* Brief thoughts on Franson's fantasy value in Nashville, Line shake-ups in Philly, Burns is red-hot again,and more... The Cody Franson trade to Nashville brings another offensive defenseman to the fold, but it would be unreasonable to think that he can be as fantasy relevant here as he was in Toronto. While basically the top power-play dog for the Leafs, Franson will play second-fiddle to Shea Weber and Roman Josi. Now, the Predators have been known to score a few more goals than his previous team and their second power-play unit is pretty solid, so he will still be valuable and still worthy of plug and play situations throughout the season. So, hold onto him.. Even after the Philadelphia Flyers captured an important two points in the narrow 2-1 win over Buffalo, fantasy owners aren't exactly rejoiced with the production of the top line in recent games. There has been more line-juggling to help ignite the Claude Giroux/Jakub Voracek tandem, this time lining them up with the recently returned Michael Raffl and dropping Brayden Schenn between Umberger/White. I would say give Raffl a look in your deeper formats if this sticks, while Schenn becomes non-starteable.   Brent Burns continues to rip it up for San Jose as his power-play goal last night has him on a four-point game streak and improves his numbers to 48 points in 58 games. With nine points over his last ten games, Burns has shown no signs of slowing down and should treated as an elite fantasy option the rest of the way as the Sharks keep relying on him for the bulk of their offensive blueline production.. My thoughts prior to last night's Anaheim-Washington tilt featuring Bruce Boudreau against his former club was the following- If Justin Peters is in, circle Anaheim for an easy win. Well, not so fast as Alex Ovechkin made sure the Caps did not fall flat by collecting four points in the road victory. Peters was not good but his counterpart John Gibson was worse as he failed to impress after a solid outing in Carolina. It's still Federik Andersen's job when he gets back..

Raffl suffered the injury blocking a shot on Tuesday night. He will miss a month and a half, which is a big blow for the Flyers because he was off to a hot start on their top line. With Raffl out, Chris VandeVelde will get the first crack at replacing him on that first line.

Raffl has been off to a great start to the year playing on the Flyers top line. He has potted six goals and added one assists in 12 games. With Raffl's status uncertain for Thursday, Chris VandeVelde skated in his spot on the top line this morning.

The Buffalo Sabres picked up their second win of the season with a road win over the San Jose Sharks who have lost 4 in a row after a 4-0-1 start. Don't put much stock in the Buffalo "road warrior" moniker as both of their wins have come on the road.  Still, no one is fantasy-worthy at this point in time...The Sharks play 7 of their next 9 on the road, so they will need to become "road warriors" if they want to stay close in the division and league leaders in the Western Conference... If you were wondering how the Chara-less Bruins would do in his absence, I believe Dougie Hamilton had a quick answer with his goal and 2 assist night against the Toronto Maple Leafs. .  Perhaps this is the coming out party everyone has been waiting for.  Tuukka Rask turned aside 32 of the 33 SOG to earn his 4th victory on the young season .... Carey Price (34/35 SVS) and the Montreal Canadiens exacted some revenge for last year playoff knockout by the New York Rangers with a 3-1 victory at the Bell Centre. Next time be sure to start Price in net against the Rangers as he is now 8-1-1 with 5 shutouts in his last 10 starts against them.... Although his record is only 4-2-2 with a 2.92 GAA and .907 SP overall, in his past 2 games New Jersey Devil G Cory Schneider has had a SP of over .940 and looks to be improving on his game after a few duds. If there was any a time to trade for him, now is the time before he starts to get into the groove....Rookie D-man Damon Severson got back onto the score sheet with a goal and an assist and has not gone 2 consecutive games without a point so far in his young NHL career. Definitely worth a starting slot in your fantasy lineup... Don't look now but the Philadelphia Flyers have won 3 of their last 4 and it looks like the offensive weapons are starting to hit on all cylinders as Michael Raffl potted 2 goals and Brayden Schenn netted a power play goal, his second goal of the season. The Flyers could use some secondary scoring aside from the top line and the past 2 games were a good sign.... Besides the somewhat surprising 7-5 score in the Islanders win over Dallas was the fact that Isles C John Tavares didn't factor in any of the scoring. Very strange indeed....It was another Islander center that provided the fireworks as Frans Nielsen had a 3rd period hat-trick to help New York to overcome the Dallas Stars....A good sign for poolies was the fact that Islander D-man Lubomir Visnovsky had a goal and assist in just his second game of the ...

The Flyers are off to a slow start at 0-2 so they have shaken up all three of their top lines in search of more offense. Whoever is playing with Giroux and Voracek is bound to produce at a higher level but Raffl is not a great fantasy option because his job on the top line may be short lived.

Raffl played more than he usually does after Steve Downie got hurt in the first period this afternoon. He has nine goals and 12 assists (21 points) in 56 games this season. Raffl has good speed and can also play a strong defensive-minded game. He's played on all four of the Flyers' lines this season and has excelled on the penalty kill. The $1.1 million AAV is a very friendly cap hit for the Flyers, but the contract has firmly cemented Raffl in the club's plans at the NHL level next season.

Raffl missed Saturday's game after being concussed in Thursday's game vs. the Avalanche. He has played very well on the Flyers top line, he has recorded 11 points (2G / 9A) in 29 games.

Raffl was concussed with about three minutes left in the first period after what appeared to be a legal check from Colorado winger Gabriel Landeskog. "He won't play next game," said coach Craig Berube, referring to Saturday's game against the Coyotes. Berube rotated wingers on the top line using Steve Downie, Brayden Schenn and Zac Rinaldo to work with Claude Giroux and Jakub Voracek, so we won't know who moves to that line until practice or tomorrow's morning skate.

***NEW FEATURE*** We have added our 3 FANTASY STARS OF THE NIGHT to our Home Page.  Just look in the right margin under PRIME UPDATE.  We hope you enjoy! In a battle of the Titans, Chicago Blackhawks' Goalie Antti Raanta was able to stonewall the Los Angeles Kings 1-0. Martin Jones was nearly as perfect as he stopped 29 of 30 saves as Jones rebounded from his poor start last game out...Jones will, in all likelihood, be sent back to the AHL as Jonathan Quick is nearing a return and may even get into tonight's game versus Dallas, but more likely to play Thursday against St. Louis. Corey Crawford is also close to returning and resuming his No. 1 starter's role but Raanta's play of late should earn him more starts down the road....After what was a disastrous first part of the season, Ottawa Senators' G Craig Anderson seems to be turning his game around and not a moment too soon. Anderson has now won 3 in a row and if the Ottawa Senators want to make the playoffs and some noise, they will need Anderson to play at the highest level that he is capable of.  You may still be able to acquire the Ottawa goaltender on the cheap...It is quite obvious that the goaltending was pretty much non-existent in the Detroit-Nashville game as the Preds defeated the Red Wings 6-4.  Jimmy Howard returned from injury and only made 23 of 28 saves and his season's woes continue. Marek Mazanec wasn't much better stopping only 21 of 25 SOG. We'll give Howard a few games to get back into game shape to decide where his season is going, while the Predators await the return of elite goaltender Pekka Rinne from his hip infection....Philly G Steve Mason was the reason that the Flyers were able to squeak out a win in Vancouver last night stopping 41 of 44 SOG. Mason continues his rebound season and has played well ever since his arrival to Philadelphia at last year's trade deadline. More Fantasy Game Notes: If you haven't already, you might want to rush out and pick up Michael Raffl of the Philadelphia Flyers. All the rookie has done since his call up is go 2-9-11 points in 27 games but his recent play has improved as he is playing alongside red-hot Claude Giroux. Raffl has 10 points in the past 13 games and if he sticks should be able to gather some points but you may run into a little inconsistency from the rookie.   He had 2 assists in last night's game against the Canucks but went scoreless in three prior games...