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East Injury Notes: Penguins, Pageau, Sabres

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According to a team release, the Pittsburgh Penguins will be without a couple of key wingers. The good news is both absences are likely to be short term. Newly acquired Mikael Granlund, as well as Bryan Rust, will not play tonight when the Penguins face the Columbus Blue Jackets. Granlund was ruled out due to an illness, while Rust is missing the game for personal reasons. Taylor Haase of DK Pittsburgh Sports added that Rust and his wife are expecting their second child any day now, which could explain his unexpected absence.

The Penguins are facing the league’s worst team in Columbus, but can’t afford to give up any points right now. They are holding on to the final wildcard spot in the Eastern Conference, but have four teams within three points of them. Alex Nylander was called up from the AHL to fill in the void for tonight’s contest.

  • New York Islanders center Jean-Gabriel Pageau remains out of the lineup according to a team release. The Islanders announced the veteran is still day-to-day and will not play tonight against the Buffalo Sabres. Pageau has been listed as day-to-day with an upper-body injury since he last played on February 11th against the Montreal Canadiens.
  • Jourdon LaBarber of NHL.com added some clarity to the Buffalo Sabres injury situation. The team called up Lawrence Pilut earlier today and LaBarber reported it was because Riley Stillman and Mattias Samuelsson remain out of the lineup with injury. Both are listed as day-to-day and will miss a second straight game after sitting out the team’s 3-2 loss to the Edmonton Oilers on Monday. In good news, LaBarber also mentioned Tyson Jost returns to the lineup tonight after missing last night’s game to nurse an undisclosed injury.

Injury Notes: Sabres, Penguins, Bruins, Islanders, Jets

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Mattias Samuelsson and Riley Stillman will not play tonight for the Buffalo Sabres against the Edmonton Oilers as both are out with upper-body injuries, according to Bill Hoppe of the Olean Times Herald.

Both played for Buffalo in the win over Tampa Bay on Saturday. Samuelsson has recorded one goal and seven assists for eight points this season. The Sabres hope he becomes a secondary anchor of their blueline behind Rasmus Dahlin and Owen Power, as next season he will enter the first year of a seven-year contract paying him an AAV of $4.285MM. Stillman is a depth piece who is already a bit of a journeyman at 24, having suited up for four different franchises over parts of the past five seasons, and has played two games for Buffalo since being acquired from Vancouver Feb. 27.

Other notes from around the NHL this morning:

  • Pittsburgh Penguins goaltender Tristan Jarry, who didn’t play on Saturday against the Florida Panthers, was back on the ice for practice Monday morning, according to Rob Rossi of The Athletic. Jarry has been strong this season for the Pens, with a .916 save percentage and 2.77 GAA in 32 games played. Pittsburgh next plays on Tuesday as they host the Columbus Blue Jackets.
  • Veteran centers Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci did not practice Monday morning, according to Matt Porter of the Boston Globe. Bergeron scored in each of the past two games, both Bruins wins, and has 23 goals and 25 assists for 48 points this season. Krejci has 50 points in 57 games this season in his return to the NHL. The Bruins play next on Thursday as the host the Edmonton Oilers.
  • Pierre-Luc Dubois and Mason Appleton participated in the morning skate for the Winnipeg Jets, according to John Lu of TSN. Dubois hasn’t played since Feb. 26, and Lu reports the lower-body injury that kept him out of the past three games wasn’t too bothersome and just needed to heal. Dubois has 55 points (24G, 31A) in 60 games for the Jets this season. Appleton also hasn’t played since Feb. 26, and has nine points in 22 games this season. Both will play tonight against the San Jose Sharks.
  • Center Jean-Gabriel Pageau returned to ice for the New York Islanders practice Monday morning, according to Neil Best of Newsday. Pageau hasn’t played since Feb. 11, and has 29 points in 56 games for the Islanders this season. The Islanders are set to take on the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday night.

 

Dylan Cozens, Mattias Samuelsson Close To Returning

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As the Buffalo Sabres continue to remain in the playoff hunt, they may get a pair of crucial support pieces back in the lineup for their final game before the All-Star break. Head coach Don Granato said today that injured forward Dylan Cozens and defenseman Mattias Samuelsson are “progressing well.”

Both could return to play Wednesday night when Buffalo hosts the Metropolitan Division-leading Carolina Hurricanes. Although it may be a tall task, a win of any kind would propel Buffalo into the second Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference as the break begins, leapfrogging Pittsburgh. Buffalo is in a de facto playoff spot as it stands, as their .571 points percentage sits ahead of Washington’s .558 mark for eighth in the Conference.

Cozens’ and Samuelsson’s injuries have both been short-term, thankfully. Samuelsson missed the past two games with a lower-body injury and should return to his usual place alongside Rasmus Dahlin on the team’s top pairing. Cozens missed just one whole game after leaving last Thursday’s contest against Winnipeg with an upper-body injury late in the game. He’s quietly amidst a strong breakout season, scoring 43 points in 48 games while holding down a top-six center spot behind Tage Thompson.

Rasmus Asplund, despite his solid two-way play, has fallen out of the team’s top 12 forwards this season after the waiver claim of Tyson Jost. He’ll likely exit the lineup for Cozens to make his return.

Injury Notes: Samuelsson, Edmundson, Pacioretty

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When the Buffalo Sabres have been at their best this season, stay-at-home blueliner Mattias Samuelsson has been in the lineup. As The Buffalo News’ Mike Harrington notes, the Sabres are 22-9-3 with Samuelsson in the lineup, but just 3-10-0 without him. Tonight’s news doesn’t bode well for the team, then, as the Sabres have announced that Samuelsson is out for their game against the Winnipeg Jets due to a lower-body injury.

Samuelsson has already missed some time this year due to injury, although it’s unclear if the injury keeping him out of the lineup tonight is in any way related to the one that caused his previous absence. While he’s not an offensive force, Samuelsson’s defensive play has received high praise. He was rewarded by the Sabres with a long-term extension that will take him until the 2030 offseason, and figures to, if all breaks right, be a long-term number-three blueliner for the Sabres behind the Sabres’ two top draft picks in Rasmus Dahlin and Owen Power.

Some other injury notes:

  • While Montreal Canadiens veteran defenseman Joel Edmundson could be a name to watch heading into trade deadline season, any conversations might need to be put on hold. The Canadiens announced that Edmundson would not return to the team’s contest against the Detroit Red Wings tonight. The blueliner, who has another year left on his deal at $3.5MM, has suffered a lower-body injury that knocked him out of the game. We’ll have more information on Edmundson’s status as it becomes available.
  • Carolina Hurricanes forward Max Pacioretty received a major health setback when he tore his Achilles tendon for the second time in this league year. Per TSN’s Chris Johnston on the network’s Insider Trading program, Pacioretty travelled to Turku, Finland for the operation to have his Achilles repaired. Johnston reports that the timeline for his recovery is expected to be around eight-to-nine months, although there is always the lingering possibility that these injuries have a more permanent impact on Pacioretty’s playing future than Pacioretty and every NHL fan would hope for.

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

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

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

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

Buffalo Sabres Re-Assign Riley Sheahan

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The Buffalo Sabres have announced that veteran center Riley Sheahan has been re-assigned to the team’s AHL affiliate, the Rochester Americans.

The move comes after the team announced yesterday that defenseman Mattias Samuelsson would be returning to the lineup for tonight’s contest against the Montreal Canadiens.

For the Sabres to be able to activate Samuelsson, they needed to clear a roster spot, so the team has chosen to send Sheahan down.

Sheahan, 30, has been a priority call-up for the Sabres this season, functioning as a depth center on their NHL roster and a veteran presence in Rochester. In six AHL games this year Sheahan has three points, and in two NHL games, Sheahan has yet to make his mark on the score sheet.

Sheahan is a veteran of over 600 NHL games and should be expected to occupy this role as the Sabres’ top veteran depth center for the rest of this season. Playing on a $950k cap hit, Sheahan will be an unrestricted free agent this summer.

Snapshots: Three Stars, Heinola, Samuelsson

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The NHL released its Three Stars for last week, and first place went to one of the game’s legendary players. Sidney Crosby is back on top after scoring 11 points in four Pittsburgh Penguins matches, passing Bryan Trottier for 17th on the all-time points list. With 64 more points, he will become just the 15th player in NHL history to record 1,500 in a career.

Second and third place went to Pavel Buchnevich and Martin Jones, respectively, after their own impressive weeks. The St. Louis Blues forward had seven points in four games to help power the incredible turnaround that now has them on a six-game winning streak and sitting fourth in the Central Division. Jones, meanwhile continued his resurgent season and now carries a .913 save percentage through 15 appearances.

  • The squeaky wheel is getting some grease in Winnipeg, where the Jets will dress Ville Heinola for the first time this season. Earlier this month, Heinola’s agent publicly requested some additional playing time for his client, who has been stuck in limbo somewhere between leagues for much of his professional career. Now 21, Heinola has seven points in 11 games for the Manitoba Moose but will make his season debut against the Carolina Hurricanes tonight, according to Scott Billeck of the Winnipeg Sun.
  • Speaking of getting a defenseman into the lineup, the Buffalo Sabres are expecting to have Mattias Samuelsson dressed tomorrow night. The team has gone into a tailspin since he was injured earlier this season and is currently on an eight-game losing streak. Buffalo went 4-1 with Samuelsson, who signed a seven-year extension in early October.

Buffalo Sabres Considering Depth Addition

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The Buffalo Sabres lost Mattias Samuelsson and Henri Jokiharju within a few days of each other, suddenly robbing their defensive group of much of its depth. The good news, as general manager Kevyn Adams told reporters including Mike Harrington of the Buffalo News, is that while Samuelsson will miss several weeks, he will not need surgery. Jokiharju meanwhile is week-to-week with a fracture from taking a puck to the face.

With that in mind, Adams explained that the team is considering adding an NHL-level defenseman of some kind, but downplayed the significance of any such move. It won’t be a big change (if one comes at all) but the Sabres are in an interesting situation when it comes to additions like this.

With so much cap space available – the team is still ~$20MM under the ceiling – they could afford to add a bad contract from another team looking for space, with a sweetener to go with it. While it might look odd to add a big ticket for just a few weeks of depth play until Samuelsson and Jokiharju come back, weaponizing the cap space the team has right now can be an effective way to make sure their window is open even longer down the road.

Remember, that cap space isn’t going to be there forever in Buffalo. The team has big extensions kicking in for Tage Thompson and Samuelsson next season and has Dylan Cozens to sign next summer. The following year, Rasmus Dahlin, Owen Power, Jacob Bryson, and Peyton Krebs are all up for new deals, meaning that extra breathing room is going to disappear quickly.

It’s an enviable position to be in, not needing to make a big move but having the capacity to help out another team. While they obviously want their young studs back in the lineup, Adams has all the leverage here in any negotiations as he calls around the league.

Snapshots: Samuelsson, Bear, Wright

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

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

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

Buffalo Sabres Recall Kale Clague

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Amid a brief wave of injuries to their defenseman, the Buffalo Sabres announced that they have recalled defenseman Kale Clague from the Rochester Americans of the AHL. No corresponding move has been announced. The Sabres, who have $19MM in cap space, didn’t make the move for any cap purposes, but instead had a spot to give after Mattias Samuelsson left last night’s game with a lower-body injury. Though not specified in the Sabres announcement, Samuelsson has been placed on IR reports Lance Lysowski of The Buffalo News.

Buffalo is clearly having itself a tough weekend on the injury front, losing not only Samuelsson, but defenseman Henri Jokiharju as well, who was placed on IR on Friday with an upper-body injury. In response to that injury, the Sabres recalled defenseman Lawrence Pilut from Rochester the same day. Should they play, Pilut and Clague will have a chance to make an impact on a Buffalo team that appears to finally be turning a corner, off to a 4-1-0 start early on this season.

If and when Clague plays, it’ll be his first game in a Sabres sweater. The 24-year-old was originally a 2016 draft pick of the Los Angeles Kings, where he played parts of three seasons before the Montreal Canadiens selected him off waivers last December. Montreal failed to quality him this summer, and he hit the free agent market, where the Sabres signed him to a one-year, two-way contract. This season, Clague has three points, all assists in five games at the AHL level. For his NHL career, he has 16 points in 58 games.

As much as these injuries impact the Sabres, they can be felt in Rochester too. With Pilut and Clague making the trip up the road from Rochester to Buffalo, the Americans are out a pair of defensemen themselves. As a result, the team appears to have recalled defenseman Zach Berzolla from the Cincinnati Cyclones, their ECHL affiliate.

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