Headlines

Go To MLB Trade Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Schedule

NHL Postpones Tuesday’s Game Between The Buffalo Sabres And Columbus Blue Jackets

at CDT | by 5 Comments

4:15 pm: The NHL, as well as Columbus and Buffalo, have since confirmed the postponement, adding that a makeup date will be set at some point, though they don’t have one right now.

3:08 pm: It appears yet another game will be postponed due to this past week’s winter weather in the upstate New York and Ontario area. According to the Columbus Dispatch’s Brian Hedger, tomorrow’s game featuring the Buffalo Sabres and Columbus Blue Jackets is expected to be postponed. Neither team nor the NHL has confirmed the postponement yet and no makeup date is known.

This postponement comes on the heels of two additional games that were rescheduled from Friday. Both the Tampa Bay Lightning and Ottawa Senators, in Ottawa, and the Detroit Red Wings and Buffalo Sabres, in Buffalo, had to be postponed. Buffalo, who hasn’t played since last Monday, December 18th, will now have to make-up two games.

Although tomorrow’s game was supposed to be in Columbus, the reason for the postponement appears to be the Sabres’ inability to get to Columbus. At this point in time, many roads in the Buffalo area are closed to traffic, and the airport itself will remain closed through tomorrow. The Sabres had been due to fly out of Buffalo tomorrow morning for that evening’s game. Interestingly, the same-day travel had nothing to do with the weather in Buffalo, but instead the league’s restriction on practice and travel today.

Looking ahead, the Sabres are scheduled to host the Detroit Red Wings on Thursday before hitting the road and heading to Boston on Saturday. Thus far, there’s been no word on the status of either of those games.

Several Games Rescheduled Due To Winter Weather

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

There is a massive winter storm projected to hit the east coast this weekend, and because of the timing, the NHL has decided to reschedule some games. Because the holiday break is happening, the league can’t afford to have players stranded in a road city, unable to get home for Christmas.

The following NHL games have been rescheduled:

  • Tampa Bay at Buffalo, December 23 –> March 4
  • Detroit at Ottawa, December 23 –> February 27

The AHL has also postponed some games:

  • Cleveland at Grand Rapids December 23 –> January 4
  • Syracuse at Rochester December 23 –> TBA

Players will get a little bit longer break during the holidays, though the rescheduled matches now compress the second half schedule even more. For a club like Ottawa, which is waiting on several key players to return from injury, the delay is likely a welcome one.

This list will be updated if any further games are rescheduled. 

Afternoon Notes: Schedule, Stone, Sabres, Team Canada Captains, Hershey Bears

at CDT | by 3 Comments

More hockey? You’d be hard-pressed to find a fan who wouldn’t want it. Earlier this week, there had been some discussions about the NHL potentially expanding the season back to an 84 game schedule for the first time since the 1993-94 campaign. Last night on Hockey Night in Canada’s 32 Thoughts segment, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman expanded on those rumors with an idea of what that schedule might look like, and how the league could get there.

In effect, the schedule would be expanded an additional two games to promote intra-division rivalries, such as the one between the Calgary Flames and Edmonton Oilers or the one between the New York Rangers and New York Islanders, both of which have seen their head-to-head matchups drop off in recent years. As Friedman details, the schedule would consist of four games against each of the other teams within the division, three games each against each team in the opposing division, and two against each team in the opposite conference. To balance things out, each team’s slate of preseasons games could be cut down. It doesn’t appear that any change is imminent, however Friedman adds that there is a willingness to discuss the change between the league and the NHLPA, however there hasn’t been much dialogue on the subject recently.

  • Things didn’t look good for Vegas Golden Knights captain Mark Stone last night when he went down in obvious pain during the third period of the team’s game against the New York Islanders. The winger struggled to get off the ice with the assistance of his teammates, but surprisingly was able to come back and join them in the final moments of the game. Unsurprisingly, after the game, Vegas head coach Bruce Cassidy was asked about the status of his star forward, telling The Athletic’s Jesse Granger that the hope is Stone’s injury is “just a stinger,” but he wouldn’t know much more until today. Cassidy added that Stone was not 100% when he rejoined the team late in the game. So far, no additional information has come out about Stone’s status. Vegas next plays at home on Monday against the Sabres.
  • Yesterday, the Buffalo Sabres were able to get forward Kyle Okposo back from injury and Jeff Skinner back from suspension, but were without defensemen Owen Power, Jacob Bryson, and Ilya Lyubushkin. The team didn’t have much information on Power or Bryson, and the same holds true today, however according to The Buffalo News’ Mike Harrington, Ilya Lyubushkin is set to return tomorrow against Vegas. Noticeably absent from the ice this morning were defensemen Rasmus Dahlin and Mattias Samuelsson, but as Harrington adds, both were absent simply for rest purposes.
  • With the World Junior Championship just eight days away, Hockey Canada announced its leadership group for this year’s World Juniors team. Captaining the group will be Seattle Kraken forward and fourth-overall pick in 2022, Shane Wright. Assisting him will be Arizona Coyotes forward Dylan Guenther, Dallas Stars draft pick and current Kamloops Blazers forward Logan Stankoven, Anaheim Ducks draft pick and Quebec Remparts forward Nathan Gaucher, as well as Chicago Blackhawks draft pick and Mississauga Steelheads defenseman Ethan Del Mastro. Canada will kick things off against Czechia on December 26th.
  • Many don’t necessarily think about when an NHL team chooses to recall a player from their affiliate, it could set off a chain reaction of needs within their system, and that’s just what happened with the Washington Capitals and their goaltenders. When Darcy Kuemper went down a couple of weeks ago, the team recalled Hunter Shepard, which Hershey was able to cope with by recalling Clay Stevenson from the ECHL. No problem. But, when Washington also recalled Zachary Fucale yesterday in the wake of Shepard’s upper-body injury, Hershey was forced to sign an emergency back-up to a PTO for their game last night. Today, the Bears were able to smooth things out in net prior to their game against the Lehigh Valley Phantoms this afternoon, bringing up netminder Tyler Wall from the South Carolina Stingrays, Hershey and Washington’s ECHL affiliate. In a corresponding move, defenseman Martin Has has been sent to South Carolina. While this is a relatively minor move, it does give context for the transactions NHL teams make that sometimes seem to be done just for the sake of doing them.

Snapshots: Sabres, Boeser, Schedule

at CDT | by 2 Comments

The Sabres could have defenseman Jacob Bryson back in the lineup tomorrow against San Jose, relays Lance Lysowski of The Buffalo News (Twitter link).  The 25-year-old has missed the last couple of weeks with a lower-body injury sustained against St. Louis.  Bryson is in his second full NHL campaign and has a goal and five assists in 20 games this season while averaging a little under 18 minutes a night.

Meanwhile, Lysowski also tweets that winger Vinnie Hinostroza left practice early today as he’s battling what’s believed to be a minor injury.  The veteran missed Thursday’s game against Colorado with the injury as well.  Hinostroza was a capable depth scorer last season with 13 goals in 62 games but is still looking for his first of the season.  However, with eight assists in 15 games, Hinostroza is averaging the best assist-per-game rate of his eight-year career.

Elsewhere around the NHL:

  • It has been a bit of a tough season so far for Canucks winger Brock Boeser and there’s more tough news coming for him as head coach Bruce Boudreau confirmed to Sportsnet 650’s Brendan Batchelor (Twitter link) that winger Brock Boeser will be a healthy scratch tonight against Arizona. Boeser has just three goals so far through his first 18 games (although he does have 11 assists) and Boudreau is calling this decision “tough love”.  It sounds like this is a short-term decision but Vancouver will certainly need more from Boeser if they want to get back into the playoff picture; they sit five points out of the last Wild Card heading into today’s action.
  • Last month, the Predators had a pair of their games postponed due to a water main break in their arena. Today, the league announced the makeup dates for those contests.  Nashville will host the Blue Jackets on January 17th while they will host the Avalanche on April 14th, one day after the regular season is set to conclude.

West Notes: Predators, Pietrangelo, Oettinger

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

The Nashville Predators home game tomorrow against the Anaheim Ducks will go on as scheduled after a water main break in the arena forced the team to postpone their Friday and Saturday night games. While team president Sean Henry said that “most fan-facing amenities will be functional,” he noted that the complete extent of repairs and restorations to Bridgestone will take months.

The league has yet to reschedule Nashville’s missed games against Colorado and Columbus, but Bridgestone will get a bit of a break on the hockey side soon. While there are occasional concerts there, Nashville’s home game against Anaheim is their last until December 9.

  • According to the team, Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Alex Pietrangelo didn’t suit up for tonight’s game against Columbus for personal reasons. Pietrangelo is having an electric start to his third season in Vegas with 21 points through 23 games. Hopefully, everything is well with Pietrangelo and his family.
  • Jake Oettinger was expected to start tonight for the Dallas Stars, but he’ll be relegated to a backup role as he deals with an illness, according to the team. He’s run into a bit of a cold streak his past few games, with his season totals dropping to a still very respectable .917 save percentage and 2.52 goals-against average. He’ll likely start in Dallas’ next matchup against Anaheim on December 1.

Today’s Nashville-Colorado, Tomorrow’s Nashville-Columbus Game Postponed

at CDT | by 8 Comments

3:16 pm: Not much of a surprise, the NHL has announced that tomorrow’s game between the Columbus Blue Jackets and Nashville Predators at Bridgestone Arena has been postponed as well. Like today’s game, this one also has not yet been rescheduled. The Blue Jackets host the New York Islanders tonight, but will now stay home to take on the Vegas Golden Knights on Monday. Nashville’s next game is currently scheduled for Tuesday at home against the Anaheim Ducks, but the team hits the road after. The NHL hasn’t announced a decision on Tuesday’s game just yet.

8:58 am: Happy Thanksgiving, Nashville – the rink is flooded. The NHL has announced that because of a water main break in Bridgestone Arena, today’s game between the Nashville Predators and Colorado Avalanche will be postponed. There has not yet been a makeup date announced.

The “significant impact” on the event level has even put tomorrow’s game against the Columbus Blue Jackets in jeopardy, though the league has not made a decision yet on whether it will be held.

That means it could be a rather significant break for the Predators, who last played on Wednesday and wouldn’t again until Tuesday if tomorrow’s match is also postponed. With that much time off now, it just means that later down the road the schedule will be even tighter.

After losing on Wednesday, Nashville is now treading water with a 9-9-2 record and sit sixth in the Central Division.

Colorado, meanwhile, got the rare opportunity of spending Thanksgiving in a Nashville hotel – flying in, staying overnight and now leaving for their home game against the Dallas Stars tomorrow night.

Snapshots: Karlsson, Senators, Schedule

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

The hockey hot stove has been abuzz ever since San Jose Sharks general manager Mike Grier explained that he would listen to calls about star defenseman Erik Karlsson, but there’s one thing that much of the speculation seems to overlook. Karlsson has a full no-trade clause all the way through his contract, which keeps him wrapped up through 2026-27. He would need to sign off on any deal, so Corey Masisak of The Athletic asked him whether he would:

No, I mean, if that question ever arises, you know, it’s going to be between me and [Grier]. It has not. So there’s no point for me to think about that or speculate about that. I’m fully invested here at the moment. We are in a situation where we need to win a few games. I’m just worried about the next one. That’s all I can control. All that other stuff, it is nice for you guys to have something to talk about. I’ll let you have at it. 

Suffice it to say, the 32-year-old isn’t interested in throwing any more gas onto the fire. Instead, he’ll just continue to rack up points in a resurgent year for the Sharks. Karlsson has 24 points in 18 games and played a whopping 34:12 on Sunday against the Minnesota Wild. Averaging the most ice time since he arrived in San Jose, he looks poised for a vintage season near the top of the defenseman scoring list.

  • The Ottawa Senators, who happen to be brought up every time a Karlsson trade is discussed, will honor a different former defenseman next month. Wade Redden will be the second person and first player inducted into the team’s Ring of Honour, joining the late Bryan Murray. Redden, originally selected second overall by the New York Islanders in 1995, made his NHL debut in 1996 for the Senators after being part of a three-team trade and would go on to play 838 games for the franchise. That’s good for fourth all-time in franchise history, behind only Chris Phillips, Daniel Alfredsson, and Chris Neil. Phillips and Alfredsson have already been honored by the team with a jersey retirement.
  • The league has announced several schedule changes for upcoming games, moving around start times and broadcast rights. These include some exclusive ESPN broadcasts, like the Tampa Bay Lightning and Edmonton Oilers on January 19. For all of the changes, check out the NHL press release.

Latest On Patrik Laine

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

The Columbus Blue Jackets got some tough news last week when star winger Patrik Laine sustained an elbow sprain in the team’s season opener and had to be moved to injured reserve immediately. Fortunately, though, it seems his three-to-four-week recovery timeline is still right on schedule, if not a bit ahead. The Columbus Dispatch’s Brian Hedger reported today that Laine skated on his own in full gear for the past two days at the team’s practice facility. Hedger also noted the Finnish star is confident he’ll be ready to play by the first week of November when the Blue Jackets travel to Finland to play a set of games against the Colorado Avalanche.

That’s obviously a huge deal for Laine personally, but also the league, as Laine is the most marketable hometown player who’ll skate in the back-to-back set of games in Tampere. Laine hails directly from Tampere, and while his Avalanche counterpart in Mikko Rantanen may have more publicity overall, there’s nothing like getting to see one of your town’s best-ever hockey products play an NHL game on home soil.

A quick return from Laine is also crucial for Columbus’ playoff hopes. While Johnny Gaudreau has held up his end of the bargain, recording four points in his first four games as a Blue Jacket, their lack of quality offensive depth has been exposed by Laine’s injury. Minor-league and European league journeyman Justin Danforth was the team’s first option to replace Laine on the top line, which is obviously a less-than-ideal situation.

Canadian Notes: Price, Dermott, Wideman

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

Rumors have swirled over the future of Carey Price’s career ever since the severity of his knee injury became apparent. Those rumors intensified today when Sportnet’s Eric Engels said Price was scheduled to speak with the media on October 24. However, Engels notes that this is not a retirement announcement as many people first thought when his media availability was reported.

Price and his $10.5MM cap hit remain on long-term injured reserve, and he’s not expected to play at all this season as he continues his recovery from his knee injury. Price played just five games last season after missing nearly the entire year, and he certainly won’t top that number in 2022-23. The future Hall of Fame goaltender still wants to resume his playing career if he can, and he does have four years remaining on his deal to make an improbable recovery.

2023 Trade Deadline Set For March 3

at CDT | by 1 Comment

The trade deadline festivities have a date. Chris Johnston of NorthStar Bets reports that this season’s deadline will be on March 3, 2023 at 3 pm ET. That’s a Friday, meaning it might be quite the celebration for some hockey fans and a day of remembrance for others. It is also nearly three weeks earlier than this year’s deadline, which was late due to the Olympic break that was built into the schedule. Things are finally getting back to normal on the NHL calendar.

March 3 seems to be a fitting date after 33 trades were completed on deadline day this year, including some huge names switching teams. Marc-Andre Fleury, Hampus Lindholm, Rickard Rakell, Artturi Lehkonen, and Nick Leddy were all on the move but have decided to stick around with their new teams. Others like Max Domi and Andrew Copp found new homes after failing to help their clubs reach the Stanley Cup.

The day is always a fun mix of excitement and disappointment, and this season should be no different. With players like Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews, Ryan O’Reilly, Vladimir Tarasenko, Max Pacioretty, James van Riemsdyk, John Klingberg, David Pastrnak, Dylan Larkin, Tyler Bertuzzi, Damon Severson, MacKenzie Weegar, and Bo Horvat all still on expiring contracts, there could be some serious fireworks as the deadline approaches. While some of these will be extended, and others kept for Cup runs, there will likely be a handful of big names on the market.

So hockey fans can circle this date on their calendar as one that could be as important as any other this year, both for contending and rebuilding clubs. With the season right around the corner, it will come quicker than you think.

Pro Hockey Rumors is not affiliated with National Hockey League, NHL or NHL.com

Do not Sell or Share My Personal Information

scroll to top