Tyler Toffoli slated to miss Montreal's game on Monday night, which would have marked his second consecutive game out of the lineup. The guy with 18 goals in 30 games is going to be sorely missed if this persists. One of Montreal's strengths is being able to roll out three lines that can score. If he's not in the lineup, it takes more than just a goal scorer away. It effectively changes the entire composition of the team

Anyway, there are a bunch of past-tense verbs in that paragraph because Edmonton/Montreal was postponed due to COVID protocols. On the Montreal front, both Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Joel Armia hit the COVID list. On the heels of all of Boston's problems, it's a reminder that this is still around and still a very big problem for the NHL.

*

Noah Dobson is still not in the lineup for the Islanders. This is a team starting to go through it with injuries, but they've built themselves a nice cushion in the East.

*

An update on Igor Shesterkin:

Igor is getting close, Knoblauch says. He'll practice tomorrow and Wednesday and then we'll see about Thursday. Not his decision, Knoblauch says.

— Colin Stephenson (@ColinSNewsday) March 22, 2021

Good news, fantasy owners! He will be back sometime this week, it appears. Not a moment too soon as the Rangers really appear to be finding their footing. This could be a big second half for Igor if they stick with him as the starter.

*

For more goalie news, an update on Darcy Kuemper:

Nothing is definite yet, but there is concern that the injury could sideline Kuemper longer than originally thought. There are only seven weeks remaining in the regular season, so… https://t.co/QSSLPvZnoF

— Craig Morgan (@CraigSMorgan) March 22, 2021

This is bad news for Kuemper, but good news for Antti Raanta's fantasy owners. Provided Raanta can stay healthy, he's probably the starter until Kuemper gets back. The concern is that Raanta is UFA and is likely a trade candidate at the deadline. Were he to get moved, it's unlikely to be to a contender as most contenders already have their goaltending solidified. On the other hand, the Toronto Maple Leafs sure look like a contender and Frederik Andersen has been a mess…

*

The Vancouver Canucks claimed Travis Boyd off waivers. I don't think Boyd is anything more than a fourth liner on most teams but he's probably a third liner here so he may warrant some interest in the fantasy game eventually. Keep an eye on line combinations whenever they come around.

*

Alex Nedeljkovic posted his second career shutout in a 3-0 win Over Columbus. It was a quiet shutout with only 19 shots, but they all count. The bigger note is that this is now 12 straight games from Dougie Hamilton with at least one point. In that span, he has two goals, 12 assists, 38 shots, seven PPPs, and over a block per game. He has really been bringing it basically all month.

*

The Rangers beat up on a hapless Sabres team 5-3. The Sabres mustered 19 shots, which speaks to Keith Kinkaid's contributions in goal here. Kaapo Kakko and Chris Kreider each had a pair of goals while Artemi Panarin had a trio of assists. Not to be outdone, Adam Fox had a goal, two assists, two shots, two blocks, and a hit. That gives him 11 points in 11 games this month.

*

Oliver Wahlstrom scored his eighth of the season in the Islanders's 2-1 overtime win over the Flyers. For Wahlstrom, that makes eight goals and 15 points in 26 games. Mind you, he's doing all this playing basically 11-12 minutes a night. He really does look like something special.

*

Last week in these Ramblings, I talked about some guys who took me by surprise this year. For one reason or another, they've greatly out-performed where I thought they would be. The reason is to try and learn some lessons that can be applied to future seasons. Learning can be fun!

Anyway, we should probably look in the other direction. How about a few players who've not performed to where I thought they'd be, and the lessons therein? Well, let's do that.

Before diving in though, we need to admit this is a real weird season. COVID cases aside, teams playing mini-series and playing all within their own division makes this a very unique season, and makes comparisons difficult. So, we'll try to stick just with players and not compare them too much across the league. Rather, let's just look under the hood at why they're not performing up to snuff.

Mika Zibanejad

About a month ago, I took a look into Mika Zibanejad's shooting. Please go back and read the part on Ziba if you haven't, it's important context for this section. The day that was posted, Zibanejad had one goal in 13 games, shooting 2.6 percent.

Here is the good news, things have improved:

That he's getting to the net more now is a great thing. That he's up to three shots per game over his last 10 contests is a really good sign too (and he has 16 points in 17 games since I wrote the article in February). The turnaround that has come mostly over the last week or so – six-point game! – is driven by a variety of factors. That he has finally started to actually score goals seems a result of getting to the net on a regular basis for the first time all season. I am just a bit concerned about all those shots that persist from beyond the dots. Regularly shooting from 40-plus feet is reserved for maybe three guys in the NHL and I don’t think Zibanejad is one of them.

It has been a wild year for the Swede. He had COVID in the offseason, which probably hampered his training. The team brought in Alexis Lafrenière but he hasn't been much of anything yet (nor has Kakko). The Rangers then went through the Tony DeAngelo stuff plus all their own COVID issues. Not that each team hasn't had to deal with it, but I think there could be explanations for why Zibanejad's production is down beyond "he's just unlucky." And that is an issue, because if it were just luck, we could expect it to turn. If there is something going on that we can't measure, well, that could last until the final whistle of the season.

I still think there is more of this to come from Ziba but I genuinely do think expecting him to score at a 40-goal/82-game pace this year is long gone. Even 12 percent shooting the rest of the way, at this shot rate, would only mean eight or nine goals or so. It is a far cry from what we all expected.

Patrik Laine

Sometimes, the grass isn't always greener. Laine clearly wanted out of Winnipeg, got his wish, and now has his lowest point/game total in Columbus of his career. The worst part is that he's more or less given up shooting; since joining the Blue Jackets, he's at 2.1 shots per game. Last year he was at 3.3 and the year before at 3.0. Shooting so little basically makes him a liability. He is there to shoot and score goals. If he's not doing that, well, Torts has a place for him on the bench.

Like other Laine fantasy owners, I'm just waiting for the deadline trade. Laine is RFA at the end of the season and turns 23 years old. He could sign a six-year deal elsewhere now (if he gets traded again) and another long-term deal in his late 20s. That would seem the prudent thing to me.  

Regardless, it seems pretty obvious that Laine is not going to work out at least until the trade deadline. Torts has not been shy to bench him or cut back his minutes, and his shot rate has completely plummeted. And it's not as if he's getting unlucky in any regard: his all-strengths shooting percentage is 18 percent and his all-strengths IPP is a four-year high. His on-ice goal rate has declined and, well, he's on Columbus. That is going to happen.

I don't think there's really a lesson to learn here. Don't trade guys that get traded a couple weeks into the season, I guess?

Taylor Hall

I honestly don't even know what to say. Railroaded out of Edmonton, wins an MVP in New Jersey, gets sent to Arizona for some reason, then decides to sign with the doormat of the NHL for the last decade. Then, a week ago, a slapshot to the face. This guy is cursed, man.

Like many other people, I was really excited to see Hall play with Eichel. Then the team faltered after their first 10 games, Eichel got injured, and here we are. The team fired its coach, there'll be significant roster turnover again, and Hall is assuredly gone at the deadline. What a world.

The thing is, it was all goals for Hall. His assist rate this year, a year where Buffalo has absolutely sucked, is 0.5 per game (his career mark is 0.55). It was the 2.8 shooting percentage that did him in. That will obviously improve but how much is a good question: he has one season over 10 percent shooting since 2014. He might not be a great goal scorer!

Either way, one lesson I learned this year is to stop believing in the Buffalo Sabres. As a team, as a franchise, and as a crew. When you peer into the Buffalo Sabres, the Buffalo Sabres peer back into you. Abandon hope all ye who enter here, etc.   

Erik Karlsson

Ok, he got me. I was really, really hoping that Karlsson basically being off for 10 months would get him healthy to the point where he could return to form. If not form of 4-5 years ago, then at least something better than we saw in 2019-20.

Well, none of that happened. He has 10 points in 25 games, the worst point-per-game mark of his career (yes, really). He is averaging under two shots per game individually and his play-driving impacts are atrocious. He is considerably worse than he was last year.

This is sad to see, really. I saw a thread on Twitter a week or so ago that talked about how he revolutionized defencemen (or at least modernized defencemen), and it's true. What guys like Quinn Hughes or Miro Heiskanen are doing on the ice now, Karlsson was doing 10 years ago. Only back then he got slagged for being bad defensively while these guys somehow don't get the same flack. The reason for that is Karlsson was first through the door and took the brunt of the criticism. The position will never be same now, and we have Karlsson, in part, to thank for the wonderful defencemen we have in hockey today.

It is sad to say, but I think this is the end of the road for Karlsson's utility. He clearly has never recovered from his ankle injury and things are unlikely to improve as he ages. Maybe he does, but I'm not counting on it.

Regardless, I got to watch one of the most exciting defencemen to ever enter the league, and got to watch him do it for years. Thanks for that, Erik.