Ice Chips: Tavares ready for season opener
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Toronto Maple Leafs
Per sources, Toronto Maple Leafs captain John Tavares will be ready for their season opener on Wednesday against the Montreal Canadiens.
Tavares suffered an oblique strain on Sept 27, and was originally given a three week timeline for recovery - but he has indicated he feels comfortable enough to play ahead of schedule.
The Leafs skated the following lines in their final practice of the pre-season ahead of their season-opening match against the Montreal Canadiens on Wednesday, per TSN Hockey Insider Mark Masters:
Bunting - Matthews - Marner
Nylander - Tavares - Malgin
Engvall - Kerfoot - Jarnkrok
Aston-Reese - Kampf - Aube-Kubel
Rielly - Brodie
Muzzin - Holl
Giordano - Sandin
Murray
Samsonov
Additionally, the power play units skating in practice looked as follows:
Vancouver Canucks
Per TSN's Farhan Lalji, both Brock Boeser and Quinn Hughes are ready to play in the Vancouver Canucks season opener against the Edmonton Oilers on Wednesday.
Boeser has been dealing with a hand/wrist problem this pre-season, but said "it's feeling pretty good and it's good enough to play so that's all that matters."
Hughes has been dealing with a non-COVID illness.
The Canucks have been skating these lines in pre-season practice:
Pearson-Miller-Boeser
Kuzmenko-Pettersson-Höglander
Podkolzin-Horvat-Garland
Joshua-Åman-Lazar
New Jersey Devils
Nico Hischier has joined the New Jersey Devils at practice for the first time this pre-season; the plan was to work him back slowly as he rehabs from a strained hamstring suffered on Sept 29.
The Devils' captain skated with the first line and was also seen skating with the top power play unit.
Calgary Flames
Speaking to reporters ahead of their season opener on Thursday, Calgary Flames head coach Darryl Sutter indicated it is unlikely the Flames announce a captain for this season, because there isn't a clear-cut candidate, per TSN Hockey Inside Salim Valji.
Mikael Backlund and Chris Tanev are being identified as co-captains for now.
Buffalo Sabres
Buffalo Sabres head coach Don Granato indicated that RW Kyle Okposo will be ready for the start of the season. He practiced in a non-contact sweater with the team on Tuesday.
Okposo left the Sabres' game against the Carolina Hurricanes on Oct 4 with an upper-body injury that was always thought to be a short-term issue.
The 34-year-old is in his seventh season with the Sabres, and he recorded 21 goals and 45 points in 74 games last season for the team.
He was originally drafted seventh overall by the New York Islanders in the 2007 NHL Entry Draft, and spent the first nine seasons of his NHL career with the team.
Edmonton Oilers
Defenceman Jason Demers was spotted skating with the Edmonton Oilers in practice on Tuesday, after being released from his professional try out on Monday. Sources have indicated he will stay with the team in the AHL on a new PTO this season.
Demers spent last season in the KHL, and his last appearance in the NHL was in 2020-21 for the Arizona Coyotes, where he amassed four assists in 41 games played.
He has a total of 45 goals and and 214 points across his 13-year NHL career; where he has played for the San Jose Sharks, Dallas Stars, Florida Panthers and the Coyotes.
Forward Kailer Yamamoto skated today, but it is still unclear whether he will be ready to play in the season opener on Wednesday.
Seattle Kraken
The Seattle Kraken have announced their regular season roster, which includes fourth-overall pick Shane Wright.