Jets Taking Trade Offers, Hammond Injured, and More News

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The Ottawa Senators have, as they seem to almost every season, run into a goaltending injury. In Friday’s game, Andrew Hammond had to be removed after suffering an upper-body injury.

The team was not forthcoming on the details of the injury, but the plan is for Hammond to be reevaluated Saturday. However, the team is set to be back in action against the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday.

That’s pushed the Senators to recall former Boston University goaltender Matt O’Connor from the AHL. That makes Ottawa yet another team running its third and fourth goaltenders in the NHL. Friday, the Sens had to recall Chris Driedger while starting netminder Craig Anderson takes some time away from the team to deal with a personal matter.

Hammond has played two games this season, going 0-1-0 with a .793 save percentage.

Jets Fielding Calls on Goaltenders

The Winnipeg Jets aren’t just fielding offers on embattled defenseman Jacob Trouba. TSN’s Gary Lawless reports the Jets are unsurprisingly getting calls about goaltenders.

A number of teams are dealing with goaltending injuries and the Jets have moved to Connor Hellebuyck and Michael Hutchinson as their tandem. That leaves Ondrej Pavelec, who is in the AHL currently, as a potential solution for desperate clubs. The report from Lawless says that they are, as expected, getting calls on Pavelec, but that inquiries have been fielded on other Jets netminders as well.

The appeal of making a move for Hellebuyck or Hutchinson, the latter being more likely than the former, isn’t just that they’re better options, but that the cap impact is lower (even if the trade cost is likely to be significantly higher). Pavelec is in the final year of a deal carrying a $3.9 million cap hit, which might make dealing for him cost prohibitive for some clubs.

Kucherov Down

Nikita Kucherov, Oliver Queen’s stand-in on Arrow, is sidelined with an upper-body injury. In Thursday’s game against the Canadiens, Kucherov was forced out of the game with an injury. Friday, the club announced that it was an upper-body ailment and that they’re officially listing him as day-to-day.

It appears the injury occurred on a spill into the boards during the first period of Thursday’s contest. While details are scarce, it could have been worse. Coach Jon Cooper said Friday that Kucherov is not dealing with a concussion.

With Kucherov’s status for Saturday’s game against New Jersey still in question, the team has recalled Cory Conacher from the AHL’s Syracuse Crunch.

Letang Close

After grabbing three of four wins without their best defenseman, the Penguins are on the precipice of getting Kris Letang back in the lineup. He could be back as soon as Saturday’s game against their cross-state rival.

“He’s getting closer for sure,” coach Mike Sullivan told NHL.com. “Obviously, he’s a big part of our team and we’re a better team when he’s a part of our lineup.”

Not Hat-Trick Hat Shower

Friday night was free hat night in Raleigh. That meant a crowd more than willing to shower the ice in hats.

So when Carolina scored and it looked like Jeff Skinner had completed a hat trick, the hats rained down. Only, it was tipped and Skinner did not get a hat trick. But that was of little concern to most.

Graovac Recalled

The Minnesota Wild have recalled center Tyler Graovac from the Iowa Wild, one night after he helped Iowa to a 6-1 win over the Milwaukee Admirals with two goals and an assist.

The recall comes less than 24 hours after the Wild placed Teemu Pulkkinen on waivers. It’d be a big opportunity for the big center who started last season on the Wild’s opening night roster. He was injured on opening night and never played another game.

It’s not entirely clear what the team’s plan is with Pulkkinen if he clears waivers, but this is a good indication that he’ll be headed to Iowa should no other team put in a claim on him.

Odds and Ends

This is all.