NHL Hockey Player News

After the brief rest, Stamkos returned to the ice last week along with the rest of his non-Olympian teammates looking as good as ever 14 weeks after suffering a broken right tibia. Though he pushed hard to be ready to return before the break and represent Canada at the Olympics, a CT scan performed on Feb. 5 revealed the bone was not quite healed enough to clear his return. "It did feel good (on Feb. 5), but it feels even better now," Stamkos said. "Maybe I wasn't as far along as I thought, knowing how much better it has felt now that I have kept working on it and taking a couple of days off. It's just going to continually get better, and that's positive knowing it's doing that.''

Weiss has been skating for several weeks but isn’t ready for the fast pace, high intensity and full contact of a game, so he did not play with the Griffins on Sunday, as was originally planned. “I practiced twice last week with the (Plymouth) Whalers and three times (this week) with the (Red Wings), so I’m starting to feel really good but it hasn’t been that much practice time,” Weiss said. Weiss didn’t rule out being cleared for the first game following the Olympic break, Wednesday at Montreal. “That’s what we’re shooting for,” Weiss said. “Obviously, that’s not going to be my decision. I might still have to play a game or two (in Grand Rapids) next week. By then I’ll be more ready to play a game.”

Franzen has missed 23 of the last 24 games with a concussion. He returned for a single game on January 26 vs. Florida, but missed the next six games with lingering concussion-like symptoms. Getting Franzen back would be huge for the Red Wings who will be without Henrik Zetterberg for the next eight weeks.

Tyutin, 30, has four goals and 20 assists with 30 penalty minutes and a plus-6 rating in 53 games with the Blue Jackets this season. Tyutin had four penalty minutes and was plus-1 in five games at this year's Olympics. Tim Erixon will likely be recalled and fill-in for Tyutin on Thursday.

Gaborik has been out since December 21 with a broken collarbone. It was his first game back after missing five weeks with a knee injury and he was injured once again. The injuries have limited him to just 18 games this season, but the Olympic break allowed him to get healthy without missing anymore time. There is no word as to where he will slot into the lineup and who will get demoted, however he will likely land on a line with Artem Anisimov as his pivot. Gabo has five goals and seven assists (12 points) in 18 games.

Johnson was suspended for slashing New York Islanders forward Frans Nielsen during the Avs contest on Saturday, February 8. The incident occurred at 12:09 of the third period. Johnson was assessed a minor penalty for slashing. The slash resulted in a broken hand for Nielsen. Ryan Wilson will slide into the lineup for Johnson.

Varalmov allowed three goals on 15 shots before being yanked in Russia's loss to Finland on Wednesday. He finished the tournament 2-1-0 while allowing five goals on 56 shots (.911 SV%). While Russia had a disappointing Olympic performance, Varly will look to continue his great NHL season on Friday. He enters play at 28-11-5 with a 2.48 GAA and .924 SV% on the season.

Giguere stopped 30 of 32 shots in a win over the Islanders in the Avs' last game before the Olympic break. He has won each of his last two starts and sits with a 9-4-0 record, 2.44 GAA and .918 SV% on the season. Wednesday will mark just his fourth home start of the season, he is 2-1-0 in his first three.

There is no timetable for Barkov's return, but with only two months left in the regular season, he is expected to miss multiple weeks, his fantasy value heading forward is extremely limited. He has been excellent posting eight goals and 16 assists (24 points) in 54 games this season. In deep keeper leagues and dynasty leagues, Barkov appears to have great value and a bright future. Nick Bjugstad, the Panthers' other impressive rookie center, appears set to fill-in for Barkov and center the line with Sean Bergenheim and Brad Boyes.

Couture confirmed that only an unexpected occurrence would keep him out of the Sharks’ next game, on Thursday against the Flyers. Couture missed the last 16 games with a right hand injury, and he still wraps it for practice. He hurt himself on December 19 in Los Angeles, played through it for nearly three weeks, and eventually had surgery on January 8. “I’m ready to go in three or four days, whatever it is. Feels good as its felt in three months,” he said. Couture has 14 goals, 21 assists (35 points) and a plus-13 rating in 43 games this season.

With John Tavares out for the rest of the season, Nielsen is expected to become the Islanders top centre, however they will be without him as well until he fully recovers from a broken hand. Nielsen should be back by this time next week.

Hejduk was selected 87th overall by the Quebec Nordiques in 1994. He did not play in the NHL until the 1998-99 season. He spent his entire 14-year NHL career with the Colorado Avalanche, totalling 375 goals and 430 assists (805 points) in 1020 career regular season games. He was a three-time All-Star and was the 2002-03 Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy winner for most regular season goals with 50. He had 76 career playoff points (34G / 42A) and won one Stanley Cup in 2000-01.

It’s believed that Zetterberg will need eight weeks to recover, which means he could return during the first round of the playoffs, if the Red Wings qualify. Zetterberg, will be placed on long-term injured reserve. Zetterberg has been plagued by back issues for several years. He missed 11 games in December due to a slightly herniated disc. The issue caused him to sit out two more games in January. He played just one game for Sweden in the Olympics before withdrawing last Friday due to severe back pain, which he said was "20 times worse" than anything he'd ever experienced.

McCormick has not played since December 14 because of a broken finger that he suffered vs. the Flames. He has one goal and four assists in 25 games this season, while averaging only 8:09 TOI per game.

Myers missed the Sabres last two games before the Olympic break with a knee injury that he suffered on February 3 vs. Edmonton. Myers has just one assist with an ugly minus-11 in his last eight games. He should see his regular 20-plus minutes in his return on Tuesday.

Moulson missed the last four games before the Olympic break with an upper-body injury. Since being traded to Buffalo from New York, Moulson has tallied nine goals and 15 assists (24 points) in 40 games. Moulson remains a topic of trade rumours as the trade deadline draws near. Being dealt from a low-scoring Sabres team to a playoff contender should help boost his fantasy numbers.

Miller only started one game in Sochi en route to a fourth place finish for the Americans. He stopped 17 of 18 shots in a 5-1 win over Slovenia in the final game of the preliminary round. Before leaving for the Olympics, Miller allowed five goals in each of his last two starts. On Tuesday he will face the Hurricanes for the first time this season, he is 14-22-3 with a 2.74 GAA and .923 SV% on the season.

McQuaid hasn't played since January 19, when he left the Bruins' shootout loss against the Blackhawks. He was termed day-to-day at the time, but the days have turned into over a month at this point. Since the team got back to work, McQuaid has been on the ice with his teammates. Taking proper caution, the team didn't want him skating during the break because they wanted to be able to monitor his progress. Skating for the third straight day, McQuaid said that he continues to progress. The Bruins' third-pairing blueliner has missed a combined 27 games this season due to multiple lower-body injuries, further building his reputation as something of an injury-prone player.

Fasth was injured in pre-game warmups on November 22nd and has not played since. Fasth started for Norfolk on the weekend, it was his first game action since November 18. With the emergence of Frederik Andersen in his absence, Fasth has become a potential trade target for teams who are in need of adding goaltending depth.

Lundqvist is 5-0 with a 1.20 GAA,.952 SV% and two shutouts heading into the gold medal showdown with Canada. Canada looked dominant against the Americans so Lundqvist will need to be as good as he has ever been for Sweden to win gold.