It's the first Saturday night of the NHL season! Lots to talk about, so I'll break down what I noticed from a fantasy perspective.

Elias Lindholm is off to a great start with his new team. Lindholm scored a goal in the Bruins' 2-1 matinee win over the Kings. That gives him points in all three games with the Bruins and a total of five points in three games. In addition, he's receiving an opportunity on the top line with David Pastrnak and a spot on the top power play. Lindholm's value faded for a deteriorating Flames squad last season, and he never seemed to find his footing offensively with the Canucks until the playoffs. It's very early, but he's already a potential comeback candidate filling a need at the center position for Boston.

Pastrnak scored the other goal for the Bruins in this game, an overtime game-winner. That gives him three goals in three games.

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Another update on Aleksander Barkov: The Panthers captain is expected to miss the next 2-3 weeks with a lower-body injury. That is hardly the worst-case scenario from how the injury appeared when Barkov slid into the boards near the end of Thursday's game. Some potential Panthers that could step up in Barkov's absence include Sam Bennett (who already has four points in three games), Anton Lundell, and Evan Rodrigues. Bennett and Rodrigues were both on the top power play on Saturday.

Matthew Tkachuk was out of the Panthers' lineup on Saturday because of an illness, so the line combinations may not be reflective of how the team will look while Barkov is out of the lineup.

Adam Boqvist returned to the Panthers' lineup on Saturday. Although he was held without a point, he was back on the top power play. The Panthers played with 11 forwards and seven defensemen in this game.

I told you on X to consider Devon Levi, since this was a golden opportunity for the Sabres with the two Panthers stars out of the lineup. Levi delivered, stopping 23 of 25 shots in Buffalo's 5-2 win. Sure enough, the Sabres' next two games are back-to-backs, so Levi should start either on Wednesday against Pittsburgh or Thursday against Columbus. If the Sabres continue to follow the pattern of Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen and Levi taking turns, Levi will face the Blue Jackets.

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The Penguins might make for an easier matchup right now, as they are having issues beyond the veteran superstars. They turned to Joel Blomqvist for the second consecutive time on Saturday, acknowledging that Tristan Jarry is struggling. Blomqvist allowed three goals on 32 shots on Saturday – the same as he did on Thursday – but unlike Thursday he did not pick up a win.

Jarry narrowly avoided a really bad start in the Penguins' opener, allowing six goals on 41 shots. I seriously thought about drafting Jarry later in one of my drafts, and I'm glad I took a pass. Alex Nedeljkovic is currently on IR, and it seems like he'll be in a great position for starts once he returns. Until then, I'd try to avoid Pittsburgh goaltending as a whole.

Small sample, but here are a couple of videos illustrating the Pens' defensive woes:

Max Domi just deked Rutger McGroarty OUT OF HIS SKATES oh my 😵 pic.twitter.com/Ip8yICzgPt

— Gino Hard (@GinoHard_) October 12, 2024

What a feed by Max Domi to set up William Nylander for his first goal of the season! 🙌 pic.twitter.com/kc95H7eGkv

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) October 13, 2024

Bryan Rust returned to the lineup for Pittsburgh, moving back into a spot on the top power play. Hey, Kris Letang is still on that top power play, and he scored a power-play goal on Saturday.

In the Leafs' 4-2 win, William Nylander potted a pair of goals, with Max Domi recording the primary assist on each. Nylander and Domi look like they have nice chemistry as a pair.

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If you like goals, you got them in the New York/Utah matchup (or is it the Rangers/Hockey Club matchup? I'm trying to ensure parallel structure in my writing).

Clayton Keller led the No Names with two goals (including the overtime winner) and an assist, while linemates Barrett Hayton and Nick Schmaltz each registered two points. Keller is on fire to start the season with six points in his first three games. He's rostered in just about every league out there, but linemate Hayton is still widely available. Hayton has goals in three consecutive games with five shots on Saturday. If he stays on Keller's line, he might be ready to deliver on some of the promise that made him the fifth overall pick in 2018. Go ahead and grab Hayton with the new team scoring so much early on (16 goals in first three games).

That's not all for the Flying Elvises Utah Chapter. Dylan Guenther scored another goal on Saturday, giving him a league-leading five goals in three games. Guenther showed some promise last season with 18 goals in just 45 games, so he shouldn't be as much of a surprise as Hayton has been. Guenther obviously won't shoot at a 45% pace forever, but he has taken a minimum of three shots in each of his three games. That's a good sign that he could get to 30 goals this season and possibly more.

The Utah offensive explosion resulted in a really bad start for Igor Shesterkin. Fresh off a shutout on opening night against Pittsburgh, Shesterkin allowed six goals on 26 shots. It's early – nothing to panic about. (I know I say "it's early" a few times in here.)

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Cole Caufield is also on fire to start the season. Caufield scored a pair of goals on Saturday against Ottawa, giving him four goals over his first three games. Caufield's bread and butter is shooting the puck, and he has taken at least three shots in each of those three games. He won't score a goal per game going forward, but he still has room to grow on the shot totals. Caufield's 3.3 SOG/GP is still a shot per game below his average from last season. That should bode well for his first 30-goal season.

With two assists, Lane Hutson has picked up two assists in each of his last two games. He's off to a great start to his NHL career, even if he's not on the top power play. Although Mike Matheson did a great job in that spot last season, it's only a matter of time for Hutson.

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Cam Talbot is the NHL's goalie for rent, having played for four different teams in the past four years.

Per @PR_NHL

Cam Talbot becomes the 2nd goalie in NHL history to record a shutout for 7 different franchises, joining Sean Burke

— Sportsnet Stats (@SNstats) October 13, 2024

He's still getting the job done, pitching a 40-save shutout against Nashville on Saturday. Talbot entered in relief on Thursday after Ville Husso allowed four goals on 14 shots. Even though the Wings are carrying three goalies (including Alex Lyon), Talbot should have the inside track on starts at least in the short term. 

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With four goals in five games, Paul Cotter is among the league leaders in that category. The Cotter – Erik Haula – Stefan Noesen line is surprisingly hot right now, especially since it doesn't strike me as being a top 6 line. Cotter scored a pair of goals while Haula and Noesen each picked up three assists in the Devils' 5-3 win over Washington. The Devils seem to be spreading out their scoring, and it seems to be working. Cotter is worth adding in bangers leagues, although I would ignore him in standard-sized pure scoring leagues.

Seamus Casey scored again, giving him two goals in four games. Even with second-unit power-play time, Casey played just under 10 minutes on Saturday. For that reason and the fact that the Devils have some injured defensemen in Luke Hughes and Brett Pesce, I'd take a pass on adding Casey in single-season leagues. But since Casey is only 20 years old, he is a solid keeper league pickup.

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Jake Oettinger picked up a 33-save shutout against the Islanders, giving him two wins in two games so far.

Tyler Seguin led the Stars with a pair of goals, with Mason Marchment registering primary assists on both goals.

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Joel Eriksson Ek left Saturday's game against Seattle after taking an elbow to the head. Eriksson Ek is reportedly not travelling to Winnipeg for Sunday's game with the Jets. You'll probably need to look for another option for next week.

Kirill Kaprizov did his thing in this game, scoring a goal and adding two assists with four shots.

In what turned out to be a 5-4 shootout win for the Kraken over the Wild, new Kraken captain Jordan Eberle scored a pair of goals. 

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If you have Alexandar Georgiev on your roster and you want to look up his stats… don't. Okay, I know you just did. It's like telling a kid not to do something. They'll do it because you just made them curious, and they might be frightened by it. Just like you were frightened by Georgiev's stats. Georgiev was pulled for the second consecutive game on Saturday, a 6-4 loss to Columbus. After the game, Jared Bednar gave Georgiev the ol' vote of confidence, suggesting he's still the starter.

Justus Annunen, who has replaced Georgiev in both games, hasn't been immune to this disaster either. In fact, the Avalanche as a team have allowed 14 goals over their first two games. You're benching both goalies until fortunes start to turn around. Maybe we see the recently acquired Kaapo Kahkonen in net soon. But the season isn't even one week old, so we might forget about this in a month.

Nathan MacKinnon was furious at the referees at the end of the Blue Jackets game and was given a 10-minute misconduct. 😳 pic.twitter.com/lUtC03Cl4l

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) October 13, 2024

It’s hard to pile on the Avalanche right now, though. One look at the depth chart shows that they are missing all of Valeri Nichushkin, Gabriel Landeskog, Artturi Lehkonen, and Jonathan Drouin right now. If they continue to be challenged when it comes to injuries all season, they might be in tough for a playoff spot that seemed to be a given before the season.

Props to the Blue Jackets on their win. Yegor Chinakhov, Kirill Marchenko, and Sean Monahan each scored a goal and added two assists. Yes, that might be their top line. Many of us have our favorite team, but many of us will also be pulling for Columbus this season.

Sean Monahan gets the postgame donkey for the #CBJ. There's a 13 patch on the side because Johnny Gaudreau loved calling people a donkey. Fitting Sean gets it first. pic.twitter.com/AaVFydMqhK

— Jeff Svoboda (@JacketsInsider) October 13, 2024

We will never forget you, Johnny Gaudreau.

Tonight's pre-game video celebrating Johnny ❤️ pic.twitter.com/W2bJKsfp39

— Calgary Flames (@NHLFlames) October 13, 2024

The Florida version of Jonathan Huberdeau surfaced on Saturday, as he scored two goals and added two assists for his first four-point game as a Flame. He scored a goal on opening night as well, so it's five points in two games for him. It's probably too early to call it a comeback, but the pressure seems off Huberdeau for a couple reasons. First, the Flames aren't expected to be a playoff team, although they look like a hardworking bunch with nothing to lose. As well, the new normal for Huberdeau in Calgary is a low goal total and 50 points. If he can exceed those expectations, then suddenly we're feeling happy for Huby again.

Add Huberdeau if you need a Sunday boost to your head-to-head matchup. He's only 30 percent rostered in Yahoo leagues. I managed to draft him at the bargain basement price of 237^th overall in one league. That's how far he's fallen in the fantasy game. Nowhere for a player that talented to go but up.

Do you play in one of those leagues with the shorthanded goal category, where finding one seems about as rare as spotting a unicorn in the wild? Travis Konecny might be your guy. Konecny tied for the league lead in shorthanded goals with five last season, and he added another shortie on Saturday. The Flyers as a team led the NHL with 17 shorthanded goals last season. John Tortorella knows how to kill penalties, but power plays are another story.

Konecny scored another goal late in the third period, which Matvei Michkov assisted on for his first NHL point.

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Teuvo Teravainen had quite a game: Two goals, two assists, three power-play points, and six shots. I didn't really think a move from Carolina back to Chicago would help his fantasy value, but he has provided some early returns on Connor Bedard's line. His icetime and power-play time has increased a little bit, so that makes sense. He's worthy of waiver-wire consideration for next week. In the same league where I drafted Huberdeau, I picked Teravainen three picks later at 240^th overall. Those two helped me get back on track in my head-to-head matchup, although my opponent also piled up the points in the Calgary/Philadelphia game.

Speaking of Bedard, he finished with a goal and two assists. So did Seth Jones, whose points were all on the power play.

It's still early, but… the Oilers have lost their first two games in regulation at home to Winnipeg and now Chicago. They won't have much time to dwell on it, as they have another home game against the Flames today (Sunday).

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Just one game into his NHL career, Macklin Celebrini has been placed on injured reserve. Celebrini was battling a lower-body issue during training camp, and he is now considered week-to-week with a hip injury.

The Sharks missed Celebrini, as they dropped a 2-0 decision to Anaheim. Lukas Dostal made 30 saves in picking up the shutout.

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