NHL Player News

Eberle scored a power-play goal on four shots in Thursday's 6-1 win over the Flames.

Eberle opened Seattle's season with the first goal of the game at 9:10 of the opening period, tapping home a shot from Jared McCann that reached him around the crease. Vince Dunn doubled the advantage only 32 seconds later, and the Kraken never looked back. Eberle nearly added another goal in the second period, but Dustin Wolf recovered to make an impressive glove save. The Seattle captain ultimately finished with four shots across 17:52 of ice time. The winger should be a steady scoring option for Seattle after posting 55 points (26 goals, 29 assists) in 80 regular-season appearances in 2025-26.

Knies scored two goals, one on the power play and the other the game-winner, and added an even-strength assist in Thursday's 6-3 win over the Sabres.

Acquired from Toronto just before the start of the season in the Kirill Marchenko trade, Knies couldn't have asked for a better debut in his new home rink, and he became the first Blue Jacket in history to find the back of the net twice in his first game for the team. The 23-year-old winger also tied Artemi Panarin for the most points in a Columbus debut. Knies topped 20 goals each of the last two seasons and delivered a career-high 66 points in 79 regular-season games for the Leafs in 2025-26, and he should be able to match that level of production while skating on the top line for the Jackets with Adam Fantilli and working a power play with reigning Norris Trophy winner Zach Werenski.

Greaves made 23 saves in Thursday's 6-3 win over the Sabres.

The 25-year-old did get beaten twice in the second period while the outcome was still in doubt, but Greaves slammed the door on Buffalo in the third as Columbus pulled away. Greaves is locked into the No. 1 spot in the crease after a breakout 2025-26, but an unusual early-season schedule for the Blue Jackets that sees them get a five-day layoff next week before playing back-to-back sets each of the following two weekends will allow him to ease into the new campaign. He should be between the pipes Saturday for a home tilt against the Mammoth, however.

Power notched two assists with a plus-2 rating in Thursday's 6-3 loss to the Blue Jackets.

The 23-year-old helped set up tallies by Mattias Samuelsson in the first period and Konsta Helenius in the second. Rasmus Dahlin remains the top dog on the Sabres blue line, but with Bowen Byram now in Chicago, there figure to be more opportunities for Power on the second power-play unit in 2026-27 -- he failed to record a point with the man advantage last season, helping to contribute to a mildly disappointing 29 points (eight goals and 21 assists) in 81 regular-season games.

Ostlund picked up two assists in Thursday's 6-3 loss to the Blue Jackets.

The 22-year-old center had a hand in tallies by Mattias Samuelsson in the first period and Jack Quinn in the second, and Ostlund came away with a plus-1 rating despite the final score. With an eight-year contract extension in his back pocket and a spot in the top six, big things are expected from Ostlund in 2026-27 after he delivered 11 goals and 27 points in 60 regular-season games as a rookie last season.

Luukkonen stopped 17 of 22 shots in Thursday's 6-3 loss to the Blue Jackets, with Columbus' final goal getting scored into an empty net.

The Sabres grabbed an early 1-0 lead on a Mattias Samuelsson tally, but the Jackets stormed back with three goals before the end of the first period to go ahead for good, and Luukkonen couldn't stem the tide. Two of the pucks to get past the 27-year-old netminder came on power plays, but it was still a rough way to start the new season. With Alex Lyon (upper body) on the shelf, Luukkonen could see a heavy workload out of the gates -- Buffalo doesn't play back-to-back games until Oct. 12-13.

Hronek notched two assists, three blocked shots and a minus-2 rating in Thursday's 9-7 loss to the Oilers.

Hronek helped out on goals by Arshdeep Bains and Jamie Oleksiak. The 28-year-old Hronek has four helpers, three shots on net and six blocks across the first two contests of the season. While he has yet to log a hit, Hronek can still throw the body around while contributing plenty of offense. He has multi-category upside from the Canucks' top pairing, making him a decent depth option in fantasy.

Oleksiak scored a goal, dished an assist, added two PIM, doled out two hits and blocked two shots in Thursday's 9-7 loss to the Oilers.

Oleksiak is off to a strong start in his first year with the Canucks, earning three points, five hits, four blocks and a minus-2 rating over two contests. The 33-year-old is seeing a resurgence in ice time so far as a top-four shutdown option while the Canucks shelter younger blueliners like Elias Pettersson and Tom Willander. Oleksiak has fallen short of the 20-point mark in three straight years, and while he may get more ice time for Vancouver than he did for Seattle, the offense is far from a guarantee to stick around.

Cotter scored a goal, dished an assist and added five hits in Thursday's 9-7 loss to the Oilers.

Cotter has opened the season with back-to-back multi-point efforts. He was involved in the Canucks' first two goals Thursday, scoring their first before setting up Brock Boeser for the second. Cotter isn't seeing power-play time yet, but he could earn a role there if he continues to produce in a bottom-six role. He's added four shots, seven hits and a plus-3 rating, and the physicality should remain steady even once the offense fades.

Bains scored a goal and added an assist in Thursday's 9-7 loss to the Oilers.

Bains made the Canucks' Opening Night roster and has featured in a bottom-six role to begin the season. These were his first two points of the year to go with two blocked shots and a plus-2 rating. The 25-year-old winger had logged just six points over 49 career NHL games prior to this year, and he was limited to 24 points in 34 regular-season outings for AHL Abbotsford last year. Given his expected role on a weak team, Bains likely won't be a steady source of offense in 2026-27.