Snapshots: Toninato, Lundestrom, Barzal, Eichel
The Blackhawks announced that they’ve assigned center Dominic Toninato back to AHL Rockford. Recalled three weeks ago, the 31-year-old got into five games with Chicago while on recall, picking up an assist and ten hits in 9:12 per game of playing time. Toninato has been much more productive with the IceHogs, notching five goals and 12 assists in 24 games with them. With his assignment, the Blackhawks now have an open roster spot. Don’t expect that spot to go to Connor Bedard, however, as while he returned to the ice today per Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times, it was a light skate and there remains no firm timetable for his return.
Elsewhere around the NHL:
- Blue Jackets center Isac Lundestrom is expected to miss a week or two with a lower-body injury sustained in practice over the weekend, reports Aaron Portzline of The Athletic (Twitter link). The 26-year-old is in his first season with Columbus and has been rather quiet offensively, scoring just once while adding four assists in 35 games although he does take a regular turn on the penalty kill.
- Islanders center Mathew Barzal is a little lighter in the wallet today. The league announced that he has received a $5K fine for his slash on Columbus winger Mason Marchment in the second period of Sunday’s game. Barzal received a five-minute major penalty and a game misconduct on the play. The fine, which is the maximum allowable under the CBA, goes to the Players’ Emergency Assistance Fund.
- Golden Knights center Jack Eichel took part in today’s morning skate in a non-contact jersey, relays Fox 5 Vegas’ Vince Sapienza (Twitter link). While he has been ruled out for tonight’s game versus Minnesota, he could return Wednesday against Nashville. Eichel has missed the last two weeks due to both an illness and a lower-body injury. Despite missing that much time, he remains the team leader in scoring with 12 goals and 29 assists in 41 games.
Metro Notes: Barzal, Berard, Crookshank, Fox
There may be some supplemental discipline coming from tonight’s contest between the Columbus Blue Jackets and New York Islanders. Early in the second period, Islanders’ Mathew Barzal was given a five-minute major and a 10-minute game misconduct for slashing Blue Jackets forward Mason Marchment (X Link).
Additionally, the penalty was retaliatory in nature. Marchment was assessed a tripping penalty shortly after sticking his leg out as Islanders’ rookie Matthew Schaefer was attempting to skate the puck out of the zone. The video for each event can be found here.
It’s always difficult to theorize whether the NHL’s Department of Player Safety will use suspension as a punishment or not, but they haven’t been scared to fine Barzal in the past. The Islanders’ second-highest scorer has been fined four times throughout his career, with the most recent coming during the 2023-24 season when he high-sticked current teammate, Tony DeAngelo. Given that he was ejected from the contest, Barzal could be facing the fifth fine of his 10-year career.
Other notes from the Metropolitan Division:
- It’s not uncommon for teams to shift around their roster coming out of the holiday break, and the New York Rangers are no different. This morning, the Rangers announced that they’ve reassigned Brett Berard to the AHL’s Hartford Wolf Pack. He’s gone scoreless over 11 games this year in New York, and didn’t play throughout the duration of his recent recall.
- Similar to the Rangers, the New Jersey Devils also moved a depth forward back to the AHL today. New Jersey announced that they’ve reassigned Angus Crookshank back to the AHL’s Utica Comets. Unlike Berard, Crookshank played in multiple games throughout his recall, which began on December 5th. He scored one goal in eight games, averaging 8:36 of ice time per game.
- Back with the Rangers, the team could be getting a huge boost to their defensive core by the end of the week. According to Peter Baugh of The Athletic, Rangers defenseman Adam Fox has been downgraded to day-to-day and could return tomorrow against the Carolina Hurricanes. Fox, who hasn’t played since November 29 due to an upper-body injury, has missed the last 13 games for New York. He scored three goals and 26 points in 27 games before the injury.
Islanders Activate Alexander Romanov, May Recall Calum Ritchie
6:00 p.m.: Ritchie’s debut with the Islanders will have to wait another day. According to ESPN’s John Buccigross, Ritchie’s flight from Bridgeport to Raleigh was cancelled due to inclement weather. Still, there’s a decent chance that Ritchie will be recalled by the Islanders tomorrow night against the Washington Capitals.
3:57 p.m.: The New York Islanders will have a few additions in their matchup against the Carolina Hurricanes this evening. The Islanders announced that they have activated defenseman Alexander Romanov from injured reserve. Additionally, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports that forward prospect Calum Ritchie will be recalled and make his Islanders debut.
Assuming that Friedman’s report is accurate, New York will have to make another corresponding transaction to fit Ritchie into the active roster. Ritchie’s recall, along with Romanov’s activation, would put the Islanders at 22 skaters and two goaltenders, one over the 23-man roster limit.
In all likelihood, New York will likely reassign defenseman Marshall Warren, given that he’s one of only three waiver-exempt players on the team. He’s had a solid debut with the Islanders over the last two games, tallying two assists while averaging 12:08 of ice time.
Meanwhile, Romanov has missed the team’s last five games with an upper-body injury. He was eligible to return last Thursday, although recent reports indicated that Romanov would return to the lineup at some point during the team’s current road trip. In his four games before the injury, Romanov went scoreless while averaging 18:12 of ice time, collecting 12 blocked shots and 15 hits.
The most interesting portion of today’s roster moves is the reasoning behind Ritchie’s recall. According to Ethan Sears of the New York Post, the team is benching Mathew Barzal tonight due to his late arrival to the rink. It’ll be the first game that Barzal has missed this season, and he’s currently second on the team in scoring with two goals and eight points in nine games.
Still, the news is fairly bittersweet given that Ritchie is expected to debut. He’s been dealing with a mild lower-body injury recently, but has scored one goal and three points in three games for the AHL’s Bridgeport Islanders. During preseason action, Ritchie tallied one goal and one assist in four games, averaging 15:24 of ice time. He was the main piece acquired last year in the trade that sent Brock Nelson to the Colorado Avalanche, and New York is hopeful that he’ll become a high-scoring fixture in their top-six.
Mathew Barzal Ready For Islanders Training Camp
Star New York Islanders forward Mathew Barzal will be ready for full involvement in the team’s upcoming training camp, per a recent interview with Stefen Rosner of The Hockey News. He will return after missing 52 games of last season with an upper-body injury early in the year, and a season-ending knee-injury in February. Barzal told Rosner that he’s embraced a strong mindset in the wake of the significant injury. He said:
When you have an injury like the one I did, you can go two ways with it mentally. You can kinda sulk in it, let it kinda own you. And it did early on… but then you flip a switch and you put everything into rehab and getting better. Mentally, it’s just a matter of doing whatever it takes to get back to being the player I was
Barzal performed like New York’s top forward through the mix of injuries last year. He began the season with five points in 10 games, while averaging more than 21 minutes a night, before injury forced him to miss all of November and the first half of December. He returned to scoring quickly once he was back to full health, netting 15 points in 20 games between December 15th and February 1st. But an injury sustained on a blocked shot against the Tampa Bay Lightning proved too much to overcome. What was initially prognosed as a six-week injury turned into a minor surgery that required all summer to recover from. His season ended with six goals and 20 points in 30 games, or an 82-game scoring pace of 55 points.
An injury-riddled season was the last thing Barzal needed after reclaiming the Islanders’ scoring title in the 2023-24 season. He scored 23 goals and 80 points in as many games that year, marking the most Barzal had scored since he posted 85 points in his Calder Trophy-winning season in 2017-18. That performance was, itself, a solid comeback season after Barzal missed 24 games of the 2022-23 season with a separate knee injury. He had scored 51 points in 58 games prior to that injury.
Excitement for Barzal’s return will be a feeling shared by team, fans, and player. The 28-year-old told Rosner that he would be open to playing throughout the lineup, and mentioned that he enjoyed playing on the wing of Bo Horvat. Barzal shared roughly 71 percent of his ice time with Horvat between 2023 and 2025. Together, the two were on-ice for a tremendous 121-to-70 goal differential and 115-to-76 expected goal differential, per NaturalStatTrick. Horvat dropped to a negative goal-differential (83-to-109) in his minutes away from Barzal, likely speaking to the Islanders’ odds of reconnecting the duo next season.
Then again, New York wields a much sharper lineup than when Barzal last played. The squad, commanded by rookie general manager Mathieu Darche, has reeled in multiple new faces – including Jonathan Drouin, Maxim Shabanov, and Emil Heineman. All three forwards offer interesting upside, and wing depth, that could better define Barzal’s long-term role at either center or wing. One of the three will likely join him on the team’s top power-play unit as well. Those changes, plus the excitement of 2025 first-overall pick Matthew Schaefer, will bring Barzal to a Islanders lineup with much more upside than the one that he left behind last season.
Snapshots: Evangelista, Barzal, Jarvis, Luypen
Predators winger Luke Evangelista is one of the few remaining restricted free agents with training camps on the horizon. Nick Kieser of Lower Broad Hockey relays that the two sides are focused on a bridge deal with the sides discussing contracts between one and three years but that there is still a gap to work through with more talks scheduled for this week. The 23-year-old notched 10 goals along with 22 assists in 68 games last season and has 86 points in 172 career appearances with Nashville. A short-term pact should carry a price tag in the $3MM range, one that they can easily afford with more than $9MM in cap room, per PuckPedia. Kieser added that there has not been any talk about trading Evangelista so far.
Elsewhere around the hockey world:
- Speaking at the NHL Player Media Tour today, Islanders forward Mathew Barzal provided reporters, including Daily Faceoff’s Matt Larkin (Twitter link), an update on his recovery from a knee injury that ended his season early. While he stopped short of declaring himself fully healthy (acknowledging he might not get back to that point), he will be ready to go in training camp. Between this injury and one earlier in the season, the 28-year-old was limited to just 30 games last season where he had 20 points.
- Hurricanes winger Seth Jarvis told reporters at the NHL Player Media Tour today, including Daily Faceoff’s Matt Larkin (Twitter link), that his rehab from a shoulder injury has gone great. He opted not to undergo surgery this offseason despite dealing with the issue for the second year in a row, calling it a pain tolerance situation. Jarvis, who had 32 goals and 35 assists in 73 games last season, also signalled an openness to being tried at center again, an experiment that hasn’t gained much traction over the last two seasons.
- After being non-tendered by Chicago back in June, unrestricted free agent winger Jalen Luypen has found a team for the upcoming season as ECHL South Carolina announced that they’ve signed him to a one-year deal. The 23-year-old spent most of last season in the AHL with Rockford, notching eight goals and six assists in 56 games.
Islanders Notes: Shabanov, Barzal, Horvat, Drouin
Despite drawing interest from several NHL teams, Russian free agent forward Maxim Shabanov chose to sign his one-year, entry-level contract with the New York Islanders because of the opportunities it presents, per Daria Tuboltseva of RG.org.
As Tuboltseva notes, Utah, Philadelphia, Vegas, Boston, and the New York Rangers expressed interest in Shabanov and that the 24-year-old surveyed all options before landing with the Islanders. In part, Shabanov prioritized finding the right fit over securing the biggest payday. His contract will carry a $975,000 cap hit and maximum bonuses – valued at $3.5MM – per NHL.com’s Kevin Weekes.
“Utah really wanted him. So did Philadelphia, Vegas, Boston, the Rangers. So many teams. Some clubs even lost patience because the decision took a while. We were getting five or six calls a day,” his agent, Alexander Chernykh, told RG.
Despite being listed at just 5’8″ and 157 pounds, Shabanov recorded 23 goals and 67 points in 65 games with the KHL’s HC Traktor this season — the third-highest point total in the league. What he lacks in size, he makes up for with speed and skill. Shabanov will look to carve out a role on the Islanders’ third line but could conceivably work his way up the lineup. Today, coach Patrick Roy also noted the team’s interest in utilizing Shabanov as a flank on the power play, per a team release.
Elsewhere with the Islanders:
- Roy noted that he envisions forwards Jonathan Drouin and Bo Horvat starting training camp on the same line, pairing Drouin’s playing-making abilities with Horvat’s shoot-first mentality. As Roy stated, “I think they’re both going to connect very well.” Drouin will provide the Islanders with key power-play minutes, which Roy said is one of the reasons GM Mathieu Darche signed the veteran to a two-year, $8MM contract. Drouin has recorded 31 power-play points over the past two seasons and 125 across his 11-year NHL career.
- Roy also stated that Mathew Barzal is expected to slot back into his natural center position next season. Barzal, 28, began his career exclusively as a center but has spent time on the wing in each of the past two seasons. While he’s just one year removed from an 80-point campaign, he was limited to only 30 games last season due to injury, recording six goals and 20 points. With a career faceoff win rate of just 42.3 percent, Barzal will likely spend the offseason working to improve in that area. Last season, he took 52 faceoffs, winning just 22.
Islanders Won’t Consider Trading Mathew Barzal, Bo Horvat
Ahead of the draft in which they hold the No. 1 overall pick, the Islanders have made it known that top forwards Mathew Barzal and Bo Horvat will not be traded, reports Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic. LeBrun adds that new general manager Mathieu Darche has gone as far as to inform both players directly that their future on Long Island remains stable.
While the Isles’ front office change signaled a willingness for a new organizational approach, the prospects surrounding a full retool/rebuild took a big hit when New York won the draft lottery to move up from 10th to first overall. Doing so gives them an incredibly valuable stepping stone toward their next period of sustained playoff contention without needing to trade away one of their highest-valued players to acquire that type of asset as they would have had to do otherwise.
It would have been incredibly unwise to trade Barzal at this stage anyway. The 28-year-old’s value is likely at a low point after an injury-plagued season, limiting him to just a 9-11–20 scoring line in 30 games. Even on a per-game basis, it was the worst offensive showing of his eight-year run as a full-time NHLer. He still has six years left on his contract at a $9.15MM cap hit with a 22-team no-trade list. Considering he had an All-Star campaign with 80 points in 80 games while averaging over 20 minutes per night just one season ago, there’s legitimate reason to believe an offseason’s worth of rest provides the reset Barzal needs to get back to that level of production.
Trading Horvat, their leading scorer in 2024-25, would have been similarly surprising. He doesn’t have Barzal’s offensive upside but remains a high-end piece, even if he would be better suited as a second-line option on a championship contender compared to the No. 1 center honors he holds on Long Island. He’s scored 141 points in 192 games since being acquired from the Canucks ahead of the 2023 trade deadline and remains one of the league’s best faceoff men, coming off a career-high 58.2 FOW% in 2024-25. Like Barzal, Horvat is signed through the 2030-31 season.
As such, both will remain foundational pieces of the Isles’ forward group as they look to improve by refreshing their blue line and secondary scoring options. Barzal is a natural center but has shifted to Horvat’s wing frequently since the latter’s acquisition. Nonetheless, head coach Patrick Roy might do well to shift Barzal back to center to give them two legitimate top-six pivots in an effort to revitalize a New York offense that ranked 27th in the league last season.
If the Islanders do trade from their forward group to get younger and open up cap space, expect it to be a name like Jean-Gabriel Pageau. The 32-year-old center is entering the final season of his contract at a $5MM cap hit and has become expendable after the Isles landed their new top prospect (for now) in 2023 first-rounder Calum Ritchie, a strong candidate to start next year as their third-line middleman, from the Avalanche in this season’s Brock Nelson deal.
Snapshots: Islanders, Andersson, Hrabal, Jedlicka
With the Islanders missing the playoffs this season, some wondered if new GM Mathieu Darche might look to make a big shakeup on the trade front. If he does, their two top forwards won’t be involved. In his latest column for The Athletic (subscription link), Pierre LeBrun relays that Darche has told forwards Bo Horvat and Mathew Barzal that they will not be moved this summer. Horvat would have been an intriguing name on the center market while Barzal, who has been more of a winger lately but is a natural middleman himself, also would have drawn a lot of interest but instead, they’ll remain the focal points of a New York group that Darche feels can get back into the playoff mix next season.
Elsewhere around the hockey world:
- Extension talks between the Flames and defenseman Rasmus Andersson are expected to continue this week with the two sides exchanging numbers for the first time, reports Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli. Andersson is eligible to sign a new deal as of July 1st and it’s one that should carry a significant increase on his current $4.55MM price tag. While he’s coming off a bit of a down year, he still managed 31 points in 81 games and as a right-shot rearguard who plays in all situations, he’ll be highly sought after should he hit the open market in 2026.
- The Mammoth tried to sign goaltender Michael Hrabal after this season, his college head coach Greg Carvel stated in a recent Sick Podcast appearance (video link). The 20-year-old was the 38th overall pick back in 2023 and has spent the past two seasons at the University of Massachusetts. Hrabal posted a 2.37 GAA with a .924 SV% in 36 games for the Minutemen which seemingly was enough for Utah to want to turn him pro. Instead, Hrabal has decided to return for his junior year and seems like a strong candidate to sign after that.
- While the Avalanche relinquished the rights to prospect Maros Jedlicka on June 1st, he’ll be remaining with the organization for now. Colorado’s AHL affiliate announced that they’ve signed the forward to a one-year contract for next season. Jedlicka started this year playing at home in Czechia, collecting two assists in a dozen games for HC Kometa Brno before coming to North America in mid-November. Jedlicka played in 18 games for the Eagles this season, picking up three goals and two assists and while that wasn’t enough to earn an NHL contract, it was enough for the Avs to keep him around in their system at least.
Mathew Barzal, Semyon Varlamov Expect To Be Ready For Training Camp
New York Islanders goalie Semyon Varlamov and forward Mat Barzal both expect to be ready for the start of next season, per Ethan Sears of the New York Post.
Varlamov has been out since November with an injury that required season-ending surgery. The 36-year-old appeared in only 10 games on the season, finishing with a 3-3-4 record and an undesirable .889 save percentage. Speaking to reporters, Varlamov noted the injury is something that he’s been dealing with for quite some time. He added that he is looking forward to returning to action next season.
If healthy, Varlamov should provide the Isles with a solid backup option behind star Ilya Sorokin. Marcus Högberg ended up appearing in 15 games this year, but didn’t make the most of his opportunity, finishing with a 2-6-3 record to pair with a .878 save percentage. Varlamov has two years remaining on his contract, paying a $2.75MM AAV. Despite a rough 2024-25 season, he’s just one year removed from providing New York with a .918 save percentage and 2.67 goals against average. If he can rediscover that type of play, the combination of him and Sorokin should help the club’s efforts to return to the playoffs.
Barzal, who suffered an injury to his knee back in early February, also expects to be 100 percent for next season. In fact, had the Isles made the playoffs, there’s a chance Barzal could have played. In 30 games on the year, he posted six goals and 20 points. The three-time All-Star is coming off of an 80-point season and has produced 190 points in the three seasons prior to this year. The 27-year-old still has six years remaining on his $9.125MM AAV deal.
Islanders Place Matt Martin On IR, Activate Noah Dobson From LTIR
Feb. 26: Per the NHL media site (and shared by Rosner), the Islanders have officially activated Dobson from the long-term injured reserve making him available for tomorrow’s contest. Additionally, New York has transferred center Mathew Barzal from injured reserve to LTIR to create the necessary cap space for Dobson’s return.
Feb. 25: It’s a lower-body injury for Martin, Rosner reports. Dobson won’t return tonight against the Rangers but is probable for Thursday against the Bruins, he adds.
Feb. 25: The New York Islanders have reportedly placed forward Matt Martin on injured reserve (as per Stefen Rosner of The Hockey News), opening the door for them to activate defenseman Noah Dobson off LTIR. The Islanders needed to open up room for Dobson and could have placed a player on waivers to do so, however, Islanders general manager Lou Lamoriello opted to use IR to open up a spot.
Martin began the year on a PTO before signing a one-year deal for the NHL minimum ($775K) when the Islanders began dealing with injury issues. The 35-year-old hasn’t played since January 16th, making it unclear when he suffered the injury. The 12-game absence likely signals what the rest of Martin’s season will look like as he probably won’t see much action regardless of injury status, unless the Islanders trade away several members of their NHL roster or go through another bout of the injury bug.
Martin has dressed in 24 games this year for the Islanders, posting a single assist, 68 hits and 15 blocked shots. He carved out a nice NHL career for himself and was once a pretty solid forechecker but at this stage of his career, he doesn’t offer much at the NHL level. Martin has played very little when he has dressed, averaging just 7:47 of ice time per game and has been decimated on the possession front, posting a CF% of 35.4%.
Dobson is expected to be activated after the Islanders’ morning skate today. The 25-year-old hasn’t played since January 20th and has had a lower-body injury. His absence created a big hole for the Islanders as he has been averaging a shade over 24 minutes of ice time per game and has continued to be a terrific play driver. His offensive numbers have fallen off this season, registering six goals and 18 assists in 46 games, and he continues to be a polarizing player for Islanders fans who don’t see him as a fit on the power play and question some of his decisions with the puck.