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Canucks Injury Notes: Blueger, Soucy, Mikheyev

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Patrick Johnston of The Vancouver Province is reporting that Vancouver Canucks center Teddy Blueger injury status has been changed to week to week. Blueger was originally thought to have a bruised knee, but apparently will not travel with the team on their upcoming road trip. Blueger originally suffered the injury when he blocked a shot back on October 6th in a preseason game against the Calgary Flames. He joined the Canucks two days later for practice but lasted just 15 minutes before the injury caused him to leave.

The injury will force Blueger to further delay his regular season debut with the Canucks after a solid preseason had fans feeling optimistic about his upcoming season with the team. Blueger signed a one-year $1.9MM contract with the Canucks on July 1st after a disappointing season last year split between the Vegas Golden Knights and Pittsburgh Penguins. Blueger posted just four goals and 12 assists last year in 63 games while being deployed largely as a fourth-line center and penalty-kill specialist.

In other Canucks injury notes:

  • The Canucks injury news isn’t all bad. The Vancouver Province posted that injured defenseman Carson Soucy skated with the Canucks yesterday in a non-contact jersey and will travel with the team on their upcoming road trip. Soucy also took part in extra skating drills before practice as he tries to get into game shape. Soucy was originally injured a week ago in a preseason game against the Flames and was thought to be out week to week but could be back sooner than later.
  • The Vancouver Province reported that Canucks forward Ilya Mikheyev has gone from practicing with the team in a regular jersey to a non-contact jersey. The 29-year-old had been in a regular jersey for almost a week but was downgraded yesterday for an undisclosed reason. The Canucks thought earlier in the week that Mikheyev might be ready for the Canucks October 17th game against the Philadelphia Flyers but given the setback that return now seems unlikely. Like Soucy, Mikheyev took extra skating before the team’s practice yesterday as he tries to get into game shape.

Morning Notes: Werenski, Johansson, Pietrangelo

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As reported by Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, Columbus Blue Jackets franchise defenseman Zach Werenski exited last night’s game after suffering a quad contusion. Werenski was injured on an apparent knee-to-knee collision with Philadelphia Flyers forward Garnet Hathaway, and Blue Jackets head coach Pascal Vincent told reporters that Werenski’s injury is not believed to be one that will cause a long-term absence.

This development is extremely unfortunate, as Werenski, 26, was limited to just 13 games played last season due to injury. Although this injury may not keep Werenski out “long-term,” it is not clear exactly when he’ll be able to return to the ice for Columbus. That alone is a major blow for the club, as Werenski is the best player in an organization dripping with desperation to return to the playoffs after a nightmarish 2022-23 campaign. In what is expected to be a cutthroat Metropolitan Division playoff race, the Blue Jackets will have to hope Werenski can return to full health quickly so they can avoid falling behind.

  • Minnesota Wild forward Marcus Johansson left last night’s season opener with an apparent injury after being “crumpled into the boards” by Florida Panthers rookie defenseman Uvis Balinskis. Per The Athletic’s Michael Russo, Wild head coach Dean Evason did not give any update on Johansson’s status postgame. Russo surmised that a Johansson absence might force the Wild to either run seven defensemen for their next game, swap Dakota Mermis off their roster for a cheap call-up from the AHL’s Iowa Wild, or play a man short.
  • Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Alex Pietrangelo had a scary moment during last night’s season-opening victory against the San Jose Sharks, one where he took a Nic Hague shot up high. The result, as reported by The Athletic’s Jesse Granger, was that Pietrangelo was bleeding “a lot.” Granger adds that Pietrangelo was able to “skate off” the ice and “seemed fine” given the circumstances, so perhaps that painful moment from last night’s game won’t end up having any more lasting implications for Pietrangelo’s health.

Brett Howden Suspended Two Games For Illegal Check To The Head

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Vegas Golden Knights winger Brett Howden was issued a two-game suspension today for an illegal check to the head of Seattle Kraken winger Brandon Tanev in last night’s game, per the NHL Department of Player Safety.

In the short term, expect a domino effect for the Golden Knights. With winger William Carrier also injured in their season-opening win, head coach Bruce Cassidy said earlier today that Pavel Dorofeyev will draw into the lineup tomorrow against the San Jose Sharks after serving as a healthy scratch last night. With Howden suspended, Cassidy also said the team will recall forward Jonas Røndbjerg from AHL Henderson.

Howden was assessed a match penalty by officials on the play. NHL DoPS ruled that Howden made the head the principal point of contact “on a hit where such head contact was avoidable.” The 25-year-old forward has no previous fines or suspensions on record with DoPS.

Howden skated 11:57 before being removed from the game, recording the primary assist on Chandler Stephenson’s game-opening goal. The 25-year-old signed a two-year, $3.8MM contract to remain a Golden Knight this summer after notching 10 points in 22 postseason games on the team’s run to the 2023 Stanley Cup.

Evening Notes: Couture, Motte, Nylander

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Curtis Pashelka of The Mercury News is reporting that San Jose Sharks center Logan Couture will miss the team’s home opener on October 12th against the Vegas Golden Knights. Couture remains week-to-week currently but has started some light skating over the last few days. Couture suffered a lower-body injury prior to the start of training camp and failed his physical which has kept him out of pre-season action. This will be the first time Couture starts a season on the IR.

The Sharks are likely to use Tomas Hertl in Couture’s usual spot centering their first line. While Hertl can play on the team’s top unit, it does create a domino effect on an already thin forward group. Mikael Granlund appears likely to center the team’s second unit which could be problematic given how much he struggled last season.

The Sharks appear poised to finish the season near the bottom of the standings and seem prepared to take their time with Couture’s injury. Couture is only halfway through his eight-year contract and could become a tradeable asset for the Sharks if he is able to get healthy and contribute this season.

In other evening notes:

  • Eduardo A. Encina of the Tampa Bay Times tweeted that Tampa Bay Lightning forward Tyler Motte left the game in the second period of their 5-3 win over the Nashville Predators. The 28-year-old took a puck in the hand with just under six minutes left in the middle frame and did not return to the game. Lightning Head Coach Jon Cooper told reporters that the team will know more about Motte’s condition at some point tomorrow. Motte signed a one-year deal in the offseason after setting a career-high with 19 points last season in 62 games.
  • Pierre LeBrun reported on TSN Insider Trading that the Toronto Maple Leafs and pending unrestricted free agent forward William Nylander are continuing contract extension discussions into the season with both sides remaining tight-lipped on the proceedings. LeBrun added that Maple Leafs General Manager Brad Treliving had a face-to-face discussion with Nylander at training camp as the sides try and work towards a resolution. LeBrun finishes by saying that it appears from the outside that all parties are on the same page as far as getting the deal done.

Pacific Notes: Kings Updates, Comtois, Korczak

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The Fourth Period’s Dennis Bernstein relays updates on a few key Los Angeles Kings players from Kings GM Rob Blake. Firstly, Blake said that veteran winger Viktor Arvidsson is questionable for tomorrow’s season-opening game due to a lower-body injury. Additionally, he added that conversations regarding a potential contract extension for both Arvidsson and fellow pending unrestricted free agent Matt Roy “could come around Christmas.”

Arvidsson, 30, has had a career renaissance in Los Angeles, scoring 26 goals and 59 points last season. Those numbers aren’t far off from the career highs he set with the Nashville Predators, and as a result he could be in line for a lucrative trip to the open market next summer. The impact of Roy, 28, isn’t as easy to point to as Arvidsson’s but he’s an important King all the same. The 2015 seventh-round pick played nearly 19 minutes per night last season and over two minutes per night short-handed, and could command a raise over his current $3.15MM AAV cap hit.

Some other notes from the Pacific division:

  • Per The Athletic’s Jesse Granger, Vegas Golden Knights head coach Bruce Cassidy has confirmed that forward Maxime Comtois has been released from his PTO. Cassidy explained that the team was pleased with how Pavel Dorofeyev and Paul Cotter performed in the preseason, and as a result, did not have a spot to spare for Comtois. Comtois played in four preseason games and averaged just over 13 minutes of ice time per night. The former Anaheim Duck went scoreless in those contests and will now have to look elsewhere to continue his professional career, a career that looked so promising just two seasons ago when he scored 16 goals and 33 points in just 55 games.
  • According to CapFriendly, the Golden Knights “appear to have recalled Kaedan Korczak” from the AHL’s Henderson Silver Knights, giving the team a full 23-man roster. This move, according to CapFriendly, would “suggest another LTIR placement” to create the necessary cap space, with the likely candidates for the placement being Zach Whitecloud or Alec Martinez. Both Whitecloud and Martinez are currently on regular injured reserve, and if one is expected to be absent for a relatively extended period that player could land on LTIR in order to allow for the recall of Korczak.

Waivers: 10/08/23

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Oct. 9: Four players on this list were claimed today: A.J. Greer (Calgary), John Ludvig (Pittsburgh), Ivan Prosvetov (Colorado), and Lassi Thomson (Ottawa). All others have cleared and are expected to be assigned to their team’s respective AHL affiliates, aside from Boyd, who PHNX Sports’ Craig Morgan reports remains on the Coyotes’ active roster for now.

Oct. 8: It’s expected to be a busy day on the waiver wire, as NHL teams are making their final adjustments to the roster they’ll bring into the start of the 2023-24 season. There have already been numerous notable names exposed to the waiver wire thus far this preseason, and that list could only expand today. All players from yesterday’s waiver wire have cleared.

Anaheim Ducks

D Lassi Thomson
G Alex Stalock
F Andrew Agozzino

Boston Bruins

F Patrick Brown
F A.J. Greer

Arizona Coyotes

F Travis Boyd
F Zach Sanford
G Ivan Prosvetov

Carolina Hurricanes

D Dylan Coghlan

Chicago Blackhawks

F Joey Anderson

Colorado Avalanche

F Riley Tufte

Dallas Stars

F Riley Damiani

Detroit Red Wings

F Zach Aston-Reese

Edmonton Oilers

F Raphael Lavoie
F Lane Pederson
D Ben Gleason

Florida Panthers

F Zac Dalpe
D John Ludvig
D Casey Fitzgerald

Los Angeles Kings

F Jaret Anderson-Dolan

Montreal Canadiens

F Joel Armia
D Gustav Lindström

Ottawa Senators

F Bokondji Imama

Pittsburgh Penguins

G Magnus Hellberg
F Colin White
D Mark Friedman
F Vinnie Hinostroza
F Radim Zohorna

St. Louis Blues
F Mackenzie MacEachern
D Calle Rosen
G Malcolm Subban
F Nathan Walker

Tampa Bay Lightning

D Zach Bogosian
F Gabriel Fortier

Toronto Maple Leafs

G Martin Jones
F Kyle Clifford
F Dylan Gambrell
D William Lagesson
D Maxime Lajoie

Vancouver Canucks

F Jack Studnicka
D Christian Wolanin

Vegas Golden Knights

F Grigori Denisenko

Winnipeg Jets

D Kyle Capobianco
G Collin Delia
F Axel Jonsson-Fjallby

The big surprise here out of Arizona regards Boyd. The versatile 30-year-old veteran doesn’t have an exorbitant contract (just $1.75MM through the end of the season) and has scored 69 points across the last two seasons.

He’s been something of a breakout player for the Coyotes as his 17-goal, 35-point 2022-23 was far and away his best season in his career, so it’s definitely a surprise to see him exposed on waivers.

For Anaheim, the move to waive Stalock likely means that Lukáš Dostál has won the Ducks’ backup goalie job behind John Gibson, as should Stalock clear the Ducks will have the option to send him down to the AHL’s San Diego Gulls.

In Edmonton, it comes as a little bit of a surprise to see Lavioe waived. The 23-year-old power forward was drafted just outside of the 2019 first round, and took a real step forward in his development last season. He became a genuinely impactful AHLer, scoring 25 goals and 45 points. He’s a name to watch in terms of players with the potential to be claimed out of this group.

Anderson-Dolan finally made the NHL on an extended basis last season, and scored 12 points in 46 games. He even got some playoff action under his belt, but seeing as he was a near-point-per-game scorer in his last season in the AHL, it seems the Kings could prefer to have him start the season with the AHL’s Ontario Reign.

Rosen appears the likeliest candidate from the Blues’ group of waived players to be of interest to other teams, as he’s owed just a $762.5k cap hit this season and impressed in 49 games of NHL action last season. He scored 18 points in that span and could interest teams in need of some additional defensive help.

Out of Tampa is Bogosian, and it’s reported that the Lightning are hoping to put the veteran blueliner in a position to land on another team where he can play a bigger role than he’d be offered in Tampa. The 33-year-old won a Stanley Cup for the Lightning and it seems that the organization is looking to do right by the player while also turning to other options to staff their defense.

One of the biggest names on waivers comes out of Toronto, as Jones played in 48 games last season but now finds himself exposed to 31 other clubs. With an $875k cap hit, the veteran netminder could end up claimed by teams in need of instant goaltending support, such as the Lightning who don’t have much depth after the injury to superstar Andrei Vasilevskiy.

This page will be updated throughout the day.

Matt Murray Undergoes Successful Surgery

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Sportsnet is reporting that Toronto Maple Leafs netminder Matt Murray has undergone successful bilateral hip surgery and is expected to miss between six and eight months. This likely means he will miss the entire 2023-24 NHL season. Murray was acquired from the Ottawa Senators in July 2022 along with a third-round pick in exchange for a seventh-round pick and future considerations. It was essentially a salary cap dump at the time by the Ottawa Senators, who retained over $1.5MM of Murray’s $6.25MM cap hit.

The former two-time Stanley Cup champion has fallen on hard times in recent years as his health has kept him out of the lineup for extended periods of time in each of the past five seasons. Murray hasn’t played more than 30 games in a season since the 2019-20 season when he was a member of the Pittsburgh Penguins. When he has been available to play, he hasn’t been able to match the levels of play that made him a Stanley Cup champion in 2016 and 2017. Murray hasn’t posted a goals-against average below 3.00 since 2019-20 and has seen his save percentage hover around .900 since 2018-19.

Murray has has struggles with his health for a long time now and one must wonder if he will be able to overcome his latest setback and get back into an NHL lineup. The Thunder Bay, Ontario native has never been able to capture the magic that he put on display early in his career and has seen his stock tumble to the point of being a cap dump last summer.

Murray appeared to be on the cusp of superstardom in 2017 when the Penguins elected to keep him over franchise icon Marc-Andre Fleury who was taken by the Vegas Golden Knights in the expansion draft. The Penguins had signed Murray to a three-year extension at the time and thought they had an elite netminder that could lead them to more Stanley Cups. Unfortunately, Murray’s play flatlined and he was unseated as the starter by Tristan Jarry. He was then dealt to the Senators in 2020 and signed to an extension in a move that proved disastrous for Ottawa.

Players Still On Training Camp Tryouts

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While there have been many players who had been in training camps on tryout deals cut over the past week or so, there are quite a few whose fates have not yet been determined.  Here’s a rundown of players who are still on PTO agreements with their respective teams.

Boston Bruins

F Danton Heinen

Edmonton Oilers

F Adam Erne
F Sam Gagner

Gagner did not play in the preseason as he works his way back from hip surgery.

Florida Panthers

F Brett Ritchie

New York Islanders

F Jackson Cates

Pittsburgh Penguins

D Libor Hajek
D Mark Pysyk
F Austin Wagner

Tampa Bay Lightning

F Austin Watson

Toronto Maple Leafs

F Noah Gregor

Vegas Golden Knights

F Max Comtois

Some of these players will likely receive an NHL contract but cap-strapped teams will wait until it’s absolutely necessary to convert them to a guaranteed deal, either to optimize their LTIR pool or to try to save a day or two worth of cap space.  Meanwhile, other teams could also come calling if a waiver target doesn’t make it to them.  One way or the other, their fates will likely be decided soon.

Vegas Golden Knights Sign Jakub Demek To Entry-Level Deal

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The Vegas Golden Knights have announced that forward Jakub Demek has been signed to a three-year entry-level contract. CapFriendly reports that the deal will carry a cap hit of $852K.

The 20-year-old Slovak center was selected in the fourth round, 128th overall, by Vegas at the 2021 draft. He played his draft season in his home country before heading to North America to spend two years in the WHL. In 2021-22, Demek scored 20 goals and 54 points for the Edmonton Oil Kings.

Last season, Demek was limited to just 15 regular-season games, though he did get into 14 playoff contests and managed to score 22 combined points.

Demek offers impressive physical tools standing six-foot-four, 196 pounds, and now with his entry-level deal the Golden Knights will look to have their development team work with Demek to help him leverage those impressive tools into meaningful contributions in professional hockey.

Golden Knights Claim Grigori Denisenko Off Waivers From Panthers

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The Golden Knights dipped into the waiver pool as Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports (Twitter link) that they’ve claimed winger Grigori Denisenko off waivers from Florida.  Everyone else from Friday’s group cleared.

The 23-year-old was formerly viewed as one of the top prospects for the Panthers after they picked him 15th overall back in 2018 following a good season in the MHL in Russia.  He spent two more seasons playing at home, working his way up to the KHL level, before coming to North America in 2020 when he signed his entry-level contract.

Denisenko saw NHL action in each of his three years on that first deal, spanning 26 contests.  However, while he has seven assists in those appearances, he’s still looking for his first goal.  Meanwhile, he has had some success in the minors and is coming off a year that saw him put up a dozen goals with 24 assists in 56 games with AHL Charlotte.

He opted to take less than his qualifying offer this summer in exchange for a two-year, one-way deal worth the NHL minimum of $775K in the hopes that doing so could help him earn a spot at the end of Florida’s roster.  Clearly, that didn’t happen with his placement yesterday but now, he’ll look to stick with the Golden Knights.  While Denisenko isn’t a prototypical fourth-liner, he could add some offensive upside to that line or alternatively, bide his time as a low-cost reserve forward.  Either way, it’s a low-cost pickup for Vegas that will have a chance to give them a nice reward if Denisenko is able to reach his offensive potential with them.

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