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Ottawa Senators Injury Updates

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The Ottawa Senators are looking to pick up their third win of the young regular season tomorrow night but will have to do so without an important defenseman. TSN’s Bruce Garrioch reported defenseman Artem Zub will miss at least a week with a concussion while goaltender Linus Ullmark and defenseman Thomas Chabot appear ready to go.

The injury to Zub will strain the Senators’ defense for a short time, with the team already being thin on the right side of the blue line. According to line rushes today, veteran defenseman Travis Hamonic will move into the first pairing next to Jake Sanderson, with Jacob Bernard-Docker making his season debut on the bottom pairing.

Ottawa will find it difficult to match up against a speedy New Jersey Devils offense tomorrow night but it appears they are taking a more balanced approach to their defense while Zub recovers. Hamonic is no longer the quality shutdown defenseman he was with the New York Islanders organization in the early-to-mid 2010s, but he has started the 2024-25 season well, averaging 15:02 through the first three games.

Zub’s injury also gives some context to Garrioch’s report a few days ago that the Senators were already perusing the trade market to add a depth defenseman. The group looks markedly weaker even after sustaining one injury and Ottawa likely doesn’t want this to become a theme throughout the season with their eyes on the playoffs.

The back half of Garrioch’s injury report from today is positive as Ullmark returned to practice while recovering from a strain. TSN’s Claire Hanna shared a note from head coach Travis Green saying, “Linus Ullmark skated today, looked good, progressing well”. He did not confirm whether Ullmark would be the starter for tomorrow night but it appears they are headed in that direction. The team felt his absence in their most recent game against the Los Angeles Kings with Mads Sogaard and Anton Forsberg allowing seven goals on 26 shots in an overtime win.

Chabot left practice early today after colliding with Bernard-Docker during a drill in the neutral zone. He did not return to practice but multiple sources indicate he is doing fine and there is no concern for his availability in tomorrow night’s game against the Devils.

Ottawa Senators Dealing With Multiple Injuries

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The Ottawa Senators may have won a high-scoring contest against the Los Angeles Kings earlier in the afternoon, but they will not come away unscathed. During the game, it had already been reported that defenseman Artem Zub would not return to action, and the team is still waiting for more tests with him. To add insult to injury, TSN’s Bruce Garrioch reported that forward Ridly Greig is expected to miss a week or two with an upper-body injury and a follow-up report indicated goaltender Linus Ullmark would miss a few days due to a strain.

Unfortunately for the Senators the team has a relatively quick turnaround before their next game which comes Thursday against the red-hot New Jersey Devils. The team should announce as quickly as tomorrow whether or not Ullmark and Zub will be available for that contest.

Ottawa has already recalled goaltender Mads Sogaard on an emergency basis to fill in for the injured Ullmark who wasn’t available for today’s contest against the Kings. They utilized depth forward Adam Gaudette in today’s game to fill in for Greig but the team is likely to make a recall in the next few days with Greig potentially out until the end of October.

Greig’s absence shouldn’t put too much strain on the lineup early in the season with the organization opting to shorten his ice time out of the gates compared to last season. Greig managed 13 goals and 26 points in 72 games for the Senators last season while averaging 14:45 of ice time per night but only averaged 14:03 against the Florida Panthers and Montreal Canadiens while centering the team’s fourth line.

Gaudette appears to be the best option to center the team’s fourth line moving forward with likely call-ups Matthew Highmore, Jan Jenik, and Angus Crookshank typically deployed on the wing throughout their careers. Still, Ottawa now has only 12 healthy forwards on the roster and will likely require an additional option up front especially when they leave for a three-game western road trip next week.

Arguably the most crucial point of the injury report is that Ullmark is not expected to be out long-term. Head coach Travis Green couldn’t confirm if Ullmark would be in the net on Thursday against the Devils but indicated the team’s game on Saturday against the Tampa Bay Lightning should be a reasonable return date.

Injury Notes: Celebrini, LaCombe, Zub

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Reigning first-overall pick Macklin Celebrini won’t be joining the San Jose Sharks on their first road trip of the season shares Curtis Pashelka of The Mercury News. Celebrini is still nursing a lower-body injury that landed him on injured reserve the morning after his NHL debut. He would be eligible to return before the final game of the road trip – Friday’s matchup against Winnipeg. Head coach Ryan Warsofsky didn’t rule out the possibility of Celebrini joining the team ahead of that matchup, though he added that the team is taking things day by day.

Everything clicked for Celebrini in his NHL debut, with his first goal coming just seven minutes into his career on a spin-o-rama pass deflected in; and his first assist coming just 10 minutes later on a connection with scoring-winger Tyler Toffoli. He’s taken well to the role of San Jose’s top centerman, a familiar statement for anyone who watched Celebrini immediately step into Boston Univeristy’s top center role last year. That season ended in BU pushing into the NCAA Championship Frozen Four semi-finals and Celebrini becoming the youngest Hobey Baker ’MVP’ Award winner ever. The Sharks are far away from those levels of success in the NHL – but the precedent that Celebrini brings gives all the more reason to handle his first career injury with extra care. He’ll face the task of getting healthy before the week ends, to join the Sharks against the presently-undefeated Winnipeg Jets.

Other injury updates:

  • Anaheim Ducks defender Jackson LaCombe missed his second consecutive game with illness on Sunday night, shares Derek Lee of The Hockey News. LaCombe was a late scratch in Anaheim’s season opener – paving way for Olen Zellweger to make his season debut, though Urho Vaakanainen who got the start on Sunday. Neither defender scored in their spot start. They’ll continue battling for ice time while LaCombe returns to form and – pending a breakout performance from Zellweger or Vaakanainen – an everyday lineup role.
  • Ottawa Senators defenseman Artem Zub left the team’s Monday game with an upper-body injury after a heavy first-period hit from Los Angeles’ Tanner Jeannot. Zub has taken on the role of third defender for the Senators, averaging 19:38 in ice time through the team’s first two games. He’s yet to find his first point of the season, though Zub has managed four shots, one penalty, and a +1. He faced multiple injuries last season, ultimately limited to 69 games and 25 points. He’ll be a locked-in top option when healthy, while an absence would open space for Tyler Kleven or Nick Jensen to earn more minutes.

Atlantic Notes: Knies, Marchand, Lindholm, Zub, Jones

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The choice by Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube to make forward Matthew Knies an alternate captain for the team on Saturday night has led some to believe the organization is looking to keep him around for the long haul. In Monday’s ’32 Thoughts episode with Elliotte Friedman, the host said, “I think (Matthew) Knies is on the precipice of being a really long-term important piece of the Toronto Maple Leafs. He’s heading into the last year of his ELC and I think there have been some conversations about it. I don’t know how much or in-depth they have really talked about it, but there have been some rumors that there have been some conversations“.

It’s not a shocking report by any stretch of the imagination as Knies has been a top prospect for the Maple Leafs over the past several years. The former 57th overall pick of the 2021 NHL Draft finally became a full-time player in Toronto last season scoring 15 goals and 35 points in 80 games. He’s a popular candidate to play the wing with captain Auston Matthews and on the Maple Leafs’ second powerplay unit.

There haven’t been any specifics regarding extension conversations between Toronto and Knies but Elliotte’s report indicates the team would like to lock him down for quite some time. The team may want to get started on that sooner rather than later as Knies’ asking price will inevitably rise if he plays well on a line with Matthews for much of the year.

Other Atlantic notes:

  • According to the team, the Boston Bruins are improving on the injury front as forwards Brad Marchand and Elias Lindholm will return to the lineup tonight against the Flyers. Marchand had been recovering from several surgeries in the offseason and is making good on his promise that he would be ready for the regular season opener. Lindholm has spent the last few days practicing in a non-contact jersey for the Bruins with an undisclosed injury but it appears his ailment is now behind him.
  • Similarly to the Bruins, the Ottawa Senators are also receiving positive news on the injury front with defenseman Artem Zub returning to the lineup this evening (X Link). Zub’s been dealing with a lower-body injury for much of the preseason but it appears he will be ready for the regular season barring any setbacks. The Russian defenseman will now have three games to get back to game speed as he’s failed to appear in a contest up to this point.
  • Moving back to Boston — Conor Ryan of The Boston Globe reports forward Max Jones is getting closer to returning to the lineup. Jones is another Bruins forward that has failed to appear in a preseason contest but he should be ready for the regular season. Boston signed Jones this summer after being non-tendered by the Anaheim Ducks to serve in the team’s bottom-six. He’s coming off one of his better offensive seasons with the Ducks scoring five goals and 15 points in 52 games last year.

East Notes: Pesce, Hatakka, Sogaard, Zub, Postponement

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Devils defenseman Brett Pesce still has not yet been cleared to play as he works his way back from offseason surgery, relays team reporter Amanda Stein (Twitter link).  New Jersey’s top free agent signing underwent fibula surgery to repair an injury sustained in the spring in the playoffs for Carolina.  Their game tonight was their final one before the main team travels to Prague this weekend for their upcoming Global Series games against Buffalo.  While New Jersey still has three preseason games remaining, those will be contested by their farm team and PTO players.  That means Pesce won’t have a chance to see any preseason action before the season gets underway unless they keep him off the road trip to start the season.

More from the East:

  • Stein also noted that blueliner Santeri Hatakka is dealing with something that has him classified as out longer than day-to-day but he is still being evaluated to determine the exact seriousness. The 23-year-old spent most of last season with AHL Utica where he had 20 points in 48 games but also got into 12 games with the Devils, collecting two assists in a little under 15 minutes a night.  Because of the NHL time last season, Hatakka will have a prorated cap charge relative to the percentage of days spent in New Jersey’s roster in 2023-24 if he starts the year on season-opening IR.  That would work out to roughly 15% of his $775K AAV.
  • Senators goaltender Mads Sogaard is dealing with a light strain which will keep him out for another week, notes Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch. Sogaard is likely to begin the season as Ottawa’s third-string netminder but this will be his final year of waiver exemption.  Meanwhile, Garrioch adds that blueliner Artem Zub is expected to return in the coming days after suffering a lower-body injury earlier this week.
  • The Lightning announced that tonight’s game between them and the Predators was postponed with the region still recovering from Hurricane Helene. Instead of simply not playing the game, they will make it up on October 7th.  Nashville’s regular season doesn’t start until the 10th while Tampa Bay’s kicks off one day later so the late preseason matchup shouldn’t be an issue for either side.

East Notes: Zub, Ovechkin, Reilly, Hatakka

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Ottawa Senators defenseman Artem Zub has suffered a lower-body injury shares Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Citizen.

Zub has missed 42 games over the last two seasons, facing a long list of short-term but nagging injuries. That includes routine absences with lower-body injuries dating back to October of last year. He found his way to success last season regardless, recording a career-high 25 points in 69 games and spending time on the top unit of both special teams. He’s set to return to that role this year, though a precedent of injuries could force Ottawa to be cautious about how they transition him back. The Senators have five pre-season games remaining before their regular season kicks off on October 10th.

Other notes from around the Metro:

  • Washington Capitals head coach Spencer Carbery shared with NHL.com’s Tom Gulitti that Alex Ovechkin could play in multiple preseason games after returning from a minor injury. Carbery added that this is the next step in ramping Ovechkin up to speed, as he prepares for his 20th season in the NHL – the most experience of any active player. Ovechkin is chasing Wayne Gretzky’s all-time goal-scoring record, currently sitting just 41 goals back. He’s played in three preseason games every season since 2021, a tradition he seems set to continue.
  • New York Islanders defender Mike Reilly has returned to the team’s practices after sitting out with illness, shares Ethan Sears of the New York Post. He’s preparing for his second season in New York after recording 24 points in 59 games with the Islanders last year. Reilly was one of the few consistent pieces on an Islanders blue-line plagued by injury, though he only averaged 17 minutes of ice time. The 2024-25 campaign will mark Reilly’s 10th NHL season. He’s managed 400 career games and 122 points, split across six franchises.
  • New Jersey Devils head coach Sheldon Keefe shared that defender Santeri Hatakka is being evaluated for an injury, per James Nichols of New Jersey Hockey Now. Hatakka is in competition for New Jersey’s seventh-defender role, after spending the bulk of last season in the minor leagues. Hatakka scored 20 points in 48 AHL games in that stint. He was also recalled for 12 NHL games, though he only recorded two assists. Keefe did not provide any clarity on what Hatakka’s injury is or how long he’s expected to be out, though his absence could clear more room for Nick DeSimone and Johnathan Kovacevic in their quest for an NHL role.

Senators Notes: Pinto, Goaltending, Zub

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The Senators and Shane Pinto were trying to work out a new contract before the center suited up for the United States at the Worlds, reports Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch.  However, there seems to be a sizable gap in negotiations.  Garrioch adds that both sides are interested in working out a longer-term agreement (five or six years) but there’s a big gap in the money.  Pinto’s camp is reportedly seeking around $5MM per season on a deal like that while Ottawa is coming in considerably lower.

The 23-year-old missed the first half of the season after being suspended for violating the league’s gambling policy which resulted in him accepting a contract for the pro-rated league minimum of $775K upon his return.  Pinto wound up being productive for the Sens down the stretch, notching nine goals and 18 assists while logging over 18 minutes a night, solid second-line numbers.  Pinto isn’t yet arbitration-eligible so it’s possible that these talks could drag out as they did a year ago before the suspension came down.

More on Ottawa from Garrioch:

  • The Senators shopped goaltender Joonas Korpisalo at the trade deadline but unsurprisingly, there wasn’t any interest. It was a rough first year in Ottawa for the 30-year-old who posted a 3.27 GAA and a .890 SV% in 55 games, hardly the return they were hoping for after giving him a five-year, $20MM contract back in July.  Considering how the season went, a trade seems unlikely without them either retaining money or adding a sweetener so it might be easier for them to move the final year and $2.75MM of Anton Forsberg’s contract.
  • Garrioch added that Ottawa kicked the tires on acquiring Linus Ullmark from the Bruins at the trade deadline. It’s widely believed that Boston will ultimately move Ullmark over the summer so it wouldn’t be surprising to see the teams rekindle discussions on that front in the coming weeks.  Ullmark has one year left on his contract which carries a $5MM price tag and had a 2.57 GAA with a .915 SV% in 40 games this season after taking home the Vezina Trophy in 2022-23.
  • Defenseman Artem Zub is believed to be a possible trade target this summer according to Garrioch. The 28-year-old has been a steady presence in their top four in recent years and is coming off a career-best 25 points in 69 games.  Signed at a $4.6MM price tag through 2026-27, he’d make sense as a trade target for several teams if GM Steve Staios opts to shake up his back end without moving his top pieces.

Morning Notes: Senators, Khusnutdinov, Wild/Predators

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The Senators’ top four on defense has rarely been healthy at the same time this season, mainly due to Thomas Chabot and Artem Zub struggling to stay healthy. Zub has missed the last three games with a lower-body injury, and although he appears ready to return tomorrow against the Coyotes, it could be one step forward and as much as three steps back, notes Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch. Chabot, Jake Sanderson, and center Joshua Norris all underwent MRIs for undisclosed (upper-body in Norris’ case) ailments yesterday, per interim head coach Jacques Martin, putting their statuses for the Arizona game in doubt.

Aside from the on-ice impact derailing their recent momentum, it’ll be quite the roster puzzle to make corresponding recalls. Zub is the only extra skater on the Ottawa roster, and despite that, they have no cap space for any standard recalls unless they determine one of their three newly injured players will miss at least 10 games and 24 days, in which case they can be placed on LTIR. For a $0 emergency recall, Ottawa would have to play short a player for one game, meaning they could be limited to just 16 skaters tomorrow. They could then recall two players whose cap hits are $850K or less for Saturday’s road game in Philadelphia.

Other things to keep an eye on this morning with the deadline approaching:

  • The Wild hope to have newly signed prospect Marat Khusnutdinov with the team by the end of next week, GM Bill Guerin told Joe Smith of The Athletic on Wednesday. After inking his two-year, entry-level deal yesterday, the 21-year-old Russian center will now begin the work visa and immigration process. Guerin confirmed that Minnesota would start him in the NHL upon his arrival and forego an initial assignment to AHL Iowa and anticipates him stepping into a center role down the stretch. The 2020 second-round pick had six goals, 14 assists, 20 points, and a -14 rating in 55 games with the KHL’s SKA St. Petersburg and HK Sochi this season.
  • Sticking with Minnesota, their game on the road in Nashville tonight will likely go a long way toward informing trade deadline strategies and playoff outcomes for both teams. The Predators now have a five-point gap between them and ninth-place Calgary for the final playoff spot in the West, while the Wild are looking to swing two points in their favor to draw within four of the postseason cutoff with a game in hand. Minnesota’s 8-2-1 run since the All-Star break has them squarely back in the playoff conversation after falling out of it entirely a couple of months ago, but a similarly scorching stretch from Nashville has helped them tighten their grip on a playoff berth for the 16th time in the last 20 seasons.

Atlantic Notes: Tkachuk, Stenlund, Zub, Struble, Forbort

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Panthers superstar winger Matthew Tkachuk will return to play when Florida faces the Sabres tomorrow, head coach Paul Maurice said (via Jameson Olive of the Panthers’ official site). He’ll be joined by depth center Kevin Stenlund, who, like Tkachuk, missed Saturday’s overtime win over the Capitals.

Tkachuk was absent due to an undisclosed injury sustained during the first period of Thursday’s game against the Hurricanes after a collision with Carolina winger Andrei Svechnikov. Stenlund, meanwhile, was out ill. It was both players’ first time missing a game this season.

The 26-year-old Tkachuk has rebounded from a sluggish start and is right back to where he’s expected to be production-wise. Anchoring a second line with Sam Bennett and Carter Verhaeghe, Tkachuk is up to 20 goals and 65 points in 57 games, two points behind Sam Reinhart for the team lead. He’s on pace to break the 100-point plateau for the third straight season, three times more than All-Star father Keith Tkachuk ever did.

Stenlund has been a nice value pickup for Florida, settling nicely into the team’s fourth-line center spot with a rotating cast of wingers that currently includes enforcers Jonah Gadjovich and Ryan Lomberg. He’s picked up nine goals and 13 points in 57 games, averaging 12:42 per game with a -6 rating.

Other updates from the Atlantic Division:

  • Senators defenseman Artem Zub will likely miss tonight’s game against the Capitals and is listed as day-to-day with a lower-body injury, per TSN 1200 Ottawa. It’s been an injury-plagued campaign for the premier shutdown defenseman, whose pairing with youngster Jake Sanderson has arguably been one of the NHL’s best two-way threats despite Ottawa’s position in the standings, controlling 56.2% of expected goals in nearly 500 minutes together, per MoneyPuck. Zub did not play in Saturday’s win over Vegas. He missed two games with a lower-body injury earlier this month and has sat out of eight other games this year due to an illness and concussion.
  • Canadiens defender Jayden Struble is questionable for tomorrow’s tilt against the Coyotes after what he called a “pinch” in his back during a game last week, Sportsnet’s Eric Engels says. He was a full participant in practice today and will likely re-enter the lineup Thursday against Florida at the latest. The 2019 second-round pick missed Saturday’s loss to the Devils but has otherwise put together a solid rookie season, notching three goals and seven points through 39 games while boasting some of Montreal’s best possession numbers, albeit in limited minutes (15:52 per game).
  • Bruins depth defender Derek Forbort will be scratched against the Kraken tonight after missing a team meeting this morning, head coach Jim Montgomery said (video link). It’s the second time such a disciplinary scratch has happened this season, the first instance being for winger Jake DeBrusk being held out of an October game against the Kings. Forbort has struggled with injuries this year but has been in the lineup for 10 straight games, his second-longest stretch of the season. He has just four assists in 34 games while logging 17:44 per game, however, and his possession numbers and reputation as a solid penalty killer have both dipped. He’ll be a UFA this summer upon completing his three-year, $9MM deal.

Injury Updates: Soucy, Sanderson, Zub, Chinakhov

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Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet provided an update on Carson Soucy, telling reporters (video link) that the blueliner is currently listed as week-to-week.  The 29-year-old has missed close to a month with a hand injury sustained while blocking a shot.  In his first season with the Canucks after signing a three-year, $9.75MM deal with them back in July, Soucy has six points and 39 blocked shots in 21 games while logging a career-high 17:25 per night.  As things stand, the Canucks don’t have enough cap space to call anyone up from the minors so if someone else has to be promoted, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Soucy transferred to LTIR retroactively.

Other injury news from around the NHL:

  • The Senators will welcome back a pair of defensemen on Saturday as Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch relays that Jake Sanderson and Artem Zub will return from their respective lower-body injuries against Chicago. Sanderson has missed nearly three weeks with his injury and he certainly has been missed as he logs nearly 23 minutes a night for them in the final year of his entry-level deal.  As for Zub, he was out for the last two games, resulting in Ottawa having to dress only 17 skaters earlier this week before being eligible for an emergency cap-exempt recall.  The Sens now have 21 players on their active roster and that’s all they’ll be able to afford as they have less than $75K in cap space, per CapFriendly.
  • Blue Jackets winger Yegor Chinakhov will return to the lineup on Saturday versus San Jose, notes Brian Hedger of the Columbus Dispatch (Twitter link). The 23-year-old started the season on IR and then spent a bit of time in the minors.  However, since being recalled, Chinakhov has started to live up to his potential as a former first-round pick, collecting 14 goals and 10 assists in 40 games so far.  He winds up missing just one game due to the upper-body injury he sustained last weekend.

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