East Notes: Hughes, Meier, Harvey-Pinard, Carter
Devils superstar center Jack Hughes has officially returned to the lineup tonight against the Rangers after missing five games with an injury to his right shoulder. It’s about right on schedule for the 22-year-old, who sustained the injury on November 3 against the Blues and was subsequently listed as week-to-week. Already with a goal and assist in tonight’s contest at the time of writing, Hughes now resumes his quest for the Art Ross and Hart Trophies – both honors he was in strong contention for when he exited the lineup earlier this month. Despite the absence, Hughes’ 20 points in ten games entering tonight still tie for 15th in the league, and he’s only seven back of the league lead, a deficit he made significant headway in closing tonight despite skating on a rather odd line with Erik Haula and Curtis Lazar. Hughes is in the second season of an eight-year, $64MM extension signed with the Devils in November 2021 that already looks like quite the bargain.
Elsewhere in the Eastern Conference tonight:
- Staying in New Jersey, the injury designation surrounding winger Timo Meier isn’t as positive as Hughes’. He remains sidelined with a lower-body injury and is not in tonight’s contest, missing his second straight game with the injury after serving as a scratch Thursday night against the Penguins. Head coach Lindy Ruff had no update on Meier’s status when asked by reporters pre-game, and he remains sidelined on a day-to-day basis. He was off to a decent start on the scoresheet with 11 points in 14 contests but carries a team-low -12 rating.
- Canadiens winger Rafaël Harvey-Pinard is also absent from action tonight, sitting out his second straight game with a lower-body injury against the Bruins. Harvey-Pinard sustained a lower-body injury earlier in the month in a November 2 contest against the Coyotes but missed only three games before returning to action just over a week later. After a three-game stint back in the lineup, however, Harvey-Pinard was not able to participate in the team’s loss to the Golden Knights on Thursday. The 24-year-old has cooled down from his strong point output last season, notching only four assists through 13 contests.
- Penguins veteran center Jeff Carter is sidelined for tonight’s contest against the Hurricanes and has now missed two games with a lower-body injury. He’s actually not played since logging 7:28 on November 9 against the Kings and was a healthy scratch for their following game against Buffalo, but sustained an injury outside of game action in the interim. The 38-year-old has failed to record a point in ten appearances this season.
Injury Notes: Devils, Canadiens, Sabres
New Jersey Devils head coach Lindy Ruff shared that winger Timo Meier will be a game-time decision for the team’s Thursday night matchup, after sustaining an injury in the team’s recent win over the Winnipeg Jets. Ruff also added that Jack Hughes is progressing but isn’t ready for a return just yet.
These are tough updates to a Devils team that’s already suffering because of injuries. Meier is one of three healthy Devils forwards with 10 or more points through the team’s first 14 games. His absence would mark yet another blow to the team’s top six, which is currently missing Hughes and Nico Hischier. The Devils have taken a committee approach to replacing their top two centers, giving Michael McLeod, Dawson Mercer, and Erik Haula more ice time as a result. Haula has been the most productive of the trio, netting five goals and eight points in 13 games, while McLeod has managed six points in 14 games of his own. Mercer is the odd-man-out, with three goals serving as his only scoring this season.
Other injury notes:
- The Montreal Canadiens have shared that Rafaël Harvey-Pinard will miss the team’s Thursday night matchup against the Vegas Golden Knights. The Habs will turn to Michael Pezzetta to fill in. The 25-year-old winger has two points in 12 NHL games this season.
- Buffalo Sabres forward Alex Tuch has shared that he will be a “coach’s decision” for the team’s upcoming matchup against Winnipeg. The team’s head coach Don Granato responded by saying that whether to play Tuch or not will be a very easy decision, insinuating that the winger will return to action on Friday.
Atlantic Snapshots: McAvoy, Zub, Fischer, Harvey-Pinard, Brannstrom
Last night, it was reported that Boston Bruins defenseman, Charlie McAvoy would appeal the suspension given to him by the league for an illegal check to the head of Florida Panthers defenseman, Oliver Ekman-Larsson. Originally, the league determined that McAvoy would be issued a four-game suspension, and there are a few updates on the appeal process.
Greg Wyshynski of ESPN reports that the NHL and McAvoy have yet to schedule the appeal even through the day today and that McAvoy would ultimately like to see the suspension dropped to only three games. Nevertheless, Wyshynski also notes that from the side of the NHL, they are a bit surprised at the appeal decision given the ‘cut and dry’ nature of the hit.
McAvoy did not play in last night’s game against the Toronto Maple Leafs due to the suspension, as well as defensemen Matt Grzelcyk and Derek Forbort due to injuries, severely limiting the depth of the Bruins blue line. Up to this point in the season, McAvoy has played in nine games for Boston, scoring two goals and six assists while averaging nearly 24 minutes of ice time per night.
Other snapshots:
- Ottawa Senators defenseman, Artem Zub, has missed the team’s last five games due to a concussion and is unfortunately set to miss more time. TSN1200 reports that Zub has experienced some form of a setback in his recovery, and will miss the next couple of games for the team. In his absence, Ottawa has a 1-4-0 record, falling to last place in the Atlantic Division, and second-to-last place in the entire Eastern Conference.
- One of many new additions to the offensive core of the Detroit Red Wings, the team has announced that Christian Fischer is considered day-to-day, and may not play in tomorrow night’s game against the Bruins. Fischer has primarily been employed in a fourth-line role for the team after being non-tendered by the Arizona Coyotes last summer and has provided one assist through 11 games to start the year.
- In another small bit of injury news, the Montreal Canadiens have announced that forward Rafael Harvey-Pinard is also considered day-to-day due to a lower-body injury. After an impressive debut last season putting up 20 points in 34 games, Harvey-Pinard only has four assists in 10 games this year, averaging around 13 and a half minutes of ice time per night.
- Back to Ottawa, the team has received some positive news, as they shared that defenseman, Erik Brannstrom, has returned to practice after missing the last two games. As one of the main pieces coming over from the Vegas Golden Knights that sent Mark Stone the other way, Brannstrom has yet to score this season in only seven games played.
Montreal Canadiens Extend Rafael Harvey-Pinard
One of the Montreal Canadiens’ more intriguing breakout players last season has gotten a nice payday. Today, they announced a two-year contract extension for winger Rafael Harvey-Pinard, carrying an average annual value of $1.1MM. Per CapFriendly, he’ll earn $1.2MM in 2023-24 and $1.0MM in 2024-25, paid entirely in base salary.
Harvey-Pinard earns his first one-way NHL contract after a very strong late-season performance in Montreal. His 14 goals and 20 points in 34 games were equivalent to a 0.59 points-per-game rate, sixth among all qualified Canadiens.
The 2019 seventh-round pick has posted strong numbers in the minors since turning pro in 2020, putting to rest most concerns about his undersized frame. Standing at 5-foot-9 and 181 pounds, the 24-year-old Quebecer has 107 points in 145 AHL games with the Laval Rocket over the past three seasons.
He’s surely in line to make the team out of camp, but if things do go wrong for the Canadiens and Harvey-Pinard in two years’ time, his $1.1MM salary is fully buriable in the minors.
Harvey-Pinard spent most of his call-up elevated in the Canadiens’ lineup, playing on captain Nick Suzuki‘s wing. His NHL stint happened after Cole Caufield was shut down for the season with a shoulder injury, though, so he’ll likely see a slight reduction on the 17:13 he averaged per game last year. Still, he’s part of a group of budding Canadiens forwards under the age of 25 that also includes Alex Newhook, Juraj Slafkovsky, and Kirby Dach.
He’ll have arbitration rights as a restricted free agent at the end of his contract, potentially setting himself up for a big short-term payday if things go well. Due to the structure of his contract, he’ll only be due a $1MM qualifying offer in 2025.
His signing does push Montreal over the salary cap’s $83.5MM Upper Limit just slightly, but they’ll have no issue remaining compliant throughout the season with netminder Carey Price‘s $10.5MM cap hit stashed on long-term injured reserve.
Montreal Canadiens Loan Rafael Harvey-Pinard, Three Others To AHL
The Montreal Canadiens have loaned four players to their AHL affiliate, the Laval Rocket, following yesterday’s 7-1 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs: Rafael Harvey-Pinard, Jesse Ylonen, Corey Schueneman, and Cayden Primeau.
Schueneman and Primeau were each recalled yesterday, and the former skated just over 10 minutes in the Canadiens’ contest yesterday.
The 27-year-old undrafted Western Michigan product has scored 21 points in 59 AHL games this season and is one of the Rocket’s most important defenders.
Primeau, 23, backed up Sam Montembeault yesterday and has spent most of the season as Laval’s number-one netminder. He’s posted a .905 save percentage in 38 games and is hoping to lead the Rocket back to the Calder Cup playoffs, a tournament they made a deep run in last season.
The two more significant names to be sent down, though, are Ylonen and Harvey-Pinard since they have each made their mark on the Canadiens’ NHL roster this season. Both players received NHL opportunities due to the significant injury issues that sprang up in Montreal, and both players have shown well in that opportunity.
Harvey-Pinard especially has made a name for himself, scoring 14 goals in 34 games, including a hat trick at the Bell Center. He’s a 2019 seventh-round pick who went undrafted in two straight years before hearing his name called by his boyhood club. Harvey-Pinard’s emergence as an NHL option comes after spending parts of the last three seasons in Laval, including last year where he led them in scoring with 56 points in 69 games.
While it might come as a surprise to many Canadiens fans to see Harvey-Pinard sent down after such a hot start to his NHL career, the circumstances Laval currently finds themselves in can serve as an explanation. The Rocket are just a point ahead of the Cleveland Monsters for the Northeast Division’s final playoff spot, and the Monsters have a game in hand.
Laval has a crucial game against the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins today, and perhaps the Canadiens organization deems allowing these players to play an important role in meaningful, late-season games to be a better developmental path than playing a few more potentially miserable NHL contests (like last night’s game) to finish out a lost Canadiens season.
The same logic applies to Ylonen, a speedy 2018 second-round pick who has scored a healthy 16 points in 37 games during his time in Montreal. The 23-year-old has scored 29 points in 36 games at the AHL level and is in his final year of waiver exemption.
Since the Canadiens are unlikely to entertain the possibility of losing him on waivers next season, this reassignment gives Ylonen possibly one last opportunity to make an impact at the AHL level before beginning his NHL career in earnest in the fall.
Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Atlantic Injury Notes: Hall, O’Reilly, Harvey-Pinard
Boston Bruins winger Taylor Hall practiced on Wednesday and wore a regular jersey for the first time since sustaining a lower-body injury in late February. The Athletic’s Fluto Shinzawa tweeted the news, which is a positive sign for the team as they gear up for the playoffs.
Hall has been an integral part of the Bruins’ depth scoring since being acquired in an April 2021 trade with the Buffalo Sabres. He has scored 16 goals and added 20 assists in 58 games this year, giving Boston a skilled option far down the lineup, often in a third-line role. With quite literally nothing left to play for until the playoffs begin on April 17, the Bruins are likely hoping to get Hall back into game action for at least one or two matchups before the postseason commences. They’ll need to perform some salary cap gymnastics to do so, however, with the team currently using Hall’s $6MM cap hit on long-term injured reserve to remain cap-compliant.
- Ryan O’Reilly of the Toronto Maple Leafs was also back at practice today, as reported by David Alter of The Hockey News. The veteran center was seen wearing a regular jersey, signaling a potential impending return to the lineup. O’Reilly has been out of action for the past 14 games due to a finger injury sustained during a game against the Vancouver Canucks on March 4. O’Reilly, 32, had three goals and five points in eight games with Toronto after a mid-season blockbuster trade from the St. Louis Blues and is expected to dress in the bottom six when he does return to the lineup.
- Montreal Canadiens forward Rafael Harvey-Pinard was seen on the ice wearing a non-contact jersey for practice, according to TVA’s Renaud Lavoie. Harvey-Pinard, who was called up by the Canadiens on January 17, has missed the last two games with an undisclosed injury. The 24-year-old Quebec product has broken out since the callup, recording 14 goals and 19 points in 32 games while receiving top-six minutes.
East Notes: Couturier, Van Riemsdyk, Milano, Canadiens
Flyers center Sean Couturier had been skating for the last few weeks with the hopes of returning to the lineup before the end of the season. Those plans have now changed as head coach John Tortorella told reporters, including Charlie O’Connor of The Athletic (Twitter link) that the 30-year-old has now been shut down for the season. The good news for the Flyers is that Couturier hasn’t suffered a setback. Instead, the team simply decided that there wasn’t much benefit to bringing him back for a few games and that it would be better for the veteran to simply focus on continuing to rehab the back injury that has sidelined him since training camp. Suffice it to say, this was not the way anyone in the organization hoped that the first season of Couturier’s eight-year, $62MM contract was going to go.
Elsewhere in the Eastern Conference:
- Capitals defenseman Trevor van Riemsdyk will miss at least a week due to an upper-body injury, notes Roman Stubbs of The Washington Post (Twitter link). The 31-year-old suffered the injury late in Thursday’s game against Tampa Bay. While Washington has struggled a bit this year, this season has been a good one individually for van Riemsdyk as he has set career highs offensively with seven goals and 23 points while averaging over 19 minutes a night for only the second time. That helped him earn a three-year, $9MM extension last month.
- Still with Washington, winger Sonny Milano was a full participant in practice today and is trending towards playing tomorrow, relays Matt Weyrich of NBC Sports Washington (Twitter link). The 26-year-old has been a nice bargain for the Capitals this season, collecting 32 points in 58 games, a nice return on a league minimum contract. He, too, has a three-year extension in hand already, one that will carry a $1.9MM AAV starting next season.
- The Canadiens announced that winger Rafael Harvey-Pinard won’t play tonight due to a minor injury. The rookie has impressed since being recalled in January, picking up 14 goals, 55 hits, and 55 blocks in 32 games. Winger Joel Armia will return after missing more than a month with an upper respiratory infection. Meanwhile, blueliner David Savard will miss his second straight game due to a lower-body injury.
Atlantic Notes: Harvey-Pinard, Armia, Acciari, Foligno
Canadiens rookie winger Rafael Harvey-Pinard leads all NHL rookies in goals since being recalled a little over two months ago which is something that should definitely help this summer in restricted free agency. However, it will be a new agency representing him as Quartexx announced (Twitter link) that the 24-year-old is now one of their clients. He had previously been represented by CEM Hockey. Harvey-Pinard has 14 goals and five assists in 32 games since being recalled and is already tied for fourth on Montreal in goals. Even though he’s just finishing his entry-level contract, he will be eligible for salary arbitration this summer.
Elsewhere in the Atlantic:
- Canadiens winger Joel Armia participated in practice today with a regular jersey, relays TVA Sports’ Renaud Lavoie (Twitter link). The 29-year-old has missed more than a month with an upper respiratory infection. It has been a tough year for Armia who has been limited to just 37 games this season and has just seven points but it appears he’ll have a chance to at least get into a few more contests before their 2022-23 campaign comes to an end.
- While Maple Leafs forward Noel Acciari returned to practice today, head coach Sheldon Keefe told reporters including TSN’s Mark Masters (Twitter link) that Acciari won’t play this weekend. The veteran missed Wednesday’s game against Florida with an undisclosed injury but Keefe clarified that it is a neck/whiplash injury. The 31-year-old has three goals and 57 hits in 17 games since being acquired from St. Louis back in mid-February.
- There is some optimism that Bruins winger Nick Foligno should be ready to return for the playoffs, notes Brian Hedger of the Columbus Dispatch (Twitter link). The 35-year-old has missed the last month due to a lower-body injury and is currently on injured reserve but not LTIR. Foligno has had a bit of a bounce-back campaign, notching 10 goals and 16 assists in 60 games after recording just two goals and 11 helpers in 64 contests in 2021-22.