This week's article includes Norris back for Buffalo, Kane on fire for Detroit, Gavrikov stepping up in Adam Fox's absence, Wolf a red-hot Flame, Leonard out for a while and Andersen's slump showing no signs of abating.
Discover who's been filling up the scoresheet with RotoWire's NHL Trending Players page!
First Liners (Risers)
Josh Norris, C, BUF: Norris returned with a vengeance after missing 24 games. Injured Opening Night, Norris has notched points in all three contests since his activation, producing a goal and three assists. Norris' career has been marred by injuries that have cost him significant time. Healthy for now, he benefits from skating on the Sabres' first line with Tage Thompson in his first full season with Buffalo after coming over in 2024-25 from Ottawa. Ride the wave for as long as he remains hot.
Tyler Bertuzzi, LW, CHI: Bertuzzi, after posting 30 goals and 32 assists for Detroit in 2021-22, notched just 30 points in 50 contests the following season between the Red Wings and Bruins. He signed a one-year deal with Toronto to try and improve his longer-term options and tallied 43 points with the Buds. Chicago signed Bertuzzi to a four-year, $22 million contract in July 2024, receiving 23 tallies and 23 helpers in a mildly disappointing year last season. He has been much better this season, already posting 14 goals and 10 apples in 25 games, skating on the second line.
Patrick Kane, RW, DET: Kane is heating up.
This week's article includes Norris back for Buffalo, Kane on fire for Detroit, Gavrikov stepping up in Adam Fox's absence, Wolf a red-hot Flame, Leonard out for a while and Andersen's slump showing no signs of abating.
Discover who's been filling up the scoresheet with RotoWire's NHL Trending Players page!
First Liners (Risers)
Josh Norris, C, BUF: Norris returned with a vengeance after missing 24 games. Injured Opening Night, Norris has notched points in all three contests since his activation, producing a goal and three assists. Norris' career has been marred by injuries that have cost him significant time. Healthy for now, he benefits from skating on the Sabres' first line with Tage Thompson in his first full season with Buffalo after coming over in 2024-25 from Ottawa. Ride the wave for as long as he remains hot.
Tyler Bertuzzi, LW, CHI: Bertuzzi, after posting 30 goals and 32 assists for Detroit in 2021-22, notched just 30 points in 50 contests the following season between the Red Wings and Bruins. He signed a one-year deal with Toronto to try and improve his longer-term options and tallied 43 points with the Buds. Chicago signed Bertuzzi to a four-year, $22 million contract in July 2024, receiving 23 tallies and 23 helpers in a mildly disappointing year last season. He has been much better this season, already posting 14 goals and 10 apples in 25 games, skating on the second line.
Patrick Kane, RW, DET: Kane is heating up. He's gotten on the scoresheet in seven of his last eight outings, earning two goals and eight assists in that span. Kane is up to five goals and 19 points in 20 appearances and sits just three shy of 500 goals in his illustrious and future Hall of Fame career. He no longer is a top line player but has settled into a second trio placement opposite Alex DeBrincat while also playing the point on the first unit power play. Look for Kane's production to remain solid.
Timo Meier, LW, NJ: New Jersey has struggled overall without Jack Hughes. Meier is one of the few players who have raised his game and production in Hughes' absence. Meier has notched six goals and nine total points over his last nine appearances, upping his season marks to 11 tallies and 12 apples in 29 contests. Meier is no longer the 35-40 goal scorer he was in San Jose, but he has a strong chance to hit the 30-goal, 60-point marks for the Devils this season.
Vladislav Gavrikov, D, NYR: Adam Fox's injury – believed to be a separated shoulder – will sidelined him at least three-plus weeks and possibly longer. His absence creates a huge hole on the Rangers' blue line. Stepping up his production has been Fox's partner Gavrikov, who has four goals and three helpers over his last nine outings. Gavrikov has already matches his career high in tallies with six, but his main asset to the Blueshirts is his stellar play in his own and the neutral zones. That's why New York signed him to a seven-year, $49 million deal this offseason.
Denton Mateychuk, D, CLM: Coming into Sunday's contest, Mateychuk had points in three straight contests. That output gave Mateychuk six goals and as many assists in 27 contests, matching his production from the 45 contests he played in his rookie campaign the prior season. A first-round pick, 12th overall in 2022, Mateychuk is second fiddle on the Columbus blueline to Zach Werenski, but that doesn't mean he can't be productive and have substantive value for your fantasy roster.
Dustin Wolf, G, CGY: Last week, Devin Cooley received bold treatment. This week, it's Wolf. Saturday, Wolf notched his second shutout of the season, continuing his very quiet uplift in play between the pipes. Prior to surrendering four goals on 29 shots but earning the win Monday, Wolf allowed two goals or fewer in seven of prior last 12 outings, going 6-4-1 over that stretch with a dazzling 2.21 GAA and .918 save percentage. Wolf's rough start is not completely in the rear view mirror, but the distance between the two is getting further the better he plays.
Jakub Dobes, G, MTL: Dobes burst onto the scene as a rookie last year before fading slightly. His play this season has been inconsistent, though he entered Sunday's start posting a 1.39 GAA and .945 save percentage en route to back-to-back overtime victories. Dobes was 10-3-2 with a 2.95 GAA and .895 save percentage prior to his outing Sunday against the Blues, outplaying Sam Montembeault, who missed Sunday's game due to illness. A changing of the guard could be on the horizon if Dobes is able to string together several more solid starts in a row, but allowing four goals on 18 shots Sunday won't help his case.
Others include Adam Fantilli, Wyatt Johnston, Jack Eichel, Leon Draisaitl, Brandon Hagel, Owen Tippett, JJ Peterka, Steven Stamkos, Ivan Barbashev, Mikko Rantanen, Alex DeBrincat, Brandon Montour, Shea Theodore, Miro Heiskanen, Evan Bouchard, Igor Shesterkin, Jesper Wallstedt, Ilya Sorokin and Jake Oettinger.
Buy Low
Thomas Novak, C, PIT: Novak remained hot Sunday, lighting the lamp on the power play. Bouncing between centering the second line and skating as a wing on the first trio, Novak has six points – two goals and four assists – his last five contests. That production has upped Novak's today to 13 points (five on the power play), 33 shots on net and a minus-1 rating over 26 outings. Novak notched 43 and 45 points, respectively, in back-to-back seasons, 2022-2024, with the Predators, but he fell off to just 22 points between Nashville and Pittsburgh last season. He appears to have regained his scoring touch. His overall numbers while also possibly overlooked due to who he plays with makes Novak a buy-low candidate.
Training Room (Injuries)
Ryan Leonard, RW, WSH: Leonard, in the midst of a hot streak in which he had scored in five of six contests while notching a pair of goals and six assists, was injured Friday night. Jacob Trouba blasted Leonard behind the Anaheim net with a clean shoulder-to-shoulder check that will sideline the rookie winger for an extended period. No definite word has been provided on what the injury is or the length he will be sidelined, but coach Spencer Carbury stated Leonard will be out for a while.
Others include Logan Cooley (lower body, placed on IR, out indefinitely), Tyler Seguin (ACL, length of absence not clear yet, but could miss the rest of the season), Tyson Foerster (upper body, will miss 2-3 months), Jordan Kyrou (lower body, inured Saturday, missed Sunday's game), John Carlson (upper body, missed his third straight game Sunday), Charlie Lindgren (upper body, placed on injured reserve Sunday, likely out a week or two), Lukas Dostal (upper body, out 1-2 weeks) and Scott Wedgewood (back, missed third straight contest Sunday).
Fourth Liners/Press Boxers (Fallers)
Adam Henrique, C, EDM: Henrique centers the third line in Edmonton, with production in line with that deployment. He notched just one assist in November and has two goals and seven helpers in 29 contests. Henrique posted 51 points between the Ducks and Oilers in 2023-24 but fell off to just 27 points last season in Edmonton. He is valued for his experience and defensive acumen with his scoring secondary. He crossed the 1,000-game barrier in his carrier this season.
Kent Johnson, LW, CLM: Johnson posted 24 goals and 33 assists last season, exceeding his total from the prior two seasons combined. He came into this season with most fantasy experts predicting he would take the next step in his development, with 65-70 points a realistic target. How wrong we were, at least so far. Johnson has just three goals and three assists in 28 games along with a minus-14 rating. The hope is that he will pick up his production, but that has not happened yet.
Zeev Buium, D, MIN: Every time it looks like Buium is about to take a step forward and be consistently productive, he hits a wall. Buium has just four assists his last 15 games, but prior to that he had three goals and six helpers in his 14 contests of the season. Brock Faber has remained the team's power play quarterback, relegating Buium to the second unit. The hope is that Buium finds his footing the second half of the season, aiding Minnesota's playoff hopes.
Others include Chandler Stephenson, Noah Cates, Phillip Danault, Andrei Kuzmenko, Luke Glendening, Oliver Bjorkstrand, Fabian Zetterlund, Ivan Provorov, Eric Comrie and Joey Daccord.
Sell High
Frederik Andersen, G, CAR: Andersen's struggles have shown no signs of slowing. His last regulation win came Nov. 8, and he's 1-4-2 in his past seven starts. Andersen has allowed 23 goals in that span, ceding starts to Brandon Bussi. Pyotr Kochetkov just returned from his injury, which could result in Andersen sliding to the No. 3 goalie spot in Carolina. Andersen will most likely right the ship at some point, but for now, keep him firmly planted on your bench.
