Nugent-Hopkins is on the ice for the Oilers morning skate and is participating in line rushes, which suggests he will return to the lineup tonight after missing the last two games. RNH is skating on the third line with Nail Yakupov and Teddy Purcell. Monitor his status following the morning skate.
Nurse had no points with a minus-2 rating and two shots in his first two NHL games. The 19-year-old will get one more year of junior and have a chance to stick with the Oilers full-time next season. He had 13 goals with 37 assists (50 points) in 64 games with Sault Ste. Marie (OHL) last season.
Pickard, 22, was the Avs second round pick (49th overall) in 2010. He has never made and NHL appearance but has 94 games of AHL experience. He is 1-1-0 with a 1.52 GAA and .952 SV% in two starts with Lake Erie this season.
Nugent-Hopkins skated on Tuesday but missed yesterday's game against the Kings and will not play tonight vs. the Coyotes. However, it is a positive sign that he has skated two days in a row, so consider him day-to-day.
Nurse, 19, was the seventh overall pick in the 2013 NHL Draft. He will replace Jeff Petry in the Oilers lineup tonight and likely skate with Andrew Ference. He had 13 goals and 37 assists (50 points) in 64 games in the OHL last season.
Nugent-Hopkins was reportedly injured on a hit in the Vancouver game on Saturday. He won't play tonight and should be considered questionable for tomorrow's game. Mark Arcobello will centre the top line with RNH out.
RNH missed practice on Monday with an undisclosed and is not practicing on any particular line this morning, which would suggest he is not playing tonight. Mark Arcobello is skating in his spot on the top-line, so if RNH can't go expect that the be the case tonight. We will get an update following the skate.
Kapanen, 18, was the 22nd overall pick in this summer's draft. He had one goal on six shots in four preseason games, but will head back to KalPa Kuopio in Finland, a team he had seven goals and seven assists (14 points) in 47 games with last season.
Henrique left Friday's game early and did not return. He will not play tonight vs. Carolina. He will be replaced by Damien Brunner on the second line.
Friday night, Henrique extended his goal scoring streak to five by potting two goals against the Red Wings in a 7-4 loss. He has tallied seven goals and two assists with a plus-5 rating in his last five contests.
Henrique was injured on Tuesday, but practiced today and will play tomorrow. He has 25 points (13G / 12A) in 51 games this season.
“We’ve got the day off and we’ll know tomorrow morning,” Lamoriello said. Henrique recorded a goal in 10:50 before exiting the game and not returning. He has been heating up recently, he has seven goals and four assists (11 points) in his last 13 games.
Henrique left early and did not return after being injured in Monday's game in Montreal. Henrique who has had a slow start to the season, does have a three game point streak going right now (1G / 2A). He is available, but not officially in the lineup as of now.
Henrique appeared to hurt his leg when he became tangled with Canadiens defenseman Alexei Emelin and fell behind the Montreal net with 2:29 left in the first period. He tried to play through it in the second period, but could not.Henrique was unsure if he’ll be able to play in Wednesday night’s rematch with the Canadiens at Prudential Center. "We’ll see," Henrique said. "We’ll just kind of take it a day at a time here. We’ll see how I feel [today] and go from there."
Ekholm was a minus-3 in the Predators last two games - a minus-4 on the season. He had actually replaced Seth Jones on the top pair in Friday's contest but was moved back on Saturday. Ekholm has four assists in 17 games, and likely won't be a healthy scratch for long.
RNH recorded six shots and had a power-play goal in the Oilers comeback win. After a successful rookie season, his sophomore year was nothing to write home about. One-goal in one-game is a solid way to start the season for the 2011 first overall pick.
Nugent-Hopkins is coming off of shoulder surgery in the offseason. He was expected to miss much more than just two games, but that does not appear to be the case. His return will certainly be a welcome sight to the Oilers, who are really thin down the middle right now.
Nugent-Hopkins, 20, scored four goals and 24 points in 40 games last season before he was shut down in April to have season-ending shoulder surgery. As a rookie, the third-year NHLer recorded 18 goals and 52 points in 62 contests.
Nugent-Hopkins had surgery in April to repair the torn labrum in his left shoulder. General manager Craig MacTavish said on Sunday that the club is still following the initial timeline, which was a November 1 return. If Nugent-Hopkins isn’t ready for the opener, the Oilers will need to find another centre. MacTavish did not rule the possibility of Taylor Hall moving from the wing but said it would be a coaching decision.
The 23-year-old forward had a great rookie year in 2011-12 when he posted 51 points (16 G, 35 A) in 74 games. However he was only able to muster up 16 points in 42 games in the lockout shortened season. With the departure of Ilya Kovalchuk, the Devils needed to re-sign Henrique. He should be considered as a good bounce back candidate heading into the 2013-14 season.
