There are 11 teams playing their season openers tonight, including three all-Canadian matchups. Here are fantasy hockey roster notes for all 12 teams in action.
Boston Bruins
Pavel Zacha will be the top center, so fantasy managers who drafted him expecting him to be No. 1 can breathe a sigh of relief. Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak will be split up, but don’t be surprised if they’re re-united in certain situations. James van Riemsdyk will play with Zacha and Pastrnak, but the 34-year-old winger who scored 12 goals last season has close to zero fantasy value, so forget about him. That left wing spot will feature a rotating cast all season.
Neither Matt Poitras nor Johnny Beecher will have any fantasy value, but it’s worth noting two rookies will be the Bruins’ bottom-six centers. They impressed during camp and what was a strength last season – center depth – is now a huge question mark going into the season. For what it’s worth, public models have the Bruins still finishing with around 100 points in the Atlantic, but I’m definitely taking the under.
Ian Mitchell, acquired from the Hawks in the Hall/Foligno trade, is the extra ‘D’. Even if he draws into the lineup, his usage on the power play will be limited with Charlie McAvoy, Hampus Lindholm and Kevin Shattenkirk ahead of him on the depth chart. A second-round pick in 2017 who flashed PP QB potential, Mitchell, 24, is running out of time to secure a regular role in the NHL.
Calgary Flames
Matt Coronato switched his number from No. 39 to No. 27, the number he wore in the USHL and for Team USA at the 2023 World Championships. It’s a clear signal he’s made the team and secured a top-six and PP1 role after an outstanding preseason with seven points in six games. He’s immediately become dark horse in a loaded Calder race, and he’s at the top of the list because of his playing time. Coronato is a breakout candidate and worth rostering right now.
As an aside, Oliver Kylington will open the season on LTIR. The second-round pick from 2015 sat out the entire 2022-23 season for personal reasons, and following medical and fitness testing at training camp was deemed “unable to participate.”
Carolina Hurricanes
It looked like the Canes would go into the season carrying three goalies, but that won’t be the case after Pyotr Kochetkov was assigned to the AHL on Monday. This is surprising because the Canes do not have an AHL affiliate this season after the Chicago Wolves decided to go independent.
Kochetkov has been assigned to Syracuse, the AHL affiliate for the Lightning, who are short on goalies with only four under contract, including the injured Andrei Vasilevskiy. You have to think that whatever agreement the Canes and Lightning came to includes guaranteed playing time for Kochetkov, who will share the net with Lightning prospect Hugo Alnefelt.
This leaves Frederik Andersen and Antti Raanta in net, and their fantasy values go up without having to share the net with Kochetkov. Roster both Andersen and Raanta, if you can, and both are going late in drafts due to their lack of playing time last season. They are injury risks, but the quality of starts is excellent.
Don't forget to start Tony DeAngelo, who was featured in my Week 1 primer. He will run PP1 with Brent Burns. Also noteworthy: Seth Jarvis and Michael Bunting are both PP1. The Canes have always preferred to have two balanced units, but that may change this season, at least until Andrei Svechnikov returns.
Chicago Blackhawks
The final tally for Connor Bedard: 21:29 TOI, 1 assist, 5 shots, 1 block. Other than a tentative first shift, that was a nice debut for Bedard. Luke Richardson clearly isn't hesitating to send him out there at nearly every opportunity.
From a fantasy standpoint, this is a good development, but after going 2-for-13 in the dot, this is a stark reminder that this will not be Bedard's finest season. He's going to be awful in the dot and in his rookie season will not realize his vast potential just yet. He's much more valuable in keeper leagues and more of a depth scorer in redraft leagues.
As noted in Tuesday's notes, Ryan Donato reaps most of the benefit playing on the top line, and he responded with a goal and four shots in 18:22. He ended up nine draws, and it wouldn't surprise me if Bedard shifts to the wing at some point, giving him additional position eligibility. That Richardson kept letting Bedard take draws, however, shows the Hawks are committed to his development.
This is the second game of a back-to-back, so expect Arvid Soderblom to get the start. Petr Mrazek looked surprisingly good against the Pens making 38 saves. His health and consistency will be the biggest concerns going forward.
Colorado Avalanche
The Jonathan Drouin redemption tour will indeed be happening after scoring four assists in four games during the preseason. He’s slated to open the season alongside Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen, giving Drouin a golden opportunity to pile up the apples. If he can’t take advantage, then he will be written off in fantasy forever.
That leaves Ryan Johansen between Valeri Nichushkin and Artturi Lehkonen. Johansen has excellent sleeper value on this line and playing on PP1. MacKinnon’s unreliable in the dot, which means Johansen’s going to have a ton of value in leagues that count power-play points and faceoff wins.
Ivan Prosvetov was claimed off waivers on Monday and he will battle Justus Annunen for the backup gig. Annunen is exempt from waivers, and despite his solid AHL numbers has hardly been able to stop any pucks in the NHL. Prosvetov is the safer streaming option should he draw the start.
Finally, as expected, Gabriel Landeskog was placed on LTIR. He missed all of last season and slated to miss the entire 2023-24 regular season as he recovers from a knee cartilage transplant. The “regular season” is an important distinction because the Avs sounded hopeful for Landeskog’s return in the postseason. There’s no point in stashing Landeskog in redraft leagues since fantasy leagues do not include the NHL playoffs.
Edmonton Oilers
Connor McDavid is the undisputed top player in fantasy hockey, no matter the settings. He scores at a much higher rate than everyone else, and their top six is even better this season with the addition of Connor Brown and (hopefully) a full season from Evander Kane. However…
The Oilers are projected to be slightly over the cap, which brings some interesting wrinkles. As per PuckPedia, the Oilers currently have 11 forwards on the team, not counting rookie Raphael Lavoie, who cleared waivers, or Sam Gagner or Adam Erne, who were invited to camp but not yet signed.
This is the Oilers own doing, and come Wednesday when they open the season in Vancouver, it’s still unsure what their lineup will look like. They’re carrying eight defensemen, but Mattias Ekholm and Markus Niemeläinen are nursing injuries. It’s possible they play the opener with just 17 skaters.
This puts Stuart Skinner and Jack Campbell in a hot pickle because the Oilers aren’t good enough defensively to cover up a lineup that’s one skater short. Their timeshare is going to be interesting, too, because Campbell (0.99 GAA, .971 SP) has clearly outplayed Skinner (2.66 GAA, .886 SP) during the preseason, and Jay Woodcroft has not named his starter for Wednesday’s season opener. One is not more valuable than the other in fantasy, and the best option is to roster both. Campbell, however, is going lower in drafts and offers way better value, and he’s not going to be a $5-million backup forever. The Oilers will find excuses to play him.
Los Angeles Kings
All eyes will be on Quinton Byfield, who resumes his role on the top line with Anze Kopitar and Adrian Kempe. To have any sort of fantasy value, Byfield needs to increase his shooting rate and get more ice time.
The addition of Pierre-Luc Dubois pushes Phillip Danault down the depth chart and likely hurts his fantasy value. Danault was a surprisingly good source of offense, but he’s definitely in a matchup role now. Dubois will get Kevin Fiala on his left wing and rookie Alex Laferriere on his right wing, though that may only be temporary with Arthur Kaliyev sitting out the first two games due to a suspension. I would wait and see with Laferriere and see what kind of minutes he plays before jumping on an unproven young player playing in a really good spot.
The Kings were expected to carry three goalies into the season but that's no longer the case. Cam Talbot is the starter, backed up by Pheonix Copley and David Rittich will be the third-string with AHL Ontario after getting waived. Talbot likely has the most value, but there's just no way the Kings enter the postseason with a shaky Talbot-Copley tandem, do they?
When Brandt Clarke was assigned to the AHL ahead of Jordan Spence, the assumption was that Spence had made the team. That's not the case as the Kings will enter the season carrying just six defensemen for now. That means Andreas Englund and Tobias Björnfot will play on the third pair, and Drew Doughty's status as PP1 QB is unchanged.
Montreal Canadiens
No matter how the top six shakes out, Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield are the only two players really worth rostering. It looks like Josh Anderson will be their right winger, but we've seen enough of Anderson to know he's not relevant in fantasy.
Kirby Dach and Alex Newhook might have some sleeper value, but Dach doesn’t shoot the puck enough and Newhook’s fantasy value will depend on where he plays in the lineup. Juraj Slafkovsky's the right winger on this second line and there's some intrigue, but we just haven't seen enough offense to place any sort of value on him in fantasy. Newhook, however, is likely going to set career highs due to increased playing time.
Note Mike Matheson is really under-rostered in fantasy leagues. He scored 34 points in 48 games last season, and while he’s unlikely to match that pace this season, he’s their top option on the power play. Justin Barron and Kaiden Guhle might eat into his playing time, but Matheson’s the most trusted of the bunch and offers multi-category coverage with his blocks and hits as well.
Ottawa Senators
As noted in the Week 1 primer, look for Ridly Greig to make some headlines. Josh Norris’ return date is unknown and Shane Pinto remains unsigned, which means Greig will be the No. 2 center. As a short-term streamer, Greig is an excellent option because he can score, dish out hits and win draws.
But talk about poor asset management; the Sens are expected to play with just 11 forwards with Zack MacEwen day-to-day with an upper-body injury. The Sens are in such a good position to make the playoffs but they're playing with one hand tied behind their back right off the bat.
How they’ll divvy the minutes on the power play will be interesting, but it looks like Thomas Chabot still has the hold on PP1. Jake Sanderson showed very well in that spot last season but he’ll be on PP2 with Jakob Chychrun, with Chychrun skating with Chabot at even strength. Whoever quarterbacks the power play will have the most fantasy value, and that means Chabot. Whether or not that is the right decision under D.J. Smith is debatable, but fantasy managers are not the ones making decisions behind the bench.
Toronto Maple Leafs
We knew Matthew Knies would be an excellent sleeper this season given his potential and what he showed in the playoffs last season, but the biggest surprise at camp has been Fraser Minten, the 38th overall pick in 2022 who scored four points in six games during the preseason and drew heaps of praise from Sheldon Keefe. The 19-year-old certainly has been impressive, but we need to see him in the regular season first before providing a proper analysis of his fantasy value. Minten and Knies are expected to play on the third line together.
The idea of William Nylander at center was a little ridiculous to begin with, but it’s something Keefe will certainly keep in his back pocket. There’s some value in Nylander getting C eligibility in fantasy, but he’s expected to open the season back on the right wing with John Tavares. That can only be a good thing considering how well they worked together last season, and why fix what isn’t broken?
John Klingberg will open the season as the PP1 QB. This is the reason why they signed Klingberg, and it takes some pressure off Morgan Rielly, but you wonder about chemistry. Erik Karlsson struggled at times quarterbacking the Pens' PP1 on Tuesday, and chemistry takes time to build. Klingberg can be a good source of power-play points, which means Klingberg's fantasy value goes up while Rielly's declines, but not enough to drop him onto the waiver wire.
Vancouver Canucks
The Canucks were looking to improve with Rick Tocchet getting a full training camp to prepare. They beefed up their blueline and Thatcher Demko is healthy.
But it wouldn't be the Canucks without drama. Yesterday, Conor Garland confirmed that he has switched agents and reports indicate the Canucks have given permission for Garland's agent to seek a trade. The Canucks have been trying to deal Garland for more than a year but his contract has been a huge impediment and the Canucks have little leverage with no cap space.
With that in mind, it now makes a lot more sense why Garland was on the top line with Elias Pettersson and Andrei Kuzmenko, something he hasn't done a lot during his Canucks tenure. Are the Canucks showcasing Garland for a possible trade? If that's the case, as with Cody Hodgson a decade ago, there's some short-term fantasy value if the Canucks are going to put Garland in offensive situations to give his numbers a boost.
The other top-six winger to keep an eye on is Phil Di Giuseppe, who will open the season on J.T. Miller's left side and opposite Brock Boeser. Di Giuseppe is the third wheel, but he's meshed well on that line and might have some sneaky fantasy value in really deep leagues. He scored 12 points and dished out 52 hits in 30 games last season.
The most noteworthy addition is Filip Hronek, who played four games for the Canucks last season after being acquired from the Wings, and finally gives the team a capable right-handed defenseman. He’s projected to start the season next to Quinn Hughes, giving the Canucks a bona fide top pairing, and handle duties on PP2. Considering Hronek’s scored at a 44-point pace over the past two seasons with multi-category coverage in shots, blocks and hits, he can be a sneaky good add in deep leagues.
Winnipeg Jets
On the eve of opening night, Connor Hellebuyck and Mark Scheifele signed identical seven-year extensions. That brings a lot of clarity to the Jets’ future, and also locks in Gabriel Vilardi as an excellent sleeper pick as Scheifele’s right winger on the top line.
Nikolaj Ehlers, meanwhile, was spotted playing on PP2, signaling another season of limited ice time under Rick Bowness. Ehlers tops the list of players who are much better in real life and not in fantasy.
