Fantasy buzz: Ducks getting healthy; Jets lose Byfuglien

All season long, NHL.com's fantasy hockey staff will have you covered with daily lineup news, production trends and injury notes from around the League. We will identify how these developments affect fantasy owners in year-long (Yahoo) and daily (DraftKings) formats.

4:30 p.m.

Implications of injured, returning players for Monday

-- Anaheim Ducks center Ryan Getzlaf (face) and right wing Jakob Silfverberg (upper body) will return to their lineup against the Carolina Hurricanes on Monday (10 p.m. ET; FS-W, FS-CR, NHL.TV). Getzlaf is expected to center Rickard Rakell and Corey Perry in his usual spot, with Adam Henrique playing between Andrew Cogliano and Silfverberg in place of the injured Ryan Kesler (hip; has not played this season).
Getzlaf is an expensive yet high-end center option at $6,800 in DraftKings, but Silfverberg is worth rostering at $5,100 in DraftKings given Anaheim's upgrade at center during his five-game absence. Silfverberg scored one goal on four shots on goal against the Hurricanes on Oct. 29, and Henrique has six points (three goals, three assists) and 12 SOG in five games since being traded to the Ducks on Nov. 30.

Silfverberg (RW, 33 percent owned) and Henrique (C, 30 percent) are each there for the taking in season-long Yahoo leagues.
-- Winnipeg Jets defenseman Dustin Byfuglien (lower body) is week to week and will not play against the Vancouver Canucks on Monday (8 p.m. ET; TSN3, SNP, NHL.TV). The top DFS candidate to replace the physical defenseman on the Jets' first power-play unit is Jacob Trouba ($4,400 in DraftKings).
In addition to the projected scoring uptick in Byfuglien's spot, Trouba is one of six players with at least 60 SOG (69) and 60 blocked shots (62); the others are Jake Muzzin (LAK), Mark Giordano (CGY), Ivan Provorov (PHI), Johnny Boychuk (NYI; game-time decision vs. WSH on Monday) and Oscar Klefbom (EDM). Tyler Myers ($4,100) and Josh Morrissey ($3,400) are even cheaper in DraftKings and each has the opportunity to see more power-play time in Byfuglien's absence.
Trouba was one of two defensemen listed in NHL.com's
top 10 waiver wire pickups for Week 10
.
-- Pittsburgh Penguins right wing Patric Hornqvist (face) is a game-time decision against the Colorado Avalanche on Monday (7 p.m. ET; TVAS, SN, ATTSN-PT, ALT, NHL.TV). If Hornqvist does not play, it would open up a spot next to Sidney Crosby on Pittsburgh's top line and first power-play unit. Potential DFS targets from this situation include Jake Guentzel ($5,900) and/or Bryan Rust ($4,100) because each has produced alongside Crosby in the past. Season-long fantasy owners should wait for a further update before making any long-term roster decisions involving Hornqvist.

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Thornton consistently producing again for Sharks

San Jose Sharks center Joe Thornton (C, 40 percent owned in Yahoo) had a power-play assist against the Minnesota Wild on Sunday, giving him 11 points (three goals, eight assists) over his past 10 games.
The 38-year-old center has six power-play points, 19 shots on goal and nine penalty minutes in the 10-game span and is gradually returning to fantasy relevance. Thornton had surgery April 24 to repair the ACL and MCL in his left knee and started slow with 10 points (two goals, eight assists) in his first 19 games.
Thornton has been playing alongside wings Joe Pavelski and Timo Meier (LW/RW, 1 percent owned) at even strength and with Pavelski, Logan Couture, Tomas Hertl and Brent Burns on the first power-play unit. Hertl (C/LW, 27 percent owned) has PPP in three straight games on that unit with the Sharks bouncing back for 13 goals over their three-game homestand (2-0-1).
Thornton had 50 points (seven goals, 43 assists) and 19 PPP last season and 82 points (19 goals, 63 assists) and 29 PPP in 82 games in 2015-16.