Category: NHL

WASHINGTON (AP) — Boone Jenner’s goal in the second period proved to be the winner as the Washington Capitals beat the Rangers 3-1 on Friday night after New York goaltender Igor Shesterkin had to be helped from the ice after being injured.

Jenner scored on a wrist shot that made it a 2-1 game with 2:22 remaining in the second period. Tom Wilson and Timothy Liljegren also scored for the Capitals. Logan Thompson made 21 saves.

Alexis Lafreniere scored for the Rangers.

Dylan Garand made 11 saves for the Rangers after entering the game for the injured Shesterkin, who had 13 saves.

Shesterkin had to be helped off the ice after an awkward fall into his own net. He came well out of his crease to challenge a shooter and fell as he scrambled back to the net midway through the second period. The 30-year-old Russian caught his skate on the post as he slid back into the crease and collapsed into the net.

Shesterkin lay on the ice for several minutes holding his right knee as he received medical attention. He did not put any weight on his right leg as he was helped off the ice by teammates.

KRAKEN 6, RED WINGS 3

DETROIT (AP) — Frederick Gaudreau scored twice, Ben Myers had a goal and two assists and Seattle had a four-goal second period in a victory over Detroit.

Philipp Grubauer made 38 saves in Seattle’s first regulation victory in Detroit.

The fans at Little Caesars Arena’s chant of “Sell The Team! Sell The Team!” got louder and louder as the game drifted to a finish.

Detroit dominated early, putting eight shots on goal in the first seven minutes, but Grubauer made several tough saves.

The Red Wings were more successful with the man advantage, taking the lead at 9:19 when Viktor Arvidsson tapped the puck across the line after Grubauer didn’t cleanly handle Lucas Raymond’s shot. Arvidsson has power-play goals in each of Detroit’s last three games.

Seattle was being outshot 16-3 before Berkly Catton took a pass from Kaapo Kakko, drove to the net and put a backhander over Gibson’s pad.

Detroit defenseman William Wallinder made it 2-1 at 4:00 of the second with his first NHL goal, but the Kraken answered with three goals on their next four shots to take a two-goal lead.

Gaudreau got the first and third goals, both off passes from Ryan Winterton. Mackie Samoskevich scored the middle goal at 6:59 after Wallinder’s turnover.

BLUE JACKETS 3, PENGUINS 2, SO

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Kent Johnson scored the only goal in a shootout to lift Columbus over Pittsburgh.

Damon Severson had a goal and an assist for Columbus. Mathieu Olivier also scored, and Cole Sillinger added two assists.

Cam Talbot made 20 saves and denied all three Pittsburgh attempts in the shootout.

Evgeni Malkin and Bryan Rust scored for the Penguins, who have dropped three straight games since winning their first two this season. Malkin tied it 2-all at 3:19 of the third period.

Johnson beat Sergei Murashov with a snap shot to begin the shootout.

Murashov stopped 43 shots in regulation.

The Blue Jackets outshot the Penguins 45-22 and won 66.7% of the faceoffs. Columbus outhit Pittsburgh 21-9.

The Penguins blocked 20 shots.

DUCKS 5, JETS 1

WINNIPEG, Manitoba (AP) — Rookie Judd Caulfield scored his first NHL goal and added an assist to help Anaheim beat Winnipeg for its first regulation loss of the season.

Tim Washe and Mikael Granlund each had a goal and an assist, and Sam Colangelo and Nikita Nesterenko also scored to help the Ducks improve to 3-1-0.

Lukas Dostal stopped 15 shots or Anaheim, allowing only Kyle Conner’s goal.

After the Jets trimmed it to 3-1 midway through the third period, Granlund sunk Winnipeg’s hopes with a goal with 5:54 remaining.

Conner, who was playing in his 700th NHL game, pulled the Jets to 3-1 when Mark Scheifele sent him in alone on Dostal for his sixth goal of the season.

Clay Stevenson made 12 saves for Winnipeg. The Jets are 3-1-1.

WINNIPEG, Manitoba (AP) — Rookie Judd Caulfield scored his first NHL goal and added an assist to help the Anaheim Ducks beat Winnipeg 5-1 on Friday night for the Jets' first regulation loss of the season.

Tim Washe and Mikael Granlund each had a goal and an assist, and Sam Colangelo and Nikita Nesterenko also scored to help the Ducks improve to 3-1-0.

Dostal stopped 15 shots or Anaheim, allowing only Kyle Conner's goal.

After the Jets trimmed it to 3-1 midway through the third period, Granlund sunk Winnipeg’s hopes with a goal with 5:54 remaining.

Conner, who was playing in his 700th NHL game, pulled the Jets to 3-1 when Mark Scheifele sent him in alone on Lukas Dostal for his sixth goal of the season.

Clay Stevenson made 12 saves for Winnipeg. The Jets are 3-1-1.

Up next

Ducks: At Calgary on Saturday night.

Jets: Host Minnesota on Tuesday night.

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COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Cam Talbot became the first NHL goalie to win a game with nine different teams by stopping 20 shots in the Columbus Blue Jackets' 3-2 shootout win over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Friday night.

In his first season with Columbus, Talbot stopped all three of Chicago's shots in the shootout to surpass the previous record set by Curtis McElhinney, Sean Burke and Ron Tugnutt.

Talbot, in his 13th NHL season, has won games with the New York Rangers, Edmonton, Philadelphia, Calgary, Minnesota, Ottawa, Detroit and the Los Angeles Kings.

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NEW YORK (AP) — Chicago Blackhawks forward Frank Nazar was suspended for two games without pay by the NHL on Friday night for an illegal check to the head of New York Islanders forward Bo Horvat on Thursday night.

The hit came with 1:35 left in the Islanders' 4-1 home victory. Nazar was assessed a match penalty.

Under the terms of the Collective Bargaining Agreement and, based on his average annual salary, Nazar will forfeit $68,041.

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COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Kent Johnson scored the only goal in a shootout to lift the Columbus Blue Jackets over the Pittsburgh Penguins 3-2 on Friday night.

Damon Severson had a goal and an assist for Columbus. Mathieu Olivier also scored, and Cole Sillinger added two assists.

Cam Talbot made 20 saves and denied all three Pittsburgh attempts in the shootout.

Evgeni Malkin and Bryan Rust scored for the Penguins, who have dropped three straight games since winning their first two this season. Malkin tied it 2-all at 3:19 of the third period.

Johnson beat Sergei Murashov with a snap shot to begin the shootout.

Murashov stopped 43 shots in regulation.

The Blue Jackets outshot the Penguins 45-22 and won 66.7% of the faceoffs. Columbus outhit Pittsburgh 21-9.

The Penguins blocked 20 shots.

Up next

Penguins: Host the Dallas Stars on Saturday.

Blue Jackets: At the St. Louis Blues on Saturday.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.

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The Detroit Red Wings held a clear advantage in shots Friday night against the Seattle Kraken, but unfortunately, they couldn't turn that edge into the stat that matters most - goals.

Seattle made the most of their scoring chances while the Red Wings failed to do the same, with the Kraken scoring three times in a 3:05 span during a disastrous second period en route to a 6-3 victory at Little Caesars Arena and chasing goaltender John Gibson in the process. 

Final.

On the road in Montreal tomorrow night. pic.twitter.com/MeKu9DjCRC

— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) October 10, 2026

With the loss, the Red Wings have now dropped three of their first four games of the 2026-27 season, all on home ice, and are 1-3 and in last place in the Atlantic Division. 

They were considerably shorthanded once again, as forwards J.T. Compher, Marco Kasper, and Mason Appleton were all unavailable due to injury; defenseman Simon Edvinsson remains in his native Sweden amidst his contract stalemate. 

Bookmark The Hockey News Detroit Red Wings team site to stay connected to the latest news, game-day coverage, and player features. 

The Red Wings had a strong start to the contest, taking a 12-3 shots advantage and a 1-0 lead thanks to Viktor Arvidsson; he buried a loose puck that got behind Kraken goaltender Philipp Grubauer of a Lucas Raymond shot midway through the period. 

However, the Kraken responded later in the frame thanks to a backhand shot from Berkly Catton, which beat Gibson glove side. 

Early in the second period, a shot from the point by rookie William Wallinder eluded Grubauer for the Swedish defenseman's first NHL goal. However, what followed was the stuff of nightmares for Detroit. 

The Kraken scored three goals in just over three minutes, with Frederick Gaudreau finding the net twice and Mackie Samoskevich scoring in between.

After Ben Meyers increased Seattle's lead to 5-2, Gibson was pulled after allowing five goals on 14 shots; Daniil Tarasov, signed during the offseason, made his first appearance since joining the Red Wings.

"It Was Fun": Red Wings Emmitt Finnie Looks Back On Unofficial 1st NHL Fight Detroit Red Wings forward Emmitt Finnie dropped the gloves on Tuesday evening, though it won't officially go into the NHL record books.

He would later be victimized on a 5-on-3 Kraken power play, as Vince Dunn ripped a shot past him. 

Late in the third, forward Michael Brandsegg-Nygård would bury a loose puck during a goal-mouth scramble for his own first NHL goal. 

As time wound down in the third period, frustrated fans who hadn't already left early to beat traffic voiced their displeasure with loud boos.

Grubauer was solid in net for Seattle, stopping 38 of the 41 shots he faced. Gibson, meanwhile, was pulled after allowing five goals on 14 shots, while Tarasov surrendered one goal on 10 shots in relief. Tarasov is slated to start Saturday's contest in Montreal.

The Red Wings will look to bounce back Saturday against the Canadiens at Bell Centre, with puck drop scheduled for 7 p.m. ET.

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WASHINGTON — It’s impossible to overstate the challenge that lies ahead for the Rangers should the apparent right leg injury Igor Shesterkin sustained during the second period of Friday night’s 3-1 loss to the Capitals sideline him for the foreseeable future. 

The Blueshirts would lose more than just the best goaltender in the NHL, who was off to an electric start to the season. Removing Shesterkin from the equation would be the equivalent of taking the spark plug out of a car engine: no ignition; nothing can run smoothly. 

He is, hands down, the most important part. 

What makes the potential loss so devastating is how much of a turbocharged, well-oiled machine the Rangers looked to be in the previous four games. 

“It’s awful,” captain J.T. Miller said. “He’s a pillar of this team.” 

The injury occurred during a second-period Capitals power play, when Shesterkin ventured far out of the crease to challenge an unmarked Pierre-Luc Dubois. 

The Capitals forward lost the puck while attempting to make a move around him, but Shesterkin scrambled to get back into the net and slid his right leg into the post hard. His leg appeared to awkwardly bend back during the sequence, prompting Shesterkin to immediately fall onto his back. 

The 30-year-old slammed his glove on the ice in apparent pain as a Rangers trainer made his way onto the ice. 

Without putting any weight on his right leg, Shesterkin had to be helped off the ice slowly. 

“It’s concerning,” head coach Mike Sullivan said. “He’s a big part of this team, without a doubt. I’ve said it on so many different occasions: He is amongst the best goalies in the world, if not the best. He’s that good.” 

Backstopping the Rangers in three of the first four games, Shesterkin looked automatic in net with 88 saves on 95 shots for a .926 save percentage. He’s made an impact on the scoresheet with the Rangers’ historic first goalie goal and added an assist, while also acting as an extra facilitator on the back end in all situations — a skill of his he’s used more than usual this season. 

Shesterkin helped provide the kind of start to the season that makes a team believe. 

In one swift motion, the 2026-27 campaign was clouded with uncertainty. 

The Rangers already have one goalie on injured reserve: Joonas Korpisalo, who has yet to play a game after suffering a lower-body injury sometime during the start of the season. Slated to serve as backup to Shesterkin before the injury, Korpisalo was labeled as week to week and has yet to resume skating. 

As a result, rookie Dylan Garand was summoned back to New York less than a week after he was among the last round of cuts in training camp. 

Garand stopped 11 of the 12 shots he faced Friday night in relief. With just five games of NHL experience, the 24-year-old Garand would assume starting responsibilities after beginning the season as the Rangers’ third-stringer. 

The Rangers also will need to make a call to Hartford should Shesterkin be out for any period of time. Spencer Martin is not an option due to a lower-body injury that has him classified as day to day. 

Callum Tung, who at 22 has just 20 AHL games to his name, could be the Rangers’ backup goalie Sunday at Madison Square Garden. 

“We’re not going to let [Igor’s injury] take the wind out of our sails,” Miller said. “We still competed our asses off today.” 

The Rangers did not crater in the face of a potentially devastating injury to their star goalie. 

With the game tied 1-1 and Garand in goal, the visitors bent but didn’t break for much of Washington’s push in the middle frame. It wasn’t until rookie Cole Beaudoin surrendered the puck up the middle of the Rangers zone that the Capitals broke through on a goal from Boone Jenner. 

It was a particularly tough game for the 20-year-old Beaudoin, who was recalled and made his NHL debut Wednesday in the wake of Joe Veleno’s IR designation. In addition to his two giveaways, Beaudoin looked overwhelmed at times in the defensive zone. 

“You see arguably your very best player [go down], that’s a tough loss for our team,” Sullivan said. “I thought we fought hard. We battled. Our third period was probably our best. I thought we had the right intentions out there, just trying to control play.” 

WASHINGTON (AP) — Boone Jenner's goal in the second period proved to be the winner as the Washington Capitals beat the Rangers 3-1 on Friday night after New York goaltender Igor Shesterkin had to be helped from the ice after being injured.

Jenner scored on a wrist shot that made it a 2-1 game with 2:22 remaining in the second period. Tom Wilson and Timothy Liljegren also scored for the Capitals. Logan Thompson made 21 saves.

Alexis Lafreniere scored for the Rangers.

Dylan Garand made 11 saves for the Rangers after entering the game for the injured Shesterkin, who had 13 saves.

Shesterkin had to be helped off the ice after an awkward fall into his own net. He came well out of his crease to challenge a shooter and fell as he scrambled back to the net midway through the second period. The 30-year-old Russian caught his skate on the post as he slid back into the crease and collapsed into the net.

Shesterkin lay on the ice for several minutes holding his right knee as he received medical attention. He did not put any weight on his right leg as he was helped off the ice by teammates.

The 2022 Vezina Trophy winner missed a month of last season with a lower-body injury, contributing to the Rangers falling short of the playoffs.

Up next

Rangers: Host the Vancouver Canucks on Sunday.

Capitals: Host the Seattle Kraken on Sunday.

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The Chicago Blackhawks lost Frank Nazar for the final couple of minutes in regulation of their loss to the New York Islanders on Thursday night. He was assessed a five-minute major and a game misconduct for an illegal check to the head against forward Bo Horvat. 

During the day on Friday, Frank Nazar was offered a phone hearing to determine supplemental discipline. Later on Friday, the verdict was announced. Nazar has been suspended for two games. 

Chicago’s Frank Nazar has been suspended for two games for an illegal check to the head against NY Islanders’ Bo Horvat. https://t.co/2NbknT4yX8

— NHL Player Safety (@NHLPlayerSafety) October 10, 2026

The summary of the suspension comes down to the fact that the NHL's Department of Player Safety decided that the main point of contact was the head. Nazar's lack of a fine or suspension in his NHL career played into it being just two games, according to the official video that followed his suspension. 

Nazar will now miss Saturday's game against the Carolina Hurricanes, and Tuesday night's game against the Pittsburgh Penguins. It's a tough set of games for the Blackhawks to be without Nazar, but it's the reality of the situation. 

Now, the Hawks are without Connor Bedard and Frank Nazar. That's a large amount of offense out of their lineup. With Teuvo Teravainen likely out again as well, there is a lot of skill on the sideline. 

This suspension may force the Blackhawks into a call-up. Dominic Toninato is already up, so Landon Slaggert may be on the next ride to Chicago from the Rockford IceHogs. 

The morning skate on Saturday will be a greater hint at what lines look like without Nazar in the mix. What seems to be decent center depth is being tested early in the season, but they just have to tread water for a little while longer until Connor Bedard comes back. 

One of Anton Frondell or Roman Kantserov is likely going to center the top line with Patrick Kane. These were going to be hard matchups anyway, and this verdict by the NHL's department of player safety just made them even harder. 

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WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Rangers’ season flashed before everyone’s eyes in one swift motion. 

Goalie Igor Shesterkin fell flat on the ice after scrambling to get back in the crease while the Rangers defended the Capitals’ power play during the second period Friday night at Capital One Arena. 

The star Russian netminder, who has been electric to start the season, slammed his right leg against the post while skating back into the crease to defend the play in front of him.

His leg appeared to bend back awkwardly during the sequence. 

Without putting any weight on his right leg, Shesterkin had to be assisted off the ice. 

The Rangers were tied 1-1 with the Capitals at the time of the incident. 

Rookie Dylan Garand replaced Shesterkin in goal. 

WASHINGTON (AP) — New York Rangers goalie Igor Shesterkin was helped off the ice with a right leg injury Friday night after an awkward fall into his own net against the Washington Capitals.

Shesterkin came well out of his crease to challenge a shooter midway through the second period and fell as he scrambled back to the net. The 30-year-old Russian jammed his right skate into the right post as he slid back into the crease and collapsed into the net in pain.

Shesterkin stayed down for several minutes holding his right knee as he received medical attention. He did not put any weight on his right leg as he was helped off the ice by teammates.

“It's awful, you know? He's a pillar of this team. It stinks," Rangers captain J.T. Miller said following a 3-1 loss to the Capitals. "Obviously, it's young. We don't even know what's going on. But to see him leave the game is a shock to all of us. But at the same time it means we've got to step up to a man to try to get the job done.”

The team didn't provide any specific details about Shesterkin's condition.

"It's concerning, obviously," coach Mike Sullivan said after his team's four-game winning streak was snapped. “He's an elite goaltender and you never want to see anyone get hurt. Obviously, he's an important player for us.”

The 2022 Vezina Trophy winner missed a month last season with a lower-body injury, contributing to the Rangers finishing last in the Eastern Conference.

Shesterkin was off to a strong start this season with a 3-1 record and 1.76 goals-against average. Last week, he became the first Rangers goalie to score a goal when he lofted the puck the length of the ice into an empty net late in New York’s home opener against Tampa Bay at Madison Square Garden.

“We're not going to let that take the wind out of our sails,” Miller said about Shesterkin's injury. “We love the way we're playing most of the time.”

Shesterkin stopped 13 of 14 shots and left with the score tied 1-all. He was replaced by 24-year-old backup Dylan Garand, who gave up the go-ahead goal late in the second but finished with 11 saves on 12 shots.

It was the fifth NHL appearance and second this season for Garand, recalled last week from Hartford of the American Hockey League after clearing waivers. Garand made 22 saves in a 2-0 shutout at Detroit last Friday with the Rangers playing their second game in two nights.

Garand went 2-0-1 with a 1.62 goals-against average and .948 save percentage in three starts for the Rangers last season.

New York acquired veteran goaltender Joonas Korpisalo from the Boston Bruins last summer to be Shesterkin’s backup. But the 32-year-old Finn was placed on injured reserve last week and was week to week with a lower-body injury.

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The Buffalo Sabres are off to a 2-2-0 start to the 2026-27 regular-season, and in those four games, the Sabres have the NHL’s ninth-worst offense at an average of only 2.50 goals-for per-game. Offense has proven to be an issue, and if you’re finger-pointing regarding Buffalo’s ability to generate goals, you’ll need a lot of fingers, and even more pointing.

To wit: Sabres winger Josh Doan currently has zero points in four games. Winger Zach Benson has just one point in four games, and center Josh Norris also has just one point in four games. Meanwhile,center Ryan McLeod has one point, defenseman Rasmus Dahlin has two points, as does forward Jack Quinn. So there’s an almost across-the-board issue when it comes to Buffalo’s players generating offense.

Not every one of the aforementioned Sabres has to start challenging for the Art Ross Trophy as the NHL’s top point-producers. But they do need at least a couple of them to start putting up points and take some of the pressure off of Buffalo’s goaltenders. The Sabres have to get solid production from up-and-down the lineup, and there’s no time like the present to start turning up their offensive game a notch or two.

Star Tage Thompson has two goals and four points, so he’s doing the job. And Owen Power is having a stellar year on offense, with four assists and five points. So they need to keep on alleviating the pressure on the rest of Buffalo’s roster. Coach Lindy Ruff probably doesn’t care where he gets his goals from, but he has to be concerned that the offense isn’t flowing the way it should be capable of.

Last season, the Sabres had the NHL’s fifth-best goals-for average at 3.45 goals-for per-game. Losing former star winger Alex Tuch and star defenseman Bowen Byram has contributed to the drop-off in offense, but not by this much. The young Sabres in Buffalo’s dressing room have to take responsibility for their early struggles generating goals.

Buffalo doesn’t have the luxury of employing an abundance of superstar players, so improvement-by-committee is the only way their offense is going to rebound. The Sabres aren’t always going to be putting up less than three goals every game – Thompson alone is capable of scoring a hat trick – but it has to be concerning that Buffalo has lost some of its mojo in the offensive zone.

If the Sabres’ offense does rebound, Buffalo’s chances to win many more games than they lose will certainly improve. And if not? Well, they'll be highly-unlikely to make it back into the post-season.

And that is going to leave Sabres fans apoplectic.  

MONTREAL (AP) — The Nashville Predators acquired defenseman Jayden Struble from the Montreal Canadiens on Friday night for a second-round pick in the 2027 NHL draft.

Struble had seven goals and 28 assists in 174 games for the Canadiens. The 25-year-old former Northeastern University player was a second-round pick in 2019.

The Predators are at Ottawa on Saturday night.

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An 0-3-2 start to the season is far from what the Philadelphia Flyers expected from themselves after such a promising 2025-26 campaign, but with so few offseason additions, they have only each other to turn to in order to turn the tide.

Despite his best efforts and playing like a savant, Joseph Woll remains winless, and without the newcomer, the Flyers might be 0-5-0 with no points in the bank at all.

"Goals for Woll" may become a trend in the near future, as the Flyers are tied for last in the NHL with just four goals at 5-on-5 through five games.

Overall, the Flyers have scored just six times in total, with only Calgary and New Jersey keeping them company while having played fewer games - four and three, respetively.

Defensively, the Flyers rank 28th in the NHL with 19 goals allowed in five games, though this number is buoyed in large part by the 7-0 onslaught suffered at the hands of the Pittsburgh Penguins in the season opener.

But, this is all to say that, outside of Woll and Dan Vladar, every Flyers player can improve.

Three, in particular, need to step their games up multiple notches if the team is to right the ship and insert themselves back into the playoff conversation.

Trevor Zegras

In five games this season, Trevor Zegras has managed to produce just two assists, one of which came on the power play thanks to a heads-up play by Matvei Michkov in the crease against Ottawa on Thursday night, sweeping a loose puck over the goal line while the whistle was being blown.

Already, Zegras has ceded his center-ice duties to Christian Dvorak, and the Flyers now have Matvei Michkov taking faceoffs on the first power play unit barely two weeks into the season.

After signing a four-year, $36.5 million ($9.125 million AAV) extension with the Flyers, expectations for Zegras were raised heading into the season. He and his camp won both ends of the negotiation, pulling in an elevated salary while keeping the contract at a short length.

Now, it's time for Zegras to hold up his end of the bargain. The 25-year-old has hardly looked like the ice-tilting offensive dynamo he was last season, though the Flyers' struggles offensively aren't solely on his shoulders.

Still, Zegras has the talent to be that guy for the Flyers, as he was last year, and while I have little doubt he will eventually turn it around and get going in the right direction, the Flyers don't have time to spare. They've already lost five straight games, including three to Metropolitan Division rivals.

The only way to win hockey games is by scoring more goals than the other team, and the Flyers are depending on Zegras to lead the charge.

Cam York

For the last several seasons, Cam York has been a staple in the Flyers' top-four on defense, though he has badly struggled to keep pace this season.

The 25-year-old has often looked a step or two behind and has shown little urgency with the puck. Offensively, much is still to be desired, even with an added opportunity quarterbacking the second power play that has now been lost to David Jiricek and Jamie Drysdale.

Among NHL defensemen with at least four games played this season, only Nashville's Roman Josi has a worse share of scoring chances (13-44, 22.81%) than York (20-53, 27.4%) at 5-on-5, per Natural Stat Trick.

Like Zegras, it isn't all on York with four other players sharing the ice at 5-on-5 at any given moment, but both Drysdale and Travis Sanheim have much better looking underlying stats without York on the ice compared to with him.

York has no points in five games this season and will need to improve dramatically to retain his hold on a featured spot in the lineup.

Otherwise, the Flyers may be left to seriously consider alternative options on defense, such as Simon Edvinsson or Alex Nikishin.

Tyson Foerster

In reality, Tyson Foerster has played mostly well, but the end product in his game has been completely absent, and it's been absent for some time.

Foerster, 24, has just two goals, his only two points in his last 15 games played, including the playoffs.

Of course, Foerster dealt with injury woes at the start and end of last season, and upon his second return to the lineup on April 2, Foerster scored three times in his first four games back.

Since his two-goal game against New Jersey on April 7, Foerster has just two goals and three points in 19 games, including the postseason.

The Flyers, like many fans, are enamored with Foerster's potential as a two-way winger given his shooting ability, 6-foot-2 size, and defensive prowess, but the former first-round pick is due to remind the organization and fans of that potential.

That inconsistency and drop-off is a bit worrisome, considering Foerster, like Zegras, signed a big-money extension this offseason, inking a eight-year, $56.8 million ($7.1 million AAV) deal to remain in Philadelphia for the long haul.

The Flyers have invested heavily in each of the three young players on this list, and in a time of great need, with heightened expectations, Zegras, York, and Foerster need to come through for the team and get the Flyers back on track in a hurry.

A logjam formed on the left side of the Montreal Canadiens' blueline, and GM Kent Hughes decided it was time to act. Less than 24 hours after his team dropped two points to the Nashville Predators, Hughes sent Jayden Struble to the Predators in return for a second-round pick at the next draft. 

Struble was a healthy scratch for that game as the Habs elected to dress Adam Engstrom for the first time of the season. The young blueliner did well and it allowed to executive to finally answer the Struble or Arber Xhekaj dilemma that has been the talk of the town for three years now, even though it seems like we've been talking about it for longer than whether Ross and Rachel were on break. 

Canadiens’ Engstrom Had Good First Test
Canadiens’ Coach Trying To Complete The Puzzle With Two Big Missing Pieces
Canadiens Fall Victim To Predators' Opportunism

During Thursday's game, former Habs prospect William Trudeau, another left-shot defenseman was forced to leave the game and was placed on IR today. He will be re-evaluated on a week-to-week basis. That left a hole in the Predators' defense and Montreal had a surplus, a match made in heaven. 

Struble is 25 years old and will be a restricted free agent at the end of the current season. In Nashville, he'll get an opportunity to play everyday rather then have to sit out like he did in Montreal. 

Meanwhile, the Canadiens' get a second-round pick for a defenseman they had picked with the 46th selection of the 2019 draft. Given the fact that he hasn't yet established himself as a regular in the NHL, this is a good deal for the Habs and it will allow Engstrom to see more action, at least until Kaiden Guhle's return.

The Canadiens could also call up David Reinbacher, although it is likely they prefer him to see plenty of action in Laval rather than sit on the press gallery in Montreal. For Xhekaj who wanted to stay in Montreal and now plays alongside his baby brother Florian, this is probably good news although bittersweet as Struble was a good friend of his. 

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