Ellis was in the Predators morning skate, but the Predators will evaluate him this afternoon before making a decision on his status for tonight’s game. Ellis has missed the last three games while the Predators take things slow with his return.
The Predators said they want to be cautious with Ellis, which is why he was held out of Saturday’s game and why he will not play tonight vs. the Devils. He remains day-to-day until the Predators believe he is 100%.
Cole, 26, will be a restricted free agent in the offseason. He has the size to be a good defensive defenseman but has shown a little bit of offensive acumen as well. He had nine points (4G / 5A), a plus-16 rating, 42 hits and 63 blocked shots in 54 games this season.
Cole was a healthy scratch on Tuesday, but will be back in tonight for Chris Butler. He has on goal and two assists in his last six games.
Ellis played just 11:29 in his return to the lineup on Thursday. He said he was 100%, but being scratched this afternoon suggests that he might have re-aggregated that lower-body injury.
Ellis practiced yesterday and skated with Seth Jones in today’s morning skate, so it looks like he could be back in the lineup tonight. There is no official word on his status, but expect coach Laviolette to update Ellis’ status shortly.
This is even longer than the original reports, but with the playoffs starting in seven weeks, Kane’s season appears to be over. This is a terrible break for a player who was trying to become the first American born player to win the scoring title. This will put a lot of weight Kris Versteeg and Patrick Sharp to put the puck in the net.
Kane suffered a “significant” upper-body injury in Tuesday’s game against the Panthers. There has been no official word on exactly how long he will be sidelined, but his movement to LTIR means that he will miss a minimum of 10 games or 24 days. He is expected to be sidelined for longer than that, but we will wait for the official timeline from the team.
After losing Patrick Kane for what could be the remainder of the season, the Hawks made their first move to try and replace that hole, by recalling Teravainen. The 20-year-old has two goals and two assists in 15 games with the Blackhawks this season. While in Rockford, he has 25 points (6G / 19A) in 39 games.
Kane crashed shoulder first into the boards after being pushed from behind by Panthers defenseman Alex Petrovic. Kane immediately left the ice and did not return. There is speculation that Kane could miss more than a month with a clavicle injury, but the Blackhawks have not released an official injury update. Kane was tied for the league lead in points and is irreplaceable. However, a if he misses significant time, Patrick Sharp will be leaned on more heavily to produce offensively.
Predators GM David Poile said he expected to have Ellis back in the lineup in the last week of February or the first week of March. Ellis, who has been out since January 8th, has taken a little longer than expected, but he is finally making some progress according to Poile. With the addition of Cody Franson over the weekend, the Predators blue line is going to look really scary when Ellis returns.
Ellis has been sidelined with a lower-body injury since January 8th. His return to the Predators morning skate is a good sign that he is progressing well and close to being back in the lineup.
With Kris Versteeg back in the lineup, Teravainen was a healthy scratch on Wednesday. The 20-year-old had two goals and two assists in 15 games during his recall. He returns to the AHL where he has tallied six goals and 17 assists (23 points) in 33 games.
Ellis did not participate in the Predators morning skate, but he skated alone prior to the team’s practice session. Ellis has been sidelined since January 8th and will likely miss another week before returning.
Pouliot, 21, has one goal and two assists in seven games with the Penguins this season. While in WBS he has 21 points (7G / 14A) in 25 games. His recall suggests that he will play tonight if Kris Letang (head) can’t go.
Ellis was injured in Thursday’s game vs. the Stars and will miss at least the next five games. He will be re-evaluated after the All-Star break and then a more detailed timeline will be released. The Predators did not recall a defenseman from Milwaukee for today’s game, so Anton Volchenkov must be ready to return.
Ellis left after playing just 11:16 TOI and did not return. Ellis had been playing really well, having registered two goals and three assists in his previous three games—5G / 13A, plus-12 in 40 games this season. If Ellis misses an extended period of time, it could open the door for veteran Ian White to make it back to the NHL.
Teravainen, 20, has six goals and 17 assists in 33 games with the IceHogs this season. After a slow start as he adapted to the North American style of play (particularly the dump-and-chase style of the AHL), he had three goals and seven assists in his last 10 games.
Pouliot, who was recalled this morning, will be in the lineup tonight vs. the Panthers. He will be paired with Rob Scuderi and will likely see power-play time. Pouliot has seven goals and 13 assists (20 points) in 23 games with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton this season.
Pouliot, 20, was the Penguins first round pick (8th overall) in the 2012 NHL Draft. The young blue liner has 20 points (7G / 13A) in 23 games in his first season with WBS. Christian Ehrhoff was injured on Thursday, so Pouliot could make his NHL debut tonight.
