SUNRISE, Fla. -- Winnipeg Jets defenseman Zach Redmond likely will be making his NHL debut Thursday night against the Florida Panthers.

While Jets coach Claude Noel wouldn't confirm that Redmond would be in the lineup, Redmond said he had been told he would play against the Panthers.

"It's a pretty nervous time period," Redmond said. "You're just kind of sitting there wondering, but I've been trying to stay as relaxed as I can. They have their plans for everybody, so I've just been trying to stay patient and just wait for them. I had a feeling this could be the game, and it was, and I can't wait. I'm excited."

Redmond was a healthy scratch for Winnipeg's first six games this season after spending all of 2011-12 with the St. John's IceCaps of the American Hockey League.

Redmond was a seventh-round pick of the then-Atlanta Thrashers in the 2008 NHL Draft after his first season at Ferris State University.

The 24-year-old Redmond, a native of Traverse City, Mich., was hoping to have family and friends in the stands Thursday night, but wasn't sure whether travel plans could be arranged quickly enough.

For his part, Redmond said he was hoping to be able to take a nap Thursday afternoon.

As for his first game, Redmond said he's gotten advice from Jets defenseman Paul Postma, a 2007 draft pick who made his NHL debut in November 2011.

"Everyone just keeps saying, do what got you here, that's kind of the old saying," Redmond said. "I'm sure there's going to be some surprises, as in everyone's first game. But I'm going to learn and go out there and give it my best shot."'

NEWARK, N.J. -- Eric Boulton, who signed a free-agent contract with the New York Islanders in July after spending last season with the New Jersey Devils, will be in the lineup on Thursday against his former team at Prudential Center.

Boulton is in the lineup for suspended Islanders right wing Colin McDonald. McDonald is serving the first of a two-game suspension for an illegal hit that occurred in his team's 4-1 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday.

Boulton has no points and no penalty minutes in two games for the Islanders this season. He had no points and racked up 115 penalty minutes in 51 appearances for the Devils last season. In 602 career games in the NHL, the 6-foot, 224-pound enforcer has 73 points and 1,265 PIM.

The Islanders will conclude a five-game road trip on Thursday and are currently 2-1-1 away from the Nassau Coliseum. The club will play its next two games at home, against the Devils on Sunday and the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday, before visiting Madison Square Garden to face the New York Rangers on Feb. 7.

The Islanders held an optional skate at Prudential Center on Thursday afternoon in preparation for their game against the Devils. Evgeni Nabokov (3-1-1, 2.99 goals-against average, .912 save percentage) will get the start between the pipes for the visitors. In nine career games against the Devils, the 37-year-old Nabokov is 2-7-0 with a 3.43 GAA and .869 save percentage.

Here are the possible line combinations for the Islanders:

Matt Moulson - John Tavares - Kyle Okposo

Michael Grabner - Frans Nielsen - Brad Boyes

David Ullstrom - Keith Aucoin - Casey Cizikas

Matt Martin - Marty Reasoner - Eric Boulton

Mark Streit - Brian Strait

Andrew MacDonald - Travis Hamonic

Thomas Hickey - Matt Carkner

Evgeni Nabokov

Rick DiPietro

Injured: Josh Bailey, Jesse Joensuu

Suspended: Colin McDonald

Scratched: Joe Finley, Radek Martinek

The Pittsburgh Penguins have claimed forward Zach Boychuk off waivers from the Carolina Hurricanes.

The 23-year-old Boychuk was the 14th pick in the 2008 NHL Draft, but was never able to find a regular place in the Carolina lineup. He played in the Hurricanes' season opener and hadn't seen action again since.

In 73 games over parts of five seasons, Boychuk posted seven goals, 18 points and a minus-4 rating. He was a 20-goal scorer each of the past two seasons for Carolina's American Hockey League affiliate, the Charlotte Checkers.

Penguins coach Dan Bylsma said he expects to give Boychuk a chance to play on a line with Evgeni Malkin and James Neal.

"He's a guy who's a first-round pick," Bylsma said. "He's got speed to his game. He's got limited NHL experience, but he's going to add some competition in our lineup. He could see time on Malkin's line on that wing and see him in that position and adding speed and a little bit of grit to that line."

NEWARK, N.J. -- The New Jersey Devils will see two familiar faces returning to the lineup on Thursday when center Adam Henrique and defenseman Adam Larsson make their season debut against the New York Islanders at Prudential Center.

The plan is for Henrique to open the game on a line with wings Krystofer Barch and Matt Anderson. Larsson will be paired with Andy Greene. Larsson will be replacing injured Mark Fayne (arm).

"I thought we did a great job as a group in stepping up while [Henrique] was out, but he's a big part of our team and now we can start to slot people in the right spots," Devils coach Peter DeBoer said. "We will start him on the fourth line, but I'm sure, knowing him, that's not going to last for long."

Henrique, who underwent surgery on Nov. 29 to reattach the ulnar collateral ligament in his left thumb, began skating with the team again on Friday. He suffered his injury on Nov. 25 while playing for the Devils' American Hockey League affiliate in Albany.

"Right now, first game, I'm not going to look too far ahead," Henrique said. "It's difficult going from skating on your own, to a couple of guys and then getting into a game. It's a different speed. I'm sure it will take a little bit to just get back to normal. But I fully expect my game to be where it was last year and down the stretch. I'm excited to be back and around the guys."

In 74 games last season for the Devils, Henrique, a 2012 Calder Trophy finalist, had 16 goals, 51 points and a plus-8 rating. He also led the team with four shorthanded goals and won 48.8 percent of his faceoffs.

Greene is looking forward to having Larsson as a partner against the Islanders.

"It's exciting for [Larsson] to get back in because he's worked extremely hard this year being down in Albany and being able to play," Greene told NHL.com. "He hasn't been in an NHL game in a while, but he'll be ready and sure he'll be looking forward to it."

Larsson played in 65 games as a rookie last season with the Devils, producing two goals, 18 points and a minus-7 rating. He finished the season tied for second among NHL rookie defensemen with 16 assists.

"I'm not putting any pressure on myself … I know my game and I'm not going to change anything just because I sat out for the first five games," Larsson said. "Getting back into it with a partner like Andy Greene will help me. He's been really good so far, so that's going to help me for sure."

Meanwhile, Devils rookie Stefan Matteau will be a healthy scratch for the contest.

The question on everyone's mind, of course, is whether or not Devils general manager Lou Lamoriello intends to keep Matteau on the roster now that his five-game tryout has concluded.

Lamoriello told reporters on Wednesday that Matteau would remain with the club for the time being and not be returned to his junior team, the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada of the Quebec Major Junior League. If Matteau suits up for another NHL game, it would mark his sixth game with the Devils and his entry-level contract would officially kick in. If Lamoriello opts to return him to juniors before playing a sixth game, the organization would save a year.

"I think Lou said it best [on Wednesday], that he'll stay as long as he belongs here and we feel he's getting better, so it's a day-to-day thing," DeBoer said.

Lamoriello said the decision regarding Matteau would not come down to whether they could save a year on his contract. Instead, it's all about Matteau, and what would best benefit his development with the organization.

"He will not be going back immediately and we're not going to let his contract status get in the way," Lamoriello said Wednesday. "We're going to continue evaluating this and a decision won't be made at this point."

Matteau has yet to record a point in five games, sports a plus-1 rating and has averaged 8:28 in ice time. He's also opened the last two road games on the team's top line alongside center Travis Zajac and right wing Ilya Kovalchuk.

Here are the possible line combinations for the Devils against the Islanders:

Jacob Josefson - Travis Zajac - Ilya Kovalchuk

Dainius Zubrus - Patrik Elias - David Clarkson

Ryan Carter - Stephen Gionta - Steve Bernier

Krystofer Barch - Adam Henrique - Matt Anderson

Bryce Salvador – Marek Zidlicky

Henrik Tallinder – Anton Volchenkov

Andy Greene – Adam Larsson

Martin Brodeur

Johan Hedberg

Injured: Mark Fayne

Scratched: Peter Harrold, Stefan Matteau

Jason Spezza, the Ottawa Senators top center, will undergo a surgical procedure on his back.

The Senators have tweeted the following statement from general manager Bryan Murray: "Jason Spezza is out indefinitely. Will have back surgery in Toronto on Friday."

According to reports, the surgery is not considered to be major. Murray is currently holding an 11 a.m. press conference.

Spezza has missed the past two games with what the team is terming an upper-body injury that occurred sometime during Ottawa's game against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Sunday.

Spezza, a four-time 30-goal scorer, has been a point-per-game player this season, with two goals and three assists in five games.

Steve Sullivan

Left Wing - PHX

GOALS: 4 | ASST: 1 | PTS: 5
SOG: 10 | +/-: -3

Sullivan did not skate Wednesday morning and will sit out the game with the Edmonton Oilers with a lower-body injury. He one of five major cogs who will miss the game, along with goalie Mike Smith (groin), center Martin Hanzal (lower body) and defenseman Rostislav Klesla (lower body) and winger Raffi Torres -- who still has two games left on his suspension dating back to last year's playoffs.

The Coyotes have only 11 healthy forwards for the game and will dress seven defensemen against the Oilers.

Coach Dave Tippett had high hopes for an early return after watching Smith practice on Wednesday.

"I'd be surprised if he's not ready by the weekend," Tippett said.

Smith is eligible to be activated from injured reserve on Friday. Phoenix has a home-and-home series with Dallas on Friday and Saturday nights.

The Ottawa Senators will be without defenseman Sergei Gonchar for Wednesday night's game against the Montreal Canadiens due to what the team says is a lower-body injury.

Gonchar did not take part in Ottawa's optional skate Wednesday morning, but coach Paul MacLean made no mention of Gonchar's injury during his meeting with the media after the skate.

The 38-year-old defenseman played 25:05 and scored the winning goal with 2:30 remaining in regulation Tuesday night as the Senators beat Washington 3-2.

There is no word on how long Gonchar will be sidelined.

Buffalo forward Patrick Kaleta was released from the hospital Wednesday after an overnight stay following a hard hit late in the first period of Buffalo's 4-3 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Tuesday.

Kaleta was sent home and will not travel to Boston for the Sabres' game against the Bruins on Thursday.

Kaleta, who has a history of head and neck problems, was driven into the boards by Toronto's Mike Brown, who was assessed a minor penalty. Kaleta skated off awkwardly with 2:26 left in the period and did not return.

New York Rangers captain Ryan Callahan will miss 10 to 14 days after injuring his shoulder in Tuesday night's game against Philadelphia at Madison Square Garden.

Callahan, who scored the winning goal in the 2-1 victory, was injured early in the third period during a scuffle with Philadelphia forward Max Talbot.

After undergoing an MRI on Wednesday, the Rangers said Callahan was diagnosed with a subluxation of his left shoulder. Callahan was dragged down by the arm by Talbot and immediately skated off the ice. His left arm dangled as Callahan went down the tunnel to the locker room.

Callahan's second-period goal gave the Rangers a 2-0 lead and was the 200th point of his NHL career.