Jonathan Quick – McKeen's Hockey

NHL: CULLEN – 20 FANTASY POINTS – Brayden Point’s injury shakes up the Lightning, the Bruins are getting production from Fraser Minten and Viktor Arvidsson, the Devils have a Dougie Hamilton situation, and so much more!

Scott Cullen — Fri, 16 Jan 2026 15:28:56 +0000

Each week, I dig into the stats to find information that can help you make better fantasy hockey decisions. This week, Brayden Point’s injury shakes up the Lightning, the Bruins are getting production from Fraser Minten and Viktor Arvidsson, the Devils have a Dougie Hamilton situation, and so much more!

#1 The Tampa Bay Lighnting lost No. 1 centre Brayden Point to a lower-body injury that will keep him out on a week-to-week basis. As part of Team Canada, Point will certainly be incentivized to get healthy by early February, but that does mean that there could be more opportunities for others in the Lightning lineup. Case in point: Nick Paul has moved up the depth chart to skate between Nikita Kucherov and Jake Guentel on the top line. Paul has just three points (2 G, 1 A) and nine shots on goal in his past eight games, but the opportunity to play with Kucherov and Guentzel gives him potential appeal in deeper formats.

#2 Boston Bruins rookie centre Fraser Minten is starting to hit his stride, earning more ice time and delivering more production for the Bruins. He has eight points (5 G, 3 A) and 18 shots on goal in his past eight games. He’s skating between Alexander Steeves and Morgan Geekie at even strength and getting second-unit power play time, which has boosted his ice time near 16 minutes per game over that stretch. With 21 points (11 G, 10 A) in 48 games, Minten is tied for sixth in rookie scoring.

#3 Bruins veteran winger Viktor Arvidsson is also picking up his production lately. The high energy winger has contributed nine points (3 G, 6 A) and 25 shots on goal in his past eight games. That shot rate is elevated by Tuesday’s win over Detroit when he recorded a whopping 10 shots on goal. He is up to 24 points (9 G, 15 A) in 36 games for the season and that is quality secondary scoring for a Bruins team that is hanging around the playoff bubble.

#4 The New Jersey Devils have run into a situation on the blueline. With Johnathan Kovacevic returning to the lineup, the Devils made Dougie Hamilton a healthy scratch. Hamilton returned to the lineup after his one-game hiatus and put up three assists in two games. He does have a 10-team no-trade list, but it looks like a trade could be a possibility, especially if the Devils can’t get back into the playoff picture. In the meantime, though, Luke Hughes is the Devils defenceman tasked with quarterbacking New Jersey’s first power play.

#5 Connor McMichael of the Washington Capitals is off the 57-point pace that he had across 82 games last season, but he is starting to improve his production. Since New Years Eve, McMichael has recorded nine points (2 G, 7 A) and 22 shots on goal in nine games. With injuries taking out some Capitals forwards, including Pierre-Luc Dubois and, more recently, Tom Wilson, there is quality ice time available for McMichael. He has played more than 20 minutes per game in that nine-game span and is currently skating between wingers Aliaksei Protas and Ryan Leonard, so it’s a skilled enough line that McMichael should continue to deliver more offence.

#6 A sprained ankle suffered in the final game of the preseason put Winnipeg Jets winger Cole Perfetti behind the 8-ball this season and he struggled to generate offence upon his return. It’s starting to come around, however, as Perfetti has six points (1 G, 5 A) with 10 shots on goal in his past six games. His ice time is down a bit from last season and Perfetti is skating on a line with Jonathan Toews and Gabriel Vilardi at even strength.

#7 As the Buffalo Sabres have roared back into playoff contention, their top players have been a big part of the team’s success, but they are also getting contributions from the supporting cast. Centre Ryan McLeod has seven points (3 G, 4 A) with six shots on goal in his past six games. Obviously, that shot rate is not super encouraging but, with Josh Norris injured again, there is going to be a more significant role at least in the short term and, given Norris’ injury history, it probably won’t be the last time that McLeod needs to fill role in Buffalo’s top six.

#8 While the buzz around the San Jose Sharks rightfully focuses on their young talent, it should not go unrecognized that veteran Tyler Toffoli continues to be a reliable source of scoring. In his past five games, Toffoli has six points (3 G, 3 A) and 20 shots on goal. In addition to first-unit power play time, Toffoli is skating with Alexander Wennberg and Pavol Regenda at even strength, though the Sharks could be looking at lineup shuffle with the pending return of sophomore winger Will Smith.

#9 It should not come as a surprise, given that he has four straight seasons with more than 55 points, but Utah Mammoth centre Nick Schmaltz is a reliable offensive threat, and still available in quite a few leagues. Since Christmas, Schmaltz has 11 points points (5 G, 6 A) and 25 shots on goal in nine games and not only is Schmaltz’s shot rate a positive sign, but he’s averaged 21:30 of ice time per game in that span while anchoring the Mammoth’s top line.

#10 At 34 years old, Hurricanes left winger Taylor Hall is some distance away from his best years in the NHL, but he is still a valuable contributor in a secondary role. He’s averaging less than 15 minutes of ice time per game and yet, in his past seven games, Hall has six points (2 G, 4 A) and 14 shots on goal. He is skating on a line with young forwards Logan Stankoven an Jackson Blake at even strength while getting second unit power play time.

#11 New Jersey Devils left winger Timo Meier is mired in a slump, with just two points (1 G, 1 A) in his past 13 games, but there is some reason to consider him as a buy-low candidate; that is, if he hasn’t landed on the fantasy waiver wire yet. In those 13 games, Meier has put 53 shots on goal, which is more than four shots on goal per game, really an elite level of shot generation. While Meier has tended to be more of a volume shooter, rather than a high-percentage finisher, he has scored on just 8.5 percent of his shots on goal this season, and that would be his lowest rate since 2020-2021. He’s also skating on the Devils’ top line with Jack Hughes and Jesper Bratt, so that should be enough to shake Meier out of this funk.

#12 One of the great stories of the first half of the season, Boston Bruins winger Morgan Geekie has hit a slump. Through the first 36 games of the season, Geekie had 39 points (25 G, 14 A) with 90 shots on goal. He had scored on 27.8 percent of his shots on goal. Since then, regression has come for Geekie like it comes for everyone eventually. In the past 11 games, Geekie has zero goals, three assists and 21 shots on goal so even as the Bruins are playing competitive hockey as a team lately, they are doing it with minimal contribution from their leading goal scorer.

#13 2026 has brought some lean times for Nashville Predators left winger Filip Forsberg, who has one assist and just 10 shots on goal in seven games this month. He’s on the first line with Ryan O’Reilly and Luke Evangelista and getting first unit power play time, so this should turn around, but it is well worth keeping a close eye on Forsberg – who has surpassed 60 points six times in his career – to see if he is going to snap out of this slump. The first order of business should be to generate more shots.

#14 St. Louis Blues centre Robert Thomas will be out at least two weeks with a lower-body injury, leaving a significant hole in the Blues’ lineup as he is the team’s leading scorer with 33 points (11 G, 22 A) in 42 games. In the short term, it looks like centres Brayden Schenn and rookie Dalibor Dvorsky will bump up the depth chart. Since Christmas, Schenn has five points (3 G, 2 A) and 13 shots on goal and Dvorsky has three points (1 G, 2 A) and nine shots on goal in nine games, so it is a buy-low opportunity for anyone wishing to take a chance on them to fill in for some of the lost offense in St. Louis. The other possibility, which is very real, is that the Blues’ scoring dries up without their top playmaker.

#15 A collision with Utah’s JJ Peterka has landed New York Rangers goaltender Igor Shesterkin on the injured list, putting the Rangers in a precarious position. They are outside the playoff mix, last place in the Eastern Conference with 46 points in 48 games, and they are left with Jonathan Quick and Spencer Martin between the pipes without Shesterkin. Quick has struggled, with a .776 save percentage in four starts since Shesterkin was hurt.

#16 Pittsburgh Penguins defenceman Erik Karlsson has landed on the injured list with a lower-body injury, which should keep him out for a couple of weeks. Fortunately, the Penguins do have a right-shot veteran defenceman at the ready to handle first unit power play time in Kris Letang. In his past dozen games, so starting well before Karlsson’s injury, Letang produced eight points (1 G, 7 A) with 22 shots on goal, while averaging 23:58 of ice time per game.

#17 With injuries knocking out Neal Pionk, Colin Miller, and Haydn Fleury, the Winnipeg Jets are giving a surprising goal-scorer time on the second power play unit. Defenceman Logan Stanley, who had only ever scored one goal per season in his NHL career, has now scored eight goals through 45 games. His eight goals on 48 shots (16.7 SH%) is obviously not sustainable, but it’s at least worth tracking him to see if he gets any benefits from time on the power play.

#18 Philadelphia Flyers goaltender Dan Vladar left Wednesday’s loss at Pittsburgh, and that’s a big loss for the Flyers. He is having the best season of his career, with a .905 save percentage and the drop off to Samuel Ersson, who has a miserable .853 save percentage, is a big deal for a Flyers team still competing for a playoff spot. The severity of Vladar’s injury is not known, but every game he’s out could be costly for the team’s playoff hopes.

#19 For fantasy managers that might need goaltending help because of these injuries, maybe give some consideration to Pittsburgh Penguins netminder Stuart Skinner. His first three starts for the Penguins weren’t great, but in his past five starts, Skinner is 4-1 with a .942 save percentage. His track record is reason enough to be cautious, but if you’re looking for goaltending help at this stage of the season, it’s not like flawless options are just waiting to be plucked from the waiver wire, so Skinner might just do the trick, even as a short-term fill-in option.

#20 Toronto Maple Leafs right winger William Nylander left Thursday’s loss at Vegas with a lower-body injury after delivering a goal and an assist in just 2:16 of ice time against the Golden Knights. It’s too soon to know how significant his injury is, but a long-term Nylander injury could be devastating for Toronto. He has 12 points (6 G, 6 A) and 11 shots on goal in his past six games. After Nylander’s injury, the Leafs moved Matthew Knies to play with John Tavares and Matias Maccelli on the second line.

*Advanced stats via Natural Stat Trick

2024 NHL PLAYOFF PREVIEW – EASTERN CONFERENCE FINAL: Florida Panthers vs. New York Rangers

Ryan Dadoun — Tue, 21 May 2024 23:00:55 +0000

NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 04: Florida Panthers Left Wing Eetu Luostarinen (27) in action during the third period of the National Hockey League game between the Florida Panthers and the New York Rangers on March 4, 2024 at Madison Square Garden in New York, NY. (Photo by Joshua Sarner/Icon Sportswire)

The Panthers are four wins away from reaching the Stanley Cup Final for the second year in a row, but they’re set to be challenged by the Rangers, who proved to be among the most balanced squads in the regular season, setting a franchise record in points with their 55-23-4 finish, and won their first seven playoff games along a path that saw them handily sweep win the Washington Capitals and eventually best the Carolina Hurricanes in six contests.

The Rangers can count on strength in nearly every aspect of the game. They have a former Vezina Trophy winner in Igor Shesterkin, and he’s playing up to his potential in the postseason with an 8-2 record, 2.40 GAA and .923 save percentage. If he gets injured? Then they can turn to three-time Stanley Cup champion Jonathan Quick. Sure, he’s 38 years old now, but he proved to be solid in the regular season with an 18-6-2 record, 2.62 GAA and .911 save percentage in 27 outings.

Even if the Rangers didn’t get good goaltending, though, they can adapt. New York ranked seventh in the regular season with 3.39 goals per game and has elevated in the playoffs to an average of 3.50. Artemi Panarin is coming off the best regular season of his career (49 goals, 120 points) and was backed up by Vincent Trocheck (25 goals, 77 points), Chris Kreider (39 goals, 75 points), Mika Zibanejad (26 goals, 72 points) and defenseman Adam Fox (17 goals, 73 points). To put all that into context, 52 players finished the 2023-24 campaign with at least 70 points, which adds up to an average of 1.625 players per team. The fact that the Rangers employed five of them speaks to their incredible depth.

That’s before you even get into Alexis Lafreniere, who came into his own this season with 28 goals and 57 points, providing the Rangers with another key weapon, or Blake Wheeler, who hasn’t played since Feb. 15 due to a leg injury, but is healthy now and provides the Rangers with another potential middle-six option should his services be needed.

In the likely event that the series turns physical, the Rangers are covered there too. Barclay Goodrow, Will Cuylle, Trocheck, defensemen Jacob Trouba and Braden Schneider are all happy to play a gritty game. If needed, the Rangers can also send out Matt Rempe. The 21-year-old rookie has been a healthy scratch in three of New York’s last four contests, but he’s already become a fan favorite and garnered national attention for his eagerness to play with intensity while taking full advantage of his 6-foot-7, 241-pound frame.

It's not hard to see how this roster reached the Eastern Conference Final or envision a path for them to win the Cup, but it’d still be wrong to dismiss the Panthers. Florida is one of the few teams that can measure up to the Rangers.

The Panthers had a similarly strong regular season, finishing atop the Atlantic Division with a 52-24-6 record, and they haven’t been made to sweat too much in the playoffs, dispatching Tampa Bay in five contests before getting past the Bruins in six games. Like the Rangers, Florida’s strengths are numerous.

Shesterkin being a former Vezina Trophy winner is impressive, but Panther’s goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky has done it twice, and he’s in the running to claim that honor for a third time after being named a finalist for 2023-24 after posting a 36-17-4 record, 2.37 GAA and .915 save percentage across 58 outings. Bobrovsky has been a somewhat mixed bag in the 2024 playoffs, but he is entering this series after posting a 1.62 GAA and a .921 save percentage over his past five starts, so his recent play doesn’t lend itself to much cause for concern.

Florida is also another team that doesn’t necessarily need great goaltending to win. The squad wasn’t quite as dominant offensively as the Rangers in the regular season, finishing 11th with 3.23 goals per game, but the Panthers have stepped up in the playoffs with an average of 3.55.

Matthew Tkachuk, Aleksander Barkov, Carter Verhaeghe and Sam Reinhart have each supplied at least four goals and nine points through 11 postseason outings to lead the Panthers’ attack, but they’ve gotten plenty of support from Anton Lundell (two goals, nine points), Evan Rodrigues (three goals, six points) and defensemen Brandon Montour (three goals, eight points) and Gustav Forsling (two goals and seven points).

Just outside of the periphery, there are other Panthers forwards who might prove to be heroes at some point during this series. Sam Bennett has been limited to six playoff contests due to an upper-body injury, but he’s healthy now and has a respectable two goals and four points through six postseason appearances this year. Then there’s Vladimir Tarasenko, who has just two goals and five points across 11 playoff outings but shouldn’t be counted out after providing 23 goals and 55 points in 76 regular-season contests. He’s also a former Stanley Cup winner with 108 career postseason games under his belt, so as the pressure continues to grow, he could become a valuable locker-room presence.

Should this series get physical, the Panthers also have players who can respond, most notably Bennett and Tkachuk.

These teams aren’t without their flaws. Though Shesterkin has been largely masking it, the Rangers’ defensive play in front of him has left something to be desired. New York has an xGA/60 of 3.24 in the playoffs, which suggests that if you factor out Shesterkin, the defense itself has been mediocre to poor, and well below that of Florida with its xGA/60 of 2.62. At the same time, Bobrovsky’s inconsistency makes it hard to know what the Panthers are going to get, even if he has performed well recently.

Still, these are two teams extremely deserving of their place among the final four postseason squads, and seeing them battle it out will be a real treat.

KEY MATCHUPS

Igor Shesterkin vs. Sergei Bobrovsky

At their best, both of these netminders are incredibly hard to get anything by. They’ve had their share of rough patches too, and they each have their work cut out for them against the opposing offense in this series, but either goaltender has the potential to rise up and steal this series. To some extent, Bobrovsky did that in the second round when he shut the door on Boston by allowing just eight goals on 101 shots over the last five contests, though he had substantial help from his defense. Shesterkin was similarly lights out in the Rangers’ opening series, limiting Washington to seven goals on 101 shots over four games.

Will either of these two be the MVP of the Eastern Conference Final?

Sam Reinhart vs. Artemi Panarin

The Panthers and Rangers’ regular season scoring leaders have made their presence felt in the playoffs, but both still have room for improvement. Panarin ranks third offensively on the Rangers with four goals and 11 points through 10 postseason appearances this year while Reinhart is tied for fourth with five goals and nine points across 11 playoff outings. It’s worth noting that both of these players rose to the occasion in the season series -- Reinhart finished with four goals and five points in three outings against the Rangers while Panarin supplied three goals and four points versus the Panthers -- so they should rise to the occasion in the Eastern Conference Final.

Brandon Montour vs. Adam Fox

On paper, the battle of top offensive defensemen in one area where the Rangers should have the clear edge. Florida didn’t have a blueliner reach the 40-point milestone in 2023-24 with Montour crashing from 73 points in 80 appearances in 2022-23 to 33 points across 66 regular-season contests this year. Meanwhile, Fox has surpassed the 70-point milestone in three consecutive campaigns.

However, Fox has been quiet offensively in the postseason with four helpers through 10 contests and is entering this series on a four-game scoring drought. Meanwhile, Montour has stepped up with three goals and eight points through 11 playoff games. It’ll be interesting to see how these two perform in this series, especially because Fox did so well in the Rangers’ previous two postseason runs, recording five goals and 31 points across 27 outings.

X-FACTOR

Florida Panthers: Bobrovsky is the Panthers’ biggest question mark. It could be argued that I’ve made too much of the 35-year-old goaltender’s inconsistencies, especially after he put forth a season worthy of Vezina Trophy consideration, but when I think about him being unpredictable, I’m not just referring to a few bad playoff performances or some cold stretches during the regular season. Bobrovsky’s career has been one of extremes with him being dominant at times and a disaster at others. If there’s a silver lining, it’s that he was strong against the Rangers in the regular season, posting a 2-0-1 record, 2.59 GAA and .919 save percentage, so that coupled with the strong play we noted above in the second round provide reason for optimism.

New York Rangers: I noted above about the Rangers’ mediocre defense outside of Shesterkin, and that’s a potentially big problem. It’s also not one that’s completely new either. During the regular season, the Rangers ranked 13th in xGA/60 at 3 while Florida tied for fourth with a 2.78 xGA/60. That gap growing in the playoffs is troubling and potentially is New York’s biggest weakness going forward.

PREDICTION

Through the first seven games of the playoffs, the Rangers looked like a team of destiny. Sweeping the Capitals was noteworthy, but Washington wasn’t a great team, so the outcome wasn’t shocking. Taking a 3-0 lead on Carolina, though? That’s special and drew allusions to the Cup-winning 1994 Rangers, who also started their playoff run 7-0.

Some of that glean wore off the Rangers when they dropped Games 4 and 5, but this group still feels like the team to beat. Perhaps the Panthers can do it, they’re certainly a force in their own right, but I suspect New York will edge past them in seven games.

2024 NHL PLAYOFF PREVIEW: New York Rangers vs. Washington Capitals

Ryan Dadoun — Fri, 19 Apr 2024 17:57:50 +0000

NEW YORK, NY - JANUARY 14: New York Rangers Center Vincent Trocheck (16) and Washington Capitals Center Dylan Strome (17) face off during the National Hockey League game between the Washington Capitals and the New York Rangers on January 14, 2024 at Madison Square Garden in New York, NY. (Photo by Joshua Sarner/Icon Sportswire)

At a glance, the Rangers-Capitals’ series might be the most lopsided series of all the first-round matchups, in part because Washington looks really bad on paper. Still, the Capitals have gotten this far, so perhaps there’s more to them than meets the eye.

Before we can discuss how Washington might be better than it looks, though, we need to establish why the Capitals look so underwhelming in the first place. For starters, Washington is entering the playoffs with a goal differential of minus-37, which is easily the worst of any playoff-bound squad this year. To put that into perspective, Ottawa, which finished with a 37-41-4 record, had a significantly better minus-26 goal differential. No team in 2023 made the playoffs with a goal differential worse than plus-17 and in 2022 the worst was Dallas at minus-8. Excluding the unusual COVID interrupted 2019-20 campaign, you’d have to go back to 2015-16 to find another postseason with a goal differential worse than minus-10 in Detroit, and even that version of the Red Wings looked leagues better in that metric at minus-13.

All this is to say that, at least in terms of goal differential, the Capitals aren’t just bad for a playoff team, they are historically so. The fancy stats don’t make the case for Washington much brighter. The Capitals Expected Goal Differential Per 60 was minus-0.3, which doesn’t set the Capitals apart by quite as much -- the Islanders made the playoffs at minus-0.28 -- though it is still pretty bad.

This all begs the question: How are the Capitals even here? The simple answer is luck or clutch play, depending on how you want to look at it. Washington was an incredible 20-2-11 in one-goal games compared to 20-29 in all other contests. Just Dallas and the Rangers earned more one-goal victories and, in contrast to Washington, both of those teams finished atop of the standings.

If you do want to ascribe Washington’s success in close contests as the result of clutch play, then you’re likely to feel more optimistic about them in the playoffs. Even if you don’t, though, there are reasons around the margin to think the Capitals are more than the top-line numbers suggest.

Most notable is its goaltending. Darcy Kuemper has skewed the defensive numbers downward with his 3.31 GAA and .890 save percentage across 33 appearances, but barring injury, that’s not necessarily going to matter much in the playoffs. Instead, Washington is likely to lean heavily on Charlie Lindgren, who has excelled with a 25-16-7 record, 2.67 GAA and .911 save percentage in 50 contests this season.

Up front, the Capitals have been terrible this year, averaging just 2.63 goals per game, which ranks 28th in the NHL. However, Alexander Ovechkin was far stronger in the second half of the campaign with 25 goals and 45 points in 46 contests compared to six goals and 20 points over his first 33 appearances. If Ovechkin can carry that into the playoffs, he might give the Rangers some trouble.

Even still, Washington shouldn’t be seen as anything other than an underdog because the gap isn’t even fully about the Capitals’ shortcomings, it’s also due to the Rangers’ abilities.

While Washington might have a couple of veterans capable of stepping up like Ovechkin, the Rangers boast an incredible forward corps. Artemi Panarin was one of the best players this campaign with 49 goals and 120 points, and he’s backed by Chris Kreider, Alexis Lafreniere, Mika Zibanejad and Vincent Trocheck, who each provided at least 25 goals. Aside from Ovechkin, Dylan Strome is the only other Capitals player with even 20 markers.

Then there’s the Rangers defense, which has been solid by limiting the competition to 3.00 xGA/60 (13th in the league), and behind it is one of the league’s top goaltenders in Igor Shesterkin, who had a 36-17-2 record, 2.58 GAA and .912 save percentage over 55 contests this season. Should he get injured or struggle, New York could always turn to Jonathan Quick, who has 92 starts worth of playoff experience and proved to be a capable backup this campaign, posting an 18-6-2 record, 2.62 GAA and .911 save percentage in 27 outings.

With that kind of balance and star power, a Capitals upset in this series would be nothing short of a Cinderella story.

KEY MATCHUPS

Charlie Lindgren vs. Igor Shesterkin

Shesterkin enters this series with a far more impressive resume, and Lindgren will need to keep up to give the Capitals a chance. Although Lindgren is 30 years old, he’s spent most of that career as a journeyman and consequently has no playoff experience, so Game 1 will be a big test for him.

If there is a glimmer of hope here for the Capitals, it’s that Lindgren has a 2-1-0 record, 1.35 GAA and .955 save percentage in three career games against the Rangers. It’s a small sample size, but at least it’s something.

Artemi Panarin vs. Alex Ovechkin

Panarin has enjoyed an outstanding career in which he’s averaged 1.16 PPG in the regular season, but one thing he hasn’t done with regularity is step up in the playoffs. Instead, Panarin has seven goals and 20 points across 30 career playoff appearances. Meanwhile, Ovechkin is one of the top active players in terms of postseason production with 72 markers and 141 points in 147 outings. If Panarin wants to lead the Rangers to the Cup as Ovechkin did for Washington in 2018, he’ll need to step up when it matters most.

Adam Fox vs. John Carlson

This series will pit two top-tier offensive defensemen against each other. Carlson is getting up there in age, but the 34-year-old still contributed 10 goals and 52 points in 82 appearances this season while averaging 25:54 of ice time. Meanwhile, Fox missed a bit of time due to injury, but still surpassed the 70-point milestone for the third consecutive campaign by supplying 17 goals and 56 assists. Unlike Panarin, Fox has also stayed just as strong in past playoff runs, totaling five goals and 31 points across 30 outings.

X-FACTOR

Washington Capitals: The Capitals need to stay out of trouble. The Rangers had a 26.4 conversion rate on power plays in the regular season while Washington was 18th on the penalty kill with a 79 percent success rate. The good news for the Capitals is they were also a pretty disciplined team, taking just 246 minor penalties throughout the campaign, which was the seventh-least in the league. The notable exception to that was Tom Wilson, who tied for second with 38 minors.

New York Rangers: The Rangers already have plenty of depth, but they might get even more with the potential return of Blake Wheeler (lower body) and Filip Chytil (head). Wheeler’s status is uncertain, but Chytil, who hasn’t played since Nov. 2, seems poised to return. Chytil had 22 goals and 45 points in 74 outings in 2022-23, so if rust doesn’t prove to be too big of a hindrance, he could be a nice addition to the third line. Wheeler is also likely to serve in a bottom-six capacity if he does factor in at all. While the 37-year-old isn’t the player he once was, having him healthy would still be a nice luxury.

FANTASY PLAYERS TO TARGET

The Rangers are well-positioned to go far in the playoffs, so taking their players in general is likely a good idea. As mentioned above, Panarin has been somewhat underwhelming overall in the playoffs, but he’s never been this effective before, so I wouldn’t be shy about selecting him in playoff pools. You also shouldn’t overlook Lafreniere, who made great strides in his fourth NHL campaign and seemed to only get better as the season went on, contributing 14 goals and 26 points over his past 28 contests.

Fox is an easy recommendation, but if your playoff league values PIM, hits and blocks, then Trouba is also worthy of consideration. Trouba won’t help you out much offensively after recording just three goals and 22 points in 69 contests this season, but he can contribute in the gritty categories.

I’d be more cautious about Capitals players given that Washington’s chances of making it past the first round are poor. However, Ovechkin might still be worthy of a gamble later in the draft, just because of how much potential value there is there if the Capitals do pull off an upset. Even if they don’t, it wouldn’t be surprising to see him make a solid mark on this series.

You could also view Max Pacioretty as a sleeper candidate. He was limited to four goals and 23 points in 47 contests this year, but the 35-year-old might have something more to give. He’s certainly had big campaigns in the past and did look good during his most recent playoff stint in 2021, scoring five goals and 11 points across 13 appearances with Vegas.

PREDICTION

I think it’s fair to believe that the Capitals will put up a fight, but the difference between these teams is too great for me to realistically suggest that they’ll win. I’m projecting the Rangers to take this series in six.

NHL: DADOUN – THE FANTASY WEEK AHEAD – Looking at teams with something to play for as season comes to close

Ryan Dadoun — Mon, 15 Apr 2024 14:30:02 +0000

Detroit Red Wings right wing Alex DeBrincat (93) (Photo by Andrew Mordzynski/Icon Sportswire)

Barring any postponements, the final day of the 2023-24 regular season with be Thursday. There are just 26 total games remaining before the playoffs get underway, so naturally there aren’t many teams to highlight for the final week. With that in mind, instead of picking out the teams with the most favorable schedules, I’m going to focus on the teams who have something left to play for this week. So, let’s dive into what the final days of the campaign will look like.

Please note that this week’s article is heavily skewed toward the Eastern Conference because there are still two playoff spots open while there isn’t much left to be decided in the West.

New York Islanders – MON VS NJD, WED VS PIT

The Islanders haven’t punched their playoff ticket, but they’re very likely to advance to the postseason. They have a 30-27-16 record, which is good for third in the Metropolitan Division.

They’ll play in New Jersey on Monday and host the Penguins on Wednesday. The Islanders can guarantee their playoff spot by picking up two points over those two contests. However, New York has a three-point advantage over the next closest non-playoff adversary, so there are scenarios where the Islanders can make the playoffs even if they go 0-2-0.

The Islanders’ task will be made more difficult if Noah Dobson remains out of the lineup. The defenseman has 10 goals and 70 points in 79 outings, but he missed Saturday’s 3-2 shootout loss to the Rangers due to an upper-body injury. Robert Bortuzzo dressed Saturday as a result of Dobson’s absence, but he’s not a replacement for the star blueliner -- Bortuzzo has no points through 25 appearances between St. Louis and the Islanders this season.

On the bright side for the Islanders, Brock Nelson is ending the campaign on a positive note. He scored twice Saturday to extend his point streak to three games. That gives the 32-year-old forward 32 markers and 65 points across 80 outings in 2023-24. He’ll almost certainly finish behind his 2022-23 mark of 75 points, but this is still the second-best campaign of his career in terms of total points.

If goal, Semyon Varlamov and Ilya Sorokin will likely split the final two contests. Assuming the Islanders make the playoffs, it will be interesting to see who starts in Game 1. It’ll probably be Sorokin, but Varlamov has earned consideration thanks to his 2.66 GAA and .916 save percentage in 27 games, which tops Sorokin’s 2.99 GAA and .909 save percentage. The Islanders have also used Varlamov quite a bit recently, deploying him in seven of their past 11 games.

Washington Capitals – MON VS BOS, TUE @ PHI (BTB)

The Capitals made things tough for themselves by going 0-4-2 from March 28-April 7, but Washington might still be able to salvage the situation after winning its last three contests. The Capitals have 87 points (38-31-11), which puts them in the second wild-card seed. Detroit and Philadelphia are tied with Washington in points, but the Capitals have the edge in the tiebreaker over the Red Wings and a game in hand compared to Philadelphia. Additionally, Pittsburgh is one point shy of those three squads. All that is to say, Washington’s hold on its playoff spot is by the narrowest of margins.

The Capitals will host the Bruins on Monday and play in Philadelphia on Tuesday to conclude the season. Washington will make the playoffs if it wins both games. If the Capitals lose against the Bruins, then Tuesday’s season finale becomes a must-win and even then, it’s possible for the Capitals to miss the playoffs in the scenario where they lose Monday but beat the Flyers.

Alexander Ovechkin has been a major driver of the Capitals’ playoff push, scoring 22 goals and 35 points over his past 34 outings. However, he has slowed a little recently, providing a goal and an assist across Washington’s past four appearances, so his hot run might be over. The 38-year-old star has had a season of extreme highs and lows, but he’s done well overall, contributing 30 goals and 64 points in 77 outings.

Interestingly, it was Sonny Milano who served as Washington’s hero Saturday, providing two goals en route to a 4-2 victory over Tampa Bay. He has just 15 markers and 23 points in 47 appearances this season, but the 27-year-old also had a hat trick versus Carolina on March 22 and a four-game goal-scoring streak from March 1-9, so he can on occasion be a major factor and perhaps that will hold true during Washington’s final stretch. Still, his limited playing time puts a damper on his potential. Milano logged just 10:08 of ice time Saturday and has averaged 12:34 this season.

A safer bet for production over Washington’s last two games would be offensive defenseman John Carlson. This has been a strong season for him with nine goals and 51 points across 80 contests, and looked solid recently, supplying four goals and 13 points over his past 15 appearances.

Detroit Red Wings – MON VS MTL, TUE @ MTL

The Red Wings suffered critical losses to Washington and Pittsburgh, but Detroit still has an opportunity to make the playoffs after earning a 5-4 overtime victory over Toronto on Saturday. Detroit is at 87 points (39-32-9), which puts the Red Wings in a tie with Washington for the second wild-card spot, though the Capitals control the tiebreaker, so Detroit would need to finish one point ahead of them to make the postseason. The Red Wings are narrowly ahead of Philadelphia, which has 87 points but has played in one more game than Detroit, and the Penguins, who have 86 points in 80 contests (37-31-12).

The Red Wings will finish the campaign with a home-and-away back-to-back against Montreal on Monday and Tuesday. The upside is the Canadiens are wrapping up a difficult season in which they’ve gone 30-36-14, so Detroit has a good chance of winning both contests. The downside is the Red Wings’ fate itself isn’t entirely in their hands -- Detroit can still miss the playoffs even if it wins both contests. Additionally, because Washington and Philadelphia will play each other and both teams would control the tiebreaker over Detroit, the Red Wings need to claim at least three out of four points over their final two games to have a mathematical chance of reaching the postseason.

Lucas Raymond is doing everything in his power to thrust the Red Wings into the postseason. The 22-year-old has contributed four goals and eight points over his active four-game scoring streak. His linemate Dylan Larkin has been right there with him, providing five goals and 10 points over his last seven outings. Look for that duo to continue to shine when Detroit faces Montreal.

Detroit’s bigger question is in goal. James Reimer started Saturday for the first time since March 28. The Red Wings got the win, but it was a mixed bag for the netminder, who stopped 32 of 36 shots. Meanwhile, Alex Lyon allowed six goals on 27 shots in a 6-5 overtime loss to the Penguins on Thursday and has been inconsistent recently while posting a 2-2-2 record, 2.83 GAA and .915 save percentage over his last six outings.

Ville Husso (lower body) suffered a setback while on an AHL conditioning stint, so he probably won’t be an option for the remainder of the campaign. That leaves Reimer and Lyon to split the final two starts. On the plus side, Montreal ranks 27th offensively with 2.80 goals per game, so the back-to-back set will be a favorable series for the Red Wings goaltenders.

Philadelphia Flyers – TUE VS WAS

The Flyers were primed to make the playoffs before their 0-5-2 run from March 24-April 9. Philadelphia has rebounded by winning its last two games, though, leaving them with a 38-32-11 record. Philadelphia’s 87 points are tied with Washington and Detroit for the second wild-card seed, but the Flyers have played one more contest than either of them. The Flyers have also played one more game than Pittsburgh, which is trailing the main group by a point with a 37-31-12 record.

The Flyers’ final tilt is against Washington on Tuesday. They need to win against the Capitals to have a chance to make the playoffs, but even with a victory in that contest, Philadelphia will still miss the postseason if Detroit gets at least three points over its final two games or Pittsburgh wins its last two contests. Additionally, if Washington wins against Boston on Monday and then pushes the Flyers to overtime, then the Capitals would still finish ahead in the standings even if Philadelphia wins the outing.

Samuel Ersson is perhaps the biggest X-Factor going into Philadelphia’s final contest. He had a terrible stretch from March 14-April 9, posting a 2-5-2 record, 4.51 GAA and .829 save percentage in 10 outings, but he’s rebounded by stopping 44 of 45 shots over the Flyers’ last two outings. The Capitals aren’t a great team offensively, ranking 28th with 2.65 goals per game, so it’s plausible that Ersson will be able to extend his hot streak.

The Flyers will also be looking for Travis Konecny to continue his recent success. The 27-year-old has two goals and an assist over his past two outings and has set career highs this season with 33 goals and 68 points across 75 appearances. Noah Cates has done well too, collecting three goals and five points over his last six contests. He still has just 18 points in 58 appearances, which is down from 38 points in 2022-23, but at least the 25-year-old seems to be dialed in when it matters most.

Pittsburgh Penguins – MON VS NSH, WED @ NYI

The Penguins seemed destined to miss the playoffs when they dealt Jake Guentzel to Carolina on March 7, but Pittsburgh forced itself back into the postseason conversation with a 7-0-2 stretch from March 26-April 11. However, the Penguins suffered a setback Saturday with a 6-4 loss to the Bruins.

Pittsburgh is now 37-31-12, putting the Penguins one point behind Washington, Detroit and Philadelphia in the battle for the second wild-card position. The Penguins will host Nashville on Monday and finish the campaign with a road contest against the Islanders on Wednesday. With Philadelphia and Washington set to play Tuesday, the Penguins need at least three of four points over their final two contests to have a mathematical shot, and even then, they’d need help from the tiebreaker system. Realistically, Pittsburgh will likely need to win both of its last two games to get into the postseason.

Sidney Crosby is sure to do his best to push the Penguins the rest of the way. He’s been a huge factor in their surge, supplying eight goals and 21 points over his past 11 outings. Crosby is up to 41 goals and 90 points in 80 appearances, which is extremely impressive production for a player who is 36 years old. Evgeni Malkin, who is 37, hasn’t been quite as effective this campaign with 25 goals and 64 points through 80 games, but he’s also gotten hot down the stretch with seven goals and 12 points over his past nine outings, so look for him to also show up on the scoresheet over the Penguins’ last two games.

The question is who will start in net. The Penguins have used Alex Nedeljkovic in each of their last 12 games, but he’s posted a 4.21 GAA and an .854 save percentage over his past four outings. To be fair, Tristan Jarry didn’t look good when he stepped into Saturday’s 6-4 loss to Boston in relief of Nedeljkovic -- Jarry stopped 12 of 14 shots in 26:27 of ice time -- but it might be that Nedeljkovic is running on fumes at this point, so maybe Jarry is still the better option, at least for Pittsburgh’s next contest Monday.

Dallas Stars – WED VS STL

The Stars have secured home-ice advantage through the Western Conference Championship, but Dallas can still go one further by claiming the Presidents’ Trophy. Dallas has 11 points (51-21-9), putting the Stars one point behind the Rangers (54-23-4). Carolina and Boston are tied at 109 points over 80 contests, so either team has an outside chance of winning the Presidents’ Trophy by winning each of its last two games.

Dallas’ final contest will be a home match versus St. Louis on Wednesday. Note that the Rangers control the tiebreaker over Dallas in the Presidents’ Trophy battle, so Dallas only has a chance to claim the title if it earns a victory over the Blues.

Even though the Stars still have something to play for, it wouldn’t be shocking if they rest some players Wednesday. For example, backup Scott Wedgewood might get the nod, both to keep him fresh in case he’s needed during the playoffs and to give Jake Oettinger a breather after starting in four straight and seven of Dallas’ past eight. The Blues rank 24th offensively with 2.86 goals per game, so Wednesday’s tilt would be a favorable matchup for Wedgewood.

Tyler Seguin, who didn’t play April 6 because of workload management related to his lower-body injury, might also get the game off. It wouldn’t be shocking if others were rested too, but I don’t think Ryan Suter and Joe Pavelski will be among those who get the game off. It might seem logical to give the two 39-years-olds a breather before the playoffs, but Suter and Pavelski have active iron man streaks of 452 and 313 games, respectively. Perhaps they’ll get less ice time than usual, though. We also might see Dallas give significant minutes in its finale to Logan Stankoven, who has six goals and 14 points in 23 contests, so don’t be surprised if the 21-year-old rookie has a productive game.

New York Rangers – MON @ OTT

With a 54-23-4 record, the Rangers will secure the Presidents’ Trophy with a victory against Ottawa on Monday. If New York loses the contest, the Rangers will still claim the title if Dallas loses its season finale, Boston is held to three of four points over its last two outings and Carolina is limited to two of four points over its final two games. The reason why the Bruins would need to do better than Carolina, even though both squads have 109 points through 80 contests, is because Boston is in a worse position when it comes to the tiebreaker.

Like Dallas, New York might rest players despite its final game having some relevance. Jonathan Quick will probably get the nod against the Senators. Quick has done well this campaign with an 18-6-2 record, but he has struggled recently, allowing 12 goals on 92 shots over his past three starts. Meanwhile, Ottawa has won eight of its last 12 contests, so while the Senators won’t be making the playoffs, they might still give Quick some trouble.

Outside of starting Quick, some of the Rangers’ top players, such as Mika Zibanejad and Adam Fox might be scratched. Vincent Trocheck and Artemi Panarin have participated in 165 and 163 consecutive games, respectively, so both of them will probably be in the lineup. Panarin is also two goals away from hitting 50 for the first time in his career, so keep an eye out for that. Chris Kreider will also likely be in the lineup. He needs just one more goal to reach 40 and this would be his first 82-game campaign if he dresses.

Arizona Coyotes – WED VS EDM

I’m throwing the Coyotes in here even though they long since have been mathematically eliminated. Arizona did have a 23-19-3 record through Jan. 22, but a horrific 0-12-2 run from Jan. 24-Feb. 29 effectively ended any hope the Coyotes had of making the playoffs. Still, there is a grim reason to note them: When Arizona hosts Edmonton on Wednesday, it could very well be the franchise’s last game before moving to Salt Lake City (the move isn’t official as of the time of writing but seems all but certain).

To some extent, the Coyotes’ probable move felt inevitable. Since the then Phoenix Coyotes declared bankruptcy in May 2009, it’s been one saga after another with the team and never since that date, have they looked truly secure in their home in Arizona. The fact that the Coyotes have been playing in a college arena since 2022 has made the situation look particularly untenable unless a long-term solution was secured. Even still, this is a sad ending for the dedicated fanbase in Arizona. It might not be the end -- even now there’s talk that the NHL might put an expansion team in Arizona after the Coyotes move if Alex Meruelo, who will sell the Coyotes, can secure a new arena deal -- but it is the end of a chapter.

With that in mind, Wednesday’s otherwise meaningless game has taken on a new meaning. Barring one more twist in this saga that prevents the anticipated move from happening, the contest will stand as a chance for the players to say goodbye to a fanbase that has been with them through all the turmoil. I would expect the Coyotes to play with a lot of heart under the circumstances. In particular, I’m interested to see how Clayton Keller, who was drafted by Arizona in 2016 and now serves as the squad’s top forward, does. He has been held off the scoresheet for his past three games, but Keller has still contributed 33 goals and 73 points in 76 outings overall, and I think the odds are high he will make his presence felt in the finale.

Another player to watch will be Josh Doan. He’s the son of Shane Doan, who was the captain of the franchise from 2003-17 and remains the franchise’s career leader in games (1,540), goals (402), assists (570) and points (972), among other categories. The younger Doan has given Coyotes fans a taste of the future recently, scoring four goals and eight points over nine games. Given his deep family connection to this franchise, this might be an especially emotional goodbye for him. It is also worth noting the grim symmetry here. Like Josh, Shane Doan saw his franchise move, in his case from Winnipeg to Phoenix, after appearing in just one season.

NHL: CULLEN – 20 FANTASY POINTS – Sean Monahan moves to Winnipeg, Troy Terry is streaking, Jonathan Quick is earning more playing time, Nazem Kadri is leading the way for Calgary, Dylan Cozens is starting to heat up in Buffalo, and much, much more!

Scott Cullen — Fri, 09 Feb 2024 20:21:44 +0000

Troy Terry (61) (Photo by Keith Gillett/Icon Sportswire),

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

This week, Sean Monahan moves to Winnipeg, Troy Terry is streaking, Jonathan Quick is earning more playing time, Nazem Kadri is leading the way for Calgary, Dylan Cozens is starting to heat up in Buffalo, and much, much more!

#1 The Winnipeg Jets dipped into the trade market to acquire centre Sean Monahan from the Montreal Canadiens. Monahan, healthy after years of having hip problems, has been enjoying a renaissance. He had put up 11 points (2 G, 9 A) in his last seven games with Montreal and while he has not recorded a point in his first two games with the Jets, Monahan does have six shots on goal and seems like he should be a reasonable option as the No. 2 centre in Winnipeg.

#2 With Monahan departing, Montreal is in dire straits down the middle of the ice behind captain Nick Suzuki. With Christian Dvorak and Kirby Dach out for the season and Alex Newhook still recovering from injury, Montreal has Jake Evans slotted into the second line centre spot, with AHL call-ups Brandon Gignac and Lucas Condotta filling out the bottom half of the centre depth chart. Evans has 14 points (2 G, 12 A) in 50 games, which is not exactly prime offensive production from a player who is already averaging a career high 15:45 of ice time per game.

#3 Anaheim Ducks right winger Troy Terry started slowly this season, scoring 13 points in his first 24 games, and that included a four-point game against Arizona on November 1. He has since picked up the pace and goes into Friday’s action riding a six-game point streak during which he has produced 10 points (4 G, 6 A) and 19 shots on goal. That’s a small sample, but the shot rate is encouraging. Terry averaged a career high 2.69 shots on goal per game last season and is sitting on 2.51 shots per game this season, so lifting his average up over three per game counts as progress and makes his production more sustainable.

#4 A bizarre goaltending season continues to wreak havoc for fantasy hockey managers. With Igor Shesterkin slumping, to the tune of a .863 save percentage in 10 games since the calendar flipped to 2024, the Rangers are now giving more starts to Jonathan Quick. For all of his career accolades, Quick is now 38 years old and had worse than average results in four of the previous five seasons. This season, he has a .919 save percentage and a 12-4-2 record in 19 appearances. With Shesterkin slumping, Quick is shockingly taking on a bigger role for the Blueshirts.

#5 While the season appears to be headed south for the Calgary Flames as a team, centre Nazem Kadri has picked up his production after a relatively slow start to the campaign. In his past 20 games, Kadri has 21 points (8 G, 13 A) and 67 shots on goal and with Elias Lindholm traded, Kadri becomes even more important as Calgary’s No. 1 centre.

#6 Following a breakthrough 2022-2023 season, Buffalo Sabres centre Dylan Cozens has not been as productive this season. However, with nine points (4 G, 5 A) and 23 shots on goal in his past eight games, Cozens is starting to look more like the rising star that he was a year ago. He is getting first unit power play time right now but has just five power play points this season, so that could be an area to increase potential point production.

#7 The goals are not coming as easily for Washington this season, but centre Dylan Strome remains a viable fantasy hockey option, at least for consideration in deeper leagues. Since December 30, he has 13 points (6 G, 7 A) and 34 shots on goal in 16 games. With Evgeny Kuznetsov in the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program, Strome is the most established scoring centre on the Capitals roster by a healthy margin and is naturally centering the top line between Alex Ovechkin and Tom Wilson.

#8 In his past 20 games, Philadelphia Flyers winger Joel Farabee has put up 21 points (6 G, 15 A) while registering 53 shots on goal. Skating on a line with Morgan Frost and Travis Konecny, in addition getting first unit power play time, is working for Farabee, who ranks 25th in the league with 35 even strength points. Farabee’s even strength production has been outstanding, but if he can become a factor on the power play, he could push towards a point per game scoring pace.

#9 Tampa Bay Lightning defenceman Mikhail Sergachev suffered a broken leg in Wednesday’s loss at the New York Rangers, in his first game back after missing 17. Sergachev’s absence does open the door for Darren Raddysh to remain in a more significant role on the Lightning blueline. Raddysh has contributed eight points (4 G, 4 A) with 19 shots on goal in his past 12 games. He has played nearly 21 minutes per game over his past 20 games, the 27-year-old making himself a fixture on the Lightning blueline in his first full NHL season.

#10 While he could stand to put more pucks on net, Detroit Red Wings winger Lucas Raymond has contributed 15 points (3 G, 12 A) in his past 15 games, despite managing a modest 18 shots on goal. He is reaping the rewards of a high on-ice shooting percentage, 11.1 percent, and that is likely unsustainable, though riding with Alex DeBrincat and Dylan Larkin on Detroit’s top line should help to keep Raymond’s percentages at least above average.

#11 With Jack Eichel still out of the lineup for the Vegas Golden Knights, they can be thankful that other centres have stepped up to fill the void. Chandler Stephenson has contributed 10 points (4 G, 6 A) with 22 shots on goal in the past 10 games and Nicolas Roy has 13 points (3 G, 10 A) in his past nine games. Since January 1, Roy is averaging 4.05 points per 60 minutes of five-on-five play, which is the best rate in the entire league for players that have played at least 100 five-on-five minutes. In Stephenson’s case, this re-emergence has come following a stretch during which he managed just two points (1 G, 1 A) in 12 games.

#12 Seattle Kraken right winger Jordan Eberle has had trouble getting on track this season but is making progress lately. In his past seven games, Eberle has put up nine points (4 G, 5 A) with 14 shots on goal. He is skating on a line with Tomas Tatar and Jared McCann and they have had some success. McCann has 13 points (6 G, 7 A) and 26 shots on goal in his past 10 games, while Tatar has four points (2 G, 2 A) in his past five games.

#13 In his second full season with the Buffalo Sabres, winger JJ Peterka has been the leading goal scorer for the team, which is a credit to Peterka, who has 18 goals after scoring seven points (5 G, 2 A) with 21 shots on goal in his past six games, but it’s also something of an indictment of more established scorers like Jeff Skinner, Tage Thompson, and Alex Tuch, who have not produced to the levels that they have in previous seasons. Peterka is skating on a line with Dylan Cozens and rookie winger Zach Benson, a trio full of potential and a group that should get plenty of ice time for the rest of the season.

#14 There is not a lot to bring excitement to the San Jose Sharks’ season and it is rare to bring forth Sharks players for potential fantasy value. With that disclaimer out of the way, managers in deep leagues should keep tabs on William Eklund, the 21-year-old who was the seventh pick in the 2021 Draft. Eklund has six points (1 G, 5 A) in his past five games and is getting some reps at centre. He is also getting significant ice time, including first unit power play time, playing more than 20 minutes in four of his past seven contests.

#15 It has been a challenging season in Columbus, too. Johnny Gaudreau leads the Blue Jackets with just 32 points in 50 games. Patrik Laine is in the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program, and star rookie Adam Fantilli is out for two months with a lacerated calf. One bright spot has been the development of Yegor Chinakhov, the 23-year-old winger who was a surprise first-round pick in 2020. Chinakhov has seven points (4 G, 3 A) and 19 shots on goal in his past seven games and is up to 14 goals on the season. Like Eklund, Chinakhov is more of a concern for those in deep or dynasty leagues.

#16 There are few players that are worthy of fantasy consideration that play as little as Detroit Red Wings right winger Daniel Sprong. He was one of the most efficient players in the league with Seattle last season, scoring 46 points (21 G, 25 A) in 66 games while playing just 11:25 per game. When he signed with Detroit, the expectation was that Sprong would see a bump in ice time but, for the most part that hasn’t materialized. Even so, he has put up 10 points (4 G, 6 A) with 38 shots on goal in his past 13 games, while playing just 11:46 per game, since the calendar flipped to 2024.

#17 A defenceman who scored a career-high 20 points as a rookie in 2017-2018, Jan Rutta is suddenly contributing offensively for the San Jose Sharks. Not only does Rutta have six points (3 G, 3 A) in the past six games, but he is averaging 22:45 of ice time per game over that stretch. This is a more significant role for the veteran defender, but it’s also for a terrible team and he does not have a significant role on the power play, so maybe don’t rush to the waiver wire immediately, just consider him as a potential short-term option if injuries hit your blueline.

#18 The Jordan Binnington experience can be a bit of a roller coaster, with ups and downs, thrills, and spills, but when he is on, the St. Louis Blues netminder can be a difference maker. In 10 games since the Christmas break, for example, Binnington has a 6-3-1 record with a .928 save percentage. That will play in any league and makes Binnington a much more appealing fantasy option.

#19 Although it is difficult for any goaltender to put up great numbers in San Jose, Mackenzie Blackwood is doing his level best. In nine games since the Christmas break, the 27-year-old netminder has a 4-3-1 record with a .923 save percentage. It would be only the deepest of leagues that could justify taking a Sharks goaltender, but Blackwood is at least making himself a viable fantasy option and the way that goaltending has fluctuated throughout the league this season, it’s always worth considering one that is on a good run.

#20 Among players to play at least 150 minutes in all situations since January 1, the leaders for individual expected goals per 60 minutes are: Zach Hyman (2.64), Dmitri Voronkov (1.91), T.J. Oshie (1.89), Matthew Tkachuk (1.83), Chris Kreider (1.79), Kyle Palmieri (1.77), Yanni Gourde (1.71), John Tavares (1.64), David Pastrnak (1.62), and Joe Pavelski (1.62). A few things stand out. First, is that Hyman is getting way more chances than anyone else in the league but players like Voronkov, Oshie, Palmieri, and Gourde are all available in quite a few leagues. Fantasy hockey rewards actual goals rather than expected goals, but the process of generating expected goals should have a payoff with real goals at some point, too.

CULLEN: 20 FANTASY POINTS – Perfetti, Mittelstadt and Tippett stepping up – Vasilveskiy returns + plus much more

Scott Cullen — Fri, 24 Nov 2023 17:03:03 +0000

CHICAGO, IL - NOVEMBER 19: Casey Mittelstadt #37 of the Buffalo Sabres brings the puck up ice during the second period against the Chicago Blackhawks at the United Center on November 19, 2023 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Melissa Tamez/Icon Sportswire)

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

This week, Cole Perfetti, Casey Mittelstadt, and Owen Tippett are among the forwards elevating their play, Andrei Vasilevskiy nears his return, and a couple of Masons are offering up solid production.

#1 As a rookie last season, Winnipeg Jets winger Cole Perfetti contributed 30 points (8 G, 22 A) in 51 games, before he was sidelined by an upper-body injury. His 0.59 points per game ranked third among rookies and that appears to be the launching pad because he has continued his career ascent in his second season. He has 13 points (5 G, 8 A) and 29 shots on goal in his past 13 games. He is skating with Nikolaj Ehlers and Vladislav Namestnikov on the second line, but Perfetti is also in a reliable role on Winnipeg’s top power play unit.

#2 With Tage Thompson out, the Buffalo Sabres need others to step up offensively, and Casey Mittelstadt is an interesting option. He has 13 points (2 G, 11 A) in his past 15 games and played a career high 23:21 in Buffalo’s overtime loss at Washington on Wednesday. Mittelstadt is working with Buffalo’s promising young wingers, with sophomore J.J. Peterka and rookie Zach Benson on his flanks.

#3 Last season was a breakout campaign for Philadelphia Flyers winger Owen Tippett, as he put up 49 points (27 G, 22 A) in 77 games, finally realizing his potential as a shot generating goal scorer. In his past six games, Tippett has put up eight points (5 G, 3 A) with 19 shots on goal. He is on the top power play but has an interesting line combination in Philadelphia, with Cam Atkinson on the right side and Ryan Poehling at centre. Poehling, who has been a fourth line centre for most of his NHL career, is taking advantage of this opportunity and suddenly has five points (2 G, 3 A) in the past four games.

#4 The Tampa Bay Lightning have stated that goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy is on the brink of a return from back surgery. He is ahead of the initial timeline of 10 weeks that was announced in late September, but Tampa Bay has managed to tread water with Jonas Johansson as the starting netminder. Johansson recorded back-to-back shutouts in late October, and it looked like he was somehow more effective than anyone could have anticipated, posting a .925 save percentage in seven starts. As his sample size increased, however, it became more apparent that Johansson was not up to handling a starter’s role. In 10 starts since those shutouts, he has a .871 save percentage, so the Lightning will surely be happy to get Vasilevskiy back between the pipes. At the same time, since he is recovering from back surgery, the Lightning might not be able to lean on Vasilevskiy as much as they have in previous seasons. Since the 2019-2020 season, Vasilevskiy has started 217 games. Only Connor Hellebuyck (245) and Jacob Markstrom (220) started more games in that time.

#5 Seattle Kraken right winger Oliver Bjorkstrand had a respectable first season in Seattle in 2022-2023, but his 45 points in 81 games (0.56 points per game) was a dip in per-game production compared to his previous three seasons in Columbus. It appears that the pendulum is swinging back in Bjorkstrand’s favour as he has tallied 18 points (7 G, 11 A) in his past 17 games. On a Kraken team that depends on depth, Bjorkstrand is a valuable complementary scorer, so valuable that he is now leading the Kraken with 19 points in 21 games.

#6 After signing as a free agent in Dallas, left winger Mason Marchment struggled last season, finishing with 31 points (12 G, 19 a) in 68 games. He didn’t exactly burst out of the gate this season, either, with zero points in his first five games, but he has found his range since then, contributing 10 points (4 G, 6 A) and 27 shots on goal in 13 games. There are some limits to Marchment’s offensive upside, in part because he does not have a role on the power play, but he is making the most of his even-strength minutes on a line with veteran scorers Matt Duchene and Tyler Seguin.

#7 A third-line winger does not typically provide a lot of fantasy value, though in deep leagues that mileage may vary. Winnipeg’s Mason Appleton has been thriving on a line with Nino Niederreiter and Adam Lowry and it is resulting in more offence than Appleton has typically provided in his career. In his past 13 games, Appleton has 11 points (5 G, 6 A) and 25 shots on goal. He is also playing 17 minutes per game over that stretch, which is a step up from previous seasons – he played a career-high 16:01 per game last season.

#8 Although he has bounced around a lot in recent seasons, New York Rangers defenceman Erik Gustafsson seems to have found a nice fit on Broadway. Known primarily as a power play quarterback and puck moving defenceman, Gustafsson has excellent possession numbers (53.8 CF%) to go with 12 points (3 G, 9 A) in 17 games. This is not altogether unusual for him – he had 42 points in 70 games with Washington and Toronto last season – but Gustafsson seems to have what the Rangers need in a depth defenceman. While many teams seek out bangers to handle third pair minutes, Gustafsson is decidedly not that kind of player, and that could contribute to why he has moved around so much, but he has been very effective with the Blueshirts.

#9 Acquired from the Los Angeles Kings as part of the three-way deal sending Ivan Provorov to Columbus, Sean Walker has maximized the opportunity presented to him in Philadelphia. Walker tore his ACL in 2021-2022, playing just six games, and when he returned last season, he was stuck in a part-time role with the Kings. Moving to Philadelphia, however, has opened the door for Walker to handle much more responsibility. He is averaging more than 21 minutes of ice time per game, and has six points (1 G, 5 A) with 14 shots on goal in his past five games.

#10 There are some tough times in Chicago right now. Rookie Connor Bedard is living up to lofty expectations, scoring 16 points (10 G, 6 A) in 17 games, but his veteran supporting cast has been decimated. Taylor Hall is out for the season with a torn ACL, Andreas Athanasiou is on the injured list, and Corey Perry was scratched for vague “organizational reasons”. Lukas Reichel and Philipp Kurashev are the latest to get a look on Bedard’s wings and Kurashev is an intriguing option, as the 24-year-old forward has put up 11 points (4 G, 7 A) in 11 games this season.

#11 Gustav Nyquist is riding a six-game point streak for Nashville, scoring eight points (1 G, 7 A) in the process. He is in an excellent place to produce, skating on the top line, with Ryan O’Reilly and Filip Forsberg, as well as holding down a spot on Nashville’s top power play unit. He is a skilled offensive player who succeeds in a supporting role. In a small sample with Minnesota late last season and into the playoffs, he had 10 points (1 G, 9 A) in nine games. Given the opportunity to play with quality talent in Nashville, 34-year-old Nyquist is showing that he still has the playmaking chops.

#12 Predicting goaltending performance is a challenge at the best of times, but 38-year-old New York Rangers goaltender Jonathan Quick is making a mockery of the idea that past performance or aging curves have a place in the game. Over the previous five seasons, Quick had a .897 save percentage in 197 games. He had established that he was a below-average goaltender most of the time. In seven games for the Rangers this year, he has a .940 save percentage and a 5-0-1 record. It’s hard to gain a ton of value from a goaltender that is very clearly the backup on his team, and it’s risky enough to take a shot on a 38-year-old riding a hot streak, but in desperate times, it might be worth considering Quick, no matter how unlikely that might have seemed at the start of the season.

#13 A slow start puts the Calgary Flames’ season in peril, but it looks like Nazem Kadri is doing his part to help the Flames climb out of their early season hole. Kadri had zero goals and one assist through eight games to open the season, but has 11 points (3 G, 8 A) with 33 shots on goal in 11 games since. He is currently on a line with Dillon Dube and rookie Martin Pospisil, which is not exactly a surefire path to success, but it should be noted that Pospisil has five points (3 G, 2 A) and 26 shots on goal in his first nine NHL games.

#14 Seattle Kraken winger Eeli Tolvanen is another player who started slowly but has turned things around. He had zero goals and two assists through eight games but has been scoring at a point-per-game clip since, registering 13 points (5 G, 8 A) with 34 shots on goal in the past 13 games. He seems to have found a good place, skating on the left wing with Yanni Gourde and Bjorkstrand.

#15 Tampa Bay Lightning right winger Nikita Kucherov is obviously one of the premier offensive players in the game, but the 30-year-old playmaker has added a new dimension to his game – he is shooting and scoring a lot more. In November, Kucherov has recorded 51 shots on goal in 10 games, scoring seven times. His 13 goals in 19 games this season is the highest per-game (0.68) goal scoring rate of his career.

#16 Looking to buy low on players that are getting the shots but can’t seem to find the net? Matthew Tkachuk, Nathan MacKinnon, Cole Caufield, Adam Fantilli, and Jakub Vrana are all averaging at least three shots on goal per game in November, while scoring on less than six percent of their shots. Obviously Tkachuk and MacKinnon are going to carry a lot of value already, but their goal-scoring slumps could help make their acquisition cost more palatable. Fantilli is interesting because the Blue Jackets have been a mess lately, but he is still generating chances and that should start to materialize into goals as he continues to mature.

#17 There are four defencemen that have recorded at least 20 hits and 20 blocked shots in November: Radko Gudas, Jacob Trouba, Moritz Seider, and Mackenzie Weegar. Tyler Myers has 19 hits and 25 blocked shots, so he just missed the cut off. Gudas has also added four points (2 G, 2 A) in his past six games.

#18 Colorado Avalanche centre Ross Colton has picked up five points (3 G, 2 A) in the past five games. He has limited upside given his role with the Avalanche but has scored 38 goals in the previous two seasons and has six goals in 18 games this season. In deep leagues, that might be enough, at least when he is riding a hot streak.

#19 After seeing Nicklas Backstrom step away from the Washington Capitals, it’s fair to wonder whether T.J. Oshie is going to be able to get back to his previous form. The 36-year-old winger scored Wednesday against Buffalo to snap a nine-game scoreless drought, during which he had just 14 shots on goal. Oshie is still averaging more than 17 minutes of ice time per game, and still has his role on Washington’s top power play unit, so he is getting opportunities, but the production is lagging.

#20 Carolina’s Michael Bunting has zero goals and two assists in his past seven games and has been dropped to the fourth line. He played a season-low in 9:22 in Carolina’s win over Edmonton on Wednesday, and it’s not easy to climb that Hurricanes depth chart, with Teuvo Teravainen and Andrei Svechnikov holding down spots on the top two lines and Jordan Martinook excelling in a checking role on the third line. For the time being that might make it prudent for fantasy managers to let Bunting go and circle back around if his situation improves.

NHL PLAYOFF PREVIEW: WINNIPEG JETS VS. VEGAS GOLDEN KNIGHTS – Can the Jets muster the offense to win?

Jesse Marshall — Sat, 15 Apr 2023 15:12:00 +0000

The Vegas Golden Knights enter this post-season as the top seed in the Western Conference. Even typing that feels weird, as it doesn't feel like Vegas has had that kind of dominance this season, but they've broken their franchise record in points en route to this top seed. This is a well-rounded team that does everything well enough and gets extraordinary offensive contributions all throughout its lineup.

The Jets are defensive specialists with good goaltending, is that enough to get the job done? These two teams last met in the 2018 Western Conference final where Vegas took the win in five games. Let's take a look at the tale of the tape between these teams before jumping into a prediction to round things out.

Offensive Breakdown: A David vs. Goliath Tale

NEWARK, NJ - JANUARY 24: Vegas Golden Knights center Jack Eichel (9) skates with the puck during the National Hockey League game between the Vegas Golden Knights and the New Jersey Devils on January 24, 2023 at Prudential Center in Newark, NJ. (Photo by Andrew Mordzynski/Icon Sportswire)

We're starting off with the most lopsided aspect of this matchup. These two teams generate shots and scoring chances at near-equal paces to each other, but the Jets rank 27th in the league with regard to their ability to finish and the Golden Knights are 15th. That makes a huge difference in the bucket of actual goals scored. The Golden Knights are outpacing their expectations and have the 9th most goals in the league as a result. The Jets are struggling to finish opportunities and rank 23rd in goals-for as a result.

The struggle for the Jets is a total lack of transition and rush offense. Once they can establish a cycle, they begin to get some chances and shots on net, but until that time comes it's largely a hit and miss effort full of dump-and-chase hockey. Aside from Nikolaj Ehlers, the Jets do not have many players that they can comfortably rely on to carry the puck into the offensive zone with possession.

Ehlers, as it might not surprise you, also leads the team with regards to shooting off of the rush as well. Winnipeg's best work comes off of the cycle and from getting opportunities in-tight to the net. The generate more opportunities here than they do anywhere else on the ice. They also generate messy shots like deflections and rebounds at a rate higher than most of their peers. The Jets will be looking to their top line of Mark Scheifele and his 40+ goals to help them keep pace with things on offense. Look for the Jets to try and establish long, offensive zone possessions that work the puck low-to-high and generates attempts that challenge the goalie in high-danger areas.

It's a more dynamic story on the offensive side of the puck for the Golden Knights. I don't look at their results and point to one area to say that it's definitively responsible for their success. Their zone entry numbers from the All Three Zones project show that they have no issue carrying the puck and they do it frequently with contributions coming from all over their lineup, but especially from Jack Eichel.

Speaking of Eichel, he's found great success with Mark Stone this season and should the two of them find time together at even-strength, that is going to certainly challenge the Jets. Vegas passes the puck a lot once they enter the offensive zone. As a result of their wholesale approach to puck movement, they find a lot of space on the edges of the circles and in the slot. Keep an eye on William Carrier, he's set a career-high for game-winning goals and has registered a point on 78-percent of all the goals scored while he's on the ice at even-strength.

Defensive Comparison

LOS ANGELES, CA - OCTOBER 27: Winnipeg Jets Defenceman Josh Morrissey (44) carries the puck at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, CA. (Photo by Rob Curtis/Icon Sportswire)

This is an area where the Jets can definitely hang with the Golden Knights. They allowed fewer goals against than the Knights this year and allow significantly fewer shots. The Jets protect their defensive blue line well and on controlled breakouts, it's not uncommon to find them with three bodies stacked at the blue line. However, that hasn't prevented them from stopping zone entries. I talked earlier about how good Vegas was at carrying the puck into the offensive zone with possession and the Jets haven't been great at defending that.

The Jets will look to Josh Morrissey, a legitimate Norris candidate for this season, to run the show for them on the backend. Morrissey's skating allows him to make significant contributions both offensively and defensively and the Jets will need him in both areas. Defensively speaking, Brenden Dillon has done a great job for the Jets this year. He's kept a strong, aggressive gap and has posted positive results in shot and scoring chance mitigation relative to his teammates as a result.

For the Golden Knights, their kryptonite has seemingly been their inability to protect the opposition from piling up on shot-attempts. The good news is that while Vegas allows a lot of shot-attempts, they keep most of them to the outside. They do have an issue with getting lost in transition on long cycle opportunities and center drives, but it's more of an annoyance versus something that could potentially sink them in the post-season.

The Golden Knights third pairing of Nicolas Hague and Ben Hutton have been posting quietly good results in the realm of shot and scoring-chance suppression. They can be deployed in a very confident fashion as a third-pairing. Meanwhile Alec Martinez and Alex Pieterangelo have controlled 55-percent of the quality scoring chances while they've been on the ice at even-strength.

Special Teams Battle

Neither of these teams have a power-play that particularly strikes fear into the heart of the opponent. The Golden Knights convert at just over 20-percent and the Jets come in at 19.3-percent. The one element that I think goes in the Golden Knights favor is that they take shots from all over the ice surface whereas the Jets are more limited to the right side of the ice. In fact, most of their attempts at offense come from this area courtesy of Connor being posted up there. Add in Nino Niederreiter and you've got a lot of firepower on that right-hand side of the ice.

For the Knights, they've struggled to find someone who can lift their power-play to the next level. Jonathan Marchessault leads the way with 9 power-play goals and 16 power-play points on the year.

On the penalty-killing side it's the Jets that have had more success so far this season. They boast the 7th-best penalty-kill in the league with an 82.4-percent success rate. Winnipeg's success in this are comes from the direct support they provide to their goaltending in these circumstances. Their penalty-kill is aggressive but tight to the front of their net. They will make opponents work for good opportunities from the exterior of the ice.

The Golden Knights have all the trappings to keep up with the Jets from a scoring chance prevention perspective, but they allow entirely too many shots and haven't gotten the good goaltending the Jets have on the penalty-kill. I mentioned the struggles the Jets have with generating shots outside of the right half of the ice surface on the power-play, and that's an area the Golden Knights have showed no trouble with on the penalty-kill.

Goaltending Comparison

The Jets path to stealing this series will come from the crease in the form of Connor Hellebuyck. It was another solid performance from him this season with a .920 save percentage. He had an expected goals-against total of 189 and an actualized goals-against total of 157.

I mentioned earlier the discrepancy in offensive talent here. If the Jets are going to keep these games close, they need huge performances in the crease to keep the scores low. Getting into an offensive shootout is not their game and goaltending is more important than ever for them as a result.

The big question here is who is going to be the game one started for the Golden Knights? The have, in some form or fashion, deployed a total of five goalies at regular points throughout this regular season. Laurent Brossoit has been playing well for them recently, could he get the call? Jonathan Quick has seem time for them as well, but he's posting a .901 save percentage and has allowed four more goals than a league average goaltender would in his situation.

This is a big advantage for the Jets as we know who their rock is in goal but the Golden Knights still have a question who will be starting in game one for them.

Prediction

Despite the questions about goaltending, I think a Golden Knights team that has just seen Mark Stone and Shea Theodore return to the lineup is too much to handle. The Jets have a top line that features some lethal goal-scorers and a group that can control the game, but I don't think that and the goaltending advantage is going to be enough to stave off a Golden Knights team that has a lot of different ways they can score goals. I'm taking the Golden Knights in six games.

Data for this piece was obtained by:

Corey Sznajder - All Three Zones

NHL: CULLEN – 20 FANTASY POINTS – Players making the most of opportunities with new teams

Scott Cullen — Fri, 10 Mar 2023 19:52:49 +0000

BOSTON, MA - MARCH 09: Boston Bruins defenseman Dmitry Orlov (81) carries the puck during a game between the Boston Bruins and the Edmonton Oilers on March 9, 2023, at TD garden in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Fred Kfoury III/Icon Sportswire)

Each week I dive into the numbers and offer some insights that should help when it comes time to make fantasy hockey decisions.

This week, checking in with some players making the most of opportunities with new teams. Dmitry Orlov, Rasmus Sandin, Nino Niederreiter, Ivan Barbashev, and maybe even Jonathan Quick are in positions to play a big role down the stretch.

#1 In more than a decade playing for the Washington Capitals, defenseman Dmitry Orlov earned a reputation as a reliable defenseman but was not a big offensive producer. He scored a career high 12 goals and 35 points last season but rarely had an opportunity on the first power play unit because that was mostly the domain of John Carlson. In his first six games with the Boston Bruins, Orlov has put up nine points (3 G, 6 A) and 14 hits. He has been getting a look on the top power play unit, which suddenly makes Orlov much more appealing for fantasy managers.

#2 With the Capitals overhauling their blueline, there has been a huge opportunity given to Rasmus Sandin who has put up five points (1 G, 4 A) in his first three games for the Capitals and logged a career-high 29:58 in Thursday’s 3-2 shootout loss to New Jersey. Nine of Sandin’s 20 assists have come on the power play and he figures to get his fill of time with the man advantage for the rest of the season.

#3 Arriving in Winnipeg from Nashville, winger Nino Niederreiter has been installed at right wing on the Jets’ top line, alongside left winger Kyle Connor and center Mark Scheifele. Niederreiter has contributed four points (2 G, 2 A) in five games for Winnipeg, but his shot rate is worth watching. Niederreiter has 13 shots on goal in his past four games and was averaging a career-high 2.32 shots on goal per game with Nashville. If he stays in a top line role and can generate three shots per game, that is the kind of situation in which Niederreiter can produce at a higher level.

#4 There was little doubt that Ivan Barbashev would be a good fit for a contending team when he was traded from the St. Louis Blues before the deadline, but the move to the Vegas Golden Knights has had very positive initial results. In his first six games for Vegas, Barbashev has contributed five points (2 G, 3 A) while averaging more than 18 minutes of ice time per game. He is getting a chance to skate at left wing on the top line with Jack Eichel and Jonathan Marchessault, which offers more offensive upside than Barbashev typically had in St. Louis.

#5 Veteran Washington Capitals right winger T.J. Oshie is giving his all, even if it looks like the Capitals are not on the way to the postseason. In his past 11 games, Oshie has 12 points (6 G, 6 A) and 20 hits, which is still a valuable fantasy contribution from the 36-year-old.

#6 There were some trade rumors surrounding Arizona Coyotes Nick Schmaltz, but he remained in the desert. Schmaltz, who was much of a setup man early in his career, is becoming more of a finisher and, after scoring in Thursday’s 4-1 win over Nashville, Schmaltz has tallied 25 points (14 G, 11 A) in his past 19 games. With 21 goals in 49 games on the season, Schmaltz is two away from his career high, set in 63 games last season.

#7 One of the hottest goal scorers in the league right now is still available in a significant percentage of fantasy leagues. Seattle Kraken winger Jared McCann scored two goals in Thursday’s 5-4 loss to Ottawa, giving him 10 points (7 G, 3 A) and 26 shots on goal in his past six games. McCann has been enjoying a high shooting percentage, scoring on a career-high 22.4% of his shots this season, but his recent spike in his shot rate is an encouraging sign. If he is going to remain a highly productive goal scorer, it is a lot easier to do so when averaging more than four shots per game as he has over the past couple of weeks.

#8 Although the Philadelphia Flyers are just finishing up the season, with no hope for the postseason, there is still a chance for some players to make the most of a late season opportunity. Owen Tippett has had a breakthrough season for the Flyers scoring 18 goals and 34 points through 60 games. The 24-year-old winger is logging big minutes now. In his past seven games, Tippett has four points (3 G, 1 A) and 34 shots on goal while averaging nearly 22 minutes of ice time per game and given the limited depth on the Flyers roster, Tippett should continue to get big minutes the rest of the way.

#9 It can be easy to get overlooked in New Jersey, especially as a third line center behind Jack Hughes and Nico Hischier, but Erik Haula is proving to be an effective contributor in his own right. Even though he is scoring on a career-low 6.1% of his shots for the season, Haula has nine points (3 G, 6 A) with 20 shots on goal in his past nine games. With Ondrej Palat and Jesper Bratt his most recent wingers, Haula is in position to chip in more offensively than a run-of-the-mill third line center.

#10 Veteran Tampa Bay Lightning winger Alex Killorn had a career-high 59 points last season, the first time in his career that he had surpassed 50 points, but the 33-year-old is knocking on that door again, with 49 points in 65 games. In his past 10 games, Killorn has delivered 10 points (5 G, 5 A) and has a regular spot as part of Tampa Bay’s first power play unit.

#11 New York Islanders captain Anders Lee can be a force in front of the net and he has provided a much-needed source of goal scoring. In his past 10 games, Lee has contributed 10 points (7 G, 3 A) with 32 shots on goal. He is up to 26 goals on the season and has a good chance to have his most productive goal-scoring campaign since scoring a career-high 40 goals in 2017-2018.

#12 Dallas Stars rookie Wyatt Johnston has been a solid contributor but has started to handle a more substantial role as the season has progressed. In his past seven games, Johnston has six points (3 G, 3 A) with 18 shots on goal while averaging more than 16 minutes of ice time per game. Johnston is tied for third among rookies with 16 goals and is thriving as the center on a line between veteran wingers Jamie Benn and Evgenii Dadonov. Since he was acquired from Montreal, Dadonov has chipped in five points (2 G, 3 A) and 14 shots on goal in six games.

#13 The way the season was going, it did not look like there would be much of a role remaining for 37-year-old goaltender Jonathan Quick after he was traded to Columbus in the deal that sent Joonas Korpisalo and Vladislav Gavrikov to Los Angeles. The Blue Jackets flipped Quick to Vegas and now, with Adin Hill the latest Golden Knights goaltender to get injured, Quick is looking at an opportunity to start games down the stretch for the team that sits in first place in the Pacific Division. He has a .878 save percentage in 33 games, so it’s fair to wonder about his level of play, but if Quick is going to start for a winning team, he will likely have value for fantasy managers.

#14 Injuries have hit the Ottawa Senators goaltenders, too, so 22-year-old rookie Mads Sogaard should see substantial playing time for the next three weeks, at least, while Cam Talbot is out. In eight games, Sogaard has a .899 save percentage, but that was brought down by his allowing five goals on 21 shots in Sunday’s loss at Chicago. With the Sens pushing for a playoff spot, Sogaard ought to have some fantasy appeal, at least for teams that are desperate enough to need goaltending help at this stage of the season.

#15 The Minnesota Wild lineup was dealt a big blow with news that leading scorer Kirill Kaprizov suffered a lower-body injury in Wednesday’s victory at Winnipeg. The Wild have called up Sammy Walker from the AHL, where he had 44 points (24 G, 20 A) in 50 games in his first pro season after playing four years at the University of Minnesota. Veteran winger Marcus Johansson, who was acquired from Washington before the trade deadline, could take on more responsibility.

#16 Moving to the Toronto Maple Leafs looked like a great opportunity for center Ryan O’Reilly to salvage what had been an otherwise forgettable season. He was skating on a line with John Tavares and Mitch Marner to start, then Tavares and William Nylander, but then O’Reilly suffered a broken finger, and he will miss the next four weeks. That gives Calle Jarnkrok, who has 29 points (14 G, 15 A) in 57 games, more of an opportunity to play in Toronto’s top six.

#17 It might be a good time to buy low on Los Angeles Kings winger Viktor Arvidsson. He has 10 points (5 G, 5 A) in his past 12 games, and he has 51 shots on goal in that span. Arvidsson had averaged better than three shots on goal per game in five of the previous six seasons but has been under that threshold this season. His recent increase in shot rate is getting him back to more typical levels of production and it makes his goal scoring more sustainable.

#18 Although Montreal Canadiens defenseman Mike Matheson has missed a bunch of time with injuries, he has been handling a heavy workload when he is in the lineup. In 14 games since the All-Star break, Matheson has 11 points (4 G, 7 A) and 36 shots on goal, while averaging 25:21 of ice time per game, which ranks seventh in the league over that time.

The player who was traded for Matheson, Jeff Petry, is contributing to the Penguins’ playoff push, too. With a couple of assists in Thursday’s loss to the Islanders, Petry has nine points (2 G, 7 A) and 28 shots on goal in his past 10 games. He also delivered 11 hits against the Islanders and has 39 hits in his past 10 games, which makes him even more appealing for fantasy managers.

#19 Although he has just two goals in 37 games, the Kings’ Quinton Byfield is starting to get some results while playing left wing on the top line alongside Anze Kopitar and Adrian Kempe. Byfield has recorded an assist in five straight games and played a career-high 18:01 in Thursday’s win at Colorado. This is not a recommendation to immediately add Byfield, more like a notification that the second pick in the 2020 Draft may be turning the corner in his development.

#20 The leading per-game point scorers since the All-Star break: Connor McDavid (2.00), Pavel Buchnevich (1.64), Clayton Keller (1.60), Mitch Marner (1.58), Nathan MacKinnon (1.53), Elias Pettersson (1.53), Artemi Panarin (1.47), William Nylander (1.42), Anze Kopitar (1.38), and Tim Stutzle (1.36). A lot of those names are familiar and to be expected, but Buchnevich and Keller are hanging in elite company and Stutzle’s breakout campaign continues in full force as the Sens push for a playoff spot.

*Advanced stats via Natural Stat Trick.

NHL: CULLEN – 20 FANTASY POINTS – Key trade deadline moves with fantasy impact

Scott Cullen — Fri, 03 Mar 2023 23:17:52 +0000

NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 02: New York Rangers Left Wing Artemi Panarin (10) and New York Rangers Right Wing Patrick Kane (88) talk during the National Hockey League game between the Ottawa Senators and the New York Rangers on March 2, 2023 at Madison Square Garden in New York, NY. (Photo by Joshua Sarner/Icon Sportswire)

Each week I dive into the numbers and offer some insights that should help when it comes time to make fantasy hockey decisions.

This week brought a flurry of trades even before Friday’s NHL Trade Deadline and then not so much on deadline day. Nevertheless, here is a look at the potential impact of the most significant moves, including Patrick Kane, Timo Meier, Jakob Chychrun, Shayne Gostisbehere, Tyler Bertuzzi and many more.

#1 When the New York Rangers traded for Vladimir Tarasenko, it looked like Patrick Kane might not get his wish to end up on Broadway. Kane re-ignited trade interest by putting up 10 points (7 G, 3 A) in his last four games with the Blackhawks and he should be productive in New York, where he will have a stronger supporting cast and is re-united with former Blackhawks linemate Artemi Panarin. Overall, this probably improves Kane’s value down the stretch but his strong finish in Chicago ensures that he won’t be any kind of buy-low bargain for fantasy managers.

#2 A shot generating beast, Timo Meier was acquired by the New Jersey Devils from the San Jose Sharks and while he is recovering from an upper-body injury, there is an excellent opportunity awaiting him with the Devils. Whether he ends up with either Nico Hischier or Jack Hughes as his center, Meier is going to be in position to keep producing at an elite level. He had 31 goals in 57 games with San Jose, averaging a career-high 4.47 shots on goal per game. As for the Sharks, they will offer a bigger role for Fabian Zetterlund, who had 20 points (6 G, 14 A) in 46 games for New Jersey and Andreas Johnsson, who has been stuck in the minors for most of the season and had 30 points (9 G, 21 A) in 36 AHL games, but they would only hold appeal in the deepest of leagues.

#3 The Ottawa Senators landed one of the most sought-after defensemen with the addition of Jakob Chychrun from the Arizona Coyotes. Chychrun has had trouble staying healthy throughout his career but has also been very productive when he is on the ice. Since 2018-2019, among defensemen that have played at least 200 games, Chychrun ranks sixth with 0.19 goals per game (49 goals in 256 games) and seventh with 2.73 shots on goal per game. The question is whether Chychrun has a chance to supplant Thomas Chabot on Ottawa’s top power play unit. In Arizona, Juuso Valimaki is set to take over as the full-time quarterback on the Coyotes power play. He has 10 assists, including five with the man advantage, in the past 11 games.

#4 One of the reasons that Valimaki is the new No. 1 option on the Arizona blueline is that, in addition to trading Chychrun, the Coyotes dealt puck-moving defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere to Carolina. Gostisbehere will get regular power play time with the Hurricanes and given Carolina’s five-on-five dominance, he should see an uptick in production at even strength, too. The Hurricanes also acquired right winger Jesse Puljujarvi from Edmonton. While Puljujarvi is probably more of a long-term project, who arrives with 14 points (5 G, 9 A) in 58 games, he did score 29 goals in 120 games over the previous two seasons. He has been a strong play-driving winger, which fits in Carolina, but Puljujarvi may also have some untapped offensive potential, too.

#5 With long-term injuries hitting wingers Taylor Hall and Nick Foligno, the Boston Bruins wasted no time in dealing for Tyler Bertuzzi from the Detroit Red Wings. Bertuzzi was an attractive commodity on the trade market even though he had just 14 points (4 G, 10 A) in 29 games for Detroit. He was scoring on a career-low 6.5% of his shots, with a 7.8% on-ice shooting percentage, so he is probably due for some positive regression when it comes to his percentages. With Bertuzzi departing Detroit, Dominik Kubalik moved back up to the Wings’ top line.

#6 Power forward Nino Niederreiter landed with the Winnipeg Jets after scoring 28 points (18 G, 10 A) in 56 games for the Nashville Predators. Niederreiter is a six-time 20-goal scorer and should have a good opportunity to produce down the stretch for Winnipeg. He played more than 18 minutes in his first game for the Jets, something Niederreiter did in 11 of 56 games for the Predators. While Nashville has made several changes, one of the more notable moves was to call John Leonard up from the AHL, where he had 32 points (11 G, 21 A) in 52 games for Milwaukee. Leonard scored in his first game for the Preds, skating on a line with Cody Glass and Matt Duchene.

#7 After scoring 24 goals as a rookie last season, Tanner Jeannot was snakebit for most of this season in Nashville, scoring just five goals and 14 points in 56 games. He also had 213 hits and can drop the gloves, if need be, so he can have an impact without scoring, but the Tampa Bay Lightning will try to rekindle Jeannot’s touch around the net. He is skating on the third line with Ross Colton and Nick Paul, a line that should be tough to play against. With Jeannot gone, Cole Smith has joined Colton Sissons and Yakov Trenin on Nashville’s checking line.

#8 One more deal for Nashville, as they sent Mikael Granlund to the Pittsburgh Penguins. Granlund had 36 points (9 G, 27 A) in 58 games for the Preds, and has three seasons in his career with more than 60 points, so he has the skill to be a productive contributor. At the same time, it is not like he is stepping into a big role with the Penguins. In his first game for Pittsburgh, Granlund played mostly with Jeff Carter and Danton Heinen, which is not the best spot for putting up points. Granlund’s departure from Nashville does open up room for a scoring winger and recently called up right winger Philip Tomasino has a chance to take advantage of that situation. Tomasino had 32 points (12 G, 20 A) in 38 AHL games before getting called up and has five points (1 G, 4 A) in nine games since his promotion.

#9 The Vancouver Canucks made one trade with an eye to the future and one that is more geared to the present. First, they sent checking winger William Lockwood to the New York Rangers for Vitali Kravtsov, a 23-year-old winger who had fallen out of favor with the Blueshirts after managing six points (3 G, 3 A) in 28 games. Kravtsov might have some long-term upside but is not likely to offer fantasy value this season. Vancouver’s other major deal involved the addition of Filip Hronek from the Detroit Red Wings. Hronek is a 25-year-old right shot defenseman who has already tied his career high with 38 points (9 G, 29 A) in 60 games. However, 16 of those 38 points have come on the power play and it would seem unlikely that Hronek would get first unit power play time ahead of Quinn Hughes in Vancouver. Hronek’s departure does open up more of an opportunity on the power play for Detroit’s sophomore blueliner Moritz Seider, who started slowly, but has 18 points (2 G, 16 A) in his past 23 games.

#10 The St. Louis Blues continued to sell off veteran talent, dealing versatile forward Ivan Barbashev to the Vegas Golden Knights. Barbashev had a career-high 60 points in 2021-2022 and is not likely to get to that level again, but had 29 points (10 G, 19 A) in 59 games for St. Louis before the trade. Barbashev is getting an excellent opportunity in Vegas, skating on the top line with Jack Eichel and Jonathan Marchessault, so Barbashev is worth tracking in his new location. St. Louis has overhauled a lot of their forward group, but waiver pickup Kasperi Kapanen is looking at a better role than he had in Pittsburgh. Kapanen had 20 points (7 G, 13 A) in 43 games for the Penguins, but was playing just 12 minutes per game. He will play more than that in St. Louis and is getting a look alongside Robert Thomas and Pavel Buchnevich.

The Blues picked up a winger desperately in need of a fresh start. Jakub Vrana was traded from Detroit to St. Louis and the 27-year-old winger spent some time in the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program this season. He had just two points (1 G, 1 A) in five games for the Red Wings as well as 11 points (6 G, 5 A) in 17 AHL games. However, when he was not injured or otherwise out of the lineup Vrana did score 22 goals in 42 games with Detroit, so there is obvious upside for a team like St. Louis, that is not looking for a full rebuild, but a quick turnaround instead. Tread cautiously with adding Vrana for this season but see what kind of opportunity he gets with the Blues and expect that he will have sleeper value next season.

#11 The Edmonton Oilers bolstered their roster with the additions of defenseman Mattias Ekholm from Nashville and center Nick Bjugstad from Arizona. Ekholm is a defensive standout, but is a capable puck mover, too, and has recorded more than 30 points in five different NHL seasons. Tyson Barrie went to Nashville in the Ekholm deal and going from Edmonton’s power play to Nashville’s power play is going to be a shock to the system. Edmonton has scored 12.50 goals per 60 during five-on-four play, easily the best in the league, while Nashville has scored 6.34 goals per 60, ranking 24^th. Barrie scored 28 of his 43 points with the man advantage and will be replaced on the Oilers power play by Evan Bouchard, who has been able to generate points at evens, but has 14 of his 70 career points on the power play. Since the Oilers’ power play is driven more by Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, Bouchard should benefit from the new role. Bjugstad had 13 goals and 23 points in 59 games for Arizona, but he is likely to fill a bottom six role with the Oilers, so should not bring much fantasy value.

#12 The Los Angeles Kings, feeling like contenders, upgraded their defense and goaltending in a trade with the Columbus Blue Jackets, acquiring blueliner Vladislav Gavrikov and netminder Joonas Korpisalo, while sending goalie Jonathan Quick to Columbus. Gavrikov tallied a career-high 33 points last season but has just 10 points (3 G, 7 A) in 52 games this season, so he does not offer much fantasy appeal. Korpisalo, however, is looking at the opportunity to start for a team that is headed to the playoffs. Over the course of his career, Korpisalo has mostly been a below average goaltender, but he had a .919 save percentage in his last 17 games for Columbus and that is good enough for him to count as an upgrade for a Kings team that needed AHL call-up Pheonix Copley to save their season. Quick was reportedly not happy about the deal to Columbus and was then flipped to the Vegas Golden Knights. With Logan Thompson and Laurent Brossoit injured, Vegas could use someone to back up behind Adin Hill. Quick had a .876 save percentage in 31 games for the Kings, which would be a career-low mark for the 37-year-old goaltender. All of this is to say that Quick does not offer much for fantasy managers at this stage of his career.

#13 The Toronto Maple Leafs continued their active ways, dealing defenseman Rasmus Sandin to the Washington Capitals for Erik Gustafsson and a first-round pick. Sandin has a chance to play a substantial role in Washington for the rest of this season and beyond. With John Carlson injured, and Gustafsson heading to Toronto, Sandin is looking at a prime situation in which he can quarterback Washington’s first power play unit. Gustafsson, who had scored 11 of his 38 points with Washington while on the man advantage, is tied for 15^th among defensemen with 27 even-strength points. However, Toronto’s blueline looks awfully crowded so, barring a sudden change, Gustafsson is likely to fall into a depth role, virtually eliminating his fantasy appeal. Toronto also added defensemen Jake McCabe and Luke Schenn, as well as center Sam Lafferty, any of whom might help Toronto’s plans to add grit for the postseason, but none of them look like fantasy contributors.

#14 The Dallas Stars acquired Evgeni Dadonov from the Montreal Canadiens, sending Denis Gurianov the other way. The Stars also brought in center Max Domi from the Chicago Blackhawks. Dadonov is a skilled veteran winger who had a shooting percentage of 5.6% and on-ice shooting percentage of 6.6% for the Habs, both of which are likely to get a natural lift – he’s due! Dadonov has three points (1 G, 2 A) and eight shots on goal in three games for the Stars, skating on a line with Jamie Benn and Wyatt Johnston. Gurianov had just two goals in 43 games for Dallas, but he scored 20 goals in 2019-2020, so there is some upside there and the Habs have the time to draw it out of him. Gurianov scored a goal in his second game for Montreal and played more than 17 minutes in his first two games for the Canadiens, a threshold he had not hit this season in Dallas. Domi wrapped up his tenure with the Blackhawks by scoring 14 points (4 G, 10 A) with 29 shots on goal in his last eight games. He has 49 points, his most in a season since scoring 72 points in 2018-2019. He will be in more of a supporting role with Dallas, so while he may contribute in Dallas, his fantasy value has probably peaked already. With Domi gone, 2020 first-round pick Lukas Reichel has been promoted from the AHL, where he had 46 points (17 G, 29 A) in 51 games for Rockford. Reichel has stepped into Domi’s spot, centering Chicago’s top line between Andreas Athanasiou and Philipp Kurashev.

#15 The Minnesota Wild made some modest deals to improve their forward depth before making bigger deals at the deadine. First, they added Gustav Nyquist from the Columbus Blue Jackets and Marcus Johansson from the Washington Capitals. Nyquist is injured, but should be healthy by the time the playoffs roll around and he is a competent scoring middle six winger. Johansson could have a little fantasy sleeper value. He had 28 points (13 G, 15 A) in 60 games for Washington, but started his second stint with the Wild by playing more than 16 minutes while skating on a line with Joel Eriksson Ek and Matt Boldy.

The Wild then added defenseman John Klingberg from Anaheim, where he had 24 points (8 G, 16 A) in 50 games, and just going to a better team ought to help Klingberg’s production. Will he step into the Wild’s top power play unit? The Wild rank 10^th with 8.18 goals per 60 minutes of five-on-four play, but rookie defenseman Calen Addison is the top-scoring power play defenseman for the Wild and he has been a healthy scratch recently.

Minnesota also shipped winger Jordan Greenway to Buffalo, but he had just seven points (2 G, 5 A) in 45 games. Greenway produced a career-high 32 points (6 G, 26 A) in 56 games in 2020-2021, but has typically not scored enough to matter for fantasy purposes. The Wild replaced Greenway on the roster with Oskar Sundqvist, who had 21 points (7 G, 14 A) in 52 games for Detroit. Of all these additions by the Wild, Klingberg is the only one with widespread fantasy appeal.

#16 Although he played just 13 minutes per game for the Toronto Maple Leafs, lanky winger Pierre Engvall could have a better situation waiting for him with the New York Islanders, at least in the short term. With injuries up front, the Isles have Engvall starting out with Anders Lee and Bo Horvat on the top line. It’s worth giving him a look. In 21 games this season in which Engvall played more than 14 minutes, he contributed seven goals and four assists.

#17 With the deals covered, there are still some players that are heating up and worth adding, starting with the Devils’ Dawson Mercer. The second year forward has scored a goal in seven straight games, putting up 14 points (9 G, 5 A) with 22 shots on goal. He has a good thing going on a line with Nico Hischier and Tomas Tatar.

#18 Carolina’s second year right winger Seth Jarvis has returned to the top line, alongside Sebastian Aho and Teuvo Teravainen. He has seven points (5 G, 2 A) and 20 shots on goal in his past six games and his increased shot rate makes it easier to buy him as a scoring threat down the stretch.

#19 Trying to recapture last season’s magic, when Ryan Hartman had a career high 34 goals and 65 points the Minnesota Wild have re-united Hartman with Kirill Kaprizov and Mats Zuccarello on the top line. Hartman has seven points (3 G, 4 A) and 20 shots on goal in his past seven games.

#20 Scoring Buffalo’s only goal in Thursday’s 7-1 loss at Boston, Casey Mittelstadt is on a tear, with 10 points (3 G, 7 A) and 15 shots on goal in his past 10 games. That shot rate is concerning when it comes to sustaining his offensive production, but Mittelstadt is up to a career high 38 points (10 G, 28 A) in 60 games and that warrants consideration in deeper leagues.

*Advanced stats via Natural Stat Trick and Evolving Hockey.

MCKEEN’S 2022-23 NHL YEARBOOK – LOS ANGELES KINGS – NHL Player Profiles

Joe Yerdon – Forwards and Defense, Catherine Silverman - Goaltending — Fri, 16 Sep 2022 18:46:04 +0000

VANCOUVER, BC - APRIL 28: Los Angeles Kings center Adrian Kempe (9) waits for a face-off during their NHL game against the Vancouver Canucks at Rogers Arena on April 28, 2022 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. (Photo by Derek Cain/Icon Sportswire)

FORWARDS

Anze Kopitar

Time may roll on, but Anze Kopitar continues to find ways to make it irrelevant. The 35-year-old from Slovenia led the Kings in scoring with 19 goals 48 assists (67 points) while averaging 20:46 of ice time per game. He’s been the Kings’ top point-getter for the past five seasons and as team captain, it’s one of many crowns for him to wear. He remains a fixture on both the power play and shorthanded. His 22 power play points were tops on the team and he had second-most ice time killing penalties trailing only defenseman Matt Roy. While it could be troubling that a 35-year-old has been so prominent in the team’s success, in the Kings’ case it’s not because Kopitar has been so good and so consistent for so long. Other players around Kopitar’s age have been showing signs of coming back to the pack while he’s continued to excel, and he helped the Kings return to the postseason after missing it the previous three seasons. Although the roster around him gets younger, Kopitar remains as good as he’s ever been, and he'll be invaluable to their future helping show young players like Quinton Byfield and Alex Turcotte what it takes to be an elite player in the NHL.

Adrian Kempe

Although the 26-year-old Swede has been a fixture in the Kings lineup for a few seasons, 2021-2022 was a coming out party. His 35 goals led the Kings in that category, and he was second in points behind Kopitar. He’s become a terrific two-way player and is vital to their success on the power play and penalty kill. Of those 35 goals, six came with the man advantage and three while shorthanded. Kempe also isn’t gun shy either. He led L.A. with 247 shots and that he missed four games makes it even more impressive. Considering he shot 14.2 percent with that kind of shot volume, the more shots the better. After Dustin Brown’s recent retirement, Kempe is the heir apparent to his role as a physical power forward who can pile up points. Kempe was one of five Kings players with over 100 hits (111) last season and his overall play earned him the most ice time he’s had in his career, averaging 18:35 per game. When it comes to the advanced numbers Kempe’s were middle of the pack on the Kings, but on most other NHL rosters he would’ve had some of the best with CF% and xG% well above 50 percent. If L.A. Is going to continue to be a playoff team, they’ll need Kempe to continue to take charge like he did last season.

Alex Iafallo

One key to becoming an everyday NHL player is to play consistent game in and game out and be reliable and that’s how you could best describe Alex Iafallo. He’ll play around 18 minutes per game and contribute an outstanding two-way game when at 5-on-5. Iafallo can be counted on for 30-40 points per season and 15-20 goals. Last season he tied a career high with 17 goals and his 37 points was his second-best mark to 43 he had in 2019-2020. As he heads into his sixth NHL season, the nearly 29-year-old from Western New York is excellent in all situations. He’s a fixture on the top power play unit and helps that group maintain possession and make sure the puck movement flows. He’s also a mainstay on the penalty kill and can help turn a man-down situation into one where the attacking team must be aware they could get scored on themselves. Whether he’s asked to play on the top line or to anchor the second or third line, coach Todd McLellan knows what he’ll get from Iafallo and knows that his versatility will allow him to work well with his linemates. Iafallo helps maintain and drive possession on any line and most players he plays with have better CorsiFor percentage numbers than they do without him. What doesn’t show up in the raw stats for Iafallo is there in spades with the advanced numbers.

Kevin Fiala

After returning to the playoffs after a three-year dry spell, the Kings were able to better boil down what they needed to address in the offseason and the biggest one was adding goals. To solve that, the Kings added Kevin Fiala in a trade with the Minnesota Wild and locked him up to a seven-year, $55.125 million deal. What the 26-year-old from Switzerland adds is a potent goal scorer who blew up with 33 goals and 85 points last season. Fiala has been a 20-plus goal scorer the past three seasons, but the step he took last season made it impossible for the Wild to be able to afford him as a restricted free agent. A dynamic winger, Fiala will fit in well to the Kings puck possession game (52.3 CF% last season) and his ability to help improve scoring chances (56.2 xG%) will perk up L.A.’s offense regardless. Picture putting Fiala on a line with Anze Kopitar and Adrian Kempe and that’s a unit that will drive opposing teams mad because they can hang onto the puck and score by either crashing the net or using their skill to outmaneuver defenders. Fiala will have to maintain his scoring rate (0.8 points per game or better the past three seasons) but with the players they have and the younger players soon to make a jump of their own, Fiala is a perfect fit to help bring those generations together and keep the offense flowing.

Victor Arvidsson

When the Kings added Arvidsson from Nashville before last season, it was expected he would bring a spark to an L.A. offense that desperately needed it. Mission accomplished. In 66 games, Arvidsson had 20 goals and 29 assists making him one of three Kings to crack the 20-goal barrier. He wasn’t regularly on the top power play unit, but his eight power play points was fifth-best on the team. Like most of the Kings’ players, Arvidsson was strong on possession (56.4 CF% at 5-on-5) and contributed to creating better scoring chances while he was on the ice (56.7 xG% at 5-on-5). What makes Arvidsson different is that he doesn’t fit the prototypical build associated with the Kings. L.A. is always known for being a big team that uses physical play to soften up opponents and create space on the ice. Instead, Arvidsson–who stands at 5-foot-10, 185 pounds–takes advantage of the more physical play of his teammates and his maneuverability allows him to find space to create scoring chances. This season, Arvidsson will have a chance to reunite with former Nashville teammate Kevin Fiala to create goals. Deepening the team can allow for better matchups and for Arvidsson and his linemates that only serves to make the Kings that much more dangerous with the puck.

Phillip Danault

After so many years of flying under the radar as one of the best defensive forwards in the NHL, Philip Danault now gets proper recognition for it. What’s funny now is that perhaps his offensive abilities may have been underutilized as well. In his first season with the Kings, Danault was second on the team with 27 goals and third in points with 51. His 27 goals were a seasons-best by a long shot (his previous best was 13, done two times) and he proved himself to be a more than worthy No. 2 center behind Anze Kopitar. Added to the Kings because of his defensive prowess, that he became a serious offensive threat made life a lot easier for rookie Quinton Byfield. Danault popping goals meant Byfield wasn’t leaned on heavily to produce in his first season. Danault was a top-10 in voting for the Selke Trophy for league’s best defensive forward for the fourth straight year and he was outstanding of faceoffs once again winning nearly 54 percent of his draws. Although Kopitar is also an excellent defender up the middle, Danault’s presence cut down some of the pressure of handling penalty kills for Kopitar. Danault was third on the Kings in shorthanded ice time but had the best rate of power play goals against per 60 minutes played at 7.58 among those who played most time on the kill.

QuintOn Byfield

Being a rookie in the NHL is tough. Being the new guy, particularly when you were the No. 2 pick in the 2020 draft. It’s even more difficult with a broken ankle. Byfield broke his ankle in a preseason game before the start of last season and wound up missing the first three months. Trying to work off that and get caught up to a new way of hockey life was hard. He finished with five goals and five assists in 40 games and played depth minutes averaging 12:09 ice time per game. Learning the NHL on the fly as a rookie is hard enough without missing time to injury, but there’s little doubt Byfield will be relied upon more heavily and soon. With a healthy offseason and ideally a healthy training camp and preseason, Byfield is a leading candidate to have a breakout season. At 6-foot-5, 220 pounds and 20 years old he’s more than a handful on the ice. Center had been a weak spot for the Kings the previous few seasons, but now with Danault proving he can score as well as defend, Byfield’s time to shine is coming. The Kings’ added depth at forward and emergence of other young players, like Arthur Kaliyev, gives Byfield all the weapons he’ll need to have a strong season.

Trevor Moore

No one player came out of nowhere last season the way Trevor Moore did. Known mostly for being a solid third- or fourth-line player, Moore blew up with 48 points including 17 goals. He also tied for the league lead for most shorthanded goals with five. The 27-year-old’s play vaulted him up the line sheet to the second line next to Danault and Arvidsson and gave the Kings a second line that could both frustrate opponents defensively and generate plenty of offense. Moore’s ice time went up by more than a minute per game to 15:41, up from 14:32. Perhaps the most stunning of Moore’s statistics last season was how he became a shooter going from roughly 1.5 shots per game to 2.5. Moore’s emergence was something that got its roots in the truncated 2020-2021 season where he had 23 points in 56 games. That said, predicting Moore would’ve pushed for 20 goals and been fifth on the team in points would’ve been viewed as an optimistic hope more than a realistic happening. What’s more impressive is it may be repeatable. Moore shot 8.4 percent last season which is down from his career high mark of 11.4 last season and 10.0 the year before that.

Arthur Kaliyev

Kaliyev was able not just make the Kings roster as a rookie but became an invaluable part of the lineup because of his pure offensive abilities. In 80 games, Kaliyev had 14 goals and 13 assists and played 12:39 per game. It’s tough to make your mark with comparatively limited ice time, but Kaliyev made his mark as a weapon on the power play with six of his 14 goals coming with the man advantage, which tied him with Kempe and Kopitar for the team lead. At 6-foot-2, 190 pounds, Kaliyev is decently sized, but it’s his shot that helps him stand out. Kaliyev can wire his shots and place them perfectly, a big reason why his output on the power play is so strong. If given any kind of space, he can make defenses pay for the lapse. When he was a second-round pick by the Kings in 2019, his two-way play was a point of concern and although he’s not exactly a candidate for penalty kill, he’s gotten a little better. That said, if he’s able to improve that part of his game more he’ll be a better fit for the top-two lines. For now, he’s an outstanding offensive threat deeper into the lineup and a unique weapon with the man advantage.

DEFENSE

Drew Doughty

It was a tough 2021-2022 season for the 2016 Norris Trophy winner. He missed weeks at the beginning of the season with a knee injury and a wrist injury in March knocked him out for the remainder of the season and playoffs. In 39 games, Doughty showed all his trademark abilities with 31 points including seven goals. He was a difference maker on the power play with four goals and 13 points total with the extra man. In all, he averaged 25:44 of ice time per game and was without a doubt their top defenseman. Although the Kings had a lot of success last season, it can’t be helped but to wonder how different it would’ve been with him in the lineup. Certainly, the seven-game exit to Edmonton in the first round of the playoffs may have gone a bit different. What will be worth paying attention to this season is how Doughty bounces back at age 33 from his injury-marred season. He’s still an elite puck possession player as he led the team at 5-on-5 with 58.8 CF% and his 55.7 xG% was second to Alexander Edler among defensemen. Provided age and ill-effects from time missed with injury don’t have an impact, the Kings will be more than pleased to have Doughty running the show on the back end again.

Matt Roy

If there’s an unsung hero on the Kings roster, Matt Roy might be the most logical selection. After being pressed into duty in 2019-2020, Roy has turned into one of the steadiest defenders on the team and a key player when it comes to defending leads and shadowing the opponents’ top forwards. Roy had two goals and 17 assists last season, but he was tops in minutes played on the penalty kill with 138:24 and his 8.24 power play goals against per 60 was one of the best marks among regular penalty killers. Incredibly, Roy got 95.3 percent of his zone starts in his team’s end of the ice. Every defense needs a guy like that who puts their every effort into making life miserable for opponents and easier on their goaltenders and Roy is L.A.’s guy. If there was an award for best defensive defenseman, Roy would likely be in that conversation because of how he’s used and how his puck possession numbers are still outstanding (55.7 CF%). It’s not a glamorous role, but he’s vital to helping the Kings win and shut down opposing teams.

Sean Durzi

As a bolt from the blue, Sean Durzi arrived on the Kings blue line and became a high-impact offensive player for Los Angeles. At 23, Durzi finally broke into the NHL last season and played 64 games for the Kings racking up three goals and 24 assists. Durzi was a second-round pick of the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2018 and, after parts of three seasons in the AHL, established himself as a very capable player at 5-on-5 but also a strong quarterback on the power play. Durzi had two goals and 13 assists–more than half his points–with the man advantage. Equal parts having solid puck possession and a good shot made him an ideal player for the power play unit, particularly in Doughty’s absence. Durzi’s mobility with the puck also allowed him to fit in seamlessly to the Kings blue line. Durzi can help move the puck out of the zone against the league’s third and fourth lines and give the Kings attack a jump up the ice. After all, the Kings will have better depth up front which means skilled players get worked in deeper to the line mix. Of Kings defensemen with more than 500 minutes at 5-on-5, Durzi was sixth of seven with a 51.6 CF% and only his most common defense partner Tobias Bjornfot was lower. A healthy blue line and better matchups should make for improvements all around for Durzi.

Alexander Edler

When the Kings signed the longtime Vancouver Canucks defenseman last season it was seen as a dart in the dark that the 36-year-old Swede could give them a little something. Turns out he did that and more but was bitten by the injury bug. Edler was tops on the Kings with a 58.3 xG% and was fourth with a 56.9 CF% with three goals and 16 assists in 41 games. He missed more than three months of action from December to March with a broken ankle but returned in time for the end of the season and playoffs. Edler’s success was something else to see as he hadn’t put up advanced numbers like he had since the heyday of the Canucks from 2010 through 2015. His CF% was the best of his career and his xG% was his best by more than five percent. It’s usually said you know what you’re going to get when you add older players to the roster but expecting what Edler had been with Vancouver in his final few seasons there and instead getting a version of him more like what he was 10 years ago is the happiest kind of surprise. If Edler’s health can hold up and he returns to this brand of play, the Kings’ depth on the blue line will look even better than it does on paper.

GOALTENDING

Jonathan Quick

At long last, the Los Angeles Kings are in the final year of their seemingly endless deal signed for starter Jonathan Quick. It appeared as if the team was going to have to cut ties early – and at times it appeared as if the team had hamstrung itself by failing to do so – but as year ten gets underway, it certainly seems as if one of the league’s 2010’s crease giants may actually get to finish out his massive deal with the club that drafted him to begin with.

It certainly seems ill-advised to make any kind of prediction regarding Quick with more than a mild degree of confidence, given how the last handful of seasons have played out. Even when the now-36-year-old veteran struggled, the team doggedly left him as their number one – and just when it seemed as if he had truly hit a permanent technical decline, he made a miraculous bounce-back last year to edge up-and-comer Cal Petersen out as the team’s number one once again. Just when you think you know what Quick is going to be, he manages to mix things up once again. He’s no longer the league’s fastest-moving skater in net, nor is he still a sure bet for a handful of impossible-looking stops every night. That impressive ability to almost separate his upper body movements from his lower-body control, giving him a dangerously wide stance that could stop on a dime while making a flashy windmill glove save, has dulled as he’s logged 700 career games and continued to climb. He still has the ability to read an offensive approach at an elite level, but the execution is just a bit too muted to still consider him in the league’s top-tier at what he does. That being said, he seemed to catch a second wind last year. It might have been due to the über-competitive nature he’s so well known for, but whatever caused it kept the Kings from taking yet another backslide as their younger netminder hit a few road bumps in the season. That bodes well for both the Kings and Petersen this year if Quick is once again able to dig deep and pull out a few more of those league-topping games – but given the performances he gave in the three seasons leading up to last year, it’s hard to truly bet on him.

Projected starts: 30-35

Cal Petersen

It’s finally Cal Petersen’s net to lose. The only problem, of course, is that he did just that last season; just when it appeared the Kings were poised to tab him as their true number one, he started to struggle and opened the door for yet another year of the Jonathan Quick show. The good news is that every young goaltender goes through growing pains, so it’s hard to look at one rough year and discount the seasons that Petersen was LA’s most reliable option. The bad news, though, is that Jonathan Quick’s ten-year deal is set to finally expire this summer – and he both has a lot of mileage on his skates and a family that could influence whether or not he wants to continue on with the team as a veteran safety net in 2023.

Look for Petersen to shake off some stretches of bad reads this year if he hopes to put up the kind of numbers fans expected after his league debut. When he plays well, he’s got all the lower-body agility that Jonathan Quick possesses, but a little bit of a more aggressive initial positioning to his game and a bit of a stronger grasp on how to work his angles. He just needs to make sure he isn’t putting himself in a position where he has to rely on his dazzling saves every night; while it’s valuable that he’s capable of show-stopping pad reaches and glove saves, it shouldn’t be his go-to move.

Projected starts: 50-55