NHL Player News

Skinner (flu) will miss Friday's preseason game against Vancouver, per the NHL media site.

Skinner was initially scheduled to start against the Canucks, but Calvin Pickard will play between the pipes instead. The 26-year-old Skinner should still be in net for Edmonton's regular-season opener against Calgary on Wednesday, provided he's healthy in time for that clash.

Hill is set to defend the home crease for Friday's preseason game against San Jose, per Danny Webster of the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

Hill is set to make his third appearance of the preseason after stopping 25 of 28 shots across his first two games. The 29-year-old had a 32-13-5 record, 2.47 GAA and .906 save percentage in 50 regular-season appearances in 2024-25. He's set to open the upcoming campaign as Vegas' No. 1 goaltender.

Pickard is expected to guard the road goal for Friday's preseason game against Vancouver.

Stuart Skinner was originally scheduled to get the nod, but he's battling the flu. Pickard had a 22-10-1 record, 2.71 GAA and .900 save percentage across 36 regular-season outings with Edmonton in 2024-25. The 33-year-old Pickard is projected to open the campaign as the Oilers' No. 2 netminder behind Skinner.

Hellebuyck is expected to start on the road for Friday's preseason game against Calgary, per the NHL media site.

Hellebuyck has made one other start in the 2025 preseason, stopping 16 of 19 shots en route to a 3-2 loss to Minnesota on Tuesday. The 32-year-old is likely to be leaned on heavily by the Jets during the 2025-26 campaign. He posted a 47-12-3 record, 2.00 GAA and .925 save percentage in 63 regular-season outings in 2024-25 to earn the Vezina Trophy for the second consecutive year.

Gustavsson is expected to guard the road goal for Friday's preseason game against Chicago, per Tracey Myers of NHL.com.

Gustavsson is getting a second opportunity to shake off the rust after allowing three goals on 20 shots en route to a 4-1 loss to Chicago in an exhibition game Sunday. The 27-year-old Gustavsson is expected to open up the campaign as Minnesota's No. 1 netminder. He posted a 31-19-6 record, 2.56 GAA and .914 save percentage across 58 regular-season outings with the Wild last year.

Kochetkov (undisclosed) is slated to be in the lineup versus the Predators on Saturday, Walt Ruff of the Hurricanes' official site reports.

The Canes haven't named a starter yet, but based on the roster, it will be either Kochetkov or Cayden Primeau. Regardless of who starts Saturday's preseason finale, it will almost certainly be Frederik Andersen who gets the nod for Opening Night versus New Jersey on Thursday. Still, Kochetkov should see plenty of work even as the backup to the oft-injured Andersen.

Dostal (lower body) will guard the road crease during Saturday's preseason finale against the Kings, Zach Cavanagh of The Sporting Tribune reports.

Dostal was considered day-to-day due to a lower-body injury since Monday, and he was unavailable for Wednesday's preseason tilt against the Sharks. However, head coach Joel Quenneville described the injury as "definitely short, short term," and Dostal will ultimately return to action to close out the preseason. The 25-year-old will likely be available for Thursday's Opening Night matchup in Seattle.

Askarov was the first goalie to leave the ice Friday, Max Miller of NHL.com reports, indicating he'll patrol the crease on the road against Vegas.

With Askarov taking the start Friday, it seems likely that Alex Nedeljkovic will get the nod for Saturday's clash with Utah before Askarov takes the crease for Opening Night against Vegas at home Thursday. Looking ahead to the rest of the 2025-26 campaign, Askarov figures to see the bulk of the workload for San Jose, though Nedeljkovic could certainly see plenty of starts as well.

Halverson was placed on waivers by the Lightning on Friday, Renaud Lavoie of TVA Sports reports.

Halverson made some starts for the Lightning during preseason play, but if he clears waivers, he'll head to AHL Syracuse for the start of the regular season. He's made just two regular-season appearances in the NHL during his career and will likely spend most of this year in the minors.

Villalta was placed on waivers by the Mammoth on Friday.

Villalta spent training camp with the Mammoth but was unable to land a spot on the Opening Night roster. He's slated to be assigned to AHL Tucson if he clears waivers, and it wouldn't be surprising to see him spend most of the 2025-26 campaign in the minors.