Week one of fantasy hockey is in the books. All I can say is thank goodness. The NHL’s first week of hockey games is an unbalanced schedule. I mean, the New Jersey Devils have played five games, while the Tampa Bay Lightning, Anaheim Ducks, Washington Capitals, and Carolina Hurricanes have all played just one. In head-to-head pools, this plays havoc with matchups.
I kicked some ass and got my ass kicked, all depending on the makeup of my team last week. It is a common theme in my articles – be patient and don’t overreact to early slumps or trends. That holds doubly true as we come out of week one of the fantasy hockey schedule.
Even with wacky schedules, we can pull some fascinating notes from the first week. Stash the knowledge away and start watching for emerging trends or quick fads.
Week 1 of Fantasy Hockey
Jack Eichel, C – Mark Stone, RW – Ivan Barbashev, LW, Vegas Golden Knights
The Knights’ top line is off to an incredible start. In the first three games, all three players have averaged two or more points per game. This could be a dominant line in the NHL. I’ll repeat, it could.
Stone has only reached the 65-game marker once since the end of the 2017-18 season, and Eichel hasn’t hit 70 games in five years. While Barbashev is reliable, he’s not the driver on the line.
Stone always feels like he is one hit away from missing the rest of the season (again). They are off to an incredible start, but you know injuries will sideline two-thirds of this line at some point. Enjoy this while it lasts.
Dylan Guenther, RW, Utah Hockey Club
It appears last season was no fluke. Guenther is off to a flying start with five goals on 11 shots in Utah’s first three games. He’s only averaging 15:04 in ice time. There’s a lot of room for him to grow. Buckle up, Guenther is a budding star in the NHL. Sadly, this hot start eliminates any window to potentially ‘buy low’ on him.
Mark Scheifele, C, Winnipeg Jets
Another veteran is off to a hot start with six points in the Jets’ first three games. Scheifele has been as dominant as we’ve seen him in recent years.
Rasmus Andersson, D – MacKenzie Weegar, D – Calgary Flames
Weegar supplanted Andersson from the number one power-play unit last year and already has two power-play goals this year. Anderson has two goals and five points of his own during week one. Neither player is your pure offensive power-play quarterback. I suspect there will be a window during the season for Andersson to get another look at the first unit.
Surprisingly the Flames are 3-0 to start the season. In large part due to these two.
Dougie Hamilton, D, New Jersey Devils
Hamilton is back. The points haven’t come yet but he does have 19 shots in his first five games. He’s averaging 5:25 on the power player, per game. The points will come, it is only a matter of time.
Seamus Casey, D, New Jersey Devils
Talk about making the most of an opportunity. In limited minutes, Casey has four points in his first five NHL games. As fun as his start has been, expect him to be sent to the AHL upon Luke Hughes’s return to the Devils lineup. The points are nice, but the Devils just aren’t deep enough to shelter him to 12:05 minutes per game with a 36% Corsi For. The struggles will be revealed soon enough. The AHL will do him a world of good.
Auston Matthews, C, Toronto Maple Leafs
Donuts in his first three games as Maple Leafs’ captain. Slow starts happen. Do not panic – in any pool format. This is only week one of your fantasy hockey season. Remember, he has a 16.1 career shooting percentage. Zero goals on 15 shots only means a scoring streak is coming. Just stay off X until he scores a couple of goals. Trust me on this.
Lukas Dostal, G, Anaheim Ducks
He picked up a 30-save shutout in the Ducks first game of the season. Their only game of the season so far. Ahh, the trials and tribulations of the first week of the fantasy hockey season. It’s as good of a start for Dostal as anyone could hope.j
Cole Caufield, RW, Montreal Canadiens
Barring injury, Caufield is well on his way to his first 30-goal NHL season. He’s a volume shooter, with 314 last year. He only needs a pedestrian 10 SH% to hit 30 goals (assuming he repeats his shot total from last year).
Healthy, 30 seems assured. Forty doesn’t feel like a stretch either.
Matthew Tkachuk, LW/RW, Florida Panthers
Illness has caused Tkachuk to miss the last two games and he’s expected to miss this week as well. He has to be quite sick to miss this much time. Hopefully, he will return to full strength. A bad flu or COVID-19 can have some lingering energy effects.
Nikita Kucherov, RW, Tampa Bay Lightning
He made his only game of week one count. After posting three goals and an assist in the Lightning’s only game, Kucherov looks poised to have another gigantic season. Two of those goals were empty netters, including one where he cherry-picked at the opposing team’s blueline. We can look at this two ways; artificially inflating his stats, and/or, Kucherov placed in a position to produce points every time he steps on the ice. Do we care? No.
Could he eclipse last year’s career-high of 144 points? Possibly.
Jonathan Huberdeau, LW, Calgary Flames
Like the Flames, Huberdeau is off to a hot start. His six points in three games have some wondering if the 115-point Huberdeau might be trending toward a return. I doubt he gets close to that point total, but he could see a sizeable bump from his previous two season totals of 55 and 52.
I’m watching curiously from a distance, not yet ready to believe. Hopefully, I don’t watch too long or I’ll miss any lingering opportunity to buy low.
That said, there’s every likelihood it’s just a hot start and Huberdeau flames out (pardon the pun).
Kaiden Guhle, D, Montreal Canadiens
It’s early, but he leads the NHL in blocks with 18. He was always going to be more valuable in multi-cat pools. Ideally, he develops into a Jake Muzzin type of fantasy defenceman. Someone that you rely on for hits and blocks but can help out in every category.
Tristan Jarry, G – Alex Nedeljkovic – Joel Blomqvist, G, Pittsburgh Penguins
Blomqvist was given back-to-back starts against the Detroit Red Wings and Toronto Maple Leafs. This was a little surprising considering Jarry is healthy. Even with Nedelkovic on injured reserve, the Penguins opted to start the rookie goalie over Jarry against the Leafs.
Perhaps this was just Mike Sullivan rewarding Blomqvist after winning his first career NHL game. Perhaps it speaks to their belief in Jarry.
Pittsburgh’s net is anything but set in stone. This carousel could become fascinating to watch.
That’s all for this week. Thanks for reading.
Follow me on X @doylelb4