NHL Hockey Player News

There is no word on when Tkachuk suffered the injury, but it looks like his NHL debut will be put on hold fo now. This summer’s fourth overall pick had 31 points (8G / 23A) in 40 games at Boston University and is expected to skate on the second line with Mark Stone and Zack Smith when he is healthy.

Ward spent the first 13 seasons of his NHL career in Carolina, where he had a 2.70 GAA and .909 SV% across 668 games. This summer he signed with the Blackhawks, where he projects to be Corey Crawford’s backup when Crawford gets healthy. He will be a very risky option over the course of the season, but if you can’t trust him vs. the Senators, you’ll never be able to trust him.

Mrazek enjoyed a breakout season during the 2016 season, but has tied for the league’s worst qualified SV% (.901) in 89 games since. With Scott Darling out to start the regular season, Mrazek will get a shot as the Hurricanes’ No.1 right away. He will be playing behind one of the best possession teams in hockey, so he should see less shots than he became accustom to in Detroit.

Holtby struggled during the 2017-18 regular season, posting a 2.99 GAA and .907 SV% in 54 starts. He ended up sitting to start the postseason, but took over in Game 3 of Round 1 and never looked back. The 29-year-old went 16-7 with a 2.16 GAA, .922 SV% and two shutouts in 22 starts to lead the Capitals to the Stanley Cup. He will look to get 2018-19 started on the right foot against a Bruins team that he was 3-0 against last year.

Halak replaced Tuukka Rask in the Bruins 7-0 loss to the Capitals on Wednesday. Halak entered the game when it was 5-0 and ended up stopping 16 of 18 shots (.889 SV%) in his Bruins debut. Halak was originally scheduled to start on Thursday, but Bruce Cassidy wouldn’t say who would start after Wednesday’s game, since both goalies played vs. Washington.

Rask started 60-plus games from 2015-to-2017 but was limited to just 53 starts in 2018. Despite a few less starts for the ageing netminder, Rask won 34 games with a 2.36 GAA, .917 SV% and three shutouts. Playing behind one of the strongest teams in the NHL, Rask should be in-line for a lot of wins in 2019, but draws a tough matchup out of the gate. Rask was 13-8-2 with a 2.51 GAA, .915 SV% and three shutouts on the road last year.

Elie was a second-round pick of the Stars (No.40 overall) in 2013, but has picked up just 21 points (7G / 14A) in 90 career NHL games. Elie hasn’t had a lot of offensive success at the AHL-level either, so he could have a tough time cracking a suddenly deep Sabres lineup.

Jaskin played in a career-high 76 games last season, but scored just six goals and 11 assists (17 points) while averaging just 12:27 TOI/GM. Jaskin does carry an impressive 52.7 CorsiFor% and +2.5 relative Corsi in 266 career games, but has never been the offensive force that he was when he put up 99 points (46G / 53A) in 51 QMJHL games in 2013. Jaskin will fight with Chandler Stephenson and Nathan Walker for playing time in the Capitals’ bottom-6.

Pickard found himself fourth on the goaltending depth chart in Toronto and needed to go through waivers to head back to the Marlies (AHL). With Michal Neuvirth battling injury to start the season, Pickard will likely start the year as Brian Elliott’s backup.

McElhinney lost the backup job in Toronto to Garret Sparks, so he was placed on waivers and picked up by the Hurricanes. McElhinney figures to serve as Petr Mrazek’s backup while Scott Darling (lower-body) is out, but will likely find himself back on waivers after that.

De La Rose will not make the trip to Toronto on Tuesday because he was not medically cleared to travel and will remain in Montreal for ongoing evaluation. De La Rose likely wasn’t going to crack the opening night lineup anyways.

Darling suffered a lower-body injury in the Hurricanes’ preseason finale and will miss at least a couple of weeks. Hurricanes head coach Rod Brind’Amour said that his MRI revealed “nothing major” but it will still cost him some time to start the season. With Darling out, the Hurricanes will turn to Petr Mrazek as their No.1 for the foreseeable future.

McCoshen spent most of last season as a reserve defenseman for the Panthers, appeared in 38 games and picking up four points (3G / 1A) along the way. He goes back to the AHL where he has four goals and 13 assist (17 points) in his last 70 games.

Hunt was an NHL hopeful but he will start the year in the AHL, where he accumulated 46 points (23G / 23A) in 58 games a season ago.

Borgstrom seemed like a lock to make the Panthers’ opening night lineup as a third line centre or winger, but he will start the year in the AHL. The 6-foot-3, former first-round pick (No. 23 overall) turned pro at the end of last season after compiling 23 goals and 29 assists (52 points) in 40 games at the University of Denver.

Svechnikov was banged in the Red Wings’ preseason game on Saturday and it looks like it will cost him a spot in the opening night roster. The power-forward was on the bubble, but will likely make his season debut in Grand Rapids (AHL) as soon as he is healthy.