Stars Activate Mason Marchment From Injured Reserve
Stars winger Mason Marchment has been activated from injured reserve Sunday, per a team announcement. The team opened roster space by reassigning forward Kyle McDonald and defenseman Christian Kyrou to AHL Texas, leaving them with an open spot.
Marchment, 29, will draw into the lineup this evening for the first time in over a month. The power forward needed surgery after taking a puck to the face against the Wild on Dec. 27, keeping him out of Dallas’ last 17 games.
The Ontario native was having an extraordinarily productive campaign before his injury. He had 12 goals and 15 assists for 27 points through the season’s first 33 games, still placing him fifth on the team in points per game with 0.82. He’s on track for his best offensive season as a Star and his finest showing since his breakout 2021-22 campaign with the Panthers, when he notched a +29 rating and 47 points in 54 games and finished 18th in Selke Trophy voting.
Marchment is now in the third season of the four-year, $18MM deal he inked with Dallas in free agency in 2022. He has 111 points in 182 games as a Star, ranking ninth on the team in scoring since his arrival and ranking third in hits (240).
A career-high 15.0% shooting rate explains some of Marchment’s re-emergence as a bonafide top-six piece, but he’s also recorded figures in the 14% range twice in his six-year NHL career. His possession impacts this season have also been standouts, ranking second on the team behind Mavrik Bourque with a 55.5 CF% at even strength.
He’s another weapon in a Stars offense that’s figured things out in recent weeks, ranking fifth in the league with 3.29 goals per game in Marchment’s absence. His return to the lineup should coincide with Mikael Granlund‘s Dallas debut after they acquired him from the Sharks yesterday, supercharging their already strong offensive depth.
McDonald and Kyrou were recalled yesterday as the Stars entered long-term injured reserve for the first time this season. Neither was ever expected to play, with their cap hits solely being added to the active roster to optimize their LTIR capture when they moved Tyler Seguin there and added Nils Lundkvist after news broke that the latter would miss the remainder of the season with an upper-body injury.
Senators Recall Cole Reinhardt
The Senators announced Sunday they’ve recalled winger Cole Reinhardt from AHL Belleville. They opened a roster spot by waiving and reassigning him just last week, so no corresponding transaction is required.
Reinhardt returns to the active roster after Josh Norris left Saturday’s 6-0 drubbing of the Wild in the third period with an undisclosed injury. Head coach Travis Green didn’t have an update on Norris’ status postgame, nor made it clear when the center sustained it (via Sportsnet).
The 25-year-old’s inclusion on the roster gives the Sens 12 forwards for Monday’s game against the Predators in case Norris cannot play. Ottawa did not have any extra healthy forwards for last night’s win, with Noah Gregor on injured reserve and Nick Cousins out long-term following knee surgery.
Reinhardt last skated for the Sens in their 5-0 win over the Penguins on Jan. 11. He sustained an upper-body injury in that game that forced him out of the next nine contests before he landed on waivers last Tuesday.
The Calgary native cleared without incident and returned to play with the B-Sens on Wednesday, scoring the overtime winner in a 6-5 win over Hartford in his first game back. He was otherwise held pointless in three appearances over the past few days, but he still checks in as Belleville’s points-per-game leader with 1.06.
A sixth-round pick in 2020, the 6’1″ left-winger has worked his way up to tweener status on Ottawa’s depth chart. He’s appeared in 12 NHL games this season after not suiting up in any since his NHL debut in April 2022, posting a goal and an assist with a minus-five rating.
Reinhardt has averaged just 8:08 per game but ranks second on the team with 17.8 hits per 60 minutes. Outside of his physicality and the depth scoring upside he’s flashed at the AHL level, his possession impacts have been poor with a 42.6 CF% and -1.6 expected rating at even strength. The former ranks last among Ottawa skaters to play multiple games this season.
Reinhardt can remain on Ottawa’s roster for another 30 days or play 10 games before he needs to clear waivers again to return to Belleville. He’s slated to reach Group VI unrestricted free agency this summer due to playing fewer than 80 NHL games while having at least three professional seasons under his belt.
Senators Linked To Ryan Donato, Brandon Tanev
Multiple reports over the past couple of weeks indicate the Senators are looking to add a forward ahead of the March 7 trade deadline. The Blackhawks’ Ryan Donato and the Kraken’s Brandon Tanev are two of the names they’ve identified as acquisition candidates, Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Citizen wrote Saturday.
Ottawa’s drive to add further in advance of the deadline is likely driven by a pair of factors. Available options are quickly dwindling after a slew of major swaps over the past week, and they’ve lost a depth option for potentially the rest of the season after Garrioch reports Nick Cousins underwent knee surgery Friday, extending his previously issued six-to-eight-week return timeline.
Tanev would be a more direct replacement for Cousins in a bottom-six role, albeit one with more offensive utility. Donato, however, would provide head coach Travis Green with another option to deploy in second-line usage alongside Drake Batherson and Josh Norris amid a career-best season.
The 28-year-old Donato is a pending unrestricted free agent, likely to land at least a marginal raise on his current $2MM AAV on the open market this summer. That’s because he ranks third on the Blackhawks in scoring with 15 goals and 15 assists for 30 points in 50 games, trailing only Connor Bedard and Teuvo Teräväinen.
Donato has produced at a 49-point pace despite averaging 14:47 per game, seventh among active Chicago forwards. His 46.6 CF% at even strength leads Hawks forwards after Taylor Hall‘s departure via trade last month, and only five of his 30 points have come on the power play. His 14 even-strength goals lead Chicago by a margin of five.
He’s a historically inconsistent but versatile secondary scoring piece who’s flourished amid a lack of support in the Windy City, not all too dissimilar to Max Domi in the 2022-23 campaign. He notched 49 points in 60 games after signing as a free agent and fetched them a second-round pick from the Stars at the deadline.
The Senators should expect to pay a similar price for Donato, especially after the rental market was set over the weekend. Mikael Granlund and Marcus Pettersson both fetched first-rounders for the Sharks and Penguins. Donato’s utility down the middle won’t matter much for the Sens in their current state with Norris, Tim Stützle and Shane Pinto as their top three centers, but knowing he can slide over from the wing is good to have in case of injuries.
The type of forward they choose to acquire likely depends on how David Perron performs over the coming days. The veteran winger is getting an audition alongside Norris and Batherson after a lengthy personal leave and a back injury have limited him to one assist in 14 games. An uptick in production likely means they go for a more physically involved checking winger to replace and upgrade over Cousins, but otherwise, adding a more scoring-inclined weapon to the league’s 21st-ranked offense will be at the top of general manager Steve Staios‘ wish list.
Tanev would also be a rental, checking in at a more expensive $3.5MM cap hit. He also has some control over where (and if) he goes at the deadline with a 10-team no-trade list.
The 33-year-old left-winger has been with the Kraken since their inception, selected from the Penguins in the expansion draft two seasons into a six-year, $21MM extension. He missed over half of the 2021-22 season and a good chunk of the 2023-24 campaign due to injuries but has been mostly healthy this season, playing in 51 of Seattle’s 53 games.
While Tanev was once an option to score double-digit goals, those days may be behind him. He had a career-high 16 goals, 35 points and a +21 rating while skating in all 82 games during the Kraken’s lone playoff-bound season in 2022-23, but has 15 goals and 31 points in 117 combined games since then.
Nonetheless, he’s still among the league’s most fervent checkers. He leads all forwards with 82 blocks and ranks third on Seattle in hits with 107.
Tanev also remains an option to log heavy shorthanded usage, but his even-strength possession metrics have nosedived this season. His 43.2 CF% ranks last on the team among qualified skaters, and his -8.6 expected rating is trailed only by Jamie Oleksiak and Chandler Stephenson.
Ottawa should be able to land Donato without salary retention but may need a little help from the Kraken if they zero in on Tanev. They project to have $3.33MM in deadline space, per PuckPedia, a figure that could change once goaltender Linus Ullmark comes off long-term injured reserve in the days leading up to the 4 Nations Face-Off.
Flyers’ Daniel Briere Breaks Down Trading Joel Farabee, Acquiring Andrei Kuzmenko
The Calgary Flames and Philadelphia Flyers recently pulled off a lofty trade that sent close friends Joel Farabee and Morgan Frost up North and struggling wingers Andrei Kuzmenko and Jakob Pelletier back South. The deal is still leaving plenty of wake, which Flyers’ general manager Daniel Briere broke down the deal in a press conference on Saturday, captured by Charlie O’Connor of All Phly and the Phly Flyers Podcast.
Briere started by emphasizing how difficult parting with a pair of roster forwards was. He shared that a slow season was enough to push both players down the depth chart and that they were at risk of losing their spot in the top nine to younger players. Frost ranked fourth on the Flyers in scoring with 25 points in 49 games – putting him on pace to match the 41 points he scored last season. Farabee was far less productive, with just 19 points in 50 games – a far cry from the 50 points he scored last year. While neither player were offensive black holes, they weren’t showing signs of improvement on a Flyers offense looking towards the future, which could have led towards players like Bobby Brink or Tyson Foerster getting the preferred minutes.
But it wasn’t easy for Briere to part with Farabee’s lofty $5MM cap hit. Briere shared that many teams were interested, but that they all wanted the Flyers to retain some part of Farabee’s deal. That would be a hard pill to swallow given Farabee still has three more seasons on his deal, and the Flyers already have a retention spot occupied by Kevin Hayes. Calgary was the only team willing to take on Farabee’s full contract, which may have influenced the overall strength of Philadelphia’s return. Briere emphasized that the biggest asset gained by this swap was cap flexibility, so finding a trade partner with cap space was a top priority. The Flyers leave this deal with a projected $24.3MM in available cap space for this summer, though they’ll have four restricted free agents – Foerster, Pelletier, Cameron York, and Noah Cates.
And while the focus on cap space may have earned Philadelphia a lighter return, they’ve still landed a player to watch. Briere shared that the team was planning to negotiate with Kuzmenko when he entered unrestricted free agency this summer. Kuzmenko has a noted connection with star Flyers rookie Matvei Michkov, having played with the Calder Trophy candidate with the KHL’s SKA St. Petersburg in the 2021-22 campaign. Having another compatriot in Philadelphia could be a nice spark for Michkov – but the Flyers will first have to hope Kuzmenko gets past his menial 15 points in 37 games this season. He scored 46 points last year, split between Vancouver and Calgary – a number that’d leave far more impact on the Flyers lineup.
Briere closed by noting that this move was made with the future – particularly this summer – in mind. He says that the Flyers’ rebuild is at the point of aggressively adding to the roster, and the team is hoping to take full advantage of their cap flexibility on the open market. In the meantime, they’ll get a chance to test Kuzmenko’s fit before having to extend him beyond this year – and get the boom-or-bust upside of Pelletier to boot.
Metropolitan Notes: Haula, Malkin, Duclair, Edstrom, Stillman
It has been one of the busiest weeks of the season for the Metropolitan Division. Five of the division’s eight teams have made trades in the last few weeks, and all eight clubs are dealing with multiple injuries. That’s sparked plenty of news and updates – starting with the New Jersey Devils, who plan to bring centerman Erik Haula on their upcoming two-game road trip despite already ruling him out for Sunday’s game against Buffalo, per team reporter Amanda Stein. Stein added that Haula will practice with the team on the road trip and be questionable for Tuesday’s game against Pittsburgh. Haula suffered an ankle injury on January 5th and has been out of action ever since. He’s missed 11 games and was placed on injured reserve on January 17th. He resumed skating four days later and was upgraded to out day-to-day on January 29th.
Haula is now one step closer to returning. Having already been ruled out of Sunday’s game, he’ll have three more opportunities to get back into the lineup before the team goes on a two-week break for the 4-Nations Face-Off. Whether or not he’ll be able to return before that break will be notable, as Haula has been selected to represent Team Finland at the tournament. He has so far made no indication that he won’t be able to play – but the thought of his absence will weigh on a Finnish club that recently lost top defenseman Miro Heiskanen for the tourney. Haula is in the midst of a down year, with just 11 points in 42 games – his lowest scoring pace since the 2016-17 season. But he’ll still be an important addition to the Finns’ lineup should he return back to full health, likely to slot in as a middle-six winger with Sebastian Aho, Roope Hintz, Aleksander Barkov, and Anton Lundell manning the middle lane.
The Pittsburgh Penguins are gearing up for an even more notable return, after franchise legend Evgeni Malkin has returned to practice in a non-contact jersey on Saturday, per Matt Vensel of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Malkin has missed Pittsburgh’s last four games and is still expected to miss a few more with a lower-body injury. He will be hard-pressed to return before Pittsburgh’s 4-Nations break begins on February 8th. The Penguins have lost two of the games that Malkin has missed. They were outscored 9-2 in the pair of outings. With that in mind, Pittsburgh will hope their future Hall-of-Fame Russian can get back to full health ASAP – and get back to building on the 34 points he’s scored in 47 games this season. Malkin continues to play a pivotal role on the team’s second line, averaging north of 18 minutes of ice time this season.
While New Jersey and Pittsburgh gear up for returns, the Islanders will have yet another lineup vacancy to fill, with winger Anthony Duclair set to miss Saturday’s game due to illness, per Andrew Gross of Newsday Sports. Duclair missed over two months of action earlier in the year, sitting out from October 20th to December 21st with a lower-body injury. He scored three points in his first three games back, but has been ice cold ever since – with just two points in his last 14 games. Duclair has held onto top-nine ice time despite the scoring drought, giving the Islanders a hardy role to fill as he misses yet another game. Marc Gatcomb has returned to the lineup to fill the vacancy, earning another chance to find scoring after playing in his first seven NHL games, and scoring his first goal, earlier this season. Gatcomb will fill a fourth-line role, while Simon Holmstrom has been promoted into the top-nine.
Joining the list of Metropolitan absentees is New York Rangers forward Adam Edstrom, who suffered an apparent injury in the team’s Saturday loss to the Boston Bruins. No specifics of Edstrom’s injury or timeline have been revealed. It’s terrible timing for the towering forward, who’s scored two points and seen a boost in ice time over his last five games. His absence will force the Rangers to fill a hole on their fourth line, likely opening the door for Arthur Kaliyev, Jimmy Vesey, or top prospect Brennan Othmann to earn a spot start. Vesey notably voiced concerns over his ice time recently – and could now have a golden chance to prove he can make a lasting impact with minimal minutes.
Closing out the littany of Metro updates – the Carolina Hurricanes have reassigned depth defenseman Riley Stillman back to the minor leagues. Stillman was recalled for his season debut on Friday. He played in just under eight minutes of ice time and recorded one shot and two hits. He’ll now return to the minor leagues, where he’s scored two goals and five points through 15 games.
Kraken Recall Gustav Olofsson, Ryker Evans Day-To-Day
The Seattle Kraken have recalled defenseman Gustav Olofsson under emergency conditions. The move comes in response to sophomore Ryker Evans‘ suffering an upper-body injury that has him out day-to-day, per Mike Benton of the Kraken Audio Network. Evans missed Seattle’s Thursday win over the San Jose Sharks, making the team eligible for this recall. Olofssson is likely to serve as a depth option for the duration of his call-up, with the Kraken carrying six healthy defenders even with Evans out.
Olofsson is playing through his 12th season of pro hockey this year. Every year has been largely the same, with Olofsson earning a spot at the top of his club’s call-up list with stout, shutdown defense in the minors. He’s played NHL games in seven of the last nine years, only being held back by a season-long injury in 2018-19 and a shortened season in 2021. He has totaled 11 assists and 18 penalty minutes in 66 career NHL games over that span but is still searching for his first NHL goal. He hasn’t been much more productive in the minor leagues. Olofsson has totaled 109 points in 349 games in the AHL, with 24 points in the 2016-17 season standing as his career-high. His career has spanned tenures with the Minnesota Wild, Montreal Canadiens, and Seattle Kraken – as well as stints with four different minor league clubs.
Seattle will be able to play Olofsson in upwards of 10 games, or roster him for up to a month, on emergency basis. That should be plenty of time to allow Evans to work back to full health.
Islanders Issue Updates On Multiple Long-Term Injuries
New York Islanders general manager Lou Lamoriello met with the media on Saturday morning to provide updates on the team’s endless injury list, captured by NHL.com’s Rachel Luscher. Most notably, Lamoriello shared that backup goaltender Semyon Varlamov has stopped skating on his own or taking shots after a setback in his lower-body injury. Lamoriello dubbed Varlamov as now out indefinitely and referred to his recovery as “a total rehab situation”.
Varlamov has been out of the lineup for over two months but very little about his injury has come to the surface. His last appearance was an overtime loss to the Washington Capitals on November 29th where Varlamov – despite allowing five goals – didn’t seem to suffer a noticeable injury. But he was pulled from skating the following morning, moved to injured reserve on December 14th, then moved to long-term injured reserve five days later. He seemed to be on the rebound when the new year rolled around, returning to skating and individual drills on January 2nd. But after a month of light action, Varlamov still needs more time to recover. He’ll head back to the shelf, forcing the Islanders to continue searching for a backup.
Unfortunately, that search will be made significantly tougher by an injury to Varlamov’s fill-in, Marcus Hogberg, who Lamoriello shared will miss the next four weeks with an upper-body injury. Hogberg was originally injured on January 26th and moved to injured reserve the following day. He’ll now sit out through the two-week break 4-Nations Face-Off from February 9th to February 22nd. Hogberg was in the midst of a small resurgence before going down with injury. He made his return to North American pros with a two-way deal with the Islanders this summer, after spending the last three seasons starting for Linkopings HC of Sweden’s SHL. Hogberg started the year with middling numbers in the AHL – a 2-5-3 record and .898 save percentage in 11 games – but found his momentum in the wake of Varlamov’s injury.
Starter Ilya Sorokin has been New York’s bell-cow, but in seven games relieving him, Hogberg has managed a dazzling, team-leading .947 save percentage. It’s the highest save percentage of his North American career, ignoring sample size. But now, Hogberg will join Varlamov on the absentee list – and force the Islanders to find yet another replacement. After succeeding him as AHL starter, Jakub Skarek has also filled Hogberg’s role of NHL backup in light of his injury. Skarek hasn’t yet made his NHL debut, but he nonetheless seems cushy at the top flight – with Henrik Tikkanen and Hunter Miska both posting save percentages below .840 in their own elevated, minor-league roles.
Moving out of the net, Lamoriello also shared that the team is still unsure when defenseman Mike Reilly will return after undergoing a heart procedure in November. Reilly has been skating on his own since December 14th – just over a month after his surgery – but hasn’t progressed since then. Lamoriello added that Reilly’s situation will be dictated by his doctors. The 31-year-old defenseman is in his second season with the Islanders. He scored a career-high 24 points in 59 games last season, serving as an impactful third-pair option for a deprived Islanders defense. He seemed headed for a cushier role this year, but struggled to manage any scoring through the first 11 games of the season – then fell to injury. Reilly seems to have a winding recovery ahead of him, which could limit his chance to earn another deal when his $1.25MM cap hit expires this summer.
Ending on a positive note, top Islanders defensemen Noah Dobson and Ryan Pulock are both expected to return to skating drills during the 4-Nations break, per Andrew Gross of Newsday Sports. Dobson has missed the Islanders’ last four games and earned a spot on long-term injured reserve with a lower-body injury; while Pulock has missed two games and been placed on standard IR with an upper-body injury. The pair of absences have driven the Islanders to acquire both Scott Perunovich and Adam Boqvist via trade and waivers respectively. This news will lock the new acquisitions into the lineup until the two-week break – but hopefully the blue-line can return to full-health soon after that.
Maple Leafs Activate John Tavares And Matthew Knies, Assign Nikita Grebenkin To AHL
The Maple Leafs will welcome back a pair of key forwards for their game tonight against Edmonton. Head coach Craig Berube told reporters including David Alter of The Hockey News that center John Tavares and winger Matthew Knies will suit up against the Oilers. After sending Jacob Quillan down yesterday, Toronto needed to make one more roster move to add both players to the active roster. Per the NHL’s media site, that move was returning winger Nikita Grebenkin to AHL Toronto.
Tavares missed the last couple of weeks due to a lower-body injury after getting injured in practice when his skate collided with teammate Chris Tanev’s. Despite the short-term setback, it has been a solid season for the 34-year-old pending unrestricted free agent. Tavares has 20 goals and 22 assists through 44 games this season while winning nearly 57% of his faceoffs and will return to anchoring Toronto’s second line.
As for Knies, he only missed a week and a half due to an upper-body injury that he clarified was a shoulder issue. The sophomore has already passed his goal total from a year ago (15) as he has 18 goals and 13 assists through 47 games. Knies has spent a lot of time on the top line which has him well-positioned heading into restricted free agency this summer and is expected to line up on that unit again tonight.
Grebenkin, meanwhile, was recalled last weekend when Connor Dewar landed on IR. However, while he got into seven games with the big club earlier in the season, he didn’t see any game action this time around. The rookie has eight goals and eight assists in 29 games with the Marlies in his first season of action in North America.
Atlantic Notes: Ullmark, Hakanpaa, Panthers, Cirelli
The Senators won’t have goaltender Linus Ullmark back for tonight’s game against Minnesota. However, Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch relays (Twitter link) that the veteran is nearing a return and is expected to accompany the team on its upcoming four-game road trip that begins on Monday. Ullmark has missed nearly six weeks now due to a back injury. He had settled in well before being sidelined with a 2.38 GAA and a .915 SV% in 23 appearances. Fortunately for Ottawa, prospect Leevi Merilainen has played quite well since being promoted in Ullmark’s absence, helping the Sens not only hang around the playoff picture but actually enter play today in a top-three seed in the division.
Elsewhere in the Atlantic:
- The Maple Leafs announced (Twitter link) that defenseman Jani Hakanpaa will not play in the upcoming 4 Nations Face-Off due to his ongoing knee injury. He has been limited to just two appearances with Toronto this season, both of those coming in mid-November. He becomes the second blueliner that Team Finland will need to replace with Miro Heiskanen also out of commission.
- Panthers winger Mackie Samoskevich was scratched for today’s contest versus Chicago due to illness, relays Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald (Twitter link). The 22-year-old has done well in his first full NHL season, collecting 16 points in 47 games so far. His spot in the lineup was taken by winger Jonah Gadjovich, who made his return after missing nearly six weeks with an upper-body injury. Gadjovich picked up his second goal of the season early on in the game.
- Lightning center Anthony Cirelli is listed as a game-time decision for tonight’s contest against the Islanders, relays team reporter Benjamin Pierce (Twitter link). It’s unclear if Cirelli is under the weather or just dealing with a minor injury. Cirelli has 19 goals and 20 assists in 49 games this season while logging 18:56 per game, a career-high. Considering his personal best in points is 45, he’s well on his way to establishing a new benchmark in that category as well.
Flyers Recall Emil Andrae And Jacob Gaucher
With their newest players unavailable due to visa issues, the Flyers have brought in some extra reinforcements. The team announced (Twitter link) that they have recalled defenseman Emil Andrae and center Jacob Gaucher from AHL Lehigh Valley. To make room on the roster, Egor Zamula was placed on injured reserve while newcomer Andrei Kuzmenko has a non-roster designation.
Andrae has split the season between the Flyers and Phantoms. With Philadelphia, the 22-year-old has suited up in 20 games, picking up five points along with 28 blocks and 22 hits while averaging 19:18 of playing time. He has been a bit more productive with Lehigh Valley with nine points in 15 outings with them. With Erik Johnson absent from practice today, it’s possible that Andrae could be counted on for Sunday’s game in Colorado.
As for Gaucher, it’s his first recall after his minor league deal was converted to an entry-level pact in December. The 23-year-old has done well this season with the Phantoms, notching 14 goals and 13 assists in 44 games, well surpassing his rookie-year numbers in fewer games. Gaucher’s 27 points put him in a tie for second on Lehigh Valley in scoring, two behind leader Samu Tuomaala.
As for making roster room, Kuzmenko and winger Jakob Pelletier were acquired from Calgary on Thursday. However, both players are dealing with visa-related concerns and are not yet available to the team. Their debuts may have to wait until Tuesday in Utah. Zamula, meanwhile, has missed the last week with an upper-body injury. His retroactive IR placement came on Friday, meaning he’s eligible to be activated at any time.