The Penguins got some good news on the injury front today as the team announced (Twitter link) that Jared McCann has been activated off injured reserve. He had missed the last six games due to an upper-body injury and has been limited to just 17 games this season though he has been productive, managing five goals and five assists. McCann’s return is of particular importance with Evgeni Malkin’s injury as he’ll now slide onto the second line in Malkin’s absence.
Unfortunately for Pittsburgh, as one player returned, another went down. Following today’s game against New Jersey, the team tweeted that winger Brandon Tanev suffered an upper-body injury in the pregame warmup which caused him to miss his first game of the season. The 29-year-old is quietly averaging 0.5 points per game for the Penguins this season which is a career high and will be re-evaluated when the team returns to Pittsburgh.
Elsewhere around the East:
- Rangers winger Pavel Buchnevich is in the midst of a career year but Newsday’s Colin Stephenson posits that the 25-year-old should be a trade candidate as a result. The pending restricted free agent has 26 points in 28 games but with several young wingers on the roster already – plus Vitali Kravtsov soon arriving – he suggests that they may need the money that would otherwise be earmarked for him to fill their long-standing vacancy down the middle with an asset or two from a Buchnevich deal helping to facilitate that move. Buchnevich will be eligible for salary arbitration this offseason and will be looking for a fair bit more than his $3MM qualifying offer.
- The Bruins provided an update with regards to their COVID-19 situation. The team has returned to Boston and will self-quarantine through Tuesday when their situation will be re-assessed. The five players that are currently on the CPRA list have also returned to Boston but did not travel with the team. The Bruins are next scheduled to play on Thursday after their game against the Sabres today and on Tuesday against the Islanders were postponed.
Buchnevich isn’t going anywhere. The Rangers are 3 lines deep and the D is solid even with D’Angelo gone. This is a team that just needs time together and develop that consistency winning teams have. They’re very young and still learning each other. In due time.
Yeah truly doesn’t make sense for them to trade him. Keep their core intact they have an astounding amount of young talent upfront and even their D and goalie situations are favorable. Give them a couple years they will be a force.
They are too deep, and can’t pay everyone. They have to make sacrifices somewhere, and as much as I like Buchnevich, what the post suggests makes sense. Extending Kreider meant tough decisions like this were on the horizon.
I would think that having an older Russian like Buchnevich to mentor Kratsov would be a good thing.