The Lightning will welcome back an important part of their defense corps on Sunday. Eduardo A. Encina of the Tampa Bay Times relays that J.J. Moser will be back in the lineup against Seattle after missing two-and-a-half months with a lower-body injury. The 24-year-old was an important part of the return for Tampa Bay in the Mikhail Sergachev trade from the draft and had 10 points in 27 games before the injury while averaging nearly 20 minutes per night of playing time. Moser was technically activated off IR before the break but the team elected to scratch him for their last game instead to give him more time to recover.
Elsewhere around the NHL:
- While Capitals defenseman Jakob Chychrun made it known last month that he’s open to signing a contract extension with Washington, he told reporters including Sammi Silber of The Hockey News (Twitter link) that there haven’t been any extension discussions since before the break. The 26-year-old has been a great addition for Washington, already notching 14 goals and 21 assists through 50 games while logging 21 minutes a night. He’s well on his way to earning a sizable raise on his current $4.6MM price tag but it doesn’t appear a new deal is coming in the near future.
- San Jose will get a key veteran center back for their upcoming seven-game road trip as Alexander Wennberg told reporters including Curtis Pashelka of The Mercury News (Twitter link) that he’ll be ready to return on Sunday. The 30-year-old has 23 points in 52 games for the Sharks this season and suffered an upper-body injury late last month.
- The Kraken have changed up their backup goalie. The team announced (Twitter link) that they’ve recalled Ales Stezka from AHL Coachella Valley and reassigned Victor Ostman to ECHL Kansas City, reversing the move made before the 4 Nations break. Stezka has been Seattle’s backup as of late after Philipp Grubauer was assigned to the Firebirds but has yet to make his NHL debut. He has a 2.99 GAA with a .902 SV% in 25 games this season. Ostman, meanwhile, is in his first full professional season after signing with Seattle as a college free agent last spring. He has played exclusively with the Mavericks, putting up a 2.44 GAA and a .905 SV% in 29 appearances.
Glad to get J.J. Moser back in the lineup as he was having a solid start up til his injury. He’s a solidified defenseman & has really good chemistry with Victor Hedman. Moser will only elevate Tampa’s Defense moving forward here.
HUGE. i can’t believe they didn’t lose more ground in the standings while he was out. he’s been fantastic and the depth wasn’t great. need that chemistry back.