Yegor Chinakhov – McKeen's Hockey

NHL: CULLEN – 20 FANTASY POINTS – Young players who could have surprising value late in the season like Alexis Lafreniere, Gabe Perreault, Jimmy Snuggerud, Michael Misa, Marco Rossi and so much more!

Scott Cullen — Sat, 14 Mar 2026 20:37:53 +0000

Each week, I dig into the stats to find information that can help you make better fantasy hockey decisions. This week, young players who could have surprising value late in the season like Alexis Lafreniere, Gabe Perreault, Jimmy Snuggerud, Michael Misa, Marco Rossi and so much more!

#1 Even though the New York Rangers’ season has gone sideways, they are potentially a very interesting team down the stretch, as new players get better opportunities to play big roles. One of the players who is heating up is Alexis Lafreniere, who has 11 points (6 G, 5 A) and 16 shots on goal while averaging more than 19 minutes per game in his past six games. The first overall pick in the 2020 Draft is up to 44 points (19 G, 25 A) in 65 games, giving him a chance to surpass his career high of 57 points, set in 2023-2024. Not only is Lafreniere playing on the top power play unit, but he’s on the top line with Mika Zibanejad and…

#2 Rangers rookie Gabe Perreault, who was a first-round pick in 2023, has spent time in the American Hockey League during his first pro season. He had 17 points (10 G, 7 A) in 20 games with Hartford and Perreault managed a modest eight points in his first 26 games for the Rangers but has started to step into a bigger offensive role, especially once Artemi Panarin was removed from the Rangers lineup. In his past six games, Perreault has nine points (4 G, 5 A) and 15 shots on goal while playing first line and first unit power play for the Blueshirts. This is how it’s supposed to go for a team that is out of the race – they should use the rest of the season to give their skilled young players better offensive opportunities, and it appears that Perreault is ready to make the most of his opportunity.

#3 That’s not unlike what is happening with St. Louis Blues rookie winger Jimmy Snuggerud. The 2022 first-round pick has been with the Blues all season, but he is now riding shotgun with Robert Thomas on both the top line and first unit power play. In his past 14 games, Snuggerud has 19 points (8 G, 11 A) and 37 shots on goal and has moved up to fifth in rookie scoring with 34 points (15 G, 19 A) in 53 games. Considering who is available to fill the prime roles in St. Louis, Snuggerud looks like he should stay on the top line for the rest of the season.

#4 The San Jose Sharks have been patient with rookie Michael Misa, the second pick in the 2025 Draft, but as the team continues to push for a playoff spot, the 19-year-old centre is turning into a big contributor. In eight games since the Olympic break, Misa has seven points (4 G, 3 A) and 10 shots on goal. Certainly, the scoring would be more sustainable with a higher shot rate, but he is starting to become a factor while skating on a line with William Eklund and Tyler Toffoli and Misa is a highly skilled player who is going to thrive as he gets more ice time with quality linemates.

#5 Coming into season, Matias Maccelli looked like he was getting a good opportunity in Toronto and might have had the chance to play on the top line as a lower-cost replacement for Mitch Marner. While that hasn’t happened as often as might have been hoped, Maccelli has stepped up lately. Since the beginning of February, he has 11 points (7 G, 4 A) with 22 shots on goal in 11 games and he gets second unit power play time while currently skating on a line with Nicholas Robertson and AHL call-up Bo Groulx.

#6 There is a bit of a run of injuries hitting teams late in the season and it could provide opportunities to find value. In Colorado, captain Gabriel Landeskog is out week to week with a lower-body injury after taking a shot in a tender spot from teammate Cale Makar. With Landeskog and Artturi Lehkonen out, it appears that the Avs are going to slide Nazem Kadri to left wing on the top line, which is a prime opportunity for Kadri to get going offensively. He had a little slump at the end of his tenure in Calgary, so Kadri has just two points (1 G, 1 A) despite recording 23 shots on goal in his past seven games.

#7 Toronto Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews took a knee-on-knee hit from Anaheim Ducks defenceman Radko Gudas on Thursday night and Matthews is going to be out for at least a couple of weeks before his status is re-evaluated. The Leafs are 11 points out of a playoff spot, so there is zero incentive to rush Matthews back into the lineup. John Tavares will naturally move up the depth chart, but Max Domi probably needs to slide into the second-line centre role. This shuffling could mean an opening in Toronto’s top six for someone like Nicholas Robertson or Matias Maccelli.

#8 The Ottawa Senators lost defenceman Jake Sanderson on a week-to-week basis after suffering an upper-body injury from a hit by Seattle Kraken defenceman Brandon Montour. Sanderson has been a standout performer on the Senators blueline this season, so it’s going to be a big loss to have him out of the lineup while the Sens are trying to rally for a playoff spot but with Sanderson out, veteran Thomas Chabot will take over the quarterback role on Ottawa’s No. 1 power play. Chabot has six points (1 G, 5 A) and 15 shots on goal in his past six games and played a season-high 28:32 against Montreal on Wednesday.

#9 No team has seen their season crash harder than the Vancouver Canucks, but centre Marco Rossi is getting acclimated to his new squad. He does have six points (2 G, 4 A) in his past five games, but that also comes with just four shots on goal. Even if Rossi isn’t a high-volume shooter, he needs to generate more than that. He gets first unit play time for the Canucks and is skating on a line with Liam Ohgren and Brock Boeser. Given the struggles of Elias Pettersson, the Canucks need a centre to generate offence and Rossi is at least a viable answer to that problem.

#10 Continuing the theme of young players on teams outside the playoff picture, consider Chicago Blackhawks centre Frank Nazar, who has eight points (3 G, 5 A) and 12 shots on goal during a five-game point streak. Nazar gets time on PP1 in Chicago while skating between veteran wingers Tyler Bertuzzi and Teuvo Teravainen, so he is going to get his chances to continue scoring. Nazar is up to 32 points (10 G, 22 A) in 49 games this season, despite scoring on 9.5 percent of his shots on goal, a relatively low rate for a skilled player in a top six role.

#11 As the Columbus Blue Jackets continue to hunt down a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, centre Adam Fantilli is elevating his production. In his past 10 games, he has 11 points (6 G, 5 A) with 25 shots on goal while averaging 19:53 of ice time per game. He has ascended to the role of first line centre in Columbus and currently has Cole Sillinger and Kirill Marchenko on his wings at even strength. For a little extra fantasy appeal, Fantilli has recorded 20 hits in those 10 games, giving him 105 hits in 65 games this season.

#12 Moving to a veteran winger on a top team, the Buffalo Sabres’ Jason Zucker continues to fly under the radar – available in many leagues – largely because he’s in a secondary role with the Sabres, but he’s crushing it. In his past six games, Zucker has seven points (5 G, 2 A) with 18 shots on goal. He has hit 20 goals for the eighth time in his career, and he has a good thing going on a line with Ryan McLeod and Jack Quinn.

#13 New Jersey Devils winger Connor Brown is getting a fantastic opportunity late in the season, skating on right wing of a line with Jack Hughes at centre and Jesper Bratt at left wing. In his past six games, Brown has six points (1 G, 5 A) and 11 shots on goal and he’s playing nearly 19 minutes per game, so the opportunities are there for Brown to have a bigger impact down the stretch.

#14 As the Boston Bruins continue to battle for a playoff spot, veteran winger Viktor Arvidsson has shown that he can be a valuable contributor. In his past eight games, he has eight points (4 G, 4 A) with 18 shots on goal. He’s skating on a line with Pavel Zacha and Casey Mittelstadt, a veteran trio that might not attract a lot of attention, but they have been getting the job done. Among lines that have played at least 300 five-on-five minutes, the Bruins’ trio ranks fourth with 69.7 GF%, ranking fifth in both goals for and goals against per 60 minutes.

#15 Getting a shot on the Dallas Stars’ top line, Mavrik Bourque is starting to show that he can be a bona fide scorer in the NHL. Bourque has 12 points (5 G, 7 A) and 31 shots on goal in his past 12 games and getting the chance to skate alongside Wyatt Johnston and Jason Robertson is a prime opportunity for Bourque to deliver in a primary role that can benefit both the player and team in the long run. With Mikko Rantanen and Roope Hintz out of the lineup with injuries, the Stars needed someone to step up and Bourque has done it.

#16 The Penguins seem to have found something with their acquisition of Yegor Chinakhov, who they acquired from Columbus for Danton Heinen and a second-round pick. In his past 17 games, Chinakhov has put up 15 points (8 G, 7 A) and 48 shots on goal, which is very encouraging for him being able to contribute long-term for the Penguins. Right now, he’s on a line with Rickard Rakell and Bryan Rust, but the Penguins are still missing an injured Sidney Crosby and suspended Evgeni Malkin.

#17 Back to the theory of young players on non-playoff teams, Matthew Wood is showing some intriguing upside for the Nashville Predators. In his past 11 games, Wood has nine points (6 G, 3 A) and 20 shots on goal. He has moved around the lineup in his first NHL season, including time on the Predators’ top line but, right now, he is working on a line with fellow youngsters Reid Schaefer and Zachary L’Heroux.

#18 Even though he is not the primary scoring option on the blueline for the Buffalo Sabres, a role that is occupied by Rasmus Dahlin, defenceman Bowen Byram continues to provide value for fantasy managers. In his past 10 games, Byram has eight assists and 20 shots on goal and is playing nearly 24 minutes per game, which is not exactly the profile of a second-tier defender.

#19 The New York Rangers were missing Adam Fox for a while – he has since returned to the lineup – but Vladislav Gavrikov moved into a more offensive role, scoring 10 points (4 G, 6 A) with 19 shots on goal in a dozen games. With Fox active again, Gavrikov may not hold quite as much value, but he’s playing 23 minutes a game for a Rangers team that is still relatively productive.

#20 Former Calgary Flames defencemen are struggling. Rasmus Andersson has just a couple of points and 11 shots on goal in his past 10 games and he’s not the primary option on the blueline in Vegas the same way that he was in Calgary. Mackenzie Weegar has been struggling, too. He has just one assist and six shots on goal in his past seven games, the past four of which have been with the Utah Mammoth since he was acquired at the trade deadline. Neither of these ex-Flames defenders is the primary blueline option on their new teams, so their fantasy appeal is not nearly as solid as it was during their best days with the Flames.

*Advanced stats via Natural Stat Trick

NHL: CULLEN – 20 FANTASY POINTS – Immediate reaction to the Artemi Panarin trade, Charlie Coyle leads the surging Blue Jackets, Jordan Kyrou and Pavel Buchnevich producing for the Blues, and so much more!

Scott Cullen — Sat, 07 Feb 2026 16:10:00 +0000

New York Rangers left wing Artemi Panarin (10) (Photo by Fred Kfoury III/Icon Sportswire)

Each week, I dig into the stats to find information that can help you make better fantasy hockey decisions. This week, immediate reaction to the Artemi Panarin trade, Charlie Coyle leads the surging Blue Jackets, Jordan Kyrou and Pavel Buchnevich producing for the Blues, and so much more!

#1 Moving to Los Angeles should be an interesting situation for Artemi Panarin, who has been one of the most productive forwards in the league. Since 2019-2020, he has 607 points in 482 games which ranks sixth in the league. That suggests that he should be able to keep scoring, even on a team that has its own troubles generating offense. It remains to be seen which Kings players Panarin will play with, but it would seem to be a possibility that Panarin could skate on a line with Quentin Byfield, who is a strong player but has been struggling to score this season.

#2 The prospect going to the Rangers in the Panarin trade is Liam Greentree, the 26th pick in the 2024 Draft. He is a 6-foot-3 winger who should have a chance to compete for a spot in the near future with the rebuilding Rangers, though his production has dropped – from 119 points in 64 games last season to 45 points in 35 games in the OHL this season. Gabriel Perreault and Brennan Othmann are the top forward prospects getting looks with the Rangers now so, depending on how the Rangers rebuild is handled, Greentree could have a chance to play in the NHL relatively soon.

#3 When the Blue Jackets replaced Dean Evason as head coach with Rick Bowness, it turned the season around. The new coach bounce has lifted the Blue Jackets to 10 wins in the past 11 games, and centre Charlie Coyle has been one of several Blue Jackets to elevate his play. In those 11 games, Coyle has 16 points (8 G, 8 A) and 31 shots on goal. He is skating on a line with Cole Sillinger and Mathieu Olivier at even strength, but Coyle is getting first unit power play time, and he has scored three power play goals in the past 11 games.

#4 Surrounding an injury that kept him out of action for three weeks, Blues right winger Jordan Kyrou was held without a goal in 13 straight games, dropping his value for fantasy managers. In his past eight games, however, Kyrou has started to heat up, producing 12 points (5 G, 7 A) with 29 shots on goal. He has scored more than 30 goals in each of the past three seasons and while that’s not as likely this season (he has 13 goals in 47 games), Kyrou is a proven scorer who could have real value down the stretch.

#5 With Robert Thomas injured, the Blues have shifted Pavel Buchnevich to the middle of the ice, and in his past seven games, Buchnevich has nine points (4 G, 5 A) and 22 shots on goal. He has played some centre for the Blues, despite being terrible on faceoffs (winning 35.5 percent of his draws with St. Louis), but, as a skilled playmaker, he does seem to be connecting with Kyrou, improving the fantasy value for both of them.

#6 An upper-body injury kept Dallas Stars centre Matt Duchene out of action for nearly a couple of months, and it took him some time to get up to speed after returning. Duchene had just 11 points (4 G, 7 A) through his first 26 games, but since then he has recorded nine points (6 G, 3 A) with 13 shots on goal during a six-game point streak. He is starting to click on the power play, with three power play goals in those six games after he had one power play point in his previous 26 contests.

#7 There have been many times during this season that we have pointed out the value of Pittsburgh Penguins winger Anthony Mantha, yet he’s still available in a significant percentage of leagues. In his past nine games, Mantha has 12 points (6 G, 6 A) with 17 shots on goal. He has hit 20 goals for the fourth time in his career, and with 42 points, he is six points away from tying his career high, which was set in 2017-2018 and matched in 2018-2019. The towering winger has moved up the depth chart and is skating on Sidney Crosby’s wing and getting first unit power play time for the Penguins.

#8 Toronto Maple Leafs winger Bobby McMann has landed in trade rumours recently, as the Maple Leafs are on the outside looking in at the playoffs and he has an expiring contract. He is certainly not hurting his trade value with his play, putting up seven points (4 G, 3 A) and 20 shots on goal in his past seven games, making the most of his chance to skate with Auston Matthews and Max Domi on the Leafs’ top line. If McMann is traded, he may not have such a prime scoring role, but he has proven that he can put the puck in the net, generate shots on goal, and add some hits for good measure.

#9 After spending most of last season in the American Hockey League, Kailer Yamamoto is back in the NHL this season with the Utah Mammoth. That hasn’t been particularly relevant for fantasy managers for most of the season, but he does have eight points (5 G, 3 A) and 12 shots on goal in his past seven games, which makes him worth considering even if it’s as a short-term pick up. Yamamoto is skating with Barrett Hayton and JJ Peterka on Utah’s second line, which does help to make him at least a little bit interesting.

#10 As the Seattle Kraken seek more consistent scoring, they are getting quality production from their captain, Jordan Eberle. The veteran right winger has seven points (3 G, 4 A) and 13 shots on goal in his past seven games and his 38 points (20 G, 18 A) lead the Kraken. Eberle has exceeded 25 goals in a season twice in his career, most recently in 2013-2014, so he’s on pace for one of his best goal-scoring campaigns. He is skating on the Kraken’s top line with Matty Beniers and Jared McCann and they are having success, but it also highlights how the Kraken could use more game-breaking offensive talent.

#11 Dallas Stars captain Jamie Benn is 36 now, so not the player that he was during his peak years, but he can still bring it in short bursts. Following a 12-game point drought, Benn has erupted for eight points (2 G, 6 A) in his past four games. The trouble is that he only has five shots on goal in those four games – and only had a dozen in the previous 12 – so it’s very difficult to trust that his production is sustainable.

#12 A fresh start in Pittsburgh has paid off for winger Yegor Chinakhov, who was acquired from Columbus earlier in the season. Chinakhov has eight points (5 G, 3 A) and 21 shots on goal in his past eight games, with his ice time going up over 15 minutes per game in that stretch, as he skates on Pittsburgh’s second line with Tommy Novak and Evgeni Malkin. Chinakhov’s 1.31 goals per 60 minutes ranks 13th among skaters to play at least 500 five-on-five minutes.

#13 With the Vancouver Canucks lacking options down the middle of the ice, especially in an offensive role, Teddy Blueger is stepping into a more offensive role. Blueger played two games in October before getting injured and recently returned to the lineup, putting up seven points (4 G, 3 A) with 17 shots on goal in eight games. He has also played 16:23 per game which is a couple of minutes more per game than his typical average, and he’s having some success skating with wingers Conor Garland and Liam Ohgren.

#14 Utah Mammoth defenceman Sean Durzi can get overlooked because he’s not running the top power play, but he’s always been a quality puck-moving defender so there are times that his offensive production starts to take off. In his past seven games, Durzi has produced six points (2 G, 4 A) with nine shots on goal and 12 blocked shots – those blocked shots providing real value for fantasy managers as a complement to his increased scoring.

#15 With injuries sidelining Leo Carlsson and Mason McTavish, the Anaheim Ducks have needed other centres to fill the void. Enter Ryan Poehling, a checking centre who has moved between veteran wingers Chris Kreider and Troy Terry. Poehling has six points (2 G, 4 A) and seven shots on goal in his past six games and while that shot rate is low, he is playing more than 17 minutes per game which is up by more than a couple of minutes per game over his previous average time on ice. Once the Ducks are healthy, Poehling will fill more of a defensive role, but it’s encouraging to see a player successfully handle a bigger role when given the chance.

#16 One of the statistical areas to consider for possible positive regression is to find players that have struggled with low on-ice shooting percentages. This isn’t a blanket issue because players who tend to skate on fourth lines, for example, are likely to have lower on-ice shooting percentages, but if a player is playing in a scoring role and still running low on-ice shooting percentages, that might be a player due for better puck luck. Some notables with low five-on-five on-ice shooting percentages this season include Marco Kasper (5.8%), Jonathan Drouin (6.0%), Jesper Bratt (6.1%), Dougie Hamilton (6.2%), Conor Garland (6.3%), Nico Hischier (6.4%), Kevin Fiala (6.5%), and Quinton Byfield (6.6%).

#17 Of course, it works the other way too, so when players have benefited from high on-ice shooting percentages, the odds are greater that they will run into some regression towards the mean. Some of the more notable players with high, and possibly unsustainable, five-on-five on-ice shooting percentages entering the Olympic break include Ivan Demidov (16.1%), William Nylander (16.0%), Oliver Kapanen (16.3%), Brayden Point (15.0%), Macklin Celebrini (14.8%), Mark Scheifele (14.3%), Jamie Benn (14.1%), Kyle Connor (14.0%), Gabriel Vilardi (13.9%), Nikita Kucherov (13.7%), and Cole Hutson (13.7%).

#18 This doesn’t mean that these players can’t remain productive, only that it’s very difficult to maintain this kind of lofty on-ice shooting percentage over the long haul. In the past three seasons, among players with at least 1500 minutes of five-on-five ice time, the leaders in on-ice shooting percentage are Kucherov (12.3%), Vilardi (12.2%), Points (12.1%), David Pastrnak (12.0%), and Hutson (11.8%).

#19 With Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen injured, Alex Lyon becomes even more important between the pipes for the Buffalo Sabres. Lyon has been excellent, posting a .912 save percentage this season, but if Luukkonen is going to miss time beyond the Olympic break, then Lyon and Colten Ellis will have to fill the void for a Sabres team that now expects to reach the playoffs.

#20 Calgary Flames left winger Jonathan Huberdeau is going to miss the rest of the season due to hip surgery. The veteran winger did have four points (2 G, 2 A) and 12 shots on goal in his last five games, but that followed a stretch of zero points in nine games. It has been a difficult season overall, with Huberdeau producing 25 points (10 G, 15 A) in 50 games and with the Flames looking like they will have an eye towards next season, Huberdeau’s absence will create more opportunities for others. Yegor Sharangovich and Connor Zary are likely to see expanded roles, which could make them viable fantasy contributors down the stretch.

*Advanced stats via Natural Stat Trick

NHL: DADOUN – THE FANTASY WEEK AHEAD (October 28th to November 3rd) – Jets’ Perfect Start, Sharks’ Slow Start

Ryan Dadoun — Sat, 26 Oct 2024 18:00:14 +0000

_{DENVER, CO - APRIL 17: Colorado Avalanche defenseman Cale Makar (8) makes a pass during a Western Conference match-up in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs on April 17, 2019 at the Pepsi Center in Denver, CO. (Photo by Russell Lansford/Icon Sportswire)}

Last week I noted the Avalanche and Predators’ 0-4-0 start and focused quite a bit on Colorado goaltender Alexandar Georgiev’s disastrous play, so it seems only fair to check back in with those teams, beginning with the Avs.

Colorado has done a full 180, winning its last four games to reach 4-4-0. As noted during the Avalanche section of that article, Colorado’s recent schedule has been favorable (the Avalanche have beaten Anaheim, San Jose, Seattle and Utah), which has doubtlessly aided in the turnaround, but credit still needs to go to Cale Makar, Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen. With the team’s depth gutted by injuries, those three have driven the offense. Makar leads the league -- not just defensemen -- with 15 points (three goals) through eight contests. MacKinnon and Rantanen aren’t far behind with 13 points each.

As for Georgiev, he hasn’t been in net since allowing three goals on just 19 shots against Anaheim in the Avalanche’s 4-3 overtime win Oct. 18. Justus Annunen has taken over the starting gig, saving a combined 75 of 79 shots (.949 save percentage) across the Avalanche’s past three victories. Georgiev is going to get other opportunities but given that the veteran netminder struggled last season as well as this one, it’s entirely plausible for Annunen to wrestle away the No. 1 job long-term, provided he remains solid.

Nashville hasn’t enjoyed the same turnaround, but the Predators finally earned their first victory Tuesday with a 4-0 showing against Boston. Steven Stamkos’ cold start has continued with a goal and no assists through six appearances, so we’ll have to see where that leads.

While the Predators’ slow start has been surprising, probably the biggest shock in the early going of the campaign is Minnesota’s 5-0-2 start. The Wild missed the playoffs last year with a 39-33-10 record, and it was expected that this would be another challenging campaign, in large part because they still have over $14 million of dead cap space due to the Zach Parise and Ryan Suter buyouts (though that crashes to just a combined $1,666,666 beyond this campaign).

Goaltending has been a big part of that turnaround. Filip Gustavsson disappointed last year with a 20-17-5 record, 3.06 GAA and .899 save percentage in 45 outings, but he’s rebounded in the early part of 2024-25, posting a 4-0-1 record, 1.40 GAA and .952 save percentage through five outings. It’s still early, but Gustavsson is still a relatively young goaltender at 26 and demonstrated in 2022-23 that he can be a high-end option, so it wouldn’t be completely out of nowhere if he goes on to have a great season.

Boston Bruins

One goaltender who isn’t having a great campaign thus far is Jeremy Swayman, who missed training camp but joined the Bruins after being presented with 66 million reasons for doing so. Perhaps because he didn’t get any preseason action, Swayman hasn’t been able to find a rhythm, posting a 2-3-1 record, 2.99 GAA and .904 save percentage through six appearances in 2024-25. Jonas Korpisalo hasn’t shown himself to be a good alternative, though, allowing nine goals on 60 shots (.850 save percentage) across two starts.

The good news is the Bruins don’t have the best of scoring teams on the docket for the upcoming week. Boston will host the Flyers on Tuesday before a two-game road trip that will see the Bruins play in Carolina on Thursday and Philadelphia on Saturday. They’ll return home to play the Kraken on Sunday. The Flyers rank 29th offensively with 2.29 goals per game while Carolina and Seattle are in the middle-of-the-pack in scoring.

Swayman isn’t the only Bruins player who has underperformed. While David Pastrnak is tied for the team lead offensively with six points (five goals), that’s less than you’d expect from him through eight appearances. Brad Marchand has fared worse though, providing no goals and four assists across eight outings.

Pastrnak should rebound, but is there reason to be more concerned about Marchand given that he’s 36 years old? It’s a little early to say, but there’s nothing that stands out to me as terribly wrong thus far. His skating hasn’t declined, and his shots/60 is largely unchanged from last year. His shots are perhaps less concentrated in front of the net compared to last year, but we’re also comparing a large sample size to a relatively small one. He merits monitoring, but not panic yet.

On the other end of the spectrum, Cole Koepke has impressed with three goals and six points through eight appearances. I recommend caution when evaluating him, though. Despite his strong start, he’s averaging just 11:04 of ice time, and that includes almost no work on the power play. He’s also been held off the scoresheet in Boston’s past two games, so the hot streak appears to be over. Don’t put high expectations on the 26-year-old.

Columbus Blue Jackets

The Blue Jackets entered the campaign the low expectations of being projected as a team likely to be in the running for the first overall draft pick, but so far Columbus has held its own with a 3-3-0 record. We’ll see if the Blue Jackets will be able to keep that going amid a busy week that will involve a home stretch against Edmonton on Monday, the Islanders on Wednesday and Winnipeg on Friday and conclude with a road game in Washington on Saturday.

Columbus’ early success has been in no small part thanks to Kirill Marchenko and free agent signing Sean Monahan developing chemistry on the top line. Marchenko took a step forward as a sophomore in 2023-24 with 23 goals and 42 points across 78 appearances, and he seems to be destined for greater heights this season after starting with three goals and eight points through six outings. Monahan has collected three goals and seven points of his own with the duo showing up on the scoresheet together five times so far.

Yegor Chinakhov is giving the Blue Jackets some offensive depth from the second line. The 23-year-old has supplied three goals and seven points through six appearances after finishing 2023-24 with 29 points (13 goals) in 53 outings. The 22-year-old Kent Johnson also looked good early on with two goals and five points in four appearances, but unfortunately, he sustained an upper-body injury and is expected to be unavailable for a significant chunk of time.

He had been playing alongside Mikael Pyyhtia and Cole Sillinger, and due to Johnson’s absence, that line was broken up with Sillinger now joining Marchenko and Monahan, while Pyyhtia is with Chinakhov and Adam Fantilli, who has just two points (both goals) in six games this year but is averaging an encouragingly high 17:49 of ice time.

There’s a lot of potential with this Blue Jackets team, but young forwards tend to be streaky, so don’t be surprised if Columbus deals with a lot of inconsistency in 2024-25.

New York Islanders

As noted above, the Islanders will play Columbus on the road Wednesday. That’s part of the start of a three-game road trip for the Islanders that will also feature games in Buffalo on Friday and against the Rangers on Sunday. However, the Islanders will host Anaheim on Tuesday before that trip begins.

New York is off to a 2-2-2 start despite allowing just 2.50 goals per game. The offense just hasn’t been there, though. Noah Dobson leads the team with just four assists and no Islanders player has more than two goals.

Scoring was an issue for the Islanders last year too -- they ranked 22nd with 2.99 goals per game -- so this isn’t a completely shocking development. They did sign Anthony Duclair over the summer in the hopes of at least bolstering their secondary scoring, but after providing two goals and three points through five outings, Duclair suffered a leg injury, and the team announced Thursday that he’ll be out for the next 4-6 weeks.

Duclair was playing alongside Bo Horvat and Mathew Barzal on the top line, and due to the injury, Simon Holmstrom is projected to take that first unit spot. However, Holmstrom had just 15 goals and 25 points in 75 regular-season games in 2023-24, so while playing on the top line should provide him with some additional opportunities, he’s probably not worth a pickup in most fantasy formats even with his new role.

The Islanders' other new forward is Maxim Tsyplakov, who is making the transition to the NHL after scoring 31 goals and 47 points across 65 regular-season appearances with the KHL’s Moscow Spartak in 2023-24. Tsyplakov has been okay, but not special so far, supplying a goal and three points through six outings. He has gotten looks on the top power-play unit, which is interesting, but for now, I’d recommend just keeping an eye on him rather than grabbing him if you’re in a standard fantasy league.

San Jose Sharks

The Sharks are winless through eight games (0-6-2), but perhaps they’ll finally get a victory in the upcoming week. They’ll start on the road against Utah on Monday before heading home to host the Kings on Tuesday, the Blackhawks on Thursday and the Canucks on Saturday.

San Jose’s fairly is largely because it ranks dead last offensively with just 1.88 goals per game. Macklin Celebrini, who was taken with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 NHL Draft, would have been a major help there, but after scoring a goal and an assist in his NHL debut, he sustained a lower-body injury that has kept him out of the lineup. It was announced Monday that he would miss at least two more weeks, so don’t expect him to make his return at any point during the four-game stretch mentioned above.

Things might be even grimmer for captain Logan Couture. There haven’t been any updates on the status of his groin injury since the start of the season, which leads me to believe he’s still a ways off from playing. If they were both healthy, Couture and Celebrini would probably comprise two-thirds of the first line. Instead, Mikael Granlund, Tyler Toffoli and William Eklund are the top unit.

You could do worse than that trio. Granlund has exceeded expectations with three goals and nine points through eight contests while Toffoli and Eklund have made their presence felt with seven and five points, respectively. However, while San Jose can still ice a viable first line without Couture and Celebrini, the Sharks can’t do much else. No other player on that team even has four points through eight games. Daniil Gushchin has gotten looks on the second line and with the man advantage despite the 22-year-old having no points and five shots through five appearances. Gushchin did record 20 goals and 54 points in 56 AHL outings in 2023-24, so I don’t want to pick on him, but he’s not currently a great option on the top six.

Meanwhile, Will Smith is experiencing some growing pains. He looked amazing with Boston College in 2023-24, supplying 25 goals and 71 points across 41 games as a freshman, but he has no points, a minus-4 rating and nine shots across six appearances with the Sharks this season. In the long run, he should be a big part of the Sharks’ core group, but for now, he’s another reason why San Jose’s offense is floundering.

Tampa Bay Lightning

One team that has had no problems scoring is Tampa Bay, and the Lightning will try to keep that going next week when they host Stamkos and the Predators on Monday. The Lightning will then go on the road to play in Colorado on Wednesday, Minnesota on Friday and Winnipeg on Sunday.

Letting Stamkos walk couldn’t have been an easy decision after everything he brought to the franchise, and while Stamkos hasn’t impressed early in his Predators tenure, it’s way too early to say if passing on him was the right decision. If nothing else, though, Jake Guentzel, who the Lightning could afford to sign with Stamkos gone, has meshed well on the top line with Nikita Kucherov and Brayden Point.

Guentzel has two goals and seven points across seven games, though his early success has been overshadowed by Nikita Kucherov, who already has eight goals and 13 points across seven appearances this year. Kucherov has managed at least a point in every game thus far. In case you’re wondering, Martin St. Louis (2009-10), Stamkos (2017-18) and Kucherov (2017-18) are tied for Tampa Bay’s franchise record for the longest scoring streak to begin a campaign at 11 games, so while Kucherov isn’t close to that, he has the opportunity to reach and surpass it next week (Tampa Bay has one more clash this week, a home game Saturday versus Washington, so next Sunday’s game versus Winnipeg will be the squad’s 12th of the season).

That top line’s strong start is just part of the Lightning’s bigger offensive success -- they are tied for fifth with 4.00 goals per game -- but the squad has a middling 4-3-0 record despite that. Andrei Vasilevskiy has an amazing opening to 2024-25, but that’s been erased after he allowed 15 goals on 84 shots (.821 save percentage) across his past four appearances. He also left something to be desired last season with his 30-20-2 record, 2.90 GAA and .900 save percentage in 52 regular-season outings, but that was partially handwaved because he missed a significant chunk of the start of that campaign due to injury. However, if he’s truly no longer the elite goaltender he once was, then Tampa Bay is in trouble. Jonas Johansson isn’t a viable alternative for any significant length of time, and Vasilevskiy’s $9.5 million cap hit runs through 2027-28.

Toronto Maple Leafs

Toronto is one of the teams that added to Tampa Bay’s recent woes with a 5-2 victory over the Lightning on Monday, but the Leafs have their own issues after suffering losses to Columbus and St. Louis, bringing Toronto’s record to 4-4-0. Toronto will try to right the ship next week, but it will have to do so while being primarily on the road. The Maple Leafs will play in Winnipeg on Monday, host the Kraken on Thursday and then conclude the week with home games against St. Louis on Saturday and Minnesota on Sunday.

Toronto’s issues mostly stem from inconsistency rather than any particular underperformance, though Auston Matthews’ three goals and five points through eight appearances are certainly less than we’d expect out of him. The team in general hasn’t been as good offensively as it has been in recent years and currently is in a three-way tie for 21st with 2.88 goals per game.

That’s been offset by Anthony Stolarz, who has a 3-2-0 record, 1.83 GAA and .938 save percentage across five appearances. Notably, he wasn’t in net for either of Toronto’s recent losses. Stolarz stopped 32 of 34 shots in that victory over Tampa Bay on Monday, so naturally, he rested Tuesday with Dennis Hildeby getting the nod. Hildeby fell short in a 6-2 loss to St. Louis, but he’s back in the minors anyway because Joseph Woll (lower body) was ready to return Thursday. Unfortunately, Woll was a mixed bag in his season debut, stopping 22 of 26 shots en route to a 5-1 loss to St. Louis.

Stolarz has earned the right to be in contention for the Leafs’ starting gig, and with the packed schedule, he should be in net for at least two of Toronto’s four games next week. I’m also interested to see what happens to Knies and Bobby McMann after Matthew Knies was taken off the first line in the third period of Thursday’s loss. It wouldn’t surprise me if Knies went right back to being the third forward on the Matthews-Mitch Marner unit, but there’s also a reasonable chance McMann gets a longer look in that spot.

Maybe Nicholas Robertson also gets another look on the left wing? Robertson hasn’t demanded preferential treatment after supplying just one point through eight outings, but Toronto’s left wing is still a work in progress, so the possibility of Robertson getting a chance to serve on the top six by shifting from the right to left remains.

Washington Capitals

Washington has jumped out to a 5-1-0 record this year and will look to keep that going with a homestand with the Capitals set to host the Rangers on Tuesday, the Canadiens on Thursday and the Blue Jackets on Saturday. The Capitals will wrap up the week with a visit to Carolina on Sunday.

After a disappointing showing with the Kings last year (16 goals and 40 points in 82 games), Pierre-Luc Dubois got off to a slow start with Washington, providing two assists through five appearances, but he had his first big night with the Capitals on Wednesday, contributing a goal and three points in a 6-3 victory over Philadelphia. So far Dubois has played almost exclusively on the second line with Tom Wilson and Connor McMichael while also seeing time on the top power-play unit. That’s not a bad gig for him and could facilitate a rebound to something resembling his 60-ish-point performances in 2021-22 and 2022-23.

Meanwhile, Aliaksei Protas is doing fine on the first line alongside Alex Ovechkin and Dylan Strome. Protas has a goal and four points across six appearances but be careful about overvaluing his top-line spot. While he does play with choice linemates when on the ice, he’s still logging a modest 13:40 per game and is rarely deployed on the power play, so while the 23-year-old might surpass his 2023-24 total of 29 points, this isn’t likely to be a breakout campaign for him.

Winnipeg Jets

The Jets have gotten off to an incredible 7-0-0 start. They’ll try to stay strong with their upcoming action, which features a home game against Toronto on Monday, road tilts versus Detroit and Columbus on Wednesday and Friday, respectively, and a home game versus the Lightning.

Connor Hellebuyck has unsurprisingly been a part of the early success with a 6-0-0 record, 1.66 GAA and .940 save percentage, but he’s gotten some good offensive support too. Six players (Mark Scheifele, Nikolaj Ehlers, Kyle Connor, Cole Perfetti, Neal Pionk and Josh Morrissey) have supplied at least seven points through seven games.

That’s on top of Nino Niederreiter and Mason Appleton, who each have supplied six points through seven outings while playing on the third unit. That’s some tremendous depth to have, but we’ll see how long this lasts. I’m particularly skeptical of Appleton. The 28-year-old has never come close to the 40-point mark in a single season, and his early numbers are skewed due to two multi-point performances -- he's also been held off the scoresheet four times. In the long run, his offensive pace is likely to decline substantially.

Cole Perfetti’s scoring pace will probably drop too, but not by nearly as much. Although he recorded 30 and 38 points in 2022-23 and 2023-24, respectively, the 22-year-old has plenty of upside, and he might be starting to reach his potential. Like Appleton, he’s been inconsistent this campaign with seven of his eight points coming from just two games, but Perfetti’s offensive talent makes me more optimistic about him for the rest of the season. If nothing else, Perfetti will be nice to have on your roster while he’s hot.

NHL: CULLEN – 20 FANTASY POINTS – Colton, Stolarz, Wolf, and More

Scott Cullen — Sat, 19 Oct 2024 13:00:21 +0000

_{CALGARY, AB - FEBRUARY 20: Calgary Flames Right Wing Jonathan Huberdeau (10) looks on during the second period of an NHL game between the Calgary Flames and the Philadelphia Flyers on February 20, 2023, at the Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary, AB. (Photo by Brett Holmes/Icon Sportswire)}

Each week, I’ll dig into the stats to find information that can help you make better fantasy hockey decisions. Injuries are forcing changes early in the NHL season, and our sights are set on Ross Colton, Anthony Stolarz, the surprising Calgary Flames and more!

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

#1 With injuries decimating Colorado’s forward lines, the Avalanche have moved Ross Colton up to play on the left wing on Colorado’s top line with Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen. Colton’s ice time is up nearly five minutes per game compared to last season, which was his career high, and he has five points (4 G, 1 A) with 18 shots on goal and 18 hits in five games. When the Avalanche get players back from injury, it is more likely that Colton will slide back to a third-line centre role, but with the Avs missing Jonathan Drouin short term and Valeri Nichushkin, Artturi Lehkonen, and Gabriel Landeskog long term, the opportunity is there for Colton to have a bigger impact than he has to this point in his career.

#2 When Joseph Woll landed on the injured list to start the season, Anthony Stolarz was thrust into the No. 1 goaltending job for the Toronto Maple Leafs and the 6-foot-6 netminder is thriving in the early going. Stolarz has a .940 save percentage in three starts and that is just picking up where he left off last season, when he had a .925 save percentage in 27 games for Florida. Stolarz, 30, has never played more than 28 NHL games in a season, so it remains to be seen if he can handle a starter’s workload, but it’s safe to expect that he will see more action in Toronto this season than in any of his previous NHL seasons.

#3 Entering this season, Calgary Flames left winger Jonathan Huberdeau was practically considered a lost cause, with a massive long-term contract and declining production since arriving in Calgary. But what if the 31-year-old Huberdeau isn’t cooked just yet? Skating on a line with Martin Pospisil and Anthony Mantha, the trio has helped Calgary to a 4-0 start, while Huberdeau has scored three goals at even strength and added three assists on the power play.

#4 Avalanche centre Casey Mittelstadt is getting pushed into a bigger role in Colorado. He has five points (4 G, 1 A) and 17 shots on goal in five games, which is solid, but he is averaging more than 21 minutes of ice time per game, an increase of more than five minutes per game compared to his ice time with the Avs after he was acquired from Buffalo last season. Mittelstadt has produced 59 and 57 points in the past two seasons, respectively, and could very well exceed those totals this season.

#5 After dominating in the American Hockey League, Calgary Flames goaltender Dustin Wolf got called up last season and finished with a .893 save percentage in 17 games for the Flames – not exactly making his case to be the franchise goaltender of the future. When the Flames dealt Jacob Markstrom in the offseason, though, the door was opened for Wolf to step through and he has stopped 68 of 72 shots in his first two starts this season. If the Flames are going to get top-tier goaltending, that does have the potential to change expectations but, for now, it’s just encouraging to see Wolf performing this way at the highest level.

#6 Former Flames centre Sean Monahan signed in Columbus as a free agent, with hopes of re-connecting with Johnny Gaudreau. This summer’s tragedy halted those plans, but the veteran Monahan has stepped into a leadership role for the Blue Jackets, producing four points (2 G, 2 A) and 12 shots on goal in his first four games. His primary linemates have been Kirill Marchenko and Yegor Chinakhov and the trio has been outrageously dominant in the early going, controlling 79.7 percent of expected goals during five-on-five play.

#7 The No. 1 pick in the 2024 Draft, Macklin Celebrini put up a goal and an assist in his NHL debut then immediately landed on the injured list due to a lower-body injury. With Celebrini out, Mikael Granlund has moved back to the middle, centering William Eklund and Tyler Toffoli on the top line. That shuffle has also opened up a spot for Klim Kostin in San Jose’s top six. Granlund does have five assists in five games and is playing more than 21 minutes per game.

#8 Seattle Kraken left winger Jared McCann has scored 69 goals across the past two seasons and yet was still available in quite a few leagues early in the season. He has seven points (3 G, 4 A) and 11 shots on goal in five games and McCann and Jordan Eberle had a productive game Thursday night against Philadelphia with Shane Wright skating at centre between the two veteran wingers.

#9 Two thirds of the Utah Hockey Club’s top line is sitting out there, waiting to be scooped up on fantasy waivers. Barrett Hayton and Nick Schmaltz are productive, and it doesn’t hurt that they get to play with a skilled winger like Clayton Keller. Hayton has six points (4 G, 2 A) in five games, already exceeding his goal total from last season when he was limited to just 33 games. Schmaltz has six assists in five games and, in this small sample, has averaged 2.60 shots on goal per game, which would represent a career high.

#10 Utah defenceman Sean Durzi is going to be out 4-5 months after surgery was required for an upper-body injury that he suffered Monday at New Jersey. Durzi had played more than 25 minutes per game through the first three games of the season before getting hurt in Game No. 4. His absence will offer an opportunity for Juuso Valimaki to get a chance on Utah’s second power play unit. Valimaki is still looking for his first points of the season and he only had 17 points (2 G, 15 A) in 68 games last season, but the year before that, he contributed 11 power play points among his 34 points overall, so there is a chance for Valimaki to recapture some of that offensive part of his game.

#11 Chicago Blackhawks winger Teuvo Teravainen returned to the team that drafted him and where he started his NHL career when he signed as a free agent in the summer. He has been a good fit on Connor Bedard’s wing, which should be expected, given Teravainen’s playmaking ability and Bedard’s ever-dangerous shot. Teravainen has seven points (3 G, 4 A) in five games and is skating on Chicago’s top line with Bedard and Nick Foligno while also getting first unit power play time. Teravainen has topped 60 points four times in his career, hitting a career high of 76 points in 2018-2019.

#12 Penguins rookie goaltender Joel Blomqvist is challenging Tristan Jarry for a bigger share of playing time in the Pittsburgh crease. The 22-year-old was a second-round pick in 2020 and has a .908 save percentage in his first four games. He had a .919 in 47 AHL games and with Jarry struggling (.836 save percentage through three games), opportunity is knocking for Blomqvist.

#13 When the Toronto Maple Leafs remodeled their blueline in the offseason, Chris Tanev was the defender that drew the most attention. Fresh off a Stanley Cup in Florida, Oliver Ekman-Larsson has moved into a prime role on the Maple Leafs blueline, quarterbacking the top power play and playing nearly 22 minutes per game. Ekman-Larsson has three assists and 15 shots on goal in four games, which is very encouraging production, particularly that shot rate, which is far higher than Ekman-Larsson has produced previously.

#14 A lower-body injury kept veteran Pittsburgh Penguins winger Bryan Rust out of the lineup for the first couple of games this season, but he has returned to action and has been thrust into a big role, skating on the right side with Sidney Crosby and Anthony Beauvillier. In his first three games, Rust has two points (1 G, 1 A) and 13 shots on goal while averaging 20:31 of ice time per game. He has scored at least 20 goals in five consecutive seasons, recording more than 55 points in three of those five seasons. In the three seasons that he has finished with at least 55 points, Rust missed at least 20 games, so there is still potential for him to produce more over a full season merely by staying healthy.

#15 Drafted with the 21st pick in 2020, Yegor Chinakhov displayed his potential last season, scoring 29 points (16 G, 13 A) in 53 games, a sign that he was going to be able to contribute at this level. In the early going this season, he is taking it to another level, producing six points (2 G, 4 A) with 13 shots on goal in his first four games. Not only is he skating on the top line with Monahan and Marchenko, but Chinakhov is getting first unit power play time, too, so a breakthrough season could be on the way.

#16 The New Jersey Devils went out in the offseason and added some grit to their forward ranks, acquiring Paul Cotter in a trade with Vegas and signing Stefan Noesen, a former Devil who had been playing in Carolina. Cotter had 25 points (7 G, 18 A) in 76 games last season for the Golden Knights, but already has six points (5 G, 1 A) in seven games for the Devils. He has 15 shots on goal and 20 hits, too, which can make him a more valuable fantasy contributor and he has moved up the depth chart to skate with Jack Hughes and Jesper Bratt at even strength. Noesen had a career-high 37 points in 81 games for the Hurricanes last season and has started this season with six points (2 G, 4 A) in seven games and is working on a line with veterans Tomas Tatar and Erik Haula.

#17 The leading rookie goal scorer early in the season is Devils defenceman Seamus Casey, who has three goals in his first seven NHL games. Montreal’s Emil Heineman and Philadelphia’s Matvei Michkov are tied for second with two goals. Casey is a smallish defender who was a second-round pick in 2022. He played two seasons at the University of Michigan, and had 45 points (7 G, 38 A) in 40 games as a sophomore last season. Casey might owe his opportunity to another former Wolverine, as Luke Hughes is recovering from shoulder surgery, opening up a spot on the New Jersey blueline to start the season.

#18 John Beecher, a first-round pick of the Bruins in 2019, has jumped out to a hot start with five points (2 G, 3 A) in five games. Beecher’s ice time is up to 13:35 per game, but he is likely still a risky player for fantasy managers. He had just 10 points (7 G, 3 A) in 52 games last season and only had 36 points in 87 AHL games, so it is difficult to project big things offensively over the long haul. As a short-term option in deep banger leagues, maybe he could have some value for fantasy managers.

#19 Seattle Kraken centre Matty Beniers saw his production fall off dramatically last season and one of the main concerns when it comes to sustainable production is that Beniers had a very low shot rate, averaging just 1.73 shots per game last season. While Beniers has just one assist through five games this season, there might be a slight reason for optimism in that he is averaging 2.60 shots on goal per game. In most leagues, it’s probably worth waiting to see some production start to materialize before assigning too much value to Beniers, but he could be a viable buy-low or waiver wire option.

#20 Blue Jackets winger Kent Johnson suffered an upper-body injury against Buffalo on Thursday, but it is worth noting that an injury to Johnson would not have caused a ripple in the hockey universe. He had just 16 points (6 G, 10 A) in 42 games for the Blue Jackets and was demoted to the AHL, where he did put up 15 points (5 G, 10 A) in 10 games. Nevertheless, with a new coach and a fresh start in Columbus, Johnson has responded with five points (2 G, 3 A) in four games and had logged more than 21 minutes in the second and third games of the season before playing just six minutes against the Sabres before getting hurt. Track Johnson’s health, though, because he is a skilled player and if he is getting a legit opportunity to shine in Columbus, then he could be a fantasy sleeper.

MCKEEN’S 2024-25 NHL YEARBOOK – COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS – Team Preview

Sun, 22 Sep 2024 20:00:59 +0000

_{VANCOUVER, BC - JANUARY 27: Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman Zach Werenski (8) skates with the puck during an NHL game between the Columbus Blue Jackets and the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday, January 27, 2024 at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, B.C. (Photo by Ethan Cairns/Icon Sportswire)}

IN MEMORIAM – JOHNNY GAUDREAU – 1993 - 2024
The hockey world was sent into shock and mourning when Matthew and Johnny Gaudreau’s lives were tragically cut short this summer at the hands of an impaired driver. Johnny Gaudreau defied the odds at every level of hockey he played at. Affectionately known as “Johnny Hockey” – the nickname was appropriate not only because of Gaudreau’s skill level, but because he was also an amazing steward of the game throughout his time in it. From the New Jersey area, to Boston, to Calgary, to Columbus, Gaudreau left a tangible, positive impact in each city he called home as evidenced by the outpouring of love and memorials outside all the arenas he’s played in. Consistently written off due to his size, Gaudreau entered the NHL in his first season and posted 64 points in 80 games, putting the world on notice that size was no longer a valid concern in analysis of his game.

Gaudreau used his speed in combination with his slick hands and puck manipulation techniques to consis- tently find open space for himself and turn that open space into high-quality scoring chances. His heads- up style of play and elite understanding of the game allowed him to consistently elevate the play of his teammates and serve them quality looks, evidenced by his average of 50 assists per season and 500 overall for his career. Aside from setting his career high in points in 2017-18, he also won the Lady Byng trophy. We join the entire hockey community in honouring the life and careers of Johnny and Matthew Gaudreau and the passion and joy they brought to the game we all love.

TEAM OVERVIEW The shock and loss of their best player, for an organization that is no stranger to tragedy after losing goaltender Matiss Kivlenieks in the summer of 2021, will be a tremendous challenge for the team. New management and a new head coach in Dean Evason will have to pull together a very talented group of young players. Denton Mateychuk, Kent Johnson, Adam Fantilli, Yegor Chinakhov, Kirill Marchenko, Cole Sillinger, Dmitri Voronkov and David Jiricek all have tremendous promise and are currently developing in the NHL. Chinakhov, Marchenko and Voronkov all made some noise last season, at times uniting on an all-Russian line. There are some reasons for optimism, but it was going to be another year of development for their youngsters and the playoffs were not likely in the cards.

TOP BREAKOUT CANDIDATE: Adam Fantilli missed 33 games last campaign with a lacerated calf. That ended what had been an encouraging rookie campaign - the 19-year-old (20 on Oct. 12) scored 12 goals and 27 points through 49 contests. He’s healthy now and primed to play on the top six and first power-play unit this season. Although Columbus probably will finish toward the bottom of the league in goals scored, Fantilli should be an offensive leader for the Blue Jackets this year.

FORWARD

Sean Monahan

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
82	22	35	57	0.70

Monahan arrives to the Blue Jackets via free agency having signed a five-year contract at $5.5 million AAV per year. Monahan put some of the concerns about his lengthy injury history in the rearview by playing a full season last year split between the Montreal Canadiens and the Winnipeg Jets and continued into the Jets brief spell into the playoffs. Monahan is still a handful in the faceoff dot, where he posted over a 55 percent win rate last year and was well into the top third of centers with regards to faceoff wins. Monahan posted modest point totals but showcased an ability to support the play in the offensive zone via rush and forecheck as well as showcase puck distribution abilities that created shot-attempts for his teammates in the offensive zone. The expectation is that Monahan will inherit the top center role alongside his former teammate Johnny Gaudreau but expect pressure through the year from the likes of Adam Fantilli to steal that spot away from him. Monahan’s shot rates in his short time with Winnipeg were good for third on the team, and the hope is his supporting play and elevation of shot rates can put Gaudreau back on the map from a goal scoring perspective. Assuming Monahan stays healthy again, he should provide a good boost to the output of his linemates.

Kirill Marchenko

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
80	25	21	46	0.58

Marchenko had a good bit of focus on him heading into the year coming off of a strong 21-goal campaign as a rookie. His sophomore year, usually a challenging one for forwards, didn’t feature a massive regression in any one area. In fact, Marchenko’s peripheral statistics, especially defensively, saw improvements year over year. There’s an argument to be made that his overall goal scoring was not as impactful as the prior year as he only had 23 total goals in 78 games. Marchenko’s lack of boost in goal scoring was an effect felt across the entire Blue Jacket’s top line last season. His even-strength goal scoring output was good for the 60^th percentile of NHL forwards. Marchenko did not experience a dip in shot-attempts and still put up totals that place him well within the top third of NHL forwards with regards to putting pucks on net. His passing statistics and play support statistics put him in the bottom third of NHL forwards even though he saw an increase in assists last year. Marchenko’s best work comes off of the rush where he has the ability to use his size and speed to surprise NHL defenders. With a new look top line for Columbus, the hope is that Marchenko will find himself in more of those situations in the year to come.

Adam Fantilli

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
79	23	30	53	0.67

Fantilli’s rookie season came with a great level of expectation that was largely unrealized, but that may be because of elements outside of his control. From a linemates perspective, Fantilli’s start to the year saw him playing deep in the bottom-six for Columbus alongside players that don’t quite think the game on the same level as him. As his ice time increased north of the 12:00 mark and he began moving up the depth chart, his performance, unsurprisingly, improved along with the increase in quality of teammate. Additionally, the Columbus power-play struggled throughout the course of the year and as a result, Fantilli never had a chance to truly make his mark on that side of the puck. Offensively speaking, he was in the top third of the league’s forward group in shots, shots off the rush, and goals-scored at even-strength. He also showed a good bit of competency at carrying the puck across the blueline with possession and creating elongated offensive possession as a result of his puck-moving ability. I think there’s room for him to continue to improve on the forecheck and in the defensive zone. Expect Fantilli to make marked improvements in his off-puck habits and ultimately pressure for a role on the Blue Jacket’s top line before the season is over. There is a lot of skill here still left to showcase.

Yegor Chinakhov

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
74	23	19	42	0.57

Despite missing a large chunk of time to injury, Yegor Chinakhov’s 2023-24 campaign is one that you can file under him cementing himself as a verifiable scoring threat and graduated NHL talent. I don’t believe there’s anything left for him to learn at the AHL level. He tortured goaltenders with his wrist shot last year, showcasing his ability to gain significant velocity from short, hard to predict releases. By the end of the season, the only forward with a higher goal scoring rate than Chinakhov was Johnny Gaudreau. One of the biggest criticisms you can make of him is that, given the value of his shot, he doesn’t use it enough. Chinakhov was in the sixth percentile of NHL forwards regarding shot-attempts at even-strength. Something that hasn’t gotten enough discussion is the reliability he showcased off-puck last season. He was on the ice for the second lowest total of shot-attempts against per 60 minutes of even-strength ice time. His overall even-strength defensive returns put him in the 82^nd percentile of forwards. Chinakhov has the ability to develop into a serious shooting threat and could get a decent boost in goals if he sees more power-play time this season. He spent time towards the end of the season with fellow countrymen Kirill Marchenko and Dimitri Voronkov. I expect that line to get more looks in the coming season and Chinakhov to see an improvement on his 16 goals from the year prior.

Kent Johnson

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
72	18	20	38	0.53

Kent Johnson’s sophomore season was a disappointment from almost any angle you view it from. Johnson was hoping to build off a solid rookie campaign that saw him end with 16 goals and 24 assists in 79 games. However, when training camp ended for the 2023-24 season, Johnson was not a part of the roster. His camp performance was sub-par, and he never re-discovered the game that put him on the map the year prior. By the end of the season, Johnson finished with just six goals and 10 assists in 42 games played. His defensive game suffered a regression and his forechecking and engagement in the battle areas of the ice left something to be desired. After moving up and down the lineup and battling healthy scratches, Johnson was eventually injured for the final weeks of the regular season, adding extra bitterness to his sophomore slump. Johnson’s goal last year was to come into camp bigger, stronger, and more influential on the puck. That same goal needs to apply to this season if Johnson is going to put any stretch of relevant time together in the Blue Jackets forward group. Johnson is coming into his final season under his Restricted Free Agency deal. This season is tantamount to him finding a permanent place in the NHL.

Dmitri Voronkov

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
79	21	16	37	0.47

Jackets’ fans had to wait a long time for Dmitri Voronkov, four years to be exact, but the KHL regular impressed just about everyone in his first foray onto a North American ice surface this season. Voronkov did not make the team straight out of camp but was recalled late October and went on an immediate run here he piled up goals and assists through his first fifteen games and stayed relatively consistent thereafter, earning more and more ice time as the year went on, culminating in a top six performance alongside fellow Russians Yegor Chinakhov and Kirill Marchenko, forming an All-Russian line for Columbus. Voronkov’s game is predicated on using his size, reach, and physical prowess. He was a force in front of the net during his time in the KHL and that was no different in Columbus. Voronkov’s first year offensive output’s at even-strength put him in the 80^th percentile of NHL forwards, a great debut for the big talent. One area he will need to work on is his puck distribution abilities and passing in the offensive zone. He was only in the sixth percentile of NHL forwards for offensive-zone shot assists. Voronkov has the size and skating to be a continued menace in front of the net and in the battle areas of the ice. He showcased enough with puck control and puck handling that he is not a one-trick pony. It will be interesting to see how his game continues to develop in the coming years.

Boone Jenner

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
63	18	17	35	0.56

The big questions surrounding Jenner coming into this season are focused on the best suited deployment for the veteran center. It’s still evident that he can have a positive effect on the lineup given his puck-possession results and overall goal totals. While still effective, especially in the battle areas in the boards and net-front, Jenner does clash stylistically with some of the wingers in the Blue Jacket’s top six. Despite missing chunks of time to injury and personal reasons, Jenner still ended the year with 22 goals, his third straight 20+ goal campaign. Given his age and mileage, much of the discussion has shifted to his making a full switch to the bottom six forward group for Columbus. Given the signing of Sean Monahan and the rise of Adam Fantilli, that may just be where Jenner ends up. His game is still suited for a bottom-six checking role and his goal scoring rates at even-strength could provide a much needed scoring boost to the bottom-six forward group. Jenner is still an effective player on the forecheck and in front of the net but has struggled in recent years to impact transition play and assist his teammates in puck distribution efforts. Regardless of the mileage and offensive limitations, he can still score goals and remains an extremely valuable faceoff man. Expect Jenner to continue to be a force in front of the net this season and can still expect some power play time as a result

Cole Sillinger

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
79	15	19	34	0.43

Cole Sillinger’s 2023-24 season was about as rollercoaster of a performance as you can get. In fact, that truly summarizes his entire three-year journey through the NHL at this juncture. After a promising rookie season, Sillinger crashed out in a sophomore slump where he netted three goals and 11 points in 64 games. This season’s start, while bolstered by strong underlying numbers, was just as drought-like with regards to goals. Sillinger had one goal through his first 27 games in 2023-24 but burst onto the scoresheet after the drought to end his third professional season with 13 goals and 19 assists in 77 games. Sillinger was significantly snake-bit with his finishing ability last season. He posted returns in the 80^th plus percentile in raw shots, shots off of high-danger passes, and shots off of the rush. His finishing found its level a handful of times in the season, but always in short, sporadic bursts. Whatever the case, Sillinger didn’t pose a lot of risk defensively and was generally a low-event player on both sides of the puck. He saw a steady increase in ice time throughout the year and in a variety of deployments, a testament to his versatility as a center. Sillinger posted his highest faceoff percentage of his young career at just over 46%, but still has room for improvement in the circle. Overall, consistency will be the name of the game for Sillinger moving forward as he looks to play a critical role in the Bluejackets bottom six forward group.

DEFENCE

Zach Werenski

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
75	15	48	63	0.84

Werenski took the role of top defenceman for Columbus last year and was deployed in virtually every situation imaginable. From power-play to penalty kill to the biggest five on five minutes, Werenski put his best foot forward to impact the Blue Jackets outcomes as much as he possibly could. Unfortunately, it takes more than one solid performer to round out a defence and Columbus was not deep enough defensively to make Werenski’s statistics look attractive. Overall, he led the Blue Jackets in just about every statistical bucket and set a franchise record for points by a defenceman. The offensive side of Werenski’s work was great, but his even-strength results from a defensive perspective put him in the sixth percentile of NHL defencemen. Werenski’s best impacts are in puck movement and shot support. From the perspective of denying zone entries defensively or retrieving dumped pucks, Werenski found himself in the bottom third of the league. Despite the less-than-attractive results, he posted a goals-for percentage at even-strength that was seven percent higher than any of his defensive peers. He also paced at or near the top of the team in shot-attempt and scoring chance mitigation. Overall, expect Werenski to continue to play a variety of roles as the defensive leader of the Blue Jackets, his best work coming in shot-attempt boosts and help in gaining possession in the offensive zone.

Damon Severson

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
70	6	18	24	0.30

Severson’s first season in Columbus wasn’t poor, but it also likely failed to live up to the lofty expectation garnered by the eight-year contract he signed. Severson finished his first campaign in Columbus with nine goals and 19 assists in 67 games and actually finished the year with some decent defensive numbers and paced the Columbus blue line in a number of defensive metrics. He was the only blueliner on the Columbus roster to finish with a positive result in puck-possession metrics (plus-four percent relative to teammates) and had the highest expected-goal for percentage on the team at 49 percent. His overall defensive metrics put him in the 67^th percentile of NHL defencemen. His rate at denying possession zone entries put him in the 80^th percentile of league defencemen, an oasis in a desert of poor defensive performances in Columbus. Some of his best work came in terms of shot-support in the offensive zone and working the puck out of the defensive zone via his passing skill. This wasn’t a poor debut performance by any stretch and is head and shoulders above most of his peers on the team, but with a cap hit of over six million dollars per year, the expectations were simply a little bit higher. Severson will once again be called upon in a variety of minutes to support the team as a jack-of-all-trades defenceman.

Ivan Provorov

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
82	5	24	29	0.35

For the second year in a row, Ivan Provorov played in every single regular season game for the Columbus Blue Jackets and posted respectable numbers in doing so. The biggest boost came to his offensive game this season. He scored five more points than the previous year, but it’s the supporting metrics around his puck support and shot contributions that increased his overall offensive output from a Wins Above Replacement perspective from the 22^nd percentile for defencemen to the 41^st percentile. Provorov’s best work this season came via retrieving pucks in the defensive zone and exiting the defensive zone with possession, both areas he graded out in the top third of NHL defencemen. His returns in defending the blueline and breaking up plays as they enter the defensive zone regressed a bit year over year. Provorov is heading into the final year of his contract. Depending on his performance there may be some trade discussions around his skill set as we get closer to the trade deadline. He has weathered the overall poor defensive presence in Columbus fairly well and is a reliable middle pairing player that plays relatively low-event hockey. While there may be a ceiling to his deployment as his statistics do suffer from elevated minutes, with the right partner in the right circumstances he can be effective.

David Jiricek

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
75	6	18	24	0.32

Jiricek earned valuable experience last year at both the AHL and the NHL level, experiencing a bit of a baptism by fire for his rookie campaign. While the returns were likely considered disappointing, he’s only 20 years old and still developing into a professional player. Additionally, as discussed, the environment in Columbus was volatile at best defensively. Jiricek found himself in many challenging situations throughout the course of the year. When faced with odd man breaks or one-on-one situations, Jiricek’s decision making process showed room for improvement as he continues to adapt to the pro-style game. That being said, it’s also clear why he comes with the degree of pedigree he does. He is an effortless skater, and his movement will be one of the foundational aspects of his game throughout his career. Jiricek should find himself in a more stable environment this year with less back-and-forth to the AHL and healthy scratches. There’s potential for him to see an increase in power-play minutes and more time with the Blue Jackets top forwards, who will further complement his skill set. Patience is key to the development of young defencemen and Jiricek is no exception to that rule. Expect more solid returns this year with a refined sense of decision making with the puck. Hopefully, Columbus can get him into more positions to utilize some of his offensive skillset.

GOAL

Elvis Merzlikins

Predicted Stats
GP	W	L	OT	SO	SV%	GAA
51	16	29	6	2	0.901	3.29

Daniil Tarasov

Predicted Stats
GP	W	L	OT	SO	SV%	GAA
22	7	13	2	1	0.904	3.38

From a raw numbers perspective, Blue Jackets starter Elvis Merzlikins - once touted as the team's heir apparent before stumbling in tandem with the team's seeming free-fall to the bottom of the standings - struggled as much last season as he had the year before. He once again failed to hit even league-average numbers in his fifth NHL season, a far cry from the rookie debut season that earned him fifth-place spots in both Vezina and Calder voting back in 2020. And from a visual perspective, the 29-year-old Latvian netminder still looks like he's lost that extra spark that gave him a competitive edge over his opponents. He still has plenty of agility and speed, his lateral movements look fluid and strong, and he's got fast hands that he's unafraid to use; his positioning always seemed just a little off, though, and he had trouble recovering from rebounds in a way that suggested he was reading the play as well as he's shown capable of doing in the past.

That being said, the advanced data for the 2023-24 campaign suggested that Merzlikins isn't a complete write-off. He pulled out of the nosedive that saw him record quality starts in just eight of his 30 games in 2022-23, putting up league average or better performances in just around half of his games last year. And in theory, the Blue Jackets should continue to take steps to improve this year - which puts him in a good position to continue to level his game back out again as well. And in even better news, his backup Daniil Tarasov showed proficiency in stopping sharp-angle shots and in avoiding being goaded into bad positioning. Both goaltenders will likely still face a barrage of shots in each game this year, but things are starting to level out; hopefully, that should give Merzlikins the confidence he needs to take the reins back and Tarasov the right environment to continue to develop and thrive.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

CULLEN: 20 FANTASY POINTS – Joey Daccord stakes his claim to the crease in Seattle, Brock Faber eats minutes in Minnesota, Jack Quinn brings scoring touch to Buffalo, Juraj Slafkovsky is making progress in Montreal, and much, much more!

Scott Cullen — Fri, 29 Dec 2023 18:39:38 +0000

MONTREAL, QC - NOVEMBER 30: Juraj Slafkovsky (20) of the Montreal Canadiens skates during the third period of the NHL game between the Florida Panthers and the Montreal Canadiens on November 30 2023, at the Bell Centre in Montreal, QC(Photo by Vincent Ethier/Icon Sportswire)

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

This week, Joey Daccord stakes his claim to the crease in Seattle, Brock Faber eats minutes in Minnesota, Jack Quinn brings scoring touch to Buffalo, Juraj Slafkovsky is making progress in Montreal, and much, much more!

#1 One of the stories that has been consistent with the Seattle Kraken in their three seasons of existence is that they have not been able to find an answer in goal. They spent big money to bring in Philipp Grubauer as a free agent and he has not performed nearly as well as he did in previous stops with Colorado and Washington. However, with Grubauer injured, the door has opened for 27-year-old Joey Daccord, who had started 15 NHL games prior to this season. In his past seven starts, Daccord has a 4-1-2 record and a scintillating .944 save percentage. If he keeps playing like this, Daccord will remain Seattle’s starter even if the other goaltenders are healthy. Chris Driedger has been recalled from Coachella Valley in the AHL and he stopped 37 of 38 shots to earn a win in Calgary on Wednesday, and the 29-year-old appears to be healthy and ready for NHL duty after missing all of last season.

#2 Minnesota Wild rookie defenceman Brock Faber stepped up his game in a big way this month, especially when the Wild have been missing veterans Jonas Brodin and Jared Spurgeon due to injury. In a dozen December games, Faber produced eight points (1 G, 7 A) while averaging 27:30 of ice time per game. That average time on ice was the highest in the league for the month of December.

#3 Recovered from a torn Achilles suffered in the offseason, Buffalo Sabres right winger Jack Quinn has buried a pair of goals on 10 shots through his first four games of the season. Quinn is a skilled young forward working on a line with Dylan Cozens and J.J. Peterka, a couple more skilled young forwards. It’s interesting to note that Quinn averaged 13:51 of ice time as a rookie last season and has averaged 16:34 per game in his first four games this season – the Sabres obviously have room for Quinn to play a prominent role.

#4 The first overall pick in the 2022 Draft, Montreal Canadiens winger Juraj Slafkovsky has not been overly impressive early in his career, but it should not be ignored that he is still just 19 years old. In any case, he is starting to show promising signs as he skates on Montreal’s top line with Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield. In his past five games, Slafkovsky has produced five points (2 G, 3 A) and he has played more than 20 minutes in three of his past six games. It’s kind of like the Habs are letting him sink or swim with this opportunity and, thus far, Slafkovsky is at least treading water.

#5 Acquired in a trade with the Los Angeles Kings in the offseason, Arizona Coyotes defenceman Sean Durzi returned just before Christmas from a lower-body injury suffered a few weeks earlier. In his first three games back, Durzi has compiled seven points (1 G, 6 A) with eight shots on goal. He is up to 20 points (6 G, 14 A) in 28 games and his 0.71 points per game ranks 21^st among defencemen this season. He has shown the ability to provide offence from the blueline and that is securing his value for fantasy managers.

#6 An early-season injury sidelined Anaheim Ducks defenceman Jamie Drysdale for more than two months, but he has returned and the smooth skating blueliner is worth keeping an eye on. Not only does Drysdale have three points (1 G, 2 A) in five games this season, but he has been inserted as the quarterback on Anaheim’s top power play unit and is averaging more than 21 minutes of ice time per game. Opportunity alone makes Drysdale worth a potential pick up.

#7 Veteran right winger Blake Wheeler got off to a miserable start with the New York Rangers, going 10 games without a point to start his career on Broadway, but the 36-year-old has adjusted. Despite averaging just 12:30 of ice time per game in his past seven contests, Wheeler has still produced eight points (3 G, 5 A) and has found himself back on the top line with Chris Kreider and Mika Zibanejad. The best days are behind Wheeler, but his sudden resurgence and playing situation do give him potential value.

#8 It seems like the Columbus Blue Jackets lineup is chock full of players auditioning for bigger roles in the future. One of those players that is making the most of his opportunities is Yegor Chinakhov, the 22-year-old winger, who was something of a surprise first-round pick in 2020. In his past eight games, Chinakhov is averaging more than 18 minutes of ice time per game and has tallied 11 points (7 G, 4 A) in the process. He is currently part of a Russian trio in Columbus, skating on a line with Dmitri Voronkov and Kirill Marchenko.

#9 Calgary Flames winger Blake Coleman has a reputation for his high energy and consistent effort, but his reliable production is making an impact this season, too. In his past 10 games, Coleman has put up 11 points (6 G, 5 A) while launching 28 shots on goal. Coleman’s 12 goals on the season puts him in the team lead, one ahead of Yegor Sharangovich. On one hand, it’s great that Coleman is scoring enough to lead the Flames. On the other, it does not speak well of Calgary’s skilled forwards, who are not finding the net as often as Coleman.

#10 There have been several occasions in recent seasons in which it would have been easy to write off veteran winger Marcus Johansson, deciding that he is finished as a productive scoring winger in the NHL. Of course, that would be wrong, because the 33-year-old Minnesota Wild forward has contributed nine points (3 G, 6 A) in his past nine games. With Mats Zuccarello out, Johansson has a spot in Minnesota’s top six as well as on the top power play unit and that makes him appealing, at least in the short term.

#11 It has not been the smoothest transition to Colorado for winger Jonathan Drouin, but the outlook is getting better for the 28-year-old forward who has produced seven points (2 G, 5 A) and 15 shots on goal in his past seven games. In his previous 26 games, Drouin had eight points (3 G, 5 A) and 33 shots on goal, so this is the best run of production he has offered since joining the Avalanche in the summer. He is such a pass-first player that it can turn his game one dimensional, but his recent surge does come with more shots and perhaps that makes his production more sustainable.

#12 There has never been any question that Washington Capitals winger Anthony Mantha has the skill to be a productive NHL player. There have been questions about his desire, work ethic, and discipline, and it looked like he was fading out of the Capitals lineup early in the season when he had four points (3 G, 1 A) in his first 14 games. In 14 games since then, however, Mantha has 12 points (8 G, 4 A) with 32 shots on goal, while averaging less than 14 minutes of ice time per game. This version of Mantha is very appealing, both for the Capitals and fantasy managers.

#13 When the Boston Bruins signed centre Morgan Geekie as a free agent in the summer, they could not have realistically expected that the 25-year-old pivot would be skating on their first line before the calendar turned to 2024, but that is indeed the case. In his past eight games, Geekie has produced seven points (4 G, 3 A) and 21 shots on goal. He has Pavel Zacha and David Pastrnak on his wings right now, and that’s a good enough situation to consider Geekie for short-term fantasy value at the very least.

#14 In his first four starts since returning from a broken finger, Calgary Flames goaltender Jacob Markstrom has a .938 save percentage. He had stumbled to a .896 save percentage in his first 16 games of the season, so this recent development could be a potential difference maker for the Flames. At his best, Markstrom can be one of the top goaltenders in the league. Unfortunately, he can also linger in the below average tier as well when things are not going his way.

#15 With Joseph Woll injured and Ilya Samsonov practically unplayable while he searches for his confidence, it looks like Martin Jones has an opportunity to run with the starting goaltender job in Toronto. Jones has a .914 save percentage in seven appearances for the Maple Leafs and while his consistency tends to vary, the likelihood that he could start most of the games until Woll returns does give Jones more value than might have been expected for fantasy managers.

#16 Washington Capitals left winger Max Pacioretty is nearing his return from another torn Achilles, suffered last season after he scored three goals in just five games for the Carolina Hurricanes. Pacioretty is 35 and has struggled to stay healthy in recent seasons, but he can put the puck in the net. Since 2019-2020, he has scored 78 goals in 163 games. His 0.48 goals per game ranks 14^th among players that have played at least 50 games in that span. It’s the same rate of goals per game as Nikita Kucherov, Sebastian Aho, and Jake Guentzel, so Pacioretty has been keeping company with some very skilled finishers.

#17 Coming into the season, it looked like there would be a bunch of scoring options on the Arizona blueline, including Sean Durzi. Surprisingly, the third-highest scoring defenceman on the team thus far has been Michael Kesselring, who started the season in the AHL and had one assist in his first five games after being promoted. Since then, Kesselring has eight points (4 G, 4 A) in 13 games, which is better than a 50-point pace over 82 games and he has not recorded any points on the power play. Kesselring will not keep scoring on 19.0% of his shots, but he is pushing for a bigger role on the Arizona blueline. The 6-foot-4 blueliner was acquired in a trade last season for Nick Bjugstad and dynasty owners should have keen interest in how Kesselring develops and if he can continue to be an offensive contributor.

#18 Just when it looked like Kris Letang might be fading into the background in Pittsburgh, lost behind Erik Karlsson on the Penguins’ blueline, Letang has produced nine points (1 G, 8 A) in his past two games. He had 14 points (2 G, 12 A) in 31 games before this eruption. He’s not the only sudden source of offence in Pittsburgh. Marcus Pettersson, whose career high is 25 points in a season, has recorded eight assists in his past four games. Obviously, Letang is the more appealing Penguins defender because of his track record, but Pettersson is the one more widely available, so he does offer some value, especially in leagues that count hits and blocked shots, because those are staples of Pettersson’s game.

#19 The Bruins have called up prospect Georgii Merkulov, a 23-year-old who played one season at Ohio State and had 60 points (25 G, 35 A) in 75 AHL games entering this season. He has been on a tear recently, however, putting up 16 points (9 G, 7 A) in his past nine games with the Providence Bruins, so it’s no surprise that he has been promoted to the big club. He has just been called up, so his role is unknown at this point, but if you’re a fantasy manager looking to take a flier in a deep league, a player who is shredding the AHL is worth your consideration.

#20 With the 2023 calendar year winding down, here is a look at some of the leaders. The league’s leading point producer in 2023 has been Nathan MacKinnon, who has 133 points (53 G, 80 A) in 82 games, ahead of Connor McDavid, who has 126 points (44 G, 82 A) in 74 games. There are six more players that have produced 100 points in 2023: Nikita Kucherov (118), David Pastrnak (108), Leon Draisaitl (107), Mikko Rantanen (104), Elias Pettersson (101), and J.T. Miller (100). With very little time left in the year, there is still a chance for Jack Hughes, who has 98 points (37 G, 61 A) in 70 games and Artemi Panarin, who has 97 points (39 G, 58 A) in 78 games. Brayden Point has 96 points (46 G, 50 A) in 83 games. Among those top scorers in the 2023 calendar year, there are also players who produce at a similar per-game level but have missed time with injuries. The most notable is Avalanche defenceman Cale Makar, who has 73 points (16 G, 57 A) in 55 games. His 1.33 points per game ranks seventh, putting him between Pastrnak and Rantanen. Other top per-game point producers that were not included among the 100-point club in 2023: Auston Matthews (1.25), Mitch Marner (1.24), Tim Stutzle (1.21), and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (1.20).

CULLEN: 20 FANTASY POINTS – Players Making Noise in Training Camp

Scott Cullen — Fri, 07 Oct 2022 14:29:37 +0000

20 FANTASY POINTS

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

Before the puck drops on the regular season, a look at some players that have made noise in training camp and preseason and might be able to contribute this season. In most cases, these players would have more appeal in deep leagues but, at the very least, it is worth keeping an eye on how they develop during the season.

WASHINGTON, DC - NOVEMBER 26: Panthers center Anton Lundell (15) skates during the Florida Panthers versus Washington Capitals National Hockey League game on November 26, 2021 at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C.. (Photo by Randy Litzinger/Icon Sportswire)

#1. Florida Panthers center Anton Lundell had a strong rookie season, putting up 44 points in 65 games, and it would be natural to expect continued improvement from the 21-year-old pivot. There is the possibility, though, that he moves up the depth chart and is not centering the third line but possibly centering the second line or even skating on the wing alongside Aleksander Barkov on Florida’s top line. That creates the possibility of Lundell’s production spiking in his second season if the circumstances play out in his favor.

#2. The ninth pick in the 2020 Draft by the Minnesota Wild, center Marco Rossi had his 2020-2021 season undone by COVID-19 then put up 53 points in 63 AHL games last season. With the Wild needing players on entry level deals to contribute, the opportunity is there for Rossi, and he is making the most of it. Not only does he have eight points in four preseason games, but he has recently been given a shot to play on the top line between Kirill Kaprizov and Mats Zuccarello.

#3. After missing most of the 2021-2022 season, Ottawa Senators center Shane Pinto is healthy and looking like he could be a contributor to an improved Sens attack this season. Pinto has eight points in 17 career games and looks like he will start the season as Ottawa’s third-line center, but he will also get power play time and has the skill to move up in the lineup, if needed.

#4. Right winger Luke Kunin contributed 13 goals and 22 points for the Nashville Predators last season, adding 223 hits in 82 games. Those hit totals moved Kunin into the realm of fantasy relevance but, after a trade to the Sharks, it looks like he could have even more appeal to start the 2022-2023 season. Kunin is starting the season skating on the right wing of San Jose’s top line, alongside Timo Meier and Tomas Hertl, a legitimate opportunity to increase his offensive output.

#5. Drafted 14^th overall in 2020 by the Edmonton Oilers, Dylan Holloway is doing his best to force the Oilers to keep him on the roster. The University of Wisconsin product had 22 points in 33 AHL games last season as a rookie pro and appeared in one playoff game for Edmonton. He has put up four goals and six points in four preseason games in his bid to make Edmonton’s opening night lineup.

#6. Buffalo Sabres center Dylan Cozens has produced 51 points in 120 games through his first two seasons, but developed his game last season, with better possession results leading to improved scoring. The next step for Cozens is to have his shooting percentage pick up. It was 7.7% last season, on his way to 13 goals, but if the 21-year-old continues to improve and that shooting percentage improves, 20 goals should be within his grasp.

#7. The Boston Bruins were already facing a potentially difficult start to the season with injuries to Brad Marchand, Charlie McAvoy, and Matt Grzelcyk, but Taylor Hall has joined them in the infirmary with an upper-body injury. That will open up more of an opportunity for Pavel Zacha, who was acquired from New Jersey in the offseason. Zacha scored a career-high 36 points in 70 games for the Devils last season but is now looking at a chance to start the season playing on a line with David Krejci and David Pastrnak, two gifted offensive players, and that raises Zacha’s offensive ceiling.

#8. The sixth pick in the 2018 Draft, Filip Zadina has been mostly underwhelming to this point in his career, managing 61 points in 160 games for the Detroit Red Wings. He has scored on just 7.6% of his shots, which is quite low for a scoring winger. With Derek Lalonde taking over behind the Red Wings bench, Zadina gets something of a fresh start and with Detroit upgrading their roster in the offseason, there is a better chance for Zadina to contribute secondary offense.

#9. Highly touted defenseman Nils Lundkvist did not have the kind of North American debut that he had hoped for last season, producing four points in 25 games for the New York Rangers and 15 points in 34 games for Hartford of the American Hockey League. Traded to the Dallas Stars, Lundkvist has a new opportunity to make his mark in the NHL and he has put 13 shots on goal in four preseason contests. While he is not worthy of widespread fantasy interest now, it is worth tracking Lundkvist’s progress with his new team.

#10. Landing on a rebuilding Chicago Blackhawks squad, Max Domi is seeking a new opportunity after he had 39 points in 72 games last season, playing a career-low 13:02 per game in a season that started with the Columbus Blue Jackets and ended with the Carolina Hurricanes. With Chicago, Domi has the chance to skate on a line with Patrick Kane and possibly Andreas Athanasiou. While that line has its flaws, they may be able to generate some offense and Domi should see an uptick in ice time because there just are not that many good options available in Chicago.

#11. After scoring a career-high 19 goals and 43 points for Pittsburgh last season, Evan Rodrigues could not secure a free agent contract until he signed with Colorado in September. That could turn out to be a nice fit for Rodrigues and the Avalanche because with Gabriel Landeskog out at the start of the season, Rodrigues could open the season in Colorado’s top six. Rodrigues played a career-high 15:50 per game last season and his shot rate jumped to 2.96 shots per game. If he has a regular role in Colorado, there will be opportunities for him to score.

#12. Veteran winger Tomas Tatar had just 30 points in 76 games for the New Jersey Devils last season, tying his career-low, set in just 50 games the season before. His 5v5 on-ice shooting percentage last season was 6.8%, the lowest of his career, so Tatar should be able to count on some positive regression in that sense. He is a six-time 20-goal scorer who has scored more than 55 points three times in his career. With the Devils’ forward group improving, Tatar could either get bumped down the depth chart or he could thrive with more talent around him.

#13. He is 39 years old and will not be quarterbacking the first power play unit in Toronto, but defenseman Mark Giordano had 12 points in 20 games for the Maple Leafs after he was acquired from Seattle before the trade deadline last season. He also had 41 blocked shots and 29 hits in those 20 games, so he can still be a considerable factor for a Maple Leafs team that should still be one of the best in the league this season.

#14. The Tampa Bay Lightning can move their forwards around the lineup, but it is worth tracking Vladislav Namestnikov, the 29-year-old who is returning to where his NHL career began. Namestnikov has recently been getting a look on Tampa Bay’s top line, with Steven Stamkos and Nikita Kucherov and while Namestnikov has only had one season in his career with more than 35 points, anyone getting the chance to play with Stamkos and Kucherov is deserving of fantasy consideration.

#15. Acquired by the Vancouver Canucks in the trade that sent Jonathan Dahlen to San Jose, right winger Linus Karlsson produced 26 goals and 46 points in 52 games for Skelleftea of the Swedish Hockey League last season. The 22-year-old may not be NHL ready yet, but he has finishing skill and if the Canucks have forward openings – Brock Boeser and Ilya Mikheyev are currently dealing with injuries – maybe Karlsson gets a longer look in Vancouver.

#16. Just last week, I was writing about the potential of Nashville Predators right winger Philip Tomasino, the second year forward who has the potential to move into a scoring role with the Preds. That might take some time, however, since he is going to be a healthy scratch to start the season, with Kiefer Sherwood earning a spot in the opening game lineup ahead of Tomasino. Sherwood is a 27-year-old who has scored 18 points and recorded 155 hits in 87 career NHL games, but he has the right-wing job on Nashville’s second line to start the season.

#17. The Florida Panthers signed goaltender Spencer Knight to a three-year, $13.5 million contract extension, an indication that the Panthers see Knight as their starting goaltender of the future, but he could become the goaltender of the present, too. The 13^th pick in the 2019 Draft, Knight has a .909 save percentage in 36 NHL games, so he is just getting started, but if Sergei Bobrovsky falters, the Panthers should have little hesitation about giving Knight a bigger share of the starts this season.

#18. A potential backup goaltender on what will likely be a bad team is hardly the stuff of fantasy championships but have an eye on Samuel Ersson of the Philadelphia Flyers. A fifth-round pick in 2018, Ersson has impressed in training camp and preseason action. He had a .904 save percentage in 78 SHL games before getting into a handful of AHL games last season. His development might be better suited to the AHL, where he can play a lot, but it is possible that Ersson wins the job backing up Carter Hart in Philadelphia.

#19. A first-round pick by the Columbus Blue Jackets in 2020, Yegor Chinakhov produced a modest 14 points in 62 games as a rookie last season. The Blue Jackets have some talent on the wings, which could make it difficult for Chinakhov to move into a scoring role, but he does have five goals in five preseason games, production that could help him secure a better spot on the depth chart for his sophomore season.

#20. Looking for a chance to resurrect his career, Sam Steel is getting that opportunity with the Minnesota Wild. The 24-year-old, who was a first-round pick in 2016, had 65 points in 197 games with the Anaheim Ducks, but they did not give him a qualifying offer following last season, casting him into the free agent waters. Steel has five points in four preseason games and has recently been getting a chance to skate on a line with Fredrick Gaudreau and Matt Boldy, which is a solid opportunity for a player who scored a ton in junior but has yet to take that junior production and see it translate to the NHL.

*Advanced stats via Natural Stat Trick.

MCKEEN’S 2022-23 NHL YEARBOOK – COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS – NHL Player Profiles

Ryan Dadoun – Forwards and Defense, Catherine Silverman - Goaltending — Thu, 15 Sep 2022 23:16:12 +0000

LOS ANGELES, CA - APRIL 16: Columbus Blue Jackets Right Wing Patrik Laine (29) warms up before a Los Angeles Kings game versus the Columbus Blue Jackets on April 16, 2022, at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, CA. (Photo by Rob Curtis/Icon Sportswire)

FORWARDS

Johnny Gaudreau

Gaudreau is a rare talent. His lack of size made many initially question his viability in the NHL and he certainly has never been a physical threat. He hasn’t needed to be though. His speed, stickhandling, high hockey IQ, and playmaking ability make him one of the most dangerous players offensively in the NHL. By Gaudreau’s own admission, he likes to pass the puck and he excels at setting up his linemates, but he’s fully capable of taking the shot himself. He did so with more frequency last season, averaging 3.2 shots/game compared to just 2 in 2020-21 and an average of 2.69 over his career. That increase in shots led to him setting a career-high of 40 goals. That jump in goals was in addition to him having one of his best seasons overall, leading to him scoring 115 points and finishing fourth in Hart Trophy voting. He’s growing defensively too and excelled from a puck possession perspective with 5v5 Corsi and Fenwick’s of 57.1% and 56.9% respectively. All that being said though, he was put in an ideal situation. He spent 76% of his even strength ice time alongside Elias Lindholm and Matthew Tkachuk. That trio was amazing with all three of them finishing with at least 40 goals and 80 points. Gaudreau was a huge part of that success to be sure, but will he be able to do just as well after moving to the Columbus Blue Jackets? Perhaps and the key to that could be how well he meshes with Patrik Laine. Laine has one of the best shots in the league. He’s had an inconsistent career, but he’s also still young and playing with someone of Gaudreau’s caliber should be mutually beneficial.

Patrik Laine

Early in Laine’s career, it looked like he might be the next Alex Ovechkin. Laine scored 36 goals as a rookie and 44 in his sophomore season. Trouble is, he’s been a mixed bag since then with some amazing stretches and prolonged cold streaks. The 2020-21 campaign was a brutal one for him. He performed poorly under then Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella, scoring 10 goals and 21 points in 45 contests after being acquired by Columbus. He did rebound in 2021-22 under new bench boss Brad Larsen though, recording 26 goals and 56 points in 56 contests. In terms of points/60 minutes that was his best season to date, though his goals/60 still lagged behind the pace he set in his first two seasons. The Blue Jackets’ addition of Johnny Gaudreau over the summer could change that. We’ll have to see how the two mesh, but at least on paper combining one of the best shots in the league with one of the NHL’s top playmakers seems like a match made in heaven. The Blue Jackets need to hope so because they signed Laine to a four-year, $34.8 million deal and outside of his offensive skills, he doesn’t bring a lot to the table. He’s a defensive liability and his puck possession numbers have been underwhelming. He’s had a negative 5v5 Corsi and Fenwick relative in every single season to date, which means that from a puck possession perspective, the teams he’s played on have done better when he’s off the ice compared to when he’s on it. So there are clear risks associated with Laine, but he’s an exciting player and the prospect of him playing with Gaudreau makes him one of the must watch forwards of 2022-23.

Jakub Voracek

Although it had been roughly a decade since Voracek last played for Columbus, when the Flyers traded him to the Blue Jackets in the summer of 2021, he settled right back in. Voracek had six goals and 62 points in 79 contests, making it the 10th straight season he recorded at leas 0.74 points-per-game, which translates to about 61 points over 82 games. In other words, while Voracek has only finished in the top-10 in points once, he has been a reliably good forward throughout his career. He used to be an okay, though not spectacular goal scorer too, but his game has changed with age. At his height in 2016-17, he averaged 3.09 shots-per-game, but he hasn’t crossed the 2 shots-per-game mark over his last three seasons and in 2021-22 he dropped to just 1.86 shots-per-game. Fortunately, the 33-year-old can still generate those scoring chances with most combinations of linemates. He lacked anything close to consistent linemates at even strength last season and he was still a consistent contributor with his longest point drought being only three games. That flexibility is important because he’ll likely serve in a second-line role while offseason addition Johnny Gaudreau along with Patrik Laine will occupy the top unit’s wings. For Voracek, the more important factor will be his role on the power play. He was a mainstay on the top power-play unit, averaging 3:13 minutes and he contributed two goals and 25 points in that role. If Voracek sees his power-play time diminish then that, more than having him on the second line, could meaningfully reduce his point total. He’s still more likely than not to find success this season, but it’s the one thing to keep in the back of your mind while watching how the Jackets are assembled around Gaudreau.

Gustav Nyquist

Nyquist is a pretty good, but unexciting forward. When his career began, he looked like a solid goal scorer, but the last time he recorded at least 25 markers was 2014-15. Nowadays he doesn’t fire the puck nearly enough (just 1.49 shots-per-game last season) to be anything more than a secondary gaol scoring threat. He’s skilled offensively, but he’s more of a good second-line option than the kind of elite talent teams want to lean on heavily. Not every player is going to be a headlining act though and he’s pretty much everything you’d want in a complimentary forward. He does a lot right, is sound defensively, and gets sent out on both the power play and shorthanded situations. He also wore an ‘A’ last season, highlighting his worth to the Blue Jackets as a team leader. The 33-year-old (as of his birthday on Sept. 1) has aged well so far and he likely has at least a couple more good seasons in him. It helps that he’s enjoyed a fairly healthy career with the obvious exception of 2020-21 when he missed the full campaign due to a shoulder injury. He bounced right back last season though, scoring 18 goals and 53 points while playing the full 82 games. There’s just plenty to like here and he’s a good bet to record around 50 points again in the final campaign of his four-year, $22 million contract.

Jack Roslovic

After breaking out in 2019-20 with 12 goals and 34 points in 48 games, Roslovic’s production was all over the place last season. He had a couple nasty cold spells, including a season-opening stretch of three assists in 13 games, a run from Dec. 16-Jan. 27 where he scored a goal and three points in 13 contests, and an 11-game stretch from Mar. 17-Apr. 7 where he was limited to three assists. Those droughts were balanced out by some great stretches, the most notable of which was his run of 10 goals and 13 points in 10 games to cap out the season. It’s worth noting that sometimes the problem was circumstances. In that final hot stretch, he was averaging 20:24 minutes, in large part because top center Boone Jenner was injured. Contrast that with his aforementioned season-opening slump where he logged just 12:03 minutes per game and the issue becomes apparent. He ultimately had 29 games in 2021-22 where he was given under 12 minutes of ice time, and he had just two goals and five points in those contests. In games where he got over 12 minutes, he had 20 goals and 40 points in 52 contests. Clearly, he can step up offensively when put in the right position. Whether or not he will get that opportunity is the key question going into the season, but the odds are in his favor. After signing him to a two-year, $8 million contract over the summer, Roslovic is projected to start the campaign as the second-line center. He will have to battle Cole Sillinger for that spot, but at least going into the campaign, that top-six role is likely to be held by the more experienced Roslovic.

Sean Kuraly

Kuraly has size and he will use that to his advantage defensively, but his offensive game has never been great. Even in 2021-22, when he averaged a career-high 15:52 minutes, he was still limited to 14 goals and 30 points in 77 games. Those numbers are strong when measured against the rest of his career, but still nothing to get excited over. Without the puck though, he had a very busy season. He was credited with 51 blocks and tied for 11th in the NHL with 240 hits. He also led all Blue Jackets forwards with an average of 2:22 shorthanded minutes, further highlighting his defensive role with the team. There’s not much else to praise him for though. After winning 57.4% of his faceoffs in 2020-21, he dropped to 49.4% last season and his career average is 50.3% so he’s not a real asset there and in terms of 5v5 Corsi and Fenwick he was an underwhelming 47.4% and 46.3% respectively. His goal and point totals were career-highs for him, but he’ll probably regress in 2022-23. The issue he faces in that regard is that the Blue Jackets are looking solid up the middle between Boone Jenner, the maturing Jack Roslovic, and the up-and-coming Cole Sillinger. That leaves Kuraly as potentially the fourth line center and a shorthanded specialist going into the season. It’s a role he should do well in, but not one that leads to much in the way of points.

Cole Sillinger

His father, Mike, played for 12 different NHL teams, but the Blue Jackets see Cole Sillinger as a potential cornerstone player who will hopefully stick with their team for a long time. The younger Sillinger’s rookie season wasn’t spectacular, but for a teenager who jumped straight from the USHL to the NHL, he did well. Sillinger had 16 goals and 31 points in 79 games while averaging a modest 13:42 minutes. His role included a little power-play ice time (0:51 minutes per game), but just two of his points came with the advantage. The 6-foot-0, 201-pound forward also had a bit of a physical aspect to his game, contributing 98 hits while accumulating 37 penalty minutes. It’s also worth noting that he blocked 43 shots, which was the fourth most among Blue Jackets forwards. Those are important aspects of his game for him to build on, but in the long run it’s his offensive instincts and in particular his wrist shot that figure to be his bread-and-butter. Looking ahead, he’s projected to open the season as the Blue Jackets’ third center, though he could challenge Jack Roslovic for the second slot as the season goes on and of course there’s always the potential that injuries will present Sillinger with an opportunity. We might not see him breakout in 2022-23, but we should see him take another step forward by reaching the 20-goal and 40-point milestones.

Boone Jenner

While Jenner couldn’t play beyond March 11 last season due to a lower back injury, everything that happened before that was good. He struggled in 2020-21 with eight goals and 17 points in 41 games, but bounced back nicely last season, scoring 23 goals and 44 points in 59 games. He established himself as the Blue Jackets’ clear number one center and led all their forwards with an average of 20:28 minutes per game, including 2:58 power-play minutes. He was also won 53.6% of his 1,198 faceoffs, which isn’t amazing, but it was better than Columbus’ other primary options: Sean Kuraly (49.5%), Jack Roslovic (43.5%), and Cole Sillinger (46.5%). In addition to that, the Blue Jackets also felt comfortable regularly sending him out in shorthanded situations. With his importance to Columbus in so many aspects of the game, he’s been a good captain for them since getting the job at the start of the 2021-22 campaign. This coming season could be his best yet though. Columbus signed Johnny Gaudreau over the summer, which might lead to Jenner’s linemates being him and Patrik Laine. At least on paper, that looks like a potent combination and Jenner should benefit from being part of that trio. He’s come close to reaching the 50-point milestone before but has fallen short. There’s a good chance that this will be the year he breaches it.

Alexandre Texier

Anyone looking for promising forwards who have flown a little under the radar a bit might want to consider Texier. He got off to a quiet start in 2021-22, recording two goals in nine games, but his game started to come together after that. He had nine goals and 18 points in 22 contests from Nov. 6-Jan. 13. Had he been able to continue from there, perhaps he wouldn’t be entering this campaign as an underrated forward, but he didn’t play beyond Jan. 26 due to a fractured finger and later personal reasons. He’s ready to play now though after scoring three goals and five points in seven games while representing France in the World Championships. Getting that extra work in after the season should help given how much time he’s missed not just in 2021-22, but in general. Between injuries, time spent either unavailable or on the taxi squad, and the pandemic shortening campaigns, Texier has logged just 121 NHL games plus 10 playoff contests over the last three seasons. That’s not exactly ideal for the 23-year-old’s (as of his birthday on Sept. 13) development, but he’s nevertheless come along nicely. He’s responsible at both ends of the ice and impressive speed. He’s also versatile, capable of playing as either a center or on the wing. It wouldn’t be surprising to see him start the season on the third line, but he has top-six potential.

DEFENSE

Zach Werenski

Since Werenski first entered the NHL in 2016, he has played primarily alongside Seth Jones. In fact, a staggering 87.6% of Werenski’s even strength ice time was shared with defensive partner Jones in 2020-21. With Jones now in Chicago though, how would Werenski do? As it turns out, just fine. Werenski scored 11 goals and a career-high 48 points in 68 games while averaging 25:40 minutes. Rather than have a consistent defensive partner like he had a year prior, Columbus tested out a bunch of different partners, most notably Jake Bean and Andrew Peeke, who shared 36.9% and 36.5% of Werenski’s even strength minutes respectively. Werenski adjusted nicely to that new normal. Defensively, Werenski wasn’t anything impressive, but he also wasn’t a liability. His 5v5 Corsi and Fenwick stood at 49.7% and 48.6% respectively, which doesn’t sound good, but it’s worth noting that’s better than the Blue Jackets overall. Columbus was one of the worst teams defensively last season and that more than anything kept the squad out of the playoffs, but it’s important to remember that wasn’t Werenski’s fault. He’s not a perfect defenseman or the league’s top blueliner, but he more than held up his end of the bargain last season and at the age of 25, he should continue to do so. He’ll once again enter the campaign as Columbus’ undisputed number one defenseman and will consequently be deployed liberally in all situations. That will only serve to reinforce Werenski’s offensive numbers and if he stays healthy, it’s entirely possible that we’ll witness his first 50-plus point campaign.

Adam Boqvist

Acquired from Chicago in the summer of 2021 as part of the Seth Jones trade, Boqvist entered Columbus with plenty of potential, but also significant question marks. He’s an offensive defenseman through and through. He loves having the puck and he has the speed and shot to justify his style of play. When it comes to his defensive work though, he’s lacking. He doesn’t have size and won’t play a physical game, nor does he block a ton of shots. He really does seem to be developing into a purely offensive defenseman, though he is still just 22-years-old, so some further growth is to be expected. In fact, some further growth is practically required, because while Boqvist made some strides in his first season with Columbus, he also left something to be desired. He had 11 goals and 22 points in 52 games while averaging a modest 17:03 minutes. With offensive contributions being his bread-and-butter, how hot-and-cold he was in that area of the game was somewhat disheartening. He had six goals and 13 points in 14 games from Nov. 24-Jan. 8, but his numbers before and after that are underwhelming. As he matures though, that’s something that is likely to be addressed and we might see more regular production out of him as early as this season, which would lead to him comfortably surpassing his 2021-22-point total. Columbus inked him to a three-year, $7.8 million contract over the summer. If he can continue to develop offensively, then that should prove to be a very good signing.

Vladislav Gavrikov

With Seth Jones gone, the Blue Jackets didn’t have anyone who could step in and assume the full burden he left. Instead, Columbus needed multiple defensemen to do more and Gavrikov was one of the key players to help fill that void. He finished second on the Blue Jackets with an average of 22:17 minutes, up from 19:24 minutes per game during his 2020-21 sophomore season. Gavrikov also made strides offensively, scoring five goals and a career-high 33 points in 80 contests. He was a great blueliner for Columbus with a bargain cap hit of $2.8 million, but he wasn’t a pure stand-in for Jones. In contrast to Jones, who was a key part of the Blue Jackets’ power play during his tenure there, Gavrikov got almost no ice time with the man advance in 2021-22. That’s not likely to change either. While Gavrikov did make solid offensive contributions last season, he’s a two-way defender who leans a bit more to the defensive side of the game. He finished second on the team with 138 blocks and third with 124 hits. He also was leaned on heavily in shorthanded situations, averaging 3:05 minutes per game. He’ll turn 27-years-old in November, so he’s well past the point of being a prospect and it’s probably too much to hope for him to grow his offensive game significantly more. But even if he stays exactly as he is, he’ll carve out a great career for himself as an important top-four defenseman.

Jake Bean

Bean established himself with Carolina in 2020-21, logging 42 games, but he only averaged 14:32 minutes. When Columbus acquired him from Carolina in July 2021, he was put in a situation to succeed. The Blue Jackets had just dealt away Seth Jones – in fact they used one of the draft picks they got in the Jones trade to acquire Bean – so there was a big hole left to be filled. Bean couldn’t replace Jones of course, but did play a big role, scoring seven goals and 25 points in 67 games while averaging 20:34 minutes. In terms of average ice time, Bean was the third most commonly used player in Columbus at even strength (18:22 minutes). He got a bit of power play and shorthanded ice time too, but he wasn’t a key part of either special team unit. He also was far from a physical threat, accumulating 41 hits. When measuring puck possession though, he did okay. He had a 48.4% 5v5 Corsi and 46.4% 5v5 Fenwick, which is roughly in line with how Columbus did as a team. All-in-all, it wasn’t a bad season for Bean, but it wasn’t anything special either. He was simply fine and for a player with a $2,333,333 cap hit, that’s acceptable. Bean does have some untapped offensive upside though and after a year adjusting to his bigger role and life in Columbus, it will be interesting to see how he does in 2022-23. Don’t expect him to overtake Zach Werenski as the team’s main offensive threat from the blueline, but Bean has the potential to finish in the 30-40 point range.

GOALTENDING

Elvis Merzlikins

It was hard not to feel for Merzlikins last year, as the fun-loving 28-year-old Latvian netminder navigated a season playing in a building boasting a cannon just months after losing his teammate and friend to a fireworks accident on the Fourth of July. His numbers were far from the main focus for many as they considered what his year would look like – but that will likely change this year as the Blue Jackets make a big push to return to contention. The addition of Johnny Gaudreau in the off-season made it clear that the playoffs were an objective for the Metropolitan Division club – and they’ll look to Merzlikins to be the goaltender that gets them there.

At 28, we likely know what Merzlikins is going to be for the Blue Jackets. He’s best known for his eye-catching stops that take the influence of free-wheeling Slovakian goaltending coach Dusan Sidor, Sr. and enable Merzlikins to pull the trickiest techniques without it affecting the rest of his game. If anything, he sometimes looks a little too eager to make the stops no one else can; while he’s equally capable of playing the waiting game in the blue paint and holding his positioning against approaching offense, he prefers the chances he gets to pull out all the stops. No one seems to love putting on a show more than Merzlikins, and the Blue Jackets have been able to feed off that energy in the past as they adjusted to a world after Sergei Bobrovsky’s departure for the Florida Panthers. There’s a chance that Merzlikins will see a changing of the guard as his number two halfway through the year, with prospect Daniil Tarasov set to return from hip surgery and Joonas Korpisalo’s name still bandied about the ever-rumbling trade market. If Columbus does opt to move Korpisalo out to make room for a younger talent, expect Merzlikins to take on a heavier workload to help the newer Tarasov adjust. But for now, this is a team that has thrived with their tandem battalion over the last handful of years – so there’s little reason to be worried that they’ll stray from that course any time soon.

Projected starts: 50-55

Joonas Korpisalo

The goaltending conundrum faced by the Columbus Blue Jackets in the summer of 2021 – when the team seeed poised to seriously consider jettisoning one of either Elvis Merzlikins or Joonas Korpisalo to pave the way for the other to be the clear number one – has quite noticeably resolved itself. While the 2021-22 season wasn’t one that anyone on the Blue Jackets likely wants to spend much time reminiscing about, Korpisalo’s very apparent struggles stood out and lent favor to Merzlikins to be the team’s clear number one moving forward. It’s not likely that Korpisalo will be able to turn the tides in his favor again, short a miraculous season that revitalizes his game entirely. While Korpisalo has always been the more consistent entity for Columbus, his game’s weaknesses – including his struggles with angles and getting properly centered to shots in close – became predictable enough that teams were able to take advantage. He still had a few heart-stopping highlight-reel moments throughout the year, and it’s entirely possible that the constant spectre of a trade hanging over his head made it hard for the Finnish-born netminder to keep his focus. But with Columbus focused on taking a step back forward and returning to contention, it seems hard to picture Korpisalo being given anything but a short leash.

Projected starts: 25-30

2021-22 NHL ROOKIES AND SECOND YEAR BREAKOUT CANDIDATES

Corey Sznajder — Mon, 27 Sep 2021 12:56:50 +0000

Rookies and Second Year Breakout Candidates

Training camp is the most exciting time of year for hockey fans. Development camp just ended, and prospects are fresh on your minds. You hold out hope that maybe, just maybe the kid you just watched tear it up in the preseason can force their way onto the roster. Rookie production is still the best way to shift your team’s projection in a cap world and it’s understandable for fans to be excited about prospects I camp. It’s not always a plug and play situation, though.

Most teams have their rosters set by now and at most, there are only two or three available spots for a rookie. Sometimes those are only depth minutes where they’re stuck on the fourth line to get their bearings in the NHL. There are always exceptions to this rule. You have rebuilding teams going emphasizing “youth movements” where rookies are going to get a lot of rope. Then there’s the high draft picks who are usually too good to keep off the roster and finally, there are teams who are just better at setting up rookies for success than others. There’s a lot of context that goes into what makes a rookie a Calder candidate and the team situation is arguably the most important factor. Do they have the right linemates for him? Are there enough spots open? Are there power play spots open?

Today, we’re going to look at which teams are going to be asking the most out of rookies, which players are walking into favorable situations and which teams have the toughest rosters to crack in the NHL.

The Tiers

Instead of doing the usual “rookies to watch” list, we’re going to put teams into different tiers based on how many top-nine forward spots or top-six defense spots are “open” in training camp and the talent available to them. This is a little subjective because it’s tough to separate out the biases from the coaching staff, but these are all based off CapFriendly’s depth charts and they players they have projected for top-nine/top-six spots vs. how many minutes they played per game last year. (For instance, a player like Isac Lundestrom would have his spot listed as “open” even though he is Anaheim’s first line left winger on Cap Friendly because he is still unproven at the NHL level with fewer than 100 games played and less than .5 points per game). Injuries to players are also taken into account when determining what roster spots are open, but we will get into that later.

Youth Movements/Sink or Swim

First, we’re going to look at the teams with the most holes on their roster, teams that finished near the bottom of the standings last year and are expecting their younger players to hold spots high in the lineup. These aren’t always the best situation to walk into because teams aren’t going to hit on all of their draft picks and will often ask too much out of players who just aren’t ready. Players who are talented enough will benefit long-term from the number of minutes and puck touches they’ll get on these teams, though. Think of Jack Hughes in his first year with the Devils. The production wasn’t there, but you could see his confidence with the puck and how the team ran the offense through him last year. He is poised to take a big step this season now with the talent around him improving.

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

Anaheim

The Ducks went this route with most of their forward prospects like Max Jones and Sam Steel getting regular playing time and struggling to make much of an impact at the NHL level. The one exception was Maxime Comtois, who led the team in goals and looked like a legit offensive threat when the puck was below the faceoff circles. They have much bigger aspirations for their prized center prospect Trevor Zegras, likely the team’s second line center out of camp.

Zegras is in a unique situation compared to other rookies because he got a head start with his 24-game stint last year and formed a nice line with Comtois and Troy Terry when he was moved to center. The three only played seven games together, but they were effective, and it at least gives the Ducks a baseline to work on where to play Zegras on Opening Night. He is likely in the “talent wins out” class of young players because even though he didn’t produce points, he did enough to show he belonged in the NHL at 19 years old.

Zegras was above average at producing shots, one of the best players on the Ducks at creating high danger chances and showed versatility by both being effective off the rush and off cycles. All things that should make him an effective NHLer for a very long time, especially when you consider how hard it was for the Ducks to create any offense off the rush last year. It also helps that his linemates play complementary styles, Comtois being one of the most underrated netfront players in the league and Terry being very effective at creating off the rush.

It’s tough to call Terry a breakout player, seeing how he’s already 24 years old with 148 games of experience, but he should see his point totals see a big improvement if he can start finishing more chances, as he’s going to get plenty of opportunity with Zegras. The same can be said for most of the Ducks young core with most of their top-nine consisting of players under 25, although it’s getting tough to see any future stars in the likes of Steel, Jones and Lundestrom at this point. Zegras taking over and becoming the star Anaheim hopes he can be could cause a ripple effect for some of these players, which is what makes the Ducks an interesting spot for rookies.

With the exception of Zegras and Jamie Drysdale on defense, their more talented players are probably too young for full-time roles, but the team has a lot of spots open with their previous wave of prospects being on their last legs and that could lead to there being more spots open later in the year as opposed to the three or four spots they have open at camp now. They are the one team giving their rookies the most high leverage spots with Zegras and Drysdale, though.

Buffalo

It’s blank canvas in Buffalo as they enter yet another rebuild. Their roster is largely unproven but there aren’t many true rookies expected to make camp. Instead, it’s a lot of players who are still young but have posted very underwhelming results in their brief NHL careers. The Casey Mittelstadts and Henri Jokiharjus of the world. Even Rasmus Dahlin is only 21 years old and has yet to make the impact the Sabres hoped he would when they took him first overall. With Owen Power and Ryan Johnson both in the NCAA this year, Buffalo’s rookie contributions are coming from someone a little off-the-board like a Jack Quinn or maybe goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, who should have a shot to make the team with Craig Anderson and Aaron Dell being the only competition.

Buffalo’s main source of hope is going to be tied to whatever progressions Dylan Cozens makes in his second year. The former 7^th overall pick struggled to score at the NHL level in his first year, but there were some encouraging underlying numbers.

He could create off the rush, which is saying a lot when the only player who could do that on Buffalo last year was Taylor Hall, and while he’s not going to take over for Jack Eichel, he should be prepared to get a lot of puck touches because he is the team’s most talented center as of right now. Buffalo likely won’t see the fruits of this for another few years when they get through this rebuild but building up Cozens’ confidence by getting him reps high in the lineup is going to be a priority for them.

Columbus

Even before the injury to Max Domi, the door was open for some younger players to take the reins in Columbus. Adam Boqvist isn’t a rookie, but if they’re looking for someone to fill Seth Jones’ spot on the power play at a low-cost, he could be their best option. His calling card is passing and that could help them get more out of Patrik Laine on the power play, as a righty getting him the puck with pace is key to that 1-3-1 setup working. Filling those shoes at 5v5 is going to be a tougher task that the Jackets might have to fill by-committee. Asking anyone to play the 24-26 minutes Jones averaged a night is tough for anyone, let alone a rookie, but Boqvist is the best skater out of their younger group so he might get first dibs at filling this void.

The number of power play guys departing is what makes Columbus an attractive spot for rookies, although Voracek and Nyquist should slide into those roles. There’s still room for someone like Liam Foudy or Yegor Chinakhov to take one of those spots and maybe push someone like Sean Kuraly or Boone Jenner down the lineup if they can hang at 5v5. Other second year defensemen like Jake Bean and Andrew Peeke are also likely playing big minutes for most of the year and it will be trial by fire to see how much they can handle at the NHL level. Bean’s struggled with decision making and making plays under pressure when he had to play beyond the third pair in Carolina, but he should get plenty of chances to work through this with the Jackets, as they’re going through a transition year.

VANCOUVER, BC - APRIL 22: Ottawa Senators center Shane Pinto (57) skates up ice during their NHL game against the Vancouver Canucks at Rogers Arena on April 22, 2021 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. (Photo by Derek Cain/Icon Sportswire)

Ottawa

It’s the second year of the youth movement in Ottawa and progression is expected from young forwards like Josh Norris and Tim Stutzle, who will likely be the team’s main scoring. The main rookie to watch is 2019 second round pick Shane Pinto, who played 12 games with the Sens last year. DJ Smith liked him enough to use him on the penalty kill in a few games and his aggressive tendencies there could make him a nice fit with speedster Alex Formenton or maybe Nick Paul in a full-time role. Ottawa’s middle-six center spots aren’t totally up for grabs with Chris Tierney and Colin White in the mix, but both players are coming off down years and Pinto could provide more upside here. He’s in a decent spot for success with how many young players are in the mix with the Sens, although point production might be hard to come by if he’s centering the third line.

Also, in the “not a rookie, but young enough to take a big step” class is Erik Brannstrom. The 22-year-old posted modest results in lower-leverage role last year, paying about 16-17 minutes a night. He’s a very active defender, often challenging forwards before they even get to the blue line and that’s going to result in some growing pains because more talented forwards are going to be able to weave around you if you’re too aggressive. Other smaller defenders like Matt Grzelcyk have had to go through this too and Brannstrom is similar with how his skating and puck skills are going to be what keeps him around even if it doesn’t result in points. A second play spot along with power play time should be open to him from the start of October.

Making the Cut

In this tier, we’re going to look at teams who have their roster set but have a high-leverage spot open for a rookie or young player to take advantage of. Some of these are due to injuries (i.e. Philadelphia losing Kevin Hayes), but other teams like the Rangers and Kings have kept spots open for their younger players expecting them to take the next step. Like the last tier, we’re looking for top-nine forward spots, open power play spots or anywhere in the top-six on defense.

NYR – Vitali Kravtsov, second line RWer

The Pavel Buchnevich trade freed up some cap space for the Rangers down the line, but it also left a gaping hole at the top of their lineup. A breakout year from Kaapo Kakko should cover up some of this, but another player expected to take a leap is Vitali Kravtsov. The ninth overall pick from 2018 didn’t have a great start to his NHL career, recording only four points in 20 games in a depth role. More is expected from him this year and he showed a little of why he can be a decent Buchnevich replacement.

Kravtsov’s boxcar numbers might not have been good, but he did show some very good playmaking ability on the Rangers third line and more of those passes should result in goals now that he’s slated to play higher in the lineup. It’s tough to say if he’s ready to carry the mail on a line because most of his offense came off sequences where the Rangers had sustained possession rather than creating off the rush. Does he have the legs to create on his own or does someone need to do the work in the neutral zone for him? That’s something the Rangers are going to find out next year. Regardless, the opportunity is his to lose, including power play time.

ANAHEIM, CA - APRIL 30: Los Angeles Kings center Quinton Byfield (55) in action during a game against the Anaheim Ducks played on April 30, 2021 at the Honda Center in Anaheim, CA. (Photo by John Cordes/Icon Sportswire)

Los Angeles – Quinton Byfield, entire second power play unit

The Kings are in an interesting spot because they’re rebuilding and have a roster where the top-six spots are taken by veterans. Is there a spot for their second overall pick Quinton Byfield? There is, but it might come at the expense of Gabriel Vilardi, another player finding his way in the league. The Kings are in a position where they can shelter younger players with Anze Kopitar and Phillip Danault taking most of the defensive minutes, but there aren’t many open top-nine spots as of right now.

The good news is that LA has to replace basically their entire second power play unit with Jeff Carter gone and most of the other players not producing much there. This creates a pathway for Byfield (and possibly Arthur Kaliyev at netfront) to get their feet wet in the league and get more puck touches. Also, worth noting that while LA’s top power play unit was quietly one of the best in the league, it shouldn’t take much for Byfield to slide into Alex Iafallo or Dustin Brown’s spot if he is as good as advertised. Based on his AHL production, it should take long to get adjusted, it’s just going to be a challenge for LA to find a spot for him, although he is the type of player who can be “too good” to send back down or play on the fourth line.

The same can be said for Alex Turcotte and most of LA’s other forwards that could be stuck in the AHL to start the year. It’s possible that they could push someone like Trevor Moore or Andreas Athanasiou down the lineup, but it will take some roster maneuvering from the Kings to get all of these kids ice-time. Byfield is likely the one at the top of the list for obvious reasons.

NYI – Oliver Wahlstrom, 1^st line RWer/Noah Dobson, 2RD

The Islanders have exactly two roster spots open and they’re both huge opportunities for second year players. The first is replacing Jordan Eberle on Mathew Barzal’s line, which could be a perfect spot for second year player Oliver Wahlstrom to slide into. He had a solid rookie campaign with 12 goals in 44 games but playing on Barzal’s wing is a chance for him to really put up some numbers. Barzal is one of the best playmakers in the game and Wahlstrom’s calling card so far is that he’s a shot machine who is very good at creating rebound chances. With how much the Isles shoot from the point and Eberle’s minutes needing to be replaced, Wahlstrom could find himself in a spot to put up 20+ goals.

Speaking of point shots, there’s also an opportunity for Noah Dobson to become more than just a third pair guy for the Isles with Nick Leddy out of the picture. The recent signing of Zdeno Chara WILL MAKE IT tough for him to be a direct replacement, but neither Chara or Scott Mayfield brings the puck rushing and offensive skills that Leddy was known for. This is where Dobson can slide in, most notably on the power play. He will probably be asked to play more of a simple game, as it’s tough to imagine him going coast-to-coast like Leddy did, but he will get plenty of opportunities to tee off from the point and maybe use his vision to create from there a little more. The Isles don’t project to have much offense form their blue line, so there’s an opening for Dobson to become more of an integral player instead of just a depth piece.

TBL – Alex Barre-Boulet, 2^nd/3^rd line winger

An undrafted player who has done nothing but score goals in the AHL, Barre-Boulet will get a chance to stick full-time this year. He got an audition as Brayden Point’s winger for 15 games last year and got plenty of chances to show his calling card, shooting the puck every chance he got. He might have to work a little more for his opportunities this year, likely starting on the fourth line, but he has a chance to move up in the lineup with Tampa needing to replace their entire third line and second power play unit from last year.

NSH – Alexandre Carrier, top-four RD

An underrated storyline during Nashville’s run to the playoffs was the emergence of Alexandre Carrier as a top-four defenseman. He played well enough to push Dante Fabbro out of a lineup spot once the team got healthy and with Ryan Ellis gone, the door is open for Carrier to be Josi’s running mate this year. A solid puck-mover and offensive defenseman in the AHL, it will be tough for Carrier to carry over that production. However, he showed that he can do a lot of the little things to stick around at the NHL level. Using his skating to defend the line and keep pucks out of the Nashville zone, he was a good compliment to Josi and one of Nashville’s better defenders.

The one caveat is that this is only 19 games and sustaining it over a full-season is another challenge. Carrier’s play from last year gives him a slight inside edge for this roster spot, though.

MTL – Cole Caufield, 1^ST Line RW

The Canadiens playoff run from last year have all but guaranteed Caufield a spot on the top line. That’s not to say the Habs don’t have other options but with the exception of Brendan Gallagher, it’s hard to see any of the other wingers being able to do what Caufield can. He’s already shown to have a complementary skillset for Nick Suzuki, being a shoot-first player who can trail him off the rush and create chances from in-tight. He scored only four goals in 20 games in the playoffs, but it’s hard to argue that his line wasn’t a threat to strike off the rush whenever they were on. Caufield is likely starting this season in the same spot and is an early favorite to win the Calder based on his projected ice-time.

ST. PAUL, MN - JANUARY 31: Colorado Avalanche Defenceman Bowen Byram (4) skates with the puck during an NHL game between the Minnesota Wild and the Colorado Avalanche on January 31, 2021, at Xcel Energy Center, St. Paul, MN.(Photo by Nick Wosika/Icon Sportswire)

Colorado – Bowen Byram 2LD, Alex Newhook, top-nine forward

With Ryan Graves traded and Devon Toews recovering from shoulder surgery, there’s a real opportunity for the former 4^th overall pick Bowen Byram to standout. Colorado has been a place where defenseman have had career seasons across the board the past couple of years, so it’s a favorable situation or Byram to walk into, especially when considering the forward lines he will be playing behind. Injuries kept him from sticking around last year, so it will be interesting to see how he does in the top-four until Toews gets back. Can he be a building block for the Avs or is he more?

The same can be said for Alex Newhook, another former first round pick expected to break into a full-time role. His is a little more carved out, as the Avs are insulated well at center and he will likely be the third line pivot. The one caveat is that it might be tough for him to put up points depending on who his linemates are. Tyson Jost and JT Compher are good players, but they’ve never been huge point producers. Neither has Val Nichushkin or most of the Avs depth forwards. This will change drastically if he gets Andre Burakovsky as his linemate, though. It’s easy to see him succeeding but being a Calder candidate might depend on how the Avs lines shake out.

Edmonton – Evan Bouchard

If the Oilers weren’t currently employing Tyson Barrie, it would be easy to peg Evan Bouchard as a Calder favorite because he would be getting those power play minutes. The 21-year-old hasn’t quite earned the trust of the coaching staff yet, but when he was in the lineup, he showed that he can create offense, never hesitating to shoot the puck from the point and injecting some life into the bottom-half of the Oilers roster. There’s a slightly easier path for Bouchard to earn a full-time job this year, as he’s likely the best puck-mover the Oilers have in their reconstructed second and third pairs. He is a stealth Calder candidate in the event of an injury to Barrie or Duncan Keith.

Philadelphia – Morgan Frost 2C/3C

Coming off a lost season due to a dislocated shoulder, Morgan Frost has a chance to hit the reset button filling in for an injured Kevin Hayes. The former Greyhound showed some flashes in his first cup of coffee with the Flyers, centering Giroux and Konecny and showing some of the creative offensive instincts that got him drafted in the first round. He was a plus in just about every category except actually finishing chances, which should hopefully come with time.

What makes a prospect like Frost so interesting to follow is most of his offense comes out of “nothing” plays where he doesn’t need to be setup or have a lot of open ice. He proved to be very good at recovering pucks, taking creative routes to the front of the net and quickly making plays to the net to catch defenders off-guard. It didn’t result in as many points as it should have, but the talent is hard to ignore with him. Two years later, he should get plenty of opportunities to earn a spot in the Flyers top-nine.