It’s never too early to panic in a shortened season, so it might be time for the New York Rangers to start panicking. The young and promising team has started 1-4-1, and they are already six points out of a playoff spot in their division. The Canucks have felt similar pressure at 2-5, but they bounced back with a 7-1 rout of the Senators on Monday.
That pressure applies to players, too. In a 56-game season, streaky players could find themselves having career highs or career lows. As the season rolls on, we’re starting to experience some of the oddities of a condensed schedule. Last night, there were only two games scheduled. Tonight, 28 teams are in action. Tomorrow, we’ll have just one game. I am not complaining, though; it’s just great to have hockey back.
Check out today’s Breakaway NHL contest from FanDuel 
Center
Elias Pettersson (VAN): $6,400 at OTT
The season could not have gotten off to a worse start for Elias Pettersson. The 22-year-old star is entering a contract year for the Vancouver Canucks. In his first eight games, Pettersson had one goal (a tip-in) and one assist. He has appeared visibly frustrated by his play. Fortunately, Pettersson finally got the monkey off his back against the Senators last night, as he scored a nice power-play goal and got an assist. He can be a streaky player, and I’m banking on the points pouring in for him now. This contest’s prices were determined before last night’s game, so we’re getting a discount here. Vancouver will face the same sputtering Senators team that has given up a league-high 4.57 goals per game this season. This is a perfect spot for Pettersson to gain some momentum.
Wing
Carter Verhaeghe (FLA): $4,300 at CBJ
We haven’t seen much from the Florida Panthers yet this season, but we have seen some nice play from Carter Verhaeghe. Out of camp, Verhaeghe earned the attractive spot on the left side of Aleksander Barkov and Anthony Duclair. He has made the most of his opportunity with Barkov by recording five points in three games. Over that span, he also has a +4 rating and nine shots on goal. Verhaeghe is installed on the second power-play unit. Columbus is a stingy team, but with the loss of Pierre-Luc Dubois to the Jets and no timetable for Patrik Laine’s insertion to the lineup, they’ll be a little shorthanded here.
Kirill Kaprizov (MIN): $4,800 vs. LA
Kirill Kaprizov is quickly making his case for the Calder Trophy this season. He has six points in seven games, with four of those points coming in his three games against the LA Kings. Kaprizov is on a line with Nick Bonino and Marcus Johansson. He is also on the top power-play unit. The Wild will host the LA Kings tonight, and they’ve surrendered 3.00 goals per game this season.
Defense
Justin Schultz (WSH): $4,000 vs. NYI
We knew Washington would need to switch up some of their lines after four of their players were suspended for breaking COVID protocol. More specifically, without Alex Ovechkin, we knew the power play would look a little different. Right now, it’s John Carlson in the Ovechkin one-timer spot. Justin Schultz has stepped into Carlson’s usual space. Schultz has seen his responsibility temporarily grow. He has logged almost 45 minutes in the past two games, more than any other two games this year. Over those two games, he has two goals on nine shots, two assists, and three blocks. The Islanders are a great defensive team, but I just can’t pass up a player with this opportunity that’s this cheap.
Goalie
John Gibson (ANH): $7,400 at ARI
Anaheim will face off with the Arizona Coyotes again tonight. On Tuesday, I went with Darcy Kuemper in goal. He had a nice night and stopped 23 of 24 shots. The only problem was that John Gibson stopped all 31 that he faced. Gibson is in a similar position as Kuemper — he’s clearly one of the best goaltenders in the league, but he is in an unfavorable spot with a rebuilding Ducks team. Gibson is off to a glorious start with a 1.67 GAA and .928 save percentage with two shutouts in just six games. He is in the “way too early” driver’s seat for the Vezina trophy. With Arizona on the docket, Vegas has installed a rare five goals as the betting total. This should be a low-scoring affair, and Gibson is one of the cheaper options available on FanDuel.
Check out today’s Breakaway NHL contest from FanDuel
Chris Genova is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Chris, check out his archive and follow him @FantasyOneTimer.
