K’Andre Miller will not face his former team on Tuesday night when the Carolina Hurricanes play the New York Rangers. 

Miller was placed on injured reserve on Oct. 31 for a lower-body injury he suffered in a game against the Vegas Golden Knights on Oct. 20. 

His move to injured reserve is procedural by the Hurricanes to make room on the roster for Pyotr Kochetkov. 

The 25-year-old defenseman has missed the team’s last five games, but Rod Brind'Amour does not envision Miller being out for much longer. 

“I was kind of hopeful that he'd maybe make the trip and give it a go,” Brind'Amour said of Miller’s injury status. “I don't think that's going to happen, but I don't anticipate that one being too much longer.”

The Hurricanes and Rangers completed a sign-and-trade during the offseason that sent Miller to Carolina, as he signed an eight-year, $60 million contract.

Another Pittsburgh Penguin has hit a career milestone. 

In Monday's game against the Toronto Maple Leafs, goaltender Tristan Jarry suited up for his 300th career NHL game. He is third goaltender in team history to hit the 300-game mark, with the others being Tom Barrasso and Marc-Andre Fleury.

Accoring to Penguins PR, Jarry's 157 wins are the most in franchise history by a Penguins' goaltender through 300 games.

Tristan Jarry is the third goaltender in @penguins history to reach 300 games with the team.

Jarry's 157 wins entering tonight are the most by a Pittsburgh goaltender through 300 games in franchise history. https://t.co/nktpMDTfQZ

— Penguins PR (@PenguinsPR) November 4, 2025

Jarry is in the third season of a five-year contract. The 30-year-old netminder is off to a sizzling start this season, as he was 5-1 with a .923 save percentage and a 2.35 goals-against average going into Monday's game. 

In his 10-season NHL career with the Penguins, Jarry has a .910 save percentage and a 2.77 goals-against average. Jarry sits third on the Penguins' all-time win list for goaltenders.

Can The Penguins Take Advantage Of A Weak Metropolitan Division?When projecting how everything would look one month into the 2025-26 NHL season, most people didn't have the <a href="https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/pittsburgh-penguins">Pittsburgh Penguins</a> as one of the league's top teams.&nbsp;

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Former Montreal Canadiens defenseman Corey Schueneman is on the move. 

The St. Louis Blues have announced that they have traded Schueneman to the Washington Capitals in exchange for defenseman Calle Rosen. 

Schueneman kicked off his NHL career with the Canadiens, as he made his NHL debut with them in 2021-22. In 31 games over two seasons as a member of the Canadiens, Schueneman posted two goals, five assists, seven points, 52 blocks, and a minus-4 rating.

Schueneman primarily played with the Canadiens' American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Laval Rocket, during his time with the organization. In 130 games with Laval from 2020-21 to 2022-23, Schueneman recorded 13 goals, 33 assists, 46 points, and a plus-16 rating. 

Scheuneman's time with the Canadiens ended when he signed a one-year contract with the Colorado Avalanche during the 2023 NHL off-season. 

In nine games this season with the Blues' AHL affiliate, the Springfield Thunderbirds, Schueneman posted one goal and five assists. He will now look to make an impact with the Hershey Bears after being acquired by the Capitals. 

It's only been 11 games, but it feels safe to say that the Carolina Hurricanes have struck gold with their Russian rookie.

After years of waiting and building hype, it feels like everybody's astronomical expectations for 2020 third-round pick Alexander Nikishin are being affirmed every night when he steps out onto the ice.

Because Nikishin has just simply been tremendous for Carolina.

With two goals and six points in 11 games, Nikishin is second amongst Canes defensemen behind only Shayne Gostisbehere (7) and ranks third amongst all rookie blueliners.

The Russian defender has also been on the ice for 14 goals (the most by any Hurricanes defenseman) and only six goals against and he controls a 53.70 CF% and 50 xGF%, despite logging heavy, top-four minutes already as a rookie.

Alexander Nikishin has started his NHL career on a three-game point streak.

The only other rookies in franchise history to start their first season on a three-games or more point streak are:

Jamie McBain (2010-11): 4 games, 5 points
Bernie Johnston (1979-80): 3 games, 5 points

— Ryan Henkel (@RyanHenkel_) October 15, 2025

"I think he's understanding — and there's still a ways to go — how hard you have to play in this league, for every shift, during your shift," said Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour. "Once he really understands that, you're going to really see his game take off because it's coming."

Already, the Canes have been leaning on the former KHL superstar, with him logging over 20 minutes of game time in six of his last seven outings due to the injuries to Carolina's blueline.

But he's earned those minutes and has been handling them tremendously well for a player with less than 20 games of NHL experience under his belt.

"He's been noticeable in a real positive way," Brind'Amour said.

Nikishin has also been averaging 1:34 of penalty kill time per game and has been on the ice for just one goal against, but also one shorthanded goal.

Brind'Amour also has the Russian working with the second power play grouping, but with the team's lack of opportunities on the man advantage over the last three games, he hasn't yet been able to showcase his skills there.

While it may take some time for him to fully grasp the Hurricanes' systems and NHL speed, it's clear that Nikishin already has the physical toolkit to be a true game breaker.

The 6-foot-4 defenseman leads the Hurricanes in hits on the year and in fact, is tied for the fourth most amongst all NHL defensemen in hits (34).

Need some help waking up this Saturday?

Alexander Nikishin laying the BOOM might help 💥 pic.twitter.com/x89CTLcUZK

— NHL (@NHL) November 1, 2025

He also holds the top two hardest shots on the team according to NHL Edge, with a 98.97 (which is also the fifth hardest shot recorded this season amongst all players around the league) and 96.08 mph slapshot.

His skating has also been pretty good for a big guy, with an 85th percentile max skating speed (22.20mph) and being in the 90th percentile for speed bursts over 20mph (15).

"That's a great physical specimen back there," said current partner Sean Walker. "A great piece that we've added with such a big, powerful body that can skate well and make great plays."

Nikishin put it on a tee 🚀 pic.twitter.com/CprBX6p9q4

— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) November 1, 2025

To top it all off, he has some snarl to his game too, standing up for teammates on multiple occasions. 

"I like that sandpaper that he has," Brind'Amour said. "I think there's a lot more in there too. I think he's trying to figure that out too, how that all works."

What's crazy though, is that Brind'Amour feels that Nikishin is just scratching the surface.

"There's a lot to like, but I think he's just getting by on raw talent versus the actual structural stuff that we have to shore up," Brind'Amour said. "There's still some things that are not great in a sense of, 'Okay, you need to be here or there,' or just reading the play. It'll come and it is coming, it's getting better and better the more we work with him, but it's not an easy position to walk into and then ask a kid to basically be playing top-four minutes right off the hop. That's a ton to ask and he's done a great job, he'll just get better as he goes.

"He's an older kid, so that's good, but he's coming from a different league. It's not the same. Yeah, there's talent and size, but it's the pace and the intensity of each shift. It's night and day. I think he's figuring that out."

Alexander Nikishin helps save a goal for the #Canes!

The defenseman gives up his body in the crease, and it stays out. pic.twitter.com/RmbrgMwK8D

— Walt Ruff (@WaltRuff) October 29, 2025

Nikishin is already cementing himself as a top defensemen for the Hurricanes and if still has as much room to grow as his coach says, then the rest of the league better watch out.

"He plays well, has points, good ice time," said teammate and fellow countryman Pyotr Kochetkov. "I really like how he's played and adapted to the system. He's gotten better every day and he's very good for this organization now and in the future"

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Ottawa Senators winger Nick Cousins answered the bell and paid the price on Saturday night.

Cousins agreed to square off against rugged Montreal Canadiens' defenseman Jayden Struble in the third period of the Senators' 4-3 overtime loss at the Bell Centre. The Sens winger took a punch to the face that landed so hard and so flush, it took him out of the game.

Like it or not, this is the NHL's unofficial frontier justice system at work, a system that's been around for more than a century. 

Struble all but admitted after the game that he fought Cousins to get even with him for a September 30th slash on Ivan Demidov during a preseason game in Quebec City.

“When you have a guy like that taking a shot at your young star player, that was a bad play, none of us liked it," Struble told the media. "We were thinking about it. It was on our minds. You can’t just go around trying to hurt our best players.”

At practice on Monday in a scrum with the local media, Cousins seemed none the worse for wear, save for a few battle scars. He took some accountability for his slash, which was why he accepted the fight.

"Sometimes you gotta answer the bell for your actions," Cousins said. "I mean, I'm certainly glad that Demidov is okay. I think definitely I've gotta take care of my stick there a little bit better, and yeah, sometimes you gotta answer the bell, and I did that. It's over with, and we kind of move on now."

As Cousins mentioned, Demidov's wrist wasn't badly damaged that night. But it was a nasty slash with serious intent behind it, so the Canadiens had every right to be ticked off. Cousins was removed from the game and fined by the NHL, and Saturday night was the Habs' first chance for real revenge.

Like an old western, the Habs called Cousins out onto the street, demanding satisfaction. Cousins finally obliged in the third period, and if he hadn't, the Canadiens would have continued to make life extra miserable for him in future games.

The matter now appears to be settled, especially with Cousins losing the fight. That's important because sometimes if a player agrees to a fight and does too well, then suddenly the matter isn't settled. 

I know. It's complicated.

But it isn't accurate to frame the Sept. 30th slash as some completely random thing. In all likelihood, it was Ottawa's attempt at its own frontier justice for an incident that had happened a few moments before in that game. Carter Yakemchuk, the Senators' 2024 first-rounder, had just been jumped by Florian Xhekaj, who caught Yakemchuk with several punches.

According to the unofficial code, Ottawa had two options. Go after Xhekaj to get even with him directly, or go after their 2024 first-rounder. Cousins apparently chose the latter.

Then, in the whataboutism of NHL frontier justice, the Canadiens would probably push back on you and remind you of Hayden Hodgson's hit from behind on Alex Newhook shortly before in that same game. 

At some point, as Linus Ullmark might describe it, the NHL world of frontier justice starts to sound a little immature, like two scrappy boys, standing in front of their dad, and yelling...

"He started it!"
"No, he started it!"
"Shut up!"
"No, you shut up!"

In theory, Cousins should be off the hook now, but does the frontier justice system demand another response? Return fire? Revenge for the revenge? 

Should enforcer Kurtis MacDermid get after Struble? Struble does outweigh Cousins by almost 20 pounds. Is that something?

For those of you scoring at home, if the Sens do respond in the next game, that would be Ottawa answering back to Montreal's reply to the Sens' answer to the Habs' response to the reply to the answer.

Who knows when this thing all started? Maybe it was that time King Clancy called Newsy Lalonde a rapscallion?

But some people think that if the NHL just came down harder on these dirty plays, on the ice or at the department of player safety, then the players wouldn't ever have to take things into their own hands like this.

I doubt that.

Let's say Cousins got a 40-game suspension for his slash on Demidov. For one, the players' association would lose its mind. It exists to protect player money, not safety. But in the current culture, even if Cousins did get pounded with a 40-game ban, Struble or Arber Xhekaj would still have been waiting for him, hoping to unleash a 40-punch pounding.

The NHL could start throwing the book at those who violate the existing intent to injure rule. It would take some time to learn the lesson and undo the culture, but players would come around... eventually. But that would have to mean the end of fighting, which by definition is an intent to injure. 

No, there will be none of that.

The league's decision-makers are still an old boys' club, and they're perfectly fine with fighting and the way things are. So make no mistake, dirty NHL plays and the ensuing frontier justice aren't going away anytime soon.

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