12-13 Eichel VGK buzz

Welcome to the NHL Buzz. The 2022-23 regular season is underway, and NHL.com has you covered with all the latest news.

Vegas Golden Knights

Jack Eichel is day to day, Shea Theodore week to week and Zach Whitecloud month to month for the Golden Knights, each with a lower-body injury.
Eichel, a forward, missed a 3-1 loss to the Boston Bruins on Sunday. He had one shot on goal in 20:15 of ice time in a 2-1 overtime win against the Philadelphia Flyers on Friday after missing the previous two games and leads the Golden Knights in points (29) and goals (13) and is third in assists (16).
Theodore, a defenseman, left the game Friday in overtime after colliding shins with Philadelphia defenseman Travis Sanheim, and was helped off the ice and immediately and went to the tunnel. He leads Vegas at the position with 22 points (four goals, 18 assists).
Whitecloud was injured during the second period Sunday when he collided with Boston forward Taylor Hall. The defenseman has six points (one goal, five assists) in 30 games.
Forward
Jonas Rondbjerg
, and defensemen
Kaedan Korczak
and
Brayden Pachal
, were recalled from Henderson of the American Hockey League.
The Golden Knights visited the Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday.

Montreal Canadiens

Cole Caufield is expected to be available for the Canadiens against the Ottawa Senators on Wednesday (7 p.m. ET; SN, RDS, ESPN+, SN NOW).
The forward traveled to Ottawa with his teammates one day after leaving a 2-1 shootout win against the Calgary Flames in Montreal on Monday. Caufield sustained an upper-body injury following a hit by Flames forward Trevor Lewis at 3:55 of the second period.
"I think it happened quick," Canadiens coach Martin St. Louis said after the game. "I don't know if it was incidental or dirty, I just think it was one of those hockey plays."
Caufield played 8:05. He leads the Canadiens with 16 goals and his 25 points are second to forward Nick Suzuki's 29.
Defenseman David Savard (upper body) and forward Sean Monahan (lower body) will be out 2-3 weeks. Jonathan Drouin (undisclosed) and Mike Matheson (lower body) are day to day. Drouin, a forward should be back soon; Matheson, a defenseman, did not travel to Ottawa.

Chicago Blackhawks

Petr Mrazek was activated off injured reserve and started in goal for the Blackhawks against the Washington Capitals at United Center in Chicago on Tuesday.
Mrazek had been out since Dec. 3, when he left a game against the New York Rangers because of a groin injury. He also missed eight games because of a groin injury sustained Oct. 21. He is 2-5-1 with a 4.05 goals-against average and .884 save percentage in nine games.
"I skated five days after the Rangers game, so I'm glad it wasn't anything serious," Mrazek said after practice Saturday. "The things I've been working on all season long and started in the summer, I'm] doing it still right now with all the trainers here and with the staff. Hopefully that's the positive sign, if something happens it's nothing big, so I just have to keep doing that. [It's
to Rockford of the AHL. -- Tracey Myers

New York Islanders

Kyle Palmieri and Anthony Beauvillier did not play for the Islanders at the Boston Bruins on Tuesday.
Each forward took part in the morning skate. Palmieri practiced Monday for the first time since he sustained an upper-body injury against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Nov. 21. Beauvillier (upper body) also practiced after missing a 3-0 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday.
Palmieri has missed 10 games. He has nine points (six goals, three assists) in 20 games.
Beauvillier has 11 points (five goals, six assists) in 27 games.

New Jersey Devils

Mackenzie Blackwood was assigned to Utica of the AHL for a conditioning loan.
The goalie got extended work against the first power-play unit at New Jersey's morning skate ahead of its game at the New York Rangers on Monday. He missed his 17th game since getting injured during a 4-3 win at the Edmonton Oilers on Nov. 3.
"Mackenzie's been full-go now," Devils coach Lindy Ruff said. "He had a couple of really good practices. The plan is to get him down to Utica to play a couple of games and just get him back in game form, and then we go from there."
Blackwood is 4-2-0 with a 2.79 goals-against average and .880 save percentage in seven games. He was limited to 25 games (24 starts) last season because of a recurring left heel injury.
"You could just feel it right away," Blackwood said of his knee injury. "Luckily it wasn't too bad of an injury, just takes a little bit of time to heal up nice and strong. Getting hurt is frustrating, especially last year having that injury for so long. But I was happy with where my game was at the start of the year and excited to keep trying to build off that. I guess now we hit the ground where I was and build everything from there.
"I'm feeling pretty good. Last week's been good on the ice, getting back to practice, getting the reps I need. Knee's feeling good, game's coming back good. It's been a good week." -- Jon Lane

Winnipeg Jets

Logan Stanley and Saku Maenalanen are each out 3-4 weeks for the Jets because of an upper-body injury.
Stanley, a defenseman, lost his balance and fell into the boards at 16:29 of the first period in a 3-1 win against the Blackhawks on Dec. 9. Maenalanen, a forward, left in the first of a 5-2 win against the St. Louis Blues the night before.
"They're 3-4 weeks," Winnipeg coach Rick Bowness said. "You rehab them for a couple weeks and then you see where it goes, right? We're a couple weeks away from that. They're not playing in the next little while."
The Jets claimed forward Karson Kuhlman off waivers from the Seattle Kraken and recalled forward Kevin Stenlund from Manitoba of the AHL. Stenlund played against the Golden Knights.