Filip Hallander will make his season debut on Thursday, sending Tomasino to the press box as a healthy scratch. The 24-year-old Tomasino made his season debut in Tuesday's 3-0 win over the New York Rangers, playing 13:37 time on ice.
Power has been absent from most of Buffalo's training camp due to an undisclosed injury, but was expected to be ready for their season opener on Thursday against the New York Rangers. The 22-year-old Power is coming off a career-best season in 2024-25, scoring 40 points (7G / 33A) in 79 games. With Rasmus Dahlin locked into Buffalo's top powerplay unit, Power will likely spend most of the season quarterbacking the second unit upon his return.
With Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen (lower body) out week-to-week, the Sabres will turn to Lyon between the pipes in their season-opening matchup on Thursday against the New York Rangers. The 32-year-old Lyon played 30 games last season with the Detroit Red Wings (14-9-1), posting a 2.81 GAA and .896 SV%. Unless Lyon can establish himself early, expect him to rotate starts with Alexander Georgiev during Luukkonen's absence. The Sabres enter Thursday's contest as +101 home underdogs against a Rangers team that was defeated 3-0 by the Pittsburgh Penguins in their opening-night matchup on Tuesday.
Despite a strong 34-save performance in a 3-2 losing effort on Tuesday to the Florida Panthers, Spencer Knight will likely serve as Chicago's backup netminder on Thursday in Boston. Soderblom, entering his age-26 season, played a career-high 36 games (10-18-7) in 2024-25 and played reasonably well, given he played on a Blackhawks team that finished as the NHL's second-worst defensive team (3.61 GA/GP), posting a 3.18 GAA and .898 SV%. The Blackhawks enter Thursday's contest as +144 road underdogs against a Boston Bruins team that opened their season last night with an impressive 3-1 win over the Washington Capitals.
With the Bruins on the second half of a back-to-back, they will turn to backup netminder Joonas Korpisalo as they look to stay in the Win column at their home. opener vs. Chicago on Thursday. Korpisalo is coming off a tough first season in Boston in 2024-25, where he posted an 11-10-3 record with an ugly .893 SV% and 2.90 GAA. He plays host to the Chicago Blackhawks, who lost their opening game on Tuesday to Florida, 3-2.
Days after signing a seven-year, $49 million contract extension, Jake Walman has been placed on IR retroactive to the start of the season with an undisclosed injury. The 29-year-old will have to miss the Oilers' next game on Saturday vs. Vancouver, but his window to return will begin after that. He had a goal, eight points and a +5 plus/minus in 15 games with the Oilers last season after being acquired at the Trade Deadline from San Jose.
Motivated to make a case for Team USA's starting goalie at the Olympics, Oettinger will be hard-pressed to showcase his talents this season, beginning with a season-opening matchup against the current favourite for Team USA, Connor Hellebuyck of the Winnipeg Jets. The 26-year-old Oettinger posted a 2.59 GAA and .909 SV% in 58 games last season (36-18-4) but will need to elevate his game to materialize his goals. Dallas enters the matchup as slight -109 road favorites against Winnipeg.
With the offseason trade of John Gibson to the Detroit Red Wings, the Ducks effectively made Dostal their undisputed starting goalie, starting with Thursday's season-opening matchup against the Seattle Kraken. The 25-year-old Czech netminder had spells of brilliance for a defensively troubled Ducks team last season, posting a 3.10 GAA and .903 SV% in 54 games (23-23-7). The Ducks will need Dostal to pave the way in order for their playoff hopes to be realized. The Ducks enter Thursday's contest as +115 road underdogs against the Kraken.
O'Brien has been sidelined for most of training camp due to a lower-body injury and appears to be nearing a return to the lineup, but will not be ready for the season opener on Thursday. The 31-year-old grinder nicknamed "Spicy Tuna" appeared in 28 games for Utah in 2024-25, picking up two assists and 50 PIMs alongside 34 SOG.
Hayton battled an undisclosed injury through the latter half of the preseason and will not play in Utah's season opener on Thursday against the Colorado Avalanche. The 25-year-old Hayton has shown glimpses of strong productivity but has lacked consistency. He scored 46 points (20G / 26A) in 82 games last season.
With the offseason departure of Connor Ingram, Vejmelka will likely see a heavy workload in the 2025-26 season, starting with Utah's season opener against the Colorado Avalanche. The 29-year-old Vejmelka played a career-high 58 games last season (26-22-8), and posted career-highs in GAA (2.58) and SV% (.904). With an improved roster up front, a strong season from Vejmelka should allow Utah to flirt with playoff contention. Still, Utah enters Thursday's matchup as +165 road underdogs against Colorado's high-octane offence.
To some surprise, the Sharks are turning to Alex Nedeljkovic on Thursday against the Vegas Golden Knights instead of Yaroslav Askarov, their 23-year-old goalie of the future. The 29-year-old Nedeljkovic signed with San Jose in the offseason after spending his previous two seasons with the Pittsburgh Penguins. Nedeljkovic posted a 3.12 GAA and .894 SV% in 38 appearances last season (14-15-5). The Sharks have some exciting young talent on their roster, but still enter Thursday's contest as +180 home underdogs against a Golden Knights team coming off a 6-5 shootout loss to the Los Angeles Kings last night.
Daccord has played his way into being Seattle's starting netminder the previous two seasons and will tend the twine in their season-opening matchup on Thursday against the Anaheim Ducks. The 29-year-old Daccord posted a solid 2.75 GAA and .906 SV% in a career-high 57 games last season (27-23-5). With Philipp Grubauer's porous play the previous few seasons with Seattle, expect Daccord to get the vast majority of starts again in 2025-26. Seattle enters Thursday's matchup as -126 home favorites against an improved Ducks team that is expected to battle for a playoff spot this season.
The Blues started the 2024-25 season as one of the NHL’s worst teams, prompting a coaching change, with Jim Montgomery taking over in late November. After the coaching switch, Binnington posted a 22-13-4 record with three shutouts and had a top-10 GAA (2.53) and SV% (.905) among goalies that played 30 games. Jim Montgomery will turn to Binnington on Thursday and hope he can build off the momentum he garnered in the second half of last season. The Blues enter their season-opening matchup against the Minnesota Wild on Thursday as -124 home favourites.
The Canucks will roll with Demko in their crease in Thursday's season-opening game against the Calgary Flames and hope he can return to the form that made him a Vezina runner-up in 2023-24. The 29-year-old Demko missed most of the 2024-25 season due to injury and battled adversity when called upon, posting a 2.90 GAA and .889 SV% in 23 games (10-8-3). The Canucks enter Thursday's contest as sizable -205 home favorites against a Flames team coming off a 4-3 shootout win over the Edmonton Oilers last night.
The Senators will start their season on Thursday with Ullmark tending the twine against the Tampa Bay Lightning. The 32-year-old Ullmark battled some injuries in his first season with the Senators but was solid when called upon, posting a 2.72 GAA, .909 SV%, and four shutouts in 44 outings (25-14-3). Still, the Senators enter Thursday's contest as +154 road underdogs against a Lightning team that led the league offensively last season (3.59 GF/GP).
The start to Sturm's tenure in Minnesota has been delayed due to injury, and now with surgery is expected to miss at least six weeks. After winning a cup with Florida in 2024-25, Sturm signed a two-year, $4 million contract with Minnesota in the offseason. He is coming off a seven-goal, 14-point campaign across 62 games with both San Jose and Florida in 2024-25.
Brodin, who had offseason surgery on an upper-body injury, will not play in the Wild's season opener on Thursday. There was hope that he'd be ready, but he's "stagnated a little bit," according to head coach John Hynes. With Brodin unavailable, David Jiriceck is expected to be in the opening night lineup.
Wiesblatt made his NHL debut with Nashville last season, recording one assist in five games, and hopes to be a more regular NHLer in the 2025-26 season. The 23-year-old forward was San Jose's 31st-overall pick in the 2020 NHL Entry Draft.
