Welcome to the NHL Buzz. Each day during the regular season, NHL.com has you covered with all the latest news.
Los Angeles Kings
Viktor Arvidsson is on track to make his season debut for the Kings during their upcoming four-game road trip, which starts Tuesday at the Buffalo Sabres.
Arvidsson, a forward, has been out because of a back injury that required surgery. He returned to practice this week, including participating in an optional skate Saturday, but was not available for a 4-0 win against the Edmonton Oilers.
"He's getting closer," Los Angeles coach Jim Hiller said. "You saw him in a regular jersey yesterday, he actually took some contact in the drills."
Arvidsson had 59 points (26 goals, 33 assists) in 77 games for the Kings last season.
Center Blake Lizotte has resumed skating on his own after sustaining a lower-body injury against the Carolina Hurricanes on Jan. 15, but Hiller said there is no update for when he will return to practice.
Lizotte has nine points (five goals, four assists) in 34 games. -- Dan Greenspan
New Jersey Devils
Vitek Vanecek has a lower-body injury and an illness and will be unavailable for the Devils when they host the Seattle Kraken at Prudential Center on Monday (7 p.m. ET; MSGSN, ROOT-NW).
Vanecek made 31 saves in a 1-0 overtime loss at the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday.
"Vitek was sick yesterday and today and a little bit of a lower body from last game, so we'll have to bring somebody up (from Utica of the American Hockey League)," New Jersey coach Lindy Ruff said. "I don't have any real long-term [prognosis]. Today he wouldn't be available to play. Based on sickness he's not feeling well, but I think if he was healthy enough to play even with being sick, he could. But with [his injury], it might be a day or two. We'll see how he responds."
Nico Daws will make his first start since Jan. 25, when he allowed three goals on 12 shots in 23:12 before he was relieved by Vanecek in a 3-2 loss at Carolina. The Devils are expected to recall Akira Schmid from Utica to serve as the backup Monday.
The Devils will play the Philadelphia Flyers at the 2024 Navy Federal Credit Union NHL Stadium Series on Saturday (8 p.m. ET; ABC, ESPN+, TVAS-D, SN1). -- Mike G. Morreale
Vegas Golden Knights
Shea Theodore practiced in a non-contact jersey Saturday for the first time since being injured in November.
The defenseman has missed 32 games with an upper-body injury sustained in a 2-1 overtime win at the Dallas Stars on Nov. 22.
"It's great to see," defenseman Brayden McNabb said of Theodore practicing. "It's been quite some time. I'm sure he was pretty excited about just getting out there with the group. It's a long process for him. This is another stage of it. It's a good sign whenever you see him out in practice."
Theodore is not expected to play Monday against the Minnesota Wild (10 p.m. ET; SCRIPPS, BSWIX, BSN, SN, TVAS), and there is no timeline for his return.
He has 18 points (four goals, 14 assists) in 20 games this season. -- Paul Delos Santos
Carolina Hurricanes
Antti Raanta will be out at least two weeks for the Hurricanes because of a lower-body injury.
The goalie made nine saves in the second period in relief of Pyotr Kochetkov in a 5-2 win against the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday, but Kochetkov had to return for the third.
Raanta is 12-7-2 with a 2.99 goals-against average and an .872 save percentage in 24 games (20 starts) this season. Spencer Martin, who was claimed off waivers from the Columbus Blue Jackets on Jan. 19, was the backup for Kochetkov in a 1-0 overtime win against the New Jersey Devils on Saturday.
Martin made 26 saves in a 3-2 win at the Boston Bruins on Jan. 24 in his only appearance for Carolina.
"It's good to have guys who know how to play that position because of all the injuries that have gone on here," Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour said.
Forward Andrei Svechnikov returned Saturday after missing six games with an upper-body injury.
Svechnikov missed the first eight games of the season following surgery in July for a torn ACL in his right knee sustained in a 4-0 loss to the Golden Knights on March 11. He missed six more games in December with an upper-body injury.
In 30 games this season, Svechnikov has 30 points (11 goals, 19 assists).
"If we want to be the team we want to be, you've got to have your best players in there," Brind'Amour said. "You can get by, but you're certainly not going to have any success unless you've got the top guys going. He was very impactful, and that's what he's capable of doing. We need him in there." -- Kurt Dusterberg
Chicago Blackhawks
Andreas Athanasiou skated Saturday for the first time since sustaining a groin injury in early November, but there is no date for the forward's return.
Athanasiou sustained the injury on Nov. 9 against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Blackhawks coach Luke Richardson said on Dec. 6 that he expected Athanasiou to start skating that week, but he had a setback and never returned to the ice.
"I don't know where this will go, timetable-wise, but it was a good first step on the ice and he had a good gym day yesterday or the last two days, which led to this," Richardson said.
"If he can progress, hopefully he can practice non-contact probably soon. Not that it's an upper-body injury or head injury, but just to make sure something isn't overextended in a battle drill. That's just a good sign. He seems in a good mood, so just getting out there and feeling it, that's a good sign."
Athanasiou has four assists in 11 games this season. -- Tracey Myers
Calgary Flames
Dan Vladar was placed on injured reserve Friday with a lower-body injury.
The goalie dressed as the backup to Jacob Markstrom in a 5-3 win against the Devils on Thursday. He has not played in the past five games since making 29 saves in a 3-1 loss against the Edmonton Oilers on Jan. 20.
Vladar is 7-7-2 with a 3.27 GAA and .895 save percentage in 16 games this season.
Dustin Wolf was recalled from Calgary of the American Hockey League on Friday; he is 1-2-1 with a 3.46 GAA and .893 save percentage in five games (four starts) with the Flames this season.
Wolf backed up Markstrom when the Flames won 5-2 at the New York Islanders on Saturday.
