Fontaine appeared to suffer an injury on a knee-on-knee collision with David Clarkson last week. Originally the Wild didn’t believe the injury was serious, but now he is expected to miss the season opener and could miss a few weeks.
Seabrook, 30, was drafted 14th overall in 2003 and is now signed through the 2023-24 season. The 6-foot-3, 218 lbs. defensemen is on of the steadiest blueliners in the NHL. He has only missed 10 games over the last nine seasons and has averaged eight goals and 27 assists (35 points) per 82 games throughout his career.
Raymond was reportedly injured while blocking a shot in Saturday’s preseason game in Vancouver. Raymond did not participate in Flames’ practice on Monday, but was able to skate by himself after the session. His status for the Flames’ season opener is unclear.
Chara suffered an upper-body injury last Thursday, but returned to the ice this morning. He was unable to join his team for full practice, but he did skate by himself which is an encouraging sign for Bruins’ fans and Chara owners. He is progressing towards and appearance in the Bruins’ season opener, but continue to monitor his status throughout the next week.
Gorges injury is not related to the knee he had surgery on, which is good news for the veteran defenseman, however the injury could still force him to miss regular season time. Gorges joins Zach Bogosian as injured Sabres’ defensemen who could miss the season opener. Those are both big losses for a young Buffalo team. Cody Franson and Rasmus Ristolainen will likely be leaned on to shoulder the load while Gorges and Bogosian recover.
Bogosian has had an incredibly difficult time staying healthy throughout his career. He missed 20 games last season and a combined 96 games over the last three seasons. He played massive minutes (26:34 TOI/GM) with the Sabres last year and is expected to be leaned o heavily this year. His absence means the Sabres will lead to increased roles for the likes of Rasmus Ristolainen and Cody Franson.
Ristolainen missed the start of camp because of an upper-body injury, but participated in practice on Monday and will play on Tuesday. The 20-year-old blueliner had 20 points (8G / 12A) in 78 games with the Sabres last year. He will be a key member of Buffalo’s backend this season and for many years to come.
In his first season in Tampa Bay, Stralman averaged 2:28 PP/TOI per game, which was way up from the 0:45 PP/TOI he averaged in three years with New York—the increased playing time resulted in 14 PPP (2G / 12A) after he had just four PPP in the previous three seasons. Stralman is once again working with the first PP-unit to start the 2015-16 season, so it looks like the Lightning plan to use him in the same way as last year. He had a career high 39 points (9G / 30A) a season ago.
Poulin, 25, spent the last four years with the Islanders organization after being drafted by them in the fifth round of the 2008 Entry Draft. During that span, Poulin was 18-25-3 with a 3.07 GAA and .899 SV% at the NHL level. Claiming him and cutting Ray Emery likely puts Poulin in as Ben Bishop’s backup to start the season while Andrei Vasilevskiy recovers from a blood clot.
Boyes, 33, spent the last two seasons in Florida, where he collected 35 goals and 39 assists (74 points) in 156 games. Boyes was one of a few players who were brought into Maple Leafs training camp on PTO’s but was the only one to receive a contract. Boyes will battle with Michael Grabner, P.A Parenteau and Richard Panik for playing time in the Leafs’ top six.
The Bruins blueline is starting to fall apart before the season even arrives. It was already looking relatively thin after the Dougie Hamilton trade, but then Dennis Seidenberg had back surgery and Chara has gone down. There is no word on the severity of Chara’s injury, but the Bruins can not afford to lose their big defenseman for any period of time.
Datsyuk is still recovering after undergoing offseason ankle surgery. He met with his doctor on Thursday who gave him the green light to resume skating next week. Datsyuk will miss the start of the regular season, but should be back by early November.
Zuccarello will play in his first game since April 24th after suffering a skull fracture. Zuccarello had 15 goals and 34 assists (49 points) in 78 games and two assists in five playoff games before he suffered the injury. The 28-year-0ld has been a consistent point producer over the last two seasons and should approach 50 points again this season.
Franzen has been out since January 6th because of concussion issues. Franzen said he never considered retirement and he is excited to get back on the ice tonight. When he is healthy, Franzen is a quality goal scorer, but he is a huge injury risk heading into the 2015-16 fantasy season.
Pacioretty has sat out training camp and the preseason to this point, but his knee injury has gotten to a point where the doctors were able to clear him for practice. This is a big step in Pacioretty’s road to being ready for the first game of the season on October 7th.
Arizona is trying to replace Keith Yandle on the power-play after trading him to New York last March. Bodega has never played the point in the NHL, but used to play there alongside Oliver Edman-Larsson when they were both in the AHL. Boedker could be a good fit on the blueline and it could lead to more power-play points for the 25-year-old.
Said had his 2014-15 season cut short when he underwent neck surgery. He is in training camp with the Flames, but has yet to be cleared for full contact. He was cleared for some light bumping which is a good step in his recovery. The Flames will see how he responds to light contact before giving him full clearance.
This is a tough break for Brodie and the Flames to start the season. If he misses just three weeks, he would only miss the first week of the season, but there is a chance he could be sidelined until the first week of November. With Brodie out, the Flames will have to find someone to fill in—Tyler Wotherspoon and Jakub Nakladal are likely the front runners.
Higgins suffered the injury while blocking a shot in Monday’s preseason game. This injury could open the door for the Canucks to give Brendan Gaunce a look for the first week or two of the season.
After trading Dougie Hamilton this summer, the Bruins were already coming in with a weaker blueline than last season and now Seidenberg will be out of commission until late-November. Seidenberg had 14 points (3G / 11A) in 82 games with the Bruins last season. Seidenberg's injury could open the door for 22-year-old Colin Miller to make the opening day roster.
