Evening Notes: Chychrun, Kapanen, Bastian
The Washington Capitals have announced that defenseman Jakob Chychrun won’t return to tonight’s game after suffering an upper-body injury. Chychrun suffered the injury in a game against the New York Rangers after he had played for just one minute and 50 seconds. Chychrun was +1 tonight in his limited appearance.
It’s a tough break for the 26-year-old, who is in his first season with Washington after a trade this past summer that saw Nick Jensen and a 2026 third-round pick head back to Ottawa. Chychrun has been solid to start the year, posting two goals and two assists in seven games. Chychrun can ill afford to be out long term as his in the final year of his current contract with a cap hit of $4.6MM.
In other evening notes:
- The St. Louis Blues have announced that forward Kasperi Kapanen is dealing with an upper-body injury and will not return to tonight’s game. Kapanen took a high hit in a game against the Ottawa Senators and appeared to hit his face on the boards. Kapanen did get to the bench under his own power but did not return. The 28-year-old was dressing in his first game since playing just 8:57 on October 24th against the Toronto Maple Leafs. Kapanen has struggled this season, with a single goal in seven games.
- Forward Nathan Bastian will return to the New Jersey Devils lineup tomorrow night when the team takes on the Vancouver Canucks (as per Devils reporter Amanda Stein). Bastian hasn’t played since October 24th, as he has been a healthy scratch for the last two games. New Jersey has opted to use Kurtis MacDermid in Bastian’s place the past few days, but now the 26-year-old will have an opportunity to draw back into the lineup and add to the two goals and two assists that he has posted so far this season in ten games.
West Notes: Jiricek, Kesselring, Hague
The St. Louis Blues have reassigned defenseman Adam Jiricek to the Ontario Hockey League’s Brantford Bulldogs (news release). Jiricek was the 16th overall pick in this year’s NHL Entry Draft and will bring a wealth of experience to the Bulldogs, having already accumulated 31 games of professional experience in his native Czechia.
The younger brother of Columbus defenseman David Jiricek has played quite a bit internationally in the last few seasons, including appearances in the U17 World Hockey Challenge, U18 World Hockey Championships, Hlinka-Gretzky Cup & World Junior Hockey Championships.
In other Western Conference notes:
- Utah Hockey Club defenseman Michael Kesselring is out with an illness and will be a game-time decision tomorrow night (as per Belle Fraser of the Salt Lake Tribune). Kesselring logged almost 23 minutes in ice time last night in a loss against the San Jose Sharks but woke up and was sick with a fever today. The 24-year-old has seen a huge increase in ice time this season, averaging over 20 minutes a night in the absence of top-four defensemen John Marino and Sean Durzi. Kesselring has filled in admirably, posting two goals and three assists in 10 games this season.
- Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Nicolas Hague has been officially ruled out for tomorrow night’s game against the Los Angeles Kings (as per Sin Bin Vegas). The 25-year-old skated by himself as he ramped up his efforts to get back into the lineup. Hague last played on October 25th and will miss his third consecutive game with a lower-body injury. Kaedan Korczak will likely continue to fill in for Hague on the Golden Knights backend. Korczak has dressed in three games this season, posting a single assist while averaging over 16 minutes of ice time per game.
Canadiens Notes: Guhle, Slafkovsky, Harvey-Pinard
Montreal Canadiens defenseman Kaiden Guhle was a full participant in today’s morning skate as he donned a regular jersey (as per Renaud Lavoie of TVA Sports). Guhle was officially placed on injured reserve two days ago, but the 22-year-old has been out of the lineup since October 17th with an upper-body injury. Guhle is eligible to come off of IR at any time.
Guhle started the season well offensively, posting four points and a +4 rating in his first five games. The start was a bit of a surprise given that he missed almost all of the Canadiens training camp due to his recovery from appendectomy surgery. However, despite his impressive offensive numbers, Guhle had some major struggles away from the puck and was buoyed by a 113.2 PDO (as per Hockey Reference).
In other Montreal Canadiens notes:
- Canadiens forward Juraj Slafkovsky has dressed tonight after he declared himself pain-free and ready to play (as per Kenzie Lalonde of TSN). Slafkovsky clarified to the media that the issue plaguing him was in fact, not a shoulder injury but was a different issue that he called a “weird injury.” The 20-year-old missed three games with an upper-body injury and slotted in tonight on the second line alongside Alex Newhook and Joel Armia. The 2022 first-overall pick has had a strong start to the season with a goal and five assists in his first six games.
- Montreal forward Rafael Harvey-Pinard practiced today for the first time since having surgery in July to repair a broken leg (as per Renaud Lavoie of TVA Sports). The 25-year-old was wearing a non-contact jersey as he took to the ice with his teammates, Harvey-Pinard was originally ruled out until late November but could return to the lineup sooner than that, depending on the next few weeks of practice. Harvey-Pinard had a disappointing 2023-24, posting just two goals and eight assists in 45 games.
East Notes: Rust, Dahlin, Romanov, Motte
The Pittsburgh Penguins organization didn’t get a positive update on forward Bryan Rust‘s injury. The team’s play-by-play commentator, Jeff Getzoff, shared that Rust is considered week-to-week with a lower-body injury after evaluations.
Rust suffered the lower-body injury in the team’s most recent game against the Vancouver Canucks after receiving a hit from Nils Hoglander. The veteran forward was quickly ruled out of that game’s action after only 13:18 of ice time and missed the team’s practice yesterday.
The injury could be related to the lower-body injury that kept Rust from the ice at the beginning of the season. He missed Pittsburgh’s first two games of the regular season but has managed three goals and four points in eight straight games. The Penguins only have 12 healthy forwards on the roster meaning Valtteri Puustinen should garner more ice time if the organization doesn’t make a recall from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.
Other notes from the Eastern Conference:
- Buffalo Sabres’ captain Rasmus Dahlin‘s two-minute minor for high-sticking and two-minute minor for roughing in last night’s action has turned into more. The NHL’s Department of Player Safety announced they have fined Dahlin $5,000 for yesterday’s incident, the maximum allowable under the Collective Bargaining Agreement. The play took place with seven minutes remaining of the third period when Dahlin swung his stick into the face of Florida Panthers’ forward Anton Lundell after positioning for the puck at the Sabres’ blue line.
- The New York Islanders will be without defenseman Alexander Romanov for the second straight game. Stefen Rosner of The Hockey News reports Romanov is still considered day-to-day with an undisclosed injury from one of the team’s recent games against the New Jersey Devils. There hasn’t been any indication up to this point that Romanov will be able to dress in tomorrow night’s action against the Columbus Blue Jackets, either.
- Ansar Khan of MLive reports the Detroit Red Wings are still without forward Tyler Motte who is suffering from an upper-body injury. His unavailability will have a downstream effect on the roster with the organization keeping the ability to keep prospect Marco Kasper on the roster under emergency conditions for the time being. Kasper has skated in five games for the Red Wings during his emergency recall with one assist to show for it while averaging 15:22 of ice time. Once Motte can return, Detroit must make a roster move to comply with the emergency condition protocols.
Edmonton Oilers Recall Drake Caggiula, Noah Philp
4:07 PM: According to a team announcement, the Oilers organization has confirmed the roster move.
4:00 PM: In light of Connor McDavid‘s predicted absence over the next few days and potentially longer, the Edmonton Oilers are bringing some depth to their forward group. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman shares the organization is calling up forwards Drake Caggiula and Noah Philp from their AHL affiliate, the Bakersfield Condors.
One of the two is bound to enter the lineup as the Oilers only carried 11 healthy forwards before the transaction. There will be a learning curve for both with Philp having yet to make his NHL debut and Caggiula’s last time in the NHL being a four-game stretch with the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 2022-23 NHL season.
Caggiula is in his second stint with the Oilers organization after signing out of the University of North Dakota in 2016. He spent three years with Edmonton scoring 27 goals and 49 points in 156 regular-season contests before being traded to the Chicago Blackhawks partway through the 2018-19 campaign.
He returned to the organization last season but spent the entire season with AHL Bakersfield. He scored 13 goals and 37 points in 43 AHL contests being good for fifth on the team in scoring. He’s off to a solid start in the 2024-25 AHL season with three goals and five points through his first five games.
Philp joined the organization in 2022 after finishing his career at the University of Alberta. He was a solid scorer in limited USports action but has struggled to produce in the AHL. He scored 19 goals and 37 points in 70 games for the Condors in 2022-23 but missed all last season due to personal reasons. Philp has suited up in all six games for the Condors this season scoring one goal and three points overall.
San Jose Sharks Recall Ethan Cardwell, Place Ty Dellandrea On IR
With the ninth-youngest roster in the league, the San Jose Sharks are adding more youth to their lineup. The organization announced they recalled forward prospect Ethan Cardwell from their AHL affiliate, the San Jose Barracuda while placing forward Ty Dellandrea on injured reserve.
The Sharks haven’t issued a formal update on Dellandrea’s injury status. Still, the current theory is that he’s dealing with an upper-body injury suffered in the team’s recent game against the Vegas Golden Knights on October 26th. Dellandrea managed 9:02 of ice time before leaving the contest and had previously been ruled out in the team’s win last night against the Utah Hockey Club.
Dellandrea skated in all nine games for San Jose before last night scoring one goal in total on the season. He’s kept his physicality up in his new stomping ground but his defensive play and possession metrics have declined with a weaker supporting cast compared to his time with the Dallas Stars.
On the other side of the roster move, Cardwell looks to make his NHL debut after one full season in the AHL. He scored 23 goals and 43 points in 71 games for the Barracuda in his rookie campaign and has gotten off to a solid start this year with one goal and five points through six contests.
The former 121st overall pick of the 2021 NHL Draft won’t crack many lists of top prospects in the Sharks system but could be a boon for the organization toward the bottom of the lineup. Cardwell is a 200-foot player with an aggressive tendency to jump into every battle on offense and defense.
Blues Extend Alexey Toropchenko
The Blues have signed forward Alexey Toropchenko to a one-year extension worth $1.7MM, per a team release. The Moscow native was set to become a restricted free agent with arbitration rights next summer.
Toropchenko, 25, has quietly emerged as a full-time fixture in the Blues lineup over the past few seasons. He played in all 82 games last season and hasn’t seen an AHL assignment since heading to Springfield for a conditioning stint early in the 2022-23 campaign. He’ll now stick around in St. Louis for at least one more season, but his future is far less certain past that, as the extension walks him directly to unrestricted free agency in the summer of 2026.
The 2017 fourth-round pick has settled into a fourth-line role, staying there to start 2024-25 even as injuries have taken Mathieu Joseph and Robert Thomas out of the forward lineup. He’s played in seven of St. Louis’ nine games this year, missing a pair of contests earlier in the month due to a lower-body injury. He has one assist, 7 PIMs, and 18 hits while averaging 11:37 per game, down slightly from last season. He’s been deployed heavily in defensive situations at even strength, and as such, the Blues are only controlling 43.5% of shot attempts and 33.3% of expected goals with him on the ice.
2023-24 was a strong showing for Toropchenko, who inked a two-year, $2.5MM contract the prior offseason. He set career-highs in goals (14) and points (21), recording 114 shots on goal and 165 hits while averaging 12:31 per game. He’s likely reached the end of his development track, but he has done enough to prove he can be a useful fourth-line piece due to his size (6’6″, 222 lbs), physicality, and legitimate chance-generation ability.
The Blues now have $86.06MM already dedicated to 20 players for next season. Notable pending free agents still include Radek Faksa, Joel Hofer, Pierre-Olivier Joseph, Kasperi Kapanen, Scott Perunovich, and Ryan Suter.
Maple Leafs Activate, Reassign Fraser Minten
The Maple Leafs announced they’ve activated center Fraser Minten from season-opening injured reserve and assigned him to AHL Toronto. The 20-year-old cost $77K against the cap while on SOIR, so the move does open up a bit of financial flexibility without affecting the active roster.
Minten missed all of training camp and the first few weeks of the regular season after sustaining a high ankle sprain during a rookie camp game in mid-September. That ended any hopes the 2022 second-round pick had of making the opening night roster, and without a clear fit for him in the NHL now, he’ll head to the minors and log heavy minutes with the Marlies.
One of the organization’s top prospects, Minten didn’t crack The Athletic’s league-wide top-100 list over the summer but is still one of the best up-and-coming forwards within the Toronto pipeline. A strong training camp in 2023 landed him a brief NHL look, playing in four games while averaging 11:26 per contest before the Leafs returned him to juniors. He split last season in the WHL between the Kamloops Blazers and the Saskatoon Blades, totaling 48 points in 43 contests with a +18 rating. He also captained the Canadian squad at the 2024 World Juniors, posting a goal and two assists in five appearances.
He’ll now get to make his AHL debut with the Marlies and will get an extended runway there to acclimate to the professional level. He should be considered an outside candidate at best to get a recall at some point later on in the season.
Avalanche Recall Kaapo Kähkönen From Conditioning Loan
Oct. 29: Kähkönen is back up from his conditioning loan, reports Meghan Angley of Guerilla Sports. He made two appearances for their farm club over the past few days, recording a .919 SV% and a 2.57 GAA in a pair of losses.
Oct. 24: The Avalanche announced today that they have assigned goaltender Kaapo Kähkönen to AHL Colorado on a conditioning loan. While on the minor-league stint, Kähönen will still count against the salary cap and the 23-man roster.
It’s been a whirlwind few weeks for Kähkönen, who’s yet to suit up anywhere in the regular season. He made a few exhibition appearances for the Jets after signing a one-year, $1MM deal in Winnipeg during the offseason. However, he lost the backup job to Eric Comrie and landed on waivers shortly after the season started. Colorado claimed him, but visa issues relegated him to the non-roster list for a few days. He was reinstated ahead of this week’s contests, but he was a healthy scratch in their last two games while Justus Annunen started and Alexandar Georgiev backed up.
The loan can last up to 14 days, after which Kähkönen would need to be placed on waivers again if the Avalanche want to keep him in the minors. The move is good news for Kähkönen, who now gets the chance to get his feet wet after sitting on the shelf entirely for the past few weeks despite being medically available to play. The 28-year-old last played in the AHL with the Iowa Wild in 2019-20 while a part of the Minnesota organization, posting a .927 SV% in 34 games en route to being named the league’s best goaltender.
Kähkönen began last season in San Jose, posting a 6-20-3 record, .895 SV%, 3.81 GAA, and -8.7 GSAA in 31 appearances for the Sharks. He was dealt to the Devils at the trade deadline, where he closed out the season with a strong .923 SV% and 2.51 GAA in six appearances despite a 1-4-0 record. The Finland native has an .899 SV% and 3.33 GAA in 139 career NHL appearances over the past five seasons.
Devils Recall Justin Dowling
The Devils announced this morning that center Justin Dowling has been recalled from AHL Utica. No corresponding transaction is necessary with an open spot on the 23-man roster. He comes up to relieve Curtis Lazar, who left Sunday’s game against the Ducks with an undisclosed injury and was already ruled out of tomorrow’s game against the Canucks. The team also said that defense prospect Topias Vilén is cleared to return from his upper-body injury. He’s been activated from season-opening injured reserve and assigned to Utica.
Dowling is in the second season of a two-year, two-way deal he signed with the Devils as a free agent in 2023. The 34-year-old veteran of 14 professional seasons played a pair of NHL contests for New Jersey last year, scoring once and posting a -2 rating. The 5’10” pivot can play all three forward positions and remains an influential offensive producer at the minor league level in his twilight years, including a pair of goals and assists in six games to start this season with Utica.
The Calgary native has precisely 100 career NHL appearances under his belt, coming in parts of six seasons with the Canucks, Devils and Stars. He’s scored seven times and added 12 assists for 19 points, posting a -16 rating and averaging 10:49 per game while winning 49.3% of his draws. He could make it a seventh NHL season with an appearance tomorrow in Vancouver, a likely scenario given Lazar had been lining up at center. The Devils’ extra forward on hand for the weekend game against Anaheim was winger Nathan Bastian.
Meanwhile, Vilén’s start to 2024-25 only gets delayed by a few weeks. The 21-year-old Finn is entering his second season in North America after being selected by the Devils in the fifth round of the 2021 draft. He made 54 appearances for Utica last season, finishing second among their defenders in scoring with 29 points (2 G, 27 A) and an even rating. It was a strong showing for the 6’1″ blue liner, who could be in contention for an NHL recall later on in 2024-25.