VLADIMIR TARASENKO – McKeen's Hockey

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

*Advanced stats via Natural Stat Trick

NHL: CULLEN – 20 FANTASY POINTS – A Kings defenceman and Ducks winger are elevating their production, veterans Vladimir Tarasenko, Brent Burns, and Vincent Trocheck are producing, Josh Doan earns a contract extension, and so much more!

Scott Cullen — Fri, 23 Jan 2026 18:20:39 +0000

NEWARK, NJ - DECEMBER 21: Josh Doan #91 of the Buffalo Sabres skates during a game between the Buffalo Sabres and New Jersey Devils at Prudential Center on December 21, 2025 in Newark, New Jersey. (Photo by Andrew Mordzynski/Icon Sportswire)

Each week, I dig into the stats to find information that can help you make better fantasy hockey decisions. This week, a Kings defenceman and Ducks winger are elevating their production, veterans Vladimir Tarasenko, Brent Burns, and Vincent Trocheck are producing, Josh Doan earns a contract extension, and so much more!

#1 Los Angeles Kings defenceman Brandt Clarke has earned a bigger role as the season has progressed, and especially with Drew Doughty nursing an injury. In his past six games, Clarke has five points (1 G, 4 A) and 12 shots on goal, while averaging 21:49 of ice time per game. Clarke is generating 3.53 points per 60 during 5-on-4 play, which is clearly best among Kings defencemen, so he should have some security in the role as power play quarterback.

#2 Staying in Southern California, Anaheim Ducks rookie right winger Beckett Sennecke is similarly growing into a bigger role during his rookie season. In his past 11 games, Sennecke is averaging 19:52 of ice time per game, putting up nine points (4 G, 5 A) and 35 shots on goal. He is skating with veterans Mikael Granlund and Alex Killorn at even strength while also getting first unit power play time, and the rookie is making the most of his opportunities.

#3 There have been ups and downs this season for Minnesota Wild right winger Vladimir Tarasenko but when he’s cooking, the Wild benefit from his scoring. He may not be delivering like he did during his peak seasons, but the 34-year-old winger does have eight points (5 G, 3 A) and 18 shots on goal in his past five games. He is on a veteran line alongside centre Joel Eriksson Ek and Marcus Johansson, both returning from injuries for Thursday’s home game against Detroit.

#4 While he can get overlooked in Colorado, considering all the star power on the roster, Avalanche defenceman Brent Burns continues to be an effective contributor from the blueline. The 40-year-old defender has produced five points (3 G, 2 A) and 22 shots on goal in his past six games, and it’s a good reminder that, when he was at his best, Burns was an elite shot generator from the point, and he’s firing pucks again while the Avalanche tend to consistently dominate play.

#5 New York Rangers centre Vincent Trocheck is reportedly finding his way into trade rumours as the season appears to be getting away from the Blueshirts. The veteran pivot has three more years after this one remaining on his contract, but it’s at a reasonable price - $5.625 million cap hit – and he remains productive. In his past 13 games, Trocheck has 15 points (5 G, 10 A) and 28 shots on goal. What sets Trocheck apart, especially for fantasy managers, is that he also has 11 blocked shots and 29 hits in those 13 games, filling even peripheral statistical categories. Trocheck is on a line with Artemi Panarin and Alexis Lafreniere and it’s working right now, but Panarin is also in trade rumours, so who knows where these Rangers stars could be playing by the time the trade deadline arrives.

#6 Buffalo Sabres winger Josh Doan signed a seven-year, $49 million contract extension and the young winger has really taken advantage of the opportunities available in Buffalo this season after arriving in the offseason as part of the trade package from the Utah Mammoth for JJ Peterka. In his past 11 games, Doan has just 14 shots on goal but has still put up 11 points (5 G, 6 A) while averaging 17:31 of ice time per game. He has proven his ability as a scoring winger and is getting ice time with Tage Thompson and Alex Tuch on the Sabres’ top line in addition to first unit power play time.

#7 The Calgary Flames traded defenceman Rasmus Andersson to the Vegas Golden Knights and there is some fallout for fantasy managers. In Vegas, Andersson is not likely to supplant Shea Theodore or Noah Hanifin on the power play, so that could limit Andersson’s offensive output. In Calgary, MacKenzie Weegar should return to the top power play unit and he’s a good buy-low option right now, as Weegar has zero points in his past eight games.

#8 Injuries have hindered Seattle Kraken left winger Jared McCann this season, but he is still a threat when he is in the lineup. In his past 13 games, McCann has 13 points (6 G, 7 A) with 32 shots on goal. He is scoring on 18.0 percent of his shots on goal this season, which is well above his career mark of 12.4 percent, so regression could be coming, but McCann is skating on the Kraken’s top line with Matty Beniers and Jordan Eberle in addition to getting first unit power play time, so he is getting ample opportunity to live up to his scoring role.

#9 After a slow start to the season, Nashville Predators sniper Steven Stamkos started to find his way into trade rumours, which made sense given where the Predators were in the standings. However, once Stamkos started filling the net, the Preds suddenly turned into playoff contenders. They are right in the hunt now and in his past 21 games, Stamkos has scored 16 goals and 25 points, with 61 shots on goal. While he may not continue to score on 26.2 percent of his shots, as he has during this stretch, but he has scored on 16.7 percent of his shots throughout his career so it’s not like his shooting percentage should collapse.

#10 Every so often, New Jersey Devils centre Cody Glass can heat up for a short burst, showing why he was the sixth overall pick in the 2017 Draft. It tends not to last very long, but Glass does have six points (4 G, 2 A) and 15 shots on goal in his past six games. He is up to 11 goals on the season, which ties him for fourth on the Devils with Jesper Bratt and Jack Hughes, though Glass is more of a short-term pickup for fantasy managers.

#11 A 27-year-old winger for the Washington Capitals, Ethen Frank has battled to secure a regular spot in the lineup and is now starting to show some of the scoring ability that he displayed in the American Hockey League in previous seasons to earn his look with the Capitals. Frank tallied 82 goals and 127 points in 164 AHL games after his college career at Western Michigan. In his past seven games, Frank has six points (5 G, 1 A) and 18 shots on goal, while averaging 16:41 of ice time per game, a notable jump from the 12:03 per game he had been playing before that. Frank is skating with Nic Dowd and Alex Ovechkin at even strength while also getting second unit power play time, which is enough to put him on the radar of deep league fantasy managers.

#12 Detroit Red Wings centre Andrew Copp has emerged as a solid complementary scorer, holding the second-line centre spot between Alex DeBrincat and Patrick Kane. As the Wings have gone 7-1-1 in their past nine games, Copp has eight points (3 G, 5 A) with 16 shots on goal. He is up to 30 points (8 G, 22 A) in 52 games, giving him a chance to surpass 40 points for the third time in his career.

#13 Buffalo Sabres right winger Jack Quinn seems to drift in an out of fantasy relevance but when he’s going good, he is a quality source of secondary offence for the Sabres. In his past eight games, Quinn has seven points (4 G, 3 A) with 21 shots on goal and seems to have a good thing going with linemates Ryan McLeod and Jason Zucker at even strength along with some second unit power play time.

#14 As the Calgary Flames have become sellers before the NHL Trade Deadline, some of their younger players figure to get good opportunities for the rest of this season. Left winger Connor Zary is one of those players. The 2020 first-round pick has six points (2 G, 4 A) and 19 shots on goal and he is getting a look on Calgary’s top line, skating with Nazem Kadri and rookie Matvei Gridin, who has just been recalled from the American Hockey League, where Gridin had 28 points (10 G, 18 A) in 32 games for the Calgary Wranglers.

#15 It would be bold to recommend Colorado Avalanche forward Ross Colton, who has not scored a goal since November 26, but from the files of “rising tides lift all boats” it’s worth keeping an eye on him anyway. In the month of January, Colton has five assists in nine games, but he also has 33 shots on goal. He has 17.41 shots on goal per 60 minutes of 5-on-5 play this month which is the highest shot rate in the entire league. He gets third line and second unit power play ice time, so there is a limit to Colton’s offensive upside, but his shot generation does suggest that he’s going to bust out and start scoring some goals soon.

#16 One of the best players in the league this season, Minnesota Wild left winger Matt Boldy has landed on the injured list with an undisclosed injury. Boldy is tied for fourth in the league with 27 goals in 48 games and he has been a play driving force with the Wild outshooting opponents and outscoring the opposition 38 to 21 during 5-on-5 play with Boldy on the ice. With Boldy out, Marcus Johansson secures a spot in Minnesota’s top six and while that is a drop off, Johansson has 14 points (5 G, 9 A) and 27 shots on goal in his past 18 games. That shot rate isn’t ideal, but Johansson is a reliable source of secondary offence.

#17 Florida Panthers defenceman Seth Jones has landed on LTIR due to an upper-body injury which will also prevent him from playing for Team USA in the Olympics, as he has been replaced on the roster by Anaheim Ducks defenceman Jackson LaCombe. In Florida, Jones’ absence means a bigger role for Aaron Ekblad, and the veteran blueliner does have four assists and 13 shots on goal in his past seven games. Also look to Uvis Balinskis, who is getting time on the top power play unit and has three points (2 G, 1 A) with seven shots on goal while averaging 21 minutes of ice time per game in his past five games.

#18 The logjam that was appearing on the New Jersey Devils blueline, which resulted in Dougie Hamilton being a healthy scratch, seems to be alleviated for the time being now that Luke Hughes is injured. Hughes’ shoulder injury will keep him out for at least a month, and he did have seven points (2 G, 5 A) and 15 shots on goal in his last 10 games prior to getting injured, with three of those seven points coming on the power play. With Hughes out, Hamilton resumes his spot as the quarterback of the Devils power play. He has seven assists and 12 shots on goal in his past six games.

#19 With Ottawa Senators veteran winger David Perron needing surgery for a sports hernia which will keep him out of the lineup for 5-7 weeks, look to Sens winger Ridly Greig, who is starting to heat up. Greig has seven points (2 G, 5 A) in his past five games and while he only has five shots on goal in that time, he is averaging more than 17 minutes of ice time per game and is skating on a line with Brady Tkachuk and Dylan Cozens, while also getting second-unit power play time, so Greig could build on this hot streak.

#20 Anaheim Ducks centre Leo Carlsson has landed on the injured list with a thigh injury that will keep him out 3-5 weeks following surgery. He has broken though offensively this season, tallying 44 points (18 G, 26 A) in 44 games but this injury is likely going to cost him his spot on Sweden’s Olympic Team. The Ducks’ forward lines have been depleted by injuries, with Carlsson, Troy Terry, Frank Vatrano, and Mason McTavish all dealing with various issues, so it’s an opportunity for a veteran like Ryan Strome to step up. Jansen Harkins has seen his ice time increase, but has not recorded a point in 2026, so maybe consider more proven scoring options for the Ducks.

*Advanced stats via Natural Stat Trick

NHL: CULLEN – 20 FANTASY POINTS – Oilers address their goaltending need, a Ducks rookie continues to surprise, Sam Bennett is back on track, and veterans Brock Nelson and Steven Stamkos are finding the net, plus so much more!

Scott Cullen — Fri, 12 Dec 2025 20:50:35 +0000

Each week, I dig into the stats to find information that can help you make better fantasy hockey decisions. This week, the Oilers address their goaltending need, a Ducks rookie continues to surprise, Sam Bennett is back on track, and veterans Brock Nelson and Steven Stamkos are finding the net, plus so much more!

#1 The Edmonton Oilers have been dissatisfied with their goaltending and made a move to address it Friday, acquiring veteran netminder Tristan Jarry and prospect Samuel Poulin from the Pittsburgh Penguins for goaltender Stuart Skinner, defenceman Brett Kulak, and a second-round pick in 2029. Jarry is enjoying a bounce-back season with a .909 save percentage and gains fantasy value even by going to an Oilers team with a slightly worse record, because Edmonton should be able to provide more goal support and the Oilers are expected to have a better record than the Penguins. Skinner’s value is already at a low point, as his .891 save percentage wasn’t cutting it. He will likely share the crease with Arturs Silovs in Pittsburgh, as Jarry was, but that’s going to be a competition. Kulak has struggled this season but logged big minutes on the Oilers’ Stanley Cup runs the past two years, so if the Penguins want to flip him, they probably can. Poulin was a first-round pick in 2019 but hasn’t been able to crack the NHL lineup. He has two assists in 15 career games, but maybe he can get a fresh look in Edmonton.

#2 Anaheim Ducks right winger Beckett Sennecke has a tendency to sneak up on people. Even he was surprised when the Ducks drafted him third overall in 2024 and he didn’t enter this season with huge expectations. It seemed a positive sign that he made the team as a 19-year-old winger and if he could provide some secondary scoring, all the better. At this point, though, he has put up 14 points (4 G, 10 A) with 29 shots on goal in his past 13 games and his 26 points (10 G, 16 A) in 31 games leads all rookie scorers. Sennecke is working on a young and talented line with Cutter Gauthier and Mason McTavish.

#3 Florida Panthers playoff hero Sam Bennett struggled early in the season, managing five points (3 G, 2 A) through his first 18 games, but he has started to heat up since. In his past 12 games, Bennett has 15 points (6 G, 9 A) and 35 shots on goal, a huge contribution for a Panthers team that is missing Aleksander Barkov, so they desperately need Benett to play like he does in the postseason and, lately, that’s more like what the Panthers have been getting from him and he’s having success skating on a line with Carter Verhaeghe and Brad Marchand.

#4 When the Colorado Avalanche acquired centre Brock Nelson from the New York Islanders last season, they may not have loved the production they received, which included 13 points (6 G, 7 A) in 19 regular season games before he added zero goals and four assists in seven playoff games. He started slowly this season, too, with five points (3 G, 2 A) and 24 shots on goal in his first 16 games. In his past 15 games, however, Nelson has put up 16 points (9 G, 7 A) with 28 shots on goal. That shot rate still has room for improvement, but Nelson is getting good results on a line with Gabriel Landeskog and Ross Colton.

#5 Moving to Nashville has not brought the best out of veteran sniper Steven Stamkos, but there are signs of life. He started this season with just two points (1 G, 1 A) and 30 shots on goal in 14 games. For a high-percentage finisher, he was obviously not going to keep scoring at a rate of one goal for every 30 shots on goal, but after scoring four goals against St. Louis on Thursday, he has 10 points (8 G, 2 A) with 25 shots on goal in his past eight games. He’s skating on a line with Ryan O’Reilly and Luke Evangelista, and they have helped the Predators to a 6-2 record in their past eight games.

#6 Utah Mammoth centre Logan Cooley suffered a lower-body injury that is going to keep him out for a couple of months, likely pushing his return until after the Olympic break. Cooley had 23 points (14 G, 9 A) in 29 games at the time of his injury, and now the Mammoth need to shuffle lines, so they have moved Nick Schmaltz into the top line centre role, while bumping J.J. Peterka up to play right wing on the No. 1 line.

#7 Ottawa Senators centre Shane Pinto is out for at least another week due to a lower-body injury suffered last week, knocking out a player who ranks third on the Senators with 12 goals this season. With Pinto out, Ridly Greig slides into the middle of the ice, and it creates room for David Perron to fill a top-nine role in the lineup.

#8 The Montreal Canadiens called up top goaltending prospect Jacob Fowler to make his NHL debut this week and, given the struggles of Samuel Montembeault this season, there could be opportunity knocking. A third-round pick in 2023, Fowler had a .932 save percentage in 74 games across two seasons at Boston College then finished last season with the Laval Rocket of the AHL. He started this season with a .919 save percentage in 15 games for the Rocket, earning his promotion, and Fowler stopped 36 of 38 shots to earn a 4-2 victory at Pittsburgh in his NHL debut. There is uncertainty in the Montreal crease right now, but Fowler might force his way into playing time.

#9 At 37 years old, he may not be peak Showtime anymore, but Detroit Red Wings right winger Patrick Kane can still play a valuable role for a team needing offence. Kane has 12 points (2 G, 10 A) and 31 shots on goal in his past 11 games, and he seems to have something good going with linemates Andrew Copp and Alex DeBrincat. Copp has six points (2 G, 4 A) and 11 shots on goal in his past five games, a relative burst of offence compared to how little he had been producing earlier in the season.

#10 The Pittsburgh Penguins have moved Tommy Novak to left wing on the top line with Sidney Crosby and Bryan Rust, and the 28-year-old forward has produced eight points (2 G, 6 A) with 13 shots on goal in his past seven games. He had seven points (2 G, 5 A) and 29 shots on goal in 22 games before that, so it may not be easy to buy-in on Novak’s production, but if he’s getting a shot on Crosby’s wing, he’s at least worth considering as a short-term fix.

#11 New York Islanders captain Anders Lee had a four-point night in Thursday’s win over Anaheim, giving him seven points (3 G, 4 A) in his past five games and while he’s not the same threat that he has been in years past – his 15:32 of ice time per game is his lowest average since 2015-2016 – he is skating on a line with Mathew Barzal and Jean-Gabriel Pageau at even strength, and that’s a decent spot. The Islanders may need to do some line shuffling, however, as Bo Horvat left Thursday’s game with a lower-body injury.

#12 Staying with the Islanders, veteran defenceman Ryan Pulock is offering more value than he has in recent years. In his past eight games, Pulock has contributed seven points (1 G, 6 A) and 13 shots on goal, and he’s not really a power play factor, with only one of those points coming with the man advantage. He’s been renowned for his heavy shot from the point, ever since he arrived in the NHL, but topped out at 37 points in 82 games in 2017-2018, his second full season in the league. With 16 points in 32 games, Pulock is on pace for more this season.

#13 Veteran defenceman John Klingberg has a long track record of being able to provide offence, with six seasons of 40-plus points to his credit, but he has slowed down, in part due to injuries. However, he made progress in the playoffs with Edmonton last season and has a new opportunity with the San Jose Sharks this season and his offensive instincts work with San Jose’s aggressive approach. In his past nine games, Klingberg has seven points (3 G, 4 A) and 12 shots on goal, averaging more than 21 minutes of ice time per game. He may not be a dream candidate for fantasy managers, but he is up to 12 points (5 G, 7 A) and 31 blocked shots in 23 games, which should generate some interest.

#14 There is a segment of the Toronto Maple Leafs fan base that is not entirely enamored with defenceman Morgan Rielly, and that’s fine, not everyone is going to like every player, but Rielly is a productive blueliner. He has six points (2 G, 4 A) and 13 shots on goal in his past seven games, giving him 23 points (5 G, 18 A) in 29 games this season. Only five of those 23 points are on the power play, though Rielly is on Toronto’s PP1 right now, so perhaps that is a path to continuing what is already solid offensive production.

#15 Philadelphia Flyers centre Christian Dvorak is getting an opportunity to play a bigger role with his new team and it’s starting to pay off for him. Dvorak has joined Trevor Zegras and Travis Konecny on the Flyers’ top line, and has five points (1 G, 4 A) and seven shots on goal in his past three games. Dvorak’s career high is 38 points, set in 2019-2020 when he was with Arizona, but has 21 points (7 G, 14 A) in 29 games this season, so he’s on pace to go well past that total. His ice time is up 1:39 per game over last season and if he continues with skilled linemates, Dvorak will ride that offensive wave to more fantasy appeal.

#16 Trying to shake up their lineup, the Winnipeg Jets moved Gabriel Vilardi off the first line and to the second line with Cole Perfetti and Vladislav Namestnikov. That movement shouldn’t be seen as an indictment of Vilardi’s play, however, as he has 13 points (8 G, 5 A) and 21 shots on goal in his past 11 games. He is scoring on 21.2 percent of his shots this season, which seems really high, except that in his previous two seasons with the Jets, his shooting percentage was 19.8 percent, so if there is going to be regression, it may not be by very much.

#17 Pittsburgh Penguins rookie centre Ben Kindel isn’t producing enough to have fantasy appeal just yet, with 10 points (7 G, 3 A) in 26 games but, with Evgeni Malkin out, Kindel is playing more than 18:30 per game over the past six contests and has a couple of goals but also has 28 shots on goal. That ability to generate shots at that rate makes Kindel very intriguing for the future and possibly even for later this season as he grows more comfortable playing in the best league in the world as an 18-year-old centre.

#18 Minnesota Wild right winger Mats Zuccarello is out with an upper-body injury, which is unfortunate since he missed the first month of the season with a lower-body injury. Zuccarello had 12 points (2 G, 10 A) and 29 shots on goal in 15 games before getting hurt and he joins Marco Rossi on the injured list, which means new linemates for Kirill Kaprizov. Right now, it’s rookie Danila Yurov and veteran Vladimir Tarasenko getting that chance. Yurov has five points (1 G, 4 A) in his past 10 games and Tarasenko has three points (1 G, 2 A) in his past two games, but that comes after a seven-game scoreless drought.

#19 New Jersey Devils winger Timo Meier is taking a leave from the team to deal with a family health matter. That is obviously not good news on a personal level, which is most important, and it does leave the Devils – already missing Jack Hughes – a little light up front. That creates a ripple effect in the Devils’ lineup, with Stefan Noesen moving to left wing on the top line and Paul Cotter to right wing on the second line. Noesen has just four points (1 G, 3 A) in 25 games this season but did have an assist and played a season-high 15:59 on Thursday as he is also getting time on New Jersey’s top power play unit.

#20 St. Louis Blues right winger Jordan Kyrou is week-to-week with a lower-body injury, and he’s already been enduring a rough season. After scoring 36 goals and 70 points last season, Kyrou has eight goals and 16 points in 28 games this season. In his absence, Mathieu Joseph moves into St. Louis’ top six, but he gets there with two assists and seven shots on goal in his past dozen games, so Joseph needs to take advantage of the opportunity being afforded to him.

MCKEEN’S 2025-26 NHL YEARBOOK – MINNESOTA WILD – Team Preview/Player Profiles/Predictions

Thu, 02 Oct 2025 20:37:34 +0000

ST. PAUL, MN - APRIL 24: Minnesota Wild left wing Kirill Kaprizov (97) looks on during the first period in Game Three of the First Round of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs between the Vegas Golden Knights and Minnesota Wild on April 24th, 2025, at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, MN. (Photo by Bailey Hillesheim/Icon Sportswire)

What started off looking like a massive year for the Wild turned into a scratch-and-claw season to make the playoffs. Injuries crushed Minnesota throughout the year. Kirill Kaprizov, Joel Eriksson Ek, Mats Zuccarello, Jonas Brodin and Jared Spurgeon each missed significant time and the fact they finished in the first wild card spot with 97 points and held off the St. Louis Blues and Calgary Flames is a credit to them and coach John Hynes. Kaprizov had an MVP-like start to the season and had the Wild off and running to start the season while goalie Filip Gustavsson rounded into form, but as injuries piled up, so did the losses. The Wild’s five-on-five numbers were mediocre all-around and as much as their power play struggled (20th best in the NHL) their penalty kill was a nightmare (30th). It’s difficult to judge the team overall given the spate of injuries compared to their numbers, but the talent level on the team is strong enough to carry them into competing again this season.

What’s Changed?

The biggest addition for the Wild came late last season when 2024 12th overall pick defenceman Zeev Buium signed his entry-level deal out of the University of Denver. He made his Wild debut in the playoffs playing four games and had one assist in 13:36 average time on-ice. He’ll be a fixture in the lineup for years to come as their next puck-carrying offensive defenceman. Re-signing center Marco Rossi (three years, $15 million) took care of what was shaping up to be a potential headache and gives him the chance to prove himself further. Minnesota also added veteran winger Vladimir Tarasenko from the Detroit Red Wings for the low cost of future considerations and brought back center Nico Sturm fresh off winning the Stanley Cup in Florida. They also shipped center Frederick Gaudreau to Seattle and defenceman Declan Chisholm to Washington as well.

What Would Success Look Like?

A return to the playoffs with a healthy lineup would be a fascinating success for the Wild. Their parts with Kaprizov, Rossi, Matt Boldy, Zuccarello, Eriksson Ek, Buium, Brodin, and Gustavsson are very good and with role players like Marcus Foligno, Ryan Hartman and Jacob Middleton able to grind teams up, they could be a deeply frustrating team in the playoffs. They showed that to a degree in the first round against Vegas last season and you can’t help but wonder how things would’ve gone if they hadn’t gone through the wringer all season. Still, a trip back to the postseason and a first-round series win would go a long way in Minnesota for fans who’ve been desperate for success for years. Doing so in a brutally competitive division again would be a big accomplishment.

What Could Go Wrong?

A repeat of the injury luck from last season would be a way to make life a lot harder. They’re getting a taste of that already with Brodin coming off surgery for an upper-body injury that got to him last season. That he’ll likely miss the start of the season is not the way anyone in Minnesota envisioned the year starting. Any kind of bad luck physically could be what determines their playoff fate and with how good and competitive St. Louis, Calgary and Utah were and with Vancouver and Seattle having designs on getting back into the mix, it’s going to be a difficult battle.

Top Breakout Candidate

It’s impossible not to focus all the attention on Buium this season. He’s got the electrifying skill set to make people think of Cale Makar when he came out of Massachusetts years ago and with his affable personality to match his exciting style of hockey, he’ll get the opportunity to pile up points with the Wild. In two seasons with Denver, Buium had 98 points in 83 games including 24 goals. Minnesota has desperately needed a defenceman capable of leading the rush up the ice for years and Buium’s smooth skating and skills will make him an instant fan favourite.

FORWARDS

Kirill Kaprizov

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
77	45	58	103	1.34

When last season began, all signs pointed toward a potential MVP campaign for Kirill Kaprizov. A lower-body injury just before the holiday break in December interrupted a season that began with 50 points in 34 games that included 23 goals. He missed a month of action and returned for three games before going out again to undergo surgery that kept him off the ice until April. In the end, Kaprizov’s regular season finished with 41 games played and 56 points with 25 goals. The Wild finished fourth in the Central Division with only half a season of his brilliance but did get him back for the playoffs as they secured the first wild card. There he had five goals and four assists in their six-game series loss to Vegas. It’s very difficult not to look back on how he played and wonder what might’ve been, but as he enters a contract season and the (long) possibility of hitting unrestricted free agency next summer, the mind boggles wondering what he could do on top of his effort from last year to boost his asking price. There’s little doubt that a healthy Kaprizov makes the Wild a much, much more dangerous (and fun to watch) team. A repeat performance like that without injury would make Minnesota a true wild card kind of team in the West.

Matt Boldy

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
82	31	50	81	0.99

For all the brilliance we saw from Kirill Kaprizov, it can’t take away from just how good Matt Boldy was as well for the Wild. Boldy had a career high 73 points in 82 games and put up 27 goals to go with it. He again proved to be a strong performer on the power play with 21 points, and his 10 game-winning goals tied him with Sidney Crosby for second most in the league. Not bad for a 24-year-old in his fourth season. What will be interesting to watch with Boldy this season is how his line shapes up. Last season, he was with Marco Rossi most often and he is an unsigned restricted free agent. Rossi has had trade rumors swirling around him throughout the offseason. With additions like Danila Yurov, Nico Sturm and Vladimir Tarasenko, some of the lines will be in flux, but with Boldy firmly locked into a wing spot in the top six, if he loses his centerman that creates a big hole. Fortunately, Boldy’s abilities make it easier for any center to slide in next to him and make them look good because of how well he handles the puck and uses his size to create opportunities. With the Olympics coming in February and the strong possibility he’ll play for the United States, expect Boldy to have a strong season no matter who he skates with.

Marco Rossi

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
75	21	38	59	0.79

The situation with restricted free agent Marco Rossi remains up in the air as of this writing. He is unsigned following a career-best 60-point season that included a career-high 24 goals. There have been trade rumors bandied about all offseason long and questions raised about whether the team sees Rossi as a fit for them long term or not. Fans waited not so patiently for Rossi to arrive full-time after the team drafted him ninth overall in 2020, and when he scored 21 goals with 40 points as a rookie two years ago, the collective feeling was his time had arrived. That sensation only increased with his performance last season although it could be argued he didn’t take enough of a big step to necessitate a massive raise on a new contract. Public negotiations are tricky that way. Despite Rossi’s size (5-foot-9, 185 pounds), he plays hard, skates fast and is strong on his feet. He’s a creative player and can get into tight areas to score as well. He’s a supremely talented player, but teams do worry about size despite the history of players who have had great success at that stature. Should Rossi stay with the Wild, it would seem likely he’ll reunite with Matt Boldy with a linemate to be determined (Vladimir Tarasenko, Liam Ohgren). If there’s a trade yet to come, the return will be interesting because the Wild want to win now.

Mats Zuccarello

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
71	17	34	51	0.72

Nothing ages fans harder than seeing their favorite players get older, and it’s part of what makes what we see from Mats Zuccarello so impressive. The Norwegian star will be 38 as the new season starts and he’s been nothing but the picture of consistency throughout his NHL career. Last season, he had 19 goals and 35 assists (54 points) and it marked the fourth straight year he had 50-or-more points and the ninth time he’s done it in his 15-year career. In six seasons with the Wild he averaged nearly 56 points per season, and he joined them at 32 years old. Some players see their production fall through the floor when they go beyond the age of 30, but Zuccarello has excelled when he’s stayed in the lineup. While he’s always capable of scoring goals, he’s been an outstanding setup man and the chemistry he’s developed in Minnesota with Kirill Kaprizov and Joel Eriksson Ek over the years has turned that trio into an a highly entertaining and exciting line to watch. Despite how well Zuccarello scored, you have to wonder how much better his numbers would’ve been had Kaprizov and Eriksson Ek not struggled with injury. As it is, he missed 13 games of his own, but with his linemates each missing half of the season, it’s no wonder Zuccarello’s power play numbers dipped so hard. His three power play goals and 16 points were the fewest he had since the shortened 2020-2021 season.

Joel Eriksson Ek

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
79	24	34	58	0.73

The role injuries played in fouling up what could’ve been a very good season for the Minnesota Wild also wreaked havoc on Joel Eriksson Ek’s season. The Swedish two-way centerman was held to 46 games last season and had 14 goals and 15 assists (29 points). A broken nose and various lower-body injuries forced him out of the lineup numerous times throughout the year and although he was able to play in the Four Nations Face-Off, he was out of the lineup shortly after coming back from the tournament and was out until early April. Although he was back in time for the playoffs, he wasn’t able to have the same kind of immediate success Kirill Kaprizov had. Losing Eriksson Ek for roughly half the season because of all the injuries made navigating the season a lot more difficult for the Wild. The various roles he plays in all situations makes him a vital cog in their operation and going without him shortened everything up throughout the lineup. Provided the lower-body issues are behind him now and can focus on the season, it’ll prove to be a huge benefit for the team, particularly if there’s a move yet to come with the rest of the lineup or Marco Rossi remains unsigned into the season. The Wild had the third worst penalty kill in the NHL last season and although they had an assortment of injuries, going without Eriksson Ek for a lot of it contributed to the poor kill. His work as a defensive center cannot be understated no matter how good he is offensively as well.

Vladimir Tarasenko

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
76	15	26	41	0.54

Last season wasn’t the happiest of times in Detroit for Vladimir Tarasenko. In 80 games, Tarasenko scored 11 goals and had 22 assists, the worst full season he’s had in the NHL in his career. Although he signed a two-year contract with the Red Wings, the Wild sent Detroit future considerations to take the player and his $4.75 million cap hit off their hands and potentially give him the change of scenery he needs to regain his form. Working in Tarasenko’s favor in Minnesota is the opportunity he’ll have to jump right into action on the wings. The Wild needed more skilled depth there and Tarasenko can provide that even at age 33. He’ll also have a handful of Russians to work with including Kirill Kaprizov and Yakov Trenin. Tarasenko is a few years removed from being one of the most dangerous snipers in the NHL that could put up 30 to 40 goals. Two years ago, he had 23 goals split between time with Ottawa and Florida and that’s the kind of player the Wild would like to see return for them. The big question, however, is where he will fit into the lineup. He could play on the wing opposite Matt Boldy and if Marco Rossi happens to center them, that could be a lot of fun. He’s essentially found money for the Wild, they just need to figure out the best way to make it work with him.

Marcus Foligno

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
74	13	16	29	0.39

Trying to qualify what makes a player a “throwback style” in the NHL is tough to do because you’re busy thinking about which era of the league are they a throwback to. In Marcus Foligno’s case, he’s an amalgam of the era his father Mike played in the 80s and 90s and what he grew up watching as a kid in the late 90s. Foligno has become a heart-and-soul checking forward for the Wild that provides leadership through action. Whether it’s through delivering big hits, big goals, or fighting opponents, the 34-year-old lays it all on the line. Last season, he had 14 goals and 15 assists in 77 games including 75 penalty minutes. Where Foligno makes a point is his physical play. He led the wild with 253 hits credited and with that kind of game, it’s no wonder that fights happen occasionally. Getting in on the forecheck and hammering defensemen who take too much time to make a pass allows him to change the tone and temperature of any game. As a leader on and off the ice, Foligno does so by example and for the guys that play in the bottom six of the lineup, they follow his lead closely. Yakov Trenin and Ryan Hartman play similar types of games and rolling that group out to change the mood has often benefited the Wild.

Marcus Johansson

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
73	12	21	33	0.45

At 35 years old, Marcus Johansson is one of the more senior members on the Wild roster this season. Last year, he had 11 goals and 23 assists in 72 games with 27 of his 34 points coming at even strength. Johansson’s role as a veteran on the team allows him to fit into any situation and while he’s primarily a winger he spent most of last season on the third or fourth line with Frederick Gaudreau and Ryan Hartman. That trio was a bit of a mishmash of styles with Gaudreau being a solid defensive forward, Hartman a bit of physical loose cannon with some touch around the net and Johansson a playmaker and puck possession style player. At this point in his career, the Wild aren’t asking a lot out of Johansson other than playing consistently strong hockey. His smarts for the game and ability to work in the offensive zone gives him an edge against more reckless defenders, but he may be competing for regular ice time against some of Minnesota’s additions and younger players. How coach John Hynes works things out will be something to keep an eye on.

Ryan Hartman

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
75	16	18	34	0.45

For physical players in the NHL, there’s always a line for what’s a good play to make to deliver a hit and what crosses the line. For Ryan Hartman, crossing that line has become a bit too regular of an occurrence. Last season, Hartman had solid numbers with 11 goals and 15 assists in 69 games with 75 penalty minutes. While he did miss a few games with injury, he also had to serve a 10-game suspension (that was later reduced to eight games) for using his forearm to drive the head of Ottawa Senators star forward Tim Stützle into the ice in February. He’s been suspended numerous times in his career but got the book thrown at him at a time when the Wild were fighting hard in the playoff race. Part of what makes Hartman valuable is his physical play and ability to upset opponents by delivering hits and when he’s focused on his game, the Wild are better for it. Last season he played most often with Marcus Johansson and Marcus Foligno that gave the Wild a group that could deliver heavy physical punishment and contribute occasional offense. For Hartman, that’s all you can ask for. That and staying of NHL Players’ Safety’s radar.

DEFENCE

Jared Spurgeon

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
68	5	27	32	0.47

Wild captain Jared Spurgeon’s return to action last season was one of the season highlights. Two years ago, he was held to just 16 games due to hip and back injuries. Last season, he led Wild defensemen in scoring with 32 points in 66 games. He still missed 16 games after he was injured being slew-footed by Nashville’s Zachary L’Heureux. Spurgeon’s leadership with the Wild can’t be understated. The hard work he put into returning to action after injuries and how he’s been such an outstanding puck mover and defender throughout his career despite being undersized compared to most defensemen shows how tough he is. Throughout last season, Spurgeon was paired with Jonas Brodin and Declan Chisholm although he spent most of his five-on-five minutes with Chisholm due to Brodin’s own injury issues. That pairing performed well together in regard to shot attempts taken and allowed and scoring chance quality generated and allowed. It wasn’t the ideal situation for anyone to navigate, but it’s a compliment to both players that they did well together in a tough situation. Brodin and Spurgeon figure to be reunited this season, although if Brodin does miss the start of the season, it could be Jacob Middleton or Zeev Buium who skates with Spurgeon.

Jonas Brodin

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
65	3	19	22	0.34

Part of what helped the Wild navigate through all the injuries and constant changes to the lineup was the steady play on the blue line from Jonas Brodin. Unfortunately for him and the team, he also had to deal with injuries of his own. Injuries kept Brodin in and out of the lineup throughout the year although he was able to play for Sweden at the Four Nations Face-Off in February. His influence on the Wild blue line this season will again be affected by his health as he had offseason upper-body surgery to repair what nagged at him last season and it may prevent him from being ready for the start of the season. Brodin’s defensive brilliance gets lost in the mix in Minnesota thanks to having a young star like Brock Faber and soon-to-be young star defenseman Zeev Buium. Brodin’s quiet confidence in his own zone and ability to eliminate plays before they can start makes him an invaluable player. Last season, Brodin had four goals and 16 assists in 50 games. Injuries have nagged at Brodin throughout his career, which is deeply unfortunate given how solid of a defender he is. However, if surgery can keep him on the ice for most of the season upon his return, it’s a net benefit for the Wild.

Brock Faber

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
81	9	26	35	0.43

One of the better trades in Minnesota Wild history continues to pay dividends as Brock Faber’s brilliant play continued for the second straight year. Faber had 10 goals and 19 assists in 78 games last season which was an increase in goals, but a sizable dip in assists after he put up 47 points with 39 helpers in his rookie season and was a Norris Trophy finalist. The drop in points is understandable given all the turnover that occurred on the Minnesota blue line because of injuries. It’s also natural that he’d have a bit of a letdown in his second season in the league as the rest of the NHL adjusted to him. That said, Faber’s outstanding play was still there even without the robust point total. Without Jonas Brodin for 32 games, Faber paired with Jacob Middleton for a large part of the season as they played nearly 950 minutes together at five-on-five. The advanced stats didn’t favour that pairing very well as opponents were able to generate more shot attempts and better quality scoring chances than they were while out there. Faber is young and still figuring out what he can and cannot do in the NHL, but he was also a solid player for the United States at the Four Nations Face-Off and seeing his poise and playmaking in a best-on-best tournament like that was impressive.

Jacob Middleton

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
77	7	17	24	0.31

With some of the names on the Wild blue line like Jonas Brodin, Brock Faber and Jared Spurgeon it’s easy to get lost in the mix, but Jacob Middleton was able to carve his way into the picture taking advantage of injuries and earning a spot on a pair with Faber. In his fourth season with the Wild, Middleton picked up where he left off the year before and scored a career-high eight goals with 13 assists. His 21 points followed up his career-high 25 from the year before as his straight forward play has earned him coach John Hynes’s trust along the blue line to the point where he averaged more than 21 minutes per game last season. Middleton has helped earn his ice time by laying out for pucks. He blocked more than 100 shots for the fourth time in his career and for the third season in a row (155, 161, 157). He’s also been more than willing to throw the body around as well, something that ideally allowed Faber more of a chance to move the puck freely. If the Wild have to go without Brodin to start the season, Middleton may very well start on the top pairing with Faber again. Experience and chemistry go a long way when it comes to defense and that kind of shared ice time is hard to ignore even if the results last season weren’t totally ideal. Perhaps with better health for the entire lineup those stats will improve naturally.

Goal

Filip Gustavsson

Predicted Stats
GP	W	L	OT	SO	SV%	GAA
54	26	18	6	4	.910	2.64

While it might be tempting to wax poetic about the legacy Marc-Andre Fleury leaves in net in Minnesota - the surprise team where he wrapped up his career years after most of his contemporaries had played their last NHL games - the real story of the 2025-26 Minnesota Wild is that of hopeful optimism and youth. Filip Gustavsson, who had followed up a highly impressive rookie campaign with a lackluster sophomore season in 2023-24, showed he could step up when it counted last year as Minnesota's best NHL goaltender by a mile. Now 27-years old and nearly 170 games into his NHL career, he'll serve as the stabilizing presence Minnesota needs as they look to prove they're ready to challenge in the Central Division long term.

Gustavsson made waves around the NHL at the start of last season for his first career NHL goal, but for Wild fans, he's the perfect positionally sound mainstay who doesn't often get goaded out of position (and proved with his goalie goal that he isn't afraid to have a little fun, too). And his arrival as a featured player on the main stage couldn't have come at a more perfect time for the Wild. With top-ranked prospect Jesper Wallstedt struggling last season both due to a small smattering of injuries and some not-so-minor regression in his game, Gustavsson's reliable play gives Wallstedt the opportunity to ease his way into play without being considered the team's only future hope.

NHL: DADOUN – THE FANTASY WEEK AHEAD – Examining offseason moves – Oilers thriving ex-RFA’s versus UFA signings – Teams with favourable schedules

Ryan Dadoun — Sat, 04 Jan 2025 16:15:29 +0000

DALLAS, TX - DECEMBER 14: St Louis Blue defenseman Philip Broberg skates with the puck down the ice during an NHL game between the St Louis Blues and the Dallas Stars on December 14, 2024, at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, TX. (Photo by Steve Nurenberg/Icon Sportswire)

Going into 2024-25, it looked like the Oilers had a great summer. Sure, they lost restricted free agents Dylan Holloway and Philip Broberg to St. Louis, but only because the Blues overpaid for them. Meanwhile, Edmonton was crafty, snagging Jeff Skinner and Viktor Arvidsson at bargain bin prices, while also re-signing Adam Henrique to a reasonable contract. The goaltending was still in a risky state given the reliance on the streaky Stuart Skinner and the defense looked thin, but up front, Edmonton seemed deeper than it had ever been in the Connor McDavid-era.

Reality has played out differently. Edmonton has a 23-12-3 record, so they don’t have much to complain about on that front. However, Skinner hasn’t been the bargain that they thought. Instead, the six-time 30-plus goal scorer has just six markers and 13 points through 37 appearances. He’s been so underwhelming that he’s been largely relegated to the fourth line and was even a healthy scratch Sunday.

Arvidsson hasn’t been much help either. Granted, injuries have been part of the issue, but even when healthy, he’s underwhelmed with four goals and nine points through 23 outings. Meanwhile, Henrique has three goals and 10 points in 38 games after finishing the 2023-24 regular season with 51 points.

With the benefit of hindsight, Edmonton should have prioritized its restricted free agents. Broberg has three goals and 14 points in 27 outings while managing a top four role. Holloway has looked even better, collecting 14 goals and 27 points in 40 appearances.

As for Skinner and Arvidsson being bargains while Broberg and Holloway were overpaid, the former duo costs $7 million combined for 2024-25 while the latter comes in at roughly $6.9. Oops.

To be fair, this isn’t what many would have predicted going into the campaign, and there’s still time for Skinner and Arvidsson to make their marks, especially come the playoffs. However, it does highlight how plans can go awry, and with nearly half the campaign now in the books, this seems like a good time to take stock of how teams did in the offseason.

That’ll be the theme of this week’s article: For every team I highlight below, I’m going focus on the players who were brought in over the summer and reevaluate whether it’s worked out.

Carolina Hurricanes (Tue @ TBL, Thu @ TOR, Fri vs VAN, Sun vs ANA)

Carolina has been middling recently, posting a 7-8-1 record over its past 16 games, though the Hurricanes are still 23-13-2 overall thanks to their commanding start. Next week is packed for Carolina and primarily at home, though the opponents will be difficult. The Hurricanes will play in Tampa Bay on Tuesday before hosting Toronto, Vancouver and Anaheim on Thursday, Friday and Sunday, respectively.

Even after factoring in Carolina’s recent underwhelming play, the Hurricanes are still well on their way to making the playoffs for the seventh straight campaign despite significant turnover. They lost two top-four defensemen -- Brady Skjei and Brett Pesce -- and top-six forward Teuvo Teravainen. Jake Guentzel also parted ways with Carolina, but he was a midseason rental, so he was less ingrained into the team.

Carolina led the league in xGA/60 in 2023-24 (2.65), but the team has dipped to 11th (2.90) this year. That’s not bad, but it does suggest that the losses of Skjei and Pesce have been felt.

Carolina did ink Shayne Gostisbehere to a three-year, $9.6 million contract over the summer, but the 31-year-old defenseman was brought in as more of a power-play specialist than a two-way option. He has served well in that role, supplying six goals and 27 points through 35 appearances, but unfortunately, he’s out indefinitely with an upper-body injury.

Interestingly, Brent Burns appears to be staying on the second power-play unit despite Gostisbehere’s injury. Burns is hot with two goals and four points over his past four appearances, but he has just one point with the man advantage this year, and unless he moves up to the top power-play grouping, it’s hard to see him having a strong second half.

Ty Smith seems to have gotten the special-teams assignment instead of Burns. The 24-year-old has averaged just 14:02 of ice time in Carolina’s three games without Gostisbehere, but 4:05 per contest has come with the man advantage. Smith has a goal (provided on the power play) in those three appearances after supplying three goals and 10 points in 13 outings with AHL Chicago. He’s worth a short-term pickup.

Moving back to the Hurricanes’ summer acquisitions, Carolina also inked Jack Roslovic to a one-year, $2.8 million deal. He’s worked out well in Carolina, collecting 17 goals and 25 points through 38 outings, which puts the 27-year-old on track to surpass his career high of 45 points. I’m not confident he’ll get there, though. His 22.4 shooting percentage doesn’t look sustainable and his role with the team hasn’t been consistent, resulting in him averaging a modest 14:00, including 1:15 on the power play. It’s hard to trust him unless he starts getting bigger minutes consistently, so there’s a risk of him slowing meaningfully in the second half.

Detroit Red Wings (Tue vs OTT, Fri vs CHI, Sun vs SEA)

The Red Wings are showing some life under new bench boss Todd McLellan, winning each of their past three games. Still, they have a lot of ground to make up given their 16-18-4 record. Fortunately, their upcoming competition is favorable -- they'll spend next week at home, hosting Ottawa on Tuesday, Chicago on Friday and Seattle on Sunday.

Detroit lost Gostisbehere and veteran forward David Perron over the summer, which threatened to hurt the team’s scoring, but the Red Wings hoped to mitigate that by bringing in Vladimir Tarasenko on a two-year, $9.5 million contract. Tarasenko isn’t the same player he was when he provided over 30 goals on six occasions from 2014-15 through 2021-22, but he still figured to be a valuable middle-six option after providing 23 goals and 55 points over 76 outings between Ottawa and Florida in 2023-24.

It hasn’t worked out like that, though. Tarasenko has just four goals and 14 points through 37 appearances and isn’t giving Red Wings fans much hope that he’ll have a strong second half. The veteran has no goals and three assists across his past 14 games. While Detroit has won its last three games by scoring at least four goals in each contest, Tarasenko has managed a single shot on net over that stretch.

Detroit re-signed Patrick Kane to a one-year, $4 million deal over the summer. Initially, Kane’s story this season looked a lot like Tarasenko -- Kane had just three goals and 10 points over his first 24 appearances of 2024-25 -- but he’s hit his stride, providing five goals and nine points across his past nine outings.

Detroit ranks 25th in goals per game with 2.68, which is a collapse compared to the Red Wings’ 3.35 last campaign. That’s in large part due to a decline in secondary scoring. Detroit had eight players with at least 15 goals. Just five are scoring at a pace to reach that mark this campaign. If Tarasenko could get going, that would certainly help, but it would be wrong to put the blame solely on him when the team as a whole has declined that much.

Minnesota Wild (Tue vs STL, Thu vs COL, Sat @ SJS, Sun @VGK)

The Wild have won four of their past five games, bringing their record up to 24-11-4 this campaign. They’ll look to continue the good times next week, starting with a home game against the Blues on Tuesday. After that, the Wild will host Colorado on Thursday before hitting the road for contests in San Jose on Saturday and Vegas on Sunday.

In contrast to their dominance this season, the Wild missed the playoffs in 2023-24 with a 39-34-9 record, so you’d think they had a successful summer, but this is largely the same team that fell short last campaign. The big difference has been Filip Gustavsson. He struggled in 2023-24 with a 20-18-4 record, 3.06 GAA and .899 save percentage but has rebounded this time, posting a 17-6-3 record, 2.28 GAA and .924 save percentage across 26 starts.

It wouldn’t be surprising to see Gustavsson continue his dominance through the second half of the campaign. While it’s in contrast to last season, he has demonstrated this level of success before -- he was 22-9-7 with a 2.10 GAA and a .931 save percentage in 39 outings in 2022-23 -- so this isn’t coming out of nowhere.

Marco Rossi has also taken a step up. The 23-year-old finished 2023-24 with 21 goals and 40 points and is well on his way to shattering those totals this season, collecting 15 goals and 33 points through 39 outings so far. For the second straight campaign, Rossi has the distinction of getting plenty of ice time with Kirill Kaprizov, but the duo seems to be meshing better this year. Kaprizov showed up on the scoresheet for 16 of Rossi’s 40 points last season but has already featured on 21 of Rossi’s 33 points in 2024-25.

While Minnesota didn’t make any significant additions last summer, it is worth noting that the Wild signed Brock Faber to an eight-year, $68 million contract extension back in July. Faber was one of the few positives for the Wild in 2023-24, supplying eight goals, 47 points, 65 hits and 150 blocks in 82 appearances as a rookie. Locking him up long-term was a bit of a risk given his small sample size, but it’s looking like it was a great call. He has five goals, 20 points, 15 hits and 51 blocks through 39 outings in 2024-25.

Faber didn’t look ideal analytically last campaign with a relative 5v5 CF%/FF% of minus-2.8/minus-3.5, which suggests that the team performed worse from a puck possession perspective when he was on the ice, but the 22-year-old has shown some growth in that regard as a sophomore, posting a minus-1.7/minus-2.9 relative 5v5 CF%/FF%.

Ottawa Senators (Tue @ DET, Thu @ BUF, Sat @ PIT, Sun vs DAL)

Minnesota is enjoying a great campaign after a rough one, but the Senators are still floundering in mediocrity. Ottawa finished 37-41-4 in 2023-24, missing the playoffs for the seventh consecutive year. The Senators are a more respectable, but still not great 19-17-2 this year.

Ottawa does have a shot at ending its postseason drought, but every point will be critical. Next week, the Senators will play in Detroit on Tuesday, host the Sabres on Thursday, play in Pittsburgh on Saturday and then head back home to face the Stars on Sunday.

There was some reason for cautious optimism going into this campaign. Joonas Korpisalo had been a big problem for the Senators in 2023-24, posting a 21-26-4 record, 3.27 GAA and .890 save percentage in 55 outings while finishing minus-16.1 in terms of goals saved above expected. To exchange him with Linus Ullmark in a trade with Boston over the summer seemed like a huge win, and it has been.

Ullmark did initially struggle in Ottawa and is presently dealing with a back injury, but he’s still been strong overall with a 12-7-2 record, 2.38 GAA and .915 save percentage across 23 games with the Senators. Unfortunately, Ottawa’s holdover goaltender, Anton Forsberg, has continued to struggle with a 3.04 GAA and an .885 save percentage in 12 outings, so Ottawa has to hope that Ullmark returns soon.

Even when he is playing, though, Ottawa is still limited by its offense, ranking 20th in goals per game with 2.95. Trading offensive defenseman Jakob Chychrun to Washington didn’t help. The Senators did receive Nick Jensen in the trade, but Jensen is more of a defensive option, contributing two goals, 13 points, 37 hits and 44 blocks in 38 contests with Ottawa this campaign.

The Senators also attempted to boost its secondary scoring by inking David Perron to a two-year, $8 million contract. Perron had recorded at least 36 points in each of his past eight campaigns, so he seemed like a reasonable bet, but the 36-year-old has been no help. Part of that is due to injuries, but even in the nine games he’s logged with Ottawa, Perron has no points.

To make matters worse, Claude Giroux is showing his age, collecting nine goals and 24 points through 38 appearances in 2024-25, putting the 36-year-old on pace to finish well below his totals of 79 and 64 points in 2022-23 and 2023-24, respectively.

If Ottawa is to miss the playoffs this year, a lack of scoring will likely be the reason.

Pittsburgh Penguins (Tue vs CBJ, Thu vs EDM, Sat vs OTT, Sun vs TBL)

Pittsburgh was aggressive in the summer of 2023, bringing offensive defenseman Erik Karlsson into the fold, but that proved to be not enough for the 2023-24 Penguins, who missed the playoffs due to a 38-32-12 record. The Penguins didn’t make as big a splash this summer, and the results remain mixed with the Penguins sitting at 17-17-6. They are in the mix for a playoff spot, so their upcoming homestand will be important -- Pittsburgh will host Columbus on Tuesday, Edmonton on Thursday, Ottawa on Saturday and Tampa Bay on Sunday.

Goaltending was a weakness for Pittsburgh in 2023-24, but the Penguins didn’t change its duo, so Alex Nedeljkovic and Tristan Jarry are paired together for the second straight campaign. The results have been bad, Pittsburgh ranks last in goals allowed per game (3.63), though the defense in front of them is at least partially to blame given the team’s xGA/60 of 3.34, which ranks 29th in the NHL.

At least Rickard Rakell is having a good year. He dropped from 60 points in 2022-23 to just 37 last year, but he’s bounced back to 18 goals and 32 points through 40 appearances this campaign. One factor in that is likely the loss of Jake Guentzel, who the Penguins traded during 2023-24 to avoid potentially losing for nothing as an unrestricted free agent. With Guentzel gone, Rakell has taken his old spot on the top line alongside Sidney Crosby, and that seems to have benefited Rakell quite a bit.

Of course, that’s only because Crosby is defying Father Time with 11 goals and 42 points through 40 games at the age of 37. Malkin, 38, is showing his age more, but he’s still more than holding his own with eight goals and 32 points across 40 outings.

Without much cap space, the Penguins did attempt to supplement its offense on a budget by signing Anthony Beauvillier (one-year, $1.25 million) and Blake Lizotte (two-year, $3.7 million), which has worked out okay. Beauvillier has nine goals and 12 points through 39 appearances while Lizotte has eight goals and 12 points in 24 outings. They add a bit of skill to the bottom six, which is not nothing, but it’s not a lot.

Seattle Kraken (Mon vs NJD, Thu @ CBJ, Sat @ BUF, Sun @DET)

Seattle has been a mixed bag this campaign with a 17-19-3 record, but the Kraken have a somewhat favorable schedule next week. They’ll start by hosting the Devils and then go on the road to play in Columbus on Thursday, in Buffalo on Saturday and in Detroit on Sunday. New Jersey is the only adversary in that batch currently occupying a playoff position.

Although Seattle is still a fairly new franchise, there was some significant turnover during the summer. The biggest change came behind the bench rather than on the ice: Dave Hakstol was replaced by Dan Bylsma as the new bench boss. Under Bylsma, Seattle’s scoring has ticked up somewhat, going from 2.61 goals per game in 2023-24 to 2.90 this campaign, but that’s been undermined by the goals allowed per game increasing to 3.10 compared to 2.83 last year.

Jaden Schwartz has been one of the bigger winners under Bylsma. After collecting 13 goals and 30 points in 62 appearances while averaging 16:22 of ice time last season, Schwartz already has 12 goals and 25 points in 39 games in 2024-25, and he’s seen his playing time tick up to 17:41.

Bylsma has also been making good use of newcomer Chandler Stephenson. Like the coach, Stephenson was an offseason addition, signing a seven-year, $43.75 million deal. That’s a significant commitment to the 30-year-old, but so far, he’s fulfilled his top six duties about as well as expected, supplying four goals and 24 points through 38 appearances. He also has 12 power-play assists, quadrupling that of any other Seattle player.

Brandon Montour was Seattle’s other major free-agent splash, inking a seven-year contract worth one dollar shy of $50 million. Montour missed out on that buck because he was limited to 33 points in 66 regular-season outings with Florida in 2023-24 after setting a career high with 73 points in 2022-23, but he’s done well in his new environment, supplying eight goals and 22 points across 38 outings.

He has gone through something of a cold patch recently with three points (one goal) over his last 10 contests, but it’s not to the point yet where I’m too worried. Even in his amazing 2022-23 campaign, you can find an example of a quiet stretch from Feb. 9-28 in which he had four assists in nine appearances. To be clear, I’m not suggesting that this season will parallel 2022-23, merely stating that slower stretches happen, and the 30-year-old should start picking up the pace again before too long.

Vegas Golden Knights (Tue @ SJS, Thu vs NYI, Sat vs NYR, Sun vs MIN)

While Seattle hasn’t had much playoff success yet, the NHL’s other young franchise, Vegas, has already made the playoffs six times and won the Cup in 2023. The Golden Knights had a down year in 2023-24, posting a 45-29-8 record followed by a first-round exit, but they’re back in business this campaign at 26-9-3. The Golden Knights will start next week with a road match against the rebuilding Sharks before hosting two struggling teams in the Islanders on Thursday and the Rangers on Saturday. Finally, Vegas will be up against a tough contender when they play at home against Minnesota on Sunday.

The Golden Knights more than any other franchise in the NHL is known for making bold trades and constantly having to maneuver to stay under the salary cap. The ceiling forced the Golden Knights to watch forwards Jonathan Marchessault and Chandler Stephenson walk as free agents over the summer. Vegas also traded Logan Thompson to Washington and Paul Cotter to New Jersey.

With those losses, how have the Golden Knights done so well? For starters, Vegas has an economical replacement for Thompson in Ilya Samsonov, who inked a one-year, $1.8 million deal with the Golden Knights. The 27-year-old Samsonov has been a nice backup in Vegas, providing a 10-3-1 record, 2.69 GAA and .907 save percentage in 14 outings. To some extent, he’s even outperformed starter Adin Hill, who is 16-6-2 with a 2.65 GAA and a .902 save percentage through 24 appearances.

You might look at those solid GAAs and middling save percentages and conclude that Vegas’ secret sauce is the defense in front of its netminders, but that’s not entirely the case. In terms of shots allowed per game, Vegas has been relatively good, ranking 12th with 27.9, but the team is also tied for 21st in xGA/60 (3.10) because the Golden Knights tend to give up a ton of high-danger shots, tying for eighth in that category with 142.

As a result, Vegas’ goaltenders don’t necessarily need to work a ton, but they do need to be at the top of their game, and they’ve done just that. Hill has a goals saved above expected of 8.4 and Samsonov is at 6.1, putting them in 14th and 18th, respectively, among all goaltenders, per Moneypuck.

Vegas has also received good value out of Tanner Pearson and Victor Olofsson, who each inked one-year contracts and combine for less than $2 million in cap space. Pearson has eight goals and 16 points through 38 outings, providing some nice scoring depth in a bottom-six capacity. Meanwhile, Olofsson did miss 20 straight games from Oct. 17-Nov. 29 because of a lower-body injury, but he’s been a great middle-six option when healthy, contributing eight goals and 13 points through 18 appearances.

Health in general has really been the key, though. In 2023-24, Vegas finished with just three players who logged the full 82 games while Jack Eichel, Mark Stone, Shea Theodore and Alex Pietrangelo were among those who endured significant absences. Vegas hasn’t been the poster child for health this year, but the situation hasn’t been nearly as bad. That’s helped Eichel especially, who leads the team with 50 points (10 goals) through 38 appearances in 2024-25.

Vegas also made midseason trades during 2023-24 that are paying off now. This is the team’s first full season with defenseman Noah Hanifin, who has six goals and 20 points in 38 outings while serving in a top-four capacity, and forward Tomas Hertl, who has 10 goals and 25 points in 38 games. The result is Vegas is a deep team both up front and on the blue line, even after watching some notable players go over the summer.

Washington Capitals (Mon @ BUF, Wed vs VAN, Fri vs MTL, Sat @ NSH)

The Capitals barely made the playoffs in 2023-24, finishing the regular season with a 40-31-11 record before being swept in the first round. They look very different this year, though, as demonstrated by their 25-10-3 record. Washington will start next week by playing in Buffalo on Monday before returning home to host the Canucks on Wednesday and the Canadiens on Friday. They’ll wrap things up with a game in Nashville on Saturday.

While some of the teams above have made major strides this campaign despite minimal changes over the summer, that doesn’t describe the Capitals. Washington was aggressive in addition pieces, acquiring Jakob Chychrun from Ottawa, Pierre-Luc Dubois from LA and Logan Thompson from Vegas in trades. Washington also made a big splash by signing Matt Roy to a six-year, $34.5 million contract.

Those additions have paid off superbly for Washington. Darcy Kuemper left plenty to be desired with the Capitals last season, posting a 3.31 GAA and an .890 save percentage in 33 starts, but Washington was able to part with him in the Dubois trade, and Thompson has been so much better, recording a 15-2-2 record, 2.30 GAA and .918 save percentage across 19 appearances this season. That upgrade in goaltending has been a critical factor in Washington’s success, especially because it has gone a long way toward counteracting the decline of Charlie Lindgren, who has a 10-8-1 record, 2.70 GAA and .898 save percentage in 19 outings in 2024-25, down from 25-16-7 with a 2.67 GAA and .911 save percentage in 50 appearances last year.

The Capitals were able to snag Dubois from LA for the low cost of Kuemper because the 26-year-old Dubois comes with an $8.5 million cap hit through 2030-31, but he had an underwhelming 16 goals, 40 points and 70 PIM in 82 regular-season outings with the Kings last season. LA had a logjam up the middle, though, contributing to Dubois averaging just 15:42 in 2024-25. By contrast, Washington had a clear second-line opening for him, which he has settled into nicely, providing five goals, 29 points and 22 PIM in 38 games. You’d still like more from a player with his contract, but there’s no question that he’s added to the team’s scoring depth.

If Dubois has worked out with an asterisk because of his price point, then Chychrun has been a clearer win. He is on the final campaign of his contract, but his $4.6 million cap hit is superb value for the 26-year-old defenseman, who has 11 goals and 25 points this campaign. Washington already had John Carlson has a high-end offensive option on the blue line, and now Chychrun is providing Washington with another big weapon to either send out with Carlson or spread out across the top two pairings.

When it comes to the signings, Matt Roy was the major splash. The defenseman has a goal, eight points, 63 hits and 45 blocks in 28 appearances while averaging 19:24 of ice time. He’s never been a major offensive threat, but Washington already has that role well covered with Chychrun and Carlson. Roy is there to help in Washington’s end, which is why 55.4 percent of his 5v5 zone starts have been defensive.

All that has played a role in the Capitals’ success, but I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention Alex Ovechkin’s role in all this. He has an incredible 18 goals and 28 points in 22 appearances. That said, Washington was still a strong 10-5-1 during the 16-game absence of Ovechkin from Nov. 21-Dec. 23 due to a fractured fibula, so clearly this team is more than just the byproduct of its superstar.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

NHL: DADOUN – THE FANTASY WEEK AHEAD (October 21st to 27th) – Avalanche and Predators Off to Rocky Starts

Ryan Dadoun — Sun, 20 Oct 2024 13:00:39 +0000

_{VANCOUVER, BC - APRIL 30: Nashville Predators goaltender Juuse Saros (74) stops the puck during Game Five of the First Round of the 2024 Stanley Cup playoffs between the Nashville Predators and the Vancouver Canucks on April 30, 2024, at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, B.C. (Photo by Ethan Cairns/Icon Sportswire)}

We’re still way too early into the season to read anything into the standings, but it is eyebrow-raising to see Colorado and Nashville both 0-4-0 through Thursday’s action.

Goaltender Alexandar Georgiev is a big part of the Avalanche’s early woes, posting a record of 0-3-0 with a 5.80 GAA and an .802 save percentage across four appearances this season. To put that into context, Jack Campbell got off to a 1-3-0 start with a 4.35 GAA and an .878 save percentage in four contests with Edmonton last year, and he played in just one more game beyond that before being sent to the minors. It’s not as if Georgiev has a strong track record to fall back on either. Yes, he won 38 games last year, but that was thanks to Colorado’s stellar offense. Georgiev finished the 2023-24 regular season with a 3.02 GAA and an .897 save percentage in 63 contests.

Do I think Georgiev is about to be sent to the minors? No, but there is an opportunity here for Justus Annunen or Kaapo Kahkonen to get a serious look, especially because Georgiev is in the final campaign of his three-year deal, so the Avalanche aren’t locked into him.

On the Nashville side, Juuse Saros hasn’t been great either (3.84 GAA and .878 save percentage through three games), but he has a far superior body of work, and there’s more reason to believe he will bounce back. It is somewhat interesting that Nashville hasn’t gotten any offensive production out of Steven Stamkos yet, but the former Lightning captain has fired 14 shots over four games, so we should see something out of him soon.

Colorado Avalanche

If there’s a silver lining for the Avalanche, it’s that their upcoming schedule looks extremely favorable. In addition to wrapping up this week with games against a pair of teams not projected to make the playoffs, Anaheim and San Jose, on Friday and Sunday, respectively, Colorado’s competition next week is fairly middling. The Avalanche will play in Seattle on Tuesday and Utah on Thursday before wrapping up next week’s action by hosting Ottawa on Sunday.

I picked on Georgiev during the intro -- justifiably so, in my opinion -- but I’d be remiss if I didn’t note that Colorado has far more than its fair share of important players injured. Up front, Jonathan Drouin (upper body), Gabriel Landeskog (knee), Atturi Lehkonen (shoulder) and Valeri Nichushkin (suspension) are all on the shelf. Meanwhile, Colorado’s second-best defenseman, Devon Toews, has been dealing with a lower-body injury.

Landeskog, Lehkonen and Nichushkin were already known to be long-term absences, but Drouin won’t be re-evaluated until Oct. 28, so he’s not going to be an option next week either. There isn’t much clarity when it comes to Toews timetable, so maybe the Avalanche will at least get him back.

Could it be argued that all those injuries are part of the reason for Georgiev’s struggles? After all, goaltending doesn’t happen in a vacuum, and when the quality of the play in front of the goaltender diminishes, their numbers tend to suffer. That might be a factor, but it’s not enough to completely explain away Georgiev’s horrendous’ numbers. Taking a look at Goals Saved Above Expected, per Moneypuck, which attempts to evaluate a goaltender independent of his team, Georgiev isn’t just the worst goaltender in the league, it’s not even close. He’s minus-9.5 while the next worst is a tie between Stuart Skinner and Ivan Fedotov at minus-3.9.

That’s why I focused on goaltending rather than injuries up top -- no matter what else happens, Colorado won’t have a successful season without better netminding. It’s simply nearly impossible to assemble a team capable of winning games consistently when your goaltender is this leaky. Although all that said, rather than need a new goaltender, it is possible that Georgiev will at least improve somewhat as the campaign goes on -- he certainly can’t get much worse.

That all aside, Colorado’s injuries have created opportunities for other players to step up. Ross Colton has gone from recording 40 points (17 goals) in 80 regular-season games while averaging 13:43 of ice time in 2023-24 to contributing two goals and three points while averaging 18:42 this year. Given the Avalanche’s situation, Colton should continue to get plenty of work in the upcoming week, and his production should remain respectable as a result.

Casey Mittelstadt is the second-line center, which would remain the case even if everyone was healthy, but those injuries have led to him playing on the top power-play unit. He’s supplied three goals through four games, including one with the man advantage.

Unfortunately, Colorado’s younger cast of Calum Ritchie, Nikolai Kovalenko and Ivan Ivan haven’t been able to step up in the face of the Avalanche’s injuries. They’re still worth keeping an eye on, but none of them have done enough yet to warrant a roster spot in standard fantasy leagues.

Detroit Red Wings

The Red Wings will split next week between road and home games. They’ll play the Islanders and Sabres on the road Tuesday and Saturday, respectively, and host the Devils and Oilers on Thursday and Sunday, respectively. It’s a mixed bag as far as the level of competition goes, but it’s still worthy of mention based on how full Detroit’s schedule is.

The Red Wings got off to a 1-3-0 start. The most noteworthy thing to happen during that span was Ville Husso allowing four goals on 14 shots in 25:28 minutes of action en route to a 6-3 loss to Pittsburgh on Oct. 10. Just like that, Husso promptly changed from Detroit’s Opening Night starter to an AHLer, leaving Alex Lyon and Cam Talbot on the NHL roster. Neither goaltender is the clear-cut No. 1 at this time, so don’t be surprised if they split next week’s starts evenly.

Up front, Patrick Kane and Vladimir Tarasenko have gotten off to a slow start, each recording just one point through four appearances. The duo got a look together, but they’ve been split with Kane now playing alongside his old Blackhawks buddy in Alex DeBrncat while Tarasenko is getting a look with Lucas Raymond. That shakeup might help spark both of those veteran forwards.

On defense, the biggest surprise is Erik Gustafsson spending two of Detroit’s first four games as a healthy scratch. He did register a power-play assist in the Red Wings’ Opening Night and picked up another one when he re-entered the lineup for Detroit’s 5-2 loss to the Rangers on Oct. 17. Gustafsson looked like a potential replacement for Shayne Gostisbehere, who is now with Carolina, on Detroit’s top power-play unit, and that still appears to be Gustafsson’s role when he’s in the lineup. However, if the blueliner isn’t going to play consistently, then obviously his fantasy value will suffer dramatically.

Nashville Predators

The Predators will kick off the week with a tough home contest against Boston, but things will get easier afterward with a road clash versus Chicago on Friday before the Predators host Columbus on Saturday.

With the Predators winless at the time of writing, Stamkos needs to get going. As noted above, though, that should happen. A degree of transitional pain isn’t shocking given Stamkos not only spent his entire NHL career to this point with Tampa Bay but doesn’t even have much experience at the top level adjusting to a new head coach -- Jon Cooper has been running the show in Tampa Bay since he took over during the 2012-13 campaign. Still, Stamkos has also just had some bad puck luck, and things should even out eventually.

One player who hasn’t needed time to get going is Roman Josi. He already has three assists through four outings this year. As a fun aside, the Predators captain is now just 11 points from becoming the first player in Predators history to accumulate 700 points with the franchise -- the 34-year-old defenseman has spent his full career in Nashville.

Filip Forsberg ranks second on that chart with 609 career points. He accumulated 48 goals and 94 points across 82 regular-season contests in 2023-24 and is off to a strong start this campaign with two goals and four points through four games. Playing alongside Forsberg is the best assignment Nashville can offer, and it will be interesting to see if Stamkos or fellow newcomer Jonathan Marchessault get much of a look alongside him. So far Forsberg has mostly played alongside Ryan O’Reilly and Gustav Nyquist at even strength, which to be fair is a line that worked great last season and seems to be continuing to pay dividends, so Nashville doesn’t have much motivation to mess with that.

New Jersey Devils

Through Thursday’s action, no team has played more games than New Jersey. The Devils have already logged seven contests while Carolina has gotten into only two games (albeit that’s after the Hurricanes-Lightning game that would have been played Oct. 12 got postponed). The schedule isn’t getting any lighter for the Devils next week: They’ll host the Lightning on Tuesday, play in Detroit on Thursday and then wrap the week with home games against the Islanders and the Ducks on Friday and Sunday, respectively.

The Devils won five of their first seven games, putting them in a strong opening position after missing the playoffs last season. Although he’s been far from perfect, Jacob Markstrom has evened out to be a good acquisition thus far, posting a 3-2-0 record, 2.42 GAA and .918 save percentage through five starts. Credit also needs to go to Jake Allen, who has been masterful in his two starts, saving a combined 37 of 38 shots en route to two victories. Allen should be expected to play at least one game next week, likely either against Detroit on Thursday or the Islanders on Friday.

On defense, Brett Pesce (leg) and Luke Hughes (shoulder) remain out, and there’s no indication that either’s return is imminent. That should allow rookie Seamus Casey to continue to play regularly. Casey has averaged just 12:35 of ice time, but that includes a role on the second power-play unit, which has paid off. He has three goals and four points across seven appearances, including two markers with the man advantage. I’m not confident Casey will remain with the team long-term, but he’s not a bad short-term pickup, especially with how heavy the Devils’ schedule is.

New York Rangers

The Rangers will open the week with a contest in Montreal on Tuesday before heading home to host the Panthers on Thursday and the Ducks on Saturday. While Florida is a difficult adversary, Montreal and Anaheim are rebuilding squads.

While you never want to get overly excited over four games, Artemi Panarin has been unreal with five goals and 11 points in that span. Panarin set career highs in 2023-24 with 49 goals and 120 points in 82 regular-season outings, and he may put up similar numbers this year.

That’s great for Alexis Lafreniere, who has played almost exclusively alongside Panarin at even strength so far this season. Lafreniere has two goals and five points through four appearances, and Panarin has been involved in all of Lafreniere’s offense. It took the 2020 No. 1 overall pick a few seasons to get going, but he set personal bests with 28 goals and 57 points last campaign, and that might be just a taste of what his career has in store.

By contrast, Kaapo Kakko, who was the No. 2 overall pick in 2019, still hasn’t managed to find his way. He showed promise in 2022-23 with 18 goals and 40 points in 82 regular-season outings, but he faltered last season, managing just 19 points in 61 appearances. He’ll try to rebound this campaign, and he does already have a decent two assists across four games, but Kakko seems limited to third-line duties alongside Will Cuylle and Filip Chytil, which limits his potential.

Pittsburgh Penguins

The Penguins will start next week with a home-and-away series against Washington on Tuesday and Wednesday followed by a second back-to-back set over the weekend in which Pittsburgh will host Minnesota on Saturday and Montreal on Sunday.

Like the Rangers in Panarin, Pittsburgh has a red-hot forward. Evgeni Malkin has accumulated two goals and 11 points through five appearances this year -- not bad for a 38 year old. That run includes his 500th career goal, which was tallied in Pittsburgh’s 6-5 overtime victory over Buffalo on Wednesday.

It hasn’t been all good news for the Penguins, though. Tristan Jarry is another netminder off to a disastrous start, posting a 1-1-0 record, 5.45 GAA and .836 save percentage through three outings. That’s particularly discouraging following his disappointing 2.91 GAA and .903 save percentage across 51 appearances last year.

Alex Nedeljkovic started the season on injured reserve due to a lower-body issue, which gave Jarry an opportunity to make his case for the starting gig after losing it in the final weeks of 2023-24. Instead, Pittsburgh has every reason to give the job to Nedeljkovic once he’s healthy. Nedeljkovic was taken off IR and moved to AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on Thursday for conditioning, so he probably will be back with the Penguins in the near future.

Toronto Maple Leafs

Toronto doesn’t have an easy week ahead, but it is at least one with plenty of actions. The Maple Leafs will host Tampa Bay on Monday, play in Columbus on Tuesday, return to Toronto to face the Blues on Thursday, and then conclude the week with a game in Boston on Saturday.

The Maple Leafs made a three-year, $11 million commitment to Joseph Woll over the summer that will begin with the 2025-26 campaign. That contract might prove to be favorable to the Maple Leafs if the 26-year-old develops into the starting goaltender Toronto is hoping he can be, but it might be soured due to injuries. Woll dealt with health problems last season and hasn’t played yet in 2024-25 due to a lower-body issue, though his time on the shelf might be coming to a close after taking part in Friday’s practice.

When he does return, he might find himself as the understudy. Although the situation remains fluid, Anthony Stolarz has at least for now forced the Maple Leafs to see him as the No. 1 option after posting a 2-1-0 record, 1.69 GAA and .940 save percentage across three appearances this season. Dennis Hildeby looked solid in his NHL debut too, stopping 21 of 23 shots en route to a 4-2 win over New Jersey on Oct. 10, but he’ll nevertheless report to the AHL once Woll is healthy.

Up front, John Tavares’ situation is arguably the most interesting one to watch. Although he has seen a significant amount of time on the second line alongside Max Domi and William Nylander, the Maple Leafs have also experimented with using Tavares on the third unit with Pontus Holmberg and Nicholas Robertson. Part of that is enabling the Maple Leafs to spread out its offense more evenly, but it might also be a bit of a reflection of Tavares’ age. To be fair, he has two goals through three appearances, so his early production has been nothing to complain about, but it will be interesting to see how he’s utilized throughout the season.

Tavares’ use also ties in with Bobby McMann, who stands to gain a top-six spot if Tavares ends up spending regular minutes on the third line. McMann has provided three goals across three outings after being a surprise healthy scratch in Toronto’s opener.

Vegas Golden Knights

The Golden Knights will play at home next week, hosting the Kings on Tuesday, the Senators on Friday and the Sharks on Saturday.

Vegas was a team that thrived at home last season, posting a 27-12-2 record at T-Mobile Arena versus 18-17-6 on the road. That trend has continued into the early portion of 2024-25 -- the Golden Knights have a 3-0-0 home record and are 0-2-0 away. If the split continues to be noticeable, it will be worth skewing towards Vegas players when the squad is at home and shying away from the Golden Knights a bit in other locations.

Not that the top line has shown any care for where the squad is playing. Jack Eichel has begun the campaign on a five-game scoring streak in which he’s provided two goals and 10 points. Linemates Mark Stone and Ivan Barbashev are right behind him with nine and eight points, respectively. Defenseman Shea Theodore has also been a standout performer with a goal and seven points across five outings.

As a group, Vegas has little to complain about offensively. Adin Hill has left something to be desired, though, allowing at least three goals in each of his first four games. That offense has allowed him to escape that stretch with an okay 2-2-0 record, but in the long run, Vegas will need more out of him. Otherwise, there will be an opportunity for Ilya Samsonov. The 27-year-old backup stopped 22 of 23 shots en route to a 3-1 win against Anaheim on Sunday, but he otherwise hasn’t been tested this season. Samsonov has been a mixed bag in his career, and it’s hard to know what to expect from him this time around. If you did draft Hill, though, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to hedge your bets by grabbing Samsonov.

MCKEEN’S 2024-25 NHL YEARBOOK – DETROIT RED WINGS – Team Preview

Thu, 26 Sep 2024 20:00:00 +0000

_{OTTAWA, ON - FEBRUARY 28: Detroit Red Wings Center Dylan Larkin (71) applies pressure on the forecheck during first period National Hockey League action between the Detroit Red Wings and Ottawa Senators on February 28, 2023, at Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa, ON, Canada. (Photo by Richard A. Whittaker/Icon Sportswire)}

Signing Patrick Kane in late November wasn’t quite enough. Although Kane rebounded nicely from his hip resurfacing surgery, providing 20 goals and 47 points in 50 contests to help Detroit finish a respectable ninth offensively (3.35 goals per game), the team struggled defensively, ranking 25th with a 3.28 xGA/60, and dealt with inconsistent goaltending, leading to the Red Wings finishing with a 41-32-9 record and a sliver out of the playoffs. Although it was Detroit’s eighth straight campaign without a playoff berth, it was at least the team’s best showing since 2015-16 in terms of PTS%.

WHAT’S CHANGED? Detroit watched forwards Daniel Sprong and David Perron, defenceman Shayne Gostisbehere, and goaltender James Reimer depart as unrestricted free agents, but the Red Wings were able to retain the services of Patrick Kane, who inked a one-year, $6.5 million deal. Detroit also attempted to stabilize its goaltending situation with the signing of Cam Talbot and bolstered its offence by inking Vladimir Tarasenko. Erik Gustafsson was brought in to help round out the blue line while Jack Campbell will be given a shot at redemption on a one-year, $775,000 contract.

WHAT WOULD SUCCESS LOOK LIKE? Detroit is at a point now where anything short of a playoff berth should be seen as a disappointment. The Red Wings’ offence is certainly sufficient to accomplish that task, especially with the addition of Tarasenko, but is their goaltending good enough? Talbot was able to be of great help to the Kings last year, posting a 27-20-6 record, 2.50 GAA and .913 save percentage in 54 contests. On top of that, Campbell looked good in the minors last season after falling out of favor in Edmonton, so he shouldn’t be discounted. Throw Ville Husso and Alex Lyon into the mix and Detroit has a wealth of potential starters.

WHAT COULD GO WRONG? There’s a reason why Detroit has so many experienced netminders: none of them are sure things. Talbot has the best track record, but he’s also 37 years old, so who knows how good he’ll be. Campbell’s recent success in the minors won’t necessarily translate to the NHL, especially after some truly dreary results with Edmonton. Lyon was good at points in 2023-24, but overall, he was average at best, which isn’t good enough in Detroit because the defence in front of the goaltending has been the true Achilles’ heel. If the Red Wings make life as tough as they did for their netminders in 2023-24, then this might be another lost year for Detroit.

TOP BREAKOUT CANDIDATE: Hungry to end its playoff drought, Detroit is expected to feature of roster heavy on veterans. Simon Edvinsson figures to be one of the sole exceptions. The No. 6 overall pick in the 2021 NHL Draft, Edvinsson might even serve in a top-four capacity this season. He recorded eight goals and 30 points across 54 AHL contests last season, though his offensive upside doesn’t compare to Detroit’s other young blueliner, Moritz Seider. However, the 21-year-old Edvinsson is a towering, physical presence and might provide the kind of help Detroit’s goaltenders desperately need.

FORWARD

Dylan Larkin

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
79	35	50	85	1.08

As Dylan Larkin goes, so do the hopes of the Detroit Red Wings returning to the postseason. As the team captain, he’s the beating heart of the team and his performance is what pushes their offence. In 68 games, Larkin finished second on the team in points with 69 points, three behind Lucas Raymond. His 33 goals led the team and his 1.01 points per game was the highest rate on the roster. Larkin was a dual threat player racking up 17 of his 33 goals at even strength and another 14 on the power play that was bolstered by the presence of Patrick Kane and defenceman Shayne Gostisbehere. Larkin’s 26 power play points were second behind Gostisbehere’s 29 and he even added two shorthanded goals as well. Larkin’s all-around play drives the Red Wings to success and when his teammates can play to his level, it makes Detroit a dangerous team to deal with. As a center, he was outstanding on faceoffs and won more than 55 percent of his draws to help ensure possession. Even though his point totals don’t rank out with the elite scorers in the NHL, a fully healthy season would show off what he can do to help cure the Red Wings’ playoff drought. With the way the team rallies around him when he’s playing, he’s the most important player on the team.

Lucas Raymond

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
82	35	48	83	1.01

Sophomore slumps are often a curious thing because they cast doubt on the players who have them following great rookie campaigns. Two years ago, Raymond’s second NHL season saw him hit roadblocks along the way and his offensive numbers dipped. But after his performance last season, he showed that he is the real deal and will be vital to the future success of the Red Wings. Raymond led the team in scoring with 72 points in 82 games. His 31 goals were second behind Dylan Larkin and his 25 even strength goals were most on the team. That he posted 56 points at even strength highlighted how good he was in general. What’s even more remarkable is that Raymond was able to pile up goals while not exactly pumping a ton of shots on net (163) at just under two shots per game. Raymond proved to be a puck hound around the net cashing in on loose pucks but still capable of sniping shots past goaltenders when he has the opportunity. The Red Wings struggled defensively in respect to controlling shot attempts and shot quality at five-on-five, but Raymond was among the best on the roster at controlling play behind Dylan Larkin. If the Red Wings are going to improve in those areas, it’ll be behind Raymond and others.

Patrick Kane

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
70	22	36	58	0.83

There was so much fascination with how Patrick Kane was going to perform upon his return to the NHL following hip surgery. With the way Kane performed for Detroit, it highlighted what’s made him one of the best players in NHL history. In 50 games, Kane scored 20 goals and had 27 assists averaging 0.97 points per game, second on the team behind Dylan Larkin in that category. Kane’s performance as a playmaker and distributor was apparent and while he’s not as speedy or quite as agile as he once was, so much of what he did last season was reminiscent of the kind of player he was. Kane was a boon to the Red Wings’ power play and had 15 points on the man advantage including two goals. The Red Wings needed a boost to their offence after it struggled so mightily two seasons ago and Kane helped fulfill that need immediately upon entering the lineup. Kane reunited with former Chicago teammate Alex DeBrincat in Detroit and recaptured that chemistry and likely helped make his entrance to the lineup easier. What’s more impressive is he played most of his five-on-five minutes with J.T. Compher at center instead of Larkin. With that season post-surgery under his belt, it will be interesting to see how Kane handles an 82-game season with full training camp to prepare. At 35 years old, these seasons get tougher, but considering what he’s gone through before, it’ll be hard to ignore him.

Alex DeBrincat

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
82	28	42	70	0.85

One of the biggest acquisitions the Detroit Red Wings made last summer was the trade that brought Alex DeBrincat into the fold. That they pulled him away from division rival Ottawa was boon enough, but with the way he fit into the Detroit lineup right away, it showed that bringing a guy back to his hometown team can work out great. DeBrincat had 27 goals and 40 assists in 82 games for the Red Wings and teamed up with his old Chicago Blackhawks teammate Patrick Kane to provide a second line with a lot of scoring punch. He proved to be a threat both at even strength and on the power play with 16 goals coming at evens and another 11 on the man advantage. Even though he was an outstanding goal scorer in Chicago and Ottawa, he proved to be a valuable setup man last season. His 40 assists were third most on the team behind Shayne Gostisbehere and Lucas Raymond and given his proficiency at scoring goals, drawing opponents away from teammates and feeding them to score is a good plan. DeBrincat was a universal offensive boost to the lineup. While he was mostly on Larkin’s wing with Lucas Raymond on the other side, when Kane arrived, they teamed up with J.T. Compher often to form a second attacking line. Spreading out the wealth in the lineup was wise because it helped open their attack. With the addition of Vladimir Tarasenko, how coach Derek Lalonde sets his lines bears watching, but you can assume DeBrincat will receive a prime offensive role.

Vladimir Tarasenko

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
65	17	28	45	0.69

While the Red Wings landed a big fish in free agency last season with Patrick Kane, this summer brought them another former big scoring veteran to strengthen their offence in Vladimir Tarasenko. Tarasenko joins the Red Wings after a season in which he split time between Ottawa and Florida and culminated with winning his second Stanley Cup in five years as part of the Panthers. At 32 years old, Tarasenko is not the hard-firing sniper he was years ago with the St. Louis Blues, but he is still a capable offensive weapon. Between Ottawa and Florida, he had 23 goals 32 assists (55 points) and added another five goals and four assists during the Panthers’ run to the Stanley Cup in 24 games. While on a not-as deep Senators team, he played more than 16 minutes per game, but saw that ice time drop with Florida to under 14 minutes a game. Detroit likely wasn’t planning to bank on riding Tarasenko for big minutes, if he’s able to generate 50 points and 20 goals again getting similar ice time, that would provide a huge lift to their depth scoring. There’s also the possibility he may reunite with Kane (the two played together with the New York Rangers in 2023). Tarasenko is a wicked competitor and showed he’s got some bite to his game to go with the offensive skills regarding mixing it up in scrums. Although he won’t have the same play style as the now departed David Perron, the role may be similar, just with more looks to score.

J.T. Compher

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
82	19	34	53	0.65

When J.T. Compher arrived in Detroit as a free agent from Colorado last summer, the hope was he would be able to hop right into the lineup in a second line center role and give the Red Wings a different look from what Dylan Larkin provided on the first line. Compher’s more defensive inclinations allowed him to provide balance with wingers who were not as strong in their own end of the ice and that proved to be of great value to the Red Wings with the additions of Alex DeBrincat and Patrick Kane. What’s more impressive is that Compher’s production didn’t fall off at all coming from the Avalanche. Compher had his best goal scoring season putting up 19 goals along with 29 assists last season and his 48 points missed a career-high by four points despite missing five games. Compher was able to supplant Andrew Copp on the second line and improved the Detroit attack in the process. If there was one area Compher struggled with it was at faceoffs. He won 44.8 percent of his draws which made it a little harder for his line to start with possession. Otherwise, he arrived in Detroit as advertised and produced exactly the way he figured to and that’s about all you can ask for when it comes to free agents. It would seem likely he’ll have Kane back on his line and it’s only a question of whether it’ll be DeBrincat or Vladimir Tarasenko on the other side.

Andrew Copp

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
80	14	23	37	0.46

When Copp signed with the Red Wings two summers ago, the expectation was that he would use that big offensive season with the Winnipeg Jets and New York Rangers and his naturally strong offensive play to help him return home to Michigan and be the second line center they needed. Instead, his goals dropped from 21 to nine and his point total dropped off by 11. Even worse still, his possession numbers cratered in Detroit. All of this pointed to Copp being a bit over his head in a new role in what’s become a high-pressure situation as the Red Wings attempt to return to the playoffs for the first time since 2016. With J.T. Compher’s addition last summer, Copp was able to slide into a role as the third line center and although his point totals fell again, his goal total went up. He had 13 goals and 20 assists, and his average ice time dropped to just over 16 minutes, down from 18. His possession numbers remained the same, however, with a five-on-five shot attempt percentage just below 45 percent. Those aren’t the kinds of results a team wants from guys in a more defensive role and that must improve if Detroit is going to be a true playoff threat this season. Ideally, an improvement in shot metrics and a boosted offensive output would go a long way for both Copp and the Red Wings and with three years left on his contract, it’s necessary.

Michael Rasmussen

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
77	12	22	34	0.44

When the Red Wings selected Michael Rasmussen in the first round of the 2017 draft, the hope was that he would develop into a powerful scoring forward that used his size to create havoc around the net. While that hasn’t happened in the NHL, the 6-foot-6, 220 pound forward has made a home for himself in the bottom six of the lineup. In 75 games last season, Rasmussen had 13 goals and 20 assists while also delivering 124 hits and 76 blocked shots. Playing a physical game helps him stand out amongst his Red Wings teammates as they’re not really an overly physical team up front in the first place. Among forwards, Rasmussen was second in hits behind Christian Fischer and tops in shots blocked. Every team needs role players and for Detroit, Rasmussen’s contributions are abundantly clear. The downside to playing that style of hockey can come in the form of poor shot metrics and that’s certainly the case for Rasmussen whose shot attempt and shot quality percentages at five-on-five are below 44 percent. That’s not ideal, but the hope is that a deeper group at forward will be able to help improve those numbers. Whether he’s on the third or fourth line, he’s out there to play the heavy.

Joseph Veleno

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
70	12	19	31	0.39

Entering his fifth NHL season, Joseph Veleno has locked himself into a role in Detroit’s bottom six forward group in a checking role but one with his junior hockey scoring instincts still intact. Veleno had 12 goals and 16 assists in 80 games last season while he averaged fewer than 14 minutes per game. Detroit’s third and fourth lines functioned as a kind of change-up from their far more offensively talented first and second lines and Veleno leaned into that delivering 108 hits. Those numbers were down a touch from his previous two seasons with 123 and 156 hits respectively, but the uptick in offence was certainly welcomed. Veleno’s 28 points set a new career high for him and that included a bit of action on the power play where he scored three goals. If the situation and contracts were different, Veleno could challenge Andrew Copp for a spot centering the third line, but considering each player produces roughly similar results it’s more of a toss-up between which guy is going more. Like everyone else lower in the lineup, Veleno needs to help improve the shot differential numbers and give their goaltenders more of a break. If his evolution as more of a defensive forward improves, it could go a long way to helping the Red Wings.

DEFENCE

Moritz Seider

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
82	11	45	56	0.68

As the Red Wings’ No. 1 defenceman as well as their youngest member, the expectations set upon Moritz Seider are, indeed, lofty. After he won the Calder Trophy in 2022, the hope was he would build upon that outstanding 50-point season and lean a little more into his offensive game. However, he’s posted 42 points in each of the past two seasons but set a career high in goals last season with nine. Some of the offensive responsibilities were taken off his plate last season by Shayne Gostisbehere, but with Gostisbehere gone to Carolina and Jake Walman traded to San Jose, the need for Seider to better embrace his offensive game is immediate. Fortunately, he’s leaned into using his size more often. He led Detroit in hits (211) and blocked shots (212) and his 22:22 played per game was the most on the team as well. That’s just part of what’s expected out of a No. 1 defenceman who at 6-foot-3, 205 pounds can change a game by playing to his size. What’s somewhat concerning was the dip in Seider’s five-on-five possession numbers. Team-wide those statistics weren’t great and indicative of why Detroit missed the postseason, but Seider’s shot attempt and shot quality percentages were the lowest of his career. Given his workload, those numbers must improve if Detroit is going to be a serious playoff contender.

Ben Chiarot

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
76	4	14	18	0.24

Much of what’s been asked of Ben Chiarot since he signed with the Red Wings two summers ago has happened. He was asked to be a physical player who blocks shots and leans into being every bit of a defensive defenceman. Last season, he had more blocked shots (167) than hits (163) and was among the team leaders in time played on the penalty kill. There was a downside, however. At five-on-five, Chiarot was on the ice for the second most shot attempts against behind Moritz Seider as Chiarot faced 27 fewer shot attempts. The issue there is Seider played nearly 39 more minutes than Chiarot did. His shot attempt percentage at five-on-five was lowest among defencemen at 43.6. Being a defenceman is somewhat like being a shot sponge, but to that degree is not something any coach would like to see. Chiarot scored five goals and had 15 assists last season, his fourth season with 20 or more points and he kept the penalty minutes down to a respectable 56. Much is asked of Chiarot considering he averaged nearly 20 minutes per game (19:47) but it stands to reason Detroit might be better off if his role was more specialized situationally. Instead, it’s lining up that he’ll be a fixture in their top four group on the blue line again.

Erik Gustafsson

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
78	7	28	35	0.45

With the departure of Shayne Gostisbehere to Carolina in free agency, the Red Wings needed a puck moving defenceman with strong offensive instincts. That’s a role Erik Gustafsson was made to fill. Last season with the New York Rangers, Gustafsson generally paired with Jacob Trouba to be a counterpart to his physical defensive style of play on the Rangers second pairing. He had six goals and 25 assists, nine on the power play, in helping the Rangers to the Eastern Conference Final against Florida. Throughout his career, Gustafsson has been an offensive specialist on the blue line with the ability to move the puck through all three zones and make good decisions on passes. That ability will be desperately needed for the Red Wings who, outside of Moritz Seider, don’t really have a defenceman who can do that especially well. Although he’s not an overly strong defensive player, the Red Wings have a few other guys who specialize in playing that way. Depending on who Gustafsson is paired with, be it Olli Maatta or perhaps rookie Simon Edvinsson, his job will be to be the puck mover and offensive catalyst from the back end. If he can tap into what made him nearly a 50-point player six seasons ago in Chicago, that would be a huge bonus. But should he remain steady as a 25-to-35-point player, that’ll do just fine.

Jeff Petry

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
74	5	22	27	0.36

Veteran Jeff Petry returned home to Michigan last season after a pair of offseason trades going from Pittsburgh to Montreal as part of the Erik Karlsson three-way trade and then from Montreal to Detroit for Gustav Lindstrom. His addition was meant to give the Red Wings a solid veteran with a good shot and someone who could help contribute to the power play. In 73 games, Petry scored three goals and had 21 assists last season and averaged nearly 19 minutes of ice time per game. Shayne Gostisbehere’s presence prevented Petry from seeing power play time and he played 17 minutes with the man advantage as Detroit opted for Gostisbehere’s more offensive instincts and quicker feet over Petry and his heavy shot. Defensively, Petry struggled. At five-on-five, he had the second lowest shot attempt percentage among defencemen at 44.6 but had a slightly better shot quality percentage of 47.1, fourth best among defencemen. As it is, he’s a third pairing defenceman and, ideally, his presence on a playoff team would come in handy given his experience in the league. Asking more of him now may be asking a lot, but with the lack of major additions to the blue line this summer, Petry will be counted on to be a bigger contributor.

GOAL

Alex Lyon

Predicted Stats
GP	W	L	OT	SO	SV%	GAA
32	17	12	3	1	0.903	2.93

Cam Talbot

Predicted Stats
GP	W	L	OT	SO	SV%	GAA
44	23	17	4	2	0.904	2.88

If Cam Talbot felt bitter about the fact that the Ottawa Senators failed to shore him up with a contract renewal at the start of last season, he certainly didn't let it show in his play with the Los Angeles Kings - and as a result, he earned himself that coveted security in the form of a new multi-year deal for the Detroit Red Wings during this summer's free agency period. That could mean new and exciting things for the Red Wings, who have hopefully put their bottomed-out years firmly in the rearview mirror and look poised to take a step back towards potential wild card contention. Talbot brings the perfect amount of veteran experience to tandem with either Alex Lyon, who is heading into the second year of his own two-year stint with the Atlantic team, or Ville Husso, who comes with a fairly high price tag but an underperforming stat line last season. It's a three-goalie stare down heading into the new season, and there's no clear-cut option for who should get the lion's share of the starts.

If it feels like the Red Wings have cycled through an above-average number of goaltenders the last few years, that's because they have; rather than gambling on big-money free agents, they've opted to plug-and-play with cheaper, short-term but high-upside options while sitting outside their next prime window. And Talbot, while a steadying presence in net with some life left in his game, likely isn't set to be their next big thing, either. Signing him, though, signals that the Red Wings are still content to wait for Sebastian Cossa to finish developing - and the signal that they don't plan to rush him is yet another praise-worthy sign from the team that might be poised to make some noise next year.

STANLEY CUP FINAL PREVIEW : Florida Panthers vs. Edmonton Oilers

Ryan Dadoun — Wed, 05 Jun 2024 12:11:27 +0000

Connor McDavid (97) (Photo by Curtis Comeau/Icon Sportswire)

By the end of the month, the Panthers will raise the Cup for the first time in franchise history or the Oilers will become the first Canadian team to win it all since 1993. Edmonton’s Kris Knoblauch will either start his NHL head coaching career with a championship or Florida’s Paul Maurice will finally get his title after first becoming a bench boss with the Hartford Whalers in 1995-96 and falling short of the ultimate prize in his other two trips to the finals.

Like their coach, this is also the Panthers’ third attempt to win the Cup after losing in the finals to Colorado in 1996 and Vegas in 2023. The core of forwards Matthew Tkachuk, Aleksander Barkov, Carter Verhaeghe, Sam Reinhart, Sam Bennett, defensemen Gustav Forsling and Aaron Ekblad as well as starting goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky were all part of that squad that lost to the Golden Knights last year. This is a group that knows better than almost any other what to expect in the playoffs, and they’re doubtlessly hungry after coming up short in their previous attempt.

They’re also deserving of their back-to-back journeys to the Stanley Cup Final. While there have been years where Bobrovsky’s seven-year, $70 million contract has looked excessive, the 35-year-old netminder has come through in the clutch in key moments of the last two playoff runs. He hasn’t been infallible, but his 12-5 record, 2.20 GAA and .908 save percentage through 17 playoff contests this year has gotten the job done and comes on the heels of a strong regular season in which he posted a 36-17-4 record, 2.37 GAA and .915 save percentage across 58 starts.

Bobrovsky would be the key element of a lesser team, but the Panthers haven’t asked him to do it all. They were tied for fourth in the regular season with an xGA/60 of 2.78 and have the best xGA/60 in the playoffs (2.47), which suggests that the defense in front of Bobrovsky has been making the netminder’s job easier.

He’s also been getting solid goal support. Florida ranked 11th in the regular season with 3.23 goals per game and that’s remained steady in the playoffs at 3.24. The attack has been led in the postseason by Tkachuk, Verhaeghe and Barkov, who each have provided at least five goals and 17 points through 17 outings. Reinhart hasn’t been able to extend his incredible 57-goal performance from the regular season, but with eight goals and 12 points across 17 playoff appearances, he’s yet another threat the Oilers can’t ignore. That just scratches the surface too -- 10 Panthers players are entering this series with at least three goals to their name in the 2024 playoffs.

It's a lot for Edmonton to have to deal with, especially because goaltender Stuart Skinner isn’t always reliable. He’s had his rough patches in this playoff run, which has left him with a mediocre .897 save percentage. At the same time, he’s not always bad either, and much like the Oilers as a whole, he’s managed to prove those who doubt him wrong more often than not.

Few would have bet on Edmonton reaching the Stanley Cup Final after getting off to a 2-9-1 start and even less would have predicted Skinner would be the goaltender to carry them there after going 1-5-1 with a 3.87 GAA and an .854 save percentage in eight appearances across that season-opening stretch. And yet, here we are -- not only are the Oilers in the finals, but it was Skinner who punched their ticket after saving 33 of 34 shots en route to a series-clinching Game 6 victory over Dallas.

If the Oilers get games like that out of Skinner against Florida, that would be an incredible boost for Edmonton, but it’s not necessarily what the Oilers need to win this series. While Florida is more than just Bobrovsky, that sentiment works even better when speaking of Edmonton and its top goaltender.

Like the Panthers, Edmonton makes life as easy on its netminder as possible on most nights. You’ll recall that the Panthers were tied for fourth in xGA/60 in the regular season, and the team that matched them was Edmonton. The Oilers have continued to excel defensively in the playoffs with an xGA/60 of 2.65, so while the goaltending isn’t always going to be perfect, this year’s finals include two teams that play responsible hockey.

Getting Edmonton to play sound defensively was a multiyear project and the rewards of those efforts have led to this championship, but when you think of the Oilers, the first thing to come to mind is understanding not their play in their zone.

You don’t think of the supporting cast either, though it’s gotten impressive over the years thanks to the addition of Zach Hyman, Evander Kane and defenseman Mattias Ekholm along with the growth of Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. Even blueliner Evan Bouchard isn’t what makes the headlines despite him recording six goals and 27 points through 18 playoff contests this year, making it the fifth most ever recorded by a defenseman (just two behind Cale Makar’s 29-point showing en route to the Conn Smythe Trophy) in a single postseason run -- and that’s before the finals have even begun.

Instead, all eyes are on Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. How could they not be? McDavid has five goals and 31 points through 18 playoff appearances this year while Draisaitl has 10 goals and 28 points. To put that into context, no Panthers forward has reached the 20-point milestone yet.

Here’s another way to look at it: Imagine that Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux were on the same team at some point in their career. Does that sound like an absurd comparison? It might not be as big of a leap as you think. The top two playoff performers of all time (min. 10 games) in terms of points per game are Gretzky (1.84) and Lemieux (1.61), but the next two after that are McDavid and Draisaitl at 1.58 and 1.57. Of course, the Edmonton superstars haven’t played the back half of their careers yet, which might drag down those averages, but still, it underscores just how special the Oilers duo has been, not just when it comes to collecting regular season accomplishments, but in their ability to step up in the playoffs.

Draisaitl’s contract runs through 2025 while McDavid’s will end in the summer of 2026. Perhaps they will end up as Oilers for life, but at a minimum, both of them, especially Draisaitl with his current cap hit of $8.5 million, will be due for a raise. This might be this duo's best chance to win a Cup together. Of course, the Panthers will be telling themselves a similar story. Making the finals once is a rarity that doesn’t happen in every career, but to get there twice in a row? They can’t afford to let this golden opportunity slip from their clutches a second time, no matter who their opponent is.

KEY MATCHUPS

Sergei Bobrovsky vs. Stuart Skinner

This series is a chance at redemption for Bobrovsky. He was critical to the Panthers’ run to the 2023 Stanley Cup Final, posting a 2.21 GAA and a .935 save percentage in 14 playoff games that year, but he couldn’t handle Vegas, posting a 4.70 GAA and an .844 save percentage in the five-game series. The Golden Knights scored at least five goals in three contests over that series, winning 5-2 in Game 1, 7-2 in Game 2 and 9-3 in Game 5. The Golden Knights had an amazing offense, but Bobrovsky’s assignment against Edmonton will arguably be even tougher, so the pressure is on.

It feels like the distant past now, but Bobrovsky was 2-0 while saving 64 of 68 shots against Edmonton during the 2023-24 regular season, so that bodes well.

Skinner didn’t draw an assignment against Florida during the 2023-24 campaign, though he was 2-0 while saving 65 of 70 shots versus the very similar 2023-24 Panthers. Of course, as noted above, it’s hard to know what you’re going to get from Skinner.

All things being equal, Bobrovsky and the Panthers should have the edge in this category. However, there’s also an argument to be made that this category represents an X-Factor for this series given the Panthers goaltender’s struggles during last year’s finals and Skinner’s overall unpredictability.

Sam Reinhart vs. Zach Hyman

Reinhart and Hyman finished second and third in the goal-scoring race with 57 and 54, respectively. They weren’t players many would have picked to be in the top three going into the campaign. After all, Hyman set a career high in 2022-23 with 36 markers and Reinhart’s previous best was 33.

I discussed above how Reinhart has slowed in the playoffs, but eight goals through 17 playoff contests is nothing to complain about, though it does pale in comparison to Hyman’s 14 markers through 18 postseason outings.

At this point, Hyman has an outside chance of matching the record of 19 goals in a single playoff run, which is a record shared by Reggie Leach (1975-76) and Jari Kurri (1984-85), but both Hyman and Reinhart have the ability to carry their team on any given night.

Kyle Okposo vs. Corey Perry

The elder statesmen in this series. Neither is expected to have a significant impact on the ice, but both of them could have influence in the locker room. Perry especially should bring a wealth of experience to the Oilers. He’s played in 209 career postseason contests, has won the Stanley Cup and is gearing up for his fifth career Stanley Cup Final, so a strong argument could be made that he’s the most knowledgeable active player when it comes to the finals.

Okposo is in some ways the polar opposite. He’s only participated in 35 career playoff outings given how much of his tenure has been spent on rebuilding teams between his stints with the Islanders and the Sabres. Still, the 36-year-old is a veteran presence and can be yet another source of motivation for the Panthers, who have an opportunity to win it for Okposo before his career potentially draws to a close.

Vladimir Tarasenko vs. Adam Henrique

Like Perry and Okposo, Tarasenko and Henrique were added by Florida and Edmonton, respectively, during the 2023-24 campaign, but rather being mostly cheerleaders, Tarasenko and Henrique are important secondary scorers.

Henrique figures to start the finals centering Edmonton’s third line and might chip in a bit in that role after collecting two goals and four points through 10 postseason contests this year. Having a responsible third-line center was a big need for the Oilers before acquiring Henrique. In theory, that’s a role Nugent-Hopkins can fill, but in practice, Edmonton prefers to have Nugent-Hopkins on the top unit alongside Hyman and McDavid.

Tarasenko is also likely to start the series on the third line. Like Henrique, he hasn’t been a major offensive force in the 2024 playoffs, but he has contributed an okay six points (three goals) across 17 appearances during Florida’s postseason run. Tarasenko won the Cup with St. Louis in 2019 and made a mark in that series with three goals and four points over seven games. The 32-year-old’s body has considerably more wear now, and he’s playing in a reduced role, but he still has the potential to come up clutch.

Matthew Tkachuk/Aleksander Barkov vs. Connor McDavid/Leon Draisaitl

This is a matchup Edmonton should win cleanly. The only question is how big the gap will be. As noted above, McDavid has surpassed the 30-point milestone in this year’s playoffs while no Florida player has reached the 20-point mark. Leon Draisaitl isn’t far behind with 10 goals and 28 points across 18 outings.

Florida will naturally attempt to limit McDavid and Draisaitl’s contributions, but many high-end defenses have tried and failed at that task. Having said that, Draisaitl’s a bit more of a question mark. He was somewhat of a mixed bag in the Western Conference Final, finishing with two goals and four points across six contests, so maybe he’s not quite at his best right now.

Either way, Tkachuk and Barkov don’t necessarily have to match Edmonton’s top two on offense for Florida to win this series, but the Panthers’ top forwards will still need to make major contributions. That’s especially true for Tkachuk. While Florida’s loss to Vegas in the 2023 Stanley Cup Final doesn’t rest solely on Tkachuk suffering a broken sternum in Game 3 of that series, it certainly had an impact. Provided he stays healthy, Tkachuk should be a major factor for the Panthers after recording five goals and 19 points through 17 playoff appearances this year.

X-FACTOR

Florida Panthers: One major weakness of the Panthers during the 2023 playoffs was their penalty kill, which finished at 70.4 percent. Florida has done far better in the 2024 postseason, successfully killing 88.2 percent of its penalties. However, the Panthers are in for their biggest test yet in Edmonton, which has a 37.3 power-play success rate in this playoff run. Four of Edmonton’s five goals over their final two wins in the Western Conference Finals were scored with the man advantage, so that’s something the Panthers will need to shut down in this series.

Edmonton Oilers: The biggest X-Factor for Edmonton is Skinner, but we’ve already discussed him at length, so instead I’ll highlight the Oilers’ need to finish strong. Edmonton has been outscored in the third period of playoff games 19-12, which is in contrast to the regular season when the Oilers’ best period was the third with them outscoring the competition 105-74. Finishing strong is something Florida has excelled at in the 2024 playoffs, with a 24-11 goal differential in their favor in that frame, so if those trends continue, we might end up seeing Edmonton coughing up leads late in this series.

PREDICTION

Making the Stanley Cup Final in back-to-back years is an impressive, though not unheard of, accomplishment. But what about making it this far in consecutive years only to lose both times? The last team that suffered that fate were the Boston Bruins, who lost in the Stanley Cup Final to the Montreal Canadiens in 1977 and 1978. Before that, it was the St. Louis Blues, who fell short of the title despite reaching the finals in three straight years from 1968-70.

The NHL was far smaller in the 60s and 70s, making such an occurrence at least more probable, but I think we might see it happen again, all the same.

I wouldn’t have picked Edmonton to win the Cup going into the year nor were the Oilers my choice to claim the title when the postseason began. In particular, I didn’t have faith in Skinner, and I questioned their depth, at least relative to a seemingly more rounded team like Dallas. However, Edmonton is here all the same. Skinner has sometimes bent under pressure, but not broken. Most importantly, the Oilers’ star players continue to deliver in the clutch, undeterred by hot goaltenders like Vancouver’s Arturs Silovs or elite netminders like Dallas’ Jake Oettinger.

Florida deserves a lot of credit too. The Panthers were able to comfortably best Tampa Bay, Boston and the Rangers. None of those were pushovers, and they show that Florida can tall against anyone, Edmonton included. Certainly, I wouldn’t be shocked by a Panthers championship.

Even still, I think the Oilers have the edge here. McDavid should shine, his supporting cast should do their job and if Skinner can at least stay serviceable, then I believe Edmonton will win the Cup in seven.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

KEY MATCHUPS

Igor Shesterkin vs. Sergei Bobrovsky

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

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

Sam Reinhart vs. Artemi Panarin

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

Brandon Montour vs. Adam Fox

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

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

X-FACTOR

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

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

PREDICTION

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

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