Dobber's 2026 Midseason Guide is now available! It is a downloadable PDF file and Excel spreadsheet built to help you turn your fantasy hockey season around with second‑half projections, advanced‑stat insights, prospect evaluations, and strategic schedule analysis. It continues a 19‑year tradition of Dobber's midseason breakdowns. Get yours today!

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Dougie Hamilton is not only expected to be a healthy scratch for today's (Sunday's) game against Winnipeg, but he could be sitting for the foreseeable future while the Devils work out a trade. According to Pierre LeBrun, Hamilton's agent J.P. Barry says that the decision to bench Dougie with Johnathan Kovacevic returning to the lineup is to force Dougie to accept a trade. For what it's worth, the Devils have a deep right-side defense with Brett Pesce, Simon Nemec, Kovacevic, and Hamilton.

As I said in the Midseason Guide in the On the Block section for New Jersey, Hamilton's cap hit ($9 million) and his injury history are reasons that a trade won't be easy. On top of that, Hamilton has just 10 points in 40 games this season, far below his production averages in his previous four seasons with the Devils. However, Hamilton is still about 70-75% rostered in both Yahoo and Fantrax leagues. Although he could benefit from a fresh start, he could be the odd man out on your fantasy roster just like he seems to be in New Jersey.

It seems that in the Devils' attempt to acquire Quinn Hughes, they asked Hamilton and perhaps other players if they would consider waiving no-trade protections (for example, Hamilton has a 10-team trade list but not a full no-trade clause). The fallout of the failed Hughes trade pitch is that the Devils are now a fractured lot. With a 3-6-1 record in their last 10 games, they are now on the wrong side of the playoff bar in a tightly contested Eastern Conference.  

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How about not one, but two hat tricks from the Bruins on Saturday. Marat Khusnutdinov finished off a 10-2 rout over the Rangers with four goals, one assist, and a plus-6, while Pavel Zacha finished the game with "only" three goals. Khusnutdinov is heating up with eight points over his last five games, while Zacha has five points over his last three games.

Need assists? David Pastrnak had six of them in this game. Pastrnak also finished with five shots on goal and a plus-5. With his recent surge of 14 points over his past five games, Pasta is on pace to finish with over 100 points for the fourth consecutive season.

Fraser Minten had two goals and an assist with a plus-4, giving him seven points over his last five games.

Here are the Bruins' lines for this game:

VIKTOR ARVIDSSON – PAVEL ZACHA – CASEY MITTELSTADT

SEAN KURALY – TANNER JEANNOT – MARK KASTELIC

ELIAS LINDHOLM – DAVID PASTRNAK – MARAT KHUSNUTDINOV

MORGAN GEEKIE – ALEX STEEVES – FRASER MINTEN

If you're wondering where Morgan Geekie was in all of this, he left the game due to a family matter, not because of an injury. His status for today's (Sunday's) game is unknown. Elias Lindholm also left this game with a lower-body injury.

With Igor Shesterkin injured, hopefully you avoided the Jonathan Quick/Spencer Martin goalie tandem. With the minutes nearly split up the middle in this game, Quick allowed six goals while Martin allowed four.

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In his fifth career NHL game, Trent Miner registered both his first NHL win and first NHL shutout. Miner stopped all 29 shots in the Avalanche's 4-0 win over Columbus. Miner, who has been recalled to fill in for the injured Mackenzie Blackwood, is the third Colorado goalie to record a shutout this season. The Avalanche are so good that you could start any one of their goalies in any game. The Avs have now won 17 consecutive games at home.

Brent Burns scored a pair of goals in the win. The 40-year-old Burns now has goals in back-to-back games. He is also channeling the younger version of himself by totaling 13 shots over his last three games. The fact that Burns is playing for the Avalanche is also boosting his fantasy value.

The downside about the Avalanche next week is that they play only two games. That's something to keep in mind if you are thinking about adding Miner or Burns.

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Tyler Toffoli scored two power-play goals, including the overtime winner, and also added an assist in the Sharks' 5-4 win over Dallas. Toffoli has five points in his last three games, but he has also been able to take 19 shots on net over his last three games.

The Sharks trailed the Stars 4-2 at one point during the third period, but this year's version of the Sharks is a fun team that has the kind of offense that never seems to be out of a game. Macklin Celebrini is leading the charge with that. With three assists, Celebrini is now the third player to crack 70 points on the season. He also has a 13-game point streak in which he has racked up 27 points. Not even 20 years of age, Celebrini is already an NHL superstar.

Teenagers with 26 points over a 13-game span: NHL history

Wayne Gretzky
Sidney Crosby
Macklin Celebrini

End of list

— Sportsnet Stats (@SNstats) January 10, 2026

Unfortunately, Celebrini and his friends will be held to just two games next week.

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William Nylander returned to the Leafs' lineup on Saturday, and he picked up right where he left off. Nylander scored a goal and added two assists in the Leafs' 5-0 win over Vancouver. Although interrupted by a four-game injury absence, Nylander has eight points over his last three games. Get him back into your lineup.

In order to get Nylander back into the lineup, John Tavares was moved down to the second power-play unit while Matias Maccelli was left on the first unit. Before you ask whether Leafs coaching has lost its mind, the power play went 2-for-4 in this game. As well, Maccelli scored a power-play goal. Maccelli has generally performed below expectations as a Leaf, but it's worth noting that he has eight points over his last 11 games.

Thatcher Demko was pulled after the first period after allowing three goals on six shots. After the game, it was reported that he was pulled because of a lower-body injury and not because of performance. I think I've heard this tune before. Demko continues to be a major injury risk.

With the Canucks looking dreadful, Demko's recent numbers have been worse than normal with no wins or quality starts in his last six games. Something to take into account is that the defense in front of him currently has two 20-year-olds (Zeev Buium, Tom Willander) and a 21-year-old (Elias Pettersson). The Canucks have a promising blueline, but it is experiencing growing pains.

Although Brock Boeser has four assists in his last five games, he has no goals in his last 19 games. Boeser also has the worst plus minus in the league (-24). The advanced stats suggest the goals will come at some point, but the Canucks simply can't surround him with enough talent to ensure that happens. Boeser is definitely droppable in many leagues.

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In the Sabres' 5-3 win over Anaheim, Jack Quinn scored a pair of goals. Quinn had not registered a point in his previous four games or a goal in his previous nine games.

During the Sabres' recent run of success, Bowen Byram has been hot. With a goal on Saturday, Byram now has 11 points in his last nine games. Only three of Byram's 24 points this season have been on the power play, so he has been getting it done without time on the top power play, except when Rasmus Dahlin has been out of the lineup. No defenseman with as many total points as Byram has fewer power-play points, so his ability to produce offense should remain regardless of his power-play usage.  

Leo Carlsson entered Saturday's game without a point since mid-December, which was a run of 10 games without a point. Did anyone sell high in a single-season format? Carlsson broke that slump on Saturday, however, with a goal, an assist, and five shots on goal. Even though his offense literally fell off a cliff, Carlsson still remains near the point-per-game mark (43 points in 44 games). The Ducks have now lost nine consecutive games, which is related to Carlsson's recent scoring slump. The 21-year-old Carlsson should be fine long-term, although replicating his successful first quarter (28 PTS in 21 GP) might be too much to ask.

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Jaccob Slavin returned to the Hurricanes' lineup on Saturday, recording one assist while logging nearly 20 minutes. Slavin has been held to just six games this season due to multiple injuries. Slavin, who was named to the USA Olympic roster, should help the Canes defensively, which is good news for Brandon Bussi and Frederik Andersen.

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Alex DeBrincat scored a goal and added two assists in the Red Wings' 4-0 win over Montreal. DeBrincat now has six points in his last five games for a Detroit team that has the highest point total in the Atlantic Division.

John Gibson posted a 27-save shutout, giving him quality starts in each of his last five games. Compare his first quarter with his second quarter. Clearly a tale of two different goalies.

Quarter	GP	W	L	OTL	GAA	SV%	QUAL	QUAL%	GSAA
1	13	4	7	1	3.59	0.865	4	30.8	-10.42
2	14	12	2	0	2.01	0.932	10	71.4	14.44

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Hot on the heels of the Red Wings in the Atlantic are the Tampa Bay Lightning, who have a nine-game winning streak and a better winning percentage than the Wings in spite of having one fewer point. In a 7-2 win over Philly, Nikita Kucherov scored two goals along with two assists, Brayden Point had three assists, while Gage Goncalves scored two goals. Kucherov now has eight consecutive games with multiple points.

And yes, that means Goncalves was on the same line as Kucherov and Point. Goncalves, who I'm almost certain is available in your Yahoo league because he is 0% rostered there, also has eight points over his last nine games. He might be worth adding for that reason.

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Simon Holmstrom scored two goals, including the overtime winner, in the Islanders' 4-3 win over Minnesota. Holmstrom has now scored goals in three consecutive games. Holmstrom has a shooting percentage of at least 20% in each of the last three seasons, including 24% this season. He has never taken 100 shots in a season even though he has reached double-digit goals in each of the last three seasons, including this one.

Quinn Hughes recorded assists on all three Minnesota goals while firing eight shots on goal. Since being traded to the Wild, Hughes has 16 points in 14 games. All but one of those points are assists.

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Playing in his fourth career game, Drew Commesso earned both his first career win and first career shutout. Commesso stopped all 37 shots he faced in Chicago's 3-0 win in Nashville. Because both Spencer Knight and Arvid Soderblom were unavailable due to illness, so Commesso was starting his second game in as many nights. Commesso allowed five goals on 24 shots in a loss to Washington on Friday night. The 23-year-old Commesso seems likely to return to the AHL once both Knight and Soderblom return.

In his second game back following injury, Connor Bedard registered two assists.

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With a goal, Connor McDavid has extended his point streak to 18 games. That's the longest point streak of his career. That point streak could be at 23 games by the end of next week, as the Oilers get the schedule of the week with a whopping five games. I don’t think I’ve ever seen as many teams with five-game weeks on the schedule as I have this season. The Olympics probably has something to do with it.

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Before Saturday's game, Philip Broberg signed a six-year extension with the Blues that will result in an $8 million cap hit. Broberg and Dylan Holloway originally signed offer sheet with the Blues, with the Oilers electing not to match them. Broberg leads the Blues in icetime, averaging nearly 23 minutes per game. His real-life value has improved in a major way from when he was in Edmonton.

That wasn't the end of the story for Broberg on Saturday, though. Broberg left Saturday's game with an upper-body injury after taking a hit from Mark Stone. After the game, coach Jim Montgomery said that Broberg is "doing all right" and they'll "see how he responds."

Jordan Kyrou's assist was his first point in six games. If he continues at a 40-point full-season pace, Kyrou will be one of fantasy hockey's biggest busts this season.

Stone now has goals in seven consecutive games. He is a top-10 player in terms of points per game (1.37 PTS/GP), yet he is not among the scoring leaders because he has missed a chunk of games again this season. Stone is a beast when healthy, but you can't count on that all the time. Stone has not reached 70 games in a season since 2018-19.

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