Fantasy buzz: Jets defensemen step up with Byfuglien out

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.

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Couture sidelined for Sharks with concussion

San Jose Sharks center Logan Couture will not play against the Edmonton Oilers on Monday (9 p.m. ET; SNW, NBCSCA, NHL.TV) because of a concussion. He sustained the injury against the Vancouver Canucks on Friday.
Couture, ranked 74th overall in Yahoo based on standard-category performance, leads the Sharks in goals (15), points (26) and is tied with defenseman Brent Burns and center Joe Thornton for their power-play points lead (10 each).
Without Couture, Tomas Hertl (C/LW/RW, 32 percent owned in Yahoo) is expected to center the second line with wings Mikkel Boedker and Kevin Labanc. San Jose's top line consists of Thornton centering Joe Pavelski and Melker Karlsson. Couture also leaves a void on the Sharks' first power-play unit alongside Burns, Thornton, Pavelski and Hertl.
From a fantasy standpoint, season-long Yahoo owners should remain patient until the Sharks provide a further injury update on Couture. Hertl is a viable short-term addition in many formats and an intriguing DFS value pick in DraftKings (W, $4,800) against the Oilers, who have been outscored 57-42 in 15 home games. Forward Joonas Donskoi is a candidate to fill in for Couture on the first power-play unit, making the former a worthwhile third wing or UTIL option in DraftKings ($3,400).

Oshie practicing for Capitals, could return soon

Washington Capitals right wing T.J. Oshie practiced Monday and is nearing a return from an upper-body injury. He has missed the past six games.
Oshie (91 percent owned in Yahoo) skated on the second line with Evgeny Kuznetsov and Jakub Vrana, with Tom Wilson remaining on the top line with Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom. Oshie had 23 points (10 goals, 13 assists), 11 on the power play, in 28 games prior to his injury.
The Capitals play three road games this week before the NHL's Christmas break, with their next game coming at the Dallas Stars on Tuesday. Oshie could potentially return for that game or Washington's back-to-back set against the Arizona Coyotes on Friday and Vegas Golden Knights on Saturday.

Hall, Palmieri returning for Devils on Monday

New Jersey Devils forwards Taylor Hall and Kyle Palmieri will return to the lineup against the Anaheim Ducks on Monday (7 p.m. ET; MSG+, KCOP-13, NHL.TV). Hall has missed the past two games because of a knee injury, and Palmieri hasn't played since Nov. 20, missing 12 games because of a foot injury.
The return of Hall and Palmieri means the Devils top line of Hall, Palmieri and rookie center Nico Hischier is likely to be reunited. Hall is an expensive DFS option (W, $6,800 in DraftKings) against the Ducks, but Hischier (C, $4,800) and Palmieri (W, $4,900) form a low-risk, high-reward stack.
From a season-long standpoint, Palmieri's return could negatively affect the value of rookie Jesper Bratt (LW/RW, 21 percent owned), who could be moved off the first power-play unit. The first unit is expected to include Hall, Hischier, Palmieri, Brian Boyle and rookie defenseman Will Butcher. Boyle ($3,200) is another DFS value pick with nine points (six goals, three assists) in nine home games.
The Devils-Ducks game offers another intriguing storyline with Adam Henrique (C, $4,500) facing his former team for the first time since being traded to Anaheim on Nov. 30. Henrique has been playing mostly in the top-six forward group and has six points (three goals, three assists) in eight games since joining the Ducks. Henrique has been skating alongside Rickard Rakell and Andrew Cogliano since the return of forwards Ryan Getzlaf and Jakob Silfverberg and the injury to Corey Perry.

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Jets defensemen have bounce-back game against Blues

Winnipeg Jets defensemen Jacob Trouba and Josh Morrissey each had a multipoint game against the St. Louis Blues on Sunday. With top defenseman Dustin Byfuglien (lower body) out week to week, each defenseman is getting greater offensive usage and has a chance to sustain his success.
Trouba (65 percent owned in Yahoo) had two assists, one on the power play, five shots on goal, two hits and was plus-2 in the second leg of Winnipeg's back-to-back set against St. Louis. He played 23:39, including 3:21 on the first power-play unit alongside valuable fantasy forwards Mark Scheifele, Blake Wheeler, Patrik Laine and Kyle Connor (LW, 17 percent). Trouba played 26:21, 4:35 on the power play, in the first leg against the Blues on Saturday and had three SOG.
Morrissey (14 percent) has not seen much power-play time in Byfuglien's four-game injury absence with Trouba on the first unit and Tyler Myers (49 percent) on the second, but has seen a significant uptick in overall ice time per game (21:28) compared to over his first 30 games (19:14). Morrissey had one goal, one assist, four SOG and was plus-3 against the Blues on Sunday and scored a goal against the Vancouver Canucks on Dec. 11, the first game of Byfuglien's absence.
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