Golden Knights center Tomas Hertl rejoined the team for practice today, the team announced (Twitter link). It’s worth noting that he wasn’t cleared for contact so he’s not particularly close to returning. The 31-year-old suffered a shoulder injury a little more than a week ago, stalling what had been one of his better offensive seasons as he has 31 goals and 28 assists in 70 games. However, Pierre LeBrun reports in his latest piece for The Athletic (subscription link) that Hertl is expected to be ready for the start of the playoffs so while Hertl won’t be back in the immediate future, he won’t be out for much longer either.
Elsewhere around the hockey world:
- Capitals goaltender Logan Thompson suffered an upper-body injury in the first period tonight against Carolina, the team announced (Twitter link). While he finished the period, he did not return after that. The 27-year-old has done quite well in his first season with Washington, posting a 31-5-6 record with a 2.43 GAA and a .912 SV% in 42 games heading into tonight’s action, earning himself a six-year, $35.1MM extension back in January. While Washington has a big cushion for top spot in the Metropolitan Division, an extended absence certainly wouldn’t be ideal heading into the playoffs.
- Blue Jackets prospect William Whitelaw is looking for a new place to play next season as he has entered the NCAA transfer portal, relays Mark Divver of the New England Hockey Journal (Twitter link). The 20-year-old was an early third-round pick back in 2023, going 66th overall but has bounced around since then. He played at Wisconsin in his freshman year but after managing 10 goals and seven assists in 37 games, he entered the portal and wound up choosing to play at Michigan this year. The change of scenery didn’t yield much of an increase in production, just one extra goal in two fewer games so it appears he’s hoping the third time is the charm in terms of finding the right school to play at.
- University of Maine goaltender Albin Boija was one of the top goaltenders from this year’s college free agent class. However, he won’t be turning pro after all as Divver reports in a separate tweet that the 21-year-old has elected to return for his junior year. Boija took over as the starter for the Black Bears this season, posting a 1.82 GAA and a .926 SV% in 37 games, ranking him in the top ten in Division I in both categories.