NHL Buzz: Bennett could make season debut for Panthers

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Florida Panthers

Sam Bennett could make his season debut for the Panthers against the Boston Bruins on Monday (7 p.m. ET; BSFL, NESN, TVAS2).

The forward has not played this season after sustaining a lower-body injury during the preseason.

"Yeah, he's possible for tonight," coach Paul Maurice told the Panthers website. "We had two or three really good days with him. We kept him off the ice and got him back out. He feels very strong. We'll see how he comes back. He skated this morning, so we'll see how he comes back to the rink tonight."

Bennett had 40 points (16 goals, 24 assists) in 63 regular-season games last season.

Boston Bruins

Danton Heinen is expected to sign a contract with the Bruins on Monday and make his season debut against the Florida Panthers (7 p.m. ET; BSFL, NESN, TVAS2).

The 28-year-old forward has been with Boston under a professional tryout contract since Sept. 5. He was on the ice for the morning skate Monday and led the post-practice stretch.

"There's a lot of moving parts, and a lot up in the air," Heinen said Monday. "[The Bruins have] been great with communicating with me, and the staff is working with me and the trainers and stuff like that, and keeping me ready. So that's just my mind set the whole time, is just be ready."

After forward Milan Lucic was placed on long-term injured reserve with a lower-body injury, the Bruins had a spot open on the fourth line, where Heinen practiced.

"I've been really impressed because when we do practice, and there's opportunities for him to make plays or penalty kill, he's been very noticeable," Bruins coach Jim Montgomery said. "He's making a lot of plays, a lot of smart plays."

Heinen had 22 points (eight goals, 14 assists) in 65 games for the Pittsburgh Penguins last season. He was chosen by the Bruins in the fourth round (No. 116) of the 2014 NHL Draft and had 103 points (34 goals, 68 assists) in 220 games from 2016-20. -- Joe Pohoryles

Toronto Maple Leafs

Timothy Liljegren will play for against the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday (8 p.m. ET; TVAS2, TSN4, ESPN).

The defenseman left midway through the second period of a 3-2 overtime loss to the Nashville Predators on Saturday with an upper-body injury.

"I feel good," Liljegren said after practice Monday. "Just kind of got me in a bad spot but it's fine. We just had to go check it out and nothing was wrong so good to go."

Liljegren was a full participant at practice Monday skating on a pair with Mark Giordano.

"Definitely [a relief], we didn't know how that one was going to go but it seemed like it settled down pretty quickly for him and became a muscle spasm situation versus any sort of damage done," Toronto coach Sheldon Keefe said. "I haven't got a report on how he got through today, but it looked like he was doing well. It was nice to know we were going to have him [available]."

Jake McCabe, who left a 4-1 win against the Dallas Stars on Thursday, was not at practice. The defenseman played only 10 seconds after sustaining a groin injury.

Keefe said McCabe is expected to join practice later this week. -- Dave McCarthy