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.
Vasilevskiy is Fantasy's unquestioned No.1 goalie due to his workload and the quality the team in front of him. He has led the NHL in wins each of the last three seasons while ranking eighth in GAA (2.53) and fifth in SV% (.921). On opening night he draws a tremendous matchup vs. a Blackhawks team that is without both Jonathan Toews and Kirby Dach.
Girgensons will miss the entire 2021 season after suffering a serious hamstring injury. Girgensons led all Sabres forwards in shorthanded ice-time a season ago and they also lost Johan Larsson in free agency, so the Sabres will have to completely retool their penalty kill this season.
Bjorkstrand finally saw his long-awaited bump in ice time in 2020 and he turned out a career-year, which was unfortunately hampered by injuries. Overall, he scored 21 goals with 15 assists (36 points) in 49 games, a 35-goal and 60-point per 82-game pace. Bjorkstrand is expected to continue to see huge minutes in 2021 as a fixture on the Blue Jackets' top line with Pierre-Luc Dubois.
Cirelli is coming off of a really strong second season in the NHL, where he scored 16 goals and 28 assists (44 points) in 68 games. Cirelli had to take on a bigger role with Steven Stamkos injured for a good portion of the season and he flourished as the Lightning's No.2 centre. With Nikita Kucherov out for all of 2021, he will likely play the same role and Stamkos will shift over to the wing to fill-in for Kucherov. Cirelli's ceiling will be capped so long as he is playing with the likes of Alex Killorn and Tyler Johnson and not the upper echelon of talent in Tampa Bay, but he's a player that should have a 20-goal, 30-assist pace in 2021's shortened season.
The Lightning are hopeful that Kucherov will be available for the playoffs. Kucherov going on LTIR provides the Lightning with $9.5 million in cap space, which is a positive to come out of this. Tampa Bay is pressed up tight against the cap but losing their best player should allow them to get RFA Anthony Cirelli under contract before the start of the season.
In his first year in the Boston Bruins organization, Lagace played the whole season in Providence (AHL). The 27-year-old netminder was second in the AHL in wins (22) and ninth in SV% (.919). Lagace is expected to be the No.1 netidner in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (AHL) to start 2021 and would be the first goalie recalled if Tristan Jarry or Casey DeSmith get hurt.
Girgensons scored 12 goals with seven assists (19 points) in 69 games in 2020. Girgensons is locked into a fourth-line role for the Sabres. He led all Buffalo forwards in hits (110) and PK TOI/GM (2:08) last season. Offensively, he hasn't topped 20 points since 2015.
Johansson was a third-round pick in 2014 and made his NHL debut during the 2019-20 season. After going 14-4-3 with a 2.28 GAA and .921 SV% in 22 AHL games, Johansson was 1-3-1 with a 2.94 GAA and .894 SV% during his brief time with Buffalo.
Santini had one-year left on his three-year deal that paid him $1.416 million AAV. The buyout will cost Nashville just $41,667 against the cap in 2021 and $275K in 2022. Santini appeared in just two games with the Predators last season, playing the majority of the year in Milwaukee (AHL).
Elliott was set to become an unrestricted free agent on October 9th but gets another one-year deal from the Flyers that retains him as Carter Hart's backup for at least another season. Elliott's cap-hit goes from $2.0M AAV to $1.5M AAV, leaving Philadelphia with roughly $4.8M in cap space (per PuckPedia). That's plenty to re-sign their only RFA Philippe Myers but doesn't leave them with much to spend to upgrade their roster in free agency.
Point missed Game 3, returned for Game 4 and then missed Game 5 of this series. Prior to the last game, head coach Jon Cooper said that they are trying to manage the injury, so it sounds like they want to try and rest him and still get to the Stanley Cup Final. Point is listed as a game-time decision but don't be surprised if he sits out a second straight game.
