This article is part of our NHL Barometer series.
This week's article includes a second-year center in the Sunshine State on fire, a possible future top-line winger in the City of Brotherly Love, a goalie who should be a Vezina candidate in Minnesota and a potentially devastating injury in Pittsburgh.
This is the final column of the season. Thanks to all who read and/or provided comments during the season. Any feedback, please email [email protected] or [email protected]. Any updates will be added to the comments section of the column.
First Liners (Risers)
Aleksander Barkov, C, FLA - Barkov saw his three-game points streak, during which he had two goals and three assists, end Sunday. Despite that, he still has nine points in his last 11 games after getting 22 in his first 54. Barkov is starting to put it all together, and many of us believe he is just scratching the surface of how good he can be. His name is one to keep in mind next year as someone who could take a major step forward.
Kyle Turris, C, OTT - Turris had a power-play goal and even-strength assist Saturday, giving nine points, including six goals, in his last eight games. He added an assist Sunday, moving up to 55 points in 75 games, just three shy of his career-high 58 set just last season. Turris has really stepped up his game to help Ottawa make a late playoff push, serving as a top center, which is the role boosted upon on when Jason Spezza was traded
This week's article includes a second-year center in the Sunshine State on fire, a possible future top-line winger in the City of Brotherly Love, a goalie who should be a Vezina candidate in Minnesota and a potentially devastating injury in Pittsburgh.
This is the final column of the season. Thanks to all who read and/or provided comments during the season. Any feedback, please email [email protected] or [email protected]. Any updates will be added to the comments section of the column.
First Liners (Risers)
Aleksander Barkov, C, FLA - Barkov saw his three-game points streak, during which he had two goals and three assists, end Sunday. Despite that, he still has nine points in his last 11 games after getting 22 in his first 54. Barkov is starting to put it all together, and many of us believe he is just scratching the surface of how good he can be. His name is one to keep in mind next year as someone who could take a major step forward.
Kyle Turris, C, OTT - Turris had a power-play goal and even-strength assist Saturday, giving nine points, including six goals, in his last eight games. He added an assist Sunday, moving up to 55 points in 75 games, just three shy of his career-high 58 set just last season. Turris has really stepped up his game to help Ottawa make a late playoff push, serving as a top center, which is the role boosted upon on when Jason Spezza was traded last offseason.
Michael Raffl, LW, PHI - Raffl tallied another goal Saturday, giving him markers in three straight and four of his last five contests. He is now up 20 goals in 61 games, more than doubling the nine he scored last year. Raffl has certainly made the most of his opportunity to skate next to Jakub Voracek and Claude Giroux, where he should remain the balance of the season. He may go a bit under the radar heading into next year, but Raffl is a name to remember as a possible sleeper for 2015-16.
David Pastrnak, RW, BOS - Pastrnak scored the game-winning goal and added an assist Sunday. Those two points gave Pastrnak 11 points in 13 games in March, his best month of the season. Since he has become a regular, Pastrnak has 24 points in 34 games and 19 his last 25. He seems to be getting stronger as the season winds down, so ride him down the stretch.
Cam Atkinson, RW, CMB - Atkinson continued his recent hot streak with a goal and an assist Saturday. That performance came on the heels of his hat trick from a night earlier with his third multi-point performance in as many games. Atkinson was rumored to possibly be on the block at the trade deadline, but signed a three-year, $10.5 million deal to stay in Columbus. He failed to score his first three games after inking that deal, but since then, he has seven goals and five assists over his last 10 contests. Roll with him down the stretch.
Erik Karlsson, D, OTT - I don't usually like profiling players from the same team on either side of the ledger, but Karlsson has been so good, I will make an exception. Karlsson scored a power-play goal Sunday, his 20th tally of the season, the second straight season he has hit that mark. Add in his 41 points and plus-nine rating and you see just how good he has been. But, he has been especially good lately. Karlsson had 33 points and a minus-5 rating over 46 games prior to the All-Star break, which is still pretty darn good. Since then, he's tallied nine goals, 17 assists and a plus-11 rating over 26 games.
Roman Josi, D, NAS - Josi scored his 15th goal of the season and had an assist Sunday against Calgary. He now is up to 55 points in 77 games, making him the most valuable of a solid blueline in Nashville. Shea Weber and Seth Jones may have more name recognition amongst the casual fans, but the hard core ones know that Josi has been the one to own this season.
Devan Dubnyk, G, MIN - Dubnyk made his 34th straight start Saturday, stopping 31 of 32 shots in a win over the Kings. Where would the Wild be without Dubnyk? Overall, he is 35-11-3, with a .930 save percentage to .930 and 2.05 goals-against average (GAA). On their own, those are great numbers. But when you look at just his Minnesota numbers, they pop off the page. Dubnyk is 26-6-1 with a .939 save percentage and 1.70 GAA, which is why he has to get Vezina and Hart Trophy consideration.
Cory Schneider, G, NJ - Just like Dubnyk I profiled Schneider five weeks ago, and just like Dubnyk, he deserves another mention. Schneider fell to 26-28-8 Sunday, but that really doesn't reflect how well he has played. Scheider has a stellar 2.19 GAA and .928 save percentage but is hurt by the pop-gun offense around him. The Devils are the third-lowest scoring team in the NHL, providing Schneider with only 2.2 goals per game, a number they didn't even match Sunday as they scored just once.
Others include Kevin Hayes, Tyler Seguin, Sam Gagner, Jeff Carter, Vladislav Namestnikov, Mikko Koivu, Claude Giroux, Henrik Sedin, John Mitchell, Brandon Pirri, Ryan Johansen, David Desharnais, John Tavares, Mike Ribeiro, Matt Duchene, Nick Bonino, Anze Kopitar, Radim Vrbata, Jaromir Jagr, Mark Stone, Benoit Pouliot, Ondrej Palat, Jiri Hudler, Max Pacioretty, Tomas Tatar, Jakub Voracek, Gabriel Landeskog, Chris Stewart, Chris Kreider, Drew Stafford, Jonathan Huberdeau, Justin Abdelkader, Ryan O'Reilly, Brendan Gallagher, Patrick Marleau, Jarome Iginla, Alexander Edler, Ryan Murphy, Mathew Dumba, Oliver Ekman-Larsson. Kyle Quincey, Matt Niskanen, Yannick Weber, Kyle Quincey, Sergei Bobrovsky, Ondrej Pavelec, Kari Lehtonen, Jonathan Quick, Braden Holtby and Cory Schneider.
Training Room (Injuries)
Kris Letang, D, PIT - After suffering through several injured-plagued campaigns, Letang had been relatively healthy this season. Unfortunately, that bit of good fortune may have ended Saturday, when he was shoved backward by Shane Doan after he had flipped the puck out of the zone and hit the back of his head on the boards. Letang suffered a concussion that likely will sideline him at least several days and could end up in a long-term absence.
Henrik Lundqvist, G, NYR - Lundqvist, sidelined since Feb. 2 with a sprained blood vessel that occurred when he took a shot to the neck on Jan. 31, returned to action Saturday. That return came after he was cleared to practice the previous week. Lundqvist didn't get much help from his defense, as he allowed four goals the first 25:53, but he was solid the final 34:07 of the game. Look for him to play at least five of the Rangers' last seven games of the season.
Others include Nick Bjugstad (back, out for season after surgery, big loss for Florida's playoff hopes), Pavel Datsyuk (LBI, returned to action Saturday), Wayne Simmonds (fractured left leg, out for season), James Neal (UBI, last played March 12), Erik Cole (UBI, DTD), Martin St. Louis (knee, skating, could be back this week), Trevor Daley (knee, out since March 3, returned to action with two assists Saturday), Erik Johnson (knee, close to returning), Kevin Klein (fractured left arm, absence may be 4-to-6, not 2-to-3 weeks) and Craig Anderson (hand, returned to action this past week).
Fourth Liners/Press Boxers (Fallers)
Mikhail Grigorenko, C, BUF - Grigorenko is seeing solid ice time with Buffalo playing out the string, but hasn't done much with it. He has just one point in the five games since his recent promotion, the fifth time he has been called up this year. Grigorenko, a former first-round pick, is in major danger of either getting buried in the minors or released, as his future with the team is clearly in doubt.
David Perron, RW, PIT - Perron, who missed Saturday's game with an illness, suited up Sunday. Unfortunately, that game off did little to wake his game, as he failed to score again. Perron has scored just three goals in his last 20 games after beginning his time in Pittsburgh with nine scores in his first 16 contests. That original scoring pace was unsustainable, but Perron has still seen enough time on the top-two lines where you would think he could have just fallen into points. That has not been the case, as he has now failed to notch any sort of point for six games.
Kimmo Timonen, D, CHI - Timonen has zero points and only nine shots on goal in his 12 games since being acquired by the Blackhawks on Feb. 27. After missing almost the first four months of the season with a blood clot in his lung, Timonen is easing his way back into action, seeing less than 13 minutes a game. For those who acquired Timonen hoping for late production from the blue line, unfortunately, that has proven not to be the case.
Jonathan Bernier, G, TOR - Bernier lost his sixth straight start Thursday. Overall, he is 20-27-6 with a 2.89 goals-against average and .912 save percentage. Bernier, who came over from Los Angeles two years ago for Matt Frattin and Ben Scrivens, has failed to secure hold on the top job in Toronto. With the Maple Leafs in the midst of what will be a broad rebuild, Bernier might be in the outside looking in.
Others include Andrew Shaw, Patrik Berglund, Brian Boyle, Patrik Elias, Alex Galchenyuk, Phil Kessel, Patrick Wiercioch, Andy Greene and Michael Hutchinson.
