I’ve been talking about Nazem Kadri‘s shooting percentage for the entire season. To be blunt, it’s not possible for a forward to be shooting 5% for an entire season; regression will always find you for better or worse. He finally saw a big boost on Tuesday scoring his third career hat trick on four shots in the 5-2 win over the Panthers. There aren’t many guys who have an excellent shot rate and supply great penalty minutes but Kadri is one of them. I love players like these to fill out the middle or bottom of my roster and I’m sure I’ll be higher on Kadri than most next season. Add in the young talent Toronto is adding around him and wouldn’t shock me if Kadri approached 30 goals next season. Here’s what else I saw around the league on Tuesday night:
Keith Kinkaid – 39 saves on 40 shots in the 2-1 win over the Bruins. The Devils were outshot 40-15 but they still found a way to win on the back of Kinkaid. Devils goalies have been great lately but it seems very fluky. They’re facing a ton of shots so they’re going to lay an egg very soon. Desperate for starts guys for me.
Brad Marchand – Goal on four shots with two PIM. It hurts my brain that he has 35 goals on the season.
Travis Zajac – Goal and an assist with three shots. He’s mediocre in virtually every category which makes him a no go in 12’ers with his abysmal short rate. Leave him to maybe stream or for the deeper leagues.
Reid Boucher – Goal and an assist. He’s had 19 points in 35 games this season which would put him on the fringe of 12’ers if he kept that pace over 82 games. He doesn’t get any PIM and the shots are slightly below average so he’s another guy I’ll leave for deeper leagues. Boucher is still 22 so there’s room for upside.
Thomas Greiss – 26 saves on 27 shots in the 2-1 SO win over the Hurricanes. The Islanders have the most games left of everybody in the league so expect Greiss to get the majority of those games. Start him in all of them.
John Tavares – Assist and four shots. Pretty big down year compared to last season. It’d be nice if the Isles got some better wingers for Tavares to play with.
Cam Ward – 30 saves on 31 shots in the loss. Still a desperate for starts guy for me.
Zach Bogosian – Goal and an assist with four shots. Bogo has finished the year very strong. Depending on what the Sabres do in the offseason, he could be a bottom end guy in 12’ers for the PIM and SOG.
Ryan O’Reilly – Goal and an assist with three shots. It’s been a great year for RoR and it would look even better if he didn’t miss a month with injury. He doesn’t contribute to PIM but O’Reilly should be in the 65-70 point range next season.
Johan Larsson – Two assists and two shots. He’s played very well for the last few months but his game doesn’t translate well to fantasy.
Casey Nelson – Two assists. I talked about Nelson the last three days but the biggest discussion was here. The offense has been strong and he’s already getting time on the second power play unit. Color me intrigued.
Tom Kuhnhackl – Goal and an assist with two shots. Still not enough here.
Pavel Datsyuk – Two assists and three shots. Dude is a wizard.
Anthony Mantha – Goal on three shots with two PIM. I can see myself driving the Mantha bandwagon going into next season if the Red Wings don’t add any top six wingers.
Max Pacioretty – Two goals on four shots. It’s a shame that the Canadiens season fell apart while Patches is in his prime. I’ll still like him plenty next year; 30 goals and 300 shots should be there.
Paul Byron – Goal and an assist with three shots. Credit to Byron for sticking in the NHL, I didn’t see that coming as a Sabres prospect, but there’s nothing here for fantasy.
Alex Galchenyuk – Two assists and a shot. Hotter than a pistol.
Sven Andrighetto – Goal and an assist with three shots. The shots have been very good lately which is key to his future. I don’t think he’ll be 12’er worthy next year but should be in deep leagues.
Connor Brown – Three assists with three shots. Another one of the young Leafs who have had a big game down the stretch. I don’t expect Brown to have much value going forward with the better young talent the Leafs have.
Michael Grabner – Goal and an assist with three shots. And there’s your annual Michael Grabner update!
Jake Gardiner – Two assists with a shot. I expected more from Gardiner at this point in his career but it looks like he will be more of a defensive defenseman for Mike Babcock.
P.A. Parenteau – Goal on four shots. Very nice season for PAP considering the mess he’s had to play with the majority of the time.
Jonathan Bernier – 32 saves on 34 shots in the 5-2 win over the Panthers. Meh, I still want nothing to do with him.
Jaromir Jagr – Assist and three shots with two PIM. It’s ridiculous how good he is at 44 years old.
Duncan Keith – Ten penalty minutes for deliberating injury Charlie Coyle. I doubt it happens but Keith should get a 10+ game suspension. There’s no room in hockey for players to be swinging their stick at players, let alone at their face.
Devan Dubnyk – 18 saves on 19 shots in the 4-1 win over the Wild. A surprisingly easy night for Dubnyk; the Blackhawks are a mess right now. The Wild have built a nice cushion over the Avs now but Dubnyk should start every game until they clinch.
Nino Niederreiter – Goal and an assist with two shots. He’s come on very hard down the stretch to reach 20 goals for the second straight season. Not bad for the 23 year old. I still think there’s another level to Nino’s game that we may see next year.
Erik Haula – Goal and an assist with three shots and two PIM. Haula has surged in the second half and while it’s not good enough for 12’ers, he’s been great for the bottom of a 16 man team or deeper.
Tyson Barrie – Assist and four shots. Looks like he’ll get back to 50 points for the second straight season.
Brian Elliott – 20 saves on 21 shots in the 3-1 win over the Avalanche. His GAA is under 2 on the season which is absurd. Keep playing the Blues goalies.
Alex Steen – Two assists with two shots in his return. Just stay healthy!
David Backes – Goal on two shots with two PIM. Despite the dropoff offensively, 20+21 with 83 PIM still has plenty of value.
Vladimir Tarasenko – Goal on five shots. He’s a beast, plain and simple.
James Neal – Assist and six shots. Just an outstanding year across the board for Neal; he’s locked into a top 20 season now.
Kari Lehtonen – 28 saves on 30 shots in the 5-2 win over Nashville. Generally good for wins and hurts elsewhere.
Alex Goligoski – Two assists and +5. He’s fallen off quite a bit down the stretch and is on the fringe of 12’ers for me.
Jamie Benn – Two goals on three shots with two PIM. Benn would have a 40+40 season with one more goal. Add in three shots per game and 60 PIM and you see why he’s as good as it gets right now in the league.
James Reimer -23 saves on 24 shots in the 4-1 win over the Canucks. He had the massive dud against the Oilers but otherwise has been great for the Sharks. Play him when he starts.
Logan Couture – Hat trick on five shots. He’s been solid this year with 13+19 in 47 games. The only concern is that the shot rate has fallen off quite a bit. I suspect it bounces back next year but that’s only a guess on my part.
Joe Pavelski – Goal and an assist with two shots. 40+40 is in his sights.
Brent Burns – Two assists and four shots. Savage.
Wednesday Streamers – There are only three games on tonight’s slate. That will make streaming a must. Obviously if there are guys on your waiver wire who are generally high owned and play tonight, grab them before my three below. These three are widely available:
Jamie McGinn (6.7%) – He’s absolutely on fire right now with 5 goals and 7 points in the last 7 games. The Ducks should dominate Calgary tonight so get McGinn in your lineups.
Nikolaj Ehlers (19.0%) – I think he should be owned in 12’ers as is so definitely stream him. The minutes have been big since returning and went right back on the first line. The Sens are a mess defensively so expect Ehlers to get at least a point.
Rickard Rakell (17.5%) – Going back to the well on all three of these guys. He’s not as hot as McGinn but Rakell is playing well and is also in a great spot. Brandon Pirri is also a nice option. Back to my original point, if you’re in one of the 31% of leagues where Jakob Silfverberg is available, grab him before these guys.
That’s all for now guys. With only three games tonight, there will not be daily notes tomorrow. That said, Matt’s newest article will be up Thursday morning so be sure to check that out! I’ll be back on Friday recapping the action from tonight and tomorrow. I will also post my Thursday streamers in the comments section of this article once I get a better look at things. As always, feel free to ask any questions or leave any comments below. Take care everyone!
