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Snapshots: Ersson, Penguins, Kovalenko

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Flyers goaltender Samuel Ersson certainly hasn’t had it easy.  Thrust into the starting spot midseason in 2023-24 while still getting his feet wet in the NHL, he has been the undisputed number one since then.  But head coach John Tortorella indicated this weekend to reporters including Jordan Hall of NBC Sports Philadelphia that the team is hoping they’ll be able to deploy him in more of a tandem role when their goaltending situation is finalized.  The hope was that Ivan Fedotov would be the other part of that platoon but he has struggled in his first full season in North America, as has youngster Aleksei Kolosov, calling into question if Ersson’s long-term platoon partner is either further away or outside the organization altogether.

More from around the NHL:

  • The daily transactions from Pittsburgh continue. Per the AHL transactions log, the Penguins have once again brought up winger Matt Nieto and defenseman Sebastian Aho from AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on an emergency basis.  While the Pens aren’t obligated to keep shuffling the players back and forth on off days, doing so allows them to pause their respective waiver clocks each time they send them down.  Even with it being past the trade deadline, once they’re up for 30 days or play in 10 games, they’d have to get through waivers again to go back to the minors.
  • Following the recent acknowledgment that contract talks for Sharks winger Nikolai Kovalenko won’t start until after the season, Curtis Pashelka of The Mercury News wonders if the 25-year-old will be in San Jose’s plans moving forward. Since returning from a lower-body injury earlier this month, he’s only logging 11 minutes a game and was healthy scratched on Saturday.  With San Jose getting a look at some other players, it’s possible that they could determine that he’s not the right fit moving forward while his arbitration eligibility could also be a dissuading factor.  Kovalenko will be owed a qualifying offer of just under $814K and has 17 points in 49 games this season.

Snapshots: Peterka, Kulich, Hintz, Werenski

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The Buffalo Sabres will exchange young forwards in Wednesday night’s lineup. Centerman Jiri Kulich is expected to return to the ice after missing Buffalo’s last game with an illness, while top-line winger JJ Peterka is out day-to-day with a lower-body injury, per Lance Lysowski of The Buffalo News.

Adding Kulich back to the fold is a positive step for the Sabres. The 20-year-old centerman has recorded two points and eight shots on net in his last four games, bringing his year-long totals up to 12 goals and 19 points in 48 games. Kulich has taken on more-and-more role in the second half of the season, and appeared in a season-high 19 minutes of ice time in his most recent appearance. Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff made no indication of what line Kulich would play on in his return, but he could be set to head back to the top-six with Buffalo down one of their top players.

To that end, losing Peterka for even a short time is a hard blow for the Sabres. He’s confidently led the team over their latest stretch, with 10 points in nine games since returning from the 4-Nations Face-Off break. Peterka is quickly evolving into a star – with 19 goals and 51 points in 61 games this season putting him on a year-long pace of 26 goals and 69 points in 82 games. He’s already lapped his career-high of 50 points scored last season, with no signs of slowing down. Peterka’s absence should lead to increased minutes for wingers like Jason Zucker and Zach Benson – though Buffalo could also opt to move Ryan McLeod or Peyton Krebs to the wing with Kulich back in the fold.

Other quick notes from around the league:

  • Top Dallas Stars centerman Roope Hintz is progressing well after taking an Adam Henrique shot to the face on Saturday. Hintz sat out of Dallas’ Sunday win over the Vancouver Canucks and is set to miss Friday’s game against Winnipeg – but head coach Pete DeBoer shared that Hintz could return as soon as Sunday, per NHL.com’s Mike Heika. Hintz has been red-hot since the end of the 4-Nations break, with 16 points in his last eight games. That includes back-to-back four-point games on February 28th and March 2nd. Dallas managed a confident win over Vancouver in his absence, but will undoubtedly be eager to bring their second-line centerman back before his scoring touch cools off. With Hintz out, Dallas has awarded more minutes to Jamie Benn, Wyatt Johnston, and Matt Duchene.
  • Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman Zach Werenski has become the Norris Trophy favorite in NHL.com’s recent poll of their staff writers. Werenski has been lights out this season after being held to just 83 games combined over the last two years. Now back to full health, he has a team-leading 69 points in 63 games on the year. That includes 20 goals, making Werenski the first 20-goal-scoring defenseman in Blue Jackets history. His 2024-25 campaign marked the most goals from a Blue Jackets defenseman in February, when he passed Seth Jones’ previous record of 16 goals set int he 2017-18 season. Werenski’s 69 points are also a club record. He has shown everything Columbus could ask for and then some. His performances are a key reason why Columbus is one of five teams in the race for the Eastern Conference Wild Cards, and could soon earn Werenski the first Norris Trophy of his nine-year NHL career. He previously received Norris votes in 2019-20 (eighth-place finish) and in his rookie season of 2016-17 (18th-place finish).

Snapshots: Rantanen, Husso, Poitras

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The Avalanche’s final offer to winger Mikko Rantanen in extension negotiations earlier this season was an eight-year, $93.2MM deal worth $11.65MM per season, Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic confirmed today. While that obviously wasn’t an offer Rantanen agreed to, it was close enough to encourage the winger’s camp to keep negotiating throughout the rest of the regular season – a plan foiled when Colorado instead opted to deal him to the Hurricanes. LeBrun reaffirms the notion at the time that Rantanen and his camp were blindsided by the deal, instead believing they were close enough in talks to continue ironing out a deal to keep him in Colorado. He also confirmed that the Canes’ offer to Rantanen was an eight-year, $100MM deal as previously reported, but that he ended up taking less in last week’s trade-and-sign with the Stars because he “just wasn’t feeling the fit in Carolina.”

More from around the league today:

  • The Ducks announced they’ve reassigned goaltender Ville Husso to AHL San Diego. The veteran third-stringer, acquired from the Red Wings last month, backed up Lukáš Dostál for the second straight contest in last night’s win over the Islanders while John Gibson remains sidelined with a lower-body issue. They’ve sent him to the minors on off-days during Gibson’s absence, so today’s move isn’t necessarily an indication Gibson will be ready to return when Anaheim hosts the Capitals tomorrow. Husso has yet to play for the Ducks since the swap, but the 30-year-old has a .894 SV%, 3.27 GAA, one shutout, and a 3-1-0 record in four showings for San Diego.
  • While the Bruins’ reassignment of Matthew Poitras on Friday was expected to be a short-term one to make him eligible for the AHL playoffs, Steve Conroy of the Boston Herald reports that isn’t the case. The 21-year-old center remains in Providence as this week gets underway and will remain there for the foreseeable future, potentially the rest of the regular season. The 2022 second-rounder has 1-10–11 in 33 NHL appearances this season after notching 5-10–15 in the exact same number of showings last year.

Snapshots: Hintz, Lavoie, Canucks, Husso

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Stars forward Roope Hintz has returned to Dallas to be further evaluated after sustaining an upper-body injury on Saturday against Edmonton, notes Robert Tiffin of D Magazine (Twitter link).  Head coach Peter DeBoer stated that the early indications are that the injury isn’t a long-term one while it appears as if a fracture has been ruled out as well.  Hintz had been on quite the hot streak recently; going into yesterday’s game, he had 17 points in his last eight appearances and was anchoring the top line.  While it appears the worst-case scenarios are going to be avoided, they’ll be without him tonight against Vancouver and likely a little longer than that.

Elsewhere around the NHL:

  • The Golden Knights have placed winger Raphael Lavoie on injured reserve with an upper-body injury, relays Danny Webster of the Las Vegas Review-Journal (Twitter link). After an adventurous stint on the waiver wire to start the year, the 24-year-old has played primarily with AHL Henderson, tallying 21 points in 32 games.  Lavoie has made nine appearances with Vegas on a pair of recalls but has been held off the scoresheet while logging just over 10 minutes a game.  Lavoie’s placement will keep him out of the lineup until at least Thursday.
  • The Canucks have reversed their goalie move from yesterday, announcing (Twitter link) that they’ve recalled Arturs Silovs from AHL Abbotsford while sending Nikita Tolopilo to Abbotsford. The move allowed Silovs to start yesterday against San Jose where he allowed four goals on 28 shots.  Silovs has a 3.85 GAA with a .858 SV% in nine outings with Vancouver and is set to be the primary backup with Thatcher Demko back on injured reserve.  But to keep him fresh, the Canucks could send him down periodically to get a spot start in with Abbotsford.
  • A day after sending him back to the minors, Anaheim’s AHL affiliate in San Diego announced that the Ducks have once again recalled goaltender Ville Husso to the big club. He was acquired for future considerations last month to add some goalie depth and has a 2.84 GAA along with a .908 SV% in 17 AHL contests this season while compiling a 3.69 GAA and a .866 SV% in nine NHL contests.  Husso is set to become an unrestricted free agent this summer.

Snapshots: Moser, Chychrun, Wennberg, Kraken

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The Lightning will welcome back an important part of their defense corps on Sunday.  Eduardo A. Encina of the Tampa Bay Times relays that J.J. Moser will be back in the lineup against Seattle after missing two-and-a-half months with a lower-body injury.  The 24-year-old was an important part of the return for Tampa Bay in the Mikhail Sergachev trade from the draft and had 10 points in 27 games before the injury while averaging nearly 20 minutes per night of playing time.  Moser was technically activated off IR before the break but the team elected to scratch him for their last game instead to give him more time to recover.

Elsewhere around the NHL:

  • While Capitals defenseman Jakob Chychrun made it known last month that he’s open to signing a contract extension with Washington, he told reporters including Sammi Silber of The Hockey News (Twitter link) that there haven’t been any extension discussions since before the break. The 26-year-old has been a great addition for Washington, already notching 14 goals and 21 assists through 50 games while logging 21 minutes a night.  He’s well on his way to earning a sizable raise on his current $4.6MM price tag but it doesn’t appear a new deal is coming in the near future.
  • San Jose will get a key veteran center back for their upcoming seven-game road trip as Alexander Wennberg told reporters including Curtis Pashelka of The Mercury News (Twitter link) that he’ll be ready to return on Sunday. The 30-year-old has 23 points in 52 games for the Sharks this season and suffered an upper-body injury late last month.
  • The Kraken have changed up their backup goalie. The team announced (Twitter link) that they’ve recalled Ales Stezka from AHL Coachella Valley and reassigned Victor Ostman to ECHL Kansas City, reversing the move made before the 4 Nations break.  Stezka has been Seattle’s backup as of late after Philipp Grubauer was assigned to the Firebirds but has yet to make his NHL debut.  He has a 2.99 GAA with a .902 SV% in 25 games this season.  Ostman, meanwhile, is in his first full professional season after signing with Seattle as a college free agent last spring.  He has played exclusively with the Mavericks, putting up a 2.44 GAA and a .905 SV% in 29 appearances.

Snapshots: Ullmark, Milano, Utah

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While Senators goaltender Linus Ullmark was supposed to get the start in tonight’s 4 Nations Face-Off finale for Sweden, that’s no longer the case.  Aftonbladet’s Hans Abrahamsson first reported that the netminder is sick and won’t suit up versus Team USA.  With Filip Gustavsson leaving Saturday’s game early with an illness as well, it will be Samuel Ersson who gets the nod.  Ullmark was widely expected to be Sweden’s starter for this event but will wind up playing in just two periods overall, taking the overtime loss versus Finland.  The outcome of this game will have no bearing on Thursday’s final as that will be a matchup of Canada and Team USA after Canada won their game in regulation this afternoon over Finland.

Elsewhere around the hockey world:

  • Sammi Silber of The Hockey News relays that while Capitals winger Sonny Milano was skating in a non-contact jersey before the 4 Nations break, he’s still a ways away from returning to the lineup. The 28-year-old suffered an upper-body injury in his third game of the season and hasn’t played since.  Assuming he’ll see some time with AHL Hershey on a conditioning assignment, it’s possible that Milano won’t be back until after the trade deadline when roster maximum sizes are no longer in effect.
  • In an interview with Craig Morgan on Utah HC’s team site, GM Bill Armstrong indicated that there’s a chance that they could have all their injured players back coming out of the break. Center Logan Cooley suffered a lower-body injury at the end of January while blueliner Sean Durzi (shoulder) has been out since mid-October; getting both of them back would be a big boost for their attack.  Meanwhile, defenseman Robert Bortuzzo (lower body) has missed more than a month while goalie Connor Ingram left the final game before the break with an upper-body issue so it appears they’re close to returning as well.
  • From that same interview, Armstrong suggested that Utah has already done most of its team building already from the summer and early-season trade activity so the team is “already built to some degree”. They have six games left before the trade deadline and are six points out of the final Wild Card spot so being buyers would be a bit of a surprise.  With that in mind, instead of team building, they could be doing some trimming with centers Alexander Kerfoot and Nick Bjugstad, blueliners Ian Cole and Olli Maatta, and goaltender Karel Vejmelka among the long list of pending unrestricted free agents this summer.

Snapshots: Greenway, Crosby, Eriksson Ek, Demko

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Discussions about a possible contract extension have not started between the Sabres and pending UFA winger Jordan Greenway, reports Lance Lysowski of The Buffalo News.  The trade deadline is now less than a month away but it doesn’t appear discussions about a possible new deal will begin until much closer to that time though there is believed to be mutual interest in getting an agreement in place.  Greenway is expected to return from his mid-body injury after the break, an injury that will have kept him out for more than two months.  The 27-year-old has three goals and four assists in 20 games this season and will likely be heading for a small raise on his current $3MM price tag on his next contract.

More from around the NHL:

  • Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan told reporters including NHL.com’s Adam Kimelman that center Sidney Crosby skated again today as he works his way back from an upper-body injury. He added that the captain felt significantly better today which suggests he shouldn’t be out much longer.  Now, the focus turns to the 4 Nations Face-Off where Crosby is set to be Canada’s captain.  Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman relays (Twitter link) that it will ultimately be Crosby’s decision on whether he participates or withdraws due to the injury.  Final rosters have to be submitted on Monday so a decision will need to be made quickly on that front.
  • The Wild announced (Twitter link) that center Joel Eriksson Ek was scratched from tonight’s game due to a lower-body injury. It has been a tough year on the injury front for the veteran who has already missed 14 games due to a pair of lower-body issues and a broken nose.  In between those, he has scuffled a bit offensively, notching just nine goals and 14 assists in 41 games after putting up his second straight year of more than 60 points last season.  He’s slated to play for Sweden at the 4 Nations Face-Off; The Athletic’s Michael Russo notes (Twitter link) that it’s uncertain if the injury will keep Eriksson Ek from playing in the event.
  • The Canucks announced (Twitter link) that goaltender Thatcher Demko left tonight’s game versus Toronto early due to injury and did not return. Postmedia’s Patrick Johnston adds that Demko was seen wincing after making some saves during the warm up.  The 29-year-old has been limited to just 19 games this season after missing the first two months while working his way back from an injured popliteus muscle in his left knee.

Snapshots: Zegras, Cozens, Timmins, Shine

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Ducks forward Trevor Zegras has been in trade speculation dating back to last season, a year in which he struggled and battled injuries.  That speculation isn’t going away as David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period reports (video link) Anaheim is still listening to offers for the 23-year-old.  Unfortunately for them, Zegras has also battled injuries this season and has struggled when in the lineup.  A year ago, he had six goals and nine assists in 31 games, numbers that were underwhelming for a two-time 60-plus-point player.  However, that also happens to be his stat line so far this season which can’t help his value.  Zegras is signed through next season at a $5.75MM price tag and will be a restricted free agent with salary arbitration rights in the 2026 offseason.  Given his struggles, Anaheim may have to sell low if they opt to move him before March 7th or hope for a better market in the summer.

Elsewhere around the NHL:

  • Sabres center Dylan Cozens did not take part in practice today with what head coach Lindy Ruff called a lower-body aggravation, notes team reporter Jourdon LaBarber. His status for Saturday’s game against Nashville is up in the air as a result.  It has been a quiet year for Cozens who has 10 goals and 16 assists in 53 games, numbers that are underwhelming for one of their top-paid forwards which has resulted in plenty of trade speculation.
  • Maple Leafs defenseman Conor Timmins won’t play on Thursday against Seattle due to an upper-body injury sustained on Tuesday versus Calgary, relays David Alter of The Hockey News. Timmins was able to return to the game last night but they’ve decided to shut him down at least for this next contest.  The 26-year-old has a goal and six assists in 44 games this season while averaging 16:25 per night.
  • The Red Wings announced (Twitter link) that they’ve assigned winger Dominik Shine to AHL Grand Rapids. Detroit signed the 31-year-old to a two-year, two-way deal last month, his first NHL contract which came on the heels of a strong first half with the Griffins that saw him record 32 points in 40 games.  Shine got into four games with Detroit while being up with the big club, picking up an assist and four hits in a little under nine minutes a night of playing time.

Snapshots: Heiskanen, Kovalenko, Quillan, Hakanpaa

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While it was known that the Stars would be without their top defenseman through the 4 Nations Face-Off, it appears Miro Heiskanen will be out even longer than that.  Lia Assimakopoulos of the Dallas Morning News relays that the blueliner is expected to require surgery with the recovery time being unknown at this time.  However, head coach Peter DeBoer expressed optimism that Heiskanen would be able to return before the end of the regular season.  The 25-year-old, who was placed on IR today to open up a roster spot, has 25 points in 50 games this season while logging over 25 minutes a night.  Now that he’s expected to be out longer term, it wouldn’t be shocking to see Dallas look to add some help on the back end between now and the March 7th trade deadline.

Elsewhere around the NHL:

  • The Sharks aren’t expected to have winger Nikolai Kovalenko back until after the break for the 4 Nations Face-Off, notes Curtis Pashelka of The Mercury News (Twitter link). The 25-year-old has been productive since being acquired from Colorado, notching eight points in 17 games (after putting up eight in 28 games with the Avs) but suffered an undisclosed injury on Thursday versus Seattle; head coach Ryan Warsofsky indicated that he’s unsure how Kovalenko was injured.
  • The Maple Leafs announced (Twitter link) that they have assigned forward Jacob Quillan back to AHL Toronto. The 22-year-old made his NHL debut last weekend but was limited to just over five minutes of playing time.  Quillan has 15 points in 35 games with the Marlies so far and is in the first season of a two-year entry-level deal signed as an undrafted free agent after a strong college career with Quinnipiac University.
  • Still with the Maple Leafs, head coach Craig Berube told reporters including TSN’s Mark Masters (Twitter link) that he does not have a timeline for defenseman Jani Hakanpaa’s return. The 32-year-old has been limited to just two games this season as he continues to battle knee issues going back to the 2023-24 campaign.  Hakanpaa is slated to play for Finland at the 4 Nations Face-Off but with how much time he has missed, it wouldn’t be surprising if he winds up being replaced for that event even though he is skating.

Snapshots: Evans, Ersson, Nichushkin, Utah, Chara

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The Canadiens were believed to have been offered a mid-second-round pick back at the draft for center Jake Evans, reports Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli.  He adds that the Capitals may have been the team making the offer.  Evans is in the middle of what is likely to be a career year as he has 11 goals and 14 assists in 50 games while being the league leader for shorthanded ice time by a forward.  A pending unrestricted free agent, Evans has a very affordable $1.7MM cap charge this season and could plausibly double that on the open market this summer.  Montreal will have to decide if it’s worth accepting what’s likely to be a similar offer by the March 7th trade deadline or trying to sign him to a contract extension in the coming weeks.

Elsewhere around the hockey world:

  • The Flyers announced that goaltender Samuel Ersson has officially been added to Sweden’s entry for the upcoming 4 Nations Face-Off. He’ll take the place of injured netminder Jacob Markstrom.  Ersson has a 2.77 GAA and a .893 SV% in 27 appearances this season while picking up 15 of Philadelphia’s 23 wins.  As things stand, he’s likely to serve as Sweden’s third-string option for the tournament.
  • It appears that Avalanche winger Valeri Nichushkin will be out until after the 4 Nations Face-Off, relays Evan Rawal of the Denver Gazette (Twitter link). The 29-year-old has yet to play in 2025 due to a lower-body injury.  It looked like he was close to returning earlier this month but ultimately suffered a setback, changing his designation to week-to-week.  When available, Nichushkin has done well, tallying 11 goals and six assists in 21 games but Colorado won’t have him in the lineup for a while yet.
  • The Utah Hockey Club announced that they are no longer pursuing some of their preferred team names following the trademark issues that were revealed last week. The team will now run another voting campaign with only three names on the ballot – their current moniker, Mammoth, and Wasatch.  This round of voting will occur in-arena during Utah’s next four home games, beginning with tonight’s.
  • Bruins GM Don Sweeney confirmed to Kevin Paul Dupont of The Boston Globe that they are in discussions about bringing back long-time blueliner Zdeno Chara in an advisory role. Chara spent 14 years with Boston, playing over 1,000 games with the franchise while winning the Norris Trophy back in 2009.  Sweeney added that the role, the specifics of which are still being discussed, would likely have him working with both the players and the coaching staff.

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