David Perron expected to rejoin Golden Knights for road trip

Marc-Andre Fleury isn’t the only Golden Knights player ready to leave the injured reserve list.

Forward David Perron could be activated in time for Friday’s game at Nashville after being on IR since Nov. 24 when he suffered an upper-body injury against San Jose. Fleury has been out since suffering a concussion Oct. 13.

“I think I’m real close,” Perron said after Wednesday’s practice at City National Arena. “I’ll be on the trip and I hope to play in the next game.”

The final decision will be made by team doctors and general manager George McPhee along with Perron, who has six goals and 19 points but has missed the last six games.

Subban sits out

With Fleury practicing Wednesday, it would have created a logjam in net with three goaltenders. But Malcolm Subban woke up feeling ill Wednesday morning and was given the day off.

“He’ll be fine,” coach Gerard Gallant said of Subban, who figures to start Friday against the Predators, where his older brother P.K. is an all-star defenseman. “He didn’t feel good this morning so we sent him home.”

Subban stopped 26 shots and turned back all three Anaheim shooters in Tuesday’s 4-3 shootout win over the Ducks. Subban is 6-2 this season.

Representing at WJC

The Golden Knights expect to have three of their draftees participating in the IIHF World Junior Championships later this month at Buffalo, New York.

Centers Cody Glass and Nick Suzuki are on Canada’s preliminary roster, and defenseman Erik Brannstrom is listed on Sweden’s. All three were first-round selections by the Knights in last June’s NHL Entry Draft. Glass was taken at No. 6 overall, Suzuki was selected at No. 13 and Brannstrom was picked at No. 15 overall.

The tournament begins Dec. 26 and runs through Jan. 5. The United States is the defending champion.

Strong voting for Neal

Forward James Neal, one of two Golden Knights on the NHL All-Star ballot for Pacific Division captain (Fleury is the other) is receiving strong support from Knights fans.

Neal is currently third behind Edmonton’s Connor McDavid and Calgary’s Johnny Gaudreau for the Pacific captain’s spot. McDavid has 25.7 percent of the vote, followed by Gaudreau’s 17.05 percent and Neal at 10.77 percent. Fleury is at 10.08 percent even though he has played in only four games this season.

Voting is being held online at NHL.com and runs through Jan. 1.

Contact Steve Carp at scarp@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2913. Follow @stevecarprj on Twitter.