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.
Hutton has struggled mightily in his first two years in Buffalo, posting a 3.07 GAA and .904 SV% in 81 games. Hutton reportedly had a very strong training camp, so the Sabres will go with him on opening night and hope he can rediscover his game from 2018. Hutton was 8-4-2 with a 2.68 GAA and .902 SV% on home-ice in 2020.
Crouse was originally listed as a game-time decision but shortly after cleared protocol and will play tonight vs. the Sharks. Crouse, who had 15 goals and 10 assists (25 points) in 66 games last season is expected to skate with Derick Brassard and Clayton Keller.
Despite bringing in Devan Dubnyk in the offseason, the Sharks will stick with Martin Jones on opening night in Arizona. His numbers continued to get worse in 2020, as he posted his second straight season with SV% under .900 and the first time he's had a GAA of 3.00. Despite his lack of success in recent years, he's played well vs. the Coyotes in his career and they don't have a offence that should scare fantasy owners or DFS players.
Crouse was unable to participate on Wednesday due to COVID-19 protocols and the Coyotes are not certain whether Crouse will be available for their season opener. If Crouse can't play, John Hayden will replace him in the bottom-6.
Smith was nicked up towards the end of the Bruins' training camp and has been listed as a game-time decision for Game 1 of the 2021 season. Trent Frederic is expected to replace Smith if he can't play.
Gibson started 50-plus games for the third time in 2020 but set career-worts in GAA (3.00) and SV% (.904) behind a Ducks team that finished with the fifth-worst record in the NHL. Anaheim didn't too much to improve this offseason, so it could be a similar storyline in 2021 and he should especially be avoided tonight in Vegas. Gibson was 1-2-1 with a 4.48 GAA and .878 SV% in four games vs. the Golden Knights a season ago.
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.
Markstrom had one of the best years of his career in a contract year, earning a six-year deal in Calgary. He went 23-16-4 with a 2.75 GAA and .918 SV% in 43 games last year and is expected to be a workhorse for the Flames this season. In his debut, he'll face a Jets team that was 17th in GoalsFor (3.00) and 15th in PP% (20.5) in 2020.
Seabrook's injury woes continue as 2021 starts but his movement to regular IR, as opposed to LTIR, suggests that he could be back in the next three weeks. Ian Mitchell has taken Seabrook's spot on the Blackhawks' blueline to begin the season.
Toews is out with a medical issue with no timetable for his return. Moving him to LTIR means he will miss at least 24-days but he wasn't necessarily expected to return before that anyway.
Dach underwent surgery to repair a fractured right wrist in late-December and is expected to miss 4-5 months. Dach is not expected to play this season unless he's ahead of his rehab schedule, so moving him to LTIR was an inevitable move. It provides the Blackhawks with salary cap relief.
With Dylan DeMelo out due to personal reasons, Niku will suit up against the Flames. The 24-year-old defenseman had five assists in 17 games last season, giving him 10 points (2G / 8A) in 48 career NHL games.
