Ice Chips: Luke Hughes, Pesce skates at Devils practice
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New Jersey Devils
Defenceman Luke Hughes was a participant at Devils' practice on Tuesday for the first time since injuring his shoulder in his off-season training.
Hughes missed the Devils entire training camp and was given a 5-to-7 timeline for his return.
The 21-year-old defenceman appeared in all 82 games last season, recording nine goals and 47 points.
Additionally, defenceman Brett Pesce was also on the ice at Devils' practice on Tuesday as he continues to recover from a fractured fibula.
Pesce, 29, sustained the injury during last year's playoff while a member of the Carolina Hurricanes and has a week-to-week timeline for his return.
He signed a six-year, $33 million deal to join the Devils in the off-season.
Also at practice on Tuesday was forward Ondrej Palat, who missed Saturday's 3-1 win over the Buffalo Sabres in Czechia due to the birth of his child, according to Mike Morreale of NHL.com.
Palat appeared in 71 games with the Devils last season, recording 11 goals and 31 points.
Utah Hockey Club
The Utah Hockey Club announced that forward Lawson Crouse as their "associate captain" on Tuesday
Crouse will assist forward Clayton Keller, who was named the first captain in team history last week.
The 6-foot-4 winger recorded 23 goals and 42 points with the Arizona Coyotes last season.
Utah will play their inaugural season opener against the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday.
Forward Nick Bjugstad participated in Utah's morning skate, but remains on injured reserve, according to Belle Fraser of The Salt Lake Tribune.
Bjugstad, 32, sustained an upper-body injury at the beginning of training camp and was given a week-to-week timeline.
The 6-foot-6 centre recorded 22 goals and 45 points in 76 games with the Arizona Coyotes last season.
Utah used these lines during their morning skate, according to Brogan Houston of Deseret News Sports.
Keller - Hayton - Schmaltz
McBain - Cooley - Guenther
Maccelli - Doan - Crouse
O'Brien - Stenlund - Kerfoot
Yamamoto
Carcone
Bjugstad
Sergachev - Durzi
Valimaki - Kesselring
Cole - Kolyachonok
Bortuzzo
Ingram
Vejmelka
Connor Ingram will get the start in net on Tuesday.
The 27-year-old netminder had a 23-21-3 record with a .907 save percentage and 2.91 goals-against average last season.
Toronto Maple Leafs
The Maple Leafs used these lines during Tuesday's practice, according to TSN's Mark Masters:
Knies - Matthews - Marner
Domi - Tavares - Nylander
Pacioretty - Holmberg - Robertson
Lorentz - Kampf - Reaves
McMann, Dewar
Rielly - Tanev
Ekman-Larsson - McCabe
Benoit - Timmins
Liljegren - Myers
Hakanpää
Woll
Stolarz
The Maple Leafs begin their regular season on Wednesday against the Montreal Canadiens.
Montreal Canadiens
Samuel Montembeault will get the start in net on Wednesday when his team opens the season against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Montembeault, 27, had a 16-15-9 record last season with a .903 save percentage and 3.14 goals-against average.
Defenceman Jayden Struble will not be available for the Canadiens against the Maple Leafs, according to head coach Martin St. Louis.
Struble, 23, appeared in 56 games last season recording three goals, 10 points, and 57 penalty minutes.
Winnipeg Jets
Goaltender Connor Hellebuyck missed his second straight practice for personal reasons on Tuesday as the team prepares for the Edmonton Oilers in their season opener on Wednesday.
Head coach Scott Arniel told reporters that he will take part in Wednesday's morning skate in Edmonton and is expected to start.
The Jets used these lines during Tuesday's practice:
Connor - Scheifele - Vilardi
Perfetti - Namestnikov - Ehlers
Neiderreiter - Lowry - Appleton
Barron - Kupari - Iafallo
Morrissey - DeMelo
Samberg - Pionk
Fleury - Miller
Gustafsson - Coghlan
Kahkonen
Comrie
The Jets recalled forward Jeret Anderson-Dolan from the AHL's Manitoba Moose and placed him on injured reserve on Tuesday.
Anderson-Dolan joined the Jets on a two-year, $1.55 million deal in the off-season.
Vancouver Canucks
Forward Dakoda Joshua will travel with the Canucks during their upcoming four-game road trip beginning on Oct. 15, according to TSN's Farhan Lalji.
Joshua begins the season on the injured non-roster list as he recovers from surgery for testicular cancer. He is expected to skate with the team soon.
The Dearborn, Mich. native played in 63 games last season with the Canucks, where he scored a career-high 18 goals and finished with 32 points.
The Canucks placed defenceman Mark Friedman on waivers Tuesday for the purpose of assigning them to the AHL's Abbotsford Canucks.
Friedman, 28, appeared in 23 games with the Canucks last season, recording an assist.
Colorado Avalanche
The Avalanche recalled forwards Ivan Ivan and Nikolai Kovalenko from the AHL's Colorado Eagles on Tuesday.
Kovalenko, 24, was drafted 171st overall by the Avalanche in 2018 and came over to North America after playing 42 games with the KHL's Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod last season.
He also appeared in two playoff games with the Avalanche.
Ivan, 22, was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Avalanche in March and recorded 12 goals and 31 points in 67 games with the Eagles last season.
Defenceman Sean Behrens will miss the entire 2024-25 campaign after injuring his knee at practice with the Eagles on Saturday.
Behrens, 21, was drafted 61st overall by the Avalanche in the 2021 draft and recorded four goals and 31 points in 44 games with the NCAA's University of Denver last season.
Pittsburgh Penguins
Forward Bryan Rust participated in the Penguins' Monday practice in a non-contact jersey.
Rust, 32, has been dealing with a nagging lower-body injury and is considered to be day-to-day.
The 5-foot-11 winger recorded 28 goals and 56 points in 62 games with the Penguins last season.
Forwards Vasily Ponomarev, Matt Nieto, and goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic all skated on Tuesday.
Nedeljkovic is considered to be week-to-week with a lower-body injury after sustaining the injury during the preseason.
Nieto is still recovering from knee surgery he underwent in May that has a 6-to-7 month timeframe for recovery.
Ponomarev sustained an upper-body injury during the preseason and is considered to be day-to-day.
The Penguins used these lines in their last practice before their opener against the New York Rangers on Wednesday:
O'Connor - Crosby - Beauvillier
Bunting - Malkin - Rakell
McGroarty - Eller - Puljujarvi
Hayes - Glass - Acciari
Grzelcyk - Letang
Pettersson - Karlsson
Graves - St. Ivany
(Shea - Puustinen)
Florida Panthers
Forward Tomas Nosek is still considered to be week-to-week with an upper-body injury, according to general manager Bill Zito.
Nosek was injured on Sept. 22 in a 6-2 preseason win over the Nashville Predators as part of a split-squad game.
The 6-foot-3 winger signed a one-year, $775,000 deal to join the Panthers in the off-season.
Nosek recorded two goals and six points in 36 games with the New Jersey Devils last season.
The Panthers used these lines during Tuesday's morning skate prior to their season opener against the Boston Bruins:
Verhaeghe - Barkov - Reinhart
Rodrigues - Bennett - Tkachuk
Luostarinen - Lundell - Samoskevich
Gadjovich - J. Boqvist - Greer
Forsling - Ekblad
Mikkola - Kulikov
Balinskis - A. Boqvist
Bobrovsky
Driedger
Boston Bruins
Goaltender Joonas Korpisalo was the first goalie off the ice during Tuesday's morning skate but head coach Jim Montgomery told reporters that their starting goalie will be a game-time decision when the Bruins open their season against the Florida Panthers.
Korpisalo was projected to begin the season in net when No. 1 netminder Jeremy Swayman remained unsigned until Sunday.
The 6-foot-3 netminder was acquired from the Ottawa Senators, along with forward Mark Kastelic, in exchange for netminder Linus Ullmark in June.
Boston used these lines during their morning skate, according to Fluto Shinzawa of The Athletic.
Zacha - Lindholm - Pastrnak
Marchand - Coyle - Geekie
Jones - Frederic - Brazeau
Beecher - Kastelic - Koepke
Lindholm - McAvoy
Lohrei - Carlo
Zadorov - Peeke
Buffalo Sabres
Forward J.J. Peterka skated on his own on Tuesday after sustaining a concussion during the team's first two games in Czechia.
Peterka was injured during the Sabres' 3-1 loss to the New Jersey Devils on Saturday in Czechia after taking a high hit form Devils defenceman Brenden Dillon.
The 22-year-old is considered to be day-to-day with a concussion.
Peterka has an assist after two games this season and recorded 28 goals and 50 points in 82 games last year.
Benson, 19, is also considered to be day-to-day with a lower-body injury.
Benson was drafted 13th overall by the Sabres in 2023 and recorded 11 goals and 30 points in 71 games with the Sabres last season.
The Sabres used these lines at practice as they prepare for their home opener against the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday.
Krebs - Thompson - Tuch
Kulich - Cozens - Quinn
Zucker - McLeod - Greenway
Malenstyn - Lafferty
Dahlin - Jokiharju
Byram - Power
Samuelsson - Clifton
Bryson - Gilbert
St. Louis Blues
The Blue recalled forward Zack Bolduc from the AHL's Springfield Thunderbirds and he is eligible to play in the Blues' season opener against the Seattle Kraken Tuesday afternoon.
Bolduc, 21, was drafted 17th overall by the Blues in 2021 and recorded five goals and nine points in 25 games with the Blue last season.
He also had eight goals and 25 points in 50 games with the Thunderbirds last season.
San Jose Sharks
Prospect Macklin Celebrini will make his NHL debut on Thursday against the St. Louis Blues despite an injury scare earlier in the preseason, according to Sheng Peng of NBC Sports Sharks.
The No. 1 pick in the 2024 NHL Draft left Sharks preseason matchup against the Utah Hockey Club on Oct. 1 after getting tangled with Utah forward Kevin Stenlund and going hard into the boards.
Celebrini had been considered to be day-to-day with a lower-body injury.
The Sharks used these lines during Tuesday's practice, according to Peng:
Eklund - Celebrini - Toffoli
Granlund - W. Smith - Zetterlund
Kunin - Wennberg - Goodrow
Gushchin - Sturm - Dellandrea
Walman - Ceci
Ferraro - Rutta
Thrun - Benning
Tampa Bay Lightning
Forward Jake Guentzel missed practice on Tuesday after leaving Monday's practice with an undisclosed injury,
Head coach Jon Cooper told reporters that he expects Guentzel to practice on Thursday and is expected to make his Lightning debut in the opener on Friday against the Carolina Hurricanes.
Guentzel joined the Lightning on a seven-year, $63 million deal in the off-season.
Chicago Blackhawks
The Blackhawks used these lines during Tuesday's morning skate prior to their game against the Utah Hockey Club, according to Ben Pop of the Chicago Sun-Times.
Mikheyev - Bedard - Teravainen
Hall - Kurashev - Bertuzzi
Foligno - Dickinson - Anderson
Smith - Donato - Maroon
Martinez - Jones
Vlasic - Brodie
Allan - Murphy
Mrazek in starter's crease
Detroit Red Wings
The Red Wings assigned forward Austin Watson to the AHL's Grand Rapids Griffins on Tuesday after clearing waivers.
Watson was signed to a one-year, two-way contract on Monday after recording an assist in four preseason games.
The 6-foot-4 winger joined the Red Wings on a tryout basis prior to training camp.