Morning Hits: Alfredsson, Ryan, Vatanen, Bouwmeester and Brodeur
  • Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun: Though the details are still being finalized, sources are saying that Daniel Alfredsson will skate in the Senators warmup on Thursday.  The NHL may have to grant special permission for this to happen as a player must have a contract to take part in a warmup.

    “Spoke to Alfie to finalize what will be the biggest ‘Welcome Home’ celebration Ottawa has ever seen! Sens fans, plan to be at game early!,” Melnyk said on Twitter Monday morning.

  • Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun: Senators Bobby Ryan is a question mark for tonight.

    “I feel alright. It’s a broken finger. We knew it was going to hurt,” said Ryan Monday. “It’s just a matter of trying to see how comfortable we could get to where I could stickhandle and float shots in there.

    “There’s optimisic signs if we can continue to get progress on it. Maybe we can get there but the end game is to play as quickly as possible (whether that’s Tuesday) or whenever it is. It’s got to continue to get progressively better.”

  • Mike Kelly: The Blue Jackets have lost 154 man games so far this season.
  • Eric Stephens: The Ducks won’t have an update on Eric Brewer or Sami Vatanen until sometime today.
  • Sarah McLellan: Coyotes defenseman Connor Murray left last night’s game with an upper-body injury.
  • Andy Strickland:  Blues Jay Bouwmeester is expected to return to the lineup today.
  • Andy Strickland: Martin Brodeur feels like he’s passed every test he’s had for himself without playing an actual game. He thinks he’s ready. Lou Korac: Blues coach Ken Hitchcock said that he likes Brodeur, and if he’s signed, would expect him to play at some point on their road trip. Jeremy Rutherford: Would bet on the Blues signing Brodeur today and playing on their road trip.
  • Kevin Kurz: Antti Niemi will start in net for the Sharks tonight. Alex Stalock will back up him up, but he still needs some more practice time.