Fantasy hockey ice-time risers and fallers: October 2026

Why ice time is the first number to watch

Two weeks into a season, points are mostly noise. A skater can score 3 goals in 5 games on a hot stretch or none on a cold one. Ice time is steadier, because it is a coach's choice made every night, and a player cannot produce in minutes he does not get.

The desk compared every skater's ice time per game this season with his 2025-26 rate. The list is limited to skaters with at least 3 games this season and 20 last season, so a call-up with no history does not crowd it.

Read every number below with the sample in mind. The season opened Sep 29, and the players in this guide have played 3 to 7 games. Ice time over 4 games can reflect an injury elsewhere on the roster, a blowout or a single penalty-heavy night. These are early signals, not new roles.

The 20 biggest risers

Source: NHL time-on-ice reports, 2025-26 and 2026-27 regular seasons, read Oct 13 2026. Points rank from the Parlae board, Oct 13 2026.

Power-play time is the stronger signal

More minutes are good, but the minutes that matter most for fantasy are on the power play. In 2025-26, skaters on a first unit averaged 0.84 points a game and skaters with no unit 0.27; the power-play units guide has the full breakdown.

Eleven of the 20 risers are now at 2:00 or more of power-play time a game. Two stand out because they also rank high on the board.

Viktor Arvidsson, Detroit. Ice time up from 14:36 to 18:25 and power-play time up from 1:59 to 4:12, over 5 games. He is 84th on the Parlae points board, the highest-ranked riser.

Vasily Podkolzin, Edmonton. Power-play time up from 0:28 a game to 4:04, the biggest power-play jump in the table, over 5 games. He ranks 89th.

Jack Quinn (3:40 on the power play, 164th), Zach Benson (3:31, 254th) and Noah Ostlund (3:00, 336th) are three of the four Buffalo players on the list. Owen Power is the fourth, with his ice time up to 26:07 and power-play time up from 0:56 to 2:10. Edmonton and Ottawa each have three risers.

Thomas Chabot is the odd case: already a heavy-minutes defenseman last season at 22:35, he is now at 27:14 with 3:49 on the power play over 6 games, and ranks 141st.

More minutes without the power play

Not every riser gained power-play time. Jordan Spence's ice time is up 4:02, but his power-play time fell from 1:17 to 0:15. Connor Clifton, Tyler Kleven, Connor Murphy and Morgan Barron are all at 0:11 or less on the power play. In Parlae points scoring a hit is worth 0.1 and a block 0.2, so minutes without the power play move a points total slowly; in categories leagues, hits and blocks are full categories. None of the five ranks inside the top 350 on the points board.

The fallers

The biggest drops run the other way. Teddy Blueger is down 5:15 a game in Toronto, from 16:31 to 11:16 over 6 games. J.J. Moser in Tampa Bay is down 5:14, from 21:34 to 16:20 over 5.

The fallers that matter most for fantasy are the ones who lost power-play time. Teuvo Teravainen in Chicago played 2:48 a game on the power play last season and has played none in 4 games this season, with his ice time down from 17:45 to 12:45. Victor Hedman in Tampa Bay is down from 18:52 to 14:00, and his power-play time from 2:12 to 0:29, over 5 games. Oliver Ekman-Larsson in Toronto (1:50 to 0:06) and Dawson Mercer in New Jersey (1:36 to 0:12) have also lost most of theirs.

Three fallers still rank inside the top 200. Josh Morrissey in Winnipeg is down from 24:43 to 20:04, with 2:20 on the power play, over only 4 games, and ranks 129th. William Eklund in Ottawa is down from 18:32 to 13:56 over 4 games and ranks 158th. Rasmus Andersson in Vegas is down from 23:12 to 18:14 over 7 games and ranks 182nd. With samples this short, a drop of 4 to 5 minutes is a reason to watch, not to drop.

One faller gained where it counts: Charle-Edouard D'Astous is down 4:04 in total ice time but up from 0:57 to 1:48 on the power play.

What to do with this

1. Add on power-play time, not total minutes. Arvidsson and Podkolzin both gained more than 2 minutes a game on the power play. Check whether they are available on the waiver wire page.
2. Give fallers 10 games before you cut them. Morrissey and Eklund have 4 games each this season. Watch whether their minutes come back before you drop a player ranked inside the top 160.
3. Recheck the list as samples grow. Every number here comes from 3 to 7 games. The Parlae rankings are built from the NHL's own stats, so a role that holds will show up there.