NHL Barometer: Risers & Fallers

Due to myriad bye weeks and the All-Star break, I went with a slightly different format this week. While still highlighting some Risers and Fallers, I added in some second-half targets and and those you may want to considering dealing away.

This week's article includes the third overall pick from 2015 on a roll, Philly's new No. 1 netminder, a hot Price, Kase done for the year and Anaheim's captain struggling.

First Liners (Risers)

Dylan Strome, C, CHI – Strome, drafted third overall in 2015, was unable to break into the Coyotes' lineup (you can provide your own view on why). A trade was best for both sides, which happened when Strome and Brendan Perlini went to Chicago on Nov. 25 with Nick Schmaltz going to Arizona. In 27 games as a Blackhawk, Strome is up to nine goals and 12 assists with 11 of those points coming with the man advantage. He's clearly found a home in Chicago as the second-line center and is one to target in the second half of the season.

Mikael Backlund, C, CGY – Backlund is rightly overshadowed by Sean Monahan and Johnny Gaudreau, but he is one to possibly target for the second half of the season. He has 29 points and a whopping plus-27 rating through 47 contests after three multi-point games in his last five. Calgary is expected to be a player in the trade market, which might mean that Backlund gets to play with even more talent around him.

Andreas Athanasiou, RW, DET – Athanasiou is one goal shy of his career mark set two seasons ago and just three points away from his career high last year. With Detroit building for the future, the 24-year-old appears to be a building block to aid in that endeavor. Athanasiou has been receiving more ice time recently, which should remain the case as the Red Wings are expected to move a few vets before the Feb. 25 trade deadline. That uptick, coupled with Athanasiou sending more shots on net, should result in him far exceeding his prior best in production.

Evander Kane, RW, SJ – Kane went into the All-Star break on fire, scoring 10 goals and 16 points through 11 games in January. After struggling with injuries earlier in his career and following his trade to Buffalo, Kane's arrival in San Jose has seemingly rejuvenated his career. He scored 14 points in 17 games after arriving in Cali and continued his strong play into the playoffs. Kane signed a seven-year, $49-million contract extension with the Sharks in May of 2018 and is living up to that deal, at least so far this season with 21 goals and as many assists in 52 games.

Charlie McAvoy, D, BOS – McAvoy's season has been interrupted twice by injuries, limiting the Bruins blueliner to just 22 games. In those 12 contests, he has notched 12 points. Now fully healthy, McAvoy should be primed for a big second half. Seeing more than 21 minutes of ice time with more than 90 seconds of that coming with the man advantage, McAvoy has just one point in the five games since his recent return. Now that rust has been scraped off, look for McAvoy to hit the ground running when action resumes.

Ryan Suter, D, MIN – Suter admitted that he is still dealing with pain in his surgically-repaired ankle. Despite this impediment, Suter still has posted six goals and 27 assists in 50 games, notching two goals and four assists his last seven games. Suter posted a career-best 51 points last year and two seasons prior to that campaign, so with 33 points in 55 games, he has an outside shot at exceeding that total with a strong last two-plus months of the season.

Carter Hart, G, PHI – Hart closed out the pre-All-Star break portion of the schedule strong, notching wins in four of his last five starts. During those contests, Hart allowed 13 goals on 179 shots and was 6-5-1 with a 2.66 GAA and .918 save percentage. He improved those numbers, making 31 saves in a 3-1 win over the Jets on Monday. All signs point to the former Everett Silvertip finishing strong over the last 30 or so games.

Jordan Binnington, G, STL – Binnington has come seemingly out of nowhere to grab the Blues' top netminding job. He made his NHL debut in 2015-16, playing just one game, before heading back to the minors. Binnington played last season at Providence in the AH after getting loaned there from San Antonio, which is where he was playing again this season before getting promoted. Since getting promoted to St. Louis, Binnington is 5-1-1 with a 1.84 GAA and .924 save percentage and appears to have surpassed Jake Allen in the St. Louis goalie pecking order.

Others include Nico Hischier, Mika Zibanejad, Logan Couture, Dylan Larkin, Max Domi, Connor McDavid, Filip Chytil, Ryan Dzingel, Chris Tierney, Teuvo Teravainen, Alexander Ovechkin, Tomas Hertl, Jakub Vrana, Patrick Kane, Nino Niederreiter, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Zach Parise, Filip Forsberg, Timo Meier, Max Pacioretty, Alex Tuch, Sebastian Aho, Mats Zuccarello, T.J. Brodie, Jared Spurgeon, Dougie Hamilton, Morgan Rielly, Aaron Ekblad, Darcy Kuemper (one to target), Robin Lehner, Anders Nilsson and Carey Price.

Buy Low

William Nylander, LW, TOR – Nylander, profiled last week as a Faller, gets a mention this week, as he is one to target for the second half. With just seven points in 21 games, but four in his last two contests before the All-Star break, he clearly fits the definition of a possible buy-low target. With all the talent around Nylander, you would have to expect that his talent level coupled with his prior production – 61 points in each of the prior two seasons - and likely move off the third line should result in a major increase in output the remainder of the season.

Training Room (Injuries)

Ondrej Kase, RW, ANA – Kase took a step forward last season with 38 points in 66 games and looked like he was finding another gear this season. Unfortunately, he will now be sidelined for the remainder of the season, as he will undergo surgery for a torn labrum in his shoulder. Kase, who had 11 goals and 20 points over 30 games, remains under contract with the Ducks for at least the next two seasons and will look to take that next step forward in 2019-20. His recovering time is estimated at 5-6 months.

Others include Kevin Hayes (upper body, should return Tuesday), Tyler Bozak (concussion, missed nine games, scored in return Wednesday), Nikolaj Ehlers (ankle, missed last eight games, could return in about a week), Corey Perry (knee, out all season, returned to practice Tuesday, but no timetable to return), Oliver Ekman-Larsson (knee, missed last game before the All-Star break, listed as day-to-day), Dustin Byfuglien (ankle, missed last 10 games with injury, out about one more week) and Ryan Miller (knee, out since Dec. 9, might practice this week).

Fourth Liners/Press Boxers (Fallers)

Ryan Getzlaf, C, ANA – Getzlaf has hits the skids recently, posting a single goal, three points and a minus-19 rating over his last 14 games. Overall, Getzlaf is still having a relatively solid campaign, with 10 goals and 23 assists in 45 games. But compared to what we have seen in the past from the Ducks' captain, 2018-19 is shaping up as a major disappointment. Plenty of time still remains in the season, and maybe the future return of Corey Perry will help his game.

J.T. Compher, LW, COL – Compher limped into the All-Star break on a 12-game goal drought. One cause for optimism is that Compher still saw 19:34 of ice time while notching 23 shots on goal. You would like to see more SOG in an attempt to break out of his slump, but that total is in line with his normal output. Colorado needs more consistent secondary scoring behind their top line, and it's unclear what the team will do with Compher if he doesn't turn things around.

Cam Talbot, G, EDM – Mikko Koskinen's three-year contract extension with an AAV of $4.5 million likely signals the end of days for Talbot in Edmonton. After winning 42 games and leading the team to the playoffs, Talbot's play fell off substantially last season and has cratered this year. A 9-13-1 record with a 3.27 GAA and .894 save percentage is not a recipe for keeping your starting job, and with a viable option – at least potentially – available, Edmonton is pivoting to Koskinen. That leaves Talbot, an unrestricted free agent after the season, on the outside looking in.

Others include Derrick Brassard, Paul Statsny, Jeff Skinner (due to a 19.6 shooting percentage), Viktor Arvidsson (due to a 19.8 shooting percentage), Pavel Buchnevich, Henri Jokiharju, Alex Goligoski, John Gibson and Philipp Grubauer.

Sell High

Ryan McDonagh, D, TB – McDonagh is not on this side of the ledger because I think his production will fall off a cliff, but because I believe it will slow to a certain extent. With Tampa in control of the Eastern Conference and unlikely to cede that spot, the Lightning can be judicious in resting players down the stretch. McDonagh, who has averaged nearly 22 minutes of ice time, will be heavily relied upon in the playoffs, so it'd be wise to give him some rest down the stretch. In addition, his power-play time, which spiked when Victor Hedman was out, has dried up to a certain extent, impacting his production.