Training Camp Buzz: Lee scores in preseason debut for Islanders

Welcome to the 2021-22 NHL training camp buzz. With training camps open for all 32 teams, NHL.com has you covered with all the latest news.

New York Islanders

Anders Lee scored Tuesday in his first game since the forward sustained a knee injury March 11.
"It was nice to pop one in," Lee said. "Kind of start this year off on a decent note."
Lee gave the Islanders a 2-0 lead against the Philadelphia Flyers with a goal at 19:05 of the first period in a preseason game at Webster Bank Arena in Bridgeport, Connecticut.
The captain was on a line with center Mathew Barzal and right wing Kyle Palmieri for the 3-0 victory. He's skated with teammates since the Islanders' first on-ice session of training camp Sept. 23.
"I wasn't really nervous about the knee or anything like that," Lee said. "I knew it's in a good spot, it's in a good place. We've come a long way. Honestly, it's just getting reps in a game, just like any other preseason, getting ready for the year."
Lee missed the final two months of last season and the entire Stanley Cup Playoffs, when New York lost Game 7 of the best-of-7 Stanley Cup Semifinals to the Tampa Bay Lightning. He scored 12 goals in 27 games prior to the injury.-- Brian Compton

Ottawa Senators

Colin White will be out for "a significant amount of time" with a shoulder injury, coach D.J. Smith said.
The center left a 3-1 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Monday and was scheduled to have an MRI.
"It doesn't look good at this point," Smith said. "We're waiting on results, but it looks like he'll be out for a significant amount of time.
"It is a shoulder. He'll get looked at today and I think we'll have an answer in the next couple of days."
The Senators begin the regular season at home against the Maple Leafs on Oct. 14.
"That hurts us," Smith said. "He's a guy that's been in the League that can play on the power play, can take right draws. When he's going, he can get to the net. He can do a lot of things and now you find yourself in a spot where you're a little thin there, especially if another injury were to happen. We'll have to figure that out and we will." -- Jon Lane

Vancouver Canucks

Elias Pettersson and Quinn Hughes skated with teammates Tuesday for the first time since each signed a new contract Sunday, but neither played in a preseason game against the Seattle Kraken on Tuesday.
Pettersson and Hughes took part in the morning skate; Pettersson did not skate on a regular line, and Hughes was on a pair with forward Justin Bailey, who also joined the team late after missing the start of training camp because he tested positive for COVID-19.
Pettersson and Hughes stayed out after practice to take part in a hard fitness skate typically reserved for the end of the first day of training camp.
"They are important pieces for our group," coach Travis Green said. "They're important to get into camp and now fast-track them into the group and fast-track them into our team game and also into their own individual games. They got a little catching up to do."
Green said "there's a good chance" each will play in the final two preseason games. After hosting the Kraken, the Canucks play at the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday and wraps up the preseason against the Oilers in Vancouver on Saturday before opening the regular season in Edmonton on Oct. 13.
"We'll kind of check in with them day to day," Green said. "Today was the first day really with the team, but it wasn't much of a team skate." -- Kevin Woodley

New Jersey Devils

Jack Hughes is day to day with an undisclosed injury. The center skated on his own and though he won't play at the New York Rangers on Wednesday, Devils coach Lindy Ruff said he is questionable for the preseason finale at home against the New York Islanders on Thursday.
"Obviously, we have a lot of practice time coming up, but it was good to see him back on the ice," Ruff said. "I don't anticipate he will play tomorrow, but I can't rule out at home."
Hughes was injured in the second period of a 2-1 overtime win against the Islanders in Bridgeport, Connecticut, on Oct. 2 when he was cross-checked by New York forward Ross Johnston. He played one more shift before going to the locker room and not returning.
Damon Severson (muscle strain) is out for the remainder of the preseason. The defenseman slipped on a puck and went into the boards during the morning skate Monday.
"Day to day," Ruff said. "Obviously we have time. He won't play these next couple of games, but we have a lot of practice time leading up to before we start."
The Devils begin the season at home against the Chicago Blackhawks on Oct. 15.
Goalie Mackenzie Blackwood and forward Miles Wood each took a maintenance day. -- Mike G. Morreale

Seattle Kraken

Yanni Gourde skated with the Kraken on Monday wearing a regular jersey.
The forward had been participating in a red non-contact jersey. He was expected to be out two months after having shoulder surgery in July.
"I just need to get some more reps and I think when I wear red (jersey), guys are super careful out there and you don't do much, so I need to get a little bit more bumps in," Gourde said. "It just doesn't mean much. I mean, it's just a different color. We're still working. It's a work in process to get back in shape and get back, ready to play, but we're not there yet."
The Kraken begin their inaugural season at the Vegas Golden Knights on Oct. 12.
Coach Dave Hakstol said Gourde will not be rushed into the lineup before he's ready.
"Our medical group has a real specific plan for him," Hakstol said. "He's still on limited contact and he's working real hard at everything that he can do to be ready, but there's a plan in place for him and he's still on limited contact."
Gourde was selected from the Tampa Bay Lightning in the 2021 NHL Expansion Draft. He last played July 7 in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final against the Montreal Canadiens, when he helped the Lightning repeat as Stanley Cup champions.-- Andy Edie

Tampa Bay Lightning

Steven Stamkos said he is feeling much better physically during training camp than he did three months ago when the forward helped the Lightning win the Stanley Cup for the second straight season.
Stamkos, who missed the final 16 games of the 2020-21 regular season with a lower-body injury before returning for the Stanley Cup Playoffs, confirmed Monday that he had knee surgery during that absence.
"The way things kind of went towards the end of the year and having a little surgery before the playoffs and coming back and feeling probably not as well as I wanted to but good enough to play and contribute," Stamkos said. "That's what I'm just comparing it to -- how I ended off the season to how I'm feeling now -- and I'm definitely in a much better place than I was."
He said at the start of camp that he was able to go through a normal offseason conditioning program.
"It's just constant work," Stamkos said." You put in the work in the gym and on the ice and the body will respond. It's been good so far."
The Lightning open the regular season at home against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Oct. 12. -- Corey Long