Kakko left Seattle's preseason game on Tuesday with an upper-body injury and is still being evaluated with the expectation he will see a specialist on Friday. The 24-year-old is entering his first full season in Seattle after putting up career highs in points (44) in 2024-25 between New York and Seattle. Kakko is expected to play a pivotal top-six role this season, so if he is forced to miss any time, it will be worrisome for the Kraken.

Luukkonen was announced day-to-day with a lower-body injury last week, but has yet to return to Buffalo's practice to start training camp. Thankfully, the 26-year-old netminder stated in an interview on Thursday that he would be ready for the start of the season. Buffalo had signed Alexandar Georgiev to replace Luukkonen if he was unable to go for the beginning of the 2025-26 season. Luukkonen is expected to start the majority of Sabre games yet again this season after posting a 24-24-5 record, .887 SV% and 3.20 GAA across 55 starts last season.

Barkov left Florida's practice on Thursday with an apparent leg injury and is being further evaluated by the Panthers' training staff. Head Coach Paul Maurice stated that the team should have news on the team's captain by Friday. The 30-year-old is entering his 13th NHL season after finishing 2024-25 above a point-per-game for the 5th straight year with 20 goals and 71 points in 67 games.

Dallas will be without their captain for an extended period after it was announced Thursday that Jamie Benn will undergo surgery for a collapsed lung and will be reevaluated in four weeks. The 36-year-old is entering his 17th NHL season and has only missed two games across the previous four years. In 2024-25, he had 16 goals, 49 points and 70 PIMs in 80 games played.

San Jose has their first significant injury of the 2025-26 season after it was announced Colin White is week-to-week with an upper-body injury. The 28-year-old's hopes of cracking the opening night roster were cut short on Monday after he appeared in three games with the Sharks in 2024-25. The 28-year-old is entering his 10th NHL season and 2nd in San Jose.

After one preseason game, John Klingberg is officially day-to-day with an upper-body injury and is expected to miss the Sharks' upcoming game on Friday. The 32-year-old was signed to a one-year, $4 million contract in the offseason after appearing in 30 games with Edmonton in 2024-25 across the regular season and playoffs.

Sturms' start to his Minnesota tenure is off to a rocky start after it was announced the 30-year-old would be off the ice for four or five days due to a back injury. 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.

Hague was acquired from Vegas in the offseason and then signed to a four-year, $22 million contract by the Predators, but will have to wait to make his debut after it was announced he is expected to miss the next 4-6 weeks with an upper-body injury. Hague was originally paired with Roman Josi to start training camp and will mark a massive loss for the Predators early. The 26-year-old is entering his seventh NHL season after putting up five goals, 12 points and 40 PIMs in 68 games played last season.

Benn missed practice on Tuesday with an upper-body injury and is considered day-to-day as the Stars begin their preseason schedule. The injury is not expected to be serious, and the 35-year-old is expected to be ready for his 17th career opening night when Dallas starts their season on October 9th in Winnipeg. Benn will look to bounce back from a down season in 2024-25, after he put up 16 goals and 49 points in 80 games played.

Batherson left Ottawa's practice early with an upper-body injury and is expected to miss at least the next two weeks of training camp. The 27-year-old right-winger is entering his eighth season in Ottawa after putting up career highs in points (67) last season across 82 games played. He is expected to play an integral role in Ottawa's offence this season, but it is not a guarantee that he will be ready for Ottawa's season opener.

Benoit has yet to return to Toronto's training camp after it was announced that the defenseman was still potentially dealing with an upper-body injury that lingered from last season. Toronto is hopeful to have its sixth defenseman back before its opening game on October 8th vs Montreal, after he appeared in all but four games in 2024-25, putting up a goal, 10 points, and a +12 plus/minus.

Blomqvist's start to training camp is not going as planned after it was announced that the 23-year-old netminder was day-to-day with a lower-body injury. The sophomore netminder is expected to compete with Tristan Jarry for Pittsburgh's starting role in 2025-26 after putting up a 4-9-1 record, 3.81 GAA and .885 SV% in 15 games played as a rookie last season.

Ovechkin gave the NHL community a scare on Monday after he left the practice ice with a lower-body injury, but he is expected to make a full recovery and return to Washington's lineup after the 40-year-old skated on Tuesday. The 21-year NHL veteran is not expected to appear in Washington's preseason game on Tuesday despite the good news. Ovechkin is coming off a historic, 44-goal, 73-point campaign across 65 games played in 2024-25.

Lee is expected to miss the majority of training camp with an upper-body injury, but is still likely to be ready for the start of the Islanders' Regular season on October 9th vs. Pittsburgh. The Islanders' 35-year-old captain will be expected to play a large role in New York's offence yet again this season, after putting. up 29 goals, 54 points and 233 SOG in 82 games played.

After an impressive first campaign with Red Deer in the WHL, Jaxon Fuder has earned himself a three-year, entry-level contract with Dallas after going undrafted last season. The 19-year-old forward is expected to return to Red Deer for a sophomore campaign in 2025-26, where he had 11 goals, 26 points and 91 PIMs in 46 games played.

Edmonton locked up one of their complementary forwards on Monday after they announced the signing of Vasily Podkolzin to a three-year contract extension worth $2.95 million AAV ($8.85M total). The 23-year-old right-winger enjoyed a bounce-back season in 2024-25 with eight goals and 24 points after he was acquired from Vancouver before the start of last season for a 2025 4th round pick.

The team announced Tuesday that Woll will be away from the club for personal reasons. No timeline has been provided for his return or whether his absence will extend into the regular season. If he’s unavailable, Dennis Hildeby is expected to step in as Anthony Stolarz’s backup to start the year.

Chiarot was Vancouver's 2025 6th round pick (175th overall) and signed a three-year, entry-level contract on Monday. The 19-year-old right-winger is expected to spend 2025-26 with Brampton, where he is also projected to take a massive step forward entering his third OHL season after putting up 21 goals and 35 points in 66 games in 2024-25.

Patterson was Vancouver's 2024 5th round pick (125th overall) and signed a three-year, entry-level contract on Monday. The 19-year-old forward is expected to return to the OHL for the 2025-26 season, starting a new chapter with Niagara (OHL) after spending last season in Barrie (OHL) with 25 goals and 59 points in 64 games played.

McBain is expected to miss the next few days of training camp after it was announced Monday that he was day-to-day with an undisclosed injury. The 25-year-old forward will be looking to build on a career year from 2025-26, where he had 13 goals, 27 points and 78 PIMs in 82 games played.