NHL Player News

McDonagh (undisclosed) was activated from injured reserve on Thursday, per the NHL media site.

McDonagh last played Nov. 8 and has missed the last 18 games. The 36-year-old veteran defenseman was off to a good start to the season before his injury, tallying three goals and six points in 15 games. He should enter the lineup Thursday, replacing Steve Santini.

Levshunov (coach's decision) will return to the lineup in Montreal on Thursday, Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times reports.

Levshunov was late to practice Monday, and head coach Jeff Blashill decided to discipline the defenseman by sitting him out against Toronto on Tuesday. The second pick in the 2024 NHL Draft, Levshunov has one goal, 13 assists, 30 hits, 32 blocked shots and eight assists on the power play in 2025-26.

Matheson (upper body) has been ruled out of Thursday's tilt against Chicago, Stu Cowan of The Montreal Gazette reports.

Matheson also sat out Tuesday's game against Philadelphia. The defenseman has four goals and 12 assists in 32 games this season. He has lost a lot of his fantasy value since Montreal added Noah Dobson via trade in the offseason, as Matheson is averaging only 17 seconds of power-play time this season. He could return as early as Saturday against Pittsburgh.

Timmins (undisclosed) will be a game-time decision versus Philadelphia on Thursday, according to Matthew Fairburn of The Athletic.

Head coach Lindy Ruff said Thursday that Timmins is dealing with an injury, but he did not reveal what the injury was. Timmins has six assists, 69 blocked shots and 23 hits across 32 games this season. Michael Kesselring (lower body) will enter the lineup if Timmins is unable to go.

Spacek was promoted from AHL Iowa on Thursday, per the NHL media site.

Spacek's call-up comes as Daemon Hunt (undisclosed) was designated for injured reserve in a corresponding move. If the 22-year-old Spacek does get into a game for the Wild, it will mark his NHL debut after having spent the last three years playing in the minors. This year, the Columbus native has racked up 11 helpers in 26 minor-league tilts for Iowa.

Warren was recalled from AHL Bridgeport on Thursday.

Warren has made two appearances over a pair of brief stints in the NHL this year, recording two assists, two hits and two PIM while averaging 12:08 of ice time. He's been productive in the AHL with three goals, nine assists, eight PIM and a plus-6 rating over 17 appearances, and he'll now provide additional depth for the Islanders.

Hunt (undisclosed) was put on injured reserve Thursday, per the NHL media site.

Hunt left Tuesday's tilt against Washington in the opening period and did not return. The 23-year-old blueliner has two assists, 11 hits and 18 blocked shots across 12 NHL appearances this season. Look for Carson Lambos to enter the lineup, replacing Hunt on Thursday in Columbus.

Cholowski was scratched in Wednesday's 2-1 shootout win over the Golden Knights.

Cholowski has sat out eight of the Devils' last 13 games after being a regular in the lineup in early November. With Brett Pesce (upper body) back in action, Cholowski will be left to contend with Colton White for one spot in the lineup. Over 15 games this year, Cholowski has one assist, 10 shots on net, 15 blocked shots and a minus-5 rating, so he won't be a factor in fantasy even if he gets a run of playing time.

Reilly was scratched for the ninth time in 11 games in Wednesday's 4-1 win over the Predators.

This situation likely would have been the reality from the get-go for Reilly had the Hurricanes enjoyed better health on the blue line earlier in the year. Now that everyone, aside from Charles-Alexis Legault (hand), is healthy, Reilly is stuck in the press box most of the time as a seventh defenseman. The Hurricanes regularly have five veterans on defense, along with prized rookie Alexander Nikishin, so Reilly may be spending a lot of time waiting for his next opportunity if everyone stays healthy. Reilly has five points, 23 blocked shots and a plus-9 rating over 21 appearances this season.

Faulk scored a goal and added two PIM in Wednesday's 1-0 win over the Jets.

Faulk tallied at 13:17 of the second period, and that was all the support Joel Hofer needed to get the Blues a win. The 33-year-old Faulk has two goals and three assists over his last six outings, a productive stretch that was preceded by a six-game slump. For the season, the blueliner has generally been better than last year, racking up eight goals, 18 points, 63 shots on net, 70 blocked shots, 31 hits, 18 PIM and a minus-4 rating through 35 appearances.