NHL Hockey Player News

It comes as little surprise but Logan Couture will not be ready for training camp as he deals with a lower-body injury. The 35-year-old only appeared in six games in 2023-24 due to injury with his last game coming on January 31st, 2024. Couture was hoping for a bounce-back season in 2024-25 after he led the Sharks with 27 goals and 67 points in 22-23 but it appears that has been put to a halt early on. There is no timetable for Couture's return as he stated Thursday that he had not skated since his last in-game appearance.

San Jose fans will have to wait a little bit to get their first glimpse of their new goaltending prospect as Yaroslav Askarov has announced he will not be ready for training camp due to a lower-body injury. The 22-year-old was acquired from Nashville during the offseason after he requested a trade out due to his spot on the depth chart. In 44 games with Milwaukee (AHL) in 2023-24, he had an impressive 30-13-1 record, .911 SV% and 2.39 GAA and will be looking to make an impact in San Jose in his first season once healthy.

After an extremely successful rookie season in 2023-24, it appears Pavel Mintyukov's sophomore campaign will start a bit delayed after it was announced the defenseman is day-to-day with a lower-body injury and will not begin training camp on time. The 20-year-old was Anaheim's 2020 1st-round pick (10th overall) and had four goals, 28 points, 24 PIMs and 88 SOG in 63 games in his rookie campaign last season.

Washington opened training camp on Wednesday with the unfortunate update that T.J. Oshie will begin the season on Long-Term Injured Reserve due to a lingering back issue. The 37-year-old right-winger has not played more than 58 games in a single season since 2019-20 and struggled offensively in 2023-24 with just 12 goals, 25 points, and 44 PIMs in 52 games played.

Tampa Bay's opening season forward depth took a hit on Wednesday as it was announced Luke Glendening will be limited at training camp due to an undisclosed injury and hopes he'll be ready to start the season. The 35-year-old center filled in Tampa Bay's bottom six admirably in 2023-24, with 10 goals, 11 points, 39 PIMs and 57 SOG in 81 games played.

After playing 81 of 82 games in 2023-24, it appears Michael Eyssimont will miss some time in 2024-25 after it was announced he would not be ready for training camp due to a lower-body injury and is hoping to be ready by mid-October. The 28-year-old center is entering his third season in Tampa Bay and put up career highs in almost all categories last season with 11 goals, 25 points, 104 PIMs, and 149 SOG in 81 games played.

Minten suffered a high-ankle sprain at Toronto's Prospect Showdown last week and will not be ready for training camp. It is tough news for the 20-year-old center who is now without a timetable to return after originally having a shot to crack Toronto's opening-day roster. Minten appeared in four games with the Maple Leafs in 2023-24 before being returned to junior, but failed to pick up a point during his brief showing.

Toronto announced Wednesday that center Connor Dewar is not expected to be ready for the start of training camp due to a shoulder injury. The extent of Dewar's ailment has yet to be announced but the 25-year-old will hope to be ready when Toronto starts their season on October 9th vs. Montreal. Dewar was acquired by Toronto from Minnesota at last year's trade deadline and finished the season with a career-high 11 goals, 19 points, and 28 PIMs in 74 games played.

Kane will undergo surgery and will miss training camp and the beginning of the 2024-25 season. Oilers' GM Stan Bowman said that Kane is going to be "out for a while." Kane still hasn't undergone surgery, so expect him to miss a significant portion of the season and he should open the fantasy hockey season on the waiver wire.

Just a few minutes into the Sabres' first skate of training camp, Dahlin left with what head coach Lindy Ruff described as a middle-body injury. Dahlin experienced discomfort on a routine pass and did not return after being evaluated by trainers. Ruff did not have an update on Dahlin after the skate.

Robertson underwent surgery on his foot on July 31st and according to Stars' GM Jim Nill, he'll miss the the majority of training camp. It sounds like Robertson is expected to be a participant at some point, so as of today there should be no concern that he will miss the start of the regular season. Expect updates throughout the next couple of weeks.

Vancouver announced Tuesday that 28-year-old Dakota Joshua had been diagnosed with testicular cancer and successfully had a tumour removed but would not be ready for the start of training camp. The fifth-year winger is coming off his best season in 2023-24, with 18 goals, 32 points, 60 PIMs, 84 SOG and a +19 plus/minus through 63 games played.

Islanders' GM Lou Lamoriello said that Sorokin could miss the first couple of days of training camp but there's no concern about his injury extending into the regular season. Sorokin will be looking to bounce-back in 2024-25, after posting career worsts in GAA (3.01) and SV% (.908) in 56 games last season.

Lehkonen underwent shoulder surgery in the offseason and will not be a full participant in Avalanche training camp. At this point, there's no firm timeline for his return to the Avalanche lineup. Lehkonen should be a back of your roster IR stash in Fantasy Drafts this fall.

Bad news came out of New Jersey's camp on Thursday morning as they announced their star 21-year-old defender Luke Hughes suffered a left-shoulder injury during offseason training and is expected to miss the next 6-to-8 weeks as he recovers. The sophomore defenseman is expected to return between October 24th and November 7th and will play a key role in the Devils' back end. In 2023-24, he had nine goals, 47 points, 135 SOG, 28 PIMs and a -25 plus/minus in 82 games played.

Anaheim's goaltending depth was dealt a tough blow on Thursday as it was announced that Tomas Suchanek would miss the next six to eight months after successfully undergoing surgery to repair a ruptured ACL. The 21-year-old Czech netminder was expected to compete for the starting job in San Diego (AHL) this season after posting a 14-10-5 record, 910 SV% and 2.92 GAA in 29 games with the Gulls in 2023-24.

Anaheim was dealt a tough pre-training camp blow on Thursday as Beckett Sennecke announced he would be out for 6-to-8 weeks after suffering a foot fracture during off-season training. The 18-year-old right-wing prospect was Anaheim's 2024 1st-round selection (3rd overall) and was expected to compete for a roster spot in training camp prior to the injury. In 63 games with Oshawa (OHL) in 2023-24, he had 27 goals and 68 points.

Canucks' fans received some excellent news on Tuesday as their star goaltender Thatcher Demko returned to the ice and is skating and working out with indications of being healthy for training camp. Demko was originally expected to miss the beginning of training camp as his offseason recovery was taking longer than expected but that news has been flipped with his return Tuesday. The 28-year-old was key in Vancouver's success last season, with his 35-14-2 record, 2.45 GAA, .918 SV% and 5 shutouts.

Krug will undergo surgery to address pre-arthritic changes in his left ankle, which will force him to miss the 2024-25 season. According to the Blues, "the decision to undergo surgery was reached following an effort to rehabilitate the injury through non-surgical interventions." In an effort to replace Krug in 2024-25, the Blues signed Philip Broberg and Ryan Suter in the offseason.

Carolina was hit with some unfortunate off-season news after forward Jesper Fast was announced out for the entire 2024-25 season after undergoing neck surgery last week. The 32-year-old right-winger was entering his fifth season in Carolina and had six goals and 19 points in 73 games played while occupying Carolina's bottom six in 2023-24.