Vancouver Canucks defenseman Tyler Myers hit an impressive milestone on Saturday night as he played his 1,000th NHL game against the Philadelphia Flyers.
The night came with plenty of positives for the 34-year-old blueliner, contributing one assist in the Canucks 3-0 victory over the Flyers. Meanwhile, he became the 399th player to reach 1000 games. 
Myers’s assist on Brock Boeser’s goal during the second period currently stands as his only point throughout five games this season. However, Myers recorded five goals and 29 points throughout 77 games last season, with an additional assist in 12 playoff games. 
At the end of the 2023-24 season, Myers’ year deal he inked back in 2019 came to an end, and his production throughout the season aided in a new three-year deal carrying an average annual value of $3 million, according to PuckPedia. Canucks general manager Patrick Allvin made a statement following the announcement of Myers’s contract extension back in June, saying:
“Tyler has been a valued member of our organization and we are very happy to have him back with our team. He brings a unique skill set to the ice and is a key member of our leadership group. Tyler is a big, strong, physical defenceman who fits in nicely on our backend.”
The Buffalo Sabres drafted the sixth-foot-eight defenceman as the 12th overall pick in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft.
After one final year with the Kelowna Rockets of the Western Hockey League, Myers finally got his shot in the big leagues, playing the full 2009-2010 season with the Sabres, where he recorded 11 goals and 48 points. 
In his sixth season with the Sabres (2014-15), he was traded to the Winnipeg Jets, where he remained for five seasons before signing as a free agent with the Canucks in 2019. 
Throughout 16 years and 1000 NHL games, Myers has recorded 93 goals and 372 points; his achievements in his first year earned him the Calder Memorial Trophy as the most proficient player in his first year of competition. 

Avs’ Valeri Nichushkin skating by himself, and Kappo Kahkonen joins practice

On Saturday, the Colorado Avalanche announced that forward Valeri Nichushkin has begun working out and skating by himself in Denver as he continues working with the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program.
However, because Nichushkin is still in stage three of the program, he is unable to return to game action at this time.
Nichuskin entered the program in January 2024, marking the second time in his career he’s taken a leave of absence from the team. He did return to the team in March but failed a drug test later in May, which resulted in being put back into the third stage of the program and suspended for a minimum of six months without pay. The first time the forward entered the program was during the 2022-23 Stanley Cup Playoffs when he took a leave during the Avalanche’s first-round series against the Seattle Kraken.
Nichushkin is in the third year of his eight-year contract, which has an average annual value of $6.125 and a modified no-trade clause. Despite not playing this season, the forward recorded 28 goals and 53 points in 2023-24.
The Russian forward has collected 116 goals and 158 points throughout his nine-year NHL career, which includes four years with the Dallas Stars.
Additionally, the Avalanche revealed that Kappo Kahkonen is also going on the team and will have his first practice on Saturday.
Kahkonen was claimed off waivers last week from the Winnipeg Jets after signing a one-year $1 million deal during the offseason. However, the Jets decided to run with Eric Comrie behind Connor Hellebuyck for the season, putting Kahkonen on the wire as their third-string goaltender.
Kahkonen started his NHL career in 2019-20 as a member of the Minnesota Wild but was traded in 2021-22 to the San Jose Sharks and, again in 2023-24 to the New Jersey Devils, then again in the offseason to the Jets.
In 139 appearances in the NHL, Kahkonen has a record of 49-67-15, a .899 save percentage, and a 3.33 goals against average.

LA Kings place goaltender Darcy Kuemper on injured reserve

On Saturday, the Los Angeles Kings announced that the club placed goaltender Darcy Kuemper on the injured reserve.
The 2024-25 season marks the first for the 34-year-old goaltender in Kings colours after the team acquired him in the off-season from the Washington Capitals in exchange for Pierre-Luc Dubois.
In his first two appearances this season, Kuemper has remained solid, allowing three goals on 59 shots. However, in his third appearance against the Ottawa Senators on October 14th, Kuemper allowed eight goals on 41 shots during the Kings’ 8-7 overtime loss. Kuemper has recorded a .890 save percentage in three games and a 3.59 goals-against average so far this year.
Although the Kings have listed him with a lower-body injury, the goaltender did skate on Saturday morning.
The Minnesota Wild selected Kuemper as the 161st overall pick in the 2009 NHL Draft. After five seasons with the club, he signed as a free agent with the Los Angeles Kings for the 2017-18 season, only to be traded to the Arizona Coyotes after 19 appearances. In 2021, he was traded again to the Colorado Avalanche, where he made 27 appearances before signing with the Washington Capitals in July 2022.
Goaltender Pheonix Copley from the Kings’ American Hockey League affiliate, the Ontario Reign, has been recalled in relief of Keumper. The 32-year-old currently has one game with the Kings with a .833 save percentage and one game with the Reign with a .864 save percentage.
Despite bouncing around from the NHL to the AHL for the majority of his career, the undrafted netminder has 77 NHL games under his belt with a record of 44-16-8, a .898 save percentage, and a 2.84 goals-against average. His career began in 2014 with the Capitals, where he spent one year before being traded to the St. Louis Blues. After two seasons, he was traded in February 2017 back to the Capitals before signing with the Kings as a free agent in 2022.

SPONSORED BY bet365