NHL Player News

Ristolainen (triceps) will make his 2025-26 debut Tuesday in Montreal, per Charlie O'Connor of PHLY Sports.

Ristolainen will likely be eased into action following a long layoff after undergoing surgery in March for a second triceps tendon rupture. The right-shot defenseman will likely skate on the No. 3 pairing next to Nick Seeler on Tuesday, with Noah Juulsen coming out of the lineup due to Ristolainen's return. The 31-year-old accounted for four goals, 19 points, 100 shots on net, 97 hits, 94 blocked shots and a plus-3 rating over 63 appearances in 2024-25.

Levshunov will not be in action versus Toronto on Tuesday after showing up late to practice Monday, Chris Johnston of The Athletic reports.

Levshunov's absence will see Ethan Del Mastro link up with Connor Murphy on the Hawks' third pairing while Wyatt Kaiser steps into a power-play role. In his last nine appearances, the 20-year-old Levshunov failed to find the back of the net while chipping in two assists, 12 shots and 10 blocks.

Jiricek (lower body) will be in the lineup for Tuesday's home matchup versus the Capitals, Jessi Pierce of NHL.com reports.

Jiricek exited Sunday's contest against the Bruins as a result of a lower-body injury, but he won't miss any additional action. The right-shot blueliner should skate on the third pairing alongside Matt Kiersted on Tuesday. The 22-year-old Jiricek has not recorded a point through 14 appearances this year.

Bogosian is dealing with a lower-body injury and will be out of action versus Washington on Tuesday, Michael Russo of The Athletic reports.

Bogosian finds himself back on the shelf after having missed a month of the season earlier in the year with a lower-body problem. With injuries piling up on the blue line, Matt Kiersted looks set to be on the third pairing with David Jiricek (lower body).

Brodin (lower body) is still day-to-day, Michael Russo of The Athletic reports Tuesday.

Brodin will miss his third straight game against Washington on Tuesday. It's unclear if he will be ready to return for Thursday's road matchup against Columbus. Brodin has contributed three goals, nine points, 28 shots on net and 66 blocked shots across 30 appearances this season.

Pionk netted a goal, placed two shots on target, recorded two blocks and dished out three hits in Monday's 3-2 overtime loss to Ottawa.

Pionk tallied a goal in the second period to level the score at one apiece. The goal was his first since his return to the lineup from a lower-body injury. With Monday's twine finder, the 30-year-old blueliner is up to two goals, six points, 58 shots on net, 59 hits and 46 blocks through 28 games this season. While he's experiencing a down year offensively, Pionk has maintained value in fantasy through covering major stat categories. Even on nights when he doesn't find the scoresheet, he can manage to scrape together solid performances through his work on the other side of the blue line.

Balinskis notched two assists in Monday's 5-2 win over the Lightning.

It's the second multi-point performance of the season for Balinskis, with the other coming Nov. 24 against the Predators. The 29-year-old KHL veteran is in his third NHL season and continues to supply solid minutes from the Panthers' third pairing, delivering a goal and seven points in 23 games with 34 hits, 19 shots on net, 13 blocked shots and a plus-3 rating. Gustav Forsling (undisclosed) was injured blocking a shot Monday, and if he's forced to miss any time, Balinskis could see his role expand in the short term.

Ekblad produced two assists, one shorthanded, in Monday's 5-2 win over the Lightning.

The 29-year-old helped set up tallies by Sam Reinhart early in the first period and Brad Marchand midway through the second, with the latter proving to be the game-winner. It was Ekblad's first multi-point performance since Oct. 11, and with Seth Jones dominating power-play minutes among Florida defensemen, offense has been tough to come by for the rest of the team's blue-line crew. Through 31 games this season, Ekblad has just one goal and 10 points with 55 blocked shots, 46 shots on net, 34 hits, 20 PIM and a minus-7 rating.

Stanley scored a goal and put four shots on net in Monday's 3-2 overtime loss to the Senators.

Stanley put the Jets in the lead Monday with his goal near the end of the second period. The 27-year-old defenseman is having a career year offensively with six goals, which is five more than his previous career high. He has scored half of his goals this year over his last four games and totaled a season high of four shots in Monday's OT win. His change in confidence to start firing the puck is evident, giving him the potential for a double-digit goal total by the end of the campaign. While his goal-scoring pace will likely cool down at some point, he is a solid streaming option in most standard formats and could hold his own in deep leagues for the rest of the season with 12 points, 35 shots on goal, 54 hits and 40 blocks through 32 games.

Nemec (lower body) was put on injured reserve Tuesday.

Nemec has missed back-to-back games as a result of his lower-body injury, and he'll now miss at least one more. Dougie Hamilton will continue to see the biggest uptick in ice time due to Nemec's absence, as the former has received more work than his usual allotment on the right side of New Jersey's blue line in the last two contests. With Nemec's placement on injured reserve freeing up a roster spot, the Devils recalled Nathan Legare from AHL Utica on Tuesday.