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Skyler Brind’Amour Signs AHL Contract

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After telling the Edmonton Oilers that he wasn’t signing with them and instead joining the Charlotte Checkers on a professional tryout, Skyler Brind’Amour has committed to playing in North Carolina next season. The recent NCAA champion has signed a two-year AHL contract that begins in 2023-24.

Brind’Amour, 23, was initially selected in the sixth round by the Oilers, but after spending two years in the BCHL and then another four with Quinnipiac University, he won’t join the team that drafted him. He would have become an unrestricted free agent in August, but Edmonton likely gave him free rein to seek another option, resulting in his trip to Charlotte.

The gig has geographical perks, as his father—Rod Brind’Amour—coaches the Carolina Hurricanes just across the state. The Checkers, a long-time affiliate of the Hurricanes, switched their partnership to the Florida Panthers a few seasons ago.

Brind’Amour scored 14 goals and 32 points in 41 games this season and is known for his never-ending work ethic more than anything else. The checking center still has a long road ahead of him if he’s to crack an NHL roster.

Jared McCann To Miss At Least One Game

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The Seattle Kraken were able to take down the Colorado Avalanche in overtime to even their first-round series at two games apiece but will now have to go into game five without their top offensive player. Head coach Dave Hakstol told reporters including Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet that Jared McCann will miss the next game and possibly longer after leaving early last night.

After a partial breakaway during the first period that was stopped by Philipp Grubauer, McCann was run hard into the boards by Cale Makar and suffered an injury. The Colorado defenseman was originally given a five-minute major, but after review, it was reduced to a two-minute minor.

Makar was booed the rest of the night after removing Seattle’s top forward, a player that experienced a breakout campaign this year. McCann scored 40 goals for the Kraken and reached the 70-point mark for the first time in his career. His scoring came in all forms, with 30 goals at even strength, seven on the powerplay, and three short-handed.

For Seattle, losing McCann will be a huge blow to their chances. While their lineup is built on depth and versatility, there’s no question he brings the most offensive juice.

The series continues tomorrow, back in Colorado.

Alexandre Texier Will Return For 2023-24

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Citing personal issues and needing to be closer to family, Alexandre Texier spent the 2022-23 season in Switzerland, playing for Zurich SC. The French-born forward stepped away from his NHL life with the Columbus Blue Jackets, and it was unclear what his future would hold.

After all, this season was supposed to be the second and final year of the contract he signed in 2021, meaning he would be a restricted free agent this summer. That’s not the case, though, as yesterday, the Blue Jackets announced that Texier’s deal would toll to cover the 2023-24 season instead of this one. That means he didn’t earn any of the $1.75MM salary but will return to the NHL in the fall to resume that contract.

In a statement, general manager Jarmo Kekalainen explained:

Alexandre Texier is an outstanding, young player who is an important part of our team and we are excited that he will be rejoining the club as expected next season. His well-being has been our sole priority and we couldn’t be happier that he is ready to resume what is a very promising NHL career at this time.

Today, Texier was back in Columbus with the organization and met with the media. He explained that he was excited to resume his career, and happy to see some familiar faces around the building. The young forward last appeared in an NHL game over a year ago. He suffered a finger injury in January 2022 that kept him out of the lineup before eventually departing following the “loss of people very close to him.”

Now, he has nothing but good things to say about how the organization handled his situation:

I’m just glad that the Blue Jackets and Zurich helped me to go through that, and now my goal is to get ready for September. (The Blue Jackets) were great. I have nothing bad to say. They just helped me, and they came all the way during the season to watch me. It means a lot that they were following me. Now everything is done and I have to play some hockey.

A second-round pick in 2017, Texier burst onto the scene as a high-flying rookie in 2019, playing a handful of minor league games before jumping into a playoff run with Columbus. He had a career-high 11 goals and 20 points in 36 games before his season ended in 2021-22, and appeared to be well on his way to becoming an impact talent in the league.

Normally, a year away from the team might be considered a step back in development. But Texier wasn’t away from hockey entirely. He scored 35 points in 46 games for Zurich, and will soon participate in the World Championships. He confirmed today that he will play for France at the tournament set to start three weeks from now.

Jan Rutta Undergoes Surgery

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The Pittsburgh Penguins failed to make the playoffs for the first time in many years, allowing some players to get cleanup surgeries. This week, Jan Rutta went under the knife for a procedure to repair a core muscle injury. The surgery was performed in St. Louis and will keep Rutta out for an estimated eight to ten weeks.

That timeline leaves him plenty of time to get ready for next season, though core muscle injuries are notorious for affecting performance longer than the initial recovery.

Rutta, 32, suited up for 56 games this season in Pittsburgh after signing a three-year, $8.25MM contract in the summer. The deal was a significant payday for the former Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman, who has never had a contract longer than two years previously.

While he’ll never offer much offensive upside, Rutta was given brutal defensive deployment this year in Pittsburgh. While his possession numbers look ugly, the results weren’t nearly as bad. The Penguins outscored their opponents 33-32 while Rutta was on the ice at even strength. Given his strong contribution on the penalty kill, he should continue to play a solid (though limited) role for Pittsburgh moving forward.

Joe Pavelski Will Not Travel With Stars

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The Dallas Stars evened up their series against the Minnesota Wild last night, exciting the hometown crowd with seven goals (including a four-goal second period). That was possible without one of their best players after Joe Pavelski was knocked out of game one by a massive hit from Matt Dumba. Now, as the series shifts to Minnesota for the next two games, it appears as though they’ll still have to battle without the veteran.

Pavelski will not travel with Dallas, according to team reporter Mike Heika. Head coach Pete DeBoer said he hopes Pavelski can return this series but won’t be involved in the next two games at least.

Though he doesn’t always get the same amount of press as other stars, Pavelski’s performance for Dallas has been incredible. At age 38 this season, he scored 28 goals and 77 points in 82 games, breaking the 1,000-point mark for his career. In fact, with 1,001 in 1,250 games, his career is starting to look more like that of a Hall of Famer, despite rarely getting much attention as one of the league’s best players. He’s never won an individual trophy, but has played in 169 career playoff games, already good enough for 56th all-time. His 126 postseason points put him 53rd, tied with Maurice Richard.

Despite last night’s win, that’s a huge piece to pull out of the Dallas lineup for two critical road games.

Lightning Notes: Hedman, Jeannot, Eyssimont

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The Tampa Bay Lightning could have Victor Hedman back in the lineup tonight against the Toronto Maple Leafs. The big defenseman took the morning skate, and is a game-time decision. Hedman left game one early with what head coach Jon Cooper deemed a”new” injury, but might not miss much important action. The Lightning rolled over Toronto in game one while playing shorthanded, after Erik Cernak also left with a head injury.

Cernak has been ruled out, but it is a good sign for Lightning fans that Hedman is this close, even if he happens to miss tonight.

Here are some more Lightning injury notes:

  • All indications are that Tanner Jeannot will make his Tampa Bay postseason debut tonight, less than two weeks after suffering what appeared to be a serious injury. The former Nashville Predators forward was the team’s big deadline addition and could add another level of physicality to the series. Jeannot scored just one goal in 20 games with the Lightning after the trade but racked up 77 hits, even averaging fewer than 12 minutes a night.
  • Mikey Eyssimont, who also left game one after a big hit, has been ruled out for game two but took part in morning skate. That’s another good sign that he could return this series, giving the Lightning some more depth as they try to knock Toronto out for the second year in a row.

Carolina Hurricanes Recall Mackenzie MacEachern

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With Teuvo Teravainen headed for surgery, the Carolina Hurricanes have recalled Mackenzie MacEachern from the minor leagues.

Given the Chicago Wolves missed the playoffs, MacEachern can stay with the club and add some much-needed depth to the Carolina roster. The 29-year-old had an excellent season in the AHL, potting 11 goals and 30 points in 37 games.

He won’t be asked to score much if he does get into the Carolina lineup. Instead, the Hurricanes will need him to play the same physical style he showed during his last playoff call-up. In 2020 with the St. Louis Blues, MacEachern recorded 14 hits in five games for the Blues despite averaging fewer than seven minutes a night.

The 6’2″ forward has 19 points in 111 regular season games, all coming with the Blues. Should he get into the playoff lineup at some point, it would be his Carolina debut.

Teuvo Teravainen To Undergo Surgery

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The Carolina Hurricanes will be without Teuvo Teravainen for at least the first round, after suffering a broken hand last night against the New York Islanders. Teravainen will undergo surgery on the hand today, according to Kurt Dusterberg of NHL.com.

Head coach Rod Brind’Amour explained that he was “a little pissed” at the “tomahawk chop” from Jean-Gabriel Pageau that led to the injury late in the third period. Teravainen left with a few minutes remaining, and was unavailable to the Hurricanes in overtime as they managed to take game two. Now out indefinitely, he’ll have to hope that the Hurricanes put together a long playoff run if he wants to play again this season.

While this was a down year by Teravainen’s standards, scoring just 37 points in 68 games, he is still an important part of the deep Carolina forward group. The club is known for rolling out line after line of effective players, wearing you down with a never-ending forecheck. Even if he’s not producing at an elite level, like when he scored 76 points in 2018-19 or 65 last season, pulling Teravainen out of the lineup is a significant loss.

Jack Drury moved to the top line with Sebastian Aho and Seth Jarvis at the end of the game, and could get a huge opportunity to make an impact early in his career. The 23-year-old forward has just 40 regular season games under his belt to this point.

Despite the considerable depth, injuries are starting to pile up for Carolina. They already lost Max Pacioretty, Ondrej Kase, and Andrei Svechnikov before the playoffs began, and now will be without Teravainen for the foreseeable future.

Snapshots: Wolanin, Dawes, Svechnikov

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The AHL continues its award week by handing out the Eddie Shore Award to Christian Wolanin, the league’s most outstanding defenseman for 2022-23. The Abbotsford Canucks defender scored six goals and 55 points in 49 games.

Wolanin, 28, has been on the fringe of the NHL for years, moving up and down but rarely seeing any extended action at the highest level. Since debuting in the 2017-18 season, he has appeared in 86 career NHL games, recording 23 points.

  • It’s been years since Nigel Dawes was a regular in the NHL, so fans in North America may not know about his overseas exploits. The 38-year-old finally called it a career today, after spending the last 12 years playing in the KHL and DEL. One of the most prolific offensive players in KHL history, he scored 84 points in 212 NHL games before leaving for international opportunities in 2011.
  • While he won’t be able to help the Carolina Hurricanes this postseason, Andrei Svechnikov hopes to be ready for training camp. Svechnikov tore his ACL and underwent surgery on March 16, and was given a six to nine-month recovery timeline. The talented forward is well into his rehab, working out every day in preparation for his return in 2023-24. Even though he can’t help them on the ice, Svechnikov is still part of the team, winding the siren to excite the home crowd before last night’s game.

Florida Panthers Sign Uvis Balinskis

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The Florida Panthers have made an interesting free agent addition, signing Uvis Balinskis to a one-year entry-level contract. The deal is for the 2023-24 season, since he would not be eligible to play for them this year.

General manager Bill Zito released the following:

Uvis is a productive defenseman who has proven his impressive two-way skillset at an elite level in Europe. We look forward having a player of his caliber in our system.

Balinskis, 26, has been linked to the NHL for years now. In 2017, when Dan Milstein was hired as his agent, he said that the “NHL is next” for the Latvian defenseman after an impressive performance at the World Championships.

A contract in North America never materialized, and he kept playing in the KHL and then the Czech pro league for the next several years. While suiting up for Liberec Bili Tygri HC this season, he scored 35 points in 50 games. He also took part in the Olympics last year for Latvia, and is a very experienced puck-mover.

Whether he can crack an NHL lineup remains to be seen. The undersized defenseman will have his work cut out for him, though there will be some opportunity in Florida. Radko Gudas, Anthony Bitetto, and Marc Staal are all scheduled for unrestricted free agency, impacting the team’s depth chart.

It seems like a longshot, although it is a very low-risk one. The Panthers will lose a contract slot and a few hundred thousand dollars for the chance to see if Balinskis can make a smooth transition to North America.

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