According to Larry Brooks of the New York Post, the Flames have "expressed at least preliminary interest" in controversial defenseman Tony DeAngelo, with Sam Bennett being discussed in a possible trade.

Let's be honest: many hockey fans don't want to see a deplorable character like DeAngelo be able to continue an NHL career, given his track record dating back to junior. The truth is that a few teams will be interested in his scoring upside and may consider him as a reclamation project, particularly if the Rangers promise to swallow a major chunk of the salary. One possible snag beyond DeAngelo's obvious issues would be that the majority of that salary ($5.3 million) on his two-year contract gets paid next year.  Of course, there’s always the negative PR from members of the team’s fanbase who will no doubt be unhappy with DeAngelo joining their team.

If Bennett is a healthy scratch again for Saturday's battle of Alberta, then it seems more likely that he will get traded soon.

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Pierre-Luc Dubois finally has a start date with his new team. He will make his Jets debut on Tuesday against Calgary. Start Dubois with confidence that week, as the Jets play Ottawa twice later in the week as well. For more start/sit recommendations for the coming week, check out the latest Looking Ahead.  

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Carter Hart left Friday's practice early because of back spasms, so Alex Lyon served as Brian Elliott's backup on Friday. Hart's injury sounds day-to-day, but should he miss multiple games, Elliott is worth adding and starting if he's available in your league.

Elliott started on Friday, giving up two third-period goals in a 2-1 loss to Boston. His numbers this season are a very respectable 2.19 GAA and .929 SV%.

Sticking with the Flyers, if you're looking for an early leader for comeback player of the year, James van Riemsdyk is a solid candidate. With a power-play goal on Friday, van Riemsdyk is now up to 16 points (6 G, 10 A) in just 12 games. He's also riding a six-game point streak where he has recorded 11 points. Compare that to a 0.61 PTS/GP average last season, which was his lowest since the 2011-12 season.

JVR hasn't consistently been with the same linemates throughout the season. However, he's now receiving first-unit power-play minutes, something he didn't receive last season. He's receiving the prime power-play opportunities because he's been getting his big body in front of the net for tip-ins. With the power-play goal on Friday, JVR has five power-play goals, already surpassing his total of 4 PPG from all of last season.

Is there a sell-high opportunity here? I'd say so. Both his shooting percentage (21.4%) and 5-on-5 shooting percentage (17.2%) are much higher than expected. The opportunities he has received suggest that he won't necessarily fall off a cliff, but it's worth mentioning that he went through some lengthy dry spells last season (a 7-game and two 8-game stretches without a point). If you can trade him for a top-tier fantasy option, do it.

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The Carter Verhaeghe train keeps on rolling. The player with the most viewed Frozen Tools page this week, Verhaeghe scored another goal while adding another assist in 19 minutes of icetime on Friday. That gives him six goals and nine points in just eight games. No one can maintain 40% shooting accuracy, so Verhaeghe is almost certain to cool off at some point. I'd advise selling high, but many fantasy owners had probably never heard of him prior to this season. Maybe add him in a package deal if you're trying to target a particular player.

Fantasy Impact: Florida Panthers Sign Verhaeghe, Gudas

The key to Verhaeghe's success has been Joel Quenneville's decision to split up Aleksander Barkov and Jonathan Huberdeau. Verhaeghe has ended up on Barkov's wing as a result, and Barkov's production hasn't suffered as a result of losing Huberdeau. With a goal and an assist of his own on Friday, Barkov is scoring at over a point per game (11 PTS in 8 GP) and is currently riding a four-game point streak. Barkov is also averaging over four shots per game, which places him in the top 10 in the league.

Most goals this season by players on new teams#GoHabsGo Tyler Toffoli 9 (most in NHL overall) #GoHabsGo Josh Anderson 6
Patric Hornqvist 5
Brandon Saad 5
Carter Verhaeghe 5

— Sportsnet Stats (@SNstats) February 3, 2021

Not surprisingly, the other Panther on this list (Patric Hornqvist) is on Huberdeau's line. Hornqvist had his own three-game point streak snapped and has also been scoring at a point-per-game pace (5 G and 8 PTS in 8 GP). He's been taking just over 3.5 shots per game himself, so his value has also received a boost with the offseason trade from Pittsburgh. Injuries have been an issue in recent seasons (no more than 70 GP in any of his last four seasons), which gives you a different reason to try to sell high.  

Fantasy Take: Hornqvist Shipped to Florida for Matheson, Sceviour

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Barclay Goodrow scored a pair of goals on Friday, which gives him points in three consecutive games to go with a plus-4. However, the goals were his first two of the season.

With an assist on one of Goodrow's goals, Brayden Point now has points in eight of his nine games played this season.

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Nicolas Hague scored his first goal of the season, then added two assists to help spot the Golden Knights to a 5-0 lead before they eventually won 5-2 in their first game since Tuesday of last week. With Alex Pietrangelo still in COVID protocol as the rest of the Golden Knights returned from theirs, Hague skated a season-high 20 minutes. For more on Hague, see his Dobber Prospects profile.

Featured in this week's Looking Ahead, Wild Bill William Karlsson also scored a goal and added two assists with a plus-2 and four shots. He could help you out in the short term, as Vegas plays at least every other day until mid-February.

Max Pacioretty also helped out in multicategory leagues, posting three assists to go with a plus-2 and seven shots.

Marc-Andre Fleury's shutout streak ended at the equivalent of two whole games (120:08). That doesn't take away the fact that he has won and posted quality starts in each of his four games played. After a tumultuous postseason and offseason (remember the Allan Walsh picture?), Fleury has been taking turns with Robin Lehner, who was considered the Vegas goalie of the immediate future and probably still will be at some point. Fleury's presence obviously isn't helping those who were banking on more starts from Lehner (only four so far), but with a heavy concentration of games coming up, the Golden Knights can benefit from having two well-rested goalies. Fleury is also providing excellent value for fantasy owners who drafted him after many of the regular starters fell off the board.

After Vegas scored its first four goals, Jonathan Quick was yanked in favor of Cal Petersen. Quick has had a great career and has built up a lot of equity when it comes to guaranteed workload, and he has the all-important contract to back that up ($5.8 million for two more seasons after this one). Yet the comparison between his numbers (4.05 GAA, .867 SV%) and Petersen's (2.18 GAA, .935 SV%) isn't even close. Petersen's GSAA (goals saved above average) in five games is 4.88, while Quick's is minus-6.06. I picked up Petersen (8% owned in Yahoo leagues) recently, and I wouldn't even think about exchanging him for Quick (19% owned in Yahoo leagues).  

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The player that I was thinking about adding today but decided to go with another player instead: Maxime Comtois. He of course scored twice, including the game-tying goal. Playing for the scoring-deficient Ducks (league-worst 1.73 GF/GP entering Friday), Comtois had been held without a goal with just one assist over his previous nine games. He started the season quickly with three goals over his first two games, however. In spite of the recent slump, Comtois is now tied for the team lead in points with Carter Rowney, a guy with no goals and virtually no power-play time. Yikes. How soon will Trevor Zegras be ready?

Ryan Getzlaf sat out this game due to a lower-body injury, which meant that Derek Grant moved up to the top line with Adam Henrique and Troy Terry. I'm as surprised as you are that this trio forms an NHL top line, but that's the Ducks' current state. The good news for Terry is that he recorded his first two points of the season (a goal and an assist) in his tenth game of the season.

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Talk to you tomorrow. For more fantasy hockey discussion, or to reach out to me, you can follow me on Twitter @Ian_Gooding