Hey there, it's Ian filling in for Mike today.

I'm going to start with Kyle Beach. As you probably know by now, he revealed himself as the "John Doe" victim of the sexual abuse and cover-up that took place in the Blackhawks organization in 2010. Beach's full 25-minute interview with Rick Westhead is up at the TSN website. It's raw, powerful, and difficult to watch, as it has understandably taken Beach a ton of courage to discuss these events and how they have affected him for the past 11 years. Hopefully Beach receives all the support that he needs today – the support he sadly failed to receive back when he first needed it.

A True HERO!!!!! pic.twitter.com/32m50aoEPX

— Brent Sopel (@brent_sopel) October 27, 2021

Additional fallout of the Jenner & Block report continued earlier in the day, as Joel Quenneville will meet with Gary Bettman today (Thursday) to discuss his role in the situation. Jets GM Kevin Cheveldayoff will meet with Bettman on Monday for the same reason. Expect the implications of this report to continue for a while and possibly even trickle down to players on that team.

Somehow, Quenneville was behind the bench for Wednesday's Panthers game against the Bruins. I said this on my Twitter earlier in the day, and I think it bears repeating: Quenneville seems to be prioritizing winning at all costs, both during the Blackhawks' cup run in 2010 and today with the Panthers. I don't know how in clear conscience he didn't step aside until the NHL has at least discussed the matter with him.

If Quenneville ends up leaving his post as the Panthers' coach as a result of all this, we will certainly discuss the implications of a coaching change in a future fantasy take. But for now, I'll leave that side of the analysis for another day.

No matter what the implications are for Quenneville, Cheveldayoff, and others in the Blackhawks organization at the time, the reputation of the 2009-10 Stanley Cup champions is forever tarnished.

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Although it was really of secondary importance given the events of Wednesday, the Blackhawks were in a must-win battle with the Maple Leafs in the "something's got to give" game of struggling teams. After going down 2-0 in the first period, the Leafs eventually came out on top with a 3-2 overtime win. As a result, the Hawks remain winless in seven games. It's not a good time to be a Blackhawks fan.

Marc-Andre Fleury's early-season struggles (5.75 GAA, .839 SV%) have resulted in more recent playing time for Kevin Lankinen, who received his second start in Chicago's past three games. Lankinen put forth a decent effort, stopping 37 of 40 shots. The Hawks play back-to-backs on Friday and Saturday on the road against two undefeated teams in Carolina and St. Louis, so Lankinen should receive another start very soon – even if he will be again hard-pressed to earn a win.

Seth Jones recorded assists on those first two Chicago goals, which gives him six assists over his past six games. Jones is criticized a lot these days for his large contract and the fact that it doesn't measure up analytics-wise. But from a fantasy perspective, you shouldn't let that cloud your judgement on him, as he is a solid asset who should accumulate strong peripheral numbers based on his overall icetime (28 minutes on Wednesday) and power-play usage.

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Even with the distraction (borrowing Quenneville's word), the Panthers were able to skate to a 4-1 win over the Bruins. From a win-loss perspective, the Quenneville situation hasn't fazed the Panthers at all, who sit at the top of the table with a 7-0-0 record.

Sergei Bobrovsky has been between the pipes for five of those wins, which ties him for the league lead in that category. Bobrovsky was not drafted as one of the top goalies, as his first two seasons in Florida could have been a lot better. However, Bob has performed as one of the league's top goalies thus far with a 1.79 GAA and .946 SV%. All five of his starts have met the criteria of quality starts – even the four goals he allowed in the Panthers' first game against Pittsburgh fell into that category, since he faced 47 shots.  

With three assists in this game, Gustav Forsling is up to seven points (all assists) in seven games. His 1:03 of power-play time was the most he's seen all season, but it had a lot to do with the fact that Florida had only one power play all game. If he can find a way to maintain more power-play time – even second-unit time – Forsling would be a player to consider from your league's waiver wire.

In what might be his wisest move of the day, Quenneville did not meet with the media after the game. GM Bill Zito said that the coach would not comment until after he meets with the commissioner. It will be very interesting to find out what happens after that.

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You knew the Nikita Kucherov absence would be a lengthy one. Now that it has been announced as 8-10 weeks, we now have a more definitive timeline to plan around. At least the Bolts can't be accused again of using a Kucherov as a way to circumvent the cap (which I was totally on board with last season because it was within the rules).

The Kucherov injury has meant that Anthony Cirelli is being used in a more offensive role, playing on a line with Steven Stamkos. Mathieu Joseph has also seen increased minutes, and we may also receive a more extended look at Alex Barre-Boulet in a Lightning uniform.

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The Kings have announced the exact injury for Drew Doughty: a tibial plateau contusion. Doughty is expected to be out for about eight weeks. Doughty was off to a fantastic start with seven points over his first four games. Between Doughty's scoring and his peripheral stats usually resulting from heavy minutes, you should try to retain Doughty on your roster in an IR slot if possible.

Sean Walker, who was expected to pick up more power-play minutes in Doughty's absence, suffered an even more long-term injury. After tearing his ACL and MCL during Monday's game, Walker will be out for the rest of the season. Losing two defensemen for that long really puts the Kings in a bind.

Matt Roy and Alex Edler should pick up the bulk of the power-play minutes with both Doughty and Roy out of the lineup. Neither were able to score the lights out last season, so it's possible that the Kings look elsewhere for a defenseman to run PP1. In a related move, Kale Clague (Dobber Prospects profile) was recalled from the AHL, so he may also get a look on the power play.

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Ho hum, another Alex Ovechkin goal. He now has 738 in his career, which now puts him just three goals back of Brett Hull. If you're of a certain age (which I'm over), you can remember Hull scoring a ton of goals during his St. Louis days. So that's no small feat, even if Ovechkin never catches Wayne Gretzky for the all-time lead. Ovie is also holding his own in the present day, leading the league with eight goals in just seven games.

Evgeny Kuznetsov is also off to a fast start, scoring another goal on Wednesday to give him five goals in his last five games and ten points in seven games to start the season. Because of the injury to Nicklas Backstrom, Kuznetsov is averaging over 20 minutes per game with regular minutes on the Ovechkin line. We'll have to see how he is impacted once Backstrom returns, but Kuznetsov is an early leader in the "player to bounce back" race.

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Calder Trophy runner-up Jason Robertson made his season debut on Wednesday. He played on a scoring line with Joe Pavelski and Roope Hintz, although he did not record a point. Get Robertson into your lineup ASAP.

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If you're facing Connor McDavid in a head-to-head matchup, you're going to get points scored against you. All you can do is hope that the damage isn't horrific. In fact, it might be recommended at this point to bench any goalie that faces McDavid and the Oilers. Over their last five games, the Oils have scored at least three goals each game. McDavid himself has multiple points in all six of his games. If you picked McDavid first overall and had to wait until the 24^th pick in your snake draft for your second pick, sorry, I can't hold a ton of sympathy for you.  

Just as I wrote this, the Flyers pulled ahead of the Oilers with a 4-3 lead, hanging on with a 5-3 win. That means the Oilers fall from the ranks of the undefeated with their first loss in six games. Over their five-game win streak, Edmonton has put together a strong case as the team to beat in the Pacific Division.

With two helpers in this game, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins currently leads the league with nine assists. The downside? RNH has not scored a goal yet this season. He will need to pick up the pace in the shot department, as he is currently taking just under two shots per game.

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If you drafted Cam Atkinson because you like his potential situation in Philly, you have to be ecstatic with the results so far. Atkinson now has six goals in five games as a Flyer, including two goals on Wednesday. Although the season is early, Atkinson's six goals is tied for fourth with a handful of other players.

Although his shooting percentage (33.3%) is what you'd expect with a player who is scoring a goal per game, Atkinson is back to taking over three shots per game, which he did during his 41-goal campaign of 2018-19. As well, Atkinson has taken at least four shots per game in four of his five games this season. Beware of a dropoff, as Atkinson is now 32 years of age, and his point pace has declined since that 41-goal season. A move away from a John Tortorella system might have been what the doctor ordered, though.

Fantasy Take: Atkinson and Voracek Swapped 1-for-1

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For more fantasy hockey discussion, or to reach out to me, you can follow me on Twitter @Ian_Gooding