The stretch run is upon us as many teams continue to battle for a playoff position. However, some notable injuries will make that task a little tougher with those absences being among the key stories of the week.
Kaprizov Out For A While: Minnesota is in a close battle with Dallas for the top spot in the Central Division with Colorado being in striking distance as well. However, it will be considerably tougher for them to lock down first place now as star winger Kirill Kaprizov will miss the next three to four weeks with a lower-body injury. No playoff team has fewer goals scored than the Wild and not having their leading scorer in Kaprizov certainly won’t help things. The 25-year-old has 39 goals and 35 assists so far this season, meaning he has collected a point on nearly 40% of Minnesota’s tallies.
Fletcher Fired: The Flyers have shaken up their front office, dismissing GM Chuck Fletcher after a little more than four years at the helm. Fletcher tried several times to add quality veterans to Philadelphia’s lineup but the results were mixed. Kevin Hayes has been a nice contributor although he’s on an above-market contract while the additions of Ryan Ellis and Rasmus Ristolainen haven’t gone as planned while Cam Atkinson, another veteran, has missed all of this season due to injury like Ellis. The end result is that the Flyers have continued to spin their wheels as they only made the playoffs once in Fletcher’s tenure. Daniel Briere has taken over as interim GM while the team will now split Fletcher’s old role into two, a GM and a president.
O’Reilly To LTIR: Ryan O’Reilly was off to a good start with the Maple Leafs but after sustaining a broken finger, that strong debut is now on hold. The 32-year-old had five points in eight games with his new team while winning over 67% of his faceoffs, fitting in nicely on their second line. Toronto has placed him on LTIR, giving them the cap flexibility to bring up a couple of forwards for the time being. The good news for the Maple Leafs is that he’s expected to be out for four weeks (just past the minimum threshold for LTIR) which suggests he’ll be able to return to the lineup with a few games left in the regular season, allowing him to work off any rust before the playoffs get underway next month.
Three More Years: Trevor van Riemsdyk has gone from being a depth defender at the beginning of his tenure with Washington to an every-game reliable veteran. After the…
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