Dumoulin shed his non-contact jersey during Wednesday’s practice session and skated on the top pair with Kris Letang, which is a good sign that he will be available for Thursday’s season opener vs. the Capitals. Dumoulin doesn’t carry a to of fantasy value despite playing over 20 minutes a night for one of the best teams in hockey. He had just 18 points (5G / 13A) in 80 games a season ago.
The good news is that Fabbri’s lower-body injury is not related to his knee that cost him all of last season. Blues head coach Mike Yeo said that there is “no plan” for Fabbri right now, but he will take a couple of days off and see where he is at after that. There is still a chance that Fabbri is ready for the start of the regular season on October 4th.
Fabbri re-injured his knee in training camp last year and missed the entire 2017-18 season. The 22-year-old has averaged 19 goals and 25 assists (43 points) per 82 games over the first two seasons of his NHL career. Fabbri is expected to be ready for the start of the 2019 season and will be a middle-6 winger for a team that has improved a lot this offseason.
Vatrano split his 2018 season between the Bruins and Panthers. The 23-year-old had eight points (5G / 3A) in 16 games with Florida, finishing the year with 10 points (7G / 3A) in 41 games. Vatrano seemed to have found a nice home in Florida and should be a bottom-6 winger with them to start 2019.
Gibson missed the last three games of the regular season, but practiced for the first time in more than a week on Monday. Gibson’s availability will be key to the Ducks’ first-round success, but Ryan Miller showed he is capable of holding things down if Gibson isn’t 100 percent for Game 1.
The Ducks are still battling for a playoff spot in the final week of the season, so this is a huge loss for them. Even if the Ducks are able to hold onto their playoff position, the loss of Fowler will hurt their blueline in the post season.
Gibson suffered an upper-body injury against the Avalanche and is not expected to be available against Minnesota on Wednesday. Reto Berra has been recalled and is expected to backup Ryan Miller. There’s no word on whether or not Gibson will be available for the weekend’s final two games.
Vatrano is dinged up so he will come out of the lineup this afternoon. This is a tough break for Vatrano, who will miss an opportunity to face his former team in Boston. The injury is believed to be minor so look for him to be back in on Monday.
