Here are the worst-performing goaltenders of the past month, according to the metric GSAA/60. That's goals saved above average per 60 minutes (minimum 4GP).

Name	Team	GP	QS	QS%	RBS	RBS%	GSAA	GSAA/60
SERGEI BOBROVSKY	FLA	5	1	20	3	60	-8.80	-2.07
UKKO-PEKKA LUUKKONEN	BUF	4	1	25	3	75	-5.89	-1.46
JACK CAMPBELL	EDM	6	1	16.7	3	50	-8.05	-1.34
ERIC COMRIE	BUF	4	0	0	1	25	-4.46	-1.27
CHARLIE LINDGREN	WSH	5	0	0	3	60	-4.98	-1.20
CAL PETERSEN	L.A	5	1	20	2	40	-4.27	-0.92
JAKE ALLEN	MTL	9	2	22.2	3	33.3	-7.03	-0.78
JACOB MARKSTROM	CGY	10	3	30	1	10	-6.73	-0.66
PETR MRAZEK	CHI	6	2	33.3	1	16.7	-3.67	-0.64
ADIN HILL	VGK	5	1	20	1	20	-3.18	-0.64

Bobrovsky obviously sticks out like a sore thumb, and Campbell's presence on this list is surprising nobody. Adin Hill sneaking onto this list is confirming our earlier expectation that his hot start was just that, and that he has indeed begun to cool off.

Let's take a look at the top performing goalies (by this metric, minimum 4GP) over the past month.

Name	Team	GP	QS	QS%	RBS	RBS%	GSAA	GSAA/60
AKIRA SCHMID	N.J	5	4	80	0	0	5.21	1.23
LINUS ULLMARK	BOS	8	7	87.5	0	0	8.85	1.14
KEVIN LANKINEN	NSH	4	2	50	0	0	3.88	1.07
DAN VLADAR	CGY	5	5	100	0	0	5.30	1.05
CONNOR HELLEBUYCK	WPG	9	7	77.8	1	11.1	7.93	0.89
MATT MURRAY	TOR	7	5	71.4	0	0	6.18	0.88
SPENCER KNIGHT	FLA	10	5	50	0	0	8.59	0.88
ILYA SOROKIN	NYI	10	6	60	2	20	7.84	0.85
ANTON FORSBERG	OTT	5	2	40	1	20	3.16	0.79
KAREL VEJMELKA	ARI	9	6	66.7	1	11.1	6.84	0.75

Despite getting only spot starts, Akira Schmid is putting up huge games. His last three outings have been Quality Starts.

However, we must keep in mind that Schmid is only 22 years old. Mackenzie Blackwood, while terrible, will resume backup duties. He's playing for a contract. The Devils know that if things get truly drastic and Blackwood completely implodes – and Vitek Vanecek needs a rest – they can always recall Schmid for a one-off. But there is no way you see Schmid as an NHL regular this year or next. You know how I feel about goalies, and 22-year-olds become NHLers if they are elite – and even then, only as backups. Schmid seems like he will be good. But not elite. And don't forget that Blackwood seemed like he would be good too.

What is interesting here in the above two charts are the situations in Florida and Calgary. You see Jacob Markstrom and Sergei Bobrovsky on the bad chart…and their backups are on the good chart. Uh oh. Knight is coming along, and the most starts he steals – the worse Bobrovsky will play. Bob needs a heavy workload to thrive, but he hasn't earned a heavy workload. The Panthers really want to justify Bobrovsky's paycheck and will continue throwing him out there at least half the time. But when push comes to shove and the playoffs start to loom – you'll see Knight run away with it, playing much of the final month. That should see him come in at 50 games. He turns 22 when the players begin.

As for next season, it will be more of the same. Bobrovsky will get the early starts…probably start to slowly lose them as Knight comes on, and then Knight runs off with it yet again. After next season there will be no more pretending, no more pampering, no more justifying contracts. After next season, in 2024-25, Knight will be the de facto starter (60+ games) and Bobrovsky will mentor as the $10M backup. Ditto in 2025-26 when Bobrovsky continues making $10M (for the last time).

My prediction:

Knight: 49 GP, Bobrovsky 36 GP this season.

Knight: 53 GP, Bobrovsky 33 GP in 2023-24.

Knight: 61 GP, Bobrovsky 26 GP in 2024-25.

Hopefully that helps with your planning. And of course this doesn't factor in injuries or trades.

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Over in Calgary the situation is quite different. Markstrom isn't coming off of a couple of questionable seasons (like Bobrovsky) and Daniel Vladar doesn't have the Golden Boy status that Spencer Knight has. Markstrom may struggle all season long, but his leash will be a lot longer. And to be honest, he would need to struggle like this – and – Seattle would need to continue being unrealistic with their winning record – well into February before the starts begin shifting Vladar's way. I think Markstrom will get it worked out, and consider him a buy-low option at this point.

(Just to clarify, my Seattle statement refers to the fact that their presence in a playoff spot makes Calgary’s odds of a playoff spot slip. So Seattle needs to come back down to earth, putting Calgary safely in, and thereby giving Markstrom a longer leash.)

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Speaking of goaltenders, 38-year-old Marc-Andre Fleury coughed up four goals in the third period as the Wild blew a third-period lead. The Wild were up 5-1 with 7:12 left. It ended up going into overtime, giving the Stars a point. In his last five games he has a 0.871 SV% and 3.41 GAA. His GSAA is -4.4600 in that span. Meanwhile, Filip Gustavsson is 0.904 and -0.1700 in four games. Not enough to threaten, but worth keeping an eye on in case things continue to improve.

Kirill Kaprizov has scored a goal in six straight games.

Roope Hintz picked up four points and led the near-successful comeback. Six points in his last two games gives him 30 in 24 on the season, which is a 103-point pace. That's higher than the upside I gave him (currently it's at 85 points – I'll adjust it again if he continues flying past Christmas). And people say I'm too loosey-goosey with my upsides…

Hintz's 5on5 S% of 12.6 indicates a regression is likely. Ditto his 22.0 S%. But even so, if he stays healthy he's getting to 80 and setting a new career high (72 last year).

The ageless Joe Pavelski added three points, giving him 28 in 25 on the campaign. He also has 109 in his last 107 games. He's 38 years old (so not ageless). When he joined Dallas and posted 31 points in 67 games as a 35-year-old, I thought he was done. So did you. And here we are. Pavelski is at 922 career points, meaning he'll hit 1000 by late March. Scoring 500 goals is also in the conversation as he needs just 69 more. If he scores another 19 (would give him 29 on the season), and re-signs with Dallas, he would need to score 25 as a 39-year-old, 20 as a 40-year-old, and then would need just five. If he managers to do that – score 500 and tally close to 1100 career points – do you put him in your Hall of Fame?

Jason Robertson has 33 points in his last 17 games. Let that sink in. The recent Rankings had him rocket up to 8^th on the list. He doesn't seem to want to stop there. His current pace is for 134 points. I have his upside set at 115. Again, my generous upside seems to be failing. And Robertson is the reason – he's the reason it's failing for both himself, and for Hintz. Robertson was in on 20 of Hintz's points (so far) this season. Without Robertson, would Hintz even be a 70-point player? Would the ageless Pavelski still be getting past 65? I submit no.

Robertson, by the way, is this year's cover boy for DobberHockey's Midseason Guide. You can pre-order it (and check out the new cover) here. It comes out on January 13.

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Saku Maenalanen picked up his second two-point game in the last week on Sunday, so now he has my attention. Yes, he's more of a depth guy, but he's a big forward (6-4) signed as free agent after finishing 15^th in Liiga scoring. Because he's a big forward, the fact that he's showing his potential at age 27 (last year) and this season at age 28 is to be expected. But what is that potential? Well, on Sunday he saw a career-high 17:05 of ice time. He's looking like a potential 30-point, 150-Hits forward, but I'm starting to wonder if he can earn his way onto a better line. Not worthy of a waiver spend at this point, but now he has me looking out for his name to see if that changes.

Another assist gives Josh Morrissey 10 points in his last seven games and 26 on the season. His full-season pace is now at 93 points. Yes, he will slow. All metrics point to this. But 70 seems doable?

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What to do with Ryan Strome when you're in a deep league with a waiver wire that looks pretty rough? I'm asking myself that very question right now. Just three points in his last 13 games after starting off with 10 in his first 13. I already have Conor Garland on my team to deal with, and I'll take a chance on Kevin Labanc if I win the bidding (which I may not, now that I blabbed what I'm trying to do in the Ramblings). But there really isn't a second option to replace Strome. Noah Acciari? No thanks. I guess I'll sit on Strome for a bit. Given that he's owed $25M over the next five seasons, methinks he'll continue to get solid ice time and PP time. He's lining up alongside Frank Vatrano and Troy Terry.

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Sublime setup man Jonatan Berggren is making it hard for Detroit to send him back down, compiling seven points in his 11 career games. Five of those are assists, which are his specialty. He's picking up these assists while playing on the third line – can't wait to see what he does when he plays with top players.

With another two-point game on Sunday, Filip Hronek has six (!!!) of them in his last 10 games. He's already at 22 on the season, giving him a current pace of 75 points. Both of his points came with the man advantage and he has 10 PPPts on the campaign. He saw 4:28 PPTOI on Sunday while Moritz Seider saw 2:52. As great as Seider will be, Hronek getting anywhere near 70 points this season will punch his ticket to equal PP status even when Seider ascends to the next level. Teams only 'hope' to have a 70-point defenseman on their team. Looks like the Wings could head through the next five years with two of them.

Consider this season Seider's sophomore slump.

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The Sabres certainly have the offense figured out. Once they get the defense solved, they'll be a force. Dylan Cozens picked up three assists, which gives him eight points in his last four games. What's more – he's clicking big time with Jack Quinn and JJ Peterka. This Kid Line could really be something special. Peterka has points in four straight, while Quinn scored twice Sunday and has nine points in his last eight games. Both Quinn and Peterka are tied for fourth in rookie scoring. Quinn is tied for third in rookie points-per-game average (behind Matty Beniers and Cole Perfetti).

Dobber Darling Kevin Labanc is back in the good books, as he's now posted 13 points in his last 15 games. After missing most of an entire season, his slow start was to be expected.

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Our new DFS tools have had a lot of upgrades and additions over the past two weeks. Eric and I worked hard on a better goalie formula that takes more into account the recent shots/per game of opposing teams, in conjunction with the recent shots allowed by his team – as well as home ice, back-to-back, and of course the goaltender's own hot streak. It has shown tremendous improvement. Eric also put in stacked lineup tools, which have really panned out nicely for me (so far). There are also a couple of cool little tools that allow to evaluate the quality of the DFS contest you are looking at entering. And I had him add a chart at the end of the optimized lineups that lists all new players that don't qualify for the optimized lineups algorithm. I've found that list handy at times when setting my Owners Box (the only available DFS option if you live in Ontario) lineup and I'm not liking the cheap suggested player given. Sometimes I'll grab a player from the 'new player' list. Anyway, you can subscribe to the DFS tools here.

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See you next Monday.