NHL Hockey Player News

Puljujarvi was signed to a two-year, $1.6 million ($800,000 AAV) contract Sunday and will be a game-time decision Tuesday to make his season debut vs. Winnipeg. The 25-year-old had been playing on a PTO for Pittsburgh's AHL team after undergoing a double hip surgery in the off-season and excelled in his brief appearances as he had four goals and nine points in 13 total games played.

Sorokin will likely return to the crease for the Islanders on Monday after serving as the backup to Semyon Varlamov in the Islanders' last two games before the All-Star break, both losing efforts. Sorokin has not played since January 23rd and has allowed three or more goals in four of his last five games (1-3-1) but has salvaged a respectable .911 SV% in the process. The Islanders defeated the Maple Leafs 4-3 three weeks ago but are +139 road underdogs on Monday night.

The Canadiens will receive a 2027 third-round pick if the Winnipeg Jets win the Stanley Cup. Monahan has a $1.985M cap-hit and is set to become an unrestricted free agent at the end of 2023-24. The 29-year-old centre had 13 goals and 22 assists (35 points) in 49 games with Montreal prior to the trade. He should settle in as the Jets' No.2 centre.

Sanderson suffered the injury towards the end of the first period of Wednesday's game and did not return. We should expect to receive an update on the injury and a possible timeline for his return following the conclusion of Wednesday's game.

Brzustewicz was a third-round pick (No.75 overall) of the Canucks in the 2023 NHL Draft. The 19-year-old defenseman is in his second year with Kitchener (OHL), where he leads all OHL defensemen with 69 points (8G / 61A) in 47 games.

Kuzmenko is on his way to Calgary as the key piece to the trade for Elias Lindholm after struggling to live up to the 39-goal season he posted as a rookie. Kuzmenko reportedly had to waive a no-trade clause in order to facilitate the deal, as the Flames were said to be on his 12-team no-trade list. The 27-year-old should be in line for a bigger role in Calgary after struggling to secure minutes in Vancouver's top-six this season. Kuzmenko scored eight goals and added 13 assists in 43 games for the Canucks this season while playing less than 15 minutes a night.

With his contract set to expire at the end of this season, Elias Lindholm was long rumoured to be one of the top trade targets in the NHL this season, and that came to fruition on Wednesday when the Canucks acquired him in exchange for Andrei Kuzmenko, a pair of prospects, a first-round draft pick, and a conditional fourth-round draft pick. Lindholm had struggled to produce at his usual clip in Calgary this season, registering just nine goals and 23 assists in 49 games despite playing over 20 minutes a night. It's been reported that Lindholm did not agree to any sort of extension with Vancouver as part of the deal, so he does appear to be a rental for the time being. You can expect him to centre one of Vancouver's top two lines, though we likely won't get an official projected lineup until after the All-Star break.

Jurmo was a third-round pick (No.82 overall) of the Canucks in 2020 and has spent the entire 2023-24 season in the Liiga (Finland) with Ilves Tampere and KooKoo Kouvola. In total, the 6-foot-3, 207 lbs. left-shot defenseman has tallied one goal and two assists (three points) in 34 Liiga games.

Kaliyev will be a healthy scratch on Wednesday in order to make room for the return of Quinton Byfield (illness). Kaliyev has enjoyed a rather productive season considering his limited usage, registering six goals and eight assists in 38 games with an ATOI of 13:10.