Hudler was dealing with a minor injury in the preseason and missed Tuesday’s practice because of illness but was able to take part in the Flames’ morning skate today and will play tonight vs. the Canucks.
Puempel has been on the verge of cracking the Senators roster for awhile now, but can’t seem to quite get there. His demotion comes after ht has two assists and seven shots in five preseason games and it also suggests that Clarke MacArthur is ready to play in the season opener.
Elias will open the season on IR after dealing with knee soreness throughout the preseason. He didn’t play in any preseason games and now the question, is how long will he be out? With Elias out, expect Jacob Josefson and Lee Stempniak to take on larger roles to start the season.
Markstrom tweaked a lower-body injury in Tuesday’s practice and is unable to suit up as Ryan Miller’s backup tonight. Markstrom will be evaluated later today to determine the severity of the injury and how much time he will miss. Richard Bachman has been recalled to serve as the backup.
Bachman has been recalled to serve as Ryan Miller’s backup tonight vs. the Flames. Miller’s regular backup Jacob Markstrom suffered a lower-body injury in Tuesday’s practice and is unable to suit up tonight.
After spending two years as Henrik Lundqvist’s backup, Talbot gets a chance to be a starter in Edmonton. He was 33-15-5 with a 2.00 GAA and .931 SV% in 53 starts in New York, so he has starter potential, but the Oilers are no where near as good as the Rangers. Talbot posted a 3.13 GAA and .892 SV% in four preseason games.
Allen will start the Blues second game of the season after Brian Elliott led the Blues to a win over the Oilers in their season opener. Allen was 22-7-4 with a 2.28 GAA and .913 SV% last season. In one start and one relief appearance against the Wild, Allen stopped 46 of 50 shots en route to a 1-0 record.
Elliott will get the first start of the year for the Blues, but this should be an even split throughout the year. Elliott was sensational in the preseason, going 2-0-0 with a 0.86 GAA and .965 SV% in three games. In four years with the Blues he has never had a GAA above 2.28 while posting a strong .923 SV%. His splits are always great, but he never starts enough game to be elite.
Quick had Martin Jones as his backup last season but he 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.
Harrington was originally sent down because he was waiver exempt and helped the Leafs get down to 23 players. After Richard Panik cleared waivers, they were able to send him down and bring Harrington back up. The 22-year-old was part of the Phil Kessel trade this summer and is expected to make his Maple Leafs’ debut tonight vs. Montreal. He had two goals and 10 assists (12 points) in 48 games with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (AHL) last year and was held pointless in 10 games with the Penguins.
Mrazek was fantastic after being recalled from Grand Rapids last season positioned a 16-9-2 record, a 2.38 GAA and .918 SV%. Those splits earned him the nod in the postseason where he nearly led the Red Wings to a first round upset of the Tampa Bay Lightning. Mrazek will battle Jimmy Howard for starts this season, but will need a good performance tonight after Howard shutout the Maple Leafs last night.
Howard was a fantasy gem for a number of seasons, but has turned into more of a steady No. 2 option over the last few years. Howard won 23 games with a 2.44 GAA and .910 SV% last season but then fell behind Petr Mrazek in the playoffs. This preseason he posted a 2.00 GAA and .942 SV%, effectively earning his starting gig back…at least for one game. Mrazek is slated to start on Saturday. This looks like it could be a 50/50 splits this year, but the Red Wings should be good, which will result in a lot of wins.
Price ran away with the Vezina Trophy last season and he has a good chance to get 2015-16 started on the right foot as he draws a great matchup vs. the Maple Leafs. Price dominated Toronto last season, going 4-0-0 with a 1.69 GAA and .935 SV%…and this Maple Leafs team is expected to be even worse.
After clearing waivers, the Maple Leafs have assigned Panik to the minors in order to make room to recall Scott Harrington, who is expected to make his Maple Leafs debut tonight.
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.