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Maple Leafs Move Calle Jarnkrok To LTIR, Activate Conor Timmins

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The Toronto Maple Leafs have moved forward Calle Jarnkrok back to long-term injured reserve, once again with a hand injury – per CapFriendly. Jarnkrok suffered the injury in the team’s March 14th win over the Philadelphia Flyers, exiting early after falling awkwardly into the boards. He seemed to collide his head, shoulder, and lower arm with the boards, making it hard to determine the specifics of his injury. It’s also not clear if the injury relates to the broken knuckle Jarnkrok suffered in late January. That injury earned him a month-long stint on LTIR and forced him out of 13 games.

In a corresponding move, the Maple Leafs have also activated defenseman Conor Timmins off of LTIR. He’s been out since February 13th with mononucleosis. Timmins has also had a string of absences this season, with a lower-body injury delaying the start of his season until late November. Timmins has played in just 16 games this season, notching one goal, six points, eight penalty minutes, and a +5. Jarnkrok’s sidelining and Timmins’ activation were made ahead of Toronto’s Saturday night loss to the Carolina Hurricanes, though Timmins wasn’t rostered for the game.

The Leafs will need to change up their lineup once again, with Jarnkrok joining Mitch Marner sidelined with injury. The absences have earned Pontus Holmberg a top-six role next to Tyler Bertuzzi and Auston Matthews, while Nicholas Robertson has slotted back onto the third line after a brief stint out of the lineup. Both Holmberg and Robertson are still searching for their scoring groove this season, with just 13 and 20 points respectively. They will work with other depth forwards like Connor Dewar and Noah Gregor to try and keep Toronto red-hot, after the team has gone 16-5-1 in their last 22 games. Meanwhile, Timmins will add extended depth to a blue-line that recently acquired Ilya Lyubushkin and Joel Edmundson. They’ll have plenty of blue-liners to choose from, with Timmins and Simon Benoit operating as healthy scratches and Mark Giordano currently out with injury.

West Injury Notes: Martinez, Eriksson Ek, Bjugstad

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Alec Martinez is finally back on the ice for practice for the Vegas Golden Knights a short while after being placed on the team’s injured reserve (X Link). Given that he was not in a non-contact jersey this afternoon, it is reasonable to assume that Martinez should be back in the lineup for the Golden Knights soon.

Once Martinez officially returns to the lineup for Vegas, the team will have a really good problem to have. After acquiring Noah Hanifin from the Calgary Flames on March 7th, the Golden Knights have put themselves in a position to place Martinez on the team’s bottom-pairing comfortably.

Unfortunately, this return likely spells the end of consistent playing time for either Nicolas Hague or Zach Whitecloud. Unless the team opts to run with seven defensemen, either Hague or Whitecloud will serve as a healthy scratch as the Golden Knights look to hang on to the last wild-card spot in the Western Conference.

Other injury notes:

  • After missing the team’s game against the Anaheim Ducks with a lower-body injury, it appears that Minnesota Wild forward Joel Eriksson Ek may not join the team on their upcoming road trip to California. Joe Smith of The Athletic reported that Eriksson Ek is still considered day-to-day, and the team was waiting to see how he responded to the next couple of days of practice.
  • Earlier this evening, when the Arizona Coyotes matched up against the New Jersey Devils, Nick Bjugstad left the game after having only accrued 7:24 of ice time and did not return (X Link). It will be a tough blow to a Coyotes lineup if Bjugstad is unable to play for the foreseeable future, as he has recently been a focal point of their lineup. In the last 12 games, Bjugstad has scored seven goals and 10 points in total, averaging just over 17 minutes of ice time per night.

Martin St. Louis Takes Leave Of Absence

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Today in a press release, the Montreal Canadiens announced that head coach Martin St. Louis would be taking an indefinite leave of absence from the team. In the report, the Canadiens indicated that the leave of absence was due to family reasons, and that assistant coach Trevor Letowski would be taking over the reins for the time being.

In now his third season as the head coach of the winningest franchise in NHL history, St. Louis has guided the Canadiens to a 70-94-21 record in his 185 games behind the bench. Originally, St.Louis was brought in to take over behind the bench halfway through the 2021-22 NHL season after Montreal parted ways with former head coach, Dominique Ducharme.

With the leave of absence being indefinite, it is difficult to speculate as to when St. Louis will return to the Canadiens. Currently, on their longest road trip of the year, Montreal will not return to the Bell Centre until March 28th when they take on the Philadelphia Flyers.

Much like St. Louis when he originally joined the Canadiens, Letowski does not have any former experience being the head coach of an NHL team. In his third season as an assistant coach with the club, Letowski is the former head coach of the Windsor Spitfires and the Sarnia Sting of the Ontario Hockey League.

Flames Activate A.J. Greer From Injured Reserve

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The Flames have activated winger A.J. Greer from injured reserve ahead of tonight’s game against the Canadiens, Wes Gilbertson of Postmedia reports. Sportsnet’s Pat Steinberg relays that Greer is skating in warmups ahead of the contest, but it’s unclear if he’ll draw into the lineup.

Greer missed the last 18 games with a foot fracture sustained in a Jan. 25 contest against the Blue Jackets. He had only missed one prior game due to a healthy scratch after Calgary claimed him off waivers from the Bruins just before the start of the season.

The 27-year-old didn’t play a significant role, averaging only 8:44 per game, but he has continued his solid run of play in limited minutes after breaking into the league full-time with Boston last year. Previously a minor-league farmhand with nearly 300 games of AHL experience, Greer recorded career-highs across the board with the Bruins in 2022-23, logging five goals, seven assists, 12 points, a +9 rating, and 144 PIMs in 61 contests. He’s set a new career-high in goals with the Flames, lighting the lamp six times and adding four assists in his 47 showings this season.

His possession impacts remain suboptimal, recording a 47.5 CF% at even strength that’s around 3% worse than the team average. His expected rating has also dipped to -2.2 after posting a +1.7 with the Bruins.

Initially a second-round pick of the Avalanche in 2015, the Flames are Greer’s fifth NHL organization. Between Colorado and Boston, Greer also spent time on the farm with the Devils and Islanders. Now in the back half of a two-year, $1.525MM deal, he’ll be a UFA this summer.

Sabres Recall Devon Levi

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5:02 p.m.: Buffalo has officially announced Levi’s recall after losing to the Red Wings 4-1 earlier today.

9:56 a.m.: The Sabres are bringing up some goaltending insurance for their five-game road trip as Lance Lysowski of The Buffalo News reports (Twitter links) that they will be recalling goaltender Devon Levi from AHL Rochester.  The move isn’t expected to be registered until after their game this afternoon against Detroit is finished.

The 22-year-old is in his first professional season and had high expectations coming in after taking over the starting job down the stretch last year when his college campaign came to an end.  However, Levi struggled with consistency with Buffalo, playing to a 3.30 GAA and a .891 SV%.  That resulted in the Sabres deciding to send Levi down in late January, allowing him to get a steady workload outside the NHL spotlight.

That decision was a wise one as Levi thrived with the Amerks, posting a 2.52 GAA and a .919 SV% in 19 games while helping Rochester move up to third in the North Division.  Now, with Eric Comrie continuing to struggle in the backup role, Levi will likely serve as the second-string option for the stretch run as Buffalo looks to continue to gain ground in their late playoff push; they enter play today just three points out of a tie for the last Wild Card position.

With Comrie (who also saw AHL action this season) now ineligible to play for Rochester for the rest of the year, Buffalo will instead carry three netminders at least for the short-term future.  Accordingly, Levi’s pending promotion will count against Buffalo’s four post-deadline recall limit once it’s registered later today.

East Notes: Teräväinen, Oshie, Jeannot

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Hurricanes winger Teuvo Teräväinen didn’t travel with the team on their road trip and will be out for Saturday’s contest against the Maple Leafs, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet said. He’s listed as day-to-day with an upper-body injury.

The playmaking winger didn’t appear to sustain anything serious during his last showing, a win over the Panthers on Thursday. He logged a +1 rating and three shots on goal in the game, playing 16:01 – normal usage for the top-six fixture. A pending UFA nearing completion of his five-year, $27MM extension signed with the Canes in 2019, Teräväinen has reached the 20-goal plateau for the fourth time in his career and has 47 points in 66 games on the season, right around his career-average pace. He’s back on the upswing after a 2022-23 season where he struggled to produce, recording 12 goals and 25 assists for 37 points in 68 games. It was his worst scoring pace since the 2016-17 campaign, his first in Carolina.

With Teräväinen sidelined, Jesper Fast took line rushes in a first-line role alongside Sebastian Aho and Andrei Svechnikov and will likely occupy that role tonight with youngster Jack Drury also dealing with a lower-body injury. Fast, 32, has six goals and 17 points in 63 games this season and still carries solid value as a competent defensive winger.

Elsewhere out East:

  • Capitals veteran T.J. Oshie’s 1,000th game in the league may be on hold. The 37-year-old sustained an upper-body injury in practice on Saturday morning and will be a game-time decision tonight against the Canucks, head coach Spencer Carbery said (via Bailey Johnson of The Washington Post). The 2018 Stanley Cup champion has been plagued by injuries this season, missing 24 of Washington’s 65 games with lower and upper-body injuries. When in the lineup, they’ve dragged down his ability to contribute on the scoresheet. His 11 goals and 19 points in 41 games work out to 0.46 points per game, the lowest rate of his remarkably consistent 16-year career. Possession control has been an issue this season as well – his 46.4 CF% at even strength is also a career-low. Despite that, he’s still logging consistent top-six usage, averaging 16:33 per game.
  • The Lightning will again be without Tanner Jeannot as they exercise caution in his return from a lower-body injury that’s kept him out for most of the last two months, head coach Jon Cooper said (via Chris Krenn of the team’s official site). Indications pointed toward Jeannot returning from his absence earlier this week, but his return has now been delayed twice ahead of a rivalry matchup with the Panthers tonight. Cooper said they’re aiming for Jeannot to return at some point over their West Coast road trip, meaning there’s no guarantee he’ll be ready for Tuesday’s matchup in Vegas, either. Jeannot attempted to return from the injury, which he sustained early in January, during a Feb. 13 contest against the Bruins but played less than six minutes before sustaining an aggravation. When in the lineup, the 26-year-old has been limited to six goals and 12 points in 42 games with a -11 rating.

2024 College Free Agency Preview: Goaltenders

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With the college regular seasons ending and the Frozen Four tournament on the horizon, there will be some activity on the college free agent front in the coming weeks; we’ve already seen a handful of players sign.  At this time of year, college free agents are rarely coming in as impact prospects with high NHL ceilings but it’s an opportunity for teams to add some depth pieces that are further along in their development compared to players coming out of major junior.

Here is an overview of some of the goalies that could be drawing NHL interest in the near future.  Note that not all of these players will sign entry-level contracts as some will ultimately elect to return to college for another season (or more) while quite a few others not on this list will sign NHL or AHL deals in the coming weeks.

Ryan Bischel, Notre Dame

On this list a year ago, Bischel elected to return for his bonus year.  The move worked out as he got a second full season as a full-time starter under his belt and while his performance wasn’t quite at the same level as last season, he still finished in the top ten in save percentage for the second straight year.  That has him on the NHL radar with Boston among the teams showing early interest.

Cooper Black, Dartmouth

There is a ‘skill’ that Black has that can’t be taught, a 6’8 frame (some sites have him at 6’9).  That makes him hard to miss.  His sophomore year was an improvement although his numbers with the Big Green (2.60 GAA, .909 SV%) are still a little on the pedestrian side.  Still eligible for two more seasons, NHL teams will have to decide if the time is right to try to sign him now or if they should give him another year in college.  While he’s still raw in terms of his development, it wouldn’t be surprising to see some teams try to sign Black now.

Ben Kraws, St. Lawrence

Kraws spent his first two seasons at Miami (Ohio) but struggled, leading to a transfer to Arizona State.  He had some success there but after losing the starting job to T.J. Semptimphelter (who should garner some pro consideration as well), he transferred again over the summer, this time to the Saints.  He posted a respectable .914 SV% as the starter on a team that wasn’t particularly strong and a 6’5, he has the size that should appeal to teams.  With the limited overall track record, an entry-level deal could be hard to come by but he should land an AHL deal somewhere.

Cole Moore, Bowling Green

This one is a bit of a long shot as Moore is wrapping up his freshman year with the Falcons.  He’s also just 20 which is young for a player to leave college with three seasons of eligibility remaining.  However, Moore posted an impressive .918 SV% this season and at 6’5, has the type of size that teams covet.  If an entry-level offer is on the table, it’s possible that he takes it although returning for another year or two is the likelier outcome.

Victor Ostman, Maine

Ostman was also noted in the 2023 goalie preview but opted to return for his senior season with the Black Bears.  From a numbers standpoint, that might not have been the best decision as his save percentage dipped by nearly 25 points.  However, his size and athleticism have impressed in the past and he was on the NHL radar last summer when he was at Vancouver’s development camp.  He’s eligible for the bonus year but he’d be entering his age-24 year if he does.  Even coming off a down year, the time might be right for Ostman to turn pro.

Ludvig Persson, North Dakota

After a couple of tough years at Miami (Ohio), Persson entered the transfer portal and joined the Fighting Hawks.  It’s a move that worked out well as the 24-year-old put up his best numbers since his freshman year.  His play slipped in the second half but he was one of the top netminders in the first half of the season which might be enough to get him on the radar for a pro deal.

Zach Stejskal, Minnesota-Duluth

A player who is believed to have had previous NHL interest, Stejskal is coming off a bit of a rough year with a save percentage just below the .900 mark while splitting time with an NHL-drafted prospect.  What certainly does appeal to teams is his 6’5 frame but with just 56 games across four college seasons under his belt, the 24-year-old is a bit more of a raw project than several others on this list.

Others To Watch For

Justen Close, Minnesota
Kyle McClellan, Wisconsin
Blake Pietila, Michigan Tech
Tommy Scarfone, RIT

These goalies have all had showings with save percentages in the top five in Division I over the past couple of years.  However, they’re all on the smaller side and as we’ve seen with goaltending in recent years when it comes to draft picks, size matters.  Accordingly, they’re not likely to be on the radar of a lot of teams, especially for NHL contracts.  But three of them are on the early ballot for Hobey Baker voting and could be strong candidates for at least an AHL deal in the coming weeks.

Central Notes: Tanev, Stastney, Avalanche

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Chris Tanev’s time in Dallas has been limited so far – just five games since being acquired – but GM Jim Nill already knows he’d like to have the veteran in the fold for the long haul.  Speaking with David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period, Nill expressed a desire to re-sign the pending UFA after the season:

Whenever you make a move for somebody you like, and you’ve done your research on, and I’ve seen Chris Tanev play a lot, heard all the stories about him, and now we get to live it and stuff. And he has everything we’ve heard, living up to the billing, so we think he’s a great fit for us. Let’s get the games going, let’s get the playoffs going. And but he’s definitely a guy that if we can make it work, we’d love to bring him back here.

The 34-year-old rarely puts up points but is known as one of the better defensive blueliners in the NHL.  Accordingly, he is well-positioned to earn a raise on his current $4.5MM price tag in the summer, one that will be tricky for the Stars to afford within their salary structure.

More from the Central Division:

  • The Predators announced (Twitter link) that defenseman Spencer Stastney is out week-to-week with an upper-body injury. The 24-year-old was injured on Thursday, his first game with Nashville since mid-December.  Stastney has a goal in ten NHL contests so far this season while he has chipped in with 20 points in 44 appearances with AHL Milwaukee.  With Dante Fabbro also injured, Nashville is down to just six healthy defensemen so they may recall someone before today’s game against Seattle.
  • Avalanche winger Artturi Lehkonen is expected to return tonight versus Edmonton after missing the last two games due to illness, relays play-by-play voice Conor McGahey (Twitter link). The 28-year-old has been limited to just 30 games so far this season but has done well when he has been in the lineup, collecting 11 goals and 11 assists.  Meanwhile, McGahey adds that wingers Zach Parise and Jonathan Drouin are also expected to return tonight.  Parise has missed two straight with a lower-body injury while Drouin missed Wednesday’s contest with a lower-body injury of his own.  Parise has seven points in 15 games in his final NHL season while Drouin has done well, picking up 38 points in 64 appearances so far.
  • With those returns, the Avalanche announced (Twitter link) that they’ve returned forward Fredrik Olofsson to AHL Colorado. The 27-year-old played in two games on this recall to bring his season total to 57.  Olofsson has nine points in those appearances while averaging 9:45 per contest.

Red Wings And Capitals Have Decisions Looming On Key Youngsters

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Generally speaking, most of the notable contractual elements that could come into play for key prospects occur at the beginning of the season.  However, that isn’t the case for the Red Wings and Capitals who are facing decisions on a pair of promising wingers.  For Detroit, Jonatan Berggren is one game away from becoming waiver-eligible while for Washington, Ivan Miroshnichenko is one game away from officially activating the first year of his entry-level contract.

Berggren was a regular for Detroit last season and fared pretty well, picking up 15 goals and 13 assists in 37 games while playing in their middle six.  However, GM Steve Yzerman opted to make several additions up front over the summer, pushing the 23-year-old to the outside looking in at a regular spot in the lineup.

Instead of keeping him as a spare forward, the Red Wings decided to send Berggren to AHL Grand Rapids and kept him there for most of the season.  Through 43 games with the Griffins, he has done quite well, scoring 19 goals while adding 47 assists.  That has earned Berggren a brief stint with the big club where he has been productive in limited action, notching two goals and four helpers in a dozen games despite averaging less than 11 minutes a night.

Berggren was papered to Grand Rapids at the trade deadline and subsequently recalled, permitting him to return to the Griffins.  The only way they can do that is by not playing him in another game with Detroit.  Grand Rapids is well-positioned to make the playoffs this season so there’s a case to make that his development would be best served by a long postseason run with them over being on the fringes of the NHL lineup while the Red Wings are trying to hold onto the last Wild Card spot in the East.

Detroit elected to punt on the decision for today as they scratched Berggren against Buffalo but they will have to make a call on either playing him and keeping him up for the rest of the season or sending him down for the rest of the year.

As for Miroshnichenko, he has played in nine games for the Capitals so far this season and as a junior-aged player, the ten-game mark is critical as he would officially burn the first year of his contract.  If he doesn’t, the year would slide and he would still have three seasons left on that deal – at a slightly lower cap hit – heading into 2024-25.

The 20-year-old is in his first season in North America after spending his post-draft campaign split between Russia’s junior league and two professional leagues after recovering from cancer.  The bulk of that campaign was spent in the KHL with Avangard Omsk who agreed to terminate his deal after the season ended, allowing him to join Washington’s system.

Miroshnichenko has spent the majority of this season with AHL Hershey and has done relatively well, collecting nine goals and 16 assists through 47 games so far.  That has earned him a handful of recalls, the most recent of which came nearly three weeks ago.  Miroshnichenko has been a regular the last couple of weeks, getting him to that nine-game mark where he has two goals while averaging nearly 12 minutes a night.

Washington will soon need to decide if their playoff push (they sit one point out of the last Wild Card spot heading into today) is best aided with Miroshnichenko in the lineup or if they should be taking the longer view and sending him back down to get the extra cheap year on his contract.  Either way, unlike Berggren, Miroshnichenko will be able to return to Hershey whether it’s in the coming days or at the end of their season as he’ll remain waiver-exempt either way.  Set to play Vancouver later today, Washington will have to make the decision soon unless they want to push the decision back a couple of days by making him a healthy scratch.

It’s not often that decisions like this come up this late in a season but for Detroit and Washington, they’ll have to make a call on their youngsters in the near future.

Atlantic Notes: Panthers, Jeannot, Samsonov, Quinn

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The Panthers will welcome back a pair of key forwards tonight as they take on Tampa Bay.  The team announced that center Sam Bennett and winger Evan Rodrigues have been cleared to return and will suit up.  Bennett missed Thursday’s game against Carolina with an undisclosed injury while Rodrigues has been out since last weekend due to a lower-body injury.  Bennett has battled injury issues this season but still has 16 goals and 16 assists in 54 games while Rodrigues has done well in his first year in Florida, collecting 10 goals and a career-best 26 assists through 65 games so far.

Elsewhere in the Atlantic:

  • Lightning winger Tanner Jeannot is with the team as their road trip gets underway, notes Eduardo A. Encina of the Tampa Bay Times (Twitter link). The 26-year-old has missed the last month with a lower-body injury.  Jeannot has had a quiet year, notching six goals and six assists in 42 games although he does have 162 hits to his credit as well.  He took part in the morning skate but isn’t expected to suit up against Florida tonight.
  • While Maple Leafs goaltender Ilya Samsonov exited today’s morning skate early with what looked to be an injury, head coach Sheldon Keefe told reporters including Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman (Twitter link) that Samsonov is fine and will get the start tonight against Carolina. Samsonov has rebounded well after a disastrous start to his season, posting a .912 SV% since January 1st compared to the .862 mark he put up in his first three months of the year.
  • Sabres winger Jack Quinn skated Friday for the first time as he works his way back from a lower-body injury, relays WGR 550’s Paul Hamilton (Twitter link). The 22-year-old has been limited to just 17 games so far this season due to injuries but has been productive in those, notching five goals and seven assists.  There is still no timetable for when he might return but has been ruled out for their five-game road trip that began today.

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