NHL Player News

Swayman will defend the blue paint at home versus Buffalo on Saturday, according to Scott McLaughlin of WEEI.

Swayman had a terrible 2024-25 campaign, posting a 22-29-7 record with a 3.11 GAA and a poor .892 save percentage. He looks to be back on track in 2025-26, stopping 35 shots in a 3-1 win over Washington in his season debut. The Sabres will look to hit the scoresheet for the first time this season after they were shut out 4-0 by the Rangers on Thursday.

Per Chip Alexander of The Raleigh News & Observer, Kochetkov (lower body) will miss at least one week of action, according to head coach Rod Brind'Amour on Saturday.

Kochetkov sat out Opening Night against New Jersey on Thursday and will miss at least the next three games. Still, Brind'Amour is hopeful that Kochetkov could travel with the Hurricanes on the team's upcoming six-game road trip, Walt Ruff of the Hurricanes' official site reports, which begins Tuesday against the Sharks. Frederik Andersen will probably continue to start in Kochetkov's absence, while Brandon Bussi will be the backup. Kochetkov was 27-16-3 with a 2.60 GAA and an .897 save percentage across 47 regular-season appearances in 2024-25.

Silovs will be between the home pipes versus the Rangers on Saturday, Penguins play-by-play announcer Josh Getzoff reports.

Silovs was perfect Opening Night on Tuesday, stopping all 25 Rangers' shots in a 3-0 win. The former Vancouver netminder is in a battle with Tristan Jarry for the No. 1 job in Pittsburgh, and another strong performance Saturday could move him ahead of Jarry.

Sorokin will guard the home goal against Washington on Saturday, Stefen Rosner of NHL.com reports.

Sorokin stopped 24 shots in Thursday's 4-3 road loss to Pittsburgh. He will be back between the pipes for the Islanders' home opener. During the 2024-25 regular season, he went 1-1-0 with a 1.53 GAA and a .953 save percentage in two appearances versus the Capitals.

Bobrovsky will patrol the home crease versus Ottawa on Saturday, George Richards of Florida Hockey Now reports.

Bobrovsky will make his third straight start, allowing three goals on 39 shots in a pair of victories over Chicago and Philadelphia to start the season. The Senators scored five times in their opening game of the season in Tampa Bay on Thursday.

Husso posted a 26-save shutout in AHL San Diego's 5-0 win over Coachella Valley on Friday.

Husso was waived on the first day of the NHL season after briefly looking like he'd stay on the Ducks' roster as a third goalie. The 30-year-old will be the first call-up should Lukas Dostal or Petr Mrazek suffer an injury. Husso has plenty of NHL experience, but he doesn't have a great situation, so he is unlikely to have much fantasy value in 2025-26, especially if he loses playing time to younger goalies while with the Gulls.

Fedotov posted a 21-save shutout in AHL Cleveland's 1-0 win over Utica on Friday.

Fedotov's first game for the Monsters was a massive success. The 28-year-old was acquired by the Blue Jackets from the Flyers in September, but he wasn't able to win an NHL job in training camp. If he can put together good performances with Cleveland, he could earn a call-up later in the year, especially if one of Elvis Merzlikins or Jet Greaves is unavailable.

Blackwood (lower body) practiced Friday, but his status for the Avalanche's two-game road trip next week is yet to be determined, Evan Rawal of the Denver Gazette reports.

This is a backdoor way of saying Blackwood won't be ready to suit up Saturday versus the Stars. He could also miss games Monday in Buffalo and Thursday in Columbus, but that has not been decided. Head coach Jared Bednar also indicated a conditioning stint could be possible to help Blackwood get up to speed. At this point, expect Scott Wedgewood to continue seeing significant playing time until Blackwood is cleared to return.

Askarov will guard the cage in Saturday's home clash versus Anaheim, Max Miller of NHL.com reports.

Askarov watched from the bench during the Sharks' Opening Night clash with the Golden Knights on Thursday. Heading into the 2025-26 campaign, the 23-year-old backstop was expected to be the No. 1 option ahead of Alex Nedeljkovic, but it seems perhaps the team is going to more evenly split the workload this year.

Merzlikins is expected to start on the road against Columbus on Saturday, per Aaron Portzline of The Athletic.

Merzlikins is making his first start of the campaign after Jet Greaves saved 29 of 31 shots in a 2-1 loss to Nashville on Thursday. Although Merzlikins didn't start in the opener, he still has an opportunity to claim the No. 1 gig, but he'll probably need to do better than he did in 2024-25 in order to secure the job. The 31-year-old posted a 26-21-5 record, 3.18 GAA and .892 save percentage in 53 outings with Columbus last year.