This week's article includes Matthews finding his form, Bread Man delivering one last time on Broadway, Josi heating, Bussi winning over and over, Carlsson getting sidelined and Wolf scratching and clawing for wins.
Discover who's been filling up the scoresheet with RotoWire's NHL Trending Players page!
First Liners (Risers)
Auston Matthews, C, TOR: Matthews is putting together his best month of the season in January. He has 10 goals and five assists over 10 contests this month, moving his season totals to 25 markers and 17 helpers in 43 contests. Matthews is on pace for another 40-goal campaign, his sixth in his last seven seasons. Unexpected, though, is the 60 blocked shots from Matthews, giving him a chance to break the 100-mark for the first time in his career. In addition, if Toronto can figure out their power play, Matthews's production would rise accordingly,
Charlie Coyle, C, CLM: Very quietly, Coyle has been productive for the Blue Jackets. Acquired by Columbus from Colorado this past June, Coyle up to 10 goals, 30 points (five on the power play), 80 shots on net, 68 hits, 29 blocked shots and a minus-3 rating in 48 contests while skating as the third-line center, Coyle is also deployed on one of the two power-play units, where he has notched five of his points, He has a shot at breaking the 50-point barrier for the third time in his career and first since 2023-24 campaign with the Bruins.
Artemi Panarin, LW,
This week's article includes Matthews finding his form, Bread Man delivering one last time on Broadway, Josi heating, Bussi winning over and over, Carlsson getting sidelined and Wolf scratching and clawing for wins.
Discover who's been filling up the scoresheet with RotoWire's NHL Trending Players page!
First Liners (Risers)
Auston Matthews, C, TOR: Matthews is putting together his best month of the season in January. He has 10 goals and five assists over 10 contests this month, moving his season totals to 25 markers and 17 helpers in 43 contests. Matthews is on pace for another 40-goal campaign, his sixth in his last seven seasons. Unexpected, though, is the 60 blocked shots from Matthews, giving him a chance to break the 100-mark for the first time in his career. In addition, if Toronto can figure out their power play, Matthews's production would rise accordingly,
Charlie Coyle, C, CLM: Very quietly, Coyle has been productive for the Blue Jackets. Acquired by Columbus from Colorado this past June, Coyle up to 10 goals, 30 points (five on the power play), 80 shots on net, 68 hits, 29 blocked shots and a minus-3 rating in 48 contests while skating as the third-line center, Coyle is also deployed on one of the two power-play units, where he has notched five of his points, He has a shot at breaking the 50-point barrier for the third time in his career and first since 2023-24 campaign with the Bruins.
Artemi Panarin, LW, NYR: Panarin, in what will be his swan song with the Rangers as he was told Friday that the team will not be offering him an extension, making him an unrestricted free agent, is having another strong campaign. He notched a goal and added an assist Monday, giving Panarin five straight multi-point performances, with five tallies and 14 points during that span. On the season, Panarin has produced 19 goals and 37 apples in 49 contests, exceeding the 900-poit mark in his fine career. Panarin is on the trade block but should continue to be highly productive irrespective of where he lands.
Alex DeBrincat, LW, DET: DeBrincat continued his hot run, scoring again Sunday. He has six goals and as many assists over his last nine outings, with five power-play points in that span. DeBrincat's hot streak has the veteran winger up to 26 goals, 52 points, 174 shots on net and a plus-4 rating through 50 appearances with 17 of his points coming on the man-advantage. His fine performance gives DeBrincat a chance to exceed the career-high 78 points he tallied with Chicago in 2021-22 and has helped Detroit sit towards the top of the Atlantic Division.
Roman Josi, D, NSH: Josi, having an average season for him, has found his form latterly. He has exploded offensively with three goals and seven helpers over his last four games. That production has upped Josi's season marks to 28 points (10 on the power play), 93 shots on net, 54 blocked shots, 20 PIM and a minus-6 rating over 36 appearances. Josi's hot streak has him sitting just two goals shy of 200 and three games from 1,000 in his illustrious career which could land him in the Hall of Fame.
Charlie McAvoy, D, BOS: McAvoy, who missed three-plus weeks after taking a shot directly to his jaw, didn't have any drop off in production following his return to action. He has raised his game lately, getting on the scoresheet in eight of the last nine games, posting a pair of goals and 10 points over that stretch while adding 19 blocked shots, 11 hits, eight shots on net, six PIM and a plus-11 rating. McAvoy, who will skate for Team USA in the Olympics, is up to two tallies and 26 helpers with 46 blocked shots and 71 in 38 contests.
Brandon Bussi, G, CAR: Bussi's magical run shows no signs of abating. He has won five of his last six starts, posting a 1.84 goals-against average (GAA) and a .915 save percentage during that hot streak. Bussi, the new top netminder for the Hurricanes, is 18-3-1 with s 2.20 GAA and .904 save percentage in 27 appearances. He benefits from the team around him, but Bussi has solidified the goaltending spot for Carolina, who have lost Pyotr Kochetkov for the season and been without Frederik Andersen at times.
Joel Hofer, G, STL: Hofer has slowly usurped playing time from Jordan Binnington, winning five of his last seven outings. After a brutal start to the season, Hofer is to 11-9-2 with a 2.76 GAA and a .905 save percentage over 26 appearances. Binnington's struggles have shown no signs of abating, open the door for Hofer to possibly assume the role of the Blues' top netminder. Even if that proves not to be the case, Hofer should continue to see more of the playing time between the pipes for St. Louis in the short-term.
Others include Quinton Byfield, Brock Nelson, Jack Eichel, Christian Dvorak, Beckett Sennecke, Michael Bunting, Ivan Demidov, Viktor Arvidsson, Lucas Raymond, Nikolaj Ehlers, Darren Raddysh, Vince Dunn, Rasmus Dahlin, Zach Werenski, Ilya Sorokin, Karel Vejmelka, Philipp Grubauer and John Gibson.
Buy Low
Kent Johnson, RW, CLM: Johnson, who posted a career-high 24 goals and 33 assists last season, was off to a brutal start to the 2025-26 season. He managed one point in the 10 games – giving him just four goals and eight helpers in 44 contests - prior to coach Dean Evason getting fired. The switch to Rick Bowness has been a huge benefit for Johnson, who skated on the first power play unit the first two contests after Bowness was hired, tallying a goal and an assist Thursday. Johnson is almost a must-add if he is available in your league.
Training Room (Injuries)
Leo Carlsson, C, ANA: Carlsson, out since January 13, underwent a procedure Friday to address a Morel-Lavallee lesion on his left thigh and will miss 3-5 weeks. The procedure endangers Carlsson's participation for Sweden at the Olympics due to the length of his expected absence. Prior to being sidelined, Carlsson was having a brilliant third campaign, notching 18 goals and 26 assists in 44 contests. Anaheim will need Ryan Strome, Mason McTavish and Mikael Granlund to help make up for Carlsson's absence.
Others include Brayden Point (lower body, termed as week-to-week), Leon Draisaitl (family illness, leave of absence, possibly back end of the week), Matthew Tkachuk (groin made season debut Monday), Will Smith (upper body, out since mid-December, missed 13 games, scored in return Friday), Jonathan Marchessault (lower body, returned Saturday after missing 14 games), Hampus Lindholm (undisclosed, activated Saturday, missed six games), Shayne Gostisbehere (lower body, missed second straight game Saturday), Erik Karlsson (lower body, placed on IR on Tuesday, slated to miss two weeks) and Carter Hart (lower body, out since Jan. 8, placed on IR on Thursday).
Fourth Liners/Press Boxers (Fallers)
Morgan Frost, C, CGY: Frost tallied his first goal in 13 games Tuesday but has failed to light the lamp the next three contests. In those 16 games, Frost has five assists and sits with nine goals and 14 helpers in 49 appearances this season. If Calgary deals Nazem Kadri, Frost could be in line for an uptick in playing time and responsibility. Until then, Frost will remain as the third-line center providing sporadic contributions with his point output slated to fall for the third straight campaign, his first full one in Calgary.
Brady Skjei, D, NSH: Skjei's output is on pace to decline for the second straight season. After posting 47 points in 2023-24 with Carolina, Skjei has been unable to replicate that success with Nashville. He fell to 33 points last season, his first with the Predators. Skjei has just one goal on the season, which he scored on December 9, but has just six assists his last 18 appearances. Look elsewhere for offensive production from a blueliner in your league.
Dustin Wolf, G, CGY: Wolf notched his first win in the 2026 calendar year, stopping 28 of 30 shots to defeat the Islanders on Saturday. Prior to that contest, Wolf was 0-5-0 with a 4.05 GAA and an .883 save percentage across his past five appearances. Wolf burst on the scene as a rookie last season, going 29-16-8 with a 2.64 GAA and a .910 save percentage over 53 games. He has struggled throughout 2025-26, mirroring the team in front of him, and if Calgary trades a few veterans, Wolf could struggle to notch wins the rest of the way.
Others include Ryan Strome, Sean Monahan, Ondrej Palat, Evander Kane, Ian Cole, Artyom Levshunov, Darcy Kuemper and Kevin Lankinen.
Sell High
Emil Heineman, LW, NYI: Heineman's point production has tapered off substantially from his hot start to the season. He has hit the scoresheet just four times in his last 16 contests, notching four goals and a pair of assists in that stretch. On the year, Heineman has 14 markers and eight apples in 49 appearances with the goals and points already a new career high. Heineman has been moved down to the third line, and if he remains in that spot, his chances to score will be limited compared to the start of the season.
