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Stars’ Thomas Harley Out Week-To-Week With Lower-Body Injury

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The Dallas Stars will be without one of their top defenseman for the next few weeks. Dallas announced that Thomas Harley is considered week-to-week with a lower-body injury.

Although Harley’s most recent game came in the Stars’ lopsided win against the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday, there’s reason to believe that he’s been playing through the injury for some time. Given their salary cap space, it’s expected that Kyle Capobianco will fill in for Harley for the time being.

It’s safe to say that Harley will be a huge missing piece for Dallas moving forward. The former first-round pick has arguably been the Stars’ top defenseman for the last three years, scoring 32 goals and 107 points in his previous 175 games. Additionally, Harley was the highest-scoring defenseman for the Stars last postseason, adding four goals and 14 points in 18 games.

Fortunately, Dallas has built a solid lead in the standings that they can likely absorb Harley’s loss. At the time of writing, the Stars are four points up on the Utah Mammoth for second place in the Central Division standings and are five points up on the final wild-card spot in the Western Conference.

Moving forward, it’s likely that young blueliner Lian Bichsel will get a larger look in the Stars’ top-two defensive pairings. Also drafted 18th overall like Harley, Bichsel is in his second year in the NHL. At this point, he’s scored four goals and 11 points in 56 games with 213 hits, averaging 14:46 of ice time per night.

Blue Jackets Place Boone Jenner On Injured Reserve

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For the second time in as many seasons, the Columbus Blue Jackets will be without their captain for some time. The Blue Jackets announced that Boone Jenner has been placed on injured reserve with an upper-body injury.

Jenner isn’t expected to have a short stay on the IR either. Head coach Dean Evason indicated that the injury wasn’t expected to be a short term one. It’s more of the same for Jenner, who hasn’t played in a full season since the 2016-17 campaign.

The injury stems from the Blue Jackets’ contest on Tuesday against the Seattle Kraken. Despite winning the game by one goal, Jenner left the contest after one shift in the second period.

It’s an unfortunate blow to Columbus and Jenner. He had gotten off to a solid start to the 2025-26 season, scoring three goals and 10 points through his first 16 games. After returning from an extended injury last season, Jenner had scored 10 goals and 29 points in his last 42 games.

That kind of production over the last little while, as well as his career performances, has made Jenner a speculative trade candidate of late. Unfortunately, if the Blue Jackets had any idea of trading Jenner in his contract year, the new injury concern has a chance of impacting their potential return.

Central Notes: Benn, Lundkvist, Tarasenko

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The Dallas Stars are only a few days away from the return of their captain. Team radio host Bruce LeVine reported earlier that Jamie Benn has been upgraded to a day-to-day recovery timeline, and there was even a brief discussion of him playing this evening.

Dallas has been without Benn through the first quarter of the regular season. The longtime captain has missed due to a collapsed lung suffered during the team’s preseason. It’s highly uncharacteristic of Benn, who had only missed two regular-season contests since the start of the 2021-22 NHL season.

Even without their captain, the Stars have gotten off to a solid start to the 2025-26 season with an 11-4-3 record. Dallas quickly signed Benn to a one-year, performance-laden contract in what could be the last of his NHL career. Last season, Benn finished sixth on the team in scoring with 16 goals and 49 points in 80 games.

Other notes from the Central Division:

  • Staying in Dallas, Owen Newkirk of DLLS Sports reports that defenseman Nils Lundkvist is expected to resume skating fairly soon. Unfortunately, despite the positive update, Lundkvist remains a ways away from returning to the active roster. The 25-year-old blueliner has been sidelined for the past month with a lower-body injury, and has one goal and three points in four games on the season.
  • Moving to where the Stars originated from, the Minnesota Wild are dealing with some injury troubles up front. The Wild announced that veteran winger Vladimir Tarasenko will miss tonight’s contest with a lower-body injury. The two-time Stanley Cup winner has gotten off to a relatively decent start, scoring two goals and 10 points in 18 games.

Devils’ Cody Glass Out Week-To-Week With Upper-Body Injury

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The New Jersey Devils ’ center core continues to be depleted. A few hours after sharing that Jack Hughes would miss the next two months after hand surgery, the Devils announced that Cody Glass is considered week-to-week with an upper-body injury.

It truly couldn’t be worse news for New Jersey. Staying mostly healthy to start the year, the Devils have gotten off to an expectedly solid start, sitting atop the Metropolitan Division with a 12-4-1 start through their first 17 games.

Unfortunately, without Hughes and Glass for the foreseeable future, New Jersey will again be tested up front, as they have been so often in recent years. Although few teams would be upset with Nico Hischier as their first-line middleman, the Devils are now incredibly thin behind him.

According to the line rushes this morning, the Devils have shifted Dawson Mercer to the second-line center, with Luke Glendening and Juho Lammikko as the remaining options in the bottom-six. Last season, when New Jersey’s depth was tested after Hughes went down for the season around the trade deadline, the Devils stumbled into the postseason. The Carolina Hurricanes quickly dispatched them.

This isn’t the first time that Glass has dealt with injuries this season. He missed a few games with an upper-body injury in late October and returned for four games before the subsequent injury. Throughout his first 10 games this season, Glass has scored three goals with a 48.4% success rate in the faceoff dot while averaging 11:59 of ice time.

Vancouver Canucks Sign David Kämpf

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David Kämpf’s time on the free agent market didn’t last long. The Vancouver Canucks announced that they’ve signed the recently released center to a one-year, $1.1MM contract for the remainder of the 2025-26 campaign.

The news puts to bed some speculation from last night and this morning. A report from Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman yesterday indicated that the Canucks, Montreal Canadiens, and Pittsburgh Penguins were interested in Kämpf’s services. Additionally, TSN’s Darren Dreger shared earlier today that there were three finalists for Kämpf, with Rick Dhaliwal of The Athletic confirming that Vancouver was one of the finalists.

Although a $1MM+ commitment may seem excessive at face value for a player who just had his contract bought out, it’s important to remember that, based on the payment schedule throughout the year, Kämpf’s agreement is prorated through the end of the regular season. It is far closer to a league minimum agreement in reality.

There’s no questioning that the Canucks needed some help down the middle. Even at the beginning of the year, the Canucks were known to be seeking a second-line center, and that was before Filip Chytil went down with another concussion. Coupled with Chytil’s injury, Vancouver has been without Teddy Blueger for the last month.

The Canucks tried to improve the situation by trading for Lukas Reichel in late October, but the gamble has yet to produce the anticipated results. Even with Reichel, Vancouver’s best available centers behind Elias Pettersson are Max Sasson and Aatu Räty. With all respect to those two, it wasn’t a conducive core to competitive results. 

Before Chytil went down with a concussion on October 19th, the Canucks were 4-2-0 through their first six contests. They’ve struggled since with a 4-7-2 record and have dropped to 13th place in the Western Conference, yet are only two points shy of the final wild-card spot. Kämpf shouldn’t be expected to fix most of their troubles to start the year, though he should provide some stability down the middle of Vancouver’s forward core.

Golden Knights Assign Carter Hart On Conditioning Loan

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According to a team announcement, the Vegas Golden Knights have assigned netminder Carter Hart to the AHL’s Henderson Silver Knights on a conditioning loan. In a corresponding roster move, Jason Pothier and Ken Boehlke of SinBin report that Adin Hill has been placed on the injured reserve, likely retroactive to October 20.

It’ll be Hart’s first appearance in a professional setting since the 2023-24 season. Hart, as well as four others, were involved in the Hockey Canada sexual assault trial during the summer months and found not guilty.

Per the additional punishment agreed to by the NHL and the NHLPA, the five players from the assault trial were barred from signing a contract until October 15, and could not return to NHL ice until December 1. Accordingly, it’s reasonable to assume that Hart’s conditioning stint will last until then.

Although he didn’t maintain the same production as in his first two NHL seasons, Hart remained consistent during his last three years with the Philadelphia Flyers.. From the beginning of the 2021-22 NHL season until he was suspended during the 2023-24 campaign, Hart managed a 47-56-20 record in Philadelphia with a .906 SV% and 2.99 GAA.

It’s anyone’s guess as to how Hart will perform upon his return. It’s one thing to return to the game’s highest levels after two years removed, and it’s another to return after going through the stress and embarrassment of a high-profile lawsuit. At any rate, the Golden Knights believe he has more left in the tank, signing Hart to a two-year, $4MM deal on October 25.

Meanwhile, Hill is designated for the IR  after nearly a month away from the ice. Still, despite missing a month due to a lower-body ailment, Hill is expected to return within the next few weeks if his recovery timeline goes according to plan. He has a 1-0-2 record through five games to start the season with a .888 SV% and 2.73 GAA.

Kraken Issue Several Injury Updates

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The Kraken have had more than their fair share of injury issues over the first six weeks of the season.  Head coach Lane Lambert provided some updates on that front today, via team reporter Alison Lukan (Twitter link) and there is both good and bad news.

The good news is that center Frederick Gaudreau is getting close to returning from an upper-body injury that has sidelined him for close to a month while winger Jared McCann (lower body) is making progress and could travel with the team on their upcoming road trip.  However, the bad news is that winger Kaapo Kakko is listed as out week-to-week with a lower-body injury.

Gaudreau is in his first season with Seattle after being acquired from Minnesota over the offseason.  The 32-year-old was injured in the fourth game of the season and hasn’t returned since then.  Gaudreau had an assist in those four outings but struggled at the faceoff dot, winning just 18 of 51 draws.  He has 61 goals and 92 assists in 414 career outings and should return to the bottom-six role he had last month once he’s officially activated off injured reserve.

As for McCann, he only lasted one more game than Gaudreau did, getting injured in the fifth game of the campaign.  He was off to a strong start before being sidelined after tallying three goals and an assist while logging over 17 minutes per night.  The 29-year-old has surpassed the 60-point mark in three straight seasons so getting him back potentially sooner than later would be a real shot in the arm to an offense that ranks 30th in goals scored heading into Saturday’s action.

Kakko, meanwhile, has had a rough first full year with the Kraken.  After a solid showing in the second half of last season landed him a three-year deal over the summer, he broke his hand late in training camp, missing the first few weeks of the regular season as a result.  The 24-year-old has struggled since returning, notching just one point – a goal – in seven games with that tally coming in his last outing against Winnipeg before departing with this injury.  Now, he’ll be forced to sit for a while once again which certainly won’t help his chances of making Finland’s roster for the Olympics in February.  He remains on the active roster for now but will likely be shifted to IR once Gaudreau is ready to return.

Minor Transactions: 11/15/25

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While regular season play around the hockey world has been underway for a while now, there are still some free agents looking for places to suit up.  A pair of former NHLers were able to find new deals recently; those are among the moves in our latest minor transactions roundup.

  • Veteran goaltender Dustin Tokarski has signed a tryout deal with AHL Grand Rapids, per a team release. The 36-year-old has 86 career NHL appearances under his belt over parts of ten seasons but has seen plenty of action in the minors with 444 outings in 16 years.  Last season, Tokarski played in six games with Carolina (winning four), posting a 2.18 GAA and a .902 SV% while also getting into 21 outings with AHL Chicago where he had a 2.84 GAA and a .897 SV%.
  • Former NHL winger Linus Omark has left his team in Switzerland to play for his home team in Sweden’s third division as Overtornea announced on their Facebook page that they’ve signed him. Omark had 32 points in 79 career NHL games between Edmonton and Buffalo but has been playing overseas since 2014, spending time in four different countries.  Omark made quite the first impression for his new team, picking up six points in his debut.
  • Veteran Luke Witkowski isn’t ready to call it a career as SHL Brynas announced that they’ve signed him for the remainder of the season. The 35-year-old, who has played both on the back end and the wing, is joining the team as a defenseman.  Witkowski has 13 points, 162 penalty minutes, and 292 hits in 132 career NHL games over parts of seven seasons.  In 2024-25, he suited up with SHL Skelleftea, notching three points in 25 games.
  • The Oilers have reassigned defenseman Beau Akey from ECHL Fort Wayne to AHL Bakersfield, per the AHL’s transactions log. The first-year pro missed the first month of the season with an injury and was sent down to the Komets in what amounted to a four-game conditioning stint where he had his first professional goal.

Hurricanes Notes: Jarvis, Kotkaniemi, Svechnikov

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It has been a particularly tough start to the season for the Hurricanes on the injury front with over 40% of their season-opening roster dealing with some sort of injury or illness within the first six weeks.  Two more players joined that list last night against Vancouver as winger Seth Jarvis and center Jesperi Kotkaniemi departed.

Jarvis took a high stick to his eye from teammate Andrei Svechnikov and left early in the first period although head coach Rod Brind’Amour noted to reporters postgame including Justin Pelletier of the Raleigh News & Observer that the early thought is that Jarvis shouldn’t be out for too long.  Jarvis has been a key producer in the early going with 10 goals and 16 points in 17 appearances so far.

Kotkaniemi’s situation is a little murkier.  He departed in the second period after blocking a shot with Brind’Amour noting after the game that the center is dealing with an ankle injury.  Whether that’s a sprain, a fracture, or something else remains to be seen, making his potential return date more uncertain.  The 25-year-old has three goals and two assists in 15 games this season, his lowest point-per-game average since his sophomore season with Montreal back in 2019-20.

Meanwhile, Svechnikov won’t face any supplemental discipline for his elbow on Canucks blueliner Filip Hronek late in last night’s game, reports Rick Dhaliwal of CHEK and The Athletic (Twitter link).  The incident occurred late in the third period with no penalty call on the play; Hronek was subsequently pulled by the concussion spotter and did not return.  Dhaliwal notes that Hronek’s movement on the play while controlling the puck was a direct contributor to Svechnikov’s check getting him in his head instead of his arm which likely played a big role in the decision for there to be no fine or suspension.

Rasmus Dahlin Rejoins Sabres, Zac Jones Assigned To AHL

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A little more than a week ago, Sabres blueliner Rasmus Dahlin took a leave of absence to return to Sweden to be with his fiancée who continues to recover from a heart transplant from the summer.  He has now returned to the team as Mike Harrington of The Buffalo News relayed (Twitter link) that the captain has returned to the team and took part in today’s morning skate.  The Sabres subsequently announced that blueliner Zac Jones has been sent back to AHL Rochester to make room for Dahlin on their active roster.

Dahlin had played in 14 games before briefly stepping away but had gotten off to a tough start by his high standards with the team scuffling early on.  He had a goal and eight assists in those outings along with 17 blocks in a little over 24 minutes a night.  However, like several of his teammates, some defensive miscues proved to be problematic.

But even with that, his return will certainly be a welcome one.  He anchors Buffalo’s top pairing at even strength and runs their number one power play while also seeing some action shorthanded.  Dahlin’s return will likely take Jacob Bryson out of the lineup after he got into the last three games.

As for Jones, he was brought up a little more than a week ago following a very strong start with the Americans (where he had 13 assists in 11 games) but didn’t see any action with Buffalo.  Despite being up for more than a week, he still leads all AHL blueliners in points.  Jones is in his first season with Buffalo after signing a one-year, $900K contract with them in free agency.  He has 28 points in 115 career NHL outings, all with the Rangers.

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