Pacific Notes: Kane, Stonehouse, Zary, Kovalenko
Originally anticipated to be returning to the lineup in 2025, that hasn’t been the case for Oilers winger Evander Kane as he is not particularly close to a return. Speaking with Sportsnet’s Mark Spector, GM Stan Bowman indicated that while Kane has been doing his rehab, he doesn’t have any new information about his potential return. However, Bowman added that more clarity should be coming soon on that front. Edmonton has been operating under the cap this season instead of using LTIR in an effort to give themselves a bit of cap flexibility for when Kane returns. However, if Kane isn’t able to return during the regular season, the Oilers could then dip into LTIR, allowing them to go over the cap by up to $5.125MM which would open up more avenues heading to the trade deadline.
More from the Pacific:
- Still with the Oilers, prospect Brady Stonehouse is on the move in the OHL as Peterborough announced that they’ve acquired the winger from Ottawa. Edmonton signed the 20-year-old as an undrafted free agent back in 2023 and he is burning the first year of his entry-level deal at the junior level. In 18 games with the 67’s prior to the swap, Stonehouse had five goals and five assists.
- The Flames are expected to have more information on how long they’ll be without forward Connor Zary on Friday, relays Sportsnet’s Eric Francis (Twitter link). The 23-year-old suffered what looked to be a serious knee injury against Anaheim on Tuesday and the belief is that he may be facing an extended absence. After spending some time in the minors last season, Zary has been a full-timer with Calgary this season and had a solid first half before the injury, picking up 10 goals and 22 assists in his first 40 games.
- Sharks winger Nikolai Kovalenko will not play tomorrow against Utah due to an upper-body injury, notes Sheng Peng of San Jose Hockey Now (Twitter link). The injury was sustained on Tuesday versus Vegas. Kovalenko has fared relatively well since being acquired last month from Colorado, notching a goal and five assists in a dozen games with San Jose after tallying just eight points in 28 games with the Avs. He’s listed as out day-to-day.
Pacific Notes: Kraken, Walman, Turcotte, Janmark, Stonehouse
With another day off after losing to the Colorado Avalanche on November 5th, the Seattle Kraken have made a few transactions to shore up their cap space. The organization announced they reassigned Cale Fleury, John Hayden, and Ryan Winterton to their AHL affiliate, the Coachella Valley Firebirds, although all three are expected to return tomorrow.
Each of the trio has played in limited action at this point in the regular season as Fleury leads the pack with only two games played. Considering how close the Kraken are to the salary cap limit it’s likely not the last team these three will be papered down to the AHL this year.
On the injury front, Seattle won’t have Philipp Grubauer for the next few days with reports indicating he had an “unfortunate accident” at home (X Link). There weren’t specifics offered for Grubauer’s injury though it’s not expected to be long-term.
It’s not all bad news on the injury front for the Kraken as the team’s radio host Mike Benton shared that defenseman Vince Dunn is expected to begin skating soon. Dunn hasn’t played since October 17th after starting the year with one goal and three points in four games.
Other Pacific notes:
- Defenseman Jake Walman was surprisingly listed as a healthy scratch for the San Jose Sharks’ most recent game against the Columbus Blue Jackets. However, this may not have been the full story with Max Miller of The Hockey News reporting Walman won’t play tonight due to an upper-body injury. He’s been a bright spot on the Sharks’ roster this season with nine points in 13 games while averaging 22:42 of ice time per game.
- Los Angeles Kings’ manager of editorial content, Zach Dooley, reported earlier that forward Alex Turcotte will not play tonight due to an upper-body injury. Dooley noted that it’s not a head injury for Turcotte but he will still miss a second straight game. He’s only scored one goal and five points in 13 games this season but he has been one of the Kings’ most formidable players with a team-leading 3.6 E +/- according to Hockey Reference.
- In more injury news from the Pacific Division, Edmonton Oilers’ reporter Tony Brar shared that Mattias Janmark is considered day-to-day with an undisclosed injury. There won’t be a major shakeup in Edmonton’s roster in Janmark’s absence with the veteran forward averaging under 13 minutes a night on the season.
- Staying in Edmonton, the organization announced Brady Stonehouse had been activated from the season-opening injured reserve and loaned back to the OHL’s Ottawa 67’s. Stonehouse will begin his fourth season with the 67’s after signing his entry-level contract with the Oilers 13 months ago. In his first three years with OHL Ottawa Stonehouse has collected 75 goals and 136 points in 200 games.
Edmonton Oilers Sign Brady Stonehouse To Entry-Level Contract
According to a team release, the Edmonton Oilers announce that the organization has come to a three-year, entry-level contract agreement with forward Brady Stonehouse. An undrafted free agent before the contract, Stonehouse had recently spent the last two seasons with the Ottawa 67’s of the Ontario Hockey League.
During his first year in Ottawa, at 17 years of age, Stonehouse would go on to have a relatively quiet year as a rookie in the league, scoring 18 goals and 17 assists in 68 games. Managing only four games as an organization in the postseason of the 2021-22 season, Stonehouse would chip in with only one goal.
In his sophomore campaign during the 2022-23 OHL season, Stonehouse would break out as one of the better goal-scorers in the 67’s lineup. Playing a full 68 regular season games once again, Stonehouse tallied a total of 37 goals and 20 assists, leading the entire organization in goal scoring.
A persistent fore-checker on offense, Stonehouse has the capabilities to be quite a nuisance in the Oilers lineup in the future. Having already played one game for Ottawa in the current year, Stonehouse will continue to grow his abilities at the OHL level, before finally making the jump to professional hockey.