Pyotr Kochetkov – McKeen's Hockey

NHL: CULLEN – 20 FANTASY POINTS – This week, more young talent in San Jose, Canada passes on Sam Bennett, goaltending situations to monitor in Carolina and Ottawa, plus Mikael Backlund, Noah Hanifin, Eeli Tolvanen, and so much more!

Scott Cullen — Fri, 02 Jan 2026 14:58:24 +0000

SAN JOSE, CA - DECEMBER 31: San Jose Sharks left wing Igor Chernyshov (92) skates with the puck during the NHL game between the Minnesota Wild and the San Jose Sharks on December 31, 2025 at SAP Center in San Jose, CA. (Photo by Scott Dinn/Icon Sportswire)

Each week, I dig into the stats to find information that can help you make better fantasy hockey decisions. This week, more young talent in San Jose, Canada passes on Sam Bennett, goaltending situations to monitor in Carolina and Ottawa, plus Mikael Backlund, Noah Hanifin, Eeli Tolvanen, and so much more!

#1 Drafted by the San Jose Sharks with the 33rd pick in the 2024 Draft, winger Igor Chernyshov had 55 points (19 G, 36 A) in 23 games for Saginaw in the OHL last season and started this season in the American Hockey League, where he put up 23 points (11 G, 12 A) in 25 games for the San Jose Barracuda to earn his promotion to the NHL. With these outstanding scoring credentials, it’s no surprise that the Sharks are giving Chernyshov a real shot to produce at the NHL level and he’s skating on the Sharks’ top line with Macklin Celebrini and Collin Graf. In his first seven games for the Sharks, Chernyshov has eight points (3 G, 5 A) and 16 shots on goal and that kind of production is going to keep him in a prime spot alongside Celebrini, one of the preeminent stars in the game.

#2 One of the surprising omissions from Team Canada’s Olympic Men’s Hockey Team was Florida Panthers centre Sam Bennett, who won the Conn Smythe Trophy as Playoff MVP last season, and he played a key role for Canada in the Four Nations Faceoff. Bennett did get off to a relatively slow start this season but he has picked up the pace lately. He is riding a seven-game point streak and has 17 points (7 G, 10 A) with 44 shots on goal in his past 14 games. He’s skating on a line with veterans Carter Verhaeghe and Brad Marchand on his wings, so Bennett is in a good spot to keep producing and it appears that he will get a long break in February while others head to the Olympics.

#3 Carolina Hurricanes goaltender Pyotr Kochetkov is out for the rest of the season after requiring surgery for a lower-body injury. With Frederik Andersen struggling, this could be a prime opportunity for 27-year-old Brandon Bussi, who had a .912 save percentage in 15 games for the Hurricanes this season before getting lit up for six goals on just 22 shots against Montreal on Thursday.

#4 The Ottawa Senators have a goaltending situation in flux as well, as Linus Ullmark has taken a leave from the team for personal reasons. The vague nature of his absence makes it difficult to forecast a return date, so expect Leevi Merilainen to get the starter’s workload for as long as Ullmark is away from the Sens. That’s a dicey situation for Ottawa, as Merilainen has managed a .869 save percentage in 11 games this season, which is not nearly good enough if he’s going to be playing as the Sens’ starter. Merilainen did have a .925 save percentage in a dozen games for Ottawa last season, so if he could get back to that level, that would be ideal.

#5 Calgary Flames captain Mikael Backlund has never been a huge scorer, topping out with 56 points during the 2022-2023 season, but he has always been a reliable two-way performer, finishing in the Top 10 of Selke Trophy voting three times in his career. He is on a great offensive run right now, though, with nine points (5 G, 4 A) and 23 shots on goal during a six-game point streak. The Flames have a 5-1 record during that streak, and Backlund has a good thing going with linemates Blake Coleman and Matt Coronato.

#6 Vegas Golden Knights defenceman Shea Theodore is out of the lineup with an upper-body injury and while it’s not considered a long-term injury, the Golden Knights can afford to be patient. Veteran blueliner Noah Hanifin has stepped up with eight assists and 16 shots on goal in his past six games. Five of those eight assists have come on the power play, so Hanifin is handling the quarterbacking duties just fine.

#7 Seattle Kraken winger Eeli Tolvanen has always been able to fire the puck, and it’s part of the reason that the Kraken claimed him off waivers from the Nashville Predators in December of 2022. In his past eight games, Tolvanen has 10 points (3 G, 7 A) and 19 shots on goal. He is skating with Chandler Stephenson and Frederick Gaudreau at evens, but Tolvanen is also getting first unit power play time, so he has a chance to remain a quality scoring option. On top of that, Tolvanen has 102 hits and 41 blocked shots in 38 games, making him one of three forwards (Will Cuylle and Beck Malenstyn are the others) with at least 40 blocked shots and 100 hits.

#8 The Buffalo Sabres have won 10 straight games and, not surprisingly, that has made Sabres players more appealing for fantasy managers. Defenceman Bowen Byram has elevated his game and in the past five games, he has seven points (3 G, 4 A) and six shots on goal while averaging more than 24 minutes of ice time per game. Byram isn’t the only Sabres blueliner bringing more offence to the table. Mattias Samuelsson has put up seven points (1 G, 6 A) with 11 shots on goal while averaging 24:50 of ice time per game in his past seven games. For added fantasy appeal, Samuelsson has 15 hits and 13 blocked shots in those seven contests, too.

#9 While Ivan Demidov gets a lot of the fanfare as a top rookie for the Montreal Canadiens, don’t sleep on Oliver Kapanen, who is proving to be a reliable contributor. He has five points (2 G, 3 A) and 16 shots on goal in his past six games, and he is tied with Anaheim’s Beckett Sennecke for the rookie goal-scoring lead with 12. Kapanen is in a good spot right now, skating between Demidov and Juraj Slafkovsky.

#10 While there has been some frustration with the inconsistent production from star players for the Toronto Maple Leafs, they are getting production from the supporting cast. Bobby McMann has seven points (4 G, 3 A) and 23 shots on goal in his past seven games. Nicholas Robertson also has seven points (2 G, 5 A) and 14 shots on goal in his past seven games. Robertson doesn’t get as much ice time as McMann, but Robertson has shown that when he is given the chance to play, he can produce. Since the start of the 2023-2024 season, Robertson has 1.13 goals per 60 minutes of five-on-five play, which ranks 17th out of the 391 forwards that have played at least 1,000 five-on-five minutes in that time frame.

#11 The Nashville Predators have been a more competitive squad, winning 12 of their past 18 games and right winger Luke Evangelista has been a playmaking force in that time. In his past 19 games, Evangelista has delivered 20 points (4 G, 16 A) and 45 shots on goal. He is skating on a line with Erik Haula and Michael Bunting at even strength, but Evangelista does get first unit power play time for the Preds and 11 of his 30 points this season have come via the power play.

#12 Colorado Avalanche winger Valeri Nichushkin had a modest start to the season, with 14 points in 22 games, but the powerful winger has started to heat up lately. In his past nine games, Nichushkin has 12 points (4 G, 8 A) and 33 shots on goal, while playing 19:42 per game. Nichushkin is playing with Brock Nelson and Artturi Lehkonen at even strength and getting first unit power play time for the Avs.

#13 Anaheim Ducks centre Mason McTavish went through a tough stretch in early December, managing one point in an eight-game span, but he has pulled it back on track with five points (3 G, 2 A) and 22 shots on goal in his past six games. McTavish is currently skating on a line with rookie Beckett Sennecke and veteran Chris Kreider in addition to having a spot on the Ducks’ top power play unit.

#14 The Vancouver Canucks are in a tough spot right now with Marco Rossi and Conor Garland both out with injuries. Rossi’s absence leaves the second line centre spot for Max Sasson, the 25-year-old rookie who does have five points (4 G, 1 A) in the dozen games in which he has played at least 12 minutes. Garland’s injury opens the door for Linus Karlsson to play on the Canucks’ top line with Elias Pettersson and Jake DeBrusk. Karlsson has five points (4 G, 1 A) with six shots on goal in his past five games and, again, that shot rate is too low to be very exciting, but Karlsson is starting to earn additional ice time and the injuries are just providing him with an even better opportunity. He has five points (4 G, 1 A) in the nine games in which he has played at least 12 minutes this season.

#15 This is not the first time this season that Pittsburgh Penguins right winger Justin Brazeau has been highlighted, but it has been a remarkable season for a player who had 22 points (11 G, 11 A) in 76 games last season. Brazeau missed some time with an injury but has produced 20 points (12 G, 8 A) in 25 games for the Penguins, including six points (4 G, 2 A) and 11 shots on goal in his past four games. Brazeau is playing on a line with Anthony Mantha and Tommy Novak as well as getting time on the Penguins’ second power play unit.

#16 Although Columbus Blue Jackets defenceman Zack Werenski is expected to return to action this weekend, the Blue Jackets have been getting some nice production from others on the blueline. Veteran Damon Severson has contributed six points (1 G, 5 A) and 10 shots on goal in his past five games while second-year defenceman Denton Mateychuk has five points (1 G, 4 A) and seven shots on goal, while averaging a whopping 25:29 of ice time per game, in his past five contests. Werenski’s return will limit their offensive upside, but Mateychuk could still hold some appeal in deeper leagues.

#17 Maybe wins don’t always come so easily in Columbus, but Blue Jackets goaltender Jet Greaves is still widely available for fantasy managers despite posting a .909 save percentage in 26 games. His 8.33 Goals Saved Above Expected in all situations ranks 21st among goaltenders and it’s notably better than Elvis Merzlikins, his competition in the Columbus crease, who has -6.10 Goals Saved Above Expected. Greaves’ increasingly strong hold on the starting job for the Blue Jackets does give him some appeal for fantasy managers.

#18 Buffalo’s winning streak has been the tide to lift all of the Sabres’ ships and that includes goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, who become increasingly important with Alex Lyon and Colten Ellis both injured. Luukkonen has stopped 76 of 79 shots (.962 SV%) in his three starts during the 10-game winning streak, and that followed some uneven performances on his way to a .884 save percentage through his first 10 appearances of the season.

#19 More from the Maple Leafs’ supporting cast: Max Domi is not especially consistent in his offensive production and some if it has to do with where he is in the lineup, so it’s noteworthy that he’s getting a chance on the top line, skating with Auston Matthews and Matthew Knies. Domi has six points (1 G, 5 A) and 10 shots on goal in his past five games after he had 12 points (3 G, 9 A) and 50 shots on goal in his first 33 games. A player who was considered an option for that first-line right wing spot when he was acquired in the offseason, Matias Maccelli has contributed six points (2 G, 4 A) and eight shots on goal in his past seven games as he skates on a line with Bobby McMann and Scott Laughton.

#20 Keep an eye on Dallas Stars rookie left winger Justin Hryckowian, who has five points (3 G, 2 A) with eight shots on goal in his past seven games. That shot rate is far too low to have real sustainable value, but Hryckowian is on a line with veterans Matt Duchene and Jamie Benn, and this looks like progress after he started the season with eight points (3 G, 5 A) and 33 shots on goal through his first 33 games of the season.

*Advanced stats via Natural Stat Trick

MCKEEN’S 2025-26 NHL YEARBOOK – CAROLINA HURRICANES – Team Preview/Player Profiles/Predictions

Tue, 30 Sep 2025 19:16:32 +0000

NEWARK, NJ - MAY 07: Carolina Hurricanes defenseman Jaccob Slavin (74) looks on during Game 3 of an Eastern Conference Second Round playoff game between the Carolina Hurricanes and the New Jersey Devils on May 7, 2023, at Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. (Photo by Andrew Mordzynski/Icon Sportswire)

After a few seasons of coming up short in the playoffs, the Hurricanes were able to finally get back to the Eastern Conference Final last year. The pressure has been on Carolina to get further and while the stress on them isn’t as high as it is in other cities, internally the knowledge they can be so much better dictated they had to get beyond the second round. Carolina finished with 99 points and landed in second place in the Metropolitan Division behind the Washington Capitals. They continued to be a headache on ice for opponents with the way they’re able to dominate in shot attempts and scoring chances. They were the best team in the league at five-on-five in CorsiFor percentage (59.1) and expected goals for percentage (55.9). Playing against Carolina means having to weather the storm of pucks they send to the net and doing the best you can to counterattack. The science used to build the roster, and their game plan hasn’t gotten them to the Stanley Cup Final yet, but piece by piece they’re figuring out how to do it.

What’s Changed?

When the Hurricanes had to move on from Mikko Rantanen last season 13 games after they acquired him from Colorado, it reopened their desire for a top-flight scoring winger. They found him in free agency with Nikolaj Ehlers. Carolina signed Ehlers, arguably the top free agent available, to a six-year, $51.5 million contract and will most likely slot the 29-year-old Dane next to Sebastian Aho on the top line. They also bolstered their blue line acquiring K’Andre Miller from the New York Rangers for prospect Scott Morrow and 2026 first and second-round picks. Miller signed an eight-year, $60 million extension with the Rangers as part of the sign-and-trade deal and he figures to partner up with Jaccob Slavin. They added further defensive depth with a one-year deal for Mike Reilly.

What Would Success Look Like?

The goal for Carolina is to win the Stanley Cup. Although getting to the Stanley Cup Final would be the right gradual step forward after reaching the East Final last season, this is a team designed to win it all. The days of being satisfied making the postseason and winning a round or two are long gone and after years of sustained success, anything less than winning it all is a disappointment. Adding Ehlers and Miller are meant to make them better and more stout in their own end and the addition of Logan Stankoven in the Rantanen trade with Dallas also gave them more young talent to work with.

What Could Go Wrong?

Although one of the areas that’s appeared to hold them back the past few years has been goaltending, whether it was health or performance, Carolina is running it back again with Frederik Andersen and Pyotr Kochetkov. Andersen played well in the playoffs last year until they ran into Florida. If their goaltending duo can’t help them get over the hump, something would have to give, right? The Hurricanes are built well and slow starts the past two seasons allowed other teams in the Metropolitan Division to get out ahead of them to stay. Getting home ice throughout the postseason should be a priority, but if they have to play from behind again, it could feed back into the mental loop that they can’t get it done. Their time to win is now and has been.

Top Breakout Candidate

While K’Andre Miller will get a lot of attention on defence for Carolina, the player to keep an eye on is Alexander Nikishin. He was their third-round pick in 2020 and came over from Russia late last season in time to join the Hurricanes for the playoffs. He got four games in the postseason and is poised to be a key member of the defence corps this season. He was a big-time offensive weapon on the blue line for St. Petersburg SKA in the KHL. In 193 games with SKA, he had 45 goals and 112 assists (157 points). He skates well with the puck and at 6-foot-4, 215 pounds, he’s got plenty of size to handle the NHL.

FORWARDS

Sebastian Aho

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
79	33	51	84	1.06

“What about Sebastian Aho?” should be the reply to anyone asking when the Hurricanes are going to add an elite goal scorer. Carolina’s start player has never scored fewer than 24 goals in a season over his entire career, finding sneaky ways to get himself open around the net both at even strength and the power play. He also carries the team’s shoot-first mindset with him, always looking at the net first to see if he can get the puck there before deferring to someone else. It’s not the main thing he’s known for because he does so many other things well, but if the Canes need a goal, he’s usually the first one to step up. Last year was somewhat of a down season due to a shooting percentage dip and power play production. Aho also acted as more of a playmaker with his linemates starting to find the back of the net more. Helping Seth Jarvis have a career season, Jack Roslovic scoring 20 goals and setting up Mikko Rantanen during his brief spell with the team. He’s also one of the most dangerous players in the league shorthanded; he and Jarvis are always looking to break the other way when they’re on the penalty kill. The potential fit with newcomer Nikolaj Ehlers is exciting to think about, as that’s another top caliber linemate for the Hurricanes star forward and could be enough to get him back over the point-per-game hump. There is always the question of what he can do to break into that elite category of centers because he’s always considered just in the tier below. Some are still waiting for him to have that one truly elite season where he puts up close to 100 points. That day may not ever come, but the Hurricanes will go as far as Aho can take them.

Nikolaj Ehlers

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
74	27	35	62	0.84

Ehlers’ career in Winnipeg can be summed up as “great but could have been more.” You could argue he was the most talented player on the roster during his run there and had stretches where he was the best player on the ice. He just never produced at a superstar level and while that’s an arbitrary definition, the Jets never played Ehlers like he was one of their best players. He was always on the second line, separate from Mark Scheifele, while also playing on the second power play unit. Scheifele’s chemistry with Kyle Connor, Winnipeg’s desire to spread the wealth and the lack of trust in Ehlers to play 20+ minutes a night being the main reasons. Only used on the first line in a “break glass in case of emergency” situation. It’s not automatic that Carolina will play him like a superstar, but he does check a lot of the boxes they need. Ehlers is an electrifying talent, effortlessly gains the zone to back the defence up, creates high danger chances by dominating the perimeter, getting the defence to breakdown by cycling them to death and, most importantly, he can score. His sneaky wrist shot is dangerous from all over the offensive zone, mostly because of his release and how much traffic the other forwards create from Ehlers keeping the defence focused on him patrolling the outside. It’s an ideal fit for a Carolina club looking for more game-breakers. They’re taking a risk on elite production following Ehlers if he gets the ice time, neither is a sure thing. If he isn’t, he adds to Carolina’s assortment of great players who are just shy of being considered elite.

Andrei Svechnikov

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
77	31	35	66	0.86

Last season was Svechnikov’s first true down season. He produced at his lowest rate since his rookie season with half of his 20 goals coming on the power play and another four being empty net goals. It’s not what you want to see from a player touted for his goal-scoring prowess going back to his draft year. It’s the one area where he’s really stagnated the last few seasons, his goal scoring rate steadily declining since his 30-goal season in 2022. He was on the scoresheet more often for taking penalties than anything else. Svechnikov salvaged this with a remarkable playoff run, where he scored eight goals and was team’s best player through the first two rounds. It was there you saw him look like the sniper and the power forward the team has been waiting to show up for almost six years now. He is a talent you keep betting on because even in a down season you saw what makes him a difference maker. He is a scoring chance machine with a hard shot who can win a few games for you on his own when he’s dialed in. Also, very lethal as a playmaker, as teams caught onto his shot early and he had to add more of a passing dimension to his game. The issue is Carolina doesn’t see this version of him often enough. It keeps him from breaking into that upper echelon of players but he’s still young enough to not assume his best days are behind him. Svechnikov has everything it takes to be the Hurricanes best player, he just needs to show it more often.

Seth Jarvis

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
82	36	41	77	0.94

While Necas carried the Hurricanes offence in the first half with his torrid start, Jarvis was not far behind. He was arguably the team’s best player in the second half of the season, kicking things off strong with 11 goals in the month of January and recording back-to-back 30 goal seasons. The ideal Carolina forward, Jarvis brings a lethal combination of skill and grit, always playing with a high level of intensity and his offence has reached another level the last couple of seasons. His game is all about hustle, but what’s made him more dangerous now is the level of detail in his skill game, always buying himself an extra second or two with the puck to get more on his shot or pick a corner. He’s also more comfortable with commanding the offence, using his teammates better and improving his playmaking game, whereas in previous seasons he was more of a straight-line player who would always take the puck to the net on first instinct. That is still a huge part of his game, as he’s incredibly strong on his skates while battling for position and he’s one of the team’s best finishers on breakaways. It helps him on both sides of the puck, as Jarvis excels at the keep-away style of defence with constantly chipping pucks out of the zone and disrupting plays to the point. It is also a reason his penalty killing unit with Aho is one of the most dangerous in the league, frequently creating more scoring chances shorthanded than the power plays they go up against. He might be the one Hurricanes forward who is closest to breaking into that elite tier.

Logan Stankoven

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
81	21	27	48	0.59

It is hard to not notice Stankoven’s size, or lack thereof. It’s usually the first thing anyone points out with him looking every bit of 5-foot-8, 170 pounds. He is also quick to make it an afterthought with how relentless he plays the game. Stankoven is a dog on a bone when going after pucks, using that lower center of gravity to get the inside track on defencemen and he’s also a lot stronger than he looks, as he’s very hard to get off the puck. It made him a valuable player to have in front of the net both in Dallas and Carolina, being able to locate loose pucks and take a beating from defencemen despite being undersized. The finishing he showed in juniors and the AHL hasn’t quite blossomed in the big league yet, effective at getting to the net but struggling to score from distance. Some parts of Stankoven’s offensive game are a bit rushed, as he’s very quick to get his shot off with the defensive pressure ramped up. Figuring out how to add that finesse he showed at the lower level is the key to unlocking his next level. Although his current track record is fantastic as a play-driving forward with a lot of upside, which the Hurricanes certainly believe in as they signed him to a six-year deal in the off-season. We saw glimpses of how high his potential is in the post-season, especially as a goal-scorer so they’re expecting this deal to become a bargain very soon.

Jackson Blake

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
82	22	25	47	0.57

As a smaller forward, Blake has done nothing but shatter expectations in his young career. Completely bypassing the AHL after a superstar season at North Dakota, he made the Hurricanes roster out of camp, starting on the fourth line with limited power play time and becoming a regular player on the first line with Sebastian Aho by the end of the year. Blake’s relentless pursuit of the puck on the forecheck made him a natural fit on the Hurricanes and he is fearless with cutting to the middle of the ice with the puck. Not the fastest player but can weave through traffic better than most when he gets the motor going. This is especially noticeable in the neutral zone, where he adds another dimension to how the Hurricanes zone entry scheme as a grittier player who can also make plays with the puck at the blue line. The learning process was tough for Blake, going through a mid-season scoring drought but finishing on a strong note with five goals in his last seven games. Blake’s stick-handling ability made him a great fit on the top line but did get outmatched by stronger defenders when trying to take it to the net. This led to him frequently deferring to his linemates when he had shooting opportunities and limiting some of his game. All part of the process in your first NHL season. The Hurricanes saw enough to make him part of their core long-term with a six-year extension.

Taylor Hall

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
75	16	22	38	0.51

At this point in his career, having a player like Taylor Hall on your top line isn’t ideal but he’s a luxury in the middle of your lineup. Transitioning into more of a role player, Hall can still have the odd game where he’s the best player on the ice. His puck-carrying skill is still unmatched, being able to find lanes through defensive coverage and setup shop in the offensive zone. The speed might not be there anymore, but his skating is still fluid and effortless. He can flip possession without needing to move his feet much and it takes some pressure off his linemates. His offensive game has shifted from where it used to be, no longer a pure playmaker and taking on more of a shooting role after joining the Hurricanes. He didn’t score as much as you’d hope with how impressive he was by the eye test, having most of the offence go through him on cycles and helping his lines heavily tilt the ice in Carolina’s favor. This might be the new normal for him as a highly skilled second liner who is more known for setting the table rather than scoring the goals himself. An interesting player for Carolina to build their depth around as he gets older. They have some intriguing prospects knocking on the door and Hall is a good player to help them get acclimated to the NHL game.

Jesperi Kotkaniemi

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
82	13	26	39	0.48

Stuck in neutral is the best way to describe Kotkaniemi’s career with the Hurricanes. The last few years he began the roster as the team’s second line center, mainly played an off-puck support role with Martin Necas. He’s a reliable enough player to help set the table for high-skilled linemates, making small connecting plays up the ice and sometimes making that one final pass to set up a scoring chance. He is just overly reliant on his linemates to see any production for how he plays, and sometimes it’s not always the case with how points are rewarded. The lack of assertiveness in Kotkaniemi’s game is the main thing that holds him back. He waits too often for the perfect shot to develop, doesn’t trust himself with carrying the puck up the ice and will defer to someone else quickly if there’s any pressure. He might start as the 2C in October, but he is usually shuffled onto the fourth line when the playoffs roll around. His strengths are somewhat redundant with Jordan Staal still on the team and his offensive game developing to the point where he’s a 2C hasn’t blossomed like the Hurricanes had hoped. If he was the third line center, it’s a moot point but Kotkaniemi is regularly slotted higher in the lineup in hopes that he can at least hold the fort down in a top six spot. With off-season rumors swirling about wingers Seth Jarvis or Logan Stankoven moving over to center, Kotkaniemi’s days of playing in the top six might be numbered.

Jordan Staal

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
72	10	25	35	0.49

Even at his age, Jordan Staal is still somewhat of a pillar for the Hurricanes. He can go long stretches without getting on the scoresheet, but it’s never part of his job description holding the team’s defensive structure in place as the shutdown center. Last year was one of his better recent ones in terms of point production, partially thanks to linemate Jordan Martinook having a career season. Staal defends best in the offensive zone, using that big body to jam up opponents breakout attempts and keep everything along the wall. Built like an NFL linebacker with a condor wingspan, Staal is going to stay an effective NHLer as long as his legs still work. He doesn’t need to take many strides to catch up to forwards or get a stick on a puck to deflect a pass. This is why he still gets heavy minutes despite his weak offensive production, sometimes leading forwards in ice time if the Canes have to defend a lead. His presence is both a positive and a negative because his defensive game is part of the team’s identity but it becomes noticeable how much of a drain on the offence he is when his ice time gets bumped into the 17-18 minute range. The third line center spot is his to lose, even at 37 years old.

DEFENCE

Jaccob Slavin

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
80	4	20	24	0.20

Every year the Norris gets awarded, there becomes a side conversation for “best defensive defenceman” and Jaccob Slavin’s name is usually first on the list. Known for having the best defensive stick in the game, Slavin holds the Carolina defence corps together. Playing an ultra-aggressive style with his shifty footwork bailing him out of most tough situations. His style of defending is somewhat unorthodox, using all parts of his body to block shots, often sprawling onto the ice to block passing lanes and attacking forwards from an angle rather than head-on in a defensive posture. It doesn’t work for everyone, but Slavin has mastered his craft of being the Hurricanes “problem solver” in the defensive zone. He has the skillset to be a contribute offensively, but it’s where his game lacks some dynamic ability. He has an explosive first stride and is sneaky with getting his shot through but very deliberate with his decision-making, so it doesn’t make him the best offensive blue liner. This year will be a little different, with his defence partner from the last three seasons leaving in free agency and the team short on right-handed options, it’s been reported that Slavin could be playing his off-side next season. He has experience doing this, but you have to go all the way to his brief AHL stint in 2014 to find the last time he played this role regularly. Slavin is no stranger to having the pieces around him changing, but shifting to his off side will be a new challenge for him and the Hurricanes overall team defence hinges on his performance.

K'Andre Miller

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
77	8	28	36	0.47

Looking to fill a long-term hole, Carolina made one of the biggest trades of the off-season, acquiring K’Andre Miller in a sign-and-trade deal with the Rangers. They paid heavily for the defenceman and are paying him like a top-pair guy, so one would think he is going to be penciled into that role opening night. Miller is the complete package in terms of raw skill. He’s a very tall, mobile defenceman with a long reach and great instincts with the puck. Spending the last few years patrolling the Rangers shutdown pair alongside Jacob Trouba, it’s been somewhat of trial by fire, as he had to be the safety valve for Trouba’s aggressive play. He got a brief run with Adam Fox at the start of last season before being stapled to physical defenceman Will Borgen for rest of the year and Miller continued to play the safety valve role. Excellent at leading breakouts but not carrying the puck much and his offensive contributions took a dip, playing heavy minutes on the penalty kill with minimal usage on the power play. Also had his worst season at defending entries, giving up more chances off controlled entries than any other Rangers defenceman. Carolina has a good recent track record of getting the most out of skilled defenceman and Miller is going to be a major project for them. There’s a natural home for him alongside Slavin if the Canes veteran blue liner moves to his off side. Power play time is also open for him as the longtime Ranger has a fresh start in Raleigh.

Sean Walker

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
82	6	13	19	0.23

The combination of moving to a new team and having a clean bill of health did wonders for Sean Walker’s career. His first season in Carolina was mostly spent on the third pair with not much defensive trust placed in him. Whether that’s from being paired with offensive defenceman Shayne Gostisbehere or the coaches being worried about his size is up for debate, but something changed late in the season and carried into the playoffs. Walker became a regular 20+ minute defenceman by the end of the season and even got spot duty alongside Slavin in the Washington series. Walker was arguably the fastest and most explosive defenceman on the roster last season, not afraid to carry the puck and one of the best at generating controlled zone exits. Used his smaller height well to negate entries with his stick and lower body. Not having him available for most of the Florida series was more of a blow than it appeared from the outside. Even if you think he’s just a third pair guy, Walker dominated those minutes and that’s nothing to scoff at. He is someone who could ascend in the lineup next season depending. He got a brief audition with Slavin and the two looked like they had natural chemistry, but it’s likely some of the more higher profile pieces like Miller and Nikishin get first crack at trying out for the top pair.

Shayne Gostisbehere

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
76	7	37	44	0.58

The one pure offensive defenceman on the Hurricanes blue line, Gostisbehere feasted on the power play early in the season but saw his production dwindle as the year went on. Losing his top power play spot to Brent Burns in the middle of the season while the team was struggling. The Canes used him well at five-on-five, forming a dominant third pair with Sean Walker with heavy offensive zone deployment. Gostisbehere could play his game and attack the zone on resets and reloads in the neutral zone and quarterbacked the offence from the blue line well. He’s excellent at getting the high forward to miss and get a better shot from closer to the faceoff circle or find a pass from the middle of the ice. There isn’t much that has changed about his game going back to rookie season in Philadelphia, his feet are quick, and his offensive skillset is dynamic. Not the most physical player in the world, but the Hurricanes have no shortage of penalty killers on their roster. The full-time addition of Alexander Nikishin could impact Gostisbehere’s production depending on who wins the top power play spot. Gostisbehere has somewhat of an edge because of seniority but if Nikishin is all he is hyped to be, there will be some pressure for him to take that spot.

Goal

Frederik Andersen

Predicted Stats
GP	W	L	OT	SO	SV%	GAA
36	22	9	2	2	.902	2.42

There are plenty of exciting names sitting in the wings for the Carolina Hurricanes in net. But for at least one more year, expect the coastal team to hold the course and run it back with what they already know; for better or for worse, Carolina will start the 2025-26 season with both Frederik Andersen and Pyotr Kochetkov as their tandem once again. It's an intriguing choice, given that neither goaltender was particularly stellar last year - but interestingly enough, despite neither Kochetkov nor Andersen surpassing league-average performances on the year, the team ended up looking on paper like one of the most dominant forces in the East. And given that the roster has grown so accustomed to Andersen and Kochetkov over the last few seasons, it actually might not be a bad tactic on the team's part. It should prevent the coach staff from needing to adjust any defensive strategies to accommodate for a new goaltender in the building, while running out the last year of Andersen's contract and potentially even evaluating which of Cayden Primeau or Amir Miftakhov could be his successor. The only minor concern is how Kochetkov performed with a fairly heavy workload last year - but if Primeau is able to shoulder some of the workload that Andersen can't, it could be a best-case situation for Carolina as they continue to fight for a cup during their prime window.

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: CULLEN – 20 FANTASY POINTS – Zegras scoring again, Sharangovich finding his form, Valeri Nichushkin is a difference maker again, a closer look at some of the top rookies, and much more!

Scott Cullen — Sat, 30 Nov 2024 15:58:22 +0000

Calgary Flames center Yegor Sharangovich (17) (Photo by Bailey Hillesheim/Icon Sportswire)

Each week, I’ll dig into the stats to find information that can help you make better fantasy hockey decisions. This week, Trevor Zegras is scoring again, Yegor Sharangovich is finding his form, Valeri Nichushkin is a difference maker again, a closer look at some of the top rookies, and much more!

#1 Anaheim Ducks centre Trevor Zegras had two 60-point seasons to his credit before managing just 15 points in 31 games last season when his campaign was shortened by injuries including a broken ankle. It wasn’t getting any better early in 2024-2025 either, as Zegras had just three points (1 G, 2 A) through his first 15 games. There have been some recent signs of progress, however, as Zegras has produced seven points (3 G, 4 A) with 16 shots on goal in the past six games. It is still ridiculous that he is skating at centre while winning 39.4 percent of his faceoffs, but if that is the best spot for his playmaking ability to shine, then that is what the Ducks need to do. With Leo Carlsson suffering an upper-body injury earlier this week, the Ducks need Zegras to continue delivering offensive production.

#2 A pleasant surprise for the Calgary Flames last season when he hit career highs with 31 goals and 59 points after he was acquired from New Jersey, Yegor Sharangovich suffered a lower-body injury in the preseason and started slowly once he rejoined the lineup. He had just two goals in 12 games, despite playing more than 18 minutes per game, but he has picked up five points (3 G, 2 A) in his past four games while recording 20 shots on goal and averaging 19:50 of ice time per game. Of his seven points on the season, four have come via the power play, so there is room for much improvement during five-on-five play.

#3 Returning to the Colorado Avalanche lineup after serving a six-month suspension for violating the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program policy, Valeri Nichushkin had no points and just four shots on goal in his first three games but appears to be back on track. In the past three games, Nichushkin has contributed five points (2 G, 3 A) with eight shots on goal and he played a season-high 22:47 in Wednesday’s win over Vegas.

#4 Anaheim Ducks rookie winger Cutter Gauthier came into the season with some expectations. He was the fifth pick in the 2022 Draft, scored 102 points (54 G, 48 A) in 73 games in two seasons at Boston College and was productive in international play, too, producing 22 points (6 G, 16 A) in 14 games across two years at the World Juniors, plus he had nine points (7 G, 2 A) in 10 games at the 2023 World Championships. All of this indicated that he should be able to contribute quickly in the NHL. He did not record a point in his first five games, but since then has 10 points (3 G, 7 A) and 38 shots on goal in 16 games. There is also a stat that is quite encouraging about Gauthier’s potential ability to sustain his production. Among players that have played at least 200 five-on-five minutes, Nashville’s Filip Forsberg (24.82) is the only one with a higher rate of individual shot attempts per 60 minutes, as Gauthier has 21.95, putting him ahead of Owen Tippett, Brady Tkachuk, and Jeff Skinner.

#5 The leading point producer among rookies is Philadelphia Flyers right winger Matvei Michkov, who has 17 points (8 G, 9 A) in 21 games, despite being a healthy scratch for two games. Michkov has an on-ice shooting percentage of 7.0 percent during five-on-five play, which is quite low for an offensive forward, so he should be able to find his way to more assists, but he is also scoring on 20.0 percent of his shots on goal, so there could very well be some regression on that side of the ledger, too.

#6 The first pick in the 2024 Draft, San Jose Sharks centre Macklin Celebrini may very well be the best of the rookie class. He missed some time due to injury, but he has 11 points (7 G, 4 A) in 13 games. He has 43 shots on goal, and is averaging 20:15 of ice time per game, both of which are great indications that his production should continue at a high level. To temper some of the enthusiasm, it should be noted that Celebrini has an individual points percentage of 100.0 percent and that is not likely to last an entire season. To be fair, however, last season’s top rookie, Conor Bedard finished with a league-leading IPP for 91.89 percent (minimum 1000 five-on-five minutes).

#7 Second-year Anaheim Ducks defenceman Olen Zellweger is on the smaller side of things, listed at 5-foot-9, 182 pounds, but he is such a nimble skater with a flair for offensive production that there is clearly a role for him in the Ducks’ plans. In his past six games, Zellweger has six points (2 G, 4 A) with 13 shots on goal. Zellweger is quarterbacking the Ducks’ top power play unit and four of his 10 points this season have come with the man advantage.

#8 Dallas Stars centre Tyler Seguin is playing 16:15 per game, his lowest average time on ice since his rookie season 2010-2011. Nevertheless, he is also averaging better than a point per game with 18 points (8 G, 10 A) in 17 games. That is built on some high percentages, including an individual shooting percentage of 19.0 percent and an on-ice shooting percentage of 13.0 percent during five-on-five play. Both of those marks would be career highs for Seguin, so regression is probably coming, but he may offer some short-term value before those percentages start to level out.

#9 The third pick in the 2022 Draft, Utah Hockey Club centre Logan Cooley continues to make progress in his second NHL season. Cooley has six points (2 G, 4 A) and 14 shots on goal, while averaging more than 18 minutes of ice time per game, across his past six games. He is playing on Utah’s top power play unit while centering Jack McBain and Dylan Guenther at even strength.

#10 Vancouver Canucks right winger Kiefer Sherwood has climbed the depth chart and is skating on Vancouver’s top line, alongside Elias Pettersson and Jake DeBrusk. Sherwood has five points (3 G, 2 A) and 14 shots on goal in his past six games and is far and away the leading hitter in the NHL, with 137 hits in 21 games. He is 34 hits ahead of Nashville defenceman Jeremy Lauzon and 43 hits ahead of the second-ranked forward, Brady Tkachuk. Sherwood’s outrageous hit totals give him fantasy value anyway, but with an increasing offensive role, his appeal is growing by the game.

#11 Carolina Hurricanes defenceman Shayne Gostisbehere is a power play specialist this season, recording 12 of his 17 points (70.6 percent) this season with the man advantage. The only defenceman in the league with a higher ratio of power play points is Ottawa Senators blueliner Jake Sanderson, who has registered 14 points, with 11 (78.6 percent) on the power play. Among defencemen with at least five power play points, the top five gets rounded out by the Toronto Maple Leafs’ Morgan Rielly and Montreal Canadiens’ Mike Matheson, who both have seven of 13 points on the power play, as well as Nashville Predators captain Roman Josi, who has half of his 18 points on the power play.

#12 While Gostisbehere is pumping up his point totals on the power play, his teammate, Dmitry Orlov, is busy getting his production at even strength. Orlov has recorded an assist in six straight games and has zero power play points among his 14 points this season. The highest scoring defencemen who have yet to record a power play point this season: Buffalo’s Owen Power and Vegas’ Alex Pietrangelo, who both have 15 points, one more than Orlov. Buffalo’s Bowen Byram has 13 and three defencemen – St. Louis’ Colton Parayko, Minnesota’s Jake Middleton and Colorado’s Samuel Girard – have a dozen points without any on the power play.

#13 Shuffled into the background in Nashville, defenceman Dante Fabbro has thrived since he was acquired off waivers by the Columbus Blue Jackets. In seven games since joining Columbus, Fabbro has four points (2 G, 2 A), while playing 21:42 per game as a partner for Zach Werenski. It is probably too soon to go after Fabbro, save for the deepest of leagues, but he is worth keeping tabs on in his new location.

#14 Veteran Vancouver Canucks winger Conor Garland has been a consistent source of secondary scoring throughout his career, but the Canucks are giving him more responsibility this season and he is responding favorably. He has seven points (2 G, 5 A) with 16 shots on goal in his past six games, giving him 18 points (6 G, 12 A) in 21 games, leading Vancouver’s forwards in scoring. Garland is averaging a career-high 19:13 of ice time per game, which includes time on the first power play unit, and he has six power play points this season surpassing last season’s total of five power play points.

#15 Philadelphia Flyers captain Sean Couturier may not get back to the offensive production that marked the peak of his career, but he is still delivering quality results for his team. Couturier has goals in three straight games, recording 10 shots on goal in the process, lifting him to 13 points (6 G, 7 A) in 22 games, but the Flyers are also controlling 56.9 percent of shot attempts and 55.2 percent of expected goals during five-on-five play with Couturier on the ice. He is also winning 58.0 percent of his faceoffs, which ranks 11th among players that have taken at least 200 faceoffs.

#16 The St. Louis Blues reacted quickly when Jim Montgomery was fired by the Boston Bruins, hiring him to replace Drew Bannister. Dylan Holloway and Zack Bolduc have been early beneficiaries of the change. Holloway has produced four points (2 G, 2 A) and eight shots on goal while playing 16:55 per game since Montgomery took over on the Blues bench. Bolduc does not play as much, but still scored two goals with seven shots on goal in Montgomery’s first game.

#17 Maybe wins don’t come too easily for Chicago Blackhawks netminder Petr Mrazek, but he is giving his team a chance to win most nights. Mrazek was mediocre in his first handful of starts, posting a save percentage of .887, but since then has a .923 save percentage with a 5-5-1 record in 11 starts. His overall save percentage of .912 ranks 12th among goaltenders that have appeared in at least 10 games.

#18 With Lukas Dostal posting a .922 save percentage in 14 games, ranking fourth among goalies to play at least 10 games, it has been challenging for veteran John Gibson to reclaim his role in the crease for the Anaheim Ducks. Gibson has been playing well since returning from injury, though, putting up a 4-0-1 record with a .919 save percentage in five starts. If Gibson is playing at a high level, that could increase his likelihood of finally getting traded and there are teams that might be ready to pull the trigger for a veteran goaltender who could use a fresh start with a team that has better defensive structure.

#19 Speaking of teams that might have goaltending concerns, the Carolina Hurricanes have Pyotr Kochetkov in concussion protocol and Frederik Andersen is out long-term following knee surgery. That leaves Spencer Martin and Yaniv Perets in net for the ‘Canes. Martin has a .856 save percentage in seven games for Carolina this season while Perets has 13 minutes of NHL experience and had a .825 save percentage in three AHL games when he was called up. If Kochetkov recovers quickly, the Hurricanes may be able to survive, because they are the best puck possession team in the league, but if he is out long-term, the Hurricanes may need to look for an external solution to their goaltending problem.

#20 Through 360 games in this season, there is an average of 6.13 goals per game, but there has not been a huge advantage for being the home side, with home teams averaging 3.125 goals per game while road teams have 3.008. For fantasy managers, particularly those making daily roster decisions, this suggests not to be overly discouraged if a player happens to be on the road, because it should not have a significant effect on a player’s likely production.

*Advanced stats via Natural Stat Trick.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

NHL: CULLEN – 20 FANTASY POINTS – Youngsters making the most of their opportunity – McMichael, Clarke and Sillinger

Scott Cullen — Fri, 01 Nov 2024 19:01:22 +0000

Los Angeles Kings Defenceman Brandt Clarke (92)(Photo by Jeanine Leech/Icon Sportswire)

Each week, I’ll dig into the stats to find information that can help you make better fantasy hockey decisions. This week, Connor McMichael steps forward in Washington, Brandt Clarke is making the most of his opportunity in Los Angeles, William Karlsson returns to the Vegas lineup, Cole Sillinger is responding on Columbus’ top line, and much more!

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

#1 It has been a very gradual progression for Washington Capitals 2019 first-round pick Connor McMichael, who had a career-high 33 points (18 G, 15 A) last season. Early in this season, McMichael has taken his game to a new level, though, putting up 10 points (5 G, 5 A) and 27 shots on goal in the first 10 games. He does have higher percentages working in his favor, but the increasing shot rate is encouraging, and McMichael is finding his groove on Washington’s second line with Pierre-Luc Dubois and Tom Wilson, in addition to getting second unit power play time.

#2 When Drew Doughty was injured in the preseason, there was some debate over whether Brandt Clarke or Jordan Spence would reap the rewards of extra ice time in Doughty’s absence. There isn’t much debate anymore, as Clarke has produced 11 points (1 G, 10 A) in 11 games, with five of those points coming via the power play. He is only playing a little more than 18 minutes per game, so it’s not like the Kings are force-feeding Clarke minutes, but they are allowing him to play to his considerable puck-moving strengths.

#3 Vegas Golden Knights centre William Karlsson missed the first eight games of the season due to injury but provided an immediate jolt to the lineup upon his return. In his first three games, Karlsson contributed four points (1 G, 3 A) and eight shots on goal, skating on a line with Tanner Pearson and Alexander Holtz. Karlsson does not necessarily get a prime role on the power play and with Tomas Hertl and Jack Eichel also skating at centre for Vegas, there are some limits to what Karlsson can do at even strength, but he had 30 goals and 60 points in 70 games last season, so it’s fair to expect Wild Bill to fulfill a significant offensive role.

#4 While there have been ups and downs in the career of Cole Sillinger, the 12th pick in the 2021 Draft by the Columbus Blue Jackets, he is making the most of the opportunity he is getting in Columbus this season. Sillinger is skating on Columbus’ top line with Sean Monahan and Kirill Marchenko, contributing eight points (2 G, 6 A) with 20 shots on goal in nine games. He is also averaging a career-high 18 minutes of ice time per game, so there is a real chance for Sillinger to play in a scoring role for as long as he continues to produce.

#5 Veteran Dallas Stars forward Tyler Seguin has missed a couple of games with a lower-body injury, but has delivered eight points (4 G, 4 A) in six games. Tread carefully with the 32-year-old, however, as Seguin has managed just eight shots on goal and is only averaging 15:47 of ice time per game, his lowest average since his rookie season in 2010-2011.

#6 A late bloomer who scored a career-best 37 points (14 G, 23 A) as a 30-year-old last season, New Jersey Devils right winger Stefan Noesen has handled a bigger role in his return to New Jersey. Noesen is averaging more than 14 minutes per game for the first time in his NHL career, and he has 12 points (5 G, 7 A) and 20 shots on goal in 13 games. That shot volume is a little concerning and Noesen has been riding favorable percentages, but he has also landed a spot on the Devils’ top power play and four of his 12 points have come via the man advantage, so he offers some deep league appeal.

#7 There may be a ceiling to what Buffalo Sabres defenceman Owen Power can produce offensively, because Rasmus Dahlin is the locked-in quarterback on Buffalo’s top power play unit, but Power is currently riding a five-game point streak during which he has seven even-strength points (1 G, 6 A) and nine shots on goal. The first pick in the 2021 Draft, Power has had a couple of quality seasons, but if he can contribute more offensively, that will both improve the outlook for both him individually and the Sabres as a team.

#8 Coming into the season, 24-year-old Vegas Golden Knights winger Pavel Dorofeyev had contributed 33 points (20 G, 13 A) in 67 career games, which provided a decent indication that he could be a viable option to provide secondary scoring. He has stepped up in his past five games, delivering seven points (4 G, 3 A) and 22 shots on goal. Half of Dorofeyev’s six goals this season have come on the power play, but he has been able to generate offense at five-on-five and that is what gives him a chance to keep earning a bigger role.

#9 When the Anaheim Ducks lost goaltender John Gibson to appendicitis late in the preseason, that thrust goaltender Lukas Dostal into the starter’s role and the 24-year-old netminder has risen to the challenge. In eight starts, Dostal has a .945 save percentage and he already has 14.01 Goals Saved Above Expected, the best mark in the league. With trade rumours swirling around Gibson, Dostal’s play could make it easier for the Ducks to pull the trigger on a deal.

#10 Another late bloomer, 29-year-old Vancouver Canucks winger Kiefer Sherwood had a career-high 27 points (10 G, 17 A) in 68 games, earning a free agent contract with the Canucks. Sherwood has started his Vancouver career with five points (2 G, 3 A) in nine games, but for fantasy managers, it’s the hits that make the difference. Sherwood has an astonishing 64 hits in nine games, which would prorate to 583 hits over a full season, an absurd number. Sherwood has enjoyed success skating on a line with Danton Heinen and Teddy Blueger and looks like he is well on his way to the best season of his career.

#11 A few weeks ago, Colorado Avalanche forward Ross Colton was a top-tier pickup after moving to left wing on the top line with Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen. Then he managed to survive potential injury at Utah only to suffer a broken foot two games later against Chicago. This will keep him out for 6-8 weeks. As a result, rookie Nikolai Kovalenko moves up the depth chart to skate on the top line in Colorado. Kovalenko has four points (1 G, 3 A) and 12 shots on goal in 11 games, so it is a big jump to move to that line. He has also hit the net on just 12 of 29 shot attempts, 41.4 percent, compared to Colton, who has 37 shots on goal in 60 shot attempts, 61.7 percent. Maybe playing with the superstars will give Kovalenko better quality chances and he will hit the net more frequently.

#12 Carolina Hurricanes goaltender Frederik Andersen was off to an excellent start this season, posting a .941 save percentage in four starts, but he is hurt now, considered week-to-week with a lower-body injury. That should mean more consistent starts for Pyotr Kochetkov, the 25-year-old netminder who has won four of five starts, but has a .891 save percentage.

#13 Although he had a rough game against Toronto in Winnipeg’s only loss this season, on the ice for all six Maple Leafs goals, Jets defenseman Neal Pionk is otherwise off to an outstanding start this season, producing 12 points (3 G, 9 A) with 25 shots on goal in 10 games. Pionk also has 16 blocked shots and 13 hits, so he is filling categories across the board, making him more valuable than ever.

#14 It was a surprise that the San Jose Sharks landed defenseman Jake Walman from the Detroit Red Wings in the offseason, but it has provided him a bigger opportunity and he has responded with more production. Walman is playing 22:53 per game, up more than three minutes per game from last season, and he has contributed nine points (1 G, 8 A) and 32 shots on goal in a dozen games. He moves the puck in the right direction when he is on the ice, which is not commonplace among the Sharks, and he is getting first unit power play time, though he has just one power play point.

#15 Second-year New York Rangers left winger Will Cuylle showed some promise as a rookie, particularly with his tendency to hit and hit a lot, but he is bringing enough offense early in the season to make himself fantasy relevant. Cuylle has eight points (3 G, 5 A) and 18 shots on goal in nine games, but he also has 39 hits. Playing on a thriving third line with Filip Chytil and Kaapo Kakko, as well as delivering more than four hits per game makes Cuylle more appealing in most leagues, but especially in banger leagues in which those hits are rewarded.

#16 San Jose Sharks right winger Fabian Zetterlund broke through last season with career highs of 24 goals and 44 points, taking advantage of the bigger role afforded to him after he had been acquired from New Jersey. Even with his ice time down a couple of minutes per game, Zetterlund is off to a strong start with eight points (6 G, 2 A) and 28 shots on goal in 12 games. He is thriving in a complementary role, skating on a line with Alex Wennberg and rookie Danil Guschin, in addition to getting second unit power play time.

#17 When Thatcher Demko was deemed not to be ready to start the season in net for the Vancouver Canucks, they signed Kevin Lankinen to give them a steady veteran to play alongside rookie Arturs Silovs. Lankinen has excelled in the role, earning six starts, and has a .920 save percentage, making him the better option between the pipes for Vancouver. Presumably, Demko should return to action at some point this season but, in the meantime, Lankinen is a viable option. He has never started more than the 37 games that he started as a rookie, but Lankinen has been an above-average backup for the past couple of seasons and has probably reached the point at which he is capable of handling more responsibility than he had previously. At least in the short term, it makes him a valuable addition for the Canucks.

#18 He has been held off the scoresheet for three straight games, but Washington Capitals centre Pierre-Luc Dubois might be worth considering as a buy-low option. He has five points (1 G, 4 A) in nine games, with just one goal on 19 shots on goal. He has never scored on less than 11.0 percent of his shots on goal, so it would be highly unlikely that Dubois continues to linger around 5.3 percent, where he currently sits. After a disastrous 2023-2024 season in Los Angeles, Dubois’ value is relatively low and his lack of goal production early in this season only deepens that perception, but that is why he could very well provide value as an addition from the fantasy waiver wire.

#19 When seeking out potential buy-low options, one place to look is for players who are underperforming their rate of individual expected goals. Expected goals try to incorporate some measure of shot quality, so that we have some idea about the quality of chances that they are receiving. The forwards whose expected goals are exceeding their actual goal production include Zach Hyman (-4.79), Dubois (-3.79), Dylan Cozens (-3.46), Steven Stamkos (-3.45), Michael Bunting (-3.42), Cutter Gauthier (-3.14), William Eklund (-2.99), Morgan Frost (-2.98), Brad Marchand (-2.95), and Auston Matthews (-2.89). Some of these players are off to very slow starts, but they are clearly generating scoring chances, so all hope is not lost.

#20 At the other end of the spectrum are players that are exceeding their expected goals. Great finishers will typically score more than the average player given the same number and quality of chances, but these players also need to be monitored as they might be beneficiaries of unsustainably good luck early in the season. The forwards that have most exceeded their expected goals this season include Cole Caufield (+5.65), Kyle Connor (+5.63), Leon Draisaitl (+4.59), Nikita Kucherov (+4.33), Tage Thompson (+4.06), Sam Bennett (+4.06), Sam Reinhart (+3.67), Claude Giroux (+3.53), Ryan Donato (+3.53), and Ivan Barbashev (+3.26).

*Advanced stats via Natural Stat Trick.

MCKEEN’S 2024-25 NHL YEARBOOK – CAROLINA HURRICANES – Team Preview

Sat, 21 Sep 2024 20:00:50 +0000

_{PITTSBURGH, PA - MARCH 26: Carolina Hurricanes center Sebastian Aho (20) skates during the third period in the NHL game between the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Carolina Hurricanes on March 26, 2024, at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, PA. (Photo by Jeanine Leech/Icon Sportswire)}

After making the playoffs for the past five campaigns and reaching the Eastern Conference Finals twice, Carolina entered 2023-24 as potential contenders for the Cup. The regular season largely went as planned with the Hurricanes posting a 52-23-7 record on the strength of a balanced offence and a stellar defence -- Carolina led the league with a xGA/60 of just 2.65. To bolster the Hurricanes’ Cup chances, they acquired high-end forward Jake Guentzel from Pittsburgh and took a chance by acquiring the struggling Evgeny Kuznetsov from Washington. Kuznetsov ended up holding his own with Carolina, and Guentzel was his usual dominant self, but even that wasn’t enough. Carolina bested the Islanders in the first round but couldn’t overcome the Rangers in the second.

WHAT’S CHANGED? The Hurricanes were unable to sign Guentzel to a long-term deal, and ultimately cut their losses by trading his negotiating rights to Tampa Bay in exchange for a 2025 third-round selection before he became an unrestricted free agent. Kuznetsov then mutually agreed with Carolina to terminate his contract so he could play in the KHL, so both of Carolina’s additions during the 2023-24 campaign are gone. The Hurricanes also lost top-six forward Teuvo Teravainen as well as defencemen Brady Skjei, Brett Pesce, and Tony DeAngelo as unrestricted free agents. In an attempt to offset those blueline losses, Carolina inked free agents Shayne Gostisbehere and Sean Walker. Carolina also signed bottom-six forward William Carrier.

WHAT WOULD SUCCESS LOOK LIKE? After six years of being good, but not good enough, anything short of a trip to the Stanley Cup Finals would probably be seen as a disappointment. The Hurricanes certainly might accomplish that feat. Sebastian Aho and Martin Necas are in their respective primes while Seth Jarvis is fast becoming a star. If Pyotr Kochetkov builds off his strong 2023-24 campaign, and Frederik Andersen stays relatively healthy, Carolina will have a solid goaltending duo. Plus, Gostisbehere is a nice power-play specialist, making the Hurricanes even stronger in that regard.

WHAT COULD GO WRONG? Although Carolina has plenty of different strengths, it would be argued that sound defensive play has been the secret sauce to the Hurricanes’ dominance. Carolina has finished in the top five in xGA/60 in each of the past four campaigns and led the league in that category for each of the last two years. With that in mind, losing two of the squad’s top-four defencemen in Skjei and Pesce might hurt the team’s dynamics more than it initially seems. Gostisbehere is an offensive-minded blueliner and Walker is primarily a third-pairing guy, so neither of them are pure replacements for what Carolina lost. Another member of Carolina’s top-four blueline, Brent Burns, is also in danger of regressing at the age of 39. None of that would make the Hurricanes bad, but perhaps they won’t be quite as good as they have been in recent years.

TOP BREAKOUT CANDIDATE: Then again, the loss of Skjei and Pesce coupled with the possible regression of Burns has created an opportunity for rookie Scott Morrow. The rookie blueliner was strong with UMass-Amherst last year, scoring six goals and 30 points in 37 contests. Morrow has the potential to be a great two-way defenceman, and he’s one of the Hurricanes’ best prospects.

FORWARD

Sebastian Aho

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
82	42	56	98	1.20

2023 was just another year at the office for the Hurricanes star forward. It was his most productive season in the NHL, recording a career-high 89 points and he maintained his consistent scoring pace with another 35+ goal season. He does everything for the team, thriving as a center who can handle the offence and the tough matchups on the top line and is an integral part of their aggressive penalty kill. His work on the power play is what stood out this year, recording a career-high 32 points with the man advantage, running the power play from the left wall and also playing the bumper position depending on the situation. His versatile approach to goal-scoring makes him a weapon in all situations, possessing a great shot with good speed to get open looks off the rush and finding sneaky ways to get himself open in front of the net. With Carolina always searching for a goal-scorer, Aho eventually has to be the guy to pick up the slack. He’s one of their best playmakers and doesn’t have the best shot, but he is the best at knowing what you need to do to score goals. On a team that loves to possess the puck, someone has to make it count for something and Aho is the best at it. It’s a part of his game that has yet to tail off and makes him the heartbeat of this Carolina team. Is this the season he surpasses 40 goals and flirts with 100 points?

Andrei Svechnikov

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
71	24	38	62	0.87

Recovering from knee surgery, Svechnikov’s season didn’t start until late October, and it took him until mid-December to start getting back into form. After that, his season mirrored most of his NHL career. He was among the team leaders in shot volume and most offensive categories but didn’t score as many goals as fans or the team had hoped. Svechnikov looks like an unstoppable force at times, playing a power forward type game with deceptively good playmaking skills thrown in. The latter part of his game is always going to be unappreciated because he’s topped out as a 20-25 goal-guy instead of the 30+ guy most were hoping he would be. That and it’s easier for forgive the high number of penalties he takes when he’s more consistent with scoring goals rather than being a setup guy. His NHL track record isn’t bad, last year being one of his best with a 72-point pace, but the Hurricanes are hoping he can take the next step to become a superstar. Which is ultimately going to come down to if he can find the back of the net more often. He had the toolset to do it, the heavy wristshot combined with that powerful skating stride and playmaking skills should make him one of the more feared forwards in the NHL even if the results haven’t followed just yet. There is considerable upside but better to play it safe and draft for 70 games and 25 goals and 30 – 35 assists.

Seth Jarvis

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
80	40	38	78	0.98

Jarvis is the epitome of a Hurricanes forward in a lot of ways. He’s undersized, but strong as an ox. He’s a high-motor player who battles hard to get to the front of the net and creates a lot of offence from around the blue paint. Last year was the first time he saw a reward for it on the scoresheet with a 33-goal season and finding a permanent home in Carolina’s top six. The high-effort game takes a toll on his body and leads to some streaky production, but after three years in the league he’s starting to learn some of the tools to become a more consistent player. He still forechecks hard but doesn’t always go in at full speed for every loose puck, finding more creative ways to win battles and get himself open in front of the net instead. He can still pick a corner and be the lethal sniper off the rush but being a net-front menace has more of a reward in the Canes system. His breakout season filled a major void in Carolina’s forward corps, and he became one of the team’s cornerstones by the end of the year, playing on both special teams units by the end of the season. With still a relatively small NHL track record, Jarvis still has to prove if he can produce like this on a yearly basis, but he has established himself as a key part of Carolina’s future. He finished last year on a point per game pace and firing 14 goals in his last 18 games. Entering his fourth season he is capable of 40 goals and a point-per-game.

Martin Necas

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
82	31	37	68	0.83

Necas somewhat fell back to earth after a breakout season where it looked like he was on the path to stardom. A strong start was followed by a winter slump where he scored only five goals in 27 games through November and December. He began to return to form in mid-January after a brief stint on the IR, scoring at almost a point-per-game pace for three months before ending the season on a slow note that carried over into the playoffs. Finding linemates for him was an issue and the numbers game forced Necas off the top power play unit, so he didn’t have the same opportunities he did in 2022-23 when he was one of the few guys on the team who could produce offence. His talent is undeniable, but his preference for the one-man cycle game and tendency to make things happen on his own made him an awkward fit on most lines, although the Canes lack of a true second line pivot also contributed to that. Necas often had to play the one-man game because his linemates didn’t know what he was going to do, and the safer option was to just go to the net so he could do whatever he wanted high in the zone. Sometimes it worked, but he didn’t have enough players working with him last year. Even with his name being in trade rumors all summer, he’s slated to return to the Hurricanes for another year and should be back in a top six role with the Hurricanes losing a few forwards through free agency. Whether in Carolina or elsewhere he can produce 25 – 30 goals and 65 – 70 points with upside if he can find chemistry.

Jesperi Kotkaniemi

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
76	16	22	38	0.50

At the start of the year, there were reasons to be optimistic about Kotkaniemi’s progression with Carolina. He began the season with 10 points in his first 10 games and was reliable as a pivot who could take advantage of playing with some of the team’s higher end skill guys like Martin Necas. Unfortunately, it was short lived as Kotkaniemi ended the season with only 27 points which included a three-month drought where he didn’t score a single goal. He went from centering the second line to playing regularly on the fourth line, even finding himself in the press box for a couple games. He is the negative side of the coin of a player with a ‘Jack of All Trades’ skillset, because he’s above average in most areas but not great at anything. The only exception being his heavy shot, which he needs a lot of time and space to release. One of the few skilled puck carriers on a forecheck-heavy team, Kotkaniemi’s skillset is needed but it comes back to him finding his confidence and the coaching staff trusting him again. Even when he was playing better, neither he nor his linemates could find the back of the net so it was hard for him to find any rhythm. With the roster currently loaded with middle-six players, Kotkaniemi needs to show some improvement to stand out from the pack. Now in his seventh season, and while young, a breakout is looking unlikely and should draft for around 15 goals and 30 – 40 points.

Jack Roslovic

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
76	18	19	37	0.49

Roslovic’s season was hampered by injuries, but he was trusted with some good linemates in both Columbus and New York, spending time on the Johnny Gaudreau line in Columbus and with Mika Zibanejad on the Rangers second line in the playoffs. His speed, lanky frame and occasional highlight reel play make him a desirable candidate for that role, but the results have been scattered over his career. Prone to both cold spells in goal-scoring and driving play. Last year being one of his stronger seasons in the play-driving department. As a pass-first player, it’s expected for his results to be more linemate driven, but Roslovic’s strength in the transition game gives him some quick-strike ability that every team can use. He’s an interesting fit in Carolina on a one-year ticket. His versatility will be nice, but it’s tough to say if his love for carrying the puck will fill a need or be an awkward fit in their forecheck-heavy system. There’s potential for him to be the center who can mesh with Necas’ skill, but his inconsistent play-driving could make the Canes pull the plug on that line before it has a chance to gel. He has skills they can use but could be short on linemates on a roster lacking top-end talent. He has only hit 20 goals once and risky to project at much more than that with an equal amount of assists.

Jordan Martinook

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
82	16	22	38	0.46

Best suited for a checking role, Martinook is usually the first one to get promoted to the top six whenever the Canes need a spark. He plays a straight-forward game with a lot of energy, so it’s easy to see why he’s been a favourite of Rod Brind’Amour since his arrival in Raleigh. His last two seasons have been his most productive, despite him being in his early 30’s. Although a career high of 34 points isn’t going to land you in a lot of record books. Point production is usually secondary when it comes to him, as Martinook is a key cog in their checking line and penalty kill. There’s more skill to his game than meets the eye, as Martinook has decent wheels and a deceptively good shot that makes him dangerous on breakaways. His knack for getting deflections on point shots also makes him a player you have to watch for sometimes. There isn’t much creativity in his game, but it’s not expected given his normal role. He’s the modern-day checking line forward who plays with a lot of tenacity but hasn’t lost the skill he had in juniors. Martinook finally earned a raise this off-season, signing a three-year deal after a couple years of team-friendly contracts with the Hurricanes. He will continue to be one of the team’s sparkplugs provided he stays healthy. Expect similar production.

William Carrier

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
64	12	17	29	0.45

Carrier wasn’t the most well-known member of the inaugural Vegas squad, but he was an underrated part of their core. He played a fourth line role but on a higher end in the 11–13-minute range, often used in their starting lineup to help set the tone. He plays super aggressive on the forecheck and brings more skill than you’d expect, surprisingly one of the Vegas leaders in shot and scoring chance setups per 60 minutes during his time there. Most of those are meat and potatoes plays, getting the puck back to the point and crashing the net, but that’s a welcome addition on the Hurricanes. So much so that they opted to sign him to a six-year deal. Carrier isn’t the player you expect to have under contract until he’s 35 years old, but in the immediate he provides help to a Carolina team that was looking to add size and physicality in the off-season. His love for crashing the net and setting up point shots should give his assist total a boost. A nice player to have, but definitely the contract was definitely a head-scratcher for someone who plays lower in the lineup, although he does fill a need with Jesper Fast’s future in jeopardy.

Jack Drury

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
79	11	23	34	0.43

In search of some form of reliability at the 2C spot, Jack Drury emerged as the guy in the playoffs. Spending most of the season in the bottom-six, Drury found his way as a regular NHLer and the challenge was finding some kind of niche. He hasn’t quite found his game offensively just yet, as his scoring touch isn’t there and he wastes controlled entries with perimeter shots off the rush. Where his game has come along is being a stabilizer and defensive presence alongside Martin Necas. If there was one thing you could count on with Drury, it’s that he could keep play out of the Hurricanes end and be a support valve to help keep possessions alive. He always knows where to be and was a good linemate to deter some of the erratic play of Necas and their defence that loves to pinch at every opportunity. The question is if you want more out of him if he's going to be your second line center. As of now, he’s an excellent fourth or third liner but it’s tough to say if he’ll be a guy who can step up if the Hurricanes need more scoring. He’s also part of a very crowded center corps with no clear number two behind Sebastian Aho. His reliability and potential to do more could give them to edge for that spot, should things break that way.

DEFENCE

Jaccob Slavin

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
82	7	32	39	0.48

A defensive stalwart with incredible endurance, Slavin might be the face of this era of Hurricanes hockey. Last year was his ninth season with the team and he will likely finish his career in Raleigh after signing an eight-year extension over the summer. How that contract ages is a conversation for another day, but he has held up better than most shutdown defencemen through his late 20’s, still posting excellent defensive numbers and remaining one of the league’s best at denying zone entries. Carolina’s quick, but conservative zone exit strategy has helped with some of the wear and tear, as he doesn’t take a lot of hits and is good at avoiding contact in general. Offence isn’t a big part of his game, although he did see an uptick in point production last season despite no power play time. The Hurricanes love of point shots and defencemen pinching make all of their blue liners a threat to get on the scoresheet in some way and Slavin is no different. He has some of the better puck skills among their defence corps, although it’s not something you see from him every game. This year will be a big test for him because he’s always been part of a great collective unit and now, he’s the centerpiece. It shouldn’t be that much of an adjustment since he was always the de facto top guy, but he doesn’t have the same rapport he did with the pieces around him and sometimes it takes time to get new roster additions, especially this many at the top of the lineup.

Brent Burns

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
82	8	30	38	0.46

Turning 40 years old in March, the only question with Burns is when Father Time will claim him like he does to most players once they reach the back end of their career. Burns has avoided hitting this wall thanks to his freak-like athleticism and training regimen, but you saw hints of it in the playoffs when the game appeared too fast for him. Quicker passing plays would avoid him, and he would be slower to react than usual. His regular season numbers are slightly more optimistic, as the Hurricanes were on the positive side of the shot, goal and scoring chance ledger with him on the ice, although getting deployed with the top line and Jaccob Slavin helps with that. His own game hasn’t changed much late in his career, he will fire everything at the net, and he can still be a force when jumping in from the point. He was also one of the team’s better blue liners at leading breakouts, both with relieving pressure and kickstarting the transition game, which is needed in the Hurricanes rigid system. With one year left on his deal, Carolina is hoping his body can hold up to at least hold the fort down in a top four role, as he doesn’t need to play the big minutes he used to command. He should at least see a reduction in minutes on the power play with more options brought in.

Shayne Gostisbehere

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
80	11	40	51	0.64

Betting on himself with a one-year deal in Detroit, the veteran defenceman earned himself a nice free agency payday thanks to a monster performance on the power play with 29 points. Returning to Carolina on a three-year deal, he fills a void on a blue line that lost both Brady Skjei and Brett Pesce in free agency, although he’s a different mold than both of those players. A pure power play specialist, Gostisbehere can handle the minutes of what they lost but probably not the assignments against top lines. How much they can shelter him will depend on how the rest of the defence plays, but they’re still going to try to get Ghost out in the offensive zone as much as possible. The Hurricanes foundation is built on a heavy cycle game and point shots, which Gostisbehere can take advantage of with how good he is at creating offence from up high. He’s also not a stranger to playing a simpler game in the defensive zone, even as a puck-mover. He had to do this in Detroit with their system, using the glass for most of his exits and is already familiar with what the Canes system is like. He is a welcome addition to both the Canes power play and five-on-five game, as he will get plenty of pucks thrown his way and his penchant for slipping past forwards for a better shot, will give Carolina a different dynamic high in the zone.

Dmitry Orlov

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
78	6	26	32	0.41

The first season of Dmitry Orlov’s three-year deal was a bumpy ride. Blocked by Slavin and Skjei in the top four, Orlov had to make do with third-pair minutes for most of the year. In theory, he should have crushed these assignments, as he’s used to playing top-pair assignments on good teams. In practice, he struggled to find chemistry with lesser partners and didn’t find his groove until the middle of the year when he was teamed with Jalen Chatfield. The two were arguably the team’s best defence pair in the back half of the season and began playing top-pair minutes at even strength while the rest of the defence corps soaked up the power play time. This year, the training wheels are gone, and Orlov is one of the guys expected to slide up in the lineup to replace what they had in Skjei. Again, this transition shouldn’t be a problem for him in theory but at 33-years old he doesn’t have the same explosiveness as he did in his prime and was on the wrong end of some brutal puck-handling mistakes. Carolina is hoping year two is more of a smooth transition. The prior experience in the top four and chemistry with Chatfield should make the jump easier for him, though.

GOAL

Frederik Andersen

Predicted Stats
GP	W	L	OT	SO	SV%	GAA
39	24	11	3	3	0.914	2.39

Pyotr Kochetkov

Predicted Stats
GP	W	L	OT	SO	SV%	GAA
43	27	13	4	4	0.908	2.49

The Carolina Hurricanes are presumably down to their last season with Frederik Andersen. Unless the now-34-year-old Andersen re-signs on another one or two-year deal with the team at the end of this upcoming campaign, this will be his farewell tour - and that makes this season particularly crucial for the Metropolitan Division franchise, since he's remained their go-to when healthy even after yet another lengthy absence from the lineup. Andersen missed almost the entirety of the 2023-24 season with a blood clot health scare, leaving the Hurricanes to split the net between fellow veteran Antti Raanta and up-and-comer Pyotr Kochetkov. Once he returned, though, Andersen was who the team turned to both down the back stretch and into the postseason. He looked good, but he'll be 35 by the time this year wraps up; it's clear that he's nearing the final few seasons of his NHL career, and Carolina will need to prove that the team's coaching staff feels just as confident relying on Kochetkov in their most crucial games moving into a new era.

Most of Kochetkov's poor performances last season looked simply like a young goaltender learning what it takes to hack it over the long haul in the big leagues, and a concussion forced him to miss a chunk of time in the middle of the year - far from what Hurricanes fans would hope to see after spending the last few seasons forced to sit through a never-ending laundry list of bumps and bruises for both Andersen and Raanta. But while Kochetkov's inexperience made itself known in a handful of games, his overall instincts looked sharp, and his technique looked fluid. His skating ability makes it tough for shooters to take advantage of any decision-making tweaks he still needs; so long as the Hurricanes give him a slightly longer leash to learn the ropes, they should be in good hands.

NHL: DADOUN – THE FANTASY WEEK AHEAD (March 18th to 24th) – Detroit in late season collapse, need to turn it around fast – Favourable schedules and players to target

Ryan Dadoun — Sat, 16 Mar 2024 17:18:48 +0000

LOS ANGELES, CA - JANUARY 04: Detroit Red Wings right wing Patrick Kane (88) skates with the puck during an NHL hockey game against the Los Angeles Kings on January 4, 2024 at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, CA. (Photo by Ric Tapia/Icon Sportswire)

For much of the season, it looked like Detroit was going to make the playoffs. As recently as Feb. 27, the Red Wings were 33-20-6 with an eight-point cushion in the fight for a wild-card spot. After dropping seven straight games, though, Detroit finds itself tied with the Islanders for the second wild-card seed, and the Red Wings’ situation is even worse because they’ve played one game more than New York. Meanwhile, Washington is just one point behind the Islanders and Red Wings, putting further pressure on Detroit.

Goaltending has played a big part in Detroit’s collapse. Alex Lyon was having a strong season, posting a 17-8-2 record, 2.68 GAA and .916 save percentage across 27 contests through Feb. 24. However, Lyon has allowed at least three goals in each of his last seven appearances, resulting in an ugly .856 save percentage in that span. However, Ville Husso (lower body) is still unavailable, and James Reimer has a 6-7-2 record, 3.09 GAA and .903 save percentage in 19 contests this campaign, so the Red Wings don’t have a good alternative to pivot to during Lyon’s struggles.

To be fair, it’s not just Lyon. Detroit has managed just 1.71 goals per game during its losing streak. Patrick Kane and Lucas Raymond have each managed just three points over that seven-game span. Alex DeBrincat has no goals and one assist in the same stretch. Those are key forwards for Detroit, so for them all to go cold at the same time is disastrous.

The Red Wings could still rebound and make the postseason, but they need to do it soon. Otherwise, this season will go down as one of the most painful late season collapses for a team in recent memory.

Carolina Hurricanes – TUE @ NYI, THU VS PHI, FRI @ WAS (BTB), SUN VS TOR

The Hurricanes’ playoff spot is all but guaranteed, but Carolina is still chasing the Rangers in the battle for the Metropolitan Division title. They’ll continue that pursuit next week starting with a road game against the Islanders on Tuesday. After that, Carolina will host the Flyers on Thursday, play in Washington on Friday and conclude with a home contest versus the Maple Leafs on Sunday.

The Hurricanes are pretty healthy right now and even have Frederik Andersen back after missing roughly four months due to a blood clotting issue. He’s been fantastic since returning, posting a 3-0-0 record, 1.01 GAA and .955 save percentage across three starts. Carolina has been rotating between him and Pyotr Kochetkov, who has saved 46 of 49 shots (.939 save percentage) over his last two contests, bringing him to 17-12-3 with a 2.35 GAA and a .911 save percentage through 34 appearances this season.

Andersen and Kochetkov are likely to split the workload for the remainder of the season, which doesn’t leave much of a role for Spencer Martin. It wouldn’t be surprising if Martin accepts a brief AHL conditioning stint in a week or two for the sake of staying fresh ahead of the playoffs. Although he’s certainly far from Carolina’s first choice going forward, it’s still helpful to have him as a fallback plan should the Hurricanes run into injury troubles.

Jake Guentzel (upper body) and Evgeny Kuznetsov (personal) have also returned and made their Hurricanes debuts after being acquired from Pittsburgh and Washington, respectively. The duo appears set to play together on the second line, providing the Hurricanes with scoring threats outside of the Andrei Svechnikov-Sebastian Aho-Teuvo Teravainen trio.

Kuznetsov has just seven goals and 18 points in 47 contests this season, but there’s potential here for him to mesh nicely with Guentzel, especially as the two settle into their new roles. If Kuznetsov is available in your fantasy league, he’s not a bad forward to take a chance on.

Colorado Avalanche – TUE @ STL, FRI VS CBJ, SUN VS PIT

The battle for the Central Division title could come down to the wire with Colorado, Dallas and Winnipeg all legitimate contenders for the top spot. The Avalanche can make things easier for themselves in that race by sweeping their relatively light competition next week. They’ll play in St. Louis on Tuesday before hosting the Blue Jackets on Friday and the Penguins on Sunday. None of those adversaries are in a playoff position, though St. Louis and Pittsburgh still have outside shots of squeaking into a wild-card slot.

There has been news recently when it comes to Gabriel Landeskog’s recovery from cartilage transplant surgery on his right knee. As Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic reports, the 31-year-old might return during the 2024 playoffs, but it’s far from guaranteed. Keep in mind that he’ll be just 10 months into his 12-16 month timetable come May and while the Avalanche aren’t ruling anything out, they also don’t want to rush him back and risk making things worse.

He will surely be on the back of fantasy managers’ minds going into playoff league drafts. When healthy, Landeskog is a top-tier forward and the Avalanche are legitimate Cup contenders, so under normal circumstances, he’d be highly sought after. You should heavily temper your expectations, though. At most, you could take him toward the end of the draft, and even then, only if you’re comfortable with the very real possibility that he ends up not contributing anything.

In the meantime, Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen are continuing to dominate with 14 and 12 points, respectively, over the Avalanche’s last five games alone. MacKinnon is up to 42 goals and 115 points through 67 games as he pursues both the Art Ross and Hart Trophies.

Casey Mittelstadt has settled into a second-line role and has provided a goal and an assist in three games since being acquired by Buffalo. Obviously, he’s not playing with MacKinnon and Rantanen at even strength, but Mittelstadt doesn’t seem to be with the superstar duo on the power play either, instead going out with the second unit. That meaningfully hinders Mittelstadt’s value going forward.

Dallas Stars – WED VS ARI, FRI VS PIT, SUN @ ARI

As noted above, Dallas is in the battle for the Central Division title. Like the Avalanche, Dallas’ upcoming competition is fairly easy. Dallas will start with home games against the Coyotes and the Penguins on Wednesday and Friday, respectively, before traveling to Arizona for a contest Sunday.

Unlike Colorado, which made a big splash in the Mittelstadt for Bowen Byram trade, Dallas had a relatively quiet trade deadline, though the Stars were able to get some business done before it, acquiring defenseman Chris Tanev from Calgary on Feb. 28. Dallas is also looking to get some reinforcements back soon in Tyler Seguin (lower body) and Evgenii Dadonov (lower body), both of which might return next week.

When Seguin returns, Sam Steel will likely find himself moving out of a top-nine role, but what’s harder to gauge is where Dadonov fits in. After scoring 24 goals and 57 points in 47 AHL contests, Logan Stankoven made his NHL debut Feb. 24 and has gone on to record five goals and eight points in 10 outings. If the 21-year-old can continue to produce, then removing him from his third-line spot would seem counterproductive. However, there is no other obvious candidate outside of Steel (who would get bumped for Seguin’s return) to remove from the top nine, so when everyone is healthy, Dadonov might find himself on the fourth unit.

A fourth line of Dadonov, Steel and Radek Faksa is a level of luxury most teams could only dream of, but that trio likely won’t get enough playing time to have any fantasy value. It does put pressure on Stankoven, though -- if he has a prolonged cold stretch, he could find his minutes drop dramatically given the intense competition in Dallas.

Edmonton Oilers – TUE VS MTL, THU VS BUF, SAT @ TOR, SUN @ OTT (BTB)

Edmonton has had some incredible highs and lows this campaign, but when all is done, it now looks like the Oilers will finish with the second seed in the Pacific Division. However, that’s not guaranteed, so Edmonton needs to continue to get results in the upcoming week. Fortunately for the Oilers, their upcoming competition isn’t the strongest. They’ll host Montreal on Tuesday and Buffalo on Thursday before hitting the road to play in Toronto on Saturday and Ottawa on Sunday. The Maple Leafs are set to make the playoffs, but their other three adversaries have an eye toward the draft lottery.

Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl are unsurprisingly continuing to headline the Oilers’ offense. McDavid has an incredible 25 points (four goals) in his past 13 games while Draisaitl has four tallies and 13 points in his last seven appearances.

Edmonton did try to diversify its offense with the addition of Adam Henrique, but the former Ducks forward has just one assist in four contests with the Oilers. He’s serving primarily on the third line and second power-play unit, so he’s not sharing the ice with Edmonton’s superstars. Unless that changes, Henrique’s fantasy value with the Oilers is likely to be somewhat limited.

This might be a good week for goaltender Calvin Pickard, though. The backup netminder has been rotating with starter Stuart Skinner recently and the results have been positive with Pickard saving 93 of 97 shots (.959 save percentage) over his last three starts. It wouldn’t be surprising to see the Oilers continue to give Pickard a decent share of the workload in the short term. It’ll help keep Skinner fresh for the playoffs, and Pickard has earned the increased responsibilities with his 9-4-0 record, 2.27 GAA and .919 save percentage across 14 outings in 2023-24.

New Jersey Devils – TUE VS PIT, THU VS WPG, SAT VS OTT, SUN @ NYI (BTB)

The Devils’ playoff hopes aren’t completely gone, but they’re running out of time to close the gap. New Jersey will spend most of the upcoming week at home, playing against the Penguins on Tuesday, the Jets on Thursday and the Senators on Saturday. They’ll finish the week with a road contest against the Islanders.

Timo Meier has done the most lately to keep New Jersey’s postseason dream alive. Although his 19 goals and 36 points through 53 games this season represent a substantial decline from his 40 tallies and 66 points in 78 contests in 2022-23, he’s excelled recently. Meier’s contributed nine goals and 14 points over his past 10 appearances and has found the back of the net in six of his last seven outings.

Of course, the Devils’ main problem this campaign has been defensive, not its scoring. To that end, New Jersey did add goaltenders Jake Allen and Kaapo Kahkonen at the deadline. Kahkonen made his Devils debut Monday, saving 23 of 25 shots against a tough opponent in the Rangers, though New Jersey didn’t provide him with enough support and lost 3-1 anyway. Allen then made his first Devils start Thursday, turning aside 35 of 37 shots en route to a 6-2 victory over Dallas.

That duo is likely to split the workload the rest of the way. It’s worth warning, though, that to say the Devils had poor goaltending would be to tell only half the tale. The defense in front of those netminders hasn’t done its job either. New Jersey has an xGA/60 of 3.22, which is tied for 23rd in the league, so don’t expect Allen or Kahkonen to put up great numbers in the long run.

Tampa Bay Lightning – TUE @ VGK, THU @ SJS, SAT @ LAK, SUN @ ANA (BTB)

Tampa Bay is unlikely to climb into the top three of the Atlantic Division race, but the Lightning are in a strong position to make the playoffs in a wild-card spot. They’ll continue that fight next week while visiting Vegas on Tuesday, San Jose on Thursday, Los Angeles on Saturday and Anaheim on Sunday. The Kings and the Golden Knights are tough opponents, but the Sharks and the Ducks sit in the league’s basement.

Nikita Kucherov has continued his season-long battle with Nathan MacKinnon for the Art Ross and Hart Trophies. Kucherov is behind the Avalanche star in that race, but just barely with 39 goals and 112 points to MacKinnon’s 42 markers and 115 points. Kucherov is riding a nine-game scoring streak in which he’s supplied three goals and 18 points, so he certainly hasn’t let up.

While MacKinnon has Mikko Rantanen as his complementary forward in the battle, Kucherov has Brayden Point. The 28-year-old Lightning forward was especially effective Thursday, providing a hat trick and six points, bringing Point up to 36 tallies and 73 points in 66 appearances in 2023-24.

Victor Hedman has shined recently too with two goals and six points over his last three games. He’s up to 12 goals and 66 points in 64 contests, which is good for third in the defensemen scoring race behind Cale Makar (73 points) and Quinn Hughes (76).

Of course, those are all headline players with Tampa Bay. One contributor who doesn’t get that level of attention is Anthony Duclair. The Lightning acquired him from San Jose on March 7 and the 28-year-old has gotten off to a good start, providing two goals and three points in two contests with the Lightning. That brings him up to 18 goals and 30 points in 58 appearances this year. Tampa Bay has deployed him at times with Steven Stamkos as well as the Point-Kucherov duo, so Duclair could be in line for a strong finish to the campaign.

Toronto Maple Leafs – TUE @ PHI, WED @ WAS, SAT VS EDM, SUN @ CAR

Toronto is pretty much set at this point. They do have an outside shot of competing for the first or second seeds in the Atlantic Division but barring a complete collapse or a stunning hot streak, Toronto will almost certainly finish the campaign in the division’s third position. Still, the Leafs will look to stay sharp next week. They’ll play in Philadelphia on Tuesday and Washington on Wednesday before hosting the Oilers on Saturday. Toronto will then conclude the week with a road game versus the Hurricanes on Sunday.

The big question mark regarding the Maple Leafs is the health of Mitchell Marner. He’s dealing with a high-ankle sprain, which is concerning, but Toronto considers it to be a mild variant. Still, he’s set to miss his third straight game Saturday. Given Toronto doesn’t have a lot left to fight for until the playoffs, there isn’t any compelling reason to have him play at anything under 100 percent, so it wouldn’t surprise me if Toronto exercises an abundance of caution when determining his availability going forward.

As long as Marner is unavailable, who plays alongside Auston Matthews remains somewhat in flux. Calle Jarnkrok and Tyler Bertuzzi were his linemates initially Thursday, but Jarnkrok suffered a hand injury and is considered week-to-week. That creates a potential opening for Pontus Holmberg to play on the first unit, which would give him some short-term fantasy value.

It’s also worth keeping an eye on how Nick Robertson is used. He’s been limited to eight goals and 19 points in 41 contests this season but has averaged just 11:22 of ice time and hasn’t even dressed for Toronto since Feb. 29. However, Robertson does have some offensive upside, and the Leafs’ recent injuries might create a new opportunity for him.

Winnipeg Jets – TUE @ NYR, THU @ NJD, SAT @ NYI, SUN @ WAS (BTB)

As noted above, the Jets are competing with Colorado and Dallas for the top seed in the Central Division. The Jets will continue that pursuit next week while playing on the road against the Rangers on Tuesday, New Jersey on Thursday, the Islanders on Saturday and Washington on Sunday.

Gabriel Vilardi has unfortunately been diagnosed with an enlarged spleen. There’s no timetable for his recovery, and we just have to hope that his recovery will go smoothly for him, and after this, he’ll be able to put it behind him.

When he’s healthy, there’s a fair chance Vilardi will play alongside Kyle Connor and Mark Scheifele on the first line. As long as he’s unavailable, though, that spot will likely be occupied by Alex Iafallo, who has done well recently, providing two goals and three points in his past four games, which brings him up to 10 goals and 23 points in 65 contests in 2023-24. Iafallo might be worth taking a chance on while he’s playing on the first unit, but even in that role, you shouldn’t expect too much from him.

In the long run, the Jets will probably get more offensive production out of Tyler Toffoli, who is serving on the second line after being acquired from New Jersey on March 8. He has 26 goals and 44 points in 63 outings this season. Toffoli was held off the scoresheet in his first two games with Winnipeg, but it shouldn’t be too long before he starts to find his way with his new team, especially because he’s seeing time on the first power-play unit.

NHL: CULLEN – 20 FANTASY POINTS – Quinton Byfield is making his presence felt, a surprising source of offense for the Maple Leafs, Columbus’ All-Star is scoring, and much, much more!

Scott Cullen — Fri, 23 Feb 2024 16:42:21 +0000

PITTSBURGH, PA - JANUARY 30: Los Angeles Kings Center Quinton Byfield (55) looks on during the second period in the NHL game between the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Los Angeles Kings on January 30, 2022, at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, PA. (Photo by Jeanine Leech/Icon Sportswire)

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

This week, Quinton Byfield is making his presence felt, a surprising source of offense for the Maple Leafs, Columbus’ All-Star is scoring, and much, much more!

#1 Drafted second overall by the Los Angeles Kings in 2020, Quinton Byfield took some time to get up to speed in the National Hockey League. Coming into this season, he had 8 goals and 33 points in 99 games, so he was not exactly busting down the door to stardom. He did start to show potential last season, though, and the Kings gave him a lot of ice time on the top line to start this season, skating on a line with Adrian Kempe and Anze Kopitar. More recently, Byfield has moved down the depth chart to join Pierre-Luc Dubois and Byfield continues to produce. In his past 10 games, Byfield has tallied 12 points (6 G, 6 A) with 25 shots on goal.

#2 Throwing Byfield with Pierre-Luc Dubois offers a chance for Dubois to shake out of his season-long slump. Since the Kings replaced Todd McLellan with Jim Hiller as head coach, Dubois has six points (3 G, 3 A) and 14 shots on goal in seven games. That improved production comes on the heels of Dubois managing just one point (1 G, 0 A) in the previous eight games.

#3 A 27-year-old winger who had played all of 10 games in the NHL prior to this season, Bobby McMann has become an unlikely contributor for the Toronto Maple Leafs. In his first 26 games for the Maple Leafs this season, McMann had just seven points (2 G, 5 A) but it was understandable, he played less than 10 minutes in 18 of those 26 games. McMann broke through on February 13, recording a hat trick in a 4-1 win against St. Louis and that earned him a bump up the depth chart. He has most recently found himself on a line with John Tavares and Nick Robertson and has 10 points (7 G, 3 A) and 17 shots on goal in the past six games. Suddenly, McMann is changing the perception of what he might be able to offer as an NHL player, from fringe NHLer to possible top-six winger.

#4 Getting Connor Bedard back in the lineup has helped Chicago Blackhawks forward Philipp Kurashev who has eight points (1 G, 7 A) in seven games since the All-Star break, which includes four points (1 G, 3 A) in four games since Bedard returned from his broken jaw. Prior to the break, Kurashev had just two points (1 G, 1 A) during a 14-game stretch, and yet he is still second on the Blackhawks in scoring with 32 points (9 G, 23 A) in 50 games.

#5 Columbus’ All-Star representative this season, centre Boone Jenner has emerged from the break on a five-game point streak, during which he has accrued eight points (5 G, 3 A) with 22 shots on goal. Jenner juices up his fantasy appeal with physical play, too, and has 17 hits in those five games. He is skating between Johnny Gaudreau and Jack Roslovic, both of whom are also picking up the pace offensively. Gaudreau is in full set-up mode lately, with 15 points (1 G, 14 A) and 33 shots on goal in his past 13 games. Roslovic has upped his production more recently, with five points (1 G, 4 A) and 14 shots on goal during a four-game point streak which started when he joined Jenner and Gaudreau on Columbus’ top line.

#6 Winnipeg Jets right winger Gabriel Vilardi got off to a strong start with his new club, contributing 20 points (11 G, 9 A) in 25 games, but he did miss some time due to injury and went through a six-game scoreless drought around the All-Star break. He’s making up for it, though, with eight points (4 G, 4 A) and 12 shots on goal during a three-game point streak. Vilardi is skating on the Jets’ top line with Kyle Connor and Mark Scheifele, which is a pretty great opportunity for a young player looking to become a more consistent scoring threat.

#7 Although he was held off the scoresheet in Thursday’s 1-0 win against Florida, it was only the third time in the past 16 games that Carolina Hurricanes right winger Seth Jarvis did not record a point. He has 18 points (4 G, 14 A) and 34 shots on goal in that span, giving him a career-high 46 points in 56 games. Jarvis isn’t the only Hurricanes winger who has picked up his scoring pace. Martin Necas has 15 points (8 G, 7 A) and 50 shots on goal in his past 14 games.

#8 The third pick in the 2021 Draft, Anaheim Ducks centre Mason McTavish has had some ups and downs in his second NHL season, but his talent is undeniable, and he does have seven points in his past four games. While fantasy managers, especially those in banger leagues, might love that McTavish has 30 penalty minutes in his past 10 games, those frequent trips to the penalty box could start to cost him ice time.

#9 Florida Panthers centre Anton Lundell tallied 44 points as a rookie in 2021-2022 and has not been able to match that pace since, in part because his shooting percentage has fallen off, from 14.4 percent two seasons ago to 7.2 percent this season. Nevertheless, Lundell has shown some signs of life offensively, producing six points (4 G, 2 A) and nine shots on goal in his past five games. The Panthers have been excellent this season, and they have not received a huge contribution from Lundell, so if he can pick up the pace down the stretch, that would go a long way for a team that is a Stanley Cup contender.

#10 Minnesota Wild rookie centre Marco Rossi has moved into a tie with teammate Brock Faber as the second leading rookie scorer in the league behind Chicago’s Connor Bedard, who has 39 points (17 G, 22 A) in 43 games. Rossi has five points (4 G, 1 A) and 13 shots on goal in his past five games, which gets him to 33 points (17 G, 16 A) in 56 games. Rossi’s ice time is down, so tread carefully about adding him now. His improved scoring pace does offer hope that Rossi will have a bigger role both in the near and more distant future.

#11 New York Rangers right winger Kaapo Kakko missed nearly two months of action but is starting to get back into the groove. In his past six games, the 23-year-old forward has put up five points (2 G, 3 A) along with 12 shots on goal. It may be too soon to offer a full-throated recommendation for Kakko, but it’s worth keeping an eye on him. Progress has been gradual, and he is already in his fifth NHL season, but he has flashed potential.

#12 Consistent offensive production does not come easily for Buffalo Sabres winger Jordan Greenway, who scored a career high 32 points (9 G, 23 A) in 56 games for the Minnesota Wild during the 2020-2021 season. However, every now and then, he heats up and suddenly becomes an intriguing fantasy option, even if it is for short-term purposes. Over the past month, Greenway has eight points (5 G, 3 A) and 16 shots on goal in 10 games. Injuries have opened the door for Greenway to get more ice time in Buffalo and he has landed on the second line, alongside Casey Mittelstadt and Dylan Cozens, two skilled players who can help extend Greenway’s offensive good fortune.

#13 At this stage of his career, 38-year-old Corey Perry tends to not offer a lot of fantasy value during the regular season. He plays on the lower half of the depth chart and while he contributes some, it is usually only enough for consideration in the deepest of leagues. While all of that may be true, Perry does have four points (3 G, 1 A) with eight shots on goal and 16 penalty minutes in the past four games and that might warrant a little bit more attention. He is getting second unit power play time and is skating with Dylan Holloway and Mattias Janmark at evens.

#14 Goaltending has been a question mark for many teams this season and those questions have lingered in Carolina for much of the season. The answer may be found within the Hurricanes’ own dressing room, as Pyotr Kochetkov has hit a hot streak and that might be enough to solidify the play in Carolina’s crease, at least for the time being. After a sparkling 44-save shutout Thursday against Florida, Kochetkov has a .969 save percentage across his past four starts. Of course, in his previous four appearances, Kochetkov’s save percentage was a ghastly .851, so he has been offering quite the thrill ride with plenty of ups and downs.

#15 One of the primary challenges when seeking fantasy hockey answers in goal is finding goaltenders that play enough. St. Louis Blues backup goaltender Joel Hofer, for example, has been excellent lately with a .928 save percentage across his past nine starts, but that goes back to before Christmas, so Hofer still offers value in deeper leagues. If something were to happen that would give him a greater share of the starts in St. Louis, the 23-year-old could see his value soar.

#16 After lighting up the Vancouver Canucks for four points (1 G, 3 A) in Thursday’s victory, Seattle Kraken centre Jared McCann has a six-game point streak and has put up 22 points (11 G, 11 A) with 44 shots on goal in his past 15 games. McCann is coming off a career-best season in which he scored 40 goals and 70 points, but his recent production is getting him back into that stratosphere again.

#17 In his past seven games, Colorado Avalanche defenceman Cale Makar has zero points. This stretch is the first time – in his career! – that he has gone more than three consecutive games without recording a point. It’s not like this is no reason to trade Makar. He has 20 shots on goal in those seven games and has 60 points (13 G, 47 A) in 53 games this season, but an unprecedented slump from the most prolific scoring defenceman in the league at least bears watching.

#18 Since the All-Star break, the leaders in all situations expected goals: Nico Hischier (5.57), Nathan MacKinnon (5.54), Auston Matthews (5.21), Chris Kreider (4.91), J.T. Miller (4.88), Kirill Kaprizov (4.66), Zach Hyman (4.55), Jack Hughes (4.45), Brady Tkachuk (4.37), Joel Eriksson Ek (4.32), Boone Jenner (4.25), Kyle Palmieri (4.25), Evander Kane (4.23), Nazem Kadri (4.22), and Cole Caufield (4.18). While these are a lot of expected names, it’s interesting to see Hischier at the top of the list, and players like Jenner, Palmieri, and Kane are likely higher than their overall production might suggest.

#19 There are 36 players that have recorded at least seven power-play points since January 1. That list includes Juraj Slafkovsky (9), Jonathan Huberdeau (7), Frank Vatrano (7), Morgan Frost (7), and Jake Neighbours (7). Again, a lot of the names at the top of the list are to be expected – Matthew Tkachuk leads with 14 five-on-four points in 2024 – but some less established players are starting to make a difference with the man advantage, too.

#20 With Mark Stone injured, joining Jack Eichel on the shelf, the Vegas Golden Knights are getting rather thin up front, so maybe consider Michael Amadio as a short-term fix. The 27-year-old forward has scored a goal in four of the past five games, putting a dozen shots on goal while averaging more than 16 minutes of ice time per game. Amadio finished with a career-high 27 points (16 G, 11 A) in 67 games last season and has 21 points (11 G, 10 A) in 50 games this season, so he is not necessarily a long-term answer but, right now, he has an opportunity to play a more significant role.

CULLEN: 20 FANTASY POINTS – Vilardi proving early returns for Jets – Nichushkin doing heavy lifting – Vets picking up pace in Anaheim – Youngs guns firing in Columbus plus much, much more

Scott Cullen — Fri, 22 Dec 2023 22:57:00 +0000

LOS ANGELES, CA - DECEMBER 13: Winnipeg Jets center Gabriel Vilardi (13) celebrates his goal during an NHL hockey game against the Los Angeles Kings on December 13, 2023 at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, CA. (Photo by Ric Tapia/Icon Sportswire)

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

This week, the Jets must like the early returns from Gabriel Vilardi, Valeri Nichushkin is doing some heavy lifting in Colorado, veteran forwards are picking up the pace in Anaheim, young guns are starting to fire in Columbus, and the Flames are finding some top line chemistry.

#1 Right winger Gabriel Vilardi was injured in his third game with the Winnipeg Jets and missed nearly six weeks with a sprained knee. He has fully recovered now, it appears, as Vilardi has put up 10 points (5 G, 5 A) and 15 shots on goal in the past four games. With Kyle Connor out, Vilardi has joined Winnipeg’s top line, alongside Nikolaj Ehlers and Mark Scheifele, and that is working out just fine. Vilardi has 13 points (6 G, 7 A) in 13 games this season, putting him ahead of Pierre-Luc Dubois, who has 12 points (5 G, 7 A) in 29 games for the Kings after Vilardi, Alex Iafallo, Rasmus Kupari, and a second-round pick were sent to Winnipeg in exchange for Dubois.

#2 The Colorado Avalanche have decided that they are going to lean on winger Valeri Nichushkin, and he is thriving under the heavy workload. He is riding a six-game point streak, during which he has 11 points (5 G, 6 A) and 25 shots on goal, while averaging an astonishing 25:44 of ice time per game. Obviously, skating on a line with Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen is a great situation for anyone to contribute offensively, but Nichushkin is a strong two-way player in his own right and is an excellent complement to Colorado’s elite offensive talent.

#3 With injuries down the middle of the ice, the Anaheim Ducks have turned to Adam Henrique and the veteran forward has been thriving in his role, skating on a line with Frank Vatrano and Ryan Strome. Henrique has not only scored seven points (6 G, 1 A) in the past six games, but he has taken 121 face-offs, winning 70 (57.9%). A 33-year-old with an expiring contract, Henrique figures to be popular leading up to the trade deadline as a proven goal-scorer who has scored at least 20 goals in six different seasons.

#4 Another veteran providing offensive production in Anaheim is Alex Killorn, the 34-year-old who was signed as a free agent in the summer after a long stay in Tampa Bay to start his career. Killorn was injured at the start of the season and struggled in his first action, managing zero goals and three assists in his first nine games with the Ducks. Since then, he has contributed nine points (4 G, 5 A) and 40 shots on goal in his past 13 games, having success alongside rookie Leo Carlsson and veteran Troy Terry. Carlsson left Thursday’s loss to Calgary with an apparent lower-body injury, which could cause further upheaval among Anaheim’s forward group.

#5 Acquired by the Flames from the Devils in the summer deal that sent Tyler Toffoli to New Jersey, Yegor Sharangovich took some time to heat up with Calgary. Sharangovich fits well alongside linemates Elias Lindholm and Andrew Mangiapane. In the past eight games, Sharangovich has tallied nine points (6 G, 3 A) and is averaging 19:51 of ice time per game. He has logged more than 20 minutes in seven of his past 12 contests.

#6 Demoted to the American Hockey League at the start of the season, 21-year-old winger Kent Johnson is showing the Columbus Blue Jackets that he belongs on the big club. In his past seven games, Johnson has accumulated eight points (3 G, 5 A) despite only registering nine shots on goal. He is skating on a line with Cole Sillinger and Emil Bemstrom and Johnson is getting opportunities on Columbus’ second power play unit.

#7 Staying in Columbus, 23-year-old Kirill Marchenko continues to boost his credentials as a finisher. Marchenko has seven points (5 G, 2 A) with 15 shots on goal in his past six games. Since the start of last season, Marchenko has recorded 34 goals and 12 assists, giving him 2.83 goals per assist, which is by far the highest rate among players that have recorded at least 30 goals in that time frame.

#8 With Barrett Hayton injured, opportunity has knocked for Arizona Coyotes centre Alexander Kerfoot, who has moved up the depth chart to skate between Clayton Keller and Nick Schmaltz on Arizona’s top line. Kerfoot has produced 14 points (2 G, 12 A) while averaging 19:56 time on ice in his past 12 games and even for a reluctant shooter like Kerfoot, those numbers are strong enough to draw the interest of fantasy managers.

#9 One of the most snakebit players in the league at the start of the season, Montreal Canadiens right winger Josh Anderson had zero goals and two assists through 23 games. Since then, though, Anderson is heating up, putting up seven points (4 G, 3 A) and 27 shots on goal in his past nine games. On a Habs team that is thin up front, Anderson is skating with Sean Monahan and Jake Evans at evens while also taking a turn with Montreal’s second power play unit.

#10 Veteran centre Matt Duchene is enjoying a strong season in Dallas, his first season with the Stars. Centering a line with Mason Marchment and Tyler Seguin on his wings, Duchene has produced 12 points (5 G, 7 A) with 22 shots on goal in his past eight games. For a Stars team that can lean so heavily on its top line, getting this kind of secondary production out of Duchene is what keeps them at the top of the Central Division.

#11 Goaltending has been a major problem for the Carolina Hurricanes this season. Starter Frederik Andersen has been injured since early November and Antti Raanta was just demoted to the American Hockey League, leaving Pyotr Kochetkov as the best option between the pipes for the Hurricanes. Since getting called up after Andersen’s injury, Kochetkov does have a .913 save percentage in 14 games. For a Hurricanes team that can still control play consistently, above average goaltending can easily bring fantasy value.

#12 Through 17 games this season, Dallas Stars defenceman Thomas Harley had a modest five points (3 G, 2 A) and 22 shots on goal while playing 17:29 per game. In 10 games since then, Harley has 10 points (6 G, 4 A) and 21 shots on goal while averaging 19:00 of ice time per game. The 22-year-old has scored on 20.9 percent of his shots, which obviously can’t continue, but increased ice time and increased shot rates can surely lead to sustainable offensive production.

#13 It has not been easy for Maple Leafs defenceman Conor Timmins, who has battled injuries throughout his career, but injuries to others in Toronto opened the door for the 25-year-old blueliner to get some regular playing time and he is making the most of it. Timmins has produced five points (1 G, 4 A) with 10 shots on goal in his past seven games. He quarterbacks the second power play unit and has generally been quite effective in his limited role. Timmins has value for those in deep leagues and is well worth watching because if he could just stay healthy for an extended period, that would be a notable development.

#14 A second-round pick by the Seattle Kraken in 2021, defenceman Ryker Evans has stepped into the Seattle lineup and looks NHL ready. He just turned 22 -years-old and has four assists in his past four games, playing more than 18 minutes in each of those four contests. Evans had 44 points (6 G, 38 A) in 71 games as an AHL rookie for Coachella Valley last season, then added 26 points (5 G, 21 A) in 26 playoff games. He started this season with eight points (2 G, 6 A) in 18 games and it was enough to earn his promotion to the big club. There is a caveat with Evans, though. He did not play in Wednesday’s win over Los Angeles and, as well as he has played, he is still competing to earn a regular spot on the Seattle blueline.

#15 Veteran St. Louis Blues defenceman Justin Faulk is not scoring like he did last season when he tallied a career high 50 points (11 G, 39 A), but he is starting to launch shots on goal at an impressive clip. While Faulk has four points (1 G, 3 A) in his past eight games, he has also put 30 shots on goal and averaging nearly four shots on goal per game is a terrific way for a defenceman to generate offensive production. Faulk’s career-high average for shots on goal per game is 3.00, set in 2016-2017 when he was with the Carolina Hurricanes.

#16 At the start of the season, as the Edmonton Oilers struggled to get on track, it sure looked like defenceman Mattias Ekholm was still battling an injury that had kept him out of action in the preseason. The veteran blueliner has steadily improved, though. In his past 21 games, Ekholm has 12 points (4 G, 8 A) and 56 shots on goal. Last season, after he was acquired from Nashville, Ekholm contributed 14 points (4 G, 10 A) and 36 shots on goal in 21 games. He has 14 shots on goal in his past three games and 19 hits in his past five games, so he has picked up the pace and as the Oilers appear to be moving in the right direction, Ekholm’s production should be enough for fantasy managers to take notice.

#17 The key for Philadelphia Flyers winger Owen Tippett is to keep generating shots. When he is putting himself in position to fire on net Tippett tends to be effective, and the goals follow. He broke through last season with a career-high 27 goals and 49 points and that has raised expectations for him this season. Although he is playing less this season, Tippett is continuing to produce. In his past six games, he has five points (3 G, 2 A) with 25 shots on goal, landing six shots on goal in each of his two most recent games. That gives him 20 points (11 G, 9 A) in 32 games and his increasing shot rate is reason to expect that the production should continue.

#18 Also in Philadelphia, goaltender Samuel Ersson has recovered from a spectacularly terrible start to the season when he allowed 14 goals on 59 shots (.763 save percentage!) in his first three appearances. Since then, the 24-year-old netminder has been more than steady, posting a 8-2-1 record and .926 save percentage in 11 starts. That is the kind of play that will give Ersson a bigger role in the Flyers crease.

#19 The Vegas Golden Knights had five different goaltenders last season, on the way to winning the Stanley Cup, so they are probably not too fazed by recent injuries to Adin Hill and Logan Thompson. Enter 24-year-old Czech netminder Jiri Patera, a sixth-round pick of the Golden Knights in 2017. Patera played one season in the USHL and two in the WHL before toiling in the minors. He has a .907 save percentage in 74 career AHL games, which does not scream NHL ready, but it’s not terrible, and he has a .909 save percentage in five career NHL appearances. If he is going to get starts behind a quality team, though, Patera might offer some short-term value for fantasy managers.

#20 What can the Toronto Maple Leafs do in goal? Ilya Samsonov and Martin Jones are struggling, and Joseph Woll is hurt. It might be too soon, but would they consider giving Dennis Hildeby a shot? The 22-year-old was a fourth-round pick of the Maple Leafs in 2022 and had a .918 save percentage in 21 games for Farjestads in the Swedish Hockey League last season. He has a .927 save percentage in a dozen AHL games for the Toronto Marlies this season and the way things are going for the Leafs with Woll injured, they might need to consider other options in net. At the very least, Hildeby should be monitored for those in dynasty leagues because the 6-foot-7 netminder has shown promise.