Team Canada and Team USA are both breathing a sigh of relief regarding two of their potential players.
Speaking on the Saturday Headlines segment of Hockey Night in Canada, Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman reported that the Vegas Golden Knights aren't worried about the injuries to defenceman Shea Theodore and forward Jack Eichel.
"No concern about either of them being affected for the Olympics," Friedman added.
Eichel and Theodore did not travel with the Golden Knights through their two-game Alberta road trip.
Neither played in Wednesday's 2-1 shootout loss to New Jersey.
Eichel did not play because of illness, but coach Bruce Cassidy said Friday he also has a lower-body injury. He indicated Eichel isn't expected to be out long.
“Maybe next week we’ll see where he’s at," Cassidy said.
Eichel leads the Golden Knights with 29 assists and 41 points, and he also has 12 goals.
Cassidy said Theodore's status changed from day to day to now week to week with an upper-body injury.
“I don't think this will be a long one," Cassidy said. "I don't want to speak out of turn, and hopefully that's the case.”
Theodore was playing his best hockey of the season at the time of the injury. He leads Vegas defencemen with 20 points (four goals, 16 assists) and has a plus-5 rating.
The Golden Knights went into Friday's action tied with Anaheim atop the Pacific Division with 42 points apiece. Vegas visits divisional foes Calgary on Saturday and Edmonton on Sunday.
— With files from Associated Press
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