So much of the fantasy talk surrounding the St. Louis Blues is geared towards who will play on their top line with elite right wing Vladimir Tarasenko. We got an emphatic answer to that question on opening night.
In the absence of injured forwards Alexander Steen (broken hand) and Robby Fabbri (torn ACL; out for season), Tarasenko played with center Paul Stastny and left wing Vladimir Sobotka. His new linemates did plenty of offensive damage in a 5-4 overtime win against the Pittsburgh Penguins on the road; Stastny (C, 11 percent owned) had one goal, one assist, four shots on goal and was plus-2. Sobotka (LW, 6 percent) had two assists and was plus-1.
Stastny, 31, has been an injury risk since joining the Blues in 2014-15, playing in 205 of a possible 247 games. He has a respectable point-per-game average (0.67) in that span, but does not have a high shot volume. That said, Stastny has enough of a pedigree to warrant a deep-league waiver wire pickup given his place on the Blues' top line when healthy. Newcomer Brayden Schenn played on the second line with Jaden Schwartz and Dmitrij Jaskin.
Sobotka, 30, rejoined the Blues late last season after playing three seasons with Omsk Avangard in the Kontinental Hockey League. He scored a goal in his only regular-season game last season and had six points (two goals, four assists) in 11 Stanley Cup Playoff games mostly on the third line. This early-season bump could certainly help him scratch the surface of fantasy ownership.