NHL Barometer: Risers and Fallers

This week's article includes a hot Sid, a pair of young wingers rolling, the Islanders' No. 1 blueliner, yes, a goalie in Arizona and a center plus a winger scuffling in their new surroundings. 

First Liners (Risers)

Lukas Reichel, C, CHI – Feel free to put Reichel in the Buy-Low spot in place of Tyler Bertuzzi. Moved to second-line center Thursday, Reichel lit the lamp on the power-play for his first tally of the season. It's been a rough start to the year for Reichel, who prior to that point had just two assists in 13 games. Reichel needs to increase his shot metrics, as he had just 42 SOG in 23 games last season and just 28 in 15 games before the goal Thursday. Maybe the move to center will unlock his game. 

Sidney Crosby, C, PIT – No longer Sid the Kid, Crosby is rolling on like Ol' Man River. He extended his point streak to 11 games and 17 points (nine goals, eight assists) with a pair of goals Saturday but was shut out Sunday. Each goal and assist just adds to Crosby's impressive resume, which now sits at 562 markers (26th in NHL history) and 962 helpers. It's scary to think what his total would be like if he didn't suffer the myriad of concussions earlier in his career. Enjoy watching him do his magic on the ice.

Cole Perfetti, LW, WPG – Perfetti, taken 10th overall in the 2021 draft, is red-hot. After lighting the lamp again Friday, Perfetti has goals in five straight games and points in eight straight outings, racking up five assists over that longer span, before being shut out Saturday. He's up to six tallies, 14 points, 35 shots on net and a plus-7 rating through 17 appearances. Perfetti posted eight goals and 22 assists in 51 games last season but is entrenched on the second line 5x5 and on the top power-play unit, which should allow the winger to set new career-highs across the board.

Lucas Raymond, LW, DET – Raymond is hot irrespective of which country he is in. He extended his goal streak to three in Sweden on Friday, and six of Raymond's goals on the campaign have come in the last 10 contests, a stretch in which he's produced eight points in total. Raymond burst on the scene, posting 23 goals and 57 points while playing in all 82 games two seasons ago. The "sophomore jinx" saw Raymond drop to 17 goals and 45 points last season, and he looks to be back on the beam this year with 13 points in 17 games as the Red Wings' first line right winger.

Vince Dunn, D, SEA – Dunn has notched at least one point in nine of his last 11 games. In that stretch he has posted nine apples, four of which have come on the man-advantage, and a pair of goals. Last season, Dunn had the big breakout many have been predicting for a while, notching 14 goals and 50 helpers in 81 games with 15 points coming on the power-play. So far this season, Dunn is up to 18 points in 20 games with eight points already on the PP as he shows no signs of slowing or that the prior year production, his second year in Seattle, was a fluke. 

Noah Dobson, D, NYI – The Islanders' offense certainly has left a little bit to be desired. Dobson has done his best to provide production from the blue line. After posting 51 and 49 points, respectively, the last two seasons, Dobson has already potted five goals and added 10 helpers in 17 games, with eight of those points coming on the man-advantage. The latter figure is a key as New York struggled mightily on the power play last season. Add in 42 blocks to go with the 15 points and you have a solid, all-around blueliner in the orange and blue.

John Gibson, G, ANA – Gibson's net mate, Lukas Dostal, was profiled a few weeks ago. This week, Gibson gets the nod, as he is not ready to go gently into that good night. The 30-year-old netminder hadn't allowed more than two goals in any of his last six appearances prior to allowing three on 31 shots Sunday. He's down to a 4-6-0 record with a strong 2.27 goals-against average and a .927 save percentage over 11 contests. The Ducks are managing his workload, having Gibson basically start two out of every three games to avoid wearing him down as they have done in many prior years. 

Connor Ingram, G, AZ – Including Ingram is not a misprint. His win Thursday was his sixth straight victory, and, on the season, Ingram was 6-1-0 with a 2.75 goals-against average and .918 save percentage prior to allowing four goals Monday. On the flip side, Arizona's erstwhile No. 1 netminder, Karel Vejmelka had a 1-4-2 record with a 3.42 GAA and .894 save percentage over that same six-game stretch. Ingram, a third-round pick, 88th overall in 2016 by Nashville, showed signs of a breakout last year with the Coyotes, especially down the stretch. Coach Andre Tourigny has yet to make a change in the goalie pecking order, but he may have little choice soon. 

Others include John Tavares, J.T. Compher, Jack Eichel, Brayden Point, Frank Vatrano, Jordan Eberle, Connor Zary, Kyle Connor, Roope Hintz, William Eklund, Valeri Nichushkin, Sean Durzi, Luke Hughes, Torey Krug, Evan Bouchard, Cam Talbot, Jordan Binnington and Sergei Bobrovsky. 

Buy Low

Tyler Bertuzzi, LW, TOR – Your window to buy low on Bertuzzi may have already closed. After a sluggish start to his tenure in blue and white, Bertuzzi's has tallied three goals and seven points in his last 12 games, including back-to-back multi-point efforts this week. The line of William Nylander, Bertuzzi and John Tavares has started to buzz, adding another major scoring option to the Auston Matthews line already there. Bertuzzi, who signed a one-year, $5.5 million deal with the Buds this offseason, is playing for a long-term contract, and his current hot streak won't hurt those potential future negotiations. 

Training Room (Injuries)

Tage Thompson, C, BUF – Thompson was placed on Long-Term Injured Reserve on Friday. After suffering what looked to be a lower-body injury in the first period, Tuesday, Nov. 14 against Boston, Thompson returned to the game only to suffer what looked to a wrist injury blocking a shot. He has been classified as week-to-week, and his placement on LTIR means that he will miss at least 10 games and 24 days. After tallying 47 goals and as many assists last season, Thompson was off to a mildly slow start with 12 points in 16 games before he was injured. 

Others include Jack Hughes (upper body, injured Nov. 5, returned to action Saturday), Barrett Hayton (upper body, injured Thursday, week-to-week, placed on injured reserve Saturday), Aleksander Barkov (knee, left Friday's contest after knee-on-knee hit, sat Monday), Chandler Stephenson (upper body, out since Nov. 5, returned to the lineup Saturday), Zach Benson (lower-body, returned Friday with an assist after missing seven games), Adam Fox (lower body, on LTIR, skated Saturday, wore red, no-contact jersey in Monday's practice), Aaron Ekblad/Brandon Montour (offseason shoulder surgery, each made season debut Friday), John Klingberg (undisclosed, may be headed to LTIR) and Igor Shesterkin (lower body, returned to the nets Saturday after missing four games). 

Fourth Liners/Press Boxers (Fallers)

This article is adapted from the NHL Barometer, available at RotoWire. All these players are trending downward, and most of them make good cuts in most leagues, though they may merely be players for you bench or lineup deadwood in deeper leagues. 

Ryan Johansen, C, COL – Johansen's hot start in Colorado is a faded memory. After starting off the season scoreless in three straight, Johansen lit the lamp in three straight and looked to be settling into his new surroundings. Since then he's had one point – a goal – in nine games and no points in four straight contests until he scored Saturday. In addition, Johansen has lost his spot on the first power-power play unit, taking away an opportunity for him to pick up cheap points and break out of his slump. Look elsewhere for now.

Alex Newhook, RW, MTL – Newhook might be a buy low candidate, but his performance to date makes that slightly unlikely. His goal Thursday was his first in 13 games, and he has just four goals and six assists in 18 games, though he is showing some signs of life. Newhook came to Montreal with much promise and high hopes, but he has struggled to find his stride, like his performance in Colorado. At 22 years old, it's way too early to give up or write off Newhook, but the adage of it's getting late early for Newhook will soon start to apply.

Moritz Seider, D, DET – Seider is not a drop candidate, but I did say this offseason to many that I was concerned his production would fall slightly. I have Seider in my home league in the last year of his deal but kept him as a late-round retention. The signing of Shayne Gostisbehere was expected to cut into Seider's PP TOI and production. The first part has not happened, the second has occurred recently, as Seider is pointless in five straight contests. He still is providing value in leagues that count blocked shots and hits, racking up and 13 and 15, respectively, the last four games, giving him 39 in each category on the season. 

Others include Mika Zibanejad, Dylan Cozens, Brandon Biro, Patrik Laine, Seth Jones, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Lukas Dostal and Jonas Johansson.

Sell High

Tristan Jarry, GM, PIT – Jarry's season has been like a roller coaster, up and down. Loss, win, two losses, win, two losses, four wins and now back-to-back losses. Despite some regression for Jarry last season after a breakthrough 2021-22 season, Pittsburgh signed him to a five-year, $26.88 million contract in July. That deal buys Jarry a long leash, but if he struggles, the Penguins may have to look elsewhere, likely Alex Nedeljkovic, who just returned from injury in AHL and was called up and pitched a shutout Sunday, at least in the short-term.