We are a week into NHL training camps and while preseason results don’t matter, how teams are using players certainly matters for how we view them in the fantasy hockey realm. Let’s take a spin around the league to see what role changes have occurred in training camp, how it impacts a player’s outlook, and what it means for fantasy hockey managers. 

Brandon Hagel

One of the most important changes has been to the Tampa Bay Lightning power play, and it’s not the exodus of Steven Stamkos. Rather, it has been the use of Brandon Hagel on the team’s top PP unit, usage he had very little of in 2023-24. 

This is crucial because of Hagel’s even-strength production. Across the last two seasons, Hagel’s 2.74 points per 60 minutes is in the 93rd percentile of regular forwards, and ahead of names like Mik