Erskine Set to Return

John Erskine is set to return tomorrow night and, according to Tarik, will be paired with Mike Green. (Jeff Schultz, Green's regular partner, probably won't be back yet.)

"He's a presence out there," Boudreau said after practice today. "Same as Brash. So people a) don't take liberties and b) people think that he's a physical guy [but] he's a pretty good defenseman, too. He played 20 minutes a game in the playoffs last year and was quite accountable on every shift."

"He has some faults like everybody else," Boudreau added. "But he's a good acquisition when he's out there. I like having a big, physical team."

Guess there's no doubt Erskine won't be going anywhere any time soon. Poti still is slated to return on either Wednesday (at Pittsburgh) or, more likely in my opinion, Saturday against the Bruins so the Alzner-salary cap decision will wait until then. (But everything could change, of course.)

Note: Chris Clark is the focus of this week's "The Captains, Driven By Bridgestone" on NHL Network (8 p.m., Thursday). A corresponding story most likely will be published that day on NHL.com.