Blue Line Buzz: Early Returns

And through the first weekend of the season, the NHL's leading scorer among defensemen is… Francois Beauchemin?!

Who knew the 35-year-old, who seems to only play well on the Ducks, would be the leader with five assists in two games with the Avs? Of course, this pace won't last. It's true that Beauchemin will get plenty of opportunities to pile on the assists playing on the team's first pairing with Erik Johnson, which gives him a very good chance to better last year's total of 23 points, but considering his age and declining ability, it's highly unlikely he finishes the season in the top 10.

But I guess this is why defensemen in fantasy hockey can be so frustrating. Beauchemin went virtually undrafted in all fantasy leagues, yet a bunch of elite players such as Kris Letang, Mark Giordano and Shea Weber have yet to register a single point. This is only a sample size of two or three games, though, so no need to panic.

On another note, James Wisniewski is likely out for the season after tearing his ACL. The timetable is about six months. A power-play specialist, this puts a lot of pressure on an already thin Carolina defense. This means Noah Hanifin may be thrust into a bigger role and Justin Faulk will play half the game the entire season or collapse from exhaustion, whichever comes first.

Last week's top five performers:

Francois Beauchemin, COL -- The veteran has a league-leading five assists, including two on the power play and 12 blocked shots. The Avs are off to a rocky start, and holes on defense and consistency are, once again, the big question marks. They've scored 10 goals and allowed eight, so expect even more baseball scores.

P.K. Subban and Andrei Markov, MTL -- They're arguably the best pairing in the league right now with seven points combined and a big reason why (not taking anything away from Carey Price) the Habs are off to a 3-0 start. Markov should be declining at 36 years old, but playing with Subban seems to have given him a few more years.

Keith Yandle, NYR -- With three assists, he's also helping his team to a 3-0 start, but he is clearly more of a special teams specialist and sits fifth on the team in ice time. Chris Kreider is in line for a big raise and the Rangers are more likely to extend him than Yandle, so there's a little more incentive for Yandle to put up big numbers. Scoring defensemen generally do well under Alain Vigneault.

Dion Phaneuf, TOR -- The Big Smoke can't throw the captain under the bus yet with three points and eight shots on goal. He was a prime candidate for a bounce back year and early readings suggest he's on the right track. The Leafs aren't going to be very good no matter how hard they try, but they'll play hard for Mike Babock.

Jason Garrison, TB -- Tied for the lead with two goals, but he only made the list because his overtime winner against Philly is worth watching again.

.@TBLightning defenseman Jason Garrison (@J_G_5) scored a breakaway goal in the first #3on3OT of the season. #NHLOThttps://t.co/mXrnK4fvLQ

— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) October 9, 2015

Rasmus Ristolainen, BUF -- Through two games the 20-year-old has been the Sabres' No. 1 defenseman, logging an average of 24:55 per game, over four minutes more than Josh Gorges. As long as Zach Bogosian (lower body) is sidelined, Ristolainen gains to benefit the most, but even when Bogosian returns, it's more likely that Mike Weber (18:12), Mark Pysyk (17:06) and Carlo Colaiacovo (16:27) lose their minutes instead. He has zero points but could pile them up in a hurry with a Buffalo offense that tends to score in bunches.

Jared Spurgeon, MIN -- He's surprisingly ahead of Jonas Brodin in playing time and trails only workhorse Ryan Suter. Like Ristolainen, he's yet to register a point, but with increased roles their production should increase. Spurgeon's scored 26 and 25 points in the past two seasons, respectively, and he should be able to crack the 30-point mark this year.

Erik Johnson, COL -- He's obviously benefitting from playing with Beauchemin, but his hot start with two goals and an assist shows that he doesn't seem to be feeling any ill effects from the knee injury he suffered last year. Despite scoring 39 points twice, Johnson has never actually hit 40, and if he stays healthy he should do it easily this year. He could end up being one of the league's top scoring defenseman this season.

Seth Jones, NSH -- Jones is entering his third and final year of his entry-level contract, and though the Preds may ask him to sign a short-term bridge deal to keep the cap hit manageable and make him show a little more, a breakout season may quash that notion. Like Spurgeon, Jones should have no problem setting a career-high in points this season. The 21-year-old has two assists in two games and is averaging more than 20 minutes per night for the first time in his career.

Ben Hutton, VAN -- When Alexander Edler (illness) sat out Saturday, Hutton got his chance on the power play and delivered an assist. He won a spot after a brilliant preseason and hasn't missed a beat, easily looking like Vancouver's second-best defenseman on most nights (the best obviously being Chris Tanev). A former University of Maine standout, if Hutton can play 82 games in a top-four role, like he's doing now, he could be part of the Calder Trophy conversation.

Top five trending down:

Drew Doughty, LA -- Every single player who made the list this week should be taken with a grain of salt because it's only been a couple of games, but the Kings aren't off to a great start. They're actually playing better than their record suggests, but the kind of mistakes they're committing are very uncommon for them, and their big free agent splashes haven't produced anything of note. Doughty has just one assist on four shots and three hits to start the season.

Sami Vatanen, ANA -- The Ducks have played just one game but it's curious that Vatanan, who scored 37 points in 67 games and averaged 21:27 per game last year played just 16:43 in Saturday's opener. The blue line is already pretty crowded in Anaheim and it seems like Vatanen is starting the year pretty low in the pecking order.

Olli Maatta, PIT -- The Pens are probably easing Maatta back into the lineup after suffering a season-ending shoulder injury last year, but 33:15 of total ice time through two games seems really low. He's the quarterback on the second power-play unit but Kris Letang is logging all the minutes.

Andrej Sekera, EDM -- His poor start comes as no surprise. The Oilers threw money at him because they figured it would be a good idea, and if the Oilers think it's a good idea, it's best to run the other way. He's playing fewer than 20 minutes per game on a team that is still trying to figure out an identity.

Justin Schultz, EDM -- I'd hate to keep throwing shade at the same team over and over again, but the Oilers make it too easy, especially with their unwavering faith in Schultz, who routinely gets some of the biggest minutes for no apparent reason. Maybe he still has the talent to be a scoring defenseman in him, but he hasn't improved very much over the past few seasons, if at all.

This week's top five picks:

Kevin Shattenkirk, STL -- All four of the Blues' games are on the road, but they'll face shaky goaltending in Calgary and shaky everything in Edmonton. They can realistically go 4-0 in their trip across Western Canada.

Victor Hedman, TB -- Detroit will give the team headaches, but games against Boston, Dallas and Buffalo should give him plenty of opportunities to score. Dallas beats their opponents by outscoring them while Buffalo and Boston are in flux.

Zdeno Chara, BOS -- He's questionable for Monday's game against Tampa Bay, but his presence alone could be a difference maker. The B's just waived Matt Irwin, which could be a roster move to open up space for Chara. Irwin has struggled mightily so far this season.

Aaron Ekblad, FLA -- His season will be considered a success even if he just matches what he did last year. This week has Philly, Carolina and Buffalo on the menu, which could be absolute feast.

Dustin Byfuglien, WPG -- He'll face Henrik Lundqvist, the Islanders, Calgary's defense and the Blues this week, which might make it tough to score points, but they're also teams that play physical, which in turn means there's a higher chance of Byfuglien getting involved and maybe collecting some penalty minutes.