Latest On Mason Marchment And Tyler Seguin
Dallas Stars forward Mason Marchment is expected to be out for at least a few more weeks (as per Sean Shapiro of DLLS Sports). Marchment needed surgery after he took a puck in the face in a game against the Minnesota Wild on December 27th. The 29-year-old continues to skate in Texas as he looks to return to the lineup, but his timeline will ultimately come down to his breathing as he will need to wear a cage when he comes back.
Marchment needed surgical intervention due to the fractures in his nose and facial area and there was a delay in even having surgery because of the swelling in the area.
Marchment was having a solid season prior to the injury, posting 12 goals and 15 assists in 33 games and was a fixture in the top six. The Stars initially used Evgenii Dadonov in Marchment’s absence but have moved on to Jamie Benn, who has filled in admirably in the top six, posting four goals and an assist in his last six games.
Shapiro also reported that Dallas forward Tyler Seguin could still be another five or six months before he recovers from hip surgery. The 32-year-old had surgery a little over a month ago to repair a left-side femoral acetabular impingement as well as the hip labrum. Seguin had tried to manage the injury before surgery and was even playing some of the best hockey of his career to start the season. But the wear and tear eventually made the injury unbearable, which forced Seguin to shut down and have surgery. Seguin had nine goals and 11 assists in 19 games, as well as a plus-14 rating.
Snapshots: Islanders, Marchment, Kaprizov, Roest
There has been plenty of speculation in recent weeks about whether the Islanders might consider moving veterans Brock Nelson and Kyle Palmieri by the March 7th trade deadline. However, speaking with reporters today including Newsday’s Andrew Gross, GM Lou Lamoriello indicated that the concept is “not even a thought in my mind right now”. Both players are pending unrestricted free agents and New York went into today’s action in last in the Metropolitan Division, only two points up on Buffalo who sat last in the Eastern Conference coming into tonight. That said, the second Wild Card spot is still within striking distance so don’t expect Lamoriello to even consider selling for a while yet.
Elsewhere around the hockey world:
- In a recent appearance on The Ticket (audio link), Stars head coach Peter DeBoer indicated that winger Mason Marchment is still at least a couple of weeks away from returning to the lineup. He’s working his way back from a head injury that DeBoer specified were fractures in his nose and facial area. The 29-year-old was off to a solid start before getting injured, tallying 12 goals and 15 assists along with 44 hits in his first 33 games.
- While the Wild were once again without top winger Kirill Kaprizov tonight, a return could be on the horizon. Michael Russo of The Athletic relays (Twitter link) that Kaprizov has skated for the last two days and that there’s a chance he will travel with the team for their upcoming two-game road trip if there’s a possibility he can play in one of the games. The 27-year-old was off to a flying start before sustaining a lower-body injury that has kept him out since the holiday break. Kaprizov has 23 goals and 27 assists in 34 games so far, good for ninth in league scoring despite being out for more than two weeks now.
- While Predators prospect Austin Roest is eligible to play in the minors this season, WHL Everett announced that Nashville has informed them that they will return him to junior once he recovers from his injury sustained back in training camp. The 20-year-old was a sixth-round pick in 2023 and has already signed his entry-level deal. Roest has surpassed the 70-point mark in the last two seasons with the Silvertips and will get a final few months with them before turning pro next season.
Mason Marchment Has Surgery, Ilya Lyubushkin Leaves Game With Injury
Dallas Stars forward Mason Marchment required surgery after taking a puck in the face in a game against the Minnesota Wild on December 27th (as per Owen Newkirk of DLLS Sports). Marchment did not travel with the Stars on the five-game road trip that takes them to the East Coast and is still considered week-to-week.
Doctors had to wait for over a week to decide on how to proceed with Marchment because of how severe the swelling to his face was. Ultimately, they went with a surgical procedure, which likely means that the 29-year-old will be out for a few more weeks.
The Stars have several good young players they can call on to replace Marchment. However, it will be tough as he has been on a tear this season, posting 12 goals and 15 assists in 33 games, which ranks fourth in team scoring.
The Stars tweeted tonight that defenseman Ilya Lyubushkin would be doubtful to return to tonight’s game against the New York Rangers due to an upper-body injury. Nothing has been confirmed about the 30-year-old’s injury, but it likely occurred in the middle of the second period when Lyubushkin fumbled the puck in the corner of the Stars’ defensive zone and then took a hard hit into the boards from Rangers forward Sam Carrick. Lyubushkin fell awkwardly and was slow to get to his feet, he did not come out with his teammates for the start of the third period.
Dallas Stars Recall Justin Hryckowian; Mason Marchment Likely Out
According to a team announcement, the Dallas Stars have recalled Justin Hryckowian for the third time this month. Hryckowian hasn’t debuted in the NHL over the first two recalls but there’s reason to believe he’ll do that tomorrow against the Chicago Blackhawks.
There’s growing concern the Stars will be without Mason Marchment tomorrow, leading to the idea that Hryckowian will be called upon to make his debut. Last night, Marchment took a puck to the face in a scary scene and was helped off the ice by the team. He was immediately taken to the hospital and head Peter DeBoer shared (X Link) that Marchment is ‘okay in a broader sense’ but is unsure how long he’ll be sidelined.
If Marchment isn’t available Dallas will be limited to 12 healthy forwards. Hryckowian will likely slot on the team’s fourth line next to Oskar Back and Sam Steel with Logan Stankoven moving back to the team’s second line.
The Stars may even replace Marchment with Hryckowian on the team’s second line considering the strength of Dallas’ opponent tomorrow night. The former captain of Northeastern University has exceeded expectations in his first full AHL season scoring 12 goals and 26 points through his first 27 games. He may not be a longer-term player for the Stars yet but he’s certainly growing his prospect pedigree in the organization.
Central Notes: Holloway, Kapanen, Makar, Novak, Sissons, Marchment, Vlasic
In an impressive feat, St. Louis Blues’ forward Dylan Holloway will return to the lineup tonight after leaving the team’s most recent game after taking a puck to the neck (X Link). He left the game on a stretcher and was taken to an emergency department following the incident.
He’s been a solid addition to the Blues this season, as he’s off to the best scoring pace of his career to start the season. Four goals and six points in 13 games don’t necessarily jump off the page but considering he’s only managed nine points in 2022-23 and 2023-24, it’s a good improvement.
Unfortunately for St. Louis, the team will still be without forward Kasperi Kapanen tonight. Jeremy Rutherford of The Athletic reported the projected lineup for tonight’s game and it didn’t include Kapanan meaning he’s likely still recovering from his upper-body injury.
Other Central notes:
- Marc Moser of the Colorado Avalanche originally reported earlier that defenseman Cale Makar would be a game-time decision for the team’s contest tonight. As it turns out, Makar is expected to play in tonight’s action. Makar left during the second period of the team’s recent game against the Seattle Kraken but returned for less than a minute in the third period. He’s been the team’s best and arguably the league’s best player this season with five goals and 23 points in 13 games.
- The Nashville Predators are without a few middle-six forwards tonight as the team announced Thomas Novak is considered day-to-day with an upper-body injury and Colton Sissons has a similar injury designation. The news will inevitably hurt the Predators in one of their least productive areas as their 2.38 GF/G currently ranks 27th in the NHL.
- Brien Rea of Victory+ reports that Dallas Stars’ forward Mason Marchment is considered day-to-day with an undisclosed injury. This means that Marchment won’t be in the lineup tonight but could make his return this weekend against the Winnipeg Jets. He’s gotten off to a decent start on the year with two goals and eight points in 11 games.
- Chicago Blackhawks’ defenseman Alex Vlasic had an impressive defensive season last year with a 90.6% on-ice save percentage in all situations on a basement-dwelling Blackhawks roster. Now that he’s recorded seven assists in 14 games this year, Scott Powers and Mark Lazerus of The Athletic share that Vlasic is now getting outside consideration for Team USA’s roster for the 4 Nations Face-Off. He played internationally for the United States this past summer recording two assists in eight games in the 2024 IIHF World Championships.
Central Notes: Joseph, Kapanen, Marchment
St. Louis Blues forward Mathieu Joseph skated today as he tries to work his way back into the lineup from a lower-body injury (as per Lou Korac of NHL.com). Joseph hasn’t played since October 26th against the Montreal Canadiens after he was hurt in the third period of a 5-2 loss. To this point, Joseph has missed four games, and it seems likely that his number of missed games will increase.
Joseph is unlikely to play tomorrow night given that he didn’t take much contact today and focused more on flow drills. The 27-year-old has had a decent start to the season, posting two goals and two assists in nine games to go along with 13 hits and 14 shots on net.
In other Central Division notes:
- St. Louis Blues head coach Drew Bannister believes that forward Kasperi Kapanen could be an option to return to the Blues lineup tomorrow night (as per Matthew DeFranks of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch). Kapanen has missed the Blues’ past three games with an upper-body injury and will be looking to get his season on track as it has been a rough start for the former first-round pick. Kapanen has just a single goal in eight appearances this season and has struggled with possession, committing seven turnovers and seeing his team control just 46.5% of the play (at even strength).
- Dallas Stars forward Mason Marchment is considered day-to-day with an undisclosed injury according to head coach Pete DeBoer (as per Lia Assimakopoulos of Dallas Morning News). Marchment has been dealing with an issue since he fought during the second Global Series game on Saturday night against the Florida Panthers. Marchment had a run-in with Panthers defender Nate Schmidt after he had boarded the defenseman from behind. Marchment took the worst of the exchange and eventually fell to the ice.
Morning Notes: Marchment, IceHogs, Kuznetsov
Lia Assimakopoulos of the Dallas News is reporting that Dallas Stars forward Mason Marchment will be back in the lineup for Game 2 against the Colorado Avalanche and Radek Faksa will be the healthy scratch. Marchment has been out of the Stars’ lineup since Game 2 of their first-round series against the Vegas Golden Knights and should give the Stars a boost after the club blew a three-goal lead in Game 1.
Marchment tallied a goal in two playoff games against Vegas and registered 11 hits in just under 28 minutes of playoff action. His return is sure to make life more difficult for the Avalanche as Marchment had another terrific regular season, posting 22 goals and 31 assists in 81 games, along with 108 hits. The 6’4” 210 lbs Marchment is built for playoff hockey and will give them a physical threat in the lineup after they looked to be in control of the series early on.
In other morning notes:
- The Rockford IceHogs announced today that they and the Chicago Blackhawks have agreed to terms on an affiliate extension with the Indy Fuel of the ECHL. The deal is a three-year agreement that also contains an option to further increase the pact for two years. Indy has been the ECHL affiliate for the organization for over ten years since they joined the ECHL back in April 2014. The team has had moderate success during their run, including appearances in the Kelly Cup Playoffs in three of the last four years.
- Chip Alexander of the Raleigh News & Observer tweeted that Carolina Hurricanes forward Evgeny Kuznetsov will go back into the lineup tonight after being a healthy scratch for Game 2 of their best-of-seven series against the New York Rangers. Kuznetsov’s scratch seemed puzzling at the time as the Hurricanes opted to use Max Comtois in his place. However, Comtois played just 6:19 and was largely ineffective as the Hurricanes struggled to control the play when he was on the ice. The 31-year-old Kuznetsov has been solid in the playoffs for Carolina, posting two goals and two assists in six games while averaging less than 12 minutes of ice time per game.
West Notes: Marchment, Pettersson, Henrique, Drouin
The Stars have been without Mason Marchment since he suffered an undisclosed injury in the second game of the opening round. However, he could return for the second game of their second-round series against Colorado as Joey Hayden of the Dallas Morning News relays that the winger is now close to returning and is likely to be a game-time decision on Thursday. The 28-year-old had a career year offensively with 22 goals and 31 assists in 81 games during the regular season and is a big part of Dallas’ deep forward group so getting him back – whether it’s Thursday or soon after – would be a significant boost for them.
Other news from the West:
- After missing Tuesday’s practice due to illness, Canucks center Elias Pettersson will play tonight in their series opener, mentions Thomas Drance of The Athletic (Twitter link). Head coach Rick Tocchet also ruled out any speculation that the illness designation was covering up an injury. Pettersson had a strong regular season with 89 points in 82 games but was quiet in the first round, being held to just three assists in six contests against Nashville.
- As expected, Oilers forward Adam Henrique has been ruled out of tonight’s opener, notes Daniel Nugent-Bowman of The Athletic (Twitter link). He was listed as doubtful yesterday due to a lower-body injury. However, head coach Kris Knoblauch added that he’s hopeful that the veteran will be able to return on Friday, continuing to list him as day-to-day. Henrique had a pair of points in their opening-round victory over Los Angeles.
- Avalanche winger Jonathan Drouin skated today for the first time as he works his way back from a lower-body injury that caused him to miss the entire first round. Speaking with reporters including Evan Rawal of Colorado Hockey Now (Twitter link), head coach Jared Bednar indicated that they need to ensure that Drouin’s wound heals so that it won’t bust open again which suggests he probably isn’t overly close to returning just yet. Drouin had a strong bounce-back showing during the regular season, picking up 56 points in 79 games after managing just 29 in 58 in 2022-23.
West Notes: Henrique, Marchment, Hakanpää
Oilers forward Adam Henrique has been downgraded to doubtful for tomorrow’s Game 1 of their second-round series against the Canucks, The Athletic’s Daniel Nugent-Bowman reports.
Henrique, 34, has been dealing with a lower-body injury for at least the past few days, missing a practice last Friday. It wasn’t believed he would miss any time until today, and he’s now been officially listed as day-to-day by head coach Kris Knoblauch.
The trade deadline pickup from the Ducks was solid in Edmonton’s dispatching of the Kings in the first round, posting a goal and an assist in five games while averaging 15:52 per game. His lone goal, coming in the first period of Game 1, set an NHL record for the longest period of time between postseason goals for a player. His last came with the Devils in the 2012 Stanley Cup Final – also against Los Angeles.
The domino effect of Henrique’s absence will force depth winger Mattias Janmark into a first-line role with Connor McDavid and Zach Hyman, per Nugent-Bowman. He’s averaged only 10:27 per game against the Kings but still managed two assists. Edmonton’s other trade pickup from Anaheim, Sam Carrick, has been a healthy scratch since Game 4 in L.A. and isn’t expected to re-enter the lineup.
Elsewhere in the West:
- As the Stars set to get their second-round series kicked off tonight against the Avalanche, they’ll again be without the services of winger Mason Marchment. He remains sidelined with the undisclosed injury he sustained back in Game 2 against the Golden Knights in the first round, head coach Pete DeBoer told Lia Assimakopoulos of the Dallas Morning News. DeBoer did say Marchment isn’t too far away from returning, meaning he could return before the series stretches into elimination territory. After recording a career-high 22 goals and 53 points in the regular season, Marchment scored once against Vegas before exiting the lineup.
- Further away from returning is defenseman Jani Hakanpää, DeBoer added. Both he and Marchment are skating but he’s behind the winger in his recovery. The 32-year-old has missed a significant chunk of time with a lower-body injury, a blow to their defensive depth, although trade pickup Chris Tanev has replaced his top-four shutdown role and excelled while doing it. Hakanpää, a pending unrestricted free agent, last played against the Kings on March 16.
Central Notes: Chisholm, Marchment, Faksa, Fabbro
The Wild picked up one of the more interesting young players who hit waivers this season – defenseman Declan Chisholm. A Jets 2018 fifth-round pick who played just two games for Winnipeg in the first few months of the season, Chisholm immediately became an everyday player in Minnesota, posting three goals and eight points in 29 games while averaging 16:52 per game, 1:53 of which came on the power play.
He’s had a strong enough showing to earn him more runway in Minnesota as the club is expected to extend or issue a qualifying offer to the pending RFA, notes The Athletic’s Michael Russo. Chisholm was an RFA last summer, too. Without being eligible for arbitration and hoping for a one-way deal, he was one of the last remaining holdouts league-wide when he signed a one-year, two-way pact with Winnipeg in September. He’s arbitration-eligible this time around, though, putting a yet-to-be-disclosed firm end date on negotiations if he ends up in another lengthy dispute.
All indications point to Chisholm earning the first one-way contract of his career, and he should slot in as a cheap, puck-moving option near the bottom of the lineup for the cap-strapped Wild. Minnesota owes him a qualifying offer of $813,750, a cap hit he’s likely to eclipse when all is said and done.
Other updates out of the Central:
- Stars forwards Radek Faksa and Mason Marchment will be game-time decisions for the second contest in a row ahead of Game 4 against the Golden Knights tomorrow, head coach Peter DeBoer said (via the Dallas Morning News’ Lia Assimakopoulos). Neither played in last night’s 3-2 overtime win, paving the way for Ty Dellandrea and Craig Smith to make their series debuts. They practiced with the team today after sustaining undisclosed injuries late in Game 2’s loss.
- Predators defenseman Dante Fabbro will make his first appearance of the 2024 postseason when Nashville takes the ice for Game 4 against the Canucks in a few minutes, head coach Andrew Brunette said (via Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman). He comes in to replace Spencer Stastney, who left Game 3 with an upper-body injury after a controversial hit from Vancouver winger Dakota Joshua. Stastney has since been ruled out week-to-week and is doubtful to return in the series. It’ll be Fabbro’s sixth appearance since the March 8 trade deadline – he missed most of last month with an upper-body injury. The 25-year-old had 13 points and a +9 rating in 56 games this year and signed a one-year, $2.5MM extension on deadline day.