Hughes also provided some brief updates on the status of forwards Paul Byron, Jonathan Drouin and Sean Monahan.
Hughes on Byron:
We're going to consistently have certain kinds of grey areas. Paul is one of those grey areas, in terms of whether he's ready to play at the start of the season or not, but we do expect that Paul, at some point in time, whether it be Day 1 or a week or two weeks in, that he will be healthy to play this season.
Hughes on Monahan and Drouin:
I spoke to Sean. He's going to skate with the group on Thursday. He feels great. I think that when he had his first hip surgery, it was supposed to be six to seven months and he came back in four months, and I think he struggled with that, forcing the recovery, and then making it a prolonged recovery. I was very clear with him - 'We didn't trade for you to play opening night against Toronto. If it's a week later, if it's two weeks later, that's fine.' He feels really good. If it's not opening night, I sense that it's pretty close, and I think the same for Jo.
