Studnicka started the season on the first line but will already get scratched in favour of Anders Bjork. Craig Smith will make his Bruins debut and replace him in the lineup but Bjork will be on the top pair with Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand.
Couturier was forced to leave Friday’s win over the Penguins with a shoulder injury and will get an MRI on Sunday to reveal the severity of the damage. The Flyers are off until Monday, so he may not miss time if it isn’t too serious but expect the Flyers to provide an update in the next 48 hours.
Aston-Reese underwent shoulder surgery in August and is expected to miss at least the first month of the season. With Aston-Reese out, the Penguins will likely have Evan Rodrigues or Drew O'Connor in their bottom-6 for the first month.
Thompson has been making his rounds in recent years, as he lands with his sixth team in five years. The 36-year-old provides almost no offence but will serve as a fourth-line centre and is a quality penalty-killer.
The Maple Leafs made it know that they wanted to get tougher to play against heading into 2021 and Simmonds brings some goal-scoring and toughness to the lineup. He's not the 30-goal scorer he used to be and will be a bottom-6 forward in Toronto but has averaged 14 goals, 17 assists (31 points) and 157 hits per 82 games over the last two seasons.
Couturier was hurt in a collision with Mathew Barzal late in the second period and did not return for the third. Head coach Alain Vigneault did not have an update on Couturier's status on Wednesday but said that he was "still being evaluated." Consider Couturier a game-time decision for Game 6.
Sandin was a 23-year-old undrafted free agent out of Sweden. The centre spent the last three years in the Swedish Elite League and is coming off of a year where he led HV71 Jonkoping in goals (19) and was second in points (36).
Seeler and Lucas Carlsson have been alternating games over the last month and Seeler will come out tonight vs. the Sharks after dressing for the last two games.
Couturier's status for Sunday's game is up in the air so the Flyers recalled Joel Farabee from Lehigh Valley (AHL) as insurance. If Couturier can't play, Claude Giroux will move to centre and Farabee will draw into the lineup.
