3 weeks agoPittsburgh Penguins defenseman Erik Karlsson (upper body) has declared he's ready to play in Wednesday's season opener against the Rangers. Karlsson has battled an upper-body injury throughout training camp and preseason, but he's set to jump straight into action on Wednesday. The three-time Norris Trophy winner will skate with Marcus Pettersson in even-strength situations and is set for first power-play duty. The Rangers have been Karlsson's kryptonite through the years, limiting him to 16 points (three goals, 13 assists) in 35 games. He has amassed a minus-14 rating against the Rangers and went scoreless in three games in the matchup last season.
--Taavi Pailk - RotoBallerSource: Seth Rorabaugh
3 weeks agoToronto Maple Leafs goaltender Joseph Woll (lower body) has been placed on Injured Reserve. The move comes after the team ruled Woll out for Wednesday's season opener against Montreal due to lower-body tightness. He will now be forced to miss at least seven days of action, meaning the Maple Leafs won't have Woll available for three games. The team has called up Dennis Hildeby from the minors to work as Anthony Stolarz's backup versus the Canadiens. Stolarz has posted a 3-1-0 career record against the 24-time Stanley Cup champions. Hildeby looks set for his NHL debut on Thursday versus New Jersey.
--Taavi Pailk - RotoBallerSource: David Alter
3 weeks agoSt. Louis Blues right wing Jordan Kyrou opened the 2024-25 campaign with a two-goal effort in Tuesday's 3-2 road victory over Seattle. St. Louis looked lifeless and fell into a two-goal hole early in the second period, but the Blues produced a comeback led by Kyrou. He netted a power-play goal at the 13:42 mark in the second to get things started and registered the eventual game-winner less than two minutes later. Kyrou produced his goals with three shots and had one block and one hit in the game while logging 16:38 of ice time as a member of the second line. Dating back to last season, Kyrou now boasts eight goals and 11 points across his last eight outings.
--Taavi Pailk - RotoBallerSource: ESPN
3 weeks agoUtah Hockey Club right wing Dylan Guenther potted two goals in the team's first-ever regular-season game on Tuesday versus Chicago, pushing the team to a 5-2 win. The talented winger scored the first goal in Utah Hockey Club history with 4:56 played in the opening frame and had a second inside the final minute in the third with the Blackhawks net empty. Riding on the second line with Jack McBain and Logan Cooley, Guenther registered a team-high five shots on goal and had one hit across 16:30 of action. It was a great start to the new campaign for Guenther, and more will be expected of him during his first full year as an NHLer.
--Taavi Pailk - RotoBallerSource: ESPN
3 weeks agoWinnipeg Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck (personal) is expected to be good to go for Wednesday's season opener against Edmonton. Hellebuyck was away from the team on Monday due to personal reasons. However, he will take part in Wednesday's morning skate and should be ready to face the Oilers. Meetings with the high-scoring Oilers can be very rough outings for goaltenders, but Hellebuyck went 1-1-1 in the matchup last season, allowing more than two goals in only one of the games. He carries a 13-13-3 career record against Edmonton.
--Taavi Pailk - RotoBallerSource: John Lu
3 weeks agoMontreal Canadiens defenseman Kaiden Guhle (abdomen) practiced on Tuesday and is on track to play in Wednesday's season opener against Toronto. The young blue-liner had his appendix removed on Sept. 18. Guhle returned to the Canadiens lineup at the weekend in the team's preseason finale against Ottawa. He should see a lot of action this season on the top defensive pairing next to Michael Matheson. Last season, Guhle averaged 20:51 of ice time and had 22 points (six goals, 16 assists) with 178 blocks and 116 hits in 70 appearances.
--Taavi Pailk - RotoBallerSource: Kenzie Lalonde
3 weeks agoVancouver Canucks right wing Conor Garland (undisclosed) has declared himself ready to play on Wednesday versus Calgary in the team's season opener. Garland was held out of Vancouver's preseason finale against Edmonton on Friday after he had "tweaked something." However, it apparently wasn't anything serious, and the 28-year-old is ready to start his fourth campaign with the Canucks on Wednesday. Garland has been a steady middle-six forward, hovering around 40-50 points. He's set to begin the new campaign on the third line and the second power-play unit.
--Taavi Pailk - RotoBallerSource: Dan Murphy
3 weeks agoFlorida Panthers left wing Carter Verhaeghe has signed an eight-year extension with the team. It's a $56 million deal that will count $7 million against the salary cap. Verhaeghe's current contract, which runs out in 2025, has an average annual value of $4,166,667. The 29-year-old arrived in Florida in 2020-21 and has developed into one of the team's biggest offensive threats. Verhaeghe has recorded back-to-back 70-point campaigns and boasts 236 points (118 goals, 118 assists) overall across 279 regular-season appearances as a Panther. Despite being held scoreless in Tuesday's season opener against Boston, Verhaeghe is expected to have another prolific campaign.
--Taavi Pailk - RotoBallerSource: ESPN
3 weeks agoFlorida Panthers defenseman Adam Boqvist was forced to make an early exit against Boston on Tuesday after taking a puck to the face. Boqvist logged only 4:38 of ice time in the contest. This was Boqvist's Panthers debut after he was snapped up as a free agent in the summer. He skated on the third defensive pairing while quarterbacking the first power-play unit. Aaron Ekblad looks set to move up to the first unit if Boqvist misses time as a result of Tuesday's injury. Florida is back in action on Thursday versus Ottawa.
--Taavi Pailk - RotoBallerSource: George Richards
4 weeks agoSt. Louis Blues goaltender Jordan Binnington will be in the crease for Tuesday's season opener against the Seattle Kraken. The 31-year-old will look to register a third consecutive win in the matchup. He has a 3-1-0 overall record in his career against Seattle. It's been a good matchup for Binnington, but the Blues are considered underdogs for Tuesday's clash, and the veteran netminder certainly has to be at his best to make a winning start to the new campaign.
--Taavi Pailk - RotoBallerSource: Jeremy Rutherford
4 weeks agoSeattle Kraken goaltender Philipp Grubauer will start Tuesday's season opener against the St. Louis Blues. He gets the nod ahead of Joey Daccord, who outplayed the German last season. Grubauer finished the 2023-24 campaign with a 14-16-2 record. He started the season with four consecutive losses and will look to avoid the same fate in 2024-25. The bookmakers have Seattle as a slight favorite for Tuesday's contest, so Grubauer appears to be in a good position to make a winning start. He boasts a 4-4-2 career record against the Blues.
--Taavi Pailk - RotoBallerSource: Emerald City Hockey
4 weeks agoBuffalo Sabres right wing Nicolas Aube-Kubel (lower body) has been ruled out for 3-6 weeks. The 28-year-old was injured last week as the Sabres kicked off their 2024-25 NHL campaign with a pair of games against the New Jersey Devils in Europe. Buffalo placed Aube-Kubel on Injured Reserve on Monday. Peyton Krebs replaced him in the lineup at the weekend but skated on the top line in Tuesday's practice. The Sabres also have wingers JJ Peterka (concussion) and Zach Benson (lower body) battling injuries. If at least one of them will be ready to play against Los Angeles on Thursday, Krebs will likely drop back down to the fourth line, where he will have zero fantasy value.
--Taavi Pailk - RotoBallerSource: Jason Moser
4 weeks agoTampa Bay Lightning left wing Jake Guentzel (undisclosed) is expected to return to practice on Thursday. He skipped Tuesday's practice session after leaving Monday's practice early due to an unspecified ailment. However, Lightning head coach Jon Cooper said that Guentzel was "alright" and would return to practice on Thursday. Cooper also believes he will have the speedy winger available for Friday's season opener against the Carolina Hurricanes. Guentzel is set to star on the first line next to Brayden Point and Nikita Kucherov this season.
--Taavi Pailk - RotoBallerSource: Gabby Shirley
4 weeks agoFlorida Panthers forward Tomas Nosek (upper body) is still considered week-to-week ahead of Tuesday's regular-season opener against Boston. He landed on Injured Reserve on Monday. Nosek has been out since getting hurt in a preseason contest on Sept. 23. The Czech veteran figures to skate as the fourth-line center once he's healthy again. Jesper Boqvist is set to fill the role against his former team on Tuesday. Jonah Gadjovich and A.J. Greer will join him on the line.
--Taavi Pailk - RotoBallerSource: Jameson Olive
4 weeks agoFlorida Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky will start on Tuesday against the Boston Bruins. Bobrovsky played a big role in Florida's second-round victory over the Bruins in the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs, allowing two or fewer goals in five of six games, and he can now frustrate them again on Tuesday night in Florida's season opener. However, the Russian netminder has seen very little success in the matchup during the regular season, going 4-11-4. He lost all four regular-season clashes with the Bruins last term, posting a 3.24 goals-against average with a .871 save percentage.
--Taavi Pailk - RotoBallerSource: George Richards
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