NHL Player News

Talbot made 23 saves in Thursday's 2-0 preseason loss to the Maple Leafs.

Toronto's top stars were sitting this one out, but Talbot was unable to contain Nicholas Robertson, who beat him twice on five shots. The 37-year-old journeyman netminder will be playing for his seventh different team in the last seven seasons, but after posting a dependable 2.50 GAA and .913 save percentage for the Kings in 2023-24 over 54 appearances -- his biggest workload since 2017-18 -- Talbot could be the Red Wings' best option between the pipes for the upcoming campaign, ahead of Alex Lyon and Ville Husso.

Vladar will start in goal during Friday's preseason finale at home against the Jets, Pat Steinberg of Sportsnet 960 The Fan reports.

Vladar will make his fourth start of the preseason Friday as the Flames close out exhibition play. He last started in a home game against the Kraken on Monday and turned aside 30 of 33 shots. The 27-year-old is competing with Dustin Wolf and Devin Cooley to serve as the Flames' starting goaltender on Opening Night against the Canucks on Wednesday.

Stolarz stopped all 30 shots he faced in Thursday's 2-0 preseason win over the Red Wings.

It was an impressive effort from Stolarz against a Detroit squad that featured all its top stars. The 30-year-old netminder is expected to begin the 2024-25 campaign as the backup to Joseph Woll in the Toronto crease, but Woll has never played more than 25 games in an NHL season due to various injuries. If he has trouble staying healthy again, Stolarz could get a chance to prove his outstanding numbers last season for the Stanley Cup champion Panthers (2.03 GAA, .925 save percentage in 27 appearances) can hold up with a bigger workload.

Merzlikins turned aside 21 of 23 shots in Thursday's 3-1 preseason loss to the Penguins.

The Blue Jackets grabbed an early lead, but Merzlikins couldn't make it stick, getting beaten by Valtteri Puustinen in the second period and Johnny Gruden in the third before Pittsburgh tacked on an empty-netter. The 30-year-old is expected to split goaltending duties with Daniil Tarasov this season, and while wins will likely be hard to come by, tighter defensive play by Columbus under new head coach Dean Evason could result in Merzllikins improving upon the 3.45 GAA and .897 save percentage he managed in 2023-24.

Jarry stopped 33 shots in Thursday's 3-1 preseason win over the Blue Jackets.

Cole Sillinger got a puck past him in the first period, but Jarry shut the door the rest of the way while working behind a Pittsburgh lineup missing most of its season-opening roster. The 29-year-old netminder is looking to bounce back from a shaky campaign in which he failed to record at least 20 wins for the first time since he became a regular part of the Penguins' goaltending picture in 2019-20, while posting his worst GAA (2.91) and save percentage (.903) during that stretch.

Varlamov will be between the home pipes against the Rangers on Friday, per Andrew Gross of Newsday.

Coach Patrick Roy said the plan was for Varlamov to play the whole game Friday. The netminder could be in line to start Opening Night at home versus Utah on Oct. 10 as Ilya Sorokin (back) has not seen any preseason action. Varlamov was 14-8-4 with a 2.60 GAA and a .918 save percentage in 28 regular-season contests in 2023-24.

Blomqvist will patrol the home crease versus Columbus on Friday, Michelle Crechiolo of the Penguins' official site reports.

Blomqvist will play the entire game according to coach Mike Sullivan. Blomqvist has yet to make his NHL debut after he was selected in the second round, 52nd overall, in 2020. The 22-year-old netminder was 25-12-6 with a 2.16 GAA and a .921 save percentage in 45 regular-season appearances for AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in 2023-24. With Alex Nedeljkovic (lower body) currently week-to-week, Blomqvist figures to enter the 2024-25 campaign as the No. 2 option behind Tristan Jarry.

Poulter was reassigned to AHL Utica on Friday.

Poulter made a pair of preseason starts for the Devils this year, but it isn't surprising to see him sent to the minors ahead of the regular season. He's unlikely to factor into New Jersey's plans this year and should spend most, if not all, of the season in the minors.

Vasilevskiy was the first goalie off Friday, Erik Erlendsson of LightningInsider.com reports, indicating he'll start in goal in the team's preseason road matchup against Carolina.

Vasilevskiy also drew the start during Wednesday's home exhibition matchup against the Panthers and turned aside 21 of 23 shots in an overtime loss. The 30-year-old enters the regular season as one of the top fantasy options at goaltender after he posted a 30-20-2 record, 2.90 GAA and .900 save percentage over 52 regular-season appearances last year.

Luukkonen will be between the pipes for Friday's Global Series matchup with New Jersey, Lance Lysowski of The Buffalo News reports.

Luukkonen will begin his quest to reach the 30-win mark this season with Friday's matchup. The 25-year-old netminder came up just three victories shy of that threshold last year, finishing the campaign with a 27-22-4 record to go with a career-best 2.57 GAA and five shutouts. With Luukkonen getting the nod Friday, it will be either Devon Levi or James Reimer in the crease versus the Devils on Saturday.