Panarin practices with Rangers; Jets goalie Hellebuyck dealing with family matter
© Ezra Shaw/Getty Images
Welcome to the NHL Buzz. The 2024-25 season is underway, and NHL.com has you covered with all the latest news.
Macklin Celebrini returned to practice Monday and will make his NHL debut against the St. Louis Blues at SAP Center in San Jose on Thursday (10:30 p.m. ET; HULU, ESPN+, SN360).
The forward left a preseason game against the Utah Hockey Club on Oct. 1 with a lower-body injury.
“I’m all good,” Celebrini said. “It [stinks] whenever you get hurt. [You are] busy rehabbing, but it was a nice little reset before the year.”
Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky said a plan was in place.
“We had an idea that he would be fine to go today,” Warsofsky said. “He was good today. I would say he’s good to go.”
Celebrini, the No. 1 pick in the 2024 NHL Draft, and Will Smith, a forward chosen by the Sharks with the No. 4 pick in the 2023 NHL Draft, are each expected to make his NHL debut.
“It’s exciting for the fans to see the first overall pick and the fourth overall pick,” Warsfofsky said. — Max Miller
Artemi Panarin was back at practice Monday after the forward sustained a lower-body injury during the Rangers’ 5-4 preseason win against the New Jersey Devils on Oct. 1.
The 32-year-old led New York with an NHL career-high 120 points (49 goals, 71 assists) in 82 games last season. He had 15 points (five goals, 10 assists) in 16 Stanley Cup Playoff games.
Also Monday, New York placed forward Jimmy Vesey (lower body) on long-term injured reserve and defenseman Ryan Lindgren (upper body) on injured reserve.
Forwards Matt Rempe, Adam Edstrom, Will Cuylle and Brett Berard, and defenseman Victor Mancini were sent to Hartford of the American Hockey League, and forwards Jake Leschyshyn, Anton Blidh and Adam Sykora, and defenseman Ben Harpur were being recalled.
Defenseman Matthew Robertson cleared waivers.
The Rangers play their season opener Wednesday at the Pittsburgh Penguins (7:30 p.m. ET; MAX, TNT).
Connor Hellebuyck has stepped away from the team in order to deal with a family matter.
The 31-year-old goaltender, who won the Vezina Trophy last season, was not on the ice for practice on Monday. However, he is expected to travel with the team and potentially play in their season opener against the Edmonton Oilers on Wednesday.
“He’s had some family stuff that he’s looking after, has to take care of, so we’ll give him his privacy and move forward,” coach Scott Arniel said.
“We kind of got this late curveball thrown at us. There are some things you can do if [Hellebuyck] isn’t on that flight (to Edmonton), but we’re all expecting him to be (back in Winnipeg on Tuesday). Maybe not for practice, but he’s going to get back. He’ll be back here.”
Hellebuyck went 37-19-4 with a 2.39 goals-against average, .921 save percentage and five shutouts in 60 starts last season.
Yegor Sharangovich is week to week because of a lower-body injury and was placed on injured reserve Monday.
The Flames forward sustained the injury with just over four minutes remaining in a 3-2 preseason loss to the Winnipeg Jets on Friday.
Sharangovich was expected to start the season on a line with Nazem Kadri and Andrei Kuzmenko.
The 26-year-old set NHL career highs in games played (82), goals (31), assists (28), points (59) and ice time (17:19) in 2023-24, his first season with Calgary after being acquired from New Jersey on June 27, 2023.
He has 165 points (84 goals, 81 assists) in 287 NHL games with the Flames and Devils.
Calgary opens its season Wednesday at the Vancouver Canucks (10 p.m. ET; SN1, SNP). — Aaron Vickers
Jett Luchanko, the No. 13 pick of the 2024 NHL Draft, will start the season in the NHL.
“It’s been my end goal since I can remember, making the NHL,” Luchanko said Monday. “That’s no matter what I was doing in my life, it was toward that. It’s always been my goal.”
The 18-year-old forward had two assists in four preseason games.
“Going into training camp, I never thought he had much of a chance,” general manager Daniel Briere said. “More of a small, outside chance to be honest. He’s blown us away from Day 1.
“The speed is one thing that really jumped out, top-end NHL speed already at such a young age. That’s impressive. And you start watching him play and all the little details in his game, how he supports everybody, the way he makes players around him better, was very impressive.”
Luchanko could start at center between Joel Farabee and Bobby Brink when Philadelphia opens the season at Vancouver on Thursday (10 p.m. ET; SNP, NBCSP). Coach John Tortorella also said Luchanko will play on the power play and penalty kill.
The Flyers can play Luchanko nine games before his entry-level contract starts, but Briere said that isn’t a timeline the team is worried about.
“We’re going to navigate as we go,” Briere said. “We’re obviously going to keep an eye on him. We’ll try to put him in the best position to succeed … there’s nothing set in stone with him either at this point. It’s something we’re going to evaluate on a daily basis with him.” — Adam Kimelman
Bryan Rust remains day to day for the Penguins ahead of their season opener against the Rangers at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh on Wednesday (7:30 p.m. ET; MAX, TNT).
The forward did not practice Monday because of a lower-body injury that has kept him off the ice since playing a preseason game Oct. 1. Rust had 56 points (28 goals, 28 assists) in 62 games last season, tied with defenseman Erik Karlsson for third on the Penguins.
Anthony Beauvillier took rushes in Rust’s spot at first-line right wing with center Sidney Crosby.
Beauvillier signed a one-year, $1.25 million contract with Pittsburgh on July 1. He skated at left wing on the top line early in training camp before Drew O'Connor returned to his spot from late last season.
“I think ‘Beau’s’ biggest asset is his skating ability, his puck pursuit game,” coach Mike Sullivan said. “He can hunt pucks, put defensemen under duress, force turnovers. He has a good stick and he has decent offensive instincts. So, as you guys know, Sid likes to play a game where he can control the game by either possessing the puck or pursuing the puck. It’s one of those. So, if they don’t have it, we have to surround him with guys that can pursue it so we have the ability to get the puck back.”
Karlsson, day to day with an upper-body injury, is expected to be ready for the opener after returning to his defense pair with Marcus Pettersson on Monday.
Goalie Alex Nedeljkovic remains week to week with a lower-body injury. Forward Blake Lizotte is still out indefinitely with a concussion. — Wes Crosby
John Marino and Nick Bjugstad will begin the season on the injured non-roster list.
Marino, a defenseman, has an upper-body injury. He was acquired in a trade with the New Jersey Devils on June 29.
Bjugstad, a forward, also has an upper-body injury.
Utah will play its inaugural regular-season game against the Chicago Blackhawks at Delta Center on Tuesday (10 p.m. ET; ESPN+, ESPN, SN, TVAS) — Matt Komma
Calle Jarnkrok (lower body) will begin the regular season on long-term injured reserve.
The forward played 14:42 in a 2-0 preseason win against the Detroit Red Wings on Thursday but has not practiced with the full team since. He missed the prior week of training camp with a lower-body injury before returning to practice Oct. 2.
“He’s still day to day, timetable I don’t know right now,” Maple Leafs coach Craig Berube said Monday.
Defenseman Jani Hakanpaa, who had arthroscopic knee surgery during the offseason, will also begin the season on LTIR. He has been skating with the full group since Oct. 2.
Forward Connor Dewar, who had off season shoulder surgery, and forward Fraser Minten, who sustained a high-ankle sprain at the 2024 Prospect Showdown against the Montreal Canadiens last month, will each begin the season on injured reserve. — Dave McCarthy
Rookie forwards Calum Ritchie, Nikolai Kovalenko and Ivan Ivan will start the season in the NHL.
Kovalenko and Ritchie are expected to play forward on either side of center Casey Mittelstadt on the second line when Colorado opens the regular season at the Vegas Golden Knights on Wednesday (10 p.m. ET; TNT, MAX). Ivan is expected to start on the fourth line with Parker Kelly and Joel Kiviranta.
“I like the fact that we’ve infused some new blood into the lineup, both young, developed guys or guys that were continuing to develop in like Ritchie, Ivan, Kovalenko, and then some new guys coming in that were pretty good in their roles on other teams,” Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said.
Ritchie, who was selected in the first round (No. 27) at the 2023 NHL Draft, signed a three-year, entry-level contract July 8. He had 80 points (28 goals, 52 assists) in 50 games with Oshawa of the Ontario Hockey League last season.
Kovalenko, a sixth-round pick (No. 171) by Colorado at the 2018 NHL Draft, signed a two-year, entry-level contract July 25, 2023. He made his NHL debut in the playoffs last season and was held without a point in two games.
Ivan signed a two-year contract as an undrafted free agent March 5. He had 31 points (12 goals, 19 assists) in 67 games with Colorado of the AHL last season.
Forward Artturi Lehkonen, who had shoulder surgery over the summer, still isn’t cleared for full contact. He’ll be reevaluated in late October.
Lehkonen had 34 points (16 goals, 18 assists) in 45 games with the Avalanche last season.
“He has a five-month check-in at the end of the month, and then we’ll get word on how he can advance from there,” Bednar said. — Ryan Boulding
The Ducks claimed James Reimer off waivers from the Buffalo Sabres on Monday.
The 36-year-old goalie signed a one-year, $1 million contract with the Sabres on July 2. He went 11-8-2 with a 3.11 goals-against average and .904 save percentage in 25 games (20 starts) with the Red Wings last season.
A fourth-round pick (No. 99) by the Toronto Maple Leafs at the 2006 NHL Draft, Reimer is 215-177-63 with a 2.88 GAA, a .910 save percentage and 30 shutouts in 501 regular-season games (458 starts) with the Maple Leafs, San Jose Sharks, Florida Panthers, Carolina Hurricanes and Red Wings, and 5-5 with a 2.70 GAA and .925 save percentage in 11 playoff games (10 starts).
The Blue Jackets claimed Zach Aston-Reese off waivers from the Vegas Golden Knights on Monday.
The 30-year-old forward was held without a point in three games with the Detroit Red Wings last season and had 30 points (14 goals, 16 assists) in 61 games with Grand Rapids of the AHL.
Aston-Reese had 80 points (42 goals, 38 assists) in 310 regular-season games with the Penguins, Ducks, Maple Leafs and Red Wings, and five points (two goals, three assists) in 29 playoff games.
Ivan Miroshnichenko was assigned to Hershey of the AHL as a prelude to the Capitals setting their opening-night roster before the NHL’s 5 p.m. ET deadline Monday.
Miroshnichenko, a first-round pick (No. 20) in the 2022 NHL Draft, had two points (one goal, one assist) in four preseason games. The 20-year-old had six points (two goals, four assists) in 21 regular-season games and no points in one playoff game with Washington last season. He had 25 points (nine goals, 16 assists) in 47 regular-season games and 12 points (seven goals, five assists) in 20 AHL playoff games to help Hershey win the Calder Cup for the second straight season.
Andrew Cristall, a second-round pick (No. 40) in the 2023 NHL Draft, was returned to Kelowna of the WHL. The 19-year-old forward tied for the Capitals lead with three points (two goals, one assist) in four preseason games after he had 111 points (41 goals, 70 assists) in 62 games for Kelowna last season.
Coach Spencer Carbery said he expects Jakub Vrana to be on the roster by the time Washington opens the regular season against New Jersey on Saturday (7 p.m. ET; MNMT, MSGSN).
“That’s the expectation, but nothing has been official quite yet with the contract registered with the League,” Carbery said. “But that’s the expectation.”
Goalie Logan Thompson missed practice Monday for personal/family reasons. — Tom Gulitti
Carter Yakemchuk was returned to Calgary of the WHL Monday.
In a statement, president of hockey operations and general manager Steve Staios said the Senators had a “healthy conversation” with Yakemchuk on Monday morning and management is “excited to watch his growth and trajectory in Calgary this season.”
The Senators selected Yakemchuk with the No. 7 pick at the 2024 draft. The 19-year-old defenseman had seven points (two goals, five assists) in four preseason games after he had 71 points (30 goals, 41 assists) in 66 WHL games with Calgary last season.
“That was a very long, thought-out process,” Senators coach Travis Green said. “I think, within our whole organization, we went back and forth on it a lot. Not an easy decision to make. And at the end of the day, we just felt, to keep his progression going, what’s best for him as a player, stability for him as well, that it would be best if he goes back for one more year of junior and play a big part of his team in Calgary, World Juniors stuff. Again, it was not an easy decision to make for our group.
“Extremely high praise for his camp, especially for a coach that hasn’t really seen him. Very easily could’ve kept him around.”
Ottawa plays its season opener Thursday at home against the Florida Panthers (7 p.m. ET; RDS2, TSN5, SCRIPPS). — Callum Fraser
