Fantasy buzz: Impact of Luongo's return; Buchnevich back for Rangers

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.

Roberto Luongo expected to start against Flames

The Florida Panthers goaltender is expected to start on Saturday against the Calgary Flames (10 p.m. ET; CITY, SNW, FS-F, NHL.TV). If he starts, Luongo (47 percent owned in Yahoo) will be making his first appearance since sustaining a lower-body injury on Dec. 4.
Luongo is 6-6-1 with a .928 save percentage in 15 games. Despite missing significant time, he still ranks within the top-150 skaters on Yahoo (134). In season-long formats, Luongo should be considered a must-add or trade target. The Panthers have played the fewest games in the League (54) giving Luongo the opportunity to rack up plenty of starts. They have 16 remaining games at home. Since 2014-15, Luongo is 50-27-11 with a .920 save percentage and three shutouts in home games. As an additional bonus, the Panthers play the most games (nine) out of any team in the final two weeks of the regular season which makes Luongo a valuable asset for fantasy playoffs. Due to their favorable schedule, backup goaltender James Reimer (25 percent) is also worth monitoring. Reimer has wins in three of his past five starts.
In DFS contests, Luongo is a good value pick ($7,500). Against Western Conference teams, Luongo is 3-3-0 with a .935 save percentage and one shutout (5.8 DraftKings points per game). He has a competitive matchup against the Flames, who are 5-4-1 in their past 10 games and clinging to the third playoff spot in the Pacific Division.
Worth noting: Colorado Avalanche goaltender Jonathan Bernier (51 percent) appeared to sustain an injury in a 6-1 loss to the Winnipeg Jets on Friday. No update has been provided on Bernier but the Avalanche reported he was in the concussion protocol.

Pavel Buchnevich back for Rangers after injury

New York Rangers forward Pavel Buchnevich (LW/RW, 16 percent) will return to the lineup after missing after missing seven games with an upper-body injury. Before sustaining the injury on Feb.1 against the Toronto Maple Leafs, Buchnevich had six points (two goals, four assists) in six games. Most recently, Buchnevich was playing on the top line with wing Rick Nash (LW/RW, 42 percent) and center Mika Zibanejad (41 percent).
In season-long formats, Buchnevich is worth monitoring. He ranks first on the Rangers in 5-on-5 points per 60 minutes (2.1). Despite missing eight games (one to a healthy scratch, seven to injury), Buchnevich ranks third on the Rangers with 32 points (13 goals, 19 assists) behind Mats Zuccarello (40) and J.T. Miller (37).
The Rangers have five games from Feb. 17 - 25 including their game Saturday against the Ottawa Senators (2 p.m. ET; TVAS, TSN5, MSG, NHL.TV), making Buchnevich an attractive short-term add. It's worth noting that his linemate Nash, could be moved at the NHL Trade Deadline which could negatively impact Buchnevich's long-term stock.
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