
NHL Scratches & Line Changes

Marleau was sitting, waiting for a contract before inking a one-year deal with the Sharks late last night. He was at Wednesday’s practice skating on the top line with Logan Couture and Timo Meier, so he could have some punt value in daily contests. He had 16 goals on 161 shots (9.9 SH%) and 21 assists (37 points) in 82 games a season ago.

Deslauriers made his season debut on Saturday, playing 11:06 TOI and getting into a fight with Brendan Dillon. He will be replaced on the Ducks fourth line by Nick Ritchie.

Ritchie was a healthy scratch vs. the Sharks on Saturday but is expected to replace Nicolas Deslauriers in the lineup in Detroit. Ritchie started the year on the top-line but is expected to skate on the fourth line tonight.

Hamhuis was a minus-3 with two shots while playing 14:21 ATOI in the first two games of the season. Tonight he will be replaced by Matt Irwin on the Predators third pair.

Irwin was a healthy scratch in the first two games of the season but is expected to replace Dan Hamhuis on Tuesday. Irwin has found a home as the Predators seventh defenseman, appearing in 50 and 44 games over the last two seasons.

Wagner had three shots in 10:34 TOI in the season opener but is expected to be scratched in favour of Carl Grundstrom on Tuesday.

Grundstrom was a healthy scratch in the Kings season opener but is expected to replace Austin Wagner tonight in Calgary. Grundstrom, who had five goals and one assist in 15 games with the Kings last season, is expected to skate on the third line with Blake Lizotte and Tyler Toffoli.

Rodrigues has been a healthy scratch for the first three games of the regular season but will draw into the lineup on Wednesday. With Conor Sheary day-to-day with an upper-body injury, Rodrigues will skate on the third line with Casey Mittelstadt and Jimmy Vesey.

Gurianov had a chance to showcase that he was ready for the NHL and struggled, failing to record a point while playing 9:19 ATOI in the first three games of the season. Joel L’Esperance will replace him in the lineup.

L’Esperance will make his season debut tonight in Washington. The 24-year-old spent most of his 2018-19 season in Texas (AHL) where he scored 30 goals and 15 assists (45 points) in 54 games. L’Esperance will skate on the third line with Radek Faksa and Andrew Cogliano.

Kane will make his season debut in Nashville and is expected to be on the second line with Tomas Hertl and Kevin Labanc. Kane had 30 goals and 26 assists (56 points) in 75 games last season.

Dowd averaged 10:22 TOI/gm through the first three games of the season but did not record a shot or point. Dowd will be replaced by Evgeny Kuznetsov, who will make his season debut after serving his three-game suspension.

After serving his three-game suspension, Kuznetsov will draw into the Capitals lineup vs. Dallas. Kuznetsov will start on the third line with Carl Hagelin and Richard Panik and will return to the top power-play unit. The 27-year-old had 21 goals and 51 assists (72 points0 in 76 games last season.

Cave has not recorded a point or shot while posting a minus-2 rating in his first two games of the season. Riley Sheahan will replace him vs. the Islanders.

Bowey sat as a healthy scratch in the first two games but will replace Trevor Daley (lower-body) in the lineup on Tuesday. After being acquired from the Capitals last season, Bowey had four points (1G / 3A) in 17 games with the Red Wings.

Boychuk has failed to record a point with two shots on goal while playing 19:53 ATOI in the first two games of the season. Rookie Noah Dobson will replace Boychuk on the third pairing.

Dobson was the No.12 overall pick in 2018 and is set to replace Johnny Boychuk on the third pairing on Tuesday. The 6-foot-4, 184 lbs. rookie defenseman had 15 goals and 37 assists (52 points) in 56 QMJHL games last season.

Backes sat as a healthy scratch in Arizona on Saturday but is expected to be back on the fourth line with Sean Kuraly and Chris Wagner. Backes had three shots in 10:45 TOI in his season debut.

Marincin has not recorded a point while averaging 11:00 TOI/gm through two games. Justin Holl will draw in for Marincin on Monday.
