Miro Heiskanen is being listed as week-to-week after taking a hit to his knee from Mark Stone in Tuesday's game. Heiskanen has also been ruled out for the 4 Nations Face-Off in mid-February, which means that the earliest he would likely return would be later in February – nearly a month from now. But because of the length of the 4 Nations, Heiskanen won’t actually miss as many games as a player normally would (assuming this is not a season-ending injury). One positive about the 4 Nations is that it could give numerous players a much-needed break to rest various ailments – at least those players not participating in the tournament.

After some so-so production earlier in the season, Heiskanen had picked up assists in five consecutive games. Thomas Harley's production (23 PTS in 48 GP) hasn't been any better than Heiskanen's (25 PTS in 50 GP), and Harley has just one point in his last seven games. However, Harley logged 27 minutes on Tuesday, and he stands to accrue more icetime, particularly on the power play. Harley is rostered in nearly all Yahoo and Fantrax leagues, so we can't recommend him as a waiver-wire pickup. If you've been thinking about dropping him, you may want to hang on just a little bit longer.

If you're wondering about Nils Lundkvist, he was recently placed on IR with an upper-body injury.

–

Time for an "outjury," as Keeping Karlsson likes to say. Charlie McAvoy returned to the Bruins' lineup on Thursday from an upper-body injury. McAvoy finished without a point with a minus-3 in 21:41 of icetime, but he was on the top power play. You're free to drop Mason Lohrei, who was on the top power play in McAvoy's absence. Lohrei picked up four points in seven games (1 PPP) while McAvoy was out.

In the Jets' 6-2 win over Boston, Mark Scheifele scored a pair of goals. Only Leon Draisaitl has more goals than Scheifele (31) this season. Hot on Scheifele's heels is Kyle Connor, who was the third player to reach 30 goals this season. Not surprisingly, the trio of Scheifele, Connor, and Gabriel Vilardi is the most productive even-strength line combination this season, according to Frozen Tools.

–

While we're on the topic of defensemen, let's discuss the Kings' situation. Drew Doughty playing his second game of the season following a return from injury meant that Brandt Clarke was a healthy scratch for the second consecutive game. Clarke was one of the top early-season waiver-wire pickups with 15 points (6 PPP) over his first 23 games. However, that production has cooled off since then with nine points in his next 24 games, including just one power-play point.

That being said, Clarke may return to the lineup soon, as the Kings have scored a grand total of ZERO goals since Doughty returned to the lineup. In addition, Mikey Anderson left Thursday's game with an upper-body (possibly hand) injury. Hold on for another day or two if you can (although I've already dropped Clarke in one league).

On Wednesday night, Sergei Bobrovsky shut out the Kings. On Thursday night, it was Andrei Vasilevskiy, who stopped all 28 shots to pick up his third shutout of the season.

For the Bolts, Brandon Hagel led the way with two goals, an assist, a plus-3, and seven shots on goal. The goals were Hagel's first in nine games.

–

Alex Ovechkin finished with a goal, two assists, and seven shots on Thursday. He'd been held without a point in his previous two games, although he has taken 18 shots over his last three games. He wants that goal record.

Alex Ovechkin with an absolute SNIPE from the blue line 🎯

He's now only 19 goals away from the record! 🚨 pic.twitter.com/P8sSFyD6NA

— TSN (@TSN_Sports) January 31, 2025

Ovechkin assisted on both of linemate Dylan Strome's two goals. After being held pointless in six games, Strome now has goals in back-to-back games. He was due for regression after busting out of the game with 31 points in his first 22 games, and he has dipped below the point-per-game mark again. Strome still has a higher-than-expected PDO (1045) and secondary assist percentage (44.1%), so he seems more likely to finish under a point per game.

In the Senators' 5-4 overtime win over Washington, Josh Norris led the way with a penalty-shot goal, two assists, plus-3, and 14-for-20 in the faceoff circle.  

–

Late Thursday, Calgary and Philadelphia hooked up on a trade. The Flames are adding Morgan Frost and Joel Farabee to their forward group while sending Jakob Pelletier, Andrei Kuzmenko, a second-round pick, and a seventh-round pick to Philly.

This deal addresses both short- and long-term needs for the Flames. They add two forwards that can help them now with secondary scoring as they push toward an unexpected playoff spot. As well, both forwards are only around 25 years of age and are under team control for one more year (Frost) and three more years (Farabee). They don't deviate from the Flames' preseason plan of retooling and getting younger.

The Flames must be feeling good right now, winning 4-1 over Anaheim and leapfrogging Vancouver for the final playoff spot in the West. Matt Coronato registered a natural hat trick, with the goals being his first points in five games. Coronato has increased his shooting volume recently with 16 shots over his past four games.

–

Meanwhile for the Flyers, Matvei Michkov played just 8:30, which was the lowest total on the team. Of course this was John Tortorella's decision, although Michkov has been held without a point in his last five games. After a strong start to his rookie season with 27 points in his first 27 games, Michkov has just seven points in his last 24 games. You won't want to drop him in keeper leagues, but you can at least consider looking elsewhere in single-season leagues. There are certainly coaches that are more suited to coaching a player like Michkov than Tortorella is. Maybe Kuzmenko will be the Michkov whisperer. Or maybe Tortorella will bench them both.

Ilya Sorokin stopped all 23 shots he faced in the Islanders' 3-0 win over Philadelphia. The shutout is Sorokin's third of the season.

I have something to say about each of the Islanders' three goal scorers in this game.

Simon Holmstrom now has four goals in his past five games. Holmstrom is now quietly on a 51-point 82-game pace (although he has missed seven games).

Marc Gatcomb scored his first career NHL goal in his seventh career game. As mentioned in the most recent Geek of the Week, Gatcomb leads the league in Hits/60 (among players who have played at least two games). In other words, Gatcomb has averaged just over five hits per game. If you need a short-term hits streamer, he might be your guy. It's possible that he is sent back to the AHL soon, as he was recalled under emergency conditions. Gatcomb is at least doing everything possible to get noticed at the NHL level.

Kyle Palmieri scored his first goal in 15 games. He has picked it up in the assist department recently with five assists over his last seven games. Yet since Mathew Barzal returned from injury in mid-December, Palmieri has been moved off the top power play.

The Tony DeAngelo icetime tracker: 25:07, 22:11, and now 28:14 on Thursday. Meanwhile, Scott Perunovich has logged 18:52 and 17:53 in his two games with the Islanders. Perunovich has an assist in each of his two games, but TDA has the upper-hand with the power-play time. While Noah Dobson is out, both could hold short-term value.

–

Bravo, Marc-Andre Fleury. The veteran goalie made 19 saves in earning his first shutout of the season. This is more of a feel-good story than one with major fantasy implications, although Fleury is a still a dependable streamer in net that is a strong bet to pick up a win (11-5-1 this season).

Marc-Andre Fleury shuts out the Canadiens in his final start in his home province 👏

All Habs players and coaches stayed out to give Flower their respect. pic.twitter.com/9P7qr5IJfn

— TSN (@TSN_Sports) January 31, 2025

Frederick Gaudreau and Marco Rossi each picked up a goal and an assist in the Wild's win over Montreal. Gaudreau now has five points in his last four games, while Rossi has six points in his last four games.

–

In Carolina's 3-2 win over Chicago, Mikko Rantanen scored his first goal as a member of the Hurricanes. Rantanen now has a goal and an assist in the three games with his new team. He has also taken 13 shots over those three games, which is a good sign.

Sebastian Aho missed Thursday's game due to illness, so Jack Roslovic moved up to center Rantanen and Jackson Blake.

–

John Klingberg made his Oilers debut on Thursday, logging 16:39 while being held without a point with one shot. No power-play time though. Klingberg may need time to get his game legs back, as he last played a game over 14 months ago, on November 11, 2023. You might have to look elsewhere for instant gratification.

If you think you've been watching more games with lower shot totals this season, the Edmonton-Detroit game was a throwback. Final shots were 47-35 in favor of the Oilers. Dylan Larkin and Leon Draisaitl took 10 shots each.

With an assist, Marco Kasper now has 12 points over his last 11 games. Prior to that, the 20-year-old forward had just seven points in his first 35 games. Sticking him on a line with Larkin and Lucas Raymond as opposed to Vladimir Tarasenko and Jonatan Berggren seems to be making a huge difference. Kasper didn't seem to have huge scoring upside for a forward picked at eighth overall, but he appears to be raising that ceiling.

–

Follow me on X @Ian_Gooding and Threads @goodsfantasyhockey