NHL Player News

Bussi will start Friday's home game against the Capitals, Ryan Henkel of The Hockey News reports.

The 28-year-old was in the starter's crease during Friday's morning skate, and head coach Rod Brind'Amour confirmed that Bussi will draw a second consecutive start to begin the regular season. During Tuesday's Opening Night matchup at home against the Panthers, Bussi turned aside 19 of 20 shots in an overtime loss. The Hurricanes also play on the road against Philadelphia on Saturday, which will likely give Pyotr Kochetkov an opportunity to make his regular-season debut.

Gilbert was loaned to AHL Rochester on Friday.

Gilbert joined the NHL club for Thursday's Opening Night matchup in Columbus to provide additional depth, but he didn't see any playing time in the 6-3 loss. He'll head back to the minors a day later and will likely spend most of his time in the AHL this year.

Kuzmenko (personal) has rejoined the Penguins and was on the ice for practice Friday, Michelle Crechiolo of the Penguins' official site reports.

Kuzmenko spent the past week away from the team while in Russia following the death of his father, and he was deemed a non-roster player by the Penguins to begin the regular season. The 30-year-old appears to be close to making his regular-season debut now that he's back with the team, but it's not yet clear whether he'll get the green light for Saturday's game against the Canadiens.

Barkov (knee) is scheduled to have an MRI on Friday, Pierre LeBrun of TSN reports.

Barkov exited the ice immediately after suffering his apparent knee injury, which isn't an encouraging sign for a player who missed all of last season with a knee injury on his other side. While not officially ruled out, at this point it seems unlikely the veteran center will be ready to face the Ducks on Sunday and could miss the rest of Florida's West Coast swing.

Saros made 27 saves in Thursday's 3-1 loss to the Wild.

The veteran netminder got little help from his offense or his defense, as the Predators got out-shot 30-20 on the night. Saros has seen his ratios decline the last few years along with his team's fortunes, but he still figures to get a big enough workload to win 20-plus games for a seventh straight season. Nashville doesn't play back-to-back games until Oct. 24-25, so Saros could get leaned on heavily over the first few weeks of the schedule.

Coleman scored the game-winning goal on the power play in Thursday's 3-1 victory over the Predators.

Acquired from Calgary in an offseason trade, Coleman made an immediate impact in his Minnesota debut, taking a feed down low from Bobby Brink, wheeling to the front of the net and snapping the puck past Juuse Saros midway through the first period. Coleman is coming off his fourth career 20-goal campaign, but the 34-year-old has topped 40 points only once, instead providing value as a physical presence -- he's reached triple digits in hits in each of the last nine seasons.

Wallstedt turned aside 19 shots in Thursday's 3-1 win over the Predators.

Roman Josi spoiled his shutout bid with a one-timer midway through the second period, but otherwise Wallstedt had an answer for everything Nashville fired his way. The 23-year-old netminder figures to see a heavy workload over the first month of the season while Filip Gustavsson is recovering from hip surgery, but Wallstedt should be up to the task after a breakout 2025-26 that saw him deliver a 2.61 GAA and .915 save percentage over 35 regular-season games.

Wolf stopped 26 of 32 shots in Thursday's 6-1 loss to the Kraken.

Wolf endured a difficult season debut as Seattle scored three times on just six first-period shots. He settled down to stop all 12 shots he faced in the second, including an excellent recovery save that denied Jordan Eberle, but the Kraken broke through three more times in the third. Wolf ultimately surrendered six goals for just the third time in his NHL career and finished with an .813 save percentage in this woeful season opener.

Strome scored a goal in Thursday's 6-1 loss to the Kraken.

Strome provided Calgary's only offense on an otherwise miserable season-opening performance, beating Joey Daccord with a wrist shot from the top of the left circle at 16:35 of the third period. Strome is a middle-six forward and isn't likely to play a big role in the 2026-27 season, posting 21 points, 57 shots on net and a minus-8 rating over 52 appearances between Calgary and Anaheim in the 2025-26 season. His role isn't expected to change in the 2026-27 campaign.

Daccord stopped 24 of 25 shots in Thursday's 6-1 win over the Flames.

Daccord came within 3:25 of opening the season with a shutout before Ryan Strome beat him from the left circle. The 30-year-old had already received plenty of offensive support by then, with Seattle building a 3-0 first-period lead before adding two more goals early in the third. Daccord also contributed offensively, picking up the secondary assist on Chandler Stephenson's goal. This was a strong debut for Daccord, who posted an .896 save percentage across 47 regular-season appearances in 3025-26.