Nicklas Backstrom suffered an upper-body injury on November 18, causing him to miss eight games. But that’s all over now. From the man himself, Backstrom will return for Monday’s home game against the Columbus Blue Jackets.

As reported by The Athletic’s Tarik El-Bashir:

Backstrom says he expects to play tomorrow vs. CBJ. #Caps

— Tarik El-Bashir (@Tarik_ElBashir) December 8, 2019

Backstrom’s return made the lines at Sunday’s practice at Medstar Capitals Iceplex look like this:

Ovechkin – Backstrom – Wilson
Vrana – Kuznetsov – Oshie
Hagelin – Eller – Panik
Leipsic – Dowd – Hathaway

Kempny – Carlson
Orlov – Jensen
Siegenthaler – Gudas

JJ Regan reports that Travis Boyd rotated in with that fourth line.

Meanwhile, Backstrom has been continuing negotiations for a context extension without an agent.