Blue Line Buzz: Midseason BLB Awards

All teams will hit the halfway mark by the end of the week, which means it's awards time again! Catch up on the quarterly awards to see how much has changed since then.

Best Defenseman: Shea Weber, Canadiens

The Norris Trophy race will be a close one, but Weber retains his title as the league's best defenseman. He's really transformed that Habs defense into something else, and in the short-term, Marc Bergevin has clearly won the trade that brought Weber to Quebec. The Habs, despite injuries to key players, are comfortably nine points ahead of second-place Boston after finishing sixth in the division last year.

Best Fantasy Defenseman: Brent Burns, Sharks

If Burns wins the Norris, it'll be more because of his offensive feats rather than how well he plays in his own zone. His offensive output is at a historic level, and the last time a 30-goal defenseman won the award was in 1986 when Paul Coffey scored 48. He has led all defensemen in goals and shots since the beginning of the season, and in all likelihood will remain in the lead down the stretch. He is also ninth in league scoring, which is no small feat for a blueliner.

Best Back-to-the-Future Impression: Dion Phaneuf, Senators

Andrei Markov's groin issue prevents him from retaining this title at the quarterly awards, and runner-up goes to Mike Green, who is also on the sidelines with an upper-body injury. Phaneuf, 31, has five goals in 38 games this season, and once he reaches double digits it will be the first time he's done so since 2012. He's also on pace for a career-high 179 blocked shots, boldly sacrificing his body for Guy Boucher's game plan while averaging 23 minutes per game.

Best Rookie: Zach Werenski, Blue Jackets

He's been a game-changer since the start of the regular season, although it's worth noting that he played 36 games for Michigan last year and 24 for AHL Lake Erie, so it's about the time where signs of fatigue might start showing. Although he averages 21:09 per game, he's skated less than that in eight of his past 10. Flyers defenseman Ivan Provorov, who averages 21:17 per game, is the clear runner-up.

Best Surprise: Justin Schultz, Penguins

The Oilers didn't do Schultz any favors by miscasting him as a top-pairing defenseman, and since moving to Pittsburgh and being used sparingly at even strength, his play has really taken off. The former Wisconsin Badger is having a terrific season with a plus-24 rating and 25 points, just eight shy of his career high. Everyone knew he would do better with a smaller role on a more experienced and complete team, but few thought he would be this effective. Alec Martinez took this award at the quarter mark and has remained a very solid option behind Drew Doughty, but Schultz's breakout is the bigger surprise.

Worst Surprise: John Klingberg, Stars

Consecutive two-point efforts has Klingberg back on the right track, but his 22 points and minus-6 rating are disappointing for a player that managed to score 58 last year and was expected to spearhead one of the league's best offensive teams. He continues to be a serviceable fantasy asset because he's on pace for double-digit goal totals and at least 40 points, but owners that took him early in drafts certainly must regret it. Once the Stars are healthy and have a full lineup, Klingberg should be able to shed this label.

Best Possession Defenseman: Torey Krug, Bruins

He had zero points through the first eight games of the season despite firing 22 shots on net, but his strong Corsi rating indicated that he was playing well and just suffering from some bad luck. Fantasy owners who believed in the underlying metrics and that Krug would start scoring soon have been handsomely rewarded – he's scored 23 points in his past 34 games and is on pace to register his third 40-point season. The good news is that David Krejci and Patrice Bergeron have been pretty quiet on offense this season, too, so there's even more upside to be had. Krug's 59.6 percent Corsi rating at even strength (min. 700 minutes played) is the best in the league, ahead of Drew Doughty (55.5%) and Mattias Ekholm (53.6%).

Most Overrated: Keith Yandle, Panthers

He leads all Panthers defensemen with 18 points and is second only to Aaron Ekblad in ice time, but that's not a lot to write home about for someone that costs more than $6 million per season. Yandle was expected to give an anemic Panthers power play a big boost, but it currently ranks 23rd in the league, which is exactly the same spot as a year ago.

Studs of the Week:

Shea Weber, Canadiens – The Predators presented Weber with a video tribute and in return he handed them their fourth loss in five games. After scoring just three points in December, Weber already has a goal and four assists this month. His production has increased with Andrei Markov (groin) out of the lineup and the Habs are 3-0 in 2017, but Monday's home date against Washington should be a good test.

Jeff Petry and Nathan Beaulieu, Canadiens – There's no Habs bias here, and there's no denying their second pair has been excellent over the past three games. Beaulieu has a goal and four assists and Petry has three assists, and both are giving the Habs at least 23 minutes per night. Petry is an advanced stats darling, and Beaulieu, who was the 17th overall pick in 2011, almost has as many points this season (14) as he did last year (19) in half the amount of games played.

John Carlson, Capitals – The Caps are on a five-game winning streak and five points back of the division lead, and a large part of that success is due to Carlson, who had just eight assists through his first 21 games but has since scored 14 points in 18 -- four of which came this past week. Carlson was a popular pick in fantasy drafts this year and patient owners have been justly awarded.

Oscar Klefbom, Oilers – Klefbom led all defensemen with 18 shots on goal this past week, which accounted for 17 percent of his season total. He fired a season-high nine shots on net in a 2-1 win against the Devils, which should've been Taylor Hall's revenge game. He's skated at least 21 minutes in three of his past five games, and remains the team's preferred quarterback for their 11th-ranked power play.

Rasmus Ristolainen, Sabres – He registered three hits in a 4-1 win against the Rangers to kick off the new year after losing two straight to end 2016, collected an assist in a one-goal loss to the Blackhawks, and then played over 30 minutes in 4-3 comeback win against the Jets. Ignore what those stats geeks say about Ristolainen – one only needs to make a cursory eye test to know the 6-foot-4, 22-year-old is a franchise player. He finished the week with a power-play point, seven shots, seven blocked shots and seven hits.

Duds of the Week:

Erik Karlsson, Senators – The Sens alternated three-game winning and losing streaks for much of the season before winning four straight, but then followed that up with four straight losses. Karlsson had just one assist and sported an ugly minus-4 rating during that span, and failed to register a single point when the Sens snapped that streak Sunday against Edmonton. He's been held without a shot on goal in two of his past three games.

Keith Yandle, Panthers – Is it safe to call the Panthers a trainwreck this season? An unpopular mid-season coaching change has done nothing for a team that was expected to contend for the division title, and their big free agent signee has not scored a point in three games. He's yet to finish a game with a positive plus-minus rating since Dec. 20, and the Panthers have lost six of eight since. His advanced stats suggest he's a possession-driving defenseman with poor puck luck, but things have to turn around soon, as they're six points out of a playoff spot.

Justin Faulk, Hurricanes – His return to the ice after suffering a lower-body injury hasn't drawn very good reviews, and he finished the week with zero points and a minus-2 rating. A talented skater that has a few too many adventures in his own zone, he's been a disappointing fantasy asset this season. The Hurricanes have a lot of talent on their blue line coming up, and there's a chance one or two of them could leapfrog Faulk on their depth chart, leaving his future role with the team somewhat uncertain.

Brent Seabrook, Blackhawks – Chicago has won three straight, but Seabrook's gone five games without a point and was on the ice for three even-strength goals in a 4-1 loss to the Blues at the Winter Classic. He's now minus-1 on the season, and the Wild are just two points behind in the standings with four games in hand.

Danny DeKeyser, Red Wings – He's just really not what he was cracked up to be. A good skater who can play either side and moves the puck well, DK just isn't the two-way difference-maker the Red Wings need in the post-Nicklas Lidstrom era. He's solid, just not spectacular, but things have gone from bad to worse. He was a minus-4 in a 6-3 loss to San Jose, and has just six points with a minus-13 rating this season even though he averages over 22 minutes per game.

Yohann Auvitu, Devils – Signed from HIFK of the Finnish league in the summer, the 27-year-old rookie France native was recalled from AHL Albany but played just 39 seconds against the Oilers before being forced to leave due to a lower-body injury. Averaging 15:36 per game for the Devils, including quality time on the power play, Auvitu had scored four points in 25 games prior to his demotion on Jan. 7, and instead of making another case to stay with the big club, will be forced to miss some time.

Recommended Pickup:

Alexander Edler, Canucks – Could it… could it be? Having dropped off the fantasy radar due to declining production and a slew of injuries, Edler has recorded four assists and 23 blocked shots in seven games since returning from a finger injury, six of which were wins. Troy Stecher and Ben Hutton will be obvious threats to his power-play ice time, but when Edler is in the lineup he's still the Canucks' top option on the back end.

The Big Board:

^ = stock rising
˅ = stock dropping