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David Perron

Nick Cousins Returns to Senators Lineup

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Ottawa Senators forward Nick Cousins has been activated from LTIR and is in the lineup for today’s afternoon tilt against the Flyers, per TSN’s Bruce Garrioch. It represents his first game action since suffering a knee injury in late January. He is skating on a Sens’ third line alongside center Shane Pinto and Michael Amadio.

Originally expected to miss three months with the injury, GM Steve Staios recently stated the 31-year-old Cousins has been “attacking his rehab,” and he now returns ahead of his recovery timeline and in time to help make an impact in the playoffs. Cousins will provide the Sens with a reliable bottom-six option for their playoff lineup, as well as a trustworthy penalty killer. In his career, Cousins has appeared in 63 playoff contests and helped the Panthers capture the Stanley Cup just last season. In 47 games this season, Cousins has produced five goals, 13 points, 80 hits, and 24 blocked shots while averaging just under 12 minutes of ice time per game.

Coach Travis Green told reporters Saturday that he’s happy to see Cousins return to the lineup but added he will be rusty and that the team will have to get him up to speed.

Garrioch adds that forwards David Perron and Ridly Greig and defenders Nikolas Matinpalo and Nick Jensen are out of the lineup today, while Cousins, Angus Crookshank, Dennis Gilbert and Travis Hamonic are all playing. As Garrioch notes, Jensen has been playing with an unspecified lower-body injury for some time, and with the Sens already locked into a playoff spot, now serves as good time to give the veteran some recovery time. With Jensen and Matinpalo out, the door was opened for Hamonic and Gilbert to return to the lineup. Hamonic, who has played in 56 games this season and recorded six points and -17 rating, is skating on the team’s second pairing with Thomas Chabot, while Gilbert is skating with Tyler Kleven on the team’s third pairing. Gilbert has skated in 26 games this season and has recorded five points.

While the other absences from today’s game don’t appear to be serious in nature, Green noted the team is also not mailing in these final games of the season, per Garrioch. Green added that experienced teams understand that the intensity picks up in the playoffs, so he’ll look for his team to continue to showcase that energy in the final games of the season. It’s also one of the reasons the team recently recalled winger Hayden Hodgson to add some physicality to the lineup.

Ottawa Senators To Activate David Perron, Move Linus Ullmark To LTIR

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Jan. 23rd: The Senators needed to create additional cap space to activate Perron for tonight’s game. PuckPedia reports that Ottawa has moved goaltender Linus Ullmark and his $5MM to LTIR opening up the necessary room for Perron and another $1MM in space. Unfortunately, PuckPedia added that the organization would need to clear an additional $1.9MM from their books when they eventually activate Ullmark.

Jan. 22nd:  Longtime veteran winger David Perron is expected to return for the first time since before American Thanksgiving. Although no official announcement has come from the Ottawa Senators, Matt Porter of The Boston Globe reports Perron will suit up tomorrow night against the Boston Bruins.

The timing couldn’t be better for Perron or the Senators. The former has been limited to nine games this season due to unfortunate complications in the birth of his daughter and a nagging back injury for the last few weeks. Even if Perron stays healthy enough to play in Ottawa’s remaining 35 games, it’ll be the first time since the 2010-11 season he’s failed to play 45 or more regular season contests.

Still, his return can’t be seen as anything other than a positive. Thanks to a 14-8-3 run over their last 25 games, the Senators are hanging on to the top wild-card position in the Eastern Conference. Given that Ottawa is the eighth youngest team in the NHL and Perron is only one of three former Stanley Cup champions on the roster, his experience should prove a boon as they compete for a berth in the Stanley Cup playoffs for the first time since the 2016-17 season.

Perron’s return should also help alleviate some issues in the team’s bottom six. Because the Senators are closer to the salary cap ceiling than they’ve been in seasons past, the bottom six of their forward core is largely composed of spare parts.

The veteran winger should provide more consistency to that group assuming he stays healthy the rest of the way. Ottawa has more pressing needs on the blue line during the trade deadline season which is where much of their focus is expected to go.

Senators’ Linus Ullmark, Travis Hamonic Out Week-To-Week

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Ottawa Senators head coach Travis Green issued a laundry list of injury updates on Sunday, captured by TSN’s Bruce Garrioch. Most notably, starting goaltender Linus Ullmark was designated as week-to-week with a back injury. Ullmark hasn’t skated since leaving the team’s December 22nd match against Edmonton early after his back tightened up. He’s missed five games since, and will now continue to sit out through the bulk of January.

Losing their star netminder has been a tough blow for Ottawa to bear. They’ve turned to a mix of Anton Forsberg and Leevi Merilainen in his absence, but totaled a bleak 1-4-0 record and 3.20 goals-against per-game. Ullmark has been far more successful in net, ranking 16th in the league wins (12) and seventh in save percentage (.915). He’s everything Ottawa was hoping for when they traded two players and a first-round pick for him this summer. But with him on the shelf for the foreseeable future, the Senators are once again faced with a lack of goaltending depth.

Forsberg should continue his role of de facto starter, giving him a chance to improve on his .885 Sv% in 12 games this year. But Merilainen will receive the biggest opportunity with this news. He’s spent the season moving back-and-forth between the major and minor rosters, in the mix posting a team-best .901 Sv% in 13 games for the Belleville Senators. The 22-year-old has also set a 2-2-0 record and .884 in his NHL appearances this season, and could earn a big role if he proves to be the piece the pulls Ottawa out of their lump.

Green also shared that defenseman Travis Hamonic will miss two-to-four weeks with a lower-body injury. Hamonic played down to the final minute of Ottawa’s Friday loss to St. Louis, and didn’t seem noticeably limited in his final shift. But he’ll now be out for the long-term, likely opening the door for Jacob Bernard-Docker to step back into the lineup. Bernard-Docker has four points in 25 games this season, continuing his scoring slump after he scored just 14 points in 72 games last season. If he proves a shaky addition, the Senators could also turn towards Nikolas Matinpalo, who has only played one NHL game this season but has scored seven points in 24 AHL games.

In brighter news, forwards David Perron and Michael Amadio have both returned to skating. Both are recovering from upper-body injuries. Perron has been injured for much of the season, only appearing in nine games and not yet scoring for his new club. Amadio has been a bit more impactful, scoring 10 points in 33 games in the mix of Ottawa’s bottom-six. Placing Hamonic and Ullmark on injured reserve would clear the space for Ottawa to activate both forwards.

Ottawa Senators Recall Nikolas Matinpalo, Place Three On IR

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The Ottawa Senators announced they’ve recalled depth defenseman Nikolas Matinpalo from their AHL affiliate, the Belleville Senators. The roster move marks the second time in three weeks that Matinpalo has been recalled to serve as the team’s seventh defenseman.

Ottawa had to make additional roster moves given that Matinpalo is the fifth player recalled by the organization in the last 24 hours. TSN’s Steve Lloyd reported that the Senators have retroactively placed David Perron, Anton Forsberg, and Artem Zub on the team’s injured reserve opening up the necessary roster spots. Perron and Zub reportedly returned to practice yesterday meaning Matinpalo’s time on the active roster should be short-lived.

Matinpalo is in his second year with the Senators organization signing back-to-back one-year contracts out of the Finnish Liiga. He was a quality two-way defenseman for the AHL Senators last year scoring four goals and 14 points in 67 games with a +15 rating. He went scoreless through his first seven AHL postseason contests but still finished with a positive +1 rating.

The Espoo, Finland also debuted in the NHL last year skating in four games for Ottawa from late October through early November. He was rarely used during those contests shouldering seven minutes of ice time a night on average but still found the time to deliver four hits.

He’s had a small uptick in scoring this year in the AHL with two goals and seven points in 23 games but isn’t expected to greatly extrapolate on last season’s totals. He’ll continue to serve as Ottawa’s seventh defenseman for the time being with the team four games through a nine-game road trip.

Atlantic Notes: Matthews, Senators, Boqvist, Vecvanags

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The Maple Leafs will be without captain Auston Matthews for at least the next two games, mentions Nick Barden of The Hockey News.  The 27-year-old has missed the last two contests due to an upper-body injury that has lingered throughout the season.  When healthy, he has been productive with 11 goals and 12 assists in 24 games although that output is below his usual level.  Head coach Craig Berube did note that Matthews is getting better which is a positive sign although given how long this injury has lingered, it’s fair to suggest that it’s something the center will be dealing with at times throughout the rest of the season.

Elsewhere in the Atlantic Division:

  • Senators winger David Perron (upper body) and defenseman Artem Zub (foot) both skated today as they work their way back from their respective injuries, notes Sportsnet’s Alex Adams (Twitter link). The veterans each last played back on November 23rd when they sustained their respective injuries.  Meanwhile, winger Michael Amadio (head) is expected to be out for a while according to head coach Travis Green.  It’s unlikely that Perron and Zub will be available to return right away given Ottawa’s four recalls earlier today but the fact they’re both skating suggests they’re getting closer to suiting back up.
  • Panthers forward Jesper Boqvist has been cleared to return to the lineup, team reporter Jameson Olive relays (Twitter link). He missed the last three games while being in concussion protocol.  Boqvist is in his first season with Florida and has five goals and six assists through 33 games so far while averaging 13 minutes a night of playing time.  Although he was eligible to be placed on IR during his absence, the team elected not to do so.
  • Canadiens prospect Mikus Vecvanags has signed with QMJHL Acadie-Bathurst, per a team announcement (Twitter link). Montreal selected the netminder in the fifth round (134th overall) back in June.  Vecvanags was selected by the Titan in the CHL Import Draft but elected to start the season with BCHL Brooks but playing time was hard to come by as he got into just five games with the Bandits, posting a 3.18 GAA with a .881 SV%.

Atlantic Notes: Panthers, Talbot, Domi, Pacioretty, Kucherov, Guentzel, Perron

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It’s never too early to start thinking about the trade deadline, despite being three months away. Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic agrees, touching on what the Florida Panthers might do to improve their roster between now and March 7 (Subscription Article).

The defending Stanley Cup champions likely don’t have many complaints as they sit second in the Atlantic Division and fifth in the Eastern Conference. The only glaring issue for the Panthers this season is the middling defense as the team sits 25th in GA/G at 3.20. It was always going to be difficult for Florida to recover from the departures of Brandon Montour and Oliver Ekman-Larsson. Still, they’ll want to add a top-four defenseman over the next three months.

The Panthers have some flexibility at the trade deadline with a projected cap space of $5.47MM. This should allow the organization to bring in a rental option for the home stretch of the regular season and the playoffs. Florida could get creative and look beyond this season for their blue line, especially considering that longtime defenseman Aaron Ekblad becomes an unrestricted free agent after this season.

Other notes from the Atlantic Division:

  • According to broadcaster Daniella Bruce, the Detroit Red Wings won’t have netminder Cam Talbot available during their two-game road trip against the Boston Bruins and Ottawa Senators. This means rookie netminder Sebastian Cossa will likely be with the team for the remainder of the week under emergency conditions unless Alex Lyon is activated from the injured reserve. Head coach Derek Lalonde has already confirmed Cossa won’t get the start this evening against the Bruins but could make his NHL debut later this week should Ville Husso continue struggling.
  • The Toronto Maple Leafs will be without forwards Max Domi and Max Pacioretty tonight but it appears that won’t be the case for much longer. David Alter of The Hockey News reported earlier that they are getting ’close’ to returning from injury despite being ruled out for tomorrow’s game against the Nashville Predators. Toronto has played extremely well of late despite multiple injuries to their forward group accruing an 8-2-0 record in their last 10 contests.
  • Tampa Bay’s first line could look different in their upcoming matchup on Thursday against the San Jose Sharks. In two separate reports, Eduardo A. Encina of the Tampa Bay Times shared that the Lightning are hopeful that forward Nikita Kucherov will return to practice tomorrow and that Jake Guentzel left today’s practice with an apparent ailment. The team will know more tomorrow regarding the status of both players but there’s growing concern the Lightning will need to pull from their depth up front in a few days.
  • It’s been a difficult introductory season for David Perron with the Ottawa Senators. He’s only suited up in nine games this season and it doesn’t appear he’ll be adding to that total soon (X Link). He missed significant time earlier in the season due to a health scare with his newborn daughter but has missed due to an upper-body injury more recently.

Snapshots: Hurricanes, Boeser, Drouin, Perron, Paul, Romanov

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Already without Frederik Andersen long-term, the Hurricanes won’t have fellow goaltender Pyotr Kochetkov for the time being as he’s now in concussion protocol, meaning their current tandem is Spencer Martin and Yaniv Perets.  To that end, ESPN’s Kevin Weekes reports (Twitter link) that Carolina is looking into what options might exist on the trade market.  Andersen is out for at least two more months while Kochetkov’s timeline is less certain.  The Hurricanes are almost right at the salary cap limit per PuckPedia while they do have nearly $2.4MM in LTIR room if needed.  With that in mind, it wouldn’t be surprising if Carolina was looking into players on lower-cost deals to try to give them a small upgrade between the pipes in the short term.

Elsewhere around the NHL:

  • Barring any issues arising from today’s practice, Canucks winger Brock Boeser could return to the lineup on Tuesday in Boston, mentions Sportsnet’s Iain MacIntyre. The 27-year-old has missed nearly three weeks due to a concussion, putting a strong start to his season on pause.  In his contract year, Boeser has six goals and five assists in a dozen outings so far.
  • Avalanche winger Jonathan Drouin has been limited to just five games this season after missing more than a month due to an upper-body injury. Now, the team announced (Twitter link) that he’s dealing with another upper-body injury, one that kept him out of the lineup against Tampa Bay.  Drouin has been productive when in the lineup as he has two goals and two helpers in his limited appearances so far.
  • Senators winger David Perron was a late scratch for tonight’s game against Calgary due to an upper-body injury, relays TSN’s Claire Hanna (Twitter link). The veteran returned to Ottawa’s lineup a little over a week ago after taking time away when his newborn daughter needed to undergo surgery.  It has been a rough go on the ice for Perron’s first season with the Sens as he has been held without a point for his first nine games of the season.
  • Lightning forward Nick Paul will miss at least this week with the undisclosed injury that has held him out for nearly a week now, notes Erik Erlendsson of Lightning Insider (Twitter link). The 29-year-old had gotten off to a nice start offensively before the injury, notching five goals and eight assists in 17 games while seeing time at both center and the wing.
  • Islanders defenseman Alexander Romanov just returned to the lineup after recovering from a nagging injury but was a late scratch tonight. However, it wasn’t a recurrence of the injury as the team announced (Twitter link) that the 24-year-old was scratched due to being sick and is listed as day-to-day.  Romanov has two assists, 27 blocks, and 31 hits in 11 games so far this season.

David Perron Returns To Senators

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Senators winger David Perron had been away from the team for a better part of a month for a personal reason.  Speaking with reporters today including Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch, the veteran revealed that his newborn daughter had to undergo surgery to remove a tumor.  However, things have improved enough to allow the 36-year-old to return to the team.

Perron signed with Ottawa on the opening day of free agency back in July, inking a two-year, $8MM contract with a partial no-trade clause.  The Sens reshaped part of their forward group over the offseason with Perron being the most notable addition alongside Michael Amadio, Noah Gregor, and Nick Cousins.

Perron got off to a slow start, certainly understandable given the circumstances.  He was held off the scoresheet in his first five appearances while averaging just 13:26 per game, his lowest ATOI since his rookie campaign back in 2007-08.  Nonetheless, his return will be a welcome one.

While Perron made the trip to Carolina, it’s not a guarantee that he will suit up as the Sens could elect to wait one more game, allowing him to get a couple more practices in before officially returning to the lineup.  He remained on Ottawa’s active roster during his absence so the team doesn’t need to make a roster move when he is indeed ready to play.

Senators Notes: Zub, Pinto, Perron

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The Senators will indeed have Artem Zub back in the lineup to face the Islanders tonight, per TSN 1200 Ottawa. Zub had missed the last nine games with a concussion he sustained early in the team’s third game of the season against the Kings back on Oct. 14, but he’s been skating with the team for around a week, and it became clear yesterday that he was likely to return today at home.

It will be Jacob Bernard-Docker coming out of the lineup to make way for Zub’s return, a bit of a surprise given his exemplary possession play (55.3 CF%, fourth on the team). Travis Hamonic remains in the lineup despite going without a point and recording a -5 rating with a 46.7 CF% through 12 appearances. Zub will skate in his usual top-pairing role alongside Jake Sanderson.

Zub posted a +1 rating, one block and three hits in his three regular-season contests last month while averaging 13:58 per game, a number that was dragged down significantly given he sustained his concussion in the first period of his third game. He recorded a career-high 20 assists and 25 points with 122 blocks and 139 hits for the Sens last year in 69 games. Head injuries are becoming a bit of an unfortunate trend for Zub, who missed seven games early last season with a concussion as well and 12 games in 2022-23 with a fractured jaw.

There’s more on the Senators:

  • Shane Pinto skated before today’s game, but he didn’t take line rushes and will remain out against the Isles, per TSN 1200. Bruce Garrioch of Postmedia reported Wednesday that he might be an option to return, but instead, he’ll miss a seventh straight game with an undisclosed injury. He’s still listed as week-to-week but appears close to a return if his presence in tonight’s game was questionable 24 hours beforehand.
  • The same goes for David Perron, who remains around the club for home games and practiced today but remains out of the lineup while on personal leave. The 36-year-old, who signed a two-year, $8MM contract in free agency over the summer, had no points and a -4 rating in five contests before departing the team midway through last month.

Atlantic Notes: Tkachuk, Perron, Greenway

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The defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers have gotten off to a strong start this season to the tune of a 4-2-1 record which becomes more impressive when considering the team has been without forwards Aleksander Barkov and Matthew Tkachuk for five games. The latter has been out for more than a week with an illness but should return tomorrow night against the Minnesota Wild according to David Dwork of The Hockey News.

Tkachuk managed two assists in two games for the Panthers to start the season before exiting the lineup on October 14th. He’s expected to slot in on the right wing next to familiar linemates Sam Bennett and Carter Verhaeghe.

He should have been a popular candidate to replace Eetu Luostarinen on Florida’s first line but their production over the last few games leaves little room for upgrade. According to Hockey Reference, the combination of Luostarinen, Sam Reinhart, and Anton Lundell has produced 23 points through seven games with an even more impressive E +/- of 8.1.

Other Atlantic notes:

  •  The Ottawa Senators’ most notable unrestricted free agent signing from this past offseason, David Perron, will be away from the team for the foreseeable future due to personal reasons (X Link). Perron joined the Senators on a two-year, $8MM pact to take on a similar role to his tenure with the Detroit Red Wings. He’s gone scoreless through his initial five games with the organization and will look to rebound upon his return.
  • Lance Lysowski of The Buffalo News reported earlier that forward Jordan Greenway has returned to practice for the Buffalo Sabres after suffering an upper-body injury and Mike Harrington of Buffalo News Sports later added he could feature in the lineup tomorrow. Greenway was a surprise scratch in the team’s most recent game against the Chicago Blackhawks a few days ago as it took until after the contest to learn about his upper-body injury. He currently sits tied for fourth on Buffalo in scoring with two goals and four points through the first six games. 

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