NHL Barometer: Risers and Fallers for the Week

This week's article includes Rossi and Rittich roiling, Batherson and Barbashev balling, Ovi out for at least a month and Miller struggling. 

First Liners (Risers)

Marco Rossi, C, MIN: Rossi notched a goal and an assist Saturday and has taken the next step this season after putting up 40 points in 82 regular-season games in 2023-24. With those two points, Rossi has 17 points (six goals, 11 assists) and 38 shots in 21 appearances this campaign, and he's starting to contribute on the power play. Entrenched as one of the top two centers for the Wild, Rossi, after a slow start to his career, is showing why he was the ninth selection in the 2020 draft. 

Drake Batherson, RW, OTT: Batherson posted 62 and 66 points the last two seasons but is on early pace to far exceed those totals. He has gotten on the scoresheet in seven of the last eight games, earning four goals and four assists in that span while skating as the second-line right winger. Overall, Batherson has nine goals, 13 helpers, 49 shots on net, 31 hits, eight PIM and a minus-3 rating over 21 appearances, and 15 of his 22 points have come on the power play. 

Ivan Barbashev, LW, LV: Barbashev has been streaky this season, though his highs have been broader and longer than his lows. His two helpers Thursday broke a four-game scoreless streak. Despite the ups-and-downs, Barbashev has posted 10 goals and 24 points in 22 contests, putting him on pace to shatter his previous career highs of 26 goals and 60 points — both set in 2021-22 with St. Louis. Barbashev is a fixture on Vegas' top line, skating next to whoever is at right wing plus Jack Eichel, boding well for continued success,

Sam Reinhart, RW, FLA: Any thoughts that Reinhart's 57 goals last season were a fluke should no longer be the case. Reinhart continued to rack up lamplighters, notching his league-leading 16th goal Saturday. Reinhart, who scored 94 points last season, has been the definition of consistency, racking up 10 goals and eight assists during a recent 12-game point streak, and been held off the scoresheet just three times in 22 outings. He's at 31 points, 58 shots on net, 25 hits, 19 blocked shots and a plus-8 rating this season, putting him on early pace for new career-highs across the board. 

Zach Werenski, D, CLM: Werenski has shown he can be highly productive when healthy. The problem in his career is that he has been unable to stay on the ice. Last season, he scored 11 goals and registered a career-high 57 points in 70 contests, posting 45 points at even-strength. Thursday, he lit the lamp twice and added three assists, upping his season marks to six tallies and 14 apples in 20 contests. Werenski could end up in the Norris Trophy conversation and should be on the back line for Team USA in the 4 Nations Cup.

Owen Power, D, BUF: Power recently had six helpers over six games, giving him three goals and 12 apples on 21 games this season. Known more for his play defensively, Power posted 35 points as a rookie in 2002-23 and 33 points last season. Power has shown a bit more focus offensively this season, as seen in his production to date. The interesting part is that Power's uptick in output has come despite a decline in ice time, as he's down 85 seconds a contest compared to the prior year. Maybe that reduction is keeping him a bit fresher, aiding his performance. 

David Rittich, G, LA:  Heading into Monday night's contest, Rittich had been solid while stepping in when Darcy Kuemper has been sidelined by injuries. He had notched three wins, a 1.43 goals-against average (GAA) and a .935 save percentage in his last five appearances. Rittich does wear down when overused, as seen in his 6-5-0 record, 2.37 GAA and .897 save percentage across 11 outings this season. But in short bursts, Rittich is more than reliable and will be utilized (backed up by Pheonix Copley) while Kuemper remains out. (Of course Monday he allowed seven goals to the Sharks, but Rittich is still worth a look.)

Juuse Saros, G, NSH: Coming into Saturday's contest, a look as Saros' numbers would make one think that he has a had a poor year. The 5-9-2 mark is more a reflection of the poor performance by the offense in front of Saros rather than how well he has played between the pipes. Saros' goals-against average and save percentage are both improved substantially from last season. Nashville should eventually find their game, which should significantly aid Saros' win-loss mark.     

Others include Sean Monahan, Alexander Wennberg, Mikael Granlund, Jack Hughes, Travis Konecny, Matt Boldy, Kirill Marchenko, Kaapo Kakko, Fabian Zetterlund, Matvei Michkov, Lucas Raymond, Brandon Montour, Jake Walman, Dougie Hamilton, Brock Faber, Spencer Martin, Jacob Markstrom, Dustin Wolf and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen 

Buy Low

Cole Sillinger, C, CLM: This is mainly for deeper leagues, but Sillinger has value in shallower ones as well. Selected 12th overall in 2021, Sillinger has had a very uneven start to his career and has yet to live up to his draft status, Sillinger has been superseded by others in Columbus, but still possesses value and substantial talent. The 21-year-old center has four points over his last five games and is up to three goals, nine assists, 48 shots on net, 34 hits and a minus-6 rating over 21 appearances for the season while centering the Blue Jackets' third line. 

Training Room (Injuries)

Alex Ovechkin, LW, WSH: The only thing that looked like it could stop Ovi from breaking Wayne Gretzky's career goal mark was an injury. Unfortunately, that's exactly what happened, as Ovechkin suffered a broken left fibula that will sideline him 4-to-6 weeks when he collided with Utah's Jack McBain on Nov. 18. Prior to getting injured, Ovechkin was off to an extremely hot start, building off last year's fine finish and notching 15 goals the first 18 contests of the season. 

Others include Auston Matthews (upper body, out since Nov. 3, skated before Saturday's practice), Mason McTavish (upper body, out since Nov. 8, missed his sixth straight game Saturday). Kirill Kaprizov (lower body, injured Thursday, didn't play Saturday against Calgary, injury deemed non-serious), Brock Boeser (upper body, out since Nov. 7, practiced in a non-contact jersey Friday), Seth Jarvis (upper body, missed seven games, was activated from injured reserve Sunday), Vince Dunn (upper body, out since mid-October, could return this weekend), Pyotr Kochetkov (concussion, injured Saturday, sidelined indefinitely) and Alexandar Georgiev (upper-body injury, missed two games, returned last Thursday) 

Fourth Liners/Press Boxers (Fallers) 

Ridly Greig, C, OTT: David Perron's absence due to personal reasons opened the door for Greig to see additional ice time. Greig has two multi-point efforts on the season, including Monday night, and has two goals and five helpers in 18 games. Despite Perron's return, Greig is still seeing top six minutes, though he has yet to make the most of that opportunity. If Greig is unable to produce, he could slide down to the third line with Perron moving up, despite his slow start since returning to action.

Eeli Tolvanen, LW, SEA: Tolvanen signed a two-year, $6.95 million contract with the Kraken after posting a career-high 41 points over 81 games in 2023-24. The points weren't his only contribution, as Tolvanen brings a physical component to his game, notching 210 hits. While the latter remains the case, with Tolvanen posting 47 hits already, his offense has dried up. The winger has just five goals and one assist in 22 games, which shouldn't be that surprising since he has just 29 shots on net. 

K'Andre Miller, D, NYR: Miller scored 43 points in 2021-22 and finished the year with a solid postseason run raising hopes that he had turned the corner. His play the last two seasons sends signs that that campaign might have been his peak. Miller fell to 30 points last season and has just four points in 20 games this season. His defensive awareness and positioning have fallen off a cliff, which raises significant concerns as to his potential as a true top-four blueliner. 

Others include Elias Lindholm, Pierre-Luc Dubois, Wyatt Johnston, Jeff Skinner, Brent Burns, Lane Hutson, Sergei Bobrovsky and Jeremy Swayman. 

Sell High

Jordan Binnington, G, STL: Binnington has had his moments this season, but he has been inconsistent between the pipes. Following his 3-1 loss to the Islanders on Saturday, Binnington is 6-9-1 with a 3.04 goals-against average and .891 save percentage. Binnington has now lost three straight contests after winning a pair in a row. Joel Hofer has had his own issues between the pipes, so don't look for St. Louis t make a change anytime soon. But if the Blues don't turn it around soon, Hofer could start to see more action in net especially with Jim Montgomery now coaching St. Louis.