This article is part of our NHL Barometer series.
This week's article includes Bedard living up to his draft status, a trio of Canadiens on a roll. Helly continues to excel, Ingram returns for Utah and Dostal in a slump.
First Liners (Risers)
Connor Bedard, C, CHI: Bedard got off to what was viewed as a slow start, but he has ended that narrative. The 19-year-old saw his point streak end at nine games Saturday, but he got back on the beam with a goal Monday. He's earned five goals and eight assists in his last 11 contests. Bedard's hot streak has upped his season's marks to 12 tallies and 27 assists in 44 contests, close to his 2023-24 pace, when he posted 61 points in 68 games to win the Calder Trophy. The team around Bedard still leaves a lot to be desired, but the wonderkid is on a role for the Windy City denizens.
Jason Robertson, LW, DAL: Like Bedard, Robertson got off to a slow start. Part of that was due to J-Rob undergoing foot surgery in the offseason resulting in a late return to training camp. Robertson has found his scoring touch, racking up five multi-point performances in the last eight games while collecting four goals and 12 points. He's up to 11 markers and 24 helpers in 42 games, slightly off his 2023-24 scoring pace, which itself was a decline from the 109 points he posted the prior season. Dallas' depth has reduced Robertson's ice time and ultimately his output, but
This week's article includes Bedard living up to his draft status, a trio of Canadiens on a roll. Helly continues to excel, Ingram returns for Utah and Dostal in a slump.
First Liners (Risers)
Connor Bedard, C, CHI: Bedard got off to what was viewed as a slow start, but he has ended that narrative. The 19-year-old saw his point streak end at nine games Saturday, but he got back on the beam with a goal Monday. He's earned five goals and eight assists in his last 11 contests. Bedard's hot streak has upped his season's marks to 12 tallies and 27 assists in 44 contests, close to his 2023-24 pace, when he posted 61 points in 68 games to win the Calder Trophy. The team around Bedard still leaves a lot to be desired, but the wonderkid is on a role for the Windy City denizens.
Jason Robertson, LW, DAL: Like Bedard, Robertson got off to a slow start. Part of that was due to J-Rob undergoing foot surgery in the offseason resulting in a late return to training camp. Robertson has found his scoring touch, racking up five multi-point performances in the last eight games while collecting four goals and 12 points. He's up to 11 markers and 24 helpers in 42 games, slightly off his 2023-24 scoring pace, which itself was a decline from the 109 points he posted the prior season. Dallas' depth has reduced Robertson's ice time and ultimately his output, but he is still a major threat.
Jordan Kyrou, RW, STL: Kyrou has become a primary offensive option for the Blues. He's scored at least 67 points each of his last few seasons, notching 27, 37 and 31 goals in those campaigns. Kyrou is on a roll lately and sits with 19 goals, 19 assists, 130 shots on net and a plus-8 rating over 44 appearances in a top-six role. He's on pace to top the 70-point mark for the third time in four years, pretty good for the 35th overall pick in the 2016 draft. At 26, he still has time to take a step forward in his game.
Cole Caufield, RW, MTL: Caufield saw his goal and point streak end at five Saturday. Despite not denting the scoresheet in that contest, the first-line right winger has 23 goals and 17 assists in 42 games. This is the fourth straight season Caufield has notched at least 23 tallies, and he sits just five shy of tying his career-high set last season. Once he exceeds that mark, Caufield will have raised his lamp-lighting production for four straight campaigns. Any concerns that his height and size would be a limiting factor for him in the NHL have been more than dispelled.
Lane Hutson, D, MTL: Hutson continues to rack up points from the blue line. In non-fantasy news, he also has improved defensively in his own zone, which is far more important from a team perspective. From a stats perspective, the rookie blueliner ranks second on the team with 29 assists, including a team-high 14 on the power play. Hutson is in the early Calder Trophy discussion with Macklin Celebrini, Matvei Michkov and Dustin Wolf. Montreal has their new top d-man of the future.
Adam Fox, D, NYR: Fox still doesn't look the same on the ice after dealing with two knee-to-knee hits last season, first from Sebastian Aho and then in the playoffs from Nick Jensen. His ability to escape trouble and lead the rush has been somewhat impacted. Despite that, he still has 31 assists (including 13 on the man-advantage) but just two goals, after notching 17 last season. Fox looks to be skating better recently which has led to a slight uptick in production and bodes well for continued success.
Jakub Dobes, G, MTL: If you need a solid backup netminder, you could do far worse than Dobes. Sam Montembeault is the clear top netminder for the Habs, but Dobes has excelled when between the pipes. Dobes has won all three of his starts, allowing just three goals on 74 shots since being called up from AHL Laval, with two of those wins against Florida and Colorado. His NHL success maybe shouldn't be that surprising, as Dobes had a 2.44 goals-against average and a .910 save percentage (SV%) in 14 outings with Laval in 2024-25.
Connor Hellebuyck, G, WPG: All Hellebuyck does is win. He made 22 saves Saturday, shutting out the Avalanche for the third straight time during the regular season and his sixth whitewash of the season. Helly now is 26-6-2 with a 2.02 GAA and .9238 save percentage. He won the Vezina Trophy last season after winning 37 games for the straight season to go along with a 2.39 GAA and .921 SV%. Helly, as seen by the numbers, is having a better season so far while notching the 300th victory of his career Tuesday, making him the third fastest in history to reach that mark.
Others include Mika Zibanejad, Roope Hintz, Sidney Crosby, Bo Horvat, Robert Thomas, Patrick Kane, Jamie Benn, Gabriel Vilardi, Anders Lee, Kirill Marchenko, Kaapo Kakko, JJ Peterka, David Pastrnak, Jackson LaCombe, Jakob Chychrun, Justin Faulk, Erik Karlsson, Darcy Kuemper, Mackenzie Blackwood, Jake Oettinger, and Dustin Wolf.
Buy Low
Jordan Staal, C, CAR: Staal makes this list due to his early-season production. He has been red-hot recently, recording multi-point performances in three straight games while finding the twine each time. The veteran forward has recorded points in five of his last seven appearances, tallying five goals and four assists –— upping his season-marks to nine and 14 in 44 contests — despite holding a bottom-six role. Be prepared to jump off the bandwagon when Staal's production mirrors his line placement.
Training Room (Injuries)
Connor Ingram, G, UTAH: Ingram, who missed 22 games due to an upper-body injury and to grieve following the death of his mother, was activated, served as the backup goalie Friday and started Saturday, stopping 30 shots in a 2-1 loss. Prior to being sidelined, Ingram had a 6-4-3 record with a 3.61 goals-against average and an .871 save percentage. Ingram won the Bill Masterson Trophy for perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey last season after confronting mental health issues and entering the NHL/NHLPA's Player Assistance Program early in 2021. He earned that award after starting 48 games (23-21-3) in 2023-24 while setting career marks in GAA (2.91) and shutouts (six) and tying his career-best save percentage (.907).
Others include Elias Pettersson (undisclosed, placed on IR retroactive to Dec. 23, activated Friday), Sean Monahan (sprained wrist, injured Tuesday, placed on IR, out indefinitely), Dylan Guenther (upper body injury, placed on IR, out indefinitely), Ivan Barbashev (upper body, missed 10 games, activated off injured reserve Saturday) Kirill Kaprizov (lower body, missed eighth straight game Saturday, no timeline for his return to the lineup), Aaron Ekblad (undisclosed, aggravated injury Wednesday, didn't play Saturday or Monday, out Tuesday, Frederik Andersen (skated Wednesday for the first time since undergoing knee surgery Nov. 22) and Charlie Lindgren (upper body, injured Friday, placed on injured reserve Saturday).
Fourth Liners/Press Boxers (Fallers)
Barrett Hayton, C, UTAH: Hayton scored Friday, his first tally in seven games. His recent struggles landed on Hayton on the second line with Logan Cooley moving up to the top trio. Hayton, the fifth overall pick in 2018, looked to be taking a major step forward in 2022-23 when he scored 19 goals to go along with 24 assists. Injuries and poor production limited him to just 10 points in 33 games last season. He has 18 points, 59 shots on net, 26 blocked shots and a plus-6 rating through 42 contests overall; better, but still not what was expected from him based on his lofty draft location.
MacKenzie Weegar, D, CGY: Weegar lit the lamp Friday, his first tally since December 5. In addition, prior to that goal, Weegar had just four assists over the 12 contests between markers. Weegar has five goals and 17 assists in 40 contests, behind his 2023-24 pace when he had a career-high 20 markers and 52 points. He is still the top scoring option from the Flames' blueline, so look for a rebound from him before too long. He is on pace for 200-plus hits and 180 or so blocked shots while skating over 23 minutes a contest.
Lukas Dostal, G, ANA: Dostal is still probably the goalie of the future in Anaheim, but his play has fallen off substantially from earlier in the season. The 24-year-old netminder had lost four of his last six outings, including Tuesday when he allowed six goals on 22 shots versus the Blues. On the year, following that fine start, Dostal now has a 11-12-3 record with a 2.89 GAA and a .910 save percentage over 26 contests, including a 3-2 win Sunday. John Gibson is in line to see additional starts between the pipes.
Others include Jesperi Kotkaniemi, Josh Norris, Tye Kartye, Brad Marchand, Miro Heiskanen, Jake Sanderson, Tristan Jarry and Philipp Grubauer.
Sell High
Carter Verhaeghe, RW, FLA: Verhaeghe posted 73 and 72 points the last two seasons, helping Florida win a Stanley Cup last season. This season, Verhaeghe is not having the same level of success, impacted by his line placement. Verhaeghe, usually a top six fixture, is skating on the third line for the Panthers, though he still is on the first unit power play. The 29-year-old winger is at 10 goals, 20 helpers, 131 shots on net, 64 hits, 28 PIM and a unsightly minus-21 rating over 44 contests, though part of his decline is also due to a significant drop in his shooting percentage, which could bode well for a rise in output.