Happy weekend! I'm covering for Ian Saturday and Sunday, so you get an extra dose of Alex this week.

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The Avalanche and Blue Jackets kicked off their weekend double header yesterday, with both games being hosted in Finland. We've seen a few of these overseas games in the middle of the season before, and in the past there has always been at least one team that really struggles upon their return to North America. Even the Preds and Sharks that opened the season over in Prague, both struggled for weeks upon their return.

Maybe it's time to look to flip a hot Avs player, but it's tough to imagine the core of their team slumping much. Mikko Rantanen scored a hat-trick and added an assist in his home country, with Nathan MacKinnon matching the production with four assists. It would take a bit more than jet-lag and a routine shift to slow those two down.

If you're then looking at this as a time to buy on a struggling Blue Jacket like Elvis Merzlikins or Jakub Voracek, maybe wait another few weeks. Your window is probably bigger than you think it is.

It was good to see Patrik Laine get his second of the year in Finland. If there is one player who uses the Finland trip as a stepping stone to start off a scoring streak, it would be Laine. Having this weekend circled in your calendar could be a big distraction, and the trip home to Finland may be a great reset for the scoring winger.

Getting Laine going would also be a key factor in Johnny Gaudreau getting back close to last year's scoring pace. His goal scoring is ticking along at a very similar rate, but his assist rate is less than half of last year, putting him down at a 67-point pace, which has been his floor over the last decade. At least his owners at this point can take solace that it shouldn't get worse.

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The Finnish duo for the Hurricanes connected for the first goal of the game, meaning that Teuvo Teravainen did actually get onto the scoresheet. He's been lagging behind his teammates this year, but as it's been mentioned a few times in the Ramblings over the last week or two, he will pick things back up.

Sebastian Aho, the other half of the Finnish duo on the Canes, went on to score the second goal as well, and then set up the third with a nifty spin move to create some space. He added an empty-netter to complete the hat-trick.

Aho spun those dudes into orbit pic.twitter.com/yIeEJsza2f

— Carolina Hurricanes (@Canes) November 5, 2022

For good measure, Finnish forward Jesperi Kotkaniemi scored his first goal of the season as the insurance marker halfway through the third period.

To round out the quartet, Antti Raanta finished the win with 22 saves, and is now 3-0-1 on the year. It's unlikely that he steals a lot of time from Frederik Andersen (without an injury) but his solid play should earn him the occasional extra start, pushing him closer to 35 on the year than 25.

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The NHL goal scoring leaders as of today:

Connor McDavid – 12

Bo Horvat – 10

Erik Karlsson – 10(!)

Victor Olofsson – 9

Four names tied at eight, including Gabe Vilardi who I want to look into.

The 11^th overall pick in 2017 has had a very unique and non-linear developmental path. After dealing with many injuries, including a nagging back injury that was at one point rumoured to be career threatening, he rebounded with solid showings in both AHL and NHL stints in his D+2 year. He was a tweener for the next two years, and coming into camp this year it felt like there A) wasn't room for him to thrive, and B) that he didn't quite have the same upside that he had flashed before being drafted. He was someone that I checked in on in my dynasty leagues to take a chance on if the price was very low, but I didn't end up jumping on what was still a discount cost at the time. Now, his stock is soaring, and it's unlikely he's ever going to be so cheap to acquire again.

That all being said, and while his eight goals through 13 games is impressive, Vilardi's underlying numbers are very inflated at the moment. His current shooting percentage of 23.5% is about one-and-a-half time his career shooting percentage of 16%. His IPP is a ridiculous 86%, though strangely his secondary assist percentage is only 20%. The goal scoring should drop a bit, but the five assists through 13 games looks reasonable overall. A 60-point-pace the rest of the way is not out of the question, especially if he keeps seeing at least 50% of his shifts in the top-six, which is a good bet as his ice time in each of his last four games has been above 17 minutes.

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Jumping back to the goals list, we can all see Erik Karlsson there and know that he's WAY over-performing now in the goal column. Regardless, it is still great to see him playing back at an exceptional level, and impacting the team's offence to such a degree. In hindsight it should have been more clear that he would see a big bump in production with Brent Burns gone, but instead of dwelling on it, let's just file it away to remember for the next time we have a similar situation.

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Victor Olofsson is also worth checking in on. He's scoring, yes, but he only has one assist on the year, and is averaging under 15 minutes of ice time per game thus far. That makes him a risky play moving forward, and it's likely that his production is streaky all season. Working in Olofsson's favour though is that he is shooting a lot more – nearly 1.5 times what he was doing per minute in previous years. That means, if the ice time does start to creep up, there's tons of volume to be gained even when his shooting percentage regresses by half.

Additionally, he's one game away from the 200-game breakout threshold, which would put him into the 70+ point range as an expectation based on a 20% increase from his norm the last couple years.

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The emergence of Bo Horvat as a big scorer comes two years later than everyone was expecting. He scored 10 goals in 17 games in the 2020 playoffs, but then only scored 50 goals in his next 126 games in the regular season over the next two years. Well, this year he's stepped things up, is shooting more often, finishing more efficiently, and is also seeing some more offensive zone starts. The 70-goal pace won't continue, but he could very well hit 40 at this point, which would be huge considering his career high was 31, which he set just last season.

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Connor McDavid is no surprise to see here. It's going to be him or Auston Matthews for the Rocket Richard trophy for the next decade.

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The Bruins continue to make themselves easy to dislike.

Not a single mention of racism. That can't be good.

For reference, Mitchell Miller physically and racially abused a disabled Black student in high school, called him the N word repeatedly, beat him up and forced him to eat a lollipop that he had smeared on a urinal. https://t.co/2GJmXOYNDM

— Hadi Kalakeche (@HadiK_Scouting) November 4, 2022

I'm all for second chances, but when we're talking about a very priveledged job like playing in the NHL, those chances need to be earned, and until there is some proof that Miller has reformed (let alone actually apologized) then we need to

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A few days ago Arvid Soderblom notched his first career NHL win. With Petr Mzrazek and Alex Stalock out with injuries at the moment, Soderblom has a chance to showcase his talents. This is the kind of opportunity where a goalie can force his way into regular playing time, as neither Mrazek or Stalock is a real roadblock even when healthy.

Let's not forget that this is the Chicago Blackhawks though, who are supposed to be contending for the Connor Bedard lottery, and not the playoffs, so expecting many wins would be foolish.

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You can find me on Twitter @alexdmaclean if you have any fantasy hockey questions or comments. See you next Wednesday!