If you ever met Jhonas Enroth, you’d never think he was a goalie in the NHL. The diminutive Swede is, at best, 5’8″ and 160 pounds. That said, he’s proven to be a capable backup at the very least. In his first start in Los Angeles, Enroth stopped 39 of 40 shots in San Jose to let the Kings get revenge for the Sharks blowing them out opening night. Enroth showed in Buffalo that when he gets the chance to play in a regular role, he’s more than capable, so if Jonathan Quick were to get hurt, he’s must own in all leagues. For now, he’s a great streamer in virtually all matchups.
Here’s what else I saw on Thursday night:
Henrik Lundqvist – 34 saves on 35 shots in the win versus Arizona. The King’s consistency is remarkable. Outside of Carey Price and maybe Pekka Rinne, there’s no goalie I’d rather have because his floor is a top 7-8 fantasy goalie.
Kevin Hayes – Goal on his own shot. It sucks that Hayes is currently on the third line but he produced there last year and now he’s getting power play time so I would still hold him in 12’ers.
Chris Kreider – Goal on four shots. First goal of the season but his possession stats and shot rate indicate he’ll be at his normal totals soon.
Rick Nash – First goal of the year on four shots and 2 PIM. Just like Kreider except more profound because he has 28 shots on goal already.
Keith Yandle – Goal on 3 shots and 2 PIM in his first game against his old team. His shot rate is down which explains why it’s only his first goal of the season but the Rangers power play hasn’t been as good as it could be so far so it should work itself out. Hard to complain about 1+4 in 8 games from a defenseman anyways.
Mats Zuccarello – Two assists and two shots. The good times keep rolling for the Norwegian Hobbit.
Antti Niemi – 33 saves on 34 shots in the win at Pittsburgh. Only giving up 1 goal to Pittsburgh in 2 starts is quite impressive. With Niemi and his backup Kari Lehtonen playing at this level, the Stars are going to be a favorite on most nights. I had Niemi ranked in the top 100 preseason and suggested owning Lehtonen with him to roll the Stars goalie every game. If you can do that, you’re getting a top 10 goalie between them; the Stars are winning 50 games. Book it.
John Klingberg – Goal and assist on 4 shots. The shot rate has been been great the last week so hopefully it can be maintained. It’s the only thing stopping Klingberg from being a top 10 defenseman in standard leagues at this point.
Patrick Sharp – Assist on three shots and 2 PIM. He hasn’t gotten on a roll yet despite playing on the first line but there’s no doubt he’ll get going soon. He’s a great player to target in a trade if his owner is unhappy with his goalless start.
Jason Spezza – Goal on three shots. He’s thriving getting the easier matchups on the second line while still getting to play on the first power play unit. All good signs from Spezza so far.
Pascal Dupuis – No points but 5 shots in his first game in nearly a year after a blood clot in his lung. Great to see him back on the ice.
Michael Cammalleri – Three assists on five shots. Still the only Devil skater I’d own in 12’ers but he’s become must own in 10’ers too. The shot rate is incredible and he’s getting massive minutes.
Adam Henrique – Goal and assist on one shot. He’s the only other Devil worth considering and he’s getting close playing 23 minutes, granted in an OT game. I’m looking at him as a stream in the right matchups until we see this level of production for a little longer.
Lee Stempniak – Goal and assist with two shots and 2 PIM in over 23 minutes. Playing on the first line with the previous two guys, it’s the best chance Stempniak has ever had to consistently produce. Much like Henrique, I think he’s still a streamer at this point but if you have faith in the Devils top line going forward and want to make the move now for either of these two, go right ahead. If I had to pick one, it’d be Henrique for the better shot rate.
Mike Hoffman – Goal on 4 shots. In preseason, I said “I’d be absolutely thrilled to get Hoffman because if that changes and he gets top power play time, he could be a top 50 player.” And that’s me quoting me doing what Gret does! Well, that’s happening and so is the top 50 season. Lock it up.
Chris Neil – Goal and assist with 2 shots and 7 PIM. A complete aberration, it’s amazing that Neil is still in the league let alone has a night like this every month or so. Completely unownable unless you’re streaming for hits and PIM at the end of the week but still remarkable.
Mika Zibanejad – Goal and assist on five shots. Great start to Zibanejad this year with 7 points in 7 games. It’s seemingly going unnoticed with all of the attention the top line in Ottawa is getting. That said, out of all of the young talent Ottawa has developed, he was picked the highest so it’s not surprise to see him be on the right course in his development after he won the World Juniors for Sweden.
Pekka Rinne – 26 saves on 27 shots. Like I mentioned earlier, he’s right there with Hank for the title of second best fantasy goalie behind Carey Price.
Ryan Ellis – Goal and two assists on two shots. He’s usable in super deep leagues but isn’t ownable in shallow leagues barring an injury to one of the big three defenseman in Nashville. If that happened though, Ellis is must-own.
Seth Jones – Two assist and one shot. The breakout is upon us.
Colin Wilson — Goal and two assists with two shots and two PIM. The shot rate is abysmal right now which explains the lack of goals to this point. Hopefully he starts putting the rubber on the goalie more. Well, that sounds perverted but I’m leaving it!
Brandon Dubinsky – Goal on his only shot playing 21:22. It’s interesting to look at the time on ice stats for players in a coach’s first game. John Tortorella gave Dubinsky more minutes than any other forward on the Blue Jackets by far. He’s familiar with Dubinsky from their time in New York and is a Torts type of player so I expect that to sustain going forward.
Zach Parise – Goal on 2 shots. On an absolute tear to start the season.
Thomas Vanek – PP Goal on 3 shots and 2 PIM. It’s amazing how good he is on the power play. He takes a beating in front of the net so he plays through some nagging injuries but always find a way to produce.
Jaromir Jagr – Goal on 3 shots with 4 PIM in 20 minutes. How the hell is he doing this at 43 years old? Because he’s the best European skater ever, that’s how.
Artem Anisimov – Goal on his only shot in 20 minutes. The big minutes are nice to see and he looks locked into the second line with Patrick Kane (goal and two assist) and Artemi Panarin (assist) at this point. The shots are low so he’s not must-own in 12’ers but he’s a great stream playing with those two.
Brent Seabrook -Goal and two assists on 4 shots playing 26 minutes. With Duncan Keith out injured, Seabrook should be picked up immediately where available. I was low on him preseason but the increase in opportunity is too much to ignore.
Alex Ovechkin – Goal on 7 shots. Certainties in life: death, taxes and Ovechkin scoring goals. Could he past Gretzky for most goals all-time eventually? It’s not out of the realm of possibility.
Henrik Sedin – Goal and assist on 2 shots. The Cyborgs keep rolling.
Radim Vrbata – Goal and assist on 5 shots. He’s back with the Sedins so pick him up now. A lot of people have asked me about Vrbata in the comments recently and I’ve told them to hold or pick him up in most situations. Now, it’s a no-brainer. He’s going to go back to last year’s Vrbata with the Sedins who took over 250 shots and scored over 30 goals.
Jeff Carter – Two goals and two assists on four shots. We’d like to see more consistency from Carter but at the end of the year, you won’t be able to complain about his production, especially in roto leagues. He’s the kind of guy who give you a massive lead in head to head leagues with 7 points in 3 games or something similar.
Tyler Toffoli – Goal on two shots. You know it was a great goal when ESPN even recognizes it and makes it the top play of the night. Toffoli still has no assists but he’s doing what you drafted him to do; score goals.
Streamers for Friday:
Mike Condon – (2.2% owned) – Getting the spot start against Buffalo tonight, Montreal is on fire to start the season (7-0) putting Condon in great position to get a win.
Dustin Brown – (8.7% owned) – He’s nowhere near the player he once was but he’s getting another shot on the first line and has had a great shot rate so far this season (22 shots in 6 games). Wouldn’t be surprised to see him score one against Carolina.
Benoit Pouliot (0.6% owned) – He’s playing on the second line with Connor McDavid and Nail Yakupov. Pouliot in getting power play time with those two as well. I generally don’t like to stream guys against Washington but they’re on the road playing the second game in a back to back and they are playing their backup goalie.
That’s all for now. As always, please post any comments and questions below. Be sure to check out Marv and Pesos’ article as well; great stuff per usual. I’ll be back on Monday with a big recap of all of the weekend action. Enjoy your weekend; take care everyone!
