NHL Buzz: Edstrom could miss rest of regular season for Rangers with lower-body injury
Werenski out for Blue Jackets; Hughes remains out for Canucks; Marner game-time call for Maple Leafs

© Getty Images
New York Rangers
Adam Edstrom could miss the remainder of the regular season because of a lower-body injury.
The Rangers said the forward’s timeline is 2 1/2 - 3 1/2 months.
Edstrom was injured midway through the second period of a 6-3 win at the Boston Bruins on Saturday. He has nine points (five goals, four assists) in 51 games.
New York’s regular-season finale is April 17 against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Columbus Blue Jackets
Zach Werenski did not play for the Blue Jackets against the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday because of an undisclosed injury.
The defenseman, who was not on the ice for the morning skate, left in the second period on Sunday, a 5-3 loss at the Dallas Stars, before returning at the start of the third.
"We'll continue to evaluate, same as we do with everybody that's hurt or injured," coach Dean Evason said. "We'll evaluate it and move forward."
Werenski, who will play for Team United States at the 4 Nations Face-Off, is third among NHL defensemen with 57 points (17 goals, 40 assists) in 53 games this season and leads the League in average ice time per game (26:48). His 17 goals are second among defensemen, two behind Cale Makar of the Colorado Avalanche.
Columbus was also without Werenski's defense partner, Dante Fabbro, who left the game on Sunday in the first period with an upper-body injury. Fabbro has 13 points (four goals, nine assists) in 43 games.
Jack Johnson and Jordan Harris played in place of Werenski and Fabbro after being scratched the previous three and four games, respectively.
"We've got guys that weren't in our lineup that are excited to be in our lineup," Evason said. "Nobody wants anyone to get hurt, injured, or whatever, but you have an opportunity to play in a hockey game, and we expect everyone to be ready. We've talked a lot about our depth in the past, and obviously it's going to come in handy here tonight."
Forward Kirill Marchenko is out indefinitely after he had surgery for a broken jaw Monday. He sustained the injury when he was struck by a puck while sitting on the bench late in the second period on Sunday.
Marchenko, who was placed on injured reserve, leads Columbus in goals (21) and plus/minus (plus-31) and has 55 points in 53 games. -- Heather Engel
Vancouver Canucks
Quinn Hughes is day to day with an undisclosed injury and will miss a second straight game against the Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday (10 p.m. ET; SNP, ALT).
The Canucks’ top defenseman finished a 5-3 loss at the Dallas Stars on Friday but was a late scratch after taking warmups ahead of a 3-2 overtime loss to the Detroit Red Wings on Sunday. Hughes skated with coaches Tuesday but left the ice before the morning skate started.
“He's not going to play. He wants to gut everything out, but it's the right move,” coach Rick Tocchet said. “You take it day by day with him or with anybody. … I've seen things linger. I've seen some guys after 24 hours things help, so we'll see how it goes.”
Hughes leads NHL defensemen with 59 points (14 goals, 45 assists) in 47 games this season. The 25-year-old also leads the Canucks in average ice time (25:18) and plus/minus (plus-15).
“Anytime you have a guy like a Quinn or that type of player, they play so much, anytime they can get rest, they got to take it, because he plays a lot of minutes,” Tocchet said. “He plays a lot of stress minutes. It's not just the minutes, it's stress. He's always out there in stress situations, so not playing the next couple games, use that as a positive, that he is getting rest. That's the way you got to look at it.”
Tocchet said he has seen “slight” improvement and confirmed that it is a new injury and not a lingering one for Hughes, who missed four games from Dec. 28-Jan. 3 with a hand injury he was still wearing a brace for in Dallas.
Hughes, who won the Norris Trophy as the NHL’s top defenseman last season, is slated to represent the United States at the 4 Nations Face-Off from Feb. 12-20.
“We haven't even talked about 4 Nations,” Tocchet said. “He's not playing [Tuesday] so as the days go on, we'll have to revisit that.” -- Kevin Woodley
Toronto Maple Leafs
Mitch Marner will be a game-time decision for the Maple Leafs against the Calgary Flames on Tuesday (9 p.m. ET; SNW, TSN4).
The forward, who scored the eventual-game winning goal in a 4-3 victory at the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday, missed practice Monday because of maintenance and did not participate in the morning skate Tuesday.
"Something happened in the game, I guess," Toronto coach Craig Berube said. "Just not feeling right in a certain area, so we're trying to work on it. Try to get him ready.
"It's like anybody that goes out ... it's hard to fill that void. It's a different opportunity for some guys and people stepping up and doing the job. We've done it all year. If he can't go, we've got to continue to do it."
Marner, who is set to represent Canada at the 4 Nations Face-Off, leads the Maple Leafs with 70 points (16 goals, 54 assists) in 52 games and has not missed a game this season.
"He's been our best player all year," defenseman Chris Tanev said. "He does everything. It's not just going to be one guy that's going to be able to do that. We're going to need a group of guys to step up and pick up the slack because, as I said, I think he's been our best player all year and he plays a 200-foot game."
Defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson will also be a game-time decision because of a lower-body injury sustained against the Oilers.
Anthony Stolarz participated in the morning skate and could return Thursday at the Seattle Kraken. Stolarz, who hasn't played since Dec. 12, has missed 23 games after undergoing knee surgery. He is 9-5-2 with a 2.15 goals-against average and .927 save percentage in 17 games this season.
"He is an option," Berube said. "I think it's more about getting the work in practice a little bit more, just shooting and traffic, the timing side of it. He's not quite there yet." -- Aaron Vickers
Detroit Red Wings
Jeff Petry will be out 6-8 weeks for the Red Wings after having surgery for an undisclosed injury.
The defenseman has missed 15 games since last playing, a 5-4 win against the Blue Jackets on Jan. 2.
"He won't play for a while," coach Todd McLellan said Tuesday. "He had surgery and he'll be out for about 6-8 weeks depending on healing time, so it's unfortunate for him as an individual and certainly for our team. But we're going to work hard with him to get him back."
Petry, who also missed three games earlier this season with an upper-body injury, has six points (one goal, five assists) in 34 games this season.
Minnesota Wild
Jonas Brodin and Marcus Johansson were each activated off injured reserve and played for the Wild against the Bruins on Tuesday.
Brodin, who had missed 12 games with a lower-body injury, played on a defense pair with Jared Spurgeon. Johansson, who had missed eight games with a concussion, played on a line with Marco Rossi and Marcus Foligno.
Brodin has 16 points (four goals, 12 assists) in 31 games this season. Johansson has 16 points (five goals, 11 assists) in 44 games.
Forward Ben Jones was reassigned to Iowa of the American Hockey League.
With the recent transactions, as well as the 10-game suspension to forward Ryan Hartman, the Wild are currently carrying eight defensemen and no extra forwards. -- Joe McDonald
St. Louis Blues
Nick Leddy will play for the Blues against the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday (8 p.m. ET; HULU, ESPN+, SN1) for the first time since Oct. 15.
The defenseman has missed 49 games with a lower-body injury that initially was listed as day to day, and after several attempts of practicing was shut down after multiple times of reaggravation. Leddy has skated with the team for the past several days.
"On the road trip, Leddy told us that after he practiced on Saturday that he felt Edmonton might be a real good target and he'd be ready," St. Louis coach Jim Montgomery said Tuesday. "Yesterday, he skated again and declared himself that he felt that he was ready.
"We saw him battle in the last couple of practices. We saw him in 1-on-1 battles and he was handling that and his feet allow him to defend at such a high level. Against Edmonton, it's going to be good because they have the top line that everybody knows about but they have the other two lines and they have players like RNH [Ryan Nugent-Hopkins] and players that can make a lot of plays and you need depth on your [defense] core to handle this team tonight."
Leddy, who played the first four games of the season, does not have a point. -- Lou Korac
Buffalo Sabres
Tage Thompson is day to day with an undisclosed injury and did not play against the Blue Jackets on Tuesday.
The forward was not on the ice for the morning skate after he was injured in the third period of a 4-3 win against the New Jersey Devils on a hit from Stefan Noesen.
“I don’t believe (he’ll be out a while), no,” Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said. “Just day to day. Just ruled out for today.”
Thompson leads Buffalo with 48 points (26 goals, 22 assists) in 47 games. He had four goals and eight points in three games last week and was named the NHL’s Second Star of the Week on Monday.
The Sabres recalled forward Isak Rosen from Rochester of the AHL. Rosen leads Rochester with 39 points and is second in the AHL with 23 goals, including 10 in his past 10 games.
Mattias Samuelsson (lower body) also did not play on Tuesday. The defenseman has nine points (three goals, six assists) in 35 games.
Ruff did not provide a timeline for his injury. -- Heather Engel
New York Islanders
Mathew Barzal was placed on injured reserve by the Islanders on Tuesday and is out indefinitely because of a lower-body injury.
The forward did not play Sunday, a 6-3 loss at the Florida Panthers, after he had an assist during a 3-2 overtime win at the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday. He took his last shift with 3:06 remaining in the third period.
Barzal missed 21 games because of an upper-body injury sustained Oct. 30 at Columbus. He has 20 points (six goals, 14 assists) in 30 games this season.
New York also announced defenseman Scott Mayfield (lower body) is day to day. Mayfield, who has seven points (two goals, five assists) and is plus-14 in 50 games, also did not play Sunday.
Seattle Kraken
Jordan Eberle practiced with the Kraken at the morning skate Tuesday ahead of their game against the Red Wings (10 p.m. ET; FDSNDET, KHN, KONG).
It was the first time the forward, who was wearing a noncontact jersey, practiced with his teammates since sustaining an injury to his pelvis during a 3-1 win against the Chicago Blackhawks on Nov. 14, when he got tangled with Blackhawks defenseman Connor Murphy and crashed into the end boards.
Eberle, who is Kraken captain, has 11 points (six goals, five assists) in 17 games. The team announced Nov. 22 he had successful surgery and would miss at least three months.
“He’s been around quite a bit,” Seattle coach Dan Bylsma said Tuesday. “He’s now working, getting back on the ice and … the last two days [he’s] been able to get on the ice with the guys in some extent, and that adds a boost.” -- Darren Brown
Ottawa Senators
Josh Norris will be out "a couple weeks" with an undisclosed injury, Senators coach Travis Green said Monday.
The forward sustained the injury during the third period of a 6-0 win against the Minnesota Wild on Saturday. Norris has 31 points (19 goals, 12 assists) in 50 games.
“I think we’ve done a good job of not focusing in on players that aren’t playing,” Green said. “Obviously, Josh is a big part of our team, but we’re focusing in on the guys that are playing. Any time someone goes out, it’s another opportunity for someone else to come in. [Senators forward Cole Reinhardt] will draw in the lineup tonight, and someone else will play center.”
Linus Ullmark served as the backup goalie to Anton Forsberg for Ottawa's 5-2 win against the Nashville Predators on Monday. Ullmark, who had missed the previous 18 games because of a back injury, is 12-7-2 with a 2.38 goals-against average and .915 save percentage in 23 games.
“We’ve done a really good job,” Ullmark said of his recovery. “There’s been good communication throughout this whole process ever since Day 1 on what to really expect. Obviously there’s bumps along the way that you can’t really account for, but at the same time you’ve got to be mindful that it might happen and it might prolong things. It might go quicker than expected, but at the end of the day, it took the time that it took and I’m happy to be on the road and in the mix again.”
Ullmark is expected to play for Team Sweden at the 4 Nations Face-Off from Feb. 12-20. -- Robby Stanley
Utah Hockey Club
Dylan Guenther will return against the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday (9 p.m. ET; Utah16, NBCSP).
The forward missed the past 12 games with a lower-body injury and was placed on injured reserve Jan. 8.
Guenther is second on Utah in goals (16) and fourth in points (34) in 40 games.
"He's a really good player for us," coach Andre Tourigny said after the morning skate. "He will bring some energy, some shooting, some playmaking, and add to our power plays." -- Matt Komma
Philadelphia Flyers
Rasmus Ristolainen is day to day because of an upper-body injury.
Flyers coach John Tortorella said Monday he isn't sure if Ristolainen would be available against Utah on Tuesday (9 p.m. ET; Utah16, NBCSP). The defenseman left a 2-0 loss to the Colorado Avalanche on Sunday with 2:32 remaining in the second period.
"Nicked [up]," Tortorella said. "I'm not sure what it turns into, but as of today when I talked to him ... we'll see what happens tomorrow."
Ristolainen, who will play for Team Finland at the 4 Nations Face-Off from Feb. 12-20, has 15 points (two goals, 13 assists) in 54 games.
Tortorella said there's a chance Andrei Kuzmenko and Jakob Pelletier could be available Tuesday. The forwards were acquired along with two NHL Draft picks in a trade with the Calgary Flames for forwards Morgan Frost and Joel Farabee on Jan. 30.
Forward Nicolas Deslauriers, who last played Nov. 9 and has been recovering from an upper-body injury sustained during practice Dec. 4, was activated from injured reserve and will play Tuesday.
Forwards Owen Tippett (upper body) and Ryan Poehling (upper body) and defenseman Egor Zamula (upper body) are also day to day.
Tippett, who last played Jan. 29, is traveling with the Flyers on their two-game road trip, but Tortorella said Saturday it's unlikely he plays.
Poehling has missed eight games and Zamula five. -- Adam Kimelman
Boston Bruins
Hampus Lindholm is unlikely to return before the 4 Nations Face-Off, according to Bruins coach Joe Sacco.
The defenseman, who has been out since Nov. 12 because of a lower-body injury, continues to skate but most likely will continue his rehab through the break for the best-on-best tournament, which will be held from Feb. 12-20 in Montreal and Boston.
“It’s unlikely that we’re going to see Hampus before the break,” Sacco said Monday. “We’re erring more on the side of caution with him right now, as far as that goes. That’s the plan right now.”
Sacco said Lindholm, who has seven points (three goals, four assists) in 17 games this season, has not experienced a setback in his recovery.
“It’s just that’s where we’re at in his progress,” Sacco said. “Get him ready for after the break, just be a little bit more cautious at that point. … I know that he wants to get back in here. It’s just a matter of time now.” -- Amalie Benjamin