Metropolitan Notes: Crosby, Anderson, Buchnevich, Voracek

The Pittsburgh Penguins have been dealing with quite a few absences so far in training camp, but the team were without a big name as star Sidney Crosby missed practice Sunday after leaving the ice during the second period of Saturday’s team scrimmage. Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan declined after the scrimmage to comment on Crosby’s status due to the NHL’s new rules on withholding a player’s medical information during the coronavirus. However, TribLive’s Seth Rorabaugh writes that a team source said Crosby was being held out for precautionary measures due to an undisclosed ailment.

The team is already without a number of players for various reasons, including Patric Hornqvist, Anthony Angello, Adam Johnson, Sam Militec, Samuel Poulin, Phil Varone, Pierre-Olivier Joseph, Juuso Riikola and Alex D’Orio.

• The Columbus Blue Jackets announced that they have placed forward Josh Anderson on the team’s 34-man roster. The 26-year-old Anderson, who had 27 goals in the 2018-19 season, has been recovering from a shoulder injury in December and subsequent surgery in March, but with the delay in the season, could potentially return at some point during the playoffs if Columbus can stay in the playoffs for a bit. The Athletic’s Aaron Portzline writes that Anderson is expected to be left behind when the team travels to Toronto for the tournament, but Anderson could join them at some point.
• The New York Rangers were without forward Pavel Buchnevich for Sunday’s scrimmage after he left practice on Saturday, according to The Athletic’s Rick Carpiniello. No word on the reason for the absence as the team is not allowed to disclose injury information. Rookie Kaapo Kakko took Buchnevich’s place alongside Chris Kreider and Mika Zibanejad.
• Philadelphia Inquirer’s Ed Barkowitz writes that the Philadelphia Flyers got a boost Sunday when forward Jakub Voracek returned to practice after being held out. The 30-year-old forward sat out of practice Saturday. However, Voracek, returned to his usual spot on the first line during practice alongside Claude Giroux and Sean Couturier. The winger led the team in assists this season with 44. NHL.com’s Bill Meltzer reports that Voracek admitted that he was held out due to a inconclusive test report, which later came back negative.