Golden Knights winger Jonathan Marchessault is progressing well from his lower-body injury and is expected to skate today, notes David Schoen of the Las Vegas Review-Journal. However, in order to activate him off injured reserve in the coming days, the team would need to free up a roster spot and the only waiver-exempt skaters are center Vadim Shipachyov and winger Alex Tuch, both of whom have played well since being recalled so Vegas will soon have a difficult decision to make. Schoen also notes that center Erik Haula is set to start skating today as he continues to recover from his lower-body issue.
Other injury notes from around the league:
- Coyotes goaltender Antti Raanta is slated to skate today and will accompany the team on their upcoming five-game road trip, reports Sarah McLellan of the Arizona Republic. Raanta has made just three appearances this season as a result of multiple lower-body problems, including one that sidelined him for the preseason and the regular season opener. His current lower-body injury is not related to the one from last month, however.
- Ducks winger Patrick Eaves was sent to see a specialist on Friday as he continues to deal with a lingering lower-body injury that has resulted in him playing just twice this season, notes Eric Stephens of the Orange County Register. While he continues to be listed as day-to-day, the fact they’ve sent him to see a specialist would suggest that there’s a chance he could be out for a little longer than that.
- Blues defenseman Jay Bouwmeester hasn’t started skating since suffering a fractured ankle back in mid-September and Jeremy Rutherford of The Athletic (subscription required) suggests that a tendon issue may be causing the recovery to go longer than expected. There was no initial timetable given for how long he might be out of the lineup so it’s difficult to tell if he has suffered a setback. When healthy, the 34-year-old is a big part of their back end, logging over 22 minutes per game in each of his five seasons with the team.