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Viktor Arvidsson

Evening Notes: Arvidsson, Allen, Whitecloud, Sasson

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Edmonton Oilers winger Viktor Arvidsson has resumed skating for the first time since exiting the lineup last month with an undisclosed injury, Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch shared with Daniel Nugent-Bowman of The Athletic. Knoblauch added that the hope is that Arvidsson will return to team practices next week. Little about the veteran winger’s injury has been revealed. He played through 14 minutes of ice time in his most recent game – an overtime win over the Islanders on November 12th. The Oilers announced Arvidsson as banged up shortly after that game, designating him as day-to-day. He was placed on injured reserve nine days later, and has since missed Edmonton’s last 11 games.

Arvidsson signed a two-year, $8MM contract with Edmonton this summer, but hasn’t found his footing in the new setting just yet. He’s played in 16 games and scored five points this season, though the bulk of that scoring came from a three-assist night against Pittsburgh on October 25th. Arvidsson has scored two goals in eight games since then, but still sits far away from the 31-goal season he managed in 2016-17. Repeated lower-body injuries held Arvidsson out of all but 18 games with the Los Angeles Kings last season, though he still managed an impressive 15 points. He’ll look to return to the lineup, and quickly rediscover his scoring kick, before the calendar turns over.

Other notes around the league:

  • New Jersey Devils goaltender Jake Allen is questionable for the team’s Tuesday game against Toronto per a team announcement. No specifics were provided as to what may limit the veteran backup. Allen was on the wrong side of a shutout on Sunday, allowing three goals on 22 shots in the Devils’ 4-0 loss to Colorado. Despite the losing efforts, Allen’s season-long stat line has been more encouraging – with a 5-4-1 record and .904 save percentage through 10 games. New Jersey would need to recall a backup for Jacob Markstrom should Allen miss Tuesday’s game. Utica Comets starter Nico Daws would likely stand as the next man up. Daws has three wins and a .897 in 13 AHL games this season.
  • Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Zach Whitecloud returned to full practices on Monday shares Jesse Granger of The Athletic. It’s the next step towards a return after Whitecloud returned to practices with a no-contact jersey on Friday. Head coach Bruce Cassidy told Danny Webster of the Las Vegas Review-Journal that Whitecloud is expected to play at some point on Vegas’ upcoming three-game road trip. The 28-year-old defender has two points, 14 penalty minutes, and a +5 through 21 games this season; while operating out of a bottom-four role. He’ll be quickly slotted back into the lineup when back to full health, likely bumping Kaedan Korczak to the press box.
  • The Vancouver Canucks are taking advantage of their off-days, assigning waiver-exempt forward Max Sasson to the minor leagues to help accrue cap space ahead of their Tuesday night game. Sasson made his NHL debut earlier this season and has since recorded two assists and a +2 in seven games. The 24-year-old has operated from Vancouver’s fourth-line, and is likely to return with a call-up before the Canucks’ next game. If he does stay in the minors, he’ll be returning to an AHL stat line featuring four goals, nine points, and six penalty minutes through nine games.

Oilers Notes: Hyman, Arvidsson, Stecher

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Oilers goal-scorer Zach Hyman will return to the lineup tonight against the Blue Jackets after missing five games with an undisclosed injury, Tony Brar of Oilers TV reports.

Hyman will return to his usual top-line role alongside Connor McDavid and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and take first power-play unit reps, Brar adds. The 32-year-old was having an incredibly tough time before the injury, limited to three goals and eight points in 20 games after scoring a career-high 54 goals last season.

He was shooting at just 5.9%, a trend that will surely reverse as the season progresses, given his 13.4% career average. The Oilers went 3-2-0 without Hyman in the lineup and sit fifth in the Pacific Division with a 13-10-2 record, although they could leapfrog the Flames for fourth place tonight if they win against Columbus and Calgary drops its game against the Blues.

Here’s more out of Edmonton:

  • Viktor Arvidsson has already missed nearly a month with a similarly undisclosed injury. After being listed as day-to-day for weeks, head coach Kris Knoblauch said today that he’s been downgraded to indefinite (via Brar). Knoblauch said Arvidsson’s injury “hasn’t been healing as we hoped,” not a promising proclamation for a player who only had five points in 16 games prior to getting hurt. He’s on regular injured reserve, but after missing tonight’s game, he’ll be eligible for a retroactive LTIR placement if Edmonton needs some additional short-term salary cap flexibility.
  • Defenseman Troy Stecher will be on hand against Columbus after leaving Tuesday’s loss to the Golden Knights after taking a Tomáš Hertl shot to the ear, reports Daniel Nugent-Bowman of The Athletic. The 30-year-old depth piece has three points in his last four games and has slowly become more of a regular fixture for Edmonton, last serving as a healthy scratch on Nov. 3. In 21 appearances this season, he has three assists with a -3 rating. He’s averaging 14:46 per game, and the Oilers are controlling 50% of shot attempts with him on the ice at even strength.

Injury Updates: Stanley, Arvidsson, Kochetkov, Kylington, Chinakhov

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The Jets welcomed back Logan Stanley to their lineup tonight with the team announcing (Twitter link) that the blueliner has been activated off injured reserve.  The 26-year-old has been banged up this season, missing time with a knee issue and most recently a mid-body injury that kept him out for the last eight games.  Between those, Stanley has three points, 17 blocks, and 12 hits in 11 games while averaging 15:13 per night, the second-highest ATOI of his career.  With his activation, Winnipeg now has a full 23-player roster.

Other injury updates from around the NHL:

  • Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch told reporters including Daniel Nugent-Bowman of The Athletic (Twitter link) that winger Viktor Arvidsson won’t suit up on their current road trip, meaning he’ll miss the next three games. The 31-year-old has missed the last six games due to an undisclosed injury and is currently on injured reserve.  Arvidsson is in his first season with Edmonton after signing a two-year, $8MM contract over the summer.  However, he’s off to a quiet start with just two goals and three assists in 16 games.
  • Hurricanes goaltender Pyotr Kochetkov is listed as doubtful for tomorrow’s game against Florida, team reporter Walt Ruff reports (Twitter link). Kochetkov remains in concussion protocol but head coach Rod Brind’Amour wants to get him in a practice before getting him back into a game.  Kochetkov has a 2.42 GAA and a .909 SV% in 13 games so far this season.  With him and Frederik Andersen out, Spencer Martin and Yaniv Perets are Carolina’s tandem between the pipes for the time being.
  • The injuries continue to pile up for the Avalanche. Evan Rawal of the Denver Gazette relays (Twitter link) that defenseman Oliver Kylington is dealing with an injury and isn’t with the team in Dallas.  The 27-year-old has had a quiet start to the season for Colorado, missing time due to illness and being healthy scratched at times.  Overall, Kylington has suited up in eight games so far, picking up a goal and an assist but his playing time is just 12:10 per night, more than five minutes below his ATOI with Calgary last season.
  • Blue Jackets winger Yegor Chinakhov was scratched in today’s victory over Calgary due to an upper-body injury, notes team reporter Jeff Svoboda (Twitter link). After a breakout performance last season that saw him record 16 goals and 13 assists in 53 games, the 23-year-old is on pace to beat those numbers as he has seven goals and seven helpers in 21 appearances so far, good for fourth on Columbus in scoring.  Cole Sillinger returned from his upper-body injury to take Chinakhov’s spot in the lineup.

Pacific Notes: Hyman, Arvidsson, McGinn, Vlasic, Musty, Whitecloud, Karlsson

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The Edmonton Oilers won’t have a healthy forward core for the rest of the week. The team’s radio commentator, Bob Stauffer, shared a note from head coach Kris Knoblauch earlier this morning indicating that forwards Zach Hyman and Viktor Arvidsson are still a week or more away from returning.

Hyman has missed the last two games with an undisclosed injury dating back to the Oilers’ recent contest against the Ottawa Senators on November 19th. He’ll now miss his second straight week with Stauffer all but confirming Edmonton won’t have Hyman in the lineup for this weekend’s matchups against the Utah Hockey Club and Colorado Avalanche. It’s salt on the wound for Hyman who’s only mustered three goals and eight points in 20 games this season after scoring 54 goals in 80 games last year.

Arvidsson, who hasn’t played since November 12th, will now miss his third straight week for the Oilers. Edmonton placed him on the injured reserve over a week later on November 21st and he will now miss eight straight games after this weekend’s action. His production and availability are certainly not what the Oilers expected after giving the veteran forward a two-year, $8MM contract this past offseason.

Other notes from the Pacific Division:

  • According to Derek Lee of The Hockey News, the Anaheim Ducks are placing forward Brock McGinn on injured reserve to make room for activating forward Mason McTavish this evening. McGinn’s injury is likely tied to crashing into the boards of last week’s game against the Dallas Stars and while he’s seemingly avoided a worse injury, he’ll still miss a few more games for Anaheim. McGinn had scored three goals and six points in 17 games this season before suffering the injury.
  • The San Jose Sharks may get one of their longtime veterans back during their upcoming road trip. Curtis Pashelka of The Mercury News wrote earlier that defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic is nearing a return to the active roster after being a full participant in the team’s practices on multiple occasions. Vlasic is now in his 19th season in San Jose but hasn’t skated for the team since April 18th, 2024 due to an injury in his upper back.
  • The Sharks also have some injury concerns further down their organizational hierarchy. Jeff Marek reported earlier that Sharks’ prospect Quentin Musty suffered a hand fracture in last night’s contest between the OHL’s Sudbury Wolves and Oshawa Generals. The fracture will unfortunately keep Musty off Team USA’s roster for the upcoming 2025 IIHF World Junior Championships and may extend until the OHL trade deadline. Musty had scored eight goals and 20 points in 11 games for the Wolves this season while the team sits ninth in the OHL standings with a 12-8-3 record through 23 games.
  • There will be a few missing players for the Vegas Golden Knights this evening. The organization announced that defenseman Zach Whitecloud is out with an upper-body injury and is considered day-to-day. Vegas also added that forward William Karlsson won’t participate in tonight’s contest against the Philadelphia Flyers due to personal reasons. The injury to Whitecloud will strain the Golden Knights’ blue line with defenseman Alex Pietrangelo set to miss his third consecutive game.

Oilers Place Viktor Arvidsson On Injured Reserve

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The Oilers placed winger Viktor Arvidsson on IR today, per a team announcement. The placement is retroactive to Nov. 12, so he can be activated at any time. Defenseman Josh Brown was recalled in a corresponding transaction after being sent down to AHL Bakersfield last night.

Arvidsson, 31, has already missed four games with an undisclosed injury and will miss a fifth tonight when Edmonton hosts the Wild. After signing a two-year, $8MM contract in free agency, the 5’9″ Swede has been limited to two goals and three assists for five points in 16 games despite spending most of his time on Leon Draisaitl’s wing.

It’s certainly not the level of production the Oilers expected out of Arvidsson, who had been an effective top-nine piece for the Kings over the past few seasons. Back surgery and a lower-body injury limited him to 18 appearances last season, but he still managed to record six goals and nine assists for 15 points. He was coming off a 26-goal, 59-point campaign the year prior, just two points short of his career-high set with the Predators in the 2016-17 and 2017-18 campaigns.

He’s not the only top-six forward that Edmonton will be down tonight. Zach Hyman will miss the next four to seven days with the undisclosed injury he sustained against the Senators on Tuesday, head coach Kris Knoblauch told Mark Spector of Sportsnet. Neither Arvidsson nor Hyman will return for Saturday’s game against the Rangers, but both could be options when Edmonton returns to action against Utah after Thanksgiving.

As for Brown’s recall, it’s uncertain if he’ll play after suiting up as a seventh defenseman in each of their last two games. The Oilers now have 12 forwards available on the active roster after recalling Drake Caggiula earlier Thursday, and Kasperi Kapanen has joined the team after being claimed off waivers from the Blues earlier in the week.

Brown logged 7 PIMs and averaged 11:29 per game across Edmonton’s back-to-back earlier this week, his first NHL appearance since inking a three-year, $3MM contract over the summer. The 30-year-old landed on waivers before the season started and has spent most of his time in Bakersfield, where he has two assists and a +5 rating in 12 games.

Pacific Notes: Olofsson, Nurse, Arvidsson, Miller, Wright

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The Vegas Golden Knights should only be a few days away from the return of an injured forward. The organization announced they assigned forward Victor Olofsson to their AHL affiliate, the Henderson Silver Knights, for a conditioning loan. This confirms the Golden Knights are quickly expected to activate Olofsson from the long-term injured reserve.

Olofsson has only been on the team’s LTIR for approximately a week but hasn’t suited up for a game in Vegas for over a month due to a lower-body injury. He had scored three goals in his four games before succumbing to the injury while averaging 15:03 of ice time per game.

It’ll be interesting to see how much playing time Olofsson can manage once he returns from injury despite the strong scoring pace to begin the season. The Golden Knights will have a clearer picture of their roster construction once Mark Stone returns to the lineup but Olofsson may become a healthy scratch upon activation. He projects as an upgrade on the right wing as the lineup is currently constructed but the team might prefer continuity as they’ve risen to the top of the Pacific Division standings.

Other Pacific notes:

  • Jack Michaels, the play-by-play commentator for the Edmonton Oilers, confirmed today that defenseman Darnell Nurse is only expected to miss five to 10 days from the illegal check to the head from Toronto Maple Leafs forward Ryan Reaves this past weekend. Thankfully, the Oilers have a five-day break at the beginning of next week which should give Nurse ample time to recover. The Oilers will have a difficult time without him this week should he miss all four games with Edmonton deploying a subpar supporting cast behind Mattias Ekholm and Evan Bouchard.
  • In the same update from Michaels, he shares that the Oilers will also be without forward Viktor Arvidsson tonight. Tonight will mark the third straight game Arvidsson has missed with an undisclosed injury. When healthy, he’s scored two goals and five points in 16 games in his first year with the Oilers organization.
  • Through the first 16 games of the 2024-25 NHL season for J.T. Miller, he had been averaging 18:49 of ice time. It’s dropped by more than a third of a minute thanks to getting benched in the Vancouver Canucks’ loss to the Nashville Predators last night. In an explanation of the benching, head coach Rick Tocchet said, “I went with the guys I thought could get us back into the game.” (X Link)
  • Miller wasn’t the only notable benching last night with Seattle Kraken forward Shane Wright also enjoying some time on the pine. According to Kate Shefte of the Seattle Times, head coach Dan Bylsma said, “As the games have gone along here, I think Shane’s game has been trending in not the best direction. Really the message is: Take a reset, watch the game tonight, which he did, and get back focused on playing the way you can play.” Wright has only scored two points in 18 games for the Kraken this season and the recent message from Bylsma isn’t exactly a vote of confidence for the former fourth-overall pick of the 2022 NHL Draft.

Injury Notes: Eriksson Ek, Zuccarello, Arvidsson, Chytil, Sturm

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The Minnesota Wild are losing a pair of top-six forwards in their game tonight against the Montreal Canadiens. The organization announced that Joel Eriksson Ek and Mats Zuccarello would not return after the first period due to lower-body injuries.

Zuccarello left tonight’s game with approximately seven minutes left in the first period. He was positioned in front of Montreal’s net when a deflected point shot from defenseman Brock Faber seemingly hit Zuccarello in the groin. He could skate off the ice under his power but was reasonably in plenty of pain.

Eriksson Ek’s injury is a bit more difficult to ascertain. Nothing notable was caught on video regarding the incident leading to the injury but he was seen skating off the ice in some duress. He will exit tonight’s contest after having only managed 3:43 of ice time while Zuccarello only skated in 3:15.

Other injury notes:

  • Jason Gregor of Sportsnet 1440 reported that the Edmonton Oilers would be without forward Viktor Arvidsson against the Nashville Predators tonight. Gregor didn’t allude to any injury concerns for Arvidsson but did say he’s expected to play this weekend. Arvidsson has scored two goals and five points through 16 games in his first season in Alberta.
  • K’Andre Miller and Filip Chytil accidentally collided in the second period of tonight’s matchup between the New York Rangers and San Jose Sharks. Unfortunately, the Rangers announced that Chytil wouldn’t return to the game due to an upper-body injury. Chytil was slow to get to his feet and it’s uncertain whether it’s a precautionary move given Chytil’s recent battle with concussions.
  • Chytil wasn’t the only player in tonight’s game to leave the contest. Shortly before Chytil’s injury took place, the Sharks announced Nico Sturm wouldn’t return due to an upper-body injury. Sturm’s injury appears non-contact in nature which could lead to a larger concern from the Sharks. Now in his third year in San Jose, Sturm has already missed 27 games for the Sharks due to injury.

Oilers To Sign Viktor Arvidsson

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Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports the Edmonton Oilers have agreed on a contract with forward Viktor Arvidsson. According to Pierre LeBrun of TSN, it will be a two-year, $8MM agreement between Arvidsson and the Oilers.

It’s a nice value signing for acting GM Jeff Jackson, who gets a more experienced and dependable linemate for Leon Draisaitl. The 31-year-old Arvidsson didn’t have a ton of market value this summer after being limited to just 18 games with injuries last season, but he still managed six goals and nine assists for 15 points for the Kings when in the lineup. He scored at least 20 goals in each of his two seasons in L.A. and had 59 points, the second-highest tally of his career, in 2022-23.

Now, Arvidsson jumps to the other side of a burgeoning Edmonton-Los Angeles rivalry after losing to the Oilers in the first round of the playoffs for three years in a row. He’s scored 30 goals twice in his career, although they both came during his time with the Predators in the 2010s.

If he stays healthy, he should easily outperform his $4MM cap hit in an advantageous situation alongside either Draisaitl or Connor McDavid, but likely the former. He’ll be a UFA upon expiry in 2026.

Evening Notes: Hintz, Hakanpää, Arvidsson

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Dallas Stars radio host Owen Newkirk is reporting that Stars forward Roope Hintz is travelling with the team to Edmonton and will be a game-time decision for Game 3 tomorrow night. Stars head coach Pete Deboer told reporters today that he’s optimistic that Hintz will play in the next two games and added that he was close to playing in Game 2.

Hintz suffered an upper-body injury against the Colorado Avalanche in the second round back on May 13th and has had a quiet playoff thus far by his standards with just two goals and four assists in 11 games. The Tampere, Finland native had a strong regular season with 30 goals and 35 assists in 80 games but has seen his play drop off considerably in the playoffs, particularly his possession numbers as his CF% has dropped more than 10 percent from the regular season.

In other evening notes:

  • Stars defenseman Jani Hakanpää won’t play in Games 3 or 4 and is not on the trip with Dallas (as per Newkirk). DeBoer told reporters that Hakanpää won’t join the team until he’s close to returning, which indicates that he likely isn’t close to returning to game action. The 32-year-old hasn’t played since March 16th and has not been practicing with the team. At this point, he’s missed 28 consecutive games and has no timetable for a potential return.
  • Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic is reporting that Los Angeles Kings forward Viktor Arvidsson is expected to test the free-agent market on July 1st. The Skelleftea, Sweden native dealt with injuries this season and dressed in just 18 games. While he was limited in playing time, the 31-year-old had solid numbers in a low sample size, posting six goals and nine assists. Arvidsson has been a good point producer since joining the Kings via trade in July 2021, in 161 games as a King he has registered 52 goals and 71 assists.

Nominees Announced For 2024 Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy

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The Bill Masterton Trophy is awarded annually to the player who best exemplifies perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to hockey. Nominees are selected by members of the Professional Hockey Writer’s Association, with finalists being named near the end of the regular season. Previous winners include Kris Letang (2023), Carey Price (2022), and Oskar Lindblom (2021).  Today, a new list of 32 nominees has been named.

Below are the nominees from each team:

Anaheim Ducks – Urho Vaakanainen

Arizona Coyotes – Connor Ingram

Boston Bruins – Danton Heinen

Buffalo Sabres – Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen

Calgary Flames – Oliver Kylington

Carolina Hurricanes – Frederik Andersen

Chicago Blackhawks – Colin Blackwell

Colorado Avalanche – Jonathan Drouin

Columbus Blue Jackets – Zach Werenski

Dallas Stars – Matt Duchene

Detroit Red Wings – Alex Lyon

Edmonton Oilers – Vincent Desharnais

Florida Panthers – Oliver Ekman-Larsson

Los Angeles Kings – Viktor Arvidsson

Minnesota Wild – Marco Rossi

Montreal Canadiens – Joel Armia

Nashville Predators – Michael McCarron

New Jersey Devils – Curtis Lazar

New York Islanders – Cal Clutterbuck

New York Rangers – Jonathan Quick

Ottawa Senators – Claude Giroux

Philadelphia Flyers – Sean Couturier

Pittsburgh Penguins – Sidney Crosby

San Jose Sharks – Justin Bailey

Seattle Kraken – Joey Daccord

St. Louis Blues – Nathan Walker

Tampa Bay Lightning – Michael Eyssimont

Toronto Maple Leafs – Ilya Samsonov

Vancouver Canucks – Noah Juulsen

Vegas Golden Knights – Alex Pietrangelo

Washington Capitals – T.J. Oshie

Winnipeg Jets – Laurent Brossoit

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