NHL Player News

Lundestrom (Achilles) was labeled month-to-month by general manager Rick Bowness, Mark Scheig of The Hockey Writers reports Thursday.

Lundestrom's recovery timeline shouldn't come as a surprise considering he underwent offseason Achilles surgery. Even once given the all-clear, the 26-year-old forward may need a conditioning stint in the minors before he is fully ready to get into an NHL game. As such, fantasy managers probably don't need to worry about stashing him this season.

The Stars placed Duchene (lower body) on long-term injured reserve Thursday, retroactive to Sept. 29.

Duchene landed on injured reserve Wednesday and is now facing a lengthier absence to begin the regular season. The 35-year-old has been dealing with a lower-body injury since the start of training camp, and he recently experienced a setback in his recovery process that is set to sideline him until at least late October. Colin Blackwell and Arttu Hyry were recalled from AHL Texas to provide additional depth in Duchene's absence.

Samanski was recalled under emergency conditions by the Oilers on Thursday.

With Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (lower body) shifting to injured reserve, the Oilers had just 12 healthy forwards on their active roster, giving Samanski the opportunity to return to the big leagues. He just missed out on the team's Opening Night roster, as the Oilers opted to go with Owen Michaels for the fourth-line center role. The 24-year-old Samanski appeared in 24 regular-season games with the Oilers in 2025-26, where he posted two goals, four points, nine shots on net, 27 hits and 14 blocked shots. He'll likely be a rotational forward on the team's fourth line for as long as Nugent-Hopkins remains shelved.

Malkin scored a power-play goal and put two shots on net in Wednesday's 7-0 Opening Night win over Philadelphia.

For the second straight season, Malkin got involved on the Opening Night box score. To open the 2026-27 campaign, the 40-year-old forward scored Pittsburgh's first power-play goal of the evening early in the second period. He has officially started the 21st season of his illustrious NHL career, where he has scored 534 goals and posted 1,408 points across 1270 career regular-season games. Malkin is a staple in Pittsburgh's top six and should continue to provide solid offensive numbers for fantasy managers this season.

The Oilers placed Nugent-Hopkins (lower body) on injured reserve Thursday.

Nugent-Hopkins missed Tuesday's Opening Night matchup against the Canucks and is expected to be sidelined for about two weeks to begin the regular season. As a result, it isn't very surprising to see him officially placed on injured reserve. The 33-year-old made 72 regular-season appearances last year, recording 20 goals, 36 assists, 31 blocked shots, 25 hits and 21 PIM while averaging 19:04 of ice time.

Savoie (lower body) was shifted to long-term injured reserve Thursday.

By moving Savoie to LTIR, the Oilers will get some cap relief while he is sidelined, as their injuries have started to pile up. The 22-year-old forward logged all 82 regular-season games in his rookie campaign, generating 18 goals and 19 assists, including seven power-play points. Considering Savoie is expected to miss at least the first two weeks of the season, fantasy managers probably shouldn't be expecting him to significantly outperform those numbers in 2026-27.

Lapierre potted a goal, distributed an assist, posted a plus-three rating and recorded four hits in Wednesday's 7-0 Opening Night win over Philadelphia.

Lapierre's Penguins debut was a massive success, as he picked up two points across two and a half minutes in the second period. He dished out the primary helper on Evgeni Malkin's power-play goal before he scored himself on a set-up from Filip Hallander. Lapierre struggled to carve out consistent playing time with the Capitals in 2025-26, where he posted four goals, 16 points, 53 shots on net and 49 hits across 74 regular-season games while averaging just under nine minutes of ice time. He could be in line for an increased role while Ben Kindel (lower body) remains on injured reserve to begin the 2026-27 season.

Hallander scored a goal, dished out two assists, posted a plus-four rating and placed three shots on net in Wednesday's 7-0 Opening Night win over the Flyers.

Hallander was awarded the first star of the game Wednesday, where he put together the first multi-point outing of his career. The 26-year-old forward played a hand in the team's fourth, fifth and sixth goals, with Pittsburgh's fifth tally of the night being his first goal of the season. He also showed a connection with his linemate on Pittsburgh's third forward unit, Hendrix Lapierre, when he assisted him early in the second period. Even with a handful of forwards injured to begin the year for the Penguins, Hallander is expected to play a larger role for the team in 2026-27, which was likely solidified for the time being with his three-point night Wednesday.

Kadri recorded two power-play assists and two shots on goal in Wednesday's 8-4 win over the Kings.

Kadri helped out on goals by Brock Nelson and Nathan MacKinnon in this contest. The 35-year-old Kadri has long worked as a center, but he's opening this year as a second-line winger alongside Nelson, giving the Avalanche some flexibility in constructing their lines. If Kadri sticks on the wing, he'll gain some versatility in fantasy, which could make it more palatable to roster him. He was held to 50 points in 77 regular-season outings between Colorado and Calgary last year, his lowest total in the last five years, and further age-related regression is a risk factor moving forward.

Roy scored a goal on two shots and added two hits in Wednesday's 8-4 win over the Kings.

Roy saw 12:12 of ice time from a fourth-line role Wednesday, though that number might be a bit inflated since the Avalanche were forced into dressing 11 forwards and seven defensemen. Roy should be a decent depth scorer this year, and he's versatile enough to move around the bottom six as necessary. He produced 25 points, 76 shots on net, 71 hits and 40 blocked shots over 74 regular-season outings between the Avalanche and the Maple Leafs last year.