NHL Player News

McDavid netted a shorthanded goal, distributed a power-play assist and put three shots on net in Thursday's 3-1 win over the Bruins.

McDavid excelled on special teams in Thursday's game, as he helped out on Ryan Nugent-Hopkins' power-play goal before later scoring himself with the Oilers at a man disadvantage. With the pair of points, McDavid is up to 21 goals, 37 assists and 111 shots on net across 35 games this season. The 28-year-old superstar is currently riding an eight-game point streak during which he has posted a multi-point effort in all but one outing. His 22-point, eight-game stretch has helped him catch Nathan MacKinnon atop the NHL point leaderboard, making the race for the Hart Trophy much more interesting. While MacKinnon likely leads the race with his plus-43 rating opposed to McDavid's plus-1, the latter has been the stronger point scorer since the start of November, giving both an early avenue to the award.

Trenin pocketed two assists while adding four hits, one shot on net and a plus-2 rating in Thursday's 5-2 win over the Blue Jackets.

The 28-year-old had a hand in tallies by Vladimir Tarasenko in the second period and Joel Eriksson Ek in the third, the latter proving to be the game-winner. It was Trenin's first multi-point effort of the season, as he took advantage of a top-six assignment in the absence of Marcus Johansson (lower body). On the season, the former Predator has produced two goals and 10 points in 35 games with an NHL-leading 168 hits.

Barzal is considered a game-time decision for Friday's matchup against the Canucks due to maintenance purposes, Stefen Rosner of NHL.com reports.

Barzal was absent from Friday's morning skate, but he's slated to take warmups ahead of puck drop against Vancouver. The 28-year-old was also deemed a game-time decision for Tuesday's game against the Red Wings before ultimately being cleared to suit up.

Nugent-Hopkins scored a power-play goal, dished out an assist, put three shots on goal and had two hits in Thursday's 3-1 win over Boston.

Nugent-Hopkins put the Oilers on the board with his power-play goal at 13:38 of the first period. With the twine finder, he is up to eight goals, 27 points and 41 shots on net through 26 games this season. The 32-year-old forward has three multi-point efforts over his last 10 games, which have helped him get on track to surpass his offensive output from a season ago. If he can stay healthy, Nugent-Hopkins should continue to add to Edmonton's strong top line and first power-play unit, giving him a chance to reach the 60-point mark for the fifth time in his 15-year career. He has good value in most point-based fantasy formats.

Eriksson Ek scored the game-winning goal and added an assist in Thursday's 5-2 victory over Columbus.

The 28-year-old center jammed home a rebound midway through the third period to break open a 2-2 tie. Eriksson Ek extended his point streak to six games in the process, a stretch in which he's collected four goals and 10 points with a stunning plus-10 rating -- a far cry from his prior seven contests, when he managed only one assist with a minus-1 rating.

Seguin (knee) will have his return timetable evaluated following the Olympic break after undergoing successful surgery Tuesday.

Seguin was initially expected to miss the remainder of the regular season after undergoing surgery to repair a torn ACL on Tuesday. While it still seems likely that he'll miss most, or all, of the regular season, the Stars aren't yet ready to make that determination and plan to check in on his progress in late February. Despite not being officially ruled out for the rest of the year, fantasy managers shouldn't count on meaningful late-season production from Seguin.

Del Bel Belluz was called up from AHL Cleveland on Friday, according to Jeff Svoboda of the Blue Jackets' official site.

The Blue Jackets are down a forward, as Brendan Gaunce (personal) left the team Thursday due to his wife expecting a baby. The 22-year-old Del Bel Belluz has played 11 games at the NHL level this season, picking up one assist. He had five goals and eight assists in 14 AHL games before his recall. Del Bel Belluz could join the lineup in Anaheim on Saturday if Gaunce is unable to return in time.

Celebrini notched two assists and eight shots on goal in Thursday's 5-3 loss to the Stars.

Celebrini has three goals and six helpers over his last three outings. The 19-year-old had a hand in both of Collin Graf's goals in this contest. For the season, Celebrini is riding high with 18 goals, 35 assists, 110 shots on net and a plus-13 rating over 35 appearances, production that puts him among the NHL's top scorers. He should be in fantasy lineups whenever the Sharks are on the schedule.

Hryckowian scored a goal and added three hits in Thursday's 5-3 win over the Sharks.

Hryckowian ended a nine-game point drought with the tally. He capitalized on a turnover by Sharks goalie Alex Nedeljkovic late in the second period. Hryckowian's goal was his first career game-winner. He's now at four goals, nine points, 34 shots on net, 54 hits, 16 blocked shots, 15 PIM and a minus-7 rating over 34 appearances in a bottom-six role. He's emerged as a decent defensive forward, but his offense is likely to be streaky.

Johnston scored two goals on four shots, including one power-play tally, in Thursday's 5-3 win over the Sharks.

Johnston has earned multiple points in four of nine games in December, earning three goals and eight assists for the month. The 22-year-old is starting to find his scoring touch again -- all three of his tallies this month have come over the last two games. He's at 19 goals, 41 points (22 on the power play), 91 shots on net, 26 blocked shots and a minus-2 rating over 35 appearances this year.