© Jonathan Kozub/NHLI

Welcome to the NHL Buzz. Each day during the regular season, NHL.com has you covered with all the latest news.

Colorado Avalanche

Valeri Nichushkin has been cleared to practice with the Avalanche, the team announced Monday.

The 29-year-old forward remains in Stage 3 of the NHL/NHL Players’ Association Player Assistance Program, where he was placed May 13. He set NHL career highs in goals (28) and points (53) in 54 games last season and was tied with Zach Hyman of the Edmonton Oilers for the League lead in Stanley Cup Playoff goals (nine) before being suspended without pay for a minimum of six months.

The Avalanche (5-7-0) activated forward Artturi Lehkonen off injured reserve Sunday; he could be available against the Seattle Kraken on Tuesday (9 p.m. ET; KHN, KONG, ALT, SN1). Forwards Ivan Ivan, Nikolai Kovalenko and Nikita Prishchepov were recalled from Colorado of the American Hockey League on Monday.

Ottawa Senators

Artem Zub and Shane Pinto each practiced with the Senators on Monday for the first time since being injured.

Zub, a defenseman who has missed eight games with a concussion, was on the first pair with Jake Sanderson. He could return when Ottawa (6-5-0) visits the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday.

“We’ll see how the day goes today,” Zub said. We’ll see.”

“’Zuby’ made it through the whole practice, so that’s a good sign,” coach Travis Green said. “I haven’t talked to the trainers after practice yet, so we’ll see where it goes.

“I expect him to be in sooner than later, but we just got off the ice.”

Pinto, a forward who has missed five games with an undisclosed injury, left practice early, but Green wasn’t concerned.

“We were kind of just expecting that he would just stay out for the beginning of it,” Green said. — Callum Fraser

New York Islanders

Alexander Romanov and Mike Reilly remain day to day and are questionable to play against the Pittsburgh Penguins at UBS Arena on Tuesday (7:30 p.m. ET; SN-PIT, MSGSN).

The defensemen did not practice Monday after being unavailable for the third time in four games when the Islanders’ lost 5-2 at the New York Rangers on Sunday because of an upper-body injury. Reilly was helped off the ice following a hit by Sabres forward Jordan Greenway during a 4-3 win on Friday.

New York (4-6-2) has lost four of its past five games, all in regulation. It is also missing defenseman Adam Pelech and forward Mathew Barzal for 4-6 weeks because of upper-body injuries. Forward Anthony Duclair is also out because of a lower-body injury sustained Oct. 19.

The Islanders recalled defensemen Grant Hutton and Samuel Bolduc from Bridgeport of the AHL prior to the game Sunday.

Ryan Pulock played 29:24 against the Rangers, while Noah Dobson played 25:21 and Scott Mayfield 23:00. Hutton played 14:14, Dennis Cholowski played 13:53 and Bolduc 5:56.

“When we won the Cup [with the Avalanche] in 2001, we played four defensemen,” coach Patrick Roy said Monday. “It was [Ray] Bourque, [Rob] Blake, it was [Adam] Foote, and it was [Martin] Skoula, and we had [Greg] De Vries and [Jon] Klemm that we’re playing 5-6 minutes a night. We’re a little bit in the same boat right now, and these guys are capable of handling those minutes. So, I’m comfortable with that.” — Stefen Rosner