Elias likely to debut Friday, sit out Wednesday as Devils host Capitals

November 4, 4:02 PMNew Jersey Devils ExaminerJoe Rizzo

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Martin Brodeur and the Devils will not have to contend with Alex Ovechkin when they host Washington.
(AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

The plan is for Patrik Elias to make his season debut Friday against the New York Islanders.  Saturday in Ottawa the latest.

The Devils will not have Elias in the lineup Wednesday night at the Prudential Center when they host the Washington Capitals. 

Matt Halischuk will take a forward spot, making his Sunday demotion to Lowell of the American Hockey League and recall back to New Jersey go nearly without notice.

The Capitals are missing the NHL's biggest gun for the game.  Alexander Ovechkin is out for two weeks with an upper body strain.  Unlike NFL clubs, hockey teams do not have to give much detail about injuries.

Elias had surgery on his mid-section Sept. 15 and missed training camp.  He skated on his own for roughly four weeks before joining practice Monday for the first time.  After a couple of practices, coach Jacques Lemaire wanted the franchise's all-time leading scorer in the lineup, but the player felt better about taking an extra couple of days to debut.

What It Means

Elias was slated to play center this season but has been practicing in his conventional left-wing spot, with center Travis Zajac and right wing David Clarkson.  The now-and-again breakups of the ZZ Pops line of Zajac in between Zach Parise on the left and Jamie Langenbrunner on the right might have been done with an eye on Elias' return.

The continued emergence of Zajac as a point-producing pivot and Clarkson as a tough guy with a soft touch and some creative hands makes Elias a natural to remain at his regular position should that end up being a forward line Lemaire incorporates. 

Dainius Zubrus has centered Parise and Langenbrunner when the top line has been broken up. 

Rob Niedermayer has given stability and production as a third-line center and could play with Brian Rolston on the left and Niclas Bergfors on the right, if the top two lines include the players mentioned above.  Their performance, present and past, dictates that any of the three can play among the top six forwards.

The fourth line on a game-to-game basis is centered by Rod Pelley, with wing combinations including Halischuk, Ilkka Pikkarainen, Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond and Andrew Peters.

Should Lemaire opt to keep Zajac, Parise and Langenbrunner together and move Elias to second-line center, a potential wing combination is Rolston on the left with Bergfors or Clarkson on the right.  Zubrus, who averages a half-point per game, could move to wing and/or drop lower in the forward mix, particularly when defensive left wing Jay Pandolfo returns from a shoulder injury.