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Brandon Montour Taking Temporary Leave Of Absence From Kraken

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The Kraken will be without their top defender for the next little while.  The team announced (Twitter link) that Brandon Montour will be taking a temporary leave of absence from the team to tend to a family matter.  No further details will be provided by the club.

The 31-year-old had gotten off to a strong start for Seattle this season.  Through four games, Montour leads the team in assists with four through four games while those four points are tied for the team lead.  He’s also their team leader in playing time, averaging just under 23 minutes per game.  That comes on the heels of playing a similar role last season when he notched 18 goals and 23 assists in 81 games while logging 22:59 per contest, a solid first season with the Kraken after signing a seven-year contract with them as an unrestricted free agent.

With Ryker Evans yet to play this season due to an upper-body injury, Seattle’s defensive depth is going to get tested a little more now.  Cale Fleury has been the reserve defender for each game so far and in the short term, it makes sense that he would take Montour’s place in the lineup.

If Montour’s absence winds up taking some time, the Kraken might want to recall someone from AHL Coachella Valley to ensure that they have some depth available, especially with four games to go on their season-opening eight-game road trip.  While they have a full 23-player roster at the moment, they would be able to designate Montour to non-roster status to open up a slot to recall someone into if they decide to go that route.

Canadiens Announce Multiple Injuries, Recall Owen Beck

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While the Canadiens pulled off a comeback victory on Thursday against Nashville, it came at a cost as three players are now injured.  The team announced (Twitter link) that defenseman Kaiden Guhle will miss four-to-six weeks with a lower-body injury while center Kirby Dach and winger Patrik Laine are day-to-day with lower-body injuries as well.  In a corresponding move, center Owen Beck has been recalled from AHL Laval on an emergency basis.

Guhle had gotten off to a solid start to the season, playing alongside Lane Hutson on Montreal’s second pairing.  He had a goal and an assist through the first five games while adding five blocks and 16 hits in a little over 19 minutes a night.  Guhle has missed at least a dozen games due to injuries in each of his first three NHL campaigns and that streak will now be extended with this injury.  After being scratched on Thursday, Arber Xhekaj will take Guhle’s place in the lineup while the Canadiens will likely recall a defenseman in the near future to give them a seventh option.

Dach, meanwhile, is working his way back from a knee injury that ended his 2024-25 campaign prematurely.  After managing his usage in the preseason, the Canadiens have limited his minutes a bit early on as he’s logging just 14:29 per night where he has a goal and an assist while anchoring their third line.  As for Laine, he’s off to a quiet start in his contract year with just one assist through his first five appearances while predominantly playing on the fourth line.  That’s not an ideal start but now this day-to-day injury will give him a quick reset.

Beck was one of Montreal’s final training camp cuts for the second straight season after Oliver Kapanen beat him out for the final spot on the roster.  He has played in three games with AHL Laval so far this season, picking up a goal and an assist.  Beck had 44 points in 64 games with the Rocket in his rookie year while also getting into a dozen games with the Canadiens where he had one assist.

Kraken Place Freddy Gaudreau On Injured Reserve

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Saturday: Gaudreau is set to miss some time as the team announced that he will miss four-to-six weeks with an upper-body injury.

Friday: The Kraken announced that center Frédérick Gaudreau has been placed on injured reserve after leaving last night’s game with an undisclosed issue. Forward John Hayden has been called up from AHL Coachella Valley in the corresponding move.

The nature or severity of Gaudreau’s injury isn’t known, but it looms over what’s otherwise been an inauspicious start to his tenure in Seattle. He’s got one assist through four games and has been centering the Kraken’s fourth line between Tye Kartye and Jani Nyman while factoring in on the penalty kill. He has an even rating but has been tasked with difficult defensive matchups, only controlling 41.4% of shot attempts at even strength as a result.

It’s a small sample size, though, and the Kraken should still be expecting him to be the reliable bottom-six piece he was for the previous four years for the Wild aside from a brief nosedive in 2023-24. Gaudreau averaged a 15-21–36 scoring line per 82 games in Minnesota from 2021-25, winning 49.2% of his faceoffs and averaging 15:33 of ice time per game. His possession impacts have been trailing off for quite some time, though, culminating in a career-worst 44.2 CF% last year. Seattle acquired Gaudreau, who’s signed through 2027-28 at a cap hit of $2.1MM, for a fourth-round pick back in June.

With Gaudreau and Kaapo Kakko on IR, Seattle is already without a pair of lineup regulars up front four games into the young season. They haven’t let it affect them yet, though – they’re one of four teams left without a regulation loss and boast a 2-0-2 record with a +1 goal differential.

The question now is whether the veteran Hayden will replace Gaudreau in the fourth-line center slot, or if 2024 No. 8 overall pick Berkly Catton will get a crack at making his NHL debut tomorrow against the Maple Leafs after sitting in the press box for all four games so far. It will likely be the former. If Catton is scratched for five consecutive games, he becomes eligible for a two-week conditioning stint in Coachella Valley. The 19-year-old isn’t yet eligible for a full-time AHL assignment and must be returned to his junior team, WHL Spokane, if he’s not on the NHL roster. A conditioning stint still counts against Seattle’s roster limit and is thus permitted. The Kraken took a similar approach with top-five pick Shane Wright in 2022-23 before subsequently loaning him back to juniors later in the year.

Hayden, 30, is now in his fourth year with the Kraken. He suited up 20 times for Seattle last year, his highest games played total since making 55 appearances with the Sabres in 2021-22. The bottom-six grinder has 18 goals and 39 points with a -30 rating in 269 career NHL games and has appeared in parts of nine consecutive seasons.

Evening Notes: Lycksell, Cooley, Zamula

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The Ottawa Senators assigned forward Olle Lycksell to the AHL’s Belleville Senators early on Friday. Lycksell appeared in two games with Ottawa this week, but sat out of the team’s most recent game on Thursday. He didn’t manage any scoring in those appearances.

Lycksell is in his first year in the Senators’ organization after signing a one-year, two-way, league-minimum $775K contract with the club on July 1st. He spent the last three seasons bouncing between the Philadelphia Flyers’ major and minor league rosters. He totaled 11 points in 45 NHL games, and 128 points in 134 AHL games with the Flyers. He’ll look to maintain near point-per-game scoring in the minors with Belleville. If he can, he could soon return to a depth role with Ottawa.

Other notes from around the league:

  • The Utah Mammoth have a colossal extension looming when top center Logan Cooley hits free agency next summer. But despite minimal talks of an extension, Cooley’s agent, Brian Bartlett, told the Daily Faceoff that he’s not worried about getting a deal done. Bartlett emphasized that Cooley still has plenty of time to work something out. There’s no doubt Mammoth fan will be watching closely for Cooley’s next contract, after he posted 109 points in 157 games with the club over his first two seasons in the NHL. He’s likely to sign a hardy extension that should cement his spot as Utah’s top center.
  • The Calgary Flames are interested in acquiring a big-bodied, left-shot defenseman per Daily Faceoff’s Anthony Di Marco, who adds that Flyers defender Egor Zamula could be a prime target. Zamula played in 120 games with the WHL’s Calgary Hitmen before beginning his pro career. Now, he’s found himself on the outside of Philadelphia’s daily lineup, despite mixed results. Zamula boasts a career stat line of 40 points in 157 games. He posted a career-high 21 points and plus-three in 66 games of the 2023-24 season, but fell to just 15 points and a minus-14 in 63 games last year. That dip in scoring could make him a relatively cheap acquisition, should Calgary swing a trade.

Blackhawks Activate Landon Slaggert From IR

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The Chicago Blackhawks have activated forward Landon Slaggert off of injured reserve. Slaggert missed the first five games of Chicago’s season with a lower-body injury. He took warmups before the team’s Friday night matchup against the Vancouver Canucks, but won’t play, as he continues to ease back into the lineup.

Slaggert operated on Chicago’s third-line throughout the team’s training camp. He seems well set on solidifying that standing once he’s back to full health, after clinging onto a lineup spot through the second-half of last season. Slaggert recorded just six points and a minus-seven in 33 NHL games last season – far below the 25 points and plus-nine he posted in 39 AHL games. But despite that, his hard-drive and grinder style stood tall on a fairly undersized Blackhawks team.

Slaggert racked up 92 points in 136 NCAA games between 2020 and 2024, then turned pro with the Blackhawks at the end of the 2023-24 season. He’s since appeared in 49 NHL games and scored 10 points, while filling a bottom-six role at left-wing. Should his training camp role stick, Slaggert will soon return to a line with Jason Dickinson and Ilya Mikheyev. That move would free up Ryan Donato to move back into the team’s top-six. Donato has just two points in five games this season, after posting 31 goals and 62 points in 80 games last year. Promoting him back into the top-six, and backing him with a dirty-nosed winger like Slaggert, could be the first step to getting Donato back to that lofty scoring.

Ducks Recall Ian Moore

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The Anaheim Ducks have recalled defenseman Ian Moore from the AHL’s San Diego Gulls. They still have one open roster spot available, after placing forwards Jansen Harkins and Ryan Strome on injured reserve. Strome could be a candidate to join Anaheim on their upcoming five-game road-trip, though if he will won’t be clear until Saturday.

This stands as the first call-up of Moore’s young career. He signed to the Ducks’ roster directly out of college last season, and recorded one point in his first three NHL games before being assigned to the minor-leagues. That assignment continued through the start of this season – though Moore will now return to the NHL with five points in 10 AHL games to his name. He’s a defense-first defender, who excels in the technical areas of breaking up play and winning positioning. His strong on-ice presence earned Moore the captaincy at Harvard University in his junior and senior seasons, in 2023-24 and 2024-25.

Moore will offer a replacement for bottom-pair, right-defender Drew Helleson, who has two points in four games to start the year. Helleson played through his rookie NHL season last year, marked by 13 points and 47 penalty minutes in 56 games. He has operated as the young backer to veterans Radko Gudas and Jacob Trouba on Anaheim’s right-side.

Blackhawks Reportedly Headed Towards Kyle Davidson Extension

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The Chicago Blackhawks have an important off-season looming in 2026. The summer will be headlined by negotiations with franchise star Connor Bedard, and underscored by tough decisions with veteran free agents Nick Foligno, Ilya Mikheyev, and Jason Dickinson. With so many negotiations on the horizon, Chicago appears to be moving towards an extension with general manager Kyle Davidson, per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman on the latest 32 Thoughts Podcast.

Davidson has pulled the Blackhawks together enough to take a confident step forward in the last year. They sold off veteran defender Seth Jones to acquire high-potential goaltender Spencer Knight at last year’s Trade Deadline, then awarded lofty extensions to 2024-25 leading goal-scorer Ryan Donato, top prospect Frank Nazar, and Knight.

The moves have afforded Chicago a real platform to work from. Nazar has tied Bedard for the team-lead in scoring, with both players boasting two goals and six points through the team’s first five games. Knight has also matched the bell, with an impressive .920 save percentage through his first three games. The improvements they bring to the lineup, and continued growth from Bedard, has led Chicago to a 2-2-1 record to start the year — the club’s best record through their first five games since 2022-23.

Even better, Chicago has secured Nazar and Knight through 2029 for a combined $12.43MM cap hit each season. That’s a true steal for a top scorer and starting goaltender, especially with the salary cap expected to grow by $18MM before 2028. That price, complemented by a cheap deal for Alex Vlasic ($4.6MM annual cap hit), could provide Chicago with the rare chance to spend lavishly while they pull out of a rebuild. It also provides the chance to pay Bedard the king’s ransom he’ll surely be owed, after posting the fifth-most points from a teenager since 2000 and seeming set for another big year this season.

But news of an extension for Davidson won’t thrill all. He’s overseen a 107-187-34 record since stepping up as Chicago’s GM in 2021. Davidson has overseen 10 first-round picks for the Blackhawks, though only four of those players are on the NHL roster early into the season. How Chicago will grow when star prospects like Anton Frondell, Vaclav Nestrasil Jr., and Sacha Boisvert break into the pros will be what defines the next era of Blackhawks hockey. But, the uncertainty around each of them will likely limit Davidson’s potential extension to only a few years – providing Chicago a chance to change course if their heap of top prospects don’t pan out.

Then again, those odds seem slim. Frondell leads all U21 players in the SHL in scoring, with seven goals and nine points in 11 games. He’s long been an international star of his age group, who seems well-set for success in the NHL. Chicago has also received plenty of positives from young defenders Sam Rinzel, Artyom Levshunov, and Wyatt Kaiser – who seem to be offering the star offense, reliable two-way-play, and stout defense needed to structure the blue-line. Success from other prospects like Oliver Moore, Kevin Korchinski, Mason West, and Marek Vanacker would only serve as icing on the cake of what appears to be a growing push from Chicago’s young core.

The Blackhawks expressed confidence in Davidson earlier this month. Team owner Danny Wirtz told Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times that, “Everything Kyle set out to do, he continues to deliver on.” That statement seems to suggest that the Blackhawks’ brass are okay bearing through a couple more difficult seasons, with eyes on a big boom a few years away.  It seems that confidence will lead to Chicago cementing Davidson’s overseer role sooner rather than later.

Lightning’s Nikita Kucherov Out With Illness

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The Tampa Bay Lightning have announced that star winger Nikita Kucherov will be held out of Friday night’s game by an illness. Kucherov has three points, one penalty, and a minus-eight through four games this season. He is one of seven Lightning players with three points so far.

There is simply no replacing Kucherov in the lineup, even if his early season has been quiet. He is a three-time Hart Trophy finalist, and took home the MVP title in 2019. He’s led Tampa Bay in scoring in each of the last two seasons, with an incredible 144 and 121 points respectively. At the age of 32, Kucherov has already amassed the second-most points in Lightning history (997), only behind longtime captain Steven Stamkos (1,137).

Tampa Bay will undoubtedly be handicapped without Kucherov, who has averaged 20:29 in ice time on the season. They’ll have to bump each of their right-wingers up a line, likely leading to Gage Goncalves on the top line and Conor Geekie in the top-six. That movement appears to be offering opportunity for Jack Finley, who has only played one, scoreless, game to start the season. Tampa Bay also recalled Scott Sabourin earlier today, though he is set to serve a four-game suspension in the NHL for roughing Florida Panthers’ defender Aaron Ekblad in the preseason. He’ll serve his first game of that suspension on Friday.

Lightning Place Maxwell Crozier On IR, Recall Scott Sabourin

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The Tampa Bay Lightning have placed rookie defenseman Maxwell Crozier on injured reserve per Erik Erlendsson of Lightning Insider. The move is retroactive to Tuesday, which will force Crozier out of the lineup for at least two days. Tampa Bay then used the vacant roster spot to recall Scott Sabourin from the minor leagues.

Crozier is bearing through an undisclosed injury after leaving the team’s Tuesday matchup against the Washington Capitals in the first period. He only played 4:27 in total ice time. The injury was a hit of bad luck after the top Bolts rookie scored three points in his last two games. He was the productive motor of Tampa Bay’s bottom pair, next to third-year-pro Emil Martinsen Lilleberg.

Crozier broke camp with the Lightning after posting 34 points and 75 penalty minutes in 52 AHL games last season. He entered this season with 18 games of NHL experience under his belt, though only two assists to go with it. That production set a low bar that Crozier has well cleared to start the season, making his injury timeline worth following closely.

Tampa Bay will use Crozier’s IR placement to award Sabourin for a strong start in the AHL. He scored a point in each of the Syracuse Crunch’s two games to start the season. It’s a quick start, after Sabourin posted 25 points and 111 penalty minutes with the San Jose Barracuda last season. He has played in 25 NHL games over the course of his career – stretched across stints with the Ottawa Senators, Toronto Maple Leafs, and San Jose Sharks. He’s scored 15 points in those appearances. Now, Sabourin could suit up for a fourth club, and offer Tamp a hotter stick than rookie Curtis Douglas, who is without a point through three games so far.

Flames Assign Matvei Gridin, Activate Jonathan Huberdeau

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The Calgary Flames have assigned winger Matvei Gridin to the AHL’s Calgary Wranglers to make room to activate Jonathan Huberdeau off of injured reserve. Huberdeau has been sidelined since sustaining an undisclosed injury in a preseason matchup against the Vancouver Canucks on October 1st. He missed the first seven games of Calgary’s season.

Gridin played in the first four games of his NHL career to start the season, but found his way to the press box after posting one goal and a minus-three. He is among Calgary’s top prospects, and is set to become one of just six 19-year-olds in the AHL. A taste of NHL minutes, and continued pro challenge in the minors, could be exactly what Gridin needs to grow his game.

He looked fast and flashy in the QMJHL last year, posting 96 points in 72 games over the course of the Shawinigan Cataractes’ full season. That performance earned him the QMJHL’s ’Rookie of the Year’ award. The 2024 first-round pick spent two seasons in the USHL prior to his draft. He scored 99 points in 108 total games in the league. That includes a league-leading 83-point season in 2023-24, the second-highest scoring season in Muskegon Lumberjacks history.

While Gridin develops in the minors, Huberdeau will look to keep up his momentum from last season. He scored 16 points in 18 games to finish the 2024-25 season, pushing him to 28 goals and 62 points in 81 games on the year. It was Huberdeau’s highest-scoring season since he posted 115 points with the Florida Panthers in 2021-22. His dip in scoring with the Flames has shadowed his last three seasons, but he showed a click next to Morgan Frost and Matthew Coronato that could propel the Flames’ offense this season. Coronato currently leads Calgary in scoring, with three points in five games. Frost has two points.

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