Welinski was a healthy scratch for the first three games of the season but will make his season debut tonight vs. the Wild. He will replace Josh Manson, who is sidelined with an upper-body injury.

The Hurricanes played in Nashville on Monday and had just one player n the COVID-19 protocol list and that was Jordan Staal. On Tuesday, their game with the Predators was cancelled due to four more players being added to that list, Teravainen among them. The four players with confirmed positive tests must stay behind in Nashville and observe a 10-day isolation period in the team hotel.

Smith missed the season opener with a lower-body injury but head coach Bruce Cassidy expects to have him on Saturday afternoon. Smith had 18 goals and 13 assists (31 points) in 69 games with Nashville last season.

Smith was nicked up towards the end of the Bruins' training camp and has been listed as a game-time decision for Game 1 of the 2021 season. Trent Frederic is expected to replace Smith if he can't play.

In his second year in Carolina, Mrazek went 21-16-2 with a 2.69 GAA and .905 SV%. Mrazek will continue to split time with James Reimer in 2021 but Mrazek will start opening night vs. his former team. Mrazek was 2-0-0 while stopping 52 of 57 shots (.912 SV%) in two starts against the Red Wings in 2020.

Depending on when Khudobin gets his visa issues cleared up and arrives in Dallas, he could be in danger of missing the start of the regular season. He will be forced to quarantine for seven days once he arrives in Dallas. With Ben Bishop expected to be out until March, Khudobin will be leaned on to serve as the Stars No.1 netminder for at least a month and a half.