Between the cap league skater and goalie rankings, as well as the free agency salary projections, this is the first of four days in a row where I'm publishing something on the site. Lots to look forward to as we roll towards the weekend.

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Victor Soderstrom was recalled after the Coyotes lost Troy Stetcher and Matt Dumba to injuries in recent days. He's likely going to continue to see third pair/second unit power play duties as was the case with his other recalls. He scored nine points (three on the power play) in 30 games last season, and we can likely expect more of the same, as has been the case with his AHL numbers remaining consistent over the last three seasons as well.

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A couple of items from the really late game on Monday. David Rittich lost a game, which is a surprise in recent weeks, but it was against the Sharks no less. Rittich has taken over the crease in LA, like Samuel Ersson (PHI), Alex Lyon (DET), Joey Daccord (SEA), and maybe even Nico Daws in New Jersey. With goalies you have to ride the hot-hand in season or you risk being left behind. Rittich is someone I am riding in a few leagues, and with goalies not often being traded at the deadline, it could just be internal hot hands cycled for the Kings.

The other note that I wanted to make was that Mario Ferraro was injured last night for the Sharks. Ferraro is a great own in multi-category leagues, so he will be missed by fantasy managers for that (though there is a potential replacement I name a little further down). With him out in the second half of the game, the team really relied on the Henry Thrun and Jan Rutta pairing, with them each seeing over 25 minutes in the game. There could be some volume here, though San Jose continues to stick with the five-forward power play unit, so that isn't a big factor.

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I had typed out the above yesterday even before the news of Carter Hart stepping away indefinitely was dropped, and now that we know he is gone for the foreseeable future, Ersson really does gain a ton of value. Cal Petersen was recalled from the AHL and will back-up Ersson but Petersen has been mediocre in the AHL this year, and was uninspiring in the NHL for two seasons prior to that. There isn't much risk of him stealing a lot of playing time from Ersson.

When I touched on him for a Ramblings guest spot at @DobberHockey on November 19th, Travis Sanheim had 16 points in his first 17 games.

Since then, 10 in 30 😬#LetsGoFlyers

— Ben Gehrels (@beegare) January 24, 2024

In part, it lines up with when Travis Sanheim was taken off of the top power play unit. Now with the addition of Jamie Drysdale on top of Cam York and Egor Zamula, there just isn't a lot of offence for Sanheim to soak up.

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While we're on the topic of goalies, the Leafs seem to have planned this Ilya Samsonov revival tour rather well. Martin Jones is struggling, and Joseph Woll is back skating. Regardless of how Samsonov plays over the next few games, either Samsonov plays his way back into the starter's role, or he leaves the door wide open for Woll to step right back in soon after the All-Star break.

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Rick Roos' monthly mailbag runs next week and he has room to answer plenty more questions. To get yours to him, you can either private message “rizzeedizzee” via the DobberHockey Forums or, instead, send an email to [email protected] with “Roos Mailbag” as the subject line.

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Montreal played last night's game with three "centres", rotating a cast of nine wingers around to flank Nick Suzuki, Jake Evans, and Sean Monahan. Not anything that is extremely actionable, but interesting nonetheless.

Something Habs related from yesterday that may be actionable for you is the news that Arber Xhekaj was summoned from the AHL. and notched his usual three hits and one block to go with two penalty minutes. No shots for him yesterday, but he was on the ice for two-and-a-half minutes of power play time, which is intriguing. He is the player that every fantasy GM wants Rasmus Ristolainen to become again (coincidentally who I dropped to add him yesterday).

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Just another run of the mill four-point night for Nikita Kucherov. He's on pace for 140 points, which would shatter his career-best of 128. The good news is that I think he can keep it up. Kucherov's shot rate is up to 4.2 per game, and the rest of his metrics are reasonable. We're watching a 55-goal season here.

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Dylan Holloway scored a point in each of his first two games up from the AHL – he had a late goal in the 4-1 win last night over Columbus. He's lining up like a bottom-six centre at the moment, which severely limits his upside this season, and does make one wonder how he's viewed by the current regime. Especially in the meantime while the team is winning games he is unlikely to see his role drastically change. If he can keep producing with limited ice time though, then it bodes well for his future value, but in one-year leagues he's not someone I'm holding onto much hope for.

Neither is Corey Perry for that matter, who will be a bottom-six player as well, and won't be any more valuable here than he was in Tampa – a sub-40-point bottom-six winger with some added PIMs.

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We had an unexpected recall of Owen Zellweger yesterday, who is someone that could be very fantasy relevant in the second half if he sticks in the NHL – though realistically that may only be as long as Pavel Mintyukov is out of the lineup.

Zellweger getting PP drills with Terry, Carlsson, McTavish and Carrick. https://t.co/fnPhPiOHlR

— Eric Stephens (@icemancometh) January 23, 2024

Regardless, it is fun to see Zellweger up at the NHL level, and between his talent and this kind of plum deployment, there's definitely some short-term value. He recorded a power play assist to notch his first point in his debut. Sam Carrick notably scored the power play goal, and he should be available in just about every league if you need some extra short-term power play production.

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The 2024 Dobber Hockey Midseason Fantasy Guide is out now! It has second-half projections, prospect updates, prospects that could make an appearance down the stretch, players on the trading block, and a whole lot more. Still very relevant, but only for a limited time. The clock is ticking to get your season back on track. Help support what we do by ordering a copy right here.

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Wyatt Johnston and Roope Hintz each put up three points last night, that's now seven points in five games for Johnston since being bumped up to the top line with Hintz and Jason Robertson. If he's not on your radar for a near-point-per-game rate in the second half of the season, then you're sleeping on the Star.

Joe Pavelski meanwhile has been bumped down with Jamie Benn and Sam Steel, but hasn't missed a beat with four points in five games, and 13 shots to go with it. His ice time is down by over a minute though – for a 39-year-old maybe that's a good thing, to keep him fresh for the playoffs.

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We always love first NHL goals.

WHAT A GOAL FROM SHELDON REMPAL FOR HIS FIRST NHL GOAL AND POINT! 🥳 pic.twitter.com/cdPknlrGGP

— Vegas Golden Knights (@GoldenKnights) January 24, 2024

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See you next Wednesday. In the meantime, you can find me on Twitter/X here, or BlueSky here if you have any fantasy hockey questions or comments.