NHL Barometer: Risers and Fallers for the Week

This week's article includes Barkov rolling, DeBrincat hot, Montreal's top blueliner, Skinner stopping all in Edmonton, the return of Chabot and Benn slumping in Big D.

First Liners (Risers)

Aleksander Barkov, C, FLA – Barkov tied Jonathan Huberdeau's record for career assists in a Panthers jersey at 415 with three apples Friday. Very quietly, which is the norm for Barkov, he posted multiple points in three straight games, and over the last 16 contests he's collected five goals and 21 points. On the season, Barkov is up to 11 goals and 27 helpers in 33 games. Add in his Selke Trophy-worthy defense and 54% success rate between the dots and you have more than a complete first-line center. 

Ryan McLeod, C, EDM – Everyone knows Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl in Edmonton, but the lack of bottom-six production has been a sticking point for the Oilers. McLeod has done his best lately to remove that concern. With five goals and three assists his last four games, McLeod exceeded his production from his first 29 contests, when he had a mere seven points. He could turn back into a pumpkin at any moment, but for the time being, enjoy and take advantage of the current hot streak. 

Alex DeBrincat, LW, DET – DeBrincat continued his hot play with a goal and pair of assists Friday. He has four multi-point performances in the last seven games, a stretch in which he's racked up four goals and 12 points. In his first year in Detroit following five seasons in Chicago and one in Ottawa, DeBrincat is on pace for the first 80-point campaign of his career, having notched 17 goals and 38 points through 37 contests. He is also enjoying and benefiting from playing with his former Blackhawk teammate, Patrick Kane, who is the manning the right flank. 

Gustav Nyquist, RW, NSH – Nyquist is on a nice scoring run right now, producing four goals and two assists in his last four games. He notched a pair of goals and an assist Friday and is up to eight markers and 16 helpers in 36 games. Nyquist, in his first year in Nashville, is skating on a line with Filip Forsberg and Ryan O'Reilly. His early production makes him a candidate to top the 50-point mark, which would be the fourth time in his career that he has hit or exceeded that total. Nyquist's two-year contract signed this past offseason makes it more likely he will remain beyond the trade deadline even if Nashville sells. 

Jake McCabe, D, TOR – I debated going with Morgan Rielly here but decided he is most certainly much more broadly owned as compared to McCabe, who is red-hot. McCabe has eight points, including seven assists, in his last 11 games to go along with 20 hits, 13 blocked shots and 13 shots on goal. He is not known for his offense, so view this massive spike in output as an aberration. As the Toronto blue line gets healthy, McCabe will slide back into more of a defensive defenseman mode but should still provide hits and blocks for your fantasy team. 

Mike Matheson, D, MTL – Matheson set a new career high with 34 points last season, his first year in Montreal. He is on early pace to far exceed that total, as Matheson is already up to six goals and 21 assists in 36 games. Trusted as the Canadiens' first-unit power-play captain, Matheson — who has two years remaining after this one on the eight-year deal he signed in 2017 — has 15 of those 27 points on the man-advantage. The team around Matheson has talent offensively, so he should be able to continue his solid output and set new career-highs across the board.

Stuart Skinner, G, EDM – Skinner was profiled at the beginning of December, but his current play certainly warrants another mention. He won five of his seven outings in December, and Skinner's shutout Thursday was his third game with one goal against or less in that span. After a horrific start, Skinner is up to 14-9-1 with a pair of shutouts, a 2.86 goals-against average (GAA) and an .892 save percentage through 25 appearances. The whispers about Edmonton looking to acquire a goalie have died down a bit with Skinner on a heater, but keep in mind he is one cold streak away from the boo birds coming out in full force.

Jeremy Swayman, G, BOS – Swayman is still in a platoon with Linus Ullmark, but it's clear he's the future between the pipes for Boston. On the season, Swayman is 11-2-4 with a 2.32 goals-against average (GAA) and .928 save percentage (SV%), which are amazingly even better numbers that the 24-6-4 record, 2.27 GAA and a .920 SV% he posted in 37 outings last year. Swayman, a fourth-round pick (111th overall) in 2017, is a restricted free agent with arb rights after the season and should net a big raise from the $3.475 million he is making this season. 

Others include Auston Matthews, Roope Hintz, Charlie Coyle, Mika Zibanejad, Adam Fantilli, Joel Farabee, Jake Guentzel, Marcus Johansson, Filip Forsberg, William Nylander, Josh Anderson, Artemi Panarin, Blake Coleman, Luke Hughes, Roman Josi, Thomas Harley, Travis Sanheim, Sergei Bobrovsky, Scott Wedgewood, Joey Daccord, Tristan Jarry, Marc-Andre Fleury, Nico Daws and Jacob Markstrom.

Buy Low

Andrei Svechnikov, RW, CAR – The talent Svech possesses is unquestioned. The only problem is that injuries have cut short several seasons. A knee injury, which required March surgery, kept him out the first two weeks of the season. An upper-body injury cost him 10 days in December. Those two absences have limited Svechnikov to just 22 games, but since returning to the lineup, Svechnikov has posted four straight multi-point performances and piled up five goals and 10 points in six games. Play up his injury history in an attempt to acquire the 30-goal scorer in a deal.

Training Room (Injuries)

Thomas Chabot, D, OTT – Chabot, who has missed the last 13 games and played in only two of the Senators' past 25 contests after suffering a hand injury in late October, was activated and played Sunday. The Ottawa defense benefited greatly from Chabot's return, as the Senators have been a sieve in their own end. Chabot likely won't score as much as he did in the past given the presence of Jakob Chychrun and Jake Sanderson on the team, but he still should post a decent amount of points. Look for the blueliner to return during the Sens' upcoming five-game road trip that begins Tuesday in Vancouver. 

Others include Kyle Connor (knee, injured Dec. 10, expected to miss 6-8 weeks, skated in a non-contact jersey at practice Saturday), Troy Terry (upper-body injury sustained Friday, day-to-day), Kirill Kaprizov (undisclosed injury, left Saturday's game, out a week or two), Max Pacioretty (Achilles, practicing with the team, could play Tuesday), Zach Werenski (ankle, will miss the next 4-6 weeks,, Filip Gustavsson (lower body injury, left Saturday's game, undergoing MRI, will miss several weeks) and Charlie Lindgren (upper body, left Friday's game, sat Saturday). 

Fourth Liners/Press Boxers (Fallers)

Jamie Benn, LW, DAL – Benn's goal Friday snapped an 11-game goal drought, during which he managed just four assists. Despite that slump, he still posted eight points in 14 games in December and 23 points in 35 contests on the year. Benn had an out of character 78 points last season, as his previous four seasons had not seen him top 53 points. The Benn who scored at least 69 points for five straight years from 2013-14 through 2017-18 is long gone. He is now a complementary player, not a driver of production. 

Noah Hanifin, D, CGY – Maybe the trade rumors are starting to get to Hanifin, as he looks to be pressing a bit recently. Hanifin has not lit the lamp since November 30 and had just six assists in 13 December contests with none his last four games. Calgary are believed to be sellers at the deadline, with Hanifin one of the prominent names mentioned as possibly going elsewhere. He has shown he can be a minute-munching and point-producing d-man, so his slump won't impact his trade value, just your fantasy team. 

James Reimer, G, DET – With Ville Husso sidelined, Reimer and Alex Lyon are manning the pipes for Detroit. Recently back from injury, Lyon will be the main man in net for the Red Wings, due partially to the way he's playing but also due to how poorly Reimer has looked lately. Reimer coughed up at least five goals in four of his last five outings with a horrendous 5.09 GAA and .853 save percentage over that stretch. Once Husso is ready to return, Reimer is likely to be the odd man out in Hockeytown, USA.

Others include Anthony Cirelli, Logan Cooley, Jason Zucker, Brandon Hagel, Ivan Provorov, John Carlson, Tony DeAngelo, Kaapo Kahkonen and Jonathan Quick. 

Sell High

Thomas Novak, C, NSH – Novak has seen his ice time dwindle recently. Prior to getting injured in November, Novak was seeing 17:59 of playing time per contest that month after seeing just under 15 minutes a game in October. Since his return in early December, he is seeing just 13 minutes of ice time a contest and he has been under 12 minutes of TOI in two of his last four contests. Novak has recorded just five assists in 12 games and hasn't scored a goal since Nov. 4. If you believe that coach Andrew Brunette will utilize Novak more, view him as a Buy Low, but for now, his decline in ice time makes him a sell high candidate.