This article is part of our NHL Barometer series.
This week's article includes a mild unknown in Carolina, a rebound candidate out West, the Bob down in Columbus and a struggling center in Hockeytown.
First Liners (Risers)
Jeff Carter, C, LA – Get Carter is the one of the story lines this year in LA. In the past, he was mainly known for being a goal scorer. This year, he has been a good distributor as well, notching assists in five of his last seven games while tallying goals in the last two. Carter, after posting 34 assists last year, already has 15 this season and could exceed his career-high of 38 set in 2008-09. Wish I took him instead of changing my mind and taking Kyle Okposo in my home league.
Victor Rask, C, CAR – While Carolina is suffering through another disappointing campaign, Rask has elevated his game. Last year, due to injuries, Rask saw some time as the team's first line center, posting 33 points in 80 games. This year, he has taken his game up a notch, with eight goals and 19 points in 28 games despite skating as the third line center. With Eric Staal likely gone by the end of the season, Rask could be in line for a boost in playing time and production.
Taylor Hall, EDM, LW – Despite Edmonton's issues the past several seasons, the only thing that looked to be holding back Hall had been injuries. In four of his first five seasons, excluding the lockout season, he played between 53 and 75 games, missing time each year due to some form of ailment. This year, Hall has remained healthy to date and been productive, already posting 30 points in 29 along with a plus-12 rating.
Valeri Nichushkin, LW, DAL – A hip injury limited Nichushkin to just eight games last season, so he entered this year as a major question mark but also one with tremendous upside. Early on, it took him a while to get back in the groove, but lately he has been operating on all cylinders. Nichushkin skated on the top line with Tyler Seguin and Jamie Benn on Tuesday, scoring his fourth goal of the season and adding two assists in a win over Carolina. The key part of that last sentence is not the goal or two assists but that he 'skated on the top line with Tyler Seguin and Jamie Benn'. If that remains the case, his production should spike.
Milan Lucic, LW, LA – Lucic had what was considered for him a disappointing year last season in Boston. While he scored 18 goals and added 26 assists that was a far cry from the 59 points or more he scored the prior full three seasons in the league. The move out West has helped Lucic, as he has seven goals and 10 points along with 41 hits in his last 12 games while skating on the second line.
Tyson Barrie, D, COL – Barrie took a major step forward last season recording 12 goals and 53 points in 80 games with 16 of them coming on the man-advantage. This year, he has shown no signs of slipping with three goals and 15 assists in 26 games. Barrie, a restricted free agent after the year, has been rumored to possibly be on the market, but even if he does go somewhere, he should remain a top-tier fantasy d-man.
Ron Hainsey, D, CAR – Hainsey is an option for deeper leagues that use stats other than scoring. Last year, the veteran had 110 hits and 120 blocked shots along with 10 points. This year, Hainsey is having a strong December and is already up to 10 points along with 34 hits and 49 blocked shots. Grab him if your league uses the latter two categories.
Anders Nilsson, G, EDM – Remember when Cam Talbot was expected to be the Oilers' goalie of the future? Well, a funny happened along the way. Talbot struggled while Nilsson, who went 20-9-8 record with a 1.71 GAA and .936 save percentage in 36 games in the KHL last year and was acquired this off-season from Chicago, has excelled. The Swede, who came into the year with 9-9-0 record, 3.05 GAA, and .898 save percentage in the NHL when he was a member of the Islanders, already has nine wins this season with a 2.51 GAA and .921 save percentage. Roll with Nilsson.
Craig Anderson, G, OTT – Anderson has been very up-and-down this year but he has picked it back up recently. Heading into Thursday's game against TB, Anderson was 3-1-0 with a 2.49 GAA and .921 save percentage in his last four appearances. Overall, he has a 13-7-3 mark with a 916 save percentage and a 2.74 GAA, so be prepared to jump when he hits another rough patch.
Others include Henrik Sedin, Claude Giroux, Sidney Crosby, Jack Eichel, Tyler Seguin, Leon Draisaitl, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Sam Reinhart, David Krejci, Anze Kopitar, Mark Scheifele, Carl Soderberg, Artem Anisimov, Kyle Turris, Patrice Bergeron, Marcus Johansson, Corey Perry, Brad Marchand, Nikita Kucherov, Beau Bennett, Jordan Eberle, Daniel Sedin, Patrick Sharp, Filip Forsberg, Chris Kunitz, Patrick Kane, Blake Wheeler, Marian Hossa, Mike Hoffman, Lee Stempniak, Alexander Edler, Noah Hanifin, Justin Faulk, Kevin Shattenkirk, Mark Giordano, Olli Maatta, Shea Weber, Roman Josi, Matt Niskanen, Erik Karlsson, Semyon Varlamov, John Gibson (short-term), Braden Holtby, Jonathan Quick, Connor Hellebuyck and Garret Sparks.
Training Room (Injuries)
Nick Bjugstad, C, FLA – Bjugstad, out with a UBI since being injured December 1 in practice, will miss at least the next two games and could be sidelined longer than that. A back injury cut his 2014-15 season short, but Bjugstad still registered a career-high 43 points. Bjugstad got off to a hot start in 2015-16, tallying nine points, four of which came on the power play, in 14 games before scoring just three points the next nine. When he does return, look for Bjugstad to slot back in as a 1 or 1a center in Florida.
Sergei Bobrovsky, G, CMB – Bobrovsky is expected to miss three weeks with a strained groin, suffered Tuesday against the Kings. The Bob had been red-hot the past few weeks, but now he will head to the press box and Columbus has to hope Curtis McElhinney can carry the load to keep them in the playoff hunt.
Others include Logan Couture (returned from fractured right fibula Thursday only to suffer a LBI), Adam Henrique (LBI, out Friday), David Pastrnak (non-displaced fracture in left foot, out since Oct. 31, just started skating on his own), Pascal Dupuis (retired due to blood clots), Ondrej Palat (out since November 10 with a suspected ankle injury, activated Thursday), Joffrey Lupul (LBI, practice with Toronto on Thursday, return to game action next week), Kris Russell (hand, missed third straight game Thursday), James Reimer (undisclosed, out at least two games), Devan Dubnyk (groin, out next two games) and Andrew Hammond (head, activated off IR, sent to AHL on conditioning stint).
Fourth Liners/Press Boxers (Fallers)
Brad Richards, C, DET – Richards signed a one-year, $3 million contract with the Red Wings in July 2015 after tallying 12 goals and 37 points in 76 regular-season games with Chicago, before adding three goals and 14 points in 23 postseason games. With Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg out early, Richards was expected to help pick up the scoring slack. A back injury sidelined him nearly a month and he has just five points in 14 games. If you own him, hope that he produces on the PP, as his slow skating likely will limit his five-on-five chances and points.
Tyler Toffoli, RW, LA – Toffoli has now gone five straight games without tallying a point. Overall, he still has 11 goals and nine assists in 27 games and is seeing three more minutes of ice time compared to last season. This is likely just a mild slump, so don't cut bait but you might want to bench him until he gets hot again.
Alex Goligoski, D, DAL – Goligoski, despite the talent around him, isn't reaping the benefits of playing with a stud offensive team. The presence of John Klingberg and acquisition of Patrick Sharp has further cut his PP TOI. Last year, Trevor Daley and Klingberg resulted in Goligoski going from 3:42 of man-advantage time and 42 points in 2013-14 to 2:06 and 36 points. This season, he is averaging just 1:42 and has 11 points in 28 games.
Steve Mason, G, PHI – Just when it looks like Mason is righting the ship, he regresses again. Mason has been unable to sustain his spurts of fine play, which results in him sitting on the bench for Michal Neuvirth. Owning a goalie usually requires a strong constitution; having Mason necessitates a stomach of iron.
Others include Brooks Laich, Antoine Vermette, Andrew Shaw, Steven Stamkos, Alexander Semin, Mats Zuccarello, Nikolay Kulemin, Tobias Rieder, Mike Reilly, Ryan Murphy, Kevin Bieksa, Cam Ward, Jonathan Bernier, Jake Allen and Cam Talbot.
