NHL Barometer: Hero to Zero for Hagelin

This week's article includes a steady No. 2 pivotman in Montreal, one of the crazy 70s in LA, Quick's length of absence now confirmed and a playoff hero scuffling in Pittsburgh.

First Liners (Risers)

Tomas Plekanac, C, MON - Plekanec isn't a sexy fantasy pick but there is something for consistency. You sort of know Plekanec will likely get you at least 14 goals -- a number he has hit 10 straight years -- and a healthy number of assists. Plekanec had 40 helpers a year ago, and while he may not match that mark, 35 or so from the second line center looks reasonable.

William Nylander, C, TOR - In all the rightful hype over Auston Matthews, Nylander and Mitch Marner may have gotten somewhat lost in the shuffle. Nylander is doing his best to force his name into prominence, tallying a goal and four assists so far. That production builds off the 11 points he posted in his last 12 games in 2015-16, so don't sleep on Matthews' linemate.

Charlie Coyle, LW, MIN - Coyle is off to a strong start playing on the top line in Minnesota with Eric Staal and Zach Parise. Through four games, Coyle has four, despite seeing a minute less of ice time per contest. Coyle, who came to the Wild in the Brent Burns trade, has seen his production rise each of the past three years and should be in line to make it number four this season.

Tomas Hertl, LW, SJ - Hertl the Turtle burst on the scene as a rookie in 2013-14 before he was sidelined by injury. After a rough sophomore campaign, Hertl rebounded to post 21 goals and 25 assists last season. Hertl is skating on the Sharks' top line next to Joe Pavelski and Joe Thornton -- not to mention his role centering the second power-play unit, boding well for continued success.

Tanner Pearson, LW, LA - Pearson was suspended the final two games of the preseason and first two games of the regular season for delivering a shot to the head of Oilers defenseman Brandon Davidson. Pearson is making for lost time, scoring three goals and an assist his first two games back in action. He is skating again on a line with Jeff Carter, in a scaled-back version of the 70s line from the past two years.

Damon Severson, D, NJD - Severson has additional responsibilities following the trade of Adam Larsson to Edmonton, After struggling his first two games, posting a minus-three with no points, Severson has been much better his last two, tallying a pair of power-play assists. Severson is averaging a minute more of ice time and is running the PP in New Jersey, making him a nice blue line sleeper.

Ryan McDonagh, D, NYR - The departure of Keith Yandle to Florida meant that additional offensive responsibility is heaped on McDonagh. So far, so good for McD, who has three points in four games. McDonagh is flashing the skating ability he displayed a few years ago, aided by the system coach Alain Vigneault wants New York to play. McDonagh has seen 3:31 of PPTOI through the first four games, which should enable him to rack up points.

Jacob Markstrom, G, VAN - Markstrom has taken advantage of the additional playing time he has received due to Ryan Miller being sidelined with an abdominal injury. He is 3-0, allowing just five goals in those starts, posting a 1.65 goals-against average and .932 save percentage. Miller backed up Markstrom on Thursday and should be back between the pipes in Vancouver's next start but Markstrom has shown he can handle the spot when called upon.

Tuukka Rask, D, BOS - Rask is off to a strong start, posting a 3-0-0 record with a 1.68 goals-against average and .947 save percentage. After earning the Vezina Trophy in 2013-14, Rask's numbers have slid the past two seasons, bottoming out a bit last season at 2.56 and .915, respectively. Rask is still an elite goalie and with a stromg offense in front of him, he should get notch at least 30-35 wins again.

Others include Aleksander Barkov, Eric Staal, Mike Fisher, Mika Zibanejad, Kyle Turris, Alex Galchenyuk, Victor Rask, Logan Couture, Paul Stastny, Mark Scheifele, Artem Anisimov, Evgeni Malkin, David Pastrnak, Thomas Vanek, Brandon Gallagher, Chris Kreider, Jeff Skinner, Jonathan Drouin, Marian Hossa (#500, check injury status), Jaromir Jagr (#750), Patrick Kane, Patrik Laine, Richard Panik, Matt Read, Mike Hoffman, Vladimir Tarasenko, Lee Stempniak, Wayne Simmonds, Brent Burns, Morgan Rielly, Rasmus Ristolainen, Mike Green, Trevor Daley, Cam Fowler, Noah Hanifin, Erik Karlsson, Marc-Andre Fleury, Roberto Luongo, Braden Holtby, Pekka Rinne and Cory Schneider.

Training Room (Injuries)

Michael Stone, D, ARI - Stone, who underwent surgery in April to repair a torn ACL and MCL, is close to returning to action. Arizona is being cautious with his return, but look for Stone to play before the end of the month. When Stone does get back in, look for a decent number of points along with a copious amount of blocks and hits from the blueliner.

Mike Smith, G, ARI - Smith, originally injured October 18 against Ottawa, went back to Arizona to be evaluated by team doctors, forcing him to miss Thursday's contest with the Canadiens. No word has been provided as to the extent or type if injury Smith suffered, as the euphemistic lower-body injury term is what is currently being reported. Smith was limited to just 32 games last year due to an LBI and Louis Domingue will fill in for him while he is sidelined.

Jonathan Quick, G, LA - Quick, who suffered a lower-body injury in the season-opener against San Jose, will be out three months. He underwent a non-surgical procedure and will not be placed on LTIR right now. In his absence, Jeff Zatkoff is manning the pipes for LA, though the Kings are rumored to be exploring the trade market, possibly focused on Marc-Andre Fleury.

Others include Sidney Crosby (concussion, no set timeframe for return), Patrick Sharp (concussion, DTD), Jiri Hudler (illness, DTD), Rickard Rakell(appendectomy scar tissue/visa issue, should be in the US shortly), Jaden Schwartz (elbow, activated), Michael Raffl (abdomen, to miss 10-14 days), Kris Letang (UBI, DTD), Nick Leddy (LBI, DTD) and Carey Price (flu, returned to action with win Thursday).

Fourth Liners/Press Boxers (Fallers)

Ryan Spooner, C, BOS - Spooner posted 13 goals and 36 assists last year in his first full season in Boston. Expectations were mildly elevated for Spooner, though the question coming into the year was where would he fit when everyone was healthy. With Patrice Bergeron active Thursday, David Krejci in the lineup and David Backes moved down to second line right wing. Spooner was the odd-man out, as he was a healthy scratch against New Jersey. It may just be a one-time occurrence, but Spooner might be relegated to bottom six duty when active.

Carl Hagelin, LW, PIT - The Hagelin-Bonino-Kessel line helped carry the Penguins to the Cup last year. This year, the H and B parts of the line are struggling. Hagelin has yet to register a point in five games and once again, he is seeing almost no power play time. Last year's explosion may be able to be viewed as a fluke, so feel free to toss Hags back to the waiver wire if there is a better option available.

Jake Muzzin, D, LA - Muzzin averaging over 24 minutes a game, including 3:28 on the man-advantage, yet is scoreless on the year. Eventually the dam will break, but darn it, I want that to happen now (and yes, I do own him in my home league). All you can do as a Muzzin owner is be patient. Fell free to reserve him for now, but activate him as soon as he notches a point, as the flow of them could start immediately thereafter.

Brian Elliott, G, CGY - Many analysts, including myself, felt that Calgary made a brilliant move obtaining Elliott from the Blues; providing the team with a true #1 goalie. To date, that has proven to be far from the case, as Elliott has now lost three straight starts to open the season, surrendering 14 goals in that span for an .839 save mark and 4.72 GAA. Chad Johnson has fared much better than Elliott, so it is feasible he gets a short run until Elliott regains his game. As was noted in our update following Thursday's loss, Elliott has never been a particularly great goalie anywhere but St. Louis, and the Flames' defense certainly isn't of the same caliber as the Blues', which we quite likely should have factored in after the trade. But it's not as if Calgary has a poor blue line, so this level of drop off is highly unexpected.

Others include Nick Bonino, Justin Abdelkader, Anthony Duclair (moving to first line, so this could jumpstart his game), Brain Campbell, Cam Ward, Corey Crawford and Ben Bishop.