NHL Player News

Vasilevskiy will defend the road crease in Thursday's Opening Night matchup against the Rangers, per Stephen Whyno of the Associated Press.

To no surprise, the reigning Vezina Trophy winner will lead the Lightning onto the ice in Thursday's opener. Vasilevskiy was truly elite in 2025-26, where he compiled a 39-15-4 record, a 2.31 GAA and a .911 save percentage across 58 regular-season outings. While asking him to repeat his numbers from a season ago would be a tall task, the team's defensive unit stayed strong with the addition of John Carlson. Vasilevskiy is the top goaltender to have rostered in fantasy hockey to open the 2026-27 season, and he'll have a favorable matchup Thursday against the Rangers, who were shut out by Boston on Tuesday.

Allen will be between the home pipes against the Flyers on Thursday, Amanda Stein of the Devils' official site reports.

Allen will have the benefit of facing a Philadelphia squad that is on the second night of a back-to-back, though it will be motivated to bounce back from a 7-0 rout at the hands of the Penguins. For his part, Allen went 17-17-2 with a 2.74 GAA and one shutout in 37 regular-season games last year. If he can stay healthy, the veteran backstop should be capable of reaching the 20-win mark for the first time since 2017-18 when he was with St. Louis.

Shesterkin will start Thursday's home game against the Lightning, Colin Stephenson of Newsday reports.

Shesterkin drew the Opening Night start on the road against the Bruins on Tuesday and allowed two goals on 22 shots during the loss. He'll attempt to bounce back during the Rangers' home opener Thursday, while it wouldn't be surprising to see Joonas Korpisalo get a chance to make his season debut during the second half of the back-to-back set Friday in Detroit.

Stolarz stopped 26 shots in Wednesday's 2-1 win over the Islanders.

The veteran netminder took a shutout into the third period, only for Emil Heineman to spoil it with a shortie, but it was still an impressive start to the campaign for Stolarz. He's set to handle backup duties behind new No. 1 Sergei Bobrovsky, but the former Panther's decline last season could open the door for Stolarz to see more work than expected if its continues, provided he can stay healthy enough to take advantage.

Sorokin made 24 saves in Wednesday's 2-1 loss to the Maple Leafs.

Both pucks that got past Sorokin came in the first period, the game-winner on a Toronto power play, but the 31-year-old netminder shut the door the rest of the way and at least gave the Isles a chance to mount a comeback. Sorokin has played more than 50 games and produced at least 25 wins in each of the last five seasons, and his workload doesn't figure to slack in 2026-27 with 38-year-old Semyon Varlamov and his balky knee as his main backup.

Saros will get the starting nod at home against the Wild on Thursday, Max Herz of 102.5 The Game Nashville reports.

Saros will get the Opening Night start, which shouldn't come as a surprise considering he featured 59 times during the regular season last year. In those outings, the 31-year-old backstop went 28-22-8 with a career-worst 3.16 GAA. Despite the underwhelming numbers, Saros remains the unquestioned No. 1 option in Music City and could top the 60-game mark for the first time since 2023-24.

Vladar allowed seven goals on 38 shots on net in Wednesday's Opening Night loss to the Penguins.

While Vladar struggled against the high volume of shot attempts that Pittsburgh generated, the 29-year-old backstop was dealing with an upper-body injury during his ramp-up to Opening Night. Regardless, his performance Wednesday was in stark contrast to what he accomplished in 2025-26, where he posted a 29-14-7 record, a 2.42 GAA and a .906 save percentage across 52 regular-season appearances. Between last year's numbers all being career highs and the Flyers bringing in Joseph Woll to take on some of the workload between the pipes, Vladar could be due for slight regression in 2026-27. However, his expected share of opportunities keeps him as a low-end No. 2 goalie option in fantasy for the time being.

Silovs stopped all 19 shots on net he saw in Wednesday's 7-0 Opening Night win over the Flyers.

Silovs started the year on the right foot, posting the third shutout of his NHL career in Wednesday's big win. The 25-year-old goalie had an up-and-down year in 2025-26, where he posted a 19-12-8 record, a 3.07 GAA, an .887 save percentage and two shutouts across 39 regular-season outings. With rookie netminder Sergei Murashov expected to challenge Silovs for opportunities between the pipes, the latter's statement win Wednesday should keep him as the top option for now. Silovs currently holds solid streaming value in fantasy.

Kuemper stopped 21 of 29 shots in Wednesday's 8-4 loss to the Avalanche.

Kuemper had no answer for the Avalanche's power play, which accounted for four of the goals. The 36-year-old netminder didn't get a lot of help from his teammates, though this was always going to be a tough season opener given the relative quality of each lineup. Kuemper struggled to a 19-14-15 record with a 2.78 GAA and an .891 save percentage in 50 regular-season games last year, and he lost the starting job to Anton Forsberg prior to the postseason. Forsberg could see a larger role if Kuemper doesn't bounce back quickly. The Kings are set to visit the Sharks on Saturday.

Blackwood stopped 27 of 31 shots in Wednesday's 8-4 win over the Kings.

The Avalanche had some rust to shake off in front of Blackwood, leading to a bit of a messy game. Two of the Kings' goals came shorthanded, but the Avalanche also went 4-for-5 on the power play. Blackwood is better than this game's stat line would suggest, and he should settle into a nice groove as the team in front of him gets up to speed. The Avalanche's next game is Saturday versus the Blues, and it's not yet clear if the team will lean on a starter or have Blackwood and Scott Wedgewood rotate in the net early in the year.