I just wanted to reassure you that despite all the craziness and movement over the last four hours, I still plan on having my Guide updated tonight with all of them. It may take a little longer, but it will be done. Target – Guide for 8pm, Draft List for 9pm. Buy them HERE.

Goldie says: Top-100 Long-Term Prospects Rankings update is now available (thru October 5).

Goldie says: I’ve never made a rambling on a forward before, but T.J. Galiardi is a sleeper to watch in the West. He’s slated to play on the top line with Stastny and Stewart on Thursday. He has a great combo of grit and skill. Coaches love his work ethic, so I expect his TOI to go way up. Maybe Dobber or Angus can add to this.

Ohhhh man. I just caught a preview of what Jason Arbuthnot has up his sleeve for Frozen Pool. If the awesomeness of this tool didn’t have you peeing yourself before, it will when you see the new changes. WOW. Look for it Thursday. And you know that the only time I get this excited about fantasy tools is when I truly have a reason to. That’s THURSDAY.

Alexander Burmistrov has signed an ELC with the Thrashers. With Jim Slater on the shelf (wrist) he will get a nine-game look at the very least. I don’t anticipate him staying beyond that, but it could happen. Just don’t count on it. Incredibly talented, but lacks size and strength. I’m sure Atlanta would hate to put him at risk.

The Pens have waived Ryan Craig and Andrew Hutchinson.

Vancouver has waived Jeff Tambellini.

Bruce Boudreau on Perreault vs. Johansson: “We think Matty at his stage right now has probably got more offensive upside,” Boudreau said. “Marcus has got more defensive upside with the skating and just coming from Sweden, where they preach defense all the time. It’s a really tough call. Who knows what would have happened or how it would have if, say, Matty had to clear waivers.”

In a keeper league, I would still rather own Perreault over Johansson. “Offensive upside” says it all. And no, he won’t be a career AHLer. He would have to have a horrible season this year for that to happen. He does the little things at the NHL level that guys like Alex Giroux and Keith Aucoin and Darren Haydar could/would never do.

With the Lightning claiming Ritola, speculation is that Johan Harju will be cut. The team has released Eric Perrin from his tryout.

It was a great run, but St. Louis prospect rearguard Ian Cole has finally been cut.

The Islanders have placed Andy Hilbert on waivers.

The Rangers have placed Tim Kennedy and Todd White on waivers. It’s ironic that Kennedy was given $1.1 million in arbitration, the Sabres walked, the Rangers sign him for half that, and now they’re walking. I think Kennedy has a place on the second line in the NHL this year, but when the Rangers signed Fedotenko and Frolov, and then Stepan had such a strong camp (which forced Dubinsky to the wing), they suddenly didn’t need Kennedy. It makes you think that NHL teams should show more patience before signing guys. How many guys were signed that, come October, the team didn’t need anymore? I’m talking about Jonas Andersson, Linus Klasen, Fredrik Pettersson, Tim Kennedy, etc. Don’t sign them if you’re just gonna turn around two weeks later and sign another player for that roster spot.

The Lighting have claimed Mattias Ritola from the Red Wings off of waivers. He’s a potential second liner, but it won’t happen this year and probably won’t happen at all. That being said, I’m sure he’ll get a small look at the very least on the Lecavalier and Gagne line. So the move definitely hurts Teddy Purcell.

The Islanders have claimed Michael Grabner off of waivers and have sent the Florida Panthers a thank-you bouquet of flowers. I’ll do a full fantasy analysis of this move, because the implications are big.

Michal Neuvirth will be the starter for Game 1… because Varlamov keeps leaving practice and scrimmages and games for “maintenance”. I warn you that while Varlamov has the starting job, his hold on it is as tenuous as his health and I have tried to stress that he could and will lose that starting job if he lets Neuvirth get in several starts in a row. Which will happen, and very soon, if this keeps up. This is also why I like Braden Holtby, because he’s a Neuvirth injury away from getting a look.

Someone didn’t understand my “hype” of Mathieu Perreault and “all the points” I saw him getting (comments below). In the Guide I had him for 45. This is due to his overachieving. Expectations are low: “third-line energy player”. But what I see is a two-time 110-plus point player in the QMJHL who was destined to be a career AHLer. And then he has a fantastic camp in 2009, followed by a point-per-game season in the AHL by the time he was 22 years old. He wasn’t supposed to get to that level so quickly. And, when he gets called up by the Caps, he gets nine points in 21 games averaging about 11 minutes. When a 22-year-old does that well in the first 21 games of his NHL career, yes I think it’s reasonable to peg him for 45 points. Had he been on a one-way contract and have to clear waivers, he would be on the Caps. But that is not the case, so he is an easy cut. He was outplayed by Marcus Johansson – who by most accounts outplayed 90 percent of the team. All of my contacts in the Washington media agree – Perreault will be back, and soon. He’s 5-8, 166 pounds – so he’ll never be on a checking line. It’s offense or bust for this guy, and given his age and track record for over-achieving, I think it’s “offense”.

As for Johansson, I see him as a potential second or third-line center. He doesn’t have Perreault’s upside, but he will get his points. If you remember in the Prospects Report from 2009, he made my Top 20 in terms of draftees who I would like to own in my keeper league. I had him there because of his NHL certainty. He would be an NHLer for sure. The reason he wasn’t in the Top 10 was because his upside is limited versus the rest of the class. I think his upside is 65 points. This year? Maybe 35.

Mattias Tedenby, Jacob Josefsson and Matthew Corrente are among today’s cuts for the Devils. Sticking is Alex Urbom, and if you are a regular visitor here you would have known all about him thanks to Ryan Van Horne.

Mathieu Perreault was just cut. How sure was I that he was on the team and making an impact? He is my Hockey News article today as a late-round steal. Sometimes, the real NHL hockey throws the fantasy NHL hockey a curveball and often that means I look bad. This one stings. He’ll be back, look for 60-65 games.

Ruslan Fedotenko was arguably the best player in camp for New York and it earned him another year’s stay in the NHL. When will teams realize that he shows up only when he needs to? Fedotenko would be a 65-point power forward and one of the most coveted players in the league if he played his best game ever time out. But he doesn’t. He disappears. Fedotenko had two notable playoff runs and now one impressive preseason run. He won’t get to 40 points… but for the Rangers’ sake I hope the ‘good’ Fedotenko is around for the playoffs, because that guy can’t be knocked off the puck and he weilds a hot stick.

Mike Cammalleri gets one game for his slash, but none for his original high stick. Those of you outside of Toronto, I want you to know that a lot of hockey fans in this area are overly excited that he won’t be in the lineup when the Leafs play the Habs in the first game of the season. Living in Leafland is… something else.

The Fantasy Guide was updated as of Sunday night. I will have another update posted this evening. Friday will be my last update – set you up for any late drafts this weekend. The Guide was released on August 1 and those who bought it right away can vouch for this – it has been updated about 20 times or more.

Oiler fans! I’ll be on the pipeline show (Team 1260) tonight with Millard and Flaming at around 9:45 ET, 7:45 local.

My Hockey News article today will point out 10 late-round steals for your draft. That’s at thn.com in case I forget to throw up a link to it later. Should be up around 1pm.

Kyle Clifford has beat out Richard Clune for a roster spot with the Kings. Clune was my dark horse agitator for this year and it looked like he finally made the team for good last February. But Angus was right – Clifford can show the same kind of sandpaper, but with a better scoring touch. I’m not sure what to expect this year out of Clifford, but wouldn’t be shocked at 25 points and 100 PIM.

DobberHockey, in the month of September, had 5.057 million page views. That’s a new one-month record, topping the old mark of 4.6 million (set last September).

philly.com reports that Chris Pronger “could” play Thursday in the opener. He will practice today.

Sidney Crosby expects to play in the opening game of the season. He has been bothered by his hip flexor.

From the Gazette – Dan Bylsma on Dustin Jeffrey: “He’s a guy who we’ve had in our organization for a while and really stepped up his game, picked up some speed, had a very good summer, and showed it in camp”

Dustin Byfuglien has an ankle injury that caused him to miss the last two preseason games. The team is tight-lipped about his status.

Edmonton writer Dave Staples, whose work I respect (we just disagree on this point), has been floating the idea of Taylor Hall going back to junior this year after a nine-game trial. This has led to several emails/tweets to me asking my take. Well, I think it’s crazy talk. There is nothing left for him in junior and he can’t go to the AHL. Sending him to junior, you may as well set up an ice rink in his backyard and put out some pylons. Equal challenge for him. I think he is more NHL ready than Stamkos and Tavares were at that age. I also remember the one game I saw live where Hall played against Tavares (London vs. Windsor). Hall, to me, was the better player despite being a year younger. He was better than Tavares and Kadri both. Hall will be fine, although perhaps he’ll start slow the same way Stamkos did.

If you had problems registering yesterday due to the new math question we put in there, I would like to hear details. Please let me know and we have removed that question for the time being.