With all of the Boston injuries to start the season, there was no easing David Krejci back into the NHL after a year in Czechia. In the season opener, Krejci delivered and then some. He scored a goal and two assists, one of which came on the power play, in the 5-2 win over the Capitals. Krejci went right onto the first power play unit and was excellent on the second line with David Pastrnak (goal, three assists, six shots) so as long as you’re okay with below average shots, you can hold Krejci. Let’s take a look at what else happened over the last two nights:
Igor Shesterkin – 25 saves on 26 shots in the 3-1 win over the Lightning. Prince Igor picked up right where he left off last season. Absolute monster.
Mika Zibanejad – Two goals on nine shots. He played over 23 minutes and while part of that was Vitali Kravtsov getting injured early, Zibanejad was dominant. You love to see the massive shot total early.
Vincent Trocheck – Four shots, two PIM in 22 minutes of ice time. He didn’t turn anything into points, but Trocheck was solid in his Rangers debut.
Alexis Lafreniere – Four shots, four hits. He’s moving into the top six with Kravtsov out which is a nice boost to his short term value.
Alex Pietrangelo – Two assists with two shots. I’m a bit skeptical of Pietrangelo this season, but it was nice to see him get a primary power play assist early in the year.
William Karlsson – Goal and an assist. Despite moving onto the third line, Karlsson played over 17 minutes. I’m not really looking to hold him though.
Chandler Stephenson – Two assists. I don’t doubt he’ll put up plenty of points, but I’m not really looking to own Stephenson because of how poor the shot rate is.
Jack Eichel – Goal on seven shots. He was quite noticeable in a good way which is great for the Golden Knights.
Gabriel Vilardi – Goal and an assist. I really liked Vilardi in this game, but it’s hard to see a path to him getting the minutes necessary to be a hold I have him as a bottom end streamer but could go up a bit from there.
Kevin Fiala – Two penalty minutes and two shots. Fiala had a rough debut, but I’m not putting much into it.
Patrik Laine – Goal on two shots before leaving the game with an arm injury. Here’s to hoping it’s not serious because I’m all in on Laine this season.
Martin Necas – Goal and two assists with two shots. Necas has been somewhat of a forgotten guy this offseason after a disappointing 2021-22, but he’s still only 23 years old. He’s a solid streamer with upside.
Frederik Andersen – 31 saves on 32 shots in the 4-1 win over the Blue Jackets. Carolina goes to the West Coast right away which isn’t ideal, but I’m starting Andersen in every matchup this year.
William Nylander – Goal and an assist with five shots. I fully expect Nylander to repeat last season’s point per game level.
John Tavares – Two assists with three shots. I do expect this line to succeed more than last season, partially due to better shooting luck, better goaltending when they’re on the ice, and just thriving against second lines.
Matt Murray – 19 saves on 23 shots in the 4-3 loss to Montreal. Not great, Bob! I can’t really blame Murray for three of the goals and maybe not the other, but I don’t expect games like this to be rare.
Cole Caufield – Two goals on five shots. Caufield turned his game completely around when St. Louis took over. His goals were both incredible shots. I can’t wait to see how him and Nick Suzuki (two assists, three shots) manage with the team they have behind him. They may be good enough to perform well despite going against top competition.
Mikko Rantanen – Four assists with three shots. The Avalanche first power play unit scored four times, which led to Cale Makar and Nathan MacKinnon each having two assists. Valeri Nichushkin scored two goals on five shots, while Arturri Lehkonen scored two goals and an assist while adding two PIM. I’d like to thank Lehkonen for the great start as he was my #1 late target this year. On another note, man, Chicago is bad.
Alexandar Georgiev – 15 saves on 17 shots in the 5-2 win over the Blackhawks. Meh. Hard to judge anything from this game. I’ll have more on Georgiev over the next week.
J.T. Miller – Goal and an assist with two shots. The rest of the top Canucks players each had a point. It was extremely disappointing for Vancouver to blow a 3-0 lead, but nice to see their big guns perform right away.
Andrei Kuzmenko – Goal on four shots. Kuzmenko was solid in his debut, looking completely in sync with Pettersson and on the first power play unit. He’s an elite streamer right now.
Connor McDavid – Hat trick with an assist, five shots and four PIM. Leon Draisaitl had a goal and two assists with two PIM. Safe to say these guys aren’t missing a beat.
Zach Hyman – Two assists with two shots playing over 21 minutes. While I’m not as all in on Hyman as I was last season, I still am a big believer and own him on most of my teams. He just fits perfectly with superstars and was on the top PP unit.
Darnell Nurse – Goal and an assist with two shot and two PIM. While his assist did come on the power play, it was with an empty net. He didn’t really get any other PP time, so keep that in mind going forward.
Jack Campbell – 33 saves on 36 shots in the 5-3 win over the Canucks. Campbell was quite good in this game. There could be quite a bit of games like this for Campbell this year.
Justin Schultz – Two assists with two shots. If you’re in need of power play points, Schultz should be a factor there.
Matty Beniers – Goal and an assist with four shots. I want to see more of Seattle against a team better than Anaheim, but I may have undersold Beniers’ upside this season. I would hold him even in shallow leagues.
Andre Burakovsky – Goal on five shots. Oliver Bjorkstrand had a goal on seven shots playing over 21 minutes. Both of them looked quite good in their Kraken debuts. I want to see if this minutes distribution holds going forward, but Bjorkstrand could be a big value if he gets big minutes regularly.
Troy Terry – Two goals and an assist with four shots. He had instant chemistry with Ryan Strome (1+2, 2 SOG) and Mason McTavish (2A, 3 SOG, 2 PIM). Terry is an easy hold. McTavish is borderline but I’m holding for the upside. He’ll need to get PP2 time at least for him to have a chance to stay a hold for this season. Strome is right on the fence for me depending on team needs.
Trevor Zegras – Goal and an assist with two shots. Great to see Zegras start on the right foot after the big hit he took in preseason.
John Klingberg – Two assists. He played 25+ minutes, but contributed no shots, no hits, and no blocks. Meh. Klingberg is a hold, but don’t have big expectations.
John Gibson – 44 saves on 48 shots in the 5-4 OT win over the Kraken. Gibson was absolutely incredible in this game despite giving up four goals. This is why I was very low on Gibson. Even if he plays his best, the GAA can be rough. And if the Ducks are getting dominated in terms of possession by the Kraken, they could be in trouble on a regular basis. Going on a five game road trip after this game isn’t ideal either.
That’s all for now guys. I’ll be back on Friday recapping the action from Thursday night. As always, feel free to ask any questions, leave any comments, or give any suggestions below. I’ll be travelling from about 11 am to 3 pm EST tomorrow, so if you ask something then, I’ll be sure to answer it by 5 pm. Thanks for reading, take care!
