NHL Player News

Valimaki notched an assist and two blocked shots in Tuesday's 6-3 win over the Canucks.

Valimaki made his season debut Tuesday and picked up his first NHL point since Jan. 18, 2025, when he was with Utah. The 28-year-old blueliner has since recovered from ACL surgery and worked his way back to the NHL after a strong showing in the AHL in the latter half of 2025-26. Valimaki is set to compete with Mike Reilly for playing time when the Hurricanes are fully healthy on the blue line.

Christiansen scored a goal Tuesday in a 6-2 loss to the Maple Leafs.

Christiansen opened the scoring early in the first period with his first goal since Dec. 21, 2024. The 27-year-old defender showed some offensive chops in the AHL (46 points in 62 games in 2023-24), but none of that has translated into 159 career NHL games. Christiansen has just three shots in seven games this season while averaging 13:14. There's not much fantasy value in his game.

Rifai scored a goal Tuesday in a 6-2 win over the Blue Jackets.

It was his first NHL goal in his fifth career game. The 28-year-old Rifai was recalled Sunday to provide depth for a injury-riddled blue line. He is in his fifth season with the AHL Marlies; his best offensive season came in 2023-24 when he scored two goals, added 17 assists and put up 71 PIM. Rifai could stick around for a few extra games with Jake McCabe (undisclosed) now out.

Evans scored a power-play goal, blocked three shots, added two PIM and went plus-2 in Tuesday's 4-3 shootout win over the Red Wings.

Evans retained a power-play role even with Brandon Montour back from a lower-body injury after a one-game absence. The 24-year-old Evans has been entrusted with much more ice time this season, particularly since Ryan Lindgren (upper body) got hurt. Evans has two goals, three assists, nine shots on net, 17 hits, 13 blocked shots, eight PIM and a plus-2 rating over 10 appearances. It's tough to trust any Kraken skater to put up big numbers, but with Evans' ice time jumping by nearly five minutes per game compared to last year, he's poised for a breakout campaign.

Montour scored a goal on three shots and went plus-2 in Tuesday's 4-3 shootout win over the Red Wings.

Montour missed one game due to a lower-body injury he sustained against the Lightning last Thursday. The 32-year-old defenseman was able to make an impact in his return, scoring Seattle's third goal of the game. He's up to six points, 16 shots on net, 14 blocked shots, eight hits, 27 PIM and a plus-2 rating over nine outings in a top-four role.

Rielly had three assists in Tuesday's 6-2 win over Columbus.

It was Rielly's first multi-point game this season. The elder statesman on the Toronto blue line has seen his role change with the arrival of Darren Raddysh, and Tueday's game was just the second game in his last eight that Rielly hit the scoresheet. His days of 72 and 68 point seasons are long gone, but this performance shows he can still create in transition now and then. Whether that translates into more than last year's 36 points (11 games, 25 assists) remains to be seen, though. This performance gave him seven assists on 14 shots in 11 games this season.

Chisholm scored his first goal of the season in Tuesday's 4-3 win over the Avalanche. He had two shots, two blocks and one hit.

Chisholm's point shot deflected off Avs' forward Brock Nelson in the slot and sailed past Scott Wedgewood in the second period. It was a nice effort by the journeyman, who skated into this season with just 134 NHL games spread over four years. His last goal came Jan. 29, 2026, and he has just seven goals and 30 points in his career. Don't expect big offense from Chisholm, and he doesn't really bring home support in hits, blocks or shots either. Enjoy it as a one-off and nothing more .

Makar set up two goals in a 4-3 loss to New Jersey on Tuesday.

He fired three shots and blocked four. Makar has two, two-point games in his last three contests, but he hasn't potted a goal in five contests. That wouldn't be noteworthy, per se, if he was your standard NHL QB. But Makar has 50 goals in his last two seasons and 71 across his last three. And two 90-plus point campaigns in that span. He'll bounce back up, but there may be a slight reduction in his output short term -- being a new dad is hard enough, but being the dad of twins born last Wednesday is enough to upset the cadence of game days and sleep cycles.

Montour (lower body) is expected to be in the line versus the Red Wings on Tuesday, per Sound of Hockey.

Montour missed one game due to the injury. The 32-year-old defenseman is likely to be back in a top-four role with power-play time. Cale Fleury will give way to make room for Montour's return.

McCabe (face) won't return to Tuesday's game versus the Blue Jackets

McCabe was high-sticked in the first period, drawing a double-minor penalty. The 33-year-old defenseman's injury is apparently serious enough to keep him out of the rest of the game. He'll be questionable to play Thursday at home versus the Rangers.