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Haydn Fleury

Injury Notes: Karlsson, Kapanen, Faulk, Fleury

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Having played their last game before the NHL All-Star break on Saturday night, the Vegas Golden Knights will get a reinforcement as soon as they return, as forward William Karlsson has been officially activated from the long-term injured reserve (X Link). Out with a lower-body injury since the team’s Winter Class game against the Seattle Kraken, Karlsson has missed a total of 12 games for the Golden Knight with this injury.

Although Karlsson has largely been one of the more productive scorers on Vegas’ roster this season, the team has produced a 7-4-1 record in his absence, garnering more appreciation as a Stanley Cup contender in the Western Conference. Before his lower-body injury took him out of the lineup, Karlsson scored 15 goals and 32 points in 38 games for the Golden Knights which still places him fourth on the team in scoring.

As Vegas continues to the Vancouver Canucks as the top team in the Pacific Division, Karlsson will be an important addition back in the lineup. After the All-Star break, to finish off the month of February, the Golden Knights have challenging games against the Edmonton Oilers, Carolina Hurricanes, Toronto Maple Leafs, and Boston Bruins.

Other injury notes:

  • After being placed on the injured reserve on January 16th with a lower-body injury, the St.Louis Blues will be expecting forward Kasperi Kapanen back after the All-Star break (X Link). As one of the more prominent depth offensive pieces on the Blues’ roster, Kapanen has struggled a bit over the course of the season, scoring four goals and 13 points in 42 games on the year.
  • Sticking in St.Louis,  Justin Faulk suffered a lower-body injury in the team’s most recent game against the Calgary Flames and will be kept out until after the All-Star break (X Link). Sitting second on the team in scoring amongst defensemen, Faulk has scored two goals and 19 points in 40 games this season, with only two of those points coming on the team’s powerplay.
  • In another activation from the long-term injured reserve, the Tampa Bay Lightning have done just that with defenseman Haydn Fleury, according to CapFriendly. Having been placed on the team’s LTIR since January 1st with an upper-body injury, Fleury has filled a similar role to which he has played in the past this season, averaging just over 15 minutes of ice time in 12 games for the team this year in a depth role.

Atlantic Notes: Reaves, Rafferty, Lightning

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Maple Leafs winger Ryan Reaves has been on injured reserve for more than a month now with a knee injury.  However, he told Sportsnet’s Luke Fox that he has been ready to return for a couple of weeks and he has simply been scratched for that time.  The 37-year-old is in the first season of a three-year, $4.05MM contract signed back in July and things haven’t gone as planned with the veteran struggling when he was in the lineup to the point of being healthy scratched at times before the injury.  Reaves noted that he’ll need to “stay patient to get in the lineup — or stay patient for whatever else is going to come” but clearly, his comments suggest that patience is starting to wear a little thin if he has indeed been ready to come back for the last two weeks.

More from the Atlantic:

  • Before their game against Tampa Bay, the Red Wings announced (Twitter link) that they’ve recalled defenseman Brogan Rafferty from AHL Grand Rapids. It’s the second recall of the month for the 28-year-old although he didn’t see any NHL action in his first stint and barring injuries, it’s unlikely he’ll suit up much if at all this time around.  Rafferty is in his first season with Detroit’s farm team after signing a two-year, two-way contract back in July.  In 35 games so far with the Griffins, he has 15 points.
  • The only injured Lightning player who could return before the All-Star break is defenseman Erik Cernak, relays Eduardo A. Encina of The Athletic (Twitter link). Cernak has missed a little more than a week with an upper-body injury but it appears he has a chance to come back in their final three games.  Meanwhile, Encina adds that winger Tanner Jeannot remains listed as week-to-week while blueliners Mikhail Sergachev and Haydn Fleury – both currently on LTIR – could return after the break.

Afternoon Notes: Ullmark, Sergachev, Fleury, Kochetkov

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NHL.com reports that Boston Bruins netminder Linus Ullmark is set to return in a backup capacity when the Bruins take on the Colorado Avalanche this evening. Ullmark hasn’t played since a 4-3 overtime loss to the Arizona Coyotes on January 9 as he has been dealing with a lower-body injury. Ullmark will backup starter Jeremy Swayman who has been excellent in his absence. Swayman had a 31-save shutout on Monday over the New Jersey Devils and continues to put up terrific numbers. Ullmark on the other hand had cooled off in early December but was able to finish off 2023 strong capping off a historic year for the 30-year-old. No word yet on when Ullmark is expected to start again, but given that he is backing up Swayman this evening one would think it should be soon.

Other notes from around the league:

  • Both Haydn Fleury and Mikhail Sergachev are likely to miss a few more weeks, as Tampa Bay Lightning head coach Jon Cooper shares that neither are expected back before the break for February 3rd’s All-Star Weekend. Both players are on long-term injured reserve, as Fleury deals with a hand injury and would be eligible to return as soon as January 25th, though he hasn’t recovered fully just yet, while Sergachev nurses a lower-body injury that’s already held him out of 11 games.
  • Carolina Hurricanes fan-favorite Pyotr Kochetkov is getting better from his concussion, returning to team practices for one-on-one work with the team’s goalie coach, shares team reporter Walt Ruff. But despite the return to the ice, Ruff shares that there is still no timetable for Kochetkov’s return to the lineup. Kochetkov last played in January 11th’s matchup against the Anaheim Ducks, saving 10 of 13 shots before leaving the game early. Ducks goaltender John Gibson also left that game early with injury.

Snapshots: Flames, Three Stars, Lightning

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The Fourth Period is reporting that the Calgary Flames picked up trade talks with several teams last week as they look to potentially move on from several pending unrestricted free agents. The Fourth Period cited sources saying that the New Jersey Devils were one of the teams they talked to and even linked the Devils to both Noah Hanifin and Chris Tanev.

The Flames currently have a record of 15-16-5 through their first 36 games which puts them five points out of a playoff spot as they near the halfway point of the regular season. The team will have a big decision to make in the coming weeks as they also have center Elias Lindholm on an expiring contract, and he is reportedly looking for a deal in the range of $9MM annually.

The Fourth Period’s David Pagnotta also believes that teams have expressed interest in Flames defenseman MacKenzie Weegar, but it’s hard to believe Calgary would deal him given that he is in the first year of an eight-year contract and has a full no-trade clause.

Other notes from around the league:

  • The NHL has announced its Three Stars of the Month, with Nathan MacKinnon taking First Star, Auston Matthews winning Second Star, and Connor Hellebuyck being named Third Star. MacKinnon won on the heels of an 11-goal, 29-point performance in 15 games in December, while Matthew’s put up 15 goals and six assists in just 12 games. Hellebuyck’s December performance saw him post an impressive 7-0-2 record, which was good enough for a Third Star.
  • Tampa Bay Lightning writer Chris Krenn is reporting that the Lightning were forced to dress just five defensemen tonight due to injuries and salary cap constraints. The Lightning lost Erik Cernak and Haydn Fleury recently to injury and with no cap space to make a recall, the Lightning were forced to play the Winnipeg Jets one defender short of a full six. The Lightning will be eligible to make an emergency recall after tonight, but due to the language in the Roster Emergency Exception rule, they must wait until the second game to be eligible to recall a player under emergency conditions.

East Notes: Samsonov, Meier, Cernak, Fleury

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Having just cleared waivers yesterday, questions immediately sprouted concerning Ilya Samsonov, and how the Toronto Maple Leafs plan to deal with the struggling goaltender. Now rostered with the organization’s AHL affiliate, the Toronto Marlies, Jonas Siegel of The Athletic shed a bit more light on the issue this afternoon.

Speaking with the General Manager of the Maple Leafs, Brad Treliving, it does not appear that Samsonov will play nor practice with the Marlies this week, as Treliving is quoted as saying, “It’s a physical and a mental reset where can he get away from preparing for the next game and all the pressures that come with it”.

Although a bold action to take near the middle of the season, Toronto is seemingly running out of ideas on how to maximize Samsonov’s play between the pipes. In what is shaping to be the worst statistical output of his career, Samsonov holds a 5-2-6 record in 15 games, carrying a dismal .862 SV% and a 3.94 GAA.

Other notes:

  • Experiencing plenty of injury concerns from multiple significant players this season, the New Jersey Devils will be without forward Timo Meier for an undisclosed amount of time, as he is dealing with a mid-body injury according to team reporter, Amanda Stein. Stein indicates that it is not a re-aggravation of any of Meier’s previous injury concerns this season, something he has been seemingly battling for much of the regular season.
  • Taking a hit to their defensive core, the Tampa Bay Lightning will be without Erik Cernak on a day-to-day basis, while Haydn Fleury will be on more of a week-to-week timeline (X Link). In all fairness to Fleury, Cernak is the more significant defenseman to miss time, as he has blossomed into one of the better shutdown defensemen in the NHL with Tampa Bay. Averaging over 19 minutes of ice time per game, Cernak holds a 90.1% on-ice save percentage at even strength this season.

Snapshots: Maple Leafs, Fleury, Murray, Ciernik, Viel

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With Ilya Samsonov’s struggles, the Maple Leafs have been among the teams that have been sniffing around the goalie market.  However, as Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman relayed in the latest 32 Thoughts podcast (audio link) that Toronto’s foray into the market was believed to be them offering up a late-round pick – possibly a sixth-rounder – but teams were seeking a better return and preferred a prospect for even the lower-end options.  Clearly, there wasn’t anything out there to GM Brad Treliving’s liking which resulted in today’s recall of prospect Dennis Hildeby, a move that is likely only a short-term option given his inexperience.

Elsewhere around the hockey world:

  • As part of today’s roster shuffle that brought up defenseman Philippe Myers to Tampa Bay, CapFriendly reports (Twitter link) that blueliner Haydn Fleury has been placed on LTIR. He exited yesterday’s victory over Montreal early and it appears the injury is significant enough for him to miss at least the next 10 games and 24 days.  Fleury has had a limited role so far this season but does have four points in 12 contests with the Lightning.
  • The Stars announced that they sent down goaltender Matt Murray to AHL Texas today. With Jake Oettinger unavailable for a little longer, it’s likely this is a cap-related move and that he’ll be recalled before their game tomorrow against Montreal.  With Oettinger remaining on the active roster, they’re allowed to make this move even with their starter injured.  Murray has yet to play in Dallas this season but has a 2.86 GAA and a .908 SV% in 13 AHL appearances.
  • Flyers prospect Alex Ciernik has been replaced on Slovakia’s World Junior roster due to injury, relays Dennik Sport’s Matej Deraj (Twitter link). The 19-year-old was in his second appearance in the tournament and had one assist in three preliminary round contests.  Ciernik was a fourth-round pick by Philadelphia back in June, going 120th overall.
  • One day after being brought up on an emergency recall, the Jets announced (Twitter link) that winger Jeffrey Viel has been returned to AHL Manitoba. The 26-year-old didn’t suit up versus Minnesota and has nine points in 24 games with the Moose this season along with 70 penalty minutes.

Lightning Send Philippe Myers To AHL

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Fresh off re-calling Haydn Fleury from his conditioning assignment in the AHL the Tampa Bay Lightning announced today that they’ve re-assigned defenseman Philippe Myers to their AHL affiliate the Syracuse Crunch. Myers had been on the Lightning’s NHL roster since November 9th and only made his regular season debut with the team last night against the St. Louis Blues. The 26-year-old played 15:32 in last night’s game registering two shots on goal.

Myers was with Syracuse for the first month of the season and dressed in nine games for the Crunch. He registered two assists and was +7. This is the third consecutive year that Myers has seen significant time in the minors having played a total of 77 AHL games combined over the past three seasons. Despite so much time in the AHL, Myers has continued to collect NHL salaries the past three seasons including this one where he is making $1.4MM. Myers came over to the Lightning back in July 2022 in the trade that sent defenseman Ryan McDonagh to the Nashville Predators.

Myers demotion could be a signal that defenseman Erik Cernak is ready to return from a reported concussion. Cernak didn’t play in last night’s game against the Blues but is considered day-to-day currently. If Cernak is able to return to the Lightning lineup he would represent a significant upgrade over Myers on Tampa Bay’s back end. While Cernak is not an offensive juggernaut as evidenced by his three assists in 15 games, he does offer a physical presence having dished out 33 hits already this year.

The Lightning need all of the help they can get at this point as they’ve started the season well below expectations with a 6-6-4 record. While on the surface, it would appear as though they have underwhelmed, but when injuries are factored into the equation the team has done well to weather the storm thus far.

Tampa Bay Lightning Recall Haydn Fleury

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The Tampa Bay Lightning announced today that they have recalled defenseman Haydn Fleury from his conditioning assignment with the Syracuse Crunch. Fleury dressed in five games with Syracuse and was pointless during his assignment to the AHL.

Fleury’s AHL assignment began back on November 4th, before that he had been in the NHL with the Lightning for nearly a month. Although he spent almost four weeks on the Lightning’s active roster, he dressed in just two games and posted a single assist. Fleury spent most of October as a healthy scratch, which was the case often in the 2022-23 season as well. Fleury dressed in just 29 games last season with the Lightning, and while he did deal with a lower-body injury early in the year, most of the games he sat out were as a healthy scratch.

Fleury came into the league as a player with high expectations after he was drafted seventh overall by the Carolina Hurricanes in 2014. The 27-year-old spoke at the time about wanting to break into the league as an 18-year-old but was never able to do so. He did make his NHL debut three years later at the age of 21, posting eight assists in 67 games as a rookie.

Despite debuting in the NHL at a young age, Fleury has never been able to find traction as an NHL regular. He bounced back and forth between the NHL and AHL until 2019, before finally remaining on an NHL roster, mostly in a seventh defenseman role for Carolina. Fleury was then dealt to the Anaheim Ducks in April 2021 before he was selected by the Seattle Kraken in the 2021 Expansion Draft. In 2022, Seattle opted not to tender Fleury a qualifying offer which sparked his signing with the Lightning. Now Fleury once again finds himself on the outside of an NHL roster looking in, still a regular healthy scratch despite being a veteran of 246 NHL games.

Snapshots: Haydn Fleury, Olivier, Ponomarev

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The Tampa Bay Lightning have sent defenseman Haydn Fleury to the AHL’s Syracuse Crunch on a conditioning assignment. Fleury has only played in two NHL games this season, serving as a healthy scratch seven times.

Fleury has recorded one assist in his two games with Tampa this year, matching the scoring totals that he reached in 29 games with the club last year. In fact, Fleury has scored fewer than five points in each of the 2020-21, 2021-22, and 2022-23 seasons despite playing in at least 29 games in each season. The low scoring has represented a fall from grace for the 2014 seventh-overall selection, who was taken one pick ahead of star winger William Nylander. This AHL assignment will provide Fleury with the first AHL games he’s played since the 2018-19 season when he scored 10 points in 28 minor league games with the Charlotte Checkers. The 27-year-old defender has totaled 246 career NHL games and 33 career points since making his NHL debut in 2017-18.

Other notes from around the league:

  • The Columbus Blue Jackets are healthy-scratching forward Mathieu Olivier, replacing him with Kirill Marchenko. The duo are alternating nights in the lineup versus the press box, although Columbus will need to be mindful in icing Marchenko, as he loses his waiver exemption status with four more NHL games.
  • The Carolina Hurricanes have removed Vasily Ponomarev from season-opening injured reserve and assigned him to the AHL’s Tuscon Roadrunners. Carolina remains without an AHL affiliate, meaning their assignments are scattered around the league. That’s why Ponomarev will join the Arizona Coyotes’ affiliate, after appearing in his rookie AHL season last year – scoring 46 points in 64 games with the Chicago Wolves, a mark that ranked second on the team. Ponomarev has looked strong in his North American play since coming over in 2021-22 and will look to continue working his way into the NHL lineup now that he’s healthy.

Haydn Fleury Signs With Tampa Bay Lightning

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The Tampa Bay Lightning have signed an interesting depth defenseman, inking Haydn Fleury to a two-year contract. The deal will carry an average annual value of $762.5K, meaning he’ll earn the league minimum in both seasons. Fleury was recently left unqualified by the Seattle Kraken this week, making him an unrestricted free agent.

Not the most high-profile signing of the day in the league, or for Tampa with their three massive extensions handed out, Fleury’s signing is still rather intriguing given Fleury’s history and Tampa’s ability to get the most out of players. The defenseman was drafted seventh-overall by the Carolina Hurricanes back in 2014, long being seen as one of the game’s top prospects. He would debut in 2017-18, playing in 67 games, tallying eight points, all assists. Fleury would spend the next few seasons playing in limited action for Carolina, delivering solid defense with very little offense. He appeared to turn a corner in the 2019-20 season, putting up four goals and 10 assists in 45 games, but after failing to repeat on that success the following year, he was dealt to the Anaheim Ducks.

Eventually selected by the Seattle Kraken in the 2021 Expansion Draft, Fleury played just 36 games in Seattle this season, winding up non-tendered. Given the potential and promise that made Fleury such an attractive prospect for so many years, and the glimpse of a breakout seen in 2019-20, Fleury getting a shot with Tampa Bay, who has time and again been able to take players to a new level, is intriguing, and surely encouraging for the 26-year-old defenseman. It’s unclear what role Fleury might be presented with in Tampa, but with the trade of Ryan McDonagh, a new hole has opened up on their left-side defense.

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