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Nashville Predators News

Forsberg skating with Mike Ribeiro and James Neal.

Forsberg scored his first goal of the season last night and has now recorded at least one point in the first three games of the season. He has one goal and three assists so far and should only continue to produce on the Predators top line with Ribeiro and Neal, who could use a jump-start (1G between the two of them). Forsberg is only owned in 19% of Yahoo! leagues and is definitely worth taking a look at in 12-team leagues.

Filip Forsberg
The Avalanche and Ryan O'Reilly avoid arbitration agreeing to terms on a two-year deal worth $12 million.

The Avalanche and O'Reilly have been working on a deal for awhile, and while it wasn't the long-term deal that O'Reilly was seeking, but the $6 million per year, is a huge raise for the 23-year-old. He had a great 2013-14 season, posting 28 goals and 36 assists (54 points) in 80 games. The most impressive thing for O'Reilly was he only took one minor penalty in the entire season. He will play a big role in the Avs' top-6 this season, where he will shoot for his first 30-goal season.

Ryan O'Reilly
Stamkos (leg) has been cleared to play and will be back in the lineup Thursday.

Stamkos has missed 45 games with fractured right tibia but his long awaited return will come on Thursday against the Sabres. This has to feel like the best trade deadline acquisition for the Lightning. Stamkos was excellent before getting hurt. He scored 14 goals and nine assists (23 points) in 17 games. He is a tremendous athlete and will probably be able to pick-up right where he left off.

Steven Stamkos
Stamkos (leg) hopes the full clearance will come on Monday when he has his next round of X-rays to determine if he will be able to return to the lineup on Thursday in Nashville.

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.''

Steven Stamkos
Stamkos will not be able to participate in the 2014 Winter Olympic Games. Stamkos underwent a CT Scan (which offers a three-dimensional view of the bone) this afternoon and then met with Lightning Medical Director Ira Gutentag, who was unable to clear Stamkos for game participation at this time. Rehabilitation with the Lightning training staff will continue and he will be reevaluated in 2-3 weeks.

Stamkos fractured his right tibia on November 11 in a game against the Boston Bruins and he subsequently had surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital to place a titanium rod in the tibia. He has missed 39 regular season games to this point. "Today is obviously very disappointing for me," Stamkos said. "I honestly believe that we did everything possible in order to have my injured leg ready in time for the Olympics, but I realize you can't force healing.

Steven Stamkos
All news on Steven Stamkos' 10-week X-ray (yesterday) believed to be very encouraging. He'll continue to ramp up on and off ice workouts.

It all depends how Stamkos responds to an increased workload. Stamkos is expected to begin 'light' contact on Saturday. So far things are trending in the right direction for Stammer to be ready for Sochi 2014.

Steven Stamkos
The Predators have reassigned Filip Forsberg to Milwaukee (AHL).

Forsberg was named MVP, Best Forward and a media all-star at the 2014 World Junior Championships, helping the host nation to a silver medal, his third time placing at the tournament. He has posted five points (1G / 4A) in 12 games with Nashville, and eight points (3G / 5A) in seven games with Milwaukee (AHL).

Filip Forsberg
The Predators have recalled Filip Forsberg from Milwaukee (AHL).

Forsberg had been loaned to team Sweden for the World Junior Championships, where he scored four goals and added eight helpers (12 points) in seven games, earning MVP honours. With Patric Hornqvist potentially out tonight, Forsberg would likely slide right back into the Predators lineup. He has one goal and four assists with a minus-8 rating in 12 games.

Filip Forsberg
Ryan O’Reilly might miss Thursday’s game against Ottawa because of a bizarre shoulder injury he suffered in celebrating a goal Tuesday night.

O’Reilly hurt his left shoulder while celebrating the Avs’ third goal, by Paul Stastny. Essentially, he got it jammed while extending his left arm into the group hug. The Avs say he is day-to-day, so we’ll see tomorrow if he plays or not against Ottawa

Ryan O'Reilly
Stamkos (leg) skated today with a no-contact jersey.

Stamkos continues to skate as he works his way back from a broken tibia that he suffered on November 11. His recovery to this point has been extremely promising and impressive as he works his way back for early February and the Sochi Winter Olympics. He had 14 goals and 25 points in 17 games prior to breaking his leg.

Steven Stamkos