Just here to wake up everyone now that it's the end of September.

The NHL regular season starts one week from today and most teams have their training camps down to 30-or-so players. We have one week left to do our fantasy drafts, and particularly for those in medium or deep formats, knowing which non-elite players are playing their way into a notable role is important to keep track of. Let's catch up on some news and notes from around the league.

Before digging into the players, a good place to get up-to-date information is GameDayTweets.com. It is brought to us by our friends at Keeping Karlsson, and readers can search by NHL team or by a specific player to see what team beat writers have been saying about them recently.

I am taking other game and player data from HockeyViz, Natural Stat Trick, and Frozen Tools.

Anaheim Ducks

Over the weekend, it was announced that winger Jansen Harkins is going to miss eight weeks with an upper-body injury. That puts him in line to miss around 20-25 regular season games.

Harkins isn't fantasy relevant, but his injury might make Beckett Sennecke relevant. Before the Mason McTavish signing, Sennecke had been skating next to Frank Vatrano and Ryan Strome, and he's generally been in the team's top-9 since training camp opened. The issue is that with McTavish back in the fold and the rest of the top-9 healthy, there really isn't room for Sennecke on lines 1, 2, or 3 unless they move someone like Strome or Alex Killorn down. At the least, it opens the door for Sennecke to have a shot at breaking camp with the team, and if not, it'll be someone like Nikita Nesterenko.

Boston Bruins

Not really a depth guy, but centre Elias Lindholm has been skating regularly on Boston's top line with David Pastrnak and Morgan Geekie. Lindholm has also been getting top power-play time, so he's being put in the best possible position to produce offensively.

It has been two down season in a row for Lindholm, failing to crack 20 goals or 50 points in either campaign. He isn't the player a lot of people thought he was, but that doesn't take away from the position he currently holds with the Bruins. It is also very notable how drastic the difference was for Lindholm's 5-on-5 production last year when he had Pastrnak next to him than when he didn't, with the associated percentile among regular NHL forwards in each category:

Across the board, Lindholm produced at a first-line rate when he was skating next to Pastrňák, and a fourth-liner without him. Quite literally, there was no discernible difference between Lindholm's 5-on-5 production next to Pastrňák and the full-season production from Roope Hintz. Of course, Lindholm has to stay in that spot to be relevant, but the potential is there.

Buffalo Sabres

There are always players that fall into the 'better in real life than in fantasy hockey' bucket and Benson might just be one of those guys (for now). He has been lined up opposite Tage Thompson basically the entire preseason and seems destined for that spot to start the regular season. Benson has been more productive at 5-on-5 over the last two seasons when he's been skating next to Tage than when he hasn't:

It isn't a huge leap, but if he can post 1.8 points per 60 minutes and grab a few points elsewhere, it puts a 40-point season in play. Benson has already shown tremendous two-way ability and he's a good playmaker, but without top PP time, he won't be fantasy-relevant in most formats. That seems like it'll take another year or two, depending on what happens with guys like Alex Tuch and Jack Quinn.

Calgary Flames

On Saturday night, Calgary was in Winnipeg and had a handful of NHL blue liners with them in Kevin Bahl, Joel Hanley, and Brayden Pachal. It was Bahl that led the blue line in ice time (24:59) but in second was Zayne Parekh with 23:43. That he's returned from his nagging injury and played 21:51 in his first preseason game, followed by 23:43, is a good sign. He might come out of camp as the fourth defenceman on the depth chart, and if he can ever wrangle a regular top PP role, then we've got something.

Chicago Blackhawks

Alex Vlasic is day-to-day after leaving Sunday night's game and the team has a lot of young defencemen. That is why it stuck out that Wyatt Kaiser skated 25:30 in the game Vlasic was injured while Artyom Levshunov was at 22:34 and Sam Rinzel at 21:49. Last year, Kaiser blocked 5.2 shots per 60 minutes at even strength, or roughly an 85^th percentile mark across the league's regular defencemen. Add that to a league-average hit rate, and if Kaiser can get to that 19- to 20-minute range (18:07 last year), he could be around 225 total hits/blocks in an 82-game season. That is not nothing in multi-cat formats, just don't expect more than 20 points.

Colorado Avalanche

Evan Rawal of the Denver Gazette mentioned on Sunday afternoon that winger Artturi Lehkonen had taken the spot of Valeri Nichushkin on the top PP unit. One practice doesn't etch anything in stone, but that is kind of the reason why I've been hesitant to draft Nichushkin this year. He is a guy that can be very, very productive with a top-6/top PP role, but I don't have confidence in the ancillary parts of the top PP unit being anywhere close to permanent. Nathan MacKinnon, Martin Necas, and Cale Makar are safe, but I think we'll see a rotating cast of the other two PP forwards between Lehkonen, Nichushkin, Gabriel Landeskog, and Brock Nelson.

Staying with the Avs, Mr. Rawal also said that Samuel Girard was on the ice for practice on Monday, though he lasted about 20 minutes before heading off. All part of the recovery process as he returns from a lower-body injury that it appears he suffered during offseason training.

Detroit Red Wings

While the talk of Red Wings camp has been the meteoric rise of Emmitt Finnie, and rightly so, it was Axel Sandin-Pellikka's ice time in Detroit's game on Saturday that stood out. With Ben Chiarot, Albert Johansson, and Jacob Bernard-Docker in the lineup, Sandin-Pellikka led their defencemen in ice time (24:14) by a wide, wide margin (Chiarot was next 18:40). With three preseason games played, Sandin-Pellikka is averaging 22:48 per game, leading all Red Wings defencemen by a full minute. The only problem is that they have eight defencemen signed so for Sandin-Pellikka to crack the roster, they need to send at least one, if not two, defencemen through waivers (Travis Hamonic is surely one of them). But, if they have any inkling that he can be a difference-maker, there is no reason not to figure a way to keep him there. (I fully admit the most likely course of action here is Sandin-Pellikka gets sent to the AHL with a mid-season recall.)

Los Angeles Kings

A bit of a good-news/bad-news situation here. The good news: If you're a Quinton Byfield enthusiast – and I am – the Kings have stuck with their five-forward power play that they often used after the Andrei Kuzmenko trade last season. That is excellent for Byfield's upside and probably makes him their top centre by TOI.

The bad news is if you're a Brandt Clarke enthusiast, of which there are many, myself included. He looks to be no higher than the fourth, maybe fifth defenceman on the even-strength depth chart. Without top PP time, he's irrelevant in most fantasy leagues.

Nashville Predators

It was a game with mostly borderline players, but Fedor Svechkov had over 22 minutes in ice tine for Nashville on Sunday – no other Predators forward reached 19 minutes. I wouldn't normally put a ton of stock into one game with mostly AHLers and fourth liners, but last week, Svechkov skated 20:10 in a game that had Michael Bunting, Filip Forsberg, Erik Haula, Jonathan Marchessault, Michael McCarron, and Cole Smith. They are obviously seeing what they have in him, but that he's getting this much ice time with or without their top NHLers tells me that he may be in for a prominent role, especially until Luke Evangelista is signed and in the lineup.

New Jersey Devils

Arseni Gritsyuk was skating on New Jersey's top line on Sunday, getting Jack Hughes and Jesper Bratt as line mates. One game isn't going to tell us everything, but with Stefan Noesen missing, the Devils have some spots to fill in the top-6. How long Gritsyuk lasts, we'll see, but something to monitor, nonetheless.

In that same game, Seamus Casey skated a preposterous 27:10 on defence. It is notable because Simon Nemec (25:54), Brenden Dillon (21:45), and Brett Pesce (20:16) were all in the lineup, too. Casey also lined up on the team's top PP unit with Hughes, Bratt and co., not Nemec. That is without Dougie Hamilton, who will get the first crack for that top PPTOI, but it's notable Casey was on that unit over Nemec while also leading the blue line in TOI. With Luke Hughes still not signed and Jonathan Kovacevic injured, it's a great opportunity for Casey to really make his mark.

New York Islanders

It may be something, and it may be nothing, but I thought it was interesting that on Friday night, in a game where the Islanders were down 3-2 late in the third period, rookie Matthew Schaefer was on the ice along with Anthony Duclair, Bo Horvat, Mathew Barzal, Jonathan Drouin, and Tony DeAngelo. They were missing a lot of their depth forwards, but Maxim Shabanov, Casey Cizikas, and Alex Romanov were all in the lineup, and Schaefer was on the ice over them. I still think he'll be too far down the depth chart to be relevant in most fantasy formats, but he did finish with more overall ice time than Romanov, so, maybe not.

Philadelphia Flyers

On Saturday, the Flyers had most of their NHL lineup in a preseason game, and Nikita Grebenkin was on the 'third' line with Owen Tippett and Jett Luchanko. Then, halfway through the game, he was moved to the top line with Sean Couturier and Travis Konecny, where he stayed for the rest of the contest. Nothing to read too much into yet, but it's definitely something to keep an eye on over the next week.

Seattle Kraken

The Kraken are dealing with a couple injuries up front and that's been good news for Jani Nyman's deployment:

Jani Nyman and Berkly Catton on the 1st PP unit today.

Eberle
Catton-Beniers-Nyman
Dunn

Marchment
Wright-Schwartz-Tolvanen
Evans pic.twitter.com/EW8QQQWngB

— Emerald City Hockey (@EmeraldCityHky) September 28, 2025

Having that role with a couple injuries and holding that role when everyone is healthy are two different things, but this is a guy who has done nothing but score at every level he's played between Europe and North America. We will see how the injured players progress, but Nyman has a real chance to hold onto a fantasy-relevant role. I am a believer, generally speaking, so maybe it's rose-coloured glasses, but he seems to be making the most of the opportunity he's received.

Toronto Maple Leafs

As Puneet mentioned in his Ramblings yesterday morning, goaltender Anthony Stolarz signed a four-year extension with the Leafs. We also saw James Reimer get a professional tryout last week. This is all in the wake of Joseph Woll leaving the team for personal reasons. Whatever is happening with Woll, all the best to him and his family.

All this indicates to me that the Leafs may have to rely on Stolarz a lot more than they were anticipating just a couple weeks ago. Great news for those that drafted Stolarz on their rosters – he could get to the 50-start plateau.

Vancouver Canucks

On Friday, Vancouver iced a lineup that saw Evander Kane take top PP time alongside Elias Pettersson, Jake DeBrusk, Brock Boeser, and Quinn Hughes. That was with Jonathan Lekkerimaki and Filip Hronek in the lineup, so it's not as if there weren't other options that have been used on the top PP unit before. Of course, Kane's big problem has always been staying healthy, but he did play 77 games last year, and getting a regular top-6/top PP role would be a huge boon for him in any format. Keep an eye on that over the next seven days.

Washington Capitals

On Sunday night, Ryan Leonard was lined up next to Aliaksei Protas and Pierre-Luc Dubois. He also scored this goal:

Ryan Leonard, what a goal 🔥

(via @NHL)pic.twitter.com/2uE4522uot

— SleeperNHL (@SleeperNHL) September 28, 2025

That is Topias Vilen he burned, a fifth-round pick from 2021 who has spent the last couple years in the AHL, so it's not as if he roasted Brett Pesce or Jonas Siegenthaler. Also, without top PP time, Leonard won't make a Matthew Knies-sized impact in the fantasy game. Just a sick goal regardless, and Leonard will be relevant in multi-cat formats right out of the gate. The only question is if he gets enough of a role to be relevant in other formats.

Staying with the Caps, Tom Gulitti reported that Alex Ovechkin was in a normal jersey, not a non-contact jersey, in practice. He looks like he'll be ready to go for the start of the regular season.