Happy Monday y'all!

Already a week into the season, how did your matchup go? Or do you have an extended first week because the league started on a Tuesday?

Something that is not new, Connor McDavid is leading the league in points with nine in his first three games. His teammate, Evan Bouchard (yes, the defenseman), is leading the league in goals with four. Bouchard must have felt major disrespect for not receiving Norris votes or a trip to the Olympics because he looks like a man on a mission early on. 

These Oilers are going to have to score a lot this season because the goalies have not looked great early on. It is a new system and coach, so I'm sure things will get cleaned up, but you obviously can't ever count them out of a game with the fire power they have. But they have been doing it without two of their top-six forwards, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Zach Hyman.

McDavid is playing almost 24 minutes a night while Leon Draisaitl is at about 22 per game. The big boys will be relied upon heavily as the Oilers try and get healthy, but the one player who should be getting scooped up in leagues is Vasily Podkolzin. The Russian winger is getting plenty of chances with McDavid and on the team's top powerplay. I'm not calling Podkolzin Ovechkin 2.0 here, but he looks like a late 2000s Ovi. He currently has 13 shots on goal and 13 hits through the first three games to go along with three goals and three powerplay points. 

Even though Devon Levi gave up seven goals against the Vancouver Canucks in game two, he did secure the win. That led him to getting the start in game three, which was a much better effort, only allowing one goal on 20 shots to the Seattle Kraken. After two roller coaster games, I'm sure the coaching staff preached defensive awareness. Freddy Andersen isn't due back until possibly December so make sure Levi is on your roster if he is still available. The former Buffalo Sabre was my pick to be this year's zero to hero goalie for all you zero goalie strategists.

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If the Anaheim Ducks didn't make enough headlines with contract extensions this offseason, they added one more before they got underway. The team signed Tristan Luneau to a six-year, $43.2 million dollar contract extension starting next season. Of course, all of the talk was how could a veteran of 14 NHL games receive so much money. General Manager Pat Verbeek wishes he took this route with Leo Carlsson and Cutter Gauthier last year so simply, he does not want to be in that situation again. With the Ducks needing defense, they felt he was ready for a full-time role and he has been thrusted into opportunity, starting on the top pairing with Jackson LaCombe.

Through two games, Luneau has not disappointed. The defenseman has averaged 26:45 of ice time and has seven blocks through the two contests. He will be on the ice for Anaheim a ton this season, so there will be opportunities for him to hit the scoresheet, but he is a must own for deeper banger formats as he will contribute to some of those extra categories.

On the Ducks front, the aforementioned Carlsson and Gauthier are living up to their new contracts. They each have three extra man points, while the Swedish center is leading them in total points (5) and the American winger has nine shots on goal. Anaheim has the youngest roster in the league and the youth is carrying them. They have the coaching and veteran leadership to sustain the success they have been experiencing so do not sleep on them in DFS contests.

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Speaking of DFS contests, it looks like the Colorado Avalanche will be a powerhouse again. Already at a +9 goal differential, Nate MacKinnon and company will terrorize your matchups each week. A player I have been drafting all summer was Artturi Lehkonen. The Finnish winger currently has three goals and is an unrestricted free agent this summer so look for more there. But these goals will come from all over the lineup; there are three other players that have two through two games and 13 of a possible 18 players have at least one point.

At the other end of the spectrum are the Calgary Flames. They only have three goals on the season and are at a historically bad -13 through three games. Most of their players would have been a late draft selection for fantasy, but you can let go of them if you need the space. And for DFS purposes, they are a team we are going to target playing against all season.

If you have any start/sit questions or trade ideas and need someone to bounce them off of, hit me up on Twitter @LAM1926. Have a great week!