NHL Buzz: Hughes, Pettersson out for Canucks against Kraken

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Vancouver Canucks

Quinn Hughes and Elias Pettersson did not play for the Canucks against the Seattle Kraken on Saturday.

Hughes, who won the Norris Trophy as the League’s top defenseman last season, leads the Canucks in scoring and is second among NHL defensemen with 42 points (eight goals, 34 assists) in 34 games this season. He was listed as questionable for Vancouver's last game, a 4-3 win against the San Jose Sharks on Dec. 23, with an undisclosed injury but played 24:45 and finished with two assists.

"Obviously, Hughes is one of a kind, right?" coach Rick Tocchet said Saturday. "... You're not going to replace the guy, but as a group I'd like to see us play some solid 'D,' especially without the puck."

Pettersson scored twice late in the second period against the Sharks, ending a six-game point drought, but only played one shift in the third. Tocchet said after the game he was “banged up” but didn’t “think it’s too bad.”

Pettersson, Vancouver's No. 1 center, is second on the team with 28 points (10 goals, 18 assists) in 34 games.

“It's hold the fort, next man mentality, that’s the way we have to think,” Tocchet said Friday. “Right now more than ever, and I know we've talked about it, it’s our staples. We have to play as a team, and we need five percent more from everybody. That’s really what it comes down to.”

The game against San Jose was Hughes' 399th in the NHL. He has 51 goals and 324 assists, the third-most in NHL history among defensemen prior to playing 400 games. Only Bobby Orr (358) and Paul Coffey (326) had more.

Defenseman Erik Brannstrom, who had been a healthy scratch the previous three games, entered the lineup against the Kraken for Hughes.

“You're not going to replace Quinn Hughes, and I don't need him trying to do things that press the envelope,” Tocchet said Friday. “He's just got to play a simple game, to be honest. Go back for a puck, if you see the guy, give it to him, if there's a chance to join the rest, join it, walking the blue line, a guy like him, I want him to shoot the puck, he doesn't have to try to create too much on the blue line.”

Winnipeg Jets

Haydn Fleury is out week to week for the Jets because of a lower-body injury.

"He's going to get re-evaluated, but at the end of the day, right now, it's not good," Winnipeg coach Scott Arniel said.

Fleury sustained the injury late in the second period of a 5-2 win against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Monday after being hit by forward Connor Dewar. He finished his shift but did not return to the game.

The defenseman tried to test out the injury Friday when the Jets held their first practice following the holiday break, but Arniel said "it didn't go very good.”

Through 25 games in his first season with the Jets, Fleury has six assists while averaging 17:14 of ice time.

Logan Stanley will replace Fleury in the lineup against the Ottawa Senators on Saturday (7 p.m. ET; TVAS, SN360, CITY, SNW). -- Darrin Bauming

New York Rangers

K'Andre Miller will return for the Rangers when they visit the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday (7 p.m. ET; FDSNSUN, MSG 2).

The defenseman missed six games with a lower-body injury.

Miller was activated off injured reserve Friday and was a full participant at practice on a defense pair with Will Borgen.

"He looked good, it was his first practice, we haven't had a lot of practice time inside of this schedule," coach Peter Laviolette said Friday. "We've just come off of three games in three and a half days. It was a good practice for him, and it was a good step in the right direction."

Miller has six points (two goals, four assists) in 28 games this season and is averaging 21:21 of ice time.

Defenseman Zac Jones will be scratched for New York. -- Corey Long

Montreal Canadiens

Goalie Cayden Primeau was placed on waivers Saturday with the purpose of loaning him to Laval of the American Hockey League.

Primeau, 25, is 2-3-1 in 11 games this season (seven starts) with a 4.70 goals-against average and .836 save percentage. The seventh-round pick by Montreal in the 2017 NHL Draft is 13-24-7 with a 3.69 GAA and .884 save percentage in 55 NHL games (45 starts).

Rookie Jakub Dobes made 34 saves in his first NHL start, a 4-0 win against the Florda Panthers on Saturday.

Ottawa Senators

Linus Ullmark did not travel with the Senators for their upcoming five-game road trip due to a lingering back injury.

The goaltender, who is 8-0-1 in his past 10 starts, played the first period in a 3-1 loss to the Edmonton Oilers on Sunday before leaving with the injury.

"No update," coach Travis Green said following practice Friday. "Like I said, he tweaked his back. Still not good enough to skate."

Anton Forsberg, a goalie who sustained an undisclosed injury warming up to start against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Dec. 14, traveled and could start for the Senators against the Jets on Saturday (7 p.m. ET; CITY, SNW, SN360, TVAS). Goalies Leevi Merilainen and Mads Sogaard were each recalled from Belleville of the AHL on Friday.

"Our mindset is not going to change with who's in goal," Green said. "We don't all of a sudden say, 'Linus is in net; let's play run and gun hockey,' or 'He's not in net; let's play real defensive hockey.' We want to play a good 200-foot game no matter who's playing goal for us."

Defenseman Artem Zub (fractured foot) and forward David Perron (upper body) each skated for the first time since they were injured Nov. 23. Neither is expected back imminently. Forward Michael Amadio, who left a 5-4 overtime win against the Canucks on Dec. 21 after taking a hit to the head from Vincent Desharnais, will "be out for probably a little bit more," Green said. -- Callum Fraser

Minnesota Wild

Kirill Kaprizov remains day to day for the Wild with a lower-body injury.

The forward did not travel to Dallas for a 3-2 overtime win against the Stars on Friday, and did not practice Saturday. It is unclear if he will play when Minnesota hosts the Ottawa Senators on Sunday (8 p.m. ET; FDSNNOX, FDSNWI, TSN5).

Kaprizov, who leads the Wild and is tied for fourth in the NHL with 50 points (23 goals, 27 assists), missed one game earlier this season because of a lower-body injury.

"He does things other players can't do," Wild coach John Hynes said. "I think when you miss a player like that, some of his individual skills, the way he can generate offense, the way he is, you don't have that but you don't try to replicate that. It's more of, you want to have a team game, have the guys that are in the lineup be able to play to their skill sets."

Joel Eriksson Ek could return Saturday; the forward has missed 11 games with a lower-body injury.

"(Eriksson Ek) wanted to go through a main practice as a game player today to practice that way," Hynes said. "Let's see how he feels and responds, what his comfort level is, whether that's tomorrow or whether that's against Nashville (on Tuesday). I would anticipate one of the two."

Eriksson Ek has 13 points (five goals, eight assists) in 22 games this season. -- Jessi Pierce

San Jose Sharks

Vitek Vanecek will be out week to week with a fractured cheek, Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky said Saturday.

The goalie was struck in the head with an errant puck on the bench while serving as the backup in a 4-3 loss to the Jets on Dec. 17.

"It's frustrating. You feel for him and what happened, and just how flukey it was, but it happened," Warsofsky said. "That's the card we were dealt, and we know [Vitek] is going to work extremely hard to get back and help our hockey team."

Vanecek was moved to injured reserve Friday, and forward Klim Kostin was activated.

Kostin will return against the Calgary Flames on Saturday (10 p.m. ET; NBCSCA, CITY, SN, TVAS, CBC) after missing six games with an upper-body injury. He has four points (one goal, there assists) in 20 games this season and will skate on a line with Mikael Granlund and Tyler Toffoli.

"We got to get Kostin back in there. He was playing some good hockey," Warsofsky said. -- Max Miller

Dallas Stars

Mason Marchment will be out long-term after taking a deflected puck to the face on Dec. 27.

The forward was injured in the first period of a 3-2 overtime loss to the Wild, when Evgenii Dadonov's shot from the point deflected off of Logan Stankoven's stick. The puck hit Marchment in the face, causing him to bleed onto the ice before being helped off by the training staff. He was taken to a hospital after the injury to be evaluated.

"It's not good. We're waiting for the swelling to go down and then we'll see," Stars coach Pete DeBoer said Saturday. "Looks like it's more week to week than day to day."

Marchment has 27 points (12 goals, 15 assists) in 33 games this season and is second on the team in scoring behind linemate Matt Duchene (30 points). His other linemate, Tyler Seguin, underwent hip surgery Dec. 5 and will be out 4-5 months.

The Stars recalled forward Justin Hryckowian from Texas of the AHL on Saturday and he could replace Marchment in the lineup when they play the Chicago Blackhawks on Sunday (8:30 p.m. ET; ESPN, SN360). -- Taylor Baird

Pittsburgh Penguins

Marcus Pettersson practiced Friday for the first time since sustaining a lower-body injury.

The defenseman wore a noncontact jersey, joining the Penguins after skating on an individual basis with skills coach Ty Hennes. Pettersson was originally considered week to week after falling awkwardly into the boards in the first period of a 3-2 overtime loss at Ottawa on Dec. 14.

On Saturday, he wore a regular jersey at practice.

"Our medical team felt comfortable giving him the opportunity to participate in the practice, in the team practice," Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan said Friday, "which I think is a really important step in the return-to-play process, just getting around the team environment, being on the ice with multiple players on the ice, the spatial relationships. That's the hardest part, especially if you're out for an extended period of time.

"So, to get him involved in the team practice today, I think, was a huge step for Marcus in his return to play. But certainly, it's encouraging."

Pettersson has 13 points (two goals, 11 assists) in 32 games this season. In his absence, Matt Grzelcyk has recently played on a defense pair with Erik Karlsson.

The Penguins are also without rookie defenseman Owen Pickering (concussion) entering their game against the New York Islanders at UBS Arena on Saturday (7:30 p.m. ET; SN-PIT, MSGSN).

Pickering, who will miss a second straight game, has been replaced by P.O. Joseph on the top pair with Kris Letang. He watched part of practice Friday from the bench. -- Wes Crosby