Each day during the 2015-16 season, NHL.com's fantasy staff will identify one player at each position worth owning in DraftKings daily fantasy hockey contests. Based on factors including but not limited to matchups, line combinations, power-play usage, statistical coverage and recent production, we'll provide you with lower-priced options that can help you build a winning lineup.

Tyler Johnson, C, Tampa Bay Lightning

DraftKings price: $4,600

As disappointing as Johnson has been fantasy-wise after his memorable 2015 Stanley Cup Playoff production, he's back from injury and facing a familiar foe in the New York Rangers. He has seven points in six career regular-season games against the Rangers, whom he also tagged for four goals, five assists and 18 shots on goal in their seven-game postseason series. Johnson, 15th among centers in price, had no points and two shots on goal in 17-plus minutes of ice time Monday against the Montreal Canadiens, playing mostly with Alex Killorn and J.T. Brown, but has a chance to get back on track Wednesday at home, where he has four points and 30 SOG in 11 games this season.

ARLINGTON, Va. -- Washington Capitals defenseman John Carlson is questionable to play against the Buffalo Sabres on Wednesday at Verizon Center (7 p.m. ET; MSG-B, BELL TV, CSN-DC). He did not practice Wednesday.

Carlson did not play against the Sabres on Monday, snapping his streak of 412 consecutive games played. Carlson has 27 points in 34 games this season and leads the Capitals (27-6-2) with an average ice time of 24:28 per game.

Capitals coach Barry Trotz said Carlson was having an MRI and the results of that would determine Carlson's status for the game Wednesday.

"Just wanted to take a look at his injury and we’ll see where he is when he gets back," Trotz said.

TAMPA -- Forward Jonathan Drouin was activated off injured reserve Tuesday and will return to the lineup for the Tampa Bay Lightning when they play the New York Rangers at Amalie Arena on Wednesday (8 p.m. ET; NBCSN).

Drouin has not played since Dec. 10 and has two goals and six assists in 18 games this season. He said he doesn't expect he will need much time to get his legs back.

"It's definitely nice to feel good again," Drouin said. "I'm ready to go. It's up to me to get [my legs] again and I'm sure it'll be fine."

PITTSBURGH -- Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Kris Letang will return to the lineup against the Toronto Maple Leafs at Consol Energy Center on Wednesday (7 p.m. ET; SN, ROOT).

Letang practiced Tuesday and was on the ice for the morning skate Wednesday. He sat out the 1-0 loss to the Winnipeg Jets on Sunday because of precautionary reasons. He had played 28 shifts totaling 21:42 of ice time in a 3-1 defeat of the Minnesota Wild on Saturday, his first game back after missing six because of an upper-body injury.

During the morning skate, Letang skated alongside defenseman Olli Maatta and manned the point on the top power-play unit with forwards Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Phil Kessel and Patric Hornqvist.

Because of various injuries Letang has missed nine of Pittsburgh’s past 11 games. He was placed in the concussion protocol after taking a hit to the head from Wild forward Jarret Stoll on Saturday, but coach Mike Sullivan said the results came back negative.

Each Wednesday throughout the regular season, Kevin Weekes will offer his pluses and minuses for the teams competing in the NBCSN Wednesday Night Rivalry game in his Weekes on the Web blog. Weekes also will assist fans with three must-watch elements of the game.

With the way each of their seasons has gone thus far, it's hard to believe the New York Rangers and Tampa Bay Lightning, the teams that met in the Eastern Conference Final last season, could have a difficult time qualifying for the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Stanley Cup contenders when the season began, they have had their struggles, but each team is much better than they have shown.

The Rangers started off red hot, but are 3-7-2 in December and have lost their past eight games on the road (0-6-2), having allowed more than four goals per game in those losses. They haven't looked anything like themselves or the way we know they can play.

The Lightning have been hampered by injuries all season but haven't used that an excuse for why they have yet to get it going and are in sixth place in the Atlantic Division.

The Rangers (20-13-4) visit the Lightning (18-15-4) at Amalie Arena on Wednesday (8 p.m. ET; NBCSN). Here's my breakdown of the game:

Here is the Dec. 30 edition of Dan Rosen's weekly mailbag, which will run every Wednesday in the Over the Boards blog during the 2015-16 NHL season. If you have a question, tweet it to @drosennhl and use #OvertheBoards.

Let's get to it:

How do you compare the Rangers' struggles to those of the Canucks in Alain Vigneault's final season in Vancouver? -- @hogey94

Vigneault's last season in Vancouver was 2012-13, the lockout-shortened, 48-game season. That has to be taken into account. But the comparison actually holds water.

The Canucks were 8-2-2 through 12 games, which was the quarter-mark of that season. But I don't think they were fooling anybody into thinking they were the same team that won the Presidents' Trophy in back to back seasons and went to the Stanley Cup Final in 2011. There was something about them that seemed off.

At roughly the quarter mark of this season, the Rangers were 16-3-2, but if you watched them closely you saw that they weren't dominating games, but instead capitalizing on mistakes and getting great goaltending. I didn't feel at the time their success was sustainable. They were too reliant on goalie Henrik Lundqvist, who was cleaning up their defensive zone problems.

At 19:20 of the second period in the Islanders/Maple Leafs game, Toronto requested a Coach’s Challenge to review whether Anders Lee interfered with goaltender Jonathan Bernier before the puck crossed the goal line.

After reviewing all available replays and consulting with NHL Hockey Operations staff, the Referee confirmed no goaltender interference infractions occurred before the puck crossed the goal line.

Therefore the original call stands – good goal New York Islanders.

Since the Coach’s Challenge did not result in the original call being overturned, the Toronto Maple Leafs forfeit their time-out.

At 9:38 of the first period in the Predators/Blues game, Nashville requested a Coach’s Challenge to review whether St. Louis was off-side prior to Dmitrij Jaskin's goal.

After reviewing all available replays and consulting with NHL Hockey Operations staff, the Linesman determined that the Blues entered the attacking zone legally prior to the goal.

Therefore the original call stands – good goal St. Louis Blues.

Since the Coach's Challenge did not result in the original call being overturned, the Nashville Predators forfeit their time-out.

NEWARK, N.J. -- New Jersey Devils coach John Hynes hopes to see more offensive accountability Tuesday against the Carolina Hurricanes at Prudential Center.

Hynes isn't satisfied with the fact the Devils have not won two straight games since Nov. 12 and Nov. 14. The Devils are 7-8-4 since their last back-to-back victories.

As a result, Hynes will not only juggle his offensive lines, but his defense pairs.

"When there's an opportunity to make a play and you have time and space, we want to be able to make plays and not just get rid of the puck," Hynes said. "When you're in scoring situations and scoring areas the decision is that there is a shot versus a pass.

"The game is transitional so if you're just going to be a player that's going to defend harder than you play offense, there needs to be more accountability to produce offense and play in the offensive zone to be a threatening team."

CALGARY -- Anaheim Ducks defenseman Shea Theodore will make his NHL debut against the Calgary Flames at Scotiabank Saddledome on Tuesday.

Theodore, Anaheim's first-round selection (No. 26) in the 2013 NHL Draft, was recalled from San Diego of the American Hockey League after defenseman Cam Fowler sustained a knee sprain in the first period of the Ducks' 4-2 win at home against the Philadelphia Flyers on Sunday. A timeline for Fowler's recovery won't be determined until later this week.

"That's 25 minutes a night that someone else has got to eat up," Anaheim coach Bruce Boudreau said. "[Fowler is] so good at making that first pass out of his own zone, or being able to skate it out of his own zone. That's hard to get back. But he plays all the special teams. He's going to be missed."