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The Penguins trimmed their NHL roster by six players yesterday. Defensemen Owen Pickering, Caleb Jones and Jake Livanavage were among players being sent away.

That leaves the roster looking like this. Opening day rosters are due tomorrow, which means players must go on waivers today to clear in time to be re-assigned down. The Pens are at 32 players, so between further cuts or movement to injured reserve, they still must trim nine more players away from the following.

Forwards (20): Justin Brazeau*, Tristan Broz, Egor Chinakhov, Sidney Crosby, Connor Dewar, David Gustafsson, Filip Hallander, Ben Kindel*, Ville Koivunen, Andrei Kuzmenko**, Hendrix Lapierre, Blake Lizotte*, Evgeni Malkin, Rutger McGroarty, Tommy Novak, Rickard Rakell, Nick Robertson, Bryan Rust*, Elmer Soderblom, Bill Zonnon

Defenseman (9): Harrison Brunicke, Declan Carlile, Sam Girard, Ryan Graves*, Erik Kalrsson, Kaeden Korczak, Kris Letang, Ilya Solovyov, Trevor van Riemsdyk

Goalies (3): Joel Blomqvist, Sergei Murashov, Artus Silovs

‘* Injured, possibility to open season on injured reserve
‘** Currently away from team for personal reasons

—

It seems likely, based on recent action, that McGroarty, Zonnon, Brunicke and Blomqvist can all be sent to the AHL without waivers. At this point, you would think that Lizotte and Kindel will move to the IR, with potentially some, many or all of Brazeau, Rust and Graves joining them. That’s nine names right there and could be all the acitivity needed.

Beyond that, the team could designate Kuzmenko to the ‘non-roster player’ area to remove him from the 23-player list while he is in Russia on bereavement due to the loss of his father. Kuzmenko would count against the salary cap (not a big concern for the Pens) but no longer be one of their 23-players until his return. The team could also opt to put Gustafsson on waivers today if one of the names from above does not need to go on the IR.

There’s still a few more decisions and area to figure out, especially when it comes to the health questions of some of the players that are banged up, but the Pens’ roster is starting to get to the point where it is coming into focus for how things will look for the start of the season. As of now, that looks like this:

Nick Robertson – Sidney Crosby – Rickard Rakell
Egor Chinakhov – Tommy Novak – Evgeni Malkin
Ville Koivunen – Hendrix Lapierre – Bryan Rust*
Filip Hallander – Connor Dewar – Elmer Soderblom

Declan Carlile / Erik Karlsson
Sam Girard / Kaeden Korczak
Trevor van Riemsdyk / Kris Letang

Goalies: Arturs Silovs and Sergei Murashov

–

That assumes Rust is OK, but the opening night lines likely won’t last for that long. Kuzmenko won’t be gone forever, and the Pens can only hope that Lizotte and Kindel will be back soon. By the time they get back, who knows which other players might be injured in their place.

Las Vegas, N.V.– Despite outshooting the San Jose Sharks 25-5 after the first 40 minutes, the Vegas Golden Knightsentered the third period trailing 2-1. They tied it up 3:18 into the third, but in the end, the Golden Knights only scored two goals on 29 shots, and ultimately fell 4-2 to the Sharks in the preseason finale.

Them’s the breaks.

For the 10th time in franchise history, the Golden Knights do not go undefeated in the preseason. Maybe next year.

But they got what they wanted out of it. They won three of their four preseason games, and the veterans got to get their feet wet. And, most importantly, they escaped the preseason completely unscathed. There was a moment of concern in the third period when Jeremy Lauzon went down hard after blocking a shot, but in true Jeremy Lauzon fashion, he didn’t miss a shift.

Ryan Craig said it best: “I really liked our first 40. And, uh, we got out healthy in the third.”

1. Defense Wins Championships

With guys like Jack Eichel and Mitch Marner on the roster, the Golden Knights have a lot of offensive talent. However, at their core, they are a defense-first team. They always have been, and they probably always will be. 

“Vegas has always been one of the best defensive teams,” said Tomáš Hertl postgame. “We did the same thing [tonight]. We kept them to the outside, didn’t allow many shots.”

Tonight was no exception– the Golden Knights allowed just two shots in the first period, and three in the second. They allowed more shots in the third period– 12 in total– but very few were dangerous. The Golden Knights allowed only five high-danger scoring chances throughout 60 minutes, and generated 10.

2. Right Recipe, Wrong Results

Although the Golden Knights didn’t win tonight, they feel like they have a winning recipe. They did a lot of things well both defensively and offensively, and the general feeling is that, if they play that way all season, they’ll come out on the right side more times than not.

“We did a really good job of putting pucks behind their D,” said Nic Dowd postgame. “When we had opportunities to make plays through the neutral zone, we did. We hung on the pucks in the neutral zone and put pucks into good areas, and we were getting them back. And, you know, the best recipe is to go play in the ozone. 

“And line changes,” Dowd continued. “Like, we out-changed them multiple times. We had one-to-two minute shifts in the ozone. Pucks didn’t go in, but that’s just how it works in the NHL. At times, those are going to go in, and maybe you win the game 4 or 5 to 1, 5 to 2. We didn’t tonight. But again, I think we have a lot of good things to build on.”

For the most part, the Golden Knights played well tonight. They made very few defensive mistakes, and though they didn’t convert on many of their scoring chances, they had no problem generating them.

“We had a lot of looks,” said Tomáš Hertl following the loss. “If we bury a couple of them, it goes the other way. Sometimes, that’s how it goes.”

3. Next One Counts

Most teams don’t go undefeated in the preseason. Sure, some do– the 2015-16 Colorado Avalanche and the 2016-17 Arizona Coyotes, for example– but preseason is all about teaching moments.

“I actually thought we did a lot of really good things today,” said Nic Dowd following the loss. “Mistakes are gonna happen, but the good thing about that is that those are learning opportunities, right?”

The Golden Knights veterans have played in the last two preseason games, and they look ready to go. They’ve shaken off the rust and improved in the areas they wanted to.

“The things we wanted to clean up or see improvement on, especially through 40 minutes today, I thought we did,” said head coach Ryan Craig postgame. “I thought our defending, our checking habits, our break outs, all those things that we touched on yesterday, were good. And it led to the o-zone and to the offensive chances that we created. I thought those things were a real positive as we move forward here.”

The NHL season kicks off for real on Tuesday when the Golden Knights host the Chicago Blackhawks at 7 p.m. PST.

Las Vegas, N.V.– Despite outshooting the San Jose Sharks 25-5 after the first 40 minutes, the Vegas Golden Knightsentered the third period trailing 2-1. They tied it up 3:18 into the third, but in the end, the Golden Knights only scored two goals on 29 shots, and ultimately fell 4-2 to the Sharks in the preseason finale.

Them’s the breaks.

For the 10th time in franchise history, the Golden Knights do not go undefeated in the preseason. Maybe next year.

But they got what they wanted out of it. They won three of their four preseason games, and the veterans got to get their feet wet. And, most importantly, they escaped the preseason completely unscathed. There was a moment of concern in the third period when Jeremy Lauzon went down hard after blocking a shot, but in true Jeremy Lauzon fashion, he didn’t miss a shift.

Ryan Craig said it best: “I really liked our first 40. And, uh, we got out healthy in the third.”

1. Defense Wins Championships

With guys like Jack Eichel and Mitch Marner on the roster, the Golden Knights have a lot of offensive talent. However, at their core, they are a defense-first team. They always have been, and they probably always will be. 

“Vegas has always been one of the best defensive teams,” said Tomáš Hertl postgame. “We did the same thing [tonight]. We kept them to the outside, didn’t allow many shots.”

Tonight was no exception– the Golden Knights allowed just two shots in the first period, and three in the second. They allowed more shots in the third period– 12 in total– but very few were dangerous. The Golden Knights allowed only five high-danger scoring chances throughout 60 minutes, and generated 10.

2. Right Recipe, Wrong Results

Although the Golden Knights didn’t win tonight, they feel like they have a winning recipe. They did a lot of things well both defensively and offensively, and the general feeling is that, if they play that way all season, they’ll come out on the right side more times than not.

“We did a really good job of putting pucks behind their D,” said Nic Dowd postgame. “When we had opportunities to make plays through the neutral zone, we did. We hung on the pucks in the neutral zone and put pucks into good areas, and we were getting them back. And, you know, the best recipe is to go play in the ozone. 

“And line changes,” Dowd continued. “Like, we out-changed them multiple times. We had one-to-two minute shifts in the ozone. Pucks didn’t go in, but that’s just how it works in the NHL. At times, those are going to go in, and maybe you win the game 4 or 5 to 1, 5 to 2. We didn’t tonight. But again, I think we have a lot of good things to build on.”

For the most part, the Golden Knights played well tonight. They made very few defensive mistakes, and though they didn’t convert on many of their scoring chances, they had no problem generating them.

“We had a lot of looks,” said Tomáš Hertl following the loss. “If we bury a couple of them, it goes the other way. Sometimes, that’s how it goes.”

3. Next One Counts

Most teams don’t go undefeated in the preseason. Sure, some do– the 2015-16 Colorado Avalanche and the 2016-17 Arizona Coyotes, for example– but preseason is all about teaching moments.

“I actually thought we did a lot of really good things today,” said Nic Dowd following the loss. “Mistakes are gonna happen, but the good thing about that is that those are learning opportunities, right?”

The Golden Knights veterans have played in the last two preseason games, and they look ready to go. They’ve shaken off the rust and improved in the areas they wanted to.

“The things we wanted to clean up or see improvement on, especially through 40 minutes today, I thought we did,” said head coach Ryan Craig postgame. “I thought our defending, our checking habits, our break outs, all those things that we touched on yesterday, were good. And it led to the o-zone and to the offensive chances that we created. I thought those things were a real positive as we move forward here.”

The NHL season kicks off for real on Tuesday when the Golden Knights host the Chicago Blackhawks at 7 p.m. PST.

The Chicago Blackhawks put a mostly NHL lineup out to play the St. Louis Blues in the final preseason game. At the United Center, the Blackhawks defeated the Blues 3-2. 

Chicago took a 3-0 lead in the game thanks to goals scored by Anton Frondell, Ian Cole, and Roman Kantserov. The Blues later added two goals of their own but were unable to tie it. 

Frondell's goal was proof that they can rely on him to score goals from dangerous areas because of his shot. The puck popped to him in the middle of the ice, and he blasted it home. 

The Cole goal came after the Blackhawks killed a 5-on-3. He came out of the box at the perfect time to be fed for a breakaway, and he did not miss. Cole is not relied on for offense anywhere he goes in the NHL, but anything he can bring will be welcomed. 

To go up 3-0, Kantserov's goal was a sight to see. He caught the puck on the backhand and lifted it neatly to the top shelf for his first NHL preseason goal. Seeing Kantserov score goals like that is important for the Blackhawks' long-term quest to become a winning team. 

Although the Blackhawks allowed the Blues to get back into it with a late-game goal to put themselves back within one, they put together a solid effort in their final tune-up before the games begin for real. 2 of their 3 goals also came from young players that they are relying on to develop into stars. 

Chicago was outshot 31-22 by St. Louis. Spencer Knight made 29 saves on 31 shots. He appears to be ready to continue his role as the team's number one guy. 

There were plenty of penalty minutes in the game as the Blues ended with 27 to the Hawks' 17. Even in the preseason, these two teams have no love lost. When St. Louis returns to the United Center for Chicago's home opener, it will be interesting to see how physical a game it is. 

All in all, it was a solid camp and preseason for the Blackhawks. There were good moments in games, and battles ensued within the group competing for lineup spots. Before Tuesday, the Blackhawks will make decisions on what came of it all. 

Watch Every Chicago Goal

FRONDEEZY GOOOOOOOOAL 🚨 pic.twitter.com/hCjMvcp95z

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) September 26, 2026

what a BEAUTY from Ian Cole 🤩 pic.twitter.com/eQAQZOehUv

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) September 27, 2026

OUR ROMAN EMPIRE ⚔️ pic.twitter.com/dQ2jKupHWZ

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) September 27, 2026

What’s Next For The Blackhawks?

The Chicago Blackhawks are done with all four preseason games now. Next up is their regular-season opener. This will come on the opening night of the entire season, as the Blackhawks are the nightcap. They will start on the road against the Vegas Golden Knights next Tuesday night. 

Visit The Hockey News Chicago Blackhawks team site to stay updated on the latest news, game-day coverage, player features, and more.

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