Each week, I dig into the stats to find information that can help you make better fantasy hockey decisions. This week, the Oilers address their goaltending need, a Ducks rookie continues to surprise, Sam Bennett is back on track, and veterans Brock Nelson and Steven Stamkos are finding the net, plus so much more!
#1 The Edmonton Oilers have been dissatisfied with their goaltending and made a move to address it Friday, acquiring veteran netminder Tristan Jarry and prospect Samuel Poulin from the Pittsburgh Penguins for goaltender Stuart Skinner, defenceman Brett Kulak, and a second-round pick in 2029. Jarry is enjoying a bounce-back season with a .909 save percentage and gains fantasy value even by going to an Oilers team with a slightly worse record, because Edmonton should be able to provide more goal support and the Oilers are expected to have a better record than the Penguins. Skinner’s value is already at a low point, as his .891 save percentage wasn’t cutting it. He will likely share the crease with Arturs Silovs in Pittsburgh, as Jarry was, but that’s going to be a competition. Kulak has struggled this season but logged big minutes on the Oilers’ Stanley Cup runs the past two years, so if the Penguins want to flip him, they probably can. Poulin was a first-round pick in 2019 but hasn’t been able to crack the NHL lineup. He has two assists in 15 career games, but maybe he can get a fresh look in Edmonton.
#2 Anaheim Ducks right winger Beckett Sennecke has a tendency to sneak up on people. Even he was surprised when the Ducks drafted him third overall in 2024 and he didn’t enter this season with huge expectations. It seemed a positive sign that he made the team as a 19-year-old winger and if he could provide some secondary scoring, all the better. At this point, though, he has put up 14 points (4 G, 10 A) with 29 shots on goal in his past 13 games and his 26 points (10 G, 16 A) in 31 games leads all rookie scorers. Sennecke is working on a young and talented line with Cutter Gauthier and Mason McTavish.
#3 Florida Panthers playoff hero Sam Bennett struggled early in the season, managing five points (3 G, 2 A) through his first 18 games, but he has started to heat up since. In his past 12 games, Bennett has 15 points (6 G, 9 A) and 35 shots on goal, a huge contribution for a Panthers team that is missing Aleksander Barkov, so they desperately need Benett to play like he does in the postseason and, lately, that’s more like what the Panthers have been getting from him and he’s having success skating on a line with Carter Verhaeghe and Brad Marchand.
#4 When the Colorado Avalanche acquired centre Brock Nelson from the New York Islanders last season, they may not have loved the production they received, which included 13 points (6 G, 7 A) in 19 regular season games before he added zero goals and four assists in seven playoff games. He started slowly this season, too, with five points (3 G, 2 A) and 24 shots on goal in his first 16 games. In his past 15 games, however, Nelson has put up 16 points (9 G, 7 A) with 28 shots on goal. That shot rate still has room for improvement, but Nelson is getting good results on a line with Gabriel Landeskog and Ross Colton.
#5 Moving to Nashville has not brought the best out of veteran sniper Steven Stamkos, but there are signs of life. He started this season with just two points (1 G, 1 A) and 30 shots on goal in 14 games. For a high-percentage finisher, he was obviously not going to keep scoring at a rate of one goal for every 30 shots on goal, but after scoring four goals against St. Louis on Thursday, he has 10 points (8 G, 2 A) with 25 shots on goal in his past eight games. He’s skating on a line with Ryan O’Reilly and Luke Evangelista, and they have helped the Predators to a 6-2 record in their past eight games.
#6 Utah Mammoth centre Logan Cooley suffered a lower-body injury that is going to keep him out for a couple of months, likely pushing his return until after the Olympic break. Cooley had 23 points (14 G, 9 A) in 29 games at the time of his injury, and now the Mammoth need to shuffle lines, so they have moved Nick Schmaltz into the top line centre role, while bumping J.J. Peterka up to play right wing on the No. 1 line.
#7 Ottawa Senators centre Shane Pinto is out for at least another week due to a lower-body injury suffered last week, knocking out a player who ranks third on the Senators with 12 goals this season. With Pinto out, Ridly Greig slides into the middle of the ice, and it creates room for David Perron to fill a top-nine role in the lineup.
#8 The Montreal Canadiens called up top goaltending prospect Jacob Fowler to make his NHL debut this week and, given the struggles of Samuel Montembeault this season, there could be opportunity knocking. A third-round pick in 2023, Fowler had a .932 save percentage in 74 games across two seasons at Boston College then finished last season with the Laval Rocket of the AHL. He started this season with a .919 save percentage in 15 games for the Rocket, earning his promotion, and Fowler stopped 36 of 38 shots to earn a 4-2 victory at Pittsburgh in his NHL debut. There is uncertainty in the Montreal crease right now, but Fowler might force his way into playing time.
#9 At 37 years old, he may not be peak Showtime anymore, but Detroit Red Wings right winger Patrick Kane can still play a valuable role for a team needing offence. Kane has 12 points (2 G, 10 A) and 31 shots on goal in his past 11 games, and he seems to have something good going with linemates Andrew Copp and Alex DeBrincat. Copp has six points (2 G, 4 A) and 11 shots on goal in his past five games, a relative burst of offence compared to how little he had been producing earlier in the season.
#10 The Pittsburgh Penguins have moved Tommy Novak to left wing on the top line with Sidney Crosby and Bryan Rust, and the 28-year-old forward has produced eight points (2 G, 6 A) with 13 shots on goal in his past seven games. He had seven points (2 G, 5 A) and 29 shots on goal in 22 games before that, so it may not be easy to buy-in on Novak’s production, but if he’s getting a shot on Crosby’s wing, he’s at least worth considering as a short-term fix.
#11 New York Islanders captain Anders Lee had a four-point night in Thursday’s win over Anaheim, giving him seven points (3 G, 4 A) in his past five games and while he’s not the same threat that he has been in years past – his 15:32 of ice time per game is his lowest average since 2015-2016 – he is skating on a line with Mathew Barzal and Jean-Gabriel Pageau at even strength, and that’s a decent spot. The Islanders may need to do some line shuffling, however, as Bo Horvat left Thursday’s game with a lower-body injury.
#12 Staying with the Islanders, veteran defenceman Ryan Pulock is offering more value than he has in recent years. In his past eight games, Pulock has contributed seven points (1 G, 6 A) and 13 shots on goal, and he’s not really a power play factor, with only one of those points coming with the man advantage. He’s been renowned for his heavy shot from the point, ever since he arrived in the NHL, but topped out at 37 points in 82 games in 2017-2018, his second full season in the league. With 16 points in 32 games, Pulock is on pace for more this season.
#13 Veteran defenceman John Klingberg has a long track record of being able to provide offence, with six seasons of 40-plus points to his credit, but he has slowed down, in part due to injuries. However, he made progress in the playoffs with Edmonton last season and has a new opportunity with the San Jose Sharks this season and his offensive instincts work with San Jose’s aggressive approach. In his past nine games, Klingberg has seven points (3 G, 4 A) and 12 shots on goal, averaging more than 21 minutes of ice time per game. He may not be a dream candidate for fantasy managers, but he is up to 12 points (5 G, 7 A) and 31 blocked shots in 23 games, which should generate some interest.
#14 There is a segment of the Toronto Maple Leafs fan base that is not entirely enamored with defenceman Morgan Rielly, and that’s fine, not everyone is going to like every player, but Rielly is a productive blueliner. He has six points (2 G, 4 A) and 13 shots on goal in his past seven games, giving him 23 points (5 G, 18 A) in 29 games this season. Only five of those 23 points are on the power play, though Rielly is on Toronto’s PP1 right now, so perhaps that is a path to continuing what is already solid offensive production.
#15 Philadelphia Flyers centre Christian Dvorak is getting an opportunity to play a bigger role with his new team and it’s starting to pay off for him. Dvorak has joined Trevor Zegras and Travis Konecny on the Flyers’ top line, and has five points (1 G, 4 A) and seven shots on goal in his past three games. Dvorak’s career high is 38 points, set in 2019-2020 when he was with Arizona, but has 21 points (7 G, 14 A) in 29 games this season, so he’s on pace to go well past that total. His ice time is up 1:39 per game over last season and if he continues with skilled linemates, Dvorak will ride that offensive wave to more fantasy appeal.
#16 Trying to shake up their lineup, the Winnipeg Jets moved Gabriel Vilardi off the first line and to the second line with Cole Perfetti and Vladislav Namestnikov. That movement shouldn’t be seen as an indictment of Vilardi’s play, however, as he has 13 points (8 G, 5 A) and 21 shots on goal in his past 11 games. He is scoring on 21.2 percent of his shots this season, which seems really high, except that in his previous two seasons with the Jets, his shooting percentage was 19.8 percent, so if there is going to be regression, it may not be by very much.
#17 Pittsburgh Penguins rookie centre Ben Kindel isn’t producing enough to have fantasy appeal just yet, with 10 points (7 G, 3 A) in 26 games but, with Evgeni Malkin out, Kindel is playing more than 18:30 per game over the past six contests and has a couple of goals but also has 28 shots on goal. That ability to generate shots at that rate makes Kindel very intriguing for the future and possibly even for later this season as he grows more comfortable playing in the best league in the world as an 18-year-old centre.
#18 Minnesota Wild right winger Mats Zuccarello is out with an upper-body injury, which is unfortunate since he missed the first month of the season with a lower-body injury. Zuccarello had 12 points (2 G, 10 A) and 29 shots on goal in 15 games before getting hurt and he joins Marco Rossi on the injured list, which means new linemates for Kirill Kaprizov. Right now, it’s rookie Danila Yurov and veteran Vladimir Tarasenko getting that chance. Yurov has five points (1 G, 4 A) in his past 10 games and Tarasenko has three points (1 G, 2 A) in his past two games, but that comes after a seven-game scoreless drought.
#19 New Jersey Devils winger Timo Meier is taking a leave from the team to deal with a family health matter. That is obviously not good news on a personal level, which is most important, and it does leave the Devils – already missing Jack Hughes – a little light up front. That creates a ripple effect in the Devils’ lineup, with Stefan Noesen moving to left wing on the top line and Paul Cotter to right wing on the second line. Noesen has just four points (1 G, 3 A) in 25 games this season but did have an assist and played a season-high 15:59 on Thursday as he is also getting time on New Jersey’s top power play unit.
#20 St. Louis Blues right winger Jordan Kyrou is week-to-week with a lower-body injury, and he’s already been enduring a rough season. After scoring 36 goals and 70 points last season, Kyrou has eight goals and 16 points in 28 games this season. In his absence, Mathieu Joseph moves into St. Louis’ top six, but he gets there with two assists and seven shots on goal in his past dozen games, so Joseph needs to take advantage of the opportunity being afforded to him.