Welcome back to The Journey, where we track the development of prospects as they excel in junior, make the NHL, and push towards stardom.

The preseason is exciting because we finally get to talk about hockey that didn't happen several months ago. But it's also the time when players are shaking off the rust and coaches are trying new line combinations and strategies. Stats don't count, and excellent performances often don't mean as much as they appear, so take everything that follows with a large grain of salt.

That said, here are some interesting nuggets that have emerged so far in the preseason for each team in the NHL.

Anaheim Ducks

As expected, Olen Zellweger and Pavel Mintyukov are both seeing extended looks in the preseason for the Ducks, who are without Jamie Drysdale for now due to his contract dispute. Mintyukov, 19, played a healthy 21:45 in his debut, which included an even-strength goal and almost three minutes with the man advantage. Zellweger has averaged just over 21 minutes in his two games so far, which includes three points and over three minutes on the power play. These two are likely to exchange cups of coffee throughout the year while spending the bulk of the campaign with San Diego (AHL).

Two small things jump out to me about these two:

One is that, for whatever reason, Mintyukov is making almost twice as much as Zellweger over the next three years: $1.7 vs. $0.844 million. That seems surprising, given their comparable pedigree and experience, but I don't know what to make of that. Anaheim is not up against the cap or anything, so that disparity likely won't impact their deployment for now, but in a league where contracts often dictate opportunity, perhaps the edge goes to Mintyukov there.

The other is that Mintyukov has seen much more shorthanded time than Zellweger: 3:34 vs. 0:54. This is only one preseason game, of course, but I was surprised to see Mintyukov finishing his first game with more shorthanded ice than PP. He was in fact one of the team leaders in that department. Perhaps the coaching staff wanted to see how he would respond in more of a primarily defensive situation.

Arizona Coyotes

Aside from Logan Cooley, who should combine with Barrett Hayton and Clayton Keller to keep things interesting in the desert this year, an interesting storyline here is that Josh Doan scored three goals on six shots in his lone game so far.

The second-round pick from 2021 scored 75 points in 74 college games since being drafted, and that was on top of an impressive 70 points in 53 USHL games as a draft-eligible. He has NHL size (6-2, 183 lbs) but has had to work through concerns over his below-average skating ability. Hockey Prospecting gives him a flat 0% star potential, presumably on the basis of his poor pre-draft-year production, however, and it's hard to say how bright Doan's NHL future is. A full year in the AHL should help clarify that moving forward.

Boston Bruins

As expected, Georgii Merkulov, Mason Lohrei, and Matthew Poitras are the ones to watch on the Bruins. Lohrei played alongside Charlie McAvoy on the top pairing against the Flyers, while Poitras and Merkulov saw time with the man advantage. Poitras has shown good chemistry with new captain, Brad Marchand, and has the look of an NHL player already at age 19 after being one of the leading scorers in the OHL last year in his Draft+1 campaign.

Matthew Poitras opens the scoring for the Bruins: pic.twitter.com/nfRcCfBWGP

— Conor Ryan (@ConorRyan_93) September 24, 2023

Buffalo Sabres

Zach Benson should never have dropped to the Sabres at 13th, but sure, why not give them yet another dangerous weapon up front? Just imagine this team's top nine a few years from now:

Benson – Thompson – Quinn

Skinner – Cozens – Tuch

Mittelstadt – Kulich – Peterka

Backed up by Rasmus Dahlin, Owen Power, and Mattias Samuelsson with Devon Levi and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen in net. Hot damn.

Benson has been stapled to Thompson throughout the preseason and has four points in his first four games. Are they really going to be able to send him back to junior?

Zach Benson! 🚨 pic.twitter.com/fIt1Q8Kv7M

— The Charging Buffalo (@TheChargingBUF) September 30, 2023

Calgary Flames

After planting my flag on Jakob Pelletier making this team over Matt Coronato in the off-season, I was very disappointed to see him go down immediately with a shoulder injury that will now keep him out indefinitely.

#Flames Injury Update: Jakob Pelletier sustained an injury to his left shoulder in the pre-season that will require surgery next week and will be out indefinitely.

— Calgary Flames (@NHLFlames) September 27, 2023

Meanwhile Coronato has been absolutely doing his thing with three goals and an assist (plus three shots per game) over his first three games. Basically the entire Flames roster is set to rebound in fantasy after a disastrous 2022-23, and Coronato could be a key part of that. Despite the hot start, however, don't be surprised to see him back in the AHL before the end of his nine-game audition—assuming he makes the team out of camp.

Carolina Hurricanes

Given that Jesperi Kotkaniemi has five years of NHL experience already, it is easy to forget that he is still only 23 years old. His line with Martin Necas is absolutely dominating play in the early going (68% CorsiFor), and I will be very curious to see whether he can come close to maintaining the 18 points he scored over the final 22 games of the 2022-23 regular season. His scoring pace dipped again in the playoffs, and those 18 points were buoyed by a five-point game against the Lightning, but there could still be some intriguing upside here—especially given his age, linemates, and deployment.

I am watching him especially closely in cap leagues, where his $4.82 cap hit over the next seven years could start to look pretty damn reasonable if he can start to post 60+ points a year.

Chicago Blackhawks

Now that Evan Bouchard (EDM) has finally arrived for good, the next point-per-game defender in waiting is probably Kevin Korchinski. Splitting him and Seth Jones gives the Blackhawks two potent play-drivers in their top four. I still expect him to be sent back to junior for one more year, and he may require some AHL seasoning after that, but when he does arrive, I don't see Jones hanging onto PP1 for long.

If the Blackhawks on-and-off healthy-scratching Kaiser (and Ian Mitchell) last season frustrated you, prepare for more of the same with Korchinski.

This was Richardson today: pic.twitter.com/VjlqCUFN20

— Ben Pope (@BenPopeCST) September 22, 2023

Colorado Avalanche

The Avs have so far been icing a skeleton crew, but an early standout is Oskar Olausson. He has two points over his first two preseason games and has featured heavily at both even strength and on the power play. I've liked him as a player but been sceptical of his fantasy value to this point, but perhaps he can prove me wrong in the coming years.

Columbus Blue Jackets

I highlighted Emil Bemstrom a couple weeks ago as someone to watch based on his recent AHL performance and general track record, and he has been making waves for Columbus so far during their exhibition games. As advertised, he is a strong straight-line skater with a great shot and a goal scorer's instincts. He has bagged five points (ten shots) in this first three games and is playing with a ton of pace and confidence right now.

"Tonight he was REALLY impressive." – HC Pascal Vincent on Emil Bemstrom's performance

🎥 https://t.co/rs3SSiZFlt pic.twitter.com/U6b4huUQv7

— Columbus Blue Jackets (@BlueJacketsNHL) September 27, 2023

Dallas Stars

Logan Stankoven and Mavrik Bourque have both been their usual dynamic selves in limited action, but I wanted to briefly highlight Nils Lundkvist as a post-hype sleeper on this Stars squad. He increasingly seems primed to excel as Miro Heiskanen's right-handed partner on the top pairing—whether that happens this year or next. Many poolies still seem low on Lundkvist, perhaps dating back to his perceived struggles as a Ranger and the lack of a noticeable scoring breakout thus far, but I think there is still a lot of potential here. Grab him now while his value is still relatively in the gutter.

Detroit Red Wings

Might Daniel Sprong get some actual ice time this year with the Wings? He saw nearly 19 minutes with a taste of PP time in his one game so far and (of course) produced a couple points. I wouldn't hold your breath, but he remains one of the more intriguing fantasy assets out there for his ability to produce quite well with extremely limited deployment.

Early action suggests that Shayne Gostisbehere is giving Simon Edvinsson the John Klingberg treatment and eating up all the available power play time not already consumed by Moritz Seider. Edvinsson owners will likely need to be patient for at least another year, even if he ends up sticking with the Wings out of camp. There might be a solid buy-low opportunity on him in the coming months if his owner in your league starts to show signs of frustration.

Nevertheless, he is starting to look very comfortable at the NHL level, consistently making intuitive plays on both sides of the ice:

Simon Edvinsson vs Capitals#LGRW pic.twitter.com/xS5UOkoZzP

— Guru (@Guruelous) September 30, 2023

Edmonton Oilers

None of the Oilers' young guns—Xavier Bourgault, Raphael Lavoie, Dylan Holloway, Philip Broberg—have done much yet this preseason. The usual suspects will dominate the scoresheet in Edmonton, but the Oilers will be hoping that their rookies can provide some much-needed depth contributions at the very leasts.

Florida Panthers

The Panthers have given ample opportunity to a variety of defenders to claim the top PP spot in the absence of Brandon Montour and Aaron Ekblad: Mike Reilly (4:21), Oliver Ekman-Larsson (5:55), Gustav Forsling (7:14), Lucas Carlsson (2:23), Uvis Balinskis (2:33), and Santtu Kinnunen (3:01) have all seen a fair share of time with the man advantage.

So far only Lucas Carlsson has any points to show for it with one goal and one assist. Keep an eye on who wins that role out of camp; it could be a productive couple months for them running Florida's top PP before Montour and/or Ekblad return from injury.

With three goals in three games, Mackie Samoskevich continues to assert himself as Florida's top prospect.

Los Angeles Kings

It's time to stop sleeping on Alex Laferriere—he's more than just an Alexis Lafreniere (NYR) sound-alike. He outproduced Coronato (CGY) last year at Harvard and is set to ply his wares in the AHL with the Ontario Reign (AHL) this year. Over three preseason games, he has seen 70% of the available power play time and has scored three points on ten shots, which is one behind Adrian Kempe for the team lead. Many of LA's top prospects have fallen off over the past couple years, but Laferriere continues to come on strong.

Also keep an eye out for Samuel Fagemo (two points in two games). He is more likely to stick with the Kings out of camp this year than Laferriere and has become a big shooter and solid producer at the AHL level.

Minnesota Wild

Watch out for Calen Addison in 2023-24. It was straight back to the top PP unit alongside Kirill Kaprizov in his first preseason game. He could become a Ty Smith/Ryan Merkley type, but I suspect he is going to turn out better than either of them.

Check out my Deep Dive on Addison from a few weeks ago.

"He took it on the chin."
The healthy scratches last season had to sting Calen Addison. They're also motivating. Inside a summer of training and a mindset that has him ready to seize a regular role. Insight from #mnwild teammmates, including Jared Spurgeon https://t.co/TUAZPqjtNQ

— Joe Smith (@JoeSmithNHL) September 23, 2023

Montreal Canadiens

Joshua Roy will likely need some AHL seasoning before he makes the jump full time, but I increasingly get the sense that he is not far away and that his game will translate better than most. He may never score the lights out—although he consistently did so in junior—but he has a history of complementing high-end players very well, playing with intensity, and paying attention to the little things. He could become the Zach Hyman type for Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield, scrapping in the corner to get and maintain possession, giving them time to get set up and do what they do best. He has a goal in two games so far.

Alex Newhook is another Hab to watch in 2023-24. His blazing speed should stand out more in Montreal than in Colorado and will likely raise eyebrows in a good way before too long. He has always had tons of skill but was never quite able to find another gear at the NHL level.

Expérience à l'entraînement à Brossard.

Alex Newhook avec Nick Suzuki et Cole Caufield.

À voir si la combinaison sera testée contre les Leafs vendredi ou samedi

⁦@RDSca⁩ pic.twitter.com/lFOlOGkqb9

— Patrick Friolet (@PFrioletRDS) September 28, 2023

Part 2 with the remaining teams will appear tomorrow.

Thanks for reading! Follow me on Twitter @beegare for more prospect content and fantasy hockey analysis.