The Devils were almost at full health prior to the Stanley Cup finals.
Today, they got there.
That’s the word out of New Jersey as defenseman Henrik Tallinder said he’s been medically cleared from acute thrombophlebitis -- blood clots in his leg -- and is ready to play.
“I’m going to sign the release paper today and then we’ll see -- it’s the coach’s decision,” Tallinder told NorthJersey.com. “It’s pretty rough to come in [after such a long layoff] and I don’t think he would change anything now, but we’ll see.
“We lost a lot of defensemen one year in Buffalo in the conference finals. Now, we’re in the Stanley Cup, so you never know what’s going to happen.”
The 33-year-old skated with rookie Adam Larsson at Devils practice today in what amounted to the fourth (healthy scratch) defensive pairing. Neither expects to be in the lineup for Game 1 on Wednesday, though head coach Peter DeBoer said Tallinder’s “ready to go” and would have “no apprehension” about playing the veteran if need be.
Tallinder hasn’t played since Jan. 19. In 39 games this year he had 0G-6A-6PTS while averaging over 21 minutes per game.