East Notes: Greenway, Samuelsson, Robertson, Bruins
The Sabres are getting close to getting a couple of players back in the lineup. Team reporter Justin Alpert relays that winger Jordan Greenway and defenseman Mattias Samuelsson both took part in practice today in regular (contact) jerseys after previously being limited to non-contact drills. Greenway has been out for nearly three weeks due to a middle-body injury and has three goals and three assists through 16 games so far. As for Samuelsson, he last played nearly four weeks ago due to a lower-body issue. It has been a struggle for him this season as his playing time is down by more than four minutes a night while also briefly spending time as a healthy scratch. Both players probably aren’t going to be ready for Saturday’s game versus Utah but they should be back soon after that.
Elsewhere in the East:
- It turns out that Victor Mancini isn’t the only blueliner that the Rangers will bring up today. The team announced (Twitter link) that Matthew Robertson has been recalled from AHL Hartford. The 23-year-old has yet to play at the NHL level but is off to a good start with the Wolf Pack this season, collecting eight points in 19 games so far. He’s expected to serve as the seventh defender for the time being with recently acquired rearguard Urho Vaakanainen still out with an upper-body injury.
- A day after papering them to the minors, the Bruins have recalled forward Marc McLaughlin and defenseman Jordan Oesterle from Providence, per the AHL’s transactions log. The move has been made frequently with both players as Boston attempts to bank some extra cap space to utilize later in the season. McLaughlin has been held off the scoresheet in four games with the big club while Oesterle has three assists in his first six NHL games this season.
Panthers Recall Mackie Samoskevich, Re-Assign Chris Driedger To AHL
12/6: According to a team announcement, Florida reversed the swap before tomorrow’s contests against the San Jose Sharks. The news also means netminder Sergei Bobrovsky has returned from his personal leave.
12/2: The Panthers have made a pair of roster moves heading into tomorrow’s game against Pittsburgh. The team announced (Twitter link) that goaltender Chris Driedger has been recalled from AHL Charlotte while winger Mackie Samoskevich has been re-assigned to the Checkers.
This is expected to be a short-term move for both players. Veteran goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky did not accompany the team on the road with his wife expecting to give birth to their second child in the near future. Because Florida doesn’t have enough cap space to recall Driedger outright, Samoskevich, their lone waiver-exempt player, is the roster casualty to allow the team to remain cap-compliant.
Driedger rejoined Florida back in the summer, inking a one-year, one-way deal worth $795K to serve as their third-string option behind Bobrovsky and Spencer Knight. The 30-year-old has played in eight games with the Checkers so far this season, putting up a 3.22 GAA with a .885 SV%. Driedger has 67 career NHL appearances under his belt (35 of which came in his first stint with the team), posting a 2.45 GAA with a .917 SV%.
As for Samoskevich, the 22-year-old is doing well in his first full NHL season. He has played in 22 games with the Panthers so far, notching five goals and four assists while averaging 11:35 per game. His nine points put him in the top ten in scoring among all NHL rookies. Charlotte is off until Friday so there’s a good chance Samoskevich won’t even suit up in the minors while on assignment given that he’s likely to be brought back up by the weekend.
Wild Issue Multiple Injury Updates, Place Eriksson Ek On IR
12/6: According to a team announcement, the Wild have placed Eriksson Ek on injured reserve as expected. His placement on the team’s injured reserve will likely be made retroactive to December 4th.
12/4: Depth is becoming an important factor for the best team in the league. This afternoon, the Minnesota Wild issued multiple injury updates regarding the status of Joel Eriksson Ek, Jonas Brodin, Mats Zuccarello, and Jakub Lauko.
The organization confirmed the earlier report from Michael Russo of The Athletic stating that top center Eriksson Ek would be considered week-to-week with a lower-body injury. If there’s one area of weakness Minnesota could enhance via the trade market, it would be their center depth. The Wild have managed a 1-1-1 record in the three games Eriksson Ek has already missed this season and they will now have to rely on Marco Rossi as their first-line middleman.
Rossi is adequate for this role but it thins out behind him. Minnesota will deploy a rotation of Frederick Gaudreau, Marat Khusnutdinov, and Ben Jones to center the remaining three lines which isn’t typically the quality seen from first-place teams.
The Wild could gauge the trade market for a center depending on the severity of Eriksson Ek’s injury. Minnesota already swung one of the season’s biggest trades when they acquired David Jiříček from the Columbus Blue Jackets. Jake Evans of the Montreal Canadiens comes to mind as a rental piece with playoff experience that would boost Minnesota’s depth down the middle.
The remaining injury updates didn’t have any surprises. Brodin and Zuccarello are still considered week-to-week with their respective injuries while Lauko is only on a day-to-day basis. Brodin and Lauko are on the team’s injured reserve while Zuccarello and his $4.125MM salary are on the long-term injured reserve. Still, with six out of their next 10 games against opponents currently positioned for a playoff spot, the Wild’s depth will surely be tested.
Canadiens, Oilers Complete Minor Swap
Two of the league’s storied Canadian franchises have gotten together on a minor-league deal. According to a press release from the Montreal Canadiens, the former is sending forward Jacob Perreault to the Edmonton Oilers for defenseman Noel Hoefenmayer.
Hoefenmayer is an older prospect being drafted with the 108th overall pick of the 2017 NHL Draft by the Arizona Coyotes. He transitioned to professional hockey for the 2020-21 season but spent much of his first two years in the Toronto Maple Leafs’ ECHL affiliates.
The last three years have given Hoefenmayer more consistent playing in the AHL with the Toronto Marlies and Bakersfield Condors. He scored 11 goals and 38 points in 65 games for the Marlies in 2022-23 while adding 114 PIMs. His move to Bakersfield has been far less productive scoring only eight goals and 25 points in 58 games with the Condors.
Perreault is the only player in the swap to make his NHL debut. He was originally drafted by the Anaheim Ducks organization and selected 27th overall in the 2020 NHL Draft. He fell out of favor rather quickly in Anaheim, largely due to his defensive inefficiencies, and was traded to the Canadiens this past March for fellow 2020 draftee, Jan Mysak.
The deal is between two teams heading in different directions in the AHL standings. The Laval Rocket are fourth overall in the league standings with a 14-6-1 record through 21 games while the Condors sit in 25th with a 7-8-2-1 record through 18.
Anaheim Ducks Acquire Jacob Trouba
3:34 PM: The Ducks organization has made the deal official through a team announcement.
1:28 PM: According to Arthur Staple of The Athletic, the New York Rangers are working on a trade that would send Jacob Trouba to the Anaheim Ducks. Staple’s report comes shortly after TSN’s Pierre LeBrun indicated that Anaheim had quickly become the front-runner in acquiring Trouba’s services. ESPN reporter Emily Kaplan shares that Anaheim will send depth defenseman Urho Vaakanainen and a draft pick to the Rangers, completing the trade.
This brings an end to a tumultuous saga for Trouba in New York. The oft-mentioned trade candidate had been in the rumor mill for a year as he was reportedly nearly dealt to the Detroit Red Wings this past offseason before using his modified no-trade clause to nix the deal. It wouldn’t be the last time either as Aaron Portzline of The Athletic reports Trouba also used his trade protection earlier today to prohibit a move to the Columbus Blue Jackets organization.
The former ninth-overall selection of the 2012 NHL Draft will now join the third organization of his 12-year career, albeit in a different environment. Trouba is only a year removed from captaining the Rangers to President’s Trophy honors during the 2023-24 NHL season but will now join a team that hasn’t qualified for the playoffs since the 2017-18 season and is sitting 29th in league standings. In the end, it was his choice, as Frank Seravalli of the Daily Faceoff reported Trouba waived his no-trade clause to facilitate a deal with the Ducks.
He’s certainly fallen off in recent seasons which surely influenced New York’s desire to move on. He’ll finish his Rangers’ tenure with 31 goals and 136 points in 364 regular season games with a +16 rating. Most of Trouba’s lack of success in recent seasons can be seen from his possession metrics. He averaged an approximated 47.0% CorsiFor% through his first four years in New York but has fallen to 42.6% and 40.0% in the last two years, respectively.
Still, Trouba provides value via his physicality from the blue line. For better or for worse, Trouba’s massive hits have become well-known throughout the league and that kind of toughness will be received well in Greg Cronin‘s system in Anaheim.
The Ducks already boast one of the league’s most rugged defensemen in captain Radko Gudas and will now add Trouba to the equation. The Rochester, MI native has totaled more than 100 hits over the last six years and eclipsed the 200 mark twice from 2021-23.
New York will receive a mild return for their now-former captain in Vaakanainen and Anaheim’s fourth-round pick in 2025 (as per TSN’s Pierre LeBrun). Vaakanainen, who is currently on injured reserve, is a former first-round pick of the Boston Bruins from the 2017 NHL Draft and is a year removed from playing in a career-high 68 games for the Ducks. He won’t provide much on the offensive side of the puck given his career 25 points in 141 games but his $1.1MM expiring contract will give the Rangers increased financial flexibility moving forward.
That’s largely what this deal was about from the Rangers’ perspective. They have now cleared $12MM from their salary cap table after sending Barclay Goodrow through waivers this past offseason and now have the financial freedom to retain key pieces and be aggressive on the trade and free agent market. General manager Chris Drury has stayed adamant on his desire to reshape the Rangers roster and trading Trouba was one of the necessary steps toward that goal.
Flyers Place Nicolas Deslauriers On IR; Jamie Drysdale, Sam Ersson Day-To-Day
The Philadelphia Flyers announced today that forward Nicolas Deslauriers has been placed on injured reserve with an upper-body injury. The move is retroactive to Deslauriers’ last game on November 9th, allowing Philadelphia to activate him as soon as he returns to full health. Deslauriers left the team’s practice on Wednesday, after re-aggravating his injury on a blocked shot. General manager Daniel Briere dubbed him as day-to-day, the same designation provided to defender Jamie Drysdale (upper-body) and goaltender Samuel Ersson (lower-body), who are both working their way back from an IR placement of their own. Both Drysdsale and Ersson have returned to Philadelphia’s practices in full. Deslauriers’ move to IR would open the necessary roster space for the Flyers to activate both Drysdale and Ersson, should they be back to game shape soon.
Deslauriers has been a routine healthy scratch this season, making it hard to distinguish between when he’s missed games due to injury versus coaching decisions. He hasn’t had any notable stat changes through his last five games – spanning from late October to November 9th – recording just one point and two shots on goal while averaging under 6 minutes of ice time a game. Even his bruiser tendencies are tapering out, with one fighting major standing as Deslauriers’ only penalty through seven games – a far cry from the 136 penalty minutes he managed in a full 2022-23 season. His return won’t shake up the Flyers’ lineup too much, but the same can’t be said about Drysdale and Ersson – who will each return to position groups much more contested than when they left.
Ersson will have the toughest battle, looking to regain ground on Ivan Fedotov and Aleksei Kolosov – who have split starts in the former’s absence. Philadelphia has improved their average goals-against per-game from 3.56 to 3.10 since Ersson suffered his injury on November 11th. They still rank in the bottom-half of the league in goals-allowed, but the improvement under their Russian and Belarussian tandem has been a welcome surprise, especially considering Ersson is the only Flyers netminder with a save percentage above .900. He sits at a .902 through 11 games this season, while Kolosov boasts a .882 in eight games, and Fedotov a .877 in 10 games. Those numbers, and Ersson’s 5-2-2 record on the season, should be enough to slot the Swede back into Philadelphia’s starting role – though the position will likely be much more of a committee after his absence.
Meanwhile, Drysdale’s absence has provided Yegor Zamula his own chance to earn a role. Zamula recorded his first goal and multi-point game of the season five games ago – with a two-point effort against Buffalo – but hasn’t managed any scoring since. Still, he’s rotated through the defense – playing as little as 13 minutes or as much as 20 minutes depending on the game. The 24-year-old sits with six points, a -10, and no penalties through 18 games this season – while averaging roughly 16 minutes of ice time per game. Those numbers are, again, not much to write home about – but they’re comparable improvements to the three points, -10, and one penalty that Drysdale recorded in 15 games before injury. He’s averaging over 20 minutes of ice time each game, and could quickly return to that role once fully healed – but Zamula’s persistence and lineup flexibility will create some tough decisions for head coach John Tortorella. Philadelphia acquired Drysdale and a 2025 second-round pick from Anaheim for top forward prospect Cutter Gauthier last season. Gauthier has followed the theatrical trade with three goals and 11 points in 24 games this season.
Nashville Predators Issue Injury Updates
The Nashville Predators will be looking for their eighth win of the season tonight without a few key players. The organization announced center Ryan O’Reilly is week-to-week with a lower-body injury and that defenseman Jeremy Lauzon has been placed on the injured reserve. The only player Nashville will receive back tonight is forward Michael McCarron, who’s been activated from the injured reserve.
It’s an insult to injury for a team that has struggled to score this season. Nashville’s first line of Filip Forsberg, O’Reilly, and Gustav Nyquist has led the team with a 55.8% xGoals% in 175 minutes and represents three of the top-six highest-scoring forwards on the roster.
O’Reilly has been a large part of that line’s success. He’s won 55.2% of nearly 500 faceoffs despite most of his draws coming in the offensive zone. He’s only managed five goals and 14 points through 26 games this season but is shooting one percentage point higher than his career average.
The Predators will try newcomer Steven Stamkos on the first line in O’Reilly’s stead. He’s not nearly as good as O’Reilly in the faceoff dot but has held his own throughout his career. The one issue that could arise is Forbserg and Stamkos are both shoot-first players which could cause some chemistry issues on the top line.
McCarron’s return reintroduces some size to the team’s fourth line. McCarron won’t help the team alleviate their goal-scoring issues as he’s only scored two goals and four points in 18 games. Still, he brings a physical presence to his game which is always useful toward the bottom of the lineup.
Lauzon’s lower-body injury strikes as an addition by subtraction for the Predators. He’s maintained his physicality this year with 103 hits in 22 games but hasn’t done much aside from that. Head coach Andrew Brunette finally separated the defensive pairing of Lauzon and Alexandre Carrier but the former still seems like he needs a reset.
Canucks Recall Three, Place Filip Hronek On LTIR
The Canucks announced a series of transactions Thursday, most notably placing defenseman Filip Hronek on long-term injured reserve. They’d already announced Tuesday that he’ll miss the next eight weeks after undergoing a lower-body procedure, so it’s purely a roster move to gain flexibility and cap space for the time being.
Before doing so, they recalled winger Jonathan Lekkerimaki and defenseman Cole McWard from AHL Abbotsford to maximize their LTIR capture. After placing Hronek on LTIR, they also recalled center Max Sasson. They got within $12,138 of the cap, per PuckPedia, setting their LTIR pool at roughly $7.24MM. Their active roster now has a full 23 players, and they have roughly $6.37MM in current cap space after Sasson’s recall.
It’s unclear if Lekkerimaki and McWard will remain on the roster for an extended period of time or if they were purely paper call-ups for cap purposes. Lekkerimaki, Vancouver’s first-round pick in 2022, scored one goal in five games last month in his first NHL recall but has been in the minors since Nov. 21. He has six goals and two assists for eight points in 12 games with Abbotsford this season with a -10 rating that’s tied for the worst on the team.
McWard, 23, is almost certainly a short-term recall. The Canucks already had an extra healthy defenseman on hand in Hronek’s absence after recalling Mark Friedman.
An undrafted free agent signing out of Ohio State in 2023, McWard has yet to see a recall this season and has only six NHL games to his name over the previous two years. In those contests, he has a goal on seven shots while averaging 13:22 per game and controlling 48.9% of shot attempts at even strength. A stay-at-home defender by trade, he has six points and a -2 rating in 21 appearances for Abbotsford in 2024-25.
Meanwhile, Sasson was sent down just yesterday for cap purposes and should stick on the roster for a while yet. Signed as an undrafted free agent along with McWard in 2023, he received his first NHL recall last month and has stuck around with two assists in his first five contests, averaging 8:45 per game. The 24-year-old had nine points in 16 games with Abbotsford before his recall.
Red Wings Activate Patrick Kane From Injured Reserve
Dec. 5: Just two days later, the Red Wings announced that Kane has been removed from IR. He’ll return to the lineup tonight against the Senators after missing five total contests with the upper-body issue. Lagesson returned to Grand Rapids in a corresponding move.
Dec. 3: The Red Wings announced Tuesday that they’ve placed right-winger Patrick Kane on injured reserve retroactive to Nov. 23. He’s already missed four games with an upper-body injury and remains day-to-day, so he’s eligible to come off IR anytime.
Thus, his move to IR is only procedural and will only open up an additional roster spot for Detroit. Shortly before confirming Kane’s IR placement, the team said the open spot was used to recall defenseman William Lagesson from AHL Grand Rapids. The Red Wings’ active roster count remains at a maximum of 23.
The 2024-25 season has been difficult for the 36-year-old Kane, who has only three goals and seven assists for 10 points through 20 contests. The 2016 MVP and four-time All-Star is shooting at a career-low 7.5% clip and averaging a career-low 17:21 per game.
Kane’s struggles highlight a more significant issue with the Wings’ depth scoring, the lack of which is arguably the biggest reason why they remain one game below .500 and four points out of a playoff spot entering a pivotal matchup with the Atlantic Division rival Bruins tonight. He’s also been among Detroit’s worst players at controlling possession at even strength, logging a 41.9 CF% that sits 15th out of the 20 Red Wings skaters to play at least 10 games this season.
The Red Wings signed Kane to a one-year, $4MM extension in late June with up to $2.5MM in potential performance bonuses. He’s already earned $1.5MM in bonuses by hitting the 10-game mark, with an additional $250K possible if he hits 60 games. The remaining $750K can only be unlocked if Detroit makes the playoffs, which The Athletic gives just a three percent chance of happening.
Lagesson, 28, was recalled once earlier this season to serve as injury insurance on Nov. 18 against the Sharks but did not play. He was returned to Grand Rapids the following day.
After clearing waivers during training camp, Lagesson has posted two goals, three assists, five points, 14 PIMs, and a team-high +9 rating in 13 games with Grand Rapids. He has not played since Nov. 24 against Iowa after the AHL’s Player Safety Committee assessed him a three-game suspension for roughing Wild right-wing prospect Adam Raška. Lagesson has served that suspension and will be eligible to suit up for Grand Rapids again whenever the Red Wings reassign him.
As to why the Wings recalled Lagesson, he gives them an extra depth option on the blue line for their two-game divisional road swing this week. The 6’2″, 207-lb righty signed a one-year, one-way league minimum contract with Detroit in free agency over the summer after suiting up in a career-high 40 games with the Maple Leafs and Ducks last season.
Islanders Notes: Varlamov, Högberg, Pelech
Islanders goaltender Semyon Varlamov isn’t fully healed from his lower-body injury. The team announced that he’s been downgraded to day-to-day once again and will likely miss Thursday’s tilt against the Kraken.
Varlamov, 36, was given a day-to-day designation earlier in the week but could dress as Ilya Sorokin‘s backup for Tuesday’s overtime loss to the Canadiens. However, the Russian veteran is now set to be unavailable for a game due to injury for the first time since missing nine contests with a lower-body issue in January last season.
It’s been quite a tough go of things this season for the former All-Star. After posting better numbers than Sorokin in limited usage last season, he’s nosedived to post a .889 SV%, 2.89 GAA, and -3.0 GSAA in 10 starts – his worst numbers since an injury-plagued 2016-17 campaign.
Per MoneyPuck, he’s posted -1.1 goals saved above expected compared to Sorokin’s 5.1 this season. It’s unclear if his downturn in play is due to the dreaded aging curve or if his injury has been lingering and affecting his performance.
The Islanders hope it’s the latter. Varlamov has two seasons left after this one on a four-year, $11MM deal he signed to remain as Sorokin’s backup in the summer of 2023.
More from the Isles today:
- With Varlamov out, the Islanders have recalled Marcus Högberg from AHL Bridgeport on an emergency basis for the second time this week. He was sent down Tuesday before the Montreal game, so he’s yet to dress for an NHL contest this season, but that will change tonight as he backs up Sorokin against Seattle. The 30-year-old Swede has a 3.26 GAA, .898 SV%, and a 2-5-5 record in 11 games for Bridgeport this season, his first in North America since the 2020-21 campaign. No corresponding transaction is necessary with an open spot on the active roster.
- Stalwart defenseman Adam Pelech took the ice for the first time today since sustaining a broken jaw at the beginning of November, Stefen Rosner of NHL.com reports. He was wearing a non-contact jersey and a full face shield, but it’s a crucial step for him to return within the next week and a half, as his initial timeline predicated. The 30-year-old has missed 15 games with the injury, during which time the Isles have gone 5-5-5 and now rank last in the Metropolitan Divison.