Writing this on the eve of the regular season, I decided to turn to training camp. Like with the article a couple of weeks ago on PTOs, I am going to follow a few storylines instead of the usual Dobber Report driven look at players.

First up is a return to the PTO article and an update on some of the situations there. As a quick recap we reviewed ten of the bigger name players that were signed to PTOs and identified the ones who might be worth keeping an eye on. The ones that stood out to me were Tyson Barrie, Kevin Labanc, Max Pacioretty, Jakub Vrana, and Kailer Yamamoto. I recommend passing on Calen Addison, Sammy Blais, Travis Dermott, Mike Hoffman, and Tyler Johnson.

To close the loop on the passes, Sammy Blais and Mike Hoffman have been released. Calen Addison has not really seen any meaningful time playing with NHL defensemen which does not bode well for his future. Travis Dermott was essentially in the same boat until the game on October 2, where he seemed to be lining up with Darnell Nurse and got a chunk of ice time. He's still not super valuable with plenty of other depth peripheral focused D. The only potential that remains from this group is Tyler Johnson who as of October 3 was on the third line. Yay?

The watch list is still somewhat interesting. Tyson Barrie has been signed to a one-year contract with the Flames. He was running the second power play unit on September 30 and again in practice on October 3. His value is solely if he ends up running the top power play. The second unit doesn't really cut it for Barrie, so may be relying on an injury at this point. Kevin Labanc started out promising getting time on a second line with Nico Hischier, but hasn't been there in a while and has not been listed with the NHL group that traveled to Prague, so I imagine his prospects are minimal. Jakub Vrana was getting some top six looks for a minute, but recently (October 2) was getting at best fourth line deployment.

That leaves the actually interesting pair of Max Pacioretty and Kailer Yamamoto. Pacioretty has been getting okay deployment. On October 2 he was skating on a second power-play unit and has been getting solid middle six deployment. The line number depends a little bit on how Toronto is actually deploying the Big Four, but he was getting some consistent time with John Tavares before Tavares sat out with an injury. And finally, Kailer Yamamoto spent the October 1st game on the top line and top power play. Prior to that Nick Schmaltz has been on the top line with Yamamoto in the bottom six, but Yamamoto has had several turns on the top power play throughout the preseason. I'm not betting the farm on these deployment situations, but both of them are certainly interesting.

For the next section I wanted to touch on a few injuries. I am not really going to go into the guys whose status is a little more up in the air (like an Artemi Panarin or Macklin Celebrini), but instead focus on a few more concrete situations.

Drew Doughty is out month to month, meaning that there is a top power-play spot up for grabs in LA. Brandt Clarke is likely the heir apparent. There was a comment from head coach Jim Hiller about Clarke needing to 'earn' it, and they have technically given Jordan Spence top power-play duties in preseason games, but that game didn't have a full roster, and the comment was likely just coach speak. Either way Brandt Clarke is certainly someone to keep an eye on, particularly if someone like Luke Hughes was valuable in your league last year, since it is not clear how much overall ice time the rookie will be get.

Luke Hughes himself looks to be five to seven weeks away as of October 2, and that has to be good news for Dougie Hamilton. Hamilton usually finds a way to be okay with his peripheral contributions, but he has spent an unusual amount of time off of the top power-play in New Jersey for someone who certainly seems to have the skills to run it. There was a bit of a question during the off season as to what exactly the breakdown was going to be between Hamilton and Hughes on the power play this season, but at least for now the question is answered. It is good short-term news for Hamilton, and if he can run with it a bit, perhaps he can actually establish his role there.

It seems like Patrik Laine is having a bit of a hard time catching a break. Injured and in the player assistance program in 2023-24, looking for a fresh start in Montreal, and then out two to three months because of knee injury. I suppose this might be a good thing for Joel Armia who appears to be getting a shot to move up to that second line, but really it just seems like a disappointment all the way around. For Laine, who misses time, and for Kirby Dach, and Alex Newhook who were looking for fresh starts of their own, and are now down a talented winger.

And finally, there were several lineup situations I was watching given some changes over the summer where we appear to have some answers.

Seattle: New players, new staff, same strategy? It makes a lot of sense given the personnel, but looking at the Kraken lines it is very hard to pick out the 'top' one. They seem to be rolling some kind of top nine situation, although is it really a fourth line if it has Yanni Gourde on it? The power play also looks similar. These have shifted around a bit but prior to Jared McCann sitting out on Wednesday there was a unit with top scorer McCann and Vince Dunn, and then another with newcomers Brandon Montour and Chandler Stephenson.

Over in Chicago the dust seems to have settled to just about what everyone expected. Tyler Bertuzzi and Teuvo Teravainen riding shotgun to Connor Bedard. There were brief moments where Taylor Hall and Philipp Kurashev got looks, but for the most part it has been consistent. Kurashev and Hall have also gotten looks on the top power play so it is still worth watching to see what sticks.

We also had two relatively big additions in Edmonton in Jeff Skinner and Viktor Arvidsson. Like in Chicago the confirmation is mostly what was expected. Both have been lining up on a second line with Leon Draisaitl. It is great news for their even strength production, but they are not going to be getting meaningful power-play minutes to their upside is seriously limited.

Finally, over in Washington we have some indications about where their new signings are going to start the season.  Andrew Mangiapane is getting looks on the top line with Dylan Strome and Alex Ovechkin and that certainly makes him interesting. Pierre-Luc Dubois is not getting the even strength time with Ovechkin, which isn't great news for his upside, but instead has been on a second line with Tom Wilson and Connor McMichael (as of October 2). It is hardly a group to inspire offensive confidence. Dubois did get over 50 percent of the power-play time in the two preseason games he has been in so I suppose that is something.

That is all for this week

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