Viz

Gallagher Goes Down

April 7, 2021 | 2021 Fantasy Hockey, Fantasy Hockey Daily Notes | 16 Comments

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Injuries are a part of the game, but always terrible to see.  Unfortunately, a Razzball favorite went down on Monday night.  Brendan Gallagher broke his thumb and is out multiple weeks.  If you have an IR spot, definitely stash him, but if you don’t, you can sadly let him go.  So who gets the boost in Montreal?  Jesperi Kotkaniemi moved to the wing and took Gallagher’s spot which boosts him up to a solid streamer from a middling one.  Eric Staal scored the overtime winner in his Canadiens debut and is now centering Toffoli and Drouin.  He looked completely shot in Buffalo, but maybe the trade plus the easier division rejuvenate him.  Let’s see how he looks over the next couple games before we use him.  I also really like what I’ve seen from Josh Anderson lately who is playing more minutes.  The assists are brutal, but the goals and shots should be quite good.  Let’s take a look at what else happened over the last two nights:

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Viz

Chychrun Carries Coyotes

April 5, 2021 | 2021 Fantasy Hockey, Fantasy Hockey Daily Notes | 15 Comments

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Things have taken a dramatic turn for the fourth playoff spot in the West division.  With the Blues crumbling, Arizona has played its way into the fourth spot.  They opened up a three point lead on Sunday night, almost exclusively because of Jakob Chychrun.  Chychrun had the first hat trick of his career, tying the game late in the third before scoring the winner in overtime.  That gives him twelve goals on the season pushing towards three shots per game and with elite penalty minutes.  He’s a solid #2 for this season, but what’s the long term ceiling?  Chychrun just turned 23 years old and this jump in shot rate does a lot for his long term value.  In terms of dynasties, Chychrun has shown me enough this year to warrant a spot in the bottom of the top ten for defensemen, making him a #1D.  He’s a stud, plain and simple.  Arizona has been a surprise offensively, and a lot of it has to do with their kingpin defenseman.  Let’s take a look at what else happened over the weekend:

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Viz

Joonas Carries The Wheel

April 2, 2021 | 2021 Fantasy Hockey, Fantasy Hockey Daily Notes | Leave a comment

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“Joonas Donskoi is pushing towards being an elite streamer.  Donskoi has eleven points in the past nine games while he received some shifts on the top PP unit on Monday as well.”  And that’s me quoting me from two days ago!  Well, Donskoi is certainly at that level now.  Donskoi had a hat trick in the first period on Wednesday, adding an assist and six shots in the 9(!)-3 win over the Coyotes.  Donskoi’s third goal was on the PP with the top unit which does wonders for his value.  While he’s this hot, Donskoi is worth holding.  I don’t necessarily expect it to last, but he could easily stay an elite streamer for the rest of the season.  The way the Avalanche are playing right now, I want as much to do with their offense as possible.  Let’s take a look at what else happened over the last two nights:

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Viz

Makar Making Magic

March 30, 2021 | 2021 Fantasy Hockey, Fantasy Hockey Daily Notes | 7 Comments

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Injuries have robbed us of an amazing Cale Makar season.  The good news is that he’s back now and dominating games on a consistent basis.  Makar had three assists with four shots in Colorado’s 5-2 win over the Ducks on Monday.  That brings Makar up to a point per game on the season with a +12 rating in 22 games that isn’t a fluke at all.  We’ve seen a slight uptick in his shot rate this season, but a big jump there is what it will take for Makar to move into being a top five defenseman instead of being a middling to bottom end #1.  With how well he plays in his age 22 season, I have no doubt that it’s coming.  For dynasties, I think he has to be the top defenseman.  Let’s take a look at what else happened over the last two nights:

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Viz

Finding Our Necas

March 29, 2021 | 2021 Fantasy Hockey, Fantasy Hockey Daily Notes | 19 Comments

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Loyal Razzballers will know my fandom of Martin Necas goes back to when he was drafted by Carolina.  I was perplexed that he fell to 12th overall, and a couple of the guys in front of him are well on their way to becoming busts.  Thankfully, Necas is on his way to breaking out towards stardom.  Necas had two goals and two assists with six shots on Saturday leading Carolina to a 4-3 win over the Lightning.  That brings Necas up to 28 points in 30 games this season and over two shots per game, a big jump on ever level.  The only thing holding him back was playing time and that is certainly not a concern any more.  Somehow, Necas is still available in almost 50% of leagues.  Therefore, we have a few steps to take.  Go to your league’s waiver wire, see if he’s available, add him immediately if he is, and then come back to see what else happened over the weekend!

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Viz

Flyers Fix Zibanejad

March 25, 2021 | 2021 Fantasy Hockey, Fantasy Hockey Daily Notes | 12 Comments

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Mika Zibanejad was looking like the biggest bust of this season near the halfway point.  Well, it’s changing pretty quickly and amazingly, it wasn’t the Sabres that turned it around.  Last week, Zibanejad had three goals and three assists against the Flyers.  It was so fun that he did it again eight days later!  On Thursday, Zibanejad doubled down with his second natural hat trick and six point game in rapid succession against Philadelphia in the 8-3 win.  That brings him up to 10+16 in 32 games, not exactly lighting the world on fire, but within reason.  He’s still over three shots per game, so while a repeat top 20 season is out of play, a top 50 season is still within reason.  As I said at the time, Zibanejad is prone to huge hot streaks, and I think 17 points in 7 games qualifies.  Let’s take a look at what else happened over the last two nights:

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Viz

Sorokin Surges Into Split

March 24, 2021 | 2021 Fantasy Hockey, Fantasy Hockey Daily Notes | 19 Comments

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Sure, it’s on the basis of playing two more games than Washington, but the Islanders in first place in late March is a truly remarkable feat.  Yes, they did make the Conference Finals last season, but in this division, they were not expected to contend for first place.  Goaltending is going a long way for their success, and their future is starting to become more of the present.  Ilya Sorokin saved 36 of 37 shots in the 2-1 OT win over the Flyers on Monday night.  That brings Sorokin to 8 wins in 11 games with a 1.97/.922 stat line.  That’s elite right off the bat for the rookie which has led Sorokin to starting four games over the past two weeks.  Semyon Varlamov’s numbers and Sorokin’s are nearly identical and for now, Trotz seems content to split between the two of them.  Long term, Sorokin is one of the best goalies for fantasy hockey, granted he’s a 25 year old rookie.  That said, he’s playing enough right now that I would own Sorokin in all formats.  Let’s take a look at what else happened over the last two nights:

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Viz

Blues Top Line Dominate The Sharks

March 22, 2021 | 2021 Fantasy Hockey, Fantasy Hockey Daily Notes | 9 Comments

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It’s no surprise that the Sharks gave up five goals on Saturday.  They’ve continually allowed a lot of goals and are arguably the best matchup you can hope your players are facing at the moment.  It was the top line’s turn for the Blues as they combined for eleven points.  Ryan O’Reilly and David Perron each had a goal and three assists while Jordan Kyrou scored two goals and added an assist.  Perron is now above a point per game and RoR is exactly at it.  Kyrou cooled off after a hot start, but he’s cemented himself as the third member of this line.  The schedule gets pretty tough going forward for the Blues, but I still think I would hold Kyrou in all formats.  The upside is through the roof and with the Blues in more of a battle for a playoff spot than they would have anticipated going into the season, I expect the top line to continue getting big minutes.  Let’s take a look at what else happened over the weekend:

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Viz

Ducks Get Glimpse Of The Future

March 19, 2021 | 2021 Fantasy Hockey, Fantasy Hockey Daily Notes | 4 Comments

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The Ducks season has gone very poorly.  Not Sabres poorly, but still, the results have been extremely disappointing.  The good news is that their young players have shown some flashes of what can be in the future, and on Thursday night, their two cornerstones scored their first career goals.  Trevor Zegras scored in his 11th career game while Jamie Drysdale scored in his first.  For this season, we shouldn’t expect much from either.  At the moment, Zegras is a bottom end streamer, while Drysdale should be left on the waiver wire until we see how much he plays, or if he even stays on the Ducks.  In dynasties, there’s a ton to like for both.  Zegras has the chance to be one of the best playmakers in the league who scores plenty of goals for himself.  Drysdale doesn’t have massive offensive upside, but he should be good enough in all facets of the game, including quarterbacking the power play, that he ends up as a #2 fantasy defenseman while playing top pair minutes for the Ducks.  It may be bleak now, but the future is bright in SoCal.  Let’s take a look at what else happened on Thursday night:

Please, blog, may I have some more?