This article is part of our NHL Barometer series.
This week's article includes Granlund excelling, Laf rising. Makar's brilliance, Vasi rolling, Fantilli done for the year, EK65 struggling and RNH regressing as expected.
First Liners (Risers)
Mikael Granlund, C, SJ – San Jose is having another brutal season, but Granlund has been one of the few positives. Granlund has gotten on the scoresheet in nine of the last 10 games, recording three goals and eight assists in that span. He's up to 12 goals, 51 points, 114 shots on net, 57 hits, 52 blocked shots, 30 PIM and a minus-19 rating through 61 appearances. This is the fifth time in his career Granlund's reached the 50-point threshold. He has one more year on the four-year, $20 million contract he signed with the Predators in July of 2021
Wyatt Johnston, C, DAL – Johnston had a fantastic March with 10 goals and six helpers over 13 contests, helping Dallas to first place in the Central Division and Western Conference. After tallying 24 goals and 17 assists in 82 games as a rookie last season, Johnston, taken 23rd overall in 2021, has posted 29 markers and 30 helpers in 75 contests. Johnson is the first member of the 2021 draft class to reach 100 career points, though only 16 of those points have come on the man-advantage, boding well for even greater success in the future.
Alexis Lafreniere, RW, NYR – In certain circles, Lafreniere was viewed as a bust for not having taken a major step forward.
This week's article includes Granlund excelling, Laf rising. Makar's brilliance, Vasi rolling, Fantilli done for the year, EK65 struggling and RNH regressing as expected.
First Liners (Risers)
Mikael Granlund, C, SJ – San Jose is having another brutal season, but Granlund has been one of the few positives. Granlund has gotten on the scoresheet in nine of the last 10 games, recording three goals and eight assists in that span. He's up to 12 goals, 51 points, 114 shots on net, 57 hits, 52 blocked shots, 30 PIM and a minus-19 rating through 61 appearances. This is the fifth time in his career Granlund's reached the 50-point threshold. He has one more year on the four-year, $20 million contract he signed with the Predators in July of 2021
Wyatt Johnston, C, DAL – Johnston had a fantastic March with 10 goals and six helpers over 13 contests, helping Dallas to first place in the Central Division and Western Conference. After tallying 24 goals and 17 assists in 82 games as a rookie last season, Johnston, taken 23rd overall in 2021, has posted 29 markers and 30 helpers in 75 contests. Johnson is the first member of the 2021 draft class to reach 100 career points, though only 16 of those points have come on the man-advantage, boding well for even greater success in the future.
Alexis Lafreniere, RW, NYR – In certain circles, Lafreniere was viewed as a bust for not having taken a major step forward. Ignored was the growth from years 1 to 2 and 2 to 3 along with the heavy production at even-strength despite the lack of power play time. Lafreniere has taken his game to another level, aided by skating alongside Artemi Panarin and Vincent Trocheck. He has 13 points, seven goals and 27 shots in his last 10 outings, and he now has his first 25-goal campaign (52 points; 75 games).
Gustav Nyquist, RW, NAS – Nyquist's overall production and recent hot streak assisted the Predators in reeling off points in 19 straight games to move into the first Wild Card spot in the Western Conference. He extended his point streak to eight games (12 points; five goals, seven assists) with a tally and apple Saturday. Nyquist has 68 points, including 46 assists, in 74 games, setting new career highs in the two categories. The two-year, $6.37 million contract he signed with Nashville last July looks like a major bargain.
Adrian Kempe, LW, LA – Kempe missed the first three games of March due to injury and was scoreless his first game back. He more than made up for that, finishing with 14 points over 11 appearances in the month. That output gave Kempe 23 goals, 66 points (21 on the power play), 225 shots on net, 106 hits, 68 PIM and a plus-13 rating through 69 appearances. Kempe's goal-production is down after he lit the lamp 41 times last season, but he has helped make up for that with a career-best 43 assists.
Cale Makar, D, COL – We sometimes forget just how good Makar is. His two assists Saturday gave Makar 62 helpers this season, a tally that ties Steve Duchesne (1992-93) for the Avalanche/Nordiques single season record for a defender. Makar has 81 points (19 goals, 62 assists) in 70 appearances and has seven contests to match his career mark for points with 86 set two years ago. Makar's hot streak has moved him into a tie with Quinn Hughes for most points by a blueliner this season.
Andrei Vasilevskiy, G, TB – Vasilevskiy is peaking at the right time. Prior to Monday's loss to the Red Wings, he was 7-0-1 in his last eight starts, with just one or fewer goals allowed in four of those starts. The hot streak has propelled the Lightning into the first Wild Card spot, and they sit just four points behind Toronto for third place in Atlantic Division. Vasilevskiy is just two wins shy at least 30 victories for the seventh straight season despite missing time to injury and a slow start to the year after returning to action.
Logan Thompson, G, LV – Thompson has helped keep the Knights in third place in the Pacific Division. He's won five straight decisions while posting an eye-popping 1.13 goals-against average (GAA) and .962 save percentage (SV%) since March 17. For the year, Thompson is up to 22 wins with a 2.63 GAA and .911 SV%, numbers similar to what he posted last season, his first full year in Las Vegas. Adin Hill (undisclosed) remains without a timeline for his return, but Thompson has played like a No. 1 goalie in his absence.
Others include Clayton Keller, Nathan MacKinnon, Vincent Trocheck, Jack Eichel, Leon Draisaitl, Yegor Sharangovich, Jonathan Drouin, Artemi Panarin, Owen Tippett, Jake Neighbours, William Eklund, Adam Fox, Mattias Ekholm, MacKenzie Weegar, Brady Skjei, John Carlson, Jake Oettinger, Ilya Samsonov, Igor Shesterkin and Charlie Lindgren.
Buy Low
Zach Werenski, D, CLM – Fantasy gems can even be found on last-place teams. Werenski is an example of this, as he has been on a nice run of late, tallying three goals and eight points in his last seven contests. He recent hot streak has Werenski up to seven goals and 48 points, which matches his career high, through 63 games this season. If Werenski can stay healthy, which has been a challenge the last five years, he will play in the most games he has seen since the 2018-19 season.
Training Room (Injuries)
Adam Fantilli, C, CLM – Fantilli, the third overall pick in last year's draft, may miss the rest of the regular season because of a calf laceration he sustained against Seattle on Jan. 28. Originally projected to miss eight weeks, his recovery has been slower than expected. Fantilli will finish his rookie campaign with 12 goals, 27 points, 115 shots on net and 63 hits in 49 appearances.
Others include Elias Lindholm (undisclosed, missed third straight game Sunday, will travel with the Canucks for Tuesday's game in Vegas), Vince Dunn (undisclosed, missed his 12 straight contest Saturday, could play Monday) and Jacob Trouba (lower body, missed 11 straight games, returned to action Saturday).
Fourth Liners/Press Boxers (Fallers)
Cole Sillinger, C, CLM – Sillinger has posted points in three consecutive games after going nine straight contests without denting the scoresheet. In addition, Sillinger went 12 straight games without notching a goal. The talent is still there, but Sillinger has yet to put it all together. Sillinger has 13 goals, which are three shy of his career-high, and 29 points, two away from the 31 he posted two seasons ago as a rookie. Columbus is playing out the string, but Sillinger does have a goal to try reach in April.
Erik Karlsson, D, PIT – Karlsson has failed to score a goal in 18 straight games and has managed just 46 points in 71 games, well off his 101-point total from last season. Part of that decline can be attributed to his 4.5 shooting percentage, which is the lowest mark Karlsson has posted in five years. Karlsson's rough season has contributed to Pittsburgh failing to make the playoffs, though that is far from the sole reason for that occurrence.
Samuel Ersson, G, PHI – Ersson lost his third straight start Saturday, posting an .803 save percentage in that span. Philly is hanging on for dear life to the second Wild Card spot in the East and will need Ersson to find his game quickly for the Flyers to make the playoffs. Ivan Fedotov joined Philadelphia on Friday after his contract with CSKA Moscow was terminated and replaced Ersson on Monday after the latter allowed two goals in six shots. Fedotov could see starts down the stretch if Ersson continues to slump. Ersson is now 21-16-7 on the campaign with an .891 save percentage and 2.81 GAA
Others include Blake Coleman, Ryan Strome, Brad Marchand, Mats Zuccarello, Jake Sanderson, Neal Pionk, Sergei Bobrovsky and Ilya Sorokin.
Sell High
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, LW, EDM – After Nugent-Hopkins tallied 104 points last season, we expected some form of regression from him. That most certainly has been the case, as RNH has 17 goals and 61 points through 71 games this season. He went 13 games without a goal prior to lighting the lamp last Tuesday and has dented the scoresheet in just three of his last 10 contests. Nugent-Hopkins is still a key member of the Edmonton attack, just not as key as he was a season ago.
