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With so many major trades happening over the weekend, I feel like the only choice was to write about them tonight.  I'll have some quick hits about what happened on the ice over the weekend at the end, but this post is going to be focused on trades.  The #1 player on the market, Timo Meier, was traded to the Devils on Sunday night, uniting him with his Swiss teammates Hischier and Siegenthaler.  In totality, the trade looks like this:  New Jersey Devils acquire forwards Timo Meier and Timur Ibragimov, defensemen Scott Harrington and Santeri Hatakka, goalie Zachary Emond, and a 5th-round pick in the 2024 NHL Draft from the San Jose Sharks in exchange for forwards Fabian Zetterlund and Andreas Johnsson, defensemen Shakir Mukhamadullin and Nikita Okhotiuk, and a conditional 1st-round pick in the 2023 NHL Draft, a conditional 2nd-round pick in the 2024 NHL Draft, and a 7th-round pick in the 2024 NHL Draft. 
We had a game of the year performance on Monday night by Connor Hellebuyck.  Hellebuyck saved 50 of 51 shots in the 4-1 win over the Rangers, ending their winning streak.  One of my best rankings this season over ADP was banking on Hellebuyck to bounce back after last season's disaster.  I even said in my bold prediction that he'd win the Vezina, which Ullmark will probably ruin, but his season has certainly been Vezina worthy.  But enough of patting myself on the back.  Hellebuyck is sitting with a 2.39/.926, putting him in a battle with Oettinger for the #2 overall goalie to this point (the gap to #4 is massive).  He's as good of a bet as any to finish the best goalie for the rest of the season considering the top end volume.  Bottom line, Hellebuyck is entering his prime now and since he gets to play in a Bowness system, he should stay in tier one for the indefinite future.  Let's take a look at what else happened over the last two nights:
Carolina's offense has been a bit disappointing overall, with only Aho sitting around a point per game.  The injury to Patches really put a hole in their lineup that I assume they're going to address before the trade deadline.  On the bright side, their most recent high draft pick just had the game of his early career.  Seth Jarvis scored a hat trick in the 6-2 win over Montreal on Thursday.  Overall, Jarvis has taken a step back offensively this season which is disappointing.  His points are down despite playing 2 minutes more per game on average.  It's dropped him down to being a middling streamer, but it hasn't really changed my long term opinion of him.  He has great speed, solid hands, and an elite compete level.  Jarvis just turned 21 years old so the best is yet to come.  If you owned him in a dynasty, I wouldn't panic.  He's going to be a top six winger for a long time.  Let's take a look at what else happened over the last two nights:
In a game that was overshadowed by Provorov's refusal to wear the Pride jersey in warmups, Kevin Hayes continued his All-Star season with a hat trick against the Ducks.  With his six shots, Hayes is approaching three shots per game, and playing at a 75 point pace, easily the best of his career.  The Flyers have been much better over the last month, with Hayes being one of the focal points.  He's erased his horrible plus-minus which is enough to make him a bottom end hold in all format.  Let's take a look at what else happened on Tuesday night:
Happy weekend, everyone! MarmosDad is back with some news and notes to help you set those NHL DFS lineups on a pretty full slate of games for this chilly Saturday afternoon. If you’re looking for a chance to set a few different lineups, today’s the day. 28 of our 32 NHL teams are in action. Jones-ing for a win? Looking to play multiple double ups or tournament lineups? This one's for you! Speaking of Jones-ing, Seattle netminder Martin Jones (DK: $8,400) is definitely not ‘jonesing’ for much these days. If anything, the former Bruin (for a whole 24 hours in 2015) has been addicted to stopping pucks since the calendar flipped. Jones has wins in his last six games, punctuated by a shutout of the league’s best offense in a 3-0 victory at the Boston Bruins Thursday night. 
It's remarkable that Boston started off the season 19-0-3 at home, securing a point in all 22 games.  That streak ended on Thursday with the red hot Kraken in town.  Earning their 7th straight win, Seattle won 3-0, with Martin Jones posting a 27 save shutout.  The numbers for Jones aren't great, a 2.68 GAA that is decent and a .898 sv% which is quite the negative.  However, in spite of those numbers, Jones has won 20 games, having started 27.  When only Ullmark and Hellebuyck have more wins than you, that's quite the value boost.  That is an incredible win rate, and why he has to be held everywhere.  It's probably only #3 worthy, although you can make a case he's a #2 and certainly has #2 upside.  Let's take a look at what else happened over the last two nights:
Not a bad way for Kevin Fiala to follow up a hat trick.  In a new rivalry developing between the Kings and Oilers, Fiala scored two goals and two assists with four shots.  That brings Fiala to 10 points in his last five games with his shot rate jumping up quite a bit lately.  The new line shuffle seems to be working, and the new Los Angeles All-Star has been fantastic in his first year with the Kings.  It's a fantastic stat line across the board that has Fiala comfortably as a top 50 player with upside from there.  Let's take a look at what else happened over the last two nights:
This Nashville Predators team plays nothing like the style we've come to expect from them over the years.  They're hemorrhaging chances left and right, especially against top competition.  So needless to say, it was always going to be difficult for them to get a result in Carolina.  Luckily for them, they have Juuse Saros.  Saros had the second most saves in a non-OT game in NHL history on Thursday saving 64(!) shots in the 5-3 win over the Hurricanes.  I bet over 30.5 saves for Saros, can I get paid double for him going over twice?  Ha!  It's going to be hard for Saros to improve in GAA considering the team in front of him, but he's been playing much better lately to the point where the save percentage should be an elite asset once again.  Saros is still a #1 fantasy goalie, both for this season and in dynasties.  Amazingly, despite making his debut seven seasons ago, he's still only 27 years old.  Let's take a look at what else happened the last two nights:
It's no secret in these parts that I'm from Buffalo and root for the local teams.  I've seen plenty of devastating injuries over the years, from hockey players being severely cut, Pronger's collapse on the ice, soccer players collapsing like Eriksen in 2021, and I was at the Bills game when Kevin Everett was paralyzed.  Damar Hamlin's cardiac arrest was the first time that it felt like "life or death" on the football field.  It seemed like an eternity between first responders helping him, getting him to the hospital, and waiting for any update.  I can only imagine how it was for his family, friends, and teammates.  Here's to hoping that Hamlin continues to progress in his battle towards recovery.  The Sabres played in Washington on Tuesday night, with the entire team wearing "Love For Three" t-shirts for their Buffalo brethren.  The Sabres won the game 5-4 in the most fitting way possible.  Tage Thompson scored his third goal of the game, completing his third hat trick of the season, exactly three minutes into overtime, playing three on three, bringing him to 30 on the season, which is three off the league lead.  You can't write a better ending than that.  Let's take a look at what else happened over the last two nights while we keep Damar in our thoughts:
It was great to see Aleksander Barkov back in the lineup on Thursday, and if you didn't get him back into your lineup off injured reserve, well, that one is going to hurt for a while.  Barkov scored a hat trick in the first period against the Canadiens and added two assists in the 7-2 win over the Canadiens.  It hasn't been Barkov's best season to this point, but I'm buying Barkov going forward to get back to being well over a point per game.  Florida has dug itself quite a hole in the playoff race and I expect Maurice to really ride their top six even more.  Barkov's shooting percentage is also much lower than his career sh% (10.3 vs 14.0) so look for some positive regression in the New Year for the Panthers captain.  Let's take a look at what else happened over the last two nights:
The Blues are in the middle of a brutal schedule, playing three back-to-backs in a row, including four games in six days.  They pulled off the first back-to-back through Alberta before going to Vancouver on Monday.  There, Jordan Kyrou stole the show.  Kyrou scored a hat trick on five shots while adding an assist in the 5-1 win, giving him 10 points in his previous four games.  Unfortunately for Kyrou, he was injured late in the game and missed Tuesday's debacle against the Kraken with a UBI.  It's unclear how serious it is, but I do find it a bit encouraging that the news that he was out came later on Tuesday instead of immediately after the game Monday or early Tuesday.  With only one game over the next week, let's hope that he misses minimal time while he's on a heater.  Let's take a look at what else happened over the last two nights:
Remember when the Devils fans were chanting "Fire Lindy" two games into the season?  My, how the tides have turned.  The Devils have won 13 of 14 since, including 10 in a row.  The most recent win was 5-1 against the Canadiens on Tuesday with their star players leading the way.  Jack Hughes scored twice on seven shots and added an assist in the victory.  Hughes now has multiple points in six of his last ten games, and is pushing 4.5 shots on goal per game.  Even with a lack of penalty minutes, that's enough to be the top 20 player that I ranked him as before the season.  The future is incredibly bright in New Jersey with two elite defensemen prospects coming to support the excellent foundation in place.  Let's take a look at what else happened over the last two nights: