NHL Player News

Vlasic (upper body) won't play Saturday against Bruins, Sheng Peng of San Jose Hockey Now reports.

It'll be the second straight game Vlasic's missed after appearing in San Jose's previous 10 contests. The veteran blueliner has two assists in 17 games this year.

Brodin (lower body) is set to return to the lineup Saturday against the Sabres, Michael Russo of The Athletic reports.

Brodin will return to the lineup after missing Minnesota's last nine games with the injury. The 31-year-old blueliner has four goals, 14 points and a plus-10 rating in 38 games this season.

Head coach Jared Bednar ruled out Girard (lower body) for Saturday's game versus the Canadiens, Corey Masisak of The Denver Post reports.

Girard will miss his second game in a row due to the injury. The 26-year-old's absence will allow Keaton Middleton to stay in the lineup. Girard's next chance to play is Tuesday at home versus the Red Wings.

Aho was reassigned to AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on Saturday.

Aho was a healthy scratch in five straight games after being recalled from the minors. The 29-year-old defender appeared in 58 games with the Islanders last season, logging two goals and nine points.

Severson notched an assist and two blocked shots in Friday's 6-3 loss to the Penguins.

Severson has five assists and a plus-3 rating over 17 appearances since the start of February. The 30-year-old has been rooted on the third pairing, though he's also started to pick up some power-play time over the last week. The defenseman has 25 points, 86 shots on net, 101 blocked shots, 41 hits, 39 PIM and a plus-7 rating through 66 contests overall. It's a pretty typical year for Severson, who has enough time to challenge for the 30-point mark but will probably fall just shy of it for the second season in a row.

Provorov notched an assist and went minus-2 in Friday's 6-3 loss to the Penguins.

Provorov ended an eight-game point drought with his helper on Boone Jenner's first-period tally. The 28-year-old Provorov hasn't seen a change in his role -- this was merely a dry spell that shutdown defensemen go through at times. For the season, he's at 29 points, 84 shots on net, 111 blocked shots and a plus-4 rating over 69 appearances. If he's able to earn one more point, he'll reach the 30-point mark for the sixth time in his nine-year NHL career.

Mateychuk notched an assist and went minus-2 in Friday's 6-3 loss to the Penguins.

Mateychuk has been limited to two helpers over his last nine outings since his March 1 goal versus the Red Wings in the Stadium Series game. The 20-year-old blueliner will have some ups and downs early in his career as he adjusts to the NHL, but this was just his second game in March with a minus rating, so he's done well defensively. Overall, he's collected seven points, 29 shots on net, 45 blocked shots and a minus-4 rating through 32 appearances in 2024-25.

Grzelcyk notched an assist, two blocked shots and a plus-2 rating in Friday's 6-3 win over the Blue Jackets.

Grzelcyk was the only Pittsburgh defenseman to get on the scoresheet Friday. He kept the puck in and fed Sidney Crosby for a goal at 15:31 of the second period, which stretched the Penguins' lead to 5-2. Grzelcyk has three assists over 10 outings in March, and he's logged a career-best total of 32 points with 77 shots on net, 88 blocked shots and a minus-4 rating over 71 appearances this season.

Christiansen (upper body) won't play Friday versus the Penguins, Mark Scheig of The Hockey Writers reports.

Christiansen will miss a fourth straight game. Erik Gudbranson (shoulder) is getting closer to a return, so it's possible Christiansen may not have a place in the lineup to come back to once he's healthy. The Blue Jackets' next game is Monday versus the Islanders.

Struble notched an assist and went plus-2 in Thursday's 4-3 overtime loss to the Islanders.

Struble has two helpers over his last four games, as well as a plus-6 rating through nine contests in March. The 23-year-old defenseman remains on the second pairing and doesn't see power-play time, but he's at little risk of losing his place in the lineup since the Canadiens aren't carrying an extra healthy defenseman. Struble is at 10 points through 42 appearances, matching his offensive output from 56 games as a rookie a year ago. He's tacked on 94 hits, 44 blocked shots, 48 PIM and 40 shots on net in 2024-25.