This week's article includes Zacha rolling, Kane heating up, Carlson adapting well to the West Coast, Ersson carrying Philly, Barkov done for the season and Palat in the middle of a rough patch.
Discover who's been filling up the scoresheet with RotoWire's NHL Trending Players page.
First Liners (Risers)
Pavel Zacha, C. BOS: Zacha's magical season rolled on Sunday, as he scored two power-play goals and added an even-strength assist. The 28-year-old center has reeled off three straight multi-point performances and seven over 15 contests in March contests, erupting for 13 goals and 21 points on the month. Zacha's hot month leaves him two tallies shy of 30 for the first time in his career, and he tied his career high of 59 points set in 2023-24. One caveat to keep in mind for next season is that Zacha upped his shooting from 10.6 percent to an unsustainable 22.8 percent this season.
Mark Scheifele, C, WPG: The Jets started the season well but faded when Connor Hellebuyck was out due to injury. One solid constant has been the play of Scheifele, who reset his career high in points for the second year in a row and has upped his production for the third straight campaign. Through 73 contests, Scheifele is up to 34 goals and 55 assists, besting the 87 points he posted just last season. Scheifele should hit 1,000 games played in 2026-27, as he has played 952 to date, and he sits just 30 goals
This week's article includes Zacha rolling, Kane heating up, Carlson adapting well to the West Coast, Ersson carrying Philly, Barkov done for the season and Palat in the middle of a rough patch.
Discover who's been filling up the scoresheet with RotoWire's NHL Trending Players page.
First Liners (Risers)
Pavel Zacha, C. BOS: Zacha's magical season rolled on Sunday, as he scored two power-play goals and added an even-strength assist. The 28-year-old center has reeled off three straight multi-point performances and seven over 15 contests in March contests, erupting for 13 goals and 21 points on the month. Zacha's hot month leaves him two tallies shy of 30 for the first time in his career, and he tied his career high of 59 points set in 2023-24. One caveat to keep in mind for next season is that Zacha upped his shooting from 10.6 percent to an unsustainable 22.8 percent this season.
Mark Scheifele, C, WPG: The Jets started the season well but faded when Connor Hellebuyck was out due to injury. One solid constant has been the play of Scheifele, who reset his career high in points for the second year in a row and has upped his production for the third straight campaign. Through 73 contests, Scheifele is up to 34 goals and 55 assists, besting the 87 points he posted just last season. Scheifele should hit 1,000 games played in 2026-27, as he has played 952 to date, and he sits just 30 goals shy of 400 and 107 points away from 1,000 in his illustrious career.
Jake Guentzel, RW, TB: Guentzel hit 80 points for the second straight season as a member of the Lightning, posting a goal and two assists Sunday. He's found the back of the net in four consecutive games and six of his last seven and is up to 35 goals and 45 assists in 72 games. Guentzel is just four points shy of tying his career high set in 2021-22 as a member of the Penguins and six goals south of tying his career high in that category, set just last season. Guentzel topped 300 goals in his career during the month and has made the seven-year, $63 million deal he signed two years ago look like a relative bargain,
Patrick Kane, RW, DET: Kane is doing his best to carry the Red Wings to the playoffs. He is providing secondary scoring for Detroit, as the team attempts to earn a wild-card spot. Kane has four multi-point efforts over the last 10 games, and in March, he's earned four goals, nine assists and 39 shots on net over 13 contests. Kane has missed 15 games due to injury but has been productive when on the ice. The 37-year-old winger is up to a total of 46 points (13 goals, 33 helpers), 151 shots on net and a plus-2 rating through 58 appearances in a top six role this season.
Jesper Bratt, LW, NJ: Bratt saw his five-game goal streak, his longest of the season, end Saturday. He won't hit the 80-point mark, as his did the last two seasons, but 70 points is now in reach. The winger has been on a tear since the beginning of March, putting up 18 points (six goals, 12 assists), 27 shots and a plus-4 rating across 13 outings. That hot streak has Bratt with 19 tallies and 42 helpers, a material uplift from where he was earlier in the season.
John Carlson, D, ANA: Any concerns that Carlson would have difficulty adapting to his new team and environment dissipated the last three games. He entered Monday's contest on a three-game, seven-assist point streak, giving the veteran blueliner eight helpers in seven appearances as a Duck. He lit the lamp for the first time with Anaheim on Monday, and is averaging just under 25 minutes a contest, three minutes of which come while running the first unit power play. Carlson has helped Anaheim maintain their position atop the Pacific Division.
Joel Hofer, G, STL: Hofer came into Monday's game against the Sharks on a roll. He had won three of his past four outings (3-0-1), allowing only four goals on 115 shots. Hofer, after a very poor start to the season, was 19-11-5 with six shutouts, a 2.52 GAA and a .911 save percentage across 39 appearances. Despite allowing five goals on 29 shots and taking the loss Monday, he and Jordan Binnington have both rallied into the second half helping St. Louis to the fringes of playoff contention as the 2025-26 season winds down. Hofer has morphed into the Blues' No. 1 netminder. Buy low if your leaguemates don't see how well he and the Blues have played.
Samuel Ersson, G, PHI: Philly is in the playoff hunt with Ersson playing a large part in it. Ersson has won his last five decisions, allowing just eight goals on 118 shots over six contests in that span. His overall numbers leave a lot to be desired, but he has paired with Dan Vladar to provide the Flyers better than expected netminding, especially since the Olympic break. Overall, Ersson is 13-10-5 with a 3.11 GAA and an .870 save percentage over 30 appearances this season.
Others include Mikael Granlund, Noah Cates, John Tavares, Anton Frondell, Dylan Holloway, Yegor Chinakhov, Matthew Tkachuk, Seth Jarvis, Adam Sykora, Charlie McAvoy, Philip Broberg, Erik Karlsson, Dougie Hamilton, Jakub Dobes, Dan Vladar, Jordan Binnington, Ilya Sorokin and Dustin Wolf.
Buy Low
Brandon Montour, D, SEA: Montour's production picked up recently, as he has posted a pair of goals and five assists his last eight appearances. After notching 73 points in 2022-23 with Florida, Montour's output substantially declined since, as he had 74 points the next two seasons combined in 147 games. Despite missing 18 contests with injury, Montour is up to 10 markers and 21 helpers in 54 games this season, a better point-per-game pace than each of the past two campaigns. He is manning the Kraken's second unit power play where he has notched eight points.
Training Room (Injuries)
Aleksander Barkov, C, FLA: Barkov, who has had reconstructive surgery last September to repair his right ACL and MCL, started skating in January raising hope that he might return before the end of the regular season. That pipe dream was just squashed as Barkov will miss the entire season. Florida won't make the playoffs, meaning that no benefit exists for Barkov, who just passed the six-month mark of a 7–9-month recovery, to rush back. He is expected to be fully healthy for the start of the 2026-27 campaign.
Others include Evgeni Malkin (upper body, missed fourth straight game Monday), Aliaksei Protas (upper body, injured Saturday, will "miss a little bit of time"), Mikko Rantanen (lower body, missed 15 games, returned to action Saturday), Thomas Chabot (surgery for broken forearm, injured March 23, out 4-8 weeks), Jake Sanderson (upper body, missed 12th straight game Tuesday), John Klingberg (upper body, missed third straight game Monday) and Yaroslav Askarov (upper body, missed eight of nine games, returned to action Monday).
Fourth Liners/Press Boxers (Fallers)
Marco Kasper, C, DET: Kasper's sophomore season must be viewed as a disappointment, especially compared to his rookie campaign. Drafted eighth overall in 2022, Kasper 19 goals and 18 assists across 77 games last season were solid, but he raised eyebrows and hope, piling up 30 points (17 goals, 13 assists) over his final 42 games. This season has been a step back, as Kasper has notched eight goals, 17 points, 115 shots on net, 170 hits, 46 blocked shots, 31 PIM and a minus-14 rating over 72 appearances.
Ondrej Palat, RW, NYI: After scoring 40-plus points in each of his last three seasons with Tampa, Palat's production fell off dramatically in New Jersey. He signed a five-year, $30 million deal with the Devils in July 2022 and proceeded to tally just 82 points in 197 contests his next three seasons. Palat was off to an even worse start this season – 10 points in 51 appearances – when he was dealt to the Islanders. Following an initial bounce in production, four points over his first nine games with the team, he has now gone scoreless in 14 consecutive appearances.
Sam Dickinson, D, SJ: Dickinson, drafted 11th overall in 2024, has played 61 of San Jose's 71 games this season. The future is extremely bright, though Dickinson is going through the usual growing pains for a rookie defenseman. Dickinson, who has played in every game since the Olympic break, has just three assists with a minus-3 rating over 17 outings in that span and his point drought reached seven games Monday. His value obviously is much higher in keeper leagues, and those in redraft leagues, should look elsewhere for production down the stretch.
Others include Logan Cooley, Max Domi, Alex Iafallo, Zachary Bolduc, Aaron Ekblad, Brandt Clarke, Joseph Woll and Alex Nedeljkovic.
Sell High
Adin Hill, G, LV: Maybe the hiring of John Tortorella will help Hill regain his 2024-25 form, as this season has been a nightmare. Injuries limited the netminder to just 25 appearances with a 9-9-5 record, 3.10 GAA and an .866 save percentage. His recent play had been even worse, as Hill is 0-1-2 in his last three games, a span in which he's allowed 11 goals on 70 shots, but he did notch the win Monday in Torts' debut. Akira Schmid has struggled as well while Carter Hart has not been much of an asset between the pipes, meaning that Hill will get a chance to lead the Knights to another Cup.
