Devon Levi – McKeen's Hockey

NHL: DADOUN – THE FANTASY WEEK AHEAD – San Jose rebuild on track – Favourable schedules and players to target

Ryan Dadoun — Sat, 22 Mar 2025 12:54:26 +0000

MONTREAL, QC - JANUARY 11: San Jose Sharks left wing William Eklund (72) (Photo by David Kirouac/Icon Sportswire)

There are a number of teams that have effectively lost all hope of making the playoffs, but at the time of writing, only one team has been mathematically eliminated from postseason contention: The San Jose Sharks.

It’s the sixth straight year without a playoff berth for San Jose, which is by far the largest stretch of failure in the franchise’s history -- from the inaugural season in 1991-92 through 2018-19, the Sharks had missed the playoffs just six times in total -- and yet there’s a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel.

Macklin Celebrini has lived up to the hype in his rookie campaign with 21 goals and 50 points through 57 appearances, and the 22-year-old William Eklund is shaping up to be another strong member of the Sharks’ future with 15 goals and 50 points in 64 outings. They’re also seeing some preliminary success from 19-year-old Will Smith, who has provided 13 goals and 35 points in 61 appearances. We should also soon see Cameron Lund make his NHL debut after signing an entry-level contract with the Sharks on Friday. Perhaps the Sharks will try pairing Lund up with Eklund after the 20-year-old Lund supplied 18 goals and 40 points in 37 outings with Northeastern University this year.

In the long run, that young core of forwards might be backed up by 22-year-old netminder Yaroslav Askarov, who has struggled with the rebuilding Sharks (3.10 GAA, .896 save percentage in 13 outings), but has looked solid at the AHL level this campaign (2.52 GAA, .922 save percentage in 19 games).

If some of their other top prospects like Quentin Musty and Sam Dickinson work out, and the Sharks get value out of their four picks in the top two rounds of the 2025 and 2026 drafts, then San Jose could start moving in an upward trajectory quickly.

The only issue is that they have a lot of ground to gain. There’s a good chance the Sharks will finish with 60 or lower points for a third straight campaign. On the one hand, it’s a stretch that’s allowed them to put their full force into rebuilding, but there’s always the danger of falling into the Buffalo Sabres trap, where success always seems to be just around the corner.

An eventful summer might be the key for the Sharks, especially because the Sharks are currently swimming in cap space. They do need to be mindful of the big raises that Eklund, Celebrini and Smith will be due if all goes as hoped, but Celebrini and Smith won’t test the market for the first time until the summer of 2027, while Eklund will remain on his entry-level contract for the 2025-26 campaign, so there is a window here for the Sharks to spend. Their cap flexibility is also made a little easier by the fact that Marc-Edouard Vlasic’s $7 million contract comes off the books in the summer of 2026 and Couture’s $8 million cap hit ends after 2026-27, which will help offset some of those raises.

That will allow them to be aggressive on the UFA market, and it also opens the door for San Jose to potentially leverage some of its picks for veteran players. So, while the Sharks have some largely meaningless games ahead of them, this might end up being the summer of GM Mike Grier.

Buffalo Sabres (Tue vs OTT, Thu vs PIT, Sat @ PHI, Sun @ WAS)

It seems cruel to cite the Sabres as a cautionary tale whenever teams like the Sharks are in the midst of a rebuild, but that’s what they are. With a 27-34-6 record through Thursday’s action, Buffalo sits at the bottom of the Eastern Conference and is on course to miss the playoffs for a 14th straight season. That’s the longest postseason drought in the history of the league.

The Sabres will at least attempt to finish the season on a somewhat positive note. They’ll host Ottawa and Pittsburgh on Tuesday and Thursday, respectively, before heading on the road to visit Philadelphia on Saturday and Washington on Sunday.

Buffalo’s single biggest issue this campaign has been an inability to keep the puck out of the net. The Sabres rank 29th in goals allowed per game with 3.52. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, who managed a solid 2.57 GAA and a .910 save percentage in 54 appearances in 2023-24, hasn’t looked nearly as impressive this campaign, going 23-21-4 with a 3.16 GAA and an .888 save percentage.

It's tempting to say that the team in front of him has been the source of Luukkonen’s woes, and there’s certainly some backing for that assumption. The Sabres rank 29th in xGA/60 at 3.35, per Moneypuck, which implies that the defense has been making life miserable for the goaltenders. However, Luukkonen can’t completely escape blame. He also has a minus-4.6 goals saved above expected, which suggests that he’s been putting forth below average performances, and that’s compounded Buffalo’s already significant defensive issues. That’s also in contrast to 2023-24 when Luukkonen finished with a plus-9.4 goals saved above expected.

Buffalo has already made a long-term commitment to Luukkonen, albeit with a $4.75 million cap hit through 2028-29, which is on the low end for a veteran starter and is expected to get even more reasonable as the cap goes up. If he ends up needing to slide into a backup role, that contract will look like an overpay, but not to the point where it’s an anchor on Buffalo’s cap situation.

The ideal would be if Devon Levi lives up to the promise he showed in the NCAA, but so far the 23-year-old has left plenty to be desired in the NHL, posting a 3.29 GAA and an .894 save percentage through 39 appearances. Goaltenders tend to take longer to develop than any other NHL position, so it would be premature to write him off, but Buffalo assuming that a Luukkonen-Levi duo will eventually lead the franchise to the playoffs might be dangerous -- the potential is there, but it’s far from a sure thing.

That’s a long-term concern for Buffalo. In the short run, the Sabres can at least enjoy Ryan McLeod’s hot streak. He’s recorded a point in five straight games and has been held off the scoresheet just once over his last seven appearances, giving him two goals and seven points in that span. He’s set career highs in goals (16) and points (38) in his first campaign with Buffalo after being acquired from Edmonton, and the 25-year-old should be a solid presence for years to come while primarily centering the third line under ideal circumstances.

Detroit Red Wings (Mon @ UTA, Tue @ COL, Thu vs OTT, Sat vs BOS)

Detroit has won just two of its past 10 games, putting the Red Wings playoff hopes in serious jeopardy. They’ll need to do well next week to avoid slipping out of the postseason picture. The Red Wings will start on the road, facing Utah on Monday and Colorado on Tuesday. Detroit will then return home to host the Senators on Thursday and the Bruins on Saturday.

Buffalo’s postseason drought is the one that get the most attention, but Detroit hasn’t been to the postseason since 2016, so there are significant stakes to the Red Wings’ playoff run, especially because they’re not exactly a rebuilding squad anymore. Lucas Raymond (23 goals, 69 points) is still just 22 years old, while Dylan Larkin (28, 60) and Alex DeBrincat (31, 58) are in their late 20s, so Detroit’s core forwards aren’t old, but they’re not emerging prospects either. Two of Detroit’s top four defensemen (Moritz Seider and Simon Edvinsson) are under 25, but they are supplemented by aging veterans (Ben Chiarot, Jeff Petry).

Detroit does still have players that will get better with time. I’m very interested to see what the future holds for 20-year-old rookie Marco Kasper, who has 13 goals, 27 points, 30 PIM and 123 hits in 63 appearances this campaign, but Detroit is beyond the point where it can just shrug and say that short-term losing is a byproduct of the process.

Patrick Kane should be in no mood to be patient at the age of 36. He exploded with a five-point effort March 12 to lead Detroit past Buffalo. Kane also had a three-point showing March 1 versus Columbus, but he’s been inconsistent recently, so don’t look at his 11 points (three goals) in nine games this month and assume he’s red hot. The truth is more nuanced. Unfortunately, Detroit has lacked a steady hand on offense recently, which is a reflection of the team’s recent struggles overall.

Petr Mrazek, who was acquired from Chicago, has been given the opportunity to take over as Detroit’s starter. He’s got the nod in each of Detroit’s past four games, but the results have been mixed. He did post an 18-save shutout over Vegas on Sunday, but he also allowed at least three goals in each of the other three starts. Overall, he has a 2-2-0 record, 2.51 GAA and .901 save percentage in four appearances since joining Detroit. Still, Cam Talbot (2.96 GAA, .900 save percentage) and Alex Lyon (2.77 GAA, .900 save percentage) haven’t given Detroit much to be happy about this campaign, so Mrazek might continue to act as the Red Wings’ primary choice going forward.

Los Angeles Kings (Tue vs NYR, Thu @ COL, Sat vs TOR, Sun vs SJS)

The Kings sit third in the Pacific Division with a 37-21-9 record, but they still have a shot at catching Edmonton (40-24-5) and maybe even Vegas (40-20-8). The Kings will need a solid week to keep those prospects healthy. They’ll start by hosting the Rangers on Tuesday before playing in Colorado on Thursday. Afterward, the Kings will return home to face the Maple Leafs on Saturday and the Sharks on Sunday.

The Kings managed just four goals across eight games from March 13-20, so they don’t have any hot forwards. Kevin Fiala is about as close as you can find with a goal and three points over that four-game stretch, but he’s also been held off the scoresheet in seven of his past 12 contests, so his recent play is nothing to get excited over.

Meanwhile, Phillip Danault has just a goal and four points across his past 13. This is shaping up to be a disappointing campaign for him overall. He has just six goals in 66 games with a shooting percentage of 5.5, which is on course to be his lowest ever, excluding the two games he played in 2014-15. He also has no power-play points after recording 20 in 2022-23 and nine in 2023-24. On the one hand, he’s averaging 1:20 with the man advantage, the lowest of his four seasons with LA, which limits his chances, but Danault also hasn’t given the Kings much reason to use him more on the power play, so it’s a bit of a chicken and the egg issue. Either way, this campaign is looking like it’ll go down as a wash for Danault, and he certainly has been part of the issue for the Kings’ recent offensive drought, recording no points over the past four games.

This would be a bad stretch for the Kings, except Darcy Kuemper stopped 81 of 84 shots (.964 save percentage) while starting in those four games, and LA won three of those outings as a result. The 34-year-old goaltender is now 23-9-7 with a 2.13 GAA and a .918 save percentage in 40 appearances. In terms of GAA, this could be the best campaign of his career, excluding 2012-13 when he appeared in just six games. That’s quite a turnaround from 2023-24 (3.31 GAA, .890 save percentage), and it has to be said that Kuemper has a plus-15 goals saved above expected, which ranks 13th in the league, so this isn’t exclusively a case of him benefiting from strong defensively play in front of him -- though, the Kings do have a league-best 2.61 xGA/60, so the defense has been doing its part too.

Minnesota Wild (Mon @ DAL, Tue vs VGK, Thu vs WAS, Sat vs NJD)

Minnesota has a healthy edge in the battle for a wild-card spot, especially after winning its past two games. The Wild will look to build on their recent momentum when they play in Dallas on Monday. Minnesota will also host Vegas, Washington and New Jersey on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, respectively.

Although Minnesota is likely to make the playoffs, the extended absence of Kirill Kaprizov (lower body) has been felt. He’s appeared in just three games dating back to Dec. 27, and Minnesota is a mediocre 18-15-1 over that span while averaging just 2.50 goals per game. By contrast, the Wild went 21-10-4 while averaging 2.94 goals per game over their first 35 contests, which is a stretch when Kaprizov provided 23 goals and 50 points in 34 appearances (missing one game).

To make matters worse, Joel Eriksson Ek hasn’t played since Feb. 22 due to a lower-body injury. Coach John Hynes said Monday that Kaprizov and Eriksson Ek were progressing off ice, per Dylan Loucks of The Hockey News, which is mixed news. Any progress is good progress, but if they’re not skating yet, then they’re probably not close to returning. With so little time left in the campaign, I have to wonder if Minnesota is now simply looking ahead to the playoffs when it comes to Kaprizov. Maybe he’ll get into a few games toward the end of the regular season just to shake off the rust, but that might be all we can hope for.

At least Ryan Hartman is back from his eight-game suspension. He’s recorded three goals and six points in eight appearances since returning from his punishment. He also averaged 16:31 of ice time in that span, up from 15:00, as the Wild deal with injuries.

Minnesota also attempted to get help by acquiring Gustav Nyquist from Nashville on March 1, but that hasn’t moved the needle. Nyquist has registered just two assists in nine outings with Minnesota despite averaging 16:02 since the trade. He might see his role reduced once Eriksson Ek and Kaprizov are ready to return, especially if Nyquist doesn’t start heating up.

To wrap up on a somber note, we’re likely watching the final games of Marc-Andre Fleury. He hasn’t played much recently -- his last start was March 9 -- but the Wild do have a back-to-back coming Monday and Tuesday, so he’ll likely make his 885th career start and 1,048th appearance on one of those two nights. Fleury has solid backup at the age of 40, posting a 12-8-1 record, 2.73 GAA and .904 save percentage in 22 outings this campaign.

New Jersey Devils (Mon vs VAN, Wed @ CHI, Thu @ WPG, Sat @ MIN)

The Devils have been treading water lately, winning four of their past nine games. At this point, they’re unlikely to catch Carolina for the second seed in the Metropolitan Division, but the Devils are still likely to secure the third seed. In the meantime, they’ll start next week at home against Vancouver. The Devils will then hit the road, playing in Chicago on Wednesday, Winnipeg on Friday and Minnesota on Saturday.

Like Minnesota, New Jersey is dealing with some major injuries. Dougie Hamilton (lower body) hasn’t played since March 4 (he logged just 5:15 before exiting that March 4th game), and Jack Hughes (shoulder) was last in the lineup March 2.

New Jersey has gone 4-4-0 without Hamilton and Hughes, including the contest Hamilton was only briefly a part of in contrast to the Devils’ 33-23-6 record across their first 62 games. It’d be natural to assume their middling play lately has been as a result of a drop in offense, similar to what Minnesota has experienced, but the Devils have managed 2.88 goals per game over their last eight games, which isn’t much of a decline from their 2.98 before Hughes’ injury.

Instead, the problem has been at their own end. Jacob Markstrom has a 4.67 GAA and an .817 save percentage across his past five appearances. That leaky play has taken some of the shine out of the heroics from Jesper Bratt (three goals, 10 points in his past five games) and Luke Hughes (one goal, seven points in his past eight appearances).

Jake Allen has looked good, though, winning his past three starts while saving 99 of 103 shots (.961 save percentage). That contrast between New Jersey’s two goaltenders has resulted in Markstrom shifting from being the clear starter to serving in a rotation. I don’t expect that arrangement to persist for the remainder of the campaign, but it’ll probably last until Markstrom finds his footing again.

The Devils certainly have to hope Markstrom comes out of this cold patch sooner rather than later. While there is light at the end of the tunnel for Minnesota on the injury front -- albeit a distance light -- Jack Hughes isn’t expected back until training camp, and Hamilton probably won’t return until the second round at the earliest, provided the Devils make it that far. What they have now is all they can count on. Fortunately for New Jersey, Bratt, Nico Hischier and Timo Meier is still a solid forward core, and it wouldn’t be surprising to see that trio do well down the stretch, and Luke Hughes is a great alternative to Hamilton on the top power-play unit, which should result in Luke having a strong finish offensively.

New York Islanders (Mon vs CBJ, Wed vs VAN, Sat @ TBL, Sun @ CAR)

The Islanders have won their past three games, pushing them within striking distance of a wild-card spot. New York needs to stay hot next week to close the gap. They’ll start with a home game against Columbus, which is another team in the hunt for an Eastern Conference wild-card position. The Blue Jackets will also play at home against Vancouver on Wednesday before traveling to Tampa Bay on Saturday and Carolina on Sunday.

New York squeaking into the playoffs would be particularly impressive after they traded Brock Nelson to Colorado on March 6 in a where the key pieces back were prospect Calum Ritchie and a first-round pick. It’s not like the Islanders had offense to spare…or so you’d assume, but they’ve been getting help from unexpected sources lately.

Jean-Gabriel Pageau has a goal and six points while Simon Holmstrom has three goals and five points across the Islanders’ seven games since the trade. Both players are usually more complementary pieces when it comes to offense, but they do get on these kinds of hot streaks, making them nice situational pickups during times such as this.

Defensemen Noah Dobson and Anthony DeAngelo have also been major contributors during the same stretch, recording seven and six points, respectively. It’s been interesting that Dobson’s return from injury Feb. 27 hasn’t marginalized DeAngelo’s contributions. Rather than shift DeAngelo to the second power-play unit to make room for Dobson, the Islanders seem comfortable having two defensemen on their top group with the man advantage. DeAngelo has also continued to be used at even strength, averaging 22:18 of ice time in all situations since the return of Dobson.

DeAngelo’s always been a lightning rod for controversy, but it seems he’s found a good spot with the Islanders, and he should continue to be a meaningful contributor for the remainder of the campaign.

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

The Senators put themselves in a good spot by winning six straight from March 5-15, but they’ve hit a rough patch with back-to-back losses. The Senators still hold the first wild-card spot, but they can’t afford to relax. They have an opportunity to collect some key points next week against teams not currently in a playoff position. Ottawa will play in Buffalo on Tuesday, Detroit on Thursday and Pittsburgh on Sunday. The Senators will also host the Blue Jackets on Saturday.

Dylan Cozens has worked out pretty nicely in Ottawa since being acquired from Buffalo on March 7. He has three goals and six points in seven appearances with the Senators despite seeing his average playing time drop from 17:13 before the trade to 15:23 since joining the Ottawa. Cozens seems to be settling into a second-line center role with Ottawa, which isn’t surprising. He should get most of his minutes alongside Drake Batherson and David Perron for the remainder of the campaign, though Cozens is also getting work on the top power-play unit and has already provided two goals with the man advantage for Ottawa.

Batherson has been a good player to skate alongside recently. He enjoyed a four-game scoring streak from March 11-18 in which he supplied three goals and six points, but that run was snapped Thursday. The 26-year-old is up to 19 goals and 55 points in 68 outings overall, making it very likely that he’ll reach the 20-goal and 60-point marks for the third straight campaign. In fact, he still has a solid chance of besting his career high of 66 points, which he set last year.

Perron also has been solid recently with four goals and seven points in his past 10 appearances. The 36-year-old missed significant chunks of the campaign, so it’s not too surprising that he was limited to a goal and four points in 11 outings from Jan. 11 (when he returned from a 27-game absence due to back problem) through Feb. 26. Now that the veteran has been able to string together a significant number of games for the first time all season, we’re seeing steady production out of him, and there’s a good chance that’ll continue for the rest of the season, barring another exit from the lineup.

Ottawa’s top line, headlined by Brady Tkachuk and Tim Stutzle, will be the main drivers of the Senators’ offense, but don’t underestimate that second unit of Perron, Cozens and Batherson.

Toronto Maple Leafs (Tue vs PHI, Thu @ SJS, Sat @ NYR, Sun @ LAK)

Toronto has won its past three games, putting behind a rough stretch in which the Maple Leafs won just one of six contests. The Maple Leafs are competing with Florida for the Atlantic Division title. Toronto will look for an edge in that battle next week, beginning with a home game against the Flyers on Tuesday. Toronto will then go on the road, playing in San Jose on Thursday, Los Angeles on Saturday and Anaheim on Sunday.

Even after a run of four goals from March 15-19, Auston Matthews is still on course for career lows with his goal total of 27 and his shooting percentage of 12.4. He’s been limited to 54 games this campaign, and it seems probable he’s playing through something even now, but even Matthews at less than 100 percent is still a high-end option. It helps that he’s pivoted to setting up his teammates a little more to make up for the reduced goal scoring -- he has 34 assists, so in terms of points per 60 minutes, his 3.3 this year is a touch low by his standards, but still well within the range of what’d you’d expect from him.

There’s a good chance he’ll come back strong next season with another 40-plus campaign, and he might even hit 60 for the third time in his career in 2025-26. However, the 27-year-old has run into more injuries problems than one would like over the first half of his career, which makes projecting him somewhat difficult.

Mitch Marner has been the steadier hand in Toronto in terms of season-by-season production. This will be his fourth straight campaign with over 20 goals and 80 points. One thing he’s never managed is reaching the 100-point mark, though he came close in 2021-22 (97) and 2022-23 (99). He might be able to just barely hit it this season after supplying 21 goals and 83 points through 68 appearances.

Marner needs to get hot again to hit the century mark, but right now, he’s not the hottest member of the Leafs. Neither is Matthews, for that matter. That distinction belongs to William Nylander, who has five goals and 15 points in his last 11 appearances. That brings him up to 38 markers and 73 points in 69 outings overall.

Nylander also reached the 600-point career milestone Thursday when he assisted on a goal by John Tavares. That was career point 1,098 for Tavares, and the 34-year-old center went on to collect two more points, making it a milestone night for him as well. Tavares has 29 goals and 60 points in 62 appearances in 2024-25, bringing him up to 213 goals and 479 points in 502 games. If you had told someone immediately after Tavares signed a seven-year, $77 million contract with Toronto that he would decline over the final couple of years, they would have likely believed you. However, while Tavares did show his age somewhat in 2023-24, he’s continuing to produce at a high level even in the final campaign of that deal. It’ll be very interesting to see what kind of contract he commands over the summer, because he still seems to have good hockey left in him.

Toronto’s offense revolves around that core, and unfortunately no one outside of it steps up for more than brief periods. Matthew Knies is Toronto’s next best producer with 25 goals and 45 points, but he’s going through a mediocre stretch in which he’s supplied a goal and four points over his past eight games. Max Domi and Bobby McMann have been similarly meh lately, each contributing two goals and four points over the same eight-game span. All three are worth monitoring as pickup options during hot streaks, but they can’t be counted on to put up strong numbers over a longer period.

NHL: DADOUN – FANTASY WEEK AHEAD – What to make of the Buffalo Sabres – Teams and players to target this week

Ryan Dadoun — Sat, 14 Dec 2024 16:41:42 +0000

_{ST. LOUIS, MO - FEBRUARY 25: Sabres center Tage Thompson (72) during a NHL game between the Buffalo Sabres and the St. Louis Blues on February 25, 2022, at Enterprise Center, St. Louis, MO. (Photo by Keith Gillett/Icon Sportswire),}

How should we define the 2024-25 Buffalo Sabres? On paper, they’re not a terrible team. Tage Thompson is an elite goal scorer, and Alex Tuch is a good first-line forward and well suited to being Thompson’s accomplish. Rasmus Dahlin, though currently out with a back injury, is a high-end offensive blueliner, and the Sabres also have two promising young defensemen on the rise in Owen Power and Bowen Byram. In net, Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen has shown that he can be a solid option.

This isn’t a good team either, though. The Sabres do have some offensive depth, especially with Jason Zucker enjoying a comeback campaign (seven goals and 20 points through 29 appearances), but their overall scoring still isn’t anything special. The blueliners do have a mixture of talent and promise, but as a squad, the Sabres have struggled on defense, as evidenced by the team ranking 22nd in xGA/60 (3.13) per Moneypuck. Those shortcomings have trickled down to Luukkonen, who has an 8-8-3 record, 2.79 GAA and .903 save percentage in 20 starts despite a passable plus-2.6 goals saved above expected.

More than anything, Buffalo is inconsistent. Sometimes this group can click, which led to Buffalo looking like a potential contender for a playoff spot earlier in the campaign, but other times they fall apart. Buffalo has lost its last eight games, dropping its record to 11-14-4.

That kind of inconsistency would be more forgivable if Buffalo was a rebuilding team, but is that still an appropriate definition for the Sabres? They certainly do still have younger players like defensemen Power and Byram, forwards Dylan Cozens and Zach Benson as well as goaltender Devon Levi honing his game in the minors. None of those five have celebrated their 24th birthday yet, so it’s reasonable to believe their game will continue to grow.

At the same time, Tuch and Thompson are already in their prime, albeit in the early stages at 28 and 27 years old, respectively. Dahlin is still young but also in his seventh campaign, so ideally this is a foundation that should have started to get results by now.

But those results never come. You could easily make an argument that this is a rebuilding team even with those three either in or approaching their prime, but you could have made the argument that basically every Sabres team over the last decade has been a rebuilding squad. At some point, you need to transition from rebuild.

It’s been nine years since Jack Eichel was selected as the No. 2 overall pick to be the Sabres’ future. It’s been six years since Dahlin was selected as the No. 1 overall pick to headline Buffalo’s defense. It’s been four years since Power was taken with the top pick, giving the Sabres a potentially amazing blue-line duo. It’s been three years since that relationship soured to the point where Buffalo traded him to Vegas.

Buffalo hasn’t participated in a single playoff game over that span. That’d be bad enough, but the drought dates back even further. When Buffalo was last a playoff team in 2011, Tomas Vanek was the Sabres’ leading scorer and Thompson’s age. Tyler Ennis was among the team’s promising young forwards while Tyler Myers was a sophomore coming off a Calder Trophy-winning campaign. Ryan Miller was in his prime, having won the Vezina Trophy the previous year. Lindy Ruff was the bench boss… well, actually, that’s true now too… but there were six bench bosses for Buffalo between Ruff’s tenure with the team that ended during the 2012-13 campaign and his current assignment with the team.

The Sabres’ playoff appearance drought is the longest in NHL history. That’s got to way on the team, and you have to wonder if it will eventually lead to talented players getting frustrated in Buffalo as it has for others in the past. Still, it’s not as if this is a doomed team.

As stated at the top, there are positives to be found in this roster, and the place we’re judging the Sabres from now might be at or near their low point. There’s still season enough for them to turn this thing around. If they don’t, there is still hope for the future with this young group…even if that promise feels a little hollow after so many other failed rebuild attempts.

Calgary Flames (Tue vs. BOS, Thu vs. OTT, Sat vs. CHI)

The Flames have just three games scheduled for next week, but all those contests are at home, and it’s a pretty favorable schedule. Boston, which the Flames will host Tuesday, did have a 7-2-0 stretch from Nov. 21-Dec. 7, but the Bruins’ have fallen back after big losses to Winnipeg and Seattle over their past two games. After facing the Bruins, Calgary will host Ottawa and Chicago on Thursday and Saturday, respectively. Neither of those adversaries are in a playoff position.

Jonathan Huberdeau’s eight-year, $84 million contract is looking like it might go down as one of the worst contracts in recent memory, but he’s at least hot at the moment, providing four goals and nine points across his past six appearances. Will he keep that up? It’s possible, but it’s hard to get too excited. His 11 goals and 21 points through 30 outings overall still puts him on pace to get 57 points, which isn’t bad, but it’s well below the type of numbers he put up in Florida. Additionally, he has a 21.6 shooting percentage compared to his career average of 12.5, so if anything, Huberdeau’s benefited from some good puck luck and is more likely to slow as the campaign progresses than maintain that overall scoring pace.

If Huberdeau has potentially overperformed, would Andrei Kuzmenko be at the other end of the spectrum? No one expects him to repeat his 39-goal, 74-point performance from 2022-23, but is his goal and 10 points through 28 outings in 2024-25 simply the result of bad luck? His 3.3 shooting percentage is unusually low, but I’m more concerned about his decline in shots. He’s averaging just 4.1 shots/60, down from 6.8 last year.

Of his 30 shots this campaign, 19 have been fired from high-danger locations, which does put him ahead of the league average for forwards of 12.8, so that is a little bit of a silver lining. He’s on track for 52 high-danger shots this campaign, which would be down from 60 last year, a drop of 13.3 percent, whereas his overall shot total is on track to finish at 82, compared to 121 in 2023-24, a decline of 32.2 percent. So a deeper dive suggests things might not be quite as bad as they seem -- at least in terms of shot quality -- but it’s still not good, just less bad.

It's fair to believe that Kuzmenko’s shooting percentage will climb as the campaign progresses, but unless he starts getting a bit more aggressive with the puck, I wouldn’t count on him putting up numbers sufficient to give him relevance in the majority of fantasy leagues.

We might see better from Nazem Kadri, though, at least relative to his current point pace. He has 10 goals and 19 points in 30 appearances this campaign, which is a far cry from his 75-point showing in 2023-24. Kadri has been a steady contributor recently, though, supplying five goals and 11 points through his past 13 outings. He’s not a safe bet to reach the 70-point milestone again, but he was getting significantly fewer assists than is normal early in the campaign, and that seems to be balancing out and is likely to continue to do so. There’s a good chance he’ll finish the season as Calgary’s scoring leader.

Colorado Avalanche (Mon @ VAN, Thu @ SJS, FRI @ ANA, Sun vs. SEA)

The Avalanche will start next week on the road, playing in Vancouver on Monday, San Jose on Thursday and Anaheim on Friday. Colorado will then conclude the week by hosting the Kraken.

Colorado acquired Mackenzie Blackwood along with Givani Smith and a 2027 fifth-round pick from San Jose in exchange for Alexandar Georgiev, Nikolai Kovalenko, a 2025 fifth-round pick and a 2026 second-round selection.

With Blackwood on side, the Avalanche have now completely changed their goaltending tandem. They started with Georgiev and Justus Annunen, and now have Blackwood and Scott Wedgewood. The 32-year-old Wedgewood started the campaign with Nashville, posting a 1-2-1 record, 3.69 GAA and .878 save percentage through five appearances, but he’s done far better since joining the Avalanche, going 3-2-0 with a 1.92 GAA and a .931 save percentage across five outings. Of course, that’s a small sample size, and Wedgewood typically hasn’t been more than an acceptable backup goaltender, so Blackwood will be needed too.

For his part, Blackwood had a 6-9-3 record, 3.00 GAA and .909 save percentage in 19 appearances with the Sharks before the trade. He has a plus-3.9 goals saved above expected this campaign, per Moneypuck, so he’s been solid when factoring out the Sharks’ defense. Speaking of that defense, San Jose ranks 29th in xGA/60 (3.36) while Colorado is 13th (2.95). That should lead to Blackwood putting up meaningfully better numbers post-trade, and naturally, his winning percentage should improve too now that he has the likes of Nathan MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen and defenseman Cale Makar providing him with goal support.

Having Valeri Nichushkin and Artturi Lehkonen naturally helps too. That duo wasn’t available at the start of the campaign, but they’re in the lineup now, providing some critical secondary scoring. Nichushkin and Lehkonen have each supplied four goals through six games in December. They won’t match MacKinnon and Rantanen in terms of points, but they’re fantastic for Colorado to have on the top six.

Edmonton Oilers (Mon vs. FLA, Thu vs. BOS, Sat vs. SJS, Sun vs. OTT)

The Oilers will be at home next week, hosting the Panthers on Monday, the Bruins on Thursday, the Sharks on Saturday and the Senators on Sunday. Edmonton has been fantastic recently, winning seven of its past eight games to improve to 17-10-2 on the campaign, so the Oilers will be looking to stay hot.

Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl have unsurprisingly been a major factor in Edmonton’s recent success, providing 15 points (five goals) and 14 points (six), respectively, over their past eight games. Vasily Podkolzin (three goals, five points) and Connor Brown (one goal, five points) have been less expected contributors. Podkolzin has benefited from playing in a top-six role, but he still might lose that job once Viktor Arvidsson (undisclosed) is available. It would be a little surprising if Arvidsson, who has been out since Nov. 12, returned next week, but he has resumed skating and might attend a team practice soon.

As for Brown, while there was some hope of him playing alongside his old OHL teammate, McDavid, when he first joined the Oilers, that’s never panned out. The 30-year-old has been playing strictly in a bottom-six capacity and has received almost no power-play time this campaign, so while his four goals and 10 points through 29 appearances aren’t bad under the circumstances, Brown isn’t in a position to increase that scoring pace.

In goal, Stuart Skinner has stabilized after a rough start to the campaign, posting a 4-1-0 record, 1.41 GAA and .947 save percentage across his past five starts. He had a similar track in 2023-24 with a rocky opening to the season followed by mostly strong play beyond that, so perhaps history is repeating.

Florida Panthers (Mon @ EDM, Wed @ MIN, Fri vs. STL, Sun vs. TBL)

Florida will open next week with road games against Edmonton and Minnesota on Monday and Wednesday, respectively. The Panthers will then host the Blues on Friday and play in Tampa Bay on Sunday.

Matthew Tkachuk was one of the hottest forwards in the league from Nov. 19-Dec. 7, supplying six goals and 19 points across 10 appearances. However, he’s been held off the scoresheet in each of his last two outings, so while he’s a fantastic forward regardless, his latest hot streak might be over.

To be fair, though, Florida as a squad has managed just one goal (excluding the shootout) over its past two games, so it’s not just Tkachuk who has cooled off. That’s just a mini-slump on the Panthers’ end, but Anton Lundell has been cold for longer. He hasn’t recorded a point across his past five appearances, leaving him at eight goals and 19 points through 29 outings in 2024-25.

Most of Lundell’s success came from an amazing start to the campaign in which he recorded six goals and 14 points in 14 appearances, but he was also averaging 18:49 of ice time. By contrast, he’s dropped to two goals and five points over his past 15 games and his average during that stretch is 15:39. The 23-year-old is capable, but when everyone is healthy, he typically serves on the third line, which limits his fantasy impact. If injuries result in him moving up to the top six, then he could be a great short-term play.

Los Angeles Kings (Tue @ PIT, Thu @ PHI, Sat @ NSH, Sun @ WSH)

The Kings have a full schedule with four games on the docket next week and just one of their upcoming opponents (the Capitals) occupy a playoff spot. The downside is the Kings will be on the road for the entire week. They’ll play in Pittsburgh on Tuesday, Philadelphia on Thursday, Nashville on Saturday and Washington on Sunday.

When looking at the Kings’ campaign thus far, the player who has most impressed me is Anze Kopitar with his eight goals and 32 points through 29 appearances. We’re currently in a time where several forwards have excelled well past their prime -- Alex Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby being the most obvious examples -- so Kopitar’s longevity has flown under the radar somewhat. The fact that he remains an effective playmaker at the age of 37, is still impressive, though. It wouldn’t be surprising at this point to see him reach the 70-point mark for the 10th time in his career.

Alex Laferriere was nearing his sixth birthday when Kopitar made his NHL debut, but the two are in their second campaign together and the sophomore Laferriere has been coming into his own with 12 goals and 22 points in 29 contests this season. Laferriere has continued to be a steady contributor lately, collecting three goals and seven points across his past seven games.

However, I am a little worried about Laferriere’s 20.0 shooting percentage. That seems rather high and his PDO of 1033 is a touch up there too, which suggests he has been getting a bit of puck luck. I don’t expect a crash, but his goal-scoring pace will likely decline somewhat.

Adrian Kempe’s shooting percentage of 17.9 is on the higher side too. Kempe did have a 16.4 shooting percentage in 2022-23 when he finished with 41 markers, so he’s not too far above his career high, but it’s still a notable step above his career average of 12.7. Like Laferriere, I don’t expect Kempe to collapse, but a small decline might be in his future. Kempe does have 14 goals and 28 points in 29 outings overall.

New Jersey Devils (Tue @ STL, Thu @ CBJ, Sat vs. PIT)

The Devils are set to play just three games next week, but the competition is favorable, so I decided to highlight them. New Jersey will play in St. Louis on Tuesday and Columbus on Thursday before hosting the Penguins on Saturday.

The Devils have a commanding 19-10-3 record compared to their mediocre 38-39-5 finish to 2023-24 and the difference is almost entirely at their end of the ice. New Jersey is allowing just 2.66 goals per game, which is a huge drop from 3.43 last year. But how much of that is thanks to Jacob Markstrom?

The Devils had an xGA/60 of 3.26 last campaign, which suggests that they were a poor defensive team independent of their goaltending. Kaapo Kahkonen and Jake Allen largely held their own with a plus-1.4 and minus-1.9 goals saved above expected, but when the defense is that bad, merely being okay leads to bad results. The Devils also employed Nico Daws, Akira Schmid and Vitek Vanecek, who did even worse by that metric.

Markstrom was brought in over the summer to stabilize the situation, but much like Kahkonen before him, he’s been acceptable, but not brilliant, posting a plus-1.5 goals saved above expected through 22 appearances. The difference is the Devils have burdened their goaltenders far less in 2024-25, as evidenced by their 2.70 xGA/60.

So, while Markstrom certainly hasn’t been a problem, he hasn’t necessarily been their savior. Either way, fantasy managers have can reap the benefits of Markstrom playing in a favorable situation, which has resulted in him posting a 14-6-2 record, 2.41 GAA and .906 save percentage. He’s also hot going into this week with a 3-0-1 record, 1.48 GAA and .933 save percentage over his past four outings.

Allen has been dealing with an upper-body injury, and the Devils’ schedule is spread out enough to allow Markstrom to start in all three games next week. Isaac Poulter will be with New Jersey for the duration of Allen’s injury, but Poulter is unlikely to get a start. The 23-year-old Poulter has struggled in the AHL this campaign with a 3.32 GAA and an .871 save percentage across nine appearances.

Poulter not getting playing time isn’t surprising, but it was a bit eyebrow-raising to see Tomas Tatar out of the lineup Thursday. Perhaps it shouldn’t be, though. Tatar has averaged just 10:41 of ice time this campaign, which is a far cry from even two seasons ago when he logged 15:07 per game. The Devils are a deep team, and it seems like there’s not much of a role for him. I’d be interested to see what would happen if the Devils traded the 34-year-old. He’s on a one-year, $1.8 million contract, so he’s movable, but New Jersey might ultimately decide that they’d rather have him on board as an insurance policy against injuries. If Tatar does find himself in a middle-six role, he might do enough offensively to have some fantasy relevance. As it is, he’s a non-factor in most leagues.

Seattle Kraken (Tue vs. OTT, Thu @ CHI, Sat @ VGK, Sun @ COL)

Seattle will host Ottawa on Tuesday, but the Kraken will spend the remainder of next week on the road, playing in Chicago on Thursday, Vegas on Saturday and Colorado on Sunday.

The Kraken have largely held their own this campaign without being anything special, posting a 15-14-2 record. Joey Daccord has been a major highlight with a 12-6-2 record, 2.42 GAA and .916 save percentage through 20 appearances. We just talked about how Markstrom is benefiting from plenty of support, but Daccord has had to do much more to keep the Kraken afloat. They are tied for 24th in xGA/60 (3.14) and are tied for 16th in goals per game (3.03). For his part, Daccord’s plus-9.2 in goals saved above expected ranks seventh in the league.

Seattle’s offense is mediocre in part because it lacks star power. Through Friday’s action, 48 players have scored at least 12 goals and none of them play for the Kraken. Seattle’s points leader, Jared McCann, (11 goals, 15 assists), is also outside of the top 47 in that category. The Kraken have nine players who have recorded at least five goals, which is respectable -- the league average is 7.7 per team -- but without a star leading the charge, the offense is still just okay.

Maybe Shane Wright will eventually fill that role. Taken with the No. 4 overall pick in the 2022 NHL Draft, Wright had just a goal and an assist through his first 18 appearances in 2024-25. Then he spent three games as a healthy scratch from Nov. 17-23, and that seemed to do him plenty of good. He’s managed six goals and 11 points across 10 outings since that stint in the press box.

The 22-year-old Matty Beniers has promise too. He had 24 goals and 57 points as a rookie in 2022-23 but took a step back in 2023-24 with 15 goals and 37 points. The 2024-25 campaign has been a mixed bag -- he has four goals and 17 points in 31 games -- but he’s done well recently with seven assists across his past seven appearances.

Vancouver Canucks (Mon @ COL, Wed @ UTA, Thu @ VGK, Say vs. OTT)

The Canucks will split next week between two games at home (Monday vs. the Avalanche and Saturday vs. the Senators) and two road tilts (Wednesday in Utah and Thursday in Vegas). The Canucks are 15-8-5, which is pretty good, but in a tough Pacific Division, that’s only good for fourth place.

Going into the campaign, it wasn’t clear if Vancouver would be able to hold its own without starting goaltender Thatcher Demko, who was dealing with a knee injury. Fortunately for the Canucks, Kevin Lankinen stepped up and now has a 14-4-3 record, 2.52 GAA and .912 save percentage across 21 outings.

Lankinen became the clear starter during Demko’s absence, but his role is less clear after Demko made his return. The 29-year-old Demko made his season debut Tuesday, though he left something to be desired, stopping 21 of 25 shots en route to a 4-3 overtime loss to St. Louis. That was followed by Lankinen posting a 27-save shutout Thursday.

We shouldn’t judge Demko based on only one start, but it might take him some time to shake off the rust. With Vancouver’s upcoming schedule relatively full, the Canucks will probably split the workload between Lankinen and Demko, which will give the latter more time to get eased in. If Lankinen keeps playing like he has been, and Demko eventually finds his rhythm, then Vancouver would have a great 1A/1B situation on its hands.

The Canucks also got J.T. Miller back, who was absent for 10 games due to personal reasons. He looked good in his return Thursday, providing two assists, including one on the power play. Now that he’s back, Pius Suter is likely to serve in a reduced capacity. During Miller’s 10-game absence, Suter had five goals and nine points while averaging 18:14 of ice time, but Suter dropped to 15:15 on Thursday and wasn’t used at all with the man advantage for the first time since Nov. 14. If you’ve been enjoying Suter’s recent success, now might be the time to explore your alternatives.

MCKEEN’S 2024-25 NHL YEARBOOK – BUFFALO SABRES – Team Preview

Sun, 22 Sep 2024 16:00:02 +0000

_{MONTREAL, QC - FEBRUARY 21: Look on Buffalo Sabres center Tage Thompson (72) during the Buffalo Sabres versus the Montreal Canadiens game on February 21, 2024, at Bell Centre in Montreal, QC (Photo by David Kirouac/Icon Sportswire)}

Although all eyes were on young goaltender Devon Levi, Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen proved to be the star of the 2023-24 Sabres, posting a 27-22-4 record, 2.57 GAA and .910 save percentage across 54 contests. However, his strong netminding was undermined by forwards Tage Thompson, Jeff Skinner, Alex Tuch, Dylan Cozens, and Casey Mittelstadt all seeing meaningful declines in offensive production when compared to a season prior. The end result was that Buffalo finished 39-37-6 and missed the playoffs for a 13th consecutive year.

WHAT’S CHANGED? Since the Sabres replaced Lindy Ruff as the head coach, they have cycled through six bench bosses and none of them could lead Buffalo to the postseason, so Buffalo went back to the last thing that worked by rehiring the now 64-year-old Ruff. Outside of the coaching change, Buffalo bought out Skinner and let Victor Olofsson walk as an unrestricted free agent. Meanwhile, they brought in Ryan McLeod in a trade with Edmonton, who might play on the third line alongside Jason Zucker, who was inked to a one-year contract.

WHAT WOULD SUCCESS LOOK LIKE? The Sabres have endured the longest stretch between playoff berths in NHL history, but that might come to an end this season. Luukkonen was great last year, and at the age of 25, seems well positioned to be a high-end starter for years to come. Combine that with Levi’s high-end potential, and Buffalo’s goaltending is looking good. What Buffalo needs is for its forward corps to recapture some of the magic it had in 2022-23. If that happens, then the Sabres will be a great, well-rounded squad.

WHAT COULD GO WRONG? Of course, Luukkonen has just 100 career NHL games under his belt, and he wasn’t that effective in 2022-23, so there’s no guarantee he won’t regress, and for all Levi’s potential, he’s completely unproven. Buffalo did try to hedge its bet by inking free agent James Reimer, but he’s 35 now and probably won’t be able to save the Sabres if their young goaltenders struggle. On top of that, playing in the Atlantic Division will do Buffalo no favors. Sure, the Sabres have promise, but Ottawa and Detroit improved over the summer while Montreal’s rebuild is making progress. Throw Florida, Boston, Toronto, and Tampa Bay into that mix, and even a Buffalo team that plays capably might still miss the playoffs.

TOP BREAKOUT CANDIDATE: After buying out Skinner, there’s a path for Zach Benson to play a bigger role this campaign, and the 19-year-old might take advantage. He had a serviceable 2023-24 campaign with 11 goals and 30 points across 71 contests while averaging 14:31 of ice time and has the potential to do so much better. Also keep an eye on Jack Quinn, who was limited to 27 games last year, but looked good when he was healthy with nine goals and 19 points. Now with 104 NHL contests under his belt, it’ll be interesting to see what he could do if he stays healthy this year.

FORWARD

Tage Thompson

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
80	39	45	84	1.05

Thompson’s 2023-2024 season, like that of the whole of the Buffalo Sabres, was a frustrating one. Although he finished the season leading the team with 29 goals, he missed 11 games and dealt with an injury to his wrist that affected his shooting. His power play production dropped from 20 goals in 2022-2023 to nine as Buffalo’s power play fell apart. Showcasing how well Thompson performed despite the injury helped highlight the opportunities that have slipped through the Sabres hands the past two seasons. That he wanted to hurry back into the lineup after the injury to help his team that struggled with consistency makes sense. He’s become a leader in the room and is deeply motivated to help end their playoff drought. But playing through an issue that clearly hindered his greatest weapon, his shot, only proved to add to the frustration the team sorted through. Thompson showed late in the season that when he is healthy, he’s as dangerous a scorer as there can be in the NHL. His creativeness with the puck, his size, his hands and his shot make him extremely difficult to defend. Giving him space lets him get clear to fire away but pressing him can lead to being put on his highlight reel when he toe-drags or nutmegs the defender. Good health and a more direct power play scheme along with Lindy Ruff’s style of play could lead Thompson to a monster season.

Dylan Cozens

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
82	22	32	54	0.66

Two seasons ago, Dylan Cozens appeared to have arrived in a big way as an offensive star in Buffalo. His 31 goals in 2022-2023 firmly put him in place behind Tage Thompson as Buffalo’s No. 2 center and set the stage for the Sabres to have a dangerous one-two punch on their top two lines. But 2023-2024 proved to mimic Cozens’s 2021-2022 season a bit too closely. He posted 18 goals with 29 assists last season, a mark that put him fifth on the team in scoring. He struggled with his consistency on offence and battled with his own confidence in his shot as his task load increased throughout the year. Following the trade of Casey Mittelstadt, Cozens become the de facto faceoff man and ultimately one of their most important players on the penalty kill. But Cozens struggled to win draws (45.5 percent on the year) although Buffalo’s penalty killing greatly improved going from 77 percent in 2022-2023 to 82.7 percent last season, tied for 12th best in the NHL. Although the strong defensive work is certainly encouraging, it’s offence Cozens wants to help with even more and the Sabres will need it following the buyout of Jeff Skinner. Should he use his solid performance at World Championships (nine goals, two assists in 10 games) to spark him like it did in 2022-2023, it’ll be a big bounce back season for him.

Alex Tuch

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
78	27	44	71	0.91

On paper, Alex Tuch had a strong season in 2023-2024. He tied with Rasmus Dahlin for the team lead in scoring with 59 points and his 22 goals were fourth most on the team. Being a team leader is a good thing, normally, except when things go poorly, which they did for Buffalo. Tuch battled all season riding the waves of inconsistency with the rest of his teammates, but when on top of his game, he showed why he’s a premier power forward. His ability around the net to score on rebounds is excellent and he again showed that he’s got a dynamite shot from the slot or on the rush off the wing. A player with his size (6-foot-4, 215 pounds) can be a game-changer and, like many of his Sabres teammates, there were quite a few ups and downs throughout the year. Tuch’s body of work through his career shows how dynamic he can be and since coming to Buffalo from Vegas, we’ve been able to see why he’s such a valued player. Last season marked the third time he scored 20-or-more goals, but the drop from 36 to 22 was substantial. As much as Buffalo wanted to recreate that success, something was off in how Tuch, Thompson and Skinner (and later JJ Peterka) were able to play together. This season, Tuch’s childhood dream of playing for Lindy Ruff will come true and he’ll be a vital player in the Sabres’ success.

JJ Peterka

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
72	32	26	58	0.71

The big question last offseason was who among JJ Peterka and Jack Quinn would have a big breakout season in 2023-2024. When Quinn sustained an Achilles tendon injury in the summer, all eyes were on Peterka to see if he would take the next step into becoming one of the top scorers on the Sabres and he lived up to the expectations. Peterka set career highs in goals (28) and points (50) and became a first line player alongside Tage Thompson and Alex Tuch, supplanting Jeff Skinner in the process. Peterka used his speed, shot, and creativity with the puck to generate scoring opportunities and did the bulk of his damage at even strength with 25 of his 28 goals coming then. At 22-years old, Peterka taking a step forward like this came at the best time for the Sabres and you could postulate that his rise (as well as the arrival of Zach Benson) helped general manager Kevyn Adams decide to buy out Skinner this summer. Peterka’s skill set was made to flourish with such offensively capable teammates and although Buffalo didn’t play with quite the same speed and attack mentality last season, he was still able to take off. With a new coach in place, opportunity is there for the taking to have Peterka make another big step forward and his ability to play better two-way hockey will give him the ability to shine even brighter.

Jack Quinn

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
76	25	24	49	0.64

Hopes last season for Jack Quinn were dashed months before the season even began when he ruptured an Achilles tendon during offseason workouts. That injury put him out of action until a week before Christmas and when he returned, the Sabres were already sagging back in the standings and offensively. While Quinn did his best upon his return to jumpstart the team, bad luck took over for him again in late-January when he sustained a lower-body injury in an awkward board collision that kept him out another two months. When he wasn’t on the shelf, Quinn had nine goals and 10 assists in 27 games, a scoring rate of 0.7 points per game. That kind of production being absent from the Sabres lineup was a harsh blow to take for the team and highlighted how there really wasn’t anyone who stepped up to replace him. A fully healthy offseason for Quinn should allow him to be ready to explode on the scene this season as he’s penciled in to play on a line with Dylan Cozens once again. His ability to score from odd shooting angles with peculiar timing makes him a perplexing player to defend and goaltend against and allows him to be dangerous from anywhere in the zone, particularly in the slot. If he has a fully healthy season, the breakout that was anticipated a year ago may come to fruition.

Zach Benson

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
77	15	23	38	0.49

Zach Benson’s first NHL season was loaded with surprises. When the Sabres selected him 13th overall at the 2023 draft, it was stunning that one of the WHL’s top scorers managed to slip that far down the board and into the hands of a team that already had a cadre of high-end prospects in the first place. It was just as surprising when Benson showed during training camp in September that not only was it a mistake for other teams to pass on him but that at 18-years old, he was good enough to be in the NHL right away. Benson earned a spot on the Sabres and took full advantage of his hard skating and hard-working style of play to become arguably the best forechecker on the team. His aggressive skating and ability to annoy opponents worked to his advantage as he was able to force turnovers further up the ice and become an instantly excellent penalty killer. Although he was a big-time scorer in juniors, his 11 goals and 19 assists couldn’t generate a lot of attention for the Calder Trophy. All that aside, with his defensive smarts and instincts already in place and excellent at the NHL level, it’ll only be a matter of time before he finds his stride offensively as he’s extremely creative with the puck and with his shot. It bears watching how much more he will score this season. A major breakout is on the horizon, it’s only a question of when.

Peyton Krebs

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
81	11	16	27	0.33

The 2023-2024 season proved to be a deeply frustrating one for Peyton Krebs. At 23-years old, he put up four goals and 13 assists and had the lowest offensive output of his career. Krebs played mostly in a fourth-line role between Zemgus Girgensons and Kyle Okposo which didn’t exactly help with generating offence, but that was the role he was asked to play and he handled it as best as he could. Krebs was the 17th pick in the 2019 draft, the same year as Dylan Cozens, and the expectations for him as an offensive player have always been high. When he had the opportunity to play up in the Sabres lineup, he struggled and couldn’t click well offensively with wingers like Zach Benson or JJ Peterka. While he possesses an adept ability to make passes and has solid offensive instincts, it hasn’t quite come together for him yet in Buffalo. As he heads into a new season, where he fits into the Buffalo lineup is a bit murky. Ideally, they’d like Krebs to play up in the lineup somewhere, be it at center or the wing, but he’s performed poorly any time he’s been on the wing. With the additions of Ryan McLeod and Sam Lafferty, it would seem the center spot on the third and fourth lines is spoken for unless Krebs forces the issue in camp or winds up playing elsewhere.

Jason Zucker

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
77	15	14	29	0.38

When the Sabres bought out Jeff Skinner in the offseason, the biggest question GM Kevyn Adams faced was how he was going to replace the point production he provided. When July 1st rolled around, the Sabres made the call for veteran Jason Zucker to address that need. Zucker is a five-time 20-plus goal scorer in the league and is two seasons removed from putting up 27 goals with the Pittsburgh Penguins. At 32-years old, he’s a knowledgeable veteran who knows his role and has always used his speed to his advantage both in the offensive game and as a forechecker. The Sabres will lean on Zucker to play in a role like what they had with Skinner late in the season. He’ll be able to play on any of the top three lines and likely battle with JJ Peterka and Zach Benson for those spots on the left wing. But most importantly, they’ll look for Zucker to find his scoring touch once again. He struggled last season with Arizona and Nashville and put up 14 goals with 18 assists. They would love to see him return to the prowess he had in Pittsburgh or previously with the Minnesota Wild, but should Peterka and Benson outperform him, at the very least the depth Zucker will provide will be greatly appreciated.

Ryan McLeod

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
79	8	15	23	0.29

One of the newest faces in Buffalo will also be one of, if not, the fastest on the team in Ryan McLeod. The Sabres acquired McLeod from the Edmonton Oilers in a swap that sent 2023 ninth overall pick Matthew Savoie back home to Alberta. The trade was panned by many given Savoie’s lofty draft status, but the specific role McLeod plays was greatly needed in Buffalo. As he showed during the Oilers’ run to the Stanley Cup Final, McLeod’s speed forces the issue on opponents trying to get out of their own zone. His forechecking and ability to recover and regroup rapidly helped provide a defensive presence on a team that desperately needed one up front. His role in Buffalo is expected to be the same and with Lindy Ruff’s system in place, the pressure McLeod puts on opposing puck carriers will be vital. Although he’ll be in a third- or fourth-line role, McLeod isn’t a physical player, but with the presence of others like Jordan Greenway, Sam Lafferty and Beck Malenstyn in Buffalo, he won’t have to be. His five-on-five possession numbers shined in Edmonton (career 54.7 percent shot attempts for at five-on-five) and he did that away from all their elite scoring forwards. If he can carry that over to Buffalo, it’ll provide a huge lift to their overall performance.

DEFENCE

Rasmus Dahlin

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
82	18	50	68	0.83

Being the No.1 defenceman on the Buffalo Sabres can be a difficult job, but Rasmus Dahlin has handled all the slings and arrows that were thrown at him to become one of the top blue liners in the NHL. Dahlin tied with Alex Tuch for the team scoring lead with 59 points and he had his first 20-goal season in 2023-2024. Whether it was on the power play or at even-strength, Dahlin’s ability to move the puck from end to end is outstanding. He’s capable of making passes akin to what a first-line center would make and can rip slap shots with the kind of power very few possess. He’s a dynamic offensive presence on the blue line and while his point totals dipped last season compared to the previous season, the uptick in goals showed the evolution his game is making. Dahlin has also developed a physical edge and doesn’t shy away from stirring things up either. He’s become an excellent on-puck defender and his ability to deny passes is impressive. It’s not something that shows up in highlights or box scores, but watching it happen in the flow of play is outstanding. He’s a leader on the ice and in the locker room, but he must improve on the number of penalties taken. The 29 infractions drawn last season were most on the Sabres and given he drew 27, the difference wasn’t too bad. But for the Sabres to have success, he must stay on the ice.

Owen Power

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
80	7	33	40	0.50

It may not always be reflected in his boxcar statistics, but Owen Power is an outstanding defenceman already at age 21. Last season, he had six goals and 27 assists in 76 games and his 33 points were second in defensive scoring behind Rasmus Dahlin. Considering he was second on the Sabres in average time on ice (22:55) behind Dahlin, that makes a lot of sense. After being the No. 1 in the 2021 draft, the lofty expectations that go with it mean he’s supposed to have juicier overall stats. But Power’s effectiveness stands out in both his advanced stats and via the eye test. Watching how well he’s able to exit the defensive zone and control the play from the backend through the neutral zone shows why he was the top pick three years ago and why the Sabres rely on him as much as they do. That said, he’s going to be the No. 2 guy on the blue line behind Dahlin for years to come since both signed long-term contracts a year ago to stay in Buffalo. The key for Power is to play with the kind of swagger and confidence Dahlin plays with now. At 6-foot-5, Power’s stature on the ice is impressive and a player as big as him being as smooth and heady on his feet makes him a unicorn of sorts, for him to take the next step in his career, he’s got to assert himself more in a similar way his teammate did a few years ago.

Bowen Byram

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
77	12	20	32	0.42

When the Sabres added Bo Byram from the Colorado Avalanche in the trade that sent center Casey Mittelstadt to Denver, it was a classic eye-popping hockey deal and one that helped Buffalo build one of the more impressive collections of young defencemen in the league. Things appeared to stagnate a bit for Byram in Denver last season and the Avalanche’s need for forward help and the Sabres’ fear of what Mittelstadt’s next contract would look like helped make the deal happen. Upon his arrival in Buffalo, it was a bit tricky to sort out his performance. His initial impression showed a lot of what was expected: strong puck-moving capability, fast pace of play and natural offensive instincts. But as the season ground to the finish, he struggled without an established role on the blue line and finished with nine points (three goals, six assists) in 18 games with the Sabres. The hope this season will be that Lindy Ruff’s new system and desire to up the pressure all over the ice will open things up for defencemen to carry and attack when called for and give Byram and his teammates the chance to fly. There’s no doubt he would like the fresh chance to show what he can do because he’s slated to play somewhere within Buffalo’s top four on defence, be it next to Rasmus Dahlin or Owen Power. His tools are too good to not work with the talent the Sabres have.

Henri Jokiharju

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
76	4	14	18	0.24

Henri Jokiharju’s stronger dedication to defensive play on the blue line was more than apparent last season. The Sabres have plenty of other more offensive options on the blue line in Rasmus Dahlin, Owen Power, and Bo Byram, so it’s the defensive side of the game Jokiharju needed to zero in on. He was a solid complementary player whether he was teamed up with Dahlin or Power on the right side and his plus-14 rating was best on the Sabres. He had 17 points in 74 games with three goals to his credit. One thing that helped him straighten up on defence was how he stuck to his role and what he was asked to do. Often in previous seasons, there would be disconnects between those he was paired with and was more meant to carry the puck up the ice and pinch in the offensive zone to add to the attack. That kind of miscommunication caused defensive breakdowns and golden scoring chances for opponents. Seeing that limited last season while he minded the defensive zone was encouraging. But Jokiharju can be effective with the puck. His shot from the blue line is decent and he’s able to get it through screens if he does let it fly. As he enters his final season before potentially becoming an unrestricted free agent next July, it’ll be worth paying attention to how he fits into what Lindy Ruff wants to do.

GOAL

Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen

Predicted Stats
GP	W	L	OT	SO	SV%	GAA
52	25	22	6	4	0.908	2.63

Devon Levi

Predicted Stats
GP	W	L	OT	SO	SV%	GAA
25	12	11	2	1	0.903	3.01

Compared to teams with Vezina-caliber goaltending, the 2023-24 Buffalo Sabres in-net offerings didn't necessarily put up any performances of note. But the team's ability to finish their season with a positive goal differential - something the Sabres hadn't done since 2011 - felt like both a remarkable breath of fresh air and a sign that things might finally be going right for Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen. The 24-year-old Luukkonen, who had already temporarily lost his NHL gig twice with reassignments to the minors and benchings behind 41-year-old Craig Anderson, finally took the step forward that the team had been dying for. He finished the 2023 campaign with quality starts in nearly two-thirds of his games played, recording his first NHL shutout (and then adding four more, for good measure) and finally hitting his stride behind a team that seems poised to take a long-overdue step forward.

The real question now will be aimed at prospect Devon Levi. The expectation last year was that Levi, who had been putting up stellar performances at every level, would be able to step in and help guide the team as they took a step forward. Instead, Luukkonen finally put all the pieces together with his own game, improving his movement fluidity and tracking the puck in a way he hadn't with any regularity in years past. And Levi, typically a goaltender who looked best when beckoning pucks to him and holding his positioning, started to become more erratic and harder to stay confident in. The Sabres provided some relief for Levi (and Luukkonen) with a veteran James Reimer coming on board as this season's locker room leader, so Levi is free to work on his conditioning at the AHL level for a bit without feeling the pressure to perform immediately. But Reimer's own numbers have been middling at best for the last few seasons, and his workloads have been limited in volume. So sooner rather than later, expect the Luukkonen-Levi tandem to make another appearance.

MCKEEN’S 2024-25 NHL YEARBOOK – BUFFALO SABRES – Top 15 Prospect Profiles – Organizational Rank #12

Introduction - Dave Hall, Profiles - Josh Bell — Sun, 22 Sep 2024 13:00:37 +0000

_{PITTSBURGH, PA - SEPTEMBER 28:Buffalo Sabres center Jiri Kulich (20) skates with the puck during the second period in the NHL preseason game between the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Buffalo Sabres on September 28, 2023, at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, PA. (Photo by Jeanine Leech/Icon Sportswire)}

Prospect System Ranking – 12th (Previous Rank - 2nd)
GM: Kevyn Adams Hired: June 2020
COACH: Lindy Ruff Hired: April 2024

Trading away McKeen’s 39th-ranked prospect, Matthew Savoie, has left a dent in the Sabres' prospect rankings, causing their fall from second to eighth, and now to 12th. However, at some point, the focus must shift from stockpiling prospects to winning games and making a push for the playoffs. Even with Savoie out of the picture, Buffalo still boasts seven players within our McKeen’s top 150, including two prospects ranked in the top 35. Most of their top prospects are close to home, developing with the Rochester Americans in the AHL while sitting just a rock's throw away of NHL deployment.

Leading the pack is forward Jiri Kulich (33rd), who appears closest to earning a promotion to the NHL. Since transitioning from Czechia two seasons ago, Kulich has been a consistent producer, racking up 91 points across 119 games, good for a 0.76 point-per-game pace. Isak Rosén (116th), Buffalo’s 2021 first rounder, is right behind him with 87 points over roughly the same span of games. Swedish sensations Noah Östlund (93rd) and Anton Wahlberg (110th) have also been tracking nicely in the SHL and have crossed the pond. Meanwhile, Konsta Helenius (51st), Buffalo’s latest first-round pick, is expected to join the North American ranks.

Buffalo’s prospect pool complements an already youthful NHL roster featuring Jack Quinn (22), Dylan Cozens (23), Zach Benson (19), J.J. Peterka (22), Tage Thompson (26), Bowen Byram (23), Owen Power (21), and Rasmus Dahlin (24).

The situation between the pipes is especially interesting. With Devon Levi, McKeen’s 21st-ranked prospect, waiting in the wings, Buffalo recently signed 25-year-old Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen to a new five-year extension. While this solidifies Buffalo’s goaltending depth, it raises questions about how the goalie hierarchy will shake out.

After 13 years without playoff hockey, Buffalo’s rebuild has come to a critical juncture. With an incredibly talented core and a strong prospect pool, it’s only a matter of time before this team is ready to surge back into postseason contention.

Buffalo Sabres Top-15 Prospects

1. Devon Levi

Devon Levi's meteoric rise through the NCAA ranks had scouts raving about his potential as a future NHL star. The buzz stemmed from his remarkable calmness in net, his ability to make highlight-reel saves with a feline grace, and his knack for stealing games for his team. Levi's arrival in the NHL hasn't quite been the seamless transition many expected. While the raw talent is undeniable, there's a sense that the pro game's quicker pace and tighter margins have exposed some weaknesses in his game. His save percentages haven't reached the heights he achieved in college, and there have been moments where his positioning seems a touch off. The key is to remain patient. Adjusting to the NHL is a challenge for any goalie, and Levi's underlying numbers suggest there's still plenty to be optimistic about. He has the tools to be a difference-maker at this level, but it might take some time for him to fully adjust and find his rhythm.

2. Jiri Kulich

Jiri Kulich isn't the biggest forward on the ice, but he plays with a heart that belies his frame. He boasts a powerful skating stride that translates to dangerous rushes and the ability to create separation in tight spaces. Don't be fooled by his speed – Kulich isn't afraid to mix it up in the dirty areas. He battles for pucks along the boards with a willingness to go to the net to create scoring chances. But his true calling card is his offensive arsenal. He possesses a wicked wrist shot with a deceptive release, making him a constant threat from the perimeter. He's not a one-trick pony, though. Kulich displays slick hands and a knack for finding open ice in scoring areas. His hockey IQ shines in his ability to anticipate plays and make smart decisions. While all that is enticing, there's room for improvement in his overall strength. Consistency can also be a concern. If he addresses those issues, Kulich has top six forward potential with a knack for scoring goals.

3. Konsta Helenius

Konsta Helenius is a highly intelligent and skilled player, drawing comparisons to Lucas Raymond in his draft year due to their similar style, size, and smart play. Known for his results-oriented approach, Helenius consistently performed at a high level, finishing fifth in Liiga scoring among players 20 or younger, despite not being affiliated with an NHL team. He also represented Finland at the WJC, U18 Worlds, and the men’s world championships, where he made a strong impression as the youngest player ever to suit up for Team Finland. Helenius’s puck control, passing, and ability to navigate through traffic make him a formidable offensive threat. Although he needs to add strength, his skillset and maturity suggest he’ll be a valuable NHL asset soon. Helenius is seen as a player who could make a swift impact at the NHL level, potentially even faster than Raymond.

4. Noah Ostlund

Don't be fooled by his size – Noah Ostlund conducts the offence like a seasoned veteran. The Swedish center boasts a smooth skating stride and elite puckhandling ability, weaving through defenders with a magician's touch. His vision on the ice is a thing of beauty, threading needlepoint passes to spring linemates for breakaways. While not a prolific scorer himself, Ostlund elevates the play of everyone around him, a true playmaking maestro. Questions linger about his finishing touch. Despite flashes of a deceptive shot, consistency in finding the net remains a work in progress. Adding some physicality to his frame wouldn't hurt either, allowing him to battle harder in the trenches and win those board battles. Despite these areas for improvement, Ostlund's potential as a top six center with elite playmaking skills is undeniable. If he can add some scoring punch and a bit of grit, he could become a difference-maker at the NHL level.

5. Anton Wahlberg

After a limited stint with the Malmö Redhawks in the SHL, where he put up 10 points in 43 games, Wahlberg found his footing in the AHL with the Rochester Americans. In nine games with the Americans, Wahlberg notched one goal and three assists for four points. While the point totals aren't eye-popping, it's important to remember Wahlberg is a young player (just 18 years old) adjusting to the pro game. The small sample size in the AHL makes it difficult to draw major conclusions, but the fact that he was able to produce at all is a positive sign. Those familiar with Wahlberg's scouting reports will likely point to his hockey IQ and playmaking ability as his biggest strengths. While his offensive upside remains to be seen, his performance in the AHL suggests he can be a productive player at that level. Looking ahead, it will be interesting to see how the Sabres decide to utilize him. Another year in the AHL could be in the cards.

6. Isak Rosen

Isak Rosen wasn't expected to light up the scoresheet in his second AHL season, but the young Swede did just that. After a decent rookie campaign, Rosen exploded offensively in 2023-24, putting up a respectable 50 points (20 goals, 30 assists) in 67 games for the Rochester Americans. His improved playmaking ability was particularly noteworthy, suggesting a well-rounded offensive skillset emerging. Questions linger, however. While he can create scoring chances, his finishing touch remains a work in progress. Consistency was also an issue – stretches of dominance were occasionally punctuated by quiet periods. Did Rosen finally earn his NHL call-up many predicted last season? The answer is a tantalizing ‘almost.’ He saw limited action with the Sabres, failing to register a point. His development in 2023-24 was a positive step, but the jury's still out on his NHL readiness. Can he refine his finishing and translate his AHL success to the big leagues? This season will be crucial in determining if Rosen becomes a reliable NHL contributor or remains a top AHL producer.

7. Vsevolod Komarov

Drafted 134th overall in 2022, the Sabres saw something in the 6-foot-3, 187-pound Vsevolod Komarov. The defender was coming off his first season in the QMJHL and while he had modest production, Buffalo believed in him. That appeared to be the right choice as the defenceman led all QMJHL defenders in assists (55) and points (69) this past season, earning him the Emile-Bouchard Trophy as the top defender in the league. The Russian defender has steadily improved since coming to North America, showing off creativity at the blue line, an ability to draw defenders in, and the knack for finding his open teammates. He’s not afraid to fire a shot himself either. Defensively, he utilizes his size very well, using his strength to muscle people off pucks and his reach to knock pucks away and get in the passing lanes. While there was some question about his upside and potential, Komarov is looking more and more like an NHL player.

8. Adam Kleber

Kleber is a towering right-shot defender who showed remarkable growth throughout last season. After struggling in the Hlinka/Gretzky Cup and having a slow start in the USHL with Lincoln, he gradually gained confidence and improved his impact on both ends of the ice. A key factor in his development was the significant improvement in his skating, which became noticeably more powerful and fluid as the season progressed—a rare mid-season transformation that highlights his dedication and hard work. Defensively, Kleber became more effective at handling faster opponents, thanks to his improved mobility and impressive reach. Offensively, he began to take more risks as a puck mover, showing a newfound aggressiveness that hints at a higher upside. While he may never reach Cale Makar's level, his evolving confidence with the puck could push him beyond the role of a physical, stay-at-home defender. An NHL team would be wise to let him develop further at Minnesota-Duluth, allowing him to refine his puck skills and build confidence before turning pro.

9. Maxim Strbak

Drafted 45th overall by Buffalo, Maxim Strbak's freshman year at Michigan State was a solid, if unspectacular, debut. Known for his strong defensive positioning and ability to clear the crease, Strbak solidified himself as a reliable presence on the Spartans' blue line. While his offensive contributions were limited (two goals, nine points in 32 games), his defensive awareness and strong work ethic were valuable assets for the team. His skating remains a work in progress, particularly his top speed. This could limit his offensive upside at the NHL level. However, his ability to shut down plays, and make smart decisions with the puck, suggests he can carve out a niche as a dependable two-way defenceman. His development in the coming years will be crucial in determining whether he can become a top four option for the Sabres.

10. Viktor Neuchev

Viktor Neuchev is a tantalizing prospect with a rare blend of speed, skill, and creativity. At 6-foot-3 and 190 pounds, he has the frame to play a power-forward role at the NHL level. Neuchev possesses a heavy shot that he can unleash with a quick release. He’s also surprisingly nimble for his size, showing good edgework and acceleration. The Russian winger boasts elite-level quickness, able to separate from defenders with ease and generate high-danger scoring chances. His vision and anticipation are equally impressive, consistently identifying soft spots in coverage and delivering precision passes to exploit them. While Neuchev must continue to develop his physicality and defensive awareness, his upside is significant. With continued growth, he could become a dynamic, top six forward and a key contributor on the power play. Neuchev's ceiling is high, and he's an exciting addition to the Sabres' prospect pipeline.

11. Aleksandr Kisakov

Aleksandr Kisakov is a dynamic offensive talent with high-end skating, agility, and edge work, enabling him to navigate through defenders and create scoring chances. His vision, anticipation, and quick release shot make him a constant threat. While he excels offensively and isn't afraid to battle along the boards, his defensive awareness needs improvement. With continued development, Kisakov has the potential to be a top six forward for the Sabres.

12. Brodie Ziemer

Brodie Ziemer may not always stand out during games with his average height and speed, but his intelligence and skill set make him a key player. As a former captain of Team USA at the U18 Worlds, he excels in tight spaces with excellent hands around the net, delivering subtle tips and strong support. Ziemer’s contributions go beyond offence; he's reliable on the penalty kill, blocks shots, and does the little things right. His deceptive strength and all-for-the-team mentality make him a valuable, Zach Hyman-like prospect.

13. Nikita Novikov

After being drafted back in 2021, 188th overall, Nikita Novikov finally made the jump overseas in 2023-24, dressing for the AHL’s Rochester Americans. The two-way defender showed off impressive abilities in his own end, using his long reach and strong positioning to shut down opponents. He also took strides forward in the offensive zone, showing improved confidence and assertiveness. He’s on track to a bottom-four role in the NHL in the near future.

14. Prokhor Poltapov

Before hearing his name called 33rd overall in 2021, Prokhor Poltapov looked like one of the most skilled players in the NHL Draft. Since then, he’s made the jump to the KHL where he’s struggled to translate his offensive talent. His decision-making and use of his teammates need improvement, but there’s no questioning the skill he brings. He’s going to need to work out how to adapt his game now that he’s playing against strong opponents.

15. Viljami Marjala

Viljami Marjala has been developing very well since being drafted back in 2021, going from the QMJHL to the U20 SM-sarja to the Liiga full-time in 2023-24. He impressed with 40 points in 60 games, showing off his deceptiveness and unpredictability as he navigated defences. Expect him to take another step forward in the Liiga this season before coming back to North America.

MCKEEN’S 2024 NHL PROSPECT REPORT – #2 Buffalo Sabres – Organization Overview – Top 15 Prospects

Josh Bell — Mon, 10 Jun 2024 11:48:29 +0000

PITTSBURGH, PA - SEPTEMBER 28:Buffalo Sabres center Jiri Kulich (20) skates with the puck during the second period in the NHL preseason game between the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Buffalo Sabres on September 28, 2023, at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, PA. (Photo by Jeanine Leech/Icon Sportswire)

There is genuine excitement building in Buffalo. It has one of the best young cores in the NHL, built around draftees Rasmus Dahlin, Owen Power, Jack Quinn, John-Jason Peterka, Dylan Cozens, Zach Benson, and Devon Levi. There’s also Peyton Krebs, acquired in the Jack Eichel trade, and Bowen Byram, acquired in a swap for Casey Mittelstadt. At the 2023 NHL Draft, the team added Benson 13th overall who made the immediate jump to the NHL. The fact that this team still has Matthew Savoie (10th ranked prospect by McKeen’s), Jiri Kulich (22nd), Noah Ostlund (72nd), and Isak Rosen (93rd) and still rank this highly in organizational depth is a testament to their scouts and development team.

General manager Kevyn Adams took over in June 2020, right before the draft, and has drawn good reviews as a steady hand. He was proactive in signing his two franchise centerman Tage Thompson (25 years old) and Dylan Cozens (22) to long-term deals at a reasonable AAV of $7.1 million that will benefit the team for years, followed up by locking down his two core defenders in Owen Power (seven years, $8.35 million) and Rasmus Dahlin (eight years, $11 million). His biggest trade was moving Jack Eichel for a first and a second, hometown hero Alex Tuch, who is thriving, along with the former 17th overall pick, Peyton Krebs. Adams brought in a lot of futures and changed the culture seemingly overnight in a high-pressure transaction. Eichel has gone on to thrive in Vegas, but the pieces Adams extracted are already fixtures in the line-up and Ostlund is a promising prospect. The Sabres will be competitive as soon as next season and will only get better as this group hits their prime. A reward to Buffalo fans who have been waiting 13 years for a playoff appearance and have seen their share of dysfunction.

RNK	PLAYER	POS	AGE	HT/WT	TM	Acquired	GP	G(W)	A(L)	PTS(GAA)	PIM(SPCT)
1	Matthew Savoie	C	20	5-9/179	Wen-MJ (WHL)	`22(9th)	34	30	41	71	10
2	Devon Levi	G	21	6-0/192	Rochester (AHL)	T(Fla-7/21)	26	16	6	2.42	0.927
3	Jiri Kulich	C	20	6-1/186	Rochester (AHL)	`22(28th)	57	27	18	45	26
4	Noah Ostlund	C	20	5-11/163	Vaxjo Lakers (SHL)	`22(16th)	38	12	11	23	4
5	Anton Wahlberg	C	18	6-3/194	Malmo (SHL)	`23(39th)	43	5	5	10	4
6	Isak Rosen	RW	21	6-0/175	Rochester (AHL)	`21(14th)	67	20	30	50	12
7	Maxim Strbak	D	19	6-2/205	Michigan State (B1G)	`23(45th)	32	2	7	9	17
8	Viktor Neuchev	LW	20	6-2/165	Rochester (AHL)	`22(74th)	57	11	17	28	8
9	Alexander Kisakov	LW	21	5-10/160	Rochester (AHL)	`21(53rd)	32	5	8	13	12
10	Vsevolod Komarov	D	20	6-2/182	Que-Dru (QMJHL)	`22(134th)	60	14	55	69	105
11	Nikita Novikov	D	20	6-4/198	Rochester (AHL)	`21(188th)	65	3	20	23	42
12	Prokhor Poltapov	LW	21	6-0/176	CSKA Moskva (KHL)	`21(33rd)	56	5	8	13	12
13	Jake Richard	RW	19	6-1/171	Connecticut (HE)	`22(170th)	36	7	11	18	6
14	Mats Lindgren	D	19	6-0/183	Red Deer (WHL)	`22(106th)	63	7	34	41	42
15	Topias Leinonen	G	19	6-5/234	JYP (Fin-Liiga)	`22(41st)	6	0	4	4.41	0.844

1. Matthew Savoie, C, Moose Jaw Warriors (WHL)

Savoie's a dynamic offensive threat with a lethal combination of speed, skill, and hockey sense. He can beat defenders with his skating ability and dangle his way through traffic to create scoring chances for himself and his linemates. He possesses a high-end shot with a knack for finding the net, and his vision on the ice allows him to set up teammates with pinpoint passes. Savoie has drawn comparisons to players like Patrice Bergeron and Aleksander Barkov, and for good reason. While not quite the physical force that Bergeron is, Savoie shares his intelligence and two-way ability. Similarly, Savoie's offensive game evokes Barkov's blend of skill and finesse. There are questions about Savoie's size (5’ 10”, 180 lbs) but his compete level and ability to play bigger than his frame help mitigate those concerns. Savoie is close to a sure thing at the NHL level. The only question mark is how quickly he can adapt to the pro game.

2. Devon Levi, G, Rochester Americans (AHL)

Devon Levi's meteoric rise through the NCAA ranks had scouts raving about his potential as a future NHL star. The buzz stemmed from his remarkable calmness in net, his ability to make highlight-reel saves with a feline grace, and his knack for stealing games for his team. Levi's arrival in the NHL hasn't quite been the seamless transition many expected. While the raw talent is undeniable, there's a sense that the pro game's quicker pace and tighter margins have exposed some weaknesses in his game. His save percentages haven't reached the heights he achieved in college, and there have been moments where his positioning seems a touch off. The key for Levi is to remain patient. Adjusting to the NHL is a challenge for any goalie, and Levi's underlying numbers suggest there's still plenty to be optimistic about. He has the tools to be a difference-maker at this level, but it might take some time for him to fully adjust and find his rhythm.

3. Jiri Kulich, C/LW, Rochester Americans (AHL)

Kulich isn't the biggest forward on the ice, but he plays with a heart that belies his frame. He boasts a powerful skating stride that translates to dangerous rushes and the ability to create separation in tight spaces. Don't be fooled by his speed – Kulich isn't afraid to mix it up in the dirty areas. He battles for pucks along the boards with a willingness to go to the net to create scoring chances. But his true calling card is his offensive arsenal. He possesses a wicked wrist shot with a deceptive release, making him a constant threat from the perimeter. He's not a one-trick pony, though. Kulich displays slick hands and a knack for finding open ice in scoring areas. His hockey IQ shines in his ability to anticipate plays and make smart decisions. While all that is enticing, there's room for improvement in his overall strength. Consistency can also be a concern. If he addresses those issues, Kulich has top-six forward potential with a knack for scoring goals.

4. Noah Ostlund, C, Vaxjo Lakers HC (SHL)

Don't be fooled by his size – Noah Ostlund conducts the offense like a seasoned veteran. The Swedish center boasts a smooth skating stride and elite puckhandling ability, weaving through defenders with a magician's touch. His vision on the ice is a thing of beauty, threading needlepoint passes to spring linemates for breakaways. While not a prolific scorer himself, Ostlund elevates the play of everyone around him, a true playmaking maestro. Questions linger about his finishing touch. Despite flashes of a deceptive shot, consistency in finding the net remains a work in progress. Adding some physicality to his frame wouldn't hurt either, allowing him to battle harder in the trenches and win those board battles. Despite these areas for improvement, Ostlund's potential as a top-six center with elite playmaking skills is undeniable. If he can add some scoring punch and a bit of grit, he could become a difference maker at the NHL level.

5. Anton Wahlberg, C, Malmo Redhawks (SHL)

6. Isak Rosen, C/W, Rochester Americans (AHL)

Isak Rosen wasn't expected to light up the scoresheet in his second AHL season, but the young Swede did just that. After a decent rookie campaign, Rosen exploded offensively in 2023-24, putting up a respectable 50 points (20 goals, 30 assists) in 67 games for the Rochester Americans. His improved playmaking ability was particularly noteworthy, suggesting a well-rounded offensive skillset emerging. Questions linger, however. While he can create scoring chances, his finishing touch remains a work in progress. Consistency was also an issue – stretches of dominance were occasionally punctuated by quiet periods. Did Rosen finally earn his NHL call-up many predicted last season? The answer is a tantalizing ‘almost.’ He saw limited action with the Sabres, failing to register a point. His development this season was a positive step, but the jury's still out on his NHL readiness. Can he refine his finishing and translate his AHL success to the big leagues? The next year will be crucial in determining if Rosen becomes a reliable NHL contributor or remains a top AHL producer.

7. Maxim Strbak, D, Michigan State University (NCAA)

Drafted 45th overall by Buffalo, Maxim Strbak's freshman year at Michigan State was a solid, if unspectacular, debut. Known for his strong defensive positioning and ability to clear the crease, Strbak solidified himself as a reliable presence on the Spartans' blue line. While his offensive contributions were limited (two goals, nine points in 32 games), his defensive awareness and strong work ethic were valuable assets for the team. Strbak's skating remains a work in progress, particularly his top speed. This could limit his offensive upside at the NHL level. However, his ability to shut down plays, and make smart decisions with the puck, suggests he can carve out a niche as a dependable two-way defenseman. His development in the coming years will be crucial in determining whether he can become a top-four option for the Sabres.

8. Viktor Neuchev, LW, Rochester Americans (AHL)

Viktor Neuchev is a tantalizing prospect with a rare blend of speed, skill, and creativity. At 6’ 3” and 190 pounds, he has the frame to play a power-forward role at the NHL level. Neuchev possesses a heavy shot that he can unleash with a quick release. He’s also surprisingly nimble for his size, showing good edgework and acceleration. The Russian winger boasts elite-level quickness, able to separate from defenders with ease and generate high-danger scoring chances. His vision and anticipation are equally impressive, consistently identifying soft spots in coverage and delivering precision passes to exploit them. While Neuchev must continue to develop his physicality and defensive awareness, his upside is significant. With continued growth, he could become a dynamic, top-six forward and a key contributor on the power play. Neuchev's ceiling is high, and he's an exciting addition to the Sabres' prospect pipeline.

9. Aleksander Kisakov, C/LW, Rochester Americans (AHL)

A skating threat with high-end offensive instincts, Aleksandr Kisakov boasts exceptional speed, agility, and edge work, allowing him to weave around defenders and create high-danger scoring chances. Kisakov's vision and anticipation are impressive, consistently identifying soft spots in coverage and delivering precision passes to exploit them. He possesses a dangerous shot with a quick release, and his ability to create space for himself and his linemates makes him a constant offensive threat. Kisakov’s vision on the ice is a plus, and he’s not afraid to mix it up along the boards to win puck battles. With continued development, Kisakov has the offensive potential to become a top-six forward and a key contributor on the Buffalo Sabres' top lines, but his defensive awareness will need to see improvement if he is to reach that height. His upside as a playmaking, goal-scoring winger makes him an exciting prospect in the Sabres' system.

10. Vsevolod Komarov, D, Drummondville Voltigeurs (QMJHL)

Drafted 134th overall in 2022, the Sabres saw something in the 6’ 3”, 187-pound Vsevolod Komarov. The defender was coming off his first season in the QMJHL and while he had modest production, Buffalo believed in him. That appeared to be the right choice as the defenseman led all QMJHL defenders in assists (55) and points (69) this past season, earning him the Emile-Bouchard Trophy as the top defender in the league. The Russian defender has steadily improved since coming to North America, showing off creativity at the blue line, an ability to draw defenders in, and the knack for finding his open teammates. He’s not afraid to fire a shot himself either. Defensively, he utilizes his size very well, using his strength to muscle people off pucks and his reach to knock pucks away and get in the passing lanes. While there was some question about his upside and potential, Komarov is looking more and more like an NHL player.

PROSPECT CRITERIA: Players under 26 years of age as of 9/15/2024 who have appeared in less than 60 games (30 for goalies) and less than 25 in one season (25 for goalies).

MCKEEN’S 2024 NHL PROSPECTS REPORT: TOP 30 NHL PROSPECTS

McKeen's Hockey — Sat, 01 Jun 2024 12:22:26 +0000

At McKeen’s Hockey we do a ranked affiliated prospect list twice a season. Our first, this ranking, follows the end of the regular season for most prospects but does not include the playoffs. It is a ranking of the top 200, plus the top 15 by team, prior to the NHL Draft. Once the NHL Draft is complete, we begin the process of updating the organizational ranking to a top 20, and then rank the top 300. That is completed in August, once the dust has settled on free agency, and any trades that are made in the meantime. We include that ranking in our McKeen’s NHL Yearbook, published in late August, Early September.

Our team of 16 scouts are based in key markets around the world, in the rinks, supported by video scouting. They utilize some terrific tools from Hudl/InStat, which can isolate so many aspects of a player’s game, along with proprietary statistics. They spend countless hours in rinks and in front of screens and are deeply familiar with these players and their progression. Our management team of Brock Otten (Director of Scouting) and Derek Neumeier (Assistant Director of Scouting/Senior Western Regional Scout), along with Video Scouting Coordinator, Josh Bell, will take the teams input and finalize the list you see below. Brock, Derek and Josh are responsible for the player write-ups in the Prospect Guide.

The organizational rankings are based on an algorithm that takes into account how many prospects are ranked within the top 200. The teams are broken down by the number of prospects in our top 1 -25, 26 - 50, 51 - 100, and 101 - 200. A weight is attached to each group and then some subjective tweaking is done based on our knowledge of the players. There can be a wider discrepancy in the top 25 group than the latter groupings that needs to be taken into account.

Here is our definition of an NHL prospect: Players under 26 years of age as of 9/15/2024 who have appeared in less than 60 NHL games (30 for goalies) and less than 35 in one season (25 for goalies).

Check back in with us in the fall to see how things change following the draft. We are releasing out top 30 NHL Prospects free to non-subscribers. If you want to learn more, link here.

Subscribers can link to the full top 200 listing here

Here is an excerpt of Brock Otten's Risers and Fallers article from the magazine to give you more perspective and a little taste of our content.

The best part of scouting is the somewhat unpredictable nature of human development. Some players improve dramatically from one year to the next…others do not. When we compare the rankings from our 2023-24 NHL Yearbook (where we did a Top 300 prospect ranking) to now, these are the players who have risen/fallen the most.

Risers

DALLAS, TX - APRIL 22: Dallas Stars center Logan Stankoven (11) reacts to a goal score during game one of the Western Conference First Round between the Dallas Stars and the Vegas Golden Knights on April 22, 2024 at American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas. (Photo by Matthew Pearce/Icon Sportswire)

Logan Stankoven (27 to 5) - Dallas Stars

Stankoven’s jump from one of the best players in the WHL to one of the best players in the AHL has been impressive. So has his quick start in the NHL.

Ryan Leonard (32 to 6) – Washington Capitals

Leonard is returning to Boston College after a Championship barely eluded him this year. However, he has proven to be an elite play driver to go with his strong off puck play.

MONTREAL, QC - FEBRUARY 11: Look on Montreal Canadiens right wing Joshua Roy (89) during warm-up before the St. Louis Blues versus the Montreal Canadiens game on February 11, 2024, at Bell Centre in Montreal, QC (Photo by David Kirouac/Icon Sportswire)

Josh Roy (63 to 35) – Montreal Canadiens

Roy continues to prove doubters wrong after a terrific AHL season with Laval. His skill set has become so well rounded since being drafted.

Conor Geekie (68 to 18) – Utah

Geekie’s power game from the middle of the ice makes him such an interesting prospect for today’s NHL. His skating continues to improve.

Mavrik Bourque (79 to 23) – Dallas Stars

Bourque emerged as one of the best players in the AHL this season as a sophomore professional. He’s ready to take that next step with the Stars.

Gabe Perreault (86 to 19) – New York Rangers

Once thought to be the third wheel on the talented Will Smith/Ryan Leonard threesome, Perreault’s progression as a play driver at Boston College this season has altered the perception that he can be a front-line NHL player.

Bradly Nadeau (109 to 34) – Carolina Hurricanes

Drafting early out of the BCHL has yielded inconsistent results, however Nadeau was exceptional as a freshman at Maine. Did he leave school too early though?

Jagger Firkus (112 to 47) – Seattle Kraken

Firkus took his game to another level this year in his final WHL season, leading the league in scoring. He’s ready to be a pro.

Gavin Brindley (122 to 66) – Columbus Blue Jackets

One of the most improved players in the NCAA this year, Brindley emerged as a star for the University of Michigan and really altered his projection as a potential top six forward.

Quentin Musty (125 to 51) – San Jose Sharks

The dynamic American winger worked hard to fine tune components of his game in Sudbury this year and deserves a bump for improving his consistency.

Jani Nyman (135 to 81) – Seattle Kraken

Nyman emerged as one of the top goal scorers in Finland this season as a U20 player. This, combined with his strong WJC performance, has helped push him up our board north.

Logan Mailloux (145 to 45) – Montreal Canadiens

Mailloux proved to be way more refined at the AHL level than previously perceived. Simply put, he was one of the best defensive prospects in the AHL this year.

Josh Doan (153 to 55) - Utah

What a terrific story to the end of the Coyotes franchise. Doan emerged as a potential star this season and finished the year strong in the NHL, scoring in his debut.

Riley Heidt (157 to 44) – Minnesota Wild

We still don’t understand how Heidt fell as far as he did in the 2023 draft, however he is proving NHL scouts wrong thus far after a remarkable year with Prince George.

Ville Koivunen (165 to 71) – Pittsburgh Penguins

The main piece of the Jake Guentzel to Carolina deal, Koivunen emerged as one of the top players in Liiga this year.

Ethan Del Mastro (169 to 73) – Chicago Blackhawks

There was little doubt that Del Mastro’s strong defensive ability would translate to the AHL level well, but he continues to improve offensively and that has altered his projection.

Theo Lindstein (185 to 91) – St. Louis Blues

Lindstein’s strong year for Brynas has helped to elevate his upside as a two-way defender. We may have ranked him too low in our 2023 Draft Rankings.

Carson Rehkopf (201 to 69) – Seattle Kraken

Consistency off the puck and a lack of engagement held Rehkopf back last year. This year marked improvement in those areas helped him emerge as a top offensive talent in the OHL.

Easton Cowan (204 to 67) – Toronto Maple Leafs

One of the surprises of the 2023 draft, Cowan set a new OHL record with a 42-game point streak. More than just a high energy guy now, he can be a difference maker offensively.

Seamus Casey (214 to 63) – New Jersey Devils

Casey continues to improve in the NCAA. He may not have elite size, but he has everything else, and it has the Devils excited about his future.

Jacob Fowler (222 to 52) – Montreal Canadiens

Fowler compiled a list of accolades as a freshman this year at Boston College, emerging as one of the top goaltending prospects in the game.

Fraser Minten (226 to 84) – Toronto Maple Leafs

After starting the year with the Leafs, Minten returned to the WHL and ended up captaining Canada at the World Juniors.

Jackson Blake (277 to 117) – Carolina Hurricanes

A finalist for the Hobey Baker this year, Blake became an NCAA star for North Dakota, and he now turns pro.

Erik Portillo (Unranked to 118) – Los Angeles Kings

Acquired by the Kings, Portillo turned pro after three years at Michigan and he was one of the best goaltenders in the AHL as a first-year pro.

Rodwin Dionicio (Unranked to 139) – Anaheim Ducks

Dionicio still plays a high risk, high reward game from the back end, but his offensive upside has become too large to ignore.

Fallers

EDM - Xavier Bourgault

Xavier Bourgault (from 48 to 113) – Edmonton Oilers

After a mediocre first professional year last season, Bourgault was even more disappointing as a sophomore with Bakersfield. The Oilers just haven’t been developing prospects well in recent years.

Eduard Sale (72 to 140) – Seattle Kraken

Sale’s first year in North America did not go according to plan as he struggled to be a consistent impact player in the OHL.

Jack Rathbone (96 to not ranked) – Pittsburgh Penguins

Perhaps we ranked Rathbone too aggressively this summer, but not only did he fail to earn a spot on Vancouver, but he’s now an NHL after thought after entering Pittsburgh’s organization via trade.

Jacob Perreault (127 to not ranked) – Montreal Canadiens

Perreault’s off puck play and skating just haven’t improved to the point where he can be a consistent pro and it caused the Ducks to move on from him, trading him to Montreal.

Jan Jenik (156 to not ranked) - Utah

Once a highly ranked prospect, Jenik continues to fall. He just hasn’t been able to take that next step and even passed through waivers this year unclaimed.

RNK	PLAYER	NHL	POS	AGE	HT/WT	TM	GP	G(W)	A(L)	PTS(GAA)	PIM(SPCT)
1	Will Smith	SJ	C	19	6-0/175	Boston College (HE)	41	25	46	71	14
2	Matvei Michkov	Phi	RW	19	5-10/170	SKA St. Petersburg-HK Sochi (KHL)	48	19	22	41	26
3	Brandt Clarke	LA	D	21	6-2/185	Los Angeles (NHL)	16	2	4	6	10
4	Cutter Gauthier	Ana	LW	20	6-2/190	Boston College (HE)	41	38	27	65	18
5	Logan Stankoven	Dal	C	21	5-8/170	Dallas (NHL)	24	6	8	14	4
6	Ryan Leonard	Wsh	RW	19	5-11/190	Boston College (HE)	41	31	29	60	38
7	Alexander Nikishin	Car	D	22	6-3/195	SKA St. Petersburg (KHL)	67	17	39	56	39
8	Yaroslav Askarov	Nsh	G	21	6-3/175	Milwaukee (AHL)	44	30	13	2.39	0.911
9	Jesper Wallstedt	Min	G	21	6-3/215	Iowa (AHL)	45	22	19	2.70	0.910
10	Matthew Savoie	Buf	C	20	5-9/179	Wen-MJ (WHL)	34	30	41	71	10
11	Simon Edvinsson	Det	D	21	6-6/215	Detroit (NHL)	16	1	1	2	4
12	Jonathan Lekkerimaki	Van	RW	19	5-11/170	Orebro (SHL)	46	19	12	31	10
13	Dustin Wolf	Cgy	G	23	6-0/166	Calgary (AHL)	36	20	12	2.45	0.922
14	Devon Levi	Buf	G	21	6-0/192	Rochester (AHL)	26	16	6	2.42	0.927
15	Olen Zellweger	Ana	D	20	5-9/180	Anaheim (NHL)	26	2	7	9	4
16	Dmitri Simashev	Ari	D	19	6-4/198	Lokomotiv Yaroslavl (KHL)	63	4	6	10	18
17	David Reinbacher	Mtl	D	19	6-2/185	Kloten (Sui-NL)	35	1	10	11	18
18	Conor Geekie	Ari	C	19	6-3/193	Wen-SC (WHL)	55	43	56	99	66
19	Gabe Perreault	NYR	RW	18	5-11/165	Boston College (HE)	36	19	41	60	29
20	Daniil But	Ari	LW	19	6-5/203	Lokomotiv Yaroslavl (KHL)	55	10	11	21	10
21	Shane Wright	Sea	C	20	6-0/200	Coachella Valley (AHL)	59	22	25	47	18
22	Jiri Kulich	Buf	C	20	6-1/186	Rochester (AHL)	57	27	18	45	26
23	Mavrik Bourque	Dal	C	22	5-10/190	Texas (AHL)	71	26	51	77	32
24	Nate Danielson	Det	C	19	6-2/185	Bdn-Por (WHL)	54	24	43	67	42
25	Danila Yurov	Min	RW	19	6-1/175	Metallurg Magnitogorsk (KHL)	62	21	28	49	35
26	Brennan Othmann	NYR	LW	21	6-0/175	Hartford (AHL)	67	21	28	49	65
27	Lane Hutson	Mtl	D	20	5-10/160	Boston University (HE)	38	15	34	49	24
28	Tom Willander	Van	D	19	6-1/180	Boston University (HE)	38	4	21	25	12
29	Marco Kasper	Det	C	20	6-1/185	Grand Rapids (AHL)	71	14	21	35	30
30	Dalibor Dvorsky	StL	C	18	6-1/200	Sudbury (OHL)	52	45	43	88	17

2024 NHL PROSPECTS REPORT: TOP 200 NHL PROSPECTS

McKeen's Hockey — Sat, 25 May 2024 17:02:31 +0000

At McKeen’s Hockey we do a ranked affiliated prospect list twice a season. Our first is following the end of the regular season for most prospects but does not include the playoffs. It is a ranking of the top 200, plus the top 15 by team, prior to the NHL Draft. Once the NHL Draft is complete, we begin the process of updating the organizational ranking to a top 20, and then rank the top 300. That is completed in August, once the dust has settled on free agency, and any trades that are made in the meantime. We include that ranking in our McKeen’s NHL Yearbook, published in late August, Early September.

Check back in with us in the fall to see how things change following the draft.

Subscribers can link to the listing here

RNK	PLAYER	NHL	POS	AGE	HT/WT	TM	GP	G(W)	A(L)	PTS(GAA)	PIM(SPCT)
1	Will Smith	SJ	C	19	6-0/175	Boston College (HE)	41	25	46	71	14
2	Matvei Michkov	Phi	RW	19	5-10/170	SKA St. Petersburg-HK Sochi (KHL)	48	19	22	41	26
3	Brandt Clarke	LA	D	21	6-2/185	Los Angeles (NHL)	16	2	4	6	10
4	Cutter Gauthier	Ana	LW	20	6-2/190	Boston College (HE)	41	38	27	65	18
5	Logan Stankoven	Dal	C	21	5-8/170	Dallas (NHL)	24	6	8	14	4
6	Ryan Leonard	Wsh	RW	19	5-11/190	Boston College (HE)	41	31	29	60	38
7	Alexander Nikishin	Car	D	22	6-3/195	SKA St. Petersburg (KHL)	67	17	39	56	39
8	Yaroslav Askarov	Nsh	G	21	6-3/175	Milwaukee (AHL)	44	30	13	2.39	0.911
9	Jesper Wallstedt	Min	G	21	6-3/215	Iowa (AHL)	45	22	19	2.70	0.910
10	Matthew Savoie	Buf	C	20	5-9/179	Wen-MJ (WHL)	34	30	41	71	10
11	Simon Edvinsson	Det	D	21	6-6/215	Detroit (NHL)	16	1	1	2	4
12	Jonathan Lekkerimaki	Van	RW	19	5-11/170	Orebro (SHL)	46	19	12	31	10
13	Dustin Wolf	Cgy	G	23	6-0/166	Calgary (AHL)	36	20	12	2.45	0.922
14	Devon Levi	Buf	G	21	6-0/192	Rochester (AHL)	26	16	6	2.42	0.927
15	Olen Zellweger	Ana	D	20	5-9/180	Anaheim (NHL)	26	2	7	9	4
16	Dmitri Simashev	Ari	D	19	6-4/198	Lokomotiv Yaroslavl (KHL)	63	4	6	10	18
17	David Reinbacher	Mtl	D	19	6-2/185	Kloten (Sui-NL)	35	1	10	11	18
18	Conor Geekie	Ari	C	19	6-3/193	Wen-SC (WHL)	55	43	56	99	66
19	Gabe Perreault	NYR	RW	18	5-11/165	Boston College (HE)	36	19	41	60	29
20	Daniil But	Ari	LW	19	6-5/203	Lokomotiv Yaroslavl (KHL)	55	10	11	21	10
21	Shane Wright	Sea	C	20	6-0/200	Coachella Valley (AHL)	59	22	25	47	18
22	Jiri Kulich	Buf	C	20	6-1/186	Rochester (AHL)	57	27	18	45	26
23	Mavrik Bourque	Dal	C	22	5-10/190	Texas (AHL)	71	26	51	77	32
24	Nate Danielson	Det	C	19	6-2/185	Bdn-Por (WHL)	54	24	43	67	42
25	Danila Yurov	Min	RW	19	6-1/175	Metallurg Magnitogorsk (KHL)	62	21	28	49	35
26	Brennan Othmann	NYR	LW	21	6-0/175	Hartford (AHL)	67	21	28	49	65
27	Lane Hutson	Mtl	D	20	5-10/160	Boston University (HE)	38	15	34	49	24
28	Tom Willander	Van	D	19	6-1/180	Boston University (HE)	38	4	21	25	12
29	Marco Kasper	Det	C	20	6-1/185	Grand Rapids (AHL)	71	14	21	35	30
30	Dalibor Dvorsky	StL	C	18	6-1/200	Sudbury (OHL)	52	45	43	88	17
31	Brad Lambert	Wpg	C	20	6-0/180	Manitoba (AHL)	64	21	34	55	38
32	Ivan Miroshnichenko	Wsh	LW	20	6-1/185	Washington (NHL)	21	2	4	6	6
33	Axel Sandin Pellikka	Det	D	19	5-11/180	Skelleftea (SHL)	39	10	8	18	17
34	Bradly Nadeau	Car	LW	18	5-10/165	Maine (HE)	37	19	27	46	12
35	Joshua Roy	Mtl	RW	20	6-0/190	Montreal (NHL)	23	4	5	9	0
36	Denton Mateychuk	CBJ	D	19	5-11/190	Moose Jaw (WHL)	52	17	58	75	31
37	Brayden Yager	Pit	C	19	5-11/165	Moose Jaw (WHL)	57	35	60	95	20
38	Calum Ritchie	Col	C	19	6-2/185	Oshawa (OHL)	50	28	52	80	20
39	Joakim Kemell	Nsh	RW	20	5-10/185	Milwaukee (AHL)	67	16	25	41	23
40	Colby Barlow	Wpg	LW	19	6-0/195	Owen Sound (OHL)	50	40	18	58	27
41	Jimmy Snuggerud	StL	RW	19	6-1/185	Minnesota (B1G)	39	21	13	34	42
42	Matthew Coronato	Cgy	RW	21	5-10/183	Calgary (NHL)	34	3	6	9	4
43	Frank Nazar	Chi	C	20	5-10/180	Michigan (B1G)	41	17	24	41	18
44	Riley Heidt	Min	C	19	5-10/180	Prince George (WHL)	66	37	80	117	42
45	Logan Mailloux	Mtl	D	21	6-3/215	Laval (AHL)	72	14	33	47	91
46	Sebastian Cossa	Det	G	21	6-6/229	Grand Rapids (AHL)	40	22	9	2.41	0.913
47	Jagger Firkus	Sea	RW	20	5-10/155	Moose Jaw (WHL)	63	61	65	126	30
48	Mikhail Gulyayev	Col	D	19	5-11/170	Avangard Omsk (KHL)	64	4	8	12	8
49	Scott Morrow	Car	D	21	6-2/195	Massachusetts (HE)	37	6	24	30	25
50	Matthew Wood	Nsh	RW	19	6-3/195	Connecticut (HE)	35	16	12	28	43
51	Quentin Musty	SJ	LW	18	6-2/200	Sudbury (OHL)	53	43	59	102	72
52	Jacob Fowler	Mtl	G	19	6-1/215	Boston College (HE)	39	32	6	2.14	0.926
53	Fabian Lysell	Bos	RW	21	5-11/181	Providence (AHL)	56	15	35	50	37
54	Shakir Mukhamadullin	SJ	D	22	6-3/180	San Jose (AHL)	55	7	27	34	24
55	Josh Doan	Ari	RW	22	6-1/183	Arizona (NHL)	11	5	4	9	0
56	Thomas Bordeleau	SJ	C	22	5-9/180	San Jose (NHL)	27	6	5	11	18
57	Lian Bichsel	Dal	D	19	6-6/233	Rogle (SHL)	29	2	2	4	28
58	Nikolai Kovalenko	Col	RW	24	5-10/180	Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod (KHL)	42	11	24	35	30
59	Aatu Raty	Van	C	21	6-2/185	Abbotsford (AHL)	72	18	34	52	18
60	Oliver Moore	Chi	C	19	5-11/185	Minnesota (B1G)	39	9	24	33	8
61	Samuel Honzek	Cgy	LW	19	6-4/186	Vancouver (WHL)	33	10	21	31	18
62	Jakob Pelletier	Cgy	LW	23	5-9/170	Calgary (NHL)	13	1	2	3	2
63	Seamus Casey	NJ	D	20	5-9/165	Michigan (B1G)	40	7	38	45	14
64	Tristan Luneau	Ana	D	20	6-1/195	Anaheim (NHL)	7	1	2	3	4
65	Chaz Lucius	Wpg	C	20	6-1/185	Manitoba (AHL)	17	2	11	13	6
66	Gavin Brindley	CBJ	C	19	5-9/165	Michigan (B1G)	40	25	28	53	28
67	Easton Cowan	Tor	RW	18	5-10/170	London (OHL)	54	34	62	96	64
68	Zachary L'Heureux	Nsh	LW	20	5-11/195	Milwaukee (AHL)	66	19	29	48	197
69	Carson Rehkopf	Sea	LW	19	6-1/195	Kitchener (OHL)	60	52	43	95	45
70	Filip Bystedt	SJ	C	20	6-4/205	Linkopings (SHL)	47	8	9	17	2
71	Ville Koivunen	Pit	LW	20	6-0/175	Karpat (Fin-Liiga)	59	22	34	56	26
72	Noah Ostlund	Buf	C	20	5-11/163	Vaxjo Lakers (SHL)	38	12	11	23	4
73	Ethan Del Mastro	Chi	D	21	6-4/210	Rockford (AHL)	69	7	30	37	54
74	Lukas Cormier	VGK	D	22	5-10/180	Henderson (AHL)	58	4	16	20	33
75	Liam Ohgren	Min	LW	20	6-1/200	Farjestads (SHL)	26	12	7	19	12
76	Marat Khusnutdinov	Min	C	21	5-11/175	Minnesota (NHL)	16	1	3	4	6
77	Mackie Samoskevich	Fla	RW	21	5-11/190	Charlotte (AHL)	62	22	32	54	24
78	Stanislav Svozil	CBJ	D	21	6-1/180	Cleveland (AHL)	57	5	18	23	24
79	Zachary Bolduc	StL	LW	21	6-1/175	St. Louis (NHL)	25	5	4	9	6
80	Rutger McGroarty	Wpg	LW	20	6-1/200	Michigan (B1G)	36	16	36	52	6
81	Jani Nyman	Sea	RW	19	6-3/215	Ilves (Fin-Liiga)	48	26	17	43	2
82	Andrew Cristall	Wsh	LW	19	5-9/165	Kelowna (WHL)	62	40	71	111	46
83	Oliver Bonk	Phi	D	19	6-2/175	London (OHL)	60	24	43	67	32
84	Fraser Minten	Tor	C	19	6-1/185	Kam-Sas (WHL)	43	22	26	48	25
85	Tanner Molendyk	Nsh	D	19	5-11/185	Saskatoon (WHL)	50	10	46	56	18
86	David Goyette	Sea	C	20	5-10/175	Sudbury (OHL)	68	40	77	117	29
87	David Edstrom	SJ	C	19	6-3/185	Frolunda (SHL)	44	7	12	19	8
88	Anton Wahlberg	Buf	C	18	6-3/194	Malmo (SHL)	43	5	5	10	4
89	Emil Andrae	Phi	D	22	5-9/185	Lehigh Valley (AHL)	61	5	27	32	66
90	Trey Augustine	Det	G	19	6-1/185	Michigan State (B1G)	35	23	9	2.96	0.915
91	Theo Lindstein	StL	D	19	6-0/180	Brynas (HockeyAllsvenskan)	49	4	11	15	4
92	Mads Sogaard	Ott	G	23	6-7/195	Belleville (AHL)	32	18	9	2.45	0.916
93	Isak Rosen	Buf	RW	21	6-0/175	Rochester (AHL)	67	20	30	50	12
94	Maveric Lamoureux	Ari	D	20	6-7/214	Drummondville (QMJHL)	39	9	24	33	53
95	Drew Commesso	Chi	G	21	6-2/180	Rockford (AHL)	38	18	16	2.65	0.906
96	Ville Heinola	Wpg	D	23	6-0/180	Manitoba (AHL)	41	10	17	27	24
97	Carter Mazur	Det	LW	22	6-0/170	Grand Rapids (AHL)	60	17	20	37	48
98	Otto Stenberg	StL	C	18	5-11/180	Frolunda (SHL)	31	3	3	6	8
99	Egor Afanasyev	Nsh	LW	23	6-3/205	Milwaukee (AHL)	56	27	27	54	60
100	Nikita Chibrikov	Wpg	RW	21	5-10/170	Manitoba (AHL)	70	17	30	47	53
101	Zach Dean	StL	C	21	6-0/175	Springfield (AHL)	49	9	5	14	24
102	William Dufour	NYI	RW	22	6-2/195	Bridgeport (AHL)	55	15	10	25	35
103	Sam Rinzel	Chi	D	19	6-4/180	Minnesota (B1G)	39	2	26	28	20
104	Joel Blomqvist	Pit	G	22	6-2/185	Wilkes-Barre (AHL)	45	25	12	2.16	0.921
105	Arseni Gritsyuk	NJ	RW	23	5-10/170	SKA St. Petersburg (KHL)	50	19	19	38	8
106	Corson Ceulemans	CBJ	D	20	6-2/200	Cleveland (AHL)	47	3	9	12	12
107	Michael Hrabal	Ari	G	19	6-6/209	Massachusetts (HE)	30	16	12	2.59	0.912
108	Brendan Brisson	VGK	C	22	5-11/180	Vegas (NHL)	15	2	6	8	2
109	Owen Pickering	Pit	D	20	6-4/180	Swift Current (WHL)	59	7	39	46	35
110	Owen Beck	Mtl	C	20	5-11/185	Pbo-Sag (OHL)	57	34	47	81	18
111	William Wallinder	Det	D	21	6-4/190	Grand Rapids (AHL)	65	3	12	15	10
112	Xavier Bourgault	Edm	C	21	6-0/170	Bakersfield (AHL)	55	8	12	20	24
113	Jordan Dumais	CBJ	RW	20	5-8/165	Halifax (QMJHL)	21	16	31	47	6
114	Aleksi Heimosalmi	Car	D	20	5-11/170	Assat (Fin-Liiga)	47	2	14	16	12
115	Brandon Bussi	Bos	G	25	6-4/218	Providence (AHL)	41	23	10	2.67	0.913
116	Jackson Blake	Car	RW	20	5-10/160	North Dakota (NCHC)	40	22	38	60	26
117	Erik Portillo	LA	G	23	6-6/210	Ontario (AHL)	39	24	11	2.50	0.918
118	Sean Farrell	Mtl	C	22	5-8/175	Laval (AHL)	47	9	19	28	10
119	Kasper Halttunen	SJ	RW	18	6-3/205	London (OHL)	57	32	29	61	61
120	Topi Niemela	Tor	D	22	5-11/165	Toronto (AHL)	68	8	31	39	43
121	Ethan Gauthier	TB	RW	19	5-11/175	Drummondville (QMJHL)	64	36	35	71	42
122	Daniil Miromanov	Cgy	D	26	6-4/200	VGK-Cgy (NHL)	24	3	4	7	8
123	Ruslan Iskhakov	NYI	C	23	5-8/155	Bridgeport (AHL)	69	18	32	50	30
124	Shai Buium	Det	D	21	6-3/210	Denver (NCHC)	43	7	29	36	14
125	Jakub Dobes	Mtl	G	22	6-3/200	Laval (AHL)	51	24	18	2.93	0.906
126	Oliver Kapanen	Mtl	C	20	6-0/170	KalPa (Fin-Liiga)	51	14	20	34	32
127	Danny Nelson	NYI	C	18	6-3/200	Notre Dame (B1G)	30	9	14	23	32
128	Lenni Hameenaho	NJ	RW	19	6-0/175	Assat (Fin-Liiga)	46	14	17	31	10
129	Nick Lardis	Chi	LW	18	5-11/165	Brantford (OHL)	37	29	21	50	12
130	Ty Nelson	Sea	D	20	5-10/195	North Bay (OHL)	54	16	36	52	50
131	Isaac Howard	TB	LW	20	5-10/185	Michigan State (B1G)	36	8	28	36	10
132	Fyodor Svechkov	Nsh	C	21	6-0/185	Milwaukee (AHL)	57	16	23	39	18
133	Jeremie Poirier	Cgy	D	21	6-1/196	Calgary (AHL)	23	3	10	13	22
134	Reid Schaefer	Nsh	LW	20	6-3/215	Milwaukee (AHL)	63	7	14	21	39
135	Zack Ostapchuk	Ott	C	20	6-3/205	Belleville (AHL)	69	17	11	28	47
136	Nathan Gaucher	Ana	C	20	6-3/207	San Diego (AHL)	72	10	15	25	68
137	Rodwin Dionicio	Ana	D	20	6-2/207	Wsr-Sag (OHL)	60	25	48	73	108
138	Eduard Sale	Sea	LW	19	6-1/170	Bar-Kit (OHL)	49	15	23	38	8
139	Danil Gushchin	SJ	RW	22	5-8/165	San Jose (AHL)	56	20	34	54	24
140	Sean Behrens	Col	D	21	5-10/175	Denver (NCHC)	44	4	27	31	53
141	Christian Kyrou	Dal	D	20	5-10/170	Texas (AHL)	57	8	15	23	22
142	Niklas Kokko	Sea	G	20	6-3/185	Pelicans (Fin-Liiga)	13	9	0	1.49	0.926
143	Vasily Ponomarev	Pit	C	22	5-10/180	Tuc-Chi-WBS (AHL)	45	9	21	30	16
144	Ryan Winterton	Sea	RW	20	6-2/190	Coachella Valley (AHL)	58	22	13	35	23
145	Dmitri Buchelnikov	Det	LW	20	5-10/165	Admiral Vladivostok (KHL)	55	13	16	29	8
146	Oscar Fisker Molgaard	Sea	C	19	6-0/165	HV 71 (SHL)	50	9	12	21	6
147	Aku Raty	Ari	RW	22	6-1/190	Tucson (AHL)	55	15	29	44	22
148	Matyas Sapovaliv	VGK	C	20	6-3/180	Saginaw (OHL)	54	19	43	62	22
149	Georgii Merkulov	Bos	C	23	5-11/175	Providence (AHL)	67	30	35	65	20
150	Topias Vilen	NJ	D	21	6-1/195	Utica (AHL)	54	2	27	29	16
151	Ryan Chesley	Wsh	D	20	6-0/200	Minnesota (B1G)	39	2	6	8	19
152	Jayden Perron	Car	RW	19	5-9/165	North Dakota (NCHC)	39	11	7	18	8
153	Tristen Robins	SJ	C	22	5-10/175	San Jose (AHL)	42	7	11	18	12
154	Calle Odelius	NYI	D	19	6-0/190	Djurgardens (HockeyAllsvenskan)	10	0	4	4	2
155	Vincent Iorio	Wsh	D	21	6-2/190	Hershey (AHL)	60	4	10	14	30
156	Raphael Lavoie	Edm	RW	23	6-4/215	Bakersfield (AHL)	66	28	22	50	64
157	Ronnie Attard	Phi	D	25	6-3/210	Lehigh Valley (AHL)	48	10	17	27	37
158	Niko Huuhtanen	TB	RW	20	6-2/205	Jukurit (Fin-Liiga)	52	19	27	46	46
159	Carson Bjarnason	Phi	G	18	6-3/185	Brandon (WHL)	46	24	17	3.01	0.907
160	Lukas Dragicevic	Sea	D	19	6-1/190	Tri-City (WHL)	66	14	36	50	52
161	Leevi Merilainen	Ott	G	21	6-2/160	Belleville (AHL)	24	10	9	2.87	0.906
162	Tyler Kleven	Ott	D	22	6-4/200	Belleville (AHL)	53	5	16	21	51
163	Hunter Brzustewicz	Cgy	D	19	5-11/185	Kitchener (OHL)	67	13	79	92	24
164	Ryan Greene	Chi	C	20	6-1/180	Boston University (HE)	40	12	24	36	6
165	Damian Clara	Ana	G	19	6-6/214	Brynas (HockeyAllsvenskan)	34	25	8	2.23	0.913
166	Carson Lambos	Min	D	21	6-1/200	Iowa (AHL)	69	4	10	14	64
167	Denver Barkey	Phi	C	19	5-8/160	London (OHL)	64	35	67	102	28
168	Gage Goncalves	TB	C	23	6-1/170	Syracuse (AHL)	69	13	45	58	43
169	Arshdeep Bains	Van	LW	23	6-0/185	Abbotsford (AHL)	59	16	39	55	28
170	Bogdan Konyushkov	Mtl	D	21	5-11/175	Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod (KHL)	65	6	22	28	18
171	Alexei Kolosov	Phi	G	22	6-1/185	Dinamo Minsk (KHL)	47	22	21	2.39	0.907
172	Samuel Fagemo	LA	RW	24	6-0/195	Ontario (AHL)	50	43	19	62	26
173	Filip Mesar	Mtl	C	20	5-9/175	Kitchener (OHL)	45	19	33	52	12
174	Matthew Robertson	NYR	D	23	6-3/200	Hartford (AHL)	68	4	17	21	49
175	Adam Engstrom	Mtl	D	20	6-2/185	Rogle (SHL)	51	4	18	22	4
176	Michael Buchinger	StL	D	20	5-11/185	Guelph (OHL)	52	10	37	47	37
177	Semyon Chistyakov	Nsh	D	22	5-11/180	Avangard Omsk (KHL)	59	4	20	24	16
178	John Farinacci	Bos	C	23	5-11/197	Providence (AHL)	71	12	26	38	16
179	Angus Crookshank	Ott	LW	24	5-10/180	Belleville (AHL)	50	24	22	46	60
180	Yegor Sidorov	Ana	RW	19	6-0/180	Saskatoon (WHL)	66	50	38	88	66
181	Samu Tuomaala	Phi	RW	21	5-10/175	Lehigh Valley (AHL)	69	15	28	43	12
182	Logan Morrison	Sea	C	21	6-0/180	Coachella Valley (AHL)	64	16	25	41	4
183	Jean-Luc Foudy	Col	C	21	5-11/175	Colorado (AHL)	26	4	10	14	18
184	Adam Gajan	Chi	G	19	6-3/167	Green Bay (USHL)	43	23	12	3.35	0.893
185	Nolan Allan	Chi	D	21	6-2/195	Rockford (AHL)	60	5	12	17	47
186	Oskar Olausson	Col	RW	21	6-1/180	Colorado (AHL)	39	11	9	20	24
187	Samuel Poulin	Pit	C	23	6-1/205	Wilkes-Barre (AHL)	41	16	15	31	35
188	Brett Berard	NYR	LW	21	5-9/165	Hartford (AHL)	71	25	23	48	62
189	Colton Dach	Chi	C	21	6-4/205	Rockford (AHL)	48	11	15	26	39
190	Jack Thompson	SJ	D	22	6-0/180	Syr-SJ (AHL)	62	6	35	41	16
191	Riley Kidney	Mtl	C	21	5-11/170	Laval (AHL)	65	7	13	20	41
192	Roby Jarventie	Ott	RW	21	6-3/195	Belleville (AHL)	22	9	11	20	22
193	Carey Terrance	Ana	C	18	6-1/175	Erie (OHL)	56	29	23	52	25
194	Luca Del Bel Belluz	CBJ	C	20	6-1/185	Cleveland (AHL)	58	9	22	31	12
195	Luca Pinelli	CBJ	C	19	5-9/165	Ottawa (OHL)	68	48	34	82	44
196	Francesco Pinelli	LA	C	21	6-1/185	Ontario (AHL)	67	13	7	20	24
197	Elias Salomonsson	Wpg	D	19	6-1/185	Skelleftea (SHL)	31	2	9	11	58
198	Sam Colangelo	Ana	RW	21	6-2/205	Western Michigan (NCHC)	38	24	19	43	23
199	Sasha Pastujov	Ana	RW	20	6-0/185	San Diego (AHL)	46	10	13	23	14
200	Andrew Gibson	Det	D	19	6-3/195	Saul St. Marie (OHL)	68	12	32	44	58

NHL: CULLEN – 20 FANTASY POINTS – Sharangovich, Zacha, DeSmith, Andersen, Benn, Guenther, Duclair and much more

Scott Cullen — Fri, 15 Mar 2024 18:53:00 +0000

SAINT PAUL, MN - DECEMBER 14: Calgary Flames center Yegor Sharangovich (17) skates with the puck during the NHL game between the Calgary Flames and Minnesota Wild on December 14th, 2023, at the Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul, MN. (Photo by Bailey Hillesheim/Icon Sportswire)

Each week, I dive into the numbers to help make decisions when it comes time to make fantasy hockey decisions.

This week, Yegor Sharangovich is heating up again for the Flames, Pavel Zacha is streaking in Boston, Casey DeSmith gets very important in Vancouver, Frederik Andersen returns in fine form, Jamie Benn is thriving with young linemates and much, much more!

#1 It is not the first time this season that Yegor Sharangovich of the Calgary Flames has deserved the interest of fantasy managers. He scored his 28th goal of the season against Vegas on Thursday, his eighth goal in as many games. He is centering a line with journeyman Dryden Hunt on the left side and rookie Matt Coronato on the other, which does not seem like an ideal situation for elevated scoring numbers, but Sharangovich continues to produce, with 11 points (8 G, 3 A) in the past eight games.

#2 Boston Bruins centre Pavel Zacha assisted on Danton Heinen’s goal in Thursday’s 2-1 overtime win at Montreal, extending his point streak to six games. He has nine points (5 G, 4 A) during that stretch and is centering a line with Heinen and David Pastrnak, which is at least a halfway exciting path to production. In deeper leagues, this makes Zacha a viable fantasy option. The Bruins have patched together a productive centre ice group this season, with Zacha, Charlie Coyle, and Morgan Geekie, and Zacha is making the most of his opportunity.

#3 Vancouver Canucks goaltender Thatcher Demko is week-to-week with a lower-body injury. That is going to thrust Casey DeSmith into an important role in the meantime and it’s coming at a time when DeSmith has been struggling. In nine appearances since the Christmas break, DeSmith has a .864 save percentage, which is obviously not going to cut it getting regular starts for a contending team. Arturs Silovs has been called up to be DeSmith’s backup but he should not be needed if DeSmith is playing well.

#4 In Carolina, goaltender Frederik Andersen has been stellar in three starts since missing four months of action. Admittedly, Carolina’s team defence is rock solid in front of him but, after shutting out the Florida Panthers on Thursday, Andersen has stopped 63 of 66 shots in those three starts, which is good for a .955 save percentage. If Andersen can just be steady in Carolina’s net, there will likely be less of an urgent need for Pyotr Kochetkov, though the Hurricanes have proved in recent years that they can never have enough healthy bodies between the pipes.

#5 Sometimes a veteran player can use a shot of energy and that appears to be the case with Dallas Stars captain Jamie Benn. The 34-year-old left winger has been playing with second-year centre Wyatt Johnston and rookie right winger Logan Stankoven and it’s working for them. In his past seven games, Benn has 10 points (2 G, 8 A) and 18 shots on goal. He’s not quite vintage Jamie Benn, but well worth considering for fantasy managers.

#6 It can be easy for a young winger to get overlooked when he plays for the Arizona Coyotes, but Dylan Guenther is scoring enough to generate interest. In the month of March, the 20-year-old winger has delivered seven points (3 G, 4 A) with 23 shots on goal in eight games. He is playing with Lawson Crouse and Logan Cooley as well as playing on Arizona’s top power play unit. Guenther has already established a reputation for the release on his shot so it’s a good thing that he is using it, recording at least three shots on goal in seven of his past 10 games.

#7 Moving to Tampa Bay sure appears to have been a positive experience for Anthony Duclair, who was hot in his final days with San Jose and has continued to score after getting traded to the Lightning. Duclair has two goals, one assist, and six shots on goal in his first two games for Tampa Bay, giving him 11 points (6 G, 5 A) in his past seven games overall. He is playing with Steven Stamkos and Anthony Cirelli, which is a quality situation, setting up the well-traveled winger for a strong finish to the season.

#8 Veteran playmaking winger Teuvo Teravainen has had some ups and downs along the way with the Carolina Hurricanes, but when he’s healthy, he has shown that he can score. The Hurricanes have him on the top line with Sebastian Aho and Andrei Svechnikov and Teravainen has 11 points (4 G, 7 A) and 22 shots on goal in his past nine games. With 21 goals this season, he is two away from matching his career high of 23, set during the 2017-2018 season. Teravainen is averaging under two shots on goal per game, which would be his first time since 2015-2016 under that threshold, but he does have 16 shots on goal in his past five games, so that could be moving in the right direction.

#9 With the Buffalo Sabres suddenly proving to be a competent team in front of goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, the Sabres netminder is providing big value down the stretch. After his 21-save shutout against the Islanders on Thursday, Luukkonen has a .931 save percentage across his past 22 starts. From a fantasy perspective, that is already great, but the fact that he has 13 wins in those starts raises Luukkonen’s ceiling. Incidentally, with Luukkonen crushing it in the NHL, Devon Levi is getting a chance to find his game in the AHL and he is rocking a .926 save percentage in 18 games for Rochester. That bodes well for Buffalo’s future in net.

#10 As the Minnesota Wild try to chase down a playoff spot, and with Filip Gustavsson going through a tough season (posting a .894 save percentage after he had a .931 mark in 2022-2023), 39-year-old Marc-Andre Fleury has been stepping up his game. Fleury only needed to make 16 saves in Thursday’s shutout win against Anaheim and has a .934 save percentage to go with five wins in his past six starts.

#11 It has been a difficult season for Boston Bruins winger Jake DeBrusk, the 27-year-old forward who has an expiring contract which will take him to unrestricted free agency in the summer. He had two points in a 15-game span from late January through early March, but DeBrusk is busting that slump. In six games since then, he has seven points (3 G, 4 A) and 17 shots on goal. He is skating with Brad Marchand and Charlie Coyle and DeBrusk buried the overtime winner against Montreal on Thursday.

#12 His offensive output probably limits his appeal to deeper leagues, but St. Louis Blues veteran left winger Brandon Saad has hit the 20-goal threshold for the seventh time in his career. In his past dozen games, Saad has 10 points (6 G, 4 A) and 22 shots on goal. He plays with Kevin Hayes and Kasperi Kapanen at even strength, which may not necessarily be a recipe for ongoing success, but Saad is forcing fantasy managers to pay attention.

#13 There have not been a lot of positives to take away from this San Jose Sharks season, but it does appear that the Sharks are finding out that right winger Fabian Zetterlund can legitimately fill a role as a scoring winger. In his past eight games, Zetterlund has eight points (2 G, 6 A) and 21 shots on goal. He is skating on San Jose’s top line as well as its No. 1 power play unit. Even on a team as weak as the Sharks, that makes Zetterlund worth considering.

#14 After he scored 40 goals last season, New Jersey Devils winger Timo Meier is a far cry from that pace this season, but he is doing his best to salvage the season with his improving production. In his past 10 games, Meier has 14 points (9 G, 5 A) and 36 shots on goal. That’s more like it.

#15 Vegas Golden Knights winger Jonathan Marchessault has been a productive scoring winger for years, this being the seventh season in which he topped 20 goals and the third time in his career that he scored 30. But Marchessault is on a tear that he has not ventured near in his previous NHL seasons. In the past two months, he has scored 20 goals in the past 23 games, giving him a career-high 37 goals in 66 games. While Jack Eichel has assisted four of those goals since recently returning to the lineup, Nicolas Roy had 10 assists on the most recent 20 Marchessault goals.

#16 Philadelphia Flyers defenceman Cam York is taking on a bigger role, averaging 23:31 of ice time per game in the past nine contests. In those nine games, he has produced seven points (3 G, 4 A) and 18 shots on goal. He is anchoring Philadelphia’s top power play unit, and the 23-year-old appears to be successfully handling the greater responsibility.

#17 Minnesta Wild centre Joel Eriksson Ek has been having an outstanding season, already scoring a career-high 29 goals, but he has suffered a lower-body injury and will be out of the lineup. While he’s out, Ryan Hartman should return to centre the Wild’s top line and Hartman does have 10 points (2 G, 8 A) and 25 shots on goal in his past 11 games. That has moved Hartman to 38 points (17 G, 21 A), the second highest total of his career, though still far behind his 65-point season in 2021-2022.

#18 While the Buffalo Sabres are playing competitive hockey recently, right winger Alex Tuch has mustered just one goal and zero assists in his past seven games. Do not lose the faith, Tuch managers, because even if he has been slumping, Tuch still has 23 shots on goal in those seven games and first line forwards who are generating more than three shots on goal per game are going to find ways to put up points. It is interesting that Tuch’s shot rate this season has been lower – 2.57 per game is his lowest per-game rate since 2019-2020 – back when he was playing less than 15 minutes per game for Vegas, as opposed to the 19-plus minutes per game that he plays now.

#19 As the Detroit Red Wings’ season is spinning out of control, losing seven straight games, scoring winger Alex DeBrincat is mired in a slump, too, with zero goals and one assist in those seven games. Not having Dylan Larkin in the lineup is surely a factor, but this is a bad time for a slump. It’s also worth noting that he had a 10-game goalless drought early in 2024. Goal scorers are streaky but it’s also tough to see DeBrincat’s even-strength scoring in decline. He had 27 even-strength goals with Chicago in 2021-2022 and now has 13 even-strength goals in 66 games for Detroit this season.

#20 The leaders in all-situations individual expected goals in the month of March: Kirill Kaprizov (4.70), Alexander Nylander (4.57), John Tavares (4.43), Wyatt Johnston (4.36), Sam Reinhart (4.31), Andrei Svechnikov (4.22), Connor Bedard (3.99), Nico Hischier (3.75), Jake DeBrusk (3.68), Zach Hyman (3.63), Sidney Crosby (3.60), and Marco Rossi (3.56). Crosby and Rossi have zero goals while Hischier has one, so those players are coming up short relative to their expected goals. Kaprizov has buried eight goals while Wyatt Johnston or Zach Hyman have both scored six.

Perhaps the most interesting name here is Alexander Nylander, a player who has been bouncing around trying to earn a regular spot in the league and, at the very least, he is getting ample opportunity in Columbus and he does have eight points (6 G, 2 A) in 10 games for the Blue Jackets.

NHL: DADOUN – THE FANTASY WEEK AHEAD (January 15th – January 21st) – Bedard injury impact – Teams and players to target

Ryan Dadoun — Mon, 15 Jan 2024 15:26:50 +0000

Florida Panthers center Sam Reinhart (13 (Photo by David Kirouac/Icon Sportswire)

It would have been an exaggeration to say Connor Bedard was running away with the Calder Trophy before he suffered a fractured jaw last Friday -- after all defenseman Brock Faber is having an amazing season in Minnesota -- but it was at least fair to think of him as the frontrunner. Chicago is undergoing a classic rebuild, which began with a fire sale that even saw the Blackhawks trade the still-young Alex DeBrincat in 2022 with an eye toward starting fresh through the draft.

Phase One of that was a success -- the Blackhawks got their man in Bedard, who has been the subject of intense hype that he’s largely lived up to with 15 goals and 33 points in 39 outings. The fact that he’s set to miss the next six-to-eight weeks after undergoing surgery will cost him a chance to play in his first All-Star Game, it might rob him of the Calder Trophy and of course on top of that, you just never want to see someone get hurt. However, underneath all that lies another truth: For as great as Bedard has been, his absence won’t change much in Chicago.

The Blackhawks are just frankly too bad to make any use of Bedard. Sure, they’re even worse without him, but Chicago was so close to the bottom as it was, that there isn’t much further to fall.

Injuries have certainly played a role in that. On top of Bedard, Chicago was also without Andreas Athanasiou (groin), Anthony Beauvillier (wrist), Nick Foligno (finger), Taylor Hall (knee), Tyler Johnson (foot) and Seth Jones (shoulder) when it faced Winnipeg on Thursday. It would have been interesting to see what the Blackhawks might have been had they stayed healthy, but the reality is they were unlikely to contend either way.

You might even argue that this is in some ways better for the team’s future. Rather than end up with, say the 10th overall pick had the Blackhawks stayed healthy, they might receive another No. 1 selection. That would certainly help their rebuild.

At the same time, there are dangers to that mentality. Building a winning culture is tough and the clock to do that started the moment they drafted Bedard. The Blackhawks have two more seasons with him at an entry-level deal and after that, if his first 39 games were any indication, he’s likely to get a massive payday. Connor McDavid jumped straight from his entry-level contract to a $12.5 million cap hit, Jack Eichel went to $10 million while Matthews ascended to roughly $11.6 million. Bedard still has a lot to prove, but he has the potential to be that caliber of player, and if he continues to grow as Chicago hopes, then he will not be at a discounted salary for long.

Of course, Bedard getting a big payday isn’t the end of the world. Chicago can still build around him at that point, albeit with some more difficulty, but these things can sneak up on you and a slow burn rebuild runs the risk of ending with a failure to launch, as the Sabres experienced with Eichel and Ottawa is now in danger of with its core of Tim Stutzle, Brady Tkachuk and Jakob Chychrun. The Blackhawks can write off this year and just hope for another win in the draft lottery, but as early as next season, they’ll want to start showing some progress.

Anaheim Ducks – MON @ FLA, TUE @ WAS (BTB), SAT @ SJS, SUN VS NYR (BTB)

The Ducks will begin the week on the road with games against the Panthers on Monday, the Capitals on Tuesday and the Sharks on Saturday. They’ll then return to Anaheim to host the Rangers on Sunday. It’s not an easy schedule overall, but the Sharks are one of the worst teams in the NHL while Washington has been something of a mixed bag.

The Ducks made waves by acquiring Cutter Gauthier from Philadelphia on Monday in exchange for Jamie Drysdale and a 2025 second-round pick. Gauthier has tremendous potential and is having a great campaign with Boston College, scoring 13 goals and 23 points through 17 NCAA contests as a sophomore, and he was named the best forward of the 2024 World Juniors, helping Team USA win gold by supplying two goals and a team-high 12 points in seven games. Ducks’ fans should be happy with that trade, but in the short term, Gauthier will remain with Boston, and the Ducks’ current roster is worse off without Drysdale.

Anaheim’s defense was stretched even thinner when Pavel Mintyukov suffered a separated shoulder Tuesday that’s projected to shelve him for six weeks. With Drysdale gone and Mintyukov unavailable, Urho Vaakanainen has suddenly found himself in a top-four role. The 25-year-old has averaged just 16:17 of ice time this season, but he logged 22:26 in Tuesday’s 5-3 win over Nashville. Vaakanainen hasn’t been a great fantasy option this campaign with seven assists, 13 hits and 31 blocks in 33 outings, but if you’re in a deeper league, you should take note of his dramatically increased role.

Cam Fowler is averaging 25:12 with Anaheim this year, so he can’t be leaned on much more than he already is, but the Ducks might deploy him even more on the power play -- he's currently logging 2:30 per game in that regard -- and Jackson LaCombe might become a regular with the man advantage as well after getting 4:27 of power-play ice time Tuesday. LaCombe has just six assists in 37 contests in 2023-24, but the 23-year-old did excel with the University of Minnesota, contributing 12 goals and 65 points in 76 games over his final two NCAA seasons, so he’s worth keeping an eye on to see what he does with this opportunity.

Buffalo Sabres – MON VS SJS, WED VS CHI, SAT VS TBL

Buffalo will stay at home next week, hosting the Sharks on Monday, the Blackhawks on Wednesday and the Lightning on Saturday. I’m highlighting Buffalo over some teams with four games because it’s facing the two worst squads in the NHL in San Jose and Chicago, which creates some juicy opportunities, especially for the Sabres’ forward corps.

Unfortunately, Jeff Skinner (upper body) isn’t going to be around to take advantage of those upcoming contests. Tage Thompson (undisclosed) is also in doubt after exiting Thursday’s 5-3 win over Ottawa, though coach Don Granato told Matthew Fairburn of The Athletic after the contest that he thinks Thompson will be okay, so perhaps the elite forward will still be an option next week.

Regardless, this might be a good week for Jack Quinn. After scoring 14 goals and 37 points in 75 contests as a rookie last season, he missed the first two months of the 2023-24 campaign while recovering from Achilles surgery. Quinn returned Dec. 19 and while his four goals and six points through 10 outings isn’t amazing, it’s a solid start. He’s also averaging 16:20 of ice time this year, up from 13:51 as a rookie, and given his potential, the 22-year-old should take advantage of the increased responsibilities, especially given the quality of Buffalo’s upcoming adversaries.

This might also be a good week to grab Devon Levi or Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen if either is available. While neither is having a great season, you don’t have to be an elite goaltender to beat Chicago (2.29 goals per game) or San Jose (2.00). The duo is likely to split the two starts.

Colorado Avalanche – MON @ MTL, TUE @ OTT, THU @ BOS, SAT @ PHI

The Avalanche have a full four-game set ahead of them, though they will spend the full week on the road, playing in Montreal on Monday, Ottawa on Tuesday, Boston on Thursday and Philadelphia on Saturday. While an extended road trip is far from ideal, it does help that neither of the first two opponents -- the Canadiens and Senators -- is in a playoff position.

If you’ve been holding onto Ryan Johansen in the hopes he’ll eventually rebound, it’s likely time to drop him. While Johansen has had his moments with Colorado, he has 11 goals and just 16 points through 42 games and his playing time is trending in the wrong direction. The 31-year-old logged a season-low 9:34 against Vegas on Wednesday, making it his fourth straight contest with under 14 minutes logged. He’s averaged 13:58 in 2023-24 and just 12:42 over his last 10 appearances.

One of Colorado’s other free agent gambles from the summer of 2023 is paying off, though. Jonathan Drouin is red hot with six goals and 14 points in his past 14 games. In contrast to Johansen, Drouin’s responsibilities with the Avalanche have grown to the point where he’s on the first line and top power-play unit. As long as Drouin maintains a spot alongside Mikko Rantanen and Nathan MacKinnon, he should continue to be a steady offensive presence.

Dallas Stars – TUE VS LAK, THU @ PHI, SAT @ NJD, SUN @ NYI (BTB)

Dallas will open the week by hosting the Kings before visiting Philadelphia on Thursday, New Jersey on Saturday and the Islanders on Sunday. None of those are easy games, so this is a bit of a borderline team to highlight, but the 24-11-5 Stars can contend against any adversary.

The Stars are also on the brink of getting a huge boost with the return of Jake Oettinger (lower body), who might even return before next week’s set. Scott Wedgewood has been a mixed bag, but ultimately his 3.03 GAA and .887 save percentage in 12 outings since Oettinger suffered the injury Dec. 15 is simply not good enough to alter how Dallas will handle how it handles the goaltending situation once Oettinger returns. In other words, Oettinger will be leaned heavily on, and if you picked up Wedgewood to collect extra starts, it will soon be time to replace him.

In contrast, Mason Marchment has a great chance to remain effective next week. He’s been outstanding recently, providing three goals and 11 points over his last six games to bring him up to 13 goals and 32 points through 40 appearances in 2023-24. The 28-year-old has been somewhat streaky this campaign, so you’ll need to exercise some caution with him, but he should remain an effective forward overall.

His linemate Tyler Seguin is on a roll as well, scoring six goals and nine points over his last six contests. If you have him, though, it might be time to start exploring the possibility of selling high if you can find a taker. He’s having a strong campaign with 16 goals and 32 points in 40 outings, but of course, those numbers have been pumped up by his recent hot streak and his 18.6 shooting percentage this season is unlikely to be sustained -- his career average is 11.0.

Florida Panthers – MON VS ANA, WED VS DET, FRI VS MIN

The Panthers will play just three games next week, but all those contests will be at home. They’ll face the Ducks on Monday, the Red Wings on Wednesday and the Wild on Friday. Detroit is a tough opponent, but the Wild are in a freefall, losing six of their last seven games while being outscored 11-2 over their last two contests and Anaheim is near the league’s basement.

Sam Reinhart has never scored more than 33 goals in a single season, but at this rate, the 28-year-old might set a new career high before the All-Star break. He’s contributed at least one goal in five straight games and eight of his last nine outings, totaling 12 markers in that span. Reinhart’s goal in Thursday’s 3-2 overtime win over LA was his 30th of the campaign, putting him behind just Auston Matthews’ 33 in the goal-scoring race.

It remains to be seen if Reinhart can sustain this, though. His shooting percentage of 27.5 is by far the highest of any player with at least 100 shots -- next is Brock Boeser at 23.3 -- and more than double his 2022-23 finish of 13.7. Digging a little deeper, Reinhart is selective with when he shoots, firing 40.4 percent in high-danger areas. By contrast, Nikita Kucherov has nearly the same number of goals (28) while firing nearly double the shots (amounting to a 15.4 shooting percentage), but just 18.1 percent of his shots are in high-danger locations, so by that measure, Reinhart’s higher shooting percentage makes some sense.

Reinhart’s shooting percentage, if maintained, would go down as the highest of the salary cap era (min. 100 shots) and the best since Rob Brown and Craig Simpson in 1988-89, so some regression has to be expected, but given how the Panthers forward plays, that shooting percentage isn’t as big a red flag as it might otherwise be.

Meanwhile, Florida’s other Sam, Bennett, isn’t having nearly as good of a year with seven goals and 14 points across 28 outings, but he’s been effective recently with three goals and five points in six games, so he’s worthy of a short-term pickup if he’s available.

New Jersey Devils – MON @ BOS, WED VS MTL, FRI @ CBJ, SAT VS DAL

New Jersey will open the week in Boston on Monday before traveling back home to host the Canadiens on Wednesday. The Devils will then play in Columbus on Friday and host the Stars on Saturday. Boston and Dallas are tough adversaries, but that’s counterbalanced by the games against Montreal and Columbus -- neither of which is in a playoff position.

Injuries have become the story of the Devils’ 2023-24 campaign with Ondrej Palat (lower body) and Jack Hughes (upper body) becoming the latest victims. Neither is likely to return next week, and Timo Meier (abdomen) might not factor into the upcoming contests either.

Michael McLeod is getting an increased role due to the injuries. Although he’s averaged 14:42 of ice time this year, McLeod logged 18:14 on Saturday and followed that up with 17:46 on Thursday. The 25-year-old also has three goals and four points over his past four contests, so he’s hot at an opportune time.

Erik Haula has also seen his playing time jump, and he’s even seeing time with the man advantage, which hasn’t been a role the 32-year-old has held with any regularity this year. Haula has a goal and five points over his last four games while averaging 20:12 of ice time (his season average is 16:02), so he’s not a bad pickup while the Devils are missing some key forwards.

New York Islanders – MON @ MIN, TUE @ WPG, FRI @ CHI, SUN VS DAL

The Islanders will begin the week on the road with contests in Minnesota on Monday, Winnipeg on Tuesday and Chicago on Friday. They’ll then host the Stars on Sunday. Given the Wild’s recent struggles and the sorry state of the Blackhawks, this is a decent schedule, even after factoring in the tougher matches versus Winnipeg and Dallas.

If Semyon Varlamov (lower body) isn’t able to return before Tuesday’s contest against Winnipeg, then Ken Appleby might make his Islanders debut. The 28-year-old goaltender has a 2.88 GAA and an .897 save percentage in 11 contests with AHL Bridgeport this year, so he’s not an ideal option, but the Jets are vulnerable without Kyle Connor (knee) and might also be without Mark Scheifele, who left Thursday’s outing versus Chicago because of a lower-body injury. If Scheifele ends up missing that game too and Appleby is poised to start, then the goaltender might be a decent situational pickup.

It also helps that Appleby would likely receive solid goal support from Mathew Barzal. The Islanders forward is on fire, collecting two goals and nine points over his last five appearances. As long as he can stay healthy, Barzal could surpass his career high of 85 points, which was established in his rookie campaign.

Ottawa Senators – TUE VS COL, THU VS MTL, SAT VS WPD, SUN @ PHI (BTB)

The Senators get to spend most of the week in Ottawa, hosting the Avalanche on Tuesday, the Canadiens on Thursday and the Jets on Saturday. They’ll then finish the week with a game in Philadelphia on Sunday. The three home games are what help make the Senators’ schedule worth mentioning. Ottawa has a 4-13-0 record on the road but is an okay 10-10-0 at home.

I mentioned at the top of the article that the Senators have had a failure to launch. Despite a talented young core, Ottawa is on track to miss the playoffs for the seventh straight year. Replacing bench boss D.J. Smith with Jacques Martin has done nothing -- the squad is 3-8-0 since the coaching change. However, Martin has mostly coached the Senators on the road and as noted above, the team does tend to be at least decent at home.

Brady Tkachuk is one of the most dramatic examples of that shift. He has 11 goals and 19 points in 20 home contests compared to six markers and 10 points in 17 away games, so look for Tkachuk in particular to have a strong week. Josh Norris missed Thursday’s game versus Buffalo due to an upper-body injury, but if he’s healthy next week, then he might also be effective. He has eight goals and 14 points in 18 outings in Ottawa versus just four goals and six points in 15 road appearances.

CULLEN: 20 FANTASY POINTS – Oilers missing McDavid – Woll pushing for playing time – McTavish and Sandheim stepping up – Plus much, much more

Scott Cullen — Fri, 27 Oct 2023 15:39:45 +0000

DALLAS, TX - OCTOBER 26: Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender Joseph Woll (60) blocks a shot during the game between the Dallas Stars and the Toronto Maple Leafs on October 26, 2023 at American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas. (Photo by Matthew Pearce/Icon Sportswire)

Each week, I dive into the numbers to help make decisions when it comes time to make fantasy hockey decisions.

This week, the Oilers are reeling and are now missing McDavid. Shane Pinto’s suspension, Joseph Woll pushing for playing time, Mason McTavish ready to make the leap in his second season, Travis Sanheim stepping up for the Flyers and more.

#1 The season could not have started much worse for the Edmonton Oilers, preseason Stanley Cup favourites who have a 1-5-1 record and are missing superstar centre Connor McDavid for 1-2 weeks due to an upper-body injury. McDavid had eight points (2 G, 6 A) in five games before getting hurt and the Oilers have had to juggle lines, moving Ryan Nugent-Hopkins into the second line centre spot while Leon Draisaitl fills in for McDavid as the first line centre. The Oilers have been outscored 10-4 in two losses without McDavid and will hope to get on the right track with the season’s first installment of the Battle of Alberta, the Heritage Classic outdoor game, which goes Sunday in Edmonton.

#2 Ottawa Senators centre Shane Pinto, still without a contract as a restricted free agent, was suspended for 41 games due to activities related to sports betting. That would appear to solidify Ridly Greig’s position as the third-line centre behind Tim Stutzle and Josh Norris. Greig, who is eligible for the Calder Trophy, has five points (1 G, 4 A) with 16 shots on goal in seven games. Another player whose future in Ottawa should be more secure is winger Mathieu Joseph, who had been rumoured to be on the trade block at times – ostensibly in order to clear cap space to sign Pinto – but Joseph has started the season with six points (3 G, 3 A) and 13 shots on goal in seven games.

#3 It has not taken long, but Toronto Maple Leafs rookie Joseph Woll is challenging Ilya Samsonov for time in Toronto’s crease. Woll, the 25-year-old netminder, has a .961 save percentage in four appearances and that will get anyone a longer look in net, but with Samsonov delivering a meagre .831 save percentage, it is an easy choice for the Maple Leafs to give Woll more opportunities. Samsonov played well for Toronto last season, but the unpredictable nature of the position means that, unless a team has a surefire No. 1, the job should be up for grabs so that the goaltender that is playing best can earn more playing time.

#4 Second-year Anaheim Ducks centre Mason McTavish scored in overtime Thursday to cap Anaheim’s surprising late comeback win in Boston, handing the Bruins their first loss of the season. The 20-year-old now has six points (3 G, 3 A) with 16 shots on goal in seven games and with the Ducks playing more competitively than might have been anticipated, it’s all the more reason to expect McTavish to obliterate his rookie season production of 43 points (17 G, 26 A).

#5 While there has been plenty of early season fanfare for Dylan Larkin and Alex DeBrincat in Detroit – and deservedly so as they rank second and third, respectively, in the league scoring race – the third member of Detroit’s top line, Lucas Raymond, should not be overlooked. The third-year winger has six points (2 G, 4 A) and 18 shots on goal in eight games, and if he’s riding shotgun with Larkin and DeBrincat, that is an opportunity for Raymond to continue producing at a high level.

#6 Entering the season, there appeared to be plenty of holes in the Philadelphia Flyers lineup, not the least of which was a defencemen that would be able to contribute offensively. The early answer to that question is apparently Travis Sanheim, who had a career-high 35 points (9 G, 26 A) in 82 games in 2018-2019, but has busted out of the gate to start the season, producing eight points (1 G, 7 A) and 16 shots on goal in seven games. He is quarterbacking Philadelphia’s first power play unit and that should be enough reason to believe that the 27-year-old at least has a shot at the most productive offensive season of his career.

#7 The Colorado Avalanche took a chance on centre Ryan Johansen, acquiring him from the Nashville Predators in the offseason, and the early returns have been positive. Johansen has five points (4 G, 1 A) in seven games, but what is notable is that he also has 17 shots on goal. That rate of 2.43 shots on goal per game would be Johansen’s highest per-game rate since the 2014-2015 season. He has shown little interest in shooting the puck in recent seasons but if the Avalanche can change that approach, then the veteran pivot becomes a lot more interesting because he has the talent to score. Johansen has three seasons in his career with at least 25 goals, though only one since 2014-2015.

#8 Although he does not seem to be an ideal fit as a first line centre for the Minnesota Wild, Ryan Hartman does have seven points (4 G, 3 A) and 18 shots on goal in the first seven games of the season. Hartman had a career-high 65 points (34 G, 31 A) during the 2021-2022 season but that was the only season of his career in which he scored more than 40 points, so expectations for his production tend to be low enough that he could exceed them. The opportunity to play with Kirill Kaprizov and Mats Zuccarello can drag many players into fantasy relevance.

#9 Veteran centre Sean Monahan has been a valuable contributor for the Montreal Canadiens early in the season. After groin surgery ended his 2022-2023 season prematurely, the 29-year-old was facing an uncertain future. He re-signed in Montreal and has been excellent early in the season, producing six points (3 G, 3 A) and 16 shots on goal in seven games. For a relatively young Canadiens team, having Monahan’s experience and production helps to insulate their emerging players.

#10 When Tampa Bay Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy required back surgery, the immediate question was how would the Lightning address this issue so that they did not have to ride with Jonas Johansson as their starting netminder for more than two months. The Lightning have not brought in a proven NHL goaltender, instead giving Johansson the opportunity and he has a .925 save percentage in seven starts. Given his mediocre track record, seven games are not nearly enough time to declare that Johansson is now an elite goaltender, but he offers potential for fantasy managers as what looks like a secure No. 1 goaltender until the Lightning make a move.

#11 Los Angeles Kings left winger Trevor Moore has found a comfortable home on Phillip Danault’s wing and Moore has opened this season with six points, including five goals, in his first six games. Moore has 16 shots on goal and that has been one of his strengths since arriving in Los Angeles – he uses his speed to consistently generate shots – and while he is obviously not going to keep scoring on 31% of his shots, Moore could certainly surpass his career high of 17 goals, set in 2021-2022.

#12 While the Boston Bruins might have had modest expectations for 34-year-old left winger James van Riemsdyk coming into the season, he has contributed five points (3 G, 2 A) with 16 shots on goal in seven games, with three of those points coming with the man advantage. Even if he is not terribly fleet afoot at this stage of his career, JvR has always had excellent hands around the net, and he still makes sense as a net-front presence for Boston.

#13 It appeared that the Edmonton Oilers secured outstanding value when they signed right winger Connor Brown coming off a season in which he was limited to just four games before tearing his ACL. Brown had established his credentials as a winger who could play in all situations before that and had played with Connor McDavid in junior hockey, so this was a great chance for Brown to re-establish his value, but that has not been the case thus far. Through seven games, Brown has failed to record a point and has just eight shots on goal. He has fallen to the third line on the Edmonton depth chart and, according to Cap Friendly, is due a performance bonus of $3,225,000 after he plays in 10 games. Would the Oilers abandon Brown this quickly in order to save the cap space?

#14 Seattle Kraken sophomore centre Matty Beniers is off to a tough start to the campaign. The 2022-2023 Calder Trophy winner, Beniers has yet to score a goal and has three assists and 13 shots on goal in the first eight games of the season. Shot generation has not been a Beniers strength to this point in his NHL career, but he has to be able to produce more. Right now, he has rookie Tye Kartye and veteran Jordan Eberle on his wings, which is not exactly driving the Kraken attack, but Beniers is capable of more and probably counts as a buy-low candidate for fantasy managers.

#15 In the second half of last season, New Jersey Devils winger Dawson Mercer erupted for 20 points (11 G, 9 A) during a 12-game span, on his way to a 27-goal season. He has been out of sorts this season, however, still looking for his first point after six games. Even more troubling is that Mercer has been held without a shot on goal in four straight games. He has been buried in shifts when he has been skating with rookie Alexander Holtz, with the duo managing a 34.5% Corsi in the 28 minutes of five-on-five play that they have been together.

#16 The Arizona Coyotes made several moves to bolster their forward talent in the offseason and one of the results of those acquisitions has been that Lawson Crouse’s role has been decreased. Coming off back-to-back seasons with 20 or more goals, Crouse had fantasy value because of his high hit totals to accompany his goal-scoring numbers. His ice time is down 2:42 per game from last season and Crouse has managed just one assist and eight shots on goal in six games.

#17 The Calgary Flames have staggered out of the starting blocks this season and centre Nazem Kadri is one Flames skater who could produce a lot more than he has to this point in the season. In eight games, Kadri has one assist and 23 shots on goal. Flames head coach Ryan Huska tried to shake things up by moving Kadri to right wing on the top line, with Jonathan Huberdeau and Elias Lindholm, but that has not snapped Kadri from his early-season funk.

#18 Chicago Blackhawks left winger Taylor Hall has landed on the injured list, forcing another change on the wing for rookie centre Connor Bedard. With Tyler Johnson on right wing, the Blackhawks have Nick Foligno stepping into Hall’s spot. With all due respect to Foligno, this is not an ideal situation for Bedard, who could use more offensively gifted linemates If he is going to maximize his production. Through seven games, Bedard has four points (2 G, 2 A) and 22 shots on goal.

#19 Columbus Blue Jackets centre – yes, centre – Patrik Laine suffered an injury when Calgary Flames defenseman Rasmus Andersson unloaded on him with a high hit late in a Flames loss to Columbus. Laine has not returned to action yet, missing three games since the incident. Boone Jenner and Jack Roslovic have joined Johnny Gaudreau on Columbus’ top line in Laine’s absence. Andersson was suspended for four games and MacKenzie Weegar has moved into the quarterback role on Calgary’s first unit power play.

#20 The Buffalo Sabres entered the season with hopes the rookie goaltender Devon Levi would be the one to carry the starter’s load between the pipes. Levi had a mediocre .892 save percentage in the first four games of the season before a nagging lower-body injury sidelined him. That has allowed Eric Comrie and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen to see some action. As noted earlier, riding the hot hand in net is becoming a way of life for NHL teams and it has helped the Sabres pick up a couple of wins.