NHL Barometer: Monahan's Flame Burns Bright

This week's article includes a pair of hot young centers out West, two D-men stepping up with the top-man down, a duo of hot rookie goalies, several significant injuries and two players whose trade value fell off after their respective trades.

First Liners (Risers)

Sean Monahan, C, CGY - All the focus on Johnny Hockey has taken it away from other players in Calgary who also deserve it. One such player is Monahan; others include Dennis Wideman, who is highlighted below. Monahan added another goal and an assist Friday and had another assist Sunday, giving him 13 points in the last 11 games. Monahan, the sixth overall pick in 2013, now has 24 goals, 23 assists, 145 SOG and 14 power-play points in his sophomore campaign. Clearly, the future is bright.

Mikael Granlund, C, MIN - Granlund has missed time with injury, adversely impacting his overall numbers, but lately, he has been on fire. With two goals, nine assists and a plus-12 rating last 12 games, Granlund is up to seven, 29 and plus-16 on the year. Granlund's production has coincided with him centering the top line of Zach Parise and Jason Pominville, so as long as that trio stays together, roll with him.

Bobby Ryan, RW, OTT - Ryan is no longer a sexy pick and has possibly fallen behind Mike Hoffman and Mark Stone, but that doesn't mean he hasn't had a good season. With 17 goals and 32 assists, Ryan has already exceeded last year's point production. His numbers have taken off since the All-Star break with four goals and 12 assists in 17 games since then. Ryan is playing a key role in Ottawa's late-season playoff push.

Tobias Rieder, RW, ARI - You can rightfully ask why a winger with 10 goals makes the bolded part of the column. Well, in the case of Rieder, it's due to opportunity. All the trades and injuries in the Desert have opened a top-six role, and Rieder is getting every chance to fill it. So far, so good, as he has goals in two of his last three games, and with 89 hits in 56 games, he brings a physical presence to Arizona.

Nikita Kucherov, RW, TB - Kucherov parlayed a strong late-run this preseason into a full-time role with the Lightning and has never looked back. He tallied his 24th goal Thursday and added his 25th Saturday, giving him eight points in his last 11 games. Kucherov has 56 points this season, with his linemates Tyler Johnson and Ondrej Palat also racking up points seemingly at will.

Dennis Wideman, D, CGY - Marc Giordano's season-ending biceps injury leaves a gaping hole on the Flames' blueline. Kris Russell will fill some of the gap, but Wideman is being counted on to up his game. Lately, he has done that, notching back-to-back two-point games heading into Sunday. Wideman has 12 goals and 29 assists this year, making 50 points as a realistic possibility.

Tyson Barrie, G, COL - Erik Johnson is still out recovering from his knee surgery, and Barrie has taken advantage of his absence. Barrie added three more assists Saturday, giving him 33 this season, and when you add his 10 goals, his fine season looks even more impressive. Johnson is starting to skate, but has no return date in mind, so keep rolling Barrie out there. Even when Johnson returns, I do not expect a drop in Barrie's production.

Andrew Hammond, G, OTT - Eventually the carriage turns back into a pumpkin, but your guess is as good as ours when that happens with Hammond. I keep waiting for the clock to strike 12, yet it hasn't. With Chris Anderson not having a set return date and Robin Lehner dealing with a concussion, Ottawa keeps running Hammond out there and he keeps producing. His win Friday made Hammond 7-0-1 with a .954 save percentage and 1.43 GAA. Ride him while he keeps producing and playing.

John Gibson, G, ANA - Coach Bruce Boudreau said Friday that Gibson might split the goaltending duties with Frederik Andersen through the remainder of the season. Andersen had a strangelhold on the spot but his injury opened the door for Gibson to see time and the rookie has been solid lately with six wins his last seven starts to earn more playing time. A platoon reduces both Gibson's and Andersen's overall value, but given that most of us expected Gibson to be a back up, his seeing 50 percent of the action represents a spike in value.

Others include Evgeni Malkin, Henrik Sedin, Kyle Turris, John Tavares, Jonathan Toews, Joe Pavelski, Matt Cullen, Ryan Getzlaf, Nick Bjugstad, Tyler Johnson, Jeff Carter, Mika Zibanejad, Philip Varone, Steven Stamkos, Blake Comeau, Mark Stone, David Booth, Mats Zuccarello, Corey Perry, Jason Pominville, Andrew Ladd, Alexander Ovechkin, Patrick Marleau, Matt Read, T.J. Oshie, Brendan Gallagher, Jiri Hudler, Zach Parise, Henrik Zetterberg, Gabriel Landeskog, Patric Hornqvist, Jakob Silfverberg, Jarome Iginla, Michael Del Zotto, Simon Despres, Tyler Myers, Kris Letang, Nick Leddy, Jason Garrison, Roman Josi, Niklas Kronwall, Erik Karlsson, Anton Stralman, Carey Price, Devan Dubnyk, Cam Talbot, Braden Holtby, Cory Schneider, Karri Ramo and Andrei Vasilevskiy.

Training Room (Injuries)

Tyler Seguin, C, DAL - Seguin, who suffered a knee injury on Valentine's Day against Florida, was projected to miss three to eight weeks. His target return date was four to six weeks, which is when he returned, playing Saturday night against Tampa Bay. Seguin was third in the NHL in points (59) and fourth in goals (29) when he was injured, so getting him back breathes some life into Dallas' fading playoff chances. He returned with a bang with a pair of goals in the Stars' 5-4 loss.

Nathan MacKinnon, C, COL - The Avalanche's slim playoff hopes took a huge blow Friday when it was announced that MacKinnon will miss six to eight weeks with a fractured foot. MacKinnon apparently first suffered the injury when he took a shot off the foot in a Feb. 22 game against the Lightning. Initial X-rays were negative, but he had pain in the foot during the past week following a game against the Penguins, and a second X-ray found the fracture. MacKinnon has suffered through the sophomore slump, tallying just 14 goals and 24 assists in 64 games after notching 24 and 39 in 82 games as a rookie. Despite the poor year, his absence is still a big hit to the Colorado lineup.

Kyle Okposo, LW, NYI - Okposo, who has missed the last 21 games with a detached retina, skated with the Islanders on Saturday. New York has received solid production from Anders Lee and Josh Bailey on a line with John Tavares but will welcome back its top right-winger with open arms. No return date has been set for the return of Okposo, who has 14 goals and 44 points in 46 games, but he might be back in a week or so.

Dustin Byfuglien, D/F, WPG - Byfuglien will be out two to four weeks with an upper-body injury suffered Wednesday against Ottawa. Buff has bounced between forward and defense this year, which should give him multi-position eligibility in most leagues. He has 15 goals, 42 points, 118 PIM and a plus-8 rating, solid enough and just slightly down from what he produced last season, when he had 20 goals and 36 assists in 78 games.

Trevor Daley, D, DAL - Daley will miss the next two to four weeks after absorbing a knee-to-knee hit from Matt Martin this week. With the Stars attempting to remain in playoff contention, losing their top-scoring defenseman, despite the return of Tyler Seguin on Saturday, is a major blow. Daley has 16 goals, and even though John Klingberg, now day-to-day with his injury, and Alex Goligoski are solid on the blue line, Daley gave the Stars a key weapon.

Others include Zemgus Girgensons (ankle, could miss rest of the season), Bryan Little (undisclosed, no timetable for return), Clarke MacArthur (concussion, still sidelined), Brett Connolly (broken finger, out six weeks), Mark Giordano (biceps tear, out for year after tallying 48 points in 61 games), Erik Johnson (knee, skating), Kevin Shattenkirk (abdomen, skating), John Klingberg (LBI, DTD), Henrik Lundqvist (vascular, skating and taking low shots), Roberto Luongo (shoulder, DTD) and Robin Lehner (concusion, still sidelined).

Fourth Liners/Press Boxers (Fallers)

Tyler Bozak, C, TOR - Bozak has 40 points in 66 games, but after a strong start, his point production has fallen off dramatically. When you add his minus-23 rating, his value to your team drops even farther. With Toronto expected to take a machete to its roster, Bozak could be elsewhere next year, which might be the best for his fantasy prospects.

Mike Santorelli, RW, NAS - Santorelli had 29 points in 57 games with Toronto but has failed to bring that production to Nashville. He has just one point in nine games following the trade. Santorelli is averaging 12 to 13 minutes per game playing on the third line alongside Colin Wilson and Calle Jarnkrok. That placemnet won't do much to help his fantasy prospects, though he could end up producing in the playoffs, as has been the case for bottom-six players in the past.

Justin Schultz, D, EDM - Schultz has just three goals in his last 31 games and three points in his last 15. While he is averaging 22:15 of ice time nightly, that number is more than a minute less than he received last year. In addition, after scoring 33 points in 74 games last year in his sophomore campaign, there was some hope he would take that next step this year. So far that has not been the case, with five goals and 19 assists, which isn't great production in general, let along for a $3.675 million salary.

Michal Neuvirth, G, NYI - Neuvirth was a winner and loser at the trade deadline. He won because he moved from Buffalo, who was battling for the first pick in the draft, to the Islanders, who are battling from first place in the Metro Division. He was a loser because he moved from Buffalo, where he was a starter after Jhonas Enroth went to Dallas and went 3-4-2 record with a 2.28 goals-against average and .938 save percentage, to back up and act as an insurance policy to Jaroslav Halak on the Island.

Others include Mikhail Grigorenko, Travis Zajac, Claude Giroux, Colin Wilson, Justin Williams, Teuvo Teravainen, James Neal, Brent Seabrook, Pekka Rinne and Frederik Andersen.