The last one of 2025! I hope y'all had a great holiday and enjoyed a little break. 

The holidays also signify that the World Junior Championship is upon us so if you're interested in the stars of tomorrow, check out our coverage over at DobberProspects.

Coming out of the holiday trade freeze, we got another deal! The Columbus Blue Jackets sent Yegor Chinakhov to the Pittsburgh Penguins for Danton Heinen and a couple of future picks. 

Chinakhov is a sniper with consistency issues and perhaps a fresh start can reignite the former first rounder. There is plenty of talent to play with on the Penguins so hopefully he finds himself playing up in the lineup and can take advantage of that. 

Rickard Rakell and Bryan Rust are pretty much glued to Sidney Crosby, so we shouldn't even consider that, although both wingers are pretty fragile so maybe he'll get a shot at some point. His fellow Russian comrade, Evgeni Malkin, is still on the shelf so once he gets back maybe they'll give it a go? For the time being, the kids on the Penguins have seen their ice time dwindle over the past couple of weeks (Ben Kindel, Rutger McGroarty, and Ville Koivunen) so one of them could take the fall for Chinakhov in the lineup. 

Where Yegor could really do some damage is on the power play. Pittsburgh has the league's third-best man advantage and if he could supplant Anthony Mantha for his spot, I would keep a close eye on the winger. General Manager Kyle Dubas paid a pretty penny for the Russian forward so they will give him some opportunities to prove himself. Like I said, their power play is one of the best in the league so why would they change personnel, but Mantha is a Band-Aid boy (along with the other wingers) so a spot could open up at any moment.

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Looking at the rest of this week's schedule, it is weird to see tonight being a light night and Wednesday being a full slate of games, but I'm assuming it has something to do with the new calendar year. Either way, we have five teams that have three games on our light nights, and those teams are the Carolina Hurricanes, Chicago Blackhawks, Florida Panthers, Montreal Canadiens, and Pittsburgh Penguins.

Someone who has scored a goal in two straight games (one on the power play) and is only 13% owned, on Yahoo, from the Carolina Hurricanes is Jackson Blake. He is being deployed on the team's top man advantage, shoots the puck, and has six points in his last seven games. He is also wing eligible so you should be able to fit him into your lineups.

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Connor Bedard returned to the ice before practice yesterday but did not shoot a single puck (Charlie Roumeliotis). He did a lot of stickhandling and skating but put no weight on his shoulders to shoot the puck. This does not help us for the light games the Blackhawks have this week, but it is a good sign that he should still be back in early January.

As for the current state of affairs in Chicago, Nick Foligno returned to the lineup and scored a goal. He is still being used as a bottom-six forward, but he provides good numbers to your hit department and plays with a bunch of kids, so as long as he keeps his stick on the ice, he is bound to score some goals.

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Down in Florida, Eetu Luostarinen is the player I would look to stream. Only 3% owned on Yahoo, he should be available in your league, and he is currently on a line with Sam Reinhart and has four points in his last three games.

One of the Panthers games this week is the Winter Classic and there are always surprising heroes in those contests so look for the Finnish winger to contribute with at least a few hits even if he doesn't get his name on the scoresheet.

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The Habs were one of the teams who made a trade right before the roster freeze last week when they brought back Phil Danualt. It has been a disappointing season offensively for the Canadian center, but now that he is back home, it feels like a weight has been lifted and he can start playing loose again. 

Skating with Josh Anderson and Zach Bolduc, they'll come at you with some physicality, skill, and annoyance. Danault is a nice sleeper this week as he is available in 97% of Yahoo leagues and he'll contribute all across the board in your peripheral scoring leagues.

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We dove into the Penguins earlier as they made the trade for Chinakhov. Like I said, Dubas paid a second- AND third-round pick for the 24-year-old winger who is set to be a restricted free agent this summer so he will be given opportunities to perform. That is a lot to give up for a rental piece, so the management team and coaching staff in Pittsburgh must have a plan in place for Yegor, or they are not going to be employed for much longer. 

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If you have any start/sit questions or need to bounce trade ideas off of someone, hit me up on X @LAM1926

Have a great week y'all!