NHL Training Camp Buzz: Point healthy for Lightning

Welcome to the 2022-23 NHL training camp buzz. Training camp is underway for all 32 teams and NHL.com has you covered with all the latest news.

Tampa Bay Lightning

Brayden Point said he is fully healthy entering training camp and has recovered from the tear in his right quadriceps.
Point was injured in the first period of Game 7 of the Eastern Conference First Round against the Toronto Maple Leafs on May 14. The forward missed the next 10 games of the Stanley Cup Playoffs before returning for the Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final against the Colorado Avalanche. He was in the lineup for Game 2 before not playing for the rest of the series.
"I'm feeling good," Point said Wednesday. "It was a bit of a long recovery process, but I'm feeling good coming into camp. No pain."
Point said that he was more conservative with his recovery, compared to when he missed 14 games with an upper-body injury early last season, and wanted to be fully healed before getting into his offseason workouts.
"I took my time with it," Point said. "I would say it took another three weeks to a month after the season before I started to push it again."
Lightning general manager Julien BriseBois said that forward Anthony Cirelli and defenseman Zach Bogosian, who each had offseason shoulder surgery, are still expected to return between late November and early December. -- Corey Long

Toronto Maple Leafs

Timothy Liljegren will be out at least six weeks after having hernia surgery Friday.
"We're looking at an early to mid-November return if all goes well," Maple Leafs general manager Kyle Dubas said.
Liljegren, a defenseman, had NHL career highs in games (61), goals (five), assists (18) and points (23) last season.
Pierre Engvall
also will be out for the start of training camp after he sustained a foot injury while training in Sweden this offseason. The forward will be reevaluated the week of Oct. 3, Dubas said.
Engvall had NHL career highs in goals (15), assists (20) and points (35) in 78 games last season.
Dubas said he is hopeful that Engvall could be available for presesaon games. The Maple Leafs play the first of seven preseason games Saturday.
"We have to do what is best for him long-term so we will wait for that update on Oct. 3," Dubas said.
Toronto begins the regular season at the Montreal Canadiens on Oct. 12. -- Dave McCarthy

Detroit Red Wings

Andrew Copp will be out for training camp and could miss the start of the regular season after the forward had abdominal surgery in the offseason, Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman said.
"We expect him to be, at the latest, back the first week of the regular season," Yzerman said of Copp, who signed a five-year contract with Detroit on July 13. "I don't anticipate him participating in the preseason games, but I expect him to be ready roughly a week, if not sooner, into the regular season."
The Red Wings begin the regular season against the Montreal Canadiens on Oct. 14.
Yzerman provided a "cautious" estimate that forward Robby Fabbri, who had surgery after tearing the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee March 10, will be ready to play, "sometime after Jan. 1, maybe Jan. 15, in there."
Defenseman Mark Pysyk, who is recovering from a torn Achilles tendon, also is expected to return in January, and defenseman Jake Walman, who is recovering from shoulder surgery, is expected back in mid-November, Yzerman said.
In addition, forward
Chase Pearson
will miss training camp and be out indefinitely for personal reasons. --Tom Gulitti

Calgary Flames

Andrew Mangiapane will miss the first few days of training camp because of an injury sustained this offseason.
"He had a tweak during some summer skates," Flames general manager Brad Treliving said. "We anticipate it's going to be very short term. He's skating on his own right now with our medical staff, our skills and development people. He probably will rejoin the group in the next couple of days."
Mangiapane, a forward, had NHL career highs in goals (35), assists (20), points (55) and games played (82). A restricted free agent, he signed a three-year contract on Aug. 2.
Chris Tanev, who sustained a dislocated shoulder in Game 6 of the Western Conference First Round against the Dallas Stars on May 13, is expected to be ready when the on-ice portion of camp begins Thursday.
The defenseman was originally expected to be sidelined 4-6 months after having surgery in June.
"We may probably not play him in preseason games initially, the first little bit of preseason games, but we anticipate he's going to be full-go here starting tomorrow," Treliving said.
Defenseman Oliver Kylington (personal) will miss the start of camp.
Brett Ritchie signed a one-year, $750,000 contract on Wednesday. The 29-year-old forward had four points (three goals, one assist) in 41 games with Calgary last season and has 72 points (42 goals, 30 assists) in 341 regular-season games with the Flames, Boston Bruins and Dallas Stars. -- Aaron Vickers

Edmonton Oilers

Mike Smith failed his physical and will be placed on long-term injured reserve, Oilers general manager Ken Holland said.
The goalie, who is in the final season of a two-year contract, was 21-6-2 with a 2.31 goals-against average and .923 save percentage in 32 regular-season games last season (30 starts) and helped the Oilers advance to the Western Conference Final.
Smith previously had said he hadn't decided if he would play this season, and
Mikko Koskinen
, Edmonton's other goalie last season, signed to play in Europe. The Oilers signed Jack Campbell to a five-year contract July 13.
Holland said defenseman Cody Ceci has a hamstring injury that will keep him out of training camp for at least three days and defenseman
Slater Koekkoek
(personal) will be away from the team indefinitely.
Holland also was hopeful that forward Ryan McLeod, who is a restricted free agent, would be signed soon.
"He took physicals today, talked to his agent yesterday, we're going to talk again this afternoon, so I am hopeful we're going to find a solution," Holland said. "I'm hoping he is going to be on the ice tomorrow."
McLeod had 22 points (nine goals, 12 assists) in 71 games last season.

New York Rangers

Sammy Blais is healthy and will start training camp as the right wing on the top line with center Mika Zibanejad and left wing Chris Kreider after missing the final 67 games last season and all 20 games in the Stanley Cup Playoffs because of a torn ACL in his right knee.
"Sammy is 100 percent," Rangers coach Gerard Gallant said. "We got good news on him about a month ago. Everything is good. He looks lean. He's skated. He's worked out. He's tired of doing that and he's ready to play hockey. It's a real positive."
Blais, who did not play after sustaining the injury on Nov. 14, had four assists in 14 games last season.
Vitali Kravtsov will start camp as the right wing on the second line with left wing Artemi Panarin and center Vincent Trocheck, Gallant said.
Kravtsov, the No. 9 pick in the 2018 NHL Draft, spent last season playing in the Kontinental Hockey League in Russia after he was one of the Rangers final cuts in training camp.
"He came in here in early July and he started working out and skating," Gallant said. "He's made a big effort to come here and work hard, do the things that we want from him for our team. I talked to him a little bit about a month ago and I basically said, 'There's opportunity here. We need you to be a good player on our team, but you've got to take it. We're not going to give you nothing. You saw how our team played last year. That's what we expect from everybody.' And he was really good."-- Dan Rosen

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Colorado Avalanche

Valeri Nichushkin will miss the start of training camp with a foot injury but could be available for the Avalanche when the regular season starts on Oct. 12, Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said.
"He is [one of the guys who isn't ready to start camp]. He's back skating and close," Bednar said of the forward, who signed an eight-year contract with Colorado on July 11. "Hopefully we have him for the start of the regular season, but he won't be in full participation come tomorrow morning."
Nichushkin sustained the injury during the Stanley Cup Final against the Lightning and nearly missed Game 6. -- Ryan Boulding