NHL Barometer: Risers & Fallers

This week's article includes the return to form of Kopi, a pair of rookie wingers on fire, Oscar who?, the top blueliner sidelined in Anaheim and healthy and a struggling winger in Carolina.

First Liners (Risers)

Anze Kopitar, C, LA - Our preseason outlook clearly stated just how poor of a year Kopitar had last season. "Kopitar had the worst offensive season of his career in 2016-17. His points per 60 minutes at five-on-five dropped to 1.38, and he scored just 12 goals." The hope was that new coach John Stephens' up-tempo system would enable Kopitar to rediscover his game. Ten games into the season, Kopitar is having the desired rebound, already posting seven goals and five assists.

John Tavares, C, NYI - Tavares is slated to be a free agent after the season and is reportedly waiting to see where the Isles play in the future. That pending status hasn't adversely impacted New York's captain on the ice. Tavares notched his second hat trick of the year Saturday, giving him nine goals and four assists in 11 games. The first pick of the 2009 draft, Tavares should be in place to break the bank this offseason, if he is not re-signed by the Islanders.

Jakub Voracek, RW, PHI - Philly's top line has been rolling with Voracek a big reason why. He tallied his second goal of the season and added an assist Saturday, giving him 14 for the season. Voracek rebounded slightly last season from a down 2015-16 campaign. But posted a minus-24 rating. With 16 points in 11 games and a plus-four rating, the big, Czech winger could challenge his season-high of 81 points set in 2014-15.

Clayton Keller, RW, ARI - Keller, selected seventh overall in 2016, got his feet wet, playing three games with the Coyotes last season. That cup of coffee may have helped the BU product acclimate to the NHL, as he has been brilliant early on. Keller tallied his team-leading eighth goal in his 11th game of the season Saturday against New Jersey. While Arizona is winless, at least Keller is giving its fans something to cheer.

Jesper Bratt, RW, NJD - Bratt, selected in the sixth round of the 2016 draft (162nd overall) continues to impress. His late power-play goal gave New Jersey a 4-3 win over Arizona on Saturday. In the game, Bratt also added two assists and he now has four goals and six assists this year. The 19-year-old winger looked like a solid player in Sweden but he has shown much more than that while skating on the Devils' second line.

Mike Green, D, DET - Green tallied 73 and 76 points, respectively, in 2008-09 and 2009-10 and looked like he was about to go on a decade-long run as an elite defenseman. Injuries cut short the next three seasons for Green, who has been unable to regain that prior form despite playing at least 70 games the next four seasons. A free agent after the year, Green if off to a brilliant start with a goal and 10 assists in 11 games while skating 23 minutes a contest.

Brandon Montour, D, ANA - With Hampus Lindholm and Sami Vatanen sidelined to start the season following shoulder surgery, someone had to step up on the Anaheim blueline. Montour has answered the bell with three goals and a pair of assists while skating almost 21 minutes a game. Both Lindholm and Vatanen are now back, but Cam Fowler will miss the next 3-7 weeks with a knee injury. Look for Montour, who scored 89 points (25 goals) in 104 AHL games the past two seasons, to remain on the top power-play unit and play heavy minutes.

Oscar Dansk, G, LV - The magical return that has been the early season run for the Golden Knights continued again Friday, as Dansk notched the organization's first shutout. With Marc-Andre Fleury and Malcolm Subban both sidelined with injuries, Dansk has stepped up in a huge way. With the shutout win, Dansk is 3-0-0 with a 1.35 goals-against-average and .959 save percentage. His hold on the starting job will end once either goalie returns, with the Flower likely to beat Subban back. But ride the hot hand of the former Blue Jacket however long it lasts.

Jake Allen, G, STL - Allen improved to 6-2-1, stopping 36 of 37 shots Saturday against the Blue Jackets. After struggling the first part of the season last year, Allen's game took off once Mike Yeo replaced Ken Hitchcock as coach and scrapped the man-to-man defense for a zone. St. Louis leads the Central Division and has a good chance to finish the season that way thanks to a strong offense and Allen between the pipes.

Others include Ryan Getzlaf, (check status, hit in face with puck Sunday), Dylan Larkin, Aleksander Barkov, Adrian Kempe. Sean Couturier, Jamie Benn, Evgeny Kuznetsov, Steven Stamkos, Auston Matthews, Tyler Seguin, Mikko Koivu, Logan Couture, Steven Stamkos, Brad Marchand, Josh Bailey, David Perron, Jeff Skinner, Brayden Schenn, Leon Draisaitl, Brock Boeser, Blake Wheeler, Mark Stone, Anders Lee, Jonathan Huberdeau. James Neal, Jason Pominville, Mike Hoffman, Filip Forsberg, Reilly Smith, Sven Baertschi, Kyle Connor, Nate Schmidt, Dion Phaneuf, Esa Lindell, Aaron Ekblad, Duncan Keith, Tim Heed, Erik Karlsson, Nate Schmidt, Will Butcher, Jonathan Quick, Jake Allen, Sergei Bobrovsky, Pekka Rinne, Michal Neuvirth, Martin Jones and John Gibson.

Training Room (Injuries)

Cam Fowler, D, ANA - Fowler took a major step forward last season, going for 28 to 39 points while logging a career-high 24:51 of ice time (3:06 with the man advantage) per game. That rise helped Fowler ink an eight-year, $52 million contract extension with the Ducks in July 2017. Fowler was off to a slow start with a goal and an assist in seven games this year and now a leg injury suffered October 20 will sideline the Ducks' top blueliner 3-7 weeks.

Others include Teuvo Teravainen (upper body, didn't play Saturday), David Krejci (back, out last two games), Nolan Patrick (possible concussion, missed Saturday's game), Andre Burakovsky (surgery on fractured left thumb Tuesday, expected to be sidelined 6-8 weeks), Nino Niederreiter (ankle, could play Tuesday), Zach Parise (back surgery, expected to be sidelined up to two months), Patrick Eaves (Guillain-Barre syndrome, out indefinitely), Jaromir Jagr (lower body, "really close" to returning), Marcus Johansson (lower body, day-to-day), Troy Stecher (knee injury, out 4-6 weeks), Justin Schultz (concussion, injured reserve), Shayne Gostisbehere (possible head injury, left Saturday's game), Sami Vatanen (shoulder surgery, returned to action Saturday) and Antti Raanta (lower-body, injured Oct, 12, still sidelined).

Fourth Liners/Press Boxers (Fallers)

Martin Hanzal, C, MIN - Hanzal failed to register a point for the eighth consecutive game Friday against the Flames. Last year, Hanzal began the year as Arizona's top-line center and the Coyotes parlayed his strong start into dealing him to Minnesota. Hanzal played fairly well for Minnesota, despite seeing a cut in ice time by over three minutes a game due to the stronger team around him. The Stars saw enough in his performance to sign the 30-year-old to a three-year deal, and he began the season as the No. 3 center behind Tyler Seguin and Jason Spezza. Hanzal has struggled in Big D and his spot on the third line means that his scoring chances may pale to what he saw in Arizona and even Minnesota.

Sebastian Aho, RW, CAR - Aho's solid rookie season (24 goals and 25 assists) was somewhat lost in the Auston Matthews, Patrik Laine focus. But fantasy owners paid attention and went into this year expecting the Finnish winger to take his game to another level. Through Carolina's first nine games, that has been far from the case, as Aho has just four assists. The 20-year-old winger is too good to be without a goal for this long, so a regression up the mean and to his talent should be forthcoming before long, but for now, consider sitting him until he notches that first tally.

Ryan McDonagh, D, NYR - McDonagh saw his offensive production rebound in 2016-17, finishing at 42 points (with a career-high 15 of those on the power play), despite tallying just six goals. The signing of Kevin Shattenkirk was expected to provide McD a puck-moving, D-man across from him, allowing McDonagh to generate even more offense. That has yet to be the case, as both D-men have struggled and have been separated. 'Kirk has been a turnover machine while McDonagh seems to have the weight of the world on his shoulder and rumors persist that he is playing through a minor injury.

Frederik Andersen, G, TOR - Andersen is fighting it between the pipes and hasn't been helped by the defense in front of him. The Danish netminder allowed four goals to Philly on Saturday with the loss dropping his record to 6-4 on the year, Add in a goals-against average about 3.50 and save percentage less than .900 and it hasn't been a pretty story for Andersen in net. He is still the clear No. 1 goalie for the Buds, but unless his defense plays better, Andersen could be under siege all season.

Others include Henrik Sedin, Carl Soderberg, Jordan Staal, Tobias Rieder, Mats Zuccarello, Justin Abdelkader, Josh Ho-Sang (sent to AHL), Sam Bennett, Kevin Shattenkirk, Erik Johnson, Jacob Trouba, Victor Hedman, Henrik Lundqvist, Carey Price and Jimmy Howard.