NHL Player News

Sissons scored a goal on two shots, added two hits and blocked two shots in Wednesday's 2-1 win over the Islanders.

Sissons tallied in the first period for his first goal as a Maple Leaf. The 32-year-old defensive forward has slotted onto the third line to begin his tenure in Toronto. For the second year in a row, he is ostensibly serving as a team's replacement for Nicolas Roy, as the Maple Leafs dealt that forward to Colorado at the trade deadline last year. Sissons has a little less scoring upside, but he should be able to do better than his 11-point effort over 66 regular-season games with the Golden Knights last year. Sissons also missed the 100-hit mark for the first time in five years in 2025-26, but he's already racked up six hits and three blocks over two games in 2026-27.

Girard logged two assists, two shots on goal and a plus-3 rating in Wednesday's 7-0 win over the Flyers.

Girard had mixed results at times in 2025-26, logging a total of 19 points over 60 regular-season contests between the Avalanche and the Penguins. The defenseman's first full year with Pittsburgh is off to a positive start. Notably, he was on the second pairing alongside Kaedan Korczak, while Kris Letang worked alongside Trevor van Riemsdyk on the third pairing. Girard also featured with the second power-play unit, and if that role sticks, his offense is poised to get back over the 20-point mark. He hasn't averaged more than a minute per game with the man advantage since the 2022-23 campaign, which was also the last year he got above the 30-point threshold.

Vejmelka was the first goalie off the ice during Thursday's morning skate, indicating that he'll defend the home crease in Utah's Opening Night matchup against Chicago, per Cole Bagley of KSL Sports.

Vejmelka will lead the Mammoth onto the ice in Thursday's home opener fresh off his breakout season in 2025-26. Across 64 regular-season appearances, the 30-year-old backstop posted a 38-20-3 record, a 2.75 GAA, an .896 save percentage and two shutouts. He trailed only Andrei Vasilevskiy in regular-season wins a year ago, giving Vejmelka a high ceiling in fantasy once again in the 2026-27 campaign. While Utah added Sebastian Cossa to hopefully provide stability as the team's backup netminder, Vejmelka will likely be called upon over 50 times once again in the 2026-27 campaign, making him a low-end No. 1 goalie option in all fantasy formats to begin the season.

Samuelsson (lower body) will be in the lineup against the Blue Jackets on Thursday, Paul Hamilton of WGR Sports Radio 550 reports.

Samuelsson racked up 13 goals and 28 assists in 78 regular-season games last year, blowing his previous career-best numbers out of the water. While the 26-year-old has found a way to offer offensive upside, it comes without a power-play role, which will likely prevent him from offering elite-level fantasy value.

Head coach Todd McLellan said Thursday that Larkin (upper body) will be out for Friday's game against the Rangers and Sunday's game against the Jets, Max Bultman of The Athletic reports.

Larkin was sidelined during training camp due to an upper-body injury but has been practicing recently. He's considered day-to-day, but he'll be held out for the Red Wings' first two games of the regular season. Across 74 regular-season appearances with Detroit last year, the 30-year-old logged 34 goals, 33 assists, 48 PIM, 46 hits and 33 blocked shots while averaging 20:11 of ice time. Larkin requested a trade during the offseason but appears to be set to suit up for the Red Wings once he's healthy.

Lindgren will guard the road crease in Saturday's contest against the Lightning, per Sammi Silber of The Hockey News.

Lindgren will make his season debut in the second half of the Capitals' upcoming back-to-back. The 32-year-old netminder's 2025-26 campaign was riddled with injuries, but he also took a step back in production when healthy, posting a 9-8-3 record, a 3.52 GAA and an .879 save percentage across 21 regular-season outings. He's currently off the fantasy radar to open the season, but if he can post solid numbers against the Lightning on Thursday, who made the postseason in 2025-26, Lindgren could trend back towards fantasy relevance.

Thompson will tend the twine on the road against the Hurricanes on Friday, Sammi Silber of The Hockey News reports.

Thompson set new personal bests in games played (58), GAA (2.44) and shutouts (four) last season. Looking ahead to 2026-27, the 29-year-old backstop should continue to see significant opportunities in the crease, with the potential of hitting a new career high in wins.

Lizotte suffered a lower-body injury and will not practice Thursday.

Lizotte was able to shake off an upper-body injury in time to play against the Flyers on Wednesday, but it seems he has now picked up a secondary injury. In that contest, the 28-year-old winger failed to produce a point while generating four shots and one block while averaging 13:13 of ice time. If Lizotte does miss any time, it could open up a spot in the lineup for David Gustafsson.

Greaves was the first goalie off during Thursday's morning skate, Mark Scheig of The Hockey Writers reports, indicating that he'll draw the Opening Night start at home against the Sabres.

Greaves saw a career-high workload during the 2025-26 campaign, making 55 regular-season appearances and going 26-19-9 with a 2.60 GAA and .908 save percentage. New backup goaltender Cam Talbot has also proven to be capable of handling a hefty workload, but Greaves should begin the regular season as the Blue Jackets' No. 1 netminder.

Crevier signed a four-year, $16 million contract extension with the Sabres on Thursday.

After being shipped to Buffalo as a part of the deal that sent Bowen Byram to Chicago, Crevier secured his future by signing an extension with the Sabres before suiting up for a regular-season game. The 25-year-old blueliner had a breakout campaign in 2025-26, where he compiled seven goals, 25 points, 114 shots on net, 124 hits and 95 blocked shots across 78 regular-season outings. The young blueliner is projected to open the year on the team's second defensive pairing. If he can stay healthy after undergoing a shoulder procedure in the offseason, Crevier could be the next blueliner in Buffalo to benefit from the team's high-powered offense, making him worthy of being a fantasy stash in deep leagues.