NHL Buzz: Cooley out for Utah until after 4 Nations Face-Off

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Utah Hockey Club

Logan Cooley is out indefinitely because of a lower-body injury and will be reevaluated after the 4 Nations Face-Off, which will be held Feb. 12-20.

The forward had an assist in 19:50 of ice time during a 3-2 overtime loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Wednesday. Cooley is second on the team with 43 points (15 goals, 28 assists) in 50 games this season, including eight points (four goals, four assists) in his past nine games.

"He finished the game, he was a warrior," Utah coach Andre Tourigny said Friday. "He battled through pain but now he will be out indefinitely."

Utah also is without forward Dylan Guenther, who was placed on injured reserve on Jan. 8 because of a lower-body injury. He is day to day. -- Matt Komma

New York Islanders

Adam Boqvist was claimed off waivers from the Florida Panthers on Friday.

The 24-year-old defenseman had six points (two goals, four assists) in 18 games for the Panthers this season. In 227 NHL games with the Chicago Blackhawks, Columbus Blue Jackets and Panthers, he has 91 points (25 goals, 66 assists).

Boqvist has not played since Jan. 6.

"I have respect for him," Panthers coach Paul Maurice said Thursday. "He's come in and worked really, really hard. We got healthy twice. … He needs to play games, and he wants to play games. If he gets picked up on waivers, he will play in the National Hockey League. We just feel, by how hard he's worked here and how good a pro he is, we don't want to take that from an NHL guy."

Boqvist is the latest defenseman to join the Islanders recently following injuries to Noah Dobson and Ryan Pulock. They signed Tony DeAngelo for the remainder of the season Jan. 24 and acquired Scott Perunovich in a trade with the St. Louis Blues for a conditional fifth round pick in the 2026 NHL Draft on Jan. 27.

Pulock went on injured reserve Jan. 25 after he left a 3-2 win against the Carolina Hurricanes in the first period because of an upper-body injury. Dobson is out week to week because of a lower-body injury sustained during a 3-1 win against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Jan. 20.

New York returned defenseman Isaiah George to Bridgeport of the American Hockey League on Friday.

The Islanders (23-20-7) have won six in a row heading into their game at the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday (7 p.m. ET; FDSNSUN, MSGSN).

Seattle Kraken

Yanni Gourde is expected to be out 5-7 weeks after undergoing sports hernia surgery on Friday, general manager Ron Francis said.

Gourde has not played since Jan. 2, when he had 16:24 of ice time in a 4-3 shootout loss to the Vancouver Canucks. He has 16 points (six goals, 10 assists) in 35 games this season.

Seattle (23-27-3) next hosts the Calgary Flames on Sunday (9 p.m. ET; KHN, KING 5, KONG, SNW, SNO, SNE, SN1).

Buffalo Sabres

Jordan Greenway took part in an optional morning skate Friday, his first with the Sabres since having surgery for a mid-body injury in December.

The forward, who has missed 19 games, hasn’t played since Dec. 15. Although there is no set return date, Greenway isn't expected to return prior to the break for the 4 Nations Face-Off, which will be held Feb. 12-20.

"It'll just be based on how he's making out, how he's feeling," coach Lindy Ruff said. "This is the first step. More of a non-contact and morning day skate, and just gradually escalate the physicality in practice and one-on-one stuff and see where he’s at. No set date. Just how he progresses will get us to where we need to go."

Greenway missed 10 games from Nov. 15 to Dec. 8 with the injury before returning Dec. 9. He played four games before exiting Buffalo's morning skate early on Dec. 17.

"Other things started to be impacted (by the injury)," Greenway said. "It was almost just going to be maybe sort of a domino effect. I just figured it was probably best to just get rid of all possibilities."

Greenway has seven points (three goals, four assists) in 20 games. -- Heather Engel

Chicago Blackhawks

Connor Murphy will return to the lineup against the Florida Panthers on Saturday (1 p.m. ET; ABC, ESPN+, SN, TVAS).

The defenseman has missed 13 games because of a groin injury sustained during the NHL Winter Classic against the St. Louis Blues on Dec. 31.

Murphy was paired with defenseman TJ Brodie at practice Friday, and Blackhawks interim coach Anders Sorensen said they would play together against the Panthers on Saturday.

Murphy has 13 points (one goal, 12 assists) and is averaging 20:33 of ice time in 38 games this season.

"We're not going to play him 30 minutes, but we will play him and see how he responds the next day," Sorensen said. "We will have a little bit of practice time before our next game, so hopefully we can ease into it a bit here."

With Murphy returning to the lineup, Sorensen said defenseman Nolan Allan will be scratched. -- George Richards

Ottawa Senators

Linus Ullmark could make his return from a tweaked back this weekend, coach Travis Green said Wednesday.

Ullmark, a goaltender who was a full participant in practice Wednesday, has not played since leaving after the first period of a 3-1 loss to the Edmonton Oilers on Dec. 22. He did not dress against the Washington Capitals on Thursday but could against the Minnesota Wild on Saturday (7 p.m. ET; TVAS, SN1, FDSNNO, FDSNWI).

Ullmark is 12-7-2 with a 2.38 goals-against average, .915 save percentage and three shutouts in 23 games (22 starts) this season, his first with Ottawa.

Defenseman Nick Jensen missed his third straight game Wednesday because of an undisclosed injury.

Defenseman Jacob Bernard-Docker, who hasn't played since Dec. 28 because of a high ankle sprain, is "probably another week and a half, two weeks from skating," Green said.

Forward Nick Cousins, who left a 2-1 win against the Maple Leafs on Saturday after a knee-on-knee collision with Toronto forward Jacob Quillan, will be out 6-8 weeks. -- Callum Fraser