NHL Hockey Player News

Chiarot was a minus-1 in 15:08 during the Jets’ season opener on Thursday. Chiarot will be replaced by Mark Stuart on Saturday.

Armia had just one shot on goal in 10:38 in the Jets’ season opener on Thursday. Armia will be replaced be Chris Thorburn on the fourth line.

Thorburn was a healthy scratch during the Jets’ season opener, but he will draw into the lineup for Joel Armia on Saturday. Thorburn had just 12 points (6G / 6A) in 82 games last season.

Stuart was a healthy scratch in the Jets’ season opener, but will replace Ben Chiarot in the lineup on Saturday. Stuart isn’t much of an offensive defenseman. He had just three points (1G / 2A) in 64 games last year.

Dubnyk allowed three goals on 31 shots in the Wild’s loss in St. Louis on Thursday. Dubnyk was OK in the season opener, but can be expected to be better over the course of the year. Tonight he faces a Winnipeg Jets team that he struggled against last year—Dubnyk was 1-4-0 with a 2.64 GAA and .908 SV% in five starts vs. Winnipeg in 2015-16.

Schneider allowed two goals on 34 shots in the Devils’ overtime loss in Tampa Bay on Thursday. It’s a new year but the same old story for Schneider, who never seems to get any goal-support. Schneider will post elite splits and is a good start on almost every night, but draws a tough matchup tonight against a Lightning team that scored six goals in their season opener.

Bobrovsky allowed five goals on 36 shots in the Blue Jackets’ opening night loss to the Bruins. Bobrovsky was peppered after the Blue Jackets took an early 2-0 lead and was unable to hold onto the lead. His teammates did not play well in front of him, so this can’t all be pinned on Bobrovsky, but it was an unsettling start to the season for his fantasy investors. Things won’t get any easier tonight with the Sharks in town.

Rask allowed three goals on 31 shots in the Bruins win in Columbus on Thursday. Rask allowed two goals in the first period, but settled in nicely and was able to secure his first win of the season. Rask will try and string two wins together tonight vs. a Maple Leafs team that he dominated last year. The Finnish netminder was 4-0-1 with a 1.95 GAA and .935 SV% in five starts against Toronto in 2015-16.

Connor Hellebuyck started the Jets’ season opener vs. the Hurricanes, but they will turn to Hutchinson tonight in Minnesota. The 26-year-old is coming off of a tough 2015-16 season that saw him go 9-15-3 with a 2.84 GAA and .907 SV%. On a busy night in the NHL, there are better options than Hutchinson, who takes on an above-average Wild offence.

Jones made 21 save on 22 shots in the Sharks’ win over the Kings on opening night. It was a nice start to the season for Jones, who is out to prove that 2015-16 wasn’t a fluke. He has a good chance to start 2016-17 off 2-0-0 as he takes on the Blue Jackets in Columbus tonight. Jones was 22-7-3 with a 2.20 GAA and .925 SV% on the road last year.

Bergeron missed the Bruins’ season opener with a lower-body injury and will be held out of tonight’s contest as well. His absence on Thursday didn’t seem to affect the Bruins much, as David Backes stepped in seamlessly. Bergeron remains day-to-day.

John Gibson struggled in the Ducks’ season opener, allowing four goals on 20 shots, so it looks like they will turn to Bernier tonight in Pittsburgh. Bernier was acquired from the Maple Leafs this offseason and is coming off of a dreadful year—he was 12-21-3 with a 2.88 GAA and .908 SV%. The 28-year-old will look to have a bounce-back year in Anaheim, but it will be tough to get off to a good start tonight in Pittsburgh.

Despres missed the third period of Thursday’s game with an upper-body injury. There is no word how Despres suffered the injury, but it could be related to the concussion problems that he dealt with last season. Consider him day-to-day with an undisclosed upper-body injury until more information is available.

Barzal sat out of the Islanders’ season opener, but will draw into the lineup on Saturday. Barzal will centre the third line with Ryan Strome on his right wing and Anders Lee on the left. Barzal is also expected to play on the Islanders’ top power-play unit.

Fleury was outstanding in the Penguins’ season opener, stopping 39 of 41 shots in a shootout win over the Capitals. With Matt Murray sidelined, Fleury is getting a chance to re-solidify himself as the Penguins’ No.1 option. He will get another chance tonight with a sub-par Ducks team coming to town. Fleury was 12-9-2 with a 2.49 GAA and .919 SV% vs. the Western Conference last year.

Jaroslav Halak started the Islanders’ season opener in New York, but they will turn to Greiss in Game No.2 in Washington. While Halak battled injury in 2015-16, Greiss stepped up, going 23-11-4 with a 2.36 GAA and .925 SV% in 41 games. As impressive as Greiss was, his matchup tonight couldn’t be much worse. He will get his starts this year and he will make for good fantasy starts sometimes, but tonight isn’t one of those times.

Andersen surrendered five goals on 30 shots in the Maple Leafs’ 5-4 overtime loss to the Senators on opening night. Andersen has struggled to start his Maple Leafs career and his struggles cost the Maple Leafs the win on a night where rookie Auston Matthews scored four goals in front of him. He will look for a better result tonight against a Boston team that put up a six-spot on the Blue Jackets on Thursday.

Luongo turned aside 23 of the 24 shots that he faced in the Panthers’ overtime win over the Devils on Thursday. Tonight he will face the Red Wings, as he looks to notch his 438th career victory and take sole possession of sixth all-time on the wins list. Luongo was 2-1-0 with a 2.65 GAA and .918 SV% against Detroit last year.

Holtby allowed two goals on 30 shots in the Capitals’ shootout loss to the Penguins on Thursday. Holtby played very well in his first start of the season, but gave up three shootout goals on four attempts. Holtby is one of fantasy’s best goalies and should be active whenever he starts. Tonight he gets the nod against an Islanders team that he was 3-0-1 with a 2.19 GAA and .918 SV% against a season ago.

Despite Ben Bishop practicing in the "starter's crease" this morning, head coach Jon Cooper said Vasilevskiy will start tonight vs. the Devils.Bishop had a rough night vs. the Red Wings on Thursday, so they will turn to Vasilevskiy, who draws a great matchup tonight vs. the Devils. Vasilevskiy comes in with an 18-15-1 record while posting a 2.60 GAA and .913 SV% in 40 career NHL games.