NHL Buzz: Brodin advised by Wild to rest lower-body injury

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Minnesota Wild

Jonas Brodin has been advised by the Wild medical staff to rest a lingering lower-body injury for an undetermined amount of time.
The defenseman missed his ninth straight game when Minnesota visited the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday.
"He's got a lower body that keeps getting aggravated," Wild coach Dean Evason said. "The medical staff feels it's best to give him some time to rest here. I don't know, we don't know how long that will be, but we'll get him right so we can get him back."
Brodin has not played since he was injured during a 3-2 loss to the Arizona Coyotes on Feb. 6, though he finished the game.
"He's a big part of our hockey club, for sure," Evason said. "People, a lot of people, not one person, has to step up to the plate, but yeah, he eats a lot of minutes, obviously, but we're confident that our group will step up and get the job done in his absence."
Dakota Mermis made his season debut; the defenseman was recalled from Iowa of the American Hockey League under emergency conditions Wednesday.
Marcus Foligno returned after the forward missed four games with an upper-body injury.
"I feel really good, 100 percent," Foligno said. "Being out for a while, anytime a regular goes out and gets a chance to get back in, then you want to be able to make an impact right away."

Anaheim Ducks

Troy Terry returned when the Ducks visited the Washington Capitals on Thursday.
The forward missed seven games after leaving a 3-2 shootout loss to the Dallas Stars on Feb. 6 in the first period with an upper-body injury.
Anaheim forward Adam Henrique is week to week with a lower-body injury sustained during a 6-1 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday.
"It's nice to have Troy back. It's kind of, we're back to square one though," Ducks coach Dallas Eakins said. "Even though I love the 'next-man-up' concept, we're not there as a team, so losing Troy, it was impossible to replace him. And now losing Henrique, it's kind of the same thing. We'll just do the best we can there. It's an opportunity for somebody else."
Terry is second on the Ducks with 42 points (13 goals, 29 assists); Henrique is third with 33 points (19 goals, 14 assists) behind Trevor Zegras (48 points; 19 goals, 29 assists).
Anaheim, which has lost six in a row (0-5-1), was also without John Klingberg. The defenseman was a late scratch against the Lightning and is day to day with a lower-body injury. -- Harvey Valentine

Columbus Blue Jackets

Johnny Gaudreau returned when the Blue Jackets hosted the Wild.
The forward missed two games with a lower-body injury after playing 349 in a row, the third-longest active streak in the NHL behind Phil Kessel of the Vegas Golden Knights (1,039) and Brent Burns (735) of the Carolina Hurricanes.
"No big deal," Gaudreau said. "My sisters are probably more upset. It's not the end of the world. It was smart for me to just take my time with it and try to get healthy.
"I don't think I'll ever get as high as some of the guys in the League have been, but it was cool while it lasted."
Gaudreau has 52 points (15 goals, 37 assists) in 55 games and said the streak might be alive if Columbus was competing for the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Blue Jackets (18-34-5) are last in the Eastern Conference.
"Different circumstances and different season where we're right there in in a playoff spot, I'm probably playing these two games and probably just taking a lot more practice days off," he said. "But the season we're having, it's smart to get those two rest days." -- Craig Merz

St. Louis Blues

Pavel Buchnevich and Brandon Saad are expected to return for the Blues against the Vancouver Canucks at Enterprise Center on Thursday (8 p.m. ET; BSMW, SNP, ESPN+, SN NOW).
Buchnevich has missed the past two games with a lower-body injury; Saad (upper body) has missed three.
Buchnevich skated on a line with Brayden Schenn and Ivan Barbashev, and Saad with Robert Thomas and Jordan Kyrou, at practice Wednesday.
"They looked good today," Blues coach Craig Berube said. "They've been skating out here. We've been gone, but they seem to be ready.
"Just having them back at practice, practice was elevated. They're missed when they're out of the lineup. They're good players."
Berube said he did not have an update on defenseman Torey Krug, who left during the third period of a 4-1 loss at the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday.
Krug has missed 17 games this season because of injuries.
"It's tough on him and tough on the team for sure," Berube said. "Can't catch a break. This is the same (injury) as the last one." -- Lou Korac

Florida Panthers

Anthony Duclair
is expected to make his season debut against the Buffalo Sabres at FLA Live Arena on Friday (7 p.m., SN, BSFL, MSG-B, ESPN+, SN NOW).
The forward has been on long-term injured reserve since he sustained a torn Achilles tendon during the offseason.
"He's been going hard for a while," Panthers coach Paul Maurice said Wednesday. "He's been out of the gold (non-contact) jersey for a while, so he looks like he's ready to go. We won't take him off LTIR until after the morning skate of the next game, but our expectation is he'll be ready to play."
Duclair, who began skating in December, set NHL career highs with 31 goals and 58 points in 74 games for Florida last season.
Maurice said Duclair would start off in a third-line role in his return.
"I won't be overly worried about minutes in the conditioning idea because he's been skating hard for a long time," Maurice said. "He's going to be, in some ways, the fittest guy that we have because he hasn't been worn down over the course of the year. Because of where we're at the season, I'm not going to wait a long time. If he's going, then I'll get his minutes up."
The Panthers also are expected to get center Sam Bennett back against Buffalo after he missed three games with a lower-body injury sustained during a 6-2 loss at the Blues on Feb. 14. -- Alain Poupart

Montreal Canadiens

The Canadiens could be without Joel Armia for the game at the Philadelphia Flyers on Friday (7 p.m. NBCSP, TSN2, RDS, ESPN+, SN NOW).
The forward will not practice Thursday and is day to day after leaving a 5-2 win at the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday because he wasn't feeling well.
Kirby Dach will not travel to Philadelphia because of a non-COVID-19-related illness that has sidelined him since Feb. 16. The forward's symptoms were determined to be related to a lower-body injury through further medical evaluation and testing.
Chris Wideman is week to week with an upper-body injury. The defenseman hasn't played since Feb. 16.
Joel Edmundson is making progress in his rehab for a lower-body injury, and a further update is expected at the end of the week. The defenseman has been sidelined since Jan. 26.
Montreal claimed forward Chris Tierney off waivers from the Florida Panthers.