San Jose’s night in Dallas got a jolt before puck drop when captain Macklin Celebrini was scratched with an apparent lower body injury.
The good news for the Sharks is that this looks more like caution than crisis. Sheng Peng of San Jose Hockey Now reported that Celebrini was on the ice for warm-ups, but the decision was made before the game to hold him out.
He played all 82 games last season, so there’s still some mystery around when the issue surfaced. What isn’t mysterious is how hot he’s been to start this year: five points in two games, all assists.
For at least one night, though, San Jose has to show what it looks like without its 115-point centerpiece. Ty Dellandrea is back in the lineup against his former team and will make his season debut on the third line.
Alex Wennberg takes over the top-line center spot. Neither of those veterans is being asked to do anything outside the usual job description, which puts the spotlight on the younger group - Michael Misa, Ivar Stenberg and Igor Chernyshov, who already has three points.
There should be more clarity on Celebrini soon enough, but the expectation is that this is a short-term absence.
In Tampa, Lightning defenseman Emil Lilleberg is set to miss “about a week,” according to head coach Jon Cooper, who spoke to reporters this morning, including Eduardo A. Encina of The Tampa Bay Times.
Cooper said the undisclosed injury came during Lilleberg’s fight with Vincent Desharnais on Saturday night against the Capitals. Lilleberg had already been held out of practice, and now the timeline is a little clearer.
Even without him, the Lightning are going with seven defensemen against the Flyers. Maxwell Crozier gets his season debut after sitting as a healthy scratch, while Charle-Edouard D’Astous is listed as the seventh defenseman after scoring the opening goal in Saturday’s win.
Lilleberg, a regular on the third pair, should be in line to return around October 13 when Tampa Bay visits the Rangers. The Lightning are carrying eight capable defensemen and seem comfortable using them all.
Detroit’s front office is also getting a shakeup. Max Bultman of The Athletic reported that Kris Draper, the longtime Red Wings favorite and assistant general manager, will now oversee the team’s professional scouting department as the organization continues to adjust upstairs. According to Bultman, Detroit has not had anyone officially in that role since Mark Howe retired five years ago.
Draper has already been working in amateur scouting since 2019, so this isn’t a brand-new lane for him. But the assignment comes at a meaningful time for a team still without an official general manager and facing questions around Dylan Larkin and Simon Edvinsson.
If Detroit eventually moves those players, it will be counting on Draper’s eye for pro talent to help shape whatever trade returns come back. The former Red Wing has a long track record in the organization, having been acquired in 1993 for future considerations that are thought to be one dollar only, and he’ll now try to make the same kind of imprint in a different seat.
Buffalo got some encouraging injury news of its own. Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said Jason Zucker and Connor Timmins are getting closer to returning to practice, possibly as soon as tomorrow, according to Bill Hoppe of the Times Herald. Even then, both players are still being brought along carefully, and there’s no firm timetable for either one to get back into games.
Zucker is dealing with a sports hernia that was first reported in mid-September. He has not played yet and was expected to miss a “couple weeks”. The winger is entering the final season of his two-year, $4.75 million-per-year deal and was an important veteran for Buffalo last season, when he scored 24 goals in 62 games.
Timmins’ path back has been longer. He broke his leg last December, returned in late March and then got shaken up again in the preseason.
The 28-year-old is expected to resume his role as a trusted penalty killer. He appeared in 39 games for Buffalo last season, the second-most of his career.
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