Fantasy Hockey Roundup: Gavin McKenna Sits, Winnipeg May Have Found Josh Morrissey's Replacement

Thursday is one of the most underrated nights on the NHL calendar, and this week's packed 11-game schedule delivered. While the volume made roster decisions much harder, some players soared and others left a lot to be desired. It was an offensive night to say the least, with four players recording hat tricks and two more posting four-point games.

Leading the way was Minnesota's Matt Boldy, who had been fairly quiet to start the season with three points in his first seven games. He turned things around against the St. Louis Blues with a hat trick and an assist for four points in a 5-4 Wild victory.

Jack Quinn of the Buffalo Sabres also had a standout night, helping his team erase a two-goal deficit after trailing the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2. The Sabres tied the game and went on to win in overtime, with Quinn finishing with two goals and two assists for a four-point night of his own. Brady Tkachuk, Mark Stone and Kirill Marchenko also recorded hat tricks. 

Here are the biggest fantasy hockey highs and lows from Thursday.

While Quinn and Marchenko had massive nights, it was a disappointing affair for others involved. 

Toronto's second-line center John Tavares had a great night with a pair of assists, but it ended badly when he suffered an injury after falling awkwardly and had to be helped off the ice. Without his usual center, Gavin McKenna did not take another shift from the second period on. The recent first overall pick in the draft has five points through his first eight games.

There were bright spots for Toronto as well with Easton Cowen, Darren Raddysh and hot waiver wire add Jack Roslovic all recording points, while Auston Matthews stayed hot with his sixth goal of the season.

For Buffalo, it wasn't only the usual suspects on the scoresheet as Tage Thompson had an assist and Zach Benson had two, but after Quinn, it was defenseman Mattias Samuelsson who had the big night, with a goal and an assist.

Fantasy managers who lost one of their top defensemen in Josh Morrissey over the last week received more bad news Thursday, when he downgraded to week-to-week.

They need replacements, and Neal Pionk may be the answer. He has stepped into Morrissey's role on the top pairing and power play in Winnipeg, and it has worked in spades.

Pionk helped the Jets climb out of a 3-1 hole against the Chicago Blackhawks to tie the game before Winnipeg lost in overtime. He recorded points on all three Jets goals, including scoring the opening goal. It was his second straight multi-point game, so managers down Morrissey may want to take a look.

Kyle Connor stayed hot with a goal, and Mark Scheifele added an assist. Cole Perfetti, who recently joined the two stars on Winnipeg's top line, went without a point, but he may be offering one last chance to hop on the hype train after recording eight points in seven games since joining the top line and is on track for a career year.

Florida started the season by dropping four of its first six games, but the Panthers have begun to hit their stride, and it came in a big way Thursday in a 3-2 overtime victory over a bottom-tier Vancouver Canucks team. 

Needing overtime against a club that finished dead last last season isn't something to be proud of, but the Panthers are focused on returning to the playoffs after missing the postseason a year ago.

Their stars finally broke through with newcomer Brady Tkachuk recording his second straight hat trick, giving him six goals in his last two games. Slow starters Carter Verhaeghe, Aaron Ekblad and Sam Reinhart all picked up points, Seth Jones had two assists, and Matthew Tkachuk built on his solid start with an assist for his 11th point of the season.

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