We got a bit of movement in the Dylan Larkin saga as he was held out of the lineup on Thursday night to protect his health in anticipation of a trade, per Elliotte Friedman. It isn't to say that a trade is imminent, but Larkin has played his last game as a Red Wing until a trade is made. Now might be a good time to check for Emmitt Finnie on the waiver wire because he's going to get a lot of ice time and prime role moving forward – he was on the top PP unit in place of Larkin on Thursday night.

The Red Wings won their first game of the unofficial post-Larkin era by defeating the Chicago Blackhawks 4-1. Viktor Arvidsson was the star of the game with a hat trick, a PP assist, six shots, and a hit. He is now a point-per-game player on the year and has 10 points in his last six games.

Lucas Raymond (PP) scored the other goal and John Gibson stopped 18 of 19 shots for the win.

Connor Bedard scored the only Blackhawks goal and Spencer Knight gave up three goals on 30 shots for the loss.

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An update on Carolina forward Taylor Hall:

Brind'Amour said Hall will miss "another couple games." Said it's an upper-body injury.
— Cory Lavalette (@corylav) October 29, 2026

This is different than the injury that kept him out of the lineup earlier in the season, and it doesn't seem serious so that's the good news. It also means that there are now two separate injuries that have kept him out of the lineup just one month into the season.

The Hurricanes won that home game on Thursday by a 3-2 score over the Columbus Blue Jackets. Mark Jankowski, Jordan Martinook, and Logan Stankoven all scored. Including the 2026 postseason, Stankoven has 30 goals in his last 52 games played.

Seth Jarvis managed a pair of assists, three shots, and a hit. Goaltender Pyotr Kochetkov stopped 24 of 26 shots for his ninth win in nine starts. He has given up just 15 goals in those nine games.

Denton Mateychuk and Kent Johnson (PP) scored the goals for 'Lumbus.

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The Florida Panthers gave an update on forwards Aleksander Barkov and Brad Marchand:

Paul Maurice: Sasha Barkov and Brad Marchand started skating yesterday. Marchand 3 weeks out, Barkov 4
— George Richards (@GeorgeRichards) October 29, 2026

Anywhere from 3-4 weeks would put either (or both) back close to American Thanksgiving, which is on November 26^th. Sam Bennett and Carter Verhaeghe fantasy managers have about a month left of the roles those players are currently enjoying.

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Some updates on the Minnesota Wild blue line, starting with Jared Spurgeon:

Spurgeon is week to week right now.
— Michael Russo (@RussoHockey) October 29, 2026

That kind of designation leaves his return open-ended, which is relevant to our second note, this one on Brock Faber:

Brock Faber's return to play protocol has been cleared. No timetable yet, but he can start skating in a few days
— Michael Russo (@RussoHockey) October 29, 2026

There is no clear timeline for Faber, so we'll see him when we see him, but that he's been cleared at all considering that awful skull fracture injury is just good news from a health standpoint. We will see when it leads to game action, but a significant and positive step.

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Winnipeg hit the emergency button on Thursday night, splitting up Mark Scheifele and Kyle Connor. Scheifele was flanked by Cole Perfetti and Gabriel Vilardi on the top line. Additionally, Elias Salomonsson was moved to the top PP unit in place of Neal Pionk.

The changes kind of helped, as the Jets scored four goals, but the problem is they gave up six in return for a 6-4 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning. Pontus Holmberg (sure) had a huge night with a goal, three assists (one PP), and a block, while both Anthony Cirelli and Brandon Hagel had three-point nights with one goal and two helpers apiece. Hagel totaled five shots, a block, and a hit along the way, and he's up to 16 points, 55 shots, 10 blocks, and 9 hits in 12 games. He is off to a preposterous start.

Conor Geekie, Brayden Point, and John Carlson had the other goals for the Lightning. Not for nothing, but Carlson took Charle-Edouard D'Astous' role on the top PP unit for Tampa Bay's final power play on the night.

Andrei Vasilevskiy gave up four goals on 21 shots in the loss.

Pionk scored twice for the Jets and both Connor and Dylan Samberg had a goal and an assist. Pionk finished the game with four shots, a block, and four hits and he now has 9 points, 28 shots, 18 blocks, and 27 hits in 13 games as his tremendous multi-cat season rolls along.

Stuart Skinner was pulled after giving up five goals on 21 shots.

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Logan Cooley scored with one second left in the third period of Utah's game in Pittsburgh on Thursday night, tying the game 3-3 and giving him a hat trick. The Mammoth got a goal from Mikhail Sergachev in overtime to escape with the 4-3 win.

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Cooley had the three goals on five shots, adding a block and two hits. He now has six goals in his last four games.

Erik Karlsson, Rickard Rakell, and Ben Kindel (in his first game since the scary health situation last week) all scored for the Penguins. Arturs Silovs gave up four goals on 34 shots in the loss.

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The Montreal Canadiens have now won four straight games since the injury to star centre Nick Suzuki thanks to a 5-2 win in Dallas on Thursday night. Alex Newhook, in his new spot on the top line with Cole Caufield and Juraj Slafkovsky, scored twice while Caufield also had a pair of tallies. Those two goals now put Caufield above a 50-goal pace once again.

Noah Dobson had a stellar multi-cat night with a pair of assists, four shots, two blocks, and a hit. He has yet to score this year but is averaging 2.3 shots per game, a solid improvement from his 2.0 shots per game from last year.

Phillip Danault had a goal, an assist, and two shots.

Jakub Dobes wasn't overly busy but was solid in net, stopping 17 of 19 shots in the win.

Wyatt Johnston scored a PP goal and added an assist on a Jamie Benn tally in the loss. Johnston got off to a slow start this season but has 3 goals and 3 assists in his last four games.

Jake Oettinger allowed four goals on 20 shots in the loss.

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Jake Neighbours was moved to the top line for St. Louis, skating with Robert Thomas and Jimmy Snuggerud, and it seemed to work out as the Blues earned a 4-1 win at home to Boston on Thursday night. Thomas had a goal, two assists (both PP), two shots, two blocks, and two PIMs in a very good multi-cat night while both Neighbours and Snuggerud scored PP goals. Snuggerud has 18 goals in 34 games dating back to last season.

Philip Broberg had another great fantasy night with a goal, two assists (both PP), and two blocks. He now has 9 points in 13 games on the campaign.

Joel Hofer stopped 31 of 32 shots for his fifth win of the year. He has given up just 20 goals in nine starts.

James Hagens scored the lone Bruins goal and Jeremy Swayman gave up four goals on 18 shots in the loss.

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Matthew Schaefer capped off a three-points night with the OT winner in the New York Islanders' 4-3 win in Minnesota. Schaefer scored in the first period and assist on a Bo Horvat PP goal. Schaefer finished with six shots, two blocks, and a hit and is now on a six-game point streak. He has 14 points in 13 games on the year.

Adam Pelech scored the other Islanders goal. Horvat totaled three shots, two blocks, and two hits, and he stays over a point-per-game status with 14 points in 13 games.

Ilya Sorokin stopped 22 of 25 shots for his six win in his ninth start.

Quinn Hughes managed a goal and an assist in the loss while Matt Boldy and Joel Eriksson Ek also scored. Jesper Wallstedt allowed four goals on 26 shots in the loss.

Ryan Pulock was injured early in the first period and he did not return to the game.

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Cole Hutson was the standout for the Washington Capitals on Thursday night as they skated out of Nashville with a 4-3 win. Hutson scored twice and added a hit.

Alex Tuch kept his hot start going with a goal, two blocks, and two hits. Boone Jenner scored the other goal.

After posting two assists in his Caps debut on Wednesday, Jack St. Ivany had another pair of assists on Thursday night. Going back to last year, he has four multi-point games in his last 12 games. Ok?

Charlie Lindgren held the fort in net for the Caps, stopping 24 of 27 shots in the victory.

Filip Forsberg scored twice (once on the PP) for the Preds, ending with four shots, a block, and a hit in the loss. Ross Colton had the other goal and Roman Josi assisted on all three tallies, adding six shots and a block to his season totals.

Juuse Saros allowed four goals on 29 shots in the loss.