After Week One...

After week one to this years’ NHL season, there has already been a number of fantasy developments so let’s get it.

Montreal – how bad is it for the Habs to lose their best player, Andre Markov, for four months in the first game of the season. This is bad news for the Habs PP, as well as the other Hab forwards who would have been the recipient of Markov’s excellent break out passes. For fantasy owners of Markov this is pretty disastrous. Not only is it going to be 16 weeks before Markov may return, he’s going to need a least another month to hit his stride. In the meantime, GM Bob Gainey has turned to the much travelled Marc-Andre Bergeron to fill the offensive void. Bergeron should be not bad at QB-ing the Habs PP, but he won’t do much on the defensive end of the ice. He’ll be a decent waiver pick up until at least Markov comes back.

Toronto – after 4 games the Leafs are still winless; and this is only a mild surprise to smart poolies. Tell us if you’ve heard this before; Toronto is struggling to score and the goaltending has been suspect – already. The Leafs revamped defence has been below average, Toskala has been below average and the play of team’s top 6 forwards has been the also below average. Rumors have already started that Burke is looking at trying to change out Toskala – names making to rounds are Manny Fernandez (formerly of Boston) and Erik Ersberg (backing up Jonathan Quick in LA). Gustavsson has been not bad, but has been slowed by a sore groin – which can’t be good this early in the season. Phil Kessel is targeting Nov. 1 as his return, and it can’t come soon enough for coach Wilson. He should be fine, just needing a week or two to break off the rust.

Los Angeles – hard to imagine that Ryan Smyth would have this type of impact on a young Kings team, but after 4 games – the line of Smyth, Kopitar and Williams has 11 points. The Kings young defence has also been better and the early result is the Kings are playing decent hockey. Chances are Smyth won’t keep producing at this clip, but Kopitar could crack the top 10 scorers in the league this season. If Williams is also available is your drafts, he’d be a nice regroup pick at this stage.

Colorado – Craig Anderson has been playing like a legitimate #1 puck-stopper and the Avalanche have been...well...surprising. If he’s still available, Kyle Quincey appears to be repeating his solid season from last year and leads the team’s defence core early in terms of scoring. The line of Hejduk-Stastny-Wolski has been clicking early; we like Stastny and Hejduk to continue, but Wolski is just too fantasy flighty to maintain it and should be a guy you think about moving right now while he’s hot. \

Carolina – Erik Cole looks to be gone for between 4-8 weeks with a leg injury. Cole’s injury may have a season long impact upon him as it’s not the type of injury that will allow Cole to hit the ground running when he comes off the DL. Tuomo Ruutu should be the recipient of Cole’s spot alongside Eric Staal for at least the next month.

Vancouver – the Canucks looked to be just hitting their stride after a shaky 0-3 start, when Daniel Sedin broke his foot after being hit by an Alex Edler shot. Sedin is going to be gone for 6-8 weeks. It appears that the Canucks may try a number of players to fill-in while Sedin’s gone. The early favorite is Steve Bernier, who has played with Henrik (and Daniel) before. For Henrik the loss of his brother will likely mean a drop is his offensive production. Also adversely impacted will be the Canucks PP, where the Sedins often play 1:30 to 2:00 minutes of a Canucks’ PP.