The Washington Capitals will be without one of their best defencemen.
On Saturday morning, it was announced by the team that Jakob Chychrun had been placed on Injured Reserve with an upper-body injury. To replace him, the Capitals recalled Vincent Iorio.
The Capitals acquired the left-shot defenceman from the Ottawa Senators this past off-season for Nick Jensen and a 2026 third-round pick. After scoring 14 goals and 14 points, the latter tied for a career-high, the 26-year-old has two goals and four points in eight games for the Capitals.
As for Iorio, he was drafted in the second round of the 2021 draft by the Capitals, winning consecutive Calder Cups with the Hershey Bears in 2022-23 and 2023-24. He’s also played nine National Hockey League games where he had an assist.
The Capitals currently sit third in the Metropolitan Division with a 7-2-0 record in nine games. Although they are third in the division, their .778 winning percentage is tied for tops in the Metropolitan and tied for third in the league.

Mathew Barzal placed on injured reserve

Fellow Metropolitan team, the New York Islanders, placed Mathew Barzal on Injured Reserve with an upper-body injury.
A timetable for the forwards’ return is yet to be known, but this is a pretty big blow for the Islanders.  In 10 games this season, the first-round pick in the 2015 draft has two goals and five points. The season prior, he scored a career-high 23 goals while also putting up 80 points, the second-best total of his career.
Through 11 games this season, the Islanders have scored 26 goals, the third-fewest in the league. In those 11 games, they’ve been shut out twice, including two 1-0 defeats at the hands of the Detroit Red Wings and St. Louis Blues. On Friday, they defeated the Buffalo Sabres 4-3, ending a three-game skid.

Two Toronto Maple Leafs loaned to the AHL for a conditioning stint

On Friday morning, the Toronto Maple Leafs announced they’ve sent defenceman Jani Hakanpää and forward Connor Dewar to the Toronto Marlies on a conditioning loan.
Before last season’s trade deadline, the Maple Leafs acquired Dewar from the Minnesota Wild. The 25-year-old selected in the third round of the 2018 draft was in a career year, scoring 10 goals and 14 points. After joining the Leafs, he scored another goal and added five points for a career-best 19 points. In six postseason games, Dewar picked up an assist.
Hakanpää was selected back in the fourth round of the 2010 draft. After three seasons in North America, he returned to Finland, before making his National Hockey League debut in 2019-20 with the Anaheim Ducks. It wasn’t until 2021-22 that he became the excellent third-pairing defenceman he is today as he joined the Dallas Stars.
In three seasons with the Stars, the right-shot defenceman scored 12 goals and 40 points in 226 games. Moreover, he played in 22 postseason games with the Stars (11 with the Carolina Hurricanes in 2021) and scored a goal and four points. He missed their 2024 run where they lost to the Edmonton Oilers in six games.
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