Pitlick was hurt vs. the Kings on January 17th and missed their game vs. the Jets on the 19th. Pitlick’s move to IR opened up a roster spot for the Stars to recall Roope Hintz from Texas (AHL).
Letestu has spent the entire season in the AHL, where he has collected 26 points (13G / 13A) in 39 games. Letestu could make his season debut on Tuesday with Boone Jenner dealing with an undisclosed injury.
Stalock is in his third season with the Wild and has gone 6-5-0 with a 2.92 GAA and .894 SV% in 14 games. The Wild are comfortable with Stalock as their backup and an $783K AAV cap-hit will allow them to easily move-on in the future if need be.
“Jordan has really fit in well with our group and provides veteran leadership both on and off the ice,” said GM Don Waddell. “He skates with a relentless energy that epitomizes the way Coach Brind’Amour wants the Hurricanes to play.” The 26-year-old winger has 10 goals and three assists (13 points) in 50 games during his first season with the Hurricanes.
Hutton was pulled after allowing five goals on 12 shots in the Sabres loss in Edmonton on January 14th. After a long break, Hutton will look to get back on-track tonight in Columbus. Hutton has gone 1-6-2 with a 3.31 GAA and .895 SV% in his last nine starts, so perhaps look elsewhere when looking for a starter on Tuesday.
Halak allowed two goals on 13 shots after replacing Tuukka Rask in the Bruins loss to the Rangers on January 19th. With Rask sidelined with a concussion, Halak will be the Bruins unquestioned No.1 for the foreseeable future. He is 9-3-0 with a 2.29 GAA, .926 SV% and one shutout on home-ice this season and has a nice matchup vs. a Jets team that played in Philadelphia last night.
Smith has been a healthy scratch for the last three games but will replace Pavel Buchnevich on Tuesday. Smith likely won’t see enough playing time to be a factor on Tuesday and has just eight points (2G / 6A) in 31 games this season.
Buchnevich has struggled this season and has just three goals and one assist in his last 16 games. Buchnevich will be replaced but Brendan Smith, who will serve as the Rangers’ seventh defenseman.
Hannikainen has missed the last six games but will replace Boone Jenner (undisclosed) on Tuesday. Hannikainen, who will skate on the fourth line, has seven points (4G / 3A) in 34 games this season.
Jenner is day-to-day with an undisclosed injury and will be replaced by Markus Hannikainen vs. the Sabres. Look for Alexander Wennberg to replace Jenner on the second line with Nick Foligno and Josh Anderson.
Bobrovsky allowed two goals on 31 shots in the Blue Jackets loss in Minnesota on January 19th. Bobrovsky has had a tough time in his last seven stars, going 3-4-0 with a 3.84 GAA and .864 SV%. The 30-year-old comes in at 10-7-1 with a 2.85 GAA, .902 SV% and one shutout at Nationwide Arena this season.
White missed the final five games before the All-Star break but said he’s almost 100 percent sure that he will play on Friday. The Senators went 2-3-0 without White, who has 11 goals and 15 assists (26 points) in 44 games this season.
Johnson was forced to leave Monday’s game vs. the Devils and did not return. Head coach Mike Sullivan did not have an update on Johnson’s status post-game but expects to have more information on Tuesday. This is poor timing because the Penguins depleted their blueline depth on Monday, trading Jamie Oleksiak to the Stars.
Jones was banged up in the All-Star game and was not on the ice for Monday’s practice, but is expected to play Tuesday vs. Buffalo. Jones enjoyed a successful All-Star weekend and returned to his team with seven goals and 22 assists (29 points) in 41 games this season.
Nieves has split his time between the AHL and NHL for the last two seasons, scoring seven points (2G / 5A) in 16 games with the Rangers. Look for him to centre their fourth line with Cody McLeod and Pavel Buchnevich on Tuesday.
Hayes has missed the last nine games with an upper-body injury but will replace Mats Zuccarello, who is sidelined with a foot infection. Hayes has had a solid campaign, scoring 10 goals with 23 assists (33 points) in 39 games and will skate on the second-line with Jimmy Vesey and Vladislav Namestnikov.
Gostisbehere was a late-scratch from Monday’s game against the Jets and has already been ruled out for Tuesday’s game in New York. Look for Ivan Provorov and Travis Sanheim to play huge minutes and eat-up the power-play time while Gostisbehere is out.
Durzi was a second-round pick (No.52 overall) in 2018 but remains unsigned as he plays for the Guelph Storm (OHL). Durzi, who was traded by Owen Sound this season, has totalled eight goals and 20 assists (28 points) in just 26 OHL games between the two teams.
Grundstrom was one of the Maple Leafs’ top prospects and has been enjoying a quality campaign with the Marlies, scoring 13 goals with 16 assists (29 points) in 42 games. Grundstrom, a former second-round pick, plays a physical two-way game but doesn’t project to be much of a high-end scorer at the NHL-level.
Toronto needed to bolster their blueline and did so by adding Muzzin, who has spent the first seven seasons of his career in Los Angeles. The Maple Leafs really needed a right-handed defenseman but Muzzin was a much cheaper alternative and goes to Toronto with one more season on his contract that carries a $4.0M AAV cap-hit. Muzzin, who is 6-foot-3, 213 lbs., who can produce solid offensive numbers and play physically. He projects to play on the top-pair with Morgan Rielly, which will allow Ron Hainsey to play significantly less taxing minutes.
