This article is part of our NHL Barometer series.
This week's article includes Wright finding his way, the Bread man delivering again, Letang on a role, Swayman hot, several key injuries and Saros's numbers impacted by poor play in front of him.
First Liners (Risers)
Shane Wright, C, SEA: Wright may be starting to find his sea legs for the Kraken. He has found the back of the net on the power play with four of his last five goals, and those have come in a five-game span, including Sunday. He certainly got the message that he needed to improve his play. Since being scratched for three straight games from Nov. 17-23, Wright has turned things around with six goals and nine points across eight appearances as he tries to live up to the billing of being the fourth overall selection in 2022.
Sebastian Aho, C, CAR: I debated placing Aho in the Buy Low portion of the column. How, you ask, could someone with 29 points in 27 games be a Buy Low candidate? The rationale behind the thought is that Aho has just seven goals in those 27 games with a 9.9 percent shooting percentage. This is after posting a shooting percentage slightly above 16 percent each of the past four seasons while scoring 30-plus goals in the last five campaigns in which he played more than 56 games. His shots-per-game are down slightly, but not substantially enough to be a material difference, so look for a rise in goals before too long.
This week's article includes Wright finding his way, the Bread man delivering again, Letang on a role, Swayman hot, several key injuries and Saros's numbers impacted by poor play in front of him.
First Liners (Risers)
Shane Wright, C, SEA: Wright may be starting to find his sea legs for the Kraken. He has found the back of the net on the power play with four of his last five goals, and those have come in a five-game span, including Sunday. He certainly got the message that he needed to improve his play. Since being scratched for three straight games from Nov. 17-23, Wright has turned things around with six goals and nine points across eight appearances as he tries to live up to the billing of being the fourth overall selection in 2022.
Sebastian Aho, C, CAR: I debated placing Aho in the Buy Low portion of the column. How, you ask, could someone with 29 points in 27 games be a Buy Low candidate? The rationale behind the thought is that Aho has just seven goals in those 27 games with a 9.9 percent shooting percentage. This is after posting a shooting percentage slightly above 16 percent each of the past four seasons while scoring 30-plus goals in the last five campaigns in which he played more than 56 games. His shots-per-game are down slightly, but not substantially enough to be a material difference, so look for a rise in goals before too long.
Wyatt Johnston, RW, DAL: Johnston, after a slow start, has found his game. His goal Sunday gave the talent winger four goals and six helpers over his last 10 outings. There was no sophomore slump in 2023-24 for Johnston, as the second-year winger put up 32 goals, 33 assists and 216 shots on net over 82 regular-season contests. That slump looked like it was going to occur in his third season, but he is now excelling next to Roope Hintz and Jason Robertson on Dallas' top line.
Nick Schmaltz, RW, UTAH: Schmaltz posted a three-game goal streak (four goals) this week after starting the season with a 23-game goalless drought. He has been remarkably consistent over the past three years, finishing each campaign with 22 to 23 goals and 58 to 61 points, though he played 79 contests last season after playing in 63 each of the prior two campaigns. Schmaltz is skating on Utah's top line with Clayton Keller and Barrett Hayton, boding well for continued success.
Artemi Panarin, LW, NYR: Panarin went three straight games without cracking the scoresheet, but he has bounced back with three goals and five assists over his last five outings, including two goals and a helper Friday. The star winger has 15 markers and 17 apples in 25 games after posting career-highs in goals (49), assists (71) and points (120) last season. Panarin is the Rangers' main offensive weapon and sits just 20 goals shy of 300 for his career, which should occur sometime this season.
Kris Letang, D, PIT: Letang's performance this season has been uneven, but he is in the midst of a hot streak. His empty-net goal gives the future Hall of Fame blueliner three goals and two assists over his last four games. The defenseman is up to five goals, 11 points, 69 shots on net, 46 hits, 29 blocked shots, 14 PIM and a minus-11 rating over 26 appearances. Letang saw his output rise from 41 to 51 points last season but he could be in line for an increase this year, as his shots-per-game and power-play time on ice is up over the prior season.
Travis Sanheim, D, PHI: Prior to the formal announcement of Team Canada's 4 Nation's Face-Off roster, Sanheim's name had been thrown out as a possibility on the blueline. That drew consternation from some, but those who have watched Sanheim this season already know that he has taken his game to another level and was deserving of a spot. Sanheim has 12 assists, 17 points and 67 blocks in 28 games this season, with all but one point coming at even-strength, slightly diminishing his fantasy value.
Linus Ullmark, G, OTT: Ullmark, after a rough patch in mid-November, has righted the ship between the pipes for the Senators. He notched his third win in his last four outings Saturday, just missing a shutout, and he's allowed just eight goals in that span. The 31-year-old improved to 7-7-2 with a 2.81 goals-against average (GAA) and an .898 save percentage through 17 appearances (16 starts) this season. His numbers will never match what he posted in Boston, but that doesn't mean Ullmark is not a solid second or third goalie option in your league.
Others include Auston Matthews, Sean Couturier, Vincent Trocheck, Tim Stutzle, Patrik Laine, Martin Necas, Justin Brazeau, Jack McBain, Jake Neighbours, Mitch Marner, Matvei Michkov, Michael Kesselring, Damon Severson, Philip Broberg, MacKenzie Weegar, David Rittich, Stuart Skinner, Charlie Lindgren and Adin Hill.
Buy Low
Jeremy Swayman, G, BOS: Swayman's game is starting to come into focus. After a slow start following his contract holdout, Swayman has won three straight games for the first time this season. It will take additional time to fix Swayman's 3.02 goals-against average and .893 save percentage, but he's 4-2-0 with a .918 save percentage in his past six outings. Swayman was brilliant the past several seasons sharing time with Linus Ullmark. With Ullmark now in Ottawa, Swayman is splitting time with Joonas Korpisalo, who has excelled between the pipes for Boston.
Training Room (Injuries)
Darcy Kuemper, G, LA: Kuemper, out since Nov. 13 due to an undisclosed injury that cost him seven contests, dressed as a backup Wednesday. He made his first start since returning from injury, stopping 23 of 24 shots to pick up the win Saturday. With the victory, Kuemper is 5-2-3 with a 2.50 GAA and a .907 save percentage through 11 starts. The Kings may opt to alternate their goalies given Kuemper's injury woes and David Rittich's strong performance so far.
Others include Trevor Zegras (lower body, injured Wednesday, placed on injured reserve Saturday), Tyler Seguin (surgery for left-side femoral acetabular impingement and hip labrum, out four to six months), Ross Colton (foot injury, out from Oct. 28, missed Colorado's last 17 games, activated and played Saturday), Nikita Kucherov (undisclosed, missed two games, returned Sunday), Rasmus Dahlin (back spasms, placed on IR on Monday), Petr Mrazek (groin, injured Saturday, placed on injured reserve Sunday) and Thatcher Demko (knee, served as backup Friday, ready to start).
Fourth Liners/Press Boxers (Fallers)
Mavrik Bourque, C, DAL: The upside is still there for Bourque, who was a first-round pick, 30th overall in 2020. But reaching his potential value may take a while, as he currently deployed as the Stars' fourth-line center. Bourque netted 26 goals and compiled a league-leading 77 points in 71 games for Texas last season en route to being named the AHL MVP, so the talent is unquestioned. If you have him rostered in a single-year league, it's likely long time to move on. In keeper leagues, stay the course.
Jake Sanderson, D, OTT: Sanderson's production has been lagging recently. He is scoreless in his last five contests and has just one goal on the season. Despite that slight dip, Sanderson still has 14 points in 26 games, albeit with a minus-14 rating. Thomas Chabot has picked up his production, which also has had an impact on Sanderson. The ice time, both at even-strength and the power-play, has remained consistent, so it may not be long before he starts to dent the scoresheet consistently again.
Juuse Saros, G, NAS: The season has not gone as Nashville expected following an offseason that increased hopes. Saros has not played badly, but his numbers are adversely impacted by the performance of the team in front of him. He is 0-3-3 over his last six outings, and the Predators have scored a total of 11 goals in those games. The Finnish goalie is down to 6-12-5 with a 2.66 GAA and a .910 save percentage over a league-high 23 starts.
Others include Mikael Backlund, Casey Mittelstadt, John-Jason Peterka, Marcus Johansson, Cam York, Alex Pietrangelo and Alexandar Georgiev.
Sell High
Kevin Fiala, RW, LA: As someone who has Fiala in two leagues, I hope that by the time you read this, the post will be out of date. Fiala has two goals and three assists over his last seven contests, which is far from elite, but is a major uptick in output following a six-game point drought. His numbers are someone adversely affected by Fiala skating as the third-line left winger, though he is still seeing top-power play unit usage. If this deployment continues, you may want to try and deal for more of a consistent option.
