Pittsburgh Penguins
Jeff Carter sustained an upper-body injury during a scrimmage Saturday.
The Penguins center left midway through the second period. When healthy, Carter would likely be the third-line center, behind Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin.
Carter, who has worked on a line with the right wing Kasperi Kapanen through the first three days of training camp, is still being evaluated, coach Mike Sullivan said.
“He’s a quiet leader,” Sullivan said of Carter. “He just goes about his business. I think he leads by example. He has good relationships with his teammates. There are certain players that have really gravitated to ‘Carts.’ [Kapanen], for example. I know they have a real good relationship.
“Carts has done a real good job in trying to mentor ‘Kappy,’ and trying to help him along the way and share his experiences. That’s the type of leader that he is.”
Carter had 46 points (19 goals, 26 assists) in 76 regular-season games last season. — Wes Crosby
Detroit Red Wings
Tyler Bertuzzi It is day to day for the Red Wings with an undisclosed injury.
The forward has yet to practice in training camp and did not play in an intrasquad game Sunday.
“Don’t expect it to be very long,” Red Wings coach Derek Lalonde said Saturday. “We could even possibly see him tomorrow. If not, I think shortly after that.”
Bertuzzi was second on the Red Wings in goals (30) and points (62) in 68 games last season.
Forward Oskar Sundqvist (undisclosed) neither practiced Saturday nor played Sunday.
“He’ll be day to day,” Lalonde said. “Probably not as quickly on seeing him as we probably will Tyler but again, I don’t expect that to be very long.”
Sundqvist had eight points (four goals, four assists) in 18 games with Detroit after he was acquired in a trade with the St. Louis Blues on March 21.
New Jersey Devils
Miles Wood is healthy and recovered from a hip injury that caused him to miss all but three games for the Devils last season.
“It feels great right now,” the forward said after a scrimmage Friday. “Last year was certainly a long year for me, but I was very fortunate enough to work with great people to get my hip back to where it is now. I’m here to just play my style of hockey. Don’t change anything Just keep being me and good things will happen.”
Wood, who had hip surgery Nov. 8, 2021, tied for the Devils lead in goals (17). Pavel Zacha in 55 games in 2020-21.
“I thought, right off the bat (in the scrimmage), he delivered a pretty big hit,” Devils coach Lindy Ruff said. “He’s in on a couple scoring chances. I thought he skated well and was looking at the type of chemistry that line could have (Wood, Erik Haula, Dawson Mercer).”
Goalie Jonathan Bernier said he’s day to day after playing in the scrimmage Friday. The 34-year-old. who signed a two-year contract July 28, 2021, played 10 games before going on injured reserve Dec. 10 because of a season-ending hip injury.
“It was good to get out there, get in a game, get your timing and your reads back,” Bernier said. “That was probably the hardest part for me, but it was good to get the first one out. It’s not pain free but as long as it doesn’t get [to be] too much and I just manage the inflammation in there, we’re good.” — Mike G. Morreale
Chicago Blackhawks
Jake McCabe had cervical spine surgery six weeks ago said it’s unlikely he’ll be ready for the season opener against the Colorado Avalanche on Oct. 12.
“I haven’t had contact yet, so I don’t want to get ahead of myself. That’s going to be the real test with this injury,” the defenseman said Friday after his second straight day of practice. “My legs feel good but the contact aspect, I still have to wait a couple of weeks for full battle contact. Just trying to stay patient with that. As good as I do feel, trying not to get ahead of myself and take a step backward.”
McCabe said he’s been dealing with a herniated disc off and on for several years and that doctors removed a fragment of the disc that was hitting a nerve. The original recovery timeline from when he had surgery was 10-12 weeks.
“It was a long summer, so I was trying the conservative approach [with the injury] for a while and that wasn’t doing the trick. It became pretty clear I had to get it operated on to get some relief,” he said. “I did get that relief, so feeling a lot better now.” — Tracey Myers
Washington Capitals
Dmitry Orlov said there have been no discussions with the Capitals yet about signing a new contract.
The 34-year-old defenseman is entering the final season of a six-year contract and can become an unrestricted free agent after the season, but understands the Capitals had a hectic offseason. Washington signed goalies Darcy Kuemper and Charlie Lindgrenforward Dylan Strome and defenseman Erik Gustafsson and acquired forward Connor Brown in a trade with the Ottawa Senators.
“Nothing really happened,” Orlov said Friday of his contract. “It was a busy summer. You can see they changed the goalies. They kind of focused on [the start] of the camp, so we didn’t sign anybody [in the last year of] their contract.”
Gustafsson, Brown, defensemen Nick Jensen and Trevor van Riemsdyk and forwards Conor Sheary, Lars Eller, Marcus Johansson and Garnet Hathaway can also become unrestricted free agents after this season.
“I try not to worry about it,” Orlov said. “I enjoy my time here and my family [too]. The team was good to me, and I hope we’re going to find out whether I’m going to stay or not, but I think right now I’ll just focus on the season and hope we’re going to have a good one. season and make the playoffs and go from there.” –Tom Gullitti
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