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NHL Notebook: A pair of star defencemen sidelined, Rantanen won’t receive supplementary discipline, and more
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Photo credit: © Alex Gallardo-USA TODAY Sports
Tyson Cole
Nov 20, 2025, 16:15 ESTUpdated: Nov 20, 2025, 16:06 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!
The amount of parity in today’s NHL is incredible this season. Checking the league standings, there are some extreme bookends. The Colorado Avalanche (13-1-5) leads the league with 31 points, while the Calgary Flames (6-13-5) sit at the bottom of the league standings with 15 points. However, just five points separate the sixth-placed team in the league (Detroit Red Wings) and the 28th-placed team (your Vancouver Canucks).
It’s a fun time to be a hockey fan right now. However, the condensed schedule has resulted in a pile-up of player injuries, including to a pair of Olympic defencemen.

Drew Doughty & Charlie McAvoy out with injuries

Oddly enough, both players were injured on the same night (Saturday, Nov. 15).
Drew Doughty
Doughty was injured late in the second period when a point shot hit him on the foot at the net front:
Doughty, 35, was having a decent season before the injury. He scored two goals and eight points with a plus-seven rating, while logging a team-high 22:33 minutes of average ice time – the only King skater to average over 20 minutes per game this season.
The Kings listed the 2016 Norris Trophy winner as week-to-week with a lower-body injury, sharing that it is unrelated to last season’s ankle injury, which kept him out of game action until late January. That injury did not keep him off Team Canada’s 4 Nations Face-Off roster in February. This injury doesn’t appear to jeopardize his availability for the Winter Olympics in Italy in February.
Charlie McAvoy
On a similar type of play as Doughty’s injury, McAvoy was struck in the face by a Mike Matheson point shot.
If you look closely, you can see McAvoy’s tooth pop out of his mouth upon impact.
McAvoy, 27, has yet to light the lamp this season, but his 14 assists through 19 games have him tied for 14th in defenceman scoring this season. The Long Beach, New York, native has been a defensive stalwart on the backend for the Bruins, logging the most ice time (23:46) per game, quarterbacking the top power play and a first over-the-boards penalty killer. He will be a massive loss for the 12-10 Bruins, who are surprisingly second in the Atlantic Division, just one point behind the leading Red Wings.
The 2016 first-round pick was named to Team USA’s Olympic roster back in June, when they announced their first six. Auston Matthews, Jack Eichel, Matthew Tkachuk, Brady Tkachuk, and Canucks defenceman Quinn Hughes were named, along with McAvoy, to represent their country in Italy.

Rantanen won’t see supplementary discipline for late hit vs. Islanders

The NHL’s Department of Player Safety will not seek supplementary discipline on Mikko Rantanen for his hit on New York Islanders defenceman Alex Romanov.
After pulling the game to within one with under two minutes to go, the Dallas Stars were hot on the attack. Racing for a dump-in, Rantanen looks to potentially get clipped by Islanders defenceman Scott Mayfield, but pushes Romanov in the numbers, and he goes straight into the boards.
Here’s the hit for those who haven’t seen it:
The scary play left Romanov lying on the ice in visible pain. He needed help from trainers down the tunnel and into the Islanders’ locker room. The defenceman has since been placed on injured reserve.
Rantanen was given a five-minute major and a game misconduct for his act, to which the NHL’s Department of Player Safety believed was enough punishment for the incident. The 6’4″ winger will be in the lineup tonight in Rogers Arena.

Jets captain staying in Winnipeg

On Wednesday night, the Winnipeg Jets announced they had extended captain Adam Lowry to a five-year, $25 million contract, with an average annual value of $5 million.
Lowry, 32, was drafted by the Jets in the third round (67th overall) of the 2011 NHL Draft. He made his NHL debut in 2014-2015, appearing in 80 games, scoring 11 goals and 23 points. The 6’5″ centreman has been a Jet for his entire NHL career, suiting up in 782 games, 122 goals, 154 assists for 276 points. After missing the first 12 games of the season, Lowry returned to the Jets lineup, where he has scored one goal and two assists for three points in seven games.
The St. Louis, MO native hasn’t been known for his point totals. However, his defensive play and leadership are invaluable to this team. Lowry has logged over two minutes of shorthanded ice time every year in Winnipeg aside from his rookie campaign, and has captained the Jets since the 2023-24 season. He led by example last season when he tipped home the overtime winner in Game 7 of their first-round matchup against his hometown team, the St. Louis Blues.
Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman gave us his thoughts on the importance of the Lowry extension with the Jets in his latest edition of his written 32 Thoughts piece:
“There was never a question Adam Lowry wanted to stay, the latest Jet in a close-knit group to make a Manitoba commitment. Lowry showed why he’s the captain, not complaining that he wasn’t the first priority, knowing Kyle Connor’s puzzle piece needed to be inserted first. He’s a unique case at his age (33 when the deal kicks in) and has intangible value to the organization. I have zero doubt the Jets wanted to make a splash at their Wednesday-night gala, and bent a bit to get it done in time. His teammates will be thrilled to see him taken care of.”
But we’re not done with Jets news just yet.

Jets permit young centre to find trade partner

NHL Insider Frank Seravalli reported on Thursday afternoon that the Jets have allowed 21-year-old centre Brad Lambert to find a trade partner.
Lambert was selected 30th overall in the 2022 NHL draft by the Jets. It was a massive fall for Lambert in his draft season. The Finnish forward was a consensus top-three projected pick heading into the season, but after his production stalled with the Lahti Pelicans. In 25 games, Lambert scored just two goals and four points, finishing with a minus-three rating. This forced scouts to worry, leading him to fall from a top-three pick to 30th overall.
Since joining the Jets, Lambert has yet to figure out his game at the NHL level. He’s appeared in just 10 NHL games over the past three seasons, including one goal in four games in 2025-26. He has been a solid contributor at the AHL level, however. Lambert has 28 goals and 62 assists for 90 points in 127 games with the Manitoba Moose.
Could he be an option for the Canucks to trade for to help their centre depth? That depends on the acquisition cost. But Canucks management has shown they’re willing to acquire former first-round talent this season to help them down the middle – although that may not be the best example considering how Lukas Reichel has looked.
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