Even though flights in the US were grounded for several hours on Friday, it looks like all Saturday games will go as planned. According to Max Miller of Sharks Hockey Digest, the San Jose Sharks were finally cleared to fly to Utah late Friday. There were no other teams still awaiting flights on Friday, according to The Athletic (article behind paywall).

–

As for Friday, there were only two NHL games, and they were both on late.

Glenn Gawdin scored two of the New York Rangers' goals in their 5-1 win in Vancouver on Friday. Gawdin appeared in just his second NHL game of the season after being recalled from the AHL earlier in the week. The goals were the first two of Gawdin's NHL career, which started all the way back in 2020-21 with the Calgary Flames. Now 29, Gawdin has been an AHL regular for practically all of that time and has only played 15 career NHL games. This is a great story, but there's nothing to see here fantasy-wise. Gawdin played only eight minutes while on a line with Eeli Tolvanen and Jaroslav Chmelar.

Alexis Lafreniere and Gabe Perreault each scored a goal while adding an assist. J.T. Miller chipped in two assists against his former team.

Dylan Garand was solid in net for the Rangers, stopping 27 of 28 shots he faced. Garand has now strung together four consecutive quality starts, not allowing more than two goals in any of them. The Rangers are receiving strong goaltending from both Garand and Joonas Korpisalo, who recently returned to the lineup. Garand has raced ahead to being rostered in 60-70% of fantasy leagues, likely fueled by teams needing a replacement for Igor Shesterkin. If Garand and Korpisalo continue to split starts, Korpisalo (16% Yahoo/23% Fantrax) might be worth adding as well.

Elias Pettersson scored the Canucks' only goal, keeping him at the point-per-game mark with 21 points in 21 games. Many of us didn't have much faith in a Pettersson bounceback, but he looks reinvigorated this season. Only five of those points are goals, and he is also dealing with a low shot total (1.2 SOG/GP) and an inflated shooting percentage (19.2 SH%). Pettersson may improve on last season, but it doesn't look like he'll score a ton of goals in the process. On top of that, he has posted back-to-back 15-goal seasons prior to this season.

With an assist on Pettersson's goal, Brock Boeser now has a six-game point streak. Boeser is doing his part with 18 points in 21 games, including 14 points over his last 14 games. Like Pettersson, Boeser may have a tougher time scoring goals going forward (1.6 SOG/GP, 20.6 SH%). Boeser also has a 63.6 Sec. Asst%, so he is a player you could consider trading.

The Canucks have lost seven games in a row and have just three wins in 21 tries. If you have a tough roster decision, start the player who is facing the Canucks. At the very least, it should be an easy win for your goalie.

–

In the Nashville Predators' 3-2 shootout win over the Vegas Golden Knights, Ryan O'Reilly snapped a seven-game goal drought with a pair of goals. O'Reilly also finished with a plus-2, four shots, and 10 faceoff wins. He is continuing where he left off last season with 19 points in 20 games.

With seven consecutive wins, the Predators might be the hottest team in the NHL right now. A major reason for that is the goaltending. Juuse Saros was credited with his fourth consecutive quality start, allowing just two goals while making 40 saves. Saros has reversed several years of decline with a 71.4 QS% this season. Justus Annunen has also been up to the challenge with four wins and three quality starts in his last four games. Perhaps having a solid backup will take some of the load off Saros, who has appeared in a minimum of 55 games in each of the past five seasons. No goalie has more games played since 2021-22 than Saros (325 GP).

With an assist on Friday, Roman Josi has 14 points over his last 10 games. Although his 55 points in 68 games was by no means terrible, Josi has returned to the realm of the league's top-scoring defensemen with 23 points in 20 games.

Since the trade from Seattle, Shane Wright has been held without a point in five of six games. However, he recorded three points in the game where he was not held pointless.

Mavrik Bourque registered an assist on Friday, giving him points in three of his last four games. Bourque is being presented with a golden opportunity on a scoring line with O'Reilly and Steven Stamkos as well as the top power play. You'd think he'd have a little more than no goals and five assists in 16 games.

Victor Olofsson was one of the Golden Knights' goal scorers on Friday, giving him six goals and 10 points in eight games. I have doubts about his sustainability in keeper leagues, and he probably wouldn't be my first choice for the last spot on the top power play if I were the Vegas coach (hello, Shea Theodore!) However, Olofsson seems like a player for the here and now. He is rostered in around 20% of Yahoo leagues if you want to add him.

Speaking of Theodore, he hasn't been scoring much (7 PTS in 21 GP), which probably has a lot to do with up-and-down power-play time. He did block five shots on Friday, though.

–

An update for the Top 100 Roto Rankings will be provided on Sunday. While I put the finishing touches on the November rankings, feel free to view our preseason rankings. It's definitely time for some changes, as we now have over a month of data to analyze.

As a sneak peek, here is a list of players that will be added or removed from the Top 100. Keep in mind that this is not a full list, as more players could be added or removed. I don't want to leave comments of more than a few words in the rankings table, so I'll do it here instead.

Added

Seth Jones: On a 90-point pace after failing to crack 40 points in his previous four seasons. Maybe a sell high because of regression or the potential for injury, but Jones is definitely top-100 worthy right now.

Beckett Sennecke: The Anaheim power play is firing on all cylinders, with 11 of Sennecke's 23 points on the power play. Only 20, he is justifying the Ducks reaching for him at third overall in 2024.  

Logan Stankoven: He has posted big numbers at every level. Dallas and Carolina both had the depth to bring him along slowly. He has taken his game to the next level while reaching the 200-game mark of his NHL career.

Vasily Podkolzin: He has cooled off after a dynamite start with just one point in his last six games. However, Podkolzin offers enough in hits and shots to be a roto category killer. Although he is off the top power play with Zach Hyman and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins back from injury, Podkolzin remains on a powerful top line with Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl.

Artturi Lehkonen: Speaking of linemates, Lehkonen has them too with Nathan MacKinnon and Martin Necas. His 14 goals is currently in the top 5 in the league, but a 32.6 SH% and 17.6 5-on-5 SH% means a downturn is likely. Injury history is also concerning.

Removed

Dylan Larkin: Not earning points for your fantasy team while he sits at home awaiting a trade.

Alex Ovechkin: Father Time catches up to everyone, but I'm sure no one thought he'd crash like this. Just one goal in 17 games, just one point in his last nine games, averaging under 14 minutes per game. The only thing Ovechkin still has going is that he's still on the top power play. Maybe some positive regression is coming?  

Matthew Knies: The Blue Jackets' slump has affected the recently acquired Knies, although he has three points in his last four games.

Porter Martone: A team with as bad of energy as the Flyers have right now won't be kind to rookies. It's difficult to think that Martone will receive any Calder Trophy consideration at the one-quarter point of the season.

Got any other suggestions? Share them in the comments.

–

Data was taken from Frozen Tools and NHL.com unless otherwise noted.

Follow me on X @Ian_Gooding and Bluesky @goodsfantasyhockey.bsky.social