NHL Player News

Martinez is being evaluated for an undisclosed injury and is questionable to return to Monday's game in Colorado, per Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times.

Martinez had one hit and blocked one shot in 3:23 of ice time before exiting in the first period. If he's unable to return, the left-shot blueliner will have two days off before Thursday's road matchup against the Sharks.

Hamonic (lower body) will not be in the lineup Monday versus the Red Wings, according to TSN 1200 Ottawa.

Nikolas Matinpalo will replace Hamonic on the third pairing beside Tyler Kleven. Monday's game is the first half of a back-to-back for the Senators -- they'll face the Flyers on the road Tuesday. An update on Hamonic's availability for that contest will presumably be known before then.

The NHL announced Monday that Ekblad has been suspended 20 games for violating the league's Performance Enhancing Substances Program.

Since the Panthers have just 18 games remaining on their schedule, Ekblad will miss the remainder of the regular season and the first two games of the postseason due to his suspension. Prior to his suspension, the 29-year-old had bounced back from a quiet 2023-24 campaign, as he recorded three goals, 30 assists, 90 hits, 64 blocked shots and 53 PIM while averaging 23:31 of ice time to begin the 2024-25 season. The Panthers will be forced to rely more upon new acquisition Seth Jones down the stretch, while Ekblad is slated to become an unrestricted free agent during the offseason.

Schneider scored a shorthanded goal on three shots and went minus-2 in Sunday's 7-3 loss to the Blue Jackets.

The Rangers scored a pair of shorthanded goals during the same penalty kill, with Schneider leading the way before Chris Kreider's goal tied the contest at 3-3. This was Schneider's first goal since Jan. 23, and he was limited to one assist in 15 games between tallies. The 23-year-old defenseman is currently handling a top-four role in the absence of Adam Fox (upper body). Schneider has four goals, 15 points, 83 shots on net, 109 hits and 120 blocked shots over 64 appearances.

Severson notched an assist and a plus-2 rating in Sunday's 7-3 win over the Rangers.

Severson has four helpers over 11 contests since the start of February. The 30-year-old defenseman has held onto his place in the lineup since early January after being a healthy scratch a few times earlier in the season. He's at 24 points, 84 shots on net, 97 blocked shots, 40 hits, 39 PIM and a plus-10 rating through 60 appearances. Severson offers decent offense for a blueliner and can contribute in non-scoring areas as well, though his lack of power-play usage will limit his scoring.

Werenski notched two assists, two shots on goal, two blocked shots and a plus-2 rating in Sunday's 7-3 win over the Rangers.

Werenski set up goals by Justin Danforth and Mathieu Olivier as the Blue Jackets got offense from all over the lineup. This was Werenski's fourth multi-point effort in his last seven games, a span in which he has three goals and six assists. The defenseman already has a career year with 68 points (20 goals, 48 helpers) in 62 appearances, and he's been sharp in other areas as well, collecting 220 shots on net, 110 blocked shots, 21 power-play points and a plus-15 rating as the No. 1 blueliner on the roster.

Thrun aggravated his upper-body injury during Saturday's 4-2 loss to the Islanders and is slated to miss time, Sheng Peng of San Jose Hockey Now reports.

Thrun recently missed four games due to his upper-body injury, and while it's not yet clear how much time he'll miss after aggravating the issue, head coach Ryan Warsofsky said that the defenseman will be "out a little bit." Jimmy Schuldt will likely draw into the lineup while Thrun is unavailable.

Morrow notched an assist and blocked two shots in Sunday's 4-2 win over the Jets.

His assist set up Mark Jankowski's first goal as a Hurricane. Morrow needed five games to get his first NHL point, and he's added four shots on net and three blocked shots over three outings this season. The 22-year-old defenseman has a highly promising future, but his NHL time is likely to be limited in 2024-25 -- he's filling in for Dmitry Orlov, who has been out with a minor undisclosed injury for a couple of games.

Grzelcyk notched a power-play assist, two PIM and a plus-2 rating in Sunday's 3-1 win over the Wild.

Grzelcyk has three helpers over his last six outings, though this was his first power-play point since Jan. 17 versus the Sabres. The 31-year-old has carved out a role on the second power-play unit to help boost his offense in a career year. He's earned career highs in assists (30) and points (31) while adding 77 shots on net, 79 blocked shots and a minus-10 rating through 66 appearances.

Letang logged a power-play assist, two shots on goal and four blocked shots in Sunday's 3-1 win over the Wild.

This was Letang's fourth helper in seven games and his first contribution on the power play in that span. He set up Evgeni Malkin's opening tally in the second period. Letang is up to 25 points (10 on the power play), 134 shots on net, 98 hits, 72 blocked shots and a minus-18 rating over 59 contests in a top-four role this season.