San Jose Sharks News

Orlov was among four Capitals added to the COVID-19 protocol list on Wednesday after it was determined they were in a hotel room together during the team's recent road trip. "Right now the players are in quarantine and, at this point, I believe it's four games and then under review and so we'll go from there," head coach Peter Laviolette said. In addition to Orlov, Alex Ovechkin, Evgeny Kuznetsov and Ilya Samsonov are all expected to be out as well.

Thornton was hurt early in the third period of Wednesday's loss to the Oilers and did not return. Thornton was not on the ice for Thursday's practice and is scheduled to undergo an MRI. Early indications are that Thornton is going to miss some time. Look for Jimmy Vesey to skate with Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner on Friday.

Grundstrom sat as a healthy scratch in the first two games but will replace Matt Luff (undisclosed) in the lineup on Tuesday. Grundstrom had five goals and eight assists (13 points) in 18 games with Bjorkloven IF (SHL) during his COVID-loan.

White, who played most of last season as the Senators' No.1 centre, has plummeted down the depth chart during training camp. According to head coach DJ Smith, there are "four centres ahead of him that had good camps." Those four centres are Josh Norris, newcomer Derek Stepan, Chris Tierney and Artem Anisimov.

Wennberg was bought out by the Blue Jackets yesterday but signed a one-year "show me" deal with the Panthers. In Florida, Wennberg has a perfect opportunity to serve as their second line centre and get back to his point producing ways. He has not topped 30 points in two straight seasons but registered a career-high 59 points (13G / 46A) in 2017.

Nutivaara has two years left at $2.7M AAV and should immediately slide into the Panthers' top-4. Nutivaara will likely replace Josh Brown, who was traded to Ottawa Keith Yandle's partner. He was in-and-out of the lineup in 2020, playing just 37games. Over the last three seasons, he's averaged seven goals and 18 assists (25 points) per 82 games, so there is some offence there.

Wennberg had three years left on a six-year deal that carried a $4.9M AAV cap hit. The former No.14 overall pick (2013) had struggled since posting 59 points in 2017, averaging just five goals and 22 assists (27 points) over the last three seasons. Still, he has enough skill to be a No.2 centre for a team in need and a good enough two-way game to be a third line centre for a team with better depth.

Toffoli was hurt in the first game of the qualifying round vs. the Wild and has not skated with his teammates since. Toffoli is still unfit to play, so don't expect to see him in Game 1 on Wednesday.

Lindblom is expected to start practicing with his teammates once his quarantine is over and could return in the second or third round if the Flyers advance that far. This is obviously fantastic news for the 23-year-old, who was diagnosed with Ewing’s sarcoma back in mid-December.