Pavel Zacha – McKeen's Hockey

NHL: CULLEN – 20 FANTASY POINTS – PLAYOFF EDITION – Less obvious players to target

Scott Cullen — Sat, 18 Apr 2026 14:49:24 +0000

Each week, I dig into the stats to find information that can help you make better fantasy hockey decisions. This week, a look some less obvious players to target for playoff pools.

1 It’s not like a top scorer on the Stanley Cup favourites is going to be some bargain, but Martin Necas heads into the playoffs on a tear. Necas came out of the Olympic break producing on a higher level, scoring 38 points (16 G, 22 A) with 82 shots on goal in 26 games down the stretch. He’s riding shotgun with Nathan MacKinnon and Arttur Lehkonen on the top line and obviously getting first unit power play time, too. Not a surprise pick, but more a reminder not to overlook how great this player has been this season.

2 While the Los Angeles Kings keep getting beat out in the first round of the playoffs and they have the daunting matchup against the Avalanche in the first round, but Adrian Kempe is a consistent stud in the playoffs. Since the Olympic break, Kempe has 27 points (16 G, 11 A) and 70 shots on goal in 25 games. In the past four playoffs, he has put up 29 points (15 G, 14 A) with 106 shots on goal in 24 games. He has been an elite playoff performer, and it gets overlooked because it only comes in one round bursts.

3 The Minnesota Wild have tried time and again to find a different centre for their top line, but they have returned Ryan Hartman to that role, skating between Kirill Kaprizov and Mats Zuccarello, and he finished the regular season with 15 points (8 G, 7 A) and 39 shots on goal in the last 13 games. That’s already encouraging but consider that he has 16 points (4 G, 12 A) and 42 shots on goal in 17 games across his last three playoff appearances. The Wild have a tough matchup against Dallas in the first round, but Hartman is an intriguing player to watch in the postseason.

4 Future Hall of Famers don’t tend to get overlooked, but it’s always worth noting when a player has taken their game to a new level. Pittsburgh Penguins defenceman Erik Karlsson came back from the Olympics and delivered 31 points (11 G, 20 A) with 68 shots on goal in 24 games. Insane production from a 35-year-old. He has 34 points (4 G, 30 A) with 104 shots on goal in 38 games across his last two playoff appearances, though this will be his first postseason appearance since 2018-2019.

5 One of the most exciting young teams in the league, the Montreal Canadiens have a tough matchup against the Tampa Bay Lightning in the first round, but it’s not going to be an easy path for the Lightning, either. Since the Olympic break, captain Nick Suzuki ranks fifth in the league with 36 points (11 G, 25 A) in 25 games, Cole Caufield leads the league with 19 goals in 24 games, and Juraj Slafkovsky is tied for 18th with 28 points (9 G, 19 A) in 25 games. It’s early in the team’s trajectory for the Canadiens to go on a long playoff run, especially considering their mediocre possession numbers, but if their young stars show up, they could do some damage.

6 The Utah Mammoth are making their first playoff appearance and, like the Canadiens, have a group of skilled forwards that can make a difference. Clayton Keller had 34 points (9 G, 25 A) in 25 games after the Olympic break, Dylan Guenther added 26 points (25 G, 11 A) and 64 shots on goal in 24 games, and Logan Cooley, Nick Schmaltz, and Mikhail Sergachev each had at least 20 points. They may not have the playoff experience of the Vegas Golden Knights, but the Mammoth have some players who could make the first-round series very interesting.

7 One of the more remarkable parts of Boston’s strong finish to the regular season was the production that they received from veterans Pavel Zacha and Viktor Arvidsson, two players who have had very solid careers but performed like stars down the stretch. Zacha finished the regular season with 28 points (15 G, 13 A) and 44 shots on goal in 24 games. That is dependent on an inflated shooting percentage, but it’s fantastic production from a player who is not a star. Similarly, Arvidsson had 26 points (11 G, 15 A) with 51 shots on goal in his last 24 games.

8 While Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin draw most of the attention in Pittsburgh, the wingers in the supporting cast should not be ignored, especially since the Penguins have a chance to advance beyond the first round. Bryan Rust tied his career high with 65 points (29 G, 36 A) this season, finishing with 25 points and 57 shots on goal in 23 games after the Olympic break. He’s not the only one. Rickard Rakell played a bunch of centre, especially when Crosby was injured, and he had 23 points (13 G, 10 A) with 53 shots on goal in his last 20 games.

9 Two of Kyle Dubas’ best acquisitions in the past year played a big part in Pittsburgh reaching the postseason. Egor Chinakhov flashed potential with the Columbus Blue Jackets a couple of years ago, when he had 29 points (16 G, 13 A) in 53 games, but he struggled to get going at the start of this season and the Penguins swooped in, getting him for a second-round pick. They watched him grow into a role as a legitimate scoring winger who tallied 32 points (15 G, 17 A) with 86 shots on goal in his last 33 games.

10 A 20 Fantasy Poins favourite, Anthony Mantha played just 13 games last season in Calgary before tearing his ACL. The Penguins signed him as a free agent, to a one-year, $2.5 million deal that was almost assuredly intended to make him very tradeable once he proved that he could still play. He did that quickly, generating 11 points (6 G, 5 A) with 23 shots on goal in his first 12 games and then, as the Penguins continued to win, it became apparent that there would be little upside to trading a winger who was filling the net. He finished the season by scoring 19 points (12 G, 7 A) in his last 19 games on his way to career highs of 33 goals and 64 points. He has zero goals in 14 career playoff games, so this year presents a prime opportunity for Mantha to net his first postseason goal.

11 Dallas Stars veteran Matt Duchene suffered an upper-body injury early in the season, and he struggled, but once he got healthy, and then the Stars needed him to play a bigger role as injuries decimated their forward group. Duchene finished the season with 34 points (12 G, 22 A) and 54 shots on goal in his last 31 games. The shot rate is not ideal, but his role on the top power play unit and skating between Jason Robertson and Mavrik Bourque on the Stars’ second line is very encouraging. Bourque is starting to unlock his potential, too, putting up 18 points (9 G, 9 A) with 44 shots on goal in 23 games since the beginning of March.

12 The Ottawa Senators have the profile of a contending team, so even though they are facing a relentless Carolina Hurricanes squad, they should not be considered pushovers. Part of the reason to like the Sens is their scoring depth. Since the Olympic break, Drake Batherson has put up 22 points (14 G, 8 A) with 55 shots on goal in 25 games, lifting him to career highs of 33 goals and 71 points on the season.

13 Everyone is aware of Boston Bruins defenceman Charlie McAvoy. He played for Team USA at the Olympics and has been in the Top 10 of Norris Trophy voting three times in his career, but part of what he is known for is being a standout defender who does not pad his production with power play points. It’s not that he never played the power play, but it wasn’t the foundation of his production like it is for some other defenders. In the second half of the season, as the Bruins pushed for a playoff spot, McAvoy turned into one of those point-producing blueliners. In his last 41 games, McAvoy accrued 42 points (10 G, 32 A) with 66 shots on goal and 14 of those 42 points came on the power play.

14 The Philadelphia Flyers made a late charge to get into the playoffs, in part fueled by 2025 No. 6 pick Porter Martone, who scored 50 points (25 G, 25 A) in 35 games as a freshman at Michigan State then signed with the Flyers when his collegiate season was done. Martone did not waste any time upon turning pro, as he produced 10 points (4 G, 6 A) with 32 shots on goal and 16 hits in nine games. He’s a ready-made power forward and is one of the biggest reasons for the Flyers to be a threat against the Penguins in the first round.

15 The Carolina Hurricanes put pressure on their opponents from the drop of the opening puck and part of what makes it work is that they get contributions from secondary players. Look at the line of veteran left winger Taylor Hall skating with younger players Jackson Blake and Logan Stankoven. Hall has 21 points (6 G, 15 A) and 42 shots on goal in 23 games since the Olympic break, Stankoven finished the regular season with 11 points (7 G, 4 A) and 19 shots on goal during an 8-game point streak, and Blake had 13 points (3 G, 10 A) with 32 shots on goal in his last 14 games.

16 Anaheim Ducks defenceman Jackson LaCombe has seen his stock rise in the past few seasons, but this will be his first appearance in the playoffs. In the second half of the season, LaCombe contributed 35 points (4 G, 31 A) with 66 shots on goal in 41 games. The arrival of John Carlson at the trade deadline didn’t hurt LaCombe either, as he had 17 points (4 G, 13 A) in 21 games after the trade.

17 The Los Angeles Kings are fighting uphill, facing the Colorado Avalanche in the first round, but if they are going to have success, they may need a breakthrough performance from centre Quinton Byfield, who struggled to score consistently this season, but then finished with 16 points (11 G, 5 A) and 45 shots on goal in his last 16 games. Byfield’s right winger, Alex Laferriere brings the heavy physical game that should work in the postseason and Laferriere had 15 points (5 G, 10 A) with 47 shots on goal and 60 hits in his last 16 games of the regular season.

18 Carolina Hurricanes defenceman Sean Walker has surged offensively down the stretch. Since the Olympic break, Walker has 17 points (5 G, 12 A) with 55 shots on goal in 24 games, and he doesn’t depend on the man advantage to get his points as only one of his 31 points this season came via the power play.

19 Heading into the playoffs, here are some goaltenders that finished the season strong. Since the Olympic break, Montreal’s Jakub Dobes was 11-5 with a .916 save percentage. Colorado’s Scott Wedgewood was 11-2-1 with a .945 save percentage, which becomes interesting because Mackenzie Blackwood struggled. Buffalo’s Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen was 11-2-1 with a .920 save percentage, and Boston’s Jeremy Swayman was 9-6-1 with a .918 save percentage. Kings goaltender Anton Forsberg was 7-5 with a .914 save percentage, which is notable because Darcy Kuemper also had trouble down the stretch.

20 On the other hand, these goaltenders had trouble late in the season that could pose challenges in the playoffs. Utah’s Karel Vejmelka 11-6-1 but his save percentage was .883. Mackenzie Blackwood was 7-5-1 with a .884 save percentage. Carolina’s Frederik Andersen has had a tough season and finished with a 9-4 record but a .879 save percentage in his last 13 games. Anaheim’s Lukas Dostal was 9-7-2 with a .868 save percentage down the stretch. Kuemper was 5-3-6 with a .867 save percentage and Carolina’s Brandon Bussi was 8-3-1 with a .865 save percentage.

*Advanced stats via Natural Stat Trick

NHL: CULLEN – 20 FANTASY POINTS – With the final week of the regular season approaching, here is a look at some players offering late-season value as well as a look at some players that might be worth targeting for next season

Scott Cullen — Fri, 10 Apr 2026 20:10:16 +0000

WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 31: Flyers right wing Porter Martone (94) waits for a face-off during his first NHL debut game during the Philadelphia Flyers versus Washington Capitals National Hockey League game on March 31, 2026 at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C.. (Photo by Randy Litzinger/Icon Sportswire)

Each week, I dig into the stats to find information that can help you make better fantasy hockey decisions. With the final week of the regular season approaching, here is a look at some players offering late-season value as well as a look at some players that might be worth targeting for next season.

#1 The Philadelphia Flyers have surprisingly vaulted into the playoff picture with a strong April, and they received a significant boost to their lineup when they signed 2025 No. 6 overall pick Porter Martone once his college season was completed at Michigan State. Martone had 5 0points (25 G, 25 A) in 35 games at Michigan State and contributed nine points (6 G, 3 A) as the captain of Team Canada at the World Juniors. A 6-foot-3 power forward, Martone has hit the ice in the NHL going at full speed, delivering six points (2 G, 4 A) with 25 shots on goal and 10 hits in his first six games. He is getting second unit power play time and skating on a line with veterans Christian Dvorak and Travis Konecny at even strength and the Flyers are controlling nearly 62 percent of expected goals during five-on-five play with Martone on the ice. For fantasy managers and the Flyers alike, Martone appears to be an instant star.

#2 The New York Islanders made a surprise late-season coaching change, dismissing Patrick Roy and replacing him with Peter DeBoer. The Islanders have slipped out of a playoff spot but are still within striking distance, so DeBoer will need to make a difference quickly. Working in the Islanders’ favour is that they are getting strong play from rookie Calum Ritchie late in the season. Ritchie, who was acquired from the Colorado Avalanche in last year’s Brock Nelson trade, has produced 14 points (6 G, 8 A) with 21 shots on goal in 16 games since the trade deadline and seems to have a good thing going on a line with Mathew Barzal at centre and Brayden Schenn on left wing, a trio that also skates on the Islanders’ top power play.

#3 Utah Mammoth centre Logan Cooley missed more than a couple of months due to a lower-body injury and that absence, combined with a slump in March, probably contributed to his being more available than he should be in fantasy leagues. Right now, he is cooking, with 11 points (6 G, 5 A) and 14 shots on goal during a six-game point streak. It’s obviously not sustainable to keep scoring on more than 40 percent of his shots, and he is scoring on a league-leading 24.0 percent of his shots for the season, but Cooley’s speed does allow him to create chances and he is working well with wingers Kailer Yamamoto and Dylan Guenther in addition to getting first unit power play time for the Mammoth.

#4 While he has been maligned recently for taking a terrible penalty in a loss to the Minnesota Wild, Detroit Red Wings veteran right winger Patrick Kane has been turning back the clock in terms of point production. Even as the Red Wings have been struggling, falling outside the playoffs in the Eastern Conference, Kane has put up 23 points (6 G, 17 A) with 50 shots on goal in 16 games since the trade deadline.

#5 The Minnesota Wild have been a strong team all season and after trading for defenceman Quinn Hughes, it seems that their championship expectations had elevated. While Hughes and star forwards Kirill Kaprizov and Matthew Boldy have been the obvious leaders, players in the supporting cast have been valuable, too. The Wild keep trying other options at centre on the top line, but they keep coming back to Ryan Hartman, the veteran agitator who is sizzling hot right now, with 12 points (7 G, 5 A) and 22 shots on goal during an eight-game point streak. Similarly, veteran Wild playmaker Mats Zuccarello just keeps putting up numbers. He is 38 years old and has 15 points (3 G, 12 A) with 26 shots on goal in his past 12 games, skating on a line with Hartman and Kaprizov in addition to getting top unit power play time.

#6 It appears that the San Jose Sharks’ push for the playoffs is going to fall short, but they have received a strong contribution from veteran centre Alexander Wennberg down the stretch. Wennberg has been a reliable two-way centre throughout his career, though one whose skill level would suggest he could provide more offence, and that’s what has happened this season. In his past 16 games, Wennberg has 15 points (6 G, 9 A) with 20 shots on goal, lifting him to 54 points, his highest point total since 2016-2017.

#7 One of the most frequently mentioned players in 20 Fantasy Points this season, Pittsburgh Penguins winger Anthony Mantha has had the best season of his career yet remains available in a decent percentage of leagues. Since the trade deadline, Mantha has 16 points (10 G, 6 A) and 34 shots on goal in 18 games, bumping him up to career highs of 31 goals and 61 points. In addition to second unit power play time, Mantha is skating on a line with rookie Ben Kindel at centre and Justin Brazeau on right wing.

#8 The Carolina Hurricanes have a relentless approach and part of the reason for success is that they get contributions throughout the lineup. Logan Stankoven, who was acquired from Dallas in the Mikko Rantanen trade last season, transitioned to centre this year and he is finishing this season strong, with nine points (7 G, 2 A) during a six-game point streak. On Stankoven’s left side, veteran winger Taylor Hall has 10 points (3 G, 76 A) with 16 shots on goal in his past eight games. Hall is up to 48 points on the season, his highest total since 2021-2022.

#9 It has been a challenging second season for Philadelphia Flyers winger Matvei Michkov and while it’s been a rocky road for much of the season, he does appear to be contributing to the Flyers’ playoff push. In his past 13 games, Michkov has 12 points (1 G, 11 A) with 19 shots on goal. That’s not an ideal shot rate and Michkov scoring one goal in a 16-game span is hardly the ideal scenario, it’s better than the sporadic production that he has had in 2025-2026. He is getting first unit PP time while skating on a line with Noah Cates and rookie Alex Bump at even strength.

#10 An underrated development for the Edmonton Oilers this season has been the progress shown by left winger Vasily Podkolzin, who has six points (3 G, 3 A) in his past seven games, lifting him to career highs of 19 goals and 37 points. Even though he is not a factor on the power play – 34 of his 37 points have come at even strength – Podkolzin is getting time on the top line with Connor McDavid and that’s not a bad place to play.

#11 Montreal Canadiens rookie right winger Ivan Demidov does not look like he will win the Calder Trophy as rookie of the year because Islanders defenceman Matthew Schaefer has had an historically great freshman campaign, but Demidov is living up to all of the hype that surrounded him entering the season. In his past 10 games, Demidov has recorded nine points (4 G, 5 A) with 17 shots on goal, and while that shot rate could use a little boost, he has been such a creative force that the Habs will expect even more in the future. One caveat there: Demidov has an on-ice shooting percentage of 14.9 percent which ranks third behind only Gage Goncalves and Brayden Point of the Tampa Bay Lightning, among skaters to play at least 500 five-on-five minutes this season. Demidov is likely going to have a higher on-ice shooting percentage throughout his career, but pushing 15 percent is unsustainable for even the most dangerous offensive players. Just for comparison, the players with the highest on-ice shooting percentage across the past three seasons, minimum 1500 five-on-five minutes: Goncalves (13.7%), Nikita Kucherov (12.6%), Point (12.5%), Mantha (12.2%), Lane Hutson (12.0%).

#12 Getting traded to the Columbus Blue Jackets marked a massive turnaround for left winger Mason Marchment, who started the season with a modest 13 points (4 G, 9 A) in 29 games for the Seattle Kraken. Since arriving in Columbus, though, Marchment has 29 points (13 G, 16 A) in 36 games, including eight points (2 G, 6 A) with 17 shots on goal in his past eight games. He is playing with Boone Jenner and Danton Heinen at even strength, but Marchment is also getting time on PP1.

#13 As the Washington Capitals make a final push for the playoffs, rookie winger Ryan Leonard is stepping up his game, putting up six points (3 G, 3 A) with 18 shots on goal in his past six games. That gives him 42 points (18 G, 24 A) in 72 games, which is a solid rookie season, but also feels like it’s just scratching the surface on what he will be able to contribute as he grows into a bigger role with the Capitals. Leonard is enjoying this late-season success skating on a line with Pierre-Luc Dubois and Connor McMichael in addition to getting top unit power play time.

#14 With an early look ahead to next season, don’t forget about Los Angeles Kings right winger Kevin Fiala, who broke his leg at the Olympics. He had 40 points (18 G, 22 A) in 56 games before getting hurt and this while managing an on-ice shooting percentage of 6.5 percent, his lowest since his rookie season in 2016-2017. The Kings aren’t exactly known for their high-scoring ways, but Fiala should expect a better on-ice shooting percentage since his career mark is around 8.3 percent.

#15 The Calgary Flames have been low shooting percentage team this season, ranking 31st with a five-on-five shooting percentage of 7.8 percent, so several Flames could reasonably expect to receive better puck luck next season. Matt Coronato might be a good one to target as he has scored on 8.9 percent of his shots this season, after scoring on 13.3 percent last season, and Coronato’s on-ice shooting percentage is just 6.8 percent this season. For a player who leads the Flames with an extremely modest 42 points, Coronato should have the opportunity to play a big part in the Flames’ rebuilding effort.

#16 If the Flames rank 31st in five-on-five shooting percentage, which team has been worse? The New Jersey Devils. Thus, there may be some value to be found in targeting the likes of Jesper Bratt, whose on-ice shooting percentage is below 7.3 percent, down more than three percent from last season. Following back-to-back seasons with more than 80 points, Bratt has 68 points (20 G, 48 A) in 79 games this season, despite generating shots and expected goals at a higher rate this season.

#17 Another Los Angeles Kings forward to consider for a bounce back next season is centre Quinton Byfield, who has 44 points (20 G, 24 A) in 75 games, his production down even though he is playing a career-high 20 minutes per game. Last season, Byfield’s on-ice shooting percentage is 7.9 percent this season, compared to 10.7 percent last season. With Anze Kopitar heading into retirement, there should be prime opportunity for Byfield to play with skilled linemates who can raise his offensive ceiling.

#18 While Nashville Predators right winger Luke Evangelista has a reasonable on-ice shooting percentage (8.9 percent) this season, his own shooting percentage, in all situations, is a paltry 6.0 percent, with just 10 goals on 168 shots. His ice time has jumped 2:45 per game from last season, up to 16:37 per game and he has set career highs with 41 assists and 51 points, but he has been underperforming as a shooter. Prior to this season, Evangelista scored on 9.2 percent of his shots, which is still not amazing for a skilled winger, but it’s more than 50 percent better than what he has delivered this season.

#19 One more potential Devils bounce-back note, sort of. Devils defenceman Dougie Hamilton has an on-ice shooting percentage of 6.9 percent this season. Among the 138 defencemen that have played at least 1,000 five-on-five minutes, that ranks 136th, so even if Hamilton has tended towards lower on-ice shooting percentages (and higher volumes), it doesn’t have to rank at the bottom of the pile either. Of course, if the rumour mill is to be believed, Hamilton might be plying his trade with a new team in 2026-2027, and a fresh start could help bring along better percentages for the veteran blueliner.

#20 Finally, some players that have increased their production since the Olympic break: After scoring the gold-medal winning goal, Devils centre Jack Hughes has 35 points (14 G, 21 A) in 20 games since the break to lead all scorers. Penguins defenceman Erik Karlsson has 31 points (11 G, 20 A) in his past 22 games. Bruins centre Pavel Zacha has 27 points (15 G, 12 A) in 21 games, Blues centre Robert Thomas has 25 points (11 G, 14 A) in 18 games, Penguins winger Rickard Rakell has 24 points (14 G, 10 A) in 22 games, Rangers centre Mika Zibanejad has 24 points (10 G, 14 A) in 21 games, Rangers defenceman Adam Fox also has 24 points (5 G, 19 A) in 21 games, Blues left winger Dylan Holloway has 24 points (9 G, 15 A) in 20 games, Bruins winger Viktor Arvidsson has 23 points (8 G, 15 A) in 21 games, Penguins winger Egor Chinakhov has 23 points (9 G, 14 A) in 22 games, Red Wings defenceman Moritz Seider has 21 points (3 G, 18 A) in his past 20 games, and Bruins defenceman Charlie McAvoy has 20 points (7 G, 13 A) in 21 games. This is not an all-encompassing list, obviously, but some interesting players who have picked up their production either while their teams are battling for playoff spots or, for others, while the season slips away from them.

*Advanced stats via Natural Stat Trick

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

*Advanced stats via Natural Stat Trick

NHL: CULLEN – 20 FANTASY POINTS – This week, the good and the bad with the Ottawa Senators, a young Ducks centre steps into the spotlight, a Wild rookie offering upside on the blueline, and a Red Wings veteran who is ready to find the net.

Scott Cullen — Fri, 17 Oct 2025 21:13:15 +0000

ST. PAUL, MN - APRIL 24: Minnesota Wild defenseman Zeev Buium (8) skates with the puck during the first period in Game Three of the First Round of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs between the Vegas Golden Knights and Minnesota Wild on April 24th, 2025, at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, MN. (Photo by Bailey Hillesheim/Icon Sportswire)

Each week, I dig into the stats to find information that can help you make better fantasy hockey decisions. This week, the good and the bad with the Ottawa Senators, a young Ducks centre steps into the spotlight, a Wild rookie offering upside on the blueline, and a Red Wings veteran who is ready to find the net.

#1 With six goals in five games, Ottawa Senators centre Shane Pinto is tied with Vegas Golden Knights winger Pavel Dorofeyev for the early goal-scoring lead in the National Hockey League. While he is obviously not going to continue at a 98-goal pace, Pinto does have some underlying factors that could help this become his best season in the NHL. The first is that his ice time is up nearly a minute per game from last season and the second is that his rate of shots per game has climbed from 1.81 last season to 3.0 per game early this season. It’s the consistent shot generation that helps to keep production sustainable.

#2 The more immediate concern for the Senators is that team captain Brady Tkachuk will be out from six-to-eight weeks following thumb surgery. Tkachuk is not easily replaced, because there are so few players of his size and physical nature that can also produce offensively. Ridly Greig is getting a chance alongside Tim Stutzle and Claude Giroux on Ottawa’s top line, and there is enough time for him to show what he can do in a bigger role.

#3 After making steady progress through his first two NHL seasons, Anaheim Ducks centre Leo Carlsson could be ready to bust out in his third season. He has started the year with six points (2 G, 4 A) and 13 shots on goal in four games. He currently has veterans Chris Kreider and Alex Killorn on his wings, but Carlsson has had success with Troy Terry on his wing and, last season, thrived with Cutter Gauthier. There are options for the Ducks, but it appears that 20-year-old Carlsson might be ready to be the driving force on his line.

#4 Expectations have been very high for Minnesota Wild defenceman Zeev Buium since he was taken with the 12th pick in the 2024 NHL Draft. He had 98 points (24 G, 74 A) in 83 games in two seasons at the University of Denver, but he has started with five points (1 G, 4 A) in four games this season for the Wild and, crucially, is quarterbacking Minnesota’s first power play unit.

#5 He has yet to score a goal through four games, but the rest of his numbers are very encouraging for Detroit Red Wings winger Alex DeBrincat. He has generated 32 shot attempts and 15 shots on goal to go along with six assists in four games. That shot rate of 3.75 per game would be the highest rate of his career, despite fewer than half of his attempts making it on net. Prior to this season, he had hit the net on 54.3 percent of his shot attempts, so he is only down a little in this small sample, but he is putting up eight shot attempts per game and his previous career high during a full season was just under 5.9 shot attempts per game, so the opportunities are there and it’s fair to expect the goals to follow.

#6 As noted above, Chris Kreider is spending most of his time skating on Leo Carlsson’s wing in Anaheim, and he’s getting results early with five points (4 G, 1 A) and 12 shots on goal in four games. In all of his seasons with the Rangers, Kreider managed to average three shots on goal per game just twice and those were the 2021-2022 and 2023-2024 seasons, when he scored 52 and 39 goals, respectively, the two best goal-scoring seasons of his career. If playing with Carlsson helps keep Kreider’s shot rate at this level, he could be primed for a bounce-back season with the Ducks.

#7 It’s not as though fantasy managers will be unaware of Washington Capitals winger Aliaksei Protas who broke through with 30 goals and 66 points last season, but one of the concerns about his production was that he was very dependent on percentages, scoring on 21.1 percent of his shots, and a lofty 14.3 on-ice shooting percentage at five-on-five. He is still getting those high percentages on his way to five points (3 G, 2 A) in Washington’s first four games, but he also has 13 shots on goal and is playing 18:55 per game, both of which are notably higher than last season when he averaged fewer than two shots on goal per game and played 16:27 per game.

#8 It’s easy enough to get underrated when playing for the Chicago Blackhawks, given the state of the team these days, but veteran winger Teuvo Teravainen is off to a nice start with six points (1 G, 5 A) in five games, though he has managed just three shots on goal. He’s more playmaker than shooter, but that total is still low. Nevertheless, Teravainen does seem to have a good thing going early in the year on a line with Frank Nazar and Tyler Bertuzzi, so it’s worth keeping an eye on his production.

#9 A couple of power play assists early helped to jumpstart Pavel Zacha’s season for the Boston Bruins. He has five points (1 G, 4 A) in five games while skating on a line with Casey Mittelstadt and Viktor Arvidsson at even strength, but Zacha is on Boston’s top power play unit and the opportunity to share the ice with David Pastrnak is a critical factor to point production for any Bruins skaters, it seems. Zacha is not a volume shooter, having never recorded even 150 shots on goal in a season, but four shots on goal in five games this season is still rather low.

#10 Seattle Kraken left winger Jared McCann is one of the more established goal scorers on the roster and is off to a nice start with four points (3 G, 1 A) in four games this season. Skating on Seattle’s top line with Matty Beniers and Jordan Eberle, McCann has recorded 14 shots on goal and 28 shot attempts, both of which represent higher per-game rates (3.5 shots, 7.0 shot attempts) than he has been able to sustain in his career, so even if McCann isn’t going to keep scoring on a pace of 60-plus goals, he is getting the underlying numbers that will support strong offensive production.

#11 Seeking a fresh start in Philadelphia with John Tortorella no longer behind the bench, veteran Flyers centre Sean Couturier has seen his ice time jump by a couple of minutes per game compared to last season and he has five points (2 G, 3 A) with six shots on goal through four games. He has been on the wrong end of the shot counts early, with a 41.4 percent Corsi, but shot quality has played in Couturier’s favor with a 51.1 percent expected goals percentage during five-on-five play. Couturier last topped 50 points in a season back in 2019-2020, but he’s skating with Travis Konecny and Matvei Michkov on Philadelphia’s top line, so he ought to have a chance to get there this season.

#12 When the Nashville Predators collapsed last season, some of their high-profile free agent signings ended up with lacklustre production. For example, Jonathan Marchessault went from 42 goals in Vegas in 2023-2024 to 21 goals for Nashville last season. Early this season, Marchessault has four points (2 G, 2 A) in five games, but his 15 shots on goal and 26 shot attempts move closer to the years of his best production in Vegas, so maybe that’s a positive sign for Nashville as a team and Marchessault when it comes to his individual production.

#13 With four goals in four games, it would be very easy to get excited about St. Louis Blues left winger Jake Neighbours. He has moved up to the top line, with Robert Thomas and Pavel Buchnevich, so that’s encouraging, too, but Neighbours’ ice time is down nearly a minute-and-a-half per game from last season, and he has just six shots on goal in four games. If he’s going to stick with Thomas and Buchnevich, that is probably reason enough to be optimistic but be a little bit wary of his underlying performance.

#14 Coming off of a 41-point season, with his lowest points per game since 2016-2017, Toronto Maple Leafs defenceman Morgan Rielly was a bit of a buy-low option coming into the season. He also had some upside because, with Mitch Marner leaving for Vegas, there was room for Rielly to quarterback Toronto’s No. 1 power play unit again. Thus far, Rielly has delivered, putting up five points (1 G, 4 A) and 14 shots on goal in five games. Rielly has only surpassed 200 shots in a season twice in his career, so that shot rate is very encouraging.

#15 A bargain acquisition in the offseason from the Los Angeles Kings, Ottawa Senators defenceman Jordan Spence has been excellent in the early going for the Senators. He has contributed four assists and seven shots on goal in three games and while he is averaging 18:30 of ice time per game, Spence is also dominating his five-on-five minutes, with a Corsi percentage of 67.6 percent and an expected goals percentage of 78.2 percent. It’s not going to be easy to get power play time with Jake Sanderson and Thomas Chabot ahead of him on the depth chart, so maybe that limits Spence’s upside, but he is worth keeping tabs on.

#16 With the New York Rangers losing centre Vincent Trocheck to an upper-body injury that will keep him out a month, Mika Zibanejad has moved back into the middle of the ice for the Blueshirts. That has created an opening on the right wing in New York’s top six, and veteran winger Conor Sheary is getting a look in that role. He only has one assist and eight shots on goal in six games, but his ice time has gone up, and he has averaged 17:57 time on ice per game in his past two contests. It’s not enough to warrant picking up Sheary, but worth seeing if he can make the most of his opportunity.

#17 The Rangers have had huge problems scoring early in the season, managing just 11 goals through six games. Zibanejad has one goal on 24 shots, Alexis Lafreniere has one goal on 21 shots and Will Cuylle has one goal on 17 shots. These are players skating in top six roles. Add in Artemi Panarin with zero goals on 13 shots and J.T. Miller with one goal in 10 shots, and the most encouraging aspect for the Rangers is that these guys can’t all keep shooting at such low percentages. Eventually, the dam will break and pucks will start to go in the net, so maybe the Rangers offer some buy-low opportunities right now.

#18 Some players have just been snakebit early. Here are the players with the highest individual expected goals total in all situations that have yet to score. Number one is Connor McDavid with 2.29 ixG, followed by David Tomasek (2.09), Alex DeBrincat (2.04), Connor McMichael (1.96), and Nick Suzuki (1.94). The takeaway for any of them is that they are due to start scoring. As any slumping goal-scorer will tell you, they worry more when they aren’t getting the chances and these players are getting chances.

#19 At the other end of the spectrum, Toronto Maple Leafs winger Calle Jarnkrok has scored three goals despite recording just 0.5 individual expected goals, suggesting that he may not continue at his current goal-scoring pace. He is averaging 11:08 of ice time per game and has eight shots on goal, so expectations would be understandably modest, but those goals are not necessarily the product of lots of great opportunities.

#20 With Mackenzie Blackwood recovering from injury, Scott Wedgewood has been excellent in goal for the Avalanche, earning 4.71 goals saved above expected (GSAx) in four starts. Other goalies excelling early: Igor Shesterkin (7.20 GSAx), Thatcher Demko (5.38 GSAx), and Spencer Knight (3.74 GSAx). On the other hand, Linus Ullmark (-4.09 GSAx), Dustin Wolf (-4.04 GSAx), Alex Nedeljkovic (-3.65 GSAx), Adin Hill (-3.05 GSAx), and Samuel Montembeault (-2.81 GSAx) are goalies that have started multiple games and have allowed the most goals relative to expectations. It is very early, but good to have this information when evaluating goalie options.

*Advanced stats via Natural Stat Trick

MCKEEN’S 2025-26 NHL YEARBOOK – BOSTON BRUINS – Team Preview/Player Profiles/Predictions

Josh Bell — Thu, 25 Sep 2025 18:56:19 +0000

BOSTON, MA - FEBRUARY 06: Boston Bruins goalie Jeremy Swayman (1) eyes a shot during a game between the Boston Bruins and the Calgary Flames on February 6, 2024, at TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Fred Kfoury III/Icon Sportswire)

To say things went sideways last season is putting it lightly. The Bruins went from having 109 points and finishing second in the Atlantic Division in 2023-2024 to dead last in the Eastern Conference and 76 points in 2024-2025. They fired coach Jim Montgomery only to see him join the St. Louis Blues and rally them to the playoffs while interim Joe Sacco couldn’t help pull the Bruins out of the hole they dug themselves. That led to seeing general manager Don Sweeney pull the plug and trade captain Brad Marchand to Florida and defenceman Brandon Carlo to Toronto at the trade deadline. While David Pastrnak continued to be brilliant and Morgan Geekie had a big season, No. 1 goalie Jeremy Swayman struggled all year after he missed training camp while he awaited a new contract. Injuries to defencemen Charlie McAvoy (50 games played) and Hampus Lindholm (17 games played) for a bulk of the season made matters that much worse and if they could burn the tape of the whole year, they would. Unfortunately, they’ll have to take a long look in the mirror to figure out if this is something they can turn around or if a rebuild of some kind is needed.

What’s Changed?

Marco Sturm is back in Boston and this time he’ll be behind the bench as a first-time NHL head coach. He replaces Sacco who had the unfortunate task of trying to turn things around midway through last season. Sturm comes over from the Ontario Reign in the AHL where he led them to the playoffs in each of his three seasons. Previously to that, he was an assistant coach with the Los Angeles Kings under Todd McLellan. On top of the new coach, the Bruins expect to have McAvoy and Lindholm back on the blue line. Free agency was quiet, however. They brought back forward Sean Kuraly and added forwards Michael Eyissmont and Tanner Jeannot and defenceman Jordan Harris. Adding Viktor Arvidsson via trade from Edmonton gives them a guy with a history of scoring on the wing. Being near the cap ceiling has its downsides and having to budget signings was a big part of that for Boston. Fans that wanted big roster additions were dealt a hard dose of reality.

What Would Success Look Like?

The bar is set differently for Boston and getting back to the playoffs is a priority given they have one of the league’s elite scorers in his prime in Pastrnak (43 goals and 107 points last season). A return to form from Swayman and healthy seasons from McAvoy and Lindholm will have the Bruins back in a place where they can be more back to normal for them. If Geekie can replicate what he did last season when he scored 33 goals while getting stronger seasons from Pavel Zacha and Casey Mittelstadt, they can be right back in the hunt for the playoffs. The Bruins don’t lack talent; they lack depth and depth of talent which means injuries and slumps are their worst enemies. It also puts enormous pressure on Sweeney to shore things up.

What Could Go Wrong?

If Swayman’s erratic performance last season was less a factor of not having a training camp and more about his play coming back to Earth, that would be a worse-case scenario. What helped make Boston so good in previous years was being able to split time with two goalies who could stay fresh and pick each other up. When Swayman struggled, Joonas Korpisalo couldn’t always pick up the slack as the backup. Should Geekie be unable to replicate his offensive output and McAvoy and Lindholm struggle coming back from injury, the Bruins’ season will be a slog for them to keep up while the rest of the Atlantic Division throw haymakers at each other to get to the playoffs. It’s the NHL’s toughest division and any kind of slip up can end a season prematurely.

Top Breakout Candidate

The biggest factor in becoming a breakout player is the opportunity to do it and that’s what Marat Khusnutdinov will have. The Bruins acquired the forward from Minnesota in March for Justin Brazeau and at 5-foot-11, 180 pounds, he’s got the size and skills to get in and out of trouble with ease. In 91 career games he’s got six goals and 10 assists, but if he can take advantage of the opportunity he’ll have in Boston to get ice time, the 2020 second-round pick will have the opportunity to take a big step forward with his game.

FORWARDS

David Pastrnak

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
82	45	58	103	1.26

In the past four seasons, Pastrnak has scored 191 goals, putting him third in the NHL, behind only Auston Matthews (202) and Leon Draisaitl (200). Pastrnak has reached that total with a solid foundation – he leads the NHL with 1,420 shots on goal over that period of time. As the Bruins move through what appears to be a period of transition, Pastrnak is clearly the most talented player on the team and, as he showed last season, he can produce at an elite level no matter what the situation is with his supporting cast. So, even as the Bruins faded from playoff contention, in his last 38 games, Pastrnak put up an astonishing 64 points (26 G, 38 A), pushing him past 40 goals and 100 points for the third consecutive season. He was runner-up for the Hart Trophy in 2022-2023, when he scored 61 goals, but it might take a little while for the Bruins to bounce back into a suitably competitive level that will get him those kinds of accolades, but his performance in recent seasons warrants that kind of respect. Having heaped this praise upon him, it would still be helpful if the Bruins could improve the quality of talent around Pastrnak so that he doesn’t have to carry such a heavy load. As it is, Pastrnak has a superb wrist shot and has improved his ability to put the puck on net. He remains one of the few players in the league with a legitimate chance to score 50 goals and 100 points and that should be where expectations sit for him going into the 2025-2026 season.

Morgan Geekie

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
82	38	27	65	0.79

Following a couple of seasons of steady progress, Geekie erupted last season with career highs of 33 goals and 57 points. Geekie tallied 29 even-strength goals, which was tied for eighth in the NHL. As encouraging as that might be, he also scored on 22 percent of his shots and that will be extremely difficult to duplicate. Nevertheless, Geekie was given the opportunity to play an offensive role and made the most of it, playing mostly with Pastrnak and Pavel Zacha. Playing with quality linemates allowed Geekie to be featured as more of a finisher and he did an excellent job finding open ice and being ready to fire the puck at a moment’s notice. Geekie also uses his 6-foot-3 frame effectively around the net, shielding the puck from defenders and creating just enough room to knock in rebounds or finish off passing plays when he is in-tight. The question now is whether this is indeed the level to which Geekie should be expected to produce, and the answer probably lies in whether he is going to keep playing with Pastrnak. Since last season brought unprecedented production, Geekie is a somewhat risky proposition going into 2025-2026. He is likely to skate on Boston’s first line, but it’s not like he has the track record to believe that he must be in that spot all season, so enthusiasm should be tempered at least a little. As such, 25 goals and 45-50 points is a fair expectation.

Elias Lindholm

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
82	21	37	58	0.71

The Brujns probably held out hope that they would get more offence from Lindholm, who managed 47 points in his first season in Boston, scoring just three goals in his first 32 games. He needed nine points (4 G, 5 A) in his last seven games to even reach that relatively modest point total. In his best years with the Calgary Flames, Lindholm was a premier two-way center who could contribute offensively, recording a career-high 82 points (40 G, 42 A) in 2021-2022, while also providing responsible defensive play and he finished as the Selke Trophy runner-up in that 2021-2022 season. What has happened since, however, is a more watered-down version of that player. Lindholm can contribute offensively, but not as much, and his defensive play is solid-to-strong rather than outstanding. If Lindholm is holding down a second-line center spot, he would be a quality option but, on this Bruins team, they could certainly use more from him – the first-line center job is there for the taking! Last season, Lindholm’s most common linemates were Brad Marchand, David Pastrnak, and Charlie Coyle, two of whom are no longer in Boston, so there is an opportunity for Lindholm to move between Geekie and Pastrnak on the top line, but it’s hardly a guarantee. With that uncertainty, Lindholm could be expected to score 20 goals and 50 points but, if he somehow manages to spend a whole season alongside Pastrnak, then those numbers could get significantly better.

Pavel Zacha

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
80	16	32	48	0.60

In three seasons with the Bruins, Zacha has been a steady contributor, though last season’s 14 goals counted as his lowest total since 2019-2020. He earned that, unfortunately, with a declining shot rate. His all-situation shot rate of 5.1 shots on goal per 60 minutes was his lowest since his rookie season in 2016-2017 and it’s difficult to generate offense consistently with so few shots on goal. Over the course of those three seasons, the Bruins have controlled 48.9 percent of shot attempts and 49.1 percent of expected goals during five-on-five play with Zacha on the ice, yet the Bruins have earned 58.4 percent of the goal share, so he is riding some favorable percentages in that respect. Zacha does offer versatility in that he can play both center and wing and move up and down the lineup as needed. That his most common linemates last season were Pastrnak and Geekie reflects just how desperate the Bruins are down the middle of the ice and if he ends up as the first line center, it might be good for Zacha, but it’s probably less than ideal for the Bruins. A fair expectation, based on what he has done in three seasons with the Bruins, is for Zacha to score 15-20 goals and 50 points.

Casey Mittelstadt

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
80	16	33	49	0.61

After being a highly touted prospect, drafted eighth overall in 2017, Mittelstadt took quite a while to make his mark with the Buffalo Sabres but he did record a career-high 59 points (15 G, 44 A) in 2022-2023 and had 47 points (13 G, 34 A) in 62 games the following season before getting traded to Colorado. Since then, Mittelstadt has managed 50 points (19 G, 31 A) in 99 games with the Avalanche and Bruins. He has the hands and offensive instincts to tease teams, but it has been a challenge for him to generate consistent offense. To be fair, upon arriving in Boston last season, his most common linemates were Vinny Lettieri and Cole Koepke, so maybe that was not the ideal situation to maximize his scoring contributions, but it would seem worthwhile for the Bruins to put more focus on that objective in 2025-2026. Mittelstadt tends to be passive on the ice and has not done enough in his career to earn even the level of trust that players like Lindholm and Zacha experience, so Mittelstadt is going to have to battle for his role as a center in Boston. He does, however, have some upside because of his puck skills so 15 goals and 45-50 points is not an unreasonable expectation for the 2025-2026 season.

Viktor Arvidsson

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
75	18	24	42	0.56

Coming off of an injury-shortened 2023-2024 season, Arvidsson looked like a good buy-low option for the Edmonton Oilers, figuring that his tenacity and scoring ability would be a good fit in their middle six, but it was not the right fit and he finished with 27 points (15 G, 12 A) in 60 games, his lowest points per game production since his rookie season in 2015-2016. He also played just under 15 minutes per game, which was also his lowest since his rookie season, and his on-ice shooting percentage was a meagre 6.4 percent, so it was not a season that was built for Arvidsson to have success. He is a five-time 20-goal scorer and has twice exceeded 30 goals in a season, so he has offensive credentials and the Bruins ought to be motivated to give Arvidsson the ice time to show what he can do. Arvidsson is the only established forward on the Bruins who will be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the 2025-2026 season, so if the Bruins are not in playoff contention, he would be a prime trade candidate but would also bring more in trade if he has a productive season. When he is on his game, Arvidsson is a high energy winger who excels on the forecheck and is not shy about launching shots towards the net, with varying degrees of accuracy. He is a consistent play driver and that is reason enough to like his chances to bounce back in Boston. Even allowing that Arvidsson may miss some time with injuries, because that has been his trend lately, he should still have a shot at 15-20 goals and 40 points as a complementary offensive contributor in Boston.

Matthew Poitras

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
28	4	8	12	0.43

A second-round pick in 2023, Poitras has played 33 NHL games in each of the past two seasons, producing a total of 26 points (6 G, 20 A) in 66 games. He did have 41 points (17 G, 24 A) in 40 AHL games last season, which is very encouraging production for his 20-year-old season. Poitras is a young and developing player and his offensive game has not yet broken through in the NHL, but his defensive play has been quite strong in this relatively small sample size. As a result, his Corsi and expected goals percentage both ranked second on the Bruins, so if his AHL production can translate to the next level, then he could turn into a valuable player for the Bruins as they move into a new era. The main area of concern for Poitras is that he has yet to establish his status as a bona fide NHL player, so while there is a world in which he secures a regular spot in the Bruins’ top nine, and that would make sense, there is also the possibility that he ends up on the roster bubble. If he does spend the full season in the NHL, 35 points is a fair expectation for Poitras in 2025-2026.

Tanner Jeannot

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
77	9	12	21	0.27

One of the more controversial free agent signings this summer, Jeannot received a five-year, $17 million contract from the Bruins, a significant commitment for a player who has struggled on his way to 20 goals and 45 points – total – across the past three seasons. It’s a far cry from his rookie season, in 2021-2022, when he put up 41 points (24 G, 17 A) and for the money they are investing, the Bruins have to hope that there is a path to Jeannot recapturing that scoring touch. He can have an impact on the game beyond scoring, as he tends to play a reliable defensive game, is one of the strongest players in the league, and can be an imposing physical presence. Across the past four seasons, he has recorded 1,030 hits and 401 penalty minutes, ranking sixth in both categories. The Bruins would probably like Jeannot to offer some version of what they used to have with Milan Lucic, a physically intimidating presence who could also put the puck in the net. Maybe there is a way for Jeannot to provide that but, based on the past three seasons, double-digit goals and anything more than 20 points would have to be considered a relative victory.

Michael Eyssimont

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
80	13	12	25	0.31

A late bloomer who didn’t reach the NHL as a regular until he was 26, Eyssimont is a lunch bucket type of player who shows up, works hard, and isn’t afraid to get his nose dirty. Although he managed a modest 16 points (9 G, 7 A) last season, split between Tampa Bay and Seattle, Eyssimont was an effective player who helped drive play in the right direction. His teams controlled 52.4 percent of shot attempts and 54.3 percent of expected goals during five-on-five play with Eyssimont on the ice, making him very effective relative to his role on the lower end of the depth chart. Despite not being especially big, listed at 6-feet-0, 191 pounds, Eyssimont has recorded more than 100 hits in three straight seasons and he’s not afraid to drop the gloves if the situation warrants it, too. He is also an exceptional shot generator. Among the 424 forwards to play at least 300 minutes of five-on-five play last season, Eyssimont ranked second (behind Brady Tkachuk) with 10.55 shots on goal per 60 minutes. The unfortunate part for Eyssimont is that he is a low percentage finisher, with a career shooting percentage of 6.0 percent, and that limits his overall effectiveness. Given his ability to generate chances, if Eyssimont could just score on 10 percent of his shots it would surely secure him a bigger role. It’s fair to expect 20-25 points from Eyssimont, which is not a lot, but his hits and penalty minutes could make him more relevant for those in banger leagues.

DEFENSE

Charlie McAvoy

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
70	6	29	35	0.50

A standout blueliner, McAvoy delivers consistently excellent defensive play and was doing so last season, as expected, when he was injured at the Four Nations Face-Off and ended up missing the rest of the season when his shoulder injury got infected. Without McAvoy and after dealing some veterans prior to the trade deadline, the Bruins went 6-15-4 in their last 25 games. The Bruins outscored opponents 34-30 during five-on-five play with McAvoy on the ice, extending his streak to eight consecutive seasons of the Bruins outscoring opponents with him on the ice. Through those eight seasons, the Bruins have outscored opponents by 138 goals during five-on-five play with McAvoy on the ice. He is a punishing hitter whose physical play is a cornerstone of his all-around effectiveness even while facing top opponents on a nightly basis. While McAvoy is a solid puck-handler and strong passer, he does not have a consistent impact on the power play. Among the 55 defencemen who played at least 50 five-on-four minutes last season, McAvoy ranked 54th with 1.49 points per 60 minutes (ahead of only Brent Burns). Mason Lohrei started to get more power play time for Boston as a result, even before McAvoy suffered his season-ending injury. If McAvoy has some role on the power play, he should be able to get back over 40 points, a threshold that he had crossed in three straight seasons prior to 2024-2025.

Hampus Lindholm

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
75	5	23	28	0.37

An excellent two-way defenceman who has been underrated for much of his career, Lindholm was limited to just 17 games last season due to a knee injury suffered in November. He was very effective in the games that he did play, with the Bruins outshooting and outscoring opponents with him on the ice. A strong skater with a 6-foot-4 frame, Lindholm can be an elite shutdown defender when healthy. In three seasons with the Bruins, he has benefitted from strong goaltending but has also been on the ice for 1.72 goals against per 60 minutes during five-on-five play. Among defencemen to play at least 2,000 five-on-five minutes across those three seasons, the only defencemen with lower rates of goals against were Nate Schmidt, Colin Miller and Dylan Samberg, all of whom spent at least one season with the Winnipeg Jets, playing in front of goaltender Connor Hellebuyck. In any case, if the Bruins get healthy seasons from McAvoy and Lindholm, they will have a much better chance to be competitive in 2025-2026. Lindholm could produce more than 30 points, but he has the potential to have a much greater all-around impact than his point total might suggest.

Nikita Zadorov

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
82	4	20	24	0.29

A towering presence on the Boston blueline, Zadorov led the NHL with 145 penalty minutes last season and recorded more than 200 hits for the first time since 2018-2019. He averaged a career-high 20:37 of ice time per game and given his relative effectiveness, the Bruins would prefer that he not be tasked with the enforcer role. He can still be that intimidating hard hitter on the blueline, but with Jeannot joining the Bruins, that gives the team another option when it comes time to drop the gloves. Zadorov tends to have limited contributions with the puck, but it’s not like he is completely hopeless. He scored 14 goals for Calgary during the 2022-2023 season and had eight points in 13 playoff games for Vancouver in 2023-2024. That is not the level at which he can be expected to sustain production, but those contributions showed that this huge defender could still contribute offensively. He has recorded at least 20 points in four consecutive seasons, so that is the baseline of expectations heading into 2025-2026, and there is not much likelihood that he will stray too far from that output. For fantasy managers, the hits and penalty minute totals make Zadorov relatively appealing in banger leagues.

Mason Lohrei

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
82	6	24	30	0.37

A second-round pick in 2020, Lohrei is a 6-foot-5 blueliner who emerged as an offensive contributor in his second NHL season. He started to get a bigger role on the power play and 16 of his 33 points were scored with the man advantage. While that power play production was encouraging, last season also showed that Lohrei had some trouble handling a bigger role on the Boston blueline, particularly with Lindholm and McAvoy missing so much time with injuries. There were 138 defencemen to play at least 1,000 five-on-five minutes in 2024-2025 and Lohrei ranked 137th with 3.48 goals against per 60 minutes, ahead of only Chicago’s Alex Vlasic (3.55). While Lohrei’s defensive game could certainly improve, he did have some bad luck contributing to those numbers, as his on-ice save percentage was .881, which was the third lowest among those defenders. It was not goaltender Jeremy Swayman’s finest season, and it had an impact on Lohrei’s defensive results. Looking ahead to 2025-2026, Lohrei should have a more manageable role on the Boston blueline, where he can fill a supporting role as well as getting regular power play time. He should be expected to produce at least 30 points and if he tightens up his defensive game, then Lohrei will go a long way towards securing his place on the Bruins’ depth chart.

Goal

Jeremy Swayman

Predicted Stats
GP	W	L	OT	SO	SV%	GAA
51	20	23	6	3	.902	3.12

Fans could almost feel the moment that the Boston Bruins decided that they were going to strip down and start over last season, and - unfortunately - that included more than just roster moves. Just one season after coming in seventh in Vezina voting, starter Jeremy Swayman picked up a new, uglier league-leading stat last year when he earned the distinction as the goaltender who allowed the most pucks past him over the regular season campaign. His 176 goals allowed were nearly double the average he typically allows in a single season - and while he played in around fifteen more games than is optimal for his best performance, that workload-volume increase certainly didn't account for all of his abysmally poor performance. He was one of the NHL's worst goaltenders in 2024-25, forced to shoulder a harder workload with a weaker tandem partner in Joonas Korpisalo while the skating roster in front of him was slowly but surely shipped out ahead of the trade deadline.

Boston still has a few key core pieces left in their lineup, and Charlie McAvoy, Hampus Lindholm, and David Pastrnak are all still at points in their career where the team could choose to retool and redevelop their lineup to push back into Wild Card contention if they wish. And the good news is that Korpisalo, who started off the season looking lost positionally for the Bruins, started to settle in from a technical standpoint as the year wore on - so he might be able to shoulder more minutes to give Swayman a bit of a break. But where there used to be one of the most formidable tandems in the league, things look relatively bleak in Boston - and unless Swayman comes back looking ready for action, this could be a tough year in net.

NHL: DADOUN – THE FANTASY WEEK AHEAD – Goaltending issues – Favourable schedules and players to target

Ryan Dadoun — Sat, 18 Jan 2025 16:22:53 +0000

DETROIT, MI - JANUARY 14: San Jose Sharks goaltender Alexandar Georgiev (40) doesn’t see a rebound in front of him during the game between the Detroit Red Wings and the San Jose Sharks Tuesday January 14, 2025 at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, MI. (Photo by Steven King/Icon Sportswire)

When you’re early in a season, there is always the fear of overreacting to small sample sizes, but sometimes early success or failure really is an indication of what’s to come. That holds true when it comes to two goaltenders who struggled in the opening weeks of the 2024-25 campaign -- Tristan Jarry and Alexandar Georgiev.

Jarry and Georgiev started in the Penguins’ and Avalanche’s season opener, respectively, but neither is even on that team anymore and a failure in between the pipes is the cause in both cases. Georgiev had a disastrous start, going 0-3-0 with a 5.79 GAA and an .802 save percentage across his first four games. He didn’t even post a start in which he allowed fewer than three goals until Nov. 7. In the end, he had an 8-7-0 record, 3.38 GAA and .874 save percentage in 18 outings before the Avalanche cut him loose, packaging him with Nikolai Kovalenko and two picks to get Mackenzie Blackwood from San Jose.

We can’t fully judge the trade yet until we know what becomes of those draft picks -- it will take a while because it’s a 2025 fifth-round selection and a 2026 second-round pick that went San Jose’s way -- but Colorado has plenty of reason to be happy. Blackwood has been brilliant between the pipes for the Avalanche, while Georgiev has done no better in San Jose than he had for Colorado in 2024-25.

Colorado’s situation can be considered lucky compared to Pittsburgh’s. Georgiev is in the final season of his three-year, $10.2 million contract anyway, so putting together an offering with some sweeteners to a rebuilding squad was perfectly feasible. Jarry is in just the second season of his five-year, $26.88 million contract, so finding a taker for him would be far more difficult.

No one wants that contract, and I can say that without any reservation because it’s been proven. Jarry was put on waivers Wednesday, giving the other 31 teams to take over his contract without giving up any assets and every squad passed on the offer. With that, Pittsburgh sent Jarry to AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.

Similar to Georgiev, Jarry had a terrible start to the 2024-25 campaign, allowing 12 goals on 73 shots (.836 save percentage) over his first three appearances. Jarry then spent time in the minors on a conditioning stint and seemed to stabilize, posting a 2.16 GAA and a .926 save percentage in five AHL outings, but that didn’t translate into NHL success. After rejoining the Penguins, he allowed five goals on 38 shots to Columbus in his first start back and has continued to struggle, posting an 8-8-4 record, 3.31 GAA and .884 save percentage through 22 NHL outings this campaign.

Given that Jarry floundered even after a strong showing in the minors, it’d be hard to trust him even if he shows promise again in the AHL, especially because the 18-20-8 Penguins have very little margin for error left in their fight to stay in the Wild Card picture. There’s always the chance that injuries or a trade will change things, but for now, Pittsburgh seems set to spend the final months of the season with the goaltending duo of Alex Nedeljkovic and Joel Blomqvist, the latter of whom was called up in a move corresponding with Jarry’s demotion. Blomqvist is just 23 and someone the Penguins hope will be a significant part of the team long-term.

Speaking of the future, there are likely no good solutions when it comes to Jarry. Barring a comeback for the ages, the Penguins will likely look to part ways with him over the summer. They could try bundling draft picks to trade him but at $5.375 million through 2027-28 for a goaltender struggling to stay in the NHL, finding a suitor would be a challenge. Maybe a combination of the Penguins’ offering a really nice sweetener -- Penguins GM Kyle Dubas showed during his time in Toronto that he’d willingly sacrifice a first-round pick in exchange for cap savings -- and retaining some of his remaining salary would be enough to make it happen, but the Penguins would have to decide if they’re really that desperate to move him.

An alternative would be to buy out his remaining term, which would leave Pittsburgh with a cap hit of roughly $1.75 million in 2025-26 for a saving of roughly $3.63 million, but the dead cap would increase to $5.05 million in 2026-27 and be $4.55 million in 2027-28. The Penguins would then have $797,222 of dead cap space in each campaign from 2028-29 through 2030-31. In other words, they’d have a meaningful amount of extra wiggle room next season, but after that, any benefit to buying him out is basically over.

Still, the Penguins might be uniquely positioned for that arrangement to make sense. Erik Karlsson is 34, Sidney Crosby and Kris Letang are 37 and Evgeni Malkin is 38. Realistically, Pittsburgh’s Stanley Cup window has already closed, but the franchise is reluctant to start a rebuild while the old guard is still playing good hockey. So how about this: The Penguins make the 2025-26 the last dance with this group and then embrace the rebuild. Yes, Crosby and Karlsson are signed through 2026-27 and Letang through 2027-28, but by that point, Crosby and Letang will be approaching 40 while Malkin, whose contract expires after 2025-26, might be gone. Unless something major changes, it seems hard to see how the Penguins will be competitive by that point anyway, so they’ll likely be in rebuild mode regardless of what they want.

So perhaps that’s what will end up happening. In the meantime, though, Jarry will report to the minors while Crosby and Co. will chase a return to the playoffs.

Boston Bruins (Mon vs SJS, Wed @ NJD, Thu vs OTT, Sat vs COL)

The Bruins stopped a six-game losing streak with a 4-3 overtime victory over Florida on Jan. 11 and put more distance on that slump by besting Tampa Bay 6-2 on Jan. 14. Still, the Bruins have no breathing room in the battle for a Wild Card spot, so they need to stay strong. They’ll host the Sharks on Monday, play in New Jersey on Wednesday and then spend their final two games of the week at home, facing Ottawa and Colorado on Thursday and Saturday, respectively.

With over half the campaign in the bank, Boston is still searching for offense up the middle. Charlie Coyle and Pavel Zacha kept the Bruins afloat in that regard last season, providing 60 and 59 points, respectively, but Boston believed it could do even better by signing Elias Lindholm to a massive seven-year, $54.25 million contract.

That hasn’t worked out. Lindholm has just seven goals and 22 points in 46 appearances this year. What makes that more troubling is it comes after he was limited to 15 goals and 44 points in 75 outings in 2023-24. Boston clearly felt that down campaign was an anomaly for Lindholm, who has surpassed the 60-point milestone on three occasions, but perhaps the back half of his career won’t be filled with offensive accomplishments.

Making matters worse is the lackluster production from Zacha (10 goals, 24 points) and Coyle (10 goals, 15 points) this campaign. At least Brad Marchand (16 goals, 35 points) and David Pastrnak (20 goals, 48 points) are still doing well, but the Bruins’ scoring depth beyond that is looking rather bad.

Although it would be awkward to add yet another center when Coyle, Zacha and Lindholm consume a collective $17.75 million in cap space, that might be the play that would improve the Bruins the most. Then again, perhaps the Bruins won’t be buyers at the deadline.

“We’ll see where we’re at,” Bruins president Cam Neely recently said, per Amalie Benjamin of NHL.com. “I think right now, we’ve got to look at two paths: one that we’re buying and one that we may be retooling a little bit.”

In other words, these next few weeks are all the more important. Perhaps that will provide Boston with extra motivation, especially from the team’s core.

Carolina Hurricanes (Mon @ CHI, Tue @ DAL, Thu vs CBJ, Sat @ NYI)

The Hurricanes got off to a 20-10-1 start but went just 6-6-2 from Dec. 20-Jan. 15, so they have some work to do. They’ll start on the road next week with matches in Chicago on Monday and Dallas on Tuesday before returning home to host the Blue Jackets on Thursday. The Hurricanes will conclude the week with a road tilt versus the Islanders.

Carolina got some good news with the activation of Frederik Andersen (knee) off injured reserve. Although Andersen started the campaign with a 3-1-0 record, 1.49 GAA and .941 save percentage in four outings, he hasn’t played since Oct. 26. Rust might be a factor, but he still should have the edge for the starting gig ahead of Pyotr Kochetkov, who has a 16-9-2 record, 2.54 GAA and .901 save percentage in 28 appearances. It seems extremely likely that Kochetkov will see his workload diminish but given Andersen’s age (35) and injury history, Carolina might hesitate to lean on him too much even if he produces good results. Despite the Hurricanes’ mediocre play of late, Carolina’s position is still strong enough to prioritize making sure Andersen will be optimal for the playoffs.

Andersen isn’t the only veteran of importance for the team. The 36-year-old Jordan Staal is a valued member too, though the team captain’s contributions typically aren’t in the offensive zone. One notable exception to that was from Jan. 5-10 -- a stretch in which Staal collected five goals and eight points over four games. That stretch included a hat trick on Jan. 9, the fifth of his career and second since joining Carolina in 2012.

The good times are probably over, though. He had no points and no shots for Carolina on Jan. 12 and Jan. 15, so if you picked him up for the hot streak, it’s time to move on. On the plus side, Brent Burns is still hot. He has five assists over his past five appearances and nine points (two goals) across his last 11 outings. Burns has taken a step back offensively in 2024-25, largely due to his diminished power-play role, but his recent success has pushed him up to four goals and 18 points in 45 outings in 2024-25. Who knows, maybe he’ll have a strong second half, though I’d feel more confident about suggesting that if he was on the top power-play unit. As it is, Burns has just one assist with the man advantage this season, down from 20 power-play points in 2023-24.

Minnesota Wild (Mon @ COL, Thu vs UTA, Sat vs CGY, Sun @ CHI)

The Wild are enduring about as close as they get to a cold spell with three defeats over their past four games, dropping them to 27-14-4. Things won’t get any easier Monday in Colorado, but the rest of the week looks favorable. Minnesota will host Utah on Thursday, Calgary on Saturday and play in Chicago on Sunday.

The Wild's biggest issue is the absence of star forward Kirill Kaprizov (lower body). He was moved to long-term injured reserve Thursday, and although it’s retroactive to Dec. 23, they probably wouldn’t have done that if he was expected back soon. Minnesota will also miss Marcus Johansson (head) next week after sustaining the injury Wednesday.

Those absences have opened the door for Liam Ohgren, who was recalled from AHL Iowa on Thursday and will presumably play regularly next week. The 20-year-old was taken with the No. 19 overall pick in the 2022 NHL Draft and has shown promise in the AHL, supplying 12 goals and 23 points in 25 outings this season. He hasn’t recorded a point in eight games with Minnesota in 2024-25, but he’s also averaged just 9:53 of ice time over that stretch. It’ll be interesting to see if he plays a bigger role than he did during his stint in October, both because he’s gotten some seasoning in the minors and the fact that Kaprizov and Johansson were eating big minutes.

Then again, Jakub Lauko is also in the mix. He hasn’t played since Dec. 14 due to a lower-body injury, but he’s off IR now, setting the stage for his return. Before the injury, he had two goals and four points across 24 appearances with the Wild in 2024-25 while averaging just 10:00. Lauko is more of a gritty forward without Ohgren’s offensive upside, but perhaps that’s what the Wild want to help fill out the minutes lost, especially given Lauko’s edge in NHL experience.

That aside, Minnesota has to be happy that Ryan Hartman has stepped up in the face of those injuries, providing three goals and seven points across his past eight appearances, especially after struggling up to that point with four goals and seven points across his past 32 outings. Hartman hasn’t seen consistent use on the power play in 2024-25, but his recent play might lead to Minnesota reevaluating that. Although he hasn’t come close to replicating his 34-goal, 65-point showing in 2021-22 since that campaign, Hartman can still be an effective secondary scorer under the right circumstances and did provide 10 power-play points -- 45 overall -- in 2023-24.

Nashville Predators (Tue vs SJS, Thu @ SJS, Sat @ ANA)

This has been a miserable season for the Predators, but they’ve won their last two games and do have some favorable matchups ahead. They’ll play a home-and-away series against San Jose on Tuesday and Thursday before facing the Ducks in Anaheim on Saturday.

There’s not much in the way of silver linings for Nashville this campaign, but at least Steven Stamkos has gotten better as he’s settled in with the club. He has an impressive 11 goals and 21 points across his past 26 appearances, a stark change from his opening eight games in which he was limited to just one point (a goal). There were plenty of assessments that Tampa Bay was right to cut him loose when the squad did, and while the Lightning certainly have to be happy with how things are working out with Jake Guentzel, it seems Stamkos has something left in the tank.

Jonathan Marchessault has also hit his stride. He had five goals and 13 points over his first 28 outings with the Predators, but he’s been one of the league’s top players dating back to Dec. 10 with nine goals and 20 points across 16 games.

That begs the question, though: If Nashville’s big free-agent signings are paying off after all, then why is Nashville still just 15-22-7? Sure, the Predators have looked better from Dec. 12 onward with an 8-6-1 record, but even that stretch doesn’t align with the team’s high offseason expectations.

Part of the problem is secondary scoring. In addition to Stamkos and Marchessault, the Predators do have Filip Forsberg (13 goals, 38 points), Ryan O’Reilly (13 goals, 26 points) and defenseman Roman Josi (eight goals, 30 points), but no one else has reached the 20-point mark. That gives Nashville five players who have passed that milestone while the average team has 7.17. The average team also has 5.56 players with at least 10 goals while Nashville has four.

The fall of Gustav Nyquist, who recorded 75 points last campaign but has just 18 points (seven goals) in 43 appearances in 2024-25, is a big factor in that, and unlike Stamkos and Marchessault, Nyquist doesn’t seem to be getting meaningfully better as the campaign progresses. It’d also have been nice if the 22-year-old Luke Evangelista built off his 2023-24 39-point showing, but instead, he has four goals and 14 points in 39 appearances this season.

The other factor is the defense. Nashville is tied for 21st in xGA/60 with 3.07, per Moneypuck. Juuse Saros has held his own with a plus-2.5 goals saved above expected, but that just suggests he’s been average rather than exceptional and on a team with as leaky a defense as the Predators’, they really do need the Saros of old. Instead, the current version is 10-18-6 with a 2.75 GAA and a .903 save percentage. He continues to be consistent too, supplying a 4-5-1 record, 2.80 GAA and .889 save percentage across his past 10 games.

Ottawa Senators (Tue @ NYR, Thu @ BOS, Sat vs TOR, Sun vs UTA)

Ottawa is 22-18-4 and in the mix for a playoff spot, but the Senators have to be nervous given the recent success enjoyed by Detroit and Montreal. The pressure is on Ottawa going into its road tilts against the Rangers on Tuesday and the Bruins on Thursday. The Senators will then play in Toronto on Saturday and Utah on Sunday.

Ottawa’s forwards have been going through a quiet stretch with Tim Stutzle, Drake Batherson and Brady Tkachuk each recording three or fewer points over Ottawa’s past four games. Shane Pinto is enjoying some success, though, supplying two goals and four points over his past four games.

Pinto hasn’t been great overall in 2024-25 with eight goals and 14 points in 36 appearances. He showed offensive potential over his previous two campaigns with 29 goals and 62 points across 123 outings, but the 24-year-old hasn’t taken the next step yet, despite averaging a healthy 17:40 of ice time in 2024-25.

It’d help if he shot the puck more. He’s averaging just 6.1 shots/60, down from 8.9 last year, which is why he’s been limited to eight markers despite a healthy 12.3 shooting percentage (his career average is 10.9). He’s showing no signs of doing that, though, managing just six shots over his past four games. Unless that changes, Pinto likely won’t be a long-term play.

Things have looked better in goal, though. Linus Ullmark (back) is still out and probably won’t return next week, but his continued absence has been made tolerable by the rise of Leevi Merilainen. The 22-year-old rookie has a 5-2-1 record, 1.84 GAA and .930 save percentage in eight outings in 2024-25. He’s made four consecutive starts for Ottawa, allowing a mere three goals on 106 shots (.972 save percentage).

It’s inevitable that he’s going to have bad games, but if his overall level of play remains high, then Ottawa will have a near impossible time justifying sending him down after Ullmark returns. Instead, Anton Forsberg, who is 4-8-1 with a 3.10 GAA and an .883 save percentage, might find himself on waivers, which would allow Ottawa to go with an Ullmark-Merilainen combo. There’s also a chance that Forsberg might be traded or even claimed because he’s in the final season of a three-year, $8.25 million deal, which makes him a tolerable rental from a cap perspective but given his lackluster play over the past three years (30-31-3, 3.21 GAA, .894 save percentage), the other team would need to be fairly desperate.

Tampa Bay Lightning (Mon @ TOR, Tue @ MTL, Fri @ CHI, Sat @ DET)

Tampa Bay has played in just 43 games through Friday’s action, the second least in the league, so the Lightning are going to have a bit of a busier schedule than most for the remainder of the campaign. The Lightning will experience that in the upcoming week during their four-game road trip with stops in Toronto on Monday, Montreal on Tuesday, Chicago on Friday and Detroit on Saturday.

The Lightning are fortunate to be healthy in goal and up front, but blueliner Erik Cernak did sustain an undisclosed injury Thursday and is day-to-day as of the time of writing. Tampa Bay was already missing J.J. Moser (lower body), so that brings Tampa Bay down to five healthy blueliners if Cernak is unavailable.

Nick Perbix might see an increase in playing time from his season average of 15:28. He has four goals, 11 points, 14 PIM, 28 hits and 40 blocks in 38 appearances in 2024-25, so he’s only a factor in the deepest of fantasy leagues. The 23-year-old Emil Lilleberg getting a bigger role would be more interesting. Lilleberg ranks second among all defensemen with 72 PIM, and he has 71 hits. If an increase in playing time leads to even a modest uptick in offensive production -- he has nine assists in 40 appearances while averaging 15:43 of ice time -- then that would be interesting in leagues that also use penalty minutes.

Regardless of what happens on defense, though, Tampa Bay has a forward group to be envious of. The Lightning have five forwards with 37 or more points compared to the league average of 1.59. There’s also Nick Paul, who is a solid secondary scorer with 11 goals and 25 points in 37 appearances. He’s on a bit of a roll right now with two goals and five points over his past six games, so he’s worth consideration as a short-term grab, especially given Tampa Bay’s packed upcoming lineup.

Meanwhile, Nikita Kucherov remains as dominant as ever. He’s on a seven-game scoring streak in which he’s provided three goals and 11 points, giving him 20 markers and 65 points in 41 outings overall. He ranks third in the scoring race behind Nathan MacKinnon (17 goals, 72 points) and Leon Draisaitl (31 goals, 67 points) and just ahead of Connor McDavid (20 goals, 64 points). It wouldn’t be surprising to see those four compete for the Art Ross Trophy for the remainder of the season.

Vegas Golden Knights (Mon vs STL, Thu @ STL, Fri @ DAL, Sun vs FLA)

Vegas is cruising towards the playoffs with its 29-12-3 record, though it has hit a speed bump, dropping three of its past four games. It wouldn’t be surprising to see better results next week, though. The Golden Knights will start with a home-and-away series against St. Louis on Monday and Thursday. Vegas will then play in Dallas on Friday and host the Panthers on Sunday.

I’m so used to the Golden Knights having injury problems, that it’s weird to see the team basically healthy. Lukas Cormier is on the season-opening injured reserve list, but he’ll probably be sent to the minors once he’s ready to return.

That gives us a glimpse of how this team assembles at full strength. Presently, the forward talent is spread out nicely. Ivan Barbashev, Jack Eichel and Mark Stone make for a strong first line while Tomas Hertl and William Karlsson each center one of the other two scoring lines -- it's debatable which of those is second and which is third. Presently, Karlsson has Brett Howden on his wing while Hertl has Pavel Dorofeyev.

Then there’s the 23-year-old Cole Schwindt, who doesn’t have much of a role when everyone is healthy. He averaged just 8:24 of ice time from Dec. 19-Jan. 12 and typically doesn’t get consistent linemates. He was then a healthy scratch Tuesday but is projected to draw back into the lineup Friday with the 22-year-old Alexander Holtz resting instead. Holtz also doesn’t have a consistent role when the team is at full strength.

Nicolas Roy is technically the fourth center, but he’s playing more than that role implies, averaging 15:59 per game. He also brings more to the table offensively than someone with the “fourth-line center” label. He had 13 goals and 41 points in 70 outings in 2023-24 and is at six goals and 14 points across 33 appearances this season.

Combine that with the ability to utilize Noah Hanifin, Brayden McNabb, Alex Pietrangelo and Shea Theodore as the squad’s top-four defensemen, and it’s not hard to see why this group is enjoying so much success. There aren’t any glaring needs that they even have going into the playoffs, though it can usually never hurt to have too much depth, so maybe Vegas will look to add a complementary piece or two as some injury insurance.

Winnipeg Jets (Mon @ UTA, Wed @ COL, Fri vs UTA, Sun vs CGY)

Winnipeg has won its past three games, bringing it up to 31-12-3 in 2024-25. That puts them on a 55-win pace, which would be the most in franchise history -- the Jets’ previous best was 52 in 2017-18 and 2023-24. We’ll see if the Jets can continue their smooth performance this campaign next week. They’ll play in Utah on Monday and Colorado on Wednesday before returning home to host Utah on Friday and the Flames on Sunday.

Connor Hellebuyck remains the backbone of their success. He’s allowed just four goals on 93 shots (.957 save percentage) over his past four starts and now has a 28-6-2 record, 1.97 GAA and .929 save percentage in 36 outings. Like the Jets, it’s entirely feasible that he’ll surpass his career high in wins. His current best is 44, which he set in 2017-18. Assumingly, that wasn’t one of the two times he won the Vezina Trophy, finishing second that year to Pekka Rinne with both of those netminders getting similar results -- Hellebuyck was 44-11-9 with a 2.36 GAA and a .924 save percentage in 67 appearances while Rinne was 42-13-4 with a 2.31 GAA and a .927 save percentage in 59 starts.

This season, Hellebuyck is looking like a heavy favorite in the Vezina Trophy race. In addition to dominating the win category (the next best goaltender is Jake Oettinger with 22), he also leads in save percentage (Hellebuyck’s .929 narrowly beats Anthony Stolarz’s .927, though Stolarz has been limited to 17 starts due to injury) and GAA (his 1.97 tops Darcy Kuemper’s 2.06, and again, Hellebuyck has a huge edge in starts compared to Kuemper’s 22) among those with at least 10 appearances.

In a different year, I think there’d be a strong Hart argument to be made for Hellebuyck too, but that would require the top of the scoring leaderboard to be less impressive. We’re probably going to see one or more forwards top 120 points, so odds are one of them will get the Hart. Still, Hellebuyck’s dominance this campaign is remarkable.

We shouldn’t sell the offense short, though. The Jets do rank second in goals per game with 3.57. The top line of Kyle Connor (26 goals, 60 points), Mark Scheifele (27 goals, 53 points) and Gabriel Vilardi (19 goals, 41 points) have led the charge in that regard, but Nikolaj Ehlers’ contributions shouldn’t be overlooked either. He has 14 goals and 38 points across 37 outings in 2024-25, including five goals and 13 points in 13 games since returning from a lower-body injury. Ehlers numbers become more impressive when you consider he’s averaging a somewhat modest 15:37. No player has more points than Ehlers while averaging under 16 minutes (Jason Zucker is next with 33 points), and that’s despite Ehlers missing nine games due to his injury.

NHL: DADOUN – FANTASY WEEK AHEAD – Are the New York Rangers really this bad? – Teams and players to target this week

Ryan Dadoun — Sat, 21 Dec 2024 13:30:15 +0000

_{NEW YORK, NY - MAY 30: Igor Shesterkin #31 of the New York Rangers prior to the National Hockey League Eastern Conference Final game 5 against the Florida Panthers on May 30, 2024 at Madison Square Garden in New York. (Photo by Rich Graessle/Icon Sportswire)}

Are the New York Rangers really this bad or just stuck in an absurdly long slump? Or is there a third possibility?

The common narrative seems to put the blame on Rangers president and GM Chris Drury, who some speculate has created a rift between management and the players that's having a significant impact on the ice. Vincent Z. Mercogliano of Lohud reported that some on the team have taken issue with Drury's methods, from waiving Barclay Goodrow to get around his no-trade clause to threatening to do the same to captain Jacob Trouba if he didn't sign off on a trade to Anaheim, to Drury reportedly issuing a memo that the Rangers were open for business on the trade front following a loss to Edmonton, despite team still being a strong 12-6-1 at that time.

Then there was the incident with Kaapo Kakko. Rangers coach Peter Laviolette decided to scratch him for Tuesday's tilt against Nashville after New York lost 10 of 13, dropping to 15-14-1. However, Kakko took exception to that, feeling he was getting unfairly singled out.

"I know you've got to do something as a coach when you're losing games, but I think it's just easy to pick a young guy and boot him out. That's how I feel, to be honest," Kakko said, per Mollie Walker of the New York Post. He added, "I have not been the worst guy. But that was me out of the lineup."

The Rangers ended up losing 2-0 to Nashville. The next day, Kakko was dealt to Seattle. Even if Kakko never really developed as the Rangers hoped when they selected him with the No. 2 overall pick in the 2019 NHL Draft, that whole saga this week was another distraction that the team could ill afford.

But is this really as simple as mismanagement leading to the group failing to play up to its potential or is there a deeper problem? On the surface, the answer seems obvious. The Rangers reached the Eastern Conference Finals in 2022 and 2024 and started the campaign 12-4-1. How could this not be a team capable of contending?

There are some areas of concern, though. Chris Kreider's success has been driven by his ability to score goals, but he might be slowing in that regard at the age of 33. He has 10 markers in 28 appearances in 2024-25, which would be considered good for other players, but he doesn't bring a lot else to the table -- he has just one assist -- so that's worrying.

Mika Zibanejad has seen his production dip too. He has six goals and 21 points through 31 outings and is in a four-way tie for the fourth-worst plus/minus at minus-17. Plus/minus isn't the best metric, but he also has a relative 5v5 CF% and 5v5 FF% of minus-6.7 and minus-5.8, respectively, which suggests that his team is doing better in terms of puck possession when he's off the ice compared to when he's on it. He also has a 5v5 CF%/FF% of 44.0/44.2, which would represent career lows for him.

To some extent, this reminds me a little of what happened to the San Jose Sharks. They were a perennial contender through the 2018-19 campaign. They reached the Stanley Cup Final in 2016 and the Western Conference Final in 2019. San Jose was far from resting on its laurels either. Still searching for that elusive championship, San Jose acquired elite defenseman Erik Karlsson in September 2018 and locked him up to an eight-year, $92 million contract in the summer of 2019.

The stage seemed to be set for the Sharks to be Cup contenders in 2019-20. Sure, Joe Pavelski was gone, but the forward group of Timo Meier, Evander Kane, Logan Couture and Tomas Hertl was still fairly young. Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau were there as the veteran presences, and the duo of Karlsson and Brent Burns was one of the best on paper. Not only did San Jose fail to make the playoffs that year, but the Sharks haven't made it since. In retrospect, they misjudged their core and got caught in an awkward position of needing to rebuild but being slow to do so due to their already established long-term contracts.

It might be overly dramatic to suggest that the Rangers are a repeat of that, but a slump this long and dramatic is unusual and hard to dismiss.

Igor Shesterkin just has to hope that the Sharks comparison proves to be invalid. In that scenario, he'd be the Karlsson: A player who made a major commitment to a team he thought was going to be a contender, only to see some of his prime years squandered. Shesterkin recently agreed to his own eight-year, $92 million contract that doesn't even begin until next year. Maybe he'll end up having better luck with the team around him than Karlsson…

Boston Bruins (Mon @ VAN, Thu @ SJS, FRI @ ANA, Sun vs. SEA)

The upcoming week will be relatively light because the NHL will not play Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday due to its Christmas break. That said, there are still teams worth highlighting, starting with the Bruins, who begin the week with a difficult home game against Washington on Monday but will then face the rebuilding Blue Jackets on the road Friday and then in Boston on Saturday.

The Bruins' rough start to the campaign is largely behind them. From Nov. 21 onward, the Bruins have a 9-4-1 record to put them at 17-13-4 overall. The single biggest difference is that Boston has given up far fewer goals, going from an average of 3.45 goals allowed over its 8-9-3 start to 2.71 across its past 15 games.

Jeremy Swayman has been a benefactor of that, posting a 2.68 GAA over that 15-game span (he's appeared in 10 of those contests) while earning a 6-3-1 record. However, Swayman's save percentage during that stretch is a less impressive .892. It's worth noting that span includes a rough 8-1 loss to Winnipeg in which Swayman was charged with every goal. If you exclude that one start, then his save percentage during that span jumps to .912.

Boston's offense has also improved over the past 15 games, though it's still not special, earning 2.86 goals per game over that stretch compared to 2.40 during the first 20 games. Pavel Zacha and Morgan Geekie have provided some key secondary scoring recently, totaling nine and eight points, respectively, across Boston's last 15 outings. Neither one has been particularly consistent, though, and their production is only impressive when measured against their dreadful starts to the campaign.

Meanwhile, Elias Lindholm continues to underwhelm with five goals and 17 points through 34 appearances. However, he is on a three-game scoring streak (two goals, four points), so perhaps he'll be effective in the upcoming week.

Buffalo Sabres (Mon vs. DAL, Thu @ MIN, FRI vs. PIT, Sun vs. STL)

I started this article by highlighting the Rangers for their struggles, but Buffalo has been even worse. Going into Friday's action, the Sabres have lost 11 straight games, dropping to 11-17-4. Rather than showing signs of turning things around, they suffered a 6-1 loss to Montreal on Tuesday.

The Sabres won't face particularly stiff competition next week, though, so perhaps they can stabilize. They'll play on the road against the Islanders on Monday, host Chicago on Friday and conclude the week in St. Louis on Sunday.

Finding a diamond in the rough on a team doing that poorly is difficult. Jason Zucker is about as close as you'll come. He has eight goals and 21 points through 32 appearances, making this a nice bounce-back campaign for him after he finished 2023-24 with 32 points in 69 regular-season games between Arizona and Nashville. It helps that he's averaging 2:53 with the man advantage, which would be a career-high if he maintains that. Zucker has seven power-play points (three goals), which puts him on track to easily surpass his 2023-24 total of 10 and potentially even best his personal best of 16, which was set in 2017-18.

Outside of that, though, there isn't much to like. Rasmus Dahlin (back) is set to return on Friday, which should be a significant boost for Buffalo. The Sabres' losing streak predates Dahlin's seven-game absence, but it's still reasonable to say that Dahlin plays an important role for Buffalo and that his exclusion from the lineup was felt. He has six goals and 19 points in 25 appearances in 2024-25 while averaging 24:42 of ice time, including 3:23 with the man advantage.

Owen Power has been seeing significant power-play usage recently, but with Dahlin back, Power might be absent from the power play entirely for Friday's game. For other defensemen, that would be a big blow, but Power has failed to take advantage of that role -- he hasn't recorded a single power-play point in 2024-25 -- so it shouldn't change much for those who have Power on their team.

Dallas Stars (Mon @ BUF, Thu vs. VGK, FRI vs. TBL, Sun vs. MIN)

Dallas is set to play in Utah on Monday, host the Wild on Friday and play in Chicago on Sunday. It's not a bad schedule, but under normal circumstances, it wouldn't be good enough to highlight. Still, it's nice to have an opportunity to talk about Dallas, which has done well this campaign with a 19-12-0 record heading into Friday's action.

The Stars are also in an interesting spot right now. Matt Duchene is their scoring leader with 30 points (13 goals) in 31 appearances, but his hot start has come to an end with him recording just a goal and three points across his past nine outings. Duchene's cold stretch probably isn't the new normal, but it's equally fair to suggest that he overperformed early in the campaign. His shooting percentage, which remains an uncomfortably high 26.0, suggests that there might still be more backsliding to come. He might ultimately finish the campaign with 60-70 points, which would be in line with his 2023-24 results and would represent a mild, but not dramatic, scoring decline from his overall scoring pace this campaign.

Fortunately for Dallas, Duchene's decline has corresponded with Jason Robertson showing signs of life. The 25-year-old forward's overall numbers this campaign remain well below what you'd expect from him (seven goals and 21 points in 31 games), but he has collected two goals and six points over his past five appearances.

Jamie Benn has also been solid, recording an assist in each of his past six outings and contributing two goals and nine points across his last 10 games. His 20 points through 31 appearances in 2024-25 still put him on pace to finish below his 60-point regular-season total from 2023-24, but it still wouldn't be shocking to see him end up hitting that mark by the end of the campaign.

Minnesota Wild (Mon vs. TBL, Thu vs. BUF, FRI @ VGK, Sun vs. DAL)

The Wild will begin next week by hosting the Blackhawks before playing in Dallas on Friday and finally returning home to face the Senators on Sunday. Dallas, as discussed above, is a tough opponent, but Chicago is a rebuilding squad, and the Senators are a middling 7-7-1 on the road.

The big question out of Minnesota is the health of Filip Gustavsson. At the time of writing, he's out with a lower-body injury, but his status appears to be day-to-day, so it's possible he'll be back next week. Gustavsson has been a key part of Minnesota's success with a 14-5-3 record, 2.24 GAA and .922 save percentage in 22 appearances.

Marc-Andre Fleury has been mostly okay this campaign, but the 40-year-old netminder is coming off a rough 6-1 loss to Florida on Wednesday, which dropped him to a 2.88 GAA and a .898 save percentage through 10 outings this season. The current alternative to him is Jesper Wallstedt, who stopped 24 of 27 shots en route to a 3-2 loss to Vegas on Dec. 15. To be fair to both goaltenders, Florida and Vegas are some of the toughest competition they could have possibly faced.

Still, it seems reasonable that they'll need a meaningful amount of goal support going forward. Fortunately for the Wild, Kirill Kaprizov is continuing to play like Kirill Kaprizov. The elite forward has nine goals and 14 points over his past 11 appearances, which gives him 22 goals and 48 points in 31 outings overall. Mats Zuccarello also returned Dec. 14 from a lower-body injury and has gotten back to work with three assists over three outings.

Zuccarello's return also means Matt Boldy has shifted to the second line. Boldy has an impressive 13 goals and 30 points in 32 contests in 2024-25, but Kaprizov has been involved in 18 of those points. They are still sharing the ice on the power play, but if they don't skate together regularly in 5-on-5 situations, then Boldy might see a modest decline in production.

Pittsburgh Penguins (Mon @ STL, Thu vs. VGK, FRI @ BUF, Sun @ TBL)

Pittsburgh seemed doomed to miss the playoffs again based on its 7-12-4 start, but the Penguins have rebounded by going 8-2-1 since. Can they keep it up next week? They'll host the Flyers on Monday before a back-to-back set against the Islanders on Saturday and Sunday. Pittsburgh will be on the road for the first half of that set and then play at home.

So who is responsible for Pittsburgh's comeback? Is it Sidney Crosby or Evgeni Malkin? Actually, it's Bryan Rust and Rickard Rakell.

That's not to take anything away from Crosby, who has nine goals and 35 points in 34 outings in 2024-25, or Malkin, who has seven goals and 27 points. However, Crosby has been largely productive during the good times and bad while Malkin was actually doing better early in the campaign.

Their importance is clear, but what has really changed recently is Rust and Rakell providing far more than just secondary scoring. If I told you that a Penguins forward had nine goals and 17 points across the past 11 appearances without providing any other context, your first guess would likely be Malkin or Crosby, but that's what Rust has done. He was limited early in the campaign due to injury, but he's been playing some of the best hockey of his career lately.

Rakell has been nearly as good, supplying eight goals and 14 points across the same 11-game span. That brings him up to 15 goals and 26 points through 34 outings overall. His offensive struggles in 2023-24, dropping to 37 points from 60 points in 2022-23, were part of why the Penguins fell short of playoffs last year, so it seems appropriate that his resurgence is leading Pittsburgh back into postseason contention.

Not everything is rosy with the Penguins, though. Goaltending was the team's biggest issue early in the campaign and it remains a question mark. Tristan Jarry has a 3.62 GAA and a .883 save percentage through 14 outings and has surrendered at least three goals in three of his past four starts. Alex Nedeljkovic isn't giving the Penguins much of an alternative, though, with his own 3.26 GAA and .886 save percentage through 14 outings.

Pittsburgh does rank 28th in xGA/60 (3.30), per Moneypuck, which suggests that the defense in front of the netminders deserves part of the blame. However, Nedeljkovic has a goals saved above expected of minus-6.0 while Jarry is at minus-6.5, so this seems to be a case of both a bad defense and poor goaltending. The result is Pittsburgh ranks last in the league in goals allowed per game at 3.68. For context, that's just outside of the top-10 worst of any team in the salary cap era (2005-06 and onward). Of the teams who have posted a goals allowed per game worse than Pittsburgh, none of them finished with a points percentage of .500 or better.

St. Louis Blues (Mon vs. PIT, Thu @ DAL, FRI vs. TBL, Sun @ BUF)

The Blues will start next week with a game in Detroit on Monday, but after that, they'll return to St. Louis to host Nashville on Friday and Buffalo on Sunday. St. Louis has been a mixed bag in 2024-25, posting a 15-16-3 record going into Friday's action.

Jordan Binnington has left plenty to be desired this campaign with an 8-13-3 record, 3.00 GAA and .896 save percentage in 25 appearances. He's had some good stretches, but he's been inconsistent and is presently in a cold stretch after allowing at least three goals in six of his past seven games. His struggles have led to Joel Hofer becoming more of a 1B rather than a true backup, and Hofer might begin to migrate into being the 1A. The 24-year-old hasn't been stealing the show, but he has been the better option with a 7-3-0 record, 2.72 GAA and .907 save percentage through 11 appearances.

Of course, the Blues aren't alone in their goaltending woes. We just discussed a worse situation in Pittsburgh, but St. Louis doesn't have the offensive prowess to make up for it. The Blues rank 30th in goals per game with 2.50.

Robert Thomas has done well recently with four goals and 14 points across his past nine appearances while Jordan Kyrou has supplied seven goals and eight points over the same stretch, so the team isn't completely devoid of scoring, but it lacks depth and consistency.

Brandon Saad stands out as someone who has been disappointing when it comes to secondary scoring. After supplying 26 goals and 42 points in 82 outings last year, he has four markers and 10 points through 30 appearances in 2024-25. His decline has led to St. Louis using him less and less. He's even set to be a healthy scratch Friday. At this point, I don't have a lot of hope that he'll rebound, though he's not too old at 32, so anything is possible.

Tampa Bay Lightning (Mon @ MIN, Thu vs. PIT, FRI @ STL, Sun @ PIT)

Tampa Bay is riding a five-game winning streak and is 7-1-0 over its past eight to improve to 18-10-2 on the season. The Lightning will seek to keep that momentum going next week, when it plays in Florida on Monday and hosts the Rangers and the Canadiens on Saturday and Sunday, respectively.

The Lightning deserve a lot of credit for moving on from Steven Stamkos and instead signing Jake Guentzel over the summer. While Stamkos has started to find his way with Nashville after a rocky start, Guentzel is four years younger and has proven to be a great fit.

Guentzel enjoyed an incredible seven-game goal-scoring streak from Nov. 30-Dec. 17 and now has 18 markers and 33 points across 30 appearances in 2024-25. The trio of Guentzel, Brayden Point (21 goals and 38 points in 26 outings) and Nikita Kucherov (14 goals and 35 points in 31 appearances) have been wildly successful. It would not be shocking if each of those three finished the campaign with over 40 goals and 80 points. That alone would make the Lightning a dangerous adversary, but they also have Brandon Hagel and Anthony Cirelli excelling on the second line with 37 and 28 points, respectively.

One underrated aspect of this team is how well Tampa Bay has performed defensively. The Lightning ranked 18th in xGA/60 last campaign (3.14) but are sixth in 2024-25 (2.78). That's part of the reason why Andrei Vasilevskiy has looked so much better this campaign, posting a 2.38 GAA and a .911 save percentage through 25 appearances compared to his 2.90 GAA and .900 save percentage in 51 regular-season games last year.

Tampa Bay could use a better backup, though. Jonas Johansson has a 3.84 GAA and .882 save percentage in six appearances, and the Lightning's lack of trust in him has led to Tampa Bay leaning heavily on Vasilevskiy. The 30-year-old Vasilevskiy is no stranger to heavy workloads, but I have to wonder if the Lightning won't look to add a goaltender at some point in the hopes of managing Vasilevskiy a bit ahead of what Tampa Bay doubtlessly hopes will be a lengthy playoff run.

Vegas Golden Knights (Mon vs. SEA, Thu @ DAL, FRI vs. MIN, Sun @ BOS)

The Golden Knights have a relatively favorable week ahead of them. They'll host the Ducks on Monday, play in San Jose on Friday and then return home to face the Flames on Sunday. Vegas is 21-8-3 and has been particularly dominant at home (12-3-0), though the Golden Knights should also be heavy favorites against the 11-19-5 Sharks, even if that is a road engagement.

Injuries have been a recurring issue for Vegas in recent years, and while they haven't been immune to them in 2024-25, it hasn't been as bad. Vegas has nine forwards, including Jack Eichel, Ivan Barbashev and Tomas Hertl, and four defensemen, namely Noah Hanifin, Shea Theodore, Alex Pietrangelo and Brayden McNabb, who have logged at least 29 of 32 games. That doesn't make Vegas special from a health perspective, but it's certainly not bad.

Mark Stone is the main notable exception to that. He was so good early in the campaign with six goals and 21 points through 13 appearances, but he suffered a lower-body injury that kept him out of 14 games from Nov. 8-Dec. 4. Since returning, he's been fine, but the injury stopped his momentum, leaving him with four assists across his past five outings.

Eichel's been healthy, though, and on his way to having the best campaign of his career. He's up to nine goals and 42 points through 32 outings. Eichel's never recorded more than 82 points in a single campaign, in large part due to injuries. That's killed the whole Eichel versus Connor McDavid debate -- although Eichel is the one with a championship, there's no question who has been more impressive -- but not too much has separated them so far this campaign. McDavid is narrowly ahead with 15 goals and 45 points through 29 outings.

Another former Sabres forward has been even hotter than Eichel recently. Surprisingly, Victor Olofsson has provided four goals over his past four games. He had just seven goals and 15 points over 51 outings last year, and a lower-body injury that sidelined him from Oct. 17-Nov. 29 (a total of 20 games missed) has complicated his first campaign with Vegas. However, it'll be interesting to see if he can keep this going now that he's healthy. Olofsson did score 28 goals in 2022-23 and has surpassed the 20-goal milestone three times, so there is some upside here, especially with Vegas currently using him on the second line and first power-play unit.

NHL: DADOUN – THE FANTASY WEEK AHEAD – Marner and Tavares Leading Maple Leafs, Ducks Battling and More

Ryan Dadoun — Sat, 23 Nov 2024 15:51:24 +0000

_{TAMPA, FL - DECEMBER 03: Toronto Maple Leafs right wing Mitchell Marner (16) skates with the puck during the NHL Hockey match between the Tampa Bay Lightning and Toronto Maple Leafs on December 3rd, 2022 at Amalie Arena in Tampa, FL. (Photo by Andrew Bershaw/Icon Sportswire)}

In fantasy play, we try to look for any advantage we can, so it’s always helpful if there are reliable factors that we can consider that might impact a game's outcome. For example, all else being equal, a rested team should have an advantage over a tired one, right? That’s an easy assumption to make, but I wondered how reliable a factor that was, so I looked into it.

Teams on the second half of a back-to-back have a 31-40-6 record this season, but that’s a fairly small sample size for this kind of thing, so let’s take the results of every game dating back to the 2005-06 campaign. Looking at that, the record for teams playing on no rest is 3,560-3,394-943. If you count overtime/shootout losses among the defeats, that’s a .451 winning percentage, which is statistically relevant, but not dramatic.

What about playing on the road? That’s another obvious disadvantage, but how serious of a burden is it? Dating back to 2005-06, the road team has a 10,460-9,834-2,698 record, which is a .455 winning percentage. In other words, playing on the road is only a slightly smaller burden than playing on no rest. While we’re at it, let’s combine the two: A road team playing on no rest has a winning percentage of just .425 (2,298-2,464-640). So if you really want to bank on a team underperforming relative to their average, then taking a team on the second half of a back-to-back on the road is the way to go.

In the reverse, is there an ideal amount of rest for a team? Teams that had one day off between games have a winning percentage of .508 (12,265-9,101-2,759), two days is .521 (4,368-3,051-962), three days is .501 (1,106-845-255) and four or more days is .493 (1,034-822-242), so two days rest between games is the sweet spot, but difference in those winning percentages isn’t significant.

Ultimately, believing a team on the road or a tired squad will underperform is going to prove to be a fair assessment often, but it’s not a magic bullet. By the same token, key injuries don’t always lead to the results we might anticipate. The Avalanche certainly struggled early in the campaign when they had far more than their fair share of players on the shelf, but recently, the Maple Leafs have been defying expectations.

At the time of writing, Toronto is now 6-1-0 without Auston Matthews this season. On Wednesday, Toronto was missing Max Domi (lower body), Calle Jarnkrok (groin), David Kampf (lower body), Max Pacioretty (lower body) and Ryan Reaves (suspension) in addition to Matthews (upper body), and Toronto still managed to beat Vegas 3-0. To be fair, the Golden Knights had injuries of their own at the time of the contest, most notably to Mark Stone (lower body), but they were the healthier team and a top-tier contender, so the Maple Leafs continuing to excel under those circumstances is impressive.

Mitch Marner has been a major factor in Toronto’s continued success, providing six goals and 26 points through 20 appearances, and the Vegas victory was his third straight multi-point showing. He’s never reached the 100-point milestone before, but he’s come close and might finally hit that mark this campaign. John Tavares has also stepped up recently, supplying four goals and eight points across six appearances, giving him nine goals and 19 points through 19 outings.

Both are also playing on an expiring contract, and there are questions about their future with the team. The lack of playoff success has led to frustration regarding Toronto’s model of building the squad around four extremely expensive forwards. Going into the campaign, there was an assumption that at the least, the 34-year-old Tavares would take a significant pay cut from his current $11 million cap hit in his next contract given his declining production. That might still happen, but his play so far this season suggests that talk of his decline might have been overstated, and, especially with the cap rising, he might still be able to command a sizable payday. Then there’s Marner, who presumably expects a raise from his $10.903 million cap hit and will likely get it with Toronto or elsewhere.

The Maple Leafs certainly have some big front office questions to answer, in the coming months, but at least on the ice, things seem to be going well for now despite the challenges.

Anaheim Ducks

Mon vs SEA, Wed @ SEA, Fri vs LAK, Sun vs OTT

The NHL schedule next week contains some very heavy dates: There will be 11 games Monday, 15 on Wednesday, 14 on Friday and 12 on Saturday. Due to that, a lot of teams are playing four times despite the league taking Thursday off for American Thanksgiving.

Every team featured will be playing in four games, starting with the Ducks, who will host Seattle on Monday, play in Seattle on Wednesday and then return to Anaheim for contests against the Kings on Friday and Senators on Sunday.

The Ducks were also a team I highlighted last week and noted the squad’s underwhelming offense, but going into Friday’s action, Anaheim is on a three-game winning streak in which it’s tallied a combined 13 goals.

Trevor Zegras has gotten in on the action, supplying a goal and three points over that span, which doubles his season point total to six. We discussed last week that he had been dealing with some bad puck luck and has been playing a more complete game despite his offensive woes, so perhaps everything is starting to come together for him. He’s an intriguing buy-low candidate, especially because Zegras continues to serve in a top-six capacity.

If you’re looking for the hottest forward on the Ducks, though, then Brett Leason is your man. He didn’t start the campaign was much of a role, even being a healthy scratch in five of six games from Oct. 27-Nov. 8, but he’s taken off with two goals and seven points across his last five outings. Leason has also averaged 15:00 of ice time, including 1:28 with the man advantage, across his past four appearances, so he’s finally getting a solid opportunity. The 25-year-old still isn’t likely to be a major offensive force for long -- you'd have to go back to his junior days to find the last time he was a major scorer -- but he’s providing some solid short-term value.

On the blueliner, Olen Zellweger has two goals and four points over his last three appearances, bringing him up to four goals and eight points across 17 outings in 2024-25. The 21-year-old is serving on the top power-play unit, but the Ducks rank 27th with the man advantage, converting just 15.3 percent of the time, so it’s not as good of a role as it could be. Still, Zellweger should at least breach the 30-point mark this year as long as he stays healthy.

Boston Bruins

Tue vs. VAN, Wed @ NYI, Fri vs. PIT, Sun vs. MTL

After three straight losses to drop their record to 8-9-3, the Bruins fired head coach Jim Montgomery and named Joe Sacco as the interim bench boss. Boston’s first game under Sacco saw the Bruins outshoot Utah 31-21 en route to a 1-0 victory. Joonas Korpisalo was in net for the shutout, improving to 4-2-1 with a 2.38 GAA and .911 save percentage in eight appearances. Given Jeremy Swayman’s struggles -- he has a 5-7-2 record, 3.47 GAA and .884 save percentage in 14 outings -- it'll be interesting to see if Sacco leans on Korpisalo more than his predecessor.

Next week, though, both goaltenders will likely see use given the packed schedule. The Bruins will host the Canucks on Tuesday, play on the road against the Islanders on Wednesday and conclude the week with home tilts versus the Penguins and Canadiens on Friday and Sunday, respectively.

Swayman has been part of the problem in Boston, but the Bruins also rank 31st offensively with just 2.33 goals per game. David Pastrnak continues to lead the charge with eight goals and 18 points through 21 outings, but he’s the only player with at least 15 points. Meanwhile, Brad Marchand (five goals, 14 points) and Elias Lindholm (three goals, 10 points) are the only other two Bruins who have hit the double-digit mark. To put that into context, 200 players have at least 10 points through Thursday’s action, which averages out to 6.25 players per team, so Boston is far behind the curve in terms of its scoring depth.

He's probably not the answer, but I am interested to see if Sacco tries to get Tyler Johnson into games. The 34-year-old forward has appeared in just five contests in 2024-25, averaging 13:31 of ice time in those outings. Although he hasn’t recorded a point this year, Johnson has proved in the past to be a decent secondary scorer, so maybe he could do some damage from the third line if given a chance to get into a rhythm by playing regularly.

Outside of that, though, the Bruins just really need more out of players who were already getting opportunities. The issue for Charlie Coyle and Pavel Zacha isn’t a lack of ice time, it’s just that they haven’t put up points with any regularity. Coyle has just four goals and an assist through 21 outings after recording 60 points in 2023-24. Zacha has three goals and seven points, but after showing some life from Nov. 7-12 (two goals and four points in three games), he’s on a four-game point drought.

Maybe the answer is simply to just some forward groupings and stick with it for a while. Coyle’s most common linemates this campaign are Marchand and Morgan Geekie, but that trio has only shared the ice for 11.9 percent of Coyle’s even-strength minutes. That’s a lot of line mixing, which might lead to an inability to develop chemistry. It’s something to monitor as we see what Sacco’s plans are to reverse the Bruins’ fortunes.

Los Angeles Kings

Mon @ SJS, Wed vs. WPG, Fri @ ANA, Sat vs. OTT

The Kings will start the week on the road against San Jose on Monday but return home to host the Jets on Wednesday. LA will then play in Anaheim on Friday and host the Senators on Saturday.

The Kings have seen modest success with their 10-7-3 record, but they have dropped three of their past four games, recording just seven goals over that stretch.

Quinton Byfield is among the cold forwards with only an assist across his past five outings. He has two goals and nine points through 20 appearances overall. Interestingly, he hasn’t recorded a single point on the power play in 2024-25 despite averaging a solid 2:07 of ice time with the man advantage. LA does rank 29th in power-play conversions at 14.3 percent, so that is an obvious factor, but you’d still expect at least some production there. Byfield’s 5.3 shooting percent is also a sharp drop from his 12.4 percent in 2023-24 -- he finished that campaign with 20 goals and 55 points -- so the young forward might have been somewhat unlucky through the first quarter of the season. Don’t be surprised if his production ticks up as the campaign progresses.

Philip Danault also has struggled to find the back of the net, tallying a single goal through 20 appearances, though he does have nine assists. His 3.2 shooting percentage is far below his 12.3 average from 2021-22 through 2023-24, so Danault is another LA forward who could enjoy an increase in production.

At the other end of the spectrum, Adrian Kempe is red hot, supplying four goals over his past three games (LA has totaled just six total goals in that span), bringing him up to nine markers and 18 points through 20 appearances. Even there, though, Kempe has just three power-play points. LA did far better with the man advantage in 2023-24, ranking 12th with a 22.6 success rate, so these players could see an increase in special-teams points.

Minnesota Wild

Mon vs. WPG, Wed @ BUF, Fri vs. CHI, Sat vs. NSH

One team that’s had no offensive issues -- or any issues, really -- is Minnesota. The Wild have won three of their past four games, improving to 13-3-3. They’ll look to keep the good times rolling when they host another high-end squad in Winnipeg on Monday. From there, Minnesota will play in Buffalo on Wednesday before returning home to play the Blackhawks on Friday and the Predators on Saturday.

Filip Gustavsson continues to be a key part of the Wild’s success with his 9-3-2 record, 2.07 GAA and .926 save percentage through 14 appearances. He’s allowed two or fewer goals in each of his past five starts. Marc-Andre Fleury, by contrast, isn’t turning heads with his play, but the 39-year-old has been a capable backup with a 4-0-1 record, 2.76 GAA and .904 save percentage in five starts.

Up front, Kirill Kaprizov is on a seven-game scoring streak with six goals and 13 points in that span, bringing him up to 13 goals and 34 points through 19 appearances in 2024-25. Even with his $9 million annual cap hit, he’s providing tremendous value. Kaprizov’s contract runs through 2025-26, but by the time it expires, the Wild will be in a far better cap position because Zach Parise and Ryan Suter’s buyouts will be far smaller factors. The Wild have roughly $14.7 million in dead cap space this year, but Suter and Parise will generate a combined $1,666,666 in dead cap space annually from 2025-26 through 2028-29 before coming off the books entirely.

Paying Kaprizov top dollar when the time comes makes sense given his reliability as a top offensive threat. Someone who doesn’t factor onto the scoresheet nearly as regularly is Frederick Gaudreau, but the 31-year-old has been playing like an elite recently, providing four goals and 12 points across his past 11 appearances. Gaudreau is worth having in your lineup while he’s this hot, but don’t expect it to last, and keep in mind that even with his recent rise in production, he’s still serving in just a third-line capacity. He is also on the second power-play unit instead of the top one and hasn’t gotten a point yet with the man advantage.

New Jersey Devils

Mon vs. NSH, Wed vs. STL, Fri @ DET, Sat vs. WSH

We’ve already touched on a lot of players who haven’t put up noteworthy power-play numbers, so let’s shift to New Jersey, which ranks second with the man advantage with a 31.8 percent success rate.

The Devils will host the Predators on Monday and the Blues on Wednesday. They’ll then play in Detroit on Friday before returning home to face the Capitals on Saturday.

New Jersey’s power play and offense in general is certainly part of the reason the squad is 13-7-2. Defenseman Dougie Hamilton has played a significant role in that, providing two goals and 16 points, including seven with the man advantage, through 22 appearances. He was held off the scoresheet for the first six games of 2024-25 but has since recorded at least a point in 13 of 16 appearances.

Hamilton wasn’t much of a factor in 2023-24 due to injury, which led to Luke Hughes serving on the top power-play unit last year. Hamilton’s return to health means Hughes is averaging just 1:04 with the man advantage in 2024-25 and that’s eaten into the young blueliner’s production. The 21-year-old Hughes also missed New Jersey’s first nine outings because of a shoulder problem, which likely put him behind the curve. All this has led to him recording just two assists through 13 outings. Hughes might start to do better as he gets into a rhythm, but this is shaping up to be a sophomore slump campaign.

His elder brother, Jack Hughes, is doing just fine, though. He already has eight goals and 25 points through 22 appearances. The older Hughes is also red hot with six helpers across his past three outings, including five on the power play.

Of course, the Devils did just fine last season too and still missed the playoffs. The difference this year has been improved goaltending. Jacob Markstrom isn’t in Vezina Trophy contention, but he’s holding his own nicely with a 9-5-1 record, 2.54 GAA and .907 save percentage through 15 appearances. Jake Allen is also playing an arguably underrated role as the backup, providing a 4-2-1 record, 2.30 GAA and .916 save percentage in seven starts. Especially in a busy week, like the one upcoming, having two solid goaltenders is a huge luxury.

New York Islanders

Mon vs. DET, Wed vs. BOS, Fri @ WSH, Sat vs. BUF

The Islanders have two solid goaltenders too, though it hasn’t always felt that way this season. Ilya Sorokin has more-or-less fulfilled his end of the bargain with a 2.64 GAA and a .914 save percentage through 12 appearances, but Semyon Varlamov struggled early in the campaign. He has stabilized since, but that early damage has left him with a .903 save percentage, although his GAA has improved to a respectable 2.60.

Either way, it’s the offense that’s really the problem with the Islanders, and that’s what they’ll need more of next week. New York will host the Red Wings on Monday and the Bruins on Wednesday. They’ll then play in Washington on Friday and conclude the week with a home game versus the Sabres.

The Islanders have managed just four goals over their past three games and weirdly, Pierre Engvall scored two of them. Engvall had a three-game goal-scoring streak from Nov. 14-19, but the 28-year-old finished with just 10 goals and 28 points in 74 outings last season and has just five points through 12 outings in 2024-25 even after accounting for his recent hot streak, so don’t expect much from him going forward.

The player the Islanders really need to step up is Bo Horvat, but he’s been held off the scoresheet in five of his past six appearances, leaving him with five goals and 14 points through 20 outings. Those are abysmal numbers given his $8.5 million cap hit, but to be far, he’d usually get to play alongside Mathew Barzal, who hasn’t been in the lineup since Oct. 30 due to an upper-body injury. However, Barzal’s original timetable was 4-6 weeks, and there hasn’t been much in the way of updates, so you shouldn’t count on Horvat getting help from Barzal in the upcoming week.

Anders Lee is sometimes a great linemate. He has seven goals and 13 points in 20 outings in 2024-25, but he’s also streaky and is presently cold, having been held off the scoresheet in each of the Islanders’ past three games.

Then there’s Jean-Gabriel Pageau, who highlights the Islanders’ lack of depth. The 32-year-old forward is a fine forward, but he’s never recorded more than 43 points in a single campaign, so the fact that he’s on the top line and first power-play unit is far less than ideal. He has five goals and nine points through 20 appearances in 2024-25.

Horvat and Lee might heat up again, but the Islanders’ overall offensive situation isn’t likely to get a lot better until Barzal comes back.

New York Rangers

Mon vs. STL, Wed @ CAR, Fri @ PHI, Sat vs. MTL

The Islanders’ rivals, the Rangers, appear to be in a far better position. They have a 12-5-1 record and will look to build on that next week. The Rangers will host the Blues on Monday, play in Carolina on Wednesday and Philadelphia on Friday and finish the week by hosting the Canadiens on Saturday.

Artemi Panarin continues to be the Rangers’ top forward with 10 goals and 24 points in 18 appearances in 2024-25, but offensive depth has been a big part of the Rangers’ formula. They have eight players who have hit double digits in points: Panarin, Adam Fox, Alexis Lafreniere, Will Cuylle, Mika Zibanejad, Reilly Smith, Kaapo Kakko and Vincent Trocheck. As noted before, the average team has 6.25 players who have hit that milestone. On top of that, New York has two players -- Chris Kreider and Filip Chytil -- who are sitting at nine points.

Among those who have been at the forefront of the Rangers’ attack, Cuylle is arguably the biggest pleasant surprise. The 22-year-old has seven goals and 15 points through 18 appearances. He established himself as a regular with the team last campaign but was in the lineup primarily because of his gritty play, finishing the 2023-24 regular season with 13 goals, 21 points, 56 PIM and 249 hits. Cuylle has continued to utilize his size, dishing out 75 hits this season (he ranks fifth in that category), but he’s adding an offensive element to his game.

What makes it even more impressive is that he’s averaging a modest 13:50 of ice time and is rarely used with the man advantage -- although that might be changing as he has spent the past two games on the second unit. Among those averaging under 14 minutes, Cuylle leads the league in points, ahead of Carolina’s Eric Robinson (five goals, 13 points).

One word of caution, though: Cuylle’s 21.9 shooting percentage is likely unsustainable.

Seattle Kraken

Mon @ ANA, Wed vs. ANA, Fri @ SJS, Sat vs. SJS

The Kraken has a fairly easy schedule next week. They have a set of games against Anaheim on Monday and Wednesday followed by one against the Sharks on Friday and Saturday. In both cases, Seattle is on the road for the first half of the set and at home for the second.

Defenseman Vince Dunn (upper body) might end up returning at some point during those four games, but the status of forward Jordan Eberle (lower body) is less clear. By the time you read this, though, that might change. Kraken coach Dan Bylsma told Scott Malone on Friday that there would be an update later in the day, but at the time of writing, that update hadn’t arrived yet.

Dunn is likely to serve on the top four and first power-play unit when healthy, which might eat into Brandon Montour’s power-play time and result in Ryker Evans losing his spot on the second unit. However, just three of Montour’s 13 points and two of Evans’ 11 have come with the man advantage anyway, so that change shouldn’t have a dramatic impact on either blueliner’s production. Dunn’s return might help Seattle’s overall power play a bit, which sits at 23rd with a 16.4 conversion rate, which would modestly boost the value of Seattle’s top forwards.

Either way, Joey Daccord is likely to continue to be the key to Seattle’s success. He has a 9-3-1 record, 2.31 GAA and .923 save percentage in 13 appearances in 2024-25, putting him in the very early conversation for the Vezina Trophy. Daccord did rank fourth in save percentage (.916) and fifth in GAA (2.46) among goaltenders who logged at least 30 games last season, but his 19-18-11 record kept him well outside of the award conversation. If Seattle continues to provide him with at least some support this year -- the Kraken’s 2.85 goals per game isn’t magical, but it is a step up from 2.61 in 2023-24 -- then Daccord’s a fair bet to get over 30 wins this campaign, especially with Philipp Grubauer not exactly demanding a bigger share of the workload with his 1-6-0 record, 3.11 GAA and .881 save percentage through seven outings in 2024-25.

NHL: DADOUN – THE FANTASY WEEK AHEAD – Boston Struggling, Colorado returns to health and much more

Ryan Dadoun — Sat, 16 Nov 2024 15:47:10 +0000

Boston Bruins goalie Jeremy Swayman (1) (Photo by Fred Kfoury III/Icon Sportswire)

If you compare every team since the beginning of the salary cap era (2005-06), you’ll find that the Boston Bruins rank as the best defensively, allowing an average of just 2.55 goals per game. That’s not shocking when you consider that the Bruins have gone from Tim Thomas to Tuukka Rask to the duo of Linus Ullmark and Jeremy Swayman over that period.

Elite goaltending has simply become the norm in Boston, and it didn’t look like it was going to change. Sure, Ullmark was dealt to Ottawa for cap reasons, but the 25-year-old Swayman seemed ready to take his place as Boston’s clear No. 1, and yes, the negotiations got tense, resulting in him missing the preseason, but in the end, he signed an eight-year, $66 million contract, ending the saga with a resolution that both sides can be happy with. Except, noone has much reason to be happy with the Bruins right now.

Boston is a middling 8-8-2, a dramatic drop from its 47-20-15 finish in 2023-24, and Swayman has been part of the problem with his 5-6-2 record, 3.35 GAA and .888 save percentage in 13 starts. He leads the league in goals allowed (42), and his goals saved above expected is minus-4.6, per Moneypuck, which puts him in 65th place through Thursday’s action -- not exactly the type of return you’d expect from someone with an $8.25 million cap hit.

Maybe missing the preseason put him behind the curve, contributing to his shaky start, but he doesn’t seem to be stabilizing as the campaign goes on. To be fair, he does have his moments, but his good starts have been counterbalanced by disastrous ones, like allowing six goals on 22 shots en route to an 8-2 loss to Carolina on Oct. 31 or surrendering seven goals on 38 shots in Boston’s 7-2 loss to Dallas on Thursday. Swayman also just has a lot of uninspired starts sprinkled in there -- nine of his 13 outings have involved him surrendering at least three goals.

Maybe it’s the pressure of the contract getting to him, especially with how much he appeared to have to battle to get that deal. There’s a big mental aspect to goaltending, so it’s not hard to see how a slow start, coupled with the new deal, and perhaps even the absence of his longtime friend and goaltending partner Ullmark, could all snowball to create this outcome. Whatever the case, though, Boston is in waters that have been rare for it since the start of the cap era: They have a problem between the pipes.

Colorado has endured its own goaltending issues, but at least the Avalanche are tied for 10th offensively with 3.47 goals per game and could do even better now that their forward corps is largely healthy. They’re still missing Gabriel Landeskog (knee) and Ross Colton (foot), but Jonathan Drouin (upper body), Valeri Nichushkin (suspension) and Artturi Lehkonen (shoulder) are all back, giving them far more options than they’ve had in a while.

This is being written before Friday’s game against Washington, which is set to see the return of Nichushkin, but it looks like the tentative plan is to run two elite lines. Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen typically play together, giving the Avalanche one nearly unstoppable unit, but instead, Colorado is slated to break them up, putting MacKinnon with Lehkonen and Drouin while Rantanen will share the ice with Nichushkin and Casey Mittelstadt. If that works out, then it could make things extremely tough on the opposition's defense. It’s a luxury the Avalanche arguably couldn’t afford earlier in the season because the quality of the linemates for MacKinnon and Rantanen wouldn’t have been sufficient to split them, but at this point, it’s something they can experiment with.

It also means Ivan Ivan and Nikolai Kovalenko are now firmly in the bottom six. There was an opportunity for one or both to show what they could do with greater responsibilities when the team was ravaged by injuries, but neither stepped up. At this stage, it seems reasonable to project that Ivan and Kovalenko won’t have significant fantasy value this year, but at least they’re still okay complimentary pieces for the Avalanche.

All-in-all, Colorado’s offense looks strong at this point. The Avalanche are already on a roll, winning four of their past five games, and Colorado could continue to shine from here.

Anaheim Ducks – Mon @ DAL, Tue @ CHI, Fri vs BUF

You can get whiplash going from a conversation about the Avalanche’s offense to Anaheim’s. MacKinnon has 33 points through 17 games by himself. That equals the combined point totals of the Ducks’ top four scorers -- Troy Terry (11 points), Mason McTavish (eight), Leo Carlsson (seven) and Ryan Strome (seven).

The Ducks are consequently unlikely to generate much offense when they play in Dallas on Monday, but Anaheim might have more success in Chicago on Tuesday and when hosting Buffalo on Friday.

Health will be a factor in that. McTavish has missed the Ducks’ past two games because of an upper-body injury, but he’s day-to-day, so there’s a real chance he’ll be fine for next week’s action.

Even with him back, though, the Ducks need help on offense. A resurgence of Trevor Zegras would be the most obvious boost. However, he had just 15 points in 31 contests in 2023-24 and has diminished further to just three points through 15 appearances this season -- a far cry from his back-to-back 60-plus point campaigns in 2021-22 and 2022-23. He’s still just 23 years old, so it seems wrong to suggest he’s washed up, but then what is the problem?

First off, his lone goal this campaign was scored on an empty net, so you’d have to go back to April 13 to find the last time he beat an NHL goaltender in a regular-season game. He’s averaging 6.3 shots per 60 minutes in 2024-25, which is down from 8.1 in 2021-22 and 7.2 in 2022-23, so that doesn’t help. Seven of his 27 shots this year have been fired from a high-danger position, which puts him below the league average of 7.9 among forwards. All that’s bad, but not to the extent where he should have literally zero goals against goaltenders.

Moneypuck gives him an xG of 3.6, he has a PDO of 951 along with exactly zero secondary assists and his IPP of 42.9 is leagues below his career average. All that suggests some of his offensive woes are due to poor luck. Still, three points in 15 appearances is so bad that it’s hard to imagine him having a good campaign even if the luck was balanced.

Still, he’s worth keeping an eye on. The talent is there, and there are some indications that he’s been shifting to a more complete game despite his lack of offense, as Patrick Present of The Hockey News recently noted. Plus, he’s still young, and when coupled with him attempting to adjust his game, some growing pains are understandable. Don’t expect this to be a big campaign from him, but also don’t write him off yet.

Boston Bruins – Mon vs CBJ, Thu vs UTA, Sat @ DET

We talked about Swayman’s woes up top. Perhaps it will help him that the Bruins’ opponents next week rank in the bottom half of the league in terms of goals per game. Boston is set to host the Blue Jackets on Monday and Utah HC on Thursday before playing in Detroit on Saturday.

Swayman is the headline issue for the Bruins, but he isn’t the only one. The forward corps is also leaving something to be desired. We’ve seen better out of David Pastrnak (eight goals and 17 points through 18 games) and Brad Marchand (five goals and 13 points), but both are doing well enough, even when measured against the high standards they’re held to. The problem is no other player on the team has reached double digits in points.

Elias Lindholm, who signed a seven-year, $54.25 million contract over the summer, was the Bruins’ big offseason get to solidify the team up the middle. However, he hasn’t been that great. After scoring two goals and five points over his first three games with Boston, Lindholm has been limited to four assists across his past 15 outings. To be fair, he’s known for his two-way game, and his relative CF% and FF% are outstanding at plus-8.8 and plus-12.2, respectively. Still, you’d like to see more scoring out of him when he’s spending almost all of his 5-on-5 time alongside at least one of Pastrnak and Marchand.

Pavel Zacha has left something to be desired too with three goals and seven points through 18 outings after finishing 2023-24 with 59 points. He might be heating up, though. Zacha has two goals and four points through his past four appearances, so perhaps he can carry that momentum into next week, especially given the mediocre nature of Boston’s upcoming competition.

Chicago Blackhawks – Tue vs ANA, Thu vs FLA, Sat @ PHI

Chicago will host the Ducks and the Panthers on Tuesday and Thursday, respectively, before visiting Philadelphia on Saturday. Florida is a tough team, but the Ducks and the Flyers haven’t looked good so far in 2024-25.

Not that the Blackhawks have impressed either with their 6-10-1 record. Petr Mrazek has largely held his own with a 2.79 GAA and a .906 save percentage in 13 appearances, which are solid numbers when you consider that Chicago ranks 28th in xGA/60 (3.39), which suggests Mrazek hasn’t gotten much help from his teammates defensively.

They also haven’t helped Mrazek offensively. Chicago is tied for 29th with just 2.41 goals per game, and even Connor Bedard has left something to be desired with three goals and 13 points through 17 appearances. Bedard is on an eight-game goal-scoring slump with four assists in that span, but let’s not be too hard on him. He’s still just 19 years old, so some streaky play is expected, and he has a healthy enough 21 shots during that slump, so eventually he’ll break through.

I’m more disappointed in Teuvo Teravainen. He signed a three-year, $16.2 million contract over the summer to come to Chicago from Carolina and has been primarily used alongside Bedard. However, Teravainen hasn’t been able to generate much of anything in 5-on-5 play with the young star. The 30-year-old has four goals and eight points through 17 appearances with just two of those points (one goal) coming at even strength. Interesting, his 5-on-5 xG is also just one, so the issue isn’t exactly bad puck luck.

Bedard has also been tried with Taylor Hall and/or Tyler Bertuzzi, but significantly less often than Teravainen. Philipp Kurashev has seen significant time alongside Bedard as well, though Kurashev has just three goals and four points through 16 outings. That’s a massive drop from Kurashev’s 54-point showing in 2023-24, and the decline is largely due to a lack of assists.

The line mixing is likely to continue to happen as long as Chicago’s offense remains cold. In the long run, it would be nice to see Kurashev and Bedard rekindle some of their 2023-24 chemistry -- they showed up together on the scoresheet 25 times last season. If we start seeing some of that, then Kurashev would become a good buy-low candidate.

Dallas Stars – Mon vs ANA, Wed vs SJS, Sat @ TBL

Dallas will start the week by hosting the lowly Ducks and Sharks on Monday and Wednesday, respectively. The Stars will then travel to Tampa Bay to play the Lightning on Saturday.

Matt Duchene will look to extend his recent success during that stretch. He has a phenomenal eight goals and 17 points across his past 10 appearances, including two goals and five points over his last two games. He’s been seeing time alongside Mason Marchment, who is also on fire with two goals and seven points over his past two outings, so that duo could do a lot of damage, especially against rebuilding squads like Anaheim and San Jose.

At the other end of the spectrum, Dallas could use more out of Roope Hintz. His six goals and 10 points through 15 outings aren’t bad, but it’s below the pace Dallas has come to expect after seeing Hintz record at least 30 goals and 65 points in each of his previous three campaigns. Hintz did endure a four-game scoring drought from Oct. 26-Nov. 7, but there’s a silver lining here because he’s found the back of the net twice over his past three games, so perhaps the worst is over.

The action is also spread out enough that Jake Oettinger might start in all three of those games. He’s 8-3-0 with a 2.39 GAA and .914 save percentage in 11 appearances in 2024-25. He’s also coming off two really strong victories, stopping 43 of 46 shots in blowout wins against Pittsburgh and Boston.

Detroit Red Wings – Mon @ SJS, Thu vs NYI, Sat vs BOS

The Red Wings will play in San Jose on Monday before hosting the Islanders on Thursday and the Bruins on Saturday. Detroit will be looking to gain some ground after a mediocre 7-7-1 start.

Detroit has to be disappointed with Vladimir Tarasenko, who inked a two-year, $9.5 million contract over the summer but has just two goals and four points through 14 appearances. This one is a bit of a “the chicken or the egg” problem. Tarasenko is averaging just 13:41 of ice time while typically serving on the third line alongside Jonatan Berggren and Marco Kasper. That’s not a recipe for success or the top six role many envisioned when he signed his deal. At the same time, he hasn’t done anything to force himself into a bigger role. From Oct. 22-Nov. 2, he appeared in five games without even recording a single shot.

You’re not going to move up in the lineup with that kind of play. On the plus side, he has logged an assist and seven shots over his past two outings, so maybe we’re witnessing the start of him getting some going. I’m skeptical, but it’s worthy of monitoring.

Detroit could certainly use another source of secondary scoring. The Red Wings rank 28th offensively with just 2.47 goals per game. Lucas Raymond, Alex DeBrincat and Dylan Larkin have done fine with 14, 13 and 12 points, respectively, through 15 appearances and Patrick Kane is holding his own at 35, providing three goals and 10 points. The rest of the offense hasn’t been anything to write home about, though, and no one aside from maybe Tarasenko jumps out to me as a struggling forward to watch.

That includes Michael Rasmussen. He was taken with the No. 9 overall pick in the 2017 NHL Draft, but he has never even reached the 35-point mark and has just two goals and four points in 15 outings in 2024-25. He’s a towering presence, but at the age of 25, I think it’s fair to believe that the offense isn’t coming.

Edmonton Oilers – Mon @ MTL, Tue @ OTT, Thu vs MIN, Sat vs COL

The Oilers will open the week with road games in Montreal on Monday and Ottawa on Tuesday. They’ll then return to Edmonton to host the Wild on Thursday and the Rangers on Saturday.

Edmonton had a mixed start to the season in part because of inconsistent offensive production, but it’s okay now: Connor McDavid remembered that he’s Connor McDavid. The superstar has posted three straight multi-point efforts, causing him to jump to six goals and 19 points through 14 appearances despite a weirdly human start in which he recorded three goals and 10 points in his first 11 outings -- good for others, not for him.

If McDavid has found his grove, then Edmonton is in a far better position, but the Oilers do still have some areas of concern. Stuart Skinner is still a mixed bag with a 5-5-1 record, 3.22 GAA and .881 save percentage in 11 outings. You’ll likely remember that Skinner had a terrible start to 2023-24 before turning a corner, and it could be argued that his Nov. 24 25-save shutout over Washington was when everything started working out for him last year. In other words, we’re getting to roughly the same stage of the year, and we’ll have to see if Skinner can once again find his rhythm or if he doesn’t enjoy that same kind of turnaround in 2024-25.

Edmonton’s offseason attempts at deepening the offense also haven’t paid off yet. Jeff Skinner has just three goals and six points while Viktor Arvidsson has two goals and five points. Arvidsson is day-to-day with an undisclosed injury, so we might not see him this week. Meanwhile, Skinner has been relegated to the fourth line recently. Skinner has had a weird career full of amazing highs and significant lows. There’s consequently no guarantee that a turnaround is forthcoming this year, but if he does get another look on Edmonton’s top six, which I think is just a matter of time, then he’ll be worth keeping an eye on.

San Jose Sharks – Mon vs DET, Wed @ DAL, Thu @ STL, Sat vs BUF

I like to highlight teams who are set to play four games in a week over those with three or two games on the docket, but there aren’t many examples of that upcoming. San Jose is one of the exceptions. The Sharks’ busy schedule will begin by hosting the Red Wings on Monday. They’ll then play in Dallas on Wednesday and St. Louis on Thursday before returning home to face the Sabres on Saturday.

Naturally, if you’re going to watch Sharks hockey, the player you’ll be most interested in is Macklin Celebrini. Taken with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 NHL Draft, he was out from Oct. 12-Nov. 2 due to a lower-body injury. Unfortunately, he’s been mostly quiet since, providing two goals Nov. 7 but also being held off the scoresheet entirely in his other four appearances dating back to his Nov. 5 return.

It's too small of a sample size to read too much into it, but Celebrini is a tremendous talent who is averaging 19:25 of ice time and has recorded 20 shots over six outings in 2024-25, so I expect him to start producing at a good pace as the campaign progresses.

In the meantime, Mikael Granlund has done his part. He has seven goals and 18 points in 18 games to lead the Sharks offensively this season. A lot of that was due to him recording five goals and 12 points across seven outings from Oct. 17-28, though. He’s been fine since, but his two goals and five points over his past eight contests are a noticeable decline. There might be some merit to selling him high, but I think his goal-scoring pace, which would lead to him finishing with 32 markers, has actual merit.

He’s never reached the 30-goal milestone before and finished 2023-24 with just 12 goals, but he’s traditionally been a very conservative shooter. That’s changed in a big way this year -- he's averaging a career-high 9.9 shots per 60 minutes, and that includes 14 high-danger shots, which puts him on track for 64, up from 44 last year. His increase in shots also means that his 10.9 shooting percentage isn’t significantly off his career average (10.3) despite his big jump in goals.

Granlund and Celebrini are currently centering different lines, but they share the ice on the power play. Although Sharks rank 23rd in terms of power-play percentage (16.4), that might improve as Celebrini gets going, which would also benefit Granlund.

Utah HC – Mon vs WAS, Thu @ BOS, Sat @ PIT, Sun @ TOR

Utah HC is another squad with four games on the schedule next week. The club will host the Capitals on Monday before a road trip that will place Utah HC in Boston on Thursday, Pittsburgh on Saturday and Toronto on Sunday.

Utah has been an interesting team. It got off to a 3-0-0 start fueled by some great offensive performances, but the scoring has cooled, and the club is now 7-6-3.

One positive is Mikhail Sergachev has messed well with his new team after being dealt from Tampa Bay in June. Sergachev has three goals and 11 points in 16 outings in 2024-25 while averaging 25:35 of ice time -- that'll be a career high if he maintains it for the full campaign. He also has a big power-play role and has collected three points (one goal) with the man advantage. It’s reasonable to project he’ll surpass the 50-point milestone for the second time in his career as long as he stays healthy.

Up front, Clayton Keller (six goals, 14 points), Dylan Guenther (seven goals, 13 points), Nick Schmaltz (12 assists) and Logan Cooley (two goals, 11 points) have been leading the charge, but none of them are especially hot right now. Nick Bjugstad is an interesting forward, though. He’s capable of being a solid secondary scorer, but he averaged just 13:20 of ice time this season, down from 17:27 in 2023-24. He did make his mark Wednesday, though, scoring his first two goals of the campaign to lead Utah to a 4-1 victory over Carolina. Bjugstad is getting a chance to play alongside Keller and Schmaltz, so he might be able to build off that strong showing.

That would help Utah, but what the club needs more than anything is reliability between the pipes. Although Connor Ingram has a respectable 6-3-3 record, his 3.40 GAA and .879 aren’t inspiring. Meanwhile, Karel Vejmelka is just 1-3-0, but he has a 2.37 GAA and a .926 save percentage. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Vejmelka get more work, perhaps leading to him starting in at least two of Utah’s games next week.

MCKEEN’S 2024-25 NHL YEARBOOK – BOSTON BRUINS – Team Preview

Thu, 12 Sep 2024 20:00:54 +0000

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

With Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci gone, Boston was expected to see a noteworthy decline in 2023-24, and while the Bruins did indeed have a drop off from their stunning 65-12-5 campaign in 2022-23, they still posted a dominant 47-20-15 record last year. That was thanks in no small part to the overwhelming goaltending of Jeremy Swayman and Linus Ullmark, who helped the team tie for fifth defensively (2.70 goals allowed per game), and another stellar offensive showing from David Pastrnak, who provided 47 goals and 110 points across 82 regular-season contests. In the playoffs, Boston managed to eke out a first-round seven-game victory over the Maple Leafs in the first round, but for the second straight year, Boston’s path was ended by the Panthers.

WHAT’S CHANGED? That goaltending duo that served Boston so well over the past three seasons is over. With just one season remaining on his team-friendly four-year, $20 million contract, Ullmark was dealt to Ottawa in exchange for enforcer Mark Kastelic, the 2024 No. 25 draft pick (Dean Letourneau) and a veteran goalie with a mixed record in Joonas Korpisalo. They also lost middle-six forward Jake DeBrusk to free agency. It wasn’t all subtraction, though. Boston made some big splashes on the unrestricted free agent market by inking defensive defenceman Nikita Zadorov and two-way center Elias Lindholm to long-term contracts.

WHAT WOULD SUCCESS LOOK LIKE? Adding Lindholm goes a long way toward solidifying Boston’s center group, which was a bit of a weakness of theirs last year. Ideally, he’ll gel with either Pastrnak or Brad Marchand after Lindholm was limited to just 44 points last season due in large part to him not quite working out following a trade from Calgary to Vancouver. Another good season out of Marchand, who is now 36, is also important for the Bruins’ attack. However, the most important thing is Boston needs either Korpisalo to be a solid contributor or for Swayman to play significantly more than his previous career high of 43 games. The former might be a tall order, because…

WHAT COULD GO WRONG? Korpisalo is coming off a disastrous campaign in which he posted a 3.27 GAA and an .890 save percentage across 55 contests with Ottawa. Some will blame playing for the mediocre Senators for that and expect him to improve with a contender like Boston. That argument is popular, but Ottawa’s xGA/60 last season was a respectable 2.97, and even above that of Boston’s 3.03, which suggests that the Senators’ skaters were playing responsible hockey and instead let down by their goaltenders, so the idea that playing for a better squad might help Korpisalo is on a shaky foundation. Outside of that, there are the concerns about Marchand’s age, and what to expect from Lindholm after his lukewarm showing in Vancouver.

TOP BREAKOUT CANDIDATE: Poitras only played 33 games with Boston in 2023-24 due to injury, but the rookie showed promise when healthy with five goals and 15 points. The addition of Lindholm pretty much locks Poitras out of a top six spot, so he’ll instead likely start the campaign as the third-line center. That’s a fair role for him and coupled with sprinkling of power-play ice time, he should prove to be a solid contributor for Boston this year.

Forwards

David Pastrnak

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
82	51	56	107	1.30

One of the premier goal scorers in the game, Pastrnak has buried 148 goals in 236 games across the past three seasons, which is tied for second with Leon Draisaitl, behind only Auston Matthews. His 4.67 shots on goal per game in those three seasons also ranks second, trailing only Nathan MacKinnon. Pastrnak is a stellar play driver, and the Bruins have outscored opponents by more than 20 goals with Pastrnak on the ice during five-on-five play in four of the past five seasons. The only exception was the 2020-2021 season, which was shortened by COVID, and in that case, the Bruins still outscored opponents by 15 with Pastrnak on the ice. On a Bruins team that is full of hard-working and smart players, Pastrnak stands out for bringing game-breaking skill to the table in a way that few others can. He has a lethal wrist shot that he can use to score from the top of the circles, especially if he is given time to step into the shot. Although Pastrnak does play an overly physical game, he has good size and is happy to use it to protect the puck so that he can create a more dangerous scoring chance. That Pastrnak continued to be so productive, even after Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci retired, shows just how great he really is, able to produce essentially no matter who is dishing him the puck. That puts him in rare company and Pastrnak ought to be expected to score 45-50 goals and 100-plus points in 2024-2025.

Elias Lindholm

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
82	25	45	70	0.85

After scoring a career-high 82 points with the Calgary Flames in 2021-2022, Lindholm saw his production fall off to 64 points in 2022-2023 then 44 points last season. Inconsistency was an issue for him last season, especially after getting traded to Vancouaver, where he struggled with just 12 points in 26 games but then he showed up in the playoffs with 10 points in 13 games. At his best, he looks like a solid No. 1 centre who can play effectively at both ends of the rink. When he is not at his best, Lindholm is not generating enough offence, and that can cause challenges throughout the lineup. Lindholm was a runner-up in Selke Trophy voting in 2021-2022, so he has credentials as a two-way performer, but he has not been able to approach those levels, either offensively or defensively, since. In Boston, Lindholm should have a chance to play with the best Bruins forwards and that should not only give him a chance to resurrect his offensive game, but also to deliver strong possession numbers because that has generally been a hallmark of Boston’s top forwards forever. Lindholm is excellent on faceoffs, too, winning 56 percent of his draws across the past two seasons. Looking at the 2024-2025 season, Lindholm should be expected to score 20-25 goals and 55-60 points in his first season for the Bruins.

Brad Marchand

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
82	28	41	69	0.84

Renowned for on-ice behaviour that can be deemed questionable, or worse, 36-year-old Marchand remains highly productive, even if that can sometimes get overshadowed by his antics. He has recorded 67 points in back-to-back seasons, making it eight consecutive seasons that he has reached that threshold. He also recorded a career-high 115 hits in 2023-2024. For years, Marchand has put up elite possession numbers, which was not a surprise when he was playing with Bergeron, but last season was Marchand’s first season falling below 50 percent Corsi, even though he was among the Bruins’ leaders. He remains a productive player at 36-years old and it becomes a delicate balance for players at this stage of their career. At some point, the production tails off, and Marchand’s is down from his peak performance, but he is a driven and competitive player, who does not look like he is going to drop off dramatically. What would affect Marchand’s production is how much he ends up playing with Pastrnak, who has the ability to elevate the production of his linemates. Considering his recent production, Marchand ought to still be able to produce 25 goals and 65 points, which is rare at his age. There were five players over the age of 35 last season that finished with 65 or more points: Sidney Crosby (94), Anze Kopitar (70), Evgeni Malkin (67), Joe Pavelski (67), and Alex Ovechkin (65).

Charlie Coyle

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
82	23	35	58	0.71

With Bergeron and Krejci retiring, Coyle was the Bruins centre who stepped up the most and he delivered career highs with 25 goals and 60 points while playing a career-high 18:04 per game. He also scored on a career-high 17.0 percent of his shots on goal, so a lot was going well for Coyle last season. Coyle is physically strong and can win puck battles and uses his size to be an effective net-front presence. The majority of Coyle’s 25 goals last season came from in-close, which is fine because he is a strong skater and consistently puts himself in that position and he also has good hands that allow him to make quick moves in-tight to create scoring chances. After the holiday break, Coyle went on a tear, contributing 24 points in 19 games but also managed just one goal and five points in 13 playoff games. While the counting stats were strong for Coyle last season, he had a 45.0 percent Corsi, and 47.4 percent of on-ice expected goals, neither of which represent the kind of play-driving numbers that the Bruins need from a top centre. Coyle did play a lot with Marchand in 2023-2024 so if he has that opportunity again, his offensive output should still be solid, along the lines of 15-20 goals and 45-50 points.

Pavel Zacha

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
82	18	34	52	0.63

In the two seasons since he was acquired from the New Jersey Devils, Zacha has set new career highs for points, hitting 59 in 78 games last season. He logged a career-high 18:06 per game and won a career-best 54.8 percent of his faceoffs. Zacha has been riding wildly high percentages in two seasons with the Bruins (104.8 PDO), and the Bruins have outscored opponents 121-72 during five-on-five play with Zacha on the ice. That does not quite fit with someone who has been below 50 percent in terms of goals and expected goals during five-on-five play. Zacha does provide versatility, able to play both wing and centre as well as moving up and down the lineup. His most common linemates last season were Pastrnak, Jake DeBrusk, and Danton Heinen, so Zacha is pretty much a plug-n-play option for Boston. He is a smart player who gets himself into good position to create chances. The challenge for Zacha is to be more aggressive shooting the puck. He scores in a variety of ways, so it’s not like he can only generate offence in one way, but even with more ice time in Boston, he is averaging less than two shots on goal per game, and it is difficult to maintain consistent offensive production with such a low shot rate. With the addition of Elias Lindholm in free agency, there is some uncertainty when it pertains to Zacha’s role. He could very well play on Boston’s top line, or he could move into the middle six somewhere. In any case, it’s fair to expect 20 goals and 50 points from Zacha in 2024-2025.

Trent Frederic

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
79	17	19	36	0.46

The 26-year-old power forward has made steady consistent progress in his career, reaching career highs in goals (18), assists (22), and points (40) last season. When he first entered the league, he was little more than a fourth-line bruiser, eagerly hitting and fighting to earn his spot. He delivered a career-high 204 hits last season, so Frederic is still capable of making his presence felt on the ice, but his ice time climbed to 13:45 per game and he had a more well-rounded contribution. He may not be climbing too much higher in the lineup, because his offensive skills are not ideal for a top six role, for example, but there is nothing wrong with being a third-line player who can contribute offensively and provide a physical presence. In fact, players who bring physicality like Frederic are in demand around the league. He has been dependent on high percentages in the past couple of seasons, which makes him a prime candidate for regression, so it is not likely that he will exceed last season’s totals. However, 15 goals and 35 points, with perhaps another 200 hits, does give Frederic some appeal for fantasy managers in deep leagues.

Morgan Geekie

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
81	22	24	46	0.57

Signed as a free agent by the Bruins after the Kraken did not give him a qualifying offer last summer, Geekie stepped into a bigger role with Boston and set career highs in goals (17), assists (22), and points (39), while playing a career-high 15:25 per game. He also recorded a career-best 137 hits. At 6-foot-3, Geekie has size and speed, but now appears to have gained confidence when it comes to making plays offensively. Among Bruins skaters to play at least 1000 five-on-five minutes, only David Pastrnak and Jake DeBrusk had higher rates of on-ice expected goals per 60 minutes. Geekie does get power play time, as 12 of his 39 points last season came with the man advantage. This is not to suggest that Geekie should be climbing further up the depth chart. Based on his results to this point in his career, the 26-year-old should be a third-line player for Boston and continue to make a solid contribution at both ends of the ice. Given his jump forward last season, there is a new normal for Geekie, one that puts him consistently in a top nine role. As a result, it’s fair to expect 12-15 goals and 35 points in 2024-2025.

Matthew Poitras

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
71	12	21	33	0.46

Only 19 years old at the start of last season, Poitras was a surprise to make the team out of training camp and he had 15 points in his first 28 games before falling down the depth chart and going scoreless in five games with limited ice time before he suffered a season-ending shoulder injury. Poitras has good speed, sound instincts, and soft hands that serve him well around the net. Provided that he is healthy again, Poitras should have a spot in Boston’s top nine, which will give him an opportunity to contribute, though it could be challenging for the young centre to move up the depth chart in 2024-2025. Although his season was shortened by injury, Poitras showed enough to be excited about his potential. The Bruins controlled 54.3 percent of expected goals during five-on-five play with Poitras on the ice. James van Riemsdyk was the only Bruins player to play more than 300 five-on-five minutes to rank higher. As a young player, Poitras also has so much room to improve. He won 43.7 percent of his faceoffs as a rookie and generated only 1.21 shots on goal per game, which is far too low to sustain consistent offensive production. It would be reasonable to anticipate Poitras contributing 35 points this season, and he has potential for more if he somehow finds his way to a higher slot on the depth chart.

DEFENCE

Charlie McAvoy

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
77	7	35	42	0.55

One of the best all-around defencemen in the game, McAvoy tends not to get full credit for his play because his point totals are not as gaudy as some of the other top blueliners. Nevertheless, McAvoy continues to drive play in the right direction and has never had a season where the Bruins have been less than +10 against the opposition during five-on-five play with him on the ice. H has finished in the top five of Norris Trophy voting twice, though his defensive metrics like shots and expected goals against have climbed a little since then, knocking him further out of the race. McAvoy is a strong puckhandler and passer who is not at all shy about playing a physical game. He finished last season with matching career highs of 159 hits and 159 blocked shots. McAvoy recorded 34 even-strength points in 2023-2024, which left him tied for 21st among defencemen with Carolina’s Jaccob Slavin. McAvoy is still Boston’s No. 1 option on the point, and he quarterbacks the top power play unit, so it is not like he is left without opportunities to produce points. A fair expectation for 2024-2025 would have McAvoy contributing 10 goals and 50 points, with room for some upside if his power play numbers start to click.

Hampus Lindholm

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
78	4	21	25	0.32

After finishing with a career-high 53 points and finishing fourth in Norris Trophy voting in 2022-2023, Lindholm dropped to three goals and 26 points last season. In the 163 games that Lindholm has played with the Bruins, Boston has outscored the opposition by 61 goals during five-on-five play. This while starting more of his shifts in the defensive zone. Lindholm has good size and is an excellent skater, which allows him to attack offensively and quickly shut down opportunities on the defensive end. Lindholm appears to have the talent to challenge for Norris Trophies, but that is only going to happen when he is putting up numbers offensively and that is unlikely since he has surpassed 35 points in a season just once in his career. Last season, Lindholm’s shot rate dropped to 1.36 per game, the lowest mark of his career. If he is going to contribute offensively, launching more pucks at the opposing net is likely to help. While there are clear limitations to Lindholm’s offensive production, especially if he loses second unit power play time, he can go on streaks, too. Around midseason, he recorded 12 assists in a 15-game span. That kind of burst gives him a higher floor and Lindholm should still be capable of delivering 30-35 points for the Bruins.

Nikita Zadorov

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
79	9	18	27	0.34

A mammoth physical presence on the blueline, Zadorov is listed at 6-foot-6 and 248 pounds, and he is not shy about using that size to make his mark on the game. He racked up a career-high 125 penalty minutes last season while delivering 177 hits, the seventh consecutive season that he finished with more than 170 hits. That ability to affect the game with size and aggressiveness is what made Zadorov in demand as a free agent, but it should be noted that he has never played 20 minutes per game for a full season in the National Hockey League. Over the course of his career, Zadorov’s possession numbers have tended to be slightly positive, and it’s enough to consider him a reliable contributor in that role, without necessarily wanting to feed him big minutes. In Boston, He might see a little more ice time, but there is a limit to what can be reasonably expected of him. Zadorov reached the 20-point plateau last season for the third straight season, then kicked it up a notch in the playoffs, scoring four goals and eight points in 13 games. It’s not fair to expect him to keep that pace over the long haul but that little sample, along with the 14 goals Zadorov scored in 2022-2023 suggests that there is some latent offensive ability that can be brought to the forefront from time to time. Zadorov’s fantasy appeal will lie in banger leagues where he delivers hits and penalty minutes, but he should be able to chip in 20-25 points in his first season with the Bruins.

Mason Lohrei

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
75	5	17	22	0.29

The rangy 6-foot-5 blueliner made his NHL debut last season and flashed potential that he could become a valuable contributor on the Boston blueline for years to come. A second-round pick in 2020, Lohrei played a couple of seasons at Ohio State and a total of 29 AHL (regular season plus playoff) games before getting called up to the Big Bruins. His results in 41 games were relatively uneven. He scored 13 points and, among the seven defencemen that played at least 500 five-on-five minutes for the Bruins last season, Lohrei ranked fifth in Corsi percentage (45.7 percent) and sixth in expected goals percentage (46.8 percent). That suggests he may be worth a longer look but hardly assures him of success at this level. In the playoffs, though, Lohrei contributed four points in 11 games and ranked second among Boston defencemen in Corsi percentage (48.2 percent) and fourth in expected goals percentage (53.9 percent). That postseason showing added a dose of optimism to Lohrei’s future as he and McAvoy started to show progress as defence partners. Lohrei does possess intriguing puck skills for such a big guy, skates well and uses his reach effectively, so the 2024-2025 season should be about securing his full-time spot on the Boston blueline. He is one of Boston’s more capable puckhandling defencemen, so 25 points is a reasonable expectation.

Andrew Peeke

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
80	2	9	11	0.14

Acquired from Columbus at the trade deadline, Peeke has an opportunity for a fresh start in Boston. In the 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 seasons, he was one of four defencemen to record both 350 hits and 350 blocked shots across those two seasons. (Brayden McNabb, Jacob Trouba, and Moritz Seider were the others.) Peeke is a warrior, a 6-foot-3 defenceman who does not hesitate to lay his body on the line, but the Blue Jackets cut his ice time by more than five minutes per game last season and made him a frequent healthy scratch. In Boston, Peeke was reasonably effective in the regular season, with the Bruins managing 52.7 percent of expected goals during five-on-five play with him on the ice. He was not as effective in the postseason and missed time with a broken finger, but there is a reasonable expectation for him to fit as a physical third-pair defender who can kill penalties. He has never had a major offensive impact and that doesn’t figure to change. Still, there might be fantasy appeal for managers in deep banger leagues that would appreciate 150-plus hits and blocked shots to go with maybe 15 points.

GOAL

Jeremy Swayman

Predicted Stats
GP	W	L	OT	SO	SV%	GAA
59	32	20	6	4	0.912	2.60

Joonas Korpisalo

Predicted Stats
GP	W	L	OT	SO	SV%	GAA
23	13	8	3	1	0.302	2.88

It was the fault of neither Jeremy Swayman nor Linus Ullmark that the Boston Bruins once again bowed out early from the Stanley Cup chase this past spring. Nevertheless, the Bruins - perennially up against the salary cap and sitting on a wealth of goaltending talent - opted to make their biggest move of the offseason in net, sending Linus Ullmark to the Ottawa Senators in a swap that brought a struggling Joonas Korpisalo into the fold to partner up with Swayman come October.

Korpisalo looked particularly vulnerable behind the Ottawa Senators during his 2023-24 campaign. He was goaded into moving out of position by opponents whenever the defensive line in front of him suffered any kind of breakdown, leaving him with an abysmal stat line and a fresh host of bad habits to pack up with him in his move to TD Garden. Luckily, he'll enter a much calmer environment in Boston with far less pressure on him specifically; the crease is now Swayman's primary domain, and the Bruins should see his workload uptick enough to possibly even give him that long-awaited attention in the Vezina conversation. Even during a season in which Boston seemed to struggle at times with re-establishing their identity post-Patrice Bergeron, Swayman's statistical proficiency and ability to settle into a good rhythm even after a bad goal or game served as a calming presence throughout the year. It feels a little surprising that the Bruins are sticking with Korpisalo as their number two, but ultimately the team made a strong statement with that choice: this is Jeremy Swayman's starting gig.