NHL Player News

Kindel (lower body) was activated from injured reserve Saturday.

Pittsburgh cleared a spot by designating David Gustafsson as a non-roster player before placing him on waivers. Kindel will be available to return to the lineup against Montreal on Saturday after missing Wednesday's season-opening 7-0 win over Philadelphia.

Dubois logged a pair of assists, four PIM and a plus-2 rating in Friday's 5-2 win over the Hurricanes.

Dubois saw just 12:08 of ice time, in part due to his time in the sin bin. The 28-year-old center should maintain a top-six role for the bulk of 2026-27, and he'll be looking to bounce back from his injury-plagued campaign last year. In 2025-26, he was limited to 19 points in 29 appearances. Dubois doesn't hit as much as he used to, but he can still be a solid source of PIM with 60-point potential if everything goes right.

Strome notched two assists, including one on the power play, and fired two shots on goal in Friday's 5-2 win over the Hurricanes.

Strome is off to a positive start this year. While he's nominally the first-line center, alongside Alex Ovechkin and Ryan Leonard, the Capitals have enough scoring depth to rotate three lines through heavy usage. Strome saw just 13:11 of ice time in Friday's win, but regardless of even-strength usage, he should be productive as long as he maintains a power-play role. He had 58 points, including 21 on the power play, over 80 regular-season games last year, his worth output in the last four seasons.

Tolvanen scored an empty-net goal and added three hits in Friday's 2-0 win over the Red Wings.

Tolvanen has scored twice on four shots while adding seven hits and a plus-2 rating over three games this season. The winger is fitting right in on the third line while also seeing work on the second power-play unit. Tolvanen provides a good mix of offense and physical play, which will give him appeal in deeper fantasy formats as long as he doesn't hit a lengthy cold patch.

Luukkonen will patrol the home crease against Chicago on Saturday, per Paul Hamilton of WGR Sports Radio 550.

Luukkonen surrendered five goals on 22 shots, with the sixth tally being an empty-netter, in Thursday's 6-3 loss to Columbus. He has posted a 6-0-0 record with a 1.67 GAA and a .928 save percentage in six career regular-season outings against Chicago. The Blackhawks (0-2-0) have scored two goals in two games this campaign.

Blackwood is expected to protect the home net against St. Louis on Saturday, according to Aarif Deen of Colorado Hockey Now.

Blackwood is poised to make his second start of the season after being the first goalie off the ice at the morning skate. In his previous appearance, he made 27 saves in Wednesday's 8-4 win over the Kings. The Blues earned a 4-0 victory over Dallas on Friday.

Kapanen (lower body) won't play against Pittsburgh on Saturday, according to Renaud Lavoie of TVA Sports.

Kapanen remains day-to-day and will miss his second straight outing. Once healthy, Kapanen could replace Alexandre Texier, Kirby Dach or Zachary Bolduc in the lineup.

Byram is attending to a family matter and won't play against Buffalo on Saturday, Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times reports.

Byram has gone without a point in two games this season, but he has contributed three blocked shots and a minus-4 rating. With Byram out for at least one game and Sam Rinzel a healthy scratch, Kevin Korchinski and Ethan Del Mastro will play against the Sabres on Saturday.

Melanson (upper body) was placed on injured reserve Saturday.

Seattle activated Mackie Samoskevich (upper body) from the IR list in a corresponding move. Melanson is week-to-week after logging 9:31 of ice time in Thursday's 6-1 win over Calgary.

Ullmark is expected to guard the road goal against Toronto on Saturday, according to Julian McKenzie of The Athletic.

Ullmark is poised to get Ottawa's season opener after being the first goalie off the ice at the morning skate. He has gone 8-5-1 with a 2.93 GAA and an .898 save percentage in 16 career regular-season outings against the Maple Leafs. Toronto (1-1-0) has scored four goals in two games this campaign.