NHL News & Notes: Yzerman, Oshie & More

In today’s News & Notes, Steve Yzerman has been hired as the new general manager of the Detroit Red Wings, TJ Oshie is injured and won’t be back for a while and Johnny Boychuk is out for 3-4 weeks.

Yzerman Named Red Wings General Manager

The Red Wings would announce Friday that Yzerman accepted a job with the team and would be returning to the franchise as their new general manager. Yzerman left the Red Wings for nine seasons when he would take over the role as general manager of the Tampa Bay Lightning, but he’s finally returned to the franchise closest to his heart.

Steve Yzerman
Steve Yzerman (Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports)

Yzerman was a member of three Stanley Cup Championship-winning teams in Detroit and was the captain of the team for a league-record 20 season. Yzerman is widely considered one of the best general managers in the NHL and he’ll get a chance to try and restore glory to the Red Wings the same way he brought the Lightning into the forefront of the discussion as the NHL’s best team (despite their unceremonious sweep in the first round this season).

The Red Wings were one of the worst teams in the NHL this past season and Yzerman will have to manage their salary cap situation which is among the worst in the league.

Oshie Injured

The Washington Capitals will be without Oshie for the foreseeable future as head coach Todd Reirden mentioned that they’ll be without him for “quite some time.”

This comes after Oshie went crashing head-first into the boards in Game 4 between the Capitals and Carolina Hurricanes following a hit by Hurricanes’ forward Warren Foegele. The play wouldn’t result in supplemental discipline.

While the play may not have been done with malice, it still naturally drew the ire of Alex Ovechkin who was adamant that this was a dirty play.

Ovechkin felt it was a dirty play and that the outcome should have resulted in more than a two-minute minor penalty.

When speaking to reporters, Foegele explained what his intentions on the play were and that there wasn’t any ill-will or bad intentions on his part.

“I was trying to lift his stick, trying to give him a little nudge. It was a little unfortunate play there, I wasn’t trying to hurt him or anything. I hope he’s OK.”

Unfortunately for the Capitals, Oshie is one of their most important players. His absence will undoubtedly be noticed on and off the ice.

Boychuk Out 3-4 Weeks

The New York Islanders will be without Boychuk for 3-4 weeks as the veteran blueliner is dealing with a lower-body injury. Boychuk blocked a shot with his left foot/leg in the final game of the Islanders’ four-game matchup against the Pittsburgh Penguins and was in obvious pain after the fact.

Islanders defenseman Johnny Boychuk
Islanders defenseman Johnny Boychuk (Greg M. Cooper-USA TODAY Sports)

For the Islanders, the timing is as good as it’ll get as they’re currently waiting for the rest of the First Round to finish. This will give Boychuk a chance to recover from this injury while missing the least amount of game-action possible.

Despite the time off in the interim, Boychuk will still likely miss all of the Second Round given his current timeline. Still, he could be back in time for the Conference Finals if the Islanders manage to play well without him.