Some players had great starts to the season and have since faded and others had slow starts and have come on in November. We will look at some of the most intriguing Western Conference players who have taken off in November or fallen off a cliff.

Hopefully, this will help a few people contemplating dropping or picking up some of these players. I'm going to include a few multi-category players as well.

Ascending

Jamie Benn – Dallas

October 9-0-3-3, 15 SOG, 14:07 TOI

November 13-10-11-21, 29 SOG, 15:08

His shooting percentage was above 30 in November so don't count on the goal production continuing in December and beyond. He hasn't scored 20 goals in a season since 2018-19 but has a great chance to get back there. Benn already has 11 PPP (nine in November), which was his output for all of 2021-22. 

Adam Henrique – Anaheim

October 9-0-1-1, 10 SOG, 14:52

November 12-7-4-11, 30 SOG, 19:17

Ryan Strome was playing over 19 minutes per game in October and was down to just over 16 minutes in November as Henrique took that ice time and ran with it. The other additional time was about two minutes per game killing penalties which Henrique didn't do in October.

Timo Meier – San Jose

October 11-1-4-5, 53 SOG, 19:24

November 13-11-6-17, 66 SOG, 20:33

With Meier, it was just a case of the puck finally going in for him as he was averaging just over 4.8 shots per game in October with only one goal to show for it. In November he raised his shots to just over 5.0 per game and has had a sustainable 16.7 shooting percentage. I'm sure most people were patient with Meier or are kicking themselves now if they weren't.

Jordan Kyrou – St. Louis

October 8-3-0-3, 26 SOG, minus 13, 19:17

November 13-6-9-15, 47 SOG, plus one, 17:08

It appears that if Kyrou and Ryan O'Reilly don't play together it is better for both. While together at ES, they had two goals for and nine against in October. They haven't played together in November and both players have been better for it. Kyrou's best teammates to play ES with are Brayden Schenn and Robert Thomas.

Noah Hanifin – Calgary

October 6-0-0-0, 14 SOG, 21:09

November 14-1-7-8, 40 SOG, 23:52

I'm sure there were some concerns in Calgary during October with Hanifin who had 48 points last season. While duplicating last year was going to be difficult for him, he is now back up to a 32-point pace overall. His first quarter of 20-1-7-8 is identical to his first quarter from last year. He has been paired with Rasmus Andersson about 85 percent of the time at ES. He chipped in with 17 hits and 29 blocked shots in November which gives him 29 and 34 on the season in each of those categories.

Alexander Barabanov – San Jose

October 7-0-3-3, 5 SOG, 17:12

November 13-3-8-11, 27 SOG, 17:59

Barabanov is being utilized in a shut-down role with Matt Nieto and Logan Couture but he has been producing in November with five of his six PPPs being this month. He is now on pace for 57 points after putting up 39 in 70 games last season.

Nikita Zadorov – Calgary

October 7-1-0-1, 11 SOG, 21 hits, 3 blocked shots, 18:12

November 14-3-2-5, 33 SOG, 41 hits, 23 blocked shots, 21:40

While Zadorov will never produce more than 20-25 points in a season, his November numbers in hits and blocked shots have put him on pace for over 240 hits and 90 blocked shots. Last season he had 181 hits and 49 blocked shots and averaged 16:55 per game. After 21 games, he is averaging 20:30 per game and in the nine years prior in the NHL he has never averaged more than 20 minutes.

William Carrier – Vegas

October 9-1-1-2, 20 SOG, 17 hits, 10:20

November 13-6-2-8, 27 SOG, 45 hits, 12:17

Carrier has never scored more than nine goals in his six prior seasons in the NHL. After 22 games this year, he has seven on 47 SOG. His shooting percentage might not be sustainable at 14.9, but he could get between 15-20 goals this season and still put up 150-200 hits. Not a bad combination.

J.T. Compher – Colorado

October 9-0-1-1, 11 SOG, 16:40

November 10-1-6-7, 9 SOG, 18:22

While Compher has had a much better November than October, he still isn't shooting as much as one would like at 1.1/game. Four of his seven assists have been secondary and three of his eight points have been on the power-play. What he has done in November is erase his lack of production from October and put him back on pace for the 30-35 point season most people had him pegged for.

Matt Benning – San Jose

October 11-0-1-1, minus seven, 10 SOG, 18:13

November 13-1-6-7, plus one, 7 SOG, 18:50

To be honest, after Benning's October I thought he was going to be a regular healthy scratch for most of the season as he was hurting the Sharks more than helping them. In hindsight, it might have been more an issue of the Sharks coaching staff finding him a regular defensive partner as he had six different partners in which they were out scored two goals to 10 at ES, until he was partnered with Marc-Edouard Vlasic over 70 percent of the time. While with Vlasic, they have outscored the opponent 13 to 10. Benning can chip in with 90-100 hits and 70-80 blocks, so while his success with Vlasic might not last, you could take a chance on a very cheap addition.

Kevin Labanc – San Jose

October 10-1-1-2, 17 SOG, 14:20

November 13-3-6-9, 31 SOG, 16:37

I think we all hoped that Labanc would rebound after last season's three goals and three assists in 21 games. He had a slow October but turned it on in November, averaging more than two minutes per game more. Give credit to the Shark's coaching staff as they have been patient with Labanc and put him with Timo Meier and Tomas Hertl in early November and they have dominated the opposition at ES since. As long as he is on a line with those two, he is an easy addition.

Alex Newhook – Colorado

October 9-1-0-1, 13 SOG, 13:12

November 10-3-3-6, 18 SOG, 14:22

Newhook isn't like some of the other names on this list as he hasn't been lighting it up in November but has been average. I thought he was in real danger of getting sent down in late October as he wasn't producing or playing well. His November has shown him put up some ES production and given him a bit of breathing room to get his game to the level it was last year and put up a few months in a row like this one.

Ty Dellandrea – Dallas

October 9-0-3-3, 8 SOG, 14:53

November 13-3-6-9, 21 SOG, 14:03

Dellandrea spent most of last season in the AHL and only played one game with Dallas. This season, expectations for him entering the year, were to probably make the team and perhaps play on the fourth line and get 8-10 goals and 10-12 assists. His October wouldn't have changed that projection but his November has. He is now on a 45-point pace after 22 games and has found a home on a line with Jamie Benn and Wyatt Johnston. He has the potential for 100-120 hits as well.

Noel Acciari – St. Louis

October 8-1-1-2, 9 SOG, 31 hits, 13:14

November 13-4-3-7, 24 SOG, 40 hits, 14:04

Acciari was one of my stubborn additions to the Fantasy Guide as a potential sleeper pick. He only played 20 games last year in Florida, but is in his first season with St. Louis this year and I believed if the oft-injured Acciari could play 60-65 games this year, he might get 12-15 goals, 10-15 assists and 130-170 hits which would make him a cheap addition for most fantasy teams. October wasn't helping my cause, but after a strong November so far, he is on pace for 35 points and 175-185 hits and he has played all 21 games this season for the Blues.

Cam Fowler – Anaheim

October 9-0-1-1, 15 SOG, 24:39

November 13-2-8-10, 26 SOG, 25:01

Fowler has wrestled the quarterback position on the first PP unit back away from John Klingberg since November 15th and has five PPPs in the seven games since. He had 42 points in 76 games last season and is now all of a sudden back on pace for 41 points this season after 22 games.

Descending

Nazem Kadri – Calgary

October 7-4-5-9, 25 SOG, 16:49

November 14-4-2-6, 38 SOG, 17:05

Kadri was perhaps the most valuable member of the Flames in October, but has scuttled so far in November. He has been on a line with Dillon Dube and Andrew Mangiapane 45.9 percent of the time and while the line has been relatively even on goals for and against, they simply haven't produced to a level that most people think they should be at. Dube and Mangiapane should be on this list as well.

Jaden Schwartz – Seattle

October 10-5-5-10, 32 SOG, 17:34

November 11-2-2-4, 14 SOG, 18:13

The first thing I notice when I look at the two months are Schwartz's shots on goal decline from 3.2/game in October to just over 1.2/game in November. He is still on the first unit of the PP, but he doesn't have a PPP in the month of November. It might just be a bad spell, but be wary.

Gabriel Vilardi – Los Angeles

October 11-8-5-13, 29 SOG, 27.3 shooting %, 15:51

November 12-3-0-3, 22 SOG, 13.6 shooting %, 17:00

Vilardi didn't play on Sunday night as he sat out with an injury. There was little doubt that Vilardi was not going to maintain a 27.3 shooting percentage over the season. There is cause for concern as he only played 12-13 minutes in each of the last two games he played and he only has one point in his last eight games and that was on the PP.

Tanner Jeannot – Nashville

October 9-3-1-4, 19 SOG, 37 hits, 15:45

November 11-0-0-0, 19 SOG, 34 hits, 15:28

After putting up 24 goals and 17 assists to go along with 318 hits in 81 games last season, Jeannot's October was not far off that pace. His November has removed any chance whatsoever for him to duplicate last year. His shooting percentage is down to 7.9 this year after hovering around 20 in his first 96 NHL games. It will be interesting to see where his shooting percentage settles by the end of this year.

Calen Addison – Minnesota

October 9-0-7-7, minus seven, 9 SOG, 18:22

November 12-1-3-4, minus one, 17 SOG, 15:48

Give Addison a lot of credit as he has been able to keep his role as the quarterback on the first unit of the PP right from the first game of this season. He is on pace for 43 points and has eight PPPs already (five in his first six games). The Wild coaching staff seem to be protecting him more at ES, which appears to have benefitted him although his ice time has gone down.

There are a few other players who returned from injury or emerged in November who didn't play much in October if at all and I will just list them below as they should be on our radar.

Sam Carrick – 122 hits and 11 goals last season with Anaheim

Nick Schmaltz 4-3-1-4 in November

Jakob Chychrun 4-1-2-3

Adam Ruzicka 11-5-4-9

Jordan Greenway 4-0-1-1, 6 hits

Daniel Sprong 10-3-4-7

Josh Leivo 8-0-5-5

Calle Rosen 9-2-3-5

Sheldon Dries 9-2-2-4

Ethan Bear 13-2-2-4, 12 hits, 30 blocked shots

Thanks for reading and if you have any questions or players you'd like me to look at please message or follow me on Twitter @gampbler15.