Rittich surrendered four goals on 40 shots in the Flames overtime loss to the Kings on Tuesday. It was a disappointing effort against a beatable team but Rittich is expected to make his fourth consecutive start tonight in Dallas. Rittich was 0-2-1 with a 2.73 GAA and .899 SV% in three games vs. the Stars last season.
Rittich surrendered four goals on 40 shots in the Flames overtime loss to the Kings on Tuesday. It was a disappointing effort against a beatable team but Rittich is expected to make his fourth consecutive start tonight in Dallas. Rittich was 0-2-1 with a 2.73 GAA and .899 SV% in three games vs. the Stars last season.
Rittich stopped all 34 shots that he faced in the Flames shutout win over the Canucks on Saturday. It was a strong outing for Rittich, who will need to play well to fend off Cam Talbot for starts. He makes for a strong option vs. the Kings, who surprisingly scored five goals in their season debut—a 6-5 loss in Edmonton. Rittich was 2-0-0 with a 1.00 GAA, .957 SV% and one shutout vs. L.A. last year.
Kuemper stopped 27 of the 29 shots the he faced in the Coyotes opening game loss in Anaheim. Kuemper picked up right where he left off last season but didn’t get any help from his offence. He will look to put a notch in the win column tonight vs. the Bruins, a team he was 0-2-0 against last year.
Rittich allowed four goals on 31 shots in the Flames opening night loss in Colorado. It wasn’t a great start to the season for the Flames’ new No.1 netminder, who will start tonight vs. the Canucks. He was 0-0-2 with a 2.82 GAA and .885 SV% in two starts against their Pacific Division rival last season.
With top prospect Ilya Samsonov ready to begin his NHL career, Copley was placed on waivers on Wednesday. After clearing, he was sent to Hershey for the first time since 2018, when he was 15-17-4 with a 2.91 GAA and .896 SV%.
Kuemper set career-bests in starts (55), wins (27), GAA (2.33) and SV% (.925) while filling in for an injured Antti Raanta in 2018-19. With Raanta slightly banged up to start 2019-20, Kuemper will start the opener in Anaheim. Kuemper was 1-1-0 with a 2.05 GAA and .941 SV% in two starts vs. the Ducks last year.
Rittich went 27-9-5 with a 2.61 GAA and .911 SV% in 2018-19. He had a chance to run with the starting job and faltered and it resulted in Mike Smith starting in the postseason. With Smith now in Edmonton, Rittich will get another chance, this time with Cam Talbot as his backup. He will start the season vs. an Avalanche team that he was 2-0-0 with a 2.49 GAA and .918 SV% against last year.
2018-19 was Kuemper's first full season in Arizona and it went very well. Kuemper went 27-20-8 with a 2.33 GAA and .925 SV% in 55 games while filling in for an injured Antti Raanta. Entering 2019-20, Kuemper will be the Coyotes No.2 but showed he’s capable of handling the starting gig should the oft-injured Raanta miss time again. Kuemper is signed through the 2021-22 campaign.
Through four NHL seasons, Edmundson has never played more than 69 gams and is coming off of just 11 points (2G / 9A) in 64 games last year. The 6-foot-4, 215 lbs. defenseman plays a physical brand of hockey tying for 22nd among D-men in hits (531) over the last four years. Playing on a loaded blueline in Carolina will likely mean third-pairing minutes for Edmundson in 2002.
Fiala struggled after being traded to the Wild last season, scoring just three goals with four assists (seven points) in 19 games. Heading into his first training camp with Minnesota, Fiala has a chance to start the season on the top-line with Eric Staal and Jason Zucker, putting him back on the map for a fantasy hockey breakout. He has great shot volume and that will only get better with first line minutes.
Kempe gets a three-year deal nine days before training camp after registering 28 points (12G / 16A) in 81 games last season. Despite seeing an uptick in ice-time, Kempe’s numbers decreased in his second full season. Decreased shot volume was the main component to his drop in goals and a big dip in on-ice SH% affected his assist total. Expect him to centre the Kings second line in 2020, which makes him a candidate to return to 15 goals and 20-plus assists.
In his first four NHL seasons, Edmundson has never played more than 69 games. Edmundson had just two goals and nine assists (11 points) in 64 games this past season. The 26-year-old ranked fourth among Blues defensemen in TOI/gm (19:23) while leading them in hits (128) and ranking fourth in blocked shots (106).
Rittich played very well for stretches of the 2019 season, going 27-9-5 with a 2.61 GAA and .911 SV% in 45 games with the Flames. However, when it came to the postseason, the Flames leaned on Mike Smith and were ultimately bounced in the first-round. Coming into 2020, Rittich will be battling with Cam Talbot for the No.1 job and the 26-year-old probably has the early edge to win the spot.
Hicketts led all Grand Rapids defensemen with 27 points (3G / 24A) in 64 games in 2018-19. Hicketts has just three assists in 16 career NHL games but continues to get bumped down the Red Wings depth chart and may never become a full-time NHLer in Detroit.
Edler is coming off of one of the best seasons of his career despite missing 26 games due to injury. Edler scored double-digit goals for the first time since 2011-12 and added 24 assists. That’s a 15-goal, 35-assist (50 points) per 82 game campaign from the 33-year-old, who hasn’t appeared in 82 games since 2012. With the Canucks emerging as a strong offensive team, Edler will carry some fantasy value into 2019-20 but injuries are always a huge concern for the big Swede.
Despite winning in Game 4, the Blues will make on minor change in Game 5. Edmundson will come out of the lineup with Robert Bortuzzo drawing back onto the blueline. Edmundson has recorded seven points (1G / 6A) in 21 playoff games.
Edmundson was a healthy scratch in Games 3 and 4 but will replace Robert Bortuzzo in Game 5. Edmundson, who will be back on the top-pairing with Alex Pietrangelo, has two assists, four PIMS and 10 shots in eight playoff games.
