As far as players that I’ve enjoyed watching hockey over the years go, Jaromir Jagr is at or near the top of the list. The adjustments he’s made to his game over the years while the NHL has become a young man’s game is incredible. When you look in the record books under points, now there’s only one player ahead of him: Wayne Gretzky. Jagr led the way for the Panthers on Tuesday posting 3 assists and 3 shots placing him second all-time in points. It’s a shame he went to Russia for 4 years because he’d probably be #1 all-time in goals. While he’s nowhere near last season’s 66 point pace, Jagr’s shots and PIM are up quite a bit and now that the first line is picking it up over the last few weeks, it wouldn’t surprise me one bit if Jagr is a top 100 player the rest of the way. We salute you, Jaromir Jagr. Let’s take a look at everything that happened around the league the last two nights:
Pekka Rinne – 31 saves on 32 shots in the 2-1 SO win over the Flyers. Good Rinne, please stay!
Juuse Saros – 27 saves on 28 shots in the 5-1 win over the Devils. I love me some Saros. It’s going to be really good in time.
Viktor Arvidsson – Three assists with five shots in two games. Why haven’t you picked him up yet? Do it already!
Mattias Ekholm – Goal and two assists with two shots. P.K. Subban has missed the last two games so Ekholm has seen a big role boost. It doesn’t sound like he’ll miss much more time but if he does, Ekholm is a nice filler.
Filip Forsberg – Two goals on seven shots. With 20 shots in the last 5 games, could this finally be the heater we’ve been waiting for? I certainly hope so.
Ryan Johansen – Goal and an assist with five shots and two PIM. It’s been strong across the board to this point and I expect more of the same.
Roman Josi – Two assists with nine shots and two PIM. Not sure you’ll be able to buy low but I would try with Josi.
James Neal – Two goals on six shots. The only thing that’s slowed him down is injury. Please stay healthy!
Steve Mason – 30 saves on 31 shots in the shootout loss to Nashville. You can certainly justify rolling Mason in every start at this point.
Cam Fowler – Goal and an assist with six shots and two PIM over two games. Reid named him his value defenseman of the year on the latest podcast and while he wasn’t my winner, I can’t find fault with it.
John Gibson – 33 saves on 35 shots in the 3-2 win over the Maple Leafs. Please string some quality starts together. Signed, your fantasy owners.
Auston Matthews – Goal on eight shots playing over 21 minutes. Now that the minutes are up, it kills any chance of a regression.
Leon Draisaitl – Two assists with two shots. While he wasn’t my winner for value forward, the German is right there with a select few others. He’s tied for the league lead in PPG and with 30 points in 34 games, there’s no complaints from anyone.
Cam Talbot – 25 saves on 27 shots in the 3-2 OT win over the Blues. We all know what we’re getting from Talbot at this point.
Vladimir Tarasenko – Goal on eight shots with four PIM over two games. He’s always finding a way to contribute in the extra categories when he’s not piling on the points. That’s what makes you a first rounder.
Robby Fabbri – Two assists with two shots. It’s bottom end with the lack of shot volume but I’m stilling holding for the upside.
Jaden Schwartz – Goal and an assist with four shots. Schwartz has been money since he returned from injury. The shot rate is back up and therefore the goals have come with it.
Jake Allen – 36 saves on 38 shots in the 3-2 OT win over the Stars. See Gibson, John for my thoughts because they’re the exact same.
Christian Dvorak – Goal and an assist. He only played 9:20 in this game. Arizona, you’re stone dead to make the playoffs, please start playing your kids some more.
Thomas Greiss – 48 saves on 50 shots in the 4-2 win over the Bruins. He’s clearly better than the Islanders alternatives right now so hopefully this monster game gives him more action going forward. I’ve said that all year so I’m not exactly hopeful.
Josh Bailey – Two assists with a shot. Bailey has been an elite streamer all year but somebody I’ve never held. I don’t foresee that changing.
Anders Lee – Two goals and an assist with three shots. Dude is en fuego at the moment. There won’t be a need for streaming Friday but I could see looking to Lee at some point next week.
Tuukka Rask – 13 saves on 16 shots in 26:18 before getting pulled. That’s three rough starts in the last five for Rask. I would consider selling high if you could but you need to get a quality goalie back and then some.
Antti Raanta – 40 saves on 47 shots in the 7-2 loss to the Penguins. Woof. Expect the King to get back to being the workhorse.
Nick Bonino – Goal and an assist with three shots. He’s a guy who has constant value in deeper leagues but I generally look elsewhere for 12’er streaming.
Ian Cole – Two assists with two PIM. Great deep league guy for the hits and blocks but unless you’re desperate for plus-minus and solid PIM, it’s not 12’er worthy.
Sidney Crosby – Goal and an assist with seven shots and two PIM. This fella that wears 87 looks like he still has it.
Phil Kessel – Goal and an assist with four shots. Quick, Phil is hungry, get him some Primanti Bros! At a point per game, he deserves a good meal.
Chris Kunitz – Two assists with five shots. I could dump all over Kunitz but let’s just say he’s a decent streamer but nothing else.
Evgeni Malkin – Goal and two assists with three shots. He’s distancing himself from the pack as the #1 skater on the season. Just stay healthy!
Justin Schultz – Goal and an assist with three shots. He’s still available in a large percentage of leagues and Schultz is top 10 on the season. Go grab him.
Bryan Rust – Goal and an assist with five shots. Top end streamer right now.
Jeff Carter – Two goals on six shots. Carter quickly put an end to a mini cold streak with another multi goal game. The assists are down a bit but I don’t think anyone is complaining about a 40 goal pace.
Cam Atkinson – Two goals on four shots. I’ve run out of amazing things to stay about Atkinson so just think of one and read it in this place.
Brandon Dubinsky – Two assists with three shots. Dubi is one of the few Jackets who hasn’t been great this year. It’s okay to stream for PIM and assists but that’s it.
Curtis McElhinney – 44 saves on 46 shots in the 3-2 SO win over the Kings. It’s amazing he’s been in the league this long with an atrocious track record. McElhinney barely plays so he’s not worth rostering.
Paul Byron – Goal and an assist with four shots. He’s already at a career high in goals in a season. Nothing like shooting over 25%.
Jeff Petry – Goal and two assists with five shots playing over 25 minutes. Man, I never thought I’d say this but Jeff Petry is a clear hold in 12’ers.
Carey Price – 12 saves on 13 shots in the 5-1 win over the Ducks. To say the Ducks laid an egg in this one understates things and makes a punny joke. See what I did there?
Jimmy Howard – 15 saves on 16 shots in 25:39 before he was pulled due to injury. He hobbled off the ice and was already ruled out for Friday’s game. I don’t have more of an update than that; hopefully it’s not too serious but obviously it’ll be all Petr Mrazek in the meantime.
Ben Bishop – 4 saves in 12:14 before also leaving the game due to injury. This did not look good at all but he was able to skate to the bench on his own power. There will be an update on Wednesday but you need to grab Andrei Vasilevskiy (22 saves on 23 shots) right now.
Brian Boyle – Goal on six shots. With his move up the lineup, Boyle is an okay streamer at the moment.
Jonathan Drouin – Goal and an assist with four shots. The shots have made a massive jump this year and with six points in the last five, Drouin looks like he’s about to take off. I think he’ll push top 50 value the rest of the way.
Tyler Johnson – Two assists with two shots. That’s four points in the last four for Johnson. Granted, there have been some easy matchups but it’s still encouraging.
Alex Killorn – Two assists with four shots and two PIM. The PIM boost has been through the roof this year putting him in the category of guys you either stream or hold if you really need the PIM.
Brayden Point – Goal and an assist with two shots. I like him a fair amount long term and the minutes are up a lot lately but it’s not enough for anything outside of deep leagues.
Aleksander Barkov – Goal and two assists with three shots. As mentioned above, the first line is really rolling since the coaching change. Look for Barkov to push towards point per game for the rest of the season.
Nick Bjugstad – Goal on two shots. The key was playing over 19 minutes. It’s worth monitoring going forward.
Keith Yandle – Goal on six shots. It’s good to see Yandle put the puck on net after 4 shots in the previous 4 games combined. It hasn’t been as great as I hoped but it’s still solid enough for 12’ers.
Evander Kane – Goal on six shots with two PIM. He has a point in four straight and is playing excellent hockey at the moment. I’ve been holding him in 12’ers and I think everyone should do so right now.
Sam Reinhart – Goal and an assist with four shots and two PIM. Call me a sucker but I’m still holding for the upside.
Rasmus Ristolainen – Goal and an assist. He’s taken tremendous strides in games recently and it’s shown in both his points and plus-minus. Risto should be a bottom end #1 fantasy defenseman for the foreseeable future with upside for more.
Semyon Varlamov – 31 saves on 33 shots in the 2-0 loss to the Wild. Even when you play well in Colorado, it takes a lot to get a win.
Devan Dubnyk – 18 save shutout. In non-breaking news, this guy is pretty damn good.
Charlie Coyle – Goal. Man, I love me some Coyle. A player I had ranked 42 spots above ADP and the highest out of anyone, he’s exceeded even my expectations.
Matt Dumba – Two assists with two shots. It feels like Dumba is providing more than he has but his numbers aren’t there. It’s a plus-minus boost with solid shots and PIM but the points aren’t there. If the Wild move a defenseman in the offseason, I could see Dumba being a sleeper next year.
Bobby Ryan – Goal and an assist with three shots. He’s scored a goal in four straight but his overall numbers are still far from 12’er worthy.
Zack Smith – Assist with two shots for some streamer success. I plan on streaming Smith more and more in the short term as long as he remains in the top six. Even with Mike Hoffman (three shots) returning from suspension, things didn’t change Tuesday so Smith remains a solid option.
Kyle Turris – Two assists with a shot. The shots are down to under 2 per game which hasn’t come with the assists we need to be willing to accept the shot drop. He’s been solid but there is some downside here.
Patrick Kane – Two assists and six shots. We talked on the podcast about how the top guys will be getting massive minutes in Chicago. I didn’t expect 26 minutes though.
John Klingberg – Assist with two shots playing almost 24 minutes. We’re finally starting to see some signs of life from Klingberg although in all honesty, he needs the other players around him to pick it up too, not just his own play. Being a facilitator doesn’t do enough if your teammates can’t score.
Jason Spezza – Goal and an assist with three shots. Spezza is another guy who seems to post a big game right when he gets into a mini drought. I’m still holding everywhere.
Jacob Markstrom – 31 saves on 32 shots in the 4-1 win over the Jets. The Jets are a complete wild card on a nightly basis right now. Anyways, I still don’t want anything to do with Canucks goalies.
Blake Wheeler – Goal on six shots and two PIM. Wheeler is as steady as they come just churning out an incredible line across the board.
Sven Baertschi – Goal on four shots for some more streamer success. He’s going to remain a streamer in the quality matchups.
Jannik Hansen – Two goals on three shots. His days of being an elite streamer are in the past unless he moves back onto a line with the Cyborgs on a regular basis.
Henrik Sedin – Two assists with a shot. He’s back in line with last year’s totals, notably 55 points and less than 100 shots.
Brian Elliott – 25 saves on 27 shots in the 4-2 win over the Coyotes. It’s still Chad Johnson‘s job but would it shock me if Elliott gets it back? No. That said, he’ll have to play well some more and against better competition than the Desert Dogs.
Matthew Tkachuk – Three assists with three shots and two PIM over two games. Man, his PIM are through the roof right now. He’s the top guy for points plus PIM right now, even ahead of Roussel.
Troy Brouwer – Goal and an assist with one shot total in two games. Basically a poor man’s Tkachuk at this point.
Kris Versteeg – Goal and an assist with two shots giving him 10 points in his last 11 games. He’s produced in the past so at the moment, Versteeg is an elite streamer with upside to be a hold.
Joonas Donskoi – Two goals on four shots. I wrote the other day that Donskoi is far from streamer status but he’ll play his way back into the conversation. It only took a few days for that to happen!
Joe Pavelski – Two assists with four shots. So damn consistently good.
Joe Thornton – Two assists with a shot. Nothing changes with Thornton, we know who he is.
Martin Jones – 20 saves on 21 shots in the 4-1 win over the Flames. Clear as day #1 fantasy goalie for the foreseeable future.
Wednesday Streamers – There are only two games on the slate and with massive 12 game slates on both Thursday and Friday before the Christmas break, this will probably be the last time you need to stream this week. Here are my top three options:
Patrick Maroon (14.7%) – This segment will be brought to you by picking on the Coyotes. Maroon moved onto the second line with Draisaitl in the last game and that’s enough for me to stream him.
Drake Caggiula (1.1%) – He’s on a scoring line at the moment along with the second power play unit. Punish the Coyotes!
Travis Konecny (17.9%) – It’s not the greatest spot against the Caps but the role he’s in is enough to be considered on a short slate.
That’s all for now guys. I’m busy tomorrow to the point where I won’t have enough to record a podcast so Reid and I are delaying until Thursday morning to record. Let me know in the comments section if you want it to be posted as soon as I edit it or if you’re indifferent and fine with Friday morning. I will have some chances to reply to comments and questions so as always, please leave them below. I’ll have notes up again on Friday morning recapping these two games and then the big Thursday slate. Take care!
