The red-hot Washington Capitals are about to get one of their best players back.

Nicklas Backstrom will make his return Monday against the Columbus Blue Jackets, the club confirmed Sunday.

The star forward has missed the last eight contests with what the team called an upper-body ailment. He suffered the injury Nov. 18 in a game against the Anaheim Ducks.

Backstrom has posted 18 points in 23 contests this season.

The 32-year-old center, a pending unrestricted free agent who recently opened contract talks by representing himself, is the Capitals' all-time assists leader. He also ranks second in career points among Washington skaters and fourth on the franchise's all-time goals list.

Washington boasts the best record in the NHL and has won six consecutive games.

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Colorado Avalanche defenseman Cale Makar left Saturday's contest after taking a hard hit from Boston Bruins forward Brad Marchand.

The play occurred just under four minutes into the third period as the rookie phenom went to retrieve the puck behind his net.

Makar has already established himself as one of the league's elite blue-liners with a sensational rookie campaign to date. The 21-year-old entered Saturday's action leading all first-year players - and tied for second among NHL defensemen - with 28 points in 29 contests.

Avalanche goaltender Philipp Grubauer also left the contest in the first period and did not return.

Head coach Jared Bednar did not provide an update on either Makar or Grubauer following the game, according to The Athletic's Ryan Clark.

The Avalanche won the game 4-1 to hand Boston its first regulation loss at home this season.

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The Colorado Avalanche are apparently making a serious run at acquiring New Jersey Devils star Taylor Hall.

"The feeling in the industry is that the Avalanche are the favorites right now, pushing to try and get Taylor Hall perhaps as soon as the Christmas break, which starts Dec. 19," Sportsnet's Chris Johnston reported on the latest edition of "Saturday Headlines."

Hall is in the final year of his current deal, which carries an average annual value of $6 million. The 28-year-old is set to become an unrestricted free agent in July, and Devils general manager Ray Shero is reportedly listening to offers amid the team's struggles this season.

The Avalanche own the fourth-lowest cap hit this season with $5.98 million in projected space. Colorado also possesses a talented prospect pool that includes defensemen Bowen Byram and Conor Timmins, along with forwards Alex Newhook, Martin Kaut, and Vladislav Kamenev.

The Arizona Coyotes are another team reported to be interested in acquiring the Devils' star winger.

Hall entered Saturday's action leading all Devils with 23 points in 28 games. The Alberta native tallied a career-high 93-point season in 2017-18 to become the first player in franchise history to capture the Hart Trophy.

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After acquiring forward Alex Galchenyuk this offseason, the Pittsburgh Penguins are now looking to trade him, Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman reported on Saturday's "Headlines" segment.

"The Penguins are looking around to see what fits are available for him," Friedman said. "Galchenyuk is somebody who could be finding a new home."

Galchenyuk, 25, arrived in Pittsburgh last summer from the Arizona Coyotes in the Phil Kessel trade. He's appeared in 21 games for the Penguins, posting two goals and 10 points.

The former third overall pick has struggled to both stay healthy and produce with his new team. He has been spending time on the Penguins' fourth line recently and has played less than 10 minutes in five of his last six games.

"The fact of the matter is, when we're totally healthy, he's going to have to work very hard just to get in the top 12," Penguins GM Jim Rutherford said earlier this week, according to The Athletic's Josh Yohe. "That's just the way it is, because we have a lot of guys playing well."

Galchenyuk is in the final season of a three-year, $14.7-million deal.

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Former Detroit Red Wings forward Darren McCarty believes Mike Babcock cost the club a championship in the 2009 Stanley Cup Final and was anything but the reason Detroit won it all one year prior.

"Our (dressing) room worked in different ways and when I came back you could tell that things were different, but the thing that didn't change was that guys played for each other," McCarty told Carlos Monarrez of the Detroit Free Press.

"That's the key. In spite of him, right? In spite of him," McCarty added. "And I learned that more getting into '09 because we won in '08 in spite of him and lost in '09 because of him. That’s exactly the thing because he misused (Pavel) Datsyuk, (Henrik) Zetterberg and just because he's stubborn and that was his way."

Babcock coached the Red Wings from 2005-15 before joining the Toronto Maple Leafs. McCarty played 11 seasons for Detroit from 1993-2004 before rejoining the club for his final two campaigns.

Echoing Nazem Kadri's and Chris Chelios' recent comments, McCarty made clear the problem with Babcock wasn't his coaching ability, but rather his treatment of players.

"Preparation, Xs and Os, practice, just like the guys say, there's nobody better," McCarty said. "It's unbelievable. But then the ego and the disrespect for people. ... It doesn't matter who you are. It's a personal thing. So it could be the one who changes the garbage and he doesn't change it properly or whatever. … So all that stuff that happened with (Johan Franzen), it doesn't surprise me because I could see how he was as a person."

Frazen voiced pointed criticism of his former bench boss earlier this week, confirming Chelios' allegation that Babcock verbally assaulted Franzen and caused him severe mental distress during a playoff series in 2012.

McCarty lamented the fact Babcock's behavior wasn't called into question until recently.

"I could see what had started when I left (after 2004) and it just gradually grew," he said. "That's all it is. And it festered and it festered and it got out of control and the disrespect got out of control and now you're in 2019 with everybody else saying things.

"I can see how it got here because it was never handled. And that's the sport."

Detroit defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins in six games to win the Cup in 2008 before losing a seven-game championship series to the Penguins the following year.

Toronto fired Babcock on Nov. 20 amid a six-game losing streak. Less than a week later, Mitch Marner and Babcock himself confirmed reports of the head coach shaming the forward during his rookie season in 2016-17.

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