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The season is underway with my beloved Sabres getting dominated twice by the Devils.  I'm going to start by talking about what was notable in those two games below, before looking at the games over the next two nights.  There's eight games in total between Tuesday and Wednesday, with some intriguing matchups and some possible early answers to some major questions, so I want to say what I'll be watching for from a fantasy hockey perspective.  Let's get to it!
We keep things moving in these parts with the rest of my forward rankings.  I am going to put these guys into tiers with comments on players that I think are worth discussion.  For example, I'm not going to talk about Scheifele because at this point, we know he's going to be right around a point per game with his goals coming down to how effective the Winnipeg PP is.  For the Top 40, you can read that here.  Let's get to it!
Fantasy Hockey Weekly Newsletter: Week 21 Hello everyone. Welcome to the twenty-first edition of JOT This Down! Keep the questions, comments, and concerns coming. I’ll be here all week to answer any and everything you may have.
A rare cold patch left Sam Reinhart sitting on 39 goals for almost three weeks.  On Thursday, he reached the 40 goal mark for the first time in his career, and found another to get back to second in the league in goals.  Reinhart scored two goals, one on the power play and one shorthanded, while also adding an assist with five shots in the 4-3 SO win over the Canadiens.  Is this season sustainable for Reinhart?  Definitely not while he's shooting over 25%.  That said, he's in the perfect situation to be a point per game player going forward, assuming he stays in Florida.  It seems likely he stays in free agency, but you never know if someone takes top dollar.  Regardless, Reinhart certainly won't be in my top 20 next season like he is so far this year, but I expect him to be around 50th overall for me if he stays.  He can counteract the crazy shooting percentage a bit by getting back to his usual shot rate, and Reino should remain elite on the power play.  Let's take a look at what else happened over the last two nights:
Fantasy Hockey Weekly Newsletter: Week 17 Hello everyone. Welcome to the seventeenth edition of JOT This Down! Keep the questions, comments, and concerns coming. I’ll be here all week to answer any and everything you may have. The schedule is quite wonky this week. Multiple teams only play 1 or two games and the Sharks do not have a game. After this week, the schedule goes back to normal for a while. Keep tabs on your rosters as there will be many off days, and decisions will need to be made regarding whether or not to hang on to fringe players.
Even for Nikita Kucherov, the start to this season is on another level.  Kucherov scored two goals and two assists with five shots and two PIM against the Maple Leafs, and then followed it up with a goal and an assist with six shots against the Canadiens.  That brings Kucherov to 10+12 in 13 games, including 11 in the last three games.  He also has 5+ shots in the last five games, and seven of the last nine.  This game pushes him past Pettersson for the league lead in points.  The top guys on Tampa look so much better, and I can't help but think that being eliminated in the first round of the playoffs helped them for this season.  So many long playoff runs for the Lightning that a real offseason had to do them wonders.  We can't expect this level, but Kucherov looks poised to give his 128 points from his Hart Trophy season a run for his money.  Let's take a look at what else happened over the last two nights:
Steve Yzerman can't ask for a better start from his big offseason swing.  After his first game without a point as a Red Wing, Alex DeBrincat followed it up with a hat trick and an assist with five shots in Sunday's win over the Flames.  That brings DeBrincat to a whopping eight goals and four assists in his first six games with Detroit.  He's clicked with Dylan Larkin (two goals and three assists over two games) to give Detroit an elite first line.  We've seen DeBrincat score 41 goals twice before playing with Kane, so it's not like this is completely out of nowhere.  While this shooting percentage won't last, given how much Detroit is rolling the first line, I'm expecting career highs across the board for DeBrincat.  There's a real chance Detroit plays its way into the playoff picture this season if the first line can win its matchups on a regular basis.  Let's take a look at what else happened over the weekend: