NHL news: Oilers’ Nugent-Hopkins injured, Kyle Davidson Hawks GM, and Sharks’ Ferraro recovering
Anthony Scultore
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NHL news for March 1, 2022 checks in on the Edmonton Oilers, Chicago Blackhawks, and San Jose Sharks.
On Tuesday, the Edmonton Oilers announced that forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins is “week-to-week” as he is dealing with an upper-body injury.
Oilers forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins injured
Hopkins was injured on a hit along the boards against the Florida Panthers. The 28 year-old has registered 37 points in 44 games this season.
“Nugent-Hopkins went [to Edmonton] because he’s not day to day, he’s more week to week,” Oilers coach Jay Woodcroft said Tuesday. “That’s where we’re at with that upper-body injury.”
NHL.com
This summer, Nugent-Hopkins wanted to remain with the Edmonton Oilers signing an eight-year, $41 million contract extension at a hometown discount.
Defenseman Duncan Keith is expected to return tonight against the Philadelphia Flyers. He’s missed the last 9 games due to a concussion.
Check out all NHL Injuries here.
Blackhawks name Kyle Davidson GM
The Chicago Blackhawks removed the interim tag and named Kyle Davidson the franchise’s 10th general manager on Tuesday.
Davidson, 33, is in his 12th season with the organization and was named interim GM on Oct. 26 after Stan Bowman stepped down.
“Today is another step not just for me, but for my Blackhawks teammates within the organization and Blackhawks fans across the world,” said Davidson, the youngest GM in the NHL. “I’m committed to building a winning team on and off the ice the right way — improving our internal framework and processes and working closely with a strong team of people to make decisions. I share the vision of the leadership team to create a positive culture throughout the organization and the game of hockey and promise to uphold our values in everything we do.”
The promotion caps a meteoric rise for Davidson, who started with the Blackhawks as a team intern in the hockey operations department in 2010. He has worked his way up the front-office organizational ladder, gaining wide-ranging experience in contract negotiations, managing the salary cap, scouting and analytics. He became assistant GM of hockey administration before this season.
“We have a vision here for the future of Blackhawks hockey and today we are a step closer to that coming together,” chief executive officer Danny Wirtz said. “As an organization, we know we have a lot of work to do on and off the ice and Kyle is the leader we trust to oversee our hockey operations.”
The Blackhawks have fallen on hard times in recent years. Chicago entered Tuesday in seventh place in the Central Division with a 19-27-8 record — ahead of only the Arizona Coyotes, who own the worst record in the NHL.
Chicago has missed the Stanley Cup Playoffs in three of the past four seasons. The Blackhawks have not gotten past the first round of the playoffs since 2014-15, when they won the Stanley Cup for the third time in six seasons.
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Sharks’ Mario Ferraro recovering from surgery
San Jose Sharks defenseman Mario Ferraro is recovering from surgery to repair a fractured lower left fibula.
Ferraro, 23, sustained the injury in the second period of Saturday’s 3-1 loss to the Boston Bruins and underwent the procedure Sunday at Kaiser Permanente in San Jose.
The expected recovery time is 6-8 weeks.
“It’s a tough injury,” Sharks coach Bob Boughner told the Mercury News. “With only two months to go in the season, an injury like that, time’s not on his side. So it’s a devastating blow for us. We just try to put the pieces back together.”
Ferraro was chasing a puck deep in the San Jose zone when he was hit by Boston forward Taylor Hall. Ferraro went feet-first into the end boards and had to be helped off the ice by a trainer. Hall was penalized for interference.
Ferraro has two goals and nine assists in 48 games this season. He ranks second on the team in average time on ice with 23:33 per game.
He has 39 points (five goals, 34 assists) in 165 games since San Jose drafted him in the second round in 2017.
–Field Level Media contributed to this report