NHL Player News

Hill will defend the home crease against St. Louis on Friday, according to Jesse Granger of The Athletic.

Hill will get his second straight start between the pipes, as he picked up the win Wednesday versus Colorado despite giving up four goals on 32 shots. Hill was 19-12-2 with a 2.71 GAA and a .909 save percentage in 35 regular-season games with the Golden Knights in 2023-24. He is considered the No. 1 goaltender for Vegas at this time as Ilya Samsonov is the definite backup goaltender at this time. The Blues will be a tired team Friday, after picking up a 5-4 overtime win in San Jose on Thursday.

Kahkonen was claimed off waivers by the Avalanche on Friday, according to Chris Johnston of The Athletic.

Kahkonen was placed on waivers by the Jets on Thursday, as they wanted to send him to AHL Manitoba, but the Avs put in a claim for the Finnish netminder. Kahkonen will provide depth as Alexandar Georgiev and Justus Annunen are currently the top two goaltenders in the organization. Kahkonen was a combined 7-24-2 with a 3.64 GAA and an .898 save percentage in a season split between San Jose and New Jersey in 2023-24.

Fleury will be in the blue paint at home versus Seattle on Saturday, Michael Russo of The Athletic reports.

Fleury will make his first start of the season in his final year in the NHL, as he announced in the summer that he would retire at the end of the 2024-25 campaign after playing 20 years. Fleury was 17-15-5 with a 2.98 GAA and an .895 save percentage in 40 regular-season appearances in 2023-24 with the Wild. He will face Seattle, who lost their opener 3-2 to the Blues on Tuesday.

Lankinen will be between the home pipes versus the Flyers on Friday, Brendan Batchelor of Sportsnet 650 reports.

Lankinen has a chance to take over the No. 1 job in Vancouver while Thatcher Demko (knee) remains on the sideline with no timetable for his return. Arturs Silovs started Opening Night, but he was mediocre at best, giving up six goals on 26 shots in an overtime loss to Calgary. Lankinen was 11-6-0 with a 2.82 GAA and a .908 save percentage in 24 regular-season appearances with Nashville last season. He will face the Flyers, who will play their opening game of the season.

Murray was returned to AHL Milwaukee on Friday.

The Predators required a back up for Scott Wedgewood on Wednesday as Juuse Saros was unable to dress due to a lower-body injury. The Predators play Saturday in Detroit and if Saros is still unable to play, look for Murray to be recalled once again.

Soderblom will start Friday's road game against Winnipeg, Mark Lazerus of The Athletic reports.

Petr Mrazek started the Blackhawks' Opening Night matchup against Utah on Tuesday, but Soderblom will draw his first start of the regular season in the first half of a back-to-back Friday. Soderblom made 32 regular-season appearances for Chicago last year and posted a 5-22-2 record, 3.92 GAA and .879 save percentage.

Varlamov was the first goalie off Friday, Stefen Rosner of NHL.com reports, indicating that he'll be in goal for Saturday's road matchup against Dallas.

Varlamov struggled during Thursday's Opening Night matchup, turning aside just 21 of 26 shots in the 5-4 overtime loss to Utah. However, the Islanders appear to be easing Ilya Sorokin into action early in the season after he underwent back surgery during the offseason, so Varlamov will have a chance to turn things around Saturday against the Stars.

The Wild recalled Wallstedt from AHL Iowa on Friday.

Wallstedt was sent down Thursday as the Wild needed a seventh defenseman and didn't need to carry three goaltenders. Defenseman Daemon Hunt, who was recalled Thursday, was sent down to AHL Iowa in a corresponding move. Wallstedt is expected to play approximately 25-30 games this season, sharing the net with Filip Gustavsson and Marc-Andre Fleury. Wallstedt is considered the Wild's goalie of the future.

Talbot is expected to start in the home crease for Saturday's game against the Predators, Ansar Khan of MLive.com reports.

Talbot entered Thursday's regular-season opener against Pittsburgh in relief, and he turned aside 12 of 14 shots. He should earn his first start of the season Saturday as the Red Wings attempt to bounce back from their 6-3 loss on Opening Night.

Lindgren will patrol the home crease versus the Devils on Saturday, Tarik El-Bashir of Monumental Sports Network reports.

Lindgren will get the Opening Night start Saturday, with Logan Thompson backing him up. Lindgren was the No. 1 goaltender in Washington last season, going 25-16-7 with six shutouts, a 2.67 GAA and a .911 save percentage in 50 regular-season appearances. He will face the Devils, who have already played three games (2-1-0) while finding the back of the net nine times thus far.