Just in yesterday's Ramblings I discussed how Elvis Merzilikins had re-joined the Columbus Blue Jackets and could be ready to make a return. Well, that didn't really happen as he was put on the injured reserve on Thursday morning. It has been seven days since his last game and this was about clearing some room for other players, given the injuries elsewhere. That all means even though he's technically on the IR, he could return anytime this weekend. It just kind of stunned me to see him moved there when he looked to be close to returning, but it really does seem to make sense.

On the blue line for the Jackets, Zach Werenski was out for Thursday night's game against Florida with Adam Boqvist taking top PP duties.

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Another important line change was Ondrej Kase being moved to the second line in Toronto, with Alex Kerfoot being bumped down. Not to dance on a grave here, but I cannot believe it took this long to get Kerfoot in the bottom-6. This is what I mean:

• Tavares/Nylander with Kerfoot (at 5-on-5): 64 shot attempts and 32 scoring chances per 60 minutes
• Tavares/Nylander without Kerfoot (5-on-5): 74 shot attempts, 43 scoring chances per 60 minutes.
• Oh, and the team allows a lot less defensively with him off the line as well.

Kase has not played on the second line in this iteration so whether the three of them mesh well, I guess we'll see. But other players besides Kerfoot have seen this line play extremely well so it's a reasonable bet that Kase will as well. It is just a matter of the coach sticking with the lines and not going to his safety blanket.

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On the topic of top-6 lineup moves, Brad Marchand returned Thursday night from his 6-game suspension. They did not reassemble the top line, though, as Jake DeBrusk was moved up rather than David Pastrnak. We know that DeBrusk asked for a trade out of Boston months ago, so this is likely a showcase as the trade deadline is less than four weeks away.

They did reunite the Hall-Haula-Pastrnak line which, I get it, but that line wasn't great. Maybe just seeing if they can get away with it in the playoffs? Not sure if they can but it would be fun to watch.

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Some significant Flyers injury updates:

Everyone is present for Flyers practice, including Joel Farabee, Kevin Hayes, and Derick Brassard.

— Olivia Reiner (@ReinerOlivia) February 24, 2022

Further to that, Joel Farabee jumped to the top line with Claude Giroux and Cam Atkinson. This is a lost season for the Flyers, but Farabee was on pace to exceed the 25-goal mark before his injury. He is shooting 19%, and that will come down, but hopefully he starts shooting more now that he's getting prime minutes on the roster; 1.8 shots per game skating 17 minutes a night is nowhere good enough in real life or in the fantasy game.

The Flyers would expand a bit more on Kevin Hayes

Yeo said that Hayes got some good news from doctors regarding the immediate necessity for another surgery. Looks more likely he could be back this year.

I'll transcribe Yeo's whole answer in a bit b/c I know people on here are gonna lose their minds about short tweets on this.

— Charlie O'Connor (@charlieo_conn) February 24, 2022

That is good news for him but just an awful season in general. There isn't any fault or blame to apply here, he had a down year at a very difficult time for him personally.

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Tony DeAngelo is going to be out for roughly a month, it appears:

Brind'Amour says DeAngelo out for month or so. Injury was in midsection.

— Chip Alexander (@ice_chip) February 24, 2022

The last time DeAngelo missed time this year (early December), the team tried some different looks, but it was Jaccob Slavin who got the lion's share of prime power-play minutes. He seems to be a good bet to resume that role until DeAngelo returns, though no single player will have a long leash if the unit isn't scoring.

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Oliver Wahlstrom returned for the Islanders on Thursday night:

Wahlstrom taking regular turns with Pageau and Lee. Bailey appears odd forward out. Other three lines the same from win at Seattle.

— Andrew Gross (@AGrossNewsday) February 24, 2022

It is very interesting that Josh Bailey was scratched. He has had a very bad season at both ends of the ice and is now a healthy scratch. Players rebound all the time but there are two more years left on this contract and the Cup window for this team looks to be closing. It really does make this team interesting because it seems they're caught between two worlds, with guys like Wahlstrom, Dobson, and Barzal presenting very good young players right now, but guys like Bailey and Lee perhaps starting to fall off due to age/injuries. No easy decisions to be made for the Islanders.

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A special shout out to Pekka Rinne on the evening of his jersey retirement. I always wonder about his HOF placement because he was late being an NHLer – three combined games by the age of 25 – so there isn't a lengthy resumé to work with. But he does have a Vezina Trophy and three other top-3 finishes. It was a wonderful career, and perhaps even wondering about the HOF doesn't do him justice. He carried this franchise from some of their darkest days to the cusp of a Stanley Cup, and he did that as the face of said franchise. He also was one of the few goalies to return from hip surgery in his early 30s and return to the lineup to not only be good, but great.

Congrats to Rinne on a wonderful career, finishing with 369 wins and a .917 save percentage. He also seemed to be a good mentor to current starter Juuse Saros, who has taken up the mantle for Rinne. All the best to the netminder and his family as he moves to the next phase of his life.

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Yanni Gourde was a game-time decision on Thursday night and that gives me an opportunity to talk about his season. For someone that had a lot of hype coming from Tampa Bay, it makes his season in Seattle worth talking about.

On the surface, it really hasn't been horrible. His point-per-game pace of 0.64 is the same as last year in Tampa Bay, and nearly the same as his first three years in aggregate (0.61). The problem, of course, is having the same production with by far a career-high of 18:44 a night in ice time. (His previous high was last year at 17:04, and no other season before that was above 16:10.)

The big issue, obviously, is this team is awful offensively. They're likely offensively awful too, but that might be a bit strong for now. Anyway, the Kraken are landing nearly 10 fewer shots per 60 minutes at 5-on-5 than he did last year in Tampa Bay. That isn't a typo: just shy of 10 shots less on net per 60 minutes. It isn't as if teams land hundreds of shots; they might land a few dozen on a busy night. A drop of nearly 30% in on-ice shot totals has meant a decline across the board in shot rate, and in turn, his goal rate.

According to Evolving Hockey, he's dropped off across the board in impacts, though he's still been good defensively. It is the offense that has taken a hit, which makes sense when we see just how little of it has been generated with him on the ice. The whole team is like that, outside of Jared McCann, so it's a wonder if there's not something deeper going on than Gourde just having a bad year.

Regardless, it doesn't seem as if he'll hit highs we had for him in the offseason, much like the rest of this team. At least there's still hope for them to really start re-tooling this young team and looking to the future. Gourde is signed for a few years yet so he's in it for the long haul, let's hope things do improve next year.   

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In a trend that seems to follow the Columbus Blue Jackets, they were on the road against an Eastern Conference Cup contender and proceeded to club them 6-3. Patrik Laine scored his 13^th goal in the last 11 games, giving him 21 points in that stretch, to keep his recent hot streak going. Oliver Bjorkstrand had a goal and an assist, just his second multi-point game since Christmas. He also skated under 11 minutes, giving him about 42 minutes of ice time in his last three games. That is not a good sign for his fantasy value. Adam Boqvist got the top PP minutes without Werenski in the lineup but was well under 17 minutes as Peeke/Gavrikov got big TOI jumps.

Sam Bennett scored in the loss, giving him 23 goals in 42 games on the year. He is now one shy of the 30-goal mark in a Panther uniform, having played just 52 games.

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New Jersey played its first game in over a week, going into Pittsburgh, and modeled the Blue Jackets as they hammered the Penguins 6-1. Both Dougie Hamilton and Jesper Bratt returned to the lineup, with Bratt alongside Nico Hischier. The winger also scored twice, adding an assist, picking right back up where he left off before his recent injury skid. Hamilton did not get on the scoresheet but had five shots, a block, and four hits in 19 minutes of ice time. Not a bad return for him.

Jack Hughes had three assists in the win, giving him a career-high in points with 33 through just 31 games this year.

Tristan Jarry was pulled after the fifth goal in favour of Casey DeSmith.

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Igor Shesterkin had another wonderful game for the Rangers, stopping 36 of 37 shots faced as his team beat the Capitals 4-1. All three members of the top line – Zibanejad, Kreider, Lafrenière – scored in this game, hopefully a sign of things to come for that trio. Well, Kreider's certainly held up his end of the bargain so far this season, I guess.

Ryan Lindgren had a great fantasy night with an assist, a block, four PIMs, two hits, and a plus-3 rating.

Alex Ovechkin scored his 32^nd of the year in the loss, spoiling the shutout with about a minute left.

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Auston Matthews scored twice in Toronto's 3-1 win over Minnesota on Thursday night. He is now four goals away from his third straight 40-goal season, none of which have been close to full 82-game seasons to date. It really is just beyond remarkable what he's doing.

Petr Mrazek saved 29 of 30 in the win for the Leafs while Mitch Marner added a pair of assists to his season total.