Expect Spezza to be ready for the Senators' October 4th season opener.

Spezza missed 43 games last season with a back injury so when he is out of the lineup it is worrisome. However it sounds like the injury is not serious and he should be ready for the start of the regular season.

ATTENTION EXCEL STAT SHEET SUBSCRIBERS-The Excel Spreadsheet has been updated. Go to "MY ACCOUNT" and click on the FILES tab to access the updated Excel spreadsheet. More Tryouts: G Tim Thomas and RW Damien Brunner have signed tryout agreements with the Florida Panthers and New Jersey Devils,respectively. Both team can use their talents but I don't see why the players chose these teams unless there was very little interest elsewhere.  Keep an eye on both situations as both could be decent contributors on needy teams. Preseason Fantasy Bits:Milan Michalek collected a goal and an assist in Ottawa's 3-1 victory over the Winnipeg Jets. With all the talk centered on the arrival of Bobby Ryan, the 28-year old Michalek has definitely fallen under the fantasy radar, but he should be remembered come draft day. Although he missed 25 games last season, he did put up 35 goals and 60 points in '11-12. Its looking like he will be lining up with Jason Spezza and Ryan, so this Senator trio could be dynamite in fantasy leagues... Another guy who just needs to stay healthy is defenseman James Wisniewski, who had a nice night for the Blue Jackets with a goal and an assist against Pittsburgh. With the added firepower in Columbus, the hard-shooting blueliner could make a serious push for 45-50 points, but he will come in undervalued in most drafts. He could be a huge bargain, so keep your eye on how he performs in camp. Training Camp Update: Anaheim's second line in the early going consists of Nick Bonino centering Teemu Selanne and Jakub Silfverberg. For now Dustin Penner stays on the top line.. Erik Cole has been a scoring dud in his short time in Dallas, but he will reportedly get a shot on the top line with Tyler Seguin and Jamie Benn. Interesting. If that doesn't get him back to 30+ goals, nothing will... Cory Schneider will be getting the first start for the New Jersey Devils in pre-season action. Don't read too much into this, but if you are to be banking heavily on Jersey goaltending this season, you probably need to own both him and the future HOFer Marty Brodeur. PrimePucks continues to bring you the NHL IN 30 every day in the month of September, bringing you in-depth team analysis for the upcoming season. Today we focus on the Minnesota Wild!  Don't forget to check back each and every day for the latest featured team! ***ATTENTION FANTASY HOCKEY LEAGUE COMMISSIONERS*** If you are the commissioner of an upcoming fantasy hockey league and will be holding a draft ...

ATTENTION EXCEL STAT SHEET SUBSCRIBERS-The Excel Spreadsheet has been updated. Go to "MY ACCOUNT" and click on the FILES tab to access the updated Excel spreadsheet. More Tryouts: G Tim Thomas and RW Damien Brunner have signed tryout agreements with the Florida Panthers and New Jersey Devils,respectively. Both team can use their talents but I don't see why the players chose these teams unless there was very little interest elsewhere.  Keep an eye on both situations as both could be decent contributors on needy teams. Preseason Fantasy Bits:Milan Michalek collected a goal and an assist in Ottawa's 3-1 victory over the Winnipeg Jets. With all the talk centered on the arrival of Bobby Ryan, the 28-year old Michalek has definitely fallen under the fantasy radar, but he should be remembered come draft day. Although he missed 25 games last season, he did put up 35 goals and 60 points in '11-12. Its looking like he will be lining up with Jason Spezza and Ryan, so this Senator trio could be dynamite in fantasy leagues... Another guy who just needs to stay healthy is defenseman James Wisniewski, who had a nice night for the Blue Jackets with a goal and an assist against Pittsburgh. With the added firepower in Columbus, the hard-shooting blueliner could make a serious push for 45-50 points, but he will come in undervalued in most drafts. He could be a huge bargain, so keep your eye on how he performs in camp. Training Camp Update: Anaheim's second line in the early going consists of Nick Bonino centering Teemu Selanne and Jakub Silfverberg. For now Dustin Penner stays on the top line.. Erik Cole has been a scoring dud in his short time in Dallas, but he will reportedly get a shot on the top line with Tyler Seguin and Jamie Benn. Interesting. If that doesn't get him back to 30+ goals, nothing will... Cory Schneider will be getting the first start for the New Jersey Devils in pre-season action. Don't read too much into this, but if you are to be banking heavily on Jersey goaltending this season, you probably need to own both him and the future HOFer Marty Brodeur. PrimePucks continues to bring you the NHL IN 30 every day in the month of September, bringing you in-depth team analysis for the upcoming season. Today we focus on the Minnesota Wild!  Don't forget to check back each and every day for the latest featured team! ***ATTENTION FANTASY HOCKEY LEAGUE COMMISSIONERS*** If you are the commissioner of an upcoming fantasy hockey league and will be holding a draft ...

"I'm definitely 100 per cent right now, I feel really good," said Spezza. "I had a good off-season and it was nice to have a full summer of training and hopefully I can reap the rewards of it." Spezza is confident his back won't be a recurring issue, but says he will definitely be giving it greater attention.

AND THE FANTASY WINNERS IN FREE AGENCY ARE: ROBERTO LUONGO G VANCOUVER Hard to imagine any player who did better to increase his fantasy value than Luongo. General Manager Mike Gillis' decision to trade Cory Schneider to New Jersey means that the Canucks will have no choice but to use Luongo as the starting goaltender. There are some rumblings in Vancouver that after being dangled as a trade offering for so long that Luongo does not want to go back to play for the Canucks.  While he could hold out, he does have a contract that has 9 more years and $64 million to go.  Don't think that he is going to walk away from that money.  At 34 years old, Luongo is still productive as he went 9-6-3 last year in 18 starts with a 2.56 GAA and a .907 SP.  His save percentage was well below his career average of .919, so there is some concern with that, but he should get 60 starts or so, and be a solid number 1 goaltender pick.   BOBBY RYAN RW OTTAWA Despite having scored 30 plus goals in 4 years, Ryan struggled to get quality ice time in Anaheim, as Ryan Getzlaf, Corey Perry and Teemu Selanne got most of the power play time. Ryan had a bit of a down season in 2013 scoring only 30 points in 46 games, and he had only 6 points on the power play.  The talented 26 year old scored 71 points in the 2010-2011 season, and now playing with Jason Spezza and Erik Karlsson on the Senators' power play, we expect him to get back to those type of numbers again. Ottawa General Manager Bryan Murray has already indicated that Ryan will get top three ice time with the Senators.  Big fantasy winner! TYLER SEGUIN C DALLAS This may be a bit of a controversial selection, as there was no one whose reputation took a bigger hit this season than Seguin.  He had a down year with only 32 points in the regular season, and then went completely bust in the playoffs with one goal in 22 games.  There were rumors about the Bruins putting a guard outside his hotel room to keep him from going out late at night during the playoffs.  Have no idea if this is true or not, but his stay in Boston clearly hit rock bottom this year, and he needed to start fresh somewhere else.  Bruins General Manager Peter Chiarelli was not kind with his remarks about the trade saying that Seguin "needed to be more of a professional".  Unfortunately, Seguin has gotten off to a rocky start with Dallas with a vulgar tweet which he claims was hacked.  Seguin is still only 21 years old, he was drafted number 2 in 2010 and he has 3 ...

AND THE FANTASY WINNERS IN FREE AGENCY ARE: ROBERTO LUONGO G VANCOUVER Hard to imagine any player who did better to increase his fantasy value than Luongo. General Manager Mike Gillis' decision to trade Cory Schneider to New Jersey means that the Canucks will have no choice but to use Luongo as the starting goaltender. There are some rumblings in Vancouver that after being dangled as a trade offering for so long that Luongo does not want to go back to play for the Canucks.  While he could hold out, he does have a contract that has 9 more years and $64 million to go.  Don't think that he is going to walk away from that money.  At 34 years old, Luongo is still productive as he went 9-6-3 last year in 18 starts with a 2.56 GAA and a .907 SP.  His save percentage was well below his career average of .919, so there is some concern with that, but he should get 60 starts or so, and be a solid number 1 goaltender pick.   BOBBY RYAN RW OTTAWA Despite having scored 30 plus goals in 4 years, Ryan struggled to get quality ice time in Anaheim, as Ryan Getzlaf, Corey Perry and Teemu Selanne got most of the power play time. Ryan had a bit of a down season in 2013 scoring only 30 points in 46 games, and he had only 6 points on the power play.  The talented 26 year old scored 71 points in the 2010-2011 season, and now playing with Jason Spezza and Erik Karlsson on the Senators' power play, we expect him to get back to those type of numbers again. Ottawa General Manager Bryan Murray has already indicated that Ryan will get top three ice time with the Senators.  Big fantasy winner! TYLER SEGUIN C DALLAS This may be a bit of a controversial selection, as there was no one whose reputation took a bigger hit this season than Seguin.  He had a down year with only 32 points in the regular season, and then went completely bust in the playoffs with one goal in 22 games.  There were rumors about the Bruins putting a guard outside his hotel room to keep him from going out late at night during the playoffs.  Have no idea if this is true or not, but his stay in Boston clearly hit rock bottom this year, and he needed to start fresh somewhere else.  Bruins General Manager Peter Chiarelli was not kind with his remarks about the trade saying that Seguin "needed to be more of a professional".  Unfortunately, Seguin has gotten off to a rocky start with Dallas with a vulgar tweet which he claims was hacked.  Seguin is still only 21 years old, he was drafted number 2 in 2010 and he has 3 ...

Spezza, who played for the first time since a herniated disc in his back shelved him on Jan. 27, had a relatively steady night, finishing with 18:40 of ice time and winning 60 percent of his faceoffs. He is a huge addition to the Senators lineup and should help Ottawa upfront vs. a strong Penguins team.

Spezza appeared in just five games this season, scoring two goals and adding three assists, before being forced to have surgery on a herniated disc. Spezza last played on January 27 against the Pittsburgh Penguins, who will be the Senators opponents in the second round of the playoffs. However, Senators head coach Paul MacLean poured cold water on any talk of an imminent return. "He's a long ways away," said MacLean after practice.

Spezza is still recovering from back surgery. His Fantasy season is essentially over.