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Snapshots: Greig, Blake, Dunn, Kolosov

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Senators center Ridly Greig is dealing with an upper-body injury, relays Sportsnet’s Alex Adams (Twitter link).  The 22-year-old locked down a regular spot in Ottawa’s lineup for most of last season, notching 13 goals and 13 assists in 72 games while logging nearly 15 minutes a night.  Greig has been on the wing to start the year and missed a couple of shifts in Saturday’s game against Montreal, presumably due to the injury.  He might not be out for long, however, as head coach Travis Green noted that Greig could still suit up on Monday against Los Angeles.

Elsewhere around the NHL:

  • The Hurricanes quietly papered winger Jackson Blake down to AHL Chicago on Saturday. However, his time there was short-lived as he has already been recalled, per the AHL’s transactions log.  The move simply allowed them to bank a few thousand dollars in cap space with Carolina’s game against Tampa Bay postponed yesterday.  It wouldn’t be surprising to see the Hurricanes do this with some regularity with Blake, their lone waiver-exempt player, to try to open up a bit more spending flexibility.
  • Kraken defenseman Vince Dunn is listed as day-to-day with an upper-body injury, relays team broadcaster Piper Shaw (Twitter link). He played into the final minute of Saturday’s game but the issue was enough to keep him out of tonight’s contest against Dallas.  The 27-year-old has two points in his first two games this season after putting up 46 in 59 appearances in 2023-24.
  • Late last month, Flyers prospect Alexei Kolosov ended his stalemate with the team, reporting to training camp after an agreement was reached that could allow for a potential return later on. That potential return might come sooner than later, however, as Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported earlier this week in his 32 Thoughts column that Philadelphia only has until the end of the month to convince him about their plans for him.  Kolosov made it known over the summer that he wants to play in the KHL this season if he was going to be in the minors.  While he’s with the Phantoms for now, he might not be there for too much longer based on Friedman’s report.

Snapshots: Kings, Mukhamadullin, Karlsson, Palat

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The Los Angeles Kings will start the season with some cap juggling, per John Hoven with LA’s Mayors Manor. Hoven shares that the team will begin the year with depth forward Andre Lee on the roster, in an effort to reach cap compliance while they sort out injuries to Drew Doughty and Arthur Kaliyev. Both players could be candidates for long-term injured reserve, though that’d be a last resort as the team considers the juxtaposition of cap versus salary. Making matters even more complicated in Los Angeles’ preference to carry eight defenders, including summer signee Caleb Jones, who’s making his return to the NHL after splitting time between the major and minor leagues last year.

The Kings will have a complicated path to walk. They’re entering the year with just $546.67K in cap space, hardly enough to handle the day-to-day logistics of running a team. That’s largely thanks to their summer acquisition of goaltender Darcy Kuemper, and Quinton Byfield’s five-year extension – two moves that collectively cost the Kings $11.5MM in space. Both players will serve pivotal roles for the lineup in the early going, especially as the team prepares for an extended period without top-defender Doughty.

Other notes from around the league:

  • Top San Jose Sharks prospect Shakir Mukhamadullin has finally made his way into the team’s camp practices, shares Curtis Pashelka of The Mercury News, after a lower-body injury held him out of all of the team’s rookie camp and training camp to this point. Mukhamadullin was expected to be one of the top young Sharks pushing for the roster this fall, though new head coach Ryan Warsofsky acknowledged that the injury puts him a step behind. Mukhamadullin made his NHL debut last season, recording one assist in three games to go with his 34 points in 55 AHL games. He’ll be among the many young players fighting for NHL ice time when he has healthy legs back under him.
  • Star Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Erik Karlsson is expected to be ready for the team’s season opener after missing much of the preseason with an upper-body injury, shares the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Matt Vensel. Karlsson added that the season opener has always been his target, and that his recovery briefly slowed down in the middle of camp to, “let a few things settle down.” The future Hall-of-Fame candidate is set to enter his 16th NHL season, coming off yet another season of double-digit goals and over-50 points. He’ll look to return to those heights once again, with head coach Mike Sullivan already confirming that he’ll be a fixture of the team’s power-play, per Tribune-Review Sports’ Seth Rorabaugh.
  • New Jersey Devils forward Ondrej Palat missed the team’s second game of the season to attend to the birth of his second child. He is expected to rejoin the team when they return to North America. Palat appeared in nearly 14 minutes of New Jersey’s season opener in his native Czechia, recording one shot, one block, and two hits. He’s continued to find ways to be productive late into his career, netting 11 goals and 31 points in 71 games last season. Palat will continue to serve as a winger New Jersey can lean on as they look to continue their bout of early success.

Snapshots: Knies, Brossoit, Barlow, Gustafsson

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While the Maple Leafs have been working on (and might be nearing) an extension with pending UFA defenseman Jake McCabe, meaningful talks haven’t started with another one of their 2025 free agents.  TSN’s Darren Dreger reports in their latest Insider Trading segment that there hasn’t been any meaningful dialogue regarding a new deal for winger Matthew Knies, who will be a restricted free agent next summer.  The 21-year-old had a solid rookie season in 2023-24, collecting 15 goals and 20 assists in 80 games and appears to be one of their younger building blocks up front.  That said, it wouldn’t be surprising if at least one of the two sides has indicated that they’d rather wait to see how things go this season to get a better sense of his value before kickstarting talks later on.

Elsewhere around the hockey world:

  • While the Blackhawks won’t have their newest goaltender available for the start of the season, it appears he won’t be out for too long. Head coach Luke Richardson told reporters including Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times (Twitter link) that Laurent Brossoit is on track to return roughly midway through their season-opening four-game road trip to start the season, meaning he might only miss a couple of games.  The 31-year-old posted a 2.00 GAA with a .927 SV% in 23 games for Winnipeg last season, earning Brossoit a two-year, $6.6MM contract on the opening day of free agency this past summer.
  • After requesting a trade earlier in the week, Jets prospect Colby Barlow is indeed on the move. OHL Oshawa announced that they have acquired the 19-year-old forward from Owen Sound in exchange for two players and six draft picks.  Barlow was the 18th overall selection in 2023 following a 46-goal campaign with the Attack.  However, his offensive numbers dipped last season although he still managed 40 goals and 58 points in 50 games before getting into three AHL contests.  Barlow is too young to play there full-time this season but will be AHL-eligible next year, making this a pure one-year rental for the Generals.
  • Still with the Jets, Murat Ates of The Athletic relays (Twitter link) that forward David Gustafsson is listed as day-to-day due to a lower-body injury sustained in Wednesday’s game against Calgary. The 24-year-old played in 39 games with Winnipeg last season, notching three goals and four assists.  He inked a two-year, $1.67MM one-way contract with the Jets back in July.

Snapshots: Leafs, Kinkaid, Cristall, Brunicke

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The Toronto Maple Leafs welcomed both John Tavares and Calle Jarnkrok back to the practice rink today shares David Alter of The Hockey News. Both players have been bearing through day-to-day lower-body injuries. Tavares notably suffered his on a hit from Montreal’s Michael Pezzetta in Toronto’s Thursday night preseason action. Both he and Jarnkrok will now have two preseason games remaining before the Leafs kick off their season against Montreal on October 9th.

Both Tavares and Jarnkrok could both be headed for Toronto’s third-line amid William Nylander’s move to center and the growing presence of young prospects Matthew Knies and Nicholas Robertson. The diminishing role lines up with Tavares’ decreasing scoring, with 65 points last season falling 15 short of his 2022-23 totals. He’s finally been knocked off his streak of routine point-per-game scoring, even as his ice time saw a small uptick last year. Meanwhile, Jarnkrok has proven a utility tool in Toronto’s bottom six, recording 21 points and 65 faceoff wins in 52 games last season. Both players are pulling into their 30s and will work to bring gut-punch offense down the depth of Toronto’s lineup this year.

Alter adds that the Leafs were also joined by Jani Hakanpaa at today’s skate – the defender’s first appearance in a Maple Leaf after prolonged contract discussions this summer.

Other notes from around the league:

  • Veteran goaltender Keith Kinkaid will play in his 14th pro season this year, as he’s signed a one-year contract with the AHL’s Charlotte Checkers. Kinkaid spent last season as the backup for the independent Chicago Wolves, recording eight wings and a .880 save percentage in 24 appearances. He’s been a depth option for the last three seasons, spending them split between the Rangers, Bruins, and Avalanche organizations. Kinkaid, 35, has managed 250 career AHL games and 169 career NHL games. He’s totaled a 70-58-21 record and .905 save percentage at the top flight, though he hasn’t played in multiple NHL games since the 2020-21 campaign.
  • The Washington Capitals are open to starting top prospect Andrew Cristall in the NHL, head coach Spencer Carbery told Sammi Silber of The Hockey News. Cristall has been perhaps the top standout in Washington’s camp, and will be eligible to play in nine NHL games before he burns the first year of his entry-level contract. He’s been among the hottest scorers across the CHL for years now, totaling a dazzling 280 points across 191 career WHL games. That scoring has translated into the preseason, with Cristall boasting two goals and three points in three games so far – tied for the team-lead in Washington.
  • Not to be outdone by their rivals, the Pittsburgh Penguins are also considering promoting a rookie – with head coach Mike Sullivan telling Kelsey Surmacz of The Hockey News that defender Harrison Brunicke could also receive a nine-game trial. Brunicke has been among the best defenders in Pittsburgh this preseason, forming strong connections with the team’s star scorers in the early going. It’s a blazing return-to-form for the WHL defender, who had his 2023-24 season ended by an upper-body injury in February.

Snapshots: Swayman, Benn, Gelinas, Olympics

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Earlier today, Bruins president Cam Neely implied that the team had made a $64MM offer to restricted free agent goaltender Jeremy Swayman in an effort to get a deal done.  It would appear that this is the first that Swayman’s camp has heard of it.  SPM Sports released the following statement from Swayman’s agent Lewis Gross via various social media platforms:

Normally, I do not release statements or discuss negotiations through the media.  However, in this case, I feel I need to defend my client. At today’s press conference, $64 million was referenced. This was the first time that number was discussed in our negotiations. Prior to the press conference, no offer was made reaching that level.

We are extremely disappointed. This was not fair to Jeremy. We will take a few days to discuss where we go from here.

Earlier today, it was revealed that newly-acquired backup Joonas Korpisalo would be their opening-night starter.  Between that and now Swayman’s camp saying that they’ll take a few days to discuss next steps, it’s fair to say that this contract isn’t getting resolved for a little while longer.

Elsewhere around the hockey world:

  • The Stars won’t discuss a new contract in-season with captain Jamie Benn, relays Lia Assimakopoulos of the Dallas Morning News. Don’t interpret that as a sign that one of the sides doesn’t want to do something as GM Jim Nill indicated he approached Benn to see what he wanted to do while making it clear that he sees a spot for the veteran as long as he’s in charge.  However, Benn decided he wants to wait until after the season for any discussions.  The 35-year-old has spent his entire 15-year career in Dallas, amassing over 900 points including 60 in 82 games last season.
  • Veteran defenseman Eric Gelinas has decided to try to give it another go in North America. The AHL’s Laval Rocket announced (Twitter link) that they have invited the 33-year-old to their training camp.  Gelinas has 189 career NHL appearances under his belt, the last of which came in 2016-17.  He spent the following year in Laval before bouncing around, seeing time in Slovakia, Sweden, Switzerland, and nine games with AHL Chicago over the last six seasons.
  • The IIHF announced that they hope to add a three-on-three ice hockey tournament to the 2030 Olympics for both men’s and women’s hockey. These events would not replace the existing tournaments but would merely add to the sport’s representation, similar to three-on-three basketball at the recently-ended Summer Games.  A decision on whether those events will be added is expected in March.

Snapshots: Sharks, Johnson, Red Wings

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The San Jose Sharks continue to miss defensemen Marc-Edouard Vlasic and Shakir Mukhamadulin, as well as goaltender Yaroslav Askarov, as all three recover from injury. Mercury News’ Curtis Pashelka shared that, with only three skates remaining before San Jose’s season begins, it’s unlikely any of the trio are ready for opening day.

That’s a tremendous blow to the Sharks’ early roster, taking out not only longtime lineup-lock Vlasic and his rookie replacement Mukhamadulin, but also delaying Askarov’s debut after the team paid a pretty penny to acquire him via trade. San Jose sent top prospect David Edstrom, a first-round pick, and goaltender Magnus Chrona away to bring in Askarov, looking to strike while his iron is hot after two standout AHL seasons. Askarov is considered one of the – if not thee – top goalie prospects across the NHL, and requested a trade out of Nashville after the Preds signed Juuse Saros to a long-term deal. It was clear he was looking to land in a vacant role – something he achieved in bunches with a move to San Jose, who have iced 11 goalies over the last three seasons alone. Askarov will look to become the first to solidify a starting role among that bunch when he’s healthy enough to make his Sharks debut.

Other notes from around the league:

  • Buffalo Sabres defenseman Ryan Johnson has suffered a lower-body injury, AHL head coach Mike Leone shared with Bill Hoppe of the Times Herald. Leone designated Johnson as day-to-day. Johnson is fighting to regain his role in the NHL, having been assigned to the minor leagues after playing in half of Buffalo’s games last season. He only managed seven assists in those 41 appearances, adding nine assists in 27 AHL games after his assignment. It was Johnson’s first season of pro hockey, and he’ll enter year two still searching for his first pro goal.
  • Both Lucas Raymond (lower-body) and Erik Gustafsson (upper-body) are expected to return to the Detroit Red Wings’ preseason lineup on Monday after missing some of the team’s practices to recover from injury, shares Ansar Khan of MLive. Both players seem headed for confident lineup roles, but have only managed one appearance in the preseason. Gustafsson recorded a primary assist in the outing, while Raymond didn’t change his statline in just 12 minutes of ice time. Wings fans will get to see their star scoring-winger, and one of their few offensive-minded defenders, return soon.

Snapshots: Hall, Saad, Fasching

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Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times reported earlier today that Chicago Blackhawks forward Taylor Hall did not practice with the team as he was taking a maintenance day. Hall previously skated in 15:14 of Chicago’s loss to the Detroit Red Wings on Wednesday and earned a -2 rating with one shot on goal, four giveaways, and one takeaway.

Pope did not elaborate in the report whether Hall was dealing with any minor injuries or ailments from the game on Wednesday. The Blackhawks will surely be playing it safe concerning Hall’s training camp and preseason given his injury track record over the last two seasons.

The former MVP only suited up in 61 games for the Boston Bruins in the 2022-23 NHL season scoring 16 goals and 36 points. The 20-game loss from two years ago was nothing compared to last season as Hall only managed 10 games for the Blackhawks before losing the entire season to a knee injury requiring surgery. Chicago and Hall will be looking for a clean bill of health from the 2010 first-overall pick as the organization hopes to be more competitive this season.

Other snapshots:

  • St. Louis Blues forward Brandon Saad may be unable to start the regular season on time as he and his wife are expecting their third child in the coming days. Matthew DeFranks of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch writes that if Saad doesn’t start the season on time the Blues will fill the temporary opening with prospect Zachary Bolduc (Subscription Article). St. Louis has been utilizing Bolduc in a top-six role early this preseason and it may give him an offensive jolt early in the season after only mustering five goals and nine points in 25 games for the Blues last season.
  • The New York Islanders will be without depth forward Hudson Fasching for the next couple of days as Andrew Gross of Newsday reports he is out day-to-day with a lower-body injury. This confirms Fasching will not be in the lineup for the Islanders tonight as they take on division-rival New Jersey Devils in a preseason contest. Fasching has only been in one preseason game up to this point tallying one assist in 14:30 of ice time in the Islanders’ loss against the New York Rangers on Tuesday night.

Snapshots: Nylander, Dell, Sourdif, Primeau

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Toronto Maple Leafs forward William Nylander left tonight’s game against the Montreal Canadiens about mid-way through the first period and will not return according to a team announcement. The team said that the move was precautionary so there does not appear to be any long-term doubt about Nylander’s status for the rest of the preseason.

The incident in question happened just before eight minutes into the first period. The Maple Leafs were transitioning into the Canadiens’ zone and teammate Nicholas Robertson appeared to push Nylander down with his stick forcing Nylander into a Montreal defenseman’s leg head-first.

Nylander is entering the first year of an eight-year, $92MM extension signed with Toronto earlier this year. He’s expecting again to be an integral part of the Maple Leafs offense after scoring 40 goals and 98 points in 80 games during the 2023-24 NHL season. There haven’t been any further updates this evening but the organization should announce his long-term availability in the upcoming days.

Other snapshots:

  • Goaltender Aaron Dell is headed back to the San Jose Sharks organization only a few days after being released from his professional tryout agreement. The AHL affiliate of the Sharks, the San Jose Barracuda, announced they signed Dell to an AHL contract for the upcoming season. It will be the second time in three years that Dell has suited up for the Barracuda producing a 15-17-4 record in 38 games played for the team in the 2022-23 AHL season with a .898 save percentage.
  • According to Alex Baumgartner of Five Reasons Sports, Florida Panthers prospect Justin Sourdif will be out for the next couple of weeks with an upper-body injury. Despite making his NHL debut last year, Sourdif had an outside chance of cracking the opening night roster for the defending Stanley Cup champions. The team will hope for a bit more production at the NHL level before he becomes a full-time player with Sourdif scoring 12 goals and 38 points in 58 games last season for the Charlotte Checkers.
  • Tony Androckitis of Inside AHL Hockey reports the AHL affiliate of the Philadelphia Flyers, the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, are signing forward Mason Primeau on a one-year AHL contract. Primeau has spent the last four years split between the AHL’s Henderson Silver Knights and the ECHL’s Savannah Ghost Pirates producing tepid results. He already has a strong connection to the Flyers organization with his uncle, Keith Primeau, who played in Philadelphia from 1999 to 2006.

Snapshots: Fowler, Danforth, Nosek, Lankinen

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Earlier this month, it was revealed that the Ducks and veteran defenseman Cam Fowler were working on finding a new team for him to play for.  With Anaheim firmly in a rebuild and Fowler only having two years left on his contract, a change of scenery would make sense for both sides.  GM Pat Verbeek told reporters including Eric Stephens of The Athletic (subscription link) that he doesn’t sense that this will be a distraction, highlighting that Fowler is fully committed to the team.  The 32-year-old has spent his entire 14-year career with Anaheim and sits third in franchise history in games played (974) and fifth in points (453).  With most teams at this point wanting to see what they have first before pondering potential moves, it’s likely that a move involving Fowler will take some time to materialize.

Elsewhere around the NHL:

  • While Blue Jackets winger Justin Danforth has been cleared to resume some on-ice work as he works his way back from a hand injury, Aaron Portzline of The Athletic reports (subscription link) that Danforth might not be cleared for contact for another two or three weeks. Accordingly, that would likely put the start of the regular season out of reach for the 31-year-old in jeopardy.  Danforth had a career-high 26 points in 71 games last season while spending time at all three forward positions.
  • Panthers center Tomas Nosek left today’s preseason game early after colliding with the boards following a trip, notes team reporter Jameson Olive (Twitter link). While he briefly tried to return later in the period, he ultimately didn’t return to the contest.  Nosek is in his first season in Florida after signing a one-year deal with them in free agency.  The 32-year-old battled injury trouble last season, missing 43 games due to four separate issues, managing just six points in 36 appearances when he did suit up.
  • The one-year, $875K deal that the Canucks reached with goaltender Kevin Lankinen on Saturday carries an eight-team no-trade clause, PuckPedia reports (Twitter link). It’s the first time in his career that the 29-year-old will have any form of trade protection in his contract.

Snapshots: Krebs, Karlsson, Pitlick

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Sabres center Peyton Krebs was one of several players earlier this week who signed contracts before training camp got underway.  The 23-year-old told reporters including Bill Hoppe of the Olean Times Herald that he had been following his agent’s advice throughout the process but eventually relented, telling his agent to get a deal done while prioritizing getting a two-year agreement.  He was able to do just that, landing a two-year, $2.9MM pact.  Buffalo was busy over the summer reshaping their bottom six with the additions of Ryan McLeod, Beck Malenstyn, Sam Lafferty, and Nicolas Aube-Kubel so Krebs will have his work cut out for him to hold onto a regular spot in the lineup after getting into 80 games last season.

Elsewhere around the hockey world:

  • Penguins defenseman Erik Karlsson skated on his own today before practice, relays Matt Vensel of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (Twitter link). The veteran has yet to take part in any team activities during training camp due to an upper-body injury and is listed as day-to-day.  Karlsson’s offensive numbers took a big dip last season after putting up 101 points in his final year with San Jose but he still managed 11 goals and 45 assists, good for a tie for third in team scoring.
  • Former Montreal prospect Rhett Pitlick has found a new place to play as Minnesota State University announced that the forward has enrolled with them for his senior season. The 23-year-old spent the last three years at the University of Minnesota, putting up 36 points in 39 games last season.  However, he deregistered earlier in the offseason, allowing him to become a free agent in the process.  Clearly, there wasn’t an offer to his liking so he’ll now play out his NCAA eligibility and will look to secure an NHL deal after that.

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