This week's article includes Dvorak excelling in Philly, Caufield on the cusp of 50 goals, Dahlin leading Buffalo to the playoffs, several players dealing with injuries down the stretch and Sorokin enduring a slump at the worst time.
This is the final column of the regular season. Thank you to all who read and/or commented. If you have any comments, please email jan.levine@gmail.com.
Discover who's been filling up the scoresheet with RotoWire's NHL Trending Players page.
First Liners (Risers)
Christian Dvorak, C, PHI: Dvorak is on a heater which has Philly in a playoff spot as of close of games Sunday. He posted a goal and an assist Sunday, helping the Flyers defeat the Bruins in overtime. Dvorak has cracked the scoresheet in three of his last four games, posting 10 points (four goals, six assists) over his previous nine appearances. Every point Dvorak notches extends his career-high in that category, which now is up to 49 in 76 contests, 17 goals and 32 assists. Dvorak parlayed a one-year deal with Philly this offseason into a five-year, $25.75 million contract extension with the team in January.
Yegor Chinakhov, LW, PIT: Columbus' trade of Chinakhov looks like a clear win for Pittsburgh. Acquired December 29, Chinakhov has 17 goals and 33 points in 40 games in the Steel City. He's earned 19 of those points over his last 17 games. Contrast that to the three goals and three assists he posted in Columbus, as he wore out
This week's article includes Dvorak excelling in Philly, Caufield on the cusp of 50 goals, Dahlin leading Buffalo to the playoffs, several players dealing with injuries down the stretch and Sorokin enduring a slump at the worst time.
This is the final column of the regular season. Thank you to all who read and/or commented. If you have any comments, please email jan.levine@gmail.com.
Discover who's been filling up the scoresheet with RotoWire's NHL Trending Players page.
First Liners (Risers)
Christian Dvorak, C, PHI: Dvorak is on a heater which has Philly in a playoff spot as of close of games Sunday. He posted a goal and an assist Sunday, helping the Flyers defeat the Bruins in overtime. Dvorak has cracked the scoresheet in three of his last four games, posting 10 points (four goals, six assists) over his previous nine appearances. Every point Dvorak notches extends his career-high in that category, which now is up to 49 in 76 contests, 17 goals and 32 assists. Dvorak parlayed a one-year deal with Philly this offseason into a five-year, $25.75 million contract extension with the team in January.
Yegor Chinakhov, LW, PIT: Columbus' trade of Chinakhov looks like a clear win for Pittsburgh. Acquired December 29, Chinakhov has 17 goals and 33 points in 40 games in the Steel City. He's earned 19 of those points over his last 17 games. Contrast that to the three goals and three assists he posted in Columbus, as he wore out his welcome there and needed a change of scenery. A fuller sense of the trade will come once we see who Columbus selects with the 2026 second-round pick and a 2027 third-round selection they acquired.
Dylan Holloway, LW, STL: Holloway, profiled three weeks, deserves another mention due to his red-hot play. After posting 26 goals and 37 helpers in 77 contests last season, his first in St. Louis, Holloway has suffered through an injury-plagued (missing 23 of 24 games from mid-December to end the of January) campaign. Due to those absences, Holloway has been limited to 19 goals and 24 assists. But if you look at his point-per-game production, he is almost at the same pace he had last year thanks to his 11 points (four tallies, seven helpers) his last seven contests.
Cole Caufield, RW, MTL: Caufield's game has taken a quantum leap forward this season. He saw his four-game, multipoint streak end Sunday, keeping him at 49 goals on the season. Despite getting completely shut out Sunday, over his last 11 contests, Caufield has notched 19 points (10 goals, nine helpers), 41 shots on goal and an impressive plus-10 rating. In addition to the 49 tallies, the 15th overall pick in 2019 is one assist shy of matching the career-high 37 he posted in 2023-24, which if he tops, will mean he exceeded his offensive production across the board.
Philip Broberg, D, STL: Broberg saw his seven-game point streak, during which he posted two goals and six assists, end Sunday. After solid first season in 2024-25 with the Blues, Broberg has taken his game to another level, making the most of the additional ice time and responsibility heaped on him by St. Louis following the trade of Justin Faulk to Detroit. Broberg, skating on St. Louis first defensive pair, signed a six-year, $48 million contract with the Blues in January. He is up to six goals and. 25 assists after notching a career-high 29 points last season.
Rasmus Dahlin, D, BUF: Dahlin, despite dealing with a personal issue with his fiancée all season, is having a monstrous campaign. The captain of the Sabres, Dahlin has helped Buffalo earned their first playoff berth since the 2010-11 season with his solid play at both ends of the ice. Dahlin, with his goal and assist Saturday, has 18 goals, 52 assists, 189 shots on net, 66 hits and 77 blocked shots this season. The 25-year-old blueliner has a solid chance to match or surpass his career high of 73 points across 78 games during the 2022-23 season
Karel Vejmelka, G, UTAH: Utah is riding Vejmelka between the pipes down the stretch, starting him six games in a row. He has been up to the task, going 4-1-0 with a 3.12 goals-against average (GAA) and an .887 save percentage over that stretch. Vejmelka, in 58 appearances last season, went 26-22-8 with a 2.58 GAA and .904 save percentage. Thanks to the improved team around him offensively, Vejmelka is 35-19-8 in 59 appearances with a 2.70 GAA and .897 save percentage. Heading into the final week of the regular season, the Kraken hold a five-point lead in the Wild Card race.
Jake Oettinger, G, DAL: Over his last 10 appearances, Oettinger has gone 6-2-1 with a 2.23 GAA and .910 save percentage while Dallas is 3-5-2 in their last 10 contests. This stretch builds on the solid season Oettinger is once again having, as the Stars' netminder is 31-12-6 with a 2.61 GAA and .900 save percentage. Oettinger, a first-round pick, 26th overall in 2017, has won at least 30 games for five straight seasons and sits just 20 wins shy of 200 in his career.
Others include Dylan Cozens, Robert Thomas, John Tavares, Mathew Barzal, Jack Hughes, Brock Boeser, Connor McMichael, Carter Verhaeghe, Andrei Svechnikov, William Nylander, Rickard Rakell, Matvei Gridin, Adam Fox, Darren Raddysh, Cole Hutson, Travis Sanheim, Igor Shesterkin, Connor Hellebuyck, Scott Wedgewood, and Andrei Vasilevskiy.
Buy Low
Logan Stankoven, C, CAR: While he has had an uneven 2025-26 campaign, Stankoven looks to be closing the season strong, helping Carolina maintain their spot above the Eastern Conference. He extended his point streak to four games Sunday, a feat he hadn't accomplished since cracking the scoresheet in five straight games from Jan. 3-10. Stankoven's five points in four games give him 38 points (18 goals, 20 assists) in 77 regular-season outings; the same number he posted in his first full season in the league last season in one fewer contest.
Training Room (Injuries)
Justin Faulk, D, DET: Faulk, who left last Thursday's game against the Flyers with an injury, missed both of Detroit's contests this past weekend. Acquired from St. Louis at the trade deadline for a 2026 first-round pick, a 2026 third-round pick, Justin Holl and Dmitri Buchelnikov, Faulk had 32 points in 61 games for the Blues. Faulk has had a quiet tenure with his new team, recording three points (one goal, two assists) in 12 games, two of which came in his second game with the Red Wings.
Others include Sam Carrick (arm injured in a fight March 31, week-to-week), Brandon Hagel (lower body, missed third straight game Monday), Zach Hyman (undisclosed, missing the Oilers' three-game road trip), Jake Sanderson (upper body, missed 13 games, returned to action Saturday), Damon Severson (shoulder surgery, will miss rest of the season), Carter Hart (upper body, missed 33 games, returned to action April 2) and Stuart Skinner (upper body, missed Sunday's game)
Fourth Liners/Press Boxers (Fallers)
Sean Monahan, C, CBJ: Monahan looked to be heating in mid-March, reeling off eight points in a 10-game stretch. Since then, however, Monahan is scoreless in his last nine contests. His rough patch has played a part in the Blue Jackets going 3-6-1 in their 10 contests, which is why Columbus is two points out of the second Wild Card spot with five games remaining. Monahan tallied 57 points in 54 appearances last season, his first in Columbus, but has notched just 12 goals and 23 assists in 73 contests this season.
Mike Matheson, D, MTL: Matheson has seven goals and 30 assists in 74 games, but much of his production came earlier in the season. Prior to scoring on March 31, Matheson tallied just two assists his prior 13 contests. Slated to be a free agent after the season, Matheson signed a five-year, $30 million contract extension with the Canadiens this past November. He has value skating on the top pair next to Noah Dobson, but his offensive production trail well behind Dobson and Lane Hutson.
Ilya Sorokin, G, NYI: Sorokin and the Islanders have picked the worst time to slump. The 30-year-old netminder has lost each of his past four outings while posting a 5.02 GAA and a woeful .852 save percentage over that stretch. New York is 3-7-0 in their last 10 contests and have fallen out of a playoff spot, resulting in the firing of Patrick Roy and hiring of Pete DeBoer as coach. Sorokin has started 11 straight games, which might be a contributing factor in his slump. He should benefit from the three days off New York has between games.
Others include Adam Henrique, Michael Misa, Matvei Michkov, Emmitt Finnie, Colton Parayko, Jacob Trouba, Elvis Merzlikins and Frederik Andersen.
Sell High
Jake Neighbours, RW, STL: The good news is that Neighbours has three, two-assist performances in his last five games. On the flip side, prior to this stretch, Neighbours notched just one helper in 15 games, and he has yet to lit the lamp in 20 games scoring February 2 against Nashville. Neighbours posted 27 and 22 goals, respectively, the prior two seasons. This season, limited by injuries to 63 contests, Neighbours has posted just 14 goals, though he has dished out 100+ hits for the third straight season (134).
