What Juuse Saros said about injury on day before Nashville Predators 2024-25 season opener

On the day before the Nashville Predators open the season against the Dallas Stars, the team is dealing with an injury to starting goaltender Juuse Saros .

The team announced on Wednesday that Saros is day to day with a lower body injury.

Saros was not present at Tuesday's practice held at Centennial Sportsplex, with the team saying it was a maintenance day. Then on Wednesday, He was on the ice, but as a limited participant. He was not in net during team drills and was working separately with goalie coach Ben Vanderklok.

After practice on Wednesday, Saros downplayed any injury concerns.

"It's nothing too bad," he said. "Nothing crazy."

He also indicated that the injury happened during the first period of Saturday's preseason game against the Carolina Hurricanes. Saros played the first period, then Scott Wedgewood took over in the second period.

After three days off the ice, Saros thinks he's improving.

"I'm making progress," he said. "Felt a lot better today than yesterday. Hopefully feeling better again tomorrow."

Coach Andrew Brunette said he was not able to confirm who would start in net on Thursday.

Saros, 29, was signed to an eight-year, $61 million contract extension during the summer. He finished 35-24-25 with a .906 save percentage last season and finished fifth in Vezina Trophy voting.

The team signed Wedgewood to a two-year deal during the summer to backup Saros.

On Wednesday, the Predators announced that goalie Matt Murray had been called up from the AHL Milwaukee Admirals.

Alex Daugherty is the Predators beat writer for The Tennessean. Contact Alex at jdaugherty@gannett.com . Follow Alex on X, the platform formerly called Twitter, @alexdaugherty1 . Also check out our Predators exclusive Instagram page @tennessean_preds .

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: What Juuse Saros said about injury on day before Nashville Predators 2024-25 season opener