Abdelkader scores game-winning goal against San Jose on Thursday.

EDGE Analysis

Abdelkader tallied his 13th score of the season, second most on the Red Wings. A critical special teams player, the 28-year-old is averaging over two and a half minutes of power-play ice time per game and has capitalized with five goals and one assist with the man advantage. The winger is currently on pace to exceed his career high points total from the 2014-15 season.

Abdelkader scored his sixth goal in the month of December in Sunday's 4-2 win against the Flames.

EDGE Analysis

Abdelkader has pulled himself back together after a nine-game scoreless drought early in the season, putting up 14 points (seven goals) in his last 22 games. He's not the flashiest option, but a solid last season and a half has put him into fantasy relevant territory.

Abdelkader scored the game-tying power-play goal on a deflection in the third period Thursday against Montreal, adding four penalty minutes in the 3-2 victory.

EDGE Analysis

Looking at the replay, it's surprising that Abdelkader's goal didn't get waved off, as he appeared to kick it a little bit rather than merely deflect it, but seemingly not enough to overturn the tally. That makes five goals and an assist in the last five games now for Abdelkader, who's nicely complemented that productivity with 13 PIM in the same span. He's now cracked double-digit goals for the fourth time in his career and shouldn't have too hard a time finding his way into the 20s for the second straight season.

Abdelkader put up a raft of fantasy stats Tuesday against Buffalo, scoring two goals -- one on the power play -- and adding an assist, a plus-1 rating and seven penalty minutes.

EDGE Analysis

His production's been inconsistent since he opened the season with five points in two games, as even Tuesday's big effort has Abdelkader at just 10 points in 23 contests following that hot start. He'd missed the scoresheet in three straight prior to this bust-out, and Abdelkader's minutes have been falling accordingly -- even Tuesday, he skated only 14:23, the third time in the last five games that he's finished under 15 minutes. That's a big step down for a guy who came into this game averaging 17:43 of ice time.

Abdelkader scored his first goal in 15 games in Saturday's 3-1 loss to the Bruins.

EDGE Analysis

After five points, including four goals, in his first two games of the season, Abdelkader has just three points in the next 15. We're sure he's relieved to get the goal monkey off his back, but we need to see a whole lot more to make him a viable fantasy option.

The Red Wings have signed Abdelkader to a seven-year contract extension worth $29.75 million, Sportsnet.ca reports.

EDGE Analysis

The lucrative deal for Abdelkader will reportedly cause a $4.25 million salary cap hit for each year of the contract. That's a large chunk of change for a player who has yet to record more than 50 points in a single season, but Abdelkader is an up-and-coming talent who plays a relentless brand of hockey and isn't likely to lose his grip on a top-six role anytime soon.

Since tallying five points in the first two games of the season, Abdelkader has gone ice cold, failing to register on the scoresheet for six consecutive games.

EDGE Analysis

That early productivity helped pin Abdelkader to a top-line spot, which he still enjoys, but the returns have been quite meager. Over the course of those six scoreless games, he's put only seven shots on goal, total, despite clearing 19 minutes three times. Abdelkader surprisingly broke out as a legitimate scoring threat last year, and this season's early returns made it seem like he had a chance to build on that, but he's come back down to earth in a big way. Moderate your expectations and you won't be disappointed.

Abdelkader's hot start continued Saturday with a two-point effort against the Hurricanes. He scored the game-winning goal and added an assist.

EDGE Analysis

That makes five points in two games -- do you think he likes his new gig on the top line? Stick in the spurs and ride this streak for as long it goes. Or better yet, find the owner who thinks Abdelkader is the second coming and sell high, especially if this continues for another couple games.

Abdelkader potted three goals on three shots against Toronto on Friday.

EDGE Analysis

Abdelkader had a breakout season last year, scoring 23 goals in 71 games. He's playing on Detroit's top line, and he's off to a hot start to this season as well.

Abdelkader had a power-play goal in Wednesday night's preseason win over the Blackhawks.

EDGE Analysis

Abdelkader made it look easy. He was positioned perfectly in the attacking zone a moment before receiving the puck from Niklas Kronwall and taking it in for the score. The 28-year-old winger does a bit of everything on the ice, including work on the man advantage. For example, last season he averaged just over three minutes of ice time per game on the power play and had 14 points to show for it in those situations.