From the Press Box: With Stars Injured Early, Opportunity Knocks

Oh, happy day, hockey fans … the start of the 2015-2016 season has come.

The NHL has released its Opening Night rosters and included a number of star players who are out with injuries. Let's take at a look at those situations and which of these ailing players' teammates stand to see extra time in prominent roles.

Zdeno Chara and Dennis Seidenberg sidelined in Boston

These two veterans are, by far, the most experienced blueliners on this roster and have played big minutes here for years. At the same time, other depth defenders have moved on so that the next guys up are not necessarily household names, with the exception of Torey Krug. He has already stepped up to have a share of the power-play quarterbacking duties last season, but now that load shifts exclusively to him and should lead to an early spike in his productivity as the No. 1 option. Given that Chara is now 38 and Seidenberg is 34 years of age, we may see them both play fewer minutes per game when they return. That will open up opportunities for Adam McQuaid, who has been a quality defensive blueliner, to possibly get some time on the power play and make more use of his explosive shot.

Zack Bogosian and Josh Gorges backstage in Buffalo

These two veterans were being counted on to insulate an otherwise young and inexperienced blue line. Bogosian was expected to take on some power-play play duties, given that he is the most highly regarded member of this defensive corps. Certainly, the recent signing of Cody Franson and the presence of Carlo Colaiacovo means that they do have a couple of other options who will move up to fill in those offensive roles, though both are rather suspect in their own end and may see their defensive deficiencies exposed with increased ice time. That will be a bigger problem because Gorges is their best defensive defenseman. This was a club that had little ability to sustain offensive pressure last year, but the significant upgrades to their forward complement could offset some of these early-season deficiencies.

T.J. Brodie's broken hand

Last season, Brodie established himself as a key offensive contributor on the Calgary blue line, earning the prime opportunity to play alongside captain Mark Giordano. He wound up totaling 11 goals, 30 assists and a plus-15 rating. Even when Giordano went on IR, Brodie still delivered the goods, cementing his frontline status here. This season, there are three healthy, offensively capable options if we count Giordano, Dennis Wideman and Dougie Hamilton, the last of whom was acquired in a trade with the Bruins and will likely take up Brodie's spot on the top pairing with Giordano. If they develop an early chemistry, that could drop Brodie onto the second defensive pairing and power-play unit, diminishing his fantasy impact before he hits the ice in a few weeks.

Pavel Datsyuk and Danny DeKeyser out of the Wings' lineup

For the last several years, Datsyuk ("The Magic Man") has been one of Detroit's offensive centerpieces. The Wings have known for most of this summer that their star center would not make his 2015-16 debut on time due to an ankle injury, which will keep him out of the lineup until at least early November. While the Wings did sign veteran Brad Richards, it was expected that he would hold down the second-line center role. In an effort to develop some early chemistry, Detroit won't upset that unit, which is projected to include Gustav Nyquist and Tomas Tatar. The top-line wingers, veteran Henrik Zetterberg and Justin Abdelkader will now be joined by Dylan Larkin at center. In a departure from the norm, the Wings were impressed enough by Larkin, a 19-year-old and 15th overall draft pick in 2014, that he will not follow the path of all Red Wings top prospects in recent years by opening with a stint in AHL Grand Rapids. He tallied three goals and one assist in five solid preseason games to earn this assignment. Beware of this situation, as Larkin may only play up to nine games and then get demoted once Datsyuk returns to the lineup. For his part, DeKeyser has been regarded as the next offensive lynchpin on the Wings' blueline. He tallied 31 points in 80 games for Detroit last season and seemed poised to build on that at a time when he was projected to grow with the array of young forwards who have made a big impact during the last couple of seasons. He will miss the first month of the season, and it seems certain that the offensive load will be shared by a pair of highly capable veterans, Nicklas Kronwall and the newly signed Mike Green. The expectation of their early success may postpone a similar role for the highly touted DeKeyser, and he may be relegated to second-pairing depth, particularly on the Wings' power play.

Jordan Eberle's debut with Connor McDavid gets postponed

The Oilers' blueprint for McDavid's debut included former first-round picks Taylor Hall and Eberle flanking him on the top line, but the attempt to insulate this perceived generational player will have to wait, as Eberle is out for a few weeks while nursing a shoulder injury. Eberle may have the highest hockey IQ on the Oilers outside of their prized rookie, and many onlookers were expecting big things from this unit. The lucky player who will get the first crack at replacing Eberle on this line to start the season is Anton Slepyshev, a third-round draft choice in 2013. He has played in the KHL for the past four years, but was invited to Edmonton's training camp and showed well, producing four points in his seven exhibition appearances. Slepyshev has displayed very good skills that combine with his imposing size (6-foot-2, 200 pounds) to suggest that he is NHL-ready. This plum assignment could skyrocket him to fantasy relevance.

The Ottawa goaltending split favors a healthy Craig Anderson

What you see when you look around the NHL goalie situations is one of two scenarios. Either you have a clear No. 1 who is capable of starting something like 60 games and relegating his backup to 20-to-25 appearances, or you have a much narrower split between comparable talents. With the impressive debut of Andrew Hammond last season, most pundits anticipated a pretty evenly split goaltending share for each player to start this season. However, Hammond has sustained a groin injury that could keep him out of the Senators' net for two weeks. It should be noted that groin injuries are the bane of a goalie's existence, and improper treatment can cause these injuries to last much longer. In any case, the veteran Anderson gets to make an early uncontested case for the top role behind an improving Ottawa team, at least through the first few games. He has been a team leader throughout his tenure and this could secure the lion's share of the net for him.

Nicklas Backstrom is missing from the Caps' top line

The Washington Capitals looked like they had the potential for the league's most prolific top forward line when they acquired T.J. Oshie in a trade with the Blues and immediately announced that he would be joining Alexander Ovechkin and Backstrom on the top scoring unit here. Well, that debut has been derailed by Backstrom's slow recovery from offseason hip surgery. He s expected to miss at least the first four to five games of the regular season. Backstrom's developed a highly successful partnership with Ovechkin for years, and once he's healthy, he'll get that role again. In the interim, it affords the Caps a chance to look at the vast offensive skills of Evgeny Kuznetsov, who has the look of an impact player on their scoring lines. He's impressed during exhibition action, collecting six points in five appearances. At the very least, this assignment should be a boost for his confidence and give him a good push-start toward a possible breakout campaign.

The successful fantasy hockey player must be vigilant and aware of these situations as they crop up and shift all season long. Keep an eye on the Injured Reserve list and find out who's in line to step in.