Eastern Notes: Cole, Vrana, Djoos, Lightning
Tight up against the salary cap for the next few years, Josh Yohe of The Athletic (subscription required) answers a number of mailbag questions about the Pittsburgh Penguins present and future. Among the tidbits of information is the scribe’s opinion that the team is likely to allow defenseman Ian Cole to depart via free agency this offseason.
Yohe writes that Cole, who is one of the team’s better defenseman is more likely of all their unrestricted free agents next year to be wearing a different sweater in the 2018-19 season. As Pittsburgh is already loaded with four defensemen making at least $4MM per year next season, Cole would likely be the odd man out for the Penguins, especially since there will likely be many teams offering big money to the blueliner. The 27-year-old has been a solid defender and likely could play a major position on another team’s top-four if given the opportunity.
- NBC Sports Tarik El-Bashir writes that Washington Capitals wing Jakub Vrana, who was a healthy scratch for the first time this year on Thursday, will return to the lineup today against the Minnesota Wild on the Capitals third line. He had just two points (both goals) in his previous 13 games. “I’m putting him back where he was … and I want to see him play really well tonight,” Capitals coach Barry Trotz said.
- El-Bashir adds that Washington Capitals defenseman Christian Djoos, who suffered an upper-body injury Tuesday against the Nashville Predators and missed Thursday’s game against the Colorado Avalanche, did not skate today. “I don’t know exactly when he’s going to skate yet,” Trotz said. “He’s still day-to-day with the trainers. Once they tell me he can skate, he’ll be out there.”
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Roger Mooney of the Tampa Bay Times writes that with the Tampa Bay Lightning off to their best start in team history as they lead the league with a 15-2-2 record and 32 points, the team has a number of players who are also leading the NHL, including Nikita Kucherov, who leads the NHL in goals scored with 17; Steven Stamkos, who leads the league in assists with 25 and points with 35; and goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy leads the NHL in wins with 14.
Snapshots: Brodzinski, Eriksson, Hunwick
Jonny Brodzinski has been assigned to the Ontario Reign of the AHL, as the Los Angeles Kings continue to make tweaks to their NHL roster. The team had called up Justin Auger earlier today, and actually didn’t need to make a corresponding move after they’d placed Kyle Clifford on injured reserve.
Now, the team has just 22 players on the active roster and as Jon Rosen of LAKings Insider writes, Marian Gaborik still isn’t much closer to getting on the ice. Gaborik continues to try and work his way back from a knee injury but is still some time away.
- Loui Eriksson‘s diagnosis came down, and the Vancouver Canucks announced that he’ll be out four to six weeks with a knee sprain. This continues the rough Vancouver career for Eriksson, who has scored just 11 goals in 69 games for the team now since signing in the 2016 offseason. That’s a far cry from what the Canucks were expecting to get for the six-year, $36MM contract they handed him.
- Ian Cole will come off injured reserve for the Pittsburgh Penguins as Matt Hunwick goes onto it, switching roster spots and healthy statuses. Cole is back in the lineup tonight for the Penguins, who have rebounded from their dreadful 10-1 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks to push their record to 3-2-1. With Hunwick down, Cole will slide in beside Justin Schultz on the second pair while Olli Maatta and Chad Ruhwedel bring up the rear. With that, the team has also decided they no longer require the services of Chris Summers, who was assigned back to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. Summers never did get into a game with Pittsburgh, but will be handy depth for any other injuries.
Injury Updates: Karlsson, Cole, Bogosian, Kronwall
While the Senators were hoping that defenseman Erik Karlsson would be able to return to the lineup this weekend, GM Pierre Dorion told reporters, including Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch, that he will not be able to do so and that they’re hopeful that he will be able to suit up at some point next week. Dorion was quick to add that Karlsson had not suffered any setback.
The 27-year-old has yet to play this season after undergoing tendon surgery on his foot back in June on an injury he sustained in the Senators’ postseason run. Garrioch adds that Ottawa could get one of their other defenders back this weekend as Johnny Oduya may be ready to play on Saturday in Calgary. He suffered a lower-body injury in the season opener last Thursday.
More injury notes from around the league:
- Penguins defenseman Ian Cole is making progress as he recovers after taking a shot to the mouth against the Predators over the weekend, notes Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Head coach Mike Sullivan wouldn’t estimate how much longer Cole will be out of the lineup but added that he is improving quicker than expected.
- Although he has missed nearly two weeks now due a lower-body injury sustained at the end of the preseason, the Sabres continue to classify blueliner Zach Bogosian as out day-to-day, reports Bill Hoppe of the Olean Times Herald. However, he’s not expected to accompany the team on their four-game Western road trip which would suggest he’ll be out for at least another week.
- Red Wings blueliner Niklas Kronwall is very close to returning to the lineup and could receive the green light to play on Thursday, notes Dana Wakiji on the Wings’ team site. Kronwall has been battling back spasms and a groin pull since late in training camp and has yet to play this season. Even if he receives clearance to return, it’s possible that Detroit may hold him out another game as they have a back-to-back coming up and it doesn’t seem likely that they’ll ask Kronwall to play in both just coming off of injury.
Snapshots: Turris, Senators, Schmaltz, Cole
During his weekly Saturday Headlines segment (video link), Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman provided an update on the Kyle Turris contract situation in Ottawa on the heels of a report earlier in the week that suggested a trade could be a possibility. Friedman reports that Turris and the Senators are very close in terms of the dollar value per season on an extension (believed to be somewhere around $6MM per season) but they are not particularly close on the term of a new deal. He suggested that at one point in the preseason, there were teams that thought a trade might happen but now that the regular season is underway, Ottawa isn’t particularly anxious to deal him for the time being.
Elsewhere around the league:
- Still with the Senators, they are considering recalling a pair of defensemen from their AHL affiliate in Belleville, reports TSN’s Brent Wallace (Twitter link). On top of missing Erik Karlsson who has yet to play this year, they remain without Johnny Oduya who suffered a lower-body injury in the opener while his replacement, Ben Harpur, is dealing with an upper-body issue sustained against Detroit on Saturday. Ottawa is set to head out for a three-game Western road trip this week.
- After suffering an upper-body injury in Saturday’s win over the Blue Jackets, Blackhawks winger Nick Schmaltz will miss at least the next two games as the team announced (via Twitter) that he will not join the team on their two-game Canadian road trip. The sophomore is off to a strong start this season with two goals and an assist through Chicago’s first two games of the season.
- Penguins defenseman Ian Cole is out indefinitely after taking a Roman Josi shot to the mouth in last night’s game versus Nashville, notes Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Cole lost several teeth on the play as well as suffering a jaw injury. While he’s out, Chad Ruhwedel will likely draw into the lineup after being a healthy scratch for the first three games of the season.