Welcome to the NHL Buzz. The 2022-23 regular season is underway, and NHL.com has you covered with all the latest news.
New York Rangers
Alexis Lafreniere will return to the lineup for the New York Rangers when they visit the Florida Panthers on Sunday (5 pm ET; SN, SN1, NHLN, BSFLA, MSG, SN NOW).
Lafreniere, the No. 1 pick in the 2019 NHL Draft, missed his first game this season as a healthy scratch for New York’s 2-1 shootout loss at the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday.
He wore the third line’s green jersey and practiced with the forwards Filip Chytil and Jimmy Vesey on Saturday. Rangers coach Gerard Gallant confirmed the forward would be back in against the Panthers.
“You know what, it’s part of building a young man,” Gallant said. “He’s 21 years old, he’s played parts of three years in the League… obviously with COVID, so it’s not really, and it’s part of the game. Kaapo [Kakko] sat out games before. People sit out games, so it’s not a big deal.”
Lafreniere has no goals and four assists in his past eight games. He has 17 points (five goals, 12 assists) in 36 games this season, and 69 points (36 goals, 33 assists) in 171 games with the Rangers.
“Maybe he’ll say it’s a wakeup call, maybe he can say what he wants, and that’s fine,” Gallant said. “I just said I didn’t like the way he played last game (4-0 loss to the Washington Capitals on Tuesday). Three or four games prior to that weren’t great either. They were OK but not great, so sometimes it’s just be more consistent, play better.
“And he wants the same thing. He’s a good kid. We like him. It’s not like we don’t like the kid. There are lessons learned, and I was fortunate enough to play pro hockey and I got sat out some games too. . Shake it off.” — Sean Farrell
New Jersey Devils
Ryan Graves returned to the lineup for the New Jersey Devils against the Carolina Hurricanes after the defenseman was activated off injured reserve.
Graves missed three games with a lower-body injury. He was considered week to week after leaving in the first period of a 4-3 win at the Florida Panthers on Dec. 21. He has nine points (three goals, six assists) in 33 games while averaging 18:29 of ice time.
He replaced Nikita Okhotyuk.
Arizona Coyotes
Nick Schmaltz did not play for the Arizona Coyotes against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday.
The forward is day to day after sustaining an upper-body injury in a 6-3 win against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday.
Schmaltz has 16 points (seven goals, nine assists) in 19 games this season.
Forward Laurent Dauphin was recalled from Tucson of the American Hockey League on Saturday and was in the lineup. He has played one game with the Coyotes this season and has 27 points (12 goals, 15 assists) in 26 AHL games.
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