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Zachary L’Heureux To Miss Four To Six Weeks

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Things were looking up were Predators winger Zachary L’Heureux earlier this week.  He was recalled from the minors on Tuesday although he didn’t see any game action.  It turns out he won’t be playing anytime soon as the team announced (Twitter link) that he will miss the next four to six weeks due to a lower-body injury.

The 22-year-old spent most of last season with Nashville as an early-season recall following a strong start with AHL Milwaukee turned into a permanent promotion.  L’Heureux wound up playing in 62 games in his freshman NHL year, picking up five goals and ten assists along with 198 hits in just over 12 minutes a night of action, becoming a key part of their physical bottom six.

With that in mind, it was expected that L’Heureux would break camp with the Predators and pick up where he left off.  However, he only played in two preseason games and then was sent to the Admirals at the end of training camp, becoming a somewhat surprising training camp cut.  He did well in the early going with Milwaukee though, collecting four goals and two assists in seven games to earn his promotion.

L’Heureux is in the final season of his entry-level contract and was hoping for a strong platform year to give him a sizable raise from his current $863K AAV.  Instead, he’ll wind up going without any NHL action for more than two months which is hardly the outcome he or the Predators were hoping for.

Capitals Activate Ethen Frank, Assign Spencer Smallman To AHL

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The Capitals have made a pair of roster moves heading into tonight’s game against Tampa Bay.  The team announced that they have activated winger Ethen Frank off injured reserve.  To make room on the roster, forward Spencer Smallman has been sent back to AHL Hershey.

Frank didn’t make Washington’s roster out of training camp but was recalled less than two weeks into the season.  However, the 27-year-old sustained an upper-body injury in his third game of the year, landing on IR soon after.  Frank has an assist in those three outings to go along with four goals and three assists in 24 games with the Caps last season in his first taste of NHL action.  He also had two goals and three helpers with the Bears prior to his recall.

As for Smallman, the 29-year-old received the first recall of his career last weekend.  However, he will have to continue to wait to make his NHL debut as he was the reserve forward for Washington while on recall.  Smallman had two goals and an assist in six outings with Hershey before the recall and has ranged between 21 and 34 points in his last four minor league campaigns.

With these roster moves, Washington’s active roster remains at the maximum of 23 players.

Rangers Place Matt Rempe On IR, Send Connor Mackey To AHL

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Nov. 8: The Rangers announced that Mackey has been sent back down to Hartford.  He didn’t see any game action while on recall.  They now have one open roster slot.

Nov. 3: The New York Rangers have recalled defenseman Connor Mackey from the AHL’s Hartford Wolf Pack. They have also placed enforcer Matt Rempe on injured reserve, per the NHL media site. Rempe is expected to be out long-term after sustaining an injury in a fight with San Jose Sharks bruiser Ryan Reaves.

Mackey has bounced between the NHL and AHL lineups this season, but has still found his way into all nine of Hartford’s games so far. He’s posted two assists, one penalty, and a minus-five in those appearances, and also serves as one of four alternate captains. Despite the routine call-ups to the Rangers roster, Mackey hasn’t appeared in the NHL since December 2024, when he appeared in two games and recorded no points and one fight. He’s played just three NHL games since 2023, and 42 across a five-year career. He’s posted 11 points, 80 penalty minutes, and a minus-one in the NHL.

Mackey will serve as an insurance option for New York’s extra defenseman Urho Vaakanainen, who is day-to-day with a lower-body injury per Stephen Whyno of AP News. Vaakanainen has played in 10 games and recorded one assist, eight penalty minutes, and a plus-one this season. He is expected to be replaced in the lineup by fellow left-shot defenseman Matthew Robertson, who has one goal in seven NHL games this season.

To make room for Mackey’s recall, the Rangers will now move Rempe to the inactives list. The 6-foot-9 bruiser managed one goal, seven penalty minutes, and a plus-one in nine games before going down with injury. He looked noticeably more impactful when play was moving this season, taking a stride towards impact that helped round out his enforcer presence. New York has turned towards Jonny Brodzinski to fill Rempe’s fourth-line role. Brodzinski has two points in five games this season.

Metropolitan Notes: Hamilton, Foerster, Keller

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Devils defenseman Dougie Hamilton left Thursday’s victory over Montreal with an undisclosed injury and he’ll be out for a few games at least.  Team reporter Amanda Stein relays (Twitter link) that the veteran will be out for a minimum of a week, which suggests that he’s likely to land on injured reserve before long with New Jersey carrying the maximum of 23 players at the moment.  The 32-year-old had been off to a solid start to the season before the injury, picking up four goals and three assists in 14 games while logging nearly 21 minutes a night of playing time.  Colton White will take Hamilton’s spot in the lineup for the time being after being recalled earlier this week; he suited up this afternoon against Pittsburgh for his first NHL game since April 13, 2023.

More from the Metropolitan:

  • Flyers winger Tyson Foerster skated before practice yesterday as he works his way back from a lower-body injury, notes Gabriela Carroll of The Philadelphia Inquirer. The 23-year-old landed on IR earlier this week retroactive to November 1st, meaning he can be activated at any time since he has now served the minimum of one week.  Foerster was off to a good start before the injury, collecting four goals and three assists in 11 games while logging over 18 minutes a night of playing time.
  • Capitals goalie prospect Antoine Keller has terminated his minor league deal with Washington to head back overseas. HC Ajoie in Switzerland announced that they’ve signed the 21-year-old to a two-year contract.  Keller was a seventh-round pick by Washington back in 2023 and spent last season in the NL, albeit in a backup role with Lausanne where he only played in 13 games.  Keller was also on France’s roster at the most recent Worlds and could be part of their group for the upcoming Olympics as well.  Washington has until June 1, 2027 to sign Keller to an entry-level deal or they will lose his rights.

Wild Assign Tyler Pitlick To AHL

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The Wild have opened up a roster spot as the team announced (Twitter link) that winger Tyler Pitlick has been sent down to AHL Iowa.  They now have 22 players on their active roster.

The 34-year-old was recalled last month and got into nine games.  That’s particularly noteworthy as had he suited up one more time, he would have needed to pass through waivers to return to Iowa.  By sending Pitlick down now, they can hold onto his waiver exemption a little while longer.

In those nine outings, Pitlick was held off the scoresheet offensively but added 24 hits and 22 penalty minutes in 7:23 per game of ice time.  20 of those penalty minutes came on Thursday against Carolina after he was given a match penalty for a hit on Carolina’s Jalen Chatfield.  It appears the league rescinded that penalty as no supplemental discipline came his way.

In his career, Pitlick has played in 429 NHL games over parts of 11 NHL seasons and has 56 goals and 53 assists in those appearances.  He had two goals in three games with Iowa before being recalled last month.

Hurricanes Claim Cayden Primeau Off Waivers From Toronto

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2:02 PM: The Hurricanes announced that Primeau has been assigned to AHL Chicago, meaning they were the only team to put in a claim.  Meanwhile, the team also confirmed that wingers Eric Robinson and William Carrier were activated off injured reserve as previously reported earlier today.

1:04 PM: The Hurricanes have plenty of goaltending depth in their organization and they have just added a bit more.  Chris Johnston of TSN and The Athletic reports (Twitter link) that Carolina has claimed goaltender Cayden Primeau off waivers from Toronto.

It’s a return to the Hurricanes for the 26-year-old.  Carolina acquired him from Montreal in late June for a seventh-round pick and quickly signed him to a one-year, one-way contract at the league minimum salary of $775K.  The thought was that he’d serve as the third-string option for them this season.  However, those plans changed late in training camp when they picked up Brandon Bussi off waivers from Florida to fill that role, meaning Primeau was waived soon after.

With the Maple Leafs not having Joseph Woll to start the season after he took a leave of absence, Toronto claimed Primeau and had him spend the first four weeks of the season as Anthony Stolarz’s backup.  He won two of his three starts but struggled, allowing 13 goals on just 80 shots in those outings.  With Woll now on a conditioning stint in advance of his return, the Maple Leafs elected to waive Primeau.

Primeau has played in 58 NHL games over parts of seven NHL seasons with the other 55 outings before this season coming with Montreal.  While he has shown some flashes of upside along the way, he has struggled overall, posting a 15-25-7 record with a 3.73 GAA and a .882 SV%.

It’s fair to say that Carolina isn’t claiming Primeau to take over Bussi’s spot as the third-string option or serve as a number four on the NHL roster.  They’ll be hoping that no one else claimed him and if that’s the case, they will be eligible to send him to AHL Chicago as they originally intended to a month ago.  While Primeau hasn’t fared well in the NHL, he has been a top goalie in the minors and is coming off a 21-2-3 showing last season with Laval where he had a 1.96 GAA and a .927 SV%.  With Amir Miftakhov and Nikita Quapp playing to a combined 3.61 GAA and a .862 SV% in eight games so far this season, he’d be a huge addition for the Wolves if the Hurricanes can send him down.  If another team put a claim in though, Carolina would have to either keep Primeau on the NHL roster or put him right back on waivers.

Maple Leafs Recall Dennis Hildeby

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With Joseph Woll (conditioning stint) not yet ready to rejoin the Maple Leafs and Cayden Primeau’s performance as the backup landing him on waivers where he was claimed by Carolina, they need a new short-term second option.  That will be netminder Dennis Hildeby as the team announced (Twitter link) that he has been recalled from AHL Toronto.

Hildeby appeared to be set to be the backup heading into the season following Woll’s absence and James Reimer being released from his late-camp PTO but Primeau’s claim at the end of training camp ended those plans.  Instead, the 24-year-old was sent down to the Marlies with an eye on seeing more playing time than he otherwise would have received as the backup to Anthony Stolarz.

That hasn’t gone quite to plan, however.  Hildeby has only made five starts for the Marlies (Primeau made three for the Maple Leafs over that same stretch) so he didn’t wind up seeing much extra action.  Over those outings, he has a 2.74 GAA and a .890 SV%, a step back on his career averages of 2.54 and .908 respectively over 78 AHL appearances.  Hildeby has six career NHL outings under his belt, all coming last season when he posted a 3.33 GAA and a .872 SV%.

With Toronto kicking off a back-to-back set tonight, it stands to reason that Hildeby will likely get the nod on Sunday against Carolina.  But that might be his only action while on this recall with Woll likely to rejoin the big club and come off LTIR within the next week or so.

Hurricanes To Activate Two Off IR, Recall Gavin Bayreuther From AHL

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There are plenty of injury updates from Carolina heading into their game tonight against Buffalo.  Chip Alexander of the Raleigh News & Observer relays (Twitter link) that wingers Eric Robinson and William Carrier will suit up tonight, meaning they will be activated off injured reserve.  However, the news isn’t all good as defenseman Jalen Chatfield is now out indefinitely; head coach Rod Brind’Amour is uncertain if the blueliner is dealing with a concussion after taking a hit from Minnesota’s Tyler Pitlick on Thursday.  That resulted in the team announcing that blueliner Gavin Bayreuther has been recalled from AHL Chicago with Chatfield landing on injured reserve as the corresponding move.

Robinson had a breakout year last season, his first in Carolina.  He picked up 14 goals and 18 assists (both career bests) in 82 games, earning himself some much-desired job security as he signed a four-year, $6.8MM deal in advance of free agency back in June.  The 30-year-old got off to a nice start to this season as well, collecting three goals and an assist in seven outings despite his playing time dipping below 10 minutes a night.  He has missed a little more than two weeks with an upper-body injury, landing retroactively on IR ten days ago.

Carrier, meanwhile, was injured in the same game as Robinson last month, suffering a lower-body injury.  His first season with Carolina in 2024-25 was injury-riddled as he only was able to suit up in 43 games where he had 11 points and 156 hits, not a great return in the first season of a six-year deal.  This season, the 30-year-old has a goal and two assists through his seven outings in a little over 10 minutes a night of action.  With Carolina having two open roster spots following yesterday’s demotion of Bradly Nadeau to the minors, no other moves need to be made to activate Carrier and Robinson.

As for Chatfield, he has been his usual steadying presence on the back end.  In the second season of a three-year, $9MM deal, the 29-year-old has three assists and 14 blocks in his first 13 games while averaging just under 20 minutes a night.  He has once again been a big part of Carolina’s penalty kill, carrying the second-highest ATOI among their blueliners in that situation while they sit well above the league average in shorthanded success rate.  Chatfield will now miss at least a week as a result of the IR placement.

Bayreuther returned to North America for this season after spending the 2024-25 campaign in Switzerland, signing a one-year, two-way deal back in July.  He cleared waivers at the end of September and has spent the full season so far with the Wolves, tallying three goals and three assists in nine games.  Bayreuther has 122 career NHL games under his belt over parts of four seasons, the most recent of which came back in 2022-23 with Columbus.

Pittsburgh Penguins Activate Kevin Hayes

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The Pittsburgh Penguins announced they’ve activated veteran forward Kevin Hayes from the injured reserve. In a corresponding roster move, the team has placed Filip Hallander on the IR, who was diagnosed with a blood clot yesterday.

It’s been nearly seven months since Hayes last skated in an NHL contest. The 11-year veteran has been dealing with an upper-body injury since training camp, and initially garnered an expected return date in mid-October. Obviously, the injury kept him out a few weeks past the scheduled recovery timeline.

The belief is that Hayes will return to a familiar role this evening, centering Pittsburgh’s third line between Ville Koivunen and one other forward, given that Philip Tomasino has been scratched from the lineup. That spot was held by recently recalled Danton Heinen for the team’s last contest, who went scoreless while earning a -1 rating.

At his best, Hayes is a quality second-line center who’s two years removed from scoring 18 goals and 54 points with the Philadelphia Flyers, along with earning a spot in the All-Star Game. Unfortunately, Hayes has failed to match his 2022-23 scoring output in two years split between the St. Louis Blues and the Penguins. Over that stretch, he’s registered 26 goals and 52 points in 143 games with a -15 rating, averaging 13:23 of ice time per game.

Still, although his defensive metrics took a hit during his first year in Pittsburgh, Hayes is a capable third-line middleman with the capacity to average a 55.0% success rate in the faceoff dot. Further, he deepens the unexpectedly competitive Penguins down the middle behind Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin.

Meanwhile, as noted yesterday, it’ll be some time before Hallander returns to the Penguins roster. Given the seriousness of the ailment, Hallander is expected to miss the next three months, which would position him for a return in early February. The 25-year-old former second-round pick scored one goal and four points through his first 13 games this season.

Bruins Place Elias Lindholm On IR, Recall Alex Steeves

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According to a team announcement, the Boston Bruins have placed forward Elias Lindholm on the injured reserve and recalled forward Alex Steeves in a corresponding roster move. Lindholm’s IR placement is likely retroactive to October 30th, when he originally sustained the injury.

The move was largely expected. Lindholm sustained a lower-body injury against the Buffalo Sabres on October 30th, and it was initially believed that he would miss several weeks. The Bruins confirmed the following day that the timeline was accurate after Lindholm underwent an MRI.

Before the injury, Lindholm had gotten off to a relatively solid start to the season. Through 13 games, Boston’s first-line center scored four goals and nine points with a 57.5% success rate in the faceoff dot. It wasn’t on par with his point-per-game average from the 2021-22 campaign with the Calgary Flames, though he would have bested last year’s performance by 10 or so points had he continued the pace.

Fortunately, the Bruins haven’t missed a beat since Lindholm exited the lineup. The team has utilized 23-year-old Marat Khusnutdinov in his stead, centering Morgan Geekie and David Pastrňák on Boston’s first line. The team has won three straight and has an important matchup against the Toronto Maple Leafs this evening.

Meanwhile, the Bruins have recalled a former Maple Leaf to fill Lindholm’s void on the active roster. Steeves is in his first year with Boston after signing a one-year, $850K contract with them over the offseason. He cleared waivers on October 6th after failing to make the team’s roster out of training camp.

Thus far, Steeves has gotten off to a quality start with the AHL’s Providence Bruins, scoring three goals and eight points in nine games. Throughout his time with Toronto, which was largely spent with the AHL Marlies, Steeves scored one goal and three points in 14 NHL games from 2021 to 2025.

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