In fantasy hockey, you want to find players who are getting an opportunity to succeed.

Opportunities can come in many forms, but for this list, we’re looking at players who are getting their chance on the power play. Remember, not everyone getting power-play time will be successful, but they are at least worth keeping an eye on.

One trend from this season is that teams are willing to give call-ups an opportunity on the power play. It used to be that rookies and young players had to earn their time with the man-advantage, but that is no longer guaranteed to be the case. Some of these young players are mentioned throughout this list, but other examples include Jack Quinn and Marco Rossi. Scott Reedy played three games for the Sharks earlier this month, and played 3:54, 0:47 and 2:21 on the power-play in each game. When a player is called up from the minors, have a look at how the coach is using them to see if they may be worth taking a flyer on.

But it’s not just rookies and prospects. Look at Nazem Kadri. He’s always been a power-play fixture, but his usage has increased this season. He now has 16 power-play points (two off his career high) and is on pace for 36 power-play points over an 82-game season.

For this list, I won’t include anyone who is on the IR, but anyone who is on the Covid protocol list is fair game.

10. Erik Gustafsson

For most of the season, it was Seth Jones‘ team. It makes sense, since the Hawks gave up a lot in a trade to get him, then signed him to a ridiculous contract that kicks in next year. Yet, at the end of November, the Hawks switched to Gustafsson running the top power-play unit. It worked a few years ago, so maybe the hope was history would repeat itself. That hasn’t happened, but Gustafsson continues to get the opportunity. Gustafsson was put on the top unit for about five games at the end of November/start of December and then again just before Christmas. In the Hawks four games between January 13-21, he was on the ice for 77.7 per cent of Chicago’s power-play minutes, before he was swapped out again on Saturday night. This is something worth keeping an eye on throughout the season.

9. Robbie Fabbri

This is a case of letting a player on the top unit continue to sit on the waiver wire unless you are desperate or if you see him start to go on a hot streak. Fabbri getting top power-play time has been going on for a while, but many may not be aware of it. In his first 21 games (up to November 24), he averaged 2:06 of power-play time per game, about 47.1 per cent of Detroit’s power-play minutes. In those games, he had two man-advantage points. In his next 19 games up to now, he’s averaged 3:36 power-play minutes per night, about 68.1 per cent of Detroit’s man-advantage minutes. In these last 19 games since moving up, he has a whopping three power-play points.

8. Quinton Byfield

The Kings seem to have a habit of calling up players from the AHL and putting them straight on the power play. When Martin Frk was called up earlier this month, he averaged 5:02 per night with the man advantage. He scored a power-play goal but was sent back down. Vladimir Tkachev and T.J. Tynan each averaged at least two minutes a night during their call-ups, and Samuel Fagemo averaged 1:20. So it should have been no surprise when Byfield was called up last week and immediately played 5:15 with the man advantage in his first game. In his second game, he saw no power-play time. Byfield has a higher draft pedigree than the aforementioned Kings call-ups, so it will be interesting to see if he can get back onto the power play.

7. Max Comtois

He’s been hovering around the top unit all season, but it’s been more consistent since the start of the new year. Since January 2, he’s averaged 2:30 with the man advantage, almost 55 per cent of Anaheim’s power-play minutes. Anaheim as a whole is a bit of a strange case when it comes to divvying up their power play. Comtois will go on the top unit, while their leading scorer and point-getter, Troy Terry, spends most of his time on the second unit. Rickard Rakell is a mainstay on the top unit, but 22-year-old Isac Lundestrom, who is pretty much neck-in-neck with Rakell when it comes to an 82-game point pace, doesn’t see a sniff of power-play time.

6. Nathan Bastian

In his first 23 games, split between Seattle and New Jersey, Bastian played a total of 47 seconds of power-play time. On December 19, the Devils elected to put Bastian on the power play. That night, the rookie saw 4:16 of time with the man advantage against Pittsburgh and scored a power-play goal. That was the start of his recent run. In his last nine games, he has averaged 2:11 on the power play, almost 60 per cent of the Devils’ power-play minutes. In those nine games, he has six points, with three coming with the man advantage. As a bonus, he has 32 hits in those nine games.

5. Travis Boyd

The Coyotes forward has been an underappreciated fantasy option this season, but he has been excellent since December 10. That’s when he first started getting on the top power-play unit, and while he hasn’t been consistently there since, he has spent enough games in that spot to warrant a mention in this column. In the past 14 games, Boyd has 10 points, three power-play points and 90 faceoff wins, and sits fifth on the Coyotes with 2:37 power-play minutes per night. Just note that while he is mostly playing with Clayton Keller at even strength, Boyd will not help you with peripheral categories.

4. Cam York

The rookie defenseman got into his first game of the season on January 4 and saw 18 seconds of power-play time. Since then, York is averaging 2:46 a night with the man advantage. For comparison, in the same time frame, Ivan Provorov averaged 3:03 and Keith Yandle averaged 2:27. In those games, York has two power-play points, while the other two each have one. What happens when Ryan Ellis gets back healthy, whenever that might be? Does York lose his ice time, or do they finally scratch Yandle (who will tie the NHL’s longest iron man streak on Monday night)?

3. Andrew Copp

It feels like whenever there’s an injury to a top player in Winnipeg, Copp is the guy to move up to the first unit power play. The latest case-in-point? Blake Wheeler played December 10 and was then put on injured reserve. In the very next game, Copp was on the top unit. Since December 14, Copp has averaged 4:08 with the man advantage, slightly under 72.9 per cent of Winnipeg’s power-play minutes and highest on the Jets. In those 11 games, Copp has seven points, 34 shots, three power-play points, seven hits, seven blocked shots and 61 faceoff wins. When Wheeler got back into the lineup on Saturday afternoon, it was Wheeler who played on the second unit (aside from one last-minute power-play where the team loaded up with five forwards and one defenseman with the goalie pulled). On Sunday, the Jets had only one power play, but Wheeler and Copp played with Mark Scheifele for the majority of that time.

2. Cam Fowler

Up until the end of 2021, it was Jamie Drysdale that led the Ducks’ defensemen in power-play time on ice. Since the calendar flipped to 2022, it’s been a different story. In the six games Fowler has played in 2022, he was on the ice for about 70 per cent of Anaheim’s power-play minutes (before that, it was 40.7 per cent), and had two man-advantage points in those six games. It was an interesting decision as Anaheim had a top-10 power play when it made the switch, but it worked. He has missed the last week of action while he is on the Covid-19 non-roster list, so it will be intriguing to see if he gets back to that top spot when he returns.

1. Anthony Duclair

Duclair has had quite a season in Florida, and he’s forced the team to use him on the power play. In the first 10 games of the season, Duclair had 11 points, but a total of 83 seconds of power-play time (or an average of eight seconds per game). In that 11th game, he played 3:18 of power-play time and responded with three power-play points. He was then given some time on the second unit until he missed eight games with a lower-body injury. Since returning to the lineup on December 14 (and going into Sunday night’s game), Duclair is averaging 3:02 with the man advantage per night (mostly on the top unit).