This article is part of our NHL Barometer series.
This week's article includes the other center in Tampa, Andreas who, Yandle with a handle from the point and a scoring winger struggling in Minnesota.
First Liners (Risers)
Tyler Johnson, C, TB – With all the other big names in Tampa, Johnson gets lost in the shuffle, but he does have a place on most fantasy squads. His goal and assist Saturday gave Johnson five points in his last six games and 22 in 31 this season. Johnson will likely never score 72 like he did in 2014-15, but 50-plus seems well within reason.
Phil Kessel, RW, PIT – Kessel isn't lighting up the scoreboard with several multi-point efforts as he did last season when he scored 92 points, but he may end up even more productive at the end of the capaign. Saturday was Kessel's first multi-point effort since Nov. 17, but he's done a good job returning value in the meantime with points in six of the nine games in between. With 33 points through 29 contests, Kessel is (relatively) quietly on pace to exceed his point production of a year ago and could challenge triple digits with a few real hot stretches of play.
Andreas Johnsson, RW, TOR – Johnsson has 13 points in 25 points, but most of that output has occurred in the last two weeks. He has five goals and the same number of assists in his last six games playing alongside Auston Matthews and Kasperi Kapanen. If Johnsson remains
This week's article includes the other center in Tampa, Andreas who, Yandle with a handle from the point and a scoring winger struggling in Minnesota.
First Liners (Risers)
Tyler Johnson, C, TB – With all the other big names in Tampa, Johnson gets lost in the shuffle, but he does have a place on most fantasy squads. His goal and assist Saturday gave Johnson five points in his last six games and 22 in 31 this season. Johnson will likely never score 72 like he did in 2014-15, but 50-plus seems well within reason.
Phil Kessel, RW, PIT – Kessel isn't lighting up the scoreboard with several multi-point efforts as he did last season when he scored 92 points, but he may end up even more productive at the end of the capaign. Saturday was Kessel's first multi-point effort since Nov. 17, but he's done a good job returning value in the meantime with points in six of the nine games in between. With 33 points through 29 contests, Kessel is (relatively) quietly on pace to exceed his point production of a year ago and could challenge triple digits with a few real hot stretches of play.
Andreas Johnsson, RW, TOR – Johnsson has 13 points in 25 points, but most of that output has occurred in the last two weeks. He has five goals and the same number of assists in his last six games playing alongside Auston Matthews and Kasperi Kapanen. If Johnsson remains on that line, especially with Matthews, then he should remain productive.
Andrew Shaw, RW, MTL – RotoWire's update on Shaw after Thursday's game shows just how hot the winger has been recently. "Since joining the line with Max Domi and Jonathan Drouin, Shaw has 14 points (seven goal, seven assists) over the last 14 games, including an assist while skating on the third line." Shaw likely should not be moved from the line any time soon, putting him on track to potentially surpass his career-high 39 points from his Chicago days.
Keith Yandle, FLA, D – Yandle continued his strong early-season play with a goal and two assists Saturday against the Rangers. Those three points gave the offensive-minded blueliner 28 points in as many games this season. With elite forwards and Aaron Ekblad on the power play, Yandle should continue to rack up man-advantage points and could challenge his career high of 59 points set way back in 2010-11 with the Coyotes.
Torey Krug, BOS, D – Krug missed the first 10 games of the campaign while working his way back from an ankle injury, but he has made up for lost time since returning. The diminutive blueliner is up to 15 points in just 18 games this season after tallying a goal and two assists Saturday. Krug, who notched a career-high 59 points last season, more than helped Boston cope for the recent absence of Charlie McAvoy, as well.
Mike Smith, G, CGY – Smith got off to a horrific start, resulting in losing his starting job to David Rittich. How quickly the tide can change. Smith is 6-0-0 with a 1.59 GAA and .936 save percentage in his last six starts, including five straight games between the pipes. His overall numbers are still subpar, but Calgary appears to have turned back to Smith as its starter. If Smith can even be moderately effective in net, he should rack up wins with a strong Flames team in front of him.
Casey DeSmith G, PIT – While Matt Murray has been sidelined, prior to Monday's game, DeSmith went 4-1-1 with a 2.50 GAA and .921 save percentage and was 8-4-4 with marks of 2.43 and .923. He bolstered those stats, allowing one goal on 26 shots in a shootout win Monday against the Islanders. Murray has proven to be injury-prone, so don't cut bait on DeSmith when Murray comes back, which is expected to be soon. Tristan Jarry is also in the mix, but DeSmith is clearly the second in line to Murray.
Others include: Aleksander Barkov, Elias Pettersson, Dylan Strome, Brock Boeser, Connor McDavid, David Krejci, Bo Horvat, Ryan Dzingel, Jack Eichel, Leon Draisaitl, Nathan MacKinnon, Brayden Point, Dylan Larkin, Mike Hoffman, David Backes, Alex Ovechkin, Mark Stone, Evgenii Dadonov, Gustav Nyquist, Josh Leivo, Pontus Aberg, Timo Meier, Ondrej Kase, Jonathan Huberdeau, Max Pacioretty, Claude Giroux, Roman Josi, Shea Weber, Oscar Klefbom, Erik Karlsson, Ryan Murray, Thomas Chabot, Aaron Ekblad, Jake Allen (at least until this past Sunday), Connor Hellebuyck, Frederik Andersen and Louis Domingue.
Buy Low
Kevin Hayes, NYR, C – Hayes notched two assists, one at even-strength and a beautiful feed short-handed, Saturday against the Panthers. That pair of helpers gave the Boston product 14 on the year to go along with just five goals in 29 games. The rationale for including him on this part of the column was in the note on Hayes after Saturday's game: "His shooting percentage is half of what it was last season and is five percent under his career mark. Hayes should see that rate balance out, and that means more goals are to come." Hayes went on to score twice against the Lightning on Monday.
Training Room (Injuries)
Andrei Vasilevskiy, G, TB – Vasilevskiy, sidelined with a broken foot since Nov. 12, may return as a backup Sunday. Louis Domingue has played well in Vasilevskiy's stead, allowing Tampa to slow his return to the crease if need be. It may take a week or two before Vasilevskiy is ready to assume full-time duty, but his return is near.
Others include: Sean Couturier (lower body, at out second straight game Sunday), Mikko Koivu (sprained MCL and hamstring injury, could be held out for three weeks), Paul Stastny (lower body, close to returning, traveling with Las Vegas on their upcoming four-game road trip), Mikael Backlund (undisclosed, placed on injured reserve), Mats Zuccarello (groin, remains sidelined), Jaden Schwartz (upper body, didn't play in Sunday's game, the 11th straight he has missed), Tom Wilson (concussion, missed Saturday's game), Matt Murray (lower body, traveling with the Penguins on their three-game road trip, is close to returning to practice), Antti Raanta (lower body injury, out indefinitely), Darcy Kuemper (lower-body injury, on verge of return, worth a look with Raanta possibly out the rest of the season) and Curtis McElhinney (lower body, placed on injured reserve Sunday retroactive to Dec. 5).
Fourth Liners/Press Boxers (Fallers)
Tyler Bozak, C, STL – Bozak, who signed a three-year, $15 million deal with St. Louis in July of 2018, has been an unmitigated disaster recently. The Blues also acquired Ryan O'Reilly heading into this season, and with Brayden Schenn as the No. 2 center, Bozak's value diminished come October. However, even with low expectations, Bozak has not even reached that level, as he is scoreless in his last 10 games and has just three goals and eight assists in 27.
Jason Zucker, RW, MIN – Zucker parlayed a monster season featuring 34 goals and 33 assists into a five-year, $27.5 million contract extension with Minnesota last July. With that deal came increased expectations, and early on, signs pointed to Zucker matching that output. Lately, however, he has struggled, scoring just three goals in his last 10 games to give him nine markers in 29 contests on the year.
Samuel Girard, D, COL – Girard notched 23 points as a 19-year-old after coming over to Colorado as part of a blockbuster deal that sent Matt Duchene to the Senators last season. He is off to a reasonably strong start with 12 points in 30 games but has hit the skids lately. Girard is scoreless in five games and has just a goal and a pair of assists in 12 contests. His upside is still tremendous, so clearly hold onto him in keeper/dynasty leagues, but you may wait to cut bait in traditional season-long formats.
Others include: Brett Howden, Mathew Barzal, Lars Eller, Danton Heinen, Derek Stepan, Bryan Little, Anthony Duclair, Drake Batherson, Kyle Okposo, Oskar Lindblom, Brandan Saad, Jordan Eberle, Vladimir Tarasenko, Dennis Cholowski, Brent Seabrook, Jonas Brodin, Keith Kinkaid, Devan Dubnyk and Corey Crawford.
Sell High
Sergei Bobrovsky, G, CLM – A restricted free agent after the season, Bobrovsky isn't having the kind of year needed to secure a big money payday. He was pulled again Saturday, and Bob has surrendered at least three goals in five of his last six games. Columbus' top netminder still has a winning record (11-10-0), but his save percentage is now .898, which coupled with a 3.14 GAA, leaves a lot to be desired. Sell high only if you get an attractive offer that fills multiple needs.
