Chris Nichols

­Chris Nichols is Sportsnet.ca's fantasy hockey writer.

Twitter: @Nichols_NHLPool/ Email: chris.nichols@sportsnet.rogers.com

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The Star-Ledger reports that Devils general manager Lou Lamoriello said this morning that Zach Parise will play again this season.

Parise is recovering from Nov. 2 surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his right knee.

“He will play this season, unless there is something unforeseen that happens,” Lamoriello said.

He was at practice today for the first time and was on a line with Dave Steckel and Adam Mair. Stay tuned.

From The Boston Globe, on the Zdeno Chara/ Max Pacioretty play which has now been inflamed by the Mark Recchi comments topic. Tonight's the first game between those two teams since that hit.

Best line from the clearly non-biased article: "On what happened following the hit: Montreal fans, no strangers to hysteria, dashed to call 911 and insisted that Chara be dragged out of the rink in leg irons. A day later, the province of Quebec howled when the NHL didn’t suspend Chara."

Asked if he expected a physical response, Chara said, “I don’t know. We’ll see.’’

“Z can take care of himself,’’ said Bruins winger Milan Lucic with a smile. “If they want to go after him, good luck. I don’t think he’ll need my help.’’

“You’re going to have ask them that question,’’ Bruins coach Claude Julien answered when asked if he anticipated rough stuff. “Retribution would be coming from them, wouldn’t it?’’

More Lucic: “It seems like every time we play Montreal, they play their best game. I don’t know what it is. It seems they almost always get the bounces.

“You can’t just say they’ve had the luck. They’ve definitely worked hard to get those four wins out of us this year. It’s always a challenge playing against them.

“Guys seem ready. Especially looking at [Tuesday’s win over New Jersey], guys seemed ready. We definitely have to have guys step up because it’s going to be a playoff-like atmosphere.’’

Most important, writes The Globe, is that Pacioretty is recovering well. Pacioretty, whose career appeared in danger following the incident, could dress in the postseason. Chara has tried to contact him several times but hasn’t had any luck.

“I’m glad that he’s doing much better and that he’s probably going to be playing, based on reports of what we’ve heard,’’ Chara said. “It’s good news.’’

One of the Bruins’ leaders had doubts about the degree of Pacioretty’s injuries. In an interview on 98.5 The Sports Hub yesterday, Mark Recchi fueled the controversy, speculating that the Canadiens embellished Pacioretty’s concussion to prompt the league to suspend Chara. Recchi emphasized that he was happy to hear of Pacioretty’s recovery.

“He does obviously have a fractured vertebra, but the concussion is obviously really a nonfactor,’’ said Recchi, citing how Pacioretty attended a movie several days after the hit. “In maybe a day or two — maybe a day he felt it — but he was fine a couple days later.

“They were trying to get Zdeno suspended and they embellished it a little bit. In terms of that side, they’re doing whatever they could to get him suspended.

“That was an interference play at worst. The partitions got in the way. I don’t think Zdeno is to blame for that.’’

According to The Vancouver Province, Mikael Samuelsson was walking without a limp or hitch in his stride Wednesday. And if the Vancouver Canucks winger is again experiencing stiffness in his right leg, you'd never know it by his demeanour. He chatted with countryman Tomas Holmstrom at the pregame skate and was smiling. Even laughing.

If it was a playoff encounter, Samuelsson probably would have played against his former team. But being cautious is prudent because the veteran's true value is on the horizon. It's easy to forget that Samuelsson scored eight goals in a dozen preseason games last spring, including seven in the first five. So, if Samuelsson sits again Friday in Atlanta as expected, it will be for all the right reasons.

"We're going to take a couple of days to make sure this heals properly," said Canucks coach Alain Vigneault. "We'll see how this unfolds and see how he is and we'll take it from there."

After cranking up his goal total to 17, The Edmonton Journal observes that Jordan Eberle found himself perched at the top of the Edmonton Oilers goal scoring chart.

That says as much about all of the Oilers players who are out of the lineup as it does about Eberle’s first season in the NHL.

Eberle has fashioned a two-game goal-scoring streak after it looked like he had hit the wall.

“I had a bit of a lull there where I thought I wasn’t improving,” he said after scoring a power-play goal, the only Oilers goal, in a 3-1 loss to the Nashville Predators on Tuesday. He also scored against the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday to end a five-game point drought.

“I think I’m back to playing my game and getting better. You have to learn to get over those humps, you have to believe in yourself,” said Eberle, who hobbled out of Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena with a protective boot on his right foot but skated in St. Louis on Wednesday.

Post-game X-rays revealed that there were no broken bones after he was hammered by a Jeff Petry shot during the first period of Tuesday’s game. With bones intact, so too were his plans to play the remaining nine games in the lineup.

“It was pretty swollen and bruised, but luckily it’s not broken,” he said. “It’s pretty sore in the skate, but the pressure of the boot helps it.

“As far as points, it’s all about playing well and you’re obviously doing something right if the puck’s going in, but some nights you can play really well and not get anything.”

The Journal points out that Eberle was supposed to be coaxed along in his first NHL season, but that plan went awry right around the time scads of injuries started creating crater-like holes in the lineup.

He even missed 13 games, first because of a sprained ankle and then of an emergency appendectomy. When he returned to the lineup, he notched six goals and six assists in 15 games. Then there was nothing but one assist in six games.

“I’m playing more and getting opportunities to be the guy putting the puck in the back of the net, so for the most part, it’s the situation you want to be in,” Eberle said. “For me, the biggest thing is moving forward and trying to improve every day.”

A find in the first round of the 2008 NHL entry draft — the Regina Pats product was still available when the Oilers made the 22nd pick overall — Eberle set the bar high when he beat Calgary Flames goaltender Miikka Kiprusoff with his first NHL goal in the Oilers’ first game of the season. The highlight-reel goal was a shorthanded marker.

“He still wants the responsibility. He’s not gun-shy at all with the puck,” said coach Tom Renney. “That’s really critical, to have that confidence.

“He is doing his best to play a two-way game ... but he is a bit of a victim of the roster. The combination of skill and talent around him has maybe diminished a little bit where there’s too much on him to do things by himself. But he’s a competitor. He’ll certainly stay with it.”

Rob Schremp didn’t circle March 24 on his calendar, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. But the Thrashers forward is looking forward to Thursday’s game against the New York Islanders.

The Thrashers claimed Schremp on waivers from the Islanders on Feb. 28 after the 24-year old had scored a career-high 10 goals in 45 games. Thursday, Schremp returns to the Nassau Coliseum.

“It should be fun,” Schremp said Wednesday. “I was just there a month ago. There will be a lot of energy going into the game. They had my rights and they put me on waivers. It’s a chance to go back and play against them and prove what I can do at the NHL level.”

The Islanders claimed Schremp off waivers from Edmonton, which drafted him in the first round (No. 25 overall) in 2004. He appeared in just seven games with the Oilers over three seasons. In his two seasons with the Islanders, Schremp played in 89 games over two seasons with 17 goals and 30 assists.

“They gave me a chance last year and I was very appreciative of that,” Schremp said “There are no hard feelings. It’s part of hockey. There are a lot of guys there they are re-signing and I don’t think I was in the picture. I don’t have any hard feelings. I understand what the game is like. I appreciate what they did for me as far as giving me a chance.”

Schremp has one goal and a shootout goal in nine games with the Thrashers.

The Buffalo says that check the stats since Jan. 18, and you'll find Nathan Gerbe among the Sabres' leaders. He has 11 goals, tying him with Drew Stafford for most on the team over the same period, and 17 points over his last 27 games. It's no coincidence the Sabres are 16-8-4 over their last 28 games, counting one game in which Gerbe was a healthy scratch.

Gerbe has been terrific in the last seven games with five goals and seven points, so there's no way they could justify taking him out of the lineup when injured forwards Jochen Hecht and Patrick Kaleta return. He has 38 shots on goal in his last 12 games, 20 more than he had in his first 12 games.

And can we stop asking whether he's big enough to play in the NHL already? It doesn't matter that the 5-foot-5, 178-pound winger is shorter than half of the eighth grade. Martin St. Louis, generously listed at 5-8, 176, has recorded 80 points or more in five straight seasons. He played parts of four seasons before scoring 20 goals in a year. He has since won a Hart Trophy and a Stanley Cup and is among the NHL's most dependable players.

St. Louis has proven it's not the size of the player so much as the size of his heart, which brings us back to Gerbe. He had the only goal Tuesday against the same Canadiens when Lindy Ruff threw him out there inside the final minute to preserve the lead. Gerbe made a gritty defensive play on P.K. Subban, stole the puck and found an empty net. Ballgame.

Just think, this might be only the beginning.

"Everybody in this league can get better," Gerbe said. "I want to continue to grow. I want to be a threat almost every shift offensively, and I want to be a go-to guy. It doesn't just happen. I have to get better each game, focus on improving and never settle for what's already happened."

More Gerbe quotes from The News:

"It has so much to do with confidence," Gerbe said. "If you believe in yourself and believe you can do it, you can make things happen and good things will happen. I know how good this league is. The big thing for me going into this season was to not lose confidence no matter what."

He also said, "The more you play, the more you understand. When you're first coming into the league, the game is so fast and you think too much. When you do less thinking and react more to the play, you play more to your style."

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette says that at one point, Penguins winger Eric Tangradi was relieved just to be able to watch a movie to its end without his concussion symptoms -- including headaches and light sensitivity -- flaring.

Nearly six weeks of little victories, unwanted reminders of his condition and, finally, a chance to return to practice left the budding power forward philosophical.

"It's such an interesting process," Tangradi said Wednesday after making it through his first team practice with no trouble.

"You don't feel like yourself, but your body feels healthy. ... The hardest part is just telling yourself you need to relax. There was a point two weeks in where I felt like I was fine. Then I hopped on the bike for 10 minutes, and that's when the symptoms kick in. I'm a high-energy guy, so it's been a lonely month and a half."

It was Feb. 11, a day after his 23rd birthday, when Tangradi took a vicious elbow to the head from the Islanders' Trevor Gillies in the penalty-filled, 9-3 loss in New York that earned Gillies and others suspensions. Gillies also continued to hit Tangradi, then stood over and taunted him. Tangradi, one of four Penguins to sustain concussions this season, has watched replays.

"Hockey's a very emotional game," Tangradi said. "I think emotions got the best of both teams. Sometimes things happen like that. I never want it to happen again, but I've learned from the experience. ... I'm thankful to be healthy and strong right now."

He was equally brief and tactful about watching Sunday when teammate Matt Cooke threw a similar but less devastating elbow to the head of New York Rangers defenseman Ryan McDonagh, earning Cooke an extended suspension.

"Things happen," Tangradi said. "It's an emotional game. Whether it's your own team or another team, it's a tough thing to watch."

Tangradi isn't eligible to play for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in the AHL stretch run or playoffs. It's not known when or if he will crack the Penguins' lineup -- the second-year pro was hurt while on a call-up due to a long list of injuries -- but he's just about ready if needed.

The Columbus Dispatch writes that on the day he was traded by the Blue Jackets to the Phoenix Coyotes, defenseman Rostislav Klesla rushed to Nationwide Arena, packed a bag full of personal items and headed to the airport. He was gone before sunset.

Even though he gained 40 degrees on the weather map and 10 points in the NHL standings, Klesla called Feb.28 a bittersweet day as he bid goodbye to the only NHL franchise and city he'd ever known.

"I met a lot of good people in Columbus," Klesla said. "I had great teammates, and, you know, I saw of lot of them get traded over the years. It was always pretty sad. It's part of hockey, part of life. It was the first time for me."

Klesla will face his former club tonight when the Blue Jackets play the Coyotes.

It will be "interesting," Klesla said, to play against his former teammates and defend against the Blue Jackets uniform, one he wore 515 times since the inaugural season of 2000-01. Only Rick Nash (589) and David Vyborny (543) have played more games for the Jackets, and Klesla - the organization's first draft pick - was the first player to pull the jersey over his head on a national stage.

But the pain Klesla was feeling late last month has faded, and a new reality has emerged.

"We're in a really good spot, in the playoff running," Klesla said. "The guys here are great. So far it's been working great for me. I walked in the first day and there's Kinger and Whits, and it was like I went back to the first couple of years in Columbus again."

The Dispatch points out that Whits would be Coyotes left winger Ray Whitney, a former Blue Jackets captain. Kinger would be Dave King, the Coyotes' assistant coach who was the Blue Jackets' inaugural coach and guided Klesla through his first 2 seasons in the NHL.

"It has been a thrill having Rusty back," said King, who advised the Coyotes on Klesla before they swung the trade that sent winger Scottie Upshall and defenseman Sami Lepisto to the Blue Jackets.

"The thing I love about Rusty is, he'll take a huge hit - I mean, a colossal hit - to make a pass. And people respect him for that."

King has been gone from Columbus for more than eight years but still holds the city in high regard. So it's not intended as a shot when he says Klesla will thrive from a change of scenery.

"It looks like Rusty's become satisfied with just making the first pass," King said. "We'd like him to play quicker, more of a transition game.

"I really get the sense that he's welcomed the change coming here a little bit. Making no comment on Columbus or the Blue Jackets, but Rusty might be revitalized by the trade. He's mentioned already a couple times how it's bright and sunny and warm here."

Klesla planned to have dinner with a few of the Blue Jackets' Czech-born players last night. He might keep his home in the Gahanna area, too. After a decade, the cord is not easily cut.

"Even when things weren't going well, I always did my best on the ice," Klesla said. "We just didn't win enough. We had that one good season, and those playoff games were fun, even though it was really brief.

"That's the thing I always wanted to do in Columbus, win. But it wasn't coming. It's just too bad we didn't win more. That's my only regret."

The Detroit Free Press indicates that Chris Osgood is frustrated, as are the Red Wings. Ten weeks removed from surgery to repair a sports hernia and other groin-area issues, Osgood is essentially starting his comeback all over again, leaving very much in doubt who will be the backup in goal when the playoffs begin in three weeks.

The Wings put Osgood back on long-term injured reserve Wednesday, enabling them to recall Joey MacDonald from Grand Rapids one day after he'd been sent there. Osgood had to be put on injured reserve in order to free up the salary cap space needed for MacDonald, as the Wings already used what little room they had to call up forward Jan Mursak.

Mursak was needed because Pavel Datsyuk (lower body), Todd Bertuzzi (back) and Johan Franzen (groin) all are out through the weekend.

The Wings are confident they'll get all three skaters back before the playoffs. With Osgood, the doubt is mounting.

"We thought he'd be ready to go against St. Louis back on March 12, then Columbus the next week, then today," general manager Ken Holland said. "Instead we've had two to three setbacks in the past 10 days. Every time he practices hard for 40 minutes, he comes in the next day and is sore.

"At this point, we feel it's best to shut him down for three or four days and then start all over again next week. But we're 10 weeks out from when he had surgery, and we're basically back to where we were a month ago. Chris is frustrated. I'm frustrated. Mike Babcock is frustrated. I think everyone is frustrated."

The Free Press says that the Wings held off on acquiring a backup goalie before the Feb. 28 trade deadline because of assurances Osgood, 38, would play again. His last game was Jan. 4, a victory that put him at 401 for his career. He isn't eligible to come off injured reserve until April 8, giving him at most two games before the playoffs.

If Osgood doesn't recover, the Wings will have to enter the playoffs with MacDonald backing up Jimmy Howard. MacDonald, 31, never has played in the NHL playoffs. He's a career minor leaguer who in 84 NHL regular-season appearances is 22-42-11 with a .903 save percentage and 3.14 goals-against average. He is 4-4-2 with a .926 save percentage and 2.10 GAA with the Wings this season.

"Our options are internal," Holland said. "With Joey, you look at his numbers, he's played in Pittsburgh, in San Jose, in Columbus, against Pittsburgh at home. Not many games, but we think he's done a tremendous job. Some times guys wait their whole life for an opportunity -- he sees this as his opportunity.

"Let's play our way into the playoffs and see where Chris Osgood is in two weeks. But we're comfortable with Jimmy and Joey the way Joey has played."

The Miami Herald says that Tyler Plante has heard all the talk surrounding Jacob Markstrom, the Panthers ’goalie of the future.’

Plante might just become the team’s “goalie of the meantime.’’

If Tomas Vokoun doesn’t return to the Panthers next season — he’s scheduled to be an unrestricted free agent July 1 — Florida could look at having a combination of Scott Clemmensen and Plante in net next season. Of course, with over $30 million to spend just to get to the salary-cap floor, the Panthers have plenty of money to throw at Vokoun — or another starting-caliber goalie.

Plante would like the chance — and feels his strong play in Rochester the past two seasons has helped his cause. Plante, a second-round pick by Florida in 2005, has made saves on 91 percent of shots faced in each of the past two years in the AHL.

“It’s been an up-and-down year, I had some injuries early on and didn’t get off to the start I wanted,’’ Plante said Tuesday night, hours after he was called up from AHL Rochester (N.Y.) because Clemmensen suffered a minor knee injury. “I’m just pushing forward, trying to end as strong as I can. I think I’ve been solid this year, feel like I’ve showed consistency and an ability to win games. I just have to keep showing that.’’

Plante, 23, hasn’t received any of the hype that Markstrom has, with the Panthers putting plenty of hope that the 31st overall pick of the 2008 NHL Draft will take over in net sometime down the road. Markstrom, just 21, looks like he’s going to need at least another year in the minors to develop his game.

Markstrom struggled early on in his first North American professional season with the Panthers AHL affiliate in Rochester before sustaining a knee injury in February that ended up requiring surgery. Markstrom did play better after a rough start, with Panthers goalie coach Robb Tallas crediting Plante’s guidance for some of that.

“Tyler has been very patient,’’ Tallas said. “We were honest with him when we signed Jacob and told him we were going to give him every opportunity to play this season. He became a leader and helped [Markstrom] but never lost that edge, that will to play.

“He’s a lot more mature than when he first came in and thought it would be easy. When he’s had opportunities, he’s made the most of them.’’

The Arizona Republic believes the Coyotes keep proving their resiliency, yet critics and doubters persist. It's a situation that surprises defenseman Derek Morris.

"I think our team in here believes we're going to win every game, or at least have a chance to win every game if we play the way we can," he said. "So we don't go out there thinking after a loss, 'Oh, no, maybe we're going to throw three or four together.'

"We think of what we've got to do to get ready for the next game, and obviously goaltending's been a key for us down the stretch."

The Coyotes, who host Columbus tonight, are challenging San Jose for the Pacific Division lead. They have reached the 40-win mark for the second season in a row, a first for the franchise.

Morris said the system installed by coach Dave Tippett last season has been the key.

"We play a fairly simple system," he said. "It's just work and play smart and do your job."

"Simple" is a complex word when it comes to hockey. It can be a concept that is hard to grasp.

"With us, we have to," Morris said. "I think when we get in a little bit of trouble, we start trying do to a little bit too much and make plays that aren't there, overpass it.

"When we're playing good, we're just getting it up to our forwards, who are getting it in, and we're pretty good when we get it down in the offensive zone and we can hold onto it."

Another factor is that players who are brought in are easily able to fit into the framework of the team.

"(It's) a testament to our locker room is we've got a real easy locker room to fit into," Morris said. "We've got a group of guys here that are really laid back, easygoing. They've done a real nice job of bringing in guys here that fit in."

The Tampa Tribune affirms that there comes a time in almost every season when practice can actually do a team more harm than good. The Lightning, coach Guy Boucher said Wednesday, have reached that point.

Tampa Bay has won only two of its past 11 games and is coming off a disjointed 5-2 loss to the Islanders on Tuesday, yet Boucher all but gave the Lightning the day off Wednesday. A similar "off day'' is on tap for today.

It might seem like madness, especially for a probable playoff team that clearly has lost its way in recent weeks, but Boucher swears — and recent history suggests — his seemingly mad method has its benefits.

"If you look at some of our best stretches of the year, once where we won six games in a row and again just recently when we won three games in a row, it was after we took a couple of days off,'' Boucher said.

"So, it's important to recognize that we're in a tough situation now … but it's also our job as a staff to know when it's time to give them a rest and when it's time to push … and this is a time when you can't push.''

Boucher did push a few players onto the ice at the Ice Sports Forum, but all were players who either have had limited ice time of late or are fighting back from injuries. The majority of the regulars simply met with the coaching staff for about 20 minutes, received treatment for minor or nagging ailments and did some off-ice conditioning. Two, meanwhile, were given a unique set of orders.

In addition to being prohibited from going onto the ice Wednesday, Marty St. Louis and Steven Stamkos each were told by Boucher to stay away from the rink completely.

"I told them, 'I don't want to see you until Friday morning,' " said Boucher, referring to the morning skate before the game against Carolina. "And it's because they've given so much emotionally, physically and mentally that they need the rest more than anybody else right now.

"It's like with (Capitals center Alexander) Ovechkin. They're giving him 10 days off or something like that because these guys are in situations where they give so much that it wears you out."

The Tribune relays that Stamkos said relaxing and playing without pressure now that the stakes are greater is "easier said than done,'' but he said his individual plan to break out of his slump is the same as the team's.

"We just have to stick with our game plan and not panic,'' he said. "Every team, every individual, goes through this and the way you get out is to stay confident and stay the course. We have nine games left and we're in a position to make the playoffs and that's a positive. So, this is not the time to change things just because things haven't gone good for us. We just have to stay the course.''

The Washington Post reports that Michal Neuvirth said he expects to start on Friday night against the Senators, while Semyon Varlamov will play Saturday night in Montreal, his first game since recovering from a knee injury.

Also... Capitals defenseman Mike Green has missed 18 of the past 20 games since he was hit in the head by a puck on Feb. 6 against Pittsburgh, and he hasn’t taken part in a full practice with his teammates (with or without contact) since he suffered another concussion when the Rangers’ Derek Stepan hit him in the head on Feb. 25.

The good news, Coach Bruce Boudreau said Thursday, is that Green says he is feeling better. That doesn’t mean the two-time Norris Trophy finalist is ready to play quite yet, and there is still no firm timetable for when he will return to the lineup.

With only eight games remaining in the regular season, Boudreau said the chance of Green returning prior to the playoffs is uncertain.

“In a perfect world, we’d like to get him back for the last couple [regular season] games,” Boudreau said. “I think this week will indicate this -- by Monday, we’ll know whether we’ll be able to or not.

“We want him in at least three practices, good practices, before we ever put him in a game -- minimum,” Boudreau said. “Quite frankly, I play him when [head athletic trainer] Greg Smith says he’s OK to play. I’ll be the first one to put him in.”

The Post notes that NHL concussion protocol stipulates that players must be symptom free at rest, symptom free with exertion (such as exercise), and then must pass neuropsychological testing before they will be able to return to game action.

Green has been taking part in off-ice workouts this week and he skated while the team was on the road last week, but it is a gradual process and Boudreau emphasized that the Capitals want to make sure that Green is completely healthy before putting him back into a game.

“We’re not going to say, ‘Oh, he’s feeling good, let’s put him in,’” Boudreau said. “I told him again today, I said, ‘Mike, we just want you to get better. I want you to play but I want you to get better.’ He was saying how good he felt and I said that’s a fabulous sign.”

Finally,

Aaron Rudnicki: "Hi Chris,

Big fan of your fantasy hockey blog on Sportsnet. Anyway, something has been bothering me for awhile and I haven't really seen it addressed anywhere up to this point. Why does it seem to be more and more common for injured players to not be placed on the injured list? This becomes frustrating for fantasy owners because oftentimes we can't reserve these guys and pick up an injury replacement until they are officially placed on the IR by their respective teams. So, a fantasy roster - particularly in a keeper league - winds up getting clogged with injured players, and then you have trouble using all games played or grabbing any potential young keepers out there that might make for good trade bait in the offseason. Some examples of what I'm talking about:

Alex Steen - supposed to be out for at least 4 weeks as of March 11th but has still not been placed on IR.

Justin Williams - shoulder injury expected to knock him out for the next 3 to 4 weeks but hasn't been placed on IR.

Sergei Gonchar - injured on March 20th and initial speculation had him possibly sitting out the rest of the year. Now they say he might only miss a week but still hasn't been placed on IR.

Milan Hejduk - missed a week or so with a shoulder injury and recently returned but never went on IR.

Grant Clitsome - likely to miss at least a few games with a knee injury but hasn't been placed on IR.

Marc Staal - seems to be day to day, so I can understand wanting to keep him active for a team in a tight playoff race.

I'm sure there are plenty of others out there. I thought putting a player on IR gives a team cap relief. If they decide they don't need the cap relief at this point in the season, do they just not bother? Are there any other considerations here that I might be missing?

Thanks for any additional info you can provide."

Chris: Thanks Aaron and yes, this issue is the bane of poolies' existences. Clearly.

First and foremost, I'd strongly urge all poolies to lobby their service provider to accommodate this inevitability by attaching IR eligibility to any injured player, including those with DTD ailments. Some do, most don't.

In terms of why NHL teams routinely do not put a player on the IR when they're clearly going to miss at least the week that the IR would require, there is no singular answer as far as I know. It's a case-by-case thing.

In some cases (as I'm sure you'd guess), for players who are only DTD, they aren't placed on IR because they have to miss a minimum of seven days once they're put on the IR. If they might be able to return earlier, the club won't put them on there because they want the player available to them asap. The club can also put someone on the IR retroactive to the injury date, which we've seen from time-to-time.

My best guess is that many of the other cases/reasons are simply cap related. I am far from a capologist, but it's my understanding that injured players still count against the cap.

Players on the long-term IR (10 games/ 24 day minimum) also, I believe, count against the cap. But... teams are allowed replacements up to the contract amount of the injured player. There's also something called the "upper limit", which further complicates things.

If anyone can expand on this topic with some legit, sourced material as to why NHL teams do what they do, I'd welcome it.