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Evening Notes: Murphy, Josi, Team Canada

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Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times wrote today on Blackhawks defenseman Connor Murphy and his falling role with the club. Murphy is the longest-tenured Blackhawk, whose timeline overlapped with the likes of Duncan Keith, Brent Seabrook, and Patrick Sharp in 2017-18. A steady presence throughout Chicago’s tougher times, it appears the 32-year-old is on the outside looking in. His ice time has fallen dramatically this season, some of the lowest of his entire career. 

The veteran has handled it professionally, saying he understands the decision, as mentioned by Pope. Injuries have not been a factor either, as it seems that Murphy’s seat has simply been taken by the younger 6’8″ Louis Crevier, and fellow veteran Matt Grzelcyk, who offers more mobility in new Head Coach Jeff Blashill’s system.

It is not ideal for a player in his ninth season with the Blackhawks, with the team finally showing progress, to only now lose his role. However, Murphy could have interest from teams looking for a veteran rental on the back-end. His $4.4MM cap hit may need retention for a deal to work, however Chicago has the room to retain. One way or the other, GM Kyle Davidson will surely do the veteran right, considering his contributions over the years. 

Elsewhere across the league:

  • Nick Kieser of Lower Broad Hockey shared earlier today Predators GM Barry Trotz’s update on Roman Josi. The Preds’ captain is still a few weeks away from a return. Josi was listed late last month as week-to-week with an upper-body injury. In his absence, Nashville remains above bottom-feeder status, an improvement from last year, but their play has not evoked much confidence of contention either. The Swiss defenseman’s presence is critical for the group, but at 35, it is hard to imagine Josi can sustain his usual workload into 2026 and beyond. If he can stay healthy for 30 more games this year, Josi will reach the esteemed 1,000 game mark. 
  • Marco D’Amico of RG Media shared that Don Sweeney, Bruins GM, and Doug Armstrong, Blues GM, are both in attendance for tonight’s game between the Canadiens and Flyers. While this may raise some eyebrows, both are with Team Canada ahead of the 2026 Olympic Games in Italy, set to start next February. The matchup features a wealth of players to scout for Team Canada; and D’Amico mentioned Nick Suzuki, Noah Dobson, Sam Montembeault, Travis Konecny, and Travis Sanheim as all possibilities.

Cole Smith Out Three-To-Six Weeks With Upper-Body Injury

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The Nashville Predators announced today that forward Cole Smith has suffered an upper-body injury and will be out with a three-to-six week recovery timeline. The Predators also announced that captain Roman Josi, who remains out on a week-to-week timeline with his own upper-body injury, has been placed on injured reserve.

Smith was limited to just 1:55 time-on-ice during the Predators’ victory over the Calgary Flames yesterday, leaving the game after he was on the receiving end of a hit from Flames grinder Ryan Lomberg. It’s an unfortunate development for Smith, who had started off the season well, scoring three goals in 13 games. Smith scored just four goals in all of 2024-25.

The 30-year-old winger is a player who has worked his way into a steady fourth-line NHL job as an undrafted former college free agent. While he’s never been much of an offensive producer, Smith brings valuable physicality and penalty-killing ability to the table. Smith has played a role Nashville’s the penalty kill dating back to 2022-23, his first full-time NHL campaign, and he took on a more central role there after the departures of Tanner Jeannot and later Yakov Trenin. Smith led all Predators forwards in short-handed ice time each of the last two seasons, and ranks second behind Michael McCarron through 13 games this season.

As a result, the loss of Smith for the next few weeks will be felt most prominently on the Predators’ penalty kill. Despite a poor all-around season, Nashville’s shorthanded operation ranked as the seventh-best in the NHL in 2024-25 and ranks sixth so far this season. This injury therefore costs one of the league’s top penalty kills one of its most important contributors.

Veteran Ryan O’Reilly ranks fifth among Predators forwards in short-handed ice time per game this season and could end up seeing his usage on that unit rise as a result of Smith’s injury. It’s also possible that a younger player such as Fedor Svechkov or Ozzy Wiesblatt, who have each seen sporadic use on the penalty kill, could get a longer look on the unit in Smith’s absence.

Looking at yesterday’s game as a clue, Wiesblatt took Smith’s spot alongside McCarron on the Predators’ top shorthanded unit after Smith left the game. He finished with just over two minutes of ice time on the penalty kill. That’s the most shorthanded ice time he’s played in a single NHL game so far in his young career, and it could indicate that Wiesblatt will get a chance to play that role moving forward while Smith recovers.

Roman Josi Out Week-To-Week

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The Predators will be without their captain and top defenseman for a little while.  Team reporter Brooks Bratten relays (Twitter link) that Roman Josi is listed as out week-to-week with an upper-body injury.  He further clarified that this is not related to his diagnosis of Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome earlier this year.

The 35-year-old was off to a solid start to his season before the injury.  Josi has played in eight games so far, picking up a goal and four assists while averaging over 24 minutes a night.  As usual, he has played a big role on both special teams units while posting the best possession numbers of any regular Predators blueliner.  He was injured in their last game on Thursday and while he returned to the game after missing part of the second period, clearly, the injury was more significant than originally thought.

Nashville has gotten off to an okay start to their season, picking up eight points in as many games as they look to rebound from a disastrous showing in 2024-25 when expectations were high following a summer spending spree.  However, staying afloat in the tough Central Division will get a lot tougher without their top rearguard in the lineup.

However, it’s not all bad news on the back end for the Preds.  Team broadcaster Max Herz notes (Twitter link) that defenseman Nicolas Hague appears to be set to be activated off injured reserve and make his team debut.  Nashville acquired the blueliner from Vegas this summer, quickly signing him to a four-year, $22MM contract after that.  He’s projected to play alongside Adam Wilsby on Nashville’s top pairing, subbing in where Josi typically lines up.

Roman Josi Diagnosed With Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome, Expecting To Play Next Season

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6/18: Predators general manager Barry Trotz released a statement acknowledging Josi’s POTS diagnosis. In it, he shared that the star defender has recovered exceptionally well following treatment, and is expected to be fully ready for training camp next season. Josi will be entering the 15th season of his NHL career, and sits 38 games away from his 1,000th appearance.

6/17: Predators captain Roman Josi was diagnosed with postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome while recovering from his season-ending concussion, he told Swiss newspaper Blick.

The condition, widely known as POTS, causes one’s heart rate to spike abnormally when transitioning from sitting or lying down to standing up, according to the Cleveland Clinic. It almost always affects women from ages 15 to 50, but can affect men in rarer cases, particularly if they meet certain risk factors. Among those stressors is a recent head injury, per the Cleveland Clinic, as in Josi’s case.

“Over the last eight weeks, I have undergone intensive therapy, which also included taking beta blockers. I’ve been feeling much better since then,” Josi said. “I’ve regained the belief that I’ll be 100 percent fit again and can fully attack with Nashville and the Swiss national team next winter.”

Josi initially feared he’d exacerbated his initial concussion, which he sustained on a hit from Panthers center Sam Bennett on Feb. 25. He’s only sustained one confirmed concussion before at the NHL level in the 2013-14 season, but the Nashville star was still experiencing headaches well into his recovery from his recent one. Those ended up being due to developing POTS and have since improved, he said.

The 35-year-old can now resume preparation for what will be his 15th NHL season, all with the Predators, in 2025-26. He’s on track to play his 1,000th game in the upcoming season in a career that’s already cemented him as the best skater in Nashville franchise history, ranking first all-time among Preds skaters in games played (962), assists (534), points (724), and average time on ice (24:52).

Last year was an underwhelming one from the captain, though. After breaking the point-per-game mark twice in the prior three seasons, his output decreased to 38 points in 53 games. That 0.72 mark was south of his career average and his worst post-pandemic offensive performance. His -26 rating was also a career low as he got little help from Nashville’s netminders despite keeping up high-end possession play, even logging a career-high 56.2 CF% at even strength.

That latter number should indicate a rebound performance if the club’s offense, which ranked 31st in the league this year, improves around him. Of course, the Preds have little chance of improving on this past season’s 30-44-8 record next year if Josi’s absence stretches into the campaign. Thankfully, it appears that won’t be the case. He has three seasons remaining on his contract at a $9.06MM cap hit.

Central Injury Notes: Heiskanen, Josi, Vilardi

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After being dealt several injuries and disappointingly finishing the season, the Dallas Stars got one piece of positive news before their Round One matchup against the Colorado Avalanche. Although he won’t play tonight, Lia Assimakopoulos of The Dallas Morning News reported that defenseman Miro Heiskanen joined the team for optional practice this morning for the first time since sustaining his knee injury in late January.

Heiskanen has been upgraded to day-to-day status, which means he could be available to the Stars as early as Game 2. He will be a crucial player to reintegrate into the lineup since they are facing one of the top offenses in the league. While the Stars’ defense is strong, the Avalanche’s defense presents a tougher matchup as currently constructed.

There is a clear difference in Dallas with Heiskanen on the ice and Dallas without. The team earned a 64.0% winning percentage through the first 50 games of the regular season before Heiskanen’s injury, and saw it drop to 56.25% once he exited the lineup. There’s no questioning the Stars’ talent, and it would be a fool’s errand to write them off already, but the loss of their top defender has negatively impacted them as expected.

Other injury reports from the Central Division:

  • Heiskanen wasn’t the only All-Star defenseman from the Central Division to have his season cut short. Nashville Predators’ captain Roman Josi has not played since February 25th due to an upper-body injury. Alex Daugherty of The Tennessean has confirmed that Josi was dealing with a concussion. Fortunately, there’s no expectation the concussion will impact Josi’s availability for the 2025-26 season, where he’ll look to rebound on a disappointing 38-point campaign. 
  • Before Game 1 of their Round One matchup against the St. Louis Blues, the Winnipeg Jets indirectly confirmed that winger Gabriel Vilardi wouldn’t be in their lineup. Vilardi hasn’t played since March 23rd due to an undisclosed injury. In a positive spin on the injury, Vilardi’s spot in the lineup was taken by depth forward Jaret Anderson-Dolan, who scored his first-career postseason goal in the first period.

Predators Recall Jake Lucchini And Spencer Stastney, Place Roman Josi On IR

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On top of scratching pending UFA winger Gustav Nyquist for today’s game with a potential trade on the way, the Predators have made three other roster moves as well.  Nick Kieser of 102.5 The Game relays (Twitter link) that Nashville has recalled winger Jake Lucchini and defenseman Spencer Stastney from AHL Milwaukee.  To make room on the roster, blueliner Roman Josi was placed on injured reserve.

Lucchini is in his first season with the Preds after signing a two-year, two-way deal with them last summer.  While he got into 40 NHL games with Minnesota last season during various recalls, this is his first promotion of the season after clearing waivers back in training camp.  The 29-year-old has 14 goals and 15 assists in 53 games with the Admirals thus far, a drop in his per-game output after recording 23 points in 30 minor league outings in 2023-24.

Stastney, meanwhile, started the season on the non-roster list while taking a leave of absence and has split time between Nashville and Milwaukee since then.  The 25-year-old has been held off the scoresheet in seven appearances with the Preds this season while logging a little over 16 minutes a night.  He has been productive with the Admirals, however, notching 13 points in 23 outings at the minor league level.

As for Josi, he exited Tuesday’s game with an upper-body injury and his placement on IR means he’ll be out for both games this weekend at the very least although he’ll be out longer than that with the team revealing (Twitter link) he’s out week-to-week.  The captain hasn’t been able to duplicate the offensive performance he had last year when he notched 85 points but he still has 39 points in 55 games, good for a tie for 15th among all NHL blueliners.  Of course, Josi also logs heavy minutes, averaging more than 25 minutes a night so Nashville’s back end will have its work cut out for them to cover his absence.

Predators Recall Marc Del Gaizo

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The Predators announced they’ve recalled defenseman Marc Del Gaizo from AHL Milwaukee. Fellow blue-liner Jake Livingstone is headed down to the minors in a corresponding transaction to keep Nashville’s active roster with one open spot.

The recall marks Del Gaizo’s first time on the roster since mid-December, when he cleared waivers on his way down to Milwaukee. It was the second time the 25-year-old had cleared waivers this season after doing so late in training camp, but after starting the season in the AHL, he received his first recall less than two weeks into the regular season. He spent nearly two months up in the NHL aside from a handful of paper transactions, making a career-high 21 appearances with three assists and an even rating.

Del Gaizo’s only previous NHL experience came in Nashville last season, when the 2019 fourth-rounder posted three assists and a plus-two rating in nine games amid call-ups in November and March. The former UMass standout has had underwhelming possession impacts when given the chance with the Preds, posting a 47.3 CF% and -0.7 expected rating across 30 games since his debut. The 5’11” lefty does block shots with aplomb, averaging 5.11 per 60 minutes, and also averages just over three shot attempts per game.

You could do worse for a depth call-up, especially one who led Milwaukee defenders in scoring last season with 8-26–34 in 60 games. He hasn’t quite matched that pace this year with 8-4–12 through 30 appearances, although he does rank second on the club with a +10 rating.

This latest audition will be an important one for Del Gaizo, who will qualify for Group VI unrestricted free agency at the end of the season. He’ll draw into the lineup tonight against the league-leading Jets after captain Roman Josi sustained an upper-body injury against the Panthers on Tuesday. The latter is now listed as day-to-day, per head coach Andrew Brunette (via the team’s Brooks Bratten).

Nashville recalled Livingstone last week before announcing Adam Wilsby would be done for the year with an upper-body injury. He did not draw into the lineup and instead served as a healthy scratch for three contests. He returns to Milwaukee, where he has 5-4–9 in 40 appearances with 33 PIMs and a plus-nine rating.

Injury Notes: Josi, Tanev, Milano

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It doesn’t appear the Nashville Predators will have their captain tomorrow night against the Winnipeg Jets. Beat reporter Brooks Bratten reported earlier that defenseman Roman Josi is still being evaluated for an upper-body injury suffered in Tuesday’s game against the Florida Panthers.

Approximately halfway through the second period of the game, Josi was checked from behind by Panther Sam Bennett causing his head to hit the plexiglass. The Norris Trophy-winning defenseman played through the injury for the remaining minutes of the second period but was ruled out for the third. Bennett was assessed a two-minute minor penalty for boarding on the play.

When asked about Josi’s ongoing injury evaluation, head coach Andrew Brunette said (as reported by Predators’ reporter Nick Kieser), “Yeah, I don’t know. I’m not a doctor. I don’t really know. With those things it’s day-to-day, could be week-to-week, could be season-ending, we don’t really know yet.” Although speaking vaguely, Brunette mentioning a longer-term injury when speaking to reporters should raise concerns regarding Josi’s availability for the foreseeable future.

Other injury notes:

  • The Toronto Maple Leafs have reportedly avoided a worst-case scenario with their top shutdown defenseman. The Hockey News’ David Alter shared that Chris Tanev’s recovery timeline is only considered day-to-day although he’s been ruled out for Friday’s contest against the New York Rangers. Tanev was seen wearing a sling after missing the final two periods of Toronto’s game yesterday evening against the Boston Bruins.
  • After missing the last four months of action due to an upper-body injury, a return to game action is on the horizon for Washington Capitals’ forward Sonny Milano. According to Bailey Johnson of the Washington Post, Milano was upgraded to a full-contact jersey for today’s practice. Unfortunately for Milano, given the likelihood of the league-leading Capitals’ adding one or two forwards before next Friday’s trade deadline, Milano is a strong candidate for waivers upon his activation from the long-term injured reserve.

Predators Activate Roman Josi Off Injured Reserve

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While Predators defenseman Roman Josi landed on IR earlier this week, he wasn’t there for long.  Alex Daugherty of The Tennessean relays (Twitter link) that the team has activated the blueliner, making him available to play today versus Los Angeles.

The 34-year-old missed the last week and a half due to a lower-body injury.  As has been the case for many of the Predators’ top players this season, Josi has struggled a bit offensively, at least relative to his production from 2023-24.  He had 85 points in 82 games a year ago, making him the Norris Trophy runner-up along the way.

This season, he has produced seven goals and 16 assists through 29 games; he sits second on the team to Filip Forsberg in points while leading the way in ATOI at 24:59 per game so he certainly hasn’t been a primary reason for their surprising struggles.  Suffice it to say, his return will certainly be a key upgrade on the blueline as they look to get back on track before the holiday break.

The Preds sent blueliners Marc Del Gaizo and Kevin Gravel down to the minors yesterday so they had ample roster space to activate Josi.  Following this move, they’re back at 22 players on their active roster.

Predators Assign Kevin Gravel, Marc Del Gaizo To AHL

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The Nashville Predators have assigned defensemen Kevin Gravel and Marc Del Gaizo to the AHL. Del Gaizo passed through waivers on Thursday. The moves follow the arrival of new trade acquisition Justin Barron, who joined Nashville’s practice for the first time on Friday per NHL.com’s Brooks Bratten. Star defender Roman Josi also returned to team practice on Friday, one day after he was placed on injured reserve retroactive to December 10th.

Nashville will soon get to see what their blue-line looks like at full strength, after parting ways with Dante Fabbro and Alexandre Carrier, and sending Del Gaizo to the minors. Josi and Jeremy Lauzon will fill vacancies on the left-hand side, while Barron brings much-needed depth on the right.

The new look couldn’t come at a better time. Only two Predators defenders – Adam Wilsby (3) and Brady Skjei (2) – have recorded multiple points since the start of December. Josi will quickly address that lacking production, soon to return to his 23 points in 29 games this season. Nashville will hope that scoring can rub off on Barron and Lauzon, who each have just one point in 17 and 23 games respectively.

Meanwhile, Gravel will return to productive years in the minors. He serves as the Milwaukee Admirals’ captain, and has five points in 20 games this season, already halfway to his 10-point total from last year. Gravel will be joined by Del Gaizo, who played in just two AHL games before becoming an injury fill-in on the NHL roster. He hasn’t yet recorded any minor league scoring, but did post 34 points in 60 AHL games last year – a mark that led all Admirals defensemen.

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