NHL Player News

Rittich will start Sunday's preseason game against the Islanders, per Amanda Stein of the Devils' official site.

For his debut with New Jersey, Rittich will have the chance to face the Islanders, for whom he played last season. The 34-year-old netminder was a decent backup option in 2025-26, as he posted a 14-10-3 record, a 2.76 GAA and an .894 save percentage across 30 regular-season games for the Isles. The veteran netminder is competing for a larger role this preseason against Jake Allen.

Cooley will patrol the home crease in Sunday's preseason contest against Seattle, according to Pat Steinberg of QR Calgary 770 AM.

Arsenii Sergeev will serve as Cooley's backup in Sunday's exhibition opener. Cooley posted a 10-10-6 record with a 2.69 GAA and a .909 save percentage in 31 regular-season appearances with Calgary in 2025-26. He will likely be Dustin Wolf's backup going into the 2026-27 campaign.

Markstrom will protect the home net in Sunday's preseason matchup against Carolina, Jameson Olive of the Panthers' official site reports.

Markstrom posted a 23-19-1 record with one shutout, a 3.07 GAA and an .883 save percentage in 44 regular-season appearances with New Jersey in 2025-26. After being acquired by Florida on June 30, the 36-year-old netminder has plenty of bounce-back potential as the Panthers' projected No. 1 option for the 2026-27 campaign.

Vasilevskiy is expected to patrol the home crease against Nashville in Sunday's preseason matchup, Lightning reporter Gabby Shirley reports.

Vasilevskiy posted a 39-15-4 record with two shutouts, a 2.31 GAA and a .911 save percentage in 58 appearances during the 2025-26 regular season. He led all netminders in wins and captured his second career Vezina Trophy. Vasilevskiy will probably be the first goaltender off the board in redraft leagues ahead of the 2026-27 campaign.

Daccord turned aside all 14 shots he faced during Saturday's 4-2 preseason win over the Canucks.

Daccord drew the start during Saturday's preseason opener and played two periods before being replaced by Nikke Kokko. Daccord was perfect before being pulled, strengthening his case for the No. 1 goaltending job once the regular season gets underway, though he could split time with Philipp Grubauer. Daccord went 20-20-6 with a 3.03 GAA and .896 save percentage across 47 regular-season appearances with Seattle last year.

Tolopilo turned aside 26 of 30 shots during Saturday's 4-2 preseason loss to the Kraken.

Tolopilo played the entire preseason opener and faced plenty of shots, but he didn't have an ideal showing. He allowed a pair of first-period goals before giving up two more in the final frame. Thatcher Demko (hip) isn't expected to be a full participant in training camp, which could give Tolopilo an opportunity to serve as Kevin Lankinen's backup to begin the 2026-27 regular season. Still, Chris Driedger will likely have a chance to compete for that role as well.

Forsberg turned aside 13 of 16 shots during Saturday's 4-2 preseason loss to the Golden Knights. The fourth goal was an empty-netter.

Forsberg played the full game in Saturday's preseason opener, but he didn't have his sharpest performance. The 33-year-old went 16-12-5 with a 2.57 GAA and a .909 save percentage in 36 regular-season outings for Los Angeles in 2025-26. He'll likely split time with Darcy Kuemper at the beginning of the 2026-27 campaign.

Hill turned aside 17 of 19 shots during Saturday's 4-2 preseason win over Los Angeles.

Hill lost out on playing time to Carter Hart in the crease to close out the 2025-26 season, but Hill drew the start during Saturday's preseason opener and played the full game. Across 27 regular-season starts last year, Hill went 10-9-6 with a 3.04 GAA and .871 save percentage. Hill and Hart are each expected to make two starts during the preseason, and Hart is in line to serve as the Golden Knights' No. 1 netminder once the regular season begins, with Hill slated to operate as the primary backup.

Pickard turned aside 14 of 16 shots during Saturday's 3-2 preseason overtime win over Chicago.

As expected, Pickard played the full game. The 34-year-old made 16 regular-season appearances for the Oilers last year, posting a 5-6-2 record with a 3.68 GAA and an .871 save percentage. Filip Gustavsson (hip) is expected to be sidelined until around early November, so Pickard will probably be Jesper Wallstedt's backup once the regular season gets underway.

Soderblom allowed three goals on 26 shots during Saturday's 3-2 preseason overtime loss to the Wild.

As expected, Soderblom played the full game. He enters the 2026-27 season likely to serve as the primary backup to Spencer Knight. Soderblom made 26 regular-season appearances last year, going 8-13-3 with a 3.80 GAA and an .880 save percentage.