Mrazek has dressed in 20 of Chicago’s 32 games to start the year and has put up a 7-11-1 record with a respectable .906 save percentage and 2.83 goals-against average. He dressed in 56 games for Chicago last season, posting a goals saved above expected of 1.6 (as per Money Puck), and a save percentage of .907, with an 18-31-4 record.

22-year-old Commesso started his first NHL game on December 14th for Chicago and played okay as he carried a shutout into the third period but ultimately lost the decision 4-1. He spent nearly two weeks in Chicago during Mrazek’s absence but saw just two appearances during that time. The former second-round pick now heads back to Rockford where he has put up pedestrian numbers in ten games this season with a 4-6 record and a 3.34 goals-against average as well as an .879 save percentage.

Chicago is at home tonight to face the Seattle Kraken, and we should know later today whether Mrazek will start or will be the backup.

The Blackhawks’ defensive structure has also changed since the move to a new coach. Sorensen’s style has Chicago’s defensemen less concerned about getting back to defend and more apt to move up in the play to try and suppress opposing plays earlier as well as being involved more in the offensive zone.

In other Blackhawks notes:

• Injured Chicago Blackhawks goaltender Petr Mrazek skated this morning before the team’s morning skate (as per Charlie Roumeliotis of WGN Radio 720). He has been dealing with a left groin strain but was called “Real close” by Sorensen when asked about a return to the lineup. The 32-year-old dressed in 20 of the Blackhawks’ first 27 games but hasn’t played since December 7th. He is not playing tonight but could return on Thursday when Chicago takes on the Seattle Kraken.
• Blackhawks injured defenseman Seth Jones also skated today and was upgraded to day-to-day (as per Charlie Roumeliotis of WGN Radio 720). Jones isn’t playing tonight and has not played since November 14th, missing 14 games thus far with an injury to his right foot. Jones appears close to a return and, much like Mrazek, could do so on Thursday against Seattle. The 30-year-old was playing a ton before his injury, averaging 25:43 of ice time per game. Jones has dressed in 17 games this year, posting two goals and eight assists.

With Martinez joining top Hawks defender Seth Jones on the list of injuries, Chicago will give top prospect Korchinski another chance to establish an NHL role. The 20-year-old spent the entirety of last season on the NHL roster amid a severe lack of defense depth. He recorded five goals, 15 points, and a -39 in 76 games – prompting Chicago to start him in the minors this year. That’s proven the right move early on, with Korchinski leading Rockford IceHogs defenseman in scoring with two goals and 11 points in 21 games. He’s served a top-line role for Rockford and seems to be gaining more and more confidence on the puck, with routine highlights showing him driving play from end to end.

This call-up likely won’t guarantee Korchinski minutes. He’ll have to first earn a role over Nolan Allan and Wyatt Kaiser – assuming Chicago doesn’t play any of their defenders on their off-hand. Allan has proven a stout fill-in amid injuries, with four assists and a -5 through 20 games this season. Kaiser has been far less productive, boasting just one assist, 14 penalty minutes, and a -1 in 25 games. Korchisnki’s scoring upside could be enough to earn minutes, but he’ll likely have to quickly take advantage of the opportunities he’s provided.

Commesso has spent the last two seasons splitting starts in Rockford. He found his way into the role of de facto starter last year – his first professional season – stepping into 38 games and recording 18 wins and a .906 save percentage. He narrowly beat out Jaxson Stauber in ice time and save percentage – with Stauber posting a .902 in 31 games – but Commesso hasn’t found the same success this year. He’s lost the majority share of starts to three-year pro Mitchell Weeks, who has a .901 save percentage in 12 starts to Commesso’s .879 in 10 starts. Both netminders have four wins.

Mrazek’s forced week-long absence should give Commesso a chance to earn his NHL debut. Meanwhile, Rockford has recalled ECHL starter Benjamin Gaudreau to help support the AHL lineup in Commesso’s absence. Gaudreau – another top goalie prospect in his draft year – has set a 5-5-2 record and .907 save percentage in his first 12 pro games this season.

Interim head coach Anders Sorensen shared in his first post-game press conference that both players would miss “a little bit” of time, per Ben Pope of The Chicago Sun-Times.

It’s polarizing injury news for both players, for opposite reasons. Mrazek has been an iron-man in Chicago’s net, not suffering a notable injury since a groin injury limited him through the first half of the 2022-23 season. He was placed on injured reserve twice that year but still played in 39 games – recording 10 wins and a .894 save percentage. With a bill of full health, Mrazek did much more to embrace Chicago’s starting role last season, netting 18 wins and a .908 save percentage in 56 games. He was on track to repeat those numbers this year, with seven wins and a .906 in 20 games so far, but could now be headed for another extended absence due to a lower-body injury.

Mrazek’s absence would bump Arvid Soderblom into the Blackhawks’ starter’s crease, giving the 23-year-old a chance to build on his .915 save percentage through eight games this season. It’s Soderblom’s first NHL season with a save percentage above .900 – though he has a measly 1-6-1 record to go along with it. A chance at the starting role would be a chance for Soderblom to gain ground over Mrazek and injured backup Laurent Brossoit, who isn’t expected to make his season debut until late January due to a knee injury. Brossoit posted a .927 save percentage in 23 games with the Winnipeg Jets last season.

Meanwhile, Martinez is once again set to miss time with injury. The 37-year-old defender spent just under a month on injured reserve with a groin injury earlier this season, forcing him to miss 12 games. It’ll be a second year of multiple injuries for Martinez, who missed 27 games of the Vegas Golden Knights season last year with lower-body injuries. He signed a one-year, $4MM contract with the Blackhawks this summer, set on providing a much-needed veteran presence on the Chicago blue-line. He’s been heavily utilized when healthy, averaging over 20 minutes of ice time through 15 appearances this season, though he only has four points to show for it. That includes Martinez’s first goal as a Blackhawk, which he scored in the first period of Saturday’s game.

Chicago will need to lean even further on their young, depth defenders with Martinez set to join top defender Seth Jones on the absentee list. Nolan Allan has stepped into the lineup for Jones, while Louis Crevier will likely be the first to receive minutes in place of Martinez. Chicago could also call-up Wyatt Kaiser, Ethan Del Mastro, or Kevin Korchinski to fill-in, depending on how much time Martinez is expected to miss. Allan leads Chicago’s injury fill-ins in games and scoring, with four assists through 20 appearances this year.

The slow start this season has continued Athanasiou’s unpredictable career. He’s only two seasons removed from a 20-goal, 40-point season with a much weaker Blackhawks lineup, but was limited to only 28 games last season by a lower-body injury that lasted nearly five months. He hasn’t rediscovered his scoring on the other side of that injury – and now gets stifled from a potential resurgence in the minor leagues for the time being. Athanasiou carries a $4.25MM cap hit and is set to become an unrestricted free agent next summer.

Other notes from the Central Division:

• Sticking in Chicago, starting goaltender Petr Mrazek will sit out of the team’s Tuesday night game against Anaheim for personal reasons per Charlie Roumeliotis of WGN Radio 720. Arvid Soderblom will take over the starting crease, and Drew Commesso has been called up to serve as backup. Soderblom has posted a .934 save percentage in five games this season, well ahead of Mrazek’s .906 in 13 games. He’ll need to stay strong, with no indication of how long Mrazek may miss and Chicago currently on a two-game losing streak.
• It will be Mathieu Joseph stepping out of the St. Louis Blues’ lineup to make room for Robert Thomas’ return from a fractured ankle per NHL.com’s Elise Butler. Joseph only has one point in his last seven games, and has fallen to a fourth-line role after a strong stint in late October. St. Louis acquired Joseph and a third-round pick for future considerations from the Ottawa Senators this summer. Joseph scored a career-high 35 points last year, but has so far struggled to find his scoring in St. Louis. He’ll look to take better advantage of his minutes when he’s called on again, while Oskar Sundqvist also steps out of the lineup in favor of Zachary Bolduc.
• Winnipeg Jets head coach Scott Arniel said that defender Ville Heinola could rejoin against Minnesota on Monday, shares NHL.com’s Mitchell Clinton. Heinola was assigned to the AHL’s Manitoba Moose for a conditioning stint after starting the year on injured reserve with an ankle injury. He hasn’t slotted into the Jets’ lineup since January of 2023, when he was assigned to the minors after scoring just one point in 10 NHL games. He went on to score 64 points in 89 AHL games over the last two seasons, though he continues to fight with routine injury. Heinola was the 20th-overall pick in the 2019 NHL Draft.

Commesso, 22, has already been recalled once this season. He came up to the NHL roster for a few days in late October while Söderblom was dealing with an illness, but Mrazék started a set of back-to-back games against the Predators and Stars while Commesso remained on the bench as the backup.

A 2020 second-round pick, Commesso has been a contender for Chicago’s “goalie of the future” moniker for a few years. The 6’2″ netminder isn’t off to a promising start in Rockford this season, though, posting a 3.71 GAA, .854 SV%, and a 2-4-0 record in six appearances. He’s likely earned some grace after a spectacular run of play at Boston University and a decent .906 SV% in 38 games for Rockford last year, but being outperformed by the AHL-contracted Mitchell Weeks so far this season is undoubtedly a cause for concern.

Nonetheless, Commesso gets what’s likely a short-term summons to relieve Mrázek as the Blackhawks’ only available recall option. Chicago entered the season with only four goalies under contract, including veteran UFA signing Laurent Brossoit, who’s been on injured reserve since the beginning of the year while recovering from meniscus surgery.

Brossoit’s missed around a month more than expected, leaving the Blackhawks in a pinch. They have seven contract slots remaining, though, and could easily sign Weeks to an NHL deal if necessary to give themselves another option to add to the roster.

Nonetheless, goaltending hasn’t been an issue for the Blackhawks this season. Mrázek has floated around last year’s numbers with a .906 SV% and 2.79 GAA, along with some improved team defense, while the 25-year-old Söderblom has taken leaps and bounds forward in his development with a sparkling .934 SV% and 2.22 GAA in five appearances. Despite that stellar play, Chicago has just a 1-3-1 record with him between the pipes.

Over the next few days, when a sale announcement comes, it will become clear how complex this transaction will be. One rumored piece of the sale appears to be set in stone, per John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports. Current Coyotes owner Alex Meruelo will indeed retain the intellectual rights to the franchise as part of the sale. If he can get an arena built within five years and various other benchmarks are met, he’ll have first right of refusal for a Phoenix-area team and can trigger an expansion draft. In doing so, he’d need to return the $1B he’ll receive from the league for the franchise this offseason as an expansion fee.

Other tidbits out of the Central Division:

• Blues breakout winger Jake Neighbours has likely played his last game of the season, interim head coach Drew Bannister said Saturday (via NHL.com’s Lou Korac). The 22-year-old is dealing with an upper-body injury he sustained on April 6 against the Sharks. He’s missed the last three games and is on track to miss St. Louis’ final two after they were eliminated from playoff contention last night. It puts a bow on a good campaign for the 2020 first-round pick, who set career highs with 27 goals, 11 assists and 38 points in 77 games while creeping into top-six minutes (15:42 per game). While his nearly 19% shooting rate is likely unsustainable, he’s been steadily increasing his shot volume – averaging 1.88 per game this season compared to 1.23 last year. He’ll be eligible to sign an extension beginning July 1, with his entry-level contract set to expire in 2025. Bannister also said that defenseman Torey Krug won’t suit up in tomorrow’s game against the Kraken but could return for their final game of the season in Dallas on Wednesday. The left-shot offensive defenseman is day-to-day with an upper-body injury sustained on April 10 against the Blackhawks, already keeping him out of one game.
• A pair of European Blackhawks players found themselves in the news today, including starting goaltender Petr Mrázek. He told reporters today, including Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times, that he’ll join the Czech national team at the conclusion of the season in advance of this year’s World Championship in Prague and Ostrava. The 32-year-old has only suited up at the Worlds twice, once as a teenager in a backup role in 2012 and again as the starter in 2017, posting a .881 SV% and 2.47 GAA in four outings. It was quite a strong season for Mrázek in the Chicago crease, managing to stay healthy and start a career-high 51 games. He did so quite competently, recording a .906 SV% behind a leaky Blackhawks blue line that resulted in him accumulating 4.7 goals saved above average, his highest mark in eight years. He or Ducks up-and-comer Lukáš Dostál will likely occupy the starter’s crease for Czechia at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan, Italy. Additionally, 2023 second-round pick Martin Mišiak signed an ATO with AHL Rockford today and will make his North American professional debut. The Slovak winger spent the 2023-24 campaign with the Erie Otters of the Ontario Hockey League, racking up 23 goals and 47 points in 60 games with a -14 rating.

8:31 a.m.: The Blackhawks are signing starting goalie Petr Mrázek to a two-year extension, The Athletic’s Scott Powers confirmed Wednesday. ESPN’s Kevin Weekes was the first to report the news and added the deal is expected to come in just north of $8MM ($4MM AAV). The final contract will come in with an $8.5MM total value and $4.25MM AAV, per Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli.

Mrázek, 31, is enjoying his best season in quite some time. He first joined the Blackhawks in a 2022 draft-day deal with the Maple Leafs. Toronto moved down 13 picks from the late first to the early second round to shed Mrázek’s three-year, $11.4MM ($3.8MM AAV) contract after his first season with the Maple Leafs was hampered by injuries and poor play.

At the time, it was rightfully viewed as a cap-dump move. He made only 20 appearances (18 starts) with Toronto in 2021-22, posting a subpar .888 SV% and -9.6 goals saved above average after a three-year run of decent play with the Hurricanes. Mrázek had shown the ability to be an inconsistent but high-ceiling starter earlier in his career with the Red Wings, though, and if he could remain healthy, he had the potential to return to form.

Last season’s initial showing in Chicago was a marginal improvement but still disappointing. No one expected Mrázek to save a team with Max Domi as their leading point-getter, but his .894 SV% and -6.3 goals saved above expected (MoneyPuck) were still lower than a league-average goalie would have posted in his situation. That’s improved starkly this season, though, as his SV% has jumped to .907, and he’s saving more goals than average for the first time since his injury-shortened 2020-21 campaign, his final season with Carolina. His 3.7 goals saved above expected in 32 games doesn’t put him in the Vezina Trophy conversation, but it is an impressive turnaround for a veteran goalie on a bottom-five defensive team.

The biggest difference is health. Mrázek hasn’t sustained an injury in nearly 10 months. His last absence lasted for nine days due to undisclosed reasons shortly after last season’s trade deadline. That’s the longest he’s gone without once since returning from a concussion in March 2020 and then sustaining a hand injury in late Jan. 2021, which limited him to 12 appearances that year.

For most other teams, questions would abound regarding the merits of giving Mrázek a multi-year deal. His laundry list of injury concerns is nothing to scoff at, and he hasn’t put up back-to-back seasons of above-average play since his first two full seasons in the league with Detroit in the mid-2010s.

However, Blackhawks GM Kyle Davidson’s team-building goal over the next couple of seasons is team-building around star rookie Connor Bedard, not signing value contracts for success. Despite Bedard’s strong early showings, Chicago is still a few seasons away from exiting their rebuild. The team believes it important to have a veteran core around Bedard and its other prospects to help insulate them and prevent them from burning out too soon, hence a pair of similar extensions for forwards Jason Dickinson and Nick Foligno that also came in well above market value.

In the unlikely event that Mrázek reproduces these solid numbers in the 2024-25 and 2025-26 campaigns, this is a decent bit of business for Davidson to shore up his crease while under-25 names like Drew Commesso, Adam Gajan, Arvid Söderblom, and Jaxson Stauber continue to develop. The Blackhawks aren’t in a position where they’ll need to offload Mrázek’s deal to create additional cap space if it doesn’t work out, either, and his deal is set to expire along with Dickinson’s and Foligno’s in 2026. That’s when Bedard will be due for a massive extension after his entry-level contract.

After extending Mrázek, the Blackhawks’ projected cap hit for next season is just north of $48.25MM, per CapFriendly. They still need to allocate over $16MM in cap hits to next season’s roster to be compliant with the 2024-25 Lower Limit, which is expected to rise to $64.7MM from this season’s $61.7MM.

The deal also takes Mrázek off the market ahead of this season’s trade deadline, where he likely could have garnered significant interest with salary retention on Chicago’s end from contending teams looking for a quality backup. It also takes some free agency work off Davidson’s plate, who presumably won’t pursue a netminder on the UFA market for the second straight season.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

The 31-year-old came to the Blackhawks back in 2022 in a salary-dumping move by Toronto.  Mrazek struggled in his first season with the team but has fared much better this season, posting a .913 SV% through his first 29 games.  That puts him in the top 20 league-wide among goalies with at least 10 appearances so far while doing so on an injury-ravaged rebuilding team that’s in a battle for the basement.

Mrazek is currently making $3.8MM and while that amount might seem high for a netminder who has been more of a platoon player throughout his career, the market rate for those types of goalies has gone up in recent years.  A year ago, it looked as if he was heading for a considerable cut in pay but now, something around this price point, if not a small raise, is within the realm of possibility on a short-term agreement.

The Blackhawks have 24-year-old Arvid Soderblom as their other goaltender and he has struggled considerably this season, posting a save percentage of just .875.  Meanwhile, Drew Commesso is one of their better prospects but the 21-year-old has struggled a bit with the IceHogs, posting a .894 SV% through his first 17 appearances.  Jaxson Stauber, who made six appearances with Chicago last season, hasn’t fared any better with Rockford either.

Accordingly, having a veteran netminder around for another year or two makes some sense for GM Kyle Davidson.  It seems that his preference for now is that Mrazek continues to be that veteran option, a desire that appears to be mutual.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Elsewhere in the Central:

• After a rough start with his new team, Avalanche winger Jonathan Drouin has settled in nicely and is in the middle of a strong stretch where he has 17 points in his last 22 games. To that end, Evan Rawal of Colorado Hockey Now evaluates the feasibility of trying to sign the 28-year-old to a contract extension.  Drouin is playing on a deal worth $825K this season, opting for a short-term agreement in the hopes of establishing a better market next summer.  His performance is worth a fair bit more than that but with Colorado’s cap situation, they’ll still be capped at a lower-cost offer.  That said, if Drouin wants some stability and to stay in a good situation, he could be amenable to the possibility of re-signing now.
• The shuffling of Justin Kirkland continues. After being sent back down yesterday, the Coyotes announced (Twitter link) that the winger has been recalled from AHL Tucson.  It’s his third recall in the last two weeks although he has yet to make an appearance yet with Arizona.  Meanwhile, the 27-year-old has been productive with the Roadrunners, recording 13 points in 12 games so far.
• Still with Arizona, while not yet announced by the Coyotes, the team has loaned goaltender Anson Thornton back to OHL Barrie, notes Colts color commentator Gene Pereira. The 20-year-old signed as an undrafted free agent with Arizona back in 2021 but has been injured for most of the season, being limited to just four appearances with Tucson where he has a save percentage of just .849.  With the CHL trade deadline coming next week, he may find himself on the move at that level in the coming days.

According to The Athletic’s Scott Powers, Toews is expected to be announced in the coming weeks to announce a decision regarding retirement or a potential move to another team in free agency. Toews, 35, took a leave of absence prior to the 2020-2021 season due to Chronic Immune Response Syndrome, which, along with some effects of long COVID, caused him to miss a stretch of games near the end of 2022-23 as well.

Should Toews choose to hang up his skates, it would mark the end of a notable career that includes three Stanley Cup championships and numerous accolades but a debatable reputation as a captain stemming from the sexual assault scandal that occurred during the team’s 2010 championship run. After completing his eight-year, $84MM contract extension signed in 2014, Toews will surely generate some interest from teams looking to fill out their middle six if he does decide to try and extend his career.

More from Powers on the Blackhawks this morning:

• In regards to their second first-round pick in the upcoming draft, 19th overall, the Blackhawks have a handful of players they’re hoping will still be available to them – and they’re likely to select a second forward to supplement Bedard. Among the prospects at the scouting combine, forwards Colby Barlow, Oliver Moore, Calum Ritchie, Matthew Wood, and Brayden Yager are potential options for the Blackhawks. Additionally, the team has shown interest in 6-foot-5 Russian forward Daniil But, and general manager Kyle Davidson expressed a lack of hesitancy to Powers around selecting Russian players in this year’s draft. Looking ahead to the team’s four second-round picks, goaltender Adam Gajan, forwards Otto Stenberg and Bradly Nadeau, as well as defensemen Oliver Bonk and Andrew Strathmann are potential considerations for the Blackhawks.
• The Chicago Blackhawks have made their decision regarding pending unrestricted free agents, says Powers, signaling that after re-signing Andreas Athanasiou, the team is unlikely to bring back any of their other UFAs. Players such as Jujhar Khaira and Alex Stalock, among a few others, will explore options elsewhere as the Blackhawks prioritize their roster composition to provide opportunities for younger players and build out some higher-end support for Bedard via free agency.
• Davidson also indicated to Powers that Arvid Soderblöm and Petr Mrazek are expected to form the team’s NHL goaltending tandem for the upcoming season. Speaking about the young goalies, Davidson emphasized Soderblöm’s potential and the development aspect of their decision-making process so as to not rush their other prospects. Soderblöm, who has already spent time as a North American pro (and played pro in Europe), holds an experience advantage over other prospects like Jaxson Stauber and Drew Commesso.

The 32-year-old had gotten off to a nice start to his season with two goals and four assists in his first six games.  However, in that sixth contest back in late October, he suffered an ankle injury, one that has kept him out for the last 20 contests.

With Chicago certainly isn’t looking to make a push for the playoffs, getting Johnson back and into game shape will help give them some stability in their middle six while he should be able to at least slightly bolster an offense that comes into tonight’s action ranked last in the league in goals scored.  He’ll start on the third line for the time being.

While the Blackhawks will be sellers over the next few months, Johnson almost certainly won’t be among those that they’re able to move.  He has another year left on his contract after this one with a $5MM AAV plus partial no-trade protection.  In this market, with so many teams lacking cap space, that’s not a deal they’re easily going to be able to move.

The team also confirmed that goaltender Petr Mrazek was activated off IR and he will get the start against the Caps.  Jaxson Stauber has been returned to AHL Rockford in a corresponding move.  However, it’s not all good news on the injury front when it comes to players returning as Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times notes (Twitter link) that defenseman Caleb Jones isn’t quite ready to come back from his hip injury.

Per Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan, as relayed by Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, Letang returned to practice and is available for tonight’s game against the Buffalo Sabres. It’s a remarkable turn of events for the veteran defenseman and a development that speaks to the strength, resilience, and immense toughness he’s displayed over the course of his NHL career.

Some other injury updates from across the NHL:

• The Minnesota Wild have been without forwards Ryan Hartman and Brandon Duhaime as they each work back from upper-body injuries. Per The Athletic’s Michael Russo, both skaters are expected to return to practice with the Wild next week, when the team returns from its road trip. (subscription link) Hartman’s return is important for the Wild, whose thin crop of centers has forced them into using Sam Steel as their first-line center. Hartman, who scored 34 goals and 65 points last season, should be a better fit for that role, while Duhaime’s return should add some snarl to the team’s bottom-six.
• Chicago Blackhawks starting netminder Petr Mrazek suffered his second groin injury of the season, but thankfully for Chicago, it seems to have been just a minor setback. Per NBC Sports Chicago’s Charlie Roumeliotis, Mrazek is aiming to return for the Blackhawks’ game against the Washington Capitals.
• The St. Louis Blues are set to get a defenseman back when Torey Krug returns to the ice tomorrow, per Blues coach Craig Berube. (via NHL.com’s Lou Korac) Krug has missed the Blues’ last two games, and his return should help the team shore up a blueline that has surrendered goals at an alarmingly high rate for the past two weeks.

Dec 6: A top prospect is on his way up to the NHL. According to the AHL’s transactions log, the Chicago Blackhawks recalled forward Lukas Reichel from the AHL’s Rockford IceHogs today. In a corresponding transaction, they also placed goalie Petr Mrazek on injured reserve retroactive to December 3, per NBC Sports Chicago’s Charlie Roumeliotis.

The move comes as Jonathan Toews is set to miss tonight’s game with a non-COVID illness, so it’s feasible that Reichel doesn’t stay up long-term. However, the team’s 17th overall pick in 2020 again dominates the minors and could force the team’s hand.

For the second consecutive season, Reichel is operating at more than a point-per-game pace in the AHL and sits second on Rockford, scoring 10 goals and 23 points in 19 games. With depth players like Jujhar Khaira and Colin Blackwell struggling to produce, Reichel might have the opportunity to get in a meaningful string of NHL action if he performs well tonight.

Mrazek is dealing with his second groin injury of the season, an issue that plagued him last season with the Toronto Maple Leafs as well. Those injuries have limited the team’s presumptive starter to just nine games this year, and his .884 save percentage and 4.06 goals-against average are the worst among the team’s top three goalies. He can return as soon as this weekend.

More from the West:

• Matt Dumba’s future with the Wild has seemingly been in question for years now as trade speculation has been plentiful but he has always stuck around. However, Michael Russo and Joe Smith of The Athletic feel (subscription link) that it will be different this time around and that Minnesota is likely to move the 28-year-old by the trade deadline in March.  Dumba has struggled this season and has just seven points in 24 games and with prospect Brock Faber not far away from being NHL-ready (he’s expected to turn pro after his college season ends), it’s possible that they’d eye him for Dumba’s spot, allowing them to reallocate his $6MM elsewhere.  Even with him struggling, Dumba would be an interesting addition to the trade block over the next few months.
• Blackhawks goaltender Petr Mrazek will be out at least a week after suffering a groin injury in last night’s contest against the Rangers, relays Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times (Twitter link). The veteran is no stranger to dealing with groin trouble over his career although fortunately for him, this one appears to be a shorter-term issue.  The fact he’ll be out for at least a week will make him eligible to be placed on IR which would give Chicago an extra roster spot.  They had one available yesterday but used that to bring up goalie Jaxson Stauber earlier today.