Jonas Brodin, D, Minnesota Wild (Available in 82% of ESPN leagues, 75% Fantrax, 95% Yahoo) – Next man up! Unfortunately, Jared Spurgeon will be out week-to-week which hurts fantasy owners, but this gives Brodin a chance to step into his role.

With Spurgeon on the shelf for a bit this gives Brodin an opportunity to step into his role on the top D pairing with Matt Dumba. In Minnesota's previous game vs New Jersey, Brodin quarterbacked Minnesota's top power play unit and finished the game with an assist, two shots on goal, and four blocked shots playing 28 minutes of ice time in a shootout win. Minnesota's power play is nothing to write home about ranking 23^rd in the NHL, but Brodin also plays on Minnesota's top power play kill as well which only adds to his block shot value, and with Minnesota averaging four penalties a game there is plenty of opportunities for Brodin to get a block shot bonus. If your fantasy team is in need of some help on along the blueline, Brodin could be a nice low owned fit.

The Building Block (Buy now, sit back and enjoy the production)

Seth Jarvis, C/RW, Carolina Hurricanes (Available in 95% of ESPN leagues, 43% Fantrax, 82% Yahoo) – Quick! Jarvis has played his 10^th game for the Canes, this means the first year of his entry-level contract has been activated. Take a quick stroll down waiver wire avenue and put in a claim. Seriously do it now. It's okay I can wait…alright now that you've done that let's talk.

I'd say a fair amount of time when an NHL club brings up a player for the first time it's the same thing, fans get excited and that player usually sees bottom six minutes. Or that player is slated in on the first line, only to drop by the time the second period begins. This is not the case with Jarvis. Since coming up to the Hurricanes he has seen the bulk of his ice time on Carolina's top line with a usual grouping of himself, Sebastian Aho – Teuvo Teravainen. There have been occasions where Carolina rotates Teravinen out or Jarvis plays on Carolina's third line but let's be honest here, it's Carolina. This is a deep club that does nothing but generate offense, play excellent in the neutral zone, and I personally think there's no team better in the NHL at protecting a one goal lead. Jarvis himself is exciting to watch and the stats back it up, he right now has four goals in his past nine games and is able to chip in on offense at both even strength and powerplay situations. In his past five games he leads all Hurricane skaters with twelve shots on goal and lives in high danger areas on the ice with ten individual high danger chances for. Potential is tantalizing, this is a winger that could burst onto the scene as one of the best rookies in the league and possibly even one of the better wingers in the Eastern Conference.

The Odd Man Out (His short-term value is cause for concern)

Justin Faulk, D, St.Louis Blues (Owned in 71% of ESPN leagues, 74% of Fantrax, 61% Yahoo) – The odd-man out committee searched far and wide for a potential candidate this week, and when Torey Krug came back from being out with COVID, the decision became an easy one with Krug taking his place back on the St.Louis top powerplay unit.

Faulk got the bulk of Krug's ice time taking primary power play time which was great for more shots, blocks, and a better chance to get on the score sheet. Faulk is still getting decent ice time seeing around 20 minutes a night, but in his reduced role he is now less valuable for fantasy owners. Rostering him definitely will not burn you but you may begin to notice a dip in his stats from where they were two weeks ago. From a DFS prospective we can all breathe a nice sigh of relief, we no longer have to roster $4,800-$5K Justin Faulk in St.Louis stacks. We made it through this difficult time together.

The Anchors (They’ll do nothing but disappoint even over the long haul)

Phillipp Grubauer, G, Seattle Kraken (Owned in 70% of ESPN leagues, 79% of Fantrax, 70% Yahoo) – It's Kraken me up that Seattle took Grubauer in their expansion draft. Okay okay, not my best material there. I better get Kraken on this review here then…and what's the deal with deals?

Really though, Grubauer has been less than stellar for Seattle. He has been better his previous two starts but prior to that he had allowed three or more goals in five starts. He's sitting with a goals against average of 3.16 and last in the league in goals saved above average of -12.66. Part of the issue as well is Grubauer's help out front or lack thereof, Seattle has the 3^rd highest high danger chances against in the NHL and in the past two weeks 17 goals against, which doesn't help. Now, the goalie landscape is thin (especially in larger leagues), if you're looking just for a body to fill a spot for saves, Grubauer is your guy, but if you're in need of more for wins and a higher save percentage it may be the time to look else ware.

Love ‘Em (These squads are sure to pay dividends in the coming days)

This period runs from November 26^th to December 8^th

NY Rangers – So next week the NHL gets into more of a "normal" schedule instead of what we have had the past couple weeks. 12 games on Monday, two games on Tuesday, 57 games on Wednesday, one game on Thursday, you get the idea. With a more even schedule for all clubs this week part of the Love 'Em group came down to strength of schedule, and the Rangers have a very favorable one. New York coming up, three home games vs Philadelphia, San Jose, and Chicago. Not exactly a murderers row there. Excellent stretch upcoming for New York.

NY Islanders – Ditto the other New York! Four games next week gives the Isles a spot here on the Love 'Em side of things. It's been tough goings following a 13-game road stand to start the season and now COVID issues, but if these upcoming games do not get postponed it will be a great opportunity to roster some Isles in the near future.

Tampa Bay – A full weekend schedule upcoming followed by a busy schedule next week earns the Bolts a spot as a Love 'Em. Tampa has some key injuries on their top six but it could mean a low owned spot upcoming for a Tampa Bay powerplay stack.

Leave ‘Em (These squads will leave fantasy owners sorely disappointed in the short term)

Dallas – The Stars are the only club that will play twice next week which earns them top honors as a Leave 'Em. And let's be honest, were you really that excited about playing the Stars in fantasy or DFS? Yeah, me neither.

Pittsburgh – It's west coast road trip upcoming for the Pens and that doesn't grade out well for them. The Crosby line has looked better since Sid came back of his COVID absence and will be tested on both ends of the ice vs Calgary and Edmonton.

Detroit – The Wings will go into the Bergeron line next week and then come back and play Seattle at home the next day. That's a heavy ask for a high event club.