Fantasy buzz: Scheifele back, Kuznetsov out; Tavares to wing

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.

Scheifele back in Jets lineup

Winnipeg Jets center Mark Scheifele is expected to return to the lineup against the Dallas Stars on Sunday (7:30 p.m. ET; TVAS, SN, FS-SW, NHL.TV). Scheifele (C, 94 percent owned, 133rd in Yahoo) missed five games because of an upper-body injury.
Scheifele ($7,100 in DraftKings) is expected to rejoin the top-six with frequent linemates Blake Wheeler (C/RW, 8th in Yahoo) and Kyle Connor (LW, 19 percent owned). He has 51 points (21 goals, 30 assists) in 50 games and has seven points (six goals, one assist) and 10 shots on goal in three games against the Stars this season, making him a must-start in all formats Sunday.

Kuznetsov out, day to day for Capitals

Washington Capitals center Evgeny Kuznetsov will not play against the Philadelphia Flyers on Sunday (5 p.m. ET; NHLN, NBCSP, NBCSWA, NHL.TV). He sustained an upper-body injury Friday against the New York Islanders and is day to day.
Kuznetsov (C, 29th in Yahoo) is averaging a point per game and has had season-long exposure to elite forward Alex Ovechkin (LW, 6th) at either even-strength or on the first power-play unit. Kuznetsov is having a bounce-back season with 71 points (21 goals, 50 assists) in 71 games after a disappointing 59 points (19 goals, 40 assists) in 82 games last season.

The Capitals could either keep their second line of Nicklas Backstrom, T.J. Oshie and Andre Burakovsky (LW/RW, 23 percent owned in Yahoo) intact or elevate Backstrom and Oshie to reunite with Ovechkin, the line that played together for much of last season. Forward Lars Eller (C, 4 percent owned) is another in-house fantasy replacement if he's elevated into the top six. Eller has scored a goal in three of his past four games. For DFS purposes, Eller ($3,800) is a value center and easily stackable with any of Washington's top forwards.

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Islanders experiment with Tavares on wing

The New York Islanders experimented in practice with forward John Tavares skating on the wing of their first line with center Mathew Barzal (C, 59th in Yahoo) and right wing Jordan Eberle (C/RW, 73 percent owned).
Tavares (C, 44th in Yahoo) scored his 32nd goal of the season in their 6-3 loss against the Capitals on Friday and has six points (two goals, four assists) in his past six games. He is tied for 19th in the League with 70 points (32 goals, 38 assists) in 71 games.
Eberle, who has a three-game point streak and 50 points (24 goals, 26 assists) in 70 games, is the biggest potential beneficiary of the lineup shuffle. He has been skating with Barzal, who leads rookies in scoring with 72 points (19 goals, 53 assists), for most of the season and now could be playing with two elite forwards if Tavares remains at left wing.

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Nugent-Hopkins, Rattie have big games with McDavid

Edmonton Oilers forwards Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and
Ty Rattie
had multipoint games in their 4-2 win against the Florida Panthers on Saturday, skating on their first line with center Connor McDavid (C, 10th in Yahoo).

Nugent-Hopkins (C, 29 percent owned) scored his 20th goal of the season and had an assist with five shots on goal against the Panthers. He has scored a goal in back-to-back games and has seven points (four goals, three assists) and 22 SOG in seven games since returning from injury March 3. As long as he maintains exposure to McDavid the rest of the fantasy season, Nugent-Hopkins will be a must-own fantasy asset.
Rattie (RW, less than 1 percent owned) had a goal and an assist, his first points of the season, against the Panthers. He played 15:17 and had six SOG in his third game of the season. Rattie ($3,500 in DraftKings) will be a value flier for DFS players against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Sunday (5 p.m. ET; SUN, SNW, NHL.TV), and fantasy owners should monitor him to see if he remains with McDavid down the stretch. The Oilers have 11 games left, including four against non-playoff contenders.
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