NHL Player News

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.

Matheson will be sidelined for Tuesday's clash with Philadelphia with an upper-body injury, Eric Engels of Sportsnet reports.

Matheson is considered day-to-day, so he may not be out long term. After racking up 62 points in 82 regular-season games back in 2023-24, the veteran blueliner managed a mere 31 points last year and seems closer to that level of production in 2025-26. In his last nine outings, the Quebec native has managed just one point while generating 12 shots and 18 blocks.

Sanderson scored a goal, tallied an assist and blocked a shot in Monday's 3-2 overtime win over Winnipeg.

Sanderson netted the game-tying goal with less than two minutes remaining in regulation before he picked up a helper on Brady Tkachuk's winning tally in overtime. The pair of points brings Sanderson up to seven goals, 19 assists, 72 shots on net and 59 blocks through 32 games this season. Since Nov. 11, the 23-year-old blueliner has 15 points, 35 shots on net and 32 blocks across 16 games. A very short list of defensemen have better all-around stats than Sanderson during that stretch, which only strengthens his case to represent Team USA in the 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Milano Cortina. He is on track to contend for career highs in many major stat categories, giving him elite value in nearly all fantasy formats for the rest of the campaign.

Forsling suffered an undisclosed injury during the third period of Monday's 5-2 win over Tampa Bay, and head coach Paul Maurice didn't have an update on the blueliner's status postgame, Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald reports.

Forsling left the game after blocking a shot on a Lightning power play, according to Benjamin Pierce of the Lightning's official site. The 29-year-old Forsling is set to be evaluated when the Panthers return home. Florida will begin a three-game homestand versus the Kings on Wednesday.

Head coach Travis Green told reporters in Winnipeg on Monday that Chabot (upper body) is skating and is getting closer to returning to the lineup, according to Bruce Garrioch of Postmedia.

Chabot hasn't been in the lineup since Nov. 22 in San Jose. Garrioch noted that Chabot is trending toward playing this week, with a potential return date being against the Penguins on Thursday or the Blackhawks on Saturday. The left-shot blueliner will likely slot back into a second-pairing role once he's in the lineup.

Dunn (illness) didn't participate in Monday's practice, Sound of Hockey reports.

Dunn still could be ready to play in Tuesday's matchup against Colorado. A clearer picture of his availability could come after Tuesday's morning skate or closer to game time. Dunn has accounted for five goals, 18 points, 72 shots on net and 29 blocked shots in 30 appearances this season.