Keep updated on all the injury news and roster updates from around the NHL with daily Ice Chips.
Ottawa Senators
Despite skating in a regular jersey at practice on Wednesday morning, Thomas Chabot‘s return to the lineup will have to wait.
Head coach Travis Green said after practice that Chabot would be out for Thursday’s game against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Chabot, who has been out since Nov. 22 with an upper-body injury, did not take part in line rushes. He remained on the ice after the practice to do additional work with assistant coach Ben Sexton.
Shane Pinto also skated at practice, but also did not take line rushes with the team.
Pinto, 25, has not played since Dec. 4 with a lower-body injury suffered against the New York Rangers.
While Chabot and Pinto continue to work their way back from injury, Lars Eller will miss at least another three weeks with a broken foot.
Eller, 36, has missed Ottawa’s past two games, and last skated 7:21 of ice time in a 6-3 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Dec. 11.
Goaltender Linus Ullmark and defenceman Jake Sanderson made early exits during Wednesday’s session.
Ullmark was reportedly engaged in “lots of conversations” throughout practice with the team’s athletic therapist, according to Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch, but Green later said that neither departure was cause for concern.
Green says he has no concerns about Ullmark and Sanderson leaving early #Sens
— Bruce Garrioch (@SunGarrioch) December 17, 2025
Ullmark owns a 12-8-4 record with a 3.00 goals-against average and an .879 save percentage across 24 starts for the Senators this season, while Sanderson has seven goals and 19 assists for 26 points on the year.
The Sens rolled out the following lines at practice on Wednesday:
Today’s alignment #Sens
Tkachuk-Stutzle-Zetterlund
Perron-Cozens-Batherson
Amadio-Greig-Giroux
MacDermid-Halliday-Cousins
Lycksell
Sanderson-Zub
Kleven-Spence
Matinpalo-Jensen
Chabot-Gilbert
— Bruce Garrioch (@SunGarrioch) December 17, 2025
Tampa Bay Lightning
Brandon Hagel did not take the ice with the Tampa Bay Lightning at the team’s morning skate, according to team insider Erik Erlendsson.
No Brandon Hagel on the ice as #GoBolts begin practice this morning. Ryan McDonagh and Andrei Vasilevskiy are both taking part #TBLightning
— Lightning Insider (@Erik_Erlendsson) December 17, 2025
Hagel, 27, exited Tampa Bay’s game on Monday against the Florida Panthers with an injury after taking a forearm up high from Seth Jones in the third period.
Jones did not receive a penalty on the play and is not expected to recieve supplemental discipline, according to TSN Hockey Insider Chris Johnston.
The Saskatoon, Sask. native has scored 18 goals and 31 points for Tampa Bay this year, and is one of a handful of hopefuls for Canada’s Olympic roster set to be named on Dec. 31.
Buffalo Sabres
Buffalo Sabres defenceman Michael Kesselring is expected back in the lineup for Thursday’s game against the Philadelphia Flyers, according to head coach Lindy Ruff.
“Kesselring indicated to me that he would be good to go [Thursday], which is a great thing,” Ruff said after Wednesday’s practice.
The 25-year-old blueliner has been out since Nov. 15 with a lower-body injury, and has been sidelined for the team’s past 14 games while on injured reserve.
Standing at 6-foot-5 and 215 pounds, Kesselring returned to practice on Wednesday and appears to be ready for game action on Thursday.
A native of New Hampton, N.H., Kesselring has gone without a point in nine games this season while skating an average of 15:36 of ice time per night.
Pittsburgh Penguins
Evgeni Malkin was spotted back on the ice before the Pittsburgh Penguins began their morning skate on Wednesday.
Joining Malkin during the workout was Blake Lizotte and Filip Hallander.
The 39-year-old Malkin has been out since Dec. 4, missing Pittsburgh’s past six games with an upper-body injury.
The Magnitogorsk, Russia native was placed on IR on Dec. 9, alongside Lizotte, with the club saying both players were week-to-week.
Malkin has eight goals and 21 assists in his 20th NHL season, and is second on the team in points (29) behind longtime teammate Sidney Crosby.
While Malkin and Lizotte appear to be nearing returns to the lineup, Hallander will remain out for at least another two months after being diagnosed with a blood clot in his leg in November.
Philadelphia Flyers
Philadelphia Flyers forward Tyson Foerster underwent successful arm surgery on Monday and is now expected to be out for approximately five months, the club announced Wednesday.
Injury update: After further medical consultation and diagnostic testing, Philadelphia Flyers forward Tyson Foerster underwent successful surgery on his arm on Monday, Dec. 15.
Foerster is expected to make a full recovery and will be out five months.https://t.co/t4H3wIIYzh
— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) December 17, 2025
Foerster, 23, has been out since Dec. 1 with the injury, and may now miss the remainder of the 2025-26 season, his fourth in the league.
The Alliston, Ont. native has played in 21 games on the year, scoring 10 goals and 13 points.
Florida Panthers
Gustav Forsling will be in the lineup for Wednesday night’s contest against the Los Angeles Kings, head coach Paul Maurice said via team reporter Jameson Olive.
Forsling is good to go, per Maurice
— Jameson Olive (@JamesonCoop) December 17, 2025
Forsling, 29, left Monday’s game against the Tampa Bay Lightning after blocking a shot in the third period.
The Swedish blueliner played a season-low 13:57 of ice time before departing, but will be back on the team’s top pairing next to Aaron Ekblad on Wednesday.
Luke Kunin will draw into the lineup for the first time in six games, taking the place of Jack Studnicka on the fourth line.
Kunin, 28, has one goal and two points on the year, averaging 9:19 of ice time across 22 appearances this season.
Joining Studnicka on the sidelines Wednesday will be Sergei Bobrovsky, who is set to get the night off with Daniil Tarasov starting.
Kunin coming in for Studnicka tonight.
Tarasov in net, per Maurice.
— Jameson Olive (@JamesonCoop) December 17, 2025
Tarasov, 26, last played on Dec. 11 in a 6-2 loss to the Colorado Avalanche.
In nine starts on the year, the fifth-year netminder owns a 3-5-1 record with a 2.84 goals-against average and a .903 save percentage.
Maurice rolled out the following lines on Wednesday morning:
#FlaPanthers lines this AM
Luostarinen – Lundell – Reinhart
Verhaeghe – Bennett – Marchand
Greer – Rodrigues – Samoskevich
Kunin – Gregor – Boqvist
D is mixing and matching a bit with Forsling not skating.
Studnicka is out there, but not taking rushes.
— Jameson Olive (@JamesonCoop) December 17, 2025
Minnesota Wild
Jonas Brodin was placed on injured reserve by the Minnesota Wild on Wednesday, the club announced.
Defenceman Carson Lambos was recalled from Iowa (AHL) in a corresponding move.
Brodin, 32, has missed each of Minnesota’s past three games with an undisclosed injury.
In 30 games played in 2025-26, the Swedish blueliner has registered three goals and six assists, logging 22:04 of ice time per night.
Lambos, 22, heads up to the big league club after playing in 26 games with Iowa this year.
The Winnipeg native has totaled 11 goals and 27 assists across 163 games at the AHL level since Minnesota selected him with the 26th overall pick in the 2021 draft.
New York Islanders
The New York Islanders have loaned defenceman Travis Mitchell to their AHL affiliate Bridgeport Islanders, the team announced Wednesday.
#Isles Transaction: Travis Mitchell has been loaned to Bridgeport.
— New York Islanders (@NYIslanders) December 17, 2025
Mitchell, 26, has appeared in nine games for New York this season, scoring one goal while logging an average of 11:32 of ice time.
The South Lyon, Mich. native was recalled late last month and made his NHL debut on Nov. 28.
The 6-foot-4 blueliner now heads back down to the American League where he has four assists in 14 games played this year.