NHL Player News

Zamula (upper body) won't play against New Jersey on Monday.

Zamula will miss his second straight game. He has produced three goals, eight assists, 25 shots on net, 59 blocked shots and 15 hits through 39 appearances this season. Due to Zamula's absence, Erik Johnson will be in the lineup versus the Devils.

The NHL Department of Player Safety announced Monday that Lilleberg has been suspended for two games for interference against the Red Wings' J.T. Compher during Saturday's 2-0 loss.

Lilleberg was assessed a two-minute penalty in the second period of Saturday's matchup for the incident, and he had a hearing afterward in which the league determined that the event warranted additional punishment. J.J. Moser (lower body) remains on injured reserve, so the Lightning will need to call up an additional blueliner to fill in Tuesday against Chicago and Thursday against the Kings. Lilleberg will be eligible to return at home against the Islanders on Saturday.

Perunovich was brought in via trade by the Islanders on Monday from the Blues in exchange for a 2026 conditional fifth-round pick.

Perunovich's acquisition comes on the heels of both Noah Dobson (lower body) and Ryan Pulock (upper body) going on injured reserve over the last week. The Isles already attempted to bolster their blue line by bringing in Tony DeAngelo but now also have Perunovich as a seventh healthy option. The 26-year-old defenseman had been struggling to get into the lineup for the Blues, serving as a healthy scratch in 13 of the club's last 15 contests. That doesn't seem likely to change with the Islanders, though Perunovich could challenge Dennis Cholowskifor minutes.

Lindholm (lower body) participated fully in Monday's practice but isn't ready to return to the lineup, Joe Haggerty of Boston Sports Journal reports.

Lindholm remains on long-term injured reserve and will miss his 35th straight game against Buffalo on Tuesday. However, he is progressing toward a return. Lindholm has three goals, seven points, 35 shots on net and 17 blocked shots across 17 appearances this season.

McAvoy (upper body) won't be available for Tuesday's game in Buffalo, Joe Haggerty of Boston Sports Journal reports.

McAvoy practiced in a regular jersey Monday, but he'll be unavailable for at least one more game due to his upper-body injury. He won't travel with the Bruins to Buffalo, but it's not yet clear whether he'll be available later in the week, when Boston has home matchups against Winnipeg on Thursday and against the Rangers on Saturday.

Pulock (upper body) was placed on injured reserve Monday.

After being injured in Saturday's 3-2 overtime win over Carolina, Pulock will miss at least the next three games, starting with Tuesday's matchup versus Colorado. He has produced three goals, 13 assists, 70 shots on net, 105 blocked shots and 58 hits across 48 appearances this season. Dennis Cholowski will probably replace Pulock in Tuesday's lineup.

Jones was scratched for the 15th straight game in Sunday's 5-4 loss to the Avalanche.

Jones saw steady playing time for much of November and December, but that's dried up. The Rangers' turnaround has hinged on two trades involving defensemen -- one that swapped Jacob Trouba for Urho Vaakanainen and another that brought in Will Borgen at the expense of Kaapo Kakko. Vaakanainen has largely taken over the third-pairing spot that belonged to Jones previously, and with the Rangers finding success, there's been no need to shuffle the lineup. For the season, Jones is at eight points, 24 shots on net, 16 blocked shots, 14 hits and a plus-2 rating over 26 appearances. He's one point and five games shy of matching his totals in those categories from the 2023-24 regular season.

Borgen scored a goal in Sunday's 5-4 loss to the Avalanche.

The $20.5 million man -- thanks to the five-year extension he signed Saturday -- got on the scoresheet in his first game since putting pen to paper. Borgen has a point in each of the last two contests. While the offense is a nice bonus, it's his defensive stability that gave the Rangers confidence to keep him around for the long run. Borgen is at six points, 44 shots on net, 78 hits, 67 blocked shots and a minus-14 rating through 51 appearances this season, but he's only minus-1 while earning four points over 18 outings with the Rangers after a poor start to the year with the Kraken.

Middleton provided an assist in Sunday's 5-4 win over the Rangers.

Middleton's helper was his first NHL point, a feat that took him 26 games to achieve. He's seen a part-time role on the third pairing in 2024-25 after going three whole seasons without any action for the big club. Middleton has added 23 shots on net, 38 hits, 15 blocked shots and 13 PIM through 23 outings this season, so he doesn't need to be rostered in fantasy.

Balinskis notched an assist and blocked two shots in Sunday's 4-1 loss to the Golden Knights.

Balinskis has four points over his last nine outings, but his ice time has fluctuated quite a bit in that stretch. The 28-year-old blueliner is likely to be in a third-pairing role full-time moving forward as long as Aaron Ekblad avoids further injury concerns. Balinskis is at 14 points, 62 shots on net, 44 hits, 36 blocked shots and a minus-3 rating through 48 appearances this season.