This article is part of our The Daily Puck series.
Injuries blindsided fantasy owners like a Dale Hunter check on Pierre Turgeon with a couple of tough injuries over the weekend.
Victor Hedman is expected to miss four road games during Week 3 with a hand injury sustained while blocking a shot. Hedman already has seven points in four games, including five on the power play. Blueliners Jason Garrison and Anton Stralman can expect to see their power-play times increase while Hedman mends. Garrison had a strong first half for Vancouver in 2013-14 and Stralman has four assists and a plus-5 rating through Tampa Bay's first five contests.
St. Louis Blues centerman, Paul Stastny, is week-to-week with a shoulder injury, though he was also reportedly seen holding his left hand while leaving the ice. Seven St. Louis skaters took faceoffs Saturday and it remains to be seen if any particular Blues player benefits from Stastny's absence. The hottest player right now is Jaden Schwartz, who potted a hat trick against Arizona and leads St. Louis with seven points in four games.
The lone game on tap Monday features the Lightning traveling to Edmonton. Mega-prospect Jonathan Drouin was recalled Sunday and is expected to make his debut as soon as Monday. Fantasy owners can look for decent production from Drouin. He's most likely owned in all keeper leagues, but if he's been dropped in single-season pools, feel free to pick him up. He was 68-percent owned in Yahoo! leagues as of Sunday. If he clicks with Steven Stamkos, then the upside is a Nate MacKinnon-like rookie season.
Edmonton is mostly a hot mess right now and has already been talked about extensively in this space. I really have little to add except that I remember the "kid line" which included Martin Gelinas, Joe Murphy and Adam Graves. Will the current Oilers kids ever reach the playoffs, let alone win a Stanley Cup as Gelinas and company did in 1989-90?
Pittsburgh's Patric Hornqvist registered 12 shots Saturday and leads the NHL with an average of seven shots per game (28 shots in four games). First-year head coach Mike Johnston said after the game "if you're going to get 20 goals you have to get over 200 shots, 30 goals, 300 shots, the stats usually prove it out." At Hornqvist's current rate, he figures to finish with 574 shots and 57.4 goals. Seriously, the Swede could best single-season highs in both shots (275) and goals (30).
Projected Goalie Starters (all times Eastern)
For updates on the projected goalies later in the day, check our Projected Goalies Grid
Tampa Bay Lightning (Ben Bishop) at Edmonton Oilers (Ben Scrivens), 9:30 PM
Injury News For Teams Playing Monday
Tampa Bay Lightning
Mattias Ohlund, D - Ohlund (knee) was placed on long-term injured reserve Tuesday, the Tampa Bay Times reports. (10/2/2013)
Victor Hedman, D - Hedman (upper body) is expected to miss the rest of the Lightning's road trip, the team's official site reports. (10/19/2014)
Radko Gudas, D - Gudas (lower body) expects to return to the lineup Monday against the Oilers, Erik Erlendsson of the Tampa Tribune reports. (10/18/2014)
Adam Erne, LW - Erne is still awaiting full clearance to practice following his July wrist surgery, Erik Erlendsson of the Tampa Tribune reports. (9/11/2014)
Edmonton Oilers
Luke Gazdic, LW - Gazdic (shoulder) believes he is still a couple of weeks away from playing, according to the Oilers Web Site. (10/19/2014)
Viktor Fasth, G - Fasth will have an MRI on his ailing groin Friday. (10/17/2014)
Hot
Mason Raymond, LW, Calgary: Raymond was named the No. 1 star Sunday, scoring a goal and adding a pair of assists against Winnipeg. He's got five goals and seven points in seven games. Raymond will likely fall back to his half point-per-game average, but for now why not scoop him up. Paraphrasing Mitch McDeer from "The Firm" – "it's not sexy but it's got teeth." The long-time Canuck makes for a good pump-and-dump candidate.
Trevor Daley, D, Dallas: Coach Lindy Ruff is turning Daley into a nice fantasy piece. The defenseman is seeing power-play time and is making the most of it. Ancient Sergei Gonchar is expected back in a couple weeks, but does anyone really think he can stay healthy? Daley has already scored a career-high three power-play goals in the season's first five games so why not roll with him while he's got the mojo? Keep in mind that the 11th year veteran defender has never reached the 30-point plateau. In other words, don't sell out for his services.
Cold
Steve Mason, G, Philadelphia: Mason is off to a poor start, going 0-1-2 in his first four starts. He was pulled after 40 minutes Saturday after surrendering four goals on 18 shots in a game the Flyers would later win. The former Columbus phenom played pretty well in Philly last year, going 33-18-7, but his 2.50 GAA and .917 were middling. It remains to be seen how long of a leash Mason has with coach Craig Berube, but the team likely wants to avoid the slow start which plagued it in 2013-14. Mason struggled for four straight years with the Blue Jackets and has a capable backup behind him in Ray Emery. Philadelphia has a long history of icing underachieving netminders – something to keep an eye on.
T.J. Oshie, F, St. Louis: The Olympic darling has yet to register a single point on any of the Blues' 16 goals through five games. While he's taken 13 shots, which is pretty much in line with career norms, he doesn't help fantasy owners in hits (10) or blocks (4). The longest Oshie went without getting a point in 2013-14 was seven regular-season games (April 1-April 10). Fantasy owners have to hope he's due for a rebound.
Christian Ehrhoff, D, Pittsburgh: Boughs of holly danced through fantasy owner's minds when Ehrhoff signed a one-year deal with the Penguins over the summer. The Pens are averaging four goals per game, but the German has but one point, an assist, thus far. He may have to wait until one of the team's first-unit power-play men go down with an injury to unleash his potential fantasy value. Ehrhoff has been relegated to the second unit while Kris Letang has impressed coach Johnston with his point play. At least his plus-2 rating is better than the minus-27 he finished with in Buffalo last year.
Recommended Pickup
Lubomir Visnovsky, D, Islanders: New York hasn't seen the likes of an elite John Tavares type producer since … Pat LaFontaine? Tavares has put the rest of his roster on fantasy watch and even though Visnovsky is 38 years of age and even though he'll probably get hurt at some point when he comes back, he could be in line for a sweet point-per-game pace for poolies. He's owned in just 6 percent of Yahoo! leagues. At the very least, keep an eye on his progress as he prepares to return from a back injury in the coming days. Sneaky value.
