NHL Player News

Vanecek is slated to patrol the crease for Monday's road game versus the Blackhawks, Tracey Myers of NHL.com reports.

Vanecek has appeared in just three of the Mammoth's 23 contests since the start of 2026, posting a 2-0-1 record with one shutout and six goals allowed on 82 shots in those games. Given his limited work rate, the 30-year-old netminder won't offer much in the way of fantasy value, considering he will primarily feature in back-to-backs.

DeSmith stopped 16 of 19 shots in Sunday's 4-3 overtime win over Chicago.

DeSmith continues to play well and extended his winning streak to four games, allowing seven goals on 73 shots faced over that span. Jake Oettinger remains the No. 1 option for the Stars between the pipes, but don't be surprised if DeSmith earns more playing time based on how good he's been lately. His last defeat came Jan. 22 in a 1-0 loss to the Blue Jackets.

Lankinen was the first goalie off the ice at the morning skate, Randip Janda of Sportsnet reports, indicating he will patrol the home crease against Ottawa on Monday.

Lankinen is coming off a 32-save effort in Saturday's 3-2 overtime loss to Winnipeg. He has a 7-20-5 record this campaign with a 3.73 GAA and an .875 save percentage across 35 appearances. Ottawa is tied for eighth in the league with 3.37 goals per game this season.

Soderblom stopped 27 of 31 shots in Sunday's 4-3 overtime loss to the Stars.

Soderblom avoided the loss in regulation, but an overtime goal from Miro Heiskanen just 22 seconds into the extra period forced the 26-year-old to settle with another defeat. Soderblom has dropped three of his last four starts, going 1-2-1 with 14 goals allowed on 118 shots (.881 save percentage) in that span. Since Spencer Knight (illness) won't be available Monday, Drew Commesso will get the nod versus Utah on the second leg of a back-to-back set. Soderblom should be the Blackhawks' No. 1 goaltender until Knight is ready to return.

Luukkonen stopped 21 of 28 shots in Sunday's 8-7 win over the Lightning.

This is clearly an outing that didn't favor Luukkonen's recent strong run of play, but at least he extended his winning streak to four games. He had allowed two or fewer goals in each of his previous three wins, and the 27-year-old will aim to bounce back in his next start. That said, the Sabres have been alternating the workload between the pipes of late, so it wouldn't be surprising if Alex Lyon gets the nod against the Sharks on Tuesday.

Knight (illness) won't be in the lineup for Monday's home matchup against Utah, according to Mario Tirabassi of CHGO Sports.

Knight was on the ice briefly for Monday's optional morning skate, but he will miss his third straight game. He has some additional time to recover, as Chicago is off until Thursday's road rematch against the Mammoth. Knight has a 16-18-8 record this season with three shutouts, a 2.63 GAA and a .908 save percentage through 42 appearances.

Commesso will tend the twine at home versus Utah on Monday, Mario Tirabassi of CHGO Sports reports.

Commesso will be making his third appearance in the crease for the Blackhawks this season, having posted a 1-1-0 record and one shutout with five goals allowed on 60 shots in his first two contests. With Spencer Knight (illness) unavailable, Commesso gets the nod while Arvid Soderblom serves as the backup against the Mammoth.

Shesterkin was the first goalie to leave the ice Monday, Mollie Walker of the New York Post reports, indicating he'll be between the pipes on the road versus the Flyers.

Shesterkin is undefeated in regulation over his last four outings, going 2-0-2 with 12 goals allowed on 119 shots. Despite the Rangers being a long shot to make the postseason, the 30-year-old backstop figures to continue seeing the bulk of the workload for New York ahead of Jonathan Quick.

Cooley will defend the road net against Washington on Monday, according to Derek Wills of Sportsnet 960 The Fan.

Despite posting a 2.42 GAA and a .927 save percentage in his last seven appearances, Cooley has a 1-3-2 record over that span. He has gone 7-7-4 this season with a 2.27 GAA and a .923 save percentage across 22 games. Washington ranks 17th in the league with 3.11 goals per game this campaign.

Johansson stopped 34 of 42 shots in Sunday's 8-7 loss to the Sabres.

Conceding eight goals is far from ideal, as Johansson only posted an .810 save percentage in one of the highest-scoring games of the 2025-26 NHL season so far. Johansson has appeared in six games (five starts) since the beginning of January, going 2-3-0 with a 4.35 GAA and an .855 save percentage. He's firmly entrenched as the Lightning's No. 2 option between the pipes behind Andrei Vasilevskiy, so he's not going to have a lot of upside in most fantasy formats. Even when Johansson is scheduled to start, he's a matchup-based, streaming-only option.