Week 1: Philly, Carolina and the Rangers Play Seven
Seven-game weeks for NYR, CAR, VAN and PHI reshape Week 1 lineups, while Matthews, Bedard and Jarvis start the year on the shelf.
The schedule
Four teams play seven: NYR, CAR, VAN and PHI. Against a league average of 5.4, that's roughly a game and a half of free production per roster spot. Six-game weeks for BOS, TOR, VGK, CHI, PIT, SEA and UTA. The bottom is thin and sharp: LA, CBJ and NJ each play four.
That gap does real work in Week 1 only. Andrei Svechnikov (#31), Seth Jarvis (#33) and Sebastian Aho (#40) all get seven Carolina games; David Pastrnak (#6), Jack Eichel (#12), Vincent Trocheck (#25), Mark Stone (#27), Clayton Keller (#35) and Sidney Crosby (#38) all get six. On the other side, Jack Hughes is a top-20 player with four games, and Zach Werenski (#28) is a top-30 defenseman with four. For this week, a Carolina forward in the 40s and Hughes are closer than the ranks suggest. For the season, they are not close at all — do not trade the season for the week.
Los Angeles is the hardest hit: Adrian Kempe (#47), Artemi Panarin (#48) and Kevin Fiala (#69) all sit on a four-game week. Columbus is the same story with Werenski, Kirill Marchenko (#62) and Valeri Nichushkin (#73). If you have bench forwards on a seven-game team, this is the week they start.
The goalie starts
Igor Shesterkin leads the league in projected volume with about 4.5 starts off the Rangers' seven games. Karel Vejmelka is right behind at about 4.3 from Utah's six. Dan Vladar gets about 3.9 in Philadelphia's seven — a lot of work for a goalie ranked #116, and the reason he's worth a look in deeper formats even if the ratios wobble.
The next tier is a cluster at 3.4 to 3.6: Ilya Sorokin, Andrei Vasilevskiy, Brandon Bussi behind Carolina's seven games, Connor Hellebuyck and Jake Oettinger. Vasilevskiy at #14 with 3.6 starts is the cleanest combination of quality and volume on the board. Bussi carrying only a 3.6 share of seven games tells you Carolina is splitting; take the wins, don't expect five starts.
Logan Thompson and John Gibson land at about 3.2, and Linus Ullmark at 3. Filip Gustavsson is listed for 3.2 but is Out — see below. If you drafted him as your No. 1, you need a second body this week.
Streams for the week
Philadelphia's seven games make the Flyers the streaming pool. Oliver Bonk (D, #187) tops the week at 126.7 in combined category contribution, with Porter Martone (RW, #131) essentially tied at 126.5. Those are context numbers, not fantasy points, but the ordering is the point: seven games of a mid-roster contributor beats four games of a better player in a weekly-cap format.
Behind them, Shayne Gostisbehere (75.4) and Adam Fox (74.9) are the defensemen to grab if blocks and shots are live categories — Fox at #103 shouldn't be sitting on a waiver wire once the seven-game slate is public. Hunter McDonald (71.6), Will Cuylle (70.7), Tyson Foerster (70.4) and Trevor Zegras (66.6) round out the seven-game group.
If you'd rather not stack one team, Morgan Geekie (#91, six BOS games, 66.2) and Rickard Rakell (#93, six PIT games, 66.1) get you nearly the same week from better underlying players.
Adds for good
Dylan Holloway (#61) and Kirill Marchenko (#62) are the two names in the 61–140 band worth a real roster spot beyond this week — Marchenko just happens to draw four games out of the gate. Evgeni Malkin (#63) gets six Pittsburgh games and sits alongside Rakell as a Pens buy.
Mark Scheifele (#65), Joel Eriksson Ek (#66) and Bo Horvat (#68) all play five. Darren Raddysh (#71) gets six games in Toronto and is the defenseman to chase if Matthews' absence pushes power-play deployment around.
In goal, Logan Thompson (#64, 3.2 starts) is the best combination of rank and volume available in most leagues. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen (2.6 starts) and Mackenzie Blackwood (2.5) are thinner — hold-and-wait adds, not Week 1 starters.
Injuries that matter
Auston Matthews is Out. The report behind it is from March 2026 — a Grade 3 MCL tear and quad contusion, roughly 12 weeks from surgery — and the Sept 15 return date is plausible for camp readiness, but nothing has confirmed he's practicing. He's on a six-game week you can't use. Don't slot him until you see preseason ice.
Connor Bedard had July shoulder surgery on a four-month timeline and isn't back until around Nov 7; Chicago's six games do him no good. Seth Jarvis is out until late December with a shoulder injury — seven Carolina games and none of them his. Brad Marchand is on LTIR after hip/sports hernia surgery with an Oct 10 target. Charlie McAvoy is out through Oct 13 on a suspension, not an injury, which means no IR relief.
Filip Gustavsson is still recovering from offseason hip surgery with no firm timetable, and Wallstedt is a live threat to the job. Sam Bennett is out with a lower-body issue and a Sept 15 target; Jake Sanderson is out with a concussion on a similar date. Two to feel better about: Kevin Fiala (IR, lower leg fracture) and Roope Hintz (torn hamstring) both carry Sept 15 returns with no reported setbacks — hold both, and check practice reports before you start them.
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