Snapshots: Aho, Pacioretty, Rangers Injuries
The New York Islanders have activated defenseman Sebastian Aho off of injured reserve and are expecting him to return for the team’s Wednesday night game. Aho has missed the team’s last eight games with an upper-body injury.
The Islanders are facing a slew of injuries to their blueline, recalling Grant Hutton to the NHL lineup on Wednesday to replace Scott Mayfield, who was announced as day-to-day with an injury of his own. Mayfield joins Ryan Pulock and Adam Pelech on the list of inactive Islanders’ defenders. The team also acquired Robert Bortuzzo via trade, adding to their depth on the back end.
Aho’s return gives New York a small boost. The 27-year-old defenseman has appeared in 19 games this season, netting four assists, six penalty minutes, and a -3. While Aho made his NHL debut in the 2017-18 season, it wasn’t until last year that he played in more than 40 games in one season. He totaled 23 points, 22 penalty minutes, and a +9 through 71 games in the 2022-23 season, ranking fourth among Islanders defenders in scoring.
Other notes from around the league:
- Washington Capitals winger Max Pacioretty took a full practice for the first time this season on Wednesday, taking a major step towards his return from an Achille’s tendon injury. Pacioretty was announced as still being two weeks away from a return on December 6th.
- New York Rangers head coach Peter Laviolette shared a handful of injury updates, noting that “nothing has changed” for centerman Filip Chytil (upper-body injury), Kaapo Kakko (lower-body injury) has yet to resume skating, and that he has no update on when K’Andre Miller (personal reasons) may return.
New York Rangers Recall Riley Nash
The New York Rangers announced today that they have recalled forward Riley Nash from the Hartford Wolf Pack of the AHL. The 34-year-old is a veteran of 627 NHL games, and will be playing for his seventh NHL team should he dress in any games with the Rangers during his recall.
The native of Consort, Alberta hasn’t played in an NHL game since the 2021-22 season when he dressed for three teams in a single season and posted just four assists in 49 games. He spent all last season in the AHL with the Charlotte Checkers where he had 24 goals and 35 assists in 66 games. This season with Hartford he has been nearly a point-a-game player once again registering nine goals and 10 assists in 20 games.
Nash signed a two-year deal with the Rangers back in July that is paying him the NHL minimum of $775K this season. The Rangers likely signed Nash in hopes of him being a player that could provide offense in the AHL and be a bottom-six depth option in the NHL should the team run into injury concerns. So far Nash has shown offensive flair in the AHL, and now with the Rangers running into injury concerns with their forward group, he could have an opportunity to show himself during this recall. Nash has had periods of being able to put up points in the NHL, but his last solid offensive season was in 2017-18 when he was just 28 years of age.
The Rangers currently lead the surprisingly weak Metropolitan Division by eight points with a record of 18-5-1. They will be tested here in the coming days as Chris Kreider and Barclay Goodrow are both day-to-day and Kaapo Kakko and Filip Chytil are on the IR.
Afternoon Notes: Chytil, Rust, Bogosian
New York Rangers head coach Peter Laviolette shared that forward Filip Chytil is, “moving in the right direction” with his upper-body injury, adding that he thinks Chytil will return this season. The 24-year-old centerman is currently on long-term injured reserve, sitting out of action since November 3rd with an upper-body injury.
Chytil appeared in 10 games with the Rangers before going down with injury, recording six assists and four penalty minutes. He was averaging nearly 16 minutes of ice time each game through the early season, the highest average of his seven-year NHL career. Chytil scored a career-high 22 goals and 45 points in 74 games last season, after recording either 22 or 23 points in each of his four prior NHL seasons. The step forward in scoring brought Chytil’s career totals to 144 points in 337 games.
Chytil is one of many injured Rangers forwards, with the team also without Barclay Goodrow and Chris Kreider, who are both day-to-day with injury, and Kaapo Kakko, who is alongside Chytil on injured reserve.
Other notes from around the league:
- Pittsburgh Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan has provided another update on winger Bryan Rust, saying that he is continuing to be evaluated for an upper-body injury and won’t be available on Friday. Rust has been in and out of the lineup this season, ultimately playing in 22 of the team’s 25 games this season. He ranks fourth on the Penguins in scoring with 10 goals and 20 points.
- The Minnesota Wild have shared that Zach Bogosian could return from his upper-body injury on either Thursday or Friday. Bogosian has missed two games with the injury, managing one point in the nine appearances he has made this season.
New York Rangers To Place Kaapo Kakko, Filip Chytil On LTIR
The New York Rangers are going to be placing Kaapo Kakko and Filip Chytil on long-term injured reserve, according to USA Today’s Vince Z. Mercogliano.
Mercogliano adds that the Rangers “don’t believe Kakko’s injury is season-ending,” although he is set to miss “significant time.”
Additionally, Chytil’s LTIR placement is retroactive to November 3rd, meaning he can be activated at any time. The move to LTIR clears cap space for recalls in the immediate term, as placing Chytil and his $4.437MM cap hit gives the club additional flexibility to make moves.
In more LTIR-related news for the Rangers, 2020-21 Norris Trophy winner Adam Fox is set to be activated off of the long-term injury list and is expected to return to the Rangers’ top pairing alongside Ryan Lindgren.
This update on Kakko is both good and bad news for the Rangers. On one hand, Kakko’s injury last night definitely looked severe. One could not be blamed for expecting Kakko to miss the entire season due to the injury, even without knowing more details about the injury.
So today’s news that the Rangers don’t expect the injury to be season-ending, and do believe that it “could have been worse,” is certainly welcome.
That being said, the loss of Kakko for such a significant amount of time is a major setback for the Rangers. The 22-year-old 2019 second-overall pick has undoubtedly had his fair share of issues this season, and his three points in 20 games are a far cry from the 18 goals and 40 points he scored in 2022-23.
That being said, this injury now robs Kakko of what looks to be, at the very least, a massive chunk of his 2023-24 season. While he had struggled in his first 20 games, there was no guarantee that those struggles would continue for the full 82-game slate.
Kakko’s defense and play along the boards have long been appreciated by the Rangers, so maybe with a few more months the points he started tallying with more regularity last season would start coming this year. Maybe, by the end of this season, Kakko could have put together a convincing case to be a long-term member of the Rangers’ core.
Now Kakko has lost the chance to take those major steps forward in his development, at least until far later in the season. Moreover, this injury means the Rangers will be working with significantly less information as to where Kakko stands and what his future holds when they enter contract negotiations with him this offseason.
As for Chytil, as mentioned this move to LTIR is purely cap-related. He’s begun skating again and is moving closer to a return to the ice. He’s been out since November 2nd.
Fox’s return is the good news for the Rangers. He’s the team’s most important defenseman and arguably its best skater. He’s scored more than 70 points in back-to-back seasons and is on pace to score 80 points if he stays healthy the rest of the way. Fox was injured in the same game as Chytil, but his return could come a bit sooner as he’s expected to play tomorrow.
Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Metropolitan Notes: Raanta, Chytil, Rust
The Hurricanes have managed to avoid a true injury crisis in the crease. After he left Wednesday’s game against the Oilers due to what the team labeled as “precautionary reasons,” netminder Antti Raanta is starting today’s contest against the Lightning and won’t miss any time, team reporter Walt Ruff relays.
While Raanta ended up recording the win against the Oilers, he was pulled from the game after the first period, where he allowed one goal on eight shots. Raanta missing any time would have created a significant bind for the Hurricanes, who also released veteran Jaroslav Halák from a PTO this week. Outside of Pyotr Kochetkov, who is serving as Raanta’s backup while starter Frederik Andersen is undergoing treatment for a blood clotting issue, the Hurricanes have only one goalie under NHL contract. That’s Quinnipiac grad and one-time national champion Yaniv Perets, who is in his first season of professional hockey after signing an entry-level deal with Carolina last summer. The highest level of hockey he’s played is second-tier minor hockey, playing with the ECHL’s Norfolk Admirals this year.
Other notes in the Metropolitan Division on this holiday weekend:
- Rangers center Filip Chytil has taken a key step in his recovery from an assumed concussion, as head coach Peter Laviolette told the New York Post’s Larry Brooks today that the Czech center has returned skating on his own. Chytil, 24, has remained sidelined since November 2 with what’s being labeled an upper-body injury and remains on injured reserve. He had notched six assists in ten games before the injury, which has kept him out of the last seven games.
- Penguins winger Bryan Rust will miss a second straight game with a lower-body injury tonight against the Sabres, head coach Mike Sullivan told Matt Vensel of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but it’s likely to be his last absence related to the ailment. Dan Kingerski of National Hockey Now relayed that Rust was a full participant in this morning’s skate and is nearing a return to action. Rust underwent evaluation for a lower-body injury earlier this week, but testing revealed the injury was not serious and resulted in a day-to-day designation. Drew O’Connor, who has just one goal and four points in 18 games this season, has occupied Rust’s spot on the top line. Rust has excelled in the early going, notching 16 points through 17 games.
Metro Notes: Devils, Carter, Rangers, Pelech, Shepard
Being outscored by a margin of six goals in their last four games, the New Jersey Devils have been without some of their top-quality players for the last several games. A reporter for the team, Amanda Stein, even went as far as to report that team captain, Nico Hischier, will not be joining the team on their upcoming road trip to take on the Winnipeg Jets and Pittsburgh Penguins. However, Stein did clarify that although he will not be in the lineup against the Jets, Jack Hughes could return against the Penguins.
Officially out with an upper-body injury, most consumers of the game could tell Hischier may have had a lingering injury issue headed into the season. Having only played in seven games up to this point in the year, Hischier has only mustered two goals, not generating nearly as much offense as New Jersey may have hoped to start an important year for the franchise.
Hughes, on the other hand, has been desperately missed by the Devils. Truly coming into his own as a former overall selection, Hughes got off to one of the hottest starts in the league, scoring five goals and 15 assists in the team’s first 10 games of the season. After taking a hard crash into the boards during the team’s regulation loss against the St.Louis Blues only 10 days ago, the Devils have performed at a 1-3-0 clip in his absence.
Other notes:
- Head coach of the Penguins, Mike Sullivan, announced to the media that forward Jeff Carter is dealing with an upper-body injury, and that is the reason behind him missing practice this afternoon (X Link). Over the last two weeks, Carter has been a healthy scratch in several games before the end of October, as Pittsburgh has been looking to strengthen its bottom six forward groupings. On the final year of a two-year, $6.25MM extension signed with Pittsburgh back in 2022, Carter has failed to score a point in his first 10 games this season.
- Arthur Staple of The Athletic issued several updates on the status of injured members of the New York Rangers today, indicating that Ryan Lindgren should be available for practice on Wednesday, while injured forward Filip Chytil will not be with the team. Lindgren has been dealing with a mild upper-body injury incurred during the team’s shootout win Sunday night against the Columbus Blue Jackets, while Chytil has been out since the beginning of November, also with an upper-body injury.
- One of the most important defensemen for the New York Islanders, Adam Pelech, missed the team’s last game against the Washington Capitals just two days ago. In an update from Andrew Gross of Newsday, Pelech is officially listed as a game-time decision for their matchup against the Edmonton Oilers tonight but should be expected to play. Even though the Islanders have not gotten off to a terrific start to the season, Pelech still holds a 91.1% oiSV% in 10 games played on the year.
- In what will go down as another ‘paper’ transaction on the season, the Capitals sent down goaltender Hunter Shepard and recalled him today in a separate transaction (X Link). Largely due to an injury to Charlie Lindgren, Shepard has played in two games for Washington this year, winning both, and posting a .915 SV% with a 2.50 GAA.
Metro Injury Notes: Capitals, Fox, Chytil, Shesterkin
The Washington Capitals got off to a slow start under rookie head coach Spencer Carbery, but more recently they have begun to turn things around. They are currently right in the thick of a hotly contested Metropolitan Division, and they have as much of a chance to return to the playoffs after last year’s miss as any team. One of the major things that has hurt the Capitals this season has been injuries, although the team could be getting good news on that front soon.
GM Brian MacLellan told team reporter Tarik El-Bashir that defenseman Joel Edmundson and forward Nic Dowd are nearing a return from injury, and the hope is that both can return to team practice later this week. Edmundson has yet to make his debut for the Capitals, who acquired him for third and seventh-round picks this summer, but he would likely take Alexander Alexeyev‘s spot on the left side of the Washington defense. Dowd, 33, is a veteran fourth-liner who has played for the Capitals since 2018-19. His return would likely allow the team to return its current fourth-line center, Hendrix Lapierre, back to the AHL, a move that might better suit his development.
Some more injury notes from the Metro:
- The New York Post’s Mollie Walker relays word from New York Rangers head coach Peter Laviolette that Adam Fox and Filip Chytil are both progressing from their injuries, but have not returned to skating yet. That means any return to game action is still a ways off, though it is encouraging that Laviolette appears to expect both to return to the Rangers without any massive absence. With Fox on LTIR after a nasty collision against the Hurricanes, there was some worry in the New York market that their top defenseman’s season was in question. Now, based on Laviolette’s comments, it appears Fox’s season is not in danger.
- Walker also delivered an update on Rangers star netminder Igor Shesterkin, who is out with an injury of his own. Walker reports that Shesterkin skated this morning, although he’s not quite ready to return to full game action. As a result, Jonathan Quick will start for the Rangers tonight against the Detroit Red Wings, while veteran Louis Domingue will serve as the backup.
New York Rangers Place Adam Fox On LTIR, Filip Chytil On IR
In unfortunate news for the New York Rangers, Vince Z. Mercogliano of USA Today is reporting the team will place defenseman Adam Fox on long-term injured reserve. In a follow-up note, Mercogliano also relays the team is also expected to place forward Filip Chytil on injured reserve, meaning he will be out for at least the next week.
After colliding with Sebastian Aho in last night’s win against the Carolina Hurricanes, the expectation is that Fox will miss the next two to four weeks with a lower-body injury. It is a massive blow to a rolling Rangers team, who have won their last six games and sit at the top of the Metropolitan Division.
Fox continues to score at a rapid pace, scoring three goals and eight assists in the team’s first 10 games, averaging just over 21 minutes of ice time per night. With nine of those points coming on the powerplay, he is one of the primary reasons the team’s powerplay is humming at a solid 32.43% success rate to start the year.
The team does have other defensemen they can lean on for the time being, such as K’Andre Miller, who has provided the team with one goal and six assists through the first 10 games, but no other defenseman on the roster truly offers what Fox is able to bring to the team. One of the best offensive contributors in the league on the blue line, New York will have to go the next couple of weeks without one of their most important players.
Chytil, on the other hand, is also another important piece to have missing, but it will likely only be for the next three games. Sitting sixth on the team in scoring so far, Chytil has six assists on the year, without yet scoring a goal. In the meantime, due to their depth at the center position, Chytil’s spot in the lineup will likely be filled by Vincent Trocheck between Artemi Panarin and Alexis Lafreniere.
Injury Notes: Liljegren, Chytil, Senators
The Toronto Maple Leafs have tweeted that defenseman Timothy Liljegren has left tonight’s game against the Boston Bruins and won’t be returning. It is the second time in less than a week that the 24-year-old has had to leave a game with an injury as he was forced to exit a game last week against the Nashville Predators with what was described as an upper body injury.
Liljegren’s injury tonight is being called a lower body injury, but it appears likely it is something in his foot or ankle. The injury happened in the dying moments of the first period as Liljegren and forward Brad Marchand of the Bruins were skating towards the corner and engaging in a puck battle. Marchand appears to give Liljegren the can opener before the Maple Leafs defenseman goes awkwardly into the boards. The move from Marchand was essentially a trip as he appeared to put his stick between Liljegren’s legs and force him to the ice. Liljegren’s skates then smashed into the end boards, likely causing his injury.
In other injury notes:
- Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet is reporting that New York Rangers forward Filip Chytil is done for tonight’s game after colliding with Carolina Hurricanes forward Jesper Fast in the first period of the matchup this evening. Chytil left with what is being described as an upper-body injury and was last seen on the Rangers bench in obvious pain before leaving the game. The 24-year-old center has six assists in nine games this season and has been working primarily as the team’s second-line center. Should he be out for any period it is likely that Vincent Trocheck was moved up to the second line in his absence.
- The Ottawa Senators have tweeted that young forward Ridly Greig left tonight’s game against the Los Angeles Kings with a lower-body injury and did not return. The news was similar for Greig’s teammate Mark Kastelic who also suffered a lower-body injury and was unable to get back onto the ice. Senators coach D.J. Smith offered an update on both players that was covered by Murray Pam of Full Press Hockey. Smith said that he figures both Greig and Kastelic will miss a few games due to their ailments. Greig has been filling in admirably for the suspended Shane Pinto and has registered two goals and five assists in eight games while Kastelic has no points and 21 PIM in eight games this year. Given the Senators’ predicament, it does seem likely that the team will have to recall some players from the Belleville Senators of the AHL.
Injury Notes: Timmins, Chytil, Kurashev
The Toronto Sun’s Terry Koshan shared that Toronto Maple Leafs defender Conor Timmins sustained a lower-body injury in the team’s preseason matchup against the Montreal Canadiens. The duration of Timmins’ injury should be clearer following MRI testing, although Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe already shared that, “[Timmins] is going to miss some time, he is going to be out for a bit.”
This is an incredibly untimely injury for Timmins, who has been one of the brightest points of Toronto’s training camp. The 25-year-old defenseman has six points through three preseason games, leading the league by two points. This falls in line with the strong scoring Timmins exhibited in the NHL last season, netting two goals and 14 points through 25 games in the NHL. Previously the 32nd-overall pick in the 2017 NHL Draft, Timmins has yet to work his way into consistent NHL minutes, splitting time between the top league and the AHL. In fact, last season was his first time appearing in 10 or more NHL games since the 2020-21 season, when he appeared in 31 games with the Colorado Avalanche, recording seven points. Timmins was sent to the Arizona Coyotes following that season – a main part of the deal that sent Darcy Kuemper to Colorado. A little over a year later, Arizona sent Timmins to Toronto for Curtis Douglas. Now, the defender seems poised for an NHL opportunity; that is, if he can maintain his strong play after he returns from injury.
Other injury notes:
- Filip Chytil skated individually prior to the New York Rangers practice, indicating that he’s progressing in his return from an upper-body injury sustained earlier in the week. The injury was labeled as an unserious, day-to-day injury and Chytil’s return to the ice seems to further indicate that he won’t be out for long.
- Chicago Blackhawks forward Philipp Kurashev sustained a wrist injury that held him out of the team’s practices on Saturday. However, no further timetable was provided for the injury. The 23-year-old has become a consistent part of the Blackhawks lineup, appearing in 70 games with the club last season – his third year of 50 or more NHL games. The team will look for him to return to the lineup sooner rather than later.