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Ducks’ Brock McGinn Out For Season Following ACL Surgery, Trevor Zegras Activated

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Jan. 22: The Ducks announced later Tuesday that forward Trevor Zegras, who’d missed the last six weeks after undergoing right knee surgery, was activated from injured reserve. McGinn was already on IR and Anaheim had an open roster spot, so there was no corresponding transaction. Zegras suited up in last night’s game against the Panthers, recording a minus-two rating and four shots in 15:48 of ice time. His point totals remain at a sluggish four goals and six assists through 25 appearances.

Jan. 21: Ducks winger Brock McGinn underwent successful ACL reconstruction surgery in Los Angeles last week, the team announced. McGinn has a seven-to-nine-month recovery window as a result, ending his 2024-25 campaign and putting his availability for the start of the 2025-26 regular season in jeopardy.

McGinn, a pending unrestricted free agent, last played on Dec. 23 against the Golden Knights. The 30-year-old left that game in the first period after awkwardly twisting his knee while attempting to throw a check. It didn’t appear he’d miss too much time after skating off under his own power and initially being termed day-to-day by the club, but he’ll now finish the season hurt for the third time in his three seasons in Anaheim.

A second-round pick of the Hurricanes back in 2012, McGinn’s tenure in Southern California has been riddled by injuries. He first missed the final four regular season games of the 2022-23 campaign with an upper-body issue after being acquired from the Penguins at the trade deadline in exchange for defenseman Dmitry Kulikov. McGinn then missed over half of the 2023-24 season due to various injuries, including season-ending back surgery in March.

The 6’0″, 187-lb forward also missed seven games earlier this season with a lower-body issue. It’s unclear if the two are related or if a cumulative/re-aggravated knee issue led to such a major procedure being required.

Understandably, the once productive bottom six piece’s production has taken a hit in Anaheim due to his health and the team’s underwhelming roster. He’s managed only seven goals and 14 points in 65 appearances as a Duck since the 2023 trade, averaging 11:38 per game. His eight points in 26 games this year was on pace to be his best offensive showing since posting 22 points in 64 games with Pittsburgh in 2021-22, however.

While McGinn was already going to need to take a pay cut on his expiring $2.75MM AAV on the open market this summer, the injury likely locks him in as a candidate for a PTO in September. He likely won’t be cleared to resume contact until around then, so any interested teams will likely be wary of giving him a guaranteed contract earlier in the summer.

For the Ducks, McGinn’s continued absence leaves a permanent hole in the bottom six. That opening should mean more playing time for fringe youngsters like Sam Colangelo and Nikita Nesterenko in addition to veteran AHL call-ups like Jansen Harkins.

Senators’ Zack MacEwen Takes Indefinite Leave Of Absence

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Senators winger Zack MacEwen, currently on assignment to AHL Belleville, is taking an indefinite personal leave of absence from the club, according to a statement from the B-Sens. The 28-year-old said on his Instagram account Tuesday that he’s taking time to heal following the passing of his father.

MacEwen is in the second season of the three-year, $2.33MM contract he inked with Ottawa as a free agent in 2023. He’s split this season between the big club and Belleville, recording two goals and an assist in 21 NHL appearances. He’s been in the minors since last week, posting five goals and four assists for nine points in 15 AHL appearances this season.

The Prince Edward Island-born forward has largely been cast as an enforcer during his NHL career but has been a more offensively inclined power forward when deployed in the minors. He’s produced 0.63 points per game over his 182-game AHL career compared to 0.14 in his 237 big league games.

MacEwen has been a consistent depth presence when called upon for Ottawa this season, averaging less than eight minutes per game but managing the best possession metrics of his career with a 53.4 CF% at even strength.

All of us at Pro Hockey Rumors wish MacEwen the best as he takes a step back.

Bruins Place Mark Kastelic On IR; Recall Patrick Brown, Max Jones

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Bruins depth forward Mark Kastelic’s return to the lineup was short-lived. The 25-year-old is back on injured reserve today after he was activated Saturday, per a team announcement. The move gave Boston two open roster spots, which they promptly used to recall forwards Patrick Brown and Max Jones from Providence in corresponding transactions.

Kastelic sustained an upper-body injury against the Lightning on Jan. 9 that sidelined him for two games. Given Boston’s light schedule this month, that was enough for an IR placement. He returned against the Senators, his former team, but did not play in the third period of Monday’s win over the Sharks. It’s not clear when he sustained the new injury or whether it’s a recurrence of his previous upper-body issue.

The 6’4″ pivot has four goals and a career-high 13 points in 45 games with the Bruins this season, his first in Boston after they acquired him from Ottawa in last summer’s Linus Ullmark blockbuster. His emergence as a high-end fourth-line center landed him a three-year, $4.7MM extension earlier this month, keeping him off 2025’s restricted free-agent market.

Kastelic’s 175 hits lead the Bruins, and his 55.1% faceoff percentage is second on the team behind John Beecher among Boston skaters with at least 100 draws. His 11:11 average time on ice is a career-high, although he remains uninvolved on either special teams unit.

The Bruins are now down two-thirds of their usually effective fourth line. Winger Cole Koepke has missed the last two contests with an upper-body injury and landed on injured reserve over the weekend.

Brown and Jones come up as reinforcements for the injured pair ahead of Wednesday’s game against the Devils. At least one will enter the lineup with Kastelic out, although Koepke will technically be eligible to return and Trent Frederic may be an option after missing the San Jose tilt with an illness.

Brown, 32, last suited up for the Bruins on Nov. 14 in what remains his only NHL appearance in 2024-25. The right-shot center is in the back half of a two-year, $1.6MM contract that he’s mostly spent collecting a one-way paycheck in the minors, where he has 20 goals, 37 assists, 57 points and a +20 rating in 79 games for Providence since the beginning of 2023-24. He was anointed captain of the P-Bruins this year, the third AHL franchise where he’s held the honor, and ranks third on the team in scoring with 25 points through 37 games.

Jones, 26, hasn’t panned out after inking a two-year, $2MM contract in free agency last summer. The 2016 first-rounder started the season on the Bruins’ roster, but he hit waivers and cleared them in November after posting a minus-four rating and no points through four appearances and routinely sitting in the press box.

The longtime Ducks depth winger has 11 points in 26 games with Providence, his first minor-league action since the 2019-20 campaign. The 6’3″, 216-lb winger was shelled defensively for a 29.7 CF% and a whopping 6.7 GA/60 at even strength in his quartet of NHL appearances early in the year.

As for Kastelic, the IR placement rules him out of the Bruins’ next three games. He’ll be eligible for activation ahead of their game against the Sabres on Jan. 28.

Wild Reassign Brendan Gaunce

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The Wild have multiple impact players nearing injured reserve activations, and the team announced they’ve opened a second roster spot today by reassigning center Brendan Gaunce to AHL Iowa.

Gaunce, 30, was a highly-touted prospect with the Canucks in the early days of his career but has since become a depth journeyman. He’s only landed full-time NHL work on rare occasions and has seen AHL time in each of his professional seasons spent in North America. He’s been productive in the minors in recent years, hovering near a point per game there while in the Blue Jackets organization from 2021 to 2024, leading to a two-year, two-way commitment from Minnesota in free agency last offseason. In addition to recording 39 points in 46 games while serving as Cleveland’s captain in 2023-24, he posted a pair of goals and assists in 24 NHL games for Columbus.

The 2024-25 season has once again been kind to Gaunce in the minors but not in his brief NHL action. He’s slotted in five times for the Wild this season amid injuries to their forward group, but none since his most recent recall on Friday. He’s gone without a point while posting a minus-three rating, averaging under 10 minutes per game, and winning 41.7% of his draws. He’s demonstrated a lack of physical play for his 6’3″, 219-lb frame, only recording six hits after averaging more than two per game in Columbus last year. His even-strength possession play has also been ghastly – opponents have out-attempted the Wild 63-26 with Gaunce on the ice at even strength this season.

Nonetheless, he’s been up to his usual tricks in Iowa, where he’s spent most of the season after clearing waivers during training camp. He’s among the team’s top three scorers with 12 goals and 10 assists for 22 points in 26 games. He doesn’t need waivers for today’s demotion since he’s spent less than 30 cumulative days on the Wild’s active roster since clearing waivers on Oct. 1 and played fewer than 10 NHL games.

In the meantime, the Wild now have the roster space to activate two of Jonas Brodin, Marcus Johansson, Kirill Kaprizov, and Jared Spurgeon before Thursday’s home tilt against Utah. Reassigning Gaunce also gets Minnesota out of using their LTIR pool, solely consisting of Kaprizov, to stay cap-compliant, so there won’t be additional maneuvering required to activate the superstar winger.

Tom McVie Passes Away

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Former NHL coach and longtime Bruins scout Tom McVie has passed away at age 89, the team announced Monday. McVie played 18 seasons with various minor league clubs from 1956 to 1974, then was the head coach of the Capitals, Jets, and Devils in parts of nine seasons from 1975 to 1992.

McVie began his NHL career behind the bench in a difficult situation, taking over Washington’s bench partway through their second season in the league. He was tasked with molding together one of the worst rosters in league history, one that had finished 8-67-5 in their expansion season and recorded only 11 wins in year two. While he understandably didn’t make the playoffs in any of his three seasons in Washington, he did get the team out of complete embarrassment territory and was behind the bench for a 24-win season in 1976-77.

After being let go by the Caps following the 1977-78 season, McVie headed to the World Hockey Association to take over Winnipeg’s bench midway through their final season before the NHL-WHA merger. He guided the Jets to an 11-8-0 record to end the season before upsetting both the Nordiques and Oilers to win the final Avco Cup championship, with a roster that included future NHL All-Stars Morris Lukowich and Kent Nilsson.

McVie stayed with Winnipeg post-merger but was fired 28 games into the 1980-81 campaign after the team compiled a 1-20-7 record. He then headed to the Devils organization, where he’d serve as an AHL coach for many years but got a few cracks at the NHL head coach gig in the 1983-84, 1990-91 and 1991-92 campaigns. Boston picked up McVie as an assistant coach the following season, and after transitioning through a few different roles, they made him a pro scout in 1998. He held that role until retiring following the 2019-20 season.

We at Pro Hockey Rumors send our condolences to McVie’s family, friends, and peers.

J.T. Miller Receiving Interest From Additional Eastern Conference Teams

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Canucks center J.T. Miller remains in Vancouver for now after a reported trade to the Rangers fell through over the weekend. That deal never got close enough for the Canucks to ask Miller to waive his no-movement clause, multiple members of The Athletic’s NHL staff reported Monday, but it did potentially involve New York sending young top-nine center Filip Chytil, pending unrestricted free agent defenseman Ryan Lindgren, and multiple “future-focused assets” to Vancouver.

A disagreement on the conditions around the prospective first-round pick was the principal reason the deal fell apart, per The Athletic’s report. It doesn’t mean the Blueshirts are out of the running on Miller entirely, as Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet told CHEK’s Rick Dhaliwal on Monday that the Rangers and Hurricanes are the two likeliest parties to land Miller, who prefers a trade to the Eastern United States. Friedman mentioned the Stars, Devils, and Islanders as interested but less probable outcomes.

If the reported return for the now-nixed trade is a strong blueprint for other potential Miller deals, though, it signals a continued rocky path for the Canucks down the stretch. The total value of what they’re getting isn’t bad – they need short-term help on the blue line, Chytil still has top-six potential when healthy, and the first-round pick will likely be in the teens – but it doesn’t give them a direct replacement for the near point-per-game Miller.

Even amid a down year for J.T. and time missed due to personal leave, he leads Canucks forwards in scoring with 31 points (8 G, 23 A) in 35 games. That’s below expectations, considering he’d averaged 96 points per 82 games over the prior three seasons, but still elite-level production that’s due for a rebound. His 11.8% shooting rate stands as his lowest in 10 years.

If Carolina wins out with a similar return, it would seemingly involve 24-year-old pivot Jesperi Kotkaniemi, who the Canucks demonstrated interest in acquiring when they nearly dealt Elias Pettersson to the Hurricanes last season. He’s likely a lower-value pickup than Chytil, with an iffy $4.82MM cap hit running through 2030 and just 19 points in 46 games this season. The Canes could easily make up for that by giving Vancouver a higher-value defenseman in return than the Rangers can with Lindgren, though.

Predators’ Mark Jankowski Out Week-To-Week

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Predators forward Mark Jankowski is out week-to-week with the upper-body injury he sustained in Saturday’s win over the Wild, head coach Andrew Brunette told reporters Monday (including the team’s Brooks Bratten). He did not return to the game after fighting Minnesota forward Ryan Hartman in the first period.

He hasn’t landed on injured reserve, largely because Nashville is operating with an open roster spot. But he could in the coming days to make room for the activation of winger Cole Smith, who Brunette said has been upgraded to day-to-day after missing nearly a month with a lower-body injury.

It’s a tough loss for Nashville, where the 30-year-old Jankowski has been one of the team’s best defensive forwards in 2024-25. His 55.5% shot attempt share at even strength is fourth on the team among qualified forwards, as is his 2.2 GA/60.

A frequent penalty killer, Jankowski has averaged 12:44 per game – his most in three years – and has won half of his 210 draws. His offensive production of eight points in 37 games is down from last year’s 15 in 32, but the 2012 first-round pick of the Flames has still done well to re-establish himself as an NHL regular after a few years of bouncing between the big leagues and the AHL.

That performance last year after a mid-season call-up from AHL Milwaukee earned Jankowski a two-year, $1.6MM extension, so he’s got another year left under contract with Nashville past this season. He’s now on his fourth NHL organization after stops with Calgary, Pittsburgh and Buffalo.

The Preds will likely give Kieffer Bellows his first NHL game since April 2023 when they face the Sharks tomorrow. He’s the only extra forward on the roster after being recalled on Jan. 11.

Flyers Place Ryan Poehling On Injured Reserve

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Flyers center Ryan Poehling will miss at least two more games after landing on injured reserve Monday morning, per a team announcement. Philadelphia recalled center Rodrigo Abols from AHL Lehigh Valley in a corresponding transaction, keeping their active roster at a maximum of 23.

Poehling, 26, already missed Saturday’s win over the Devils with an upper-body injury. He sustained it last Thursday against the Islanders when New York rookie Maxim Tsyplakov delivered a hit to the head, earning the latter a three-game suspension.

In his second season in Philly, Poehling is delivering arguably the best performance of his six-year NHL career. The bottom-six fixture has four goals and 11 assists for 15 points through 43 games, putting him on track to match last year’s career-high 28 points before the injury but with better defensive play this time.

Averaging 13:18 per game, Poehling has won a career-high 51.2% of his draws, at least over an entire season, and leads Flyers forwards with 51 blocks. He’s started two-thirds of his even-strength shifts in the defensive zone, has seen time on their top penalty-killing unit with Scott Laughton, and his 2.7 GA/60 at even strength is fourth-best among qualified skaters behind Noah Cates (2.5), Garnet Hathaway (2.3), and Emil Andrae (2.0).

The decision to sign the Minnesota native to a two-year, $3.8MM extension midway through last season has turned out prudent for Flyers general manager Daniel Brière. He has 15 goals and 43 points in 120 games as a Flyer since they signed him in 2023.

Up comes the 29-year-old Abols, who receives the first recall of his professional career. A seventh-round pick of the Canucks back in 2016, they let his signing rights lapse before he landed an entry-level contract with the Panthers in the 2019 offseason.

Abols lasted one year in the Florida organization, recording 23 points in 36 AHL games before mutually terminating his contract ahead of the 2020-21 campaign. The Latvia-born Abols returned to the Swedish Hockey League, where he played in the 2017-18 and 2018-19 campaigns. He spent four years suiting up with Örebro HK and Rögle BK before generating NHL interest again this past summer.

On the heels of a 14-goal, 26-point campaign for Rögle, the 6’4″, 205-lb Abols landed a two-way deal with the Flyers. He has nine goals and 10 assists for 19 points in 34 games with AHL Lehigh Valley, tying for fourth on the team in scoring. He’s expected to make his NHL debut Tuesday against the Red Wings, while Laughton is doubtful due to a family matter, Jordan Hall of NBC Sports Philadelphia reports.

Blue Jackets Activate Justin Danforth From Injured Reserve

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The Blue Jackets activated forward Justin Danforth off injured reserve Monday, general manager Don Waddell announced. He’ll play for the first time in 18 games when Columbus takes on the Islanders tonight.

Danforth, 31, sustained a lower-body injury at some point during a 5-3 loss to the Flyers on Dec. 10. He also missed the first three games of the campaign while recovering from offseason wrist surgery, limiting him to 25 of Columbus’ 46 games this season.

Now firmly established as a regular in the Blue Jackets lineup when healthy, the diminutive Danforth has three goals and five assists for eight points with a minus-seven rating. The natural winger has frequently factored in down the middle for Columbus this season, winning 48.2% of his 280 faceoffs, and sees the most average time on ice per game while shorthanded of any Jackets forward.

A late bloomer, Danforth didn’t make his NHL debut with Columbus until 2021-22, his age-28 campaign. In 147 career appearances with the Jackets, he has 25 goals and 26 assists for 51 points. He’s slated for unrestricted free agency this summer after completing a one-year, $1.1MM extension he signed in October 2023.

Danforth has overcome his small frame by playing an aggressive, high-speed game. His 63 speed bursts over 20 mph rank in the 70th percentile among skaters this season, according to NHL EDGE, and he finished fifth on the Jackets in hits last season with 109.

While not a significant impact piece at even strength, his return nonetheless aids a Columbus offense that’s still dealing with injuries to top-six forwards Yegor Chinakhov and Sean Monahan, as well as captain Boone Jenner. The club has still managed a 7-2-1 record in their last 10 games and sits in the second wild card spot in the Eastern Conference based on both standings points (51) and points percentage (.554).

The Blue Jackets opened up a roster spot last week when they demoted goaltender Jet Greaves, so no corresponding transaction for Danforth’s activation is necessary. PuckPedia projects that he’ll likely re-enter the lineup in a fourth-line role alongside Sean Kuraly and Mikael Pyyhtia while Kevin Labanc heads to the press box. 

Five Key Stories: 1/13/25 – 1/19/25

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Now past the halfway point of the season, the playoff race is truly beginning to take form and deadline rumors are starting to simmer. Some of those notes, along with some notable mid-season injuries, are in our top stories from the last week.

Tavares On The Shelf: Maple Leafs star center John Tavares took a weird fall in practice on Wednesday and hasn’t played since. He landed on injured reserve the next day and will miss at least two more games on top of the two he’s already missed with his right leg injury. He was ruled out week-to-week, so it could be more games than that until Toronto gets their third-leading scorer back in the lineup. Tavares has 20 goals and 42 points in 44 games this season after falling to a 0.81 point-per-game rate in 2023-24.

Jarry To The Farm: Penguins goaltender Tristan Jarry’s stock has gone from bad to worse in the second season of his five-year, $26.88MM extension. His .884 SV% through 22 games was enough for the Penguins to risk losing him on waivers, and after no one wanted to pick up the remainder of his deal, he passed through and headed to AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton for his first extended taste of minor-league play in six years. Jarry did have a sparkling .926 SV% and 4-1-0 record in five appearances for WBS earlier this season on a conditioning loan. Still, the four-time 20-win-getter has failed to convert that momentum into passable play as Pittsburgh’s starter.

Freddie’s Back: After yet another lengthy absence, Hurricanes goaltender Frederik Andersen returned to the lineup this week. He’d been sidelined since late October with a knee issue that ended up requiring surgery in November. He hasn’t played since coming off injured reserve on Friday but could get the nod Monday when Carolina visits the league-worst Blackhawks. Andersen had a .941 SV% in four appearances to begin the season.

Klingberg To The Oilers: After sitting injured for over a calendar year, defenseman John Klingberg is back in the NHL after signing a one-year, $1.35MM pact with the Oilers on Friday. Klingberg, 32, spent last season on a one-year deal with the Maple Leafs but only recorded five assists in 14 games before hip resurfacing surgery ended his campaign. The 2014-15 All-Rookie Team member and six-time 40-point scorer will look to bring his power-play prowess to a weak-ish right side of the Edmonton blue line. He hasn’t hit that 40-point mark since leaving the Stars for the Ducks in the 2022 offseason, however.

Miller Almost Dealt: The simmering trade saga between the Canucks and star center J.T. Miller almost came to a head Saturday night when a reported trade to the Rangers fell through at the last minute, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet said. Instead, he skated over 20 minutes – his most in nearly a month – and had a pair of assists as Vancouver upset the Oilers 3-2. Friedman added that while a trade to the Blueshirts hasn’t yet materialized, he believes the Canucks have granted Miller, who carries a full no-move clause, permission to speak to other teams to facilitate a deal. The 31-year-old is in year two of a seven-year, $56MM extension and has 31 points through 35 games, tracking for his first sub-point-per-game season since 2020-21.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

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