The Avalanche could be close to getting a pair of veteran wingers back in their lineup. Evan Rawal of The Denver Gazette relays that Miles Wood and Jonathan Drouin both took part in practice today with a regular jersey, not a non-contact one. Wood has missed the last two weeks with an upper-body injury while Drouin sustained an upper-body injury in the season opener last month and hasn’t played since. Wood has struggled this season with just one goal in ten games while Drouin is coming off a career year that saw him record 56 points in 79 games. Head coach Jared Bednar was unsure about their availability for Wednesday but it appears they’re back soon; those two along with Valeri Nichushkin (returning on Friday) will give their forward group a sizable boost.
Elsewhere around the NHL:
- Golden Knights winger Victor Olofsson has turned a corner in his recovery, head coach Bruce Cassidy told reporters including Jesse Granger of The Athletic (Twitter link). However, he won’t suit up on their two-game road trip that begins on Wednesday. Olofsson has been dealing with a lower-body injury for the last four weeks, pausing what was a strong start to his first season with Vegas as he had three goals in his first four games.
- The Panthers announced (Twitter link) that forward Sam Bennett missed tonight’s game against New Jersey due to an upper-body injury. The 28-year-old is having a very strong start to his walk year, collecting nine goals and six assists through the first 15 games of the season, a pace that would have him easily eclipse his career bests of 28 tallies and 24 helpers respectively. The two sides reportedly began extension talks last month.
- Recently acquired winger Daniel Sprong has not yet reported to the Kraken as he works through visa issues, notes Kate Shefte of the Seattle Times (Twitter link). While he counts against their salary cap while waiting to be cleared, he is not currently taking up an active roster spot. Sprong has a goal and two assists in nine games this season, those coming with Vancouver before his trade last week.