Each week, I will take a trip around the league and dig into the numbers to find insights that can help you make better fantasy hockey decisions.
This week, the Devils are the winners of the Connor Hellebuyck sweepstakes. Fallout from the big trade, plus Easton Cowan, Charlie McAvoy, Matthew Poitras, Emmitt Finnie, and much more!
#1 The Winnipeg Jets moved on from franchise goaltender Connor Hellebuyck this week, trading him to the New Jersey Devils. Hellebuyck is a three-time Vezina Trophy winner who has won a Hart Trophy and an Olympic gold medal. He is one of the game’s premier netminders. He has also struggled in the playoffs, which is ultimately going to be where the value of this deal is determined. Hellebuyck has a .916 save percentage since 2022-2023, which is the highest among any goaltender to have appeared in at least 50 games, but that leads to the other part of Hellebuyck’s appeal. He is extremely durable, as the 244 games that he has played over that time ranks second to Nashville’s Juuse Saros. For fantasy managers, Hellebuyck’s track record makes him extremely appealing as he joins New Jersey, a team that has excellent puck possession numbers, ranking second in both Corsi and Expected Goals percentages.
Veteran goaltender Jake Allen will eventually move to the backup role for New Jersey, as soon as Hellebuyck is ready to start. Allen’s role as starter looks like it will be short-lived as he has a .883 save percentage with -4.28 Goals Saved Above Expected (GSAx).
#2 Dawson Mercer is the player acquired from New Jersey who is likely to deliver the most immediate impact for the Jets. He is a three-time 20-goal scorer who can very reasonably be expected to play in Winnipeg’s middle six. Mercer has been better suited to the wing, not least of all because he has won 39.2 percent of his faceoffs throughout his career. While Mercer has shown that he can score, there are some questions about whether he can generate the offence. In New Jersey, Timo Meier and Nico Hischier have been his most common linemates in recent seasons, so he’s not necessarily the play driver. In any case, Mercer should get good opportunities in Winnipeg, but any optimism about him with his new team should probably be tempered.
#3 The remaining players going to Winnipeg are goaltender Nico Daws and left winger Alexander Command. Daws, 25, has played 59 NHL games since 2021-2022 and he has a .897 save percentage in those contests, a decent indicator that he’s worthy of consideration for an NHL spot, but it’s not necessarily enough to believe that he’s a sure thing, either. Daws will compete with Clay Stevenson for the backup job behind Stuart Skinner.
Command was the Devils’ first-round pick this summer, 12th overall, and he has zero points in six Swedish Hockey League games for Orebro, though he does have 12 points (7 G, 5 A) in six games for Orebro’s junior team. He’s only 18, so probably a few years away from being a real threat for the Jets.
#4 The Toronto Maple Leafs have seen massive development from left winger Easton Cowan, who is emerging as a bona fide scoring threat in his second NHL season. He has six points (2 G, 4 A) and 12 shots on goal in his past five games, moving up to the Leafs’ top line to skate alongside Auston Matthews and Jack Roslovic. Given that opportunity, Cowan has some say in how long the experiment lasts. If he keeps scoring, he will likely remain in that spot for a while.
#5 Boston Bruins defenceman Charlie McAvoy was suspended for the first six games of this season, thanks to his slashing penalty against Buffalo’s Zach Benson in last year’s playoffs, but McAvoy has been outstanding since he returned to the Bruins lineup. He racked up four assists in Thursday’s win over Nashville, giving him six points (1 G, 5 A) in five games this season. After he finished last season with 42 points (12 G, 30 A) in his last 41 games, it appears that McAvoy has made a leap offensively.
#6 At the start of the season, there appeared to be concern over whether the Bruins might lose centre Matthew Poitras to waivers. However, after missing some games due to injury at the start of the season, Poitras has since produced seven points (4 G, 3 A) in eight games. Considering that he is playing just 10:51 per game, Poitras’ scoring efficiency is among the best in the league. Poitras’ 5.05 points per 60 minutes of 5-on-5 play ranks third among players to play at least 50 minutes, behind only Nathan MacKinnon and Connor McDavid. This is to suggest that Poitras’ production should earn him more ice time.
#7 As the Detroit Red Wings are listening to trade offers for centre Dylan Larkin, the Wings have given second year forward Emmitt Finnie some reps at centre and it looks like he fits in at least a top six role down the middle. Finnie took 109 faceoffs in 82 games last season and has already taken 112 draws in 10 games in 2026-2027. He has put up seven points (4 G, 3 A) and 23 shots on goal while driving play in the right direction. The Red Wings have outscored opponents 10-3 at even strength with Finnie on the ice. His emergence as a viable contributor down the middle of the ice does give the Red Wings more flexibility when it comes to what they can seek in return for dealing Larkin.
#8 While second-year Devils left winger Arseny Gritsyuk tends to fly under the radar compared to his higher profile teammates, Gritsyuk is riding a four-game goal-scoring streak and has seven points (5 G, 2 A) and 24 shots on goal through 10 games. He’s also skating on the top line with Jack Hughes and Jesper Bratt at even strength, so it’s a good spot for him.
#9 Utah Mammoth centre Barrett Hayton has moved down the depth chart after the offseason addition of Vincent Trocheck, but Hayton has still been a productive contributor to a strong Mammoth squad. In his past eight games, Hayton has seven points (1 G, 6 A) with 15 shots on goal while playing just over 14 minutes per game. He’s also delivering a dominant possession game, rocking a 61.8 percent Corsi For Percentage, so Hayton is certainly positioning himself to handle more responsibility in Utah, though it’s not going to be easy to pull ahead of the likes of Trocheck and Nick Schmaltz down the middle. Even Logan Cooley is skating on the wing right now.
#10 Coming off a disappointing season, Philadelphia Flyers right winger Matvei Michkov has not been playing a ton for the Flyers, but he has improved his effectiveness. Skating on a line with Noah Cates and Porter Martone, Michkov has scored six goals with 16 shots on goal while averaging a little over 15 minutes of ice time per game in a dozen games. Obviously, Michkov can’t be expected to keep scoring on 37.5 percent of his shots, so it would be nice if he could generate more shots, but on a Flyers team that has been struggling early, it’s at least encouraging to see Michkov showing positive signs.
#11 The second pick in this year’s draft, Ivar Stenberg is getting comfortable in the NHL. In his past six games, Stenberg has contributed six points (3 G, 3 A) and 11 shots on goal. He has moved into a tie with Detroit’s Michael Brandsegg-Nygard for the rookie scoring lead as both have eight points. Stenberg is skating on a line with 2025 second overall pick Michael Misa and Kiefer Sherwood.
#12 When the New York Rangers acquired winger Tye Kartye off waivers from Seattle last season, it was not a very notable deal – a solid, hard-working player who primarily played fourth-line minutes for the Kraken. He saw more ice time upon arriving in New York and produced 14 points (5 G, 9 A) in 24 games. He has landed a spot on the Rangers’ second line, alongside J.T. Miller and Pavel Dorofeyev, and that mix seems to work. Kartye’s emergence also hampers the production of Will Cuylle, another hard-driving physical winger. Cuylle is playing around a minute less per game than he did last season and some of that can be attributed to Kartye taking on a bigger role.
#13 Last week, I mentioned how Nikolaj Ehlers was off to a slow start, but that it wasn’t that different than his slow start in 2025-2026. Ehlers has six points (3 G, 3 A) and 10 shots on goal in his past five games, putting thoughts of his slow start into the rearview mirror. With Taylor Hall injured, Ehlers has moved to left wing on the line with Logan Stankoven at centre and Jackson Blake on right wing.
#14 Tasked with the role as primary puck mover on the Winnipeg Jets blueliner while veteran Josh Morrissey is injured, Neal Pionk has stepped up and provided offence for the Jets. In his past five games, Pionk has six points (1 G, 5 A) with 11 shots on goal, and he played a season high 29:42 in Thursday’s overtime loss at Dallas.
#15 St. Louis Blues winger Jake Neighbours started the season with zero points in his first four games but he has put up six points (3 G, 3 A) with 11 shots on goal in his past six games, boosting his appeal for fantasy managers. He also has 19 hits in those six games and that kind of physical play adds a whole new level of fantasy value on top of his scoring.
#16 After starting the season with a 0-6-3 record in nine games, the Philadelphia Flyers needed to shake things up. It started with signing veteran winger Michael Bunting, but then the Flyers decided it was time to give their young kids a chance. Cole Knuble, Oliver Bonk, and Jacob Gaucher have been promoted from the AHL and Alex Bump was recalled from the AHL after he had eight points (7 G, 1 A) in five games. Knuble scored a pair of goals in his second NHL games and Bonk has four assists in his first six games for the Flyers. Gaucher has zero points in 10 career NHL games, but had eight points (4 G, 4 A) in six AHL games to earn his promotion to the big club.
#17 The Montreal Canadiens are doing something that they haven’t done since the 2018-2019 season: play a game without Nick Suzuki. The Habs captain will miss 2-to-4 weeks with an upper-body injury, which means the Canadiens need to pull together some answers at centre. Oliver Kapanen is getting a look between Cole Caufield and Juraj Slafkovsky, a great opportunity for the second-year pivot, and Jake Evans scored a pair of goals and added an assist in Friday’s win at Chicago, but none of these players has the credentials of Suzuki, so it will be interesting to see how they manage in his absence.
#18 Injuries have landed in Pittsburgh, too, as veteran winger Bryant Rust and second-year centre Ben Kindel are out of the lineup. Rust is expected to miss at least six weeks with a lower-body injury and Kindel is out indefinitely after collapsing on a Penguins flight. There are reports that he could resume practicing next week, but everyone will surely be cautious with his timeline for return. With Rust out, Tommy Novak has moved up to play wing the top line, Hendrix Lapierre slides into the second-line centre role, and Rutger McGroarty has been called up from the AHL, where he had nine points (5 G, 4 A) in six games for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.
#19 Despite a big win over the Florida Panthers in Brady Tkachuk’s return to Ottawa, the Senators suffered a big loss, too, as goaltender Linus Ullmark is out for 1-2 weeks after suffering a lower-body injury. With Ullmark out, the Senators are left with a tandem of Samuel Ersson and Jonas Johansson, which represents a massive drop in talent. Ullmark has a .945 save percentage, with a league-leading 8.28 GSAx through eight starts this season
#20 The San Jose Sharks have some injuries up front, too as Alexander Wennberg and Igor Chernyshov are both out. Chernyshov suffered an upper-body injury against Ottawa and if he’s out that could open the door for Mason Marchment to join Macklin Celebrini and Will Smith on the Sharks’ top line. Wennberg is week-to-week with an upper-body injury and Collin Graf stepped into a bigger role. Graf played a season high 19:32 in Thursday’s win at Ottawa, putting up a goal and an assist after he had just one goal through his first 10 games of the season.