It has been a much better start to the season than many hockey fans were anticipating for the Philadelphia Flyers as they are on pace for over 80 points (as of Monday afternoon, more on their Monday night game later) and that was without Ryan Ellis and Sean Couturier all year. The injuries have just kept piling up and it’s led to recent losses, but we got something of an update on other Flyers injuries from James van Riemsdyk, Travis Konecny, and Cam Atkinson:

Cam Atkinson, James van Riemsdyk and Travis Konecny are participating in a rehab skate this morning before Flyers morning skate. pic.twitter.com/QxylHG0HpB

— Olivia Reiner (@ReinerOlivia) November 21, 2022

The problem is no real update was given from coach John Tortorella, meaning we don't know exactly when they'll be returning. However, that all three are skating and in full gear, even if it's before a team practice, is a good sign. We will keep updating fantasy owners as we get more news.

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Montreal provided a Mike Hoffman update:

Mike Hoffman ne s'entraînera pas aujourd'hui (journée d'évaluation médicale – bas du corps).

Mike Hoffman won't practice today (medical evaluation day – lower-body).

— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) November 21, 2022

In practice, Juraj Slafkovsky took his spot on the second line with Brendan Gallagher and Christian Dvorak. They have seen their production increase of late as Gallagher has five points in his last six games, managing just shy of three shots per game. His center, meanwhile, also has five points in his last six games though he's not really shooting the puck, posting eight shots in that span. Regardless, they have been creating offensively and it'll be interesting to see how Slafkovsky fits on that line, even if it's short-term.

Hoffman had been on a bit of a tear lately with four goals and six points in those same six games. After a slow start that saw him post just four shots in his first five games of the season, he had 30 in his last 11 contests despite skating just 14:14 a night. He was looking like the player he was 3-4 years ago, which is what Montreal has been hoping for since they signed him. Let's hope it's not a long-term injury issue.

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We got news on Ilya Samsonov from the Leafs:

Ilya Samsonov (knee) not expected to play this week, Sheldon Keefe says

But goalie will come on the road trip

TJ Brodie (oblique) not progressing as hoped … won't travel @TSN_Edge

— Mark Masters (@markhmasters) November 21, 2022

Samsonov hasn't played in over two weeks, and it looks as if it'll be at least another week out of action. The team hits the road for four games starting Wednesday and they have a game next Monday in Detroit. Supposing Samsonov doesn't return before then, if he's on the road trip, it seems plausible he's back in for that matchup against the Red Wings. He had been playing well until the injury, so it'll be interesting to see how Matt Murray fares in his next couple starts. It could very well dictate whether they split starts when Samsonov returns or if the Russian netminder starts earning the heavier share of games.

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Tyson Jost was at practice with the Buffalo Sabres and on the top line with no Alex Tuch:

Peterka Cozens Quinn
Skinner Thompson Jost
Girgensons Krebs Asplund
Olofsson Mittelstadt Hinostroza

Pilut Fitzgerald
Power Jokiharju
Samuelsson Dahlin
Bryson Lyubushkin

— Paul Hamilton (@pham1717) November 21, 2022

Nothing to get too excited over (or worried about, if you're a Tuch owner) as it was maintenance for Tuch, according to the team. What I will say is that there have been a couple occasions elsewhere in the league this year where a player took a maintenance day but they were actually injured and missed games. Assuming Tuch is fine, Jost won't have fantasy value, but just watch for updates from the Sabres. It is hard to take coaches at face value when they talk about injuries.

Buffalo also indicated that Mattias Samuelsson should be back in the lineup on Tuesday. He had been playing very well until his knee injury at the end of October, which has limited him to just five games. Once he returns, now that Ilya Lyubushkin and Henri Jokiharju are both healthy, the Sabres should have a full blue line. We need to monitor Owen Power's minutes from here as he's skated over 25 minutes a game in November, but that was with a lot of blue liners missing. With everyone healthy, is he back to 22-23 minutes?  

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TJ Oshie was back on the second line at practice for Washington:

Capitals at practice today:

Ovechkin-Strome-Sheary
Milano-Kuznetsov-Oshie
Johansson-Eller-Mantha
Protas-Dowd-Hathaway
Extra: Aubrey-Kubel

Gustafsson-Carlson
Fehervary-Jensen
Irwin-TvR
Snively-Alexeyev

Kuemper
Lindgren

— Tom Gulitti (@TomGulittiNHL) November 21, 2022

Oshie hasn't played since the end of October due to a lower-body injury. He had just two goals in nine games (well, eight plus the one he was injured) so we'll have to see how he performs when he comes back. He had just 12 shots in his eight full games to start the year despite skating 18:32 a night. Going back to last year, that is 89 shots in 52 games, or 1.7 shots per game. He needs a lot more than that to have fantasy value in non-banger fantasy leagues.

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The Winnipeg Jets had defenceman Ville Heinola in the lineup on Monday night. It was his first game in the NHL this season after posting seven points in 11 games in the AHL. Despite that he first appeared for the Jets all the way back in 2019-20, Heinola is still just 21 years old (turning 22 in March). This is a young blue liner that hopefully just needed some time to round out his game. It would be nice to see them give him some real run at the NHL level rather than a few games at 14 minutes a night and back to the AHL. Suppose we're going to find out soon enough.

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Arizona welcomed back both Jakob Chychrun and Nick Schmaltz to the lineup on Monday night. The defenceman hadn't played since mid-March of last season with both wrist and ankle surgeries, while the forward was injured in the first game of the season and missed 15 games in between.

Getting these guys back is a big boost for the lineup, particularly for Clayton Keller. The team is scoring just 2.2 goals per 60 minutes at 5-on-5 with him on the ice in 2022-23. In Schmaltz's first three seasons with Arizona, that number was 3.6 per 60 minutes whenever he and Keller were on the ice. Keller was having a good start as it is with 18 points in 16 games but getting a good playmaker like Schmaltz back should only help keep that point rate stable.

As for Chychrun, the trade rumours persist. If he gets traded and where he ends up is another question, but he has a lot to bring in the fantasy game regardless. His previous 103 regular season games saw him manage over three shots per game, a hit per game, and 1.5 blocks per game. Even playing to a 40-point/82-game pace would be a very good fantasy season with those counting stats, potential plus/minus issues notwithstanding.

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New Jersey's top guys had another good fantasy effort in a 5-2 win at home to Edmonton. Jesper Bratt had a goal and an assist, Nico Hischier three helpers, Dawson Mercer had one of each, and Jack Hughes had a couple of assists also. Both Tomas Tatar and Yegor Sharangovich also scored, and the latter is up to six goals on the year. That kind of secondary scoring is something that has helped the Devils to 13 straight wins.

Leon Draisaitl had a goal on four total shots with a hit in the loss.

In a freak play, Jack Campbell got hit with an errant puck while sitting near the Edmonton bench. He left the bench and did not return in the third period. Updates will be provided when we get them.

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Blake Coleman had a goal and two assists, adding a block and a pair of hits, in Calgary's 5-2 win over Philadelphia. Rasmus Andersson also scored, just his second of the season, and is up to 14 points in 18 games on the season. If my math is right, that's 56 points in 79 games going back a calendar year. Pretty good production from the 26-year-old blue liner.

Jonathan Huberdeau also scored for the Flames, giving him points in four of his last five games. He is starting to look a bit more like the player he was in Florida. but it still feels like there's more to give here.

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David Pastrnak scored his 12^th goal of the year, bringing him up to 29 total points in 19 games. He had five shots on goal which brought his total on the year to 98. In other words, he is still averaging over five shots per game and American Thanksgiving is in a couple of days. It has just been an unfathomable start to the season for him. He even is averaging a hit per game for those in banger leagues. Have to imagine those with him on fantasy rosters are pleased so far.

David Krejci had a goal and an assist, giving him five points in his last three games. His 82-game pace is now slightly over 70 points. It will be fascinating to watch his season as the team sometimes switches the power-play unit personnel, namely the fourth forward. Jake DeBrusk was on the top PP unit once again this game so there's nothing to do but wait.

Charlie McAvoy had a pair of assists, went plus-1, and had four hits with a block in the victory. That gives him nine points in six games since returning.

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The Maple Leafs lost Morgan Rielly to an undisclosed injury in the team's 3-2 overtime loss to the Islanders on Monday night. It was announced that he'll be getting some imaging done to determine the extent of the damage, or what the injury even is. This is a situation without much information, so we'll pass along more once it becomes available.

Noah Dobson had a goal and an assist in the win, managing for total shouts with a block and a hit. He now has six goals on the season in just 20 games played, nearly halfway to his total from last year (13) in 80 games.

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Carolina scored three goals in the final five minutes of play to push Winnipeg to overtime, but Josh Morrissey scored his second of the game to lift the Jets to a 4-3 OT victory. The blue liner is now over a point-per-game pace on the season as his incredible start continues.

Andrei Svechnikov scored one of those late Hurricanes goals, adding an assist on a Jaccob Slavin tally. He now has 13 goals, 20 points, 64 shots, and 35 hits on the season. His superstardom is just starting.