NHL Player News

Vladar is expected to start Saturday's preseason game at home against the Devils, Charlie O'Connor of PHLY Sports reports.

Samuel Ersson is slated to play the full game during Thursday's exhibition matchup against the Islanders, but head coach Rick Tocchet said that Vladar is slated to handle goaltending duties for the entirety of Saturday's preseason finale. Vladar made 30 regular-season appearances for the Flames last year and went 12-11-6 with a 2.80 GAA and .898 save percentage, and he should serve as the No. 2 netminder in Philadelphia to begin the 2025-26 campaign after signing with the Flyers during the offseason.

Lindgren will defend the home crease during Thursday's preseason game against the Bruins, Sammi Silber of The Hockey News reports.

Lindgren will make his second start of the preseason during Thursday's matchup. He also started in Sunday's exhibition matchup against New Jersey and turned aside 20 of 22 shots in the shootout victory. Once the regular season gets underway, Lindgren will likely enter a timeshare with Logan Thompson for goaltending duties.

Ersson will serve as the starting netminder for Thursday's preseason game at home against the Islanders, Jordan Hall of NBC Sports Philadelphia reports.

In addition to drawing the start Thursday, Ersson is expected to play the full game against the Islanders. The 25-year-old will likely begin the campaign as the Flyers' No. 1 netminder once again, but he had a shaky performance last year, going 22-17-5 with a 3.14 GAA and .883 save percentage over 47 regular-season appearances.

Halverson is expected to start Thursday's preseason game at home against the Panthers, Erik Erlendsson of LightningInsider.com reports.

It's not yet clear whether Halverson will play the whole game Thursday, but this could be his final opportunity to tend the twine for the Lightning before the regular season gets underway. The 29-year-old has made just two regular-season appearances in the NHL and will likely spend the bulk of the 2025-26 campaign with AHL Syracuse.

Sorokin is expected to start on the road during Thursday's preseason game against Philadelphia, Stefen Rosner of NHL.com reports.

Sorokin will get the nod during the Islanders' preseason finale, and he previously indicated that he hoped to play in two full games ahead of the regular season, so it wouldn't be surprising to see him stay in net for the entirety of the matchup. The 30-year-old should serve as the Islanders' No. 1 netminder once the regular season begins after he went 30-24-6 with a 2.71 GAA and .907 save percentage over 61 regular-season appearances last year.

Clang will protect the road goal in Wednesday's preseason game versus the Sharks, Max Miller of NHL.com reports.

Clang was called up earlier in the day, and he'll get some extra playing time in the preseason to spare the Ducks' more veteran goalies. The 23-year-old will likely be reassigned to AHL San Diego for the start of the 2025-26 regular season.

Lankinen will tend the twine in Wednesday's road preseason game versus the Flames, Brendan Batchelor of Sportsnet 650 reports.

Lankinen is set to make his second start of the preseason. The 30-year-old netminder will get this start because Thatcher Demko (personal) is away from the team. Lankinen is capable of taking on a starting role as necessary, but he is projected to serve as the Canucks' No. 2 option as long as Demko is available most of the time in 2025-26.

Wedgewood will guard the road goal in Wednesday's preseason game versus the Golden Knights, Ryan Wallis of Fox Sports Las Vegas reports.

Wedgewood is getting another tune-up between the pipes as the Avalanche play their penultimate preseason game. The 33-year-old could get a run of playing time early in the regular season if Mackenzie Blackwood (lower body) can't get past his injury in time for Tuesday's Opening Night matchup against the Kings.

Schmid will protect the home goal versus the Avalanche in Wednesday's preseason game, Ryan Wallis of Fox Sports Las Vegas reports.

Schmid will make his second start and third appearance of the preseason, and it could be his final opportunity to stake his claim to the Golden Knights' backup job. However, he appears to have a fair amount of cushion over Carl Lindbom for that role.

Luukkonen aggravated his lower-body injury during Wednesday's game versus the Penguins and won't return to the contest.

Luukkonen's injury woes seem likely to linger into the regular season at this point, as this was his first game of the preseason. He had previously been aiming for an Opening Night return, and it appears that accelerating that timeline didn't go well. If Luukkonen misses additional action, expect Alexandar Georgiev and Alex Lyon to share the goaltending duties for the Sabres.