Jack Eichel‘s return to Boston couldn’t have gone any better. The 19 year old wunderkind scored two goals and two assists with three shots in the 6-3 win over the Bruins Saturday night. While he’s done well by rookie standards, the expectations were so high that 20 points (11+9) is disappointing at this stage. However, the return of Tyler Ennis (assist and two shots) has brought some life back into Eichel’s game. Expect Eichel to start picking up the pace push a 30+25 season come the end of the year. Here’s what else I saw the last two nights around the league:
Evander Kane – Goal on five shots. He’s also starting to round into form and should produce with Ennis and Eichel on his line. The shots are elite meaning the goals should be and the PIM are great as well.
Ryan O’Reilly – Two goals and an assist with three shots. Seriously, what the hell were the Avs thinking when they traded him away? It makes no sense at all. The people who said 7 years 50 million was silly for his contract extension are looking silly themselves.
Jamie McGinn – Goal and an assist with two shots. The Avs threw him into the RoR trade because why not give away a quality winger? He’s up to 8+9 now and should be owned in 16’ers and deeper while being a solid streamer in 12’ers.
David Krejci – Two goals on six shots in two games. While he’s fallen off a bit after the incredible start, the drop hasn’t been as massive as I expected. He’s still hovering right around a point per game.
Loui Eriksson – Three assists and five shots. The resurgence continues. He’s also right below a point per game.
Steven Stamkos – Two goals and an assist with three shots. It seems like this year has been a massive disappointment for Stamkos yet he still sits at 16 goals on the season. He’s one hot streak from being right into the Maurice Richard race.
Jonathan Marchessault – Two assists with two shots. As long as Tyler Johnson is out, Marchessault is worth streaming in 12’ers and can even be a hold. He’s contributing in all categories right now outside of plus-minus.
Nikita Kucherov – Two assists and four shots. Really starting to get going on Stamkos’ wing. The buy low time is probably over.
Joonas Korpisalo – 14 saves on 18 shots before getting pulled after 2 periods Saturday. Yikes. Avoid Columbus goalies until Sergei Bobrovsky returns.
Braden Holtby – 29 saves on 30 shots in the 3-1 win over Montreal. He’s really starting to distance himself from the pack in the Vezina race.
Jason Chimera – Goal and an assist with four shots. He’s quietly up to ten goals and ten assists on the season. I’m leaving him as a streamer in 12’ers barring an injury to someone in the Washington top 6.
Kyle Palmieri – Goal on two shots. Craziest out of nowhere year I’ve seen in quite some time.
Justin Faulk – Two goals and an assist with five shots in two games. What an incredible year Faulk is having so far despite his team being among the league’s worst.
Cam Ward – 19 saves on 20 shots in the win Saturday. Eddie Lack followed it up with 35 saves on 36 shots in the win over Chicago Sunday. I still don’t want anything to do with either goalie unless times are that desperate.
Kari Lehtonen – 22 save shutout against the Blues Sunday. He’s starting to bring the goals against down but it looks like he’ll stay on the slightly lesser side of the platoon in Dallas.
Jamie Benn – Goal and two assists with three shots and two PIM in two games against the Blues. Only three points in two games, what a bum.
Patrick Sharp – Goal and two assists with six shots. Times are good playing on the first line with Benn and Tyler Seguin (goal on six shots with four PIM).
Filip Forsberg – Two goals on five shots with two PIM. Still behind last year’s pace but he only has one power play goal to this point which should surely change.
Mike Ribiero – Two assists with two shots. If you’re low on assists and PIM, here’s your guy. Otherwise, avoid him because he hurts you everywhere else, especially shots.
Matt Murray – 25 saves on 26 shots in the 3-1 win over the Wild. He’s looked good in a limited sample so far. I expect him to get most of the starts until Marc-Andre Fleury returns.
Sidney Crosby – Goal and an assist with seven shots and two PIM. He’s starting to show signs of life but damn, he’s been disappointing so far.
Patric Hornqvist – Goal on six shots with two PIM. He’s arguably my biggest whiff in my preseason rankings (him or the next guy) and I don’t see things turning around for him.
Kris Letang – Two assists with three shots. On the other hand, I could see Letang getting hot and getting on a run. The plus-minus shouldn’t be as bad as it is, one goal on 76 shots isn’t going to hold and the power play assists are elite.
Drew Doughty – Goal and an assist with two shots. Just your average, run of the mill 33 minute game from Doughty. He’s on pace to have his best season in years right now.
Jeff Carter – Left the game injured on his first shift. Here’s to hoping it’s not serious.
Anze Kopitar – Goal and an assist with three shots. Picked up the slack with Carter out playing a whopping 27:41. If the Kings start leaning on Kopitar offensively, watch out.
Mikkel Boedker – Goal and four assists with four shots in two games. He’s finally having the breakout year people have expected from him the last few years. He’d be a great add in dynasty leagues for the future with all of the young talent the Coyotes are adding around him.
Oliver Ekman-Larsson – Two goals on eight shots with eight PIM. He’s not too far off last year’s pace and the shots are still elite for a defenseman.
Jacob Markstrom – 32 saves on 33 shots in the win over the Oilers. It looks to be his job in Vancouver right now so I’d grab him if you need a goalie. The Canucks aren’t a great team but the division is so weak that he should put up decent numbers.
Jannik Hansen – Two goals on four shots. As long as he sticks on the first line, Hansen should be owned in 12’ers. It’s unfortunate that he doesn’t get power play time because 22 points in 37 games, all at even strength, is pretty hot.
Jordan Eberle – Two assists with four shots in two games over the weekend. The second line kept the Oilers in the game Sunday against the Flames with Eberle, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (two assists) and Benoit Pouliot (two goals on five shots) all getting two points on the night. Obviously the first two are must-own but Pouliot is starting to inch his way towards that status as well.
Craig Anderson – 38 saves on 39 shots in the win over Boston Sunday. Anderson is prone to having monster games like this. It’s great to get those games but at the same time, facing all of these shots on a regular basis (Ottawa gives up the most shots per game in the league) will prevent him from having a good goals against average.
Erik Karlsson – Two assists. Only played 28 minutes and didn’t record a shot. Bust.
Mark Stone – Two goals on three shots. Stone keeps quietly going about his business and is on pace to top last year’s 64 point rookie breakout with relative ease.
Kyle Turris – Two assists with two shots. Cooled off quite a bit but should start producing again very soon. There’s too much firepower on the wings in Ottawa for Turris to go through a prolonged drought.
Aleksander Barkov – Two goals on five shots. The 20 year old is taking over games himself now. I think it’s safe to say he’ll be pushing the top 50 in next year’s preseason rankings.
Jonathan Huberdeau – Two assists with four shots. The points keep coming but they’re all assists. This season hasn’t gone as I expected for Huberdeau. That said, he’s still getting value, just differently that I thought.
Jonathan Bernier – 25 saves on 26 shots in the win over the Islanders. Still don’t want anything to do with him.
Nazem Kadri – Two assists with three shots. I’m still waiting for the bigger regression for Kadri so the goals start coming in but with great shots and penalty minutes, he’s still providing plenty of value.
Connor Hellebuyck – 30 save shutout against the Pens Sunday. There’s been ups and downs for Hellboy in his first 9 games but the overall numbers look really good. I called him running away with the job when he was first called up and while that’s still undecided with Ondrej Pavelec still injured, I feel better about that prediction every day.
Bryan Little – Goal on four shots. My vote for most underrated player in hockey keeps chugging along putting up points on the reg.
Jakub Voracek – Goal on three shots. I’m buying low if I can. The power play assists are elite and shooting percentage is far too low.
Ryan Getzlaf – Goal and an assist with three shots. He scored a non-empty net goal! Go Getzlaf! In all seriousness, I’m betting on a huge second half. He has 22 points in 30 games despite only having 2 goals. I expect him to be over a point per game the rest of the way.
Corey Perry – Two goals on six shots with two PIM. Like Getzlaf, I expect a monster second half of the season. These guys are too good to stay this bad. Well, bad by their lofty standards.
Sami Vatanen – Two assists with a shot and four PIM. While he’s been okay, he only has 3 power play points on the season. If the Ducks turn their power play around, Vatanen will be the biggest beneficiary. He’s a great puck mover so the upside is huge.
Johnny Gaudreau – Two goals on six shots. What an incredible year he’s having. He’s well over a point per game now as he’s on pace for a 40 goal and 40+ assist season.
Mark Giordano – Two goals on three shots. Really heating up right now which is great to see. I’d bet on Giordano ending the season with 55+ points despite the dreadful start.
Monday Streamers: There’s a 6 game slate on Monday which is a bit more action than we normally see on Monday. That said, it should still be a big streaming day with only 6 games so here are my top 3 options:
Jason Chimera – See above. The Capitals are on fire right now and Chimera’s line will get easier matchups against a Sabres team lacking depth on the blueline.
Matt Nieto – He’s playing on the second line and second power play right now and gets a prime matchup against the Avalanche, who will be on the second of a back to back.
Vladislav Namestnikov – Going back to the well on this one. The Canadiens goaltending is a mess right now. To make it better, Namestnikov looks to be on the first line with a hot Stamkos and Kucherov plus the first power play unit. He’s my top streamer of the night.
That’s all for now guys. I hope everyone had a great holiday! I’ll be back tomorrow with a recap of tonight’s games. Since it’s been a while since I’ve done it, I’ll take a look at the Corsi numbers as well. As always, feel free to ask any questions or post any comments below. Take care everyone!
