Promoted, and more … (Jan. 23)

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The 15^th annual Midseason Guide was released just over a week ago. Pick it up here! This is included in the Platinum/Gold subscriptions only, or the Ultimate Fantasy Pack (not the Keeper League Pack). Second-half projections, prospects, free agents, trade block, advanced statistical analysis and more!

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With another two points on Sunday, Dougie Hamilton is up to 24 points in his last 21 games. He had 16 in 25 before that. Now this is the Hamilton we have been waiting for since he arrived in New Jersey. A broken jaw derailed him last year as he was getting settled into the new system. His power-play goal gives him 19 PPPts, which sets a career high.

Rookie Alexander Holtz, 20, was made a healthy scratch for the sixth consecutive game. So that's some great prospect development and asset management right there. Looks like Holtz owners will have to wait on him for two or three years yet, at the rate Lindy Ruff is bringing him along.

I'm not in any leagues that track faceoffs and faceoff acumen, but I just noticed that Michael McLeod followed up a spectacular season at the dot (57.3% win rate last year) with even better numbers this year, winning 58.5% of his faceoffs so far. That's easily tops on the team.

Since returning from the Christmas break, goaltender Vitek Vanecek has a 7-1-0 record with a 0.929 SV%, a 2.10 GAA and a GSAA of 5.705. His numbers overall would be classified as above average, but that's only because he hit a bit of a rough patch in early December. If you disregard that cold spell, his numbers have been as good as anyone in the league other than Linus Ullmark. Vanecek is signed for the next two seasons and this team is just finishing up a nice rebuild, making this the perfect storm for Vanecek owners.

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Kris Letang is practicing with the Penguins but not taking contact. But it seems as though he is just a week or so away from a return, at the rate he's progressing. When that happens, look for Ty Smith to be sent back to the AHL. Smith has been a healthy scratch for two games now. Jeff Petry is running the power play for now, over youngster Pierre-Olivier Joseph. Petry has six points in his last 10 games, with three of those coming on the PP.

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Jaret Anderson-Dolan was moved to Kevin Fiala's line and, wouldn't you know it? Anderson-Dolan potted a couple of goals (assisted by Fiala). It would seem that Fiala cannot be cooled off no matter who you put him with. It was JAD's first career two-goal NHL game, and it was also the first time he had five shots on goal.

After giving up six goals on 20 shots over the course of two starts, Pheonix Copley stopped 18 of 19 to secure the win. The Kings are a great team that will win with anyone in net. But the organization knows that they can't get anywhere without an upgrade in that area. Copley is not going to be the answer. Neither short- nor long-term. He is a stopgap. In 17 games overall with the Kings, Copley's SV% is a miserable 0.896. That's actually the best on the team.

Meanwhile, down in the AHL with the Ontario Reign, Cal Petersen is 8-5-0 with a 2.62 GAA and 0.953 SV%. Those are numbers that are very solid, and I wonder how much longer he will remain down there. I don't think he got a fair shake this season – I think the team needed to give him a heavy workload, and stop putting Jonathan Quick in so much. He started three out of four games in mid-October, with two of them very bad – but that was it. After that, he only played two games in a row once.

Tyler Johnson left the game in the first period with an injury. He reaggravated his ankle injury and it sounds like he will be out for at least a few games. Andreas Athanasiou took his spot on Patrick Kane's line.

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Brenden Dillon had himself a game Sunday for the Jets. Two assist, a plus-4 rating, five Hits, three BLKS and a SOG. In his last nine games he has five assists, 29 Hits and 18 BLKS. He's mostly paired alongside Neal Pionk.

With a pair of goals in a losing effort, Kevin Hayes now has 13 points in his last 11 contests. After his healthy scratch in mid-December, Hayes had just a point in five games. I made the mistake of trading him, figuring his place in Tortorella's doghouse was a tough one to escape. Cleary I was wrong.

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Oh my.

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Craig Smith has been bumped to the Patrice Bergeron – Brad Marchand line and has points in each of his last three games. Obviously his production is heavily dependent on his remaining on this line, but for now he holds some depth fantasy value If you need someone to plug a hole in your lineup.

Linus Ullmark had a skate repair issue and had to leave the game for a minute or two. Jeremy Swayman came in and made one save before Ullmark returned. So Ullmark was not credited with a shutout. It's officially a shared shutout. So that sucks for Ullmark owners (or anyone who had him in DFS, such as me). It was Boston's first shared shutout since 2002 (Byron Dafoe and John Grahame).

Kevin Labanc continues to be a healthy scratch for the Sharks. It started a week ago, and he's missed the last four games now. Prior to the scratches, he had 25 points in 38 games and appeared to finally be back to the level of production that he was at in 2019 before he ran into some tough injury luck. And despite the fact that he has been San Jose's top possession driver according to advanced metrics, his work ethic is in question. The team is quite happy, meanwhile, with the compete level of Michael Eyssimont, who for now is in Labanc's spot in the lineup. Matt Nieto has taken Labanc's spot on the Logan Couture line (but has zero points in those games and is minus-5).

James Reimer has allowed three goals or more in each of his last seven starts.

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Before his hat trick Sunday, Clayton Keller had points in just one of his prior seven games and two of his prior 11. One of his goals was into an empty net.

Karel Vejmelka had lost eight games in a row prior to playing a fantastic game Sunday for the win and Quality Start. Vejmelka wasn't doing terrible during the losing stretch, but his team has been coughing up tons of shots and he had been unable to steal any wins. This time, he stole it – Arizona was outshot by Vegas 36-23. This is Vejmelka's value right now. He may not rack up the W's, but he definitely faces a ton of rubber. He sits third among goalies who have played more than 10 games for shots faced per game (John Gibson, Sam Montembeault).

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See you next Monday.