Liljegren was a healthy scratch in the Maple Leafs season opener and will open the year with the Marlies. The 20-year-old Swedish defenseman had 15 points (3G / 12A) in 43 AHL games last year.
After clearing waivers, Petan was sent to the Marlies but was quickly recalled following the Maple Leafs season opener. Petan had one goal in five games with Toronto last season.
Murray started a career-high 50 games last year, going 29-14-6 with a 2.69 GAA and .919 SV%. It was a nice bounce-back season for Murray, who will try to stay healthy in 2019-20. He has the abilities to be a workhorse for the Penguins but durability has been an issue over the last three seasons. A home matchup with the Sabres makes Murray one of the night’s top options.
Vasilevskiy will begin his Vezina Trophy defence with an opening start vs. the Panthers. Vasilevskiy is the favourite to lead the NHL in wins this season, after doing so each of the last two seasons. In those two years, Vasilevskiy posted a 2.52 GAA and .922 SV%. He stopped 42 of 43 shots in a 2-1 shootout win in the opener vs. Florida last season.
It originally looked like Dzingel would miss the first few games of the season with a lower-body injury that he suffered in the preseason. However, Dzingel was back at practice on Wednesday and is skating on the third line prior to Thursday’s season opener. He had 26 goals and 30 assists (56 points) last year and will skate with Erik Haula and Jordan Martinook in his Hurricanes debut.
Farabee, who was a first-round pick (No.14 overall) in 2018 nearly made the Flyers opening night roster but the last second return of Tyler Pitlick has pushed him to the AHL to begin the year. The 19-year-old had 17 goals and 19 assists (36 points) in 37 games at Boston University last season.
Pitlick was questionable for the opener due to a wrist injury that he suffered in the preseason. With Pitlick being cleared, Joel Farabee has been sent back to the AHL.
Mrazek split starts with Curtis McElhinney last year, going 23-14-3 with a 2.39 GAA and .914 SV% in 40 games. This year he should see a larger share of the games with James Reimer as his backup, but certainly won’t be among the league leaders. With a dominant 5v5 team in front of him, Mrazek will be a solid option on most nights. He was 12-5-1 with a 2.33 GAA, .914 SV% and two shutouts on home-ice last year.
Murphy has landed on IR to begin the 2019-20 season but is not expected to be sidelined long-term. Slater Koekkoek will open the year as the Blackhawks No.6 defensemen while Murphy is out.
Larkin left Tuesday’s practice early but head coach Jeff Blashill said that the injury is not significant and he could play in Saturday’s opener. This is obviously huge news for the Red Wings, but monitor their No.1 centres status over the next few days.
The Flyers and Blackhawks will meet in the Czech Republic on Friday and the 21-year-old netminder will start opening night. Hart was thrust into the NHL last year and played very well, going 16-13-1 with a 2.83 GAA and .917 SV%. He’ll be a solid No.2 fantasy option this season, but draws a tough assignment vs. a Chicago team that was eighth in the NHL in scoring last year.
Schmidt had to be aided off the ice following a knee-on-knee collision midway through the first period. Schmidt did not return and head coach Gerard Gallant did not have a postgame update. Expect the Golden Knights to release some more information on Thursday.
DeBrincat was set to become a restricted free agent at the end of the 2019-20 season but gets his bridge deal before playing a game. DeBrincat scored 41 goals with 35 assists while shooting 18.6 percent with an 11.4 on-ice SH%.
Karlsson was a late scratch from the Sharks season opener in Vegas. Karlsson had to attend to a personal affair and will be replaced by Tim Heed on the blueline and Kevin Labanc on the first power-play unit.
Kuemper set career-bests in starts (55), wins (27), GAA (2.33) and SV% (.925) while filling in for an injured Antti Raanta in 2018-19. With Raanta slightly banged up to start 2019-20, Kuemper will start the opener in Anaheim. Kuemper was 1-1-0 with a 2.05 GAA and .941 SV% in two starts vs. the Ducks last year.
With Sergei Bobrovsky bolting for Florida in free agency, Joonas Korpisalo and Elvis Merzlikins as Columbus’ goaltending tandem. In 38 starts (45 games) over the last two seasons, Korpisalo has gone 18-15-4 with an ugly 3.11 GAA and .897 SV%. It could be a tough season for Korpisalo and the Blue Jackets and an opening night matchup with Toronto should force him to your fantasy benches.
Over the last four seasons, Jones has averaged 63 starts and 35 wins while posting a 2.53 GAA and .910 SV%. Jones had a terrible year (.896 SV%) in 2019 but still tied for third in wins (36) thanks to a high-powered Sharks offence in front of him. Jones was 14-11-1 with a 3.14 GAA and .894 SV% on the road last year, so he’s a risky option on opening night.
Rittich went 27-9-5 with a 2.61 GAA and .911 SV% in 2018-19. He had a chance to run with the starting job and faltered and it resulted in Mike Smith starting in the postseason. With Smith now in Edmonton, Rittich will get another chance, this time with Cam Talbot as his backup. He will start the season vs. an Avalanche team that he was 2-0-0 with a 2.49 GAA and .918 SV% against last year.
Eakin was left off of IR on Tuesday but still won’t be available for Wednesday’s season opener vs. the Sharks. The early-season injury has opened the door for Cody Glass to centre the Golden Knights second line between Max Pacioretty and Mark Stone. Eakin remains day-to-day.
Backlund was on the ice for Wednesday’s practice but remains a question mark heading into the first game of the year. Monitor his status during tomorrow’s morning skate and expect Sam Bennett to replace him on the second line if he doesn’t play.
