With the NHL All-Star break in the rear-view mirror, the final stretch of the regular season is right around the corner and that means the drive for the playoffs with a number of teams just outside a postseason position looking in. The star players around the league will be relied on to pick up their production and we could see a number of them start to turn it up in terms of their overall scoring numbers the rest of the way. Some of these guys may have been a bit of a disappointment in NHL fantasy so far, but we’re expected that to change. Here is a look at the five NHL players most likely to heat up over the finals months of the NHL season.
Jonathan Toews, Chicago Blackhawks
The perennial Selke finalist hasn’t been as productive at the offensive end of the ice this season as he has just nine goals and 29 points through 44 games. Toews has never finished with fewer than 23 goals but he is currently on pace for just 15 so the odds are that his production will pick up. Toews has shown flashes of his elite offensive ability and it should definitely help that the Blackhawks are keen on acquiring a top-six winger that could play on his line. Chicago will contend for a Stanley Cup again this season and the addition of another veteran scoring winger to the top line should help Toews’ production the rest of the way.
Alexander Ovechkin, Washington Capitals
Ovechkin won the last four Rocket Richard trophies as the NHL’s top goal scorer but he is a little off the pace at this point with 25 goals and 47 points through 51 games. If you have him in NHL fantasy, you’re not completed bummed but you are slightly disappointed.
The Capitals lowered his minutes at the beginning of the year to keep him fresh for the playoffs but they have started giving him more opportunity again and that could mean his production improves the rest of the way. Ovechkin has scored at least 50 goals in each of the last three seasons, so he could be in for a big finish.
Anze Kopitar, Los Angeles Kings
The Kings offense has been led by the top line that features Jeff Carter with Kopitar putting up just six goals and 31 points through 45 games. A traditionally slow starter, Kopitar will need to get going in order for Los Angeles to clinch a playoff spot. His low shooting percentage combined with the possibility of the Kings adding another scoring winger to play with Kopitar should mean his production picks up down the final stretch.
Jaromir Jagr, Florida Panthers
The Panthers aren’t out of the Eastern Conference playoff picture just yet. They just got Alexander Barkov and Jonathan Huberdeau back in the lineup to reunite them with Jagr on a line that performed at a very high level last season. Jagr has just nine goals and 29 points through 51 games but he should improve his point production the rest of the way playing on a line with the two young studs over the second half of the season. He had just six points in January and hasn’t registered a point in four straight games but that should change. He’s a decent buy-low option in NHL fantasy.
John Tavares, New York Islanders
Tavares has already picked up his production with 11 goals and 16 points in his last 14 games and that should continue the rest of the way. Prior to that, Tavares had been a bit of a disappointment in NHL fantasy. He was on pace for just 59 points before this recent hot stretch, which is a huge letdown for a guy who had 70 points in 78 games last season and 86 points in 82 games the year before.
The Islanders decision to fire Jack Capuano and replace him with Doug Weight has made a tremendous difference and slowly it seems as though the Islanders offense is coming around. Tavares is set to become an unrestricted free agent this offseason and will be in for a big pay day with a strong finish to the year providing another reminder to general managers around the NHL what he is capable of doing in terms of scoring production.
Want to bet on any of the the NHL games tonight? Click here to get the latest lines from BetDSI, including moneylines, totals, props and futures!
