St. Louis Blues center Dillon Dube (neck) has been labeled as doubtful for Saturday's tilt against the Columbus Blue Jackets. He injured his neck in Thursday's overtime loss to San Jose and didn't participate in Friday's practice. Dube scored a short-handed goal on Thursday to register his first point of the season. Across three outings, he's averaged one hit per game in a limited fourth-line role. If Dube can't play, the Blues plan to replace him with Zach Dean. Dean has no fantasy value as a player who has been pointless in 10 career NHL appearances.

The Nashville Predators have acquired defenseman Jayden Struble from the Montreal Canadiens in exchange for a 2027 second-round draft pick. The Predators expect Struble to add "mobility and a hard-to-play-against quality" to the team's defense. Struble, who turned 25 a month ago, is in the second season of a two-year, $2.825 million contract. He was limited to 12:05 of ice time per game in three appearances with the Canadiens this season. Nashville clearly rates him higher, and there's an opening on the backline after William Trudeau (upper body) was injured. However, even after moving to Music City, Struble is unlikely to make a big enough impact to warrant fantasy consideration.

Montreal Canadiens goaltender Samuel Montembeault (lower body) will be on the shelf for 10-14 days, head coach Martin St. Louis said Friday. The 29-year-old was expected to make his season debut in Thursday's matchup with Nashville, but he was hurt in Wednesday's practice. Jacob Fowler took the crease Thursday night and will remain the second option behind Jakub Dobes for now. The Canadiens have a back-to-back next week, which could give Fowler another opportunity to play. He had a tough time against the Predators, finishing a 5-3 loss with a .833 save percentage.

Florida Panthers defenseman Aaron Ekblad (personal) rejoined practice on Friday, George Richards of Florida Hockey Now reports. Earlier this week, Ekblad became a father and didn't play in the final two games of Florida's season-opening four-game road trip. Even without Ekblad, the Panthers did well, but he'll add even more quality to the team. Across the first two games of the season, Ekblad recorded one assist and two hits while averaging 20:55 of ice time. He will likely return to action on Saturday against Minnesota on the first defensive pairing, bumping Uvis Balinskis out of the lineup.