NHL Hockey Player News

Draisaitl will not be in the lineup tonight vs. the Blackhawks, but it sounds like he could be back in the Oilers lineup as soon as Saturday. His return will be huge for the struggling Oilers, so monitor his status leading up to this weekend’s meeting with the Flyers.

Talbot was yanked after allowed four goals on 23 shots in the Oilers loss to the Senators last Saturday. Laurent Brossoit got the nod on Tuesday, so they’ll come back to Talbot tonight in Chicago. Talbot has gotten off to a dreadful start, posting a 3.96 GAA and .880 SV% in four starts.

Lundqvist allowed five goals on 33 shots in the Rangers’ 5-4 overtime loss to Pittsburgh on Tuesday. Despite losing three in a row and five of his first six starts, look for Lundqvist to start again tonight vs. the Islanders. King Henrik has struggled in the early going, posting a 3.23 GAA and .902 SV% so far this season.

With Matt Hunick fighting an injury, Trotman comes up presumably to be an extra defenseman. The 27-year-old has two assists in four games with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton this season and just 12 points (3G / 9A) in 67 career NHL games with the Bruins.

Granlund has been bothered by a groin injury since the season opener but he was back on the ice for Thursday’s practice and skated on the top-line and top power-play unit, making him a game-time decision for tomorrow. Monitor his status during the pre-game skate, but it looks like he will return and it’s a huge addition for the Wild who are quite banged up right now.

Megan appeared in one game with the Blues but heads back to Chicago after clearing waivers on Thursday. Megan had a really nice AHL season a year ago, collecting 33 goals and 33 assists (66 points) in 73 games.

Ferland missed last Saturday’s game in Vancouver but will be back in the lineup tonight vs. Carolina. Ferland has already lost his top-line spot next two Sean Monahan and Johnny Gaudreau and with that he lost most of his fantasy value. He has just one goal on 12 shots in five games this season.

Lehner was not on the ice for Thursday’s practice session because he is under the weather. This obviously puts his status for tomorrow’s game in question, leaving the door open for Chad Johnson to start his third straight game.

After being held out of the first three games of the season, Gorges got into the last four contests but is now sidelined with an undisclosed ailment. The Sabres have a couple of solid defensemen on the roster so this is not a huge loss for them at this time.

Girgeonsons played just 2:30 TOI in the Sabres loss in Vegas on Tuesday, but it doesn’t sound like his injury is overly serious. He is listed as day-to-day and thus questionable for Friday, but don’t expect the Latvian forward to miss too much time.

Josefson left Sunday’s game in Anaheim with a lower-body injury and missed Tuesday’s game in Vegas as a result. Head coach Phil Housley came out on Thursday and said that Josefson will miss a couple weeks with the ailment.

Cehlarik served as an extra forward during his call-up but with David Backes (illness) set to return tonight he will head back to Providence where he has two goals and three assists (five points) in three games this season.

Forsberg allowed four goals on 43 shots in the Blackhawks’ loss in Toronto on October 9th. With Corey Crawford starting last night, Forsberg will make his second start of the season tonight vs. the Oilers. Edmonton is off to a terrible start to the season, but they still have Connor McDavid—making Forsberg a risky spot-start option.