Fantasy All-Access: Hertl, Couturier available on wire

Every Monday, NHL.com staff writer Sean McCullen identifies potential waiver-wire pickups and points out lineup moves and schedule impacts for fantasy hockey.

Shortly after John Tortorella took over as coach of the Columbus Blue Jackets on Oct. 21, it became clear that center Ryan Johansen soon would be playing elsewhere in the NHL.

The Blue Jackets on Wednesday traded Johansen, 23, to the Nashville Predators for 21-year-old defenseman Seth Jones.

The addition of Johansen in Nashville will have significant fantasy implications. In his first game with the Predators, at the Colorado Avalanche on Friday, Johansen started on the top line with left wing Colin Wilson and right wing James Neal. By the end of the game, Filip Forsberg had replaced Wilson on the line. Forsberg, Johansen and Neal were a line Saturday against the Arizona Coyotes while Wilson was out because of a lower-body injury.

If Wilson (C/LW, 7 percent owned in Yahoo leagues) plays with Johansen when he returns, he's worth adding to help fill a hole created by an injury to a key player. Although he has four goals in 36 games this season, he did score a career-high 20 in 77 games in 2014-15.

My hunch is coach Peter Laviolette will continue with a line of Forsberg-Johansen-Neal even when Wilson, who is day-to-day, gets back in the lineup.

Neal, who likely will stay with Johansen all season, should see his production go up significantly; he has 15 goals and nine assists in 42 games but no points in the past six games. If you've had him stashed on your bench, get him back in your lineup.

The same goes for Forsberg. He has 11 goals in 42 games but I expect he'll play at better than his 0.32 goals-per-game average of 2014-15 if he's with Johansen.

The subtraction of Johansen will have less of an impact on Blue Jackets players because Tortorella frequently moved Johansen around the lineup. The trade does, however, mean 21-year-old center Alexander Wennberg (2 percent owned) will continue to get regular minutes with Scott Hartnell and Brandon Saad, significantly increasing his value.

WAIVER-WIRE WATCH

Sean Couturier, C, Philadelphia Flyers (owned in 5 percent of Yahoo leagues) -- Couturier, the No. 8 pick of the 2011 NHL Draft, has been a defensive stopper for most of his NHL career, but he's been showing a bit more on the offensive end of late. The 23-year-old enters this week with six goals and six assists in his past 10 games; he has nine goals and 11 assists in 34 games this season. Couturier's new line with Brayden Schenn at right wing and Michael Raffl at left wing has clicked the first three games, combining for five goals.

Sam Reinhart, C, Buffalo Sabres (5 percent owned) -- The 20-year-old is on pace for 23 goals after he got the first hat trick of his NHL career in his 51st game in the League on Sunday at the Winnipeg Jets. He has 12 goals and seven assists in 42 games this season and is averaging 2:33 of power-play time per game. The No. 2 pick of the 2014 draft has played right wing on a line with center Jack Eichel and left wing Zemgus Girgensons. He had been playing mostly with center Ryan O'Reilly and left wing Evander Kane.

Ondrej Palat, LW, Tampa Bay Lightning (50 percent owned) -- Palat has struggled since returning from an ankle injury Jan. 2; in four games, he has one assist and 10 shots on goal. His only point in that stretch came in his first game back, but Palat was on the top line with center Steven Stamkos and right wing Vladislav Namestnikov on Saturday against the Vancouver Canucks. Whether he stays there or resumes playing on the "Triplets" line with center Tyler Johnson and right wing Nikita Kucherov, Palat is bound to get going; he's just too skilled to continue slumping.

Tomas Hertl, C/LW, San Jose Sharks (14 percent owned) -- Hertl was back on the Sharks' top line Saturday and he made the most of it. Playing left wing alongside center Joe Thornton and right wing Joe Pavelski, he had two goals and an assist in a 7-0 win against the Toronto Maple Leafs. Hertl's value will go up if he begins getting more power-play time; through 38 games, he’s averaging 1:30 per game on the man-advantage.

LINE CHANGES

-- With Palat on the top line with Stamkos and Namestnikov in Vancouver, Alex Killorn (C/LW, 7 percent owned) played left wing with Johnson and Kucherov. He had a goal, a plus-1 rating, three shots on goal and two hits.

-- The Flyers reunited center Claude Giroux and left wing Jakub Voracek for three games last week. Right wing Wayne Simmonds was on the new top line, which combined for one goal (Simmonds) and two assists (one each for Giroux and Voracek) in three wins.

-- Tyler Toffoli and Milan Lucic will stay with center Anze Kopitar on the Los Angeles Kings' top line even with center Jeff Carter back in the lineup. Carter centered Tanner Pearson and Marian Gaborik in two games last week after he missed five because of an upper-body injury. Kopitar has nine assists and 11 points in the past eight games playing with Toffoli and Lucic after he had 20 points in his first 33 games.

SCHEDULE NOTES

-- The Canucks, Sharks, Boston Bruins, Carolina Hurricanes, Chicago Blackhawks and New York Rangers each will play four games this week.

The Dallas Stars, who won't play until Friday when they visit the Anaheim Ducks, will play two games, as will the Ottawa Senators.

The rest of the League has three games on the schedule.

-- The Hurricanes and Pittsburgh Penguins will play each other twice, as will the Blackhawks and Montreal Canadiens.

The Hurricanes and Penguins play in Raleigh, N.C., on Tuesday and in Pittsburgh on Sunday.

The Blackhawks and Canadiens play in Montreal on Thursday and in Chicago on Sunday. Jonathan Toews led all scorers with two goals and two assists in Chicago's two-game season sweep against Montreal last season. Corey Crawford had a 28-save shutout Nov. 14, 2014, at Bell Centre.

-- The Kings are off four days between home games Monday against the Detroit Red Wings and Saturday against the Senators.

Follow Sean McCullen on Twitter: @McBrooklyn77