Ramblings: Niederreiter Canes’ Debut, Trocheck Return, Demko Debut (Jan 19)

One day after being traded for Victor Rask, Nino Niederreiter made his Carolina Hurricanes’ debut. He was held without a point, took four shots on goal, and skated a total of 16:57 on a line with Justin Williams and Greg McKegg along with second-unit power play time. Obviously this is a fluid situation as Niederreiter adjusts to his new team, but this doesn’t seem like the kind of usage that would motivate me to add Niederreiter right away (24% owned in Yahoo leagues). For more on Thursday’s Hurricanes/Wild trade, see our Fantasy Impact article.

Rod Brind’Amour on the Canes’ listless 4-1 home loss to Ottawa:
 

Rod Brind'Amour: “We were so bad, I almost dressed and got out there. I might have been as good as what we were throwing out there. We just didn’t want to play the way we were supposed to. I didn’t know what I was watching. That’s the first time all year I can say that."

— Michael Smith (@MSmithCanes) January 19, 2019

Could the latest hot goalie be Anders Nilsson? I’ll admit that I’ve had absolutely no interest since he was traded to Ottawa, but he’s now won four of his last five games while posting a 1.60 GAA and .951 SV% over that span. After a mainly forgettable stint with the Canucks, Nilsson has settled in as the Sens’ starter while Craig Anderson is sidelined. (Editor's note: Anderson is now off IR and is the expected starter for Saturday's game vs. St. Louis.)

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One Panthers’ scoring center returned to the lineup perhaps earlier than expected, but another one could potentially miss some time. Vincent Trocheck recorded an assist while dishing seven hits in his first game since fracturing his ankle two months ago. (I sure didn’t have that recovery time when I fractured my ankle!) Trocheck played on a line with