Atlantic Notes: Reaves, Rafferty, Lightning
Maple Leafs winger Ryan Reaves has been on injured reserve for more than a month now with a knee injury. However, he told Sportsnet’s Luke Fox that he has been ready to return for a couple of weeks and he has simply been scratched for that time. The 37-year-old is in the first season of a three-year, $4.05MM contract signed back in July and things haven’t gone as planned with the veteran struggling when he was in the lineup to the point of being healthy scratched at times before the injury. Reaves noted that he’ll need to “stay patient to get in the lineup — or stay patient for whatever else is going to come” but clearly, his comments suggest that patience is starting to wear a little thin if he has indeed been ready to come back for the last two weeks.
More from the Atlantic:
- Before their game against Tampa Bay, the Red Wings announced (Twitter link) that they’ve recalled defenseman Brogan Rafferty from AHL Grand Rapids. It’s the second recall of the month for the 28-year-old although he didn’t see any NHL action in his first stint and barring injuries, it’s unlikely he’ll suit up much if at all this time around. Rafferty is in his first season with Detroit’s farm team after signing a two-year, two-way contract back in July. In 35 games so far with the Griffins, he has 15 points.
- The only injured Lightning player who could return before the All-Star break is defenseman Erik Cernak, relays Eduardo A. Encina of The Athletic (Twitter link). Cernak has missed a little more than a week with an upper-body injury but it appears he has a chance to come back in their final three games. Meanwhile, Encina adds that winger Tanner Jeannot remains listed as week-to-week while blueliners Mikhail Sergachev and Haydn Fleury – both currently on LTIR – could return after the break.
Injury Notes: Hamonic, Svechnikov, Wild
Ottawa Senators defenseman Travis Hamonic sustained an upper-body injury in today’s game against the Philadelphia Flyers, and did not return to the game. Hamonic played in a little over five minutes before the injury forced him out of the action. The 33-year-old veteran has played in 40 games this season for the Senators and registered five points, averaging 14:59 time-on-ice per game.
Should Hamonic miss any time, the Senators would need to fill in for him on their third pairing. Should Hamonic miss any time, the Senators could plug their seventh defenseman, Erik Brännström, into the lineup in Hamonic’s place. Brännström is a quicker, transition-oriented defenseman which means his skillset differs quite drastically compared to Hamonic, a stay-at-home blueliner, so if he does re-enter the lineup in a Hamonic absence the Senators’ pairings could end up a little shuffled.
Some other injury updates from across the NHL:
- Yesterday, we covered how Carolina Hurricanes star Andrei Svechnikov missed practice due to health reasons. Today, the Hurricanes announced that Svechnikov will miss tonight’s game due to due to an upper-body injury. Svechnikov has battled injuries over the last two years but has been brilliant, as expected, when healthy. He’s scored 30 points in 29 games this season.
- The Athletic’s Joe Smith relayed word from Minnesota Wild head coach John Hynes related to injuries to numerous Wild players. Hynes offered no update on the status of either Marc-Andre Fleury or Frederick Gaudreau, though he did not rule out Fleury potentially playing later in the week. He also added that Vinni Lettieri is skating back in St. Paul. Lettieri has not played yet in 2024 but has skated in 19 games with the Wild this season, his most since his 2021-22 season with the Anaheim Ducks.
Snapshots: Tippett, Wolf, Barkov
Philadelphia Flyers forward Owen Tippett has suffered a lower-body injury and will be out on a day-to-day basis, the team announced today. The Athletic’s Kevin Kurz adds that Tippett was “walking around fine after the game and the hope is it’s just a mild ankle sprain.” There was some fear that Tippett might miss more time, but that appears to not be the case. The Flyers will nonetheless be without Tippett on a short-term basis, though.
Tippett, who will turn 25 in February, is in the midst of his second full season with the Flyers. It took the 2017 10th overall pick some time to get going at the NHL level, but he’s now up to 18 goals and 30 points in just 46 games on the season. After scoring a career-high 27 goals last year, Tippett is now on pace to score 32 goals, which would be a career-best. With Tippett out, the Flyers will lean on players such as Travis Konecny, Joel Farabee, and Cam Atkinson more heavily to provide goal-scoring.
Some other news from across the NHL:
- The Calgary Flames have reassigned netminder Dustin Wolf to their AHL affiliate the Calgary Wranglers. With starting goalie Jacob Markström set to return after an absence of just over a week, Wolf’s reassignment to the Wranglers will allow him to get some game action, the kind that is unavailable to him when the Flames have a fully healthy crease.
- Florida Panthers team reporter Jameson Olive reports that captain Aleksander Barkov will not travel with the team to Nashville as he recovers from a lower-body injury. Head coach Paul Maurice has said that he is hopeful Barkov will be able to play on Wednesday against the Arizona Coyotes. While the Panthers have a strong team regardless, they’re certainly an improved group when Barkov is healthy. The former Selke and Lady Byng Trophy winner has played exceptional two-way hockey this season and has scored 46 points in 40 games.
Florida Panthers Recall Mackie Samoskevich
The Florida Panthers have once again recalled Mackie Samoskevich, according to Florida Hockey Now’s George Richards. Unlike some prior recalls, Samoskevich actually has a clear path to playing some NHL games in this recall, as the team’s incumbent fourth-line right winger William Lockwood is currently serving a three-game suspension.
The Panthers reassigned Rasmus Asplund back to the AHL yesterday, and have now brought up Samoskevich to take his place on the active roster. With Lockwood suspended, Samoskevich could play on the Panthers’ third or fourth line at the right wing positon.
Samoskevich, 21, is the 2021 24th overall pick who is currently playing his rookie season as a full-time pro player. Samoskevich spent the last two seasons at the University of Michigan, scoring 43 points in 39 games in his final run there.
So far this season Samoskevich has been a quality AHLer, scoring 11 goals and 26 points in 32 games. He’s still waiting on his first NHL point, and now with this recall he could very well earn it before likely heading back to AHL Charlotte.
Columbus Blue Jackets Activate Nick Blankenburg, Recall David Jiříček
The Columbus Blue Jackets have announced that defenseman Nick Blankenburg has been activated off of injured reserve and assigned to the AHL’s Cleveland Monsters, and defenseman David Jiříček has been recalled from the Monsters.
The 25-year-old Blankenburg has been out since December 19th due to injury. The former captain of the Michigan Wolverines was actually playing in the NHL when he was last healthy, skating in his sixth consecutive game with the club. Before that point Blankenburg was in Cleveland, which is where he’ll now return to. Blankenburg has played in 18 games for the Monsters, the first 18 games of his AHL career, and has gotten off to a nice start there with 11 points.
Jiříček now returns to the Blue Jackets’ roster after a two-game stay in Cleveland. The 20-year-old 2022 sixth-overall pick receives this recall fresh off of a three-point game against the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, a contest win which he played a role in all three of the Monsters’ goals. The six-foot-four blueliner has played in 36 NHL games already this season and registered nine points. He proved himself as an AHLer in his rookie campaign in North America, scoring 38 points in 55 games.
Injury Notes: Blackhawks, Red Wings, Engvall
The Chicago Blackhawks saw a string of players progress in their injury recovery, with Nick Foligno (fractured finger) and Ryan Donato (illness) fully returning to the team’s practice on Sunday, while Connor Bedard (jaw), Samuel Savoie (leg), and Tyler Johnson (undisclosed) were all on the ice for varying times before the team skate started. Connor Murphy was not able to take part in the team’s skate, though, continuing to miss time with a lower-body injury.
Donato has missed the Hawks’ last two games with an illness, while Foligno has sat out of seven games thanks to a placement on injured reserve earlier in the month. Both players are trending towards a return, finally bringing some form of relief to a Chicago lineup that’s currently experiencing injuries to 10 different players. Foligno went down on the same night that star rookie Bedard was injured. Both players falling out of the lineup effectively fractured Chicago’s top six, with the team going 3-4-0 – including one overtime and one shootout win – and scoring just 13 goals since the pair got hurt. That averages out to 1.85 goals-per-game – a mark that’s significantly held up by the two four-goal outings Chicago has had since Bedard’s injury.
Other notes from around the league:
- Ville Husso (lower-body) is continuing to progress in the Detroit Red Wings practices, while the team continues to be without Patrick Kane (lower-body) and Ben Chiarot (upper-body). Husso was placed on injured reserve in mid-December, missing Detroit’s last 14 games. James Reimer has slotted into the lineup as a result, backing up de facto starter Alex Lyon. Lyon has managed a .922 save percentage across 16 games, while Reimer has recorded an .893 save percentage in 13 appearances.
- Pierre Engvall has returned to the New York Islanders practice in a non-contact jersey after missing the team’s last two games with an upper-body injury. Engvall has managed 14 points in the 41 games he has appeared in, though he’s only scored one point since December 9th. Engvall is in his first full season with the Islanders, joining the team through trade with the Toronto Maple Leafs last season.
Calgary Flames Make Several Roster Moves
With less than an hour to go before the Battle of Alberta, the Calgary Flames made a few transactions earlier today that will shape their roster for this evening’s matchup against the Edmonton Oilers. Today, the team announced that forward Martin Pospisil would be placed on injured reserve, and defenseman Dennis Gilbert would be activated off of injured reserve. Furthermore, in the same announcement, the team has recalled defenseman Oliver Kylington from his LTI conditioning loan in the AHL, meaning he could be activated off of LTIR very shortly.
Pospisil is dealing with an upper-body injury suffered in the team’s most recent game against the Toronto Maple Leafs, and it will likely keep him out until after the NHL All-Star break in a couple of weeks. Primarily serving as a bottom/middle six player for Calgary this season, Pospisil has scored four goals and 11 points in 33 games up to this point in the year.
Also suffering from an upper-body injury, Gilbert had been out for a couple of weeks, having not played since the team’s January 4th game against the Nashville Predators. Gilbert will draw back into the team’s bottom-pairing on defense, a role that has seen him score one goal and seven points in 28 games this season.
Most importantly, the Flames are nearing the long-awaited return of Kylington, who has not played in an NHL game since May 26th, 2022. Feeling ready to return to hockey, he received a two-game stint with Calgary’s AHL affiliate, the Calgary Wranglers, but was unable to score a point throughout his conditioning loan.
There is by no means that Kylington will come back into the lineup and become a new groundbreaking defenseman for the Flames, but with a plethora of defensemen set for unrestricted free agency this upcoming offseason, a strong start from Kylington may make the team more comfortable to sell off some of their defensive core by the time the trade deadline comes around.
Metro Notes: Jiricek, Islanders, Gustafsson
A few days ago, to create a roster spot upon the return of captain Boone Jenner, the Columbus Blue Jackets decided to send promising young defenseman David Jiricek back to their AHL affiliate, the Cleveland Monsters. Even though it has been a relatively mediocre season for Jiricek up to this point, it was still surprising to see Jiricek as the head eventually put on the chopping block.
Nevertheless, in an article today from Aaron Portzline of The Athletic, he reports that the plan for Jiricek is to have him play two games this week for the Monsters until the team eventually recalls him in a week. The organization may be looking to give Jiricek an extra boost of confidence before the Blue Jackets’ upcoming five-game road trip before the All-Star game.
As one of the more hyped-up Columbus prospects heading into the season, many expectations placed upon Jiricek before the season were largely unfair, as he has not gotten off to a hot start with the team. In 36 games for the Blue Jackets already this season, Jiricek has scored one goal and nine points, managing just under 15 minutes of ice time per night, without receiving much time on either the powerplay or penalty kill.
Other Metro notes:
- After a surprise announcement today naming Patrick Roy the new head coach of the New York Islanders, many began to wonder if the organization would eventually look to go in a different direction with any assistant coaches. The General Manager of the Islanders, Lou Lamoriello, was asked precisely this question and assured that no other changes would be coming to New York’s bench any time soon (X Link).
- Earlier today, Arthur Staple of The Athletic reported that New York Rangers defenseman Erik Gustafsson is considered day-to-day with a lower-body injury, and would not be in the team’s lineup tonight. Playing on an extremely valuable one-year, $825K contract this year, Gustafsson has scored four goals and 21 points in 44 games, sitting second on the team in scoring amongst defensemen.
Hurricanes Notes: Kochetkov, Svechnikov, Perets
While Hurricanes goaltender Pyotr Kochetkov is in concussion protocol, it doesn’t appear if he’ll be out for too long. Team reporter Walt Ruff relays (Twitter link) that the 24-year-old took part in roughly half of Carolina’s morning skate today with head coach Rod Brind’Amour indicating after that the netminder “looks good and is feeling better”. Kochetkov has a 2.58 GAA and a .900 SV% this season in 23 games, numbers that don’t look great on their own but are a considerable improvement on what they’ve received from veterans Frederik Andersen (before his blood clots) and Antti Raanta. There remains no timetable for Kochetkov’s return but the fact he’s on the ice now suggests that
More from Carolina:
- Also from Ruff’s note, winger Andrei Svechnikov didn’t participate in practice today as he isn’t feeling 100%. The 23-year-old potted the game-winning goal against Detroit on Friday and logged close to his season average for ice time so it’s unclear if he was banged up during that game or if he’s under the weather. After missing the start of the season recovering from a knee injury and missing some time with an upper-body issue in December, Svechnikov has been quite productive, collecting 11 goals and 19 assists in 29 games.
- The team announced that goaltender Yaniv Perets has been assigned to ECHL Norfolk. The move comes as little surprise after Carolina claimed netminder Spencer Martin off waivers from Columbus on Friday. Perets made his NHL debut during this recall, seeing 13 minutes of action in Monday’s loss to Los Angeles. Perets has a 2.62 GAA and a .906 SV% in 15 games in the ECHL this season; with Carolina not having an AHL affiliate, he has to drop a level in order to secure regular playing time.
Transaction Notes: Polin, Bryson, Asplund
Earlier today, the Colorado Avalanche reassigned forward Jason Polin to their AHL affiliate, the Colorado Eagles, per a team announcement. Polin was originally recalled on January 8th via an emergency loan and factored into six games for the Avalanche, scoring only one goal.
It was a positive sign from Polin to see him score his first professional goal, as he has been unable to score even one with the Eagles over 20 games during this year and last. Colorado is likely holding out hope they he can recoup some of his offensive talent that showed in his last season in the NCAA, when he scored 30 goals and 47 points with Western Michigan University.
Although nothing official has come from the organization, the reassignment of Polin likely spells the much-awaited return of Artturi Lehkonen, who has been on the team’s long-term injured reserve since November 13th with a neck injury. However, with Valeri Nichushkin now enrolled in the NHLPA Player Assistance Program, and captain Gabriel Landeskog still working his way back from knee cartilage surgery, Colorado will have to wait a bit longer to see a complete top-six forward group.
Other notes:
- The Buffalo Sabres announced today that the organization has loaned defenseman Jacob Bryson back to their AHL affiliate, the Rochester Americans. After clearing waivers on December 20th, Bryson would not make his way back up to the Sabres until January 18th but was unable to suit up in a game. During his short span with the Americans, Bryson has tallied one assist in nine games.
- Sticking in the Atlantic Division, the Florida Panthers have loaned forward Rasmus Asplund to their AHL affiliate, the Charlotte Checkers, per a team announcement. Asplund did not suit up for the Panthers over his emergency loan roster placement, but will return to a Checkers team where he has had some success this season, scoring four goals and 19 points in 33 games.