This article is part of our NHL Barometer series.
This week's article includes Rossi rolling, Holloway hot in the Arch City, Burns stepping up, Askarov showing he is a #1 goalie, Wedgewood sidelined and Buchnevich in a skid.
First Liners (Risers)
Anthony Cirelli, C, TB: Cirelli is quietly producing for Tampa as their second-line center. All the focus on Brayden Point and the team's first line has taken the attention away from Cirelli and the second trio. Cirelli's tally Thursday gave the pivot three goals and three assists over his last eight outings. On the season, Cirelli is on pace to far exceed his prior career-best in the scoring categories, notching 15 goals, 33 points, 76 shots on net, 35 blocked shots and a plus-14 rating over 36 appearances.
Marco Rossi, C, MIN: Those waiting for Rossi to take a major step forward are finally being rewarded. Rossi assisted on all four of Minnesota's goals Saturday, giving him 22 helpers on the season, a new career high. Add in 15 goals and Rossi sits just six shy of tying that high mark set last year with half a season to go. Rossi has more than ably stepped into the role as the Wild's top center. It may have taken the ninth-overall pick in 2020 a while to find his way, but he certainly has it all going right now.
Dylan Holloway, RW, STL: Holloway extended his point streak to three games Saturday. During that span, Holloway has five points (one goal, four assists, nine shots).
This week's article includes Rossi rolling, Holloway hot in the Arch City, Burns stepping up, Askarov showing he is a #1 goalie, Wedgewood sidelined and Buchnevich in a skid.
First Liners (Risers)
Anthony Cirelli, C, TB: Cirelli is quietly producing for Tampa as their second-line center. All the focus on Brayden Point and the team's first line has taken the attention away from Cirelli and the second trio. Cirelli's tally Thursday gave the pivot three goals and three assists over his last eight outings. On the season, Cirelli is on pace to far exceed his prior career-best in the scoring categories, notching 15 goals, 33 points, 76 shots on net, 35 blocked shots and a plus-14 rating over 36 appearances.
Marco Rossi, C, MIN: Those waiting for Rossi to take a major step forward are finally being rewarded. Rossi assisted on all four of Minnesota's goals Saturday, giving him 22 helpers on the season, a new career high. Add in 15 goals and Rossi sits just six shy of tying that high mark set last year with half a season to go. Rossi has more than ably stepped into the role as the Wild's top center. It may have taken the ninth-overall pick in 2020 a while to find his way, but he certainly has it all going right now.
Dylan Holloway, RW, STL: Holloway extended his point streak to three games Saturday. During that span, Holloway has five points (one goal, four assists, nine shots). Expand the lens slightly and Holloway has 10 points, including four goals, in his last six games. Signed to a two-year, $4.58 million contract by the Blues in August. Holloway is making the Oilers look foolish for not locking him up earlier. Holloway has 14 goals and 15 assists in 41 games for St. Louis.
Kirill Marchenko, LW, CLM: There may be another Kirill the Thrill in the NHL. We all know about Kaprizov, but not everyone is aware of Marchenko, who has taken a major step forward this season. With his goal Saturday, Marchenko established a new career mark in points (43) and power-play points (14) in just 40 games. His production has risen steadily from 25 in 59 games as a rookie in 2022-23 to 42 points in 78 contests last season to his growing total this season. Get onboard quickly if you've yet to do so, as the ride should be fun.
Noah Hanifin, D, LV: Hanifin potted two assists Thursday, giving him three goals and five helpers over his last nine outings. He also posted a plus-10 in that span without taking a negative rating in any of those games. Hanifin, who set a career-high with 48 points with Calgary in 2021-22, is up to 20 points (six goals, 14 assists), 68 shots on net, 64 blocked shots and a plus-4 rating through 38 contests this season. He will be in Vegas for a long time, as he signed an eight-year, $58.8 million contract extension with the Golden Knights last April.
Brent Burns, D, CAR: Burns posted two goals and two assists over four games since the holiday break. His offensive "renaissance" can be partially attributed to the absence of Shayne Gostisbehere, who is sidelined indefinitely with an upper-body injury. Burns has seen an uptick in ice time, skating at least 21:10 in five of the last six contests while manning the point on the first power play unit. His overall numbers likely have reduced Burns' rostered percentage, possibly making available in your leagues.
Darcy Kuemper, G, LA: Kuemper continued his fine play Saturday, stopping 34 of 35 shots to notch his third straight win. During this stretch Kemper has allowed just four tallies to Edmonton, New Jersey and Tampa. With the victory, Kuemper improved to 11-2-5 with a 2.22 goals-against average (GAA) and a .918 save percentage over 19 appearances. Acquired this offseason from Washington for Pierre-Luc Dubois, Kuemper looks like the goalie circa 2018-2020 as a member of the Coyotes.
Yaroslav Askarov, G, SJ: Askarov is doing his best to show he is the top netminder in San Jose. Vitek Vanecek remains out with a fractured cheekbone while Alexandar Georgiev is still on the squad, but Askarov is by far the most talented netminder on the team. Askarov has won two straight starts and is 3-2-2 with an 2.30 GAA and .923 save percentage in his seven starts as a Shark after coming over from Nashville this past offseason. San Jose looks like they've found their goalie of the future.
Others include Sean Monahan, Matty Beniers, Elias Lindholm, Brayden Schenn, Nick Suzuki, Dmitri Voronkov, Adrian Kempe, Wyatt Johnston, Jonathan Marchessault, Troy Terry, Travis Konecny, Cam Fowler, Zach Werenski, Vince Dunn, Devon Toews, Joseph Woll, Logan Thompson, Stuart Skinner and Jordan Binnington.
Buy Low
Patrick Kane, RW, DET: Kane has somewhat quietly posted five goals and nine points over the last nine games. His overall numbers — eight tallies and 11 apples in 33 games — pale in comparison to his production his first year in Detroit (20 and 27 in 50 games), but he has picked up recently. Kane is skating on the second line as well as the first power play unit in Hockeytown. If the Red Wings don't get into playoff contention, Kane is a candidate to be moved by the March 7 trade deadline.
Training Room (Injuries)
Scott Wedgewood, G, COL: Wedgewood was injured Thursday when Zach Benson was pushed into the crease, bending his right leg at a bad angle. He was placed on injured reserve Saturday and is expected to be sidelined a while, though he's listed as week-to-week. Wedgewood was 4-2-0 with a 2.35 GAA and one shutout in seven appearances for the Avalanche after coming over from Nashville for Justus Annunen. The Avalanche will rely heavily on Mackenzie Blackwood while Wedgewood is sidelined.
Others include Elias Pettersson (undisclosed, placed on IR retroactive to Dec. 23), Simon Holmstrom (upper body, missed third straight game Sunday), Shayne Gostisbehere (upper body, out since Dec. 28, will be sidelined a while), Quinn Hughes (undisclosed, out since Dec. 28 joined team on road trip) and Igor Shesterkin (upper body, placed on IR last Tuesday).
Fourth Liners/Press Boxers (Fallers)
Chandler Stephenson, C, SEA: Seattle was substantially criticized for signing Stephenson to a seven-year, $43.75 million contract last July. To date, the pundits look accurate in their collective view, as Stephenson has just five goals, 25 points, 36 shots on net, 21 blocked shots and a minus-8 rating over 39 appearances. The Kraken hoped Stephenson would fill their second-line center role behind Matty Beniers, and while he has done so, Stephenson's declining output has stretched into a second straight campaign.
Pavel Buchnevich, RW, STL: Mr. Happy, as Buchnevich was called in New York, is having a difficult time lighting the lamp. While he is on a three-game assist streak, Buchnevich has failed to notch a goal in seven games and has just nine markers on the season. Buchnevich's production looks like it will fall for the third straight season. After posting career highs with 30 goals and 46 assists his first season in St. Louis in 2021-22, Buchnevich fell slightly to 26 and 41 in 2022-23 and 27 and 26 last season. With just nine tallies and 17 assists in 39 contests, he is on pace for a significant drop in output.
Morgan Rielly, D, TOR: Rielly failed to dent the scoresheet in seven straight games before notching the game-winning goal Sunday. Prior to that tally, his last goal came Nov. 5, a span of 26 games, during which he only has posted nine helpers. Rielly is suffering through a nightmarish campaign, as he only has five goals and 14 apples in 41 contests which comes on the heels of him rebounding from a down 2022-23 campaign to post seven markers and 51 assists last season. The power play time on ice remains mainly static, but his overall minutes are down two per game.
Others include Vincent Trocheck, Gustav Nyquist, Valeri Nichushkin, Adam Fox and Alexandar Georgiev.
Sell High
Jeremy Swayman, G, BOS: Swayman looked to have righted the ship in December, but he and the Bruins have faltered lately. He got off to a slow start due to his extensive holdout overall the turned it around to start December, going 7-1-1 with a 2.63 goals-against average (GAA) but a .885 save percentage. Swayman has lost his last three starts and sits with a 13-13-3 record, 2.91 GAA and .891 save percentage on the season, a far cry from his numbers each of his first three seasons in Boston.
