Oh the excitement of the NHL hockey season.

We are only a few games in and we have a coaching feud, a horrific freak injury and subsequent knee-jerk reaction by the mass media to ban fighting. I’ll address my thoughts on fighting in the NHL in a future article but today is all about the studs and duds through the first games of the season.

There is no reason to panic just yet if you are seeing your fantasy team suck. Additionally, you may want to hold off a week or two before you commission the engraving of your fantasy trophy. Lars Eller is not going to score 164 goals this year. It’s a small, and exciting sample size, but pump the brakes people, we have a long way to go.

Studs

Semyon Varlamov, G, Colorado Avalanche

Obviously you shouldn’t drop your top ranked goalie or player to acquire the Colorado net minder. He was spectacular in his and coach Patrick Roy’s debut, but I’ve been down this road with Varlamov before and it has never ended well. Could this be the year that he puts it all together? Before you head down Varlamov Street take a look at the road map and beware the inevitable pitfalls of Groin Pull Way and the Mid-Season Benching traffic circle. It’s always a good move to grab early and sell/trade high while the value is near its peak, but always beware of holding Varlamov too long.

Mikhail Grabovski, C, Washington Capitals

While I wasn’t sure about the Capitals and in particular their new center both showed up big on Tuesday night. The Capitals controlled the game against the defending champ Chicago Blackhawks for large portions before a soft goal swung the momentum back to the Hawks. Grabovski impressed with some spirited play including the first hat trick of the season. This puts him on pace for 246 goals and 82 assists this year, which would make him the greatest player ever in the history of hockey. Obviously that isn’t going to happen, but feel free to snag the Belarusian center while he’s riding the hot stick.

Jacob Trouba, D, Winnipeg Jets

The rookie defenseman had quite a debut against the high-flying Edmonton Oilers. He notched his first NHL goal and assist and blocked four shots in over 25 minutes of ice time. The American rear guard tied the game at four with under ten minutes to play and was a plus two for the Jets who were surprisingly frisky against their old rivals from Alberta. Trouba is worth a watch all season in Winnipeg. He has good size, a big shot and from what I observed in his debut a great hockey sense. Snag him now, keep him then thank me later.

Duds

Francois Beauchemin, D, Anaheim Ducks

One bad game doesn’t mean that you drop him from your roster. If that was the case you would need to drop the Anaheim Ducks from the NHL. Beauchemin was touted as a possible Norris Trophy candidate by some experts (not us, for the record) and will absolutely be better on Anaheim’s top defensive pairing. Given the bad blood that emerged between the Ducks and Avalanche and the two coaches, this might be a rivalry in the making. Bruce Boudreau won’t forget about the Anaheim no-show in Colorado or Avs coach Patrick Roy screaming at him and his players, but it’s likely one that Beauchemin will want to forget Wednesday night.

Corey Crawford, G, Chicago Blackhawks

Stanley Cup winning goaltender looks nice on the resume, but Crawford took a page out of Marc-Andre Fleury’s book Tuesday night with a forgettable season debut against the Washington Capitals. The defending champs looked listless and indifferent as a whole for most of the night before rallying for the win late. It could be a bad omen for Crawford owners or it could just be a result of the evening’s festivities, which saw the franchise lift their fifth Stanley Cup banner to the rafters.

Braden Holtby, G, Washington Capitals

Across the rink from Corey Crawford was the Holtby wagon that the Washington Capitals have hitched their collective wagon to. With the game in the balance, Holtby redirected a fluttering shot from Brandon Saad into the net for the tying goal. Not the best audition for Team Canada for Holtby who looked shaky on a couple of other goals. Rest assured that he’ll play better; at least the Capitals are hoping he does.