worked out well for both sides.  After a slow start, Ingram played to a respectable .907 SV% on a rebuilding team while posting a 3.37 GAA.  That was enough for the Coyotes to give him a three-year, $5.85MM contract last summer.  He rewarded them by maintaining that same save percentage while shaving 45 points off his GAA while playing in a career-best 50 games, positioning himself as the starter heading into their first season in Utah.

Other finalists for the award were Carolina goaltender Frederik Andersen and Calgary defenseman Oliver Kylington.  Andersen returned after missing most of the season due to blood clots while Kylington was away from the team for more than a year and a half for mental health reasons before returning this season.

The NHL will now take a bit of time off from announcing its award winners.  Next up on the schedule will be Saturday when the Selke Trophy winner will be revealed.

Vladislav Firstov Clears Unconditional Waivers, Released By Wild

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Wednesday: Firstov cleared waivers today, per CapFriendly.  The Wild wasted little time releasing him as John Shipley of the Pioneer Press notes that the deal has already been terminated.

Tuesday: The Wild have placed forward prospect Vladislav Firstov on unconditional waivers with intent to terminate his contract, the team announced Tuesday. The Athletic’s Michael Russo was the first to report the news.

It’s likely a mutual termination to allow Firstov to return to Russia next season. The 22-year-old spent most of the last two seasons on loan to Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod of the Kontinental Hockey League but was briefly brought to North America to close 2023-24 with AHL Iowa.

He had two goals and two assists in his 10-game stint with the club, his first since a lone appearance at the beginning of 2022-23 before heading to the KHL. Firstov had one season remaining on his entry-level contract and would have been a restricted free agent in 2025, but if he clears waivers tomorrow, he’ll become an unrestricted free agent immediately.

All told, the 2019 second-round pick will have played just 19 games in the Wild organization, all coming with Iowa. He totaled two goals and six points in parts of three seasons after turning pro out of UConn in 2022. A move back to Torpedo seems likely for Firstov, who did well with 28 goals, 61 points and 110 PIMs in 114 games over the past two seasons.

With Firstov set to be off the books next season, the Wild are down to 35 out of the maximum 50 standard player contracts signed.

San Jose Sharks Linked To Jeff Blashill

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Since losing in the 2019 Western Conference Finals to the eventual Stanley Cup Champions, St. Louis Blues, the San Jose Sharks have failed to make a postseason appearance, and have produced a dismal regular season record of 123-199-50 under three different head coaches. At the end of this season, General Manager of the Sharks, Mike Grier, announced that the team would be parting ways with head coach David Quinn after two years behind the bench.

After winning the NHL Draft Lottery last week, San Jose has the opportunity to select forward Macklin Celebrini with the first overall selection, allowing them to take one leap forward in their ongoing rebuild. However, another integral part of the organization’s development and future success will be the choice of the next head coach of the organization.

Following up on a report from Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman in his recurring ’32 Thoughts’ podcast, Sheng Peng of SJ Hockey Now confirms that the Sharks organization has an interest in naming Jeff Blashill as the team’s next head coach. Currently, Blashill has been serving as an assistant coach with the Tampa Bay Lightning since the beginning of the 2022-23 NHL season.

Before his career led him to western Florida, Blashill had experienced a good amount of success in the NCAA and the AHL. After serving as an assistant coach with Ferris State University and Miami University (Ohio) for several years, Blashill got his first opportunity as a head coach in the NCAA with Western Michigan University for the 2010-11 season.

Blashill led the Broncos to a 20-13-10 record in his first season at the helm, coaching Western Michigan to an appearance in that season’s NCAA Frozen Four Tournament. After only one year, the Detroit Red Wings brought Blashill on as an assistant coach for the 2011-12 NHL season, before naming head coach of their AHL affiliate, the Grand Rapids Griffins, a role he held for three years.

Coaching the Griffins to a Calder Cup Championship in 2013, Blashill quickly became the heir-apparent behind the bench to longtime Red Wings coach, Mike Babcock. When Babcock eventually left for the head coaching position with the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2015-16, Blashill was named the next head coach for Detroit.

Ultimately, Blashill was not put in a position to succeed with the Red Wings, as the roster began deteriorating quickly after he became head coach, with the organization’s last playoff appearance coming in the 2015-16 NHL season. After producing a 204-261-72 record with Detroit from 2015-2022, the Red Wings decided to move forward in their rebuild without Blashill, relieving him of his duties after the 2021-22 season.

With plenty of available head coach candidates this offseason, the Sharks will have their work cut out to find the correct candidate. In Blashill, he has shown the ability to work well with younger talent at all levels of the game but has not yet had the opportunity to coach an up-and-coming roster at the NHL level.

Los Angeles Kings Extend David Rittich

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With three of their goaltenders on the active roster headed for unrestricted free agency this summer, the Los Angeles Kings have decided to preliminary take one off the market. The organization announced a one-year, $1MM contract extension for backup goaltender David Rittich.

After a quality season serving as the backup to Connor Hellebuyck with the Winnipeg Jets organization in 2022-23, the Kings quickly signed Rittich to a one-year, $875K contract on the first day of free agency last summer. Originally positioned as Los Angeles’ third-string goaltender at the beginning of the 2023-24 NHL season, Rittich would get the opportunity to serve as the Kings’ primary backup option after Pheonix Copley lost his season to a torn ACL in early December.

Putting together one of the best individual seasons of his career, Rittich appeared in 24 games for Los Angeles down the stretch, securing a 16-6-3 record while posting a .921 save percentage and 2.15 GAA. Although the starting role for the Kings is up in the air headed into the offseason, Rittich should already be penciled in as the team’s backup to start the 2024-25 NHL season.

With Rittich now off the board, the already lackluster talent available at the goaltending position in free agency has continued to thin out. Not in any order, the top available unrestricted free agents in the crease has been whittled down to Anthony Stolarz, Cam Talbot, Kevin Lankinen, Alex Nedeljkovic, Ilya Samsonov, and Laurent Brossoit.

Buffalo Sabres Not Expected To Re-Sign Zemgus Girgensons, Victor Olofsson

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After failing to make the playoffs for the 13th consecutive season, the Buffalo Sabres are expected to change their secondary scoring options this summer. According to David Pagnotta of TheFourthPeriod, the Sabres are not expected to offer contracts to pending unrestricted free agents Victor Olofsson or Zemgus Girgensons.

The reported news surrounding Olofsson does not come as a surprise, as the forward has seen his ice time steadily cut since the end of the 2019-20 NHL season. A reliable scoring option in years past, Olofsson has reached the 20-goal mark three separate times in six years with the Sabres organization, but has been known for poor defensive play as well as his play away from the puck. Suiting up in 314 games for Buffalo, Olofsson has scored 90 goals and 92 assists, with 33.5% of his production coming on the Sabres powerplay.

Girgensons, on the other hand, has been a consistent defensively minded forward in Buffalo for the last decade. Drafted by the Sabres organization with the 12th overall pick of the 2012 NHL Draft, Girgensons has played in nearly 700 games for Buffalo, scoring 89 goals and 188 points while being a quality penalty killer to boot.

Throughout his tenure with the Sabres, Girgensons has been through several ups and downs, playing under five different head coaches since his rookie season. On the open market, Girgensons will be hard-pressed to earn more than his current $2.5MM AAV but should be able to find a spot on nearly every team’s fourth line.

Letting Girgensons and Olofsson pursue greener pastures this summer, coupled with the Sabres moving on from Casey Mittelstadt and Kyle Okposo at this year’s trade deadline, it is apparent that Buffalo is looking to redesign its forward core. The organization has plenty of prospect talent at the forward position, and should now have the flexibility to fill in the holes in any manner.

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