I'll start with some injury news. You'll receive a more detailed injury analysis in our Injury Ward article coming up later on Sunday. You can also head over to Frozen Tools for injury updates.

Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen left Saturday's preseason game with a lower-body injury that coach Lindy Ruff described as a "tweak." That's not the only goalie injury that the Buffalo Sabres are dealing with right now, as Alex Lyon is battling an upper-body injury from Thursday's game. Colten Ellis, who was expected to be the third-string goalie for Buffalo, is now worth targeting should both Luukkonen and Lyon be unavailable for opening night.

Bryan Rust also left Saturday's preseason game with an undisclosed injury. Rust was the last man standing during my recent auction draft, sparking a mini bidding war between two teams with some leftover money. Funny what ends up happening, although we still have no idea whether this is anything serious for Rust, as he was still being evaluated after the game as per Pens Inside Scoop.

Jake Sanderson also left Saturday's preseason game, although his removal from the game was listed as precautionary.

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Week 1 of the fantasy hockey season is somewhat abbreviated, as the season starts on Tuesday while the number of games played widely varies between teams. For example, the New York Rangers and Vancouver Canucks each play four games, while the Ottawa Senators play just one game. Those types of scheduling inefficiencies can result in misleading fantasy team performances. What I mean is that if you were confident with your team before the season yet will be staring down a difficult result after Week 1, take it with a grain of salt.

(Note that some leagues' Week 1 may be extended to include the second week of the NHL season.)

In order to maximize your Week 1 performance, here are some teams and players you can target if you have room on your roster.

Week 1 schedule from Frozen Tools

New York Rangers (4 games)

First, a word about Will Cuylle, since I've seen a few people weigh in on X. Yes, you're absolutely drafting him for hits, and his value will be higher in bangers leagues. However, he is more than a one-trick pony. Cuylle also has a scoring touch with back-to-back 20-goal seasons. His assist total has been relatively low (25 and 18 over the past two seasons), but his secondary assist percentage (16.7%) suggests that he has room to grow in that category. Since he is only 24 years old, Cuylle's career-best season may be yet to come. He is still unrostered in two-thirds of Yahoo leagues, and he could be a valuable contributor for Week 1 and beyond.

If Cuylle is rostered in your league but you want to add his skill set, consider Eeli Tolvanen. Signed in early September, Tolvanen also provides that healthy dose of hits along with offense that isn't too much of a drain for your roster. Because the Rangers signed Tolvanen to a one-year contract, they may not view him as much of a long-term investment as Cuylle. Both seem like they could receive second-unit power-play minutes with a middle-6 role, as was the case during Friday's preseason game. Tolvanen is also rostered in only 4% of Yahoo leagues.

Fantasy Take: Tolvanen Gets Fresh Start with Rangers

If you are in a pure scoring league, Gabe Perreault should probably be your pick. Perreault is rostered in just 23% of Yahoo leagues and fits the bill of a sleeper/breakout candidate. His icetime increased from 13 minutes per game in Quarter 1 last season to nearly 17 minutes per game in Quarter 4. During that final quarter, Perreault also registered 16 points in 21 games.

For pure scoring, Oliver Bjorkstrand is still around, signed to a one-year deal by the Rangers. I was trying to decide between Bjorkstrand and Tolvanen in one deep league, ending up with Bjorkstrand because the league does not count hits. Bjorkstrand was held to just 32 points in 80 games with the Lightning last season, but 14 of those points were on the power play. He won't be on PP1 for the Rangers, but he is productive with the power-play minutes he receives, reaching double-digit power-play points in each of his last five seasons.

Vancouver Canucks (4 games)

The thing about the weakest-scoring teams is that they usually have numerous plug-and-play options available on the waiver wire. This year's version of the Canucks is a perfect example of that. Filip Hronek and even the scaled-down version of Elias Pettersson will be rostered in most leagues, but after that are multiple options that will receive both top-line roles and first-unit power-play minutes.

I'm talking about Brock Boeser, Jake DeBrusk, and Marco Rossi. Boeser might be the best option of the three for his consistent goal scoring and ceiling as a one-time 20-goal scorer. However, only two players had more power-play goals than DeBrusk (19) last season, so he might be the player to turn to if your league counts power-play points as a separate category (like a double word score in Scrabble). Then there's Rossi, who is projected to be the best point producer of the three in the Fantasy Guide. You can hold up your nose, but you could receive plenty of mileage from any of these players during the first week.

I added DeBrusk in one league for his four-game schedule, even without the separate power-play point category. DeBrusk finished with three points including the game-winning goal in the Canucks' 4-3 preseason win over Seattle on Saturday.

Florida Panthers (3 games, all light days)

The Panthers are in the opposite boat of the Canucks in that their top 6 forwards are all rostered, and maybe even their top 9 in deeper leagues. They might have something to fill a gap or two on your roster, though.

With such a deep forward attack, Anton Lundell could center one of the league's most productive third lines. Rostered in only 10% of Yahoo leagues, Lundell is projected to finish with 52 points according to the Fantasy Guide. He may never be a top-line-level scorer and may even be a post-hype sleeper at this point, but you may only need him to be a productive short-term add.  

Aaron Ekblad may provide some scoring if you need a depth defenseman, while Radko Gudas remains a one-category wonder in the hits department.

Vegas Golden Knights (3 games, all light days)

Consider Ivan Barbashev a priority add for Week 1. Barbashev is rostered in only 24% of Yahoo leagues, offering both scoring and hits. He is listed as Vegas's top left winger on the depth chart, while he logged extended minutes with Jack Eichel and Mark Stone last season. Barbashev was also with that duo during Saturday’s preseason game against San Jose.

If Barbashev isn't available, playoff hero Brett Howden probably is. Howden scored just 12 goals in 58 regular-season games, but he dialed it up during the playoffs with 14 goals in 22 games. Yes, he shot a highly unsustainable 34.1% rate, but he also scored 23 goals in 2024-25.

Noah Hanifin is worth considering if you need a defenseman with some scoring and potential power-play time. Hanifin is rostered in only 20% of Yahoo leagues.

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Data was taken from Frozen Tools unless otherwise noted.

Follow me on X @Ian_Gooding and Bluesky @goodsfantasyhockey.bsky.social