It was a bit surprising when the Red Wings re-signed Cleary this offseason considering they have so many young forwards who were on the brink of cracking the NHL roster. So, it is no surprise to see him get waived. Don’t be surprised if he buddy Mike Babcock and the Maple Leafs claim him.
Lerner will make his Buffalo regular season debut after starting four preseason games that yielded modest results—he was 1-2-0 with a 3.32 GAA and .884 SV% in 199 preseason minutes. The 24-year-old comes into 2015-16 with a career 2.88 GAA and .914 SV% and a big task ahead of him. Buffalo ranked 29th in the NHL with a 3.28 team GAA last year. On paper they are a better team, but they need better goaltending and it starts with Lehner.
Kindl has been battling an eye infection but he was on the ice for Red Wings’ practice on Wednesday and is expected to be in the lineup on Friday vs. the Maple Leafs. Kindl is expected to play with Brendan Smith until Danny DeKeyser returns from injury.
Gionta missed the Sabres’ practice on Tuesday because of a lower-body injury. Gionta had been skating in Buffalo’s top six, but missing today’s practice puts his status for Thursday’s opener in doubt.
Crawford is expected to start roughly 60 games this season and it starts tonight vs. the Rangers. He had 32 wins, a 2.27 GAA and .924 SV% in 57 outings last year and should be around the same in 2015-16. Crawford stopped 35 of 36 shots in his only start vs. New York last year and was 14-11-4 with a 2.38 GAA and .920 SV% on home ice last season.
Quick had Martin Jones as his backup last season but it looks like the will go head-to-head to start the 2015-16 season. Quick played well against their California rival last year, going 3-2-0 with a 2.17 GAA and .921 SV% in five starts vs. San Jose. Quick had a strong preseason, posting a 1.29 GAA, a .939 SV% and a shutout in the finale.
Gudas had been skating among the Flyers’ top six defensemen throughout the week, but he will be scratched in the opener and Luke Schenn will play.
MacArthur has missed the last two practices, including this morning’s, and head coach Dave Cameron said he “isn’t sure MacArthur will play tomorrow.” With MacArthur out, Mike Hoffman is playing on the top-line and Curtis Lazar has been bumping into the top six.
Byron was claimed off of waivers on Tuesday, but will be held out of the lineup for the season opener vs. the Maple Leafs.
Helm, who suffered a separated shoulder on the first day of training camp was expected to miss 2-4 weeks. Today marks the two and a half week mark which means he should probably make his season debut next week.
The last time Miller started a hockey game that mattered, he allowed five goals on 31 shots in a 7-4 playoff loss to the Flames, who he will face tonight. He was good against Calgary in the regular season, going 2-1-0 with 2.35 GAA and .920 SV% and comes into play tonight having gone 1-2-1 with a 2.82 GAA and .881 SV% in the preseason.
Johnson has been banged up and missed Monday’s practice, but was back on the ice this morning. Johnson should be good to go when the Lightning open the season on Thursday. He will look to build off of a fantastic 2014-15 season.
Gomez, 35, was in Blues camp on a PTO and made the team after posting one assist and a minus-3 rating in four games during preseason action. Gomez had seven goals and 27 assists (34 points) in 58 games with the Devils last year.
Chara skated on his own for over one week, but has been on the ice with his teammates for the last two days. He filtered in on the Bruins’ second PP unit, which is a good sign that he is nearing game action. Monitor his status leading up to the Bruins’ season opener tomorrow.
Berglund was expected to miss four months after having shoulder surgery in late August, so he goes on LTIR to open up a roster spot until he is ready to come back.
After the Canadiens claimed Paul Byron off of waivers from Calgary, they had to send someone down and De La Rose was the victim of a numbers game. The 20-years-old had four goals and two assists (6 points) in 33 games with the Canadiens last season.
Kings’ head coach Darryl Sutter called Muzzin “doubtful” on Monday, but on Tuesday he was upgraded to probable for Wednesday’s game vs. the Sharks. Monitor Muzzin’s status during the morning skate, but things are trending in the right direction.
Jones will not have to wait long to face his former team as he will head back to Los Angeles to make his Sharks debut on Wednesday. He was terrific in the preseason with his new club, going 3-1-0 with a 0.76 GAA, .970 SV% and two shutouts. In two years in Jonathan Quick’s shadow, Jones posted 16 wins, a 1.99 GAA, a .9233 SV% and seven shutouts in just 34 games.
Lundqvist comes into the season after going 2-0-0 with a 2.25 GAA and .933 SV% in three preseason outings. He didn’t face the Blackhawks last season, but he was a strong 14-5-1 with a 2.14 GAA and .925 SV% in 20 road starts. He is one of the league’s top goaltenders and in a short fantasy week, he should be started in all formats, despite a tough matchup.
Crawford has a career high of 59 starts and despite the emergence of Scott Darling a season ago, head coach Joel Quenneville plans on starting Crawford close to 60 games again this season. Crawford is a strong No. 1 fantasy netminder when he is starting consistently behind one of the best teams in the NHL. He has a career 2.34 GAA and .917 SV% coming into his ninth NHL season.
