NHL Hockey Player News

Auvitu played 8:10 TOI on Sunday but will come back out of the lineup tonight in Nashville. Drake Caggiula will take his spot on the fourth line.

Caggiula was a healthy scratch in Chicago on Sunday but will replace Yohann Auvitu on the Oilers fourth line tonight. Caggiula has just nine points (5G / 4A) in 31 games this season.

Davidson replaced Sekera during the second game of the Oilers back-to-back over the weekend but will head back up to the press box tonight with Sekera back in.

Sekera was a healthy scratch in the second game of the Oilers’ back-to-back over the weekend, but will be back in tonight in Nashville. Sekera has picked up just one assist while averaging 18:15 TOI/GM since returning to the Oilers lineup in late-December.

Rinne stopped 26 of 29 shots in the Predators win in Los Angeles on Saturday. Rinne has had a good year, but had been struggling as of late so getting back in the win column was big for the veteran. Tonight Rinne will take on a struggling Oilers team on home-ice, where he has gone 11-3-2 with a 2.98 GAA and .907 SV% this season.

Talbot fave up four goal on 29 shots in the Oilers loss in Chicago on Sunday. Talbot has been terrible as of late, losing six of his last seven starts (1-5-1) while posting a terrible 4.18 GAA and .882 SV%. It is becoming increasingly more difficult to trust the 30-year-old netminder, who should probably be avoided tonight in Nashville.

Sundqvist has been out of the lineup for the last six games, but will replace Chris Thorburn tonight vs. the Panthers. Sundqvist has just three assists in 29 games this season.

Lowry is still dealing with an upper-body injury that forced him out of the lineup on Sunday. With Lowry out, Jack Roslovic will remain in the lineup for the second consecutive game.

Smith allowed two goals on 29 shots in the Flames win over the Ducks on Saturday. Smith has won three straight while allowing a combined eight goals on 97 shots (.918 SV%). Smith will make his third start against Minnesota this season—he has gone 0-1-1 with a 1.93 GAA and .925 SV% in the first two meetings.

Seabrook has had a tough season, collecting just 11 points (1G / 11A) in 41 games this season. The veteran defenseman as been held pointless in nine straight games, posting a minus-4 in the process. The Blackhawks will give him a breather, but his contract is looking worse by the day—Seabrook has six years beyond this season remaining on his deal with a $6.875M AAV.

After a difficult first half of the season because of injury, Stempniak’s season debut will have to wait until later in the week. The veteran will sit as a healthy scratch tonight but will appear in one of the Hurricanes back-to-back games on Thursday/Friday.

Aho was hurt over the weekend but practiced on Monday and took part in today’s morning skate. Head coach Bill Peters said that Aho “should be good to go” so look for the talented second-year forward to play in Tampa Bay. Aho has six goals and four assists (10 points) in his last seven games.

Gustafsson, 25, has picked up three goals and 14 assists (17 points) in 25 games with the IceHogs this season. There is no word whether or not Gustafsson will make his season debut this week, but if Cody Franson couldn’t get into the lineup then Gustafsson will likely have a tough time as well.

Franson has had a nice year in Chicago but the emergence of Jordan Oesterle made him disposable to the Blackhawks. However, clearing waivers increases his trade value for a team interested in acquiring him because now he can be assigned to the AHL if need be. Don’t be surprised if he gets traded in the next few days.

Forsberg stopped 32 of the 33 shots that he faced in the Blackhawks win over the Oilers on Sunday. After ceding the crease to 32-year-old rookie Jeff Glass, Forsberg had a nice outing vs. Edmonton and will get a second straight start tonight. Forsberg makes for an interesting spot-start option against a struggling Senators squad.

Allen allowed five goals on 38 shots in the Blues loss in Philadelphia on Saturday. Allen has won three straight while posting a 3.67 GAA and .891 SV%. Despite his recent struggles and Carter Hutton’s great season, Allen will get back in the crease tonight after getting Sunday off. Allen allowed five goals on 38 shots in a 5-2 loss in his first start against the Panthers.

Ward stopped all 21 shots that he faced in the Hurricanes shutout win in Pittsburgh last Thursday. Ward also stopped both shots that he faced in Boston after replacing Scott Darling in the blowout loss on Saturday. Ward has won seven of his last nine starts while posting a 2.18 GAA, .917 SV% and one shutout, but is in really tough tonight in Tampa Bay.

Mason allowed five goals on 29 shots in the Jets loss in Brooklyn on December 23rd. Connor Hellebuyck started the last six games, but Mason will give him a breather tonight in Buffalo. Mason has gone 2-4-1 with a 2.84 GAA and .917 SV% on the road this season, but you have to at least consider spot-starting him tonight given his matchup.

Claesson has been a healthy scratch for the last two games and four of the last five but he will replace Johnny Oduya (lower-body) tonight vs. the Blackhawks. He has just one goal and one assist in 32 games this season so he bring nothing to the table in terms of fantasy hockey.

The Senators called Ceci questionable on Monday but he put the question marks aside when he took part in this morning’s gameday skate. Ceci has been held pointless in seven straight games and has just eight points (5G / 3A) in 40 games this season.