There's always at least one manager in fantasy hockey leagues willing to make an overreactive trade after losing their Week 1 matchup. The first player on their team they'll be looking to move is the player they had relatively high expectations for but has gotten off to a cold start. This is where the savvy and patient managers can take full advantage.
Here are five potential bargains:
LW/RW Rick Nash, Rangers
Nash has gotten off to a forgettable start, with just one goal and no assists in six games. It wouldn't take much to convince his fantasy owner the 33-year-old is washed up.
However, not only is Nash on pace for a career high in shots on goal, but those shots have been of high quality. He's tied for first in the NHL with nine individual high-danger scoring chances at five-on-five, per Natural Stat Trick.
He isn't in his prime, but with his goal-scoring pedigree, he's bound to start capitalizing on his chances.
C/RW Charlie Coyle, Wild
If you have an IR spot available, look to acquire Coyle. The 25-year-old forward is out six-to-eight weeks, so his trade value is essentially at rock bottom.
Coyle was off to a strong start before going down with a right fibula fracture. He was playing a career-high 18:35 per night and had two assists and eight high-danger scoring chances in just three games.
If he can pick up where he left off when he returns, he could be a top-75 player for the remainder of the season. Given it would likely cost next to nothing to acquire him, it's worth the risk.
C/RW Jordan Eberle, Islanders
Many thought Eberle would flourish with the Islanders alongside John Tavares, but that potential has yet to materialize, as he has no goals and three assists thus far.
In fact, the trio of Eberle, Tavares, and Anders Lee have combined for just four goals and four assists, but their line ranks sixth in the NHL in expected goals at five-on-five, per Corsica.
Moreover, Eberle is averaging what would be a career-high 3.17 shots per game. The points are bound to start flowing for the Isles' prized offseason acquisition.
D Justin Faulk, Hurricanes
Faulk has been held without a point through Carolina's first three games, so his owner may be willing the pull the trigger on a deal. However, the 25-year-old is is averaging a career high in ice time, and an astounding - yet unsustainable - 4.67 shots per game. Nonetheless, the fact that he's throwing tons of pucks on net is encouraging.
From 2014-15 to 2016-17, he ranks sixth among NHL defensemen in goals, despite missing 25 games over that span. The Hurricanes are as good as they've ever been in the Faulk era, and he's poised for a huge season.
G Devan Dubnyk, Wild
Dubnyk is off to a rough start, as he currently owns a 3.71 goals-against average and an .894 save percentage. That shouldn't last long, though.
The towering netminder ranks fifth in the NHL with an expected save percentage of 91.78, meaning improvement is on the way.
Over the past three seasons, only Carey Price owns a better save percentage, so expect Dubnyk to turn things around.
We've been spoiled by Alex Ovechkin's talents over the years.
The Washington Capitals captain has surpassed the 50-goal plateau seven times, but last season hit his lowest goal total in a full 82-game season since 2010-11.
However, he still scored 33, and Toronto Maple Leafs forward Nazem Kadri thinks it's incredible that having a season of that ilk can be considered a down year.
"It seems like if the guy scores 35 goals it’s an off year for him, which is absolute insanity," Kadri said, according to Sportsnet's Chris Johnston.
Early in the 2017-18 campaign, Ovechkin looks to be on his way to another 50-goal season (123 at his current pace). He's scored a league-high nine goals in six games - or better than a quarter of the way to 35 - so it doesn't look like Ovechkin is heading for an "off year" this time around.
Over the course of the 2017-18 season, theScore will run a series of interviews with former players in which they recall some of the greatest moments of their career. This edition focuses on Kris Draper, who won four Stanley Cups in a 20-year playing career spent almost exclusively with the Detroit Red Wings.
On what he remembers of his first NHL game:
It was actually memorable. I made the Winnipeg Jets as a 19-year-old; it was definitely not expected. I was going into my first pro training camp, I had no expectations whatsoever, and all of a sudden things were going well for me.
I started looking at some newspapers and I saw some positive articles, so I was kind of thinking I might have a chance to make this team. And I made the opening roster, and the first game was in Winnipeg against the Maple Leafs. I grew up in Toronto and grew up a Leafs fan as a kid, so my mom and dad jumped on a plane and came out. It was unreal.
I know I couldn't sleep; I certainly remember that. I was trying to embrace the moment. And it was unreal. I ended up scoring in my first game, and I ended up getting in a fight in my first game. It was a pretty eventful debut for me. But after that game, I figured out two things: I wasn't going to be a scorer in the NHL, and I wasn't going to be a fighter in the NHL.
On that first career goal:
It was the all-important seventh goal in a 7-1 victory. (laughs)
Pat Elynuik, a shifty right-winger, I remember him coming over the blue line. He kind of cut from right to left and I was coming up, and he dropped the puck. I ended up taking a wrist shot and it deflected off the Toronto defenseman's stick and it ended up beating Jeff Reese for my first NHL goal.
On how the infamous Claude Lemieux hit in the 1996 Stanley Cup playoffs (seen below) affected his play afterward:
(Video courtesy: YouTube)
To be honest with you, that was the only thing I could control from that; coming back and making sure that I played the way that I had always played.
I was a third-, fourth-line player, I was a role player. I kind of had to play on the edge. I knew how I had to play to stay in the NHL, and that was with "controlled chaos," which is how I describe my style of play. That's one thing I wanted to make sure of: That when I came back, I played the same way.
We lost out in Game 6 of the conference finals, so I had the whole summer (to recover). And it was a tough summer; my jaw was wired shut for six weeks, I ended up losing a lot of weight. But when I got back, I wanted to play as many preseason games as possible to get back into it.
It was a tough summer and a tough hit, but in the end I came back and was able to the way I wanted to. That was something very important that I wanted to do. I couldn't hesitate, I couldn't think about it, because otherwise it was going to limit me as a hockey player.
On the biggest trash-talkers in his day:
I would probably say that Kirk Maltby was one of the best trash-talkers. Maltby had some really good one-liners; he frustrated and pissed off a lot of players with the way that he played. I remember hearing Malts chirp a lot.
Steve Ott was really quick-witted and had great one-liners, too. He was a Red Wing last year and I kind of got to get to know him; you could just kind of see that dry humor and quick wit that he had.
Another good one I played with and played against was Sean Avery. I'd say those guys always had a lot of things to say. Those are the type of players that, when you think of the Maltbys and the Steve Otts ... Brad Marchand probably would be a guy now that can frustrate teams with the way he plays and how competitive he is, and he backs it up with the points he produces.
On his favorite referee/linesman story:
So one night we're playing at Joe Louis Arena, and you have to remember: A big part of what I did for the Red Wings involved taking a lot of faceoffs. I took a lot of defensive zone and penalty kill faceoffs, took a lot of faceoffs at the end of the game. And in this game, (linesman Ray Scapinello) kept tossing me out. And I'm looking at him and saying, "Scampy, you can't do this to me."
And he said, "You gotta stop cheating. You gotta stop cheating." And I kind of told him, "I'm not cheating. I'm anticipating the drop, but you gotta drop the puck faster. We gotta work together here." And he kind of smiled a little bit.
So there was a stoppage in play, a commercial break, and (Red wings head coach) Scotty Bowman asked Scampy, "What do you have against Draper? Why do you keep throwing him out? That's what he's gotta do for us." And I was a little worried about the answer that was coming. And Scampy says to Scotty, "I'm going to tell you right now: He's the biggest cheater on faceoffs I've ever had."
Scotty kind of looked at him, and looked at me, and said, "Draper, you're a cheater! He said it! You're a cheater!" And the three of us are going around and around in this conversation, and Scotty's like, "The biggest ever?" And he's asking about all the games Scampy has worked, and Scampy says, "The biggest ever!" And I'm just thinking, "This is not good."
On what made him such a good defensive forward:
My best years were playing with Kirk Maltby and Darren McCarty; we were known as the "Grind Line." We played against Wayne Gretzky when he was with St. Louis, we played against Sakic, Forsberg, Modano, Nieuwendyk ... we had some really big responsibilities. And we knew that if we could shut down the other team's top line, we were going to put our team in a good spot.
Everyone wants to be the go-to guy, but I knew what my role was with the Red Wings. And I embraced it. I had Steve Yzerman and Sergei Fedorov ahead of me, so I had to find that third- and fourth-line role. And from there, I knew that if I could do it right and be the best at it, I would be the kind of player Scotty Bowman trusted a lot.
On the greatest game he ever played:
One of my greatest moments was when I scored the overtime winner against Washington in Game 2 of the 1998 Stanley Cup Final.
It's kind of a funny story: We're at the pregame skate, and we're up 1-0 in the series, and I was actually the only forward who hadn't scored a goal all playoffs. And Scotty being Scotty, he comes up to me in the pregame skate and says, "Are you ever going to score a goal?" And I had a big smile on my face, and I said, "Tonight, Scotty. I'm gonna get one tonight for you."
I remember it was a wild game. We ended up down 5-2 going into the third period and we tied it up 5-5; Doug Brown scored late to tie it up.
It's something I'll never forget. Igor Larionov comes on a line change. Brendan Shanahan and Marty Lapointe are still out on the ice. Shanny causes a turnover and the puck comes to the half-wall on the right side, and Marty, being a right-handed shot, just fires it toward the net as I'm driving back post.
The puck ended up right on my stick. It was a bang-bang play, and I put it in the open net past (Washington netminder) Olie Kolzig. And I remember doing a little bit of a dance, a little bit of a celebration as everyone comes out.
So we're skating off the ice, and sure enough, Scotty's standing right by the door, and Scotty being Scotty, he asked, "Who got the goal? Who got the goal?" (laughs) And I said, "Scotty, I told you I was going to get one for you tonight." And he gave me a little pat on the back.
On the most underrated player he encountered:
It's tough to call Joe Nieuwendyk an underrated player because he's in the Hall of Fame, but the way Joe played the game, the guy was just a winner. He was a big, strong center, played a 200-foot game, and his hockey sense was unreal. He always had a knack to score big goals or make big plays.
When you think of the Dallas Stars, you think of Mike Modano. When you think of the New Jersey Devils, you think of Martin Brodeur. But those teams won Stanley Cups with Joe Nieuwendyk - and he brought so much to those hockey teams. You can't call a Hall of Famer underrated, but to me, you just didn't hear a lot about Joe Nieuwendyk.
On what he remembers from his last NHL game:
It's funny, because I didn't realize it was going to be my last game. Even though I was 39 at the time, I thought I had more hockey in me; I guess that's the way that we're wired, we feel we're going to play forever.
It was Game 7 against San Jose in the 2011 playoffs. We were down 3-0 in the playoffs and ended up forcing a seventh game. For so many reasons, you want to win this game because you want to extend your season, because you're one step closer to the ultimate prize. So that was my preparation going into that game - another opportunity to extend our season.
I was never thinking it was going to be my last game played in the NHL. And then you lose the game, and everything kind of sets in. And to be honest, I still thought I was going to be playing the following year. I take my usual 10 days off and start training, and then the realization started to come that I might never play again. And it hit me hard.
For me, and my family, we were hockey players. My wife loved going to the game, my kids loved that their dad was a Deroit Red Wing. So this decision wasn't just about me retiring - it was impacting my entire family, from my mom and dad driving from Toronto to Detroit hundreds of times to watch me play to my wife getting the kids ready and putting on their Draper jersey and watching me play at Joe Louis Arena.
It was a very, very emotional time for me and my family. I'm almost glad that I didn't know it was my last game. I probably would have been an absolute mess going to the rink and would have been a non-factor in the game.
On his favorite visiting arena:
It has to be Maple Leaf Gardens. Being a Toronto kid, I remember wearing my Don Mills Flyers black leather jacket and going down to watch the Leafs play with my dad. And all of a sudden, I'm in an Original Six rivalry, Detroit-Toronto, playing at Maple Leaf Gardens.
To me, the most memorable rink to walk into was Maple Leaf Gardens, just because I did it so many times as a kid, and then here I was, playing for another Original Six team, so many great games and rivalries, and I was a part of it. So walking into that rink was the best for so many reasons.
On his favorite Stanley Cup playoff story:
In 2002, we started against the Vancouver Canucks. We lost both games at home and left right after we lost Game 2. And this was the 2002 team that, from the day training camp started, if we didn't win the Stanley Cup, it was going to be a major disappointment.
I just remember when we got on the bus, there was a huge cavalry of Vancouver Canucks fans, following the bus, heckling the bus, they had the brooms out, yelling "Sweep!" and all this stuff. I remember when we got to the hotel, we all met in a conference room and had a team meal and a casual conversation; it was players-only.
Stevie just kind of came up and said, "You know what? All we gotta do is win Game 3. We do that, we're back in the series, and we go from there. We're gonna win Game 3, and we're gonna win this series." And it was just the way he said it. There was no doubt that this was going to happen. And sure enough, we end up winning Game 3.
When you think about one of the greatest leaders in the game ... Stevie Y comes in and addresses the team, and it was just how he said it. It's something that I never forget, sitting in that hotel and having that team meal. And sure enough, we won Game 3 and went on to win the Stanley Cup.
Rapid Fire
The best players he ever played with: Steve Yzerman, Pavel Datsyuk
The best players he ever played against: Wayne Gretzky, Joe Sakic
The best goaltenders he ever faced: Ed Belfour, Patrick Roy
With so many games on the slate, here are the three you can't miss:
Maple Leafs vs. Capitals
It was arguably the most intriguing matchup of the first round last spring, and the Capitals and Maple Leafs will renew acquaintances when they go head-to-head for the first time this season.
The Capitals got by the Maple Leafs in six games in a series that saw every game decided by a single goal, including five that needed overtime.
Both clubs boast top-10 offenses to begin the year, including the Maple Leafs who are averaging a league-best 5.2 goals per game. Meanwhile, the Capitals have the league's top-three scorers in Nicklas Backstrom, Evgeny Kuznetsov, and Alex Ovechkin.
This one could be a track meet.
Lightning vs. Devils
At first glance, the Tampa Bay Lightning battling the New Jersey Devils in mid-October might not seem that appealing, but given the starts the teams are off to, this is certainly a game to keep your eyes on.
Both are thriving after missing the playoffs last season and lead their divisions, as the Lightning pace the NHL with a 5-1-0 record, while the Devils have gone 4-1-0.
The Devils are getting great contributions from rookie defenseman Will Butcher and wunderkindJesper Bratt. Meanwhile, Nikita Kucherov is a man possessed, having scored in each of the Lightning's first six games.
Don't sleep on this one.
Canucks vs. Senators
Erik Karlsson is back.
After enduring the season's first two weeks without him, the Senators welcome their captain back when they host the Vancouver Canucks. Karlsson will make his season debut after recovering from offseason foot surgery.
The Canucks are off to a mediocre 1-2-1 start, while the Senators have weathered the storm of being without their top player and are one of two clubs - the Los Angeles Kings being the other - that haven't lost in regulation this season.
With a 3-0-2 record, the Senators sit tied with the Maple Leafs and Detroit Red Wings for second in the Atlantic Division and with Karlsson back in the fold, it'll be interesting to see how much better the club can be.
DETROIT (AP) Nikita Kucherov scored his second goal of the game with 18:13 remaining in the third period, lifting the Tampa Bay Lightning to a 3-2 victory over the Detroit Red Wings on Monday night.
Tyler Johnson also scored for the Lightning, who now have the NHL's top record after winning their fourth game in a row. Justin Abdelkader and Mike Green scored in the second period to help Detroit erase a 2-0 deficit, but Kucherov broke the tie early in the third with his seventh goal of the season.
Kucherov reached out with one hand on his stick and barely got a piece of a loose puck in front of the net, deflecting it under Jimmy Howard and slowly into the net.
Kucherov had exactly one goal in each of Tampa Bay's first five games this season, and he added two more Monday. He's now second in the league in goals, two behind Washington's Alex Ovechkin.
Johnson opened the scoring with a short-handed goal in the first period, collecting the puck near his own blue line and outskating Trevor Daley the other way before beating Howard. Kucherov scored on a power play 101 seconds later with a wrist shot from the right circle.
Abdelkader's goal came after some extensive deliberation by the officials. He was hooked from behind by Victor Hedman on a breakaway, but he was able to get a shot off. Andrei Vasilevskiy made the save, and Abdelkader went sliding into him. Detroit's Darren Helm, who was trailing the play, put the rebound into the net.
After a review, officials took the goal away, ruling that Abdelkader had interfered with the goalie and Hedman was guilty of a hooking penalty. After additional discussion, Abdelkader was given a penalty shot, which he converted.
Green's tying goal was set up by Tomas Tatar, who started a rush with some impressive stickhandling in his own zone, and then eventually passed to Green, who followed his own shot and scored on the rebound.
UP NEXT
Lightning: Visit New Jersey on Tuesday night.
Red Wings: Visit Toronto on Wednesday night.
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For more AP NHL coverage: https://apnews.com/tag/NHLhockey
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Follow Noah Trister at www.Twitter.com/noahtrister
"I think he's the best player in the world," Senators bench boss Guy Boucher told reporters Monday. "He has an impact on everything. Your breakouts, your transition, your offensive zone, your power play, your defensive play. (He's) your leader. He is who he is. He is such a presence."
Karlsson - who missed the Senators' first five regular-season games as he's continued to recover from offseason foot surgery - will be back in the lineup Tuesday when Ottawa takes on the Vancouver Canucks.
His return comes on the heels of what many pundits projected to be a tough go for the Senators without their captain in the lineup. But just the opposite occurred, as Ottawa holds a 3-0-2 record on the season and is one of just two clubs to remain undefeated in regulation time.
That includes the club's recent Western Canadian road swing, where the Senators went a perfect 3-0 for the first time in franchise history, a trip that was highlighted by back-to-back blowout wins over the Calgary Flames and Edmonton Oilers.
"It's time. We did well without him," Boucher added. "A lot of people talked about the word 'survive' before he gets back, but I think the players should get all the credit for not just surviving but growing and every day wanting to get better.
"Erik comes in and the first thing he said, 'Let's just keep getting better.' I think we have everybody on the same page. Erik coming in is going to continue to help us do that."
Minor-league sports fans are accustomed to seeing their teams use gimmicks in order to drive interest.
But the Southern Professional Hockey League has taken things a step further, implementing a new initiative that will impact the on-ice play.
The SPHL announced its new playoff format Monday, which will see the top three teams in the standings hand pick their postseason opponent. The league is home to 10 teams, with the top eight clubs qualifying for the postseason.
The new arrangement, known as the Challenge Round, will see the top three teams select from the other five playoff clubs, with the team with the most points earning the right to pick first. The remaining two teams will then face off against each other in the opening round of the playoffs.
The SPHL was founded in 2004 and is three tiers below the NHL. In 2014, Carolina Hurricanes netminder Scott Darling - who once played for the SPHL's Louisiana IceGators and the Mississippi RiverKings - became the first league alumnus to make it to the NHL.
NHL on NBC color commentator Eddie Olczyk is set to make his return to the broadcast booth just two months after being diagnosed with colon cancer.
Olczyk will be part of Wednesday's broadcast, a rivalry-night showdown between the Central Division's Chicago Blackhawks and St. Louis Blues.
Olczyk, 51, has completed three rounds of chemotherapy, and will work when his health allows.
"We have some dates that we have highlighted and hopefully I will be strong enough to do the job," Olczyk told Kevin Allen of USA Today. "If I am not feeling good, I just have to be honest with everyone and tell them I can't do it.
"Doing what I love to do will help me pass the time. Looking at the calendar hour by hour, day by day, week by week, month by month gets a little long."
Prior to becoming a broadcaster, Olczyk spent 16 seasons in the NHL, lacing up the skates for six different clubs prior to his retirement in 2000. He later coached the Pittsburgh Penguins for part of two seasons.
