NHL Player News

Cholowski is expected to remain in the NHL even when Mike Green (virus) and Danny DeKeyser return to action, Ansar Khan of MLive.com reports.

The 20-year-old is the only defenseman in franchise history besides Hall of Famer Nicklas Lidstrom to have notched five points in his first six NHL games. Cholowski has two goals and three assists to start the season, which has somewhat mitigated the loss of Green, who happens to be one of Detroit's lone offensive weapons from the blue line. It's unreasonable to expect Cholowski to keep up this pace, but at least we know that he's not in danger of being reassigned to AHL Grand Rapids once the more established blueliners return.

McAvoy (unspecified issue) won't play Tuesday against the Senators, Eric Russo of the Bruins' official site reports.

While the Bruins are set to close out a four-game road trip in Ottawa on Tuesday, McAvoy is in Boston getting checked out to determine what's ailing him. Coach Bruce Cassidy did note that that the young defenseman's current issue is not believed to be related to the procedure he underwent for an abnormal heart rhythm last January. "I have nothing new, other than he's going through a bunch of tests and hopefully we get news on him back home [on Tuesday]," said Cassidy. "I don't believe it has anything to do with his heart. I think he's fine in that regard." Consider McAvoy iffy for Thursday's home game against the Flyers. With Kevan Miller (hand) also out Tuesday, Steven Kampfer and Urho Vaakanainen are in line to continue to fill in on the Boston back line.

Miller (hand) won't play Tuesday against the Senators, Eric Russo of the Bruins' official site reports.

With the Bruins still in the midst of a road trip, Miller met with doctors back in Boston to get his hand checked out. Look for further info on his status in the coming days, but the soonest the rugged blueliner night see game action is Thursday night when the Bruins host the Flyers.

Forsling (wrist) was assigned to AHL Rockford on Monday, Scott Powers of The Athletic reports.

Forsling is currently on injured reserve, and isn't expected back until November. This move could be a precursor to the defenseman playing some games in the AHL to get back into the swing of things after he gets healthy.

Goligoski has yet to earn a point this season, despite averaging over 20 minutes of ice time.

Goligoski set a career high in goals last season (12) and hit the 35-point mark for the fifth consecutive season, but is off to a rough start this season with nothing but seven shots and a minus-7 rating to show for it. Even with his struggles, the 33-year-old is unlikely to lose his spot in the lineup and should eventually get out of his slump.

Flames coach Bill Peters says Hamonic (face) could return late next week, Wes Gilbertson of the Calgary Sun reports.

The Flames' bench boss added that his prediction represented a "best-case scenario" which leads one to believe that Hamonic might struggle to answer the call. The 28-year-old defenseman was injured in a fight with Erik Gudbranson on Opening Night and has only featured in one game this season.

Johns (head) took part in Monday's practice session without any lingering symptoms from his post-traumatic headaches.

While it's certainly a step in the right direction for Johns, the fact that he has been limited in practice could mean he needs some time before he can return to the lineup. Tuesday's clash with the Kings would seem a little too soon, but perhaps Thursday or Saturday versus the Ducks or Red Wings respectively would be more likely. The final step in the blueliner's recovery will be his activation off injured reserve -- so fantasy owners should keep an eye out for that transaction.

Claesson (upper body) will be sidelined for 2-3 weeks due to his injury, Dan Rosen of NHL.com reports.

The club had already placed Claesson on injured reserve, so it shouldn't come as a surprise to see he is facing an extended absence. At minimum, the blueliner figures to sit out the next six contests, but if could be as many as 10 if he needs the full three-week timeframe to recover. With Claesson out of action, Kevin Shattenkirk shouldn't have to worry about being a healthy scratch any more.

Bouwmeester will dress for Monday's contest in Winnipeg, Ken Wiebe of the Winnipeg Sunreports.

The 35-year-old defenseman was a healthy scratch Saturday versus Toronto. Bouwmeester's insertion into the lineup comes after Robert Bortuzzo (lower body) had to leave the team and fly back to St. Louis. A minus-4 and without a point in six games, Bouwmeester doesn't warrant much consideration for fantasy deployment.

Bortuzzo (lower body) flew back to St.Louis and won't play Monday in Winnipeg.

No word on the extent of Bortuzzo's injury but having to fly back home certainly isn't a good sign. The 29-year-old defenseman has one goal in five games and even when healthy he shouldn't be on your fantasy radar.