Risers and Fallers: Pre-Olympic Musings

Tomorrow will be the last night of tilts before lights go out in arenas league-wide for the Olympic break. I’ll be taking a hiatus during said break but will return when games re-commence on Feb. 25th. Enjoy the tournament and although most of you reading are probably Canadian, I must say, USA ALL THE WAY.

Vancouver Canucks center Filip Chytil left Monday’s game against the Utah Mammoth and did not return after being ruled out by the club during the second intermission. Details are not available but my money says it’s concussion symptoms and if that’s the case he needs to hang them up. Still just only 26 years old and with his history, the CTE risk is far too high now in my opinion to endanger long-term well being for a game.

At this point with the break about to start, I would target players from teams with back-to-back sets tonight and tomorrow. Those would be Florida, Los Angeles, Nashville, and Vegas. Of those teams, Los Angeles is the only one who also has a back-to-back once games restart on Feb. 25th.

Risers

Ilya Sorokin

I’ve included the 30-year-old Russian here not so much for his recent play but rather his overall return to the top notch form of his early career. That’s not to say he hasn’t been performing admirably lately, with seven quality starts in nine January nods.

Sorokin’s first three campaigns saw him post save percentages (SV%) above .915 and goals against average (GAA) well below 2.50. But the past two years those ratios degraded, falling beneath a .910 SV% and ballooning well above a 2.50 GAA each season. ‘25-’26 is much more in line with the first three seasons and the Islanders look bound for the playoffs in large part due to his elite form reversion.

Daniil Tarasov

We’re far enough into this season where it’s safe to declare that Sergei Bobrovsky is good for wins and not much else. Florida seems to be realizing this too as since mid-January the Sunrise crease has evolved into a 50/50 timeshare with his fellow Russian backup.

With back-to-back championships on Bob’s resume, many may look past or flat out not think about the fact that he’s 37 years old. Age and total games played are at play now. Tarasov, who’s a full decade younger, has been far more consistent with five quality starts in his past six calls to action. He won’t take the crease outright but the timeshare may stick around.

Andrei Vasilevskiy

Even though it wasn’t all that long ago, I bet the vast majority of people have forgotten how poorly the Lightning workhorse started the first two weeks of the campaign. Posting one quality start in his first five games had his owners fearing exhaustion from 238 games played over the course of four prior seasons not including playoffs had taken effect.

Starting Oct. 26th though he flipped the switch and has been the most consistently excellent goaltender. Any and all fears of a drop off for the 31-year-old have been vaporized and you can confidently roll him out each and every time he gets the green check mark.

Fallers

Spencer Knight

The former Florida Panther has been a revelation in the Windy City but the past couple weeks has seen him hit a lull after an excellent month-long stretch. The break may serve him well to hit the reset button. Still rebuilding in Chicago, wins will not pile up but you can live with that when his ratios are overall serviceable.

Finally out of the shadow of Sergei Bobrovsky, the Boston College alum is showing why he’s one of the ever rarer first round selected netminders. In the years to come he would be one to target as the Blackhawks continue to improve. Because of their current state you’ll still be able to get him at a modest draft day price…for now.

Juuse Saros

Consider him in the same boat as Sergei Bobrovsky; good for wins but not much else.The Predators have certainly improved vastly compared to the early going but the 30-year-old Finn still has a propensity for porous play. This is about more than just the here and now which has seen him post just one quality start in the past six games.

He’s been on a steady downward trajectory going back to ‘23-’24. From age 21-27 he was rather consistent despite being number two to Pekka Rinne until his retirement. But ‘23-’24 saw his GAA slipping dangerously towards the dreaded 3.00 GAA mark. ‘24-’25 saw him practically there (.002 off), and this campaign he’s surpassed it. An alarming long term trend to consider if you’re an owner.

Joel Hofer

The 25-year-old has been counted on more in St. Louis with Jordan Binnington’s well documented struggles in this column. However, he has not capitalized on it since the calendar flipped to ‘26 with just two quality starts in eight nods.

The fact of the matter is St. Louis is bad. Wins will be hard to come by and may become damn near impossible to fetch as they look set to be sellers at the deadline further decimating an already paltry roster. Maybe a spot start here or there against an equally weak team is warranted but I would move on from everyday ownership.

Other Thoughts

Anthony Mantha is quietly pacing for a 60-point campaign however the shooting % is high.

Drop Artyom Levshunov.

Add Matt Duchene.

Logan Cooley should be returning sooner rather than later.

If Artemi Panarin lets the Rangers trade him I believe he will only go to Colorado, Tampa, or Florida regardless of these teams cap constraints.

Adin Hill has been atrocious since returning from injury.

Team Canada makes the right choice on Cirelli replacement with Sam Bennett.

Jack Hughes needs to be kept in a bubble off the ice.

Over/under for games played by Josh Norris before hitting IR again: 6.

Enjoy retirement Barry Trotz; hell of a career.