We are officially under a week until the regular season begins. Congratulations to everyone, we made it! 

Unfortunately, when the players start skating, there is always a risk of injury. While there are no turf rinks (sorry NY Giants fans/Malik Nabers owners), there was a major season ending knee injury that will cause ripples through their respective lineup. This one was tough to swallow because it wasn't even in a preseason game, it happened during practice. 

For up-to-date information, check out GameDayTweets.com. Readers can view tweets relating to each team, or specific players, to quickly check what's going on around the league.

Anaheim Ducks – Chris Kreider has been playing with Leo Carlsson on the Ducks' top line. It will be weird not seeing a Rangers sweater on him, but maybe he can find chemistry with the young Swede in Anaheim? Leo, I hope you get some pointers from Mika Zibanejad! 

While we are talking about Carlsson, Coach Q says he wants Carlsson to kill penalties full-time this season as part of his development. What we can see in terms of fantasy production; if your league counts short-handed points, look for him to be a contributor there (last season he killed penalties for the final 13 games and scored two SHP). If your league counts face-off wins, that is another stat you will see him contribute to. Taking big draws in your team's zone will help him develop and he will get those opportunities.

Chicago Blackhawks – The top two lines are pretty much a lock in Chicago. The top line consists of Connor Bedard at center with Andre Burakovsky and Ryan Donato on the wings. The second line will see another youngster in Frank Nazar (who scored a hat trick against Minnesota the other night) centering Tyler Bertuzzi and Teuvo Teravainen. 

Bedard and Donato are tied at the hip and their chemistry from last year has shown in the preseason, with this magnificent pass from Bedard to Donato for a sweet goal. If Burakovsky can fit in with those two (he did finish the 2024-25 campaign with 16 points in his final 22 games), he would be a target in deeper formats.

Nazar has brought energy to Bertuzzi and Teravainen. If the American center can build off the great World Championship he had that saw him lead Team USA in goals, points, and bring home a gold medal, then Chicago may have found the perfect compliment to Bedard and a great late round pick for your fantasy squad.

Edmonton Oilers – After being acquired by the Oilers at the trade deadline last season, Trent Frederic played his first game as an Oiler in the playoffs. He never looked like that same player who dawned the B's sweater so a summer of rest will hopefully help him recover. Even though management did not see that same player, they rewarded him with a long-term contract which signals they are going to use him. I don't think anyone saw this coming though as he has lined up with Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl at various points of training camp. 

If this were a line to catch on, Frederic's stock goes through the roof. McDavid and Draisaitl don't usually play together consistently, but if Frederic was on one of their lines, he is a player that needs to be watched very closely. He is a wrecking ball on the ice so he will record hits for your league, and has the potential of a 45-point season. That is easy money you can find on your waiver wire right now.

Florida Panthers – Aleksander Barkov is done for the season with a devastating knee injury that occurred during practice. This will obviously have ramifications throughout the lineup, so let's work our way through it.

The first player who will take a hit is Sam Reinhart. The two have played together for basically the entirety of the last two seasons and are penalty killing partners. No one is replacing the playmaker Barkov is for Sammy (unless General Manager Bill Zito can work his magic and trade for Sidney Crosby?). Reinhart had 57 goals in 2023-24 and 39 in 2024-25, at pretty high shooting percentages too, so I would expect him to regress down to the high 20/low 30 goal mark.

Now, a player who should take a leap is Anton Lundell. He has been patiently waiting in the wings for the last few years, and this injury will open up lots of ice time. In 14 games without the captain in their lineup in 2024-25, Lundell scored six goals and recorded 13 points while playing over 20 minutes in eight of those contests. 

Montreal Canadiens – Watching the start of the game on 9/30 against the Ottawa Senators, I am thinking Patrik Laine may score 50 goals this year if he stays healthy. Having guys like Lane Hutson and Ivan Demidov on the power play to tee him up is going to be a dangerous combination. Let me check PuckPedia really quick… oh, he happens to be in the last year of his contract. I would pencil him in for 70+ games and A LOT of goals this campaign.

Philadelphia Flyers – Whoever gets the lucky spot next to Trevor Zegras and Matvei Michkov is going to have to hire the best agent out there. Zegras and Michkov look like they have a ton of chemistry already and are having a ton of fun playing together. After trying some young guns with the duo, it was Travis Konecny who got a shot and most recently they had Owen Tippett out there.

After a successful 2023-24 season, Tippett looked to really break out in 2024-25, but the whole Flyers team fell flat. He did not register a power-play goal last season and finished with 10 fewer points than the previous year. If he can stick with Zegras and Michkov, look for him to break the 30-goal plateau and even if he doesn't, he is still a stud in deeper leagues with peripheral stats (SOG, hits, blocks).

Seattle Kraken – After playing his first full NHL season in 2024-25, Shane Wright looks to build off a respectable campaign that saw him finish with 44 points in 79 games. He played a lot with Eeli Tolvanen last year and he has been playing with him this preseason as well. What has been an interesting look though, is adding even more jam to his line and having Mason Marchment on the other wing. Playing in the middle of two bigger bodies to create space for Wright might give him the confidence to let loose and show the world why he was a highly touted prospect coming into the league. He is only 21 years old and will continue to develop as the season moves along.