Evening Notes: Robertson, Maenalanen, Cotton
Just after getting an important veteran defenseman back from injury, the Toronto Maple Leafs may have lost another player due to injury. The Maple Leafs have announced that forward Nicholas Robertson will not return to tonight’s contest against the Los Angeles Kings due to a shoulder injury. Robertson sustained the injury after taking a hit from Kings defenseman Michael Anderson. Anderson’s hit drove Robertson into the corner, and Robertson remained on the ice for some time before heading straight to the dressing room.
Robertson has dealt with significant injury troubles recently, injuries that limited him to just 38 games played last season. Robertson has five points in 14 games so far this season, and ideally his being taken out of this game would be more of a precautionary measure than anything else. But until we get more details on the injury, any speculation on a timeline is just that, speculation. At this point, all Toronto can do is hope that Robertson’s injury is less severe than it initially seemed to be.
Some other notes from across the hockey world:
- The Winnipeg Jets announced that forward Saku Maenalanen would not return to tonight’s contest against the St. Louis Blues. Maenalanen was driven into the boards taking a hit from Blues defenseman Niko Mikkola and immediately went to the locker room with a shoulder that appeared to be in discomfort. Maenalanen, 28, returned to the NHL with the Jets this season after a successful year in 2021-22 for Karpat in Liiga, and has six points in 24 games so far.
- The San Diego Gulls, the AHL affiliate of the Anaheim Ducks, announced that they have acquired forward David Cotton from the Coachella Valley Firebirds, the Seattle Kraken’s AHL affiliate, in exchange for future considerations. Cotton was signed by Coachella Valley in September, and heads to San Diego having played two games for the club. Cotton is a former captain of the Boston College Eagles who scored 21 points in his first 26 AHL games with the Chicago Wolves in 2020-21.
Atlantic Notes: Robertson, Canadiens, Larkin
The injury to Matt Murray provided the Maple Leafs with enough cap space to recall winger Nick Robertson and he made an immediate impact, scoring twice in Toronto’s overtime win against Dallas on Thursday. On the surface, it would seem like this is at least a short-term opportunity for him to prove himself but Postmedia’s Michael Traikos posits that there hasn’t been a better time for them to trade the 21-year-old. The Maple Leafs don’t have the deepest of prospect pools but Robertson is someone who is NHL-ready or very close which would be appealing to many rebuilding teams. With the team in need of some help on the back end, a player like Robertson is someone they could potentially dangle to try to add that defensive help.
Elsewhere in the Atlantic:
- The Canadiens could soon be getting some help on the injury front as TVA Sports’ Renaud Lavoie relays (Twitter links) that defenseman Joel Edmundson and Joel Armia both took part in practice with a non-contact jersey. Both players have yet to play this season with Edmundson suffering a back injury in a collision with Nick Suzuki in a pre-camp practice while Armia suffered an upper-body late in the preseason. Montreal is carrying a full-sized roster at the moment so when these two are cleared to return, they will have to make some moves to open up roster spots for them.
- Still with Montreal, the team announced (Twitter link) that winger Juraj Slafkovsky is day-to-day with an upper-body injury. The first-overall pick is coming off his best game that saw him score his first NHL goal while logging over 14 minutes of ice time for the first time but it appears he’ll have to wait a few days to have a chance at his second tally. Rem Pitlick is expected to take Slafkovsky’s place on the fourth line tonight.
- Red Wings center Dylan Larkin left Friday’s game against Chicago briefly with an injury and while he returned, head coach Derek Lalonde told reporters including Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press postgame that Larkin was dealing with some upper-body pain postgame. He’s scheduled to be reevaluated today. The captain is off to a strong start to his contract year with five points in four games this season.