This article is part of our NHL Barometer series.
This week's article includes Marchment rolling, Kirill thrilling, Dahlin dominating, Wolf taking over in Calgary, Jones sidelined and Swayman scuffling.
First Liners (Risers)
Brayden Schenn, C, STL: Schenn got off to an extremely slow start to the season, notching just a goal and four assists his first 15 games. That poor performance seemed to be a carry-forward of his poor 2023-24 campaign when he fell from 65 to 46 points (20 goals, 26 assists). Schenn has flipped the switch, notching the game-winning goal in overtime Saturday plus a goal and two assists his prior three games. Granted this is a small sample size, but after that freezing cold beginning to 2024-25, his rebound recently is music to the Blues' ears.
Mason Marchment, LW, DAL: Score nine points in three games and you too will get the bold treatment. Marchment scored a pair of goals Saturday, giving the winger four tallies and five apples in the three contests. He is very streaky, so ride the hot hand while it lasts. Marchment, skating on the Stars' second line, is up to six goals, 18 points, 33 shots on net, 30 hits, 19 PIM and a plus-12 rating over 16 appearances. This comes on the heels of him notching 22 markers and 31 apples last season.
Kirill Kaprizov, LW, MIN: I usually don't highlight superstars, but when one is on a ridiculously hot run, it's hard to ignore. Kaprizov is on a five-game point streak (four goals, six assists), and
This week's article includes Marchment rolling, Kirill thrilling, Dahlin dominating, Wolf taking over in Calgary, Jones sidelined and Swayman scuffling.
First Liners (Risers)
Brayden Schenn, C, STL: Schenn got off to an extremely slow start to the season, notching just a goal and four assists his first 15 games. That poor performance seemed to be a carry-forward of his poor 2023-24 campaign when he fell from 65 to 46 points (20 goals, 26 assists). Schenn has flipped the switch, notching the game-winning goal in overtime Saturday plus a goal and two assists his prior three games. Granted this is a small sample size, but after that freezing cold beginning to 2024-25, his rebound recently is music to the Blues' ears.
Mason Marchment, LW, DAL: Score nine points in three games and you too will get the bold treatment. Marchment scored a pair of goals Saturday, giving the winger four tallies and five apples in the three contests. He is very streaky, so ride the hot hand while it lasts. Marchment, skating on the Stars' second line, is up to six goals, 18 points, 33 shots on net, 30 hits, 19 PIM and a plus-12 rating over 16 appearances. This comes on the heels of him notching 22 markers and 31 apples last season.
Kirill Kaprizov, LW, MIN: I usually don't highlight superstars, but when one is on a ridiculously hot run, it's hard to ignore. Kaprizov is on a five-game point streak (four goals, six assists), and overall, the 27-year-old winger has 11 goals, 31 points, 54 shots on net and a plus-15 rating over 17 appearances. After a down year for him in 2022-23 with 75 points, Kaprizov "rebounded" to notch 46 goals and 50 helpers last season. His career-high is 47 markers and 61 apples in 2021-22, and his early-season hot streak has the talented winger on pace to exceed those totals.
Gabriel Vilardi, LW, WPG: Vilardi saw his point streak end at eight Thursday. During that stretch, he had six goals and four assists, and four of those 10 points came on the power play. Acquired in the offseason last year in the Pierre-Luc Dubois deal. Vilardi produced 22 goals and 14 assists despite being limited to 47 games. Skating on the top line to the right of Mark Scheifele and Kyle Connor, Vilardi is up to seven goals and as many helpers in 18 games, putting him on pace to set new career-highs across the board.
Rasmus Dahlin, D, BUF: Dahlin continued his recent hot streak with a goal and an assist Saturday. That production gave Dahlin five tallies and nine helpers in his last 10 games. After a slow start, just two assists in his first eight contests of the season, the Swedish defenseman is up to five goals, 11 assists and a plus-2 rating while averaging 24:39 of ice time through 18 games. Buffalo's captain posted 59 points last season after notching 73 the prior campaign and is producing similar to his 2022-23 numbers.
Darnell Nurse, D, EDM: Nurse will miss five to 10 games after he was injured in Saturday's game on a brutal hit that resulted in a five-game suspension for Ryan Reaves. Nurse recently started to produce, notching a pair of goals and five assists in his prior eight games. Those two markers are his only two of the season. His main value is not in his point production but in his all-around play, Nurse should once again rack up 150-plus hits and blocked shots while skating close to 22 minutes a game. But enjoy the uptick in output while it lasts.
Dustin Wolf, G, CGY: Calgary has been Hungry Like the Wolf this season. Wolf, a seventh-round pick, 219th overall in 2019, has stepped in nicely to replace Jacob Markstrom between the pipes in Calgary. He earned the first shutout of his career Friday and has now won three of his last four starts, allowing just seven goals on 120 shots in that span. With the win and shutout, Wolf improved to 6-2-1 with a 2.53 goals-against average (GAA) and a .921 save percentage over nine starts this season.
Cam Talbot, G, DET: Despite losing to the Kings on Saturday, Talbot had been solid between the pipes for the Red Wings. Coming into the game, Talbot was 5-2-1 with a 2.34 GAA and .927 save percentage. His fine start to 2024-25 is a carryover from his solid 2023-24 season as a member of the Kings, which was a rebound from a poor 2022-23 campaign while he was Senator. Talbot, who lost 5-4 in overtime to the Sharks on Monday, has notched 250 wins in his career since signing with the Rangers as an undrafted free agent from the University of Alabama-Huntsville.
Others include Anze Kopitar, Josh Norris, Tim Stutzle, Logan Stankoven, Matvei Michkov, Drake Batherson, Travis Konecny, Stefan Noesen, Mitch Marner, Martin Necas, Shayne Gostisbehere, Pavel Dorofeyev, Braden Schneider, Egor Zamula, Neal Pionk, Lane Hutson, Rasmus Sandin, Jacob Markstrom, Jake Allen, Kevin Lankinen and Andrei Vasilevskiy (win No. 300).
Buy Low
Jean-Gabriel Pageau, C, NYI: Pageau's value is tied to Mathew Barzal's absence. While Barzal is sidelined, Pageau is skating as the Islanders' first line center. He is up to four goals and two assists over nine contests in November, making up for a slow start. Keep an eye on Barzal's status, because as soon as he returns for New York, JGP will shift back to skating as the team's third-line center, depressing his value. Be prepared to jump when that happens.
Training Room (Injuries)
Seth Jones, D, CHI: Jones, who sustained a right foot injury on a blocked shot against Seattle last Wednesday, was placed on injured reserve Saturday. He does not have a specific timetable to return but appears likely to miss at least the remainder of the month. Prior to being injured, he registered two goals, eight assists, 38 shots on net, 34 blocked shots and 22 hits through 17 appearances this season. With Jones out, Alex Vlasic should see top power play deployment.
Others include Filip Chytil (injured Thursday, possible concussion, did not travel with team to four-game West Coast trip), Tage Thompson (lower body, placed on injured reserve Friday, could play Wednesday), David Perron (personal, out since Oct. 19, played Saturday against the Hurricanes), Cam Fowler (upper body, will miss two to four weeks), and Alexandar Georgiev (upper-body injury, missed Friday's game, landed on IR).
Fourth Liners/Press Boxers (Fallers)
Charlie Coyle, C, BOS: Coyle took advantage of the retirements of Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci to fill a top two center role for the Bruins last season. He set career highs in 2023-24 with 25 goals and 60 points, including 11 power-play points after finishing the previous campaign without a single point with the man advantage. Following Boston's signing of Elias Lindholm this offseason we knew that Coyle's production would take a step back. That has been an understatement, as Coyle has just four goals and an assist in 20 games, though he does have 30 hits and 28 blocked shots, adding value in leagues that play those categories.
Luke Hughes, D, NJ: Hughes, who missed the first three weeks of the season due to an offseason shoulder injury, has gotten off to a slow start since returning. He has just two assists in his first 12 games while skating on the third pair for New Jersey. Hughes is seeing second unit power-play time on the ice, behind Dougie Hamilton in the blue line pecking order. He saw additional PP TOI last season when Hamilton was sidelined, but with D-Ham back, Hughes has fallen back to a secondary role.
Jeremy Swayman, G, BOS: As I mentioned previously, I usually don't like covering players from the same team. But Swayman is having a brutal season after missing nearly all of training camp and signing an eight-year, $66 million contract with the Bruins in October. The trade of Linus Ullmark opened up the No. 1 netminding job in the Hub for Boston, but Swayman has not been up to the task. Heading into Monday's contest, Swayman was 5-6-2 with a 3.35 goals-against average and .888 save percentage and has been outplayed between the pipes by Joonas Korpisalo, who has earned additional playing time. Swayman, who allowed five goals on 28 shots in a loss Monday to Columbus, will get hot, though it will take some time.
Others include Ridly Greig, Kent Johnson, Eeli Tolvanen, Jake Neighbours, K'Andre Miller, Charlie McAvoy, Scott Wedgewood and Ilya Sorokin.
Sell High
Jason Robertson, LW, DAL: Robertson owners are likely in a wee bit of a panic. After tallying 46 goals and 63 assists in 2022-23, Robertson saw his output fall to 29 and 51, respectively, last season. Most, if not all, expected Robertson to regain his prior form and post big numbers. So far that has been far from the case, as Robertson has just four goals and as many assists in 16 games. A big part of his decline last year was due to a drop off in shots-per-game, which has carried forward to this season. As such, unless J-Rob starts to shoot at will, his numbers will remain depressed. Trade him on name value right now.
