NHL Player News

Dostal allowed three goals on 31 shots in Thursday's 3-1 loss to the Kraken.

Dostal gave up a tally in each period and didn't get enough help from his teammates to keep the game competitive. While it's a discouraging start to the year, Dostal is poised to take a step up in his second campaign as a full-time starter. The 25-year-old should continue to provide reliable goaltending, and if the Ducks improve as a team throughout the year, he'll collect more wins than the 23 he had over 54 outings in 2024-25. Dostal is a low-end No. 2 with potential in fantasy this season. The Ducks play in San Jose on Saturday for the second game of the campaign.

Daccord stopped 35 of 36 shots in Thursday's 3-1 win over the Ducks.

Daccord was tested early and often in the season opener, but he limited the damage to a Beckett Sennecke goal in the first period. Expect a heavy workload for Daccord throughout 2025-26 after he played in a career-high 57 games last year, going 27-23-5 with a 2.75 GAA and a .906 save percentage. The 29-year-old is the clear No. 1 on the Kraken's roster, while Philipp Grubauer and Matt Murray will compete for starts in the backup role. The Kraken have a tougher test ahead when they host the Golden Knights on Saturday.

Wolf allowed five goals on 26 shots in Thursday's 5-1 loss to the Canucks.

It was likely overly optimistic for the Flames to expect Wolf to pull off a second win in as many nights on the road. The 24-year-old started off fine, but the Canucks tallied four times on 10 shots in the third period to run away with this game. The silver lining for fantasy managers is that Wolf appears set for a heavy workload in 2025-26. He's allowed eight goals on 61 shots over two games so far and will need reliable goal support from a relatively unimpressive lineup to put him in position for wins, but the playing time alone elevates him to No. 1 status in fantasy.

Markstrom conceded five goals on 32 shots in Thursday's 6-3 loss to the Hurricanes. One of the Hurricanes' goals was an empty-netter.

Markstrom and his club were in a tightly-contested game late in the final frame, but the Hurricanes exploded for three goals in the final three minutes. This was far from his best performance, though better days should be coming for Markstrom, as the Devils will likely give him plenty of offensive support throughout the season. Look for the Swedish netminder to get the nod again Saturday in Tampa Bay.

Andersen made 19 saves on 22 shots in Thursday's 6-3 win over New Jersey.

This divisional matchup was hanging in the balance late in third period and looked like it was heading for overtime, but the Hurricanes found the back of the net three times in the final three minutes, allowing Andersen to pick up the win in the regular-season opener. The veteran netminder will look to get in a groove in the early going of the campaign, as Pyotr Kochetkov is dealing with an undisclosed injury. Brandon Bussi is serving as the No. 2 netminder for now, but Andersen will probably be back between the pipes for Saturday's home matchup versus the Flyers.

Demko stopped 17 of 18 shots in Thursday's 5-1 win over the Flames.

Demko didn't face much of a challenge against a Flames team on the second half of a back-to-back. The Canucks still had a thin lead for the much of the first two periods before pulling away in the third. Demko is set to operate as the starter in 2025-26, though any slump could open the door for Kevin Lankinen to get some playing time. The Canucks will hit the road for the first time for their next game, which is a tough test Saturday in Edmonton.

Ullmark made made 21 saves Thursday in a 5-4 win over Tampa Bay.

His team roared back after going down 3-1, and Ullmark held the proverbial fort to earn the victory. Durability was an issue for Ullmark last season -- he played just 44 games. Leevi Merilainen kept the Sens in the hunt in December and January, and he will be counted on this year to keep Ullmark fresh for the postseason. It won't be a 50/50 split -- Ullmark is clearly the starter. However, keep an eye on how the two are deployed, as managing weekly lineups may prove to be a challenge at times based on the number of games each goaltender plays.

Vasilevskiy made 29 saves in Thursday's 5-4 loss to the Senators. He allowed four goals.

Dylan Cozens and Artem Zub each beat Vasilevskiy once, and Shane Pinto scored two against him, but thee game was still tied until the 18:13 mark of the third. Vasilevskiy is a strong fantasy option despite Thursday's loss. The Lightning played a bit loose and let a 3-1 lead slip away, which isn't something that's likely to happen often.

Vejmelka allowed two goals on 25 shots in Thursday's 2-1 loss to the Avalanche.

Vejmelka was steady, but the Mammoth didn't give him enough support on offense. The 29-year-old netminder went 26-22-8 with a 2.58 GAA and a .904 save percentage in 58 games a season ago, with all of those marks representing career bests. Vejmelka is the unquestioned starter over Vitek Vanecek to begin 2025-26 and will look to be steady at the back for a Utah team that has playoff aspirations. The Mammoth continue their season-opening road trip in Nashville on Saturday.

Wedgewood allowed one goal on 32 shots in Thursday's 2-1 win over the Mammoth.

Wedgewood has been exactly what the Avalanche have needed to get by without Mackenzie Blackwood (lower body) early in the season. This was Wedgewood's second win in as many starts, and he's allowed just two goals on 57 shots in those games. The 33-year-old netminder's strong play will allow Colorado to be careful with Blackwood's recovery. As such, expect Wedgewood to get the starting nod again Saturday versus the Stars in the Avalanche's first game of the season against a division rival.