Quenneville Issues Mason McTavish Injury Update
- Anaheim Ducks center Mason McTavish was a late scratch by the team before last night’s contest against the Colorado Avalanche, with the team revealing he suffered an upper-body injury. Head coach Joel Quenneville addressed McTavish’s status with the media postgame, telling assembled reporters (including The Hockey News’ Derek Lee) that he doesn’t at this point know for exactly how long McTavish’s injury will sideline him, but believes the ailment is not too serious. Any extended absence for McTavish would deal a real blow to the Ducks, as the 22-year-old pivot has been a key contributor with 30 points in 49 games this season.
Latest On Mason McTavish
Pittsburgh Penguins fixture Kris Letang is absent tonight in Calgary as reported by Josh Yohe, Penguins Beat Writer.
The 38-year-old was listed as questionable yesterday, due to an upper-body injury. It’s not immediately clear what caused the ailment, as Letang continues to play heavy minutes, his 22:01 average standing as second-most on the team, behind Erik Karlsson, who is also injured and out tonight. With 25 points in 48 games, it will be the first contest of 2025-26 the Pens will not have Letang in the lineup.
Winners of six out of their last 10, firmly in the playoff hunt, Pittsburgh must turn to Jack St. Ivany, who has served as a depth defenseman this year. Ryan Graves will also remain on the third pairing, the 30-year-old eager to get on track after his struggles resulted in demotion to the AHL. Still on the outside looking in with an unmovable contract, Graves has been called upon due to the numerous injuries on the back end.
Both Letang and Karlsson figure to be back by Sunday as the group travels to Vancouver.
Elsewhere across the league:
- Shortly before tonight’s game against the shorthanded Penguins, the Calgary Flames shared that Jonathan Huberdeau is day-to-day with a lower body injury, and will not play. Missing in warm-ups, it was briefly speculated that the $10.5MM man could have been scratched, not entirely out of the realm of possibility, but instead he will miss his sixth of the campaign due to an injury. After a step forward last season where he recorded 62 points, good for second best on the team, this year has not been kind to the 32-year-old. He has just 21 points in 44 games, but as the Flames rank second-to-last in offense, Huberdeau still ranks sixth on team scoring totals. Martin Pospisil, recalled yesterday, will make his season debut, coming back from an upper-body injury sustained in the preseason. Huberdeau will look to be healthy by Friday, as the Flames host the Capitals.
- Ahead of tonight’s game at Colorado, the Anaheim Ducks updated that Mason McTavish won’t play due to an upper-body injury, while Jansen Harkins enters the lineup. The news was unexpected, as McTavish has not yet missed a game all year, finding the back of the net in each of his last two games. The 22-year-old has 30 points in 49 games, somewhat surpassed in a group of dynamic young forwards, but still a key contributor. Having won four in a row, Anaheim’s center depth has taken a major hit as star Leo Carlsson is out three to five weeks. The group will hope to have McTavish back by Friday in Seattle, but tonight is a tough test against the top team in the league.
Jackson LaCombe Named To U.S. Olympic Team
USA Hockey announced a change to its roster for the upcoming Winter Olympics in Milano Cortina. Per their official release, Florida Panthers defenseman Seth Jones has been removed from the roster due to being “injured and unable to participate,” and in his place, Anaheim Ducks blueliner Jackson LaCombe has been named to the roster.
Jones suffered an injury early this month and was originally considered week-to-week. At the time, his status for the Olympics had only been downgraded to questionable — he had not been ruled out. The Panthers shifted Jones to LTIR on Monday, indicating that he would not be ready to go in time for the Olympics.
It’s a tough blow for Jones, who was undoubtedly looking forward to the chance to represent his country on such a big stage. The defenseman, who won the Stanley Cup with the Panthers last year, has represented the United States at several IIHF Men’s World Championships, including captaining the team in 2022.
While this news is undoubtedly a severe disappointment for Jones, it’s also a massive opportunity for LaCombe. The Minnesota native helped the United States win a gold medal at last year’s IIHF Men’s World Championship, serving as one of that team’s top defensemen.
The 2019 second-round pick has emerged as a true No. 1 defenseman in the NHL, averaging 24:26 time on ice per game this season, including a heavy workload on both sides of special teams. He scored 43 points in 75 games last season and has 31 points in 49 games this year. The Ducks rewarded his NHL breakout in October, signing him to an eight-year, $9MM AAV deal.
What’s notable about LaCombe’s addition, when it comes to Team USA as a whole, is his status as a left-shot defenseman. His addition to Team USA, alongside the loss of Jones, leaves the Americans with just two right-shot blueliners (Brock Faber and Charlie McAvoy). Norris Trophy winner Adam Fox is widely considered the top right-shot defenseman not on the American roster, but he’s currently on LTIR, which is likely to have impacted his chances of selection as an injury replacement.
Montreal Canadiens star Lane Hutson may also have been considered, as he has been one of the NHL’s most valuable defensemen since entering the league. While he does have some experience playing the right side at the NHL level, which may have helped his case, GM Bill Guerin may have been wary about adding another undersized defenseman to a roster that already includes superstar Quinn Hughes.
In any case, LaCombe is an extremely well-rounded defenseman capable of contributing in all situations, and was likely very close to making the roster outright in the first place. The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun indicated as much, writing “LaCombe had been seriously considered by Team USA to begin with.” Now, due to an injury, he gets his chance.
Sweden’s Leo Carlsson, Jonas Brodin Expected To Miss Olympics
With 22 days left before the men’s hockey tournament kicks off at the 2026 Winter Olympics, Team Sweden has been hit with a double-whammy of bad injury news. Star forward Leo Carlsson and top-four defenseman Jonas Brodin are both expected to miss the tournament with injuries head coach Sam Hallam told Sweden’s Hockey Sverige. The team will hold out hope for something “extraordinary” but expect to have to replace both players on their official roster per Hallam.
Carlsson recently sustained a thigh injury that formed a lesion, requiring surgery and a three-to-five week recovery. Brodin has been out since January 12th, when he was finally forced out of the lineup by a nagging lower-body injury. Minnesota designated him as out week-to-week and placed him on injured reserve.
The impact that Carlsson and Brodin bring to the Olympic roster can not be understated. Both would have cemented roles near the top of the lineup and could have been X-factors that led the Tre Kronas to Olympic Gold.
Carlsson made his debut on Sweden’s men’s national team at the age of 18, in the 2023 World Championship. He scored three goals and five points in eight games, though the Swedes ultimately lost in the quarterfinals. Carlsson was left off of Sweden’s 2024 roster, during his NHL rookie season, but returned with a purpose in 2025. He scored 10 points in 10 games, third on the team in scoring as Sweden pushed for a Bronze medal finish.
Carlsson’s game has continued its exponential growth since he represented Sweden this summer. He leads the Anaheim Ducks in scoring with 44 points in 44 games, an incredible pace for the 21-year-old forward. He is taking on bigger roles and could have offered top-six upside for Sweden in the Olympics.
Brodin, 32, is on the other side of his career but still brings an impactful, two-way style to the lineup. He has averaged the lowest expected-goals-against per-60 (xGA/60; 2.75) on the Minnesota defense per HockeyStats.com. The Wild have, in total, outscored opponents 35-to-26 in Brodin’s even-strength ice time. That goal-differential (+9) is tied with Quinn Hughes for the best on the team.
Brodin has contributed 15 points in 42 games this season, bringing his NHL career up to 275 points in 895 games. He represented Sweden at the 2024 and 2025 World Championships, where his scoring jumped to a combined 11 points in 20 games. He has never represented Sweden at the Olympics, and may never get to on the back of this injury. Brodin is signed through the 2027-28 season by Minnesota. He could aim to land one more two-year deal on the other side of that contract, which would carry him through his age-36 season and provide one more chance to become a Swedish Olympian. For that to happen, Brodin will first need to work through the nagging injury that’s plaguing him.
Sweden will now face the tough task of how to replace two key pieces of the lineup. Their Olympic roster featured a long list of cuts, with the most surprising exclusions on defense. Sweden opted not to bring Edmonton’s Mattias Ekholm, Boston’s Hampus Lindholm, or Detroit’s Simon Edvinsson. All three players – each left-handed shots, the same as Brodin – will now step back up to vie for the role of injury replacement.
The 21-year-old Edvinsson represented the country most recently, having played in all 10 games of the 2025 World Championship, while Ekholm and Lindholm were in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Edvinsson contributed one assist to the tournament in what was his debut with the men’s national team. It will be Ekholm who likely holds the strongest bid. The 35 year old served as an alternate captain on Sweden’s 4-Nations Face-Off roster in 2025, where he scored one point in three games. He, like Brodin, brings an interesting two-way upside. Meanwhile, Lindholm would offer a shutdown role, though he has faced his own challenges with injury this season.
While Sweden is separating hairs on defense, they will also have to find another forward. San Jose Sharks winger William Eklund appeared to be the biggest exclusion on offense, especially after posting his first 40-assist season in the NHL last year. He has never played for Sweden’s men’s team and only appeared in two notable junior tournaments – five games at the 2020 Hlinka Gretzky Cup and two games at the cancelled 2022 World Junior Championships. Eklund would bring a dose of speed and playmaking ability, though he may not supplant the top-six role Carlsson was vying for.
Sweden could get a bit more assuredness from Calgary Flames captain Mikael Backlund. The veteran center offers a chippy, two-way game but has added a nice bit of offense this season. He has scored 12 goals and 31 points in 49 games this season, putting him on pace for the second-highest scoring season of his 18-year carere behind his 56 points in 2022-23. Sweden could also turn towards plays like Emil Heineman or Marcus Johansson.
Keeping all of those names in mind could be a safe bet as Sweden looks forward to the near-future. The country is also facing injuries to William Nylander, Gabriel Landeskog, Erik Karlsson, Joel Eriksson Ek, and Philip Broberg. Those players haven’t been ruled out of the Winter Olympics just yet, but they represent the heavy load facing a potential medal-favorite with just under a month before puck drop.
Photo courtesy of Walter Tychnowicz-Imagn Images.
Leo Carlsson Out Three To Five Weeks
The Ducks, who have been struggling in recent weeks, will now have to try to turn things around without the services of one of their top players for the next little while. The team announced (Twitter link) that center Leo Carlsson will miss the next three to five weeks after undergoing a procedure today to treat a Morel-Lavallée lesion in his left thigh.
After showing some improvement in his sophomore year last season, Carlsson has been one of the league’s breakout performers in 2025-26. He has emerged as a legitimate number one center for Anaheim, playing in all situations with head coach Joel Quenneville entrusting him with a much bigger role.
On the offensive side of things, Carlsson has 18 goals and 26 assists in 44 games so far, making him their leading scorer, two points ahead of veteran Troy Terry who is also dealing with an injury. He has already set a career high in assists and is only one point shy of matching his career high in points. In the final season of his entry-level contract, the 21-year-old is putting himself in line for a significant raise on his next deal with a jump to a double-digit AAV not out of the question on a max-term agreement.
On top of having significant implications for Anaheim’s efforts to get back into the playoff picture (they’re four points out heading into tonight’s action), Carlsson’s absence could also affect a second team as well. He was named to Sweden’s Olympic roster earlier this month with their first game coming on February 12th. If his recovery time is the short end of that range, he should be good to go to participate. However, if it looks like it will be closer to the longer end, he’d miss the first week at a minimum and given the short length of the tournament, Carlsson would become a potential roster casualty. He’ll undoubtedly be reassessed in a few weeks to help determine if he’ll be cleared to suit up in that event.
At the moment, Carlsson is on Anaheim’s active roster. With that currently being at the maximum of 23, he’s likely to be shifted to injured reserve in the near future.
Ducks Recall Sam Colangelo, Place Troy Terry On Injured Reserve
Earlier today, the hope was that the Ducks would welcome back winger Troy Terry from the upper-body injury that has kept him out of the lineup for the last three games. However, that won’t be the case as the team announced that Terry has been placed on injured reserve. Taking his place on the roster is winger Sam Colangelo, who has been recalled from AHL San Diego.
After seeing his point total dip to the mid-50s over the last couple of seasons, Terry has bounced back quite nicely this season, flirting with the point-per-game mark for most of the year. He currently sits second on the team in scoring with 13 goals and 29 assists in 43 games. Terry was originally viewed as a game-time decision back on Tuesday so the fact he’s now set to be out a little longer could be a sign for concern or merely the team exercising a bit more caution with one of their top players. His placement is retroactive to January 6th, meaning he has already served the required week and thus can be activated at any time.
As for Colangelo, this is his first recall back to Anaheim since being sent down in mid-November. At the time, he had only played sporadically, getting into just seven games where he had one goal while averaging just over 10 minutes per night. The 24-year-old has fared better in the minors, however, picking up seven goals and nine assists with the Gulls in 23 games but that’s still below the point-per-game showing he had in 40 outings last season.
With Leo Carlsson (lower body) out once again and Jeffrey Viel still on his way to join the team after being acquired earlier today, Anaheim wouldn’t have had enough forwards for tonight’s game without Colangelo. But with Terry ideally back soon and Viel likely to report to the team on Saturday, it could be a short-term stint for Colangelo on Anaheim’s roster.
Anaheim Ducks Acquire Jeffrey Viel
According to a team announcement, the Boston Bruins have traded bottom-six forward Jeffrey Viel to the Anaheim Ducks for a conditional 2026 fourth-round pick. The Ducks originally had the Detroit Red Wings and Philadelphia Flyers’ fourth-round picks for the upcoming draft, and the highest one will go to Boston.
Viel, 28, had spent the last two years in the Bruins organization after signing a two-year, $1.55MM contract with the team ahead of the 2024-25 season. He spent much of last season with the AHL’s Providence Bruins, scoring 13 goals and 37 points in 68 games with a +14 rating. Additionally, he was again one of the most penalized forwards in the league, finishing with 148 PIMs.
That’s been the status quo for Viel throughout his professional career. Since the 2018-19 campaign, with the AHL’s San Jose Barracuda, Viel has recorded 75 goals and 170 points in 349 AHL games with 688 PIMs. It averages out to nearly one minor penalty per game.
Instead of beginning this season in the AHL, Viel cracked Boston’s opening night roster as the team was looking to become more hard-nosed. Still, he’s been a healthy scratch most nights, going scoreless across 10 games, averaging 9:30 of ice time per game.
It’ll be interesting to see how the Ducks utilize Viel in their lineup, if at all. The team already has a comparable forward in Ross Johnston, though Johnston offers more offensive upside, at least this season. There’s certainly a chance they will send Viel to the AHL’s San Diego Gulls, where he would usurp Travis Howe as the team’s “tough guy,” given that he could also be a reliable secondary scorer.
Meanwhile, the Bruins had an opening on their roster after sending Viel to Orange County. Moving quickly, Boston announced that they’ve recalled defenseman Billy Sweezey from AHL Providence.
Sweezey, a native of Massachusetts, is in his second year with the Bruins organization. He’s already surpassed his scoring totals last year, starting with one goal and 11 points in 34 games to start the year with a +22 rating. Sweezey’s recall is likely linked to the status of Andrew Peeke, who left Boston’s game last night due to a lower-body injury.
Ducks Reassign Nikita Nesterenko
The Anaheim Ducks have assigned winger Nikita Nesterenko to the AHL’s San Diego Gulls. This move comes after Nesterenko cleared NHL waivers last week. It is Nesterenko’s first assignment to the minors since signing a two-year, $1.6MM contract with the Ducks in June.
Nesterenko earned Anaheim’s extra forward role in the second half of the 2024-25 season. He recorded six points and a minus-four in 20 games, to go with 34 points in 50 AHL games on the year. The season continued Nesterenko’s gradual climb up Anaheim’s depth chart that started when he signed his entry-level contract out of college in 2023. With a strong training camp, Nesterenko took another step up, and locked himself into an NHL roster spot for the first half of the season.
But the 24-year-old forward has made little work of his extended look. He has one goal and nine points in 29 games – and only one point in his last 11 games. His biggest impact has come in the physical game, where his 53 hits ranks fourth among Ducks forwards. On the heels of a snapped losing streak, the Ducks will send Nesterenko to find a spark in the minor leagues. He has already racked up 71 points in 120 career games in the AHL. His presence will be welcome for a Gulls team riding a 1-3-1 record in January.
Latest On Leo Carlsson, Cutter Gauthier, & Troy Terry
The struggling Anaheim Ducks will be especially short handed tonight, as Leo Carlsson, Cutter Gauthier, and Troy Terry are all absent, per Derek Lee of The Hockey News. The team updated that Carlsson has a lower-body injury and Gauthier is ill, along with Terry’s known upper-body injury.
After a great start to the season, the Ducks have faltered recently, with just one regulation win in their last 10 games, and a five game losing streak. Carlsson, Gauthier, and Terry rank in order as the team’s top three scorers, so all of them out of the mix against the league’s second best team, Dallas, will make an especially formidable challenge.
Ducks Recall Tim Washe, Place Petr Mrazek On Injured Reserve
According to a team announcement, the Anaheim Ducks have recalled Tim Washe from the AHL’s San Diego Gulls. The Ducks also placed netminder Petr Mrázek on the injured reserve in a corresponding transaction.
Washe, 24, is in his second year with the Ducks after signing as a collegiate free agent last season. He was coming off a remarkable year, scoring 16 goals and 38 points in 42 games with the NCAA’s Western Michigan University Broncos with a +22 rating. Additionally, Washe captained the team to their first National Championship in program history.
Due to the Broncos advancing as far as possible in the national tournament, Washe only played in two games for Anaheim to conclude the 2024-25 season. This season has been spent entirely with AHL San Diego, where Washe has scored 13 goals and 25 points in 30 games, boasting a +7 rating. He’s currently tied for third with three other players in rookie scoring in the AHL.
Anaheim passed bottom-six forward Nikita Nesterenko through waivers earlier today, and Washe will likely slot into a similar role. However, it’s important to note that although Nesterenko has cleared waivers, the Ducks haven’t yet reassigned him to AHL San Diego, necessitating the additional roster move with Mrázek.
Meanwhile, Mrázek’s placement on the IR was largely expected. The 14-year veteran left Monday’s game against the Philadelphia Flyers with an undisclosed injury, and the Ducks quickly recalled Ville Husso on an emergency basis the following day. Throughout the season, his first in Anaheim, Mrázek has compiled a 3-5-0 record in eight starts, with a .858 SV% and a 4.07 GAA in a backup role.