This happened during one of the later games on Thursday, so I didn't get a chance to write about it yesterday. Filip Zadina scored two goals and added two assists and a plus-3 in the Sharks' 6-3 win against Calgary. Even though Zadina was once a high first-round pick (chosen one pick before Quinn Hughes!) this output falls into the "that helps no one" category because Zadina is 0% rostered in Yahoo and 10% rostered in Fantrax. Zadina had even been on a line with Justin Bailey (who finished with three points) and Ryan Carpenter, and none of those points were on the power play.

Perhaps this one-game output earns Zadina a promotion on a thin Sharks roster that is without both Tomas Hertl and Logan Couture at the moment. Before recommending adding Zadina, I'd need to see more games not necessarily as plentiful as this one, but more games without a zero in the boxscore. That being said, Zadina is a low-risk gamble for a Sharks team on a rebuild, so they can take their time to determine whether he still has any top-6 upside.

Dustin Wolf was tagged with the really bad start against those woeful Sharks. His AHL success (18-7-2, 2.27 GAA, .927 SV%) hasn't quite translated to the NHL level, as he has just one win and quality start in his six games this season. He's only 22, which is very young for an NHL goalie, so stash him away if you can.

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Since joining the Canucks, Elias Lindholm has had two 2-goal games. In his other four games, Lindholm has just one assist. Lindholm joined the Canucks just as they had begun a five-game road trip, so the adjustment period perhaps hasn't been ideal. However, playing on a line with another Elias (Elias Pettersson) both at even strength and on the power play should help his value going forward.

Speaking of Pettersson, his three assists on Thursday puts him at seven points over his last four games. I denied a trade request involving Petterson last week simply because he was the best player involved in the deal. The offer was fair, as I would have acquired Noah Dobson and Chris Kreider for Pettersson and Darnell Nurse. Dobson and Kreider are both excellent productive pieces, but I wonder if the other team was trying to sell high a bit on them. Both have a Yahoo ranking higher than their preseason value, but the same could be said about Pettersson. I won't do a deep dive beyond that, since it is a trade offer I decided not to accept.

Thatcher Demko is the first goalie to reach 30 wins this season. Demko is a talented goalie who has bailed the Canucks out on many occasions, but I'm not sure anyone saw this coming. The showdown between Demko and Connor Hellebuyck on Saturday night's late game on Hockey Night in Canada looks like it'll be worth staying up for. Those might be the two goalies that jump out as potential Vezina Trophy winners.

Speaking of the Jets, this might be a game to sit your Winnipeg players beyond the big names. The Jets have not scored more than two goals in a game for their past eight games. Facing Demko won't be an easy way to shake the slump. For example, Gabriel Vilardi has been held without a point in his last six games. Factor in two games missed due to a lower-body injury and the All-Star break and it's been exactly a month since Vilardi recorded a point. He seems to be the very definition of a streaky player this season, although Vilardi being moved off the top line because the Jets have returned to health would have something to do with it.

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It’s a Friday night and you're looking forward to watching some NHL hockey after a hard week. But there's only one game, and it's a late one for those in the Eastern time zone? (Understood there are other hockey options, such as your local junior team or the Professional Women's Hockey League.) Friday isn't typically a busy night anyway, but you'd think there'd be a bit more on the schedule. Regardless, this game between Carolina and Arizona will receive some extra special attention here.

Pyotr Kochetkov made 30 saves in the Hurricanes' 5-1 win in Arizona. Kochetkov has now won three of his past four games. Since this game was only the first of back-to-backs, Spencer Martin may receive the nod for tonight's (Saturday's) game in Vegas. Martin would be appearing in just his second game as a Hurricane.

Five different players scored goals for the Hurricanes, so Jack Drury and Martin Necas led the Canes in points with two assists each. The assists were Drury's first points in his last five games. Meanwhile, Necas continues to be hot with six points over his last four games. Since the calendar turned to 2024, Necas has seven goals and 12 points in 11 games. He's a must-start right now.

With a goal on Friday, Seth Jarvis now has nine points over his last nine games. He's already matched his career high in goals (17) and surpassed his career high in points (42). He's currently on a 65-point pace.

For the Coyotes, Karel Vejmelka was pulled in the third period after allowing five goals on 26 shots. With Connor Ingram injured on Wednesday, Matt Villalta appeared in mop-up duty for his first NHL game. A 2017 draft pick of the Kings, Villalta has posted some decent AHL numbers this season (34 GP, 22-11-1, 2.58 GAA, .913 SV%).

The Coyotes have now lost eight games in a row, with not a single one of their players on the Frozen Tools hot list. Notable Coyotes on the cold list include Nick Bjugstad (0 PTS in last 8 GP), Sean Durzi and Lawson Crouse (0 PTS in last 6 GP), Nick Schmaltz (0 PTS in last 3 GP), and Logan Cooley (1 PT in last 5 GP). It doesn't get any easier for them over the next few days, as they play back-to-backs against Colorado on Sunday and Edmonton on Monday.

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Some quick news hits:

The Penguins have claimed Matthew Phillips off waivers from the Capitals. I've liked Phillips ever since I saw him play in the WHL for the Victoria Royals, but he might be the smallest player in the entire NHL. He's scored 30+ goals and 65+ points in each of his past two seasons in the AHL, so the Penguins might provide him with a short-term opportunity on a scoring line to fill in for the injured Jake Guentzel. It would be up to him to make good on that opportunity in order to secure a role as a full-time NHLer.   

The Predators have signed Michael McCarron to a two-year, $1.8 million extension. A one-time first-round pick, McCarron has evolved into a physical player that fits the type of team that Nashville is. The Predators lead the league with 1499 hits.

Blake Wheeler is expected to miss the rest of the regular season with a lower-body injury. He may be able to return during the playoffs depending on how far the Rangers go. According to the Frozen Tools line combinations, Jimmy Vesey was moved up to Wheeler's spot on the scoring line with Mika Zibanejad and Chris Kreider. Vesey has been heating up recently (4 PTS in last 4 GP), so he could be a player to watch here. So could Kaapo Kakko, who has 3 PTS in his last 3 GP. Vesey and Kakko are rostered in very few Yahoo leagues, so they are potential streams for Sunday's outdoor game against the Islanders.

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Looking at more possible weekend streamers, chances are that your lineup is already at least mostly full on a busy Saturday (13 games). So the emphasis might be on Sunday games. That means if you want to get the most mileage out of your pickups, look for Kings players in particular.

One that I added earlier in the week in anticipation for weekend games is Matt Roy. He's not an offensive force by any means, but he provides enough in the combined hits and blocks categories. So far he has at least 100 of each, which places him just within the top 20 in that category. Roy actually takes a decent number of shots for a defenseman (92 SOG), so he's within the top 30 in the combined triple category of SOG+HIT+BLK. There's no guarantee he'll fill all three categories in each game, but he averages at least close to two per game in each category.

If scoring is more of what you need, Phillip Danault might be your guy. I thought Danault's scoring would take a dip with the offseason addition of Pierre-Luc Dubois, but instead Dubois's scoring has declined. Danault could also benefit from the recent addition of old linemate Viktor Arvidsson to the lineup, giving the Kings more balanced scoring. Danault is rostered in just 20% of Yahoo leagues and 39% of Fantrax leagues.

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