NHL Barometer: Risers & Fallers

This week's article includes a sniper rolling, a winger hot in his new locale, Columbus' top pair on opposite sides of the ledger, yes, a hot Detroit goalie and a formerly hot winger completely on ice. 

First Liners (Risers)

Charlie Coyle, C, BOS – Coyle potted a pair of goals Saturday, continuing his productivity over the last month. He has scored four goals and added five helpers in his last 12 games, giving the B's third-line center 12 markers and 19 assists in 57 games. With Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci both healthy, Coyle is locked in as the 3C, which does limit his overall upside. In shallow leagues, Coyle is likely best left on the waiver wire, but he has value in deeper formats.

Patrik Laine, RW, WPG – Laine continued his recent hot streak at lighting the lamp, bulging the net three times Saturday and once Sunday along with a helper. Those four tallies give Laine nine in his last nine games and 24 this season. In addition, all three markers Saturday came on the man-advantage after he notched just three power-play goals in his first 53 games of the year. Laine is on pace to exceed 30 goals and could break 60 points again, as he did his first two seasons in the NHL.

Joe Pavelski, RW, DAL – Pavelski extended his scoring streak to five games with a power-play helper Saturday. During his five-game streak, he has four goals and two assists. Pavelski is showing flashes of his former self, but the 35-year-old is still at just 25 points, 103 shots and a plus-6 rating through 55 games. Those overall numbers are less than impressive, but in fantasy leagues, you win by riding the hot streak and then jumping off when a player cools. Ride Pavelski while he is hot, as it is possible he is just finding his sea legs in Big D after spending the first 12 seasons of his career in San Jose.

Mark Stone, LW, LV – Five points in a game will normally get you mentioned on this side of the ledger. But when you add that the five points gives the player 13 points in his last 14 games, showing that the overall production is no fluke, then it's a no brainer to profile that winger.  Las Vegas acquired Stone at the trade deadline to help get it back to the Stanley Cup Finals. While he was unable to do so, Stone has continued to score after switching teams and has notched 20 goals while adding 33 assists in 57 games after scoring 62 and 73 points the last two seasons.

Zach Werenski, D, CLM – Werenski, profiled five weeks ago, gets another prominent mention this week. After a brief lull in January, Werenski has been back on the beam lately, notching a pair of goals and three assists his last eight games. Those two goals give Werenski a career-high 17 with 16 apples in 49 games. Werenski is still on pace to slightly exceed the 47 points he posted as a rookie in 2016-17, despite missing seven games earlier this season, and his offensive production will be even more important with Seth Jones out indefinitely after right ankle surgery Monday.

Roman Josi, D, NAS – Profiling a skater who has not lit the lamp in 18 games may look a bit off. But when you factor in how many assists he has racked up in that span, maybe it's not as weird as it looks. Josi has racked up 19 helpers in that span, and on the season, through Sunday's games, is at 54 points (14 tallies, 40 assists), 202 shots, 89 blocks and a plus-22 rating in 54 games. That's elite production from a top blueliner who signed an eight-year, $72.472 million contract extension with the Predators last October.

Jonathan Bernier, G, DET – Yes, you are reading correctly. That is a Detroit goalie on this side of the ledger. Bernier is profiled because he is 4-2-0 in his last six games, allowing 12 goals in that stretch. The Red Wings have been a tire fire this season, and Jimmy Howard has scuffled between the pipes. But you take value where you can get. Bernier won't start daily and his overall record and numbers likely won't be elite, but he could be a spot play as a third goalie in leagues.

Carey Price, G, MTL – Price has had a very uneven season, mixing stretches of dominance with ones where he looks like a beer-league goalie. Heading into Saturday's start, Price was on a roll, winning seven of nine starts and allowing 15 goals on 300 shots against for a 1.65 goals-against average and .950 save percentage. Saturday, Price stopped 22 of 23 shots to defeat Columbus 2-1 in overtime but allowed three goals, including one with a minute left, to fall to Arizona on Monday. Overall, Price is up to 24 wins this season after notching 35 last season, as Montreal is on the fringes of playoff contention. 

Others include Mika Zibanejad, Brayden Point, John Tavares, Dylan Larkin, Leon Draisaitl, Nick Suzuki, Steven Stamkos, Mitch Marner, David Krejci, Christian Dvorak, Auston Matthews, Denis Gurianov, Kyle Connor, Kyle Palmieri, Ilya Kovalchuk, Nikita Kucherov, Kevin Fiala, Jordan Eberle, Filip Forsberg, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Anthony Beauvillier, Mike Hoffman, Taylor Hall, Conor Garland, Zach Parise, Pavel Buchnevich, Jaden Schwartz, Alex Ovechkin, Cam Fowler, Colton Parayko, Kris Letang, Ryan Suter, John Klingberg, Will Butcher, Jake Gardiner, Charlie McAvoy, Jeff Petry, Samuel Girard, Thomas Greiss, Mike Smith, Connor Hellebuyck, MacKenzie Blackwood, Juuse Saros, Alex Stalock, Andrei Vasilevskiy, Brian Elliott and Igor Shesterkin.

Buy Low 

Joe Thornton, C, SJ – Thomas Hertl was injured a little more than a week ago and Logan Couture might be back in a week or so. Filling the breach lately up front for San Jose has been Thornton. Heading into Monday's game, Ol' Man River had five assists in his last four games as the second-line center for the Sharks. Couture will fill the 1C when he returns, but Thornton will remain in the top six, as Barclay Goodrow likely will shift down to the third line. Grab Thornton and hope he continues to somewhat turn back the clock. 

Training Room (Injuries)

Logan Couture, C, SJ – Couture, who suffered a fractured ankle Jan. 7, skated following the team's morning skate Saturday. The 30-year-old was pegged with a six-week timeline initially, which would take him until at least Feb. 20, and his return to the ice confirms that he's on the right track. The next step for Couture, who is San Jose's captain, will be joining practice in a no-contact capacity before progressing to contact practice and game action, possibly by the original projected return date.

Seth Jones, D, CLM – Columbus' playoff chances may have taken a huge hit Monday, as Jones, injured Saturday, underwent right ankle surgery and will be sidelined indefinitely. Prior to being sidelined, Jones, who was on the first defensive pairing, had six goals, 24 assists and a plus-10 rating while blocking 123 shots and dishing out 62 hits. Jones played 25-plus games in all situations and his absence creates a hole on the blue Jackets' blueline. Markus Nutivaara worked on the top pairing along Zach Werenski on Monday versus Tampa Bay in Jones' stead.

Others include Jonathan Drouin (wrist, out since Nov. 15, activated Saturday), Nico Hischier (knee,  likely will miss fourth straight game Monday), William Karlsson (upper body, out since Jan. 14, set to play Tuesday), Victor Olofsson (lower body, out since Jan. 2, could play Thursday), John Marino (facial fractures, injured by a puck Thursday, looking at possible six-week absence), Ryan McDonagh (lower body, injured Thursday, looking at multi-week absence), Oliver Ekman-Larsson (lower body, missed last four games, played Monday), Mark Giordano (hamstring, injured last Tuesday, placed on injured reserve, listed as week-to-week) and Antti Raanta (lower-body, missed Saturday's game, started and won Monday).

Fourth Liners/Press Boxers (Fallers)

Travis Zajac, C, NJ – Zajac bounced back last season with 46 points after scoring only 26 in 2017-18. Heading into the season, the expectation was that rise was a one-time event due to the addition of Jack Hughes and presence of Nico Hischier. That has been proven to be more than accurate, as Zajac, who has only one goal since Dec. 23, is sitting at six goals and 14 assists in 54 games while skating on the third line in New Jersey.

Jakob Silfverberg, LW, ANA – Silfverberg's goal Thursday was his first since Jan. 2, and he followed that with another tally Sunday. On the year, the Swedish winger has 17 goals and 15 assists in 50 games. In the last five seasons, Silfverberg has scored  39 to 43 points. Despite lighting the lamp just three times and adding a pair of assists since the New Year, Silfverberg could set a career high in output with even minimal production the last two months of the season. Maybe these past two games are an indication that he is back on the beam after his recent slump. 

Petr Mrazek, G, CAR – Mrazek's play has hit a bit of the skids. He allowed six goals on 26 shots Tuesday and the 27-year-old netminder has given up 16 goals in his last five outings, recording a 1-4-0 record in that span. With the loss, Mrazek dropped to 18-14-2 this season with a 2.73 GAA and a .900 save percentage. If his struggles persist, Mrazek could start to see a larger number of starts go to James Reimer, who has been the better half of the platoon in net for Carolina and started Thursday and Saturday.

Others include Ryan Strome, Jamie Benn, Derek Stepan, Ryan Poehling, Yanni Gourde, Vince Dunn, Miro Heiskanen, Dante Fabbro, Matt Murray, Jordan Binnington, Semyon Varlamov and David Rittich.

Sell High

Anthony Duclair, LW, OTT – Duclair was on fire earlier in the season, notching 21 goals his first 37 games of the season. In his last 17 games, however, Duclair has tallied just four assists while posting 38 shots on net. In addition, his poor overall play has earned him a public call out by his coach and could result in Duclair watching from the press box. On Dec. 21, it looked like a lock that Ottawa would ink Duclair, who signed a one-year, $1.65 million contract extension with the Senators in June 2019, to a multi-year deal. Now, this looks highly unlikely.