Tracey Myers: Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Seth Jones practiced for the first time since November 14th when he injured his foot.
Ansar Khan: Detroit Red Wings defenseman Simon Edvinsson (upper-body) didn’t skate yesterday.
- Detroit Red Wings: Coach Derek Lalonde said that Edvinsson won’t play this weekend.
Jameson Olive: Florida Panthers forward Jesper Boqvist is day-to-day. Coach Paul Maurice: “He was in working out this morning. We just want to make sure that there’s nothing lingering there.”
Jessi Pierce: Minnesota Wild goaltender Filip Gustavsson and forward Joel Eriksson Ek were on the ice yesterday but both didn’t suit up last night. Gustavsson’s missed the past two games with a lower-body injury. Eriksson Ek is week-to-week with a lower-body injury that’s held him out of the past seven games.
“ day to day,” coach John Hynes said. “He skated the last couple days. He’s going to skate again today. He will not play tomorrow . He’ll skate tomorrow and then we’ll see where he goes from there.
“ taking that next step. He’s been skating. First team skates now, so we’ll see how he responds, but it looks like both guys are obviously progressing in a positive way.”
Andrew Gross: New York Islanders forward Anthony Duclair was getting some power play reps. Another good sign that he’ll return to the lineup tonight.
Stefen Rosner: Islanders goaltender Semyon Varlamov was placed on the LTIR retroactive to December 3rd with a lower-body injury.
Defenseman Mike Reilly started skating. He suffered a concussion on November 1st and also went through a heart procedure.
TSN: Toronto Maple Leafs coach Craig Berube said that forward Auston Matthews is still dealing the upper-body injury that kept him out for nine games. He missed their morning skate yesterday.
“Well it’s tough. I mean, he’s fighting through it and he’s doing, you know, he’s doing a pretty good job out there on the ice,” Berube told reporters. “Like he’s producing and playing hard and working and, you know, we just got to manage it… You know, it’ll get better. We just got to manage it though. And that’s why he’s off the ice today.”
Tarik El-Bashir: Washington Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin has been cleared for contact but he won’t play until after the Christmas break.
Tom Gulitti: Capitals forward Lars Eller won’t play until after the Christmas break due to an illness. He was placed on the IR retroactive to Tuesday.
Ken Wiebe: Winnipeg Jets defenseman Logan Stanley blocked a shot on Wednesday and we’ll be out until after the holiday break.
Jets forward David Gustafsson missed Friday due to an illness.