The Habs have recalled Marc-Andre Bergeron, who had six points in three games in his AHL stint. I can see Bergeron flourishing until Markov returns – and he is a very big points producer if the coach can overlook his defensive liabilities.

Seven games into the season and Eric Staal has but two points. Both of them were on the power play. He makes an excellent buy low candidate, as last year he had a huge second half (and postseason).

Nashville, as a team, have scored 10 goals in seven contests. Alexander Ovechkin, as a player, has scored nine goals in eight games.

The leading scorer on the Preds is actually Patric Hornqvist (six points). Cal O’Reilly has played two games for the team now and saw about 14 minutes per, but has yet to record a point. He’s had opportunity, too – playing with Hornqvist and either Legwand or Dumont.

For those of you who think that Nicklas Backstrom (MIN) is a great buy low candidate, you are wrong. This is not a surprise – I have stressed in the ramblings (and Guide) that the Wild won’t win as many games this season, so the Ws won’t be there for Backstrom.

The Avs still won’t make the playoffs. This 6-1-1 start reminds me of the Blue Jays back in April. Remember their start? Wow, did they ever collapse.

Milan Lucic has a broken finger and should miss a handful of games as a result. Given his style of play, I think you can expect 70 to 75 games per season for the most part – no more.

What is Chicago doing claiming Andrew Ebbett? And how did Ebbett get by Minnesota? Seriously, the Wild are down to playing ECHL players up front and they let a quality guy like Ebbett go by just because of his size? Not a good start by the new regime there. Ebbett would be a solid second liner in Anaheim had they not signed Saku Koivu. But because they signed him, they are forced to play Ebbett in a less-than-ideal role. Play him properly as a second liner and he’ll do great. Anyway, on the Blackhawks I expect more of the same – very little. He’s even more buried there than he was in Anaheim.

Oscar Moller played with Ivanans and Lewis in his season debut last night for Los Angeles. Don’t expect a lot this call up.

Alex Steen is out with a broken wrist. No big deal, as his fantasy value has waned considerably. However, David Perron saw an extra minute or so of ice time yesterday. Hey – it all adds up. Perron is still looking for his first point of the campaign. He is also a minus-4. I’m wondering if he’s going to be one of those guys who take a huge step back in Year 3, and everyone writes him off, and then he explodes in Year 4…

Phoenix line combos last game: Lombardi with Mueller and Upshall, Lang with Doan and Pyatt; Hanzal with Prucha and Vrbata.

Thornton and Heatley saw a new linemate last night – Ryan Vesce and Scott Nicholl split the duty. The team didn’t like Benn Fierraro with Marleau and Clowe, so they put Setoguchi there. Vesce scored in just 12 minutes of ice time. This news hurts Setoguchi owners. As for Vesce – he’s one of those small AHL superstarts. At 5-8, 165, he pretty much needs to score every game in order to stick. I’m not saying it can’t happen – look he’s playing with. I’m just saying it would be pretty hard.

As I noted in Puck Daddy Thursday, MacArthur is really flying as a result of Vanek’s injury. He’s clicking with Timmy Connolly and now has added PP time (thanks to Vanek) to boot.

Is David Legwand still in the league?

My article later today will center around late bloomer Matt Moulson and whether or not he is for real…