NHL Hockey Player News

With Connor Hellebuyck starting on Thursday, Brossoit will make his season debut on the tail-end of the back-to-back. Brossoit played extremely well during his first season with the Jets, going 13-6-2 with a 2.52 GAA and .925 SV% in 21 games. He’ll be a solid spot-start option throughout the 2019-20 season, but his first matchup is difficult. The Devils revamped their offence this offseason and present a tough challenge for a weak Jets bluelline.

Crawford has had concussion issues over the last two years, being limited to 27 and 39 starts. During that time, Crawford was tied for 11th in SV% (.917) and 14th in GAA (2.66). This summer they brought in Robin Lehner to share the crease with Crawford, but the Blackhawks veteran will start the season opener in Prague. He was 0-2-0 with a 2.58 GAA and .902 SV% vs. the Flyers last year.

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.

In 2018-19, Rinne won at least 30 games for the fifth straight season while posting a 2.42 GAA and .918 SV%. The Predators continue to scale back Rinne’s usage, but he should probably start at least 50 games for the ninth time in his career. Rinne was 2-0-0 with a 2.88 GAA and .906 SV% vs. the Wild last season.

Larsson took a Quinn Hughes slapshot off his right leg on Wednesday and landed on LTIR this afternoon. The original timetable puts Larsson out until at least mid-November. Evan Bouchard or Joel Persson are expected to replace Larsson on Saturday.

Steel missed the second half of training camp with a lower-body injury but was on the ice for Wednesday’s practice and head coach Dallas Eakins said Steel is “ready to rip.” Steel is expected to centre the second line with Rickard Rakell and Jakob Silfverberg on his wings, which is a great opportunity for him to build off of the 11 points (6G / 5A) he had in 22 games last season.

Kase is on the non-roster injured list but could be activated ahead of Thursday’s season opener, with a corresponding move. The Ducks did not hold a morning skate so there is no indication on who will be in the lineup vs. Arizona.

Persson missed the Oilers season opener with a shoulder injury but head coach Dave Tippett did not rule him out for Saturday’s game against the Kings. His return would be great news because the Oilers just lost Adam Larsson to a broken foot.

Backlund has been dealing with a lower-body injury since the late stages of the preseason but is ready to go in Colorado. Backlund, who will centre the second line with familiar linemates (Tkachuk and Frolik) had 21 goals and 26 assists (47 points) last season.

With Semyon Varlamov signing with the Islanders, Grubauer is left as Colorado’s No.1 netminder to begin 2019-20. It is the first time in his career that Grubauer has been leaned on as a No.1 goalie, which will allow him to blow by his previous career-highs in starts (33) and wins (18). It’s a huge opportunity for the 27-year-old, who was 4-1-0 with a 1.90 GAA and .939 SV% vs. the Flames in the postseason last year.

Gibson started 57 games, going 26-22-8 with a 2.84 GAA and .917 SV%, the worst numbers since his rookie campaign. The Ducks did not do much to improve in front of Gibson this offseason, so it’s difficult to envision him returning to 30-plus wins. Tonight he faces a Coyotes team that went 1-0-2 with a 2.27 GAA, .936 SV% and one shutout against last season.

Hellebuyck had a breakout campaign in 2018, winning 44 games while posting a .924 SV%. In his fourth season, Hellebuyck’s numbers dropped off (.913 SV%) but he still managed to win 34 games. This summer the Jets were gutted on the back-end and it hurt Hellebuyck’s chances for a bounce-back. He starts the season vs. a Rangers team that he was 2-0 against last year—however, they added some game-breaking talent in the offseason.

In 2018-19, Price was able to return to the 60-start, 30-win club for the fourth time in his career. As soon as it looked like Price’s career was on the downswing, he finished t-11th in SV% (.918). He will make his first start of 2019-20 vs. the Hurricanes, who he was 1-1-1 with a 2.67 GAA and .914 SV% against last season.

It shouldn’t come as a big surprise that the Panthers prized offseason acquisition will start on opening night. Bobrovsky has started 60-plus games for three straight seasons and has led the NHL in wins (115), tied for second in SV% (.922) and tied for third in GAA (2.35) over that span. You didn’t draft Bobrovsky to bench him, but he draws a brutal matchup to open the season.