This article is part of our The Daily Puck series.
Opportunity knocks.
A few lineup changes at the end of the week have created new opportunities worth paying attention to.
The absence of Connor McDavid for the next couple of months initially made it look like Benoit Pouliot and Nail Yakupov's value could drop rather quickly with them down one excellent playmaking center. But as quickly as McDavid left the lineup, Jordan Eberle returns.
The return of Eberle saw Oilers coach Todd McLellan shake things up less than expected, putting Leon Draisaitl as the top line center with Taylor Hall and Eberle on the wings. Pouliot and Yakupov get Ryan Nugent-Hopkins as their center. McLellan stuck with those lines throughout Friday's loss to Pittsburgh, so you may not need to jump Yak Ship quite as quickly as you thought.
In Minnesota, the team is waiting on the results of Zach Parise's MRI, but he'll miss at least a couple of games. (Though it sounds like good news and he won't required surgery, according to Elliote Friedman.)
In Parise's absence the top line will see a shift. Mikael Granlund will stay at center, while Charlie Coyle, who has been great lately, jumps up onto the right wing and Jason Pominville moves to the left side.
Swapping in Coyle for Parise is obviosuly a downgrade but this line has been struggling in a big way and Coyle has been playing very well. There's the possibility that Granlund and Pominville find a way out of their funk by having the pot stirred and realizing that they're going to need to step up in Parise's absence to keep the team afloat.
The other roster change isn't as much about the dpeth chart as the overall lineup. The St. Louis Blues signed veteran winger Martin Havlat to a one-year, two way contract on Friday. Havlat has struggled with injury the last few seasons and his production hasn't been great with five goals and nine assists through 40 games last year. But it may be worth keeping an eye on him. He's certainly going to be available in keeper formats and he may have enough left in the tank to become relevant in a deep league. Guys on PTOs sometimes become guys you want on your roster. See: Scott Gomez last year, Lee Stempniak this year.
Projected Goalie Starters (all times Eastern)
For updates on the projected goalies later in the day, check our Projected Goalies Grid
Canucks (Ryan Miller) at Sabres (Linus Ullmark), 1:00 PM
Panthers (Roberto Luongo) at Kings (Jonathan Quick), 4:00 PM
Bruins (Tuukka Rask) at Canadiens (Mike Condon), 7:00 PM
Maple Leafs (James Reimer) at Capitals (Braden Holtby), 7:00 PM
Senators (Andrew Hammond) at Hurricanes (Cam Ward), 7:00 PM
Flyers (Steve Mason) at Jets (Ondrej Pavelec), 7:00 PM
Blues (Jake Allen) at Predators (Pekka Rinne), 8:00 PM
Lightning (Ben Bishop) at Wild (Devan Dubnyk), 8:00 PM
Rangers (Antti Raanta) at Coyotes (Mike Smith), 9:00 PM
Penguins (Marc-Andre Fleury) at Flames (Karri Ramo), 10:00 PM
Ducks (Anton Khudobin) at Sharks (Martin Jones), 10:30 PM
Injury News For Teams Playing Saturday
Vancouver Canucks
Brandon Prust, LW (ankle) - will miss at least another three weeks
Luca Sbisa, D (undisclosed) - was placed on IR Monday
Buffalo Sabres
Evander Kane, LW (MCL) - remains out
Robin Lehner, G (ankle) - will miss at least another couple weeks
Zach Bogosian, D (upper body) - is out indefinitely
Carlo Colaiacovo, D (upper body) - will mis Saturday's game
Cody McCormick, C (illness) - is out indefinitely
Florida Panthers
Dave Bolland, C (hand) - will be a game-time decision Saturday
Aleksander Barkov, C (hand) - is on IR
Los Angeles Kings
Matt Greene, D (upper body) - is "getting better every day" but still has been unable to return to practice
Dwight King, LW (foot) - remains out
Boston Bruins
David Pastrnak, LW (foot) - will not travel with the Bruins on their three-game road trip
Dennis Seidenberg, D (back) - will join his team on that three-game road trip
Chris Kelly, RW (fractured femur) - is out for the season
Montreal Canadiens
Carey Price, G (lower body) - the team plans to update his status Monday, but he's out until then
Zack Kassian, RW (suspension) - isn't going to be back soon
Michael Bournival, C (concussion) - is out
Toronto Maple Leafs
Stephane Robidas, D (groin) - is out indefinitely
Jonathan Bernier, G (lower body) - did not practice Friday
Washington Capitals
Jakub Vrana, RW (wrist) - is expected to be out another couple months
Ottawa Senators
Chris Phillips, D (back) - remains out
Clarke MacArthur, LW (concussion) won't be in the lineup Saturday
Carolina Hurricanes
James Wisniewski, D (ACL) - is going to miss more than half the season
Philadelphia Flyers
Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, C (lower body) - is on IR
Yevgeni Medvedev, D (upper body) - missed Thursday's game and was flown back to Philadelphia in the middle of the team's road trip
Winnipeg Jets
Grant Clitsome, D (back) - won't play this season
Andrew Copp, C - (upper body) - has been placed on IR
St. Louis Blues
Steve Ott, C (upper body) - is day-to-day after sustaining an injury in Thursday's game
Paul Stastny, C (foot) is still out
Patrik Berglund, C (shoulder) - is on long-term Ir
Brian Elliott, G (undisclosed) - left Thursday's game
Jaden Schwartz, LW (ankle) - will miss significant time
Nashville Predators
Eric Nystrom, LW (upper body) - was out on Thursday and may remain out
Tampa Bay Lightning
Jonathan Drouin, C (upper body) - missed Thursday's game
Mitchell Stephens, C (food) - is out indefinitely
Minnesota Wild
Zach Parise, LW (knee) - the team is awaiting results of the MRI, but he'll miss at least a few games
Nate Prosser, D (back) - is expected to miss at least a few games
Justin Fontaine, RW (knee) - is on IR
Christian Folin, D (lower body) - will return to the lineup Saturday
Tyler Graovac, C (lower body) - has been out since opening night
New York Rangers
Rick Nash, LW (back) - did not play in Friday's game
Arizona Coyotes
Joe Vitale, C (fractured orbital bone) - won't be back soon
Stefan Elliott, D (upper body) - is out
Antoine Vermette, C (lower body) - has been ruled out of Saturday's game
Pittsburgh Penguins
Bryan Rust, RW (arm) - is out a couple weeks
Pascal Dupuis, RW (precautionary) - Dupuis was take to the hospital as a precaution on Friday and has been ruled out of Saturday's game
Calgary Flames
Jonas Hiller, G (hip) - could miss another week
Lance Bouma, C (lower body) - will mis significant time
Micheal Ferland, LW (knee) - remains on IR
Anaheim Ducks
Simon Despres, D (upper body) - is still on IR
Rickard Rakell, C (upper body) - is out
Jiri Sekac, RW (ankle) - is out
Nate Thompson, C (shoulder) - has returned to the ice, but isn't ready for a return
Kenton Helgesen, LW (foot) - is still out
San Jose Sharks
Logan Couture, C (ankle) - is making progress, but isn't ready
Raffi Torres, LW (suspension) - is still serving his half-season suspension
Mike Brown, RW (undisclosed) - was injured in Thursday's game
Hot
Corey Perry, RW, ANA — Yes, it took until game 12 for Perry to score a goal and he still only has one, but it's clear that the former Hart Trophy winner is heating up. He had three assists in Friday's game and has posted a goal and five assists over the last five games. He has a minus-2 over that span, which may be an ongoing concern with the Ducks struggles, but he's also providing value elsewhere with at least two penalty minutes in each of those games and an average of two shots per game in that stretch.
That goal may have opened the flood gates. It was clear when he scored it that he felt more than a little relief.
Tyler Seguin, C, DAL — Seguin is currently on a seven-game point streak and through 14 games he's only been held without a point twice. During his current point streak he has four goals and seven assists, along with 31 shots adding to his NHL-leading total of 61. That's an average of over four shots per game. Alex Ovechkin has competition in the bulk shooting department.
Cold
Corey Crawford, G, CHI — All told, Crawford has had a pretty decent season, so I'm not cutting bait on him, but his last couple of starts have been that really poor stretch that always comes around with him. (Like in the first round of the playoffs last year.) In his last two starts he's been a miserable sub .800. He allowed five goals to the Blues in the first half of that game before allowing a sixth in overtime. Somehow that didn't get him the hook, but the continued poor performance in his next start did. He allowed three goals on 13 shots on Friday and got the ax after the first period.
Gabriel Landeskog, LW, COL — Landeskog must be close to gripping his stick into sawdust. He's gone without a goal in the last six games and has just one goal in the last 11 games. He's a minus-5 in those 11 games and has just four assists. Despite all the firepower in Colorado, I find it hard to trust the team's top players with a system that buckles so much and is just not providing the kind of offense it needs to, particularly in light of how many goals they're giving up.
Recommended Pickup
Kevin Hayes, RW, NYR — The 6-foot-5 winger is much more than a big body. In his second pro season he's putting up some solid numbers and may still be under the radar in your league. In his last six games he's put up two goals and four assists along with a plus-4 rating, two penalty minutes and 13 shots. He's not getting a ton of ice time, but he's getting production across categories nonetheless.
