The Sabres will welcome back Ryan McLeod back to their lineup on Saturday. Team reporter Jourdan LaBarber indicates that the center will be activated and return after missing just three games with what was described as a nagging upper-body injury. The 25-year-old is in his first season with Buffalo since being acquired from Edmonton over the summer and has fared pretty well, notching 10 goals and 15 assists in 45 games while winning over 52% of his draws. He’ll likely line up on the second line against his former team. Buffalo has a full roster at the moment so they will need to make a corresponding roster move in order to officially activate McLeod before the game.
Elsewhere around the NHL:
- The Flames have been one of the biggest surprises around the league this season. Expected to struggle by many, they instead find themselves in the second Wild Card spot in the West. Despite their success, GM Craig Conroy acknowledged to Sportsnet’s Eric Francis that there have not been any discussions on an extension for head coach Ryan Huska yet. He’s in the second season of a three-year deal and with coaches rarely working with only one year left on their contracts, this sounds like something that will get done by the summer at the latest.
- While Devils center Jack Hughes was held out of practice today, it appears he won’t miss any game action. Team reporter Amanda Stein relays (Twitter link) that Hughes is dealing with a swollen finger so they opted not to take the risk of infection by putting his glove on for a practice. However, he is expected to play on Saturday against Montreal. Hughes leads New Jersey with 56 points in 50 games and is tied for the team lead in assists (38) with Jesper Bratt.
- Still with the Devils, while Isaac Poulter was recalled earlier today to serve as the interim backup to Jake Allen, it doesn’t appear as if he’ll be up for too long. Head coach Sheldon Keefe told reporters including James Nichols of New Jersey Hockey Now that the plan is for Nico Daws to play with AHL Utica over the weekend and then be recalled. Daws has been limited to just two appearances in the last four weeks due to injury so the extra game action is needed before he can be considered to suit up in New Jersey when Allen needs a night off.