Been a busy week as I was involved in another draft that I had to set up on a new site with the draft in motion. I got it done and the draft was a success so it was worth the aggravation.  I hope to give you a rundown of that Dynasty league draft this weekend. Right now let's get caught up to date. The 2018-2019 PrimePuck Fantasy Hockey Draft Guide has been updated through the signings of EDM D Darnell Nurse and BUF RW Sam Reinhart, injuries to VAN LW Loui Eriksson and OTT C Jean-Gabriel Pageau.  Download the most recent Guide before your hockey draft. Darnell Nurse and Sam Reinhart signed 2 year deals with their respective clubs as they headed into training camp and the pre-season games.  Look for both players to be an integral part of their teams this season.  Nurse may provide some offense with D Andrej Sekera out with a n injury while Sam Reinhart is counted on to breakout up in Buffalo. New Montreal Canadien Max Domi took a page out of his father's book with a sucker punch on FLA D Aaron Ekblad.  Fortunately Ekblad wasn't;t seriously injured, especially with his concussion history.  Domi was suspended for the remainder of the pre-season, so in essence he got off light. Veteran Vancouver LW Loui Eriksson is out week-to-week with a lower body injury.  No reason for you to be concerned with Eriksson unless your draft is way deep,  but if you're drafting Eriksson these days, I hope it's in like one of those senior leagues like they have in golf. Carolina forward Victor Rask is out indefinitely with a wrist injury after having surgery.  Rookie C Martin Necas should benefit with increased ice time. Dallas rookie Ty Dellandrea signed a 3-year entry deal.  Look for him to develop in the minors for a year or two.  

Justin Williams, Washington- Mr Game 7 is actually having a  fantasy impact early on with his new team as he collected 8 points over the first 10 games. Whether his production is sustainable or not largely depends on whether Nicklas Backstrom remains as his pivot. If he moves back to Ovie's line or Williams is shuffled out of top six, then his fantasy value could plummet.    Marcus Johansson, Washington- This guy has more of a shot to maintain some fantasy relevance as he has been a top six fixture for the Capitals over the last few years. The additions of Oshie and Williams puts a mild dent in his value but off to a decent start with 6-points in 10 games.    Frans Nielsen, New York- that's a four game point streak- 4G/2A- for the Isles second line center who flourished in a unit with Kyle Okposo and Josh Bailey . Coming off a 43-point season, there is little reason to believe he can't build on those numbers and surpass the 50-point plateau.    David Pastrnak, Boston- The youngster has been getting big minutes with one of the NHL's most underrated centers in David Krejci. While he possesses true 35-goal upside, he might be a year away. Or if you are lucky, maybe not. Give him a shot of still available.    Darnell Nurse, Edmonton- Dont sleep on this 20-year old who is one of the better defensive prospects out there. Since being recalled from the minors, he had picked up a goal and an assist. This one is simple as he will continue to log more minutes if he keeps producing like an NHLer. Nurse is well worth the risk. 

A very warm welcome to the newest addition of the Primepucks guest writing team as Kelly Bowler joins us with his wonderful insight into NHL fantasy draft preparation. His debut article focuses on many of the off-season personnel changes around the league and how have their respective fantasy values been affected. We know you will enjoy reading this as much as we did!   Switching Sweaters Will They Flourish or Flounder? During the NHL offseason huge personnel moves were made throughout the NHL as teams shuffled to get under the camp or to improve their on ice product. While those moves may have shifted the competitive balance in the league, they had major fantasy impacts. When assessing these moves to determine fantasy value you must take several factors into account to determine if the move will make a player more intriguing or if it will present false hope and a fantasy draft bust. Brandon Saad- Flourish Brandon Saad’s potential is immense and he had just begun to realize that potential in Chicago when the Toews and Kane contracts kicked in and caused a salary cap nightmare for the Blackhawks. Saad found himself packing his bags for Columbus and fantasy owners should be licking their chops. The Blue Jackets are a quality team that had major injury issues last season. Now that they are healthy again, they should be a solid playoff team. Saad figures to be a big part of that picture, as he moved to the top of the depth chart at LW. If he lines up with Foligno and Johansen, look out. He has consistently increased his point production over the last three years with 27, 47, & 52 respectively. Last season he also shot the puck over 200 times. Saad will be a force even strength and should be a part of a very good power play unit in Columbus. Cam Talbot-Flounder First, let me justify this by telling you that Talbot is a very good goaltender. However, be forewarned not to fall in love with the Oilers…yet. Conor McDavid will be an outstanding addition and only the Buffalo Sabres improved themselves more this offseason of all of the teams in the NHL. McDavid doesn’t play on the blueline though and the Oilers find themselves severely lacking in that department. Talbot was outstanding for the Rangers last season filling in long term for Lundqvist, but you must remember that Talbot was playing behind the best back six in the NHL, who were excellent at holding opponents to just one shot while taking care of the rebounds and forcing teams to take low percentage shots...

Nurse had no points with a minus-2 rating and two shots in his first two NHL games. The 19-year-old will get one more year of junior and have a chance to stick with the Oilers full-time next season. He had 13 goals with 37 assists (50 points) in 64 games with Sault Ste. Marie (OHL) last season.

Nurse, 19, was the seventh overall pick in the 2013 NHL Draft. He will replace Jeff Petry in the Oilers lineup tonight and likely skate with Andrew Ference. He had 13 goals and 37 assists (50 points) in 64 games in the OHL last season.