At least for right now, both Dylan Cozens and Jack Quinn have made the Buffalo Sabres' opening roster, and Cozens looks to slot on the third line. As mentioned repeatedly over the last month or so, situations like this are to be expected. Many prospects have nowhere to play with the CHL shut down (for now) and the AHL doesn't start for three weeks – the same situation is playing itself out in Colorado with Bowen Byram. Teams keeping their top-end prospects on the roster and getting them some games in before (presumably) sending them down to the AHL is going to be common, I believe. The question is what to do about it in fantasy.

Realistically, not a lot can be done. These players aren't likely to see big minutes, or productive minutes, when around the lineup; it's not as if Jack Quinn is supplanting Sam Reinhart. We can add/drop players that we don't need but that feels unnecessary to chase 13-14 minutes a night from rookies. It will be nice to see these guys get some game action, though.

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One more time, I will re-up the 2021 Dobber Hockey Fantasy Guide, available in the Dobber Shop. Most fantasy leagues are done their drafting already but there is a lot of information in there that goes beyond just this season. There is a lot of discussion on depth charts, future values, prospect outlooks and the like. Those things have utility far beyond the first game of the season.

I would also like to thank the Dobber readers for their continued support. It is not an easy time for anyone, and we know both money and time is tight for many right now. So, thank you, it is very much appreciated.

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The NHL released a list of players currently in COVID protocols, meaning not with their teams for the time being. There are some notables like J.T. Miller, Nikolaj Ehlers, Mikael Granlund, and Kasperi Kapanen, among others. That doesn’t include the bevy in Dallas.

With Erik Johnson out of the lineup, Conor Timmins drew in for Colorado. That is an interesting wrinkle.

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Yegor Sharangovich isn't one of those players because he doesn't come from the CHL but all the same, it appears he's staying on the top line in New Jersey for now. That is a free pickup in your leagues because I can't imagine he was drafted anywhere. I wouldn't drop anyone I drafted inside the top-200 for him, though, unless it's Keith Yandle.

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Cam raised a good point in his Ramblings yesterday: with Nils Höglander, er, landing on Horvat's line, it will probably be up to Elias Pettersson to take the top matchups from the opposition. Not for nothing, but Pettersson is pretty good defensively as well so I think he's up to the task. I do think this could be good for Pettersson. It is not as if he's matchup up with Patrice Bergeron or Anze Kopitar every night. He's matching up with Connor McDavid, Sean Monahan, Mark Scheifele, and the like. All good-to-great offensive players, none being great defensive players. It could be a good thing for Pettersson if this leads to more minutes overall.

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For now, it seems Joel Quenneville is sticking with breaking up Huberdeau and Barkov, and that's an absolute nightmare for fantasy owners.

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The Flyers' depth did all the damage as Joel Farabee put up a goal and three assists with Nolan Patrick and James van Riemsdyk each contributing a goal in Philly's 6-3 win over Pittsburgh. It was a fairly slow game which is probably to be expected from a lot of teams, especially older ones, this year.

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William Nylander had a pair of goals in Toronto's 5-4 overtime win over Montreal. Morgan Rielly scored the OT winner. His line with John Tavares, particularly on the power play, looked dangerous most of the night.

We got a two-goal game from Josh Anderson in his Montreal debut, no better way to start his stint. His centre, Nick Suzuki, added a goal of his own. Both players looked great and if they can be a legitimate scoring line behind one of the best even-strength lines in hockey, it changes the outlook for this entire franchise.

Alexander Romanov finished second in TOI among Montreal defencemen with nearly 23 minutes, adding an assist with three shots and four blocked shots along the way. He looked, legitimately, very good. His assist was a nice stretch pass to Tomas Tatar for a breakaway and he had several noticeable outlets. He, along with the second line, are what makes this team different from last year.

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Now that draft season is more or less behind us, I get to talk about my fantasy teams. So, I want to talk about a handful of players I have drafted most often.

Pierre-Luc Dubois

He was drafted to three out of four best-ball teams I did and had I done more, I probably would have gone even higher. In a couple of them, he was paired with Oliver Bjorkstrand. Regardless, I think Dubois gets to 19 minutes a game next year and playing with Bjorkstrand, that should be enough to push him close to 50 points in 56 games. When looking at what Dubois brings across the board in hits, shots, and even blocks, he becomes even more valuable. If the power play can come together, maybe a special season is in store. We will see.

Patrik Laine

I am not an owner in my keeper leagues, but I am an owner in nearly every other league I drafted this year. I will be honest and say I'm not sure why I have so many shares of him because he wasn't necessarily a big target of mine. It was just that I had him rated higher than where he was often going and I wasn't going to pass up the value. Putting a lot of eggs in one early-round basket may be a mistake but I would rather bet on a young, proven, elite goal scorer than just about anyone else.

Kirill Kaprizov

Not one to normally be very high on rookies, I had Kaprizov ranked as basically a 10^th-round pick this year in 12-team multi-cat leagues. For a comparable, picture someone with about the similar production of Nikolaj Ehlers. The reason for that is his production elsewhere, his age, and his expected role. Regardless with whom he plays, there's a chasm of difference playing 18-19 minutes a night on the top line for any team, and playing 13-14 minutes a night on the third line for any team.

Shea Weber

The injury issues are a problem and are probably why Weber kept falling as far as he did in drafts this year. But he still played 65 of 71 games last year and if he misses 4-5 this year, it's not a big deal. Even at the age of 35, there aren't a lot of players in the fantasy game who can do what Weber does. Combine that with an improved roster around him in a soft defensive division, and I think we see one last hurrah from Weber in this shortened campaign. At least, that's what I'm betting on.

Rasmus Andersson

This was a guy we've talked about at Dobber – along with Noah Hanifin – as the potential PP1 replacement for Calgary. It looks like it will be Andersson, and he was incredibly cheap all through the draft season. Whether he's ready for the role or not doesn't matter – I will always draft a fifth or sixth defenceman who is due for a TOI increase and top PP minutes. If he falters, his replacement in Hanifin may already be on the waiver wire himself.

Anton Khudobin

With Dallas's COVID-19 issues, many of their players fell in draft stock over the last week. One of them was Anton Khudobin and I was happy to reap the rewards. The condensed schedule likely means more back-to-backs for Dallas now and that could hurt his value, but with Ben Bishop injured, Khudobin has a firm grip on the starting job and Dallas has some weak teams in the division like Detroit and Chicago. Not that I think Khudobin is a lock top-10 goalie or anything, but I was often able to get him as my second goalie, and that's a risk worth taking.