NHL Hockey Player News

Johansson stopped 28 of 31 shots in the Lightning's win over the Predators on opening night. It was a nice start to the season for the much-maligned netminder, who will be leaned on heavily while Andrei Vasilevskiy is out. Tonight, he'll face a Red Wings team that lost 4-3 in New Jersey in their season opener.

Nedeljkovic fell into a backup role with the Red Wings last season and went 5-7-2 with a 3.53 GAA and .895 SV% in 15 games (13 starts). This summer he signed with Penguins, where he'll serve as Tristan Jarry's backup. He had a strong pre-season but is far from the goalie we saw in 2021 when he posted a 1.90 GAA and .932 SV%. Nedeljkovic has a sub-par matchup vs. the Flames and should probably be left on the waiver wire until he has a better matchup.

Cogliano missed the Avalanche season opener with a neck injury but is expected to replace Kurtis MacDermid on the fourth line on Saturday. The veteran winger is a solid depth piece and penalty killer but carries no fantasy value. He had 19 points (10G / 9A) in 79 games last year.

Hellebuyck allowed four goals on 21 shots in the Jets' loss in Winnipeg on opening night. It was a tough start to the season for the workhorse netminder, but he should be relied upon whenever he gets the nod. This afternoon he'll face a Panthers team that was shutout in their first game and come in without Aaron Ekblad, Brandon Montour and Sam Bennett.

Gibson went 14-31-8 with a 3.99 GAA and .899 SV% in 53 games (52 starts) last year. It was the third time in four years that Gibson led the NHL in losses but the first time he allowed over 200 goals in a season. The Ducks should be a little better in front of him this season, but he remains a low-end fantasy option on most nights. Tonight he faces the Golden Knights, who he was 1-2-0 with a 4.75 GAA and .880 SV% against last year.

Andersen allowed three goals on 30 shots in the Hurricanes' win over the Senators on Wednesday. It was a strong start to the season for Andersen, who figures to have a good chance at picking up a 'W' whenever he gets the nod. Tonight he'll start in Los Angeles--he struggled against the Pacific Division last year, going 3-4-0 with a 3.03 GAA and .861 SV%.

Korczak was the No.41 overall pick in 2019 and has appeared in just 11 career NHL games since being drafted. He spent most of last season in Henderson (AHL), where he tallied 14 points (4G / 10A) in 50 games. Korczak will replace Alex Pietrangelo, who is day-to-day with an upper-body injury.

Pietrangelo was high high by a pick late in Thursday's win in San Jose. Pietrangelo will be held out of the lineup in Anaheim but is considered day-to-day and isn't expected to be sidelined long-term. Pietrbngelo's absence is always detrimental, but it hurts even more when the Golden Knights are already without Alec Martinez and Zach Whitecloud on the blueline. Kaedan Korczak will draw into the lineup for Pietrangelo.

Jiricek probably would have made the team out of training camp if he wasn't waiver exempt but because he was it was an easy decision to send him back to the AHL. With Zach Werenski out for at least one week, Jiricek was recalled and Eric Robinson was waived to make room for him. The 2022 No.6 overall pick had 38 points (6G / 32A) in 55 AHL games last season.

Peeke was a held off the scoresheet and was a minus-1 in 17:10 TOI in the Blue Jackets' loss to the Flyers on Thursday. Peeke will come out of the lineup to make room for top prospect David Jiricek to make his season debut.

Binnington allowed one goal on 34 shots in the Blues' overtime loss in Dallas on Thursday. It was an outstanding start to the season for Binnington, who had the worst season of his career in 2022-23. Tonight he'll face the Kraken, who he was 1-1-0 with a 3.49 GAA and .883 SV% against last season.

Anderson-Dolan was a healthy scratch in the season opener but will play Saturday vs. the Hurricanes. The 24-year-old forward was in-and-out of the Kings' lineup last season, totalling just 12 points (7G / 5A) in 46 games.

Spence was a healthy scratch in the Kings' season opener, but he will suit up for Saturday's game vs. the Hurricanes. It's unclear exactly who Jordan Spence will replace in the lineup, but expect it to be Andreas Englund. Spence spent most of last year in the AHL, where he had four goals and 41 assists (45 points) in 56 games with the Ontario Reign.

Thrun had one assist and one shot in 19:29 TOI in the Sharks season-opening loss to the Golden Knights. However, he will come out of the lineup on Saturday to make room for Nikolai Knyzhov to make his season debut.

Knyzhov was a healthy scratch for the Sharks' season-opening loss to the Golden Knights but he will replace Henry Thrun in the lineup vs. Colorado. Knyzhov had one goal and no assists in 12 games with the Sharks last season.

The Oilers had to play a man short in their first game, so they waived Niemelainen to make room for Adam Erne to suit up as their 12th forward. Niemelainen spent most of the 2022-23 in the AHL, where he had seven points (2G / 5A) in 30 games with Bakersfield (AHL).

Desharnais had five PIMS and one shot on goal in the Oilers season opening loss in Vancouver. Desharnais will be scratched Saturday to make room for Mattias Ekholm (hip) to make his season debut.

Erne signed with the Oilers at the end of training camp and will make his debut on Saturday. Erne spent the last four seasons in Detroit and had 18 points (8G / 10A) in 61 games in 2022-23. He'll skat eon the fourth line with Derek Ryan and Mattias Janmark.