After playing 55 of the Oilers 71 games a season ago, Russell will sit out the season opener as a health scratch. This offseason the Oilers brought in Slater Koekkoek and he will skate with Tyson Barrie on Wednesday.
In his first year with the Islanders, Varlamov went 19-14-6 with a 2.62 GAA, .914 SV% and two shutouts in 45 appearances (39 starts). In year-2, Varlamov will be pressured by rookie netminder Ilya Sorokin but he is still expected to start the majority of games as long as he's healthy and playing well. He was 0-2-1 with an ugly 4.64 GAA and .857 SV% in three games vs. the Rangers last year.
Koskinen was 18-13-3 with a 2.75 GAA and .917 SV% in 34 starts and four relief appearances in 2020. It was a much better year than he had in his first season with the Oilers but still left the Oilers searching for goaltending help on the free agent market. When they struck out there, they brought Mike Smith back, leaving Koskinen as the de facto No.1 netminder. There's going to be plenty of high-scoring games in the North Division this season and Wednesday's Canucks vs. Oilers game looks like one of them.
Koivu was banged up midway through training camp and will miss at least the first two games of the season in Nashville. With Koivu out, Mikhail Grigorenko has been bumped up to the first line in order to allow Alexandre Texier to centre the third line. John Tortorella did not have much of an update on Koivu other than to say he won't travel, no timetable on his return was given.
Subban spent most of 2020 in Vegas before being shipped to Chicago as a part of the Robin Lehner deal in late-February. Subban played just one minute with the Blackhawks before the season was cut short but now he is their opening day starter. Before the trade, he was 9-7-3 with a 3.18 GAA and. 890 SV% in 20 games and has a career .899 SV% in 66 appearances. Subban has yet to showcase the talent-level of a full-time NHL starter and it will be difficult for him to get 2021 started on the right foot, as he gets set to take on the defending Stanley Cup Champions.
Vasilevskiy is Fantasy's unquestioned No.1 goalie due to his workload and the quality the team in front of him. He has led the NHL in wins each of the last three seasons while ranking eighth in GAA (2.53) and fifth in SV% (.921). On opening night he draws a tremendous matchup vs. a Blackhawks team that is without both Jonathan Toews and Kirby Dach.
After bouncing between Edmonton, Philadelphia and Calgary over the last two seasons, Talbot landed in Minnesota on a three-year deal this offseason. Talbot was rock steady in 26 games for the Flames a season ago, posting a .919 SV% and was even better in the playoffs with a .924. He's a vastly under appreciated netminder and should have a solid season behind a Wild team that is one of the stiffest defensive teams in the NHL.
Anderson was in Capitals training camp on a PTO and signed a one-year deal on Wednesday. Anderson is not expected to start the season as the backup, so the Capitals have placed him on waivers in order to get him to the taxi squad or AHL.
Shesterkin started the 2020 season in the AHL before making his highly anticipated NHL debut on January 7th. Just over one year later, Shesterkin has gone 10-3-0 in 13 career starts and will be relied upon as the Rangers No.1 netminder this season. Shesterkin went 6-2-0 with a 2.75 GAA and .925 SV% in eight starts at Madison Square Garden last year.
Shore has bounced around the NHL in recent years, going from Dallas to Anaheim to Columbus since 2019 and now lands in Edmonton. The 26-year-old centre had five goals and seven assists (12 points) in 45 games in 2020 and appears destined to start the 2021 season on the Oilers taxi squad.
Price led the NHL in games played and minutes played (3440) in 2020 but could get more breathers this year with Jake Allen in as his backup. Price, who was 27-25-6 with a 2.79 GAA and .909 SV% in 58 starts, draws a tough assignment in the season opener. The Maple Leafs were third in the NHL in scoring last year but Price was 3-0-0 with a 2.58 GAA and .912 SV% against them.
MacEachern was originally sent to the taxi squad to the Blues could become cap compliant but was able to be recalled Wednesday because Vladimir Tarasenko was moved to LTIR. MacEachern had 10 points (7G / 3A) in 51 games a season ago.
Kyrou was originally sent to the taxi squad to the Blues could become cap compliant but was able to be recalled Wednesday because Vladimir Tarasenko was moved to LTIR. Kyrou had four goals and five assists (nine points) in 28 NHL games a season ago.
Moving Tarasenko to LTIR opens up some cap space for the Blues to recall Jordan Kyrou and Mackenzie MacEachern from the taxi squad. Tarasenko continues to rehab his surgically repaired shoulder and is expected to be re-evaluated at the end of January.
Ryan missed the tail-end of training camp but was back on the ice in a non-contact jersey on Wednesday. With Ryan likely out to begin the season, the Red Wings' second line will feature Vladislav Namestnikov, Robby Fabbri and Filip Zadina.
Andersen has been a workhorse during his four years in Toronto, leading the NHL with 244 starts over that span. Had the 2020 season not been cut short, he would have won 30-plus games for the fourth straight season but posted a career-worst 2.85 GAA and .909 SVS%. He'll look to be sharper in 2021 and that starts with a matchup vs. Montreal. He is 3-0-1 with a .907 SV% in his first four opening night starts with the Maple Leafs.
Bobrovsky had not been on the ice for the first two weeks of training camp but jumped right back between the pipes for Wednesday's practice. The start of the season for Florida has been pushed back to Sunday, so it looks like there's a chance that Bobrovsky could be ready for their season opener.
According to Canucks GM Jim Benning Miller is no "available to us" and that there would be more information released on Wednesday. Speculation is that Miller has either tested positive or was in close contact with a positive COVID-19 test and that will keep him out for at least the first game of the season. With Miller absent from Tuesday's practice, Jake Virtanen was moved to the top line with Elias Pettersson and Brock Boeser.
Grubauer went 18-12-4 with a 2.63 GAA and .916 SV% in 36 starts in 2020. Grubauer comes into 2021 as the No.1 netminder for one of the best teams' in the NHL but Pavel Francouz is one of the more capable backups in the league, so he will need to play well to earn himself a large share of the starts. Grubauer was 2-2-0 with a 3.26 GAA and .882 SV% in four starts vs. the Blues a season ago.
Yandle began to fall out of favour as training camp progressed, ultimately leading to him practicing with the second group for the last few days. Yandle currently has the longest active "Iron Man" streak in the NHL at 866 games, which will come to an end if he sits on Sunday. With Yandle expected to sit, Gustav Forsling and Radko Gudas are expected to skate on the third pair and Aaron Ekblad will QB the top PP unit.
