Most weeks, this column takes a snapshot: who's hot, who's on the top unit, who's getting the starts. This week, we're looking at the whole season instead.
Here we tracked every player's game-by-game ice time, power-play time, shots and fantasy points, and flagged the ones whose numbers have climbed (or fallen) steadily enough that it's unlikely to be noise. Usage tends to move before production does, so these are the trends worth catching early. All 10 of these players are available in most ESPN leagues:
Tye Kartye, LW, New York Rangers (available in 89.6%): Kartye's ice time has climbed from 13:20 on opening night to 22:47 in his latest game, and his shots are trending up with it, peaking at five last time out. He's skating with J.T. Miller and Pavel Dorofeyev at 5-on-5, and he's on a second power-play unit that has outshot the Rangers' top group.
Tristan Luneau, D, Anaheim Ducks (available in 71.4%): Both his shots and his fantasy points are climbing, and he has averaged 2.5 fantasy points over his past seven games while paired with Jackson LaCombe and running the Ducks' second power-play unit. Only Philip Broberg has been added more this month.
Roman Kantserov, RW, Chicago Blackhawks (available in 89.9%): Kantserov's fantasy points have risen steadily, to 2.1 a game over his past five. He's taking 83% of Chicago's power-play time on the top unit.
Esa Lindell, D, Dallas Stars (available in 65.0%): Lindell has topped 26 minutes in each of his past three games since returning from a lower-body injury, paired with Miro Heiskanen, and he's at 1.65 FPPG since coming back.
Alex Laferriere, C/RW, Los Angeles Kings (available in 37.3%): His power-play time and shot volume are both rising. He has put up seven shots twice in his past four games and has averaged more than four minutes a night with the man advantage.
Elias Lindholm, C, Boston Bruins (available in 52.0%): Lindholm's power-play time has more than doubled since the start of the season, peaking at 8:34 in his latest game, and he's at 1.81 FPPG on the Bruins' top unit.
Erik Gustafsson, D, Los Angeles Kings (available in 99.4%): Gustafsson has taken over the Kings' top-unit quarterback job, averaging 4:23 a night with two power-play points in his past three games. He's day-to-day, so check his status before adding.
Michael Misa, C, San Jose Sharks (available in 90.4%): Misa's shot volume has climbed all season, peaking with five in his latest game. The catch? He dropped to the Sharks' second power-play unit in their last game.
Andrew Peeke, D, Utah Mammoth (available in 99.5%): Peeke has gone from the low teens in ice time early in the season to around 20 minutes a night lately, topped by 23:16, paired with Dmitri Simashev. It's a deep-league play, but the role is growing.
Jamie Drysdale, D, Philadelphia Flyers (available in 77.0%): This column has been on Drysdale since the first week. Now his fantasy points are trending up too, at 2.3 a game over his past five, and he's still on the Flyers' top unit.
And at the other end of the list: Vasily Podkolzin (rostered in 85.4%), the second-most-added player in fantasy this season. He has had no power-play time in three of his past four games, and his fantasy points show the sharpest decline, down to 0.5 a game over his past five. Three weeks ago, we called him a passenger. The ride appears to be over with a healthy Zach Hyman and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins available.
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Goalie notes
Columbus Blue Jackets in 15 games (three last week):
Cam Talbot (crease share season/week: 48.8%/67.7%, fantasy points season/week: 20.8/13.6, 92.0% available)
Jet Greaves (crease share season/week: 51.2%/32.3%, fantasy points season/week: -3.4/-3.8, 61.2% available)
Talbot has delivered good starts (2.9 fantasy points or more) in five of seven, including his past three, and ranks 13th in FPP60 (fantasy points per 60 minutes) to Greaves' 53rd. Philadelphia (31st in scoring), the Islanders (23rd) and Chicago (32nd) are all on the schedule over the next 10 days.
Boston Bruins in 18 games (three last week):
Jeremy Swayman (crease share season/week: 72.5%/67.5%, fantasy points season/week: 48.6/14.4, 3.0% available)
Michael DiPietro (crease share season/week: 27.5%/32.5%, fantasy points season/week: 23.8/3.4, 84.2% available)
Two weeks ago, DiPietro was a stash. Now he and Swayman have strictly alternated over the past four games, and DiPietro ranks third in FPP60 with good starts in four of five. He's a regular stream in most formats, with Detroit (27th in scoring) on the schedule.
Vegas Golden Knights in 19 games (four last week):
Adin Hill (crease share season/week: 47.4%/49.1%, fantasy points season/week: 25.0/12.2, 73.3% available)
Carter Hart (crease share season/week: 52.6%/50.9%, fantasy points season/week: 17.2/9.0, 34.5% available)
Hill has bounced back since we cooled on him two weeks ago, going 7-2-0 with good starts in six of nine. He and Hart have strictly alternated over the past four games, and all five of Vegas' next games are at home, including Vancouver (25th in scoring) and two against Dallas (23rd).
Follow-ups:
Tristan Jarry and Devon Levi, Edmonton Oilers (available in 72.3% and 61.6%): Levi is back, and the Oilers used three goalies last week. It's a timeshare again, with Levi the better bet at 10th in goalie fantasy points.
Daniil Tarasov, G, Detroit Red Wings (available in 93.9%): Took nearly every start last week with John Gibson day-to-day.
Jake Allen, G, New Jersey Devils: Hellebuyck took three of four starts last week. As expected, Allen managers can move on.
Power-play pickups
League average for a five-man unit this season is 3.58 shot attempts per two minutes.
Connor Brown, RW, New Jersey Devils (available in 98.5%): Brown has the open spot on a top unit with Jesper Bratt, Nico Hischier, Jack Hughes and Luke Hughes that has scored three times in 10:25. He's at 1.49 FPPG.
Zack Bolduc, LW, Montreal Canadiens (available in 93.5%): Bolduc has stuck on the top unit with Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield, Juraj Slafkovsky and Lane Hutson, a group generating 3.98 shot attempts per two minutes, and he has one power-play point in his past three games. Ivan Demidov is back soon, though.
Ben Kindel, C/RW, Pittsburgh Penguins (available in 92.7%): Kindel is taking 78% of the Penguins' power-play time alongside Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby, at 3:56 a night. He hasn't converted it yet at 1.27 FPPG, which makes him a deep-league buy-low. There is plenty of runway with Bryan Rust out until December.
Follow-ups:
Maxim Shabanov, RW, Minnesota Wild (available in 77.1%): Two more power-play points in his past three games, up to nine on the season.
Kent Johnson, LW/RW, Columbus Blue Jackets (available in 56.5%): Two power-play points in three games and 2.24 FPPG.
Charle-Edouard D'Astous, D, Tampa Bay Lightning (available in 61.0%): Now at 5:26 a night on the top unit, with two power-play points in his past three games.
Droppables
The usual caution applies. Brandon Hagel (2.4 FPPG), Jack Eichel (2.5), Alex DeBrincat (2.2), Alexis Lafreniere (2.1), Filip Hronek (2.1) and Mika Zibanejad (1.9) have all cooled lately, but the season-long production says hold.
Tom Wilson, RW, Washington Capitals (rostered in 70.5%): Wilson's fantasy points have been sliding all season, down to 0.67 a game over his past seven, and he has been dropped in 9.3% of leagues this month. He's still on the top power-play unit, but last week's warning has turned into a decline. In standard leagues, it's time to move on.
On notice:
Zach Hyman, RW, Edmonton Oilers (rostered in 82.8%): 0.71 FPPG in seven games since his first return from injury, down from 2.04 before it. He's back on the top power-play unit with Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, though, so give him a little more time.
Follow-ups:
Brock Nelson has fallen to 0.92 FPPG lately. Last week's call stands.