This article is part of our The Daily Puck series.
Around the Rink
The Hockey Hall of Fame inducted its latest class Monday evening, with two players getting in: Nicklas Lidstrom and Sergei Fedorov. The Swedish blueliner and the Russian center were two of the bigger reasons for the Red Wings' dominance from the '90s into the no-longer-new century, with their incredible play finished, but not forgotten as Detroit aims for its 25th consecutive postseason berth.
Perhaps the second-best defenseman ever to play the game after Bobby Orr, Lidstrom was a force on NHL ice for two full decades, all with the Red Wings, offering incredible offensive consistency combined with unmatched defensive acumen. Those of us who watched the league, owned him in fantasy or in video games – I remain unabashed in my love for the NHL 2K series, especially the editions of the mid-aughts (2K5, 2K6, 2K7) – don't need to be told how dominant Lidstrom was on the blue line. A third-round pick in 1989 – yes, 52 players were drafted ahead of him, including the great Mats Sundin as well as Bill Guerin, Adam Foote, Bobby Holik and Olaf Kolzig, but also about 15 guys who never played double-digit games in the league – Lidstrom went on to win four Stanley Cups, two Olympic gold medals, seven Norris trophies and a host of other hardware.
Any franchise I played back in my heyday of NHL gaming would start by prying Lidstrom away from the Wings if I could – it was never easy or cheap, but hey, what can I say, I'm a great GM. It also started by acquiring Fedorov, a guy who Wayne Gretzky actually thought was better than him in the mid-'90s. By the 2000s, Fedorov's career was on the downside, with the lockout marking a turning point after which he was never the same player again. But this was a guy who hit 100 points twice and 80 three more times over the course of a career in which – when healthy – he was the best two-way forward in the game. He was also an incredible playoff hero – Fedorov's streak of four consecutive postseasons with 20 points or more places him in rare company in NHL history, joining Mike Bossy and Bryan Trottier, and it's hard to see any player equaling that today.
But that's enough reminiscing about the past. Let's look to the present: Tuesday, when 22 NHL teams will take the ice, all full of players dreaming of being remembered in the company of Fedorov and Lidstrom.
Projected Goalie Starters (all times Eastern)
Blues (Jake Allen) at Devils (Cory Schneider), 7:00 PM
Hurricanes (Cam Ward) at Rangers (Henrik Lundqvist), 7:00 PM
Avalanche (Reto Berra) at Flyers (Michal Neuvirth), 7:00 PM
Canucks (Jacob Markstrom) at Blue Jackets (Sergei Bobrovsky), 7:00 PM
Capitals (Braden Holtby) at Red Wings (Petr Mrazek), 7:30 PM
Sabres (Linus Ullmark) at Lightning (Ben Bishop), 7:30 PM
Flames (Karri Ramo) at Panthers (Roberto Luongo), 7:30 PM
Senators (Craig Anderson) at Predators (Pekka Rinne), 8:00 PM
Jets (Ondrej Pavelec) at Wild (Devan Dubnyk), 8:00 PM
Maple Leafs (James Reimer) at Stars (Kari Lehtonen), 8:30 PM
Coyotes (Mike Smith) at Kings (Jonathan Quick), 10:30 PM
Islanders (Jaroslav Halak) at Sharks (Martin Jones), 10:30 PM
For updates on the projected goalies later in the day, check out our Projected Goalies Grid.
Injury News for Teams Playing Tuesday
St. Louis Blues
Steve Ott, C (upper body) – Not traveling on upcoming road trip
Paul Stastny, C (foot) – Still a few weeks from being reevaluated
Patrik Berglund, C (shoulder) – Out 'til late December or January
Jaden Schwartz, LW (ankle) – Out into January (sigh)
New Jersey Devils
Patrik Elias, LW (knee) – Still no timetable
Tuomo Ruutu, LW (foot) – Out another 2-to-4 weeks
Carolina Hurricanes
James Wisniewski, D (knee) – Out another five months
New York Rangers
None, which is how we like it.
Colorado Avalanche
Alex Tanguay, LW (knee) – Injured Friday
Blake Comeau, LW (personal) – Missed practice Monday
Jesse Winchester, LW (concussion) – Remains out indefinitely
John Mitchell, C (oblique) – Has missed three straight; Tuesday status unclear
Philadelphia Flyers
Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, C (lower body) – On for morning skate Tuesday
Yevgeni Medvedev, D (upper body) – Has missed four straight; Tuesday may make five
Logan Pyett, D (leg) – Out indefinitely
Steve Mason, G (illness) – Didn't play Saturday; Tuesday unclear
Vancouver Canucks
Brandon Prust, LW (ankle) – Out 3-to-5 more weeks
Luca Sbisa, D (undisclosed) – Placed on IR last week; timeline unclear
Chris Tanev, D (undisclosed) – Sat Sunday; day-to-day
Columbus Blue Jackets
David Clarkson, RW (lower body) – On IR for the last week; timeline unclear
Washington Capitals
None
Detroit Red Wings
Brad Richards, C (back) – Still not practicing
Pavel Datsyuk, C (ankle) – Won't be back Tuesday
Jimmy Howard, G (head) – No concussion; should be fine
Kyle Quincey, D (ankle) – Seeing a doctor Tuesday
Johan Franzen, RW (concussion) – Lingering on IR; no timeline
Brendan Smith, D (illness) – May not play Tuesday
Landon Ferraro, RW (lower body) – Didn't skate with the team Monday
Buffalo Sabres
Cody McCormick, C (illness) – Lingering on IR
Patrick Kaleta, RW (knee) – Also lingering on IR with no timeline
Zach Bogosian, D (lower body) – Won't play in the next two games at least
Evander Kane, LW (knee) – Out another 2-to-4 weeks
Robin Lehner, G (ankle) – Out anywhere from a couple more weeks to a month-plus
Tampa Bay Lightning
Ondrej Palat, LW (lower body) – Out 3-to-5 weeks
Cedric Paquette, C (undisclosed) – Not guaranteed to play Tuesday
Anton Stralman, D (undisclosed) – Could sit Tuesday
Calgary Flames
Michael Frolik, LW (illness) – Expected to play Tuesday after not practicing Monday
Jonas Hiller, G (hip) – Placed on IR
Lance Bouma, C (lower body) – Out about 2.5 months yet
Micheal Ferland, LW (knee) – Game-time call Tuesday
Florida Panthers
Aleksander Barkov, C (hand) – On IR for a while yet
Ottawa Senators
Cody Ceci, D (lower body) – Back at practice Monday
Clarke MacArthur, LW (concussion) – No timetable
Nashville Predators
Carter Hutton, G (undisclosed) – Day-to-day; Tuesday unclear
Eric Nystrom, LW (upper body) – Placed on IR Monday
Winnipeg Jets
Andrew Copp, C (upper body) – Probable for Tuesday
Nicolas Petan, C (illness) – Didn't go Saturday, but seems likely to be better by now
Minnesota Wild
Tyler Graovac, C (sports hernia) – Out at least five more weeks
Justin Fontaine, RW (knee) – Out another 3-to-5 weeks
Zach Parise, LW (knee) – Not traveling on upcoming road trip
Zac Dalpe, C (hip) – Had surgery Thursday; out five months
Marco Scandella, D (personal) – Not playing Tuesday
Toronto Maple Leafs
Stephane Robidas, D (groin) – No timetable for return
Jonathan Bernier, G (lower body) – Doing better, but still day-to-day
Daniel Winnik, LW (lower body) – Doubtful to play Tuesday
Dion Phaneuf, D (illness) – Sick, but traveling with the team
Dallas Stars
Patrick Eaves, RW (lower body) – Lingering on IR; no definitive timeline
Travis Moen, LW (upper body) – See: Eaves, Patrick
Brett Ritchie, RW (wrist) – Out for months yet
Curtis McKenzie, LW (lower body) – Approaching back end of original return timeline
Arizona Coyotes
Antoine Vermette, C (lower body) – Didn't play Monday; Tuesday uncertain
Nicklas Grossmann, D (lower body) – Placed on IR
Joe Vitale, C (face) – Out a matter of weeks yet
Los Angeles Kings
Dwight King, LW (foot) – Out another month-plus
Matt Greene, D (upper body) – Improving, but not practicing yet
Jeff Carter, C (non-injury) – Left Monday's practice early; not sure why
New York Islanders
Eric Boulton, LW (lower body) – Lingering on IR
Thomas Hickey, D (lower body) – Out at least a couple more weeks
San Jose Sharks
Ben Smith, RW (head) – No timeline for return
Logan Couture, C (foot) – Making progress, but still likely weeks away
Raffi Torres, LW (suspension) – 41-game ban continues
Hot
Patrick Kane, RW, CHI – I mean, holy hell, this guy is hot. After a goal and four assists Sunday, he's got points in 10 straight and goals in four straight as part of a highly motivated campaign in which he's ripped off 23 points (with 10 of them being pucks to the back of the net) in just 15 games. In case you were wondering, that's a Fedorov-esque pace for 125 points over the full 82 of an NHL season. Kane's skating the biggest minutes of his career – 21:12 on average – and has already tied the second-best plus-minus of his career (although it is of course quite early on yet). He's shooting like a man possessed, as the 26-year-old's also on pace to clear 300 shots for the first time in his career. Don't touch him, don't talk to him, don't even think in his direction. Nothing can be allowed to interrupt Kane's bid for hockey glory – after no player reached 100 points last season, he's got as good a shot as anyone to get there this year. It'll be no surprise if Kane dukes it out with Tyler Seguin and Jamie Benn atop the NHL's points leaderboard all season long.
Mike Condon, G, MON – Sure, practically no one had heard of him before he stepped in for the injured Carey Price (lower body), but Condon has set the world on fire nonetheless in his seven outings this year. All he's done in the five games since Price went down is go 4-0-1, with his worst save percentage in that span the .926 he posted in an overtime loss to Ottawa. With just eight goals allowed in those five games and just 11 on the season, Condon is actually kind of making Price look bad.
Cold
Cam Talbot, G, EDM – After Sunday's loss in Chicago, Talbot's now 3-7 in his 10 starts, and he hasn't posted a save mark higher than .857 in any of his last four outings. Two of those games have been spent on the bench, as the Oilers' prime offseason trade target is decidedly getting outplayed by Anders Nilsson, who – aside from one disastrous outing – has been rather stellar between the pipes. Talbot's already ceded a third of the starts to Nilsson, and this situation is rapidly trending in the direction of a 50-50 timeshare.
Recommended Pickup
Linus Ullmark, G, BUF – Very quietly, Ullmark's now made the last four starts in net for the Sabres, including getting rolled out in net Saturday despite getting pulled Thursday against Tampa. In five outings, he's delivered a .918 save mark and 2.56 GAA – solid numbers that absolutely play for fantasy purposes – and with only the unremarkable Chad Johnson in his way, Ullmark could be the starter in Buffalo until Robin Lehner can get back from his ankle injury. That may well take another month yet, so the 22-year-old Swede has a nice chance to grab hold of a sizable role in the blue paint.
