Holy smokes, over 5000 words! This is quite the recap of the last 5 days of hockey. I had a introduction all set to go around Milan Lucic but I had to erase it and give the lede to Michael Cammalleri. Cammalleri mysteriously missed six games in a row before returning on Wednesday night. It turns out that his 5 year old daughter Chloe had severe pneumonia which eventually required surgery. On this Thanksgiving weekend, we’re thankful that she’s going to make a full recovery. Dad returned and had a three game stretch for the ages. He started with a remarkable goal and three assists with 9 SOG in the 5-4 shootout win over Toronto. Cammy followed it up totaling a goal, assist, four shots and two PIM in the 5-4 loss to Detroit before scoring 2 goals on 4 shots in the 4-3 shootout loss to Pittsburgh. Just a measly 8 points in 3 games, no big deal. He’s almost back to a point per game (just like last season) with three shots per game and solid penalty minutes. Cammalleri is still available in over 50% of leagues and to be blunt, that’s a huge mistake. If you’re in one of those leagues, go grab him now. Here’s a look at the last five days around the league. I’m going to go through day by day but in the format most people like; just note that a player may be mentioned multiple times.
Wednesday’s Games:
Devan Dubnyk – 15 saves on 16 shots in the 3-1 win over the Jets. Doesn’t get any easier than that for Dubynk.
Mikael Granlund – Two assists and a shot. He’s right on the fringe right now but at the least Granlund is a top end streamer.
Zach Parise – Goal on five shots. He’s starting to get back in the swing of things after his injury.
Charlie Coyle – Assist with three shots. I was the highest on him by a mile and he’s still exceeded my expectations to this point.
Blake Wheeler – Goal on two shots. It hasn’t been as good as I hoped but Wheeler has still been solid across the board.
Dustin Byfuglien – Assist with two shots. See Wheeler, Blake above for analysis.
Jimmy Howard – 32 saves on 33 shots in the 2-1 shootout win over Buffalo. Howard stole the game and is in the midst of the best start to his career. Unfortunately, he was hurt on Friday (more on that later).
Thomas Vanek – Amazing assist with four PIM plus the shootout winner. Man, I have an irrational love for Vanek’s talent going back to his Sabres days. It’s nice to see him back in great form.
Gustav Nyqvist – Goal on his only shot. What happened to the rookie with a strong shot rate? It’s been dropping almost every season since.
Robin Lehner – 23 saves on 24 shots in the loss. Strong game but he was a tough luck loser. Lehner’s numbers are right there with last season’s 21 games; here’s to hoping he stays healthy.
Zach Hyman – Two assists and a shot. He’s playing with Auston Matthews and William Nylander (more on them next) but it’s not enough for him to be a fantasy factor.
Auston Matthews – Two goals and an assist with four shots. This was one of the main talking points on the last podcast. Reid brought it up saying Matthews is going to snap his cold streak and I strongly agreed. This is just the start of him starting to produce more consistently.
William Nylander – Assist. Sadly, Nylander suffered an upper body injury and missed Saturday’s game. He’s day to day so hold tight for now.
Travis Zajac – Goal, two assists, four shots, two penalty minutes. As long as he’s getting these minutes, Zajac brings plenty of value, mostly in assists.
Cory Schneider – 27 saves on 31 shots getting the win. He’s in the middle of a rough stretch but don’t panic. If anything, try to buy low.
Matt Murray – 16 saves on 17 shots as the Penguins blow out the Rangers 6-1. He’s been miles better than Marc-Andre Fleury to this point.
Nick Bonino – Two assists with three shots and two PIM. He’s an okay deep league option but not worth streaming at the moment.
Sidney Crosby – Two goals and an assist with six shots and four penalty minutes. I don’t think that there’s any debate who the best player in the NHL is at the moment.
Phil Kessel – Goal and an assist with three shots. Quietly chugging along right at a point per game.
Rick Nash – Goal on five shots. The bounce back is real.
Henrik Lundqvist – 13 saves on 17 shots in 33 minutes before getting pulled. Don’t sweat it at all, the Rangers were due for a dud in front of him.
Vladimir Tarasenko – Two goals on three shots. There’s no slowing down the Russian superstar right now.
Colton Parayko – Assist with a shot and two PIM. We’re starting to see some consistency from Parayko in the assist department. Where are the damn goals? Can the kid get some shot luck?
Alex Ovechkin – Hat trick on five shots. He had to one up his country mate Tarasenko getting a hat trick. Still the premier goal scorer in the league.
Andre Burakovsky – Two assists with three shots and two PIM. He’s back on the first line making Burakovsky an elite streamer again.
Evgeny Kuznetsov – Goal and an assist with four shots. He’s also back on the first line and despite going pointless in the next two games, I’m still hopeful for a hot streak.
Chad Johnson – 34 save shutout in the 2-0 win against Columbus. He’s clearly earned the #1 spot in Calgary making him must own at the moment.
Troy Brouwer – Goal on three shots. Bottom end streamer like usual.
Ivan Provorov – Goal and an assist with two shots. His offense has really slowed down in general putting him on the fringe of 12’ers.
Victor Hedman – Goal on two shots. It’s amazing what he’s doing without being on the first power play unit.
Nikita Kucherov – Goal on five shots. Pretty, pretty good.
Ondrej Palat – Two assists with two shots playing over 20 minutes. He’s really starting to heat up and should be owned everywhere.
Brayden Point – Two assists. Bottomg end streamer at the moment.
Andrei Vasilevskiy – 29 saves on 31 shots in the 4-2 win over Philly. What, he gave up goals? What a bum.
Patrick Sharp – Goal on five shots. He’s still a must own but it is a fairly big blow that Sharp is on the second power play unit.
Julius Honka – Five shots and two PIM. Honka stayed on the first PP unit making him a great deep league option or a gamble in 12 man that I have made myself for the short term.
Filip Forsberg – Goal and an assist with three shots. The goals, they are coming.
Ryan Johansen – 1+1 with 2 SOG. This wasn’t even his best game of the last five days, spoiler alert! Nashville is finally looking like the team I expected.
James Neal – Goal and an assist with three shots. He’s been on an absolute tear but unfortunately that came to a sudden halt Friday.
Pekka Rinne – 33 saves on 35 shots in the 5-2 win over Dallas. Man, it’s been nice to see good Rinne through the early going. I wouldn’t blame you for trying to sell high but considering you took the gamble taking Rinne in the first place, I’d roll with it.
Milan Lucic – Goal and three assists with six shots. As mentioned in the intro, Lucic was going to be my lede. He has a massive weekend and more importantly, he’s firmly back on the first line. Add in a career high shot rate and Lucic looks to be giving more value than expected. Yes, the penalty minutes aren’t there yet but they come in bunches for him and the offense is better than expected.
Connor McDavid – Goal and two assists with three shots. He’s 19 years old. 19 year olds shouldn’t be doing this.
Leon Draisaitl – Goal and an assist with two shots. Hotter than a pistol right now.
Rene Bourque – Two goals on five shots. He’s up on the first line playing with one of the hottest players in hockey making Bourque a solid streamer.
Nathan MacKinnon – Goal and an assist with two shots. Insert fire emojis here. So damn good right now.
Mikko Rantanen – Two assists with two PIM. See Bourque, Rene for redraft analysis. For dynasties, I’ve been extremely encouraged by the 20 year old’s start to his NHL career.
Ryan Miller – 35 saves on 36 shots in the 4-1 win over the Coyotes. It’s a roller coaster ride for Canucks goalies with more downs than ups. And unlike a roller coaster, going on the down slope isn’t fun!
Sven Baertschi – Goal and two assists with three shots. Then he gets a laceration on his foot and misses the next game. Blah. I’m still a fan for dynasties but the ceiling isn’t as high as I thought when Baertschi was drafted by the Flames.
Alex Burrows – Goal, assist, shot, two PIM. He’s a decent streamer for PIM plus passable points.
Bo Horvat – Goal and two assists with three shots and two penalty minutes. Horvat is really picking things up offensively lately. It’s fringe of 12’ers and will get better in dynasties. If the shot rate starts to go up, I’d feel great about him going forward.
Anthony DeAngelo – Assist with two shots. After the weekend, he’s at 6 points in 8 games. I’m not convinced it continues but you certainly could do worse.
Mike Smith – 13 saves on 17 shots in 27 minutes before getting pulled. Yuck. You never know what you’re going to get with Smith.
Corey Crawford – 33 saves on 35 shots in the 2-1 loss to San Jose. His numbers are even better than last year’s. No reason to worry.
Artemi Panarin – Goal on four shots. There’s been no signs of a regression even though I somewhat expected one. The increase in shot rate has gone a long way.
Brent Burns – Two assists and two shots. The shots have really fallen off lately but I still attribute that to a short term downswing than a long term concern.
Martin Jones – 33 saves on 34 shots in the win. The wins haven’t been as good as last season but at this rate, I expect him to top last season’s 65 starts. With a 2.15 GAA, I doubt anyone is complaining.
Anders Lee – Two goals on three shots. Lee has been horrible this season and while he’s starting to pick things up, I’m still not streaming him yet.
Dwight King – Two goals on four shots. He’s a bottom end streamer at best.
Trevor Lewis – Two assists. And there’s your annual Trevor Lewis update!
Jake Muzzin – Goal and an assist with two shots. He’s been horrible so far this year but we are starting to see signs. I would still hold tight in 12’ers if only for the shots and solid PIM.
Peter Budaj – 22 saves on 24 shots in the 4-2 win over the Islanders. It’s amazing how easy the Kings are making it for Budaj on a nightly basis.
Thursday’s Games:
Victor Rask – Assist with six shots and two PIM. Remarkable start to the season for the Swede.
Elias Lindholm – Goal on two shots. He’s definitely on the streaming radar with his minutes.
Carey Price – 31 saves on 32 shots in the 2-1 win over Carolina. He apparently can’t have two bad games in a row. Ever.
Brendan Gallagher – Assist with two shots. He’s been ice cold but I’ve been holding tight even in 10 man leagues.
Max Pacioretty – Goal on two shots. Start shooting the puck more Max!
Andrew Shaw – Goal on three shots. He’s worth streaming just for the PIM.
Craig Anderson – 19 saves on 20 shots in the 3-1 win over Boston. This game was a snoozer which is a rarity for the Senators. He’s been remarkable to this point.
Mike Hoffman – Assist with four shots. Mark Stone and Kyle Turris each scored a goal. I remain bullish on all of these guys.
Brad Marchand – Assist on David Pastrnak‘s goal adding four shots. I still feel like there’s better things to come for these guys. It’s been underwhelming for Marchand if you take out his massive season opener.
Friday’s Games:
Henrik Lundqvist – 40 saves on 42 shots in the 3-2 win over the Flyers. Like I said above, nothing to worry about.
Jimmy Vesey – Assist. He has only 35 shots in 22 games and has been pretty cold lately. I would be fine dropping him in 12’ers if you don’t want to hold anymore.
Derek Stepan – Goal on four shots. It’s been an average start to the season for Stepan despite the offensive prowess of the Blueshirts.
Kevin Hayes – Goal on two shots. He has 10 goals on 35 shots. Regression is coming his way in a big way making him a prime sell high candidate.
Shayne Gostisbehere – Goal on five shots. It’s been a really rough stretch for Ghost including a scratch but I wouldn’t sell low on him. That said, I wouldn’t be actively looking to buy low either.
Patrick Kane – Goal and an assist with four shots. Kane is right at one point per game which seems about right to me.
Brent Seabrook – Two assists and a shot. It’s bottom end but still good enough to hold.
Corey Crawford – 34 saves on 36 shots in the 3-2 win over the Ducks. Not much to add, he’s a clear #1.
Ryan Kesler – Assist and three shots. I can’t believe how many minutes the Ducks are playing him but it’s clearly boosting his value to a level I didn’t expect.
Nick Leddy – Goal and an assist with two shots. He’s at a brutal -10 but otherwise it’s been solid for Leddy. I obviously don’t expect him to finish -45 like his current pace but I’m not sure it gets much better with the Islanders being a mess.
Brent Burns – Goal and an assist with three shots. Burns is pretty good at the good old hockey game.
Paul Martin – Two assists with a shot. On a different team, I could see Martin being bottom end in 12’ers. In San Jose, he generally lets Burns get aggressive and plays as a modern stay-at-home guy killing his fantasy value.
Patrick Marleau – Goal on two shots. I was shocked at Marleau’s ownership percentage; it’s far too high in my mind. That said, for now he’s worth it as he remains on the top line.
Jake Guentzel – Assist and two shots. I’m holding him for the time being in 12’ers.
Phil Kessel – Goal on five shots with two PIM. Get the man some Primanti Bros!
Marc-Andre Fleury – 30 saves on 36 shots in the 6-2 loss to the Wild. Yikes. This officially seals the debate; cut Fleury if you’ve been holding him.
Jonas Brodin – Three assists and a shot. This year has been Brodin’s best by a mile offensively. I’d still leave it for 16’ers or deeper for the time being but it’s nice to see the offense finally come along in year 5.
Charlie Coyle – Two goals on three shots. Charlie! Charlie! Charlie! It just gets better and better.
Mikael Granlund – Goal and an assist. He still remains on the fringe for me.
Nino Niederreiter – Two goals on three shots. I’ve held onto him even though he’s no longer on the first line but I’ll be cutting him as soon as Nino cools off. That said, he remains an elite streamer.
Zach Parise – Goal and an assist with four shots. We know what Parise is at this point, he just needs to stay healthy.
Eric Staal – Assist with five shots. The bounce back is real for Staal as well.
Devan Dubnyk – 34 saves on 36 shots in the win. He’s been so good that it’s unfortunate his win totals isn’t as gaudy as it should be.
Sam Reinhart – Goal on five shots. He’s been much better lately and with Jack Eichel‘s return looking probable for the end of this week, I’d grab Reinhart now.
Brett Connolly – Goal and an assist with four shots and two PIM. Meh, he had more points in this game than he had all season coming in.
Marcus Johansson – Goal on three shots. Just as he starts to cool off, Johansson scored in two straight games. I’m still holding but will be willing to cut bait sooner than la
Philipp Grubauer – 32 saves on 33 shots in the 3-1 win over the Sabres. Stream him every time that he starts.
Drew Stafford – Assist and two shots in his second game back. Stafford is back on the streaming radar as long as he’s in the Winnipeg top six.
Dustin Byfuglien – Goal on two shots. The goals are finally here and I think it’s a sign of things to come.
Mike Fisher – Three assists and a shot. Mr. Carrie Underwood is up to 12 points in 16 games with 27 PIM. Given that 8 of his points are on the power play, he needs to be owned in 12’ers now.
Ryan Johansen – Two goals and an assist with three shots. Reid comes through again in The Three Point Challenge. I’m not going to hear the end of it.
Roman Josi – Two assists with a shot. The goals are down but the shots are at a career high rate meaning they should be coming.
James Neal – Goal on two shots before leaving the game and landing on IR. Brutal turn of events for the red hot Neal. Even without IR spots, I’d have to hold until we get a more definitive time table.
Colin Wilson – Two goals on four shots. He moved onto the first power play unit in Neal’s place making him an elite streamer for the time being.
Pekka Rinne – 22 saves on 23 shots in the 5-1 win over the Jets. Man, it’s fun to own good Rinne. At least I imagine it is because I don’t have him anywhere. Sad face.
Chad Johnson – 35 saves on 36 shots in the 2-1 win over the Bruins. Again, must own territory right now for Ochocinco.
Sam Bennett – Goal and an assist. It’s been very inconsistent to this point and he dropped to the third line in this game. Ugh. I’m probably still holding in 12’ers but it’s very close.
David Pastrnak – Goal on three shots playing almost 22 minutes. He’s second place in the league in goals now despite missing 5 games. Not too shabby.
Cam Atkinson – Goal and an assist with two shots as did Brandon Saad and Alexander Wennberg. It’s remarkable what these guys are doing right now. I’d probably rank them in that order going forward.
Nick Foligno – Goal on two shots with two PIM. The shots are starting to go up lately which is crucial to his future success.
Zach Werenski – Assist and seven shots. He’s been so good that he’s played his way into the Calder discussion. This year’s race is going to be bonkers.
Nikita Kucherov – Goal and an assist as did his linemate Ondrej Palat. So damn good right now.
Jimmy Howard – 2 saves on 3 shots before leaving the game injured. It’s been announced that he’ll miss 10-15 days. Hold tight for now and expect Petr Mrazek (13 saves on 16 shots) to start every game in the mean time.
Justin Abdelkader – Two assists and two shots. He’s a streamer at this point; his numbers are down across the board.
Dylan Larkin – Goal on five shots. Larkin is another guy I remain bullish on thinking he’s going to find a hot streak.
Anthony Mantha – Goal and an assist with five shots playing over 16 minutes. Oh baby, my man! The last four games he has 19 shots on goal with 2 goals and an assist. As I’ve talked about before, I love him in dynasties but with those type of minutes, Mantha is worth owning right now in standard redrafts.
Frans Nielsen – Two goals and an assist with four shots. Nielsen is someone I’d prefer to stream because it’s bottom end everywhere. It adds up to an okay line but not worth holding.
Henrik Zetterberg – Two assists. So far, this season has gone as I expected for Zetterberg. That means good assists and not much else.
John Moore – Goal and an assist with two shots. Moore is finally getting a decent role and has been solid with 10 points in 21 games. There’s definitely enough for 16’ers or deeper and it’s worth monitoring to see if his workload starts to increase.
Pavel Zacha – Goal on his only shot. He’s only worth streaming at the moment.
Travis Zajac – Two assists and two shots playing 24 minutes. It’s worth repeating: hold him in this role.
Antti Niemi – 30 saves on 31 shots in the 2-1 win over the Canucks. He’s been solid in his last four appearances but Niemi is always a gamble.
Esa Lindell – Goal and an assist with two shots playing 21 minutes. Not much here unless you need blocks in a deep leagues
Jamie Benn – Assist. I’m waiting for his breakout but I’m starting to lose patience.
Milan Lucic – Assist with two shots. I don’t have anything to add on top of the big section I wrote above.
Jesse Puljujarvi – Assist playing on the first line and McJesus (goal on four shots). That makes him a decent streamer while it lasts.
Cam Talbot – 39 saves on 41 shots in the 3-2 shootout loss to the Coyotes. Talbot is starting to pick things up again lately after a cold streak. I still haven’t changed my thoughts that he ends up a #2 goalie.
Max Domi – Goal on three shots. The shots have been better lately and are the only thing stopping Domi from being an elite option.
Radim Vrbata – Assist and four shots. He’s still a clear hold in my mind.
Oliver Ekman-Larsson – Assist with two shots and two PIM. It’s been a disappointing start to the season for OEL but I expect things to turn around.
Mike Smith – 32 saves on 34 shots in the win. Smith proves my point above that you never know what you’re going to get.
Saturday’s Games:
Nicklas Backstrom – Goal and an assist with four shots and two PIM. As I’ve said repeatedly, the shots are the key to a well rounded line.
Nazem Kadri – Goal on six shots with two PIM. It’s an incredible line across the board right now.
Mitch Marner – Two assists with a shot. He’s the leading rookie scorer in the NHL. Not his teammate, not the Finnish wunderkind, Marner. I love me some Mitch Marner.
Auston Matthews – Goal on two shots. Those Razzball guys know what they’re talking about, says the Razzball guy himself!
Frederik Andersen – 33 saves on 35 shots in the 4-2 win over Washington. The save percentage is still only at .911 but it’s been great after the first couple weeks. However, I still don’t trust it.
Craig Anderson – 32 saves on 33 shots in the 2-1 win over Carolina. The goaltending star of the weekend, Anderson is beyond fire right now. He’s playing like a number one and while I don’t think that lasts, I think he’s a strong #2.
Sebastian Aho – Goal on six shots. Aho remains a top end streamer in redrafts.
Petr Mrazek – 22 saves on 24 shots in the 2-1 overtime loss to Montreal. Decent performance in his start with Howard out. He’s in the “desperate for starts” category.
Brendan Gallagher – Goal on three shots. The fifteen game goalless streak is no more! As mentioned above, still holding Gally.
Alex Galchenyuk – Goal and two PIM. He has a point in 17 of 22 Montreal games this year. That’s pretty f’in good.
Carey Price – 32 saves on 33 shots in the win. There’s no slowing him down.
Shea Weber – Assist and three shots with tw0 PIM. Alex Radulov also had an assist. Like Price, there’s no slowing them down.
Sergei Bobrovsky – 22 saves on 23 shots in the 2-1 shootout loss to Florida. Every time he has a great start, I think of the scene in The Wire where Sergei meets with Prop Joe. You can watch it below
Rest in peace, Robert Chew. Bob is a clear #1 for now and looks to be back to where he was before last season’s atrocity.
Brandon Saad – Goal on four shots assisted from Cam Atkinson. Too good.
Roberto Luongo – 36 saves on 37 shots in the win. I said it before but I still feel like Luongo hasn’t been great yet his numbers are better than last year.
Jaromir Jagr – Goal on three shots. He’s starting to show signs of life as is his linemate Aleksander Barkov (assist, two shots). The question is how the hell did Shawn Thornton manage to be on the ice to get an assist on this goal?
Keith Kinkaid – 46 saves on 49 shots in the 4-3 shootout loss to the Penguins. Talk about stealing a point. He’s played very well in his 5 starts with a .933 sv%. I’m to the point where I’m streaming Kinkaid in all starts.
Sidney Crosby – Goal on five shots. He has 15 goals already. He’s played 16 games.
Jake Guentzel – Goal. Hold the man.
Evgeni Malkin – Three assists with four shots. In 22 games, Malkin has 8+13 with 36 PIM and 62 shots. That’s absolutely insane.
Charlie Coyle – Goal on three shots. Hotter than a pistol!
Mikko Koivu – Goal and an assist with two shots. After a rough patch, Koivu is on a four game point streak. It’s decent down the line but not great anywhere so it’s up to you if you want to hold or leave him to stream.
David Perron – Two assists with three shots. That’s a five game point streak for Perron who has played his way into a hold for now.
Alex Pietrangelo – Two assists with five shots. This stat line over 82 games is a realistic best case for Pietrangelo. He’s -8 but otherwise he’s better than expected everywhere.
Jaden Schwartz – Two goals on six shots. Also on a five game point streak, this is the Schwartz I was hoping for ranking him so high. I’m so excited and I just can’t hide it!
Jacob Markstrom – 33 saves on 35 shots in the 3-2 shootout win against the Avalanche. Purely in the “desperate for starts” category.
Loui Eriksson – Goal on three shots. One of the biggest busts in the early going, Loui does have three goals in the last four games. Progress is his middle name! No, that’s Goldie Wilson. Nevertheless, it’s progress.
Matt Duchene – Assist and three shots. He’s been buzzing in his three games since the injury hiatus.
Calvin Pickard – 29 saves on 31 shots in the loss. The numbers are excellent in his 6 starts; it’s clear to anyone watching the Avs regularly that Pickard deserves more starts.
Peter Budaj – 18 saves on 19 shots in the 2-1 OT win over Chicago. See what I wrote above. The Kings are incredible right now in terms of possession.
Duncan Keith – Assist and a shot. That gives him 15 assists on the season yet 0 goals. The shots are solid too so that should change.
Scott Darling – 27 saves on 29 shots in the loss. It was his first loss of the season despite mediocre at best numbers. That said, he’s worth streaming every time out.
Jeff Carter – Goal and an assist with four shots. This isn’t a hot streak, it’s how good Carter can be. Anze Kopitar (three shots) is back as well.
Ryan Getzlaf – Goal and an assist with five shots. The shots have been extremely down before this game so it was nice to see five on target. Hopefully it’s a sign of things to come.
Corey Perry – Two assists with two shots and two PIM. He’s stuck on four goals but Perry is still pushing a career high assist rate.
Rickard Rakell – Goal on three shots. He’s still on the first line so hold the man.
Joe Pavelski – Assist and three shots. Five game point streak for Little Joe maintaining an excellent stat line in all categories.
Sunday’s Games:
Tuukka Rask – 30 saves on 31 shots in the 4-1 win over Tampa. It’s been smooth sailing so far for Rask because of the improved Bruins. Man, the top of that team is so good.
Torey Krug – Two assists with a shot and seven PIM. I can’t help myself when it comes to Krug; I love his game and expect the point to start coming in consistently.
David Pastrnak – Another goal. That is all.
Dominic Moore – Goal on his only shot. He somehow has 6 goals so if in deep leagues you count faceoff wins and shorthanded points, Moore is a viable option.
Juuse Saros – 21 saves on 22 shots in the 3-0 loss to the Jets. I don’t expect many starts given the way Rinne is playing but Saros remains the goalie of the future in my mind.
Connor Hellebuyck – 42 save shutout against the Predators. Oh man, that’s a way to bounce back from 5 goals against Nashville two days before. The Jets are playing poorly in front of him at the moment but Hellboy stood on his head in this one. Still a #2 in my eyes.
Mark Scheifele – Goal on two shots. The top line was benched for parts of the game Friday so it was good to see him get back on the board.
Drew Stafford – Goal on four shots. Streamer status confirmed.
Jacob Trouba – Two assists with four shots and two PIM playing 27 minutes. These were his first two points of the season showing that being a great real life player doesn’t always translate to fantasy.
Blake Wheeler – Assist with three shots and two PIM playing over 23 minutes. I still feel great about Wheeler and would look to buy low.
Mike Smith – 41 saves on 42 shots in the 2-1 win over the Oilers. Again, Smith shows you never know what you’re going to get.
Milan Lucic – Goal on seven shots. I don’t know where the hell the shots are coming from but it’s amazing for Lucic owners.
Aleksander Barkov – Two assists with three shots. I’ll be sure to talk about the firing of Gerard Gallant on the podcast with Reid but I doubt it has any impact on Barkov.
Aaron Ekblad – Goal on five shots. The goals and shots are spectacular but he still doesn’t have an assist in 22 games. How the hell is that possible?
Michael Leighton – 31 saves on 33 shots in the 3-2 win over Florida. Remember when he was the Flyers goalie in the 2010 Stanley Cup finals? This was third NHL start since.
Jeff Skinner – Goal and an assist with six shots and two PIM. Incredible value across the board from Skinner to this point.
Craig Anderson – 33 save shutout in the 2-0 win over the Rangers. It’s amazing that Ottawa is 14-7-1 and it starts with Anderson.
T.J. Brodie – Goal and an assist with two shots. Not a fan from a fantasy perspective due to the lack of shots. The assists haven’t been nearly good enough either.
Dougie Hamilton – Two assists with two shots. It’s decent enough for me to hold in 10’ers or bigger.
Matthew Tkachuk – Goal on two shots with 18 PIM. You usually don’t see 18 PIM. 17, sure, that’s an easy 2+5+10. 2+2+2+2+10 is tough to do. Anyways, he’s a strong streamer for the PIM.
Radko Gudas – 10 PIM with 2 shots. Took long enough for the scumbag to pile up the penalty minutes.
Roman Lyubimov – Goal and an assist with four shots. Two more points is more than his previous 12 games of the season. That’s all you need to know.
Chris VandeVelde – Goal and an assist with three shots. He randomly has points in three straight but with less than a shot per game, it’s not worth it in any format.
Wayne Simmonds – Goal and an assist with three shots. Dude is a monster in all formats.
Jakub Voracek – Goal and an assist with two shots. He was in a six game point slump before this one. I have no doubt that he’ll start to take off again.
Monday Streamers – There are only two games on the slate so options are limited. ESPN is currently down and I’ve been writing this for far too long so I’ll edit in players with ownership percentages later. I like Blues, especially David Perron if he’s available, then the usual suspects in Calgary and the Islanders. I’m looking at Matthew Tkachuk, Josh Bailey, Anders Lee, Troy Brouwer, etc.
That’s all for now guys. Man, this is BY FAR my biggest set of daily notes, I really hope this helps. I included it in a link earlier but in case you missed it, the newest podcast went out Friday morning so please check that out. Also check out Matt’s newest post. As always, feel free to ask any questions or leave any comments below. With only two games, I’ll have daily notes next on Wednesday with hopefully a podcast on Tuesday. Take care!
