If you're in a head-to-head league, Saturday was the final day of your matchup. In other words, no players to stream today. The league is off on Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday as the league heads into a three-day break.

A very merry Christmas to the Vancouver Canucks, who lead the NHL in points (49), goals for (135), and goal differential (+46) at the holiday break. Just as we all predicted! Sure, no team has played more games than the Canucks (35), and there are three wins against the Sharks in there. I'm sure the PDO gods won't be as friendly to the Canucks after the break, but at the very least this is a team that has banked enough points that the playoffs are about a 99% certainty. Not 100%, because nothing is ever 100%. And because Canucks fans are always waiting for the other shoe to drop.

The Canucks have enough depth that Rick Tocchet can make Andrei Kuzmenko a healthy scratch and the beat goes on. Kuzmenko was back in the lineup on Saturday after a two-game exile to the press box, serving notice with two goals in the first period while back on the Elias Pettersson line. This line had its issues defensively, as both Kuzmenko and Pettersson finished with a minus-2 in spite of recording two points each. So don't assume Kuzmenko is out of the doghouse. Either way, Kuzmenko has to be on a scoring line with healthy doses of power-play time in order to be effective.

I keep banging the drum on Dakota Joshua, and I'm going to again here. Joshua scored again on Saturday, giving him five goals and seven points in his last six games. He's also one of a half-dozen players with at least 100 hits. Joshua's third line with Conor Garland and Teddy Blueger has been highly effective recently, with Garland also at seven points in his last six games and Blueger at eight points in his last six games.

Yes, go ahead and add Kuzmenko or Joshua, depending on your league depth and scoring settings. However, keep in mind that the Canucks play just one game next week, the only team to do so. For more on the upcoming week, check out the Schedule Planner on Frozen Tools.

With a goal on Saturday, Tomas Hertl has eight goals this month, tied for third in the league with three other players. Only Auston Matthews and Nathan MacKinnon have scored more goals in December. Hertl is rostered in only half of Yahoo leagues, maybe because he plays for the Sharks or because he only qualifies as a center.

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Another two points for Quinton Byfield – both goals – giving him 25 points in 30 games. Like Hertl, Byfield might also be at "last call" status for being added.

Something none of us predicted: Trevor Moore has 16 goals in 30 games. That's only one goal shy of his career high. He's now rostered in 66% of Yahoo leagues, and it looks like he was picked up off the waiver wire in nearly all of them. Just beware of some higher-than-normal advanced stats, including a 16.2% shooting percentage and a 55.6% secondary assist rate.

Blake Coleman scored a pair of goals in the Flames' loss in LA. His linemate is Jonathan Huberdeau. Do you think Huberdeau assisted on either of those goals? Nope. Huberdeau is now at 11 games and counting without a point. A lot of ink has been spilled on him on this site, so I'll keep it brief. Do what you need to do, which includes dropping him if necessary. His situation in Calgary has gone from bad to worse. If you're looking for a glimmer of hope, he took six shots on Thursday. However, he had just a single shot on Saturday.

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According to a Swedish report, Leo Carlsson will miss the next 4-6 weeks with a grade 1 MCL tear. At the same time, Trevor Zegras returned to the Ducks lineup after missing the past 20 games with a lower-body injury, centering Troy Terry and Alex Killorn. With one scorer coming out of the lineup and another coming in, the fantasy implications seem to be minimal aside from the fact that Zegras isn't on a load management plan like Carlsson is. It's also worth mentioning that Mason McTavish also returned to the Ducks lineup this week.

Before his injury, Zegras had been held to just two points in 12 games. His meager results have been affected by both the injury and a late start due to his contract situation. He could be a sneaky waiver-wire add for after the break, since he has posted back-to-back 60-point seasons for the rebuilding Ducks.

Staying with Zegras, a very Merry Christmas to both him and Connor Bedard. Two lacrosse goals in one night has to be a record.

Trevor Zegras just did this in his first game back…😳 pic.twitter.com/plsruMg6Be

— Brady Trettenero (@BradyTrett) December 24, 2023

Connor Bedard 🤯 pic.twitter.com/kPXHlihVqO

— Brady Trettenero (@BradyTrett) December 24, 2023

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Alex Nedeljkovic made his third consecutive start on Saturday, allowing five goals in an overtime loss to Ottawa. Mike Sullivan seems to have a habit of benching Tristan Jarry for a few games when Jarry isn't playing well and when the backup (Casey DeSmith previously) is playing well, so I don't think this is anything for those rostering Jarry to panic about. The fact that Nedeljkovic was tagged with a really bad start (5 GA, 26 SA) should affirm that Jarry should be back between the pipes when the Penguins return to action on the 27^th against the Islanders.

Rickard Rakell has now been exiled out of the goalless club. Rakell scored his first goal of the season in his 20^th game while taking five shots. Between his injury and declining production, Rakell is rostered in just 24% of Yahoo leagues after being drafted in 98% of leagues. Rakell has also skated at least 19 minutes in back-to-back games while playing on the top line with Sidney Crosby and Jake Guentzel. I don't think Rakell needs to be rostered in all leagues again, but he is a legitimate waiver-wire option who could be in for a much stronger second half.  

Kris Letang had a big game, scoring a goal and adding two assists. Letang had recorded just one point in his previous eight games, so this game was much-needed if you've been thinking about replacing him with another defenseman. The lack of power-play time as a result of the Erik Karlsson trade has resulted in a major hit to Letang's point totals. Letang has just two power-play points this season, one of which was on Saturday. Compare that to the previous two seasons, when he recorded 21 and 22 PPP while on the Penguins' first-unit power play.

Tim Stutzle is a point-per-game player this season, but his overtime game-winning goal is just his seventh goal of the season. He has scored just two goals in the entire month of December. Hope you're okay with him just giving you assists. His overall production has also dipped somewhat from 22 points in his first 17 games to 10 points in his last 12 games.

One reason that Brady Tkachuk is so valuable in bangers leagues is his penalty minute totals. Tkachuk is currently the league's penalty minutes leader with 74 PIM. Included in that is four fights, a category that Tkachuk is tied for fifth in with a bunch of other players. That might be fine for leagues that count penalty minutes, but it's a double-edged sword because time in the penalty box is time not spent creating scoring chances.

Tkachuk also demonstrated his offensive abilities on Saturday with a goal and two assists and four shots on goal. He has only recorded two points in his previous eight games, so he had also been feeling the effects of the recent struggles in Ottawa. Jacques Martin is reportedly expected to remain as the head coach for the rest of the season, so do with that what you will. The Senators have scored 3, 4, and 5 goals in the three games that Martin has been the head coach, for what it's worth.

With a goal on Saturday, Josh Norris has now scored goals in five consecutive games. He still happens to be available in two-thirds of Yahoo leagues. The injury issues from both this season and last and the fact that he is only C-eligible might be reasons for that, but 12 goals and 20 points in 26 games seems good enough for me.

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For the second day in a row, I'll bring up data from NHL EDGE about skating speed. I can't say I'll mention this kind of information from now on every time I write. But if I see something interesting, I'll try to say something interesting. The data from NHL Edge about skating speed and shot speed might also provide indications of whether a player could in fact be on a downward trajectory, similar to how fantasy baseball analysis often includes information such as whether a pitcher has lost speed on his fastball.

Today it has to do with Timo Meier, who has had a disappointing first full season in New Jersey. I happened to be listening to the Hockey PDOcast while I was driving, and they mentioned that Meier's skating speed had dropped 20 percentiles compared to last season. That might be related to Meier being not quite fully healed from a lower-body injury that kept him out of the lineup for about two weeks in the latter half of November. When we see a star player is underperforming well below the norm, injuries can sometimes be the reason.

The worry of a nagging injury might remain, but the fact that Meier has scored goals in back-to-back games with two goals on Saturday is encouraging. Meier also took five shots, which is also an important part of his game. Maybe the break will help, even just a little bit. Meier is currently at a 46-point pace while taking more than a shot less per game than he has the previous two seasons, placing him on the list of top busts so far.

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Feel free to add Brock Faber, but it sounds like Jared Spurgeon will be ready to go after the Christmas break. Spurgeon didn't return on Saturday, but Faber's crazy minutes (27:47 on Saturday) and first-unit power-play time could decrease once the Wild captain returns. Faber seems like a better real-life defenseman than fantasy defenseman based on his career trajectory, although it's clear that Faber is here to stay as a top-4 defenseman. That's impressive for a 21-year-old rookie defenseman.

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What a finish to the Dallas/Nashville game. It's a Christmas miracle for the Stars, while the Predators get Grinched out of even a single point in front of their home fans when they were 15 seconds away from picking up two points.

THE STARS SCORE TWICE IN THE FINAL FIFTEEN SECONDS TO STUN THE PREDATORS!!!!!!! pic.twitter.com/m5V47GzWfN

— Mr Matthew CFB (@MrMatthew_CFB) December 23, 2023

As the announcer said, Craig Smith broke a 16-game point drought with the goal. Then Jani Hakanpaa scored his first goal of the season in his 32^nd game.

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Auston Matthews is putting together an amazing season. Another two goals on Saturday, which gives him goals in seven consecutive games. He now has 28 goals in just 30 games. He seems like the favorite for the Rocket Richard Trophy.  

Pascal Vincent likes the Russian line so much, he's decided to use them all on the first-unit power play for Columbus. Yes, all of Kirill Marchenko, Yegor Chinakhov, and Dmitri Voronkov. That could be due to injuries to the likes of Patrik Laine and Boone Jenner, but it certainly improves the stock of all of these linemates. Only Marchenko has received regular +50% power-play minutes all season.

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Nathan MacKinnon was held to a single assist in the Avalanche's 4-1 win over Arizona. However, that assist was all he needed to extend his point streak to 18 games. He has 34 points over that span. MacKinnon is also only three points behind Nikita Kucherov for the scoring lead at the break.

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This is my last Ramblings before Christmas, so I would like to wish you a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! No matter how you celebrate, I hope this is an enjoyable time for you and that you receive some amazing gifts both in real life and on your fantasy teams. Thank you for taking the time to read. You can follow me on Twitter/X and Threads.