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Team USA Announces 2025 World Championship Roster

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Team USA has announced the first 18 players on their World Championship roster. The lineup contains all three goaltenders, six of seven defensemen, and nine of 13 forwards. The roster is led by American stars like Clayton Keller, Tage Thompson, and Brady Skjei. That trio will look to take a mixed group of experience to Team USA’s first gold medal appearance since 1960.

The American roster notably features top young players like Frank Nazar, Mason Lohrei, Cutter Gauthier, Logan Cooley, Jackson LaCombe, and Matty Beniers. Beniers offers the most experience on the Men’s Team, having joined USA at the 2021 World Championship and 2022 Winter Olympics. He scored two points in each tournament. Team USA will also continue their trend of bringing collegiate goaltending by adding Los Angeles Kings prospect Hampton Slukynsky to the roster. Slukynsky led the Fargo Force to a USHL championship last season, then won Western Michigan’s starting role and carried the school to their first NCAA National Championship as a freshman this season.

Team USA will still need to add four forwards and one defenseman. The World Championship will run from May 9th to May 25th in Herning, Denmark – giving the Americans a chance to add some more firepower after playoff exits. Jeff Kealty is serving as USA’s general manager, while San Jose Sharks head coach Ryan Warsofsky heads a coaching staff that also features Pittsburgh Penguins assistant coach Mike Vellucci, Chciago Blackhawks assistant Kevin Dean, and Michigan State University head coach Adam Nightingale.

The current roster is as follows:

F Tage Thompson (Sabres)
F Drew O’Connor (Canucks)
F Frank Nazar (Blackhawks)
F Michael McCarron (Predators)
F Clayton Keller (Hockey Club)
F Cutter Gauther (Ducks)
F Conor Garland (Canucks)
F Logan Cooley (Hockey Club)
F Matty Beniers (Kraken)

D Alex Vlasic (Blackhawks)
D Brady Skjei (Predators)
D Andrew Peeke (Bruins)
D Mason Lohrei (Bruins)
D Jackson LaCombe (Ducks)
D Michael Kesselring (Hockey Club)

G Joey Daccord (Kraken)
G Jeremy Swayman (Bruins)
G Hampton Slukynsky (Kings)

Nashville Predators Issue Injury Updates

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The Nashville Predators will be looking for their eighth win of the season tonight without a few key players. The organization announced center Ryan O’Reilly is week-to-week with a lower-body injury and that defenseman Jeremy Lauzon has been placed on the injured reserve. The only player Nashville will receive back tonight is forward Michael McCarron, who’s been activated from the injured reserve.

It’s an insult to injury for a team that has struggled to score this season. Nashville’s first line of Filip Forsberg, O’Reilly, and Gustav Nyquist has led the team with a 55.8% xGoals% in 175 minutes and represents three of the top-six highest-scoring forwards on the roster.

O’Reilly has been a large part of that line’s success. He’s won 55.2% of nearly 500 faceoffs despite most of his draws coming in the offensive zone. He’s only managed five goals and 14 points through 26 games this season but is shooting one percentage point higher than his career average.

The Predators will try newcomer Steven Stamkos on the first line in O’Reilly’s stead. He’s not nearly as good as O’Reilly in the faceoff dot but has held his own throughout his career. The one issue that could arise is Forbserg and Stamkos are both shoot-first players which could cause some chemistry issues on the top line.

McCarron’s return reintroduces some size to the team’s fourth line. McCarron won’t help the team alleviate their goal-scoring issues as he’s only scored two goals and four points in 18 games. Still, he brings a physical presence to his game which is always useful toward the bottom of the lineup.

Lauzon’s lower-body injury strikes as an addition by subtraction for the Predators. He’s maintained his physicality this year with 103 hits in 22 games but hasn’t done much aside from that. Head coach Andrew Brunette finally separated the defensive pairing of Lauzon and Alexandre Carrier but the former still seems like he needs a reset.

Central Notes: Hryckowian, Buchnevich, McCarron, Ehlers

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Justin Hryckowian’s brief recall with the Dallas Stars has ended for now. According to a team announcement, the Stars organization has loaned Hryckowian back to their AHL affiliate, the Texas Stars.

Dallas has an extremely narrow salary cap cushion so it’s likely that Hryckowian will be re-called tomorrow before the Stars’ matchup against the Los Angeles Kings. He was originally recalled to fill the injured Tyler Seguin’s roster spot but Dallas still has 12 healthy forwards to work with.

Still, Hryckowian continues to build a name for himself in the American Hockey League and could be another long-term middle-six fixture for the Stars. He’s in his first full season with AHL Texas after signing with Dallas as a collegiate free agent from Northwestern University last year. That first full season has turned into a red-hot start with Hryckowian scoring five goals and 16 points in 17 games with a +9 rating.

Other Central notes:

  • Pavel Buchnevich will have to wait another game before returning to the lineup for the St. Louis Blues. The Cherepovets, Russia native has been dealing with a lower-body injury suffered during the Blues win against the New Jersey Devils on November 27th. Jeremy Rutherford of The Athletic shared a comment from Blues’ head coach Jim Montgomery saying, He’s not a player tonight, but he’s going to be a player — we hope — in Calgary.”
  • Beat reporter for the Nashville Predators, Brooks Bratten reported forward Michael McCarron is still considered day-to-day with an upper-body injury. It’s been a relatively long-term injury for McCarron after leaving the team’s game on November 23rd against the Winnipeg Jets due to the injury. The big-bodied fourth-liner has already missed four games for the Predators with injury but should return during one of the team’s three games this week.
  • There was bad news on the injury front this morning in Winnipeg as the Jets placed forward Nikolaj Ehlers on the injured reserve due to a lower-body injury. Ehlers has already missed one game due to the injury but is projected to miss several more. Murat Ates of The Athletic reported Ehlers is expected to miss the next seven to 10 days meaning Ehlers could miss as many as seven games before returning.

Predators Recall Nick Blankenburg, Adam Wilsby

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10:16 a.m.: Center Michael McCarron has landed on injured reserve to open up a necessary roster spot for Blankenburg’s and Wilsby’s recalls, per Kieser. He’s sat out the last two games with an upper-body injury and will be out again tonight against the Flyers, but he’s eligible to return Friday against the Lightning.

9:49 a.m.: The Predators have recalled defenseman Nick Blankenburg from AHL Milwaukee ahead of Wednesday’s game against the Flyers, reports Nick Kieser of 102.5 & 106.3 The Game Nashville. Adam Wilsby was also summoned from the minors, per Alex Daugherty of the Tennessean.

Either could make their Preds debut after Jeremy Lauzon left Monday’s loss to the Devils with an injury and did not return. Nashville only has one open roster spot, so a corresponding transaction must be pending.

Blankenburg, 26, is in his first season in the Predators organization. The former University of Michigan captain spent parts of three seasons with the Blue Jackets en route to becoming a Group VI unrestricted free agent last summer, inking a two-year, partial two-way deal with Nashville.

The diminutive 5’9″ right-shot defender passed through waivers on his way to AHL Milwaukee at the tail end of the preseason. Blankenburg, a skilled puck-mover, responded to the demotion with eight points (3 G, 5 A) in 13 games, leading Milwaukee defensemen in scoring.

Blankenburg saw AHL ice for the first time last season, suiting up 24 times for the Blue Jackets affiliate in Cleveland. He played a career-high 36 games for Columbus in 2022-23 amid upper-body and ankle injuries, recording four goals and 10 assists for 14 points with a -16 rating. He’s flashed legitimate offensive upside at the NHL level and has handled fringe top-four minutes. Given his smaller frame, he also plays a far more physical game than one might imagine.

That makes him an above-average recall option for a Nashville squad with limited offensive contributions from their defensemen outside of perennial Norris contender Roman Josi. Brady Skjei and Alexandre Carrier are within the team’s top 10 in scoring with eight and five points, respectively, but their bottom trio of Lauzon, Marc Del Gaizo and Luke Schenn have combined for one goal, four assists and a -13 rating.

Wilsby, 24, has already been recalled twice this month and been rostered for three games but has not made his NHL debut. The Swedish lefty has a goal and five points with a +5 rating in 13 games for Milwaukee in what’s now his third season in North America. He remains waiver-exempt, but Blankenburg does not, so the latter can only remain on Nashville’s roster for up to 10 games or 30 days before he needs to pass through them again to return to the minors.

Injury Notes: Matthews, Thompson, Jones, McCarron, Samberg

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Toronto Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews has returned from Germany where he consulted with a doctor he had worked with in the past in an attempt to relieve his lingering upper-body injury. It appears some progress was made considering he skated with the team during this morning’s practice.

In an article by David Alter of The Hockey News, Matthews was quoted saying, “We’ll take it day to day, continue to try to progress on the ice and see how this week looks and feels. Obviously, I’d love to get out there. I mean, tomorrow, not realistic, but Wednesday possibly, but we’ll just see how the week goes.”

Matthews’s reintroduction into the lineup would give a large boost to the Maple Leafs who’ve produced a 6-1-0 record since their captain went down with injury on November 3rd. He has scored five goals and 11 points in 13 contests for the games he’s been healthy for.

Other injury notes:

  • Forward Tage Thompson has been ruled out of tonight’s contest in another unfortunate turn for the Buffalo Sabres (X Link). There was plenty of expectation that Thompson would return tonight but he will now miss his fifth straight game due to a lower-body injury. Impressively, despite the injury, Thompson still leads Buffalo in goal-scoring with 11 goals in 16 games.
  • According to Colin Stephenson of Newsday Sports, New York Rangers defenseman Zachary Jones is considered day-to-day with an upper-body injury. Jones was likely injured in New York’s recent loss to the Calgary Flames, and he won’t be able to help the Rangers finish off their Western Conference road trip against the Edmonton Oilers later tonight.
  • The Nashville Predators are without forward Michael McCarron tonight due to an upper-body injury reports Alex Daugherty of the Tennessean. McCarron had been enjoying a consistent role down the middle of Nashville’s fourth-line scoring two goals and four points in 18 games on the year while averaging 12:24 of ice time per game. There was no added context of how long McCarron is expected to miss.
  • The Winnipeg Jets won’t have Dylan Samberg for the rest of tonight’s action as the organization announced he has left the game due to a lower-body injury. Samberg took a shot from Nashville’s Steven Stamkos off the foot and was in visible pain afterward. The Jets organization should provide an update on Samberg’s status at some point tomorrow or even after tonight’s game.

Central Notes: Faksa, Marchment, Stastney, McCarron, Hellebuyck, Dillon

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The Stars still don’t know if banged-up forwards Radek Faksa and Mason Marchment can play in Game 3 against the Golden Knights as they try to overcome a 2-0 series deficit. As relayed by The Dallas Morning News’ Lia Assimakopoulos, they’re both game-time decisions after sustaining undisclosed injuries in Game 2.

Dallas lost their services in the third period of Wednesday’s game, as neither player took a shift in the final 10 minutes of the 3-1 loss. The potential loss of Marchment is an especially large blow to the Stars’ elite secondary scoring, which Vegas has managed to keep quiet through two games. He’s one of three Stars with a goal in the series so far and set career highs across the board in the regular season with 22 goals and 53 points in 81 games. He’d been skating on their second line with Matt Duchene and Tyler Seguin.

While dragged down by his late-game absence Wednesday, Faksa’s only averaged 9:01 through two playoff games and has a -1 rating. The fourth-line shutdown pivot has gone 6/10 in the faceoff dot with nine hits and was centering a line with Evgenii Dadonov and Sam Steel. Dallas recalled top forward prospect Mavrik Bourque from AHL Texas yesterday, and he could slot into the lineup if Faksa and Marchment are unavailable and make his postseason debut just days after being awarded the MVP for the 2023-24 AHL season. The more experienced Ty Dellandrea and Craig Smith are also available to enter the lineup.

Other Central Division updates from a busy day of playoff hockey:

  • The Predators lost defenseman Spencer Stastney to an upper-body injury in last night’s Game 3 loss to the Canucks, and he won’t be back anytime soon. He’s been ruled out on a week-to-week basis, per The Tennessean’s Paul Skrbina, potentially sidelining him for the rest of the first round. The 24-year-old was on the receiving end of a hard hit from Canucks forward Dakota Joshua that was initially declared a major penalty for boarding, causing his head to hit the glass. He remained on the ice for a few seconds after the collision but skated off under his own power. Officials downgraded the penalty to a two-minute minor upon review. The first three games of this series were the first of Stastney’s playoff career, posting a -1 rating and unfavorable possession metrics in bottom-pairing minutes. Stastney, a 2018 fifth-round pick of the Preds, made a career-high 20 appearances in the regular season with two goals, two assists and a +9 rating. That wasn’t the only piece of news stemming from a controversial first-period collision last night, either. Preds center Michael McCarron was fined $2K by the Department of Player Safety today for his interference penalty (video link) on Canucks goalie Casey DeSmith, per the league. He was assessed a minor penalty on the play.
  • Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck is the odds-on favorite to take home the Vezina Trophy, but you wouldn’t know it based on his early playoff showing. While the team in front of him is conceding nearly 40 shots per game, his .871 SV% through three games is far below expectations, and his -2.3 goals saved above expected (MoneyPuck) rank 17th out of 19 playoff goalies. That led to some remote speculation that Winnipeg may turn to above-average backup option Laurent Brossoit to tie the series in Game 4, but head coach Rick Bowness confirmed today that won’t be the case (via Sportsnet’s Eric Engels). Hellebuyck has a .913 SV% in 43 career postseason starts. Additionally, the team has avoided the worst with defenseman Brenden Dillon, who sustained a hand laceration from Avs winger Brandon Duhaime’s skate at the end of last night’s loss. He’s only been ruled out day-to-day, Bowness said, and has avoided major ligament damage. If he’s unable to go for tomorrow’s Game 4, expect the 6’7″ Logan Stanley to re-enter the lineup after serving as a healthy scratch last night.

Nominees Announced For 2024 Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy

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The Bill Masterton Trophy is awarded annually to the player who best exemplifies perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to hockey. Nominees are selected by members of the Professional Hockey Writer’s Association, with finalists being named near the end of the regular season. Previous winners include Kris Letang (2023), Carey Price (2022), and Oskar Lindblom (2021).  Today, a new list of 32 nominees has been named.

Below are the nominees from each team:

Anaheim Ducks – Urho Vaakanainen

Arizona Coyotes – Connor Ingram

Boston Bruins – Danton Heinen

Buffalo Sabres – Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen

Calgary Flames – Oliver Kylington

Carolina Hurricanes – Frederik Andersen

Chicago Blackhawks – Colin Blackwell

Colorado Avalanche – Jonathan Drouin

Columbus Blue Jackets – Zach Werenski

Dallas Stars – Matt Duchene

Detroit Red Wings – Alex Lyon

Edmonton Oilers – Vincent Desharnais

Florida Panthers – Oliver Ekman-Larsson

Los Angeles Kings – Viktor Arvidsson

Minnesota Wild – Marco Rossi

Montreal Canadiens – Joel Armia

Nashville Predators – Michael McCarron

New Jersey Devils – Curtis Lazar

New York Islanders – Cal Clutterbuck

New York Rangers – Jonathan Quick

Ottawa Senators – Claude Giroux

Philadelphia Flyers – Sean Couturier

Pittsburgh Penguins – Sidney Crosby

San Jose Sharks – Justin Bailey

Seattle Kraken – Joey Daccord

St. Louis Blues – Nathan Walker

Tampa Bay Lightning – Michael Eyssimont

Toronto Maple Leafs – Ilya Samsonov

Vancouver Canucks – Noah Juulsen

Vegas Golden Knights – Alex Pietrangelo

Washington Capitals – T.J. Oshie

Winnipeg Jets – Laurent Brossoit

West Notes: Markstrom, Oilers, Zuccarello, McCarron

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Flames goaltender Jacob Markstrom is no stranger to the rumor mill having been prominently featured in trade speculation in recent weeks.  Evidently, he’s not particularly thrilled about that happening.  Speaking with reporters including Sportsnet’s Eric Francis, the veteran suggested that he isn’t happy with how things have gone on that front:

“Everyone in here I really respect everything that’s been going on, and not going on, and how everyone in this room has handled everything. I think it’s been really good. And then the whole situation and everything, am I happy about that? No, I’m not. I think it could have been handled a lot different from up top.”

With Calgary already having moved Elias Lindholm, Chris Tanev, and Nikita Zadorov and the belief that Noah Hanifin will soon follow, many have wondered if Markstrom could follow suit, especially with several teams looking for help between the pipes.  But the Flames remain in a battle for a playoff spot with the 34-year-old being a big reason for that so it’s far from a guarantee that they’ll want to move him even if a team comes to the table.  However, how things have played out publicly when it comes to the trade speculation certainly appears to be a sore spot for Markstrom.

Elsewhere around the NHL:

  • Many eyes are on the Oilers as they look to augment their roster before the March 8th trade deadline. In an interview with Sportsnet’s Mark Spector, GM Ken Holland indicated that there are “lots of irons in the fire” as it pertains to trade discussions.  Holland typically makes a move or two each deadline and while cap space is limited for Edmonton, it wouldn’t be surprising for that to continue this season.  The Oilers have already made one move in recent weeks with the signing of Corey Perry who has five points in 13 games since joining them back in January.
  • The Department of Player Safety announced that they’ve fined Wild winger Mats Zuccarello and Predators winger Michael McCarron $2K each for unsportsmanlike conduct during the second period of Thursday’s game. Both players received minor penalties on the play.  The money from the fines goes to the Players’ Emergency Assistance Fund.

Predators Sign Michael McCarron To Two-Year Extension

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The Predators signed forward Michael McCarron to a two-year, $1.8MM contract extension on Friday, per a team announcement. The deal will begin in the 2024-25 season and carries a cap hit of $900K.

McCarron, 29 next month, was slated for unrestricted free agency this summer upon completing his current one-year, $775K extension signed last April. He’ll now be eligible for UFA status again in 2026 at 31 years old.

He hasn’t had the career most envisioned when the Canadiens selected him 25th overall in 2013. This season is McCarron’s first as a true full-timer – the only other season without AHL action in his pro career was the COVID-laced 2020-21 campaign when he played six games for Nashville and spent most of the year on the taxi squad.

Through 42 games, McCarron has tied his career-high in goals (7) and is one back of tying his career-high in points (14). Averaging 11:52 per game, he’s spent most of his time on a depth line with Cole Smith and Philip Tomasino that’s dominated shot quality to the tune of a 58.3% expected goals share, per MoneyPuck. That’s the highest among Nashville’s forward lines that have over 75 minutes played together this season.

If McCarron maintains this level of play, he’ll be a more-than-serviceable fourth-line center over the next pair of seasons. In the case McCarron regresses back to a replacement-level player, his cap hit can be fully buried in the AHL.

In 200 games with Nashville and Montreal, dating back to his debut in the 2015-16 season, McCarron has 18 goals, 21 assists and 39 points with a -8 rating and 295 PIMs. He’s averaged 10:38 per game throughout his career and owns a career faceoff win percentage of 50.7.

Nashville Predators Extend Michael McCarron, Kiefer Sherwood

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The Nashville Predators have announced that forwards Michael McCarron and Kiefer Sherwood have been signed to one-year contract extensions. Though more extensive financial details on the contract were not included in the team announcement, it was revealed that their deals each carry a league-minimum $775k cap hit.

First up is McCarron, 28, who has been with the Predators organization since an early 2020 trade saw him dealt from the Montreal Canadiens in exchange for fellow 2013 draft choice Laurent Dauphin. This season, he split time between Nashville and their AHL affiliate, the Milwaukee Admirals. He scored six points in 16 AHL contests and notched four points in 32 NHL games.

McCarron’s 2022-23 campaign took a pause when he entered the NHL-NHLPA joint Player Assistance Program, but he made his return in a late January AHL contest for the Admirals.

After working his way back onto the NHL roster during the month of February, McCarron earned a recall in early March and ended up playing seven NHL games in the 2023 calendar year.

While McCarron only posted one assist in those games, the Predators did manage a 4-2-1 record with him in the lineup.

Last season, McCarron spent the bulk of the year with the Predators, getting into 51 games and scoring 14 points.

He set career highs in both games played and points that season, and began the process of establishing himself as an NHL bottom-sixer rather than more of an AHL player.

McCarron had spent far more time in the minors with the Canadiens organization than in the NHL and even made it to the AHL All-Star Game in his rookie pro campaign. A 2013 first-round pick with an intriguing six-foot-six frame, McCarron never developed the type of offensive game that the Canadiens organization hoped he’d grow, and he ultimately fell out of favor with them as he aged out of prospect status.

He seems to have put the disappointments of his time in Montreal behind him, though, and become a valued contributor for the Predators. He’ll now remain in that organization for its first year under new general manager Barry Trotz, and will look to earn a role next season as a full-time NHL contributor for the first time in his career.

The second player to be extended is Sherwood, 28, a player whose career has taken a wholly different trajectory from McCarron’s. While McCarron was a highly-touted first-round pick, Sherwood went undrafted out of the USHL’s Youngstown Phantoms and didn’t even make his NHL debut until 2018-19, by when McCarron had already played enough NHL games to drop out of the Canadiens’ future plans.

Sherwood’s first professional season was a challenge, and he managed just 12 points in 50 NHL games. He found more success in the AHL, scoring 41 points in 66 games across two years for the San Diego Gulls, but eventually left the Anaheim Ducks organization to sign with the Colorado Avalanche.

Sherwood excelled in Colorado, scoring 75 points in just 57 games for their AHL affiliate. That stellar AHL performance earned him the contract he signed last summer with Nashville, and this year he played in his most NHL games since his rookie year, 32. Sherwood acquitted himself decently well at the game’s highest level, scoring seven goals and 13 points, and maintained his high standard of AHL play with the Admirals, scoring 22 goals and 38 points in 42 games.

Now signed for another year, Sherwood will serve as premium depth for the Predators’ organization, acting as a leading scorer for their AHL affiliate and a down-the-lineup offensive contributor in the NHL.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

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