The Finnish sniper was diagnosed with a bruised foot after blocking a shot in Tuesday's win over the Los Angeles Kings and was subsequently ruled out for four to 14 days.
However, Laine was a full participant in practice Friday morning, and told coach Paul Maurice he's ready to play against the Anaheim Ducks. That said, the 19-year-old still needs clearance from team doctors.
Laine was one of the hottest players in the league before his injury snapped a 15-game point streak across which he recorded 20 goals, vaulting him into second in the "Rocket" Richard race with 43 tallies on the season.
Tarasenko missed two full games after making an early exit from a win over the Rangers on March. 17.
The Blues are riding a three-game winning streak, with each result coming in overtime, and sit three points out of a wild-card spot.
"It was hard (being out) and sometimes exciting too because guys did a really good job," Tarasenko said. "It's been awhile since I missed a game, so it was a weird feeling but now I feel good and ready to help the team."
Tarsenko ranks second on the Blues with 58 points in 71 games.
His daughter confirmed his death but didn't disclose the cause to the Sun-Sentinel.
Huizenga is also known for founding Blockbuster Video, Waste Management, and AutoNation.
The South Florida tycoon purchased a partial stake in the Dolphins in 1990 before buying control of the team in 1993 from Joe Robbie. In 2008, Huizenga sold 50 percent of the franchise but remained the managing general partner until January 2009, when he sold all but 5 percent.
The billionaire was also the first owner of the Marlins franchise - then known as the Florida Marlins - and helped lead the team to its first World Series championship in 1997. In 1998, he sold the club to John Henry.
Today, we mourn the passing of the original Florida Marlin, Mr. H. Wayne Huizenga, who will be remembered as much for his contributions to South Florida professional sports as he was for his many charitable endeavors in the surrounding community. pic.twitter.com/HOVxXEAU5Q
Huizenga was awarded an NHL expansion franchise for a $50-million bid in 1992. That franchise became the Panthers, whose inaugural season began in October 1993. During his tenure, the Panthers doubled their value, and he later sold the team to Alan Cohen and former NFL quarterback Bernie Kosar for a reported sum of $100 million.
On December 10, 2017, during their 25th season in the NHL, the Panthers retired No. 37 - Huizenga's birth year and lucky number - in honor of their former owner.
Ottawa Senators general manager Pierre Dorion shed some light on his club's offseason plans Friday morning.
Speaking on a conference call with season-ticket holders, Dorion addressed how the organization intends to make up for a disastrous season that's fallen dramatically short of expectations. In doing so, Dorion revealed one item on the agenda will be an evaluation of head coach Guy Boucher's future, per Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun.
Boucher joined the Senators in 2016 on a three-year contract, becoming their fifth coach since 2008. His first year on the job was a tremendous success, as his defensive game plan carried the Senators to Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Final.
Season two, however, has produced starkly contrasting results, as the Senators currently sit 28th in league standings.
Whether Boucher stays behind the bench for the final year of his deal remains to be seen, but Dorion made it clear things can't be the same in 2018-19.
Dorion. “There’s going to be changes next year. This is unacceptable. There’s a plan in place”
In terms of on-ice personnel, Dorion said the club is planning to meet with Matt Duchene's camp and get him signed to an extension once he's eligible to do so July 1.
Duchene joined the Senators in the blockbuster three-way deal that also sent Kyle Turris to the Nashville Predators in November, and after a slow start, has shown his offensive capabilities with a team-leading 34 points in 36 games since Jan. 1.
The 27-year-old has one more season on his current contract that pays $6 million annually, and is one of four key Senators players who will be negotiating new deals this summer, including Erik Karlsson - also eligible for an extension July 1 - as well as restricted free agents Mark Stone and Cody Ceci.
It's no exaggeration to suggest more than a dozen players could make a case for the Hart Trophy this year. The landscape could shift a bit over the final two weeks of the regular season, but here we narrow it down to five MVP candidates, with a few honorable mentions.
5. Claude Giroux
In training camp, Philadelphia Flyers head coach Dave Hakstol decided to shift captain and longtime top center Giroux to the wing, allowing Sean Couturier to establish himself as the man down the middle.
Giroux accepted the move, and it's worked out beautifully. He ranks fifth in scoring with 26 goals and 64 assists for 90 points through 75 games, and he's helped Couturier break out to the tune of 30 goals and 40 assists, both career highs.
The Flyers are also sitting comfortably in a playoff spot, and Giroux's flexibility has made a huge impact up and down the lineup. It's the productivity, however, that matters most, and the 30-year-old could very well establish new career highs of his own in goals and points by season's end.
4. Alex Ovechkin
After loading up over the past few seasons in order to maximize their chances of winning, the Washington Capitals were expected to take a step backward this season after losing some key players last summer.
Lo and behold, they're back atop the Metropolitan Division, in large part due to Ovechkin's pursuit of a seventh Maurice Richard Trophy as the NHL's leading goal-scorer.
Ovechkin's 44 goals are good enough for the lead entering play Friday, and he clearly remains the straw that stirs the drink for a still-successful (at least in the regular season) Washington club.
3. Evgeni Malkin
A year after being left off the NHL's list of the top 100 players of all time, Malkin is highlighting the egregiousness of that omission.
Malkin ranks third in goals (41) and fourth in points (91), and is in contention for both the Maurice Richard and Art Ross Trophies. Should he collect both, adding the Hart should be an automatic.
He also ranks third in points per game (1.30), behind only the next two players in these rankings, and leads all players in scoring since Jan. 1 with 55 points in 34 games.
Even if he falls short of the goals lead, points lead, or both, he continues to prove the Pittsburgh Penguins are considerably more than Sidney Crosby's team. At the very least, it's way past time to stop overlooking just how good Malkin is.
2. Nikita Kucherov
The Tampa Bay Lightning have been the top team in hockey since puck drop, with Kucherov in front of the scoring race all along. With eight games remaining on his schedule, he leads the NHL with 95 points.
The Lightning boast a rather stacked roster and teammate Steven Stamkos has also been playing elite hockey, but voters tend to default to the league's leading scorer when it comes to the Hart, especially if he plays on a first-place club.
The fact he's surrounded by so much talent, however, may ultimately discount his performance enough to open the door for a different winner.
1. Nathan MacKinnon
This time last year, the Colorado Avalanche were on the verge of making the wrong kind of history as the worst team over an 82-game schedule since the shootout was adopted in 2005.
Now, Jared Bednar's squad is close to clinching a playoff spot on the strength of what's by far MacKinnon's best season as a pro.
The first overall pick from the 2013 NHL Draft has recorded 38 goals and 54 assists through only 66 games, having missed some time due to injury. He ranks third in overall scoring, but first in primary points and points per game.
Naysayers will point to the Avalanche's league-high shooting percentage as proof that their success is based on luck, but MacKinnon's performance combined with the club's remarkable turnaround is enough to make this decision rather easy.
Honorable mentions
Connor McDavid: The last player to win the Hart on a non-playoff team was Mario Lemieux in 1988, and he captured the scoring title by 19 points over Wayne Gretzky.
McDavid remains the best player in hockey despite the Edmonton Oilers' sad record. He could win the Art Ross, but he isn't lapping the field enough to offset his team's failures, and that will hurt his case.
Taylor Hall: The Florida Panthers currently have a better chance of grabbing a playoff spot than the New Jersey Devils, and Hall's point total and per-game average lags a bit too far behind the NHL leaders for legitimate MVP candidacy.
Through the remainder of the regular season, we'll take a look at how the night's action impacts the playoff race, highlighting which teams' postseason odds went up or down significantly.
The Florida Panthers' abundance of games in hand is slipping through their fingers.
With their 4-0 loss to the Blue Jackets on Thursday, the Cats are now just 3-3-0 in their last six games - one point back of the Devils with only one game in hand. This, after Florida had a whole slew of games on New Jersey.
The Panthers still have slightly better odds than the Devils, but it will all come down to who performs better down the stretch.
Percentages excluding the results of Thursday's late game between the San Jose Sharks and the Vegas Golden Knights.
Eastern Conference
Team
Result
Playoff Chances
Change
Blue Jackets
4-0 W vs. FLA
98.1%
+3.7%
Flyers
4-3 W vs. NJ
94.7%
+5.2%
Panthers
4-0 L vs. CLB
55.7%
-13.6%
Devils
Off
51.9%
+4.5%
Over in the West, a lopsided Kings-Avs game provided a dramatic swing for both teams' playoff hopes. The Avs still hold the first wild-card spot over the Ducks thanks to the ROW tiebreaker, but the Blues are nipping on their heels, sitting three points back.
The 21-year-old picked up his 27th goal on Thursday against the Los Angeles Kings, becoming the fourth Finnish player in NHL history to record 80 points in a season, according to Hockey Reference.
Rantanen joins the elite company of Jari Kurri, Teemu Selanne, and Olli Jokinen. Tomas Sandstrom is also listed among the players on Hockey Reference since he was born in Finland, but given that he grew up in and represented Sweden internationally, he does not count.
Nathan MacKinnon gets all the attention in Colorado - and deservedly so - but it's time to start recognizing Rantanen as one of the game's bright young stars.
