Well, we didn't even make it to the Christmas break without absolute chaos ensuing throughout the world of sports again. It's crazy how quickly things can change. Five teams (Boston, Colorado, Calgary, Florida, and Nashville) are completely shut down until December 26. Meanwhile fan attendance has already been slashed to 50 percent in Ontario, and I expect many others to follow suit sooner rather than later. Olympic participation from NHL players is certainly going to be off the table. So amidst all the craziness, here are a few players who have been making some noise recently that will either stem the tide of postponements now or can help your team when things are back to normal.

Ondrej Kase

Despite a sluggish start for the Czech-born winger, he has really come on strong for the Maple Leafs as of late. He's been given a lot of extra opportunities too thanks to Mitch Marner's injury, and now with John Tavares and Alexander Kerfoot both in COVID-protocol, Kase will definitely be leaned on heading into the Christmas break.

He is currently riding a five-game point streak and has scored points in seven of his last eight contests. He's been playing alongside Auston Matthews on the team's first line and over the last three games he's logged over 18 minutes in each contest. He was already getting power-play time as of late, and with Tavares now out, he will certainly be getting more guaranteed deployment on the man advantage. He has power play points in three straight games, so hopefully he continues to capitalize on his opportunities.

Aside from his uptick in usage, Kase has been known to be a relatively high-volume shooter. This year has been no exception as Kase has averaged 2.7 shots per game. During his current point streak, he has had two or more shots every game. Outside of his offense, he occasionally will get you a hit or a block every couple of games, but don't bank on him to get you much in the physical categories.

Kase is currently owned in just 31 percent of Yahoo leagues, though obviously that number is climbing rapidly as owners are scrambling to fill the holes in their lineups. If you're quick, though, you may be able to snatch him up! The best-case scenario would be for Kase to make the most of his uptick in usage and carry that momentum into the remainder of the season. He's still only 26 years old and might still have some untapped potential. 

Note: At the time of writing, this article the league just announced the Leafs' next two games versus the Canucks and Kraken have both been postponed. The Leafs still have one more game after that before Christmas, so all of what I wrote here still applies, as I don't think the other Leafs' forwards who are currently out will be back until after Christmas. 

Tanner Jeannot

I'll admit it, I slept on the Predators this season. I thought the best-case scenario for them this season would be fighting for a wild card spot at the end of the year. I was skeptical of Juuse Saros taking over the reins from Pekka Rinne, who finally called it a career at the end of last year. I also wasn't a big believer of their offense. But the Preds have seen a lot of success so far this season, and guys like Matt Duchene and Ryan Johansen have had a resurgence in their careers.

Recently though, Nashville has been pretty unlucky with injuries. Both of the aforementioned Duchene and Johansen have been out, and so has Mikael Granlund. With three of the Preds' top offensive forwards out, you would think they'd start cooling off. Yet here we are, a week before the Christmas break and the Preds are riding a seven-game winning streak and are only a point back of Minnesota for top spot in the Central Division. 

A huge part of their recent success can be attributed to the play of young rookie Jeannot. He currently finds himself on the makeshift top line alongside Colton Sissons and Filip Forsberg. Not only that, but he is also slotted into the top power-play unit as well. Jeannot has seen a huge uptick in minutes, especially in his last two contests which saw him play over 20 minutes in each. 

Jeannot currently has 17 points through 30 games, but he has points in five of his last seven games. In addition to his offensive upside, Jeannot is a hitting machine. He has 92 hits already this season, which is an average of over three hits per game. It's pretty rare to find a player who can get hits at that rate and also play top line minutes to boot. On top of all that, he will also get you the occasional blocked shot. He has four blocked shots in his past four games.

Jeannot is still only 24 percent rostered in Yahoo leagues. Like Ondrej Kase, expect this number to go up quickly, but the dual-eligible winger has a ton of upside, even after the rest of teammates return from injury. His deployment may taper off, but at the very least he's a decent depth option who can rack you up hits so keep him in mind for long-term solutions as well!

Note: As of Saturday, the Predators have been shut down until after the holiday break.

Lars Eller

To wrap things up this week, I have decided to pick the veteran Danish center Lars Eller. There's not a ton to say about Eller that you don't probably already know. The 32-year-old has been a fixture on the Caps for six seasons now. He probably doesn't ever slot into the top-six under normal circumstances, but thanks to a rash of injuries and COVID-protocols, here we are. This is definitely a temporary add just for the time being.

Nicklas Backstrom finally had made his regular season debut this past Wednesday but then immediately came out of the lineup again due to COVID-related issues. He joins Evgeny Kuznetsov, who is also out for the same reasons. Until they are cleared to play, that puts Eller up on the top line alongside Alexander Ovechkin, and that's always a good spot to be in. 

Eller has five goals and nine assists for a total of 14 points so far this season. He's never been known as a high-offense guy, but he is on pace for 48 points this season, which would be a career high for him. Aside from playing on the top line for the time being, his other major upside is that he's pretty solid on the draws. He's already over 200 faceoffs won this year, so if your league tracks faceoffs there's some added bonus there. 

Eller is only 11 percent rostered, mostly for good reason. I would only recommend adding Eller as a band-aid solution if you are looking to plug the holes in your lineup created by all the COVID-related absences. Eller normally plays more of a two-way, shutdown type of game which doesn't really garner much attention in the world of fantasy. But for now, he's riding shotgun with Ovi, and there's always a chance for some offensive upside there. I certainly wouldn't drop anyone you value to scoop him up, though.

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Well, that's it for this week. This will be the last article before Christmas, so happy holidays to everyone out there and thanks for the continued support and readership of DobberHockey.  Fantasy hockey is a real mess right now, but just do what you can to stay afloat. I'd urge people not to make any drastic cuts to try and fill holes on your team. I myself have felt the struggle this past week. I'm scrambling just to get my minimum three goalie starts this week. It's hectic no doubt, but just try to weather the storm. I hate to say it, but I think there could be a pause put on the season in the not-too-distant future, but we will see. Take care over the holidays everyone, cheers!