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East Notes: Grzelcyk, Lundell, Islanders

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After being listed as day-to-day yesterday, Bruins defenseman Matt Grzelcyk did not travel with the team on their current road trip and will likely miss all of the three-game swing, head coach Jim Montgomery said today (via Steve Conroy of the Boston Herald). Grzelcyk left Tuesday’s contest against the Wild with an upper-body injury after posting a -2 rating in 13:35 of ice time.

This will be Grzelcyk’s second multi-game absence of the season. The 29-year-old missed ten games in November with an upper-body injury. It’s unclear if the two injuries are related.

The Massachusetts-born defender is amidst the worst season of his NHL career, and it couldn’t come at a tougher time. Regarded as a high-end, complementary top-four defender with exquisite possession numbers since becoming a full-time big-leaguer in 2018, Grzelcyk is now in the final season of a four-year, $14.75MM contract and will be an unrestricted free agent next summer. Unfortunately, his game has cratered this year, posting just one goal and a -3 rating in 20 contests. He is averaging 17:04 per game, his lowest usage since averaging 16:44 per game in his rookie season in 2017-18. When healthy, he’s been stapled to a pairing with Charlie McAvoy this season, which has been the Bruins’ highest-event pairing at both ends of the rink. Grzelcyk’s -3 rating and 48% Corsi share at even strength are both career lows.

With Grzelcyk out of the lineup, rookie Mason Lohrei will skate on a pairing with McAvoy in tonight’s game against the Jets. Across multiple stints on the Bruins’ NHL roster this season, the 22-year-old Lohrei has two goals, three assists, and a -4 rating through his first 15 NHL games and is averaging 16:59 per contest.

Elsewhere in the Eastern Conference as the Christmas weekend draws near:

  • Panthers center Anton Lundell will be activated off injured reserve before tomorrow’s game against the Golden Knights as he “should be” ready to return from an illness, head coach Paul Maurice said Friday (via Panthers senior digital content manager Jameson Olive). Lundell was close to returning for last night’s 4-1 loss to the Blues but could not play. The 22-year-old has missed the last four games with an undisclosed illness that was serious enough to warrant an injured reserve placement, opening up a roster spot. The Panthers have an active roster of 22 players, so they won’t need to make a corresponding transaction to make room for Lundell once the holiday roster freeze lifts on December 28. Through 28 games, the third-year two-way center has two goals and ten assists for 12 points.
  • The Islanders will remain without three regular defensemen in the lineup against the Hurricanes tomorrow as Scott Mayfield, Adam Pelech and Ryan Pulock did not travel with the team, Andrew Gross of Newsday reports. Mayfield has missed the last five games with an upper-body injury and remains on injured reserve, although he’s eligible to be activated at any time. It’s unclear whether the veteran shutdown man will be ready to go for the Islanders’ first game after the holiday break, a home tilt against the Penguins next Wednesday. Pelech, 29, is on long-term injured reserve and, while he’s been out long enough to be activated at any time, has yet to resume skating and has no timeline for a return from an upper-body injury that’s kept him out since American Thanksgiving. Pulock is also on injured reserve and last played on December 7 against the Blue Jackets, missing the subsequent seven games with a lower-body injury. He has also yet to resume skating with the team and does not appear close to a return. The Islanders have gone 2-1-2 in their last five games without half of their regular defense corps.

New York Islanders Activate Matt Martin Off IR, Share Other Injury Updates

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The New York Islanders have activated Matt Martin from injured reserve. The forward hsan’t played since November 15th, battling an upper-body injury. He was formerly activated on November 28th but faced setbacks that required him to be placed back on IR. Martin appeared in 14 games before being moved to IR, scoring two points and recording seven penalty minutes. The 34-year-old is in his 15th NHL season, with all but two years coming with the New York Islanders. Martin ranks eighth all-time in games played for the Islanders franchise, joining a top 10 that also features long-time teammates Josh Bailey, Brock Nelson, and Casey Cizikas.

The Islanders also shared that Julien Gauthier is set to miss the team’s Wednesday night matchup against the Washington Capitals with an upper-body injury. Oliver Wahlstrom is expected to fill in for Gauthier, after serving as a healthy scratch for the team’s last seven games. Wahlstrom has scored five points in the 17 appearances he’s made this season. Gauthier has also spent time as a healthy scratch this season, only appearing in 14 of the team’s 31 games. He’s tied Wahlstrom’s five points in his outings.

Finally, New York head coach Lane Lambert shared that none of Ryan Pulock, Scott Mayfield, or Adam Pelech traveled with the team on their two-game road trip that takes them up to the league’s holiday break. All three defenseman are currently on injured reserve, with Pelech placed on long-term IR on November 25th. All three of the injured defenders have averaged 19-or-more minutes of ice time in the games they have appeared in, speaking to the impact that their absences makes on the Islanders lineup.

Metropolitan Notes: Blue Jackets, Pelech, Goodrow

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With Daniil Tarasov’s conditioning stint set to end in a week and Elvis Merzlikins’ illness not expected to keep him out for long, the Blue Jackets will soon be facing a three-goalie situation.  However, rather than try to trade or waive one of the three (which also includes waiver pickup Spencer Martin), Columbus intends to keep them all according to Aaron Portzline of The Athletic (Twitter link).  There are only two other teams who are now regularly keeping up three netminders (Detroit and Montreal are the others) but at this point, it appears as if GM Jarmo Kekalainen doesn’t think he can get Martin through unclaimed.

More from the Metropolitan:

  • Islanders defenseman Adam Pelech skated on his own for the first time on Friday as he works his way back from an upper-body injury that has him on LTIR, head coach Lane Lambert told reporters including Ethan Sears of the New York Post (Twitter link). The 29-year-old was off to a quiet start before the injury but was still logging nearly 20 minutes a night and his eventual return will be a welcome one with Ryan Pulock and Sebastian Aho also on IR at the moment.  Pelech still has to miss at least 10 games and 24 days before he can be activated so his return is still a couple of weeks away (December 19th is the earliest possible date) but the fact he’s skating is an encouraging sign that he might not miss much more than the minimum.
  • Rangers winger Barclay Goodrow is questionable for tonight’s game against Washington, relays Mollie Walker of the New York Post. The veteran took a puck to the face in Tuesday’s loss to Ottawa and has not practiced since.  Goodrow has a goal and two assists in 23 games so far this season; if he can’t play tonight, veteran Riley Nash will likely take his place in the lineup.

Islanders Place Adam Pelech On LTIR

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Islanders defenseman Adam Pelech left yesterday’s game against Ottawa with an upper-body injury and it will keep him out for a while as the team announced (Twitter link) that he has been placed on LTIR.  This means that he will miss a minimum of 10 games and 24 days, pegging his earliest possible return date as December 19th against Edmonton.

Pelech was injured on his second shift of the game on Friday, playing less than a minute in total.  It hasn’t been a great start to the season for the 29-year-old as he missed three games earlier this month with a lower-body injury and has been a bit quieter than usual when he has suited up.  Through 16 appearances, he has just three assists along with 28 blocks and 15 hits while averaging a little under 20 minutes a night, a number that’s skewed somewhat with his early exit yesterday.

Pelech is in the third season of an eight-year, $46MM contract (a $5.75MM cap charge), making him the second-highest-paid Islander blueliner behind Ryan Pulock.  Even with his slower start, any sort of long-term absence will sting for New York, a team that has won just eight of their first 19 contests so far this season.

Part of the impetus for the particularly quick LTIR placement is the fact that defenseman Sebastian Aho was also injured early against the Sens yesterday.  These two injuries leave the Isles with just five healthy rearguards on the active roster heading into tonight’s game against Philadelphia.  Unless Aho is able to suit up, a blueliner will need to be brought up from AHL Bridgeport but without Pelech’s LTIR placement, they would not have had enough money to do so.

Metro Notes: Devils, Carter, Rangers, Pelech, Shepard

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Being outscored by a margin of six goals in their last four games, the New Jersey Devils have been without some of their top-quality players for the last several games. A reporter for the team, Amanda Stein, even went as far as to report that team captain, Nico Hischier, will not be joining the team on their upcoming road trip to take on the Winnipeg Jets and Pittsburgh Penguins. However, Stein did clarify that although he will not be in the lineup against the Jets, Jack Hughes could return against the Penguins.

Officially out with an upper-body injury, most consumers of the game could tell Hischier may have had a lingering injury issue headed into the season. Having only played in seven games up to this point in the year, Hischier has only mustered two goals, not generating nearly as much offense as New Jersey may have hoped to start an important year for the franchise.

Hughes, on the other hand, has been desperately missed by the Devils. Truly coming into his own as a former overall selection, Hughes got off to one of the hottest starts in the league, scoring five goals and 15 assists in the team’s first 10 games of the season. After taking a hard crash into the boards during the team’s regulation loss against the St.Louis Blues only 10 days ago, the Devils have performed at a 1-3-0 clip in his absence.

Other notes:

  • Head coach of the Penguins, Mike Sullivan, announced to the media that forward Jeff Carter is dealing with an upper-body injury, and that is the reason behind him missing practice this afternoon (X Link). Over the last two weeks, Carter has been a healthy scratch in several games before the end of October, as Pittsburgh has been looking to strengthen its bottom six forward groupings. On the final year of a two-year, $6.25MM extension signed with Pittsburgh back in 2022, Carter has failed to score a point in his first 10 games this season.
  • Arthur Staple of The Athletic issued several updates on the status of injured members of the New York Rangers today, indicating that Ryan Lindgren should be available for practice on Wednesday, while injured forward Filip Chytil will not be with the team. Lindgren has been dealing with a mild upper-body injury incurred during the team’s shootout win Sunday night against the Columbus Blue Jackets, while Chytil has been out since the beginning of November, also with an upper-body injury.
  • One of the most important defensemen for the New York Islanders, Adam Pelech, missed the team’s last game against the Washington Capitals just two days ago. In an update from Andrew Gross of Newsday, Pelech is officially listed as a game-time decision for their matchup against the Edmonton Oilers tonight but should be expected to play. Even though the Islanders have not gotten off to a terrific start to the season, Pelech still holds a 91.1% oiSV% in 10 games played on the year.
  • In what will go down as another ’paper’ transaction on the season, the Capitals sent down goaltender Hunter Shepard and recalled him today in a separate transaction (X Link). Largely due to an injury to Charlie Lindgren, Shepard has played in two games for Washington this year, winning both, and posting a .915 SV% with a 2.50 GAA.

Metropolitan Notes: Ponomarev, Miller, Pelech, Mackey

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In a peculiar move, the Carolina Hurricanes reassigned forward prospect Vasily Ponomarev from the AHL’s Tucson Roadrunners to the AHL’s Chicago Wolves on Saturday, per a team announcement.

The Wolves had been the Hurricanes’ AHL affiliate since the 2020-21 season, but the independently-owned squad opted to sever their ties with the Hurricanes this summer and act as the AHL’s only non-NHL-affiliated team in 2023-24 (and for the foreseeable future). It was not an amicable split between the two teams, and Wolves GM Wendell Young inferred over the summer that the team would not accept any Hurricanes prospects on loan once the season started. That practice has broken with Ponomarev here, though, who becomes just the second NHL-affiliated player on the Wolves roster, joining New Jersey Devils-contracted netminder Keith Kinkaid. The remainder of the Wolves roster is filled out by players on AHL contracts.

Ponomarev is a rather intriguing prospect, too. A second-round pick of the ’Canes in 2020, Ponomarev was quite solid with the Wolves last season in his first North American pro season, leading the team with 24 goals in 64 games and second with 46 points. Recently returning from a season-opening injury, Ponomarev had no points in two contests with Tucson.

Elsewhere in the Metropolitan Division tonight:

  • The New Jersey Devils are hopeful that defenseman Colin Miller can join the team on their upcoming road trip, head coach Lindy Ruff said today. Miller sustained an undisclosed injury in practice that has kept him out of the last ten games, although he’s still yet to make his Devils debut after sitting as a healthy scratch for the team’s first three contests. The 31-year-old, currently on injured reserve, joined New Jersey via trade this summer from the Dallas Stars, with whom he registered 21 points and a +23 rating in 79 games last season.
  • Staying in the Tri-State area, New York Islanders shutdown star Adam Pelech is missing a second consecutive game with a lower-body injury tonight against the Capitals, head coach Lane Lambert said this morning. The 29-year-old has just one assist through ten games this year and has yet again posted positive relative possession numbers, although his 20:22 average time on ice is the lowest in five years. Left-shot defender Samuel Bolduc, who’s struggled mightily this season with a -4 rating in nine games despite playing under ten minutes per game, remains in the lineup.
  • The New York Rangers have brought defenseman Connor Mackey back up to the active roster, per a team announcement. Mackey, who is serving as the team’s extra defender while Adam Fox is sidelined with a lower-body injury, has been recalled and returned to AHL Hartford four times in the past week as the team keeps him on the roster as little as possible to extend his waiver-exempt clock. Mackey, who signed a one-year, two-way contract with the Rangers last summer, passed through waivers unclaimed at the beginning of the season but can only remain on the NHL roster for 30 days until he needs to clear them again to return to Hartford. He has not yet played in an NHL game for New York this season after skating in 30 last season for the Flames and Coyotes.

Injury Notes: Pelech, Dermott, Tinordi, Athanasiou

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The New York Islanders have announced that defenseman Adam Pelech will be out day-to-day with a lower-body injury. The 29-year-old was on the ice for the team’s optional morning skate but was a late scratch for this evening’s game against the Boston Bruins. He has been in and out of the lineup this week having previously missed the Islanders 4-3 OT loss against the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday. Pelech did return to the lineup on Tuesday against the Minnesota Wild but took a maintenance day yesterday before the morning skate today.

Pelech has just a single assist in ten games thus far this season but has averaged over 20 minutes of ice time per game when available. The Islanders seventh defenseman Samuel Bolduc has filled in for Pelech during his absences including tonight as he is slotted beside Scott Mayfield. While Bolduc has played hard, he has struggled to fill the void left by Pelech and has no points in eight games.

In other injury notes:

  • The Arizona Coyotes have announced that defenseman Travis Dermott will be out of the lineup week-to-week with an apparent upper-body injury. The Coyotes called up Michael Kesselring yesterday to work in Dermott’s absence, although it is likely that recent healthy scratch Josh Brown will slot into Dermott’s place and Kesselring will serve as the team’s seventh defenseman. Very little is known about Dermott’s ailment or when he suffered the injury but for now it appears at least for the time being that Dermott’s absence will be an extended one. Dermott has a single assist in ten games so far this season and is currently a -4.
  • The Chicago Blackhawks have announced that defenseman Jarred Tinordi left tonight’s game and will not be returning. The 31-year-old left without any obvious reason or clear injury and no specifics have been given yet. Tinordi drew back into the lineup tonight for the first time since last Saturday and was tasked with replacing Nikita Zaitsev. Tinordi has dressed in eight games on the season and has a single assist while playing roughly 16 minutes a night.
  • The Blackhawks also announced that forward Andreas Athanasiou will not be returning to tonight’s game after suffering an apparent injury. Athanasiou left the game near the end of the second period although little is known as to the reason why. The 29-year-old was a healthy scratch recently and has struggled so far this season with no goals and four assists in ten games. Last year he posted 20 goals and 20 assists in 81 games and seemed to have more jump in his game.

Metropolitan Notes: Horvat, Nedeljkovic, Ludvig

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New York Islanders reporter Andrew Gross has tweeted that New York Islanders forward Bo Horvat did not dress for tonight’s game against the Minnesota Wild. It is the first game Horvat has missed as a member of the Islanders since he was acquired via trade from the Vancouver Canucks this past January. The 28-year-old was considered a game-time decision after blocking a shot late in Saturday night’s overtime loss to the Carolina Hurricanes but ultimately did not dress.

Horvat is off to a solid start this season with four goals and five assists in his first 10 games of the season and his absence will create a rather large hole for the Islanders to try and fill. The club has had to deal with multiple injuries to start the season with Adam Pelech, Scott Mayfield and now Horvat all missing some time. Should he miss an extended period, the Islanders will have to do more shuffling of the lines to try and fill the void. The team has started the season well all things considered, at 5-2-3 the Islanders are currently tied for the second wild card spot in the Eastern Conference.

In other Metropolitan notes:

  • Josh Yohe of The Athletic reported today that Pittsburgh Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan offered an update on injured Penguins goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic. Sullivan told the media that the 27-year-old netminder is back on the ice and is making progress towards a return. Not much is known about Nedeljkovic’s lower-body injury as he was hurt back on October 24th in a 4-1 loss to the Dallas Stars. He was placed on LTIR the very next day meaning that the earliest he can return to the Penguins lineup is on November 19th.
  • Josh Yohe also reported that Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman John Ludvig is also back on the ice skating and is making progress towards a return. Ludvig suffered a concussion on October 24th against the Dallas Stars after laying a hit that resulted in him sustaining the head injury. Mike Sullivan told reporters that the team will see what happens after their road trip meaning that the likeliest the 23-year-old could return is November 11th. Ludvig was acquired off waivers before the season and has dressed in one game thus far this season.

Metropolitan Notes: Islanders, Backstrom, van Riemsdyk, Trade Interest

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Picking up eight points in their last five games, the New York Islanders were able to recorrect a tepid start to the season. Today, Stefen Rosner of The Hockey News issued some updates on several members of the Islanders team, including Bo Horvat, Scott Mayfield, and Adam Pelech.

Rosner reports that Horvat is day-to-day with an injury, it he is questionable to play in the team’s game tomorrow night against the Minnesota Wild. Being one of the most important parts of their offense, Horvat’s offensive presence will be greatly missed even for a game or two on a team that is still struggling to score goals at a high rate.

Pelech, on the other hand, already missed the team’s game against the Carolina Hurricanes two nights ago due to a lower-body injury, but Rosner indicates that he looked good at practice today, but still remains questionable for tomorrow night. Dissimilarly, Mayfield was notably absent from the team’s practice today, but Rosner confirmed it was merely a maintenance day and that Mayfield is not dealing with any sustaining injuries.

Other notes:

    • Nearly a week ago, it was reported that Washington Capitals forward, Nicklas Backstrom, would be stepping away from the team due to a lingering injury that does not appear to be going away. In an earlier report from today, Tarik El-Bashir of Monumental Sports Network relayed a message from the General Manager of the team, Brian MacLellan, who says that is ’unlikely’ that Backstrom will return to the team this year. After missing much of the season last year, it appears that Backstrom will miss nearly two full seasons of hockey due to his ongoing hip injury.
    • Sticking with the Capitals, it was apparent during their game on Saturday night against the Columbus Blue Jackets, that defenseman Trevor van Riemsdyk had sustained some sort of injury. The team was hoping that it would not be a long-term injury, and after proper evaluations, Tom Gulitti of the NHL reports that van Riemsdyk is only considered day-to-day, but will not practice with the team today.
    • Only a few weeks ago, multiple reports indicated that the Capitals were very interested in the idea of acquiring forward Conor Garland from the Vancouver Canucks. Although not mentioning Garland specifically, and now factoring in the absence of Backstrom in the lineup, Ethan Cadeaux of Monumental Sports Network confirms that Washington is indeed still looking for an addition to the team’s top six forward unit, and their motivation has increased since the news from Backstrom.

Metropolitan Notes: Ristolainen, Pelech, Pacioretty

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The Flyers have placed defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen on LTIR, CapFriendly reports (Twitter link).  The move was necessary to afford yesterday’s recall of goaltender Cal Petersen.  Ristolainen has yet to play this season due to an undisclosed injury, one that he had a setback in recovering from last month.  The LTIR placement can be made retroactively; assuming that was done here, he will have already missed the required 10 games and 24 days which means he will be eligible to be activated as soon as he’s cleared to return.  The 29-year-old had 20 points, 142 blocks, and 162 hits in 70 games with Philadelphia last season.

More from the Metropolitan:

  • Defenseman Adam Pelech is dealing with a lower-body injury and won’t play tonight against Carolina, notes Cory Wright of the Islanders’ team site. The 29-year-old left Thursday’s victory over Washington early in the first period.  However, Pelech did skate before practice today (but left before the team’s morning skate) which is an encouraging sign for a possible short-term absence.  The blueliner has gotten off to a bit of a slow start this season with just a single point in nine games while once again logging over 20 minutes a night.
  • Capitals winger Max Pacioretty skated for the second time today as he continues to work his way back from a torn Achilles, relays Tarik El-Bashir of Monumental Sports Network (Twitter link). The veteran suffered the injury in just his fifth game last season after working his way back from a torn Achilles.  Pacioretty inked a one-year deal with Washington this summer, one that carries a $2MM base salary and $2MM in games played bonuses that will be fully payable at the 20-game mark.

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