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Andrei Svechnikov

Metro Notes: Hamilton, Hurricanes, Penguins

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Heading into the 2025 Stanley Cup playoffs, the New Jersey Devils will be without their top forward and defenseman. However, it may not be long before the latter returns. Earlier today, Peter Baugh of The Athletic relayed a note from the Devils’ head coach, Sheldon Keefe, indicating Dougie Hamilton could return for Round One.

Originally, Hamilton had been ruled out for the regular season in mid-March, with a projected return date of Round Two of the postseason. A week ago, TSN’s Pierre LeBrun reported that Hamilton was recovering faster than expected, with the likelihood of a Round One return increasing exponentially now that he’s returned to skating.

There’s no question the Devils could use him. Hamilton scored nine goals and 40 points in 63 games for New Jersey this season, with 15 coming on the team’s powerplay. The Devils have slowed down since Hamilton and forward Jack Hughes exited the lineup, while their projected Round One opponent, the Carolina Hurricanes, have managed a 9-4-0 record since the trade deadline, meaning New Jersey will need every advantage available.

Other notes from the Metropolitan Division:

  • Speaking of Carolina, the Hurricanes are expected to welcome forwards Jordan Staal and Andrei Svechnikov back to the lineup for tonight’s contest against the Buffalo Sabres. Staal and Svechnikov had missed a handful of games for Carolina over the past week. Unfortunately, in the report from Chip Alexander of The Raleigh News & Observer, the Hurricanes are expected to be without center Jesperi Kotkaniemi for the next week. Still, Alexander did reiterate a sentiment from head coach Rod Brind’Amour indicating it’s not a serious ailment for Kotkaniemi.
  • Earlier today, Seth Rorabaugh of The Tribune Review contextualized Matthew Nieto’s emergency recall last night. Rorabaugh reports that forward Philip Tomasino has been diagnosed with a concussion, and forward Blake Lizotte is considered day-to-day with an undisclosed injury. Unfortunately, the concussion will likely result in the end of Tomasino’s 2024-25 season. Still, he’s had a promising run with the Penguins since being acquired from the Predators earlier in the year, scoring 10 goals and 20 points in 48 contests with the new organization.

Hurricanes Notes: Svechnikov, Staal, Carrier, Kotkaniemi, Robidas

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The Hurricanes are getting closer to full health at the right time. They’ve got a trio of forwards on the verge of returning to play, none more important than top-six winger Andrei Svechnikov. He participated fully in today’s practice and is tracking to return to the lineup tomorrow against the Sabres, although head coach Rod Brind’Amour wouldn’t confirm his availability one way or another (via the team’s Walt Ruff).

It’s been an extremely trying recent stretch for Svechnikov. He sustained an upper-body injury back on March 9 and missed seven games. His return only lasted three appearances until he sustained another undisclosed injury in a game against the Capitals last week. He’s missed a pair of games due to that one. The injury troubles come as Svechnikov is doling out his worst offensive performance since his rookie season. His 0.68 points per game pace is decently south of the 0.77 career average he’s set for himself over his seven seasons in the league.

He’s still one of the more important contributors on a Carolina roster that lacks a point-per-game contributor after trading Martin Nečas to the Avalanche earlier this season. Including Nečas, Svechnikov ranks fourth on the Canes with 19-26–45 in 66 showings. His 17:12 average time on ice is up slightly from last year’s 16:59, although his underlying are a tad concerning. While he’s controlling 58.7% of shot attempts at even strength, that’s on an exceptional two-way club in Carolina. He’s tracking to post a negative relative CF% for the first time in his career.

Nonetheless, they’d love to get Svechnikov back into the fold and hopefully on a hot streak entering postseason play. They’ve clinched a postseason berth and are essentially locked into second place in the Metropolitan Division with a first-round matchup against an injury-plagued Devils team, but more scoring from him is needed to make a deep run and advance to the Conference Final or further.

Elsewhere in Carolina’s forward group, captain Jordan Staal practiced ahead of tomorrow’s game and, like Svechnikov, remains questionable. He’s sat out the last four games with a lower-body injury and five of the last eight, so he’s clearly nursing something. The 6’4″ pivot remains a veritable two-way force in his 19th NHL season, posting his best offensive performance in three years while winning 53.9% of his draws, tying for fifth on the team with a +13 rating, and adding 42 blocks and 127 hits.

They’re also on the verge of getting depth winger William Carrier back in the lineup after a months-long absence. The 30-year-old was a full participant in today’s practice along with Staal and Svechnikov. He underwent lower-body surgery in late January and was ruled out indefinitely, although he never landed on injured reserve. He posted 4-5–9 in 39 games with 136 hits before exiting the lineup, averaging 11:37 per game in his first season in Carolina after signing a six-year, $12MM commitment last summer that could see him finish his career in Raleigh.

As they land some returnees, there might still be a departure from the lineup. Center Jesperi Kotkaniemi “tweaked something” in Saturday’s loss to the Bruins, Brind’Amour said, and he’s still being evaluated. It’s likely he’ll at least miss the Buffalo game after going without a point in his last six appearances. The 24-year-old has 11-20–31 in 76 games, an improvement from last year’s totals while averaging 14 minutes per game.

It stands to reason Carolina expects at least a net positive in terms of lineup influx for tomorrow’s contest. They returned rookie center Justin Robidas to AHL Chicago last night, per Ruff. The 22-year-old came up under emergency conditions late last week and recorded a point in each of his first two career NHL appearances, including Carolina’s lone goal in the loss to Boston. It was quite the initial showing from the 5’8″ centerman, who the Canes picked up in the fifth round of the 2021 draft. He has 17-31–48 in 65 AHL appearances after spending all of 2023-24 on assignment to ECHL Norfolk.

East Notes: Tortorella, York, Svechnikov, Zadorov

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More news continues to come out regarding John Tortorella’s last few weeks as the head coach of the Philadelphia Flyers. In an article from Kevin Kurz of The Athletic (subscription required), the Philadelphia-based reporter succinctly described Tortorella’s growing feud between Flyers’ management and defenseman Cam York.

For context, York was benched for much of Tortorella’s last game as Philadelphia’s head coach and for the entirety of the Flyers’ game yesterday against the Montreal Canadiens, which interim head coach Brad Shaw described as a “disciplinary issue.” As mentioned in Kurz’s article, and later confirmed by Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff, there was a heated verbal altercation between Tortorella and York that led to the former’s ouster as head coach and the latter’s lack of ice time last night.

Kurz noted the growing tension between York and Tortorella dating back to the trade deadline, when after being a healthy scratch, York said, “I mean, I’m not playing to prove him anything. I’m playing for the guys in this locker room and the logo on my chest. I’m not playing for him, necessarily, if that makes sense.”

Questioned about the incident after last night’s contest, Kurz quoted York with a generically pacified response saying, “I’m not going to get into the details of it. I will say this, I take full responsibility for my actions. It’s been addressed here in the locker room. It’s something that I’m going to put behind me and move on from. We’ve got eight games left here and that’s my focus right now. We’ll leave it at that.” Frustration had been mounting around Tortorella at all levels of the Flyers’ organization, leading to his ouster shortly before the regular season’s conclusion.

Other notes from the Eastern Conference:

  • According to a team announcement, Andrei Svechnikov will return to the Carolina Hurricanes’ lineup tonight against the Montreal Canadiens. The former second overall pick of the 2018 NHL Draft had missed Carolina’s previous seven games with an upper-body injury. Despite being the fourth-highest scorer on the team, the Hurricanes have fared well without Svechnikov, managing a 5-2-0 record in his absence.
  • Moving to the Atlantic Division, the Boston Bruins welcomed back defenseman Nikita Zadorov today, who had missed the team’s last game due to a personal leave (Twitter Link). Hopefully, for the Bruins’ sake, Zadorov’s return to the lineup against the Detroit Red Wings tomorrow night will give Boston a much-needed jolt. The team has performed dreadfully since the trade deadline in early March, managing a 2-7-1 record in their last 10 games while being outscored by a 19-goal margin.

Afternoon Notes: Malkin, Shea, Talbot, Cossa, Svechnikov

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The Pittsburgh Penguins will face the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday without lineup pillar Evgeni Malkin, who is set to sit out with a day-to-day upper-body injury per NHL.com’s Michelle Crechiolo. This will mark Malkin’s 12th absence since January 1st.

Malkin has continued to make a strong impact when he’s healthy. He has three points in his last five games, and 15 points in 23 games since the calendar turned over. Those marks have brought Malkin’s season-long scoring total up to 15 goals and 46 points in 62 games. That’s an 82-game scoring pace of just 61 points – the lowest of Malkin’s 19 year career in the NHL. Even still, he’s ranked fifth on the Penguins roster in scoring and fourth among forwards in average ice time (18 minutes). Malkin remains the focal point of Pittsburgh’s second-line, and leaves a noticeable hole in Tuesday night’s lineup. Kevin Hayes will see a boost in minutes in Malkin’s absence, while Joona Koppanen is expected to step into the lineup once again. Koppanen scored his first NHL goal on March 18th – his only point in four games.

While losing Malkin is always terrible news in Pittsburgh, the team will have a silver lining in the return of oft-used defenseman Ryan Shea, who missed the last seven-games with an upper-body injury – per Crechiolo. Shea has just five points in 30 games this season, though he’s heated up as of late – and played a season-high 24 minutes of ice time in his last game on March 9th. Shea has averaged 20 minutes of ice time in 10 games since January 1st. He likely won’t return to those heights immediately upon returning from injury – but could see his minutes slowly climb over Pittsburgh’s next few games.

Other notes around the league:

  • Detroit Red Wings goaltender Cam Talbot will be healthy enough to serve as backup in Thursday night’s game, per Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press. St. James adds that Talbot’s return will require Detroit to reassign top goalie prospect Sebastian Cossa, who was recalled with Detroit facing injuries to Talbot and Petr Mrazek. Mrazek remains out. Talbot will ease back into the lineup looking to build on his .898 save percentage through 38 games this season. Meanwhile, Cossa will return to the minor leagues looking to maintain his .913 save percentage through 35 AHL games. Cossa has held steady at a .913 Sv% in each of the last three seasons. The Red Wings’ starter’s crease will continue to be manned by Alex Lyon, who’s saved 39 of 44 shots against over his last two starts. Those marks have brought Lyon to a .899 Sv% in 27 games this season – second-highest on the Wings behind Mrazek’s .902 in five games played.
  • The Carolina Hurricanes have received a boost of good news, with winger Andrei Svechnikov set to return to the lineup after he missed the last seven games with an upper-body injury per NHL.com’s Walt Ruff. The missed games brought Svechnikov up to eight absences this season – his fewest since the 2021-22 campaign. The 24-year-old winger has 18 goals and 43 points in 63 games this season. With such a chunk of missing games behind him, and just 11 games left on Carolina’s schedule, the ’Canes will likely ease Svechnikov back into the lineup. He’ll likely rotate through a top-six role with wingers like Jackson Blake, Taylor Hall, and Jack Roslovic.

Snapshots: Hurricanes, Askarov, Soderblom, Greentree, Francis

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It appears that the Hurricanes will get some help on the injury front as they begin a three-game road trip on Thursday in San Jose.  Team reporter Walt Ruff mentions (Twitter link) that defenseman Dmitry Orlov should be ready to return after missing the last two weeks with an upper-body injury.  The 33-year-old has four goals and 20 assists in 62 games this season while logging a little under 20 minutes a night.

Meanwhile, the news isn’t as good for winger Andrei Svechnikov.  Ruff added that it wasn’t initially known if the 24-year-old would be accompanying the team on the trip.  Last week, the hope was that Svechnikov would be back for the Hurricanes sometime this week but that appears to be more in question now.  He has 18 goals and 25 assists in 63 outings this season.

Elsewhere around the hockey world:

  • Sharks goaltender Yaroslav Askarov is hoping to be cleared to skate with the AHL’s Barracuda next week as he works his way back from a lower-body injury, relays Curtis Pashelka of The Mercury News (Twitter link). The 22-year-old has a 3.10 GAA and a .896 SV% in 13 games with the Sharks this season and is likely to be recalled at some point down the stretch to get a few more games in with the big club.
  • It has been a rough go as of late for Blackhawks goaltender Arvid Soderblom. He has won just one of his last ten games while posting a SV% of just .881, 20 points below his mark for the season at .901.  Despite that, Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times notes that at the moment, the team is still operating under the plan that he’ll serve as Spencer Knight’s backup for next season.  Soderblom will be owed a $1MM qualifying offer this summer with salary arbitration rights and with 82 NHL games now under his belt, it’s possible that Chicago could feel the risk of a hearing is too great.  Accordingly, it wouldn’t be surprising to see them try to work on getting him signed before the tender deadline in June.
  • Kings prospect Liam Greentree was suspended for two games today by the OHL for a checking from behind incident on Sunday, the league announced (Twitter link). The 19-year-old was the 26th pick last June and sits tied for second in the league in points (with 119) while being fourth in goals (49) and second in assists (70).  Windsor only has two games remaining in the regular season so he won’t be able to move up those leaderboards even further.
  • Ducks prospect Will Francis will join AHL San Diego for their stretch run, reports Matt Wellens of the Duluth News-Tribune. The 24-year-old blueliner was a sixth-round pick back in 2019, going 163rd overall.  Francis is a three-time cancer survivor, missing time in three of his four collegiate campaigns at the University of Minnesota-Duluth due to the illness, limiting him to just 39 games overall, five of which came this season.

Evening Notes: Svechnikov, Brodin, Capobianco

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A new week rolling around has brought updates on injured and absent players to teams around the league. The most impactful news lands in Carolina, where the Hurricanes welcomed top-line winger Andrei Svechnikov back to the practice sheet after he missed the last three games with an upper-body injury. It was Svechnikov’s first multi-game absence of the season.

Svechnikov has built a tendency for long-term injuries. He’s only played more than 70 games in a single season twice in his seven-year NHL career – first in his rookie season, when he played in all 82 games, and then in the 2021-22 campaign, when he appeared in 78 games. The other five years of his career have been marred by injury, including a torn ACL that required an extended absence. Those missed games have held Svehcnikov back from reach top scoring totals, despite the fact that he tallied 72 goals and 176 points in 201 games between 2022 and 2024. That scoring pace would equate to 71 points across an 82-game season – a pace Svechnikov falls just shy of with his 43 points in 63 games this year. Still, his ability to stick in the lineup this year has been encouraging. Now back to full health once again, he’ll look to jump back up the scoring charts with 15 games left in Carolina’s season.

More notes from around the league:

  • Top-pair Minnesota Wild defenseman Jonas Brodin also returned to practice on Monday per Joe Smith of The Athletic. Smith adds that head coach John Hynes dubbed Brodin as day-to-day and out for Monday night’s game. The top shutdown defender has missed Minnesota’s last seven games with a lower-body injury, pulling him deeper into the well of absences this year. He’s now played in just 38 of the Wild’s 67 games on the year. Those routine absences have held Brodin to just 18 points on the season. That mark stands as the highest points-per-game average of Brodin’s career (.474), just narrowly beating out his previous career high set when he scored 27 points in 62 games last season (.435). But without a clean bill of health, Brodin hasn’t had a chance to relish in a newfound scoring gear. For yet another time this season, he’ll now be tasked with getting back to full speed so he can support Minnesota’s top defense pair with a tough streak coming up.
  • The Dallas Stars have reassigned depth defenseman Kyle Capobianco after recalling him on Saturday to fill in for the ill Lian Bichsel. Capobianco served as Dallas’ seventh man in their Saturday night matchup against the Colorado Avalanche, while Brendan Smith filled Bichsel’s role. This was only Capobianco’s second call-up since joining the Dallas Stars organization this summer. He appeared in his only NHL game of the season on January 31st – and set no scoring, four penalty minutes, and a minus-two in 11:23 of ice time. He’s otherwise been a fixture of the AHL lineup, where he’s managed an impressive 35 points in 49 games. That mark leads the AHL Texas Stars’ blue-line in scoring, though it is slightly below the scoring pace that led Capobianco to 54 points in 69 games with the Manitoba Moose last season.

Metropolitan Notes: Palmieri, Svechnikov, Flyers, Imama

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The Islanders elected not to move pending UFA winger Kyle Palmieri by last Friday’s trade deadline after having some discussions about a possible contract extension.  Pierre LeBrun recently reported in a piece for The Athletic (subscription link) that those talks have progressed since then with more progress being made.  At this point, the two sides are believed to be quibbling over term.  The 34-year-old speculatively would want more of a medium-term agreement while New York’s likely preference is something that doesn’t run quite as long.  Palmieri has 20 goals and 21 assists through 65 games this season and should be able to command a price tag that’s somewhat close to the $5MM he’s making now.

More from the Metropolitan:

  • Hurricanes winger Andrei Svechnikov has missed the last week with an upper-body injury and won’t suit up against Philadelphia tonight. Team reporter Walt Ruff relays that the team is hopeful that the 24-year-old will be able to return to the lineup at some point next week.  It has been a bit of a down year for Svechnikov who has 18 goals and 25 assists through 63 games, his lowest point-per-game average since his rookie year back in 2018-19.
  • The Flyers will once again be without defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen and winger Garnet Hathaway for their game against Carolina tonight, relays Jordan Hall of NBC Sports Philadelphia (Twitter link). Ristolainen is dealing with an upper-body injury that caused him to miss Thursday’s game versus Tampa Bay while Hathaway, who has resumed skating, has missed the last two weeks with an upper-body injury of his own.
  • Penguins winger Bokondji Imama has played in a career-high 11 NHL games this season after being recalled in late January. A pending unrestricted free agent, he recently told reporters including Seth Rorabaugh of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review that he’s hoping to remain with the organization for next season.  At this point, a one-way contract likely remains out of reach but a two-way pact with a guarantee higher than the $400K he’s getting this season could be doable, especially if he plays somewhat of a regular role with Pittsburgh down the stretch.

East Notes: Marner, Kucherov, Svechnikov

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In today’s mailbag, Josh Yohe of The Athletic took one major question regarding the possibility of the Pittsburgh Penguins taking a run at Mitch Marner should the winger hit unrestricted free agency this summer.

Yohe gave a two-pronged response to the question, illustrating the pros and cons of attempting to sign Marner. The Penguins are expected to have approximately $25MM in cap space for free agency, Marner has a previous relationship with general manager Kyle Dubas, and Marner worked well on a line with Sidney Crosby during the 4 Nations Faceoff. Still, given the Penguins’ trade activity throughout this season, Yohe doesn’t believe Dubas has indicated he’ll be aggressive in making a major addition this summer.

Pittsburgh having an interest in Marner makes sense on some levels. He’s having a career year with 21 goals and 80 points in 63 games and would give the Penguins an easier transition out of the Crosby era. However, given that he has yet to play meaningful hockey beyond Round Two of the Stanley Cup playoffs, Marner likely won’t be interested in joining a team that hasn’t reached the postseason in a few years.

Other notes from the Eastern Conference:

  • Outside of netminder Andrei Vasilevskiy, the Tampa Bay Lightning are without their top player tonight. Gabby Shirley of FanDuel Sports Network reported earlier that former-MVP Nikita Kucherov had been deemed at game-time decision while battling an illness. Shortly before game time, it was confirmed that Kucherov wouldn’t be available for tonight’s contest. Nick Paul is filling in for Kucherov on the team’s first line and has one shot with a -1 rating at the time of writing.
  • According to head coach Rod Brind’Amour, and passed along by Ryan Henkel of The Hockey News, the Carolina Hurricanes aren’t expecting Andrei Svechnikov back tomorrow night against the Detroit Red Wings. Svechnikov missed Carolina’s recent game against the Tampa Bay Lightning due to an undisclosed injury, making tomorrow his second missed contest in a row. Brind’Amour shared he doesn’t expect the injury to keep Svechnikov out long-term.

Metropolitan Notes: Phillips, Harkins, Werenski, Svechnikov

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The Capitals have once again brought forward Matthew Phillips up from the AHL on an emergency loan, per a team release. It’s the fourth recall for Phillips in the past few weeks after Washington re-claimed him off waivers from the Penguins in March. Why exactly Phillips has been added to the roster ahead of tonight’s game against the Hurricanes is unknown – no Capitals forwards are carrying injury designations other than T.J. Oshie, and Nicolas Aubé-Kubel was already available as an extra forward. There may be a few undisclosed game-time decisions in the works up front. Phillips, 25, has a goal and four assists in 31 appearances with the Caps and Pens this season.

Other updates from the Metro:

  • Moving over to Pittsburgh, winger Jansen Harkins was cleared for contact Friday and was a full participant in practice, head coach Mike Sullivan told Matt Vensel of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. The 26-year-old has been on LTIR since March after undergoing hand surgery and has now missed 15 games, but he could be an option for the final few tilts of the season as the Penguins try to sneak their way into the postseason. The high-end AHL scorer has had no offensive impact in 43 NHL appearances this season, going without a goal and posting four assists in 43 games while averaging just over eight minutes a night.
  • Blue Jackets star defenseman Zach Werenski will join the United States national team after the end of the regular season in preparation for the 2024 World Championship in Czechia, he told Brian Hedger of the Columbus Dispatch. In doing so, the 26-year-old is strengthening his candidacy for the 2025 4 Nations Face-Off and the 2026 Winter Olympics, as Team USA GM Bill Guerin has made it clear national team hopefuls for those big-ticket tournaments should attend this year’s World Championship if possible. Today, Werenski was named the Blue Jackets’ nominee for the 2024 Masterton Trophy, churning out All-Star-caliber minutes this year after missing most of 2022-23 due to shoulder surgery.
  • The Hurricanes will be without winger Andrei Svechnikov at home against Washington tonight due to illness, per a team announcement. The 2018 second-overall pick has been limited by injuries to 55 games this season but has played solid hockey, churning out 17 goals and 46 points. He’s gone through quite a cold stretch over the past few weeks, though, only recording a goal and two assists in his last 12 games with a -5 rating. He’ll look to reset and rebound before the playoffs begin on April 20.

Carolina Hurricanes Announce Multiple Injury Updates

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Carolina Hurricanes goaltender Antti Raanta will likely miss “at least a couple weeks” with a lower-body injury, per head coach Rod Brind’Amour. Raanta is in the midst of a tremulous season that’s seen him placed on waivers, play two AHL games, and record a .872 save percentage in 24 NHL games. But he’s remained a pivotal piece of the Hurricanes lineup, playing in just one fewer game than the team’s de facto starter Pyotr Kochetkov, largely thanks to the string of injuries facing the Hurricanes crease.

Raanta, 34, is facing the worst save percentage of his NHL career this season – with his last save percentage below .900 coming in his rookie season in 2013-14. His 11-year career has been marred by injuries, with Raanta only appearing in more than 30 games in one season just three times. The inconsistent health has limited him to being a career backup, despite posting 139 wins and a .915 save percentage in 277 career games. This includes his 2017-18 season when Raanta posted a .930 save percentage and 21 wins through 47 games with the Arizona Coyotes.

The Carolina Hurricanes have also shared that defenseman Brett Pesce is questionable for the team’s Saturday night game against the New Jersey Devils due to illness, per team reporter Walt Ruff. That could give way for Tony DeAngelo to make his way into the lineup. The 28-year-old DeAngelo has appeared in 22 games this season and scored nine points – a far step down from his usual productivity. The team will also be getting star winger Andrei Svechnikov back on Saturday, though, with the 23-year-old making his return after missing the last six games with an upper-body injury. Svechnikov has 30 points through 29 games this season, making him just one of two Hurricanes players scoring at a point-per-game pace.

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