NHL Hockey Player News

The Lightning have been great on offense but bad on defense. The lack of defense doesn't help Lindback's splits but the offense should help his wins.

Done for year = No Fantasy Value.

Hanzal missed the teams last two games and is quesitonable for tonight. The return of Hanzal would be huge for the Coyotes as he is one of their best offensive threats.

Niemi takes on a tough challenge vs. the Canucks on Sunday.

Greiss is making his first start of the season in the weekend's back-to-back games. Greiss has proven to be a competent backup but the timeshare should be heavily favouring Niemi this season.

More likely one of the fourth liners will take a backseat as Gomez eases his way into the line up. You shouldn't have any expectations for Gomez at this point - even if he has been on the powerplay.

Jagr is day-to-day with a sore back, not skating this morning could mean he'll miss tonight's game. Monitor his status as game-time approaches.

Bryz finally picked up his first win on the season against the Rangers on Thursday. The Flyers are banged up right now and need some big performances out of Bryzgalov, let's see if he's up to the test.

Crawford remains undefeated so far this year with a 3-0-0 record, 1.98 GAA and a .923 SV%. The Blackhawks appear to be playing some of the best hockey in the NHL right now, and that bodes well for fantasy owners with Crawford.

Reimer came in on Thursday to relieve Scrivens who struggled against the Islanders. There's no real surprise here as the Leafs continue to search for their starter. Reimer will be in tough tonight against a hungry Rangers squad.

Kreider is expected to be day-to-day and should return soon.

Versteeg isn't expected to play tonight, but this is encouraging news that he isn't too far away from returning to the Panthers lineup.

LaBarbera played well up until the third period against the Sharks in his first start, where he gave up 4 goals on 34 shots. It doesn't get any easier for him tonight as he has to take on the defending Stanley Cup Champs.

Lundqvist was probably one of the first goalies off the boards in every fantasy league, so there's a lot of disappointed owners out there right now. However there is just too much skill in New York and Lundqvist is just too good for this to continue. Don't panic on 'King' Henrik, he'll get back to his Vezina form soon enough.

Theodore has seen a lot of rubber early this season as opposing teams are averaging 38 shots a game on him. Florida just hasn't looked good offensively or defensively and that's a bad recipe for a fantasy goalie. For now stay clear of Theodore until the Panthers prove they can stop the other team and score.

Despite being pulled against Nashville Halak's numbers so far this year are great. 2-0-0 with a 1.18 GAA and .921 SV% and 2 shutouts. Halak is a must start in all formats when he plays.

Nihlstorp will get his second start of the year tonight against the Blues. He played well in his first game only giving up 1 goal but still taking the loss, as the Stars were shutout by Minnesota's Josh Harding.

Varlamov is off to a good start this season with a 2-1 record to go along with a 1.68 GAA and .948 SV%. The Avalanche are a tough team to gauge, but if Varlamov continues to play well he could be a solid fantasy option. He has a tough matchup tonight however facing one of the leagues hottest teams in San Jose.

Atkinson missed Thursday's game, and was not on the ice this morning. He availability for tonight's game remains unknown. Monitor his status as game time approaches.

Mason didn't play all that well in his first start of the season, although he was peppered. He gave up 5 goals on 42 shots against the Coyotes. The task doesn't get any easier tonight for Mason as he'll face an upstart Blackhawks team.