Week In Review

There was plenty of big news around the NHL over the past seven days including a big contract extension and a coaching change.  Those are among the news that’s highlighted in our key stories.

Tocchet To Vancouver: After weeks, if not months of speculation, the long-expected coaching change in Vancouver happened with Rick Tocchet being hired to take the place of Bruce Boudreau.  In addition, the Canucks hired long-time NHL blueliners Adam Foote (assistant coach) and Sergei Gonchar (development coach) while letting assistant Trent Cull go.  This is the third head coaching role for Tocchet whose teams with Tampa Bay and Arizona played to a .475 points percentage over parts of six seasons.  As for Boudreau, Vancouver played to a .549 points percentage over 103 games but the team had been struggling considerably this season and are 14 points out of the final playoff spot in the Western Conference.

More Canucks Changes? At a press conference early in the week, Canucks president Jim Rutherford indicated that “major surgery” on the roster will be needed for next season.  Pending UFA center Bo Horvat appears likely to move in the coming weeks but clearly, he has more than that in mind.  Moving pricey contracts is harder than ever so Vancouver’s management group will have their work cut out for them to do the shakeup that they’re seeking.  One player that they’re hoping won’t be a part of those changes is rookie winger Andrei Kuzmenko as Rutherford stated that extension talks with the pending unrestricted free agent are underway.  Kuzmenko has 41 points in 45 games this season and will be adding quite a few million per year to the $925K he’s getting on his entry-level deal over the coming months.

Seven For Boldy: With Minnesota’s cap situation getting even tighter next season as buyout costs for Zach Parise and Ryan Suter get higher, there was an expectation that they might have to do a bridge deal for young winger Matt Boldy.  That wasn’t the case, however, as they inked the 21-year-old to a seven-year, $49MM extension that begins next season and runs through 2029-30.  Boldy is in just his second NHL season but has been productive in his limited action with 29 goals and 42 assists in 92 career contests.  Minnesota is banking on Boldy taking another step forward offensively and if he does, this could wind up being a bargain fairly quickly.  They now have over $74MM in commitments to just 14 players for next season which won’t give GM Bill Guerin much flexibility with which to round out their roster.

Kane Returns: As the Oilers look to hold onto a playoff spot in the tight Western Conference, they welcomed back a key player as Evander Kane was activated off LTIR.  Kane landed on there early in the season after having his wrist sliced by a skate and while he wound up being out for two months, he still returned well ahead of schedule.  Kane has 13 points in 17 games so far this season and is already back on the top line alongside Connor McDavid.  To create the cap space needed to activate Kane, Edmonton placed winger Kailer Yamamoto and defenseman Ryan Murray on LTIR.  Yamamoto is expected to be out for a few weeks which buys them a little time but, barring further injuries, they will need to make some cap-clearing demotions once the winger returns.

Key Injuries: Unfortunately, Max Pacioretty’s return for the Hurricanes was short-lived.  After working his way back from a torn Achilles that he sustained in the offseason, he suffered the same injury in just his fifth game of the year and will be out for the season.  It’s hardly an ideal situation for the veteran as he’s eligible for free agency this summer while Carolina was certainly hoping to get more from a key offseason acquisition although they’ll be able to spend up to his $7MM AAV on a replacement.  Meanwhile, the Canadiens have shut down winger Cole Caufield due to a shoulder injury that will require surgery in the coming days.  The 22-year-old had 26 goals in 46 games this season, his final one before being eligible for restricted free agency in July.

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While we’re still a little while away from the trade market picking up, there was still quite a bit of notable news around the hockey world which is recapped here in our key stories.

Pearson Done For The Year: Canucks winger Tanner Pearson was supposed to be back by now after suffering a hand injury in early November.  Instead of returning, however, he’s now out for the season after undergoing another surgery.  On top of that, there are now investigations by both the team and the NHLPA over how Vancouver handled the situation following reports that multiple other surgeries will be needed that now has Pearson’s availability for next season in question.  His season comes to a premature end with just 14 games played and he will now sit on LTIR through the end of the campaign.  Pearson has one year remaining on his contract with a $3.25MM AAV and it’s worth noting that injured players can’t be bought out.

Ekman-Larsson Scratched: Pearson’s situation wasn’t the only notable item out of Vancouver.  On top of more speculation about an eventual coaching change, the Canucks decided to scratch their key offseason acquisition from 2021 in Oliver Ekman-Larsson.  The blueliner has struggled offensively this season and has just a single goal in 41 games while his defensive play has also lagged as well.  Originally acquired from Arizona in a move that was designed to help the Canucks win in the short term, Ekman-Larsson hasn’t been able to help accomplish that objective while he is signed through 2026-27 with a $7.26MM AAV on Vancouver’s books (Arizona is covering another $990K per year).

Four For Zacha: The Bruins have a long list of pending unrestricted free agents for next summer including several core players.  That list has shrunk by one as the team announced that they’ve signed Pavel Zacha to a four-year contract extension that begins next season and contains partial trade protection in each year.  The deal will carry a $4.75MM AAV, a nice raise for the 25-year-old who is on a $3.5MM deal for 2022-23.  This is Zacha’s first year in Boston where he has fit in well, collecting 25 points in 42 games and is just four assists shy of matching his career high.  While he has mostly played on the wing this season, Zacha is a natural center so keeping him around will give Boston a bit of certainty down the middle with both Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci also having their contracts set to expire this summer.

More Injuries: Florida won the Presidents’ Trophy last season but things haven’t gone as well for the Panthers this year as they find themselves five points out of a playoff spot entering Sunday’s action.  They’ll now try to close that gap without their promising young goaltender as the team placed Spencer Knight on IR with an undisclosed injury.  Knight has taken some playing time away from veteran Sergei Bobrovsky and has a save percentage that is ten points higher than Bobrovsky so missing Knight will certainly make their battle a little tougher.  Meanwhile, not long after returning to Montreal’s lineup from a lower-body injury, winger Brendan Gallagher will now miss at least six weeks with a lower-body issue.  The 30-year-old has just four goals and five assists in 25 games this season, hardly the return the Canadiens were hoping for on a $6.5MM cap hit that runs through the 2026-27 campaign.

Midterm Rankings: The 2023 draft class is being hyped as one of the stronger ones in recent memory and the midterm rankings from NHL Central Scouting have been released.  Unsurprisingly, center Connor Bedard leads the way for North American skaters with middlemen Adam Fantilli and Will Smith behind him.  On the European skater side, there is a new number one as center Leo Carlsson is in the top spot with winger Matvei Michkov second and defender Axel Sandin Pellikka third.  Between the pipes, Carson Bjarnason and Alexander Hellnemo are the top-rated goalies in North America and Europe respectively.

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The first full week of 2023 is in the books.  It featured a successful Winter Classic (plus an announcement on who gets the next one) plus some notable news on the injury front – both good and bad.  Those injuries are among the news highlighted in our key stories.

Back To Junior: With the World Juniors ending, a pair of Canadian-born players won’t be returning to their NHL teams.  Seattle assigned center Shane Wright to Kingston of the OHL while Los Angeles did the same with defenseman Brandt Clarke.  Wright, the fourth-overall pick last summer, played in just eight NHL games and will have a chance to play a big role in the second half of the season although it won’t be with the Frontenacs who are expected to move him shortly.  As for Clarke, the 2021 first-rounder played in nine NHL contests this season, the last of which came more than two months ago so he’ll now have an opportunity to play consistent heavy minutes for a while with the Colts.  Neither player played enough to burn the first season of their entry-level contracts.

Key Returns: A pair of Metropolitan Division teams welcomed back some key veterans.  First, Carolina finally got to use one of their key acquisitions as they activated winger Max Pacioretty from LTIR.  Acquired in a salary cap dump from Vegas last summer, the 34-year-old is a consistent scoring threat and already has a pair of goals for the Hurricanes in two games.  Meanwhile, Washington was able to bring back two key veterans in center Nicklas Backstrom and winger Tom Wilson.  Backstrom underwent hip resurfacing surgery and is now only the second NHL player to play after that procedure while Wilson is back from knee surgery.  Both players have been top-six fixtures for the Capitals so their offense will get a big boost once they’re up to full speed.

Ekholm Available? Nashville currently is out of a playoff spot in the Western Conference with the team struggling to score.  Accordingly, some are wondering if they might become sellers.  To that end, they are believed to be considering moving defenseman Mattias Ekholm.  The 32-year-old has been a key cog on the back end for the Predators for the better part of a decade and is in the first season of a four-year contract that carries a $6.25MM AAV.  That’s a high price tag for a lot of contenders to afford so it wouldn’t be the typical trade we see in-season that often involves a player for a draft pick but rather a swap that would see a player or two going the other way to help match money.  Such a swap might be better for Nashville to make in the summer but it appears they’ll at least look into the possibility of doing something sooner than that.

Key Injuries: It wasn’t all good news on the injury front.  St. Louis’ quest to make the playoffs just got a lot harder with Ryan O’Reilly and Vladimir Tarasenko landing on injured reserve for extended stints.  O’Reilly has a broken foot that will keep him out for at least six weeks while Tarasenko is dealing with a hand injury that will keep him out for a minimum of a month.  Both players are pending unrestricted free agents and if the Blues can’t hang around the postseason race in their absence, they’ll become strong trade candidates upon their return.  Meanwhile, Jake DeBrusk’s strong performance in the Winter Classic which saw him score both goals in the third to get Boston the win will be his last for a while as the Bruins have placed him on LTIR with hand and lower-body injuries.  The good news is that he shouldn’t miss much more than the minimum 10 games/24 days but missing a key secondary piece for a month will hurt.

Vrana Clears Waivers: There was a bit of a surprise when Detroit opted to place winger Jakub Vrana on waivers.  His contract, one that carries a $5.25MM AAV, made it likely that he’d clear which he did but it’s still an unexpected situation.  Vrana has missed most of the season while being in the Player Assistance Program but was expected to be an important part of Detroit’s core this season.  Now, he’ll stick around with AHL Grand Rapids for the time being where he has an assist in six games.  The Red Wings will eat a $4.125MM cap charge while he’s with the Griffins.

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The week following the holiday break is typically a quiet one and this was no exception, aside from a key veteran signing a contract extension.  It’s among the news highlighted in our key stories.

Crawford To Switzerland: One veteran coach is off the free agent market as Marc Crawford has been hired by Zurich in Switzerland on a three-year contract.  If you’re thinking you’ve seen this headline before, it’s actually the second time that Crawford has coached this franchise as he had a four-year stint with the club beginning in 2012-13.  Crawford was last behind an NHL bench last season with Chicago but hadn’t caught on anywhere this season.  Meanwhile, the outgoing coach in Zurich is also of some note as it’s Rikard Gronborg.  The 54-year-old has received NHL interest in the past and now that he’s a free agent, teams could come calling again.

Wounded Coyote: One of the early bright spots for the Coyotes has been rookie winger Matias Maccelli.  Entering the holiday break, he sat second in the league for points by a first-year player despite largely flying under the radar.  Unfortunately for him and Arizona, the 22-year-old will miss the next six weeks with a lower-body injury.  Maccelli played in 23 games last season and had just six points but had three goals and 19 assists in 30 games prior to the injury which was sustained in their final game before the break against Los Angeles.

Staying In Dallas: Veteran center Joe Pavelski had a very productive 2021-22 campaign, earning himself a one-year extension.  He’s off to a similarly productive first half this season and he has once again earned a one-year extension, this time signing it on the first day he was eligible to.  The 38-year-old will receive $3.5MM in base salary plus $2MM in achievable bonuses (maxed at 20 games played) along with a no-move clause.  The deal is similarly structured to the one he’s on this season, giving Dallas some flexibility as bonuses can be rolled over and charged against the cap the following year.  Pavelski has 200 points over his first 243 games with Dallas, giving them some steady and reliable production at the top of their lineup.

Good News/Bad News For Avs: It has been a rough year injury-wise for the Cup champs as Colorado has been missing several key players all season long.  They did get one of those players back this weekend when center Nathan MacKinnon was activated off IR after missing the previous 11 games with an upper-body injury.  The 27-year-old has 34 points in 24 games this season (a pace of 116 over a full 82-game schedule) and will give the Avalanche a second top scoring threat at the top of their lineup.  However, it wasn’t all good news on the injury front as winger Valeri Nichushkin has re-injured his surgically repaired ankle with no timetable for his return.  He has been a point-per-game player when he has played this season so his absence will once again be felt.

Hanging Them Up: Veteran winger Devante Smith-Pelly has decided to call it a career, announcing his retirement at the age of 30.  He played in parts of eight NHL seasons with Anaheim, Montreal, New Jersey, and Washington, recording 101 points and 799 hits in 395 games, a pretty good career for the 2010 second-round pick.  Smith-Pelly last saw NHL action in the 2018-19 campaign but had caught on with AHL teams since then, spending the second half of last season with Montreal’s AHL affiliate in Laval.

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While it was a fairly light week on the NHL calendar thanks to the holiday break, we saw Alex Ovechkin move into second all-time in goals.  We also saw some notable news off the ice which is recapped in our key stories.

Skinner Signs: Things haven’t gone quite as planned for the Oilers this season in goal with Jack Campbell struggling considerably in his first year with the team.  However, Stuart Skinner has impressed and is starting to on a bigger share of the workload.  Edmonton rewarded the youngster for his efforts thus far with a three-year extension that carries a cap hit of $2.6MM AAV and begins next season.  Skinner has just 35 career NHL appearances under his belt (21 of which have come this year) so the deal carries some risk but if he winds up playing even a platoon role moving forward, the Oilers should do well with this contract.  Notably, this deal will take the 24-year-old to UFA eligibility in 2026.

Gurianov Steps Away: The Stars will be without winger Denis Gurianov for at least a little while as he has been granted an indefinite leave of absence from the team for family reasons.  No further information from the team was provided.  The 25-year-old has had a bit of a tough start to his season with just two goals and three assists in 25 games so far.  He’s currently on a one-year, $2.9MM contract and will be owed that as a qualifying offer by the team next summer to retain his RFA rights.

Four For Zub: The Senators have locked up another core player for the next little while as they reached a four-year, $18.4MM deal with defenseman Artem Zub.  It’s a nice increase for the 27-year-old who will go from a $2.5MM AAV this season to a $4.6MM cap charge in 2023-24.  He also receives a ten-team no-trade clause with the contract.  Zub, who’s currently out with a facial injury, is logging over 22 minutes a night on the back end for Ottawa this season while averaging just shy of four hits per contest.  While his offensive numbers don’t jump out, he’s second in minutes behind Thomas Chabot and has quickly become a key part of their defense corps as he’s just in his third NHL season.

Deadline Deals: While it’s still quite a while before the trade deadline, there was a soft deadline with the holiday roster freeze.  The end result was a pair of small trades being made.  Toronto and Colorado changed up their forward depth as the Maple Leafs sent winger Denis Malgin to the Avs for winger Dryden Hunt.  The other move was also a depth swap in a rare three-team deal with Anaheim adding defenseman Michael Del Zotto, Detroit receiving forward Danny O’Regan, and Florida receiving forward Givani Smith; Smith was recalled following the swap and got into one game before the break.

Injury News: Cam Atkinson’s day-to-day injury at the beginning of training camp never healed as expected and now the Flyers will be without the winger for the rest of the season after he underwent neck surgery.  He joins Ryan Ellis as key veterans that won’t wind up suiting up for Philadelphia this season.  Meanwhile, Luke Kunin’s year has also come to an end after the Sharks winger underwent ACL surgery.  The expected recovery timetable is six to eight months so the 25-year-old, who had 13 points in 31 games prior to the injury, should be ready for training camp in the fall.  Lastly, the Blue Jackets, who have been hit hard by injuries all season long, will be without center Boone Jenner for a month after he had surgery to repair a fractured thumb.  Jenner leads Columbus in goals so far this season and is their top player at the faceoff dot, winning nearly 56% of his draws.

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With the roster freeze almost upon us, there wasn’t a flurry of trade activity.  However, there was still some notable news around the NHL which is recapped in our key stories.

Not So Fast: A little while ago, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman floated the possibility that the players’ escrow debt could be paid off this season, permitting a more sizable jump in the Upper Limit next season.  He walked that back a bit at the Board of Governors meetings, suggesting that their current projections have the projected escrow debt around $70MM at the end of the season.  If that’s the case, the salary cap would only go up by $1MM once again for 2023-24.  While there has been speculation that the NHLPA might be interested in trying to negotiate something that would allow for a smoother increase and also raise the ceiling next season by a higher amount but Bettman didn’t want to comment on that scenario.

Formenton To Switzerland: Now that he’s unable to play in the NHL this season after failing to come to terms on a contract with Ottawa before the December 1st deadline, Alex Formenton has found a place to play as he has signed with Ambri-Piotta of the Swiss NLA.  The deal runs through the end of the current season and gives the team the right to “reevaluate their contractual relationship” if new elements come to life in the ongoing investigation into an alleged sexual assault back in 2018 involving members of Canada’s World Junior team, of which he was a part of.  Formenton will remain a restricted free agent at the end of the season.

Five For Moore: Trevor Moore has come a long way in his four seasons with the Kings, going from being a depth player when he was acquired from Toronto to an important part of their top six.  The California native was rewarded for his efforts with a five-year, $21MM contract extension that will begin next season.  The deal contains a 10-team no-trade clause for the 2023-24 campaign but no trade restrictions after that.  The 27-year-old had a career year last season with 17 goals and 31 assists in 81 games and Moore is producing at a similar pace so far this season with 18 points in 34 contests so far.  Los Angeles now has a little over $68MM in commitments for next season, per CapFriendly.

Tolvanen To Seattle: There was some surprise when Nashville placed winger Eeli Tolvanen on waivers as just a few years ago, he was viewed as a key part of their future plans.  There was further surprise when he slid all the way to Seattle who claimed him off the wire.  The 23-year-old was a first-round pick by the Predators back in 2017 and impressed in his first consistent stint of NHL action in 2020-21, collecting 22 points in 40 games.  That helped him earn a three-year, $4.35MM contract, one that is currently in its second year.  The $1.45MM cap hit for the rest of this season and next likely scared a lot of teams away but now Seattle will get an opportunity to see if he can live up to his potential with them.

Vrana Rejoins Red Wings: Red Wings winger Jakub Vrana has now entered the follow-up phase of the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program, allowing him to rejoin the team.  He first went into the program back in mid-October after playing in just two games.  There’s a good chance that Vrana won’t play this coming week as he’ll need some time to get back into playing condition but after the holiday break, Detroit should have one of their top wingers back in their lineup.

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The first full week of December is in the books and while it was rather quiet on the transactions front, there was still some news of note around the NHL which is recapped in our top stories.

Another Injury In Colorado: One of the common consequences of a long playoff run is a team that deals with an uptick in injuries the following year.  When it comes to the Avalanche, that’s underselling things as they’ve been hit hard by the injury bug this year.  The latest is their top star as Nathan MacKinnon will miss at least a month due to an upper-body injury.  The 27-year-old was off to arguably the best start of his career, averaging a career-best 1.48 points per game including 26 assists in 23 contests.  At this point, pretty much the only core Colorado forward to not suffer some sort of injury yet this season is winger Mikko Rantanen.

Three For Two: While Sabres winger Jeff Skinner is off to the best start of his career with 32 points in 27 games, his week ended on a low note.  He received a match penalty for a late cross-check on Pittsburgh’s Jake Guentzel, one that gave Pittsburgh the power play they eventually scored on in overtime.  The Department of Player Safety then weighed in, issuing a three-game suspension that will keep him out of the lineup until Saturday.  It’s the second suspension of Skinner’s career but it will still leave him considerably lighter in the wallet as he forfeits nearly $146K in salary.  Later in the day, Kraken blueliner Jamie Oleksiak also received a three-game ban for an illegal hit to the head on Capitals defenseman Alexander Alexeyev.  It’s Oleksiak’s second suspension for a hit to the head and this one results in a forfeited salary of just under $75K.

Hornqvist To LTIR: The Panthers have been in LTIR all season thanks to winger Anthony Duclair being out as he works his way back from a torn Achilles tendon.  However, they were in a position where they’d need to make a trade to free up salary when he returns in the coming weeks.  That has changed, at least for the time being as Florida has placed winger Patric Hornqvist on LTIR, alleviating that potential problem for now.  The 35-year-old is believed to have some assurances that he won’t be traded as he plays out the final year of his contract that carries a $5.3MM AAV and as long as he’s on there, the Panthers have the ability to activate Duclair when he’s ready and carry a full-sized roster which is notable considering they have played short a player on multiple occasions this season due to salary cap constraints.  There is no word on how long Hornqvist will be out.

Leaves Of Absence: A pair of players have stepped away from their respective teams for the time being.  Penguins prospect Samuel Poulin is taking a leave of absence for personal reasons.  The 21-year-old is in his second professional season and made his NHL debut with three games between late October and early November.  Meanwhile, Predators forward Michael McCarron will be out indefinitely after entering the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program.  The 27-year-old has played in 15 games with Nashville this season, picking up a goal and an assist.

Talks Not Going Well: One of the more prominent pending unrestricted free agents next summer is Canucks center Bo Horvat.  However, while many expected a deal to be done back in the offseason, that hasn’t materialized and extension discussions aren’t progressing to the point where they might have to move him closer to the trade deadline.  The 27-year-old already has 20 goals this season in just 27 games which is certainly only adding to his asking price.  Of course, it looked like things were heading this way with J.T. Miller just a few months ago before they ultimately settled on an extension.  However, with their cap situation, it’s possible that Miller’s contract might also help push their captain out the door.

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As the calendar turned to December, there was some notable news around the hockey world over the past seven days which is recapped in our key stories.

Another Stroke For Letang: Back in 2014, Penguins defenseman Kris Letang suffered a stroke which resulted in doctors finding a small hole in the wall of his heart and caused him to miss two months.  He had played more than 500 games since then so it wasn’t expected that he’d have another one but that’s indeed what happened.  Fortunately, this one isn’t believed to be as severe as the one from eight years ago but there is no timetable for when he might be able to return.  Letang was off to a nice start to his season before this happened as he had a dozen points in 21 games while logging just shy of 24 minutes a night on their back end.

Clearing Waivers: A couple of years ago, Calvin Petersen was pegged to become the goalie of the present and future for the Kings and he was rewarded with a three-year, $15MM contract that began this season.  However, he struggled last year with a save percentage of just .895 and that was even worse this season, checking in at .868 through his first ten appearances.  That resulted in him being waived and clearing, resulting in a demotion to AHL Ontario where both he and the team hope that he’ll be able to turn things around.  Veteran Pheonix Copley will be Jonathan Quick’s backup for the time being.  Also clearing waivers this past week was veteran center Riley Sheahan who had his deal with Buffalo terminated; he quickly signed in Switzerland.

Eight For Hintz: The Stars weren’t able to reach a max-term agreement with Jason Robertson this summer but they were able to do so with one of their other core forwards as they inked Roope Hintz to an eight-year extension that carries a cap hit of $8.45MM.  The deal, which kicks in next season, also contains a no-move clause for the final seven seasons, the only ones he was eligible for trade protection in.  Hintz had a breakout year last season, notching 37 goals and 35 assists in 80 games and is off to an even better start points-wise this year, collecting 26 in his first 23 contests.  Dallas now has four forwards that will carry a cap charge of at least $7.75MM next season with Robertson – the league leader in goals, being at the bottom of that group.

Formenton Ineligible To Play: It’s not very often that a restricted free agent makes it all the way to the signing deadline without a contract and it’s rarer that a player doesn’t sign by then.  However, that’s what happened with Senators RFA winger Alex Formenton who now becomes ineligible to play in the NHL this season.  Ottawa had been trying to trade him but was unable to find a taker at their asking price which was believed to be a second-round pick.  Formenton now could try to find a team overseas to play with this season but it’s quite possible that won’t happen right away until the NHL releases its findings from its own investigation regarding the Hockey Canada World Junior 2018 sexual assault investigation; Formenton was part of that team.  The Sens will retain his rights as a restricted free agent.

Injury News: Ryan Ellis was only able to play in four games last season but that will be four more than he’s able to play this year as he has been ruled out for the season.  With him missing this much time, it’s fair to start to wonder if this is the end of his playing days even with four years left on his deal after this one.  Meanwhile, Tyler Bertuzzi’s contract year continues to not go according to plan as he’ll miss the next six weeks after undergoing hand surgery.  Injuries have limited the 27-year-old pending UFA to just nine games so far while the Red Wings will once again be down one of their top wingers for an extended stretch.  Then there’s Blue Jackets winger Jakub Voracek, who has been out for the last month due to a concussion.  GM Jarmo Kekalainen indicated this is a long-term issue while Voracek is set to meet the media on Monday to provide further clarity on the situation.

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American Thanksgiving is often viewed as a key point in the NHL season.  By now, teams have an idea of what their needs are and will start to try to fill some of those in the coming weeks.  We saw a couple of those moves made this past week which are highlighted in our key stories.

Extension Talks Start For Bratt: Jesper Bratt’s last two contract negotiations haven’t gone as well as either side would have hoped.  His bridge deal was signed just days before the 2020-21 season started and they opted to settle for a one-year, $5.45MM agreement to avoid an arbitration hearing over the summer.  Now, they’re going to take another run at a long-term contract as extension discussions have now started.  Bratt is off to a strong start to his season with 25 points in 22 games, putting him on pace to set new career highs across the board.  If a new deal isn’t reached, he’ll enter restricted free agency this summer with the ability to file for arbitration and take a one-year contract that walks him to the open market in 2024 so it’s safe to say that working something out is going to be a high priority for GM Tom Fitzgerald.

More Toronto Injuries: Already missing Jake Muzzin and T.J. Brodie, the back end for the Maple Leafs got thinned out even more when they placed Morgan Rielly on LTIR with what is believed to be an MCL injury that will keep him out at least a month.  That’s a big blow to their offensive upside from their blueliners as the veteran has 16 assists in 20 games this season while he’s logging 23 minutes a night.  On top of that, veteran Jordie Benn was placed on IR later in the week and is listed as out week to week with an upper-body injury.  Due to the injuries, Toronto GM Kyle Dubas opted to make a small move to add a bit of extra depth, acquiring Conor Timmins from Arizona for AHL center Curtis Douglas.  Timmins was once a highly-regarded prospect following a very productive junior career but has battled concussion trouble and has played in just 14 games between the NHL and AHL dating back to last season.

Four For Kochetkov: Counting the playoffs, Hurricanes goaltender Pyotr Kochetkov has made a total of 13 NHL appearances.  However, he is believed to be their goalie of the future and the team certainly signaled that, inking the 23-year-old to a four-year, $8MM contract extension that begins next season.  The deal gives Carolina half of their goalie tandem at what’s likely to be a below-market rate for the foreseeable future and locks up at least one netminder with both Frederik Andersen and Antti Raanta eligible for unrestricted free agency this summer.  In the meantime, Kochetkov will continue to split time with Raanta with Andersen being on IR before likely returning to AHL Chicago later in the season.

Reaves To Minnesota: After being scratched for several games, Ryan Reaves had requested a trade from the Rangers and his request was granted as New York dealt him to Minnesota in exchange for a 2025 fifth-round pick.  The 35-year-old is best known for his physicality and it’s clear that the Wild were looking to shake up their depth a bit as this move came on the heels of losing Tyson Jost to Buffalo on waivers last weekend.  Reaves’ full $1.75MM cap hit is absorbed by Minnesota which allows the Rangers to bank some extra cap space which is notable as they’re a team that many expect to try to make a splash on the trade front closer to the trade deadline.

Salming Passes Away: Just days after being honored in Toronto, Hall of Fame defenseman Borje Salming passed away at the age of 71.  He had been diagnosed with ALS (or Lou Gehrig’s disease) back in August.  Salming was a six-time All-Star that finished in the top five of Norris Trophy voting for the first seven years of his career and is Toronto’s all-time leader for points by defensemen with 768 amassed over 16 seasons with the team.  He was also one of the first European players to ever play in the NHL and is widely considered a trailblazer to help the game become the truly international one it is today.

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As is often the case in the early going of the season, most of the biggest news from the past seven days came on the injury front although it wasn’t all bad news in that regard.

Done For The Year: The Blue Jackets have had a lot of tough luck when it comes to injuries over the first month of the season and they got their worst news yet as Zach Werenski is out for the season after suffering a separated shoulder and a torn labrum against Philadelphia.  The 25-year-old has been the number one defender for Columbus for the last several years and he had gotten off to a decent start to his campaign with three goals and five assists in his first 13 games and was logging over 25 minutes a night before suffering the injury (which dragged his ATOI below the 24-minute mark).  On top of that, his playing partner Nick Blankenburg fractured his ankle in the same game and will be out for six to eight weeks himself.

Avoiding Surgery: A few weeks ago, it looked like the Senators were going to be without their top center, Josh Norris, potentially for the rest of the season as he was expected to undergo shoulder surgery.  Instead, after consulting with five doctors and two specialists, that’s no longer the plan as he won’t go under the knife and instead will just rehab for the time being with a reassessment scheduled for January.  Potentially getting the 23-year-old back at some point in the second half of the season would be huge for an Ottawa team that has struggled out of the gate as they find themselves at the bottom of the Atlantic Division.

Kane To LTIR: It was a scary sight in Tampa Bay where Edmonton was playing on Tuesday as winger Evander Kane suffered a skate laceration to the wrist after winger Pat Maroon inadvertently cut it.  He underwent successful emergency surgery but will still be out for the bulk of the season as he’ll miss at least the next three to four months with the Oilers quickly transferring him to LTIR.  It’s a huge loss for Edmonton as Kane was fitting in quite nicely in his first full season with the team, picking up 13 points in 14 games while logging over 19 minutes a night on their top line.  Forwards Mattias Janmark and Klim Kostin were recalled from the minors with the freed-up cap space but with Kane likely to return before the end of the season, the Oilers won’t be able to go out and acquire a more prominent replacement as they’ll need to be cap-compliant in order to activate Kane later on.

No World Cup In 2024: Getting away from the injury news for a moment, the NHL and NHLPA jointly announced that the World Cup of Hockey that was scheduled to be held in 2024 will no longer be staged, citing an infeasibility to hold the event in the current environment.  That current environment pertains to Russia and Belarus currently being banned from international play which would have made it difficult to have players from those countries participate in a true best-on-best event.  For now, the plan is to instead have the event in 2025.  The last time the World Cup of Hockey was held was back in 2016, an eight-team event that featured a young North American squad as well as a Team Europe.

Surgery For Nichushkin: On top of being without Gabriel Landeskog, the Avalanche lost another one of their top wingers when Valeri Nichushkin underwent successful ankle surgery that will keep him out of the lineup for a month.  The 27-year-old had gotten off to a very strong start to his season, his first on his eight-year deal, notching seven goals in as many games while chipping in with five assists, good for fifth in the league in points per game heading into Sunday’s action.  Unfortunately for him and the Avs, that hot start has now been derailed for a little while at least as their forward depth starts to get tested.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.