TAMPA Jeff Skinner Jersey Womens , Fla. (AP) Steven Stamkos is back on the ice, eager to lead the Tampa Bay Lightning into the NHL playoffs.The five-time All-Star missed the last three games of the regular season with a lower-body injury. He returned to practice this week and hopes to be ready Thursday for the start of a first-round series against the New Jersey Devils.”It was obviously tough,” said Stamkos, who watched the Lightning go 2-0-1 down the stretch to hold off the Boston Bruins for the Atlantic Division title and No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference.”You want to be in those games. But the more important games are now, and I just want to make sure I feel as good as possible heading into the playoffs,” the team’s second-leading scorer added. ”Hopefully it keeps progressing and I can feel good come Thursday.”Stamkos, a two-time Rocket Richard Trophy winner, rebounded from missing most of last season with a knee injury to bolster the NHL’s most prolific offense with 27 goals and a career-high 59 assists for 86 points in 78 games.The 28-year-old center anticipates a tough matchup against the young Devils, who won all three regular-season meetings between the teams.”It doesn’t really matter where you finish (in the standings) any more. All these other teams are their own different animals come playoff time,” Stamkos said. ”It’s a fresh start once you get into the playoffs. Regular season is regular season. We all know that.”Stamkos’ health figures as a key to the series.He missed 65 games after undergoing surgery to repair a lateral meniscus tear in his right knee last season John Tavares Jersey , when the Lightning narrowly missed the playoffs. Two years ago, a blood clot discovered near his collarbone sidelined the center from late in the regular season until Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals, when Tampa Bay lost to eventual Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh.The Lightning didn’t practice Tuesday, but coach Jon Cooper said the team remained hopeful of having Stamkos back for Game 1 against the Devils.Stamkos is optimistic, too, though with his history of injuries in recent seasons he has no illusions about being completely healthy when he returns.”Listen, my body will never be 100 percent, regardless, going through the stuff I’ve been through,” the No. 1 overall pick from the 2008 draft said. ”So there’s no point asking about percentages.”— The Washington Capitals have re-signed John Carlson to a $64 million Authentic Jordan Eberle Jersey , eight-year contract that allows the Stanley Cup champions to keep the do-it-all defenseman.Carlson will count $8 million against the salary cap through the 2026-27 season. General manager Brian MacLellan announced the deal Sunday.”John has been an exceptional and consistent player for our franchise and has blossomed into being one of the top defensemen in the NHL,” MacLellan said. ”Defenseman like John are a rare commodity in our League and, at 28 years of age, we feel he is just entering his prime. As a right-handed defenseman, John plays in all key situations and has contributed greatly to our team’s success on the special teams. We are pleased for both parties to have come to an agreement.”That’s not necessary for the 28-year-old who has made the Washington area his home and wanted to stay if there was a fit. The Capitals got the cap space necessary to re-sign Carlson by trading veteran defenseman Brooks Orpik and backup goaltender Philipp Grubauer on Friday night at the NHL draft.Carlson outperformed his last deal that paid him just under $4 million a season and was at his best in a contract year. He led all defensemen with 68 points in the regular season and 20 in the playoffs to help Washington win the Metropolitan Division and then the Stanley Cup.The contract makes Carlson the second-highest-paid player on the Capitals behind Alex Ovechkin.Carlson averaged about 25 minutes a game all season, stepping up early when top-pairing defenseman Matt Niskanen missed time with injury and playing an important role on the power play and penalty kill on the Cup run.”His value is immense,” goaltender Braden Holtby said. ”You can see that, how much he meant to our team in this run. As far as growth, I think he’s grown steadily but I think he’s been pretty good for a long time. He’s been really good for a long time. I think this year it just showed through a bit more because we just forced him to play more.”Carlson has been a mainstay on the Capitals’ blue line since 2010-11. The 2008 first-round pick has 333 points in 608 regular-season games and 55 points in 100 playoff games.”I’ve always thought he was one of the better defensemen that I’ve ever played with,” winger T.J. Oshie said. ”This year Womens Josh Bailey Jersey , he elevated that quite a bit. In my eyes, he’s got to be a top-three or top-five defenseman in the league. You see what he does- he doesn’t do a lot of things that are really flashy, so maybe he doesn’t get the highlight-reel things that other guys do, but defensively, he rarely ever gets beat.”Re-signing Carlson was just the first move on MacLellan’s summer checklist. He’s attempting to re-sign trade-deadline pickup Michal Kempny before Carlson’s defense partner can become an unrestricted free agent July 1, and he needs to negotiate new contracts for restricted free agent forwards Tom Wilson and Devante Smith-Pelly.”We’re trying to sign Kempny,” MacLellan said Friday. ”We’re trying to sign Wilson as an RFA and then make some decisions after that.”There’s also the matter of replacing Barry Trotz as coach after he resigned and joined the New York Islanders. Associate coach Todd Reirden, who was a finalist for the Flames’ head job two years ago, is the heavy front-runner, though MacLellan wanted to sit down and formally interview him this week first.”I think you still need to go through an interview process and ask the right questions Mathew Barzal Jersey ,” MacLellan said. ”I just want to clarify on what he’s thinking system-wise and how he’s going to handle certain players.”It helps his case that Reirden coached the defenseman and had a hand in the development of Carlson, Niskanen, Kempny and Dmitry Orlov.”The players all know him, they’re comfortable with him,” MacLellan said. ”He’ll have a good feel for personalities, how to motivate people and so forth.”—