The season is well underway now. We have fanbases panicking, parades being planned across half of the continent, and a whole bunch of news to cover.

Meanwhile, on a fantasy level, we have at least one week under our belts, so you're already seeing some direction from your team. Roto leaguers are just starting to get a sense of what categories they may need to patch up and which they have some excess in, while in points-only leagues it's still way too early to really react to much.

Keeping a level head early on is tough, but it will pay off in the long run.

Or, if season-long leagues aren't your thing, then there's always some DFS options to try your hand at. If you need some help getting started, there's a tool for that, and you can find it here.

One of our #DFS subscribers had a pretty good night. The different game types gives you different ways to chase the money.

YOU CAN WIN TOO 💰 pic.twitter.com/ReS2Dj9xiK

— Frozen Tools (@FrozenTools) October 17, 2022

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The easiest place to start overreacting to is goaltending, and this year is no different, with Marc-Andre Fleury sporting a GAA over eight, Vitek Vanecek having played a single game (an un-inspiring loss), and the Avalanche still winning games despite continuing to get .880 goaltending.

None of these are ones I am at all worried about, and in fact I have inquired about acquiring a few of these guys in some leagues. If I can get my hands on Fleury or Vanecek without giving up a top-150 player, I'm jumping on it.

Same goes for a few other struggling goalies such as Thatcher Demko, Juuse Saros, Jacob Markstrom, and the LA Kings tandem. The former three you're not getting for anything less than a top-75 player at the absolute cheapest, but it's worth checking in to see where that line is.

I might even check in on the injured Matt Murray if my league had a few extra IR spots.

Really the only name goalie that I am not giving any attention is John Gibson. The team in front of his is not a defensive one, and from last season they have replaced the reliable Josh Manson with the offensively gifted John Klingberg. In other words, they may score a lot of goals as a team, but that will balance with a lot more opportunities against. That doesn't bode well for Gibson who has struggled more and more often the last few seasons, tailing off earlier and earlier into the year. Typically he starts the year well though, but with a slow start now, I don't have a lot of confidence in any kind of turn-around.

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On the flip side of things, we have a few teams that have really taken off offensively. The New York Rangers were expected to be a playoff team from the start, but it was moreso because they're backstopped by Igor Shesterkin, and not necessarily because they are scoring over four goals a game. Their top two lines are doing the heavy lifting, with Artemi Panarin and Mika Zibanejad doing some yeoman's work thus far. Panarin is leading the league in points at this point in time, and with a quality supporting cast around him, has the talent to challenge for third in the league by the end of the year (he's not passing Connor McDavid or Leon Draisaitl without an injury).

Doing even better than the Rangers we have the Bruins, averaging over five goals per game thus far. This is a big surprise as everyone was expecting the team to come out of the gate slowly with Brad Marchand, Matt Grzelcyk and Charlie McAvoy out. David Pastrnak you should be holding onto, but the rest of the group I would be listening to in trade offers.

David Krejci won't keep up a point-per-game pace, especially in the second half of the year where the grind may slow him down. Ditto for Patrice Bergeron, though his offensive upside is a little higher, and he wasn't out of the NHL last season. Enjoy the ride for now though, as they're just piling up the points.

On the other side of the rink last night, Tim Stutzle led the Senators with three points (get used to him leading them in scoring) as they traded blow for blow with the Bruins. With Cam Talbot still out for at least another month, maybe they can at least out-score their problems. They seem to be trying, which is great news for the scorers. In that I’m looking squarely at the Stutzle, Josh Norris, and Brady Tkachuk trio that is seeing 60% of their shifts starting in the offensive zone.

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New Jersey did start to right the ship last night, and Jack Hughes got in on the action with his first point of the year. There's likely still a buy-low window open on him in one-year leagues, but you need to get in fast. Of the players who can score 100-points this season, he's by far the cheapest to acquire in non-keeper settings at the moment.

I was also going to mention that Johnny Gaudreau hadn't really found his groove yet for the Blue Jackets either, and as far as 100-point scorers go, he may be a worthwhile target. However I started typing that out even before the second period ended, and he quickly made me look silly with two quick points, bringing him up to four through his first four games. His wingers still aren't factoring into goals with him yet, so I would really like to see him get a bit of time with either Kent Johnson or Jakub Voracek.  

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Speaking of making early-season trades, I made one in a dynasty cap league yesterday, sending out Thomas Chabot in exchange for Tyler Bertuzzi. I'm not very worried about making the playoff this year (I'm fairly confident I will make it) and so jumping at the chance to get Bertuzzi made sense. I had defencemen to spare, and getting another 70-point forward was something I was having trouble finding otherwise in the trade market in that league.

Check in on those injured players like Murray, Bertuzzi, Laine, Nick Schmaltz, etc. It can be a good way to kick a stone loose.

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After potting the first two goals of last night's Flyers/Lightning game, Steven Stamkos now has goals in all four games, and six on the season. It's not too late for one more Rocket Richard trophy. He's also now up to 47 points in his last 25 games. At some point it starts to become more than just a hot streak.

The third goal of that game was scored by Scott Laughton, who is having a decent start in his own right. Two goals through three games, playing left-wing on the top line with Kevin Hayes and Travis Konecny. The most promising fantasy sign from his is that he's shooting the puck more, with 2.5 per game so far, up nearly a full shot from previous years. That's also in spite of his ice time remaining stagnant around 16 minutes per game thus far. He has some upside for 50-points, and excellent peripheral production, he just needs this top-line gig to stick. He's making the best of it so far.

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Evgeny Kuznetsov is going to miss tomorrow's game against Ottawa. Due to a one-game suspension for high-sticking. This isn't the first time he has been suspended, and it it's even the first time for a stick infraction. I'm surprised this was only one game, and if he gets himself in trouble again later in the year, expect the ruling to not be so lenient.

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Aaron Ekblad is out with a grade-two groin strain, which means he's likely going to be spending at least eight weeks on the sidelines. Lots of room for Gustav Forsling and Brandon Montour on the offensive end of the rink, and an open slot on the top power play for the next two months. It seems likely that Carter Verhaeghe would be the best fit on the top-unit, but then again Brandon Montour probably shouldn't have been on the top unit to begin with, so we'll see tonight who Paul Maurice runs with.

Also, add Ekblad to the list of injured players above that are worth checking in on to see if their manager needs a quick fix in their place.

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Not exactly fantasy relevant, but the Canucks blew a two-goal lead for the fourth straight game last night. In spite of this, they are still going to end up on the playoff bubble. Keep that in mind this week as you try not to get worked up about narrowly losing a head-to-head matchup or benching a shutout. It's a long season, and there's still a lot of time for things to balance out.

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You can find me on Twitter @alexdmaclean if you have any fantasy hockey questions or comments.

See you next Wednesday!