Ryan Miller and the Sabres have four this week, but is that a good thing for Miller?

The youth movement seems to be on in the NHL. Teams such as Minnesota and Edmonton have been rocked by injuries already this year, which has forced them to examine which players will be ready to carry the load in the years to come. With many teams having a full slate of games this week, now is the time to see whether these players are ready for the bigs, or not ready for prime time as we explore this week in the NHL.

Four Games

Buffalo, Colorado, Dallas, New York Rangers, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Tampa Bay, Washington

This week features quite a few teams that play four games this week, which is an added advantage to you fantasy players. Tampa Bay plays arguably the weakest schedule, but with their inability to win on the road I'm going to have to shy away from them and move on to a team that has started slow, but has the potential to have a big week this week: Buffalo. The Sabres have a home-and-home match-up against Boston, without Patrice Bergeron and Manny Fernandez due to injury, a home game against the inconsistent Leafs, and a tough away game in Montreal. Toronto has all kinds of trouble on the road at Buffalo, and the Bruins have problems scoring, so look for the Sabres to take a possible three out of four this week. Look for Derek Roy who has 10 points in 12 games, as well as Brian Campbell, who is tied for the team lead in points with 12, to have big weeks.

Three Games

Anaheim, Atlanta, Boston, Calgary, Carolina, Chicago, Columbus, Detroit, Edmonton, Florida, Montreal, New Jersey, Ottawa, Phoenix, San Jose, Toronto

There are quite a few teams whose match-ups I really like this week. I'm going to start with two teams who have been red hot this year in Detroit and Ottawa. Detroit features the top line in hockey in Henrik Zetterberg, Tomas Holmstrom and Pavel Datsyuk. The trio has combined for 22 goals, 32 assists, and 10 power-play goals. Holmstrom could very well be the NHL's best-kept secret. Detroit has two home games against Columbus and Nashville, as well as an away tilt in Chicago. Chicago has given Detroit problems this year, but the Hawks have struggled at home so look for Detroit to continue their winning ways.

If Detroit has the best line in hockey, then Ottawa is a close second with the line of Dany Heatley, Jason Spezza and Daniel Alfredsson tearing it up this year. Spezza missed Saturday's game against Boston with a slight groin pull and is listed as day-to-day, so his situation needs to be monitored. The Sens have three home games this week. The Leafs, typically the Sens’ whipping boys, pay a visit to Ottawa in what is sure to be a high-scoring game. Home games against Montreal and Washington also bode well for the Senators, who are off to an 11-1 start. The forgotten goaltender from last season, Martin Gerber, continues to play strong with a stellar 8-1 record and a 1.99 GAA.

Florida is a team that generally is passed over when talking about the teams to watch out for in the NHL, but this week they have three games that I can see them winning. Home games against Tampa Bay, who is 0-6 on the road, and against the Atlanta Thrashers, who are just starting to dig themselves out of their 0-6 start, look very promising. A return trip to Tampa Bay could pose a problem for the Panthers, but Tampa is 2-7-1 in their last 10 games. Olli Jokinen continues to lead the charge for the Panthers, registering 15 points thus far, and Nathan Horton could be on his way to becoming a dominant power forward.

Two Games

Minnesota, Nashville, New York Islanders, Vancouver

Minnesota has caught my eye for two reasons. They have a home game against the woeful Oilers, and a road game against the Avs, who are depleted on defence, and they have two young players who could be great sleeper pick-ups in James Sheppard and Benoit Pouliot. The Wild are thin at center and they have bumped up Sheppard to the second line. Pouliot was drafted fourth overall in the 2005 draft by the Wild and brings a bevy of offensive talent to the club. One thing to note is that Pavol Demitra left the third period against Calgary on Saturday night and is yet to be evaluated.

One Game

Los Angeles, St. Louis

I am going to have to give the slight edge to LA in terms of a preferable match-up. The Kings have a home game against the Stars, who are losers of four out of five and cannot seem to get their star players going. Jere Lehtinen, Jussi Jokinen, and Mike Modano are off to terrible starts, and the tandem of Marty Turco and Mike Smith have really struggled as of late. The Kings are led by the line of Mike Cammalleri, Alexander Frolov, and Anze Kopitar who are all off to fast starts this season. Jason LaBarbera has provided stability to the Kings goaltending situation, which seemed hopeless at the start of the year.

Best Games
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
New York Rangers at New York Islanders

These two rivals have enough bad blood between them as is. Add in the regular season return of Chris Simon, and this game become that much more attractive. Who can forget the incident involving Simon and Ryan Hollweg? If what happened in the preseason between these two teams is any indication of what could be on Tuesday, then fight fans could be in for a real treat. I pick Colton Orr by decision. Rick DiPietro was injured by the stick of Sidney Crosby is Saturday night’s win against the Penguins, which also featured the 1,500 game of legendary coach Al Arbour. The Isles will also be without Bryan Berard, Jon Sim, and Shawn Bates. The Rangers have injury concerns of their own and will be without Marek Malik and Martin Straka.

Saturday, November,10, 2007
Pittsburgh Penguins at Philadelphia Flyers

The two teams play earlier in the week, but both teams will be playing the start of back-to-back games. This Saturday's match up will have both the Pens and Flyers coming off a day’s rest, as well as possible bad blood from earlier in the week. The Flyers will be without Simon Gagne and Derian Hatcher for extended periods of time, so it will be up to players such as Jeff Carter and Mike Richards to step up their game if they are to win. The Penguins have cooled off a bit, going 1-3-1 in their past five games. Crosby leads the dangerous Pens offence, scoring 20 points thus far. Evgeni Malkin is fighting against the dreaded sophomore slump, scoring 18 points in 13 games.

Top Players This Week

Center
Sidney Crosby
Pavel Datsyuk
Daniel Briere
Tim Connolly

Left Wing

Alex Ovechkin
Dany Heatley
Henrik Zetterberg
Tomas Vanek

Right Wing

Jaromir Jagr
Tomas Holmstrom
Daniel Alfredsson
Corey Perry

Defence

Mathieu Schneider
Sergei Gonchar
Nicklas Lidstrom
Brian Campbell
Cory Murphy

Goaltenders

Martin Gerber
Cam Ward
Ryan Miller
Tomas Vokoun

Sleepers

C - James Sheppard
LW - Jiri Tlusty
RW - Darren Haydar
RW - Joffrey Lupul
D - Randy Jones
LW - Wojtek Wolski