Keep updated on all the injury news and roster updates from around the NHL with daily Ice Chips.
Chicago Blackhawks
Anton Frondell is set to make his NHL debut on Tuesday night after the Chicago Blackhawks recalled the 2025 third overall pick from Djurgårdens IF of the Swedish Hockey League.
The Blackhawks are on Long Island to take on the New York Islanders and Matthew Schaefer, who went two picks earlier than Frondell at first overall in this year’s draft.
Frondell, 18, inked a three-year, entry-level contract with the Blackhawks over the summer, and now comes over to North America following 43 appearances as a rookie for Djurgårdens this year.
The left-shot forward recorded 20 goals and eight assists in his first season playing in Sweden’s top-flight, becoming just the fourth player in SweHL history to reach the 20-goal mark in his age-18 season. He also helped his country to gold at the World Juniors in January, where he finished as the team’s leading goal scorer.
Frondell skated alongside Connor Bedard and Ryan Greene on the top line at Chicago’s morning skate, and will hope to provide a spark for a struggling Blackhawks team that has lost dropped nine of 13 games coming out of the Olympic break.
Chicago is currently in last place in the Central Division, holding a record of 26-31-13 for 65 points on 70 games played.
Toronto Maple Leafs
Anthony Stolarz will get the start for the Toronto Maple Leafs against the Boston Bruins on Tuesday, head coach Craig Berube said via TSN’s Mark Masters.
Stolarz was in line to start Saturday against the Ottawa Senators before taking a puck to the throat in warmups and being scratched from the lineup.
The 32-year-old goaltender was taken to hospital for precautionary imaging but was later discharged and returned to practice on Monday.
In 21 starts for Toronto this season, Stolarz has played to an 8-9-3 record with a 3.34 goals-against average and an .894 save percentage.
Leafs blueliners Morgan Rielly and Oliver Ekman-Larsson will also play on Tuesday, Berube said.
Rielly, 32, sat out against Ottawa and was considered as day-to-day with a lower-body injury after aggravating a preexisting ailment in Friday’s overtime loss to the Carolina Hurricanes.
Ekman-Larsson, 34, left practice early on Monday with “something bugging him”, according to Berube, but is in the lineup Tuesday as the Leafs look to snap a three-game slide.
Rielly has scored nine goals with 24 assists while playing to a minus-17 rating in 67 games for the Leafs this season, while Ekman-Larsson has eight goals and 27 assists for 35 points across 68 contests.
Ottawa Senators
The Ottawa Senators have called up Carter Yakemchuk and Jorian Donovan from Belleville (AHL) ahead of Tuesday night’s game against the Detroit Red Wings.
The news comes after blueliners Thomas Chabot and Lassi Thomson both left Monday night’s game against the New York Rangers with injuries.
Chabot appeared to sustain a right wrist/arm injury, while Thomson appeared to suffer a lower-body injury after he left the ice limping and favouring his left leg.
Ottawa played with just four defencemen for over 30 minutes in Monday’s contest, and head coach Travis Green later said both blueliners would “be out a while”.
Yakemchuk and Donovan could both make their NHL debuts Tuesday to fill the void on the Senators’ injury-ridden blueline for an important clash against Detroit.
Yakemchuk has 10 goals and 36 points in 50 games this season in Belleville and was named the AHL’s Player of the Week last Friday. He was selected seventh overall in the 2024 draft.
Donovan has four goals and 21 points in 58 games this season. The 2022 fifth-round pick could be form the fist father-son combo to both play for the Senators with his father Shean having also played for the team.
The Senators have played to a 37-24-9 record this season and are two points out from the final final-card spot in the Eastern Confernence
Pittsburgh Penguins
Pittsburgh Penguins forward Evgeni Malkin will not play Tuesday night against the Colorado Avalanche and is considered day-to-day with a hand injury.
Malkin, 39, logged 16:05 of ice time in Sunday’s 5-1 loss to the Hurricanes, finishing without a point for the first time in four games since returning from a slashing suspension.
The Magnitogorsk, Russia native has scored 15 goals with 37 assists in 50 games played this season as he approaches unrestricted free agency on July 1.
Malkin has played his entire 20-year career with the Penguins, winning three Stanley Cups, two Art Ross Trophies, the 2006-07 Calder, and the 2009 Conn Smythe.
Pittsburgh called up forward Ville Koivunen for Tuesday’s game with Malkin sidelined.
Koivunen, 22, heads back to the Penguins after being reassigned to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (AHL) on Sunday. He served as a healthy scratch in back-to-back games following Sidney Crosby’s return from a knee injury suffered at the Olympics.
The Oulu, Finland native has scored two goals with five assists in 33 games with the Penguins this season, his second year in the NHL.
Originally selected in the second round by the Hurricanes, Koivunen was traded to Pittsburgh as part of the return for Jake Guentzel in 2024.
In 41 career games, Koivunen has two goals and 14 points while playing an average of 13:42 per contest.
New York Islanders
The New York Islanders have signed undrafted free agent goaltender Joshua Kotai to a two-year, entry-level contract, the team announced Tuesday.
Kotai, 23, played in 35 games this season as a junior at Augustana University, posting a .938 save percentage and a 1.99 goals-against average with five shutouts.
A native of Abbotsford, B.C., Kotai spent three seasons at Augustana where he had a 39-30-9 record with a career .931 save percentage and 2.17 goals-against average.
Kotai has also played for the Battlefords North Stars of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League, where he compiled a 32-4-3 record, .935 save percentage, and a 2.93 GAA to help lead the team to a championship in 2021-22.
Boston Bruins
Jeremy Swayman will get the start in net on Tuesday for the Boston Bruins as they play host to the Toronto Maple Leafs, head coach Marco Sturm said via TSN’s Mark Masters.
Swayman, 27, takes a 28-12-4 record into the game against Toronto for what will be his 47th start of the year.
The Anchorage, AK native holds a .908 save percentage and a 2.71 goals-against average this season, his sixth in Boston after debuting during the 2020-21 season.
Swayman last played on Saturday, where he made 42 of 44 saves to help lift the Bruins to a 4-2 victory over the Detroit Red Wings.
Boston currently holds the first wild-card spot in the East with a 39-23-8 record for 86 points in 70 games this season.
Florida Panthers
The Florida Panthers have recalled forward Noah Gregor from the Charlotte Checkers (AHL), the team announced Tuesday.
Gregor, 27, has made 24 appearances for the Panthers this season, recording one goal and two assists.
The Beaumont, Alta. native has not played for Florida since being placed on waivers on Jan. 9, and has since played in 25 games with the Checkers, where he has 11 goals and six assists for 17 points.
A fourth-round pick of San Jose in 2016, Gregor has scored 37 goals and 36 assists in 317 career games split between the Sharks, Toronto Maple Leafs, Ottawa Senators, and Panthers.
Florida plays host to the Seattle Kraken on Tuesday to kick off a two-game homestand, where Sergei Bobrovsky will get the start.
Bobrovsky, 37, carries a 25-20-1 record this season with an .879 save percentage and a 3.00 goals-against average.
He recorded his fourth shutout of the year last time out, turning away all 21 shots he faced in the team’s 4-0 win over the Edmonton Oilers on March 19.
The back-to-back Stanley Cup Champions are currently tied with the Maple Leafs for last place in the Atlantic Division with a 34-32-3 record.
