James Hagens had six goals through two games (including all four of his team's markers in a 4-3 OT win on Sunday), and is making a real push to immediately knock the $50M man Fraser Minten down to third-line center. He might not be able to put up big numbers right away against actual NHL defencemen, but we'll see flashes regardless of how many games he actually plays this year. 

Jaxon Cover has been one of the other most noticeable players in the rookie tournaments, putting up seven points himself, with three goals and four assists, while constantly being on and around the puck in impactful ways. The Senators notably scored eight goals across the two games, meaning Cover was a huge part of the offence. His skating is still a little unconventional, and he has a lot to learn in terms of off-puck awareness, but the ascension curve is steep for someone who only started playing ice hockey six years ago. Think K'Andre Miller (as a forward) in terms of talent, development, and runway. 

Generally I try not to get too worked up by rookie tournament performances outside of those exclusive few who show that they are obviously a few steps above their peers. 

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Martin St. Louis signed a four-year contract extension a few days ago, supplanting the existing one year he had remaining. The Habs recognize that they have a good coach here and they don't want to give him any reason to look elsewhere, bumping up his current salary to something likely more in line with his top peers. 

Martin St. Louis now gets to slot one of his former teammates into the lineup card after the Chris Kreider signing over the weekend. St. Louis played with Kreider in New York, adding a nice bit of familiarity for the coach with his new player. 

One other noteworthy tidbit from the team press conference, was that Montreal isn't planning to start the season with three goalies. That means Jacob Fowler should begin the season in the minors, with Sam Montembeaut getting another NHL chance behind Jakub Dobes. At least, that's what it seems to indicate. However, if Montembeault doesn't have a great camp, then there's a very real possibility he is waived to play in the AHL with Fowler getting at least a 35% start share behind Dobes. 

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John Hynes was also locked up on a multi-year deal in Minnesota as well. It does sound like the duos of Ryan Hartman/Kirill Kaprizov and Joel Eriksson Ek/Matt Boldy will be penned into the lineup, and the quartet of Danila Yurov, Max Shabanov, Blake Coleman, and Bobby Brink will be tried as the final pieces on those two lines to see who fits best in each slot. Those could be moving pieces throughout the year though, so I wouldn't spend too much to jump on the first name you see slotted in beside Kaprizov. 

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In less impactful management news, the Red Wings have named Shawn Horcoff as an interim GM, while they finish their search. This doesn't mean much from a fantasy perspective, except for whether he has the power to sign Simon Edvinsson to a contract or negotiate a Dylan Larkin trade. If not, then it's likely status quo into the season (otherwise the Wings wouldn't have nominated an interim filler). 

It at least doesn't sound like Larkin will be holding out, and considering how long this GM saga is dragging out for the Red Wings, maybe he should be so they can actually get their act together and make a decision.

Up in Winnipeg however, it does sound like Connor Hellebuyck won't be reporting to camp, and there is not all that much brewing in terms of a trade for him at the moment. That can change quickly, but managers have to be ready for him to be sitting out for a chunk of the season. Instead of his usual 60 starts, I would be drafting/treating him as though he is going to play 50 games this year. If someone wants to pay full price for him when he may sit and we have no idea where he might be traded to, then they're more than welcome to. I will be laying off though.

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Nick Blankenburg was signed to a PTO by the Leafs. He could fit in well as a third pairing player for the team. However, the Leafs are at the max 50/50 contracts, so if they do want to sign him they will need to ship out another contract elsewhere (or maybe if someone is claimed on waivers from them). The 28-year-old posted 17 points in 31 games in the first half last season before being shuffled down a finally healthy lineup card in Nashville, and then being flipped to the Avs as playoff depth. 

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Connor Bedard was named captain of the Chicago Blackhawks, to the surprise of absolutely no one. He has been skating, and while I haven't heard anything real to this effect, I do wonder whether he returns a little earlier than expected from his shoulder surgery. Something to keep in mind for fantasy drafts anyways. 

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We're very close to the preseason now, which made me think about how this is our first year with a max of four games per team. As the preseason is shorter, the NHL season is longer, and everyone has to jump into full-speed mode a little faster, the teams that had more turnover in the summer might be at more risk of starting slowly, while team chemistry and systems built from previous seasons might play a bit of a bigger role in the first week or two. On the flipside, that might make for some good buy-low opportunities on players who do switch teams. 

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NHL teams can no longer sign players to eight-year extensions, as the new CBA came into effect this morning (Wed Sept 15th). With it, the max term for contracts has been shortened to seven years when re-signing with your current team, or six years for UFA deals. 

Noah Ostlund signed with the Sabres for eight years on Monday, and I think he turns out to be a solid second line guy. The situation reminds me a bit of Jackson Blake and Logan Stankoven in Carolina. Those guys look like steals already on their eight year deals that were locked in right before their big playoff breakouts, paying them between $5-6 Million per season. Seems like a smart move for Buffalo to try and match that kind of deal on a player with similar upside. 

Drake Batherson and Ryan Leonard also signed big eight years deals with $10.75 and $10.5 Million cap hits respectively. Leonard is closer to Ostlund in terms of current career trajectory, but is a step ahead of him and has a higher upside, thus the higher cap hit. Batherson is much more proven, but the contract eats many more years in his 30s, which likely keeps the cap hit down for the Sens. Both should be reasonable if not in year one of the contract, then in very short order. 

The Capitals also locked up Justin Sourdif to an eight-year contract with a $6.35 Million cap hit. He likely won't be anything more than a third line player, but it should still be reasonable for the team moving forward. The Capitals now have 12 players locked in until the summer of 2030, with most of their big names included on that list. They're in great shape cap-wise.

The biggest pre-deadline deal didn't actually end up being an eight-year contract, but Cutter Gauthier's new six-year pact likely got pushed through because of the bonus structures that were tighter in the new CBA rules that are now in place. Gauthier's $13.5 Million cap hit comes in well above what was expected prior to this offseason, but still well below Leo Carlsson's new deal as well. Gauthier's deal now sets the likely high bar for Beckett Sennecke's next contract too.

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We're also now firmly into "best shape of my life" territory, though with the comment coming from Auston Matthews that this is 'the best I've felt in a long time', it does feel relevant considering we have seen his numbers drop off as he dealt with injuries, and he could be a really interesting top pick next year if he's healthy. 

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See you next Wednesday, and if you have any fantasy hockey questions or comments you can find me on BlueSky @alexdmaclean.