ATLANTIC DIVISION NHL DFS PRIMER

If all goes to plan we will get our first full 82-game NHL season in three seasons starting in a few weeks. This summer has seen a ton of movement, more than I can ever remember seeing. This article will recap the NHL Atlantic Division and we will figure out what the fantasy impact will be for each team.

Boston Bruins:

The Bruins lost in the second round to a tough Islanders team and honestly, they should have won that series. Don Sweeney did a great job re-signing his own guys this off-season but left a giant hole at the second-line center role with Krejci’s departure to the Czech League. Some combo of Coyle, Studnicka, or maybe Haula look to fill in there, I think Coyle gets the first crack there dumping his fantasy stock. That hole is going to put a damper on the fantasy value of Hall and Smith until they can figure that out. The top two lines will always be fantasy viable, but secondary scoring and defensive depth are still a nagging issue. Tuukka Rask remains unsigned but he is expected to be out until at least January. I think the Bruins did well to fill that hole with Ullmark and the young Swayman

Additions:

Nick Foligno, Linus Ullmark, Erik Haula, Derek Forbort, Tomas Nosek

Subtractions:

Sean Kuraly, David Krejci, Jaroslav Halak, Nick Ritchie, Ondrej Kase, Kevan Miller, Tuukka Rask (at least until Jan/Feb), Jarred Tinordi, Dan Vladar, Jeremy Lauzon, Greg McKegg

Buffalo Sabres:

The Sabres will still be a dumpster fire next season. Jack Eichel still wants out and needs surgery, Risto is gone, Ullmark is gone, Reinhart is gone, Owen Power went back to Michigan. There are a few bright spots on the blue line but otherwise, they seem to be going all-in on the Shane Wright sweepstakes in next summer’s draft. Unless they get a haul for Eichel, I don’t see many nights next season that BUF will be winning you all the dollars.

Additions:

Aaron Dell, Craig Anderson, Vinnie Hinostroza, Will Butcher, Robert Hagg, Mark Pysyk

Subtractions:

Jake McCabe, Matt Irwin, Sam Reinhart, Rasmus Ristolainen, Linus UIllmark, Riley Sheahan, Tobias Reider, Carter Hutton, Will Borgen

Detroit Red Wings:

Stevie Y clearly has a plan for the Wings, he built the Lightning into one of the best teams of the last decade and is trying to do the same with Detroit. They are “a year or two away from being a year or two away” as I heard someone on NHL Network Radio say right after the draft, but they are on the right track. This team will not win the Cup or really even win you that many DFS contests, but they are not going to be a pushover.

The goalie tandem of Nedeljkovic and Greiss will give teams fits. Bertuzzi, Larkin, Suter, Vrana, and Zadina will have some value depending on the line combos but at least to start the year your best bet might just be to fade the Wings and whichever team they are playing that night.

Additions:

Alex Nedeljkovic, Nick Leddy, Carter Rowney, Ryan Murphy, Sam Gagne, Jordan Oesterle, Pius Suter

Subtractions:

Frans Nielsen, Bobby Ryan, Alex Biega, Evengy Svechnikov, Christian Djoos, Darren Helm, Dennis Cholowski

Florida Panthers:

I expect the Panthers to contend for the division title this season. They finished 2nd last season and lost a great series to TB in the first round. It may have been a different series if they went with Spencer Knight earlier than Game 5, but they were a young team that had to learn. They have been building to this for a few years and now they are ready to make a real run with the additions of 92-year-old Joe Thornton and Sam Reinhart who should slide right into that 2C role vacated by Alex Wennberg and bump Sam Bennett down to the 3rd line with Duclair and Verhaeghe (just my assumption, things will definitely change).

The top 2 lines will be viable just about every game and the 3rd will have their nights depending on how the bottom of the roster shakes out over the next month or so. This team will score a ton of goals and they won’t be the defensive liability they have been in years past with the additions of Gudas and Forsling. If Bobrovsky can get back to anything that resembles his Vezina campaign from a few seasons ago, this team could be Cup contenders. Even with mediocre goaltending, they are a playoff team. Expect a lot of fantasy goodness from Florida.

Additions:

Joe Thornton, Sam Reinhart, Nikita Gusev, Radko Gudas, Gustav Forsling

Subtractions:

Chris Dreidger, Alex Wennberg, Keith Yandle

 

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Montreal Canadiens:

I still can’t figure out how a team that spent 56 games not being able to get out of their own way got all the way to the Stanley Cup Final.  Carey Price is great but I’m still very surprised, I do not expect the same this season. Adding Hoffman will help some of the scoring but the losses of Weber and Danault will be too much to overcome. MTL will go back to being a middle-of-the-pack team and maybe fight for one of the last two wildcard spots in the East.

They will score a good amount making their top 2 lines, especially their wingers DFS viable most nights but they have no depth at the center position, defense is a mess (at least in terms of DFS) outside of Petry and Price is who is he – but he will need help. The addition of Dvorak and the loss of Kotkaniemi might be a short term upgrade but long-term losing Kotkaniemi will be a problem

Additions:

David Savard, Mike Hoffman, Cedric Paquette, Matthieu Perrault, Christian Dvorak

Subtractions:

Cale Fleury, Corey Perry, Shea Weber (LTIR), Phillip Danault, Tomas Tatar, Jon Merrill, Jesperi Kotkaniemi

 

Ottawa Senators:

They are young and will probably be relegated to the spoiler role at the end of the season but are trending in the direction but they aren’t there yet. The Sens are going stack up some wins against BUF and DET and if they get a few breaks they could make a run at the final wild-card spot. But I wouldn’t bet on that. Their top 2 lines will continue to score so I think we are looking at the Florida Panthers from a few years ago. Scoring goals won’t be a problem but allowing them will be.

Additions:

Scott Saborin, Pontus Aberg, Michael Del Zotto, Nick Holden

Subtractions:

Evgenii Dadonov, Marcus Hogberg, Artem Anisimov, Mike Amadio, Ryan Dzingle, Derek Stepan, Joey Daccord

 

Toronto Maple Leafs:

The Leafs have turned themselves into the New York Mets. They look a lot better on paper than they do in real life. The top line will score but losing Hyman will hurt. I think most nights the Leafs will be stack line 1 or PP1 and maybe take a line 3 dart throw. Kase and Bunting could be very interesting in their bottom-six roles. Bunting showed flashes last year and Kase has shown flashes in the past but spent 2 seasons in Boston on IR. These could go down as two of the better off-season moves for the Leafs.

Additions:

Nick Ritchie, Ondrej Kase, Alex Biega, Mike Amadio, Michael Bunting, Petr Mrazek

Subtractions:

Frederik Andersen, Nick Foligno, Stefan Noesen, Scott Saborin, David Rittich, Zach Hyman, Zack Bogosian, Riley Nash, Calle Rosen

 

Tampa Bay Lightning:

There’s not much to say here, they are the two-time defending champs. Things are going to look a lot different in TB with the losses of their entire third line and Tyler Johnson. We all know Jon Cooper can get the best out of his guys and they still have some of the best players in the world in Kucherov, Vasilevskiy, Point, Stamkos, and Hedman. They are a solid playoff team and will be right in the thick of the division lead all season.

Additions:

Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, Corey Perry, Charles Hudon, Brian Elliott, Maxime Legacy, Zack Bogosian

Subtractions:

David Savard, Blake Coleman, Tyler Johnson, Barclay Goodrow, Yanni Gourde, Luke Schenn, Curtis McElhinney

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