I'm going to cut right to the chase here. If you need goaltending help, go kick the tires on Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen. UPL has posted back-to-back shutouts this week and has five wins and five quality starts in his last six games. I know, I know… the shutouts were against bottom feeders San Jose and Chicago, and he faced only 19 shots against the Blackhawks on Thursday. But he receives credit for the shutouts regardless of the opponent. As well, Luukkonen has a 1.17 GAA and .956 SV% over those six games. He was something like 24% rostered in Yahoo leagues when I added him Thursday morning. Now he's up to 36%, so he's going fast.

It's clear that 6K has taken over the Buffalo net with his recent play, forcing Devon Levi into a backup role. I think the better scenario for the Sabres would be to send the 22-year-old Levi to the AHL for more playing time and promote Eric Comrie to be the backup. The best short-term solution to get back into the playoff chase, and the best long-term solution for goalie development. Since being sent to the AHL in early January, Comrie has two wins and a shutout in three games.  

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Jared Spurgeon will miss the rest of the regular season with multiple injuries. Spurgeon will undergo hip surgery in early February and back surgery in early March. He is expected to be ready for training camp in September.

Spurgeon's absence will hurt the Wild, who are trying to climb back into a Western Conference playoff spot. However, Brock Faber should continue to benefit with high overall minutes and top power-play usage as he makes a run at the Calder Trophy. Since Spurgeon has a $7.575 million cap hit that they can hide on LTIR, don't be surprised if Minnesota acquires another defenseman.

Another defenseman who could benefit from Spurgeon's absence is Jake Middleton. In the Wild's 7-3 loss to Tampa Bay, the mustached Middleton figured on all three goals with a goal and two assists. Don't expect Middleton to be a huge point producer, and he only sees trace amounts of power-play time. He still has multicategory value as a top-20 in combined hits and blocked shots (173 HIT+BKS) as well as penalty minutes, hits, and blocked shots (214 PIM+HIT+BKS). Middleton finished Thursday's game with four hits but zero PIM or BKS.

Like Luukkonen, I also got lucky with Middleton in adding him on Thursday morning. His peripheral categories were of interest to me, as was the fact that the Wild play three games in the last four days of the week.

In the Lightning's win against Minnesota, Anthony Cirelli broke a six-game point drought and a 13-game goal drought with two goals and an assist. Victor Hedman finished with a goal and three assists, while Brayden Point and Nikita Kucherov also chipped in three points.

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While Josh Norris is sidelined, Ridly Greig has made the most of his promotion to a scoring line. Greig assisted on Brady Tkachuk's goal, giving him six points over his last five games. Greig has been on a line with Tkachuk and Claude Giroux, which is where Norris had been before his injury. Norris might return on either Saturday or Sunday, so Greig's spike in value could be short-lived. Still, I added Greig to one of my keeper teams earlier this season as he was off to a strong start (7 PTS in his first 8 GP). His value is better if his linemates are better, although he's only 21 years old and playing in his first full NHL season.

Tim Stutzle led the Sens with three points. He now has seven points over his last three games, including a three-point and a four-point game. He's a strong bet to improve on his first-half production, which was around the point-per-game mark.

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Between injuries and declining production, T.J. Oshie has been a shadow of his former self this season. However, the now 37-year-old Oshie has provided glimpses of the past recently, recording a hat trick with five shots in the Capitals' win over St. Louis on Thursday.

Oshie now has points in four consecutive games with goals in three of his past four games. He has also been firing the puck, averaging four shots over the last five games since returning from injury. Oshie is back on the top power play, where a sizeable chunk of his points has come from throughout his career. I have my doubts about his ability to put up points (just three assists) and stay healthy long term, but you could add him while he's hot anyway.

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Oshie's hat trick wasn't the only one around the league on Thursday, with the two other hat tricks from players that you'd expect. David Pastrnak and Auston Matthews each scored three goals in their teams' respective wins. Matthews leads the Rocket Richard race with 37 goals, while Pastrnak is currently third with 29 goals.

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Jamie Drysdale returned to the Flyers' lineup on Thursday after a two-game absence due to illness. Both he and Travis Sanheim logged over half of the Flyers' available power-play minutes, while Egor Zamula received the equivalent of second-unit minutes. Drysdale seems the most likely to keep that spot long term, although Philly's power play is still at the bottom of the league at a low 12.6% conversion rate.

Owen Tippett scored a pair of goals in Thursday's win over Dallas. He's been holding a hot stick recently with six goals in his last six games. Since January 1, only Pastrnak and Nathan MacKinnon have taken more shots than Tippett, who is averaging nearly five shots per game. Tippett took five shots on Thursday after taking 10 shots on Monday. Tippett isn't always scoring, but at least he's regularly rosterable in multicategory leagues because of his high shot and hit totals.

Here's Tippett's second goal. Not too shabby.

OWEN TIPPETT ARE YOU KIDDING 😱 pic.twitter.com/3R9O3OxpzJ

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— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) January 19, 2024

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Warren Foegele scored a pair of goals while taking five shots on goal on Thursday. Although the scoring hasn't always been consistent, Foegele has at least been on Leon Draisaitl's line for a good chunk of the season. Foegele's career high over six semi-full seasons is 30 points, and he's on pace to finish with 46 points this season. Some of Draisaitl's magic has been rubbing off on Foegele, who is averaging over two shots per game for the first time in his career. Spoiler alert: The Oilers have a high volume of games during fantasy playoff weeks, which could make Foegele a solid waiver-wire pickup if he remains on the Draisaitl line.

Speaking of Draisaitl, he finished Thursday's game against Seattle with a goal and three assists. Draisaitl is starting to play like the high first-round pick he was drafted as in fantasy leagues, scoring 10 goals over his last 13 games (great for the Tim Horton's challenge… he's helped me earn free coffee) after starting the season with 12 goals in his first 28 games. The Oilers have a 12-game winning streak, so Draisaitl's increased goal volume is having an effect. Draisaitl also has goals in three consecutive games and seven points over his last three games.

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Jonathan Huberdeau, waiver wire pickup? With a pair of assists on Thursday, Huberdeau now has eight points over his last six games. Yes, that seems to be the basic criteria for recommending adding any player, let alone a slumping former 100-point scorer. Huberdeau has even been back on the first-unit power play for the past few games, and he even logged over 21 minutes on Thursday.

Despite the loss to the Leafs, the Flames have been playing better of late with four consecutive wins entering Thursday's game. The Flames need to make it work with Huberdeau and his contract, so expect him to receive a long look with the best deployment. He's down to being rostered in around 40% of Yahoo leagues, so now might be the time to grab him. Despite a nasty dry spell in December (0 PTS in 12 GP), there's still a very high ceiling.

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Injury update for the Golden Knights:

Jack Eichel underwent knee surgery recently and is expected to miss the next four to six weeks.

Shea Theodore is expected to remain sidelined for another three to four weeks.

William Karlsson might be available in early February following the All-Star break.

For injury news and other player news, check out the news page on Frozen Tools.  

Regarding the Golden Knights, Ivan Barbashev scored a pair of goals in their 5-1 win over the Rangers. Barbashev had been held without a point in his previous seven games. If you've moved on, keep in mind that the Eichel injury has allowed Barbashev more power-play time, as he has averaged at least 45% of Vegas's available minutes over the past five games while his season average is just over 30%. Barbashev also provides plenty of hits, so he's a better option in multicategory leagues than he is in pure scoring leagues.

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