The Philadelphia Flyers have nothing to play for besides being a spoiler. Their season is effectively over but they basically ended their division rivals on Thursday. The Flyers blitzed the Islanders on Thursday going up 5-0 in the first period and winning 6-3. With the Bruins, Maple Leafs, Lightning and Hurricanes all winning, the Islanders are toast. There were many players who stood out for the Flyers in this game but the one with the biggest fantasy impact is Wayne Simmonds. Simmonds had a Gordie Howe hat trick and then some totaling a goal, two assists, five penalty minutes and four shots. The goal was Simmonds’ 30th of the season allowing him to reach the 30 goal plateau for the second straight season. With four straight seasons of 28+ goals and massive penalty minutes, we know who Simmonds is in those departments. The shots are solid and the PPP are elite but there are some concerns. One, he’s been a minus player every season in Philly with this year being his worst ever, a -20. The other issue is that he’s never topped 31 assists. I thought this season he would set a new career high but he’s not coming close. So where does that leave us? I had Simmonds in my top 25 last season which turned out to be too high. I love Simmonds for what he is but it’s not worth taking him in the top of the third round when he’s only getting 55-60 points. He’ll certainly be in my top 50 but since he’s on the verge of turning 29, my hopes of Simmonds taking another step seem incredibly unlikely. Here’s what else happened around the league the last two nights:
Tanner Kero – Goal and an assist with five shots. He’s playing with Patrick Kane and Artemi Panarin (1+1 each) right now making Kero a strong streamer.
Corey Crawford – 31 saves on 32 shots in the 5-1 win over Pittsburgh. My biggest takeaway from this game is that Pittsburgh needs to get healthy quickly or they’re in serious trouble. Crawford has taken a step back this season but he remains a bottom end #1 goalie.
Andy Andreoff – 34 penalty minutes in 2:10. Simply wanted to marvel at Andreoff losing his mind twice and accumulating 34 PIM. There’s your annual, at best, Andreoff update!
Marian Gaborik – Two assists with a shot. He was scratched the previous game and it was reported he would be again but Gaborik delivered in his surprise start. Gabby isn’t worth using at this point in his career.
Jarome Iginla – Goal and an assist with five PIM. Another Gordie Howe hat trick! Surprisingly, this was the first time Iginla scored at Calgary. I like him more than Gaborik but I still wouldn’t want to use him.
Anze Kopitar – Goal and an assist with four shots. What a disaster of a season for Kopitar. Even assuming a bounce back, I don’t think he’ll be in my top 100 next year.
Ben Bishop – 25 saves on 26 shots in the 4-1 win over the Flames. Once the Kings are officially eliminated, I think Bishop gets the majority of the starts. Just something to keep an eye on if he’s on your waiver wire.
Matthew Tkachuk – Seven penalty minutes. We talk about Tkachuk extensively on the latest podcast.
Evgeny Kuznetsov – Goal and an assist with two shots. He slowed down again but Kuznetsov could still get to 60 points. Ranking him next season will be pretty difficult but I’m more likely to rank him aggressively than being lower on him. I simply can’t see him repeating the dreadful slump from the beginning of the year.
Kevin Shattenkirk – Two assists with three shots. All of the assists are belong to Shattenkirk since arriving in Washington which comes as no surprise.
Sven Andrighetto – Two assists with three shots. I love it when I’m right! He’s been outstanding since going to Colorado and while I don’t expect him to sustain this level, there can be plenty of fantasy value here.
Nathan MacKinnon – Goal and an assist with six shots. We talked about him and this goal on the podcast:
https://twitter.com/StoolChiclets/status/847502871931215872
I’m still tumescent.
Patrik Berglund – Goal and an assist. All of the streamer success! He’s matched his previous career high in goals from 2010-11 and while it’s almost exclusively goals, that’s definitely worth streaming.
Alex Pietrangelo – Assist with seven shots. I’m expecting to be extremely high on Pietrangelo next season. He’s been everything I’ve hoped for since the Shattenkirk trade.
Carter Hutton – 22 saves on 23 shots in the 3-1 win over the Coyotes. Since they’re about to clinch the playoffs, I expect him to get a few extra starts down the stretch.
Clayton Keller – Assist in his debut. Another focus on the latest podcast, I love Keller’s future potential. There’s a chance he makes a significant impact next season but my guess is that it’s two years down the line.
Cam Ward – 23 saves on 24 shots in the 2-1 OT win over the Blue Jackets. The Canes are rolling right now so I have no problem rolling Ward while he’s a hot schmotato.
Jeff Skinner – Goal and an assist with four shots with two PIM. Insert all of the fire emojis here.
Teuvo Teravainen – Two assists with two shots. I’m fine with Teravainen being a late round flier next season. More than likely, in my book he’ll start as an elite streamer while there will be stretches Teravainen is a hold.
Calvin de Haan – Two assists with five shots. He’s a great player in deep leagues for the blocks and solid in real life but de Haan isn’t of much use in standard leagues.
Sean Couturier – Goal and two assists with two shots. All of the streaming success! He’s on fire so keep streaming him.
Valtteri Filppula – Goal and an assist with two shots. He’s been strong in assists this year but that’s about it. There’s some value in deeper leagues but none in 12’ers.
Brayden Schenn – Two assists with two shots. Like the other top Flyers, Schenn hasn’t taken another step forward. There’s value in the PPP and plus contributions outside of plus-minus but it’s not top 100 worthy.
Dale Weise – Goal and an assist with three shots and seven PIM. All of the Gordie Howe hat tricks! And there’s your annual Dale Weise update!
Tuukka Rask – 27 save shutout in the 2-0 win over the Bruins. Still not a fan of Rask’s. I see him in the middling #2 mold as the save percentage continues to drop.
Brad Marchand – Goal and an assist. There’s no containing the Troll any more. It still blows my mind that he’s worthy of a first round pick but here we are.
Paul Byron – Two goals on three shots. Byron has managed to increase his shooting percentage after shooting 22% last season. That is something.
Brendan Gallagher – Goal and three assists with three shots. A guy I really liked coming into the year, Gallagher’s season has been ruined by injuries. I see him as a great bounce back candidate.
Tomas Plekanec – Goal and an assist with two shots. Turtleneck is shot at this point in his career. Nothing to see here.
Alex Radulov – Two assists with two shots. He’s fallen off drastically in the second half. I’m fine with dropping him for a better alternative if there is any. I see Radulov as more of a late round selection than a mid-round guy.
Frans Nielsen – Goal and an assist. He’s had a rough first season in Detroit and I’m not expecting it to get better. I’m staying away next year.
Anthony Mantha – Broken thumb, out for the season. I’m going to be a huge fan next season.
Nikita Kucherov – Last minute scratch with an illness. Ugh, hopefully this is just a one game thing.
Ondrej Palat – Two assists with two shots. He’s on fire right now with a five game point streak (9 points total) so keep using him.
Andrej Sustr – Goal and an assist with two shots. And there’s your annual Andrej Sustr update!
Frederik Andersen – 29 saves on 30 shots in the 3-1 win over the Predators. Huge win for the Leafs playoff chances as Andersen carried them (they were outshot 30-17). Expect them to ride Andersen until they clinch that spot.
Connor Brown – Goal and an assist with four shots. Great rookie year for Brown which has been completely overlooked because of the other rookies in Toronto. He’s a solid streamer right now and could be next year as well.
Jake Gardiner – Two assists with a shot. Very nice year for Gardiner who should be a late round pick next season.
Pekka Rinne – 14 saves on 16 shots. This game is the epitome of my problem with Rinne. The team in front of him can play so well but it’s not always enough.
Corey Perry – Two goals. Scorey Perry isn’t scoring too much any more. He’s still worth drafting as a middle round pick but there’s a drastic difference between Simmonds’ 30+20 with upside for more than Perry’s 20+30.
Dustin Byfuglien – Goal and two assists with six shots. Big Buff doing Big Buff things! Another strong year keeps him in that second tier of defensemen behind Burns and Karlsson.
Nikolaj Ehlers – Two assists with six shots. Love me some Ehlers. He’s been everything I hoped for this year and I hope to get him everywhere again next year.
Mark Scheifele – Goal on five shots. Scheifele is over a point per game with strong contributions everywhere but shots on goal. He’ll be in the same tier as Eichel, Matthews, Laine etc. but probably after them because of the shot rate.
Charlie Coyle – Two assists with two shots. He’s fallen off a bit but Coyle still hits all of the categories. He’s a nice filler towards the end of your roster.
Joel Eriksson Ek – Goal on two shots in his return to the Wild. He doesn’t have the role at the moment but I’m a huge fan of JEE in dynasties.
Nino Niederreiter – Two goals on three shots and two PIM. El Nino progressed nicely this season and I think there’s still better days on the horizon. I’m not quite sure he’ll get to my top 100 but it won’t be far off.
Alex Stalock – 18 saves on 19 shots in the 5-1 win over the Sens. Stalock was a decent backup in San Jose for years and has been strong in the AHL this year. There’s a chance he gets some extra starts down the stretch to let Dubnyk reset mentally. The Wild are locked into the two seed in the division so it makes some sense. If Stalock starts in nice matchups, I’d use him.
Jannik Hansen – Goal and an assist with two shots and five shots. Even more of the Gordie Howe hat tricks! There are still better streaming alternatives due to the lack of power play time.
Patrick Maroon – Two goals with two PIM. I feel like we’ve seen best case scenario from Maroon this year but man, 27 goals and 93 PIM is pretty damn good! He could potentially fill a need in the middle of drafts next season but there is plenty of downside here. If Maroon isn’t on 97’s line, he’s probably unusable in 12’ers.
Connor McDavid – Goal and an assist with five shots. This basically wrapped up the points race; nothing like winning the Art Ross at 20 years old. Look at how absurd this goal is:
https://twitter.com/StoolChiclets/status/847633709629022208
My gut feeling is that I’ll rank him 1st overall next year but it definitely won’t be lower than 2nd.
Cam Talbot – 38 saves on 40 shots in the 3-2 win over the Sharks. Suddenly, there is a good chance this is a first round matchup. While I would favor the Sharks even if they don’t have home ice (they did outshoot Edmonton 40-22), it would be an incredible matchup. With the way McDavid and Talbot are playing, they could cause real issues for the Sharks.
Friday Streamers:
Patrik Berglund (13.2%) – Berglund isn’t going to find a better spot to set a new career high in goals than against the Avs tonight.
David Perron (17.3%) – He only has four points in his last ten but those four points are against the Avalanche and Coyotes. In other words, Perron is taking advantage of great matchups so use him again tonight.
Sven Andrighetto (3.0%) – It’s not a great spot against the Blues but as mentioned above, Andrighetto is playing incredible well. I’m going to press my luck and use him again.
That’s all for now guys. I’ll be back on Monday recapping all of the weekend’s action. As always, feel free to ask any questions, comments, or podcast suggestions below. Best of luck to everyone in your playoffs! Enjoy your weekend, take care.
