Robin Lehner returns to Golden Knights practice

The Golden Knights continue to be linked with goaltenders before next month’s trade deadline, and general manager Kelly McCrimmon had to squash one particularly juicy rumor last week.

That noise might begin to quiet down.

Goaltender Robin Lehner, who has been sidelined with an upper-body injury, returned to practice and was a full participant Wednesday at City National Arena. Coach Pete DeBoer called Lehner day to day, though he was not ready to declare him available for Friday’s game at Arizona.

“Great sign,” DeBoer said. “We’re not going to rush him, but at the same time, we’ll see how he is. He missed a pretty significant amount of time, and this was the first step, so we’ll see how quickly he gets back to being an option for a game.”

Lehner missed the past three games after he was injured in a 6-0 loss to Calgary on Feb. 9. He started skating on his own Saturday, and Wednesday marked Lehner’s first practice back with the full team.

Without Lehner, (19-13-1, 2.86 goals-against average, .907 save percentage), the Knights have relied on backups Laurent Brossoit and Logan Thompson to shoulder the workload.

Thompson notched his first NHL victory Sunday at San Jose, but was not on the ice at practice Wednesday. The team did not announce a transaction involving the goalie.

Lehner’s injury led to speculation the Knights were looking at acquiring a No. 1 goaltender before the March 21 deadline.

McCrimmon denied the team was interested in bringing back Marc-Andre Fleury. Other names they’ve been connected with include the Rangers’ Alexandar Georgiev, the Stars’ Braden Holtby and the Islanders’ Semyon Varlamov, who was drafted by Washington when Knights president of hockey operations George McPhee was the Capitals’ general manager.

Whitecloud ready

Defenseman Zach Whitecloud is expected to play this weekend, according to DeBoer, after missing the past six games with a broken foot.

Whitecloud skated with defenseman Nic Hague on the third pairing during drills Wednesday, an indication he should be ready to play against the Coyotes.

“He’s been at it longer. And with him, we know exactly what it is,” DeBoer said. “It was a bone break and fully healed, and he’s a full participant and has been going hard for a while.”

Odds and ends

— Defenseman Alec Martinez was a full participant in practice but is still not close to being available for a game. “I would say status quo,” DeBoer said.

— Forward Nolan Patrick skated in a red, noncontact jersey as he returns from a concussion caused by a hit to the head from Colorado’s Nathan MacKinnon on Feb. 16. “The fact he bounced back quickly and was out there today was a good sign,” DeBoer said.

— Winger Reilly Smith missed practice for a maintenance day.

Contact David Schoen at dschoen@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5203. Follow @DavidSchoenLVRJ on Twitter.