Happy Monday y'all! We are at the end of August and that means we have real NHL games in less than a month!

Thanks to Leo Carlsson for signing that big offer sheet, superstar players are going to start to get paid. And by paid, I mean the big bucks. Cale Makar signed the biggest contract in NHL history last week, spanning eight years for a total of $163.2 million. The defenseman also became the first player with an AAV over $20 million ($20.4). The new deal does not kick in until the 2027-28 season so that is when roster management will start to matter. With big contracts, you can expect owners and management will want to squeeze as much as they can out of that player. We all know how well and effortless Makar skates, maybe we see him play a few extra minutes per game and it turns those 90 point seasons into 95-100? (we will have an extra two games moving forward as well). Colorado will have to rely on their development system to have skaters on entry level contracts to save some coin and will have to hit on cheap veteran free agents. Looking towards next year, Arturri Lehkonen will be a cap casualty and leave via free agency, so stash a guy like Fyodor Svechkov or Zach L'Heureux because those two will audition for that role in the Avs lineup.

With hockey being a month away, sites have opened up their fantasy drafts so we will look into some players who I believe are being under valued or if we are over paying for them at their average ADP. For this article, all ADPs come from Yahoo.

Cutter Gauthier – Right now, Gauthier's ADP is 34, so at the end of the third round. The winger is one of the best goal scorers in the league so if your league offers extra points for goals, he should be considered around this spot, but in a standard league I will pass on him at this range. First of all, he is still not under contract; all of the reports say he is holding out for Leo Carlsson money and the Ducks are handcuffed here, but if this keeps going into training camp and he starts to miss practice/preseason, his timing will start to be affected. Of course we want our first few rounds to be top talent players who can be league winners, but it is also important they have a high floor so there is not a ton of risk involved. At this point, Gauthier is too high for me to draft.

Connor Bedard – Another player who I believe is too high at their current ADP of 63.6, Bedard is already slated to miss at least the first month of the regular season because of a left shoulder injury he sustained while training in July. Going back to last season, the center missed over 10 games because of a right shoulder injury while taking a faceoff. I personally like to get off to good starts in my leagues because it sets the tone for the entire year so I do not like the thought of a sixth round pick being on my IR for at least the first 15-20 games. The former first overall selection is definitely someone to keep an eye on if your draft feels the same way and he starts to slide.

Logan Cooley – The American is currently sitting at an ADP of 118.9, being drafted around guys like Morgan Geekie, Andrei Svechnikov, and Nikolaj Ehlers. No offense to those three, but Cooley is the top line center on an up-and-coming squad. If he had played all 82 games, the center would have topped 70 points and he would be going in the fifth/sixth round. At 22 years old, the former third overall pick still has another gear to shift into and could easily approach 80 points in 2026-27.

Zack Hyman – The Edmonton Oiler is being drafted right around pick 100 (99.6) and I feel that is too low. Everyone knows the type of goals Hyman scores and the chemistry he seems to have with the best player in the world, Connor McDavid. If you get to triple digit picks and one of McDavid's favorite targets is still on the board with the potential for 35+ goals, that is an easy click every time.

Kevin Fiala – The Swiss winger is currently ranked 310 so you have to do a deep dive to find him, but many managers remember the name and his ADP sits at 145.9. After a brutal leg injury suffered in the Olympics, the Kings recently announced he is ahead on his recovery time and should be able to participate in training camp. The addition of Artemi Panarin moves him down to the second line potentially, but finding an offensive player with the potential for 30 goals and 60 points in the 13th round has league winner written all over it.

If you have any questions about your draft or keepers, hit me up on Twitter, @LAM1926. Have a great week everyone!