“I’ve spoken with Evander and this is completely untrue,” said agent Craig Oster. “Neither he nor us have talked about a trade. Evander is very excited to be in Winnipeg and about his future with Winnipeg.”

“I was cleared to practice with the team and cleared to get some contact in practice. I feel really good. I feel ready to play and almost back to normal. Now it’s just kind of in the hands of the training staff and the coaching staff to put me in.”

“I hope so. I really want to play tomorrow, really badly. It sucks being out, obviously, but like I said I’m ready to play but at the same time, it’s really just in the training staff’s hands.”

“He came in touted as a smart player defensively, someone who is as good in the defensive zone as he is in the offensive zone,” coach Peter Laviolette said. “We’ve put him in situations, 5-on-4, 5-on-3, against top players, to see how he’d respond, and he’s done everything that we’ve asked him to do and do it well. He’s been a nice addition.”

“They are really clicking right now and playing extremely well together,” Connolly said of Kessel and Lupul. “I’m just going to try to stay out of their way. Get them the puck as much as possible and just try do all the little things right.”

Goalie James Reimer is ready to return as well. Burke needs to make one roster move before the game as they are one player over the limit.