This article is part of our NHL Barometer series.
This week's article includes the lesser-known top forward in Vancouver, the Rust scratched off in Pittsburgh, this year's top overall pick excelling in Buffalo, Boston's No. 1 center back in action and a former star fading out in Big D.
Also, enjoy the World Junior Championship, which starts Wednesday.
First Liners (Risers)
Bo Horvat, C, VAN – Much of the focus up front in Vancouver has rightly been on Elias Pettersson. However, Horvat, drafted with the ninth pick in 2013 and acquired by the Canucks from the Devils for Cory Schneider, showed signs the last two seasons of taking a step forward. He is putting it all together in his fifth season in the NHL, notching 17 goals and as many assists in 39 games, putting him on pace to far exceed his career high of 52 points.
Phillip Danault, C, MTL – The Habs' second-line center is likely not owned in most shallow leagues due to his spotty production, but in medium and deeper leagues, he has a role. Now with five goals and 17 assists on the season, Danault is on pace for 49 points, which would exceed his career high from two years ago. One caveat is that Jesperi Kotkaniemi could swap line placements with Danault, which would likely result in a marked drop in production.
Alex DeBrincat, LW, CHI – DeBrincat, selected 39th overall in 2016, led the Blackhawks in goals (28) as a rookie while totaling 52 points in 82
This week's article includes the lesser-known top forward in Vancouver, the Rust scratched off in Pittsburgh, this year's top overall pick excelling in Buffalo, Boston's No. 1 center back in action and a former star fading out in Big D.
Also, enjoy the World Junior Championship, which starts Wednesday.
First Liners (Risers)
Bo Horvat, C, VAN – Much of the focus up front in Vancouver has rightly been on Elias Pettersson. However, Horvat, drafted with the ninth pick in 2013 and acquired by the Canucks from the Devils for Cory Schneider, showed signs the last two seasons of taking a step forward. He is putting it all together in his fifth season in the NHL, notching 17 goals and as many assists in 39 games, putting him on pace to far exceed his career high of 52 points.
Phillip Danault, C, MTL – The Habs' second-line center is likely not owned in most shallow leagues due to his spotty production, but in medium and deeper leagues, he has a role. Now with five goals and 17 assists on the season, Danault is on pace for 49 points, which would exceed his career high from two years ago. One caveat is that Jesperi Kotkaniemi could swap line placements with Danault, which would likely result in a marked drop in production.
Alex DeBrincat, LW, CHI – DeBrincat, selected 39th overall in 2016, led the Blackhawks in goals (28) as a rookie while totaling 52 points in 82 contests. He has quickly showed that he isn't a flash in the pan, as he is already up to 31 points (17 goals, 14 assists) in 39 games. DeBrincat's ice time is up nearly three minutes a game, with a third of that time coming with the man advantage. He bounces between the top three lines but is a fixture on the top power-play unit, affording the chance to rack up points.
Bryan Rust, LW, PIT – Rust is officially hot — he had one goal in the first 29 games then eight in his last six contests heading into Saturday night. He failed to score Saturday but posted assists on two of the Penguins' three goals. Rust tallied 15 and 13 markers the last two seasons, so his current streak looks like an aberration, but you never know, especially since Rust is to the right of Sidney Crosby.
Evgenii Dadonov, LW, FLA – Dadonov continued his fine play Saturday, notching his 17th goal of the season, in addition to 17 assists in 35 games. After five seasons away from the NHL, Dadonov returned in fine fashion last season, posting 28 goals and 37 assists, far exceeding his production his first 55 games at this level. Skating on a line with Aleksander Barkov and Jonathan Huberdeau, Dadonov should continue to rack up points and could exceed the 65 points he tallied last season.
Rasmus Dahlin, D, BUF – Rookies are more NHL-ready than ever. Dahlin is proof of this, as he is a top-four blueliner skating more than 20 minutes a night. He has shown ability in all phases of the game, tallying his fourth goal of the season Saturday. Add in 16 assists, and Dahlin is on pace to tally more than 40 points as an 18-year old.
Charlie McAvoy, D, BOS – Injuries have limited McAvoy to 16 games and nine points. McAvoy didn't hit the scoresheet for four straight games after returning from a concussion on Dec. 6, but he's now picked up five points (all helpers) in his last six contests. McAvoy pairs with Torey Krug to provide Boston with top-notch blue-line production on the power play, as well.
Jacob Markstrom, G, VAN – The Canucks have been waiting for Markstrom to grab a firm grasp on the top netminder role in Vancouver. His recent play has made him the No. 1 option over Anders Nilsson between the pipes for the Orcas. Markstrom, heading into Saturday's game, has reeled off six straight wins, posting a 1.67 GAA and .942 save percentage. He was solid again Saturday, allowing just one goal on 24 shots in a 1-0 loss to the Jets. Markstrom's solid play has Vancouver battling for a playoff spot just under halfway through the season.
Others include Aleksander Barkov, Max Domi, Sean Monahan, Joe Pavelski, Kevin Hayes, John Tavares, Nathan MacKinnon, Pierre-Luc Dubois, Jack Eichel, Alex Iafallo, Dylan Strome, David Pastrnak, Taylor Hall, Nikita Kucherov, Taylor Hall, Cam Atkinson, Claude Giroux, Mitch Marner, Mikko Rantanen, David Perron, Matt Nieto, Gabriel Landeskog, Brett Connolly, Jake Guentzel, Kyle Palmieri, Jonathan Huberdeau, Artemi Panarin, Kyle Palmieri, Brad Marchand, Erik Gustafsson, Morgan Rielly, Ryan Pulock, Shea Weber, Mattias Ekholm, Thomas Chabot, Nate Schmidt, Sergei Bobrovsky, Philipp Grubauer, Jaroslav Halak, Robin Lehner, Pheonix Copley and Carter Hart.
Buy Low
Matt Murray, PIT, G – Murray missed a month with a lower-body injury, and maybe the time off did him more good than expected. Prior to being sidelined, Murray was struggling, ceding time to Casey DeSmith and Tristan Jarry due to a 4-5-1 mark and .877 save percentage. He has hit the ground running after returning, picking up back-to-back wins over the Kings and Capitals while posting an impressive 1.94 GAA and .945 save percentage over that span. He built off those numbers, posting a 39-save shutout Saturday. DeSmith is still firmly in the mix, but if Murray stays hot, he should reclaim his starting goalie job.
Training Room (Injuries)
Patrice Bergeron, BOS, C – Bergeron returned to action Saturday after missing 16 games, tallying twice and adding two assists, giving him 11 goals and 19 assists in 20 contests this year. The likely future Hall of Famer centers Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak, which bolsters the probability of Bergeron continuing his fine production, which for now, is the best of his career at far more than a point per game.
Others include Craig Anderson (upper-body injury, missed Saturday's game), Ilya Kovalchuk (ankle procedure, was to miss four weeks, only missed three, activated and scored twice Saturday), Max Pacioretty (undisclosed, injured Monday, landed on injured reserve, may be back December 27), Marcus Johansson (upper-body injury, placed on injured reserve), Matt Dumba (upper-body injury, will require surgery this week, could possibly miss the rest of the season), P.K. Subban (upper body, participated in Nashville's optional practice Friday) and Colin Miller (undisclosed, missed second straight game Saturday).
Fourth Liners/Press Boxers (Fallers)
Jason Spezza, C, DAL – Spezza's game fell off a cliff last season, as he plummeted from 50 to 26 points. After tallying 66, 62 and 63 points his three seasons before he declined slightly to 50 points, his lack of foot speed in the new uptempo NHL was exposed last year. Spezza has rebounded slightly to post 19 points in 2018-19, centering the third line and top power-play unit. But the days of him being a top-notch scorer look to be far in the past.
Zach Aston-Reese, LW, PIT – Aston-Reese may one day be a consistent scorer in the NHL, but that does not look likely to occur this season. After a two-game burst where he notched two goals and two assists, Aston-Reese has failed to score in his last five games and has just seven points in 23 contests on the season. Usually relegated to bottom-six duty, ZAR has shown a willingness and ability to dish out hits. But until he skates alongside better offensive players more frequently, his output will be sporadic.
James Reimer, G, FLA – Reimer was a godsend for the Panthers last season, playing in a career-high 44 contests, registering a 2.99 GAA and .913 save percentage with a 22-14-6 record while standing in for the injured Roberto Luongo. Bobby Lu has missed some time with injuries again this year, but Reimer has been unable to capture the form he showed a year ago. With a 5-7-3 mark, 3.77 GAA and .888 save percentage, Reimer should only see time when Luongo really needs a game off or is suffering from another injury. That was the case Sunday when Reimer stopped 26 of 29 shots in a win over Chicago.
Others include Derick Brassard, Ryan Strome, Ryan Hartman, Conor Sheary, Jesper Bratt, Artturi Lehkonen, Brandon Saad, Jacob Trouba, Ben Hutton, Miro Heiskanen, Cal Petersen and Tristan Jarry.
Sell High
Hampus Lindholm, D, ANA – Lindholm is having a fine season with 15 points in 32 games. Averaging over 25 minutes of ice time, including 1:46 with the man advantage, while also on pace for over 100 hits and blocked shots, Lindholm has more than made up for the absence of Cam Fowler. But much of his offensive production came earlier in the season, and the eventual return of Fowler in January will likely cut some of his power-play time. Try and take advantage of his fine numbers and move him now for a stronger return.
