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Ilya Lyubushkin

Afternoon Notes: Schedule, Stone, Sabres, Team Canada Captains, Hershey Bears

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More hockey? You’d be hard-pressed to find a fan who wouldn’t want it. Earlier this week, there had been some discussions about the NHL potentially expanding the season back to an 84 game schedule for the first time since the 1993-94 campaign. Last night on Hockey Night in Canada’s 32 Thoughts segment, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman expanded on those rumors with an idea of what that schedule might look like, and how the league could get there.

In effect, the schedule would be expanded an additional two games to promote intra-division rivalries, such as the one between the Calgary Flames and Edmonton Oilers or the one between the New York Rangers and New York Islanders, both of which have seen their head-to-head matchups drop off in recent years. As Friedman details, the schedule would consist of four games against each of the other teams within the division, three games each against each team in the opposing division, and two against each team in the opposite conference. To balance things out, each team’s slate of preseasons games could be cut down. It doesn’t appear that any change is imminent, however Friedman adds that there is a willingness to discuss the change between the league and the NHLPA, however there hasn’t been much dialogue on the subject recently.

  • Things didn’t look good for Vegas Golden Knights captain Mark Stone last night when he went down in obvious pain during the third period of the team’s game against the New York Islanders. The winger struggled to get off the ice with the assistance of his teammates, but surprisingly was able to come back and join them in the final moments of the game. Unsurprisingly, after the game, Vegas head coach Bruce Cassidy was asked about the status of his star forward, telling The Athletic’s Jesse Granger that the hope is Stone’s injury is “just a stinger,” but he wouldn’t know much more until today. Cassidy added that Stone was not 100% when he rejoined the team late in the game. So far, no additional information has come out about Stone’s status. Vegas next plays at home on Monday against the Sabres.
  • Yesterday, the Buffalo Sabres were able to get forward Kyle Okposo back from injury and Jeff Skinner back from suspension, but were without defensemen Owen Power, Jacob Bryson, and Ilya Lyubushkin. The team didn’t have much information on Power or Bryson, and the same holds true today, however according to The Buffalo News’ Mike Harrington, Ilya Lyubushkin is set to return tomorrow against Vegas. Noticeably absent from the ice this morning were defensemen Rasmus Dahlin and Mattias Samuelsson, but as Harrington adds, both were absent simply for rest purposes.
  • With the World Junior Championship just eight days away, Hockey Canada announced its leadership group for this year’s World Juniors team. Captaining the group will be Seattle Kraken forward and fourth-overall pick in 2022, Shane Wright. Assisting him will be Arizona Coyotes forward Dylan Guenther, Dallas Stars draft pick and current Kamloops Blazers forward Logan Stankoven, Anaheim Ducks draft pick and Quebec Remparts forward Nathan Gaucher, as well as Chicago Blackhawks draft pick and Mississauga Steelheads defenseman Ethan Del Mastro. Canada will kick things off against Czechia on December 26th.
  • Many don’t necessarily think about when an NHL team chooses to recall a player from their affiliate, it could set off a chain reaction of needs within their system, and that’s just what happened with the Washington Capitals and their goaltenders. When Darcy Kuemper went down a couple of weeks ago, the team recalled Hunter Shepard, which Hershey was able to cope with by recalling Clay Stevenson from the ECHL. No problem. But, when Washington also recalled Zachary Fucale yesterday in the wake of Shepard’s upper-body injury, Hershey was forced to sign an emergency back-up to a PTO for their game last night. Today, the Bears were able to smooth things out in net prior to their game against the Lehigh Valley Phantoms this afternoon, bringing up netminder Tyler Wall from the South Carolina Stingrays, Hershey and Washington’s ECHL affiliate. In a corresponding move, defenseman Martin Has has been sent to South Carolina. While this is a relatively minor move, it does give context for the transactions NHL teams make that sometimes seem to be done just for the sake of doing them.

Injury Notes: Sabres, Canucks Illnesses, Aho, Capitals

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Things haven’t necessarily gone as planned for the Buffalo Sabres to start this season, the team coming into tonight with a 14-14-2 record thus far, tying them with the Ottawa Senators and Montreal Canadiens for the bottom three positions in the Atlantic Division. There are some bright spots, such as the further breakouts of Tage Thompson and Rasmus Dahlin, or that record being partially influencex by an eight game losing streak that came with zero points, and there are reasons for the struggles, such as poor goaltending and a myriad of injury issues. Those injury issues continue to persist, but with injuries does come injury updates and the Sabres were able to provide a few of those today.

Forwards Jeff Skinner, who was suspended, and Kyle Okposo, will both rejoin the lineup tonight, reports Mike Harrington of The Buffalo News. Okposo had only missed one game, Thursday at the Colorado Avalanche, but has dealt with his share of injuries this season. Harrington adds that defensemen Owen Power and Jacob Bryson, who both missed Thursday’s game will not play this evening. Fortunately for Power, he’s only considered day-to-day, however Bryson has been shutdown for the remainder of the road trip and will be re-evaluated when the team gets home. Their road trip concludes Monday in Vegas. Lastly, per Harrington, defenseman Ilya Lyubushkin, who is currently on IR and hasn’t played since November 28th, is still not ready to return.

  • The Vancouver Canucks could be down a pair of star forwards this evening, with both Elias Pettersson and Brock Boeser under the weather according to Sportsnet’s Brendan Batchelor, who spoke with head coach Bruce Boudreau. Boeser also missed Wednesday’s game with an illness and while Pettersson did not, recall that he had actually been sent home from practice on Sunday after showing up sick. Even with the turmoil surrounding Boeser and the likelihood that he ends up being dealt this season, Vancouver will need both players in the lineup with the hope that they can produce and get their season back on track going forward. Boeser has 16 points in 22 games thus far, while Pettersson appears to be taking the next step with 34 points in 29 games to date.
  • Carolina Hurricanes forward Sebastian Aho, who has been out of the lineup since December 6th with a lower-body injury will not play tonight against the Dallas Stars or tomorrow afternoon against the Pittsburgh Penguins, says Hurricanes team reporter Walt Ruff, who spoke with head coach Rod Brind’Amour prior to tonight’s game. On a positive note, Brind’Amour added that Aho was on the ice earlier today, indicating a return could be sooner rather than later. Interestingly, Carolina has done just fine without Aho in the lineup, going 3-0-0 in the process, including back-to-back shutouts of the New York Islanders and Detroit Red Wings. Obviously, the team would still prefer to get one of the NHL’s very best centers back into their lineup as soon as possible, especially considering schedule doesn’t get any easier after tomorrow, facing the New Jersey Devils and the Penguins again this week.
  • Washington Capitals forward Nic Dowd will miss tonight’s game with a lower-body injury, reports The Athletics Tarik El-Bashir. It’s unclear what exactly is ailing Dowd or how serious the injury might be, however he did leave Thursday’s game a touch early, playing just 9:39 in the game, down from his season average of 13:03. Also of note, goaltender Hunter Shepard has been ruled out of tonight’s game with an upper-body injury, which would explain the team’s earlier recall of netminder Zachary Fucale.

Injury Notes: Slafkovsky, Nichushkin, Lyubushkin, Stepan, Capitals

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Some good news is abound tonight for Montreal Canadiens fans, as 2022 first-overall pick Juraj Slafkovsky is returning to the lineup tonight against the St. Louis Blues. Slafkovsky had not played in nine days.

The Slovak phenom suffered the injury after getting hit hard by Arizona Coyotes defenseman Josh Brown, but then immediately proceeded to score his first NHL goal, leading to what was an intense stare during his goal celebration. It was then reported earlier this week that Slafkovsky was undergoing tests on an upper-body issue, but they appear to have concluded that it was nothing major. The goal is his lone NHL point so far through five games.

  • Colorado Avalanche forward Valeri Nichushkin will miss his second straight game tonight with a lower-body injury, per The Denver Post’s Bennett Durando. Nichushkin remains day-to-day and the team’s “hope” is that he rejoins the squad for their first practice in Finland, ahead of their Global Series matchup next week against the Columbus Blue Jackets in Tampere. Despite missing a game already, Nichushkin still holds the team lead in goals (seven) and points (12).
  • Half of the Buffalo Sabres blueline is out of game action now. The Buffalo News’ Lance Lysowski reports that Ilya Lyubushkin is not playing tonight due to a lower-body injury, with Lawrence Pilut drawing back into the lineup in his place. Lyubushkin missed a game earlier in the season with a lower-body injury, and it’s unclear whether the two are related. He has one assist in six games to begin his Sabres career.
  • The Carolina Hurricanes announced tonight that forward Derek Stepan would not return to their game against the Philadelphia Flyers. Per the team, Stepan suffered an upper-body injury. We will likely receive more information on the nature of Stepan’s absence tomorrow.
  • The Washington Capitals have issued two injury updates of their own. Per a team announcement, both John Carlson and T.J. Oshie are doubtful to return to tonight’s contest against the Nashville Predators due to lower-body injuries. Like with Stepan, we will likely get more information on these injuries tomorrow.

Snapshots: Samuelsson, Bear, Wright

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Buffalo Sabres fans held their breath last night when freshly extended defenseman Mattias Samuelsson went down with an injury in their game against Vancouver. Now, The Buffalo News’ Lance Lysowski reports that Samuelsson avoided a long-term injury but is still set to miss at least “a few weeks,” joining Henri Jokiharju on the list of injured Sabres top-four defensemen.

An exact timeline won’t be had on Samuelsson until the team returns to Buffalo, head coach Don Granato said today, and the injury will force some depth defenders to shine in order for Buffalo to keep up its strong start. Lawrence Pilut will make his season debut in the team’s next game after two seasons overseas, and free-agent acquisition Ilya Lyubushkin will be tasked with replacing Samuelsson as the defensive anchor on the top pairing alongside the red-hot Rasmus Dahlin.

  • It’s no secret the Canucks are in trouble, winless so far to start the year. With injuries and general positional depth weakness hampering their defense, the team has been looking to add, and Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported on 32 Thoughts that the team has checked in on defenseman Ethan Bear as a potential trade acquisition. Bear, the 25-year-old right-shot defenseman, has been thrust down the depth chart in Carolina and has yet to appear in a game this season. The Hurricanes were shopping him prior to the season’s start, and the Canucks have more than enough room thanks to LTIR to accommodate his $2.2MM cap hit. He still has some upside and could provide some better matchups once Quinn Hughes returns to the lineup.
  • Sportsnet’s Jason Bukala ponders whether the Seattle Kraken may opt to send Shane Wright back to the OHL’s Kingston Frontenacs after an unimpactful start to the season. Wright hasn’t received many opportunities, he has shown smooth skating and pace, but Bukala points out that Wright’s had some positional issues defensively and may need a bit more development before being able to execute his playstyle properly at the NHL level.

Buffalo Sabres’ Ilya Lyubushkin Out Day-To-Day

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Buffalo Sabres defenseman Ilya Lyubushkin is out on a day-to-day basis after sustaining a foot injury in yesterday’s game against the Edmonton Oilers, the team announced Wednesday.

Lyubushkin has impressed early on after signing a two-year, $2.75MM AAV contract with the Sabres in free agency last offseason. He’s notched one assist and has a +1 rating through three games, but he was perhaps most notable against Edmonton in his performance that was cut short due to injury. The 6′ 2″, 208-pound defenseman played an imposing and intimidating game that highlights his strengths, limiting chances against and laying big hits. A massive open-ice hit he laid on Oilers forward Dylan Holloway was his highlight of the night, and he only received a two-minute minor for roughing after the play.

His defensive performance has stood out in a good way, and his plays are a significant reason why the Sabres are off to a strong 2-1-0 start to the 2022-23 season. Hopefully, he won’t miss more than a handful of games and can continue building on his strong start sooner rather than later.

In the meantime for Buffalo, Casey Fitzgerald will likely step into a bottom-pairing role alongside Jacob Bryson. The team also has Lawrence Pilut stashed in the minors who does not require waivers, and he could be a call-up option if the team desires a more offensively-inclined replacement on the backend. It’s not a likely scenario, however, as Fitzgerald remains a slightly better stylistic fit for Lyubushkin’s game.

Buffalo Sabres Sign Ilya Lyubushkin, Eric Comrie

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The Buffalo Sabres have brought a defenseman down from Toronto, signing free agent Ilya Lyubushkin to a two-year deal according to Bob McKenzie of TSN. The deal will carry an average annual value of $2.75MM.

The Sabres aren’t finished there, as they have also signed goaltender Eric Comrie to a two-year deal worth $1.8MM per season according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet.

The first signing, Lyubushkin, is relatively straightforward. The Sabres had an extremely encouraging finish to their 2021-22 season, and the team is in a more positive place than it has been in years. GM Kevyn Adams and coach Don Granato have done a brilliant job so far in turning the downtrodden Sabres around, and they look towards next season with the hope of at least being in the conversation for a playoff spot next spring.

Lyubushkin will help them get there, as he’s the sort of proven, NHL-caliber defenseman that any team could see themselves adding. Lyubushkin, who was traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs last season, is a big, physical, crease-clearing defenseman. He featured sporadically on the Maple Leafs’ penalty kill, averaging 55 seconds per game there, and should see time on the Sabres’ penalty kill next season. This deal will take Lyubushkin until he’s thirty, meaning there’s no significant regression risk, and the cap hit, while a bit pricey at $2.75MM, isn’t really an issue given the wealth of cap space the Sabres have had.

While some might not like the cost, this is a sensible, entirely reasonable addition for the Sabres to make as they attempt to end the NHL’s longest playoff drought.

In Comrie, the Sabres add a 27-year-old goalie who had an extremely successful limited run of NHL action last year. In 19 games Comrie posted a .920 save percentage, going 10-5-1 on a largely dysfunctional Sabres team. Prior to this year, Comrie had proven himself as a capable AHL starter, and should now see the first regular NHL gig in his career.

The Sabres have an uncertain future in the net, with 41-year-old Craig Anderson currently slated to be their starter. With Comrie in the mix, the Sabres have added a goalie who has a shot to make their $1.8MM per year investment look really, really good.

Toronto Places Kase On LTIR, Recalls Three On Emergency Basis

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After losing three starters in Tuesday night’s game against the rival Boston Bruins, the Toronto Maple Leafs were left with little choice but to tweak their roster. Up against the salary cap and managing a number of injuries, Toronto has opted to move forward Ondrej Kase to the Long-Term Injured Reserve, CapFriendly reports. This raised the Leafs’ LTIR pool just enough to make three emergency recalls while staying under the upper limit of the cap. Promoted to the NHL roster are defensemen Mac Hollowell and Filip Kral and goaltender Michael Hutchinson, who will replace Justin Holl, Ilya Lyubushkin, and Petr Mrazek, each of whom exited last night’s game.

Kase has been out since suffering a head injury earlier this month. As of Friday, the team had still not ruled it a concussion, but given Kase’s extensive history of head injuries it hardly matters. The dynamic, but oft-injured winger will need plenty of time to return to action, allowing the team to move him to LTIR. He joins defensemen Jake Muzzin and Rasmus Sandin on the long-term shelf, bringing the Leafs’ LTIR salary pool to $7.77MM, the amount that they may exceed the salary cap as a means of replacing those players. However, Muzzin and his $5.625MM cap hit are expected to be activated sooner rather than later, which will drastically change the calculus for Toronto.

Meanwhile, Holl, Lyubushkin, and Mrazek join starting goaltender Jack Campbell as the Leafs’ other injured players. Mrazek’s injury history and inconsistency this season make his absence both relatively unsurprising and somewhat inconsequential. However, the major hit to the blue line depth cannot be ignored. While Toronto impressed in a 6-4 win over Boston on Tuesday, they can ill-afford to continue battling this injury bug. They sit just two points ahead of the Bruins and one point behind the Tampa Bay Lightning in the race for Atlantic playoff position and are set to face Tampa and the Florida Panthers next week.

While the veteran Hutchinson is battle-tested and ready for the challenge, he and rookie Erik Kallgren splitting the net for the Leafs is unlikely to be successful for too long. On the back end, Hollowell and Kral have no NHL experience and are an even bigger liability. Toronto is hoping that these emergency recalls are just that and their regulars will be back in action soon.

 

Petr Mrazek, Ilya Lyubushkin, Justin Holl All Exit Tonight’s Game For Toronto Maple Leafs

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The Toronto Maple Leafs confirmed that goaltender Petr Mrazek exited tonight’s game with a groin injury and would not return. Toronto also confirmed that defensemen Ilya Lyubushkin and Justin Holl would also not return tonight for precautionary reasons. For now, Toronto will have to finish its game tonight against the Boston Bruins with only one goaltender and just four defensemen.

It has been a tough stretch for the Maple Leafs in net, as well as a tough stretch for Mrazek himself, and this injury certainly does not help either. It was early in the first period against the Boston Bruins that Mrazek appeared to come up limp. In pain, Mrazek tried to stretch, but was eventually pulled and replaced by rookie Erik Kallgren in net. While the Maple Leafs do expect Jack Campbell to return soon, an exact return date is unknown, and leaves Toronto without a true backup, certainly for tonight.

For Mrazek, a tough season gets tougher. After missing stretches early in the season with a groin issue, he appeared to be fully healthy and performing well before struggling greatly the past couple of months, eventually leading to being put on waivers on March 20th. After Mrazek cleared, he was re-called, he appeared to be refresh and back to his old ways, stopping 54 of 58 opportunities in two starts since returning, winning both.

Snapshots: Dzingel, Rask, Matteau

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After acquiring him from the Arizona Coyotes last night, Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe announced that forward Ryan Dzingel will be placed on waivers today, reports David Alter of The Leafs Nation (Tweet). If he clears, Dzingel will be assigned to the AHL’s Toronto Marlies, adds Alter. Dzingel, who has four goals and three assists in 26 games this season for the Coyotes, was acquired last night along with defenseman Ilya Lyubushkin in exchange for a conditional draft pick and forward Nick Ritchie. While it may seem odd to acquire Dzingel to immediately waive him, the move allows the Leafs to potentially keep the forward in the minors, alleviating them of his $1.1MM cap hit, and retain him as a useful depth player down the stretch. Also out of Maple Leafs’ camp, defenseman Rasmus Sandin has been sent down, purely for salary cap flexibility, and is expected to be recalled and rejoin the team Monday, reports the Athletic’s Jonas Siegel (link to tweet).

  • Victor Rask, who cleared waivers for the Minnesota Wild yesterday, is expected to report to the AHL’s Iowa Wild in the coming days, reports the Athletic’s Michael Russo (link to tweet). Russo adds that while this process has been tough for Rask, he is expected to report to the AHL, and the Wild organization will give him several days. It’s been a difficult stretch for Rask, as this wasn’t his first time on waivers this season. The forward was placed on waivers and cleared in early January as well. Rask has five goals and eight assists in 29 games this season for Minnesota and is in the final year of a six-year, $24MM contract he signed in 2016, then with the Carolina Hurricanes. While Rask has not been terrible for Minnesota this season, placing his $4MM cap hit in the AHL could provide the Wild with flexibility heading into the trade deadline, where they are expected to be buyers on the market.
  • Also of note, forward Stefan Matteau has been activated off of long-term injured reserve and has been assigned to the AHL’s Colorado Eagles. The 27-year-old forward has played in just one game this season with the Colorado Avalanche back on October 16 before being placed on long-term injured reserve.

Toronto Maple Leafs Acquire Ilya Lyubushkin, Ryan Dzingel

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The Toronto Maple Leafs have added a pair of players tonight while moving out one frustrated winger. Ilya Lyubushkin and Ryan Dzingel are on their way to Toronto from the Arizona Coyotes in exchange for Nick Ritchie and a conditional draft pick. The Coyotes can select whether to receive Toronto’s third-round pick in 2023 or second-round pick in 2025. No salary is retained in the deal from either side.

Lyubushkin was referenced at the intermission of tonight’s Maple Leafs game by Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet, and now just after the loss to the St. Louis Blues, Toronto has made their move. The big defenseman would bring something that the team doesn’t have much of, size and physicality on the back end. Now 27, Lyubushkin has racked up nearly 500 hits in a 180-game career, including 94 already this season. That number would easily lead the Maple Leafs, who currently have Jake Muzzin on top of that list with 81. It’s beside Muzzin that Lyubushkin could even potentially play, giving the team some extra length in something of a shutdown pair. Toronto has been looking to add depth on the right side for some time, as Justin Holl has taken a step backward this year and Timothy Liljegren is still very early in his career.

In fact, this addition could spell trouble for Holl, who played the fewest minutes of any Toronto defenseman tonight and has struggled to fill the top-four role he had with Muzzin in years past. By bringing in another penalty-killing defenseman, it’s unclear what his role will be, though there will have to be a roster spot of some sort by the Maple Leafs tomorrow to create enough cap space. When the team recently acquired Adam Brooks off waivers it was Liljegren who went down for the day.

There is also the addition of Dzingel, however, who adds another forward to the mix for Toronto. A 26-goal scorer in 2018-19, he has just four goals and seven points in 26 games this season for the Coyotes playing in a bottom-six role. Even those four goals are more than Ritchie, who had just two in 33 games for the Maple Leafs despite starting the season with Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner. The 26-year-old Ritchie had played his way right off the Toronto roster, recently having cleared waivers and been assigned to the minor leagues. From a Maple Leafs perspective, getting out from under Ritchie’s two-year deal may have been the most important part of the deal. He was set to earn $2.5MM against the cap again next year, something that a team working in the margins of the salary cap cannot afford if he’s not contributing.

Notably on Dzingel, if he fails to contribute anything, the Maple Leafs could bury his entire $1.1MM salary in the minor leagues. He would need to clear waivers to do it but that allows the team to not be stuck with any dead money if he isn’t a good fit. Lyubushkin meanwhile makes just $1.35MM against the cap, a reasonable number for a defenseman if he’s playing regularly and less than both Holl ($2MM) and Travis Dermott ($1.5MM) who was scratched again tonight.

As a member of the Coyotes, Ritchie certainly isn’t destined for the minor leagues. General manager Bill Armstrong explained that he was “excited” to add Ritchie to the roster, noting that he can give the team some more size and toughness. He also is a player signed for next season, something you can’t say about many other Coyotes. In fact, only Clayton Keller, Nick Schmaltz, Andrew Ladd, Jakob Chychrun, Conor Timmins, and Shayne Gostisbehere are on one-way contracts through next season, and several of them may find their way to other teams by the trade deadline. Ritchie, who did score 15 goals in 56 games for the Boston Bruins last season, could find his way to top-six minutes once again in the rebuilding Coyotes lineup.

For them, the big thing is adding another draft pick for expiring contracts. The Coyotes are hoarding selections in their rebuild and will be bringing a huge number of prospects into the system over the next few years.

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