Jake DeBrusk – McKeen's Hockey

NHL: CULLEN – 20 FANTASY POINTS – Fresh start for Alexandre Texier, Ivan Demidov takes the rookie scoring lead, Brock Nelson and Tyler Bertuzzi are cooking, Seattle’s top line is thriving and so much more!

Scott Cullen — Fri, 09 Jan 2026 22:55:18 +0000

MONTREAL, QC - JANUARY 08: Alexandre Texier (85) of the Montréal Canadiens celebrates after scoring a goal during the second period of the NHL game between the Florida Panthers and the Montreal Canadiens on Jan 08 2026, at the Bell Centre in Montreal, QC (Photo by Vincent Ethier/Icon Sportswire)

Each week, I dig into the stats to find information that can help you make better fantasy hockey decisions. This week, a fresh start for Alexandre Texier, Ivan Demidov takes the rookie scoring lead, Brock Nelson and Tyler Bertuzzi are cooking, Seattle’s top line is thriving and so much more!

#1 After an underwhelming start to the season in St. Louis, where he had one assist in eight games, Alexandre Texier was bought out of his contract, leading him to sign a one-year, $1-million deal with the Montreal Canadiens and it looks like the fresh start that the 26-year-old winger needed. He is skating on Montreal’s top line, with Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield and, after a hat trick against Florida on Thursday, Texier has eight points (4 G, 4 A) with 12 shots on goal in his past five games. For a player whose career high is 30 points (12 G, 18 A), set in 2023-2024, Texier has a chance to be a bigger offensive contributor with the Habs.

#2 Even though he has been held off the scoresheet in the past two games, Canadiens right winger Ivan Demidov has pulled into the rookie scoring lead. He has 10 points (3 G, 7 A) and 13 shots on goal in his past nine games, giving him 36 points (10 G, 26 A) in 44 games. He is getting first unit power play time while skating on a line with Oliver Kapanen and Juraj Slafkovsky at even strength, but it is fair to be concerned about the shot rate. In his past 18 games, Demidov has recorded two or fewer shots 16 times.

#3 Early in the season, Colorado Avalanche centre Brock Nelson got off to a slow start, managing five points (3 G, 2 A) with 24 shots on goal in 16 games, which was enough to lose the interest of fantasy managers. Since then, though, Nelson has been riding high, producing 32 points (18 G, 14 A) with 69 shots on goal in his past 27 games. With Gabriel Landeskog injured, Nelson’s wingers right now are Valeri Nichushkin and rookie Gavin Brindley, but he’s also getting first unit power play time and that’s a fine opportunity to keep the points accumulating.

#4 In his past seven games, veteran Chicago Blackhawks winger Tyler Bertuzzi has delivered eight points (6 G, 2 A) and 24 shots on goal. Impressively, this has happened with the Blackhawks missing injured centres Connor Bedard and Frank Nazar, so Bertuzzi has helped the Blackhawks get through a trying situation. Bertuzzi is skating on a line with rookie centre Ryan Greene and veteran winger Andre Burakovsky. He is a six-time 20-goal scorer but with 22 goals in 40 games this season, he has an excellent chance to surpass his previous career high of 30 goals, set in 2021-2022 when he played for Detroit.

#5 After scoring 57 points and winning the Calder Trophy as the league’s top rookie in 2022-2023, Seattle Kraken centre Matty Beniers has had a few mediocre offensive seasons. That hasn’t been entirely fixed, but he is starting to generate more offense right now, putting up nine points (4 G, 5 A) with 21 shots on goal in his past nine games. He is getting full opportunity, centering the first line and playing on the first power play unit, so there is a chance for Beniers to continue his production. One encouraging sign is an improving shot rate as Beniers has never averaged even two shots on goal per game over a full season, but he is starting to cross that threshold more recently.

#6 Beniers’ wingers, Jared McCann and Kaapo Kakko, are both thriving as well. McCann has battled injuries, skating in just 18 games this season, but since returning to the lineup in late December, he has seven points (3 G, 4 A) and 20 shots on goal in his past seven games. Kakko has elevated his play, too, producing nine points (2 G, 7 A) and 20 shots on goal in his past nine games. Kakko has two 40-point seasons and with 14 points in 26 games this season, he is on that pace, even if he has missed a significant portion of the season, too.

#7 With Alex Danault traded to Montreal and injuries hitting the Los Angeles Kings, Alex Laferriere has been spending more time at centre and the third year forward is getting some results, with six points (4 G, 2 A) and 17 shots on goal in his past six games. With Anze Kopitar day-to-day, Laferriere is getting a shot with Adrian Kempe on the Kings’ top line and Laferriere’s physical play – 115 hits in 42 games this season – does make him more appealing to fantasy managers.

#8 A long-time favourite of mine for fantasy value, Columbus Blue Jackets captain Boone Jenner remains very productive when healthy. That caveat hangs over him more at this stage of his career, but in his past 13 games, Jenner has 11 points (4 G, 7 A) with 36 hits and 36 shots on goal. He doesn’t take as many faceoffs now that he’s on left wing, but he still takes some draws, and skating on a line with Sean Monahan and Kent Johnson is not a bad place to continue scoring.

#9 He has been overshadowed by other young talent in San Jose, but Sharks winger William Eklund is still a highly skilled winger who can deliver offensively. In his past dozen games, Eklund has 10 points (4 G, 6 A) with 46 shots on goal while playing 20:18 per game. That shot rate is a very good sign for Eklund being able to sustain his production and it’s probably not a coincidence that he has more recently found himself on the Sharks’ top line with Macklin Celebrini and Igor Chernyshov, which is a great situation.

#10 In five games since he was a healthy scratch for the Vancouver Canucks, left winger Jake DeBrusk responded with five points (3 G, 2 A) and 22 shots on goal. If you’re trying to show that the coach’s message was received, that’s a good way to go about it. While he is getting first unit power play time, DeBrusk is skating the Canucks’ second line at evens, with David Kampf and Kiefer Sherwood, which may not offer the highest offensive ceiling, but it also might represent more of a back-to-basics approach, and it seems to be working.

#11 A third-round pick of the Florida Panthers in 2020, Justin Sourdif saw action in four games for the Panthers, scoring one goal, but did have 72 points (28 G, 44 A) in 101 AHL games across the past two seasons. In the summer, the Washington Capitals acquired him from Florida for a second-round pick in 2026 and a sixth-round pick in 2027, presenting a better opportunity for Sourdif to stick in the NHL. He started the season with one goal and zero assists in 16 games, playing just over 11 minutes per game. Sourdif has gradually earned a bigger role and has busted out, scoring nine points (5 G, 4 A) with 12 shots on goal, while logging nearly 19 minutes per game, in his past five games. Sourdif has emerged as the Capitals’ second line centre, with Connor McMichael and Ryan Leonard on his wings, and that trio could be a solid source of secondary offense in Washington.

#12 Only once in his career has 34-year-old Colorado Avalanche defenceman Josh Manson surpassed 25 points in an NHL season, scoring 37 points in 2017-2018 when he was with the Anaheim Ducks, but with the juggernaut Avs, he is putting up decent numbers. He had two goals and two assists in Thursday’s rout over Ottawa, but in the past month he has 13 points (2 G, 11 A) and 21 shots on goal in 14 games. For a guy who already has 107 hits and 60 blocked shots in 43 games, that offensive surge suddenly makes Manson much more relevant for fantasy managers.

#13 When the Carolina Hurricanes acquired K’Andre Miller from the New York Rangers in the offseason, they were looking at a defenceman in his prime who, at his best, can be an exceptional defender, covering so much ice with excellent skating and a 6-foot-5 frame. In his past seven games, Miller has contributed seven points (2 G, 5 A) with nine shots on goal while averaging 23:47 of ice time per game. Only three of his 20 points this season have come on the power play, though Miller is getting second unit PP time right now, but the Hurricanes’ dominance at five-on-five does give Miller a chance to challenge for 40 points this season, a threshold he has crossed just once in his career.

#14 A reliable two-way centre, San Jose Sharks veteran Alexander Wennberg is getting more of an opportunity to play a top six role this season and he’s contributing more offence in the process. In the past four 14 games, Wennberg has produced 17 points (3 G, 14 A) with 19 shots on goal and while that shot rate is not very encouraging, it’s also pretty standard – he has been a reluctant shooter for much of his career. He is centering a line with Tyler Toffoli and Pavol Regenda on the wings, but Wennberg is also getting first unit power play time. The last time that Wennberg finished with more than 40 points in a season was 2016-2017 but with 30 points (8 G, 22 A) in 43 games, he seems very likely to exceed that total this season.

#15 Pavol Regenda is an interesting case for the Sharks. The 26-year-old left winger was acquired from the Anaheim Ducks last season and had 25 points (9 G, 16 A) in 36 AHL games then started this season with 12 points (4 G, 8 A) in 28 AHL games, which is hardly knocking down the door to force his way into the league. However, Regenda has scored six goals with 19 shots on goal in six games for the Sharks this season, which is the type of production that can get a team to figure out how to keep a guy around. With Will Smith and Philipp Kurashev injured, Regenda may have a little more time to prove that he belongs and might have some short-term appeal in deeper leagues.

#16 The Utah Mammoth have moved winger Lawson Crouse to the top line, with Clayton Keller and Nick Schmaltz, and that makes Crouse much more appealing from a fantasy perspective. In his past seven games, Crouse has six points (2 G, 4 A) with nine shots on goal while averaging 18:45 of ice time per game. He also has 19 hits and six blocked shots in that stretch, and those contributions elevate him when it comes to overall fantasy value.

#17 In his first four seasons with the Seattle Kraken, after he was signed in the summer of 2021, goaltender Philipp Grubauer was among the worst netminders in the league, posting a .890 save percentage in 156 games. His long-term contract was hanging around the Kraken like an albatross, and suddenly in the past few weeks, the 34-year-old netminder is good. In his past five starts, Grubauer has a 4-0-1 record, lifting the Kraken into a playoff position, stopping 168 of 175 shots against for a .960 save percentage. Joey Daccord is still the No. 1 option in Seattle but, however improbably, Grubauer might be able to force his way into more playing time.

#18 The Tampa Bay Lightning have moved winger Gage Goncalves to the top line, where he is skating with Brayden Point and Nikita Kucherov and Goncalves has six points (2 G, 4 A) and 10 shots on goal in his past eight games after scoring seven points in his first 30 games. He played fewer than 14 minutes per game in that eight-game stretch, so there is a limit to his offensive upside, but if he sticks with elite linemates, there is a chance that Goncalves can raise his value.

#19 At 36-years-old, Detroit Red Wings left winger James van Riemsdyk is naturally not as productive as he was during his peak years, when he topped 25 goals five times, but he’s making the most of a limited role in Detroit. Since the start of December, JvR has 13 points (8 G, 5 A) and 37 shots on goal in 16 games. His four power play goals is tied for third on the Red Wings and he’s not a bad source of secondary scoring while skating on a line with J.T. Compher and Lucas Raymond.

#20 After a brief conditioning stint in the American Hockey League, where he had a .904 save percentage in two games, Montreal Canadiens goaltender Sam Montembeault has returned to the Habs and has stopped 77 of 84 shots while winning each of his three starts since returning to the NHL. The Canadiens surely want Montembeault to regain his form, but it does create a crowded crease in Montreal as rookie Jacob Fowler has played well and Jakub Dobes is still in the mix, too. Fowler seems like the best long-term bet, but Montembeault might be getting his act together.

*Advanced stats via Natural Stat Trick

NHL: 20 FANTASY POINTS – Veterans who are elevating their play, including Zach Hyman, Steven Stamkos, Ryan O’Reilly, Ryan Hartman, Claude Giroux, David Perron, and so much more!

Scott Cullen — Sat, 27 Dec 2025 16:22:00 +0000

Each week, I dig into the stats to find information that can help you make better fantasy hockey decisions. This week, veterans who are elevating their play, including Zach Hyman, Steven Stamkos, Ryan O’Reilly, Ryan Hartman, Claude Giroux, David Perron, and so much more!

#1 Edmonton Oilers winger Zach Hyman was not ready to start the season, as he recovered from wrist surgery, so he didn’t get into the lineup until mid-November and even then it took him some time to get up to speed. It does appear that he’s starting to cook. In his past 11 games, Hyman has 15 points (9 G, 6 A) and 34 shots on goal. He’s getting first unit power play time and skating on the Oilers’ top line with Connor McDavid and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, so Hyman should be in a prime position for the rest of the season.

#2 In his first 29 games this season, Nashville Predators right winger Steven Stamkos had 11 points (8 G, 3 A) and when that happens to a player in his mid-30s, it can look like the end is near. He has turned back the clock recently, however, putting up 11 points (7 G, 4 A) with 29 shots on goal in his past seven games. He’s skating on a veteran line with Ryan O’Reilly and Filip Forsberg and the key is that Stamkos is generating shots on goal. In his first 29 games, he had just 58 shots on goal, so to go from two shots per game to more than four shots per game in this recent uptick in his performance shows that he can still be a legitimate offensive threat.

#3 Ryan O’Reilly has been a huge part of the Predators’ resurgence. In the past 14 games, the Preds are 10-4 and O’Reilly has 19 points (5 G, 14 A) in those 14 games. He has just 23 shots on goal, and a low shot rate is a concern for offensive sustainability, but O’Reilly is a consistent play driver year after year and that has continued this season in Nashville, with a 55.8 CF%, which would represent the best Corsi percentage of his career.

#4 Although he moves around the Minnesota Wild lineup quite a bit, there is usually reason to like when Ryan Hartman gets his turn playing on the top line. With Marco Rossi dealt to Vancouver in the Quinn Hughes trade, Hartman has moved in between Kirill Kaprizov and Mats Zuccarello, with Hartman putting up seven points (5 G, 2 A) and 20 shots on goal in his past seven games, after he had eight points (4 G, 4 A) through his first 29 games this season.

#5 The Ottawa Senators are getting quality production from veteran wingers Claude Giroux and David Perron. Giroux has eight points (3 G, 5 A) and 11 shots on goal in his past seven games while Perron has seven points (4 G, 3 A) and 15 shots on goal in his past seven games. They are getting second unit power play time and, for a pair of 37-year-olds, they are still providing reliable secondary scoring for the Sens. As with many of the veterans in this week’s article, they are not producing at the level of their best career performance but in their mid-30s that’s not a reasonable expectation and it is part of the reason that these players are more widely available.

#6 When he was acquired by the Ottawa Senators from the San Jose Sharks last season, Fabian Zetterlund responded with a meagre five points (3 G, 2 A) and 40 shots on goal in 20 games. He followed that up by starting this season with four points (1 G, 3 A) and 28 shots on goal in his first 20 games, but he has turned the corner and is now a solid offensive contributor on a talented Senators squad. In his past 16 games, Zetterlund has 12 points (8 G, 4 A) and 38 shots on goal, and appears to have secured a regular spot on the top line alongside Tim Stutzle and Brady Tkachuk.

#7 With injuries decimating the Tampa Bay Lightning blueline, Darren Raddysh has been the primary beneficiary from an offensive standpoint, as he is quarterbacking the top power play unit and producing at an elite level. His partner, J.J. Moser, has been making inroads recently, with five points and 16 shots on goal while averaging 23:32 of ice time in his past six games. Moser only had seven points (1 G, 6 A) and 34 shots on goal in his previous 28 games, but he does seem equipped to provide more offense than that.

#8 Although he is getting surpassed by his younger teammates in San Jose, Sharks right winger Tyler Toffoli has put up 13 points (5 G, 8 A) and 38 shots on goal in his past 13 games, recording two four-point games in the process. Toffoli is skating on San Jose’s second line, alongside William Eklund and Alexander Wennberg, while also getting time with the top power play unit.

#9 At this stage of his career, 40-year-old Colorado Avalanche defenceman Brent Burns is not the focal point for offense on the blueline, but he hasn’t abandoned those parts of his game, either. In his past 12 games, he has delivered eight points (3 G, 5 A) and 26 shots on goal, while averaging 19:44 of ice time per game. Only one of Burns’ 19 points this season have come on the power play, so there is a limit to his offensive contribution, but he remains a contributor for an Avalanche team that is steamrolling the rest of the league.

#10 Staying on the Colorado blueline, Samuel Girard has suddenly started to provide offense. In his past six games, Girard has six points (2 G, 4 A) and eight shots on goal, but he had just two assists in the 15 games that he played before that. Like Burns, Girard is not getting power play time in Colorado, but the Avs are so good that it could be worth considering these guys in deeper leagues.

#11 Winnipeg Jets forward Morgan Barron has never scored more than 21 points in an NHL season, but that could change this season. He has found a role on Winnipeg’s third line, alongside Adam Lowry and Alex Iafallo, and in his past six games, Barron has five points (4 G, 1 A) and a dozen shots on goal. He is up to 12 points (7 G, 5 A) in 29 games this season, so he has a real chance to set a career high in point production. For fantasy managers, his appeal is mostly in very deep leagues, though his offensive surge coupled with 67 hits in 29 games does give him some added fantasy value.

#12 It seems as though Oliver Bjorkstrand has been underutilized in Tampa Bay, as he is playing just 14:23 per game, which would be his lowest average time on ice since 2018-2019. However, in his past seven games, Bjorkstrand does have seven points (4 G, 3 A) and 12 shots on goal while playing 15:32 per game. He is currently on the Lightning’s second line, with Nick Paul and Jake Guentzel.

#13 Buffalo Sabres left winger Zach Benson was having a hard time finding the back of the net, going without a goal in his first 17 games of this season, but he has started to put it together recently. In his past six games, Benson has five points (3 g, 2 A) and 12 shots on goal, As the Sabres are making a concerted effort to turn their season around, Benson is getting first unit power play time while skating on a line with Ryan McLeod and Jack Quinn at even strength.

#14 After a slow start to the season that saw him demoted to the fourth line, Carolina Hurricanes left winger Andrei Svechnikov does seem to be back on track. In his past nine games, Svechnikov has 10 points (2 G, 8 A) and 20 shots on goal. He’s now skating on a line with Jordan Staal and Jackson Blake, which is more of a two-way line than usual, but Svechnikov is delivering results.

#15 The Columbus Blue Jackets acquired left winger Mason Marchment from the Seattle Kraken after the consensus was that Marchment’s time in Seattle was just not a good fit. After he had 13 points (4 G, 9 A) with 46 shots on goal in 29 games, which was not the kind of production that he was providing in his previous seasons with Dallas. Early returns in Columbus are more promising, as he has been playing with Adam Fantilli and Kirill Marchenko and Marchment has three goals and seven shots on goal in his first two games with Columbus. He is still more of a deep league option for fantasy managers, but he has a chance to provide value.

#16 The Buffalo Sabres are turning around their season and goaltender Alex Lyon is putting up great results. He has won each of his past six starts, posting a .922 save percentage. When the Sabres’ season looked like it was getting away from them, it was looking more likely that Lyon or Ukka-Pekka Luukkonen could get traded, but now that the Sabres have moved to within two points of a Wild Card playoff spot, they are more likely to stick with their tandem.

#17 While the Seattle Kraken are battling to stay in the playoff hunt, currently three points back of the second Wild Card spot, they are getting quality play from goaltender Joey Daccord. In his past five starts, Daccord has won three while posting a .934 save percentage. On the season, Daccord has 4.14 Goals Saved Above Expected, which is the kind of goaltending that can keep a team in the playoff race and it might make him a viable fantasy option.

#18 When looking for players who might be ready to bust out offensively, consider those that have not been living up to their underlying numbers. Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog, for example, has just one goal in 11 games this month, despite having 5.70 individual expected goals in all situations. Some other players whose goal numbers have been below expected goals in December: William Eklund (-4.25), Anthony Cirelli (-4.04), Chris Kreider (-3.88), John Tavares (-3.61), Rickard Rakell (-3.36), Logan Stankoven (-3.21), Jake DeBrusk (-3.20), Nico Hischier (-3.12), Tom Wilson (-3.11), and Jake Guentzel (-2.83).

#19 With Connor Bedard and Frank Nazar injured, the Chicago Blackhawks have veterans Jason Dickinson and Ryan Donato holding down their top two centre spots. Donato played a season-high 21:35 in the last game before the break and does have a goal and an assist in his past two games, so he may have some short-term appeal while the Blackhawks are in the tough situation of missing their top two centres.

#20 Newly acquired Edmonton Oilers goaltender Tristan Jarry suffered a lower-body injury that should keep him out for a couple of weeks and that has opened the door for Connor Ingram, who has won his first couple of starts with Edmonton, stopping 92.0 percent of the shots that he faced in the first two games. He had a .856 save percentage in 11 AHL appearances, so it’s not like he was forcing his way back into the NHL with his play, but the Oilers are playing better and if it means that Ingram can get comfortable in the NHL again, he could at least have short term appeal for fantasy managers.

*Advanced stats via Natural Stat Trick

MCKEEN’S 2025-26 NHL YEARBOOK – VANCOUVER CANUCKS – Team Preview/Player Profiles/Predictions

Fri, 26 Sep 2025 16:01:06 +0000

LOS ANGELES, CA - FEBRUARY 26: Vancouver Canucks defenseman Quinn Hughes (43) skates in warm ups before a Los Angeles Kings game versus the Vancouver Canucks on February 26th, 2025, at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, CA. (Photo by Rob Curtis/Icon Sportswire)

After winning the Pacific Division with 109 points in 2023-2024, the Canucks collapsed to 90 points (38-30-14) last season, missing the playoffs. They ranked 19th in both Corsi percentage (49.2) and expected goals percentage (49.5), so they earned their finish. Vancouver’s power play was middle of the road, ranking 15th with 7.72 goals per 60 minutes of five-on-four play. The Canucks’ penalty killing was excellent, ranking second in the league with 5.55 goals against per 60 minutes of four-on-five play. While Kevin Lankinen was solid in goal, Thatcher Demko missed a good portion of the season and Arturs Silovs struggled, so the overall goaltending picture was not ideal.

What’s Changed?

Head coach Rick Tocchet departed for Philadelphia, replaced by first-time NHL head coach Adam Foote. The Canucks were not terribly motivated to make dramatic changes to the underachieving roster, perhaps figuring that the trade deadline deal sending J.T. Miller to the New York Rangers was the more significant roster shuffle. This summer, they traded to acquire Vancouver native Evander Kane from the Edmonton Oilers. They lost centre Pius Suter as a free agent to the St. Louis Blues, and traded winger Dakota Joshua to the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Canucks also dealt Silovs, who was ticketed to be third on the goaltending depth chart, to the Pittsburgh Penguins. Silovs may have struggled with Vancouver but was outstanding in the Abbotsford Canucks’ championship run to the Calder Cup in the AHL, winning Playoff MVP.

What would success look like?

Getting back into the playoffs is a starting point for Vancouver. The roster at the start of the season doesn’t necessarily look like it’s capable of more than that, but if Elias Pettersson rebounds and Quinn Hughes stays healthy all season, they could have a much better shot at the postseason. Mix in even league average goaltending or better, and the Canucks could win a round or two in the playoffs. They are probably a few players light of being a bona fide Stanley Cup contender, but if they are contending, the Canucks’ brass will surely be ready to add to the roster, if need be.

What could go wrong?

There is a lot riding on Pettersson this season, because with Miller gone, the expectation is that Pettersson will get back to being the star player that he had been previously, and it’s great if that’s what happens, but if Pettersson can’t get back to that level, then the season will almost surely end up as a disappointment. The Canucks are relatively unproven down the middle of the ice, with Filip Chytil and Aatu Raty penciled in for the second and third-line centre roles, the Canucks need Pettersson to be great, or else it’s going to be really difficult to drag this team back into the playoffs.

Top Breakout Candidate

He may not score enough to really generate a lot of buzz, but Aatu Raty has a chance to play a significant role for the Canucks. Raty had 11 points (7 G, 4 A) in 33 games for the Canucks, despite playing fewer than 11 minutes per game, but he did score on more than 20 percent of his shots, so that’s not likely to last over a full season. In the AHL, he had 40 points (17 G, 23 A) in 43 games, so there is some offensive upside. The 22-year-old pivot also plays a physical game, with 80 hits in 33 games for the Canucks, so if he scores enough to hold a third-line centre role, Raty’s hit totals could propel him into deeper league fantasy relevance.

FORWARDS

Elias Pettersson

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
80	26	52	78	0.98

It is so difficult to pin down Pettersson’s all-around value because just when it looked like he was running with the elite, he turned in a season like 2024-2025, when he clearly had an issue with former teammate J.T. Miller before Miller was ultimately traded to the New York Rangers. Pettersson finished the season with 45 points (15 G, 30 A) in 64 games, the lowest per-game point production of his career, and a far cry from the 191 points (73 G, 118 A) in 162 games that he had in the previous two seasons. He is a cerebral player who is often a step ahead of the action, but when his game lacks passion, it doesn’t matter how smart he is on the ice because the results can not only be subpar, but it looks awful, too. When he’s on his game, Pettersson has an outstanding shot and can beat a goalie clean from distance with a wrist shot or one-timer. That kind of ability is not common, so it should be part of the Canucks’ plan to get Pettersson pucks in position to shoot. Although he is not the most physical player, he did register 74 hits last season and had a career-high 125 hits in 2023-2024, so it’s in his toolbox and when he gets fired up, he will play with more edge to his game. He is more of a finesse player, and it’s not like there is a desire to have him shed that skilled game, but if he plays with passion on a more consistent basis, it would help offset times that the offensive numbers aren’t going his way. He is too good to languish in mediocrity like last season, so expect some kind of bounce-back campaign for Pettersson, with 25 goals and 70-plus points, though he has obviously proven capable of even more than that.

Brock Boeser

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
75	28	27	55	0.73

When the 2024-2025 season wrapped up, Boeser was headed for free agency, and it seemed entirely likely that he would be moving on from Vancouver. The Canucks weren’t ready to concede that, however, so they signed Boeser to a new seven-year, $50.25 million contract. The Canucks recognized that Boeser’s ability to put the puck in the net should not be taken for granted. Last season’s 25 goals represented the sixth time in his eight NHL seasons that he surpassed 20 goals, and he has recorded at least 50 points in three straight seasons. Boeser is not so much a generator of chances as he is the finisher who puts himself in position to score. He has good hands and strong offensive instincts which allow him to thrive when playing with quality linemates, but he is more dependent on those linemates to transport the puck and create those opportunities. With the Canucks shaking up their roster, the most likely scenario is for Boeser to skate on the top line with Elias Pettersson, and that should help both players, but that only applies if Pettersson can rebound from his down season, because they did not fare well when they played on the same line last season, getting outshot, out-chanced, and outscored. It should be reasonable to expect 25 goals and 55 points from Boeser, with the understanding that Pettersson could potentially help to lift him even higher.

Jake DeBrusk

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
82	25	25	50	0.61

After signing a big free agent deal last summer to join the Canucks, DeBrusk didn’t have an earth-shattering first season in Vancouver, but he scored a career high 28 goals and that should not be ignored. Half of those goals came on the power play, a massive increase over his power play role in Boston. He has been a complementary player throughout his career and that is largely the role that he fills well with Vancouver now. His ice time has remained consistent, hovering just under 17 minutes per game, but DeBrusk’s shot rate has declined from where it was two years ago, at 2.98 shots on goal per game, to last season’s 2.09 shots on goal per game. When it comes to sustaining production, it’s preferable to maintain the higher shot rate because it doesn’t require DeBrusk scoring on 16.4 percent of his shots to score 28 goals when his career shooting percentage prior to last season was 12.4 percent. That extra four percent, over 171 shots on goal works out to nearly seven goals, a pretty significant difference for a player who scored 28. Going into 2025-2026, DeBrusk should be able to count on a regular scoring role with the Canucks, possibly even skating on the top line, with first unit power play time, so he should be able to contribute 25 goals and 45 points, but that may seem underwhelming if that is indeed his place on the depth chart.

Conor Garland

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
82	21	35	56	0.68

A feisty winger who has turned into an excellent two-way player, Garland saw his ice time jump by more than four minutes per game last season and he hit the 50-point threshold for the second time in his career. Garland uses his speed to effectively create chances and while last season was unusual in that the Canucks were outscored with Garland on the ice, he was hardly to blame, ranking first among Canucks forwards in terms of expected goals against per 60 minutes. Garland’s most common linemates last season were Pius Suter and Dakota Joshua, who have both departed, so it’s not like he was propped up by his teammates. His next most common linemate is more interesting, though. Garland played more than 258 five-on-five minutes with Elias Pettersson and in that time, the Canucks controlled 63.0 percent of expected goals with those two on the ice. If you have players controlling play to that degree in the NHL, there are not many reasons good enough to split them up, so maybe Garland will find his way to spending more time with Pettersson in 2025-2026. At the very least, Garland has established that he is a valuable player who can move the puck the right way. Provided he continues to play significant minutes, he seems like a good pick to score 20 goals and 50 points this season.

Kiefer Sherwood

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
75	18	18	36	0.48

A veteran winger who lingered on the fringes of NHL rosters for years before breaking through with the Nashville Predators in 2023-2024, Sherwood had the best season of his NHL career, by far, last season with Vancouver, scoring 40 points (19 G, 21 A) and leading the league with 462 hits. Yes, 462 hits, 156 more hits than second place Mathieu Olivier of the Columbus Blue Jackets. Sherwood found that the hard-driving physical game is what would keep him in the league, turned the dial up to 11, and kept it there all season. He had double digit hit totals in 10 games and recorded fewer than three hits twice in 78 games. Sherwood is not even physically imposing, listed at six feet tall and 195 pounds, but there is something to be said for being relentless and, in Sherwood’s case, being relentless earned him a two-year, $3 million contract from the Canucks last summer, and will surely earn him more on his next deal. As a player who started just 38.3 percent of his five-on-five shifts in the offensive zone, Sherwood still ended up with positive possession numbers and the Canucks outscored opponents with him on the ice. That shouldn’t come as a surprise, since Sherwood is a net +26 in five-on-five goal differential for his career, not bad for a 30-year-old winger who couldn’t stick in an NHL lineup until two years ago. Sherwood is not an offensive dynamo, but he does more than enough to hold down his spot in the lineup. Going into the 2025-2026 season, he should play a regular top nine role for Vancouver and should bring 15 goals and 30 points, along with at least 300 hits.

Filip Chytil

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
70	20	25	45	0.64

Acquired from the New York Rangers as part of the J.T. Miller trade, Chytil had recovered from serious concussion woes but had middling production in a third-line role with the Rangers. In Vancouver, his ice time went up by more than two minutes per game, but his point production did not follow as he managed just six points (2 G, 4 A) in 15 games for the Canucks, but he played really well in that time, only to have his results undone by poor percentages. Chytil scored on just 4.5 percent of his shots on goal, and his five-on-five on-ice shooting percentage was 3.0 percent, which is absurdly low, so take some solace in the fact that Chytil had a 54.5 percent Corsi in Vancouver, driving play even if he wasn’t getting rewarded offensively. Chytil is a strong skater with a big frame and apparently wanted a bigger role than the third line spot that the Rangers could provide him, so the chance to fill a second line role in Vancouver is a prime opportunity for him, but he also needs to take advantage of that opportunity. While Chytil has never been great in the faceoff circle, last season’s faceoff winning percentage of 46.8 was the best of his career, and he got there by winning 49.7 percent of his draws with the Canucks. If Chytil can remain relatively healthy, he should have a chance to score 20 goals and 45 points in his first full season with Vancouver, and that point total would match his career high, set in 2022-2023.

Evander Kane

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
62	20	18	38	0.61

After sitting out the entire 2024-2025 regular season while recovering from multiple surgeries, Kane was plugged into the Edmonton Oilers lineup for the playoffs and had some strong moments while contributing 12 points (6 G, 6 A) in 21 games. He also faded from relevance in the Stanley Cup Final but that’s not an easy situation, playing a very strong Panthers team when Kane was maybe not quite where he needed to be to play at that level. He is 34 years old so it may not be a prime situation for any winger coming off of an injury to bounce back, but that is what the Canucks will hope that they can get out of a winger who, when he is on his game, is both a legitimate scoring threat and a physical presence. He has had plenty of off-ice issues over the years, and there’s no guarantee that those won’t crop up in Vancouver, but if Kane is committed to playing his best, there is a version that works out well for the Canucks because he has some of the fire that they need. Injuries have plagued Kane, and the 77 games he played for the Oilers in 2023-2024 represented the only time since 2018-2019 that he played more than 65 games in a season. Taking into account, then, that Kane is likely to miss 20 games for some reason or another, he could still contribute 20 goals and 35-40 points. His physical play could also yield 150 hits (or more, he had a career-high 250 for the Oilers in 2023-2024). For those in banger leagues, Kane led the NHL in penalty minutes in the 2018-2019 and 2019-2020 seasons and while that’s unlikely now, he is still typically good for more penalty minutes than games played.

Aatu Raty

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
75	13	17	30	0.38

Highly touted as a prospect, Raty slipped to the second round in the 2021 NHL Draft, and it has taken him some time to make it to the league, but last season was a promising sign from the 22-year-old center who contributed 11 points (7 G, 4 A) in 33 games for the Canucks. While he may not continue to score on 20.6 percent of his shots, as he did in that small sample of games, Raty did win 57.7 percent of his faceoffs and recorded 80 hits in 33 games despite playing 10:39 per game. That physical style and reliability in the faceoff dot should give him a leg up on any competition for forward roles in Vancouver. Raty has been productive at the AHL level, putting up 92 points (35 G, 57 A) in 115 games across the past two seasons, so there is some reason to be hopeful that he can at least score enough to fill a top nine role with the Canucks. The Canucks have improved their forward depth so there could be an opportunity for Raty to play with quality linemates. If that’s the case, he might be able to contribute 12-15 goals and 30 points. If he adds 150-175 hits, that might give him some appeal in deeper fantasy formats.

Nils Hoglander

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
78	15	18	33	0.42

After breaking through for career highs of 24 goals and 36 points in 2023-2024, Hoglander took a step backwards last season, though some of that was merely going from a 20.0 shooting percentage to a 9.6 shooting percentage. Hoglander is on the smaller side but is a high energy player with good skills and he plays with some tenacity that belies his size. Hoglander has also had difficulty securing regular linemates. Last season, he played more than 150 five-on-five minutes with Teddy Blueger, Elias Pettersson, Conor Garland, and Pius Suter and had varying degrees of success with all of them, but there was a lack of consistency in his deployment, to be sure. The challenge that Hoglander faces is getting a real foothold on ice time in Vancouver. He played 15:27 per game as a rookie in 2020-2021, went down to 13:05 per game the next season and has hovered just over 12 minutes per game for three straight seasons. It may be unreasonable to expect that to suddenly change but securing a role that would see him play 14-15 minutes per game could have a significant impact on his production. Since that is in doubt, it’s fair to expect 15 goals and 30 points from Hoglander.

DEFENCE

Quinn Hughes

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
77	16	68	84	1.09

There is essentially a two-horse race being waged for the title of top defenceman in the league, with Hughes and Colorado’s Cale Makar the two contestants. Hughes won the 2023-2024 Norris Trophy and looked like he was on track to repeat again last season before getting injured in late January. At the end of January, he had 59 points (14 G, 45 A) and 136 shots on goal in 47 games and was a dominant force in the Vancouver lineup. After missing several weeks with a lower-body injury, including being kept out of the Four Nations Face-Off, Hughes finished the season with 17 points (2 G, 15 A) and 56 shots on goal in his last 21 games. That would be entirely fine for most defencemen in the league, but it was a step down from the exceptional tier that Hughes had been inhabiting for the previous season-and-a-half. Hughes has become even more dangerous offensively since he started shooting the puck more and the result has been 33 goals in his past two seasons. He is not only a game-changing offensive force, whose 244 points in 228 games and 1.07 points per game both rank second only to Makar among defencemen across the past three seasons, but Hughes has upgraded his defensive play in recent seasons, too. Last season’s 2.25 expected goals against per 60 minutes at five-on-five was the lowest rate in Hughes’ career. There were 138 defencemen that played at least 1,000 five-on-five minutes last season and only 15 of them had a lower rate of expected goals against. A healthy Quinn Hughes is a difference-maker, and the Canucks will certainly hope that he is in good health for the 2025-2026 season. If he is, Hughes should be expected to contribute 15 goals and 80 points and run neck-and-neck with Makar for defenceman supremacy.

Filip Hronek

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
80	6	35	41	0.51

An excellent partner for Quinn Hughes, Hronek has been a quality top pair defender for several years and while he tends to get overshadowed by Hughes, Hronek is a strong puck mover who is effective at both ends of the rink, can kill penalties, and run the second power play unit. His skill set, and his deployment, leads to strong possession numbers and the Canucks outscore the opposition with Hronek on the ice. While Hronek makes a good first pass to start the breakout and is comfortable getting involved offensively, he is very much the stay-at-home partner to a phenom like Hughes. It’s not like Hronek is a big bruiser who is a punishing physical presence, but he can handle when the game gets gritty and he will deliver hits to separate opponents from the puck. When Hughes was injured in the second half of the season, Hronek contributed 10 points (2 G, 8 A) and 24 shots on goal in 10 games with Hughes out of the lineup, so Hronek has more to give offensively, if needed. It just so happens that it is not needed that often. In his strong complementary role, Hronek should contribute 40 points for the Canucks in 2025-2026.

Marcus Pettersson

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
78	4	26	30	0.38

Acquired by the management team that had him in Pittsburgh, Pettersson has been a reliable top four blueliner, logging more than 20 minutes per game for the past three seasons. Pettersson is a tall and rangy defender who does not have a huge role offensively, with minimal power play time, and yet he has contributed 59 points (8 G, 51 A) across the past two seasons, in part because he is a strong skater and makes good passes to jumpstart the attack. Where Pettersson can make a difference, at least for fantasy managers, is when it comes to hits and, especially, blocked shots. He had 80 hits last season but has recorded more than 100 hits five times in his career and, in the past three seasons, Pettersson had 434 blocked shots, which was tied for 27th in the league over that time. Heading into the 2025-2026 season, Pettersson figures to be No. 3 on the Canucks’ defensive depth chart and that should mean consistent ice time, allowing him to contribute 25-30 points and 125-plus blocked shots. That probably won’t generate a lot of interest in most leagues, but in deeper leagues, Pettersson could be worthy of consideration.

Tyler Myers

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
74	5	17	22	0.30

A towering presence on the Canucks’ blueline, standing 6-foot-8, Myers has found a more suitable role at this stage of his career. For so long, he was maligned for not being the standout performer that he was early in his career, when he won the Calder Trophy as a rookie and received Norris Trophy votes in his first two seasons. Myers went through some difficult seasons, and his years in Vancouver are not without their own flaws, but in a secondary role, of course his performance is not going to match what is happening on the top pair with Quinn Hughes and Filip Hronek. Myers’ ice time decreased in 2023-2024, going under 20 minutes per game for the first time in his career, but he averaged 20:48 per game last season and while his Corsi was 47.3 percent, Myers’ expected goals percentage was 50.2 percent and the Canucks were outscored 51-50 with Myers on the ice, so he was certainly in the neighbourhood of breaking even during five-on-five play. This is all to say that Myers should be relatively secure in his role on the Vancouver blueline. He can still skate well, especially for his size, and he does contribute offensively as well as with hits and blocked shots. He has put up at least 125 blocked shots in four straight seasons and has topped 100 hits three times and is typically over a hit per game. In 2025-2026, Myers should be expected to chip in 20-25 points with 130 blocked shots. Again, it’s not going to garner widespread fantasy appeal, but might have some potential in deeper formats.

Goal

Thatcher Demko

Predicted Stats
GP	W	L	OT	SO	SV%	GAA
58	28	17	7	3	.908	2.62

The Vancouver Canucks had finally managed to reach the postseason with an elite caliber goaltender in 2024 when disaster struck, and a knee injury suffered by Vezina caliber starter, Thatcher Demko, ended the team's playoff hopes along with nearly his entire following season. Demko didn't play an NHL game until December 10th of last season, and constant minor injuries held him to just 23 games (and a fairly disappointing statistical scorecard overall) by the time the year was over. When he's healthy, he's a downright bargain for the Canucks - but the healthy qualifier has become one of the most difficult things to produce, year after year.

The story, ultimately, looks the same for the upcoming season as it did last year. If Demko can stay healthy - and get enough game play to return to his peak form - they have very little in the way of true competition in the Pacific Division to fight through. But if he can't stay healthy, they'll have to hope that Kevin Lankinen - signed to a hefty deal with suboptimal numbers and very little consistency in his game year over year - can produce one of his better seasons in Demko's stead. The Canucks have plenty of young talent developing throughout their system, but the lack of another clear NHL-ready option at the moment makes things a bit dire for Demko, Lankinen, and the team as a whole.

NHL: CULLEN – 20 FANTASY POINTS – DeBrusk paying off for Canucks, Werenski having best season of his career, changes in Chicago, AHL rookies to watch, Seguin on the shelf, and much more!

Scott Cullen — Fri, 06 Dec 2024 15:35:42 +0000

BOSTON, MA - NOVEMBER 26: Vancouver Canucks left wing Jake DeBrusk (74) plays the puck up ice during a game between the Boston Bruins and the Vancouver Canucks on November 26, 2024, at TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Fred Kfoury III/Icon Sportswire)

Each week, I’ll dig into the stats to find information that can help you make better fantasy hockey decisions. This week, Jake DeBrusk is paying off in a big way for the Canucks, Zach Werenski is having the best season of his career, changes in Chicago, AHL rookies to watch, Tyler Seguin is on the shelf, and much more!

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

#1 After a slow start to his first season in Vancouver, Canucks winger Jake DeBrusk has picked up his scoring pace in a dramatic way. Since the beginning of November, he `has 16 points (11 G, 5 A) with 40 shots on goal in 15 games. Elias Pettersson has eight points on DeBrusk’s 16 points over that span while Quinn Hughes has seven points. In his first nine games, DeBrusk had just 13 shots on goal, just 1.44 per game, but that average has climbed to 2.67 per game since then.

#2 Usually, we focus on players that are available in more leagues, but sometimes it’s worth paying attention to the production of players that are widely rostered, too. Columbus Blue Jackets defenceman Zach Werenski is having the best season of his career. Werenski had a career-high 57 points (11 G, 46 A) in 70 games last season, but he has taken it to another level this season. Through 24 games, Werenski has 26 points (8 G, 18 A) with 90 shots on goal while playing a career-high 26:06 per game. Durability has tended to be an issue for Werenski, who last played more than 70 games in a season in 2018-2019, but if he can stay relatively healthy this season, Werenski should have career-best production.

#3 The Chicago Blackhawks fired head coach Luke Richardson, replacing him with Anders Sorensen, who had been coaching for AHL Rockford. Connor Bedard has found it tough going in his second NHL season, with five goals in 26 games, and Chicago’s leading goal scorer has been journeyman Ryan Donato, who has 10 goals in 24 games. Those are the only two forwards on the Blackhawks roster averaging better than 0.50 points per game, which means the likes of Teuvo Teravainen, Tyler Bertuzzi, Taylor Hall, and Philipp Kurashev are not living up to expectations. Can Sorenson draw out better production from this group? If not, could top prospect Frank Nazar be on the verge of a call-up? The 13th pick in the 2022 Draft, Nazar is thriving in the AHL, with 24 points (11 G, 13 A) in 18 games as a rookie pro for Rockford.

#4 Some other rookie pros making an immediate impact in the AHL include defenceman Denton Mateychuk, who has 22 points (7 G, 15 A) in 21 games. He was taken by Columbus with the pick before Nazar in the 2022 Draft. Collin Graf is a 22-year-old who was signed by San Jose as a free agent out of Quinnipiac in the spring. Graf has 22 points (5 G, 17 A) in 19 games and could push for a spot with the improving Sharks later this season. Graf’s teammate, Luca Cagnoni, is undersized, but has delivered 18 points (7 G, 11 A) in 19 games and the 2023 fourth-round pick could force the Sharks to give him a look. Rounding out the top five rookie scorers in the AHL, Justin Hryckowian has 18 points (5 G, 13 A) in 19 games for the Texas Stars. Hryckowian finished last season in the AHL after he was signed as a free agent out of Northeastern University.

#5 Less than a week after noting how productive Tyler Seguin has been for the Dallas Stars, it was announced that the veteran forward needs hip surgery which will keep him sidelined for four-to-six months. If the Stars need an offensive boost in Seguin’s absence, perhaps Hryckowian will get a look in Dallas.

#6 Utah Hockey Club right winger Nick Schmaltz has always been an accomplished playmaker, but he was having a terrible time finding the net this season, going 23 games without a goal to start the 2024-2025 campaign. Schmaltz has scored three goals in the past two games – his first goals of the season – and he does have seven points (3 G, 4 A) and 16 shots on goal in his past six games. Even with his goal-scoring slump, Schmaltz still has 20 points (3 G, 17 A) in 25 games, and he continues to play on the top line with Clayton Keller and Barrett Hayton as well as holding a spot on Utah’s top power play unit.

#7 As the San Jose Sharks have become much more competitive over the past month – at least prior to Thursday’s 8-1 shellacking in Tampa Bay – defenceman Jake Walman has become increasingly productive. In his past 15 games, Walman has accumulated 17 points (4 G, 13 A) with 38 shots on goal while playing 22:35 per game. Given the direction Walman and the Sharks have been trending, it does not make sense for him to still be available on the fantasy waiver wire.

#8 Veteran Florida Panthers blueliner Aaron Ekblad is getting more time on the power play and his production is starting to take off. In his past eight games, Ekblad has seven points, including three on the power play, while playing nearly 25 minutes per game. Ekblad recorded a career-high 57 points (14 G, 43 A) in just 61 games in 2021-2022, and while he is not likely to get back to that level of production, a regular spot on the Panthers’ top power play unit could make him a valuable fantasy contributor in 2024-2025.

#9 Although his track record has been poor to inconsistent through much of his career, Boston Bruins netminder Joonas Korpisalo is making a push for more playing time, especially while starter Jeremy Swayman struggles to find his form. Korpisalo has a .909 save percentage in 10 games and has 1.11 Goals Saved Above Expected. In the long run, Swayman is clearly the guy for the Bruins but, in the short term, when the team needs wins, Korpisalo could see more action.

#10 With Darcy Kuemper injured, David Rittich is again getting a run of starts for the Los Angeles Kings. Rittich surrendered seven goals in a November 25 loss at San Jose, but in the 10 appearances around that disaster start, spread out over the past month, Rittich has a .932 save percentage. Playing behind a Kings team that is among the best in terms of shot suppression, Rittich holds decent value for fantasy managers that might need some short-term help between the pipes.

#11 With the New Jersey Devils upgrading their blueline in the offseason, Luke Hughes missed the start of the season as he recovered from shoulder surgery and, as a result, he is down 2:26 in ice time per game compared to last season. Hughes has six assists and 13 shots on goal in his past six games, suddenly thrusting himself into fantasy relevance after a terribly slow start to the season.

#12 Anaheim Ducks right winger Troy Terry has seven assists and 17 shots on goal in his past five games and has enjoyed success this season when skating with Frank Vatrano and Ryan Strome at even strength. The trio has a Corsi percentage of 54.2 percent and expected goals percentage of 58.4 percent during five-on-five play. The veteran trio is Anaheim’s only line to have more than 50 minutes together and still be on the right side of those ledgers.

#13 The fourth pick in the 2023 Draft, Will Smith came into his rookie season with great expectations, but he managed just three points (2 G, 1 A) in his first 14 games. The Sharks made him a healthy scratch for some games and then moved him to right wing from centre. In 10 games since, Smith has eight points (3 G, 5 A) and 17 shots on goal. That relatively low shot rate is enough reason to pause before adding Smith, but he is making rapid progress after a difficult start to his pro career, so he is worth having on your radar now.

#14 St. Louis Blues winger Jake Neighbours went through a lean period from late October through mid-November, managing just two assists in nine games, but he appears to be moving in the right direction once again. In his past nine games, Neighbours has six points (4 G, 2 A) and 23 shots on goal while playing 16:43 per game. As new head coach Jim Montgomery plays around with line combinations in St. Louis, Neighbours is skating on a line with Robert Thomas and Pavel Buchnevich, a solid opportunity to continue putting up points.

#15 A reliable play-driving winger, Oliver Bjorkstrand of the Seattle Kraken is riding a seven-game point streak, during which he has eight points (3 G, 5 A) with 17 shots on goal. It’s fair to be cautious about adding Bjorkstrand because he skates on Seattle’s second power play unit and at evens he is playing with Shane Wright and Eeli Tolvanen. He’s obviously making it work, but the sustainability of it all seems harder under those circumstances.

#16 Minnesota Wild captain Jared Spurgeon has missed some time with injuries, which is not uncommon for him, but the veteran blueliner has seven points (3 G, 4 A) and 18 shots on goal in his past 10 games. He is quarterbacking Minnesota’s top power play unit, and as long as that is the case, Spurgeon has a chance to provide legitimate fantasy value.

#17 With Wild centre Joel Eriksson Ek considered week-to-week with an injury, opportunity knocks once again for Marco Rossi, who will move up to centre Minnesota’s top line while getting first unit power play time. In 18 games in which he has played at least 16 minutes, Rossi has produced 17 points (6 G, 11 A) and 27 shots on goal.

#18 Early in the season, New York Islanders captain Anders Lee was skating on the third line, playing in a supporting role and not producing much. Injuries forced the Islanders to turn to Lee again and he moved back up the depth chart. In his past 16 games, Lee has 17 points (8 G, 9 A) with 40 shots on goal. He is skating on the top line with Bo Horvat and Simon Holmstrom, but also in his familiar net front spot on the Islanders’ top power play unit.

#19 Tampa Bay Lightning centre Anthony Cirelli was named to Canada’s roster for the 4 Nations Face-Off, and the noted checking centre is enjoying the best offensive season of his career. Through 24 games, Cirelli has 24 points (11 G, 13 A) with 51 shots on goal. In the past 10 games, Cirelli has 11 points (9 G, 2 A) with 31 shots on goal and while he is not going to keep scoring on 29 percent of his shots, if Cirelli is averaging more than three shots per game, he has a good chance to sustain his offensive production. Barring injury, Cirelli should obliterate his career high of 45 points, which was set last season.

#20 Veteran Calgary Flames centre Nazem Kadri is finding his name in trade rumours and he is not hurting his value with his production. In his past 10 games, Kadri has eight points (3 G, 5 A) and 33 shots on goal. He is on a line with Jonathan Huberdeau and Martin Pospisil. Consistency remains elusive for Huberdeau, but he does have six points (2 G, 4 A) and 16 shots on goal in his past eight contests.

#21 Managers in deep leagues may want to keep tabs on Boston Bruins right winger Justin Brazeau, who is still on the lower end of the depth chart, but he is forcing his way into prominence. In his past seven games, Brazeau has five points (2 G, 3 A) and 14 shots on goal, while playing 13:41 per game. He has moved up the depth chart to the second line with second-unit power play time, so if the 6-foot-5 winger continues to produce, there ought to be more ice time available to him.

*Advanced stats via Natural Stat Trick and Evolving Hockey.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

*Advanced stats via Natural Stat Trick.

NHL: DADOUN – THE FANTASY WEEK AHEAD (November 4th to November 11th – Oilers face challenges early, while Knights soar out the gate

Ryan Dadoun — Sat, 02 Nov 2024 16:35:39 +0000

Edmonton Oilers Center Leon Draisaitl (29) (Photo by Curtis Comeau/Icon Sportswire)

At the end of October last year, Edmonton was in a sorry state with a 2-5-1 record, and the squad posted a 2-8-1 record by the 11-game mark. Of course, we know about the turnaround the Oilers managed, but in that context, Edmonton’s 5-5-1start this year doesn’t seem so bad. It’s not good either, though, and there are some areas that need to be improved upon if Edmonton is to live up to its lofty expectations.

Surprisingly, Edmonton hasn’t managed to reliably score this campaign. The Oilers managed two or fewer goals in each of their six losses (including the overtime defeat), and they never scored more than four goals in any of their first 10 games. That issue was compounded Monday when they lost Connor McDavid for the next 2-3 weeks due to an ankle injury. To their credit, Edmonton responded with a clean 5-1 win over Nashville on Thursday, but we’ll have to see if the Oilers can build off that strong win.

Calvin Pickard was in net for that victory, improving to 3-1-0 with a 2.47 GAA and an .897 save percentage across nine outings. It was his second start in three games and that increase in playing time is understandable when contrasted against Stuart Skinner’s rough 3.51 GAA and .872 save percentage across seven outings. Skinner had a rough start to 2023-24 only to rebound, so don’t count him out yet, but his shaky play has been the other big reason behind Edmonton’s mediocre start. If he doesn’t start improving, it would put Edmonton in a very vulnerable spot -- Pickard has outperformed him thus far, but the 32-year-old isn’t expected to be a good long-term starter option, especially for a team with Stanley Cup aspirations.

Edmonton isn’t the only team portrayed as being a Cup contender who has underwhelmed early, but one major contender who has largely shone in the early going is Vegas with its 7-3-1 start. Not everything is rosy for the Golden Knights -- Adin Hill’s 3.20 GAA and .878 save percentage through six appearances don’t look much more appealing than Skinner’s results -- but those issues have been masked by Vegas’ offense, led by its top line.

At the time of writing, Mark Stone is tied for the lead league in points with 19 (five goals) through 11 games while Jack Eichel isn’t far behind with three goals and 16 points in 11 outings. Those two are fairing better than expected, but the thing that’s really held Vegas back in recent years -- at least as far as the regular season goes -- is injuries to key players in general, and those two in particular. If those two can stay healthy this time, it’ll be interesting to see if the duo continues to make their presence known among the league’s scoring leaders.

Speaking of, you’d have to go back to when the two were still rookies to find the last time Eichel ended a season with more points than McDavid. Excluding their first campaigns, McDavid’s single-season low of 97 points is better than Eichel’s career high of 82. It’s way too early to suggest that Eichel will finish above McDavid in the scoring race, but we’ll see what the future holds.

Calgary Flames (Tue @ MTL, Thu @ BOS, Sat @ BUF)

The Flames won their first four games of the campaign, but that hot start has been erased, to the point where they’re 5-4-1 at the time of writing. They’ll be on the road next week, but the silver lining is they’ll be facing middling squads in Montreal on Tuesday and Buffalo on Saturday. Their contest in Boston on Thursday also might not be as difficult as it would appear at first glance. The Bruins are among the teams who underperformed in October, finishing the month with a 4-6-1 record.

Speaking of disappointment, the change of scenery hasn’t helped Anthony Mantha much. It looked like he might play a big role with the Flames, especially after head coach Ryan Huska suggested in September that Mantha’s goal for the 2024-25 should be to fire 300 shots. If we’re talking about shots on goal, then that would shatter his previous career high of 198 set in 2018-19 -- even if it were just shot attempts, then 300 would be his most since 2018-19 and a massive jump from his 219 last year. Instead, Mantha has just nine SOG through 10 games, and while three of those have gone in, it's still leagues less aggressive than the stated goal. Mantha also already moved around the lineup a fair amount, making it hard to pin down what his role with the team is. At best, it seems he’s a middle-six forward and is currently on course to put up something similar to the 23 goals and 44 points he recorded between Washington and Vegas last year -- not bad, but not what the preseason talk suggested might be possible.

One player he has seen a decent amount of ice time with is Jonathan Huberdeau, who looks good so far with four goals and seven points across 10 appearances, but those numbers don’t hold up to even the lightest of scrutiny. He had a good start with three goals and six points through four outings, largely thanks to a four-point game Oct. 12, but Huberdeau has been limited to just one point (a goal) across his past six appearances. Unfortunately, this might not be the bounce-back campaign despite that one big game.

On a more positive note, this might be a good sophomore season for Connor Zary. He has two goals and seven points through 10 appearances and his production has been far more evenly spread out than Huberdeau’s. The 23-year-old Zary is among the Flames more promising young forwards and seeing him start to come into his own gives Calgary some cause for cautious optimism.

Carolina Hurricanes (Tue vs. PHI, Thu vs. PIT, Sat @ COL)

The Hurricanes will open the week by hosting the Flyers on Tuesday and the Penguins on Thursday before heading to Colorado for a match Saturday. None of those adversaries have a winning record at the time of writing, though the Avalanche do still have the potential to be a great team this year.

Injuries are a big part of the reason Colorado has that subpar record. Carolina has had far better luck in that regard, though the Hurricanes aren’t completely immune. Frederik Andersen sustained a lower-body injury, and while it initially sounded like it might not be serious, he’s now regarded as week-to-week. The 35-year-old has an incredible 16-3-0 record, 1.77 GAA and .933 save percentage across the past two seasons, but sadly he can’t seem to stay healthy.

With Andersen once again out, Pyotr Kochetkov will be leaned on heavily. He has a poor .891 save percentage in 2024-25, but the Hurricanes are a top-tier team when it comes to supporting their goaltenders -- despite that save percentage, he has a solid 2.61 GAA and a great 4-1-0 record. Spencer Martin was summoned from AHL Chicago to be the understudy, but he hasn’t gotten into a game yet and probably won’t next week given the Hurricanes’ spread-out schedule.

Carolina is also still missing Riley Stillman, who opened the season on the non-roster injured list. Stillman has started to practice, though, so he might not be too far off from returning. The question is if his availability will shake up Carolina’s current top six. Perhaps Sean Walker or Jalen Chatfield will spend the occasional game in the press box, but it’s entirely feasible that Stillman will simply be the seventh defenseman once healthy, only being inserted into the lineup in the event of an injury or blueliner needing a day off.

Brent Burns probably won’t be someone who gets much in the way of rest days, but age might be catching up to the 39-year-old. He has just three assists through nine appearances this season, albeit with those points coming during a recent three-game scoring streak from Oct. 24-28. Most notably, he doesn’t have any points yet with the man advantage. I was concerned that the presence of Shayne Gostisbehere would lead to Burns getting a reduced role on the power play, and it seems that has proven to be the case. Gostisbehere has roughly double the amount of power-play minutes so far while recording three goals and five points with the man advantage -- nine points overall through nine outings.

Columbus Blue Jackets (Tue @ SJS, Sat @ LAK, Sun vs. ANA)

The Blue Jackets have done better than expected so far, posting a 5-3-1 record in October. They’ll try to keep that going next week with road games against the Sharks on Tuesday, the Kings on Saturday and the Ducks on Sunday.

Kirill Marchenko has played a significant part in the Blue Jackets’ early success, supplying four goals and 11 points through nine appearances. He’s developed chemistry with summer addition Sean Monahan, who has five goals and nine points through nine outings.

Cole Sillinger has also really stood up lately. Taken with the No. 12 overall pick in the 2021 NHL Draft, Sillinger was fairly quiet offensively over his first three campaigns, but this has the makings to be a breakout campaign after he recorded two goals and eight points across his opening nine games. He’s been particularly effective recently, providing a goal and four points over his past two outings, so we’ll see if he can build off that momentum next week.

However, if you’re looking for the hottest member of the Blue Jackets, that would have to be Elvis Merzlikins. He was stunning against Edmonton and the Islanders on Monday and Wednesday, respectively, stopping a combined 57 of 58 shots over that stretch. He largely served as Daniil Tarasov’s understudy to start the campaign, but Tarasov has a 3.42 GAA and an .886 save percentage through five outings, so there’s an opportunity here for Merzlikins to wrestle back the starting job if he continues to perform well.

Los Angeles Kings (Mon @ NAS, Tue @ MIN, Thu vs. VAN, Sat vs. CBJ)

The Kings have a busy week ahead of them. They’ll start with road matches in Nashville on Monday and Minnesota on Tuesday before returning home to host the Canucks on Thursday and the Blue Jackets on Saturday.

Los Angeles has a 6-3-2 record, and Kevin Fiala has been part of that initial success. It hasn’t been all good news for him -- he logged just 10:12 on Oct. 26 because he took some bad penalties and was a healthy scratch Wednesday after missing a team meeting -- but Fiala is nevertheless off to a strong start with five goals and eight points in 10 appearances, including a two-point showing in his return from the press box. If he can avoid getting into too much trouble with coach Jim Hiller, Fiala is a serious contender to reach the 70-point mark for the fourth consecutive campaign.

Hiller has every reason to like Brandt Clarke’s recent play. The 21-year-old defenseman has an incredible seven points (one goal) across his past four outings. It helps that Clarke is a part of the Kings’ top power-play unit -- five of his 11 points through 11 appearances in 2024-25 have come with the man advantage. Clarke might still lose that power-play spot when Drew Doughty is ready to return from his ankle injury, but Doughty isn’t expected to be back anytime soon -- he was declared month-to-month when he underwent surgery in early October -- so that’s not something that needs to be thought about too hard right now.

It is impressive that the Kings have done so well without Doughty. Having a young blueliner like Clarke capable of stepping up helps, but having a steady captain like Anze Kopitar is another key component. The 37-year-old hasn’t slowed with age, collecting four goals and 12 points through 11 games this year. He led the Kings to victory over the Golden Knights with a three-point showing Wednesday that included Kopitar’s 800th career assist. He’s just the 35th player to ever hit that milestone, and with the way he’s performing, perhaps he’ll even hit 900 before it’s time to hang up his skates -- just 20 players have ever done that. Kopitar is in the first season of a two-year, $14 million contract, though he’d probably need to play through the 2026-27 campaign to hit that next milestone.

Minnesota Wild (Tue vs. LAK, Thu @ SJS, Fri @ ANA, Sun @ CHI)

As noted above, Minnesota is set to host the Kings on Tuesday. Afterward, the Wild will begin a road trip with stops in San Jose on Thursday, Anaheim on Friday and Chicago on Sunday.

Despite playing seven of their first nine games on the road, the Wild are off to an incredible 6-1-2 start. Filip Gustavsson has been a big part of that initial success, posting a 4-1-1 record, 2.17 GAA and .922 save percentage across six starts. That’s a big turnaround from his 2023-24 campaign (3.06 GAA, .899 save percentage) and puts him more in line with how he did in 2022-23 (2.10 GAA, .931 save percentage).

Kirill Kaprizov is the other major reason for Minnesota’s strong start. He has five goals and 18 points through nine games and is showing no signs of slowing down. He ended October on a six-game multi-point streak in which he has provided four goals and 14 points. No other Wild player comes close to matching Kaprizov’s recent offensive output, though defenseman Jacob Middleton is on a four-game scoring streak that’s seen him provide a goal and five assists.

To make matters better for the Wild, Jared Spurgeon was able to return Tuesday after missing six straight games due to a lower-body injury. His return will likely lead to Declan Chisholm and Jon Merrill spending the occasional game in the press box.

One thing Spurgeon probably won’t do a lot of is contribute offensively. He has reached the 40-point mark as recently as 2021-22, but the 34-year-old is going to be serving on the second power-play unit as best thanks to the rise of sophomore Brock Faber. Instead, Spurgeon’s best category might end up being blocks. He ranked sixth with 179 blocks in 2022-23, which was the last season he was mostly healthy.

Nashville Predators (Mon vs. LAK, Wed @ WSH, Thu @ FLA, Sat vs. UTA)

After starting the campaign 0-5-0, Nashville has started to recover but remains a poor 3-6-1. The Predators will attempt to make up for lost ground next week, starting with Monday’s home game against the Kings. Nashville will spend the remainder of the week on the road, facing Washington on Wednesday, Florida on Thursday and Utah on Saturday.

The Predators are still waiting for Steven Stamkos to start playing like the star he was in Tampa Bay. Stamkos did get two assists against his former team in Monday’s 3-2 overtime loss, but that’s about all the life he’s shown. The 34-year-old has a goal and three points through 10 appearances. He also has a minus-8 rating, which is tied for the fourth worst on the team. If there’s a silver lining, it’s that he’s been taking a ton of shots -- 32 so far -- so it should be just a matter of time before they start going in.

Nashville’s other major summer addition, Jonathan Marchessault, is also struggling to find the back of the net. Not many people expected Marchessault to repeat his 42-goal showing from 2023-24, especially because his 15.8 shooting percentage was a career high outside of 2014-15 in which he logged just two games. Still, if Marchessault was a bit on the lucky side last year, he’s gotten terrible luck in 2024-25, providing just two goals on 35 shots so far. He does at least have four assists to go with it, so his struggles haven’t been as notable as Stamkos’, but there’s still a lot of room for growth here.

Stamkos and Marchessault might have struggled for long enough now that they’d be solid buy-low candidates in fantasy. Perhaps you could put Juuse Saros in that group too. He’s also off to a rough start with a 2-5-1 record, 3.04 GAA and .896 save percentage across eight appearances. He did underwhelm somewhat in 2023-24 as well, finishing with a 2.86 GAA and a .906 save percentage, but at the very least, if you believe that Stamkos and Marchessault have underperformed, which seems reasonable, then there’s reason to believe that Saros should be a better source of wins as the campaign progresses.

New Jersey Devils (Mon @ EDM, Thu vs. MTL, Sat @ NYI, Sun vs. SJS)

The Devils played more games than any other team, 13, in October and their schedule will stay full next week. They’ll play in Edmonton on Monday, host the Canadiens on Thursday, face the Islanders in a road game Saturday and then end the week at home against the Sharks on Sunday.

Luke Hughes missed the first nine games of the season due to a shoulder injury, but the 21-year-old blueliner returned Oct. 24. He didn’t, however, get his 2023-24 assignment back. He’s averaged 18:06 of ice time, including a modest 0:55 with the man advantage, though four appearances. Hughes served primarily on the top power-play unit last season, but that was with Dougie Hamilton unavailable. Now that both defensemen are healthy, it seems Hamilton will serve on the first unit while Hughes will play on the second. That’s a major blow to Hughes’ fantasy value -- 25 of his 47 points last season came with the man advantage.

Even if Hughes was on the top power-play and gelling, though, he wouldn’t be the headline act in New Jersey right now. That’s unquestionably Nico Hischier, who has provided an unreal nine goals and 13 points across his past nine games, bringing him up to 15 points (10 goals) through 13 outings in 2024-25. Hischier finished October on a four-game goal-scoring streak. His current goal pace won’t last obviously -- his 22.7 shooting percentage for 2024-25 would shatter his career high if it lasted the full campaign -- but he is a high-end talent who could reasonably surpass the 30-goal and 80-point milestones this season.

The Devils have kept Hischier and Jack Hughes primarily on separate lines at even strength to give the team a strong one-two punch. Hughes is rolling too with three goals and seven points across his past five outings, giving him four goals and 12 points in 13 appearances this year. The Devils are even getting decent production out of their third line with Erik Haula supplying four goals and eight points through 13 outings.

New Jersey was 7-4-2 in October. The Devils do have some areas of concern -- Jacob Markstrom has been a step up from their goaltenders last year, but he’s also had some notably rough nights, which has left him with a mild .903 save percentage in 2024-25 -- but they do look like a team that should stay strong this year.

Vancouver Canucks (Tue @ ANA, Thu @ LAK, Sat vs. EDM)

The Canucks can attest to the Devils’ strength after suffering a 6-0 loss to New Jersey on Wednesday. Vancouver dropped to 4-2-3 with that defeat but will be looking for better results during the upcoming week. The Canucks will play in Anaheim on Tuesday and LA on Thursday before hosting the Oilers on Saturday.

Vancouver could really use Thatcher Demko (knee). Kevin Lankinen has done well overall with a 2.29 GAA and a .920 save percentage in six starts, but he’s faltered recently, allowing 10 goals on 90 shots (.889 save percentage) across his past three outings. Meanwhile, Arturs Silovs has struggled with a record of 0-2-1 to go with an abysmal 5.00 GAA and .797 save percentage through three contests.

Demko has been skating and we have seen him on his own in full gear, but there’s nothing to indicate yet that he’s close to returning, so it seems Vancouver will have to rely on Lankinen and Silovs for a while longer.

If they get sufficient goal support, it might be fine. To that end, it would go a long way if Elias Pettersson could get into a rhythm. He had just one goal and four points through nine appearances in October. Some of you might be thinking back to 2021-22 when Pettersson started the campaign with six goals and 17 points in his first 37 games before turning a corner by providing 26 goals and 51 points in 43 outings the rest of the way. That example does show that Pettersson is both capable of prolonged cold stretches and recovering from them, though Vancouver will surely be hoping that it doesn’t take him nearly as long to get going in 2024-25.

It'd help if newcomer Jake DeBrusk got going too. He has just four assists in nine appearances with Vancouver after signing a seven-year, $38.5 million contract with Vancouver over the summer. The Canucks were believed to be interested in inking Jake Guentzel before he signed with Tampa Bay. DeBrusk was at least a cheaper alternative, but Vancouver probably wishes they hadn’t missed out on the pricier option -- Guentzel has four goals and 11 points through 10 outings in 2024-25.

NHL: DADOUN – THE FANTASY WEEK AHEAD (October 28th to November 3rd) – Jets’ Perfect Start, Sharks’ Slow Start

Ryan Dadoun — Sat, 26 Oct 2024 18:00:14 +0000

_{DENVER, CO - APRIL 17: Colorado Avalanche defenseman Cale Makar (8) makes a pass during a Western Conference match-up in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs on April 17, 2019 at the Pepsi Center in Denver, CO. (Photo by Russell Lansford/Icon Sportswire)}

Last week I noted the Avalanche and Predators’ 0-4-0 start and focused quite a bit on Colorado goaltender Alexandar Georgiev’s disastrous play, so it seems only fair to check back in with those teams, beginning with the Avs.

Colorado has done a full 180, winning its last four games to reach 4-4-0. As noted during the Avalanche section of that article, Colorado’s recent schedule has been favorable (the Avalanche have beaten Anaheim, San Jose, Seattle and Utah), which has doubtlessly aided in the turnaround, but credit still needs to go to Cale Makar, Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen. With the team’s depth gutted by injuries, those three have driven the offense. Makar leads the league -- not just defensemen -- with 15 points (three goals) through eight contests. MacKinnon and Rantanen aren’t far behind with 13 points each.

As for Georgiev, he hasn’t been in net since allowing three goals on just 19 shots against Anaheim in the Avalanche’s 4-3 overtime win Oct. 18. Justus Annunen has taken over the starting gig, saving a combined 75 of 79 shots (.949 save percentage) across the Avalanche’s past three victories. Georgiev is going to get other opportunities but given that the veteran netminder struggled last season as well as this one, it’s entirely plausible for Annunen to wrestle away the No. 1 job long-term, provided he remains solid.

Nashville hasn’t enjoyed the same turnaround, but the Predators finally earned their first victory Tuesday with a 4-0 showing against Boston. Steven Stamkos’ cold start has continued with a goal and no assists through six appearances, so we’ll have to see where that leads.

While the Predators’ slow start has been surprising, probably the biggest shock in the early going of the campaign is Minnesota’s 5-0-2 start. The Wild missed the playoffs last year with a 39-33-10 record, and it was expected that this would be another challenging campaign, in large part because they still have over $14 million of dead cap space due to the Zach Parise and Ryan Suter buyouts (though that crashes to just a combined $1,666,666 beyond this campaign).

Goaltending has been a big part of that turnaround. Filip Gustavsson disappointed last year with a 20-17-5 record, 3.06 GAA and .899 save percentage in 45 outings, but he’s rebounded in the early part of 2024-25, posting a 4-0-1 record, 1.40 GAA and .952 save percentage through five outings. It’s still early, but Gustavsson is still a relatively young goaltender at 26 and demonstrated in 2022-23 that he can be a high-end option, so it wouldn’t be completely out of nowhere if he goes on to have a great season.

Boston Bruins

One goaltender who isn’t having a great campaign thus far is Jeremy Swayman, who missed training camp but joined the Bruins after being presented with 66 million reasons for doing so. Perhaps because he didn’t get any preseason action, Swayman hasn’t been able to find a rhythm, posting a 2-3-1 record, 2.99 GAA and .904 save percentage through six appearances in 2024-25. Jonas Korpisalo hasn’t shown himself to be a good alternative, though, allowing nine goals on 60 shots (.850 save percentage) across two starts.

The good news is the Bruins don’t have the best of scoring teams on the docket for the upcoming week. Boston will host the Flyers on Tuesday before a two-game road trip that will see the Bruins play in Carolina on Thursday and Philadelphia on Saturday. They’ll return home to play the Kraken on Sunday. The Flyers rank 29th offensively with 2.29 goals per game while Carolina and Seattle are in the middle-of-the-pack in scoring.

Swayman isn’t the only Bruins player who has underperformed. While David Pastrnak is tied for the team lead offensively with six points (five goals), that’s less than you’d expect from him through eight appearances. Brad Marchand has fared worse though, providing no goals and four assists across eight outings.

Pastrnak should rebound, but is there reason to be more concerned about Marchand given that he’s 36 years old? It’s a little early to say, but there’s nothing that stands out to me as terribly wrong thus far. His skating hasn’t declined, and his shots/60 is largely unchanged from last year. His shots are perhaps less concentrated in front of the net compared to last year, but we’re also comparing a large sample size to a relatively small one. He merits monitoring, but not panic yet.

On the other end of the spectrum, Cole Koepke has impressed with three goals and six points through eight appearances. I recommend caution when evaluating him, though. Despite his strong start, he’s averaging just 11:04 of ice time, and that includes almost no work on the power play. He’s also been held off the scoresheet in Boston’s past two games, so the hot streak appears to be over. Don’t put high expectations on the 26-year-old.

Columbus Blue Jackets

The Blue Jackets entered the campaign the low expectations of being projected as a team likely to be in the running for the first overall draft pick, but so far Columbus has held its own with a 3-3-0 record. We’ll see if the Blue Jackets will be able to keep that going amid a busy week that will involve a home stretch against Edmonton on Monday, the Islanders on Wednesday and Winnipeg on Friday and conclude with a road game in Washington on Saturday.

Columbus’ early success has been in no small part thanks to Kirill Marchenko and free agent signing Sean Monahan developing chemistry on the top line. Marchenko took a step forward as a sophomore in 2023-24 with 23 goals and 42 points across 78 appearances, and he seems to be destined for greater heights this season after starting with three goals and eight points through six outings. Monahan has collected three goals and seven points of his own with the duo showing up on the scoresheet together five times so far.

Yegor Chinakhov is giving the Blue Jackets some offensive depth from the second line. The 23-year-old has supplied three goals and seven points through six appearances after finishing 2023-24 with 29 points (13 goals) in 53 outings. The 22-year-old Kent Johnson also looked good early on with two goals and five points in four appearances, but unfortunately, he sustained an upper-body injury and is expected to be unavailable for a significant chunk of time.

He had been playing alongside Mikael Pyyhtia and Cole Sillinger, and due to Johnson’s absence, that line was broken up with Sillinger now joining Marchenko and Monahan, while Pyyhtia is with Chinakhov and Adam Fantilli, who has just two points (both goals) in six games this year but is averaging an encouragingly high 17:49 of ice time.

There’s a lot of potential with this Blue Jackets team, but young forwards tend to be streaky, so don’t be surprised if Columbus deals with a lot of inconsistency in 2024-25.

New York Islanders

As noted above, the Islanders will play Columbus on the road Wednesday. That’s part of the start of a three-game road trip for the Islanders that will also feature games in Buffalo on Friday and against the Rangers on Sunday. However, the Islanders will host Anaheim on Tuesday before that trip begins.

New York is off to a 2-2-2 start despite allowing just 2.50 goals per game. The offense just hasn’t been there, though. Noah Dobson leads the team with just four assists and no Islanders player has more than two goals.

Scoring was an issue for the Islanders last year too -- they ranked 22nd with 2.99 goals per game -- so this isn’t a completely shocking development. They did sign Anthony Duclair over the summer in the hopes of at least bolstering their secondary scoring, but after providing two goals and three points through five outings, Duclair suffered a leg injury, and the team announced Thursday that he’ll be out for the next 4-6 weeks.

Duclair was playing alongside Bo Horvat and Mathew Barzal on the top line, and due to the injury, Simon Holmstrom is projected to take that first unit spot. However, Holmstrom had just 15 goals and 25 points in 75 regular-season games in 2023-24, so while playing on the top line should provide him with some additional opportunities, he’s probably not worth a pickup in most fantasy formats even with his new role.

The Islanders' other new forward is Maxim Tsyplakov, who is making the transition to the NHL after scoring 31 goals and 47 points across 65 regular-season appearances with the KHL’s Moscow Spartak in 2023-24. Tsyplakov has been okay, but not special so far, supplying a goal and three points through six outings. He has gotten looks on the top power-play unit, which is interesting, but for now, I’d recommend just keeping an eye on him rather than grabbing him if you’re in a standard fantasy league.

San Jose Sharks

The Sharks are winless through eight games (0-6-2), but perhaps they’ll finally get a victory in the upcoming week. They’ll start on the road against Utah on Monday before heading home to host the Kings on Tuesday, the Blackhawks on Thursday and the Canucks on Saturday.

San Jose’s fairly is largely because it ranks dead last offensively with just 1.88 goals per game. Macklin Celebrini, who was taken with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 NHL Draft, would have been a major help there, but after scoring a goal and an assist in his NHL debut, he sustained a lower-body injury that has kept him out of the lineup. It was announced Monday that he would miss at least two more weeks, so don’t expect him to make his return at any point during the four-game stretch mentioned above.

Things might be even grimmer for captain Logan Couture. There haven’t been any updates on the status of his groin injury since the start of the season, which leads me to believe he’s still a ways off from playing. If they were both healthy, Couture and Celebrini would probably comprise two-thirds of the first line. Instead, Mikael Granlund, Tyler Toffoli and William Eklund are the top unit.

You could do worse than that trio. Granlund has exceeded expectations with three goals and nine points through eight contests while Toffoli and Eklund have made their presence felt with seven and five points, respectively. However, while San Jose can still ice a viable first line without Couture and Celebrini, the Sharks can’t do much else. No other player on that team even has four points through eight games. Daniil Gushchin has gotten looks on the second line and with the man advantage despite the 22-year-old having no points and five shots through five appearances. Gushchin did record 20 goals and 54 points in 56 AHL outings in 2023-24, so I don’t want to pick on him, but he’s not currently a great option on the top six.

Meanwhile, Will Smith is experiencing some growing pains. He looked amazing with Boston College in 2023-24, supplying 25 goals and 71 points across 41 games as a freshman, but he has no points, a minus-4 rating and nine shots across six appearances with the Sharks this season. In the long run, he should be a big part of the Sharks’ core group, but for now, he’s another reason why San Jose’s offense is floundering.

Tampa Bay Lightning

One team that has had no problems scoring is Tampa Bay, and the Lightning will try to keep that going next week when they host Stamkos and the Predators on Monday. The Lightning will then go on the road to play in Colorado on Wednesday, Minnesota on Friday and Winnipeg on Sunday.

Letting Stamkos walk couldn’t have been an easy decision after everything he brought to the franchise, and while Stamkos hasn’t impressed early in his Predators tenure, it’s way too early to say if passing on him was the right decision. If nothing else, though, Jake Guentzel, who the Lightning could afford to sign with Stamkos gone, has meshed well on the top line with Nikita Kucherov and Brayden Point.

Guentzel has two goals and seven points across seven games, though his early success has been overshadowed by Nikita Kucherov, who already has eight goals and 13 points across seven appearances this year. Kucherov has managed at least a point in every game thus far. In case you’re wondering, Martin St. Louis (2009-10), Stamkos (2017-18) and Kucherov (2017-18) are tied for Tampa Bay’s franchise record for the longest scoring streak to begin a campaign at 11 games, so while Kucherov isn’t close to that, he has the opportunity to reach and surpass it next week (Tampa Bay has one more clash this week, a home game Saturday versus Washington, so next Sunday’s game versus Winnipeg will be the squad’s 12th of the season).

That top line’s strong start is just part of the Lightning’s bigger offensive success -- they are tied for fifth with 4.00 goals per game -- but the squad has a middling 4-3-0 record despite that. Andrei Vasilevskiy has an amazing opening to 2024-25, but that’s been erased after he allowed 15 goals on 84 shots (.821 save percentage) across his past four appearances. He also left something to be desired last season with his 30-20-2 record, 2.90 GAA and .900 save percentage in 52 regular-season outings, but that was partially handwaved because he missed a significant chunk of the start of that campaign due to injury. However, if he’s truly no longer the elite goaltender he once was, then Tampa Bay is in trouble. Jonas Johansson isn’t a viable alternative for any significant length of time, and Vasilevskiy’s $9.5 million cap hit runs through 2027-28.

Toronto Maple Leafs

Toronto is one of the teams that added to Tampa Bay’s recent woes with a 5-2 victory over the Lightning on Monday, but the Leafs have their own issues after suffering losses to Columbus and St. Louis, bringing Toronto’s record to 4-4-0. Toronto will try to right the ship next week, but it will have to do so while being primarily on the road. The Maple Leafs will play in Winnipeg on Monday, host the Kraken on Thursday and then conclude the week with home games against St. Louis on Saturday and Minnesota on Sunday.

Toronto’s issues mostly stem from inconsistency rather than any particular underperformance, though Auston Matthews’ three goals and five points through eight appearances are certainly less than we’d expect out of him. The team in general hasn’t been as good offensively as it has been in recent years and currently is in a three-way tie for 21st with 2.88 goals per game.

That’s been offset by Anthony Stolarz, who has a 3-2-0 record, 1.83 GAA and .938 save percentage across five appearances. Notably, he wasn’t in net for either of Toronto’s recent losses. Stolarz stopped 32 of 34 shots in that victory over Tampa Bay on Monday, so naturally, he rested Tuesday with Dennis Hildeby getting the nod. Hildeby fell short in a 6-2 loss to St. Louis, but he’s back in the minors anyway because Joseph Woll (lower body) was ready to return Thursday. Unfortunately, Woll was a mixed bag in his season debut, stopping 22 of 26 shots en route to a 5-1 loss to St. Louis.

Stolarz has earned the right to be in contention for the Leafs’ starting gig, and with the packed schedule, he should be in net for at least two of Toronto’s four games next week. I’m also interested to see what happens to Knies and Bobby McMann after Matthew Knies was taken off the first line in the third period of Thursday’s loss. It wouldn’t surprise me if Knies went right back to being the third forward on the Matthews-Mitch Marner unit, but there’s also a reasonable chance McMann gets a longer look in that spot.

Maybe Nicholas Robertson also gets another look on the left wing? Robertson hasn’t demanded preferential treatment after supplying just one point through eight outings, but Toronto’s left wing is still a work in progress, so the possibility of Robertson getting a chance to serve on the top six by shifting from the right to left remains.

Washington Capitals

Washington has jumped out to a 5-1-0 record this year and will look to keep that going with a homestand with the Capitals set to host the Rangers on Tuesday, the Canadiens on Thursday and the Blue Jackets on Saturday. The Capitals will wrap up the week with a visit to Carolina on Sunday.

After a disappointing showing with the Kings last year (16 goals and 40 points in 82 games), Pierre-Luc Dubois got off to a slow start with Washington, providing two assists through five appearances, but he had his first big night with the Capitals on Wednesday, contributing a goal and three points in a 6-3 victory over Philadelphia. So far Dubois has played almost exclusively on the second line with Tom Wilson and Connor McMichael while also seeing time on the top power-play unit. That’s not a bad gig for him and could facilitate a rebound to something resembling his 60-ish-point performances in 2021-22 and 2022-23.

Meanwhile, Aliaksei Protas is doing fine on the first line alongside Alex Ovechkin and Dylan Strome. Protas has a goal and four points across six appearances but be careful about overvaluing his top-line spot. While he does play with choice linemates when on the ice, he’s still logging a modest 13:40 per game and is rarely deployed on the power play, so while the 23-year-old might surpass his 2023-24 total of 29 points, this isn’t likely to be a breakout campaign for him.

Winnipeg Jets

The Jets have gotten off to an incredible 7-0-0 start. They’ll try to stay strong with their upcoming action, which features a home game against Toronto on Monday, road tilts versus Detroit and Columbus on Wednesday and Friday, respectively, and a home game versus the Lightning.

Connor Hellebuyck has unsurprisingly been a part of the early success with a 6-0-0 record, 1.66 GAA and .940 save percentage, but he’s gotten some good offensive support too. Six players (Mark Scheifele, Nikolaj Ehlers, Kyle Connor, Cole Perfetti, Neal Pionk and Josh Morrissey) have supplied at least seven points through seven games.

That’s on top of Nino Niederreiter and Mason Appleton, who each have supplied six points through seven outings while playing on the third unit. That’s some tremendous depth to have, but we’ll see how long this lasts. I’m particularly skeptical of Appleton. The 28-year-old has never come close to the 40-point mark in a single season, and his early numbers are skewed due to two multi-point performances -- he's also been held off the scoresheet four times. In the long run, his offensive pace is likely to decline substantially.

Cole Perfetti’s scoring pace will probably drop too, but not by nearly as much. Although he recorded 30 and 38 points in 2022-23 and 2023-24, respectively, the 22-year-old has plenty of upside, and he might be starting to reach his potential. Like Appleton, he’s been inconsistent this campaign with seven of his eight points coming from just two games, but Perfetti’s offensive talent makes me more optimistic about him for the rest of the season. If nothing else, Perfetti will be nice to have on your roster while he’s hot.

MCKEEN’S 2024-25 NHL YEARBOOK – VANCOUVER CANUCKS – Team Preview

Tue, 17 Sep 2024 16:00:37 +0000

_{VANCOUVER, BC - NOVEMBER 06: Vancouver Canucks defenseman Quinn Hughes (43) waits for a face-off during an NHL game against the Edmonton Oilers at Rogers Arena on November 6, 2023 in Vancouver, B.C. (Photo by Ethan Cairns/Icon Sportswire)}

After managing just 83 points during the 2022-2023 season, the Canucks did not have great expectations going into the 2023-2024 campaign. However, the Canucks ultimately won the Pacific Division, accumulating 109 points (50-23-9). The Canucks were the beneficiaries of lofty percentages last season. During five-on-five play, Vancouver scored on 10.6% of its shots, the highest mark in the league. To their credit, the Canucks ranked seventh in both Corsi (52.8%) and expected goals percentage (53.2%), so the underlying numbers were positive indicators before the Canucks turned into such highly efficient finishers. The Vancouver power play ranked 12th with 8.18 goals per 60 minutes while the penalty killing unit ranked 19th with 7.64 goals against per 60 minutes. There is not much to be gained from those special teams results, so the Canucks enjoyed their success because of a strong possession game coupled with league-best finishing around the net.

WHAT’S CHANGED? The Canucks shuffled the deck this offseason, while keeping the core intact. They traded Ilya Mikheyev to Chicago to shed salary and moved the rights to Sam Lafferty in that same deal, though Lafferty ultimately signed with Buffalo. Players that the Canucks acquired last season moved on as free agents. Nikita Zadorov and Elias Lindholm both landed in Boston and Anthony Beauvillier signed in Pittsburgh. Defenceman Ian Cole signed with Utah and goaltender Casey DeSmith landed in Dallas. With all those bodies leaving, the Canucks signed left wingers Jake DeBrusk and Danton Heinen from Boston, as well as right wingers Daniel Sprong from Detroit and Kiefer Sherwood from Nashville. On defence, the Canucks inked Derek Forbort from Boston and Vincent Desharnais from Edmonton.

WHAT WOULD SUCCESS LOOK LIKE? After finishing in first place in the Pacific Division and taking the Edmonton Oilers to seven games in the second round, success will look different for the Canucks in 2024-2025. While they are prime candidates to experience regression from that lofty shooting percentage, they are going to have expectations that they will not only make the playoffs but at least win a round and maybe more. To have that kind of success, they will likely need to have their stars play like stars – Quinn Hughes, J.T. Miller, Elias Pettersson, and Thatcher Demko were all excellent last season, driving the team’s results.

WHAT COULD GO WRONG? The most glaring concern for the Canucks could be that they just stop scoring so easily. The Canucks scored on 10.6% of their shots during five-on-five play which was about two percent higher than league average. That would have a ripple effect throughout the lineup as players like Miller, Hughes, and Pettersson would all face uphill fights to maintain the same level of production. An injury to Hughes would pose a problem on a Vancouver defence that is not long on puck-moving talent, but Hughes has also been very durable, so it’s not like he should be expected to miss time.

TOP BREAKOUT CANDIDATE: Even though he scored 24 goals last season, Nils Hoglander is still a bona fide breakout candidate for the Canucks. Hoglander had a strong season, which included scoring on 20% of his shots on goal, which is not likely to carry over to a new season. On the other hand, Hoglander played just over 12 minutes per game last season and appears to be ticketed for a bigger role in 2024-2025. He could very well start on the left side of a line with J.T. Miller and Brock Boeser, and while it’s easy to say that Hoglander’s shooting percentage will come down, it’s just as easy to say that he will play more than 12 minutes per game in 2024-25. Getting more minutes, potentially with more skilled linemates, opens up Hoglander to having a bigger impact this season.

Forwards

Elias Pettersson

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
82	40	59	99	1.21

Across the past two seasons, Pettersson has accumulated 191 points, which ranks tenth in the National Hockey League. Pettersson is a cerebral player who does not depend on physicality but always knows where to be on the ice and is ready to shoot when the opportunity presents itself. Pettersson has a terrific shot and can score from distance using a wrist shot or a one-timer, particularly on the power play. It is not easy to beat NHL goaltenders cleanly on a shot from distance, but Pettersson can do it, so allowing him the time and space to unleash that cannon is a bad decision from those defending against the Canucks centre. Pettersson delivers consistently strong possession numbers, and the Canucks have outscored the opposition every season during five-on-five play with Pettersson on the ice. Last season, they outscored the opposition 67-47 with Pettersson on the ice. He also showed marked improvement in the faceoff circle, winning 50.8 percent of his draws. It was the first season of Pettersson’s career that he won more than 45.0 percent of his faceoffs. He also recorded a career-high 125 hits and can surprise opponents when he suddenly steps into them with more authority. That seems to indicate a little more edge to Pettersson’s play and that should serve him well. He’s a finesse player and a really good one, but it helps if he can carve out more space to maneuver on the ice. Petterson has been able to stay healthy, missing a total of four games across the past three seasons, and has established that he can produce at better than a point-per-game clip. Looking ahead to 2024-2025, Pettersson should be able to score 35 goals and 85-90 points.

J.T. Miller

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
82	34	64	98	1.20

After years of inconsistency, particularly on the defensive end, Miller set career highs with 37 goals and 103 points last season. He won 56.3 percent of his faceoffs and took 1,461 draws, the ninth-highest total in the league. Miller is a physically strong player who has grown increasingly comfortable using his size to add a physical presence. He has reached 200 hits in each of the past two seasons, and his 284 points across the past three seasons ranks tenth in the NHL, while his 108 power play points in that time ranks eighth. A centre that wins faceoffs, hits, and puts up elite point totals, Miller is one of the top players in the game when healthy. He has also not been caught dogging it on backchecks, an indiscretion that would creep into his game from time to time. Miller had an epic productive season in 2023-2024 while playing 19:29 per game, his lowest average time on ice since arriving in Vancouver for the 2019-2020 season. The 31-year-old is still going strong and should be counted on to score 30-35 goals and 90 points for Vancouver. On his way to a career-best scoring season in 2023-2024, Miller depended on a shooting percentage of 19.1 percent and an on-ice shooting percentage of 13.0 percent. It is highly unlikely that Miller can hit those thresholds again in 2024-2025.

Brock Boeser

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
80	35	30	65	0.81

As the 2022-2023 season concluded, it looked like Boeser might have played his last game for the Canucks. They stuck with him, though, and were rewarded in a big way last season, when he set career high with 40 goals and 73 points. He followed that up with seven goals and 12 points in a dozen playoff games. That was the best season of his career. Boeser scored on 19.6 percent of his shots, easily the best mark of his career, so regression on the goal-scoring front seems inevitable, but that is expected. He had never scored 30 goals in a season before busting out for 40 last season. Boeser has good hands and goal-scorers instincts, but he does not generate a ton of shots and that can cause his goal-scoring to fluctuate, depending on what percentage of his shots beat the goalie. Boeser spent most of last season skating alongside Miller but the third member of their line rotated. Pettersson, Phil Di Giuseppe, Pius Suter, and Nils Hoglander all played more than 200 five-on-five minutes with Boeser. While Boeser figures to remain with Miller, Hoglander might have the inside track to play with them in 2024-2025. No matter who ends up in that spot, Boeser should deliver offence, and it would be reasonable to expect 30 goals and 60 points.

Jake DeBrusk

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
82	32	28	60	0.73

Vancouver’s big free agent addition in the summer, DeBrusk has filled a complementary role in Boston for much of his career, finishing with between 40 and 50 points in five of his seven NHL seasons. In 2022-2023, DeBrusk set career highs with 27 goals and 50 points in just 64 games, and part of the reason for that success is that he was shooting the puck, finishing with a career-high 2.98 shots on goal per game. He is never going to be an intimidating presence like his father, but DeBrusk did record a career-high 107 hits last season. Goal scoring can be fickle, though. In DeBrusk’s case, he had one goal in his first 16 games last season, had one goal in another 15-game stretch, then had one goal in the last 10 games of the regular season. He then went on to tally five goals and 11 points in 13 playoff games. In Vancouver, the objective should be to get DeBrusk consistently into position to shoot and it looks like he could start the season skating with Elias Pettersson, who is more than capable of distributing the puck. That would give him a great chance to surpass his previous production. With skilled players around him, DeBrusk should have a chance to deliver 25 goals and 50 points in his first season with the Canucks.

Conor Garland

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
82	22	29	51	0.62

A small but scrappy winger, Garland has been very consistent, ranging between 39 and 52 points over the past five seasons. He uses his speed to drive play and, in three seasons with the Canucks, Garland’s team has outscored the opposition by 45 goals when he is on the ice during five-on-five play. Under the radar, Garland also had a terrific defensive season in 2023-2024. Among forwards who played at least 500 five-on-five minutes, only eight had a lower rate of shot attempts against per 60 minutes, and six of those eight were Carolina Hurricanes. It was really a superb season, and while Garland has typically had positive possession numbers and strong goal differentials, his 2023-2024 season was dominant, the kind of underlying numbers that a player should strive to achieve, because it makes the eventual on-ice results more sustainable. Full credit to Garland for putting this season together, skating primarily with Teddy Blueger and Dakota Joshua, on a third line that outscored opponents 21-10 during five-on-five play. With that trio still in the fold, the Canucks will likely let them carry on doing their thing. Garland has established what his baseline for production is and he should be able to continue at that level in 2024-2025, picking up 15-20 goals and 45-50 points.

Danton Heinen

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
78	18	17	35	0.45

Signed as a free agent from Boston, Heinen has bounced around quite a bit in his career. It seems that he ends up being an odd fit because he tends to play in the bottom six and does not offer the physicality that many coaches want out of a winger in the bottom six. Even so, Heinen finished last season with 17 goals and 36 points, his second highest totals in both categories. He also had 28 penalty minutes, the first time in his career that he finished a season with more than 16 penalty minutes. Heinen has good hands and does a nice job finding soft spots in the attacking zone. One of the benefits of having a player like Heinen playing lower on the depth chart is that he is entirely capable of moving up when needed, because he has the required skill to skate alongside talented linemates. Last season, in Boston, his most common linemates were David Pastrnak and Pavel Zacha, but Trent Frederic, Charlie Coyle, Morgan Geekie, and Jake DeBrusk all played more than 150 minutes with Heinen, and three more forwards landed between 100 and 150 minutes. That versatility can help the team but may not set Heinen up for a lofty projection because it means uncertainty about the impact that his role is expected to have on the Canucks season. A reasonable projection for 2024-2025 would see Heinen notch 15 goals and 30-35 points.

Dakota Joshua

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
77	17	16	33	0.43

As a pending free agent last season, Joshua was starting to draw interest from other NHL teams and why not? The 6-foot-3 forward had already established his physical presence and had more than 200 hits for the second straight season, but he also set career highs with 18 goals and 32 points despite playing in just 63 games. He added another eight points in 13 playoff games, so it was no wonder that the Canucks did what they needed to do in order to keep Joshua. While there are plenty of positives to Joshua’s game, his statistical step forward was heavily dependent on lofty percentages. He scored on 21.4 percent of his shots on goal, after finishing on 13.5 percent of his shots in 121 games over the previous three seasons. He is a big-bodied forward who can be a net front presence, and those players tend to have higher shooting percentages, but he is still unlikely to duplicate 21 percent. He also had an on-ice shooting percentage of 10.1 percent, which is high, but six Canucks forwards had higher on-ice shooting percentages last season – that was part of the reason for Vancouver’s success. If Joshua can continue to have success with Blueger and Garland, that should include 15 goals and 30 points in 2024-2025.

Pius Suter

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
75	13	14	27	0.36

The Canucks signed Suter last August, so there were modest expectations placed upon him and he probably delivered about what they could have expected, scoring 14 goals and 29 points in 67 games. Suter had a spectacular defensive campaign, with solid defensive metrics, but he also had a .940 on-ice save percentage so the Canucks outscored opponents 39-20 with Suter on the ice. Even with that lopsided goal differential, Suter is generally a low-key player. He is on the smaller side and skates well enough but is not outstanding at any one thing. It’s more a case of him being solid at a variety of parts to his game and he happened to thrive on good fortune last season, with his PDO at 104.8. It does appear that Suter could be on the fourth line this season, though he will likely compete with Blueger for ice time in the bottom half of the Canucks’ depth chart at centre. Suter did have a handful of power play points last season which earns him some credit for his skill level. For the 2024-2025 season, it is fair to expect Suter to contribute 15 goals and 30 points, which is not going to get him much fantasy relevance, but he has had spurts that could make him a viable short-term pick during the season, especially if he lands on the power play.

Nils Hoglander

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
82	15	20	35	0.43

There have been ups and downs in the development path of Hoglander, a 23-year-old winger, but last season was a clear step up for him. He finished the season with career highs of 24 goals and 36 points, despite playing just 12:06 per game. How rare was that production? Auston Matthews and Zach Hyman were the only two players with a higher rate of goals per 60 minutes than Hoglander’s 1.58 last season. While Hoglander is not the biggest guy on the ice, he is solidly built and plays an aggressive physical style. He recorded 100 hits last season for the first time in his career and taking that aggressive approach on the forecheck helped to generate more chances. Like many Canucks forwards, Hoglander faces likely regression in 2024-2025 because it is so rare to carry a 104.8 PDO for more than one season. What he has going for him is that he could also add a decent amount of ice time to help offset the likely statistical settling. Hoglander has a chance to play at least in Vancouver’s top six, potentially even on the top line, so he should be looking at the most productive season of his career. Hoglander should be able to top the 20-goal mark again and could put up the first 40-point season of his career.

Daniel Sprong

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
78	15	20	35	0.45

A rare commodity, Sprong has found a niche as a fourth line scoring winger, finding the net with incredible efficiency last season in Detroit and the year before that in Seattle. Across the past two seasons, there have been 373 forwards who have played at least 1000 five-on-five minutes. Of that group, Sprong ranked ninth with 1.26 goals per 60 minutes. He is in great company, including Auston Matthews, David Pastrnak, Jared McCann, Nathan MacKinnon, Brayden Point, Filip Forsberg, Nils Hoglander, and Carter Verhaeghe are ahead of him, while Zach Hyman is one spot behind. Sprong has always had a dangerous shot, but the battle has been getting him to deliver a well-rounded game that can earn him more significant ice time. The interesting choice facing the Canucks is what to do with Sprong. Do they give him a chance to play more minutes higher up the depth chart? Probably, yes. But they might just be able to roll him out in a fourth line role and still get the kind of production that he has delivered for the past two seasons. It is fair to expect 15-20 goals and 35-40 points from Sprong, with the caveat that if his ice time gets a substantial boost, then his ceiling for offensive production will get higher.

DEFENCE

Quinn Hughes

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
80	15	75	90	1.13

The reigning Norris Trophy winner exploded for career highs of 17 goals, 75 assists, and 92 points last season. An exceptional skater, Hughes has always been an offensive threat, but his all-around game could be underrated, at least until he was named the league’s best defenceman. Among the 138 defencemen to play at least 1000 five-on-five minutes last season, only four had a lower rate of shot attempts against than Hughes. But Hughes really stands out as a puck moving defender who can turn a quick transition opportunity into an attack. While Hughes has acceleration and great edges that allow him to change direction quickly, the game also appears to have slowed down for him, so that he is processing it better than he did early in his career. Additionally, Hughes was more assertive offensively last season, taking more shots and generating more scoring chances than he ever had before. Essentially, he didn’t arrive at his career high in points by accident. Such is the natural evolution of an elite talent entering the prime of his career. Hughes is an excellent power play quarterback. Over the past three seasons, his 96 power play assists paced all defencemen and his 103 power play points left him tied with Cale Makar. It might be asking a lot for Hughes to duplicate his 2023-2024 production, especially considering he had a career-high on-ice shooting percentage of 12.1 percent last season, but he is probably not falling off a cliff in terms of productivity, either. He should still have a chance to push a point per game, with an 80-point season provided that he remains healthy, which has been a relative strength of his, not missing more than six games in any season.

Filip Hronek

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
80	8	37	45	0.56

Hronek had established his credentials as a top pair NHL defencemen in Detroit and yet the Red Wings still moved him to Vancouver before the 2023 trade deadline. Hronek only played four games for the Canucks that season before he needed shoulder surgery, so they didn’t really get a good look at him. Last season, Hronek paired frequently with Hughes and the duo excelled. Obviously, Hughes got the accolades, but Hronek put up a career-best 48 points along with excellent play driving numbers while logging more than 23 minutes per game. Hronek has excellent puck skills, can make a good pass and owns a rocket shot from the point. He also handles the puck well and it makes him a strong complement to Hughes. On this pairing, Hronek is also the one tasked with more stay-at-home responsibilities, and while he is not a devastating physical force, he is comfortable getting involved and has gone over 100 hits in back-to-back seasons. Signed to an eight-year contract, for $58 million, Hronek has long-term security in Vancouver and as the partner to the Norris Trophy winner, he is poised to be a valuable piece on the Vancouver blueline for years. So long as he stays healthy, Hronek should be able to contribute 45 points to the Vancouver attack in 2024-2025.

Tyler Myers

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
77	4	21	25	0.32

For many years, Myers took criticism for all of the things that he wasn’t, as he was not an effective play-driving defenceman making him big money, but the value in Myers now is based on a more reasonable contract that brings more reasonable expectations. At 6-foot-8, Myers is not a crushing physical presence, but skates extraordinarily well for a player of that size. That can get short-circuited by poor decision making at times and that’s why Myers had brought more appeal in a secondary role. He chipped in 29 points last season, his highest total since 2018-2019 and he did that while starting more of his shifts in the defensive zone. Now 34-years-old, Myers has finally reached the point of lower expectations. He played 18:57 per game in 2023-2024, the lowest average time on ice of his career, and it was only the second time in his career that he surpassed 100 his and 100 blocked shots in the same season. That does not put Myers in a very valuable place for fantasy managers but given the other alternatives in Vancouver, Myers picking up 20-25 points with triple digit hits and blocked shots might hold a little appeal in deep leagues.

GOAL

Thatcher Demko

Predicted Stats
GP	W	L	OT	SO	SV%	GAA
56	33	16	6	4	0.915	2.51

It only took them the better part of a decade, but Canada's westernmost NHL club has finally seemed to have arrived - and leading the charge is none other than Thatcher Demko, who spent the 2023-24 season reminding the league that he belongs in the conversation with the Connor Hellebuycks and the Jeremy Swaymans, the Igor Shesterkins and the Andrei Vasilevskiys. His 0.918 unadjusted save percentage was bested only by Hellebuyck's own 0.921 among starters with more than 30 games last year, and his five shutouts helped a tumultuous Vancouver club finally start to find some even footing.

The real concern for Vancouver remains their number two spot; for yet another year they failed to see any other netminder post a save percentage topping the 0.900 threshold at the NHL level, and Demko remains a bit of a liability in the injury department. It's likely that their best option behind Demko is up-and-comer Arturs Silovs, but he has yet to prove himself at the NHL level and can suffer from bouts of inconsistent play and bad bounce-backs from tough goals against. That leaves Vancouver's goaltending in a position where it still doesn't inspire as much confidence as it deserves, even with a Vezina candidate manning the pipes the majority of the time. If Silovs can break onto the scene, though, and help stabilize the workload for Demko, the Canucks could become the most formidable team in the Pacific.

2024 NHL STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS: Boston Bruins vs. Florida Panthers

Ryan Dadoun — Mon, 06 May 2024 14:10:06 +0000

BOSTON, MA - APRIL 06: Boston Bruins right wing David Pastrnak (88) drives past Florida Panthers right wing Sam Reinhart (13) during a game between the Boston Bruins and the Florida Panthers on April 6, 2024, at TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Fred Kfoury III/Icon Sportswire)

Boston Bruins vs. Florida Panthers

A year ago, the Bruins entered their matchup against the Panthers as the heavy favorites but ended up blowing a 3-1 series lead and were consequently eliminated in the first round. This time around, neither team is entering this series with an obvious overall edge, and this year’s version of the Bruins have shown themselves to be more resilient after earning a Game 7 overtime victory over Toronto in the first round despite once again dropping Games 5 and 6. So let’s see what happened in 2023 aside and focus on how these squads stack up now.

In terms of goaltending, both squads have to be feeling pretty comfortable going into the second round. Jeremy Swayman was strong in the regular season, posting a 25-10-8 record, 2.53 GAA and .916 save percentage across 44 appearances, and he looked even better against the Maple Leafs, stopping 172 of 181 shots (.950 save percentage) over six playoff outings this year. Toronto did have some health issues in the first round, but the Maple Leafs still featured an amazing group of forwards, and Swayman rose to the occasion, as evidenced by his incredible 10.9 Goals Saved Above Expected, which is by far the best of any netminder so far in the 2024 playoffs.

He’ll be countered by Sergei Bobrovsky, who is a Vezina Trophy nominee after finishing the 2023-24 campaign with a 36-17-4 record, 2.37 GAA and .915 save percentage in 58 regular-season games. He was a mixed bag against Tampa Bay in the first round, finishing with a 2.78 GAA and an .896 save percentage in five outings, but Bobrovsky still rose to the occasion in Game 5, saving 31 of 32 shots to do his part in the series-clinching win.

On paper, there’s not much separating these teams offensively either. Florida averaged 3.23 goals per game in the regular season to Boston’s 3.21. The Bruins were primarily driven during the 2023-24 campaign by David Pastrnak (47 goals, 110 points) with notable contributions by Brad Marchand (29 goals, 67 points), Charlie Coyle (25 goals, 60 points) and Pavel Zacha (21 goals, 59 points) while Florida’s attack was led by its main four attackers of Sam Reinhart (57 goals, 94 points), Matthew Tkachuk (26 goals, 88 points), Aleksander Barkov (23 goals, 80 points) and Carter Verhaeghe (34 goals, 72 points).

Florida also has the luxury of midseason acquisition Vladimir Tarasenko, who had a goal and three points in five first-round games. At the same time, Boston might get secondary scoring from sources like Jake DeBrusk, who managed three markers and five points in seven outings versus the Maple Leafs.

Ultimately, with so little separating these teams, this series might be determined by the edges Florida has that go beyond its roster. The Panthers might have finished with just one more point than Boston in the regular season, but that’s still good enough to earn them home-ice advantage. Florida will also be well-rested going into Game 1 on Monday, but Boston just completed a grueling, physical series Saturday and then had to promptly fly to Florida. Perhaps the short turnover will allow Boston to carry some momentum from its recent win, but it’s likely the Bruins are dealing with more players trudging along at less than 100 percent than Florida.

KEY MATCHUPS

Jeremy Swayman vs. Sergei Bobrovsky

When the Bruins and Panthers faced off in the 2023 playoffs, they combined for 53 goals over seven contests, but the circumstances were different. Boston and Florida each finished in the top five in scoring during the 2022-23 campaign. At the same time, the Bruins were using Linus Ullmark in goal, who was playing hurt, and Alex Lyon, who ultimately wasn’t up to the task, began the series for the Panthers.

This year’s teams are still solid offensively, but not quite as good -- neither finished the regular season in the top 10 offensively -- and the goaltending matchup looks a lot better. Swayman couldn’t be hotter while Bobrovsky has been fantastic all year. So it wouldn’t be surprising to see this series be an intense goaltending duel in contrast to last year's high-scoring affair.

Brad Marchand vs. Matthew Tkachuk

If we do see plenty of offense, though, these two will probably be leading the charge. They were two of the main drivers of their respective teams in last year’s series. Marchand tied for the Bruins’ lead with 10 points (four goals) in the 2023 playoffs. At the other end of the ice, Tkachuk provided a series-best 11 points (five markers).

These two are fantastic talents who seem to rise to the occasion in the playoffs, so we should see them be difference-makers again this time around.

David Pastrnak vs. Sam Reinhart

Pastrnak is a somewhat interesting case. Really, he should be driving the Bruins’ offense instead of Marchand, but that doesn’t always happen. He had three goals and five points in seven contests versus Toronto in the first round, which isn’t bad, but not what you’d hope for out of a player who has reached the 110-point milestone in back-to-back campaigns. He did score the series-winner Saturday, though, so perhaps he can build off that momentum going into the second round.

The Panthers will look for their regular-season goal-scoring leader, Reinhart, to help counter whatever Pastrnak provides. Reinhart set a career high with 57 markers during the regular season, and he has supplied another three goals through five playoff games this year, so limiting him will be one of Boston’s greatest challenges in this series.

X-FACTOR

Boston Bruins: One decisive factor for the Bruins in their first-round win over Toronto was Boston’s dominance on special teams. The Bruins converted on 35.3 percent of their power plays while successfully killing an amazing 95.2 percent of their penalties. Boston was not good against Florida in its 2023 playoff run, allowing five markers on the Panthers’ 20 power-play opportunities, but Boston’s goaltending in general struggled in that series, so perhaps the Bruins will find significantly more success on special teams this time around.

Florida Panthers: There’s certainly a benefit to the Panthers being well-rested, but there’s also some risk of rust. In particular, it will be interesting to see how Verhaeghe and Tkachuk do in the early portion of this series. That duo was amazing in the first round, combining for eight goals and 18 points in five games, but carrying that momentum forward will be a challenge after going a week between games. To a lesser extent, there’s also the question of Sam Bennett. He will miss Game 1 due to an upper-body injury, and while he’s not vital to Florida’s offense, he does provide some valuable grit and second scoring, so the sooner the Panthers can get him back, the better off they’ll be.

PREDICTION

I’ve read some suggestions that this series heavily favors the Panthers, but I just don’t see it. Frankly, I believe it speaks to a larger trend that has occurred throughout this season of people underestimating the Bruins. They see them as a shadow of the 2022-23 variant, which to an extent is fair, but what they ignore is this year’s team is amazing in its own right.

Ultimately, I am still going to predict Florida will win this series in seven games. I think Boston is too ground down from the Leafs to get the edge on Florida. However, the gap between these teams is small, and it would not shock me if Boston managed to eke past Florida, especially with Swayman dialed in. If Boston does pull off the upset, it will almost surely be with Swayman as the series’ MVP.

McKeen’s 2024 NHL Playoff Pool Picklist

Robert Howard — Sat, 20 Apr 2024 17:01:11 +0000

COLUMBUS, OH - FEBRUARY 25: Edmonton Oilers center Connor McDavid #97 prior to the game between the Columbus Blue Jackets and the Edmonton Oilers at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio on February 25, 2023. (Photo by Jason Mowry/Icon Sportswire)

In kicking off our 2024 NHL Playoff Pool coverage, Scott Cullen did an excellent breakdown of how to strategize for your pool. We recommend you give it a read and can link here.

The picklist below largely follows the strategy laid out in his article focusing on these broad categories – 1) Diversify 2) Stacking 3) First Round Winners 4) Power Play 5) Late Season Production 6) Injuries 7) Targeting playoff performers. Every playoff season will be different, of course, and simply following the Stanley Cup odds laid in many places including BetGM will provide a picture of which teams you should focus on with your picks to make the final, but the path to that result will vary. They currently have the Carolina Hurricanes (650) and the Colorado Avalanche (700) as odds on favourites to meet in the Stanley Cup Final, followed closely by Florida Panthers (700), Dallas Stars (800), Edmonton Oilers (800) and the New York Rangers (900).

If we look at McKeen’s team predictions for each of the first round series it becomes clear some teams have an easier path and their players will provide the best odds to play the most games. Lets look at how the brackets might shake out.

WESTERN CONFERENCE

Dallas Vs. Vegas – We have Dallas winning in seven in a very hard-fought battle. A deep Dallas team versus the defending Champion who boasts several high-profile additions to end the season.

Winnipeg Vs. Colorado – This should be another war with the potential of a Winnipeg upset if Connor Hellebuyck rises to the occasion and Georgiev continues his late season struggles. Colorado should triumph in seven games.

Second Round Matchup: Colorado vs Dallas - The winner of these two close series meet and it means one of the highly ranked Colorado or Dallas will eliminate each other in the second round, assuming no upset in the first.

Edmonton Vs. Los Angeles – Edmonton should have the depth and firepower to take Los Angeles in six as we have predicted.

Vancouver Vs. Nashville – We hesitate to underestimate Nashville again, and this could be a close contest, but feel confident Vancouver will take it in six.

Second Round Matchup: Edmonton vs Vancouver – This should make for a thrilling series, but McDavid and company looked on a mission in the second half and should proceed to the conference final in six.

Therefore, the conference final in the west is projected to be Edmonton versus Colorado or Dallas (two very closely matched teams).

EASTERN CONFRENCE

Florida Vs. Tampa Bay – The recent two-time Stanley Cup champion meets last year’s finalist in the first round. While Tampa’s core may be aging, they are still a real threat if they get rolling. Florida showed they know how to win in the playoffs last year as well. Two goaltenders who can steal a series may make this a potential upset, but Florida should prevail in six.

Boston Vs. Toronto – Old nemesis meet again in the first round. Boston has beaten Toronto consistently in the playoffs in recent years and won all head-to-head matchups this season. There are questions about both teams, but the series should go seven and really could go either way.

Second Round Matchup: Boston Vs. Florida – with both series offering potential upsets, Florida players are ranked higher than Boston, and have ranked some high scoring Leafs and reasonable picks given they could well make it to the second round and can provide a challenge for both teams.

Carolina Vs. New York Islanders – A deep Carolina team adding some significant pieces at the deadline and should beat the Islanders here in five games.

New York Rangers Vs. Washington – The Rangers should be heavy favourites in this series and should beat the Capital in five or six games.

Second Round Matchup: - Carolina vs New York Rangers – of the second-round matchups this is the one we are most comfortable predicting. It should be a close series with the Hurricanes moving on to the Conference Final against Florida.

The following picklist is based on those possible outcomes. The first round offers some interesting matchups that could leave a favourite or two on the outside looking in early. Stack up on the teams you feel have the best odds of taking the cup but understand there are always upsets. Looking at the above, the teams with the easiest path to the conference final are Edmonton and Carolina. Colorado and Dallas are favourites of both the oddsmakers and ourselves to win a cup, but one of them will bow out by the second round. Florida has depth but will have to go through Tampa and either Boston or Toronto.

Good luck whichever strategy you choose.

Subscribers can download an excel version of this list in subscriber downloads

RANK	Player	Team	Pos	GP	G	A	P	+/-	PIM	P/GP	EVG	EVP	PPG	PPP
1	Connor McDavid	EDM	C	76	32	100	132	35	30	1.74	24	87	7	44
2	Nathan MacKinnon	COL	C	82	51	89	140	35	42	1.71	41	92	10	48
3	Sebastian Aho	CAR	C	78	36	53	89	34	36	1.14	24	55	11	32
4	Jake Guentzel	CAR	C	67	30	47	77	25	22	1.15	25	55	5	22
5	Leon Draisaitl	EDM	C	81	41	65	106	26	76	1.31	20	65	21	39
6	Mikko Rantanen	COL	R	80	42	62	104	19	50	1.3	28	64	14	40
7	Cale Makar	COL	D	77	21	69	90	15	16	1.17	13	47	7	39
8	Sam Reinhart	FLA	C	82	57	37	94	29	31	1.15	25	55	27	34
9	Matthew Tkachuk	FLA	L	80	26	62	88	19	88	1.1	19	55	6	32
10	Aleksander Barkov	FLA	C	73	23	57	80	33	24	1.1	18	49	5	29
11	Artemi Panarin	NYR	L	82	49	71	120	18	24	1.46	38	75	11	44
12	Jason Robertson	DAL	L	82	29	51	80	19	22	0.98	20	52	9	28
13	Roope Hintz	DAL	C	80	30	35	65	26	22	0.81	19	42	8	19
14	Seth Jarvis	CAR	C	81	33	34	67	23	14	0.83	18	44	13	20
15	Andrei Svechnikov	CAR	R	59	19	33	52	13	58	0.88	14	35	5	17
16	Evan Bouchard	EDM	D	81	18	64	82	34	32	1.01	10	47	8	35
17	Zach Hyman	EDM	L	80	54	23	77	36	48	0.96	39	57	15	20
18	Valeri Nichushkin	COL	R	54	28	25	53	5	22	0.98	12	30	16	21
19	Nikita Kucherov	TBL	R	81	44	100	144	8	22	1.78	31	91	13	53
20	Auston Matthews	TOR	C	81	69	38	107	31	20	1.32	51	77	18	29
21	David Pastrnak	BOS	R	82	47	63	110	21	47	1.34	35	75	12	35
22	Jack Eichel	VGK	C	63	31	37	68	4	27	1.08	20	44	11	22
23	Ryan Nugent-Hopkins	EDM	C	80	18	49	67	10	36	0.84	14	38	4	26
24	Joe Pavelski	DAL	C	82	27	40	67	12	20	0.82	16	46	11	21
25	Matt Duchene	DAL	C	80	25	40	65	15	20	0.81	19	49	6	16
26	Mika Zibanejad	NYR	C	81	26	46	72	15	30	0.89	12	35	12	31
27	Martin Necas	CAR	C	77	24	29	53	-9	42	0.69	16	40	8	13
28	Vincent Trocheck	NYR	C	82	25	52	77	16	55	0.94	13	52	11	24
29	Chris Kreider	NYR	L	82	39	36	75	19	26	0.91	19	41	18	29
30	William Nylander	TOR	R	82	40	58	98	1	24	1.2	26	59	11	35
31	Mitch Marner	TOR	R	69	26	59	85	21	18	1.23	17	57	8	27
32	Adam Fox	NYR	D	72	17	56	73	21	36	1.01	10	38	6	33
33	Miro Heiskanen	DAL	D	71	9	45	54	8	36	0.76	7	33	2	21
34	Carter Verhaeghe	FLA	C	76	34	38	72	17	36	0.95	26	51	8	21
35	Mark Stone	VGK	R	56	16	37	53	1	22	0.95	10	35	4	14
36	Wyatt Johnston	DAL	C	82	32	33	65	14	38	0.79	26	52	3	10
37	Casey Mittelstadt	COL	C	80	18	39	57	10	32	0.71	15	48	3	9
38	Jonathan Drouin	COL	L	79	19	37	56	12	28	0.71	14	37	5	19
39	Artturi Lehkonen	COL	L	45	16	18	34	11	14	0.76	9	22	7	12
40	Sam Bennett	FLA	C	69	20	21	41	17	100	0.59	15	29	5	12
41	Vladimir Tarasenko	FLA	R	76	23	32	55	13	12	0.72	20	46	3	9
42	Jamie Benn	DAL	L	82	21	39	60	8	41	0.73	13	35	7	22
43	Tyler Seguin	DAL	C	68	25	27	52	10	26	0.76	22	42	3	8
44	J.T. Miller	VAN	C	81	37	66	103	32	58	1.27	25	61	10	40
45	Quinn Hughes	VAN	D	82	17	75	92	38	38	1.12	12	54	5	38
46	Elias Pettersson	VAN	C	82	34	55	89	20	12	1.09	21	56	13	31
47	Brad Marchand	BOS	L	82	29	38	67	2	78	0.82	19	37	7	26
48	Charlie Coyle	BOS	C	82	25	35	60	-2	38	0.73	17	44	7	11
49	Jonathan Marchessault	VGK	R	82	42	27	69	-2	40	0.84	34	52	8	17
50	Tomas Hertl	VGK	C	54	17	21	38	-28	22	0.7	10	26	6	11
51	Teuvo Teravainen	CAR	L	76	25	28	53	15	10	0.7	15	32	9	17
52	Mason Marchment	DAL	L	81	22	31	53	22	54	0.65	16	42	6	11
53	Thomas Harley	DAL	D	79	15	32	47	28	18	0.59	13	37	1	9
54	John Tavares	TOR	C	80	29	36	65	2	30	0.81	20	45	9	20
55	Pavel Zacha	BOS	C	78	21	38	59	12	18	0.76	15	44	6	15
56	Brayden Point	TBL	C	81	46	44	90	-16	14	1.11	31	58	15	32
57	Steven Stamkos	TBL	C	79	40	41	81	-21	34	1.03	21	42	19	39
58	Victor Hedman	TBL	D	78	13	63	76	18	76	0.97	9	45	4	31
59	Brandon Hagel	TBL	L	82	26	49	75	1	79	0.91	24	66	2	7
60	Evander Kane	EDM	L	77	24	20	44	-4	85	0.57	21	36	2	7
61	Logan Stankoven	DAL	C	24	6	8	14	10	4	0.58	5	12	1	2
62	Devon Toews	COL	D	82	12	38	50	28	18	0.61	12	43	0	5
63	Charlie McAvoy	BOS	D	74	12	35	47	4	86	0.64	11	34	1	13
64	Morgan Rielly	TOR	D	72	7	51	58	7	27	0.81	6	38	1	20
65	Brock Boeser	VAN	R	81	40	33	73	23	14	0.9	24	48	16	25
66	Alexis Lafrenière	NYR	L	82	28	29	57	2	40	0.7	26	51	2	6
67	Mark Scheifele	WPG	C	74	25	47	72	19	57	0.97	19	54	6	18
68	Kyle Connor	WPG	L	65	34	27	61	-6	6	0.94	29	42	5	19
69	Chandler Stephenson	VGK	C	75	16	35	51	-9	25	0.68	10	35	4	13
70	Mattias Ekholm	EDM	D	79	11	34	45	44	47	0.57	8	41	2	3
71	Josh Morrissey	WPG	D	81	10	59	69	34	44	0.85	8	50	2	19
72	Ross Colton	COL	C	80	17	23	40	-8	61	0.5	14	35	3	5
73	Warren Foegele	EDM	L	82	20	21	41	3	47	0.5	18	38	1	1
74	Brady Skjei	CAR	D	80	13	34	47	15	40	0.59	11	31	1	12
75	Brent Burns	CAR	D	82	10	33	43	19	20	0.52	5	22	4	20
76	William Karlsson	VGK	C	70	30	30	60	15	22	0.86	22	43	7	15
77	Shea Theodore	VGK	D	47	5	37	42	4	6	0.89	3	27	2	15
78	Filip Forsberg	NSH	L	82	48	46	94	16	43	1.15	35	62	13	32
79	Roman Josi	NSH	D	82	23	62	85	12	45	1.04	14	51	9	33
80	Sean Monahan	WPG	C	83	26	33	59	-1	12	0.71	15	36	9	21
81	Gustav Forsling	FLA	D	79	10	29	39	56	43	0.49	9	37	1	2
82	Brandon Montour	FLA	D	66	8	25	33	1	46	0.5	7	16	1	17
83	Mathew Barzal	NYI	C	80	23	57	80	-4	34	1	18	55	5	25
84	Noah Dobson	NYI	D	79	10	60	70	12	36	0.89	9	45	1	24
85	Nikolaj Ehlers	WPG	L	82	25	36	61	27	29	0.74	25	54	0	7
86	Tyler Toffoli	WPG	C	79	33	22	55	-6	14	0.7	22	37	11	18
87	Cole Perfetti	WPG	C	71	19	19	38	13	12	0.54	14	27	5	11
88	Gabriel Vilardi	WPG	C	47	22	14	36	11	14	0.77	13	22	9	14
89	Anthony Duclair	TBL	L	73	24	18	42	-8	34	0.58	19	30	5	12
90	Brock Nelson	NYI	C	82	34	35	69	-5	28	0.84	24	48	9	19
91	Bo Horvat	NYI	C	81	33	35	68	-1	39	0.84	22	48	10	18
92	Adrian Kempe	LAK	R	77	28	47	75	13	72	0.97	20	44	5	27
93	Kevin Fiala	LAK	L	82	29	44	73	1	62	0.89	18	43	11	30
94	Anze Kopitar	LAK	C	81	26	44	70	11	22	0.86	16	44	9	23
95	Jake DeBrusk	BOS	L	80	19	21	40	4	18	0.5	15	28	2	10
96	Tyler Bertuzzi	TOR	L	80	21	22	43	2	53	0.54	16	37	5	6
97	Ivan Barbashev	VGK	C	82	19	26	45	15	42	0.55	16	40	3	5
98	Gustav Nyquist	NSH	C	81	23	52	75	7	8	0.93	17	49	5	24
99	Ryan O'Reilly	NSH	C	82	26	43	69	6	18	0.84	12	41	14	28
100	Max Domi	TOR	C	80	9	38	47	10	118	0.59	8	45	1	2