First of all, Jack EIchel is the real deal. Grab his inemates if available. Sam Reinhart or Evander Kane anyone?The Sabres have a top-six set of forwards worthy of rostering in all formats  Eichel's return will do wonders for that offense...Corey Crawford owners don't despair. You still got Scott Darling.  Use him in the interim.  Btw, if Chad Johnson or Peter Budaj are still out there and you need goalie help, you clearly have not done your homework...Am loving the situation in Jersey. Taylor Hall is back but will Michael Cammalleri cool down? From the looks of their OT win in Nashville, that duo can be prolific together.  Take a chance on Cammy. Only injuries to worry about. Had 38 points in 42 games last year.... Bad news for the Minnesota Wild? The top line has been floundering. The good news? Former top pivot Mikki Koivu has found his scoring with six points over the last 6 games.  Short-term option based on worrisome durability history..

* Rick Nash extended his point streak to ten games, collecting an assist in the New york Ranger's 2-0 road win over the hapless Edmonton Oilers. Henrik Lundqvist had an easy night saving all 16 shots for the shutout win and his third straight. Derick Brassard was the latest casualty of the mumps virus, missing the game. Look for Derek Stepan to gain an uptick in fantasy value during Brassard's absence... * Jonathan Toews picked up two helpers for Chicago in their 2-1 win over Calgary. 25 points in 31 games is just right for the super captain- close to a ppg clip year-in, year-out, but limited upside. Antti Raanta was stellar in goal, turning aside 23 of 24 shots and raising his numbers to 4-2, 1.85 GAA, and .944 SP. When Corey Crawford returns, who gets the backup gig- Raanta or Scott Darling? Tough one... *Mike Santorelli led the Toronto offense with a goal and an assist in the 4-3 SO win over the Los Angeles Kings. With 13 points in the last 10 games, the 29-year old could be a decent short-term stopgap in deeper leagues...

* Rick Nash extended his point streak to ten games, collecting an assist in the New york Ranger's 2-0 road win over the hapless Edmonton Oilers. Henrik Lundqvist had an easy night saving all 16 shots for the shutout win and his third straight. Derick Brassard was the latest casualty of the mumps virus, missing the game. Look for Derek Stepan to gain an uptick in fantasy value during Brassard's absence... * Jonathan Toews picked up two helpers for Chicago in their 2-1 win over Calgary. 25 points in 31 games is just right for the super captain- close to a ppg clip year-in, year-out, but limited upside. Antti Raanta was stellar in goal, turning aside 23 of 24 shots and raising his numbers to 4-2, 1.85 GAA, and .944 SP. When Corey Crawford returns, who gets the backup gig- Raanta or Scott Darling? Tough one... *Mike Santorelli led the Toronto offense with a goal and an assist in the 4-3 SO win over the Los Angeles Kings. With 13 points in the last 10 games, the 29-year old could be a decent short-term stopgap in deeper leagues...

Good morning all! Christmas is coming! With Zdeno Chara back in the lineup, Boston should be able to get back on track soon enough. I don't know if this particular coaching change will help Ottawa but I do agree that a change was needed. I think you can now consider Buffalo NHL-ready as they have gone 7-3-0 in last ten games separating themselves from the Carolina Hurricanes. The biggest reason in Buffalo is G Jhonas Enroth. He has taken the reins after a somewhat sluggish start.  The Philadelphia Flyers have an upcoming 8-game road trip which will say a lot about their chances for the playoffs. I could see a lot of names changing addresses for the Hurricanes when the trading deadline approaches. It's impressive to see the Florida Panthers in the middle of the Eastern Conference standings with 32 points through 28 games. Nice job! Can you believe Toronto is the hottest team in the NHL right now with an 8-1-1 record over last 10 games? Who would've thought after the 9-2 Tampa catastrophe? The Leafs did it by beating the former hottest team, the Detroit Red Wings, twice in one week. Nazem Kadri is playing well on both sides of the puck and has 7 points in 6 December games and he had 7 total points in all of November. That Sean Couturier is on fire recently if you haven't noticed. He also has 7 points in 6 December games like Kadri. At 6-3-1 in last 10 games, is that considered a slump for Tampa Bay? With Crosby slumping and all their injuries throughout the early season, the Pittsburgh Penguins still sit atop the Eastern Conference. Nicklas Backstrom, the assist machine, had a hat trick against Tampa. Now, with all the firepower in that game, I wouldn't have guessed him to get a hattie. Scott Darling lost against the Islanders 3-2.  He has played well with a 5-2 record and a 1.97 GAA.  Corey Crawford has a 1.87 GAA and Antti Raanta has a 2.02 GAA. What do they feed those Blackhawk goalies? Sergei Bobrovsky and the Columbus Blue Jackets are storming their way back into the playoff picture by rattling off six straight wins. Get on the bandwagon and hitch the cannon up to the back. When Kris Letang is in the lineup, he is lethal. Well, maybe not lethal, but damn good. Frederik Andersen is 7-0-0 in December. I don't think he can get through the month without a loss. Do you? If Edmonton could only score a little bit more each game, Arizona might have been in last place in the Western Conference instead of the Oilers. I think a coaching change may be in order ...

If you didn't happen to catch the latest UNDER THE RAYDAR piece on Tuesday, you may have missed the part about Sean Couturier starting to heat up. Against the Devils, all the young Flyer did was score an early goal and add an assist In the 4-1 Philadelphia win over New Jersey.  It was all Couturier in the first period and then the Flyers sealed the deal with 2 late goals in the third period with Claude Giroux and Mark Streit getting assists on both goals. We all know Giroux and Streit are must-starts, and it looks like Couturier is inching his way into that category as well..... Chicago Blackhawk G Scott Darling is quickly becoming Chicago's darling as he won for the second straight filling in for the injured Corey Crawford. Darling was able to withstand a late-charging Boston Bruin team and turned aside 32 SOG for the 2-2 win in Boston....Jonathan Toews left the game with an apparent upper-body injury when he was checked hard into the end boards. We will keep you posted as we learn more about the extent of Toews' injury.... If you haven't noticed, the Buffalo Sabres have won 5 of their last 7 games as Jhonas Enroth has picked up his game of late, this time with a 4-3 win over the Calgary Flames. Enroth is 7-2-0 in last 9 starts, so if you are need for goaltending help, grab Enroth as he has remained hot for a surging Sabres team....Matt Moulson had 2 goals including the game-winner giving him just 6 goals to go along with 8 assists on the season. Moulson has seen better days since he was traded away from Long Island....Tyler Ennis, with 3 assists, has always shown flashes of offensive brilliance but has never been able to offer that consistently for fantasy purposes. If there is any Sabre player you would pick up for fantasy, Ennis would be the guy... The Columbus Blue Jackets continue their resurgence in the Eastern Conference with a 3-2 OT victory over the Washington Capitals. Sergei Bobrovsky turned aside 39 SOG for his, and the team's, fifth straight win. We had mentioned in the December 2ndBETWEEN THE PIPES article that the time to ‘buy-low" on Bobrovsky was coming to a close and with this win, that window of opportunity has been shut. Perhaps it's not too late to pick up some of the more talented skaters on the team as I'm sure they will start to get hot knowing they have a red-hot Bobber backing them up.... So how does a team usually respond to their coach getting fired? The Ottawa Senators fell victim the Los Angeles Kings 5-3 as the post-Paul ...

Darling went 2-1-0 with a 1.98 GAA and .933 SV% in his first three NHL starts with the Blackhawks. With Corey Crawford ready to return to the Hawks crease on Saturday, they had to make a decision on wether to send Darling or Antti Raanta back to Rockford.

Darling stopped 24 of 25 shots in the Hawks 1-0 loss to the Ducks on Tuesday. It was a tough way to suffer your first NHL loss, but they will give him the chance to get back in the win column tonight vs. Ottawa. He stopped 32 of 33 shots in a 2-1 win over the Senators in his NHL debut on Sunday.

Darling stopped 24 of 25 shots in the Hawks 1-0 loss to the Ducks on Tuesday. It was a tough way to suffer your first NHL loss, but they will give him the chance to get back in the win column tonight vs. Ottawa. He stopped 32 of 33 shots in a 2-1 win over the Senators in his NHL debut on Sunday.

Darling allowed just one goal on 33 shots in a 2-1 win over the Senators in his NHL debut on Sunday. It was a nearly perfect debut for the 25-year-old netminder who will get the call again tonight vs. Anaheim. The Ducks are a much more dangerous team than the Senators are, so Darling makes for a scary spot-start.

Darling allowed just one goal on 33 shots in a 2-1 win over the Senators in his NHL debut on Sunday. It was a nearly perfect debut for the 25-year-old netminder who will get the call again tonight vs. Anaheim. The Ducks are a much more dangerous team than the Senators are, so Darling makes for a scary spot-start.