The NHL season is finally upon us, so let's dig in.

The bad news is as of the time of this writing on Thursday morning there have only been two days of games, so we don't have a ton more to go on than we did at the end of last week/the end of preseason. Today is going to be a bit of a follow up from last week when attempted to dissect the preseason results and line combinations to find some potential gems. We have a few games under our belt so do have some information about which line combinations survived their first test, and a few interesting results to pick over.

First up: a quick follow-up to a few guys mentioned last week.

Over in Edmonton Vasily Podkolzin is clearly the man of the hour. Well, in truth that is probably reserved for Evan Bouchard and his five-point night, but next on the list is Podkolzin. He saw almost 18.5 minutes of ice time playing with at least one of, if not both of, Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. He even saw about 70 percent of the team's power play from the top unit. Part of that is due to the injury to Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, but I hope you made the speculative add last week as he put up two goals, seven shots, and five hits. It was a great night, in great deployment, and he is definitely worth hanging on to while this deployment lasts. (Podkolzin skated 18:04 on Thursday night and scored one goal while adding an assist.)

On the flip side Jack Roslovic did not weather the storm quite so well. In his first game he saw over 18 minutes of ice time, but by the second game had dropped down to just shy of 15 minutes. He was also teasing some top power-play deployment during the preseason but was usurped immediately by Kirill Marchenko. He did still manage some top-6 time, put up two shots in each game, and generated an assist, so it wasn't all bad, but certainly not the explosive start we saw from Podkolzin.

Now we are going to hit on a few guys we neglected to mention last week.

Nick Robertson spent most of the preseason lining up on the top line with Sidney Crosby and Rickard Rakell. He also got a brief look at top power-play deployment. Some of that carried over to the first game of the season, where he suited up next to Crosby on the top line but only managed 15 minutes of total ice time with no power-play time. He did score two goals (one shorthanded) though and took four shots. It has been a long game of wait-and-see with Robertson, but he showed glimpses of relevance in 25-26, and has some of the best deployment of his career to start the 26-27 season. He converted in Game 1, so hopefully that is motivation to keep him where he is for a while longer.

Luke Evangelista had a bit of a coming out party in 2025-26 with Nashville, and upon arrival in New Jersey immediately signed an extension and was put in the top six and on the top power play. In his first regular season game with the Devils, he had an assist, four shots, a block, twp PIMs, and a hit in 18:10 of ice time (though it was an overtime game). In the preseason, he skated nearly 17 minutes a night, putting up three points. He didn't take a ton of shots so that he got some shot volume off on Thursday night is a good sign.

Getting shutout 7-0 in your first game of the season probably doesn't do much for confidence in your lineup, but in preseason Tyson Foerster's deployment was very interesting. It was looking like top-6 and top power-play for him, though by the end of Wednesday night, lines were in a bit of a blender. Still, he spent most of his even strength time with Travis Konecney and Christian Dvorak and on the power-play unit that got the most time on ice. There were no goals scored in that game, but he totaled over 17 minutes of ice time, which is good, though only one shot, which is not. On Thursday night, he skated 18:50, second-most among Flyers forwards behind Dvorak.

I am not sure what else needs to be said about Maxim Shabanov. On Thursday night, he skated 15:09 and was held off the score sheet in Minnesota's win, but did line up next to Kirill Kaprizov both at even strength and on the power play as he had during the preseason. Seems like maybe they are looking for a Mats Zuccarello replacement here. Through two preseason games, Shabanov averaged 16 minutes a night and three shots per game. That kind of exposure to one of the most explosive players in the NHL is a no-brainer.

One thing we didn't touch on last week in San Jose was Alex Wennberg. Wennberg is usually quite boring in fantasy, relied upon in defensive situations, and doesn't shoot; the classic better-in-real-life guy. 16 points in 19 games at the end of 2026 while on the top power play though should have raised a few eyebrows. He is back at it again getting deployed on that top unit through preseason, while only managing one shot per game. He is another one where his first game is Thursday night, but if he keeps on that top unit he could end up being a bit more valuable than expected, particularly if your league counts faceoffs. (Editor's note: Wennberg did skate on the top PP unit in San Jose's regular season opener.)

Tyler Bertuzzi spent the preseason in the top six and on the top power play and managed to keep the deployment through the first game. He approached 17 minutes a night overall and saw 60 percent of the team's power play. Unfortunately, he had no shots and only one hit for his effort. On Thursday night, he skated 18:10 and had three shots, a block, and two hits. Chicago should be an interesting place with a lot of young talent so it is unlikely that continued turns in the top six and on the top power play will result in zeros across the board.

That is all for this week.

Do your part to support organizations working to make hockey for everyone.

Professional Women's Hockey League

📢 advertisement:

Hockey is For Everyone

Black Girl Hockey Club

Athletes for Hope