It's pre-season, so we don't get boxscore data from many of the matchups, but we do have a few we can parse through. First up, Michael Rasmussen showed well in Monday's preseason game, leading the Wings with five of the team's 18 shots in the game, playing on a line with J.T. Compher and Keegar Kolesar. The trio dominated possession over a mostly young Columbus team while on the ice, and could extend that into a strong start to the regular season as a possible third line combo. Rasmussen is a streaky player with some upside, so he's the most likely of the set to have any fantasy upside in deeper leagues. 

In the NYR/NJ game, the Devils had all five of their big names up front earn at least a point – get used to that. I do count Luke Evangelista in that top tier, and you should too. He led all New Jersey forwards in ice time in the game, though didn't have any shots. Playing with Timo Meier, Evangelista may see his points tick upwards, but in contrast the SOG numbers might drop a little. Luke Hughes was the one running the top power play, which should continue at least to begin the season. 

Oliver Bjorkstrand is still on the top line for the Rangers, and his shot coupled with the threat of Dorofeyev on the other wing could give both of them a bit more space, and possibly lead to J.T. Miller's highest assist rate in a couple of years. 

Cole Knuble is making a good impression in Philly camp, though with their crowded wing set, there's not really a spot for him on the opening day roster. Where there is some uncertainty though is in net, where Dan Vladar left last night's pre-season tilt with an arm/hand injury. Hopefully we get some word on him soon, but in the meantime keep an eye on Joseph Woll.

David Jiricek played a team-high 22:46 last night, and should be a fixture on the blueline this year. His bomb might also be a PP option too.

Noah Ostlund and Zach Benson each had two points last night, in a game where the Buffalo roster was pretty much their opening day lineup. Both Mattias Samuelsson and Owen Zellweger left the game, which might make some space for Zach Metsa to start the season on the third pair.

Brady Tkachuk and Aleksander Barkov each put up a goal and an assist against Carolina's AHL squad. Neither played for the Panthers last year, and adding both into a healthy lineup is going to be huge for the team. In our Wins Pools on the forum they were often a top-five pick.

Goaltending was optional in the Detroit/Pittsburgh game, where the Wings put seven past Arturs Silovs. Anton Johansson recorded four assists, while 14/18 of the Wings picked up at least one point. For the Penguins, the Ruck twins paired up to assist on a Rutger McGroarty goal, which likely won't be the last that they combined on for the Pens.

Game notes aside, we do want to take things with a grain of salt at this time of year, but there are still some notable pre-season developments that I think are worth sharing and taking into consideration for drafts and upcoming lineup decisions. Let's get to it. 

I had a discussion with some leaguemates on Monday that Elmer Soderblom might be the odd forward out from Pittsburgh's 15-man set to be waived, with two others to be sitting in the press box. However, injuries to Blake Lizotte (week-to-week) and Ben Kindel (unknown) leave the door open. It also gives Filip Hallander a good shot to make the NHL club out of camp, though he may be one of the healthy scratches to start.

With Jason Zucker out there is some additional room for young guys to make an impact. Peyton Krebs has taken over the top line LW slot that he held most of last season, while Jiri Kulich is still working his way up the lineup as he returns to full speed. By the end of the season those two will have likely swapped places, regardless of where Zucker ends up filling in once he returns. 

Kulich is likely going to play in all four preseason games to get him going, and he was up on PP2 with the most recent line rushes on Tuesday morning. 

Alexander Nikishin still not signed. The Canes have seven Dmen on one-way contracts (plus their seventh defenceman from last year Mike Reilly on a two-way deal), so it looks like they're moving forward as though Nikishin is already out the door. Treat it as such, which is good news for K'Andre Miller who will likely run the second power play unit. 

The Lightning being down at least two of their top-12 forwards to start the year makes for some interesting opportunities for players like Connor Geekie and Jakob Pelletier to step into third-line and 2nd PP minutes straight away. Ilya Mikheyev has been gifted top-line minutes to start for some reason. He was slowly de-emphasized in Chicago, and I expect that to happen more quickly this year with Tampa. Whether it's Gage Goncalves, Connor Geekie, or someone else that jumps into the top-six remains to be seen. The past two years Goncalves has finished the season there despite starting out at the bottom of the lineup. 

Thatcher Demko isn't worth owning in any kind of format right now. To me this seems like a Gabriel Landeskog kind of situation, where even if he does return it may not be for a couple of years now, and we won't know what kind of impact he will have at that point. Let someone else hold the bag in the meantime. 

Chris Tanev being cleared for the Leafs gives their goalies a boost, though it does mean that Nick Blankenberg is in tough to earn a contract and make the team. Morgan Rielly and Darren Daddysh might be the top pair in Toronto this year, and having Raddysh as the top dog might allow Rielly to thrive a bit more in a role with slightly less responsibility. 

Sticking with the Leafs, Jack Roslovic could benefit from starting with the top line, and while he's streaky and will likely finish around 45pts. He could start hot with 30 of those points coming in the first half before something changes, especially if he sticks alongside a healthy Auston Matthews to begin the season.

Artyom Levshunov is built like a tree trunk, and should provide a couple big Hits this season to go with his long term scoring upside. Here’s a bit of an accidental preview:

Nils Hoglander is looking to get back on track after injuries derailed the last few years. He was viewed as a top-six scorer prior to making the NHL full time, where he never seemed to get fully settled in with the Canucks during the Covid seasons. Now fully healthy and with a clean slate in Nashville, can he regain his 40-point paces that he put up early in his career, or even top that now that he's lined up opposite fellow Swede Filip Forsberg? He might be worth a gamble later in drafts, though maybe the better bet is Matthew Wood, who is centring that line and also seeing top power play time. 

A dark horse Calder pick? Nikita Klepov, who is being given a real shot to make the Ducks, lining up with Leo Carlsson and Cutter Gauthier. Klepov put up excellent numbers in the OHL last year, with nearly 100 points, equating to first-line PNHLe value. He's a skilled player, and getting to start out on the top line with two of the best young stars in the game could lead to some eye-popping numbers out of the gate. 

I'm expecting the Winnipeg Jets to claim a backup goalie on waivers this year, as there are often many to choose from, and they really only have one NHL-level goalie that is going to play games for them this year. A waivers goalie could also easily be waived again if/when a Connor Hellebuyck trade is consummated, which would likely return a goalie to the Jets in the deal. 

There are a bunch of interesting names who would need to pass through waivers this year prior to being sent down. You can find the full list here. The most notable names will obviously be kept up, but some like Carter Mazur, Maxwell Crozier, Scott Morrow, Brennan Othmann, and others are not locks for their respective teams but would be interesting claim options for other squads who might have a bit more space at their respective positions. Players who are claimed are often given a bit of a longer leash, and could be interesting in deeper leagues at the start of the year. 

*

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