The Rangers are getting Tim Gettinger back into the mix, and he arrives with some decent early production in tow. Through five AHL games to start the 2026-27 season, he has three goals and five points.
The 28-year-old former second-round pick is in the second season of a two-year deal with a $1.5MM AAV, and he has settled into the kind of depth role where he can chip in a bit of offense while handling the unglamorous work. That has been part of his identity for a while.
In his first year with New York, he put up 19 points in 68 games, and his best NHL scoring stretch came with Chicago in 2022-23, when he nearly reached 40 points. Even with the puck touch, the Rangers are also counting on him for the penalty kill and defensive detail, areas where he has already shown he can help.
On the other side of that transaction, Chmelar has been getting a much lighter NHL workload than Raddysh typically sees in that kind of role. The 23-year-old, a former fifth-round pick from Czechia, has appeared in seven NHL games in 2026-27 and has been used for about eight minutes per night at 5-on-5.
He still hasn’t recorded a point. In the AHL, though, his résumé is stronger: 56 points in 124 games over three seasons.
More minutes could be the difference for him, much like Cole Beaudoin has not yet been getting quality NHL ice time. Chmelar’s game is built around straight-line speed, but his puck handling still has room to grow, and that’s where more offensive chances could come from.
Elsewhere around the league, the Stars placed Oskar Back on injured reserve after he left Wednesday night’s game against the Colorado Avalanche with an upper-body injury. He was hurt in the first period, played only five shifts, and finished with 3:04 of ice time before not returning.
Back had signed a two-year, $1.65MM extension the day after he became eligible in early January of 2025. The 24-year-old had been set to become a Group VI unrestricted free agent at the end of the season, and before that he had signed a one-year deal to stay in the Stars system for 2024-25.
A third-round pick in 2018, he signed his entry-level contract with Dallas in April 2021 and spent all of that deal in the AHL, gradually building his offense until he emerged as one of the Baby Stars’ better two-way forwards. That development has carried over into his current role as a cost-effective bottom-six forward with penalty-killing value.
In 2026-27, he has one assist and is averaging more than two minutes of shorthanded ice time.
The Canadiens also got troubling news on Florian Xhekaj, who will miss two weeks with a lower-body injury. Earlier in the week, he had already been out with an undisclosed issue that kept him out of Montreal’s home game against Detroit and the club’s back-to-back games on Tuesday and Wednesday.
He has played only two games this season and has yet to pick up a point. The former fourth-round pick had been filling in on the bottom line after the injury to Russian star Ivan Demidov forced Montreal’s forwards to move up the lineup.
In Other News...
Canadiens Forward Injury Could Force A Lineup Decision Soon
The Canadiens are already juggling forward injuries, and Florian Xhekajs latest setback only adds another layer to the mix. He left practice early and was first listed as day-to-day, but the team has not offered much detail beyond calling it a lower-body injury, leaving Montreal to keep sorting through its options up front as the lineup picture shifts.
For Owen Beck, the timing could be beneficial. What was shaping up as a short stay with the Canadiens may now stretch a bit longer as the club works around multiple absences among its forwards, giving the coaching staff one more roster question to answer while Xhekaj recovers. [Read more 🡒]
Canadiens Keep Creating Chances But Still Look Exposed In Atlantic Race
The Canadiens have spent the early part of the 2026-27 season doing enough to keep games interesting, but not enough to turn those chances into the kind of results that matter in the Atlantic race. Montreal has been getting looks and pushing the pace, yet the finish has lagged behind the process, leaving the club stuck in seventh place and searching for more payoff from its attack.
Josh Anderson and Zachary Bolduc have been among the brighter spots, helping keep the offense afloat while the rest of the group looks for a sharper edge. Even so, the bigger issue remains whether Montreal can keep creating this volume of chances and start turning them into goals before the standings gap begins to widen. [Read more 🡒]
Kirby Dachs Canadiens Role Just Turned Into A Bigger Roster Question
Kirby Dachs start with the Canadiens has already become a bigger talking point than anyone in Montreal likely expected. Through seven games, he has managed only one assist and a minus-4 rating, and the reduced ice time has sent him sliding to the fourth line as the club continues to sort through its early-season lineup and roster balance.
What makes the situation more notable is that his name is no longer being framed only around on-ice production. Reports have suggested a trade is becoming a more realistic possibility, with other teams showing interest as Montreal weighs its options. For a player still in the middle of establishing his place with the Canadiens, that kind of attention adds another layer to an already uneasy stretch. [Read more 🡒]