NHL Player News

Spurgeon (upper body) has been ruled out for Thursday's game against the Blues and doesn't have a timetable to return, Joe Smith of The Athletic reports.

Spurgeon will be sidelined for a second consecutive game due to his upper-body injury, and it's not yet clear when he'll be able to return to action. David Spacek will likely remain in the lineup during Spurgeon's absence.

Maatta (upper body) will not play in Thursday's home game against the Blues, per Dylan Loucks of The Hockey News.

Maatta was injured in the late stages of Minnesota's Frozen Frenzy game, which caused him to miss the final six minutes of the contest. Prior to going down with the injury, Maatta posted a strong start to the 2026-27 campaign with two assists, three shots on net and nine blocked shots across six outings. In his absence Thursday, Matt Kiersted will be elevated to play in Maatta's second line role. Further information will need to be provided regarding the veteran blueliner's timetable to return, but if the injury isn't too serious, he'll likely have a shot to appear in Sunday's matchup against the Blue Jackets.

Crotty (illness) will play in Thursday's game against the Islanders, TSN 1200 Ottawa reports.

Crotty has missed the last week while on injured reserve due to an illness, but he participated in Thursday's morning skate and has been cleared to return to action against the Islanders. Across his two appearances to begin the regular season, Crotty has been held scoreless with a hit and a plus-1 rating while averaging 10:54 of ice time.

Sanderson (lower body) will not be available versus the Islanders on Thursday, TSN 1200 Ottawa reports.

Sanderson will be sidelined for his seventh consecutive game after being injured in the season opener versus the Leafs on Oct. 3. With the 24-year-old blueliner still shelved, Artem Zub (knee) and Cameron Crotty (illness) will suit up in Thursday's contest.

Zub (knee) will be in the lineup against the Islanders on Thursday, Bruce Garrioch of Postmedia reports.

Zub will make his season debut after having last played in an NHL game April 18 in a playoff clash with Toronto. In his 81 regular-season appearances last year, the Russian blueliner notched five goals and a career-high 25 assists, all scored without a power-play role.

Gudas (undisclosed) won't be an option versus Vancouver on Thursday, instead looking to Saturday's matchup with Seattle, Jameson Olive of the Panthers' official site reports.

Gudas will miss his second straight game due to his undisclosed injury, but at least he has a target return date. With zero points through six games this year, the veteran defenseman is unlikely to be a waiver wire pickup in most leagues once given the all-clear.

The Maple Leafs announced Thursday that Tanev (lower body) is considered week-to-week, Mark Masters of TSN reports.

Tanev landed on injured reserve Sunday after he suffered an upper-body injury against Colorado on Saturday. Thursday's update indicates that he'll likely need to spend more than the minimum amount of time on injured reserve before he's in the mix to return to game action. Nick Blankenburg will likely continue to see time in Toronto's lineup while Tanev is sidelined.

Stanley was loaned to AHL Belleville on Thursday.

Stanley heading back to the minors is a sign that Artem Zub (knee) is ready to make his season debut. Across four appearances to begin the 2026-27 season, the 21-year-old Stanley posted a minus-1 rating, four PIM, a shot on goal, two hits and two blocks. He'll look to refine his game with AHL Belleville, where he played six regular-season games and scored a goal a season ago.

Donovan was loaned to AHL Belleville on Thursday.

Donovan was called up by the Senators on Sunday and appeared in one game during his time with Ottawa. However, he'll be sent down ahead of Thursday's matchup against the Islanders, signaling that some of the Senators' injured defensemen could return to action soon. Across three regular-season appearances with Belleville this year, Donovan has been held scoreless.

Heinola logged three assists in AHL Henderson's 4-0 win over Coachella Valley on Wednesday.

Heinola has four points over four AHL games this season. He received a call-up Sunday but didn't get into a game with the Golden Knights. Still, it looks like he'll be an option to join the big club when they're in need of an extra defenseman. That could happen at any point while Parker Wotherspoon (upper body) is out on a week-to-week basis, especially if another blueliner gets injured as well.