According to Canadiens coach Jacques Martin, Montreal's top defenseman is ready to make a big step in his quest to return to the lineup.

Martin told reporters today that Andrei Markov is about 1-2 weeks away from practicing with the team.

Markov hasn't played since Nov. 13, 2010, when he tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee. He was just seven games into his return from surgery on the same knee the previous spring.

Markov has been in Florida rehabilitating under the supervision of Dr. James Andrews.

Oilers defenseman Ryan Whitney, who missed the first four games of the season with an injury, now could miss up to three weeks with a different ailment.

The Edmonton Journal is reporting Whitney will miss about three weeks with a sprained knee suffered in Tuesday's win against the Vancouver Canucks. The injury likely happened when he got tangled with teammate Corey Potter in the first period and limped off the ice. He played six shifts, but just one after the halfway point of the first.

Whitney missed the final 47 games of last season, and the first four this season, recovering from an ankle injury.

He made his season debut Oct. 18, and in four games was scoreless with one shot.

Florida Panthers announced Thursday that rookie defenseman Erik Gudbranson will stay with the team beyond his ninth game, which is Thursday night in Ottawa.

That is significant because once a player plays in his 10th game, the clock begins ticking on his entry-level deal. So, by keeping Gudbranson around, Florida will burn the first year of the rookie's three-year deal.

If he was not kept up, he would have had to have been returned to his junior team, the Kingston Frontenacs of the Ontario Hockey League

“He’s played well enough, and it’s a positive that he stays here,’’ Florida GM Dale Tallon told the Miami herald on Weddnesday. “We’ll decide on Friday. But there’s a good chance — we’re leaning toward keeping him. What’s best for his future, for him totally is what’s important. Is it best for him to stay here? At this time, I would probably say it is. He’s been fine. I think he has a presence out there. … It will probably be better for him once we make this decision.’’

David Booth will make his Canucks debut tonight after he arrived in a trade from the Florida Panthers on Sunday. Gone are Marco Sturm and Mikael Samuelsson, although the latter is still in Vancouver rehabbing and resting.

Expect Vancouver's lines to like this against the Oilers tonight:

Daniel Sedin - Henrik Sedin - Alexandre Burrows
Chris Higgins - Ryan Kesler - David Booth
Manny Malhotra - Cody Hodgson - Jannik Hansen
Dale Weise - Maxim Lapierre - Aaron Volpatti

Dan Hamhuis - Kevin Bieksa
Alexander Edler - Keith Ballard 
Andrew Alberts - Sami Salo

Roberto Luongo
Cory Schneider

Look for Edmonton to roll with these combinations:

Taylor Hall - Ryan Nugent-Hopkins - Jordan Eberle
Ryan Smyth - Shawn Horcoff - Ryan Jones
Magnus Paajarvi - Eric Belanger - Sam Gagner
Ben Eager - Anton Lander - Lennart Petrell

Ryan Whitney - Corey Potter
Ladislav Smid - Tom Gilbert
Cam Barker - Andy Sutton

Nikolai Khabibulin
Devan Dubnyk

In the Sabres' 3-0 loss to the Lightning over the weekend, Tyler Ennis was injured in the opening minutes. He did not return and will be out indefinitely with an ankle injury.

That means coach Lindy Ruff needs to shuffle his lines for the rematch Tuesday. Here is what he'll likely start the game with:

Thomas Vanek - Luke Adam - Jason Pominville
Ville Leino - Derek Roy - Drew Stafford
Nathan Gerbe  - Matt Ellis - Patrick Kaleta
Cody McCormick - Jochen Hecht - Brad Boyes

Robyn Regehr - Tyler Myers
Jordan Leopold - Christian Ehrhoff
Andrej Sekera - Marc-Andre Gragnani

Meanwhile, Tampa has won two straight, with backup goaltender Mathieu Garon getting the 21-save shutout in the last game. Coach Guy Boucher said he'll stick with Garon until struggling starter Dwayne Roloson rights himself.

The potential line combos for this game, as they were used mostly in the previous game:

Martin St. Louis - Vincent Lecavalier - Brett Connolly
Ryan Malone - Steven Stamkos - Teddy Purcell
Tom Pyatt - Nate Thompson - Adam Hall
Blair Jones - Dominic Moore - Steve Downie

Eric Brewer - Victor Hedman
Brett Clark - Pavel Kubina
Marc-Andre Bergeron - Matt Gilroy

The Blue Jackets are 0-7-1, the NHL's only winless team. They played those eight games without defenseman James Wisniewski, who signed with Columbus in the offseason, because of an eight-game suspension he received for an elbow to the head of the Wild's Cal Clutterbuck in the preseason.

Not only are the Jackets happy to have him back for Tuesday's game with the Red Wings, but Wisniewski feels just as much joy.

“I’m happier than a pig in … stuff right now,” Wisniewski told The Columbus Dispatch. “Can’t wait.

“One thing I want to tell myself is to make sure I keep my emotions in check (and) not try to do everything myself. It’s a team sport. Obviously one guy isn’t going to go out there and win a game single-handedly, but I’m going to do everything I can to help this team win games.”

The Jackets have allowed 28 goals this season, second-worst in the League. Because of an injuries to Marc Methot (finger) and Radek Martinek (concussion), the Jackets were forced to use a third d-pairing of two rookies -- David Savard and John Moore -- in a 4-3 loss to Ottawa on Saturday.

“We’re not sitting back and waiting for James Wisniewski to be the sole answer here,” coach Scott Arniel said. “But he’s an experienced guy who knows how to play back there. With our defense so banged up right now, we can definitely use him.

“He’s a good, vocal leader, a passionate player. He plays that way, leads that way.”

Wisniewski never imagined things going this badly while he was out, but he said maybe there has been some divine intervention and a plan the Jackets were meant to follow.

“Absolutely not,” he said. “But things happen for a reason. God has his plan.

“Maybe he wants us to have a Cinderella story and come back and win the Stanley Cup after going 0-7-1.”

The Jackets held an optional practice Tuesday, but here are there lineups from Monday:

Vinny Prospal - Derrick Brassard - Rick Nash
R.J. Umberger - Antoine Vermette - Ryan Johansen
Maksim Mayorov - Sammy Pahlsson - Derrick Dorsett
Alexandre Giroux - Derek MacKenzie - Cody Bass

With Wisniewski back, it's expected that one of the two rookies will sit.

Montreal Canadiens forward Michael Cammalleri will return to the lineup for Thursday night's game against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

According to the team's official Twitter feed, Cammalleri will be in uniform against the Penguins after missing the past three games due to a deep laceration to the thigh suffered in an Oct. 9 game against the Winnipeg Jets.

Cammalleri made the road trip with the team and his comments on the team's website Wednesday seemed to indicate he felt a return was near.

"There's no definite answer on when but I feel really good," Cammalleri said Wednesday. "It's just a matter of seeing what's under this equipment and we'll see if it holds up or not. We're going to have to look at it now and see how it held up through practice and we'll probably do the same thing tomorrow. I'd obviously love to play as soon as possible."

Cammalleri scored his first goal of the season against the Jets before he was injured. The Canadiens started their home schedule 0-2-1 in his absence, and return to the Bell Centre for three more games after facing the Penguins.

The Vancouver Canucks held an optional skate at Rogers Arena this morning, but these are the lines Alain Vigneault will likely trot out against the New York Rangers:

CANUCKS
Daniel Sedin - Henrik Sedin - Alexandre Burrows
Chris Higgins - Ryan Kesler - Cody Hodgson
Jannik Hansen - Manny Malhotra - Mikael Samuelsson
Aaron Volpatti - Maxim Lapierre - Dale Weise

Dan Hamhuis - Alexander Edler
Keith Ballard - Kevin Bieksa
Andrew Alberts - Sami Salo

Ryan Kesler is back on the team's second line after sitting out the first five games while rehabbing from offseason hip surgery. Dale Weise was with the Rangers in training camp, but the Canucks claimed him when he was put on waivers.

For the Rangers, Wojtek Wolski (hip) will be a healthy scratch. He'll be replaced by Kris Newbury. Michael Sauer (shoulder) is also out. Here's a look at the what the Rangers will likely do with their lines tonight:

RANGERS
Derek Stepan - Brad Richards - Marian Gaborik
Brandon Dubinsky - Artem Anisimov - Ryan Callahan
Ruslan Fedotenko - Brian Boyle - Brandon Prust
Mike Rupp - Erik Christensen - Kris Newbury

Ryan McDonagh - Dan Girardi
Michael Del Zotto - Steve Eminger
Tim Erixon - Jeff Woywitka

It will be Roberto Luongo for the Canucks and Henrik Lundqvist for the Rangers between the pipes.

Here's what the lineup for the Washington Capitals likely will look like when they take the ice tonight against the Florida Panthers. The Panthers, who beat the Tampa Bay Lightning last night, didn't skate today, but likely will stick with the same lines with one change -- top prospect Jacob Markstrom likely will play his second NHL game tonight in goal.

Alex Ovechkin - Nicklas Backstrom - Troy Brouwer
Alexander Semin - Marcus Johansson - Mike Knuble
Jason Chimera - Brooks Laich - Joel Ward
Matt Hendricks - Mathieu Perreault - Jeff Halpern

Karl Alzner - John Carlson
Roman Hamrlik - Mike Green
Jeff Schultz - Dennis Wideman

Tomas Vokoun will start in goal, with Dany Sabourin recalled from AHL Hershey to serve as the backup.

For more on tonight's game, check out the preview here.

Here are the likely lineups for tonight's game between the Stars and Blue Jackets in Columbus. The injury to Jeff Carter -- the top-line center was placed on injured reserve with a broken bone in his foot -- means major changes for the Jackets, who are looking for their first win.

STARS
Brenden Morrow - Mike Ribeiro - Michael Ryder
Steve Ott - Jamie Benn - Loui Eriksson
Adam Burish - Vernon Fiddler - Radek Dvorak
Tom Wandell - Jake Dowell - Eric Nystrom

Alex Goligoski - Adam Pardy
Sheldon Souray - Stephane Robidas
Nicklas Grossman - Trevor Daley

Forwards Krystofer Barch and Toby Petersen, and defenseman Mark Fistric will be the scratches

Kari Lehtonen will start in goal, with Andrew Raycroft the backup.

BLUE JACKETS
R.J. Umberger - Derick Brassard - Rick Nash
Vinny Prospal - Antoine Vermette - Alexandre Giroux
Maksim Mayorov - Samuel Pahlsson - Derek Dorsett
Derek MacKenzie - Ryan Johansen - Cody Bass

Fedor Tyutin - David Savard
Radek Martinek - Marc Methot
Kris Russell - Grant Clitsome

Steve Mason will start in goal. Mathieu Corbeil, the Jackets' 2009 fourth-round pick, was called up from Saint John of the QMJHL under emergency conditions to serve as the backup.

For more on tonight's game, check out the preview here.