Zadorov was a healthy scratch in the Avs’ opening night win in New York, but will draw into the lineup in New Jersey tomorrow. Zadorov, who stands at 6-foot-5, 230 lbs. has great shutdown ability and posted 10 assists in 56 games with Colorado last season. He is expected to replace Andrei Mironov on the back-end.
Columbus has been one of the teams who tend to take the morning off and makes it difficult to get a read on their starting goalie. However, there were two players on the ice this morning, one of which was Sergei Bobrovsky. This suggests that Joonas Korpisalo may get the nod tonight, saving Bobrovsky for tomorrow's game in Chicago. Head coach John Tortorella will speak to the media around 5 p.m. ET and is expected to announce his starter at that time.
Zadorov, who was key piece in the Ryan O’Reilly trade to Buffalo, has struggled to find his way in Colorado. The 6-foot-5, 230 lbs. defenseman has the tools to be successful but has yet to put it all together. Still just 22-years-old, Zadorov will sit because the Avalanche claimed Patrik Nemeth off of waivers on Tuesday and he will play with Tyson Barrie.
Lindholm is coming off of offseason shoulder surgery and the Ducks are expecting him to miss the first month of the season. Fellow defenseman Sami Vatanen is also out until November, so the Ducks brought back veteran blueliner Francois Beauchemin and their injuries open the door for a young defenseman like Andy Welkinski to make the team out of training camp.
Pastrnak was back in the Czech Republic and was gearing up to skate with a team there if he didn’t get a new deal in Boston. GM Don Sweeney held his ground and got a good deal for both sides and now one of their top offensive weapons will report to training camp. Coming off of a 70-point (34G / 36A) campaign, the 21-year-old enters 2017-18 with huge expectations. Look for him to be a point-per-game player.
Brown spent the majority of 2016-17 with the Charlotte Checkers (AHL), where he had 12 goals and 16 assists (28 points) in 66 games. The 25-year-old also skated in 14 NHL games and has now recorded two points (1G / 1A) in 28 career NHL games.
Like a lot of young Finnish defensemen, Jokiharju is a strong skater with high-end passing skills. Jokiharju finished second among Portland Winterhawks defensemen in points in 2016-17, posting nine goals and 39 assists (48 points) in 71 games.
Mittelstadt was the top American prospect because of his elite speed and quickness that he couples with an NHL-ready shot. The 6-foot-1, 201 lbs. centre had 13 goals and 17 assists (30 points) in 24 games with the Green Bay Gamblers (USHL).
Korpisalo allowed two goals on 22 shots in the Blue Jackets’ win in Brooklyn on Saturday. Sergei Bobrovsky skated with the scratches this morning, which suggests that Korpisalo will go tonight vs. Toronto. He made 31 saves in a 5-2 win over the Maple Leafs in mid-February.
Korpisalo allowed two goals on 22 shots in the Blue Jackets’ win in Brooklyn on Saturday. Sergei Bobrovsky skated with the scratches this morning, which suggests that Korpisalo will go tonight vs. Toronto. He made 31 saves in a 5-2 win over the Maple Leafs in mid-February.
Kuraly, 24, has no points in five games with the Bruins this season while collecting 13 goals and 11 assists (24 points) in 50 games with Providence. He was recalled on Sunday because Patrice Bergeron, Drew Stafford and Tim Schaller were all missing from yesterday’s practice.
