Afternoon Notes: Bally Sports, Meier, Barkov
Teams with Bally Sports-branded channels for their regional sports network provider are nearing some certainty. The brand’s parent organization, Diamond Sports, has agreed in principle to a deal with Amazon, Sinclair Broadcasting Group and other debt holders to finance a restructuring of the company as it continues in Chapter 11 bankruptcy, they announced today (via Sportico’s Brendan Coffey). The restructuring includes the streaming rights to Bally Sports channels being transferred to Amazon Prime Video, although details of the move are scarce. Preliminary information implies that this will not affect the games’ national out-of-market availability on ESPN+ in the United States but rather provide a paid streaming option for those within their team’s TV market who do not receive their Bally Sports channel on linear TV. Affected teams include the Blue Jackets, Blues, Ducks, Hurricanes, Kings, Lightning, Panthers, Predators, Red Wings, Stars, and Wild, although all their broadcasting rights are set to revert back to the NHL at the end of 2023-24.
In other afternoon notes:
- Devils winger Timo Meier is on the ice with the team for morning skate and is likely to return tonight against the Canadiens, team reporter Amanda Stein relays. Meier had missed six games with an abdominal injury and will be activated off IR in the next few hours. The 27-year-old has missed 13 combined games due to injury in his first full season in the Garden State, putting up a rather pedestrian 9-6–15 stat line in 28 games when healthy, along with a team-worst -16 rating. He is an important returning piece for a Devils team that’s also without Jack Hughes and Ondřej Palát on offense, though, as they try, and grab hold of a playoff spot in the Metropolitan Division. With the move to activate Meier, the Devils have also assigned forward Shane Bowers to their AHL affiliate the Utica Comets.
- Florida Panthers play-by-play broadcaster Doug Plagens tweeted that Panthers center Aleksander Barkov will not dress tonight when the team takes on the Detroit Red Wings. The 28-year-old missed the final few minutes of Florida’s overtime loss to the Anaheim Ducks on Monday and is said to be dealing with a lower-body injury that head coach Paul Maurice called short-term. Barkov is having another terrific season at both ends of the ice with 11 goals and 35 assists in 40 games, to go along with solid work in the defensive zone.
Devils Jack Hughes Out Week-To-Week, Other Injuries Not Close
New Jersey Devils head coach Lindy Ruff shared updates on the team’s long list of injuries, most notably sharing that star forward Jack Hughes‘ upper-body injury is more a matter of weeks than it is months. The 22-year-old will be evaluated on a week-to-week basis and is slated to miss some time. Ruff also shared that Timo Meier has returned in a, “limited fashion”, and that he will return to practice sooner rather than later. The team’s other injured players – including Ondrej Palat, Tomas Nosek, and Dougie Hamilton – are not expected back soon – all per Devils team reporter Amanda Stein.
New Jersey is facing a long list of injuries, moving top defender Jonas Siegenthaler to injured reserve on Tuesday morning and recalling Shane Bowers and Callan Foote from the minor leagues. Both minor leaguers took the ice for the team’s Tuesday practice, suggesting that they could slot into the lineup with so many missing pieces. Neither player has played in the NHL this season, though Foote does have 141 games of NHL experience under his belt. Bowers has only played in one NHL game, suiting up for the Colorado Avalanche two seasons ago, and has since been a feature presence in the AHL. The 24-year-old Bowers has six goals and seven points in 29 AHL games this year.
The long string of injuries has been incredibly detrimental to a Devils team that entered the season as an early Stanley Cup favorite. Now without their star centerman for the second stretch this season, New Jersey will need to once again lean on their depth pieces to pull them through the middle of the year. Hughes has been electric when he has been on the ice, scoring 15 goals and 45 points in only 32 games. That’s a pace of 38 goals and 97 points across 82 games, though Hughes will struggle to reach that mark after already missing six games this season. Hughes scored 43 goals and 99 points in 78 games last season. If and when his elustrious 100-point year will come is once again uncertain.
Jack Hughes Being Evaluated For Upper-Body Injury, No Timetable For Return
Before tonight’s game against the Canucks, Devils head coach Lindy Ruff informed reporters (including the team’s own Amanda Stein) that superstar center Jack Hughes is being evaluated for an upper-body injury and will not suit up to face his brother, Quinn, at home in Newark. Per Ruff, the team has no indication of when Hughes will be available to return to play.
After playing over 21 minutes against the Blackhawks yesterday, Hughes had an awkward fall late in the game in which he landed on his left wrist/upper arm area. He did not return to action after recording a -1 rating and two shots on goal in the contest.
Unfortunately for the Devils, they’re staring a potential multi-game absence for Hughes in the face for the second time this season. Their leader in assists (30), points (45) and ice time among forwards (20:31 per game) missed five games in November with a right shoulder injury. The Devils, who currently occupy the second Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference with a 21-14-2 record, went 2-3-0 in those five games sans their more accomplished Hughes brother.
New Jersey is standing on more solid ground after going 6-3-1 in their past ten games, slowly beginning to overcome their goaltending woes. They can seldom stand to lose Hughes, who’s been their best all-around performer this season with spectacular possession metrics to boot, for a significant length of time.
For the second time today, an injury could also cause complications for a potential All-Star game appearance. Hughes, much like Blackhawks rookie phenom Connor Bedard who landed on IR earlier today with a fractured jaw, was named by the league to be their team’s initial representative at the 2024 All-Star Game in Toronto, which takes place in just under a month.
In Hughes’ absence, 22-year-old Dawson Mercer slides over to center to hold down first-line duties between Tyler Toffoli and Jesper Bratt against the Canucks. New Jersey is now officially injury-ravaged on offense, as they’re also without Timo Meier and Ondřej Palát for tonight’s contest and potentially longer. The Devils moved Meier to IR earlier today to create roster space, while Palát is listed as day-to-day with a lower-body injury but remains on the active roster, as does Hughes.
Hughes, 22, is in the second season of an eight-year, $64MM extension that makes him a UFA in the summer of 2030.
NHL Names Eastern Conference All-Stars
Sportsnet is reporting that the NHL has named the first 16 selections from the Eastern Conference. These players will appear in the NHL All-Star Game that will take place February 3rd in Toronto.
The game will be held in Canada for the first time since 2012 when it was held in Ottawa. Toronto hasn’t hosted the game since 2000 and it will be highlighted by Toronto Maple Leafs superstar Auston Matthews who was named alongside 15 other Eastern Conference players.
The league names one player to represent each team at the game, all of whom will be named this evening. After which the final 12 players will be decided by a fan vote on NHL.com as well as several of the NHL’s social media platforms.
The initial Eastern Conference players are as follows:
Atlantic Division
Boston: RW David Pastrnak (3rd appearance)
Buffalo: D Rasmus Dahlin (1st appearance)
Detroit: RW Alex DeBrincat (1st appearance)
Florida: C Sam Reinhart (1st appearance)
Montreal: C Nick Suzuki (3rd appearance)
Ottawa: LW Brady Tkachuk (4th appearance)
Tampa Bay: RW Nikita Kucherov (5th appearance)
Toronto: C Auston Matthews (3rd appearance)
Metropolitan Division
Carolina: F Sebastian Aho (1st appearance)
Columbus: C Boone Jenner (1st appearance)
New Jersey: C Jack Hughes (3rd appearance)
NY Islanders: C Mathew Barzal (1st appearance)
NY Rangers: G Igor Shesterkin (2nd appearance)
Philadelphia: C Travis Konecny (1st appearance)
Pittsburgh: C Sidney Crosby (6th appearance)
Washington: LW Tom Wilson (1st appearance)
The first 16 Western Conference all-stars will be named during the first intermission of tonight’s matchup between the Boston Bruins and the Pittsburgh Penguins.
More to come…
East Notes: Hughes, Meier, Harvey-Pinard, Carter
Devils superstar center Jack Hughes has officially returned to the lineup tonight against the Rangers after missing five games with an injury to his right shoulder. It’s about right on schedule for the 22-year-old, who sustained the injury on November 3 against the Blues and was subsequently listed as week-to-week. Already with a goal and assist in tonight’s contest at the time of writing, Hughes now resumes his quest for the Art Ross and Hart Trophies – both honors he was in strong contention for when he exited the lineup earlier this month. Despite the absence, Hughes’ 20 points in ten games entering tonight still tie for 15th in the league, and he’s only seven back of the league lead, a deficit he made significant headway in closing tonight despite skating on a rather odd line with Erik Haula and Curtis Lazar. Hughes is in the second season of an eight-year, $64MM extension signed with the Devils in November 2021 that already looks like quite the bargain.
Elsewhere in the Eastern Conference tonight:
- Staying in New Jersey, the injury designation surrounding winger Timo Meier isn’t as positive as Hughes’. He remains sidelined with a lower-body injury and is not in tonight’s contest, missing his second straight game with the injury after serving as a scratch Thursday night against the Penguins. Head coach Lindy Ruff had no update on Meier’s status when asked by reporters pre-game, and he remains sidelined on a day-to-day basis. He was off to a decent start on the scoresheet with 11 points in 14 contests but carries a team-low -12 rating.
- Canadiens winger Rafaël Harvey-Pinard is also absent from action tonight, sitting out his second straight game with a lower-body injury against the Bruins. Harvey-Pinard sustained a lower-body injury earlier in the month in a November 2 contest against the Coyotes but missed only three games before returning to action just over a week later. After a three-game stint back in the lineup, however, Harvey-Pinard was not able to participate in the team’s loss to the Golden Knights on Thursday. The 24-year-old has cooled down from his strong point output last season, notching only four assists through 13 contests.
- Penguins veteran center Jeff Carter is sidelined for tonight’s contest against the Hurricanes and has now missed two games with a lower-body injury. He’s actually not played since logging 7:28 on November 9 against the Kings and was a healthy scratch for their following game against Buffalo, but sustained an injury outside of game action in the interim. The 38-year-old has failed to record a point in ten appearances this season.
Jack Hughes Set To Return For New Jersey
After missing the last five games due to a shoulder injury sustained in the team’s loss to the St.Louis Blues on November 3rd, all indications are that Jack Hughes will make his return for the New Jersey Devils tomorrow night against the New York Rangers.
Before practice got underway this morning, the Devils announced that Hughes was making his return to practice, and a follow-up note from team reporter, Amanda Stein, showed that Hughes was centering the team’s top line as a full participant. Unfortunately, as Stein mentions, New Jersey will still be without fellow forwards Timo Meier and Nico Hischier for tomorrow’s game.
It’s difficult to ascertain a more significant return to a team, than Hughes for the Devils. Since his absence at the beginning of the month, the team has produced a 2-3-0 record, losing two pivotal matchups against the Pittsburgh Penguins and Washington Capitals, causing them to fall to fourth place in a hotly contested Metropolitan Division.
Playing in 10 of a possible 15 games so far this season, Hughes has put up five goals and 15 assists, which puts him second on the team in scoring behind Jesper Bratt. Even more impressively, although missing a good chunk of games, Hughes still sits 15th in the league overall in scoring.
Because of the shoulder injury, Hughes will only be able to max out at 77 games played on the year if he stays healthy for the remainder of the season. However, although it will be difficult if Hughes is able to sustain his two-points-a-game average, he would still be on pace to crack Connor McDavid‘s generational season last year.
Continuing to improve each season of his young career, Hughes finished one point shy of the 100-point plateau last year, finishing with 43 goals and 56 assists in 78 games. However, even after missing five games, Hughes should be able to crack the mark for the first time this season.
Injury Notes: Devils, Canadiens, Sabres
New Jersey Devils head coach Lindy Ruff shared that winger Timo Meier will be a game-time decision for the team’s Thursday night matchup, after sustaining an injury in the team’s recent win over the Winnipeg Jets. Ruff also added that Jack Hughes is progressing but isn’t ready for a return just yet.
These are tough updates to a Devils team that’s already suffering because of injuries. Meier is one of three healthy Devils forwards with 10 or more points through the team’s first 14 games. His absence would mark yet another blow to the team’s top six, which is currently missing Hughes and Nico Hischier. The Devils have taken a committee approach to replacing their top two centers, giving Michael McLeod, Dawson Mercer, and Erik Haula more ice time as a result. Haula has been the most productive of the trio, netting five goals and eight points in 13 games, while McLeod has managed six points in 14 games of his own. Mercer is the odd-man-out, with three goals serving as his only scoring this season.
Other injury notes:
- The Montreal Canadiens have shared that Rafaël Harvey-Pinard will miss the team’s Thursday night matchup against the Vegas Golden Knights. The Habs will turn to Michael Pezzetta to fill in. The 25-year-old winger has two points in 12 NHL games this season.
- Buffalo Sabres forward Alex Tuch has shared that he will be a “coach’s decision” for the team’s upcoming matchup against Winnipeg. The team’s head coach Don Granato responded by saying that whether to play Tuch or not will be a very easy decision, insinuating that the winger will return to action on Friday.
Metro Notes: Devils, Carter, Rangers, Pelech, Shepard
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: Hughes, Hart, Couturier, Pesce, Kochetkov
The upper-body injury keeping New Jersey Devils star forward Jack Hughes out of the lineup is a right shoulder ailment, Ryan Novozinsky of NJ.com reports. Hughes, who remains tied for the NHL’s points lead with 20, remains out on a week-to-week basis after crashing into the boards in the first period of Friday’s loss to the St. Louis Blues.
Notably, this is not an aggravation of the upper-body injury Hughes sustained during the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs, Novozinsky adds. It’s great news for the Devils, who have relied heavily on their offense and power play to stay afloat this season. The 2019 first-overall pick is averaging over 20 minutes per game and has 15 assists in ten games, including nine power-play assists.
New Jersey is currently without Hughes and captain Nico Hischier due to separate upper-body injuries, meaning the team is down both of its top two centers. Dawson Mercer shifted to the middle, and Michael McLeod jumped up to center the second line in yesterday’s 4-2 win over the Chicago Blackhawks.
Other notes from the Metropolitan Division today:
- Injured Philadelphia Flyers cornerstones Sean Couturier and Carter Hart traveled with the team on their upcoming three-game California road swing, Charlie O’Connor of PHLY Sports reports. While not a guarantee, the door is open for the team’s first-line center and starting goaltender to return to the lineup sometime this week. The team listed both players as day-to-day on Friday with a lower-body and mid-body injury, respectively. Both players have missed the team’s last two games, a 5-1 win over the Buffalo Sabres on Friday and a 5-0 loss to the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday.
- Carolina Hurricanes defenseman Brett Pesce has returned to practice for the first time since sustaining a lower-body injury nearly three weeks ago, Walt Ruff of the team’s official site reports. Sporting a no-contact sweater, Pesce is almost two weeks into his recovery from surgery undergone on October 24. His return to the lineup is not imminent, but he does appear on track to return in the two-to-four-week window following the surgery as initially expected. Pesce, 28, had two points in five games this season and is a pending UFA.
- Sticking with Carolina, 24-year-old netminder Pyotr Kochetkov is expected to rejoin the team from his loan to the AHL’s Syracuse Crunch before tomorrow’s contest against Buffalo, Cory Lavalette of the North State Journal relays. Starter Frederik Andersen is not expected to be available as he is dealing with an undisclosed medical issue, and veteran Jaroslav Halák is not eligible to suit up while on a professional tryout, which he signed with the team this morning. Kochetkov, who has a 0-3-0 record and .836 SV% with the Hurricanes this season, will likely back up Antti Raanta in tomorrow’s contest.
Jack Hughes Suffers Upper-Body Injury
November 5th: In more unfortunate news surrounding Hughes, the Devils announce that Hughes will be on a week-to-week recovery timeline, and he has not traveled with the team to Chicago.
November 4th: New Jersey Devils superstar forward Jack Hughes left last night’s eventual 4-1 loss to the St. Louis Blues with an upper-body injury, per team reporter Amanda Stein.
Midway through the first period, Hughes crashed into the boards at a significant velocity, and he was slow to get up with the impact appearing to largely be endured by his head and right shoulder. Hughes is still to be fully evaluated by the team, meaning the full extent of the injury he suffered is, at this moment, unknown.
Should Hughes miss any time, his absence would represent the biggest loss the Devils could possibly suffer from any one injury.
Hughes, 22, is the Devils’ most important player. He currently leads the entire NHL in scoring with 20 points in just 10 games, and he could even be considered an early contender for the Hart Trophy due to Connor McDavid‘s injury and the Oilers’ general struggles.
He plays in the all-important first-line center role for the Devils, skating in between Timo Meier and Tyler Toffoli. In the case that Hughes does miss some time, the Devils’ depth chart at center would be dealt another blow.
Team captain and second-line center Nico Hischier did not dress for last night’s game due to injury, meaning any Hughes absence could come at a time when the team is also missing its second-best pivot.
The result of both players being absent at one time could be that crucial top-six center roles are trusted to players originally planned to be bottom-six pivots, such as Erik Haula or Michael McLeod.
Any extended Hughes absence, especially when combined with injuries to Hischier and Tomas Nosek, could have a ripple effect covering the entire Devils’ organization. Veteran Chris Tierney is already in the Devils’ NHL lineup now, and a Hughes injury could even prompt the team to recall another center from their AHL affiliate, the Uitca Comets, just in order to be able to dress four players at the position.
The Comets are currently led in scoring by Xavier Parent and Max Willman, two players who are far from established top-end AHL players. The ripple effect of the Hughes injury could make it so Utica is even more reliant on those two centers, which might not be ideal if their early-season success is not an indication of how they’ll be able to produce on an extended basis.
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