Zach Bogosian will be returning from a concussion on Thursday, prompting Minnesota to make Mermis a healthy scratch. Mermis has a -3 plus/minus, three shots, four hits, and one goal in his last four games.
Hanley has played the last seven games for the Stars but will be a healthy scratch on Thursday as Nils Lundkvist makes his return from a concussion. Hanley's presence in the Stars lineup will likely be more limited moving forward with the recent acquisition of Chris Tanev.
The Stars acquired Tanev on Wednesday by giving up a 2024 second-round pick, a 2026 fourth-round pick, Artem Grushnikov and a conditional 2026 third-round pick to acquire Tanev. The Flames retained 50 percent of Tanev's $4.5M AAV cap hit, while the Devils retained 25 percent. Tanev is a rugged defenseman, who has racked up 171 blocked shots this season to go along with one goal and 13 assists (14 points) in 56 games. He should bring plenty of stability to the Stars' second pairing.
Jakub Lauko will draw back into the Bruins lineup on Thursday, sending Richard to the press box as a healthy scratch. Richard scored three points (1G / 2A) while playing the last nine games for the Bruins.
Lauko has only played two of the last eight games for the Bruins but will re-enter the lineup on Thursday against the Vegas Golden Knights. The 23-year-old Lauko has seven points (2G / 5A) and 113 hits in 41 games this season.
Jonah Gadjovich (undisclosed) is day-to-day and will not play on Thursday, allowing Lockwood to re-enter the Panthers lineup. Lockwood has only played once in the last month and has one assist in 24 games this season.
Tucker has played 16 games with the Blues this season, tallying two points (1G / 1A) and 27 penalty minutes but has not played since January 30th, his only contest in the last two months. Tucker will draw into the lineup in favour of Scott Perunovich.
Alexandrov has not played since February 15th, his only game in February, and will re-enter the lineup on Wednesday. The 23-year-old Alexandrov has one point (0G / 1A) in 18 games this season. Kasperi Kapanen will be the odd man out of the lineup.
Kapanen played only 9:22 time-on-ice last night but recorded a -3 plus/minus and will be a healthy scratch on Wednesday. The 27-year-old Kapanen has zero points in his last seven games.
Perunovich played only 14:19 time-on-ice yesterday, recording a -1 plus/minus. Since returning from a lower-body injury last week, Perunovich has been held without a point in three games, recording a -2 plus/minus, two shots, and three hits.
