Welcome to the NHL Status Report. Here is the latest lineup/injury news around the NHL.
Dallas Stars
Jamie Benn was activated from long-term injured reserve Tuesday and made his season debut against the New York Islanders at American Airlines Center in Dallas. The Stars captain had not played this season because of a punctured lung but had been skating. “It’s good for Jamie, it’s been a long road for him to come back,” coach Glen Gulutzan said. “I think he’s looked sharp in practice the last week. He put in a lot of work to get to this point. I thought he’s looked real good. We’re all excited he’s back.” … The Stars on Monday placed forwards Matt Duchene (undisclosed) and Adam Erne (lower body) on long-term injured reserve, retroactive to Oct. 18 and Nov. 11, respectively. … Thomas Harley is week to week because of a lower-body injury. The defenseman, who has 10 points (one goal, nine assists) in 18 games, missed a 5-1 win against the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday after he had an assist in 21:25 of ice time in a 7-0 win at the Montreal Canadiens on Nov. 13.
New York Rangers
Coach Mike Sullivan is back with the Rangers, who opened a three-game road trip at the Vegas Golden Knights on Tuesday. Sullivan missed a 2-1 loss to the Detroit Red Wings on Sunday because of personal reasons.
Toronto Maple Leafs
Auston Matthews (lower body) will miss at least two more games, Maple Leafs general manager Brad Treliving said Tuesday, when the forward skated before practice for the first time since he was injured Nov. 11. Toronto played the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday and will face the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday. “He’s coming along,” Treliving said. “He skated this morning. Again, we’ve listed him as day to day, [and he’s] obviously not going to play tonight. I would suspect Thursday is probably not a possibility. Probably after Thursday, at least we get a little bit better sense of how things are responding. I don’t anticipate too, too long, but probably Tuesday and Thursday are out of the question.” … Brandon Carlo (lower body) and Nicolas Roy (upper body) also will not play against the Blues. The Maple Leafs recalled forward Jacob Quillan from Toronto of the American Hockey League and placed Carlo, a defenseman, on injured reserve Monday, retroactive to Nov. 13.
Seattle Kraken
Joey Daccord was activated from injured reserve and started against the Red Wings on Tuesday. The goalie missed five games because of an upper-body injury he sustained during a 6-1 loss to the San Jose Sharks on Nov. 5. Matt Murray, who started three of the five games Daccord was out, will miss about six weeks because of a lower-body injury sustained during the first period of a 4-1 win against the Sharks on Saturday.
Tampa Bay Lightning
Anthony Cirelli (upper body) and Dominic James (undisclosed) returned against the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday. Cirelli, a center, hadn’t played since Nov. 6. He has 11 points (seven goals, four assists) in 14 games. James, a forward, had been out since Nov. 8. He has four points (one goal, three assists) in nine games.
New Jersey Devils
Dougie Hamilton, Evgenii Dadonov and Connor Brown traveled with the Devils for their three-game road trip and played at Tampa Bay on Tuesday. Hamilton, a defenseman, had sustained a lower-body injury during a 4-3 overtime win against the Canadiens on Nov. 6. Dadonov, a forward, hadn’t played since he fractured his hand in New Jersey’s season opener at the Carolina Hurricanes on Oct. 9. Brown, a forward, had sustained an upper-body injury during a 5-2 loss in San Jose on Oct. 30.
St. Louis Blues
Jake Neighbours is with the Blues for a five-game road trip that began at Toronto on Tuesday. The forward injured his right leg during a 6-4 loss at the Red Wings on Oct. 25 and was expected to be out at least five weeks. Neighbours did not play Tuesday. “He is going on the trip and expect him to play at some point on the trip,” coach Jim Montgomery said Monday. “I think if he’s ahead of schedule, it’s like three days. It was minimum of four weeks, we thought maximum five.” Neighbours has seven points (six goals, one assist) in eight games this season.
Pittsburgh Penguins
Tristan Jarry (lower body) practiced Tuesday for the first time since the goalie was injured Nov. 3 at Toronto. Jarry is 5-2-0 with a 2.60 goals-against average and .911 save percentage in seven games this season. … Ville Koivunen (lower body) is week to week and was placed on injured reserve. The forward played 13:46 in a 2-1 overtime loss to the Nashville Predators on Friday in the opening game of the 2025 NHL Global Series Sweden presented by Fastenal in Stockholm. He has two assists in 11 games this season. Pittsburgh recalled forward Sam Poulin from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the AHL.
