This week's article includes EP40 rolling, Batherson produces as he always does (quietly), Faulk solid for the Blues, Lindgren finding his way in DC, Helly sidelined in Winnipeg and Clarke not taking the desired step forward.
Find out who to target the rest of the way with RotoWire's NHL Projections!
First Liners (Risers)
Elias Pettersson, C, VAN: Pettersson extended his point streak to five games Thursday, notching a power-play goal, He had four tallies and five helpers in that stretch, upping his season marks to seven goals and 13 apples in 23 contests, Pettersson saw his production crater last season, as he fell from 89 to 45 points as criticism about his game mounted. He has somewhat quieted the critics with his overall performance to date, rebounding from a slow start to the 2025-26 campaign.
Bo Horvat, C, NYI: Horvat has shown no signs of slowing from his hot start to the season. He has notched 14 goals and 11 assists in 23 contests, helping the Islanders stay near the top of the Metro Division standings. Horvat posted a career-best 70 points in 2022-23, splitting his time between Vancouver and New York. His output declined slightly the next two campaigns, but he looks to be back on the beam slightly more than a quarter of the way into the 2025-26 season. Enjoy the ride for as long as it lasts.
Drake Batherson, RW, OTT: Batherson is one of the most quietly productive wingers in the
This week's article includes EP40 rolling, Batherson produces as he always does (quietly), Faulk solid for the Blues, Lindgren finding his way in DC, Helly sidelined in Winnipeg and Clarke not taking the desired step forward.
Find out who to target the rest of the way with RotoWire's NHL Projections!
First Liners (Risers)
Elias Pettersson, C, VAN: Pettersson extended his point streak to five games Thursday, notching a power-play goal, He had four tallies and five helpers in that stretch, upping his season marks to seven goals and 13 apples in 23 contests, Pettersson saw his production crater last season, as he fell from 89 to 45 points as criticism about his game mounted. He has somewhat quieted the critics with his overall performance to date, rebounding from a slow start to the 2025-26 campaign.
Bo Horvat, C, NYI: Horvat has shown no signs of slowing from his hot start to the season. He has notched 14 goals and 11 assists in 23 contests, helping the Islanders stay near the top of the Metro Division standings. Horvat posted a career-best 70 points in 2022-23, splitting his time between Vancouver and New York. His output declined slightly the next two campaigns, but he looks to be back on the beam slightly more than a quarter of the way into the 2025-26 season. Enjoy the ride for as long as it lasts.
Drake Batherson, RW, OTT: Batherson is one of the most quietly productive wingers in the league. He gets very little publicity, yet he has notched 62, 66 and 68 points the past three seasons. Batherson has seven goals and 13 assists through 18 contests, putting him on pace to set a new career high in points. He does benefit from skating next to Tim Stutzle, though you could argue that Stutzle benefits from having Batherson on his wing as well. Not bad for a fourth-round pick in the 2017 draft.
Matthew Coronato, RW, CGY: Expectations were high for Coronato coming off a 24-goal, 23-assist campaign in 2024-25. He got off to a brutal start, mirroring that of the Flames. Lately though, he has looked more like the winger who was selected 13th overall in the 2021 draft. Through Sunday's contest. Coronado had six goals and 11 points over his last 13 contests, including four tallies on the power play. He is back on the top line, boding well for future success.
Sam Reinhart, RW, FLA: Reinhart continued his roll, notching his 13th goal of the season Monday. That tally extended his point streak to seven games, and over his last 14 contests he's erupted for 11 goals and 18 points. Evidencing just how hot Reinhart has been, on the season, he has those 13 goals and eight assists, most of which has occurred recently. Reinhart posted 57 goals and 37 helpers in 2024-24, following that career-best effort with 39 tallies and 42 apples last season. He is one of the key players in Florida being counted on to help make up for the absence of Aleksander Barkov.
Justin Faulk, D, STL: Faulk was more than happy to see the calendar flip to November. October was not kind to the blueliner, as he posted just a goal and three assists in 11 contests. In November, Faulk has potted five tallies while adding four helpers in 12 games with three of those points coming on the man advantage. He should once again notch over 100 blocked shots and his combined six goals already matches his total from the past two seasons combined, adding to his overall value.
Charlie Lindgren, G, WSH: Lindgren got off to a brutal start, but he may be turning it around. He has wins in his last two starts, stopping 54 of 59 shots in the victories. Lindgren was brilliant in 2023-24, then ceded the starting role to Logan Thompson, who earned the additional playing time he received. Washington inked both to long-term deals, three years for Lindgren and five for Thompson, to split the job. Thompson received additional playing time partially due to Lindgren's struggles. With Lindgren rebounding, look for a more even split in the short-term.
Cam Talbot, G, DET: Talbot has been a bad mamma-Camma lately. He picked up his fourth straight win with an overtime victory Saturday, allowing just seven goals on 86 shots (.919 save percentage) during his win streak. Prior to Monday's loss to the Devils, Talbot had an 8-3-0 record with a 2.64 goals-against average and .899 save percentage. John Gibson has not won since October 28 and Talbot is making a strong case for more playing time and to be the top netminder in Hockeytown USA.
Others include Adam Fantilli, Sebastian Aho, Morgan Geekie, Anton Lundell, Jake Guentzel, Alex Ovechkin, Kiefer Sherwood, Martin Necas, Beckett Sennecke, Jason Robertson, Cale Makar, Josh Morrissey, Quinn Hughes, Rasmus Dahlin, Ilya Sorokin, Yaroslav Askarov, Scott Wedgewood and Joseph Woll.
Buy Low
Darren Raddysh, D, TB: Raddysh seemingly always finds a way to increase his production when a big blueliner is sidelined for the Bolts. Victor Hedman will be out for a few more weeks, and as a result in his last five contests, Raddysh has a goal and five assists. Raddysh posted 33 and 37 points his past two seasons. His current hot streak, coupled with the additional ice time and responsibility heaped on him with Hedman out, makes it likely he will at least match or exceed that level of production. Get on board now before everyone realizes how well he fills in for Hedman.
Training Room (Injuries)
Victor Hedman, D, TB: Hedman, already on the injured list due to an undisclosed ailment, was placed on long-term injured reserve Saturday. At the time he had already missed five games, so he will need to miss at least five more games and 24 days total, which means he will not be able to return until Dec. 4 at the earliest. With Hedman sidelined alongside Ryan McDonagh, more responsibility will be heaped on Darren Raddysh.
Connor Hellebuyck, G, WPG: Shock rang around the NHL when Winnipeg announced Friday that Hellebuyck will undergo minor arthroscopic knee surgery and is expected to be out of action for 4-6 weeks. Helly has been dealing with the injury for a while, and the team and player decided having surgery now makes sense. Eric Comrie will take over as the No. 1 goaltender while Hellebuyck is out of action. Hellebuyck is 8-6-0 with a 2.51 GAA and a .913 save percentage across 14 starts this season.
Others include Elias Lindholm (lower body, missed 10 games, activated from injured reserve Sunday), Brayden Point (undisclosed, left Saturday's game), J.T. Miller (upper body injury, suffered Thursday against Colorado, missed Saturday's game), Nikita Kucherov (undisclosed, left Saturday's game), Charlie McAvoy (facial surgery, placed on injured reserve), Alexander Romanov (upper body, injury Tuesday, lands on injured reserve Wednesday) and Carter Hart (suspension, eligible to join the Knights on December 1).
Fourth Liners/Press Boxers (Fallers)
Bryan Rust, RW, PIT: Rust started 2025-26 on fire, notching five goals and 10 assists his first 14 games of the season. Regression back to the mean has hit Rust hard, as he failed to dent the scoresheet his last five contests. Rust has gone from 46 to 56 and 65 points his last three full seasons and should regain his scoring touch before too long. His five tallies in 19 contests is vastly below what we are used to seeing from Rust, who potted 79 goals the past three seasons, including 31 in 2024-25. Rust should get hot again before too long, until then, keep him on your bench.
Brandt Clarke, D, LA: Drew Doughty is sidelined with an injury which should have resulted in Clarke taking over as the point man on the first power play. Instead, LA is using Quinton Byfield in that role, which does not bode well for Clarke's overall value and the Kings' view of him. Maybe that will change if the Kings' struggle on the man advantage, but for the time being, Clarke continues to fail to live up to his potential. His value still rises slightly with Doughty out but not to the level hoped for due to the absence of DD.
Frederik Andersen, G, CGY: Andersen is 0-2-2 in his last four contests, stopping only 76 of 89 shots in that span. With the loss, the 36-year-old netminder has a 5-4-2 record with a 3.07 goals-against average (GAA) and an .883 save percentage through 11 appearances. Pyotr Kochetkov is doing his best to prove that he deserves the No. 1 role and additional playing time between the pipes, going 4-0-0 since his return from injury early in November. Keep Andersen on your bench for the time being.
Others include Nazem Kadri, J.T. Compher, Nicholas Robertson, Jonathan Huberdeau, Ivan Provorov, Louis Crevier and Jacob Markstrom.
Sell High
Sean Monahan, C, CLM: Monahan has ceded his top center role to Adam Fantilli. His last goal came November 11, seven games ago, and during that stretch, Monahan has just three assists. On the season, Monahan has notched a pair of tallies and eight helpers in 22 contests, well below his production each of the past two seasons, including 2024-25 as a member of the Blue Jackets. Monahan should still be a solid second line center and is on the top power play unit, but his overall production will pale compared to prior campaigns.
