With many teams, it's a matter of picking between one goalie or the other. Yet with the defending Stanley Cup champion Golden Knights, both can be rostered in fantasy leagues. After Adin Hill was in net for a 4-1 win over Seattle on opening night, Logan Thompson also picked up a win with the same score over San Jose on Thursday. This effort was notable for Thompson because he was playing in his first full game since January.

Vegas might not be getting the respect it deserves as a Stanley Cup favorite (writers' picks here), but during the offseason I listed the Hill/Thompson tandem as one of the top 5 intriguing goalie situations. I wouldn't be surprised if they alternate starts, similar to Linus Ullmark and Jeremy Swayman for the Bruins last season or Semyon Varlamov and Ilya Sorokin for the Islanders a few seasons ago.

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I wrote about Henry Thrun last week because he was a top Frozen Tools search, so a bit of an update here. Perhaps as hoped or expected, Thrun led all Sharks defensemen in power-play time on Thursday. The Sharks used a five-forward power play at one time, which is also something to keep an eye on. Thrun also assisted on the Sharks' only goal of their first game of the season. He's worth taking a flier on in deeper leagues where defensemen with scoring upside are hard to find.

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Devon Toews is the latest player to sign a long-term deal, agreeing with the Avalanche on a seven-year, $50.75 million contract extension on Friday. Toews was on the final year of his current deal with a cap hit of $4.1 million, so he won't be nearly as efficient a player in cap leagues starting next season with his new cap hit of $7.25 million.

Since being traded to Colorado prior to the 2020-21 season, Toews has elevated his game with back-to-back 50-point seasons. Of the 20 defensemen to reach at least 50 points last season, none did so with as little power-play points (7 PPP), power-play time per game (2:02) or percentage of available power-play time (38.1 PP%) as Toews.   

The Oilers made a signing of their own on Friday, coming to terms with Adam Erne on a one-year, two-way contract. Erne had been on a PTO with the Oilers. He projects to be more of a bottom-6 forward, although he might provide some bangers leagues similar to Klim Kostin last season, especially if he can find his way onto a scoring line. Erne has reached at least 100 hits in four of the past five seasons.

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Logan Cooley made an impression during his NHL regular-season debut on Friday. Cooley recorded two power-play assists in 19 minutes of icetime in the Coyotes' 4-3 shootout win in New Jersey. Cooley was in fact on the Coyotes' first power play, so based on the icetime and power-play time, it appears that he will be used in a key role straight away and not given limited and sheltered minutes like a lot of rookies. Unless you're in a shallow league with room for only top-tier centers, feel free to add Cooley as soon as possible. He should also be firmly in the second tier of Calder Trophy candidates behind only you know who.

Cooley's first career assist was on a Sean Durzi goal. Durzi currently has the upper hand over Juuso Valimaki in the Coyotes power play battle. Durzi also logged 23:26 in this game, which is substantially higher than his average of between 19-20 minutes per game in LA last season. Arizona might not have seemed like an ideal destination for Durzi when he was traded there, but it could turn out very well for him because the Coyotes now appear to be more of a real NHL team than they have been in previous seasons.

Fantasy Take: Durzi Goes to the Desert

Jesper Bratt and Jack Hughes each recorded three points for the Devils, which included a pair of goals for Bratt. For what it's worth, Bratt and Hughes were two of the top three scorers in preseason. Bratt posted nine points in four games, while Hughes reached eight points in the same number of games. They look ready to be in the mix of one of the league's top scoring duos this season.

Speak of the Devils. 😈 pic.twitter.com/7FRoASvxlL

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) October 14, 2023

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Is the Penguins' core too old? Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin would beg to differ. Crosby scored a pair of power-play goals, while Malkin scored a goal and added three assists in the Penguins' 4-0 win over Washington. Crosby has scored three goals over his first two games. Although Malkin did not record a point in his first game of the season on Tuesday, he was heavily involved in the play with six shots on goal.

The Penguins' first-unit power play consisted of Malkin, Crosby, Jake Guentzel, Rickard Rakell, and Erik Karlsson. Here's that power play in action.  

We're on Crosby hatty watch. 👀 pic.twitter.com/5sTufBPmKV

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— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) October 14, 2023

Kris Letang appears to be the odd man out, but at least Letang led the Pens with 25:41 in icetime.  

In his second game of the season, Tristan Jarry posted both his first win and first shutout of the season.

Like everyone else on the Capitals, Tom Wilson was unable to find the scoresheet in terms of goals and assists. However, Wilson did his thing in bangers leagues with a fighting major (vs. Marcus Pettersson) and five hits.

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Zach Werenski is expected to miss the next week or two with a quad contusion. Werenski left Thursday's game against Philadelphia after being involved in a knee-on knee collision. David Jiricek was recalled from the AHL to fill Werenski spot. After Werenski left the game, former Flyer Ivan Provorov logged the bulk of the minutes on the power play among the Jackets' blueline. Provorov is just 5% rostered in Yahoo leagues and 37% rostered in Fantrax leagues, so he's a d-man to take a flier on while Werenski is out of the lineup. Jiricek might receive some power-play time as well.   

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For some reason, I've seen multiple questions about Tanner Jeannot this week. With a number of players experiencing early-season surges or placed into unexpected roles, a player like Jeannot is often in the discussion as to whether he is worth keeping. In many formats, Jeannot is picked in the late rounds for his steep contributions in hits and penalty minutes, yet is easily replaceable when it comes to scoring. It's only one game, but Jeannot hasn't set the world on fire with zero points and two hits in 11:48 in icetime.

Whether to add or drop Jeannot depends on how much you need those bangers categories. If you play in a league where hits and/or penalty minutes are buckets that you need to fill in head-to-head or roto categories, then he should provide abundant quantities of both. However, if hits and/or penalty minutes are simply numbers to be added to the equation of total points (eg. X points for every goal, Y points for every assist, Z points for every hit, and so on), then it doesn't matter as much whether you place emphasis on offense or on bangers categories – you don't need a balanced formula of offense and peripherals to win each week. Then a player with substantially more offensive upside than Jeannot might be a better fit for your roster.

To compare Jeannot to other players, check our Top 100 Roto Rankings. They will be updated for October shortly. In the meantime, feel free to leave feedback.

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