Snapshots: Blue Jackets, Slavin, Guhle
New Blue Jackets Head Coach Rick Bowness is missing two key defenders in his first game behind the bench tonight, as Denton Mateychuk (upper-body injury) and Damon Severson (illness) are unable to play against Calgary, per Aaron Portzline of The Athletic.
If he’d been able to go, Mateychuk would have tied his rookie season total’s 45 games played in last season, but will have to wait for now. The 21-year-old left early on Sunday against Utah, and will be getting a second opinion, as the club recalled Dysin Mayo this afternoon. Their 12th overall selection in 2022 has progressed nicely this season, averaging 20:20 of ice time with 21 points in 44 games.
Severson, 31, has recorded 17 points in 45 games, tonight being the first contest of the season he has had to miss.
Coming in tonight is Jake Christiansen, along with Mayo. The former has served as the Jackets’ seventh defender often this year, with one helper in 26 games, in year five with the Columbus organization.
Mayo, recalled for the fourth time of 2025-26 today, was once a regular with the Arizona Coyotes. The 29-year-old has just seven points in the AHL this season with Cleveland, but he is a conservative right-handed option, capable of jumping into the NHL lineup seamlessly at a moment’s notice.
Elsewhere across the league:
- Shortly before their game in St. Louis, the Carolina Hurricanes announced that Jaccob Slavin will miss tonight’s game due to “injury rehab protocol”. Given that he played 21:41 last night against Detroit, leading all defenders, Slavin will sit out of the second of the back-to-back. Clearly, Carolina is taking no chances with their elite shutdown man coming back from an upper-body injury, who already was re-injured early in his last return in December. The difficulties have limited him to just seven games so far, where he’s notched one assist. Mike Reilly re-enters the lineup tonight, but Slavin figures to be gearing up for full-time duty before long.
- Similar to Slavin, Montreal Canadiens defenseman Kaiden Guhle will also sit tonight, as noted by Marco D’Amico of RG Media. The 23-year-old is in early stages of returning after a groin injury sidelined him for nearly three months. He managed to play just shy of 20 minutes last night in the win over Vancouver. In his absence, Jayden Struble has jumped back in against Washington. The physical depth defender has averaged 14:28 a night in 35 games this season. Meanwhile, Guhle should return by Thursday as the team travels to Buffalo.
Hurricanes Activate Jaccob Slavin Off Injured Reserve
The Hurricanes will be welcoming back a critical piece of their back end for tonight’s game against Seattle. The team announced that defenseman Jaccob Slavin has been activated off injured reserve.
They’ll be hoping that the second time is the charm when it comes to returning from injury. Last month, Slavin returned from a lower-body injury only to sustain an upper-body issue in his third game back. As a result, the 31-year-old has been limited to just five games so far this season.
Slavin has received down-ballot Norris votes in each of the last nine seasons and is widely regarded as one of the top shutdown defenders in the NHL. He’s sitting on 299 career points in 750 career regular season contests so he has certainly been more than just a traditional stay-at-home blueliner. His previous play was good enough to earn a spot on Team USA for the Olympics next month despite hardly playing in 2025-26.
The Hurricanes enter tonight’s action atop the Eastern Conference which is especially impressive given how infrequently Slavin has been available to them. He’s listed by the team as being likely to be on their top pairing tonight alongside Jalen Chatfield.
On Friday, Carolina sent blueliner Joel Nystrom back to AHL Chicago without calling anyone else up. As a result, they had an open roster spot to activate Slavin. Their roster now stands at the maximum of 23 players once again.
Hurricanes Reassign Joel Nystrom
The Hurricanes announced they’ve reassigned defenseman Joel Nystrom to AHL Chicago. While there’s no corresponding transaction yet, the open roster spot could indicate that top shutdown man Jaccob Slavin will come off injured reserve on Saturday before their clash with the Kraken.
Nystrom is having an impressive enough rookie season to warrant a four-year, $4.9MM extension from the Canes last month. His waiver-exempt status means he’s still a logical candidate to get ferried between the NHL and AHL when roster space is needed, but he’ll be a full-timer from the drop on Carolina’s roster starting in 2026-27.
This might be the second time in a month that Nystrom’s roster spot is sacrificed for Slavin returning from IR. The latter initially attempted to return from his lower-body injury on Dec. 14 but sustained an upper-body issue three games later that put him back on the inactive list. Nystrom was sent down then, too, to make room for his activation, but was immediately recalled again when Slavin got re-injured.
Averaging 15:37 per game across 33 contests, the 23-year-old Nystrom has eight assists with a +4 rating. That’s already far more than anyone expected out of the right-shot Swede, who was a seventh-round pick in 2021. He’s posted spectacular possession numbers, including a 62.0 xGF% and 60.0 CF%, while bouncing up and down the lineup.
Nonetheless, the 5’11” puck-mover has yet to score a goal since arriving in North America at the end of last season. In nine career AHL contests, he’s got two assists with a +3 rating. That comes after Nystrom led his Swedish Hockey League team, Färjestad BK, in scoring from the blue line with 27 points in 51 games last year.
Slavin has been absent from Carolina’s lineup for all but five games this season. His limited workload in his brief return to the lineup means he’s only averaged 17:24 of ice time per game after starting his career with a 10-year streak of 20 or higher. Regarded as one of the league’s best defensive defensemen for the last decade, the missed time means he’s likely to go without earning a Norris Trophy vote since his rookie year.
Hurricanes Recall Joel Nystrom From AHL, Place Slavin On IR
This afternoon the Carolina Hurricanes shared that Joel Nystrom has been called up from AHL Chicago, while Jaccob Slavin has been placed on injured reserve.
Given that he was listed as week-to-week earlier today, with Nystrom the most likely candidate to get the call, the word is not a big surprise. Just over one week ago, the two were swapped for each other when Slavin was activated, only now to be injured again.
The season so far has not been kind to Slavin, who has dealt with a lower-body injury for the past few months. After an activation eight days ago, he was eased back gradually, a jump in ice time in each of three games. However, the vital defenseman was absent last Saturday in Tampa Bay, and now appears set to miss even more time. As such is categorized as an upper-body injury, it does not appear both are linked, instead simply brutal luck for the defender, who has never been thought to be injury prone. Now 31, he has played in no fewer than 76 games in the past five seasons, however, with only five so far, that streak will end this season.
Meanwhile, Nystrom finds himself back with the big club after a short stint with the Chicago Wolves. Besides being called up and down, December has been a busy month for the Swede, as he inked a four year extension just 10 days ago, avoiding restricted free agency status after the campaign. In limited North American experience so far, his stats haven’t jumped out, with two assists in nine games for Chicago, and five assists in 24 games for Carolina. However, the 23-year-old is just getting started on smaller ice, and clearly the organization is high on him. A right shot, Nystrom has shown no fear of carrying the puck, and transition is the name of his game. A major steal, chosen in the seventh round by Carolina in 2021, Nystrom figures to be an everyday player for the team into the future, and they’ve certainly already leaned on him to this point.
Carolina offers a deep blueline, relieved of their offseason acquisition of K’Andre Miller in times like these. Miller is currently averaging over 22 minutes of ice time, more than he ever had as a Ranger, and looking the part. Even so often without Slavin, the Canes boast a 22-10-3 record this season, good for fourth in the league.
While Slavin’s presence is undeniable, and another setback is especially frustrating, his Olympic status for the United States is not thought to be in jeopardy, meaning hopefully he will gear up for a return by mid-January.
Jaccob Slavin, Seth Jarvis Out Week-To-Week
The Carolina Hurricanes announced today that two key players are out week-to-week with respective upper-body injuries: Jaccob Slavin and Seth Jarvis.
The announcement of Jarvis’ injury does not come as any great surprise. His injury occurred on Friday and it was immediately clear that he would miss at least some time as a result of what happened. Head coach Rod Brind’Amour told reporters immediately after the game that Jarvis was “going to be out for a while.” He was placed on IR the following day, and today the Hurricanes confirmed that he’ll be out on a week-to-week basis.
The more surprising development is the injury to Slavin. Slavin missed two months due to a lower-body injury, and the Hurricanes only activated him on Dec. 14, which was about a week ago. The Hurricanes appeared to be easing Slavin into his return to game action as he played 14:31 time on ice in his first game on Dec. 14, 16:47 in his second game on Dec. 17, and 18:36 on Dec. 19, with all three numbers coming well below his traditional usage level as the team’s top defenseman.
Slavin was held out of the second game of the Hurricanes’ set of back-to-back games on Dec. 20, but at the time, his absence did not raise any eyebrows, as it was attributed to being part of his recovery process. It’s not abnormal for a player who only recently returned from a two-month injury absence to be rested for the second half of a back-to-back.
But the fact that Slavin is now slated to miss time on a week-to-week basis with a new upper-body injury throws into question whether the player suffered this injury during any of his three NHL games since returning on Dec. 14. Per The Raleigh News & Observer’s Chip Alexander, Brind’Amour said today that he assumes Slavin suffered the injury as a result of a hit from Florida Panthers forward A.J. Greer, one that came during the team’s Dec. 19 contest in Sunrise.
Regardless of when exactly he became injured, the reality is the Hurricanes are now once again without their most reliable and important defenseman. Slavin is widely considered to be one of the game’s best shutdown defensemen. Despite offensive production that is relatively pedestrian in comparison to his defensive excellence, Slavin has landed on Norris Trophy ballots in every season of his 11-year career other than his first. That’s a testament to just how highly regarded Slavin is as a defensive defenseman. Slavin is also a two-time Lady Byng Trophy winner, an extraordinarily difficult task for a blueliner asked to go up against the opposing team’s top offensive weapons on a nightly basis.
As the Hurricanes continue to push for their third Metropolitan Division title since 2021, Slavin’s absence will add some additional stress to the team’s defensive plans. The Hurricanes ran a left-side defense of K’Andre Miller, Alexander Nikishin, and Shayne Gostisbehere in Slavin’s absence on Saturday, and could continue to run that defense with Swedish import Joel Nystrom the most likely candidate to be recalled in the event Slavin once again lands on IR. Veteran Mike Reilly is also on the roster as the No. 7 defenseman.
Slavin is widely considered to be a lock to be selected to the United States’ roster for the upcoming Winter Olympics in Milano Cortina, and The Athletic’s Michael Russo reported that “the belief is this won’t impact” Slavin’s availability for that tournament.
Hurricanes Activate Jaccob Slavin, Reassign Joel Nystrom
A major piece will be back in the Carolina Hurricanes lineup when the puck drops in Sunday’s matchup with the Philadelphia Flyers. Defenseman Jaccob Slavin was activated from injured reserve just before the game, after being designated as a game-time decision before warmups. He will return from a lower-body injury sustained in the second game of the season. He’s missed the last 29 games. To make room for Slavin’s return, Carolina has reassigned defenseman Joel Nystrom to the AHL’s Chicago Wolves. Nystrom signed a four-year extension on Friday.
Slavin only played in 36 minutes of ice time before going down with injury. He managed no scoring, a minus-one, and three shot blocks in those minutes. But two games was hardly enough for Slavin to settle into his usual role on top of Carolina’s defense. He has averaged more than 22 minutes of ice time each game through 11 years with the Hurricanes. He brings a shutdown presence to hard matchups, giving Carolina the flexibility to deploy offensive defensemen like Shayne Gostisbehere.
The Hurricanes had to turn to a committee approach to round out their top-four in Slavin’s absence. Jalen Chatfield and Alexander Nikishin both rotated into the top-four, while Nystrom did well to carve out a role on an open bottom-pair. The 23-year-old rookie recorded five assists, a plus-three, and 14 shot blocks in the first 24 games of his NHL career. He played well enough to earn a multi-year, seven-figure extension just before this reassignment. That’s a tidy bit of confidence for Nystrom, who had only played in seven AHL games before his name was called to fill-in. He spent the last five seasons with the SHL’s Farjestads BK, where he won a league championship in 2022. Carolina drafted Nystrom in the seventh-round of the 2021 NHL Draft.
Slavin’s return will suddenly provide Carolina with a heap of defense depth, after going through a start to the season that saw most of the blue-line banged up. They will carry a confident three pairs, with Slavin watching over rookie Nikishin, into Sunday’s match against Philadelphia. That should only ramp up a Hurricanes squad that’s gone 6-2-0 in their last eight games, including back-to-back shootout wins in their last two.
Hurricanes Reassign Justin Robidas Amid Injury Updates
The Carolina Hurricanes saw a wave of roster updates come through during Saturday morning’s practice. Notably, winger Justin Robidas was not at practice, as he’s been reassigned to the AHL’s Chicago Wolves. Robidas won’t skate in Saturday’s match against the Manitoba Moose but should be back in time for Sunday’s rematch.
Forward William Carrier also missed practice. It is unclear if he has sustained a new injury after appearing in Friday’s win over the Winnipeg Jets. Goaltender Pyotr Kochetkov did sustain a lower-body injury that forced him out of Friday’s game, and Saturday’s practice. Defenseman Jaccob Slavin also remained out, per NHL.com’s Walt Ruff.
In better news, Ruff adds that forward Jordan Staal participated in practice despite being questionable with an illness, and center Jesperi Kotkaniemi continued to work in a non-contact jersey.
Carolina continues to face a heap of injuries despite getting Shayne Gostisbehere and K’Andre Miller back into the lineup recently. They have been forced to play hot potato with much of their lineup, routinely cycling through their lines. The Hurricanes have had six different forward lines, and 10 different defense pairings, play in at least 50 minutes of even-strength ice time this season. Their most-used forward line has been Jordan Martinook, Staal, and Carrier – a trio that could be broken up if Carrier sustained another injury. The most-used defense pairing has been Miller and Sean Walker, who reunited recently after Miller missed six games.
The Hurricanes have felt the brunt of that shuffle over November. They started the month with a 4-1-0 record, but have fallen into a back-and-forth over the last two weeks. Carolina is 4-3-2 in their last nine games, and haven’t won back-to-back games since Novmber 8th and 9th.
Injuries have forced Carolina’s healthy skaters to step up. Sophomore winger Jackson Blake ranks fourth on the team in scoring with 15 points in 24 games. Robidas was also contributing to the offense, netting one assist and a 50 percent faceoff percentage through two games in a bottom-six role.
Robidas now have three points in the first four games of his NHL career, including a pair of games he played in last season. He has been an electric scorer in the minor leagues and currently ranks third on the Wolves with 12 points in 16 games. Chicago is trying to break out of their own November slump, posting a 2-4-0 record over their last six games but winning last Wednesday’s game against the rival Rockford IceHogs by a lofty 8-4. Robidas should help the Wolves keep that offense rolling as they look for better outcomes in December.
Metro Injury Notes: Capitals, Rangers, Hurricanes
The Washington Capitals took the ice for practice this morning, and there were a few takeaways on the injury front. A report from Sammi Silber of The Hockey News indicated that forward Ethen Frank had returned to skating in a non-contact jersey, while defenseman Rasmus Sandin has been fully cleared for contact.
Additionally, Silber shared that center Pierre-Luc Dubois, who’s considered day-to-day with a lower-body injury, did not join the team for practice. All around, it’s mostly positive news for the Capitals, given that Frank and Sandin are the only two currently on the team’s injured reserve.
Since he hasn’t played since October 21st, Sandin has missed the most time of the trio. He’s tallied two assists in seven games for Washington this year, averaging 19:24 of ice time per contest. Meanwhile, Frank hasn’t played since the Capitals’ game on October 28th against the Dallas Stars after being reverse-hit by Mikko Rantanen. Despite the play looking relatively scary, it appears that Frank is on track to return sooner rather than later.
Other injury notes from the Metropolitan Division:
- Peter Baugh of The Athletic provided updates on a pair of injured New York Rangers. Baugh reported that defenseman Urho Vaakanainen is considered day-to-day with a lower-body injury and wasn’t on the ice for practice this morning. However, in a positive update, Baugh shared that Vincent Trocheck has returned wearing a non-contact jersey. Although Baugh didn’t comment on a potential return for Trocheck, it at least shows that a return is on the horizon. He’s currently on the team’s long-term injured reserve and hasn’t played since October 9th.
- The injury news isn’t as positive for the Carolina Hurricanes. According to Chip Alexander of the Raleigh News & Observer, defensemen Jaccob Slavin and K’Andre Miller have yet to return to practice for the Hurricanes. It’s another blow to a defensive core that’s been devastated by injuries to begin the 2025-26 campaign. Still, despite the unlikelihood of Miller playing in Carolina’s next game, he’s not expected to miss much more time.
Injury Notes: Hurricanes, Maple Leafs, Blackhawks, Sharks
Carolina Head Coach Rod Brind’Amour told Chip Alexander of the Raleigh News that K’Andre Miller could be back shortly, however, Jaccob Slavin could be absent for “a while”. Miller has not played since October 20th, but has been off to a great start in his Carolina tenure with four points in six games. Meanwhile, Slavin was placed on IR last week with a lower-body injury, appearing in the Canes’ first two games before going back down. The ailment has bothered the star defenseman throughout October, and the team has been vague on further details.
Carolina has been great so far despite missing both defensemen, with a 6-2-0 record. Based on Brind’Amour’s comments, it seems a real possibility Miller could be all set when his Hurricanes go to Madison Square Garden to take on the Rangers next week, after an offseason blockbuster sent the talented 25-year-old to Carolina.
Elsewhere across the league:
- Nick Barden of The Hockey News Toronto updated earlier today that William Nylander and Calle Jarnkrok could play versus Calgary tomorrow, as both are dealing with lower-body injuries. Additionally, veterans Scott Laughton and Chris Tanev could rejoin the team later in the week ahead of Saturday’s tilt in Philadelphia. Nylander, who missed just his second regular season game since 2020-21, has dazzled with 14 points in 8 games so far. Laughton was injured in the preseason and has yet to debut in 2025-26, as he looks to get more comfortable as a Leaf, having put up just 4 points in 20 regular season games after being traded to Toronto.
- Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times shared this morning that two Blackhawks veterans, Ilya Mikheyev and Tyler Bertuzzi, did not appear at practice. Mikheyev left Sunday’s game versus Los Angeles after crashing hard into the boards. Thankfully, he is considered day-to-day as it appears a more serious issue was avoided. Meanwhile, Bertuzzi missed yesterday’s game altogether, and is also thought to be day-to-day. Chicago hosts Ottawa tomorrow, and they will hope to have their wingers back before long, as they try to stay above the .500 mark.
- Sunday’s big shootout win for the Sharks at Minnesota came at a cost, as Adam Gaudette left due to an upper body injury and did not return, as per the team. His status is unknown as San Jose hosts their in-state rival the Kings tomorrow night. The 29-year-old center has 3 goals in 9 games.
Hurricanes Place Jaccob Slavin On Injured Reserve
Prior to today’s game against the Avalanche, the Hurricanes announced they placed star defenseman Jaccob Slavin on injured reserve earlier in the week – Tuesday, to be exact – due to a lower-body injury. They’re operating with an open roster spot, which they haven’t filled, but the team said his placement was for the purposes of “roster flexibility.”
Slavin hasn’t played since Oct. 11, so he is eligible to come off IR at any time. There’s been no update on his status since the beginning of Carolina’s lengthy Western Conference road trip, which started back on Oct. 14 against the Sharks, in which they said he wouldn’t join the team to start the haul, but weren’t too concerned about the severity of his injury.
Carolina has weathered the storm without their top defender, only suffering their first loss of the season on Monday against the Golden Knights. They’re 3-1-0 without Slavin in the lineup and are still only allowing 2.25 goals against per game while controlling 58.9% of shot attempts at even strength. In two games before exiting the lineup, Slavin had a minus-one rating with 10 shot attempts in 18:32 of ice time averaged across the pair of appearances. His possession numbers were pristine as always, logging a 66.1 CF% with just a 40.0 oZS% at even strength despite being outscored 2-1.
The 31-year-old has finished top-20 in Norris Trophy voting in every season since 2016-17, his second in the league. While his offensive production dipped to 27 points in 80 games last year with a +16 rating, his lowest in six years, he still finished top-10 in Norris voting for the third time in his career. He’s never been a huge minutes-muncher, especially not in the past few years as the Canes have stripped him of power-play minutes in favor of names like Shayne Gostisbehere and now K’Andre Miller, and justifiably so. He still remains one of the most feared shutdown threats in the league, but with the Hurricanes’ established possession-heavy system, they’re able to usher in a next-man-up mentality rather seamlessly.
Slavin’s absence has allowed for names like offseason pickup Mike Reilly and rookie Charles-Alexis Legault to make their Hurricanes debuts, but the greatest recipient of his vacated minutes has been Miller, who’s averaging a career-high 23:32 per game and has a 2-2–4 scoring line in six showings to begin his tenure in Raleigh. It’s looking even more like Slavin will miss the final two games of the Canes’ road trip, but could be targeting a comeback when Carolina returns home on Oct. 28 against Vegas.