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Rangers’ Adam Fox Will Be A Game-Time Decision On Wednesday

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The New York Rangers might soon be able to put a nightmare injury behind them. Star defenseman Adam Fox has been designated as a game-time decision for Wednesday’s match against the Washington Capitals per Vince Z. Mercogliano of The Athletic. Fox has missed the last 14 games with a shoulder injury sustained on November 29th.

Rangers head coach Mike Sullivan called Fox a “very difficult guy to replace” speaking with Mollie walker of The New York Post. That sentiment has reflected on the scoreboard for the Rangers, who have a 6-5-3 record and 34-to-39 goal differntial since Fox’s injury.

Even after a month out of the lineup, the former Norris Trophy winner still ranks third on the Rangers in scoring with 26 points in 27 games. Fox was tied with Artemi Panarin for the scoring lead at the time of his injury. He was also riding a six-game scoring streak that saw him rack up 10 assists, including one in the game he was injured.

Fox could keep that scoring streak rolling with a strong return from injury. He has been taking practice reps alongside Vladislav Gavrikov, who stepped up as New York’s top defender in December. Gavrikov averaged 25:11 in ice time over the last month, the seventh-most of all defensemen in the NHL. That run included Gavrikov reaching nearly 29 minutes of ice time in New York’s December 20th shootout-win over the Philadelphia Flyers.

Fox should help shoulder that load and could find a chance to ease back into minutes against a Capitals team that New York beat 7-3 last week.

Kings Activate Darcy Kuemper, Reassign Pheonix Copley

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The Los Angeles Kings will have a major piece back in the lineup when they face the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday. 2025 Vezina Trophy finalist Darcy Kuemper has been activated off of injured reserve after missing the last six games and 15 days with an upper-body injury. He returned to practice on Saturday. To make room for Kuemper’s return, the Kings have reassigned depth goaltender Pheonix Copley.

Kuemper could be eased back into Los Angeles’ lineup over their upcoming four-game home stretch. He has continued to be an elite option in net for the Kings, posting 10 wins and a .917 save percentage in the 23 games he has played in this season. That’s narrowly in-line with the .921 save percentage that Kuemper recorded in 50 games last season, while again battling routine injury. He earned a third-place finish in Vezina Trophy voting – and a top-20 finish in Hart Trophy voting – with that performance.

Overall, Kuemper has averaged a .920 save percentage over the last two seasons, tying him with Winnipeg’s Connor Hellebuyck and Tampa Bay’s Andrei Vasilevskiy for the highest in the NHL. He also has seven shutouts in that span, tied for second in the league behind Hellebuyck, Florida’s Sergei Bobrovsky, and Minnesota’s Filip Gustavsson who all have eight.

The Kings have struggled significantly in Kuemper’s absence. They posted a 2-4-0 record and 16-to-20 goal differential since his injury, while leaning on Anton Forsberg as their starter. Forsberg has totaled a 6-6-3 record and .901 save percentage in his first season with the Kings. He held the lion’s share of minutes while Kuemper was out, though Copley did appear in one game. Los Angeles lost that game while Copley recorded a .893 Sv%. That is narrowly above the .885 Sv% he has recorded in 13 AHL games this season. With this move, Copley will have a chance to boost up those minor-league numbers, while Los Angeles get a much-needed upgrade in net.

Golden Knights’ William Karlsson Won’t Be Healthy For Olympics

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Bad news has come through for a potential core memebr of Team Sweden’s 2026 Winter Olympics squad. Despite hoping to return before the tournament, Vegas Golden Knights center William Karlsson won’t be healthy enough to play per TSN’s Darren Dreger. Karlsson is recovering from a lower-body injury sustained in Vegas’ November 8th loss to the Anaheim Ducks. He appeared in 14 games and scored seven points before the injury.

Karlsson has run into a streak of bad injury luck stretching back to the start of last season. He didn’t make his season debut until Vegas’ ninth game of the 2024-25 season and fell back out of the lineup for 21 games in late January. Those absences, and 23 missed games this season, give Karlsson more than 50 absences since October 2024.

That injury luck has left Vegas with a major hole in their center position. Tomas Hertl has stepped up to help fill the hole – posting a 58.0 faceoff percentage on 584 faceoffs. That success rate puts Hertl near the bottom of the top-10 faceoff takers this season. Hertl also has 29 points in 37 games this season, putting him on pace to narrowly pass his 61 points last season. Those impacts have helped Vegas lean on Colton Sissons and Brett Howden as their bottom-six centers. Both have posted faceoff percentages north of 50 percent though they only have five and 11 points respectively.

Karlsson is routinely challenges 50 points  when he’s at full health. He scored 30 goals and 60 points in 70 games during the 2023-24 season, the highest marks he’s reached since posting career-highs with 43 goals and 78 points in 2017-18. Karlsson was scoring well below his career-average to start this season. Now, he won’t be able to right that ship until Vegas returns from the NHL’s Olympic break on February 25th, at the soonest. That return date would force Karlsson to miss 20 more games.

More than hurting Vegas’ lineup for the start of the new year, this news will pull Karlsson’s first chance to play for Sweden’s Olympic roster. He has seldomly played for his country over the course of his NHL career, largely thanks to Vegas’ success in the postseason. An appearance at the 2025 World Championship, where Karlsson posted one point in four games, was his first international tournament since the 2017 World Championship. Karlsson has won a Gold medal at the World Championship and World Junior Championships with Team Sweden.

The former SHL ’Rookie-of-the-Year’ would be a reliable center for Sweden in the Olympic games, even though he has only scored four points in 14 World Championship games in his career. Sweden leaned on Mika Zibanejad, Joel Eriksson Ek, Leo Carlsson, and Elias Lindholm as their centers at the 2025 4-Nations Face-Off. This news could help cement those four down the middle when Sweden heads to the Olympic games in Milan.

Maple Leafs’ Auston Matthews Out Day-To-Day

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The Toronto Maple Leafs announced that star forward Auston Matthews will miss Tuesday night’s game against the New Jersey Devils and will be out day-to-day due to a lower-body injury. Matthews sustained the injury on a blocked shot in Sunday’s overtime loss to the Detroit Red Wings. He missed Tuesday morning’s practice and was designated as a game-time decision before being ruled out.

The Maple Leafs are already down forward Dakota Joshua and defenseman Chris Tanev due to injury. Defender Matt Benning and forward Jacob Quillan were recalled to fill-in for those absences. Calle Jarnkrok will step back into the lineup for Matthews after four games on the shelf.

Even with the committee effort, and a quiet year from their star, Toronto is still going to face a steep test trying to make up for Matthews’ absence. He snapped a four-game scoring drought on December 27th and has four points in two games since. That brings Matthews up to 27 points in 33 games this season, good for fourth on the team in scoring. He is riding a 11.7 shooting percentage this season – roughly four percent lower than his career average of 15.6 percent. Matthews’ shooting success has dwindled over the last two seasons after he managed a career-high 18.7 percent – and 69 goals – in the 2023-24 season.

Quillan and Jarnkrok will fill out the fourth-line on Tuesday night, while Scott Laughton earns a bump up to the third line. Laughton has stepped up as a responsible veteran over the recent stretch, bringing some support to a Maple Leafs offense that has leaned more on their depth as of late. His defense-first approach has helped multiple depth players step up their scoring. Toronto has scored 16 goals over their last three games, with multiple points from Matias Maccelli, Bobby McMann, and Nicholas Robertson. Those players will need to continue stepping up to keep the offense firing without Matthews in the lineup.

Blue Jackets Place Isac Lundestrom On IR, Recall Dysin Mayo

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The Columbus Blue Jackets have made a minor roster adjustment ahead of tomorrow’s game against the New Jersey Devils. The Blue Jackets announced that they’ve placed forward Isac Lundeström on the injured reserve, and recalled defenseman Dysin Mayo on an emergency basis in a corresponding roster move.

In the announcement, the team added that Lundeström sustained his injury during a team practice and is expected to miss the next few weeks, which was already reported yesterday. The 26-year-old center is in his first year with the Blue Jackets and has missed the team’s last two games due to the lower-body injury.

Even with relatively low expectations coming into the year, Lundeström has had mixed results with his new club. He has scored one goal and five points in 35 games, pacing for four fewer points than he had last year with the Anaheim Ducks.

Still, outside of his tepid offensive production, Lundeström is one of the best faceoff takers on the team with a 53.7% success rate, and is maintaining a respectable 90.5% on-ice save percentage at even strength, offering solid defensive value.

Even with Lundeström on IR, and the status of Sean Monahan up in the air after being a late scratch yesterday, the Blue Jackets have 12 healthy forwards on the active roster, which wouldn’t have triggered the necessity of an emergency recall.

However, the team only has six defensemen on the roster, with Zach Werenski and Erik Gudbranson on the IR, meaning Mayo’s recall is related to a defenseman being unable to go tomorrow. That blue liner is likely veteran Brendan Smith, who sustained an injury toward the end of Columbus’s game yesterday.

It’s not the first time Mayo has been recalled this year, though it is the first time on an emergency basis. Throughout his two previous recalls, Mayo appeared in one game for Columbus, skating in 7:33 of action and earning a -1 rating. He’s had a respectable year with the AHL’s Cleveland Monsters, scoring two goals and seven points in 19 games with a -2 rating.

San Jose Sharks Injury Updates

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Ahead of tomorrow’s matchup against the Minnesota Wild, the head coach of the San Jose Sharks, Ryan Warsofsky, issued a multitude of injury updates. Unfortunately, there weren’t too many positive updates.

Regarding the forward core, and likely the most optimistic of all the updates, Warsofsky relayed to Curtis Pashelka of The Mercury News that both Philipp Kurashev (upper body) and Will Smith (undisclosed) skated this morning. Additional reporting suggests that they skated before the team’s full practice, and they’re still both considered week-to-week.

Warsofsky also shared with Pashelka that Adam Gaudette is considered day-to-day with a lower-body injury, which explains Pavol Regenda’s recall earlier today. Still, the impact of being without Kurashev and Smith for the next few weeks can’t be overstated. Despite being out since December 13th, the latter remains the second-highest scorer in San Jose with 12 goals and 29 points in 33 games. Kurashev is ninth with 15 points in 31 contests.

Furthermore, the Sharks will be playing with a banged-up defensive core, too. Max Miller of Sharks Hockey Digest reported that Timothy Liljegren will not suit up against the Wild tomorrow and remains day-to-day with an upper-body injury. The former 17th overall pick has not played since December 18th and has registered four assists in 28 games this season while averaging over 20 minutes per night.

Additionally, the team doesn’t expect Vincent Desharnais to return anytime soon. Miller added in the same report that Desharnais is still considered week-to-week, which could push his games lost past 20. Desharnais, who, like Liljegren, is scheduled to hit unrestricted free agency next summer, has only appeared in 20 games for San Jose this season.

The only injured member of the team’s defense that hasn’t been ruled out tomorrow is Shakir Mukhamadullin. Still, Pashelka noted that Mukhamadullin is questionable, meaning the Sharks could be down to six healthy blue liners. Fortunately, their only away game until January 15th is against the Los Angeles Kings on January 7th, meaning they’ll have easy access to additional bodies for the next few weeks if needed.

Lightning Place Scott Sabourin On Injured Reserve

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The Tampa Bay Lightning will be down at least one forward for their upcoming road trip through the Pacific Division. According to Eduardo A. Encina of the Tampa Bay Times, the Lightning have placed Scott Sabourin on the team’s injured reserve.

It’s not difficult to assess what Sabourin’s injury stems from. One day after accruing 26 PIMs and a fine against the Florida Panthers, Sabourin took on Montreal Canadiens defenseman Arber Xhekaj in a heavyweight tilt.

Xhekaj ultimately won the exchange handily, which assuredly caused Sabourin’s placement on the IR today. It appears that Xhekaj knew Sabourin was injured mere moments after the fight concluded, as video shows him and the linesman urgently calling the Lightning’s medical staff to attend to Sabourin.

Unfortunately, it’s the price of doing business for how Sabourin plays the game. Although the ’enforcer’ class is slowly dying off in the modern game, Sabourin has respectably carved out a career path as a tough guy. This season with Tampa Bay, he’s already racked up 63 PIMs in just nine contests.

Since he isn’t relied upon to help put pucks in the net, though he does have three points on the year, the Lightning’s lineup won’t need too much shifting around ahead of their upcoming road trip. Sabourin was typically found on the team’s fourth line, so the team could easily replace him with fellow enforcer Curtis Douglas, who was a healthy scratch in the contest against the Canadiens.

Sabres’ Alex Lyon Being Evaluated For Lower-Body Injury

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Sabres goaltender Alex Lyon is undergoing evaluation for a lower-body injury he sustained late in last night’s win over the Blues, head coach Lindy Ruff told reporters (including Rachel Lenzi of The Buffalo News). He didn’t leave the contest, and it’s unclear if he’s going to miss time, but if they don’t have an update by tomorrow morning, he won’t be going in the crease against the Stars on Wednesday.

If Lyon is to miss time, the Sabres won’t need to recall a body from AHL Rochester. Ruff said third-stringer Colten Ellis has cleared concussion protocol and will be available to come off injured reserve if needed in Dallas.

Lyon hasn’t been the sole architect of Buffalo’s nine-game win streak to get back into playoff contention, but he’s been in the crease for most of it. He’s started seven out of nine to boost his numbers on the year to a 10-6-3 record, .906 SV%, 2.82 GAA, and one shutout, recovering well after a strong start followed by a steep crash.

The 33-year-old was signed to be the backup to Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen over the offseason but has instead emerged as Buffalo’s leading option in a crowded crease, starting 19 of 38 games with the best numbers on the team. He’s stopped 6.5 goals above expected compared to 1.5 combined from Luukkonen and Ellis, per MoneyPuck.

It was clear after Jarmo Kekäläinen took over the GM’s chair several weeks ago that the Sabres would look to get down to two goalies once Ellis was cleared to return. With the Sabres signing Ellis’ praises after claiming him off waivers from the Blues and Luukkonen signed through the 2028-29 season, Lyon was the most logical trade candidate and has been a person of interest in the Oilers’ search for added depth.

However, his injury could allow Kekäläinen more time to determine Lyon’s future and reconsider his options. Trading away the team’s best overall netminder this season won’t go over well for a team that’s done some heavy lifting as of late to try to end their league-record playoff drought at 14 years. Flipping Ellis, who’s only churned out a .895 SV% through eight starts and has the worst advanced numbers of the three, would be the smarter win-now move, regardless of the 25-year-old’s ceiling.

Penguins Place Ryan Graves On Waivers

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Dec. 30: Graves was formally waived today, per Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet.

Dec. 29: After acquiring Yegor Chinakhov earlier today, the Penguins needed to open up a spot on their active roster for him.  They’ve determined how to do that, as Seth Rorabaugh of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reports (Twitter link) that the team has designated defenseman Ryan Graves as a non-roster player and will place him on waivers on Tuesday when the next waiver period opens.

This will be the second time this season that the 30-year-old will land on the waiver wire.  Graves also found himself on waivers during training camp as he was among Pittsburgh’s last group of training camp cuts.

Despite passing through unclaimed and starting the season with AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, Graves has actually spent more time in Pittsburgh than with them.  He got into 10 games at the minor league level to start the year and was productive, picking up a goal and six assists.  That earned him a recall in early November and has been up since then, a stint that’s about to come to an end.

Graves has played in 17 games with Pittsburgh this season, albeit in a limited role as he’s barely averaging 15 minutes per night of ice time.  In those outings, he has just one point – a goal – along with 31 blocked shots.  While offense has never been his calling card, it’s fair to say that Graves isn’t living up to his $4.5MM per season contract, one that runs through the 2028-29 campaign.

Given that price tag, it’s a certainty that Graves will once again pass through unclaimed and be sent back down to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, where he’ll join Mathew Dumba on a high-priced AHL back end.  From there, he’ll look to work his way back to Pittsburgh, an outcome that could happen should the Penguins move any of their pending UFA blueliners, a group that includes Connor Clifton, Brett Kulak, and Ryan Shea.

Sharks Recall Pavol Regenda

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The Sharks announced they’ve recalled winger Pavol Regenda from the AHL’s San Jose Barracuda. They had an open roster spot after sending Ethan Cardwell down last week.

Regenda’s recall comes after center Adam Gaudette sustained a lower-body injury in last night’s win over the Ducks, Eric Stephens of The Athletic reports. It’s unclear if the 29-year-old, who had three points in his last three outings, re-aggravated the same lower-body injury that held him out for a game earlier this month.

The Sharks weren’t carrying an extra forward, so if Gaudette can’t go against the Wild tomorrow, Regenda will enter the lineup unless they opt to dress seven defensemen. The 26-year-old was added to the roster for a three-day stretch at the beginning of the month and was quite valuable in a bottom-six role, notching a pair of goals while averaging 12:43 of ice time across two contests.

Acquired from Anaheim last season, Regenda has been a well-established power forward in the AHL since signing with the Ducks as a free agent in 2022. The 6’4″, 212-lb winger arrived in North America on the heels of a strong showing at the Olympics and World Championship for his native Slovakia, and he’ll presumably be on his way to Milan in February to suit up for them again alongside a forward group led by young stars Dalibor Dvorsky and Juraj Slafkovsky.

In 28 games for the Barracuda this year, Regenda has four goals and eight assists for 12 points with a -3 rating. That’s his worst point-per-game output since arriving in the AHL, where he’s routinely paced at or above half a point per game.

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