NHL Player News

Luukkonen turned aside all 13 shots he faced during Tuesday's 5-1 preseason win over the Blue Jackets.

Luukkonen made his first start of the 2026-27 preseason Tuesday and played two periods. Colten Ellis entered the game in the third period. Luukkonen will battle Alex Lyon for playing time this campaign, and Ellis could be in the mix. Across 35 regular-season appearances with Buffalo last year, Luukkonen went 22-9-3 with a 2.51 GAA and a .909 save percentage.

Talbot turned aside 23 of 26 shots during Tuesday's 5-1 preseason loss to Buffalo.

Talbot made his preseason debut Tuesday and played the first two periods before being replaced by Evan Gardner. Talbot was perfect during the first frame but allowed three goals in the second period and didn't get much offensive support. Talbot is also slated to defend the home crease against the Penguins in Thursday's preseason matchup and will likely serve as Jet Greaves' backup to begin the regular season since Elvis Merzlikins (shoulder) doesn't have a timetable to return.

Vladar is day-to-day because of an upper-body injury, Jackie Spiegel of The Philadelphia Inquirer reports Wednesday.

Vladar left Tuesday's preseason game due to the injury. While that's obviously less than ideal, his status isn't nearly as bleak as it could have been. "I think we dodged a bullet," head coach Rick Tocchet said. Vladar is set to be the Flyers' No. 1 goaltender this campaign, while Joseph Woll is penciled in to serve as his understudy.

Gauthier was placed on waivers by the Penguins on Wednesday for the purpose of reassignment to the minors.

Gauthier wasn't going to make the Penguins' Opening Night roster considering the depth ahead of him between the pipes. The 25-year-old backstop could spend most of the year with AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, though he might also get a look with ECHL Florida for a larger role.

Silovs allowed seven goals on 23 shots during Tuesday's 7-4 preseason loss to the Red Wings.

Silovs made his preseason debut after Sergei Murashov got the nod for Monday's preseason opener. Silovs wasn't particularly effective in the defeat, and he defended the crease for the entire game. He made 39 regular-season appearances with the Penguins last year, going 19-12-8 with a 3.07 GAA and an .887 save percentage. Silovs could still begin the 2026-27 campaign as Pittsburgh's primary netminder, though Sergei Murashov is expected to push for playing time.

Gibson turned aside 22 of 24 shots during Tuesday's 7-4 preseason win over the Penguins.

Gibson drew the start during Tuesday's exhibition and played the first two periods before being replaced by Trey Augustine. Gibson made 57 regular-season appearances in his first year for Detroit in 2025-26, going 29-22-4 with a 2.72 GAA and a .901 save percentage. He's expected to serve as the Red Wings' starting goaltender again in the 2026-27 campaign, with Daniil Tarasov operating as the No. 2 option.

Hildeby stopped 23 of 26 shots in a 3-2 overtime preseason loss to Nashville on Tuesday.

Hildeby had a 5-7-4 record, 2.85 GAA and .912 save percentage in 20 regular-season appearances with Toronto in 2025-26. The 25-year-old netminder has the potential to become a solid starter, but his short-term fantasy value will be limited by the presence of Andrei Vasilevskiy, who is expected to get a considerable majority of the workload this year.

Oettinger is expected to guard the home goal in Wednesday's preseason game against Minnesota, per Robert Tiffin of NHL.com.

Oettinger had a 35-12-6 record, 2.59 GAA and .899 save percentage in 54 regular-season appearances in 2025-26. That marked a career low for him in terms of save percentage and a substantial drop from his .912 save percentage across 251 regular-season outings from 2020-21 through 2024-25. Even after that drop, Oettinger's position as Dallas' No. 1 netminder is secure going into the 2026-27 campaign, and it wouldn't be surprising to see him do better this season.

Swayman allowed one goal on 21 shots during Tuesday's 5-1 preseason win over the Flyers.

After Michael DiPietro played in Sunday's preseason opener, Swayman got the starting nod for Tuesday's exhibition contest and played the entire game. The Bruins close out the preseason with a back-to-back set Thursday in Philadelphia and Friday in Washington. Swayman will probably make one more appearance before serving as Boston's starting netminder once the regular season begins.

Wolf stopped eight of nine shots in a 3-1 preseason win over Vancouver on Tuesday.

That's not a typo, and Wolf did play the full game. Vancouver really did manage just nine shots on goal. In defense of the Canucks, they dressed a primarily AHL squad for this exhibition tilt, but that also means it's hard to read much into Wolf's performance. The 25-year-old goaltender had a 23-29-3 record, 3.01 GAA and .899 save percentage in 57 regular-season appearances with the Flames in 2025-26.