Vasilevskiy allowed two goals on 37 shots in the Lightning's win over the Blackhawks last Friday. Vasilevskiy won his first two games of the season while stopping 57 of the 60 shots (.950 SV%). Those two games came against a terrible Blackhawks team, so tonight's matchup with the Blue Jackets should be a much stiffer test.
Linus Ullmark, who was Monday's projected starter, will miss tonight's game due to personal reasons. As a result, Johansson was promoted from the taxi squad and he's expected to back up Carter Hutton.
Vasilevskiy stopped 22 of 23 shots in the Lightning's season-opening win over the Blackhawks on Wednesday. A late, fluky goal snapped his shutout but it was still a nice start to the season for Fantasy's No.1 netminder. With another matchup with Chicago on-tap, Vasilevskiy is an obvious must-start and should move to 2-0 to start the season.
Vasilevskiy stopped 22 of 23 shots in the Lightning's season-opening win over the Blackhawks on Wednesday. A late, fluky goal snapped his shutout but it was still a nice start to the season for Fantasy's No.1 netminder. With another matchup with Chicago on-tap, Vasilevskiy is an obvious must-start and should move to 2-0 to start the season.
Seabrook's injury woes continue as 2021 starts but his movement to regular IR, as opposed to LTIR, suggests that he could be back in the next three weeks. Ian Mitchell has taken Seabrook's spot on the Blackhawks' blueline to begin the season.
Vasilevskiy is Fantasy's unquestioned No.1 goalie due to his workload and the quality the team in front of him. He has led the NHL in wins each of the last three seasons while ranking eighth in GAA (2.53) and fifth in SV% (.921). On opening night he draws a tremendous matchup vs. a Blackhawks team that is without both Jonathan Toews and Kirby Dach.
Girgensons will miss the entire 2021 season after suffering a serious hamstring injury. Girgensons led all Sabres forwards in shorthanded ice-time a season ago and they also lost Johan Larsson in free agency, so the Sabres will have to completely retool their penalty kill this season.
Cirelli is coming off of a really strong second season in the NHL, where he scored 16 goals and 28 assists (44 points) in 68 games. Cirelli had to take on a bigger role with Steven Stamkos injured for a good portion of the season and he flourished as the Lightning's No.2 centre. With Nikita Kucherov out for all of 2021, he will likely play the same role and Stamkos will shift over to the wing to fill-in for Kucherov. Cirelli's ceiling will be capped so long as he is playing with the likes of Alex Killorn and Tyler Johnson and not the upper echelon of talent in Tampa Bay, but he's a player that should have a 20-goal, 30-assist pace in 2021's shortened season.
The Lightning are hopeful that Kucherov will be available for the playoffs. Kucherov going on LTIR provides the Lightning with $9.5 million in cap space, which is a positive to come out of this. Tampa Bay is pressed up tight against the cap but losing their best player should allow them to get RFA Anthony Cirelli under contract before the start of the season.
In his first year in the Boston Bruins organization, Lagace played the whole season in Providence (AHL). The 27-year-old netminder was second in the AHL in wins (22) and ninth in SV% (.919). Lagace is expected to be the No.1 netidner in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (AHL) to start 2021 and would be the first goalie recalled if Tristan Jarry or Casey DeSmith get hurt.
Girgensons scored 12 goals with seven assists (19 points) in 69 games in 2020. Girgensons is locked into a fourth-line role for the Sabres. He led all Buffalo forwards in hits (110) and PK TOI/GM (2:08) last season. Offensively, he hasn't topped 20 points since 2015.
Johansson was a third-round pick in 2014 and made his NHL debut during the 2019-20 season. After going 14-4-3 with a 2.28 GAA and .921 SV% in 22 AHL games, Johansson was 1-3-1 with a 2.94 GAA and .894 SV% during his brief time with Buffalo.
Santini had one-year left on his three-year deal that paid him $1.416 million AAV. The buyout will cost Nashville just $41,667 against the cap in 2021 and $275K in 2022. Santini appeared in just two games with the Predators last season, playing the majority of the year in Milwaukee (AHL).
