The good news, if you can call it that: when the New Jersey Devils put Johnathan Kovacevic on injured reserve Friday, they listed him with an ankle injury, not the surgically repaired knee. The placement is retroactive to Nov. 10 in Winnipeg, so the earliest he can play is Tuesday. They also moved Seamus Casey to long-term injured reserve and recalled Anton Silaev from Utica for the first time. The 6-foot-7 defenseman, drafted 10th overall in 2024, will meet the team in Washington. Whether he debuts Saturday depends in part on Brett Pesce, who is still day-to-day with an illness.
Around the league, Pierre LeBrun says the Carolina Hurricanes figure to call if the Pittsburgh Penguins make Erik Karlsson available and that some teams have already called the Flyers about Matvei Michkov, the Colorado Avalanche recalled Gavin Brindley with Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar both banged up, and Justin Bourne has his read on the NHL at the quarter mark. The links are below.
Friday’s roster moves
Johnathan KovacevicPlaced on IR (ankle), retroactive to Nov. 10; earliest eligible Tuesday, Nov. 17Seamus CaseyMoved to LTIR (knee)Anton SilaevRecalled from Utica, his first NHL recall; 4 assists in 12 games with the Comets
Next game: Devils at Washington Capitals, Saturday, Nov. 14, 7:00 PM ET, Capital One Arena, MSG
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The Devils placed Kovacevic on IR and recalled Silaev from Utica. Friday was the first time the team called it an ankle injury, and the good news is it’s not his surgically repaired knee. Silaev, 20, has four assists in 12 games with the Comets and is waiver-exempt. He’ll be in Washington for Saturday’s rematch, though a debut isn’t a given if Pesce is healthy.
In this week’s Devils Dissected for NJHN+ members, Daniel Amoia and I looked at Thursday’s 5-2 win over the Capitals under the result. It was the Devils’ seventh straight home win, with three players who started the week in Utica all scoring, but Sheldon Keefe said the team is running on fumes going into Saturday, and Luke Hughes had a tough night without Pesce.
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Pierre LeBrun’s latest rumblings lead with why the Carolina Hurricanes could circle back on Erik Karlsson. Carolina was in on him right to the end in 2023, before he went to Pittsburgh, and LeBrun strongly believes the Canes will call again once the Penguins formally open his market, which he suspects won’t happen until the new year. Karlsson, 36, has a full no-move clause and leads Pittsburgh with 19 points in 19 games. LeBrun also says some teams reached out to Daniel Briere about Matvei Michkov after this week’s noise, even though he doesn’t think the Philadelphia Flyers want to trade him right now, and he says Joel Quenneville and the Anaheim Ducks began extension talks just over a month ago.
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Justin Bourne has five thoughts as the NHL hits the quarter mark, including why the Hurricanes deserve more respect as the league’s first-place team. He also notes that Dylan Larkin is still out there, and that by all accounts the Wild plan to hang onto Quinn Hughes and walk him to free agency.
Colorado Hockey Now
Aarif Deen has the Avalanche recalling Gavin Brindley on Friday, and he’ll meet the team in Montreal. MacKinnon left Thursday’s game after a collision with Artem Zub, and Makar left on a non-contact play. Rookie defenseman Alex Gagne is also with the team and could debut if Makar can’t go. More on both should come Saturday morning at Bell Centre. Colorado is 11-6-3.
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Jack Bushman writes that Frank Nazar scored twice and the Chicago Blackhawks snapped a six-game losing streak, coming back to beat the Buffalo Sabres 3-2 in overtime. It was the first time this season Chicago earned two points after trailing through two periods, after starting 0-10-0 in those games, and Spencer Knight faced only 23 shots, his lightest workload of the year.