Senators’ Nick Jensen Undergoes Meniscus Surgery, Done For Regular Season
Nick Jensen‘s 2025-26 season is over, as Senators head coach Travis Green told reporters (including Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Citizen) that the defender has undergone surgery to repair a torn meniscus. Carrying a six-week recovery time, he’s ruled out for the regular season. He could theoretically return past the first round if Ottawa manages to snag a wild-card berth – which is no guarantee – and they pull off an early upset.
Jensen, a pending UFA, has played his last regular-season game for Ottawa, Garrioch indicates. The organization has no plans to offer him a contract extension. Green doesn’t expect the surgery to be career-ending by any stretch for the 35-year-old, though. “I feel bad for him… We didn’t think originally it would end up going this way. It’s going to be best for him that he does the surgery, and he’ll be back to 100 per cent for sure.”
It’s not the only recent lower-body issue Jensen has had. He needed a hip procedure last offseason, which he underwent in May. That put his availability for the beginning of the regular season in doubt, but he managed to return in time. He had only missed three games this season prior to the meniscus tear last week against the Canadiens, all due to healthy scratches.
This has not been a kind year for the Minnesota native on the ice. Acquired from the Capitals in the 2024 Jakob Chychrun deal to give the Sens a top-four-capable right-shot shutdown option to pair with Thomas Chabot, he flourished last season but hasn’t looked like the same player in 2025-26. His average time on ice is down more than three minutes from 20:13 to 17:01, and his 0.62 hits per game are the lowest of his 10-year NHL career. He’s still managed a respectable 17 points in 61 games, but is controlling only 48.3% of shot attempts at 5-on-5, down from 50.6% last season.
He had nonetheless spent most of his time at even strength next to Chabot, although he also saw significant time in third-pairing deployment on his off side with fellow righty Nikolas Matinpalo. A good portion of his overall ice time reduction came from Jensen essentially being removed as a regular on Ottawa’s penalty kill. He’s still a real puzzle piece for the Sens, who already had the longest odds at a postseason berth of any team still realistically in the race for a playoff spot.
Of course, Ottawa has also been without #1 rearguard Jake Sanderson for the last four games with an upper-body injury. He’s still listed as week-to-week, with Green saying he could get back on the ice for some skating work in the next seven days.
Both their absences have put immense strain on Ottawa’s defense corps. Tyler Kleven and Jordan Spence, averaging just over 17 minutes per game this season between them, are now the club’s second pairing behind Chabot and Artem Zub. Dennis Gilbert, who’s never played more than 35 games in a season, is now a lineup regular until Sanderson returns. That’s far from an ideal place to be from a roster management perspective for a team in a playoff chase, although the fact they’ve been able to eke out a pair of wins in their two games without both Sanderson and Jensen should be of some consolation.
Ottawa has the ninth-most difficult remaining schedule in the league, per Tankathon. The good news is that several teams they’re potentially competing with for wild-card berths, including the Blue Jackets, Bruins, Islanders, and Red Wings, are in the top eight above them. MoneyPuck still projects them to finish ninth in the East with 97 points, though – a total that would win them the Pacific Division but leave them out of the picture in what has turned out to be a ridiculously competitive race to the finish out East.
Islanders Sign Kashawn Aitcheson To Entry-Level Deal
The New York Islanders have signed 2025 first-round pick Kashawn Aitcheson to a three-year, entry-level contract. Their top defense prospect will see his deal begin next season. His deal essentially works out to a max ELC in every area except performance bonuses with a cap hit of $1.075MM, per PuckPedia. The full breakdown is as follows:
2026-27: $922.5K NHL salary, $102.5K signing bonus, up to $500K in performance bonuses, $85K minors salary
2027-28: $967.5K NHL salary, $107.5K signing bonus, up to $500K in performance bonuses, $85K minors salary
2028-29: $1.013MM NHL salary, $112.5K signing bonus, up to $500K in performance bonuses, $85K minors salary
Aitcheson led all OHL defensemen in scoring this season with 28 goals and 70 points in only 54 games. His 1.30 points-per-game average ranks in the top-20 among OHL defenseman since 2000, though Aitcheson’s 0.52 goals-per-game average has only been topped by four players in that time frame – Brandt Clarke, Zayne Parekh, Sam Dickinson, and Nicolas Hague.
Aitcheson found a unique mix of aggression, physicality, and scoring prowess through four seasons with the Colts. After netting just three points in his first 23 games in the league, the left-defender boomed with 39 points and 126 penalty minutes in 64 games of the 2023-24 season. He balanced out those totals ahead of his draft year last season, ending the year with 26 goals and 59 points – both best on the Barrie roster. This season, while serving as Barrie’s captain, he found a mix of both, emerging above a point-per-game pace and ranked second on Barrie in penalty minutes (86).
Through his OHL career, Aitcheson set the record for the most goals (63) and points (171) scored by a Barrie defenseman. He beat out the previous marks of 40 goals and 158 points set by Clarke through three seasons. Aitcheson also scored four points in seven games of the 2026 World Junior Championship and notched three points in seven games at the 2024 World U18 Championship.
Aitcheson’s unique style was enough to earn the 17th overall selection in the 2025 NHL Draft, joining a great Islanders draft class led by Matthew Schaefer and Victor Eklund. Now, New York will get to test how Aitcheson can translate his heavy-hitting and strong-scoring to the pro flight. He will be eligible to join the NHL roster right away – but won’t be able to play in the AHL, as he won’t turn 20 until this summer. At 6-foot-2, 200 pounds, Aitcheson could have the frame needed to ease into NHL minutes sooner rather than later.
Wild’s Joel Eriksson Ek Out Day-To-Day
The Minnesota Wild will once again need to shore up their center depth due to injury. This time it is Joel Eriksson Ek headed to the mend with a day-to-day, lower-body injury per NHL.com’s Joe Smith. Minnesota will move Robby Fabbri into the lineup while Danila Yurov and Ryan Hartman platoon the top-center role.
Eriksson Ek is expected to miss at least three games with this injury, general manager Bill Guerin told Michael Russo of The Athletic. That means Minnesota will be without their top center for a home-and-home slate against the Chicago Blackhawks, then an important bout with the Dallas Stars. Should this timeline hold true, Eriksson Ek would be next available when Minnesota begins a three-game road trip to the East coast next Tuesday.
Eriksson Ek has had a tough go as of late, netting two points and a minus-one over his last nine games. That cold streak came after Eriksson Ek caught fire before the Olympics, netting eight points in Minnesota’s six games before the break, then adding two more points in the Wild’s return. The Wild haven’t found much more scoring from their other centers as of late, with both Yurov and Hartman boasting three points in their last nine games.
Those small totals could put weight on trade acquisition Michael McCarron to begin carving out his spot in Minnesota’s lineup. He has long been an effective defensive-center, routinely posting a faceoff percentage north of 50 percent and at least 100 hits a season. This year, McCarron has racked up 179 hits, 67 shot blocks, and a 53.1 faceoff percentage in 65 games split between Minnesota and the Nashville Predators.
McCarron will bring a tidy bit of two-way responsibility, while the Wild look towards their star scorers to spur the offense. Matt Boldy and Quinn Hughes have each scored nine points in their last nine games while Kirill Kaprizov, Vladimir Tarasenko, and Mats Zuccarello each have seven points. Even with their spark, Minnesota has fallen to a 3-4-2 record – including two shootout losses – since February 27th. They will need to find another X-factor to tilt even matchups until Eriksson Ek is back to full health.
Penguins’ Blake Lizotte Out A Month, Justin Brazeau And Evgeni Malkin Back
Another lineup change is inbound for the Pittsburgh Penguins. The team will add star Evgeni Malkin back into the fold in Monday night’s game against the Colorado Avalanche after the conclusion of a five-game suspension for slashing. Pittsburgh will also have scoring winger Justin Brazeau back from an injury that held him out of the last four games per Josh Getzoff of Sportsnet Pittsburgh. One of the decisions for who to remove from the lineup will be made for Pittsburgh, as centerman Blake Lizotte is out with an upper-body injury.
After missing Monday night’s game, the Penguins announced that Lizotte would not be re-evaluated for at least four weeks. He will stay on the shelf and could land on injured reserve, while Pittsburgh will be faced with how to make up for an impactful, bottom-six center.
Malkin and Brazeau are expected to resume their roles filling out Pittsburgh’s right-wing depth chart. The former has continued to serve as a cornerstone of the Penguins lineup even in his age-39 season. Malkin has scored 13 goals and 47 points in 46 games this season. That is the second-highest points-per-game on the team behind only Sidney Crosby, who has 59 points in 56 games. The pair of future Hall-of-Famers continue to drive Pittsburgh’s offense, though the Penguins will only be able to lean on Malkin in the short-term, as Crosby continues to recover from an injury of his own.
While Malkin fortifies the top of the lineup, Brazeau will bring a goal-scoring presence back to the middle-six. He has racked up 16 goals and 30 points in 48 games this season, while averaging 13 minutes of ice time each game. It has been a breakout year for Brazeau, who split the 2024-25 season between the Boston Bruins and Minnesota Wild, ultimately totaling 22 points in 76 games. A hot start to the year with Boston encouraged a Spring trade, but after netting just two points in 19 games with Minnesota, Brazeau was left on the open market this summer. Pittsburgh swooped in to land a 27 year old capable of filling a veteran presence among their young forward group.
Even with two strong scorers back in the lineup, Pittsburgh will feel the brunt of losing Lizotte to injury. He has served as a hard-working center all season long, often filling defensive and utility roles to help clear space for Pittsburgh’s stars. Lizotte ranks third on the Penguins, behind Crosby and Noel Acciari, with a 50.0 faceoff percentage on 476 draws this season. He also ranks sixth on the offense in hits (49) and shot blocks (35).
Lizotte’s absence will leave a hole that will require some shifting to fill. Rookie Benjamin Kindel is likely to move to the center position, while Bryan Rust is able to move back to his natural wing with Pittsburgh’s pair of returns. These changes will leave one of Avery Hayes or Elmer Soderblom outside of the lineup on Monday. Hayes has gone without a point in his last 10 games after scoring two goals in his NHL debut. Soderblom, who seems more likely to stick in the lineup, has yet to record a point in four games with the Penguins. He was acquired from the Detroit Red Wings prior to the Trade Deadline.
Oilers’ Leon Draisaitl Expected To Miss Remaining Regular Season
The Edmonton Oilers will be missing major firepower for Tuesday night’s divisional matchup against the San Jose Sharks. Superstar Leon Draisaitl has been declared out for the matchup due to a lower-body injury sustained in Sunday’s win over the Nashville Predators. Draisaitl left that game in the first period after taking a hard bump from Predators winger Ozzy Wiesblatt. No update was provided after the game.
After announcing that he would miss Tuesday night’s game, the Oilers released an additional statement sharing that Draisaitl will have to miss the remaining regular season. He will not need surgery for the injury and should be available for the start of playoffs, general manager Stan Bowman told Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman.
This news will be a major blow to the Oilers offense as they look to seal their spot in the top-three of the Pacific Division. Draisaitl has stayed red-hot since Edmonton returned from the Olympic break. He has six goals and 17 points in his last 10 games, bringing his year-long totals up to 35 goals and 97 points in just 65 games. The 30 year old ranks second on the Oilers in scoring behind Connor McDavid, who has already reached 114 points in 68 games. The two are one of the best duos in the league whether they’re playing alongside each other or not – making Edmonton’s task of replacing Draisaitl that much more challenging.
Max Jones will step into the lineup to fill Draisaitl’s hole. Jones has appeared in nine NHL games, and scored one point, this season. He has also racked up 10 goals, 18 points, and 61 penalty minutes in 39 AHL games. He is a veteran of 293 NHL games with 66 points, split evenly, to show for it. Jones should assume a bottom-line role, while Vasily Podkolzin and Matthew Savoie move up the lineup to bridge the top-six. Podkolzin has three points in his last six games and 30 points on the year, while Savoie has two points in his last two games and 27 points in total. The two should keep play moving just enough to earn Edmonton’s other star talent – McDavid, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, and Zach Hyman – scoring chances. Meanwhile the Oilers brass will hold their breath until a clearer timeline for Draisaitl’s return becomes available. The team expects to have updates before the weekend.
If that will be enough to sustain Edmonton’s offense across their remaining 14 games will be a larger question. The Oilers have scored the second-most goals in the NHL (238) behind only the Colorado Avalanche (249). Much of that scoring came from the one-two punch that is McDavid and Draisaitl. Without one of those hooks, the Oilers will need to look towards Hyman to make up for short-term scoring. This could also be a major opportunity for Savoie or Isaac Howard to step up as scoring pieces, after quieter starts to their pro careers than many expected.
Wild Recall Hunter Haight
The Wild announced that they’ve recalled center Hunter Haight from AHL Iowa. With 13 other healthy forwards on the roster, it appears to be more of a performance-based bump for Haight to give head coach John Hynes another option down the middle down the stretch.
Haight, 21, was ferried frequently between Minnesota and Iowa to start the year but has been in the minors since January. On a hapless minor-league club in Iowa, Haight is now tied for second on the team with 12 goals in 43 games. He’s added 11 assists for 23 points, putting him sixth on the team in scoring, although there isn’t much separation between him and first place.
Haight will become Minnesota’s first of five allotted post-deadline standard recalls if he doesn’t qualify for emergency conditions (it doesn’t appear he will). The #47 pick in the 2022 draft, he suited up five times for the Wild earlier this year to make his NHL debut. He went pointless with a -4 rating, managing four shots on goal in 9:41 of ice time per night. The 5’10”, 173-lb pivot went 18-for-37 on draws (48.6%) while recording six hits.
Canadiens’ Kirby Dach Out Two To Four Weeks
The Canadiens will be without forward Kirby Dach for two to four weeks due to an upper-body injury, the team announced. That could potentially end his regular season, which ends April 14, but he should be an option at some point during the first round in the likely event Montreal secures its second straight playoff berth.
Dach only saw just over a minute of ice time in Sunday’s loss to the Ducks before taking a hard hit along the boards from Anaheim winger Jeffrey Viel. He didn’t return after that.
The 25-year-old has a laundry list of recent injuries, but most of them have been of the lower-body variety. He missed over 31 games earlier this season due to a fractured foot, and lost nearly the entirety of the 2023-24 season and the last several weeks of 2024-25 with ACL and MCL tears in his right knee. Dach has not had a fully healthy season in his seven-year NHL career and hasn’t missed under 10 games in a season since his rookie year.
That has contributed to the 2019 third overall pick, whom the Habs hoped could be a top-six staple when they acquired him from the Blackhawks in 2022, losing a ton of momentum in his development. He didn’t look like the same player at all after his ACL/MCL surgery in 2023, only notching 10 goals and 22 points in 57 games last year with a -29 rating before going under the knife again.
Dach’s two-way impacts have improved significantly this season, posting a career-best 52.0% expected goals share at even strength. That’s come in reduced ice time, though, down to 13:48 per game. He’s still generating as many shot attempts as he did on a nightly basis last season in nearly two fewer minutes of deployment while increasing his points per game, recording an 8-6–14 scoring line in 32 games.
He may not be the top-six impact piece they hoped, but he’s been a valuable complementary piece when healthy this season who can slot in virtually anywhere in Montreal’s top nine. In the interim, either Alexandre Texier or Joe Veleno will be set for a return to the lineup after sitting in the press box for the Anaheim game.
Maple Leafs Reassign Michael Pezzetta, Henry Thrun
The Maple Leafs announced today that they’ve reassigned winger Michael Pezzetta and defenseman Henry Thrun to AHL Toronto. Their active roster is now at 22 players, but they don’t have any healthy extras with Auston Matthews’ season over (he’s yet to be placed on injured reserve) and Oliver Ekman-Larsson away from the team on paternity leave. As such, they can be called back up under emergency conditions if there’s a risk Toronto might be down anyone else for tonight’s game against the Islanders.
They might still be available, at least as healthy scratches. The Marlies have an afternoon game today at home, which would leave them enough time to report back to the NHL roster for tonight’s 6:00 p.m. CT home game.
Pezzetta, 28, received his first recall of the season last Thursday. He racked up nine penalty minutes and a -1 rating in back-to-back appearances before sitting as a healthy scratch for Sunday’s win over the Wild. The career enforcer averaged just 5:06 of ice time across the two contests and did not record a point, although he did have a shot on goal and six hits. He now sits at 202 career NHL appearances as he closes out the first half of the two-year, league minimum contract he signed with the Leafs in free agency last summer.
Thrun, 25, got an emergency summons on Sunday when Ekman-Larsson left the team’s road trip to return home for the birth of his child. He didn’t play. Acquired last offseason from the Sharks in the Ryan Reaves deal, Thrun has only suited up in four NHL contests for the Leafs after appearing in a career-high 60 contests with San Jose in 2024-25. The puck-moving lefty has a 4-16–20 scoring line and a -4 rating in 42 AHL outings this season.
Doug Armstrong Steps Down As Team Canada GM
Following the 2026 Winter Olympics, Doug Armstrong has stepped down as the general manager of Team Canada’s Olympic men’s hockey team per Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic. Armstrong led Canada to a silver medal finish at the latest Olympics, losing in a heartbreak overtime to Team USA. The tournament was led in scoring by two Canadian players – superstar Connor McDavid and Macklin Celebrini, the youngest NHL player to suit up for Canada’s Olympic men’s team. In an interview with LeBrun, Armstrong said that the result of the tournament was not why he was stepping down. Instead, he felt it was time for change:
I’ve enjoyed every aspect of it. Obviously, you wish you could go out on top. But it would be selfish to want to do it again. It’s such a great experience and I think more people should enjoy it.
Armstrong’s tenure in Canada’s upper management stretches all the way back to the 2002 World Championship, when he worked under Lanny McDonald‘s lead. He has since won seven Gold medals and six Silver medals at the World Championship. Armstrong also worked under Steve Yzerman to put together Canada’s Gold medal-winning rosters at the 2010 and 2014 Winter Olympics.
Throughout his reign over the country’s national team, Armstrong has been no stranger to bold decisions. He chose to ignore Celebrini’s age when rostering him for the 2026 Olympics and leaned on a goalie he could trust – the goalie who earned Armstrong his first Stanley Cup win, Jordan Binnington. Those patterns for bold decisions stretch back to the inclusion of players like Braden Schneider, Chris Kunitz, and Dan Hamhuis on international rosters. The decisions often benefited chemistry and morale where they didn’t boost the scoresheet – helping Canada continue blazing their trail of international success.
Naturally, the conversation will shift towards who will become Armstrong’s heir leading Canada’s men’s roster. The triple-gold-winning GM didn’t have any thoughts on immediate successors but did tell LeBrun that he thinks Sidney Crosby would be a perfect fit on the other side of his playing days. Armstrong praised Crosby’s “dignity and grace” on top of his wealth of hockey experience and drive to win. Where Canada tries to act professional and classy, Crosby takes it to another level. Armstrong said he also sees those traits in McDavid.
Armstrong will move forward with a focus on his final days in the St. Louis Blues’ GM role, which is set to turnover to Alexander Steen this summer while Armstrong moves into a full-time President of Hockey Operations role. Team Canada won’t need to worry about a replacement immediately, though they’ll have a great list of options available. Dallas Stars GM Jim Nill, Tampa Bay Lightning GM Julien BriseBois, and Boston Bruins GM Don Sweeney were all assistants to Armstrong at the 2026 Olympics. The team’s management staff also employed Pittsburgh Penguins GM Kyle Dubas and up-and-coming managerial advisor Ryan Getzlaf.
It seems any of the reigning Silver medal winners could take on the big chair – with Nill and Sweeney offering experience, Dubas offering youth, and BriseBois offering unique approaches. Canada has also called on Yzerman, Shane Doan, and even Wayne Gretzky to manage international rosters. Their star-studded list of candidates will keep news around Team Canada exciting, even as they lose a core part of their management for more than 20 years.
Evening Notes: Kempe, Stenlund, Girgensons
Just before the puck dropped on tonight’s game between the Kings and Rangers, Los Angeles shared that Adrian Kempe would be out due to a lower-body injury. Tonight marks the first time the forward has missed a contest all year.
In 66 games so far, the 29-year-old has put up 58 points. It’s performance right on track with his past few seasons after breaking out as a star. Kempe is averaging the highest ice time of his career, 19:16, and making the most of his first line role alongside center Anže Kopitar in the future Hall of Famer’s final season.
Sadly in the final chapter with Kopitar, the Kings will hope Kempe maintains his production for many more years afterward, as the Swede earned an eight-year extension back in November. Unless you count the recently acquired Artemi Panarin, Kempe leads Los Angeles in points; the duo will need to do some heavy lifting if they can manage to sneak into the playoffs. Kempe could return as soon as Thursday against the Flyers, but he’s had to miss a big one tonight in Panarin’s return to Madison Square Garden.
Elsewhere across the league:
- Ahead of their game tonight in Dallas, the Utah Mammoth announced that Kevin Stenlund won’t play, as he’s day-to-day with a lower-body ailment. The fourth line center has missed just his second game of 2025-26, otherwise posting 15 points in 66 games. It’s a step back from the 29-year-old’s strong first season in Utah where he set a career high with 28 points, but he’s a typical shutdown presence hardly counted on in that aspect. Stenlund has started just shy of 65% of his shifts in the defensive zone, and he brings value in face-off wins. The former Columbus second round pick could come back as soon as Thursday in Vegas.
- Tampa Bay forward Zemgus Girgensons returned to practice today, as noted by Benjamin Pierce, Beat Writer for the team. The veteran skated on Yanni Gourde‘s wing. Girgensons departed Saturday’s game against Carolina early with an apparent injury. The Latvia native plays a bottom six shutdown role, starting 60% of his shifts in the defensive zone yet still managing 15 points in 58 games. In today’s speed oriented game, it’s not always so kind for the 32-year-old 6’3″ lefty, but he still offers a solid 50.7% corsi for at five-on-five, bringing value to the team at a cap hit of just $850k.