Rangers Notes: Lafreniere, Fortescue, Edstrom
Rangers right-winger Alexis Lafrenière has had a shaky season, but the 24-year-old former #1 overall pick has finally emerged as a true top-line threat ever since Artemi Panarin‘s departure via trade to the Kings last month opened up some more ice time. Head coach Mike Sullivan had loads of praise for Lafrenière this week, telling Vince Z. Mercogliano and Peter Baugh of The Athletic that “where Laf has improved most recently is in the down-low game in the offensive zone — the grind game.”
With a tally last night against the Blue Jackets, Lafrenière hit 20 goals on the season for just the second time in his six-year career. As Sullivan points out, his willingness to drive toward the middle of the ice is a gigantic part of that. Fourteen of those tallies have come from high-danger areas either in or directly in front of the crease. That’s the same number of goals Nathan MacKinnon has generated from those areas this year, for example. If his finishing from distance and struggle to create perimeter plays are going to remain an issue long-term, he and Sullivan have appeared to have found the necessary adjustment to finally make him into an everyday top-six threat.
The dividends have been immediate. Lafrenière has six goals and 15 points in 12 games since the Olympic break while skating alongside rookie Gabriel Perreault and Mika Zibanejad. While the trio’s underlying numbers have been lacking (48.9% expected goals share, 2.46 xGA/60, per MoneyPuck), they’ve figured out how to be an effective driver of offense for a Rangers team whose season was tanked from the start by a lack of high-danger chance generation.
Mercogliano and Baugh also discussed the future of some of the Rangers’ college-bound prospects. There’s a real chance that 2023 third-round pick Drew Fortescue will turn pro and even make his NHL debut this season while burning the first year of his entry-level contract, they report. The 20-year-old shutdown lefty is wrapping up a junior season at Boston College that’s seen him record a career-best 4-9–13 scoring line in 35 games with a +4 rating.
Fortescue, a 6’2″, 194-lb New York native, has been a fixture of the United States national junior team for the past few years. He suited up at both the 2024 and 2025 World Juniors before aging out, posting four points and a +12 rating across 14 games there with a pair of gold medals. The Rangers view him as someone “who could soon work his way into the mix on New York’s second or third pair,” Mercogliano and Baugh wrote. That checks out considering the Blueshirts don’t have very much left-side depth behind their #1 option, Vladislav Gavrikov.
Shifting back to the NHL roster, Adam Edstrom has lined up at center on the fourth line between Jonny Brodzinski and Jaroslav Chmelar for the past few games. A natural pivot, he’s played exclusively at the wing in the Rangers organization to date, but was thrilled to get an audition down the middle again after incumbent #4C Sam Carrick was sent to the Sabres at the trade deadline.
“I said that I’d be excited to play center again,” Edstrom said to Mercogliano and Baugh. “It’s been a little bit, but I feel like you’re a bit more included in the game, and kind of play low. My defensive game is something that I take a lot of pride in, so I think it’ll fit me well.”
Adam Ruzicka, Spartak Terminate KHL Contract
Former Calgary Flames winger Adam Ruzicka will be on the open market once again. His contract with Spartak Moscow of Russia’s KHL, which was set to run through the 2026-27 season, has been terminated by the club per Russian news source Championat. A club press release said the decision was made due to a breach of contract.
Ruzicka joined Spartak Moscow for the 2024-25 season after failing to find his footing with the NHL’s Flames or Arizona Coyotes. He led Spartak with 26 goals in his first season, en route to 45 points in 65 games. That scoring continued through the KHL playoffs, again leading Spartak with seven goals and tying for the team lead with 12 points in 12 games. He quickly slotted in as a pillar of the Spartak offense and stuck in that role into this season. Ruzicka currently ranks second on the team in scoring with 16 goals and 40 points in 51 games. That pace would have put him on track to exceed last year’s scoring by six points.
Instead, Spartak will part ways with one of their top forwards. Ruzicka has been in the midst of a rare scoring drought as of late, with no points in his last five games dating back to early February. His role in the lineup shrank as a result of the cold spell, with a bump to the third line and second power-play unit.
The Slovakia-native will now search for a better fit elsewhere. He played three seasons in the OHL before moving to the AHL in 2019. Since then, Ruzicka has appeared in 117 NHL games and 98 AHL games, with 40 and 68 points, respectively.
The 26-year-old also joined Team Slovakia at the 2026 Winter Olympics, where he racked up five points in six games. That performance has some speculating if there might be renewed NHL interest this summer. Ruzicka has represented Slovakia at all levels of international play and could now find his way back to the country in search of a new team. He grew up through the HC Pardubice pipeline, appearing with the organization’s U16, U18, and U20 clubs before moving to Canada in 2016.
Mammoth Sign Michael Carcone To Two-Year Extension
The Mammoth announced that they’ve signed left-winger Michael Carcone to a two-year extension through the 2027-28 campaign. The deal carries an average annual value of $1.75MM for a total value of $3.5MM, per TVA’s Renaud Lavoie. Per PuckPedia, it’s an even split between 2026-27 and 2027-28 and is paid entirely in base salary.
It’s quite the shift for Carcone, whose time in Utah looked like it was over a year ago. A pending unrestricted free agent at the time, he was clear at exit meetings that he had no intent to re-sign in Salt Lake and wanted to test the open market for more consistent playing time. After going unsigned through the first two weeks of free agency, though, Utah was still looking for forward depth. He ended up returning to the Mammoth on a one-year, league-minimum deal.
The decision has been a win for both parties. Carcone broke out in 2023-24 with 21 goals and 29 points in 74 games for the Coyotes, but he ended up as a healthy scratch in Utah down the stretch last season. Few expected him to keep up his 18.9% shooting rate from his Arizona breakout, but seeing as it dipped by half in 2024-25, his effectiveness as a depth skill man wasn’t enough to justify keeping him in the lineup.
This season, though, Carcone has returned to form. Through 66 games, he ranks seventh on the Mammoth with 14 goals and has added 12 assists for 26 points. He’s done so while adding a considerable physical edge to his game, already more than doubling his previous career high in hits with 117. That’s done wonders for the 5’9″, 182-lb winger’s availability to stay in the lineup and has bumped his ice time up to 12:25 per game, seeing some increased power-play usage along the way as well.
Over parts of the last five seasons with Arizona/Utah, Carcone is up to a 48-35–83 scoring line in 223 career games. That’s an average of 18 goals and 31 points per 82 games, great production for the third- or fourth-line wing slot he usually occupies. The 29-year-old now signs a standard contract above league minimum for the first time in his career, earning a 126% pay bump in the process.
Utah now has 16 roster spots accounted for next season, at least based on players currently on their active roster. They’re still armed with north of $16MM in cap space with center Barrett Hayton as their only notable restricted free agent to re-sign. That leaves plenty of room for top prospects still on entry-level deals like Caleb Desnoyers, Tij Iginla, and Dmitriy Simashev to step in and compete for jobs while still allowing the Mammoth to add an impact free agent from this summer’s ever-thinning market.
Maple Leafs Recall Michael Pezzetta
The Maple Leafs have added enforcer Michael Pezzetta back to the NHL roster ahead of tonight’s game against the Hurricanes, the team announced. He was sent down to the AHL on Tuesday to get some minor-league playing time after serving as a healthy scratch for Toronto the previous weekend, but now figures to get another look in the lineup.
The 28-year-old Pezzetta signed a two-year deal with the Leafs in the offseason, joining his hometown team. A sixth-round pick by the Canadiens way back in 2016, he’d spent his entire career in Montreal up to that point with a 15-23–38 scoring line, a -9 rating, 241 penalty minutes, and 710 hits in 200 games.
Pezzetta couldn’t find a way onto Toronto’s opening night roster amid a logjam of forwards, though, leading to his first AHL action in four years. He’s spent virtually the entire campaign in the minors after clearing waivers until getting recalled last week following the Leafs’ deadline sell-off. He suited up in games against the Ducks and Sabres on March 12 and 14, racking up nine PIMs while averaging just 5:06 per game.
Pezzetta primarily fills an enforcer/checking role in the AHL as well, but has demonstrated a tad more offensive utility than he has in the past. He’s notched four goals and 10 points in 38 games for the Marlies with 52 penalty minutes and a -7 rating.
It doesn’t appear the Leafs have any injury concerns among their 12 healthy forwards already rostered, so Pezzetta’s recall likely doesn’t qualify as an emergency. That means he counts as the third of five regular recalls that Toronto can make after the trade deadline.
Red Wings Reassign John Leonard
The Red Wings announced Friday that they’ve assigned left-winger John Leonard to AHL Grand Rapids. The move comes after center Andrew Copp returned to the lineup in last night’s win over the Canadiens, scoring a goal after sitting out just three games with a leg injury that was initially expected to keep him out for at least two weeks. Since Leonard was up on an emergency basis, Detroit needed to return him as soon as they had 12 other healthy forwards.
Detroit picked up Leonard on a one-way, league minimum deal in free agency last summer. They were in need of some high-powered depth for their press box and for the minors, where Leonard had spent all of last season on an AHL deal with Charlotte in the Panthers organization. It’s been a great run for Leonard in Grand Rapids this year, leading the AHL’s best team in scoring with a 27-14–41 line and a +11 rating in just 34 games – a ridiculous 57-goal pace over a full 72-game minor-league season.
Leonard’s NHL results have been more tempered in limited minutes. The 27-year-old lefty has suited up 11 times for Detroit this season across multiple call-ups, with his pair of appearances earlier this week against the Stars and Flames serving as his first since January. Overall, he’s recorded two goals and two assists for four points with a -3 rating while averaging 11:30 of ice time per game, but he’s now without a point in his last five NHL showings dating back to late December.
These spot duty call-ups have marked Leonard’s first NHL action since a six-game call-up in March 2024 with the Coyotes. He hasn’t been a full-time NHL piece since appearing in 44 games for the Sharks (3-10–13, -7 rating)as a rookie in the COVID-shortened 2021 season. Those account for over half of his 81 career NHL appearances in parts of five seasons with San Jose, Nashville, Arizona, and Detroit. Given his electric AHL performance, though, he should be in line to land at least a two-way deal this summer, whether that’s on an extension in Hockeytown or somewhere else.
Even with Leonard dropped from the roster, the Wings are still dealing with their fair share of injuries. Captain Dylan Larkin‘s leg injury is expected to keep him out for at least another week. They’re also without Michael Brandsegg-Nygard and Michael Rasmussen on a day-to-day basis, and lost Mason Appleton to an undisclosed injury in the second period last night. Brandsegg-Nygard was upgraded to questionable despite not dressing yesterday, though, so he should be in line to return tomorrow for another key matchup against the Bruins. With Leonard headed down, Brandsegg-Nygard will be the one stepping into Detroit’s top nine for Appleton if he can’t go.
Morning Notes: Sandin Pellikka, Hedman, Erixon
Red Wings rookie defenseman Axel Sandin Pellikka was scratched for a sixth straight game in last night’s 3-1 win over the Canadiens. While the 2023 #17 overall pick hit the ground running this season as Detroit’s second-pairing righty behind Moritz Seider, his complete lack of usage after the team acquired Justin Faulk to fill that role at the deadline was weeks in the making. He has 19 points in 63 appearances but has seen his ice time slashed significantly dating back to New Year’s, averaging 13:27 per game in a 22-match stretch. He’ll no doubt make a push to leapfrog pending RFA Jacob Bernard-Docker on the depth chart next season to step back into a regular role, but his defensive results this year – a -21 rating, a 47.8% expected goals share, and a 45.2% scoring chance share at 5-on-5 – aren’t great.
Here’s more from around the NHL:
- Lightning captain Victor Hedman didn’t play the last two periods of the Bolts’ 6-2 drubbing of the Canucks last night, but there isn’t a huge cause for concern. Head coach Jon Cooper told reporters postgame that while he is a bit banged up, the decision to pull him was illness-related, per Benjamin Pierce of NHL.com. It’s long been known that the 35-year-old isn’t at 100% this season – he’s missed over 30 games due to elbow surgery and an undisclosed lower-body issue. It shows in his performance, averaging a career-low 18:52 per game while limited to a 1-16–17 scoring line and a -1 rating in 33 outings.
- Former NHL depth piece Tim Erixon has retired, he told Nathalie Vinroth of Swedish newspaper Sundsvalls Tidning this week. The 23rd overall pick by the Flames in the 2009 draft, he went on to play 93 games in parts of four years with the Rangers, Blue Jackets, Blackhawks, and Maple Leafs. He last saw NHL ice in 2015 and last played in the minors in 2019 before returning home to bookend his career in the Swedish Hockey League. The 35-year-old won an SHL championship with the Växjö Lakers in 2021 and has been with Timrå IK ever since, although he’s played just six games since the beginning of 2024-25 due to ongoing back issues aggravated by a foot fracture.
Flyers’ Sean Couturier, Denver Barkey, Luke Glendening Out
The Philadelphia Flyers will be without a forward for Thursday night’s game against the Los Angeles Kings. Sean Couturier has been announced as out day-to-day with an upper-body injury, head coach Rick Tocchet told Kevin Kurz of The Athletic. Tocchet did not have an official timeline for Couturier’s injury, though said he doesn’t believe it will be long-term. Philadelphia was also without winger Denver Barkey due to an upper-body injury, and Luke Glendening to a lower-body injury. Both share Couturier’s day-to-day designation.
Couturier was on the ice for the Flyers’ opening goal in their 3-2 overtime win over the Anaheim Ducks on Wednesday. He appeared in just over 15 minutes of ice time in that matchup, sticking to the bottom-six role that he has spent much of the year’s second half in. Couturier has seven goals and 29 points in 66 games this season, his lowest scoring pace since the 2012-13 season – his second year in the NHL. He is also averaging his lowest ice time, 17 minutes a game, since that season.
Couturier’s slide into a smaller lineup role has coincided with handful of injuries over the last five seasons. He missed much of the second half of 2021-22, and all of the 2022-23 season, due to a string of injuries including back surgery. He has missed 12 games since returning to a full-time role in 2023-24 season.
Glendening has split a center role with Couturier since joining the team via waivers just after the NHL Trade Deadline. He has two points in five games and a 57.9 faceoff percentage on 38 faceoffs so far. That reliability has helped form an all-three-zones bottom line next to Couturier and Garnet Hathaway.
Rookie winger Barkey has also spent the majority of his time in Philadelphia’s bottom-six. He has three goals and 11 points in 32 NHL games this season, to go with 16 points in 26 AHL games.
The Flyers will have to look towards their extra forwards to fill Couturier’s lineup role. They currently carry two extra forwards: Carl Grundstrom and Garrett Wilson. Grundstrom has been the de facto option this season, stepping into 37 games and scoring 12 points on the year. The hard-nosed winger could again slot into a fourth-line role, while the top of Philadelphia’s lineup remains unchanged.
Wilson played in 84 NHL games between 2013 and 2019, recording eight points and 42 penalty minutes. He has spent the last seven seasons in a full-time, AHL role where his grinder presence stands tall. Wilson leads the Lehigh Valley Phantoms with 101 penalty minutes in 54 games this season. He racked up 134 PIMs in 63 games last season and a career-high 216 PIMs in 59 games in the year prior. The grinder made his Flyers debut filling in for the trio of injuries on Thursday.
Predators Recall Matt Murray, Juuse Saros Out
The Nashville Predators had to change plans just before puck drop in Thursday night’s game against the Seattle Kraken. The team recalled depth goaltender Matt Murray to back up Justus Annunen after it was revealed that Juuse Saros would miss the game with an upper-body injury. The injury was sustained at morning practice, per Alex Daughterty of The Tennessean.
Murray is having to travel away from the AHL’s Milwaukee Admirals, who are on their own road trip through Canada, to fill his recall to the NHL. He is traveling from Winnipeg to Nashville and is expected to arrive in the second half of the game, per NHL.com’s Brooks Bratten. That news will likely necessitate an emergency backup goalie in the stands for the first half of the game, though Nashville did not officially sign any temporary tryouts.
Saros is officially listed as out day-to-day. His absence will leave big shoes to fill after the veteran goaltender posted wins in four of his last five games, including back-to-back shootout wins. He has faced an average of 31 shots against since March 1st and posted a .910 save percentage in that stretch. That stretch has far outperformed Saros’ season-long performance, marked by 24 wins and a .894 save percentage in 51 games.
The Predators haven’t found much more relief in turning to backup Annunen, who has six wins and a .888 save percentage in 21 games this season. He has matched the save percentage he posted in 23 games with the Predators last season, after joining the team in a December 2024 trade that sent Scott Wedgewood to the Colorado Avalanche. Annunen will stand as the de facto starter if Saros is forced to miss additional time, as Murray hasn’t played in the NHL since the Dallas Stars’ 2023-24 season. He recorded a shutout in his last NHL contest.
Murray has spent this season in command of the Admirals’ starting crease. He has recorded 17 wins and a .908 save percentage in 37 games: team-highs in all three stats. His stat line was much stronger in his debut with the Admirals last season, when Murray posted 28 wins and a .932 save percentage in 43 games. He will offer extra hands if Nashville runs into another goalie injury – though the team should go back to their usual pairing of Saros and Annunen as soon as the former is back to health.
Wild’s Kirill Kaprizov Out Day-To-Day
The Minnesota Wild won’t have their superstar winger on Thursday night. Kirill Kaprizov is out day-to-day with a lower-body injury sustained in the team’s last game against the Chicago Blackhawks per Michael Russo of The Athletic. Specifically, Kaprizov’s injury was sustained on a check from Blackhawks forward Ryan Donato, per Russo, and his absence from the lineup is a precaution after Kaprizov skated in full at Thursday morning’s practice. In-season trade acquisition Quinn Hughes will serve as an alternative captain in Kaprizov’s spot.
Minnesota will struggle to make up for Kaprizov’s absence. He brings a nightly impact, including recording one assist and a team-high six shots on goal in Tuesday’s overtime win over the Blackhawks despite getting injured. He leads the Wild with 38 goals and 80 points in 69 games this season. Kaprizov was also one of only four Wild skaters – alongside Brock Faber, Yakov Trenin, and Jared Spurgeon – to appear in every game this season. That streak will come to an end on Thursday, forcing Minnesota to find a replacement for their star winger on top of replacing injured center Joel Eriksson Ek.
Centerman Hunter Haight will step into the lineup for Kaprizov. This will be the rookie’s first NHL game since a three-game stint in the lineup in mid-January. He has no points and a minus-four in five NHL games, and 23 points in 43 AHL games, this season. Haight should assume a bottom-line role, while speedy winger Bobby Brink joins Matt Boldy and Danila Yurov on Minnesota’s top line. Brink scored one goal in three games with the Wild after being acquired at the Trade Deadline, and before going down with an injury that’s held him out of the last nine days. He’ll return to the lineup in a big way, with Minnesota seeking additional scoring in lieu of Kaprizov. Brink could be fighting to stick in the top-nine after Kaprizov returns with this spot start next to one of Minnesota’s top scorers.
Blue Jackets Will Wait Until Summer To Discuss Rick Bowness’ Future
The Columbus Blue Jackets became the first team to fire their coach this season when they parted ways with Dean Evason in early January. Columbus immediately hired veteran head coach Rick Bowness as an interim head coach and have posted a 16-2-4 record – second-best in the NHL – ever since. That hot streak has propelled the Blue Jackets into a strong spot in the Eatern Conference Wild Card race. They sit just one point outside of playoff contention, behind the Boston Bruins and Detroit Red Wings. With that race at the front of their minds, the Blue Jackets don’t plan to talk about Bowness’ future in the role until after the season, general manager Don Waddell told Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman.
It has been six years since the Blue Jackets last made the Stanley Cup playoffs. Their last berth was brought to a first round end at the hands of the Tampa Bay Lightning, who they beat in the first round in the year prior. Even still, the Blue Jackets’ streak of four consecutive appearances from 2017 to 2020 hinged on Wild Card races and no more than 50 wins each season. That is the position that Columbus once again find themselves in, leaning on a top-three defense – by goals allowed – under Bowness to try and lock in a Wild Card spot while on pace for 42 wins.
The Blue Jackets’ boom under new coaching has been a pleasant surprise. That fact has many wondering if Bowness will stay in the fold, including some of the team’s players per Friedman. Waddell told Friedman that he and Bowness may be the only two people not worried about the long-term.
That relaxed stance could be a good sign for the Blue Jackets. Bowness announced his retirement from coaching in May 2024, after his then Winnipeg Jets were eliminated from the playoffs. That news brought an end to one of the longest active coaching careers in the sport. Bowness debuted behind an NHL bench in 1982 when he was hired as an assistant by Winnipeg, where he had spent the final years of his NHL playing career. He coached in 36 of the next 40 NHL seasons, including 24 consecutive seasons from 1999 to 2024. His retirement came as Bowness approached his 70th birthday. Now 71, he has returned from retirement to head the Blue Jackets bench, and became the last remaining head coach to coach in the 1980s in doing so.
Columbus is now led by plenty of veteran coaching experience. Waddell has also began his management career in the 1980s, with the IHL’s Flint Spirits. The two are seasoned hockey names who know the conversations that go into coaching contracts. Their lack of concern over Bowness’ future shows where their focus sits as Columbus approaches a month of must-win games. On the other side of the playoffs, Bowness will face the question of whether he wants to return to retirement or continue on as the oldest head coach in the league. The Blue Jackets will anxiously await that conversation, with their fortunes on the rise on the back of five difficult seasons.