NHL Player News

Annunen will protect the road goal in Thursday's preseason game versus the Golden Knights, per the NHL media site.

Annunen has had mediocre results this preseason, allowing six goals on 52 shots over two appearances. He'll likely be playing in his last preseason game Thursday against a nearly full NHL-level lineup for the Golden Knights. Annunen is projected to serve as backup to Alexandar Georgiev in 2024-25.

Stolarz will protect the road goal versus the Red Wings in Thursday's preseason game, Ansar Khan of MLive.com reports.

Stolarz is set for his third game of the preseason. The 30-year-old has given up just two goals on 26 shots over his first two appearances. Stolarz is set to begin 2024-25 as backup to Joseph Woll, but it's possible the Maple Leafs ultimately give their goalies roughly equal workloads.

Poulter is set to start in Thursday's preseason road game against Philadelphia.

Poulter had a 2.55 GAA and a .911 save percentage in 28 contests with AHL Utica in 2023-24. The Devils currently have two squads: their main group is preparing to begin the NHL season Friday in Prague while this group, including Poulter and many other AHL regulars, will play in Philadelphia on Thursday. In other words, after guarding the net against the Flyers in the preseason finale, Poulter is expected to open the campaign with Utica.

Merzlikins will start at home versus the Penguins in Thursday's preseason game, Mark Scheig of The Hockey Writers reports.

Merzlikins is set for his third preseason start after allowing three goals on 50 shots over his first two outings. He won both of those games. Merzlikins' strong preseason is giving him a good chance to begin 2024-25 as the Blue Jackets' No. 1 goalie.

Korpisalo will protect the road goal in Thursday's preseason game versus the Kings in Quebec City.

The Bruins are the designated road team for this neutral-site exhibition. The 30-year-old Korpisalo has allowed three goals on 47 shots over his two preseason starts so far. He is positioned to be the Bruins' No. 1 goalie to begin the year, as Jeremy Swayman (contract dispute) will likely need some time to get up to speed once he eventually signs a new deal.

Binnington is expected to guard the home goal in Thursday's preseason game versus Dallas.

The Blues have just one preseason contest beyond this -- they'll face Chicago on Saturday -- so this might be Binnington's last start before the 2024-25 campaign gets underway. The 31-year-old netminder posted a 28-21-5 record, 2.84 GAA and .913 save percentage across 57 regular-season appearances in 2023-24. He's expected to open the season as the Blues' No. 1 goaltender, while Joel Hofer is set to serve as his understudy.

Brossoit (knee) might return midway through Chicago's season-opening road trip, according to Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times on Thursday.

The Blackhawks are set to play Tuesday in Utah, Oct. 11 in Winnipeg, Oct. 12 in Edmonton and Oct. 15 in Calgary before making their home debut Oct. 17 against the Sharks. Brossoit had a 15-5-2 record, 2.00 GAA and .927 save percentage in 23 regular-season contests with Winnipeg in 2023-24. When he's healthy, Brossoit will fight with Petr Mrazek for starts, but because Brossoit isn't expected to be available for Opening Night, Arvid Soderblom is likely to enter the season as Chicago's No. 2 netminder behind Mrazek. Once Brossoit is healthy, Soderblom might be sent to the minors, but it's also possible Chicago will opt to carry three goaltenders.

Samsonov will defend the home crease versus Colorado on Thursday, Danny Webster of the Las Vegas Review-Journal reports.

Samsonov is expected to be the backup goaltender with the Golden Knights this season, as Adin Hill is the No. 1 netminder in Vegas. Samsonov had a tough 2023-24 campaign in Toronto, although his record wouldn't indicate that, as he was 23-7-8. His peripherals were mediocre, as he had a 3.13 GAA and an .890 save percentage in 40 regular-season appearances.

Hildeby was reassigned to AHL Toronto on Thursday.

Hildeby started Saturday's preseason game against the Canadiens and saved 26 of 27 shots, but he'll still begin the 2024-25 regular season in the minors. He was called up several times last year but didn't see any playing time in the NHL, and he'll likely spend most of this season with the AHL club.

Coach Patrick Roy said Thursday that he is taking it one day at a time with Sorokin (back), Andrew Gross of Newsday reports.

Roy would not say whether or not Sorokin will play in the Islanders' final exhibition game Friday. Sorokin was warming up and partaking in Thursday's practice, the first time in training camp that he has done so this season. The 29-year-old had a tough 2023-24 campaign, registering a 25-19-12 record with a 3.01 GAA and a .908 save percentage, his worst campaign in four NHL seasons. Should Sorokin not be ready for Opening Night on Oct. 10 versus Utah, look for Semyon Varlamov to get the start.