This article is part of our The Daily Puck series.
Around the Rink
Phil Kessel is an incredible goal scorer. He's got such a quick release on his shot it's almost unbelievable. He's dangerous on every rush.
He's got a great chance at scoring every time he comes rushing down the boards. That's why Kessel is so valuable in fantasy, he can snap a slump at any moment with that shot.
Kessel recorded a pair of goals last night as the Maple Leafs surprisingly thrashed the Bruins 6-1. Watch his two early goals below.
We'll get into this a little bit more momentarily, but the Maple Leafs, for a team in their position in the standings, have a lot of offensive weapons that provide significant value in fantasy hockey. We'll look at a couple of others besides Kessel below.
There's nine games around the league tonight so let's get into so game notes and highlighting who is hot and who is not.
Projected Goalie Starters (all times Eastern)
For updates on the projected goalies later in the day, check our Projected Goalies Grid
Colorado Avalanche (Semyon Varlamov) at New York Rangers (Henrik Lundqvist), 7:00 PM
Winnipeg Jets (Ondrej Pavelec) at Carolina Hurricanes (Cam Ward), 7:00 PM
Boston Bruins (Niklas Svedberg) at Montreal Canadiens (Carey Price), 7:30 PM
San Jose Sharks (Antti Niemi) at Tampa Bay Lightning (Ben Bishop), 7:30 PM
Nashville Predators (Pekka Rinne) at St. Louis Blues (Brian Elliott), 8:00 PM
Buffalo Sabres (Jhonas Enroth) at Minnesota Wild (Darcy Kuemper), 8:00 PM
Arizona Coyotes (Mike Smith) at Calgary Flames (Jonas Hiller), 9:00 PM
Ottawa Senators (Craig Anderson) at Edmonton Oilers (Ben Scrivens), 9:30 PM
Dallas Stars (Kari Lehtonen) at Los Angeles Kings (Martin Jones), 10:30 PM
Injury News For Teams Playing Thursday
Colorado Avalanche
Brad Stuart, D (hamstring) - Is dealing with his injury.
Patrick Bordeleau, LW - Is still on IR.
Jesse Winchester, LW (concussion) - Suffered a setback in late October.
Ryan Wilson, D (shoulder) - Was placed on IR Monday.
New York Rangers
Dan Boyle, D (hand) - Is a possibility for Thursday's game.
Ryan McDonagh, D (shoulder) - Was placed on IR last week.
Winnipeg Jets
Anthony Peluso, RW (upper body) - Has been cleared to play, but still hasn't returned.
Carolina Hurricanes
Jordan Staal, C (leg) - Remains out.
Brett Bellemore, D (upper body) - Did not play on Tuesday.
Boston Bruins
Zdeno Chara, D (knee) - Does not have a timetable for his return.
David Krejci, C (lower body) - Did not play Wednesday and will not play Thursday.
David Warsofsky, D (groin) - Is on IR.
Kevan Miller, D (upper body) - Is traveling with the team, but did not play Wednesday.
Montreal Canadiens
Michael Bournival, C (shoulder) - Was placed on IR this week.
San Jose Sharks
Alex Stalock, G (lower body) - Has been placed on IR.
Raffi Torres, LW (knee) - Is expected to continue missing significant time.
Mike Brown, RW (hand) - Has his cast off and has skated, but isn't ready for game-action yet.
Tampa Bay Lightning
Victor Hedman, D (hand) - May not return until early December.
Brett Connolly, RW (lower body) - Has skated on his own, but isn't close to a return.
Tyler Johnson, C (upper body) - Is day-to-day after taking a cross check this week.
Alex Killorn, C (upper body) - The team is hopeful he can return Thursday.
Mattias Ohlund, D (knee) - Remains on long-term IR (LTIR).
Nashville Predators
Mike Fisher, C (achilles) - Still has not played this season.
Colin Wilson, LW (lower body) - Is considered day-to-day.
Viktor Stalberg, LW (knee) - Was placed on IR over the weekend.
St. Louis Blues
Ryan Reaves, RW (ankle) - Remains day-to-day.
T.J. Oshie, RW (concussion) - Is close to a return, but is unlikely for Thursday.
Buffalo Sabres
Josh Gorges, D (lower body) - Will not play Thursday.
Matt Hackett, G (knee) - Practiced Wednesday.
Minnesota Wild
Jared Spurgeon, D (shoulder) - Is probably for Thursday's game.
Matt Cooke, LW (lower body) - Is progressing slower than expected.
Zach Parise, LW (concussion) - Is close to a return, but unlikely for Thursday.
Josh Harding, G (foot) - Is close, but is still in a no contact jersey.
Arizona Coyotes
David Moss, RW (upper body) - Rejoined team practices, but in a no contact jersey.
Brendan Perlini, LW (hand) - Is out indefinitely.
Calgary Flames
Mikael Backlund, C (abdomen) - Is considered week-to-week.
Joe Colborne, C (wrist) - Skated on his on before Wednesday's practice, but won't be playing Thursday.
Michael Ferland, LW (concussion) - Returned to practice Wednesday.
Sam Bennett, LW (shoulder) - Has undergone surgery and will be out months.
Matt Stajan, C (knee) - Is on IR.
Mason Raymond, LW (upper body) - Skated on Wednesday.
Ottawa Senators
Marc Methot, D (back) - Resumed skating on Tuesday.
Brad Mills, C (suspension) - Has been suspended for the use of PIDs.
Edmonton Oilers
Nail Yakupov, RW (wrist) - sugged a cut in-game Tuesday.
Taylor Hall, LW (knee) - Has resumed skating, but may not be available Thursday.
Dallas Stars
Rich Peverley, C (heart) - Is on LTIR.
Cody Eakin, C (upper body) - Is considered probably for Thursday.
Patrik Nemeth, D (arm) - Is on IR and is unlikely to return during the regular season.
Valeri Nichushkin, LW (groin/hip) - Is on IR.
Los Angeles Kings
Slava Voynov, D (suspension) - His agent is trying to get him back to action following a suspension for domestic abuse charges.
Robyn Regehr, D (undisclosed) - Is unlikely to return.
Hot
Jaromir Jagr, RW, NJD -- The 42-year-old wonder continues to produce. With three goals and nine assists through 16 games, he's performing above expectations. But he's been getting you points across categories in the last four games where he has a goal, three assists, four penalty minutes, an average of 2.75 shots per game, and has fallen under 19 minutes of ice time. Jagr looks like he could be playing for a long time to come.
James van Riemsdyk, LW< TOR -- The Maple Leafs may be terrible, but van Riemsdyk is providing for owners. He stretched his current point streak to six games last night with a three-point performance. Over that stretch JVR has three goals and five assists.
Cold
Darcy Kuemper, G, MIN -- After starting the season by shutting out the opposition in three of four starts, Kuemper has cooled off considerably. Since those first four games Kuemper is 3-4 with a .876 save percentage. Fortunately for Kuemper owners the Wild are allowing a league low 23 shots per game (first place by over three shots), so Kuemper's .876 save percentage doesn't involve him allowing a ton of goals. His goals against average is a very nice 1.99, eighth best in the NHL.
Dustin Brown, RW, LAK -- Brown's point per game rate plummeted last season, despite captaining his team to a championship. He only pulled in 15 goals and 12 assists. That was the slowest scoring rate he's had since 2003-04, his rookie season where he only had five points in 30 games. This season he's scoring at an even slower pace than last year with two goals and no assists through 16 games. He's averaging 2.3 shots per game, his slowest rate since 2005-06, his sophomore campaign. Brown is trending in the wrong direction and you should keep an eye on him with a mind toward cutting him from your roster if things don't show signs of improvement soon.
Recommended Pickup
Leo Komarov, C, TOR -- The 27-year-old center is only entering his second NHL season. His first was a nine point campaign in the lockout shortened season, which he followed by going to the KHL. He's back this season and is currently riding a three-game point streak and has a goal and ten assists through 16 games. Komarov is carving out a role for himself and maybe flies a little under the radar since he's kind of a veteran player who is just playing his first full 82-game season in the NHL. He's getting good ice time and could be a great role player in deeper leagues.
