Pacific Notes: Coleman, Honzek, Lipinski, McDavid, Carrick

The Calgary Flames will be without forward Blake Coleman, who is day-to-day with an upper-body injury, per Sportsnet’s Pat Steinberg (Twitter link). Coleman suffered the injury on a hard hit from San Jose Sharks defenseman Kyle Burroughs, though he finished out the game.

Coleman has found a new layer to his game on the struggling Flames roster, posting an impressive 29 goals, 23 assists, and 52 points in 77 games. Each of those represents a career-high for the 32-year-old, who hasn’t topped even 40 points in any of his seven seasons up to this point. He and winger Yegor Sharangovich—who’s posted 30 goals of his own—have been pivotal to the Flames this season, setting the pace for the team’s limited offense.

The Flames are well outside of a playoff spot, removing some of the stress of finding a fill-in for Coleman. Kevin Rooney is expected to slot into the lineup for the short term. Calgary has five games left in its season.

One player who won’t be filling in is 2023 first-round pick Samuel Hoznek, who is in Calgary after the end of his WHL season, though he’s nursing an injury that could hold him out, per Ryan Pike of Flames Nation (Twitter link). Calgary signed Honzek last summer, loaning him to the WHL’s Vancouver Giants for the season. He returns to the Calgary organization alongside WHL teammate Jaden Lipinski, who has signed an amateur try-out contract with the AHL’s Calgary Wranglers. Honzek will also close out the season with the Wranglers once he’s cleared to play.

Elsewhere in the Pacific:

• The Edmonton Oilers haven’t received any positive news about superstar Connor McDavid, who remains day-to-day and questionable for the team’s next game, per TSN’s Ryan Rishaug (Twitter link). McDavid will be poised to miss his second game with a lower-body injury. He’s been filled in for by Dylan Holloway, who was recalled ahead of the team’s Wednesday matchup against the Vegas Golden Knights. Holloway scored his first NHL goal since February 13th in the spot start.
• The Oilers will also be without forward Sam Carrick, who is day-to-day with an upper-body injury suffered during the team’s Wednesday night matchup, per NHL Network’s Tom Gazzola (Twitter link). Carrick, who moved to Edmonton alongside Adam Henrique at the Trade Deadline, has recorded four points and 12 penalty minutes in his first 12 games with the Oilers. He’ll likely be replaced by Connor Brown.