Tony DeAngelo – McKeen's Hockey

MCKEEN’S 2025-26 NHL YEARBOOK – NEW YORK ISLANDERS – Team Preview/Player Profiles/Predictions

Fri, 03 Oct 2025 19:43:46 +0000

PITTSBURGH, PA - DECEMBER 29: New York Islanders center Mathew Barzal (13) warms up before the NHL game between the Pittsburgh Penguins and the New York Islanders on December 29, 2024, at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, PA. (Photo by Jeanine Leech/Icon Sportswire)

With Patrick Roy behind the Islanders bench, the team managed a .500 points percentage, finishing with 82 points (35-35-12) in 82 games. The Islanders were a mid-range puck possession squad, ranking 18th in Corsi percentage (49.6) and 14th in expected goals percentage (50.6). Special teams was a large part of the Islanders’ undoing last season, ranking 31st with 4.14 goals per 60 minutes of five-on-four play and ranking 30th with 9.59 goals against per 60 minutes of four-on-five play. A mediocre possession team can’t overcome such terrible special teams, even with Ilya Sorokin as the starting goaltender. Semyon Varlamov was injured for much of the season, so Marcus Hogberg had the second-most appearances among Islanders goaltenders and that didn’t help matters.

What’s Changed?

The Islanders hired Mathieu Darche to be their new General Manager, taking over for Lou Lamoriello and he was relatively busy in the offseason, starting with the selection of defenceman Matthew Schaefer with the first pick in the 2025 Draft. The Isles signed left winger Jonathan Drouin from the Colorado Avalanche and plucked Maxim Shabanov from the KHL, where he had 67 points (23 G, 44 A) in 65 games for Traktor Chelyabinsk. More dramatically, the Islanders traded defenceman Noah Dobson to Montreal, acquiring forward Emil Heineman from the Canadiens as part of the return. The Islanders added David Rittich from the Los Angeles Kings to stabilize their goaltending, and enforcer Matt Martin skated off the ice and into the Isles’ front office.

What would success look like?

For a team with as many veterans as the islanders, the playoffs must be the objective. They don’t appear to have the high-end talent to compete with the very best teams in the league, though they made some deep playoff runs in 2020 and 2021 when it didn’t look like they had that kind of talent, either. The other priority should be to make sure that No. 1 pick Schaefer develops as much as possible. Shelter him if he needs sheltering, but make sure that he is going to be a fixture on this blueline for 15 years.

What could go wrong?

The Islanders have been dependent on excellent goaltending from Ilya Sorokin and that always presents a risk, that if the goaltending falls off that the rest of the team is not equipped to handle it. On one hand, it’s hard to imagine that the Islanders could duplicate such an awful special teams performance, but if they did, that would once again prevent them from reaching the playoffs. Just as success would be making the playoffs and developing Schaefer properly, the opposite end of the spectrum would be to miss the playoffs, but not by much so they don’t get a great shot at the lottery, and they botch the development of their No. 1 overall draft pick.

Top Breakout Candidate

As exciting as it would be to have a rookie defenceman like Schaefer take the league by storm, he is just 18 years old and that’s asking a lot. On the other hand, Russian forward Maxim Shabanov is 24 and coming off an outstanding season in the KHL, finishing third in league scoring. There’s no guarantee that the undersized Shabanov will make the transition to North America and fill the net, but the Islanders should be motivated to give him the chance, and he might even be able to help their pathetic power play.

FORWARDS

Mathew Barzal

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
65	16	40	56	0.86

A brilliant skater who adds an electrifying element to the Islanders attack, Barzal missed 52 games with injuries last season, finishing with just 20 points (6 G, 14 A) in 30 games. The scoring totals were somewhat deceptive because underlying numbers suggest that Barzal was as dangerous as ever. He had career-best rates for on-ice Corsi For and on-ice Expected Goals For during five-on-five play. He also had his individual highest rate of shot attempts per 60 minutes but scored on just 5.1 percent of his shots at five-on-five, a far cry from 10 percent or better, like he did in six of the previous seven seasons. All of these stats suggest that Barzal is still a difference-maker, and he is consistently the most dangerous forward on the Islanders roster, so if he is healthy this season, he will be expected to produce. He has shifted to playing the wing more often, in part because he’s terrible on faceoffs, winning 42.3 percent for his career, but given the Isles’ personnel after trading Brock Nelson last season, Barzal may need to spend more time down the middle of the ice in 2025-2026. He does have some injury history, so that creates a range on his possible outcomes. Expecting him to miss at least 15 games is probably fair, and if that’s the case, then 50-55 points is a reasonable expectation. If he’s healthy, maybe 65-70 is more on target.

Bo Horvat

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
82	31	31	62	0.76

One of the features that made Horvat appealing to the Islanders when they acquired him from Vancouver was that he was reliably productive. In the past two seasons, he has scored 61 goals and the Islanders have outshot and outscored opponents consistently with him on the ice. He’s doing his part and, last season, it came with a variety of linemates. Anders Lee was his most common winger but with Barzal injured, Kyle Palmieri, Simon Holmstrom, Anthony Duclair and Jean-Gabriel Pageau each played more than 200 five-on-five minutes with Horvat. A physically strong player, Horvat wins puck battles and handled more than 20 minutes of ice time per game last season. One reason to be optimistic about his chances for the 2025-2026 season is that the Islanders power play was abysmal last season and Horvat’s production suffered. There were 136 players that played at least 150 minutes during five-on-four play last season and 132 of them had more points per 60 minutes than Horvat’s 1.65 per 60. He had scored 71 power play goals in the previous seven seasons, so he ought to bounce back. He is as reliable as anyone on the Isles’ roster and has missed a total of five games over the past three seasons, so Horvat should be able to contribute 30 goals and 60-plus points this season.

Jonathan Drouin

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
62	13	30	43	0.69

A very talented player who has had an up-and-down career, Drouin had a good thing going in Colorado over the past two seasons, tallying 93 points (30 G, 63 A) in 122 games. Of course, one of the reasons that Drouin has had ups-and-downs in his career is that he has had difficulty staying healthy, and he played just 43 games for Colorado in 2024-2025. No matter who Drouin skates with on the Islanders roster in 2025-2026, it will be a downgrade from riding shotgun with Nathan MacKinnon in Colorado. Drouin scored on a career high 19.6 percent of his shots last season, so that is a number that is likely to regress, but Drouin is a creative offensive player and effective puck distributor and as much as he is a finesse player, he turned in better defensive results in his two seasons with Colorado and that would certainly enhance his value if he could bring a more reliable two-way game to the Islanders. The good news for Drouin is that, if he's healthy, he should play a big role for the Isles. Given his injury history, it’s entirely fair to expect Drouin to miss 15-20 games and, if that’s the case, he could still find a way to contribute 40 points.

Anders Lee

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
80	25	23	48	0.60

Going into last season, it was possible that the Islanders were ready to prepare their captain for a decreased role. He had played 15:34 per game on his way to contributing 37 points (20 G, 17 A) in 81 games in 2023-2024, the kind of numbers that suggested he was moving down the depth chart. Then, last season, Lee went out and earned his place in the lineup, finishing with 29 goals and 54 points, his highest totals in those categories since the 2017-2018 season. To get that kind of bounce back from a 34-year-old winger was unexpected, but Lee is an imposing physical presence and that doesn’t go away with age. He can still plant himself in front of the other team’s net and he generated 233 shots on goal last season, the high-water mark for his career! Lee has scored at least 20 goals in eight consecutive seasons, not counting the shortened 2020-2021 season, during which he was also injured but still delivered 12 goals in 27 games. The Islanders have outscored opponents with Lee on the ice during five-on-five play in six of the past seven seasons and last season the Isles outscored opponents 60-43 in those situations, the second-best differential of his career. Even if he’s in a complementary role, Lee still figures to get power play time and should be capable of scoring 25 goals and 45 points.

Simon Holmstrom

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
80	20	23	43	0.54

Drafted with the 19th pick in the 2019 Draft, Holmstrom took a while to reach the NHL and he has started to make positive contributions in the past couple of seasons, scoring 35 goals and 70 points in 150 games. Last season, he was shuffled around the lineup – his three most common linemates were centers Jean-Gabriel Pageau, Casey Cizikas, and Bo Horvat – and had a serious hot streak from November 1 through December 21, during which he recorded 19 points (9 G, 10 A) in 24 games. Holmstrom had just 34 shots on goal over that stretch, which was a good indication that his scoring surge was unsustainable, and it was. While Holmstrom appears to be more accomplished defensively, where he is closer to average, he has scored on 20.8 percent of his shots in the past two seasons, and that’s incredibly high, but he does contribute quite a bit in transition, where the percentages tend to be higher, and he does have a dangerous shot when given room to let it go. There is uncertainty over his role going into 2025-2026 because he was all over the lineup in 2024-2025, so consider 15 goals and 35 points a baseline for him, with room to move up if he ends up skating with more accomplished offensive players.

Kyle Palmieri

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
82	21	23	44	0.54

There were a few lean years on the back of Palmieri’s hockey card, from the end of his New Jersey tenure through his first couple of seasons with the Islanders, but he has sniped 54 goals in the past two seasons, so the 34-year-old winger has some life left in his game. He did tone down his physical play last season, recording just 54 hits in 82 games, his fewest hits in a season since he had 48 hits in 42 games as a rookie in 2012-2013. Even so, Palmieri has a nose for the net and will put his body in harm’s way if it means getting a chance to score. While he has returned to being an offensive threat, Palmieri’s defensive game has slipped in the past couple of seasons, with the Islanders surrendering more shots, goals, and expected goals against with Palmieri on the ice. Palmieri’s most common linemates last season were Brock Nelson, before he was traded, Maxim Tsyplakov, and Bo Horvat. There will be competition for quality ice time among the Islanders wingers and Palmieri isn’t assured of winning those battles, but 20-25 goals and 45 points is a reasonable expectation.

Jean-Gabriel Pageau

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
81	12	26	38	0.47

Although he does not have imposing size, Pageau plays with an edge to his game and is a rare center who hits consistently. He has recorded at least 140 hits in four straight seasons, Those aren’t empty hits, either, as Pageau’s battles helped push the puck the right way when he was on the ice. It also helped that he spent some time on right wing on the top line when Barzal was injured because Pageau then ended up with more offensive zone starts and, ultimately, finished with a 52 percent Corsi, the best mark of his career. His 42 points (14 G, 28 A) tied for the second most of his career, and he won a career-high 59.6 percent of his faceoffs, so by all accounts the 2024-2025 season was a strong one for the veteran pivot. He is expected to fill the third-line center role this season, but it’s possible that he might see some time in the second center spot, especially if the Islanders use Barzal on the wing. In any case, Pageau could reasonably be expected to contribute a dozen goals and 35-40 points, with 140-plus hits in 2025-2026.

Maxim Tsyplakov

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
78	12	26	38	0.49

Arriving in the NHL last season as a 26-year-old rookie out of Russia, Tsyplakov scored 31 goals in 65 games during his last season in the KHL, so that might have prompted his jump to the Islanders, but goal-scoring was not really his forte, either. The 6-foot-3 winger plays a hard physical game and recorded 140 hits in his first NHL season. While he is good at protecting and passing the puck, he did not show great finishing ability in his first season with the Islanders. At the same time, Tsyplakov was reliable defensively and not shy about using his size to create turnovers on the forecheck and then going hard to the front of the opponents’ net. There were 197 forwards to play at least 100 minutes at five-on-four last season and Tsyplakov ranked 190th with 1.53 points per 60 minutes with the man advantage. That may not fall entirely on him, as the Isles’ power play was awful, but he didn’t help. Like several Islanders forwards, Tsyplakov has the ability to move around the lineup. He plays with the grind of a checking forward but does have enough skill to his game that he can at least fit in a more offensive role, too. His most likely fit is somewhere in the middle six and, in his second season, it would seem fair to expect maybe a dozen goals and 35-40 points.

Anthony Duclair

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
55	14	12	26	0.47

There was real hope that having some security and re-uniting with Patrick Roy, who had coached him in junior hockey, would bring out the best in Duclair and that most definitely did not happen in 2024-2025. In fact, before the season was over, he had been sent away from the team for some personal time. It was an undeniably disastrous season, as he finished with a mere 11 points (7 G, 4 A) in 44 games and, even worse, his defensive play was a mess with the islanders out-scored 27-17 during five-on-five play with Duclair on the ice. His defensive impacts have been consistently poor and that’s the kind of thing that can cost a player his spot in the lineup. The Islanders are Duclair’s ninth team, so there have obviously been peaks and valleys to the man’s NHL career. He is a four-time 20-goal scorer, who uses his speed to create chances and is excellent at using dekes to finish on breakaways. The Islanders should be seriously motivated to get Duclair back on his game this season and he may be able to contribute 15 goals and 30 points, but his status is unreliable at this point, so it’s probably best to wait and see how it goes early in the season before looking to add Duclair to a fantasy roster.

DEFENCE

Tony DeAngelo

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
64	6	30	36	0.56

With the Islanders trading Noah Dobson to the Montreal Canadiens, that leaves a huge opening for DeAngelo to be the top offensive defenceman on the roster since that is the one proven positive dimension to his game. His previous stops in the NHL have been tumultuous so he did not land an NHL contract at the start of last season and went to the KHL, where he was thriving on ice with 32 points (6 G, 26 A) in 34 games for SKA St. Petersburg, but he rankled teammates and coaching staff on the way to getting released. He signed with the Islanders, cleared waivers, and returned to the NHL in late January, getting an incredible 23:21 of ice time per game for the Islanders. It was the highest average time on ice of his career, and he contributed 19 points (4 G, 15 A) in 35 games. Eight of those 19 points came on the power play and that is, not surprisingly, where DeAngelo is most effective. He is a confident puck-handler who is ready to shoot and move the puck in the offensive zone. In the defensive zone, however, he is a clear liability. Of the 256 defencemen to play at least 200 five-on-five minutes last season, DeAngelo ranked 244th with 3.00 expected goals against per 60 minutes and the Islanders were outscored 30-27 with him on the ice. Whatever shortcomings he might have defensively, he is clearly the No. 1 offensive option on the Islanders blueline. Perhaps No. 1 overall pick Matthew Schaefer will be ready to take on a big role during his rookie season, but that would be asking a lot of an 18-year-old, so that likely means a big role for DeAngelo. He has never played more than 70 games in an NHL season, so he is likely to miss some time, but if he plays 65-plus games, then DeAngelo should be able to contribute 35 points. There is a world in which it goes even better than that, as he has three seasons to his credit with more than 40 points, but the downside risk needs to be taken into account, too.

Alexander Romanov

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
77	5	18	23	0.30

The Islanders leaned heavily on Romanov during the 2024-2025 season, as he averaged a career-high 22:18 of ice time per game. He finished with 20 points (4 G, 16 A) in 64 games, and while that is not earth-shattering offensive output, it was the third straight season in which he had recorded at least 20 points. Where Romanov does stand out is blocked shots (165) and hits (147) and those numbers make him a viable fantasy contributor in banger leagues or even deep leagues that include those peripheral stats. Looking ahead, Romanov will face a challenge of dealing with a new defence partner because his most common partner last season was Noah Dobson, who was traded to Montreal. With Dobson and Romanov on the ice, the Islanders controlled 54.7 percent of shot attempts and 53.2 percent of expected goals during five-on-five play. When Romanov played with other partners, the Islanders controlled 45.5 percent of shot attempts and expected goals, so that is going to be an issue to keep an eye on. There is still little reason to believe that Romanov is going to put up big point totals, so he will probably fall between 20 and 25 points. However, he should also be able to produce 160 hits and 160 blocked shots, which makes him surprisingly valuable for fantasy managers.

Ryan Pulock

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
77	5	16	21	0.27

When Pulock arrived in the NHL, his heavy shot from the point was his calling card and that has not disappeared, but it is no longer the main feature of his game. Prior to last season, he had turned into a reliable defender, capable of handling difficult top four minutes. Last season was different, though, as Pulock was on the wrong end of possession numbers, falling just below 46 percent Corsi and recording a career-low 46.2 percent expected goals percentage. Whether he was effective or not, Pulock still logged more than 21 minutes per game and finished the season with 23 points (5 G, 18 A), 100 hits and 155 blocked shots. None of those numbers really put him into the mix for fantasy managers, but he is worth tracking during the season because, depending on who else is available, he may get time on the power play. He only had a couple of points with the man advantage last season, so it’s hardly a big draw but, at best, he’s an in-season consideration in most leagues anyway. At this stage of his career, Pulock is likely to land between 20-25 points with maybe 120 hits and 140 blocked shots.

Adam Pelech

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
61	3	18	21	0.34

The Islanders’ best defenceman is not a significant offensive threat, and has battled injuries, but he is a terminally underrated shutdown defender and that makes his spot in the lineup as secure as anyone. Pelech has averaged at least 20 minutes of ice time per game for six straight seasons and that is without hardly any power play role. The unfortunate part is that Pelech has missed 67 games over the past three seasons, so it’s difficult to trust that he is going to suddenly play a full season now. He does have skills that should apply on the offensive end because he’s nimble on his blades and a confident puck-handler who generated a career-best 1.82 shots on goal per game last season. At this stage of his career, though, it’s unlikely that there is going to be a sudden offensive breakthrough. Taking into account that, based on recent precedent, Pelech is likely to miss 15-20 games, he can still be expected to chip in 20 points and might be able to push 100 blocked shots. That’s not terribly appealing from a fantasy perspective, but in real hockey terms, Pelech is a fantastic option on the Islanders’ blueline.

Goal

Ilya Sorokin

Predicted Stats
GP	W	L	OT	SO	SV%	GAA
60	21	29	7	3	.906	2.95

It's a frustrating time to be a New York Islanders fan. While Ilya Sorokin isn't struggling as much as some of the league's other goaltenders thrust into sub-optimal workloads, the Russian-born starter lost his mentor in Semyon Varlamov to a knee injury midway through last season - and Marcus Hogberg, who was next up to bat when Varlamov went down, failed to fill in well enough to help the Islanders get over the hump and into the postseason when all was said and done. Varlamov is expected to be ready for the upcoming season, but at 37-years old with a lengthy injury history, it's hard to tell just how much he'll be able to contribute over the year. That leaves Sorokin with a new potential backup at his side; former Calgary Flames number two David Rittich, who struggled to replicate his strong results from the 2022-23 season last year in his second season with the Los Angeles Kings, will hope to bounce back and return to form in the instance that he's needed for a heavier workload. The Islanders aren't currently sitting in the prime of their window, so there's not as much of a sense of urgency to get their tandem right as there could be, but Sorokin runs the risk of playing his best hockey on a Wild Card team more and more with every passing year. The team will likely hope that Varlamov and Rittich can string together enough games to help the team out without leaving Sorokin to shoulder the entire workload himself once again.

NHL: CULLEN – 20 FANTASY POINTS – Blues reaping the rewards of bold offer sheet decisions, Monahan returns to action, Nugent-Hopkins, Pickard thrust into big roles for Oilers, Huberdeau thriving, and much more!

Scott Cullen — Fri, 28 Mar 2025 18:13:57 +0000

COLUMBUS, OH - NOVEMBER 01: Columbus Blue Jackets center Sean Monahan (23) on the ice during the second period of the National Hockey League game between the Winnipeg Jets and Columbus Blue Jackets on November 1, 2024 at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, OH. (Photo by Frank Jansky/Icon Sportswire)

Each week, I dig into the stats to find information that can help you make better fantasy hockey decisions. This week, the St. Louis Blues are reaping the rewards of their bold offer sheet decisions last summer, Sean Monahan returns to action, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Calvin Pickard are thrust into big roles for the Oilers, Jonathan Huberdeau is thriving, and much more!

#1 When the St. Louis Blues signed left winger Dylan Holloway to an offer sheet last summer, they surely had hopes that he could produce more than he had with the Edmonton Oilers if given the opportunity. It’s difficult to imagine that they would have expected this, however. With a pair of goals in Thursday’s win at Nashville, Holloway extended his point streak to nine games, during which he has accrued 15 points (6 G, 9 A). That gives the 23-year-old winger 62 points (26 G, 36 A) in 74 games, a massive jump from the 18 points (9 G, 9 A) in 89 games that he had produced for the Oilers over the previous two seasons.

#2 The other player that the Blues plucked from the Oilers, defenceman Philip Broberg, has been a major success as well. Broberg has tallied six points (2 G, 4 A) in his past five games, giving him 27 points (8 G, 19 A) in 61 games for the Blues. He is playing nearly 21 minutes per game since the 4 Nations Face-Off and the Blues are finding out that, just like Holloway, Broberg had a lot more to offer than he had in Edmonton.

#3 After missing more than two-and-a-half months due to a wrist injury, Sean Monahan has returned to the Columbus Blue Jackets’ lineup. He slides back onto the top line, between Dmitri Voronkov and Kirill Marchenko, and Monahan picked up a pair of assists in his first game back, giving him 18 points (5 G, 13 A) in the last 10 games in which he has played.

#4 With Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl both injured, the Edmonton Oilers need Ryan Nugent-Hopkins to help fill those massive holes in the lineup. Nugent-Hopkins has contributed nine points (4 G, 5 A) and 19 shots on goal in his past six games, but aside from his first-unit power play time, it is not necessarily evident that he is anchoring Edmonton’s top line. His linemates at even strength are Vasily Podkolzin and Viktor Arvidsson, neither of whom is creating a significant number of scoring chances. Essentially, this should count as a warning: just because the Oilers need a player like Nugent-Hopkins to fill the void down the middle of the ice, that does not mean he will be in position to succeed.

#5 The Oilers also lost goaltender Stuart Skinner to an upper-body injury, which should mean more action for Calvin Pickard down the stretch. While he has been a solid backup he has been fluctuating quite a bit recently. In six starts since the 4 Nations Face-Off, Pickard allowed one goal (for a total of three) in three starts and in the other three starts he allowed a total of 15 goals. Pickard probably still has value if he is going to get starts but if it is for an Oilers team missing McDavid and Draisaitl, there may not be as much value.

#6 Following a couple of down seasons in his first two years with the Calgary Flames, Jonathan Huberdeau has rebounded with a stronger season in 2025-2026. He has 12 points (5 G, 7 A) and 22 shots on goal in his past eight games, a shot rate that is notably higher since he has not averaged more than two shots per game since 2021-2022. He is skating on a line with Morgan Frost and Matt Coronato, and all three are on the Flames’ top power play unit.

#7 The Chicago Blackhawks called up Artyom Levshunov, the second overall pick in the 2024 Draft, following the trade deadline and he is getting ample opportunity to show what he can do. Levshunov is averaging more than 21 minutes of ice time in his first eight games, recording four assists and playing on the Blackhawks’ top power play unit. At the same time, there have been some challenges. The Blackhawks have been outscored 14-4 with Levshunov on the ice at even strength, but his Corsi percentage of 46.7 percent is not nearly as disastrous, so those unfavourable results are driven more by poor percentages and that should level out with more playing time. As it is, he’s an intriguing sleeper for the final weeks of the season because the Blackhawks will be inclined to let him learn on the job.

#8 Blues winger Jake Neighbours has increased his production late in the season. Since the 4 Nations Face-Off, Neighbours has produced 17 points (6 G, 11 A) in 18 games. He has just 21 shots on goal in that time, which is no way to sustain goal-scoring production, but Neighbours is skating on the top line with Robert Thomas and rookie Zack Bolduc, so he is in position to generate more shots while playing with one of the top playmaking centres in the league.

#9 While it may be fair to characterize Tyler Bertuzzi’s first season in Chicago as a disappointment, it’s not like the veteran winger has fallen off a cliff. He has still topped 20 goals and 40 points for the fifth time in his career after putting up seven points (3 G, 4 A) in his past five games. Given the expectations, since his most common linemate this season has been Connor Bedard, it’s reasonable to suggest that Bertuzzi could have produced more, and helped his rising star linemate, but Bertuzzi is skating now with Joe Veleno and Philipp Kurashev, and maybe that brings more favourable matchups that work better for him.

#10 With the Philadelphia Flyers deciding to move on from head coach John Tortorella, it could be worth watching how Sean Couturier finishes the season. The veteran Flyers centre was sometimes the scapegoat under Torts but has been playing well even as the Flyers fade down the stretch. Since the 4 Nations Face-Off, Couturier has contributed 15 points (6 G, 9 A) and 42 shots on goal in 17 games. He is centering a line with star rookie Matvei Michkov and Travis Konecny, the most talented wingers on the roster, so there is a real chance for Couturier to finish this season strong and perhaps put himself in a better situation going into next season.

#11 Injuries on the New York Islanders blueline created an opening for Tony DeAngelo after he was released from his KHL club, and he has been eating a lot of minutes on the Islanders blueline. In his past six games, DeAngelo has put up seven points (1 G, 6 A) while averaging more than 24 minutes of ice time per game. The Islanders are running a rare two-defenceman unit on their top power play, with DeAngelo and Noah Dobson both skating with the first unit.

#12 Category-specific players can see their fantasy relevance come and go, largely based on whether they are scoring enough to justify a roster spot. Take Canucks right winger Kiefer Sherwood, who is a solid player, but now that he has picked up offensively, with nine points (4 G, 5 A) in his past 12 games, he is a valuable fantasy option. Why? Because in those 12 games, Sherwood also has 81 hits! He hit double digits in road games at St. Louis and the New York Rangers last week.

#13 Calgary Flames right winger Matthew Coronato has taken a big step forward in his first full NHL season. After managing nine points in 34 games for the Flames last season, while averaging a modest 12:37 of ice time per game, Coronato has hit the 20-goal mark while averaging 17:26 of ice time per game this season. He has seven points (4 G, 3 A) with 20 shots on goal while averaging nearly 20 minutes of ice time per game in his past seven games, so as the Flames battle for a playoff spot, their young winger is playing a sizeable role.

#14 Unexpectedly not in the lineup for Edmonton’s loss in Seattle on Thursday, defenceman Mattias Ekholm had recently returned after missing a couple of weeks, so he is flying under the radar a bit, but the veteran blueliner has been productive when he has been in the game. Since the 4 Nations Face-Off, Ekholm has contributed nine points with 21 shots on goal (2 G, 7 A) in 10 games. He does not get prime power play time, with seven of his 33 points coming via the power play this season, but Ekholm could offer some short-term value provided that he is not out for an extended period.

#15 Anaheim Ducks winger Alex Killorn is not scoring like he did during his prime years with the Tampa Bay Lightning, but he is still a useful complementary player for the improving Ducks. Killorn has six points (4 G, 2 A) and 14 shots on goal in his past seven games and he is a good leader for young linemates Leo Carlsson and Cutter Gauthier. On top of that, Killorn is getting a turn on the first power play unit even though he has just three power play points all season, so he might have a tad more upside than expected late in the campaign.

#16 Seattle Kraken right winger Jordan Eberle missed more than three months and returned to action following the 4 Nations Face-Off. He was scoreless in his first three games, which is understandable, considering his lengthy absence, but he has contributed 11 points (3 G, 8 A) in 13 games since. Eberle is doing most of his damage at even strength and is skating on a line with Shane Wright and Jaden Schwartz.

#17 Utah Hockey Club right winger Nick Schmaltz tends to be widely available in fantasy hockey, more than might be expected for a player who is so accomplished. Across the past four seasons, Schmaltz has recorded 235 points in 277 games, his 0.85 points per game ranking 78th in the league over that time. Since the 4 Nations Face-Off, Schmaltz has 16 points (6 G, 10 A) with 43 shots on goal in 16 games. He is playing with Clayton Keller and Logan Cooley on Utah’s top line and first power play unit.

#18 Winnipeg Jets right winger Gabriel Vilardi is considered week-to-week with an upper-body injury. He has been more durable than ever this season, playing a career-high 71 games, and has career highs of 27 goals, 34 assists, and 61 points. With Vilardi out, a great opportunity goes to Alex Iafallo, who has been an over-qualified fourth liner for much of the season but is now getting a turn alongside Mark Scheifele and Kyle Connor. That opportunity is enough to make Iafallo worthwhile as a short-term add for fantasy managers.

#19 Vancouver Canucks goaltender Thatcher Demko has returned to action after missing six weeks. While he has won his first two starts since returning, Demko had a pedestrian save percentage of .892 in 19 games this season, but his pedigree means that Demko will get the starter’s role when he is healthy. That means that Kevin Lankinen will lose starts for as long as Demko remains healthy enough to play.

#20 Although the Ottawa Senators are surging late in the season, centre Shane Pinto is mired in a six-game pointless drought. He has generated just five shots on goal in that time and while he is centering a line with Brady Tkachuk and Ridly Greig on his wings at even strength, Pinto is not listed on Ottawa’s top two power play units, which does limit his fantasy appeal. He has just two power play points all season and given Pinto’s overall production, this late-season slump should get him dropped from most fantasy squads.

*Advanced stats via Natural Stat Trick

NHL: DADOUN – FANTASY WEEK AHEAD – Hellebuyck’s dominant season – More trade deadline discussion – Teams and Players to target

Ryan Dadoun — Sat, 01 Mar 2025 18:04:23 +0000

OTTAWA, ON - FEBRUARY 26: Winnipeg Jets Goalie Connor Hellebuyck (37) looks to make a save during third period National Hockey League action between the Winnipeg Jets and Ottawa Senators on February 26, 2025, at Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa, ON, Canada. (Photo by Richard A. Whittaker/Icon Sportswire)

Cole Perfetti and Mason Appleton each found the back of the net by 9:03 of the first period to give the Jets a 2-0 lead against the Senators on Wednesday. That’s all the offense Winnipeg ultimately required en route to a 4-1 victory. It was an efficient two points in the bank and wouldn’t stand out, except for the fact that it was Winnipeg’s 11th win in a row.

The Jets were already having a dominant season, but they’ve somehow found another gear. Even after seeing that winning streak end Thursday, Winnipeg has a superb 42-15-3 record. The only team that even comes close is Washington (38-13-8) in the Eastern Conference. In their own conference, Winnipeg has opened up an 11-point edge, giving them plenty of breathing room going down the stretch.

Winnipeg is averaging 3.53 goals per game, so it’s fair to say that the forwards have been doing their part, but the core ingredient of the Jets’ success has been Connor Hellebuyck. He’s the league leader in GAA (2.02) and save percentage (.926) among those who have appeared in at least 15 games, and no netminder comes even close to his 36 wins -- the next best is Andrei Vasilevskiy with 28. In fact, only five teams are above him in terms of wins, excluding Winnipeg (he’s earned 85.7 percent of the Jets’ victories), those are Washington, Dallas, Toronto and Florida.

Hellebuyck is the heavy favorite to repeat as the Vezina Trophy winner, and that’s putting it lightly. In fact, it’s gotten to the point where it’s fair to ask if he should be in the Hart Trophy conversation. Keep in mind, Hellebuyck is not merely the byproduct of a strong team. Those in front of him are certainly helping, especially where his record is concerned, but the 31-year-old also leads the league in Goals Saved Above Expected with 30.3, per Moneypuck, and he’s just one of three netminders above plus-20 in that category. That statistic suggests he’s a big factor in the Jets’ dominance, not just a benefactor of it.

Hellebuyck also has an outside chance of flirting with the all-time single season win record, which is currently shared by Martin Brodeur (2006-07) and Braden Holtby (2015-16) at 48. I don’t expect Hellebuyck to ultimately reach that level because the Jets, without much left to play for until the postseason, will probably start managing his workload down the stretch. Still, we’re talking about 12 more wins over the Jets’ final 23 games, so it’s at least within the realm of possibility.

When Brodeur set that record, he finished third in Hart Trophy voting and Holtby finished fourth that year -- both won the Vezina -- but Hellebuyck campaign might end up being arguably more impressive than either of them. Brodeur and Holtby didn’t lead the league in GAA or save percentage in their respective 48-win campaign, but there’s a good chance of Hellebuyck carrying both of those categories while simultaneously getting his win total well into the 40s.

Still, I think it would take a lack of impressive campaigns from forwards to convince the voters to select a goaltender, even one as dominant as Hellebuyck, as the top pick for the Hart. The last time a goaltender won the trophy was in 2014-15 (Carey Price) when no forward reached the 90-point mark. The time before that when Jose Theodore claimed the award in 2001-02, there was no player who hit 100 points. That won’t be the case this season. Nathan MacKinnion (23 goals, 90 points), Leon Draisaitl (44, 88) and Nikita Kucherov (27, 86) are all providing compelling cases for Hart consideration. If Hellebuyck stays strong down the stretch, then I believe he will be one of the finalists, but a forward is still more likely to ultimately win the award.

Anaheim Ducks

In all likelihood, this will be the seventh straight year without a playoff berth for Anaheim, but perhaps the Ducks can at least end the campaign on a positive note after going 8-2-1 dating back to Jan. 23. They’ll try to maintain that momentum next week, starting with a road game against Edmonton on Tuesday. The Ducks will then play in Vancouver on Wednesday before hosting the Blues and the Islanders on Friday and Sunday, respectfully.

Mason McTavish has been a major part of the Ducks’ recent string of success, supplying seven goals and 11 points over his past 11 outings. McTavish is up to 14 goals and 31 points in 52 appearances in 2024-25, giving the 22-year-old a chance to surpass his career high of 43 points. He has been somewhat inconsistent, so it wouldn’t be shocking if another cold stretch before the end of the campaign ruins that push, but this could very well just be the prelude to a breakout in 2025-26. Taken with the No. 3 overall pick in the 2021 NHL Draft, McTavish could turn into a very valuable top six forward.

On the blue line, the Ducks also have been getting help from Jackson LaCombe, who scored a goal Thursday to extend his point streak to four games (one goal, four assists). The 24-year-old is now just one point shy of reaching 30 for the first time in his career. Although he’s gotten a healthy amount of power-play ice time (1:52 per game), LaCombe hasn’t quite clicked with the man advantage, providing just five points this season. The Ducks collectively have underwhelmed in that category with their 12.7 percent conversion rate, 31st in the league, but that’s a potential area of upside for both LaCombe and Anaheim, especially if you’re looking ahead to next season.

Leo Carlsson might be part of the solution on the power play once he’s had more time to develop. Taken with the No. 2 overall pick in the 2023 NHL Draft, the 20-year-old hasn’t made a big impact this season with 11 goals and 23 points through 52 outings, but he’s giving us a taste of what he’s capable of, providing two goals and seven points in his past seven games.

Ultimately, it’s encouraging to see the Ducks’ younger players playing key roles recently. Anaheim has been rough for years now, but the youth movement might be on the cusp of moving the Ducks back into playoff contention -- likely not this year, but they’re a squad you shouldn’t sleep on for 2025-26.

Dallas Stars

The Stars have a commanding 37-19-2 record, but they’re also in the same division as Winnipeg, so they’re unlikely to do better than the second seed. Even there, Dallas needs to stay sharp to stay ahead of Minnesota (34-21-4) and Colorado (34-24-2). The Stars will attempt to cushion their hold on the second seed next week, starting with home games against New Jersey and Calgary on Tuesday and Thursday, respectively. The Stars will then play in Edmonton on Saturday and Vancouver on Sunday.

With the Stars battling in such a tough division, they decided they couldn’t wait until the trade deadline to make some moves. To that end, the Stars acquired Mikael Granlund and Cody Ceci from San Jose on Feb. 1. Given that about a month has past, it seems like a good opportunity to take stock of how that trade is working out for Dallas.

Granlund has primarily been playing on the Stars’ second line alongside Matt Duchene and Mason Marchment, though he’s also gotten looks on the first unit with Jason Robertson and Roope Hintz. In either scenario, Granlund has helped out, providing six assists (five primary assists) in seven appearances since the trade. He’s also seen action on the first power-play unit, but he hasn’t gotten any production with the man advantage yet.

Eventually he should have some power-play production and will largely continue to be effective offensively. He’s a nice boost on a team that already featured some pretty solid forward depth.

In the case of Ceci, he has two assists, nine blocks and 14 hits while averaging 20:46 of ice time in seven outings with Dallas. He’s never been much of an offensive threat, so even those two helpers should be regarded as merely a bonus, but the move from San Jose to Dallas hasn’t cost him his top four role, which means that he should continue to be a reliable source of blocks and hits.

Dallas is in a tough position cap wise, so that might be it for the Stars in terms of additions -- unless Miro Heiskanen (knee) or Tyler Seguin (hip) are done until the playoffs. Seguin has resumed skating while Heiskanen hasn’t, per Sean Shapiro of DLLS Sports. Stars GM Jim Nill describe their situation as fluid, which to me suggests that it’s not clear if they’ll be ready before the playoffs or not. Still, if Dallas ends up making a big splash before the deadline, then that probably implies that one or both of them will remain on LTIR until the playoffs.

When they do return, it’ll be interesting to see how the Stars adjust their lines. Tyler Seguin saw success early in the campaign alongside Duchene and Marchment, so maybe he’ll resume that role, leaving Granlund to primarily play with Robertson and Hintz. That would likely result in Mavrik Bourque and Logan Stankoven seeing their playing time diminish. Whatever his role, don’t diminish Seguin when he returns. In part due to injuries, it’s been a while since he had a 60-plus point campaign, but he’s been effective while healthy, supplying 55 goals and 122 points in 163 outings across the past three years for an average of 61 points per 82 games.

In terms of a healthy Heiskanen, he might link up with Thomas Harley. That might in turn lead to Matt Dumba and Ilya Lyubushkin competing for the sixth blueliner role. We might also see Lian Bichsel return to AHL Texas once Heiskanen is healthy. That’d give Dallas a top four of Harley, Esa Lindell, Ceci and Heiskanen going into the playoffs.

Los Angeles Kings

At 31-17-8, the Kings are a good bet to make the playoffs and could still win the Pacific Division with a strong finish. That pursuit of the 35-18-6 Golden Knights will likely be a key motivator for them going into next week. The Kings will play in Chicago on Monday before hosting the Blues twice on Wednesday and Saturday. They’ll then travel to Vegas to play against the division rival Sunday.

To the surprise of no one, Quinton Byfield wasn’t part of Team Canada for the 4 Nations Face-Off. He’s simply not good enough -- yet. Taken with the No. 2 overall pick in the 2020 NHL Draft, Byfield has plenty of upside, and the 22-year-old gave another taste of it Monday when he registered four assists to aid LA in its 5-2 victory over the Golden Knights. That’s the third time this campaign he’s provided at least three points in a game, but his offense hasn’t been consistent, which has limited him to 34 points (11 goals) in 56 appearances. At this rate, he’ll end up doing a little worse than his 55-point showing in 2023-24, which is disappointing, but not a disaster.

What would be a disaster for the Kings is another extended absence from Drew Doughty. While the Kings demonstrated during his 47-game absence to start the campaign that they can win without him, he certainly brings plenty to the table when healthy, supplying a goal, four points, 11 hits and 13 blocks while averaging 25:55 of ice time in his eight appearances with the Kings’ this campaign.

In that context, it was especially concerning when Doughty missed Wednesday’s clash against Vancouver due to a lower-body injury. He had missed the first half of the campaign with an ankle injury, so the location of his new problem was particularly concerning. Fortunately, it seems like the worst-case scenario isn’t likely. As Mayor’s Manor reported, Doughty is just dealing with soreness and swelling, which makes him day-to-day. Still, you have to wonder if maybe the Kings will manage his workload a little more or even consider making him a healthy scratch on occasion. LA still has four back-to-back sets remaining, so keep an eye on that situation.

Anze Kopitar is also worth monitoring. He had an excellent start to the campaign, providing 12 goals and 39 points in 36 outings, but Kopitar has just a goal and seven points across his last 20 games, including three points in his past 12 outings. At one time, he seemed like a lock to reach the 70-point mark for the third straight campaign, but that’s now in serious jeopardy for the 37-year-old.

Cold streaks aren’t new for Kopitar, but it is unusual for one to last this long, so it’s reached the point where his slump is cause for concern.

New York Islanders

The Islanders will spend next week primarily on the road with games against the Rangers on Monday, the Sharks on Saturday and the Ducks on Sunday. The lone exception is a home match against Winnipeg on Tuesday.

Signing Tony DeAngelo was a controversial decision given his history, but if there’s one positive to the game, it’s what he brings to the table offensively, and he’s largely delivered there, providing a goal and six points across 11 appearances since he made his Islanders debut Jan. 25. Interestingly, none of those points have come with the man advantage, which has traditionally been a key part of his production. If you want to take an optimistic look, that could mean that his scoring pace could be even better once he starts clicking on the power play.

It's also interesting that the return of Noah Dobson didn’t seem to meaningfully alter DeAngelo’s role. He was originally seen as a stopgap measure after Dobson suffered a lower-body injury, but DeAngelo still logged 21:20 of ice time, including 1:49 with the man advantage, in Dobson’s first game back Thursday. Granted, Dobson got just 18:54 himself, which suggests the Islanders were easing him back into the lineup a bit, but it still seems reasonable to believe DeAngelo will maintain his top four role going forward.

As for Dobson, he should see his playing time return to its average around 24 minutes within the next couple of games. He’ll also continue to feature on the power play, even with the presence of DeAngelo. Getting Dobson back will likely move Scott Perunovich back into a depth role, though. Perunovich had three assists while playing in nine straight games and saw some power-play time from Jan. 28-Feb. 25, but he was a healthy scratch Thursday and will likely spend additional time in the press box going forward.

New York Rangers

In contrast to the Islanders, the Rangers will spend most of next week at home. They’ll host the Islanders on Monday, the Capitals on Wednesday and the Blue Jackets on Sunday. The Rangers’ lone road game will be Wednesday in Washington.

New York has been all over the place this season. Despite a 12-4-1 start, the Rangers no longer occupy a playoff spot, though they have won five of their past seven games, bringing them up to 29-25-4 overall.

Igor Shesterkin has been part of the weirdness, posting a 20-20-2 record, 2.93 GAA and .906 save percentage. If the campaign ended after Thursday’s action, Shesterkin’s GAA and save percentage would both mark career worsts for him. He’s had some amazing starts, holding the competition to one or fewer goals in 10 outings, and he’s made at least 30 saves on 16 occasions. At the same time, there are nine instances of him surrendering at least five goals. To put that into context, from 2019-20 through 2022-23, he had eight total games in which he allowed five or more goals over a span of 158 regular-season appearances.

That inconsistency in net has been part of the problem for the Rangers, but New York has also seen its scoring tick down this campaign with 3.03 goals per game from 3.39 last year. The good news is that the Rangers offense has been clicking lately, averaging 3.50 goals since the start of February.

Acquiring J.T. Miller in a trade with Vancouver on Jan. 31 has helped with that. Miller has provided five goals and nine points in eight appearances since joining the Rangers, and he should average about a point per game throughout the remainder of the season.

We’ve also seen a resurgence of Mika Zibanejad. The 31-year-old had an uncharacteristically poor stretch from Dec. 14-Jan. 28 in which he had just three goals and eight points across 22 appearances. He’s put that behind him in February, though, scoring three goals and 11 points over an eight-game stretch. Zibanejad’s slump will keep him below his 2023-24 finish of 72 points (he has 40 points in 58 outings this year), but he is still capable of being a strong presence down the stretch.

Adam Fox was also looking good, going on a seven-game scoring streak (two goals, eight points) from Feb. 2-25, but unfortunately that was cut short by an upper-body injury. With a spot in the postseason not secure, this is a terrible time for the Rangers to lose a key defenseman, but it is an opportunity for Braden Schneider to play a bigger role, including the possibility of work with the man advantage.

Philadelphia Flyers

The Flyers have four games on the docket next week, and they’re all at home. Philadelphia will host Calgary on Tuesday, Winnipeg on Thursday, Seattle on Saturday and New Jersey on Sunday.

The Flyers are 26-26-8 through Thursday’s action, putting them six points out of a wild-card spot, though Philadelphia has played one more game than the Red Wings and the Blue Jackets, which are currently tied at 66 and hold the first and second wild-card seeds, respectively. However, Philadelphia would need to leapfrog the Rangers, the Senators, the Bruins and the Canadiens in addition to surpassing one of Detroit or Columbus in order to make the playoffs, so the Flyers are facing long odds to say the least. Moneypuck puts Philadelphia’s playoff chances at just 2.2 percent and gives them better odds of securing the first overall pick, 5.9 percent.

The Flyers are seller at this point, though it might be that their trade sending Morgan Frost and Joel Farabee to the Flames on Jan. 31 will go down as the only noteworthy move they make before the deadline. Andrei Kuzmenko and Erik Johnson are their only players of note who are set to become unrestricted free agents this summer. Kuzmenko might have value to a contender as a depth scorer, but his $5.5 million cap hit hurts his value, even if Philadelphia were willing to retain part of it.

Meanwhile, Johnson doesn’t seem to have much left at the age of 36. He’s appeared in just 22 games with Philadelphia this season, and a contender would presumably be looking at him as a seventh defenseman at best. I wouldn’t be shocked if he got picked up by someone, but probably just for a sixth or seventh-round pick.

They might trade someone with term, though. Rasmus Ristolainen has come up in the rumor mill. He’s a huge, physical right-hand defenseman, so it’s easy to imagine teams gunning for him, but because he’s signed through 2026-27, the Flyers are in the driver’s seat when it comes to negotiations. If they don’t get an offer they love, then they can just hold onto him for next season. With that in mind, it seems Philadelphia wants a first rounder plus an asset for him, and no team has come close to that yet, according to Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic. So don’t be surprised if he stays with the Flyers.

With the deadline looming, it can be easy to miss the fact that Matvei Michkov is having one of the best stretches of his rookie campaign. He has an incredible five goals and 10 points across his past five appearances, bringing him up to 19 goals and 44 points through 58 outings overall. The 20-year-old has been all over the place this year, even spending some time as a healthy scratch, but his offensive potential is without question. If he can find some degree of consistency, then 80-plus point campaigns might be in his future.

Tampa Bay Lightning

Tampa Bay will open next week with a road match against the Panthers on Monday, but they’ll spend the rest of the week at home. The Lightning will host the Blue Jackets on Tuesday, the Sabres on Thursday and the Bruins on Saturday.

Tampa Bay is third in the Atlantic Division, but after winning its past seven games, the Lightning have a 34-20-4 record and sit just three points behind the division-leading Panthers, which will make that Monday contest all the more important.

Look for Andrei Vasilevskiy to get the nod in that game. He’s played a vital role in the Lightning’s winning streak, being in net for all seven of those contests while posting a 1.72 GAA and a .944 save percentage. That gives him a 28-15-3 record, 2.21 GAA and .922 save percentage through 46 appearances in 2024-25, which is a nice return to form after a rough 2023-24 in which he had a 30-20-2 record, 2.90 GAA and .900 save percentage in 52 outings. If not for Connor Hellebuyck’s dazzling play, Vasilevskiy might have been in the conversation to win the Vezina for the first time since 2018-19.

Brandon Hagel has also been a major driver of Tampa Bay’s recent success. He has nine goals and 16 points across his past nine outings, giving him 29 goals and 67 points in 58 games this campaign. It’s not unusual for goals to come in bunches -- Hagel has a similar stretch of success from Oct. 15-24 in which he collected six goals and nine points in six outings -- so enjoy this while it lasts, but don’t be shocked if he then has another stretch similar to Jan. 14-28 (aka, no goals and three assists over eight games).

Nick Paul is a somewhat similar story. He found the back of the net for four straight games from Feb. 8-25 (keep in mind, the 4 Nations Face-Off break was in the middle of that), but he also has stretches of no production -- he had a six-game point drought from Jan. 25-Feb. 6. He averages out to be a decent secondary scorer (18 goals and 32 points in 52 outings this season), but not someone you can rely on regularly.

Nikita Kucherov tends to be a more consistent offensive force. Excluding games missed, he hasn’t been held off the scoresheet for more than back-to-back contests this season. That’s led to him supplying 27 goals and 86 points in 55 appearances, including four goals and 13 points across his last nine outings -- technically a nine-game scoring streak, but it’s not an official one because he didn’t play Feb. 9 due to an upper-body injury.

Washington Capitals

The Capitals will start the week by hosting the Senators on Monday before travelling to New York to face the Rangers on Wednesday. Washington will then play home games against the Red Wings on Friday and the Kraken on Sunday.

All eyes will remain on Alex Ovechkin as he continues his pursuit of Wayne Gretzky. Ovechkin is 11 goals away from tying the record after finding the back of the net against Calgary on Tuesday. That gives him eight markers and 13 points across his past nine games, and 30 goals in 2024-25 despite being limited to 43 contests due to injury.

Speaking of, when Ovechkin suffered a fibula fracture back in November, it seemed like he would have to wait until at least the 2025-26 campaign to break the record, but with 23 games remaining on Washington’s schedule, it’s certainly possible for him to surpass the record before the playoffs. He’d have to stay hot, but with the way he’s played this year, it’s doable.

Dylan Strome has enjoyed sharing the ice with Ovechkin. While he’s not completely dependent on the Russian superstar, Ovechkin has appeared on the scoresheet for 32 of Strome’s 59 points. The 27-year-old Strome has six goals and 13 points across his past 10 appearances as he looks to reach the 70-point milestone for the first time in his career.

The only real blemish on Washington recently has been Logan Thompson. He’s still having a great campaign overall with a 25-3-5 record, 2.28 GAA and .919 save percentage in 33 appearances, but he has allowed at least three goals in each of his past five starts. Perhaps Thompson would benefit from a bit more rest down the stretch. After all, he’s never played in more then 50 regular-season plus playoff games in a single campaign, and the Capitals are hoping to lean on him heavily come the postseason.

Charlie Lindgren is 13-10-3 with a 2.70 GAA and an .896 save percentage in 27 outings, and he’s struggled recently too, allowing 15 goals on 99 shots (.848 save percentage) across his past four starts, so he’s not an ideal alternative. However, Washington is in a commanding position thanks to its 38-13-8 record, so the Capitals can afford to regularly rest Thompson down the stretch, even if it ends up costing them some wins. Keep that in mind when evaluating Lindgren and Thompson’s value for the remainder of 2024-25.

NHL: CULLEN – 20 FANTASY POINTS – Avalanche and Hurricanes make blockbuster deal, Flames and Flyers swing four-player swap, the Islanders renovate their blueline, McTavish, Smith, and Slafkovsky are some young forwards picking up steam and much more!

Scott Cullen — Fri, 31 Jan 2025 13:30:21 +0000

NEW YORK, NY - JANUARY 28: Carolina Hurricanes Right Wing Mikko Rantanen (96) in action prior to the National Hockey League game between the Carolina Hurricanes and the New York Rangers on January 28, 2025 at Madison Square Garden in New York, NY. (Photo by Joshua Sarner/Icon Sportswire)

Each week, I dig into the stats to find information that can help you make better fantasy hockey decisions. This week, the Avalanche and Hurricanes made a blockbuster deal, the Flames and Flyers swing a four-player swap, the Islanders renovate their blueline, and Mason McTavish, Will Smith, and Juraj Slafkovsky are some young forwards picking up steam and much more!

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

#1 The Carolina Hurricanes and Colorado Avalanche made a massive trade last week, a rare in-season move involving star players. The Hurricanes landed Mikko Rantanen from the Avalanche and Taylor Hall from the Blackhawks in the three-team deal. Rantanen is one of the league’s premier forwards and since the 2020-2021 season, he has averaged 1.27 points per game, ranking seventh in the league. In his first three games with Carolina, Rantanen has a goal and an assist, but also has 13 shots on goal despite seeing his average time on ice drop to 19:06 per game after averaging 22:30 per game in Colorado. Hall’s ice time was reduced in Chicago this season but his 1.88 points per 60 minutes ranked second on the Blackhawks among forwards to play at least 500 five-on-five minutes (behind Ryan Donato). So, while Rantanen might play less after joining a team with Carolina’s depth of talent, Hall might actually find his way to more ice time with the Hurricanes.

#2 Colorado acquired right winger Martin Necas and centre Jack Drury from Carolina. Necas had 55 points in 49 games with Carolina before getting traded and he has put up four assists in three games. The Avalanche have also taken to giving Necas the same kind of role that Rantanen held, so Necas has averaged 23:08 of ice time per game in his first three games for the Avs after playing 18:05 per game in Carolina. Drury is more of a depth option, though he has scored two goals in his first three games for Colorado.

#3 The Calgary Flames and Philadelphia Flyers are both in the hunt for playoff spots and the teams swapped players Thursday. Calgary acquired winger Joel Farabee and centre Morgan Frost, sending wingers Andrei Kuzmenko and Jakob Pelletier, along with a couple of draft picks, to Philadelphia. Farabee is a solid complementary winger who scored a career-high 50 points (22 G, 28 A) last season, but has just 19 points (8 G, 11 A) through 50 games this season. He could use the fresh start. Frost has had a bit of a tumultuous run in Philadelphia, especially with John Tortorella as head coach. Frost is a talented player but had one assist and seven shots on goal in his last seven games with the Flyers.

#4 Kuzmenko is a 28-year-old winger who tallied 39 goals and 74 points for Vancouver in 2022-2023, his first season in the NHL, but he has just four goals and 15 points in 37 games this season. He did cross paths with Flyers rookie Matvei Michkov back in the KHL, as Kuzmenko was the leading scorer for SKA St. Petersburg in 2022-2023 when Michkov was just getting his feet wet with that team in the KHL. Perhaps Kuzmenko can help shake Michkov from the slump that has seen him produce just seven points (3 G, 4 A) in his past 24 games. Pelletier was a first-round pick in 2019, but it has taken a while for him to show that he belongs in the NHL. He did have six points (3 G, 3 A) in his last nine games for the Flames and the small skilled winger can hope to secure more consistent playing time in Philadelphia.

#5 Injuries have forced the New York Islanders to address their blueline and they have signed Tony DeAngelo, who was playing in the KHL, and acquired Scott Perunovich in a trade with the St. Louis Blues. DeAngelo had 32 points (6 G, 26 A) in 34 games for St. Petersburg in the KHL but still fell out of favor. He has one assist in three games for the Islanders but has averaged more than 25 minutes of ice time per game and is quarterbacking the Islanders top power play unit. Perunovich has recorded an assist in both of his first two games for the Islanders.

#6 Anahiem Ducks centre Mason McTavish started relatively slowly this season, with 19 points (6 G, 13 A) through 40 games. He does have seven points (6 G, 1 A) and 14 shots on goal in his past five games, however, so it’s worth keeping tabs on the 22-year-old. He is skating with Cutter Gauthier and Robby Fabbri at even strength, but McTavish is also getting first-unit power play time.

#7 San Jose Sharks rookie Will Smith has taken some time to find his groove during his first NHL campaign, but it looks like the fourth pick in the 2023 Draft is getting comfortable. He is riding a six-game point streak, during which he has amassed seven points (2 G, 5 A) and is skating on a line with veteran Mikael Granlund and Fabian Zetterlund. Granlund has eight points (3 G, 5 A) in his past six games, and with 46 points on the season, he looks like a good bet to hit the 60-point plateau for the fifth time in his career.

#8 There have been some uneven moments in the development path for Montreal Canadiens winger Juraj Slafkovsky, the first pick in the 2022 Draft. Despite enjoying great success with Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield last season, Slafkovsky has been moved down the depth chart at times this season and he scored four goals (plus 19 assists) in the first 40 games of the season. Since then, Slafkovsky has six points (4 G, 2 A) in eight games and looks a lot more like the power forward who finished last season with 35 points (16 G, 19 A) in his last 40 games.

#9 When the Nashville Predators struggled early in the season, there was concern that centre Tommy Novak wasn’t up to the task of providing much-needed secondary scoring, and he managed just nine points (5 G, 4 A) in his first 35 games. After that inauspicious start to the season, Novak has contributed seven points (3 G, 4 A) in his past five games, and is having some success skating with rookies Fedor Svechkov and Zachary L’Heureux.

#10 Buffalo Sabres left winger JJ Peterka enjoyed a terrific start to the season and then went through a slump in late November and early December, but he has rebounded with 21 points (6 G, 15 A) in his past 20 games, highlighted by his three-goal, one-assist performance in Tuesday’s win over Buffalo. More recently, the Sabres have been running Peterka on a line with rookie Jiri Kulich at centre and Tage Thompson on right wing. Kulich has nine points (5 G, 4 A) in his past 12 games. Thompson, who is more widely rostered than his linemates, has 26 points (14 G, 12 A) in his past 26 games.

#11 Marco Kasper was the eighth pick in the 2022 Draft by the Detroit Red Wings and he was offering an unremarkable rookie season, with seven points (2 G, 5 A) in his first 35 games. Moving up the depth chart has done wonders for the young skilled winger, and he has put up 12 points (7 G, 5 A) and 24 shots on goal in his past 11 games. With Patrick Kane injured, Kasper is skating on the Red Wings’ top line, with Dylan Larkin and Lucas Raymond, as well as playing on Detroit’s first power play unit. Given their success, the trio might need to stay together even when Kane returns.

#12 The Toronto Maple Leafs do not get great production out of their defencemen, as Morgan Rielly is Toronto’s highest scoring blueliner with 22 points (3 G, 19 A) in 51 games. Just behind him, though, is veteran Oliver Ekman-Larsson, who has six points (1 G, 5 A) in his past five games, giving him 21 points for the season. Just as importantly, Ekman-Larsson is averaging more than 23 minutes of ice time per game in that stretch. The Maple Leafs run five forwards on their top power play unit, with Rielly and Ekman-Larsson on the second unit.

#13 Chicago Blackhawks rookie Frank Nazar was the 13th pick in the 2022 Draft and was tearing up the AHL this season with 24 points (11 G, 13 A) in 21 games and when the Blackhawks made a coaching change, they promoted Nazar shortly thereafter. While he did not have immediate success, there have been signs of progress. He has five points (2 G, 3 A) in his past eight games and is now skating on Connor Bedard’s wing on Chicago’s top line.

#14 Seattle Kraken winger Jared McCann has been one their most productive players since the expansion draft, scoring 110 goals and 221 points to lead the franchise. While McCann has been more of a goal scorer as he has emerged as a legitimate offensive threat, he has turned playmaker lately. In his past 13 games, McCann has 12 points (1 G, 11 A) and 17 shots on goal. That low shot total needs to improve because while McCann is not usually a high-volume shooter, 1.3 shots on goal per game is not the stuff of consistent top line scorers.

#15 As the Carolina Hurricanes appear to have pushed their chips all in for this season, there is an opportunity for centre Jesperi Kotkaniemi to fulfill a supporting role. Carolina’s addition of Taylor Hall offers the possibility that Kotkaniemi could have more skill on his wings and Kotkaniemi has produced six points (4 G, 2 A) in his past six games. After scoring 27 points in 79 games last season, Kotkaniemi has already chipped in 25 points (10 G, 15 A) in 52 games this season, so he is developing, even if it might be at a slower pace than the ‘Canes might have initially hoped.

#16 Mammoth Washington Capitals winger Aliaksei Protas is enjoying a breakthrough season and is thriving with a six-game point streak, during which he has seven points (3 G, 4 A) and 11 shots on goal. Protas has not been a huge shot generator, so he has been dependent on a shooting percentage of 23.3 percent to score 21 goals in 51 games. His 20 even-strength goals is tied for fifth in the league, behind only Leon Draisaitl (26), Mark Scheifele (22), William Nylander (22), and Tage Thompson (21).

#17 Los Angeles Kings netminder Darcy Kuemper has enjoyed some excellent seasons in his career but he had injury problems when he was with Washington last season, and it was hard to know whether he would be able to bounce back as a 34-year-old goaltender. Saskatoon native Kuemper has been excellent for the Kings, and since the calendar turned to 2025, he has a .938 save percentage in 10 games. Kuemper has 9.65 goals saved above expected this season, which ranks 10th in the NHL, a level of play that the Kings did not have much right to expect.

#18 The Washington Capitals started the season with a goaltending tandem of Charles Lindgren and Logan Thompson and that duo has helped the Capitals to the league’s best record. While there was an even split in the crease for a good portion of the season, Lindgren missed some time with injury, and it allowed Thompson to emerge as the No. 1 option between the pipes for Washington. In his past dozen starts, Thompson has a record of 11-0-1 while posting a .949 save percentage. He earned a six-year, $35.1 million contract extension, nice work for the former USports goaltender.

#19 Veteran Anaheim Ducks goaltender John Gibson is getting a steady diet of starts in the Anaheim net, perhaps showcasing him for a potential trade. Lukas Dostal has played well, establishing himself as the Ducks’ goaltender of the future, and possibly the present, but in his past 11 appearances, Gibson has a .922 save percentage. That kind of performance should help to make Gibson more appealing to a playoff contender that is looking for an upgrade in goal and a move to a team that is more likely to win would certainly improve Gibson’s fantasy value.

#20 Dallas Stars standout defenceman Miro Heiskanen is considered week-to-week with a lower-body injury, suffered following an unusual hit from Vegas Golden Knights captain Mark Stone. Heiskanen will miss the 4 Nations Face-Off, and his absence from the Stars lineup will be every bit as challenging as it will be for Team Finland to be without the rock steady blueliner. With Heiskanen out, Thomas Harley should see more time on the power play. Only three of Harley’s 23 points this season have come via the man advantage.

*Advanced stats via Natural Stat Trick

NHL: DADOUN – THE FANTASY WEEK AHEAD – Nashville Resurgence, Rantanen traded to Carolina, plus much more – Favourable schedules and players to target

McKeen's Hockey — Sat, 25 Jan 2025 15:16:30 +0000

NASHVILLE, TN - JANUARY 16: Nashville Predators forward Jonathan Marchessault (81) is shown during the NHL game between the Nashville Predators and Chicago Blackhawks, held on January 16, 2025, at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Danny Murphy/Icon Sportswire)

The best stories in sports are the comebacks that happen after a team has been written off. Two examples that spring to mind from recent history are the 2014-15 Ottawa Senators, who were 22-23-10 after a loss Feb. 16, putting them 10 points behind in the playoff race, only to go 21-3-3 the rest of the way to narrowly secure a postseason berth. Another is the 2018-19 St. Louis Blues, who were 16-19-4 on Jan. 5, which placed them last in the Western Conference, before going 29-9-5 the rest of the way to not only make the playoffs but win the Stanley Cup.

Is it possible we’ll have another one of those stories this year? Those stories are memorable because they’re rare, and you only need to look at the absurd records they needed down the stretch to illustrate why. Due in no small part to the consolation point for overtime/shootout losses, the standings tend to look closer than they truly are because closing even a small point gap is difficult.

That said, I can’t help but look at the Nashville Predators and wonder if there is still some hope. It’s probably a foolish thing to think and a take that will age like milk, but after a 7-16-6 start, Nashville began to stabilize and now the team seems to have hit its stride with its current five-game winning streak. The Predators are still just 18-22-7, so they’d have basically have to go the rest of the season without any more noteworthy slumps, but part of the reason that such a feat even seems remotely possible is because the veteran leadership that seemed lost in the early part of the season has settled in.

Steven Stamkos has 10 goals and 19 points across his past 19 appearances while Jonathan Marchessault has 10 goals and 26 points over the same 19-game span. They were signed over the summer to provide that kind of offense but were initially written off as poor decisions by GM Barry Trotz due to their extremely poor start to the campaign. Now it seems they were judged too harshly.

When you couple their success with Filip Forsberg (18 goals, 47 points), elite defenseman Roman Josi (nine goals, 35 points) and veteran center Ryan O'Reilly (13 goals, 27 points), you have a fairly strong offense, especially if any of Gustav Nyquist, Tommy Novak or Luke Evangelista (lower body) start to hit their stride. As it is, Nashville has ranked second in goals per game (3.47) dating back to Dec. 10. That’s in stark contrast to the Predators’ first 28 games where they were last in the league in that scoring category (2.18).

You could call this just a hot streak for the offense, and there’s probably an element of that, but given that we’re talking about players of this caliber, it might be something at least somewhat sustainable.

It’s not all rosy, though. The X-Factor is surprisingly goaltending. Ottawa’s run involved journeyman goaltender Andrew Hammond standing on his head, and the Blues got a similar story out of rookie Jordan Binnington.

Nashville shouldn’t need someone to come out of nowhere to shut down the opposing offense. The Predators already have Juuse Saros, who not that long ago was seen as one of the best goaltenders of this generation. This campaign, though, he’s struggled with an 11-18-6 record, 2.81 GAA and .901 save percentage in 36 appearances. Unlike the offense, Saros hasn’t stepped up -- he's 2-2-0 with a 3.42 GAA and an .860 save percentage across his past five outings.

That’s led to Justus Annunen starting a bit more often lately, but while the backup netminder has won his past four starts, he’s been inconsistent, allowing 10 goals on 105 shots (.905 save percentage) over that span.

Let’s assume Nashville needs a 95-point season to make the playoffs. That wouldn’t have been good enough last year, but for the sake of argument, let’s just pretend that’s what’s needed. Nashville would need another 52 points across its final 35 games, so for example, 26-9-0, or say, 23-6-6. Even a top-tier offense is unlikely to get them that kind of record down the stretch. Some of that’s going to have to come from the goalies stealing games, so until Saros or Annunen start heating up, it’s hard to imagine the comeback happening.

That said, if Stamkos and Marchessault could find their way back from unflattering starts, perhaps Saros can too?

Calgary Flames (Tue vs WAS, Thu vs ANA, Sat vs DET, Sun @ SEA)

Calgary wasn’t seen as a major contender going into the campaign. In fact, there was an argument to be made that the Flames would regress from their 38-39-5 record last season after trading away goaltender Jacob Markstrom over the summer. However, we’re clear past the halfway point of 2024-25 now, and the Flames are very much in the playoff race. The weakness for the Flames is they’ve struggled on the road (8-10-4), but they won’t have to concern themselves with that in the upcoming week. They’ll host the Capitals, Ducks, Red Wings and Kraken on Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday, respectively.

A big part of the reason why the Flames’ rebuild is ahead of schedule is 23-year-old goaltender Dustin Wolf. He got a taste of the NHL last year and was mixed at best, posting a 7-7-1 record, 3.16 GAA and .893 save percentage in 17 games. However, he’s filled the void left by Markstrom and then some in 2024-25 with his 17-7-2 record, 2.49 GAA and .918 save percentage in 26 starts. To put that into context, Wolf has already saved 13.3 goals above expected this season, per Moneypuck, which has almost caught up to the 13.7 goals saved above expected Markstrom provided for the Flames last campaign. Wolf also ranks eighth among goaltenders in that metric this season.

Wolf’s contributions are extra important because the rest of the team has underwhelmed. Calgary ranks 29th in goals per game (2.65) and 21st in xGA/60 (3.09). So, the team’s not generating much offense and the defense hasn’t been responsible enough to make an average goaltender look good -- just ask backup Dan Vladar, who is only slightly below average at minus-2.8 goals saved above expected, but due to the Flames’ defense has some rather unflattering numbers: a 3.03 GAA and an .889 save percentage.

Still, even if Wolf is the team’s clear MVP, it would be inaccurate to suggest that he’s the only player of value in Calgary. Jonathan Huberdeau might not be living up to his contract, but his 19 goals and 35 points through 46 outings make him the team’s offensive leader. Since a quiet stretch from Oct. 19-Nov. 29 in which Huberdeau had four goals and six points in 20 outings, the 31-year-old has been tremendous, supplying 12 goals and 23 points across 22 outings. If he can maintain anything close to that down the stretch, then there’s a decent chance he’ll be playing playoff hockey this year.

The 23-year-old Jakob Pelletier is also hot with three goals and six points across his past five appearances. It took him a while to get going -- he recorded a goal and five points over his first 15 games with Calgary this season -- but we’re getting a flash of what he’s capable of. He was selected with the No. 26 overall pick in the 2019 NHL Draft and has been dominant offensively at the AHL level, including three goals and 19 points in 20 contests this season.

Maybe Rory Kerins will also help them down the stretch. He’s 23 as well and has provided an incredible 21 goals and 34 points in 34 AHL games in 2024-25. Unlike Pelletier, Kerins was a late-round pick and even logged 38 games with ECHL Rapid City back in 2022-23. Kerins has risen, making his NHL debut Jan. 13 and recording four assists in five outings with the Flames so far. That said, he’s averaging just 12:14 of ice time, including a mere 6:57 on Thursday, so his role with Calgary is far from secure despite those early results. Monitor him, but don’t get too excited yet.

Colorado Avalanche (Tue @ NYI, Fri vs STL, Sun vs PHI)

The Avalanche has a solid 28-19-2 record, but they’ve merely treaded water lately, going 5-4-1 across their past 10 games. They’ll see if they can do better next week with a favorable schedule. The Avalanche will visit the Islanders on Tuesday before returning home to host St. Louis on Friday and Philadelphia on Sunday. Those adversaries are well behind the Avalanche in terms of points percentage.

I wrote this whole thing about Colorado’s situation with regard to Mikko Rantanen’s contract, and then the Avalanche traded him to Carolina in a three-team deal that also involved Chicago, which was shocking, to say the least. To be fair, there is logic to be found here. My now outdated discussion of the topic still serves as a decent overview of the challenge the Avalanche were facing pre-trade, so I’ll show it here for that purpose:

“Like Edmonton with Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid, Colorado also has the luxury of an elite one-two punch up front. The Avalanche version is headlined by Nathan MacKinnon, and the other half of the Avalanche’s duo is Mikko Rantanen, who has 25 goals and 64 points through 49 outings in 2024-25. Colorado has an issue that Edmonton recently went through, though: Rantanen is on the final season of his six-year, $55.5 million contract and can become an unrestricted free agent this summer. Rantanen has a real shot of reaching the 40-goal and 100-point milestones for the third consecutive year, so to say he’s due a big payday would be an understatement.

Finding a comparable is a little difficult. Draisaitl won the Hart Trophy in 2019-20, has collected at least 50 goals on three occasions and has also gotten at least 110 points three times, but Rantanen has never been a Hart finalist, has reached the 50-goal mark just once and he’s career high in points is 105, so it’s clear which one of them has a better resume. Still, if Draisaitl could ink an eight-year, $112 million ($14 million cap hit) contract back in September, perhaps Rantanen is thinking at least $12 million annually? Maybe even more? It might be awkward to give Rantanen something at or above Nathan MacKinnon’s eight-year, $100.8 million ($12.6 million cap hit) contract, but MacKinnon inked that back in 2022, and with the cap going up, so too will the payouts for top talent.”

So, you can see why the Avalanche might have opted to move Rantanen rather than lock him up, and there might even be more to this story that we’re not yet aware of. Perhaps the Avalanche presented Rantanen with a competitive offer, and he rejected that. To be clear, that’s purely just hypothetical, and I have no inside knowledge of the situation, so please take my wild speculation as fact, but in that scenario, this trade would make more sense from the Avalanche’s perspective.

That said, I don’t love the return from the Avalanche’s perspective. Colorado is getting Martin Necas and Jack Drury from the Avalanche, as well as some picks. Necas has never reached the 30-goal or 80-point marks, so he doesn’t have the same kind of resume as Rantanen, but Necas is younger at 26 and has done well this campaign with 16 goals and 55 points in 49 appearances. He’ll look good alongside Nathan MacKinnon. My problem with Necas as the return is his two-year, $13 million contract expires in 2026, and then Necas will be eligible for unrestricted free agency. So, if he performs over the next year and a half as the Avalanche hope, then to some extent they just kicked the problem down the road by a year. Granted, Necas probably won’t command what Rantanen did…but that’s only because he’s a downgrade. No offense to Necas -- 99.9 percent of the league is a downgrade to Rantanen -- but the Avalanche are in a win-now mode, so unless retaining Rantanen was completely off the table, this trade feels a little weird to me.

Perhaps I’m undervaluing Jack Drury, though. He has just nine points (three goals) in 39 appearances in 2024-25, but the 24-year-old probably has upside left in him, and the Avalanche will certainly benefit from the center depth. It would not be surprising to see Drury tried out on the third line behind MacKinnon and Casey Mittelstadt.

The Avalanche also got two picks out of the trade. Not a first-rounder, but maybe in five years or so, we’ll look at one of those draft picks as an underrated benefit of this deal.

Carolina Hurricanes (Tue @ NYR, Thu vs CHI, Sat vs. LAK)

The teams I highlight are based on a combination of how busy their schedule is for the upcoming week and how favorable those matchups are. Additionally, I will typically present the teams I’ve included in alphabetical order. I’m breaking both of those to include the Hurricanes. I think it’s worth discussing the fallout of the Rantanen trade from the Hurricanes’ perceptive, and it’s better to have that discussion after outlining what this deal means for Colorado. A little bit of housekeeping before we get into the trade talks: The Hurricanes will start next week with a road tilt against the Rangers on Tuesday before hosting the Blackhawks on Thursday and the Kings on Saturday. It’s not a bad schedule, it’s just not special either.

Now to the trade: In addition to Rantanen, the Hurricanes also acquired Taylor Hall from Chicago for the cost of Necas, Drury and draft picks. There was also retained salary in the deal to make the cap situation work.

It’ll be really interesting to see how this plays out for Carolina. Rantanen has never really been “the guy” before. He’s spent basically his entire NHL career to this point in MacKinnon’s shadow, but now Rantanen will be expected to drive the offense in Carolina. Not that he’ll have to do it alone. In fact, Rantanen is likely to get some great linemates in Sebastian Aho (15 goals, 49 points) and Andrei Svechnikov (15 goals, 34 points). There’s every reason to believe that trio will mesh together.

There’s also reason to be optimistic about Carolina retaining Rantanen beyond this campaign. Sure, the Hurricanes’ attempt to lock down Jake Guentzel after acquiring him from Pittsburgh during the 2023-24 campaign ultimately failed, leading to Guentzel instead signing with Tampa Bay over the summer, but Carolina is set to be in a fantastic cap position for 2025-26. Dmitry Orlov ($7.75 million cap hit) and Brent Burns ($5.28 million) are both set to come off the books. Orlov will likely take a big pay cut if he stays at all. It’s not clear if Burns will play beyond this season, but if he does, it’ll likely be at a reduced salary too.

Carolina also doesn’t have any expiring players due for big paydays beyond Rantanen himself. Meanwhile, Puck Pedia is projecting them with $31.2 million in cap space for next season, albeit with just 13 roster spots filled. There is reason to believe the Hurricanes can meet Rantanen’s demands, even if he’s eyeing something close to what Draisaitl got.

What happens with Rantanen will go a long way towards defining how this trade is viewed, but adding Hall as well in the trade is interesting. He’s been middling this campaign with nine goals and 24 points in 46 appearances with the Blackhawks while averaging a modest 14:59 of ice time. It’s a far cry from what the 33-year-old did in his prime, but he might do better now that he’s on a contender. Hall will probably end up serving on the second line alongside some combination of Seth Jarvis (18 goals, 38 points), Jesperi Kotkaniemi (10 goals, 23 points) and Jackson Blake (11 goals, 16 points).

The Hurricanes’ overall offense has been good -- they rank fifth with 3.37 goals per game – but their scoring depth does leave something to be desired, especially if Carolina does go with that stacked top line of Svechnikov-Aho-Rantanen, so even a decent showing out of Hall would be a big boost.

Carolina likely doesn’t have any room left to make anymore notable additions before the trade deadline, but as it is, the Hurricanes do look like serious contenders.

New York Islanders (Tue vs COL, Thu @ PHI, Sat @ TBL, Sun @ FLA)

It might be premature to assume that the Islanders will miss the playoffs in 2024-25 for just the second time in seven years, but the team certainly has a hole to dig out of. They’ll attempt to better their situation next week, which will start with a home game against the Avalanche on Tuesday. The Islanders will then hit the road to play in Philadelphia on Thursday, Tampa Bay on Saturday and Florida on Sunday. It’s a tough schedule to be sure, but the Islanders are running out of margin for error, so they need to find a way to win difficult matches.

The Islanders inked Tony DeAngelo to a one-year contract Friday, which is…a choice. He’s been bought out twice at the NHL level, which led to him joining the KHL, but DeAngelo only served in 34 games with St. Petersburg SKA before his contract was mutually terminated. He’s questionable in his own end and seems to be a lightning rod for controversy. Still, for as much as there’s a reason why teams keep souring on him, there is also a cause for the infinite number of “second” chances he’s gotten.

DeAngelo, under the right circumstances, can be very effective when the puck is on his stick. He has surpassed the 40-point mark three times at the NHL level and had six goals and 32 points in 34 KHL outings before parting ways with SKA. So, for all the negatives he comes with, at least the 29-year-old has that going for him.

A team in a good spot probably wouldn’t bother with DeAngelo given the baggage, but the Islanders are 28th in goals per game with 2.66 and have lost Noah Dobson to a lower-body injury. Dobson is week-to-week after sustaining the injury Monday. He’s a vital part of the Islanders, and while DeAngelo isn’t a good enough blueliner to fully replace Dobson, one part of that void that DeAngelo likely can fill is the offensive loss. DeAngelo might only serve on the third pairing, but he will likely feature on the top power-play unit and could have fantasy value if that’s his role. His fantasy value will be even higher in leagues that include PIM as a category because he tends to end up in the sin bin a fair amount.

Under ideal circumstances, DeAngelo’s inclusion might even offer a boost to Anders Lee, Bo Horvat and Mathew Barzal, who will presumably share the ice with him on the power play. The Islanders are dead last in power-play conversions at just 12.2 percent, which has been a drag on the overall offensive output of the Islanders’ top forwards. If DeAngelo can help make the Islanders’ power play even remotely close to average, then that would add up meaningfully for all involved.

Of course, all this is assuming a favorable outcome, which is always a risky thing to believe in when it comes to DeAngelo. At the time of writing, his inclusion on the Islanders isn’t guaranteed. Though the contract has been signed, he needs to clear waivers before he can play for the Islanders. I wouldn’t bet on another team claiming him, but then again, I didn’t anticipate this move from New York, and yet, here we are.

Philadelphia Flyers (Mon vs NJD, Wed @ NJD, Thu vs NYI, Sun @ COL)

The Flyers missed out on the playoffs for the fourth consecutive year in 2024, but at least they managed to stay in contention for most of the campaign. They’d like to do one better this year and secure a Wild Card spot, but there’s a lot of competition for those two seeds, so every game is that much more important. The Flyers will start the week with a home-and-away series against the Devils on Monday and Wednesday before hosting the Islanders on Thursday. Philadelphia will conclude its weekly schedule in Colorado on Sunday.

Goaltending has been a recurring issue for Philadelphia this season. Samuel Ersson is just too inconsistent, leading to a 14-8-2 record, 2.80 GAA and .891 save percentage in 26 appearances. Ivan Fedotov is no better, though, at 4-6-3 with a 3.25 GAA and an .880 save percentage in 14 starts.

The tragedy is that the Flyers are actually a really good defensive team, locked in a four-way tie for sixth in xGA/60 (2.85). The problem is purely the goaltenders. Ersson ranks 83rd among all netminders in goals allowed above expected at minus-8.8, per Moneypuck. The only netminders worse in that category with at least 20 games played are Petr Mrazek, Tristan Jarry, Alexandar Georgiev and Philipp Grubauer. One of those (Jarry) was sent to the minors due to his play while Mrazek and Georgiev are playing for rebuilding squads in Chicago and San Jose. In other words, it’s unflattering company for Ersson.

The Flyers offense isn’t great, but it’s decent. Travis Konecny (21 goals, 56 points) is doing his best to push the team into contention. He’s also been particularly productive recently, supplying five goals and 15 points across his past 13 appearances.

Owen Tippett is benefiting from playing alongside Konecny. The 25-year-old Tippett has three goals and six points over his last eight games, giving him 14 goals and 30 points in 50 outings overall. That duo doesn’t combine to create a top line that will turn heads, but it does the job well enough.

The Flyers are hoping that Matvei Michkov might eventually headline a unit of his own, but the rookie has been streaky. That’s pretty common for a young forward. You just need to keep an eye out and bench him during the down patches. We might be entering one right now -- he has been held off the scoresheet in each of his past two games after supplying two goals and five points across six outings from Jan. 11-21.

Pittsburgh Penguins (Mon @ SJS, Wed @ UTA, Sat vs NSH)

Like the Islanders and Flyers, Pittsburgh is on the outside looking in on the Wild Card race but is still in the running. The Penguins will play in San Jose on Monday and Utah on Wednesday before returning home to host the Predators on Saturday. The Sharks and Predators own two of the worst records in the league, so Pittsburgh needs to pick up points during that stretch if the Penguins are going to convince GM Kyle Dubas that this team can make a serious playoff push this year.

And make no mistake: Dubas likely needs some convincing. RG.org claims to have a source that Pittsburgh is willing to trade anyone other than Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Bryan Rust, Philip Tomasino and Owen Pickering. The source was also asked about Kris Letang, and they weren’t sure about him.

Erik Karlsson stands out as the biggest player not ruled out. The Penguins would likely need to retain salary -- his cap hit is $11.5 million annually through 2026-27, but the Sharks are already retaining $1.5 million, bringing the current hit to Pittsburgh down to $10 million -- but as long as Pittsburgh is willing to do that, the return could be fairly nice. Although he’s 34 years old, he’s been effective this campaign with four goals and 32 points in 50 outings.

One potential sticking point is that he has a no-movement clause. He already waived it once to move from San Jose to Pittsburgh, but presumably, there would only be certain teams he’d be willing to play for. The fun destination from a fan perspective would be a return to the Senators, but that would be difficult to make work from a cap perspective. Maybe Calgary or Columbus? The Flames and Blue Jackets are teams trending in the right direction who also have plenty of cap space. Perhaps they’d value his veteran leadership in addition to what he brings to the table on the ice. Columbus’ defense already looks fairly solid and is led by a phenomenal offensive defenseman in Zach Werenski, so I don’t know that the Blue Jackets are a great fit. Karlsson would likely provide a meaningful boost to the Flames, though.

Of course, if you're Crosby or Malkin, you’re still going to be clinging onto the hope of making the playoffs this year, so these upcoming games are extremely high stakes for them. Rust is dealing with a lower-body injury, which does complicate things, but if Rust ends up missing time, then you’ll probably see Anthony Beauvillier play with one of those highly motivated superstars.

Seattle Kraken (Mon @ EDM, Tue vs ANA, Thu vs SJS, Sun vs CGY)

Seattle will begin its weekly schedule with what’s likely to be a difficult matchup in Edmonton on Monday. However, the Kraken will then return home to host Anaheim on Tuesday, San Jose on Thursday and Calgary on Sunday. The Ducks and Sharks have struggled this campaign, so those are favorable matchups for the Kraken.

I briefly touched on Philip Grubauer above in the context of how bad he’s been this campaign -- and really for a while now. He has a 3.09 GAA and an .890 save percentage in 150 games since joining Seattle. His six-year, $35.4 million deal, which started in 2021-22, has been such a waste for the Kraken.

On the plus side, the Kraken have Joey Daccord, who has a 16-11-2 record, 2.47 GAA and .915 save percentage in 31 appearances in 2024-25. He could certainly use more offensive support, though.

Jared McCann leads the Kraken with 14 goals and 36 points in 49 appearances this season. That puts him outside of the NHL’s top 75 in the scoring race. Seattle also doesn’t employ any of the 32 players who have reached the 20-goal milestone. Jaden Schwartz is the closest at 16. A lack of big-name talent up front is really hurting this team.

Maybe Matty Beniers will still fill that void, but he’s been a mixed bag. He was Seattle’s first-ever draft pick -- the No. 2 overall selection in 2021 -- and he seemed to be on the fast track after supplying three goals and nine points in 10 NHL outings in 2021-22 followed by 24 goals and 57 points in 80 appearances last season. However, he took a big step back last year, dipping to 37 points, and he hasn’t rebounded much this campaign with 10 goals and 26 points in 49 appearances. He’s still just 22 years old, so there’s plenty of time for him to find his way, but it’s looking less and less likely that this year will be a positive for him.

Another former No. 2 pick seems to have found his way with Seattle, though. Since being acquired from the Rangers on Feb. 18, Kaapo Kakko has four goals and 13 points in 16 outings, giving the Kraken some of that offensive prowess they’ve desperately needed. He’s been averaging 16:50 of ice time in Seattle, which is up from 13:17 with the Rangers -- he had four goals and 14 points in 30 contests before the trade -- which goes a long way toward explaining his production jump.

There never seemed to be much of a role for Kakko in New York, so this change of scenery is probably exactly what he needed. Although his scoring pace might dip somewhat, he should continue to do well with Seattle.

Vancouver Canucks (Mon @ STL, Wed @ NSH, Fri @ DAL, Sun @ DET)

The Canucks have been a mess on and off the ice lately. Will things get any better for them or will the descent continue next week? They’ll start on the road with games in St. Louis on Monday, Nashville on Wednesday and Dallas on Friday. Vancouver will then host the Red Wings on Sunday.

There’s been plenty of speculation about the Canucks potentially moving one of Elias Pettersson or J.T. Miller for off-ice reasons. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported that the Hurricanes were considering acquiring one of those star forwards before opting to instead get Rantanen from Colorado, per Brendan Batchelor of Sportsnet 650. Carolina is likely out as a destination now, but it wouldn’t be surprising to see Vancouver still trade one of Miller or Pettersson. The Rangers have been brought up before as a potential destination, so maybe there’s still something to be had there.

Perhaps because this has been distracting them, Vancouver has been in free fall, going 6-10-6 since Dec. 8. Miller had a five-game scoring drought from Jan. 8-16, but he’s otherwise remained effective, collecting eight goals and 33 points in 37 outings this campaign. It’s still far behind his regular-season production from 2023-24 (37 goals, 103 points), but at least he’s providing close to a point-per-game.

Pettersson hasn’t given anything close to that lately. He has just three goals and four points across his past 14 appearances. That slump has undermined a strong start to the campaign, leaving him with 11 goals and 30 points in 41 outings overall. He’ll probably bounce back eventually, but his slump is certainly part of the reason for the Canucks’ decline.

Thatcher Demko isn’t helping either, though. Since making his season debut Dec. 10 after returning from a knee injury, he has a 3-5-3 record, 3.47 GAA and .867 save percentage in 12 games. Some rust is to be expected after missing the opening months of the season, but he’s showing no signs of improvement, going 1-3-0 with a 4.03 GAA and an .833 save percentage across his past four outings. Kevin Lankinen is far from a sure thing either, but he’s been the better option with his 16-8-6 record, 2.63 GAA and .903 save percentage in 30 appearances.

It's unfortunate because Demko has shown in the past that he can be an elite netminder, and Vancouver could certainly use the help right now. As it is, though, about the only positive in Vancouver is that Quinn Hughes is still Quinn Hughes with 12 goals and 52 points in 43 appearances, including four goals and 10 points across his past nine outings.

Hughes just needs other stars to go back to living up to their names as well.

2024 NHL PLAYOFF PREVIEW- New York Rangers vs. Carolina Hurricanes

Corey Sznajder — Sat, 04 May 2024 13:40:37 +0000

NEW YORK, NY - NOVEMBER 02: New York Rangers Center Mika Zibanejad (93) in action during the National Hockey League game between the Carolina Hurricanes and the New York Rangers on November 2, 2023, at Madison Square Garden in New York, NY. (Photo by Joshua Sarner/Icon Sportswire)

While not considered fierce rivals, there is no love lost between the Hurricanes and Rangers. They’ve had their battles over the years, meeting in the playoffs for the second time in three years with no shortage of ex-teammates on both rosters. The Rangers got the better of the matchup in their last playoff meeting, blowing out Carolina 6-2 on the road in Game 7. The series followed a familiar script of the Hurricanes owning the shot clock but being unable to score on the power play or finish their chances at even strength, a problem that was magnified when they had to play from behind.

Two years have gone by and there’s been some changes on both sides. Vincent Trocheck has gone from Carolina’s second line to the Rangers top line, The Hurricanes presumably have their starting goaltender Frederik Andersen healthy, Brent Burns is on their top pair instead of Tony DeAngelo and both teams are bringing deeper rosters to the table bolstered by the trade deadline. The main players are still here, though and the CliffNotes summary of both teams is similar to what it was then.

Carolina is still that heavy shot volume team that is going to wear you down on the forecheck and struggle to finish while the Rangers still rely on some quick-strike offense backed by a lethal power play and lean on goaltender Igor Shesterkin when they need to. Both clubs have made some improvements since 2021, though. Peter Laviolette has cleaned up the Rangers defensive play so they’re less reliant on their goaltending to steal games and their offense is more versatile compared to the counter-attack dependent team they were under Gerard Gallant. Carolina is also less of a one-trick pony with how they create their offense, showing some more patience with letting plays develop off the rush instead of firing every puck at the net. They also have a new toy in winger Jake Guentzel, who gives them a top line that can potentially matchup with the Rangers firepower.

Both made quick work of their first-round matchups, so what’s new about the Rangers and Carolina in 2023?

The Matchup:

Again, the look of these teams is similar to what it was in 2022, except Laviolette has cleaned up the Rangers play in the defensive zone, as they’re a much better team at getting through an aggressive forecheck now. It’s an interesting style matchup at even strength because Carolina doesn’t give up much off the rush and it’s borderline impossible to create anything against them on the forecheck. They aren’t the cleanest team with exiting the zone and will blindly throw the puck into the neutral zone at times, but they’re still one of the best teams at recovering the puck and at least making things a deadlock at even strength.

How this plays out in a series will depend on the sequence of a game. If Carolina gets a lead, they should be set (although their Game 5 against the Islanders suggests otherwise) while the Rangers can do enough things to frustrate them if the Canes are playing from behind. The one area off the rush where they’re the most prone is counterattacks from the defensive zone, which usually happens when Carolina is pushing for offense late and the Rangers are good enough off the rush to capitalize on these opportunities.

Both teams scored at a similar rate at five-on-five during the regular season (2.56 goals per 60 for Carolina vs. 2.5 for NYR), even though most would consider the Rangers the better finishing team. They have the best forward between both teams (Artemi Panarin) and their passing gives them an edge in all situations, but some of the plays that Panarin and Zibanejad like to create aren’t going to be open unless Carolina gets really careless with the puck or their defensive coverage, so this could be a tight series at five-on-five. That said, Rangers are setup to be a tough team to come back against because they can either force Carolina into playing more of a rush game, which they are excellent at countering against, or forcing them to play a safer, dump-and-chase style of game where they get 30+ shots with 90% of them being of the low-percentage variety.

Why The Rangers Will Win

The easiest way to pick the Rangers is to go down the three major positions and choose who the best player is. Most are probably picking Panarin, Adam Fox and Shesterkin for forward, defenseman and goalie respectively and it’s hard to argue against that. Panarin didn’t exactly light up the scoresheet in the first round against the Caps, but it’s hard to say that he didn’t look dangerous whenever he was out there. It’s hard for any stars to dominate in the playoffs, especially this season, so you just need them to have enough shifts where they can takeover a game. Panarin did that enough against Washington to put the Caps away and he’s still one of the best passers in the league, arguably the best at threading the needle to go east-west with the puck. You could have the best game plan in the world and Panarin is good enough to make that irrelevant in two seconds.

Fox is in a similar boat to Panarin, as he didn’t have his usual star-level production, but he’s still an auto-breakout for the Rangers and will be a thorn in the Hurricanes side when they try to get their forecheck going. Despite the two points, he was impactful in the Washington series, leading the team in zone exits with nine and only turning the puck over once. The Rangers also successfully exited the zone on 16 of his 23 retrievals, which puts him at an elite level when it comes to starting exits. What helps this year is he’s not on an island anymore. New York switching Braden Schneider to the second pair in place of Jacob Trouba really helped stabilize some of the Ranger’s issues with turnovers. Scheider is still young and has issues with dealing with forecheck pressure, but the Rangers are getting the puck out more than they give it away.

The defensive style they played under Gallant was frustrating for the Hurricanes to deal with even if it wasn’t pretty. They didn’t advance a lot of pucks and instead basically gave it back to Carolina where they were immediately pressured into a bad shot that Shesterkin could easily handle or moved the play along the wall where another puck battle would start. Under Laviolette, they’re doing a better job of moving the puck forward and pushing the play from the defensive zone. This could turn some 2-1 games into 3-1 or make Carolina’s aggressive defense back off at the line if they get burned. They can still play the new style, but they’ve learned some new tricks and can try things out until Carolina proves they can score at five-on-five.

This is where the other advantage is on paper, or at least in theory. Shesterkin was a major problem for Carolina two years ago and has given them trouble this year, shutting the Canes out in their last meeting back in March. He is coming off a down season for his standards, but he’s still the type you would expect to turn it on when the games get tougher. His playing style is also a nightmare for the Hurricanes because of how much they normally rely on rebounds, deflections and close-range changes. He’s very quick to drop down and take away anything that you can’t elevate, and it usually takes a great shot, a lucky bounce or perfect timing to beat him. This is where you’d hope the investment in Jake Guentzel pays off if you’re Carolina, as he’s someone who can elevate the puck from close range, but even he scored only one goal in the first round, and it was into an empty net. There’s a lot Carolina needs to go right for them to advance in this series.

This isn’t even getting into the home ice advantage factor. Madison Square Garden has been a house of horrors for the Canes in recent history, they’ve won only four out of their last 23 games there, which includes a 16-game losing streak that lasted over the span of seven seasons. Carolina has moved on from that, winning their last game at MSG 6-1, but home ice played a role in their last series with both teams taking the first three games on their turf until New York won Game 7 in Raleigh. We’ll see if the MSG hex plays a factor again.

Why The Hurricanes Will Win

The Hurricanes’ success will depend on if their forwards can make their shots, if their power play clicks and if Freddie Andersen holds strong in net. They had some of that going for them in their series against the Islanders. Their power play struck in four out of five games and has a lot of different weapons they can turn to. Guentzel might not be making an impact on the scoresheet, but him in the bumper spot is what makes it go. Whether it’s directing traffic or drawing defenders in front of the net, he makes Sebastian Aho and Seth Jarvis’ lives a whole lot easier. Carolina is hoping he will see more of a reward for it on the scoresheet this round, as converting on those close-range chances is going to be key. Their second unit isn’t too bad either and could play a factor as they start to eat into some of the Rangers more tired skaters on the second half of the penalty kill.

If Carolina has a depth advantage, it’s on the wings. They split up their top line of Guentzel-Aho-Jarvis in Game 2, replacing Jarvis with Andrei Svechnikov and it helped both parties. Svechnikov and Jarvis are their best bet to have one of their forwards breakout against Shesterkin. Jarvis can pick a corner if he gets room and Svechnikov brings a dual threat that most of their other forwards don’t have, showing off some terrific playmaking skill in the opening round. The defense probably shouldn’t be overlooked here either, as Burns, Skjei, Orlov and even Chatfield are always a threat to contribute offensively. All four have heavy shots and will jump into the play if the opportunity presents itself. Washington had to activate their defense to get anything off the rush against the Rangers and the script will probably be similar for Carolina.

The Canes defense is the bedrock of their team after all. As stated earlier, they don’t give up a lot and this is the deepest they’ve ever been, especially if they get Brett Pesce back. Dmitry Orlov on your third pair is a luxury most teams would kill to have and Jalen Chatfield’s going to a more known player in a couple months when he hits free agency. His mobility is a great asset to have with how much man-to-man defending Carolina does and it should limit how much the Rangers can create off the cycle. If Carolina can limit the rush play and shutdown the Rangers when they try to regroup on entries, they should be in good shape because New York is very deliberate with how they play off the cycle. Carolina’s aggressive defensive zone coverage makes that a tough matchup, so there’s the potential for them to make the Rangers dependent on special teams if they can’t make any adjustments. Getting Pesce back for the series would make this easier for Carolina, though.

Special teams are going to be the ultimate struggle in this series. Carolina’s power play is running hot and so is the Rangers penalty kill, even scoring a shorthanded goal against the Caps. Carolina also has a top ranked penalty kill and the Rangers power play is going to be a huge test for them. They threw a few different looks against the Caps, moving Trocheck around the zone to get him open in the slot while Washington’s PK sold out to block the cross-seam pass. Carolina’s penalty kill isn’t going to let Panarin and Fox dance around the zone as easily, but it only takes one misread for them to make you look silly. Still, the Hurricanes penalty killers are a disciplined group. They like to pressure you, but their main job is to give the goaltender just the shooter to worry about instead of a screen, a rebound or an extra pass.

Of course, some of this comes down to the star players, namely Sebastian Aho. He’s never had a bad playoff series objectively and he is Mr. Do-It All for Carolina. There is just another level you expect him to reach if he’s going to carry the Hurricanes through a playoff series where the other team has more “star” players. He does a lot for the team, playing on both special teams units and is the catalyst for most of their offense. You just want to see him (or anyone) take over a game when they need a spark. We’ve seen it in the first round plenty of times, including this year, now he just needs to get over the hump.

2022 NHL PLAYOFFS: CAROLINA VS. BOSTON – Goaltending key in defensive battle that should be a close, grinding series

Scott Cullen — Sun, 01 May 2022 14:04:12 +0000

BOSTON, MA - FEBRUARY 10: Carolina Hurricanes center Sebastian Aho (20) looks in front during a game between the Boston Bruins and the Carolina Hurricanes on February 10, 2022 at TD garden in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Fred Kfoury III/Icon Sportswire)

CAROLINA vs. BOSTON

The Hurricanes won the Metropolitan Division, and they still have to face a quality Bruins team that has had some inconsistency throughout the season but finished strong and should be as lively as any underdog in the first round.

This series figures to be a low-scoring defensive battle, a style that both teams have used to thrive down the stretch.

Forwards

Although the Carolina Hurricanes have a solid group of forwards, they do not have the most explosive bunch. Sebastian Aho, Evgeny Svechnikov, and Teuvo Teravainen are highly skilled, productive players and are reliable leaders. The supporting cast has quality pieces but has limits on its offensive upside. Vincent Trocheck and Jordan Staal are strong middle-six pivots and wingers are all capable contributors. Carolina’s depth is a strong point, as Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Martin Necas, Nino Niederreiter, Seth Jarvis, and Jesper Fast Max Domi can offer more than standard fourth-line contributions. The takeaway is that the Hurricanes are not positioned to run up the score; it is more like score enough and control play, so the opposition does not have the chance to get back into the game.

The Bruins seem to have found a few answers down the stretch, moving Jake DeBrusk to the right wing alongside Brad Marchand and Patrice Bergeron on the top line. That trio has controlled 68.6% of 5v5 shot attempts and 72.1% of expected goals, which is utterly ridiculous. Bergeron has been outstanding all season, no matter who is on his wing, and he will be vital to any Boston success in the series. Another spot that has been filled for the Bruins is that of second line center, with Erik Haula ending up between Taylor Hall and David Pastrnak. Moving Pastrnak off the top line has provided more balance for the Bruins but the challenge will be whether they can get reliable enough performance from third and fourth lines that are not so impressive.

Defense

Carolina is such a well-rounded team that virtually every defense pairing they roll out ends up on the right side of the puck possession ledger. Jaccob Slavin and Brett Pesce have been recognized as high-quality defenders, after spending the early years of their careers described as underrated, and they each anchor a pairing; Slavin with Tony DeAngelo and Pesce with Brady Skjei. Add in Ian Cole and Ethan Bear on the third pair and it is no coincidence that the Hurricanes allowed the lowest rate of shot attempts during 5v5 play and lowest goals against per 60 minutes in all situations this season.

Boston’s defensive record is impressive, too. Since the trade deadline, when they acquired Hampus Lindholm from the Anaheim Ducks, the Bruins rank second in the league in rate of 5v5 shot attempts against, expected goals against, and goals against per 60 minutes. Charlie McAvoy has emerged as one of the premier defensemen in the game and beyond McAvoy and Lindholm there is a mix of puck movers, like Matt Grzelcyk and Mike Reilly, as well as big bodies, like Brandon Carlo and Derek Forbort. Considering how effective the Bruins and Hurricanes have been when it comes to shot suppression, this is effectively a battle between shutdown teams.

Goaltending

Frederik Andersen had a wonderful bounce-back season in his first year with the Hurricanes, but a late-season lower-body injury puts his status in doubt for at least the start of the series. Antti Raanta has been a quality backup and should be a competent replacement, but questionable goaltending does have the potential to be a problem for Carolina.

Boston has been running the tandem of Linus Ullmark and Jeremy Swayman and both have been above league average this season but neither has been a star performer. That could be part of the reason to expect that both Boston goalies will have a chance to play against Carolina.

Special Teams

Boston’s power play was around league average over the entire season but that includes a 0-for-40 stretch late in the season. They have the personnel – Marchand, Bergeron, Pastrnak, Hall, and McAvoy – that should be better than merely average.

The Hurricanes have been better than average with the man advantage so that might offer a slight edge on the Bruins.

While the Bruins have been better than average on the penalty kill, allowing 6.33 goals per 60 minutes of 4v5 play, the Hurricanes have the best penalty killing in the league, allowing the lowest rates of shot attempts, shots, goals, and expected goals during 4v5 play and by a substantial margin in each category. Given the importance of power plays in a short series, Carolina’s penalty killing could be a difference maker.

Conclusion

The Hurricanes play a sound structural game and while they might not put up eye-popping offensive numbers, their ability to shutdown the opposition will present a challenge for the Bruins. Goaltending is a concern in any playoff series, especially if a team is missing its starter, and that might be the path that leads to a Bruins upset, but this series should be a grind, a close and competitive grind. Hurricanes in 7.

CULLEN: 20 FANTASY POINTS – Oilers power play in a league of its own – Sillinger, Terry, Mangiapane, Getzlaf and more

Scott Cullen — Thu, 04 Nov 2021 14:51:31 +0000

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

In this week’s edition of 20 Fantasy Points, the Oilers power play is in a league of its own, Cole Sillinger, Troy Terry, Andrew Mangiapane, and Ryan Getzlaf are among the players off to encouraging starts to the season.

EDMONTON, AB - MARCH 18: Edmonton Oilers Center Connor McDavid (97) in action in the third period during the Edmonton Oilers game versus the Winnipeg Jets on March 18, 2021 at Rogers Place in Edmonton, AB. (Photo by Curtis Comeau/Icon Sportswire)

#1 The Edmonton Oilers power play is wrecking the league. This is not new, as the Oilers have the most productive 5-on-4 results across the past three seasons, scoring 9.45 goals per 60 minutes. This season they are scoring 19.03 goals per 60 minutes of 5-on-4 play. The St. Louis Blues (16.62) are the only other team scoring more than 12 goals per 60 during 5-on-4 play. This is unsustainably ridiculous but when it has already been established as the league’s best power play, they are probably going to continue to put up great results.

#2 Among those to play at least 10 minutes during 5-on-4 play this season (it’s early!), Connor McDavid leads the way with 16.68 points/60. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (13.39) is seventh. Zach Hyman (12.54) is ninth. Leon Draisaitl is all the way down at 20^th (10.98). Even if these early results are unsustainably great, the prolific nature of the Edmonton power play does bode well for players like Nugent-Hopkins and Hyman.

#3 Hyman, in particular, is reaping early rewards from his role on the Oilers power play. He has 6.70 individual expected goals per 60 minutes during 5-on-4 play, which is far and away the best rate in the league. The rest of the top five includes: Matthew Tkachuk (3.87), Leon Draisaitl (3.77), Reilly Smith (3.77), and Josh Norris (3.76). Connor McDavid is sixth (3.63).

#4 The job just keeps getting more challenging in Pittsburgh. Sidney Crosby and Brian Dumoulin have landed in Covid-19 protocol after Crosby had played just one game following offseason wrist surgery. A player to watch in Pittsburgh could be rookie Drew O’Connor, who has five points (3 G, 2 A) in seven games but ranks fourth in points/60 (4.30) and 19^th in shots/60 (12.05). That is a super small sample for a player who does not have an illustrious track record as a scorer, but O’Connor did produce 19 points (7 G, 12 A) in 20 AHL games last season during his first pro campaign, so he may have at least a little offensive upside.

#5 Columbus Blue Jackets rookie centre Cole Sillinger had a goal and an assist in his first eight NHL games then put up two goals and an assist in Wednesday’s overtime win against Colorado. One reason to be intrigued by Sillinger’s ability to generate offense? Among the 212 forwards that have played at least 100 5-on-5 minutes, Sillinger ranks fifth with 13.95 shots/60, behind Blake Coleman (16.76), Vladimir Tarasenko (14.76), Jeff Skinner (14.35), and Logan O’Connor (14.31).

#6 Anaheim Ducks right winger Troy Terry failed to record a point in Anaheim’s first game of the season. In the nine games since then, Terry has 12 points (7 G, 5 A) and 21 shots on goal, recording a point in each of those nine games. He has already tied his career high with seven goals, the same total he had last season in 48 games. Terry has also played more than 21 minutes in two of the past three games, so his production is getting rewarded.

VANCOUVER, BC - MAY 18: Calgary Flames left wing Andrew Mangiapane (88) skates with the puck during their NHL game against the Vancouver Canucks at Rogers Arena on May 18, 2021 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. (Photo by Derek Cain/Icon Sportswire)

#7 With seven goals in nine games this season, Calgary Flames winger Andrew Mangiapane has scored 25 goals in 65 games since the start of last season, shooting a lofty 22.5%. That shooting percentage is not likely to last but since the start of last season there have been 323 forwards to play at least 500 5-on-5 minutes. From that group, Mangiapane ranks fifth with 1.46 goals/60, behind Auston Matthews (1.83), Jakub Vrana (1.68), Daniel Sprong (1.56), and Brandon Saad (1.46).

#8 Speaking of players with unsustainably high shooting percentages, Tampa Bay’s Alex Killorn has eight points (5 G, 3 A) during a five-game point streak. He now has seven goals on 18 shots this season, good for a 38.9% shooting percentage. Killorn led the league in shooting percentage in 2019-2020 when he scored on 20.0% of his shots but he has been under 12.5% in every other season of his career. This isn’t to suggest dropping Killorn, as he has established a consistent level of production and has a significant role on the Lightning power play, but the goal-scoring pace should slow down.

#9 Ryan Getzlaf became the Anaheim Ducks all-time leading scorer this week, surpassing Teemu Selanne, and the 36-year-old centre has been very productive, with 10 points (1 G, 9 A) in 11 games but that does not cover all of Getzlaf’s fantasy appeal. He also has 21 hits, 11 blocked shots and, often a reluctant shooter, he has 30 shots on goal. His 2.73 shots per game would rank as the second highest per-game shot rate of his career. It’s early, but it looks like a pretty good bounce-back season after Getzlaf managed 17 points (5 G, 12 A) in 48 games last season.

#10 Minnesota Wild left winger Kirill Kaprizov was in a goal-scoring slump to start the season but scored in overtime against Ottawa Tuesday to get on the board. He has eight points (1 G, 7 A) and 32 shots on goal in nine games and that shot rate was always the reason to expect Kaprizov to snap out of it. Last season started differently for him. Kaprizov had 17 points (6 G, 11 A) in his first 18 games but only had 32 shots. His shot rate picked up as the season progressed and now, he is good for three-plus per game on average.

#11 Minnesota’s Kevin Fiala is also off to a relatively mediocre start, with five points (1 G, 4 A) in nine games but he has 27 shots on goal, and he has only had more than three shots on goal per game once in his career – that was last season. As long as the shots are there, it’s fair to expect the goals and points to follow.

#12 For those seeking peripheral statistical value, beyond goals and assists, there are four players with at least two shots on goal and four hits per game: Darnell Nurse, Brady Tkachuk, Dmitrij Jaskin, and Radko Gudas. Nurse and Tkachuk would have been relatively early picks because they are productive enough offensively, too. Jaskin has not found the scoresheet yet for Arizona but is not shy about playing the body, while Gudas has consistently generated shots and hits for much of his career.

#13 A group of defensemen offering additional peripheral stats value, those averaging at least two shots on goal, two hits and two blocked shots per game: Esa Lindell, Jacob Trouba, Zach Whitecloud, and Matt Dumba. Whitecloud is on IR and Dumba is rostered in 80% of Yahoo leagues, but Trouba (52%) and Lindell (23%) are more readily available to provide sneaky value on the blueline.

#14 Among 212 forwards that have played at least 100 5-on-5 minutes, the Toronto Maple Leafs’ William Nylander (3.95) and Auston Matthews (3.77) rank first and third in terms of on-ice expected goals. Carolina’s Andrei Svechnikov is second (3.83) and Jordan Staal (3.54) is fourth. St. Louis’ Robert Thomas (3.50), somewhat surprisingly, rounds out the top five. That might suggest that it’s time to buy on the Maple Leafs’ top line because, so far, their production has not been outstanding. But if the chances have been there, the goals will probably be coming soon.

#15 Nylander and Matthews are now playing with Michael Bunting, who is the league leader in individual expected goals during 5-on-5 play (1.41), followed by Dylan Larkin (1.32), Jeff Skinner (1.25), Alex Iafallo (1.23), and Vladimir Tarasenko (1.20). Auston Matthews and Andrei Svechnikov are sixth and seventh, respectively.

#16 Some notable forwards with the lowest on-ice expected goals: Mike Hoffman (1.22), Kevin Labanc (1.29), Dominik Kubalik (1.40), Luke Kunin (1.42), and Nick Suzuki (1.57). It is tough to create sustainable offence with such low rates of expected goals during 5-on-5 play. Given expectations, Suzuki might be the most worrying in that low-rent statistical neighbourhood.

#17 Early in the season, the best goaltenders in terms of actual goals allowed vs. expected goals allowed in all situations are: Frederik Andersen, Sergei Bobrovsky, Igor Shesterkin, Jacob Markstrom, and Elvis Merzlikins. Every one of those goaltenders has had some previous success in the league but Andersen, Bobrovsky, and Markstrom are all coming off mediocre, at best, seasons in 2021. Who can figure out goaltenders from one year to the next?

#18 At the other end of the spectrum, the worst goaltenders in terms of actual goals allowed vs. expected goals allowed in all situations this season are: Carter Hutton, Kevin Lankinen, Marc-Andre Fleury, Darcy Kuemper, and Philipp Grubauer. Fleury won the Vezina Trophy as the league’s top goaltender last season. Grubauer was a finalist. Kuemper has a .921 save percentage in 147 games since 2017-2018. It is early and small sample goaltending is about as volatile as it gets but goaltending remains a fickle and often unpredictable beast.

#19 Aside from the injured Drew Doughty and Ryan Ellis, the defenceman with the highest points per game this season is Carolina’s Tony DeAngelo, who has 10 points in nine games (1.11 ppg). He is just ahead of Roman Josi (1.10) and Adam Fox (1.10). Kevin Shattenkirk, Kris Letang, Aaron Ekblad, Torey Krug, and Victor Hedman are each at one point per game. Everything is coming up Carolina, it seems.

#20 The Montreal Canadiens sent rookie right winger Cole Caufield to the American Hockey League this week, after he started the season with no goals and one assist in 10 games. Caufield had 22 shots on goal. Last season, when he scored four goals in his first 10 games for the Habs, Caufield had 30 shots on goal, and he had 48 shots on goal in 20 playoff games, so the declining shot rate was one troubling sign. Not all of that would fall on Caufield but if he is not being put in position to generate three shots per game, he is probably not going to deliver the desired results. He will be back, likely after tearing up the AHL for a while.

Advanced stats via Natural Stat Trick.

CULLEN: 20 FANTASY HOCKEY POINTS- 2021-22 – NEW SEASON!

Scott Cullen — Wed, 22 Sep 2021 20:47:12 +0000

Welcome to a new season of 20 Fantasy Points on McKeen’s Hockey. Each week I will dive into the numbers and offer some insights that should help when it comes time to make fantasy hockey decisions.

One thing to remember when looking at trends is that they are not intended to be guarantees of future performance. They might provide indicators or probabilities but, sometimes, in a league with more than 700 players, there are exceptions, players that can ride a wave of high percentages.

So here are some stats to consider as we approach the 2021-2022 season, with much more to come leading up to the drop of the puck and throughout the NHL season.

#1 Goal scoring has increased in recent years but was down a little bit last season. In 2018-2019 and 2019-2020, goals per team per game hovered around 2.98 goals per game. Last season, it was down to just under 2.90 goals per game. That’s not a dramatic decline and the consistency of the range should make it a little more manageable for forecasting purposes. As recently as 2017-2018, the goals per team per game average was 2.72, so we are operating in a world with a little more offense.

#2 One of the paths to finding fantasy hockey value is to go against public perception and one of the factors in public perception, both good and bad, is playoff performance. For that reason, there is probably value to be found in the likes of Pittsburgh goaltender Tristan Jarry after he posted a .888 save percentage in a six-game first-round loss to the Islanders. Similarly, New Jersey winger Tomas Tatar was a healthy scratch for the Montreal Canadiens for most of their run to the Stanley Cup Final, which overshadows that Tatar was comfortably the Habs’ top scorer over the past three seasons. Even Toronto’s Mitch Marner, to some degree, could provide some value here. His past two playoff performances have been entirely forgettable and yet his 228 points in the past three seasons ranks eighth and his 1.16 points per game in that time ranks 10^th.

#3 A common, and more recent way to find value is seeking out players due for regression when it comes to on-ice shooting percentage. This works in both directions but players that have really high on-ice shooting percentages are likely to decline and those that are really low tend to get a bit of a boost. It is not a universal truth but a tendency. Some players who benefited from a high on-ice shooting percentage last season include Minnesota’s Marcus Foligno (15.1 OisH%), Vancouver’s Elias Pettersson (13.8 OiSH%), Seattle’s Jared McCann (13.6 OiSH% with PIttsburgh), Detroit’s Jakub Vrana (13.5 OiSH%), Vegas’ Chandler Stephenson (13.0 OiSH%), and Washington’s Evgeny Kuznetsov (12.9 OiSH%). This does not mean that those players can’t be productive this season, but they are not likely to duplicate those high percentages.

#4 A sustainable on-ice shooting percentage, over a three-year span, ranges between 11 and 12 percent, which is still higher than the vast majority of players can expect. From that group above, Kuznetsov (11.9%), Vrana (11.5%), and Pettersson (11.4%) have had high on-ice shooting percentages more consistently in the past three seasons.

DALLAS, TX - FEBRUARY 23: Dallas Stars defenseman Miro Heiskanen (4) handles the puck at the blue line during the game between the Carolina Hurricanes and the Dallas Stars on February 23, 2019 at American Airlines Center in Dallas, TX. (Photo by Andrew Dieb/Icon Sportswire)

#5 On the low end of the on-ice shooting percentage spectrum, there are always going to be grinders who don’t necessarily fall into the fantasy discussion that have very low on-ice shooting percentages. Some players that had low on-ice shooting percentages last season that could reasonably expect better in 2021-2022 include: Detroit’s Dylan Larkin (4.9%), the Islanders’ Kyle Palmieri (5.3%), Nashville’s Filip Forsberg (5.5%), and Dallas’ Miro Heiskanen (5.6%).

#6 Similarly, individual players tend to fall within a reasonable range when it comes to their own shooting percentage. Those that are inflated are likely to come down and the player who is generating shots but not getting goals is likely to have their shooting percentage improve. Again, this is not a hard and fast rule – because Rickard Rakell exists – but a tendency. Some players that had unusually lofty shooting percentages last season include:

Minnesota’s Marcus Foligno (27.5%), whose previous high in a season of at least 20 games, was 13.4%.

St. Louis’ Brandon Saad (22.1% with Colorado), whose career shooting percentage going into last season was 11.4%.

Vegas’ Mark Stone (21.4%) and Stone has been a high-percentage finisher for his career (15.8%) but that’s not 21.4% either.

Washington’s T.J. Oshie (20.8%) which is unsustainably high, but Oshie has been scoring on 17.9% of his shots in six seasons with the Capitals, making hay on that power play, so while he may not score on such a high percentage again, the drop off may not be so dramatic in Oshie’s case.

Seattle’s Alex Wennberg (20.7%) was a notorious pass-first playmaker for his entire career, scoring on 8.0% of his shots prior to last season before he turned sniper with the Florida Panthers. It would be surprising if his shooting percentage did not fall by a significant amount this season.

Chicago’s Alex DeBrincat (20.6%) had a career-low shooting percentage of 8.7% in 2019-2020, so he seemed like a good bet for a bounce-back season in 2021, but that was a dramatic swing.

#7 Whose high shooting percentages can be trusted? In the past three seasons, the shooting percentage leaders (all situations, min. 1000 minutes) are:

Edmonton’s Leon Draisaitl (20.1%)

Tampa Bay’s Brayden Point (19.2%)

Washington’s T.J. Oshie (19.0%)

Tampa Bay’s Steven Stamkos (18.2%)

Winnipeg’s Mark Scheifele (17.8%)

Vancouver’s Elias Pettersson (17.6%)

#8 On the other hand, some players that uncharacteristically low shooting percentages during the 2021 season:

Montreal’s Jonathan Drouin (2.6%) had a career shooting percentage of 9.7% going into last season.

Buffalo’s Jack Eichel (3.3%) scored on a career-high 15.9% of his shots in 2019-2020 but regression came for him in a big way last season and now he remains in a holding pattern, unsure for which team he will play his next game.

Boston’s Jake DeBrusk (5.4%) had scored on 13.5% of his shots in his first three NHL seasons before his shooting percentage crashed last season.

St. Louis’ Vladimir Tarasenko (6.2%) had never finished an NHL season with a shooting percentage lower than 10.7% prior to last season. Maybe his ongoing shoulder issues played into it, or maybe he was just snakebit, but he finished with just four goals in 24 games.

Buffalo’s Jeff Skinner (6.3%) has had fluctuating shooting percentages throughout his career but after scoring 40 goals on a career-high 14.9% shooting percentage in 2018-2019, he has dropped off dramatically. Can he get it back?

#9 Opportunity is always a driver of fantasy hockey value. Some forwards looking at significant new roles with new teams include Conor Garland, Vancouver; Blake Coleman, Calgary; Zach Hyman, Edmonton; Viktor Arvidsson, Los Angeles; Brandon Saad, St. Louis; Nick Ritchie, Toronto.

#10 On defense, the move to a new team might result in more power play time but the opportunity to play with a different supporting cast can make a difference, too. Here are some defenders that could be looking at beneficial new situations: Ryan Ellis, Philadelphia; Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Vancouer; Vince Dunn, Seattle; Alex Goligoski, Minnesota; Adam Boqvist, Columbus; Shayne Gostisbehere, Arizona. Probably Tony DeAngelo in Carolina, too.

#11 Considering how team-dependent goaltending production tends to be, goaltenders that switch teams might have the greatest change in their fantasy value. Think of how much more appealing Darcy Kuemper is in Colorado than if he had stayed in Arizona. Same for Linus Ullmark in Boston. At the lower end of the goaltender spectrum, Adin Hill could benefit from the move from Arizona to San Jose, at least in terms of having an opportunity to play more.

#12 The opposite side of that coin is the goaltenders that moved to teams that are not likely to be as strong as the team they left and that will put a dent into their fantasy value. Philipp Grubauer moving from Colorado to Seattle and Marc-Andre Fleury going from Vegas to Chicago are a couple of notable examples. Alex Nedeljkovic likely faces a worse team in front of him in Detroit, after playing in Carolina, but also has a likelihood of handling a starter’s role for a full season, so there are trade-offs to consider.

ANAHEIM, CA - MARCH 10: Anaheim Ducks Left Wing Trevor Zegras (46) in action during a game against the Los Angeles Kings played on March 10, 2021 at the Honda Center in Anaheim, CA. (Photo by John Cordes/Icon Sportswire)

#13 The NHL has rules governing rookie eligibility and one of the main facets is that players can not have played 26 or more games in a previous NHL season. Here are some players that are officially rookies that flashed some potential in 2021: Trevor Zegras, Anaheim; Jamie Drysdale, Anaheim; Tanner Jeannot, Nashville; Wade Allison, Philadephia; Shane Pinto, Ottawa; Cole Caufield, Montreal, and Evan Bouchard, Edmonton.

#14 Connor McDavid scored 105 points in 56 games to lead the league last season. Pro-rated over an 82-game season, Leon Draisaitl and Brad Marchand would have hit 100 points last season, too. How many players could score 100 points in an 82-game 2021-2022 season? Since 2015-2016, there have been 13 100-point seasons recorded in the NHL. McDavid has four, Nikita Kucherov, Patrick Kane and Draisaitl have two, while Marchand, Claude Giroux, and Sidney Crosby each have one.

#15 Can anyone catch McDavid for the scoring title this season? It won’t be easy, since a pro-rated total at last season’s scoring rate (1.88 points per game) would give McDavid 154 points. The closest contenders would seem to be Kucherov, who scored 128 points (1.56 points per game) in 2018-2019, Draisaitl, who tallied 110 points (1.55 points per game) in 2019-2020, and perhaps Artemi Panarin, who has back-to-back seasons with 1.38 points per game for the New York Rangers.

#16 One measure of interest when it comes to forecasting player point totals is individual point production (IPP) because it shows the percentage of points that a player is involved in relative to the number of goals for which they are on the ice. Some players have more of the offense run through them so, naturally, their percentages will be higher, but an IPP that is atypically high is not likely to be duplicated. Some players coming off a season with a high all-situations IPP include Toronto’s Jason Spezza (90.9%, Minnesota’s Mats Zuccarello (87.5%), N.Y. Rangers’ Artemi Panarin (84.1%), Edmonton’s Connor McDavid (84.0%), St. Louis’ David Perron (82.9%), and San Jose’s Tomas Hertl (82.7%).

#17 On the other hand, some players who might expect an IPP boost this season compared to last include: St. Louis’ Robert Thomas (46.2%), Nashville’s Matt Duchene (46.4%), N.Y. Rangers’ Chris Kreider (46.2%), Nashville’s Ryan Johansen (47.8%), and Colorado’s J.T. Compher (48.7%)

VANCOUVER, BC - MARCH 06: Toronto Maple Leafs center Auston Matthews (34) waits for a face-off during their NHL game against the Vancouver Canucks at Rogers Arena on March 6, 2021 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. (Photo by Derek Cain/Icon Sportswire)

#18 While McDavid running away with the points race was amazing, Auston Matthews had a comfortable margin in the race for the Rocket Richard Trophy as the league’s leading goal scorer, tucking in 41 goals, eight more than McDavid, who was in second place. Who are Matthews’ top challengers? Well, naturally McDavid should be considered and it would be insulting not to include Alex Ovechkin, who has led the league in goals nine times, but outside of that group, maybe Boston’s David Pastrnak, who scored 48 goals in 2019-2020 or, conceivably, Chicago’s Patrick Kane or Tampa Bay’s Nikita Kucherov, who are two of six players to have multiple 40-goal seasons since 2015-2016 (the others being Matthews, McDavid, Draisaitl, and Ovechkin).

#19 The darkhorse candidate could be Colorado’s Nathan MacKinnon, who has never scored more than 41 goals in a season and is coming off a year in which he managed just 20 goals in 48 games but MacKinnon consistently generates more than four shots on goal per game season after season and if he puts up 350-plus shots in an 82-game season, it is possible that MacKinnon could score 50 goals and that would put him into the mix.

#20 Shot volume is an important indicator when it comes to goals. Since 2015-2016, there has been one season in which a player scored 30 goals and did not have more than two shots on goal per game – New Jersey’s Adam Henrique, in 2015-2016, scored 30 goals on just 1.86 shots per game. In that time, there is only one player to have multiple 30 goal seasons while generating fewer than 2.5 shots on goal per game and that is Winnipeg’s Mark Scheifele.