Nichushkin has missed the last four games with an upper-body injury but will play Monday vs. the Kraken. Nichushkin will replace Gabriel Landeskog (COVID-19 protocol) in the lineup.
Landeskog, who was named the first star in the NHL last week, will miss Monday's game vs. the Kraken. Valeri Nichushkin will return from an upper-body injury and will replace Landeskog in the lineup on Monday.
Merkley had one goal in six games with the Sharks earlier in the season. He's spent most of the year in the AHL, where he has tallied 17 points (1G / 6A) in 22 games. Merkley will replace Erik Karlsson (upper-body) in the lineup and is expected to see some power-play time on the second unit.
Kiviranta was one of six Stars players added to COVID-19 protocol on Sunday and two more were added on Monday. As of right now, they are scheduled to play three games this week, starting on Wednesday but it seems likely that they are going to be postponed.
Francouz was moved to COVID-19 protocol on Sunday and is expected to be sidelined until the middle of next week. With Jonas Johansson now in Florida, Justus Annunen or Hunter Miska will likely come up to serve as Darcy Kuemper's backup.
O'Connor was placed in COVID-19 protocol on December 20th but the team did not announce it until Sunday. The Avalanche provided expected return dates for all of the players still in protocol and put O'Connor on track to miss Wednesday's game vs. the Stars but be back for Friday's rematch.
The Sharks have already been shut down through the Christmas break, so we'll see when they resume play next week. Burns will likely be out until at least next Thursday.
Blackwood will miss Saturday's game in Detroit with a neck injury and is listed as day-to-day. The Devils recently acquired Jon Gillies from the Blues and could make his Devils debut.
