NHL Buzz: Blais to play first game in 11 months for Rangers

Welcome to the NHL Buzz. The 2022-23 regular season is underway, and NHL.com has you covered with all the latest news.

New York Rangers

Sammy Blais is expected to play his first regular-season game in nearly a year when the New York Rangers host the Anaheim Ducks at Madison Square Garden on Monday (7 p.m. ET; MSG, BSSC, ESPN+, SN NOW).
The forward missed the first three games this season with an upper-body injury and all but 14 games last season because of a torn ACL in his right knee sustained against the New Jersey Devils on Nov. 14, 2021.
"He wanted to play but as coaches, we talk to him and say, 'Sammy, we're not going to put you in there when you're not ready to play. The last thing we want is you getting a setback,'" Rangers coach Gerard Gallant said Sunday. "This is a minor setback, but he hasn't played in 10 months, so I understand he really wants to play. He's ready to go now, feeling good and strong."
Blais has 39 points (17 goals, 22 assists) in 133 NHL games for the St. Louis Blues and Rangers.
"I haven't played in a regular-season game in a while. getting hurt right before the season was a bummer," Blais said. "I felt really good today on the ice, so I'm just looking forward to tomorrow."
Though Vitali Kravtsov (upper body) practiced in a non-contact jersey, Ryan Carpenter (upper body) did not. Gallant said each forward is day to day.

Boston Bruins

Brandon Carlo may not play for the Bruins against the Florida Panthers on Monday (7 p.m. ET; TVAS, NESN, BSFL, ESPN+, SN NOW) because of an upper-body injury.
The defenseman left a 6-3 win against the Arizona Coyotes on Saturday late in the first period following a collision against the boards with Coyotes forward Liam O'Brien.
"He's better today than we were expecting," Boston coach Jim Montgomery said Sunday. "We're hopeful, but he's still not ready to play. There's going to be no rush, that's for sure."
Defenseman Dan Renouf was recalled from Providence of the American Hockey League.
Brad Marchand
skated with the Bruins during practice Sunday.
The forward was expected to need six months to recover from a hip arthroscopy and labral repair on each hip in May and is on track to return in late November.
"I feel really good," Marchand said. "Today was more of a mental victory than anything. It's been a long four months. It's tiring and old out there by yourself.
"A little bit off. I actually felt better than I thought I would out there. It will come back quickly. It's just second nature. There wasn't any battle or contact drills out there anyway. We'll take it day by day."
Marchand first returned to the ice Sept. 16.

St. Louis Blues

Tyler Pitlick
was back for his second professional tryout Sunday after he was released from his initial PTO on Oct. 7.
"I'm back and practicing for a bit here and figured they'd take a look at me and see how it goes," Pitlick said. "... Good thing I had a pretty good showing there in camp, I think, and that's what has given me this opportunity to come back."
The 30-year-old forward had four assists in three preseason games. He sustained a lower-body injury in a 4-1 preseason win against the Chicago Blackhawks and went home to Minnesota.
"He's got speed and sort of the same type of thing as [forward Alexey Toropchenko]," coach Craig Berube said. "From a penalty kill standpoint, to speed, to directness, to north hockey, forechecking, that sort of thing and being physical. That's his game.
"He was having a good camp. You've got to have depth in this league, and it's important."
There is uncertainty about Logan Brown, a forward who is out with an upper-body injury suffered in a 5-2 preseason loss to the Dallas Stars on Oct. 1. With the Blues starting a three-game, seven-day road trip at the Seattle Kraken on Wednesday, there could be a need for a forward.-- Lou Korac