As much reading, researching and studying a fantasy general manager may conduct into potential breakouts, a player’s success can often come down to one word: Opportunity. 

A player with the chance to play in a top-six role or on the top power-play unit will generally be more successful than those who don’t get the same opportunity. That’s not rocket science. But the tricky part is trying to keep track of players who are getting that chance. There are 32 teams, and some coaches constantly change their lineup. 

We’re at the point of the season where, unless you’re following daily lineup changes, you may not realize who is getting that opportunity. That’s why Dobber’s game line tools are a valuable resource, but I especially prefer the Last 3 Game Lines tool. This takes away a one-game wonder, and you can get a better idea if a player could be getting a longer look. 

Some players can turn this opportunity into a long-term situation. Bryan Rust is the most prominent example. He was a bottom-six forward who started hot a few years back, moved up to a top-six role when injuries to teammates piled up, continued his hot streak, kept that role even when his teammates came back healthy, and has been a top-six player for the last few years. I’m not saying the players below will become the next Bryan Rust, but they have the opportunity to do so. Any kind of sustained success makes it more likely that they continue that role.

Of course, the opportunity may not last long. Some coaches are more patient than others. Some believe that an injury shouldn’t cost a player their top spot. Others will bench a young player for making a mistake, but will give a veteran a pass for the same mistake.

There’s also no guarantee these players will even produce. Matt Grzelcyk, Evan Rodrigues, Brett Ritchie, Jimmy Vesey and Jesper Fast were all popular opportunity players over the last few years who weren’t able to make it stick. Even this year, Jonathan Drouin, Kaapo Kakko, Tyler Bertuzzi and Matt Coronato all started in plum spots and have since been dropped in the lineup (or to the AHL, in Coronato’s case).

Below are 10 players who are getting a better opportunity, either at five-on-five or on the power play, than they were at the start of the season. Some of these have just started that opportunity in the past week or two, some have been for 10 or so games. 

10. Alex Nylander

Once a highly-touted prospect, Nylander was never able to turn that promise into performance. His career high is 26 points back in 2019-20, the only year he’s ever played more than 12 games. This season, Nylander started in the AHL and was called up to the Penguins last week, where he was immediately put onto a line with Evgeni Malkin. He’s also getting major reps on the power play (averaging 3:02 per night, about 49.5 percent of Pittsburgh’s man-advantage minutes). Unfortunately, he has yet to pick up a point. As long as he’s averaging 15-plus minutes a night and getting this usage, he’s worth a look in deep fantasy leagues. Honorable mention goes out to Drew O’Connor, playing alongside Sidney Crosby while Bryan Rust is out with an injury. He’s getting more minutes per night than Nylander, but zero power-play time. 

9. Martin Pospisil

The Flames rookie has been a bit of a surprise this season, as he notched five points in his last seven games. As a reward, he was promoted to the top power-play unit a week ago, taking the spot from Connor Zary. It hasn’t worked out, as he has gone pointless in his last four contests, all road games. He’s already a good depth player in deeper fantasy leagues, as he’s averaging 2.64 hits and 2.82 shots per game. This power-play usage is another reason to stash him in those leagues. 

8. Adam Boqvist

It’s been a frustrating season for anyone who has Boqvist in a keeper league. He’s been a healthy scratch for most of the season, and when he did get into a couple of games on November 11 and 12, he played 10:49 in the first game and 9:45 in the second. He has been in the lineup for the last four contests and his ice time is up, including a season-high 17:38 on Friday and 17:35 on Sunday. He’s been playing with Zach Werenski at five-on-five for these three games, which explains his boost in numbers. It’s paid off so far, as he had two assists last Wednesday against Chicago. Boqvist is also getting some power-play minutes, a rarity for him this season.  

7. Joe Veleno

It’s only been three games so far, but Veleno has been moved onto the top line alongside Dylan Larkin and Lucas Raymond. A former first-round pick, Veleno hasn’t exactly wowed us with his production, but this may be his best opportunity. He does have an assist in these three games, but a lot needs to happen to make him fantasy relevant. This is a great start though, if he can produce. If not, it won’t take long for him to get bumped back down the lineup. 

6. Michael Eyssimont

In my Top 10 Yahoo Pickups a week ago, I wrote about how Nicholas Paul was worth snagging off the waiver wire, as he was playing on the second line with Steven Stamkos. He was only on that line for one more game, before he was replaced with Eyssimont, who has been in that role in the last two contests. So much of what I wrote about Paul applies for Eyssimont. Getting a top-six role in Tampa Bay should help boost numbers, and Eyssimont did pick up a point in those two games. Funnily enough, it was with the man advantage and not with Stamkos. 

5. Brendan Gallagher

The Habs are having trouble scoring, only notching 2.5 goals per contest in November. Gallagher is part of the reason, as he only has one point in his last seven games. Looking to mix up the lines and create a spark, Gallagher has been moved to the top line with Nick Suzuki and Alex Newhook. It’s only been for three games, and all on the West Coast trip against California teams. Gallagher has one point in those three games, but playing with the team’s best player can hopefully boost his numbers. 

4. Philipp Kurashev

Kurashev shouldn’t be that much of an unknown, but as of Sunday morning, he was unowned in 95 percent of Yahoo leagues. That’s an obscenely high number. One of the reasons is that on the Yahoo app, searching the waiver wire automatically defaults to rest-of-season projections, where they are projecting Kurashev as only getting eight goals, 15 assists, three power-play points and a minus-19 the rest of the season. Since coming off the IR in October, Kurashev has been lined up with Connor Bedard, and has 12 points in 13 games. He’s also been spending some time on the top power-play unit in the last few contests. He has yet to go back-to-back games without a point and is averaging 18:36 minutes per game.

3. Quinton Byfield

Byfield has been a fixture on the top line in Los Angeles for a while now, but he didn't get top power-play opportunity until two weeks ago. Pierre-Luc Dubois used to be on the top unit but wasn’t producing (just one power-play point on the year). He was bumped down to the second unit, and Byfield moved up to the top spot. Byfield does have a power-play point in these last five games since the switch, which isn’t great, but it’s something to keep an eye on going forward. Byfield is in the process of having his breakout season, and getting extra power-play time will hopefully give his numbers an extra boost. 

2. Blake Wheeler

Any hopes of a bounce-back season for Wheeler were dashed early on as he started the season in a bottom-six role and went pointless in his first 10 contests. Maybe it took a while for him to get used to a new system and a new city, but he’s been much better recently, with six points in his last nine games. Part of that boost has been because Wheeler is now playing with Mika Zibanejad at five-on-five. Kaapo Kakko was the one in that role at the start of the season, but he just couldn’t produce and was moved down to a bottom-six role about 10 games ago. 

1. Valeri Nichushkin

Remember the dreadful performance of Jonathan Drouin at the start of the season when he was on the top line? That experiment lasted almost a month until he was mercifully dropped to another line and Nichushkin took his spot. It wasn’t until about 10 games ago that Nichushkin was moved to that top line, and he has exploded. He has 13 points in his last 10 games, while taking 36 shots in that time. He was also moved to the top power-play unit around the same time, and has five power-play points since the move. If this usage holds, he could be a point-per-game player for the first time in his career.