1) Pittsburgh made a statement by opening up on the road and beating rivals Philadelphia and New York. I've been of the mind that either Pittsburgh or New York will come out of the East and win the cup this year, and while it's just the first two games; every point counts and finishing first in the division will benefit whoever gets it.
2) I knew St. Louis was going to be good, but I wasn't prepared for Chicago to come out flying the way they have. St. Louis/Chicago games could be really fun to watch this year.
3) I don't think there's a better story in the NHL right now than Minnesota Wild backup goaltender, Josh Harding. He was diagnosed with MS this fall, and posts a shutout in his first game since the diagnosis. I'm really rooting for this guy.
4) Mikael Granlund (despite a goal) and Justin Schultz did not look nearly as good right off the bat as other rookies like Tarasenko and Huberdeau. I still say both will end up being candidates for rookie of the year.
5) Vancouver needs to trade Roberto Luongo. The situation will quickly turn toxic with the media and the fans, as proven this weekend. The time to trade him is now, as Vancouver needs help at forward. I wonder if they'll need to get creative and do something like a three-way trade in order for everyone to get fair value.
6) Detroit and Philadelphia are going to be looking for help at defense this season. While Minnesota has looked tremendous, I wouldn't be surprised to see them added to that list. I think Carolina will also need another top four D if they are serious about the playoffs.
7) Sven Baertschi of Calgary is going to be a lot of fun to watch. Calgary really needs to start building around a young core.
8) The three remaining RFAs - Benn, Subban, O'Reilly - are really missed by their respective teams. Based on what various reporters are saying, I'd expect Benn to sign by the weekend, but Subban and O'Reilly could hold out for a while which would really affect their teams in the standings.
9) For me, one of the key teams to watch this season will be Anaheim. It'll likely be Teemu Selanne's last year in the league. Getzlaf and Perry are UFAs this summer. Ryan has been in trade rumors for over a year. If this team doesn't do well, I could see a lot of big trades here. However, they could also really turn it around under coach Bruce Boudreau.
10) Things have so far worked pretty well for Minnesota and their big offseason additions. Buffalo looked good in their first game. Meanwhile, it's been mixed results for Dallas and Tampa and one poor result for Carolina. I think those five teams made the biggest changes this summer, so it'll be interesting to see how they fare this year, especially with the short training camp.
11) Tuukka Rask is primed to be a top goaltender for a long time, especially playing for the defensive juggernaut that is Boston. I'm glad I have him on both of my fantasy teams.
12) I'm interested to see what kind of identity Columbus develops this year. They also made a lot of changes, but have no expectations. This season will decide the direction they head in as an organization.
13) Only two shootouts in opening weekend. I really hope that shootouts are more rare this season.
14) It was a great start for a lot of veteran players like Jagr, Whitney, and Selanne. I'm interested to see if they can keep it up in the shortened season.
15) There was definitely some rust this weekend. I expect the games to be a lot faster by next weekend.
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