The San Jose Sharks center underwent a minor procedure Saturday to remove a bothersome screw from the repair work he had on his ankle last October.
"It was irritating when I put my skate on," Couture told Kevin Kurz of CSN Bay Area. "It wasn't anything structural, it was just from having the skate on that area and irritation was building up. (I) figured we had a little break here and could take it out, and hopefully it feels better."
Couture has appeared in all 25 games this season and hopes to be in the lineup Wednesday when the Sharks take on the Ottawa Senators.
Sure this year's edition of the world juniors will not include the early consensus first overall pick in next year's draft, but there are still many intriguing names to keep you glued to the television this holiday season.
This year's crop will see a star-studded cast highlighted - primarily - by players who have already heard their names called out on draft day, but that just means we have proven young talent to gaze upon.
Dylan Strome
Dylan Strome was arguably the best player on a Team Canada squad that struggled immensely last year. Strome put up four goals and two assists in five games - not too shabby.
This season the Arizona Coyotes' first-round pick was expected to remain with the Coyotes, but after seven games and just one goal, he now finds himself back with the Erie Otters, where he's making a mockery of his competition.
Strome has 15 points in six games in the Ontario Hockey League. This year's tournament will allow him to face stiffer competition as he looks to prove he belongs back with the big club.
Alex DeBrincat
Alex DeBrincat's first taste of the world juniors certainly didn't go as expected last year.
The 18-year-old American was ejected in his first game of the tournament for spearing Canada's Travis Konecny. He was injured in his second contest after taking an awkward ride into the boards against Sweden. In all, DeBincat played just five games and scored a single goal.
The Chicago Blackhawks draftee is having another strong junior campaign with 28 goals and 56 points through 26 games, but it will be interesting to see if he can finally bring his offensive touch to the world stage.
Yeah, it's still surprising to some that the Blue Jackets elected to go with Pierre-Luc Dubois, but they did, and now the towering forward will have the chance to showcase his talents against the world's top junior players.
This tournament could be more important to Dubois than any of the other candidates on this list. The 18-year-old failed to crack the Blue Jackets' lineup out of training camp and since returning to junior has not produced like he did a season ago.
After posting 99 points in 62 games last season, the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles forward has just 18 points through 20 games. So what better time to get back on track than while wearing the red and white?
Eeli Tolvanen
Not every stud in the tournament has his rights claimed.
Finnish forward Eeli Tolvanen will have not only the crowd's attention, but many NHL scouts will also be keeping a close watch.
Tolvanen is currently playing with the Sioux City Musketeers of the United States Hockey League, where he sits fourth in league scoring with 14 goals and 24 points in 21 games.
The sophomore is improving on his nearly point-per-game rookie campaign and early on looks to be the next hot prospect out of Finland. He's committed to Boston College next season, and will likely be more committed to bringing Finland back-to-back titles.
Alex Nylander
Alex Nylander certainly didn't look out of place last season in his first taste of the world juniors.
The Buffalo Sabres' first-rounder shone with Sweden, totaling four goals and nine points in seven games. Fast forward another year and Nylander should enter the tournament with more tricks to his arsenal thanks to some fermenting in the American Hockey League.
Nylander is off to a stellar rookie campaign with four goals and 14 points in 22 AHL games. And with brother William no longer in the picture, expect Alex to take on more of a leadership roll with the club.
Here's a look at the top-five vote-getters from each division.
Atlantic : 1. Carey Price, Montreal 2. Jaromir Jagr, Florida 3. Shea Weber, Montreal 4. Jack Eichel, Buffalo 5. Patrice Bergeron, Boston
Metropolitan: 1. Sidney Crosby, Pittsburgh 2. Alex Ovechkin, Washington 3. Phil Kessel, Pittsburgh 4. John Tavares, NY Islanders 5. Taylor Hall, New Jersey
Central: 1. Patrick Kane, Chicago 2. P.K. Subban, Nashville 3. Jonathan Toews, Chicago 4. Patrik Laine, Winnipeg 5. Vladimir Tarasenko, St. Louis
Pacific: 1. Connor McDavid, Edmonton 2. Brent Burns, San Jose 3. Johnny Gaudreau, Calgary 4. Anze Kopitar, Los Angeles 5. Joe Thornton, San Jose
Not a John Scott to be found in that group of 20.
Fan voting runs through to 11:59 p.m. ET on Jan. 2, and the All-Star Game is set for Jan. 29 in Los Angeles.
Alain Vigneault's squad sits tied atop the Metropolitan Division, its 35 points good for second-most in the Eastern Conference. New York's 95 goals lead the NHL - only three other teams have scored 80 or more - yet at 5-on-5, the Rangers hardly have the puck on their sticks.
Team
Corsi For %
Rank
Senators
47.8
26
Red Wings
46.46
27
Islanders
46.03
28
Rangers
45.76
29
Coyotes
44.60
30
The Rangers and Ottawa Senators are the only two teams currently in playoff position while ranked in the bottom five in possession.
Even more amazing: the Rangers' plus-30 goal differential is tops in the league, and that's with a .917 team save percentage (10th in the NHL). Henrik Lundqvist's only at .914 - not very Lundqvist-like, as he's always at .920 or better - while Antti Raanta's picking up the slack, checking in at .931.
On fire
Helping matters is New York's power play, which ranks sixth in the league at 22.7 percent. The Rangers are also a top-10 penalty killing team, coming in at ninth at 85.1 percent.
There's more. Three Rangers are shooting over 20 percent on the season: leading scorer Kevin Hayes (23.8 percent), Michael Grabner (22.8 percent), and Pavel Buchnevic (22.2 percent in 10 games). After shooting a career-low 8.2 percent last season, Rick Nash is firing at 15.1 percent. The hockey gods are fickle.
Thing is, the Rangers danced to this number last season. New York finished 26th in the league in 2015-16 in possession, coming in at 47.36. What's concerning is that through a quarter of the season, they're even worse. And after scoring five or more goals in 10 games through Nov. 21, the offense is regressing - as expected.
After a 7-2 beating of the Vancouver Canucks on Nov. 15, in which New York was outshot 38-25, the Rangers have scored five in a game once, and 23 times in nine games.
Possession obviously isn't the be all and end all, but it's becoming more and more clear that the teams at the top of the Corsi ledger are the ones left standing late in the spring. And that's all that matters.
The Rangers are in Brooklyn on Tuesday night, in a game hockey nerds should find interesting to watch. One of the teams is going to have to have the puck.
Alain Vigneault's squad sits tied atop the Metropolitan Division, its 35 points good for second-most in the Eastern Conference. New York's 95 goals lead the NHL - only three other teams have scored 80 or more - yet at 5-on-5, the Rangers hardly have the puck on their sticks.
Team
Corsi For %
Rank
Senators
47.8
26
Red Wings
46.46
27
Islanders
46.03
28
Rangers
45.76
29
Coyotes
44.60
30
The Rangers and Ottawa Senators are the only two teams currently in playoff position while ranked in the bottom five in possession.
Even more amazing: the Rangers' plus-30 goal differential is tops in the league, and that's with a .917 team save percentage (10th in the NHL). Henrik Lundqvist's only at .914 - not very Lundqvist-like, as he's always at .920 or better - while Antti Raanta's picking up the slack, checking in at .931.
On fire
Helping matters is New York's power play, which ranks sixth in the league at 22.7 percent. The Rangers are also a top-10 penalty killing team, coming in at ninth at 85.1 percent.
There's more. Three Rangers are shooting over 20 percent on the season: leading scorer Kevin Hayes (23.8 percent), Michael Grabner (22.8 percent), and Pavel Buchnevic (22.2 percent in 10 games). After shooting a career-low 8.2 percent last season, Rick Nash is firing at 15.1 percent. The hockey gods are fickle.
Thing is, the Rangers danced to this number last season. New York finished 26th in the league in 2015-16 in possession, coming in at 47.36. What's concerning is that through a quarter of the season, they're even worse. And after scoring five or more goals in 10 games through Nov. 21, the offense is regressing - as expected.
After a 7-2 beating of the Vancouver Canucks on Nov. 15, in which New York was outshot 38-25, the Rangers have scored five in a game once, and 23 times in nine games.
Possession obviously isn't the be all and end all, but it's becoming more and more clear that the teams at the top of the Corsi ledger are the ones left standing late in the spring. And that's all that matters.
The Rangers are in Brooklyn on Tuesday night, in a game hockey nerds should find interesting to watch. One of the teams is going to have to have the puck.
Forgive Jack Eichel for feeling a lot older than 20.
The focal point of the Buffalo Sabres' offense tweaked his ankle Monday night, and while that's expected after his high ankle sprain, it was revealed Tuesday morning that the forward's also nursing a sore hip, according to Sportsnet's John Shannon.
"I'm fine," Eichel said of his ankle, The Buffalo News' John Vogl reports. "I'm good. Going through an injury like this, you know it's going to come back and bother you at times, but it's fine now."
Eichel will be in the lineup Tuesday night against Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers, and he downplayed the hype around the top two picks in the 2015 draft meeting for the second time in their careers.
"You guys are obviously going to make it look like it's Eichel-McDavid, that whole thing, but it's a team game," he said. "It's always been a team game."
Eichel's got three goals and one assist in four games this season, and has scored in every game he's played against the Oilers. (He's played one game.)
Lately the subject of trade rumors coming out of the Boston, the Bruins forward recorded an assist and three shots against the Florida Panthers on Monday, and was kept from scoring only by a beautiful glove save from Roberto Luongo.
It was an impressive all-around effort, and evidence of the fact he has no desire to be traded.
"I definitely want to play here," Spooner said after the game, according to Joe Haggerty of CSNNE. "I want to help out and that's kind of where I'm at now. If I play like I did (against the Panthers), I think I'll be fine. I just want to go out, I want to help out, and that's kind of where I'm at right now."
The trade rumblings began in late October, when Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman reported the Bruins would listen to offers.
The 24-year-old is coming off a breakout season in which he recorded 13 goals and 36 assists, but he's been bounced from the third-line center spot to left wing on both the second and, more recently, the fourth line. As a result, he hasn't quite found his game, but Monday's performance is perhaps a sign of things to come.
"I think there were five or six games there where I felt I wasn't playing a bad game. Then six or seven games there where it was hard to get, I guess, the ice time that I wanted," he said. "At the end of the day, I've been a little bit inconsistent.
"I just have to go out there and use my speed and my skill, and I found that in the game here. I thought that I did that and I just need to play with that, and I should be fine."
Spooner has scored three goals and added six assists in 25 games this season, but may be asked to take on a bigger role once again in light of an injury suffered by Matt Beleskey that will keep him out of the lineup for up to six weeks.
After Mike Hoffman signed his first contract with substantial term last offseason, it's taken him a little time to get his hands back.
Through the first month-and-a-half of the season - and after signing a blockbuster contract - it looked like the Ottawa Senators forward might be falling victim to the first-year curse that's plagued countless players following big paydays. As an example, look no further than Jakub Voracek.
After a career season when he punched in 22 goals and 81 points in 2014-15, Voracek followed it up with just 11 goals and 55 points after signing an eight-year, $66-million extension. Luckily, Voracek appears to have found his footing with 23 points in 27 games this season.
As for Hoffman, his contract isn't nearly as lucrative, but - coming off back-to-back one-year contracts - a four-year, $20.75-million deal likely felt like the world to him. That contract, however, may have added extra weight onto his shoulders.
The 27-year-old struggled out of the gate, managing just three goals and seven points through the first 16 games, surely not what the Senators envisioned.
However, whether it's puck luck or something else, Hoffman is back and firing on all cylinders, going off for six goals and 12 points in the past eight games.
In fact, Hoffman is in the midst of a five-game point streak (with eight points), including his first career hat trick against the Sabres.
Hoffman sits second in team scoring behind Erik Karlsson, but has been the offensive dynamo the club needs. He paces the Senators with five power-play goals and nine power-play points, while also firing far and away the most shots of any player on the team.
The Senators could certainly use some offensive help, but in the meantime they'll take a red-hot Hoffman.
Veteran goalie Karri Ramo has signed a professional tryout offer with the AHL's Toronto Marlies, according to multiple reports Tuesday. He had been practicing with the Maple Leafs in his quest to return to the NHL after tearing his ACL as a member of the Calgary Flames last season.
Agent Todd Diamond says Ramo will play some of the upcoming games with the Marlies and then re-assess how he feels physically (con't)...
The signing comes a day after the Maple Leafs placed Jhonas Enroth on waivers - which he cleared - leaving a hole at the backup position with the big club that will be filled by Antoine Bibeau for the time being.
In 159 career NHL appearances with the Flames and Tampa Bay Lightning, Ramo has a 60-63-18 record with a .906 save percentage.
