NHL Player News

Lankinen signed a one-year, $875,000 contract with Vancouver on Saturday.

In 43 appearances for Nashville over the past two seasons, Lankinen posted a 20-14-1 record with a 2.79 GAA and a .912 save percentage. If Thatcher Demko (knee) is unavailable for the start of the 2024-25 campaign, Lankinen will compete for starts with Arturs Silovs

Blomqvist will defend the road net Saturday in exhibition action against Buffalo.

Blomqvist provided a 25-12-6 record with a 2.16 GAA and a .921 save percentage in 45 regular-season contests for AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in 2023-24. The 22-year-old netminder will probably begin the upcoming campaign in the minors because Tristan Jarry and Alex Nedeljkovic rank ahead of him on the goaltending depth chart.

Vladar (hip) is cleared to start the 2024-25 season after undergoing surgery in March.

Vladar went 8-9-2 with an .882 save percentage and 3.62 GAA in 20 games with the Flames before his 2023-24 season ended early due to a hip injury. The 27-year-old Vladar is expected to compete with Dustin Wolf for the starting job in Calgary following Jacob Markstrom's trade to New Jersey in June.

Luukkonen will get the home start versus Pittsburgh on Saturday, according to Mike Harrington of The Buffalo News.

Luukkonen enters the 2024-25 campaign as Buffalo's undisputed No. 1 goaltender. He was 27-22-4 with a sparkling 2.57 GAA and a .910 save percentage in 54 regular-season appearances in 2023-24. The Sabres will need a similar performance this campaign if they hope to qualify for the playoffs for the first time since the 2010-11 season. James Reimer will be the backup goaltender in Saturday's exhibition contest.

Brossoit (knee) will be out of action for about four weeks Mark Lazerus of The Athletic reports Friday.

Brossoit could be back a little before the four-week mark, according to general manager Kyle Davidson. The netminder inked a two-year contract with Chicago in the summer after spending the 2023-24 campaign as the backup in Winnipeg to Connor Hellebuyck. Brossoit posted a solid 15-5-2 record with a 2.00 GAA and a .927 save percentage in 23 regular-season outings. Once healthy, he will battle Petr Mrazek for the No. 1 job with the Blackhawks in 2024-25.

Merilainen is dealing with a groin injury that isn't expected to be serious, Bruce Garrioch of Postmedia reports.

It's unclear when Merilainen suffered the injury, but it doesn't look to be a long-term concern. The 22-year-old goalie is likely to spend much of this season at AHL Belleville as a No. 3 option in goal for the Senators' organization. Linus Ullmark and Anton Forsberg are likely to get the bulk of the NHL starts.

Demko (knee) has made a lot of progress over the last 2-3 weeks, but said Thursday there is still no timetable for his return, Harman Dayal of The Athletic reports.

Demko also said that he had a minor procedure done in the offseason that was unrelated to his knee injury. Demko stated that he has an unique injury -- a lower-body muscle injury -- and hasn't found any hockey player with a similar injury. Should Demko miss the start of the regular season, look for Arturs Silovs to take over the No. 1 job with the Canucks.

Dell penned a professional tryout agreement with the Sharks on Thursday, according to Max Miller of NHL.com.

Dell spent last season in the AHL, going 7-4-1 with a 2.57 GAA and a .914 save percentage with the Kings' farm team in Ontario. Dell last played at the NHL level during the 2022-23 campaign, losing all three games for the Sharks while allowing nine goals and 103 shots.

Askarov will miss the start of training camp with a lower-body injury.

Askarov is expected to be the No. 1 goaltender with the Sharks this season, after he was dealt from Nashville on Aug. 23. The 11th overall pick by the Predators in 2020, Askarov is considered by many to be the best goaltender not playing in the NHL. He was 30-13-1 with a 2.39 GAA and a .911 save percentage for AHL Milwaukee last season.

Tokarski inked a professional tryout agreement with the Senators on Thursday.

Tokarski played in the Buffalo organization in 2023-24 but did not appear in a game with the Sabres. He played four contests the previous season with Pittsburgh, going 1-2-0 with a 3.44 GAA and an .897 save percentage. Tokarski will likely return to AHL Belleville this season and be a depth goaltender with the Senators.