Colorado Avalanche
Devon Toews won’t play for the Avalanche against the Seattle Kraken on Friday (9 p.m. ET; ALT2, ROOT-NW, ESPN+, SN NOW) because of an undisclosed injury.
The defenseman was injured in a 4-3 overtime loss to the Winnipeg Jets on Wednesday.
“He’s going to miss tonight and possibly tomorrow (against the Vegas Golden Knights), I’m thinking,” Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said. “He’s a little bit sore but it’s good news. Should be short term.”
Toews, who has three assists in four games this season, had an NHL career-high 57 points last season (13 goals, 44 assists) in 66 games and led the NHL with a plus-52 rating.
Forward Dryden Hunt will make his Avalanche debut, one day after the forward was claimed off waivers from the New York Rangers.
Hunt, who will play on the fourth line, had one goal in three games with the Rangers this season. He was a healthy scratch in New York’s season-opening 3-1 win against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Oct. 11 but played in each of the past three games.
“It’d be nice to help out wherever you can,” Hunt said. “Obviously this team is pretty high skill. You’re not going to see much power-play time, I don’t think. So anywhere you can kind of chip in, on the PK or in different areas, that’s kind of a huge responsibility for guys like me.”
Hunt has 41 points (13 goals, 28 assists) in 168 NHL games with the Florida Panthers, Arizona Coyotes and Rangers. — Ryan Boulding
Winnipeg Jets
Nikolaj Ehlers was placed on injured reserve by the Jets on Friday, retroactive to Oct. 18 because of an undisclosed injury.
The forward has not played the past two games since a 4-1 loss to the Dallas Stars on Oct. 17.
He joined the Jets for the morning skate at Ball Arena in Denver prior to a 4-3 overtime win on Wednesday, leaving early. Ehlers also missed a 5-2 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday.
Ehlers has three assists this season. He had 55 points (28 goals, 27 assists) in 62 games last season.
Winnipeg recalled forward Dominic Toninato from Manitoba of the American Hockey League on Friday.
Coach Rick Bowness is expected back when the Jets play the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday (7 p.m. ET; CBC, CITY, SNO, SNW, SNP, ESPN+, SN NOW). He has not been with the team since testing positive for COVID-19 on Oct. 14.
Pittsburgh Penguins
Jake Guentzel will travel with the Penguins for a five-game road trip while being evaluated for an upper-body injury, coach Mike Sullivan said.
The forward, who did not practice Friday, left a 6-1 win against the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday after being hit in the ear by a shot from Pittsburgh defenseman Kris Letang at 6:51 of the third period. That came after Guentzel took a high shoulder hit from Los Angeles forward Brendan Lemieux at 4:20.
Guentzel, left wing on the first line, has five points (three goals, two assists) in four games. He led Pittsburgh with 40 goals in 76 games last season.
“[Guentzel] is a great player, does a lot of stuff for us,” forward Sidney Crosby said. “Not an easy guy to replace. So when you get injuries, you have to find ways to make up for the guys that you lose and what they bring. I think we’ll try to do that collectively.”
The Penguins begin the trip against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday (7 p.m. ET; BSOH, ATTSN-PT, ESPN+, SN NOW).
Danton Heinen replaced Guentzel on a line with Crosby at center and right wing Rickard Rakell in practice Friday. Rakell took Guentzel’s spot on the top power play.
“Regardless of what our line combinations look like, [Heinen] is a guy that I think is always in the conversation [to move up in the lineup],” Sullivan said.
Brock McGinn was elevated from the fourth line to left wing on the third, in place of Heinen. Teddy Blueger, in a no-contact jersey, returned to his usual spot at fourth-line center.
Blueger is day to day because of an upper-body injury. If Guentzel and Blueger are unable to play Saturday, Pittsburgh could use seven defensemen.— Wes Crosby
Toronto Maple Leafs
Auston Matthews did not…
Read More: NHL Buzz: Toews out for Avalanche with undisclosed injury