Well… hopefully your weeks have been better than mine. The start of the season is always a crap shoot  as teams are finding their legs, lines are finding their rhythms, and trends have yet to be formed. I had a horrible week of picks, leaving me well below my year over year average of 64%, but if I’ve learned one thing, it’s that trusting the numbers works out in the end. I truly believe at the end of the year, I’ll be +/- 2% of that mark.

That said, I’m really liking the parity I’ve been seeing thus far around the league. Thus far, the “sure bets” from last year have been anything but. Edmonton vs Vancouver? Arizona/Colorado vs any other team? Right now it seems that any team is more than capable of winning and it’s wreaked havoc on the consistency I’m used to.

Fantasy wise, it’s around this time that I start to take a look at the free agent pool for any potential swaps. Lately I’ve been keeping an eye on Evander Kane, James Neal and Jason Pominville. Not the cream of the crop by any means, but I see some valuable short term gains and even think I may be pleasantly surprised by their point totals at the end of the year given the situations they are in. I’m going to give it another day but with the news that Nino Niederreiter is out for the next few weeks, I plan on locking one of these guys up by weeks' end. Any thoughts on who I should take? Let me know in the comments below.

As for this week's picks, I’ll admit I’m playing it a bit safe but with the record I currently have, I’m wanting to round out before I get a bit more adventurous. Here’s hoping I didn’t put too much of a dent in your wallets last weekend, and can help out more than hurt this time around.

Personal Record: 7-11 (39%)

Dobber Record: 2-4 (33%)

Toronto @ Montreal (7:00 PM EST)

Pick: Toronto – Visitor Team Victory – H

Confidence Level: 3/5

Washington @ Philadelphia (7:00 PM EST)

Pick: Washington – Visitor Team Victory – V

Confidence Level: 3.5/5

Florida @ Pittsburgh (7:00 PM EST)

Pick: Pittsburgh – Home Team Victory – H

Confidence Level: 5/5

Colorado @ Dallas (8:00 PM EST)

Pick: Dallas – Home Team Victory – V

Confidence Level: 4/5

Columbus @ Minnesota (8:00 PM EST)

Pick: Columbus – Visitor Team Victory – H

Confidence Level: 3/5

New York @ San Jose (10:30 PM EST)

Pick: San Jose – Home Team Victory – V

Confidence Level: 4/5