It seemed really unfortunate that it wasn't long after Detroit got Patrick Kane in their lineup that Dylan Larkin took the cross-check and was injured. Detroit has been one of the better stories in the NHL over the first two months and seeing this team at full strength was something fantasy owners were looking forward to. In the Good News Department, Larkin was in a non-contact jersey at Detroit's morning skate:

Dylan Larkin on the ice for today's morning skate in gray non-contact jersey. Still on injured reserve. #RedWings pic.twitter.com/SuwCDQgvVj

— Ansar Khan (@AnsarKhanMLive) December 14, 2023

Coach Lalonde said after the skate that there's hope Larkin is back in the lineup before the Christmas break. The Red Wings have a four-game week next week including a home game against Anaheim on Monday so getting him back by then would be a boon for fantasy owners, though there's no official timeline for his return.

JT Compher was back skating for the Wings but didn't play. It does seem as if he should be back in the lineup soon, and likely on the second line behind Larkin.

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Calgary provided an update on injured players:

Chris Tanev (upper body) is back in Calgary being evaluated. Two-game home stand starts on Saturday.

Jacob Markstrom (finger) remains in Calgary as well. Has been skating by himself and most recently with the AHL Wranglers and is close to a return. #Flames https://t.co/J07KQmOaZ6

— Pat Steinberg (@Fan960Steinberg) December 14, 2023

It would be nice to see Markstrom back soon. He had regained his form after a few bad starts at the beginning of the season and had been a big reason why Calgary has remained anywhere close to a playoff spot.

With Chris Tanev out, it puts a lot more emphasis on the veterans on the roster like Noah Hanifin, MacKenzie Weegar (more on him later), and Rasmus Andersson. For anyone that is in a big pinch for multi-cat formats, Dennis Gilbert skated 20:26 and 15:47 in two games with Tanev out of the lineup. He had two assists, two shots, six hits, and five blocks in those games. Beggars can't be choosers.

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Sonny Milano was put on the injured reserve by Washington. He had just eight points in 23 games leading to the injury.

The timing is interesting as Max Pacioretty was back on the ice for Washington this week. He will needs weeks to get up to speed so Milano could return to the lineup by then, but things could line up for Pacioretty to easily be activated to the roster in a few weeks. We'll have to see how long this keeps Milano out.

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Both Jared Spurgeon and Jonas Brodin were out of the lineup for Minnesota's home game against Calgary on Thursday night. It has been a tough go for Spurgeon who started the season injured and now has had problems crop up again. This doesn't seem to be anything long-term as the team designated him as day-to-day, but we'll await further updates on his status.  

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Good injury news for Arizona:

C Jack McBain and D Sean Durzi are both on the ice early for Coyotes practice today at the Ice Den Scottsdale.
McBain has not played since sustaining a lower-body injury on Nov. 9 against the Blues in St. Louis. pic.twitter.com/i8IkIdKhmn

— Craig Morgan (@CraigSMorgan) December 14, 2023

Sean Durzi has been a revelation for the Coyotes and though his fantasy value hasn't been great, it's been good, and portends good things in seasons to come if he sticks around.

Nick Schmaltz was not at practice, though.

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St. Louis loaded their top line on Thursday night with the interim coach(es) in place as Pavel Buchnevich, Robert Thomas, and Jordan Kyrou were all on the top line. Kyrou was left on the second PP unit but just having that trio together at 5-on-5 would be nice to see, as a selfish fantasy owner.

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K'Andre Miller was back at Rangers practice on Thursday after missing their last couple of games due to a personal matter:

Miller is on the ice.

— Larry Brooks (@NYP_Brooksie) December 14, 2023

He would not commit to returning to the lineup for their Friday home game against Anaheim but it’s good to see him back with the team.

Miller has five goals and seven assists in 26 games, which is nice production for a guy that doesn't get much PP time. The peripherals (34 shots, 34 blocks, 24 hits) need some work for his multi-cat value, though.

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Seattle said that goalie Philipp Grubauer is week-to-week with an injury so it seems he won't be back until after the Christmas break at the earliest. Joey Daccord got another start on Thursday night, but their next three games after that are Los Angeles (x2) and Dallas. Maybe not the best time to stream him but, again, beggars can't be choosers.

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Jeff Skinner was put on IR after leaving Buffalo's game on Wednesday night. Not great news for a team scratching for a shot at the postseason and that just got Alex Tuch back.

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We had another wild game between Columbus and Toronto as the Blue Jackets got out to a 5-0 lead that they carried into the third period. Then Toronto reeled off five straight goals to tie the game 5-5 with the goalie pulled and send it to overtime. Truly one of the wildest periods of hockey I've ever witnessed. Columbus pulled out the OT win but that almost seems besides the point by then.

Kent Johnson played hero for Columbus, tallying his second goal and third point of the game by scoring the OT winner. That makes six points in seven games since getting called back up from the AHL so maybe he's found another gear?

Yegor Chinakhov and Justin Danforth each had a goal and an assist. Danforth had two shots, four blocks, and three hits. Danforth now has four points and 15 hits in his last seven games.

William Nylander had a goal and an assist on 10 shots while Mitch Marner had a goal and two assists. Since going pointless for three games, Nylander has 11 points over his last seven outings as his unreal season heats back up.

Patrik Laine seemed to injure his shoulder and left the game, not to return.

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Owen Tippett scored with fewer than three minutes left in Philadelphia's home matchup with Washington to tie the game 3-3, a win the Flyers would pull out in overtime. Tippett had three total shots and five hits, pushing his season totals to 10 goals, 98 shots, and 45 hits in 29 games. A pretty good multi-cat season for someone playing 15 minutes a night and producing little on the power play. Bobby Brink and Joel Farabee also scored.

Tom Wilson and Dylan Strome each had a goal and an assist while Connor McMichael also tallied while skating over 20 minutes in this one.

Evgeny Kuznetsov and Carter Hart were both game-time scratches with an illness.

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St. Louis's first game of the post-Berube era went to plan as they took a 4-2 win over Ottawa. Robert Thomas (2+1), Pavel Buchnevich (1+1), and Jordan Kyrou (0+1) were the top line for the Blues and carried the team to a win. Kyrou also had four shots and a pair of PIMs so not a bad fantasy night from him. Thomas now has 12 goals and 30 points in 29 games as his resurgent season continues.

Dominik Kubalik and Mathieu Joseph replied for the Sens. Joseph now has 18 points in 24 games, as many as he posted last year in 56 games as his solid season persists.

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Filip Gustavsson was stellar in net for Minnesota in the team's 3-2 shootout win over Calgary. He saved 35 of 37 in the win, and is now 5-1 in six starts with coach John Hynes behind the bench, managing a .950 save percentage.

Matt Boldy and Marco Rossi both scored for the Wild and that makes seven goals and nine points for Boldy over his last eight games. He did get over 17 minutes in ice time for the first time with the new coach, and this streak has seen him shoot 36.8%.

Yegor Sharangovich had a goal and an assist on four shots in the loss.

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Steven Stamkos had four goals in a wild 7-4 win for Tampa Bay over Edmonton that included empty netters from Stamkos and Anthony Cirelli. Nikita Kucherov had a goal and two assists as he's now reached the 50-point mark on the season with just 30 games played. He now has 20 goals, too, as he could score 50 this year.

Mikhail Sergachev had an assist, two shots, three blocks, and three hits in a very good multi-cat effort.

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (1+2) and Connor McDavid (1+1) both had multi-point nights for Edmonton while Zach Hyman scored once (PP) on seven shots.

Andrei Vasilevskiy saved 53 of 57 shots to hold the Oilers off just enough for the Lightning to take the two points.

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Thatcher Demko had a 36-save shutout for Vancouver as they took a 4-0 win over Florida. It was Demko's third shutout of the season and he's now carrying a .923 save percentage, by far the best mark for any goalie this season that has at least 20 starts. He has been phenomenal since returning from injury last season.

Dakota Joshua had a pair of tallies while Andrei Kuzmenko and Brock Boeser also scored. Boeser is now one goal behind Matthews for the league lead (23).

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Oliver Bjorkstrand had a goal and two assists while Kailer Yamamoto scored twice in Seattle's 7-1 demolishing of Chicago. Bjorkstrand is now on pace for 63 points, which would be a career-high for him. Jared McCann also scored once on two shots to push his season total to 14 tallies. He is pacing for 37, which is a bit off his mark from last year but not very far.

Arvid Soderblom was pulled in the third period after allowing his seventh goal on his 24^th shot faced. Perfect timing to pull your goalie.

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Yesterday's Ramblings handed out unique fantasy awards so far this year, focusing solely on forwards. Today's Ramblings will focus on both defensemen and goalies. Ready? Good.

The Johnny Boychuk Award

The nature of the position lends to a lot of defencemen being proficient in multi-cat formats. Not all of them are productive, though, and there was a time when Boychuk could be relied upon for 25-35 points while putting up over 300 hits+blocks and two shots per game. More goals in this era of the NHL leads to more points, but who is bringing the multi-cat value despite not having a top PP role? We'll factor in preseason draft slotting.

And the winner is… MacKenzie Weegar.

Heading into Thursday's games, there were three defencemen to manage at least two shots per game, 50 hits, and 50 blocks this season while posting at least 10 points. We could have Jacob Trouba here but having under two shots per game eliminated him.

Despite Calgary's struggles, Weegar is on pace for 48 points, 336 hits+blocks, and 209 shots. That is an unreal multi-cat season from a guy that was often taken outside the top-25 defencemen in multi-cat drafts.

The Kevin Shattenkirk Award

Once upon a time, Shattenkirk was the second fiddle to Alex Pietrangelo in St. Louis. Despite that, they often both managed 40-point seasons at the same time. Which defenceman had been the best second fiddle this season?

And the winner is…  Filip Hronek.

There really isn't a second choice here. We maybe could have gone with Jake Walman from Detroit but Hronek is a legitimate 70-point threat while posting over two shots and one block per game. He has been the biggest beneficiary (well, maybe Brock Boeser) of Vancouver's surge this season. It'll be interesting to see if he can maintain it over the next four months.

The Will Butcher Award

Power play points are power play points but sometimes it is really extreme and a player isn't bringing a whole lot else besides those PPPs. No slander intended to Butcher here, but he did have a rookie season where he had 23 PPPs out of 44 total points, and then he would never put up more than 30 points in a season again.

The funny part of this is that our winner is someone that fit this bill to a tee and we still all drafted him as if he might bring more. Anyway.

And the winner is… Shayne Gostisbehere.

Heading into Thursday night's game, Gostisbehere and Moritz Seider both have the same number of power play points (11). Seider had 15 more shots on goal, though, and nearly four times as many hits and blocked shots combined (118-30). Gostisbehere has been as advertised, and he's on a 63-point pace across 82 games, but 44 shots, 25 blocks, and five hits is very little in multi-cat formats. Hopefully there's more from him in those areas moving forward or else both Seider and Walman could end up the better options in nearly every format except points-only.