NHL Today: The Battle of Alberta

This week, after the NHL was criticized for how it handled disciplining Radko Gudas for his hit that ended Auston Matthews’ season, Connor McDavid wants the league to audit its process; despite currently being sidelined with an injury, Ty Dellandrea has been rewarded with a two-year contract extension by the Sharks; and the game misconduct penalty Nathan MacKinnon was handed on Tuesday has since been rescinded. Other Fantasy hockey stories we’re tracking include…

Leon Draisaitl Goes Down

The last time we checked in on the Edmonton Oilers, they had defeated Florida in the opener of last season’s Stanley Cup Final, but the Panthers stormed back to win four of the next five, leaving Edmonton as a bridesmaid for the second straight season.

And although the Oilers remain filled with stars and scoring ability, they have been steadily regressing since posting 109 points in 2022-23. In fact, at .551, the team currently has its lowest winning percentage since 2018-19, its last losing campaign. Although they are currently third in the Pacific, just one point back of second-place Vegas, their playoff position is hardly assured with almost every team chasing them holding games in hand.

Edmonton’s offense is vastly better this season (from 11th to second in goals for), but the defense has plummeted from 14th to 29th. That will desperately need to tighten up if the Oilers have any hope of reaching the Finals again this season, never mind finally winning it all.

On Sunday, the Oilers snapped a two-game skid but may have a new issue as star centre Leon Draisaitl – who potted his 35th goal of the season earlier in the game – took a hard hit later in the first period (see video below). He managed to play a couple of more shifts, but didn’t return for the second period.

The team seems to believe this isn’t a major injury, and we’ll likely know more over the next couple of days, but it’s worth noting that he was not at practice on Monday morning. Considering how red hot Draisaitl is right now (six goals and 11 helpers over his current nine-game point streak), Edmonton can ill afford to be without him long.

If Draisaitl has to miss some time, Jason Dickinson would likely move into the 2C role, but instead of that being a boon for Dickinson’s Fantasy value, we think it would more likely result in a hit to Draisaitl’s regular wingers, Vasily Podkolzin and Kasperi Kapanen. Although it could be good news for Matthew Savoie, assuming he gets bumped up to the first power play unit.

Flames in Full-On Rebuild Mode

Three hundred kilometres to the south, the Calgary Flames have taken a big step back this season after narrowly missing out on a playoff spot in 2024-25. The offense, which was bad last season, is dead last this time around, and the club has also regressed defensively.

In fact, Calgary is on track for its worst season since 2012-13 and will almost assuredly miss the playoffs for the fourth straight time. With the team currently only better than Vancouver in the entire NHL, the rebuild is on in earnest.

The good news is there are plenty of assets to help this process along. After acquiring more draft capital at the trade deadline, the Flames now have 14 first or second round picks over the next three seasons. And then there are the prospects already in the system who will soon be knocking on the door.

We all know about stud blueline prospects Zayne Parekh and Hunter Brzustewicz (both of whom have already arrived), but there’s also 2024 third round pick Henry Mews, who could actually wind up a better Fantasy asset than Brzustewicz.

Like many CHL prospects, Mews took advantage of the new transfer rules to move to the NCAA, and was enjoying a splendid start to his freshman season with Michigan (nine points through 10 games), before suffering a season-ending knee injury. The Wolverines are deep enough that even without him, they are still a strong favourite to win the National Championships (+350 as per FanDuel).

Mews, 20, isn’t big (6’0”, 181), but is a right shot who has shown tremendous offensive upside. In the OHL last season, he amassed 82 points in 68 games, so if he reaches his ceiling, we could be looking at a 60-plus point defenseman, which would offer tremendous Fantasy value.

We assume that Mews will return to Michigan for his sophomore season, but if he can stay healthy and build on what he did as a freshman, there’s a chance he turns pro in the spring of 2027.

Waiver Wire Pick of the Week

Easton Cowan, RW, Toronto Maple Leafs (ESPN: 1 per cent; CBS: 21 per cent): The Leafs need some players to step up with Matthews done for the season, and this rookie – despite a current slump – is a great candidate given how much ice time he’s getting. Currently playing on the second line with Matthew Knies and Max Domi, Cowan has received at least 15 minutes in each of the last seven games, and while he’s slowed down since a solid January, the ice time keeps rising, and we expect the results to follow. We were a bit surprised that Cowan didn’t break camp with the Leafs, but he got caught in a numbers game. Still, it didn’t take long for him to be recalled and now that he’s here to stay, he could prove a very useful asset down the stretch.

RotoRob Tune of the Day

Bruce Cockburn tends to write about spirituality, human rights, environmental issues and relationships in his songs. Here’s one of his greatest tracks, “Tokyo,” the first single from his 1980 album Humans. The track also appeared on the 1981 compilation album Superstars Salute New Massey Hall.