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.
Korpisalo is expected to split time in the Blue Jackets crease with Elvis Merzlikins this season but they will go with the more veteran of the two on opening night. Korpisalo was solid in the 2020 regular season, posting a 2.60 GAA and .911 SV% in 37 games but took his game to a new level in the postseason. In nine playoff starts, he posted a playoff-best .941 SV%. He makes for a decent option in his first start of the season vs. a Nashville team that was in the middle of the pack in goal-scoring and below-average on the PP last year.
Bruins' head coach Bruce Cassidy named Rask as his game one starter and said that Rask is expected to start roughly 35 of the 56 games. The 33-year-old netminder was 26-8-6 while leading the NHL with a 2.12 GAA and .929 SV% (2nd). In two starts vs. the Devils, Rask went 2-0-0 while allowing just one goal on 57 shots (.982 SV%).
Pastrnak was originally expected to miss the first month of the season, roughly 15 games, but head coach Bruce Cassidy provided some positive information on Tuesday. Pastrnak is one of the most polarizing players in fantasy drafts this season but this update provides optimism that could push his ADP into the second round.
As expected, Pastrnak will not be ready for the start of training camp and will miss at least the first few games of the regular season. Pastrnak's original timetable was mid-February, so it looks like that remains true as training camp gets set to begin this week.
Mittelstadt has yet to live up to the billing of being selected No.8 overall in 2017 and that led to him being demoted to the AHL in 2020. He had nine points (4G / 5A) in 31 games with the Sabres before being sent to Rochester, where he tallied 25 points (9G / 16A) in 36 games. Mittelstadt is expected to get a spot in the Sabres' bottom-6 to start the 2021 season but has a lot to prove if he's going to get a raise next summer.
