Evening Notes: Tortorella, Lohrei, Olivier, Bunting
Earlier this afternoon, the Vegas Golden Knights sent waves through the NHL by firing head coach Bruce Cassidy and replacing him with veteran bench boss John Tortorella. Still, the Golden Knights didn’t give Tortorella a long leash.
According to TSN’s Darren Dreger, Tortorella’s contract with Vegas only runs through the rest of the 2025-26 season. He’ll be guaranteed the last eight games of the regular season for the Golden Knights, and, assuming they make the playoffs, their last game of the postseason. Unless an extension is agreed to beforehand, the Golden Knights may be looking for a new head coach in a few months.
It’s a similar move to what the Columbus Blue Jackets did with Rick Bowness, albeit with much more time remaining in the season. However, even if the Tortorella experiment isn’t fruitful, the Golden Knights could explore a reunion with Peter DeBoer, hire Jay Woodcroft away from the Anaheim Ducks, or take a run at David Carle at the University of Denver. That’s all before any other teams make changes leading into the summer.
Additional evening notes:
- The Boston Bruins were without one of their top-four defensemen in their comeback win over the Blue Jackets earlier today. Before the game, Boston’s play-by-play broadcaster, Ryan Johnson, shared that Mason Lohrei is dealing with a minor lower-body injury and is considered day-to-day. Despite the Bruins’ success, Lohrei has had a difficult month, scoring one goal and two points in 14 games with a +2 rating.
- On the other side of the game, the Blue Jackets lost middle-six forward Mathieu Olivier to an upper-body injury during the game, as announced by the club. Olivier skated in 3:06 of action across six shifts, registering one shot on goal and two hits. His injury is likely connected to fighting Bruins forward Mark Kastelic late in the first period.
- Already dealing with a few injuries to their forward corps, the trend continues for the Dallas Stars. During their ongoing contest against the Philadelphia Flyers, the Stars shared that Michael Bunting is unlikely to return due to a lower-body injury. Bunting has not returned after skating for six shifts, and the injury update was vague.
Stars Acquire Michael Bunting
5:05 p.m.: Both teams have announced the trade as reported.
4:23 p.m.: The Dallas Stars are bringing in a formidable middle-six forward for their playoff run. According to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, the Stars have acquired Michael Bunting from the Nashville Predators. TSN’s Pierre LeBrun reported that the Predators will receive the Seattle Kraken’s 2026 third-round pick from Dallas. Beat writer Robert Tiffin reported that Dallas has reassigned forward Arttu Hyry in a corresponding move.
Moving to Dallas, Bunting will suit up for his fifth team in the last four seasons. Bunting was acquired by the Predators at last year’s deadline (along with a fourth-round pick) from the Pittsburgh Penguins for Thomas Novak and Luke Schenn.
Bunting, 30, was having a strong year in Nashville, headed into his third trip through free agency. Before the trade, Bunting had scored 13 goals and 31 points in 61 games, averaging 14:48 of ice time per game. If that scoring trend continues with the Stars, Bunting will finish a 41-point campaign.
He’s not the most physical winger in the league, but he brings a strong possession game to Dallas for a team that needed reinforcements. Tyler Seguin has already been ruled out for the remainder of the 2025-26 season, including the playoffs, while Roope Hintz and Mikko Rantanen have each been dealing with injuries of late.
Given the injuries to Dallas’ top-six, it’s likely that’s where Bunting will begin his tenure with the Stars. Assuming everyone except for Seguin returns for the playoffs, Bunting can provide additional scoring punch to the team’s third line.
Despite being an expiring asset, a third-round pick as a return must feel underwhelming for the Predators. Only a few days ago, Nashville sent fourth-liner Michael McCarron to the Minnesota Wild for a second-round pick. Yes, McCarron is making $3.6MM less than Bunting, and is a center, but Bunting is outscoring him by more than double.
Regardless, it’s clear that general manager Barry Trotz is intent on accumulating draft capital for the next regime. Assuming the third-round selection is within the next three years, the Predators will have 16 picks in the first three rounds of the next three drafts. This will provide the next GM with significant control over team building.
Image courtesy of Tim Fuller-Imagn Images.
Predators Open To Trading Michael Bunting, Michael McCarron
Despite remaining in the conversation for the final wild-card spot in the Western Conference, the Nashville Predators are still expected to sell off a few pieces leading up to the trade deadline. In the most recent rendition of 32 Thoughts, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman shared that the Predators are assessing the market for forwards Michael Bunting and Michael McCarron.
If Nashville ultimately trades Bunting, it’ll be the third consecutive year he’s been moved at the trade deadline. He was included in the 2024 trade that sent Jake Guentzel to the Carolina Hurricanes and the 2025 deal that sent Thomas Novak to the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Relatively recently, some pundits have equated Bunting’s perceived trade value to Kiefer Sherwood. Sherwood was recently traded from the Vancouver Canucks to the San Jose Sharks for a pair of second-round picks and a low-level prospect, without an extension in place. It’s not a direct comparison due to Bunting’s lower physicality compared to Sherwood. Still, they have fairly similar scoring contributions despite Bunting averaging nearly three minutes fewer per night.
Despite his 12-goal, 29-point campaign this season, there shouldn’t be any expectations for Bunting to contribute on a team’s top line, particularly a postseason-bound one. He is likely to enter the secondary market for contenders interested in players like Evander Kane.
Meanwhile, McCarron is much more of a physical presence that contending teams could use in their bottom-six. Throughout the last three years, McCarron has scored 20 goals and 46 points in 196 games with a 53.6% faceoff percentage, adding 439 hits.
Despite the value he could provide, he shouldn’t be too expensive to acquire. McCarron is a 30-year-old pending unrestricted free agent who’s only earning a salary of $900K. Any contending team looking to strengthen its fourth line ahead of the playoffs may consider a player like McCarron.
Central Notes: Rantanen, Nichushkin, Predators
The Dallas Stars are the latest team struck by the flu, as Mikko Rantanen will not play tonight as a result of the illness, as first reported by Tim Cowlishaw of The Dallas News. In a skid of late where they’ve dropped six of their last 10, including three in a row, the Stars will host the surging Bruins without their leading scorer, who has 63 points in 48 games.
Rantanen will look ahead to later in the week, as his Stars are in action Thursday and Friday, but do not play in the upcoming weekend. For now, Nathan Bastian will slot into the lineup, the 28-year-old posting three goals in 22 games this season in limited fourth line duty.
Elsewhere across the division:
- Colorado Avalanche forward Valeri Nichushkin also missed action for abnormal reasons; he was involved in a car accident while heading to the rink before last night’s contest, Head Coach Jared Bednar told reporters including Corey Masisak of The Denver Post. Unfortunately, Nichushkin came away with minor injuries, and is considered questionable for tomorrow against Anaheim. The Russian has continued to be a valuable secondary scorer for the Avs with 27 points in 38 games, and could return as soon as tomorrow against Anaheim. Even without him, Colorado handled business last night, defeating Washington 5-2.
- Nashville Predators GM Barry Trotz told reporters, including Nick Kieser of Lower Broad Pucks, that he has yet to speak to pending unrestricted free agents Michael Bunting, Michael McCarron, and Cole Smith. All aged 30 as the Predators build for the future, Bunting especially could bring intrigue to contenders, although he has a $4.5MM cap hit. The agitating winger has continued his steady offensive output this season, on pace for 20 goals. Bunting has also stayed out of the penalty box, an improvement from previous seasons. On the other hand, McCarron and Smith are both pillars on Nashville’s fourth line, and could be candidates for reasonable extensions rather than Trotz taking limited trade returns for his towering role players.
Predators Activate Zachary L’Heureux From IR
The Nashville Predators received some more good news on the injury front as rookie forward Zachary L’Heureux has been activated from injured reserve, per reporter Nick Kieser of 102.5 The Game.
The 21-year-old is set to return ahead of tonight’s game against the Kings after a 12-game absence with an upper-body injury. He was originally injured prior to the 4 Nations Face-Off break.
The team’s 2021 first round pick (27th overall) has scored four goals and collected nine assists through his first 45 games in the league. The 5’11, 197-pound L’Heureux plays a physical style that has endeared him to the Nashville fan base. His feisty play includes 145 hits on the season, but also a three-game suspension for slew-footing Minnesota Wild captain Jared Spurgeon.
L’Heureux has a history of suspensions dating back to his time in the QMJHL, where he was disciplined 10 games for an assault on a fan with a stick. Additionally, he was suspended on two separate occasions during the 2023-24 season in the AHL.
Disciplinary issues aside, L’Heureux has also displayed the talent and pedigree that made him a first-round choice. He put up 190 points in 167 QMJHL games, and scored 48 points in 66 games last season for the AHL Milwaukee Admirals. After a quick start to the AHL season, he was recalled for his first NHL contest on Oct. 22, and he has remained with the Preds since.
The team also activated trade deadline acquisition Michael Bunting from injured reserve yesterday, and Bunting suited up in last night’s 2-1 loss to Anaheim. The return of Bunting and L’Heureux should help the Preds offense that has generated just 2.62 goals per game on the season.
Predators Activate Michael Bunting From IR
The Predators are slated to get one of their top returns from the trade deadline in the lineup, as winger Michael Bunting has been removed from IR and is a game-time decision for tonight’s game in Anaheim, according to reporter Nick Kieser of 102.5 The Game.
The Preds acquired Bunting and a fourth-round pick from the Penguins in exchange for forward Tommy Novak and defenseman Luke Schenn. After the deal, Nashville GM Barry Trotz stated Bunting was an “impact player” the Preds were interested in acquiring, and noted the team’s desire to keep the 29-year-old Bunting in the fold moving forward.
Bunting has fought through injuries this season – as well as a short stint as a healthy scratch – in Pittsburgh prior to the trade. However, after a slow start, he started to turn things around to the tune of 14 goals and 29 points through 58 games. He also led the Penguins in power play goals (9) at the time of the trade. Through 326 career games, Bunting has scored 90 times, including two 20-plus goal seasons under his belt.
Although he’s only in his ninth NHL season, the Predators will mark the fifth NHL team Bunting will suit up for after stints with Arizona, Toronto, Carolina, and Pittsburgh. But Bunting should provide a veteran presence, solid top nine play, and power play production to the rebuilding Preds.
Bunting has one year remaining on his current contract with a 2025-26 cap hit of $4.5MM.
Predators Acquire Michael Bunting
The Predators and Penguins have made a multi-player swap. Nashville has acquired winger Michael Bunting along with a 2026 fourth-round pick from Pittsburgh in exchange for center Thomas Novak and defenseman Luke Schenn.
Pittsburgh acquired Bunting last season as the most prominent part of the package from the Jake Guentzel trade with Carolina. However, the 29-year-old has struggled in his first full season with the Pens. Through 58 games this season, Bunting has just 14 goals and 15 assists. By comparison, he had 19 points in 21 games down the stretch last year and hasn’t recorded fewer than 49 points over the last three seasons, a streak that seems likely to come to an end.
Nashville will undoubtedly be hoping that the change of scenery will get him back to the level of production he had. They’re taking on the final year and a bit of a contract that carries a $4.5MM cap charge. When Bunting is at his best, he’s worth that type of money as a top-six winger who plays with an edge but he’ll be joining a team that has had several veterans underachieve this season.
The move is an interesting one from their standpoint. While the expectation was that they’d be looking for younger pieces who are longer-term fits, they actually get a little older up front with the swap while losing some club control with Novak still having two years left on his contract after this one. It suggests that GM Barry Trotz feels his team isn’t that far away from being a playoff contender once again and that a tweak or two to the forward group could propel them back in the right direction next season. Bunting won’t be able to help in the short term, however, as he is currently on IR after undergoing an appendectomy.
As for Pittsburgh’s return, Novak is the headliner. He’s a bit of a reclamation project himself as he’s in the midst of a down year as well. The 27-year-old had two straight seasons of more than 40 points heading into this one, a performance that earned him a three-year, $10.5MM contract a little before the trade deadline last March.
But, like many of Nashville’s players this season, Novak hasn’t been able to produce to expectations. He has just 13 goals and nine assists in 52 games while his playing time has dipped to just over 13 minutes a night. Meanwhile, his struggles at the faceoff dot continue as he’s winning just 43% of his draws which has resulted in him spending more time on the wing this year.
Clearly, Pittsburgh feels that a fresh start will be beneficial for Novak. It wouldn’t be surprising to see him moved back down the middle with a center group that’s on the older side, featuring Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Kevin Hayes. If they can get Novak back to even being a capable third-line option, that would be a solid outcome for a team that clearly isn’t looking to rebuild despite being on pace to miss the playoffs for the third straight year.
Schenn, meanwhile, has been a fixture on the third pairing of several teams in recent seasons. After faring well with Vancouver and Toronto in the 2022-23 campaign, he signed a three-year, $8.25MM contract with Nashville in the 2023 offseason. But his role has been more limited with the Predators as he has barely averaged 15 minutes a night since joining them. While he brings plenty of physicality to the table – he has notched more than 200 hits in four straight years – he hasn’t been able to elevate himself to being higher than sixth on the depth chart. Meanwhile, he has just five points in 61 outings this season although offense has never been his calling card.
It will be interesting to see if Pittsburgh intends to hold onto Schenn or if they intend to flip him, just like they did earlier tonight with Vincent Desharnais. Despite Schenn’s struggles, his success at being a late-season addition before coupled with his toughness will undoubtedly have playoff-bound teams kicking the tires on the potential of him being moved once again. If it doesn’t happen, he’s likely to have the same role on the depth chart with the Penguins on their third pairing.
Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman was the first to report the players involved while Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic was first with the pick inclusion.
Photo courtesy of Imagn Images.
Penguins Recall Emil Bemstrom, Place Michael Bunting On IR
The Pittsburgh Penguins have made a flurry of roster moves in the wake of winger Michael Bunting‘s appendectomy. Bunting has been moved to injured reserve and will miss at least a week of action. Pittsburgh has recalled winger Emil Bemstrom to fill the resulting roster vacancy. In a separate pair of moves, the Penguins activated enforcer Bokondji Imama off of injured reserve and assigned veteran forward Matthew Nieto to the minor leagues. Nieto cleared waivers earlier today.
Through the mix of injury, demotion, and surprise surgery, this flurry of moves should give Bemstrom a hardier crack at the NHL lineup. He leads the AHL’s Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins with 21 goals and 46 points in 43 games this season – the only player on the team scoring above a point-per-game pace. Despite that, Pittsburgh waited until early February to award Bemstrom his first call-up of the season. He’s played in two NHL games since then but didn’t manage any scoring.
The Penguins acquired Bemstrom in a swap for Alexander Nylander and a conditional draft pick late last February. He spent the rest of the year on the NHL roster but scored just three goals and five points in 24 games. His pattern of red-hot minor-league scoring in the AHL and minimal scoring in the NHL keeps Bemstrom in the same rut he’s spent all six years of his North American career in. He’s scored 93 points in 76 career games in the minors but has just 34 goals and 74 points across 230 games in the NHL. On the back of an extended hot streak in the minors, Bemstrom will hope this call-up is the time he finally proves his NHL worthiness.
Bunting leaves big shoes to be filled in Pittsburgh’s lineup. He’s been one of Pittsburgh’s best power-play assets, with nine goals and 14 points on the man advantage in 58 games this season. Bemstrom should be the beneficiary of the power-play opening, though it could also go to Anthony Beauvillier or Philip Tomasino. Pittsburgh’s other roster moves likely won’t carry as much weight. Nieto ceded his bottom-six role to Danton Heinen and Blake Lizotte over February, on the back of just three points in 31 games this season. Meanwhile, Imama will return to his role as Pittsburgh’s extra man – having only played in six games, with no scoring and seven penalty minutes, on the year.
Penguins’ Michael Bunting Out Indefinitely Following Appendectomy
Penguins left-winger Michael Bunting underwent surgery to remove his appendix yesterday, head coach Mike Sullivan told reporters, including Matt Vensel of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. He doesn’t have a timeline for a return but will miss at least a few weeks.
The 29-year-old Bunting had two points in his last five games, including an assist in Tuesday’s 6-1 drubbing at the hands of the Flyers. He’s the third NHLer to undergo an appendectomy this season (at least among what’s been publicly disclosed), joining Ducks netminder John Gibson and Canadiens blue-liner Kaiden Guhle.
His absence is relatively insignificant for Pittsburgh at this stage of the season. Now out of the Eastern Conference playoff race and on pace to finish the season with 75 points, the Penguins will likely be selling off additional assets ahead of the trade deadline after dealing Drew O’Connor and Marcus Pettersson to the Canucks before the 4 Nations break. Bunting, signed through next season at a $4.5MM cap hit, wasn’t expected to be one of them.
Acquired from the Hurricanes in last season’s Jake Guentzel trade, Bunting has been underwhelming in 2024-25 after finishing the 2023-24 campaign with 19 points in 21 games for the Pens. He’s been durable, playing 58 of 60 games, but his point production has dropped to 14-15–29. His 0.50 points per game are tracking as his worst offensive performance in his five seasons’ worth of extended NHL ice time, accompanied by his lowest usage at 15:15 per game.
A solid complementary top-six winger for Auston Matthews during his time in Toronto, the late-blooming Bunting burst onto the scene with a 23-goal, 63-point campaign for the Leafs at age 26 in 2021-22. He had just 26 NHL games to his name with the Coyotes before signing a two-year, $1.9MM deal in Toronto in the 2021 offseason, arguably the highest-value contract in the league during his time in the Canadian metropolis. He’s struggled to replicate that level play in a similar role alongside Evgeni Malkin in Pittsburgh, though, despite how promising his scorching finish to the 2023-24 campaign was. The duo hasn’t had a consistent right-winger this year, seeing names like Anthony Beauvillier, Cody Glass, and Philip Tomasino rotate through. With Bunting and Malkin on the ice together, the Pens have been outscored 19-10 at 5v5, per Natural Stat Trick. They’ve each fared far better apart from each other.
If Gibson’s and Guhle’s return timelines are any indication, Bunting should miss around four to six weeks. That means he should be back in the lineup with a few games left on the Penguins’ schedule, although it’s fair to describe his likelihood of returning this season as uncertain.
Pittsburgh’s injury list is relatively brief. Bryan Rust recently returned from a lower-body injury and illness, and recent AHL call-up Bokondji Imama is the only other forward carrying an injury designation. He’s on IR but could come off today to face the Flyers after missing four games with an upper-body injury. Bunting’s absence, however, could mean the Penguins wait before demoting Matthew Nieto to AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton if he clears waivers today.
Penguins Place Evgeni Malkin On IR, Activate Philip Tomasino
The Pittsburgh Penguins have placed star Evgeni Malkin on injured reserve with an upper-body injury. Malkin has already missed Pittsburgh’s last three games, and will now be forced out of at least four more games. He had previously played in Pittsburgh’s first 41 games of the season, and was red-hot in the winter months. Malkin had seven points in nine games leading up to his injury.
In a corresponding move, Pittsburgh has also activated Philip Tomasino off of injured reserve, returning him from a four-game absence due to a lower-body injury. Tomasino has been one of the brightest spots of Pittsburgh’s middling year. Acquired for a fourth-round pick in a late-November trade with Nashville, Tomasino has since posted four goals and seven points in 16 games with the Penguins – the highest scoring pace of his career. He’s looked properly alive in the Penguins lineup, filling a much-needed top-six role after four up-and-down seasons in Nashville. Tomasino was a first-round draft pick in 2019, and made the jump into a full-time NHL role two seasons later. He scored 11 goals and 32 points in 76 games as a rookie – a very encouraging start for the then-20-year-old forward. But Tomasino struggled to maintain that into his sophomore year, and would only reach 20 points one more time – in 41 games of the 2023-24 campaign – during his time in Nashville.
Malkin’s absence will leave a glaring hole in the Pittsburgh lineup. The future Hall-of-Famer has, once again, been one of Pittsburgh’s most utilized forwards at both even-strength and on the power-play. The need for another top-unit forward could pave a golden path for Tomasino upon his return, giving the young center yet another chance to show Pittsburgh what he can do with a proper role. Pittsburgh has turned towards Anthony Beauvillier to fill the top-six vacancy over the last three games, though he hasn’t managed any scoring in the boosted role.
In other Penguins news, forward Michael Bunting will also miss the team’s Sunday game after being involved in a car accident outside PPG Paints Arena per Seth Rorabaugh of Tribune-Review Sports. Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan told Rorabaugh that Bunting isn’t expected to miss extended time. Bunting has been another red-hot Penguin, with four points in his last five games.