On Friday, the Canucks acquired forward Lukas Reichel from the Blackhawks for a 2027 fourth-round pick. The 23-year-old Reichel's career has stalled at the NHL level since being selected as a first-round pick in 2020, with his career high being 22 points in 70 games last season.

Expect Reichel to receive some reps at center, since the Canucks are exceptionally lacking proven options at that position beyond Elias Pettersson – even more so with Filip Chytil probably dealing with another concussion. Despite registering four points in five games, Reichel has averaged just under 10 minutes per game this season with the Hawks. That icetime number should increase with the Canucks at least initially, especially if they use him at center. Seems like a worthwhile gamble for the Canucks, with the fourth-round pick a small price to pay.

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If you were watching Game 1 of the Blue Jays/Dodgers World Series instead of whatever NHL game was accessible to you, no judgment here at all (guilty myself). Since you came here for the fantasy analysis of the four NHL games on Friday, I'll at least try to deliver on that.

I did happen to catch the first period of the Leafs and Sabres, which ended with two goals from each team. Jiri Kulich scored one of the Buffalo goals, giving him three goals and an assist over his last five games. Skating on a line with Tage Thompson and Zach Benson, Kulich is in a position to score even more. The 2022 first-round pick has two 20-goal seasons under his belt in the AHL, and he's only 1% rostered in Yahoo leagues.

With Morgan Rielly out of the lineup for this game, Oliver Ekman-Larsson received a go on the top power play. He finished with two first-period assists, giving him seven points over his last five games. Ekman-Larsson (11% Yahoo) might not seem like the most appealing option on your waiver wire, but he could be worth an add depending on how long Rielly is out. OEL has also averaged close to 25 minutes per game over his last two games.

Joseph Woll has been activated from LTIR. He has not played a game this season, whether it be regular season or preseason, so he may need a bit of time to be ready.

In the Sabres' 5-3 win, Mattias Samuelsson led the way with two goals. Although he already has four points in six games, Samuelsson has contributed very little offense throughout his career.

With an assist, Benson has seven points in five games this season – all assists. In that brief five-game run, his icetime is up nearly five minutes per game over last season. He is also averaging more than a shot per game and is receiving time on the top power play. I've added Benson in one league, yet he's still available in about two-thirds of Yahoo leagues. A third-year breakout for the 20-year-old seems like a real possibility.

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These are the only hockey highlights that I could find on social media amidst a multitude of Blue Jays clips, so just bear with me. Maybe I didn't look hard enough.

Winnipeg reacts to the news of Addison Barger's #WorldSeries grand slam 🔊🔊🔊 pic.twitter.com/RXNSGQVbLj

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) October 25, 2025

The Blue Jays have to be Canada's team now… right? At least more so than any NHL team that Boston Pizza tells us to get behind during the playoffs.  

Anyway, back onto topic. The most notable fantasy takeaway from this game was Zayne Parekh being moved to Calgary's top power play. Parekh, who racked up 107 points last season in the OHL, finished with a power-play assist in 17 minutes of icetime in the Flames' 5-3 loss to Winnipeg. The 19-year-old Parekh is available in about two-thirds of Yahoo leagues, so he's officially worth adding where available.

I've watched the Flames more than I've watched most teams this season, and I'd have to say that their power play looked underwhelming with Mackenzie Weegar on the point. The numbers back this up, as the Flames currently have a bottom-5 power play (13.2% PP%). That's not to say Weegar isn't a fine player, especially in multicategory leagues. But with the Flames officially dead last in the NHL standings with a 1-7-1 record, why not hand the keys to the young offensive dynamo?

Weegar will be fine based on his ability to accrue hits, blocked shots, and even-strength offense from heavy minutes, but his power-play total will fall. Besides, Weegar has only one power-play point and two points overall in nine games this season.

In the Winnipeg win, Josh Morrissey led the way in points with three assists. Morrissey had been off to a slow start with just two points (both assists) in his first seven games. He also registered his first power-play point of the season in this game. Nothing has changed as far as his icetime or power-play usage, but Morrissey is averaging below two shots per game. He should be fine, but don't expect him to surpass his career high of 76 points, which was set in 2022-23.

Jonathan Toews scored his first goal in front of the Winnipeg fans on Friday. Both of his goals this season have been against the Flames.

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Now look at the top of the NHL standings and you'll see the New Jersey Devils with a 7-1-0 record. The Devils have now won seven in a row, including a 3-1 win over San Jose on Friday. With Jacob Markstrom on the shelf, Jake Allen has been on a nice run with wins and quality starts in each of his last four games. Allen was barely tested on Friday, stopping 16 of 17 shots from the Sharks.

Dougie Hamilton entered the game without a point in each of his last six games, making good on the "player to disappoint" vote that he received from two Dobber writers in the Experts Panel predictions. However, Hamilton rebounded on Friday with two power-play goals and an assist – his first two power-play points of the season. After briefly conceding his spot on the top power play to Luke Hughes, Hamilton is back there again. Although Hughes now has a cap hit that matches Hamilton's ($9 million), Sheldon Keefe continues to be a creature of habit when it comes to managing the power play. If Hamilton experiences another long slump, then it could be back to Hughes on PP1.

With a power-play assist on Friday, Dawson Mercer has eight points over his last seven games. Mercer is also being used on the top power play, putting him in an even better spot than before. He is still rostered in fewer than 50% of Yahoo leagues, and he is worth adding in everything but the shallowest of leagues.

With an assist in the loss, Macklin Celebrini has seven points over his last three games and 12 points in eight games this season. Over his last three games, Celebrini is averaging five shots per game. Averaging over three shots per game last season, Celebrini has the ability to pad your shot totals in addition to the scoring.

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In the Capitals' 5-1 win over Columbus, Alex Ovechkin scored his 899^th career goal while adding an assist. The game also happened to be Ovechkin's 1499^th of his career. That means he has a chance to score his 900^th career goal in his 1500^th career NHL game. Not bad. The Great 8 has five points in his last four games, but he has "just" two goals in eight games this season.

With an assist on Friday, Dylan Strome now has a five-game point streak with ten points over that span.

With a goal on Friday, Tom Wilson also has a five-game point streak with nine points over that span.

Both Strome and Wilson have power-play points in four of their past five games.

Zach Werenski has been somewhat cold out of the gate with points in just two of his seven games.

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Looking at the upcoming weekend schedule, Saturday is busy as usual. However, a lot of leagues will need to be decided on Sunday with a busier-than-normal eight-game schedule.

Teams with two weekend games include the following: Colorado, Dallas, Edmonton, Los Angeles, Minnesota, Nashville, Tampa Bay, Utah, Vancouver, and Vegas. Many players from these teams could be considered possible waiver-wire adds for both Saturday and Sunday, including the following players currently on the Frozen Tools hot list:

Ivan Barbashev, Kiefer Sherwood, Jonathan Marchessault (bangers leagues)

William Karlsson, Conor Garland, Ryan O'Reilly (pure scoring leagues)

In the various hockey shows I've listened to and social media accounts I've followed, I've heard analysts suggest that teams wait at least 10-20 games before casting any judgment on their team. Are you doing the same with your fantasy team? This time of the season should be for tinkering around – adding different players and finding out which ones work.  

I know that at least a couple of the teams I drafted were veteran-focused, so I've made it a priority to add a few young up-and-comers from the waiver wire when openings have come available. Even with streamers, that might be the way to go in many cases. The aforementioned Benson and Mercer are two examples of this in one of my leagues. Originally, they were added for the short term, but I think I'm going to stick with them for a while longer.

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Follow me on X @Ian_Gooding and Bluesky @goodsfantasyhockey.bsky.social