NHL Player News

Askarov will guard the cage on the road versus Ottawa on Thursday, Sheng Peng of San Jose Hockey Now reports.

Askarov is currently mired in a four-game losing streak during which he is sporting a 3.86 GAA and .853 save percentage. If the 24-year-old backstop continues tos truggle, he could see more starts given to Alex Nedeljkovic. Even in a split share, Askarov will likely continue to provide decent fantasy value given his workload.

Kuemper was the first goalie off during Thursday's morning skate, Stephen Whyno of the Associated Press reports, indicating that he'll draw the road start against the Islanders.

Kuemper picked up his first win of the 2026-27 campaign in Washington on Tuesday, and he'll draw a second consecutive start Thursday. Across his five appearances to begin the regular season, he's gone 1-3-1 with a 3.94 GAA and .869 save percentage.

Hofer will patrol the home crease in Thursday's clash against the Golden Knights, per Matthew DeFranks of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Hofer has momentum on his side headed into Thursday's contest after stopping 32 of 33 shots on net in Tuesday's 2-1 win over the Jets. The 26-year-old backstop has allowed three goals or more just twice across six outings this season en route to a 3-2-1 record, a shutout, a 2.20 GAA and a .919 save percentage. He'll be tested Thursday by a talented Vegas offense, which ranks third in the NHL with 3.91 goals per game to open the new season. Regardless, Hofer is a solid start in most fantasy formats given his recent success.

Garand will start Thursday's road game against Toronto, Mollie Walker of the New York Post reports.

Garand has seen plenty of playing time recently while Joonas Korpisalo (lower body) and Igor Shesterkin (knee) have been sidelined. Korpisalo is slated to miss several more weeks, while Shesterkin has been ruled out for the season, so Garand should continue to see the majority for the starts in the near future. Garand has gone 4-2-1 with a 1.85 GAA and .929 save percentage across his first seven appearances of the regular season, and he'll draw a sixth consecutive start Thursday.

Ullmark (lower body) was placed on injured reserve Thursday, Max Miller of NHL.com reports.

Ullmark was injured making a save against the Panthers on Wednesday and was forced to leave the game. With his IR designation, the 33-year-old netminder will be sidelined for at least the next three games, though it could certainly be longer. The Sens brought up Jonas Johansson from the minors and could split the crease between him and Samuel Ersson.

Johansson was recalled from AHL Belleville on Thursday, Bruce Garrioch of Postmedia reports.

Johansson was sent down by the Senators in early October, but he'll rejoin the NHL club to provide additional depth in the crease after Linus Ullmark (lower body) was placed on injured reserve Thursday. Samuel Ersson will likely serve as the Senators' primary option in the net while Ullmark is sidelined.

Daws will tend the twine at home against Anaheim on Thursday, Amanda Stein of the Devils' official site reports.

Daws stopped 18 of 19 shots in his previous outings -- a 7-1 victory over the Rangers on Oct. 15. While the 25-year-old backstop could be seeing a few extra starts given his recent performances, he is unlikely to completely unseat Jake Allen from the No. 1 role in New Jersey.

DiPietro will draw the start in Thursday's home clash against the Predators, per Adam Pellerin of NESN.

DiPietro will look to pick up where he left off, as the 27-year-old netminder earned his first career NHL win against the Ducks on Friday. Overall, he's played well with a 1-1-0 record, a 2.54 GAA and a .912 save percentage across 57 shots on net between two appearances. The two-time reigning Aldege "Baz" Bastien Memorial Award winner is beginning to transfer his AHL success to his opportunities with Boston, making him one of the top stash options between the pipes in deep fantasy leagues. He'll be matched up against the Predators on Thursday, who provided him a favorable matchup with the NHL's 21st-ranked offense at 2.88 goals per game.

Silovs was the first goalie off the ice ahead of Thursday's home clash with the Panthers, Dan Potash of Sportsnet Pittsburgh reports, indicating he'll be between the pipes.

Silovs has given up five goals in four of his last five outings, posting a combined 4.22 GAA along with a 2-3-0 record. This will be the first time the 25-year-old netminder has made consecutive starts since the opening two games of the year. Still, Silovs is far from cemented as the No. 1 option in Pittsburgh and could be watching from the bench in favor of Sergei Murashov against the Predators on Saturday.

Varlamov will guard the home crease in Thursday's clash against the Kings, per Stefen Rosner of NHL.com.

While Varlamov is still hunting for his first win of the 2026-27 season, he's held up relatively well across his two appearances thus far. The 18-year NHL veteran currently has an 0-1-1 record, a 1.94 GAA and a .905 save percentage. He's proven to be a more-than-capable backup for Ilya Sorokin moving forward, and the Islanders have publicly affirmed that they want the former to play once every 7-10 days. Varlamov's start Thursday will be his first at home since he missed all of the 2025-26 campaign with a knee injury. His homecoming outing will be against the Kings, who have been inconsistent offensively to begin the new season, making Varlamov a solid spot start in fantasy.