Injury Notes: Konecny, Eberle, Parekh
The Philadelphia Flyers announced mid-game that star Travis Konecny would not return due to an upper-body injury.
Konecny has yet to miss a game this season, recording 37 points in 41 games, and notching the team’s only tally of the night as they lost in overtime to Toronto. Although he did not return for the third period, the forward was seen doing a television interview at the intermission beforehand, which hopefully indicates that his injury is not serious, and the decision was for more precautionary reasons.
Philadelphia has continued their winning ways of late, impressively second in the Metropolitan, and they will cross their fingers that their second-leading scorer will not miss any time. The team is right back in action on Saturday, hosting Tampa Bay.
Elsewhere across the league:
- Shortly before their home tilt against Minnesota, the Seattle Kraken shared that forward Jordan Eberle will not play, with an upper-body ailment. The team will be missing their captain for the first time this season, who somewhat surprisingly has turned back the clock in 2025-26, on pace for his best season with the Kraken. The 35-year-old has 15 goals in 41 games, after finding the back of the net just 26 times in the last two seasons combined. Eberle could return as soon as Saturday in Carolina, as the team hopes to fend off competitors in the Pacific Division and earn their second-ever playoff appearance.
- Zayne Parekh’s return to the Flames lineup will be delayed, as the defenseman has been listed as day-to-day with an upper body injury, as reported by Eric Francis of Sportsnet. Although not immediately clear, it is most likely that the ailment comes from Parekh’s time leading Team Canada in the World Junior Championship. With just one point in 11 games so far in the NHL, Calgary is in no rush with their 19-year-old prized prospect, and in the meantime, Hunter Brzustewicz will hold his spot in the lineup. Parekh could return Saturday afternoon in Pittsburgh.
Seattle Kraken Activate Jordan Eberle From LTIR
Saturday: As expected, the Kraken announced that Eberle will indeed return to Seattle’s lineup today against Florida.
Monday: According to the AHL transactions page, the Seattle Kraken have officially recalled forward Jordan Eberle from his conditioning loan with the AHL’s Coachella Valley Firebirds. Seattle still needs to activate Eberle from the team’s long-term injured reserve but all signs indicate he’ll return for the Kraken’s first game after the 4 Nations Face-Off break this Saturday.
It’ll be Eberle’s first game in almost 100 days should he suit up against the Florida Panthers this weekend. Seattle’s second captain in franchise history underwent surgery to repair a pelvic injury suffered in the team’s November 14th matchup against the Chicago Blackhawks.
The injury was certainly a buzzkill for Eberle after getting off to a quick start to the 2024-25 campaign. The Regina, Saskatchewan native scored six goals and 11 points through his first 17 games this season before succumbing to the pelvic injury. That 0.65 point-per-game average would have put Eberle around the 53-point total if he continued that pace over all the Kraken’s games this year.
That would have made for his second-best offensive output as a member of the Kraken. Eberle finished his first year with the club with 21 goals and 44 points in 79 games only to explode for 63 points a year later. The former sniper for the Edmonton Oilers and New York Islanders dropped back to 44 points last season setting him up for a potential rebound year in 2024-25.
Hindsight being 20/20, Eberle has lost that opportunity. He’ll max out at 42 games played this season if he plays in Seattle’s remaining 25 contests setting a new career-low. Still, Eberle will have one year and $4.75MM left on his contract after this season meaning he’ll have one more chance at a quality payday heading into his age 36 campaign.
Kraken Assign Jordan Eberle To AHL On Conditioning Loan
The Seattle Kraken have assigned team captain Jordan Eberle to the minor leagues on a conditioning stint. Eberle has been out of the lineup for nearly the entire season after suffering a pelvis injury in Seattle’s November 14th win over the Chicago Blackhawks. Eberle suffered the injury in a collision with Hawks defenseman Connor Murphy. His timetable was quickly drawn out in the wake of the injury. Eberle was originally designated as out day-to-day but ultimately needed surgery less than one week later. He was placed on long-term injured reserve and announced as out month-to-month on November 30th.
There have been very few updates on Eberle’s progress in the months since. He resumed off-ice workouts and light skating on January 23rd, but was said to still be a ways out from returning. Now, nearly three weeks later, the veteran winger seems to finally be on the mend. This AHL conditioning loan is likely an effort to keep Eberle on the practice sheet during Seattle’s two-week break for the 4-Nations Face-Off break, though he could have a chance at playing in one of Coachella Valley’s four games before the Kraken return from break. Of note, since Eberle remains on LTIR, he will be limited to six days and/or three games in the minors – though Seattle can appeal to receive two additional games.
Eberle was off to a red-hot start to the year before he fell to injury. He scored six goals and 11 points in Seattle’s first 17 games, good enough for second on the team in both scoring stats at the time of his injury. The scoring was a promising uptick after Eberle managed just 17 goals and 44 points in 78 games last season – far off the mark of the 63 points he posted in 2022-23. Eberle has emerged as a pillar of the Seattle lineup despite the fluctuating scoring. He’s glued himself to a top-six role and stood as one of Seattle’s best defensive forwards through parts of his first four seasons with the club. Seattle named Eberle as the second captain in franchise history before the start of the 2024-25 season. While he hasn’t had much of a chance to don the ‘C’, the title still stands as a great indication of the role Eberle fills, and the priority he’ll be provided when he finally returns to full health.
Kraken Recall Mitchell Stephens, Activate Vince Dunn Off LTIR
Prior to their game tonight against San Jose, the Kraken announced (Twitter link) that forward Mitchell Stephens was recalled from AHL Coachella Valley. Additionally, defenseman Vince Dunn has been activated off LTIR according to the NHL’s media site.
Stephens is in his first season with Seattle after signing a two-year, two-way deal with them early in free agency back in July. The 27-year-old is a veteran of 95 career NHL appearances between Tampa Bay, Detroit, and Montreal. Stephens got into 23 appearances with the latter last season, notching three points while winning over 55% of his faceoffs in a little over nine minutes a night of playing time.
It’s his first recall of the season and it comes following somewhat of a slow start to his season. Stephens has three goals and an assist in 11 games so far with the Firebirds. By comparison, he had 35 points in 49 games with AHL Laval just last season.
Meanwhile, the return of Dunn is a welcome one for the Kraken. He has been one of the more impactful blueliners league-wide in recent years, especially on the offensive side of things after putting up 110 points in 140 games between 2022-23 and 2023-24 while logging over 23 minutes of ice time each night. Prior to suffering an upper-body injury that kept him out for nearly six weeks, Dunn was off to a good start on that front this season as well, notching three points in his first four outings.
Dunn’s return gives Seattle now three above-average threats from the back end which will help an offense that’s near the middle of the pack in terms of goals scored. Brandon Montour is off to a solid start in his first season with the Kraken while Ryker Evans has helped pick up the offensive slack in Dunn’s absence. Both players enter tonight’s action with 15 points, good for a tie for third in team scoring.
While there has been no announcement from the team, the only way that Seattle could have activated Dunn and recalled Stephens was by transferring winger Jordan Eberle to LTIR. The captain is expected to be out for at least the next three months after undergoing pelvic surgery a little more than a week ago.
Jordan Eberle Out At Least Three Months
Kraken forward Jordan Eberle has missed the last week due to what was originally ruled as a lower-body injury. It’s one that is going to keep him out of the lineup for a considerable amount of time, however, as the team announced (Twitter link) that he underwent successful surgery on his pelvis earlier today. The recovery time from the procedure is a minimum of three months.
The 34-year-old was named as the second captain in franchise history last month. Eberle is in his fourth season with the Kraken after being selected by them in the Expansion Draft in 2021 and has been a valuable secondary scorer for them since then. He reached at least 17 goals and 44 points in each of his first three campaigns with them while his 63-point effort in 2022-23 was the third-best point total of his career.
Eberle was off to a strong start this season, recording six goals and five assists in his first 17 games before suffering the injury which would have had him at a 29-goal, 53-point pace over 82 appearances, a number he clearly won’t be reaching now. A three-month (minimum) recovery timeline will likely keep Eberle out through the 4 Nations Cup in February, or at least the next 37 games. That’s a significant blow to a Seattle team that’s around the middle of the pack offensively.
Eberle will likely be transferred to LTIR at some point in the next little while. The Kraken have ample cap flexibility at the moment with defenseman Vince Dunn on there already so Eberle’s placement won’t happen right away. When Dunn is able to come back – and he will be with the team on their upcoming road trip per the team’s Scott Malone (Twitter link) – that will be the time when Eberle should land on there. That will largely eliminate any hope of banking cap space in the meantime, however.
West Notes: Eberle, Ducks, Joseph
The Kraken will be without their captain for at least the next two games and possibly more as Tim Booth of The Seattle Times relays that Jordan Eberle won’t play this weekend due to a lower-body injury. The 34-year-old was injured in a collision on Thursday against Chicago. Head coach Dan Bylsma noted that while Eberle was feeling a little better on Friday, there still needs to be further testing and evaluation done; that will come early next week to determine how much longer he might be out for. Eberle is off to a decent start to the season, notching six goals and five assists in 17 games so far while playing a little under 16 minutes a night.
More from the Western Conference:
- The Ducks issued several injury updates late Friday. After originally being classified as day-to-day with an upper-body injury, defenseman Cam Fowler will now miss the next two to four weeks because of it. A speculative trade candidate, the 32-year-old has been limited to just 12 games so far this season where he has only two points in a little over 21 minutes a night. Meanwhile, forward Mason McTavish is day-to-day with an upper-body injury while defenseman Urho Vaakanainen’s upper-body issue is being evaluated; he’s also listed as day-to-day for now. McTavish has two goals and six assists in 13 games so far while Vaakanainen has suited up just five times and has one assist and seven blocked shots.
- Blues defenseman Pierre-Olivier Joseph left the road trip to have his injury better evaluated but the test results were good, relays Matthew DeFranks of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (Twitter link). Accordingly, the 25-year-old is listed as day-to-day. Joseph is in his first season in St. Louis after signing with them in free agency following his non-tender from Pittsburgh. He has played in 13 games so far this season, recording one assist while averaging a little under 14 minutes a night.
Pacific Notes: Kane, Savoie, Wright, Eberle
As expected the Edmonton Oilers have announced they have placed forward Evander Kane on long-term injured reserve to start the 2024-25 NHL season. He had major surgery in mid-September on two torn hip adductor muscles, two hernias, and two torn lower abdominal muscles which will keep him off the ice for the next four months.
The move gives Edmonton some much-needed financial breathing room and will allow them to safely register Travis Dermott‘s one-year, $775K contract. Kane’s LTIR placement gives the Oilers $5.125MM in cap room after starting the year with only $53 of space.
Things will get tricky for Edmonton once Kane returns from surgery in mid-January since his contract will be added back to the active roster. The team will still accrue cap space thanks to a separate transaction today (more on that later) but will still be in a bind when Kane returns.
Other Pacific notes:
- In the same announcement, the Oilers shared they have reassigned forwards Matthew Savoie and Cameron Wright to their AHL affiliate, the Bakersfield Condors. The two combined for $1.811MM in cap space with the latter signing a one-year, $925K contract with the team yesterday. Coupled with the team officially signing Dermott to a one-year, $775K contract they have opened up another $1.036MM in salary cap space.
- Before the team’s first game of the regular season against the St. Louis Blues this afternoon, the Seattle Kraken named their second captain in franchise history. Forward Jordan Eberle will now don the ‘C’ for Seattle and will be the first player to do so since defenseman Mark Giordano. Eberle was selected by the Kraken from the New York Islanders in the 2021 Expansion Draft and signed a two-year, $9.5MM extension with the club during the 2023-24 regular season.
Kraken, Jordan Eberle Agree To Two-Year Extension
With Seattle selling, it was a matter of Jordan Eberle either signing an extension or being traded today. It will be the former as CapFriendly reports (Twitter link) that the two sides have agreed to a two-year, $9.5MM extension. The deal contains a full no-trade clause.
The 33-year-old had been believed to be seeking a third year on this deal but instead, he winds up with a bit more than the originally reported offer of $4.5MM per year and full trade protection, something he didn’t have before; his current deal only carried a 16-team no-trade clause. Even with that, the contract represents a small dip in pay by $750K per season.
Eberle was originally picked by Seattle in the expansion draft in 2021 and has been one of their top scorers since then; he’s tied for second in franchise scoring history with defenseman Vince Dunn and behind center Jared McCann. He had one of his best outputs last season, notching 20 goals and a career-high 43 assists, giving him some leverage heading into offseason extension discussions.
However, his numbers have been down this year, as has been the case for several of Seattle’s top players. Even so, Eberle sits fourth in team scoring with 14 goals and 23 assists in 58 games while logging a little over 17 minutes a night. That type of production made him an attractive target for teams looking to bolster their secondary scoring leading into the trade deadline, especially with 76 playoff games under his belt. Instead, he’ll be staying put and staying in a top-six role for the Kraken for the next couple of years.
With the signing, Seattle has a little under $65.5MM in commitments to 16 players for next season, per CapFriendly. With Kailer Yamamoto and Eeli Tolvanen headlining their RFA list and Justin Schultz their lone higher-priced UFA of significance, GM Ron Francis looks set to have considerable cap space heading into next summer to add to his roster to try to get his team back into playoff contention.
Sportsnet’s Jeff Marek was first to report that contract talks had resumed earlier this morning.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
West Notes: Lindholm, Maroon, Dewar, Eberle, Koch
There had been some speculation that the Canucks could flip Elias Lindholm to secure assets that would be part of a Jake Guentzel trade. However, with Guentzel now in Carolina, it appears Vancouver won’t be looking to flip Lindholm after all, reports TSN’s Chris Johnston in his latest piece for The Athletic (subscription link). The 29-year-old hasn’t lit it up yet with his new team as he has just four goals and three assists in 16 games since coming over from Calgary, not the type of stretch run he was hoping for as he heads to UFA eligibility this summer for the first time.
More from the West:
- The Wild have received interest in winger Pat Maroon and center Connor Dewar, reports The Athletic’s Michael Russo (subscription link). Maroon has missed the last month with a back injury that will keep him out for a couple more weeks but as a cheap gritty, experienced bottom-six forward, it’s not a surprise that there is still interest. The pending unrestricted free agent has 16 points in 49 games so far this season. Dewar, meanwhile, is heading for restricted free agency this summer with arbitration eligibility. The 24-year-old has 10 goals in 57 games while averaging a little over 11 minutes a night and is a key part of Minnesota’s penalty kill. With the rental center market being thin, the Wild could command a decent return if they decide to move Dewar as a result.
- The Kraken and winger Jordan Eberle were discussing a two-year deal with a cap hit of $4.5MM, relays Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli. However, Eberle is believed to be seeking a third year which is the hold-up in discussions. The 33-year-old has seen his numbers dip this season but still has 14 goals and 23 assists through 58 games. The expectation is that Eberle will either be signed or traded by the 2 PM CT deadline. If it’s the latter, Seattle will almost certainly need to retain on his current $5.5MM price tag.
- The Coyotes announced (Twitter link) that they’ve assigned defenseman Patrik Koch to AHL Tucson. The 27-year-old was recalled yesterday but didn’t play. Koch is in his first season in North America and has a goal and ten assists in 47 games with the Roadrunners so far this season.
More Trade Notes: Eberle, Oilers, Laughton
The Seattle Kraken remain open to trading veteran forward Jordan Eberle, per Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli, with the Edmonton Oilers emerging as one team interested in a trade. The Kraken have prioritized signing Eberle to an extension, though Seravalli reports that term has become a hangup in negotiations. Eberle has been effective once again in Seattle, scoring 14 goals and 37 points in 58 games this season. He’s on pace to once again score 20 goals on the season – a feat he’s managed in each of his three years with the Kraken, after not achieving it since the 2017-18 season with the New York Islanders. Eberle has totaled 144 points in 219 games with Seattle, ranking as the team’s third-highest scorer of all time and bringing his career totals up to 695 points in 998 games. While Seattle is still hoping to complete an extension, the heat of the Trade Deadline could be enough to see Eberle play his 1,000th game with a new team.
Other notes from around the league:
- The Edmonton Oilers are searching for an inexpensive, veteran defenseman says Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli. The Oilers have already made a splash this Trade Deadline, acquiring Adam Henrique and Sam Carrick from the Anaheim Ducks on Wednesday. They now have just $1.0MM in cap space remaining, limiting their ability to upgrade much more. They’ll have to act quick if they want to bring in a veteran defender with the market dwindling, as Joel Edmundson has already been traded and both Zach Bogosian and Nick Seeler each signed extensions with their clubs. Remaining options could include Montreal’s David Savard or Buffalo’s Erik Johnson. Edmonton carries a healthy mix of left-handed and right-handed defensemen, giving them the flexibility to choose whichever player fits their style better.
- The Philadelphia Flyers are planning to revisit a Scott Laughton trade after bigger names have come off the board, per The Fourth Period’s Anthony Di Marco, who shares that the price for Laughton remains a first-round pick. Laughton has become a cornerstone piece in Philadelphia, thanks to his impacts in all three zones. He has 10 goals and 32 points in 63 games this season, after scoring a career-high 18 goals and 43 points in 78 games last year. He’s spent all 11 years of his career in Philadelphia, totaling 231 points in 582 games.