Fantasy hockey trends and hidden gems: Keep or kick Mika Zibanejad, Patrik Laine and more

Theres unavoidable chaos when the holidays roll around.

Sometimes, fantasy hockey sites combine two weeks to account for the three-day holiday break.

This year, that isnt the case.

Choices were made, and we simply have to work around them.

Rather than give you one big super-powered Week 12 column, we will hit on Weeks 12 and 13.

Much can change between now and Dec.

30 in the NHL , so we wont go as deep into Week 13 as usual.

Instead, we will play a big round of Keep or Kick with your player suggestions.

Advertisement Week 12 There are no four-game streamers or light-night performers in Week 12.

But there are still some players on the rise worth considering.

Rickard Rakell , C/LW/RW, PIT | 47% Yahoo The Penguins arent dead just yet, and Rakell is helping keep this team afloat.

He has been a reliable shot and scoring chance creator for Pittsburgh and has the results to back that up.

On a top line with Sidney Crosby , the Penguins are scoring at a high 4.12 goals per 60 clip.

But there is an element of sustainability behind it, thanks to their expected goal generation.

While were not sold on the Penguins being a playoff-caliber team, Rakell is worth investing in especially with his positional flexibility.

Lane Hutson, D, MTL | 44% Yahoo The hype around Hutson was real heading into the season, and that can be a lot to live up to.

After scoring just 3 points in nine games to open the year, he is hitting his stride in Montreal.

Hutson is absolutely a player worth betting on, especially for those in keeper leagues.

Marco Rossi , C, MIN | 31% Yahoo Rossi is having a breakout season in Minnesota and is emerging as one of the best scoring threats behind Kirill Kaprizov and Matt Boldy .

His placement on a top line between Kaprizov and Mats Zuccarello gives him an even better chance to succeed; the trio has driven play with 57.5 percent of the expected goal share.

Rossi and Kaprizovs finishing talent is helping the team outperform even more.

Victor Olofsson , LW/RW, VGK | 14% Yahoo Olofsson has two primary strengths: He generates a lot of shots and can convert on them.

But he isnt going to shoot almost 26 percent forever.

There are definite sustainability concerns here, but were firm believers in riding players while they are hot (and knowing when to drop them as they cool).

Jackson LaCombe, D, ANA | 9% Yahoo LaCombes usage suffered from Cam Fowler s return from injury and then the Jacob Trouba trade.

But with Fowler in St.

Louis, there are more minutes to go around in Anaheim.

LaCombe is clearly benefiting from them.

The forward convert has offensive instincts that have been shining lately, including on PP1.

The Ducks are a three-game streamer in Week 12, then have a four-game slate in Week 13.

Jackson LaCombe is heading to the net at every possible opening from the blue line.

His old forward skills coming into play and Ducks are encouraging that.

Oozing confidence right now.

Eric Stephens (@icemancometh) December 19, 2024 Anthony Duclair , LW, NYI | 7% Yahoo Fantasy managers probably arent racing to add Islanders , with the team sitting fourth-to-last in goal generation at 2.51 per 60.

But this team is finally getting healthier Mathew Barzal is back, and Duclair might return as soon as Saturday.

Duclair wont fix the Islanders offense single-handily, and he has some defensive drawbacks.

But he is the kind of offensive spark this top-nine is missing.

Advertisement Nikolai Kovalenko , LW/RW, SJS | 2% Yahoo When a player moves from Colorado to San Jose, its easy to worry about how the shift in team quality will affect a player.

The big difference between the Avalanche and Sharks is opportunity.

As the Avalanche got healthy, Kovalenkos chances of top-six minutes dwindled.

In San Jose, hes a second-liner alongside Macklin Celebrini .

So the scoring potential is a lot better for the winger, despite playing on a rebuilding team.

Morgan Geekie , C/RW, BOS | 1% Yahoo The Bruins offensive creation is trending up, and their top line has something to do with it.

Boston has generated about 61 percent of the expected goal share with David Pastrnak , Pavel Zacha , and Geekie on the ice at five-on-five.

The Bruins are creating quality offense and converting on it with these three on the ice; the goaltending just hasnt been as solid in their minutes.

Boston is also a four-game streamer in Week 13, so there is value with Geekie, granted he sticks in the top six.

Week 13 Week 13 more closely follows the usual format heavier slates on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday with four light nights in between.

Just remember to set those lineups early on Dec.

31 (and next week on Monday, the 23rd).

The Ducks and Bruins are among the four-game streamers to watch.

Geekie and LaCombe are two players to have on your radars.

In Toronto, its worth watching to see if that loaded top line sticks together or if the coaches make changes for more balance.

If the latter happens, players like Matthew Knies or, potentially, Bobby McMann become more valuable.

The Rangers are going through it, and the Predators are resetting after an awful start.

At this moment, no one jumps out as a real threat.

But keep an eye on these teams; theres a lot of talent on both rosters if they can turn their seasons around.

Advertisement Utah is currently trending up, with five wins in seven games in December.

Up front, Dylan Guenther is putting up numbers.

While most managers cant add him, his center, Logan Cooley , is worth considering.

Back in goal, Karel Vejmelka has been excellent.

He is playing in a true starting capacity and responding well to his workload.

Twenty-three teams will make a light-night appearance next week.

The Panthers , Predators, Rangers, Penguins and Ducks have particularly favorable schedules with two light nights.

In Florida, Anton Lundell will likely return to the third line, too.

But maybe his stint in the top six will boost his confidence.

It seemed to help him get back on track last year in the playoffs maybe itll have a similar effect now.

One other light-night performer catches our eye next week: Seattle.

Eeli Tolvanen is a solid depth scorer for any roster.

But the Kraken made headlines for acquiring Kaapo Kakko Wednesday night.

Kakko isnt rostered in most leagues, for good reason as much as the Rangers third line produced earlier in the season, he generally wasnt the driver of that success.

But in Seattle, he should have a lot more opportunity to grow.

The top-six minutes with the Kraken are slightly different from New York, with star power in mind.

But its the clean slate this player needs.

Francis anticipates Kakko to get an opportunity in the top six and on the PP.

#SeaKraken Alison (@AlisonL) December 19, 2024 Keep or Kick Mika Zibanejad , C, NYR KEEP Speaking of the Rangers, lets talk a bit about their underperforming stars.

Whether the core finally gets back on track or management continues to make changes, something has to give in New York.

Five-on-five play has been a red flag for Zibanejad for some time, who 1) needs to pick up the pace individually and 2) could use a more high-octane right winger.

Thats a red flag, but the power play may be able to make up for it (again, if this team can get back on track).

The shot volume has been there, and the quality is fine, too.

If he can improve his timing a bit more, the results should come.

Sticking with New York, Alexis Lafreniere is another keep.

The mess around him is dragging him down, but selling low on him has more risk than reward.

Patrik Laine , LW/RW, MTL KEEP Scoring six power-play goals in seven games isnt a sustainable recipe for success, but there are encouraging signs here for Laine.

At his core, Laine has the shooting ability to be an elite goal scorer.

He just didnt stay healthy long enough in Columbus to show that.

The fact that he is back to playing to his strengths is a good thing.

Is the five-on-five play worrisome? Sure, especially since 1) it generally hasnt been an area of strength for him, and 2) he isnt on a team that can mask that.

But its honestly too soon to write that aspect of his game off, either.

Laine has missed a lot of time over the last year, so it will take time for him to get his five-on-five legs back.

Its a lot easier to score on the power play when a player can stay pretty stationary in formation.

Advertisement Brady Skjei , D, NSH KICK Skjei may be coming off his best game of the season from a fantasy context, but that performance is more of an outlier than a pattern.

Playing with Roman Josi wasnt enough to boost his offense, and now the Predators arent dominating play in his minutes at five-on-five while skating with Nick Blankenburg .

His secondary categories arent enough to compensate for that lack of scoring, either.

Connor McMichael / Aliaksei Protas , Washington Capitals KEEP, for now Wait a few more games for Alex Ovechkin s return, then decide.

If Ovechkin can get right back into form, that will likely give Protas an even-strength boost.

If he resets the top six, it could benefit McMichael, who played well with PL Dubois and Tom Wilson before the coaches started mixing and matching lines to find a new groove without Ovie.

Matty Knies, LW, TOR KICK Heres the thing.

The Maple Leafs probably wont keep their top line loaded forever, so Knies will presumably return to Auston Matthews wing soon enough.

And he will have a lot more scoring potential when that happens.

But he hasnt shown the consistency even when matched up with the teams best to be a roster lock across a full season, either.

Hes progressing but needs to pick up the pace to be a roster staple for managers in shallow leagues.

Aaron Ekblad , D, FLA KEEP Hes quarterbacking the top power-play unit in Florida, and no one else is pushing him for that role.

Kick him if that changes.

Justin Faulk , D, STL KICK The Blues offense is a literal black hole when Faulk is on the ice at five-on-five even when playing with Philip Broberg , who has generally been a spark from the back end.

And similar to Skjei, he doesnt thread the needle enough in the secondary categories.

The difference is that he is the mainstay quarterback of PP1 in St.

Louis, and usually, we suggest hanging onto players in that position (like we did with Ekblad 5 seconds ago).

Were making an exception here since the Blues are a bottom-10 team in expected and actual goal generation on the power play.

Via HockeyViz I have a little more patience for Broberg right now maybe it stems from deployment curiosity with Cam Fowler in the fold.

If his presence somehow gets Broberg away from Faulk, theres potential to KEEP .

If he stays stapled to his left, KICK .

Brandt Clarke , D, LAK IT DEPENDS Theres a disconnect in the Kings offense.

Los Angeles is a top-10 team in five-on-five expected and actual goal generation.

The power play is bottom-10.

Thats a real blow to Clarkes value, who hasnt been the biggest even-strength scorer.

The skill is there, and so is the support around him.

That makes him worth hanging onto for managers in deeper leagues until Drew Doughty returns and resumes his role on PP1 because good defensemen can be hard to come by on the waiver wire.

But anyone in a shallow league should be able to find a better option from Jake Walman to Lane Hutson and Bo wen Byram.

Advertisement Kyle Palmieri , RW, NYI KEEP, for now The Islanders are not a high-octane offensive team, but were willing to give Palmieri a few more games for two key reasons.

The team is about to get more reinforcements when Duclair returns, and the Islanders generate more expected and actual goals in Palmieris minutes.

Now, the flip side of that is that the bar is pretty low in Long Island, and no one is pushing the pace enough the rest of the time.

Injuries to Duclair and Barzal play into that since two parts of the top six were sidelined for some time.

But there is a red flag in Palmieris game to keep an eye on: he is shooting the puck less, and his shot quality is down from last year.

If that doesnt change even as the team gets healthy, then KICK .

Nazem Kadri , C, CGY KEEP Should you keep expecting four-goal game streaks and highlight-reel plays? Probably not.

NAZEM KADRI JUMPED OVER HIM FOR THE GOAL pic.twitter.com/4ZlndHk79U ESPN (@espn) December 13, 2024 But Kadris a solid middle-six scorer who contributes a lot of shots.

That has value in most leagues.

Managers in very shallow leagues can probably find better options.

But those in upwards of 10-team leagues should appreciate some depth scoring.

Sell high if you can since his five-on-five numbers are a little more suspect.

Stuart Skinner , G, EDM KEEP Rostering Skinner can be an emotional journey.

Hes a starting goalie on a very good team that is moving up the standings.

He will earn wins and have some solid nights along the way.

He will also have some really bad outings that make you want to drop him instantly.

Over the last month (pre-Thursday night against the Bruins), he had seven quality starts in his last nine games that is worth something.

You just may have to deal with some real stinkers in between.

Have a really good number two goalie behind him, and bench him next time Edmonton takes on Florida because he turns into a pumpkin in those matchups.

Data via Evolving-Hockey , HockeyViz , HockeyStatCards , AllThreeZones , and NaturalStatTrick .

This story relies on shot-based metrics; here is a primer on these numbers.

(Top Photo: Bruce Bennett/Getty Images).

This article has been shared from the original article on theathleticuk, here is the link to the original article:

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6008635/2024/12/20/fantasy-hockey-trends-and-hidden-gems-keep-or-kick-mika-zibanejad-patrik-laine-and-more/