Lightning place defenseman Cal Foote on IR

The Tampa Bay Lightning transferred defenseman Cal Foote to injured reserve Friday, notes Erik Erlendsson of Lightning Insider. He has missed the last three games since suffering an upper-body injury on a hit from Capitals winger Nicolas Aube-Kubel last week, one that earned him a three-game suspension. The placement might be a short-term one, however, as the 23-year-old is skating in a non-contact sweater, which suggests he might be close to returning. The Lightning have the option to back-date the placement to last week, in which case they’d be able to activate Foote as soon as Monday.

What the placement does is give the Lightning an open roster spot, one that Erlendsson suggests could be used to activate blueliner Zach Bogosian on Saturday. The 32-year-old has yet to play this season since undergoing shoulder surgery back in July and would be a welcome addition to their third pairing if he is indeed given the green light to suit up in that one.

More from the Atlantic Division:

• Add another suitor to the list of groups interested in purchasing the Senators, as Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch reports that Angelo Paletta and his family have expressed interest in the franchise. Paletta looked to bring another team to Southern Ontario back in 2018 while also looking to purchase the Coyotes one year later.
• While the Panthers had to play short a player Thursday night due to a lack of cap space, that won’t be the case for their game against Calgary on Saturday. Head coach Paul Maurice told reporters that he is optimistic that center Aleksander Barkov will return for that contest after missing Thursday’s game against Dallas due to an undisclosed injury, via Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald. Since they played with only 17 skaters for that one, they’re now allowed to make an emergency cap-exempt recall from AHL Charlotte, but Maurice indicated that they don’t plan to do so at this time.