NHL Buzz: Draisaitl returns for Oilers against Flames

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Edmonton Oilers

Leon Draisaitl returned against the Calgary Flames on Saturday.

"I still have to check with the staff," Oilers coach Kris Knobauch said. "He was on the ice to see if he was able to play and I’ll confirm with our medical staff to see if he’s cleared, but I think there’s a good chance he is playing."

The center, who has missed four games with an undisclosed injury, took regular line rushes during the morning skate. He is third in the NHL with 101 points and leads the League with 49 goals.

"I felt good out there," Draisaitl said after the morning skate. "Obviously, I have to talk to the doctors and see what the final decision is, but all I can say is I felt pretty good this morning."

Draisaitl got tangled up with Utah Hockey Club defenseman Olli Maatta, falling to the ice and wincing in pain before skating to the bench in the second period of a 7-1 win on March 18.

"I'll play through anything if it's at the right time," Draisaitl said. "... I think this is not the time where you tinker with things like that looking at the big picture."

Edmonton is 1-2-1 without Draisaitl.

"To see him out there obviously doing rushes and that sort of thing, hopefully he feels good and all is well, but certainly would be great to have him back," Oilers forward Adam Henrique said.

The Oilers remain without center Connor McDavid (lower body) for the fourth straight game and goalie Stuart Skinner (head) for the second straight game.

Skinner was injured at 6:34 of the third period in a 4-3 loss to the Dallas Stars on Wednesday. He was inadvertently hit in the head by Mikko Rantanen at the top of his crease when the Stars forward cut in front of the net to circle behind the goal line chasing the puck. He did not play in a 6-1 loss to the Seattle Kraken on Thursday.

"Day to day, to a week," Knoblauch said of Skinner. "It’s up in the air, but it’s not immediate that he’s returning."

Edmonton (41-26-5) is third in the Pacific Division, two points behind the Los Angeles Kings and 11 behind the Vegas Golden Knights. -- Derek Van Diest

Calgary Flames

Connor Zary is week to week with a lower-body injury.

The Flames forward left a 5-2 loss to the Dallas Stars on Thursday 7:10 into the third period following a collision with Stars forward Mikko Rantanen. He had an assist in 12:56 of ice time.

"Hopefully it’s on the shorter end of that (week-to-week) scale, so we’ll see how it goes," Calgary coach Ryan Huska said Saturday.

Zary previously missed 14 games from Jan. 11-Feb. 23 because of an injury to his left knee. He has 27 points (13 goals, 14 assists) in 54 games this season.

"He went through a lot after his first injury trying to get back ready to play, so you hate to see a player get injured again," Huska said. "Unfortunately, he’s going to have to do the same thing again to get himself ready to go. He’s a good young man with a good head on his shoulders and I know he'll commit to his rehab."

The Flames (34-26-11) are eight points behind the St. Louis Blues for the second wild card in the Western Conference with four games in hand.

Seattle Kraken

Chandler Stephenson returned against the Dallas Stars on Saturday.

The center missed three games with an upper-body injury suffered in a 4-0 loss at the Minnesota Wild on March 19.

Stephenson, who signed a seven-year contract with Seattle on July 1, 2024, is second on the team in scoring with 48 points (11 goals, 37 assists) in 69 games, trailing forward Jaden Schwartz (51 points).

Seattle was 1-1-1 during Stephenson's absence.

The Kraken (31-36-6) were eliminated from playoff contention on Saturday when the St. Louis Blues defeated the Colorado Avalanche 2-1. -- Darren Brown

Dallas Stars

Tyler Seguin participated in the Stars' morning skate prior to their game at the Seattle Kraken on Saturday, the next step in his recovery process.

Seguin, a center, has not played since a 3-1 win against the Winnipeg Jets on Dec. 1. The 33-year-old had hip surgery Dec. 5 and was expected to need 4-6 months to recover.

"He looks good," Dallas coach Pete DeBoer said. "Next steps are getting the wind and the cardio [back], so he had a good little skate there."

Seguin had 20 points (nine goals, 11 assists) in 19 games before the surgery. He remains on long-term injured reserve.

"We've got a whole sports science department that really comes up with a plan on work rate and work load, and you can see they monitor everything," DeBoer said on how Seguin is working his way back to game speed. "Everything is structured and orchestrated, so we just try and follow the recommendations, but he’s taken some big steps." -- Darren Brown

Pittsburgh Penguins

Bokondji Imama will miss the rest of the season after having biceps surgery Saturday.

The forward is expected to recover in 4-6 months. He was out for a 7-3 loss at the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday after playing 5:41 in a 6-1 loss at the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday.

Imama had one goal in 16 games for Pittsburgh after playing most of this season with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the AHL.

Imama scored in a 6-3 win against the Columbus Blue Jackets on March 21, his second goal in 31 NHL games during four seasons.

"He's a terrific person," Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said after that victory. "He brings so much positive energy to the rink every day. It's hard not to smile when you're around him. He's just an enthusiastic person.

"He loves hockey. He loves being at the rink. He loves being part of the team. He loves being a Penguin."

Imama signed a one-year, $775,000 contract with Pittsburgh on July 1, 2024.

Evgeni Malkin skated on an individual basis Saturday. The center could miss a third straight game with an upper-body injury against the Ottawa Senators on Sunday (5 p.m. ET; SN-PIT, TSN5, RDS). -- Wes Crosby

St. Louis Blues

Jimmy Snuggerud signed a three-year, entry-level contract with the Blues on Friday and is expected to join them Monday.

The 20-year-old forward led the University of Minnesota with 51 points (24 goals, 27 assists) in 40 games, tying for sixth in goals and fifth in points in the NCAA. The junior, who was Minnesota captain, was named to the All-Big Ten First Team and named a top 10 Hobey Baker finalist.

St. Louis (40-28-7) has won nine straight games and holds the second wild card in the West, six points ahead of the Vancouver Canucks. The Blues are even in the wild card standings with the Minnesota Wild, but have played one more game.