In case you missed it, the Midseason Guide is now available! You'll find second-half projections by team in the PDF guide and on a downloadable spreadsheet, upsides, analysis, goalie situations, trade deadline breakdowns, advanced stats, prospects information, our usual NCAA and European free agents to watch, and much more. Head over to the Dobber Sports Store, or check your Downloads if you pre-purchased it.

Because compiling this guide is no small task, I'll take the time to send out some thank you's for making my job of facilitating and editing the guide easier.

The Dobber writers: Mike Clifford, Alex MacLean, Brennan DeSouza, Grant Campbell, TJ Branson, and Ryan Brudner for significant team-by-team contributions throughout the guide. Having written some of these myself in the past, I know how time-consuming these can be. Your research was vital to this project.

The Dobber Prospects team led by Peter Harling, who organized the prospects writing team of Pat Quinn, Ben Gehrels, Puneet Sharma, Aaron Itovitch, and James Iacovone. It's great to have eyes on the non-NHL games.

Finally, to Mario Prata for organizing the master document that you purchase, and Dobber for organizing the master Excel spreadsheet and his overall patience and support while I try not to fall way behind. And of course, you the reader for your continued loyalty. Hopefully I haven't forgotten anyone.

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I haven't forgotten about the Roto Rankings as well – I just haven't had the bandwidth to update them with everything going on with the Midseason Guide. Expect the rankings to be updated later this month. Of course, your feedback is welcomed. I'll remember to include Brandon Hagel this time too.

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A day after Dobber advised me to add John Klingberg to the Midseason Guide in some way, shape, or form to the Edmonton and Toronto sections, Klingberg has signed a one-year contract with the Oilers. Good call Dobber! As mentioned in the Midseason Guide, Klingberg fills a need for the Oilers because he is a right-shot defenseman who can be paired with Darnell Nurse and help the power play.

For more on the signing, read the Fantasy Take from Cliffy. My personal opinion: I probably won't rush to the waiver wire to add Klingberg in any league, given the uncertainty with his hip and him likely needing some time to get back up to NHL speed. Keep in mind that he last played a game on November 11, 2023.  I'll say he plays 30 games and picks up 14 points, so just under a half point per game.  

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In the Penguins' 5-2 win over Buffalo, Cody Glass, Bryan Rust, and Alex Nedeljkovic led the way with a goal and an assist each. Yes, Alex Nedeljkovic the goalie – that is not a typo. Nedeljkovic is now the first goalie in NHL history to be credited with both a goal and an assist in the same game. He has also scored FOUR goals in professional hockey: two in the AHL, one in the ECHL, and now one in the NHL. Hopefully someone out there started Nedeljkovic in a league that counts goals and assists for goalies (and good on your commissioner for including those categories!)

ALEX NEDELJKOVIC GOALIE GOAL! 🤩 pic.twitter.com/VY3nmoV2jF

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) January 18, 2025

As for the goaltending side of things, Nedeljkovic made 40 saves in the win. All in all, an amazing night for a goalie who has been on the below-average side of the goaltending ledger (-6.29 GSAA). Yet with Tristan Jarry being sent down to the AHL yesterday, Nedeljkovic's fantasy value stands to improve with more volume, as his new tandem partner is rookie Joel Blomqvist. It's been quite the news week for Penguins' goalies, hasn't it? For more detailed analysis of the Penguins' goalie situation, including our estimation of the split of starts for the rest of the season, check out the Midseason Guide.

Rust now has goals in back-to-back games along with seven points in his last five games.

Matt Grzelcyk picked up two power-play assists, which were his first points in five games. Surprisingly, Grzelcyk and not Erik Karlsson or Kris Letang is the defenseman on the Penguins' top power play. (Letang did not play on Friday due to illness.) This power-play role gives him additional value that was not expected before the season. Grzelcyk is also logging a career-high 20 minutes per game, demonstrating a solid fit with the Penguins. Too bad they signed him for only one year. Grzelcyk is rostered in only 6 percent of Yahoo leagues, so look for him if you need scoring help on your defense.

In a losing cause for the Sabres, Zach Benson led the way with a goal and an assist.

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In the only other game of the night, Seth Jarvis scored a pair of goals to lead the Hurricanes to a 3-2 win over Vegas. Jarvis now has six goals over his past seven games, and he is on a similar scoring pace (0.85 PTS/GP) compared to last season.

Playing on Jarvis's line, Jordan Martinook assisted on both of Jarvis's goals. Martinook now has five points in his past five games, although that is due to a three-assist effort back on January 9.

Earlier in the day, the Hurricanes activated Frederik Andersen from IR. Andersen backed up Pyotr Kochetkov in Friday's game, while Dustin Tokarski sent back to AHL. Andersen has been injured so often the past few seasons, so it's hard to trust him. He played in only 16 games played last season and has appeared in only four games this season. However, he's had a sub-2.00 GAA both this season and last, proving he's very effective when healthy. You just have to have the IR roster spot for him and just consider any contribution from him a bonus as opposed to an expectation.

Tomas Hertl scored one of Vegas's goals, giving him six points over his last four games.

With an assist on Friday, Pavel Dorofeyev now has seven points over his last three games.

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Maxim Tsyplakov has been suspended three games for an illegal check to the head of Ryan Poehling during a game on Thursday. Tsyplakov will be eligible to return on Saturday January 25 against Carolina after sitting out today's (Saturday's) game as well as games on Monday and Friday (rematch against Philadelphia) next week. Poehling is expected to miss today's (Saturday's) game.

For the Islanders, Simon Holmstrom (upper body) could return to the lineup on Saturday and take Tsyplakov's place on one of the scoring lines.

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Simon Nemec has reportedly expressed unhappiness in playing in the AHL. This makes sense, as Nemec played 60 games with the Devils last season but has been held to nine NHL games this season. Injuries have had something to do with that, as Dougie Hamilton and Jonas Siegenthaler were out for extended periods of time last season and are back in the lineup this season. The plan may have been for Nemec to play in the AHL last season until the injuries took place.  

To explain the Devils' situation, I'll grab this quote from the Midseason Guide: "Between Nemec, Seamus Casey, Luke Hughes, and Anton Silayev, the Devils have an excess of young defensemen to dangle for that impact forward. Whoever gets moved eventually (and it won’t be Hughes) will see their stock rise with the sudden drop in competition." Maybe that guy is Nemec. It would make sense for the Devils to add a forward for the playoffs. J.T. Miller?

There's some smoke out there that the Devils are really kicking the tires on JT Miller.

— Cam Robinson (@Hockey_Robinson) January 17, 2025

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Speaking of Miller and his buddy Elias Pettersson, I projected second-half improvements for both, although not quite at a point-per-game level for either. Thursday's lackluster performance from both (particularly Miller) has me already second-guessing that prediction. Since December 12 (the date Miller returned from his leave of absence), Pettersson has just three points in 11 games (split up by injury in late December/early January). As for Miller, he is without a point in his last five games. Since his return date, Miller has goals in just one of 17 games (a two-goal game on January 6). But if you're a glass-half-full person (and not many are when it comes to the Canucks), Miller has 13 points in his last 17 games.

As a guy who watches the Canucks more than any other team, how do I think this gets resolved? I'd have to assume Miller is the one who gets traded, and it seems more likely that it will happen before the deadline than it did when the news first surfaced. Pettersson would fetch more because he is younger, but there is more risk in trading him unless the Canucks really desire a massive shakeup. As for one or both bouncing back, it should only get better from here… you would hope. A fresh start could help with that too.

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A total of 30 teams are playing on Hockey Day in Canada, so it's a busy one with some start/sit decisions to make. To help you with those decisions, go to the Schedule Planner on Frozen Tools and GoaliePost for the latest starting goalie news.

Follow me on X @Ian_Gooding and Threads @goodsfantasyhockey