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Max Pacioretty

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.

Max Pacioretty Suffers Torn Achilles

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5:04 PM: The Hurricanes have now officially announced the news.

4:55 PM: It turns out Pacioretty’s MRI was done today, not on Monday as originally reported. In what is absolutely awful news for both Pacioretty and hockey fans everywhere, the MRI revealed, as reported by Luke DeCock of the Raleigh News & Observer, that Pacioretty tore his right Achilles tendon, just two weeks after returning to action. It’s the same injury he suffered in August, and although no firm timeline has been released by the team, it will in all likelihood knock him out for the rest of the season.

This news likely confirms that Pacioretty will eventually end up placed on long-term injured reserve. While Pacioretty’s health and recovery will undoubtedly be the Hurricanes’ first priority here, this development does impact their roster-building plans for the rest of the season. The additional cap space afforded by a Pacioretty LTIR placement could have a significant impact on the rest of the team’s season and the trade market as a whole.

For Pacioretty, the priority will be getting his health back in a good place. The 34-year-old forward has played some of the best hockey of his career in recent years, but he has been limited to only sporadic availability due to injuries. With this bit of news, it’s clear he now faces another long recovery on his road back to the ice.

12:47 PM: After just five games, Max Pacioretty is back on injured reserve. The Carolina Hurricanes moved the veteran winger after he suffered a non-contact injury last night to the same leg that underwent surgery to repair a torn Achilles tendon last summer.

The Hurricanes have not given a timeline for Pacioretty’s recovery, and according to Luke DeCock of the Raleigh News & Observer, won’t be making a determination until next week. They’ve moved his scheduled MRI to Monday.

It is brutal news for a player that worked so hard to come back, especially given how well he had fit into the Carolina lineup. Pacioretty had three goals in his first three games with the team, though was also held out for two games recently due to a lower-body injury.

If it is another torn Achilles, Pacioretty would be out for the rest of the season. Injuries have become something of a pattern for the 34-year-old in the back half of his career. A player once known for his durability and consistency, Pacioretty has now played just 44 games since the start of 2021-22.

Even worse, his contract will expire at the end of this season, making him an unrestricted free agent. If the injury is as serious as it seems, another months-long rehab will be a difficult pill to swallow, with no guarantee of a financial or competitive future.

For the Hurricanes, it could mean they suddenly have some extra cap flexibility to play with. Should Pacioretty head back to long-term injured reserve, the team could make any number of moves at the deadline. His entire $7MM salary could essentially be replaced if he is not going to return this season.

Injury Updates: Carlo, Staal, Crouse, Pacioretty

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The Boston Bruins have announced that defenseman Brandon Carlo has suffered a lower-body injury, and is unlikely to return to tonight’s game against the New York Rangers. Carlo, a 26-year-old stay-at-home defenseman, is no stranger to injury issues, although this one is thankfully of the lower-body variety. While no injury is ever good news for a player, Carlo has battled concussions during his tenure as a Bruin, meaning the fact that this injury isn’t adding to that history is worth being thankful for.

Carlo blocked a hard shot from New York Rangers forward Mika Zibanejad in the second period of tonight’s game, and it’s likely that this injury has something to do with that block. The Bruins will hope that Carlo leaving tonight’s game proves to be an ultimately unnecessary precaution, as Carlo has been an important part of the team’s defensive formula and they’re likely to want him back on the ice as soon as he’s able.

Some other injury updates from across the NHL:

  • Another Florida Panther has left tonight’s game against the Montreal Canadiens: Eric Staal. After starting netminder Sergei Bobrovsky left early in the game, the team announced that Staal had suffered an upper-body injury and would not return for the rest of the match. The injury seemed to come after Staal took a hit from Canadiens defenseman Mike Matheson.
  • The Arizona Coyotes have announced that forward Lawson Crouse will miss tonight’s game with an upper-body injury. The 25-year-old 2015 first-round pick is in the middle of what is shaping up to be the best season of his career. He’s already scored 16 goals in just 43 games of action, and the team has to be hoping that he can return to action as soon as possible.
  • There was a terrible scene in the dying seconds of tonight’s Carolina Hurricanes game. Forward Max Pacioretty, who just recently returned to the ice after surgery to repair a torn Achilles, needed to be helped off the ice after suffering a non-contact lower-body injury. The News and Observer’s Luke DeCock noted that the leg Pacioretty injured tonight was the same as where he had his Achilles injury, which is obviously not a good sign for Pacioretty and the Hurricanes whatsoever. But until the Hurricanes get a closer look at Pacioretty’s status, all anyone can do is hope this ends up simply being a minor scare, and not a potential setback in the recovery from his offseason surgery.

Metropolitan Notes: Texier, Pacioretty, Rangers

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There was some surprise when it was announced that Blue Jackets winger Alexandre Texier would play this season in Switzerland instead of Columbus at his request to play closer to his family.  GM Jarmo Kekalainen told Brian Hedger of the Columbus Dispatch that he’s hopeful that the 23-year-old will be able to return next season.  Texier has six goals and 14 assists with SC Bern of the NLA this season, good for seventh on the team in scoring with five of the six ahead of him also having NHL experience.  He has been a bit more productive in Champions League action, notching two goals and five assists in six games so far.  Texier is in the second and final year of his bridge deal with Columbus but is not counting against their salary cap during his absence.

More from the Metropolitan:

  • The Hurricanes won’t have Max Pacioretty in the lineup tonight while he is listed as doubtful tomorrow due to a lower-body injury per team reporter Walt Ruff (Twitter link). However, head coach Rod Brind’Amour indicated that he believes the winger’s injury isn’t believed to be too serious which suggests that Pacioretty shouldn’t be out much longer.  He just returned from a torn Achilles earlier this month and was off to a good start with his new team with three goals in four games.
  • Rangers winger Chris Kreider skated on his own today but is listed as doubtful for their upcoming games on Sunday and Monday, relays Arthur Staple of The Athletic (Twitter link). He suffered an upper-body injury earlier this week and missed Thursday’s game against Dallas.  While he’s not scoring at the rate he was last season when he had 52 goals, Kreider has still been productive with 19 goals and 11 assists through 42 games.  Meanwhile, Staple adds that winger Julien Gauthier, who was injured in a collision with teammate Sammy Blais on Thursday, has yet to skate and is out for Sunday’s game and likely Monday’s as well.  He has a career-high six goals in 32 games this season.

Injury Notes: Pacioretty, Matthews, Gauthier

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Carolina Hurricanes star forward Max Pacioretty just returned from a long injury-related absence, and with three goals in his first three games, it looked as though he’d fully put his health woes behind him. That assumption may have been a bit premature, though, as the Hurricanes have announced that Pacioretty will not return to tonight’s game due to a lower-body injury.

Thankfully, according to the Hurricanes, the injury is not related to the Achilles injury he just recovered from. But beyond that bit of information, what Pacioretty is exactly dealing with remains a mystery. Pacioretty has dealt with significant injury issues in recent years, managing to play in just 39 games last season. He had 37 points in that span, though, indicating just how valuable he can be when healthy. The Hurricanes will have to hope that this new injury is a relatively minor one.

Some other injury notes:

  • Toronto Maple Leafs star Auston Matthews missed his second straight game tonight as he battles a lingering injury. ESPN’s Emily Kaplan reports that Matthews hasn’t been 100% this season, but has played through his injury thus far to help the Maple Leafs. Kaplan reports that Matthews, who has scored 47 points in 41 games this year, is likely to return on Saturday.
  • As reported by The Athletic’s Arthur Staple, New York Rangers forward Julien Gauthier will not return to tonight’s game due to an upper-body injury. Gauthier was hurt after a collision with teammate Sammy Blais, who managed to return to the game. Gauthier, 25, is in his fourth season with the Rangers and has nine points in 31 games.

Snapshots: Hughes, Pacioretty, Rhinehart

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The New Jersey Devils are finally reaping the rewards of their high-end prospect pool, looking to be in a solid playoff position for the first time in years.

They could soon get another important young piece into the lineup, too. 2021 first-round pick Luke Hughes will “very likely” be in the Devils lineup at the end of the 2022-23 season after his college campaign at the University of Michigan ends, said Michigan coach Brandon Naurato speaking with NJ.com’s Ryan Novozinsky. Naurato calls Hughes a “Cale Makar-like” talent, and if Hughes is anything reminiscent of Makar’s late-season debut with Colorado in 2019, the Devils have a much better chance at breaking through an air-tight Eastern Conference.

  • The Carolina Hurricanes made waves today by activating All-Star forward Max Pacioretty off season-opening injured reserve. However, it’s unclear whether Pacioretty will make his Carolina debut tomorrow night. Hurricanes team reporter Walt Ruff notes that the team will not have a morning skate tomorrow, and we likely won’t know whether Pacioretty is playing until head coach Rod Brind’Amour’s pregame media availability in the afternoon.
  • An intriguing unsigned prospect could be getting his first look in the AHL. 21-year-old defenseman Rhett Rhinehart was recalled to the Calgary Wranglers today, according to the ECHL’s transactions log. Rhinehart is valuable in that he’s a tall, right-shot defenseman with some offensive awareness. He served as an alternate captain for the WHL’s Saskatoon Blades last season, where he had 27 points in 53 games.

Carolina Hurricanes Activate Max Pacioretty

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The Carolina Hurricanes, currently sitting in second place in the entire NHL, are about to get a pretty impressive reinforcement. Max Pacioretty has been activated from the season-opening injured reserve, with Ondrej Kase moving to long-term injured reserve to make room. Pacioretty is coming back from offseason surgery to repair a torn Achilles, and will be making his Hurricanes debut whenever head coach Rod Brind’Amour inserts him into the lineup.

It is a rather incredible return, given Pacioretty’s surgery didn’t take place until August 10. That means he was out for less than five months after originally being given a six-month timeline. The 34-year-old winger was acquired from the Vegas Golden Knights along with Dylan Coughlan in a salary dump last offseason, with the Hurricanes sending back nothing but future considerations.

Carolina assumed all of Pacioretty’s $7MM cap hit for this season, the last in his four-year $28MM deal signed with Vegas in 2018. One of the most consistent goal scorers of his generation, he could potentially be a difference-maker for the Hurricanes for the rest of the year. Pacioretty has topped 30 goals six times in his career, and combined for 43 in 87 games over the last two shortened seasons.

Even if he can’t get back to 100 percent of his former self, he’s joining a group in Carolina that is already poised to contend for a Stanley Cup. Pacioretty was skating with Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Derek Stepan today at practice.

For Kase, it does not appear as though there was a setback, but his placement on LTIR opens the room to fit Pacioretty under the cap. The veteran forward has been skating with the team in a non-contact jersey of late, though there is no clear timeline for his return from another concussion.

Snapshots: Extension Updates, Letang, Pacioretty

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Now that the holiday break is over, teams will now shift their focus directly on the trade deadline and a push for the playoffs. Some clubs who find themselves on the bubble will have to determine whether an extension or a trade is the best option for some expiring contracts. With that in mind, Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic examines several of the most intriguing contract negotiations, from David Pastrnak to Dylan Larkin.

While those two seem destined to eventually re-sign, that doesn’t seem quite as likely for the two big names in St. Louis: Ryan O’Reilly and Vladimir Tarasenko. Blues fans holding out hope that the former will be kept won’t love the comments from agent Pat Morris, who explained that there have not been any contract negotiations for O’Reilly this season and there is “nothing new to report” on that front.

  • The Pittsburgh Penguins could be without Kris Letang again, as head coach Mike Sullivan told reporters including Rob Rossi of The Athletic that the veteran defenseman is being evaluated for a lower-body injury. Letang played over 27 minutes last night and nearly 26 the night before that in consecutive losses.
  • The Carolina Hurricanes won’t have Max Pacioretty in the lineup tomorrow, but head coach Rod Brind’Amour said today that it is possible he returns within the next ten games. The veteran forward tore his Achilles in August and was given a six-month recovery timeline – one that he appears well ahead of. Pacioretty scored 19 goals and 37 points in 39 games for the Vegas Golden Knights last season.

Metropolitan Notes: Pacioretty, Blue Jackets, Johansen, Islanders

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Hurricanes winger Max Pacioretty has taken another step towards returning to the lineup as Chip Alexander of the Raleigh News and Observer reports (Twitter link) that the veteran is no longer in a no-contact jersey.  Pacioretty has been out for the entire year so far after undergoing offseason surgery to repair a torn Achilles tendon and while he’s still likely to be out a little while longer for conditioning purposes, he’ll be a key addition to Carolina’s lineup for the second half of the season.  He had 19 goals and 18 assists in 39 games with Vegas last year but was moved in the offseason as a cap-saving move.  Carolina shouldn’t have any issues activating Pacioretty from LTIR when he’s given the green light to return.

More from the Metropolitan:

  • Blue Jackets goaltender Elvis Merzlikins remains in COVID protocol, relays Brian Hedger of the Columbus Dispatch (Twitter link). With Joonas Korpisalo returning just before the holiday break, Columbus didn’t need to recall a goalie but as Merzlikins has missed a full week now, the team could move him to IR in the short-term to open up a roster spot.  Meanwhile, Hedger adds in a separate tweet that winger Patrik Laine has also been placed in COVID protocol.  Head coach Brad Larsen wasn’t sure when Laine first was placed there and for the time being, he’s listed as questionable for their game against the Islanders on Thursday.  Laine has nine goals and seven assists in 20 games this season.
  • The Capitals announced that they’ve recalled defenseman Lucas Johansen from AHL Hershey. The 25-year-old has played in two games for Washington this season plus 13 more in the minors where he has a goal and an assist.  To make room for Johansen on the active roster, blueliner John Carlson was placed on injured reserve.
  • Islanders wingers Kyle Palmieri and Cal Clutterbuck are skating on their own as they continue to work their way back from upper-body injuries sustained back on the 16th, notes Newsday’s Andrew Gross (Twitter link). Palmieri has been somewhat quiet offensively this season with just nine points in 21 games while Clutterbuck has five points and 98 hits in 26 contests.  Both players are listed as day-to-day.

Injury Notes: Matthews, Pacioretty, Teravainen

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12:23 pm: Head coach Sheldon Keefe said during post-practice media availability that Matthews was “fine,” thankfully meaning he won’t miss any time.

12:12 pm: Toronto Maple Leafs fans are holding their collective breath on Friday morning. Superstar forward Auston Matthews left the team’s practice early today after blocking a shot, skating around in visible discomfort.

While Matthews isn’t on pace for a second consecutive 60-goal season in 2022-23, he’s still producing at over a point-per-game pace. He has eight goals and 11 assists for 19 points through 18 games on the year, one back of the team lead in points (Mitch Marner, 20) and goals (John Tavares, 9). The Leafs are expected to issue an update on Matthews prior to tomorrow’s home game against the Buffalo Sabres.

  • For a different Eastern Conference team, it’s more promising news on the injury front. A pair of important Carolina Hurricanes forwards was spotted skating before practice this morning, including offseason acquisition Max Pacioretty. Acquired from the Vegas Golden Knights along with defenseman Dylan Coghlan in a cap-dump move, Pacioretty ruptured his Achilles tendon in early August and was expected to return in early February at the soonest. While there’s no indication he’ll return to the lineup anytime soon, it’s a promising sign for his trajectory and a solid sign he’ll be back earlier than the February timeline.
  • Forward Teuvo Teravainen, who’s missed the past three games with an upper-body injury, was also out skating with Pacioretty this morning. After sustaining the injury on November 10, he’s eligible to return from injured reserve as his health permits. The timeline for his return is still unknown, however.

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