The Rangers will be without Alberts Smits for the next few weeks after the fifth overall pick in the 2026 NHL Draft suffered his first injury in the NHL, according to Peter Baugh of The Athletic. New York said Smits has an upper-body injury, and he was already held out of yesterday’s game against the Seattle Kraken.
To cover the spot, the Rangers brought up depth defenseman Marc Del Gaizo. He should head back to AHL Hartford once Sean Durzi is healthy enough to return from injured reserve, where he’s currently listed with an undisclosed injury.
Smits’ absence will stretch through the rest of New York’s road swing in the Pacific Division and also keep him out of the team’s next home game against the Montreal Canadiens on November 16th. After that, the Rangers have a six-day break. Before getting hurt, Smits had gone scoreless in 17 games with a minus-2 rating while averaging 14:29 of ice time per night.
There’s also injury news out of Columbus, where the Blue Jackets have ruled out Conor Garland for tomorrow’s game against the Florida Panthers with an upper-body injury, per Brian Hedger of the Columbus Dispatch. Head coach Rick Bowness did not have a timetable for Garland’s return, so this could be more than a one-game absence.
Garland is in the first season of a six-year, $36MM extension and has one assist in 15 games this year, along with a minus-5 rating.
In New Jersey, the Devils added some forward insurance before tomorrow’s matchup with the Winnipeg Jets. The team announced it has recalled Riley Tufte from the AHL’s Utica Comets.
Tufte is in his first season with the Devils after signing a one-year, $850K deal last offseason. He spent the previous two years mostly with AHL Providence, where he put up 53 goals and 98 points in 122 games and finished with a plus-42 rating.
In Other News...
Devils Just Handed Riley Tufte A Chance Fans Have Waited On
An injury to Anthony Mantha opened the door for the Devils to make a move on November 9, and Riley Tufte was the one summoned from Utica. The call-up gives New Jersey a look at a big-bodied power forward who has shown he can bring some scoring touch, while also offering the kind of presence the bottom six has been built to absorb in Manthas absence.
Tufte is not arriving as a blank slate, either. He has already appeared in 28 NHL games and has spent much of his time in the AHL as a steady scorer and a leader, which is part of why this promotion matters beyond just filling a temporary roster spot. For a Devils team looking to keep its depth intact, the question now is how quickly Tufte can translate that lower-level production into the role the club has carved out for him. [Read more 🡒]
Auston Matthews Sends A Frustrated Message After Devils Loss
The Devils 4-0 win over Toronto did more than add another result to the standings. It pushed the Maple Leafs deeper into an early-season slide, with the loss stretching their skid to three straight and leaving them at 8-9-2 after a stretch in which they have dropped five of six. With injuries already complicating the picture, captain Auston Matthews and head coach Jim Hiller both pointed to the same issue afterward: the group needs more accountability and a better collective effort.
For New Jersey, it was the kind of complete performance that can expose where an opponent is still searching for answers. For Toronto, the concern is less about one bad night than the larger trend, especially with the team already trying to manage absences and keep pace in the standings. Matthews frustration was clear, and the message coming out of the locker room was just as plain, even if the fix is still a moving target. [Read more 🡒]
Matthew Schaefer Gave Islanders Fans One Thing To Believe In
Late in the second period Friday, Matthew Schaefer and Luke Hughes gave the building a little extra edge when the Islanders and Devils turned a routine stretch of hockey into a brief, physical dustup. The two young defensemen traded punches with their gloves still on before the referees stepped in, a moment that fit the temperature of a game that had already started to feel bigger than the standings might suggest.
For New Jersey, the fight was just one flashpoint in a night that ended the right way. The Devils came away with the overtime win and stretched their winning streak to four games, a run that keeps building some real momentum as the schedule tightens. For the Islanders, Schaefers involvement was a reminder that even in a loss, there are signs of a player willing to meet the moment head-on. [Read more 🡒]