I did not shop on Black Friday at all. Not just because I had to write the Ramblings, but because I have nothing to buy for myself and I'm not ready to start Christmas shopping yet. Plus I don't care for mall crowds. If you don't like shopping, fortunately there were a LOT of hockey games on for a rare busy Friday.

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Andrei Vasilevskiy made his season debut on Friday, stopping 22 of 24 shots he faced in posting a win. Vasilevskiy had missed the entire season so far due to back surgery that he needed just before the season started. If you haven't already, get the Big Cat activated for next week, as he should still be considered a top-5 goalie in fantasy leagues.

The Lightning have back-to-back games early next week in Colorado and Arizona. That means you might not want to drop Jonas Johansson yet, particularly if he gets the start against the Coyotes. To make room for Vasilevskiy, Matt Tomkins has been placed on waivers.

You shouldn't need us to tell you to start Nikita Kucherov, who exploded for six points (2 G, 4 A) in the Lightning's 8-2 drubbing of the Hurricanes. With that performance, Kucherov has leapt into the scoring lead with 35 points in just 20 games, including 12 points in his last five games.

Not even sure what to say about this Nikita Kucherov goal, what a beauty#GoBolts pic.twitter.com/xHJck2Dyco

— Hockey Daily 365 l NHL Highlights & News (@HockeyDaily365) November 25, 2023

Brayden Point also had a hat trick with two assists and a plus-4, while Brandon Hagel scored a goal and added two assists with a plus-2. Do the math and that Kucherov-Point-Hagel line combined for 14 points in one game!

There's bad starts. Then there's really bad starts, which are recorded on Frozen Tools. Then there's whatever happened to Antti Raanta on Friday. Raanta allowed all eight goals on just 14 shots, giving him a .429 SV% over 60 minutes! Is this a really really bad start? A terrible, horrible, no good, very bad start? Whatever you call it, that kind of start will do irreparable damage to your goaltending ratios for the week. Raanta has six wins in 10 games, but those wins are empty calories for your roster because of his 3.47 GAA and .854 SV%.

Tony DeAngelo has been a healthy scratch for two consecutive games. I'm assuming it's related to his defensive play, as his seven points in 16 games seems okay but not great. The Canes might shake things up for their next game on Sunday against the Blue Jackets, which could mean he's back in the lineup then. However, it's getting more difficult to justify keeping a player who is at risk of being healthy scratched when you need him, no matter what the offensive upside is.

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Zach Benson is here to stay. Playing in his 10^th NHL game on Friday, the 18-year-old Benson won't be returned to the WHL. However, he could still miss a few weeks if he plays in the World Juniors, which is something to consider if adding him in a single-season league. Benson did not record a point on Friday, but his first NHL goal on Wednesday was a doozie. Check it out below, in case you missed it.

Zach Benson, that's obscene… pic.twitter.com/pwqLUln2uf

— Brady Trettenero (@BradyTrett) November 23, 2023

I think the Canucks missed out on an exceptional talent by picking Tom Willander two spots ahead of Benson, but there are several other teams that might also regret passing on Benson. I thought he might be a top-5 pick, but for some reason he fell in the 2023 draft.

Following reports that Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin would be on separate power plays, Malkin was in fact on the second unit on Friday, while Vinnie Hinostroza and Radim Zohorna were on the top unit. The once-powerful Penguins power play is now sitting in the bottom third of the league with a 13.2% effectiveness rate, so this seems like a move to shake things up. I wouldn't bet huge money that Hinostroza or Zohorna will remain there, but their values could improve significantly if they do.

By the way, Malkin is in a bit of a slump with just a single point in his last five games. He has logged (close to) 20+ minutes in each of his last five games, so I'm pretty sure he's not at risk of being benched.

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Not a development that has huge fantasy implications in the year 2023, but Corey Perry was out of the lineup on Friday with no reason given. Taylor Hall is already out for the season because of knee surgery, so Connor Bedard seems to be losing his essential veterans.

A Jason Dickinson hat trick? Yeah, that probably helped no one. Dickinson finished the game with a plus-3 and five shots, and he now has goals in back-to-back games. He's now the third-leading scorer on the Blackhawks with 11 points, which gives you an idea of the state of their scoring beyond Bedard.

The Hawks' second-leading scorer is Philipp Kurashev, who with an assist has a five-game point streak with six points over that span. I'll admit that I gave up on Kurashev too early in my salary cap league, as he has now solidified himself as a regular linemate to Bedard.

William Nylander's point streak to start the season has ended at 17 games. However, he might have to chalk it up to bad luck on Friday.  

William Nylander went post-crossbar-post on the breakaway try in OT#LeafsForever pic.twitter.com/r9vCdcI78P

— Hockey Daily 365 l NHL Highlights & News (@HockeyDaily365) November 24, 2023

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Samuel Girard has entered the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program for treatment for severe anxiety and depression that has led to alcohol abuse. Girard has been out of the lineup for the past two games, and his return date is unknown. More importantly, all the best to Girard in his recovery.

Also for the Avalanche, Valeri Nichushkin has now scored goals in six consecutive games, with 10 points over his last six games. Nichushkin has at least three shots in each of his last eight games, which makes the goal scoring seem somewhat sustainable. He has also logged at least 21 minutes in five of his last six games and 27 minutes (not a typo!) on Friday, the highest total for any non-defenseman that day.

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Rick Bowness was behind the bench again for the Jets after taking a leave of absence for the past month after his wife suffered a seizure. Bowness was rewarded with a 32-save shutout from Connor Hellebuyck over the Panthers. The Jets went 9-2-2 under interim head coach Scott Arniel, but the presence of Bowness could give them a lift. Hellebuyck has wins and quality starts in each of his last four games after recording just four quality starts in his first 11 games.

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With a goal and an assist on Friday, J.T. Compher has 12 points in his last 10 games. Coach Derek Lalonde has noticed, giving Compher an increase in both overall icetime (19:55) and power-play time (4:56, 67.9% of available power-play minutes). Both of Compher's points on Friday were on the power play. Compher is getting a bit lucky in the shooting department, and he is still averaging just under a shot per game. Every season in his career, Compher has also never reached two shots per game and has averaged below 50% of offensive zone starts. Lalonde recently separated Dylan Larkin and Alex DeBrincat at even strength, which seemed to help Compher with DeBrincat now on his line as opposed to Andrew Copp.

Speaking of DeBrincat, he also finished below the 50% mark for available power-play minutes in this game, so it looks like Compher bumped him out of that spot (I had the game on but wasn't watching it super closely). I really don't think DeBrincat owners have anything to worry about here, as he is on a five-game point streak and had a goal and an assist of his own on Friday. This seems more like Lalonde trying to spread out his offense.

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Mika Zibanejad was one of the top-searched players on Frozen Tools this past week, likely because of his recent slump. Zibanejad had recently been held without a point in four games, but he now has points in back-to-back games. His two goals on Friday snapped an eight-game goal drought. He has also taken four shots in back-to-back games. He's already starting to pick things up, so the buy-low window is closing.

With an assist on Friday, Erik Gustafsson has nine points over his last eight games. This coincides with the date that Adam Fox was injured, adding to the proof that Gustafsson is one of the top reserve power-play options in the league. However, it is also interesting to note that only three of those points have come with the man advantage. Gustafsson has reached the 20-minute mark in icetime five times since Fox's injury, while prior to Fox's injury he had only logged that many minutes in one game. This is over a similar number of games before and after Fox's injury, so Gustafsson is playing a more significant role beyond the power play. Gustafsson has been paired with Ryan Lindgren, who is Fox's regular defense partner.

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Andrei Kuzmenko was a healthy scratch on Friday. That could have had something to do with his three goals in 19 games this season while mainly playing on the top line with Elias Pettersson, or the fact that he has no points in his last three games or no goals in his past nine games. Yet it sounds like the main reason is that Kuzmenko's defensive play has been lacking, which was evident on at least one goal in Wednesday's loss to Colorado. As much as that might be the reason, I don't think Rick Tocchet is taking Kuzmenko out of the lineup if he had been scoring regularly. Kuzmenko isn't a slam dunk to return to the lineup tonight (Saturday) against San Jose after a win in Seattle, and Tocchet was noncommittal when asked about it after the game. Kuzmenko should be back in soon and isn't necessarily worth dropping for that reason.

Imagine what Nils Hoglander would be capable of on a scoring line. Hoglander scored his seventh goal of the season on Friday, giving him goals in four of his past five games and a five-game point streak. He has mainly been playing on the third or fourth lines, including on Friday when he was grouped with Phillip Di Giuseppe and Nils Aman. The scoring isn't sustainable and I'd want to see better deployment and more icetime before recommending a pickup, but Hoglander is talented enough to move up the lineup at some point.

Oliver Bjorkstrand and Brandon Tanev both left Friday's game with injuries. Bjorkstrand was a top Frozen Tools search this past week, so keep an eye on his status. The Kraken don't play again until Tuesday in Chicago.

Something else to keep your eye on: The Canucks went out of their way to state that Elias Pettersson is not injured. However, it looked like his wrist was taped up when they showed him on the bench at one point during Friday's telecast. Pettersson has no points over his last three games, so something could be up. He did win 11 of 20 faceoffs on Friday, so it might simply be a minor issue.  

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Luke Evangelista seems to have responded to his healthy scratch on Monday. Evangelista scored a pair of goals while adding an assist in the Predators' 8-3 blowout win over St. Louis. He has also taken five shots in each of his last two games. The 21-year-old Evangelista receives decent line deployment and power-play minutes for the Preds, so he is worth at least keeping an eye on. Since he is just 2 percent rostered in Yahoo leagues, he could even be worth taking a chance on in deeper leagues.

Evangelista's linemate Kiefer Sherwood also recorded three points (1 G, 2 A) on Friday.

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A shutout from an Oilers goalie? That's a first this season. Stuart Skinner posted a goose egg, stopping all 25 shots he faced in a 5-0 win in Washington. Skinner was pulled in his last start, allowing four goals on 12 shots on Wednesday in Carolina. The Oilers snapped a three-game losing streak in the process as well.

There was nothing wrong with Connor McDavid or Leon Draisaitl on Friday. McDavid recorded four helpers, while Draisaitl scored twice and added an assist of his own. Draisaitl has 11 points over his last six games, while McDavid has seven points over his last three games. You thought it was time to bench them? Ryan Nugent-Hopkins also chipped in three points for the Oils.

Despite not a single Capital scoring a goal or an assist, Tom Wilson found a way to get onto the expanded scoresheet with six hits and seven shots.

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Adrian Kempe finished Friday's win over the Ducks with two assists, a plus-2, three shots on goal, and four hits, including this textbook open icer. Because the Kings faced some penalty trouble at one point, Kempe even took a shift as a defenseman in this game, proving he can do it all.

Adrian Kempe throwing the body around. 💥 pic.twitter.com/AezHnln4D6

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) November 24, 2023

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Mike Hoffman has five goals in his last five games. Someone has to score goals in San Jose. Hoffman started the season without a goal in his first 14 games, so it's not like he's a consistent source of goals like he has been in years past.

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After a slow start to his Calgary career, Yegor Sharangovich has been heating up recently. With a goal and two assists on Friday, Sharangovich has five points over his last four games. Prior to that, he had recorded just five points over his first 16 games. Sharangovich also took five shots on Friday while playing on an even-strength line with Elias Lindholm and Andrew Mangiapane. If Sharangovich can keep this up, he might be worth a pickup as he is just 1 percent rostered in Yahoo leagues.

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