The Oilers welcomed back one of their centers before their game tonight against Colorado, announcing (Twitter link) that Ryan McLeod was activated off LTIR. The 23-year-old missed four weeks with an upper-body injury and was retroactively shuffled to LTIR over the weekend. McLeod has put up nearly identical numbers compared to his rookie season, notching 11 goals and 11 assists in 55 games heading into tonight’s action although he got to those numbers in 16 fewer contests than a year ago.
Other injury news around the NHL:
- Prior to their game tonight against Chicago, the Penguins announced that they activated defenseman Dmitry Kulikov off LTIR. The 32-year-old was brought in from Anaheim at the trade deadline but suffered a lower-body injury in just his fourth game with his new team. Kulikov has 16 points, 107 blocks, and 93 hits in 65 games this season and suited up on the third pairing.
- The Blue Jackets announced (Twitter link) that center Boone Jenner is listed as day-to-day with an upper-body injury. He took the pregame warmup but was a late scratch. Jenner has had a nice season, notching 26 goals, the second-highest total of his career while winning nearly 55% of his faceoffs. While it would be easy to say Columbus should shut him down for their final two games after tonight, their AHL affiliate is currently one point out of a playoff spot and keeping Jenner out would result in Cleveland losing another player to recall, hurting their postseason chances.
- Sharks defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic did not accompany the team on their season-ending road trip, notes Curtis Pashelka of The Mercury News, meaning his campaign has come to an early end. The 36-year-old suffered a lower-body injury in their home finale against Edmonton over the weekend. Vlasic saw his playing time increase by more than two minutes per game this season to 17:28 but with a $7MM AAV for three more years after this one, San Jose still didn’t get a great return on this contract this season.
- The Red Wings announced (Twitter link) that center Dylan Larkin is dealing with a lower-body injury, keeping him out of the lineup tonight against Carolina. The captain is averaging a point per game for the first time, collecting 32 goals and 47 assists in 79 games. His absence created the emergency conditions to bring up Danny O’Regan earlier today although they opted to play seven defensemen instead.