NHL Barometer: Risers and Fallers

This week's article includes Eichel rolling, Hyman leading the way, the Islanders' #1 blueliner racking up points, a young netminder finding his game, Laine out again and a pair of high recent draft picks going through growing pains. 

First Liners (Risers)

Jack Eichel, C, LV – Eichel, who had 66 points in 67 games his first full season in Vegas last year, is on pace to far exceed that total this year. He is on a franchise-record 10-game point streak with six goals and 10 assists in that span. For the season, Eichel continues to be a high-end talent with 36 points, 131 shots on net, 29 blocked shots and a plus-2 rating over 31 appearances as a fixture on Vegas' top line. He is on pace to exceed his career-high of 82 points set in 2018-19 as a member of the Sabres. 

Martin Necas, RW, CAR – Necas remained hot Friday with an even-strength goal and a power-play assist. He has racked up three goals and nine points in the last nine games giving up nine markers and 14 helpers in 30 games. Necas, taken 12th overall in the 2017 draft, had his breakout campaign last season. After tallying 36, 41 and 40 points each of his full three seasons in the league, Necas exploded for 28 goals and 43 assists last season. Necas is entrenched as the second-line right winger, both at 5x5 and on the man-advantage. 

Drake Batherson, LW, OTT – Batherson has very quietly had a solid month of December. Overshadowed by bigger names in Ottawa, Batherson has notched four goals and seven assists over nine contests this month. On the year, Batherson is up to 23 points in 26 games after posting career-highs across the board with 22 goals and 40 helpers in 82 contests last season. Despite the other available options for the Senators. Batherson's top-line role and spot on the first power-play unit appear safe right now. 

Zach Hyman, RW, EDM – Edmonton has righted the ship over the past few weeks with Hyman playing a key role in that turnaround after the team had a rough start to the season. Hyman has gotten on the scoresheet in nine of his last 10 games, racking up 10 goals and five assists over that span. He is up to 18 markers and 12 helpers in 27 games on the season after posting career-highs in goals (36), assists (47) and points (83) last season. Hyman is firmly ensconced to the right of Connor McDavid on the Oilers' first line in year three of seven-year, $38.5 million contract he signed with Edmonton in July of 2021.

Thomas Harley, D, DAL – Harley, viewed as a fantasy sleeper before the season started, is making good on that prognostication recently. He has scored seven goals — including the overtime game-winner Monday — and added five assists in 26 games while he earns more responsibilities on both sides of the ice. Taken in the first round (18th overall) in 2019, Harley has seen his ice time steadily increase each of his first three seasons as he projects to be a top-four blueliner in the future. Currently, he is the left defensemen on the third pairing for the Stars. 

Noah Dobson, D, NYI – Dobson has taken a step forward this season to become a top-shelf, first pair blueliner. After tallying 51 points in 2021-22 and 49 last season, Dobson has already notched five goals and 27 apples in 30 games with 12 of those points coming on the man-advantage, while playing over 25 minutes a game. That ice time is up almost five minutes a contest from last year. In addition, Dobson has already blocked 73 shots in those 30 games after posting 154 and 104 in that category the past two seasons.          

Joey Daccord, G, SEA – Daccord has stepped in nicely for the injured Philipp Grubauer (lower body). He won his first two starts, stopping 45 of 46 shots, then made 36 saves in a 3-2 shootout loss Saturday and 24 saves in a 4-3 overtime loss Monday. Grubauer, out since Dec. 9, is considered week-to-week, so Daccord should currently see most of the time between the pipes for Seattle backed up by Chris Driedger. Overall, Daccord, who started his career with the Senators and is in his third year as a member of the Kraken, has a 5-5-8 record this season with a 2.65 goals-against average and a .905 save percentage in 18 appearances.

Devon Levi, G, BUF – Levi, viewed when the season began as the Sabres goalie of the future and No. 1 netminder this year, got off to a very rough start. He opened the season 3-4-1 with a 3.73 goals-against average and .876 save percentage, which landed him at AHL Rochester at the end of November. Levi played two games in the minors, then was promoted back to the parent level. That small reset seems to have done the trick, as Levi has gone 3-0-1 with seven goals allowed across four appearances since he returned to the NHL. 

Others include Mika Zibanejad, Mathew Barzal, Josh Norris, Sidney Crosby, Casey Mittelstadt, Morgan Geekie, Gabriel Vilardi, Matt Duchene, Matt Boldy, Matias Maccelli, Alex Tuch, Filip Forsberg, Nikolaj Ehlers, Ivan Barbashev, Lucas Raymond, Jakob Chychrun, Erik Karlsson, Rasmus Dahlin, Filip Gustavsson, Thatcher Demko, Pyotr Kochetkov, Martin Jones and Jonathan Quick. 

Buy Low

Andrew Copp, C, DET – This one is for those in deeper leagues. Copp has 15 points (five goals, 10 assists) in 30 games, roughly matching the scoring pace he delivered in 2022-23 during his first campaign with Detroit when he posted 42 points. He makes this list as he has eight helpers in his last 11 contests, though on the flip side, he hasn't lit the lamp in 18 contests. The combination of the two is why he should only be a deeper league target; one with a little bit of upside in Detroit. 

Training Room (Injuries) 

Patrik Laine, RW, CLM – Laine's injury woes continued Thursday. He will be out of action for six weeks after suffering a clavicle fracture against Toronto, possibly due to a dirty hit. After playing all 82 games in both 2017-18 and 2018-19 in Winnipeg, Laine has yet to play more than 68 games in a season, which occurred the following year. Prior to being sidelined, Laine had been hot after returning from a previous injury absence. The Finnish winger notched points in five of his last six contests but will now be lost until the end of January.

Others include Mason McTavish (upper body, missed seventh straight game Monday, close to returning), Kyle Connor (knee, injured Dec. 10 on a cheap hit by Ryan Strome, will miss 6-8 weeks), Andrei Svechnikov (upper body, out indefinitely),  Max Pacioretty (Achilles, practiced with the team for the first time last Wednesday wearing a non-contact sweater), Aaron Ekblad (lower body, injured Friday, sat Saturday, played Monday), Seth Jones (shoulder, out since Dec. 10, placed on injured reserve Saturday), Jake Oettinger (injured in first period Friday, viewed as week-to-week), Philipp Grubauer (lower body, out since Dec. 9, week-to-week) and Pheonix Copley (undisclosed, injured in Friday's practice, placed on LTIR) 

Fourth Liners/Press Boxers (Fallers)

Logan Cooley, C, AZ – Cooley, taken third overall in the 2022 draft, has tremendous upside given his talent level. Currently, he is skating in the bottom-six as he gets acclimated to the NHL. Cooley has three goals and 13 assists in 30 games, but he hasn't found much consistency or production since early November, managing just eight points and a minus-14 rating over his last 19 contests. Those in redraft leagues will want to keep Cooley on the bench or possibly even the waiver wire unless he picks up his production like he was when the season started. 

Kailer Yamamoto, LW, SEA – Yamamoto has seen his production decline steadily the last few seasons. After posting 26 points in 27 games in 2019-20 with Edmonton, Yamamoto topped out with 41 points in 2021-22 for the Oilers. Edmonton decided to cut their losses by trading Yamamoto to the Red Wings in late-June 2022, and Detroit proceeded to buy him out. He landed in Seattle where he has played in a bottom-six role for the Kraken limiting his offensive opportunities and chances, seen in his 10 points in 32 games played. 

Antti Raanta, G, CAR – Raanta was placed on waivers last Saturday by the Hurricanes. After passing through waivers, he was sent down to the AHL. He is 6-5-1 this season, but the six victories have more to do with the Hurricanes' scoring than his play in net, as he has a 3.60 goals-against average and an .854 save percentage. The final straw came in his last two starts, as Raanta surrendered 10 goals on 54 shots in a loss to Vancouver and an overtime defeat versus Nashville. With Frederik Andersen out indefinitely, Pyotr Kochetkov is the clear No. 1 in net for Carolina. 

Others include Morgan Frost, Pierre-Luc Dubois, Elias Lindholm, Michael Bunting, Troy Terry, Jakub Vrana, Torey Krug and Karel Vejmelka. 

Sell High

Owen Power, D, BUF – Power's inclusion on this side of the ledger is due to name recognition and not his recent play. Taken first overall in the 2021 draft, Power had a solid first full year in the NHL last year with four goals and 31 assists in 79 games while seeing 23:48 per game in ice time. In addition, Power saw difficult defensive minutes and posted a plus-10 rating. This year, he has just a goal and 11 assists with no points in his last 10 contests and no goals scored since November 1. His upside is still high but Power may take a bit before he taps into his full offensive production.