In Wednesday’s article, I talked about Sam Bennett after he scored a goal in his last game. In regards to his future, I said “I still love him in dynasties and would like to trade for him if you’re out of the picture for this season. He’s still only 19 years old and should blossom sooner than later. I smell a sleeper post for him next year; I’m a sucker!” Well, apparently sooner was that night because Sam scored four goals on five shots, including a first period hat trick, in the 6-0 win over the Panthers. He was flying all over the ice and showed why he was a top pick in the draft. This is why I had him ranked so high going into the season. Now, it’s only about finding consistency. It’s hard to guess when that will happen but I still believe he’s going to be a superstar in this league. Here’s what else I saw the last two nights around the league:
Joonas Korpisalo – 41 saves on 42 shots in the 3-1 win over the Maple Leafs. He’s been all over the place when he’s started and Sergei Bobrovsky should be back in about a week so leave Korpisalo on the waiver wire unless you want to stream him Saturday (if he starts).
Brandon Dubinsky – Goal on two shots. He’s still playing big minutes and is definitely 12’er worthy because of the PIM contribution.
Boone Jenner – Goal and an assist with two shots. He’s pretty much Dubinsky on steroids. He’s not far off a 30+20 pace with 70 PIM.
Seth Jones – Assist. Played almost 25 minutes and it should stay that way on the weak Blue Jackets defense.
Alexander Wennberg – Goal on his only shot. I’d love to see the shots increase but his upside is among the highest of guys on the majority of waiver wires.
Loui Eriksson – Goal on five shots. Hasn’t been affected by the David Krejci injury at all, mostly because of the next guy…
Ryan Spooner – Assist and three shots. He’s officially on fire and is thriving in his increased role. Perhaps he gets to go on the wing in the top 6 when Krejci returns? He certainly shouldn’t have his minutes decreased.
Steve Mason – 30 saves on 32 shots in the 3-2 win. His numbers are mediocre across the board at best. He’s on the better side of the platoon but I don’t think he really deserves to be.
Claude Giroux – Three assists and three shots. It seems like Giroux has been a bust this year yet he’s on pace for 66 points with a solid shot rate, great PIM and elite special teams points. If his wingers around him start to pick it up, his second half should be better than the first.
Jakub Voracek – Goal and two assists with three shots. And it starts with this guy for Giroux. Somehow he only has five goals on the season despite 121 shots. Buy low if you can.
Wayne Simmonds – Goal on three shots. Loving life on the first line with Giroux and Voracek. That should greatly help his offensive output.
Shayne Gostisbehere – Likely that he comes back on Saturday after missing two games. Get him back in your lineup.
Roberto Luongo – 11 saves on 15 shots before getting pulled after the first period. With how outstanding he’s been, we forgive you Bobby Lu.
Johnny Gaudreau – Goal on four shots. A point and 3-4 shots has been the standard for Johnny Hockey.
Mark Giordano – Assist and four shots. I predicted 30 points in the second half and he’s been on fire ever since. He’s also dug himself out of a massive plus-minus hole to get to -5 on the season.
Dougie Hamilton – Two assists with three shots. He’s been a massive disappointment as well but there’s been some progress there, especially in plus-minus where he’s only -1 on the season. I’m still holding him as my last defenseman in 12’ers for the upside.
Jiri Hudler – Two assists with a shot back from injury. Another disappointment (sense a team with the Flames?) although I had him ranked lower than everyone else preseason. He played on Bennett’s wing in his return so hopefully this sparks both of them.
Fredrik Andersen – 24 saves on 25 shots in the 4-1 win over the Senators. He’s been relegated to backup duty with John Gibson‘s emergence. He’s barely played but I’d still hold him in 12’ers for a couple reasons. He should be better than anyone else on the waiver wire, he’s a great spot start and there’s the chance Andersen gets the job back. The Ducks always seem to be cycling through goalies.
Ryan Getzlaf – Assist with two shots and two PIM. Starting to round into form but the 3 goals on the season is still disgusting.
Jakob Silfverberg – Goal and an assist with seven shots. After a dreadful start to the year, he’s starting to pick it up. I’m not owning him yet but I’m looking to stream him to see if he’s truly turning it around.
Shea Theodore – First career goal on his only shot. The former first round pick is currently on the first power play unit and took advantage on Wednesday. He’s another player worth monitoring as there’s the chance he could have a Gostisbehere like breakout.
Henrik Lundqvist – 29 saves on 31 shots in the 3-1 loss to the Islanders. He played great once again only to be out-dueled by the opposing netminder. No reason to worry about Hank.
Kevin Hayes – Assist on four shots. The healthy scratch is clearly behind him at this point. He’s low end right now but he’s still right on the fringe of holding and streaming in 12’ers.
Jaroslav Halak – 34 saves on 35 shots in the win. His goals against average and save percentage are great but the wins are low and he’s locked into a timeshare. You still have to hold him but he’s not going to approach last year’s value barring an injury to Thomas Greiss.
Brock Nelson – Goal on his only shot. He’s on fire <NBA Jam voice>!
Kyle Okposo – Goal and an assist with five shots and two PIM. He’s on pace for 20+40 with decent shots and very good PIM. I’d like to see the shot rate go back up a bit to his normal level but overall, no complaints.
John Tavares – Assist with four shots. He’s been a pretty big disappointment only being on pace for 30 assists. He’s so talented that there’s always the chance he puts up 50 points in the last 40 games though.
Bo Horvat – Assist with four shots. I talked about Horvat being one of my favorite sleepers for next season but perhaps the time is now? He’s on fire and currently on the first power play unit. I’ll be streaming him for now but color me intrigued.
Braden Holtby – 29 saves on 30 shots in the 4-1 win. He now has 28 wins in 35 starts which is absolutely bonkers. Number one overall player right now.
Andre Burakovsky – Two assists with a shot. He’s on the second line right now which makes him a nice streamer but he gets moved around the lineup so much that he’s not a hold.
Evgeny Kuznetsov – Two goals and an assist with six shots. He’s now in the top 10 in the league in points and handsomely paying off my preseason top 75 ranking.
Corey Crawford – 39 saves on 40 shots in the 2-1 win over Montreal. He owns the Canadiens in his career and kept up his incredible pace leading the Blackhawks to their ninth consecutive victory.
Jonathan Toews – Goal on four shots. Hotter than a pistol right now.
P.K. Subban – Assist with four shots. He’s still producing despite only having two goals on the season. He’s shooting less than 2%; that doesn’t seem possible, even over 44 games.
Eddie Lack – 23 saves on 24 shots in the 4-1 win over the Blues. My biggest takeaway here is that the Blues are a mess right now. Lack has been dreadful in Carolina but I’d like to see him get more starts down the stretch to see if he’s the goalie of the future. He played well in Vancouver when he was the number 1 and we know Cam Ward isn’t the future there.
Jeff Skinner – Goal and an assist with four shots. He keeps producing yet he only played 13:30 in the game. It’s not like the Hurricanes have a bunch of goal scoring threats, he’s their best goal scorer, so I don’t understand why he’s not seeing the ice more. He’s generally a great possession player as well.
Pekka Rinne – 19 saves on 24 shots in the 5-4 OT loss to the Jets. Yikes. His numbers are quite abysmal now as he’s been a disaster on the road. I don’t think it’s going to get better either; it looks like the Predators are going to try and outscore teams now.
Ryan Johansen – Goal and two assists with four shots and two PIM. What’s that sound? I think it’s Johansen owners rejoicing.
James Neal – Goal and an assist with four shots and six PIM. He’s loving life on Johansen’s wing. He’s on pace for 30+20 with 270 shots and 100 PIM. That’s a top 50 player.
Kevin Fiala – Goal on his first career shift. The 19 year old totaled five shots skating on the first line with Johansen and Neal playing almost 18 minutes. I’d grab him to stream on Saturday and see how things develop. I’d pick him up to hold if he’s available in a dynasty.
Dustin Byfuglien – Two goals on five shots. Big Buff doing Big Buff things. He’s on pace for about 20+30 with 110 PIM and over 3 shots per game.
Nikolaj Ehlers – Goal on three shots. I’m picking him back up if he was cut. The shots have been there to support this point streak.
Andrew Ladd – Three assist with two shots. He’s been slightly disappointing in the points department, mostly because he only has six power play points, but he still has plenty of value.
Bryan Little – Goal and an assist with two shots. No disappointment with this guy. Has a fairly good chance of getting to 70 points.
Blake Wheeler – Goal and an assist with a shot and two PIM. He’s on pace for 80 points and for the life of me, I still don’t understand how ESPN had him ranked in the 60’s before the season.
Calvin Pickard – 27 save shutout against the Devils. He doesn’t play much; my biggest takeaway here is that it’s time to start picking against the Devils again when it comes to streaming goalies. They’ve been the worst offense in the league the last month.
Tyson Barrie – Goal on three shots. He’s on pace for 60 points now yet he never gets mentioned when the top offensive defensemen are discussed.
Matt Duchene – Goal on four shots. That dreadful, slow start seems so long ago now.
Pavel Datsyuk – Goal and two assists with four shots and two PIM. I said the other day that it feels like more is coming for Datsyuk; here’s the start of that. He’ll be close to point per game by the time the season ends.
Mike Green – Two assists with two shots. The days of him being an elite fantasy defenseman are over but there’s value here, mostly for the special teams points.
Gustav Nyqvist – Goal and an assist with three shots. He was back on the first line Thursday night and please, for the love of God, let him stay there.
Oliver Ekman-Larsson – Goal on five shots. His season keeps getting better and better. The numbers are outstanding across the boards sans plus-minus.
Cam Talbot – 36 saves on 37 shots in the 2-1 shootout loss to the Sharks. He’s starting to play much better but with 7 wins in 25 starts, there’s not much value here.
Nail Yakupov – Goal on three shots. Only played 11:30 on the third line; I’m not holding him in 12’ers at the moment. Now, if he gets bumped into the top six, I’d grab him immediately.
Logan Couture – Eleven shots. While he didn’t get on the scoreboard, this game was a great sign that the goals are going to start coming.
That’s all for now guys. I want to get this article posted now so I will post my top three streamers in the comments section shortly. As always, please ask any questions you have or leave any comments below. I’ll be back on Monday recapping the weekend’s action. We’ll also have a Marv vs. Pesos article next week and Matt’s next article so there will be plenty of additional content coming. Have a great weekend; take care everyone!
