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Alex Lyon

Snapshots: Kucherov, Pageau, Red Wings, Ehlers, Hinds

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Prior to their game against Toronto tonight, the Lightning found themselves without their top scorer.  Eduardo A. Encina of the Tampa Bay Times relayed (Twitter link) that winger Nikita Kucherov is listed as day-to-day with an undisclosed injury.  The 31-year-old led the league in scoring last season, notching 44 goals and 100 assists, both career highs, in 81 games.  While Kucherov isn’t producing at quite that level this year, he came into the night tied for fifth in scoring with 12 goals and 22 assists in 34 games, a 127-point pace.

Elsewhere around the NHL:

  • The Islanders didn’t have center Jean-Gabriel Pageau in their lineup tonight against Buffalo. Ethan Sears of the New York Post notes (Twitter link) that the veteran is listed as day-to-day with an undisclosed injury.   The 32-year-old has five goals and five assists in 23 games so far this season while averaging 17:47 per game, his highest ATOI since the 2019-20 season.  A specialist at the faceoff dot, Pageau is winning just over 60% of his draws early on, a mark that would be his best if he can maintain it.
  • Red Wings goaltender Alex Lyon won’t accompany the team on their two-game road trip, mentions Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press (Twitter link). He’s dealing with a lower-body injury with no timeline for his return.  Lyon has a 2.74 GAA and a .911 SV% in nine appearances so far.  Meanwhile, St. James notes that winger Patrick Kane will miss his fourth straight game on Sunday due to an upper-body injury but there is a chance he’ll be available to return on Tuesday in Boston.  The veteran is off to a quiet start by his standards, collecting just three goals and seven assists in 20 games.
  • Though he left Friday’s game with a lower-body injury, Jets winger Nikolaj Ehlers is listed as questionable for Sunday’s contest in Dallas, per team reporter Mitchell Clinton. The 28-year-old is off to a solid start in the final year of his contract, with nine goals and 16 assists in 24 games.  With 25 points, Ehlers sits third on Winnipeg in scoring.
  • The Ducks announced that they’ve re-assigned defenseman Tyson Hinds back to AHL San Diego. The 21-year-old was brought up twice by Anaheim over the last couple of weeks but didn’t see any game action.  Hinds, a third-round pick in 2021, has two goals in 13 games so far this season for the Gulls.

Red Wings Notes: Lyon, Husso, Kane, Guimond

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Red Wings goaltender Alex Lyon sustained an undisclosed injury during Wednesday’s morning skate and is unavailable tonight against the Flames, Max Bultman of The Athletic reports. Ville Husso was recalled from AHL Grand Rapids and will serve as Cam Talbot’s backup against the latter’s former team.

It’s a tough break for Lyon, who had stopped 49 of 52 shots in his last two outings en route to a pair of wins, a 1.50 GAA and a .942 SV%. The 31-year-old has only made three appearances since the start of November due to a lower-body injury, although it’s unclear if today’s tweak is related to that previous ailment.

Lyon, a pending UFA, has been strong overall in his second season in Hockeytown. The Minnesota native has a 4-4-0 record in eight starts and one relief appearance, adding a .911 SV% and 2.74 GAA with one shutout. He’s saved 2.5 goals above average, up from last year’s 1.1 mark in a career-high 44 games.

Husso, the No. 3 option for Detroit between the pipes, is in the final season of his ill-advised three-year, $14.25MM contract. He’s made two appearances for the Red Wings this season amid lengthy reassignments to Grand Rapids, allowing seven goals on 37 shots for an 0-2-0 record and .811 SV%. Since arriving in Detroit in 2022, he’s posted a 35-29-9 record but has a subpar .893 SV% and -22.1 GSAA. To his credit, the 29-year-old Finn has been exceptional in the minors, logging a .944 SV% and 1.58 GAA in five showings for Grand Rapids.

More from the Red Wings:

  • Right-winger Patrick Kane will miss his second straight game tonight with an upper-body injury, head coach Derek Lalonde told Ansar Khan of MLive.com. It’s been a tough season for the future Hall of Famer, who remains day-to-day and has only three goals and 10 points in 20 outings. With the absences, he’s now on pace for just 12 goals and 40 points, each checking in as career-lows even including shortened seasons. The 36-year-old signed a one-year, $4MM extension with $2.5MM in potential performance bonuses in June.
  • Detroit goalie prospect Rudy Guimond has jumped from the USHL’s Cedar Rapids RoughRiders to the QMJHL’s Moncton Wildcats, becoming the latest player to take advantage of the NCAA’s new eligibility rules for major junior players. Guimond was a sixth-round pick of the Red Wings in 2023 and is committed to Yale for the 2025-26 season. It’s been a tough showing for Guimond since he was drafted, logging a porous .871 SV% and 3.53 GAA in 38 USHL games for Cedar Rapids after being selected out of prep school.

Atlantic Notes: Matthews, Pinto, Lyon

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Maple Leafs center Auston Matthews (upper body) remains unavailable for Friday’s home game versus the Red Wings, as head coach Craig Berube told David Alter of The Hockey News.

Terry Koshan of the Toronto Sun reported earlier today that Matthews did not participate in this morning’s optional skate. Berube added that Matthews’ recovery is “going in the right direction,” although he also remains doubtful for Saturday’s game against the Canadiens as Toronto closes out a back-to-back. In all likelihood, it appears the captain’s absence will last three games and he’ll return Tuesday against the Senators.

A few more injury-related notes from around the Atlantic:

  • Senators center Shane Pinto (undisclosed) could return Saturday in Boston after missing over two weeks, head coach Travis Green told TSN 1200 Ottawa. The club was without No. 1 pivot Tim Stützle in practice today, but that was only due to a black eye he sustained in yesterday’s loss to the Senators and he won’t miss any time. Pinto had a goal and two assists through his first six games of the season before exiting the lineup.
  • Red Wings goaltender Alex Lyon, who was slated to start tonight’s matchup in Toronto, is instead on the shelf with a minor lower-body injury that he sustained in practice Thursday, head coach Derek Lalonde relayed to FanDuel Sports Network Detroit’s Daniella Bruce. His absence explains the recall of Ville Husso from AHL Grand Rapids earlier today under emergency conditions. He’ll back up while Cam Talbot starts his third straight game. Lalonde is “not overly concerned about [Lyon’s injury] being long term,” Bruce said.

Red Wings Notes: Seider, Raymond, Larkin, Defense, Goaltending

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Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman met with the media today (video link) to discuss his team heading into the draft and upcoming free agency period.  The biggest item on their to-do list this summer is getting new deals in place for pending restricted free agents Moritz Seider and Lucas Raymond.  While Yzerman was hoping to have deals in place early for those two, it doesn’t appear that will be the case.  If Detroit wants to sign both players long-term, that could take up more than half of their $29.3MM of cap space (per CapFriendly) which would play a big role in their offseason spending.  With that in mind, it wouldn’t be surprising to see a fair bit of that money go unspent on July 1st, leaving themselves options to lock up their two key pieces.

More from Detroit:

  • Yzerman confirmed that center Dylan Larkin had minor surgery for an upper-body injury sustained late in the season that kept him out of playing at the Worlds. At the moment, he hasn’t been cleared to skate although he has been training.  Larkin, who averaged over a point per game this season for the first time, is expected to make a full recovery and be ready for training camp in the fall.
  • The Red Wings have a deep back end on paper in terms of having plenty of veterans plus some prospects on the cusp of being NHL-ready. While Yzerman indicated that he’d like to try to re-sign pending UFA Shayne Gostisbehere, he also acknowledged that he’s not sure about bringing back the same group of blueliners next season.  With Simon Edvinsson appearing to be ready for a full-time role and Albert Johansson now waiver-eligible, it seems like one way or the other, they will have to subtract from their current group in the coming weeks.
  • Yzerman noted that goaltender Ville Husso is fully healthy now while fellow netminder Alex Lyon will be ready for training camp after leaving the Worlds early last month. He stated that the team will look into the goalie market but that he isn’t looking to bring in an older netminder who won’t be around in a few years, nor does he want to carry three goalies on the NHL roster full-time next season.  Speculatively, that suggests they’ll likely be primarily looking for a playing partner for prospect Sebastian Cossa who should see the bulk of the playing time with AHL Grand Rapids once again in 2024-25.

Team USA’s Alex Lyon Leaves World Championship Injured

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Detroit Red Wings goaltender Alex Lyon has stepped away from the World Championship in Prague, after being injured in Team USA’s Saturday matchup against Team Germany, per Jon Morosi of NHL Network (Twitter link). Lyon left the game just 24 minutes in, suffering an undisclosed injury seemingly during a scrum in the crease. He was replaced by 19-year-old backup Trey Augustine, who saved 11 of the 12 shots he faced to become the fifth U20 goalie to record a win at Worlds since 2000. Augustine and Pittsburgh Penguins goalie Alex Nedeljkovic are now the only two netminders on Team USA’s roster, though the team could add another goalie at any time.

This news brings a sudden close to what was an exciting opportunity for Lyon, who earned the Team USA starting role after fighting into the same role with the Red Wings this season. Lyon was red-hot in the first half of the year, setting a 18-9-2 record and .912 save percentage through his first 29 games. His second half stalled out a bit, as the Red Wings went on a dismal losing streak, but Lyon still concluded the year with 21 wins and a .904 save percentage through 44 games, earning a confident role over James Reimer and Ville Husso.  This year’s World Championship tournament was Lyon’s first chance to represent America internationally, with his only previous IIHF tournament coming in 2015, when he served as USA’s third-string goalie at Worlds. Lyon will now conclude this year’s tournament having allowed three goals on 50 shots, setting a .940 save percentage through two games.

All attention now turns towards who Team USA could bring to Czechia for the rest of the World Championship. Casey DeSmith led the squad at last year’s Worlds, posting five wins and a .918 save percentage through seven appearances. He’s currently busy backing up Arturs Silovs in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, but USA could turn towards last year’s backups – Calvin Petersen and Drew Commesso – who are each enjoying their off-season. There are also plenty of high-upside choices now available, including Vezina Trophy finalist Connor Hellebuyck, who has an open schedule following the Winnipeg Jets’ first-round loss.

The Americans are facing a pivotal decision, with their goaltending room now trimmed to a collegiate teenager and fringe NHL starter. There are a lot of different ways they could turn, as they chase their first World Championship Gold Medal since 1960.

USA Hockey Announces Final 2024 World Championship Roster

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May 5: USA Hockey has invited nine more players to join their upcoming World Championship roster, including college hockey standouts Will Smith, Ryan Leonard, and Trey Augustine. The roster now carries 21 skaters and two goaltenders, one shy of the limit for both positions. There’s been no indication of who could round out Team USA’s roster, or if the team will look for additional hands at all.

It has also been announced that Dylan Larkin will no longer be able to participate due to injury, per Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press (Twitter link). Larkin has been removed from the official roster.

Apr. 24: USA Hockey announced the first 15 players named to their roster for the 2024 World Championship on Wednesday. The remaining eight-ish players will be announced before tournament action begins on May 10.

Only players on the 16 NHL teams who missed out on the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs are on the initial roster. Others will join in as their clubs are bounced from postseason action, even after the World Championship begins.

Early on, it’s clear that the promise of potential spots on the United States roster for the 2025 4 Nations Face-Off and the 2026 Winter Olympics is making this a more well-attended World Championship than in years past. Some big-ticket stars like Canadiens sniper Cole Caufield, Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin, Senators captain Brady Tkachuk, and Blue Jackets stars Johnny Gaudreau and Zach Werenski highlight the initial roster. The full slate is as follows:

F Matt Boldy (Wild)
F Cole Caufield (Canadiens)
F Michael Eyssimont (Lightning)
F Joel Farabee (Flyers)
F Johnny Gaudreau (Blue Jackets)
F Kevin Hayes (Blues)
F Luke Kunin (Sharks)
F Ryan Leonard (Boston College, Capitals)
F Brock Nelson (Islanders)
F Shane Pinto (Senators)
F Will Smith (Boston College, Sharks)
F Brady Tkachuk (Senators)
F Trevor Zegras (Ducks)

D Luke Hughes (Devils)
D Seth Jones (Blackhawks)
D Jake Sanderson (Senators)
D Alex Vlasic (Blackhawks)
D Zach Werenski (Blue Jackets)
D Jeff Petry (Red Wings)
D Matthew Kessel (Blues)
D Michael Kesselring (Utah HC)

G Alex Lyon (Red Wings)
G Trey Augustine (Michigan State, Red Wings)

This year’s Worlds will take place in Ostrava and Prague, Czechia, although some pre-tournament action is taking place across the border in Bratislava, Slovakia. The U.S. is the highest-ranked country in Group B, which will play its round-robin schedule in Ostrava’s 10,004-seat Ostravar Aréna.

Panthers assistant GM Brett Peterson is at the helm of this year’s men’s national team before Wild GM Bill Guerin takes the reins for the truly best-on-best 2025 and 2026 tournaments. The Americans have won bronze medals in four of the last 10 World Championships (2013, 2015, 2018, 2021) but haven’t won gold since 1960, as part of that year’s Winter Olympics in California. Wild head coach John Hynes will be behind the bench.

Nominees Announced For 2024 Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy

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The Bill Masterton Trophy is awarded annually to the player who best exemplifies perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to hockey. Nominees are selected by members of the Professional Hockey Writer’s Association, with finalists being named near the end of the regular season. Previous winners include Kris Letang (2023), Carey Price (2022), and Oskar Lindblom (2021).  Today, a new list of 32 nominees has been named.

Below are the nominees from each team:

Anaheim Ducks – Urho Vaakanainen

Arizona Coyotes – Connor Ingram

Boston Bruins – Danton Heinen

Buffalo Sabres – Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen

Calgary Flames – Oliver Kylington

Carolina Hurricanes – Frederik Andersen

Chicago Blackhawks – Colin Blackwell

Colorado Avalanche – Jonathan Drouin

Columbus Blue Jackets – Zach Werenski

Dallas Stars – Matt Duchene

Detroit Red Wings – Alex Lyon

Edmonton Oilers – Vincent Desharnais

Florida Panthers – Oliver Ekman-Larsson

Los Angeles Kings – Viktor Arvidsson

Minnesota Wild – Marco Rossi

Montreal Canadiens – Joel Armia

Nashville Predators – Michael McCarron

New Jersey Devils – Curtis Lazar

New York Islanders – Cal Clutterbuck

New York Rangers – Jonathan Quick

Ottawa Senators – Claude Giroux

Philadelphia Flyers – Sean Couturier

Pittsburgh Penguins – Sidney Crosby

San Jose Sharks – Justin Bailey

Seattle Kraken – Joey Daccord

St. Louis Blues – Nathan Walker

Tampa Bay Lightning – Michael Eyssimont

Toronto Maple Leafs – Ilya Samsonov

Vancouver Canucks – Noah Juulsen

Vegas Golden Knights – Alex Pietrangelo

Washington Capitals – T.J. Oshie

Winnipeg Jets – Laurent Brossoit

Red Wings Activate Alex Lyon, Assign Michael Hutchinson To AHL

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While the three-goalie rotation still isn’t back yet with Ville Husso remaining on IR, the Red Wings did get their other injured netminder back.  The team announced that they’ve activated Alex Lyon off IR; in a corresponding move, Michael Hutchinson was assigned to AHL Grand Rapids.

Lyon made a big impression down the stretch last season, briefly taking over as Florida’s starting netminder, including for a trio of playoff games.  That allowed him to command a one-way deal in the summer, a nice raise for a player who had largely been a third-stringer before that.  He signed a one-year deal with Detroit worth $900K and it seemed like he’d be destined to be with the Griffins and be called upon if and when injuries arose.

However, the Red Wings opted not to go that route, instead carrying three goalies on the roster for the whole season so far except for when one of them has been injured.  As a result, playing time has been hard to come by for the 31-year-old who has made seven appearances so far.  He has done quite well in those, posting a 2.14 GAA with a .932 SV%, and with James Reimer struggling at the moment, Lyon could now be in line for a bigger share of the workload.

As for Hutchinson, his season started on a PTO with the Griffins, a deal that was recently converted to a full-season agreement.  But when Husso and Lyon both went down, Detroit upgraded it to an NHL deal, allowing him to serve as Reimer’s backup while making one start.  He cleared waivers earlier today, paving the way for him to go back to Grand Rapids.

Red Wings Place Alex Lyon On IR, Recall Simon Edvinsson

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The Red Wings have made a pair of roster moves in advance of their final game before the holiday break tonight against New Jersey.  The team announced (Twitter link) that goaltender Alex Lyon has been placed on injured reserve retroactive to December 16th.  Taking his place on the roster will be defenseman Simon Edvinsson who has been recalled from AHL Grand Rapids.

Lyon signed with Detroit as a free agent back in July in what was expected to be a third-string role.  However, instead of going through waivers and playing with the Griffins, the Red Wings have elected to keep three goalies up with the big club.  As a result, playing time has been quite difficult to come by for the 31-year-old.  But to his credit, Lyon has played quite well when called upon, posting a 2.14 GAA and a .932 SV% in his seven appearances, numbers that are considerably better than teammates Ville Husso and James Reimer.  With the placement being back-dated by a week, he’ll be eligible to be activated for their next game on Wednesday versus Minnesota.

As for Edvinsson, the 20-year-old is in his second full season in North America.  The sixth pick in 2021, Edvinsson got into nine games with Detroit last year (meaning he didn’t burn the first year of his contract) and this is his first promotion of 2023-24.  He has been quite productive with the Griffins with six goals and ten assists in 25 games, already passing his goal total from a year ago.

Injury Notes: Penguins, Wild, Tarasenko, Lyon, Sherwood

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After previous reporting indicated that the Pittsburgh Penguins could be welcoming back the trio of Rickard Rakell, Noel Acciari, and Chad Ruhwedel tonight, the team would later confirm all three would be in the lineup tonight, per a team announcement. Included in the same announcement, the team completed a corresponding move, sending forwards Jonathan Gruden and Marc Johnstone to their AHL affiliate, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.

The Penguins could certainly use the reinforcements, as the team is suffering through a 4-3-3 record in their last 10 games, falling to fifth in the Metropolitan Division, and are currently five points back of the last Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference as we approach the New Year. In their current stretch, besides their most recent game against the Toronto Maple Leafs two nights ago, each game’s goal differential has been between one and two goals, showing that with improved depth moving forward, Pittsburgh could turn things around rather quickly.

Rakell being the most important player back in this move, has been going through a bit of a down season, only scoring four points on the year, and failing to score any goals up to this point. Nevertheless, he has been a valuable addition to the Penguins forward core since coming over in a trade from the Anaheim Ducks, scoring 32 goals and 77 points in 118 regular season games for Pittsburgh.

Other notes:

  • On the opposite side of the ice in Pittsburgh this evening, the Minnesota Wild will be without two of their better players. Sarah McLellan of Star Tribune Sports reports that captain Jared Spurgeon did not end up traveling with the team due to a lower-body injury. Furthermore, shortly before warmups began for the game tonight, the team announced that forward Mats Zuccarello would not be in the lineup due to an upper-body injury.
  • After missing the last two games due to personal reasons, the Ottawa Senators should be welcoming back forward Vladimir Tarasenko tomorrow night as they take on the Arizona Coyotes (X Link). With some massive changes taking place in Ottawa over the last 24 hours, Tarasenko will look to improve on his already impressive start with the Senators, now in front of interim head coach, Jacques Martin.
  • In the Detroit Red Wings’ most recent game against the Philadelphia Flyers, goaltender Alex Lyon left the game in the second period, after going down awkwardly after making a save. Now, Ansar Khan of MLive is reporting that if he has not shown signs of recovery by Wednesday, Detroit will likely place Lyon on the injured reserve, leaving the net to Ville Husso and James Reimer.
  • Sustaining relatively good health as an organization throughout much of the year, the Nashville Predators will be welcoming back forward Kiefer Sherwood tomorrow night against the Vancouver Canucks (X Link). Amid a breakout season as far as his career standards say, Sherwood has provided solid depth scoring to the Nashville lineup this season, scoring five goals and 11 points in 29 games.

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