Islanders’ Scott Mayfield Out For Season
The New York Islanders have announced that defenseman Scott Mayfield had successful surgery and will be out for the remainder of the season. They didn’t make any official announcements regarding the nature of the procedure but did say that the 31-year-old is expected to make a full recovery and shouldn’t have any issues completing his summer training regimen.
Mayfield hasn’t played for over a month and had been dealing with the lingering effects of an ankle injury he suffered at the beginning of the season. He was initially placed on the LTIR and was expected to be out of action for 4-6 weeks. Many speculated at that time that his season could be done and with today’s announcement, the team has made it official.
After a career year last season, Mayfield struggled to play this season with the injury and had also increased expectations after signing a new seven-year contract extension last summer. While he’s never offered much offensively, his underlying numbers fell off a cliff as he has struggled to get around the ice. Mayfield had just five assists in 41 games this season, after posting a career-high six goals and 18 assists in 82 games last season.
With six years left on his contract, his recovery will be an important factor for the Islanders next season if they would once again like to contend for a playoff position in the Eastern Conference.
Penguins Recall Sam Poulin, Noel Acciari To IR
The Pittsburgh Penguins have recalled former first-round pick Sam Poulin from their AHL affiliate and placed center Noel Acciari on the injured reserve.
The 23-year-old Poulin was taken 21st overall by the Penguins in the 2019 NHL entry draft and has spent the bulk of his professional career playing in the AHL with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. His callup is no surprise given that he has found traction this season posting 13 goals and 14 assists in 36 games. Several Penguins pundits speculated that Poulin would get an extended look after the NHL trade deadline as the Penguins are looking toward next season and which of their younger players can make an impact soon. Poulin has yet to dress for an NHL game this season but did have an assist in three games last year during a short NHL audition.
Acciari on the other hand is back on injured reserve for the third time this season as injuries have limited him to just 55 games in which he has produced just four goals and three assists. The 32-year-old was signed last summer to a three-year $6MM contract as a free agent but hasn’t had the kind of season he or the Penguins were hoping for. Not much is known about Acciari’s injury other than that it is a lower-body injury that will keep him out of the lineup until at least the last game of the regular season as he is designated as LTIR according to Seth Roarbaugh of Tribune-Review Sports.
The Penguins welcome Jake Guentzel back to Pittsburgh tonight for the first time since trading him to the Hurricanes just before the NHL trade deadline.
Seattle Kraken Recall Defenseman Gustav Olofsson
The Seattle Kraken have recalled defenseman Gustav Olofsson from the Coachella Valley Firebirds of the AHL on an emergency basis. The 29-year-old has yet to dress this season for the Kraken but did get into three contests for the team last season in which he was held scoreless.
After earning two NHL recalls last year, Olofsson signed a two-year two-way extension with the Kraken last June and has spent the entirety of this season in the AHL dressing in 41 contests registering a goal and seven assists while posting a +15.
A native of Boras, Sweden, Olofsson was originally drafted in the second round of the 2013 NHL entry draft by the Minnesota Wild. He spent five seasons in the Wild organization dressing in 56 NHL games before spending three seasons in the Montreal Canadiens system and then eventually signing with the Kraken in 2021-22.
Since signing with Seattle, Olofsson has seen limited NHL action but has been a key component to the Firebirds AHL success, including dressing in 26 playoff games as Coachella Valley came within a goal of winning the Calder Cup last season.
If Olofsson can see NHL action during his recall he will still be in search of his first NHL goal as he has 11 career assists in 62 career NHL games.
Evening Notes: Fast, Blue Jackets, Blackhawks
Carolina Hurricanes reporter Walt Ruff tweeted that Hurricanes forward Jesper Fast has re-joined team practice after missing Carolina’s last three games with an apparent upper-body injury. Fast hasn’t played since March 19th and is “nursing something” according to Hurricanes head coach Rod Brind ’Amour.
Fast had struggled leading up to the injury announcement, tallying just a single assist in his last six games. Fast has never been an offensive juggernaut but has been a consistent 30-point producer and has seen a drop off this season in his scoring. Through 66 games, the 32-year-old has just six goals and 12 assists and his shooting percentage has dropped four percent below his career average to just 8.6% on the season.
In other evening notes:
- Aaron Portzline of The Athletic writes that the Columbus Blue Jackets are unlikely to interview director of player development Rick Nash for their vacant general manager position even though he was just named the general manager of Team Canada for the upcoming IIHF World Championships. Blue Jackets president of hockey operations John Davidson spoke with The Athletic on Saturday to discuss his search for the team’s next GM after firing Jarmo Kekäläinen. Davidson reiterated that he is looking to hire a person with experience as an NHL GM and that he planned to look outside Nationwide Arena for the next hire. Davidson told The Athletic that he has spoken with Nash and others within the organization to let them know that they will not get an interview for the position as the timing isn’t right for them to move into the role of general manager.
- The Chicago Blackhawks had a trio of injured players on the ice today as Taylor Hall, Connor Murphy, and Reese Johnson skated before the teams practice. Hall won’t be back into the lineup until next season after undergoing ACL surgery on his right knee in November. While Hall’s timeline is fairly clear, Murphy’s return date is murky at this point as he has not played since January 13th and may not return before the end of the season. Murphy was initially diagnosed with a groin injury, but that was eventually changed to a core injury. Johnson also joined the other veterans after being ruled out due to concussion protocol. The 25-year-old last played on March 12th and sat out the last five games. He has dressed in 42 games this season for Chicago and has two goals and three assists.
Blue Jackets Recall Tyler Angle
The Columbus Blue Jackets have announced that they’ve made an emergency recall from the Cleveland Monsters and are bringing up forward Tyler Angle to the NHL roster. The 23-year-old made his NHL debut last year in April with the Blue Jackets, recording his first career NHL goal in his second career game on April 14th, 2023, against the Buffalo Sabres.
Angle hasn’t seen NHL action since his two-game audition last April and is in the midst of his fourth consecutive season in the AHL with the Monsters. Thus far this season in 34 games, the former seventh-round pick in the 2019 NHL entry draft has seven goals and eight assists. Throughout his AHL career, Angle has 40 goals and 59 assists in 194 career AHL contests.
The Blue Jackets forward ranks have been decimated by injuries in recent weeks which led to Angle getting the emergency recall. Columbus is without the services of forwards Kent Johnson, Adam Fantilli, Justin Danforth, Yegor Chinakhov and Sean Kuraly due to injury and is also without Patrik Laine who is out indefinitely after entering the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program.
Angle is unlikely to be with the Blue Jackets for an extended period as Kuraly and Chinakhov could be back in the lineup over the next week or two barring any unforeseen setbacks.
Martin St-Louis Re-Joins Montreal Canadiens
The Montreal Canadiens have announced that head coach Martin St-Louis has re-joined the team in Denver after taking ten days away from the club to be with his family. St-Louis will be back behind the bench tomorrow night when the Canadiens take on the Colorado Avalanche. St-Louis thanked Geoff Molson, Jeff Gorton, Kent Hughes, along with assistant coach Trevor Letowski who had assumed head coaching duties in St-Louis’ absence. He also thanked the entire Canadiens organization for supporting his family.
St-Louis took time away from the Canadiens to be with his family after his youngest son Mason suffered a hockey injury while playing for U15 Mid-Fairfield in Connecticut. A week later the 16-year-old reportedly suffered complications from the injury and ended up in hospital. Since his hospitalization, Mason’s condition has thankfully stabilized, and he is now recovering at home. St-Louis thanked everyone for respecting the privacy of his family and asked that people focus on the team going forward for the remainder of the 2023-24 season.
St-Louis’ return could give the Canadiens a boost as they look to close out the season on a high note. The young team will miss the playoffs for the third straight season under St-Louis but is just four points shy of matching last season’s totals with 12 games left to play. The Canadiens have improved in each season under St-Louis and could be poised to contend for a playoff spot next season if they can make some moves this summer to address their roster deficiencies.
Red Wings Notes: Petry, Walman, Husso
Helene St. James of The Detroit Free Press is reporting that Detroit Red Wings defenseman Jeff Petry could miss tomorrow night’s game against the Washington Capitals as he is dealing with an illness. Petry didn’t participate in practice today and could be a game-time decision against the Capitals. The 36-year-old is in his first season with the Red Wings after being traded twice last year and has posted two goals and 17 assists in 62 games while averaging just a shade under 19 minutes of ice time per game.
Petry has struggled as of late, registering just a single assist in his last 11 games while going -11. His underlying numbers are some of the worst he’s had in his 14-year NHL career, which isn’t all that surprising for a 36-year-old defenseman who has seen a decline in his game for the past few seasons.
In other Red Wings notes:
- Helene St. James also tweeted that Red Wings head coach Derek Lalonde wasn’t sure about defenseman Jake Walman’s availability for tomorrow night’s game against Washington. Walman joined practice today for the first time since being injured on March 17th in a 6-3 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins. Lalonde said the team would wait to see how Walman responds to the practice before deciding his availability for tomorrow night’s game but didn’t feel it was likely that he would play. The 28-year-old has averaged almost 20 minutes a game this season on Detroit’s backend, dressing in 61 games and registering 12 goals and nine assists.
- Ansar Khan of MLive is reporting that Red Wings netminder Ville Husso has had a few setbacks and likely isn’t ready to get back into game action yet as he attempts to return to the lineup from injury. Lalonde added that when Husso is comfortable enough to play it will likely be in a conditioning assignment with their AHL affiliate in Grand Rapids. Husso has played just 8:48 since suffering a lower-body injury back on December 18th. He returned on February 13th but once again suffered an injury and was forced to leave the game after playing less than half a period and facing just eight shots.
Pavel Francouz May Be Headed For Retirement
Meghan Angley of DNVR Avalanche is reporting that Colorado Avalanche general manager Chris MacFarland provided an update today on the status of injured netminder Pavel Francouz. MacFarland said that the goaltender’s situation could lead to retirement because of the nature of his injury. He added that there are no plans for Francouz to ramp up his efforts to return to NHL action.
Francouz has been sidelined this year with a groin injury and was ruled out of action for this season back in November 2023. He returned to Czechia to be with his family at that time leading to speculation about the severity of his injury.
The 33-year-old hasn’t played since April 9th, 2023, and made 16 appearances during the 2022-23 season, recording an 8-7-1 record with a 2.61 goals-against average and .915 save percentage. He was a key part of the Avalanche’s 2022 Stanley Cup run, particularly in the Western Conference Finals against the Edmonton Oilers. Francouz went 6-0 in that playoff run with a shutout and a 2.81 goals-against average.
If this is the end for Francouz it will leave a big hole for the Avalanche to fill both on the ice and in the dressing room. Aside from being a fan favorite, Francouz has repeatedly shown a desire to stay with the Avalanche for less than market value signing a two-year $4MM extension back in 2022. The Avalanche will be hard-pressed to find similar value this summer on the free-agent market.
Should Francouz retire, it will be a sad ending to a rock-solid NHL career as one of the better backups we’ve seen in recent memory. Francouz has compiled a 44-21-6 record in 73 appearances along with a .919 career save percentage and a 2.49 goals-against average.
Pacific Notes: Pietrangelo, Hoffman, Emberson, Gibson, Stalock, Evans
Golden Knights defenseman Alex Pietrangelo indeed did not travel with the team to kick off their road trip and is out tonight against the Blues due to illness, Lou Korac of NHL.com relays. The 34-year-old has already missed three games with the illness, last factoring into the lineup on March 17 against the Devils. It’s his second multi-game absence of the campaign – he missed five games with an upper-body injury back in October. The seven-year, $61.6MM deal he signed in free agency in 2020 continues to age relatively well as it crosses the halfway point. He’s again logging number-one minutes, averaging 23:38 per game. He’s not the highest-producing Golden Knights defender – Noah Hanifin and Shea Theodore have him beaten in that regard – but he’s still managed 32 points in 62 games this year. The two-time Stanley Cup champion will be replaced by Nicolas Hague on the team’s top pairing alongside Hanifin in what is perhaps Vegas’ biggest game of the season tonight in St. Louis against their biggest threat for a playoff spot.
Other updates from the Pacific Division:
- Sharks winger Mike Hoffman has been listed as day-to-day with an upper-body injury since March 9 against Ottawa, which the winger confirmed Sunday to Colby Guy of San Jose Hockey Now was the first concussion of his career. Hoffman has been a full participant in practice in recent days but hasn’t yet been cleared for game action. The former top-six fixture has continued to regress after potting six straight 20-goal seasons between 2015 and 2020, posting 10-12–22 in 61 games with the Sharks this year in mainly third-line minutes. The 34-year-old is in the final season of a three-year, $13.5MM deal signed with the Canadiens in 2021 and found his way to San Jose in last offseason’s Erik Karlsson three-way swap with the Penguins.
- Sticking in the Bay Area, promising shutdown prospect Ty Emberson‘s season is likely over due to a lower-body injury, head coach David Quinn said Monday (via Sheng Peng of San Jose Hockey Now). The 23-year-old has missed over 20 games already this season with different injuries and hasn’t played since Feb. 29 against the Ducks. It’s a tough end to an otherwise promising rookie campaign, as Emberson logged 10 points in 30 games and will finish the season with a team-high -4 rating among skaters with at least 10 games played. The 2018 third-round pick of the Coyotes is on his third NHL organization after being dealt to the Rangers in July 2022 and being claimed off waivers by the Sharks to begin the 2023-24 season.
- The Ducks have starter John Gibson back at practice today after he missed Sunday’s loss to the Lightning for personal reasons, Derek Lee of The Sporting Tribune reports. As such, the team has returned veteran Alex Stalock to AHL San Diego after he backed up Lukáš Dostál last night. Gibson’s numbers have taken a tumble lately after putting together a solid season prior to the All-Star break, now down to a .891 SV% and 3.40 GAA on the season with a 13-24-2 record. He’s also at risk of failing to record a shutout in a season for the first time in his 11-year career. He hasn’t posted a SV% above .900 in a single outing in over a month.
- The Kraken lost big-time last night, 5-1 to the Canadiens, but that wasn’t the only downside of the game. Promising rookie blue-liner Ryker Evans sustained a lower-body injury in the first period and is out on a day-to-day basis, head coach Dave Hakstol told Scott Malone of ROOT Sports NW. The 22-year-old has formed one of the better depth pairings in the league this year when used with veteran Brian Dumoulin, as they’ve controlled 61.4% of expected goals through 142 minutes of action, according to MoneyPuck. That’s 10th in the league among pairings with at least 100 minutes together this season. Through 25 contests, Evans has eight points while logging 18:30 per game and has remained on the roster since being called up on deadline day.
Stars Sign Ben Kraws To Entry-Level Deal
2:09 p.m.: Dallas has made Kraws’ signing official in a team release, confirming the deal is for the 2024-25 season. Financial terms were not disclosed.
12:10 p.m.: The Stars are signing college free agent netminder Ben Kraws to a one-year entry-level contract, ESPN’s Kevin Weekes reports.
Kraws, 23, has spent the last five seasons in college hockey with three different universities. Once a backup/tandem goalie for Miami University and Arizona State, Kraws transferred to St. Lawrence University for his graduate season, where he broke out as the team’s starter and ended up a nominee (but not finalist) for this year’s Hobey Baker Award.
The 6’5″ New Jersey native had a spectacular run to close out the season, recording a SV% north of .920 in seven straight contests as St. Lawrence upset their way through the ECAC conference tournament before losing the final to Cornell last weekend. He played in 37 out of their 39 games on the season, recording a 2.49 GAA, .919 SV%, two shutouts, and a 14-17-6 record behind one of the weaker teams in the conference.
Since it’s a one-year and not a two-year ELC, that suggests the signing age of the contract is 24, meaning the deal goes into effect for the 2024-25 campaign, not immediately – it would be a two-year deal if so. Kraws could join AHL Texas on a tryout for the remainder of the 2023-24 campaign, however. He’ll be an RFA in 2025 and is just the third Stars netminder under contract for next season, joining Jake Oettinger and minor-leaguer Rémi Poirier.