Central Notes: Klingberg, Koivu, Morrissey, Kayumov
While many people may not have noticed as much with the impressive play of rookie Miro Heiskanen, the Dallas Stars have been missing their top defenseman John Klingberg for an entire month after suffering a hand injury. The team’s top defenseman, however, is closing on a return and is expected to be back somewhere around Christmas, according to NHL.com’s Mark Stepneski.
“The latest we would think would be Dec. 27, the game after Christmas,” Stars coach Jim Montgomery said earlier this week. “But he might be right before Christmas.”
Klingberg has already missed 13 games and is not expected to join the team for their upcoming four-game road trip starting on Sunday. However, the 26-year-old hopes to begin practicing with the team when they return from that road trip. While his hand has been improving, he still has trouble of doing specific things with his hand, which includes tying his skates. However, he has gotten clearance to do more with his hand.
“It’s been tough because I haven’t been able to lift anything with this hand,” Klingberg said. “I saw the hand doctor [Thursday], and they said they you are good to go and try as much as you can and no sharp pains. So, I am going to grab a stick next week and when the guys come back home we will see where I am.”
- Sarah MacLellan of the StarTribune writes that with Minnesota Wild Mikko Koivu returning to Minnesota to get his lower-body injury looked at, the team hopes that other players might step up with more minutes available. Koivu led all forwards this season in ATOI with 18:32. That could mean more minutes for guys like Charlie Coyle and Nino Niederreiter as well as youngsters Joel Eriksson Ek and Jordan Greenway. “Mikko’s obviously a huge part of our team,” goalie Devan Dubnyk said. “He’s irreplaceable, but that’s a good opportunity for people to fill some different roles and get some more ice time. When we’re winning, we’re winning because we’re deep and everyone’s chipping in. That doesn’t change when somebody goes down.”
- While sitting out for the last week, Winnipeg Jets’ Josh Morrissey has been doing nothing but studying film in his off time, according to Ken Wiebe of the Winnipeg Sun. Morrissey has watched more than a dozen NHL games, including some of his own to see what’s missing from his game, while keeping an eye on future opponents. In the meantime, the defenseman has passed all of his tests, while recovering from a lower-body injury, and hopes to return to the Winnipeg lineup on Sunday.
- While the Chicago Blackhawks have liked what they see on the ice from 2016 second-round prospect Artur Kayumov so far in his early career, the 20-year-old picked up some negative publicity recently as the KHL announced that Kayumov has been suspended for 13 games after a hit to the head to Jokerit’s Jesper Jensen as well as punching a referee in the process. Kayumov, playing currently for Yaroslavl Lokomotiv, has 11 points and 55 penalty minutes this season.
Central Notes: Predators, Saad, Kane, Schenn, Niederreiter
With the recent re-signing of goaltender Pekka Rinne to a new extension with a no-movement clause, the Nashville Predators are likely to be heavily scouted over the next couple of years by the Seattle expansion team, who are expected to have their own expansion draft in 2020, assuming everything goes as planned. If that’s the case, then the Predators might be forced to expose young goaltender Juuse Saros in the expansion draft if they can’t convince Rinne to waive his NMC.
In a mailbag series, The Athletic’s Adam Vingan (subscription required) writes that with the expansion rules expected to be the same as Vegas, the Predators will likely be expected to protect all four of their top defensemen (assuming Roman Josi agrees to an extension), which might limit the amount of forwards they can protect down the road, suggesting that Seattle will either get a top-rated goaltender (in Saros or a willing Rinne) or receive a top-end forward to jumpstart their new franchise.
- Chicago Blackhawks forward Brandon Saad has had a rough go of it this week in practice. He took a puck to the face in practice Wednesday that required a lengthy trip to the dentist, according to Scott Powers of The Athletic (subscription required). Now, Chicago Sun-Times’ Mark Lazerus reports that Saad then injured his arm in practice Friday, forcing him to miss today’s game and he is considered day-to-day for Monday’s game at Carolina.
- Sticking with the Blackhawks, Lazerus also points out that new head coach Jeremy Colliton has already pressed Patrick Kane into a big role. Already the biggest leader in minutes on the forward line, Kane played the most he’s ever played in a regular-season game, a record 27:43 Thursday against Carolina. He followed that up with 24:33 against Philadelphia Saturday. “It’s fun,” Kane said. “It’s always fun coming back to the bench after a shift and hearing your name called up for the next shift to go out. It’s exciting. I like it, it gets me into the game, too. I’ve actually been trying to figure out how to get that excitement and energy into my game in the first and second period, because there’s some crazy stats where I’ve got way more goals this year in the third period than any other period.”
- It looks like St. Louis Blues center Brayden Schenn will miss his third-straight game Sunday with what is believed to be a strained oblique muscle, according to Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. He did practice Saturday, suggesting he’s getting closer to a return. “I would say that he’s doubtful for tomorrow, but encouraging that he’s getting closer,” coach Mike Yeo said. “He looked good in practice today. I talked to him afterward. We just have to make sure we’re smart.”
- The Minnesota Wild’s Nino Niederreiter finally broke a 27-goal scoring streak Thursday when he scored his first goal of the season and was quick to point out that staying positive was the most challenging thing for him while waiting out that streak. He said the mental challenges were taxing on him and his play, according to the StarTribune’s Sarah McLellan. “That’s the toughest thing, staying positive in those moments,” Niederreiter said. “But it makes it a lot easier that we’ve been doing well, and as long as the team is winning, it makes it a lot easier. But it was definitely frustrating at some points.”
Salary Cap Deep Dive: Minnesota Wild
Navigating the Salary Cap is probably one of the more important tasks for any general manager to have. Teams that can avert total cap chaos by walking the tightrope of inking players to deals that match their value (or compensate for future value without breaking the bank) remain successful. Those that don’t see struggles and front office changes.
PHR will look at every NHL team and give a thorough look at their cap situation heading into the 2018-19 season. This will focus more on those players who are integral parts of the roster versus those who may find themselves shuttling between the AHL and NHL. All cap figures are courtesy of CapFriendly.
Minnesota Wild
Current Cap Hit: $77,729,424 (under the $79.5MM Upper Limit)
Entry-Level Contracts
F Luke Kunin (two years, $925K)
F Jordan Greenway (two years, $917K)
F Joel Eriksson Ek (one year, $894K)
Potential Bonuses:
Kunin: $500K
Eriksson Ek: $425K
Greenway: $400K
Total: $1.35MM
The team has just three entry-level players and all three will be critical to the team over the next couple of years. Their 2016 first-rounder, Kunin, suffered an ACL injury in April that required surgery. While he is close to be ready to return, he’s still being held out to allow his knee to fully heal. Regardless, the team has high expectations for him. He struggled to capture a full-time role with Minnesota last year, but scored 10 goals in the AHL in just 36 appearances there, while getting 19 games in with the NHL club. The team will need him to step into a full-time role as soon as he’s healthy. Eriksson Ek, the team’s 2015 first-rounder, got himself a full-time role, but struggled to put up points in the bottom-six, posting six goals in 75 games. A bigger role could allow him to take that next step.
The team also has big hopes for Greenway, who the team pried away from Boston University this spring. The 6-foot-6, 226-pound winger should provide the team with a solid power forward, who could jump into the team’s top-six immediately.
One Year Remaining, Non-Entry-Level
F Eric Staal ($3.5MM, UFA)
F Eric Fehr ($1MM, UFA)
D Gustav Olofsson ($725K, RFA)
F Matt Hendricks ($700K, UFA)
F Matt Read ($650K, UFA)
D Nate Prosser ($650K, UFA)
G Alex Stalock ($650K, UFA)
G Andrew Hammond ($650K, UFA)
The team will have an interesting decision to make on Staal at the end of this season. Staal, who was coming off a disappointing 13-goal season a few years ago, signed a three-year, $10.5MM deal, which has been one of the team’s best signings in their history. Staal, who many thought might be slowing down, responded with 28 goals in 2016-17 and followed that up with a 42-goal season last year. Now at age 33, what will Minnesota do in a year when he’s 34 and in need of another deal? If he posts another impressive season, the Wild will have to pay up to keep his services. A disappointing year could mean the end of a thrilling ride.
The rest of the group are full of one-year deals in which the players must prove their worth. The team brought in Fehr, Hendricks and Read to shore up their fourth line, which struggled at times last year, while the team also has a pair of veteran netminders fighting for the backup goalie spot in Stalock and Hammond.
Two Years Remaining
F Mikael Granlund ($5.75MM, UFA)
F Mikko Koivu ($5.5MM, UFA)
D Jared Spurgeon ($5.18MM, UFA)
F Charlie Coyle ($3.2MM, UFA)
F J.T. Brown ($688K, UFA)
The team gave Koivu a two-year extension a year ago, but the 35-year-old is starting to fade after a 14-goal, 31-point performance last season and could be moved down a line, especially if Eriksson Ek continues to improve. Koivu still remains the all-time leader in both games played and points, however, but this could very likely be his last contract.
Granlund could also be an interesting situation. The 26-year-old has improved his game over the last two season, posting a combined 47 goals and he had a career-high in assists last year with 46. His second half was also a big success as he posted 45 points in 46 games, almost a point a game. If he can keep that production up, the Wild should look good. Fortunately, the team has two more years to monitor his success before they have to offer him a new contract. Coyle is another player, who has the ability to put up big points, yet Coyle has struggled more recently, posting just 11 goals and 37 points in 66 games. However, a broken fibula could have been a cause of his on-ice struggles. The team hopes that he can bounce back and prove he belongs in the team’s top-six.
Spurgeon has been perhaps the team’s best defenseman this season. The 28-year-old missed 21 games with a partially torn hamstring and rushed back for the playoffs, but wasn’t 100 percent. Already injury-prone, the team still has the veteran for another couple of years before they have to decide on another long-term contract.Read more
Minnesota’s Fenton Has Tried To Make Moves This Offseason
With a new general manager in house and the fact that the Minnesota Wild can’t seem to take a step forward despite reaching the playoffs six straight seasons, many people expected Paul Fenton to do something significant this offseason when he took over.
Instead it’s been a quiet offseason so far for the Wild as they have locked up some of their own players including Jason Zucker (five years, $27.5MM) and Mathew Dumba (five years, $30MM), but the team looks almost exactly the same from last season. The team did add some veteran depth when they signed Eric Fehr, Greg Pateryn, Matt Hendricks, J.T. Brown, Matt Bartkowski and Andrew Hammond. But they are only there to help the team’s bottom lines as well as add some physicality. The core of the team remains in tact. However, that’s not from a lack of trying, according to The Athletic’s Michael Russo (subscription required). In a mailbag column, the scribe writes that he’s talked to many contacts around the league who have told him that Fenton has been working the phones this summer, trying to make a deal, but has had little luck as teams often attempt to low-ball new GMs in hopes of catching a steal when the new GM is desperate to make a deal.
While owner Craig Leopold said he wanted to tweak the lineup after losing in the first-round this year, many felt that he wanted to alter the team’s core of Charlie Coyle, Zucker and Nino Niederreiter. While Fenton has talked about those three, it is believed he’s talked about almost every player on the team, but hasn’t found a good enough deal yet to pull the trigger. Of course, Coyle and Niederreiter are coming off down seasons, which is not the best time to be shopping them. The 26-year-old Coyle has been with the team for six seasons, but after two straight seasons in which his stats increased significantly, Coyle struggled this year, posting 11 goals and 37 points in 66 games. A lot of that has to do with injuries as he broke his fibula early in the season and then had surgery on both of his wrists after the season, suggesting he was never fully healthy. Niederreiter also suffered a broken fibula as well as dealt with a high ankle sprain, which prompted his season to slip from 25 goals and 57 points to just 18 goals and 32 points in 63 games. Neither made for good trade bait. Zucker himself put up solid numbers last year with career highs in goals (33) and points (64), but he was a restricted free agent, which many teams shy away from.
Other players would have been even more difficult to move considering that Zach Parise is locked up at $7.54MM for the next seven years and has a no movement clause. Ryan Sutter is coming off a serious injury, while Mikko Koivu holds a no-trade clause after signing his two-year extension. Eric Staal, Devan Dubnyk and Jared Spurgeon all have modified no-trade clauses, but were not asked to submit their no-trade lists at the NHL Entry draft in June, suggesting the team had no interest in moving any of them.
With all those issues, it’s no wonder that Fenton and the Wild were unable to shake up the roster like many thought they would. The only positive scenario is that the team, which should be healthier this year, should return to the playoffs again and might be able to turn their fortunes around from then on. The team has a number of young players, who could have breakout seasons, including Joel Eriksson Ek, Jordan Greenway and Nick Seeler who could help take the team to the next level.
Are There More Moves Coming In Minnesota?
On Wednesday, the Minnesota Wild did what many thought wasn’t possible when they locked up high-scoring forward Jason Zucker on a long-term deal without putting themselves in an impossible situation with the salary cap. The team somehow managed to re-sign two young stars, both Zucker and Mathew Dumba, to a combined $11.5MM cap hit as well as add free agents Greg Pateryn, Eric Fehr, Matt Hendricks, J.T. Brown, Matt Bartkowksi, and Andrew Hammond all while maintaining some semblance of cap space. The team is projected to enter the season with $1.77MM in cap space and a roster that added talent while only losing the likes of Daniel Winnik and Matt Cullen.
The question now is: is it enough? While it never hurts to return the majority of a roster from a playoff team, there is some question as to whether the Wild are keeping up in the Western Conference arms race. The team has been eliminated in the first round of the playoffs in each of the past three seasons and has still won just four playoff series in its 18-year history. Fans are clamoring for more than just regular season success and Minnesota – and new GM Paul Fenton – have instead opted to return the same team so far in an off-season where major changes were expected. Although the new contracts for Zucker and Dumba were more than fair and the team addressed needs for more physicality on the blue line with Pateryn and another option in net with Hammond, as well as adding veteran depth pieces, there will be some who are critical of an otherwise quiet summer.
With so little cap space, the Wild may find it difficult to make many additions in-season as well. As the projected 23-man roster currently stands, Minnesota does not seem to be facing many holes and will get an injection of youth in the form of full seasons for Jordan Greenway and Nick Seeler. However, after getting a glimpse of other prospects like Luke Kunin, Louis Belpedio, and Carson Soucy last season, the team will undoubtedly want to avoid leaving them in the AHL all year. The trio all carry $925K cap hits that exceed the salaries of those on the roster they are most likely to supplant and the result will be even more cap space eaten up. Without moving out some salary, Minnesota will be left hoping their young talent can make a major impact as they will otherwise struggle to add veteran difference-makers over the course of the year.
While observers will always point to the massive contracts of Ryan Suter and Zach Parise as the contracts that Minnesota could most benefit from moving (although Suter is still one of the most reliable defensemen in the league), the team has also entertained offers for Jonas Brodin and Nino Niederreiter in the past and could do so again. While Eric Staal has been a revelation for the team, they could also look to move the pending free agent if they get off to a slow start and can land a younger asset in exchange. At the end of the season, it could be that this same Wild lineup plus some free agent additions and young players is enough to reverse their postseason fortunes. However, if they fall short again or, even worse, miss the playoffs, the team will finally have to make some major changes. It’s possible that the team gets ahead of that possibility by making some moves this off-season instead.
Wild Notes: Ennis, First-Round Pick, Brodin, Dumba
Minnesota is asking teams that have shown interest in wingers Charlie Coyle, Jason Zucker, and Nino Niederreiter to take on the final year of center Tyler Ennis’ contract as well, reports Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman. Ennis struggled considerably in his first year with the Wild and as a result, he is a strong candidate to be bought out of the final year of his contract which carries a $4.6MM cap hit. The deadline for players to be bought out is next Saturday so they will have to move fairly quickly if they want to include Ennis in a deal.
More from Minnesota:
- While some teams are willing to move their first-round selections, Minnesota is not one of those teams, reports Michael Russo of The Athletic (subscription required). The team has received interest in their 24th overall selection – including from the Canadiens in a proposal involving winger Max Pacioretty – but GM Paul Fenton said they are “absolutely” against dealing it.
- Also from Russo’s piece, the team is hesitant to move defenseman Jonas Brodin given the uncertainty surrounding Ryan Suter’s ankle injury. Brodin has been coveted around the league for a while as a stable top-four defender and with Mathew Dumba in line for a significant new deal this summer, some wondered if Brodin and his $4.17MM cap hit could be dealt to free up some cap room. Representatives from the team met with Dumba’s agent on Thursday, presumably to talk about his next contract.
- Sarah McLellan of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune suggests that it’s likely that the Wild are more active on the trade front this summer than in free agency. They may look to shake up the roster with some player-for-player deals and then use their cap room to shore up their depth and on the back end.
Western Notes: Niederreiter, Dumba, Golden Knights, Gusev
The Minnesota Wild were expected to shake things up after another disappointing playoff run and made that clear when they replaced general manager Chuck Fletcher with Paul Fenton. One forgets that Fenton as the assistant to David Poile in Nashville for the past 20 years, has been involved in many blockbuster trades in that time. So, don’t be surprised to see the team make several big moves this offseason.
The Athletic’s Mike Russo (subscription required) delves into several potential trade candidates and what the chances are that Fenton might move them. At the top of the list is winger Nino Niederreiter, who might be the perfect trade candidate. After three 20-goal seasons, Niederreiter came up two goals short this year, but also missed 19 games this year with a high ankle sprain and a broken fibula. Unfortunately, Niederreiter also has struggled in the playoffs recently combining for just one assist in 10 playoff games over the past two seasons. However, the fact that he’s 25 years old and is locked in for another four years at $5.25MM AAV could make him the team’s biggest trade chip. Throw in the fact that Jason Zucker and Zach Parise are listed as the top two left wings on the team, he is expendable.
While he analyzes a number of trade candidates in the article, Russo suggests that despite going well out of their way to protect Mathew Dumba at the expansion draft last season (that cost them Erik Haula and Alex Tuch), Dumba rewarded the team with a career highs in goals and assists with 14 goals and 36 assists. Now a restricted free agent, the team must decide whether Dumba is worth a long-term deal and if not, the Wild might want to move him while his value is high.
- With the team’s success this year, Vegas Golden Knights general manager George McPhee refers to their 2017 first-round picks, Cody Glass, Nick Suzuki and Erik Brannstrom as “long shots” to making the team next season, according to SinBinVegas. If one of those picks were to make the Golden Knights roster out of training camp, they would have to be “really, really good.” McPhee also said he doesn’t believe teenagers belong in the NHL and the team must take more responsibility to develop their prospects properly. “Smartest thing we can do is take our time and develop them,” McPhee said.
- Sticking with the Vegas Golden Knights, David Schoen of the Las Vegas Review-Journal reports that McPhee said the team continues to pursue Russian winger Nikita Gusev, who the team acquired in an expansion-day deal with the Tampa Bay Lightning last year. The 25-year-old has scored 46 goals and tallied 133 points over the past two seasons in the KHL. He still has one more year remaining on a two-year deal he signed last summer, so the Golden Knights have to wait a while longer. “He’s got another year on his deal and then we’ll see what we can do. He’s a talented guy and we’ll do what we can to get him here. We’ve talked to him, and we’ll continue to talk to him,” McPhee said.
Minnesota Wild Will Have To Make Decisions On Staal, Zucker Soon
While the Minnesota Wild will likely need to fight every game for the rest of the season to reach the playoffs, there isn’t a lot of talk about what the team intends to do in the offseason, yet there are key decisions the Wild will have to make in the coming months, including what to do with a pair of their top forwards in Eric Staal and Jason Zucker.
While the team is already loaded in forwards who are locked up long-term, both Staal and Zucker have been key players for this year’s team. Staal still has another year remaining at $3.5MM, but would be eligible for an extension on July 1. At 33 years of age, the team is in a tough situation as it wants to make sure they don’t get stuck with a long-term deal with another aging player like it did with Mikko Koivu. However, Staal has put up 61 goals in two seasons for Minnesota and doesn’t look like he’s slowing down. The Athletic’s Michael Russo (subscription required) writes that the team should consider a three-year extension in the $5MM range. He writes he doesn’t see a true slow-down by the veteran. It shows on back-to-back games, but the scribe writes that both his hands and legs haven’t slowed a bit. The real question is Staal still has another year. What if he declines before an extension kicks in? It’s a gamble either way.
Zucker is another player who has taken that next step every year in Minnesota. He has already passed his 22-goal career high from last year. Now with 26 goals, he finds himself on his last restricted free-agent year before becoming a unrestricted free agent after the 2018-19 season. The fear is the Wild could lose Zucker at that point to higher-profile teams, so locking the 26-year-old up this offseason makes the most sense. Russo writes that it could take a six or seven-year offer in the $5MM range to get a deal done. He might be open to signing now as he has quite a few community ties, including the fact that his wife is from Minnesota.
Both players would like to get money that is close to Nino Niederreiter or Mikael Granlund money, which could cause some problems. The team already has six forwards that are locked up until 2020, not including Staal or Zucker. They also have three defensemen locked up long-term as well, so the team might have to find to move out some contracts in the near future to make their cap situation work out the best. To make matters worse, the two players whose deals might hurt the team the most belong to Zach Parise and Koivu. Parise has struggled all season with injuries and, as expected, his 13-year deal he signed back in 2012 is starting to hurt the team. The 33-year-old still will be locked up until the 2025 season at $7.5MM per year with a no-movement clause (another issue if there is another expansion draft in two years). Koivu has had a down year as well. At 34, he just signed a two year extension at $5.5MM at the start of this season which kicks in next year. After putting up 56 points or more in each of the last two years, he has just 35 points in 65 games this year.
One other option, according to Russo, would be to trade Tyler Ennis, who has one year remaining on his deal at $4.6MM AAV. The 28-year-old has just 18 points this year, but if the team retains his salary, they might be able to trade him off to free up some cap room. A buyout of Marcus Foligno is also a legitimate possibility this summer.
West Notes: Jets, Brodin, Niederreiter, Canucks, Bellemare
While many teams would prefer to add an impact player that is signed beyond this season, that isn’t the case for the Jets. In an appearance on TSN 1290 (audio link), TSN’s Bob McKenzie reports that Winnipeg’s preference would be to add rental players, or at least someone that is signed short-term. The Jets have several youngsters that will be vying for full-time roster spots in the near future and they will not want to block their paths to the NHL. McKenzie also suggests that General Manager Kevin Cheveldayoff might be more open to dealing his first-round pick by the February 26th trade deadline than he has been at other times during his tenure as GM.
More from the West:
- Wild blueliner Jonas Brodin has already resumed puck-handling drills just two weeks after undergoing surgery to repair a fractured hand less than two weeks ago, notes Sarah McLellan of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. While the initial timeline for his return was three-to-four weeks, he could return slightly ahead of schedule. The news isn’t as good for winger Nino Niederreiter, however. He acknowledged that he won’t be fully healthy until next season after dealing with multiple leg issues this year including a fractured fibula that he just returned to the lineup from.
- Canucks GM Jim Benning would like to add a top-nine forward with size and grit to their roster, he acknowledged to Postmedia’s Ben Kuzma. Vancouver has several skilled prospects on the horizon and adding a player like that would complement them nicely. Benning also stated that they are not shopping defenseman Chris Tanev but that he will listen to offers if other teams call. The team views the 28-year-old as someone that will mentor their younger blueliners including 2016 first-rounder Olli Juolevi.
- The Golden Knights have placed center Pierre-Edouard Bellemare on injured reserve with an upper-body injury, notes Steve Carp of the Las Vegas Review-Journal. There is no timetable for how much time he will miss but the IR placement means he’ll miss the next week at a minimum. Vegas has recalled a pair of forwards from their AHL affiliate in Chicago to take his place on the roster in wingers Tomas Hyka and Stefan Matteau.
Central Injury Updates: Niederreiter, Sanford, Stars, Mason
Minnesota is set to get a key player back in their lineup as winger Nino Niederreiter is expected to return tonight after missing the last eight games with an ankle injury, notes Dane Mizutani of the Pioneer Press. The issue has been a lingering one for Niederreiter who sustained it early in the season and has been battling it since then. Despite that, he has still been one of the more productive scorers for the Wild with 13 goals in 31 games this season; his goals-per-game average ranks tops on the team. As the team didn’t place him on injured reserve, they don’t need to make a corresponding roster move to get him back on the active roster.
More injury notes from the Central:
- Although Blues winger Zachary Sanford is with the team for their road trip, Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that the youngster is still a long way away from returning. Sanford stated that he’s unsure if he will be able to get back into the lineup at some point this month but it appears that he will be ready to play down the stretch. The 23-year-old has yet to play this season after undergoing shoulder surgery in September and could make a push for a third line spot when he does return.
- Although he did not suffer a concussion after being hit on the side of the face with the puck on Thursday, Stars goaltender Ben Bishop has been ruled out of Saturday’s contest against Minnesota, notes Mark Stepneski on the Stars’ team website. They are expected to recall a goalie to serve as the backup tomorrow. Meanwhile, center Martin Hanzal (muscle pull) and defenseman Marc Methot (knee) skated with the team as they continue to work their way back from their respective injuries but head coach Ken Hitchcock does not have a timeframe for when the veterans may get the green light to play.
- Jets goaltender Steve Mason skated on his own on Thursday for the first time since being diagnosed with his second concussion of the season, notes Postmedia’s Ken Wiebe. As a result, he is still a while away from returning which could very well take Michael Hutchinson out of the equation as a possible trade option as they may prefer to keep him around as insurance if Mason’s recovery goes slower than expected.