Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin and defenseman Dmitry Orlov have been cleared to return from the COVID-19 list and could play Saturday against the Boston Bruins, head coach Peter Laviolette told NHL.com's Tom Gulitti.

Ovechkin, Orlov, center Evgeny Kuznetsov, and goaltender Ilya Samsonov had been in quarantine since Jan. 20 after violating COVID-19 protocols. Kuznetsov and Samsonov remain in quarantine.

The Caps went 3-0-1 without four of their most important players.

With pivot Lars Eller likely to miss his second straight game due to a lower-body injury, winger T.J. Oshie is expected to shift to the middle and play between Ovechkin and Richard Panik on Saturday - assuming Ovechkin suits up.

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Defenseman Vince Dunn seems to have fallen out of favor with the St. Louis Blues. In his fourth NHL season, he hasn't made the strides St. Louis expected. He still struggles defensively and was already a healthy scratch this year.

However, the 2015 second-round pick remains an intriguing player and could benefit from a fresh start. He's an excellent skater with a heavy shot and good vision. Over the last three seasons he ranks 20th among qualified defenseman in goals per 60 minutes and 51st in points per 60 minutes. He's posted strong possession numbers over the last three years, too, albeit in soft matchups with lots of offensive zone starts.

Dunn still has upside, but it will require the right fit in order to unlock some of his potential. The Blues have always had a strong blue line, which has made it difficult for him to carve out a significant role. He needs to go to a team thin on the back end - not only so he can receive enough playing time, but so they're able to protect him in this offseason's Seattle expansion draft.

With the Blues reportedly dangling him in trade talks, we picked five teams that should take a flier on the 24-year-old.

Ottawa Senators

Outside of Thomas Chabot, the Senators' blue line sorely lacks offensive upside. Mike Reilly has some, but his overall potential pales in comparison to Dunn's. Nikita Zaitsev, Erik Gudbranson, Braydon Coburn, and Josh Brown are all black holes offensively.

Ottawa would be able to give Dunn around 18-20 minutes per night (he was only averaging 16:32 in St. Louis) and time with the second power-play unit. The team is in clear rebuilding mode, so even if there are some hiccups this season, it's worth it if he can develop into a legitimate top-four defenseman.

Detroit Red Wings

The Red Wings are in a similar boat. They're in clear rebuilding mode, yet the majority of their blue line is filled with low-upside veterans like Marc Staal, Danny DeKeyser, Patrik Nemeth, Alex Biega, and Troy Stecher. Filip Hronek and Dennis Cholowski are their lone rearguards with potential.

Detroit's defense is so bad that Dunn would probably slot in on the No. 1 pairing and quarterback the top power-play unit.

Los Angeles Kings

The Kings' blue line is much better than Ottawa's and Detroit's, but it's quite lopsided. Drew Doughty, Sean Walker, and Matt Roy make up a solid right side for a team in transition, but the left side - featuring Olli Maatta, Mikey Anderson, and Kurtis MacDermid - is much weaker.

Dunn is a left-shot defenseman, so he could fill in on the team's blue line without taking ice time away from someone who is a clear part of the team's future.

New York Rangers

The Rangers are much further along in their rebuild than the Kings, but their blue line is also uneven. Jacob Trouba, Adam Fox, and Tony DeAngelo form a solid right side, but the left side has some holes. Former first-rounder K'Andre Miller has impressed in his rookie campaign, and 22-year-old Ryan Lindgren has some potential. But Jack Johnson and Brendan Smith likely don't have futures with the club.

Both Fox and Miller are exempt from the expansion draft, so if Dunn flourished in the Big Apple, the Rangers could still protect him, Trouba, and either DeAngelo or Lindgren.

Winnipeg Jets

The Jets seem like the least likely team on this list to acquire Dunn. It would create an issue for the expansion draft, leaving the team to decide between protecting Dunn or Dylan DeMelo (assuming Josh Morrissey and Neal Pionk are protected).

Additionally, for a team trying to compete this year, Canada's 14-day quarantine rule for crossing the border is a hassle, and they're already going through it with Pierre-Luc Dubois. This isn't as big of an issue for the Senators since they're rebuilding.

However, the Jets do have holes on their blue line, so nothing can be entirely ruled out. Dunn would provide an immediate upgrade over Nathan Beaulieu, Derek Forbort, and Sami Niku.

(Analytics source: Natural Stat Trick)

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Minnesota Wild forward Kevin Fiala has been suspended three games for boarding Los Angeles Kings defenseman Matt Roy on Thursday night, the NHL's Department of Player Safety announced Friday.

Fiala was ejected from Minnesota's 5-3 win over Los Angeles in the second period after plowing Roy into the boards from behind.

The NHL's explanation said Fiala was "entirely in control of how this play develops," adding "from the time the puck is dumped in, he sees nothing but Roy's numbers."

The league also added "the onus is on Fiala to create a new angle of approach" to either deliver a clean hit, avoid making it, or reduce the amount of contact and minimize the danger.

Officials gave Fiala a five-minute boarding major and a game misconduct.

Roy didn't return to the game, but Kings head coach Todd McLellan said afterward he expected the blue-liner to be able to travel with the club.

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St. Louis Cardinals right-hander Adam Wainwright is ready to take his talents from the diamond to the ice and suit up for the St. Louis Blues.

Not bad lateral movement ... right?

Wainwright signed a new one-year deal with the Cardinals on Thursday night. The deal's announcement was erroneously captioned on a television news channel's chyron on Friday. Wainwright made sure to get a screenshot before having even more fun with it.

The new deal was made official on Friday, and Wainwright even showed up to the press conference on Zoom wearing a Yadier Molina catcher's mask that could have easily been mistaken for a goalie mask.

Hopefully, Blues fans didn't get their hopes up about hockey's new phenom when he is, in actuality, the Cardinals' 39-year-old pitcher.

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Two upcoming games between the Vegas Golden Knights and San Jose Sharks, scheduled for Feb. 1 and Feb. 3, have been postponed, the league announced Friday.

Three Vegas coaches are currently isolating, and defenseman Alex Pietrangelo was placed on the NHL's COVID-19 protocol list Thursday.

Thursday's contest between the Golden Knights and St. Louis Blues was also postponed. No makeup dates have been announced for any of the delayed games.

Vegas announced Tuesday that the entire coaching staff is isolating out of an "abundance of caution." All team facilities remain closed until further notice.

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Notorious agitator Brad Marchand won't try to get under the skin of long-time friend and former teammate Zdeno Chara when the Boston Bruins clash with the Washington Capitals on Saturday.

"He's the kind of guy where when he's out there, you're an opponent. He's not going to have any friends out there. He's going to play the game and compete and battle," Marchand said, according to ESPN's Greg Wyshynski.

"I'm not going to poke the bear in any way. The biggest thing I can do is just skate away from him. If you get within that reach or his grasp, then you're not going anywhere."

Chara signed a one-year contract with Washington this offseason after 14 campaigns with the Bruins. The 43-year-old suited up for over 1,000 games with Boston, claiming a Norris Trophy in 2009 and the Stanley Cup in 2011.

The future Hall of Fame blue-liner downplayed the reunion with his former teammates, saying he knows what to expect when Marchand is on the forecheck.

"I don't think it's going to be any different," Chara said. "He's a guy who will always go out there and compete for his teams. I think we had many practices against each other and we both compete pretty hard. I don't expect anything else from him or anybody else."

The Capitals and Bruins enter Saturday's contest as the East Division's top two teams in the young 2021 season.

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