Ice Chips: Ekholm, Klingberg to miss Thursday's game for Oilers
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Edmonton Oilers
Defencemen Mattias Ekholm and John Klingberg are both going to miss the Edmonton Oilers' game on Thursday against the Montreal Canadiens.
Ekholm has been dealing with an unreported injury, while Klingberg also has a minor injury he is dealing with.
As a result, per head coach Kris Knoblauch, Max Jones and Cam Dineen will each make their Oilers debuts.
The struggling Oilers have lost six of their last seven games. Per The Athletic's Daniel Nugent-Bowman, the Oilers skated the following forward lines in practice:
Nugent-Hopkins - McDavid - Hyman
Podkolzin - Draisaitl - Arvidsson
Janmark - Henrique - Brown
Jones - Kapanen - Perry
Carolina Hurricanes
Carolina Hurricanes forward Mikko Rantanen skated in practice on Thursday ahead of Friday's trade deadline, per the Raleigh News' Chip Alexander.
Rantanen, who was acquired in a massive deal with the Colorado Avalanche in January, has struggled in 12 games with the Hurricanes.
His 25 goals and 64 points in Colorado had him producing at a 1.30 point per game pace, which has plummeted to a 0.50 point per game pace with Carolina - two goals and six points.
“I know, obviously, everyone's talking about it, but he's here this morning, so I'm assuming he'll be here tonight and go at it," Hurricanes head coach Rod Brind'Amour told reporters after practice on Thursday. "I'm coaching this team right now as if he's here until they tell me he's not.”
Rantanen was not made available to media by the team.
Rantanen was moved to the top spot on TSN's Trade Bait board after TSN Hockey Insider Pierre LeBrun reported that the Hurricanes and Rantanen are not likely to be coming to an agreement on an extension.
"Probably as expected, but league sources confirm that Carolina has received clarity from Mikko Rantanen's camp as far as not being ready to make a decision on the team's contract offer by Friday's trade deadline," TSN Hockey Insider Pierre LeBrun wrote Thursday on X. "Hence, Carolina talking to teams and seeing for real what the trade market is for him. It comes down to weighing best trade offers on the table versus keeping Rantanen as a rental... let's see how it goes."
The topic was also discussed on Insider Trading on Wednesday. "Well, we can't say with 100 per cent certainty that he'll be moved, but certainly what we can say now is that the Hurricanes appear to be upping their efforts, at least to see what that market looks like for Mikko Rantanen and where this started was, you know a week or two ago they were listening to offers, obviously having some discussions with Mikko Rantanen's agent about what the future might look like," TSN Hockey Insider Chris Johnston explained.
Watch all of TSN's TradeCentre coverage, starting at 8a.m. ET / 5a.m. PT on Friday.
Buffalo Sabres
Buffalo Sabres veteran forward Jason Zucker was not on the ice for the team's practice on Thursday morning.
As head coach Lindy Ruff described it, Zucker missed the session as the team is trying some different forms of treatment for Zucker's lower-body injury that forced him to miss Tuesday's game against the San Jose Sharks.
Ruff added that it's been a frustrating situation for Zucker.
The 33-year-old has 18 goals and 44 points in 54 games this season. Zucker has dealt with injury concerns late in his career - his 54 games this year are already his second-most in a season since 2018-19. He played in 78 games with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2022-23.
Philadelphia Flyers
Samuel Ersson is slated to start in net for the Philadelphia Flyers for their game on Thursday against the Winnipeg Jets, per head coach John Tortorella.
"I'm going back with him tonight, because he deserves to go back in," Tortorella said.
"From Dec, there was a stretch there where he was really good. So it's there. I'm always confident that he's going to answer. I'm anxious to see him play. It's a pretty important game for him."
Ersson has made 34 starts this season, and has an 18-10-4 record with a 2.91 goals-against average and an .890 save percentage.
Tampa Bay Lightning
The Tampa Bay Lightning skated some new lines in practice on Thursday, with newly-acquired forwards Yanni Gourde and Oliver Bjorkstrand skating on the third line.
The Lightning acquired the pair from the Seattle Kraken in a deal on Wednesday that sent two first-round draft picks, a second-round draft pick and forward Michael Eyssimont back to Seattle.
A pending unrestricted free agent, Gourde carries a cap hit of $5.17 million on his expiring deal. He has six goals and 17 points in 36 games this season after posting 11 goals and 33 points in 80 games last season. The left-handed centre is a three-time 20-goal scorer, last hitting the mark in 2021-22 in his first season with the Kraken.
Bjorkstrand, 29, has 16 goals and 37 points in 61 games with the Kraken this season. He is closing on his seventh 20-goal campaign in the past eight years.
Tampa Bay has a 9-1-1 record since Feb. 1, vaulting the team from the wild-card race into a fight with the Toronto Maple Leafs and Florida Panthers for first in the Atlantic Division. The Lightning are three points back of both the Panthers and Maple Leafs, with a game in hand on Florida.
Winnipeg Jets
The Winnipeg Jets have signed forward Jacob Julien to a three-year, entry-level contract, it was announced Thursday.
The deal carries an average annual value of $925,000 in the NHL.
The 20-year-old was selected in the fifth round of the 2020 NHL Draft and has spent the last three seasons with the OHL's London Knights.
He has 10 goals and 35 assists for 45 points in 58 games so far this season after recording 78 points in 67 games last year. Julien has 139 points (48 goals, 91 assists) in 165 career games with London.
Forward Rasmus Kupari is in concussion protocol, The Athletic's Murat Ates reports. Kupari will be re-evaluated in a week, Ates reports.
The 24-year-old native of Finland has played in 58 games with the Jets this season and has five goals and eight points.
The Jets skated the following lines in practice on Thursday:
Connor - Scheifele - Vilardi
Ehlers - Namestnikov - Perfetti
Niederreiter - Lowry - Appleton
Barron - Gustafsson - Iafallo
Morrissey - DeMelo
Samberg - Pionk
Stanley - Miller
Hellebuyck
Comrie
Winnipeg enters play Thursday tied with the Washington Capitals with an NHL-best 88 points.
Seattle Kraken
The Kraken recalled defenceman Cale Fleury and forward Tye Kartye from the AHL's Coachella Valley Firebirds on Thursday, the team announced.
Kartye was recalled from a conditioning loan.
Kartye, 23, has three goals and seven points in 49 games with the Kraken this year. Fleury has one assist in seven games with the Kraken this season - he has played a total of 27 games for Seattle over the last four seasons.
Seattle enters play on Thursday one spot from the bottom of the Pacific Division standings with 56 points. They established their position at Friday's deadline as sellers by moving Gourde and Bjorkstrand earlier in the week to Tampa Bay.