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Martin Fehervary Out Week-To-Week With Lower-Body Injury

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In a report coming from Sammi Silber of The Hockey News, Washington Capitals defenseman Martin Fehervary is considered week-to-week with a lower-body injury. The injury took place during the Capitals’ most recent game against the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday night.

In the opening minutes of Saturday night’s contest between the two teams, Fehervary appeared to lose an edge as he was skating behind the Capitals’ net. After falling to the ice, Fehervary was unable to put much weight on his left leg and did not return to the game.

Spending much of the year next to John Carlson, the two have been one of the bright spots on Washington’s blue line this season. Seeing the most ice time of any defensive unit on the roster, the two have combined for a solid 2.39 Expected Goals per 60 minutes, and 2.31 Goals Against per 60 minutes, according to MoneyPuck.

For Fehervary specifically, he has continued to be a physical defenseman for Washington, leading all defensemen on the roster with 114 hits, which is 60 more than the next closest defenseman. Aside from the topical statistics, Fehervary has seen a slight dip in his On-Ice Save Percentage compared to career averages, but has carried a slight uptick in his CorsiFor%.

In the meantime, the team will more than likely opt to place Rasmus Sandin next to Carlson over the next couple of weeks. The two have played a number of minutes together already this season, but have not played as defensively sound as the combination of Fehervary and Carlson.

Sabres Notes: Power, Clague, Tokarski, Comrie

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The Sabres moved defenseman Owen Power to IR on Monday, per the NHL’s media site. Power, 21, has already missed three games with a hand injury and remains listed as week-to-week

Assuming the IR placement is retroactive to Feb. 13, when the Sabres confirmed he sustained the injury in practice, he would be eligible to return Wednesday against the Canadiens. He’s likely to miss a little more time than that, though, and this roster move is for the purpose of opening up a roster spot more than anything else.

The 2021 first-overall pick hasn’t shown massive development from last year’s solid rookie campaign, but he’s not having a sophomore slump, either. He remains on track to be a long-term fixture in the Sabres’ top four and has been one of their best two-way defenders this season, recording 18 points and a +3 rating in 51 games while averaging 22:27 per game. He’s taken a significant step forward defensively, being on the ice for 0.74 expected goals against per game at even strength compared to last year’s 1.04 mark, per Hockey Reference, although it’s come at the expense of some offense.

The 6-foot-6 Mississauga native is signed to a seven-year, $58.45MM extension that begins next season. He will be eligible for unrestricted free agency in 2031.

More from the Sabres to open the week:

  • Power’s roster spot is going to defenseman Kale Clague, who the Sabres have recalled from AHL Rochester on an emergency basis, per a team announcement Monday. Buffalo recalled Clague under emergency conditions before Saturday’s overtime win over the Wild, but he was returned to Rochester after serving as a healthy scratch. Clague will likely be a scratch again against the Ducks on Monday but is an option to play if there’s an unexpected scratch. The 25-year-old has 23 points and a -8 rating in 42 games with Rochester.
  • Also coming up to the active roster is netminder Dustin Tokarski, who will back up Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen against Anaheim on Monday, head coach Don Granato says (via Paul Hamilton of WGR Sports Radio 550). Eric Comrie is unavailable with an illness and will be scratched. Tokarksi was summoned last Thursday to back up Comrie against the Panthers while Luukkonen was sidelined with a lower-body injury, but was returned to Rochester after Luukkonen was cleared to play over the weekend. The 34-year-old Tokarski has struggled in the minors this year, posting a .887 SV% in 17 games.

Stars Recall Alex Petrovic, Derrick Pouliot

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The Stars have recalled defensemen Alex Petrovic and Derrick Pouliot from AHL Texas, the team announced Monday morning. In a corresponding transaction, the Stars returned forward Matěj Blümel to Texas to stay compliant with the 23-player roster limit.

Dallas summoned Blümel, 23, yesterday to optimize their accruable cap space limit before placing winger Evgenii Dadonov on LTIR. Blümel’s $925K cap hit was the highest of any player they had stored in the minors aside from defenseman Lian Bichsel, who is on loan to Rögle BK of the Swedish Hockey League. He allowed the Stars to capture their ACSL at $83.37MM, just $13K short of the salary cap.

However, defense is Dallas’ positional need with Jani Hakanpää and Nils Lundkvist sidelined with upper-body injuries. At least one recall on defense was necessary to avoid dressing 13 forwards and five defensemen against the Bruins for Monday’s Presidents’ Day matinee.

By swapping Blümel for an extra defenseman, the Stars have one backup in case of further injuries. If they want to carry an extra forward while Dadonov is on LTIR, they still can – they have $1.625MM remaining in their LTIR salary pool after executing today’s transactions. However, it would require moving Hakanpää to IR to free up a roster spot.

As such, one of today’s two recalls will make their season (and Stars) debut in Boston, likely Petrovic, who would replace Hakanpää as the only right-shot defenseman in the Dallas lineup with Lundkvist on IR. If so, it would be the 31-year-old’s first NHL game in over five years, last suiting up with the Oilers on Feb. 16, 2019.

Petrovic has bounced around the AHL since falling out of an NHL role, signing a pair of two-way deals with the Bruins and Flames before joining the Stars in 2021. He’s signed three straight one-year, two-way contracts to remain in the Dallas organization, clearing waivers at the beginning of the season in every occurrence and only seeing recalls to serve as a Black Ace during playoff runs in 2022 and 2023. Monday marks his first in-season recall as a member of the Stars.

The Panthers’ 2010 second-round pick played in 263 NHL games with Florida and Edmonton between 2012 and 2019, recording five goals, 45 assists and 50 points with a -10 rating and 360 PIMs. The Edmonton native struggled in his most recent NHL showing, recording only two assists in 35 games with the Panthers and Oilers in 2018-19 while averaging bottom-pairing minutes to complement a career-worst -15 rating and underwhelming possession metrics.

Petrovic has been a stabilizing force for the Stars’ up-and-comers in Texas, though, serving as an alternate captain since arriving in Cedar Park in 2021. Through 44 games this year, he has three goals, 13 assists, 16 points, and a +5 rating. He’s coming off arguably his best two-way season as a pro in 2022-23, when he notched a career-high 27 points in 71 games and a +34 rating.

The 30-year-old Pouliot will likely serve as Dallas’ seventh defenseman until one of Hakanpää or Lundkvist is ready to return. The eighth overall selection in the 2012 draft by the Penguins has, like Petrovic, settled into a consistent minor-league role at this stage in his career. However, he does have much more recent NHL experience, recording two assists and a -1 rating in eight games with the Sharks last year and posting four assists and a +6 rating in 11 games split between the Golden Knights and Kraken in 2021-22.

Pouliot signed a one-year, two-way deal ($775K/$325K) to join the Stars on Jul. 4, 2023, and passed through waivers unclaimed during training camp. He leads Texas blue-liners with eight goals, 23 assists and 31 points in 44 games.

Five Key Stories: 2/12/24 – 2/18/24

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We’re in the calm before the potential storm when it comes to the March 8th trade deadline.  Despite that, there was still some notable news throughout the NHL over the past seven days which is recapped in our key stories.

Kekalainen Fired: After 11 seasons as general manager, Jarmo Kekalainen is no longer with the Blue Jackets after being relieved of his duties.  Columbus made five playoff appearances with Kekalainen at the helm but only made it to the second round once back in 2019.  But over the last three years, the Blue Jackets haven’t finished higher than sixth in the Metropolitan Division, a streak that is quite certain to be extended to four this season.  Between their declining performance and a failed head coaching hire in Mike Babcock who had to leave the team before ever coaching a game, the time was right to make a change.  That said, the Blue Jackets have several promising core youngsters so there is certainly some hope for the future.

Kessel Gets A Chance: If Phil Kessel is going to play an 18th NHL season, it might wind up being with the Canucks.  The veteran has joined their AHL affiliate in Abbotsford to work out with the team and if things go well, he could eventually join Vancouver in the coming weeks.  The NHL’s reigning Ironman, Kessel had 36 points last season for Vegas but wasn’t able to land a guaranteed deal in the preseason or through the first half of the year.  However, for what would certainly be low-cost injury insurance, Kessel could be a worthwhile depth pickup for the stretch run if his workouts in the AHL go well.

Five For Rielly: The Department of Player Safety handed down a five-game suspension to Maple Leafs defenseman Morgan Rielly for his cross-check on Ottawa forward Ridly Greig following an empty-netter late in last Saturday’s game.  The suspension conceivably could have been longer considering the league offered an in-person hearing, allowing for a suspension of six games or longer.  An appeal on the ruling was quickly filed and was heard by Commissioner Gary Bettman on Friday whose ruling is expected in the next day or two.  As the suspension wasn’t six games or longer, there is no secondary appeal option to a neutral arbitrator.  He has already served the first three games and is eligible to return to Toronto’s lineup on Thursday.

Guentzel To LTIR: The Penguins are still within striking distance of a Wild Card spot but getting there just got tougher as it was announced that winger Jake Guentzel has landed on LTIR due to an upper-body injury.  The injury isn’t a season-ender but he will be out until around the March 8th trade deadline.  The 29-year-old sits second on Pittsburgh in team scoring with 52 points in 50 games, the fourth time in the last five seasons that his scoring average is above the point-per-game mark.  A pending unrestricted free agent, it’s also possible that Guentzel will be traded by the deadline if the Penguins are out of the race.  If that’s the route they ultimately go, they’ll be hoping the injury won’t impact the offers they’ll receive.

More Injuries: Guentzel’s injury wasn’t the only one of note around the NHL.  Sharks forward Tomas Hertl underwent knee surgery and while his season isn’t necessarily over, it looks like he’ll be out for a good chunk of the remainder of the year, costing San Jose its top scorer.  In Philadelphia, blueliner Rasmus Ristolainen was a speculative trade candidate but any trade talk is likely on hold now as the veteran is out for a few weeks after having an upper-body procedure.  It stands to reason that moving someone with the contract he has (three more years after this season at $5.1MM) may be more of a summer move anyway.  Meanwhile, Rangers winger Blake Wheeler’s season has come to an early end due to a lower-body injury.  A return in the playoffs hasn’t been ruled out while New York will now be able to add his $800K base salary to its LTIR pool.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Flames Receiving Trade Interest In Rasmus Andersson

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There has been no shortage of trade speculation coming from Calgary this season.  Nikita Zadorov and Elias Lindholm have already been moved while Chris Tanev, Noah Hanifin, and Jacob Markstrom are all in the rumor mill as well.  But those aren’t the only players teams are calling about as ESPN’s Kevin Weekes reports (Twitter link) that the Flames are also receiving trade interest in defenseman Rasmus Andersson.

The 27-year-old has become a top-pairing player in recent seasons after putting up 50 points in 2021-22 and 49 points in 2022-23 while logging big minutes.  This year, Andersson’s numbers are down a bit as he has 28 points through 51 games so far but is averaging a little over 24 minutes a night and is playing in all situations.  With 122 blocks, he’s only 14 shy of his career-high on that front as well.

On top of that, Andersson has a contract that certainly has been well below market value as of late.  He’s signed through the 2025-26 campaign with a $4.5MM cap hit, a price point that’s more commensurate with a second-pairing player than a top-pairing one.  Getting someone with that type of surplus value would make a lot of sense for many teams.

Of course, holding onto a player like that also makes sense for Calgary.  GM Craig Conroy indicated earlier this week that he doesn’t intend for the Flames to go into a full-scale rebuild.  It’s one thing to move players on expiring contracts as they’ve done twice so far and could do twice more with Tanev and Hanifin where you risk losing the player for free in free agency but it’s another to move a controllable key asset like Andersson.

Accordingly, it would be surprising to see Conroy move Andersson in the three weeks before the March 8th trade deadline unless the return was simply too good to pass up on.  However, that won’t stop teams from inquiring in the hopes that they can come up with an offer that would make Calgary part with one of its top blueliners.

Jacob Truscott Won’t Sign With Canucks, Set To Become UFA This Summer

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We’re still a few weeks away from the first round of college free agency that will happen as NCAA seasons come to an end but there is some news on the second round which comes in mid-August.  CHEK’s Rick Dhaliwal recently reported on Sportsnet 650 (audio link) that defenseman Jacob Truscott will not sign with the Canucks and will instead hit the open market in the summer.

The 21-year-old was a fifth-round pick back in 2020 (144th overall) and is in his fourth and final season at Michigan.  Last season was his best offensively in terms of points per game when he put up 16 points in 23 games playing alongside Luke Hughes on their top pairing before suffering a season-ending leg injury.  This season, Truscott’s numbers are down a bit although the captain still has 13 points in 30 games so far.

This may be a case of the numbers game quashing a chance for Truscott to join Vancouver.  The team has been aggressive in signing college free agents lately headlined by blueliners Akito Hirose and Cole McWard while blueline prospect Elias Pettersson is set to turn pro next season along with Kirill Kudryavtsev, limiting Truscott’s opportunities if he was to sign with the Canucks.

If Truscott is amenable to signing with another team and not hitting the open market, it’s possible that Vancouver could use his signing rights in a trade to get some sort of return.  Otherwise, he’ll become a free agent on August 16th.

Bruins Sign Justin Brazeau

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It has been a successful season in the minors for winger Justin Brazeau and he has been rewarded for his efforts.  BNG Productions’ Mark Allred was first to report (Twitter link) that the Bruins have converted his AHL contract to an NHL one; CapFriendly adds (Twitter link) that it’s a two-year deal which breaks down as follows:

2023-24: $775K NHL salary, $135K AHL salary
2024-25: $775K NHL salary, $165K AHL salary, $190K guaranteed salary

The 26-year-old finished up his major junior career with a bang, scoring 61 goals in 68 games with North Bay.  That helped him earn a two-year AHL deal with Toronto at the time but he played in only 22 games for the Marlies over that stretch.  He then signed a minor league deal with Boston in 2021 and his fortunes have certainly changed since then.

Brazeau scored 15 goals in his first season with Providence and followed that up with 16 tallies last season in 67 games.  This season, the 6’5 winger has already surpassed that mark, notching 18 goals along with 19 helpers in 48 appearances, good for fourth on the team in scoring.  It appears that will be enough to get him his first NHL opportunity which could come as soon as Monday against Dallas as it appears he’ll take the place of Oskar Steen on the roster who was waived earlier today.

Brazeau is not subject to any entry-level rules and thus will only be waiver-exempt for the remainder of this season.  Starting in 2024-25, he’ll have to clear waivers if Boston wants to return him to Providence.  The Bruins now have 48 contracts on the books out of the maximum of 50.

West Notes: Tourigny, Hertl, Pelletier, Blueger

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It has been a rough go for the Coyotes as of late having lost eight straight games heading into today’s action.  However, GM Bill Armstrong dismissed any notion of head coach Andre Tourigny being in jeopardy of losing his job, telling PHNX’s Craig Morgan that he won’t be making a coaching change.  Arizona was in a Wild Card spot when the calendar flipped to 2024 but now is ten points behind St. Louis for the final playoff spot.  Armstrong hasn’t hidden the fact that the plan was for a long rebuild process and while it appears the Coyotes are likely to miss the playoff for the fourth straight season (12th straight if you don’t count the expanded 2020-21 postseason), Tourigny is still viewed as the right coach to help them take that next step.

More from the Western Conference:

  • It will still be another week or so before the Sharks learn exactly how long Tomas Hertl will be out for, notes Curtis Pashelka of The Mercury News. The 30-year-old has missed the last three weeks after undergoing surgery to remove cartilage from his left knee.  While it has been a particularly rough year for most players in San Jose, Hertl has fared relatively well this season, all things considered.  Despite missing six games, he still leads the Sharks in scoring with 34 points through 48 games.  Pashelka notes that there is optimism that Hertl will be able to return at some point before the regular season comes to an end in April but with San Jose so far out of playoff contention, it wouldn’t be shocking to see him get shut down for the season altogether.
  • Flames winger Jakob Pelletier is making progress in his recovery from an upper-body injury that has caused him to miss the last two games but he isn’t expected to play on Monday versus Winnipeg, relays Sportsnet 960’s Pat Steinberg (Twitter link). The 22-year-old has been limited to just four games so far this season (plus four more in the minors) due to injury.  However, it appears this one won’t keep him out for much longer.
  • The Canucks have identified Teddy Blueger as one of their pending unrestricted free agents that they’d like to re-sign, CHEK’s Rick Dhaliwal reported in a recent segment on Sportsnet 650 (audio link). The 29-year-old inked a one-year, $1.9MM deal with them back in July and has done well, picking up 22 points in 42 games while being one of their top-used penalty killers.  That said, contract discussions have not started as of yet and Dhaliwal feels that Vancouver may wait until late in the year to start discussing new deals with the UFA’s they’d like to keep.

Snapshots: Binnington, All-Star Game, Woll

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The Department of Player Safety announced today that they have fined St.Louis Blues goaltender Jordan Binnington a total of $5,000 for high-sticking Nashville Predators forward Luke Evangelista in last night’s game between the two teams. The fine was the maximum financial punishment allowable in the current Collective Bargaining Agreement.

During the play in question, as Evangelista was making his way behind Binnington and the Blues’ net, Binnington raised the butt-end of his stick to meet Evangelista’s face. There was a high-sticking penalty called on the play, and Binnington did appear apologetic to Evangelista after, but the Department of Player Safety did not feel that the original punishment sufficed.

This will mark the first fine that Binnington has faced throughout his career. In a matchup against the Minnesota Wild last March, Binnington was handed a two-game suspension for attempting to incite the Wild bench, leading to an in-game ejection.

Other snapshots:

  • During the Stadium Series game between the New York Islanders and New York Rangers, the Islanders announced that they would be hosting the 2026 NHL All-Star Game at UBS Arena. It will mark the first time since 1983 that the Islanders are set to host the mid-season festivities, with this also being the first time that All-Star weekend will be hosted by UBS. Furthermore, this report confirms that the NHL is planning for players to be involved in both the All-Star Game and the 2026 Winter Olympics.
  •  Not playing since early December due to a high-ankle sprain, Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender Joseph Woll is not close to returning according to Jonas Siegel of The Athletic. In the meantime, the tandem of Ilya Samsonov and Martin Jones has produced a 16-10-4 record in his absence but has only managed a .891 save percentage.

Dallas Stars Recall Matěj Blümel, Place Evgenii Dadonov On LTIR

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In an announcement coming from the Dallas Stars organization, the team has recalled forward Matěj Blümel from their AHL affiliate, the Texas Stars. In a corresponding move, the team has placed forward Evgenii Dadonov on Long-Term Injured Reserve, retroactively to February 10th.

With Dadonov now expected to miss both the next 10 games and 24 days for the Stars, it is only natural that the team decided to fill in his lost minutes with a depth option from the AHL. However, it does come as a slight surprise that the Stars did not opt to call up either Logan Stankoven or Mavrik Bourque, who are first and second in league scoring, respectively.

Nevertheless, Blümel is no pushover offensively, as he’s scored 20 goals through 46 games for Texas this season, good for second on the team in that category. Furthermore, unlike Stankoven and Bourque, Blümel does have prior NHL experience, scoring one goal in six games for the Stars last season.

At the end of the day, this decision may ultimately benefit both Stankoven and Bourque in the long run, as they will both be able to continue to play high-leverage minutes for a competitive team. Well on their way to a playoff run this spring, Texas is sporting a 24-17-3-2 record up to this point sitting second in the AHL’s Central Division.

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