NHL Player News

Cossa allowed one goal on 12 shots in Sunday's 4-1 preseason loss in Colorado.

Cossa played the first 40 minutes of Sunday's game before being replaced by Michael Hrabal in the final stanza. Utah gave up a first-round pick to get Cossa on the night of the 2026 NHL Draft, so he will likely be given every opportunity to earn the backup role behind Karel Vejmelka this season.

Blackwood stopped all seven shots he faced in 29:30 of ice time during Sunday's 4-1 preseason win over Utah.

Blackwood didn't have to do much in Sunday's exhibition opener, but he was perfect nonetheless. It was a good start for Blackwood, who is competing with Scott Wedgewood for the starting job ahead of the 2026-27 season. Regardless of who sees more starts this year, both Blackwood and Wedgewood are great fantasy options on a Colorado team that is expected to be one of the best in the NHL once again.

Cooley made 19 saves on 22 shots in Sunday's 4-2 preseason loss to the Kraken. The fourth marker was an empty-netter.

Cooley conceded just one goal at even strength in this contest -- the other two markers came on the power play, so all things considered, the 29-year-old turned in a decent performance in the Flames' preseason opener. Cooley is entrenched as Dustin Wolf's backup heading into the 2026-27 campaign, so Cooley doesn't need to be rostered in most fantasy formats.

Brossoit turned aside 21 of 23 shots during Sunday's 6-2 preseason win over the Sharks.

Brossoit drew the start during Sunday's preseason victory and played the entire matchup. He conceded a goal in each of the first two periods but got plenty of offensive support during the victory. Brossoit made just one regular-season appearance with San Jose last year and is competing with Ville Husso for the backup goaltending job behind Lukas Dostal during training camp ahead of the 2026-27 campaign.

Comrie allowed two goals on 16 shots during Sunday's 6-2 preseason loss to the Ducks.

Comrie drew the road start during Sunday's preseason opener and played approximately half of the matchup before being replaced by Matthew Davis in the crease. Comrie made 25 regular-season appearances with the Jets last year and went 12-11-1 with a 3.13 GAA and .890 save percentage. He'll presumably continue to compete for a depth role with the Sharks as training camp continues.

Grubauer turned aside 15 of 16 shots in Sunday's 4-2 preseason win over the Flames.

Grubauer played the first two periods of Sunday's game before giving way to Nikke Kokko in the third. The 34-year-old Grubauer posted relatively solid numbers in 2025-26 (2.65 GAA, .909 save percentage), but unless the Kraken take a step forward this year, wins may be difficult to come by for Grubauer.

Rittich allowed one goal on 24 shots during Sunday's 2-1 preseason win over the Islanders.

Rittich defended the home crease against his former team during the Devils' preseason opener, and he performed admirably while playing the entire game. Across 30 regular-season appearances with the Islanders last year, he went 14-10-3 with a 2.76 GAA and .894 save percentage. He'll presumably compete with Jake Allen for work in the crease early in the 2026-27 regular season.

Vanecek turned aside 20 of 22 shots during Sunday's 2-1 preseason loss to New Jersey.

Vanecek got the starting nod during the Islanders' preseason opener and defended the road crease for the entire game. He put forth a decent performance and should compete with Semyon Varlamov for the No. 2 goaltending job behind Ilya Sorokin as the preseason rolls on. Vanecek made 22 regular-season appearances for Utah last year, going 5-13-3 with a 2.94 GAA and .883 save percentage.

Head coach Jared Bednar said that Wedgewood will draw the road start during Monday's preseason game against Winnipeg, Evan Rawal of the Denver Gazette reports.

Previous reports indicated that Ilya Nabokov would defend the road crease Monday, but Bednar announced after Sunday's preseason win over the Mammoth that Wedgewood will begin the matchup in the crease, with Nabokov slated to enter about halfway through the game. Wedgewood made 45 regular-season appearances for the Avalanche last year and went 31-6-6 with a 2.02 GAA and .921 save percentage. He's likely to reprise a platoon role in net alongside Mackenzie Blackwood during the 2026-27 campaign.

Blackwood will be between the home pipes during Sunday's exhibition matchup against the Mammoth, according to Evan Rawal of the Denver Gazette.

The Avalanche have one of the best goaltending duos in the NHL, so Blackwood will certainly have competition for the No. 1 gig in the form of Scott Wedgewood. Wedgewood is coming off a career-best season, but it was reported Wednesday that Blackwood arrived at training camp in the best shape of his life, so head coach Jared Bednar has a good problem on his hands as far who will be in net on a nightly basis this season. Either way, Blackwood will be a strong fantasy option on one of the league's top teams.