The Hockey PDOcast - Players To Keep an Eye on Coming out of the Four Nations Break

Episode Date: February 21, 2025

Dimitri Filipovic is joined by Chris Meaney to help you with your fantasy pools for the stretch run by highlighting some players that stand to benefit from added opportunity coming out of the Four Nations break. If you'd like to gain access to the two extra shows we're doing each week this season, you can subscribe to our Patreon page here: www.patreon.com/thehockeypdocast/membership If you'd like to participate in the conversation and join the community we're building over on Discord, you can do so by signing up for the Hockey PDOcast's server here: https://discord.gg/a2QGRpJc84 The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Media Inc. or any affiliate.

2015. It's the Hockey PEDEOCast with your host, Dmitri Filipovich. Welcome to the Hockey PEDEOCast. My name is Dimitra Philpovich. And joining me is my good buddy, Chris Meaney. What's going on, man. What's going on, Dimitri. What an unbelievable couple weeks for the game of hockey. And it's just so happy to be here with you and talk the rest of the season, man. Thanks for having me. This is going to be fun. We've got a little bit of a chance here to exhale for a second after that thrilling conclusion to the Four Nations. event, but not for too long because the NHL schedule resumes on Saturday. We're right back at it. And I wanted to use this as an opportunity for us with the quick turnaround to kind of get ourselves

thinking about the NHL landscape again, prepare for the final 25 or so games for everyone down the stretch. If you're playing in fantasy pools, and I know many of you are the list. And I think it's a unique opportunity to capitalize coming out of the break. We've had nearly two weeks here since the last NHL game was played. There's also the trade deadline coming up. And so if you're proactive right now, I feel like getting guys whose stock is about to rise is a very fertile ground for you to improve your teams. And so we're going to hopefully identify some of those players who are in a good position

to see their stock rise and ones that you'll be able to benefit from. I'll give you the floor here first. I've got a long list of guys that I think are in a really interesting spots. I'm curious for your take on heading back into the NHL schedule now. who comes to mind for you in terms of someone that you want people to get excited about coming out of the break? I'll start with the Columbus Blue Jackets. This has been a really fun team offensively this season. I know that they struggle to keep the puck out of their net,

but offensively, man, they've been fantastic to watch. And even with missing some guys, I mean, Sean Monaghan goes down January 7th. He suffers a little bit of a setback here. And the player that I noticed the most was Adam Fantilli. And you and I think are on the same page when it comes to Marchenko. I mean, this guy's just a thrill to watch. He does something every time he touches the ice that just really takes it back a little bit. But Fantelli's already surpassed his rookie totals from last season,

career high in goals, 15, 17 assists, 32 points. He's averaging more ice time from 15 to 17. And I mentioned when Monaghan went down, roughly 16 games. He has 15 points. His three plus shots and nine of the 16. He's averaging 2.8 over that span. His last few games mean 26, 59, 20. 24, 27, 20 plus minutes and nine of his last 13.

It does sound like they're going to get their captain Boone Jenner back here right out of the break. I'm sure at some point, Monaghan's playing as well. Maybe he takes over that top spot with Veronicaoff's breakout campaign here as well. But Fantili has really impressed me. He's got the speed. He's among the leaders when we look at some of the edge stats. He gets those areas in front of the net. He's got a heck of a release.

So the blue jackets are a lot of fun to watch. Ken Johnson's playing really good as well. So Adam Matelli only owned in roughly 30% of Yahoo Leagues. He's a guy that I would roster immediately. I'm surprised about that to hear that just because his usage, as you said, has been so through the roof. I mean, playing 27 minutes in his most recent game before the break is some elite usage. Now, Boone Jenner coming back, I'm curious to see I imagine,

at least out of the gate, considering how much time he's missed, they're going to slow play that a little bit and sort of ramp him up. Marchenko should be back soon as well, wearing some sort of a face shield or cage. And I think that's going to be huge because I think we saw enough. I had some questions after Monahan went down how Fantilli would fill into that role because he'd struggled to acclimate himself

in the NHL game early on in his career but he fit right in with those guys and Marchenko and Vranco do such a good job of just sort of like stretching the ice and creating space for him and allowing him to utilize his speed in the middle of the ice the way he when he's at his best and kind of getting a full head of steam and so I think we've seen enough from those three guys

that when Marchenko comes back I'd like to see them stick together even if Bunei's, Jenner starts playing in the top six. So I think that's a really good shot. I mean, this Blue Jackets team's going to play some very exciting games here, right? They're very live in that Eastern Conference wildcard race. They've got a really fun and kind of surprisingly meaningful game against the Detroit Wedwings in that outdoor stadium series coming up here in the next couple days as well.

And so, yeah, if you're not bought into the Blue Jackets yet, I just feel like it's such a fun ride to be on right now. And they get into these games where it's very high event, tons of shots. going back and forth, tons of goals, as you said, they can't really keep it out of their own net. And so I think that leads to really fun game scripts for all these guys. I think Ken Johnson shouldn't go under the radar as well. I mean, his skill is just off the charts. I want to talk to a little bit about the Stars defenseman.

The last time you and I did this, we identified Wyatt Johnson, I think, as the player we were probably most bullish on. There were so many underlying indicators with his low shooting percentage and his scoring rate that he was down to bounce back. and both him and Jason Robertson have since the new year, since the holiday break, they've started producing at the rates we've come to expect from them. I think Mero Hayskinin's absence, functionally, in my opinion, for the rest of the regular season, I think it'll be surprising to see him back before the playoffs, opens up so many available minutes, right? This guy was eating up over 25 minutes a game, which was top 10 in the league.

In the six games since he's been out, Thomas Harley has played 2719, 2416, 2246, 2637, 26-07, and 2324. he's racked up seven points in a time, obviously playing on the top pair with Essel Andelendel, but also filling Hayskinin's role in the top unit power play. And I noted this even before this stretch, before Haskin went out, how despite the fact that Harley's own individual scoring totals and especially his goal scoring wasn't at the level it was at last year when he burst onto the scene, the stars with him on the ice were actually scoring more often this year than they were last season when he was putting up all those points. So he was playing really well even previous to this. And then now, you know, I think there's the narrative of we just saw him step into this role on Team Canada. He was their second or third best defenseman by pretty much any measure. He played the third most ice time in that championship game against Team USA and looked apart. And so I like this narrative of him coming back with that experience under his belt, just having a whole newfound level of swag to his game and stepping in as the number one defenseman for this team and just continuing to play 25 plus minutes and producing as such.

So I think everyone right now that either watch those games or listens to the show knows about Thomas Harley. It's not surprising. But I feel like the room for him to grow is about as high as any defenseman in the league. So I want to be in on that ride as well. Yeah, I couldn't agree more, Dimitri. And also I think some people were a little taken back on the fact that he was replacement. But he looked awesome, right? Immediately, I thought him and Drew Doughty in that first game against the Americans,

slogged a lot of ice time. They generated a lot of offensive chances. and I thought he looked good in the championship game as well. So it's a great call by you. And I have my notes, everything Dallas, right? You mentioned why Johnson and Jason Robertson. They're both inside the top 10 in scoring over the last seven or eight weeks. Ropei Hintz has been more productive.

I love the addition of McHale Granlin, gives them versatility up and down their lineup. You know, Matt Duchenne was kind of struggling a little bit without Mason Marchman. And Tyler Sagan, Marchman is back. Granlin played the past couple games with Dushain. Duchenne had four points in those four games. Actually, he had four goals and six points in those two games. and Granland had two points, you know, in back-to-back game. So he is a guy that probably will, I mean, his usage rate is not going to be the same as

what it was in San Jose. He was logging a lot of ice time, but his linemates have improved. And, you know, Dallas may be aggressive at the deadline. They've been in the Western Conference Finals and back-to-back seasons. So this is a team that's been knocking on the door. And, you know, it does open up some cap space with Sagina on Long-Term IR and Mirro Heiskenen. So, yeah, I have everything here in my notes on the Dallas stars. I love that call from Harley.

I'll just continue with the defenseman. And Jay Sanderson is another guy that's really caught my eye lately for the Ottawa senators. You know, he stepped in as well like Harley in the four nations face off. He scored the goal there against Canada. But the past eight games before the break, three goals and 10 points, four power play points, two shorthanded points. Another guy that's just logging a lot of minutes, 25 plus minutes and three straight,

four plus shots, locking shots. He is doing a lot for the Ottawa. of senators at the moment and, you know, signed a big contract, Demetri, a couple years ago and playing into that contract and the sends are a team as well, like the Columbus Blue Jack is playing meaningful hockey at the moment. Well, I feel like

also, if you just looked at his season long stats, I don't think it's a fair way to evaluate him because Ardenzoot missed a bunch of time. And so he was playing all these minutes with Travis Hammannick and understandably, his underlying numbers were not that good during that time, but Zub is back and I just feel like it's an entirely

different ballgame for him on that top pair with him and he's able to just eat up such massive amounts of ice Simon, especially under Travis Green with the way they're playing defensively in his role, whether you look at the NHL edge stats or some of the sport logic stuff in terms of how involved he is of protecting the blue line and how active his stick is. Like he's a guy who I feel like Travis Green is going to ride as much as he can here. On the start on the on the on the senators note, I also had Ridley Greg on my list here because Josh Norris is going to be out.

He was pronounced out for a couple of weeks. He's still not back after this break. Shane Pinto is out as well, and all of a sudden you look at the center-ice depth chart for them. Beyond Tim Stutzla, there's a real opportunity there. He's going to play most likely with guys like Brady Kachak, who's actually played 200 or so, five-on-five minutes with this year, and Drake Batherson. And that's a really nice opportunity for him to play top six center minutes with highly skilled players and produce.

His season-long totals, I think he has like nine goals or something this year and under 20 points. So that's not going to blow anyone away, but I feel like comparing what his role is going to be like now for the foreseeable future, compared to what he was playing previously. It's an entirely different ball game for him. So I feel like Ridley, Greg, just in terms of finding a guy who can play 18 to 20 minutes, the way he has recently is an interesting spot, especially in a scoring role like this. Yeah, absolutely. And one of those guys, too, that can help you out.

If you're playing with leagues with faceoffs and hits, I mean, look at now, he's got at least two hits, I think, a 10-strike games. And as you mentioned, hitting the 20-minute mark a couple times as well. So an opportunity for him to, and that's what it really comes down. to it this time of this season, right? You, you know, especially if you're making a push in your fantasy hockey playoffs, you know, you want to stream players and that are, they've received promotions, or they're going to have four game weeks, and you kind of have to live in the moment and unfortunately cut bait with some players that are just not doing anything for you. And Greg's a

good call. Next guy on my list is Kevin Fiala, who got off to an alarmingly slow start. He only had 10 goals in his first 30 games. He, in watching those games look very disengaged and kind of just floating around, in my opinion, it was. sort of the worst habits that I think he's picked up throughout his NHL career. He missed the game where he was scratched for his alarm not going off and missing a team meeting. And recently they put him with Quinn Byfield and Alex LaFerrier and that trio has been cooking. They've played 84 minutes at 515 together, shots on goal, 52 to 24 for the Kings, high danger chances, 20 to 8, goal 6 to 1. I think they've stumbled upon a line with real offensive juice there and considering how star of that team is,

especially at 5-1-5 for that type of offense, I feel like they're going to stick with it for the time being. He's got seven goals and six assists in his last 12 games. You look at before the break, he played 2614 and 23-04 in the two most recent games the Kings played. He had four games with double-digit shot attempts. He's just much more involved now and just flying up and down the ice the way he is when he's at his absolute best, much like a lot of scorers.

He's very streaky. I feel like maybe him more so even than some other guys. but right now he's playing so well and I feel like you want to take advantage of that while you can. Yeah, he was one of those players that we had on our, our by-low list over at NHL Fantasy.com. And I saw the same things you just mentioned to start the season. We've been attacking him in terms of shot props because of those shot attempts.

And yeah, the five goals and four games, Bifield, six points in four Lafairier, four points in eight games since returned to the lineup. These guys are on my list as well, Dimitri. Kings are a strong home team. We have kind of a cheat-sheet schedule the rest of the way. looking at remaining games at home on the road, back-to-back games,

and the Kings have the most home games remaining in the NHL. Drew Dowdy is back. He logged a lot of ice time over the four nations, and even before that, he looked overall at his ice time leaders. He's up at the top with the Wrenski and Makara, of course, he's only played a handful of games, but this is a guy that could log a lot of minutes.

So I like that call. I'll stick in the West here and love to get your thoughts on the Cracken. Seattle, they don't really blow me away offensively. You know, since the calendar turned to 2025, their 13th in goals per game at 3.05. Shane Wright leads them with nine points over the last month. He has four goals and nine points in his past eight games, 15 points in his past 19.

He's only logging 13, 14 minutes per game. He's on that second power play unit. I don't see him jumping up ahead of Maddie Berners or Chandler Stevenson. And both of those guys are kind of cooking at the moment as well. I really like the makeup of Ellie Tolvinen, Stevenson and Bjork Strand as a trio. and the addition of Kako as well. You know, you look at just his usage with the Rangers in 30 games.

He had 14 points, average 13 minutes. He's averaging nearly 18 minutes per game and 24 games with Seattle, 17 points and five goals, getting an opportunity. So all of a sudden, I look at Seattle and I see Jared McCann and there's some rumors that they may move on from him. And certainly that probably hurt Shane Wright. But now this is a team that has three lines that, you know, can create some offense. and they got Vince Dunn and Montor on the back end.

Shane Wright is, he's impressive at the moment. And I think in deeper leagues, he may be able to help you out. And again, I'll go back to Chandler Stevenson. He's not a volume shooter, Dmitri, but he's a guy that we've seen before. He's a playmaker and he can help a power play. Seattle's playing probably their best offensive hockey at the moment. They are. And you mentioned McCand there in the rumors.

I'd add Bjork Strand as well, who's going to be a very appealing trade candidate. I know Yanni Gord is out right now, but assuming his health, holds up or teams will not take a shot, he could also get moved as well. And so there could be a lot of moving parts there up front of that just going to open more opportunity, especially for some of these young guys as Seattle just essentially tries to figure out who's part of their future and who's not. I had Kako on my list. You mentioned the usage and the point total since he came over. They also stumbled upon something really intriguing here with him, Baneers and Jaden Schwartz, right? That trio has generated 15-5-15 goals in 280 minutes or so together. And

that's like finding water in the desert if you're the Seattle Cracken in terms of offensive production. And so I thought Ococo as well, you know, he started out. I think he was scratched in the first Four Nations game and then his ice time was kind of up and down. But he got some opportunities playing with Barkov and Ranton in the top line. And I thought he looked apart. Like I think he's a very good player. And so playing in this spot trying to kind of unlock Baneers offensively and get him back on track at that end of the ice is a very intriguing thing. I've got another young player here that I want to talk about that has stepped into a new role and has really benefited from it. And that's Marco Casper, who is playing on the top line with Dylan Larkin and Lucas Raymond, two guys who both shined for their respective teams at the four nations, especially Larkin. I thought he was one of Team USA's most dangerous offensive players. This trio has played 194, five-on-five minutes together.

Now, 192 of those have come since the coaching change at the Christmas break. They weren't used together at all under Derek Llan. Todd McClellan came in and essentially put them together and has been riding them ever since. They have 59% shot share, 57% expected goal share, which is amazing on this Red Wings team. I just love the way his game functions on that line as well, right? He's always the first guy into the zone. He hounds the puck. He wins battles.

He extends possession for them. He crashes the net. He does a lot of these little things, especially playing with Larkin, who commands so much attention with his speed. and then Raymond, who's such a prolific playmaker and passer, I feel like the opportunities are going to be there for him to clean up a lot of stuff around the net. And I think this break came at the right time for him as well, right? Because I know he played a full season in the HL last year,

but coming over from Europe where the schedule is much shorter and you're playing fewer games, you're going to get into a spot with some of these young guys, especially as they get like sort of their first taste of this type of extended NHL schedule where you sometimes see them kind of crash a little bit towards the end of the year. as they acclimate themselves. In this case, I feel like getting 10 to 12 days off for a young player like this is really going to benefit him

and he's going to step right back in to that top line role. So this team's been playing entirely differently, offensively under Todd McClellan since the coaching change. And I feel like it's going to be tough to cash in on Larkin and Raymond because I think their owners probably value them quite dearly, but I feel like you can get a chance to step in on that top line with Casper for much cheaper. Yeah, and you know, talk about cheap.

I mean, he's been plus money for a point throughout. I mean, seven goals, 13 points in this past 15 games. I had him on my list to, Dimitri. McClellan, you know, at the time when he took over, Detroit was near the bottom in five and five shooting percentage. You're getting by on their power play. And the power play has still been pretty good. But 15, 5 and 1 since he's taken over,

they're tied for first and wins at 15, 31 points, only trailing Dallas and Washington. They're sixth in goals per game. And Larkin and Brayman, they were great before the break. I thought they were both fantastic, especially Larkin. He started, I think, on the fourth line. He just got better and better as the Four Nations tournament continued on.

Those guys have combined for 50 points under Todd McClellan, and they're both inside the top 10 in scoring since he's taken over. So I love that call. Detroit playing some really good hockey and meaningful hockey as well. There's a lot of these Eastern Conference teams that are right there in the middle of things and offensive they're bringing it. I'll go to a player that does surprise me that he's available in about half of Yahoo Leagues. And it's Matthew Nyes.

He's having a breakout campaign with 21 goals you'd think, you know, as a Maple Leaf, usually some of these players in Toronto when they, you know, they get going, their roster. But he's available and he's got, you know, the way that he finished off the break, I know that he missed a little bit of time, but he had three goals and five points in his final four games since he returned to the lineup. If you look overall, his past 14 games, he has 10 goals and 17 points. And he's played a majority of his hockey with Austin Matthews.

And when Matthews was sidelined, he was a little quiet. Matthew Nyes is fill in the net. You know, they'll shuffle their lines up a little bit, put Myriner up there. sometimes William Nealander, but he's always going to play with an elite center, and I would expect him to play with Matthews the rest of the way. So the Leafs, again, strength of schedule. It's the easiest remaining playing pretty good hockey at the moment, you know, all year, really. And Matthew Nyes is a guy that, you know, you're just looking for goal scores.

You're dealing with some injuries. He's somebody that can maybe score 15 the rest of the way. And there's going to be more points available as well because Austin Matthews has now gone 10 straight games without scoring a goal, which seemed I'd never thought I'd see that considering how consistent a goal scorer he is. And he's certainly gone to opportunities you watch in that championship game against Canada. He had the three glorious chances in overtime. And he came about as close as you can without actually scoring.

So I expect the floodgates to open for him. And he's just going to start scoring more. And so I just think there's going to be more pieces of pie available, I guess, in that offense, especially if you're out there with him to chip in on the offense, to be more involved and get more points along the way. So I like that quite a bit. I got one more guy here before we go to break. and that's Cole Profetti.

Seven games before the break, four goals, five assists, play with Nikolai Eilers at 5-15, who is fifth in the league in points per 60, only Kutrov, Joyce Idol, McDavid, and McKinnon have been more efficient than Nikolai Eilers, and so that's a great spot to be in. The Jets are an interesting spot as well, right?

They got a nine-point lead in the West. They have 12 million plus in cap space. We've talked a lot about how this is their year, not only because of how good they are, but because they have a lot of questions. this off season. Speaking of Eelers, he might be gone with the rising cap. This is probably their best opportunity on an even playing field to go for it.

And the most likely ad for them is going to be that second line center spot particularly. And playing with Eelers and Perfetti, getting someone who can bump Nemesnikov down the lineup in a role he's better suited for. And if they bring someone in, just thinking about how that player, assuming it's someone that we like, and whether it's a Jared McCann or a Brock Nelson or whatever center you want to name, not only is he going to play with Perfetti at 5-15, but he'll probably play with him on the second unit power play as well, in the Jets, whether it's been their P-P-1 or P-P-2 have been scoring at a ridiculous rate with the man advantage this year. And so I really like Perfetti's game.

I think it's a nice way to get involved with that Jets offense because it's going to be tough to get guys like Conn or Shifley, Volardi, and even Eilers. But I feel like Perfetti gives you a nice chance for a young player who's only a kid. getting better and I think totally looks the part playing with the Nikola Eilers out there. Yeah, and my notes is buy. I'm buying what I've seen lately from him. I know his ownership has jumped up a little bit, but that's exactly what I have here. My notes as well is that this is a team, last year we saw it.

You know, they, Sean Monahan, Tyler DeFoulli. They bought at the deadline. It didn't work out for them. They got bounced in the first round. But yeah, yeah, this power play is operating at an extreme rate higher than the Oilers last season. And the fact that he's doing this alongside Nemestikov, no slight on him, they are going to add a center. I fully believe that they will add somebody. I don't know whether that's a Brock Nelson or anybody like that. But even if it was, you add Brock Nelson on that second line for an example,

somebody who is experienced and then you have an upgrade, you have Lowry on that third line. The jets are fantastic. And Perfetti looks like he's playing with a lot of confidence. You mentioned, you know, the power play in the second unit, four power play points over his last six or seven games as well. So it's another guy that I like that call. And him and Eler just creates so much space out there. You look, and I like domestic off as a player, but he just doesn't have the skill level to fully take advantage of that at times. And sometimes opportunities just die on a stake. And so getting someone, whether it's, I mean, preferably a shooter, honestly, because I feel like

Eilers and Perfetti are both such fantastic playmakers. And so getting someone who can finish on those opportunities they create, I feel like the baseline offensively for all those guys could skyrocket even past what it's been so far. All right, let's take our break here. And then when we come back, we'll jump back into it. We've got at least a handful more guys that we're going to get through today. You're listening to the HockeyPedio cast streaming on the Sportsnet Radio Network. All right, we're back here on the HockeyPedioCast, joined by Chris Meany today. We're trying to get back into the swing of things with the NHL resuming play.

We're helping you with your fantasy teams, trying to identify guys with buying opportunities. Meany, I'll give you the floor here. Who's next on your list in terms of intriguing options to get in on? Yeah, let's chat about the flames for a second. And, you know, they made a couple moves, you know, bringing in Yul Ferby and Morgan Frost. They started Farabey up on that top line with Cadre and Hubertow. They took him away and put him with Frost and Igor Sharon Govich in Calgary's most recent game. Looks like Connor Zari is going to be back here soon playing with Backlin and Coleman.

But I like that true as well. They play a pretty good brand of five and five hockey. He's got a nice offensive skill to him. But Matt Coronado is somebody's been pretty impressive, 14 goals on the season, and getting an opportunity to play with Cadre and Huberto. And look at Cadre, you see 40 points and 50 games, maybe not doing it for you, but six points over a five-game point streak before the break, four power play points, 20 shots,

averaging 21 minutes per game. You look at the last 30 games just at our point per game over that span. Jonathan Huberto, 21 goals. He had 12 goals last season and 15 in his first season with Calgary. So I probably never get back to that 100-point campaign that he had with Florida, but this is looking like it's close to the Florida Uber-Dos, as we've seen in a couple years and also on a point streak. So that duo has been really good, productive in Coronado,

and they may shuffle some things up. But Calgary is also playing pretty good hockey, thanks to Wolf Between the Pipes. They have a chance to actually make the playoffs here. And they're a team that's trending up in the right direction. I picked up Farabee last a couple weeks ago, just streaming with the opportunity, didn't do a whole lot. But keep an eye on just like the rotation in the top six there.

And Morgan Frost, I think his first or second game, he led the flames and shot attempts. So he's somebody as well. change of pace away from Philadelphia, a new, fresh start in Calgary. The flames have caught my eye. Yeah, their top nine and all of a sudden is looking quite interesting with Zeri coming back. I love Zeri's game, and I'm excited to watch him play again. And Coronado has been phenomenal.

I feel like his shooting talent, it's not going to happen this year at this pace, but I feel like if he popped off for 35 goals or so next year, that wouldn't surprise me at all. Like he's the real deal as a shooter. So I love that show. You know, the team they're competing with for that wildcard spot in the West, the Vancouver Canucks. I want to talk to you a little bit about Kevin Lankan, because as we're recording today, the Kinnock gave him a mega extension that I think caught a lot of people by surprise.

They gave him $4.5 million over the next five years. And you look at particularly the details and speaking to how much they value him, they gave him a no move cost in the first two years of that deal. They gave him $8.5 million worth of signing bonuses spread throughout those five years. So that's a pretty favorable deal for a guy. And that's very, I think, instructive in terms of how they're viewing him. I think it also speaks a lot to the uncertainty they have moving forward with Atredemco, right, who was out week to week.

Now all of a sudden we know that he's not going to travel with the team for this upcoming five-game road trip. They're competing for that wildcard spot with the flames. They have a three-point lead, but it's pretty tight with them in Utah a bit behind. And so all these games are going to be very meaningful for the Canucks moving forward. I imagine they're going to ride Lankin quite a bit. We saw him in the Four Nations take the net from UC Soros. Now it didn't go that well for him in the deciding. fighting game against Canada, but I'm not going to hold out against him considering how underman

they were heading into that game. He's played quite well, especially given the circumstances this year. And all of a sudden now they add Marcus Pedersen, Quinn Hughes will be back here shortly. We've seen a handful of games here recently, whether it's the game against the abs or the most recent one they played before the break against the Toronto Maple Leafs where they looked like last year's Canucks defensively, where it was pretty stifling. There wasn't that much going on. the other team really struggled to generate any sort of meaningful offensive zone time or chances. And so if you're going to tell me that that's a defensive environment, he's going to be playing behind. All of a sudden, that's a pretty interesting goalie who's going to be getting a lot of workload here down the stretch.

Yeah, we moved him up in our rankings a couple weeks ago. And really, we probably should have had him higher because he's been pretty strong for Vancouver. You mentioned the game against Leaves 21 of 22. I bet the game against Washington 32 of 33. He stopped against the capitals. I thought he was sharp in that game. And you're right, Finland didn't really have a whole lot to offer. When Me or Ice going to went down, they were going to be completely short-handed on the blue line.

I thought he held his own even against Canada. They give up a couple of high-nature chances there. So the Canucks are certainly interesting. I know Eliza Pedersen hasn't had the season that we're used to seeing from him. And it didn't go that well for him in Sweden. But out of the break here, the Canucks are fighting for something, a playoff spot. I'd like to see him at Jake DeBras. Maybe Brock Besser get going as well.

And I don't know how you feel about Eliza Pederson as a point. by-low candidate. We do have them as a buy-low candidate over at nchl.com slash fantasy and another player that we had as a by-low candidate even before the trade was Mika Zabinajad, so kind of tie into the Rangers here, two goals and eight points and five games with J.T. Miller,

three power play points. He's shooting again. His second game with Miller, he played 21 minutes. It was the most he had played in like two months, right? He just, it wasn't working for him. I know that the lines were all shuffled. And the first game,

he was on the wing with Miller and the second game he was at center and then they were away from each other in the previous Rangers game but we know what Miller can bring and your listeners know that as well four points in five games three power play points 16 hits 11 shots so I still think the Rangers have some work to do on the blue line I think they need to add something but that addition of Miller I think is is going to help make his Abinajad down the stretch I don't think I can say the same thing with confidence about Chris Crider but Sabinajad is a player that we've received a lot of questions about what do I do with him do I sell high now that he's cooking with with Miller's edition or do I hang tight and I would hang tight I think I would sell high

I think he can still get there in fantasy from that volume perspective you mentioned especially if that power play keeps improving the way it has recently I just feel like to my eye even watching the Four Nations games he just doesn't look right like his his skating has completely fallen off the map his puck handling has completely falling off. He looks like a player who just has lost his confidence. And so he's probably going to be more productive than he's been just because of all those factors you mentioned. But I think at this point, I've seen enough where if someone wanted to buy based on name brand value and what he had done previously, if he scores a couple goals here, I would probably try to cash in because I just don't want

to be caught hold in the bag, I guess, on that. I think there's too many red flags. I'm curious for your take on this. Recently, we saw, the Sabres do something interesting. They bumped, you know, we spoke a lot over the past couple years about how the move they made deciding to put Tage Thompson down the middle, completely unlocked his offensive portfolio, right?

And he took off and he had that magical season a couple years ago. Recently, they bumped him to the wing. And he's been playing with J.J. Paterka and Yuri Kulich, and that trio has been wildly effective together. They've played 85-15 minutes. They've scored 11, 5-on-5 goals in that time. Now, they won't keep scoring

at that rate, certainly, because seemingly, everything they shoot is going into the net right now. But we have a season long trend here of Tage Thompson playing with J.J. Peturka. And in that time at 5-1-5, the Sabres average 34 shots on goal and 5.3 goals per 60. In the minutes he's played without Peturca, that drops down to 24 shots on goal and 2.7 goals per 60. And so I really like this trio in another essentially lost season for the Sabres. They've stumbled upon something interesting here moving forward.

And, you know, we're waiting for a Coolidge to come up. here and get a real shot for a while now. And this certainly fits the bill in that regard. And so I like what I'm seeing from them. And I imagine they're going to stick with it moving forward. And I just feel like there's so much skill with those three guys out there. And, you know, Tage is certainly going to score a lot of goals. But I feel like Paterka and Coolidge as well, you're going to be able to cash in on in the

top line role. Yeah. And I showed it to Pete Jensen. He's got a soft spot for the Sabres. He was talking Coolidge for, I think, a few weeks now. He's like, we're going to get this guy some more ice time. And it's certainly warranted four goals and seven points. in his past eight games on the top line

and a majority of those games as well. I like the move with Tage Thompson on the wing. I think it frees him up just a little bit more. He leads the NHL in five and five goals of the 20. And, you know, I think that this team could make some moves with Jason Zucker probably is a guy that's out the door at the deadline. There's some rumors about Dylan Cousins, but like, why not keep this true together?

Petrka had a great second half last year. I think you and I talked about him, second half, scoring goals with confidence. And a bit of a slow start and picked it up and it was quiet again what Tage was out of the lineup. But right now these three are playing together and Kulich is available. I'd say like 90% of the league. So

I saw he was like 4% known in ESPN format. So I like that call. Also talking narratives. I mean, we were spoken a lot about guys who have benefited from their experience playing in Four Nations. Tage Thompson, one of the most notable omissions from that team and you watch the way it unfolded and how badly I think

they could have used him, especially with Matthew Kachuk, missing that final game from the second period on. And guys, Trocheck and Nelson and Crider all struggling. I feel like, you know, just that sort of vendetta factor, I guess, or sort of just like him showing what they missed out on. I mean, he had certainly been playing really well before the break, and I feel like that's probably going to continue.

Who's next on your list? Well, I want to talk to you about Martin H's and Miko Ren and just that deal, right? I know it's a bit of a small sample size, but just comparing the two players the rest of the way. And I think at the time of the trade, you know, if I ask somebody who would you rather have NACIS or Miko Randon rest of the season, I think a majority of people would probably just say Miko Ranan, right? I mean, his skill level and what he can do, you figure he would figure things out with

Sebastian Aahoe, but NACHA's nine points and eight games at Colorado averaging 3.6 shots per game. He averaged 2.3 per game with Carolina. The usage rate is through the roof. This is a guy that average 18 minutes per game with the hurricanes. And it's what Rodbrenn Mendoor does, right? I mean, even Miko Randon is not getting the same type of ice time at the moment with Carolina like he had with Colorado for Martin Natchez, 23 minutes per game. This is somebody that you and I, I know we talked about last year, about a breakout campaign.

And we saw it. He was, he's fantastic in the first part of the season with Carolina. And his speed alongside Nathan McKinnon, even I've heard from Nathan McKenon. And he wasn't down talking Natchez. He's, I didn't know that he was this good. And our skill set very similar in terms of speed and, and our ability to move the puck and where we want to be. and shooting the puck as well.

He's got a heck of a release. And I think that we're seeing that more. It's like, hey, you're, McKennon is a terrific playmaker. We know that he's a volume shooter and a heck of a shooter, but he's also a really good playmaker. And Natchez is getting an opportunity to shoot the puck more. So if you ask me,

rest of the season, give me Martin Natchez with Colorado and the powerhouse that they have. I'm sure Aho, I'm sure Aho and Brandon will figure it out. And I know you and I talked about, Jackson Blake, you know, playing with those guys as well, six points in his past eight games. He's somebody to keep an eye, and if that continues to happen, that's good news for him playing with those guys. But Martin Naches is looking really good in Colorado. It's been an unbelievable fit, and you don't want to overreact to seven games, but just watching them.

I mean, there's such a nightmare to play against the most recent game they played against the Oilers before the break. I mean, it was just high danger chance after high danger chance off the rush the way they're moving the puck. And you mentioned the point total. It could be even better. I think he's hit the post three or four times in that stretch as well. Like they've been close to at least a handful more goals and points for that line. So, yeah, I mean, with them playing the way they have and the ice time they're getting, it's just, it's fantasy gold, right?

Like, you just, you can't do better than that. You know, on the abs note, I want to talk to you a little bit about Middle Stat, because he's obviously been a massive disappointment this year, and I think he's really struggled. I think he's interesting for fantasy for two reasons. One, foul Natushkin's nearing a return and the most likely fit, they're not going to split up that top line with the way they've been playing. So Lekhinen's going to play with Natchez and McKinn. That leaves Nchuskin to play probably with Druin and middle stat on the second line. And I feel like a lot of this stuff, Nchuschen does, can help compensate for middle stats deficiencies in terms of puck carrying and keeping the puck in the offensive zone and extending plays and being around the net and benefiting from middle stats playmaking ability.

but I think there's also a backdoor out there where I think the abs are seriously going to entertain options for improving their second line center and trying to upgrade from Casey Middlestad. And so it's tough to envision. It's kind of, it seems counterintuitive to say going from the Colorado avalanche could benefit him from a fantasy perspective

because especially in their home games, there's such a high octane offense, but maybe go to a different spot that fits his skill set a little bit more where he's not going to have to look so out of the place in terms of a pace and tempo perspective. maybe he could look more like the player he did last year than he has so far this season.

So he could kind of benefit in two different ways there, either playing with Ntuchchkin's day in Colorado or going somewhere else and playing in a more sort of conducive environment to his skill set. So I kind of like the idea that, I mean, he's so cheap right now because of how unproductive he's been relatively. And I feel like he could improve in a variety of different ways. Yeah, I think that's a good call by you as well because he hasn't been great. You know, I didn't love the deal to be honest with you, Bono and Byron for Middle

Stad, I understand, you know, I understood what Colorado was trying to do when they won the cup. They had, Nossam Kodry. They were much deeper down the middle. And you heard that from the organization when they traded Ranton. And, you know, they needed to be more balanced offensively. And for Casey Middlestad, nine minutes the other night, 10 minutes against the blues, you know, sub 14 minutes and five straight games, but getting a guy like Kinchkin, seeing him practicing him being close to returning, it gives him a pretty lethal top six, you know, or all for Gabriel Landisog to return to the lineup.

that may not happen. So whether they add or not, you're right, just the addition of Nchuskin can kind of get him going. So good to bring up the abs because I don't think that they're done, right? They made that big splash, shocked everybody. They have some cap space. And this is a team that I think could make another move or two. They've been very busy this offseason,

picking up a couple of goals as well. Dylan got there just because I always want to talk about him, right? Like at the time he returned for Utah, his ownership was 50%. It seemed like a lot of people were cutting ties with him. He could be available in 18 leagues, 10 team leagues. You may be wondering whether you should sell high or not. But Utah is, they're a team that they may get in over Calgary or Vancouver. As long as they stay healthy, Logan Cooley was phenomenal before the injury.

He's skating. He could be back soon. Sean Jersey looks like he's going to be back here this weekend. Clayton Keller is balling out. But for Gunther, four goals, seven points, two power plug points, 23 shots on goal in a four game since he returned, at least five. in those four and 20 goals and 41 points and 44 games. And last year as a sophomore, 18 goals and 32 points.

Actually, among the leaders in the calendar year of 2024 in power play goals. He's got roughly 18, 17 past couple. Yeah, 17 total past 80 games or so dating back to last year. This is a guy that can rip it. He's got tremendous offensive instincts. And he may just stay. I know they shoveled their lines a little bit, but he may find himself on that top line next to Keller before,

you know, a couple weeks, right? Like, this is a team I feel like really pushing for a playoff spot. And at full health, I think they have a couple lines that can kind of come at you in waves. He's been so good since he got back. He's going to be on the next incarnation of Team Canada at the Olympics. And I think Thursday coming back is huge for him as well, right? because they're just going to be more advantageous positions on the ice. He pushes so much offensively.

And so I feel like there's just going to be more opportunities forever and involved there. I've got one more young player that I wanted to shout out here. It's become a bit of a running bit for me because I feel like I'm the only person in the world that's been talking about this. Mackie Samaskavich, who got banged up before the break. He missed a couple games. But before that, he had seen his usage elevated where, you know, he was playing fourth line minutes, kind of single digits for the entirety of the season.

He started playing mid-teens, even 15. to 17 minute range. And he's just so involved. He creates so much. You watch the game. Certainly passes the eye test. He's flying out there. He's got legitimate juice.

You look at it. He's on a permanent basis, just like getting an ungodly amount of shot opportunities. And now with Matthew Kichukuk banged up and probably I imagine missing some time here after he wasn't able to finish the Four Nations tournament. I'm curious to see what they do with that top six,

especially when Semiskevich comes back. I'd actually be curious to see if they play him with that Lundel Listerina in combination because we saw them get a run earlier this year and they look really good. All their 5-1-5 metrics were phenomenal. And so I feel like Samiskevich, you look at the point total. This is the ultimate sort of by-low, right? Because he hasn't produced much offensively. You look at the goals, the assists.

They're not there. You're probably wondering why I keep talking about this guy. But I guarantee you, if he keeps getting these opportunities with how he's looked and how much talent he has, it's going to come. And so this is one of those where it's kind of a bit of a leap of faith for me. but I imagine once we get into the stretch run here, he's going to be a key part of this Panthers offense. I dig it.

I was very impressive to the other night against Vegas. He played nearly 18 minutes. He had three shots. And that was a stretch of three, four, three, and six shots. I did see Paul Maurice talk this morning about Matthew Chukh being day to day, but it did sound like they were going to have a line of him, Bennett and Rodriguez together on the second line. So just an opportunity for him, right, get him inside the top six man.

How about Anton Lundell? I thought he was just awesome for Finland and Four nations. But Florida is another team, right? They, I mean, I don't want to say that they just kind of cruise in the first half of the season. But I feel like the past couple weeks has been more like the Florida Panthers that have been at the Stanley Cup finals and back to back years, right? Now that we're into the final stretch run here, I feel like this is a team that's really going to push the pace. I got one more here before we wrap up. And it's Padol Dora Fairf.

And I know that you brought him, you and I discussed him. him earlier in the year, but his ownership, he's still available. And another guy that is a volume shooter, he's got the 23 goals and 165 shots, nine goals and 15 points in his past 14 games, really impressed Thomas Hurtle. And it's not like I hadn't been, it's like I'm surprised. The new Hurtle could play. It had been, you know, some time since I really, we've seen him play consistent hockey. You know, he missed most of last season and end of the playoffs wasn't really, you know,

into game shape. but he's been great all year. Dora Faev's moved up and down the lineup, and even the past couple games, Vegas went through a little bit of a losing streak. They even had Mark Stone on the third line, but I feel like, you know, he offers him something on the power play.

He's, you know, inside the top six for the most part. In January, he played 15 games. He had nine goals and 14 points and the average over three shots per game. So it's another guy. I know that you talked about, you know, a few weeks ago,

but wanted to bring him back up because, man, he scores goals. And that's what I want in my fantasy squad, guys that can rip it. filled in that. Darfur have such a stud. And that, you know, you talk about the Jets power play and how good they've been, Vegas' second in the league behind them,

and they seek out opportunities to funnel the puck to him because of his shooting ability. And so I love Dorfay, and he's going to score a ton of goals in that spot. All right, I mean, we've got to get out of here. That was a jam-pack show. That was a all-gas, no breaks from us. I'll give you a chance here to plug some stuff. Let the listeners know where they can check you out.

Yeah, I appreciate you. Always love chopping it up, man. You're doing fantastic work. NHL Fantasy on Ice podcast on Mondays and Thursdays. We have a fantasy picks and betting article. Just talking fantasy pickups, even if you're not into to wager. We're just talking about guys that have moved up and down the lineup. A lot of players that we've highlighted here today.

So that's available every single day over at NHLFantasy.com. Our rankings are updated constantly. You have some bylaws and some sell highs. You have the cheat sheet over there as well, diving into the remaining games. And really, you know, for those that play head-to-head formats, You want to get the most of your move. So we'll have you, we'll take care of you from, you know, those were really two weeks away from the standard of fantasy hockey playoffs. So we'll have all the goods to help you win that championship.

All right, buddy. We'll keep up the great work. It's always a pleasure having you on. If you're not in the PDOCast, Discord, get in there. It's popping every day. It was electric during the four nation final. There's no better place to be if you're a hockey fan to join us there. That's all from us this week.

Hope everyone has a great weekend. and thank you for listening to the Hockey Ocast streaming on the Sportsnet Radio Network.