The Red Wings should be getting some help back up front soon, and Todd McLellan sounded optimistic Thursday that both Marco Kasper and Mason Appleton will rejoin the lineup during Detroit’s four-game road trip.
That trip starts Saturday in Colorado and runs through November 14 in Tampa Bay. Both forwards have been out since the opening weekend, and both have been skating in non-contact jerseys while continuing to move forward without any reported setbacks, according to Detroit beat writer Max Bultman.
Kasper is the bigger swing for Detroit. The 22-year-old center has been out since the opener with an upper-body injury, and his absence forced McLellan to shuffle the middle of the lineup.
Appleton, 30, has been on injured reserve since the season’s second game and brings bottom-six depth. Their returns would come at a useful time for a forward group also dealing with Dylan Larkin’s absence as he awaits a trade.
Carolina got a boost of its own Thursday, with Taylor Hall set to return against the Islanders after missing nine games. The Hurricanes announced the move Thursday evening.
Hall, who scored the Cup-clinching goal in Carolina’s championship run last spring, had five points in eight games before suffering an upper-body injury on October 13. His return adds another layer to an already deep forward group, and Nicolas Deslauriers comes out of the lineup to make room.
In Philadelphia, Rasmus Ristolainen took another step in his recovery by skating at Thursday’s morning skate, according to Flyers writer Charlie O’Connor. The 31-year-old is still not ready to return from the upper-body injury that has kept him out since a one-game cameo on October 24, but Rick Tocchet said he’s trending in the right direction. Ristolainen, who has dealt with a long stretch of injuries over the past few seasons, was working on an extra pairing.
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Matvei Michkov is part of the shuffle too, dropping to the third line alongside Tyson Foerster and Noah Cates as Philadelphia tries to find the right mix. The defensive pairs stayed the same, and David Jiricek remained a healthy scratch, but the forward changes make this one worth watching to see whether the new alignment sparks more balance or simply adds another layer of uncertainty. [Read more 🡒]
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Denver Barkey Has A Deep Personal Reason To Remember MSG
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Legge died in December 2023, and he had been a devoted follower of Barkeys hockey journey, which only sharpened the significance of the setting for the Flyers. Coach Rick Tocchet has already spoken highly of Barkeys intelligence and the way he plays, and now the young forward has a debut story tied not just to his career, but to a family history that will be hard to top. [Read more 🡒]