van Riemsdyk, 23, is the brother of Maple Leafs forward James van Riemsdyk. Trevor will make his debut tonight with Niklas Hjalmarsson as his D partner. He spent the last three years at the University of New Hampshire and posted four goals and 19 assists (23 points) in 26 games last season.
Lundqvist is one of the best goalies in the world and he was a big reason why the Rangers were able to get to the Stanley Cup Finals last season. New York is a much different looking team than they were a season ago, but one thing that is the same is 'King Henrik'. If you drafted him in fantasy; it was early and you are not going to bench him, even against a tough Blues team.
Just three days after signing a three-year, $12 million dollar deal, Johansen will throw that Blue Jackets jersey on and lace em up tonight vs. the Sabres. He only has one practice and a gameday skate under him, so you can expect a little rust. With all the injuries in Columbus right now, the Jackets will lean heavily on Johansen and his linemates Nick Foligno and Cam Atkinson.
Rinne is coming off of a season where he was hampered by an infection in his surgically repaired hip. He made just 24 starts and posted a 2.77 GAA and .902 SV%, but chalk that up to a difficult season due to the injury. Expect Rinne to be back to his regular self with a GAA around 2.40 and SV% near .920. It starts tonight vs. Ottawa.
Weiss, 31, had a disastrous debut season with the Red Wings and 2014-15 will start with him sitting in the press box. He has played just 43 games and recorded only three goals and five assists over the last two season and with the emergence of Riley Sheahan and a healthy Darren Helm, Weiss may find it difficult to get into the lineup at times this season.
Crawford comes into 2014-15 having won 32 games with a 2.26 GAA and .917 SV% a season ago. He will get his year started against the Dallas Stars--a team he was 3-1-0 with a 2.22 GAA and .916 SV% against last season. With a great time in front of him, Crawford makes for a safe option on a nightly basis.
O’Dell, 24, appeared in 30 games with the Jets last season compiling seven points (3G, 4A) and 10 penalty minutes. He is a former scoring leader with the St. John’s IceCaps pacing the team with 55 points (29G, 26A) in 2012-13. In his AHL career, O’Dell has 119 points (58G, 61A) over 143 games with Chicago and St. John’s.
Gunnarsson has already been ruled out for the first week of the season but will not go on IR and should only miss three or four games. He is not an offensive threat and won't help you fantasy team, but will be a steady presence on the Blues back-end.
Leivo, 21, had a nice preseason and will likely be back with the Leafs at some point this season, but for now he heads back to the AHL where he had 23 goals and 19 assists (42 points) in 59 games last season.
Smith had a rough year in 2013-14, but should be in line for a bounce-back season. He is a good goalie on a defence-first team, which makes him a reliable fantasy option. The 2.64 GAA he posted last season, was the worst GAA he has posted in his three years in Arizona, so expect that number to creep closer to 2.40 in 2014-15. He starts the season with a nice matchup vs. Winnipeg.
Howard had an excellent preseason posting a 1.90 GAA and .943 SV% in three outings. He has said that he is feeling as good as he ever has to start a season and that is great news for the Red Wings, who will need Howie to bounce-back from a disappointing 2013-14. The Red Wings are a young team, but Mike Babcock has them playing a puck possession style that limits chances at the Red Wings' net--thus helping Howard.
Bouwmeester was "fixing leaks" this morning and will play tonight. Alright, no idea what that means, but Bouwmeester will play on the Blues second pair with Kevin Shattenkirk. He had 37 points (4G / 33A) and a plus-26 rating in 82 games last season. He has played in 717 consecutive games (longest active streak) so it is not really surprising that he will suit up tonight.
Ward finished the preseason with a 1-1 record while posting a 2.80 GAA and .887 SV% in 50 minutes of playing time. He is coming off of an injury plagued season where he posted a 3.06 GAA, which was his worst since his rookie season. On Friday, he will get the call against an improved Islanders team.
Panik, 23, was the Lightning's second round pick (53rd overall) in 2009. He has a lot of skill and upside, but could't find his way in Tampa, posting just eight goals and 14 assists (22 points) in 75 career games. A year ago I don't think the Maple Leafs make this claim, but with a new direction and focus on scoring goals and puck possession, Panik seems to fit their future plans.
Head coach Bruce Boudreau declined to name his starting goalie tonight, but Gibson was the first goalie off of the ice so it looks like he will get the start in his hometown of Pittsburgh. He is the NHL's top goalie prospects and is coming off of a strong end of regular season and playoffs with the Ducks last season. He will share the crease with Frederik Andersen this season, but it looks like he will get the first start.
It is up to the coaching staff whether Fowler will play, but if he does it will be on the Ducks second pair with his usual partner Ben Lovejoy. He is coming off of a strong season, having posted six goals and 30 assists (36 points) in 70 games. He has 40 points in his rookie season and on a high-octane Ducks' offence he could get back there this season.
Fowler skated hard on Wednesday and is on the ice this morning in his regular spot with Ben Lovejoy. This is a good sign for Fowler's availability tonight, but we will get an official update following the gameday skate.
There is no word as to why Bouwmeester is absent from the morning skate, but for now Barrett Jackman is skating in his spot with Kevin Shattenkirk. We will get an update on Bouwmeester's status following the morning skate.
Lehtonen struggled in the lockout shortened season, but bounced back to the tune of 33 wins, 2.41 GAA and .919 SV% last year. He has a more powerful offence in front of him this season, so expect more goal support and more wins, with similar numbers to the ones he posted last season. However, he draws a rough opening matchup against the Blackhawks.
