NHL Player News

Carrick dished out two assists, had four shots on net and provided three hits in Saturday's 6-1 win against Pittsburgh.

Carrick had a strong performance Saturday that he kicked off with a shorthanded assist on Mika Zibanejad's opening goal. Carrick then provided a secondary helper on Matt Rempe's goal later in the contest. The 33-year-old Carrick has three assists in as many contests after posting a career-high 20 points for the Rangers in 2024-25. He will likely slow down at some point, but if Carrick can maintain a fraction of this pace, his potential for 100-plus hits should give him some play in banger leagues.

Cooley scored a goal in Saturday's 3-2 overtime win over the Predators.

Cooley broke the deadlock for the Mammoth at the 2:21 mark of the first period with his first goal of the campaign. The 21-year-old should be one of Utah's most reliable fantasy performers and is firmly established as one of the best young players in the league after a 2024-25 campaign in which he recorded 25 goals and 65 points in 75 regular-season games.

McBain recorded a goal in Saturday's 3-2 overtime win over the Predators.

McBain scored his first goal of the season midway through the third period, and his wrister at the 11:37 mark of the final frame evened the score. This was McBain's first goal of the season. Through two contests, the first-line center has one point, seven shots, four hits and three blocked shots. He's coming off a 2024-25 season in which he racked up a career-high 27 points while appearing in each of Utah's 82 regular-season contests.

Rempe scored a goal and added two hits in Saturday's 6-1 win over Pittsburgh.

Rempe got credit after for his first goal of the season in the early stages of the third period as the last player to touch a puck that went in on a net-front scramble. The 23-year-old enforcer is relied upon heavily for his skills without the puck, but his goal Saturday shows signs of improvement in the offseason. Rempe currently occupies a fourth-line role on the right wing and will likely struggle to provide fantasy value outside of banger leagues.

Zacha scored a goal in Saturday's 3-1 win over the Sabres.

Zacha scored the opening goal for Boston at the 15:48 mark of the first period with a snap shot for his first tally of the campaign. The 28-year-old playmaker had a down year in 2024-25 and failed to crack the 50-point barrier, something he achieved in the previous two years, but he should continue to find ways to produce as long as he maintains his top-six role going forward.

Kastelic scored a goal and added an assist in Saturday's 3-1 win over the Sabres.

Kastelic doubled the Bruins' lead with a slap shot midway through the second period, giving the Bruins a 2-0 lead, and he later assisted on Sean Kuraly's empty-netter in the final seconds of the contest. These were the first two points of the season for Kastelic. Considering his bottom-six role and the fact he had a career-high 14 points in 61 games in 2024-25, he shouldn't be much of a fantasy contributor again in 2025-26 outside of category-based formats that value physical stats, such as hits and blocked shots. He had 218 hits in 2024-25 and is up to five in three games in 2025-26.

Zibanejad tallied a shorthanded goal, put four shots on target and dished out two hits in Saturday's 6-1 win against Pittsburgh.

Zibanejad's first twine finder of the season came with an exclamation point as he was able to score on a penalty kill. The ever-consistent Zibanejad has tallied 20-plus goals in each of the past eight seasons and should be in a good spot to produce once again in New York's top six. He's currently centering the top line between Artemi Panarin and Alexis Lafreniere, but Zibanejad started the season on the wing before Vincent Trocheck (upper body) got hurt. Regardless of position, Zibanejad has fantasy appeal in all formats as he begins his push to reach the 60-point threshold for the seventh time in the last eight seasons.

Kindel scored his first career goal, blocked two shots and served two PIM in Saturday's 6-1 loss to the Rangers.

Kindel was the lone bright spot in a Pittsburgh offense that fell flat Saturday. The 11th overall pick in the 2025 NHL Draft came through with a goal just over three minutes into the second period. He scored just the second goal that has made it past Igor Shesterkin in net this year, proving Kindel's ability to compete with the world's best. Pittsburgh will have to decide whether to keep Kindel at the NHL level or send him to WHL Calgary for the remainder of the year before the first year of his entry-level deal kicks in. If he stays with the Penguins this season, Kindel is a high-upside stash in all formats that should receive a decent chunk of playing time in the third-line center role behind NHL legends Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin.

Palmieri had two assists, blocked two shots, served two PIM and dished out two hits in Saturday's 4-2 loss to the Capitals.

Palmieri stuffed the stat sheet for the second straight game to open the 2025-26 season. Like teammate Bo Horvat, Palmieri posted both of his assists on the power play, which was an area which Palmieri struggled in a year ago. If he can improve his nine-point production with the man advantage from last season, Palmieri could carve out some fantasy value considering he skates on the Islanders' top line at even strength.

Horvat dished out two assists and had five shots on goal in Saturday's 4-2 loss to Washington.

Horvat picked up his first two points of the season via helpers on two power-play goals. The 30-year-old center is locked into a top-six role for the Islanders and has been steady offensively, scoring 52-plus points in each of the last four seasons. His two power-play points are encouraging considering he had just seven power-play tallies a year ago. Horvat is averaging 4:14 TOI in power-play scenarios through two games this year and can elevate his fantasy value to the next level if he can integrate that aspect back into his game. Horvat should be rostered in all formats with the potential to be a 60-plus point player for the third time in four years with the Islanders.