This article is part of our Hutch's Hockey series.
It's still early in the season, too early to make sweeping statements about the quality of teams. In the Eastern Conference, things look mostly normal in the standings, aside from a little bit of a slow start for the Hurricanes. That said, this is the time of year when a win or two is all it takes to make a big move.
Out west, however, there are two teams that I was particularly critical of in the preseason that have enjoyed strong starts. The Flames (4-0-1) and the Wild (3-0-2) are putting in competitive efforts and playing really good hockey, despite some still-valid concerns about their rosters. On the flip side, the Oilers, Avalanche and Predators have all had brutal starts to the year, and only the Oilers really look to be anywhere close to turning things around. It's a little strange, but it just goes to show anything can happen.
We're not even 10 percent of the way through the season. Last week, I preached patience for players with slow starts, and I still find that to be the best course of action. Take Miro Heiskanen for example. He's got no points through six games. In the long run, he'll be fine. There's a certain quality of player -- say, top-50 forwards and top-20 defensemen -- where you just have to ride out the cold spells. The fact that Heiskanen's starting the year cold makes it stand out. Same goes for Zach Hyman, Evan Bouchard and Steven Stamkos
It's still early in the season, too early to make sweeping statements about the quality of teams. In the Eastern Conference, things look mostly normal in the standings, aside from a little bit of a slow start for the Hurricanes. That said, this is the time of year when a win or two is all it takes to make a big move.
Out west, however, there are two teams that I was particularly critical of in the preseason that have enjoyed strong starts. The Flames (4-0-1) and the Wild (3-0-2) are putting in competitive efforts and playing really good hockey, despite some still-valid concerns about their rosters. On the flip side, the Oilers, Avalanche and Predators have all had brutal starts to the year, and only the Oilers really look to be anywhere close to turning things around. It's a little strange, but it just goes to show anything can happen.
We're not even 10 percent of the way through the season. Last week, I preached patience for players with slow starts, and I still find that to be the best course of action. Take Miro Heiskanen for example. He's got no points through six games. In the long run, he'll be fine. There's a certain quality of player -- say, top-50 forwards and top-20 defensemen -- where you just have to ride out the cold spells. The fact that Heiskanen's starting the year cold makes it stand out. Same goes for Zach Hyman, Evan Bouchard and Steven Stamkos. If this happens in January, it would just be a cold spell. Scrutiny is highest in fantasy in October.
The standings may still look a little topsy-turvy for a while. Most teams have some sort of obvious weakness that's already been exposed. There's also plenty of time to get things sorted out. Coaches will experiment with new line combinations until something clicks, even if that means breaking up what worked last year. Change is the only constant in sports, and while a fair amount of what we believe to be true will stay true, there's always something that will challenge our thoughts. Be open to embracing new information at this time of year -- some of it will be early-season noise created by small samples, but some of those things will become season-long trends, however inexplicable they may be.
If you need a change, a good place to look is on a team that's had injury problems early on. I'm leading off with a Utah player for the second week in a row, and it's defenseman Michael Kesselring. He picked up two goals and one assist over two games after Sean Durzi (upper body) went down with an injury that will keep him out until February at the earliest. Kesselring immediately jumped up to the top pairing, but he's not seeing much power-play time. I'm betting on that to change -- Juuso Valimaki can put up offense, but he's not consistent. Kesselring has less experience but more to prove after a 21-point campaign over 65 games in 2023-24. He's got the defensive chops with a plus-7 rating over six contests this season and can throw the body around a bit, though he doesn't block a lot of shots. He's Utah's No. 2 defenseman behind Mikhail Sergachev.
Injuries have also surfaced in Colorado, and that's made Ross Colton a top-line winger. It's likely to be a temporary gig -- his heavy-hitting style is better suited for the middle six -- but he's got six goals, one assist, 22 shots on net and 20 hits through six contests. Colton had a career-high 40 points in 2023-24 despite an average of 13:43 of ice time per game. This year, he's clocking in at over 19 minutes a game. Of the Avalanche's injured top-six options, Jonathan Drouin (upper body) is likely the closest to returning, but that's still expected to be a week or more. Colton can help even once he moves back down the lineup, though Colorado always seems to be entertaining the injury bug, so he may be able to turn his top-line turn into something more long-term.
I'll get to a goalie here early, as I like what I'm seeing from Joel Hofer. He's won three straight starts, and he made his second start in a row Saturday after shutting out the Islanders in overtime Thursday. The Blues' crease could be more of a timeshare this season than in recent years, and Jordan Binnington has been just okay early on. I drafted Binnington in a goalie-heavy league and missed on snagging Hofer later, which I'm already starting to regret. Hofer has earned three of the Blues' four wins so far, and if he keeps it up, he's worth riding as a hot hand.
With big absences for Aleksander Barkov (lower body) and Matthew Tkachuk (illness), the Panthers have had to rely on their depth. They played a man short Saturday but still got the win, and Sam Bennett played a starring role with a goal and an assist. The 28-year-old is at four goals, three assists, 26 shots on net and 19 hits over seven contests so far. He may be more of a short-term option, but Bennett can chip in 40-50 points while racking up shots, hits and PIM aplenty from a middle-six role. He's been on the top line lately, though that will change when Barkov returns. Bennett is the only Florida top-six forward who is a pending unrestricted free agent, so he has plenty of motivation to stand out.
If you're in need of more skills and less grit, Anton Lundell would be your Panther of choice. The 23-year-old has four goals and four assists through seven games, and he's added 23 shots on net and a pair of power-play points. Lundell has center and right-wing eligibility in Yahoo, as opposed to Bennett being center only. Lundell also figures to see a smaller role once Barkov is back, but he's among the Panthers' most important all-situations forwards, especially for his defensive skills.
One of the biggest surprises in the NHL this year has been the Bruins' fourth line. The trio of Cole Koepke, Mark Kastelic and John Beecher is on one to begin the season, which has been especially important for a team getting black-hole-like production from its middle six. I'll highlight Koepke here -- he has six points, 12 shots on net, 19 hits and a plus-10 rating in six contests. At 26 years old, he's a late bloomer and the oldest member of a surprisingly effective line. The Lightning let him walk after he spent most of the last two seasons shuttling between Tampa and AHL Syracuse. Realistically, the Bruins' fourth line could still drive possession effectively, but at some point, their collective shooting percentage will drop off. Koepke's worth an add in leagues that count hits, but be ready to cut ties when the stick goes cold.
I don't think anyone's forgotten about Tom Wilson, but he's available in 58 of Yahoo leagues as of Sunday afternoon. That's unacceptable. The 30-year-old winger has five goals, one assist, 12 shots on net and 13 hits through four contests, and he's scored in each of the Capitals' games. Sure, he's not on the top line -- Alex Ovechkin is being given a look on the right side, bumping Wilson down to a strong two-way trio with Pierre-Luc Dubois and Connor McMichael. If everything goes well in DC, Wilson could end the year with his second 50-point campaign, and that could come with 30 goals, 200-plus hits and 100-plus PIM. You know what to expect with Wilson at this point.
Mason Marchment is a player I have a tough time rostering in fantasy. He's streaky despite being consistently in a second-line role for the Stars. This year, he has two goals, four assists, 13 shots on net, 10 hits and a plus-5 rating over six games. Marchment is at his best when both Matt Duchene and Tyler Seguin are healthy -- Seguin's currently bothered by a lower-body injury, but Marchment has done fine with Evgenii Dadonov filling in on the second line. With streaky players, it's all about your timing. Add them at the first sign of a hot stretch and cut bait when they go cold. Marchment can be visualized in last year's game logs, as he had a hot streak that saw him rack up 13 points over nine games before immediately following it up with a drought of the same length.
Last week, I highlighted Justin Faulk as the Blues defenseman to have. Philip Broberg is quickly working into that conversation as well, with a goal, five assists and a plus-6 rating through six games. The 23-year-old defenseman never got a chance to flourish in Edmonton, and St. Louis' offer sheet in August has been a golden ticket to a breakout campaign. A first-round pick from 2019, I have minimal concern about the foundation of Broberg's breakout. He's averaging 19:42 of ice time, including 1:11 on the power play. He's already just two points shy of his career high for a season, and I could see him being a 40-point guy by the end of the year, though that won't come with a lot of non-scoring production.
Toronto's signing of Oliver Ekman-Larsson didn't really register much in the summer, but it's having a much larger impact now. He's quickly taken over the top power-play unit, and while he doesn't have a power-play point yet, he has four assists, 17 shots on net, eight hits and six blocked shots over five contests. Even with Florida's relentless attack last year, Ekman-Larsson produced a fairly routine 32 points in 80 regular-season games. He's five years removed from his last 40-point campaign and has topped 50 points just once in his career, but his current usage is making him interesting once again. Ekman-Larsson can also throw the body around, providing a bit of extra category coverage.
If you thought Vancouver's crease would be a disaster without Thatcher Demko (knee), Kevin Lankinen is cooking crow and ready to serve. Through three starts, Lankinen has gone 2-0-1 with four goals allowed on 85 shots for a .953 save percentage. He's outplayed Arturs Silovs easily, which is good news because both goalies are auditioning for the backup job as long as Demko is out. Lankinen looks like the No. 1 for now, and he may even see a decent amount of playing time after Demko's return since the Canucks' top goalie is likely to need to have his playing time managed. I'd grab Lankinen in any format now, and I'm willing to hold onto him throughout the season in deep leagues.
There's a limit to patience. For the NHL standings, I'd say about the quarter-mark of the season is where you really want to take a look at teams and believe that they are what their record says they are. At that point in the year, maybe two to four teams will make big moves in either direction over the rest of the campaign. In fantasy, the window for patience is shorter. I don't tend to do any wholesale remodeling until the end of October. Almost all of my early moves are injury-related.
There are exceptions to every rule. I took a couple of fliers on Tristan Jarry (no foreshadowing, I promise), but he's just not working out. I doubt prime Martin Brodeur would find success behind the Penguins' defense. I've already dropped my Jarry shares, and I'm also running thin on patience for Alexandar Georgiev and Adin Hill. Since I build my teams with goaltending as a priority, I tend to be more reactive if one of my goalies is playing poorly. I want that position to be set-and-forget so that I can focus on improving the bottom quarter of my skaters. That'll be the goal going into next week -- for now, enjoy Tuesday's Frozen Frenzy and the rest of the week ahead.
