Injury Notes: Oshie, Fabbri, Jets
The Washington Capitals are expected to get T.J. Oshie back in the lineup tonight, though he has been officially listed as a game-time decision. The veteran forward hasn’t played since December 17 and has just 22 appearances under his belt this season. Those have been relatively unsuccessful appearances, too, with Oshie registering just two points in the 11 games prior to the injury. He has just five goals and 11 points on the year.
Still, with Oshie, Nicklas Backstrom, and Tom Wilson all returning relatively soon, the Capitals have several key veterans getting back for the second-half run. Whether that can result in legitimate Stanley Cup contention remains to be seen, but they’ve been doing just fine so far. Washington is 8-1-1 in their last ten and have closed the gap to just two points between them and the tail-spinning New Jersey Devils for second in the Metropolitan Division.
- The Detroit Red Wings are expected to place someone on waivers today, given the imminent return of Robby Fabbri. Team reporter Daniella Bruce reports that Fabbri will be back in the lineup playing with Pius Suter and Oskar Sundqvist tomorrow when the Red Wings take on the Devils. The 26-year-old is coming off another ACL injury and will be making his season debut after scoring 17 goals and 30 points in 2021-22.
- If it were the playoffs, Nate Schmidt, Cole Perfetti, and Nikolaj Ehlers would all be in the Winnipeg Jets lineup, according to head coach Rick Bowness, who spoke with reporters including Scott Billeck of the Winnipeg Sun today. None of them will play, against the Calgary Flames but are on the verge of returning to the lineup. For Ehlers, a return would be his third appearance of the season and first game since October 17. Josh Morrissey, who has also missed practice recently, is expected to play.
Central Notes: Jets, Middleton, Langlois
The Jets have been banged up this season and there isn’t much short-term help on the horizon. Sportsnet’s Ken Wiebe relays (Twitter link) that center Saku Maenalanen is the closest to returning and is about a week away. The 28-year-old has been a regular in the bottom six for Winnipeg this season, notching four goals and two assists in 25 games but has missed the last three weeks with an upper-body injury.
Next up on the return list is expected to be Cole Perfetti. The youngster is expected to miss a week to ten days with an upper-body issue. Perfetti has been one of Winnipeg’s more productive players this season as he’s tied for sixth in team scoring with 20 points in 33 games. Unfortunately for them, those are the only players that are somewhat close to returning as their other injuries (a list that includes Nikolaj Ehlers, Blake Wheeler, and Nate Schmidt, among others) are at least multiple weeks away from returning.
More from around the Central Division:
- Wild defenseman Jacob Middleton did not accompany the team on their trip to Winnipeg due to a non-COVID illness, the team announced (Twitter link). The 26-year-old is in his first full season with Minnesota and has shored up their third pairing nicely. Middleton has six points, 57 blocks, and 48 hits in 33 games this season. His absence is why the team recalled Andrej Sustr from AHL Iowa earlier today.
- Coyotes prospect Jeremy Langlois is on the move in the QMJHL as Cape Breton announced (Twitter link) that they’ve moved the defenseman to Quebec for a pair of draft picks. The 19-year-old was a third-round pick this past summer (94th overall) after an impressive season offensively that saw him collect 47 points in 60 games. His numbers are down slightly this year although he’s still on pace for 40 points. Langlois has not yet signed his entry-level contract but is eligible to turn pro next season.
Injury Updates: Keller, Turcotte, Perfetti
While Coyotes forward Clayton Keller won’t be ready to play at the start of the preseason, he told NHL.com’s Tom Gulitti that he expects to be ready for Arizona’s season opener on October 13th. The 24-year-old was well on his way to a career year last season with 63 points in 65 games but at the end of March, he fractured his leg which ended his campaign prematurely. The original timetable for a return after surgery was four-to-six months and it appears this recovery will be on the long end with Keller likely to have a reduced workload in their exhibition games if he’s able to get into the lineup at all.
Other injury news from around the NHL:
- Kings center Alex Turcotte is on the roster for their rookie tournament but AHL Ontario head coach Marco Sturm told reporters, including Andrew Knoll of the Los Angeles Daily News, that Turcotte has not been cleared to participate yet. The 21-year-old sustained two concussions last season, the second of which came in the playoffs. Evidently, the symptoms from that one are still lingering which could have his ability for the start of training camp next week in question.
- Jets forward Cole Perfetti has been cleared to participate in Winnipeg’s rookie tournament contests after dealing with multiple injuries last season, relays Postmedia’s Scott Billeck. The 20-year-old got into 18 games with Winnipeg in his rookie year and acquitted himself well with seven points while averaging over 14 minutes per game. Perfetti suffered a shoulder injury back in February and while rehabbing it, he re-aggravated a back injury that needed several months to heal. He’ll use this event as a tune-up for training camp.
West Notes: Kaprizov, Keith, Jets Prospects
Concerns continue to rise about the availability of Russian players to NHL teams next season. One player who’s come into focus today due to a variety of conflicting reports is Kirill Kaprizov, who Minnesota Wild general manager Bill Guerin confirmed today is still in Russia despite rumors stating he had returned to the United States. In response to reports this morning that Kaprizov is currently wanted in Russia for buying a false military ID card five years ago, Guerin said the following:
We’re not going to push the panic button or anything like that. We’re just trying to gather information right now and find out if this is even credible.
Kaprizov is one of the multiple players whose situations are in limbo, exacerbated by the fact their KHL rights are held by CSKA Moscow, a Russian army-owned team. Russo notes that in the past, CSKA players have been exempt from military service, but this is an informal and non-codified rule. In addition, Kaprizov’s exemption from mandatory military service via a studentship in a Russian organization expired at the end of June. Very little is confirmed about the situation, but it’s a significant development that bears watching over the course of the offseason as it pertains to Kaprizov’s availability to the Wild next season.
- The Edmonton Oilers will get some clarity soon on the playing future of defenseman Duncan Keith, who could potentially decide to retire with one season remaining on his contract carrying a $5.54MM cap hit. General manager Ken Holland noted that he’d spoken to Keith twice in the past few weeks and that he’s requested an answer by this Saturday. That gives the Oilers a brief window of time ahead of free agency to work out replacement plans for Keith if he retires. The 38-year-old defenseman would not inflict a cap penalty on the Oilers if he opts to call it a career.
- Winnipeg Jets general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff gave injury updates today on a pair of important Jets prospects. Cole Perfetti, who suffered an upper-body injury in mid-February, has just started skating again and is not cleared to participate in the 2022 World Junior Championship for Team Canada. Additionally, 2021 first-rounder Chaz Lucius, who underwent ankle surgery after suffering a late-season injury with the University of Minnesota, won’t participate for the United States.
Snapshots: Jets, Behrens, Lehner, Zadina
With Winnipeg now mathematically eliminated from playoff contention, interim head coach Dave Lowry told reporters, including Sportsnet’s Ken Wiebe (Twitter link), that center Mark Scheifele and winger Cole Perfetti aren’t expected to return by the end of the season. Scheifele has missed the last couple of weeks with an upper-body injury while Perfetti has been out for more than two months with an upper-body issue of his own. Perfetti, however, is expected to rejoin the team for practice sometime next week and could be a candidate to play for Canada at the World Championships next month for the second year in a row.
Elsewhere around the hockey world:
- After an impressive freshman season at the University of Denver, Avalanche defenseman prospect Sean Behrens told Peter Baugh of The Athletic (subscription link) that he sees himself remaining in college for one or two more years. The 19-year-old was a second-round pick (61st overall) last summer and had 29 points in 37 games as he helped lead the Pioneers to the NCAA title. With Colorado moving blueline prospects Justin Barron and Drew Helleson at the trade deadline, Behrens is now clearly their top prospect on the back end.
- Following Friday’s confusion of reports suggesting Robin Lehner was out for the season while Vegas head coach Peter DeBoer stated he expected the netminder at practice today, the Golden Knights issued a statement indicating that Lehner won’t skate today as he takes an additional maintenance day. However, the team remains hopeful that will be available to play tomorrow against San Jose. This strange situation will drag out a little longer as a result.
- Red Wings winger Filip Zadina won’t play again this season after undergoing an appendectomy back in Florida, relays MLive’s Ansar Khan. It was a tough year for the 22-year-old as he managed just 10 goals and 14 assists in 74 games. While those were career highs, Detroit was undoubtedly expecting more from Zadina, the sixth-overall pick back in 2018.
Central Notes: Jets Injuries, Toews, Holtby
The Jets will get a key player back in the lineup tonight as Scott Billeck of the Winnipeg Sun relays that winger Blake Wheeler will return after missing the last three games due to an upper-body injury. The veteran has overcome a tough start and has averaged more than a point per game in 2022. Winnipeg still has an outside shot at a playoff spot and getting him back won’t hurt their chances.
However, the injury news isn’t all good as center Mark Scheifele did not accompany the Jets on their four-game Eastern road trip. He sits second in scoring with 70 points and logs over 21 minutes a night so his absence will continue to be felt. Meanwhile, rookie forward Cole Perfetti has resumed skating as he works his way back from an upper-body injury sustained back in February, one that saw him suffer a setback the last time he tried to come back.
Elsewhere in the Central:
- Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews hasn’t exactly hidden his disappointment with Chicago’s decision to embrace a rebuild. While he hasn’t requested a trade, Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times wonders if it would be best for both sides to find a change of scenery for the center for next season. Toews has one year left with a $10.5MM AAV and holds a no-move clause which will give him the chance to pick his next organization if they do decide to seek a trade. Toews recently indicated he’d like to speak with GM Kyle Davidson on a regular basis to “know exactly what’s going on in some detail” which suggests he’s looking for some more concrete information about their plans before deciding what’s next for him.
- The Stars have been without goaltender Braden Holtby for more than a month due to a lower-body injury and Matthew DeFranks of the Dallas Morning News relays that the veteran has yet to resume skating. Accordingly, head coach Rick Bowness acknowledged that Holtby may wind up being out for the season. Scott Wedgewood has done well in his first five appearances since coming over to Dallas near the trade deadline and it appears that the backup job will continue to be his for a little while yet.
AHL Shuffle: 03/21/22
It’s certainly a busy day in the NHL today with the trade deadline just hours away plus four games on the schedule. There will be considerable roster movement on the trade front while there will be plenty of paper moves made prior to the 2 PM CT deadline made to give players eligibility to play in the minors down the stretch. We’ll keep track of those moves here.
Atlantic Division
Metropolitan Division
- The Penguins announced (Twitter link) that they’ve sent winger Radim Zohorna to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the AHL. The 25-year-old has three points in a dozen games this season with Pittsburgh while adding 15 points in 31 minor league contests.
- The Washington Capitals re-assigned forward Brett Leason to the Hershey Bears of the AHL (link). Leason had just been recalled by the Capitals yesterday, but the re-assignment could be to simply keep Leason’s AHL eligibility for the remainder of the season intact.
Central Division
- The Predators have sent defenseman Jeremy Davies back to Milwaukee, per the AHL’s transactions log. Davies was brought up on Saturday but with Nashville adding Jeremy Lauzon from Seattle late on Sunday, the 25-year-old can head back to the minors.
- The Dallas Stars have sent goaltender Adam Scheel back to the AHL after acquiring Scott Wedgewood yesterday. Scheel, 22, has up as an emergency backup and never actually saw any NHL action. The young netminder is in his first full season of professional hockey.
- The Winnipeg Jets have reassigned Ville Heinola, Jeff Malott, and Kristian Reichel have all been reassigned to the minor leagues, making them eligible. Notably, Cole Perfetti is not with this group, suggesting that his time in the minor leagues is over after impressing so far.
- After making several trades in the past 24 hours, the Arizona Coyotes have recalled two players from the Tuscon Roadrunners of the AHL: forward Michael Carcone and goaltender Josef Korenar. Carcone has played just two games at the NHL level, both coming this season, however he has been a productive AHL player, tallying 24 goals and 17 assists in 48 games with Tuscon this season. Korenar has not played in the NHL yet this season, but did play in 10 games for the San Jose Sharks in 2020-21 and was moved to Arizona this offseason as part of the Adin Hill trade.
- Having traded goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury to the Minnesota Wild, the Chicago Blackhawks have recalled goaltender Collin Delia from the Rockford IceHogs of the AHL. Delia has had a solid season playing for Rockford, but has only appeared in two NHL games thus far in 2021-22.
Pacific Division
- The Kraken announced (Twitter link) that they’ve recalled winger Kole Lind from AHL Charlotte. Lind has played in seven games with Seattle this season after being their pick in expansion from Vancouver but has spent most of the year in the minors. Seattle has also activated winger Joonas Donskoi off injured reserve.
- The Edmonton Oilers have recalled Brad Malone from the AHL after he played a game with the Bakersfield Condors over the weekend. The 32-year-old is actually the captain of the minor league club, but after converting his contract to an NHL deal has played six games for the Oilers.
- Jake Leschyshyn and Brayden Pachal are heading back up to the Vegas Golden Knights. Leschyshyn’s seen a lot of NHL opportunities this year, getting into 27 games this year and notching his first five NHL points. Pachal made his NHL debut recently before immediately getting sent back down, but he may get another chance here in some NHL games.
- The San Jose Sharks announced they have re-assigned goaltender Zach Sawchenko to the San Jose Barracuda of the AHL. In addition to this, the team recalled forward Sasha Chmelevski and defenseman Ryan Merkley from the Barracuda, and activated Radim Simek off of injured-reserve.
- After placing Michael Amadio and Zach Whitecloud in COVID protocol and trading away Evgenii Dadonov, the Vegas Golden Knights announced they have called up four players: forwards Paul Cotter and Jonas Rondbjerg and defensemen Daniil Miromanov and Zack Hayes. Of this group, only Hayes does not have any NHL playing experience, spending this season and last in the AHL with the Henderson Silver Knights, and the Prince Albert Raiders of the WHL before that.
- The Vancouver Canucks also made a flurry of AHL assignments, primarily for the purpose of keeping players’ AHL ability alive. The organization announced it assigned forwards Sheldon Rempal, Vasily Podkolzin, and Nic Petan, as well as defenseman Noah Juulsen to the Abbotsford Canucks. Podkolzin and Petan were immediately recalled back to Vancouver.
- The Anaheim Ducks announced they have recalled forward Danny O’Regan from the San Diego Gulls of the AHL. O’Regan, 28, has played parts of four seasons dating back to 2016-17, including four games this season with Anaheim.
This post will be updated throughout the day.
Cole Perfetti Moved To Injured Reserve
The Winnipeg Jets announced three injury-related transactions today, including activating both Nathan Beaulieu and the recently claimed Adam Brooks from injured reserve. To make room on the roster, Cole Perfetti has been moved to IR after suffering an upper-body injury last week against the Seattle Kraken.
Getting Beaulieu back explains the demotion of Ville Heinola yesterday and suggests that the veteran defenseman will finally get to continue his season. Beaulieu hasn’t played since January 27 and has just 19 games on the year, between absences from injury and illness. In the second season of a two-year, $2.5MM deal signed in 2020, when he does return to the action he’ll be jumping aboard a Jets team that is still scuffling along, unable to string together any sort of winning streak.
Winnipeg lost on Saturday night to the Edmonton Oilers, snapping a short two-game winning streak from last week. They’ll now take on the Calgary Flames today–a game that won’t include Beaulieu just yet–and try to snap the red-hot Pacific Division leader’s nine-game winning streak. Brooks is making his Jets debut on a line beside Kyle Connor and Pierre-Luc Dubois after being shipped all over the league this season through waivers.
That spot had belonged to Perfetti, who has quickly shown that he is already a full-time NHL option. The 20-year-old forward has seven points in 18 games this season after being the tenth-overall pick in 2020. It’s not clear yet how long Perfetti will be out, but he has to miss at least seven days from his last appearance–February 17.
Paul Stastny Enters Protocol; Cole Perfetti Recalled
The Winnipeg Jets have lost another key player, as Paul Stastny joins his teammates in the COVID protocol. It’s not all bad though, as the team has recalled Cole Perfetti from the taxi squad under emergency conditions. The team has also brought Mikhail Berdin, Jeff Malott, and Austin Poganski from the AHL to the taxi squad, giving them some extra bodies ahead of tonight’s game.
Stastny joins Kristian Reichel, Nikolaj Ehlers, Jansen Harkins, Ville Heinola, Logan Stanley, Nathan Beaulieu, and Dylan DeMelo in the protocol, sapping the Jets of a huge amount of depth before returning to the ice. The team hasn’t played since a 7-1 bloodbath against the Colorado Avalanche on January 6 and after tonight won’t have another game until January 18.
With that light schedule, it does give them a chance to work through this recent COVID outbreak and get some players back. Harkins and DeMelo could both play tonight depending on health, but Stastny certainly won’t. The veteran center actually has 16 points in 24 games this season, a strong pace despite having turned 36 a few weeks ago. He’s been mostly playing on the wing after a long career in the middle of the ice, but has still been a solid contributor. Losing that, along with so many others, will make it a tough test against the upstart Red Wings this evening.
Later in the day, head coach Dave Lowry announced some further bad news. Brenden Dillon and Eric Comrie have both been added to the COVID protocol, leaving the Jets even further shorthanded.
2022 WJC Participants By NHL Team
The 2022 World Junior Championships will get underway from Edmonton and Red Deer, Alberta on Sunday. As is the norm and to be expected from the top U-20 competition in the world, the World Junior tournament field is loaded with drafted NHL talent. While most nations don’t have the prospect depth to form a roster completely composed of NHL prospects and those that do have opted to include some younger, future draft picks, there are still a whopping 106 drafted players on WJC rosters. Nine of ten WJC have at least one current NHL prospect and six of those nine have at least ten draft picks. Those players come from 30 of the NHL’s 32 teams, with the Carolina Hurricanes leading the way with ten prospects. While enjoying the WJC action in the coming days, keep track of who may one day be playing at the highest level:
Anaheim Ducks (4):
F Mason McTavish, Canada
D Ian Moore, USA
F Sasha Pastujov, USA
D Olen Zellweger, Canada
Arizona Coyotes (1):
F Dylan Guenther, Canada
Boston Bruins (1):
F Fabian Lysell, Sweden
Buffalo Sabres (4):
F Jakub Konecny, Czechia
D Nikita Novikov, Russia
D Owen Power, Canada
F Isak Rosen, Sweden
Calgary Flames (1):
F Matt Coronato, USA
Carolina Hurricanes (10):
F Nikita Guslistov, Russia
D Aleski Heimosalmi, Finland
D Ville Koivunen, Finland
D Scott Morrow, USA
F Zion Nybeck, Sweden
D Joel Nystrom, Sweden
F Alexander Pashin, Russia
F Vasily Ponomarev, Russia
G Nikita Quapp, Germany
D Ronan Seeley, Canada
Chicago Blackhawks (4):
G Drew Commesso, USA
D Wyatt Kaiser, USA
D Michael Krutil, Czechia
F Landon Slaggert, USA
Colorado Avalanche (1):
F Oskar Olausson, Sweden
Columbus Blue Jackets (4):
F Kent Johnson, Canada
D Samuel Knazko, Slovakia
F Martin Rysavy, Czechia
D Stanislav Svozil, Czechia
Dallas Stars (4):
F Mavrik Bourque, Canada
F Daniel Ljungman, Sweden
F Logan Stankoven, Canada
F Albert Sjoberg, Sweden
Detroit Red Wings (8):
G Jan Bednar, Czechia
G Sebastian Cossa, Canada
D Simon Edvinsson, Sweden
F Carter Mazur, USA
F Theodor Niederbach, Sweden
F Redmond Savage, USA
D Donovan Sebrango, Canada
D Eemil Viro, Finland
Edmonton Oilers (2):
F Xavier Borgault, Canada
D Luca Munzenberger, Germany
Florida Panthers (5):
F Elliot Ekmark, Sweden
D Kasper Puutio, Finland
F Mackie Samoskevich, USA
F Ty Smilanic, USA
F Justin Sourdif, Canada
Los Angeles Kings (6):
F Martin Chromiak, Slovakia
D Brock Faber, USA
D Helge Grans, Sweden
F Samuel Helenius, Finland
D Kirill Kirsanov, Russia
F Kasper Simontaival, Finland
Minnesota Wild (6):
F Marat Khusnutdinov, Russia
D Carson Lambos, Canada
F Pavel Novak, Czechia
D Ryan O’Rourke, Canada
D Jack Peart, USA
G Jesper Wallstedt, Sweden
Montreal Canadiens (3):
D Kaiden Guhle, Canada
F Oliver Kapanen, Finland
F Jan Mysak, Czechia
Nashville Predators (4):
G Yaroslav Askarov, Russia
F Simon Knak, Switzerland*
D Anton Olsson, Sweden
F Fedor Svechkov, Russia
New Jersey Devils (4):
F Alexander Holtz, Sweden
D Luke Hughes, USA
G Jakub Malek, Czechia
D Shakir Mukhamadullin, Russia
New York Islanders (0)
New York Rangers (4):
F Brett Berard, USA
F William Cuylle, Canada
G Dylan Garand, Canada
F Kalle Vaisanen, Finland
Ottawa Senators (5):
F Ridly Greig, Canada
F Roby Jarventie, Finland
D Tyler Kleven, USA
G Leevi Merilainen, Finland
D Jake Sanderson, USA
Philadelphia Flyers (3):
D Emil Andrae, Sweden
F Elliot Desnoyers, Canada
D Brian Zanetti, Switzerland*
Pittsburgh Penguins (3):
G Joel Blomqvist, Finland
G Calle Clang, Sweden
F Kirill Tankov, Russia
St. Louis Blues (3):
F Tanner Dickinson, USA
D Leo Loof, Sweden
F Jake Neighbors, Canada
San Jose Sharks (1):
F William Eklund, Sweden
Seattle Kraken (2):
F Matthew Beniers, USA
D Ville Ottavainen, Finland
Tampa Bay Lightning (0)
Toronto Maple Leafs (3):
F Roni Hirvonen, Finland
F Matthew Knies, USA
D Topi Niemala, Finland
Vancouver Canucks (1):
F Dmitry Zlodeyev, Russia
Vegas Golden Knights (4):
F Jakub Brabenec, Czechia
D Lukas Cormier, Canada
F Jakub Demek, Slovakia
G Jesper Vikman, Sweden
Washington Capitals (1):
F Oskar Magnusson, Sweden
Winnipeg Jets (4):
F Nikita Chibrikov, Russia
F Chaz Lucius, USA
F Cole Perfetti, Canada
F Daniel Torgersson, Sweden
*Switzerland roster pending finalization on Sunday; team has been in COVID-19 quarantine since Thursday but will be ready to begin tournament and participate as schedule, the Swiss announced.