The Chicago Blackhawks are making their way towards another Draft Lottery, which is symbiotic with a recent roster move as they called up 2024 second overall pick Artyom Levshunov for Monday night's game in Colorado. Perhaps sending the defenceman out against the Avalanche isn't an ideal way to get him acclimated to the NHL, but by the same token, it is a top test to see just how he can handle that kind of situation.

Levshunov skated 20:55 including some secondary power-play time, landing three shots on goal and blocking two as Chicago fell by a 3-0 score to Colorado. On the topic of Chicago defencemen, Alec Martinez left the game and did not return. Levshunov may have a continuing, regular role yet.

Martin Necas, Artturi Lehkonen, and Joel Kiviranta all scored for Colorado. That makes six goals and 17 points in 16 games for Nečas while skating 21:26 per game.

The player of the night was Nathan MacKinnon, though. His assist on the Lehkonen goal gave him 1000 points for his career as he continues to cement himself as a first-ballot Hall of Famer.

Scott Wedgewood stopped all 20 shots he faced for the shutout win. Wedgewood now has two shutouts in 11 starts with Colorado.

Spencer Knight also faced just 20 shots but allowed two goals to take the loss.   

*

Florida Panthers defenceman Aaron Ekblad has been suspended for 20 games for use of a banned substance:

https://twitter.com/PR_NHL/status/1899215006635286950

Florida has 18 games remaining in the regular season, which means Ekblad will miss the first two games of the postseason. It shouldn't be a big deal for their advancement in the playoffs, but between that and the ever-present injury of Matthew Tkachuk, this team is not without its issues as they look to defend their title.

*

Jiri Kulich was out of the Buffalo lineup again on Monday, so take it with a grain of salt and all that, but recent acquisition Josh Norris was on the top line with JJ Peterka and Tage Thompson for Monday night's game. He also skated on the top power-play unit with those two and a returning Jason Zucker. Alex Tuch is relegated to second line/second power play status for now.

Buffalo managed to win that home game against the Edmonton Oilers by a 3-2 margin. The Oilers hit three (!) posts in the first period and the writing was on the wall that it wasn't going to be their night.

Thompson scored twice, Alex Tuch tallied his 25^th goal of the season, and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen stopped 32 of 34 shots in the victory. Those two goals from Thompson were both at 5-on-5, so he extends his 5-on-5 goal-scoring lead with 26 such markers on the season. The only other player with more than 20 is Rickard Rakell with 21. Thompson has also missed six games and is not a good enough player to make the Four Nations Cup roster, apparently.

Norris assisted on Thompson's second goal, his first point as a Sabres. He added a hit in nearly 18 minutes of ice time.

Darnell Nurse and Evan Bouchard (PP) scored the goals for Edmonton. Leon Draisaitl assisted on both goals, registered four shots, and added a block along the way. He needs four goals the rest of the season to post his third 50-50 season in the last four years.

Stuart Skinner allowed three goals on 22 shots for the loss.

*

Oliver Bjorkstrand was skating on the second line at Tampa Bay's practice on Monday:

https://twitter.com/EddieInTheYard/status/1899114756067209326

This seemed a likely destination given the rotation of wingers that second line has had this season. What I will say is that I would not be surprised to see Bjorkstrand get moved to the third line with some frequency. Brandon Hagel and Anthony Cirelli have largely been able to carry just about any winger, and Bjorkstrand on the third line would help give them more scoring depth. We will see.

*

Juuso Valimaki is going to be out until late 2025 with a knee surgery. Välimäki had been having easily his worst season since joining the Utah/Arizona franchise and hadn't played since January. I didn't see any updates on when this happened, so it very well could be he had been playing through some sort of knee problem, which would help explain why his performance had taken such a sharp downturn.

*

Andrei Svechnikov was not at Carolina practice on Monday and Taylor Hall was in his spot on the top power-play unit.

Hall was also on the top line with Sebastian Aho. Just something to keep an eye on here as games played become paramount for fantasy owners. There was no update on Svechnikov besides he was being evaluated.

*

The Ottawa Senators managed their biggest win of the season on Monday night with a 2-1 regulation win at home against the Detroit Red Wings. The two teams are battling for one of the two Wild Card spots, and this was a big boost to Ottawa's overall chances of making it to the postseason for the first time in eight seasons.

Appropriately enough, the win was largely thanks to offseason acquisition Linus Ullmark, who stopped 48 of the 49 shots he faced in the win. It was the first time in Ullmark's career he made at least 45 saves in a regulation regular season game, and the most saves he's made in a regular season game since a 54-save overtime win over two years ago.

Also appropriately enough, deadline acquisition Dylan Cozens scored his first goal in an Ottawa uniform as a great passing play, the last touch from Jake Sanderson, led to Cozens tallying a power play goal late in the third period to give the Senators the 2-1 lead and eventually the win. He finished the game with three shots and eight hits.

David Perron also scored on the power play earlier in the game. Brady Tkachuk assisted on the Cozens goal and had three shots and six hits in the win.

Dylan Larkin had the lone goal for the Red Wings, totaling four shots and a hit. Lucas Raymond assisted on that goal and managed five shots and two hits.

Cam Talbot allowed just the two goals on 23 shots for the loss.

*

Calle Jarnkrok (PP, Game 3) and Simon Benoit (Game 60) both scored their first goals of the season as Toronto skated out of Utah with a 4-3 shootout win. Järnkrok was moved up to the second line for this game, skating next to William Nylander and John Tavares.

Nylander had the other goal (PP) for the Leafs. Nylander finished the game with two shots and sits four goals shy of his third straight 40-goal season. That goal was assisted by Mitch Marner, which gives Marner 80 points on the season. The last five seasons that have seen Marner play at least 60 regular season games have also seen him post at least 20 goals and 50 assists.

Joseph Woll got the start in net and stopped 29 of 32 shots for his 22^nd win of the year.

Michael Carcone, Nick Schmaltz, and Barrett Hayton (PP) scored goals within four minutes of each other for Utah. A loss is never a team's ideal outcome, but Utah salvaged a much-needed point after falling behind 3-0.

That power-play goal from Hayton was his fifth of the season, a career-high mark. He needs three more goals for his first 20-goal campaign and seven more points for another career-high mark.

Karel Vejmelka allowed three goals on 26 shots, including two more in the shootout in defeat.  

*

The Trade Deadline is behind us but the next five-and-change weeks will determine fantasy championships. Using the Schedule Planner over at Frozen Tools, here are three forwards keep an eye on when digging through the waiver wire.

Fabian Zetterlund (Ottawa Senators – W)

It is not the best start to Zetterlund's tenure that he opened Monday night's game skating on the fourth line. Regardless, I do not think he's long for that role and should at least move up to the third line in quick order. That, combined with secondary power-play time, can offer fantasy value in non-shallow formats.

The reason why Zetterlund is here is Ottawa's schedule. Starting today, they have 19 games remaining, tied for the second-most in the league. Beyond that, their opponents have combined for the most goals against per game of any team's remaining schedule, and their combined .531 points percentage is the fourth-worst mark. That is a great finishing stretch for Zetterlund and the Senators which should not only help them reach the playoffs but provide a boost in fantasy value for their players.

One caveat here: Just 5 of 19 games are on 'light' days. That is tied for the fourth fewest in the league. There are a lot of Tuesday/Thursday/Saturday games ahead for Ottawa, so Zetterlund might be hard to roster in some formats. All the same, he is a talented scorer who can offer around 1.5 hits per game. Just keep an eye on line combinations in the near-future.

Sam Colangelo (Anaheim Ducks – W)

It didn't take long for Colangelo to graduate from the AHL after posting 20 goals and 19 assists across 42 games, averaging 3.5 shots per game along the way. The second-round pick from 2020 has found that scoring touch in the NHL with seven goals in 21 games across the last two seasons. Yes, he's shooting 23.1%, but it's still nice to see, nonetheless.

Colangelo has found some chemistry with fellow rookie Cutter Gauthier as the Ducks have averaged 56 shots attempts, 2.8 expected goals, and 11.8 high-danger shot attempts per 60 minutes at 5-on-5 with those two on the ice. It is a small 62-minute sample, but finding some early offensive chemistry is better than not.

Over the rest of the season, Anaheim is tied with 10 other teams with 19 games remaining (Los Angeles has the most with 20). What separates Anaheim from most of them is that 10 of those 19 games are on 'light' days. It is not an easy schedule – sixth-hardest by opponent points percentage – but it is a good opportunity to rack up some games played from a guy who has 41 hits in 21 career NHL games. Just this week alone, Anaheim has games on each of Wednesday-Friday-Sunday.

Andrei Kuzmenko (Los Angeles Kings – W)

Another acquisition at the deadline, Kuzmenko debuted for Los Angeles in their 6-5 win on Sunday night. He didn't get on the scoresheet, but he was on the ice for three of the Kings' six goals, two at 5-on-5 and one on the power play. He was skating on a line with Anze Kopitar and Adrian Kempe at both strengths as well. That duo had hard times over the last couple of months, but maybe this is the boost they'll need to regain that scoring touch.

I am personally not a fan of Kuzmenko because he doesn't shoot or hit much, isn't a great playmaker, so he relies heavily on shooting percentage for fantasy value. That is a very dangerous way to live in the fantasy game, but there is good news: As mentioned earlier, the Kings have the most games remaining of any team in the league, and 14/20 of those games are at home. This season, Los Angeles is 25^th in the league by goals per minute on the road and 11^th by goals per minute at home.

Five of Los Angeles' next six games are on heavy days, but after that, 5/14 are on light days. Maybe Kuzmenko isn't someone to add right now unless there is an unused roster spot, but he is someone to keep an eye on over the next 10 days.