NHL Barometer: Risers and Fallers

This week's article includes a hot Suzuki, a JvR sighting, Josi racking up points, Kochetkov rolling, the return of Bedard and Reichel demoted. 

First Liners (Risers)

Nick Suzuki, C, MTL – The Canadiens are on the very fringes of playoff contention but have a solid scoring duo in Suzuki and Cole Caufield. Suzuki saw an end to his four-game goal streak Thursday but managed to extend his point streak to a career-high nine contests with an assist. He posted 15 points — seven on the man-advantage — during the streak, giving him 19 goals and 33 helpers on the season, with 26 of those points on the power-play. Suzuki is on pace to exceed the career-high 66 points he posted last season. 

Matty Beniers, C, SEA – Ladies and gentlemen, we finally have a Beniers sighting. After treading water at best this season, and at worst, tanking some of the fantasy teams that had him rostered, Beniers seems to now have a pulse. Beniers racked up four points over his last two games after going seven contests without a point while missing time with an upper-body injury during his drought. Last season's Calder Trophy winner is suffering through a brutal sophomore slump but has 25+ games to partially right the ship for the Kraken.

James van Riemsdyk, LW, BOS – JVR is on a bit of a heater. Saturday, the veteran winger posted his second three-point performance in the last eight games, a stretch in which van Riemsdyk has four goals and eight points. JVR is skating on the third line at even-strength but seeing top-unit power-play duty, where he's posted 12 of his 37 points on the season. Having spent his career with Philly and Toronto, van Riemsdyk is in his first year with Boston, filling a key, depth scoring role.

Jake Neighbours, LW, STL – Neighbours is back on a roll again. After a slight dip in production, Neighbours has four goals and three assists in his last five contests. On the year, the second-year winger is up to 19 markers and seven apples in 54 games. While the Cy Young stat line needs work on the helper side of the equation and the minus-10 rating is a bit unsightly, the 19 goals at this point in the season is impressive. Neighbours is firmly planted as the left wing on the second line and first power-play unit. 

Jonas Brodin, D, MIN – By the time you read this, including Brodin on this side of the ledger may be outdated, but it's hard to ignore the three goals and four assists Brodin posted in his last nine contests. Brock Faber is the main offensive blueliner for the Wild, but they have been searching for additional production on the back line with Jared Spurgeon out for the season. Brodin has stepped up recently and could be an inexpensive source of mild production the remainder of the way, just temper expectations. 

Roman Josi, D, NAS – Josi continues to burnish his Hall of Fame candidacy. He is having another fine offensive year, posting six multi-point efforts over his last 15 games, racking up three goals and 16 assists in that span. For the year, Josi is up to 11 markers and 39 helpers, giving him 50 points in 55 contests after he posted 59 in 67 games last year and a career-best 96 points in 80 games the prior season. Josi also has over 100 blocked shots while skating close to 25 minutes a game, adding to his value in fantasy leagues that use those categories. 

Pyotr Kochetkov, G, CAR – After a stint in the minors, Kochetkov has nicely filled the hole in the Carolina net, with Antti Raanta struggling at first and then injured and Frederik Andersen (illness) still without a timetable for return. Called back up Feb. 4, Kochetkov has played in all five games since the All-Star break, allowing nine goals while going 3-2-0 with a shutout in that span. On the year, the 24-year-old is up to 14-9-3 with a 2.46 goals-against average and a .905 save percentage through 28 appearances. His fine play of late should afford Kochetkov additional playing time between the pipes. 

Nico Daws, G, NJ – With Vitek Vanecek injured, Daws has become the main man between the pipes for the Devils. Including the Stadium Series game Saturday against the Flyers. Daws has started four straight contests for New Jersey. In his first three contests, Daws stopped 89 of 94 shots, winning two of three contests before stoning of 44 of 47 shots in beating the Flyers. Daws' overall numbers are far from impressive, but the third-round pick (84th overall in 2020) could make New Jersey re-think their decision to trade for a goalie if he remains hot. 

Others include Joel Eriksson Ek, Auston Matthews, Elias Pettersson, Robert Thomas, Anton Lundell, Mitchell Marner, Chris Kreider, Tyler Toffoli, Dylan Guenther, Alex Tuch, Quinton Byfield, Matt Boldy, Frank Vatrano, Bobby McMann, Juraj Slafkovsky, Evan Bouchard, Filip Hronek, Alex Pietrangelo, Thatcher Demko, Sergei Bobrovsky, Igor Shesterkin and Jake Oettinger. 

Buy Low

Will Cuylle, LW, NYR – The Rangers have been searching for a consistent third line much of the season. The "Kid Line" provided that in the past but that group was split up, and Filip Chytil (upper body) is now out for the season. The newly constituted third trio is comprised of Cuylle, Jonny Brodzinski and Kaapo Kakko. That group has provided an uplift offensively for the Blueshirts, with Cuylle adding a physical presence to the line and roster. Cuylle, a second-round pick in 2020, is up to 10 goals and eight helpers on the year with two markers and three apples coming in his last seven contests. 

Training Room (Injuries)

Connor Bedard, C, CHI – Bedard, out since January 5 with a broken jaw, returned Thursday after missing 14 games. After tallying an assist in that contest, he posted a goal and a helper Saturday. Bedard led the Calder Trophy race by a fairly wide margin before he was sidelined. But Brock Faber substantially narrowed the gap while Bedard was out making it a race. Faber has the team talent edge, but Bedard is still in the lead — slightly — and will need to carry the Blackhawks' offense, aiding his chances at winning the trophy. 

Others include Logan Couture (groin, week-to-week, injury is same one that caused him to miss the first 45 games), Blake Wheeler (lower body, injured Thursday, out for rest of the season), Tomas Hertl (loose cartilage in his left knee, underwent surgery Feb. 12, will be sidelined for multiple weeks), Owen Power (hand, out since Feb. 10, week-to-week), Tristan Luneau (knee, will likely not play again during 2023-24), Ville Husso (lower body, week-to-week) and Connor Ingram (undisclosed, injured Wednesday, out 7-10 days). 

Fourth Liners/Press Boxers (Fallers) 

Mikael Backlund, C, CGY – Backlund will end the season likely in the mid-30-point range, which will be a disappointment after the step forward he seemed to take last year. The minutes are slightly up while his power-play time on ice has remained fairly constant, but his production has declined, partially impacted by his third-line placement. Backlund used to be good for 45-or-so points annually, though his output declined for two straight seasons, one due to injury before last year's explosion. He has just three points — two goals and an assist — in his last 11 games. 

Lukas Reichel, RW, CHI – It's been a year to forget for Reichel, who hit a new low, as he was reassigned to AHL Rockford on Sunday. Reichel had been a healthy scratch for Chicago's last two games after going 20 games without a goal, tallying just three assists in that span. Reichel, a first-round pick in 2020, was thought of as a possible winger for Connor Bedard, but that never materialized, and he struggled throughout the year. He isn't the first and won't be the last prospect to go back to the AHL to continue his development.

Hampus Lindholm, D, BOS – For six games in a 10-day span, Lindholm looked like the player we saw last season, posting five assists in six games. Maybe that was fool's gold, as Lindholm has followed up that stretch by failing to dent the scoresheet in seven straight contests. Lindholm went from 27 to 71 points last season, partially due to ample power-play ice time (an average of 2:26 per game), which led to him recording 17 points with the man advantage last season, up from five points the year before. His PPTOI is down almost a minute per contest, yet that doesn't full explain his 19 points in 55 contests. 

Others include Barrett Hayton, Ryan Johansen, Cole Sillinger, Josh Anderson, Jake Sanderson, Sean Durzi and Jordan Binnington.

Sell High

Alex Lyon, G, DET – Lyon has been very solid this season, but he has hit a smidge of a rough patch recently. He surrendered 11 goals on 50 shots in two consecutive losses before stopping 38 of 41 shots to notch the win Monday. Prior to that contest, Lyon had compiled a 14-8-2 record this season with two shutouts, a 2.82 goals-against average and a .911 save percentage through 24 outings this season, taking over most of the netminding duties from Ville Husso. Detroit is still in playoff contention, though most would deem them a long shot. If Lyon continues to struggle, James Reimer, who posted a shutout in his last start, could see more action between the pipes.