alex ovechkin – McKeen's Hockey

NHL: CULLEN – 20 FANTASY POINTS – A major injury for the Oilers, a renaissance in Pittsburgh, a big trade acquisition is paying off for Seattle, Columbus’ driving force, and so much more!

Scott Cullen — Sat, 21 Mar 2026 14:33:30 +0000

Each week, I dig into the stats to find information that can help you make better fantasy hockey decisions. This week, a major injury for the Oilers, a renaissance in Pittsburgh, a big trade acquisition is paying off for Seattle, Columbus’ driving force, and so much more!

#1 The Edmonton Oilers have lost star centre Leon Draisaitl for the rest of the regular season due to a lower-body injury. This causes a lot of dominos to fall in response when it comes to the Oilers lineup. They have moved Ryan Nugent-Hopkins into the second-line centre role, between Zach Hyman and Jack Roslovic, with Vasily Podkolzin moving to left wing on the first line with Connor McDavid. In his past 10 games, Nugent-Hopkins has four goals and zero assists with 20 shots on goal, which starts to lean him towards the fantasy roster bubble in basic leagues. Podkolzin is intriguing for deeper leagues as he has been picking up his pace. Since the beginning of February, he has eight points (4 G, 4 A) with 30 shots on goal in 14 games.

#2 As a 35-year-old future Hall of Famer, Pittsburgh Penguins defenceman Erik Karlsson has had ups and downs over the course of a long career, but when he is on, his greatness still shines through and, right now, he’s on. Coming out of the Olympic break, with the Penguins missing Sidney Crosby (and, for five games, Evgeni Malkin) Karlsson has been killing it. In 12 games, averaging more than 24 minutes of ice time per game, Karlsson has put up 17 points (5 G, 12 A) with 36 shots on goal. It’s elite, superstar-level production once again and over the entire season the Penguins have outscored opponents 60 to 41 with Karlsson on the ice at five-on-five.

#3 The Seattle Kraken are still in the playoff hunt and made a savvy move to acquire Bobby McMann from the Toronto Maple Leafs before the trade deadline. He has joined Matty Beniers and Jordan Eberle on the Kraken’s top line and in his first four games for the Kraken, McMann has six points (4 G, 2 A) with 12 shots on goal. What is especially interesting is that he is also getting nearly three minutes more of ice time per game.

#4 Every time a team makes a head coaching change, they dream of getting the kind of results that the Blue Jackets have received since replacing Dean Evason with Rick Bowness. The Blue Jackets have a 17-2-4 record under Bowness and there is one player who has really reaped the rewards from this change. Zach Werenski, Adam Fantilli, and Kirill Marchenko have all put up at least a point per game but the leading scorer on the team over that time is Charlie Coyle, who has 29 points (10 G, 19 A) and 57 shots on goal in those 23 games. He is up to 55 points in 68 games for the season, now within five points of his career high of 60 points, set in 2023-2024.

#5 Coming out of the Olympic break, Boston Bruins centre Pavel Zacha has turned into a much-needed productive scoring forward. In 12 games, he has recorded 14 points (8 G, 6 A) and 22 shots on goal. That shot rate isn’t ideal, but he has found a good line with veterans Casey Mittelstadt and Viktor Arvidsson on the wings. Zacha has a career-high 23 goals and, with 51 points, he is within range of his career high of 59 points, set in 2023-2024.

#6 With Sidney Crosby returning to the Penguins lineup, after recovering from the knee injury that he suffered during the Olympics, that has allowed Rickard Rakell to move back to left wing on the top line. Rakell had filled in at centre on the Penguins’ top line and he’s now riding a seven-game point streak, during which he has nine points (2 G, 7 A). He has taken 147 faceoffs this season, his most in a season since 2017-2018.

#7 With the end of his brilliant career on the horizon, Los Angeles Kings centre Anze Kopitar is still pushing for a playoff spot and he’s playing between high-octane scoring wingers Artemi Panarin and Adrian Kempe on the top line. Kopitar is 38 years old and, in the month of March, he has nine points (5 G, 4 A) and 24 shots on goal in nine games. Definitely worth adding for the stretch run in fantasy leagues just based on his linemates alone.

#8 The season has obviously gone in the wrong direction for the Vancouver Canucks, but that does offer a chance to find undervalued players. Veteran winger Brock Boeser has 10 points (4 G, 6 A) and 19 shots on goal in his past nine games, finding a good connection with former Minnesota Wild forwards Marco Rossi and Liam Ohgren as his linemates. Even with this recent surge in production, Boeser has just 36 points in 61 games. His previous career low was 45 points, which he scored in just 57 games during the 2019-2020 season.

#9 The Minnesota Wild have been having such a strong season that it has allowed secondary players to become viable fantasy contributors. Vladimir Tarasenko has six points (3 G, 3 A) and 14 shots on goal in the past six games, and while he does get top unit power play time, he is playing with Mats Zuccarello and Ryan Hartman on a solid veteran second line. He’s not the top line scorer that he was during his peak years, but Tarasenko is one goal away from the ninth 20-goal season of his career.

#10 Carolina Hurricanes sophomore right winger Jackson Blake continues to improve. Since the Olympic break, he has 10 points (4 G, 6 A) with 29 shots on goal in 11 games. He has been cooking on a line with Logan Stankoven and Taylor Hall, and Blake’s ability to generate chances totally fits with the Hurricanes’ ethos. His 1.02 expected goals per 60 minutes of five-on-five play ranks third on the team, behind Seth Jarvis and Eric Robinson.

#11 As the Ottawa Senators make a furious push for a playoff spot, centre Shane Pinto is delivering solid secondary scoring, with eight points (3 G, 5 A) and 20 shots on goal in his past eight games. He has 37 points (18 G, 19 A) in 58 games this season, tying last season’s 37 points in 70 games for his career high. At even strength, he’s playing with Nick Cousins and Michael Amadio, so it’s not like Pinto’s production is getting propped up by strong linemates, but he does do most of his damage at evens, recording 32 of his 37 points at even strength.

#12 One of the players that has been covered the most in these 20 Fantasy Points articles this season is Penguins winger Anthony Mantha, who is having the best season of his career while coming off a torn ACL suffered while playing for the Calgary Flames last season. He has eight points (5 G, 3 A) and 16 shots on goal during a six-game point streak and is up to 26 goals and 53 points for the season, both of which are career highs. He is skating on a line with rookie Ben Kindel and fellow towering winger Justin Brazeau.

#13 While the San Jose Sharks have other young players that command more of the spotlight – and justifiably so – winger Collin Graf has shown that he can be a valuable contributor in the NHL. Graf joined the Sharks after putting up 49 points in 34 games for Quinnipiac in 2023-2024 and split last season between the AHL and NHL. This season, his most common linemates have been Macklin Celebrini and Will Smith, which is obviously a great situation for him. Right now, Tyler Toffoli is on the right side with Graf and Celebrini and Graf has nine points (4 G, 5 A) and 23 shots on goal in 10 games this month.

#14 He is not the player that he was during his peak years, but 37-year-old Detroit Red Wings right winger Patrick Kane can still deliver the goods offensively. With Dylan Larkin out of the lineup, Andrew Copp has stepped into the No. 1 centre spot for the Red Wings, between Kane and Alex DeBrincat, and Kane has eight points (3 G, 5 A) with 21 shots on goal in his past seven games. His ice time is up over 19 minutes per game in that span, suggesting that the Red Wings are leaning on him more as they fight for their playoff lives.

#15 Tampa Bay Lightning left winger Gage Goncalves has shown flashes in his first two NHL campaigns, using his speed to create chances, and he is getting a prime opportunity right now, skating on a line with Brayden Point at centre and Jake Guentzel on right wing. In his past nine games, Goncalves has 10 points (5 G, 5 A) with 17 shots on goal, which is remarkable production for a player averaging 13:32 of ice time per game.

#16 The season has certainly not gone the way that the St. Louis Blues might have hoped, but down seasons for teams can provide pockets of fantasy value for specific players. Case in point: veteran defenceman Cam Fowler has contributed seven points (1 G, 6 A) in his past eight games even though young defencemen Philip Broberg and Logan Mailloux are ahead of Fowler on the power play depth chart.

#18 The Washington Capitals are fading from playoff contention, and their big guns are firing blanks at an inopportune time as they are 3-4-1 in their past eight games. Alex Ovechkin, who is 40 years old, has two points (1 G, 1 A) and 21 shots on goal in his past seven games. It’s not going any better for playmaking centre Dylan Strome, who has two assists and 10 shots on goal in the past seven games. Defenceman Jakob Chychrun, who leads NHL defencemen with 23 goals, has three points (1 G, 2 A) with 12 shots on goal in his past eight games. Maybe the Capitals can turn their attention to Cole Hutson, the 19-year-old defenceman who was a second-round pick in 2024. Hutson, the younger brother of Montreal Canadiens star Lane Hutson, signed with the Capitals after scoring 32 points (10 G, 22 A) in 35 games during his sophomore season at Boston University. Hutson made his mark with a goal and three shots on goal while playing 16:24 against Ottawa in his NHL debut

#19 While there is some uncertainty about the Montreal Canadiens’ goaltending, with Samuel Montembeault, Jakub Dobes, and rookie Jacob Fowler all options, Dobes is doing his part to claim the crease. Since the trade deadline, Dobes has a .917 save percentage in five starts and his 7.86 Goals Saved Above Expected (GSAx) ranks first among goaltenders in that time, ahead of Jeremy Swayman (7.67), Logan Thompson (7.43), Sergei Bobrovsky (6.28), and Joel Hofer (5.98).

#20 At the other end of the goaltending spectrum, since the trade deadline, Colorado’s Mackenzie Blackwood has struggled, with a .791 save percentage in four starts and his -6.92 GSAx is worst in the league, below even Brandon Bussi (-5.05), Connor Hellebuyck (-4.76), Tristan Jarry (-4.74), and Jacob Markstrom (-4.68). It is a very difficult situation for fantasy managers to deal with a slumping goaltender at any time, but especially when it’s a goaltender for a very strong team, who can usually be relied upon to contribute wins, but when those slumps hit, the goaltending numbers can go south quickly and with fantasy playoffs coming soon, it’s tough to pin all of your season’s hopes on one guy. For this reason, having multiple options is always the best approach. If you can get away with not starting Blackwood or Bussi while they are in the midst of a slump, then it could improve potential outcomes.

*Advanced stats via Natural Stat Trick

NHL: CULLEN – 20 FANTASY POINTS – Fallout from the Quinn Hughes trade, Connor Bedard’s injury, the Maple Leafs’ stars are slumping, and so much more!

Scott Cullen — Fri, 19 Dec 2025 19:50:22 +0000

SAINT PAUL, MN - DECEMBER 16: Minnesota Wild defensemen Quinn Hughes (43) back-checks during a NHL game between the Minnesota Wild and Washington Capitals on December 16, 2025, at Grand Casino Arena in Saint Paul, MN. (Photo by Nick Wosika/Icon Sportswire)

Each week, I dig into the stats to find information that can help you make better fantasy hockey decisions. This week, the fallout from the Quinn Hughes trade, Connor Bedard’s injury, the Maple Leafs’ stars are slumping, and so much more!

#1 The Vancouver Canucks and Minnesota Wild made a monstrous trade last week with the Wild acquiring standout defenceman Quinn Hughes, sending centre Marco Rossi, defender Zeev Buium, left winger Liam Ohgren, and a first-round pick to Vancouver. Hughes has 25 points (3 G, 22 A) in 29 games, his 0.86 points per game ranking ninth among defencemen. He is also being thrust into a big role with the Wild. He played a career-high 32:02 in Thursday’s win at Columbus, the most by an NHL player in a game decided in regulation this season.

#2 One of the things that the Canucks needed in a Hughes deal was to upgrade their centre position. With Elias Pettersson and Filip Chytil injured, the Canucks did not have much firepower down the middle of the ice and even if they were healthy, Pettersson has not been delivering peak performance and Chytil was still trying to establish that he could be a bona fide second-line centre. Marco Rossi at least has the credentials to fit in a team’s top six. He has been hurt this season and has been held off the scoresheet in his first two games for the Canucks, but he does have 13 points (4 G, 9 A) in 19 games and he had a career-high 60 points (24 G, 36 A) last season. With Petterson out, Rossi is centering Jake DeBrusk and Brock Boeser on Vancouver’s top line. It’s not as good as centering Kirill Kaprizov, but still a decent opportunity to generate offense.

#3 Perhaps the most intriguing piece going to Vancouver is that of 2024 first-round pick Zeev Buium. He had 98 points (24 G, 74 A) in 83 games across two seasons at the University of Denver before joining the Wild late last season and he played in four playoff games for Minnesota. As a rookie, he has 16 points (4 G, 12 A) in 33 games, including two points in two games with Vancouver, and he is effectively taking over from Hughes on the Canucks’ top power play unit, so there is an excellent chance for Buium to step into a bigger role and thrive. It’s a super small sample, but his average ice time has increased two-and-a-half minutes per game in Vancouver compared to Minnesota.

#4 The upshot of the trade for Minnesota, when it comes to centre ice, is that Joel Eriksson Ek resumes his position of primary importance for the Wild. Eriksson Ek has 10 points (4 G, 6 A) with 17 shots on goal during a six-game point streak. Rookie Danila Yurov is showing that he can handle more responsibility, too, contributing 10 points (2 G, 8 A) in his past 14 games, so the Wild can run those two in the top two centre spots while continuing to look for potential upgrades.

#5 Chicago Blackhawks centre Connor Bedard has been on a tear in his third NHL campaign, putting up 44 points (19 G, 25 A) in 31 games, but he is on the shelf for a bit after suffering a shoulder injury in the final second of last week’s loss at St. Louis. Bedard is out for the rest of the month, to be re-evaluated in January. He obviously would like to be ready to go for the Winter Olympics, but in the meantime, the Blackhawks will try to fill that gaping hole in their lineup. Frank Nazar has moved up to the top line, skating between Tyler Bertuzzi and Andre Burakovsky, with veteran Jason Dickinson moving into the second-line centre role. Nazar had been slumping, with zero points in six games, before scoring in Thursday’s loss at Montreal.

#6 Trouble appears to be hovering around the Toronto Maple Leafs, as they have two wins in their past six games. Auston Matthews has nine points (5 G, 4 A) in his past 10 games, which is far better than the Leafs’ other big guns. William Nylander has zero goals, four assists, and 11 shots on goal in eight games this month. John Tavares has one assist and 12 shots on goal in his past seven games. Matthew Knies has one assist and 11 shots on goal in his past six games. When the stars are struggling like this, there may not be any coach that can have success, but it’s going to be worth keeping an eye on Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube because if he can’t get this fixed, a new voice could be on the way.

#7 It has been a real season for growth for Florida Panthers centre Anton Lundell, thrust into a bigger role when Aleksander Barkov was injured in the preseason. Lundell has seen his ice time climb from 16:43 per game last season to over 19 minutes per game this season and while there have been some ebbs and flows in terms of productivity, he does have seven points (5 G, 2 A) and 20 shots on goal in his past seven games, giving him 27 points (11 G, 16 A) in 33 games this season.

#8 San Jose’s Macklin Celebrini is enjoying a spectacular sophomore season, with 53 points (18 G, 35 A) in 35 games but he’s not available, certainly on the waiver wire and not under many trade circumstances, either, but it could be worth tracking his wingers. With Will Smith injured, Collin Graf is skating on Celebrini’s right wing and Graf has eight points (5 G, 3 A) and 15 shots on goal in his past seven games. On the left wing is Igor Chernyshov, a second-round pick in 2024 who had 23 points (11 G, 12 A) in 25 AHL games to earn his promotion to the big club and has chipped in a couple of assists and four shots on goal in his first two games. Both Graf and Chernyshov are worth a look, depending on how deep your league runs.

#9 When the Carolina Hurricanes signed Nikolaj Ehlers as a free agent in the offseason, it seemed like it would be a good fit, between a player who drives play and a team that has excelled in terms of outshooting opponents. Then the season started and Ehlers had no points through five games, and didn’t score his first goal until Game 12, but he has found his groove. He has 19 points (8 G, 11 A) with 58 shots on goal in his past 22 games. Sebastian Aho and Seth Jarvis are the only Hurricanes forwards with more points and both play more than 19 minutes per game while Ehlers is averaging 16:27 of ice time per game.

#10 Seattle Kraken centre Chandler Stephenson got off to a slow start this season, managing a dozen points (4 G, 8 A) and 33 shots on goal in his first 25 games. Even as the season is slipping away from the Kraken, Stephenson has seven points (3 G, 4 A) with 20 shots on goal during a seven-game point streak. He is getting first unit power play time in Seattle, though his current wingers are Eeli Tolvanen and Frederick Gaudreau.

#11 Following a lukewarm start to his time with the Detroit Red Wings, goaltender John Gibson looks like he’s rounding into form. In his past five starts, all wins, he has a couple of shutouts and a .946 save percentage, giving him a slight statistical edge over Cam Talbot in the Red Wings’ timeshare in the crease.

#12 Veteran centre Alexander Wennberg is filling a big role for the Sharks. With some injuries up front, the 31-year-old pivot who is known for his solid two-way play, is handling more offensive responsibilities. In his past six games, Wennberg has nine points (2 G, 7 A) with 13 shots on goal, while averaging 20:30 of ice time per game. With William Eklund and Tyler Toffoli on his wings, Wennberg has more skilled linemates than he usually has and, with 22 points (7 G, 15 A) in 35 games, he has a shot at his first 40-point season since 2016-2017.

#13 Ottawa Senators centre Dylan Cozens has had some bad luck on his way to getting outscored 21-14 during five-on-five play. The Senators carry play with him on the ice (53.7 CF%), but he has a .879 on-ice save percentage and that’s difficult to overcome. In his past five games, Cozens has produced seven points (1 G, 6 A) with 16 shots on goal while playing nearly 19 minutes per game, so he’s a valuable player for the Sens, even if goal differential is not working in his favour right now.

#14 Pittsburgh Penguins defenceman Erik Karlsson appears to be gearing up for the Winter Olympics. Since the calendar flipped to December, Karlsson has delivered 10 points (2 G, 8 A) with 31 shots on goal in nine games. He has also played 26:42 per game in that span, vintage ice time numbers for a 35-year-old defender on a team that is sitting outside the playoff picture in the Eastern Conference.

#15 One of the relative success stories in Pittsburgh this season has been Anthony Mantha, the towering winger who was signed as a free agent in the summer after he missed most of last season in Calgary with a torn ACL. Mantha has eight points (2 G, 6 A) and 22 shots on goal in his past nine games, giving him 22 points (11 G, 11 A) in 33 games. The last time he finished a season with a rate of two points every three games was in 2019-2020, so the Penguins have to be pleased with how their low-risk investment has turned out.

#16 Expectations are understandably modest for a 20-year-old rookie defenceman, just trying to get established in the league, so it’s not like Detroit Red Wings blueliner Axel Sandin-Pellikka is a high recommendation for fantasy managers. It’s more like keep an eye on this guy because this 2023 first-round pick might have a bright future. In his past eight games, he has seven points (2 G, 5 A) with nine shots on goal. A couple of those points have come via the power play, and he is getting time on PP2, so he's just scratching the surface.

#17 The all-time goal scoring leader in the National Hockey League is in a slump. Alex Ovechkin has no goals and two assists in his past six games, with 17 shots on goal in that time. That shot rate isn’t bad for most players, but it’s down for a noted volume shooter like Ovechkin. He is 40 years old, so there is plenty of reason to believe that he’s declining, but before this slump he had 14 goals in 28 games, so this decline is more recent. This slump has affected Dylan Strome, too, as the playmaking centre has just three points (1 G, 2 A) and 18 shot on goal in his past 13 games.

#18 New York Islanders centre Bo Horvat is week-to-week with a lower-body injury, a big loss to the Islanders as he leads the Islanders with 19 goals and 31 points. Mathew Barzal moves up the depth chart to fill the top line centre spot with Horvat out, but the bigger jump is that rookie Calum Ritchie is centering the second line, between Anthony Duclair and Maxim Shabanov. Ritchie has four points (2 G, 2 A) and seven shots on goal in his past eight games. He’s still trying to establish solid footing in the league, but this could be a good opportunity for him.

#19 Los Angeles Kings netminder Darcy Kuemper suffered an injury in a collision with Dallas Stars winger Mikko Rantanen and that’s big deal because Kuemper has been excellent this season. His .917 save percentage ranks fourth among goaltenders with at least 20 starts. In his absence Anton Forsberg should get most of the starts, and the Kings have called up veteran Pheonix Copley, who had a .885 save percentage in 13 AHL games.

#20 Injuries continue to pile up in St. Louis, where Dylan Holloway is now out for six weeks with a lower-body injury, joining Jordan Kyrou, Jimmy Snuggerud, and Nick Bjugstad on the injured list. That has brought some new faces into the Blues’ top nine. Robby Fabbri isn’t exactly a new face, having played for the Blues from 2015-2016 through 2019-2020, but he’s back after not having an NHL job at the start of the season. The Blues called up 2023 first-round pick Otto Stenberg from the AHL and claimed Jonatan Berggren off waivers from the Detroit Red Wings. None of those players is worth of much fantasy love at the moment but they’re getting chances that they weren’t before all of these injuries hit the Blues.

MCKEEN’S 2025-26 NHL YEARBOOK – WASHINGTON CAPITALS – Team Preview/Player Profiles/Predictions

Mon, 06 Oct 2025 19:24:01 +0000

NEWARK, NJ - NOVEMBER 30: Washington Capitals defenseman Jakob Chychrun (6) scores a goal during a NHL game between the Washington Capitals and New Jersey Devils at Prudential Center on November 30, 2024 in Newark, New Jersey. (Photo by Andrew Mordzynski/Icon Sportswire)

After barely sneaking into the postseason in 2023-2024, the Capitals orchestrated a magnificent improvement, finishing with 111 points (51-22-9), the best record in the Eastern Conference, all while engaged in Alex Ovechkin’s chase to surpass Wayne Gretzky for the all-time goals record. Washington cruised past the Montreal Canadiens in five games in the first round, only to be dismissed by the Carolina Hurricanes in five games in the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Capitals were a little above average in terms of puck possession, ranking 12th in both score-and-venue adjusted Corsi percentage (51.0) and expected goals percentage (51.4). The Capitals power play was slightly above average, ranking 14th with 7.95 goals scored per 60 minutes of five-on-four play. On the penalty kill, the Capitals ranked seventh with 6.05 goals against per 60 minutes of four-on-five play.

What’s Changed?

The Capitals have done an excellent job of keeping their core together following such a strong season. They lost wingers Andrew Mangiapane and Taylor Raddysh to the Edmonton Oilers and New York Rangers, respectively, in free agency and centre Lars Eller signed with the Ottawa Senators. Defenceman Alexander Alexeyev signed with the Pittsburgh Penguins. None of these players had huge roles in last year’s Capitals team, and Washington will have top prospect Ryan Leonard available from the start of the season after he joined the team following his college season ended last spring. The Capitals also traded to acquire depth forward Justin Sourdif from the Florida Panthers and brought in defenceman Declan Chisholm from the Minnesota Wild, but this offseason required far less of a roster makeover than the Capitals experienced in 2024.

What would success look like?

The main goal for the Capitals should be to prove that last season wasn’t a fluke. It doesn’t mean that they have to win the Metropolitan Division or record 111 points again, but 100-plus should be the expectation and then aim for a deeper run into the playoffs. The Capitals don’t look to be quite on the level of a Stanley Cup contender, but if Leonard is an impact player right away, that could help make a difference and if they are close, they could always add more talent to make a stronger playoff push.

What could go wrong?

The Capitals are still dependent on a couple of older players, Alex Ovechkin and John Carlson, and that brings greater risk of injury. Even if the Capitals have better depth, a significant injury to either of those players could pose a problem. The Capitals were not so dominant last season that they can just be assumed to be strong again in 2025-2026. If they lose a percent or two of possession and goaltender Logan Thompson slumps relative to his strong performance in 2024-2025, then the Capitals could find themselves scrambling for a playoff spot.

Top Breakout Candidate

The eighth pick in the 2023 Draft, Ryan Leonard produced 109 points (61 G, 48 A) in 78 games across two seasons at Boston College and jumped straight to the Capitals at the end of his sophomore season. In 17 games between regular season and playoffs, Leonard mustered just two points (1 G, 1 A), so he did not live up to the hype in that small sample, but he also had an on-ice expected goals percentage of 57.7 percent during the nine regular season games, and 56.4 percent during eight playoff games, so it’s not like he was overwhelmed. With a full training camp and an established role on the roster, Leonard has a chance to contend for the Calder Trophy.

FORWARDS

Alex Ovechkin

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
73	37	28	65	0.89

The league’s all-time leading goal scorer after surpassing Wayne Gretzky last season, Ovechkin’s pursuit of the record brought out his most efficient finishing of his NHL career. He scored 44 goals, his most since 2019-2020, scoring on 18.6 percent of his shots on goal, the highest shooting percentage of his illustrious career. There is a temptation to believe that Ovechkin is ageless, and it appeared that way in 2024-2025, but he will be 40 years old by the time the puck drops on this season, and he observably does not move with the same vitality that he did earlier in his career. That’s not passing judgment, it’s merely a reflection of what happens when trying to drag 235 pounds up and down the wing while playing 1,491 regular season games plus another 161 playoff games. His ice time dropped to 17:43 per game last season, the lowest average of his career, and his hit count was down to 110 – the only season in which he finished with fewer hits was the shortened 2020-2021 season, when he had 98 hits in 45 games. This is all an indication that as great as Ovechkin has been, his all-around game is naturally not where it once was. He is obviously still a threat from the faceoff circle on the power play, scoring at least 13 power play goals in 18 of his 20 NHL seasons. Last season, Ovechkin’s most frequent linemate was center Dylan Strome, followed by Aliaksei Protas and Tom Wilson. He is likely going to have a similar role in 2025-2026, so even a diminished Ovechkin should still be expected to score 35 goals and 65 points, with at least 100 hits.

Dylan Strome

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
8228	55	83	1.01

A veteran center who took a while to find his footing in the National Hockey League, Strome found the right situation in Washington and after the most productive seasons of his career in his first two seasons with the Capitals, he leapt forward to a point-per-game season with 82 points (29 G, 53 A) in 82 games in 2024-2025. Strome is 6-foot-3 and has soft hands; he uses that size to protect the puck and create opportunities. He’s a cerebral player and when he gets extra time and space on the power play, he can make a massive difference, and he was tied for seventh in the league with 34 power play points last season. He could shoot the puck more as it is difficult to record a point per game while not generating at least two shots on goal per game. There were 35 players to average better than one point per game last season, with a minimum of 40 games played, and Strome’s 1.82 shots on goal per game ranked 35th out of that group. He did benefit from an on-ice shooting percentage of 11.1 percent during five-on-five play, the second highest of his career, so there are realistic concerns about the sustainability of Strome’s production. Strome has been durable since arriving in D.C., missing one game in three seasons with the Capitals. Going into the 2025-2026 season, Strome should be expected to contribute 25 goals and 65-70 points.

Aliaksei Protas

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
79	24	31	55	0.70

It is so interesting to try to forecast the production of a player who has been brimming with potential, a 6-foot-6 winger who has hands and can shoot the puck but had not put it all together until last season. In the case of Protas, he erupted for 30 goals and 66 points, but he scored on 21.1 percent of his shots on goal, and his five-on-five on-ice shooting percentage of 14.2 percent was the second highest in the league, among skaters to play at least 500 five-on-five minutes. Protas has 2.84 points per 60 minutes during five-on-five play, ranking fourth among skaters that played at least 500 five-on-five minutes, behind only David Pastrnak, Sean Monahan, and Nikita Kucherov. Even with the understanding that Protas is highly unlikely to duplicate those percentages, there are lots of positives to take from his breakthrough season, the first of which is that there are very few players of his enormous size who possess the skill to put up 30 goals in a season. When Protas uses that size to win battles and protect the puck as he goes hard to the net, he is more than a handful for opposing defenders. He also did nearly all of his damage at even strength last season, with one power play assist and two shorthanded assists to his credit. It doesn’t appear that Protas is set for a significant power play role in 2025-2026, so there is likely going to be some regression in his numbers, but he should still be able to contribute 20 goals and 50 points.

Tom Wilson

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
70	24	24	48	0.69

One of the rarest players in the National Hockey League, Wilson has the intimidating size and physical presence to tangle with whatever heavyweights remain in the league, but he is also an excellent skater and an accomplished offensive threat and he happens to be coming off a season in which he set career highs in goals (33), assists (32), and points (65). He also averaged a career-high 18:44 of ice time per game, but that’s not a shocking development, either. He has played more than 18 minutes per game in five of his past seven seasons. Wilson recorded 233 hits last season, the ninth time in his career that he recorded at least 200 hits, and he added 100 penalty minutes, the eighth time in his career that he hit the century mark. Those last two categories make Wilson a banger league star. Last season also happened to be one of extremely favorable percentages for Wilson, who scored on a career-high 19.5 percent of his shots on goal and had an on-ice shooting percentage of 11.9 percent. He has actually exceeded that number once before but in 2023-2024 his on-ice shooting percentage was 5.5 percent, so it appears that Wilson got all of the regression going back in his favour in 2024-2025. Wilson remains a prominent part of the Capitals’ attack and should be expected to contribute 25 goals and 45 points, along with 200-plus hits and something in the neighbourhood of 100 penalty minutes this season.

Pierre-Luc Dubois

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
82	21	41	62	0.76

When the Capitals made the trade to acquire Dubois from the Los Angeles Kings last summer, it generated some measure of surprise because Dubois was coming off of a disastrous season in Los Angeles and, with a hefty long-term contract, was one of the least valuable assets in the league. Dubois responded with a career-high 66 points (26 G, 40 A) and a dominant season at five-on-five, with the Capitals outscoring opponents 73-44 with Dubois on the ice. That success did not come as a total shock because the story of Dubois’ career has been that, when he is motivated, he can be an impact player in the league, but after that season in Los Angeles, it seemed to be anyone’s guess if he could be properly motivated. Dubois is a 6-foot-4, 220-pound center who can dominate along the boards, winning battles consistently, and combining that with a skill game that includes puck protection and high-end vision to spot open teammates makes Dubois an easy player to believe in. Will he be able to duplicate that success? His shooting percentage last season was 14.1 percent, which was a little higher than his previous career mark of 12.5 percent, but that’s not a massive difference. The bigger issue is that his on-ice shooting percentage was 13.2 percent, which was the fourth highest out of the 378 forwards that played at least 500 five-on-five minutes. Expecting some regression in his output, Dubois should still be able to contribute 20 goals and 55 points this season.

Connor McMichael

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
82	22	28	50	0.61

The 25th pick in the 2019 Draft, McMichael was a bit of a late bloomer, especially for a first-round pick, but there is no denying that he has hit his mark as a scoring forward in the NHL. McMichael achieved career highs with 26 goals, 33 assists, and 59 points last season, but, like many Capitals forwards, was also the beneficiary of a lofty on-ice shooting percentage. In McMichael’s case it was 12.1 percent, a number that is not likely to be duplicated next season. As he was coming up, McMichael was insistent that he was a center and in 2023-2024 that was his main position, but last season he took a total of 109 faceoffs, so he played some center, but it was hardly a significant part of his deployment. Unless there is a need based on injuries, there seems little reason to move McMichael from the wing, where he found his most success. He has strong offensive instincts and knows how to find openings that put him in scoring position. Now that McMichael has established his credentials as a quality scoring winger, he should have a solid contribution to make in 2025-2026, with 20-25 goals and 45-50 points a fair expectation once statistical regression gets taken into account.

Anthony Beauvillier

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
82	14	16	30	0.37

A veteran winger who started his career with the Islanders and has been bouncing around ever since, with stops in Vancouver, Chicago, Nashville, Pittsburgh, and now Washington, Beauvillier has talent, but has never been able to take it to the next level, thereby remaining in a middle six role at all of his stops. Although he managed just five points (2 G, 3 A) in 18 games with the Capitals after he was acquired from the Penguins at the trade deadline, Beauvillier did contribute six points (2 G, 4 A) in 10 playoff games and that made him a viable candidate to return to Washington when the Capitals could not land a bigger fish in free agency. Although he had modest offensive production in Washington, Beauvillier did have strong underlying numbers with positive possession stats despite starting just 38.3 percent of his shifts in the offensive zone. The Capitals outscored opponents 9-6 at five-on-five with Beauvillier on the ice, which indicates that he is an entirely useful depth winger. He has surpassed 20 goals just once in his career, scoring 21 with the Islanders in 2017-2018, his second season in the league, and it’s not likely that he will have a significant enough role to threaten that number again. He is more likely to contribute 12-15 goals and 25-30 points during the 2025-2026 season.

Hendrix Lapierre

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
58	5	11	16	0.28

The 22nd pick in the 2020 Draft, Lapierre had had some false starts to his NHL career, but the Capitals hope that he can follow a path like McMichael, where the patience ends up paying off. He managed zero goals and eight assists in 27 games for the Capitals last season, which is not at all encouraging, but he has 31 points (9 G, 22 A) in 84 career NHL games, so there is something there to hope that Lapierre can turn into a bona fide NHL player. He also scored 32 points (7 G, 25 A) in 32 AHL games last season, the kind of production that would typically give a 23-year-old a good opportunity to stick in the NHL. That does appear to be what is happening with Lapierre, who is penciled into a third-line role with the Capitals, and he might even start at center, which would be a significant vote of confidence for a player who has won 37.4 percent of the 404 faceoffs that he has taken in the NHL. If Lapierre is indeed going to fill a top nine role in Washington, he should be able to contribute 10 goals and 30-35 points, but the main focus should be on sticking in the NHL for the entire season, proving that he belongs.

Nic Dowd

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
82	13	13	26	0.32

A 35-year-old checking center, Dowd hit career highs with 14 goals and 27 points last season, and he added 82 blocked shots and 128 hits, so while the scoring numbers don’t jump off the page, those peripheral stats might give Dowd a little value in very deep leagues. His 82 blocked shots last season ranked sixth among forwards, and only two forwards – Brandon Tanev and Noel Acciari – had more blocked shots and more hits than Dowd. Even as he hits his mid-thirties, Dowd is having a bigger impact on the game than he did as a younger player. He has played over 15 minutes per game in the past two seasons, and he faces a ridiculous deployment, starting 15.0 percent of his five-on-five shifts in the offensive zone last season. Dowd is a throwback-style blue-collar player who leaves it all on the ice and plays for keeps night after night. Over the course of his career, his team has outscored the opposition by two goals during five-on-five play and that is a solid result from a checking center on the third or fourth line. Dowd should be able to contribute a dozen goals and 25 points to the Capitals this season.

DEFENCE

John Carlson

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
78	7	41	48	0.62

Perhaps age is starting to catch up to Carlson just a little bit, as the 35-year-old Capitals blueliner scored just five goals last season, the lowest total of his career since scoring one goal in 22 games as a rookie in 2009-2010. That does not mean that he’s dropped off dramatically, by any means, as Carlson also had 46 assists and his 51 points represented the seventh time in his career that he crossed the 50-point threshold. He also averaged more than 23 minutes of ice time per game for the 12th time in the past 13 seasons. Carlson had a stellar season in terms of puck possession stats, as his 53.7 Corsi percentage was the best of his career since a 53.9 mark during his 22-game stint in 2009-2010. Carlson has always been a big and physically strong defenceman, yet his game does not really take maximum advantage of that size and strength. His booming shot from the point is a factor, sure, but he’s only had more than 80 hits in a season once in his career and finished with 49 last season. For a defenceman who is 6-foot-3 and 220 pounds, he is not a banger. Carlson has always been an ace on the power play – his 264 career power play points ranks sixth among active defncemen, behind Brent Burns, Erik Karlsson, Drew Doughty, Kris Letang, and Victor Hedman. Carlson still led Capitals defencemen in power play ice time last season, but Jakob Chychrun could be knocking on the door, unless the Capitals take the rare step of having two defencemen on the No. 1 power play unit, and they could do that. For the 2025-2026 season, expect Carlson to put up 45-50 points, which keeps him right in the middle of the action for fantasy managers.

Jakob Chychrun

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
75	15	29	44	0.59

The Capitals’ acquisition of Chychrun last summer could not have worked out better, as he stayed healthy enough to play a career-high 74 games and finished with career highs in goal (20) and points (47). His 27 assists tied a career high, set the year before with Ottawa. Chychrun is an aggressive offensive defenceman who will join the rush and come down from the blueline in the offensive zone if it means generating a scoring chance. His 0.60 goals per 60 minutes last season ranked second out of 208 defencemen that played at least 500 five-on-five minutes. He is already a significant part of the Capitals attack and is pushing Carlson for the No. 1 role on the Capitals power play. When that time comes, that should set Chychrun on a trajectory to produce even more offensively. Throughout his career, he has tended to be a strong puck possession player, at least in relative terms, and that continued in his first season with the Capitals. As a player who has been injured quite a bit in his career, Chychrun maybe more inclined to pick his spots about when to lay his body on the line and it’s notable that for a defenceman who routinely plays more than 21 minutes per game, he has recorded more than 100 blocked shots once in his career and only exceeded 100 hits in his rookie season, 2016-2017, and hasn’t done it since. Chychrun should still be expected to fill a big role for Washington this season, which includes scoring 15 goals and 40-plus points.

Rasmus Sandin

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
82	5	23	28	0.34

The arrival of Jakob Chychrun did not do Sandin any favors in terms of his role as an offensive-minded puck-moving defenceman, but he still ended up with a career-high 30 points (4 G, 26 A) last season. Sandin played all 82 games, but his ice time dropped nearly two minutes per game from the 2023-2024 season. While Sandin’s puck possession numbers weren’t great, sliding in under break-even with a 49.7 percent Corsi, the Capitals did outscore opponents 71-58 during five-on-five play with Sandin on the ice. He is a smooth skating defender who has strong puck skills and even though he’s on the smaller side, Sandin is not shy about engaging in physical play. Size and strength can be issues for him when it comes to battling against bigger opponents, but overall Sandin is a viable top four defenceman. He has recorded more than 100 blocked shots in back-to-back seasons and had 91 hits last season, down from his career high of 136 hits in 2022-2023. Being the No. 3 power play option on any team’s defence is a less-than-ideal situation and that is where Sandin appears to find himself, behind John Carlson and Chychrun, but if the top two both end up on the top unit, that could still provide Sandin with an opportunity with the second unit. Since that is the situation Sandin finds himself in with the Capitals, it’s reasonable to expect 25-30 points in 2025-2026.

Martin Fehervary

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
82	4	18	22	0.27

A solid two-way defenceman who scored a career-high 25 points (5 G, 20 A) last season, Fehervary suffered a knee injury that kept him out of the playoffs, but he had done enough to impress Capitals brass so that he was rewarded with a new seven-year, $42 million contract. That’s not a commitment for a player who will be struggling to find his way into the defensive rotation. Fehervary is an excellent skater and with his physical disposition, he can take time and space away from opposing forwards. He recorded a career-high 150 blocked shots last season, though his 139 hits were his lowest total in a full NHL season. Fehervary has had passable possession numbers despite starting more of his shifts in the defensive zone for three straight seasons. None of his statistics are eye popping, but there is always a market for a 6-foot-2 defender who is an excellent skater and will play the body and sacrifice his own body to block shots, so Fehervary should continue to play a prominent role in Washington. In 2025-2026, he should be expected to surpass 20 points, though his real fantasy appeal would come from 150-plus hits and 130-plus blocked shots.

GOAL

Charlie Lindgren

Predicted Stats
GP	W	L	OT	SO	SV%	GAA
42	22	14	4	2	.904	2.78

Darcy Kuemper may have bounced back seamlessly from his disastrous stint in Washington last year, but Washington bounced back just as smoothly under the guidance of a nearly, perfectly deployed tandem of Charlie Lindgren and Logan Thompson. Washington served as the regular season poster child for why equal deployment tandems can be so effective, boasting positive performances from both Thompson and Lindgren in addition to the team's regular season President's Trophy win.

Neither Thompson nor Lindgren looked like the league's most exciting options last year, but that worked in Washington's benefit. The pair were able to quietly amass a collection of games that left the focus on Alex Ovechkin and his quest to claim the league's all-time scoring title, scooping up rebounds without doing much to drag the other team's attention away from their nearly full-time job of trying to stop the Russian Machine from firing the puck up the ice. That presents Washington with an interesting position to consider for the upcoming campaign, of course; without Ovechkin's dogged quest consuming the offence, things could start to become more balanced up and down the ice and test both Thompson and Lindgren a little bit more. Still, neither starter showed any major flaws in their game when challenged. It's hard to find much to fault them for, and they should make up a nice tandem next year once again.

NHL: CULLEN – 20 FANTASY POINTS – Hot Russian scoring wingers Ovechkin, Kuzmenko to Michkov, plus Jackson LaCombe, Matthew Knies, Nazem Kadri and much more!

Scott Cullen — Fri, 04 Apr 2025 19:56:10 +0000

LOS ANGELES, CA - MARCH 11: Los Angeles Kings Left Wing Andrei Kuzmenko (96) exchanges words with a Referee during a Los Angeles Kings game versus the New York Islanders on March 11th, 2025, at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, CA. (Photo by Rob Curtis/Icon Sportswire)

Each week, I dig into the stats to find information that can help you make better fantasy hockey decisions. This week, Russian scoring wingers from Alex Ovechkin to Andrei Kuzmenko to Matvei Michkov, plus Jackson LaCombe, Matthew Knies, Nazem Kadri and much more!

#1 While he is obviously rostered in every fantasy league, it’s worth paying respect to Washington Capitals superstar Alex Ovechkin as he is on the cusp of breaking Wayne Gretzky’s all-time goal-scoring record. It’s well worth noting that Ovechkin scored 31 goals in 79 games last season and considering he would be 39 years old this season, it was reasonable to wonder if he might finally be slowing down. Despite averaging a career-low 17:46 of ice time per game, Ovechkin has scored 39 goals in just 59 games. He is scoring on a career-high 18.0 percent of his shots, which plays a big part, but he has also increased his per game shot rate despite his ice time going down by 87 seconds per game. He is skating on a line with Pierre-Luc Dubois and Tom Wilson at even strength and holds down the same spot in the left-wing faceoff circle on the power play that he has forever. Can he get the three goals he needs in the final seven regular season games? It seems likely.

#2 The Philadelphia Flyers have only played three games under interim head coach Brad Shaw, but it does appear that the change behind the bench has been beneficial for star rookie Matvei Michkov, who has put up seven points (4 G, 3 A) with 13 shots on goal in those three games. He now has 11 points (4 G, 7 A) with 21 shots on goal during a six-game point streak. Michkov’s ice time per game has jumped to 19:10 per game under Shaw, after averaging 16:18 per game under John Tortorella. It’s a small sample, but the early returns are positive.

#3 Sticking with the theme of high-scoring Russian wingers, it looks like the Los Angeles Kings have unlocked the talents of Andrei Kuzmenko, who has 10 points (4 G, 6 A) in his past eight games, thriving on the top line with Anze Kopitar and Adrian Kempe. Kuzmenko is also getting first unit power play time in Los Angeles, and he scored 39 goals in his first NHL season in 2022-2023, so he has shown that he has the skill, but now it looks like he’s getting a prime opportunity in Los Angeles.

#4 Anaheim Ducks defenceman Jackson LaCombe has emerged as a star this season. It might get overlooked because he is doing it for a young Ducks team that is on the outside looking in at the postseason, but LaCombe has taken on big minutes on the Ducks’ blueline and had eight points (3 G, 5 A) during a six-game point streak that was snapped in Thursday’s 4-1 loss at Calgary. LaCombe has 43 points (14 G, 29 A) in 68 games while averaging nearly 22 minutes of ice time per game. It has been a massive leap forward from his rookie season and the 24-year-old blueliner from the University of Minnesota is going to be a fixture on Anaheim’s defence for years to come.

#5 Second year Toronto Maple Leafs left winger Matthew Knies continues to improve and he makes the most of his excellent opportunity to skate on a line with Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner. Knies has seven points (2 G, 5 A) and 18 shots on goal in his past seven games. The sweetener for fantasy managers is that Knies has recognized the impact that he can bring with his physical play, and he has 23 hits in those seven games and 174 hits for the season, which adds to his appeal.

#6 As the Calgary Flames try to stay in the playoff hunt, veteran centre Nazem Kadri is leading the charge. In his past nine games, Kadri has 11 points (8 G, 3 A) with 35 shots on goal. He is skating on a line with Yegor Sharangovich and Martin Pospisil at even strength, but Kadri is a power play threat, producing 20 of his 59 points with the man advantage.

#7 Maple Leafs defenceman Jake McCabe is not known as an offensive defenceman, having scored a career-high 28 points last season, but he has been playing with more confidence recently, and it has led him to record six assists in his past seven games. For a player who has 135 blocked shots and 118 hits, that bit of offensive production suddenly makes McCabe worth considering for fantasy managers.

#8 This has not been a banner season for the Nashville Predators in general, and for right winger Luke Evangelista, specifically. However, he is getting a decent shot to produce late in the season and has eight points (3 G, 5 A) with 13 shots on goal in his past eight games. He is playing on Nashville’s top line with Ryan O’Reilly and Michael Bunting, which is a good position with more ice time for him but also reflects the kind of lineup that the Predators are rolling out down the stretch.

#9 Although this has been yet another disappointing season for the Buffalo Sabres, they have been able to give Ryan McLeod a chance to handle more responsibility, and he has proven that he can handle it. In his past 14 games, McLeod has 17 points (5 G, 12 A) with 25 shots on goal. He has been averaging fewer than 16 minutes per game before seeing his ice time increase to over 20 minutes per game over that 14-game span. His linemates, Jack Quinn and J.J. Peterka, are sufficiently skilled to bring out the best in McLeod and Quinn is finding his footing after an otherwise forgettable season. Quinn has nine points (4 G, 5 A) during a five-game point streak. Peterka has 19 points (8 G, 11 A) and 38 shots on goal in 17 games since the break for the 4 Nations Face-Off.

#10 Seattle Kraken winger Jared McCann has not scored quite as much this season, tallying 18 goals for the Kraken after producing 96 goals in his first three seasons with Seattle, but he is picking up points down the stretch. In his past six games, McCann has delivered nine points (1 G, 8 A) with 20 shots on goal. McCann has helped to snap Andre Burakovsky out of a season-long slump. In his past eight games, Burakovsky has nine points (3 G, 6 A), which is a far cry from the 24 points (8 G, 16 A) in 65 games that he had before that point.

#11 When the Carolina Hurricanes traded Mikko Rantanen to the Dallas Stars, it was somewhat forgotten that the ‘Canes had also acquired veteran winger Taylor Hall, and he would remain in Carolina. In 11 games since the trade deadline, Hall has contributed 12 points (7 G, 5 A) with 24 shots on goal and Hall has been in the position to shoot more on the power play and four of those seven goals have come on the PP. Staying in Carolina, but at the other end of the experience spectrum, rookie right winger Jackson Blake has taken on a bigger role and has eight points (3 G, 8 A) with 21 shots on goal in his past eight games. Blake has landed a spot on Carolina’s top line, skating with Sebastian Aho and Seth Jarvis, a real chance for Blake to finish the season strong.

#12 After missing much of the season, Columbus Blue Jackets captain Boone Jenner has long been a productive player, contributing enough to have fantasy appeal even without elite scoring numbers. He had missed more than half of this season while recovering from shoulder surgery, but since returning to action, he has contributed 18 points (6 G, 12 A) with 47 shots on goal in 18 games. He also has 33 hits and 13 blocked shots, providing the peripheral statistical value that goes above and beyond point production.

#13 The story of this season for the Chicago Blackhawks is naturally one of disappointment, as they have 52 points in 75 games, putting them in 31st place. But there have been some silver linings, most notably the breakthrough season for veteran forward Ryan Donato. In his past 30 games, Donato has piled up 35 points (16 G, 19 A). For a player with a previous career high of 31 points, Donato has taken his game to a new level and some of that can be attributed to receiving extra ice time on a team that is lacking skilled forwards, but Donato’s 59-point season (so far) should change expectations for him moving forward.

#14 Veteran Philadelphia Flyers centre Ryan Poehling has established himself as a capable checking centre, but one with relatively low offensive output. He scored a career-high 28 points last season and after missing some time with injuries this year, it did not look like he would surpass that, but suddenly Poehling has 10 points (7 G, 3 A) in his past 10 games, which has lifted him to 25 points (11 G, 14 A) in 62 games. He does not have a significant power-play role but is getting more than 15 minutes of ice time per game now, so he may find his way to a new career high in points.

#15 With J.T. Miller traded and Elias Pettersson injured, the Vancouver Canucks have turned to Pius Suter as their No. 1 centre and even if that seems above and beyond his profile, Suter has stepped into that responsibility. In his past eight games, Suter has averaged more than 20 minutes of ice time per game, producing 10 points (4 G, 6 A) with 16 shots on goal. He has set career highs with 22 goals and 42 points, which shows that he can be a useful source of complementary offense.

#16 Another player making the most of his opportunities in what is otherwise a disappointing season for his team is Boston Bruins winger Morgan Geekie, who has 10 points (5 G, 5 A) while averaging more than 19 minutes of ice time per game in his past eight games. He is playing on the Bruins’ top line, with Pavel Zacha and David Pastrnak, as well as getting first unit power play time and has set career highs with 27 goals and 46 points.

#17 As a late-season addition, there might be value in Columbus Blue Jackets defenceman Dante Fabbro. He does not have a significant power-play role but is paired with Zach Werenski on the Blue Jackets’ top pair. In his past four games, Fabbro has contributed seven points (2 G, 5 A) with eight shots on goal while playing more than 20 minutes per game. With 23 points (7 G, 16 A), Fabbro is one point away from matching his career high, set in 2021-2022 when he was with Nashville. The move to Columbus this season does seem to have rejuvenated his career.

#18 Every season, there is an influx of players coming out of college hockey and while they obviously provide great hope for the future, some might have an immediate impact down the stretch and into the playoffs. For example, Ryan Leonard has joined the Washington Capitals after accruing 49 points (30 G, 19 A) in 37 games for Boston College. He is starting on the Capitals’ second line with Dylan Strome and Aliaksei Protas and has averaged 15 minutes of ice time per game in his first two NHL contests. Some others to keep an eye on: Gabriel Perreault with the New York Rangers, Jimmy Snuggerud with the St. Louis Blues, and Oliver Moore of the Chicago Blackhawks.

#19 The Pittsburgh Penguins have recently called up Rutger McGroarty from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the AHL, where he had 39 points (14 G, 25 A) in 60 games. The best part for McGroarty is that he has been slotted in at left wing alongside Sidney Crosby on Pittsburgh’s top line, so it’s hard to ask for a better situation as a 21-year-old winger trying to establish that he can play in a top six role in the NHL. In his first two games since rejoining the Penguins, McGroarty has picked up a couple of points with six shots on goal and six hits all while playing more than 17 minutes per game.

#20 Seattle Kraken goaltender Joey Daccord is coming off a 24-save shutout against Vancouver earlier this week, but he has hit a rough patch since the 4 Nations Face-Off. Prior to Wednesdays’ shutout against the Canucks, Daccord had started 13 games since the break, winning five while managing a save percentage of .882, which does not compare too favourably to the .915 save percentage that he had in his first 38 starts of the season. From the files of too little, too late: Philipp Grubauer does have a .925 save percentage for the Kraken in four starts since getting recalled from the AHL.

*Advanced stats via Natural Stat Trick

NHL: DADOUN – THE FANTASY WEEK AHEAD – Holloway paying dividends for streaking in St. Louis – Teams and players to target this week

Ryan Dadoun — Sat, 29 Mar 2025 14:00:11 +0000

St. Louis Blues center Dylan Holloway (81) (Photo by Keith Gillett/IconSportswire)

Has a team ever benefited so greatly and immediately from a player they snagged away from an adversary via an offer sheet as St. Louis has with Dylan Holloway? The two-year contract worth roughly $4.58 million was too rich for the Oilers when the Blues made a move against the RFA this summer, and to be fair to Edmonton, Holloway had just nine goals and 18 points in 89 regular-season appearances as well as five goals and seven points in 26 playoff games at that point. For a team in a cap crunch, Edmonton didn’t feel comfortable offering that kind of salary to a player projected for its bottom six.

Whatever the rationale was, though, Holloway has thoroughly demonstrated that Edmonton could not have been more wrong in its decision. Holloway scored tow goals to lead St. Louis to a 3-2 victory over Nashville on Thursday, bringing him up to 26 goals and 62 points in 74 outings this campaign. What once looked like a rich contract is now unquestionably one of the league’s biggest value signings.

He's provided the Blues, who tied for 24th in goals per game (2.85) last year with some much needed offensive depth, and he’s stepped up down the stretch, providing 10 goals and 22 points across 18 appearances since the 4 Nations break. Though, he does have plenty of company in that regard.

St. Louis as a whole has excelled since the tournament. That win against Nashville was the squad’s eighth straight, and the Blues are 14-2-2 since the time off. That’s the best record in the NHL over that span, and they’ve led the league in goals per game with an eye-popping 4.00. In addition to Holloway, Robert Thomas (six goals, 25 points), Jordan Kyrou (eight, 18), Jake Neighbours (six, 17), Brayden Schenn (six, 16) and defenseman Cam Fowler (two, 14) have been major factors.

The goaltending has been there too. Since leading Canada to victory, Jordan Binnington has posted a 9-2-0 record, 2.19 GAA and .912 save percentage across 11 outings, while Joel Hofer is 5-0-2 with a 1.98 GAA and a .910 save percentage across his last nine appearances.

The result is St. Louis has gone for a team that was set to miss the playoffs to one that’s sitting in a wild-card spot. To an extent, there’s shades of 2018-19 when the Blues got off to a disastrous start only to get hot, make the playoffs and then battle all the way to a championship. The Blues even made a midseason coaching change this year, replacing Drew Bannister (9-12-1) with Jim Montgomery (30-16-6). Obviously, just because the Blues had a magical run in 2019 doesn’t mean history will repeat itself this year, but with the way St. Louis is playing, it will be a dangerous team to face in the postseason.

Boston Bruins (Tue vs WAS, Thu @ MTL, Sat vs CAR, Sun @ BUF)

While the Blues have surged, Boston has faded, making already long odds to secure a playoff berth now look all-but impossible. Boston had a 3-12-3 from Feb. 5-March 26 and suffered its seventh straight loss (0-6-1) against the Ducks on Wednesday. Will the freefall continue next week? Boston will start by hosting Washington before playing in Montreal on Thursday, returning home to face the Hurricanes on Saturday and then playing in Buffalo on Sunday.

Boston has managed just 2.22 goals per game over the aforementioned 18-game stretch, and that’s despite David Pastrnak still doing really well with eight goals and 19 points in that span. Pastrnak has 35 goals and 85 points in 73 appearances, giving him a shot of reaching the 40-goal and 100-point marks for the third straight campaign. He’s one of the few Bruins who has largely lived up to expectations in 2024-25.

Morgan Geekie has also been something of a silver lining during Boston’s dreadful stretch. He’s provided four goals and six points across his past five games. That brings him up to 26 goals in 68 appearances this season, shattering his previous career high of 17 from 2023-24. One word of warning, though: His shooting percentage of 19.7 is a substantial jump compared to his career average of 11.4 going into the campaign, so it wouldn’t be surprising if Geekie saw a decline in goal production next season.

On another team, Geekie’s strong showing this season would have been a pleasant surprise that might have elevated the squad, but Boston is so devoid of scoring options that it barely moves the needle. Aside from Geekie and Pastrnak, no other player has recorded even five goals for Boston over the past 18 games, and to put that into context, five goals in 18 outings would amount to only a 23-goal pace over 82 games. Looking at the Bruins’ season as a whole, Pastrnak and Geekie will probably be the only players to finish with at least 22 goals. Brad Marchand will almost certainly finish the campaign third in goals for Boston with 21 despite being traded. Charlie Coyle, who was also dealt, currently ranks fourth in goals with 15 during his time with the Bruins.

Boston did acquire Casey Mittelstadt from Colorado, but so far that hasn’t paid dividends. Mittelstadt has two goals and four points in nine appearances with the Bruins despite averaging a healthy 17:28 of ice time and seeing minutes alongside Pastrnak. Mittelstadt’s 5v5 CF% rel and 5v5 FF% rel are minus-8.4 and minus-5.6, which suggests that, for as bad as Boston has been recently, the Bruins have performed even worse when Mittelstadt is on the ice.

This is a season that can’t end soon enough for the Bruins, but maybe with the season already essentially lost, Boston will feel the pressure lift and settle into a spoiler role. The Bruins do have a chance to make things harder for Montreal, and Boston is 2-0-0 against the Canadiens this season, so if you’re looking for a game where the Bruins might pleasantly surprise, that seems like a good candidate.

Calgary Flames (Mon @ COL, Tue @ UTA, Thu vs ANA, Sat vs VGK)

For a time, it looked like Calgary might squeak into the playoffs despite its lack of offense, but the rise of the Blues has made that unlikely. Still, the Flames have an outside chance should they have a strong week. Calgary will start the week on the road in Colorado on Monday and Utah on Tuesday. The Flames will then return home to face the Ducks on Thursday and the Golden Knights on Saturday.

For much of the season, Calgary was competitive thanks in large part to rookie goaltender Dustin Wolf. Unfortunately, the 23-year-old has hit a rough patch, posting a 2-3-1 record, 3.65 GAA and .869 save percentage across his past six appearances. That’s reduced him to a 24-15-5 record, 2.67 GAA and .909 save percentage in 44 outings overall. It’s still been a good campaign for him, but I think his recent decline is likely enough to take him out of serious competition for the Calder Trophy, barring an unbelievable finish. Montreal’s Lane Hutson has a shot to reach 60 points as a defenseman, and San Jose’s Macklin Celebrini has been averaging near a point per game, so in my mind the competition is just too strong for Wolf to still grab the trophy.

Of course, it’d be unfair to suggest Wolf’s struggles down the stretch cost Calgary a potential playoff berth. Calgary ranks 31st in goals per game with 2.61, which is what the real problem is. If there is a silver lining to be found among the Flames forwards, though, it’s been Jonathan Huberdeau. The first two years of his tenure with the Flames looked like a disaster, but he’s been solid this campaign with 27 goals and 58 points through 71 appearances. He’s also red hot with five goals and 12 points over his past eight outings. He’s still not warranting his $10.5 million cap hit, but at least he’s not fading away.

Nazem Kadri is also doing his part, even at the age of 34. He’s on a five-game goal-scoring streak in which he’s found the back of the net seven times. That’s rocketed him to 30 markers, which is his most since 2017-18 with Toronto, and just two goals away from his career high. I wouldn’t count on that goal streak carrying into next week, but he’s certainly one of the Flames’ best forward options.

Matthew Coronato is also giving the Flames some hope that there are better days ahead on offense. The 22-year-old has four goals and six points across his past five appearances, bringing him up to 20 goals and 39 points through 66 games this season. He’s getting tons of playing time -- 19:36 per game, including 3:21 with the man advantage, over his past five outings -- which puts him in a solid position to finish the campaign on a high note. Just keep in mind that young players can be particularly streaking, and Coronato has shown that he’s no exception. He had just two goals and three points in 12 appearances from Feb. 8-March 17, just to cite the latest example of his offense drying up.

Colorado Avalanche (Mon vs CGY, Wed @ CHI, Thu @ CBJ, Sat @ STL)

Colorado is cruising toward the end of the campaign with a 12-1-1 record over its past 14 games. The Avalanche will attempt to maintain that level of extreme success next week, starting with a home game against the Flames. They’ll then hit the road to play in Chicago on Wednesday, Columbus on Thursday and St. Louis on Saturday.

The Avalanche have a 45-25-3 record, which gives them the third spot in the Central Division. Even with their recent success, Colorado is still five points shy of the second-place Dallas Stars despite Colorado having played in one extra game. The Avalanche also have a six-point lead on Minnesota, which is pretty healthy this late in the season. In other words, Colorado is unlikely to move up or down from its current third-place seed, and I do wonder if a sense that the stakes are low will cause Colorado to ease up on the gas a little over the final games off the season, potentially ending the hot streak.

Then again, it’s hard to envision Nathan MacKinnon or Cale Makar giving suboptimal performances for any meaningful length of time. They’re just so reliable. Plus, MacKinnon has some added personal motivation as he looks to win the Art Ross Trophy -- MacKinnon leads the pack with 108 points in 73 appearances, but Nikita Kucherov isn’t far behind with 105 points in 68 outings -- and bolster his bid for the Hart Trophy. Meanwhile, Makar would set a new career high of 91 points if he collects at least seven more in Colorado’s final nine games -- a very doable task for the elite blueliner.

MacKinnon and Makar have unsurprisingly led the charge during the Avalanche’s past 14 games, providing 21 points and 20 points, respectively, but Martin Necas hasn’t been that far behind with six goals and 16 points in 14 appearances. Necas has worked out superbly alongside MacKinnon, which has led to him recording 26 goals and 80 points across 73 outings between Carolina and Colorado this campaign. Given that I don’t think MacKinnon is likely to slow, Necas should have a strong end to the campaign too.

I’m more uncertain about the sustainability of Brock Nelson. He has three goals and six points across his past four appearances, but can be fairly streaky, and he doesn’t have the luxury of regularly playing with MacKinnon at even strength, so if Colorado slows a bit during its final games, Nelson might be part of that.

Regardless of what the Avalanche do collectively, Charlie Coyle probably won’t factor in much on offense. He has just two assists in 10 games since joining Colorado from Boston, but more importantly, he’s averaging just 13:32 of ice time. Unlike Boston, the Avalanche are deep up front, especially when it comes to centers, so Coyle seems stuck on the third line, barring an injury. There’s no reason to put much stock in Coyle, given that role.

Columbus Blue Jackets (Tue vs NAS, Thu vs COL, Sat @ TOR, Sun @ OTT)

Columbus battled to its second straight shootout win Friday, improving to 33-29-9 on the campaign. Through March 28, the Blue Jackets hold the second wild-card seed, but their position couldn’t be more precarious: Although Columbus has the edge in games left (11), Montreal and the Rangers are tied with the Blue Jackets in terms of total points (75). Every point is critical for Columbus, and in that context, the Blue Jackets have a huge week ahead of them. They’ll host Nashville on Tuesday and Colorado on Thursday before hitting the road to visit Toronto and Ottawa on Saturday and Sunday, respectively.

The fact that Columbus even has a shot this deep into the season is a story that isn’t getting enough coverage nationally. This is a team that was projected to be closer to Chicago (21-43-9) and San Jose (20-42-9) than a playoff berth.

Getting Boone Jenner, Sean Monahan and Cole Sillinger back from injuries has given the Blue Jackets a huge boost that might push them over the edge. Since making his Feb. 22 season debut, Jenner has supplied four goals and 14 points in 15 appearances, and he’s only been getting better, supplying four goals and five points over his past three outings. Meanwhile, Monahan returned Monday after missing 28 games due to a wrist injury and went right back to work with three helpers over his past two outings, and Sillinger (shoulder) played Friday for the first time this month, contributing an assist in his return.

Monahan is centering the top line between Dmitri Voronkov and Kirill Marchenko, while Boone Jenner is on the second unit with Adam Fantilli and Kent Johnson. Sillinger helps round out the top nine by playing alongside Justin Danforth and Mathieu Olivier. Now that Columbus’ forward corps is relatively healthy, James van Riemsdyk was a healthy scratch Friday, and he’ll probably find himself moving in and out of the lineup the rest of the way. Olivier is also going to have a tougher time getting minutes, he averaged just 11:40 of ice time Friday despite recording a goal and an assist, which is a significant drop from his average of 14:58 from Feb. 22-March 24.

A healthy group also makes things better for defenseman Zach Werenski on offense. He’s having a career year with 20 goals and 70 points in 70 outings, but he went through a six-game scoring drought from March 13-24. Werenski collected a power-play assist on one of Jenner’s goals to end that slump Friday, and it wouldn’t be surprising to see the 27-year-old defenseman end the campaign on a high note.

Dallas Stars ( Mon @ SEA, Thu vs NAS, Sat vs PIT, Sun @ MIN)

Dallas earned a 5-2 victory over Calgary on Thursday to improve to 4-1-1 over its past six games. The Stars seem secure as the Central Division’s second seed given their 47-21-4 record, and there’s still an outside shot of catching up to the 49-19-4 Jets to win the division. Dallas will attempt to pull that off with another strong week, starting in Seattle on Monday. The Stars will then host the Predators on Thursday and the Penguins on Saturday before playing in Minnesota on Sunday.

Defenseman Thomas Harley has found another gear lately, scoring five goals and 16 points across his past 14 appearances, rocketing him up to 15 goals and 47 points in 70 outings this campaign. The 23-year-old’s recent success is in part due to the power play -- he has eight points with the man advantage over his last 14 games, compared to just six power-play points across his first 56 outings in 2024-25. Miro Heiskanen (knee) hasn’t played since Jan. 28, which has resulted in Harley averaging 3:24 of power-play ice time since the injury compared to his season average of 2:11, which helps explain why Harley has see that spike in power-play success. Heiskanen is expected to miss the remainder of the regular season as well as the first round of the playoffs, so the current arrangement will persist for a while longer.

While Heiskanen won’t be back any time soon, Tyler Seguin might rejoin the team before the end of the regular season. Keep him in mind for playoff pools. He has nine goals and 20 points in 19 appearances before getting hurt, and it wouldn’t be surprising to see him reunite with Matt Duchene and Mason Marchment when he’s healthy. Mikael Granlund will make that a difficult decision for the Avalanche, though. Granlund is their current linemate and has done well recently with four goals and eight points across his past 10 outings.

One alternative would be to keep Dallas’ current second line of Duchene, Marchment and Granlund intact, and instead have Seguin play alongside Jamie Benn. That might help the 34-year-old Benn, who has been good, but not great this campaign with 16 goals and 45 points in 72 outings this season. Benn has also been productive recently, supplying five assists in his past seven games despite averaging just 13:14 of ice time due to the Stars’ offensive depth.

Whatever happens, it’s a good problem for Dallas to have. The Stars already have a really strong top nine, and adding a healthy Seguin to that mix would make it truly special.

Montreal Canadiens (Tue vs FLA, Thu vs BOS, Sat vs PHI, Sun @ NAS)

The battle for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference might come down to the wire. Columbus won while Montreal suffered a loss Friday, leaving the Canadiens tied with Columbus in terms of points (75) for the second wild-card spot, but Montreal is at a disadvantage with one fewer game left on its schedule. The Rangers are also tied with 75 points while the Islanders are at 74. Montreal has been faltering lately, and the Canadiens need to stop the bleeding to stay in the mix. They’ll host the Panthers on Tuesday, the Bruins on Thursday and the Flyers on Saturday. Montreal will then conclude the week with a road match in Nashville on Sunday.

Sam Montembeault deserves some of the blame for Montreal’s recent struggles. He’s 0-2-2 across his past four outings while posting a 4.04 GAA and an .864 save percentage in four appearances. His overall numbers also don’t look great – he has a 25-23-6 record, 2.93 GAA and .898 save percentage through 54 appearances. However, there is a caveat to consider: His goals saved above expected is plus-14.5, per Moneypuck, which is actually the 14th best in the league. That’s because Montreal’s xGA/60 ranks 26th at 3.30. In other words, the Canadiens haven’t made things easy for him, and when it comes to this summer, adding players who could help shore up the defense should be a priority.

In meantime, Montreal’s best hope of making the playoffs might be through brute forcing with overwhelming offense. It helps that Patrik Laine has been clicking lately, supplying four goals and seven points over his past eight appearances, however, he’s been held off the scoresheet in two of his past three games, so it’s possible that run is petering out. Laine has traditionally had extreme hot and cold spells, so be weary of the other shoe dropping.

If he does fade, maybe that will be counterbalanced by Cole Caufield getting hot again. Caufield has been a touch quiet lately with a goal and two points across his past five appearances, but he’s having a great season overall with 34 goals and 63 points, and I don’t expect him to be held back for long.

Brendan Gallagher is also worthy of note. He’s enjoying one of his best stretches of the campaign with two goals and seven points in his last six outings. Just keep in mind that he’s still averaging a modest 13:55 of ice time, and he’s not going to be one of Montreal’s main scoring threats overall.

Ottawa Senators (Tue vs BUF, Thu vs TBL, Sat vs FLA, Sun vs CBJ)

Ottawa has merely treaded water recently, winning two of its past five games, but thanks to a 7-0-1 run from March 1-15, the Senators hold the first wild-card spot. Ottawa will look to maintain that lead this week and will have the benefit of remaining at home for the entire duration. The Senators will host Buffalo on Tuesday, Tampa Bay on Thursday, Florida on Saturday and Columbus on Sunday.

The Senators are 20-10-2 at home versus 18-18-3 on the road, so fantasy managers do tend to get a boost when deploying their players in Ottawa. That said, not all players have a dramatic home/road split. One who does is Tim Stutzle. He’s collected 13 goals and 43 points across 32 outings in Ottawa but is a less effective eight goals and 28 points in 39 appearances on the road. To put that in perspective, Stutzle’s home pace amounts to 33 goals and 110 points per 82 games, so that’s the kind of player you’d be deploying if you use him this week.

Drake Batherson is another player who tends to step up in front of the home crowd. He has 14 goals and 34 points in 32 outings at the Canadian Tire Centre this campaign versus six goals and 24 points in 39 games on the road. Batherson has also been hot lately, supplying four goals and nine points over his past eight appearances.

One more player who has a dramatic split is defenseman Jake Sanderson, who has supplied four goals and 30 points in 32 home games compared to three goals and 18 points on the road. However, not every player sees significant benefit from playing at home. Brady Tkachuk does have a higher point per game at home (26 points in 30 outings), but it’s a more muted jump compared to the road (29 points in 39 appearances) than we’ve seen with some other players. The same can be said for Claude Giroux (22 points in 32 games at home; 24 in 39 on the road). Meanwhile, Linus Ullmark actually seems to do a bit better away from Ottawa (2.68 GAA, .911 save percentage) than at home (2.91 GAA, .906 save percentage), so keep that in mind.

Washington Capitals (Tue @ BOS, Wed @ CAR, Fri vs CHI, Sun @ NYI)

The Capitals will spend most of the week on the road, playing in Boston on Tuesday, Carolina on Wednesday and the Islanders on Sunday. That leaves the Capitals with just one home game -- a match against Chicago on Friday. Washington was a borderline team to include because of that skew toward road games, but I couldn’t resist highlighting them given Alex Ovechkin’s chase of Wayne Gretzky’s record.

Ovechkin has 36 goals and 60 points in 56 appearances this campaign, putting him at 889 career goals, five shy of matching Gretzky and six away from beating him. Washington has 10 games left in the schedule for Ovechkin to accomplish that feat. In other words, it’s likely going to come down to the wire, but given Ovechkin’s recent pace of 14 goals in his past 22 games, it seems doable.

One x-factor is weather Ovechkin will get rested before the end of the season. To do so when he’s closing in on the record seems insane, but if you take a step back from that, he’s a 39-year-old on a team with Cup aspirations. Under normal circumstances, giving Ovechkin a game or more off at the end of the season would be a no brainer, and not doing so arguably could hurt Washington a bit in the playoffs. To some extent, it’s the same dilemma Toronto faced last year with Auston Matthews. Resting Matthews before Toronto’s first-round series against Boston might have been the smart play, but Matthews had a shot at a 70-goal season, so Toronto decided to keep him in the lineup and even log 21:03 of ice time against Tampa Bay in the season finale despite that game not even mattering from a playoff seeding perspective.

Still, Ovechkin didn’t play in the 4 Nations Face-Off, and he missed 16 games from Nov. 21-Dec. 23 due to a fractured fibula, so unlike Matthews, who logged 81 regular-season games last season, Ovechkin has already had time off, so perhaps he doesn’t need the break as much as you might assume. Either way, it seems unlikely that Washington will rest him unless Ovechkin has already secured the record -- and the plus side in all this is it gives the Capitals something to play for even at this stage when they’ve already basically secured the top spot in the Conference with their 47-16-9 record.

Ovechkin’s pursuit should also help Aliaksei Protas finish his breakout campaign on a strong note. Protas has six goals and 13 points across his past 10 outings, bringing him up to 29 goals and 64 points in 72 outings. It’s going to be challenging for Washington to maintain its current level once Ovechkin eventually retires, but the 24-year-old Protas does give the Capitals hope for the future as well as the present.

NHL: DADOUN – FANTASY WEEK AHEAD – Hellebuyck’s dominant season – More trade deadline discussion – Teams and Players to target

Ryan Dadoun — Sat, 01 Mar 2025 18:04:23 +0000

OTTAWA, ON - FEBRUARY 26: Winnipeg Jets Goalie Connor Hellebuyck (37) looks to make a save during third period National Hockey League action between the Winnipeg Jets and Ottawa Senators on February 26, 2025, at Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa, ON, Canada. (Photo by Richard A. Whittaker/Icon Sportswire)

Cole Perfetti and Mason Appleton each found the back of the net by 9:03 of the first period to give the Jets a 2-0 lead against the Senators on Wednesday. That’s all the offense Winnipeg ultimately required en route to a 4-1 victory. It was an efficient two points in the bank and wouldn’t stand out, except for the fact that it was Winnipeg’s 11th win in a row.

The Jets were already having a dominant season, but they’ve somehow found another gear. Even after seeing that winning streak end Thursday, Winnipeg has a superb 42-15-3 record. The only team that even comes close is Washington (38-13-8) in the Eastern Conference. In their own conference, Winnipeg has opened up an 11-point edge, giving them plenty of breathing room going down the stretch.

Winnipeg is averaging 3.53 goals per game, so it’s fair to say that the forwards have been doing their part, but the core ingredient of the Jets’ success has been Connor Hellebuyck. He’s the league leader in GAA (2.02) and save percentage (.926) among those who have appeared in at least 15 games, and no netminder comes even close to his 36 wins -- the next best is Andrei Vasilevskiy with 28. In fact, only five teams are above him in terms of wins, excluding Winnipeg (he’s earned 85.7 percent of the Jets’ victories), those are Washington, Dallas, Toronto and Florida.

Hellebuyck is the heavy favorite to repeat as the Vezina Trophy winner, and that’s putting it lightly. In fact, it’s gotten to the point where it’s fair to ask if he should be in the Hart Trophy conversation. Keep in mind, Hellebuyck is not merely the byproduct of a strong team. Those in front of him are certainly helping, especially where his record is concerned, but the 31-year-old also leads the league in Goals Saved Above Expected with 30.3, per Moneypuck, and he’s just one of three netminders above plus-20 in that category. That statistic suggests he’s a big factor in the Jets’ dominance, not just a benefactor of it.

Hellebuyck also has an outside chance of flirting with the all-time single season win record, which is currently shared by Martin Brodeur (2006-07) and Braden Holtby (2015-16) at 48. I don’t expect Hellebuyck to ultimately reach that level because the Jets, without much left to play for until the postseason, will probably start managing his workload down the stretch. Still, we’re talking about 12 more wins over the Jets’ final 23 games, so it’s at least within the realm of possibility.

When Brodeur set that record, he finished third in Hart Trophy voting and Holtby finished fourth that year -- both won the Vezina -- but Hellebuyck campaign might end up being arguably more impressive than either of them. Brodeur and Holtby didn’t lead the league in GAA or save percentage in their respective 48-win campaign, but there’s a good chance of Hellebuyck carrying both of those categories while simultaneously getting his win total well into the 40s.

Still, I think it would take a lack of impressive campaigns from forwards to convince the voters to select a goaltender, even one as dominant as Hellebuyck, as the top pick for the Hart. The last time a goaltender won the trophy was in 2014-15 (Carey Price) when no forward reached the 90-point mark. The time before that when Jose Theodore claimed the award in 2001-02, there was no player who hit 100 points. That won’t be the case this season. Nathan MacKinnion (23 goals, 90 points), Leon Draisaitl (44, 88) and Nikita Kucherov (27, 86) are all providing compelling cases for Hart consideration. If Hellebuyck stays strong down the stretch, then I believe he will be one of the finalists, but a forward is still more likely to ultimately win the award.

Anaheim Ducks

In all likelihood, this will be the seventh straight year without a playoff berth for Anaheim, but perhaps the Ducks can at least end the campaign on a positive note after going 8-2-1 dating back to Jan. 23. They’ll try to maintain that momentum next week, starting with a road game against Edmonton on Tuesday. The Ducks will then play in Vancouver on Wednesday before hosting the Blues and the Islanders on Friday and Sunday, respectfully.

Mason McTavish has been a major part of the Ducks’ recent string of success, supplying seven goals and 11 points over his past 11 outings. McTavish is up to 14 goals and 31 points in 52 appearances in 2024-25, giving the 22-year-old a chance to surpass his career high of 43 points. He has been somewhat inconsistent, so it wouldn’t be shocking if another cold stretch before the end of the campaign ruins that push, but this could very well just be the prelude to a breakout in 2025-26. Taken with the No. 3 overall pick in the 2021 NHL Draft, McTavish could turn into a very valuable top six forward.

On the blue line, the Ducks also have been getting help from Jackson LaCombe, who scored a goal Thursday to extend his point streak to four games (one goal, four assists). The 24-year-old is now just one point shy of reaching 30 for the first time in his career. Although he’s gotten a healthy amount of power-play ice time (1:52 per game), LaCombe hasn’t quite clicked with the man advantage, providing just five points this season. The Ducks collectively have underwhelmed in that category with their 12.7 percent conversion rate, 31st in the league, but that’s a potential area of upside for both LaCombe and Anaheim, especially if you’re looking ahead to next season.

Leo Carlsson might be part of the solution on the power play once he’s had more time to develop. Taken with the No. 2 overall pick in the 2023 NHL Draft, the 20-year-old hasn’t made a big impact this season with 11 goals and 23 points through 52 outings, but he’s giving us a taste of what he’s capable of, providing two goals and seven points in his past seven games.

Ultimately, it’s encouraging to see the Ducks’ younger players playing key roles recently. Anaheim has been rough for years now, but the youth movement might be on the cusp of moving the Ducks back into playoff contention -- likely not this year, but they’re a squad you shouldn’t sleep on for 2025-26.

Dallas Stars

The Stars have a commanding 37-19-2 record, but they’re also in the same division as Winnipeg, so they’re unlikely to do better than the second seed. Even there, Dallas needs to stay sharp to stay ahead of Minnesota (34-21-4) and Colorado (34-24-2). The Stars will attempt to cushion their hold on the second seed next week, starting with home games against New Jersey and Calgary on Tuesday and Thursday, respectively. The Stars will then play in Edmonton on Saturday and Vancouver on Sunday.

With the Stars battling in such a tough division, they decided they couldn’t wait until the trade deadline to make some moves. To that end, the Stars acquired Mikael Granlund and Cody Ceci from San Jose on Feb. 1. Given that about a month has past, it seems like a good opportunity to take stock of how that trade is working out for Dallas.

Granlund has primarily been playing on the Stars’ second line alongside Matt Duchene and Mason Marchment, though he’s also gotten looks on the first unit with Jason Robertson and Roope Hintz. In either scenario, Granlund has helped out, providing six assists (five primary assists) in seven appearances since the trade. He’s also seen action on the first power-play unit, but he hasn’t gotten any production with the man advantage yet.

Eventually he should have some power-play production and will largely continue to be effective offensively. He’s a nice boost on a team that already featured some pretty solid forward depth.

In the case of Ceci, he has two assists, nine blocks and 14 hits while averaging 20:46 of ice time in seven outings with Dallas. He’s never been much of an offensive threat, so even those two helpers should be regarded as merely a bonus, but the move from San Jose to Dallas hasn’t cost him his top four role, which means that he should continue to be a reliable source of blocks and hits.

Dallas is in a tough position cap wise, so that might be it for the Stars in terms of additions -- unless Miro Heiskanen (knee) or Tyler Seguin (hip) are done until the playoffs. Seguin has resumed skating while Heiskanen hasn’t, per Sean Shapiro of DLLS Sports. Stars GM Jim Nill describe their situation as fluid, which to me suggests that it’s not clear if they’ll be ready before the playoffs or not. Still, if Dallas ends up making a big splash before the deadline, then that probably implies that one or both of them will remain on LTIR until the playoffs.

When they do return, it’ll be interesting to see how the Stars adjust their lines. Tyler Seguin saw success early in the campaign alongside Duchene and Marchment, so maybe he’ll resume that role, leaving Granlund to primarily play with Robertson and Hintz. That would likely result in Mavrik Bourque and Logan Stankoven seeing their playing time diminish. Whatever his role, don’t diminish Seguin when he returns. In part due to injuries, it’s been a while since he had a 60-plus point campaign, but he’s been effective while healthy, supplying 55 goals and 122 points in 163 outings across the past three years for an average of 61 points per 82 games.

In terms of a healthy Heiskanen, he might link up with Thomas Harley. That might in turn lead to Matt Dumba and Ilya Lyubushkin competing for the sixth blueliner role. We might also see Lian Bichsel return to AHL Texas once Heiskanen is healthy. That’d give Dallas a top four of Harley, Esa Lindell, Ceci and Heiskanen going into the playoffs.

Los Angeles Kings

At 31-17-8, the Kings are a good bet to make the playoffs and could still win the Pacific Division with a strong finish. That pursuit of the 35-18-6 Golden Knights will likely be a key motivator for them going into next week. The Kings will play in Chicago on Monday before hosting the Blues twice on Wednesday and Saturday. They’ll then travel to Vegas to play against the division rival Sunday.

To the surprise of no one, Quinton Byfield wasn’t part of Team Canada for the 4 Nations Face-Off. He’s simply not good enough -- yet. Taken with the No. 2 overall pick in the 2020 NHL Draft, Byfield has plenty of upside, and the 22-year-old gave another taste of it Monday when he registered four assists to aid LA in its 5-2 victory over the Golden Knights. That’s the third time this campaign he’s provided at least three points in a game, but his offense hasn’t been consistent, which has limited him to 34 points (11 goals) in 56 appearances. At this rate, he’ll end up doing a little worse than his 55-point showing in 2023-24, which is disappointing, but not a disaster.

What would be a disaster for the Kings is another extended absence from Drew Doughty. While the Kings demonstrated during his 47-game absence to start the campaign that they can win without him, he certainly brings plenty to the table when healthy, supplying a goal, four points, 11 hits and 13 blocks while averaging 25:55 of ice time in his eight appearances with the Kings’ this campaign.

In that context, it was especially concerning when Doughty missed Wednesday’s clash against Vancouver due to a lower-body injury. He had missed the first half of the campaign with an ankle injury, so the location of his new problem was particularly concerning. Fortunately, it seems like the worst-case scenario isn’t likely. As Mayor’s Manor reported, Doughty is just dealing with soreness and swelling, which makes him day-to-day. Still, you have to wonder if maybe the Kings will manage his workload a little more or even consider making him a healthy scratch on occasion. LA still has four back-to-back sets remaining, so keep an eye on that situation.

Anze Kopitar is also worth monitoring. He had an excellent start to the campaign, providing 12 goals and 39 points in 36 outings, but Kopitar has just a goal and seven points across his last 20 games, including three points in his past 12 outings. At one time, he seemed like a lock to reach the 70-point mark for the third straight campaign, but that’s now in serious jeopardy for the 37-year-old.

Cold streaks aren’t new for Kopitar, but it is unusual for one to last this long, so it’s reached the point where his slump is cause for concern.

New York Islanders

The Islanders will spend next week primarily on the road with games against the Rangers on Monday, the Sharks on Saturday and the Ducks on Sunday. The lone exception is a home match against Winnipeg on Tuesday.

Signing Tony DeAngelo was a controversial decision given his history, but if there’s one positive to the game, it’s what he brings to the table offensively, and he’s largely delivered there, providing a goal and six points across 11 appearances since he made his Islanders debut Jan. 25. Interestingly, none of those points have come with the man advantage, which has traditionally been a key part of his production. If you want to take an optimistic look, that could mean that his scoring pace could be even better once he starts clicking on the power play.

It's also interesting that the return of Noah Dobson didn’t seem to meaningfully alter DeAngelo’s role. He was originally seen as a stopgap measure after Dobson suffered a lower-body injury, but DeAngelo still logged 21:20 of ice time, including 1:49 with the man advantage, in Dobson’s first game back Thursday. Granted, Dobson got just 18:54 himself, which suggests the Islanders were easing him back into the lineup a bit, but it still seems reasonable to believe DeAngelo will maintain his top four role going forward.

As for Dobson, he should see his playing time return to its average around 24 minutes within the next couple of games. He’ll also continue to feature on the power play, even with the presence of DeAngelo. Getting Dobson back will likely move Scott Perunovich back into a depth role, though. Perunovich had three assists while playing in nine straight games and saw some power-play time from Jan. 28-Feb. 25, but he was a healthy scratch Thursday and will likely spend additional time in the press box going forward.

New York Rangers

In contrast to the Islanders, the Rangers will spend most of next week at home. They’ll host the Islanders on Monday, the Capitals on Wednesday and the Blue Jackets on Sunday. The Rangers’ lone road game will be Wednesday in Washington.

New York has been all over the place this season. Despite a 12-4-1 start, the Rangers no longer occupy a playoff spot, though they have won five of their past seven games, bringing them up to 29-25-4 overall.

Igor Shesterkin has been part of the weirdness, posting a 20-20-2 record, 2.93 GAA and .906 save percentage. If the campaign ended after Thursday’s action, Shesterkin’s GAA and save percentage would both mark career worsts for him. He’s had some amazing starts, holding the competition to one or fewer goals in 10 outings, and he’s made at least 30 saves on 16 occasions. At the same time, there are nine instances of him surrendering at least five goals. To put that into context, from 2019-20 through 2022-23, he had eight total games in which he allowed five or more goals over a span of 158 regular-season appearances.

That inconsistency in net has been part of the problem for the Rangers, but New York has also seen its scoring tick down this campaign with 3.03 goals per game from 3.39 last year. The good news is that the Rangers offense has been clicking lately, averaging 3.50 goals since the start of February.

Acquiring J.T. Miller in a trade with Vancouver on Jan. 31 has helped with that. Miller has provided five goals and nine points in eight appearances since joining the Rangers, and he should average about a point per game throughout the remainder of the season.

We’ve also seen a resurgence of Mika Zibanejad. The 31-year-old had an uncharacteristically poor stretch from Dec. 14-Jan. 28 in which he had just three goals and eight points across 22 appearances. He’s put that behind him in February, though, scoring three goals and 11 points over an eight-game stretch. Zibanejad’s slump will keep him below his 2023-24 finish of 72 points (he has 40 points in 58 outings this year), but he is still capable of being a strong presence down the stretch.

Adam Fox was also looking good, going on a seven-game scoring streak (two goals, eight points) from Feb. 2-25, but unfortunately that was cut short by an upper-body injury. With a spot in the postseason not secure, this is a terrible time for the Rangers to lose a key defenseman, but it is an opportunity for Braden Schneider to play a bigger role, including the possibility of work with the man advantage.

Philadelphia Flyers

The Flyers have four games on the docket next week, and they’re all at home. Philadelphia will host Calgary on Tuesday, Winnipeg on Thursday, Seattle on Saturday and New Jersey on Sunday.

The Flyers are 26-26-8 through Thursday’s action, putting them six points out of a wild-card spot, though Philadelphia has played one more game than the Red Wings and the Blue Jackets, which are currently tied at 66 and hold the first and second wild-card seeds, respectively. However, Philadelphia would need to leapfrog the Rangers, the Senators, the Bruins and the Canadiens in addition to surpassing one of Detroit or Columbus in order to make the playoffs, so the Flyers are facing long odds to say the least. Moneypuck puts Philadelphia’s playoff chances at just 2.2 percent and gives them better odds of securing the first overall pick, 5.9 percent.

The Flyers are seller at this point, though it might be that their trade sending Morgan Frost and Joel Farabee to the Flames on Jan. 31 will go down as the only noteworthy move they make before the deadline. Andrei Kuzmenko and Erik Johnson are their only players of note who are set to become unrestricted free agents this summer. Kuzmenko might have value to a contender as a depth scorer, but his $5.5 million cap hit hurts his value, even if Philadelphia were willing to retain part of it.

Meanwhile, Johnson doesn’t seem to have much left at the age of 36. He’s appeared in just 22 games with Philadelphia this season, and a contender would presumably be looking at him as a seventh defenseman at best. I wouldn’t be shocked if he got picked up by someone, but probably just for a sixth or seventh-round pick.

They might trade someone with term, though. Rasmus Ristolainen has come up in the rumor mill. He’s a huge, physical right-hand defenseman, so it’s easy to imagine teams gunning for him, but because he’s signed through 2026-27, the Flyers are in the driver’s seat when it comes to negotiations. If they don’t get an offer they love, then they can just hold onto him for next season. With that in mind, it seems Philadelphia wants a first rounder plus an asset for him, and no team has come close to that yet, according to Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic. So don’t be surprised if he stays with the Flyers.

With the deadline looming, it can be easy to miss the fact that Matvei Michkov is having one of the best stretches of his rookie campaign. He has an incredible five goals and 10 points across his past five appearances, bringing him up to 19 goals and 44 points through 58 outings overall. The 20-year-old has been all over the place this year, even spending some time as a healthy scratch, but his offensive potential is without question. If he can find some degree of consistency, then 80-plus point campaigns might be in his future.

Tampa Bay Lightning

Tampa Bay will open next week with a road match against the Panthers on Monday, but they’ll spend the rest of the week at home. The Lightning will host the Blue Jackets on Tuesday, the Sabres on Thursday and the Bruins on Saturday.

Tampa Bay is third in the Atlantic Division, but after winning its past seven games, the Lightning have a 34-20-4 record and sit just three points behind the division-leading Panthers, which will make that Monday contest all the more important.

Look for Andrei Vasilevskiy to get the nod in that game. He’s played a vital role in the Lightning’s winning streak, being in net for all seven of those contests while posting a 1.72 GAA and a .944 save percentage. That gives him a 28-15-3 record, 2.21 GAA and .922 save percentage through 46 appearances in 2024-25, which is a nice return to form after a rough 2023-24 in which he had a 30-20-2 record, 2.90 GAA and .900 save percentage in 52 outings. If not for Connor Hellebuyck’s dazzling play, Vasilevskiy might have been in the conversation to win the Vezina for the first time since 2018-19.

Brandon Hagel has also been a major driver of Tampa Bay’s recent success. He has nine goals and 16 points across his past nine outings, giving him 29 goals and 67 points in 58 games this campaign. It’s not unusual for goals to come in bunches -- Hagel has a similar stretch of success from Oct. 15-24 in which he collected six goals and nine points in six outings -- so enjoy this while it lasts, but don’t be shocked if he then has another stretch similar to Jan. 14-28 (aka, no goals and three assists over eight games).

Nick Paul is a somewhat similar story. He found the back of the net for four straight games from Feb. 8-25 (keep in mind, the 4 Nations Face-Off break was in the middle of that), but he also has stretches of no production -- he had a six-game point drought from Jan. 25-Feb. 6. He averages out to be a decent secondary scorer (18 goals and 32 points in 52 outings this season), but not someone you can rely on regularly.

Nikita Kucherov tends to be a more consistent offensive force. Excluding games missed, he hasn’t been held off the scoresheet for more than back-to-back contests this season. That’s led to him supplying 27 goals and 86 points in 55 appearances, including four goals and 13 points across his last nine outings -- technically a nine-game scoring streak, but it’s not an official one because he didn’t play Feb. 9 due to an upper-body injury.

Washington Capitals

The Capitals will start the week by hosting the Senators on Monday before travelling to New York to face the Rangers on Wednesday. Washington will then play home games against the Red Wings on Friday and the Kraken on Sunday.

All eyes will remain on Alex Ovechkin as he continues his pursuit of Wayne Gretzky. Ovechkin is 11 goals away from tying the record after finding the back of the net against Calgary on Tuesday. That gives him eight markers and 13 points across his past nine games, and 30 goals in 2024-25 despite being limited to 43 contests due to injury.

Speaking of, when Ovechkin suffered a fibula fracture back in November, it seemed like he would have to wait until at least the 2025-26 campaign to break the record, but with 23 games remaining on Washington’s schedule, it’s certainly possible for him to surpass the record before the playoffs. He’d have to stay hot, but with the way he’s played this year, it’s doable.

Dylan Strome has enjoyed sharing the ice with Ovechkin. While he’s not completely dependent on the Russian superstar, Ovechkin has appeared on the scoresheet for 32 of Strome’s 59 points. The 27-year-old Strome has six goals and 13 points across his past 10 appearances as he looks to reach the 70-point milestone for the first time in his career.

The only real blemish on Washington recently has been Logan Thompson. He’s still having a great campaign overall with a 25-3-5 record, 2.28 GAA and .919 save percentage in 33 appearances, but he has allowed at least three goals in each of his past five starts. Perhaps Thompson would benefit from a bit more rest down the stretch. After all, he’s never played in more then 50 regular-season plus playoff games in a single campaign, and the Capitals are hoping to lean on him heavily come the postseason.

Charlie Lindgren is 13-10-3 with a 2.70 GAA and an .896 save percentage in 27 outings, and he’s struggled recently too, allowing 15 goals on 99 shots (.848 save percentage) across his past four starts, so he’s not an ideal alternative. However, Washington is in a commanding position thanks to its 38-13-8 record, so the Capitals can afford to regularly rest Thompson down the stretch, even if it ends up costing them some wins. Keep that in mind when evaluating Lindgren and Thompson’s value for the remainder of 2024-25.

NHL: DADOUN – THE FANTASY WEEK AHEAD – Examining offseason moves – Oilers thriving ex-RFA’s versus UFA signings – Teams with favourable schedules

Ryan Dadoun — Sat, 04 Jan 2025 16:15:29 +0000

DALLAS, TX - DECEMBER 14: St Louis Blue defenseman Philip Broberg skates with the puck down the ice during an NHL game between the St Louis Blues and the Dallas Stars on December 14, 2024, at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, TX. (Photo by Steve Nurenberg/Icon Sportswire)

Going into 2024-25, it looked like the Oilers had a great summer. Sure, they lost restricted free agents Dylan Holloway and Philip Broberg to St. Louis, but only because the Blues overpaid for them. Meanwhile, Edmonton was crafty, snagging Jeff Skinner and Viktor Arvidsson at bargain bin prices, while also re-signing Adam Henrique to a reasonable contract. The goaltending was still in a risky state given the reliance on the streaky Stuart Skinner and the defense looked thin, but up front, Edmonton seemed deeper than it had ever been in the Connor McDavid-era.

Reality has played out differently. Edmonton has a 23-12-3 record, so they don’t have much to complain about on that front. However, Skinner hasn’t been the bargain that they thought. Instead, the six-time 30-plus goal scorer has just six markers and 13 points through 37 appearances. He’s been so underwhelming that he’s been largely relegated to the fourth line and was even a healthy scratch Sunday.

Arvidsson hasn’t been much help either. Granted, injuries have been part of the issue, but even when healthy, he’s underwhelmed with four goals and nine points through 23 outings. Meanwhile, Henrique has three goals and 10 points in 38 games after finishing the 2023-24 regular season with 51 points.

With the benefit of hindsight, Edmonton should have prioritized its restricted free agents. Broberg has three goals and 14 points in 27 outings while managing a top four role. Holloway has looked even better, collecting 14 goals and 27 points in 40 appearances.

As for Skinner and Arvidsson being bargains while Broberg and Holloway were overpaid, the former duo costs $7 million combined for 2024-25 while the latter comes in at roughly $6.9. Oops.

To be fair, this isn’t what many would have predicted going into the campaign, and there’s still time for Skinner and Arvidsson to make their marks, especially come the playoffs. However, it does highlight how plans can go awry, and with nearly half the campaign now in the books, this seems like a good time to take stock of how teams did in the offseason.

That’ll be the theme of this week’s article: For every team I highlight below, I’m going focus on the players who were brought in over the summer and reevaluate whether it’s worked out.

Carolina Hurricanes (Tue @ TBL, Thu @ TOR, Fri vs VAN, Sun vs ANA)

Carolina has been middling recently, posting a 7-8-1 record over its past 16 games, though the Hurricanes are still 23-13-2 overall thanks to their commanding start. Next week is packed for Carolina and primarily at home, though the opponents will be difficult. The Hurricanes will play in Tampa Bay on Tuesday before hosting Toronto, Vancouver and Anaheim on Thursday, Friday and Sunday, respectively.

Even after factoring in Carolina’s recent underwhelming play, the Hurricanes are still well on their way to making the playoffs for the seventh straight campaign despite significant turnover. They lost two top-four defensemen -- Brady Skjei and Brett Pesce -- and top-six forward Teuvo Teravainen. Jake Guentzel also parted ways with Carolina, but he was a midseason rental, so he was less ingrained into the team.

Carolina led the league in xGA/60 in 2023-24 (2.65), but the team has dipped to 11th (2.90) this year. That’s not bad, but it does suggest that the losses of Skjei and Pesce have been felt.

Carolina did ink Shayne Gostisbehere to a three-year, $9.6 million contract over the summer, but the 31-year-old defenseman was brought in as more of a power-play specialist than a two-way option. He has served well in that role, supplying six goals and 27 points through 35 appearances, but unfortunately, he’s out indefinitely with an upper-body injury.

Interestingly, Brent Burns appears to be staying on the second power-play unit despite Gostisbehere’s injury. Burns is hot with two goals and four points over his past four appearances, but he has just one point with the man advantage this year, and unless he moves up to the top power-play grouping, it’s hard to see him having a strong second half.

Ty Smith seems to have gotten the special-teams assignment instead of Burns. The 24-year-old has averaged just 14:02 of ice time in Carolina’s three games without Gostisbehere, but 4:05 per contest has come with the man advantage. Smith has a goal (provided on the power play) in those three appearances after supplying three goals and 10 points in 13 outings with AHL Chicago. He’s worth a short-term pickup.

Moving back to the Hurricanes’ summer acquisitions, Carolina also inked Jack Roslovic to a one-year, $2.8 million deal. He’s worked out well in Carolina, collecting 17 goals and 25 points through 38 outings, which puts the 27-year-old on track to surpass his career high of 45 points. I’m not confident he’ll get there, though. His 22.4 shooting percentage doesn’t look sustainable and his role with the team hasn’t been consistent, resulting in him averaging a modest 14:00, including 1:15 on the power play. It’s hard to trust him unless he starts getting bigger minutes consistently, so there’s a risk of him slowing meaningfully in the second half.

Detroit Red Wings (Tue vs OTT, Fri vs CHI, Sun vs SEA)

The Red Wings are showing some life under new bench boss Todd McLellan, winning each of their past three games. Still, they have a lot of ground to make up given their 16-18-4 record. Fortunately, their upcoming competition is favorable -- they'll spend next week at home, hosting Ottawa on Tuesday, Chicago on Friday and Seattle on Sunday.

Detroit lost Gostisbehere and veteran forward David Perron over the summer, which threatened to hurt the team’s scoring, but the Red Wings hoped to mitigate that by bringing in Vladimir Tarasenko on a two-year, $9.5 million contract. Tarasenko isn’t the same player he was when he provided over 30 goals on six occasions from 2014-15 through 2021-22, but he still figured to be a valuable middle-six option after providing 23 goals and 55 points over 76 outings between Ottawa and Florida in 2023-24.

It hasn’t worked out like that, though. Tarasenko has just four goals and 14 points through 37 appearances and isn’t giving Red Wings fans much hope that he’ll have a strong second half. The veteran has no goals and three assists across his past 14 games. While Detroit has won its last three games by scoring at least four goals in each contest, Tarasenko has managed a single shot on net over that stretch.

Detroit re-signed Patrick Kane to a one-year, $4 million deal over the summer. Initially, Kane’s story this season looked a lot like Tarasenko -- Kane had just three goals and 10 points over his first 24 appearances of 2024-25 -- but he’s hit his stride, providing five goals and nine points across his past nine outings.

Detroit ranks 25th in goals per game with 2.68, which is a collapse compared to the Red Wings’ 3.35 last campaign. That’s in large part due to a decline in secondary scoring. Detroit had eight players with at least 15 goals. Just five are scoring at a pace to reach that mark this campaign. If Tarasenko could get going, that would certainly help, but it would be wrong to put the blame solely on him when the team as a whole has declined that much.

Minnesota Wild (Tue vs STL, Thu vs COL, Sat @ SJS, Sun @VGK)

The Wild have won four of their past five games, bringing their record up to 24-11-4 this campaign. They’ll look to continue the good times next week, starting with a home game against the Blues on Tuesday. After that, the Wild will host Colorado on Thursday before hitting the road for contests in San Jose on Saturday and Vegas on Sunday.

In contrast to their dominance this season, the Wild missed the playoffs in 2023-24 with a 39-34-9 record, so you’d think they had a successful summer, but this is largely the same team that fell short last campaign. The big difference has been Filip Gustavsson. He struggled in 2023-24 with a 20-18-4 record, 3.06 GAA and .899 save percentage but has rebounded this time, posting a 17-6-3 record, 2.28 GAA and .924 save percentage across 26 starts.

It wouldn’t be surprising to see Gustavsson continue his dominance through the second half of the campaign. While it’s in contrast to last season, he has demonstrated this level of success before -- he was 22-9-7 with a 2.10 GAA and a .931 save percentage in 39 outings in 2022-23 -- so this isn’t coming out of nowhere.

Marco Rossi has also taken a step up. The 23-year-old finished 2023-24 with 21 goals and 40 points and is well on his way to shattering those totals this season, collecting 15 goals and 33 points through 39 outings so far. For the second straight campaign, Rossi has the distinction of getting plenty of ice time with Kirill Kaprizov, but the duo seems to be meshing better this year. Kaprizov showed up on the scoresheet for 16 of Rossi’s 40 points last season but has already featured on 21 of Rossi’s 33 points in 2024-25.

While Minnesota didn’t make any significant additions last summer, it is worth noting that the Wild signed Brock Faber to an eight-year, $68 million contract extension back in July. Faber was one of the few positives for the Wild in 2023-24, supplying eight goals, 47 points, 65 hits and 150 blocks in 82 appearances as a rookie. Locking him up long-term was a bit of a risk given his small sample size, but it’s looking like it was a great call. He has five goals, 20 points, 15 hits and 51 blocks through 39 outings in 2024-25.

Faber didn’t look ideal analytically last campaign with a relative 5v5 CF%/FF% of minus-2.8/minus-3.5, which suggests that the team performed worse from a puck possession perspective when he was on the ice, but the 22-year-old has shown some growth in that regard as a sophomore, posting a minus-1.7/minus-2.9 relative 5v5 CF%/FF%.

Ottawa Senators (Tue @ DET, Thu @ BUF, Sat @ PIT, Sun vs DAL)

Minnesota is enjoying a great campaign after a rough one, but the Senators are still floundering in mediocrity. Ottawa finished 37-41-4 in 2023-24, missing the playoffs for the seventh consecutive year. The Senators are a more respectable, but still not great 19-17-2 this year.

Ottawa does have a shot at ending its postseason drought, but every point will be critical. Next week, the Senators will play in Detroit on Tuesday, host the Sabres on Thursday, play in Pittsburgh on Saturday and then head back home to face the Stars on Sunday.

There was some reason for cautious optimism going into this campaign. Joonas Korpisalo had been a big problem for the Senators in 2023-24, posting a 21-26-4 record, 3.27 GAA and .890 save percentage in 55 outings while finishing minus-16.1 in terms of goals saved above expected. To exchange him with Linus Ullmark in a trade with Boston over the summer seemed like a huge win, and it has been.

Ullmark did initially struggle in Ottawa and is presently dealing with a back injury, but he’s still been strong overall with a 12-7-2 record, 2.38 GAA and .915 save percentage across 23 games with the Senators. Unfortunately, Ottawa’s holdover goaltender, Anton Forsberg, has continued to struggle with a 3.04 GAA and an .885 save percentage in 12 outings, so Ottawa has to hope that Ullmark returns soon.

Even when he is playing, though, Ottawa is still limited by its offense, ranking 20th in goals per game with 2.95. Trading offensive defenseman Jakob Chychrun to Washington didn’t help. The Senators did receive Nick Jensen in the trade, but Jensen is more of a defensive option, contributing two goals, 13 points, 37 hits and 44 blocks in 38 contests with Ottawa this campaign.

The Senators also attempted to boost its secondary scoring by inking David Perron to a two-year, $8 million contract. Perron had recorded at least 36 points in each of his past eight campaigns, so he seemed like a reasonable bet, but the 36-year-old has been no help. Part of that is due to injuries, but even in the nine games he’s logged with Ottawa, Perron has no points.

To make matters worse, Claude Giroux is showing his age, collecting nine goals and 24 points through 38 appearances in 2024-25, putting the 36-year-old on pace to finish well below his totals of 79 and 64 points in 2022-23 and 2023-24, respectively.

If Ottawa is to miss the playoffs this year, a lack of scoring will likely be the reason.

Pittsburgh Penguins (Tue vs CBJ, Thu vs EDM, Sat vs OTT, Sun vs TBL)

Pittsburgh was aggressive in the summer of 2023, bringing offensive defenseman Erik Karlsson into the fold, but that proved to be not enough for the 2023-24 Penguins, who missed the playoffs due to a 38-32-12 record. The Penguins didn’t make as big a splash this summer, and the results remain mixed with the Penguins sitting at 17-17-6. They are in the mix for a playoff spot, so their upcoming homestand will be important -- Pittsburgh will host Columbus on Tuesday, Edmonton on Thursday, Ottawa on Saturday and Tampa Bay on Sunday.

Goaltending was a weakness for Pittsburgh in 2023-24, but the Penguins didn’t change its duo, so Alex Nedeljkovic and Tristan Jarry are paired together for the second straight campaign. The results have been bad, Pittsburgh ranks last in goals allowed per game (3.63), though the defense in front of them is at least partially to blame given the team’s xGA/60 of 3.34, which ranks 29th in the NHL.

At least Rickard Rakell is having a good year. He dropped from 60 points in 2022-23 to just 37 last year, but he’s bounced back to 18 goals and 32 points through 40 appearances this campaign. One factor in that is likely the loss of Jake Guentzel, who the Penguins traded during 2023-24 to avoid potentially losing for nothing as an unrestricted free agent. With Guentzel gone, Rakell has taken his old spot on the top line alongside Sidney Crosby, and that seems to have benefited Rakell quite a bit.

Of course, that’s only because Crosby is defying Father Time with 11 goals and 42 points through 40 games at the age of 37. Malkin, 38, is showing his age more, but he’s still more than holding his own with eight goals and 32 points across 40 outings.

Without much cap space, the Penguins did attempt to supplement its offense on a budget by signing Anthony Beauvillier (one-year, $1.25 million) and Blake Lizotte (two-year, $3.7 million), which has worked out okay. Beauvillier has nine goals and 12 points through 39 appearances while Lizotte has eight goals and 12 points in 24 outings. They add a bit of skill to the bottom six, which is not nothing, but it’s not a lot.

Seattle Kraken (Mon vs NJD, Thu @ CBJ, Sat @ BUF, Sun @DET)

Seattle has been a mixed bag this campaign with a 17-19-3 record, but the Kraken have a somewhat favorable schedule next week. They’ll start by hosting the Devils and then go on the road to play in Columbus on Thursday, in Buffalo on Saturday and in Detroit on Sunday. New Jersey is the only adversary in that batch currently occupying a playoff position.

Although Seattle is still a fairly new franchise, there was some significant turnover during the summer. The biggest change came behind the bench rather than on the ice: Dave Hakstol was replaced by Dan Bylsma as the new bench boss. Under Bylsma, Seattle’s scoring has ticked up somewhat, going from 2.61 goals per game in 2023-24 to 2.90 this campaign, but that’s been undermined by the goals allowed per game increasing to 3.10 compared to 2.83 last year.

Jaden Schwartz has been one of the bigger winners under Bylsma. After collecting 13 goals and 30 points in 62 appearances while averaging 16:22 of ice time last season, Schwartz already has 12 goals and 25 points in 39 games in 2024-25, and he’s seen his playing time tick up to 17:41.

Bylsma has also been making good use of newcomer Chandler Stephenson. Like the coach, Stephenson was an offseason addition, signing a seven-year, $43.75 million deal. That’s a significant commitment to the 30-year-old, but so far, he’s fulfilled his top six duties about as well as expected, supplying four goals and 24 points through 38 appearances. He also has 12 power-play assists, quadrupling that of any other Seattle player.

Brandon Montour was Seattle’s other major free-agent splash, inking a seven-year contract worth one dollar shy of $50 million. Montour missed out on that buck because he was limited to 33 points in 66 regular-season outings with Florida in 2023-24 after setting a career high with 73 points in 2022-23, but he’s done well in his new environment, supplying eight goals and 22 points across 38 outings.

He has gone through something of a cold patch recently with three points (one goal) over his last 10 contests, but it’s not to the point yet where I’m too worried. Even in his amazing 2022-23 campaign, you can find an example of a quiet stretch from Feb. 9-28 in which he had four assists in nine appearances. To be clear, I’m not suggesting that this season will parallel 2022-23, merely stating that slower stretches happen, and the 30-year-old should start picking up the pace again before too long.

Vegas Golden Knights (Tue @ SJS, Thu vs NYI, Sat vs NYR, Sun vs MIN)

While Seattle hasn’t had much playoff success yet, the NHL’s other young franchise, Vegas, has already made the playoffs six times and won the Cup in 2023. The Golden Knights had a down year in 2023-24, posting a 45-29-8 record followed by a first-round exit, but they’re back in business this campaign at 26-9-3. The Golden Knights will start next week with a road match against the rebuilding Sharks before hosting two struggling teams in the Islanders on Thursday and the Rangers on Saturday. Finally, Vegas will be up against a tough contender when they play at home against Minnesota on Sunday.

The Golden Knights more than any other franchise in the NHL is known for making bold trades and constantly having to maneuver to stay under the salary cap. The ceiling forced the Golden Knights to watch forwards Jonathan Marchessault and Chandler Stephenson walk as free agents over the summer. Vegas also traded Logan Thompson to Washington and Paul Cotter to New Jersey.

With those losses, how have the Golden Knights done so well? For starters, Vegas has an economical replacement for Thompson in Ilya Samsonov, who inked a one-year, $1.8 million deal with the Golden Knights. The 27-year-old Samsonov has been a nice backup in Vegas, providing a 10-3-1 record, 2.69 GAA and .907 save percentage in 14 outings. To some extent, he’s even outperformed starter Adin Hill, who is 16-6-2 with a 2.65 GAA and a .902 save percentage through 24 appearances.

You might look at those solid GAAs and middling save percentages and conclude that Vegas’ secret sauce is the defense in front of its netminders, but that’s not entirely the case. In terms of shots allowed per game, Vegas has been relatively good, ranking 12th with 27.9, but the team is also tied for 21st in xGA/60 (3.10) because the Golden Knights tend to give up a ton of high-danger shots, tying for eighth in that category with 142.

As a result, Vegas’ goaltenders don’t necessarily need to work a ton, but they do need to be at the top of their game, and they’ve done just that. Hill has a goals saved above expected of 8.4 and Samsonov is at 6.1, putting them in 14th and 18th, respectively, among all goaltenders, per Moneypuck.

Vegas has also received good value out of Tanner Pearson and Victor Olofsson, who each inked one-year contracts and combine for less than $2 million in cap space. Pearson has eight goals and 16 points through 38 outings, providing some nice scoring depth in a bottom-six capacity. Meanwhile, Olofsson did miss 20 straight games from Oct. 17-Nov. 29 because of a lower-body injury, but he’s been a great middle-six option when healthy, contributing eight goals and 13 points through 18 appearances.

Health in general has really been the key, though. In 2023-24, Vegas finished with just three players who logged the full 82 games while Jack Eichel, Mark Stone, Shea Theodore and Alex Pietrangelo were among those who endured significant absences. Vegas hasn’t been the poster child for health this year, but the situation hasn’t been nearly as bad. That’s helped Eichel especially, who leads the team with 50 points (10 goals) through 38 appearances in 2024-25.

Vegas also made midseason trades during 2023-24 that are paying off now. This is the team’s first full season with defenseman Noah Hanifin, who has six goals and 20 points in 38 outings while serving in a top-four capacity, and forward Tomas Hertl, who has 10 goals and 25 points in 38 games. The result is Vegas is a deep team both up front and on the blue line, even after watching some notable players go over the summer.

Washington Capitals (Mon @ BUF, Wed vs VAN, Fri vs MTL, Sat @ NSH)

The Capitals barely made the playoffs in 2023-24, finishing the regular season with a 40-31-11 record before being swept in the first round. They look very different this year, though, as demonstrated by their 25-10-3 record. Washington will start next week by playing in Buffalo on Monday before returning home to host the Canucks on Wednesday and the Canadiens on Friday. They’ll wrap things up with a game in Nashville on Saturday.

While some of the teams above have made major strides this campaign despite minimal changes over the summer, that doesn’t describe the Capitals. Washington was aggressive in addition pieces, acquiring Jakob Chychrun from Ottawa, Pierre-Luc Dubois from LA and Logan Thompson from Vegas in trades. Washington also made a big splash by signing Matt Roy to a six-year, $34.5 million contract.

Those additions have paid off superbly for Washington. Darcy Kuemper left plenty to be desired with the Capitals last season, posting a 3.31 GAA and an .890 save percentage in 33 starts, but Washington was able to part with him in the Dubois trade, and Thompson has been so much better, recording a 15-2-2 record, 2.30 GAA and .918 save percentage across 19 appearances this season. That upgrade in goaltending has been a critical factor in Washington’s success, especially because it has gone a long way toward counteracting the decline of Charlie Lindgren, who has a 10-8-1 record, 2.70 GAA and .898 save percentage in 19 outings in 2024-25, down from 25-16-7 with a 2.67 GAA and .911 save percentage in 50 appearances last year.

The Capitals were able to snag Dubois from LA for the low cost of Kuemper because the 26-year-old Dubois comes with an $8.5 million cap hit through 2030-31, but he had an underwhelming 16 goals, 40 points and 70 PIM in 82 regular-season outings with the Kings last season. LA had a logjam up the middle, though, contributing to Dubois averaging just 15:42 in 2024-25. By contrast, Washington had a clear second-line opening for him, which he has settled into nicely, providing five goals, 29 points and 22 PIM in 38 games. You’d still like more from a player with his contract, but there’s no question that he’s added to the team’s scoring depth.

If Dubois has worked out with an asterisk because of his price point, then Chychrun has been a clearer win. He is on the final campaign of his contract, but his $4.6 million cap hit is superb value for the 26-year-old defenseman, who has 11 goals and 25 points this campaign. Washington already had John Carlson has a high-end offensive option on the blue line, and now Chychrun is providing Washington with another big weapon to either send out with Carlson or spread out across the top two pairings.

When it comes to the signings, Matt Roy was the major splash. The defenseman has a goal, eight points, 63 hits and 45 blocks in 28 appearances while averaging 19:24 of ice time. He’s never been a major offensive threat, but Washington already has that role well covered with Chychrun and Carlson. Roy is there to help in Washington’s end, which is why 55.4 percent of his 5v5 zone starts have been defensive.

All that has played a role in the Capitals’ success, but I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention Alex Ovechkin’s role in all this. He has an incredible 18 goals and 28 points in 22 appearances. That said, Washington was still a strong 10-5-1 during the 16-game absence of Ovechkin from Nov. 21-Dec. 23 due to a fractured fibula, so clearly this team is more than just the byproduct of its superstar.

NHL: DADOUN – FANTASY WEEK AHEAD – Ovechkin, McDavid in the hunt for Gretzky’s records – Teams and players to target this week

Ryan Dadoun — Sat, 28 Dec 2024 19:45:13 +0000

I remember almost a decade ago writing about the possibility of Alex Ovechkin someday breaking Wayne Gretzky’s goal record. It wasn’t in the context of a prediction that it would happen, but instead, it was about it was about what would need to happen for it to be possible. While Ovechkin surpassing Gretzky seems all but inevitable at this point, it’s taken remarkably good health -- his time missed this campaign due to a fractured fibula notwithstanding -- and complete defiance of Father Time in the back half of his career to make this possible.

Ovechkin never had a campaign like Gretzky enjoyed in his prime, but Gretzky fell hard in his 30s from a goal-scoring perspective, never hitting the 40-goal milestone after the 1990-91 campaign and collecting 176 goals over his last 562 career appearances after accumulating a jaw-dropping 718 markers over his first 925 games.

However you slice it, surpassing Gretzky’s goal record is still incredible and something that would have seemed impossible for anyone when Ovechkin started his NHL career. It made me wonder, though, if Gretzky’s goal record can be overcome, is there a world in which his all-time points record could be bested too?

Gretzky was an even more dominant playmaker than a goal scorer and finished with 2,857 points. To date, no one else has even crossed the 2,000 mark with Jaromir Jagr coming the closest at 1,921. Still, we seem to be in a new age of elite forwards. From 1996-97 through 2021-22, no player recorded 130 points in a single season. In 2022-23, Connor McDavid ended that by scoring 64 goals and 153 points, and then Nikita Kucherov, Nathan MacKinnon and McDavid all finished with over 130 points last year -- 144, 140 and 132, respectively.

It remains to be seen if anyone will breach this mark again in 2024-25, but MacKinnon (14 goals, 60 points in 37 games), Leon Draisaitl (24, 52 in 34) and Mikko Rantanen (20, 53 in 37) all have a shot. I also wouldn’t rule out McDavid breaching that milestone for the third straight year. Although he’s behind the pack with 15 goals and 49 points through 31 outings, McDavid has found his rhythm by providing 12 goals and 39 points over his past 20 contests.

So could any of them match Gretzky? Although it’s anticlimactic, the answer is almost certainly not. McDavid is the most interesting of them, but even in his case, he’s at 350 goals and 1,031 points in his age-28 season. By the end of Gretzky’s age-28 campaign, he already had 637 goals and 1,837 points. Like Ovechkin did, perhaps McDavid will enjoy greater longevity than Gretzky, but even then, the gap is too great. Let’s assume McDavid produces at a 120-point pace over the next 13 campaigns, including 2024-25. Even in that extremely unlikely scenario, that would leave McDavid with 2,542 points -- more than 300 shy of Gretzky.

No active player is in a better position than McDavid either. MacKinnon and Kucherov are both older than McDavid and have fewer career points. The Great One’s points record appears safe for at least another generation. Still, if McDavid does stay fairly healthy and continues to perform at an elite level into his late 30s, then a run at 2,000 points might be viable. That alone would be one of the greatest achievements in hockey history.

It's also arguably harder to score now than it was in Gretzky’s day. When Gretzky set the record with 215 points in a single season in 1985-86, the league average in goals per team per game was 3.97. The best McDavid’s ever seen by that metric is 3.14 in 2022-23 (it’s down to 3.03 this year). Just for the fun of it, let’s do some back-of-the-napkin calculations to attempt to normalize McDavid and Gretzky’s offensive contributions relative to their era. Do not take this seriously as these are some incredibly simplified calculations, but I’ve regressed or enhanced the scoring of each player for each season by a percentage equal to the gap between that campaign’s league average from 3.00 goals per team per game. For example, Gretzky’s 137 points in 1979-80 when the league was scoring at a rate of 3.51 becomes 117 points.

This little experiment is unquestionably to McDavid’s benefit. I was just interested to see if taking this extremely raw approach would be enough to close the gap. The answer is that Gretzky still wins handily. Even under those circumstances, Gretzky would have recorded 1,304 points over his first nine campaigns, including six consecutive campaigns of at least 150 points from 1981-82 through 1986-87. Gretzky’s 215-point campaign is brought down to 162 points, but that still tops anything that McDavid has done, whose 153-point campaign is lessened to 146 points. For McDavid’s part, he has 993 points over his first nine campaigns (running through 2023-24) under this adjusted standard.

Gretzky’s career point total would also still stand at 2,392 (keep in mind, league scoring did begin diminishing in the latter half of Gretzky’s career, so that period wasn’t diminished as much by these calculations as his early seasons), making it difficult for McDavid to overcome.

That goes to show how good Gretzky was, even when compared against the biggest star of his generation, McDavid. There is one record McDavid could realistically take from Gretzky, though: The all-time points total in an Oilers jersey. Gretzky accumulated 1,669 points during his time with Edmonton, and if McDavid re-signs with Edmonton after his existing contract expires in the summer of 2026, which seems reasonable after the Oilers locked up Draisaitl, then McDavid should be able to eventually become Edmonton’s all-time leading scorer.

Calgary Flames

Tues vs. VAN, Thu vs. UTA, Sat vs. NSH

The Flames have a somewhat light schedule with three games next week, but they’ll spend all that time at home. Calgary will host the Canucks on Tuesday, Utah on Thursday and the Predators on Saturday. Vancouver is having a solid campaign, but Utah and Nashville aren’t currently in a playoff position.

Jonathan Huberdeau has been fantastic in recent weeks, providing six goals and 13 points across his past 10 appearances. I still don’t love him long-term, though. Even after factoring in his hot streak, his 25 points through 34 appearances isn’t special, and while his 13 goals in 2024-25 is more impressive, that’s on the back of a likely unsustainable 21.7 shooting percentage -- his career average is 12.5 -- so I think it’s just a matter of time before his scoring pace slows. With that disclaimer out of the way, he's certainly a nice player to have for now.

Matthew Coronato is also hot, supplying two goals and four assists across his active four-game point streak. Taken with the No. 13 overall pick in the 2021 NHL Draft, Coronato excelled with AHL Calgary in 2023-24, recording 15 goals and 42 points over 41 appearances, but he’s been somewhat hit-and-miss at the NHL level this campaign, totaling nine goals and 18 points through 29 outings. In a couple of years, Coronato might be a mainstay on fantasy lineups, but for now, he’s more of a streaming option.

If you’re making a short-term play on Coronato, it’d be worth it to consider his linemate, Blake Coleman, too. The 33-year-old Coleman has eight goals and 17 points in 34 outings, but he’s also hot with three goals and six points over his last five games.

Carolina Hurricanes

Tues @ CBJ, Thu @ FLA, Sat vs. MIN, Sun vs. PIT

The Hurricanes have a strong 21-12-1 record, but that’s due to their strong start. More recently, Carolina has been a middling 7-7-1, so the Hurricanes have room for improvement as the calendar turns to 2025. They’ll look to get going on the road against Columbus on Tuesday and Florida on Thursday. Afterward, the Hurricanes will return home to host Minnesota on Saturday and Pittsburgh on Sunday.

Although Carolina has won just one of its last four games, some players have been effective over that stretch. Brent Burns had a goal and an assist in Friday’s 4-2 loss to New Jersey, marking his first multi-point game since Nov. 5. He has three goals and 11 points through 35 appearances, putting him on pace to finish with less than 30 points for just the second time dating back to 2013-14.

Losing his spot on the first power-play unit to Shayne Gostisbehere has significantly hurt him. Burns had 20 of his 43 points with the man advantage in 2023-24, but he has no power-play points this campaign. In terms of 5-on-5 points, he’s probably going to end up roughly in line with his total from last season, so his drop is pretty much entirely driven by that change in his usage. That’s worth keeping in mind in case circumstances result in him getting on the first power-play unit later in the campaign.

Sebastian Aho hasn’t had any problems collecting power-play points, already accumulating 14 of them in 2024-25. He’s also been a reliable contributor, being held off the scoresheet just three times over his past 16 outings (six goals, 19 points). He has 11 markers and 36 points in 35 outings overall. As long as he stays healthy, the 27-year-old should reach the 80-point milestone for the third time in four campaigns.

Jack Roslovic isn’t going to match Aho in terms of total points this season, but Roslovic has been a regular contributor recently. He has recorded a point in four of his past five appearances (one goal, four points). Interestingly, Roslovic has also recorded over 16 minutes in each of Carolina’s past two games, well above his season average of 13:40 of ice time across his first 33 outings. We’ll have to see if he continues to get that kind of workload, or if he regresses back toward his norm.

Colorado Avalanche

Tues vs. WPG, Thu vs. BUF, Sat vs. MTL

The Avalanche have been red hot recently, posting a 7-2-0 record from Dec. 7-22. They’ll look to maintain that strong play next week in home matches against Winnipeg, Buffalo and Montreal on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

Although injuries were certainly a factor in Colorado’s up-and-down play early in the campaign, goaltending was a major problem. Recently, netminding has been part of Avalanche’s strength. Scott Wedgewood has looked fantastic since joining the Avalanche from Nashville, posting a 1.93 GAA and .932 save percentage across six appearances with Colorado. Similarly, Mackenzie Blackwood has been dominant with the Avalanche with a 3-1-0 record, 2.03 GAA and .931 save percentage in four starts since being acquired from San Jose.

Colorado made a big bet towards the idea that this new combo is everything that they want it to be by inking Blackwood to a five-year, $26.25 million contract extension Friday. That’s a startling commitment to a 28-year-old goaltender with a 3.05 GAA over 219 career appearances. However, the Avalanche’s decision isn’t without merit.

While Blackwood didn’t look nearly as good with the Sharks -- he had a 3.00 GAA and .909 save percentage in 19 appearances before the trade -- he was doing well relative to the team in front of him. His goals saved above expected is plus-5.9 this campaign, per Moneypuck, which is good for 16th place. That suggests he’s been in the upper half of starters in 2024-25 when you separate him from the defense in front of him. It’s a similar story in 2023-24. He had an ugly 3.45 GAA and .899 save percentage in 44 outings with the Sharks, but San Jose was terrible, and Blackwood’s plus-2.4 goals saved above expected last campaign suggests he held his own under very difficult circumstances.

Blackwood was especially good in 2019-20. His 22-14-8 record, 2.77 GAA and .915 save percentage in 47 appearances might not scream dominant, but he ranked fifth in the league in goals saved above expected (plus-7.9) that year. It hasn’t always been good -- he struggled in that metric in 2020-21 and 2021-22, but when his career has been taken as a whole, it’s fair to say that he has been consistently put into difficult circumstances and made the most of them. Now in Colorado, which has been solid defensively, ranking 11th in xGA/60 at 2.93 this season, Blackwood is finally in a position to put up great top-line numbers in addition to solid analytics.

Dallas Stars

Tues vs. BUF, Thu vs. OTT, Sat vs. UTA

Dallas will spend the upcoming week at home, hosting the Sabres on Tuesday, the Senators on Thursday and Utah on Saturday. Of that competition, only Ottawa (18-14-2) entered Friday’s action in possession of a playoff spot.

The Stars have managed to score no more than three goals in any of their past seven games, and they’ve produced two or fewer in five of those contests. Losing Tyler Seguin (hip), potentially for the rest of the regular season, has been felt, but Matt Duchene has also fallen hard from his hot start. After scoring 12 goals and 27 points through 22 outings, the 33-year-old has just a goal and three points over his past 12 appearances. Getting Duchene going again will be critical to the Stars’ long-term success.

At least Jason Robertson has done well lately. His seven goals and 23 points through 34 games is still well below what you’d want to see out of a player of that caliber, but he does have two goals and eight points across his past eight appearances.

Roope Hintz has also found his scoring touch, netting nine goals over his past 16 outings, including four goals in four games from Dec. 16-23. Hopefully, the holiday break didn’t cool him off -- he was held off the scoresheet Friday, though he did record four shots.

The lack of offense has weighed on goaltender Jake Oettinger. He’s held the competition to 16 goals over his past seven appearances but has a mediocre 3-4-0 record over that span due to the lack of support.

New Jersey Devils

Tues @ ANA, Wed @ LAK, Sat @ SJS

The Devils are on the road next week, but the competition is favorable. They’ll play in Anaheim on Tuesday, LA on Wednesday and San Jose on Saturday.

Being on the road hasn’t been much of a problem for the Devils anyway. They have a 12-5-0 away record compared to 12-6-3 at home. Not every player has traveled well, though.

Timo Meier is a great forward to utilize in New Jersey with his eight goals and 18 points through 20 appearances, but he’s been limited to five goals and nine points on the road, so you might want to exercise caution with him next week. Ondrej Palat is a major offensive force in either scenario, but he’s also noticeably better at home (four goals and 10 points in 20 appearances) than on the road (three goals and five points in 17 outings).

On the flip side, Dougie Hamilton has been somewhat quiet in New Jersey with two goals and eight points across 21 outings, but he’s accumulated three goals and 15 points in 17 games during the Devils’ travels. Paul Cotter has held his own on the road too with five goals and nine points over 17 appearances, but his home production stands at just two goals and four points through 21 outings.

Jacob Markstrom is an interesting case. He’s 9-4-0 with a 2.09 GAA on the road and 10-2-2 with a 2.13 GAA at home, so clearly, he provides value in either scenario. However, his save percentage is starkly different at home (.898) compared to the road (.926). The Devils do allow significantly fewer shots at home (23.0) than they do away (27.6), so it seems Markstrom adjusts well to the higher workload, and his save percentage reflects that.

New York Rangers

Mon @ FLA, Thu vs. BOS, Sat @ WSH, Sun @ CHI

The Rangers have been in freefall, dropping 13 of their past 17 games. They’ll try to end the slump next week, starting with a game in Florida on Monday. New York will then host the Bruins on Thursday before playing in Washington on Saturday and in Chicago on Sunday.

If you’re looking for hot skaters, you’ll need to go elsewhere. No Rangers player has amassed more than two points over the team’s past six games. That’s just sad for a team with this much talent. Igor Shesterkin is doing well, posting a 2.63 GAA and a stellar .926 save percentage over his last six outings, but the Rangers have done so poorly offensively, that the 28-year-old netminder has just a 2-4-0 record over that span.

Outside of Shesterkin, is there anything at all here for fantasy managers? If you’re looking for help in other categories, then yes. The Rangers’ slump hasn’t impacted Vincent Trocheck on the draw, for example. He has been among the most dominant centers in that category this year, winning 393 of his 641 opportunities (61.3 percent), including 69 of 117 across (59.0 percent) the Rangers’ anemic past six games. Sam Carrick doesn’t get as many chances on the draw, but he has a 58.3 percent success rate across 283 faceoff opportunities this year and is 39-for-66 (59.1 percent) over the last six contests.

Will Cuylle is also still out there throwing his body around. He ranks fourth in hits with 127 and dished out 15 over the aforementioned six-game span. Trocheck has been even more aggressive in that span with 21 hits, bringing him up to 112 overall, which is good for 12th in the league.

Cuylle was especially good in fantasy earlier in the campaign because he was bringing offense as well as grit. He has been limited to four points (two goals) over his past 11 appearances, so the multi-dimensional aspect of his game is gone, but he has been getting tested on the first power-play unit recently, which is a rarity for him -- he basically wasn’t used with the man advantage at all over the first 16 games of the season -- and perhaps that will help spark him. If nothing else, at least he's bringing something to the table during the Rangers’ team-wide slump, which is more than could be said for some other members of the squad.

Toronto Maple Leafs

Tues vs. NYI, Thu @ NYI, Sat vs. BOS, Sun vs. PHI

The Maple Leafs will begin next week with a home-and-away series against the Islanders on Tuesday and Thursday, respectively. They’ll then host Boston on Saturday and the Flyers on Sunday.

Injuries have been a recurring storyline for the Maple Leafs this season, and right now there are two of great importance: Auston Matthews’ upper-body issue and Anthony Stolarz’s knee injury.

Stolarz’s knee problem is the clearer cut of them. He underwent a procedure to remove a loose body from the area on Dec. 18 and will be unavailable until mid-to-late January as a result. That puts more pressure on Joseph Woll, who has unfortunately gone cold at a bad time. Woll has allowed at least three goals in his four starts from Dec. 14-23, though he did hold the struggling Red Wings to two goals on 25 shots Friday. Matt Murray is also getting a chance to help fill the void, and he stopped 24 of 27 shots en route to a 6-3 victory against the struggling Sabres on Dec. 20.

Toronto was in a four-way tie for first in goals allowed per game with 2.55 through Dec. 12 because of how reliable the Woll-Stolarz duo has been for much of this campaign. Toronto has looks more vulnerable in terms of goaltending now, but perhaps the win against Detroit signaled the end of Woll’s cold spell. Even if it hasn’t, Stolarz should be back in the coming weeks.

The greater concern is Matthews. He missed nine straight games from Nov. 5-27 because of knee problems and those issues have pushed him back to the sidelines. By the time next week begins, Matthews will have missed Toronto’s past four games due to the injury, and it’s not clear when he’ll be back.

The priority is to get Matthews healthy for the playoffs, whatever that takes, especially because the 22-12-2 Leafs seem to be able to win even without Matthews. Still, the battle for playoff position in the Atlantic Division is fierce, and even if the absence of Matthews doesn’t cost Toronto many wins, it might still end up playing a role in the difficulty of the Leafs’ first-round matchup.

From a fantasy perspective, this is unfortunately the risk that you take with Matthews. He’s one of the best goal-scorers of his era and perhaps all time, but injuries have been a recurring problem. The 2023-24 campaign was just the second time in his career that he played at least 75 games.

Winnipeg Jets

Mon vs. NSH, Tues @ COL, Thu vs. ANA, Sat vs. DET

The Jets have a good schedule ahead of them. They’ll host Nashville on Monday, play in Colorado on Tuesday and then return home for matches against Anaheim and Detroit on Thursday and Saturday, respectively. Colorado is the only one of those adversaries with a winning record.

At the top, we highlighted just how amazing Wayne Gretzky was by showing just how big the gap is between his totals and McDavid’s potential career finish, even under ideal circumstances for McDavid. In terms of goaltending, the equivalent to Gretzky is arguably Martin Brodeur. In addition to being the all-time winningest goaltender -- no one comes even close to Brodeur’s regular-season total of 691 career victories -- Brodeur won the Vezina Trophy four times and stands as the last back-to-back winner of the trophy in 2007 and 2008.

Connor Hellebuyck might be the next to achieve that incredible feat. He won the award in 2024 after posting a 37-19-4 record, 2.39 GAA and .921 save percentage across 60 regular-season games, and he’s looking even better in 2024-25. Through 28 starts, Hellebuyck has a 22-5-1 record, 2.07 GAA and .927 save percentage. That gives him a clear edge over his closest competitors, Jacob Markstrom (19-6-2, 2.11 GAA and .914 save percentage) and Filip Gustavsson (16-5-3, 2.26 GAA and .922 save percentage). Hellebuyck also won the trophy in 2020, so he’d be just one behind Brodeur overall.

The 31-year-old Hellebuyck has continued to cruise as the campaign progresses, posting a 7-0-1 record, 1.85 GAA and .929 save percentage over his past eight games. It helps that the Jets have given him plenty of support offensively (they rank second in goals per game with 3.69) and are adequate defensively (they rank 15th in xGA/60 at 2.96).

On the offensive side of things, the top line of Kyle Connor, Mark Scheifele and Gabriel Vilardi is on fire, supplying nine, eight and seven points, respectively, over the past four games. Connor is having the best campaign among those three overall with 21 goals and 47 points through 36 games, though Scheifele isn’t far behind with 21 goals and 42 points across 36 outings. There has been a bit of inconsistency with this unit in terms of its offensive production, but not to the extent where it’s been a meaningful problem. As long as the trio stays healthy, which was an issue last season, those three should go down as one of the top lines of 2024-25.

NHL: DADOUN – FANTASY WEEK AHEAD – Washington powers on with Ovechkin, Chicago looks for change – Teams and players to target this week

Ryan Dadoun — Sat, 07 Dec 2024 16:07:18 +0000

Washington had an incredible 13-4-1 record through Nov. 18 thanks in large part to its league-leading 4.33 goals per game. However, that offensive success was built around Alex Ovechkin, who had 15 goals and 25 points through 18 appearances, so when he suffered a fractured left fibula, it was reasonable to wonder how much his absence would impact the Capitals. Going into Friday’s action, Washington seemed to largely be managing the injury well, posting a 4-2-1 record in its first seven games without Ovechkin.

The Capitals offense has certainly taken a hit, but they’ve still managed an impressive 3.43 goals per game since Ovechkin was sidelined. Tom Wilson (three goals, six points), Dylan Strome (two goals, six points) and Connor McMichael (two goals, five points) have been of particular importance over that seven-game stretch.

However, none of those forwards are actually the Capitals’ scoring leader over the stretch without Ovechkin. That honor belongs to Jakob Chychrun, who has three goals and seven points across his past seven outings. Chychrun, who was acquired from Ottawa over the summer, has been a fantastic addition, collecting eight goals and 15 points through 20 appearances. Keep in mind, though, that his 19.0 shooting percentage is far ahead of his career average of 7.2, so we’ll probably eventually see a drop off.

Still, this stretch has shown that Washington is a team with some decent depth and might prove to be a serious contender come playoff time.

One team that almost certainly won’t be playing come the postseason is Chicago. There’s still plenty of hockey left, of course, but with an 8-16-2 record, the Blackhawks seem set to miss the playoffs for the fifth straight year.

Connor Bedard has been fine with five goals and 19 points in 26 outings, but for a player who has as much promise as him, even more is hoped for. Still, it would help if he had more support. Ryan Donato is the only other Chicago player with at least 15 points (10 goals, five assists). To put that into context, 160 players at reached the 15-point mark through Thursday’s action, so an average team should have five players who have reached that milestone.

Goaltender Petr Mrazek has been alright, but he’s not getting much support on offense or defense, which has left him with a 7-11-1 record, 2.86 GAA and .905 save percentage across 19 outings. Chicago fired head coach Luke Richardson after Chicago suffered its fourth straight loss Wednesday and appointed Anders Sorensen as the interim bench boss. Richardson finished his Blackhawks tenure with a 57-118-15 record, so by that measure his departure isn’t surprising, but given that Chicago has been in the midst of a rebuild, it’s hard to be too critical of him.

Still, perhaps Sorensen, who spent the previous seven campaigns coaching for AHL Rockford, including three years as the head coach going into 2024-25, can help accelerate the rebuild somewhat by guiding the team’s young players. He already has familiarity with many of the club’s prospects thanks to his previous role. A fresh perspective might also be good for Bedard, who is naturally critical to Chicago’s long-term goals.

It will be a while before we know if the change to Sorensen was the right move, and success, at least in the short term, won’t necessarily be measured in wins and losses, but the Blackhawks will be an interesting team to monitor.

Buffalo Sabres (Mon vs DET, Wed vs NYR, Sat @ WAS, Sun @ TOR)

The Sabres have hit a rough patch, dropping their last five games to fall to 11-12-3 on the campaign. To be fair, most of those games were against tough opponents (Minnesota, Vancouver, Colorado and Winnipeg handed out four of the five defeats), but Buffalo has more difficult matchups on the horizon. The Sabres will host the Red Wings and the Rangers on Monday and Wednesday, respectively, before taking to the road to face Washington on Saturday and Toronto on Sunday.

Rasmus Dahlin left Tuesday’s 5-4 loss to Colorado because of back spasms and missed Thursday’s 3-2 overtime defeat to the Jets because of the issue. Coach Lindy Ruff described the situation like this via Buffalo’s Twitter account, “It should be short-term, but you never know.” In other words, Dahlin might be fine to play in all four of next week’s games.

He’s a vital part of the Sabres’ blue line, so no one defenseman can fill in for him when he’s not available. That said, Henri Jokiharju should see an increase in even-strength ice time -- Jokiharju logged 20:23 of ice time Thursday, his most since Oct. 16 -- and Owen Power should serve on the first power play unit for however long Dahlin’s out.

Jokiharju doesn’t have much fantasy value regardless, but Power has three goals and 15 points in 26 appearances in 2024-25 despite recording no points with the man advantage, so if he’s given an opportunity to play on the top power-play unit for any extended stretch, that’d be rather interesting.

Regardless of which defensemen dress, Buffalo needs them to help make life easier on the goaltenders. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen could certainly have done more recently -- he posted a record of 0-2-2 with a 3.20 GAA and an .895 save percentage across his past four starts -- but he also faced at least 30 shots in three of those four games, including 41 shots in Tuesday’s tilt.

James Reimer has been used sparingly, posting a 1-1-0 record, 2.05 GAA and .923 save percentage in two starts since being claimed by Buffalo off waivers Nov. 13, but the Sabres’ busy schedule means that he should play in at least one game next week.

Carolina Hurricanes ( Tue vs SJS, Fri vs OTT, Sun vs CBJ)

The Hurricanes are playing in just three games next week, but I still wanted to feature them because those matchups are favorable. All three of the matches will be in Carolina. The Hurricanes will host San Jose on Tuesday, Ottawa on Friday and Columbus on Sunday.

None of those opponents are good defensively -- Ottawa ranks 25th in goals allowed per game (3.20), which is the best of the three -- so this should be a good stretch for the Blue Jackets’ scorers. Perhaps Martin Necas can build some breathing room in the Art Ross Trophy fight. At the time of writing, he’s in first place with 41 points (14 goals), narrowly edging out Nathan MacKinnon (40 points), Kirill Kaprizov (39), Jack Eichel (38) and Sam Reinhart (37).

Necas was held off the scoresheet in back-to-back games from Nov. 29-30 for the first time this season, but he’s responded by scoring two goals and four points across his past two outings.

One lower profile Hurricanes who’s hot is Eric Robinson. The 29-year-old has never recorded more than 27 points in a single season, but he’s well on his way to shattering that record after recording eight goals and 17 points across 26 appearances. Exercise some caution here: His shooting percentage is an unreasonably high 25.0, and he’s still averaging just 12:15 of ice time with no power-play role, so it’s hard to imagine him keeping up this pace. Still, he’s hot at the moment with three goals and four points across his past five appearances, and when coupled with the Blue Jackets’ upcoming scheduled, there’s reason to hope that the good times aren’t over yet.

We should also see continued production out of defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere. He’s fitting in nicely with Carolina, scoring five goals and 21 points in 26 outings, including a goal and seven points over his past six games. Gostisbehere’s success is largely tethered to the power play, which accounts for 15 of his points.

His presence has corresponded with Brent Burns shifting to the second power-play unit this year, which has led to Burns recording no points with the man advantage so far in 2024-25. Burns has a goal and seven points in 26 outings overall, which puts him on track to finish below the 40-point mark for just the second time in 12 seasons (the last time was the shortened 2020-21 campaign).

Columbus Blue Jackets (Tue vs PHI, Thu vs WAS, Sat vs ANA, Sun @ CAR)

The Blue Jackets are 11-11-3, which isn’t great, but they have done better than many projected going into the campaign. Columbus will see if it can maintain that level next week when it hosts Philadelphia, Washington and Anaheim on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, respectively. The Blue Jackets will then travel to Carolina for a game Sunday.

Kirill Marchenko has played a big role in Columbus’ better than expected results. The 24-year-old has 10 goals and 24 points in 25 games this season, putting him well on his way to shattering his mark of 42 points in 2023-24. You’ll usually see him sharing the ice with Sean Monahan, who has fit in nicely with Columbus, providing eight goals and 22 points through 25 appearances.

For the last few weeks, Dmitri Voronkov has typically been the third member of that line. He missed the start of the campaign with an upper-body injury and registered just one point (a goal) across his first six games of 2024-25, but the 24-year-old sophomore has hit his stride, supplying five goals and 10 points over his past 10 outings. He’s still on just 17 percent of Yahoo rosters, so he might be a nice pickup if he’s still available in your league.

On the blue line, Zach Werenski has been a standout performer for the Blue Jackets with eight goals and 27 points through 25 appearances. He’s one of the hottest defensemen in the entire league, recording five goals and 17 points across his past 10 outings.

Minnesota Wild (Tue vs UTA, Thu vs EDM, Sat vs PHI, Sun vs VGK)

The Wild have won their past four games to improve to 17-4-4. Minnesota will try to keep the good times rolling next week, which will begin with a road game against Utah on Tuesday. After that match, Minnesota will spend the rest of the week at home, playing against Edmonton, Philadelphia and Vegas on Thursday, Saturday and Sunday, respectively.

Joel Eriksson Ek sustained an injury Tuesday and is week-to-week, and there’s no indication that Mats Zuccarello is close to returning from the lower-body issue that’s kept him out of the lineup since Nov. 14.

If Zuccarello were healthy, he’d almost certainly be playing alongside Kirill Kaprizov and Marco Rossi. His absence led to the lines being shaken up, and Eriksson Ek did skate on the top line with Kaprizov on Tuesday before he got hurt. With Zuccarello and Eriksson Ek both out, Matt Boldy will likely play regularly alongside Kaprizov and Rossi. Boldy has 11 goals and 24 points in 25 appearances, so that’s a strong trio. The forward corps after that, though, looks thin due to the injuries.

Marcus Johansson, Ryan Hartman and Marcus Foligno currently comprise the second line, but none of them have even reached double digits in points. The third unit is Devin Shore, Frederick Gaudreau and Yakov Trenin, which has a combined 15 points this season -- 14 of them from Gaudreau.

Fortunately for the Wild, Filip Gustavsson hasn’t needed much offensive help this year. He’s 12-4-3 with a 2.04 GAA and a .929 save percentage in 19 appearances.

New York Islanders (Tue vs LAK, Thu vs CHI, Sun @ CHI)

The Islanders have three games on the schedule, but two of them are against the lowly Blackhawks -- New York will host them Thursday and play in Chicago on Sunday -- so the Islanders are in a good position there. New York will also host the Kings on Tuesday.

We just discussed how Minnesota’s offense looks thin due to injuries, and the Islanders are in a similar boat without Anthony Duclair (lower body) and Mathew Barzal (upper body), who have logged just five and 10 games, respective. Due to their absences, the Islanders have just two players with at least 20 points, and even then, just barely -- Anders Lee has 21 while Kyle Palmieri has 20. The result is no Islanders player is within the top 50 of the Art Ross Trophy race.

Andrew Gross of Newsday reported Friday that Duclair and Barzal are skating on their own, which is better than not skating at all, but there are several steps between that and playing, so I wouldn’t count on them returning during the upcoming week.

Lee has been one of the few recent bright spots, providing four goals and eight points across his past six games. He’s on a four-game scoring streak through Thursday’s action. Simon Holmstrom appears to have cooled, though. He had back-to-back multi-goal games from Nov. 29-30, but he hasn’t found the back of the net since. Holmstrom has done fine with seven goals and 15 points in 27 outings, but he’s not worth employing in most fantasy leagues except when he’s hot.

New York Rangers (Mon vs CHI, Wed @ BUF, Sat vs LAK, Sun @ STL)

New York is set to host Chicago on Monday, play in Buffalo on Wednesday, have a home game against the Kings on Saturday and conclude the week by playing in St. Louis on Sunday. Let’s not dwell on the schedule, though, the Rangers had an eventful Friday, and I want to dive right into it.

New York traded Jacob Trouba to Anaheim in exchange for a fourth-round pick and Urho Vaakanainen. Importantly, the Rangers didn’t retain any salary, so Trouba’s $8 million cap hit through 2025-26 is now off their books. New York then signed Igor Shesterkin to an eight-year, $92 million contract that will begin in 2025-26 after his current four-year, $22.67 million deal expires.

Let’s start with the defensive changes. Trouba had a fantastic eight goals and 50 points in 82 games with Winnipeg in 2018-19 and was then dealt to the Rangers in the summer of 2019 in exchange for a 2019 first-round selection (Ville Heinola) and Neal Pionk. The Rangers promptly signed Trouba to his current eight-year, $56 million contract.

Unfortunately for New York, the Rangers inked Trouba at the height of his offensive contributions. Over his five campaigns with the Rangers going into 2024-25, Trouba reached the 30-point mark twice, but never hit 40. To be fair, Trouba is a big body, plays a physical game and blocks a ton of shots, so he brings things to the table outside of offense. He also served as the team captain from 2022 until he was traded, highlighting his importance in the locker room. Still, his cap hit was too high for what he brought.

It's telling that the Rangers got very little in return for him, and even with that, some questioned if they won this trade simply by virtue of clearing that cap space. But what did they receive outside of that draft pick? Vaakanainen was taken with the No. 18 overall pick in the 2017 NHL Draft, but he never developed as hoped. Instead, he should be regarded as a depth defenseman who will likely bounce between the third pairing and the press box. He is also on the injured reserve list due to an upper-body injury, so it might be a bit before he makes his Rangers debut.

Rather than Vaakanainen playing regularly, we might see the Rangers utilize Victor Mancini more with Trouba out. The 22-year-old Mancini has a goal, four points, seven hits and 12 blocks in 10 appearances with New York in 2024-25, and he’s also provided two goals and five points in six AHL outings. Don’t get too excited over Mancini’s offensive numbers, though. He wasn’t much of a producer in the NCAA, recording just four goals and 10 points across 40 outings with the University of Nebraska-Omaha as a Junior in 2023-24.

As for locking up Shesterkin, the cap hit is substantial, but not surprising. He’s proven himself to be a top-tier goaltender, and we’re in a period where the cap seems to be steadily climbing, so there’s logic behind the number. Shesterkin has struggled recently with a 2-7-0 record, 3.93 GAA and .882 save percentage across nine appearances, but he should rebound.

St. Louis Blues (Tue @ VAN, Thu vs SJS, Sat @ DAL, Sun vs NYR)

St. Louis has won four of its past five games, improving to 13-12-2 this season. That still puts the Blues outside of a playoff spot, but at least they’re trending in the right direction. The Blues will play in Vancouver on Tuesday, host the Sharks on Thursday, visit Dallas on Saturday and play at home Sunday versus the Rangers.

Dylan Holloway has been a major part of the Blues’ recent success, contributing four goals and eight points across his past five outings. That brings him up to eight goals and 16 points in 27 appearances this year, but he’s been inconsistent, so enjoy the good times while they last, but be prepared for the other shoe to eventually drop if you grab the 23-year-old during his hot streak.

Jordan Binnington is another extremely inconsistent play, but he has been more hit than miss lately, providing a 4-2-1 record, 2.10 GAA and .925 save percentage across his past seven appearances. He’s 8-9-2 with a 2.87 GAA and .900 save percentage in 20 outings overall and will probably average out as a low-to-mid tier starter this season.

Robert Thomas might still have a great campaign, though. He did miss 12 games from Oct. 24-Nov. 17 because of a fractured ankle, but with that injury now well behind him, Thomas seems to be heating up, providing three goals and six points across his past four games. This might just be the beginning of a longer hot streak for Thomas, who set a career high in 2023-24 with 86 points.

Toronto Maple Leafs (Tue @ NJD, Thu vs ANA, Sat @ DET, Sun vs BUF)

Toronto is having a fantastic campaign with a 16-7-2 record, and the Maple Leafs have won seven of their past eight games. They’ll look to maintain that momentum next week, starting with a road contest against New Jersey. The Maple Leafs will then host Anaheim on Thursday, play in Detroit on Saturday and return home to play against the Sabres on Sunday.

Auston Matthews and Matthew Knies returned from injury Nov. 30, adding to Toronto’s success. Matthews has been especially good since returning, supplying three goals and five points across three appearances, bringing him up to eight goals and 16 points through 16 outings. Matthews tends to score goals in bunches, so it wouldn’t be surprising to see him continue to tickle the twine over the upcoming week.

Max Domi (lower body) and Max Pacioretty (lower body) have also been skating with the Maple Leafs recently, so they might be nearing a return too. Once they do, we might see Nicholas Robertson fall out of the lineup. Robertson has been the main disappointment in what has otherwise been a great campaign for Toronto. He has just two points (both goals) in 22 outings in 2024-25. Robertson did find the back of the net Nov. 30, but he was held off the scoresheet in two games since, so that marker didn’t seem to help spark him.

In net, Joseph Woll and Anthony Stolarz will probably each start in two games next week. Stolarz is 8-4-2 with a 2.23 GAA and .924 save percentage in 14 outings, while Woll is 7-2-0 with a 2.11 GAA and a .922 save percentage in nine appearances, so the Maple Leafs can happily treat them as a 1A-1B tandem.

NHL: CULLEN – 20 FANTASY POINTS – Ovechkin and Strome leading surprising Capitals plus much more

Scott Cullen — Fri, 15 Nov 2024 20:47:55 +0000

Washington Capitals center Dylan Strome (17) (Photo by Mark Goldman/Icon Sportswire)

Each week, I’ll dig into the stats to find information that can help you make better fantasy hockey decisions. This week Alex Ovechkin and Dylan Strome are leading the surprising Capitals, Anders Lee is back in a big role for the Islanders, the Canucks call up a top prospect, a veteran Canadiens winger is picking up his play, and much more!

Here is this week’s edition of 20 Fantasy Points:

#1 There was a time last season, like when he had five goals through 29 games, that Washington Capitals left winger Alex Ovechkin looked like he might be washed. He recovered to score 26 goals in his last 50 games of the season and has started this season with 10 goals and nine assists in 15 games. There is some good fortune involved. While Ovechkin has buried 10 goals in 15 games, he is generating 3.60 shots on goal per game. He had routinely put up more than four shots on goal per game before last season, when that rate dropped to 3.43 shots per game. The difference for Ovechkin this season is that he has scored on 18.5 percent of his shots, which would be the highest rate of his career. This suggests that selling high on Ovechkin might offer some value, because it is hard to imagine his production getting better than it has been to this point in the season.

#2 Reaping the rewards of playing with Ovechkin – or is it the other way around? – Capitals centre Dylan Strome is thriving, with 23 points (5 G, 18 A) in 15 games. Strome does have an on-ice shooting percentage of 19.6 percent, which is outrageously high and not sustainable, so he almost assuredly will not continue scoring at a 125-point pace. Like Ovechkin, there is probably more value in Strome as a trade chip than in hoping that he will continue to score at this rate.

#3 New York Islanders captain Anders Lee started the season on the third line, but injuries to Anthony Duclair and Mat Barzal have pushed him back up the depth chart and he is making the most of his opportunity. The 34-year-old winger has 10 points (4 G, 6 A) in his past seven games while playing more than 18 minutes per game. Lee is averaging 11.26 shots per 60 minutes of five-on-five play, which ranks eighth in the league. Lee is skating on the Isles’ top line with Bo Horvat and Jean-Gabriel Pageau.

#4 With Brock Boeser in concussion protocol, the Vancouver Canucks called up top prospect Jonathan Lekkerimaki and the 15th pick in the 2022 Draft scored his first NHL goal in his second game. Lekkerimaki had seven points (5 G, 2 A) in seven AHL games to earn his promotion and was inserted on a line with Pius Suter and J.T. Miller. The question is, will the Canucks keep him once Boeser returns? There may be room to slide Suter down the depth chart and keep Lekkerimaki in a scoring role, but that is going to require close monitoring of the situation. The good news is that Lekkerimaki didn’t look out of place in his first taste of NHL action.

#5 Montrel Canadiens veteran Brendan Gallagher has started to contribute more offensively, though he is scoring on 21.9 percent of his shots and that is not a sustainable rate for a player who has exceeded 13 percent over a full season once in his career. Nevertheless, in his past nine games, Gallagher has delivered seven points (5 G, 2 A) while playing more than 14 minutes per game. He would only have value in deep leagues, but there is a chance that he offers more appeal now than he has for several seasons.

#6 The circumstances in Buffalo dictate that there is a ceiling on the production of defenceman Bowen Byram, because Rasmus Dahlin and Owen Power are also competing for the most productive minutes on the Sabres blueline. Even so, Byram is cooking lately. He has seven points (2 G, 5 A) while averaging 25 minutes of ice time per game in his past seven games. There have reportedly been other teams lurking around the Sabres, offering to make a deal for Byram but it’s understandable that Buffalo likes what he offers, even if he is not quarterbacking the top power play unit.

#7 After he erupted for 31 goals last season, Los Angeles Kings winger Trevor Moore is not as likely to sneak up on opponents this season. Moore started slowly this year, with three points (1 G, 2 A) in his first 11 games, but he is currently riding a six-game point streak, during which he has nine points (2 G, 7 A) while playing nearly 17 minutes per game. Moore’s offensive surge has helped to lift the production of centre Phillip Danault, who had three assists in 11 games to open the season but has contributed six points (1 G, 5 A) in seven games since.

#8 Colorado Avalanche winger Valeri Nichushkin is getting activated Friday after spending six months on suspension after violating the policies of the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program. The Avalanche have managed to survive this season, and they have recently activated Artturi Lehkonen and Jonathan Drouin from the injured list, but Nichushkin is likely to have an even bigger impact. Before getting suspended last season, Nichushkin had set career highs with 28 goals and 53 points in just 54 games. It looks like Nichushkin and Lehkonen will skate on the wings with Casey Mittelstadt, suddenly giving the Avalanche a much more formidable second line.

#9 Jake DeBrusk was Vancouver’s big free agent signing in the offseason and he had zero goals and four assists in nine games before finally finding the back of the net. He has five points (3 G, 2 A) in his past six games and as centre Elias Pettersson starts to emerge from his season-opening slump, DeBrusk is in a better spot to carry his production forward, skating on a line with Pettersson and Conor Garland.

#10 With captain Mark Stone injured, Vegas Golden Knights winger Pavel Dorofeyev is making the most of his opportunity and has landed on the top line with Jack Eichel and Ivan Barbashev. In his past 10 games, which includes games before Stone was injured, Dorofeyev has produced 10 points (7 G, 3 A) with 38 shots on goal. That shot rate is a great indicator that this production will continue. Maybe not at the rate of seven goals per 10 games, but 3.8 shots per game is strong underlying production.

#11 The Washington Capitals have been a surprise team this year, so they are a better source for fantasy value than might have been expected. Defenceman Rasmus Sandin was held off the scoresheet in the first five games of the season, but has since contributed eight points (2 G, 6 A) in 10 games. Like other Capitals, Sandin has a high on-ice shooting percentage (14.5 percent) that does suggest that his production is likely to slow down.

#12 Buffalo Sabres centre Dylan Cozens had 31 goals and 68 points in 2022-2023, only to collapse to 18 goals and 47 points last season. He is just 23 years old, so he has time to get back on track, but he started slowly in 2024-2025, with zero points in his first five games. He hasn’t busted out yet, but has four points (3 G, 1 A) in his past seven games. Cozens in only scoring on 6.0 percent of his shots, so that should get better, and the Sabres are continuing to give him quality ice time, including first-unit power play time, so he could be a possible buy-low candidate.

#13 In deep leagues, it’s always worth keeping tabs on Florida Panthers winger Evan Rodrigues, who has established that he is a reliable secondary scoring option on an excellent team. Rodrigues has six points (3 G, 3 A) in his past six games, even though he has just seven shots in that time. He is typically a reliable shot generator, and his production does tend to fluctuate based on his role. Right now, he is skating on Florida’s third line with Anton Lundell but has also spent time in the top six as well.

#14 New York Islanders rookie winger Maxim Tsyplakov needs to improve his shot rate, but he is starting to become a secondary offensive option. He has seven points (1 G, 6 A) in the past 10 games, but has just 12 shots on goal in that time, which is not nearly enough for a forward getting more than 16 minutes of ice time per game. There are 162 forwards that have played at least 200 five-on-five minutes this season and Tsyplakov ranks 143rd with 4.80 shots on goal per 60 minutes.

#15 2021 first-round pick Matt Coronato had just nine points in 39 games for the Calgary Flames last season and started this year in the AHL, where he scored two goals in two games to earn a recall to the big club. Coronato has five points (3 G, 2 A) with 12 shots on goal in his past five games and he is getting a real opportunity, skating alongside Mikael Backlund and Blake Coleman at evens, as well as playing on Calgary’s first power play unit.

#16 The Winnipeg Jets can move centre Vladislav Namestnikov all around the lineup and his two-way game makes him a valuable and versatile player. For fantasy managers, however, offensive production drives his value, and he has contributed five points (3 G, 2 A) in his past six games. Skating on a line with Cole Perfetti and Nikolaj Ehlers on his wings gives Namestnikov the opportunity to provide enough offensively that he can hold some appeal in deep leagues.

#17 Washington Capitals goaltender Logan Thompson is crushing it in a goaltending tandem with Charlie Lindgren. Thompson has started eight games and has a 7-0-1 record with a .906 save percentage. That does make Thompson the slightly better option in the Washington net, but there is little indication that the Capitals are going to turn to either one as a number one option between the pipes. For fantasy managers, that makes Thompson a useful player to move in and out of the lineup, depending on when he is scheduled to start.

#18 I often mention shot rates as an indicator for a player’s production. Among forwards that have played at least 200 five-on-five minutes, the shots per 60 minutes leaders are: Brady Tkachuk, Logan Stankoven, Jeff Skinner, Anthony Beauvillier, Carter Verhaeghe, Auston Matthews, Bobby McMann, Anders Lee, Connor McMichael, and Ryan Donato. Some of those names are expected, but it should make players like Beauvillier, McMann, Donato, and even Stankoven worth an extra look when scouring the fantasy waiver wire.

#19 Adding shot quality into the mix, the forwards that are leading in individual expected goals per 60 minutes of five-on-five play: Connor McMichael, Will Cuylle, Connor McDavid, Sean Monahan, Auston Matthews, Jack Roslovic, Nino Niederrieter, Barrett Hayton, Seth Jarvis, and Jeff Skinner. McMichael has been enjoying a breakout season and has the underlying numbers to support it and Cuylle is delivering more in his sophomore campaign for the Rangers. Roslovic is getting a great opportunity in Carolina and Niederreiter continues to thrive on Winnipeg’s third line.

#20 It is not easy to take on a San Jose Sharks goaltender, but it could be worth considering Mackenzie Blackwood, who has a 3-5-2 record in 10 starts, but his .910 save percentage and 4.68 Goals Saved Above Expected are very promising signs. He had a 44-save shutout at New Jersey, against his former team, and the Sharks are starting to win some games, so Blackwood’s record could start to improve merely through the team getting better rather than any improvement needed in his own performance.

*Advanced stats via Natural Stat Trick.