First Saturday of the season! Lots of hockey to break down. No Taylor Swift coverage, I promise.

Because of Connor Bedard, the Blackhawks have become must-watch TV whenever they are broadcasted nationally. Nothing against the Wild/Leafs or Flames/Penguins, which are both decent matchups in and of themselves. Yet here I am viewing two of the five worst teams from last season face each other, and I'm watching with interest and not just in the background while I'm typing. That's how genuinely curious I am in watching Bedard, and it's not just because he's on two of my fantasy teams. Hopefully the powers-that-be at Sportsnet can alter their original plan because he's already a ratings driver.  

HNIC rightly hyping up Conor Bedard but bizarrely he's on Sportsnet's national broadcast just three more times this season: Monday vs the Leafs, then twice in January (vs Vancouver, vs Calgary).

Go figure.

— Patrick Johnston (@risingaction) October 15, 2023

If Bedard hasn't learned that he can't do it all himself, then he soon will. Teams already know to zero in on him – he's not some top-secret prospect that opponents don't have a book on. We know that when Bedard has to dish the puck, the league's top finishers don't play for Chicago. Although Bedard recorded an assist on Tyler Johnson's late third-period goal (his second of the game), the Hawks were on the wrong end of a 3-2 score. So like Sidney Crosby and Connor McDavid in their early years with their teams, Bedard will find that wins in the NHL are an uphill battle for a rebuilding team. At least Bedard is meeting expectations with a single point in each of his three games.

Cole Caufield, who scored the first goal of the game for the Habs, has 48 goals over his last 83 games. That's why projecting 50 goals for him this season isn't that much of a reach. When you watch skill like this, you'll also understand why.

Cole Caufield 😮 pic.twitter.com/OVWcXUsyMi

— Brady Trettenero (@BradyTrett) October 15, 2023

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Players like Bedard and Caufield might be the future, but Auston Matthews is the present. Matthews has burst out of the gate with back-to-back hat tricks, including three goals against the Wild on Saturday. I'll admit that I just defaulted to Connor McDavid in my Experts Panel Rocket Richard pick. However, I went with Matthews last season, but he "only" scored 40. Obviously a 46% shooting percentage isn't sustainable, but he's also only 44 goals away from 50. Is it fair to say that his ADP of 7.6 in Yahoo might have been a bit low?

William Nylander has also gotten off to a strong start. He scored a pair of goals and added an assist on Saturday. He has at least a goal and an assist in each of his two games. Thank goodness the center experiment didn't come to pass, although I think he would have been fine anyway.

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Andrew Mangiapane is also off to a strong start. Skating on the Flames' top line with Jonathan Huberdeau and Elias Lindholm, the Bread Man recorded an assist on Huberdeau's goal, giving him four points over his first two games.

Mangiapane wasn't used on Calgary's top power play on Saturday, though. Matt Coronato was, and he scored his first NHL goal there. The 2021 13^th overall pick Coronato made the Flames thanks to an outstanding preseason where he had tallied four goals and seven points in five games. If he can maintain that role, Coronato could be a darkhorse Calder Trophy finalist. He's rostered in only 6% of Yahoo leagues, which is a number that could stand to grow, particularly in mid-sized to deeper leagues.

I read one fantasy writer (can't remember who, but wouldn't say who even if I remembered) who was ready to write off Evgeni Malkin this season. Even though Malkin is now 37, he may not be ready for that age-related decline just yet. Malkin recorded a goal and an assist on Saturday, giving him six points over his last two games (on back-to-back nights, no less). I'm also encouraged by Malkin because he has also averaged five shots over his three games. I wonder if the Erik Karlsson acquisition will bring new life into the Penguins as they try to make one more final push – or several more, considering how long their core has been together. Staying off the injured list will be key for all.

Jake Guentzel continued his fast start, scoring a goal and adding two assists in the Penguins' 5-2 win. Guentzel has six points over his first three games. Those that drafted him have to be ecstatic, since he wasn't guaranteed to start the season on time following offseason ankle surgery.  

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After being held pointless with a minus-3 in the Senators' season debut on Wednesday, Jakob Chychrun bounced back in a big way on Saturday. Chychrun scored two goals in the first 10 minutes of the game while adding an assist with a plus-2 in the Sens' 5-2 win over Philadelphia. Two of Chychrun's three points were also on the power play. Now that he is healthy, hopefully he will be settled in for his first full season in Ottawa.

Brady Tkachuk also scored a pair of goals, which were his first two points of the season.

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If I were the scorekeeper, I would have given Josh Morrissey a real-life assist for this goal.

GIVE JOSH MORRISSEY'S STICK AN ASSIST @NHL pic.twitter.com/p29K0x2NlC

— Winnipeg Jets (@NHLJets) October 14, 2023

Two games into the season, Kyle Connor already has three goals. He scored two of them on Saturday while adding an assist with seven shots. He is already up to 12 shots this season, so there doesn't seem to be much to worry about if he's on your team.

In the Jets' 6-4 win over Florida, Mark Scheifele recorded a Gordie Howe hat trick. Great for the bangers leagues.

Evan Rodrigues has been a hot-and-cold player over the past two seasons in Pittsburgh and Colorado. If one game is any indication, he's hot again. Now in Florida, Rodrigues scored two goals along with two assists, factoring into all four Panthers goals. He was involved in two Panthers goals with the net empty and logged 19 minutes in this game, so right now they view him as an important player. He's rostered in just 8 percent of Yahoo leagues and 32 percent of Fantrax leagues, so he's worth taking a flier on. It just might not last all season.

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It seems as though there are three or four younger, higher-upside options that could center a Blue Jackets scoring line over Boone Jenner. Yet there was Jenner on Saturday, recording a hat trick in their 5-3 win over the Rangers. I'll acknowledge that Jenner is a much better option in bangers leagues, but his upside is limited in pure scoring leagues since he has never cracked 50 points in his 10-year NHL career. The Jackets captain may be on a scoring line for a while, since he's a known quantity that can be relied upon in many different aspects of the game.

Speaking of high upside, Adam Boqvist and Kent Johnson were both healthy scratches for the Blue Jackets' first game on Thursday. However, both were back in the lineup on Saturday. Ben has more on Johnson in this week's The Journey. If you don't click on the link, I'll just say patience might be in order if Johnson is on your keeper team.

David Jiricek was also recalled for this game, scoring a goal in 16 minutes of icetime. Andrew Peeke, who offers little in the way of scoring but plenty of hits and blocked shots, was the healthy scratch on the Jackets' crowded blueline. Let's just say that the roster status of the Blue Jackets' defense will be of more interest this season than it ever has. They can't possibly run out of defensemen again this season, can they?

One more, while we're on the subject: Jake Bean has points in back-to-back games. He appeared to be a possible odd man out as well, but his recent scoring should keep him in the lineup. Unfortunately, he hasn't been in the power-play mix, which might limit his upside going forward.

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Jordan Binnington had to be considered one of the least desirable starting goalies for fantasy teams before the season. Maybe he still is. But it's worth mentioning that Binnington has back-to-back quality starts where he has allowed just one goal in each and made at least 30 saves in both. Mind you, the Blues have scored just one goal in regulation/overtime in each game, so providing Binnington with run support has been an issue. Maybe Binnington will be better than we think, but wins may not come easy because scoring could be an issue in St. Louis. Remember that they dealt away a few of their key players last season.

This news won't help: Pavel Buchnevich left Saturday's game against Seattle with an upper-body injury.

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Speaking of starting goalies you probably tried to avoid, Mackenzie Blackwood put on a clinic against the Avalanche on Saturday. The Avs fired 52 shots on Blackwood, but only one got past him. For his efforts, Blackwood had to settle for a 2-1 shootout loss. The Sharks are going to be hard-pressed to earn wins this season, so Blackwood still shouldn't be that appealing a fantasy option. But this goaltending performance should make us remember that goalies that play for bad teams aren't necessarily "bad" themselves. Goaltending in fantasy has a lot to do with a team's situation.

MACKENZIE BLACKWOOD ARE YOU KIDDING ME RIGHT NOW?! #SJSharks pic.twitter.com/hrEHlEWLBv

— SnipeCity420  (@SnipeCity420) October 15, 2023

#SJSharks Mackenzie Blackwood's 51 saves (stat tracked since 1959-60) were the most in NHL history by a goalie when in his first game with a team. Previous was 49, accomplished twice. #NHLStats #HockeyTwitter #COLvsSJS

— Darin Stephens (@SharksStats) October 15, 2023

The Sharks' lone goal was from Thomas Bordeleau, who scored the first goal of his career. Bordeleau left the game briefly after a collision later, but he returned. Bordeleau's icetime has been limited so far (12–14-minute range), but he could easily move up in the Sharks' lineup, particularly if a veteran or two is traded sometime during the season.

Henry Thrun, thought to be the Sharks' new power-play quarterback, was not in the lineup for this game. For at least part of the game, the Sharks were running with a five-forward power play of Mike Hoffman, Tomas Hertl, Anthony Duclair, Alexander Barabanov, and William Eklund. I stand by my Calen Addison from last season comparison – scoring upside, but should be considered nothing more than a bench option if he's at risk for being healthy scratched… assuming that was the reason he wasn't in the lineup.

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Brock Boeser entered the league with so much promise that it's hard to believe that he's never had a 30-goal season. Yet after his four-goal explosion on opening night, Boeser needs only 26 goals over the next 80 games to reach that mark. After dealing with the death of his father and a (since rescinded) trade request last season, Boeser seems to be more focused this season. Although he didn't score another goal on Saturday, he was credited with an assist when his blast from the point was tipped in by Nils Hoglander. For what he's been through, I really hope this is the season that Boeser reaches 30 goals.

It's still early, but there has to be concern about the goaltending in Edmonton. After Jack Campbell and Stuart Skinner combined to allow eight goals against Vancouver on Wednesday, Skinner allowed another four goals on just 16 shots in another loss to the Canucks. The Oilers goaltending situation was one of the five most intriguing goalie situations that I listed during the offseason, and I stand by that analysis. I would think Campbell would get the net back for the Oilers' next game on Tuesday in Nashville. Both Campbell and Skinner are still a strong play for wins, but they'll more likely than not be involved in high-scoring games.

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Another goaltending situation to be worried about is that of the Kings. Unlike the Oilers, who broke the bank for Campbell, the Kings have utilized Zero G in real life by spending the bare minimum on Cam Talbot and Pheonix Copley. After Talbot allowed four goals on opening night, Copley yielded five goals on just 19 shots. The Kings were able to roar back from a 5-2 deficit to tie the game and force a shootout, where they lost. It will be interesting to see how this one plays out, although their expectation might be that they simply receive league-average goaltending from one of them. And if you do Zero G in fantasy leagues, one of these goalies could still do the trick for you.

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Props to our daily fantasy writer Brad Hayward, who recommended Chandler Stephenson in a relatively easy matchup against the Ducks. Stephenson led the Golden Knights with a goal and two assists in their 4-1 win over Anaheim (their third consecutive 4-1 win to start the season!) Stephenson is off to a great start with five points over his first three games. With back-to-back 60+ point seasons, Stephenson is an underrated key player for Vegas. The fact that he is a center and that his point totals are assist-heavy (only one 20-goal season) pushes his value down the fantasy rankings, but he has been a reliable source of points since joining the Golden Knights from Washington.

Alex Pietrangelo was not in the lineup for Saturday's game. His face was bleeding heavily after he was hit by a puck during Thursday's game, although the injury seems day-to-day.

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