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Injury Notes: Pettersson, Schultz, DeKeyser, Andrighetto, Johns, Kovalchuk

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While there has been no official diagnosis revealed, The Province’s Patrick Johnston writes that Vancouver Canucks general manager Jim Benning reports that 19-year-old phenom Elias Pettersson is feeling a little better today after taking a brutal hit and flung to the ice by Florida’s Mike Matheson that forced him out of the game Saturday evening.

“I just talked to him in the meal room, he’s feeling a little bit better,” said Benning before the team headed for the airport.

Pettersson was reportedly quite woozy after the hit, where it looks as if he hit his head against the glass during the hit and then hit his head a second time when Matheson threw him to the ice. The Department of Player Safety already confirmed there will be a phone hearing about the incident.

  • While there also is no official word from the injury that Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Justin Schultz suffered Saturday after he fell awkwardly with Montreal’s Tomas Plekanec, TSN’s Bob McKenzie reports that speculation is that he sustained a fracture to his leg/ankle and the recovery time is likely to be significant. McKenzie adds that while a fracture can be better than a high ankle sprains in some cases, if Schultz requires surgery, that could make it the recovery time even longer.
  • The Detroit Red Wings will be without defenseman Danny DeKeyser as he is expected to see a hand specialist on Tuesday, suggesting he might be out a while, according to the Detroit Free Press’ Helene St. James. The scribe adds that the team will get back Dennis Cholowski, who has missed two games with an upper-body injury for Monday’s game.
  • BSN Denver’s AJ Haefele reports that Colorado Avalanche’s Sven Andrighetto skated with the full team in a non-contact jersey Sunday. He suffered a lower-body injury before the season started and the team hopes it can get the 25-year-old back during their upcoming four-game road trip. The team intends to recall a player from the AHL until Andrighetto is ready to return.
  • Dallas Stars defenseman Stephen Johns skated on back-to-back days this weekend, suggesting the 6-foot-4, 225-pound blueliner is edging closer to a return as he deals with a concussion from the preseason, according to The Athletic’s Sean Shapiro. The scribe adds that he isn’t that close as he is still dealing with headaches.
  • The Los Angeles Times’ Curtis Zupke reports that Los Angeles Kings winger Ilya Kovalchuk left practice early today. Head coach John Stevens said he’s been dealing with a “nagging issue” and is day-to-day.

Snapshots: Schultz, Pettersson, Hicketts, Howden

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The Pittsburgh Penguins could find themselves down a defenseman for a while after Justin Schultz went down Saturday with what looks to be a gruesome leg injury (video link here). According to the Penguins, he needed to be helped off the ice after falling awkwardly in slow motion and either injuring his ankle or knee, after getting tangled up with Montreal’s Tomas Plekanec.

While more information won’t be known until Sunday at least, the idea of losing Schultz, one of the top defenseman isn’t a good sign. The 28-year-old already had four assists in three games played this season. Assuming he’s out for any length of time, the team could look to insert Juuso Riikola into the rotation. The Finnish free-agent, who signed with the team this summer, has impressed the Penguins throughout training camp and earned a spot as an extra defenseman, but has played in just one game so far this season.

  • Vancouver Canucks fans have to be worried after rookie Elias Pettersson took a massive hit from Florida Panthers’ Mike Matheson and then was thrown down on top of that (video link here). The 19-year-old rookie immediately left the game with a trainer, according to TSN’s Brennan Klak. Pettersson had already put up a power play goal in the game and led all rookies with five goals and eight points this season. No word on the severity of the injury.
  • NBC Sports Joe Haggerty writes that Detroit Red Wings defenseman Joe Hicketts will likely struggle all season as the diminutive blueliner at works his way through his rookie campaign with his physical brand of hockey. While the 5-foot-8 defenseman played an impressive 23:39 against the Boston Bruins Saturday and had five hits, he finished with a minus-3 and showed that he’ll struggle against top competition and skaters such as the Bruins depth that he faced Saturday.
  • Rick Carpinello of The Athletic (subscription required) profiles the play of the New York Rangers’ Brett Howden, who seems to be showing the team that he’s more than just a grinder. The 20-year-old has been impressive since training camp and his play forced the Rangers to send 2017 first-rounder Lias Andersson to the AHL. The Rangers acquired Howden, a 2016 first-round pick, from Tampa Bay in the Ryan McDonagh deal last season, but has already posted two goals in the Rangers’ first five games.

Injury Notes: Weber, Deslauriers, Murray

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The Montreal Canadiens are off to a better start than many expected in the 2018-19 season, taking the Toronto Maple Leafs to overtime before demolishing the Pittsburgh Penguins on the road. That success is coming thanks to a healthy Carey Price and young speedy lineup that is playing without any expectations. The group got some more good news today when captain Shea Weber took to the ice for a short session to test out his injured knee.

Despite all the negative things that came out of Montreal this summer, Weber remains a beacon of hope for many fans as he works his way back from injury. The newest captain is a rock on defense for the team and should improve any chances they have of battling for a playoff spot this season, or in the development of their younger defensemen. Head coach Claude Julien has already made his stance clear by scratching veteran options like Tomas Plekanec and Karl Alzner, but would obviously love to get Weber back into the lineup as soon as possible. There has been no update to his timetable, which had him scheduled to return at some point in December.

  • One player closer to a return for the Canadiens though is Nicolas Deslauriers, who suffered a facial fracture in the preseason but was also on the ice today. Deslauriers is by no means the offensive engine of the Canadiens, but did fit in nicely with the group last season by providing a physical presence and chipping in 10 goals. The big, heavy winger is a good skater and will find his way back into the lineup before long, as long as he’s deemed healthy.
  • The Pittsburgh Penguins will go with Casey DeSmith as their starting goaltender tonight, but there’s reason to believe that Matt Murray could be back sooner than expected. Murray suffered the third concussion of his young career recently, but was back on the ice today and took shots from teammates during an optional skate. Though Tristan Jarry will serve as the backup for tonight and likely split duties with DeSmith as long as Murray is out, that might only end up being a short stint.

Snapshots: Gagner, Despres, Flyers, Bruins-Red Wings

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Count Sam Gagner among the many of us surprised by his waiver placement and subsequent loan by the Vancouver Canucks. Sportsnet’s Luke Fox recently sat down with Gagner, now re-located to Toronto to play for the AHL’s Marlies this season, and found that the veteran forward “didn’t see it coming”. Just one year into a three-year, $9.45MM contract, Gagner said he was “shocked” that the Canucks had decided to move on so quickly. “I came to camp prepared, I had a really good summer of work, I did well on the [fitness] tests, I thought I played pretty well in pre-season…”, but it was all for naught, as Vancouver decided to move forward with their young players, leaving Gagner as the odd man out. To make matters worse, the Toronto native had just re-located his young family to Vancouver, only to get reassigned to Toronto, where he currently lives with his parents. Gagner has been a serviceable albeit streaky player throughout his playing days, but after this surprising and unfortunate shift in his career, one can only hope that a more permanent solution for Gagner and his family comes around sooner rather than later.

  • TVA’s Renaud Lavoie reports that veteran defenseman Simon Despres has opted not to sign with the AHL’s Laval Rocket. Despres, a former first-round pick and NHL regular with the Pittsburgh Penguins and Anaheim Ducks, struggled with injuries and was more or less forced out of the league in recent years. After finally returning to full health last season and performing well with the KHL’s HC Slovan Bratislava, Despres expressed an interest in returning to the NHL this year. Interestingly, he specifically mentioned his interest in the relatively new AHL franchise in his hometown of Laval and signed a PTO with the Montreal Canadiens this summer in hopes of landing a two-way contract where he could play in Laval and potentially work his way onto the Habs’ roster. He fell short of that goal, but a one-way AHL contract with the Rocket seemed like the next-best thing. Instead, Lavoie indicates that Despres has chosen the unknown over minor league certainty. He has no plans for the season right now, but won’t be accepting an AHL contract and could certainly entertain offers back in Europe.
  • The Philadelphia Flyers have announced their support group for captain Claude Giroux, naming their alternate captains for the season. Wayne Simmonds, an impending free agent but a fan favorite and respected veteran, will wear the “A” at all times this year. On the road, the elder statesman of the blue line, Andrew MacDonald, will serve as an alternate. Back at home, 2017-18’s breakout star Sean Couturier will be the other alternate. With a substantial number of young players playing key roles for Philly, their leadership corps has an important role to play if the Flyers are to be contenders this season.
  • The Bruins have made things easier for Boston sports fans this Saturday. With the Boston Red Sox eliminating the New York Yankees in the ALDS on Tuesday night, the team moves on to the ALCS to face the Houston Astros with Game One taking place on Saturday night. The Bruins were also scheduled to play on Saturday night, facing the Detroit Red Wings at 7pm ET. However, the team announced that they have re-scheduled the game for 3pm ET to avoid the conflict with the Red Sox game. Head coach Bruce Cassidy recently spoke about his support for the Bruins’ baseball counterparts and the privilege of coaching in a city with so much fan support and success across all four major sports.

Derek Grant, Two Others Placed On Waivers

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Derek Grant of the Pittsburgh Penguins and Matt Taormina of the Calgary Flames have been placed on waivers today according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet. New York Islanders forward Jan Kovar has also been placed on the unconditional variety in order to terminate his contract.

While Grant and Taormina are both interesting options, the focus today will be on Kovar whose NHL career will end before it even starts. The Islanders signed Kovar out of the KHL for $2MM this past offseason, but cut him near the end of training camp and tried to send him to the Bridgeport Sound Tigers of the AHL. Kovar didn’t report to the minor league club and will likely head back overseas as soon as his contract is terminated. The 28-year old forward will give up his entire contract, and the Islanders will not have to carry any penalty against the salary cap.

It’s not the first time we’ve seen a KHL player fail to crack an NHL squad, as just last season the Vegas Golden Knights went through a similar situation with Vadim Shipachyov. While they had to deal with a multi-year contract termination, Kovar at least was only signed to a one-year deal and isn’t giving up a huge amount. In fact, he’ll likely sign a more lucrative contract in the KHL if he returns, given his success there through five seasons.

Grant could be a target for various teams around the league, as he’s coming off a season where he scored a career-high 24 points in 66 games. Though that was partially due to the fact he was forced into an increased role while the Anaheim Ducks dealt with injury woes, he’s been a strong scoring threat at the minor league level for some time. Clearly not fitting into the Penguins plans right now, Grant is only on a one-year deal at the league minimum and could provide some forward depth to desperate teams.

Matt Murray Diagnosed With Concussion

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The Pittsburgh Penguins recently sent Tristan Jarry to the minor leagues to stay fresh and continue his development, but his stint may not last long. Today the team announced that starting goaltender Matt Murray has been diagnosed with a concussion.

This is already the third reported concussion of Murray’s young career, and while there is no definite timeline at this point the Penguins will be forced to deal with this situation extremely cautiously. Since entering the league in 2015-16 Murray has been one of the most successful goaltenders in the league with two Stanley Cups with the Penguins and an exquisite regular season record of 69-29-8. Now 24, he’s coming off his worst season as a professional in 2017-18 with a .907 save percentage and was off to a shaky start this season. Allowing 11 goals in his first two games, Murray will have to somehow work his way back from this latest concussion to try and continue that promising career.

Concussions are obviously one of the most difficult injuries to project recovery time on, just ask Corey Crawford who is still trying to work his way back to the Chicago Blackhawks net after suffering his latest. This is the second time in eight months that Murray has suffered a head injury, which could easily lead to an extended absence from the Pittsburgh crease. That opportunity will mean that Jarry and Casey DeSmith will be asked to handle the starting load, something they certainly seem ready for.

When asked, Pittsburgh head coach Mike Sullivan explained to reporters including Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that both goaltenders are “NHL-caliber” and that the team has faith in them moving forward. DeSmith and Jarry combined for 40 appearances last season, and posted .921 and .908 save percentages respectively, both actually better than Murray’s number. It’s not clear how the work will be split up, but there’s no reason to think that the Penguins will be scrambling for goaltending at this time.

Tristan Jarry Assigned To Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins

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The Pittsburgh Penguins have activated goaltender Tristan Jarry from season-opening injured reserve, but have decided to assign him to the minor leagues right away. He’ll report to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, meaning that at least for now Casey DeSmith will serve as the backup to Matt Murray in Pittsburgh.

Jarry, 23, will surely be up at some point this season as he was a year ago when he played in 26 games for the Penguins. The 44th-overall pick from 2013 has turned into one of the better goaltending prospects in the league, and will stay sharp in the minor leagues for the time being while Murray handles the majority of the NHL starts. Pittsburgh, who had Marc-Andre Fleury installed as their starter for a decade before Murray came onto the scene, have found themselves with solid goaltending depth for quite some time and it doesn’t appear to be changing anytime soon. DeSmith too has yet to really prove himself in the NHL, but performed quite well in his 14-game debut last season.

After a relatively poor year in 2017-18 by his standards, Murray will have to look over his shoulder at the younger Jarry as the Penguins move forward. Only signed for one more season after this one, Murray needs to prove he’s the same goaltender that took the team to back-to-back Stanley Cup championships, and not the one who registered just a .907 save percentage last year. He’s not off to a great start after allowing six goals in the Penguins first game, but should be given ample opportunity to turn things around while Jarry holds down the minor league net.

Training Camp Cuts: 10/01/18

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The regular season is just around the corner, and teams are making the very final cuts to their opening night roster. Almost two dozen players have also been placed on waivers today, though they can’t actually be assigned until they clear tomorrow. We’ll keep track of all the final moves right here:

Boston Bruins (per team release)

F Peter Cehlarik (to Providence, AHL)
F Trent Frederic (to Providence, AHL)

Buffalo Sabres (per team release)

F Alexander Nylander (to Rochester, AHL)
D Brendan Guhle (to Rochester, AHL)
D Brandon Hickey (to Rochester, AHL)

Columbus Blue Jackets (per team release)

F Kevin Stenlund (to Cleveland, AHL)
F Jonathan Davidsson (to Djurgardens, Sweden)

Dallas Stars (per Mark Stepneski, NHL.com)

G Landon Bow (to Texas, AHL)
G Colton Point (to Texas, AHL)

Detroit Red Wings (per team Twitter)

D Dylan McIlrath (to Grand Rapids, AHL)
F Matt Puempel (to Grand Rapids, AHL)
F Lane Zablocki (to Kelowna, WHL)

Florida Panthers (per George Richards, The Athletic)

F Henrik Borgstrom (to Springfield, AHL)
F Juho Lammikko (to Springfield, AHL)
F Dryden Hunt (to Springfield, AHL)
D Ian McCoshen (to Springfield, AHL)

Los Angeles Kings (per team release)

F Matt Luff (to Ontario, AHL)
D Daniel Brickley (to Ontario, AHL)
D Kale Clague (to Ontario, AHL)
D Kurtis MacDermid (to Ontario, AHL)
G Cal Petersen (to Ontario, AHL)

Minnesota Wild (per team release)

F Mike Liambas (to Iowa, AHL)
F Kyle Rau (to Iowa, AHL)
F Matt Read (to Iowa, AHL)
D Matt Bartkowski (to Iowa, AHL)
D Josh Thrower (to Iowa, AHL)
G Andrew Hammond (to Iowa, AHL)

Montreal Canadiens (per team release)

F Kenny Agostino (to Laval, AHL)
F Michael Chaput (to Laval, AHL)

Nashville Predators (per team release)

F Colin Blackwell (to Milwaukee, AHL)

Pittsburgh Penguins (per team release)

F Zach Aston-Reese (to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, AHL)
D Zach Trotman (to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, AHL)

Winnipeg Jets (per team release)

F Michael Spacek (to Manitoba, AHL)

Devils Claim Jean-Sebastien Dea Off Waivers From Pittsburgh

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The Devils have added some depth up front as Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports (Twitter link) that they have claimed center Jean-Sebastien Dea off waivers from the Penguins.

The 24-year-old is coming off of his best season at the AHL level after posting 18 goals and 32 assists in 70 games with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, ranking second on the team in scoring to winger Daniel Sprong.  He also collected an assist in three postseason contests.

Dea does not have a lot of NHL experience as he has suited up in just six games in Pittsburgh, five of which came last season where he scored his first NHL goal but averaged just 5:29 of ice time per game.  However, teams are now more inclined to try smaller offensive-minded players and it appears he’ll get a longer look in New Jersey where he will battle for a spot at the end of their lineup.  The Devils are certainly familiar with him – head coach John Hynes had him for a year at the AHL level while GM Ray Shero also has some extra information about him from his time with the Penguins.

Dea will make the league minimum of $650K in the NHL while his salary dips to $200K if he was to later clear waivers and be sent to the minors.

Daniel Sprong (Lower-Body Injury) Listed As Day-To-Day

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  • Penguins winger Daniel Sprong is day-to-day with a lower-body injury, the team announced on Twitter. There’s no word yet as to whether or not he’ll be available to start the season.  The 21-year-old is looking to crack Pittsburgh’s lineup on a full-time basis although he has spent a good chunk of the preseason in a depth role.  However, he has shown flashes of offensive upside dating back to his time in junior and could be an intriguing player if he can eventually grab a hold of a spot on an offensive line.

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