Ice Chips: Stolarz starts for Leafs; Woll battling lower-body injury
Keep updated on all the injury news and roster updates from around the NHL with daily Ice Chips.
Winnipeg Jets
Goaltender Connor Hellebuyck will get the start Wednesday night as the Jets open their season on the road against the Edmonton Oilers.
This comes two days after Hellebuyck missed Jets practice to deal with a personal matter. Head coach Scott Arniel told reporters Monday that Hellebuyck was still expected to get the start on opening night.
The reigning Vezina Trophy winner had a 2.39 goals-against average and .921 save percentage in 60 games last season.
The Athletic's Murat Ates reports either Kaapo Kähkönen or Eric Comrie will dress as the backup given that the Jets brought three goalies to Edmonton.
Here were Winnipeg's lines at their morning skate according to team reporter Mitchell Clinton:
Connor-Scheifele-Vilardi
Perfetti-Namestnikov-Ehlers
Niederreiter-Lowry-Appleton
Barron-Kupari-Iafallo
Gustafsson
Morrissey-DeMelo
Samberg-Pionk
Fleury-Miller
Coghlan
Hellebuyck
Vancouver Canucks
Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet told reporters there is a good chance forward Aatu Raty plays against the Calgary Flames Wednesday.
Tocchet also described Pius Suter as not 100 per cent and may sit.
Arturs Silovs gets the start in net.
Toronto Maple Leafs
Goaltender Joseph Woll is dealing with lower-body tightness and will not start in Wednesday's opener against the Montreal Canadiens, head coach Craig Berube told reporters.
“Woll experienced some lower-body tightness [on Tuesday]. It’s precautionary, so we’re going to keep him out tonight," Berube said.
Anthony Stolarz will instead get the nod for Toronto in net for the opener.
"He definitely takes up a lot of the net. It's pretty noticeable coming down & shooting on him. He's pretty good at reading the play, I find. When you think you have the opening he's kind of baiting you to shoot it there. He's a really smart goalie," teammate Auston Matthews said about Stolarz.
Berube added that Woll has not been ruled out from playing Thursday in New Jersey against the Devils on the back-to-back. Woll played in one preseason game over the weekend against the Detroit Red Wings.
Meanwhile, goaltender Dennis Hildeby has joined the Leafs in Montreal on an emergency basis.
The 23-year-old has yet to appear in an NHL game. He had a 2.41 goals-against average and .913 save percentage in 41 AHL games last season with the Toronto Marlies.
Edmonton Oilers
Raphael Lavoie is back with the Oilers. The organization claimed the 24-year-old forward off waivers from the Vegas Golden Knights on Wednesday.
On Monday, the Golden Knights claimed Lavoie off waivers from the Oilers, placing him back on waivers just 24 hours later.
Here were Edmonton's lines courtesy of TSN's Ryan Rishaug:
RNH-McDavid-Hyman
Skinner-Drai-Arvidsson
Janmark-Henrique-Brown
Podk-Ryan-Perry
Ekholm-Bouchard
Nurse-Emberson
Kulak-Dermott
Skinner
Buffalo Sabres
Forward JJ Peterka practised with the Buffalo Sabres Wednesday, four days after sustaining a concussion in Prague against the New Jersey Devils.
Peterka skated on his own Tuesday and head coach Lindy Ruff described him as day-to-day.
He was injured on an open-ice hit from New Jersey defenseman Brenden Dillon last Saturday.
Winger Zach Benson was also back at practice for Buffalo after sustaining a lower-body injury against the Devils.
Minnesota Wild
Forward Matt Boldy will be available to play in the Wild's opener against the Columbus Blue Jackets, reports NHL.com's Jessi Pierce.
Boldy suffered a lower-body injury earlier in camp and was originally considered week-to-week.
Meanwhile, Pierce reports that defenceman Jacob Middleton will also be available Thursday.
Pittsburgh Penguins
Defenceman Erik Karlsson said via Seth Rorabaugh of Tribune-Review Sports that he is good to go for the team's opener Wednesday against the New York Rangers.
Karlsson has dealt with an upper-body injury throughout training camp but maintained optimism he would be good to go for opening night.
Meanwhile, forward Bryan Rust (lower-body) will not play Wednesday night.
Calgary Flames
Dan Vladar gets the start in net Wednesday night against the Vancouver Canucks.
Vladar played in 20 games last season, recording a 3.62 goals-against average and a .882 save percentage.
Montreal Canadiens
The Canadiens have signed defenceman Gustav Lindstrom to a one-year two-way contract, it was announced Wednesday. The Habs said they are putting him on waivers for the purposes of assigning him to the AHL's Laval Rocket.
The 25-year-old appeared in 32 games last season with the Anaheim Ducks, tallying six assists.
Here were the lines at Wednesday's skate:
Caufield-Suzuki -Slafkovsky
Newhook-Dach-Armia
Barre-Boulet-Dvorak – Anderson
Heineman -Evans- Gallagher
Matheson-Guhle
Hutson-Savard
Xhekaj-Barron
Montembeault
Ottawa Senators
Here were the Senators' lines Wednesday morning:
Tkachuk-Stutzle-Giroux
Greig-Norris-Batherson
Perron-Pinto-Amadio
Gregor-Gaudette-Cousins
Extra: MacEwen
Sanderson-Zub
Chabot-Jensen
Kleven-Hamonic
Extra: Bernard-Docker
Ullmark
Forsberg
Nashville Predators
Predators goaltender Juuse Saros is day-to-day with a lower-body injury, reports Alex Daugherty of the Tennessean.
He is questionable for Thursday's opener against the Dallas Stars.
Meanwhile, the Preds have recalled 26-year-old goaltender Matt Murray from the AHL's Milwaukee Admirals, it was announced Wednesday.
Murray had a 14-15-2 record, 3.02 goals-against average, .896 save percentage and one shutout in 31 games for the AHL’s Texas Stars in 2023-24.
Los Angeles Kings
The Kings have recalled forward Andre Lee from the AHL's Ontario Reign, it was announced Wednesday.
Defenceman Drew Doughty was officially placed on the long-term injured reserve list. He is expected to be out month to month as he recovers from ankle surgery.
Goalie signings
Both Linus Ullmark and Joey Daccord agreed to long-term deals with their respective teams Wednesday.
The Senators and Ullmark struck a four-year, $33 million deal ($8.25 million AAV) while the Kraken and Daccord reached a five-year, $25 million agreement.
