NHL Training Camp Buzz: Matthews leaves Maple Leafs practice

Welcome to the 2024-25 NHL training camp buzz. Training camp is underway and NHL.com has you covered with all the latest news.

Toronto Maple Leafs

Auston Matthews departed midway through practice Tuesday because of what coach Craig Berube referred to as an "upper-body thing," although he said the issue is no cause for concern.

"It's nothing serious," Berube said. "He should be fine."

The Maple Leafs captain centered a line between left wing Steven Lorentz and right wing Mitch Marner before leaving practice.

Matthews had one goal and was plus-1 in his preseason debut, a 6-5 overtime loss to the Ottawa Senators on Sunday.

Forward Calle Jarnkrok did not practice Tuesday and is day to day with a lower-body injury. Jarnkrok was minus-1 Sunday.

Lorentz, who is attending Maple Leafs training camp on a professional tryout, returned to practice for the first time since Sept. 19, missing the previous three days because of an upper-body injury. -- Dave McCarthy

Boston Bruins

Elias Lindholm is day to day, according to Bruins coach Jim Montgomery.

The center, who was Boston's biggest free-agent acquisition of the offseason, has remained off the ice since the first day of training camp Thursday.

On Sunday, Montgomery said Lindholm was going to skate Monday and return to practice for the team's skate Tuesday ahead of its preseason game against the Washington Capitals (7 p.m. ET; NHLN), but that "didn't materialize."

"Didn't give it a go today just because of where he's at," Montgomery said. "He's day to day, not going to play this week."

The Bruins have not disclosed the reason that Lindholm is off the ice, with Montgomery saying Friday they were just being extra cautious, indicating the issue was something like soreness.

Max Jones, another free agent acquired by the Bruins this offseason, is also day-to-day and could potentially play by the end of the week, Montgomery said. -- Amalie Benjamin

Washington Capitals

Pierre-Luc Dubois will make his preseason debut for the Capitals against the Boston Bruins at TD Garden on Tuesday (7 p.m. ET; NHLN) after being acquired in a trade with the Los Angeles Kings for goalie Darcy Kuemper on June 19. Dubois will center a line with Connor McMichael and Tom Wilson on his wings.

"It's not the regular season, but it's a step towards that and it's a step towards good habits, a step towards winning hockey games," Dubois said. "Scrimmages are fine, but there's nothing like a preseason game against other teams. You're not as scared to shoot the puck. You're not as scared to get in it physically. So, it's exciting."

Forwards Aliaksei Protas and Ilya Protas will also play for Washington. It will be the first time the brothers will play in any kind of game together and the first NHL preseason game for Ilya Protas after the Capitals selected the 18-year-old in the third round (No. 75) of the 2024 NHL Draft.

"In a preseason game, for sure when you put the NHL jersey on, it's something different and we have to be proud and just take on the chance and have fun," said Aliaksei Protas, who had 29 points (six goals, 23 assists) in 78 games with Washington last season. "… Playing together is something we couldn't even dream of and it's going to be fun."

Ilya expects to be nervous but said it will help having his brother playing in the game too.

"This is really a special moment for us and just have fun and enjoy it," Ilya Protas said.

Capitals coach Spencer Carbery said defenseman Rasmus Sandin is traveling to Washington from Sweden after a delay with his visa caused him to miss the first four days of training camp. --Tom Gulitti

Buffalo Sabres

Rasmus Dahlin returned to practice Tuesday for the first time since Sept. 18.

The defenseman, who wore a noncontract jersey, was injured a few minutes into the first training camp practice last week.

"I was probably too excited," Dahlin said of getting injured. "But that stuff happens sometimes, and you've just got to deal with it and work hard to get back. And that's what I've done, so I'm very happy to be back on the ice."

Dahlin, who had skated on his own for a few days before joining the team, was a full participant at practice. He took rushes alongside Henri Jokiharju and was in his usual spot on the blue line during power play drills.

"You haven't practiced with the team for a while and you kind of have been on the outside looking in, it's not so much fun," he said. "I was excited today again. Today was a good practice. I had to work, so it was great. I had a good one."

Coach Lindy Ruff said after the Sabres' preseason win against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Monday that Dahlin is "real close to playing." A return date, though, has yet to be confirmed.

"He had real good day [Monday]. Hopefully it was a great day today and we'll progress him back," Ruff said Tuesday. "There's not a real big difference between noncontact (and contact) mode. But it looked like he got through today fine."

Dahlin tied for the team lead with 59 points last season when he scored a career-high 20 goals and led Buffalo with 39 assists.

The 24-year-old likes what he's seen so far from his teammates under Ruff, who was hired as coach April 22.

"I absolutely love it," Dahlin said. "You can really see how hard the guys work. We have something really good going on. … Just got to build from doing the right things every single day and work really, really hard. That's what we're doing right now, and I think it's going to help us throughout the season, too." -- Heather Engel

Minnesota Wild

Matt Boldy is week to week for the Wild because of a lower-body injury.

The 23-year-old forward did not practice Monday. He had an NHL career-high 69 points (29 goals, 40 assists) in 75 games last season, his third with Minnesota.

Coach John Hynes said the injury isn't "major" and he expects Boldy to be ready for the Wild season opener against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Oct.10.

Boldy practiced and spoke with the media Saturday. The team had the day off Sunday. He is expected to be a second-line right wing alongside Joel Eriksson Ek and Marcus Johansson.

Selected by Minnesota with the No. 12 pick at the 2019 NHL Draft, Boldy has 171 points (75 goals, 96 assists) in 203 regular-season games and four points (one goal, three assists) in 12 Stanley Cup Playoff games. -- Jessi Pierce

Florida Panthers

Tomas Nosek could miss a couple of weeks with an upper-body injury, Panthers coach Paul Maurice said Tuesday.

The 32-year-old forward had to be helped off the ice after slamming into the end boards during Florida's 3-2 win against the Nashville Predators in its preseason opener Sunday.

"It's going to take a few days to know the extent of this injury," Maurice said. "It depends on how fast he heals. But this is not going to be short term; we're weeks, not days, from where we're at right now."

Nosek was charging the net when he was tripped up by the stick of Predators defenseman Jeremy Lauzon. Maurice said Nosek did not sustain a concussion.

"We are waiting for signs,'' Maurice said. "There weren't any, still aren't any, so we're confident."

Nosek, who had six points (two goals, four assists) in 36 games for the New Jersey Devils last season, is penciled in as the Panthers' fourth-line center when they open this season Oct. 8 against the Boston Bruins. But with Nosek potentially out until then, Maurice said the competition for that spot is open.

Rookie forward Mackie Samoskevich, who could play on the right side of Florida's third line, has missed most of training camp with an upper-body injury.

The 21-year-old took part in his first practice with the team Saturday but wore a noncontact jersey. He did not play in either preseason game Sunday and was missing from practice Tuesday.

"It didn't get worse; we just want to get him cleaned up," Maurice said. "My expectation is that he practices towards the weekend, either by Friday or Saturday."

The Panthers will play a preseason game against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Wednesday at Kia Center in Orlando. -- George Richards

Montreal Canadiens

Kirby Dach played in his first game in nearly a year for the Canadiens on Monday, a 5-0 preseason win against the Philadelphia Flyers at Bell Centre in Montreal.

The 23-year-old center sustained a season-ending knee injury in the Canadiens' second game last season on Oct. 14, 2023. Dach played on a line with Patrik Laine and Alex Newhook.

"I'm definitely looking still to take steps personally and making sure that I feel good and confident in my game and can get it back to a place where I felt it was last year and keep taking steps from that," Dach said.

"As a line, I think just building chemistry and working together and being in these games now against other teams you're going to start to find spacing with each other and where each other is going to be on the ice."

Selected by the Blackhawks with the No. 3 pick in the 2019 NHL Draft, Dach has 99 points (33 goals, 66 assists) in 212 regular-season games with Montreal and Chicago, and six points (one goal, five assists) in nine playoff games. -- Sean Farrell

Pittsburgh Penguins

Erik Karlsson has started skating on an individual basis but remains day to day with an upper-body injury.

The defenseman worked alone before practices Saturday and Monday with a scheduled day off Sunday.
Karlsson, entering his second season with the Penguins, has been held out since training camp opened Wednesday.

When healthy, the 34-year-old is likely to continue a defense pair with Marcus Pettersson. Sebastian Aho is currently with Pettersson.

Karlsson led Pittsburgh's defensemen with 56 points (11 goals, 45 assists) last season. Kris Letang was second with 51 points (10 goals, 41 assists).

Matt Grzelcyk, who signed a one-year, $2.75 million contract July 1, has been with Letang through the first four full-team sessions on what could be listed as the top pair.

Karlsson should also resume his role at the point on the top power play.

Letang, there through most of his first 17 seasons in Pittsburgh, took over for Karlsson on Monday, the first day the Penguins worked on special teams. Forwards Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Bryan Rust and Rickard Rakell filled out the rest of the unit.

Pittsburgh's power play ranked 30th in the NHL (15.3 percent) last season. David Quinn was hired as an assistant June 12, replacing Todd Reirden as coach of the power play.

"It changes a lot," Letang said. "He brings new ideas, obviously. Everybody has his own vision. ... He wants to bring certain details that he thinks we should exploit. There's always an adaptation and new ideas flowing." -- Wes Crosby

New York Islanders

Ilya Sorokin missed his fifth day of training camp Monday.

The 29-year-old goalie has yet to participate in Islanders training camp after sustaining an upper-body injury during offseason workouts that required back surgery.

"He's been on the ice," coach Patrick Roy said. "That's about it."

The team did not provide an answer as to whether he's been facing shots. Sorokin went 25-19-12 with a 3.01 goals-against average and a .909 save percentage in 56 games (55 starts) last season.

General manager Lou Lamoriello shared before the start of camp that Sorokin could miss the first few days. Sorokin is entering the first of an eight-year contract that he signed July 1, 2023.

Semyon Varlamov signed a four-year contract July 1, 2023. New York also signed Marcus Hogberg to a two-year contract May 7, and Keith Kinkaid is in camp on a professional tryout.

Defenseman Mike Reilly did not skate Monday.

"He just didn't feel good today," Roy said. Reilly, 31, played 59 games with the Islanders last season after being claimed off waivers from the Florida Panthers. He signed a one-year contract July 1. -- Stefen Rosner

Edmonton Oilers

Darnell Nurse is "confident" he will be ready when the Oilers open the season against the Winnipeg Jets on Oct. 9, but the defenseman is not certain he will be able to play in any preseason games.

Nurse is still recovering from an undisclosed injury sustained in the Stanley Cup Final but took part in the opening day of training camp on Thursday, participating in all the drills.

"It's a fluid thing," Nurse said. "I'll take it day by day, but I'm feeling good out there."

Nurse sustained the injury in the first period of Game 2 against the Panthers on a hit from forward Evan Rodrigues. Nurse was limited to seven shifts over the course of the rest of the game, but did play the remainder of the series, which Edmonton lost in seven games.

He said the injury affected his offseason routine.

"It kind of forced me to kick my feet up and relax for the first time, and it was good," Nurse said. "For me, I just relaxed got away from everything and reset. It was a great summer."

Edmonton opened its preseason with a 3-2 overtime win against the Winnipeg Jets on Sunday.

"I absolutely do," Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch said when asked if he thought Nurse would be ready for the regular season. "I haven't been able to talk to him today, but I think he feels pretty good. I'm very confident he'll play at least two exhibition games." -- Derek Van Diest