Ramblings: Training Camp Notes on Hayton, Tuch, Weegar, Drysdale, Lee, Nyman, Bjorkstrand, Cristall, Sennecke, Misa, and More – September 23
Michael Clifford
2025-09-23
It is the second week of training camp and with 32 teams having anywhere from 2-3 full rosters' worth of players each, it can be hard to keep up with all the important news, line combinations, injuries, and so forth. Let's take a look at some important notes from the last few days.
First things first though, anyone wanting to catch up on news should check out GameDayTweets.com. It is brought to us by the Keeping Karlsson podcast and aggregates all important NHL news tweets in one spot. You can look at the entire league, a specific team, or a specific player. It is an easy and fast way to get news on any player or team that you are looking for, or to just catch up on the entire league overall.
Alright let's get to some notes, and we'll start with power play formations.
One thing I've mused over the last month was the make-up of the Utah Mammoth's top PP unit. I wasn't sold on JJ Peterka getting PP1 time mostly because they would probably need/want two of Logan Cooley (LH), Nick Schmaltz (RH), and Barrett Hayton (LH) due to their being centres of opposite handedness and that Cooley has not shown an ability to be a top faceoff guy. Add in Clayton Keller and Dylan Guenther, and Peterka, Cooley, and Mikhail Sergachev were uncertain for PP1 time. For now, it looks as if that's Peterka and Cooley:
For anyone keeping track, that means Hayton is on the top line with Keller and Schmaltz, while also lining up for top PP time. He is coming off a season with a career-high in goals (20) and assists (26). His current FanTrax ADP is 544.7, so fantasy owners in deep formats should take note here.
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For now, it looks as if the Montreal power play has been split into two moderately even units:
We'll see how long this setup sticks, but for now, they might be taking the Dallas approach to power-play time where it's something like a 60/40 split in favour of the top unit (Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield) as opposed to the 70/30 (or higher) split they had last season, particularly after Kirby Dach's injury. If they keep this approach, it could knock about 30 seconds of PPTOI per game off Suzuki's profile.
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For now, it looks like Alex Tuch is going to get a real chance at the top PP unit for the Buffalo Sabres:
Over the last two seasons, Tuch has managed 2.37 points per 60 minutes at even strength (per Evolving Hockey). That mark is higher than names like Aleksander Barkov (2.36), William Nylander (2.34), Adrian Kempe (2.32), Cole Caufield (2.32), and Matthew Tkachuk (2.28). Tuch has only averaged 11.5 PP points per 82 games in that span, though, so he can easily be a 30-goal, 70-point player once again with regular top PP time like in 2022-23.
Just watch for Tuch’s preseason status. He has missed some days of camp, but the team doesn’t seem worried about it being anything serious, and he practiced on Monday. For now, it's a chance for Josh Doan to make an impression as he's been skating next to Jiri Kulich in Tuch's absence, including last night's preseason game.
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Per Ben Pope, Sam Rinzel was running the Chicago Blackhawks' top PP unit in practice/scrimmage on Monday. This was somewhat expected, but it's also confirmation that the rookie defenceman could have a very productive season for someone his age and in this situation.
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A quick note on the Calgary power play:
There has been chatter about who would have top PP time on Calgary's blue line between MacKenzie Weegar and Zayne Parekh, and for now, it looks like the veteran Weegar has the inside edge. This will probably change back and forth throughout the season, but the assumption that Parekh would have top PP time for nearly the entire season seems unlikely.
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Per Kevin Kurz, it looks like the Philadelphia Flyers are giving Jamie Drysdale the first crack at the top power-play unit. They do have other young options like Emil Andrae and Egor Zamula who could figure in, and Travis Sanheim is still a possibility, but the new coaching staff does seem to want to give Drysdale a chance to run with the top PP role.
Drysdale is an interesting player. His raw tools (particularly skating) are obvious to anyone watching him play, but he has had a lot of injury issues. We should keep in mind that he just crossed the 200-game threshold towards the end of last season and is only 23 years old. He has to prove himself, of course, but he's healthy for the second year in a row (for now), is coming into his prime, and has a new coach. His FanTrax ADP is outside the top-60 defencemen, so there is a good (cheap) draft bet to be made that Drysdale has the best season of his career.
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There is one thing that stood out about the New York Islanders' lineup:
It isn't Maxim Shabanov and Jonathan Drouin getting a spot next to Bo Horvat, but it's Anders Lee lining up next to Mathew Barzal. On top of that, Lee also has a spot on the team's top power-play unit with Drouin, Horvat, and Barzal. Lee had 29 goals, 25 assists, and 233 shots last year, each of those being his highest marks since the 2017-18 season. He also did that with just 9 power-play points. Like the rest of the top Islanders options, just a below-average power play, rather than an awful one, could make these guys good draft values.
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The Seattle Kraken lines from their exhibition game on Sunday night stuck out:
Jared McCann is day-to-day right now, but he was skating next to Berkly Catton earlier in training camp. That seems to be a vote of confidence for both he and Jagger Firkus. We'll see where things stand in 7-10 days.
What really stood out was Jani Nyman getting a spot next to Matty Beniers and Kaapo Kakko, with Nyman replying to that role by scoring twice in that game. He had 28 goals in 58 games last year as a rookie 20-year-old in the AHL, has the highest single-season goal total by a teenager in the Finnish league in the last 40 years (per Elite Prospects), and scored three times in 12 games with the Kraken. He also posted 13 hits in 12 games with Seattle, skating mostly with Beniers and Kakko. If Nyman is going to get a top-line role next to Beniers, and skate on either of the PP units, there is a solid multi-cat player in the making. His FanTrax ADP is outside the top-600, and good luck finding a player with his goal-scoring pedigree, multi-cat ability, and who is in line for a top-6 role with power-play time.
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A quick note on the Carolina Hurricanes' goaltending situation:
This was somewhat expected, but it's nice to get some confirmation. On a per-start basis, being in net for Carolina is one of the best places to be given their perennially-excellent penalty kill and the team's goal-scoring ability. But if both Frederik Andersen and Pyotr Kochetkov can stay healthy, neither may start more than 45 games. It does limit their upside, though that has generally been baked in their ADPs.
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It has been interesting to see the Tampa Bay Lightning continue to give Gage Goncalves a shot at sticking on the second line next to Brandon Hagel and Anthony Cirelli:
Goncalves had a solid rookie season with 20 points in 60 games, but he did have 71 hits and 20 blocks in those 60 games. If he can get a regular second-line role, he could push 14 minutes a game. That would put 10 goals and 30 points on the table, to go with roughly 30 blocks and 100 hits. It isn't outstanding, but something multi-cat managers in deep formats should keep an eye on through training camp.
Staying with Tampa Bay, Eduardo A. Encina said that the Lightning were using Oliver Bjorkstrand on their top PP unit in practice on Monday. That is something that should make all Brandon Hagel enthusiasts (myself included) a little nervous.
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TSN's Ryan Rishaug gave us an update on Zach Hyman's return status, and it looks like sometime in early November. I have mentioned it before, but it bears repeating: Edmonton is tied for the most games played in the league through the first four weeks of the season (15, same as Boston and Nashville). The Oilers have three games in the first four days in November, and then are off until November 8th, when they're at home to Colorado. If this timeline holds true, fantasy managers should factor in at least 15 missed games for Hyman.
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Fluto Shinzawa tweeted that Boston Bruins winger David Pastrnak was at practice for the team on Monday, skating on the top line with Elias Lindholm and Morgan Geekie. Everyone can take a sigh of relief.
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Let's move on to some of the young stars that are getting a shot to crack their respective team's NHL roster.
First up is Andrew Cristall from the Washington Capitals:
With Alex Ovechkin injured, Cristall has been filling in next to Dylan Strome basically from the start of training camp. When Ovechkin returns, he will take that spot back, but there may be a spot next to Connor McMichael and Tom Wilson waiting for Cristall. Let's see how the next week of camp goes, but Cristall has 127 goals in his last 173 regular season WHL games. He may head to the AHL for some pro experience, but he is still someone to keep an eye on as we make our way through camp.
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Moving to the Anaheim Ducks, we got an interesting lineup with Beckett Sennecke:
The third overall pick from 2024 might have a real shot at making the team. It has been less than a full week of camp, so one step at a time, but it's likely going to be between him and Sam Colangelo for the third right-wing slot along behind Troy Terry and Alex Killorn. Colangelo can be sent to the AHL without going through waivers, so there is a chance for Sennecke here. Time will tell.
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Lastly, let's move over to the San Jose Sharks and Michael Misa:
That was San Jose's lineup for their first preseason game, and Misa skated 17:40 overall, second-most among their forwards behind Philipp Kurashev. That top-line role from Kurashev is going to go to Macklin Celebrini, but it's a wonder if they don't try Misa on the second line with Tyler Toffoli and William Eklund. The next 10 days of camp will tell the real story for Misa, but he's being put in a position to thrive for now.
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