We've officially hit that point in the season where fantasy hockey GMs are starting to get frustrated with underperforming players. Whether it's Marc-Andre Fleury, Mitch Marner or Roope Hintz, now may be the time where fellow GMs are willing to accept a bargain offer for a player that is really struggling. The key is targeting a player you think is just going through a slump and will eventually bounce back, while providing you great value for the rest of the season. It's not often you can get an impact player or potential keeper for pennies on the dollar, but after a couple of lost matchups there will be a lot of desperate fantasy owners.

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Speaking of Marner, the Toronto Maple Leafs winger is still stuck on only one assist on the season. To make matters worse, Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe juggled his lines Monday night, splitting up Marner and Auston Matthews. That's not great news if you're a Marner owner, as the best way for him to break out of his slump and get you maximum value this year is if he stays with Matthews.

Marner skated with Alex Kerfoot and John Tavares against the Carolina Hurricanes, and while that's not a bad spot, it was evident points will be harder to come by. Marner set up Kerfoot for a breakaway and he couldn't finish and while Tavares is still a good player, he's not the guy that scored 47 goals playing with Marner a few years ago. There's a good chance Marner will eventually be re-united with Matthews at some point and it's more likely than not that he still finishes with 80-90 points, but it may take him some time to break out of this slump.

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Filip Hronek was scratched twice last weekend for the Detroit Red Wings. It's a disappointing fate for Hronek this early in the season, as the defenseman is usually good for hits, blocks, PIMs and even chips in with the odd power play point. The Wings are off to a decent start and have a handful of players providing decent value, but it doesn't look like Hronek will be joining in on the festivities.

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It sounds like Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Kris Letang could miss some time after a positive Covid test. If you're looking for a temporary replacement, Marcus Pettersson is likely going to see an increased workload to the 19 minutes a night he's averaging and he's coming off a big 3-point game Saturday against the Leafs. He definitely won't replace Letang's offensive production, but if your league counts plus/minus he can help you there. Pettersson leads the league with a plus-10 rating.

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John Carlson scored his first goal of the season Monday night in a 7-5 win over the Ottawa Senators, but there's still reason to be concerned about the Washington Capitals defender. That was only Carlson's third point of the campaign, despite an explosive offensive start for the Capitals. Washington has had games with four, five, six, and seven goals this season and Carlson is still playing a ton, averaging over 23 minutes per game.

One thing that could help Carlson's numbers is the eventual return of Nicklas Backstrom giving the power play boost. Washington only ranks 25th with the man advantage right now.

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Brian Elliott figured to be a great stream option Monday against the Buffalo Sabres, but once again, a Tampa Bay Lightning backup goalie doesn’t deliver. Last year it was Curtis McElhinney, who struggled all season to the tune of an .875 save percentage and tonight Elliott posted a mark of .870. You'd think streaming a backup on one of the league's best teams would be a wise option, but it just hasn't worked out for some reason for the last two years in Tampa. By bringing Elliott in it seemed like Tampa’s plan was to give the overworked Andrei Vasilevskiy a few more nights off this season. Though if Elliott turns in efforts like he did Monday against Sabres with regularity, it’s going to be tough to get Vasilevskiy some extra rest.

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It's been boom or bust for Oliver Bjorkstrand this season. In his six games, the Columbus Blue Jackets forward has been held off the scoresheet in three of them, but with two points Monday against the Dallas Stars, he's totaled nine points in the other three. Bjorkstrand's career high for points is 44, but I think he's got a chance to hit 70 this year playing in a rejuvenated Blue Jackets top-six.

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It was so weird watching Erik Karlsson just get passed over time and time again in drafts this year before finishing with an ADP in the late 13th round. It's not that his draft spot wasn't justified based on last year's awful campaign, but it's just something about a big name like that being overlooked that doesn't feel right. It wasn't long ago where he would've easily been one of the first few defensemen off the board.

Karlsson, though, looks like his old self again, posting six points in the first five games. Amazingly, he's still only 80% rostered and if he continues to produce at this pace there's going to be a lot of people kicking themselves for not taking a chance on him.

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Vladimir Tarasenko scored two goals Monday, including a highlight-reel effort that could be an early bid for goal of the year. It's still amazing that there were no takers for Tarasenko in a trade this summer and the Seattle Kraken passed on him in the expansion draft. Hopefully you didn't do the same in your fantasy hockey drafts.

For fantasy hockey tips and advice follow me on Twitter at @amato_mike