Hey there, it's Ian. I'm filling in for Cliffy today, who is receiving some much-needed vacation time.

Shayne Gostisbehere is expected to be out for a while and not just day-to-day, according to coach Rod Brind'Amour. Gostisbehere missed Saturday's showdown with New Jersey with an upper-body injury. He is a significant loss to the Canes offensively, especially on the power play. Only Cale Makar has more power-play points among defensemen than Ghost Bear (18 PPP).

Without Gostisbehere, Ty Smith was not only recalled from the AHL, but he was deployed on the top power play. Smith has 10 points in 13 games in the AHL this season, so he hasn't lost his scoring ability. Once a prospect of interest in fantasy leagues because of his offensive upside, Smith is now in his third organization, but he is not yet 25 years old. The Hurricanes play four games this week starting tonight against Columbus, so Smith might be worth taking a flier on in the hopes he can at least pick up a few points.

Brent Burns is another option for the Hurricanes' power play. With Smith perhaps a surprise addition to the top power play and not in a firm position there, you may want to hold off on dropping Burns (52% rostered in both Yahoo and Fantrax). Age-related decline and wear and tear appear to be finally hitting the nearly-40-year-old Burns, who is down to 12 points in 36 games and has just one power-play point.

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Jonathan Drouin is expected to return to the Avalanche lineup on Tuesday. Drouin has been out of the lineup for over a month with an upper-body injury. Already Band-Aid Boy Certified, Drouin has played in just five games this season. Drouin was on the top power-play in practice, with Ross Colton being bumped down to the second unit.  

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The Penguins have placed Jesse Puljujarvi on waivers. Puljujarvi had scored eight points in 21 games this season, although he has been a healthy scratch for most of this month. With a low cap hit of $800,000 and decent possession numbers even in a defensive role, several teams might have interest in him. He can be ignored in fantasy leagues, even if he ends up on a new team.

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Gabriel Vilardi scored two power-play goals just over a minute apart while taking five shots in the Jets' 3-0 win over Nashville on Monday. Vilardi has 12 points, including five goals, over his last seven games. He is also on pace to smash his career highs in goals (23) and points (41), which he would have done last season had he not been sidelined for nearly half the season. He is clearly benefitting from both top-line minutes with Mark Scheifele and Kyle Connor as well as first-unit power-play time. His 17 power-play points this season are already a career high.

Connor and Nikolaj Ehlers assisted on both of Vilardi's goals. Connor now has 15 points over his last seven games, while Ehlers has nine points over his last seven games.

Dylan DeMelo scored the Jets' other goal, which was his first goal of the season.

Connor Hellebuyck turned aside 22 shots in registering his league-leading fifth shutout of the season. Hellebuyck is the first goalie in NHL history to record three winning streaks of at least six games in a season before New Year's Day. He also has quality starts in eight consecutive games. At this point, he seems like the favorite to win the Vezina Trophy for the second consecutive season.

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In the Panthers' 5-3 win over the Rangers, Jesper Boqvist scored twice while taking four shots in 12:03 of icetime. Boqvist is on a bit of a roll recently, picking up four points in his last four games. That roll had been interrupted a bit by an upper-body injury that forced him to miss three games just before the holiday break. On Monday, Boqvist was moved onto a line with Carter Verhaeghe and Anton Lundell, so he might add to his scoring totals if he can remain there.

Sam Reinhart appears to be cooling off. Over his past three games, Reinhart has no points. As well, since December 7 (11 games), Reinhart has just three goals. This after scoring 19 goals over his first 27 games. During this slump (if you want to call it that), several players have either caught or passed Reinhart in the Rocket Richard goal race. After a season-plus of a much higher than normal scoring with a high shooting percentage, regression has finally caught up. Reinhart has also been held to two or fewer shots in each of his last seven games, which has also factored into his recent slide.

Chris Kreider scored a power-play goal and also contributed three shots and four hits, but he also finished with a minus-2. Kreider still has only one assist on the season, though. The Rangers have lost four in a row and have fallen to the bottom of the Metropolitan Division, and Kreider has been in the middle of trade rumors.

I'll be honest: I've seriously thought about dropping Kreider in one league, though I haven’t pulled the trigger yet. He might be waiting for a trade to rekindle his motivation, and that's what it might take for his season to get back on track. However, the next move for the Rangers might be a coaching change, which I thought they would have taken care of by now. What we do know is that Kreider has lost a ton of fantasy value this season. The vibes are so bad around the Rangers that any lack of production seems to go beyond a stat correction issue. Kreider has also stated he is dealing with back issues.

Those rostering Kreider's linemate Mika Zibanejad are having a similar issue, as Zibanejad is now without a point in eight consecutive games. Currently, Zibanejad is on pace for 48 points, which would be his lowest total since 2014-15, which occurred during his days with the Ottawa Senators. Perhaps you don't put much stock into plus-minus, but Zibanejad is a team-worst minus-22 (the next lowest total on the Rangers is minus-14). Just two seasons removed from a 91-point campaign, Zibanejad seems like a player who could benefit from a fresh start somewhere else. Like Kreider, Zibanejad might even be droppable in shallower leagues.

The Kreider/Zibanejad unit is getting caved in right now, as they were 36.4% in shot attempts for on Monday and have been 40.9% in shot attempts for over their last 10 games. Something isn't clicking right now. Unfortunately, the production with other linemates for both doesn't paint a much better picture.

One more cold Ranger is Alexis Lafreniere, who is without a point in six games and without a goal in 10 games.

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Jaden Schwartz is feeling good about his game right now. Fresh off a two-goal third period against Vancouver on Saturday, Schwartz scored a goal and added two assists in the Kraken's 5-2 win over Utah. Schwartz now has five points, a plus-5, and 10 shots over his last two games. On top of that, Schwartz had another goal in the first period called back due to offside. Among the large group of Seattle middle-six forwards, Schwartz has stood out recently to the point where you can at least consider him as a streaming option.

After being held without a goal for 19 consecutive games, Matty Beniers now has goals in back-to-back games.

Kaapo Kakko picked up two assists while taking five shots on Monday. The assists were his first in five games in a Kraken uniform.  

Matias Maccelli, who took a step forward last season with 57 points last season, has been held without a point in his last 11 games. He also has just one point in his last 19 games and has been held without a goal in his last 22 games. Even with the same linemates in Nick Bjugstad and Lawson Crouse from last season, maybe the move from Arizona to Utah hasn't agreed with him.

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Jaromir Jagr update:

52-year-old Jaromir Jagr lost some teeth in his Czech Extraliga match—but still managed an assist and logged nearly 15 minutes of ice time in a 4-2 comeback win. 🏒💪 #TotallySustainable pic.twitter.com/23Fzp9rJ6G

— Dobber (@DobberHockey) December 31, 2024

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Today is a busy one for hockey. You'll finish the year 2024 with the Winter Classic between St. Louis and Chicago at Wrigley Field, as well as the Canada/United States World Junior game. Keep in mind that NHL games start early today (12:30 pm ET/9:30 am PT, which is just after breakfast for me) because it's New Year's Eve. Make sure your lineup is set on time so there are no surprises!

While on the subject of NYE, I'll take the time to wish you a Happy New Year! I hope the coming year brings you happiness and good fortune. Thanks for taking the time to visit Dobber Hockey.

Don't forget about the Midseason Guide, which will be ready on January 16. Since the Canadian dollar is taking a hit relative to the US dollar, and since the e-commerce site charges products in US dollars, Dobber has been kind enough to provide a coupon code for 10% off.

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Follow me on X @Ian_Gooding and Threads @goodsfantasyhockey