Injury Updates: Maple Leafs, Greenway, Blues, Hedman, Ristolainen
The Maple Leafs have placed defenseman Dakota Joshua and defenseman Chris Tanev on LTIR, PuckPedia reports (Twitter link). Joshua is dealing with a lacerated kidney that has kept him out for the last month and while he has started light skating, he’s not expected to return until after the Olympic break. Tanev, meanwhile, has missed the last month with a groin issue. There’s no timeline for his return but he has already missed the required 10 games and 24 days so if he returns – something that is in the air with him reportedly uncertain about surgery – so he’s eligible to be activated at any time.
Other injury news from around the NHL:
- Sabres winger Jordan Greenway has been limited this season after undergoing two sports hernia surgeries over the last 13 months. He doesn’t play in back-to-backs and practice time has been limited. Bill Hoppe of the Olean Times Herald mentions that the veteran is expected to meet with doctors on Thursday to determine if what he’s dealing with in terms of discomfort is something that can be fixed or if it’s something he just has to keep playing through. If any sort of procedure is needed, now would be a good time with the three-week break coming up which would limit the amount of time Greenway would miss.
- The Blues announced (Twitter link) that wingers Jordan Kyrou (upper body) and Jake Neighbours (lower body) are listed as day-to-day after undergoing further evaluations on their respective injuries. Head coach Jim Montgomery was unsure if either player would be available for Thursday’s game against Florida. Both Kyrou and Neighbours left Tuesday’s loss to Dallas but it appears it’s the best-case scenario for both of them.
- Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman took part in practice today for the first time since being sidelined with an elbow injury nearly seven weeks ago, relays Eduardo A. Encina of the Tampa Bay Times. The 35-year-old has missed 33 of the last 36 games and has a dozen assists in 18 games this season while averaging just over 21 minutes per game. Hedman has long been targeting a return that would allow him to play in the Olympics and it appears he’s on track to do so. Notably, head coach Jon Cooper didn’t rule out the possibility of the captain returning for Sunday’s Stadium Series game.
- The Flyers announced (Twitter link) that defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen left tonight’s game against Columbus due to a lower-body injury. He played 1:01 over two shifts before exiting. The 31-year-old missed more than two months to start the season due to a triceps injury, then missed six more this month to an upper-body issue, one that he just returned from on Monday. Ristolainen has been limited to just three assists and 25 blocks in 15 games when he has been in the lineup. Notably, he’s set to play for Finland in the Olympics so if this injury is set to keep him out for more than a couple of weeks, that could cause him to miss the event.
Atlantic Notes: Edvinsson, Senators, Nylander, Joshua
Red Wings defenseman Simon Edvinsson will miss his second straight game tonight against Winnipeg due to a lower-body injury and it appears he’ll be out longer than that as well. Team reporter Jonathan Mills relays (Twitter link) that the blueliner will be reevaluated when the team returns home from their current road trip with a decision to be made on which path he will be taking at that time. That type of decision typically implies that a longer absence is potentially on the table. That would be a big blow to Detroit’s defensive group as the 22-year-old has been a big part of their success this season. Through 48 games, Edvinsson has 17 points and 104 blocks while averaging a career-high 22:35 per game.
Elsewhere in the Atlantic:
- Senators goaltender Linus Ullmark will return to the lineup soon, possibly as early as Sunday, relays Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch (Twitter link). He stepped away for a leave of absence for mental health reasons just after the holiday break and Ottawa’s goaltending has struggled mightily since then, with backup Leevi Merilainen recently being sent back to the minors for a reset. Meanwhile, Garrioch also notes that assistant coach Mike Yeo has taken over the penalty kill from Nolan Baumgartner. Ottawa’s shorthanded play this season has been an issue as the Sens rank 31st in the league with a success rate of just 71.7%.
- Maple Leafs winger William Nylander skated today as he continues to work his way back from a lingering groin issue, mentions David Alter of The Hockey News. He missed six games earlier this season with the same issue and was reinjured in his fourth game back. There remains no timetable for his return with the team likely to be extra cautious but the fact he’s back on the ice is an important first step toward returning.
- In the same piece, Alter also noted that forward Dakota Joshua skated for the first time since suffering a lacerated kidney that has kept him out for the last 13 games and counting. However, head coach Craig Berube was quick to indicate that the 29-year-old is still a long way away from returning to the lineup. Joshua is in his first season with Toronto and had been fairly quiet prior to the injury, picking up 10 points and 127 hits in 36 games.
Chris Tanev, Dakota Joshua Out Indefinitely
Dec. 31: Head coach Craig Berube told reporters today, including Friedman, that Tanev will be out indefinitely after being diagnosed with a groin injury.
Dec. 30: After previously being ruled out for tonight’s game, it’s clear Maple Leafs skaters Chris Tanev and Dakota Joshua will miss more time than that. Tanev will be out for “some time” with a lower-body issue unrelated to the previous injury that sidelined him for nearly two months, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports, while Joshua sustained a kidney injury in Sunday’s game against the Red Wings that resulted in internal bleeding, remaining in Detroit for observation.
Both will likely end up on injured reserve today to create the roster space for Matt Benning and Jacob Quillan, who were recalled from AHL Toronto this morning. Tanev was only just activated from IR last week, missing 27 of Toronto’s previous 28 contests with an upper-body injury. The right-shot defenseman’s brief return to the Toronto roster consisted of three games of work, posting a +3 rating with seven blocks while averaging 20:40 of ice time.
Tanev, arguably the Leafs’ most stabilizing defensive presence, has played in only 11 games this year due to an upper-body injury he initially sustained on Oct. 21 against the Devils. Despite that, his +8 rating is still third-best on the team, and his duo with Jake McCabe has allowed just 0.84 goals against per 60 minutes at 5-on-5, sitting among the league’s most staunch defense pairs.
Another multi-game absence will force the Leafs to continue to lean on overmatched right-shot depth like Philippe Myers, although it will give the chance for waiver claim Troy Stecher (1-5–6, +9 in 19 GP) to continue his strong run of play alongside McCabe. The burden on Myers and Stecher should be eased soon with Brandon Carlo nearing a return from foot surgery, but it’s far from an ideal situation as Toronto tries to climb out of a tie for last place in the Eastern Conference.
Joshua had appeared in all but two games for the Leafs this season, his first in Toronto after being acquired from the Canucks last offseason in exchange for a fourth-round pick. He’s improved on his underwhelming showing for Vancouver last year, but not by much, putting up a 6-4–10 scoring line in 36 games. He’s excelled in providing the element of physicality that’s expected from him, though, leading the team in hits with 127 and ranking second among Leafs forwards with 26 blocks.
For a player starting nearly three-quarters of his even-strength shifts in the defensive zone, though, Joshua’s -2 rating is a fine one. He’s consistently logged third-line minutes at even strength and is far from being an insignificant loss for what will likely be the next several weeks as a result. Expanded ice time should be in store for trade bait Matias Maccelli and rookie Easton Cowan, who’s posted four goals and 11 points through his first 27 games.
Maple Leafs Recall Matt Benning, Jacob Quillan
The Maple Leafs have recalled defenseman Matt Benning and center Jacob Quillan from the AHL’s Toronto Marlies, according to a team announcement. Toronto’s active roster is full, so two corresponding moves will be necessary. The reinforcements come as defender Chris Tanev and left winger Dakota Joshua will be scratched for tonight’s game against the Devils due to lower-body and upper-body injuries, respectively, but the Leafs haven’t yet said whether they’ll miss enough time to be eligible for IR placements.
Tanev’s and Joshua’s absences aren’t the only injury troubles the Leafs are facing, either. Auston Matthews will be a game-time decision after sustaining a lower-body injury in Sunday’s loss to the Red Wings that briefly caused him to leave the bench. William Nylander‘s status for tonight is also unclear – he remains day-to-day after sitting out the Detroit loss with a lower-body injury.
Benning, 31, was a full-time NHLer for several years with the Oilers, Predators, and Sharks but hasn’t seen much playing time over the past two seasons. Hip surgery limited him to 14 games in 2023-24 and, after making seven appearances for San Jose to kick off last season, was traded to Toronto. The Leafs immediately waived him and reassigned him to the Marlies, where he’s played since.
The 6’1″ puck-mover put up disappointing numbers last year but has seemed to find his game again in 2025-26. Now in the final year of a four-year, $5MM deal he signed with the Sharks in free agency in 2022, he’s tied for eighth on the Marlies in scoring with two goals and eight assists for 10 points despite being limited to 16 appearances, posting a decent +4 rating to boot. He’s already eclipsed all of his offensive marks from last season in 39 games.
With Tanev coming out, adding a right-shot option like Benning to the roster was preferable. Whether he plays tonight against the Devils or whether Simon Benoit re-enters the lineup on his off side after serving as a scratch for the last three games remains to be seen.
Quillan’s recall is his second of the season. The 23-year-old pivot was rostered for a nine-day stretch last month, getting into a pair of games – the second and third of his NHL career. He’s still looking for his first big league point and would enter the lineup tonight if both Matthews and Nylander can’t go.
An undrafted free agent out of Quinnipiac, the 6’1″ Quillan has emerged as the Marlies’ top two-way forward in just his second professional season. He leads the team with 18 assists and 23 points in 26 games, as does his +7 rating. He’s done plenty to cement his ceiling as a long-term bottom-six option in Toronto and, although there isn’t much of a job for him this year, has likely been penciled in as a replacement for pending unrestricted free agent Scott Laughton.
Maple Leafs Acquire Dakota Joshua From Canucks
The Maple Leafs have acquired forward Dakota Joshua from the Canucks in exchange for their 2028 fourth-round pick, according to a team announcement.
It’s a homecoming of sorts for Joshua, whom Toronto drafted in the fifth round of the 2014 draft. He never signed with the Leafs, though, and had his signing rights traded to the Blues after he wrapped up his collegiate career with Ohio State in 2019.
Joshua worked his way up the St. Louis system over the next few years, playing 42 games under head coach Craig Berube, whom he now reunites with in Toronto. After establishing himself as an NHLer in the 2021-22 campaign, he left for Vancouver in free agency on a two-year, $1.65MM contract.
The 6’3″ forward was a high-end fourth-line piece for the Canucks out of the gate but really flourished in the 2023-24 campaign. After being moved up to a third-line role, he was a spectacular checking winger with a team-leading 245 hits while also contributing 32 points in 63 games, a 42-point pace had he stayed healthy.
Despite there being clear regression indicators – an unsustainably high 21.4% shooting percentage among them – Vancouver committed to Joshua on a four-year, $13MM deal with trade protection to keep him from testing free agency last summer. He has a 12-team no-trade clause, which presumably did not include Toronto.
Joshua’s season last year was a rocky one, but for more than on-ice reasons. He missed the first couple of months after announcing late in the offseason he’d undergone surgery to address testicular cancer, which thankfully hasn’t had further impacts on his health. He also dealt with a leg injury that cost him most of January, only making 57 appearances in all. His scoring cratered, posting a 7-7–14 line, while seeing his ice time drop back under 13 minutes per game as well.
Vancouver has been looking to clear cap space, and Irfaan Gaffar of the Down to Irf podcast reports that moving Joshua has been their desired mode of accomplishing that task for a while. The Canucks were close to the cap but now have $4.045MM in space with two open roster spots after the trade, per PuckPedia.
Joshua isn’t the impact top-six addition Toronto has been on the hunt for after losing Mitch Marner in free agency, but he does add another bottom-six option to complement their other bang-and-crash forwards like Scott Laughton and Steven Lorentz while recouping some of the physical element they lost when they traded declining enforcer Ryan Reaves to the Sharks earlier this month.
The ripple effect on the Leafs’ roster will be interesting to watch. Without any other moves, Joshua’s inclusion essentially boxes unsigned RFA Nicholas Robertson out of a role, potentially finally producing a trade after he requested one last year. They’re also down to under $3MM in cap space and could look to clear a salary in kind, like Calle Jarnkrok‘s $2.1MM cap hit or David Kampf‘s $2.4MM cap hit to open up flexibility as they continue to examine the market for a higher-ceiling scoring winger.
Thomas Drance of The Athletic was first to report Joshua was traded to Toronto.
Image courtesy of Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images.
Canucks Announce Four Roster Moves
The Canucks will get some help tonight versus Nashville as the team announced (Twitter link) that forward Dakota Joshua and defenseman Noah Juulsen have been activated off injured reserve. To make room on the roster, winger Kiefer Sherwood was placed on injured reserve while winger Max Sasson was assigned to AHL Abbotsford.
Joshua had missed nearly the last four weeks with a leg injury. It has been a tough year overall for him as his start to the campaign was delayed while recovering from testicular cancer. Upon returning, he wasn’t as impactful as he was last season. He has two goals and two assists through 24 outings although his physicality is still present as he has 83 hits while logging 12:21 per night with limited time on special teams.
As for Juulsen, he landed on IR retroactively last week with an undisclosed injury. He winds up missing a little over two weeks with the issue. Juulsen has played in 32 games this season, predominantly on Vancouver’s third pairing. He’s still looking for his first point but does have 57 blocks and 89 hits in 16:34 of playing time per night, the highest that number has been since the 2018-19 season.
Sherwood has been a nice addition to Vancouver’s bottom six group this season. He has recorded 13 goals and eight assists in 47 games while recording a league-high 273 hits; for comparison, no other player has reached 185. He left last Thursday’s game with an undisclosed injury and assuming they back-date his placement, Sherwood will be eligible to return as soon as Friday versus Dallas.
Sasson loses his roster spot to make the activations happen. He has been up with Vancouver for six separate stints this season, spanning 24 games altogether where he has two goals and four assists in a little over 10 minutes a night. After putting up 42 points in 56 AHL games last season, Sasson’s per-game numbers are down a bit with Abbotsford this year although he still has nine points in 16 outings.
Canucks Notes: Sherwood, Joshua, Friedman
The Vancouver Canucks fit in a practice early this morning before traveling to St. Louis to begin a three-game road-trip. The skate brought plenty of updates. Most notably, third-line forward Kiefer Sherwood did not travel with the team, per Jeff Patterson of Rink Wide: Vancouver. He is expected to miss Monday’s game, at least, after also sitting out of the team’s Saturday win over Washington. There is hope that he could join the team partway through the trip. No specifics of Sherwood’s injury have been disclosed.
Sherwood is having a career year in his first season with the Canucks. He ranks fourth on the team with 13 goals – just behind Jake DeBrusk (17), Brock Boeser (16), and defender Quinn Hughes (14). Sherwood has totaled 21 points through 47 games, putting him just six games shy of his career-high in scoring with 34 games still on the schedule. It has been a long road to land Sherwood in an everyday NHL role. He originally debuted with the Anaheim Ducks in 2018-19, but only managed 12 points in 50 games as a rookie. He spent the next three seasons making only spot starts at the top flight, through trips with Anaheim and the Colorado Avalanche, before spending the full season with the Nashville Predators last season. That’s when he set a career-high 27 points – a number he’s poised to smash now with the fourth club of his seven-year career.
In other Canucks news, forward Dakota Joshua made his return to the practice sheet on Sunday. Joshua has missed Vancouver’s last 10 games with a leg injury. He was placed on injured reserve on January 6th. Joshua has had an up-and-down season. A summer cancer diagnosis forced him to sit out the first month of the season, but he was a routine presence in the Canucks lineup between November and early January. He’s managed just four points and 20 penalty minutes through 24 games – but was riding a seven-game scoring drought prior to injury. He seems to be nearing a lineup return, likely giving him a chance to break his cold spell on Vancouver’s upcoming trip.
Ahead of the road trip, Vancouver also assigned defenseman Mark Friedman to the AHL. Friedman has only played in five NHL games this season – two coming last week. He hasn’t managed any scoring through the appearances, with 10 penalty minutes and a -4 his only notable stat changes. He’s been slightly more productive in the minors, with one goal and six points in 20 appearances with the Abbotsford Canucks. Friedman has served as a top AHL call-up for nearly every year of his nine-year career. He’ll continue to fill that role with this move, with Vancouver opting to carry rookie defenseman Elias Pettersson for their road trip instead.
Injury Updates: Doughty, Laferierre, Drouin, Joshua
There could be some good news on the horizon for Kings defenseman Drew Doughty. Darren Dreger reported in TSN’s latest Insider Trading segment that the blueliner could practice in a non-contact capacity next week. At this point, the team is hoping that the 35-year-old could return to the lineup before next month’s 4 Nations Face-Off. Doughty has yet to play this season due to an ankle injury, causing a big blow to Los Angeles’ back end. The Kings are currently using LTIR and haven’t banked much cap space so when Doughty does return, their cap flexibility will take a hit but their blueline will get a significant boost as they look to move up in the Pacific Division.
Other injury news from around the NHL:
- Still with the Kings, Zach Dooley of LA Kings Insider relays that winger Alex Laferriere won’t play on Thursday due to an upper-body injury with a further update on his status expected later in the week. The 23-year-old is having a strong sophomore year, notching 13 goals and 13 assists through his first 41 games, already besting his numbers from last season. His absence should open up a spot for Samuel Helenius – just recalled today – to get into the lineup.
- Avalanche winger Jonathan Drouin has battled injury issues this season and it appears that the injury is something he’s going to be battling for a while yet. He told reporters including Evan Rawal of The Denver Gazette that this is something that’s likely to linger for the next little while and is hoping that the long break for the 4 Nations Face-Off will allow the injury – Rawal indicates that it’s a rib issue – to properly heal. When healthy, Drouin has fared quite well with 10 points in 12 games but it’s fair to say that this hasn’t been the best first half in what is another contract year for him.
- Canucks forward Dakota Joshua has skated a couple of times as he starts to work his way back from a leg injury suffered earlier this month, notes Postmedia’s Patrick Johnston. However, they’ve been light skates and he’s still not particularly close to returning as he remains listed as week-to-week. After a breakout showing last season, this year hasn’t gone as well for Joshua (who missed the start of it while recovering from testicular cancer) as he has just four points along with 83 hits in 24 games.
Canucks Place Dakota Joshua On IR
The Canucks will be without forward Dakota Joshua for at least another two games. General manager Patrik Allvin announced Monday that he’s been placed on injured reserve retroactive to Jan. 3 after he sustained an undisclosed injury in their last game against the Predators. Top forward prospect Jonathan Lekkerimaki comes up from AHL Abbotsford to take his place on the active roster on an emergency basis.
Joshua, 28, had Nashville captain Roman Josi and Vancouver teammate Teddy Blueger fall awkwardly on his left leg behind the net midway through the second period of a 3-0 loss. He went to the room but returned for the third period.
His being healthy enough to take a few shifts after the injury is a good sign for his recovery timeline, but he’ll still miss a few contests while recovering. The depth winger has just two goals and four points in 24 appearances this season, down sharply from the 18 goals and 32 points in 63 games last year that earned him a four-year, $13MM extension.
Regardless of his production, seeing him on the ice is good. Joshua was diagnosed with testicular cancer over the offseason and missed the first 14 games of the year while recovering from surgery.
A lack of individual chance generation has hurt Joshua’s game the most this season. He’s taken just 10 shots on goal and attempted 28. That’s just 0.42 shots on net and 1.17 attempts per game, down from 1.33 and 2.32 last season, respectively. That also works out to a career-low 35.7 shots through percentage.
Outside of the lack of offense, the 6’3″ Joshua has been his usual physical self. His 83 hits rank second on the team behind Kiefer Sherwood‘s eye-popping 220, despite his extended absence early in the year.
The Canucks didn’t have an extra forward on hand with Elias Pettersson still on injured reserve, so Lekkerimaki comes up and will presumably play tonight in Montreal. The 2022 15th overall pick had one goal and a -4 rating in five NHL games during a November call-up, his first since arriving in North America last spring.
Lekkerimäki, 20, leads Abbotsford with 12 goals and 17 points in 21 games. However, his -10 rating is the worst on the club.
Canucks Notes: Demko, Pettersson, Hughes, Joshua, Schneider
Speaking with reporters following Friday’s loss to Nashville, head coach Rick Tocchet told reporters including TSN’s Farhan Lalji (Twitter link) that goaltender Thatcher Demko, defenseman Quinn Hughes, and center Elias Pettersson will all travel on their upcoming five-game road trip. Additionally, he’d be “shocked” if they didn’t suit up at some point over that stretch. Those three are obviously three of Vancouver’s top players and getting them back would help their chances of snapping their current drought that has seen them lose six of their last eight games. Their returns would also result in some players being sent down, opening up more cap space which is notable for a management team that’s known to prefer to strike early on the trade front.
More from Vancouver:
- There might be another cause for concern on the injury front as well. Postmedia’s Patrick Johnston notes that winger Dakota Joshua was banged up with a lower-body injury last night against Nashville and even though he returned to finish the game, he might not be fully healthy now as well. Joshua has struggled this season since returning from his battle with testicular cancer and has been limited to just four points in 24 games although he sits second on the team with 83 hits.
- In a separate piece from Johnston, he relays that Vancouver has been interested in Rangers winger Alexis Lafreniere and defenseman Braden Schneider for quite some time. While Lafreniere isn’t likely to be moved having signed a long-term extension earlier this season, their interest in Schneider likely still stands, especially since he plays the type of role they tried to fill with Vincent Desharnais over the summer, a move that hasn’t worked out so far. Of course, Schneider is only 23 and with New York struggling, he might not be the type of player they’re necessarily looking to move.