The Nashville Predators have activated Thomas Novak off of injured reserve. The 26-year-old has been out of action since November 14th with an upper-body injury. Nashville’s head coach, Andrew Brunette, suggested that Novak could return soon, saying, “I think Novak, depending on when I go back and see how his [injury] has healed… if he feels better, I think he’ll go.”
Both Novak and Alexandre Carrier returned to the Predators’ practice on Thursday. Carrier is working back from an upper-body injury suffered on a hit from Minnesota’s Kirill Kaprizov.
Novak has appeared in 14 games with the Predators this season, scoring six goals and 12 points and recording six penalty minutes. Carrier has appeared in 22 games of his own, recording eight points and 12 penalty minutes. The Predators drafted Novak and Carrier with consecutive picks in the 2015 NHL Draft, taking Novak in the third round and Carrier in the fourth round. Carrier has scored 50 points through 166 career NHL games, while Novak has totaled 62 points in 92 games of his own.
Other injury notes from around the league:
- The New York Rangers have announced that Barclay Goodrow is day-to-day with an upper-body injury, after a puck struck him in the face. Chris Kreider is also day-to-day with a lower-body injury. Neither player participated in the team’s practice on Thursday. Neither player has missed a game, with the team currently on a three-day break. New York’s next game is against the Washington Capitals on Saturday.
- New York Islanders head coach Lane Lambert shared that Matt Martin is not entirely ready to return form his upper-body injury, despite being activated off of injured reserve. Martin has been out of action since November 15th, scoring two points in the 14 games he has appeared in this year.