As enter the final stanza of an exciting 2014 for the NHL, a few thing things stood out from last night. First, Brian Elliott showed no rust in his first game back from injury in the St. Louis crease. Despite losing the match to Nashville, his 44 saves is a strong indication that he is ready to re-claim his starting spot. With no disrespect intended to future HOFer Martin Brodeur and young Jake Allen, it's been Elliott with the dazzling numbers- 1.90 GAA and .931 SP. He should continue to receive the majority of starts moving forward, but it's probably more like a 60/40 split... Second, the Florida Panthers have become extremely competitive and it all starts in goal with veteran Roberto Luongo. His fantasy value has actually improved since his move from Vancouver, as he has compiled a 14-7-7 record with a 2.31 GAA and a .923 SP on the upstart Florida team. He turned aside 33 of 34 shots in the 2-1 loss to Montreal, but fantasy owners should not shy away from the Sunshine State. Youngsters Nick Bjugstad and Aaron Ekblad continue to improve, indicating bright fantasy futures for both in the years ahead... Shea Weber is again playing like one of the fantasy elite on defense, scoring two huge goals to raise his point total to ten over the last ten games. He was off to a somewhat slow start, but the dominant defender is a lock for top-five fantasy status moving forward... The Edmonton Oilers snapped a nine-game losing streak in the 2-1 win over the Kings, but make no mistake about it- they are still REAL bad. Even superstar Taylor Hall has performed way below fantasy expectations because of the utter debacle going on in the City of Champions. Maybe buy low on Hall and RNH, but the situation does not offer much hope for a huge turnaround in the second half...

Mike Ribeiro C, Nashville- The 34-year old has found life on the Predator's top line an easy transition in comparison to his tumultuous season with Arizona last year. With 22 points in 26 games and 9 in his last ten, Ribeiro has clicked with Neal and Forsberg from Day one. While he is on pace to close in on his career-high of 83 points, he will probably fall short and be a reliable 65-70 point center moving forward. Aaron Ekblad D, Florida- What else is there to say about Florida's 18-year old prodigy who has collected 17 points in 26 games. The defenseman has flashed the ability to have a Tyler Myers type of rookie season, when he captured the Calder Trophy with a 48-point campaign. Ekblad's supporting cast is made up of mostly young talented forwards who are still far from producing consistently, so expect many peaks and valleys in his scoring production. Huge keeper league upside though.. Brandon Saad LW, Chicago- The 22-year old has been thriving on the top Chicago line with Jonathan Toews and Marian Hossa, but he could lose his spot this week with Patrick Sharp returning. With five points in his last four games, Saad has been one of better Blackhawk forwards, so he is worth a gamble. Plus playing for a contract! A little risk-reward here, but has legit 60-point upside if playing in the top-six. Nick Leddy D, NYI- Coming off a two-assist performance on Saturday, the 23-year old is benefitting from injuries to the top three blueliners on the Island. Yeah, Lubomir Visnovsky might be back this week, but can you really trust him? Take a flier on Leddy if you need defense, considerig he has been on the top power-play unit with John Tavares and company. Michael Hutchinson G, Winnipeg- In the case of the youngster, he has produced far superior numbers than the starter Ondrej Pavelec (1.62 to 2.30 GAA/.942 to .915SP) while owning an impressive 5-1-2 mark. Pavelec has gone cold many times and been yanked from no.1 duty, so with the team playing so well, maybe Hutch has the chance to usurp the starting job at some point. If your goaltending is struggling, keeb tabs on this guy.

Hot coffee on a cold day.....let's go! I think Christian Ehrhoff took the task to hand yesterday with 7 SOG and the game-winning goal in the third period. Finally earning that paycheck... No Kunitz. No Dupuis. No Hornqvist.  No Bennett.  No Letang.  No problem for the Penguins as long as they have both Crosby, Malkin and Fleury leading the way.... The Islanders had the Blues, leading 3-0 after 1 period, but Marty was the inspiration taking over for Jake Allen.... Both top defensemen for the St. Louis Blues had a combined 15 SOG, Shattenkirk 8 & Pietrangelo 7..... Vladimir Tarasenko is slowing down, but not much as he potted his 17th goal to seal the deal on Long Island. You knew Jaroslav Halak had to lose after winning 11 in a row and Steve Mason had to win eventually. It was just odd that the Flyers would beat the Kings in LA after going 1-8-2 in last 11 games.... Has anyone seen Anze Kopitar this season? Two teams you gotta believe in this year are the NY Islanders and the Calgary Flames.... If Florida can string together a few wins, then they would be my surprise team of the season so far... And Columbus would be my surprise team going the other way but with the way Sergei Bobrovsky has been playing in his last few games, I think the Blue Jackets are ready to make a run.... I mean, the Jackets did beat the Tampa Bay Lightning on their own ice 3-1 as they have everyone back in their lineup.... Buffalo's Matt Moulson had 7 SOG but I'm sure he daydreams about his days playing alongside John Tavares on Long Island.... Roberto Luongo must be loving life playing in Florida again, getting away from last year's circus in Vancouver.... You just gotta love what this kid Aaron Ekblad is bringing to, not only the Florida Panthers, but the NHL as well.   3 more assists last night brings him up to 17 points in 25 games.  Impressive indeed... Remember how it was the end of the world for Leaf fans when they took a 9-2 shellacking from the Tampa Bay Lightning? They have gone 5-1-1 since that game.  Sometimes you need a little smack on the behind to get you going... With 7 points in last 4 games, Joffrey Lupul seems to be getting into one of his zones that he is famous for. The other thing that Lupul is famous for is getting injured... Every single Canuck had a SOG in yesterday's contest against Toronto.... Tyler Seguin with his 3 points leapfrogged over Crosby and Voracek for the NHL lead in points. Plus he leads with 21 goals.  Boston?  Do you see what is ...

Hooray to the great Martin Brodeur for picking up his first win For St. Louis, after stopping 14 of 16 shots in relief of an ineffective Jake Allen. Somewhere way inside me, I have a feeling he can push Allen for playing time given his tremendous future HOF pedigree but am not sure how it would play out when Brian Elliott returns. I would say that if you any room on your bench, stashing him for now might not be the worst idea.. To stay on this game, Kevin Shattenkirk's three points has vaulted him to second amongst NHL defensemen in scoring with 22 points. For fantasy formats that reward power-play points, he actually leads all d-men in power-play assists with 14. As elite as they come.. Up-and-coming Florida defenseman Aaron Ekblad is making quite the rookie impact with three more assists, giving him 17 points in 26 games. While its unreasonable to expect the youngster to maintain that level of production, I could easily see him pull off a "Tyler Myers"... Chicago's other great line came up huge for the second straight match, as Marian Hossa scored two goals in the 3-1 win over Nashville. Patrick Kane and Kris Versteeg have been dynamite on the second line, but the impending return of Patrick Sharp to the top unit might give them the edge going forward. Nonetheless, plenty of goals to go around as the Blackhawks are explosive.. While Sidney Crosby and Jakub Voracek have been battling for the NHL scoring lead seemingly all season long, studly Tyler Seguin roared past the two with a three-point effort and now also leads in goals scored with 21. There is a subtle "change of the fantasy guard" going on here, as the Dallas center making a bold statement for universal top-three selection in next year's fantasy drafts... Maybe it's time to change Mark Giordano's first name to "Norris" as the Calgary defenseman continues to prove that his breakout season of 2013-14 was no fluke. With his goal last night, he now leads all defensemen with 28 points. His point-per-game production last year-.73- ranked third only behind Erik Karlsson and Duncan Keith, so he keep your faith in this guy. He's legit elite and not worth trading under most circumstances... Shades of heavy-duty Vezina form for goalie Sergei Bobrovsky lately, as he turned aside 33 shots in the improbable victory in Tampa. He has now won three straight for an injury-plagued Columbus squad and should only get better as the team gets healthier. Your "buy-low" window is closing rapidly... MORE COMING..

As we have approached the season's quarter-mark, astute fantasy owners should be creating shopping lists of potential fantasy bargains they would love to acquire, whether via trade or off the waiver wire. A few defenders have started way off their normal scoring pace, which makes perfecting the "buy low" strategy essential toward maximizing your fantasy squad's potential the rest of the way. Here are two names to think about as their respective games begin to round into the shape: Roman Josi- The Nashville defender turned many heads with a 40-point effort in his third season last year as he benefitted from being paired with Shea Weber both even strength and on the power-play. The Swiss import did not enjoy the same level of success to begin this year, but he has been streaking over the last month with ten points in his last 14 games. His ownership percentage in ESPN fantasy is quickyl rising, but he is still available in a quarter of most fantasy leagues. Now that Josi has "righted" the ship, you can expect him to make a serious push toward a career-high in points. James Wisniewski- Nobody gets "written" off quicker than "the Wiz" but truth be told, only injuries can prevent him from ending up as top-ten fantasy option at season's end. After a sluggish start and a short injury hiatus, the hard-shooting defender has racked up eight points in his last ten games despite playing for a struggling Columbus squad. His 51 points last season was definitely not a fluke, so it makes no sense that a fantasy option with clear massive upside is still available in over 25% of leagues. Don't make that mistake; get him on the "cheap" and reap the rewards as he can blow up the rest of the season. Parting Shots- Speaking of rising fantasy stock, look no further than 18-year old Aaron Ekblad who is developing quicker than expected for a young and hungry Florida team. He has been paired off with veteran Brian Campbell on the top unit including the power-play and the results have been increasingly positive- nine points in his last 13 games. How this dynasty league stud is only owned in 29% of ESPN leagues is amazing, so do thr right thing and snatch him.. Ryan McDonagh could be returning to the New York Rangers for this afternoon tilt in Philadelphia, as he has been practicing on a pairing with Dan Girardi. Fresh off a "breakout" season where he racked up 43 points in 2013-14, the 25-year old will be joining a power-play unit that boasts a streaking Rick Nash and a ...

Ekblad has played in seven games and has two more games left before the Panthers have to decide whether or not to burn the first year of his entry level contract and keep him or send him back to juniors. "Unless he really collapses, I don't see him going anywhere," Panthers general manager Dale Tallontold NHL.com. "I've been very impressed with his composure and maturity. Once the regular season started, he was a different guy." Ekblad has averaged 21:54 TOI (2:22 PP TOI/GP) and recorded two assists with a minus-1 rating so far.

Most likely, Roberto Luongo is not high on most fantasy poolies lists these days being the number 1 net minder for the Florida Panthers. After winning the Southeast division title in 2011-2012, the Cats have missed the playoffs as they continue to rebuild as GM Dale Tallon is masterminding the Florida resurgence that is to come.  Remember that he rebuilt the Chicago Blackhawks team that won the Stanley Cup in 2009-2010 with most of the core players still around for their second Cup win in 2012-2013 When Dale Tallon took over as GM of the Florida Panthers in 2010, you knew the game plan was to restore the Cats to being a more competitive team while stockpiling the cupboards with fine, young talent. After his first season as GM where the Panthers finished last in their division for the second consecutive year, Tallon's patchwork team worked wonders and the hot start of a line consisting Kris Versteeg-Stephen Weiss-Tomas Fleischmann catapulted the Florida Panthers to their first Southeast division title ever, restoring enthusiasm at the rink.  The past two years haven't been so kind to the Panthers but Tallon still held true to his vision and has selected some fine young talent at the entry drafts while continuing to acquire fine young talent wherever possible. What does all this have to do with Luongo? Well, Luongo returns to Florida where his NHL career began so there is familiarity to the team and location.  Secondly, his wife is from the Miami area so there is the serenity of home life that it brings as well.  Although the team is not projected to do very well this season by a lot of critics, there is hope on the horizon.  Just look at what Tallon has done with the defense alone.  At the beginning of the "Dale Talon era", The Florida Panthers chose 3 defensemen in the first round in the past 3 of 5 NHL Entry Drafts and in the other two drafts selected big center men in Jonathan Huberdeau (6'1" 171) and Aleksander Barkov (6'2" 205). Big, hulking defensemen such as 2010 draftee Erik Gudbranson (6'5" 210), 2011 draftee Michael Matheson (6'2" 189), and last year's Number 1 overall pick Aaron Ekblad (6'3" 216) were all brought in to complement Dmitri Kulikov (6'1" 196), drafted in 2009, to form a solid foundation in front of a goalie who had come within one game of winning the Stanley Cup in 2011. The future looks bright in sunny Florida, but what can you expect for this season? At first glance, you would think that Luongo isn't going to be seeing a lot of ...

David Krejci enjoyed much success centering a line with Jarome Iginla and Milan Lucic and was rewarded with a contract extension worth $43.5 million over 6 years. After a slow start to the season, the line clicked and was probably one of the hottest trios enabling Krejci to fall just 4 points shy of his career high of 73 points he scored in 2008-2009.  The enigmatic Center fell the following year to 52 points.  With Iginla heading off to Colorado via free agency, I wonder if a similar drop off is in the cards again.  Sometimes when a player gets a certain comfort level, there is no more incentive but Krejci should be able to produce similar results this season as he did last season. The Florida Panthers signed the #1 overall selection of the 2014 NHL entry Draft, Aaron Ekblad, to an entry level 3-year deal. The ultra-talented defenseman will be vying for a spot on the opening day NHL roster and has all the tools to make that a tough decision for the coaching staff.  Regardless, Ekblad is projected to a franchise-building defenseman and will form a solid corps with former 1st round defensive picks in Erik Gudbranson and Dmitri Kulikov for years to come Sticking with defensemen, Colorado signed RFA defenseman Tyson Barrie to a two-year deal, ensuring that the young defenseman will be in camp and in the lineup on opening day. The young talent played in 64 games last year, the most in a single season in his young career, and went on to post breakout numbers of 13-25-38.  Expect Barrie to improve on last year's numbers as he should be the Av's power play QB for the foreseeable future.

Ekblad was named the Ontario Hockey League's (OHL) most outstanding defenseman during the 2013-2014 season, ranking first among the league's blueliners with 23 goals and tied for fifth with 53 points (23-30-53). The 6-foot-3, 213-pound defenseman became just the third player in his 18-year-old birth year to earn the OHL's most outstanding defenseman honor in the past 20 years. The Belle River, Ontario, native is expected to crack the Panthers opening day roster and should be an immediate fantasy contributor.

Many fantasy insiders have tabbed young Valeri Nichuskin of Dallas as a breakout candidate in '14-15. The 18-year old played well above his years last season, collecting 34 points in 79 games as mostly a first-liner. While a point jump is expected as a sophomore, we all need to temper our expectations regarding this projected "Jaromir Jagr" clone. 50 points should be in his "wheelhouse", but power-play time will still be minimal. He should be a much bigger fantasy factor in 2015 and beyond.3rd overall pick Leon Draisaitl has been signed by the Edmonton Oilers to a 3-year, entry-level contract. After tearing it up in the WHL with 38 goals and 105 points in 64 games, the talented youngster could be in the running for a 2nd/3rd line center position with a strong camp. The departure of Sam Gagner has left a top-six void, but can journeyman Marc Arcobello land that spot? It should be an interesting competition to watch.According to the St. Petersberg Times, Tampa Bay goalie Ben Bishop hasn't healed fully from his post-season wrist surgery. While he seems very confident that he will be ready to roll by training camp, fantasy owners need to be wary of drafting him too early. Showing plenty of "wear and tear" late in his breakout season, it would be smart for Bishop owners to draft backup Evgeni Nabokov in the late rounds.BOUNCE-BACK COMING! Florida offensive rearguard Brian Campbell regressed last season with 37 points in 82 games, but a rebound to career norms is coming. Over his first two seasons with the offensively inept Panthers, he still managed 80 points in130 games. With their two best rising d-men, Aaron Ekblad and Erik Gudbranson, being more stay-at-home types and Dmitry Kulikov having vastly underachieved, Campbell should benefit the most from an improved offensive attack. Great mid-round value in most fantasy drafts.When is the last time that the New York Rangers have boasted two top fantasy options on the blue-line? The acquisition of Dan Boyle will provide a right-hand shot and a superior puck-mover on the power-play while a veteran presence that can help Ryan McDonagh move his offensive game to the elite level. Watch these two help each other stay fantasy relevant in '14-15. 40+ points from both guys? I say yes with confidence.