I call Joe Pavelski “Mr. Consistency” because every season you can make him down for 30 goals, 40 assists and solid contributions elsewhere. It’s generally not flashy, just a consistent point with three shots, but at the end of the year it’s good enough to justify a first round pick on him. Pavelski showed on Wednesday night that he’s capable of dominating a game. Pavelski had a monster outing, scoring two goals and two assists with four shots in the 6-5 OT loss to Florida. The Sharks looked like they were dead before Pavelski scored 2 goals in the last 3:21 to force overtime. He’s on pace for right around 30 goals, a small stepback, but he’s compensating by playing at a career high assist rate. The shots are also over three per game, he’s +9 and the PPP are coming in per usual. Expect Pavelski to provide the value you hoped for drafting him in the back end of the first round and for him to be ranked in that same ball park going into next season. Here’s what else I saw around the league the last two nights:
Nazem Kadri – Two goals on three shots. Career high in goals and PIM already reached, just six points away from tying his career high. He’s crushing five categories.
Josh Leivo – Two assists with five shots playing almost 15 minutes. If he sticks on a line with Kadri, he’s immediately a strong streamer.
Joonas Korpisalo – 31 saves on 33 shots in the 5-2 win over Toronto. This is his first strong start of the season through 5 games. That said, he’s won 4 of 5; given his team’s strengths I’m fine with streaming him in his rare appearances.
Oliver Bjorkstrand – Goal on three shots. A lot of people have asked me for an under the radar guy I like in dynasties. Bjorkstrand would be near the top of the list. I think he becomes a hold as soon as next season and is worth streaming while he’s on CBus.
Boone Jenner – Goal on seven shots with two PIM. He’s finally starting to get going so if you need shots with decent contributions elsewhere, Jenner is a nice choice.
Seth Jones – Two assists. He’s taken the jump that everyone hoped for in year 5. My guess is that he’ll be a middling to bottom end #2 going forward. The PIM or shots have to jump to change that.
Zach Werenski – Two assists with four shots. He’s remarkably similar to his partner.
Alexander Wennberg – Two assists with two shots. Even though I was higher on him than virtually everyone going into this year, I suspect I’ll be lower on him than most next year because of the poor shot rate.
Carter Hutton – 25 save shutout in the 2-0 win against the Red Wings. His overall numbers are poor but in 16 starts, he has 4 shutouts, including 3 in his last 4 starts. Given the improved play of the Blues lately, I’d stream Hutton in all starts.
Matthew Tkachuk – Goal and an assist with two shots. He’ll be in my top 100 next season without a doubt.
Brian Elliott – 33 saves on 34 shots in the 3-1 win over the Flyers. I still want nothing to do with Elliott as his sv% still sits under .900.
Aleksander Barkov – Two goals and an assist with three shots. You could say he’s returned with a vengeance. Look for him to be a top 50 player down the stretch as the Panthers claw towards the playoffs.
Jonathan Huberdeau – Goal and an assist with two shots. Same story as Barkov with 7 points in his first 4 games of the season. He should be a plus player in all six categories.
Nick Bjugstad – Two goals on three shots. He’s been a huge disappointment this season but with three goals in his last two games and five points in the last five, I’m good with streaming Bjugstad again.
Alex Petrovic – Two assists. Petrovic has been surprisingly good this year with 9 points in 22 games along with 25 PIM and a +9 rating. He’s averaging over 2 hits per game and 1 block per game so there’s some deep league relevance here.
Brent Burns – Goal and an assist with three shots. It would be absolutely amazing if Burns led the league in scoring. I’m pulling for you Chewbacca.
Kevin Labanc – Assist with a shot. We talked about him on Tuesday’s podcast. With another point, I’m looking to stream Labanc on Saturday against the ‘Yotes.
David Schlemko – Two assists with six shots. He seems to do nothing and then explode for a big game. It’s not good enough anywhere for even 16’ers.
Mike Condon – 21 save shutout in the 3-0 win over the Devils. I’d stream Condon in good matchups (like the Devils) and wouldn’t use him against the middling and better teams.
Dion Phaneuf – Goal on two shots. Four game point streak making him a clear hold with the penalty minutes.
Brady Skjei – Two assists with two shots. Solid plus-minus and penalty minutes on top of the big assists. Really close in terms of holding or not, depends on what categories you need.
Andrew Ladd – Two goals on three shots. To say he’s been disappointing would be an understatement. Leave him on the waiver wire.
John Tavares – Two assists with two shots. Typical Tavares to this point in the season.
Robin Lehner – 23 save shutout in the 2-0 win against the Avalanche. It’s not going to much easier than this one. Lehner has been outstanding lately.
Sam Reinhart – Goal on four shots. We outlined a plan for what to do with Reinhart on Tuesday’s podcast.
Dustin Byfuglien – Goal on five shots with four PIM. Big Buff doing Big Buff things!
Mark Scheifele – Two assists with two shots. The change in lines seems to have gotten Scheifele going. That’s five dimes the last two games.
Sidney Crosby – Goal and two assists with three shots. Congrats on #87 on reaching 1,000 points and for keeping the Penguins undefeated over the last two seasons when leading over two periods. 63-0. Seriously.
Kris Letang – Three assists with three shots. He’s rolling right now; just stay healthy!
Evgeni Malkin – Goal and an assist with five shots and six PIM. This guy is ridiculous; just stay healthy!
Marc-Andre Fleury – 44 saves on 47 shots in the 4-3 OT win over the Jets. Nice streamer for wins but the other categories are going to be poor.
Ivan Barbashev – Goal on his only shot Wednesday, assist with a shot Thursday. I was a big fan of him coming into his draft year and that hasn’t really wavered. I think he’s a great dynasty target who at least becomes a mainstay streamer next season.
Kevin Shattenkirk – Three assists with a shot on Thursday. Dude is gonna get paid.
Alex Steen – Goal and an assist with two shots on Thursday. The shot rate hasn’t been much better but now that he’s on the top line getting massive minutes due to injuries and the coaching change, here’s a clear hold.
Vladimir Tarsenko – Goal and an assist with two shots Thursday. You couldn’t get one more for me to finally get another Three Point Challenge? He’s been outstanding as expected this season.
Darcy Kuemper – 34 saves on 35 shots in the 3-1 win over the Stars. I still don’t have much faith in streaming him but I would in quality matchups. Amazingly, the Stars have become a good matchup.
Erik Haula – Goal and an assist with ten PIM. If this guy received power play time, he could be a real factor in fantasy. Unfortunately, the Wild are too stacked for that to happen.
Mikko Koivu – Two assists with two PIM. Just a cool +29 now to go along with 42 points. Pretty, pretty good.
Brayden Schenn – Two shots on Wednesday, goal and an assist with two shots on Thursday. This plus-minus is getting really out of control but the PPP have been outstanding. I don’t think you can cut him just yet but it’s more tenuous than before depending on your team needs.
Jordan Eberle – Goal and an assist with four shots. I’m expecting him to pick things up moving onto the first line. I’m holding him now to see how things go over the next week or so.
Matt Hendricks – Goal and an assist. And there’s your annual Matt Hendricks update!
Patrick Maroon – Two assists with a shot and seven PIM. He’s back at must-own status.
Connor McDavid – Goal and two assists with three shots. Again, any time someone gets close to him for the league lead in points, he has a massive game. It’s uncanny.
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – Goal and an assist with two shots. He’s an elite streamer but I don’t think there’s enough here to hold.
Tanner Pearson – Two goals and an assist with two shots. You can go either way with Pearson right now. I’d stream him for the back to back this weekend and go from there.
Alex Goligoski – Two assists with a shot. Still wouldn’t touch him in a 12’er.
Jordan Martinook – Two goals and an assist. He’s coming on lately with six points in the past five. I’m willing to stream him now.
Brendan Perlini – Two goals on three shots. He’s been great as a rookie scoring 10 goals in 31 games. He’s someone I’m going to watch closely down the stretch as the former lottery pick could become important in fantasy sooner rather than later.
Friday Streamers:
Elias Lindholm (9.0%) – Yes, teams have struggled coming off their bye, but it won’t get better for Carolina than at home against the Avalanche on a back to back. Lindholm has been playing the best hockey of his career over the last six weeks so be sure to use him in this excellent spot.
Jake Guentzel (8.1%) – Going back to the well with all three of these guys. Guentzel is still on the first line which is good enough for me.
Mikko Rantanen (8.2%) – Options are limited with only three games so give me the kid on the first line against a team with a poor goaltender.
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 or leave any comments below. Thanks for reading, take care!
