Friday marked a significant day in the National Hockey League, as NHLPA executive director Marty Walsh announced the formation of the union’s first-ever CTE Advisory Committee in a room full of the world’s foremost concussion experts at the Concussion Legacy Foundation’s annual gala.
“I knew there was something we had to do,” Walsh said. “I think it’s important for us to really do research of our own, to create an opportunity for players to understand the full impact of CTE. You have to understand the importance and the benefits of playing professional hockey, but you also have to look at the other side of the coin – the impact it has on players’ physical well-being and their head.”
The NHLPA’s CTE Advisory Committee, which will initially be comprised of 10 active players with the goal to eventually expand to include representation from all 32 teams, will be guided by medical experts.
The formation of the committee was unanimously approved by the NHLPA executive board in June and kept under wraps until Friday. The new committee is expected to meet a few times per year and the player selected to chair the committee has not yet been announced.

Mat Barzal out with an upper-body injury

The New York Islanders will be without their star forward for an extended period.
On Friday morning, the team announced that Mathew Barzal is out due to an upper-body injury and has no timetable for a return yet.
This season, the 27-year-old right-shot centre has two goals and five points in 10 games after scoring a career-high 23 goals last season, along with 80 points. As you can imagine, the Islanders losing one of their best players is a big loss, considering they already have the fewest goals this season with just 21 through 10 games.
Moreover, they’ve been shut out four times in those 10 games, including a 1-0 shutout to the St. Louis Blues and Detroit Red Wings.
The Islanders used the 16th overall pick in the 2015 draft to select Barzal. They acquired that pick, along with a 2015 second-round pick from the Oilers in exchange for Griffin Reinhart.

Curtis Lazar out indefinitely

On Thursday afternoon, the New Jersey Devils announced that Curtis Lazar underwent left knee surgery and will be out indefinitely.
Lazar was drafted 17th overall by the Ottawa Senators in the 2013 draft. After parts of three seasons there, he was traded to the Calgary Flames during the 2016-17 season, spending parts of three seasons there as well.
Before the 2019-20 season, Lazar signed a one-year deal with the Buffalo Sabres, eventually re-signing for an additional two years in September 2020. Lazar was once again traded before the 2021 trade deadline, as the Sabres sent him to the Boston Bruins. He spent parts of two seasons there, before signing with the Vancouver Canadians.
Lazar only played 45 games for the Canucks in 2022-23, before they traded him to the New Jersey Devils where he’s played the past two+ seasons. In 2023-24, he scored a career-high 25 points, along with seven goals.
For his career, Lazar has 46 goals and 122 points, a goal and an assist coming in the 12 games he’s played this season.

Leafs send two players to AHL on conditioning loan

On Friday morning, the Toronto Maple Leafs announced that they’ve sent Jani Hakanpää and Connor Dewar to the American Hockey League’s Toronto Marlies on a conditioning loan.
Starting with Dewar, the 25-year-old was selected in the third round of the 2018 draft by the Minnesota Wild. They traded him to the Maple Leafs before the 2024 trade deadline after he scored 10 goals and 14 points in 57 games. Upon joining the Leafs, Dewar scored a goal and five points in 17 games.
Hakanpää was selected in the fourth round of the 2010 draft by the St. Louis Blues, but only made his National Hockey League debut in 2019-20 with the Anaheim Ducks. After playing for the Ducks and Carolina Hurricanes, Hakanpää found his way to the Dallas Stars in 2021-22 where he broke out as a solid third pairing defenceman. In the past three seasons with the Stars, Hakanpää had 12 goals and 40 points in 226 games.
Both players have yet to play a game for the Leafs this season.
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