In our DFS NHL there is a large group looking forward to the hockey season. As a hockey fan that is great to see. People are also looking for preseason info to help them get ready for the season. Now that training camps are underway, it seems like a good time to review those players that changed teams this off season, and how things might look on their new teams. This isn’t a comprehensive list, but rather a quick review looking at players who might have an impact on our DFS lineups.
Arizona
The Coyotes signed Michael Grabner, who has scored 27 goals in each of the last two seasons. He is not much of an assist guy, so goals are his value. The Coyotes are team that some see as on the rise and a potential playoff team. I am not sure how likely that is in the very tough Western conference, but they should be better. At this point it looks like Grabner is projected to play on the second line.
Buffalo
The Sabers are another team seen to be on the rise. One of the reasons for that is the signing of Carter Hutton. Hutton posted a .931 save percentage last season. If he can come anywhere near that the Sabers might challenge for a playoff spot. They also acquired Jeff Skinner in a trade with Carolina. Skinner is a 3 time 30 goal scorer who potted 24 goals and 25 assists last year. He appears to be sliding in alongside Eichel and Reinhart, which should put him in a good position to succeed.
Calgary
The Flames made a big splash in signing James Neal as well as making a blockbuster trade with the Hurricanes and acquiring Noah Hannifin and Elias Lindholm. Neal has 7 straight seasons with 20 + goals, including 25 last year. He appears destined for the 2nd line with Backlund and Tkachuk. Lindholm brings his 16 goals and 28 assists from last season to the first line with Monohan and Gaudreau. Hannifin will slide onto the 2nd pairing on defense.
Carolina
The other side of the Flames trade, the Hurricanes received Dougie Hamilton and Michael Ferland. Hamilton will move to the first D pairing, and likely first powerplay time. Hamilton had a career high with 17 goals and 27 assists. However this is the second time in a few years that he has been traded. Ferland also had careers highs with 21 goals and 20 assists. He is projected for the 2nd line along with Zykov and Tereavainen.
Los Angeles
One of the most interesting free agent signings was that of the Kings and Ilya Kovalchuk. Kovalchuk has been playing in Russia since the start of the 2013/2014 season, but decided he wanted to give the NHL a shot again. He has 2 50 goal seasons on his resume and was widely recognized as one of the best goal scorers in the game. It looks like he will play first line minutes with Kopitar and Iafello at this point. The question is will he be able to handle todays NHL game and score at close to the same rate he used to.
Philadelphia
James Van Riemsdyk hit a career high scoring 36 goals for Toronto last season. He appears slated for the 2nd line in Philadelphia this year. In 10 seasons he has only hit the 30 goal plateau 1 other time, so I wont be surprised if he experiences some regression. However with the Flyers he is in a good position to keep putting up solid numbers.
San Jose
Erik Karlsson was just traded to the Sharks. The impressive part is the Sharks really didn’t give up much from their current roster to land him. Karlsson had a down year stat wise, only playing in 60 games, scoring 5 goals and 21 assists. He does have 4 seasons of 70 + points in his career. The San Jose power play figures to be exciting to watch, either pairing Karlsson and Burns or always having one of them on the ice. Having one or the other on the ice could almost apply to the whole game.
St Louis
The Blues acquired Ryan O’Reilly from the Sabers. O’Reilly is coming off his 2nd best offensive season with24 goals and 37 assists. Early depth charts having him on the second line. Although as with most of the lines mentioned in this article, it is more of a 1a 1b kind of thing. He is slated to play with fellow free agents signees Patrick Maroon and David Perron. Perron had a career year with Las Vegas scoring 16 goals and 50 assists.
Toronto
Toronto won the biggest free agent sweepstakes of the off season when John Tavares decided he wanted to go home to Ontario to continue his career. Playing centre, Tavares brings his 37 goals and 47 assists from last season to a lineup that already boasts centers Austin Mathews ( 34 goals) and Nazim Khadri ( 32 goals). If the Leafs get any kind of defense and goaltending they could make for an early Stanley Cup favorite ( no I am not a Leafs fan lol).
Las Vegas
The Golden Knights lost a couple of key players in Neal and Perron, but added Paul Stastny ( 16 goals and 37 assists) via free agency and Max Pacioretty ( 17 goals 20 assists) to try and fill the holes. They are projected as of now to make up the second line along with Alex Tuch.
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There were many other minor free agent signings and trades, along with teams that focused on signing their own restricted free agents rather than seek out new talent that were not reviewed here.