NHL Buzz: Celebrini practices, set for Sharks debut after lower-body injury
Vrana signs with Capitals; McGroarty to make NHL debut with Penguins on Wednesday
© Ezra Shaw/Getty Images
San Jose Sharks
Macklin Celebrini returned to practice Monday and will make his NHL debut against the St. Louis Blues at SAP Center in San Jose on Thursday (10:30 p.m. ET; HULU, ESPN+, SN360).
The forward left a preseason game against the Utah Hockey Club on Oct. 1 with a lower-body injury.
"I'm all good," Celebrini said. "It [stinks] whenever you get hurt. [You are] busy rehabbing, but it was a nice little reset before the year."
Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky said a plan was in place.
"We had an idea that he would be fine to go today," Warsofsky said. "He was good today. I would say he's good to go."
Celebrini, the No. 1 pick in the 2024 NHL Draft, and Will Smith, a forward chosen by the Sharks with the No. 4 pick in the 2023 NHL Draft, are each expected to make his NHL debut.
"It's exciting for the fans to see the first overall pick and the fourth overall pick," Warsfofsky said. -- Max Miller
Washington Capitals
Jakub Vrana signed a one-year, $775,000 contract with the Capitals on Tuesday, returning to the team with which he won the Stanley Cup in 2018.
The 28-year-old forward attended training camp with Washington on a professional tryout agreement and had two points (one goal, one assist) in four preseason games.
"I thought he had a good camp," Capitals coach Spencer Carbery said. "The two things that, to me, he brings to our group that we are maybe a little bit deficient in are speed, number one, and two, his goal scoring ability. And what I mean by that is he has a unique ability. As everybody here knows, it is not easy in the National Hockey League to score on NHL-caliber goalies, and he can beat a goalie clean."
Vrana had six points (two goals, four assists) in 21 games with the St. Louis Blues and 36 points (16 goals, 20 assists) in 42 games with Springfield of the American Hockey League last season. He did not play in the NHL after being sent down to Springfield on Jan. 12.
"Just being able to get a chance to be back in the League and, on top of everything, with this organization, it's just great," Vrana said Monday. "I've been here before and had a great time. It's great to be back here."
Selected with the No. 13 pick in the 2014 NHL Draft, Vrana had 157 points (76 goals, 81 assists) in 284 regular-season games during five seasons with Washington from 2016-21 and had eight points (three goals, five assists) in 38 Stanley Cup Playoff games with Washington. All eight of his playoff points came in 23 postseason games during the Capitals run to the Stanley Cup in 2018. -- Tom Gulitti
Buffalo Sabres
Nicolas Aube-Kubel is expected to be out 3-6 weeks with a lower-body injury, coach Lindy Ruff said Tuesday.
The forward was injured in the opening game of the 2024 NHL Global Series Czechia presented by Fastenal on Friday. He left in the second period and did not return, and did not play in the second game on Saturday.
Aube-Kubel had been skating at right wing with offseason acquisitions Sam Lafferty and Beck Malenstyn since the start of training camp.
"Big loss because that line, we really like that line," Ruff said. "That line was great energy, was scoring goals, was the type of line that I think almost any team would embrace when you're putting a fourth line out that's physical. Malenstyn and both 'Kue' were heavy on the body, had some massive hits in the preseason, even had massive hits inside those games. So, it's a loss. You deal with it. You've got to move on."
Forward JJ Peterka sustained a concussion in the first period on Saturday on a hit from Devils defenseman Brenden Dillon, and forward Zach Benson did not play after playing through a lower-body injury Friday.
"They're both doing better," Ruff said. "I know JJ skated, a part of the process of bringing him back. We'll see how he reacts to that. Benson, I just feel is kind of day to day, too, but didn't skate."
Peterka had a career-high 50 points (28 goals, 22 assists) in 82 games last season. Benson had 30 points (11 goals, 19 assists) in 71 games as a rookie.
The Sabres will play their first game in Buffalo when they host the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday (7 p.m. ET; MSG-B, BSW). -- Heather Engel
Philadelphia Flyers
Nick Seeler could miss the Flyers regular-season opener at the Vancouver Canucks on Friday (10 p. m. ET; SNP, NBCSP) because of numbness in his right leg.
The defenseman was injured when sliding to block a pass during a preseason game against the Boston Bruins on Oct. 1.
"It was like a harmless play, but it hit that peroneal nerve," Seeler told NBC Sports Philadelphia on Oct. 2. "It just went numb, so I couldn't feel the foot or the leg. ... I got up and I'm like, 'What the heck just happened? I can't feel my leg,'"
Seeler did not practice Tuesday, his fourth straight day off the ice, and is considered day to day.
"It's taking a lot longer [to heal] than we thought," Flyers assistant coach Brad Shaw said Tuesday. "Most of those, you get the sensation back and you get your feeling back in minutes or hours at the most and it's been a few days now. We're just playing it as a day-to-day thing and we'll see."
The Flyers' only extra defenseman is Erik Johnson. Shaw said he was unsure if a defenseman would be recalled from Lehigh Valley of the American Hockey League before the team left for Vancouver later Tuesday. -- Adam Kimelman
Pittsburgh Penguins
Rutger McGroarty will make his NHL debut when Penguins open their regular season against the New York Rangers at PPG Paints Arena on Wednesday (7:30 p.m. ET; MAX, TNT).
The 20-year-old forward made the NHL roster out of training camp after being acquired in a trade from the Winnipeg Jets for forward prospect Brayden Yager on Aug. 22. McGroarty was selected by Winnipeg in the first round (No. 14) of the 2022 NHL Draft.
"Playing in your first NHL game, obviously that's really cool," McGroarty said Tuesday. "But I mean, it's hockey. So continue to go out there. I'm still trying to stay up in the NHL now. So just go out there, continue to play my game and continue to leave an impression."
McGroarty earned a spot in the lineup with several forwards injured.
Bryan Rust, usually first-line right wing, practiced in a no-contact jersey Tuesday but remains day to day. Blake Lizotte is out indefinitely because of a concussion. Matt Nieto is month to month after having reconstructive MCL surgery in the offseason. Prospect Vasily Ponomarev is day to day with an upper-body injury.
McGroarty was at third-line left wing Tuesday and was also used on the penalty kill.
"He's a good player on both sides of the puck," coach Mike Sullivan said. "We think Rutger's a guy that can help us both on the penalty kill and the power play. We'll feel that out and see where we think he fits best."
Defenseman Erik Karlsson is expected to play Wednesday after missing most of training camp because of an upper-body injury.
Goalie Alex Nedeljkovic, week to week with a lower-body injury, skated on an individual basis for the first time Tuesday. -- Wes Crosby
Calgary Flames
Yegor Sharangovich is week to week because of a lower-body injury and was placed on injured reserve Monday.
The Flames forward sustained the injury with just over four minutes remaining in a 3-2 preseason loss to the Winnipeg Jets on Friday.
Sharangovich was expected to start the season on a line with Nazem Kadri and Andrei Kuzmenko.
The 26-year-old set NHL career highs in games played (82), goals (31), assists (28), points (59) and ice time (17:19) in 2023-24, his first season with Calgary after being acquired from New Jersey on June 27, 2023.
He has 165 points (84 goals, 81 assists) in 287 NHL games with the Flames and Devils.
Calgary opens its season Wednesday at the Vancouver Canucks (10 p.m. ET; SN1, SNP). -- Aaron Vickers
New Jersey Devils
Brett Pesce and Luke Hughes each participated in practice Tuesday but neither is expected to be in the lineup when the Devils play the Toronto Maple Leafs at Prudential Center on Thursday (7 p.m. ET; MSG, TSN4).
It marks the first time Hughes was able to join his teammates in a practice since the defenseman was ruled out until at least mid-October because of a left shoulder injury sustained in early September.
Pesce, a defenseman who signed a six-year contract with the Devils on July 1 after nine seasons with the Carolina Hurricanes, continues to be day to day as he continued to recover from surgery to repair a fractured fibula. He sustained the injury in the second period of Game 2 of the Eastern Conference First Round against the New York Islanders last season, won by the Hurricanes in five games.
"The status of both players remains the same," New Jersey coach Sheldon Keefe said. "They're just going to be continuing to work. Obviously they're dealing with different injuries, so they'll be able to do different things out there, but neither player is near a return at this point."
Neither player accompanied the Devils to Prague to open the NHL regular season. The Devils won back-to-back games against the Buffalo Sabres on Friday and Saturday at O2 Arena in the 2024 NHL Global Series Czechia presented by Fastenal.
Hughes led Devils defensemen with 47 points last season (nine goals, 38 assists) playing in all 82 games and was a finalist for the Calder Trophy as NHL Rookie of the Year. -- Mike G. Morreale
Colorado Avalanche
Rookie forwards Calum Ritchie, Nikolai Kovalenko and Ivan Ivan will start the season in the NHL.
Kovalenko and Ritchie are expected to play forward on either side of center Casey Mittelstadt on the second line when Colorado opens the regular season at the Vegas Golden Knights on Wednesday (10 p.m. ET; TNT, MAX). Ivan is expected to start on the fourth line with Parker Kelly and Joel Kiviranta.
“I like the fact that we've infused some new blood into the lineup, both young, developed guys or guys that were continuing to develop in like Ritchie, Ivan, Kovalenko, and then some new guys coming in that were pretty good in their roles on other teams,” Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said.
Ritchie, who was selected in the first round (No. 27) at the 2023 NHL Draft, signed a three-year, entry-level contract July 8. He had 80 points (28 goals, 52 assists) in 50 games with Oshawa of the Ontario Hockey League last season.
Kovalenko, a sixth-round pick (No. 171) by Colorado at the 2018 NHL Draft, signed a two-year, entry-level contract July 25, 2023. He made his NHL debut in the playoffs last season and was held without a point in two games.
Ivan signed a two-year contract as an undrafted free agent March 5. He had 31 points (12 goals, 19 assists) in 67 games with Colorado of the AHL last season.
Forward Artturi Lehkonen, who had shoulder surgery over the summer, still isn’t cleared for full contact. He’ll be reevaluated in late October.
Lehkonen had 34 points (16 goals, 18 assists) in 45 games with the Avalanche last season.
“He has a five-month check-in at the end of the month, and then we'll get word on how he can advance from there,” Bednar said. -- Ryan Boulding
Anaheim Ducks
The Ducks claimed James Reimer off waivers from the Buffalo Sabres on Monday.
The 36-year-old goalie signed a one-year, $1 million contract with the Sabres on July 2. He went 11-8-2 with a 3.11 goals-against average and .904 save percentage in 25 games (20 starts) with the Red Wings last season.
A fourth-round pick (No. 99) by the Toronto Maple Leafs at the 2006 NHL Draft, Reimer is 215-177-63 with a 2.88 GAA, a .910 save percentage and 30 shutouts in 501 regular-season games (458 starts) with the Maple Leafs, San Jose Sharks, Florida Panthers, Carolina Hurricanes and Red Wings, and 5-5 with a 2.70 GAA and .925 save percentage in 11 playoff games (10 starts).
Columbus Blue Jackets
The Blue Jackets claimed Zach Aston-Reese off waivers from the Vegas Golden Knights on Monday.
The 30-year-old forward was held without a point in three games with the Detroit Red Wings last season and had 30 points (14 goals, 16 assists) in 61 games with Grand Rapids of the AHL.
Aston-Reese had 80 points (42 goals, 38 assists) in 310 regular-season games with the Penguins, Ducks, Maple Leafs and Red Wings, and five points (two goals, three assists) in 29 playoff games.
