It's Sunday which means we have made it to the end of another long week in January. We've officially passed the halfway point of the season and there seems to be a bit more clarity in the standings on which teams can compete to make the playoffs, and which teams are going into full on "tank for Bedard" mode. It seems the Bruce Boudreau saga has officially come to an end in Vancouver this weekend. It's too bad because he seems like a great coach, but that organization is a complete mess right now. Speaking of Bedard, it would be pretty cool to see him end up in Vancouver, but ironically enough I think the Canucks are going to win too many games for that to happen. Anyways, for now we are going to look at some players who've heated up as of late!

Adam Henrique

Henrique has found himself in a veteran leadership role with a young Anaheim Ducks squad that is in the midst of a rebuild. The 32-year-old is in his 13th NHL season, and fortunately has been able to stay healthy thus far. Through 46 games he has lit the lamp 16 times and added 12 helpers for 28 points in total. Henrique has especially been hot as of late, gathering seven points over his last five games. 

Henrique has been getting quality deployment as he is currently manning the second line alongside Mason McTavish and Troy Terry. In addition to logging top-six minutes, he is also getting a lot of valuable power play time on the team's top unit. His average TOI this season is 18:21, which is the highest it's been since coming to Anaheim way back in 2018. 

Outside of his offense, Henrique doesn't provide a huge amount in terms of extra peripherals. He shoots at an average rate of about two shots per game. He doesn't play a real physical brand of hockey so you won't be depending on him for hits or many blocks. One extra added bonus is that he is dual-eligible for both left wing and center. He isn't relied on to take quite as many faceoffs as he has in the past, but he will still net you a handful of draws every game, and being able to slot him in on the left wing is super nice. 

If your fantasy team is slumping and you are looking for an offensive spark, Henrique could be the hot hand you need short-term. There's potential for him to add a few points to your side of the ledger and hopefully even accrue some power-play points. It's also good timing to grab him as the Ducks will have two games versus Arizona next week, so the level of competition isn't too daunting. Henrique is widely available in almost all formats. In Yahoo leagues he is 7% rostered, while on Fantrax he is just 22% rostered.

Taylor Raddysh

Going from one awful team to another, Raddysh is a player who is still finding his footing in the NHL, but there's a lot to like about his game. In 44 games he has just 12 goals and nine assists. He's played just over 100 games in his career now, and he is getting valuable experience playing on a line with Jonathan Toews. As of late he has found a bit of a scoring touch. Though he was kept off the scoresheet versus the Blues last night, he had six points in his previous four games. His 21 points on the season may not amount to much in the grand scheme of things this season, but he's already just one point shy of his total during his rookie campaign last year, so he's definitely trending in the right direction.

He's getting an average of just over 16 minutes a night. The Blackhawks split up their top-nine forwards pretty evenly, so he's getting pretty decent minutes compared to most in the Blackhawks forwards' corps. Thankfully though, Raddysh has been getting regular reps on the team's top power-play unit, which is a huge opportunity to rack up some points. Being able to grab a player who gets consistent power-play time is pretty rare at this time of year, so that's something to keep in mind.

The major difference between Raddysh and the aforementioned Henrique is that after Raddysh inevitably cools off, he still has some hidden value in the hits department. Through 44 games, he has accumulated 50 hits, so you can depend on a hit or two per game from him. One area he lacks in though is shot volume. He averages just 1.6 shots per game, which for fantasy isn't great.

The dual-wing eligible sophomore is a great potential streamer for next week. Hopefully he can stay hot and provide a nice boost to your lineup should you choose to add him. The Blackhawks go out on the western Canadian road trip next week and face the Canucks, Flames and Oilers. The Canucks are reeling right now, and the Flames have also underachieved this season. The Blackhawks have also not been completely awful as of late, so there's reason for optimism. Raddysh is just 3% rostered on Yahoo and 20% rostered on Fantrax, so he is fairly easily obtainable.

Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen

It's a rare goalie recommendation in the Geek of the Week! It doesn't happen often, but there's a chance Luukkonen could be on the verge of becoming a viable fantasy asset. I wrote about the Buffalo Sabres before Christmas when I was highlighting how dominant Tage Thompson has been this season. During that breakdown, I exclaimed how much I loved watching the Sabres, but unfortunately they weren't quite at the level where they could compete for a playoff spot, mostly because despite their elite scoring, they couldn't keep the puck out of their own net.

Since mid-December though, the Sabres have continued to improve. They've reeled off impressive wins versus Colorado, Vegas, and even beat Boston at TD Garden! In all three of those contests I just mentioned, Luukkonen made the start and made 40 saves or more to secure the win for his team. If you look at his overall record, the stats don't seem quite as appealing. He sports a 12-5-1 record with a 3.31 goals-against average and a save percentage of .899.  Those aren't the sexiest stats, but there's some things to consider.

First, the 23-year-old wasn't even really in the picture at the start of the season for the Sabres. Eric Comrie and veteran Craig Anderson were splitting duties.  Comrie had a chance early on to take the reins as the starting goalie but looked pretty bad most games, and then he ended up getting injured. Enter Luukkonen. The Finnish netminder was thrust into action and early on, he looked out of sorts. His first handful of games were pretty ugly, and as a result his averages are a bit tarnished from those starts. 

Much like the Sabres as a whole though, there's been steady improvement over the course of the season, and since mid-December, Luukkonen has been serviceable. Zooming in even further, his last four starts have all been quality starts, and he earned wins in three out of four of them. The Sabres are only four points out of a wild card position with less than half the season remaining. 

While I still consider it to be a bit of a stretch for Buffalo to make the playoffs, it certainly isn't impossible. Playing in meaningful hockey games down the stretch can bring out the best in players. Think of prior years where goalies come out of nowhere and get hot and help carry their teams to the playoffs. Andrew Hammond and Jordan Binnington are two names that immediately come to mind. There's certainly potential here for that type of scenario.

 In Yahoo leagues Luukkonen is 24% rostered, while over on Fantrax he is up to 48%. If you have a weak link in net and are thinking of shaking things up, this could be your chance. The Sabres are a young team and still developing, so they aren't as defensively responsible as other veteran teams. It's by no means a slam dunk, but if you have the opportunity, it could be a great pickup!

Well folks that's a wrap for this week. I'll be back again next Sunday to go over some more players who could potentially help out your fantasy team. Until then, have a great week!