One of the players I was personally high on heading into the 2023-24 was Montreal's Rafael Harvey-Pinard. He seemed to mesh very well with Nick Suzuki after the injury to Cole Caufield last season. That, and an ability to land a lot of hits, made me think there was some sneaky banger value here. Things haven't gone to plan this season as he's yet to score in 13 games and had been injured for the team's last couple of games. To that end, he was sent to the IR:

#Habs Rafaël Harvey-Pinard has been placed on the IR.

— Priyanta Emrith (@HabsInHighHeels) November 20, 2023

Neither he or Arber Xhekaj going on the team's road trip that starts Wednesday and goes to the end of November. That indicates to us it'll be a while before either are back in the lineup, so it could be good news for someone like Jesse Ylonen keeping a full-time role at the NHL level. With the way the team has been mixing lines of late, though, it's hard to say if it'll be a top-6 or bottom-6 role.

*

In some good news for Ottawa, defenceman Thomas Chabot skated in a non-contact jersey on Monday:

Thomas Chabot is out here in a yellow non-contact jersey for this skills session #Sens

— Bruce Garrioch (@SunGarrioch) November 20, 2023

Ottawa is off until Friday as they recover from their trip to Europe so Chabot, theoretically, could be back in the lineup this week. He still has more steps to take before that happens but he does have the entire work week to get to where he needs to be.

*

Evgeny Kuznetsov was back at practice for Washington after missing Saturday's game due to an illness. It is kind of expected he'd return quickly, but the interesting part was that he was on the team's third line in practice, and not in the top-6. Those roles went to Dylan Strome and Connor McMichael. That Kuznetsov was playing so many minutes for the team makes me think it won't last long, but definitely something to keep an eye on.

*

On the good news front for New Jersey Devils forward Nico Hischier:

Nico Hischier is on the ice.

— Ryan Novozinsky (@ryannovo62) November 20, 2023

He skated in his usual second-line spot though the team was missing half their regular wingers so whom he'll ultimately line up with for his return is unknown. All the same, a good sign as he works his way back from that 'upper-body' injury. He was a full participant in practice so it seems he could be back in the lineup on Wednesday, though we'll await confirmation.

There was no Timo Meier at practice as he continues to miss time due to injury. He has not been anywhere near as productive fantasy-wise as he was in San Jose, so hopefully a bit of time away will help him heal whatever he needs to and return with a vengeance.

*

Still no Thomas Harley for Dallas, as he remained out of the lineup on Monday night:

Wedgewood in goal. Harley skated but not ready yet

— Mike Heika (@MikeHeika) November 20, 2023

It really sucks, man. This is a kid I was very high on for this season, thinking he could work his way up to the number-3 role among their blueliners. Maybe he still can whenever he gets back, but he'll have an uphill climb ahead of him.

*

A bit of good news on Gabriel Vilardi:

A non-contact jersey for Gabriel Vilardi in #NHLJets practice today.

The team leaves for Tampa this afternoon.

— Mitchell Clinton (@MitchellClinton) November 20, 2023

It looks like he'll be back within a week, and that's great news for Winnipeg fans and fantasy owners. He likely gets his PP1 role back – though which even strength line he ends up with remains to be seen – and that's not good news for Cole Perfetti's fantasy value.

*

Nashville scratched Luke Evangelista on Monday night. The coaching staff think he's had a downturn in his play over his last half-dozen games, and that seems reasonable. Cody Glass and Gustav Nyquist were on the top PP unit, on top of the usual options.

Evangelista is one of the players that was impacted by the Tommy Novak injury. His ice time has taken a dive with Novak gone the last few games, and the lack of playmaker to basically play catch with in the offensive zone hurt Evangelista's offensive upside. Hopefully Novak can come back healthy and the line, along with Kiefer Sherwood, can get back to creating some chances. Not that I'm a greedy fantasy manager or anything. Why would anyone ask that.  

*

A couple days ago I had a Twitter thread about some stats on the season thus far. The start of that thread is here:

Alright, before NFL starts, let's do a little NHL data/viz dump. Here are 10 things to know about specific performances so far this season. Data from @NatStatTrick @HockeyViz @EvolvingHockey @ShutdownLine and @FrozenTools

— Michael Clifford (@SlimCliffy) November 19, 2023

It seems like I talk about him too much, but Quinton Byfield and his playmaking were included in there. Some of his tracking metrics have him with excellent playmaking numbers early in the season, and that jives with what we saw in the second half of the regular season last year. His vision, combined with his development, are doing wonders for the Los Angeles top line offensively. It is a genuine joy to watch him turn into this player.

For fantasy hockey, the goal scoring is the next stop. He is shooting a bit more lately, but has generally not been much of a shooter in his career. With his style of play, he doesn't need 250 shots to get to 30 goals, but it would be nice to see him pot a few more goals over the next 60-ish games. That, of course, is coming from a fantasy perspective, but it feels like the last piece that's missing from his offensive game. Once he adds that dimension, he is going to be a superstar in the West.

*

Despite Connor McDavid's first two-goal game of the season – one on a penalty shot – Florida held off Edmonton for a 4-3 win on Monday. Niko Mikkola had a pair of goals for Florida, both by jumping into the play. He always seems aggressive whenever I watch Florida play, and it's always great to see defensemen jump into the play.

Carter Verhaeghe had a goal and an assist while Kevin Stenlund had a goal and two helpers. Verhaeghe had five total shots and a pair of hits as well. He now has 8 goals and 15 points in 18 games this year, averaging around 3.5 shots per game. With 10 hits on the year, he's well on his way to surpassing last year's total of 29. That kind of added dimension to a fantasy hockey profile is always welcome.

Sergei Bobrovsky held on for the win after allowing two goals in the first nine minutes of the game. He is up to nine wins on the season.

Evander Kane scored the other goal for Edmonton in the loss. Kane had five total shots with 14 penalty minutes and four hits. The winger now has 8 goals and 15 points in his last 12 games. Multi-cat managers are thanking him greatly for his services.

*

A goal from Steven Stamkos in the waning seconds of Tampa Bay's home game against Boston tied the game at 4-4 after a wild third period. That frame saw five goals in a span of 13:30, with the Bruins getting three goals from three different lines.

The goal gave Tampa Bay a boost for the overtime period that saw Brandon Hagel seal the win a little over a minute into the extra time. Hagel finished the game with a goal and an assist with five total shots. After his 19^th game, he stands with nine goals and nine assists to go with 45 shots.

Stamkos also had a goal and an assist (PP), totaling five shots and a pair of hits. That is his second two-point game in a row and he's now up to 20 points on the year.

David Pastrnak had a goal and an assist as well on the losing side, managing seven shots and a couple penalty minutes along the way. John Beecher, Charlie Coyle, and Pavel Zacha also scored. After Zacha's own slow start, he now has 7 goals and 13 points in his last 12 games, registering at least one point in all but one of those outings.

Charlie McAvoy had an assist, four shots, two blocks, two penalty minutes, and three hits in one of the more generous multi-cat efforts of the night.

*

A pair of goals from Filip Forsberg and Yakov Trenin in the final 40 seconds of Nashville's game against Colorado lifted the team from a 3-2 loss to a 4-3 win. It was one of the most thrilling finishes we'll see this season, even outside of the playoffs:

Nashville goal!

Scored by Yakov Trenin with 00:22 remaining in the 3rd period.

Assisted by Cole Smith.

Nashville: 4
Colorado: 3#COLvsNSH #Preds #GoAvsGo pic.twitter.com/PMg7gNjcLR

— NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) November 21, 2023

Forsberg had two goals in this one, totaling six shots and a pair of hits. He is up to 9 goals and 12 assists in 17 games this season, getting up to 73 shots and 28 hits so far. It has been an incredible fantasy season for him thus far and we may be seeing a second career year from him.

Gustav Nyquist had a pair of helpers to go with two shots and two PIMs in the victory. He is now on a five-game point streak that has totaled one goal and seven assists. That top line looks very good with him there.

Valeri Nichushkin had a goal and an assist in the loss, managing four shots and a hit. Nathan MacKinnon had two helpers, seven shots, and three hits in nearly 24 minutes of ice time.

*

Dallas laid the wood to New York in the third period of their 6-3 win, scoring five times in a little over a 16-minute span. Roope Hintz (1+2), Mason Marchment (1+1), Tyler Seguin (1+1), and Joe Pavelski (1+1) all had multi-point efforts. Seguin is in a four-game point streak that has seen him put up four goals and four assists. His line has been so, so good for the Stars.

Scott Wedgewood stopped 30 of 33 shots he faced for the win.

Pavelski's two-point game has him on a point-per-game pace with 17 in 17 on the year. For a guy I've been slandering a bit, he has still been a very productive fantasy option.

Vincent Trocheck scored a power play goal in the loss, pushing his point streak to six games. He has 4 goals and 11 points in that span.

*

First-period goals from Trevor Moore (SH) and Anze Kopitar kind of sealed this game before Arizona found their legs in Los Angeles' s 4-1 win. Moore scored another goal while Phillip Danault added a goal to his assist on the first Moore tally. He is now flirting with a 60-point pace, which would be a career-best mark for him.

Earlier we talked about Quinton Byfield's playmaking. His setup of Kopitar on the latter's goal was something else:

Quinton Byfield… you kidding me dude?? pic.twitter.com/csOm0hRE8c

— Nathan "Grav" (@NathanGraviteh) November 21, 2023

Byfield has arrived.

*

Quinn Hughes had a goal and an assist as Vancouver beat San Jose 3-1. It was a close game for much of the contest but a late second-period goal from Sam Lafferty seemed to really turn the ride for the Canucks.

Hughes is now up to 30 points, which feels unfathomable considering American Thanksgiving is still ahead of us. Just remarkable.

*

An overtime goal from Rasmus Andersson lifted Calgary to a 4-3 win over Seattle. It was his third point of the night as he assisted on a Jonathan Huberdeau power play goal as well as an Elias Lindholm tally early in the first period. Andersson is now up to 10 points in 14 games.

Andrew Mangiapane scored his first goal in seven games, and he now has five goals and five assists on the season. It really would be nice to see him shooting more as he had three shots in this matchup, pushing his season total to 26 in 17 games. That is really, really low shooting volume.

Jared McCann and Jordan Eberle both scored a goal in defeat while Vince Dunn had a goal and an assist. Dunn is now up to 18 points in 20 games, so he's on pace to surpass his career-high of 64 points that he set a year ago.