This article is part of our NHL Barometer series.
This week's article includes a resurgence in Hockeytown, the other D-man in Philly and a Flower still sidelined.
First Liners (Risers)
Vincent Trocheck, C, FLA – Trocheck had his breakout campaign in 2014-15, during which he tallied 25 goals with 28 assists. In what was a nightmarish season for Florida last year, Trocheck still scored 23 goals with 31 assists, albeit with a minus-13 rating. Centering the second line for the Panthers, the 64th overall pick in 2011 is off to a strong start with 14 points in 12 games.
Dylan Larkin, C, DET – Larkin put together a solid rookie campaign with 17 goals and 28 assists. But he suffered through a nightmarish sophomore season, notching just 17 goals and 15 helpers with an unsightly minus-28 rating. Detroit moved Larkin back to center this year, a move that has paid dividends through the first month of the season. The Michigan native has a pair of goals with 11 assists in 14 games.
Reilly Smith, RW, Las Vegas – Smith began his career in Dallas but came to Boston in the Tyler Seguin deal. After a big initial season in the Hub, Smith slumped in his second season there, resulting in a trade to Florida. Smith tallied 25 goals and 25 assists in his first campaign in the Sunshine State, landing a five-year extension worth $25 million. But like his time in Boston, Smith regressed in Florida and they dealt him to Vegas. Smith has adapted nicely
This week's article includes a resurgence in Hockeytown, the other D-man in Philly and a Flower still sidelined.
First Liners (Risers)
Vincent Trocheck, C, FLA – Trocheck had his breakout campaign in 2014-15, during which he tallied 25 goals with 28 assists. In what was a nightmarish season for Florida last year, Trocheck still scored 23 goals with 31 assists, albeit with a minus-13 rating. Centering the second line for the Panthers, the 64th overall pick in 2011 is off to a strong start with 14 points in 12 games.
Dylan Larkin, C, DET – Larkin put together a solid rookie campaign with 17 goals and 28 assists. But he suffered through a nightmarish sophomore season, notching just 17 goals and 15 helpers with an unsightly minus-28 rating. Detroit moved Larkin back to center this year, a move that has paid dividends through the first month of the season. The Michigan native has a pair of goals with 11 assists in 14 games.
Reilly Smith, RW, Las Vegas – Smith began his career in Dallas but came to Boston in the Tyler Seguin deal. After a big initial season in the Hub, Smith slumped in his second season there, resulting in a trade to Florida. Smith tallied 25 goals and 25 assists in his first campaign in the Sunshine State, landing a five-year extension worth $25 million. But like his time in Boston, Smith regressed in Florida and they dealt him to Vegas. Smith has adapted nicely to his new surroundings with four goals and five assists in 14 games for the Golden Knights.
Blake Wheeler, RW, WPG – Despite six straight excellent seasons, Wheeler still isn't always top of mind when it comes to the best right wingers in the league. But all he does is produce year after year while also racking up close to 100 hits per season. Wheeler already has 17 points, taking advantage of his placement on Mark Scheifele's right wing. Look for more of the same from him the rest of the season.
Pavel Buchnevich, RW, NYR – Buchnevich got off to a strong start to his rookie campaign last year skating with Chris Kreider and Mika Zibanejad (KZB line) before he was sidelined with injuries. After returning, he struggled to recapture his form. After getting demoted to the fourth line (and triggering the #freebuch movement on Twitter), he'si back on the KZB trio and has five goals and five assists in 15 games while skating on the top power-play unit.
Ivan Provorov, D, PHI – Much of the attention on Philly's blue line has been rightly centered on Shayne Gostibehere, but Provorov deserves a bit more love. He may never end up the scorer that Ghost is, but Provorov will end up – and likely already is – the more well-rounded and complete D-man. That doesn't mean he won't score, as the 20-year old posted 30 points last year and already has eight this year, but his focus will also be in his own zone, which is why he is the better, all-around blueliner.
Cody Franson, D, CHI – Franson's two years in Buffalo – 2015-16 and 2016-17 – were marked by injuries and ineffectiveness. The latter factor resulted in Franson remaining a free agent until just before training camp where he landed a professional tryout with Chicago. Franson earned a contract with the Blackhawks but spent much of the first three weeks of the season as a healthy scratch. Coach Joel Quenneville has been pleased with his play and will insert Franson in the lineup more frequently moving forward, likely pairing him with Duncan Keith.
Mike Smith, G, CGY – Smith was profiled a few weeks ago but gets another mention, as he has shown no signs of slowing. He made 43 saves to beat the Penguins 2-1 in overtime Thursday and followed that up with 30 to beat New Jersey in a shooutout Sunday. He has benefited from a change of scenery, moving from Arizona to Calgary. Smith already has four 40-save performances with his new club and a .930-plus save percentage after finishing no better than .916 in any of his final five seasons with the Coyotes. With a solid blue line and forwards in front of him, Smith should easily hit the 30-win mark.
Corey Crawford, G, CHI – Crawford made 24 saves Saturday in defeating Minnesota, notching his second straight shutout of the season, and allowed just two goals in 37 shots in a loss to Montreal on Sunday. He suffered through a poor 2016-17 campaign, seeing his GAA rise for the third year in a row (from 2.37 to 2.55), while his save percentage dropped from .924 to .918, as Scott Darling filled in nicely for him. With Darling now in Carolina, Crawford is posting career-best numbers.
Others include Joe Pavelski, Derick Brassard, Ryan O'Reilly, Brayden Schenn, Mark Scheifele, Tyler Seguin, Mikael Granlund, Brayden Point, Sean Couturier, John Tavares, Evgeni Malkin, William Karlsson, Sean Monahan, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Steven Stamkos, Aleksander Barkov, Auston Matthews, Kyle Connor, Anders Lee, Anthony Mantha, Phil Kessel, Mike Hoffman, Josh Bailey, Yanni Gourde, Max Pacioretty, Jonathan Marchessault, Oliver Bjorkstrand, Brock Boeser, Alexander Radulov, Jaden Schwartz, Dustin Brown, Alex Tuch, Clayton Keller, Brad Marchand, Josh Bailey, Zach Werenski, Alex Pietrangelo, Torey Krug, Dustin Byfuglien, John Klingberg, Kevin Shattenkirk, Kris Letang, John Carlson, Colin Miller, Nick Leddy, Connor Hellebuyck, Martin Jones, Jaroslav Halak, Sergei Bobrovsky, Jonathan Quick and Andrei Vasilevskiy.
Training Room (Injuries)
Marc-Andre Fleury, G, LV – Fleury, the face of the franchise for Vegas, helped get the expansion team off to a surprisingly good start, going 3-1-0 with a 2.48 GAA and .925 save percentage. After allowing six goals on 27 shots in a 6-3 loss against the Red Wings on Oct. 13, MAF was diagnosed with a concussion and has been sidelined ever since. He has yet to practice and is still without an official recovery timetable, so all he and his team can do is wait and hope the symptoms dissipate soon.
Others include Ryan Getzlaf (face, injured reserve), Nolan Patrick (upper body, still in no-contact jersey), David Krejci (back, has missed six straight games), Marcus Johansson (concussion, indefinite), Jaromir Jagr (lower body, possibly back for Calgary's next game), Kyle Palmieri (lower body, possibly back Tuesday), Justin Schultz (concussion, likely out until at least Nov. 7), Rasmus Ristolainen (upper-body, day-to-day) and Carey Price (lower-body injury, missed Saturday's game) and Travis Hamonic (undisclosed, injured reserve)
Fourth Liners/Press Boxers (Fallers)
Tyler Johnson, C, TB – Johnson posted 50 points as a rookie in 2012-13 and exploded the following year, notching 72 points. He production plummeted the following campaign, as he dropped to 38 points. Johnson, who went undrafted, rebounded mildly to 45 points last year and re-signed with the Lightning on a seven-year, $35 million deal in July of 2017. Early on this year, that deal looks pretty poor for Tampa, as Johnson has points in just one of his last eight games and has been dropped to the fourth line.
Sam Bennett, LW, CGY – Bennett, selected fourth overall in 2014, has yet to score this season through 14 games. He notched a respectable 36 points -- 18 goals -- as a rookie in 2015-16, but recorded just 13 tallies and 13 helpers in 81 games a year ago. Most expected Bennett to take a major step forward this season on a better Calgary team, but that has yet to materialize. Leave Bennett on the bench or waiver wire in your league, except in keeper formats.
Brent Seabrook, D, CHI – Seabrook fell from 49 to 39 points last season, in line with his pattern the last six full NHL seasons (rotating good and bad years). Based on that, this year lined up to be a good one. Seabrook, so far, isn't keeping to that pattern, as he's only tallied two assists in his last 14 games and has just five points in 15 contests on the season. He's averaging 3:30 with the man advantage, though.
Craig Anderson, G, OTT – Anderson's inconsistent year continued Saturday, as he surrendered five goals on 34 shots. It's the fifth time in 11 starts that Anderson has allowed at least four goals. Those poor outings have contributed to a GAA above three and save percentage below .900 — the worst mark since 2010-11 when he played in Colorado. Anderson likely will turn it around, but for now, put him on your bench.
Others include Tyler Bozak, Vadim Shipachyov (back to the KHL), Derek Stepan, Frans Nielsen, Richard Panik, Pontus Aberg, Anthony Duclair, Max Domi, David Booth, Nikita Zadorov, Mark Streit, Connor Murphy, James Reimer, Brian Elliott and Frederik Andersen.
