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Andrei Svechnikov

Evening Notes: Devils, Svechnikov, Hill

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TSN’s Pierre LeBrun recently shared that New Jersey Devils defenseman Dougie Hamilton could be out through the end of the regular season, after undergoing surgery to repair a pectoral injury. The Devils would gain $9MM in cap space if they moved Hamilton to long-term injured reserve, money that LeBrun says would put the Devils in a position to be aggressive at the Trade Deadline.

The Devils have come back into their own, winning seven of their last 10 games after a more-than-slow start to the year. LeBrun added that the Devils would be in the market for roster pieces, including looking for a new goaltender. New Jersey was rumored to be closely attached to former Vezina Trophy-winner Connor Hellebuyck this off-season but weren’t able to get a deal done before the netminder signed a seven-year extension with the Winnipeg Jets. Hellebuyck’s new deal carries a cap hit of $8.5MM – just under the Devils’ available cap. The deal also carries a no-movement clause for its first three seasons and a modified no-trade clause for the last four.

There’s no doubting the Devils’ need for a goaltender. The team has scored the eighth-most goals in the league through the first half of the year but they’ve allowed the tenth-most goals-against, with both Vitek Vanecek and Akira Schmid boasting save percentages below .900.

More notes from around the league:

Metropolitan Notes: Penguins, Sanheim, Svechnikov, Wahlstrom

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The Pittsburgh Penguins tweeted today that forwards Rickard Rakell, Noel Acciari, as well as defenseman Chad Ruhwedel will all be game-time decisions when the Pittsburgh Penguins take on the Minnesota Wild this evening. The news was announced by Pittsburgh head coach Mike Sullivan who has been trying to manage a litany of injuries up and down the Penguins lineup.

Pittsburgh has been mired in a cycle of inconsistent and sloppy play that has been a constant throughout the first third of the NHL season. They are currently sitting in seventh place in the Metropolitan division and are five points out of a wild card position.

The Penguins put forward Bryan Rust on IR just a few days ago, which left them with two big holes in their top 6, however, with the potential return of Rakell it seems likely that he will have an opportunity to fill one of those holes. Rakell has been practicing on a line with Sidney Crosby and Jake Guentzel and given his history with the duo it seems likely he return to that spot either tonight or later this week.

Acciari had been centering the Penguins’ fourth line before his injury and seems likely to take up that spot if and when he does return, while Ruhwedel will likely get a look on the Penguins’ third defensive pairing, presumably with youngster John Ludvig who has emerged on the backend for Pittsburgh in recent weeks.

In other Metropolitan Division notes:

  • Kevin Kurz of The Athletic is reporting that Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Travis Sanheim was back at practice today and should be good for tomorrow night’s game against the New Jersey Devils. Sanheim was dealing with an undisclosed illness and missed Saturday’s game against the Detroit Red Wings. The 27-year-old had been heating up before getting sick as he had posted two goals and three assists in his previous five games. Sanheim has been a huge part of the Flyers’ surprising start to the season as his 21 points in 29 games has him second in team scoring behind Travis Konecny.
  • Carolina Hurricanes reporter Walt Ruff is reporting that Hurricanes forward Andrei Svechnikov was a full participant in today’s practice and even was seen taking power play reps with the team. Ruff goes on to add that the 23-year-old could be back in the lineup as soon as tomorrow night against the Vegas Golden Knights. Svechnikov has missed the last six games with an upper-body injury and struggled the week prior to getting hurt. On the season, the former second-overall pick has just a single goal in 16 games, although he does have 10 assists as well. Carolina has underperformed so far this season but currently sits in the first wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference. Getting Svechnikov healthy and productive once again could be a big boost for Carolina as they close in on the mid-way point of the season.
  • Stefen Rosner of The Hockey News is reporting that New York Islanders forward Oliver Wahlstrom missed practice today with an illness. The 23-year-old was unlikely to play in tomorrow night’s game even if healthy as he has been a healthy scratch for the Islanders in seven straight games. Wahlstrom has just two goals and three assists in 17 games this season and has been averaging less than 12 minutes of ice time a game when he has been in the lineup.

East Notes: Svechnikov, Harris, Miller

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The Carolina Hurricanes are currently on a four-game losing streak, and things don’t appear to be getting any easier, as star forward Andrei Svechnikov has missed the club’s last two losses. Team reporter Walt Ruff relays word from Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour, who says that Svechnikov will be out for “at least a while” as Svechnikov deals with an upper-body injury.

The 23-year-old 2018 second-overall pick is arguably the Hurricanes’ most lethal offensive weapon when healthy. A torn ACL cut his season short last year, but before the injury he had scored 23 goals and 55 points in 64 games. As Svechnikov seems set to miss a meaningful chunk of time due to this new injury, the Hurricanes will have to rely more heavily on other players to generate offense and lift the team out of the middle of the pack in terms of goals scored per game.

Some other notes from the Eastern Conference:

  • Montreal Canadiens defenseman Jordan Harris has not played since a November 18th game against the Boston Bruins, though he is nearing a return to the ice. The Canadiens officially announced that Harris would be able to return to play in approximately 10 to 14 days, which is an encouraging development for the club. While Harris has just three points this season, he did have a strong rookie campaign as an intelligent blueliner with puck-moving ability. Harris’ return to the ice could cost his former college hockey teammate Jayden Struble a place in the Canadiens’ lineup, seeing as Kaiden Guhle and Mike Matheson aren’t going anywhere on the team’s top two pairings. Struble has played quite well since his debut, though, so one wonders if the Canadiens would sanction sending Struble back to the AHL after such a promising stretch of games.
  • New York Rangers defenseman K’Andre Miller will miss tonight’s game against the Toronto Maple Leafs for personal reasons. Head coach Peter Laviolette declined to go into more detail on the absence, disclosing simply that Miller was excused from the game for personal reasons.

Andrei Svechnikov Set To Return From Injury

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The Carolina Hurricanes have announced the return of top scorer Andrei Svechnikov, who received surgery on his ACL in March. Svechnikov shed the no-contact jersey at the team’s Monday practice and is now in line to return to the lineup, with Carolina slated to play the San Jose Sharks on Friday.

The return of Svechnikov has been highly anticipated and should have very interesting on-ice effects. The Hurricanes currently rank second in the league in goals-for, and now add a former 30-goal-scorer back into the fold. His 30-goal season came in 2021-22, when Svechnikov recorded 69 points in 78 games, and was one of four seasons where the 23-year-old Svechnikov has scored 20 or more goals. But more interestingly, Svechnikov tallied the third-worst xGA/60 (expected goals-against per-60) of any Canes forward, per Natural Stat Trick. This will be an area of improvement for Svechnikov, who is rejoining a Carolina team that’s allowed more goals than any other team in the league through their first eight games.

Michael Bunting has been performing well in Svechnikov’s role, scoring two goals and six points operating alongside Martin Necas and Jesperi Kotkaniemi. The Canes have also stuck with the trio of Teuvo Teravainen, Sebastian Aho, and Seth Jarvis as their top line. The seemingly locked-in top-six could spell for a bit of a logjam with Svechnikov returning, who has spent nearly all of the last two seasons alongside one of Necas, Aho, or Jarvis. Having high-scoring wingers sprinkled throughout the lineup is certainly a good issue to have, but how Carolina decides to utilize Svechnikov will be worth watching closely.

Hurricanes Notes: Svechnikov, Aho, Andersen

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While he wasn’t ready for the beginning of the regular season as once expected, Hurricanes winger Andrei Svechnikov is still making positive strides in his recovery from a major knee injury sustained in March. Today, he shed the no-contact designation at Hurricanes practice for the first time, relays team editorial content producer and reporter Walt Ruff.

Svechnikov is still within the bounds of his initial six-to-nine-month recovery timeline, and while it’s disappointing he wasn’t ready to play on opening night, he hasn’t sustained any setbacks and is likely on track to make his season debut before the end of the month. Remarkably, scoring goals hasn’t been Carolina’s issue in Svechnikov’s absence. Instead, it’s been keeping them out – their 30 goals against in 2023-24 is the worst in the league by a significant margin. That’s far from what anyone expected after the Hurricanes, already revered as one of the better-structured teams in the league, added Dmitry Orlov to their blueline this summer and retained a goalie trio of Frederik Andersen, Pyotr Kochetkov and Antti Raanta that’s done well for them in recent campaigns.

Other notes from Carolina today:

  • The Hurricanes have had to play their last two outings without their two best point-producing forwards, as number-one center Sebastian Aho has joined Svechnikov on the injured list for the past three games. After notching a goal and two assists in his first three contests, Aho was a full participant in today’s practice, says Ruff, and the door is open for him to return to the lineup tomorrow against the Lightning. Teuvo Teräväinen has played fill-in duty on the team’s top line in Aho’s absence, centering Michael Bunting and Martin Necas. The 29-year-old has four goals in six games after a disappointing 2022-23 campaign.
  • Ruff also relays that the injured Andersen is indeed close to a return, making an appearance at today’s practice that followed the return of Kochetkov on loan to AHL Syracuse. Andersen was injured in a recent game against the Sharks after taking a puck to the face. The 34-year-old Dane has struggled in three appearances so far this year, but he’s still been the best out of the Canes’ netminders, leading the team with a .855 SV% and 4.15 GAA.

Metro Notes: Johnson, Svechnikov, Butcher, Ristolainen

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2021 fifth-overall pick Kent Johnson had a stellar rookie season in 2022-23, scoring 16 goals and 40 points. The British Columbia native is one of the most purely skilled players in the NHL and is capable of creating highlight-reel plays on a nightly basis. Despite that stellar first campaign, it appears Johnson currently sits on the outside of new head coach Pascal Vincent’s nightly lineup.

Team reporter Jeff Svoboda relayed confirmation from Vincent that Johnson is currently considered an extra skater, and although Vincent added that he is “not sure [Johnson’s] not going to play” he maintained that he could only dress so many forwards. At the moment, players such as Emil Bemström and Justin Danforth are projected to hold positions on the team’s second and third lines, respectively, but one would think that Johnson will end up back in the nightly lineup sooner rather than later.

Some other notes from the Metropolitan Division:

  • The Athletic’s Cory Lavalette reports that Carolina Hurricanes star Andrei Svechnikov remains in a yellow non-contact jersey, and as a result, is presumably out for tomorrow’s season-opening game. Svechnikov is still working his way back from a torn ACL that cut his 2022-23 season short. When healthy, he’s among the Hurricanes’ best players, and last season was on pace to score a career-high 70 points.
  • The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review’s Seth Rorabaugh reports that defenseman Will Butcher skated this morning, a positive development for a player who missed all of training camp and preseason due to injury. Butcher has begun this season on season-opening injured reserve, but when he eventually becomes ready to play it’s likely he’ll find himself waived and sent to the AHL. Butcher signed a one-year, league-minimum deal in Pittsburgh likely with the hope that he would compete for a depth role on the Penguins’ NHL defense, but due to this injury it’s now likely that he’ll have to work his way into NHL consideration with the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins. 2022-23 was Butcher’s first in the AHL, and he impressed scoring 43 points in 67 games.
  • Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen is currently on injured reserve, though his stay there could be coming to an end. PHLY Sports’ Charlie O’Connor reports that Ristolainen was on the ice for Flyers practice today, and NBC Sports Philadelphia’s Jordan Hall relays word from Flyers GM Daniel Brière that Ristolainen’s IR placement can be backdated, and he therefore could become eligible to play the team’s season-opening contest against Columbus on Thursday. Ristolainen showed improved form under head coach John Tortorella last season and if he plays his activation could mean rookie Emil Andrae is assigned to the AHL or Felix Sandström gets placed on waivers.

Andrei Svechnikov Expected To Be Ready For Start Of Regular Season

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Carolina Hurricanes winger Andrei Svechnikov is ahead of schedule in his recovery from reconstructive knee surgery performed in March and will likely be cleared to play by the start of the 2023-24 regular season, general manager Don Waddell told The Athletic’s Michael Russo today.

Svechnikov tore an ACL ligament just after the trade deadline had passed, resulting in surgery that kept him out for the remainder of the 2022-23 regular season and playoffs. It was a gigantic blow to the scoring ability of a Hurricanes team that still managed to reach the Eastern Conference Final without him but lost in a sweep to the Florida Panthers. Carolina has now lost three consecutive Conference Final series without winning a game – in fact, the franchise, despite all their recent success, has not won a game in the final two postseason rounds since winning the Stanley Cup in 2006.

Being ready for the start of the regular season was always a possibility but never a certainty. The standard recovery timeline for his procedure is six to nine months, meaning he could have returned as early as training camp but as late as the Christmas break. There’s been a tone of optimism around Svechnikov’s recovery all summer after he started skating in mid-July, but Waddell stopped short of saying he’d be ready to go for the season opener as soon as last month.

A healthy and confident Svechnikov will be a core piece in helping the Hurricanes get over the hump and again compete for a Stanley Cup. After reshaping their blueline to have the most depth in the league, thanks to adds like Dmitry Orlov, Anthony DeAngelo and Caleb Jones, the Hurricanes are in the conversation for President’s Trophy favorites ahead of puck drop on 2023-24.

Svechnikov is entering the third season of an eight-year, $62MM contract signed before the 2021-22 campaign. The 23-year-old is still looking to eclipse the point-per-game mark for the first time but was still on pace for back-to-back 30-goal seasons before the ACL tear ended his campaign prematurely. He totalled 23 goals, 32 points and 55 points in 64 games last year and has accumulated 112 goals in 347 games throughout his NHL career.

He’s currently projected to help anchor the team’s second forward line on the left wing, with Jesperi Kotkaniemi down the middle and Martin Necas on the right flank. That line controlled 56.9% of expected goals at even strength through 231 minutes together last season, per MoneyPuck. Youngster Seth Jarvis and free-agent acquisition Michael Bunting could get primary even-strength ice time with Sebastian Aho as their center to start the season.

Snapshots: Dumba, Svechnikov, Halak

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It took more than a month for Matt Dumba to find a new home before inking a one-year, $3.9MM deal with Arizona.  PHNX Sports’ Craig Morgan relays an interesting wrinkle in the contract – the $1.15MM signing bonus he received is actually payable on April 15th, not right away.  It has already been speculated that Dumba could be a trade candidate if the Coyotes aren’t in the playoff picture by then.  The structure of this agreement means that whoever gets him at the deadline in that scenario would actually be the one responsible for paying out the $1.15MM bonus.  There wouldn’t be any additional cap charge for the acquiring team but the cash outlay to acquire Dumba as a midseason rental will be considerably more than it might have seemed at first glance.

Elsewhere around the NHL:

  • In a recent appearance on the NHL Network (video link), Hurricanes GM Don Waddell indicated that winger Andrei Svechnikov is on schedule if not slightly ahead as he works his way back from ACL surgery. The 23-year-old had surgery back in mid-March, a procedure that typically carries a recovery time of six-to-seven months.  Despite the positive news, Waddell stopped short of confirming that Svechnikov will be available on opening night but if that’s not the case, he shouldn’t be out much longer which will give Carolina a big boost after missing one of their top wingers down the stretch and in the playoffs.
  • Earlier this week, Martin Jones signed with Toronto to play what’s likely to be a third-string role. Jaroslav Halak doesn’t appear to be interested in that, telling Tomas Prokop of Dennik Sport that it’s a role he isn’t looking to fill and is focused on trying to land a contract with a team that would give him the backup spot.  The 38-year-old put up a 2.72 GAA with a .903 SV% in 25 games with the Rangers last season but sits five wins shy of 300 for his career, a milestone Halak acknowledged that he’d like to reach in 2023-24.

East Notes: Rangers, Sabres, Svechnikov

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The cap situation for the Rangers has limited them for the most part this summer.  Accordingly, Larry Brooks of the New York Post opines that the best chance they have to take a step forward next season might be to take a step back out of the gate and give their young trio of Alexis Lafreniere (still an unsigned restricted free agent), Kaapo Kakko, and Filip Chytil extended looks in offensive roles.  With a forward group that skews older otherwise, New York’s best chance for offensive growth might very well be those three younger options taking a step forward in their development.  The Rangers are certainly in win-now mode which might make it seem counter-intuitive to potentially have some early struggles while evaluating those players in those roles but if they can hit another gear offensively, they could certainly be dangerous offensively when the playoffs come around.

Elsewhere in the East:

  • The Sabres have reached a new ECHL affiliation agreement for next season as Lance Lysowski of The Buffalo News reports that Buffalo will be partnered up with Jacksonville, formerly an affiliate of the Rangers. Buffalo had been with Cincinnati since 2017 but needed a new one when the Rangers signed with that franchise; this move basically makes it a trade of affiliates.  A press conference is scheduled for Monday to make it official.
  • Hurricanes winger Andrei Svechnikov returned to the ice on Friday as he works his way back from ACL surgery, notes team reporter Walt Ruff. The 23-year-old made his first All-Star appearance last season while picking up 23 goals and 32 assists in 64 games before suffering the injury in March.  At the time, the procedure carried a recovery of six to nine months; October (when the season starts) is near the short end of that timeline so it’s not a guarantee that Svechnikov will be ready on opening night.

Offseason Notes: Johnson, Svechnikov, Yakupov, World Juniors

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Continuing to round out their bench, the Anaheim Ducks have announced that they have hired Brent Johnson as an assistant coach. Much like their approach with hiring Greg Cronin as head coach, Thompson is another coaching veteran with over 20 years of experience behind the bench.

Primarily serving as the head coach of the New York Islanders AHL affiliate, the Bridgeport Islanders, for the last nine seasons, Thompson brings an all-time 328-286-73 coaching record in 687 games at the AHL level. Unfortunately for Thompson and the Islanders, the team only qualified for the playoffs in three of those seasons, never managing to get past the second round. The most coaching success Thompson has ever seen came back in the 2010-11 season in the ECHL, coaching the Alaska Aces to a Kelly Cup Championship, as well as the ECHL Coach of the Year award.

Over the course of his coaching career, Thompson has primarily spent it developing players into NHL talents, and the Ducks have no shortage of those players. The team did sign several veterans this offseason, but the team is clearly building around young talents such as Trevor Zegras, Troy Terry, and Jamie Drysdale.

Other notes:

  • A convincing argument can be made that the Carolina Hurricanes have had the best offseason of all 32 clubs in the NHL, and they received more positive news today. Chip Alexander of Raleigh News & Observer reported today that forward Andrei Svechnikov will resume skating for the first time this Friday. Shortly before the 2023 Stanley Cup playoffs, Svechnikov went under the knife to repair his knee, which kept him out for the remainder of the season. Before the injury, Svechnikov was well on his way to recording another 30-goal season, something the Hurricanes will be looking forward to again next season.
  • Spending the last five seasons in the KHL, former-first overall pick, Nail Yakupov is on the move once again. The press service of the KHL announced today that Yakupov has reached a one-year agreement with HC Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk. Last season, Yakupov played for Avangard Omsk, scoring 10 points in 16 games. Avangard Omsk would make it all the way to the Conference Finals in pursuit of the Continental Cup in 2023 but were quickly dispatched by Ak Bars Kazan in five games.
  • It appears the IIHF World Juniors Championship will be returning to the United States in 2026. Gord Miller of TSN reports that Seattle, Tampa Bay, and Las Vegas have all inquired about potentially hosting the tournament. The next one will take place in Gothenburg, Sweden, followed by Ottawa, Canada in 2025. The last time the United States hosted the tournament came back in 2018, as it took place in Buffalo, NY.

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