NHL Player News

Barkey missed Thursday's game versus the Kings due to an upper-body injury and is considered day-to-day.

Barkey was a late scratch for the contest, forcing the Flyers to go with seven defensemen. The 20-year-old's day-to-day label suggests his injury isn't too serious at this point. The Flyers' next game is Saturday in San Jose.

Werenski had three assists in Thursday's 6-3 win over the Rangers.

One helper came with the man advantage, while the other two were at even strength. Werenski sits in second in NHL in scoring from the blue line (72 points in 61 games), and he continues to leads the NHL in points-per-game (1.18) by a defender. Werenski is on pace for an 88-point season, which would establish a new career mark. His best season came last year when he put up 82 points, including 23 goals, in 81 games.

Kempe (lower body) is projected to be in the lineup versus the Flyers on Thursday, Zach Dooley of the Kings' official site reports.

Kempe took warmups Thursday and looks to be in, though he was also on the ice prior to Monday's contest versus the Rangers before sitting out that game. Assuming he is good to return, Kempe is set for a top-line role and should be a factor on the power play as well.

Stenlund (lower body) is expected to play against Vegas on Thursday.

Stenlund missed Monday's 6-3 win over Dallas. He has four goals and 15 points in 66 outings in 2025-26. Stenlund is projected to serve on the fourth line alongside Alex Kerfoot and Kailer Yamamoto. Brandon Tanev is slated to be a healthy scratch due to Stenlund's return.

Vasilevskiy is scheduled to guard the road goal versus the Canucks on Thursday, Erik Erlendsson of LightningInsider.com reports.

Vasilevskiy picked up a win over the Kraken on Tuesday, stopping 16 of 18 shots in that contest. He has alternated wins and losses over his last four outings, giving up a total of 10 goals in that span. The Canucks are the worst team in the league, so Vasilevskiy has a good chance to put in a good performance.

Pearson (lower body) is expected to miss Thursday's game against San Jose, per Mike Harrington of The Buffalo News.

Pearson also missed Buffalo's previous two games. He has seven goals and 13 points in 53 outings between Winnipeg and Buffalo in 2025-26. Pearson should be in the mix for a bottom-six spot once he's healthy.

Hill is expected to start at home against Utah on Thursday, per Danny Webster of the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

Hill has a 2-2-0 record, 1.26 GAA and .943 save percentage across his past four appearances. He's 8-8-3 with a 2.94 GAA and an .875 save percentage in 20 outings overall in 2025-26. Utah dropped four straight games (0-2-2) from March 9-14, but the Mammoth ended that slump Monday with a 6-3 victory over Dallas to improve to 35-27-6 on the season.

Vejmelka will guard the road goal versus the Golden Knights on Thursday, Danny Webster of the Las Vegas Review-Journal reports.

Vejmelka was not in goal for Monday's 6-3 win over the Stars. He had allowed at least three goals in four straight games prior to that, going 1-2-1 in that span. The Golden Knights have won just two of their last six games, scoring 15 goals over that stretch.

Kapanen (illness) is slated to be in the lineup Thursday versus the Panthers, Bob Stauffer of the Oilers Radio Network reports.

Kapanen was considered a game-time decision, but he took warmups in his usual third-line spot. He should continue to get ice time in all situations.

Couturier (upper body) won't play Thursday versus Los Angeles, per Kevin Kurz of The Athletic.

Couturier has seven goals and 29 points in 66 outings in 2025-26. It's not clear how long he'll be out, but head coach Rick Tocchet doesn't think it'll be a long-term absence. Carl Grundstrom might draw back into the lineup Thursday due to Couturier's injury.