Mackenzie Blackwood is the lone New Jersey Devil that is not yet vaccinated, meaning he won't be able to play games in Canada this year. He joins Josh Archibald, Tyler Bertuzzi, Bode Wilde, and Zac Rinaldo as the known NHL players and relevant affiliated players to not be vaccinated. Bertuzzi can be knocked a bit down your draft board, while the other skaters shouldn't even be on your board to begin with. Blackwood is a special case though, in that goalies don't play every game to begin with, so of the nine games in Canada, he may have only played six of them anyways, and now the team can work around it so that he plays an extra four games in America, meaning his stock really shouldn't be affected at all over the course of the season. For weekly leagues though it does become a bit of a scheduling note, especially since he likely won't be eligible for any kind of IR designation so that you could pick up a replacement while the Devils play games in Canada.

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Last week I dove into my thoughts on a few training camp battles to watch in the West. This week I'm going to focus on the East, and what some of these battles may produce in terms of fantasy hits or misses. Getting ahead of the curve on these, and knowing which bets are the best ones to make with your late picks, those are how you can win leagues. You can lose leagues in the first few rounds of a draft, but you don't win them there. It's the middle and late rounds where you win the year.

Boston Bruins

The departure of David Krejci leaves a big hole, both for the second-line centre job as has been talked about a lot, but also on the top power play. A lot of people are just assuming that Krejci will be replaced on the top unit by Taylor Hall, but it didn't happen last year, and they are a few other options in Jake DeBrusk, Craig Smith, and Charlie Coyle. Smith's style in previous years on the power play actually best replicates what Krejci brought, and though he is more of a passer than a shooter, it's possible the Bruins try him as the last man on the top unit. Keep an eye on it through camp.

The centre spot is likely Coyle's to lose, but he isn't fully healthy yet, and Jack Studnicka has looked good in that spot during camp. It's not a sure thing that Coyle keeps the gig between Smith and Hall, as both Erik Haula and Studnicka could fill in well enough.

Columbus Blue Jackets / New Jersey Devils

I lumped these two together because I have a lot of the same points to make here. The questions around the team are: which defencemen are going to see the most power play time, which forwards will line up with the big guns, how will the goaltending be split, and how will the new additions mesh.

In Columbus, it's likely Zach Werenski on the top unit until he leaves, but Jake Bean and Adam Boqvist are both solid options there too. In New Jersey, Dougie Hamilton likely takes over on the top unit, but Ty Smith may have something to say about it. Luke Hughes is a couple years away, but it won't be long before he is in the picture too. Keep an eye on whether there is on defenceman or two on the top unit in both camps – both teams have the room and the support to make it work.

The questions around new additions for both teams make it tough to sort out exactly how things will line up. Columbus also has Cole Sillinger pushing to make the team which could give them another dynamic centre (at least until Max Domi returns from injury). Columbus has the wingers to support some scoring for a rookie centre, so he is definitely one to watch in camp. As is Jack Roslovic if he ends up with some combination of Jakub Voracek, Oliver Bjorkstrand, and Patrik Laine on his wings.

The Devils brought in Tomas Tatar, and he joins a bit of a hodge-podge of wingers that are battling to see who sticks with the top-two centres in Nico Hischier and Jack Hughes. It's the opposite problem from in Columbus, as the centres are the key to the NJ game plan, and they are both on all of the "ready to break out" lists that you'll find leading up to the season. I like Janne Kuokkannen as a bit of an under-the-radar guy who looks like he should be able to grab a top-six role to go with some offensive upside that he hinted at last year.

Florida Panthers

This team has so many options up front, they could run put together six lines and I wouldn't have much trouble throwing out line five or six any game of the week. There are going to be NHL players and top prospects that do not make this team, and/or do not get the ice time that they deserve. Five of the top six are set between Carter Verhaeghe, Aleksander Barkov, Jonathan Huberdeau, Sam Bennett, and Sam Reinhart. Based on the early pre-season lines, Owen Tippett is getting the first look there. Tippett saw some shifts at the end of last year with Bennett and Huberdeau, so him seeing time with them isn't a novel thing. Tippett does have more upside than Duclair, and wouldn't be as suited to a third line role, so it may just be an early camp thing, but it also does make a lot of sense towards creating the ideal Panthers lineup.

In the bottom-six, that leaves Duclair, Patric Hornqvist, Frank Vatrano, Noel Acciari, Joe Thornton, Grigori Denisenko, Anton Lundell, Mason Marchment, Ryan Lomberg, and a few other fourth line players battling for six spots. The first four names there should be locks. From there, Denisenko and Lundell offer the most upside, but there isn't much of a share of the offensive pie left, so the Panthers may opt to have them develop further elsewhere, and fill the ranks with players more suited to bottom-six minutes and defensive roles. For those of you in PIMs and hits leagues, keep an eye on Lomberg if he is playing regularly – two PIMs and three hits per game last season.

New York Rangers

No battle here, just want to remind you that Kaapo Kakko is on a line with Artemi Panarin and that they are clicking so far. Get on board with Kakko this year or you’re going to be too late. Ryan Strome along with Kakko are two guys to target after the top 100 picks in drafts; the plus-minus shouldn’t even be a drag this year either.

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Ottawa Senators

Will Shane Pinto make the opening night roster – yay or nay. That is the big question in Ottawa, especially after his highlight-reel overtime goal in Sunday night's exhibition win over Winnipeg. The Sens have the room for him, he looks NHL ready, and after the Logan Brown for Zach Sanford deal, there is even more room at the centre position for him to slot in as one of the top-nine options (along with Josh Norris and Colin White – or Chris Tierney if White plays wing).

An OT beauty 😍 pic.twitter.com/80issszeF0
— Ottawa Senators (@Senators) September 27, 2021

His DobberProspects profile lists him as: "A strong center who works hard and does things the right way. Pinto's skating needs some attention but the skills are there to be a strong pivot who can contribute as a net front presence on the power play". The skating looks to be much improved of late, and his PNHLe just keeps rising. He may be the long-term answer as the number-two centre behind Josh Norris, as Tim Stutzle looks more like a winger in the NHL. Pinto is one of those players to stash for immediate payoff in keeper/dynasty leagues as his stock should rise soon. He's also worth a look at the end of deeper one-year drafts, as long as plus-minus isn't something your league is counting.

Pittsburgh Penguins

The lack of high draft picks over the last decade (especially at forward) is really rearing its ugly head now with the Penguins set to begin the campaign without Sidney Crosby or Evgeni Malkin. When Brian Boyle is in camp to possibly be your second-line centre on opening night, your team has issues. The Penguins are going to lose a lot of games in the early-going, and it may be tough for them to recover after. I have them missing the playoffs this year, and it may be far enough off that they know they are sellers at the deadline.

In the meantime, you may be tempted to try to find some diamonds in the rough here as there will be opportunities up the lineup, however outside of the usual high-quality players, I may only be bumping up Jeff Carter and Danton Heinen a little on my draft board. Otherwise the players you're looking at will likely be caved in while the star centres are out, and then bumped down or out of the lineup when they (and the fantasy relevance of the team) return.

Toronto Maple Leafs

As I'm sure all of you know, the Leafs have too many NHL bodies for the spots available. I'm sure you also have your rooting interests between Michael Bunting, Nikita Gusev, Josh Ho-Sang, etc. I won't spend too much time here because there shouldn't be much left to say about the competition here that hasn't already been stated 100 times over. What is interesting to me though, is seeing William Nylander running his own line, with Tavares lining up with the guys looking to catch a break just like he did in his prime Islanders years. If the Leafs can run out three balanced scoring lines, then they may turn into even more of an offensive juggernaut than last season. The 90+ point days might be over for Tavares, but if teams key in on him then trying to defend Nylander on the third line may see him top 85 points for the first time in his career; a-la Phil Kessel on the third line in Pittsburgh. This also bodes well for a lot of plusses and secondard assists from the defencemen, especially the puck-movers like Travis Dermott and Rasmus Sandin. Keep an eye on them later in drafts while everyone is just grabbing the defencemen that hit.

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