Zach HYMAN – McKeen's Hockey

NHL: 20 FANTASY POINTS – Veterans who are elevating their play, including Zach Hyman, Steven Stamkos, Ryan O’Reilly, Ryan Hartman, Claude Giroux, David Perron, and so much more!

Scott Cullen — Sat, 27 Dec 2025 16:22:00 +0000

Each week, I dig into the stats to find information that can help you make better fantasy hockey decisions. This week, veterans who are elevating their play, including Zach Hyman, Steven Stamkos, Ryan O’Reilly, Ryan Hartman, Claude Giroux, David Perron, and so much more!

#1 Edmonton Oilers winger Zach Hyman was not ready to start the season, as he recovered from wrist surgery, so he didn’t get into the lineup until mid-November and even then it took him some time to get up to speed. It does appear that he’s starting to cook. In his past 11 games, Hyman has 15 points (9 G, 6 A) and 34 shots on goal. He’s getting first unit power play time and skating on the Oilers’ top line with Connor McDavid and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, so Hyman should be in a prime position for the rest of the season.

#2 In his first 29 games this season, Nashville Predators right winger Steven Stamkos had 11 points (8 G, 3 A) and when that happens to a player in his mid-30s, it can look like the end is near. He has turned back the clock recently, however, putting up 11 points (7 G, 4 A) with 29 shots on goal in his past seven games. He’s skating on a veteran line with Ryan O’Reilly and Filip Forsberg and the key is that Stamkos is generating shots on goal. In his first 29 games, he had just 58 shots on goal, so to go from two shots per game to more than four shots per game in this recent uptick in his performance shows that he can still be a legitimate offensive threat.

#3 Ryan O’Reilly has been a huge part of the Predators’ resurgence. In the past 14 games, the Preds are 10-4 and O’Reilly has 19 points (5 G, 14 A) in those 14 games. He has just 23 shots on goal, and a low shot rate is a concern for offensive sustainability, but O’Reilly is a consistent play driver year after year and that has continued this season in Nashville, with a 55.8 CF%, which would represent the best Corsi percentage of his career.

#4 Although he moves around the Minnesota Wild lineup quite a bit, there is usually reason to like when Ryan Hartman gets his turn playing on the top line. With Marco Rossi dealt to Vancouver in the Quinn Hughes trade, Hartman has moved in between Kirill Kaprizov and Mats Zuccarello, with Hartman putting up seven points (5 G, 2 A) and 20 shots on goal in his past seven games, after he had eight points (4 G, 4 A) through his first 29 games this season.

#5 The Ottawa Senators are getting quality production from veteran wingers Claude Giroux and David Perron. Giroux has eight points (3 G, 5 A) and 11 shots on goal in his past seven games while Perron has seven points (4 G, 3 A) and 15 shots on goal in his past seven games. They are getting second unit power play time and, for a pair of 37-year-olds, they are still providing reliable secondary scoring for the Sens. As with many of the veterans in this week’s article, they are not producing at the level of their best career performance but in their mid-30s that’s not a reasonable expectation and it is part of the reason that these players are more widely available.

#6 When he was acquired by the Ottawa Senators from the San Jose Sharks last season, Fabian Zetterlund responded with a meagre five points (3 G, 2 A) and 40 shots on goal in 20 games. He followed that up by starting this season with four points (1 G, 3 A) and 28 shots on goal in his first 20 games, but he has turned the corner and is now a solid offensive contributor on a talented Senators squad. In his past 16 games, Zetterlund has 12 points (8 G, 4 A) and 38 shots on goal, and appears to have secured a regular spot on the top line alongside Tim Stutzle and Brady Tkachuk.

#7 With injuries decimating the Tampa Bay Lightning blueline, Darren Raddysh has been the primary beneficiary from an offensive standpoint, as he is quarterbacking the top power play unit and producing at an elite level. His partner, J.J. Moser, has been making inroads recently, with five points and 16 shots on goal while averaging 23:32 of ice time in his past six games. Moser only had seven points (1 G, 6 A) and 34 shots on goal in his previous 28 games, but he does seem equipped to provide more offense than that.

#8 Although he is getting surpassed by his younger teammates in San Jose, Sharks right winger Tyler Toffoli has put up 13 points (5 G, 8 A) and 38 shots on goal in his past 13 games, recording two four-point games in the process. Toffoli is skating on San Jose’s second line, alongside William Eklund and Alexander Wennberg, while also getting time with the top power play unit.

#9 At this stage of his career, 40-year-old Colorado Avalanche defenceman Brent Burns is not the focal point for offense on the blueline, but he hasn’t abandoned those parts of his game, either. In his past 12 games, he has delivered eight points (3 G, 5 A) and 26 shots on goal, while averaging 19:44 of ice time per game. Only one of Burns’ 19 points this season have come on the power play, so there is a limit to his offensive contribution, but he remains a contributor for an Avalanche team that is steamrolling the rest of the league.

#10 Staying on the Colorado blueline, Samuel Girard has suddenly started to provide offense. In his past six games, Girard has six points (2 G, 4 A) and eight shots on goal, but he had just two assists in the 15 games that he played before that. Like Burns, Girard is not getting power play time in Colorado, but the Avs are so good that it could be worth considering these guys in deeper leagues.

#11 Winnipeg Jets forward Morgan Barron has never scored more than 21 points in an NHL season, but that could change this season. He has found a role on Winnipeg’s third line, alongside Adam Lowry and Alex Iafallo, and in his past six games, Barron has five points (4 G, 1 A) and a dozen shots on goal. He is up to 12 points (7 G, 5 A) in 29 games this season, so he has a real chance to set a career high in point production. For fantasy managers, his appeal is mostly in very deep leagues, though his offensive surge coupled with 67 hits in 29 games does give him some added fantasy value.

#12 It seems as though Oliver Bjorkstrand has been underutilized in Tampa Bay, as he is playing just 14:23 per game, which would be his lowest average time on ice since 2018-2019. However, in his past seven games, Bjorkstrand does have seven points (4 G, 3 A) and 12 shots on goal while playing 15:32 per game. He is currently on the Lightning’s second line, with Nick Paul and Jake Guentzel.

#13 Buffalo Sabres left winger Zach Benson was having a hard time finding the back of the net, going without a goal in his first 17 games of this season, but he has started to put it together recently. In his past six games, Benson has five points (3 g, 2 A) and 12 shots on goal, As the Sabres are making a concerted effort to turn their season around, Benson is getting first unit power play time while skating on a line with Ryan McLeod and Jack Quinn at even strength.

#14 After a slow start to the season that saw him demoted to the fourth line, Carolina Hurricanes left winger Andrei Svechnikov does seem to be back on track. In his past nine games, Svechnikov has 10 points (2 G, 8 A) and 20 shots on goal. He’s now skating on a line with Jordan Staal and Jackson Blake, which is more of a two-way line than usual, but Svechnikov is delivering results.

#15 The Columbus Blue Jackets acquired left winger Mason Marchment from the Seattle Kraken after the consensus was that Marchment’s time in Seattle was just not a good fit. After he had 13 points (4 G, 9 A) with 46 shots on goal in 29 games, which was not the kind of production that he was providing in his previous seasons with Dallas. Early returns in Columbus are more promising, as he has been playing with Adam Fantilli and Kirill Marchenko and Marchment has three goals and seven shots on goal in his first two games with Columbus. He is still more of a deep league option for fantasy managers, but he has a chance to provide value.

#16 The Buffalo Sabres are turning around their season and goaltender Alex Lyon is putting up great results. He has won each of his past six starts, posting a .922 save percentage. When the Sabres’ season looked like it was getting away from them, it was looking more likely that Lyon or Ukka-Pekka Luukkonen could get traded, but now that the Sabres have moved to within two points of a Wild Card playoff spot, they are more likely to stick with their tandem.

#17 While the Seattle Kraken are battling to stay in the playoff hunt, currently three points back of the second Wild Card spot, they are getting quality play from goaltender Joey Daccord. In his past five starts, Daccord has won three while posting a .934 save percentage. On the season, Daccord has 4.14 Goals Saved Above Expected, which is the kind of goaltending that can keep a team in the playoff race and it might make him a viable fantasy option.

#18 When looking for players who might be ready to bust out offensively, consider those that have not been living up to their underlying numbers. Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog, for example, has just one goal in 11 games this month, despite having 5.70 individual expected goals in all situations. Some other players whose goal numbers have been below expected goals in December: William Eklund (-4.25), Anthony Cirelli (-4.04), Chris Kreider (-3.88), John Tavares (-3.61), Rickard Rakell (-3.36), Logan Stankoven (-3.21), Jake DeBrusk (-3.20), Nico Hischier (-3.12), Tom Wilson (-3.11), and Jake Guentzel (-2.83).

#19 With Connor Bedard and Frank Nazar injured, the Chicago Blackhawks have veterans Jason Dickinson and Ryan Donato holding down their top two centre spots. Donato played a season-high 21:35 in the last game before the break and does have a goal and an assist in his past two games, so he may have some short-term appeal while the Blackhawks are in the tough situation of missing their top two centres.

#20 Newly acquired Edmonton Oilers goaltender Tristan Jarry suffered a lower-body injury that should keep him out for a couple of weeks and that has opened the door for Connor Ingram, who has won his first couple of starts with Edmonton, stopping 92.0 percent of the shots that he faced in the first two games. He had a .856 save percentage in 11 AHL appearances, so it’s not like he was forcing his way back into the NHL with his play, but the Oilers are playing better and if it means that Ingram can get comfortable in the NHL again, he could at least have short term appeal for fantasy managers.

*Advanced stats via Natural Stat Trick

NHL: CULLEN – 20 FANTASY POINTS – A Golden Knights rookie making an instant impact, Cirelli and McMichael take on more responsibility, Coronato is back in fine form, and so much more!

Scott Cullen — Sat, 29 Nov 2025 14:04:10 +0000

CHICAGO, IL - NOVEMBER 18: Matt Coronato #27 of the Calgary Flames controls the puck during the first period against the Chicago Blackhawks on November 18, 2025 at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Melissa Tamez/Icon Sportswire)

Each week, I dig into the stats to find information that can help you make better fantasy hockey decisions. This week, a Golden Knights rookie has made an instant impact, Anthony Cirelli and Connor McMichael take on more responsibility, Matt Coronato is back in fine form, and so much more!

#1 Undrafted out of the Ontario Hockey League, right winger Braeden Bowman made steady improvement throughout his junior career and was signed by the Vegas Golden Knights. As a rookie pro, he put up 36 points (14 G, 22 A) in 68 AHL games last season and he started this season in Henderson of the AHL, earning a promotion to Vegas after putting up 12 points (7 G, 5 A) in 12 games. In his first nine games with the Golden Knights, Bowman has seven points (4 G, 3 A) and 19 shots on goal. He has found a spot on right wing on Vegas’ top line, alongside Jack Eichel and Ivan Barbashev, as well as getting second unit power play time.

#2 With Brayden Point injured recently, Anthony Cirelli has taken on a bigger offensive role for the Tampa Bay Lightning, but he has been a consistent offensive contributor for a while. In his past 13 games, Cirelli has 13 points (6 G, 7 A) and 18 shots on goal. That’s not the most inspiring shot volume, and he’s not going to keep scoring on 30 percent of his shots on goal, but when Cirelli is skating between Brandon Hagel and Nikita Kucherov, he’s going to be an offensive threat.

#3 Washington Capitals centre Pierre-Luc Dubois is likely out until March due to abdominal surgery, so Connor McMichael is now much more important to the Capitals’ attack. In his past eight games, McMichael has 10 points (3 G, 7 A) and 26 shots on goal. He is skating between rookie Ryan Leonard and Brandon Duhaime during five-on-five play while getting second unit power play time, and McMichael played a season-high 21:04 on Wednesday against Winnipeg. After scoring 26 goals and 57 points last season, McMichael will quite reasonably face higher expectations, especially with more ice time going his way.

#4 A healthy scratch earlier in the season, Calgary Flames right winger Matt Coronato has found his way back to being a consistent offensive threat. In his past seven games, Coronato has seven points (4 G, 3 A) and 24 shots on goal. That shot rate (3.43 per game) is the kind that can sustain consistent offensive production. Coronato is on the Flames’ top power play unit and skating with Morgan Frost and Jonathan Huberdeau at even strength.

#5 Known for being able to pull the trigger quickly, Philadelphia Flyers winger Owen Tippett has only scored one goal in his past 17 games, but he has become a playmaker more recently, accumulating seven assists in his past seven games. Tippett is skating with Christian Dvorak and Trevor Zegras at even strength, but he is not generating shots like he did a couple of years ago, when he finished with a career-high 289 shots on goal in 78 games (3.71 per game).

#6 After missing nearly three weeks due to illness, Buffalo Sabres left winger Jason Zucker has provided an immediate boost to the Sabres with six points (2 G, 4 A) and 10 shots on goal in the past four games. The veteran winger is skating on a line with Ryan McLeod and Jack Quinn at evens while getting first-unit power play time. McLeod has five points (1 G, 4 A) in four games since Zucker returned and Quinn has five points (3 G, 2 A) with 12 shots on goal in those four games.

#7 Minnesota Wild right winger Mats Zuccarello was injured at the start of the season, as a lower-body injury kept him out of the lineup until early November. In three weeks since returning, the 38-year-old veteran has nine points (1 G, 8 A) and 16 shots on goal in nine games. He’s playing on the top line with Kirill Kaprizov and rookie Danila Yurov and getting first-unit power play time, so Zuccarello is going to get opportunities so long as he can remain healthy.

#8 On a Buffalo Sabres defense that has some players known for their offensive acumen, Mattias Samuelsson has become a surprising contributor. He doesn’t have a regular role on the power play and yet still has six points (3 G, 3 A) and 14 shots on goal in his past seven games. He is averaging more than 23 minutes of ice time per game in that span, so he’s been getting lots of time, even if not on the power play, but he is far more offensive this season than ever before, producing 12 points (5 G, 7 A) in 22 games after scoring a career-high 14 points (4 G, 10 A) in 62 games last season.

#9 Back in the Red Wings lineup after missing time with an upper-body injury, Patrick Kane continues to put up points. The 37-year-old playmaker has eight points (1 G, 7 A) and 28 shots on goal in his past nine games and is skating with rookie Nate Danielson and Andrew Copp at evens while, naturally, getting first-unit power play time. Kane is turning into more of a power-play specialist, with seven of his 13 points this season coming via the man advantage.

#10 Vancouver Canucks defenceman Filip Hronek has seven points (2 G, 5 A) and 13 shots on goal in his past six contests and the right-shot defender is in an interesting situation. He’s usually partnered with Quinn Hughes, one of the most dynamic defencemen in the league, so that tends to keep the puck moving in the right direction, but if trade rumours prove true and Hughes moves on, Hronek would presumably be the leading candidate for more time on the first power play unit. Ultimately, there is plenty of reason to be optimistic about a defenceman playing 24 minutes per game who has 16 points (3 G, 13 A) to go with 37 hits and 46 blocked shots in 25 games this season.

#11 Injuries have decimated the Tampa Bay Lightning blueline, notably taking out Victor Hedman and Ryan McDonagh, and that has opened the door for Darren Raddysh to get more regular playing time. The way he has been producing offensively, Raddysh is proving his value. In his past seven games, Raddysh has piled up 10 points (2 G, 8 A) and 16 shots on goal while playing more than 23 minutes per game. Certainly, once the Lightning get healthier on the blueline, that will diminish Raddysh’s value, but right now, he is massively productive.

#12 When Florida Panthers centre Sam Bennett won the Conn Smythe Trophy as MVP for last season’s playoffs, scoring 15 goals and 22 points in 23 games, it should have been a cautionary tale heading into the 2025-2026 season because Playoff Sam Bennett has proven to be more reliable than Regular Season Sam Bennett. With Aleksander Barkov out, the Panthers need Bennett to contribute offensively, and he managed just five points (3 G, 2 A) and 34 shots on goal through his first 18 games. In the past six games, though, Bennett has seven points (3 G, 4 A) and 19 shots on goal. He seems to have something good going with linemates Carter Verhaeghe and A.J. Greer.

#13 Philadelphia Flyers left winger Tyson Foerster has climbed into a first-line role, skating on a line with Noah Cates and Travis Konecny, and Foerster has delivered five goals and 11 shots on goal in his past five games. Foerster has two 20-goal seasons to his credit, scoring a career-high 25 last season, but he is a threat to score even more this season as the quality and quantity of his ice time increase.

#14 Former Flyers winger, now with the Calgary Flames, Joel Farabee also has five goals and an assist, with 15 shots on goal in his past five games, emerging from a slump that saw him produce just five points (2 G, 3 A) in his previous 18 games. He is on a line with Nazem Kadri and Yegor Sharangovich at evens but he doesn’t have a regular power play role, so maybe take a wait-and-see approach to see if Farabee’s offensive surge has more staying power.

#15 An underrated fantasy performer on defence is Carolina Hurricanes blueliner Sean Walker. While he has a modest eight points (4 G, 4 A) in 24 games, Walker has contributed seven of those points with 32 shots on goal while averaging more than 23 minutes of ice time per game in his past 13 games. He gets second-unit power play time, though seven of his eight points have come at even strength, and he has 34 blocks and 42 hits in 24 games, so fantasy managers can appreciate Walker’s contributions beyond his point totals.

#16 Sometimes playing on a loaded roster has its challenges and Colorado Avalanche forward Ross Colton is a prime example of a player who can produce more if given the opportunity. He has shown in the past that he can elevate his production with a bigger role and when Valeri Nichushkin was injured recently, Colton stepped up his game. In seven games since Nichushkin’s injury, Colton has four points (3 G, 1 A) and 23 shots on goal, all while playing nearly 16 minutes per game. Before that, he was averaging just 13:32 of ice time per game.

#17 Columbus Blue Jackets centre Adam Fantilli started the season slowly, but has turned it on lately, with 11 points (7 G, 4 A) and 36 shots on goal in his past 12 games, while playing more than 20 minutes per game, a jump of nearly four minutes per game over the first 13 games of the season when he only managed six points (2 G, 4 A). Was there a good reason for decreasing the ice time of the 21-year-old rising star at the start of the season? It certainly appears to make more sense to have Fantilli at the top of the depth chart, where he’s getting first unit power play time and skating with Dmitri Voronkov and Kent Johnson at even strength.

#18 The month of November has been tough for New Jersey Devils blueliner Dougie Hamilton, who has just one assist in nine games, though he does have 20 shots on goal in that span, so that’s a little encouraging. Hamilton did suffer an injury early in the month, so perhaps that’s been affecting him, or maybe it’s just a run of bad luck, but with Jack Hughes out of the lineup, it’s worth keeping an eye on Devils players to see how their production will fare without their most dynamic performer.

#19 Pittsburgh Penguins defenceman Erik Karlsson has just three assists and 13 shots on goal in his past eight games, which is certainly not helping fantasy managers, but he is delivering quality all-around results for the Penguins, with a 51.1 percent Corsi and the Penguins outscoring opponents 17-10 with Karlsson on the ice during five-on-five play. Surely the Penguins wouldn’t mind more production from Karlsson, but it’s not a priority for a team that has been surprisingly competitive.

#20 As the Edmonton Oilers try to get their season on track, certainly goaltending has been a major issue, but they are also hoping for Zach Hyman to return to form. He was still recovering from wrist surgery at the start of the season and has played in six games, chipping in a couple of assists with a dozen shots on goal. Hyman is getting prime ice time, skating on a line with Connor McDavid and rookie Matthew Savoie at evens while also holding down a regular spot on PP1. The Oilers aren’t easing him into action, either, as Hyman is playing 20:28 per game, which would be a career high.

MCKEEN’S 2025-26 NHL YEARBOOK – EDMONTON OILERS – Team Preview/Player Profiles/Predictions

Mon, 22 Sep 2025 19:46:49 +0000

SUNRISE, FL - JUNE 09: Edmonton Oilers defenseman Evan Bouchard (2) passes the puck in the second periodduring game three of the Stanley Cup Finals between the Edmonton Oilers and the Florida Panthers on June 9, 2025 at Amerant Bank Arena, FL. (Photo by Peter Joneleit/Icon Sportswire)

It’s hard to be upset about reaching the Stanley Cup Final two years in a row, but coming up short losing to the Florida Panthers for the second straight season is a good reason to be grumpy. The Oilers were able to get over a slow start out of the gates and finished in third place in the Pacific Division with 101 points, trailing division winner Vegas and second place Los Angeles. Edmonton was again one of the top five-on-five teams and finished fourth in CorsiFor percentage (54.1) and third in expected goals for percentage (54.4). Surprisingly, even with Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl they had the league’s 11th best offence with 259 goals and their power play ranked 12th in the league. A more balanced Oilers team is a good thing and a reason why they were able to advance to the Final again but allowed the 14th most goals. Getting hot at the end of the season and in the playoffs can work wonders, especially when two of the best players in the world are on the roster.

What’s Changed?

The Oilers parted ways with mercurial forward Evander Kane, trading him to Vancouver for a fourth-round pick. They also sent Viktor Arvidsson to Boston for a 2027 fifth-round pick but were able to boost their prospect profile by adding Hobey Baker Award winner Isaac Howard from Tampa Bay for prospect Sam O’Reilly. Howard had 26 goals and 26 assists at Michigan State last season in 37 games. They added free agent forward Andrew Mangiapane from Washington on a two-year, $7.2 million deal and center Curtis Lazar on a one-year deal. Edmonton also took care of guys in-house, too, with a four-year, $42 million extension for defenceman Evan Bouchard and an eight-year, $30.8 million extension for Trent Frederic. With Kane gone and the Oilers pressed up against the cap, it offers Howard and fellow prospect Matthew Savoie the chance to make a big impression.

What Would Success Look Like?

Winning the Stanley Cup is the goal. Coming so close two years in a row and falling short of making the Cup Final would be a massive letdown, particularly since they’re deep into the prime years of both McDavid and Draisaitl. That they’ve been able to rally hard in the second halves of the past two seasons and carried that momentum into the playoffs to keep rolling is a credit to them. A healthy Zach Hyman makes a big difference in the lineup, too, and his return will make them even more dangerous. Getting goalie Stuart Skinner back on point and playing like he did two years ago would go a long way, but allowing their top players to thrive and control the game works wonders when they’re the best in the world. Getting to the Stanley Cup Final is extremely difficult, especially in the Western Conference, but they’ve outdueled everyone on the way to the Final the last two years and worn out the Stars to the point they changed coaches. Make no mistake, it’s Cup or Bust in Edmonton.

What Could Go Wrong?

The Oilers sacrificed some of their veterans up front to open the door for younger players like Howard and Savoie to jump into the fire. It’s good to have McDavid, Draisaitl and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins there to guide them up the middle, yes, but the NHL is a difficult league and the margins to win in the West are thin. That said, those guys can all play and do well, but it won’t make a ton of difference if Skinner can’t play consistently well in goal. Calvin Pickard showed he could fill in a pinch and play well enough, but if Skinner struggles, the Oilers will not be able to win the Stanley Cup and they’ll be on the prowl for a new No. 1 goalie immediately, especially in-season if it’s that apparent.

Top Breakout Candidate

The bar is set high for Isaac Howard. He was a monster at Michigan State and was an easy choice for the Hobey Baker Award. He was Tampa Bay’s first-round pick in 2022, 31st overall, and having him head to the Oilers where he’ll get the prime opportunity to use his impressive offensive skills with their premier players means all eyes will be on him to have a big year as a rookie. If he jumps right into the NHL with no AHL games played, that’ll only up the hype on him.

FORWARDS

Connor McDavid

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
77	35	85	120	1.56

Winning a Stanley Cup is the only thing left on McDavid’s checklist. He’s done just about everything else you could ask for, adding a Gold Medal at the Four Nations tournament to his trophy case this year where he scored the Golden Goal for Team Canada. Hockey’s greatest prize, however, has always been just out of his reach. He has come close the last two seasons, running into a brick wall in Florida. Playing through an injury the first year and not being able to generate any offence once the series got to crunch time. It takes more than one player to win a cup and the Oilers current run is proof of that, because if their star player is just a fraction off, the rest of the team hasn’t been able to pick up the slack. McDavid still has plenty of kicks at the can left, only 28 years old and looking swift as ever even after an early season ankle injury. He has more competition now as the league’s best player with other elite talents emerging around the league, but he still sets the standard for them. There aren’t a lot of players who can create quick-strike offence as good as him. His lethal combination of speed and finesse is always going to put him in that upper echelon because it’s a gift that most players don’t have. It doesn’t take much for him to gain the zone and find a way to the net and he has gotten better at playing the half-rink game on the cycle, breaking defences down from the perimeter and threading the needle with his passing. This past season was somewhat of a down year for him, if you can call 100 points in 67 games bad, but he raised his game again in the playoffs. Getting over that final hurdle is all that is left for McDavid.

Leon Draisaitl

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
79	54	60	114	1.44

Last year felt like the first time Draisaitl wasn’t viewed as just a McDavid sidepiece, which seems silly because he’s won a Hart Trophy before. While he wasn’t completely separated from McDavid, Draisaitl did spend most of last season centering his own line and it featured a revolving door of players as the Oilers were trying to figure out who works best there. Draisaitl still had an unbelievable season, leading the league in goals and improving his all-around game. Driving play away from McDavid has been the issue with Draisaitl throughout his career, as the slower pace that he plays at gets exposed when the game opens up and he usually needs to outscore his problems. Last season he turned the corner here, Edmonton winning the scoring chance battle heavily while he was on the ice and the main reason why he was a runner up for the Hart Trophy. He is a very difficult player to defend. His slow, clunky skating stride is deceptive because he can play the game with a lot of pace despite that. He’s one of the best playmakers in the league, doing some of it through brute strength while being double covered and being gifted with incredible hands to put passes on the tape without needing to slow or settle the play down. His patented move, however, is scoring off the one-timer from the goal-line. Something that nobody in the league does right now with same level of frequency and consistency as him. Draisaitl has more than proved himself in his own right, it’s all about winning the big one now.

Zach Hyman

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
76	30	28	58	0.76

Expecting Hyman to repeat his 54-goal season was unreasonable, as that was one of the most unprecedented career years from a player in recent memory. A big body with a nose for the net, Hyman’s going to get a lot of chances from around the crease with McDavid setting him up. He has mastered the art of “catching” pucks with his body at the side of the net, making himself a bigger target and settling the puck down to make a move at the net instead of trying to jam the puck in. He’s a rare case of a player of his type signing a high dollar UFA contract at 30 years old and having back-to-back career seasons. His skillset matched what the Oilers needed at the time and he’s getting the elite linemates, but it was still a shock to see him score at the rate he did. The crash to earth finally came last season, although 27 goals is about what you would expect from a 32-year-old who gets most of his looks from around the net. It’s hard to say if this is the new normal for him because his track record with the Oilers was so extreme up to that point and he still created a high rate of chances but experienced a shooting percentage dip that happens to all players. Not having him available for the final was devastating to the Oilers, as his ability to get to the net seamlessly is something that’s easy to take for granted until it’s not there anymore.

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
78	19	36	55	0.71

The utility player of the Oilers roster, “RNH” can be found either on McDavid’s wing or centering the Oilers third line. It’s normal for Edmonton to fall back on putting him with McDavid because of the team’s wing depth and RNH knows the nuances of how to read off the team’s star. He’s not going to get a lot of puck touches, so he needs to do what he can to get open or create space for McDavid when he’s playing that role. On the 3C, he is more of a pure checker, playing a dump-and-chase game or letting some of the speedier linemates do that work. His five-on-five production fluctuates heavily because of this. He’s a smart player and always in the right position, but he’s rarely one of the last two guys to touch the puck on a scoring chance. The power play is a different story, as that’s where he makes his money. He’s all over the zone to help connect the dots between McDavid and Draisaitl, making Edmonton’s power play one of the most lethal units in the league the past few years. His production there has taken a dip from the unsustainable 45 points he put up in 2023, but he’s still an integral part of what makes them click on the power play. A support player who can have the odd game where he takes over is where his niche is right now.

Andrew Mangiapane

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
80	18	22	40	0.50

While not reaching the heights he once did in Calgary, Mangiapane is a great player to have in the middle of your roster. He brings a lot of energy on the forecheck and has the skill to be a contributing piece on a scoring line. Good combination of speed, hands and a willingness to go to the net, he is one of the players penciled in as a potential linemate for McDavid. This role would be new for him, as he didn’t get to play with Gaudreau much in Calgary and he spent most of last season on Washington’s checking lines with Nic Dowd and Lars Eller. The fit with McDavid is intriguing, as Mangiapane has the speed to keep up with him and brings something different to the table than a Zach Hyman or a Ryan Nugent-Hopkins as a smaller, water bug type of player. The concern with him is that he’s scored more than 20 goals only once and it was during a season where he had an unsustainably high shooting percentage with most of his chances coming around the net. He should get some similar opportunities if he is McDavid’s linemate, but it’s something Mangiapane has yet to repeat. If he doesn’t stick there, the baseline to his game is solid enough that he should be one of the Oilers best second or third liners. He’s an excellent defensive player and someone who offers a counter-attack element with the speed that he plays with. There’s a wide range of outcomes for the Oilers newest winger, as he’s a great low-risk, high-reward addition.

Kasperi Kapanen

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
74	9	14	23	0.31

Kapanen looked like a player who could be out of the league within a year at the start of last season. He found himself on waivers after only 10 games and the Oilers took a flier on the speedy winger. While he didn’t set the world on fire, he was a regular fixture in their lineup and scored one of the biggest goals of his career to clinch a second round series win over Vegas. The strengths and flaws in Kapanen’s game are obvious. He has blazing speed but is prone to getting tunnel vision when he gets the puck and not use his linemates well. His speed makes him an asset on the penalty kill but doesn’t have great awareness when defending in his own zone, so you get extreme results on both ends. As evidenced by Kapanen having nights where he was one of the Oilers best wingers and others where he was bad enough to be a healthy scratch the following game. Kapanen will have some games where he’s an impact player, as we saw in the playoffs and that was enough for the Oilers to keep him around for another year. While he had his moments, his last season with more than 10 goals was three years ago, so he does need to show more production if he wants to stay in the NHL.

Adam Henrique

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
80	14	17	31	0.39

It’s hard to say if Henrique is entering the twilight of his career or adjusting to a lower line role for the first time in his career. Even when he was having his best seasons with the Ducks, he never put up dazzling point totals and most of his strengths come away from the puck rather than someone who leads the charge. Moving to Edmonton was his first real stint as a complementary piece, as he was a top six player with the Ducks and immediately put on the third line with the Oilers. It makes things easier for Henrique in terms of matchups, but he also had new types of linemates to adjust to with more straight-line players like Connor Brown and Mattias Janmark. It’s tougher to play the same level of complementary hockey when your linemates aren’t creating as many chances as they did when you were in the top six. Henrique can still make the most out of what he has to work with though. He is low key one of the better finishers in the league, shooting at over 15 percent for most of his career, is a workhorse on the penalty kill and his strengths mostly revolve around his hockey sense rather than his raw skill. He also brings some versatility with the ability to play both center and wing, which opens the door for him to play in the top six again if the Oilers feel it’s necessary. The third line center spot is likely his home for most of the season, though.

Vasily Podkolzin

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
82	12	26	38	0.46

Having only 20 points while attached at the hip to Leon Draisaitl might make you write off Podkolzin, but there is more to the story with him. As one of Edmonton’s better forwards at generating zone exits, he played a small part in stabilizing Draisaitl’s defensive game. It’s a huge relief to Draisaitl, because he didn’t have to cover as much ground in his own zone and having someone else who could win battels along the wall and make the quick plays out of the zone is a huge boost. His big upper body makes him a solid puck protector, and he skates well for a larger forward. Rounding out some of the details in his offensive game is the next step for him. He found a niche as Draisaitl’s running mate but needs to start capitalizing on the chances that were setup for him. It’s something that will make him a permanent fixture in the top six instead of a placeholder. It’s uncertain if he has the skill to be a dynamic offensive player, as he was known more for his two-way game as a prospect and has shown an up-and-down trajectory as far as his point-production goes. Right now, we know he’s an NHLer, it’s just a matter of taking things to the next level.

Trent Frederic

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
82	15	20	35	0.43

Despite scoring only one goal in 22 playoff games, dealing with injuries and having an overall down season, the Oilers liked Frederic enough to extend him for eight years, signing the contract immediately after the season ended. At his peak, Frederic is a good fit on the Oilers, a third liner who can play both positions, forecheck and get you 35-40 points isn’t anything to scoff at. There’s more of a need for a player like him with Adam Henrique getting older too. His down season was also influenced more by poor finishing from linemates than anything else, as he played mostly with checking line players in Boston and his skillset was a little redundant alongside net front guys Justin Brazeau and Mark Kastelic. The Oilers saw a lot of what he brings to the table outside of scoring in the playoffs, being a steady defensive presence who can anchor a third line and help you get out of the defensive zone. His offensive game was just very limited, creating most of his chances off of rebounds and deflections while not doing much to drive play in the other two zones. With Boston, he had his best results with skilled players in the middle of the roster like Charlie Coyle or Morgan Geekie. They could set him up in the slot and let Frederic thrive as the high forwards in the offensive zone. The Oilers don’t have the same type of players to match him with, but they have time to figure out the best use for their new winger.

DEFENCE

Evan Bouchard

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
81	17	56	73	0.90

It’s rare for a defenceman to score at a point-per-game pace in a full playoff run and have it be a significant step down from his production the previous year. It wasn’t long ago where Bouchard still had a lot to prove and some were questioning if he could be a reliable top four guy instead of just a power play specialist. Two years later, he’s forced himself into the conversation as one of the best defencemen in the league. Point production can cloud perception and while Bouchard certainly eats on the power play, his offensive game at even strength is almost unmatched. He patrols the blue line so well, shooting for deflections and moving the puck from the point to the danger areas with relative ease. He takes some pressure off McDavid and Draisaitl with how often he handles the puck and joins the rush or the cycle, allowing them to get lost in coverage. Defenders have to respect Bouchard from the perimeter too, as he’s always a threat to score deep and if you give him space, he can pick a corner or just blast it over the goalie’s shoulder. His strengths, breaking the puck out under pressure, cover some of his flaws with his awareness in the defensive zone because the Oilers don’t have to defend much when he’s on the ice. Where he gets exposed is after a turnover, as he doesn’t make the best reads when it’s a panic situation. It’s made some analysts hesitant to classify Bouchard as an elite defenceman even if he checks most of the boxes. He has improved every year, so this is something that can get better with more time and experience.

Jake Walman

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
70	6	26	32	0.46

Walman climbed the ladder from a seventh defenceman and part-time forward in St. Louis to heavy top-pair defenceman in Detroit in a short period of time. It was a shocker when the Red Wings dealt him to San Jose, paying the Sharks to take him, because he had played such a massive role on that team. The Sharks welcomed him on their top-pair with open arms, and he was near the top of the league in ice time per game. He was their lone proven mobile defenceman and did an excellent job of calming the waters on a rebuilding roster. Walman’s game is all about skating and puck moving. He’s an excellent one-man breakout and he defends with his legs more than his body, not putting up huge points but making life easier for San Jose’s young forwards by keeping the puck moving north at all times, while doing his best to put out fires in his own zone. The Sharks dealing him made sense on the surface, as they’re not going to be competitive for a while, but Walman’s roster spot is not going to be easily replaced. He is more properly slotted in the 2^nd pair slot, but the potential of pairing him with Bouchard to have one dominant pair is still on the table for them. Walman spent most of the playoffs on the other pairs, carrying along some of their weaker defencemen and that might be the best role for him while the Oilers are still figuring out what works on their blue line.

Darnell Nurse

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
79	7	30	37	0.47

While Bouchard has his critics, there is no bigger lightning rod in Edmonton than Darnell Nurse. The Oilers paid him like a top pair defenceman after a career season and he hasn’t come close to matching that point pace since. His mistakes get scrutinized because they’re easy to point out to the naked eye. He’s an aggressive, attack-minded defenceman, so he gets caught out of position often and is the first one pointed out on the highlights by fans. He’s a powerful skater but a wildly inaccurate passer when breaking the puck out, which makes him an awkward fit behind the top line. The Oilers have transitioned him to more of a pure shutdown role and it suits him better. His on-ice results have been better despite the criticism. He’s good enough at making the small plays with the puck on the breakout and using his body to breakup entries to be a net positive for the Oilers on the second pair. When he has to exit the zone himself is when the bad habits start to creep in because if there’s no lane to skate out of the zone, he usually goes for a home run pass and misses. Pairing him with a strong puck mover like Walman can cover up some of these flaws and have Nurse focus more on the heavier game, but it then becomes a question if $9.5 million is too much for a player you have to work around. That’s a question for management more than the coaching staff, though.

Mattias Ekholm

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
76	7	28	35	0.46

A rough ending to the Stanley Cup Final put a sour note on what was an excellent season for Mattias Ekholm. Still making some big plays in the final, including scoring a goal, Ekholm showed some rink rust in his return from an undisclosed injury that kept him out of the first three rounds. He got beat to the inside on a few goals and struggled to adjust when the pace of the games amped up. He is an integral part of the Oilers vaunted five-man unit as the safety valve for Evan Bouchard and a guy who can calm the waters. The Oilers are one of the few teams in the league that likes to regroup for their rush offence and Ekholm is a big part of that with how calmly he handles the puck in the neutral zone and finds open passing lanes. It’s incredibly tough to create offence like this in the NHL against set forechecks, so pinpoint passing is necessary and Ekholm is one of the best in the league at doing that. This part of his game is something Edmonton won’t need to worry about as he enters his late 30’s, but his endurance to play the heavy minutes and take hits along the wall is something they’ll need to monitor now. He has been durable throughout his career, and the final was the first time he looked like he lost a step, so we will see if that was rink rust or a sign of things to come for Ekholm.

Goal

Stuart Skinner

Predicted Stats
GP	W	L	OT	SO	SV%	GAA
55	29	16	5	2	.902	2.78

Of all the teams to opt for more of the same in the 2025-26 season, perhaps the most surprising goaltending tandem to stay the course is the Edmonton Oilers. It's another year of Calvin Pickard and Stuart Skinner ahead for Oilers fans, suggesting - whether correct or not - that the Edmonton brass believe they had the winning formula this past year and don't want to mess it up this time around. On one hand, the Skinner-Pickard tandem - which saw the ever-enthusiastic Skinner take the bulk of the regular season games and Pickard help shoulder the workload more in the playoffs - seems to embody confident, upbeat vibes in net in a way that likely helps the team shake off disappointment, jitters, and tough stretches. But on the other hand, neither Pickard nor Skinner were the league's most reliable goaltender over the course of the regular season, which puts Edmonton in a position where they have to bank on both athletes either staying the course or regressing upwards. If either takes a step back, there's very little waiting in the wings of the Oilers depth chart to provide relief. This tandem likely has to help take the trophy home this year, or we'll be seeing a much bigger overhaul next summer.

NHL: 20 FANTASY POINTS – The NHL season is winding down, some players that are finishing strong, like rookies Will Smith, Cutter Gauthier, Jackson Blake, as well as veterans Duchene and Gallagher.

Scott Cullen — Fri, 11 Apr 2025 17:15:05 +0000

CALGARY, AB - FEBRUARY 23: San Jose Sharks Center William Smith (2) skates with the puck during the first period of an NHL game between the Calgary Flames and the San Jose Sharks on February 23, 2025, at the Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary, AB. (Photo by Brett Holmes/Icon Sportswire)

Each week, I dig into the stats to find information that can help you make better fantasy hockey decisions. This week, with the NHL season winding down, some players that are finishing strong, like Sharks rookie Will Smith, Ducks rookie Cutter Gauthier, and Hurricanes rookie Jackson Blake, as well as veterans like Matt Duchene, Brendan Gallagher.

#1 San Jose Sharks rookie Will Smith was brought along slowly at the start of the season, with limited ice time and healthy scratched for some games, but he has really hit his stride in the second half of the season. In his first 40 games, Smith had 15 points (6 G, 9 A) with 56 shots on goal while playing a little more than 14 minutes per game. In 30 games since then, Smith has 29 points (11 G, 18 A) with 65 shots on goal while averaging 17:30 of ice time per game. He had a goal and three assists in Wednesday’s 8-7 overtime loss at Minnesota, playing more than 20 minutes for the third time in his past five games.

#2 It’s not as if he is unknown, but the season that 34-year-old Dallas Stars centre Matt Duchene has put together has probably flown under the radar a bit. He was held off the scoresheet Thursday night, snapping a seven-game point streak, during which he had 10 points (3 G, 7 A), lifting him to 81 points (30 G, 51 A) for the season. It is the second time in his career that Duchene has surpassed 80 points. The first was in 2021-2022 when he was with Nashville.

#3 Buffalo Sabres centre Peyton Krebs has turned into an unlikely source of offensive production late in the season. In his past nine games, Krebs has eight points (3 G, 5 A), albeit with just 13 shots on goal, so maybe not the most sustainable production. Nevertheless, he has tied career highs with nine goals and 26 points and has been a solid two-way centre for the Sabres and Buffalo has outscored the opposition 40-35 with Krebs on the ice during five-on-five situations.

#4 Veteran Montreal Canadiens right winger Brendan Gallagher has stepped up his game as the Habs make a strong late push for a playoff spot. In his past dozen games, Gallagher has 13 points (6 G, 7 A) with 26 shots on goal. He had just five points in his previous 18 games, so this rise in production has come at just the right time and the crease-crashing winger is up to 21 goals and 38 points on the season, his most in both categories since the 2019-2020 season.

#5 The Anaheim Ducks are not in contention for a playoff spot, but they are getting to see what their future could look like, and they are getting some quality production out of second-year centre Leo Carlsson and rookie left winger Cutter Gauthier late in the season. Since the beginning of February, Carlsson has contributed 28 points (11 G, 17 A) with 43 shots on goal in 28 games. Gauthier scored his 20th goal of the season Thursday at Los Angeles, and since the 4 Nations Face-Off, he has 21 points (11 G, 10 A) with 70 shots on goal in 25 games.

#6 Carolina Hurricanes rookie right winger Jackson Blake continues to make great progress and is finishing his first NHL season skating on the Hurricanes’ top line, alongside Sebastian Aho and Seth Jarvis as well as getting first unit power play time for the ‘Canes. Since the trade deadline, Blake has 10 points (5 G, 5 A) with 37 shots on goal in 15 games.

#7 Second year Philadelphia Flyers left winger Tyson Foerster is playing hard even as the Flyers have fallen out of playoff contention. In his past eight games, Foerster has contributed nine points (6 G, 3 A) with 20 shots on goal. He recorded the first hat trick of his career on Wednesday against the New York Rangers and is up to 22 goals for the season. He is skating on a line with Noah Cates and Bobby Brink in addition to getting first unit power play time for the Flyers.

#8 Ottawa Senators defenceman Thomas Chabot has had an excellent all-around season and is finishing the season in fine form. In his past eight games, Chabot has seven points (2 G, 5 A) with 12 shots on goal and 22 blocked shots. Jake Sanderson is the quarterback on Ottawa’s top power play, so Chabot has only managed seven power play points this season, but his 40 points represents the third time that he has hit that threshold in his NHL career. Moreover, the Senators have outshot, out-chanced, and outscored the opposition with Chabot on the ice.

#9 When the Colorado Avalanche acquired Charlie Coyle at the trade deadline, it was not exactly an earth-shattering deal. Coyle had struggled in Boston this season, putting up 22 points (15 G, 7 A) in 61 games. He didn’t do much upon first arriving in Colorado, managing two assists in 13 games, but Coyle has started to turn things around, with seven points (1 G, 6 A) during a four-game point streak. While he is centering Miles Wood and Jimmy Vesey at even strength, Coyle is getting first unit power play time with Nathan MacKinnon nursing an injury.

#10 This has been a forgettable season for the New York Islanders, but they have seen quality development from right winger Simon Holmstrom, who has seven points (3 G, 4 A) during a four-game point streak. After scoring 25 points as a rookie last season, Holmstrom has produced 45 points (20 G, 25 A) this season and is holding a regular top six spot in the lineup, skating on a line with Maxim Tsyplakov and Jean-Gabriel Pageau.

#11 Joel Eriksson Ek returned to the Minnesota Wild lineup for the first time in more than six weeks and he buried four goals on eight shots in Minnesota’s 8-7 overtime win against San Jose. Eriksson Ek has 54 shots on goal in his past 13 games and that kind of shot generation does offer more support for his point production. Eriksson Ek gets first unit power play time in Minnesota and skates between wingers Marcus Johansson and Matt Boldy at even strength.

#12 Winnipeg Jets defenceman Neal Pionk returned to action Thursday after missing almost a month with a lower-body injury. Despite missing that time, Pionk has enjoyed a strong season, and his 37 points (9 G, 28 A) is his highest point total since 2019-2020. Pionk tends to offer value for fantasy managers because he delivers hits and blocked shots – he is two blocks away from his third straight season with at least 100 in both categories.

#13 Moving to the Calgary Flames from the Philadelphia Flyers has not brought immediate results for winger Joel Farabee, who is in the midst of a 14-game stretch without a goal, and he only has three assists in that span. Farabee is skating on a line with Mikael Backlund and Blake Coleman, two veterans who have shown that they can consistently control play, but Farabee also has an on-ice shooting percentage of 4.4 percent in Calgary, and that has to improve.

#14 It is understandable that a winger like the Oilers’ Zach Hyman will see his production fall off when Connor McDavid is out with an injury, so maybe he will be rejuvenated now that No. 97 has returned to action. Hyman has gone six games without a point, recording a dozen shots on goal. Hyman’s goal production has been cut in half, from 54 last year to 27 this season, but this late slump is difficult for fantasy managers, especially now that McDavid is back in the lineup.

#15 There is a similar situation in Colorado, except going in the other direction, as Avalanche left winger Artturi Lehkonen has just one assist in his past nine games. It could be encouraging that Lehkonen has 21 shots on goal in his past five games – he’s getting chances – but there is also the possibility that Nathan MacKinnon will be held out of the Avs lineup late in the season as they try to ensure that their superstar forward is healthy for the playoffs, and that makes it less likely that Lehkonen will bounce back too much before the postseason.

#16 It’s not just MacKinnon that could be done for the regular season as there are other stars that are dealing with injuries and may not return during the regular season. That includes Leon Draisaitl, Jack Eichel, Sam Bennett, Dylan Holloway, Elias Pettersson, Filip Chytil, Aliaksei Protas, and Gabriel Vilardi, all of whom offer value to fantasy managers.

#17 Chicago Blackhawks left winger Teuvo Teravainen has had a relatively productive season, tallying 57 points (15 G, 42 A), but his shot rate is declining, and he is slumping because of it. He has just one assist in his past seven games but also has just six shots on goal, and that is more consistent with his shot rate this season, which is down from 1.87 per game last season to 1.37 per game this season. He is skating on a line with rookie Frank Nazar and Tyler Bertuzzi, which should be competent enough to generate some offence, but Teravainen isn’t right now.

#18 Since March 20, the leading goaltenders in terms of save percentage (minimum five appearances): Darcy Kuemper (.942), Jake Oettinger (.942), Anthony Stolarz (.936), Anton Forsberg (.935), Andrei Vasilevskiy (.934), Connor Hellebuyck (.930), Casey DeSmith (.922), Sergei Bobrovsky (.921), Jordan Binnington (.920), and James Reimer (.920). While there are plenty of expected names – the top goaltenders in the league continue to play well – backups like Forsberg and DeSmith have value when they play, and Reimer has backstopped Buffalo’s late-season surge. Reimer is perhaps the most surprising and thus more available for fantasy managers.

#19 Since the 4 Nations Face-Off in February, Artemi Panarin and Tage Thompson are tied for the league lead with 13 five-on-five goals, ahead of David Pastrnak and Morgan Geekie (both Bruins have 11), Jason Robertson and John Tavares, who both have 10. Cutter Gauthier, Jordan Kyrou, Kyle Connor, and Kirill Marchenko are next with nine. In terms of total goals, Thompson leads with 18, ahead of Alex Ovechkin (16), Tavares (16), Wyatt Johnston (15), and Tuch (15). Pastrnak, Panarin, Robertson, Geekie and Sidney Crosby all have 14 and Nick Suzuki has 13. The leader when it comes to individual expected goals in that time is Auston Matthews, with 13.44 and he has scored 10 goals in 23 games.

#20 With a nod to the future, the Montreal Canadiens and Carolina Hurricanes have both signed top prospects from the KHL. Montreal inked Ivan Demidov, the fifth pick in the 2024 Draft, after he had an exceptional season with St. Petersburg SKA, producing 49 points (19 G, 30 A) in 65 regular-season games before adding five points in six playoff games. Demidov is expected to make his Habs debut on Monday against the Chicago Blackhawks and he will do so with great expectations from a fanbase that has been enjoying his development from afar all season. Carolina signed defenceman Alexander Nikishin, a third-round pick in 2020 who has turned into one of the premier defence prospects in the league. Nikishin is 6-foot-4 and has put up 157 points (45 G, 112 A) in 193 games across the past three seasons in the KHL. The Hurricanes have a solid veteran group on the blueline, so they don’t need to rush Nikishin into the lineup, but he will likely bring a higher upside and could prove to be good enough right away that he can’t be denied a spot.

*Advanced stats via Natural Stat Trick

MCKEEN’S 2024-25 NHL YEARBOOK – EDMONTON OILERS – Team Preview

Sat, 14 Sep 2024 16:00:38 +0000

_{EDMONTON, AB - MAY 01: Edmonton Oilers Defenceman Evan Bouchard (2) boxes out a player in the second period of game five of the Western Conference First Round Edmonton Oilers game versus the Los Angeles Kings on May 01, 2024 at Rogers Place in Edmonton, AB. (Photo by Curtis Comeau/Icon Sportswire)}

From a 5-12-1 start to one win away from a Stanley Cup championship, Edmonton’s 2023-24 campaign was certainly remarkable. Powered by the elite duo of Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, a surprising 54-goal campaign from Zach Hyman, a breakout showing from defenceman Evan Bouchard, and some capable goaltending out of Stuart Skinner despite his slow start, the Oilers endured, bouncing back after each misstep. Even in the end, Edmonton showed its resilience by fighting back from a 3-0 series deficit in the Stanley Cup Finals, though the Oilers narrowly lost in Game 7 to the Panthers.

WHAT’S CHANGED? Edmonton bought out the final three seasons of Jack Campbell’s five-year, $25 million contract. Although it gives the Oilers dead cap space through 2029-30, it saved the team a much needed $3.9 million for the upcoming campaign. Edmonton also traded bottom-six forward Ryan McLeod to Buffalo, saving a further $2.1 million. With those savings the Oilers signed unrestricted free agents Viktor Arvidsson and Jeff Skinner while retaining trade deadline acquisition Adam Henrique to bolster their middle six. Calvin Pickard was inked to a two-year deal to be Skinner’s understudy.

WHAT WOULD SUCCESS LOOK LIKE? Edmonton is in Cup-or-bust mode. Even assuming Draisaitl (UFA in 2025), McDavid (UFA in 2026) and Bouchard (RFA in 2025) can all be locked up, each of those three will be due for raises that will strain Edmonton’s already tricky cap situation, so 2024-25 might be the best chance the Oilers get at a championship. Fortunately, they’re ready for it. Skinner and Arvidsson will bolster Edmonton’s wings while Henrique should be an ideal third-line center in his first full season with the club. This is as deep an offence as Edmonton has enjoyed in the McDavid/Draisaitl era.

WHAT COULD GO WRONG? But what of the goaltending? Credit where it’s due, Skinner proved that he was capable of thriving under pressure during the 2024 playoffs and his ability to rebound from a disastrous start to 2023-24 is commendable. Still, his extreme highs and lows last season make him somewhat risky. There are also some potential health concerns, most notably with Evander Kane, who is questionable going into 2024-25 due to a hip injury. Certainly, there’s a lot to like about this roster, but the bar is set high and so much has to go right for Edmonton’s championship dreams to become a reality.

TOP BREAKOUT CANDIDATE: Edmonton is going all-in on the 2024-25 campaign and consequently feature an almost exclusively veteran roster. Philip Broberg would have been a notable exception to that, but he was taken by St. Louis via an offer sheet. However, the Blues’ move coincided with Edmonton trading with San Jose for 24-year-old defenseman Ty Emberson, who might get solid minutes with the Oilers now that Broberg as well as Cody Ceci are gone. Although Emberson isn’t a high-end prospect, he did alright with the rebuilding Sharks across 30 games last year, and it helps that he’s a right-hand shot. Under ideal circumstances, he could get 20-30 points this season. Keep in mind, though, that Edmonton will likely be in the market for defensemen in the lead-up to the trade deadline, which might result in Emberson dropping in the depth charts.

Forwards

Connor McDavid

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
79	42	95	137	1.73

Last year was the closest McDavid has gotten to lifting Lord Stanley, and it hopefully won’t be his last chance. It’s easy to forget that he is only 27 years old, even though this will be his 10th year in the NHL, so there is plenty of time for him to reach the mountain top. It feels silly to say that about a player who has accomplished so much already, multiple MVP trophies and a rare Conn Smythe in a losing effort. He has produced during some down seasons for the Oilers and the difference now is he can drag the rest of the team into the fight. It didn’t feel that way last November with the team in last place, but a coaching change, and McDavid going on a torrid pace of 65 points in his last 33 games to close the year, skyrocketed the Oilers out of the basement and into the post-season. Just missing back-to-back Hart Trophies, this was one of McDavid’s stranger seasons from a statistical standpoint. His goal total was the lowest it’s been in a full-82 game season and it was also one of his worst from a shooting percentage standpoint (12.2 vs a career 15.2 percent). His shot rate dropped from 4.3 in 2022-23 to 3.5 last year. He made up for it by recording a career high 100 assists, setting up linemate Zach Hyman for most of his points, including 54 goals, while seeing his left wing be a bit of a revolving door throughout the year. He also played through most of the first half of the season with an upper-body injury, so he managed to do this while not playing at 100%. Greatness always finds a way and the Oilers are finally starting to see some tangible results in addition to their star player setting individual records.

Leon Draisaitl

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
80	50	64	114	1.43

Leon Draisaitl has to answer a lot of questions for a player with five 100+ point seasons in his last six. It always seems like he has so much to prove even though he’s also considered among the league’s elite. Although the shine has started to wear off, as he might be the first player in history to not receive any Hart votes with his gaudy stat line. He’s also a complicated player when breaking down the details. His skillset is incredibly unique, he’s a choppy skater with a massive upper body and is usually in some awkward, hunched over position with his back turned to the play. Yet, he makes magic happen on a regular basis. He is maybe the best player in the league at threading the puck through traffic and making blind passes from the wall. He also might be the only player in the league who scores a good chunk of his goals from the coffin corner of the rink from zero angle. He has mastered so many complicated skills that the basics can get away with him at times, and it’s why he usually finds himself back on McDavid’s wing instead of centering his own line. Draisaitl also regularly scores at least 40% of his goals on the power play and his five-on-five production is a sore topic whenever it’s brought up. Edmonton is happy to have him regardless but has a tough decision with this being the final year of his contract and due for a major raise.

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
82	20	52	72	0.88

The former first overall pick has been through it all with the Oilers and last year he might have had the lowest expectations for someone coming off a 104-point season. If only because everyone knew it was heavily buoyed by a historically efficient Oilers power play and the 55-65-point territory is where his average usually lies. Points are usually a secondary feature with him anyway, especially with him under such a team-friendly contract for the next few years. RNH’s time has been split between being McDavid’s left winger and centering the Oilers third line in more of a checking role. He logs a lot of minutes for a forward and plays more of an off-puck role. You aren’t going to get a lot of puck touches with McDavid on your line and Hyman as the primary shooter, so his willingness to check and strength in the defensive zone makes him a great complement to the Oilers star. The power play is where he really shines, acting as the quarterback from the left circle and shifting to the netfront where he’s sneaky at getting deflections. The potential to have a major point-producing season is always there for that reason, but his five-on-five production will always be somewhat limited. Draft for no more than 15 goals and 60 – 65 points and any upside will be a bonus.

Jeff Skinner

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
79	22	25	47	0.59

Always looking for pure shooters, Edmonton added one of the best on the open market in Jeff Skinner. He’s on the wrong side of 30, but he’s somewhat rejuvenated his career in Buffalo, scoring 92 goals over the past three seasons after only tallying 21 over 112 games in the first two years of his deal. He fits like a glove whether he is playing with McDavid or Draisaitl because all he has to do is get himself open and they will probably find him. Skinner’s never been the type who needs an elite setup man to produce, but it’s never hurt him and it’s something he’s rarely had in his career, always playing on lower, sheltered lines to cover his defensive weaknesses. The one perplexing thing about him is that he’s never had great results on the power play, only scoring more than 10 goals with the man advantage in one season, which was all the way back in 2013 with the Hurricanes. This has the potential to be a great investment for the Oilers with how much of an issue wing depth has been for them in the McDavid era. Skinner gives them the most potential from a boom-or-bust standpoint. Much will depend on his deployment on the top two lines. He might yet be sheltered on the third line with Adam Henrique to add depth scoring. He will not be featured on the first power play unless there is an injury, so proceed with some caution. Last years result of 20 – 25 goals and a similar number of assists is as likely a scenario as an offensive burst.

Viktor Arvidsson

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
72	21	34	55	0.76

While Skinner is the guy who gives you all offence, all the time, Arvidsson is someone who can score and calm the waters at even strength. At least when he is healthy, which was the problem last year. Missing over 50 games with a back injury, there’s some risk in adding the undersized winger because that is the type of injury that lingers and shortens careers. When healthy, he solves a lot of problems for the Oilers. He can work higher in the lineup as a quick, water bug type of player who will pitch in some goals here and there or he can be excellent on a shutdown line. He’s not the most effective defensive player, but he’s very annoying to play against and could be a great complement to Nugent-Hopkins if they want to use that line in a shutdown role. Arvidsson also emerged as a power play threat in LA, but he has a lot of names to outplay to crack the Oilers top unit. Still, he can fill a couple different holes for the Oilers if his back is healthy and there’s no long-term effects. Also like Skinner, his deployment on the top two lines will be key to any offensive breakthrough. If you target him for 25 goals and 55 – 60 points that should be a safe bet, health allowing.

Zach Hyman

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
81	46	30	76	0.94

Hyman is easily one of the best unrestricted free agent signings of the modern era. Since joining the Oilers, he has scored at a 40-goal pace over three seasons, which is unprecedented territory for a winger in his early 30’s, especially one that plays the tough, net front game that he does. He is the master at “catching” pucks right by the side of the crease, making his whole body a target at the post so he can easily corral the puck and tap it in before the defenders can react. The ice time bump has served him well in Edmonton, spending most of his minutes attached at the hip to McDavid but that alone doesn’t explain his jump to becoming a 50+ goal-scorer last year. It’s actually a case of someone making their game one-dimensional and predictable in a good way. Hyman’s a good passer, but he embraced being the shooter for McDavid, seeing his shot rate go up to over 10 attempts per 60 minutes since moving to his line. He saw his shooting percentage jump to 18.6 percent from a career average of 13.7. He doesn’t look to pass that much anymore, and he knows where his bread is buttered, especially on the power play where he scored 15 goals in each of the last two seasons. His presence on the forecheck and complementary skillset to McDavid make him an invaluable part of the Oilers lineup.

Evander Kane

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
82	14	10	24	0.46

The Oilers gamble with Evander Kane and his subsequent contract has yielded mixed results. In some ways they’ve gotten what they’ve asked for. He’s given them at least a 20-goal pace in each of the three seasons he’s been there and that’s without power play time. His “get anything and everything at the net” approach is welcomed at times and frustrating at others, as he will take a lot of low percentage opportunities for every decent chance he creates and is not really pay attention to where his linemates are. It’s made him an inconsistent player when it comes to keeping play in the offensive zone and his play in the neutral and defensive zone can be an adventure at times. He also hasn’t been available or healthy the past two seasons, missing a lot of 2022-23 with a broken hand and playing most of last season with a sports hernia. He struggled to find a home on any line despite producing at a decent rate and was even scratched in the Stanley Cup Final because the injury limited him so much. With the Oilers investing in some new wingers, Kane might have to fight for his ice time more next season, particularly for power play time. His physical play and the fact that he ends up with 20 goals regardless of what’s going on around him might be what gives him an edge if push comes to shove, but not a given by any means. Proceed with caution.

Adam Henrique

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
80	17	27	44	0.55

A true Swiss Army Knife, Henrique’s versatility and decent scoring upside was much needed in the Oilers lineup down the stretch. He’s a guy who can calm the waters at even strength and he is low-key one of the better finishers in the league. Edmonton saw that firsthand last year when he shot over 20% during their run to the Finals. The downside is that Henrique himself doesn’t produce much offence himself, so his game is about making the most of the limited chances he gets. He’s always been more about letting the speedy puck-carriers do their thing while he looks for the open space. With Arvidsson and Skinner in the fold now, there’s a potential for Edmonton to run a nice third line around him. Henrique’s posted solid defensive numbers on some bottom-feeding Anaheim teams, so he should be able to slot into a lower line role with the Oilers without much issue. He is 34 years old, so we will see how long he can sustain this pace. A return to similar point totals to what he achieved in Anaheim is unlikely given his role here.

Corey Perry

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
70	11	12	23	0.33

Four out of the last five Stanley Cup Finals have featured a team with Corey Perry, unfortunately for him they were all on the losing side. It feels weird to say that a former Cup and Hart Trophy winner could ever be on a run of bad luck, but it is reaching unprecedented territory for the long-time Anaheim Duck. He has defied Father Time to a point, posting decent numbers in Tampa Bay in his late 30’s and having his moments in the playoffs with both Montreal and Dallas. You can tell the speed of the game has gone by him in some aspects, as he’s easily the most noticeable player on the ice for the wrong reasons when the pace picks up. His strengths, however, are timeless. He was one of the NHL’s premier pests in his prime years and still has no problem being a nuisance in front of the goaltender. He also has decent hands around the net, which adds a wrinkle to his game. Playing in more of specialist role now, Perry can’t keep up with top line minutes anymore and is only used on the top power play unit as a spark. It’s uncertain if he still has the legs to keep up with a full-time checking role at the age of 39. Although the Oilers certainly have faith in him, giving him a second chance after the Blackhawks terminated his contract due to unprofessional conduct and adding another year onto his contract.

DEFENCE

Darnell Nurse

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
80	8	24	32	0.40

Having a career season during the summer when every team was locking up their top defencemen for big money has been more of a burden for Darnell Nurse than anything. For years, he was expected to carry the workload of an elite, number one defenceman and while he has the cardio to do it, his erratic defensive play and decision making turned most Oilers games into a track meet. Last year was the first time some of that was lifted. With Evan Bouchard and Mattias Ekholm emerging as the top pair, Nurse could move down to the second pair in a shutdown role where he is more properly slotted. Still, the expectations of that contract are tough to swallow, and Nurse had his struggles during the playoffs where he was on the ice for a goal-against every single game. The reality is he is somewhere in the middle ground between the high-end offensive defenceman we saw in 2021, and the defensive liability fans make him out to be because of his tendency to get caught on the wrong side of the highlight reel. He is no longer expected to produce offence as was once hoped but should still be good for 10 goals and 30 points with loads of peripheral fantasy stats.

Evan Bouchard

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
82	17	62	79	0.96

Bouchard was the most obvious breakout pick last year, solely for the fact that he has an atom bomb of a shot and was getting placed on the Oilers historically great power play. Blocked by Tyson Barrie his first two years, Bouchard was unleashed last year and also earned his way onto the Oilers lethal five-man unit at even strength. His shot, passing and brilliant offensive instincts made him a natural fit there and it made the Oilers offence impossible to stop once they got rolling. A shooter who can score from distance is hard to come by in today’s NHL. Bouchard brings the lethal combo of velocity, accuracy and deception at time when he’s shooting for the deflection or winding up the big slapshot. His puck-moving is also a plus skill, although sometimes he tries to make too much happen and turnovers remain an issue with him. It’s something you can live with because the positives he brings outweigh them and are impossible to replace. His defensive game is also a work in progress, particularly with finding the right route on outlets and who to cover, but that’s why Ekholm is paired with him. Look for him to have another big season.

Mattias Ekholm

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
80	10	30	40	0.50

The bedrock of the Edmonton defence, Ekholm fits the model of the modern shutdown defenceman. He skates well, takes away space without chasing hits, has one of the best defensive sticks in the league and can skate his way out of problems, which makes life easier for everyone else. The changing of the guard from Nurse and Ceci to him and Bouchard changed the entire makeup of the Oilers, allowing their top five-man unit to be more creative in the offensive zone with two blue liners who can move and cover their own tracks if things go off-script. Ekholm’s always had the skills to be a solid offensive contributor, even if that’s not his strength, and we saw that last year as he set a career high in points with 45. Part of that comes with the territory when you’re on the ice with elite talent. But taking advantage of the open space and reading the play is part of what makes you someone who helps keep the engine going instead of just being a passenger. Ekholm definitely fits into the former category, both as a shutdown defenceman and a contributor on offence. The only concern is how long he can keep it up as he enters his mid-30’s.

Brett Kulak

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
82	4	19	23	0.28

The number four spot on the Oilers defence was a bit of an open competition. The long holdover, Cody Ceci, had a tough end to his playoffs and was dealt prior to the season. The Oilers chose not to match the offer sheet for Philip Broberg, who would have been pressing for promotion, but is now out of the picture. They lost Vincent Desharnais to free agency. A stable option to fill that spot is veteran Brett Kulak, who gives them most steady presence among the potential candidates. He skates well and his specialty of killing plays at the blue line would be a great complement to Nurse. Not a burner, but reliable enough with the puck to contribute, he has a lot of skills that translate well when you move up in the lineup, as he’s never been one to rely on his partner or have his skills inflated by playing against weaker competition. The only question is if he can handle the increase in minutes workload, as he’s been in the league a long time and has been locked into a third pair role with heavy penalty killing duty for most of it.

GOAL

Stuart Skinner

Predicted Stats
GP	W	L	OT	SO	SV%	GAA
62	39	17	6	3	0.909	2.58

It's now or never for the Edmonton Oilers, and Stuart Skinner has to be feeling the pressure. You'd never know it from looking at his performances in his first two full NHL seasons, though; where some goaltenders might flounder in the face of mounting pressure, Skinner seems to take on each additional added responsibility the Oilers put at his feet with increasing enthusiasm. He improved his stat lines last season in almost every measurable area despite a higher workload, and it paid off when he took Edmonton so deep into the postseason, they could almost feel the Stanley Cup in their grasp.

Of course, that means that Skinner - and tandem partner Calvin Pickard, who will return for another year of Alberta hockey - have yet more pressure they'll face this year. Just one game shy of winning it all, Edmonton fans are ravenous to taste victory for the first time in 35 years. And although the Oilers have been recipients of stellar singular seasons from goaltenders in recent years, they have yet to find a starter with any kind of staying power; from Ben Scrivens to Jack Campbell and a couple dozen in-between, every goaltender the Oilers seem to put their faith in has faltered a few years into their tenure. Skinner will have to prove he isn't destined for Edmonton's growing goalie graveyard - and now that he's put up a 100-plus game sample size for teams to pore over, that will become more difficult. He'll need to clean up his game in the low slot and his ability to box out opponents looking for dirty scoring areas to keep his numbers up where they currently sit - and Edmonton will need to get another good year of backup performances from Pickard to avoid overworking him in the process.

STANLEY CUP FINAL PREVIEW : Florida Panthers vs. Edmonton Oilers

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

KEY MATCHUPS

Sergei Bobrovsky vs. Stuart Skinner

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

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

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

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

Sam Reinhart vs. Zach Hyman

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

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

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

Kyle Okposo vs. Corey Perry

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

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

Vladimir Tarasenko vs. Adam Henrique

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

X-FACTOR

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

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

PREDICTION

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

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

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

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

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

2024 NHL PLAYOFF PREVIEW – WESTERN CONFERENCE FINAL: Dallas Stars vs. Edmonton Oilers

Ryan Dadoun — Wed, 22 May 2024 12:27:02 +0000

DALLAS, TX - APRIL 03: Dallas Stars goaltender Jake Oettinger (29) catches the puck with his glove hand as Edmonton Oilers left wing Zach Hyman (18) looks on during the game between the Dallas Stars and the Edmonton Oilers on April 3, 2024 at American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas. (Photo by Matthew Pearce/Icon Sportswire)

If there’s a common thread between Dallas and Edmonton, it’s that these are two teams that have looked strong for years, and had some strong playoff runs, but haven’t been quite able to convert. Neither squad has cemented their legacy with a championship, but at least one of them will be reaching the Stanley Cup Final this year.

If it’s Dallas, it will mark the third and potentially final trip for Joe Pavelski. He’ll turn 40 in July and is set to become an unrestricted free agent, so it’s reasonable to wonder if this is his last hurrah. Not that the Stars need added motivation to fight for a championship but allowing Pavelski to cap his storied career with the Cup after Pavelski’s first two trips to the finals ended in disappointment, would doubtlessly be something his teammates would love to provide him.

This also might be Dallas’ only run with Matt Duchene on their side. After being bought out by Nashville in the summer of 2023, Duchene signed a one-year, $3 million contract with Dallas that has proven to be a steal. He had 25 goals and 65 points in 80 regular-season contests, and he delivered in dramatic fashion when Duchene scored in double overtime in Game 6 against one of his former teams, the Colorado Avalanche, to punch Dallas’ ticket for the Western Conference Final. Duchene’s success might have priced him out of the Stars beyond this campaign, but for now, Dallas is happy to have him.

Pavelski and Duchene didn’t perform like superstars this year, but they speak to Dallas’ strength: Its depth. The Stars had nine players breach the 50-point mark in the regular season and eight finish with more than 20 goals. To put that into context, the average team had 4.2 players finish with above 50 points and 3.8 exceed 20 goals. Dallas’ incredible depth allowed the team to finish with 3.59 goals per game -- slightly ahead of Edmonton’s star-studded offense’s average of 3.56 -- despite lacking a single player in the top 25 of scoring or the top 30 in goals. The advantage is that Dallas is somewhat slump proof -- if a couple of their key players are cold, that’s fine because they have others who can step up.

It also means that Dallas will almost always have legitimate scoring threats on the ice to challenge goaltender Stuart Skinner, who has already looked mortal in the playoffs with his .890 save percentage across eight contests. He faced fierce competition in the first and second rounds between LA and Vancouver, respectively, but Dallas will be his greatest challenge yet.

Not that Stars goaltender Jake Oettinger is in for an easy time. Far from it. Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid aren’t just two of the best forwards of this era, they’re also some of the best playoff performers of all time. That’s not hyperbole. If you look at the all-time greatest postseason players by points per game (min. 10 playoff contests), the rankings from first to fourth go Wayne Gretzky (1.84 PPG), Draisaitl (1.66), Mario Lemieux (1.61) and McDavid (1.57). Sure, Draisaitl and McDavid might see their average diminish later in their career, but the fact that Edmonton has not just one, but two players who can rise to that level is insane.

That Edmonton hasn’t won the Cup yet -- or even reached the finals -- with McDavid and Draisaitl speaks to the shortcomings of the Oilers’ front office for much of their tenure. Despite featuring of the most dominant duos of all time, Edmonton struggled to put a worthy team around them for years, and now, with Draisaitl’s contract set to expire in the summer of 2025 and McDavid’s in 2026, time might be running out.

The silver lining is that Edmonton has made real strides in recent years to build out its group. The Oilers have enjoyed the rise of Evan Bouchard, who ranked fourth among defensemen with 82 points (18 goals) in 81 regular-season games this season and has done even better in the playoffs with five goals and 20 points across 12 outings. Meanwhile, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Evander Kane and Zach Hyman provide the Oilers with some real scoring depth.

The Oilers even have some secondary scoring beyond that. Defenseman Mattias Ekholm, who has three goals and six points through 12 playoff outings, can be the hero every now and then. Warren Foegele has just two points in the 2024 postseason, but he finished the campaign with 20 goals, so opponents need to be wary of him. Similarly, Adam Henrique might have just a goal and an assist in six playoff appearances this year, but the veteran forward is a capable middle-six forward. Then there’s Corey Perry, who is more of an enforcer at the age of 39, but he has 206 career playoff contests under his belt and can chip in occasionally, so it’s entirely feasible that he makes his presence felt during this series.

Even Edmonton’s defense is arguably underrated. Edmonton’s xGA/60 in the playoffs ranks fourth at 2.64, and it tied for fourth in the regular season at 2.78. It often doesn’t feel that way because to start Skinner isn’t a safe bet in net, but the situation would be far worse for the Oilers if their defense didn’t pick up some of the slack.

It’s hard to make the argument that the Oilers are a complete team when they still have such a question mark between the pipes, but they’re far closer than they have been in years and have the benefit of growing from all their prior hardship, including the 2-9-1 start to 2023-24 that they managed to overcome.

Perhaps they’re finally ready to take the step to the Stanley Cup Final. The only trouble is that the Vegas Golden Knights and Colorado Avalanche were also teams worthy of the finals, not to mention recent Stanley Cup winners. They were both dispatched by Dallas. Can the Oilers succeed where those giants failed?

KEY MATCHUPS

Dallas vs. Connor McDavid/Leon Draisaitl

These are supposed to be player vs. player matchups, but while the Stars possess high-end forwards, they simply have no equivalent to McDavid and Draisaitl. Then again, they had no equivalent to the Avalanche’s Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen, and Dallas still won that series.

The goal for Dallas isn’t to completely silence Edmonton’s top duo -- that's simply unrealistic -- but rather to minimize the damage. In the second round, MacKinnon and Rantanen each recorded two goals and five points in six contests. Those are solid offensive numbers, but it’s manageable to win a series when your opponent’s best forwards are limited to that level of output. Dallas will be aiming for a similar result in the Western Conference Final, though controlling McDavid and Draisaitl is arguably an even taller task.

Miro Heiskanen vs. Evan Bouchard

How impressive is Bouchard’s 20 points in 12 playoff contests? Even if he doesn’t score one more point in this run, he would still finish in a seven-way tie for the 22nd highest-scoring single postseason for a defenseman. In other words, his performance has bordered on historic even after just two rounds. That said, Heiskanen can also provide strong offensive numbers from the blue line. The Stars defenseman finished the regular season with nine goals and 54 points across 71 outings and has excelled in the playoffs with five markers and 13 points through 13 games.

This matchup seems to be in Edmonton’s favor, but Heiskanen is good enough that it wouldn’t be a shocking turn of events if he had the most points among blueliners in this series.

Zach Hyman vs. Wyatt Johnston

Hyman set a career high during the regular season with 54 goals, he blazed out of the gate in the playoffs, providing an unreal nine markers through six contests. He went through a four-game goal drought from May 10-16 but wrapped up the second round with markers in consecutive games, so he’s regained his rhythm going into the Western Conference Final.

Dallas doesn’t employ a 2023-24 50-goal scorer, but the Stars do feature a rising star in Johnston, who led the team with 32 markers in the regular season. The 21-year-old has been somewhat hit-and-miss in the playoffs, though. He was great in the first round, supplying four goals and seven points in seven outings. Against Colorado, he finished with a respectable three goals and four points in six games, but notably, he was held off the scoresheet in four of those outings. As I discussed before, Dallas’ key scoring strength lies in its depth and ability to weather cold spells, so a drought from Johnston is less likely to sink Dallas than a slump from one of Edmonton’s superstars.

That said, when he’s at his best, Johnston is a forward who can carry a game, and while Hyman isn’t someone who has been traditionally thought of in those terms, after the campaign he’s had, it’s clear that he’s also emerged as a major factor.

X-FACTOR

Dallas Stars: Not that the Oilers wanted to win this way, but they were helped a little in the second round due to injuries. Vancouver didn’t have goaltender Thatcher Demko (knee) for its second-round series against the Oilers (though Arturs Silovs did an admirable job filling in), and Vancouver was without leading goal-scorer Brock Boeser for Game 7 due to a blood-clotting issue. Dallas might also be unable to play against Edmonton at full strength. Roope Hintz hasn’t played since May 13 due to an upper-body injury and his status for the series opener is in question. Jani Hakanpaa (lower body) might also be unavailable for the start of the Western Conference Final.

It's also worth noting that Dallas’ penalty kill has struggled in the playoffs at 69.2 percent. That’s dangerously low going into a series against Edmonton, which has converted on a league-best 37.5 percent of its power plays in the postseason. The Oilers were similarly effective in the regular season, finishing fourth with a 26.3 conversion rate.

Edmonton Oilers: It’s got to be the goaltending. I’ve already spoken about Skinner’s playoff woes. It got to the point where Edmonton turned to Calvin Pickard for Games 4 and 5 of the second round with mixed results -- Pickard went 1-1 while stopping 51 of 56 shots over that stretch. Edmonton also has Jack Campbell as a possible Plan C. Campbell was dreadful in the NHL this season, posting a 1-4-0 record, 4.49 GAA and .873 save percentage in five contests, but he did stabilize in the minors, recording a 2.63 GAA and a .918 save percentage in 33 AHL outings. It would be a fun story if Campbell saw time in this series because it would be both a chance at redemption and revenge as he was originally selected by Dallas with the No. 11 overall pick in 2010, but only ever played one game with the Stars before eventually being dealt to LA in 2016. Still, if Edmonton ends up turning to Campbell, that’s a sign that something has already gone terribly wrong for the Oilers.

It's worth noting that all hope isn’t lost for Skinner. At times he’s brilliant, such as his 12-game stretch from Dec. 28-Feb. 9 in which he posted a 1.33 GAA and a .952 save percentage. If he starts to heat up now, the Oilers will possess the last piece they need to win the Cup.

PREDICTION

I’ll admit some personal bias here because I’d like to see Edmonton win. Part of that is just to see a Canadian team claim the Cup for the first time since 1993, and part of that is because I’m a fan of McDavid, and I’d like to see him receive the ultimate reward for all he’s done. However, while I’ll personally root for the Oilers to win this series, do expect them to get past Dallas? No.

It’s not that I can’t envision a path. The sheer number of offensive weapons Edmonton has certainly make it feasible, and there’s always the chance that Skinner gets hot at just the right time, but the reality is that Dallas’ offense, while not as flashy, is just as good. On top of that, the Stars have the more reliable goaltender in Oettinger.

Dallas was battle-tested against a deep, experienced team in Vegas and a star-studded squad in Colorado. In both instances, the Stars proved they could endure. Each series is a fresh start, and I am very interested to see how this one plays out, but when you ask me today which way this series will tilt, my answer is that it’ll go the Stars' way and that things will probably be wrapped up in six contests.

2024 NHL PLAYOFF PREVIEW: Vancouver Canucks vs. Edmonton Oilers

Ryan Dadoun — Sun, 05 May 2024 21:01:33 +0000

Edmonton Oilers Goalie Stuart Skinner (74) (Photo by Curtis Comeau/Icon Sportswire)

Vancouver Canucks vs. Edmonton Oilers

The Oilers had essentially an ideal first round against Los Angeles. Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl were their usual dominant selves, providing 12 and 10 points, respectively, in the five-game series. Meanwhile, Zach Hyman (seven goals, eight points), Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (one goal, six points) and defenseman Evan Bouchard (one goal, nine points) provided key offensive support in the first leg of the postseason. Edmonton even got seven goals worth of secondary scoring from the rest of the cast. To top it all off, Stuart Skinner was adequate, posting a 2.59 GAA and a .910 save percentage in five playoff starts against LA.

It's not like the Kings were a bad test of Edmonton’s strength either. They posted a 44-27-11 record in the regular season on the strength of a strong defense and great goaltending, so the fact that Los Angeles was unable to slow Edmonton’s offense even marginally has to give Vancouver pause. Still, the Canucks are positioned to offer the Oilers a far greater challenge, in large part because Vancouver is one of the few teams that can keep pace with Edmonton in high-scoring contests.

While LA was mediocre offensively, tying for 16th in the regular season with 3.10 goals per contest compared to Edmonton’s 3.56 (fourth overall), Vancouver supplied 3.40 goals per game (sixth). The Canucks didn’t have an equivalent to McDavid, who finished the 2023-24 campaign with 132 points, or a 50-plus goal scorer like Hyman. However, the Canucks had an elite core of J.T. Miller (37 goals, 103 points in the regular season), Elias Pettersson (34 goals, 89 points), Brock Boeser (40 goals, 73 points) and defenseman Quinn Hughes (17 goals, 92 points).

Although that core was a mixed bag against Nashville in the first round -- Boeser and Miller stood out, each providing six points in six contests, but Pettersson was limited to three assists in the series – the group certainly can’t be overlooked going into the matchup against Edmonton. Especially because Skinner had a record of 0-3-0 with a 4.60 GAA and an .830 save percentage in four regular-season contests this year.

That history has to keep Edmonton weary of its goaltending situation, though the Canucks have their own question marks in that department.

Thatcher Demko played a huge role in the Canucks’ regular season success, posting a 35-14-2 record, 2.45 GAA and .918 save percentage in 51 outings, so when he was labeled week-to-week after sustaining a knee injury following Game 1, it was unclear if the Canucks would be able to make it past Nashville. In the end, Arturs Silovs was the unlikely hero, earning a 1.70 GAA and a .938 save percentage in three first-round outings, including a 28-save shutout in the series-clinching Game 6 on Friday.

Can Silovs, who entered the playoffs with just nine NHL appearances under his belt, keep that up against the far more formable Oilers? Or will Demko return in time to make that question moot?

There are a lot of big questions to be answered going into this series.

KEY MATCHUPS

Connor McDavid vs. J.T. Miller

While it’s not really fair to compare McDavid and Miller, this matchup ultimately does pit the teams’ two top offensive producers against each other. If Miller ends up coming even close to matching McDavid’s second-round point total, then the Canucks will likely be in an excellent position. By the same token, Vancouver’s best chance at success involves limiting McDavid.

Edmonton is 3-8 in playoff games where McDavid played but was held off the scoresheet.

Evan Bouchard vs. Quinn Hughes

One individual matchup where Vancouver should have the edge is the battle of offensive defensemen. Although Bouchard made tremendous strides in 2023-24, contributing 18 goals and 82 points across 81 regular-season appearances, that still falls short of Hughes’ 92 points in 82 outings.

Hughes also has the better track record, ranking third among blueliners in points over the past three campaigns (236 points in 236 contests) while Bouchard is far behind in total production over that stretch (165 in 244). Still, both of them should have their moments in this series.

Zach Hyman vs. Brock Boeser

Going into the 2023-24 campaign, few would have guessed that Hyman and Boeser would lead their respective teams in goals. Hyman had set a career high with 36 markers in 2022-23, but that was overshadowed by Draisaitl (52) and McDavid (64). Meanwhile, Boeser entered the season having never reached the 30-goal milestone and falling short of even 25 in each campaign from 2019-20 through 2022-23.

Still, both of them enjoyed career years with Hyman supplying 54 tallies and Boeser finishing with 40. They’ve carried that success into the playoffs too. Boeser led Vancouver to victory in Game 4 with a hat trick while Hyman earned a hat trick of his own in Game 1. It’s likely that both of these two will come up big in the second round as well.

X-FACTOR

Vancouver Canucks: Goaltending is the big question mark for Vancouver. As already noted, it’s hard to count on Silovs to build off his recent success given his relative lack of NHL experience and the skill level of the Oilers. Demko returning would be huge for the Canucks, but at the time of writing, it’s still not clear when that will happen. Pettersson is the other big X-Factor for the Canucks after being limited to three assists in the first round. For what it’s worth, he did look great in the 2020 playoffs, providing seven goals and 18 points in 17 appearances, so it’s not like he has a history of postseason disappointment.

Edmonton Oilers: Given how badly Skinner struggled against Vancouver in the regular season, how he’ll perform in this series is a massive question mark. If he doesn’t do well, Calvin Pickard is still an option after posting a respectable 12-7-1 record, 2.45 GAA and .909 save percentage in 23 regular-season outings. There’s also that outside chance Jack Campbell, who did rebound with AHL Bakersfield to provide a 2.63 GAA and a .918 save percentage in 33 minor-league games, could see action in this series, but if Edmonton gets to that point, then things have probably already gone very wrong for the Oilers.

PREDICTION

Vancouver has a strong team this year, but Demko’s health creates such a huge potential hole. Even if he misses just one or two games, that could prove to be the difference in a tight series. Sure, Edmonton’s goaltending situation isn’t ideal either, but the main argument in favor of Vancouver is that the Canucks are the more balanced squad. If this series devolves into a shootout, then that likely favors Edmonton, even if just marginally.

I’m going to take Edmonton in 7, but Demko being 100 percent for the start of the series would shift the edge in Vancouver’s favor.

McKeen’s 2024 NHL Playoff Pool Picklist

Robert Howard — Sat, 20 Apr 2024 17:01:11 +0000

COLUMBUS, OH - FEBRUARY 25: Edmonton Oilers center Connor McDavid #97 prior to the game between the Columbus Blue Jackets and the Edmonton Oilers at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio on February 25, 2023. (Photo by Jason Mowry/Icon Sportswire)

In kicking off our 2024 NHL Playoff Pool coverage, Scott Cullen did an excellent breakdown of how to strategize for your pool. We recommend you give it a read and can link here.

The picklist below largely follows the strategy laid out in his article focusing on these broad categories – 1) Diversify 2) Stacking 3) First Round Winners 4) Power Play 5) Late Season Production 6) Injuries 7) Targeting playoff performers. Every playoff season will be different, of course, and simply following the Stanley Cup odds laid in many places including BetGM will provide a picture of which teams you should focus on with your picks to make the final, but the path to that result will vary. They currently have the Carolina Hurricanes (650) and the Colorado Avalanche (700) as odds on favourites to meet in the Stanley Cup Final, followed closely by Florida Panthers (700), Dallas Stars (800), Edmonton Oilers (800) and the New York Rangers (900).

If we look at McKeen’s team predictions for each of the first round series it becomes clear some teams have an easier path and their players will provide the best odds to play the most games. Lets look at how the brackets might shake out.

WESTERN CONFERENCE

Dallas Vs. Vegas – We have Dallas winning in seven in a very hard-fought battle. A deep Dallas team versus the defending Champion who boasts several high-profile additions to end the season.

Winnipeg Vs. Colorado – This should be another war with the potential of a Winnipeg upset if Connor Hellebuyck rises to the occasion and Georgiev continues his late season struggles. Colorado should triumph in seven games.

Second Round Matchup: Colorado vs Dallas - The winner of these two close series meet and it means one of the highly ranked Colorado or Dallas will eliminate each other in the second round, assuming no upset in the first.

Edmonton Vs. Los Angeles – Edmonton should have the depth and firepower to take Los Angeles in six as we have predicted.

Vancouver Vs. Nashville – We hesitate to underestimate Nashville again, and this could be a close contest, but feel confident Vancouver will take it in six.

Second Round Matchup: Edmonton vs Vancouver – This should make for a thrilling series, but McDavid and company looked on a mission in the second half and should proceed to the conference final in six.

Therefore, the conference final in the west is projected to be Edmonton versus Colorado or Dallas (two very closely matched teams).

EASTERN CONFRENCE

Florida Vs. Tampa Bay – The recent two-time Stanley Cup champion meets last year’s finalist in the first round. While Tampa’s core may be aging, they are still a real threat if they get rolling. Florida showed they know how to win in the playoffs last year as well. Two goaltenders who can steal a series may make this a potential upset, but Florida should prevail in six.

Boston Vs. Toronto – Old nemesis meet again in the first round. Boston has beaten Toronto consistently in the playoffs in recent years and won all head-to-head matchups this season. There are questions about both teams, but the series should go seven and really could go either way.

Second Round Matchup: Boston Vs. Florida – with both series offering potential upsets, Florida players are ranked higher than Boston, and have ranked some high scoring Leafs and reasonable picks given they could well make it to the second round and can provide a challenge for both teams.

Carolina Vs. New York Islanders – A deep Carolina team adding some significant pieces at the deadline and should beat the Islanders here in five games.

New York Rangers Vs. Washington – The Rangers should be heavy favourites in this series and should beat the Capital in five or six games.

Second Round Matchup: - Carolina vs New York Rangers – of the second-round matchups this is the one we are most comfortable predicting. It should be a close series with the Hurricanes moving on to the Conference Final against Florida.

The following picklist is based on those possible outcomes. The first round offers some interesting matchups that could leave a favourite or two on the outside looking in early. Stack up on the teams you feel have the best odds of taking the cup but understand there are always upsets. Looking at the above, the teams with the easiest path to the conference final are Edmonton and Carolina. Colorado and Dallas are favourites of both the oddsmakers and ourselves to win a cup, but one of them will bow out by the second round. Florida has depth but will have to go through Tampa and either Boston or Toronto.

Good luck whichever strategy you choose.

Subscribers can download an excel version of this list in subscriber downloads

RANK	Player	Team	Pos	GP	G	A	P	+/-	PIM	P/GP	EVG	EVP	PPG	PPP
1	Connor McDavid	EDM	C	76	32	100	132	35	30	1.74	24	87	7	44
2	Nathan MacKinnon	COL	C	82	51	89	140	35	42	1.71	41	92	10	48
3	Sebastian Aho	CAR	C	78	36	53	89	34	36	1.14	24	55	11	32
4	Jake Guentzel	CAR	C	67	30	47	77	25	22	1.15	25	55	5	22
5	Leon Draisaitl	EDM	C	81	41	65	106	26	76	1.31	20	65	21	39
6	Mikko Rantanen	COL	R	80	42	62	104	19	50	1.3	28	64	14	40
7	Cale Makar	COL	D	77	21	69	90	15	16	1.17	13	47	7	39
8	Sam Reinhart	FLA	C	82	57	37	94	29	31	1.15	25	55	27	34
9	Matthew Tkachuk	FLA	L	80	26	62	88	19	88	1.1	19	55	6	32
10	Aleksander Barkov	FLA	C	73	23	57	80	33	24	1.1	18	49	5	29
11	Artemi Panarin	NYR	L	82	49	71	120	18	24	1.46	38	75	11	44
12	Jason Robertson	DAL	L	82	29	51	80	19	22	0.98	20	52	9	28
13	Roope Hintz	DAL	C	80	30	35	65	26	22	0.81	19	42	8	19
14	Seth Jarvis	CAR	C	81	33	34	67	23	14	0.83	18	44	13	20
15	Andrei Svechnikov	CAR	R	59	19	33	52	13	58	0.88	14	35	5	17
16	Evan Bouchard	EDM	D	81	18	64	82	34	32	1.01	10	47	8	35
17	Zach Hyman	EDM	L	80	54	23	77	36	48	0.96	39	57	15	20
18	Valeri Nichushkin	COL	R	54	28	25	53	5	22	0.98	12	30	16	21
19	Nikita Kucherov	TBL	R	81	44	100	144	8	22	1.78	31	91	13	53
20	Auston Matthews	TOR	C	81	69	38	107	31	20	1.32	51	77	18	29
21	David Pastrnak	BOS	R	82	47	63	110	21	47	1.34	35	75	12	35
22	Jack Eichel	VGK	C	63	31	37	68	4	27	1.08	20	44	11	22
23	Ryan Nugent-Hopkins	EDM	C	80	18	49	67	10	36	0.84	14	38	4	26
24	Joe Pavelski	DAL	C	82	27	40	67	12	20	0.82	16	46	11	21
25	Matt Duchene	DAL	C	80	25	40	65	15	20	0.81	19	49	6	16
26	Mika Zibanejad	NYR	C	81	26	46	72	15	30	0.89	12	35	12	31
27	Martin Necas	CAR	C	77	24	29	53	-9	42	0.69	16	40	8	13
28	Vincent Trocheck	NYR	C	82	25	52	77	16	55	0.94	13	52	11	24
29	Chris Kreider	NYR	L	82	39	36	75	19	26	0.91	19	41	18	29
30	William Nylander	TOR	R	82	40	58	98	1	24	1.2	26	59	11	35
31	Mitch Marner	TOR	R	69	26	59	85	21	18	1.23	17	57	8	27
32	Adam Fox	NYR	D	72	17	56	73	21	36	1.01	10	38	6	33
33	Miro Heiskanen	DAL	D	71	9	45	54	8	36	0.76	7	33	2	21
34	Carter Verhaeghe	FLA	C	76	34	38	72	17	36	0.95	26	51	8	21
35	Mark Stone	VGK	R	56	16	37	53	1	22	0.95	10	35	4	14
36	Wyatt Johnston	DAL	C	82	32	33	65	14	38	0.79	26	52	3	10
37	Casey Mittelstadt	COL	C	80	18	39	57	10	32	0.71	15	48	3	9
38	Jonathan Drouin	COL	L	79	19	37	56	12	28	0.71	14	37	5	19
39	Artturi Lehkonen	COL	L	45	16	18	34	11	14	0.76	9	22	7	12
40	Sam Bennett	FLA	C	69	20	21	41	17	100	0.59	15	29	5	12
41	Vladimir Tarasenko	FLA	R	76	23	32	55	13	12	0.72	20	46	3	9
42	Jamie Benn	DAL	L	82	21	39	60	8	41	0.73	13	35	7	22
43	Tyler Seguin	DAL	C	68	25	27	52	10	26	0.76	22	42	3	8
44	J.T. Miller	VAN	C	81	37	66	103	32	58	1.27	25	61	10	40
45	Quinn Hughes	VAN	D	82	17	75	92	38	38	1.12	12	54	5	38
46	Elias Pettersson	VAN	C	82	34	55	89	20	12	1.09	21	56	13	31
47	Brad Marchand	BOS	L	82	29	38	67	2	78	0.82	19	37	7	26
48	Charlie Coyle	BOS	C	82	25	35	60	-2	38	0.73	17	44	7	11
49	Jonathan Marchessault	VGK	R	82	42	27	69	-2	40	0.84	34	52	8	17
50	Tomas Hertl	VGK	C	54	17	21	38	-28	22	0.7	10	26	6	11
51	Teuvo Teravainen	CAR	L	76	25	28	53	15	10	0.7	15	32	9	17
52	Mason Marchment	DAL	L	81	22	31	53	22	54	0.65	16	42	6	11
53	Thomas Harley	DAL	D	79	15	32	47	28	18	0.59	13	37	1	9
54	John Tavares	TOR	C	80	29	36	65	2	30	0.81	20	45	9	20
55	Pavel Zacha	BOS	C	78	21	38	59	12	18	0.76	15	44	6	15
56	Brayden Point	TBL	C	81	46	44	90	-16	14	1.11	31	58	15	32
57	Steven Stamkos	TBL	C	79	40	41	81	-21	34	1.03	21	42	19	39
58	Victor Hedman	TBL	D	78	13	63	76	18	76	0.97	9	45	4	31
59	Brandon Hagel	TBL	L	82	26	49	75	1	79	0.91	24	66	2	7
60	Evander Kane	EDM	L	77	24	20	44	-4	85	0.57	21	36	2	7
61	Logan Stankoven	DAL	C	24	6	8	14	10	4	0.58	5	12	1	2
62	Devon Toews	COL	D	82	12	38	50	28	18	0.61	12	43	0	5
63	Charlie McAvoy	BOS	D	74	12	35	47	4	86	0.64	11	34	1	13
64	Morgan Rielly	TOR	D	72	7	51	58	7	27	0.81	6	38	1	20
65	Brock Boeser	VAN	R	81	40	33	73	23	14	0.9	24	48	16	25
66	Alexis Lafrenière	NYR	L	82	28	29	57	2	40	0.7	26	51	2	6
67	Mark Scheifele	WPG	C	74	25	47	72	19	57	0.97	19	54	6	18
68	Kyle Connor	WPG	L	65	34	27	61	-6	6	0.94	29	42	5	19
69	Chandler Stephenson	VGK	C	75	16	35	51	-9	25	0.68	10	35	4	13
70	Mattias Ekholm	EDM	D	79	11	34	45	44	47	0.57	8	41	2	3
71	Josh Morrissey	WPG	D	81	10	59	69	34	44	0.85	8	50	2	19
72	Ross Colton	COL	C	80	17	23	40	-8	61	0.5	14	35	3	5
73	Warren Foegele	EDM	L	82	20	21	41	3	47	0.5	18	38	1	1
74	Brady Skjei	CAR	D	80	13	34	47	15	40	0.59	11	31	1	12
75	Brent Burns	CAR	D	82	10	33	43	19	20	0.52	5	22	4	20
76	William Karlsson	VGK	C	70	30	30	60	15	22	0.86	22	43	7	15
77	Shea Theodore	VGK	D	47	5	37	42	4	6	0.89	3	27	2	15
78	Filip Forsberg	NSH	L	82	48	46	94	16	43	1.15	35	62	13	32
79	Roman Josi	NSH	D	82	23	62	85	12	45	1.04	14	51	9	33
80	Sean Monahan	WPG	C	83	26	33	59	-1	12	0.71	15	36	9	21
81	Gustav Forsling	FLA	D	79	10	29	39	56	43	0.49	9	37	1	2
82	Brandon Montour	FLA	D	66	8	25	33	1	46	0.5	7	16	1	17
83	Mathew Barzal	NYI	C	80	23	57	80	-4	34	1	18	55	5	25
84	Noah Dobson	NYI	D	79	10	60	70	12	36	0.89	9	45	1	24
85	Nikolaj Ehlers	WPG	L	82	25	36	61	27	29	0.74	25	54	0	7
86	Tyler Toffoli	WPG	C	79	33	22	55	-6	14	0.7	22	37	11	18
87	Cole Perfetti	WPG	C	71	19	19	38	13	12	0.54	14	27	5	11
88	Gabriel Vilardi	WPG	C	47	22	14	36	11	14	0.77	13	22	9	14
89	Anthony Duclair	TBL	L	73	24	18	42	-8	34	0.58	19	30	5	12
90	Brock Nelson	NYI	C	82	34	35	69	-5	28	0.84	24	48	9	19
91	Bo Horvat	NYI	C	81	33	35	68	-1	39	0.84	22	48	10	18
92	Adrian Kempe	LAK	R	77	28	47	75	13	72	0.97	20	44	5	27
93	Kevin Fiala	LAK	L	82	29	44	73	1	62	0.89	18	43	11	30
94	Anze Kopitar	LAK	C	81	26	44	70	11	22	0.86	16	44	9	23
95	Jake DeBrusk	BOS	L	80	19	21	40	4	18	0.5	15	28	2	10
96	Tyler Bertuzzi	TOR	L	80	21	22	43	2	53	0.54	16	37	5	6
97	Ivan Barbashev	VGK	C	82	19	26	45	15	42	0.55	16	40	3	5
98	Gustav Nyquist	NSH	C	81	23	52	75	7	8	0.93	17	49	5	24
99	Ryan O'Reilly	NSH	C	82	26	43	69	6	18	0.84	12	41	14	28
100	Max Domi	TOR	C	80	9	38	47	10	118	0.59	8	45	1	2

NHL: DADOUN – THE FANTASY WEEK AHEAD (March 4th to 10th) – NHL Trade Deadline looming – Favourable schedules and players to target

Ryan Dadoun — Sun, 03 Mar 2024 15:00:06 +0000

_{OTTAWA, ON - FEBRUARY 10: Pittsburgh Penguins Left Wing Jake Guentzel (59) skates during the third period of the NHL game between the Ottawa Senators and the Pittsburgh Penguins on February 10, 2022 at the Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Steven Kingsman/Icon Sportswire)}

Although the trade season started a little early with Vancouver acquiring Elias Lindholm on Jan. 31 and Winnipeg getting Sean Monahan on Feb. 2, we haven’t seen a flurry of moves yet. In fact, there have been just two deals this week with defenseman Chris Tanev getting a new home in Dallas and the Maple Leafs adding a much-needed right-handed shooting blueliner in Ilya Lyubushkin.

The hold-up is likely due to possible sellers giving their teams more time to potentially climb into a playoff spot before finally determining their fate. The Penguins, for example, have presumably been waiting to see where Pittsburgh shakes out in the standings before deciding what to do about Jake Guentzel.

General managers won’t have the luxury of time for much longer, though. The trade deadline is this coming Friday. There have been reports that certain players won’t be moved, most notably Minnesota’s Marc-Andre Fleury and Calgary’s Jacob Markstrom, but that aside, we’re still likely in for an incredibly busy deadline.

I’ll discuss some of the fallout of that next week, but in the meantime, let’s examine some teams with favorable schedules for the week ahead.

Arizona Coyotes - TUE VS CHI, THU VS MIN, FRI VS DET (BTB), SUN @ CHI

Arizona suffered its 14th straight defeat in a 4-2 loss to Toronto on Thursday – albeit with two of the losses in that span going to overtime. The Coyotes had a reasonable shot of making the playoffs before this slump, but that’s no longer the case, so they’ll likely be sellers at the trade deadline.

If there’s any silver lining, it’s that the Coyotes’ upcoming schedule isn’t too bad. They’ll play against Chicago twice – at home Tuesday and on the road Sunday – which is one of the few teams with a worse record than Arizona. The Coyotes’ other games will be tougher, but at least they’ll be at home. Arizona will host Minnesota on Thursday and Detroit on Friday.

The Coyotes have almost no players doing particularly well, which isn’t surprising given their recent record, but the main exception is Matias Maccelli. The 23-year-old forward is on a six-game scoring streak in which he’s provided two goals and six points. It helps that he’s logged a minimum of 19:40 of ice time in each of his last three contests compared to his season average of 16:36. With Arizona out of the playoffs anyway, it might as well give the young forward plenty of experience, especially with him rewarding the Coyotes for their trust.

In terms of who Arizona might trade, keep in mind that defensemen Matt Dumba, Josh Brown, Troy Stecher and Travis Dermott are all set to become unrestricted free agents this summer, so the blue line could look considerably different by next weekend. That might result in Michael Kesselring seeing a significant jump in ice time. The 24-year-old has four goals and 13 points in 42 contests, so he’s not a strong offensive option, but he is a solid source of PIM with 41.

We also might see the Coyotes give Victor Soderstrom a long look after the trade deadline. Taken with the No. 11 overall pick in the 2019 NHL Draft, he’s been unable to establish himself at the top level but has provided eight goals, 24 points and 30 PIM in 46 appearances with AHL Tucson this year. We also might see forward Josh Doan, who leads the Roadrunners with 36 points (21 goals) in 50 contests, make his NHL debut before the season ends. While neither is likely to have immediate fantasy value, both are worth keeping an eye on.

Chicago Blackhawks - MON @ COL, TUE @ ARI (BTB), SAT @ WSH, SUN VS ARI (BTB)

Although the Blackhawks are a dreadful 15-40-5, as noted above, they will face Arizona twice next week – on the road on Tuesday and at home on Sunday. Chicago is also scheduled to play in Colorado on Monday and in Washington on Saturday.

Connor Bedard is going through a bit of a rough patch with just an assist over his past four games, but the slump shouldn’t last long. He might be just 18 years old, but Bedard has already demonstrated he can excel in the NHL with 17 goals and 40 points in 46 contests this year.

Bedard has been consistent too, his recent slump notwithstanding. By contrast, Philipp Kurashev has been far streakier. Kurashev’s campaign can basically be divided up into a series of hot-and-cold stretches: from Oct. 24-Nov. 24 (12 points in 12 games), Nov. 26-Dec. 22 (five in 13), Dec. 23-31 (four in five), Jan. 2-27 (two in 14), Feb. 7-19 (eight in six) and most recently his four-game slump. It makes him a frustrating option for fantasy managers, but one who can pay off handsomely if you time his usage right. Be sure to keep an eye out and jump on early when he starts heating up again.

One player worth using in the meantime is Nick Foligno. He’s not typically a major offensive force, but the 36-year-old has been playing like one recently, collecting five goals and nine points over his last 10 appearances.

Dallas Stars - TUE @ SJS, FRI @ ANA, SAT @ LAK (BTB)

Dallas has a lighter week than most of the other featured teams with just three games on the schedule and the Stars will spend the full stretch on the road. However, their competition is mostly favorable with contests scheduled against the lowly Sharks and Ducks on Tuesday and Friday, respectively. Dallas will conclude the week against LA on Saturday, which presently occupies the second wild-card spot with a 29-19-10 record.

Tyler Seguin has missed Dallas’ past four games due to a lower-body injury that he apparently had been playing through for a while. The idea he wasn’t 100 percent makes his 20 goals and 45 points through 58 appearances all the more impressive, but he might not be an option next week. As a result, Logan Stankoven has been summoned from AHL Texas and received ample playing time.

The 21-year-old has taken advantage of the opportunity, scoring three goals and four points in four contests. He was outstanding with Texas too, supplying 24 goals and 57 points through 47 outings. It’s still early in his career, but he’s looking like a potential steal at No. 27 overall in the 2021 NHL Draft. Stankoven’s fall to the middle of the second round likely had a lot to do with a combination of him being undersized at 5-foot-8 and the small sample size in his draft year because the WHL campaign was delayed until Feb. 26, 2021, due to the pandemic.

It’s plausible that Stankoven will remain with the team even after Seguin’s return. Should that happen, we might see Sam Steel drop out of the top nine when everyone is healthy. Steel has seven goals and 18 points in 56 contests this year, so he shouldn’t factor into too many fantasy teams, but if you’re in an especially deep league, you may want to get comfortable with the idea that Steel’s production will decline further in the final weeks of the campaign. Similarly, Evgenii Dadonov (lower body) might struggle to find a great role once he’s healthy should Stankoven perform well enough to entrench himself into the top nine.

Edmonton Oilers - TUE @ BOS, THU @ CBJ, SAT @ BUF, SUN @ PIT (BTB)

The Oilers will be on the road next week and open with a difficult matchup against the Bruins on Tuesday. Fortunately, the competition afterward is more manageable with games scheduled in Columbus on Thursday, Buffalo on Saturday and Pittsburgh on Sunday.

Zach Hyman is on a six-game goal-scoring streak, providing eight tallies and nine points in that span. That’s brought him up to the 40-goal milestone, making him the first Oilers player to reach that mark with the obvious exception of Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid since 1990-91, per the NHL. He’s also the 11th player dating back to the 1999-00 campaign to score at least 40 goals after being selected in the fifth round or later, Hockey Reference noted. What an absolute steal Hyman’s turned out to be at his $5.5 million cap hit.

As great as he’s been, though, McDavid’s statsline over his past nine games is so good it looks like a typo. Although he has just one goal in that span, the superstar has provided 22 assists. His 94 points (22 goals) through 55 games still trails Nathan MacKinnon (100 points) and Nikita Kucherov (104), but McDavid is closing the gap.

Those are the Oilers players you expect to put up strong numbers offensively, though. One more surprising contributor of late has been Mattias Ekholm. The defenseman has six assists over his past seven games, bringing him up to four goals and 25 points in 56 appearances overall. The 33-year-old’s hot streak might last a little longer, but he’ll likely fall meaningfully shy of the 40-point mark this season, partially because he’s limited to the second power-play unit.

Florida Panthers - MON @ NYR, TUE @ NJD (BTB), THU VS PHI, SAT VS CGY

The Panthers will open the week with road games against the Rangers on Monday and the Devils on Tuesday. After that, Florida will head home and host the Flyers on Thursday and the Flames on Saturday. That’s not the easiest of competition, but it’s not the hardest either. With the exception of the Rangers, those are middling adversaries.

Regardless of the opponent, Florida has demonstrated that it can keep up. The Panthers are 40-16-4 this season and are red hot, winning 13 of its last 15 games. That’s despite Sam Reinhart going through a seven-game goal-scoring drought from Feb. 14-27. The 28-year-old found the back of the net Thursday, though, to reach the 40-goal milestone for the first time in his career. Now that he’s shaken off that slow patch, it wouldn’t be surprising if Reinhart gets on another run. His goals have mostly come in bunches this year with him scoring eight in seven contests from Oct. 14-30, five in five appearances from Nov. 8-16 and his incredible run of 22 tallies in 22 games from Dec. 18-Feb. 10.

Brandon Montour hasn’t enjoyed the same type of offensive success as Reinhart in this campaign. In fact, while Reinhart has set a personal best in goals, Montour has dropped from 73 points in 2022-23 to five goals and 22 points across 44 outings this year. He might be in for a strong conclusion to the season, though, based on his recent play. The 29-year-old defenseman has provided three goals and 10 points over his last six appearances. He plays on the top power-play unit and five of his points in that span have come with the man advantage.

If you’re looking for a goaltender to briefly add for a spot start, consider Anthony Stolarz. He’ll likely get one-half of the back-to-back against the Rangers and the Devils. While that’s stiff competition, Stolarz is among the league’s top backups with an 11-5-2 record, 2.02 GAA and .924 save percentage in 19 contests, so it’s typically good to make use of him whenever you can anticipate him starting.

Nashville Predators - TUE VS MTL, THU VS BUF, SAT @ CBJ, SUN @ MIN (BTB)

The Predators are on an incredible seven-game winning streak, which has gone a long way toward securing their postseason berth. Nashville will look to stay hot as it hosts the Canadiens on Tuesday and the Sabres on Thursday. The Predators will then visit Columbus on Saturday and Minnesota on Sunday. None of those adversaries are in a playoff position, so this is a good opportunity for Nashville to pick up points.

It’ll help if Gustav Nyquist can stay hot. He’s provided four goals and 10 points during Nashville’s seven-game winning streak and seems to be only getting better with five points over his last two contests alone. That’s propelled him to 16 goals and 51 points in 61 appearances this season. At this point, it wouldn’t be surprising to see him surpass his career high of 60 points.

Thomas Novak hasn’t had the same kind of big games Nyquist has enjoyed recently, but Novak’s been a steady contributor lately. The 26-year-old has been held off the scoresheet just twice over his last 12 games, accumulating four goals and 11 points in that span. Like Nyquist, Novak has a realistic shot at setting a new career high. His current personal best is 43 points, and he’s presently at 12 goals and 32 points in 50 outings this year.

Roman Josi probably won’t set a new career high in points, but that’s only because it would be extraordinarily hard for a defenseman to surpass his mark of 96 points, set in 2021-22. He’s still having another amazing season regardless with 15 goals and 60 points through 61 outings. Josi has also been superb recently, collecting four goals and 10 points over his past six contests. He’s probably not going to catch up to Quinn Hughes (12 goals, 70 points) in the blueliner scoring race, but Josi is a strong contender to finish in the top five.

New York Islanders - TUE VS STL, THU @ SJS, SUN @ ANA

I’m highlighting the Islanders’ three-game schedule over alternatives set to play four contests next week because New York’s competition is struggling. They’ll host the Blues on Tuesday and then begin a road trip with games in San Jose on Thursday and Anaheim on Sunday. The Ducks and the Sharks are in the bottom rung of the league’s standings while St. Louis is okay, but outside of a playoff spot with its 30-26-3 record.

Those three adversaries are also unimposing offensively with St. Louis’ 2.86 goals per game (25th in the league) being the strongest among them. That sets the stage for Ilya Sorokin to have a strong week. He’s having a down campaign overall with a 19-13-11 record, 3.11 GAA and .909 save percentage in 43 games, so lighter competition should help him.

It’s worth noting that the Islanders have been increasingly leaning on Sorokin over Semyon Varlamov, to the point where Varlamov made just two starts in February. With that in mind, it’s entirely plausible that Sorokin will start in all three contests next week. Varlamov is in the first season of a four-year, $11 million contract, so his tenure with the Islanders is far from over, but the fact that New York is deploying Sorokin this frequently even during a bit of a rough year for the starter just goes to firmly established that Varlamov at this stage is exclusively seen as a No. 2 and doesn’t even get more time than your typical backup.

The relatively weak competition might also help Brock Nelson extend his hot streak. The 32-year-old forward has six goals and eight points over his past eight contests. He found another level in 2022-23 with 36 markers and 75 points in 82 games, and while Nelson hasn’t quite replicated those results, he hasn’t taken a significant step back either.

Pittsburgh Penguins - TUE VS CBJ, THU VS WSH, SAT @ BOS, SUN VS EDM (BTB)

The Penguins continue to play without Jake Guentzel (upper body) and more recently Bryan Rust (upper body), but Pittsburgh has done its best to stay effective despite that, winning three of its last four games. Still, the 27-22-8 Penguins are eight points back in the wild-card race as they gear up for a busy week.

Pittsburgh will host the Blue Jackets on Tuesday and the Capitals on Thursday. The Penguins will then go on the road, facing the Bruins on Saturday and the Oilers on Sunday.

Guentzel won’t be back next week and will have already played his last game with Pittsburgh if the organization decides to trade the pending free agent. Rust, who is signed through 2027-28, is unlikely to be dealt, but he also might not return next week.

That leaves Reilly Smith and Rickard Rakell as Sidney Crosby’s wingers. That’s obviously a great assignment to have, especially with Crosby doing everything he can to keep the Penguins’ playoff hopes alive. Over the past seven contests, the superstar has provided four goals and 10 points, which brings Crosby up to 32 markers and 62 points in 57 outings this year.

The trickle-down effect of those injuries has also resulted in Valtteri Puustinen playing on the second line and first power-play unit. Despite being taken in the seventh round of the 2019 draft, the 24-year-old has demonstrated some offensive capabilities, providing 59 points at the AHL level last season and following that up with two goals and 12 points in 27 games with Pittsburgh this campaign while averaging a modest 11:27 of ice time. With his role increasing, Puustinen is worth taking a chance on in fantasy leagues.