Regular-season fantasy hockey is back! It's great to be able to break down meaningful games and the implications for fantasy leagues.

Alex Tuch began his stint with the Washington Capitals with a bang. Tuch scored two goals in the first period to lead the Capitals to a 5-2 win in Carolina. Tuch, who signed an eight-year deal worth over $10 million per season in the offseason, skated on a line with Pierre-Luc Dubois and Tom Wilson for this game. Dubois recorded primary assists on both of Tuch's goals.

Despite being the team's highest-paid players, Tuch did not make it onto the Caps' top power play in this game. The Capitals have assembled a deep offensive attack that should make them one of the favorites in the Eastern Conference. I drafted Tuch in one league knowing this could happen, targeting other players that could help more in that category in case he couldn't. Tuch had only 9 PPP last season with Buffalo, although seven of those points were goals. Even if his power-play time is limited, Tuch should remain productive with plenty of solid even-strength linemates to choose from.

PP1:       1:50       74.8%   TOM WILSON – DYLAN STROME – PIERRE-LUC DUBOIS – ALEX OVECHKIN – JAKOB CHYCHRUN

PP2:       0:37       25.2%   JORDAN KYROU – ALEX TUCH – RYAN LEONARD – ILYA PROTAS – COLE HUTSON

Cole Hutson scored his first NHL goal in his 15^th game, also finishing with a plus-2 and three shots in 17:08 of icetime. Hutson was picked as a Calder Trophy winner by more than one Dobber writer in our 2026-27 Season Predictions.

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It was a surprise that Dylan Garand cleared waivers before the season, but an injury to Joonas Korpisalo resulted in Garand being recalled from the AHL shortly after. Garand showcased that talent on Friday, stopping all 22 shots he faced in the New York Rangers' 2-0 win in Detroit – his fourth career NHL game. The shutout was the first of Garand's NHL career. Garand, who was an exceptional goalie for the Kamloops Blazers of the WHL, has spent the past three seasons in the AHL and appears ready to be at least an NHL backup. He appeared in the second game of back-to-backs for the Rangers and may be held to little more than that with Igor Shesterkin as the starter.

Dylan Larkin received LOUD boos from Red Wings fans when he was introduced as a scratch at Little Caesars Arena 😬

Safe to say his trade request didn't go over too well in Detroit… pic.twitter.com/s6tczoKi93

— Gino Hard (@GinoHard_) October 2, 2026

Tough times in Detroit. Without Dylan Larkin, the Wings are extremely thin at center. To give you an idea, Andrew Copp is centering the top line with Alex DeBrincat and Lucas Raymond. Copp, who logged 22:17 in total icetime on Friday, is also on the top power play because the Wings need a center there. He might be worth a waiver-wire pickup, but Detroit may have trouble scoring if Friday is any indication. That's not good news if you drafted DeBrincat or Raymond.

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JJ Peterka scored the overtime winner while taking five shots in the Boston Bruins' 4-3 win over Winnipeg. Peterka has scored a goal in both of his games with the Bruins while playing on a line with David Pastrnak and Elias Lindholm.

James Hagens, the seventh overall pick in last year's draft, scored his first NHL goal on Friday. Hagens was playing in his fourth NHL game, logging 12:52 in this game.

Kyle Connor led the Jets with a power-play goal and an assist while firing nine shots on goal.

Viggo Bjorck made his NHL debut, logging 14:45 in icetime while playing on a line with Gabriel Vilardi and Isak Rosen.

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Joel Hofer made 25 saves in the St. Louis Blues' 4-0 win over Dallas on Friday. This was the Blues' first game of the season, which should signal Hofer as the starter over Jordan Binnington this season. Binnington will likely face Colorado in the second of back-to-backs later today (Saturday).

Hofer also registered an assist on the Blues' final goal, an empty-net goal from Pius Suter. Igor Shesterkin's goalie goal had many fantasy leaguers checking their league settings to find out if goalie goals and assists count. (If they don't, why not? Make it count!)

Suter and Jimmy Snuggerud led the Blues with a goal and an assist each.

Adam Jiricek, the 16^th overall pick in 2024, made his NHL debut for the Blues. Jiricek scored a power-play goal that was overturned after an offside challenge, so he was held without a point in 16:35 of icetime. Of note is the fact that Jiricek received more power-play time (2:33) than Philip Broberg (0:51) in this game, with Cam Fowler (5:00) on the top power play. Something to watch if you drafted Broberg.

Roope Hintz had a scare in this game, as he was victim of a knee-on-knee hit from Brandon Carlo. The good news is that Hintz was able to return to this game shortly after the hit. Carlo was assessed a five-minute major and a game misconduct.

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By the middle of the second period, the Anaheim Ducks had jumped out to a 4-3 lead on the Vegas Golden Knights. This one turned into a game, as the Golden Knights answered with three goals of their own, but the Ducks hung on for a 4-3 win.

Leo Carlsson led the way for Anaheim with a goal and an assist, while Jack Eichel recorded two assists for Vegas.

Fresh off signing a six-year extension with a cap hit of $7.2 million, Tristan Luneau logged 26:58 in icetime while registering an assist and five blocked shots. Although Luneau has appeared in just 15 NHL games (including Friday), the Ducks have high hopes for the 22-year-old Luneau and are granting him the icetime to back up the contract. Luneau was paired with Jackson LaCombe, who led all skaters on Friday with 29:37 in icetime. Luneau has registered enough points over his past two seasons in the AHL (93 points in 129 games) to receive consideration in fantasy leagues.

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Let's discuss a few players that have been making noise a few days into the regular season and what that could mean going forward.

Vasily Podkolzin

In just two games – both against his former team, the Vancouver Canucks – Podkolzin has racked up three goals, one assist, three power-play points, 11 shots, and seven hits. As a result of his recent success, Podkolzin has shot up to being rostered in over half of Yahoo leagues. Over those two games, Leon Draisaitl has consistently been his even-strength linemate, while he has also skated with Connor McDavid at times. As a result of injuries to both Zach Hyman and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Podkolzin is also getting reps on the top power play.

Podkolzin will no doubt cool down scoring-wise, and he will probably find himself on one of the Oilers' less appealing lines at some point. At the very least, Podkolzin should provide modest scoring while generating multiple hits per game. That makes him rosterable in bangers leagues regardless of the situation. 

Elias Pettersson

One observation that I've made in the 2026-27 season is that Pettersson seems to be smiling more. A lot more. This may not seem like the hard-hitting number crunching that you came here for, but Pettersson hasn't appeared to enjoy the game of hockey for the past couple of seasons.

Perhaps because the Canucks have nothing to lose this season, Pettersson may not feel as much pressure. That has shown in his numbers so far, as he contributed two goals and two assists in the two-game goalfest between the Canucks and Oilers. Also notable is the fact that Pettersson had eight hits on Thursday, as this is a category that he is usually average at best. I'm not forecasting a return to 100 points, but a return to 60-70 points seems to be within reach and would result in less hand-wringing about Pettersson.

Luca Cagnoni

In my deepest league, I added Cagnoni three years ago as a late pick in the entry draft. He seemed like the perfect all-or-nothing swing-for-the-fences pick that should be made late in a fantasy draft. Cagnoni was a fourth-round pick of the Sharks who could score at a point per game at the WHL level, but there were question marks about his defense.

Fast forward to today, and those question marks may still exist to some degree (The Journey). However, Cagnoni is manning the point on an up-and-coming Sharks' top power play. In his season debut against Florida on Thursday, Cagnoni scored a goal while adding a power-play assist in 21 minutes of icetime. He may have the higher-pedigreed Sam Dickinson looking over his shoulder, but for now Cagnoni is a must-add for teams looking to improve scoring on the blueline. If the scoring dries up and/or defensive woes become apparent, then he may lose appeal in single-season leagues.

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Data was taken from Frozen Tools unless otherwise noted.

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