Bergeron was held off of the ice during the Bruins’ practice on Wednesday and will miss their season opener on Thursday. With Bergeron out, David Backes will shift to centre and take his spot between Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak. Bergeron is listed as day-to-day.
Montoya will make his Canadiens’ debut on Thursday in Buffalo. No one expected his debut to come in the season opener, but with Carey Price staying back in Montreal with an illness, Montoya gets the nod vs. the Sabres. The veteran netminder had 12 wins with a 2.18 GAA and .919 SV% as Roberto Luongo’s backup last season and makes for a cheap daily start on Thursday. The Sabres will be without Jack Eichel (ankle) and Kyle Okposo (knee).
Price has been fighting a virus, but all signs were pointing towards him being ready for the season opener on Thursday. He missed Wednesday’s practice and will not travel to Buffalo for Thursday’s game. Look for Al Montoya to start and consider Price as day-to-day.
Last year Andersen had 22 wins with a 2.30 GAA and .919 SV% with the Ducks, but was traded to Toronto this season, where he will be leaned on to solidify the Maple Leafs’ crease. Andersen has a career. 918 SV% in 125 career games with Anaheim, but he will find it tougher sledding behind the Maple Leafs in 2016-17. Andersen enters the season as a solid No.2 fantasy option and makes for a solid season opening start in Ottawa.
With Ondrej Pavelec in Manitoba (AHL), Hutchinson will split time with Connor Hellebuyck in the Jets’ crease in 2016-17. Hutchinson will start the season opener vs. the Hurricanes as he looks to bounce-back from a tough 2015-16 season. Hutchinson won just nine games while posting a 2.84 GAA and .907 SV% in 30 games. The 26-year-old was more successful on home-ice, going 3-3-2 with a 2.64 GA and .913 SV% in six starts and three relief appearances at the MTS Centre.
Crawford has won at least 30 games in ever full season since becoming the Blackhawks’ starter in 2010-11, so don’t expect anything change in 2016-17. Crawford carries a career .918 SV%, but has posted a .924 over the last two seasons. Tonight he gets the nod on home ice, where he was 20-9-2 with a 1.85 GAA, .940 SV% and seven shutouts last season.
Last year Anderson started 60 games for the first time since 2011-12 and won 30 games for just there second time in his career. The 35-year-old posted a 2.78 GAA and .918 SV%, which are very close to his career splits (2.73 GAA / .915 SV%). On paper the Senators don’t look any better than they did last year, so don’t expect much improvement from Anderson. He will get his season started against a Maple Leafs team he was 3-0-0 against last year.
Grossmann was with the Flames on a professional tryout and made the team as a depth defenseman. Grossmann spent last season with the Coyotes where he had seven points (3G / 4A) in 58 games. He will not have any fantasy relevance in 2016-17.
Etem did not make the Canucks opening night roster and has been placed on waivers with the hope that they can send him to Utica (AHL). Etem had 15 points (7G / 8A) in 58 games with the Canucks and Rangers last year.
Miller already made it back from a knee injury this preseason, but a new undisclosed injury will keep him out for “an extended period of time,” per Bruins GM Don Sweeney. With Miller out, 19-year-old Brandon Carlo and 23-year-old Rob O’Gara, who both impressed in training camp, will start the year with the Bruins and could see big minutes early in the year.
Laich had seven points (1G / 6A) in 21 games with the Maple Leafs last year, equalling his total from the first 60 games of the year with Washington. The veteran seemed to have found a nice fit in Toronto, but the youth movement has forced him back to the AHL for the first time since 2005-06.
Brickley, 24, was a second round pick (50th overall) in 2010 but has only appeared in 23 NHL games since. Brickley had 27 points (12G / 15A) in 45 games with Portland a season ago.
Sutter, 25, was a seventh round pick (193rd overall) in 2011 and has only appeared in 12 career NHL games. He has been a solid AHLer in Charlotte, picking up 33 goals and 44 assists (77 points) over the last three seasons. He should report to Springfield.
Ristolainen, 21, is coming off of a great sophomore season in which he tallied nine goals and 32 assists (41 points) in 82 games. Ristolainen led all Sabres players in ice-time last year as well, eating up a monstrous 25:16 per night, which ranked 10th in the NHL. Ristolianen’s possession numbers leave the Sabres wanting more, but as a 21-year-old defenseman, he is just scratching the surface of what he can become.
McGinn has been absent since last Friday’s preseason contest and remains questionable for the season opener. Thankfully for the Coyotes, they don’t open the season until Saturday, so it gives McGinn a few extra days to recover.
There is no word on when Arvidsson suffered the injury, but it puts his stats for the Predators’ season opener in question. Arvidsson is a talented offensive winger, but will likely find it difficult to carve out a large enough role on a deep team to be fantasy relevant.
Versteeg was in Oilers’ training camp on a professional tryout, but signed with the Flames one day before they are set to meet in the season opener. Versteeg split his 2015-16 campaign between the Hurricanes and Kings, amassing 15 goals and 23 assists (38 points) across 74 games. The Flames are fairly thin at right wing, so Versteeg could earn himself a top-6 role early in the year.
Gryba was with the Oilers on a professional tryout and did enough during training camp to earn a contract. Gryba was with the Oilers last year, tallying just six points (1G / 5A) in 53 games.
Del Zotto is expected to miss at least the first month of the regular season, so his move to IR simply opens up a roster spot for an extra player to make the Flyers roster out of training camp. Del Zotto’s injury means that rookie Ivan Provorov will play huge minutes to start his NHL career.
Laughton is recovering from a sprained knee that he suffered in training camp. With Laughton expected to miss at least 10 games, his move to LTIR helps the Flyers with some cap relief and a roster spot. Start monitoring Laughton’s status in about three weeks when he will be eligible to be removed from LTIR.
