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Jean-Gabriel Pageau

Snapshots: Pageau, Grubauer, Avalanche, Dobson

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While there has been strong trade interest in Islanders center Jean-Gabriel Pageau, it doesn’t appear as if he’s in play.  Michael Russo and Joe Smith of The Athletic report (subscription link) that the Isles have informed teams that they won’t be moving the 32-year-old.  The 32-year-old is coming off one of his better years offensively after tallying 42 points in 79 games while winning nearly 60% of his faceoffs.  A capable checker, Pageau will be entering the final year of his contract next season on a deal that carries a $5MM cap charge.  Given the lack of depth in the center market, New York likely would have been well-positioned to land a return of some value for Pageau’s services but it appears now that they’ll hold onto him and potentially reassess his situation closer to the trade deadline in March.

Elsewhere around the NHL:

  • Kraken GM Jason Botterill confirmed to reporters including Kate Shefte of The Seattle Times that the team will not be buying out goaltender Philipp Grubauer by Monday’s deadline. The 33-year-old had a rocky performance this season, posting a 3.49 GAA with a .875 SV% in 26 starts, resulting in a stint with AHL Coachella Valley after clearing waivers.  Grubauer has two years left on his contract that carries a $5.9MM cap charge and while Seattle would have been able to open up nearly $4MM in room this summer with a buyout, Botterill instead will keep him around with the belief that he’ll be able to bounce back next season.
  • Avalanche pending unrestricted free agents Jonathan Drouin and Ryan Lindgren are expected to hit the open market next week, relays Peter Baugh of The Athletic (subscription link). Drouin reached free agency last year as well before re-signing a one-year, $2.5MM deal.  The winger put up 37 points in 45 games this season.  Meanwhile, Lindgren was acquired at the trade deadline and put up 22 points in 72 games this year with the blueliner playing on a $4.5MM contract.  After yesterday’s trade of Charlie Coyle and Miles Wood to Columbus, the Avs have nearly $9MM in cap space, per PuckPedia, giving GM Chris McFarland more wiggle room to work with in reshaping his roster this summer.
  • Noah Dobson’s new contract with the Canadiens contains just a 14-team no-trade clause beginning in 2026-27, PuckPedia reports (Twitter link). He was not eligible for any trade protection next season since that was an RFA-eligible year and RFA-eligible players can’t have any trade restrictions.  The deal was heavily front-loaded with $33MM in signing bonus money over the first three seasons of the agreement.

Multiple Teams Showing Interest In Jean-Gabriel Pageau

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With a center trade market that might not be as busy as initially anticipated and one top option (Brock Nelson) off the UFA list already, teams will be starting to take a look at other options to try to upgrade down the middle.  It appears one of the players is receiving some attention now as Stefen Rosner of The Hockey News relays (Twitter links) that at least three teams have called to inquire about Islanders middleman Jean-Gabriel Pageau over the last week.  One of those teams is believed to be the Bruins.

The 32-year-old will be entering the final year of his contract next season on a deal that carries a $5MM cap charge but only a $3.5MM salary.  Pageau will have some say in the matter as well as he has a 16-team no-trade clause.

Pageau has been a speculative trade candidate for a couple of years now with the Islanders often running close to having salary cap issues.  At the time, the thought was that New York might have to incentivize a team to take on Pageau’s contract or potentially pay it down in order to get a positive-value return.

That shouldn’t be the case now, however.  With an expiring contract and a thinning-out market, new GM Mathieu Darche should be in a good spot to elicit a good return for Pageau’s services.

It also certainly helps that Pageau is coming off one of his best offensive years.  This season, he had 14 goals and 28 assists in 79 games.  His assist total was a career-high while his point total came in one shy of his personal best set back in 2015-16 with Ottawa.  Over his past four seasons, he has notched at least 33 points and has scored double-digit goals in 10 of the last 11 years.

Pageau has also long been an above-average player at the faceoff dot and took that to another level in 2024-25, winning a career-best 59.6% of his draws while leading all Islander forwards in shorthanded ice time.  Basically, he continues to be a middle-six option as he has been for the last several seasons.

The Islanders have nearly $21MM in projected cap space this summer, per PuckPedia.  However, with a long list of restricted free agents to contend with, that money is going to get spent up in a hurry and New York will be right back up against the cap ceiling.  That makes Pageau a logical candidate to try to move over the coming weeks and it appears New York will have multiple suitors for his services if they go that route.

The fit in Boston would be intriguing.  The Bruins already have Elias Lindholm, Casey Mittelstadt, and Pavel Zacha under contract while youngsters Fraser Minten and Matthew Poitras are waiting in the wings.  While Boston could use a center upgrade toward the top of their lineup, Pageau would fit more in the middle of their forward group where their depth already lies.  That said, one of the veterans could be moved to the wing if need be or moved elsewhere if GM Don Sweeney wants to further shake up his group.  In the meantime, we’ll see in the coming weeks if any other suitors emerge for Pageau’s services.

Islanders Notes: Pageau, Cizikas, Hogberg, Varlamov

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Jean-Gabriel Pageau is in the lineup tonight for the New York Islanders (as per Newsday’s Andrew Gross). Pageau was deemed a game-time decision earlier in the day but ultimately dressed tonight against the Montreal Canadiens. The 32-year-old missed the last two games with a lower-body injury but skated yesterday and took line rushes at morning skate today.

Pageau is playing center tonight on the third line, sandwiched between Oliver Wahlstrom and Kyle MacLean. The Ottawa, Ontario native has five goals and five assists in 23 games this season and has posted some of the better underlying numbers of his career, despite his inflated turnover numbers.

In other New York Islanders notes:

  • Casey Cizikas is also in the Islanders lineup tonight against Montreal after missing the team’s morning skate today for undisclosed reasons (as per Andrew Gross of Newsday). Cizikas has struggled to contribute offensively this season, posting just a goal and an assist in 25 games.  The 33-year-old has long been one of the top defensive forwards in the NHL and continues to provide solid work away from the puck with 23 blocked shots and 53 hits thus far this year.
  • The Islanders have returned goaltender Marcus Hogberg to the Bridgeport Islanders of the American Hockey League. Hogberg was called up yesterday under emergency conditions to fill in for Semyon Varlamov who was day-to-day with a lower-body injury. Varlamov returned to New York’s lineup tonight (as per Andrew Gross) and the 30-year-old Hogberg is back in Bridgeport where he has posted a 2-4-3 record with a 2.97 goals-against average and a .908 save percentage. The Orebro, Sweden native spent five seasons playing in the Ottawa Senators organization before he made the trip home, spending the past three seasons in Sweden in the SHL. Hogberg does have 42 games of NHL experience but hasn’t suited up in an NHL game since April of 2021.

Snapshots: Kucherov, Pageau, Red Wings, Ehlers, Hinds

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Prior to their game against Toronto tonight, the Lightning found themselves without their top scorer.  Eduardo A. Encina of the Tampa Bay Times relayed (Twitter link) that winger Nikita Kucherov is listed as day-to-day with an undisclosed injury.  The 31-year-old led the league in scoring last season, notching 44 goals and 100 assists, both career highs, in 81 games.  While Kucherov isn’t producing at quite that level this year, he came into the night tied for fifth in scoring with 12 goals and 22 assists in 34 games, a 127-point pace.

Elsewhere around the NHL:

  • The Islanders didn’t have center Jean-Gabriel Pageau in their lineup tonight against Buffalo. Ethan Sears of the New York Post notes (Twitter link) that the veteran is listed as day-to-day with an undisclosed injury.   The 32-year-old has five goals and five assists in 23 games so far this season while averaging 17:47 per game, his highest ATOI since the 2019-20 season.  A specialist at the faceoff dot, Pageau is winning just over 60% of his draws early on, a mark that would be his best if he can maintain it.
  • Red Wings goaltender Alex Lyon won’t accompany the team on their two-game road trip, mentions Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press (Twitter link). He’s dealing with a lower-body injury with no timeline for his return.  Lyon has a 2.74 GAA and a .911 SV% in nine appearances so far.  Meanwhile, St. James notes that winger Patrick Kane will miss his fourth straight game on Sunday due to an upper-body injury but there is a chance he’ll be available to return on Tuesday in Boston.  The veteran is off to a quiet start by his standards, collecting just three goals and seven assists in 20 games.
  • Though he left Friday’s game with a lower-body injury, Jets winger Nikolaj Ehlers is listed as questionable for Sunday’s contest in Dallas, per team reporter Mitchell Clinton. The 28-year-old is off to a solid start in the final year of his contract, with nine goals and 16 assists in 24 games.  With 25 points, Ehlers sits third on Winnipeg in scoring.
  • The Ducks announced that they’ve re-assigned defenseman Tyson Hinds back to AHL San Diego. The 21-year-old was brought up twice by Anaheim over the last couple of weeks but didn’t see any game action.  Hinds, a third-round pick in 2021, has two goals in 13 games so far this season for the Gulls.

East Notes: Pageau, Nylander, Forbort, Jensen, Sandin, Iorio

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The Islanders expect veteran center Jean-Gabriel Pageau back tonight as they try and even their first-round series against the Hurricanes at one apiece. He practiced today and took line rushes in his usual third-line role, per NHL.com’s Stefen Rosner. After missing Game 1 with a lower-body injury sustained early in the final game of the regular season, the 31-year-old will center a line with captain Anders Lee and Pierre Engvall. Winger Hudson Fasching is projected to come out of the lineup after riding shotgun with Brock Nelson and Kyle Palmieri on the second line on Saturday, while 22-year-old Simon Holmström will be reinstated into the top-six on his natural wing after suiting up at center over the weekend. Center Kyle MacLean, who scored the Isles’ only goal in the 3-1 loss, slides down to fourth-line duties with Pageau returning. The Ottawa native had 11 goals and 33 points in the regular season, skating in all 82 games.

Other updates ahead of a pair of Game 2s in the East tonight:

  • Maple Leafs winger William Nylander took a big step toward returning from an undisclosed injury today, participating in practice after participating in an optional skate yesterday. However, he didn’t take line rushes and will be a game-time decision against the Bruins tonight, head coach Sheldon Keefe said (via ESPN’s Kristen Shilton). If Nylander can’t go, no lineup changes are coming for Toronto, which dropped Game 1 Saturday 5-1 despite outshooting Boston 36-25. He skated nearly an hour today, a good sign for his availability when the series shifts back to Toronto for Game 3 on Wednesday.
  • The Bruins brought defenseman Derek Forbort back from his LTI conditioning loan to AHL Providence this morning, but he won’t be coming off long-term injured reserve just yet. Head coach Jim Montgomery told reporters today that the veteran isn’t an option for tonight’s contest but will travel with Boston north of the border (via The Boston Globe’s Conor Ryan). Even if healthy, it’s unclear whether he’ll draw into the lineup ahead of Andrew Peeke or Kevin Shattenkirk on the Bruins’ bottom pairing.
  • Capitals defensemen Nick Jensen and Rasmus Sandin remain in non-contact jerseys in today’s practice, NHL.com’s Tom Gulitti reports. It’s not a good sign for the pair’s availability for Game 2 against the Rangers tomorrow. Both have been sidelined for at least a few games with upper-body injuries, and the Caps have already been forced to dip deep into their defensive well by playing rookie Vincent Iorio and farmhand Dylan McIlrath in Game 1’s 4-1 loss. Iorio left that game with an injury as well, which may force yet another player from AHL Hershey to suit up in postseason action for Washington. He’s now listed as day-to-day with an upper-body injury and is questionable to play tomorrow, head coach Spencer Carbery said.

Metropolitan Notes: Fast, Pageau, Shea

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The Hurricanes will be without one of their wingers for their series opener against the Islanders today.  Chip Alexander and Luke DeCock of the Raleigh News & Observer relay that Jesper Fast will be unavailable for the first game of the series at a minimum due to a neck strain suffered on Tuesday in the final game of the regular season.  However, the injury isn’t expected to keep the veteran out for long as GM Don Waddell said that it’s “a matter of days” before Fast returns to the ice though head coach Rod Brind’Amour added the 32-year-old won’t play until he gets at least one full practice in.  Fast is coming off a quiet year that saw him collect just 19 points in 73 games but he was one of Carolina’s key secondary scorers in the playoffs last season so they’ll certainly be hoping he can return as soon as possible.

More from the Metropolitan:

  • The Islanders have listed center Jean-Gabriel Pageau (upper body) as a game-time decision against Carolina, notes Arthur Staple of The Athletic (Twitter link). The 31-year-old left Wednesday’s game in the first period and didn’t return.  Pageau had a solid regular season on the third line, collecting 11 goals and 22 assists while playing in all 82 games for the first time since 2016-17.
  • After clearing waivers on Friday, the Penguins announced (Twitter link) that they’ve re-assigned defenseman Ryan Shea to AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. The 27-year-old didn’t make his NHL debut until this season but got into 31 games with Pittsburgh, scoring once while averaging 12:37 per night.  Shea, a pending unrestricted free agent, has suited up 22 times for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, collecting six points and will continue to play for them in their upcoming playoff action.

East Notes: Dobson, Lee, Pageau, Hedman, Glendening, Motte, Ekblad

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Islanders star defender Noah Dobson is expected to be available for Game 1 against the Hurricanes tomorrow, head coach Patrick Roy told Newsday’s Andrew Gross. Dobson, 24, missed the final three games of the regular season with an upper-body injury he sustained last week against the Canadiens. They were his first games missed in an otherwise illustrious season, setting career-highs with 60 assists and 70 points in 79 games, taking over true number-one duties and averaging over 24 minutes per game. He may not earn a Norris Trophy nomination, but he’s likely to get a handful of votes. He was limited to two assists in six games in last year’s first-round series against Carolina, something he’ll need to build upon for the Isles to have a chance at a major upset.

Additionally, captain Anders Lee was back at practice today after missing the final game of the regular season for the birth of his third child, Gross relays, a good sign for his availability tomorrow. It was a difficult regular season for the 33-year-old, who hit the 20-goal mark for the eighth time but had his overall point production drop considerably to 37 in 81 games. He still managed extremely positive possession impacts, though, posting a positive relative CF% for the 11th straight season with a +9.8 expected rating. He averaged 15:34 per game, his lowest in seven years.

Less likely for tomorrow is center Jean-Gabriel Pageau, who wasn’t at practice today and is listed as day-to-day with a lower-body injury, Roy said (via Gross). The 31-year-old exited Wednesday’s game against the Penguins midway through the first period after falling awkwardly, although no injury was apparent on the play (video link). Like Lee, the normally consistent centerman has had a down year offensively, posting his lowest point total in a full season (11 goals, 33 points in 82 GP) in over five years. His 15:55 per game average is his lowest since 2015, although he’s still managed to be a force in the faceoff dot with a 55.4 FOW%. Additionally, his defensive impacts have cratered in continued shutdown usage, posting a career-worst 41.6 CF% and -11.9 expected rating at even strength.

Over in the Atlantic:

  • Star Lightning blue-liner Victor Hedman was back at practice today after missing Wednesday’s win over the Maple Leafs due to illness, per Bally Sports Florida’s Gabby Shirley. It’s a good sign for his availability in Game 1 against the Panthers on Sunday. On the flip side, they may be without depth forwards Luke Glendening and Tyler Motte, who head coach Jon Cooper said were questionable with undisclosed and lower-body injuries, respectively. Hedman’s absence was brief, only missing one contest, as was Glendening’s, although he skated just under four minutes in their penultimate regular-season game against the Sabres earlier in the week. Motte has been sidelined for three games with a lower-body injury he sustained against the Senators last week. If both are unable to go, Mitchell Chaffee and Austin Watson will make their Lightning playoff debuts while winger Conor Sheary shifts to center their fourth line.
  • On the Panthers’ end, defenseman Aaron Ekblad will be ready to suit up in Game 1 after sitting out with an undisclosed injury, head coach Paul Maurice said (per the team’s Jameson Olive). The 28-year-old has been banged up for most of the season, missing Florida’s last six games and all but five post-trade deadline games with injuries. Eligible to sign an extension this summer, he’s coming off the worst offensive showing of his 10-year career with four goals and 18 points in 51 games. His 20:52 average ice time is also a career low.

East Notes: Islanders, Amerks, Leblanc

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The Islanders were one of the teams interested in winger Alex DeBrincat with Newsday’s Andrew Gross reporting that Jean-Gabriel Pageau and winger Oliver Wahlstrom were part of their pitch to Ottawa to try to get DeBrincat’s services.  Presumably, the offer would have also featured a first-round pick and another younger element.  Pageau is no stranger to Ottawa having spent parts of eight seasons with the team but the 30-year-old has three years left on his contract with a $5MM AAV, a price tag the Sens likely didn’t want to take on.  The total salary in the trade they did make with Detroit was assuming the final year and $2.5MM of Dominik Kubalik’s contract.

Elsewhere in the East:

  • The Sabres announced the hiring of two new assistant coaches for AHL Rochester, naming Nathan Paetsch and Vinny Prospal to the role. Paetsch has worked as a development coach for Buffalo for the last two seasons while Prospal most recently served as the head coach for HC Ceske Budejovice in the Czech Extraliga with that stint ending after the 2020-21 campaign.  The two former NHL veterans will take the place of two other former veterans that have been promoted to jobs at the top level with Paetsch replacing Mike Weber (Blues) and Prospal filling the spot of Mike Peca (Rangers).
  • Anthony Leblanc has stepped down as Ottawa’s President of Business Operations and Alternate Governor, reports Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch. Leblanc had held that role since 2020 and had previously spent time in the NHL with Arizona from 2013-2017.  Changes shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise with Michael Andlauer set to take over soon as the new owner of the team.  Andlauer was advised in his pursuit of the team by former Senators executive Cyril Leeder; Garrioch suggests that Leeder could return to the club once the purchase is officially finalized.

Injury Notes: Pageau, Fischer, Schmaltz

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Kevin Kurtz of The Athletic is reporting that New York Islanders forward Jean-Gabriel Pageau could return to the Islanders lineup as early as tomorrow night. Pageau would be a welcome reinforcement to an Islanders squad that is currently occupying the final wild card spot in the Eastern Conference. The 30-year-old Pageau has been out of the lineup since he suffered an upper body injury on February 11th in a game against the Montreal Canadiens. Pageau was later roughed up in practice a few days later and wasn’t put on IR until February 16th, although it was retroactive to February 11th.

The former Ottawa Senator has 29 points in 56 games in his fourth season with the Islanders and would be a welcome additional to a team that appears set to battle down to the wire for a birth in the postseason. Although he has spent most of the season on a line with Zach Parise and a carousel of other wingers, Pageau would give the Islanders  a strong penalty killer and face-off man. Pageau has garnered Selke votes in each of the past five seasons and would add a strong defensive prowess to an already strong defensive team.

  • Craig Morgan of PHNX Sports is reporting some updates on a couple of injured Arizona Coyotes players Nick Schmaltz and Christian Fischer. Morgan states that the Coyotes currently have no timeline on injured forward Schmaltz after he was a late scratch Sunday night against the Minnesota Wild. Schmaltz likely suffered the injury sometime on Saturday night in a game against the Colorado Avalanche. The 27-year-old had been heating up in recent weeks having notched 18 points in his past 15 games.
  • Arizona next plays Tuesday night against the Calgary Flames and they could have Fischer back in the lineup as Coach André Tourigny said he could play and is day-to-day at this time. Fischer was also injured in Saturday’s game against the Avalanche with an apparently lower body injury. He too missed last night’s game against the Wild. Fischer has been having one of the better seasons of his young career with 24 points in 65 games. He looked to be gaining some traction having had three points in four games heading into Saturday night, it’ll be interesting to see if he can keep it going when he does return to the Arizona lineup.

Islanders Activate Cal Clutterbuck Off IR

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The Islanders enter tonight’s action with a four-point advantage on a Wild Card spot and will welcome back one of their long-time veterans tonight as the team announced (Twitter link) that they’ve activated winger Cal Clutterbuck off injured reserve.

He had missed close to two months with an upper-body injury, his third upper-body issue of the season.  In between missing those contests, the 35-year-old has put up four goals and four assists along with 130 hits in 34 games while averaging 12:09 per night, primarily on the fourth line.

It appears that Clutterbuck will be taking the place of Otto Koivula in the lineup tonight against Washington as Newsday’s Andrew Gross relays (Twitter link) that Koivula is listed as day-to-day with a lower-body injury.  The 24-year-old is averaging less than seven minutes per game in his first eight NHL appearances of the season but still has a pair of assists, matching his output from 2021-22.

Meanwhile, New York will still be waiting at least a little longer for two of their key injured forwards to return.  Gross adds (Twitter link) that there remains no timetable for center Mathew Barzal to resume skating as he tries to work his way back from a lower-body injury.  However, the expectation is that Jean-Gabriel Pageau should accompany the team on their upcoming West Coast road trip; the veteran has missed the last month with an upper-body injury.

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