The 18^th annual Fantasy Guide is available for immediate download in the shop. Lots and lots of camp cuts, claims and news this weekend, and all of it is in the Guide. Stay on top of things! Pick it up here.

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Dozens of camp cuts over the weekend, but the six that jumped out at me the most were as follows:

Ty Smith, Pittsburgh – The most unexpected cut this weekend. And even more – he was placed on, and cleared, waivers. Chicago has Seth Jones and a bunch of minor leaguers forming their defense…but they didn't wish to roll the dice on Smith. San Jose turned up their nose at Smith and the very next day claimed Ty Emberson. Ouch. I don't think a prospect's stock could have fallen any further than Smith's just did. That being said, he's still a Kris Letang or Erik Karlsson injury away from possible redemption. If I have the room, I would be happy adding Smith at a rock-bottom price.

Shakir Mukhamadullin, San Jose – From what I read about his play, and Henry Thrun's, as well as seeing the Sharks claim Ty Emberson, and this move became very much expected. I believe Mukhamadullin is San Jose's Golden Boy, so he'll definitely be back – and probably this season.

Joakim Kemell, Nashville – I was expecting him to be cut, but I thought he would last a lot longer than he did.

Erik Portillo, Los Angeles – Also an expected cut, but I like Portillo as a depth fantasy option because he's behind Cam Talbot, who is a Band-Aid Boy, and Pheonix Copley, who I'm not sold on in terms of talent. I think Copley's absolutely an NHLer, but to me his upside is that of a backup. I think we see Portillo before the season is through.

Vasily Podkolzin, Vancouver – No shocker here, but what surprised me is that by many accounts he had such a terrible training camp. 'Terrible' might be a strong word, but most will agree that his play was subpar. Podkolzin was rushed into the NHL too quickly and he seems destined to tease fantasy owners for the next several years.

Hugo Alnefelt, Tampa Bay – With Andrei Vasilevskiy out long-term, it was assumed that Alnefelt would become the backup. And since Jonas Johansson is so horrible, that certainly made Alnefelt a serious dark horse pick. Not so fast. He just got beat out of a job by Matt Tomkins. Tomkins was a former draft pick (seventh round) of Chicago's, and had been toiling in Europe for several years. After a couple of successful SHL seasons, the 29-year-old was signed by the Lightning. And now it looks like Tomkins has won a job. There is your dark horse – Matt Tomkins.

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A couple of "last chance" formerly-good offensive prospects have seen their windows close: Rem Pitlick was cut/waived by the Penguins and Lias Andersson was cut/waived by the Canadiens.

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Daniel Sprong continues to show the Red Wings that he not only belongs in the lineup, but he belongs in the top six. He's getting on the scoresheet every time he plays, and as long he plays with setup ace Jonatan Berggren, he could surprise doubters and match last year's numbers.

Michael Rasmussen had himself a great game and clicked alongside David Perron and JT Compher. Compher is another player I felt would dip a little now that he's no longer in a contract year. But with these two linemates, you just never know – Rasmussen, 6-6, is about two to three years from a potential breakout, but could be a dark horse 50-point guy this year.

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Jaxson Stauber got the start and was shelled. He gave up five goals on 23 shots. Drew Commesso came in and stopped 10 of 11. Commesso is Chicago's goalie of the future – I think the Hawks are hoping they can wait two or even three years for him. But more games like this and they may have to rush him. Hopefully, they can transition him in bits and pieces over the next two years, rather than throw the entire workload and pressure on him right away.

But what poolies are really watching in that Chicago-Detroit game is Connor Bedard. And more specifically – who he played with. After seeing this in Bedard's prior game:

I started wondering if Athanasiou would get a look on his wing. He didn't play with Bedard at all in that last game, other than in overtime. Well, sure enough, Athanasiou did play with Bedard. And the other guy on the line was the player I have been touting for the spot all summer: Taylor Raddysh. The new line… didn't work very well. It's just one game, but Chicago gave up eight chances with that line on the ice, while creating just three. This is a story that will be changing and shifting all season long, I suspect.

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Mackie Samoskevich is a player I do not expect to make the Panther's this year. But he's also kicking ass and taking names. He is one of just four Florida forwards to play in all four preseason games so far, and he leads the Panthers in scoring with three goals and five points. He's also tied for the team lead with 10 SOG (with Anton Lundell, who has that amount in just two games!). I took a close look at Florida's depth chart just to see if there's a way he can sneak onto the roster this year – and it's definitely possible. He could beat out Rasmus Asplund and/or Grigori Denisenko to take a spot…and then he could bump Nick Cousins down to the fourth line and give Florida a solid third line alongside Lundell. Either way, we're definitely going to see him in the NHL at some point this season for a cup of coffee at the very least – and I've added a projection for him in the Fantasy Guide. I'm more than ready to bump that projection to a full season the moment I see Asplund or Denisenko getting cut.

Asplund and Denisenko, by the way, have combined to play five games and have zero points. Zip. Zilch. Nada.

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Jonathan Drouin was placed on a line, as expected, with Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen. He wasn't in on their first goal, but had a nice assist on the OT winner. I was in another draft on the weekend, a smaller dynasty (just 20 players on the roster) and picked very late. I was in a position where I could take Drouin (starting off on MacKinnon's line), Connor Brown (starting off on Connor McDavid's line) or Andreas Athanasiou (starting off on Connor Bedard's line). I went with Downtown Connor Brown, but I struggled with the decision for quite a while. With that last pick I wanted to swing for the fences.

By all accounts, Dallas defenseman Nils Lundkvist is having an excellent training camp. The club really believes in him (as does his coach), and he came into camp with more bulk, even better fitness (it was always fine, but now it's elite), and a great attitude. As we know, Lundkvist was a stud prospect who started off okay last year, but was scratched a lot down the stretch. That won't happen again this year. He has three points in three preseason games.

Logan Stankoven leads Dallas in preseason scoring with four points in three contests.

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Good luck in your drafts this week! And thanks for supporting all the sites that make up Dobber Sports.

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See you next Monday.