Headlines

  • Mark Giordano Signs Extension With Maple Leafs
  • Rick Bowness Will Not Return As Dallas Stars Coach
  • Nashville Predators Extend John Hynes
  • Vegas Golden Knights Fire Peter DeBoer
  • New York Islanders Name Lane Lambert Head Coach
  • Montreal Canadiens Win 2022 NHL Draft Lottery
  • Previous
  • Next
Register
Login
  • MLB Trade Rumors
  • Hoops Rumors
  • Pro Football Rumors

Pro Hockey Rumors

  • Home
  • Teams
    • Atlantic
      • Boston Bruins
      • Buffalo Sabres
      • Detroit Red Wings
      • Florida Panthers
      • Montreal Canadiens
      • Ottawa Senators
      • Tampa Bay Lightning
      • Toronto Maple Leafs
    • Central
      • Arizona Coyotes
      • Chicago Blackhawks
      • Colorado Avalanche
      • Dallas Stars
      • Minnesota Wild
      • Nashville Predators
      • St. Louis Blues
      • Winnipeg Jets
    • Metropolitan
      • Carolina Hurricanes
      • Columbus Blue Jackets
      • New Jersey Devils
      • New York Islanders
      • New York Rangers
      • Philadelphia Flyers
      • Pittsburgh Penguins
      • Washington Capitals
    • Pacific
      • Anaheim Ducks
      • Calgary Flames
      • Edmonton Oilers
      • Los Angeles Kings
      • San Jose Sharks
      • Seattle Kraken
      • Vancouver Canucks
      • Vegas Golden Knights
  • About
  • Contact Us
  • Advertise
  • Partners
    • MLB Trade Rumors
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
Go To MLB Trade Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Mikko Rantanen

Injury Notes: Maple Leafs, Avalanche, Blue Jackets

April 26, 2022 at 3:31 pm CDT | by Josh Erickson 2 Comments

The Toronto Maple Leafs, while still remaining competitive with a tough schedule, have faced significant injury setbacks over the past few weeks. A mass of updates came today during a press conference with head coach Sheldon Keefe, where he revealed that forward Michael Bunting will miss the final two games of the regular season, defenseman Rasmus Sandin is likely to return for the team’s finale on Friday versus the Boston Bruins, and forward Ondrej Kase remains day-to-day with no timeline to return.

As the Maple Leafs prepare for a likely impending First Round matchup with the back-to-back Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning, this is mostly positive news. The language surrounding Bunting’s injury wasn’t initially positive after he fell awkwardly during an April 23 game against Florida, but his prognosis has improved since then and it looks like a possibility that he could be ready for the beginning of the series. Sandin has missed over a month with a knee injury, while Kase has missed the same duration with a concussion.

  • There are some more updates on various players on a Stanley Cup contender, as the Colorado Avalanche deal with some injury issues of their own. Head coach Jared Bednar spoke to reporters today, saying that defenseman Devon Toews will return to the lineup tonight after dealing with an undisclosed injury, forward Mikko Rantanen is working toward a return on Thursday against the Nashville Predators, and captain Gabriel Landeskog won’t return until the postseason. Toews has missed just around a week and a half, but his absence cannot be understated, as he continues to be one of the most underrated defensemen in the league with 57 points in just 64 games this year (while averaging over 25 minutes per game). Meanwhile, the Colorado captain has been out since early March with a leg injury.
  • The Columbus Blue Jackets announced today that both captain Boone Jenner and Sean Kuraly will miss the short remainder of the season with respective injuries. Kuraly, in his first season with Columbus, suffered a foot injury last Sunday and will miss the remaining three games. Jenner will have missed the last month and a half of the season with a back injury.

Boone Jenner| Colorado Avalanche| Columbus Blue Jackets| Devon Toews| Gabriel Landeskog| Injury| Michael Bunting| Mikko Rantanen| Ondrej Kase| Toronto Maple Leafs

2 comments

Injury Notes: Avalanche, Karlsson, Mikheyev

November 2, 2021 at 1:13 pm CDT | by Gavin Lee Leave a Comment

The Colorado Avalanche will be playing shorthanded tomorrow night, as Mikko Rantanen and Cale Makar have both been ruled out. Makar is listed as day-to-day according to Peter Baugh of The Athletic while he deals with an upper-body injury. Andre Burakovsky meanwhile is also doubtful for the game, and Jonas Johansson will start in net.

Perhaps luckily, the Avalanche have a relatively light schedule over the next little while. After tomorrow’s game they will not play again until Saturday, then they have another four days off before next Thursday’s match against the Vancouver Canucks. Some of these minor issues will hopefully get time to heal as they try to get back on the path of a real contender, not struggling in the middle of the Central Division table.

  • The Vegas Golden Knights confirmed today that William Karlsson will be out for four to six weeks with a lower-body injury, one that was reported to be a broken foot yesterday. Brett Howden will get the first chance to skate between Reilly Smith and Jonathan Marchessault as the Golden Knights take on the Toronto Maple Leafs this evening.
  • Those Maple Leafs received an encouraging sight this morning as Ilya Mikheyev took the ice for some solo practice, but head coach Sheldon Keefe told reporters including David Alter of The Hockey News that there is not yet any update on the injured forward. Mikheyev underwent surgery last month on a broken thumb and was expected to miss a minimum of eight weeks. It hasn’t even been three weeks yet, meaning there’s likely a long way to go for Mikheyev before he joins the main group.

Cale Makar| Colorado Avalanche| Ilya Mikheyev| Injury| Mikko Rantanen| Toronto Maple Leafs| Vegas Golden Knights| William Karlsson

0 comments

Snapshots: Kraken, Backstrom, Avalanche

October 31, 2021 at 7:30 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose 5 Comments

The list of people in COVID protocol continues to grow as prior to their game against the Rangers tonight, the Kraken announced (Twitter link) that center Jared McCann and assistant coach Paul MacFarland have both entered the protocol.  McCann is off to a nice start to his season, leading Seattle in points with three goals and four assists through their first eight games while logging 16:24 per night, the highest ATOI of his career.  It’s the second time he has been in COVID protocol this season having been part of the group that was in there just before the regular season got underway.

Elsewhere around the NHL:

  • While Capitals center Nicklas Backstrom will accompany the team on their upcoming road trip, he won’t be taking part in any practices and will continue to work on his own, relays NHL.com’s Tom Gulitti (Twitter link). The veteran is eligible to be activated off LTIR on Saturday but if he is still just able to skate on his own, it stands to reason that he won’t be cleared to return at that time.
  • The lower-body injury that took Avalanche winger Andre Burakovsky out of Saturday’s contest has left him listed as day-to-day, relays Peter Baugh of The Athletic (Twitter link). The 26-year-old is off to a slow start this season with just a goal and three assists in eight games.  Baugh adds that winger Mikko Rantanen, who has missed two straight games with a lower-body injury of his own, is also listed as day-to-day.

Andre Burakovsky| Colorado Avalanche| COVID Protocol Related Absence| Jared McCann| Mikko Rantanen| Nicklas Backstrom| Seattle Kraken| Snapshots| Washington Capitals

5 comments

Injury Notes: Penguins, Golden Knights, Avalanche, Wood

October 29, 2021 at 2:29 pm CDT | by Josh Erickson Leave a Comment

The Pittsburgh Penguins received some extremely welcome news today, as head coach Mike Sullivan says centers Sidney Crosby and Jeff Carter are game-time decisions for tomorrow’s contest against the New Jersey Devils as they begin the journey to full health. That’s only 40% of the key contributors they have currently out of the lineup, however, as Kris Letang remains in COVID-19 protocol and Evgeni Malkin and Bryan Rust are on injured reserve. Still, seeing one of the best players in the world close to full health again and nearly ready to make his season debut is always promising news. The return of Carter shouldn’t be overlooked either, as the veteran forward had four points in four games before entering COVID-19 protocol.

More injury notes from around the league:

  • The Golden Knights, along with the Penguins, have been one of the most injury-affected teams in the NHL this season. The Athletic’s Jesse Granger issued updates on the health of many Golden Knights today, as the team has six regulars currently sitting out with injury. The most notable of those updates is Mark Stone, who is still out indefinitely but skated today for the first time since suffering a lower-body injury on October 15. However, it could potentially become seven regulars out of the lineup for tonight’s game as William Carrier suffered an injury Wednesday night against Dallas and is a game-time decision.
  • Colorado Avalanche winger Mikko Rantanen is day-to-day with a lower-body injury per head coach Jared Bednar, but defenseman Devon Toews is expected to make his season debut during the next two games. Rantanen was scratched from Thursday night’s game against the Blues. Toews’ return will give Colorado a fully healthy defense core for the first time this season, as Samuel Girard is also ready to go.
  • Devils head coach Lindy Ruff gave an update today on forward Miles Wood, who he calls “the furthest away” from returning out of all the Devils’ injuries. Considering Jack Hughes was issued a five-week timeline today, that’s not promising news. Wood has not played this season after suffering a lower-body injury just prior to the start of the campaign.

Bryan Rust| Colorado Avalanche| Devon Toews| Evgeni Malkin| Injury| Jack Hughes| Jared Bednar| Jeff Carter| Kris Letang| Lindy Ruff| Mark Stone| Mike Sullivan| Mikko Rantanen| Miles Wood| New Jersey Devils| NHL| Pittsburgh Penguins| Players| St. Louis Blues| Vegas Golden Knights

0 comments

Colorado’s Valeri Nichushkin Week-To-Week With Upper-Body Injury

October 15, 2021 at 2:07 pm CDT | by Josh Erickson Leave a Comment

The Colorado Avalanche are being hit with the injury bug early this season, as The Athletic’s Peter Baugh reports that forward Valeri Nichushkin is sidelined week-to-week with an upper-body injury.

With the team already missing Devon Toews and Pavel Francouz from their lineup prior to the season’s start, the team’s forward core has now lost three members in the past three days. Captain Gabriel Landeskog is suspended for the next two games, Nathan MacKinnon’s season debut is on hold as he remains on COVID protocol, and it’s now apparent the Avs have lost a third top-nine forward for the time being.

The 26-year-old Nichushkin has had somewhat of a career renaissance with Colorado after a rough start with the Dallas Stars, the team that drafted him 10th overall in 2013. He’s received Selke votes in back-to-back seasons, scoring 23 goals and 48 points in 120 games from 2019 to 2021 in an Avalanche uniform. Nichushkin had one assist in 15:03 of ice time on Wednesday against the Colorado Avalanche.

The team will now turn to Mikko Rantanen to carry the offensive load in the absence of MacKinnon and Landeskog. They’ll look towards forwards like Andre Burakovsky, Tyson Jost, and a pair or rookies in Alex Newhook and Sampo Ranta to increase production in depth roles to compensate for the loss of Nichushkin.

Alex Newhook| Andre Burakovsky| Colorado Avalanche| Dallas Stars| Devon Toews| Gabriel Landeskog| Injury| Mikko Rantanen| Nathan MacKinnon| Pavel Francouz| Rookies| Tyson Jost| Valeri Nichushkin

0 comments

Finland, Czech Republic, U.S. Announce Members Of 2022 Olympic Teams

October 7, 2021 at 10:29 am CDT | by Gavin Lee Leave a Comment

Like Sweden and Canada before them, three other hockey powers have announced the first few members of their 2022 Olympic team today. Finland is going with Aleksander Barkov, Mikko Rantanen, and Sebastian Aho, while the Czech Republic will have Ondrej Palat, Jakub Voracek and David Pastrnak in Beijing next year.

The U.S. meanwhile will have Seth Jones, Patrick Kane, and Auston Matthews suiting up for their country. Stan Bowman, general manager of the U.S. team, released a short statement on the selections:

It’s no secret we’re excited about the prospects of our team for the 2022 Games. Patrick, Auston and Seth reflect the high level of talent that will make up our final roster as we strive to bring gold back home to the U.S.

For Kane, this is nothing new. He was on the ice at both the 2010 and 2014 Olympics, while also wearing the “C” for the U.S. at various other international tournaments. What would be different is winning a gold, given his history at those tournaments. It’s been a long time since he took home the top prize, going all the way back to 2006 at the U18 WJC. Bronze at the U20 tournament, bronze at the World Championship and silver at the Olympics doesn’t create the international legacy that many would assume a player of Kane’s stature would have.

This year though he’ll have some help that he’s never had before. Jones and Matthews will both be taking part in their first Olympics, with the latter only having one World Championship under his belt. Matthews actually joined the U.S. team at the 2016 tournament before he even made his NHL debut and worked his way from extra skater to top-line center by the end of the event. That’s exactly the spot he will be expected to fill this time around after winning the Rocket Richard Trophy and coming second in Hart Trophy balloting last season.

For Finland and the Czechs, they too are starting off with some powerhouse trios. Barkov and Aho are a formidable 1-2 center punch that can play with anyone, while Rantanen brings his unique mix of size and skill on the wing. Palat, a key member of the Tampa Bay Lightning Stanley Cup teams, is one of the best two-way players in the entire league and Pastrnak is one of the brightest offensive talents in the entire world.

The event is sure to be exciting as the NHL returns to the world stage.

Aleksander Barkov| Auston Matthews| David Pastrnak| Jakub Voracek| Mikko Rantanen| Ondrej Palat| Patrick Kane| Sebastian Aho| Seth Jones

0 comments

NHL Announces All-Star Teams, All-Rookie Team

June 29, 2021 at 7:40 pm CDT | by Zach Leach 8 Comments

On the heels of the NHL Awards, the league has revealed the rosters of it’s all-league teams. As voted on by the Professional Hockey Writers Association, the selections are as follows:

First All-Star Team (link)

G Andrei Vasilevskiy
D Adam Fox
D Cale Makar
LW Brad Marchand
C Connor McDavid
RW Mitch Marner

Hart, Ted Lindsay, and Art Ross winner McDavid anchors the First Team All-Stars for the fourth time in his career, flanked by Hart candidate Marchand and with Vezina finalist Vasilevskiy in net. However, the story of the top All-Star squad is young defensemen Fox, the Norris winner, and Makar, a Norris finalist, manning the first team blue line in just their second NHL seasons. Marner is another first-time selection with a career year in his fifth season.

Second All-Star Team (link)

G Marc-Andre Fleury
D Victor Hedman
D Dougie Hamilton
LW Jonathan Huberdeau
C Auston Matthews
RW Mikko Rantanen

Vezina winner Fleury highlights an impressive second-team squad that also included Norris finalist Hedman and Hart finalist Matthews. This is Hedman’s fifth appearance on the Second Team All-Star roster, but all the others are first-time selections. Under-rated starts Huberdeau and Rantanen receiving much-deserved recogntion from the PHWA.

All-Rookie Team (link)

G Alex Nedeljkovic
D K’Andre Miller
D Ty Smith
LW Jason Robertson
C Joshua Norris
RW Kirill Kaprizov

With Calder winner Kaprizov leading the way, the All-Rookie teams boasts a mix of seasoned young players in their first full NHL seasons, such as Kaprizov himself and Nedeljkovic, sophomores Robertson and Norris, and true “rookies” in first-year pros Miller and Smith on the back end.

For those thinking that their favorite star was snubbed from all-league recognition this season, the voting results were actually very definitive. Colorado’s Nathan MacKinnon was a distant third at center, as was the Rangers’ Artemi Panarin at left wing and Vegas’ Mark Stone at right wing. Colorado’s Philipp Grubauer was way back of the top two in net as well. On defense, Hamilton was actually well behind Fox, Makar, and Hedman, but far enough ahead of Vegas’ Shea Theodore and Boston’s Charlie McAvoy. 

Adam Fox| Alex Nedeljkovic| Andrei Vasilevskiy| Brad Marchand| Cale Makar| Connor McDavid| Dougie Hamilton| Jason Robertson| Jonathan Huberdeau| Josh Norris| Kirill Kaprizov| Marc-Andre Fleury| Mikko Rantanen| Mitch Marner| NHL Awards| Rookies

8 comments

Snapshots: Hyman, Tynan, Rantanen

June 4, 2021 at 1:06 pm CDT | by Gavin Lee 13 Comments

Over the last 24 hours, a rumor emerged that Zach Hyman had been offered a long-term contract worth $5MM per season by the Toronto Maple Leafs only to turn it down. Hyman’s agent Todd Reynolds addressed it directly today, telling media members including Terry Koshan of the Toronto Sun that it is “not accurate.”

The idea surfaced because of something Jason Gregor said on the DailyFaceoff Podcast, but even if the specifics of him turning down a deal aren’t true, Chris Johnston of Sportsnet still believes that the 28-year-old is going to get quite the free agent offer. Johnston suggests that Hyman could receive close to a $6MM annual average value, something the Maple Leafs would be hard-pressed to match given their tight cap situation.

  • T.J. Tynan may only have 19 NHL games to his name, but that doesn’t mean his professional hockey career isn’t a glowing success. The 29-year-old was given the Les Cunningham Award today as the AHL’s Most Valuable Player for the 2020-21 season after scoring 35 points in 27 games for the Colorado Eagles. A third-round pick in 2011 by the Columbus Blue Jackets, Tynan now has 348 points in 436 AHL games. The pure playmaker, only 71 of those points have been goals.
  • Earlier this season Mikko Rantanen was fined $2,000 for embellishment/diving after being dinged on two occasions by the league. According to a report out of Finland, Rantanen had the fine rescinded after sending an eight-point report to the league explaining why it looked like, but wasn’t, a dive. Of course, this was not the first time Rantanen had been fined for embellishment; he also took a $2,000 fine in the 2018-19 season.

AHL| Mikko Rantanen| Snapshots| Toronto Maple Leafs| Zach Hyman

13 comments

Mikko Rantanen Fined For Diving/Embellishment

May 6, 2021 at 2:08 pm CDT | by Gavin Lee 4 Comments

The NHL has issued a $2,000 fine to Colorado Avalanche forward Mikko Rantanen for diving/embellishment, meaning that he has been flagged twice this season for the act. The league issued a warning following the first such incident, which occurred on March 23 against the Arizona Coyotes. The second happened on April 30 against the San Jose Sharks–an incident which resulted in a tripping penalty for Mario Ferraro–triggering the fine.

For Rule 64, the supplementary discipline is on a graduated scale that also includes fines for a head coach:

While Jared Bednar is certainly not going to bench a player like Rantanen, costing the coach money is never a good idea. The league will be keeping a close eye on the Colorado star and his teammates for the rest of the season. Coach fines start kicking in after four are issued to either one player or a club collectively.

Colorado Avalanche| Mikko Rantanen

4 comments

Injury Updates: Panthers, Avalanche, Sabres Goalies, Watson

April 27, 2021 at 6:49 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose 2 Comments

The Panthers are in a battle for first place in the Central Division but will be without a few regulars for a little while.  The team announced (Twitter link) that goalie Chris Driedger has been ruled out for the rest of the road trip which takes him out for the next three games though he isn’t expected to be out much longer than that.  Winger Patric Hornqvist is listed as day-to-day with an upper-body injury.

Meanwhile, winger Carter Verhaeghe isn’t expected to play on the trip either, notes David Wilson of the Miami Herald.  As a result, Florida entered tonight’s game down two of their top four scorers plus their top netminder statistically.  Between that and Carolina holding two games in hand, the Panthers will have their work cut out for them if they want to secure that top seed.

Other injury notes from around the NHL:

  • Avalanche defenseman Bowen Byram and winger Logan O’Connor have both suffered setbacks in their recoveries from upper- and lower-body injuries respectively, reports Mike Chambers of the Denver Post (Twitter link). Byram was recently taken off the COVID-Protocol Related Absences (CPRA) List but his injury preceded his placement there.  As for O’Connor, he has been out since the end of March.  Both players are now listed as week-to-week.
  • On the other hand, Colorado is set to get several key regulars back as com’s Rick Sadowski mentions that wingers Mikko Rantanen and Joonas Donskoi plus goalie Philipp Grubauer could all return to the lineup on Friday. Those three were on the CPRA list until recently as well and would undoubtedly provide a boost to the Avalanche’s lineup as they look to chase down Vegas for the top seed in the West.
  • The Sabres are unlikely to have goaltenders Linus Ullmark or Carter Hutton return this season, reports Mike Harrington of The Buffalo News. Ullmark has not yet resumed skating after suffering a lower-body injury two weeks ago while interim head coach Don Granato noted that Hutton recently had a setback after resuming skating as he worked his way back from a leg issue.  That means that Dustin Tokarski and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen will likely remain Buffalo’s tandem for the rest of the year.
  • The Senators have ruled out a return for winger Austin Watson this season, relays Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch (Twitter link). Watson suffered a wrist injury back in late March, one that carried a four-to-six week recovery time and it appears it will be the latter with him not returning.  He wraps up his first year with Ottawa with 10 points, 40 penalty minutes, and 100 hits in 34 games.

Austin Watson| Bowen Byram| Buffalo Sabres| Carter Hutton| Chris Driedger| Colorado Avalanche| Florida Panthers| Injury| Joonas Donskoi| Linus Ullmark| Mikko Rantanen| Ottawa Senators| Patric Hornqvist| Philipp Grubauer

2 comments
Load More Posts
    Top Stories

    Mark Giordano Signs Extension With Maple Leafs

    Rick Bowness Will Not Return As Dallas Stars Coach

    Nashville Predators Extend John Hynes

    Vegas Golden Knights Fire Peter DeBoer

    New York Islanders Name Lane Lambert Head Coach

    Montreal Canadiens Win 2022 NHL Draft Lottery

    New York Islanders Fire Barry Trotz

    Philadelphia Flyers Will Not Retain Mike Yeo As Head Coach

    Jets Agree To Three-Year Extension With Kevin Cheveldayoff

    Red Wings Will Not Bring Back Jeff Blashill Next Season

    Recent

    Johan Sodergran Signs In Sweden

    Vancouver Canucks Expected To Sign Linus Karlsson

    Joe Thornton Undecided About His Playing Future

    Offseason Checklist: Detroit Red Wings

    Islanders Sign Ruslan Iskhakov

    East Notes: Senators Injuries, Goodrow, Kaski

    Snapshots: PWHPA, Kane, Chiasson

    Examining Sergei Bobrovsky’s Future

    Tom Wilson Undergoes Knee Surgery

    Brian Lashoff Signs AHL Contract

    Rumors By Team

    Rumors By Team

    • Avalanche Rumors
    • Blackhawks Rumors
    • Blue Jackets Rumors
    • Blues Rumors
    • Bruins Rumors
    • Canadiens Rumors
    • Canucks Rumors
    • Capitals Rumors
    • Coyotes Rumors
    • Devils Rumors
    • Ducks Rumors
    • Flames Rumors
    • Flyers Rumors
    • Golden Knights Rumors
    • Hurricanes Rumors
    • Islanders Rumors
    • Jets Rumors
    • Kings Rumors
    • Kraken Rumors
    • Lightning Rumors
    • Maple Leafs Rumors
    • Oilers Rumors
    • Panthers Rumors
    • Penguins Rumors
    • Predators Rumors
    • Rangers Rumors
    • Red Wings Rumors
    • Sabres Rumors
    • Senators Rumors
    • Sharks Rumors
    • Stars Rumors
    • Wild Rumors

    Navigation

    • Sitemap
    • Archives

    PHR Info

    • About
    • Privacy Policy

    Connect

    • Contact Us
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • RSS Feed

    Pro Hockey Rumors is not affiliated with National Hockey League, NHL or NHL.com

    scroll to top
    Close

    Desktop Version | Switch To Mobile Version