There are a few teams dealing with a slew of injures and the Philadelphia Flyers are one of them. They are still without Sean Couturier, Ryan Ellis, and Cam Atkinson, to name a few, but James van Riemsdyk returned to the lineup on Wednesday night. He had five points in six games before he was hurt and can give a scoring boost to the depth.

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With all of Colorado's injuries, Charles Hudon was back in the lineup for the Avalanche. The former Hab had 65 goals in his most recent 132 AHL games, or a 40-goal pace over a full year. He was over three shots per game this year in the minors, too, so he's involved in the offence. Hudon seemed to be one of those Quad-A players who could never translate it to the highest level but at least he's getting another chance now.

On that note, some good news on the injury front for the Avs:

Valeri Nichushkin is on the ice a little ahead of morning skate. Doesn't look like an option to play tonight, considering he's wearing a PK jersey and not a PP one, but it's a sign that he's getting closer. #Avs pic.twitter.com/w0wLqy6by3

— Peter Baugh (@Peter_Baugh) December 7, 2022

Colorado is at home on Friday to the New York Rangers before going to St. Louis and then returning back home for an extended homestand. It is just my guess but Nichushkin might be ready for that homestand that starts Tuesday against Philadelphia.

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We are just two and a half weeks out from Christmas, my favourite holiday of the season. No matter the beliefs each of us celebrate this time of year, one thing each of us do at some point through the year is a wish list. It might not even be for a specific holiday; it could just be things we want to do/see/acquire in the future. Regardless of the reason, even as an adult, putting pen to paper and writing out a wish list can still be fun, so that is exactly what we're doing today.

From one fantasy hockey owner to others, here is my Christmas wish list for the final 60% of the season, or thereabouts.

Top Line Kaliyev

IT. IS. ALL. HAPPENING.

Arthur Kaliyev finally made it to the top line for Los Angeles a couple of games ago and started there when the team was in Ottawa Tuesday night. Despite playing 11 minutes a night most of the year, Kaliyev managed nine goals and eight assists through 27 games. That puts him on a pace for nearly 30 goals and over 50 points with very little ice time. The second-round pick from 2019 is building on a nice rookie season and he is hopefully taking the next step in his development.

With that next step is, hopefully, a full-time role on the top line alongside Anze Kopitar and Kevin Fiala. That duo has had its issues defensively, but they have been pretty good offensively and Kaliyev could really benefit from being higher in the lineup. This is a guy who could hit 30 goals, 200 shots, and 100 hits with a bit more ice time; he's on pace for 27 goals, 185 shots, and 76 hits as it is. It really isn't unfathomable for him to have an excellent across-the-board multi-cat season if he's skating 15 or 16 minutes a night regularly instead of 11 or 12.

Kaliyev is a player that I was high on as a prospect, which is saying something because I don't really consider myself a prospect person. He always stood out when he played in lower leagues, though, and now he's got a chance top offensive options from his team. Here is to wishing for Kaliyev to stay there for the balance of the season.

The Kids Carry New York

Once Pavel Buchnevich was traded, one thing became obvious with this New York Rangers team: the kids would make-or-break their Stanley Cup potential. All of Alexis Lafrenière, Filip Chytil, Kaapo Kakko, and Vitali Kravtsov would have to make an impact among their forward lines. At least two of them would probably have to be top-6 wingers with the other two providing depth scoring on the third line. In 83 combined regular season games thus far, that quartet has 13 goals, or as many as Chris Kreider alone. It is also the same total as just Adam Fox and Barclay Goodrow. It isn't nothing but it's also a far cry from what fantasy owners (and Rangers fans) hoped for. Lafrenière had 19 goals in 79 games a season ago by himself.

For whatever reason, the Rangers are one of the teams I don't mind rooting for when they're not playing the Canadiens. I also have a fair number of Rangers stacks in my season-long best ball leagues but that's neither here nor there. A bit of shooting percentage regression for Kakko and Lafrenière specifically would go a long way to curing what ails here.

One of my wishes, as the Habs are in full rebuild mode, is for the Rangers to get significant contributions from the kids and make another deep playoff run. They are fun to watch, and it would help my fantasy season a lot.

Colorado Gets Healthy

It really is getting ridiculous at this point. There is Gabriel Landeskog not having played a game yet, Valeri Nichushkin being out since a week before Halloween and just getting back skating now, Bowen Byram not having suited up in over a month and not skating at all (and that's worrisome considering his history), Evan Rodrigues hitting the IR, Artturi Lehkonen being day-to-day, and the coup de grâce, Nathan MacKinnon leaving Monday's game and being announced out for four weeks. That is 5/6 likely forwards from the top-6, a very good second-pair defenceman, and all this doesn't include the guys down the lineup dealing with injuries. Despite all this, as of Wednesday, the team was in a wild card spot in the West.

This could be a season completely derailed by injuries. Colorado has a lot of talent, but no team can lose nearly their entire top six for any reasonable stretch – or even two-thirds of the top six – and hope to stay in the hunt. They would need a Herculean effort from their goalies and that's asking too much of any goaltending tandem. Here is to hoping the Avalanche can get healthy over the holidays and come back near full strength in the second half.

Max Pacioretty Is 100%

Staying on the health kick for a minute, here is to also hoping that Max Pacioretty is 100% himself when he returns. This is a guy who has 43 goals and 45 assists over his last 87 games, landing 3.7 shots per game. He has missed the entire season to date with a torn Achilles suffered in early August and had a six-month timeline to return. That would mean sometime after Valentine's Day, but he has been skating lightly on his own in Carolina. Maybe he could return before the All-Star Game? That would be nice to see.

Carolina is not really struggling this year, comfortably in a playoff spot in the East. There have been some issues with goal scoring as they have the fewest goals scored of any current playoff team in the East. Jesperi Kotkaniemi hasn't been able to do much as the second-line center, which is another issue, but Andrei Svechnikov and Martin Necas have been able to carry him. Surely, Pacioretty and Necas could do the same when he returns. That would reunite Jarvis-Aho-Svechnikov and allow them to put Teuvo Teravainen on the third line, adding more scoring depth.

This is another team I like to cheer for when they aren't playing Montreal and Pacioretty will always have a soft spot as a former Hab during some of the best years since the early 1990s. If he can be his usual self, this team is three lines deep scoring-wise.

Evan Bouchard Cements Himself

There is no telling what happens in Edmonton. This could be the Jeff Petry situation redux, or it could be Bouchard turning into what Oscar Klefbom was, and then some. He has had wildly inconsistent ice time and roles this year, sometimes playing on the third pair and 14 minutes a night, sometimes on the top PP pair and over 23 minutes a night. The team has struggled with scoring depth, especially since Evander Kane's injury, and Bouchard being able to help the second and third lines generate offence consistently would be a game-changer for them. That I often drafted Bouchard this year has nothing to do with this, either.

Watching good offensive defencemen is one of my favourite things of the modern NHL. Whether it be Roman Josi, or Cale Makar, or Dougie Hamilton, or Adam Fox, or Rasmus Dahlin, or Erik Karlsson, these guys have revolutionized the position or taken cues from the preceding generation. Bouchard is one guy I'm hoping turns into something approaching these listed players and I think he has the talent and the (potential) situation to do it. The coaching staff should give him some more consistent leash and let him make his mistakes. If he can reach anywhere near the highs of some of those names, it'd be a monster win for Edmonton in the long run.

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Tage Thompson had a five-goal night on Wednesday, adding an assist to give himself his second six-point night of the season. Alex Tuch had a goal and three assists, Dylan Cozens and Rasmus Dahlin each had a goal and two assists, while Jeff Skinner had four helpers in Buffalo's 9-4 dismantling of Columbus. That makes 20 points between the top power-play options for the Sabres in a single game. Not bad!

Patrik Laine scored twice in the loss, giving him six goals in 12 games on the season. On most nights, this would have been notable. On this night, Columbus probably just wanted to run straight time.

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With a goal in Minnesota's 5-3 loss to Calgary, Kirill Kaprizov extended his point streak to 12 games and his goal streak to seven. He has nine goals and 20 points over his last 13 games, averaging around 4.7 shots per game. He is starting to put up MVP-type numbers for the Wild and is the only reason the team seems to be succeeding this year.

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Alex Ovechkin had a pair of empty-net goals in Washington's 4-1 win over Philadelphia, bringing him within 100 goals of Wayne Gretzky's all-time record. Ovechkin is on pace to pass 40 goals on the year and if he can have a couple more seasons like that, it seems the record is assured to be broken.

John Carlson had a pair of assists, two shots, three blocks, and a hit in the win. He would be having an excellent fantasy season if he could pick up some more assists as the team has struggled to score at times. Perhaps a big second half is in order once they get a couple more healthy bodies back?