What we learned on Day 1 of NHL Training Camp 2.0 (Eastern Conference)
Monday was Day 1 of the NHL’s Return to Play program with all 24 teams taking to the ice to begin their summer training camps.
Below I have listed everything that I learned today for each team in the Eastern Conference, including lines and pairings.
Opting Out
- – Steven Kampfer (BOS)
– Travis Hamonic (CGY)
– Roman Polak (DAL)
– Mike Green (EDM)
– Karl Alzner (MTL)
– Sven Baertschi (VAN).
Eastern Conference
Boston Bruins
Marchand – Bergeron – Kuhlman DeBrusk – Krejci – Bjork N. Ritchie – Coyle – Kuraly Nordstrom – Lindholm – Wagner |
Chara – McAvoy Krug – Carlo Grzelcyk – Lauzon |
- – @David Pastrnak and @Ondrej Kase missed the Bruins first one-ice session. The two Europeans are likely finishing up their quarantines and should be on the ice soon.
- – Pastrnak will replace Kuhlman on L1 and Kase will most likely skate for Bjork or Ritchie in the middle-6.
- – Head coach Bruce Cassidy called Bjork “terrific” and “maybe the best player on the ice.”
Carolina Hurricanes
Svechnikov – Aho – Teravainen McGinn – Staal – Williams Dzingel – Trocheck – Niederreiter Foegele – Martinook – Geekie |
Slavin – Hamlin Skjei – Vatanen Gardiner – van Riemsdyk Fleury – Edmundson |
- – @Dougie Hamilton (leg) was on the ice for Day 1. Head coach Rod Brind’Amour called Hamilton “a big wild card for us” and having him at “80 or 90 percent would be a big boost.”
– @Martin Necas missed the practice but the Hurricanes did not have a comment on his status, per the NHL protocol.
– @Sami Vatanen was back on the ice and is trending toward making his Hurricanes’ debut in Game 1.
Columbus Blue Jackets
Texier – Dubois – Bjorkstrand Nyquist – Wennberg – Atkinson Foligno – Jenner – Bemstrom Foudy – Nash – Robinson |
Werenski – Jones Gavrikov – Savard Murray – Kukan Nutivaara- Harrington |
- – Head coach John Tortorella said he has “no clue” who will start Game 1. Both @Joonas Korpisalo and @Elvis Merzlikins “deserve to play.”
– @Seth Jones, @Cam Atkinson, @Oliver Bjorkstrand, @Alexandre Texier and @Ryan Murray all returned from injury and skated among the regulars.
Florida Panthers
Vatrano – Barkov – Dadonov Huberdeau – Haula – Hoffman Toninato – Wallmark – Connolly Sceviour – Acciari – Pysyk |
* Ekblad – Weegar * Yandle – Brown * Matheson – Stralman |
* Couldn’t find any Panthers D-pairs but they used these for the majority of the season.
- – Head coach Joel Quenneville would not “rule anything out” when asked about playing some of his rookies (Owen Tippett, Eetu Luostarinen, Chase Priskie & Brady Keeper) in the playoffs.
Montreal Canadiens
Tatar – Danault – Gallagher Drouin – Suzuki – Armia Byron – Kotkaniemi – Lehkonen Weise – Weal – Evans |
Chiarot – Weber Mete – Petry Folin – Juulsen Olofssson – Fleury |
- – The Canadiens signed Alexander Romanov to a three-year entry-level contract.
– @Max Domi was not on the ice on Monday; Domi has Type 1 diabetes and celiac disease so GM Marc Bergevin said the Canadiens and Domi have agreed to wait seven to 10 days before deciding if he would join his teammates at training camp. - – Noah Juulsen skated on the third pair on Monday; did not play in an NHL game this season due to lingering concussion-like symptoms. Skated in 13 AHL games.
New York Islanders
* No lines or pairings from Day 1 at Islanders’ camp.
- – @Leo Komarov, @Nick Leddy, @Kieffer Bellows, Sebastian Aho, Jakub Skarek were all absent.
– @Casey Cizikas, @Adam Pelech and @Johnny Boychuk all participated after being injured prior to the end of the regular season.
New York Rangers
Kreider – Zibanejad – Buchnevich Panarin – Strome – Fast Di Giuseppe – Chytil – Kakko McKegg – Howden – Gauthier *Lemieux suspended |
Smith – Trouba Lindgren – Fox Staal – DeAngelo |
- – @Igor Shesterkin got the first rotation in net, a sign that head coach David Quinn could be leaning towards the rookie as the Game 1 starter.
Philadelphia Flyers
Giroux – Couturier – Voracek Farabee – Hayes – Konecny van Riemsdyk – Laughton – Aube-Kubel Raffl – Grant – Pitlick |
Provorov – Niskanen Sanheim – Myers Hagg – Braun |
- – @Shayne Gostisbehere underwent arthroscopic knee surgery seven weeks ago, skated on Monday and hopes to be ready for the playoffs.
– @Nolan Patrick was left off of the Return to Play roster due to the lingering effects of a migraine disorder. The goal is to have Patrick back at 100 percent for the start of the 2020-21 season.
– Head coach Alain Vigneault said that he will use lots of players during the round-robin to find his best line combinations for the playoffs.
Pittsburgh Penguins
Guentzel – Crosby – Sheary Zucker – Malkin – Rust Marleau – McCann – Lafferty Aston-Reese – Blueger – Tanev |
Dumoulin – Letang Pettersson – Marino Johnson – Schultz |
- – @Jake Guentzel was a full participant on Day 1 after undergoing shoulder surgery at the end of December. Unsurprisingly, he was reunited with @Sidney Crosby, moving @Jason Zucker to @Evgeni Malkin’s wing.
– @Zach Aston-Reese was also back on the ice, skating on the fourth line–the first time since suffering a lower-body injury in mid-February.
Tampa Bay Lightning
Verhaeghe – Point – Kucherov Palat – Cirelli – Killorn Coleman – Johnson – Goodrow Maroon – Paquette – Gourde |
Hedman – Rutta McDonagh – Cernak Sergachev – Shattenkirk |
- – @Steven Stamkos (lower-body) did not take part on Day 1. However, head coach Jon Cooper only expects him to miss a couple of practices and says the injury shouldn’t be a concern.
Toronto Maple Leafs
Nylander – Matthews – Hyman Mikheyev – Tavares – Marner Engvall – Kerfoot – Kapanen Clifford – Gauthier – Spezza |
Muzzin – Holl Rielly – Ceci Dermott – Barrie |
- – @Auston Matthews confirmed that he tested positive for Covid-19 adding he was “pretty much asymptomatic. I did my quarantine and I’m healthy now, so it’s all good.”
– @Ilya Mikheyev was a full participant on Day 1 after undergoing surgery to repair an artery and tendons in his wrist in late-December.
– @Timothy Liljegren was deemed unfit to participate on Day 1.
Washington Capitals
* No concrete lines or pairings from Day 1 at Capitals’ camp other than Ovechkin-Kuznetsov-Wilson.
- – @Ilya Samsonov, @Michal Kempny and @Alexander Alexeyev did not participate on Day 1.