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NHL Notebook: Hellebuyck out 4-6 weeks, Rantanen fined for embellishment, and more
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Photo credit: © Bob Frid-Imagn Images
Tyson Cole
Nov 21, 2025, 18:00 ESTUpdated: Nov 21, 2025, 17:50 EST
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Welcome back to NHL Notebook — the series here at CanucksArmy where we deliver you news and notes from around the National Hockey League — oftentimes through a Vancouver Canucks-tinted lens!
We were just here covering things around the league yesterday, but big enough news has broken since our last post that is important to cover.

Connor Hellebuyck out 4-6 weeks

TSN’s Darren Dreger reported on Friday morning that the Winnipeg Jets are shutting down league MVP and back-to-back Vezina Trophy winner Connor Hellebuyck for 4-6 weeks to undergo an Arthroscopic knee procedure.
Hellebuyck has reportedly been dealing with this injury for some time, with reports indicating this was something bothering the netminder since training camp. However, he has toughed it out for his team this season, starting 14 of the Jets’ 19 games this season. In those games, he has an 8-6 record, posting a 2.51 goals-against average and a .913 save percentage.
This 4-6 week timeline has Hellebuyck pegged to return as early as December 19, and as late as January 2. The Jets are getting in front of this issue, rather than having it linger for the remainder of the season and potentially affect his opportunity to represent his country at the Winter Olympics in Italy.
Winnipeg’s backup goaltender, Eric Comrie, will handle the bulk of the starts for the Jets moving forward. In his five starts this season, Comrie has a respectable 4-1 record, with a 2.6 goals against average and a .908 save percentage. New Westminster, BC native, Thomas Milic, has since been recalled from the Manitoba Moose and will serve as the backup for the time being. Milic has a 5-2-2 record, a 2.14 goals against average, and a .921 save percentage with the Moose this season.

Mikko Rantanen fined $2,000 for an embellishment

Dallas Stars forward Mikko Rantanen is sure making headlines lately.
First, it was his hit on Alex Romanov late in the game against the New York Islanders earlier this week. Then, it was his highlight-reel goal to ice the game against the Canucks.
And, the next morning, the NHL fined the Stars winger $2,000 for an embellishment in a game against the Ottawa Senators on November 11.
In the description, the NHL said:
“Rantanen was issued a Warning following an incident flagged by NHL Hockey Operations during NHL Game No. 68 vs. Vancouver on October 16. His second Citation, which triggered the $2,000 fine, was issued for an incident at 1:09 of the third period during NHL Game No. 258 at Ottawa on November 11.”
Here was the play:
We could not find the embellishment against the Canucks on October 16. However, we saw a little embellishment on a follow-through from Marcus Pettersson last night:
Embellishing has been an issue for Rantanen throughout his career. In 2018, Rantanen was given the same $2,000 fine for an embellishment (diving) on November 14. He was then slapped with another $2,000 embellishment fine (diving) against the San Jose Sharks on April 30. He did not end up paying the fine, as he won his appeal. But this has followed the player throughout his career. So it’s not surprising to see the league come down on him again.

Alex Ovechkin moves into 10th all-time in points

With a hat trick and an assist on Thursday night against the Montreal Canadiens, Alex Ovechkin has moved into 10th on the all-time points list.
Ovechkin started the night two points back of Sakic with 1,639. After opening the scoring one minute into the game, Ovechkin tied Sakic with the primary assist on this Ethen Frank goal:
He then passed Sakic late in the third period, capitalizing on a two-on-one with Dylan Strome:
Ovechkin completed the hat trick with an empty net goal two minutes later.
In the final year of his five-year, $9.5 million average annual value contract, it has been speculated that this will be Ovechkin’s last season in the NHL. If that is the case, Ovechkin will likely finish his NHL career 10th in points, as the one he’s chasing down is Sidney Crosby, who, at the time of this writing, has a 65-point lead on the Russian. However, every goal that Ovechkin scores only lengthens his lead as the NHL’s top goal scorer. His three goals against the Canadiens now have him at 907 – 13 ahead of Wayne Gretzky.
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