Your fantasy hockey review of the hot and cold teams in the Eastern Conference.

The first month of a new NHL season can be a very bizarre time for fantasy owners. The results are often skewed and need time to correct themselves. While this is happening many of us are kept up at night wondering how long it will take for our underperforming stars to get going. We’re also faced with situations where we have to make decisions whether or not to sell high on an early-season surprise or if the production rate is due to continue. While most of these anomalies return to normal fairly quickly, there are always new trends that will play a significant role in how the 2015-16 campaign plays out.

Today we will analyze teams in the East that started better than expected and three teams off to cold starts. We will look at what has stood out so far and how this impacts the fantasy landscape.

Hot Starts

Florida Panthers – The Panthers’s solid start has been headlined by the ageless Jaromir Jagr. The 43-year-old has seven points through five games and ranks among the leaders in the NHL scoring race. Since being acquired at least season’s trade deadline, Jagr has developed some amazing chemistry with youngsters Jonathan Huberdeau and Aleksander Barkov. Obviously Jagr will not continue at this pace for the full year but you should consider his age a red flag over the long haul even though he keeps himself in great shape. Any slow-down from Jagr will impact Huberdeau and Barkov accordingly.

Another interesting story is goaltender Roberto Luongo’s great start. Usually slow out of the gate, Luongo’s peripherals (1.77, .948) have been excellent despite a 2-2 record. Looking back to last year his stat line was excellent (2.35, .921) but the lack of a high win total kept him outside of the elite class. If the Panthers are able to take a step forward as a team, Luongo could be a formidable fantasy goalie this year.

Montreal Canadiens – Much has been made of the storied franchise’s first ever 6-0 start. The most impressive part is how the team has turned things around in the shots department. After finishing fourth in the NHL last year despite more shots allowed than shots for, the team has averaged 34 shots per game and just 26.5 against through six games this year. In fantasy land, when a team turns the tables in the shots battle will likely result in fewer blocked shots for the defensemen than in years past. It is too early to draw any definitive conclusions but so far no Canadiens’ defensemen have averaged more than two blocks per game. Last year, Andrei Markov (173) and Tom Gilbert (164) both had more than two per contest.

Another big factor in the team’s strong start is the balanced scoring with each of the team’s top three centers sitting at five points. This level of balanced scoring was not there on last year’s team and would do wonders if it is to continue. Unfortunately, Tomas Plekanec’s five goals are clearly an aberration as two of them have been empty netters.

Philadelphia Flyers – Heading into this year expectations were not high for the Flyers. The team is very top-heavy offensively but the production drops quickly and the blueline has not been nearly effective enough in recent years. However, the Flyers currently sport a 2-1-1 record despite scoring just seven goals.

The Flyers have benefited from signing a quality backup this summer. Michal Neuvirth has won both of his starts while replacing starter Steve Mason who was away for personal reasons. This help was not available a year ago as the team had to rely on Ray Emery and Rob Zepp when Mason was not available. Neuvirth might actually be a quality short-term fantasy starter during the year if Mason spends more time on the sidelines or if his play is not at the same high level it was been since he arrived in Philadelphia.

While the Flyers were not a high-scoring team last year, their total this year is surprisingly bad. This is mostly due to cold starts for both Claude Giroux (two points) and Jakub Voracek (one point). Both have shown in past years there is no reason to worry about them so it is only a matter of time before they start filling out the stat sheet. If their slump continues they could become solid buy-low candidates as their owners begin to lose patience.

Cold Starts

Boston Bruins – Even though the Bruins have righted the ship over the last two games, there have been cracks in the team’s armor that are major concerns moving forward. Zdeno Chara and Dennis Seidenberg, the team’s two remaining defensive pillars after moving Johnny Boychuk and Dougie Hamilton, have both seen their play decline recently and have also spent significant time on the sidelines. In fact, Chara missed the Bruins’ first two games this year while Seidenberg has yet to play and is not expected back until sometime in late November.

The more mediocre-looking defense has no doubt played into Tuukka Rask’s poor start (1-3, 4.29, .851). Once considered one of the best fantasy goalies to own, Rask’s stock has declined as the team is no longer a powerhouse in the NHL. Even if Rask can get the peripherals corrected, he will be in tough to post enough wins to rank among the league’s elite fantasy goalies. To read more on Rask, check out what Dobber had to say over at Sportsnet.

On a more positive note, David Krejci has bounced back well from an injury-riddled 2014-15 campaign and currently shares the NHL lead with nine points. Obviously he will not be able to continue putting up almost two points every game but the hot start could be enough for Krejci to finish back in the numbers range we are used to seeing from him.

Columbus Blue Jackets – The Blue Jackets have been by far the biggest disappointment in the NHL thus far, losing all six of their games. It goes without saying the status of head coach Todd Richards is in the air at this point. This was not the expected result after the team was a frequent preseason favorite to climb into a playoff spot.

The biggest culprit is goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky who received the “L” in five of those contests. From a fantasy perspective, if you own him you might as well hang on unless you are in a very shallow league and have appealing options available on the wire. You are unlikely to fare well sell Bobrovsky as he has never really been perceived as an elite goaltender, but rather a strong second-tier guy capable of getting you 30 wins and a .920 save percentage. This team is still very talented so keep him on the bench for now and ride your other goalies.

Pittsburgh Penguins – From a purely fantasy standpoint the Penguins have been an even bigger disappointment than the Blue Jackets. The team already possessed two elite centers in Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin along with some talented wingers but made a splash this summer by acquiring star sniper Phil Kessel. Through five games this group has produced seven goals.

The good news is the team has been getting a lot of shots on net with their 33.4 per game raking fourth in the NHL. Meanwhile, they have been able to keep their shots allowed (28.4 per game) in the middle of the pack despite a defense that looks below-average on paper. If they can keep this up they will be rewarded in the weeks and months to come once the offensive guns finally get on track.

There are many buy-low opportunities on this team at the moment. Even though stars like Crosby and Malkin are still seen as stars by all, the slow start could cause some of their owners to see them more negatively than they did a couple weeks ago. You should capitalize on any advantage you have as landing a superstar can instantly turn your squad into a pool winner.

The same goes with some of the Penguins’ other wingers. Once Crosby and Malkin get going, their sidekicks will get their points too. Guys like Perron, Kunitz and Hornqvist are good options to store on your bench for now. Each of them has the potential to be nice depth contributors down the stretch for your team or can be solid substitutes when your roster is hit by the injury bug.

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