This week's article includes McBain being Mammoth for Utah, looking for some Tuch in Buffalo, D-Ham stepping up for New Jersey, Letang out four weeks for Pittsburgh and the Wall of St. Paul developing some holes.
Discover who's been filling up the scoresheet with RotoWire's NHL Trending Players page.
First Liners (Risers)
Jack McBain, C, UTAH: The Mammoth's third-line center, McBain, has been hot his last 13 games. Over that span, he has nine points, a plus-9 rating, 22 shots on net and 44 hits. Offense is not McBain's calling card, as he posted 26, 26 and 27 points the last three seasons. With 19 points in 54 contests, he is on pace to set a new career high. What McBain is known for is physical play, as he has dished out at least 204 hits each of the last three seasons and he already has dished out 186 hits this season.
Wyatt Johnston, C, DAL: Johnston, centering Dallas' first line, has been a consistent scoring threat for the Stars. He has three tallies and a pair of assists his last five games and is up to 29 goals, 59 points, 146 shots on net, 43 blocked shots, 23 hits and a minus-3 rating over 56 appearances The 59 points in 56 games has Johnston on pace for a new career high after he posted 41, then 65 and 71 points his first three seasons in the league. A 40-40 season certainly looks within reach for Johnston.
This week's article includes McBain being Mammoth for Utah, looking for some Tuch in Buffalo, D-Ham stepping up for New Jersey, Letang out four weeks for Pittsburgh and the Wall of St. Paul developing some holes.
Discover who's been filling up the scoresheet with RotoWire's NHL Trending Players page.
First Liners (Risers)
Jack McBain, C, UTAH: The Mammoth's third-line center, McBain, has been hot his last 13 games. Over that span, he has nine points, a plus-9 rating, 22 shots on net and 44 hits. Offense is not McBain's calling card, as he posted 26, 26 and 27 points the last three seasons. With 19 points in 54 contests, he is on pace to set a new career high. What McBain is known for is physical play, as he has dished out at least 204 hits each of the last three seasons and he already has dished out 186 hits this season.
Wyatt Johnston, C, DAL: Johnston, centering Dallas' first line, has been a consistent scoring threat for the Stars. He has three tallies and a pair of assists his last five games and is up to 29 goals, 59 points, 146 shots on net, 43 blocked shots, 23 hits and a minus-3 rating over 56 appearances The 59 points in 56 games has Johnston on pace for a new career high after he posted 41, then 65 and 71 points his first three seasons in the league. A 40-40 season certainly looks within reach for Johnston.
Brady Tkachuk, LW, OTT: Tkachuk missed 20 games earlier in the season with a thumb injury. Since returning, Tkachuk has been on fire for the Senators, notching 14 goals and 19 assists in 32 contests. After seeing his point production decline each of the past two seasons, Tkachuk is on pace to reverse that trend this year despite the missed contests as well as a drop of a minute per game in ice time, though his power play time-on-ice remains the same. In addition, Brady and his brother Matthew will be keys for the US Olympic Hockey team's try for gold in Cortino.
Alex Tuch, RW, BUF: Tuch, heading for unrestricted free agency after the season, is having another fine campaign. He ended January on a four-game point streak, lighting the lamp in three of those contests. In 15 contests in the month, Tuch erupted for an impressive 10 goals and 15 points, giving him his fourth straight 20-goal campaign. Tuch is up to 22 tallies and 26 helpers in 54 appearances, giving him a shot at 30+ markers for the third time in his last four campaigns as he skates on Buffalo's top line.
Roman Josi, D, NSH: Josi finished January strong, capping a big month for the Predators. He completed the 31 days with six goals and 10 assists in 15 contests. An injury cost Josi almost a month earlier in the season but he has been red-hot for Nashville. Josi is up to 10 tallies and 27 helpers in 43 games, notching four apples Monday, leaving him just one point shy of his total production from last season in 53 appearances. His goal Saturday was Josi's 200th of his career and he hit the 1,000-game mark earlier in the month.
Dougie Hamilton, D, NJ: Hamilton, a healthy scratch on January 11, has taken out his anger at being benched against his opponents. He also has been aided by the absence of Luke Hughes, pushing Hamilton into more of a primary role on the blueline. Hamilton saw his nine-game point streak end Saturday; during that time though, he posted a pair of goals and nine assists with 11 points making up more than half his production for the season. He is a value play for as long as Hughes remains out of the Devils' lineup.
Jakub Dobes, G, MON: Dobes, coming into Monday's start, was on a six-game winning streak, stopping 151 of the 169 shots in that stretch. This outing was the fourth straight contest played by Montreal where Dobes was between the pipes and Sam Montembeault on the bench. Dobes, before allowing four goals on 24 shots in an overtime loss to the Wild on Monday, had gone 18-5-3 in the 2025-26 campaign with a 2.92 goals-against average (GAA) and an .894 save percentage through 26 appearances after making 16 appearances as a rookie last season. As long as Dobes remains hot, he should see most of the playing time in net.
Ilya Sorokin, G, NYI: Sorokin posted brilliant numbers in January, 6-3-1 with a 2.13 GAA and .931 save percentage. His solid performance between the pipes, along with that of David Rittich, has helped move the Islanders in a playoff position. After a rough 2023-24 campaign, Sorokin rebounded last season and has carried that fine performance into the current season. Sorokin has gone 18-13-2 this season with six shutouts, a 2.44 GAA and a .916 save percentage through 33 appearances. His strong play could land Sorokin in Vezina Trophy contention.
Others include Mika Zibanejad, Charlie Coyle, Matty Beniers, Ben Kindel, Cutter Gauthier, Adrian Kempe, Matthew Knies, Ivan Barbashev, Mitch Marner, Matthew Schaefer, Darren Raddysh, Vladislav Gavrikov, Jakob Chychrun, Alex Lyon, Elvis Merzlikins, Arturs Silovs and Joonas Korpisalo.
Buy Low
Casey Mittelstadt, LW, BOS: Mittelstadt, the eighth overall pick by Buffalo in 2017, has had an up-and-down career. After a so-so first couple of seasons, Mittelstadt posted 59 points in 2022-23, then was traded to Colorado the next season. He struggled with the Avalanche, then was dealt to Boston last season, where his issues continued. Mittelstadt has re-found his game, especially lately; through 14 games in January, he's picked up his scoring pace with two goals and 11 points, giving him 27 points in 45 contests.
Training Room (Injuries)
Kris Letang, D, PIT: Letang will miss at least four weeks due to a fracture in his foot. If there is a silver lining, a good portion of that absence will take place during the Olympic break, though he may not return until the beginning of March. Letang has three goals, 22 assists, 67 hits and 64 blocked shots through 50 appearances this season. His absence puts more of the scoring responsibility from the blue line on Erik Karlsson, who just returned from his own injury a little more than a week ago.
Others include Jack Hughes (lower body, injured Thursday, missed Saturday's game), Anton Lundell (upper body, missed second straight game Saturday), Elias Lindholm (upper body, injured last Tuesday, placed on IR on Monday), William Nylander (groin, missed 17 games, activated Saturday), Brad Marchand (undisclosed, injured Thursday, missed Saturday's game), Troy Terry (upper body, missed 11 games, activated off IR, posting two assists Sunday), Victor Hedman (elbow, missed 22 games, activated off IR on Sunday) and Logan Thompson (upper body, missed two games, placed on injured reserve Monday).
Fourth Liners/Press Boxers (Fallers)
Nazem Kadri, C, CGY: Kadri, in year four of the seven-year, $49 million deal he signed with the Flames in August 2022, is on pace for his worst season in red-and-yellow. He had just one goal and three assists his prior 19 games along with an unsightly minus-16 rating before lighting the lamp and adding a helper Monday. Kadri sits with just 10 tallies, 27 helpers and a minus-25 rating in 55 contests and has been prominently mentioned in trade rumors if Calgary decides to blow up their roster and rebuild. If a deal does happen, it could be a boon for Kadri's fantasy value.
Artemi Panarin, LW, NYR: Panarin makes this list as he sits and waits to be traded. Possessing a no-movement clause and in the final year of his seven-year contract, Panarin can dictate where he wats to go. Whether that team has the assets to make a deal and/or sign Panarin to an extension remains to be seen. Until then, he will continue to sit, which could stretch through the Olympics break with the trade freeze starting February 4 for two-plus weeks and the overall trade deadline March 6. A decision will be reached; the question is when. Until then, keep Panarin on your bench.
Darnell Nurse, D, EDM: Fantasy owners should know what Nurse is. He will notch 30 or so points, 100+ hits and 100+ blocked shots annually. Expecting more is a fools' game. As long as the above is your baseline and quite likely your ceiling, disappointment won't set in. Anything more is gravy; anything is less is a mild surprise. Nurse is on pace to hit those marks again this season, but his high draft status (seventh overall in 2013) and salary ($9.25 mil a year) raise the ire of Oilers' fans.
Others include John Tavares, Adam Lowry, Braeden Bowman, Cole Perfetti, Jared Spurgeon, Moritz Seider, Kevin Lankinen and Mackenzie Blackwood.
Sell High
Jesper Wallstedt, G, MIN: Wallstedt may have hit a bit of a wall heading into the Olympic break. It's possible The Wall of St. Paul backstops Team Sweden, though as of now, his Minnesota net mate, Filip Gustavsson, is the likely starter. Wallstedt has given up three or more goals in each of his last five contests, posting a 2-3-0 record and 4.44 GAA, so a break might be beneficial. Overall, he is still 14-5-4 with a 2.72 GAA and .913 save percentage and has a strong chance a being one of the three finalists for the Calder Trophy.
