Let's jump into the plentiful news we have thanks to NHL training camps and exhibition games being in full swing.

Tyson Foerster was back in a regular jersey for the first time yesterday, which is a good sign that he's on the right track, and should be ready for opening day. Alex Bump is one who might have filled in on a scoring line for Foerster, and while that spot may not be open anymore, Bump's play last year and in camp so far this fall might be putting him on the short list for a top-nine winger slot anyways.

Joseph Woll is going to be taking a leave of absence for a family matter. As the Leafs did not provide a timeline, it's tough to know how to adjust for this news, if at all. I might bump Anthony Stolarz up five to 10 slots on my draft list, and push Woll back by about the same amount. It's unlikely I'll end up with either on my team this year though as Stolarz is going earlier than I would draft a timeshare option, and if I don't own Stolarz then I'm unlikely to take the equally injury-prone Woll. Fantasy hockey aside, we’re wishing Woll the best for whatever he’s going through.

Another injury filler, David Tomasek has been filling in on Connor McDavid's wing through camp in the usual spot where Zach Hyman played. Trent Frederic has also seen some time there however, and it sounds like he will get the first chance to play with both Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl on the top line for the regular season. As Hyman is expected to miss weeks of the season, Frederic could really cement himself in the top-six, while it's looking as though Tomasek is still battling for a middle-six role.

Dallas' lines have been constantly changing, with the most recent iteration seeing a top line of Jason Robertson, Roope Hintz, and Mikko Rantanen. There is tons of fire power, and lots of options in the top-nine here, and regardless of where players end up and find chemistry, they should produce. I'm not getting too up or down from any of the Dallas combos right now.

With a player who took advantage last year of playing up in the lineup in Dallas when injuries hit, it looks like he once again is primed to ride shotgun with some better players and reap the rewards. Who I'm talking about here is Evgeni Dadonov, who has spent the whole pre-season with Jack Hughes and Jesper Bratt. There doesn't seem to be much in the way of competition on that line either, and Sheldon Keefe doesn't exactly have a track record as a coach that makes big changes on the fly, so Dadonov could get a long leash in that LW1 slot.

Another player getting an extended look on the top line has been Mattias Maccelli in Toronto. His underlying numbers show that he is a skilled playmaker like Marner, with similar strengths and weaknesses to his game… and obviously not to the same level as Marner. However, the hope in Toronto is that Matthews' star power is enough to make up the difference in the drop from Marner to Maccelli, and the similar game style keeps the top line rolling.

Over in Nashville, there's a bit of a surprise name seeing time at the top-line RW slot, and that's Cole O'Hara. O'Hara is a recent NCAA grad, who saw his point totals explode last year, before signing his ELC at the end of the season. He may still be a prospect without a professional regular season game to his name, but he's pro-ready at 23 and could be a bit of a late bloomer. However, he's not immediately jumping onto the top line in Nashville, he's just keeping the spot warm for Luke Evangelista right now. If the top-line spot was to go to a recent NCAA grad, then that would be former first-round pick Matthew Wood.

The issue with Wood joining the forward ranks for Nashville, is that they're full of shooters, and they're mossing the skilled playmakers in the middle to hold things together. All of Steven Stamkos, Jonathan Marchessault, Filip Forsberg, Roman Josi, and Wood himself are shoot-first types. The Preds need some balance, and I don't see that in their system at the moment. James Hagens, Porter Martone, or Jake O'Brien would have looked great in their system. Alas…

A few other players who are seeing time with skilled top-six lines: Elmer Soderblom (DET), Gage Goncalves (TB), Jani Nyman (SEA), Jimmy Snuggerud (STL), Denver Barkey (PHI), Lukas Reichel (CHI), and in Pittsburgh both Denton Heinen and Anthony Mantha are flanking Evgeni Malkin. Players to keep an eye on or to look into depending on your league.

Meanwhile, over in San Jose it's looking like a few youngsters are being given a real opportunity to make the squad, with Quentin Musty as the LW2, Michael Misa as C3, and Sam Dickinson running the top power play unit in Tuesday's practice – though that last one is because John Klingberg is day-to-day.

Back to another top-line winger, but this time it's a player eyeing a return to the 100-point scoring level as a mark that he deserves to be on the American Olympic team. Tage Thompson enters the year motivated, healthy, and playing RW instead of being held back by extra responsibilities at center. As I mentioned last week in my ADP rundowns (which you can find here and here), Thompson is someone I'm buying ahead of his ADP – just a note for some leagues, that Thompson's FOW numbers could plummet.

On the flip side of a position change, Logan Stankoven is getting the first shot as the C2 in Carolina. I thought over the summer that it might be the responsible Jarvis and his healthy shoulder who got the first look there, reprising his position from the junior ranks, but instead Stankoven is being thrown into the fire (albeit with some excellent supporting wingers). I would expect his scoring pace to dip, at least for the first half of the season, as plenty of young players (especially smaller ones) struggle with the shift from wing to center at the NHL level.

I read the other day that Bo Horvat and Jonathan Drouin actually have some experience playing together, and they feel their chemistry is going to carry over into the NHL regular season. Horvat is no MacKinnon, but after seeing his point totals decline for two straight years, maybe Drouin's creativity can buoy him back up, and hold off a big decline from Drouin in his new setting too.  

The Capitals are going to be fascinating to watch, as they look to have a solid top-12 forwards, but then there's also the list of who would be left over, and that includes Hendrix Lapierre, Ethan Frank, and Sonny Milano as veterans, plus Terik Parascak, Andrew Cristall, Ilya Protas, and more. Cristall seems the closest of those last three, but all of them could use a bit more seasoning.

Those are some better options than many teams' fourth lines. Could there be a trade or two that materializes, or are the Caps going to return some extra depth to their AHL affiliate in Hershey for another run at an AHL title, while maintaining the organizational depth?

For injury news, Drake Batherson left practice on Tuesday after suffering a non-contact injury. Hopefully it's not a long recovery, but something to be wary of in drafts. Keep an eye out for updates in the coming days.

Continuing with injury news, David Pastrnak was back at practice, which is a great sign for players with picks in the six-to-10 range of redrafts. Players like Pasta, Jaccob Slavin (held out of training camp), and Cale Makar (held out for the second half of a game that got out of control) are players who I am not dropping back on any draft lists (assuming I would have a list long enough to have Slavin on it in the first place).

However, players with real injuries that are expected to spill into the season like Ukko-Pekka Lukkonnen. Zach Hyman, and Mats Zuccarello, do drop down my draft boards a little further. Players that are injured at this point miss the warm up for the season, and sometimes run into setbacks, meaning that despite being given a timeline that they might miss four-to-six weeks of the season (just an example, not the specific case of these players) they might be two-to-three months before they're actually back to full health and up to the game speed of everyone else. That's a lot of time to be holding some extra weight on your roster when instead you can just draft a very similar albeit healthy player.

*

Feel-good moment: the Xhekaj brothers played in a professional game together for the first time, with both of them suiting up for the Habs' exhibition game last night against the Flyers.

*

See you next Wednesday, and if you have any fantasy hockey questions or comments you can find me on BlueSky @alexdmaclean.