NHL Status Report: Ovechkin dealing with injury, may miss preseason for Capitals

Welcome to the NHL Status Report. Training camp is underway and NHL.com has you covered with all the latest news.

Washington Capitals

Alex Ovechkin may not play in the preseason for the Capitals because of a lower-body injury.

The 41-year-old left wing did not practice Monday for the second straight day and is day to day.

Ovechkin, who is beginning his 22nd NHL season, has been practicing on a line with Dylan Strome and Ryan Leonard in training camp.

Washington coach Spencer Carbery wasn't ready to say if Ovechkin will play at all in the preseason.

"Right now, we'll see how it goes this week," Carbery said. "We'll be off tomorrow and then we'll come back and have two practice days, so I'll be able to give you a more accurate update (after that) on when we see him play and how many games."

The Capitals have two preseason games remaining, at home against the Boston Bruins on Friday and at Philadelphia on Saturday.

Toronto Maple Leafs

Morgan Rielly practiced with the main group Monday after dealing with a virus that kept him out of the Maple Leafs' preseason opener against the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday.

"I feel good," Rielly said. "I felt good all along. It was just some virus that I didn't really know I had that came up with my blood work and I wanted to avoid contacts for the days."

Rielly said he expects to be available for Toronto's final preseason games Wednesday, a split squad against the Ottawa Senators.

"(Camp) might be a little too short, especially when you miss the first exhibition game, but I'll let you know," Rielly said.

Rielly skated on a defense pair with Darren Raddysh, who was acquired from the Tampa Bay Lightning in a sign-and-trade during the offseason and signed an eight-year contract.

"I was kind of hoping I might get a chance to do that," Rielly said. "He's a great player, has tons of great assets. Hopefully we can work well together."

Dallas Stars

Matt Duchene is not yet skating, but is expected to do so this week.

"He'll start skating here either tomorrow or the next day, for sure," Stars coach Gulutzan said Monday.

Gulutzan said last week that the forward is not injured but was provided maintenance days as a precaution. Duchene was limited to 57 games last season due to injuries.

"He came in great shape, skated the last, basically two weeks with the guys as they skated (before training camp), but just wanted to be more precautionary here for the next two days," Gulutzan said on Thursday.

Forward Colin Blackwell sustained a lower-body injury at practice Saturday and did not play in Dallas' 2-1 win against the St. Louis Blues on Monday.

"I don't think it's going to be a long time, so just a few days, hopefully," Gulutzan said. "That's what we're hoping for right now."

St. Louis Blues

Tyler Tucker tweaked his knee in practice on Sunday and may not be ready for the season opener, Blues coach Jim Montgomery said.

The defenseman was working in a drill in the corner when the injury occurred and limped off the ice. Tucker did not skate Monday.

"It's more than day to day, but we don't have a timeline yet because we think he'll be re-evaluated in a couple days," Montgomery said.

St. Louis plays its regular-season opener at Dallas on Oct. 2 (9 p.m. ET; HBO MAX, truTV, TNT).

If Tucker isn't ready, it could create an opening for defenseman Adam Jiricek, a first-round pick (No. 16) in the 2024 NHL Draft.