Nobody has Benn better across the board this season than Stars captain Jamie Benn. See what I did there? Hilarious! I’ll see myself out… Benn had another monster game on Thursday scoring two goals and an assist with six shots in the 4-3 win over the Lightning. That’s his third multi-point game in the last four and gives him 36+44 in 72 games with 56 PIM and 229 shots. He’s the number 3 skater on the season behind Patrick Kane and Alex Ovechkin but as of now, I would have Benn as my #2 player on the board going into next season behind Ovechkin. It’s been an incredible year for Kane but I can’t see him repeating it and Benn’s extra PIM make up enough difference for me. Here’s what else I saw around the league Thursday night:
Devan Dubnyk – 5 saves on 8 shots before getting pulled. Darcy Kuemper wasn’t much better allowing 4 goals on 17 shots. Against the Devils? Really? When you are battling for the last playoff spot? Yikes. I expect them to bounce back in a big way tomorrow against the Canes.
Mikko Koivu – Goal and an assist with five shots. Koivu has scored his most goals in 5 years now and will be over 50 points again. It’s nothing flashy but it’s steady.
Jared Spurgeon – Goal and an assist with two shots. He’s a beast in leagues that count blocks but he doesn’t do enough in standard 12’ers.
Devante Smith-Pelly – Two goals and an assist with four shots. The one time I don’t list him as a streamer since he’s gone to the Devils, damnit! Keep him on the streaming radar.
Tyler Kennedy – Three assists and two shots. He’s on a three game point streak so there could be some value in deep leagues but I’m staying away. His face scares me.
Adam Henrique – Two goals on four shots. It’s been a very nice season for Henrique as he’s up to 25 goals with a nice +/- . His shooting percentage is really high but he seems to always have a high one. He’s entering his prime now so he’ll be a nice late round pick next year.
Mike Sislo – Two goals on three shots. They were Sislo’s first career goals but he’s a 28 year old journeyman so nothing to see here fantasy wise.
Joseph Blandisi – Two assists. The shine wore off Blandisi quick after a hot start. There’s a lot of guys I’d rather stream at this point including DSP on his own team.
Carl Hagelin – Three assists with four shots and four PIM. It’s bottom end in 12’ers but Hagelin is firmly in the top 6 so it’s close. I’d rather stream him.
Sidney Crosby – Two goals on five shots. My prediction that Crosby gets 50 points in the second half of the season appears to be light. The Pens are riding him into the playoffs.
Phil Kessel – Goal and an assist with seven shots. Still blows my mind that Kessel has been worse in Pittsburgh than he was in Toronto.
Ian Cole – Two assists with a shot. He’s a nice player but doesn’t have the offensive role to be relevant in fantasy.
Jimmy Howard – 27 saves on 28 shots in the 3-1 win over the Blue Jackets. The Wings are in a battle with Philly for the last spot so it wouldn’t shock me if they ride the hot hand or if Howard gets more starts if Petr Mrazek slips at all.
Dylan Larkin – Assist and a shot. It’s been a disappointing second half for the rookie but I’d still hold him. He’s back on the first line so the minutes are there and could even go up with the Wings in their playoff push.
Alexander Wennberg – Goal on two shots. I’m still very intrigued by Wennberg going forward. He could be a late round flier in 12’ers next year, maybe not, but I bet that by the end of next year he’s a hold.
Roberto Luongo – 32 saves on 33 shots in the 4-1 win over the Leafs. Luongo is now 16-1 in his 17 against the Maple Leafs. That’s taking care of business when he should.
Jussi Jokinen – Two goals and two PIM. Both goals were passes that deflected off Leafs defenders. They all count the same! Amazing that Jokinen is at 52 points and +20 right now.
Jaromir Jagr – Goal on three shots. I don’t know what’s more incredible; Jagr had more points in his career than the entire Leafs roster last night or that Jagr, who’s third all-time in points, just got to within 1,000 points of Gretzky.
Morgan Rielly – Goal on three shots and two PIM playing over 28 minutes. Rielly is a prime talent and is getting huge minutes right now so if you can stomach the plus-minus, there’s value here. As the Leafs get better around him, Rielly is only going to get better.
James Neal – Goal and an assist with three shots. Decent change at 30 goals, +23, 63 PIM and over 3 shots per game? Yeah, that’ll play.
Ryan Johansen – Goal and an assist with three shots. I’d bet on Johansen’s numbers next season being closer to 2014 than 2015.
Ryan Ellis – Goal on five shots. It’s not flashy but he’s steady as a 4th-5th D in 12’ers.
Steven Stamkos – Two goals on three shots. The shots are done on the season which hurt his numbers but he’s up to 33 goals now and would it surprise you if he still got to 40? Not me.
Nikita Kucherov – Goal and an assist with two shots. Numbers are right in line with last season despite the rest of his teammates taking a step back this year. And he’s still 22.
Alex Killorn – Two assists and three shots playing 21 minutes. He’s a top end streamer at the moment.
Cody Eakin – Three assists and two shots. He’s playing with Benn making Eakin a nice streamer for now.
Stephen Johns – Goal on two shots. He came to Dallas with Patrick Sharp and looks to be an interesting prospect. In his first three games, the former 2nd rounder has a whopping 16 hits and 5 blocked shots. Johns played 22 minutes last night so in leagues that count those categories, there’s value here already.
Tomas Hertl – Goal on three shots and two PIM. Hertl is finally looking like rookie Hertl again. He’ll still be 22 when next season starts as well. I was the highest on Hertl going into this year and will be even higher next year.
Mike Smith – 27 saves on 28 shots in the 3-1 win over the Sharks. Are you feeling desperate? Then you can turn to Smith.
Michael Stone – Goal and an assist with two shots. It’s been a very nice year for Stone and he’s a clear hold right now with Oliver Ekman-Larsson out. I’d draft him next season because of the PIM and shots.
Max Domi – Assist with a shot and seven PIM. Strong rookie year for Domi with 17+28 and 61 PIM. Just need the shots to come up to make him a clear top 100 player.
J.T. Miller – Goal and an assist with two shots. That’s a 3 game point streak for Miller who is on the cusp of 20+20 with nice PIM and +/- . Just need the shots to come up for Miller to take the next jump in 2016-17.
Jeff Carter – Three assists and two shots. There aren’t PIM here but Carter is a stud in every other category.
Dustin Brown – Goal and an assist with four shots. He has 27 points just like the past two seasons and now the PIM disappeared. He’s pretty much all shots and hits now.
Anze Kopitar – Two goals on three shots. So good.
Friday Streamers – There are six games on the slate tonight meaning there are plenty of options yet it’s necessary to stream. Here are my top three options:
Sam Reinhart (8.4%) – You guys all know the schtick by now. Getting a home game against the Sens is an ideal matchup.
Michael Frolik (5.1%) – He’s hotter than hell right now with back to back 3 point games and gets a game against the Avs, who despite fighting for a playoff spot are a horrible possession team and give up a ton of shots.
Patrick Maroon (6.5%) – Maroon is even hotter than Frolik over the past two weeks since he’s moved into the top 6 for Edmonton. He gets to play the Canucks tonight; I expect the Oilers to skate circles around them and get a victory.
That’s all for now guys. I’ll be back on Monday recapping the weekend’s action. We will also have the next article in Matt’s series coming out early next week so look out for that. As always, feel free to ask any questions and leave any comments below. Have a great weekend everyone, take care!
