NHL Player News

Back (upper body) will not be available Thursday in Tampa Bay, Mike Heika of the Stars' official site reports.

Back will miss his second straight game after missing the first eight contests of the season with an undisclosed injury. He potted a goal in his season debut Sunday in Nashville. Back should be considered day-to-day for now, and he could return as early as Saturday in Florida.

Crozier (undisclosed) has been ruled out of Thursday's contest against Dallas, per Benjamin Pierce of the Lightning's official site.

Head coach Jon Cooper said that Crozier will play at some point during the Lightning's upcoming three-game road trip that begins Sunday in Utah and ends Thursday in Vegas. Crozier has three assists in four NHL games this season.

Crozier (undisclosed) donned a regular jersey for practice Thursday, Lightning reporter Gabby Shirley reports.

Crozier has missed the last six games after picking up three assists in Tampa Bay's first four contests. The defenseman could return to the lineup versus Dallas on Thursday.

Ufko scored a goal and added two assists in AHL Milwaukee's 4-1 win over Chicago on Wednesday.

Ufko has two three-point efforts within the last week. The defenseman is up to three goals and nine points in five AHL outings this season. While a call-up to the Predators is not imminent, he could be in contention for one should Roman Josi (upper body) or Adam Wilsby (lower body) land on injured reserve any time soon.

Fabbro scored a goal on two shots and blocked two shots in Wednesday's 6-3 win over the Maple Leafs.

Fabbro stretched the Blue Jackets' lead to 5-1 late in the second period. The defenseman has a point in each of the last three games (one goal, two assists), which accounts for all of his offense this season. He's added 10 shots on net, 20 blocked shots and an even plus-minus rating through 10 appearances. Fabbro is currently on the third pairing, and as such, he has little upside for fantasy unless his recent run of offense gets him back into the top four.

Provorov scored a goal on three shots and went plus-2 in Wednesday's 6-3 win over the Maple Leafs.

Provorov snapped a five-game point drought with his second-period tally. The 28-year-old defenseman has occupied a second-pairing role early in 2025-26, earning four points, 22 shots on net, 14 blocked shots, eight hits and a plus-7 rating over 10 outings. He'll continue to offer decent all-around production as he pushes toward reaching the 30-point mark for the seventh time in his career.

Werenski scored a goal on two shots, added an assist, blocked two shots and went plus-2 in Wednesday's 6-3 win over the Maple Leafs.

Werenski has logged back-to-back two-point efforts to spark his offense following a three-game slide. The 28-year-old defenseman scored in the first period and helped out on a Cole Sillinger tally in the second. Werenski is up to three goals, five assists, 36 shots on net, 17 blocked shots and a plus-9 rating across 10 appearances. He finished above a point-per-game pace with 23 goals and 59 helpers over 81 regular-season games in 2024-25. However, that will be a difficult performance for him to repeat this year, even though he sees plenty of ice time in all situations.

Del Gaizo was reassigned to AHL Laval on Wednesday.

Del Gaizo spent eight days with the big club but didn't make an appearance. Kaiden Guhle (lower body) is still a month away from returning, so it seems likely Del Gaizo will be recalled at some point to provide additional defensive depth for the big club.

Legault was promoted from AHL Chicago on Wednesday.

Legault will rejoin the Hurricanes just a few days after getting sent down. He will supplement the team's depth after Shayne Gostisbehere (lower body) sustained a new injury in Tuesday's contest against the Golden Knights.

Matinpalo notched an assist and two shots on goal in Tuesday's 7-3 loss to the Blackhawks.

Matinpalo has played in five straight games after spending four contests from Oct 13-18 in the press box. For now, it looks like he has the advantage over Jordan Spence for the last spot on the blue line. Matinpalo has one assist, five shots on net, 10 hits, seven blocked shots and a minus-3 rating over seven appearances. Spence offers more scoring upside and will likely draw in once head coach Travis Green wants to get more offense from the blue line. Still, Matinpalo seems likely to get his fair share of games.