Nugent-Hopkins will miss his 12th straight game on Tuesday but is set to play Thursday when the Oilers return to home-ice. It will be interesting to see how the Oilers deploy Nugent-Hopkins since the top-6 has heated up in his absence.
Stecher is in the final year of a two-year contract worth $1.7 million. Stecher provides the Kings with some serious injury concerns at the moment. They've been without Drew Doughty, Mikey Anderson and Matt Roy for the last few weeks. There was also a report earlier in the weekend that Doughty's injury may be more serious than originally feared, so Stecher brings a veteran presence to a team relying on a lot of young defensemen right now.
Janmark has missed the last 10 games with an upper-body injury but is set to return on the Golden Knights' third line on Thursday. Janmark has 17 points (7G / 10A) in 47 games this season.
Brown will be a game-time decision for the second straight game. He's battling an undisclosed ailment but was able to play through it in St. Louis on Tuesday. If he can't go on Thursday, Tyler Ennis will draw into the lineup.
Brown was not on the ice for the Senators' morning skate and will be a game-time decision in St. Louis. Head coach DJ Smith said that Brown has been banged up for a while, so sounds like he's nursing some bumps and bruises rather than something that will keep him out for an extended period of time.
Bouchard was a game-time decision on Monday due to an illness he's been battling since Saturday. With Bouchard out, the Oilers will go with the standard 12 forwards, six defenseman formation--a rarity under new head coach Jay Woodcroft.
Bouchard left Saturday's game vs. the Canadiens due to an illness and he hasn't fully recovered. Bouchard will be a game-time decision and the Oilers will go to 12 forwards/six defensemen if Bouchard can't go--Kyle Turris will likely be the No.12 forward in that case.
With Mike Smith dealing with an illness, Skinner will serve as Mikko Koskinen's backup in Calgary. Skinner has gone 11-2-4 with a 2.24 GAA and .919 SV% in 18 games with Bakersfield this season.
