NHL Player News

Oettinger (lower body) is available for Friday's season opener at home against St. Louis, per Owen Newkirk of DLLS Sports.

Oettinger hasn't been named the starter for the upcoming game versus the Blues, but the chances of him getting the assignment are high. He had a 35-12-6 record, 2.59 GAA and .899 save percentage in 54 regular-season appearances with Dallas in 2025-26. Oettinger is Dallas' clear No. 1 netminder, while Casey DeSmith is set to continue to serve as his understudy.

Blackwood is set to start at home against Los Angeles on Wednesday, per Evan Rawal of the Denver Gazette.

Blackwood had a 23-10-2 record, 2.50 GAA and .904 save percentage in 38 regular-season appearances with the Avalanche in 2025-26. Although Blackwood's getting the Opening Night assignment, Scott Wedgewood can't be easily categorized as Colorado's No. 2 goaltender. It wouldn't be surprising if the two netminders evenly split the workload in 2026-27, provided they both stay relatively healthy.

Silovs will get the starting nod on the road against the Flyers on Wednesday, Josh Yohe of The Athletic reports.

Silovs gets the nod over rookie Sergei Murashov in what could be a season-long battle for starts. In his 39 regular-season outings last year, the 25-year-old Silovs went 19-12-8 with a 3.07 GAA and two shutouts. Given the likelihood of a goalie rotation, Silovs figures to be a mid-range fantasy option.

Stolarz is set to start at home against the Islanders on Wednesday, per Lance Hornby of The Toronto Sun.

Stolarz had a 10-10-3 record, 3.28 GAA and .893 save percentage in 26 regular-season appearances with the Maple Leafs in 2025-26. Toronto is playing in the second half of a back-to-back after suffering a 3-2 loss to Montreal on Tuesday. Sergei Bobrovsky got the assignment for that game, turning aside 21 of 24 shots in the loss. Stolarz is Toronto's No. 2 option, but he's capable of taking a bigger share of the workload than your typical understudy, provided he stays healthy.

Luukkonen (lower body) is slated to start on the road against Columbus on Thursday, per Paul Hamilton of WGR Sports Radio 550.

There was some question about Luukkonen's availability after he tweaked something in his lower body during Saturday's preseason game against Pittsburgh, but it seems he's good to go. The netminder had a 22-9-3 record, 2.51 GAA and .909 save percentage in 35 regular-season outings with the Sabres in 2025-26. Luukkonen is expected to serve as Buffalo's No. 1 option this season, but he'll be competing for playing time with Alex Lyon (upper body) and Colten Ellis.

Vladar is expected to start at home against Pittsburgh on Thursday, per Jordan Hall of NBC Sports Philadelphia.

Vladar is getting the assignment in the Flyers' season opener after posting a 29-14-7 record, 2.42 GAA and .906 save percentage in 52 regular-season appearances in 2025-26. He was very effective against the Penguins in the first round of the 2026 playoffs, going 4-2 with a 1.61 GAA and a .937 save percentage in six outings, so he'll naturally be looking to extend that success. Pittsburgh is still a strong adversary, though the Penguins will be missing one of their top forwards in Bryan Rust, who is on injured reserve due to an upper-body injury.

DeSmith agreed to terms on a two-year, $5 million contract extension with Dallas on Wednesday.

DeSmith has been a solid backup for the Stars over the previous two campaigns, going a combined 29-16-8 with a 2.50 GAA and three shutouts in 57 regular-season outings. With Jake Oettinger signed through the 2032-33 season, the Stars have secured their goalie tandem for the next two years by locking down DeSmith.

Knight stopped 32 of 36 shots in Tuesday's 5-2 loss to the Golden Knights. The fifth goal was an empty-netter.

The Blackhawks got off to a slow start, and they weren't able to recover from that. Knight is capable of maintaining solid ratios after posting a 2.82 GAA and a .902 save percentage over 55 games a year ago in his first full campaign for Chicago. However, since the Blackhawks are still wrapping up their rebuild, wins will likely be hard for the 25-year-old to come by for most of the campaign. Knight's fantasy value will come from consistent playing time rather than results. The Blackhawks' road trip continues in Utah on Thursday.

Hart allowed two goals on 26 shots in Tuesday's 5-2 win over the Blackhawks.

Chicago didn't much going early on, and Hart limited the damage to a goal in each of the last two periods. The 28-year-old Hart is in a good spot to pick up wins, as he'll have a sturdy defense in front of him throughout the year. He's projected to be the Golden Knights' top goalie throughout the campaign, though Adin Hill could get more looks if Hart hits a rough patch. Vegas' next game is Friday at home versus the Ducks.

Jarry allowed six goals on 23 shots in Tuesday's 6-5 overtime loss to the Canucks.

Jarry didn't look sharp in his first start of the season. He had a decent preseason, but he is likely to have a short leash with the No. 1 job in Edmonton if he doesn't improve his performance. Frederik Andersen (knee) is out until at least December, but Devon Levi could leapfrog Jarry on the depth chart with a few good starts. It's not yet clear which of Jarry or Levi will get the nod for Thursday's road rematch against the Canucks.