Johnson had to sit out the Lighting's season opener due to salary cap reasons but will play Friday vs. the Blackhawks. Johnson will reclaim his spot on the second line with Anthony Cirelli and Alex Killorn, pushing Mathieu Jospeh to the fourth line and making Alexander Volkov a scratch.
Vasilevskiy stopped 22 of 23 shots in the Lightning's season-opening win over the Blackhawks on Wednesday. A late, fluky goal snapped his shutout but it was still a nice start to the season for Fantasy's No.1 netminder. With another matchup with Chicago on-tap, Vasilevskiy is an obvious must-start and should move to 2-0 to start the season.
Hoffman missed the Blues' season opener due to visa issues but will play tonight vs. the Avalanche. Oskar Sundqvist thrived in Hoffman's role in the opener, so there's certainly optimism that Hoffman can produce on a line with Robert Thomas and Jaden Schwartz this season.
After five years with the Penguins, Murray was traded to the Senators this offseason and he's expected to take on a heavy workload as their No.1. Murray had a couple of terrific seasons in Pittsburgh but is coming off of an ugly 2020 campaign, where he had a 2.87 GAA and .899 SV%. Tonight he'll face a Maple Leafs team that averaged 3.67 goals per game in three games vs. the Senators a season ago.
White, who played most of last season as the Senators' No.1 centre, has plummeted down the depth chart during training camp. According to head coach DJ Smith, there are "four centres ahead of him that had good camps." Those four centres are Josh Norris, newcomer Derek Stepan, Chris Tierney and Artem Anisimov.
Quick went 16-22-4 with a 2.79 GAA and .904 SV% in 42 starts in 2020. It was a much improved effort from his .888 SV% in the previous campaign but given the talent-level in Los Angeles, it seems unlikely he'll ever return to being a reliable fantasy option. If you play the matchups right, he can be serviceable and tonight looks like one of those matchups.
Following a late-season trade to the Golden Knights, Lehner went 3-0-0 with a 1.67 GAA and .940 SV%. He didn't miss a beat in the NHL's return to play, taking over as Vegas' No.1 and going 9-7 with a 1.99 GAA and .917 SV%. Entering 2021 he's clearly the lead dog in Vegas but it remains to be seen just how large of a start share he's going to command.
Koskinen allowed five goals on 35 shots in the Oilers loss to the Canucks last night. Head coach Dave Tippett said that Mike Smith would start the second game of the back-to-back but he was scratched for an unknown reason, which means Koskinen will start again and Stuart Skinner was recalled to serve as his backup.
Kuemper was 16-11-2 with a 2.22 GAA and .928 SV% in 29 games in 2020. Kuemper has been terrific over the last two seasons, posting a 2.29 GAA and .926 SV% in 84 starts. Kuemper is one of the best goalies in the league but has little help in front of him, which will limit his upside in 2021. In his only start vs. the Sharks a season ago, Kuemper stopped 26 of 28 shots in a winning effort.
In 2020, Saros set a new career-high in starts (34) but a career-worst in GAA (2.70) and SV% (.914). After posting a .924 SV% in the first two years of his career, Saros is t-14th in SV% (.915) over the last two years. Tonight will be the first time that someone other than Pekka Rinne starts a Predators' season opener since 2009.
Hellebuyck is one of the few workhorses remaining in the NHL and his heavy workload will begin tonight vs. the Flames. Hellebuyck has won 30-plus games in three straight seasons and is coming off of a Vezina Trophy winning season, posting a 2.57 GAA, .922 SV% and six shutouts. In the Jets and Flames qualifying round matchup, Hellebuyck struggled with a 3.04 GAA and .904 SV%. He'll be looking for revenge on Thursday.
After five years with the Islanders, Greiss signed with the Red Wings this offseason and will split time in the crease with Jonathan Bernier this season. Greiss will get an opportunity to make an immediate impact as he starts the season opener vs. Carolina. Going from a structured Barry Trotz team to Detroit will undoubtedly hurt Greiss' numbers. The Red Wings were outscored 14-to-5 in three games against the Hurricanes a season ago.
In his first full NHL season, Demko went 13-10-2 with a 3.06 GAA and .905 SV%. His numbers improved drastically in a few postseason starts, going 2-1 with an 0.64 GAA and .985 SV%. He figures to split time with veteran Braden Holtby this season and gets the second half of the back-to-back after Holtby won in Edmonton last night.
