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The Columbus Blue Jackets placed forward Sean Monahan on injured reserve Thursday because of an upper body injury sustained in the 4-3 shootout win at Pittsburgh on Tuesday.

Adam Fantilli is expected to move up to center the top line when the Blue Jackets host the Seattle Kraken on Thursday.

“Guys have watched how [Monahan] conducts himself, and hopefully they try to do the exact same thing,” coach Dean Evason said Thursday. “Our bench is calm in large part because of him up front and [defenseman Zach Werenski] on the back end. They’re both very calming influence players, but we have other guys that do that as well.

“But if the guys that are playing in tonight’s hockey game have learned anything from ‘Monny,’ it’s that he’s even-keeled. He doesn’t get too high, too low, all those clichés. He just goes about his business. We expect our team to do that here tonight.”

In a corresponding move, the Blue Jackets added rookie forward Owen Sillinger on an emergency recall from the AHL’s Cleveland Monsters.

Monahan, 30, has 41 points (14 goals, 27 assists), 14 penalty minutes and a plus-17 rating in 41 games this season. He ranks second on the team in plus/minus rating and third in goals, assists and points.

He has 579 career points (258 goals, 321 assists) in 805 games with the Calgary Flames (2013-22), Montreal Canadiens (2022-24), Winnipeg Jets (2024) and Blue Jackets, who signed him as a free agent in July. The Flames selected him sixth overall in the 2013 NHL draft.

Sillinger, 27, is on a one-year, two-way NHL/AHL contract with the Blue Jackets. He has eight goals and 17 assists with 18 penalty minutes in 34 games with Cleveland this season.

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Rangers extend GM Drury after missing playoffs

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Rangers extend GM Drury after missing playoffs

Chris Drury and the New York Rangers agreed to a multiyear contract extension on Wednesday, keeping him at the helm of the team’s hockey operations after missing the playoffs for the first time since the 2020-21 season.

“I am pleased that Chris will continue to lead the Rangers hockey operations in his role as president and general manager,” Madison Square Garden chairman and CEO James Dolan said in a statement. “Over his tenure, Chris has shown passion for the Rangers, relentless work ethic and a tireless pursuit of excellence.

“While we are all disappointed in what transpired this past season, I am confident in his ability to guide this organization to success.”

Drury, 48, took over as general manager and president of hockey operations at the start of the 2021-22 season. The Rangers reached the playoffs in his first three seasons.

His future was one of a few items that remained in question, with the intent that the Rangers would use this offseason to reload in their bid to return to the playoffs. The team also is facing a third coaching search in four seasons after firing Peter Laviolette following his two seasons.

“I am honored to sign this contract extension and continue in this position with the team I grew up supporting,” said Drury, a former Rangers captain who played four seasons with the team. “As I said when I began in this role nearly four years ago, there isn’t a more special organization in hockey, and I look forward to continuing our work this offseason to help us reach our goals for next season and in the coming years.”

After winning the Presidents’ Trophy and reaching the Eastern Conference finals under Laviolette in the 2023-24 season, the Rangers started 12-4-1 this season, only to lose the next five games. That started a chain reaction of inconsistent play that ultimately led to the Rangers finishing six points out of the final Eastern Conference wild-card spot.

While the Rangers sought to make the playoffs, Drury also made it known they were open for business in December. That’s when they traded captain Jacob Trouba, who still had a year left on his contract, to the Anaheim Ducks. A few weeks later, they traded Kaapo Kakko, the No. 2 pick in the 2019 NHL draft, to the Seattle Kraken for defenseman Will Borgen, who would then sign an extension with the Rangers.

A month before the trade deadline, the Rangers reacquired J.T. Miller in a trade with the Vancouver Canucks. The Rangers also traded defenseman Ryan Lindgren to the Colorado Avalanche and forward Reilly Smith to the Vegas Golden Knights while adding defensemen Carson Soucy in a separate deal with the Canucks.

Still, the Rangers lost four consecutive games in early March before having two three-game losing streaks that further damaged their chances in the Eastern Conference wild-card race.

Now that Drury has a new contract, he’ll be charged with trying to improve a roster that PuckPedia projects will have only $9.67 million in available cap space. K’Andre Miller, Zac Jones and Matt Rempe are part of the club’s eight-player restricted free agent class, while the Rangers have only two unrestricted free agents in Nicolas Aube-Kubel and Calvin de Haan.

Drury will be looking for a coach in what is expected to be a competitive market. Anaheim and Seattle also fired their coaches, and three other teams — Boston, Chicago and Philadelphia — ended the season with interim coaches. The Canucks declined the option on coach Rick Tocchet, but they have offered him a new, more lucrative contract.

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Longtime Islanders forward Clutterbuck retires

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Longtime Islanders forward Clutterbuck retires

Longtime New York Islanders forward Cal Clutterbuck announced his retirement from the NHL on Wednesday after 17 seasons.

Clutterbuck, 37, spent his last 11 seasons with the Islanders before sitting out the 2024-25 season.

“Hockey gave me everything — a purpose, a brotherhood, and a lifetime of memories,” Clutterbuck wrote on Instagram. “To (longtime linemates) Matt (Martin) and Casey (Cizikas) — it was an honor to go to war with you night in and night out. What we built together means more than words can say. And to the Islanders faithful — your passion, loyalty, and love made Long Island home. Thank you all. On to the next chapter.”

Clutterbuck, who is the NHL’s all-time hits leader with 4,029, recorded 293 points (143 goals, 150 assists) and 698 penalty minutes in 1,064 career games with the Minnesota Wild and Islanders.

The Ontario native was selected by the Wild in the third round of the 2006 NHL Draft.

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Bruins CEO vows return to playoffs next season

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Bruins CEO vows return to playoffs next season

Boston Bruins CEO Charlie Jacobs vowed that his team would return to the playoffs next season despite finishing in last place and trading away several players at the deadline.

“We’ve spoken at great length about this: The team that we currently have, [if] healthy and with the additions we intend to make this summer, I anticipate that we’ll have a playoff team and play meaningful hockey at this time of year in 2026,” he said.

The Bruins were last in the Atlantic Division (76 points) with their lowest standings points percentage (.463) in 18 seasons. The team fired head coach Jim Montgomery 20 games into the season and traded popular veteran players such as captain Brad Marchand, center Charlie Coyle and defenseman Brandon Carlo at the deadline.

“We fell way short and it’s disappointing for us,” team president Cam Neely said. “It’s disappointing for our fan base. They deserve better. They’ve supported us for a hundred-plus years. This gives us an opportunity to regroup a little bit, reset and build back better.”

GM Don Sweeney laid out a plan for that quick build back to contention. The first target is to add more offense, specifically on the wings.

“The scoring potential of our group needs to be increased and addressed this summer,” said Sweeney, whose team was 28th in the NHL in goals per game despite a 43-goal campaign from star David Pastrnak.

Sweeney said he wants the Bruins to get back to their core identity of being a strong defensive team in front of effective goaltending. Both Jeremy Swayman, in the first year of an eight-year, $66 million contract extension, and Joonas Korpisalo were in the negatives for goals saved above expected this season.

“Our goaltenders previously have been really, really good. This year, they weren’t as good. That’s fact. And our team in front of them didn’t defend with the same level of conviction,” he said.

Then there’s the aspect the Bruins hope turns around for next season: health. Key defensemen Charlie McAvoy and Hampus Lindholm both missed significant time last season.

To orchestrate all of this, Sweeney and Neely have to decide on the next head coach of the Bruins. Joe Sacco went 25-30-7 as an interim coach. Sweeney said Sacco has been informed that there will be a coaching search and that he’ll be a finalist for the job. The coaching search process is underway for Boston.

Sacco led the Avalanche to a 130-134-40 record from 2009-2014 and was a finalist for coach of the year in his first season. He spent 10 years as a Bruins assistant before being promoted for the rest of the season when Jim Montgomery was fired.

Sweeney is facing some uncertainty himself. He has been the Bruins’ general manager since May 2015, but is entering the last year of his contract. Neely said he’s debating whether or not to extend Sweeney.

“I’m still contemplating what the best course of action is. I really feel like Don has done a good job here, for the most part,” Neely said.

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