This article is part of our The Daily Puck series.
When Bodva made their most recent odds on which coach would get the axe first, Florida's Gerard Gallant wasn't even on the board. But as of Sunday night, he's officially the first to go. General manager Tom Rowe will take over bench duties for the Panthers, according to multiple sources.
The news came on the heels of a 3-2 loss to the streaking Hurricanes. Florida outshot Carolina 33-27, but collapsed for about five minutes and allowed Carolina to notch three quick goals. That sank the Panthers and that loss was the straw that broke the camel's back.
Gallant had a surprisingly short leash for a coach who led the team to 91 points in his first campaign and a division title last season, a year in which he was also a Jack Adams finalist. Couple that success with the fact that he was contending with injuries to important players like Jonathan Huberdeau, Nick Bjugstad, and Alex Petrovic, and you've got a bit of an odd situation. It makes sense from the perspective that the Panthers turned over a ton of staff over the summer and Gallant was at odds with the new management group philosophically. However, it's still a bit of a shocker.
As far as immediate fantasy impact, don't expect much. The team has been struggling, but they're due for a bounce back and a coach firing shouldn't be expected to immediately change things in either direction. With their talent, they're bound to turn a corner, coaching change or not. Maybe fresh blood on the bench will hasten the rebound, but it could take a while.
Featured Matchups
Flames (PP: 30, PK: 29) at Islanders (PP: 25, PK: 23), 7:00 p.m.
Expected Goalies:Brian Elliott (3-9-0, 3.43, .882), Jaroslav Halak (3-6-4, 3.08, .904)
Key Injuries:Lance Bouma (shoulder), Johnny Gaudreau (finger), Mikhail Grabovski (concussion), Ryan Pulock (lower body), Dennis Seidenberg (jaw)
Though Calgary has grabbed wins in three of their last five, they're not quite in a position where you want to be betting on them. They have been outshot in four of those five contests. Additionally, all three wins have come with Chad Johnson in net, which has become an important factor in whether or not the Flames will compete. Since Nov. 10, Johnson is carrying a 5-2-0 record with a .942 save percentage. Elliott has a 0-3-0 record with an .864 save percentage.
Johnson has been on fire and Elliott has been anything but.
The Flames meet the Islanders Monday on the second night of a back-to-back with travel. Additionally, Johnson got the start against Philadelphia, so Elliott is likely your starter against the Isles.
The Flames have been a poor bet on any given night and everything looks stacked against them here. With few options available between the two games for fantasy owners, starting Elliott, no matter the price, seems like a poor choice. Additionally, Calgary's depth pieces may be a larger gamble than depth players on any of the other three teams lacing up Monday.
Given the match up, the odd lines the Islanders have rolled in recent weeks, and Monday's short schedule, depth players for the Islanders aren't a bad bet. Players like Josh Bailey, Nick Leddy, Cal Clutterbuck, Shane Prince and others who aren't marquee names on a packed slate have more value on a night this thin against a team performing as poorly as Calgary has been.
Stars (PP: 14, PK: 26) at Blues (PP: 8, PK: 2), 8:00 p.m.
Expected Goalies:Antti Niemi (5-2-2, 2.97, .909), Jake Allen (10-3-3, 2.36, .913)
Key Injuries:Ales Hemsky (hip), Jiri Hudler (illness), Mattias Janmark (knee), Johnny Oduya (lower body), Joel Edmundson (upper body), Alexander Steen (upper body)
The Blues are surging and providing tons of opportunities for depth pick-ups. It's not just the usual faces like Vladimir Tarsenko, Kevin Shattenkirk, and Alexander Steen that are putting up points. David Perron has found new life, Colton Parayko and Alex Pietrangelo are taking a huge volume of shots, and Jake Allen is providing solid goaltending.
Dallas's roster should exhibit similar depth, especially now that they're relatively healthy at forward (or as healthy as they're going to get for a while). But things aren't quite clicking for them. Since Nov. 13, they're averaging 27.9 shots per game, which is grim for any NHL club.
They're still waiting for a number of players to get back to the equilibrium we expect. Cody Eakin is still without a point, Patrick Sharp has just two points in eight games, Curtis McKenzie has three points in 15 games (and has been a healthy scratch), Jason Spezza has just eight points in 15 games, John Klingberg hasn't found his groove, and plenty of others aren't quite hitting the heights normally expected from players on a team that produced offense the way the Stars did last season.
Nevertheless, on a night with just two games, there are depth pieces on the Stars such as Patrick Eaves, who can provide value because they either line up with Tyler Seguin and Jamie Benn or they're getting power play time.
Recommended Pickup
Jaden Schwartz, LW, STL — The 24-year-old winger is putting up points at a great clip. He's on a six-game point streak and has points in nine of his last 10. That stretch totals seven goals and four assists. That's 85 percent of his total points in about half of his games. He's not a dirt cheap option, but with how hot he's playing he's more available and cheaper than he should be. He's a no-brainer fill-in for a slow night in the NHL.
