Saros will be looking to rebound against Seattle on Thursday after a difficult opening-night matchup against the Lightning. The 28-year-old workhorse surrendered four goals on 33 shots enroute to a 5-3 defeat. Saros remains one of the best goaltenders in the NHL despite the poor start to the season he endured on Tuesday, and he’s got a great chance of notching his first win of the campaign at home against the Kraken on Thursday.
Saros was 33-23-7 with a 2.69 GAA and a .919 SV% in 63 games started in 2022-23 and will take the crease for Nashville's season opener vs. Tampa Bay on Tuesday. He will face the Lightning, who finished last season eighth in the NHL in goals for (280) and 13th in shots per game (32.0).
Annuen was expected to make the Avalanche's opening-day roster until they scooped up Ivan Prosvetov from Arizona on waivers Monday which has led to the netminder being assigned to Colorado (AHL) to start the 2023-24 season. The 23-year-old Finnish netminder appeared in two games for the Avalanche in 2022-23 and had a 1-1-0 record, .854 SV%, and 3.58 GAA.
Blankenburg was fighting for a final roster spot in Columbus but has been assigned to Cleveland (AHL) for the start of the 2022-23 campaign. The 25-year-old defensemen had four goals, 10 assists, 50 SOG, 16 PIMs, and a -16 plus/minus through 36 games with Columbus in 2022-23. He will start the season in Cleveland but is expected to play a depth roll with the Blue Jackets as bodies are needed.
Denisenko was placed on waivers by Florida and claimed on Saturday by the Vegas Golden Knights. The 23-year-old forward was the Panthers 2018 first-round pick (15th overall) and had three assists, four PIMs and a -5 plus/minus in 18 games with Florida in 2022-23. He has played sporadically across three seasons with the Panthers, picking up seven assists and eight PIMs in 26 career NHL games played.
Yvonne had six goals, 10 assists, 43 SOG, and a -11 plus/minus through 37 games played with Montreal in 2022-23 and has signed a one-year, two-way contract worth $775,000. The 23-year-old right-winger is entering his fourth season in Montreal after being drafted in the second-round of the 2018 NHL Draft (35th overall) and has eight goals and 21 points in 52 career games played.
Lucchini had a goal, 14 SOG, and a -2 plus/minus through 11 games played with Ottawa in 2022-23 and has signed a one-year, two-way contract worth $775,000 AAV. The 28-year-old forward also had 19 goals, 34 assists, six PIMs and a -20 plus/minus through 61 games with Belleville (AHL) in 2022-23 after making his NHL debut in the same season.
Lind was drafted in the second-round of the 2023 draft (46th overall) by Nashville and has signed a three-year, entry-level contract with Nashville. The 18-year-old left-winger is coming off a 16 goal, 44 point season in 43 games with the Red Deer Rebels (WHL) and is expected to return to junior in 2023-24.
Molendyk was Nashville's 2023 first-round pick (24th overall) and has officially signed a three-year, entry-level contract with the Predators. The 18-year-old defenseman is coming off a season in Saskatoon (WHL) which saw him put up nine goals and 37 points across 67 games in 2022-23.
Oesterle played the last two seasons with the Red Wings, finishing with a combined 19 points (4G / 15A) across 97 games. Oesterle operated as the No.6 defenseman for Detroit last season, averaging just 15:39 TOI/gm. Expect similar deployment in his first season with the Flames.
Annunen appeared in two regular season games in 2022-23 posting a 1-1-0 record, 3.58 GAA and .854 SV% with Colorado and has signed a one-year, two-way contract extension ($775,000). The 23-year-old netminder was the Avalanche's 2018 third-round pick (64th overall) and has a 2-1-1 career record with a 3.92 GAA and .859 SV%.
Denisenko had three assists, 16 SOG, four PIMs and a -5 plus/minus through 18 games with Florida in 2022-23 and has signed a two-year contract extension worth $1.55 million ($775K AAV). The 23-year-old left-winger was Florida's 2018 first-round pick (15th overall) and has yet to score his first career goal but has seven assists, 25 SOG and eight PIMs across 26 career NHL games played.
Bunting had 23 goals, 49 points, 174 SOG, 103 PIMs and a +21 plus/minus through 82 games with Toronto in 2022-23 and has signed a three-year contract worth $13.5 million ($4.5M AAV) with Carolina. The 27-year-old left-winger will be joining his third NHL team after two seasons in both Arizona and Toronto and brings 57 goals and 126 points across 187 career games to the Hurricanes.
Englund had four assists, 31 SOG, 35 PIMs and a -1 plus/minus through 47 games played with Colorado and Chicago in 2022-23 and has signed a two-year contract worth $2.0 million ($1.0M AAV). The 27-year-old defender will be joining his fourth NHL team and has yet to pick up a goal across 80 career NHL games despite having seven assists, 59 PIMs and 46 SOG across that span.
O'Reilly had 16 goals, 14 assists, 102 SOG, 16 PIMs and a -21 plus/minus through 53 games in 2022-23 with both St.Louis and Toronto and has signed a four-year contract worth $18.0 million ($4.5M AAV). The 32-year-old centre joins his fifth NHL team and is only nine games from the prestigious 1000 game mark with 256 goals and 702 points during that span.
Murray played most of the 2023 season in the AHL, where he went 18-10-5 with a 2.37 GAA, .911 SV% and three shutouts with the Texas Stars. However, he also got his first taste of the NHL, going 1-2-0 with a 3.39 GAA and .844 SV% in Dallas. With Jake Oettinger and Scott Wedgewood still under contract for the 2024 season, Murray will most likely start the season in the AHL.
Matthew Tkachuk will not play due to an upper-body injury, so Denisenko is expected to play in his first career playoff game and 27th career NHL game. The 2018 first-round pick has seven assists in his first 26 NHL appearances.
Borowiecki announced his retirement via Instagram Wednesday after 12 NHL seasons with Nashville and Ottawa. The 33-year-old bruiser led the NHL in PIMs twice in his career which ended with 56 points (15G/41A), and 848 PIMs in 458 career games played.
