The 2024 Midseason Guide will be available in two weeks, on January 12, 2024. Look for second-half projections, sleepers, advanced stats, historical trends and prospects you need to know. For more information and to make your purchase, click here.

Due to Dobber's health situation, I have been taking on added responsibility with the midseason guide (basically, the lead role, or project manager, or whatever you want to call it). I apologize in advance if my Ramblings over the next couple weeks are more brief than normal or miss certain developments that affect fantasy leagues. My focus is on the Midseason Guide so that it is worth the time and money that you spend. But if you read on, my research with the guide might even uncover some interesting tidbits that could be included in the Ramblings.

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Remember Chris Driedger? He was the impressive backup goalie for the Panthers that was claimed by Seattle in the expansion draft. He hadn't started an NHL game since tearing his ACL at the 2022 World Championship. Once he was ready to return, Driedger was sent to the AHL where he had been playing until Wednesday.

Driedger was the story of Wednesday's late game against Calgary, making 36 saves in a 2-1 win. Joey Daccord had started the seven previous games for Seattle, so he was probably in need of further rest even with the recent holiday break. If you've added Daccord recently, I wouldn't be too worried about him, as he posted quality starts in six of those last seven games. The Driedger story is a good one, and there's a possibility that he could earn some more starts with Philipp Grubauer expected to be out for a while.

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Kris Letang's game on Wednesday was really something. Six assists in a game by a defenseman? Hadn't been done since 1986. Letang has really caught fire recently with nine points over his last two games. Just like Elan's long-time keeper has been Karlsson, mine has been Letang through good times and bad. I have to give Letang props whenever I can.

We've mentioned on here that Letang has lost power-play time with the offseason addition of Erik Karlsson, and that has affected his power-play production (still just 2 PPP) and his overall scoring. His shot total has also suffered, dipping below 2.0 SOG/GP for the first time since his sophomore season of 2008-09. Letang is only receiving 33% of the Penguins' available power-play minutes, and there's a big gap talent-wise between the Pens' first and second units.

Letang's recent scoring spree shows that he's still capable of putting up big numbers, so I'm not ready to recommend dropping him. He had only one multiple-point game prior to the recent run, so getting to two points in a game – let alone six – will be enough of a challenge.

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Zach Werenski is listed as week-to-week after colliding with Ondrej Palat during Wednesday's game. This is another blow to the Blue Jackets, as Werenski is currently leading the team in scoring. With Werenski out of the lineup, expect Ivan Provorov to take over the first-unit power-play minutes. Provorov logged 61% of the Jackets' available power-play minutes on Wednesday, even though his power-play minutes are usually below 50%. Provorov is rostered in just 21% of Yahoo leagues, which makes him a good pickup. However, the Blue Jackets are at the bottom-third of the league in power-play effectiveness (14.9%), so temper your expectations.

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The Capitals have signed Ethan Bear to a two-year contract worth just over $2 million per season. Bear probably would have been qualified by the Canucks as an RFA during the offseason, but he injured his shoulder during the World Championship and has been recovering from the injury since then. The Canucks had to look elsewhere for immediate defensive help, most recently acquiring Nikita Zadorov. Bear doesn't score enough points to be considered for fantasy teams and will likely slot in as a third-pair right-shot defenseman for the Caps.

Staying with the Capitals, Max Pacioretty could make his season debut today (Friday). It's been a while for Patches, who has been recovering from a torn Achilles tendon for nearly a season and a half. I've stashed him on my IR in one of my leagues, so I guess I'm holding out hope that he's fully recovered. If he is, he's definitely worth a pickup (27% Yahoo/54% Fantrax) because he's scored at a 30+ goal pace with a 3+ SOG/GP average for much of his career.

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The sleeper season for Akira Schmid hasn't quite gone as planned, as the Devils sent the 23-year-old goalie to the AHL. Schmid has struggled with a 3.26 GAA and .893 SV%, and he has posted nearly as many really bad starts (4) as quality starts (5). He will try to get his game back in the AHL.

Vitek Vanecek hasn't really been any better than Schmid with an identical 3.26 GAA and .885 SV%. As is the case nowadays with many other minor league transactions, the waiver-exempt player is sent down. As a team, New Jersey is a bottom-5 club in terms of goals allowed (3.55 GA/GP), which is something they will need to correct in the second half in order to secure a playoff spot. 

Nico Daws, who has a solid 2.39 GAA and .929 SV% in three AHL games, has been recalled to back up Vanecek. The Devils have back-to-backs today (Friday) in Ottawa and tomorrow (Saturday) in Boston, so Daws should probably start one of those games. Daws is probably a risky play given the Devils' goaltending issues. If you'd like to stream Daws, the Senators game is probably preferable.

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In the Hurricanes' 5-3 win over the Canadiens, Andrei Svechnikov scored three goals, while linemate Sebastian Aho recorded four assists. Svechnikov has missed 15 games due to injury, but he is making up for lost time by picking up three consecutive multipoint games with seven points over those three games. Meanwhile, Aho has back-to-back four-point games with nine points over his last three games. Svechnikov and Aho are one of the hottest duos going right now.

Brent Burns picked up three assists, giving him five points over his last two games. Burns' scoring is down, which makes me think that age (now 38) and wear and tear are finally catching up. With his recent run, Burns is on pace for just over 40 points.

Jesper Fast scored two goals of his own, which were his first goals in over a month (November 22).

Antti Raanta, who was recalled from the AHL earlier in the week, picked up the win in stopping 18 of 21 shots. While Frederik Andersen is out, Pyotr Kochetkov seems to be entrenched as the Carolina starter with quality starts in six of his last seven games.

Goal scorers can be hot and cold. Josh Anderson was held without a goal in his first 24 games of the season. Yet with another goal on Thursday, Anderson now has five goals in his last five games. Anderson is still catching up a bit from his early-season dry spell, so he is a possible pickup in deeper leagues for weekend games on Saturday in Florida and Sunday in Tampa Bay.

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Things I didn't think I'd write this season: Teddy Blueger has a seven-game point streak. Over that span he has eight points (3 G, 5 A). As I mentioned last week, Blueger has formed a highly effective third line with Dakota Joshua and Conor Garland. You'll have to wait until next year (which starts next week) in order to use any of those guys or any of your Canucks, who are off until January 2.

Samuel Ersson left Thursday's game in Vancouver early in the third period due to dehydration issues. Doesn't appear to be anything serious. Ersson has started the majority of Philly's games since mid-December because Carter Hart had fought an illness and because Ersson has played fairly well. Expect Hart, who entered the game in relief, to start tonight (Friday) in Seattle.

Travis Konecny also left Thursday's game with some sort of "bug", as described by John Tortorella. Konecny is the Flyers' leader in both goals (16) and points (29).

Something to keep in the memory bank when playing DFS or making game picks: Philadelphia has an 11-4-3 road record, including a 6-0-2 road record in their last eight games. The Flyers are a hard-working team playing above expectations. Maybe Torts gets some Jack Adams votes.

Egor Zamula led Flyers defensemen in power-play time in this game, making good on his opportunity by scoring a power-play goal. Not sure whether to make anything out of that, although he has received power-play time in each of the last two games when before that he had received little to none. Zamula has three points in his last two games.  

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Ryan McLeod has a three-game goal streak with multiple points in each of those three games. His four goals during that span have been on four consecutive shots. Lucky? Getting bumped up to Leon Draisaitl's line has helped McLeod's production. The Oils play back-to-back weekend games on Saturday in LA and Sunday in Anaheim. McLeod might be worth a stream for that Sunday game in particular because of his recent hot play, the opponent, and the fact that it is one of the final games of the day and week.

Zach Hyman now has 20 goals. Only four players currently have more goals than Hyman, and neither of them are Draisaitl or Connor McDavid.

The Oilers still aren’t in a playoff spot, but they seem to be getting their season back on track after hiring Kris Knoblauch as head coach.

Oilers have an NHL-best +25 goal differential since November 10th.

— Sportsnet Stats (@SNstats) December 29, 2023

The coaching change also seems to be helping Stuart Skinner, who pitched a 26-save shutout against the Sharks.

Since Knoblauch took over Stuart Skinner is:
1st in wins with 11.
8th in GAA at 2.53.
16th in Sv% at 0.907
The Oilers are:
Tied for 3rd in wins with 13.
1st in GF/GP at 4.05
12th in GA/GP at 2.89.

— Jason Gregor (@JasonGregor) December 29, 2023

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Talk to you tomorrow. In the meantime, follow me on Twitter/X and Threads.