Standings:
Montreal is off to a franchise best start with a 7-0 record out the gates. Price has been outstanding; Pacioretty and Plekanec lead the way offensively with five goals each. Both Gallagher and Galchenyuk have been chipping in with a goal and five assists each. Price has two shutouts, a .966 save % and a 1.00 goals against average; beastly. You have to give credit when it’s due, and the Canadiens have been a force in the early going of this season. I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised to see them 9-0 by weeks end.
Keep an eye out for teams that score a lot of goals. That usually pays off in the fantasy world as you may have some secondary scoring from those teams that other teams don’t. Dallas for instance is off to a great start this season, 5-1 with 21 goals for in those six games. It seems that Niemi and Lehtonen have been rock solid so far, keeping the Stars on track in their winning ways. Seguin and Benn lead not only Dallas in points with 10, but the NHL scoring to boot. Surprisingly Nichuchskin still hasn’t got himself a point this season; if you have him on your roster, I’d certainly consider dropping him for someone who’s hot and keeping an eye on Nichushkin.
Patience is part of fantasy, quite often if you have none; it will be your downfall. But there is a big difference between patience and being stubborn. Right now Anaheim has five goals in as many games, Los Angeles has six goals in five games and Philadelphia has eight goals in 5 games. These are teams that usually produce a lot more than they are right now, so give Giroux/Voracek some time to get into the groove. Don’t worry about Perry and Getzlaf, they will get it going, and Lucic-Kopitar-Gaborik has to get it going eventually you would think. Be patient, but eventually you may have to move on; even if you don’t want to.
Calgary and Columbus are off to very shaky starts considering how last season went. It’s concerning. So much that Columbus has fired their coach after going seven straight games with a loss in each of those contests. Yikes…even more worrisome; Tort’s is coming in to coach!
Key Fantasy Injuries:
Simon Despres (upper body) – DTD Robin Lehner (ankle) – December TJ Brodie (hand) – week to week James Wisniewski (knee) – April Duncan Keith (knee) – 6 weeks Tyson Barrie (*suspended – October 27) Johan Franzen (concussion) – N/A Pavel Datsyuk (ankle) – Mid November Jordan Eberle (shoulder) - Early November Ryan Ellis (lower boder) – DTD Patrik Elias (knee) – Indef. Clarke MacArthur (concussion) – DTD Logan Couture (ankle) – Late November Paul Stastny (lower body) – DTD Kevin Shattenkirk (lower body) – DTD Robby Fabbri (concussion) – Indef. Patrik Berglund (shoulder) – Early January Andrei Vasilevskiy (upper body) – Early December Tyler Bozak (lower body) – DTD Jacob Markstrom (hamstring) – End October
Starting Goalies:
(TOR) Bernier VS (BUF) Johnson (PHI) Mason VS (BOS) Rask (DET) Mrazek VS (EDM) Talbot (CAR) Ward VS (COL) Varlamov
*italics is probable, bold is starting*
Hopefully everyone is doing well in their fantasy pools so far.
Any questions, thoughts or idea’s feel free to ask.
Thanks for reading.