For the first time all season, the Canucks had a healthy core, with Elias Pettersson, J.T. Miller, Brock Boeser, Quinn Hughes, Filip Hronek, and Thatcher Demko all in the lineup together. The Canucks proceeded to start Kevin Lankinen, so we still have yet to see a game with everyone. However, they came out flat, and Winnipeg walked all over them. The game was over by the 14-minute mark of the first period, with Kyle Connor already having recorded a hat-trick. 

The game finished 6-0, and you have to wonder how much worse things get for Vancouver before they left. Nils Hoglander scored a meaningless goal midway through the third to prevent Connor Hellebuyck from notching what would have been his league leading seventh shutout.

The Canucks now have only four goals across their previous three games, and only one win in their previous six.

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If there's a goalie that has faced a tougher gauntlet to start their career than Jakub Dobes then I'm not aware of it. His first three starts have all been road games, beginning with shutting out the defending Stanley Cup Champions (Florida), then allowing one goal in a shootout win over a top team boasting the League's leading scorer (Colorado), and then most recently outlasting the top team in the league (Washington) in overtime.

Dobes has been fantastic at every level over the last number of years, be it the NAHL, USHL, NCAA, or the AHL, where this season he sports a 9-3-1 record (the team is 12-7-2 without him). As the Canadiens look like they belong in the playoff wildcard race, Dobes might end up stealing starts as well as being a reasonable bet for a win on any given night. 

He might get the upcoming road game against the Stars. Backups often play in the road games when all else is equal, as the games are worth only two points in the race to the playoffs, as opposed to a four-point spread when playing someone in your own conference.

Samuel Montembeault got the start last night though, faring reasonably well and coming out with the win. In the meantime he's getting the lion's share of the volume. Cole Caufield scored his 24^th of the season which turned out to be the game winner, and Lane Hutson assisted on three of the Habs' markers.

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On Monday night Rory Kerins made about the best impact that you can ask for in your debut. He recorded two assists in 15 minutes of ice time, recorded two shots, one block, and was a plus three on the night, earning Third-Star honors. The Flames also gave him some second-unit power play time and didn't just feed him sheltered offensive zone starts at even strength. Over his last few seasons across the OHL, ECHL, and AHL, Kerins has been a point-per-game player everywhere and adapted very quickly to the new levels. He could be a rosterable fantasy player for the longer term as soon as next season. In the meantime, he's a streamer consideration, but with Calgary playing only two games over the next seven days, you can leave him in the FA pile for now.

His second game was a bit disappointing after the bar was set so high in game one. This time around he recorded just one hit in 11 minutes of ice time. Such is the life of most NHL rookies. 

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The 2024-25 Dobber Hockey Midseason Fantasy Guide is set to release later this week! My section has been sent in for review, looking at so is on the trade block for each team (with some special attention towards upcoming free agents) and what impacts the trade roles might have. The guide is available for pre-order right now, and is set to release on Thursday, January 16th. Don’t be late!

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John Marino made his season (and Utah) debut, going plus-one with no other notable stats in the 5-3 loss while seeing 18 minutes of ice time. He won’t be hugely fantasy relevant, but should really help the goalies, as well as taking some of the heavier minutes away from the younger defencemen. 

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Leevi Merilainen posted another shutout, for his second in four days to go along with three wins in that span. When you’re hot, you’re hot! 

He’s a 22-year-old goalie, that has put up good but not excellent AHL numbers the last two years, and is likely still a couple years away from a full-time NHL role. As an injury fill-in for the short term, ride the wave, but he’s not suddenly a top-tier goalie prospect. The guys closer to full-time jobs like Erik Portillo, Justus Annunen, Dennis Hildeby, Joshua Dobes, and others should still be ranked ahead of Merilainen. 

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The mid-season rankings for the 2025 Upper Deck #NHLDraft are out.No. 1 North American Skater: Matthew SchaeferNo. 1 International Skater: Victor EklundDetails: https://media.nhl.com/public/news/18557

— NHL Public Relations (Bot) (@notprnhl.bsky.social) 2025-01-14T16:30:06.282Z

The mid-season rankings from NHL Central Scouting are always fun to take a gander at. My feeling this year from all that I have seen and read about these prospects is that there are four top-of-the-lineup players in Matthew Schaefer, Michael Misa, James Hagens, and Porter Martone. After that, it opens up into another tier that runs to about the 10-12 range, for players that could be first line guys, or maybe will fill into that top-six forward, top-four defence kind of role. It feels a little shallower than the average year, but that top group of four makes up for a lack of depth with the immediate star power. All four of them could end up making the just straight to the NHL in the fall. 

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With Dylan Guenther on the shelf, Josh Doan has been called up and has stepped right into Guenther's footprint. The soon-to-be 23-year-old has been seeing some top-power play usage, which led to a goal last night, and there could be plenty more in store. At even strength he's been seeing some offensive deployment with Mattias Maccelli and Barrett Hayton, with the line putting up the best Corsi numbers on the team for each of their first two games together. He had nine points in 11 games to close out last year, so the offence is coming. 

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Sean Monahan is going to be wearing a brace on his wrist for the next two weeks before having his injury re-evaluated. That means he could possibly return before the Four-Nations faceoff break, but it seems like it would be more beneficial to the player and the team in the long run to give Monahan at least that extended break, which would mean another month from today out of the lineup. 

Zach Werenski kept the team chugging along though, as he retakes the league lead in goals by a defenceman with 15. Now two ahead of Cale Makar.

I'm wondering whether the Sean Monahan injury opens the door for a Gavin Brindley appearance. He won't take over Monahan's centre role, but his scoring touch could help at least cover some of the missing skill with Monahan out. Keep an eye on his as a possible streamer over the coming weeks. 

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John Klingberg is closing in on resuming his NHL career. Toronto, Ottawa and Edmonton among the teams with expressed interest. A decision expected in next 2 weeks. Klingberg had hip resurfacing surgery in 2023 and has worked hard to get to this point. 5-7 teams in the mix.

— Darren Dreger (@DarrenDreger) January 14, 2025

John Klingberg could be a possible watch list guy, or speculative add for those of you in deeper leagues, but I'm very skeptical that this comeback is going to produce a real fantasy asset. Players similar to Klingberg have faded out fast, like Tyson Barrie, Justin Schultz, and Torey Krug. Players who have had similar hip injuries and surgeries generally have not returned to perform well. Patrick Kane is the only fantasy relevant player to have had a real impact after. It does sound like Klingberg is taking the same recovery road as Kane, and working with the same teams, but I still have plenty of reservations. 

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Scheduling note: only Buffalo and Carolina play on both the Wednesday and Friday this week, as both are very light days (two games each). Those are the only two games those teams play this week, with no games on the weekend. However, they both have back-to-back games Monday/Tuesday of next week. Some quirky scheduling going on. 

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Evgeni Dadonov has been on a big hot streak since Christmas, with 10 points in 10 games, though at almost 36 years old this isn’t QB bsustainable in the long term. However, as long as Mason Marchment is out, and Dadonov is playing in the top-six, then you can hold onto him. Marchment is due back at the end of January, so you have a couple more weeks to milk this waiver stream. 

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Leo Carlsson is someone that I was higher on coming into the season, but he's really taken a step back as a sophomore. Now plenty of players do take this step back as they begin to emerge from a more sheltered role. 

Comparing Carlsson's rookie season to this one, his deployment has relatively been the same, but the results haven't been there. His ice time and shot rate is down, while most of the underlying percentages are similar. There is some bad luck, though part of it is also just a big step down in linemate talent. 

As a rookie he was played alongside one of Troy Terry or Trevor Zegras who could help him create offence, but this year he’s been stapled to Alex Killorn and Brett Leason. Maybe that’s why Anaheim is only shooting a paltry five percent with Carlsson on the ice. 

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Heineman was involved in a traffic accident according to the Canadiens. He was a pedestrian. He will be out 3-4 weeks with an upper body injury.

— Brian Wilde (@bwildemtl.bsky.social) 2025-01-14T15:55:44.607Z

A scary situation that could have been a lot worse. Wishing Heineman a speedy recovery. He has taken a good step forward this year, pacing for 34 points as a bottom-six winger who has already cracked the 100 Hit plateau in only 41 games. Hopefully he doesn't lose his momentum as a result of the injury. 

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For those of you with access to NHL games via a viewing platform or radio, this coming Monday January 20th is going to be your last working afternoon with any NHL games on for the season.

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