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Atlantic Notes: Matthews, Järnkrok, Dahlin, Ullmark, Eliasson

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Maple Leafs forwards Auston Matthews and Calle Järnkrok remain absent from practice Wednesday after they were given injury designations by the club yesterday, per Kevin McGran of the Toronto Star.

Matthews’ ailment appears to be the most minor of minor injuries. He’s not listed as day-to-day by the club, which instead said he’s out for maintenance today. Head coach Craig Berube said Tuesday that he’d sustained a minor upper-body injury that caused him to leave practice early, but that there wasn’t much cause for concern.

Järnkrok, meanwhile, is still listed as day-to-day with a lower-body injury and is still a little bit away from returning. Both should be considered doubtful for Thursday’s preseason match against the Canadiens at this stage, especially for a game with no standings implications.

More news and notes from around the Atlantic Division:

  • Sabres defenseman Rasmus Dahlin is with his teammates in Germany today and has shed his non-contact jersey ahead of Friday’s exhibition game against EHC Munich, the team said. He’s been held out of preseason action thus far after sustaining an undisclosed injury one week ago. It appears he’ll be ready to go for the overseas contest later this week, and should be all systems go for their regular season opener against the Devils in Prague in nine days.
  • Senators goalie Linus Ullmark is back at practice Wednesday, per Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch. He was held out of practice for the past couple of days while battling an undisclosed injury. He could be an option to play in Thursday’s home game against the Sabres’ B-squad, Garrioch added.
  • Still with Ottawa, they now know where 2024 second-round pick Gabriel Eliasson will play this season. After being cut from their training camp roster earlier this week, the Swedish defenseman’s major junior rights were picked up by the OHL’s Barrie Colts today in a trade with the Niagara IceDogs. The hulking 6’7″, 216-lb 18-year-old is expected to sign a scholarship and development agreement and report to the Colts for his first season in North America after spending the last two seasons in his native Sweden in HV71’s junior system.

Evening Notes: Dahlin, Kings, Expansion

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Buffalo Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff is hoping that defenseman Rasmus Dahlin will be able to join the team at practice tomorrow in a non-contact capacity (as per Bill Hoppe of the Times Herald). The former first-overall pick left just a few minutes into the Sabres first practice last week and has not skated with the team since. Dahlin skated this morning before the team did and does appear ready to take the next step in his short recovery.

The Sabres will likely compete for a playoff spot this season and will need a healthy Dahlin in order to have a chance. The 24-year-old has been remarkably durable during his six-year NHL career, only missing seven games over the past four seasons and just 17 games during his entire NHL career.

In other evening notes:

  • The Los Angeles Kings could be on the hunt for some help on their fourth line (as per Dennis Bernstein of The Fourth Period). The Kings don’t currently have a fourth-line center set in stone and have been rotating different options through that spot thus far in training camp. Bernstein wonders if Kings general manager Rob Blake will begin to search the market to see if there is a player that could be brought in. Bernstein doesn’t specify whether that could be the trade market or one of the current free agents on a PTO, but it looks as though the Kings aren’t comfortable with any of their internal options for the role.
  • NHL commissioner Gary Bettman spoke to the media today and poured cold water on the rumors that the NHL is looking at expansion (as per Adam Laskaris of Daily Hive Toronto). Bettman called the rumors “categorically false,” and said that the NHL is not looking to expand at the moment. Bettman did concede that he would be updating the NHL’s Board of Governors on the cities that have expressed interest in getting an NHL team, but beyond that, there would be no further action at this time.

Atlantic Notes: Edvinsson, Dahlin, LeBreton Flats

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The Detroit Red Wings already have high hopes for defensive prospect Simon Edvinsson despite not playing in a preseason game this year. Max Bultman of The Athletic shared earlier that head coach Derek Lalonde expects Edvinsson to find consistent playing time in the team’s top four to start the season.

The young Swede has spent the better part of two years with the organization’s AHL affiliate, the Grand Rapids Griffins, but also has 25 NHL contests under his belt. There are high expectations for the sixth overall pick of the 2021 NHL Draft as the Red Wings desperately need to take pressure off Moritz Seider to balance out their defensive core.

Edvinsson is a remarkably smooth skater considering his 6’6″ frame and has moved the puck well with 44 assists in 106 AHL contests. He was seen skating on a line with veteran defenseman Jeff Petry yesterday during practice and that will be the likely pairing heading into the 2024-25 NHL season.

Other Atlantic notes:

  • Buffalo Sabres defenseman Rasmus Dahlin was back skating today after suffering an undisclosed injury in yesterday’s practice (X Link). He’s unlikely to play in tomorrow’s preseason opener against the Pittsburgh Penguins as the team remains cautionary with their top blue liner. It’s a positive sign that Dahlin is already back skating despite having little to prove in preseason action. He’s coming off another quality year with 10 goals and 59 points in 81 games and the Sabres’ brass will prioritize him being ready for the regular season opener.
  • Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Citizen reported this morning that the Ottawa Senators and National Capital Commission had reached a deal for the organization to build a new arena and entertainment district in Ottawa’s LeBreton Flats neighborhood. As more news regarding the acquisition continues to break, Wayne Scanlan of Sportsnet reports the land purchase should be finalized in 2025. This shouldn’t have any major impact on the deal as the Senators’ organization never indicated that developing their new arena and district would be quick.

Atlantic Notes: Dahlin, Adams, Marner, Vasilevskiy

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Sabres star defenseman Rasmus Dahlin won’t be out long after sustaining an undisclosed injury in practice Wednesday. Head coach Lindy Ruff told reporters Thursday that Dahlin’s ailment is “nothing too serious” and will miss the next couple of days of practice, likely ruling him out of the Sabres’ preseason opener against the Penguins on Saturday (via Lance Lysowski of The Buffalo News).

Dahlin sustained the injury on a non-contact play early in yesterday’s practice session, and Buffalo staff essentially deemed his absence precautionary. Playing in a preseason opener is always a long shot for veterans anyway, as many teams stick to the eight-veteran minimum early on in the exhibition schedule.

The 24-year-old is entering the first season of the eight-year, $88MM extension he signed last October to remain with the Sabres through most of his prime. The first overall pick in the 2018 NHL Draft finished 15th in Norris Trophy voting last season after recording a career-high 20 goals and 235 shots on goal, adding 39 assists for 59 points in 81 games. The Swedish native has averaged over 25 minutes per game in the last two seasons.

More out of the Atlantic Division:

  • Sabres general manager Kevyn Adams has faced criticism for not weaponizing all of his cap space as Buffalo attempts to end its 13-year playoff drought in 2024-25. He told Lysowski on Wednesday that there’s been “zero pushback from ownership about what we spend or can’t spend,” saying that he’ll “spend the money that we think we need to spend to win.” The Sabres have $7MM in projected cap space with a full roster, per PuckPedia, giving them space to add effectively any player they want to on trade deadline day if they’re in a position to buy.
  • Mitch Marner is open to continuing extension negotiations with the Maple Leafs as the regular season progresses, he told reporters (including Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet). But don’t expect him to be involved in them directly. “I’m going to let my agent and Brad [Treliving] do all the talking and figure stuff out. I’m just going to focus on playing hockey and trying to help this team win games,” the star winger said.
  • After missing the first few weeks of last season while recovering from back surgery, Lightning netminder Andrei Vasilevskiy is ready to return to his routine heavy workload. The four-time Vezina Trophy finalist told reporters Wednesday that he’d be comfortable playing 70-plus games if head coach Jon Cooper let him (via Eduardo A. Encina of the Tampa Bay Times). He might need to if the Lightning end up in a tight race for a playoff spot – Jonas Johansson will be back as Vasilevskiy’s backup for a second year in a row while boasting a subpar career .888 SV% in 61 games.

Atlantic Notes: Sabres Captain, Minten, Brandsegg-Nygård

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General manager Kevyn Adams and head coach Lindy Ruff appear close to naming a captain for the Buffalo Sabres according to WGR’s Paul Hamilton. The team has not had a captain since trading Kyle Okposo to the Florida Panthers at last year’s trade deadline who held the role since the 2022-23 season.

Hamilton quoted Adams saying, “We’ve talked at length about it and Lindy said that he wants to get to know the guys. He spent a lot of time in the summer whether in person or on the phone, but just being around them and feeling them in practice, and I think we’re on the same page“. Although Adams was non-committal about when the organization may name their next captain all signs indicate it will happen before their first game on October 4th.

The top two candidates will likely be between defenseman Rasmus Dahlin and forward Alex Tuch. Dahlin is the former first-overall pick of the 2018 NHL Draft by the Sabres and has isolated himself as one of the best defensemen in the league. Tuch, on the other hand, is not necessarily the most talented player on the roster but holds a very public love for the city of Buffalo having grown up just east of the team in Syracuse, NY.

Other Atlantic notes:

  • The Toronto Maple Leafs received a mild scare today with forward prospect Fraser Minten stepping away from the rest of today’s prospects game against the Montreal Canadiens. He was hit awkwardly into the boards in the second period before exiting from the game but Nick Barden of The Hockey News reports he’s only being held out for precautionary reasons. The former 38th overall pick of the 2022 NHL Draft went scoreless in his first few games with the Maple Leafs last season and is expected to spend much of next year with the team’s AHL affiliate, the Toronto Marlies.
  • On the other side of the border, the Detroit Red Wings are dealing with mild injury news to one of their forward prospects. Max Bultman of The Athletic reports that Michael Brandsegg-Nygård tweaked his groin in yesterday’s matchup against the Dallas Stars and will not play today. There’s no cause for concern for the recent 15th overall pick of the 2024 NHL Draft after registering an assist in yesterday’s win. He’s expected to join Detroit in Traverse City on Thursday to begin training camp as the team did not want to force a quick turnaround on their new prospect.

Snapshots: Marlies, Sabres, Hall, Golden Knights

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The Toronto Marlies have signed Boston University forward Sam Stevens to a one-year AHL contract set to begin next season (Twitter link). He’ll finish off this year on an amateur try-out contract with the Marlies. Stevens is turning pro after completing his fifth year with the Terriers, totaling 142 games across his collegiate career. That’s the most any one player has played for Boston University since 2018 when Brandon Hickey wrapped up his collegiate career with 147 games.

Stevens never found much of a scoring groove in Boston, totaling just 50 points in his appearances. 35 of those points came in the last two seasons when Stevens managed 18 and 17 points respectively. And while certainly modest scoring, Stevens was able to earn his keep with very stout defense for a centerman. He’s simply reliable, winning faceoffs and guarding opponents well. He’ll certainly need to improve his energy on the offensive side of the red-line as he approaches pro hockey, but Stevens’ ability to shut down play in his own zone could adapt well to the next level. He’ll look to slot into one of the Marlies remaining two games this regular season.

Other notes from around the league:

  • The Buffalo Sabres will have good reason to tune into the 2024 World Championship, as five different Sabres are expected to represent their country, per Rachel Hopmayer of Spectrum News in Buffalo (Twitter link). This includes Owen Power, Bowen Byram, and Dylan Cozens representing Team Canada; Rasmus Dahlin representing Team Sweden; and John-Jason Peterka representing Team Germany. Zach Benson and Jack Quinn also mentioned that they haven’t yet been contacted by Team Canada, though they’d have to discuss with general manager Kevyn Adams before committing, per X (Twitter link).
  • Taylor Hall won’t be slotting into the Chicago Blackhawks’ season finale, per Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun Times (Twitter link). This news comes despite Hall appearing at the team’s Thursday morning skate. He’ll close his season having not played since November 19th, when he suffered an ACL injury that required surgery. Hall played in just 10 games this year, the fewest games of a season in his 14-year career. He scored four points in those appearances. Hall is under contract with Chicago through the end of next season, carrying a $6MM cap hit.
  • William Carrier and Mark Stone both took the ice at the Vegas Golden Knights’ optional Thursday practice, donning no-contact jerseys, per SinBinVegas (Twitter link). Both players are working their way back from long-term injuries, with Stone out since February 20th with a spleen injury and Carrier sidelined since March 25th with an upper-body injury. Stone returned to practice on April 12th and will push to be ready for the start of Vegas’ playoff race this weekend, though his continued no-contact assignment could shed doubt on his Game One availability.

Atlantic Notes: Byram, Dahlin, Edmundson, Lyubushkin

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The Buffalo Sabres will be without newcomer defenseman Bowen Byram on Thursday due to a personal matter (Twitter link). Byram also missed the team’s morning practice. He has so far played in 16 games with the Sabres, netting three goals and seven points. That’s a 0.438 point-per-game pace, a significant boost over the 0.363 scoring pace he managed prior to being traded, when he scored 20 points in 55 games with the Colorado Avalanche. His combined 27 points in 71 games mark a new career-high for Byram, topping his 24 points last season.

Buffalo will now be back to square one, trying to make up for a lack of defense depth now without Byram or Erik Johnson, who was also traded at the Trade Deadline. This likely opens the door for Kale Clague to step back into the lineup for Buffalo’s last three games. Clague has made two other appearances in the Sabres lineup this season, recording one assist and one penalty. He was a much more frequent lineup piece last season, playing in 33 games with Buffalo and recording four assists, but he lost his platoon role to rookie Ryan Johnson this year. Johnson, who has played in his first 41 NHL games this year, is currently assigned to the minor-leagues but could receive a call-up if Buffalo wants added depth to close out the season.

Other notes from around the league:

  • Staying with the Sabres defense, star Rasmus Dahlin has shared that he is ready to take on the Sabres captaincy, if the opportunity presents itself, per Paul Hamilton of WGR550 (Twitter link). Buffalo recently traded two-year captain Kyle Okposo, leaving the role once again vacant. Dahlin is serving alongside Zemgus Girgensons as the team’s assistant captains, though Girgensons is on an expiring deal and faced trade rumors earlier in the season. That leaves Dahlin, who is signed through the 2031-32 season, as seemingly the last man up in Buffalo’s search for leadership. He could face competition from top centerman Tage Thompson, long-tenured veteran Jeff Skinner, or grizzled personality-piece Alex Tuch – though it’s hard to envision the Sabres not once again placing their trust in Dahlin, who this season became the first Sabres defender since Phil Housley to score 20 goals.
  • Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Joel Edmundson has shared that he’s good to go, after missing the team’s last eight games with an undisclosed injury, shares TSN’s Mark Masters (Twitter link). He will be joined in re-entering the lineup by Ilya Lyubushkin, who has missed Toronto’s last three games. Masters adds that Conor Timmins and Jake McCabe will step out of the lineup – with McCabe getting rested after an extended stint in the lineup.

Sabres Recall Kale Clague, Move Jeff Skinner To IR

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5:30 PM: The Sabres have sent Clague back to the AHL after the defenseman served as a healthy scratch for the team’s Monday win over the San Jose Sharks.

9:00 AM: The Sabres have recalled defenseman Kale Clague from AHL Rochester, per a team announcement. To create the necessary space on the active roster, the team moved star winger Jeff Skinner to injured reserve, according to CapFriendly.

The latter move is purely for roster management purposes and does not change Skinner’s recovery timeline. He remains listed as week-to-week with an upper-body injury.

Clague’s recall comes after defenseman Mattias Samuelsson took an elbow to the head from Canucks defenseman Filip Hronek early in the second period of Saturday’s 1-0 loss. Samuelsson did not return to the game and is likely out for this afternoon’s contest against the Sharks.

The 25-year-old Clague isn’t projected to dress against San Jose, but he does provide some needed defensive depth on the NHL roster. Buffalo lost multiple defenders to injury at points during the loss to Vancouver, namely Connor Clifton and Rasmus Dahlin. At one point during the contest, after Dahlin and Samuelsson had both exited the contest to go into concussion protocol due to separate hits to the head, veteran blueliner Erik Johnson was ineligible to play for five minutes after fighting Canucks center J.T. Miller, whose hit knocked Dahlin out of the game. That gave the Sabres only three available defensemen for a stretch, leading depth forward Zemgus Girgensons to play some shifts on the blue line. Head coach Don Granato confirmed both Clifton and Dahlin are cleared to play in today’s contest against the Sharks, although Samuelsson will remain out.

Clague, a second-round pick of the Kings in 2016, re-joined the Sabres on a one-year deal a few days after becoming a UFA in July. It was his second straight season without receiving a qualifying offer, which allowed the Sabres to sign him to a new deal at a slightly discounted cap hit. He’s in his second season in the Sabres organization after spending the first five seasons of his pro career with the Kings and Canadiens.

This is his first recall of 2023-24 after clearing waivers at the end of training camp. The puck-moving blueliner leads Rochester defensemen in assists (15) and points (17) this year in 31 games. It’s the most minor-league action he’s seen since he played 49 games with AHL Ontario in 2019-20.

In 33 games with the Sabres last year, Clague posted four assists while averaging 15:06 per game, all coming at even strength. He posted the best possession metrics of his career in a decent sample, per Hockey Reference – a 52.7% Corsi share, 50% expected goals for, and a +0.1 expected rating at even strength, to be exact. If he can replicate those, there are much worse options to have as an injury fill-in.

NHL Names Eastern Conference All-Stars

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Sportsnet is reporting that the NHL has named the first 16 selections from the Eastern Conference. These players will appear in the NHL All-Star Game that will take place February 3rd in Toronto.

The game will be held in Canada for the first time since 2012 when it was held in Ottawa. Toronto hasn’t hosted the game since 2000 and it will be highlighted by Toronto Maple Leafs superstar Auston Matthews who was named alongside 15 other Eastern Conference players.

The league names one player to represent each team at the game, all of whom will be named this evening. After which the final 12 players will be decided by a fan vote on NHL.com as well as several of the NHL’s social media platforms.

The initial Eastern Conference players are as follows:

Atlantic Division

Boston: RW David Pastrnak (3rd appearance)
Buffalo: D Rasmus Dahlin  (1st appearance)
Detroit: RW Alex DeBrincat (1st appearance)
Florida: C Sam Reinhart (1st appearance)
Montreal: C Nick Suzuki (3rd appearance)
Ottawa: LW Brady Tkachuk (4th appearance)
Tampa Bay: RW Nikita Kucherov (5th appearance)
Toronto: C Auston Matthews (3rd appearance)

Metropolitan Division

Carolina: F Sebastian Aho (1st appearance)
Columbus: C Boone Jenner (1st appearance)
New Jersey: C Jack Hughes (3rd appearance)
NY Islanders: C Mathew Barzal (1st appearance)
NY Rangers: G Igor Shesterkin (2nd appearance)
Philadelphia: C Travis Konecny (1st appearance)
Pittsburgh: C Sidney Crosby (6th appearance)
Washington: LW Tom Wilson (1st appearance)

The first 16 Western Conference all-stars will be named during the first intermission of tonight’s matchup between the Boston Bruins and the Pittsburgh Penguins.

More to come…

Atlantic Notes: Quinn, Dahlin, Bussi

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Buffalo Hockey Beat’s Bill Hoppe reports that injured Sabres forward Jack Quinn was at Sabres practice today as a full participant, shedding his non-contact jersey for a full-contact one. This is extremely encouraging news for the Sabres, as Quinn has yet to play this season due to recovery from offseason surgery to repair a torn Achilles. Last month, Quinn returned to practice in full pads and now he’s back as a full participant, indicating that he’s on schedule (if not ahead of schedule) to return to the Sabres’ lineup sometime around January 1st.

The Sabres could surely use the services of Quinn, a 22-year-old 2020 top-ten draft pick. After a breakout season in his first year as a pro with the AHL’s Rochester Americans, Quinn had an impressive NHL rookie season in 2022-23. He scored 14 goals and 37 points in 75 games, a performance that earned him a spot on Team Canada at the 2023 IIHF Men’s World Championships. He scored seven points in 10 games at the tournament, including with two crucial goals in the quarterfinals and semifinals, to help Canada take home a gold medal. Now he appears to be nearing a return with his club team, potentially providing a spark to a Sabres squad that has disappointed so far this season.

Some other notes from the Atlantic Division:

  • Hoppe relays word from Sabres coach Don Granato who revealed that superstar defenseman Rasmus Dahlin could possibly play tomorrow when the Sabres host the Montreal Canadiens. Dahlin is currently day-to-day with an injury, and if he can return he’d instantly give the Sabres a massive boost. The 23-year-old 2018 first-overall pick has scored 21 points in 26 games this season and is widely considered to be one of the best defensemen in the NHL.
  • The Boston Bruins have reassigned netminder Brandon Bussi to their AHL affiliate, the Providence Bruins. Bussi, 25, is the Bruins’ AHL starter but had been recalled to the NHL to back up Linus Ullmark for yesterday’s game against the Sabres, as expected backup Jeremy Swayman was sick. With Swayman expected to be ready to return to the lineup for the Bruins’ next game, Bussi’s services are no longer needed at the NHL level. He’ll resume his role as the number-one guy in Providence, which is a role he’s thus far excelled in as he made the AHL All-Rookie team last season with a .924 save percentage.

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