NHL Player News

Provorov notched an assist, two shots on goal and two blocked shots in Friday's 5-2 win over the Flames.

Provorov has a goal and three assists over his last 10 outings. It's nothing flashy, but he's offering decent depth offense from the blue line while also piling up blocked shots with 14 in that span. The 27-year-old defenseman has a total of seven points, 30 shots on net, 31 blocked shots, 12 PIM and a plus-1 rating over 22 contests in a second-pairing role this season. Provorov is a free agent after this season, so could be dealt to a contender -- and likely a smaller role -- before the trade deadline.

Chatfield posted an assist and two shots on goal in Friday's 6-3 loss to the Panthers.

Chatfield is humming along with four points over his last six games. He doesn't see more than traces of power-play time, but he's been impressive in a second-pairing role so far in 2024-25. Chatfield is at eight points, 31 shots on net, 22 blocked shots, 15 hits, 10 PIM and a plus-17 rating through 23 appearances. His defense stands out the most, but Chatfield is on pace to surpass his 22-point regular season from 2023-24, largely due to an increase of over three extra minutes of ice time per game.

Boqvist was scratched for the 14th time in 15 games when he sat out Friday's 6-3 win over the Hurricanes.

Injuries to forwards and Florida's tight salary cap led to Boqvist dressing as the seventh defenseman for much of October. That role has been closed off with the Panthers enjoying fairly good health in November, and Nate Schmidt has played well enough to keep Boqvist in the press box. Through 10 appearances this season, Boqvist has two assists, 11 shots on net, six blocked shots and a minus-6 rating, though he saw power-play time when he was in the lineup.

Girard notched an assist, two shots on goal and two hits in Friday's 5-3 loss to the Stars.

Girard has enjoyed a decent November, racking up eight points over 13 contests. The 26-year-old defenseman remains on the secondary pairing, and he may have to pick up some extra minutes if Josh Manson (upper body) misses time after exiting Friday's game. Girard is up to 13 points, 24 shots on net, 24 hits, 44 blocked shots and an even plus-minus rating through 24 contests in 2024-25.

Makar notched two assists, including one on the power play, and three shots on goal in Friday's 5-3 loss to the Stars.

Makar has multiple points in three of his last six games, though he was also held off the scoresheet twice in that span. The defenseman continues to pile up points -- he leads all NHL blueliners with 32 points (eight goals, 24 helpers) over 24 contests this season. He's earned 14 of those points on the power play while chipping in 71 shots on net, 35 blocked shots, 23 hits and a minus-1 rating. Makar is a plug-and-play option in fantasy.

Heiskanen notched two assists, two shots on goal and three blocked shots in Friday's 5-3 win over the Avalanche.

Heiskanen is trending in the right direction with two goals and four assists over his last four contests. The defenseman set up goals by Mason Marchment and Jamie Benn in this game. Heiskanen has 12 points, 51 shots, 37 blocks and a plus-9 rating over 22 appearances this season. He's due for better fortunes on the power play -- he has just two assists with the man advantage after logging 21 of 54 points on the power play last season.

Kolyachonok has been scratched 10 times over Utah's first 12 games in November.

While that's not an encouraging workload for the young defenseman, Kolyachonok could be called upon soon to fill in for Maveric Lamoureux (upper body), who is out 4-6 weeks. Juuso Valimaki got first dibs on filling Lamoureux's spot Friday, but the 23-year-old Kolyachonok needs to get in some action. He'd have to go through waivers to be assigned to AHL Tucson. Utah hasn't put much trust in the Belarusian defenseman so far, giving him an average of 13:05 per game over 13 contests, during which he's picked up four points and a minus-6 rating.

Bortuzzo notched an assist, three hits, two blocked shots and two PIM in Friday's 4-3 overtime loss to the Oilers.

Bortuzzo suffered a lower-body injury Tuesday versus the Canadiens, but he was able to avoid missing any additional time. The 35-year-old could stick in the lineup for a while with Maveric Lamoureux (upper body) out for 4-6 weeks. The helper was Bortuzzo's first in 10 appearances this season, and he's added three shots on net, 17 blocked shots, 12 hits and 20 PIM as an enforcer in a bottom-four role on Utah's blue line.

Valimaki notched an assist, two shots on goal and a plus-2 rating in Friday's 4-3 overtime loss to the Oilers.

Utah announced prior to the game that Maveric Lamoureux will miss 4-6 weeks with an upper-body injury. Valimaki was given the first chance to fill the empty spot in the lineup, though he may have to compete with Vladislav Kolyachonok during Lamoureux's absence. Valimaki was scratched for the previous four games, and prior to Friday, he didn't have a point this season. He's added 15 shots on net, 16 blocked shots and a minus-3 rating over 17 appearances. The Finn is unlikely to be a power-play threat, but Utah's injury woes have allowed Valimaki to stick in the NHL, and that could open the door for him to try to figure things out after a rough first quarter of the campaign.

Maatta notched an assist, four blocked shots and two PIM in Friday's 4-3 overtime loss to the Oilers.

Maatta hadn't recorded a point over his 19 appearances between the Red Wings and Utah this season. He broke through with a helper on Lawson Crouse's third-period tally. Maatta had added just eight shots on net, eight hits, 30 blocked shots, six PIM and a plus-2 rating. He's a purely defensive part of Utah's top pairing right now, playing a shutdown role alongside the more offensively-gifted Mikhail Sergachev.