Zach Werenski got some work in before his team hit the ice for practice on Wednesday. Not that he’s on the verge of imminent return, but it’s just nice to see him back on the ice so quickly after his shoulder injury. Let’s hope it’s not something that recurs (again). * It wasn’t all [...]
In a surprise move on Tuesday morning, the Dallas Stars fired coach Jim Montgomery. He had been the coach since the start of last season, going 60-43-10 during his tenure, including a trip to the second round of the 2019 playoffs. There has been a lot of upheaval in the hockey world over the [...]
Travis Konecny is out indefinitely with a concussion suffered over the weekend off a hit from Mark Borowiecki. Konecny was having a fantastic breakout season with 11 goals and 28 points in 30 games, doing so while playing just 16 minutes a night. As always with concussions, there’s no telling how long he’ll be [...]
After missing the last few Blackhawks games, Dylan Strome was back at practice on Wednesday, skating between Patrick Kane and Alex DeBrincat. It seems likely that Strome returns on Thursday. * The change finally came as Ryan Strome was replaced on the top power-play unit by Kaapo Kakko. The PP has scuffled a bit [...]
The drafting of Jack Hughes, the trades for P.K. Subban and Nikita Gusev, and the signing of Wayne Simmonds, combined with a healthy Taylor Hall, meant elevated expectations for New Jersey this year. As of early Wednesday morning, the team was 30th in the league and had one more regulation/overtime win than Detroit. Naturally, [...]
The Leafs welcomed back Mitch Marner to practice on Monday. It’s his first time with the team since suffering that gnarly ankle injury weeks back. The earliest initial timeline would have had him back for this weekend but it appears he may beat that by a day or two. With Marner back, it was [...]
The Buffalo Sabres announced that Vladimir Sobotka will undergo knee surgery. Fantasy owners will remember the low-bridge hit from Nikita Kucherov in their Sweden series that knocked Sobotka out of action. It looks like his absence will be even longer than originally thought. This has to put pressure on Buffalo management. They’re rostering guys [...]
Mika Zibanejad skated with the team before practice but did not suit up for Monday night’s tilt at home against Minnesota. It is expected that he’ll return Wednesday, though, so fantasy owners can start making their arrangements to get him off the IR. * Mikko Rantanen was skating with the team in practice on [...]
For a second straight game, Claude Giroux was on Morgan Frost’s wing. When Frost was called up, I mused that this was (finally, for real this time) the end of Giroux as a centre. Maybe that will hold up. James van Riemsdyk, by the way, started the game on the fourth line. * I [...]
The Toronto Maple Leafs fired Mike Babcock on Wednesday afternoon, following two years of playoff disappointments and a start to this season that saw Toronto with nine wins in 23 games, sporting an expected goals percentage just slightly ahead of Detroit’s. Sheldon Keefe has been named as his replacement. I really don’t have a [...]
