What looked like an amazing weekend for Mark Stone turned for the worst at the last minute. Stone had one of the biggest games of the year on Saturday scoring a goal and four assists with five shots in the 6-3 win over the Maple Leafs. Stone followed that up by scoring a goal and taking a penalty against the Jets on Sunday before a hit to the head from Jacob Trouba knocked him out of the game. As if a hit to the head wasn’t concerning enough, Stone has already had a concussion in the preseason, an injury that caused him to become a value in drafts. Stone has been terrific this season with 22 goals and 25 assists through 56 games but now, his fantasy owners are in a tough spot as are the Senators who were decimated by injuries over the weekend. Look for some news to come out later today on Stone’s status but here’s to hoping it’s nothing serious like another concussion. Let’s take a look at what else happened around the league this weekend:
Friday’s Games:
Sergei Bobrovsky – 38 saves on 39 shots in the 2-1 OT win over the Penguins. His numbers have come down a bit but he’s still a top 5 goalie with ease.
Cam Atkinson – Assist with seven shots. The points have slowed down a bit but I wouldn’t look to sell high. The shot volume is still there so expect him to get back going soon.
Matt Murray – 37 saves on 39 shots taking the loss. He was in fine form before Sunday’s loss but expect Murray to be a #1 down the stretch.
Ian Cole – Goal with two PIM. Justin Schultz has a concussion but it’s apparently not serious. While Schultz and Olli Maatta are out, Cole and Trevor Daley become viable options. Don’t expect it to last though.
Calvin Pickard – 28 saves on 29 shots in the 2-1 OT win over Carolina. I think Pickard is a fine goalie and in the long run, he could be a decent dynasty play, but for now it’s going to be rough.
Tyson Barrie – Goal on seven shots. As it has for months, it comes down to whether or not you want to deal with the plus-minus.
James Reimer – 35 saves on 36 shots in the 4-1 win over the Ducks. With a .918 sv% on the season, use him in all starts as a streamer.
Derek MacKenzie – Goal and an assist with two shots. Random note: he’s the captain of the Panthers. That may have more relevance to you than he would in fantasy.
Saturday’s Games:
Robin Lehner – 37 saves on 39 shots in the 3-2 win over the Blues. He’s become the workhorse we expected in the preseason; look for him to carry the load once the Sabres are through their bye week.
Nick Baptiste – Goal and an assist. After being recalled a couple hours before the game, Baptiste played in the top six. There’s some long term potential here but I assume he’s going to be sent back to Rochester during this bye week.
Evander Kane – Goal and an assist. Most even strength goals since December 1st? You guessed it, it’s this Kane. What a monster.
Petr Mrazek – 34 saves on 36 shots in the 3-2 SO win over the Capitals. More analysis for him in the Sunday portion so I don’t repeat myself.
Henrik Zetterberg – Two assists. He’s been on fire bouncing back nicely from a rough start.
Patrik Laine – Goal and an assist with seven shots. The kid is scorching hot right now and it’s only going to get better.
Mathieu Perreault – Goal and an assist with two shots and two PIM. He’s picking it up lately putting him on the streamer radar once again.
Connor Hellebuyck – 19 saves on 20 shots in the 3-1 win over the Canadiens. I’d own him in 12’ers right now while he’s getting all of the starts.
Alex Galchenyuk – Assist with a shot. He moved back onto the first line with Julien in charge so look for him to take off sooner than later.
Cam Talbot – 38 saves on 39 shots in the 3-1 win over the Blackhawks. He’s exceeded all expectations but it looks completely sustainable.
Johnny Boychuk – Assist with four shots. I’ve grabbed him in a couple 12’ers now and think Boychuk is worth taking the shot on.
Cory Schneider – 40 saves on 42 shots in the 3-2 win over the Islanders. He’s really picking things up lately to finally give people some value. Hopefully it’s a sign of things to come because as I talked about on the solo pod, you can’t really do anything but roll him.
Travis Zajac – Goal and an assist with three shots. It’s bottom end but it’s still worth streaming.
Derick Brassard – Two goals and an assist. He’s starting to roll in terms of possession and the points are starting to follow. If you want to gamble on someone at the bottom of your roster, I’m good with holding Brassard.
Erik Karlsson – Two assists with three shots. Typical Karlsson performance.
Kyle Turris – Three assists with three shots and two PIM. With the injuries (more on them under Sunday’s games), look for Turris to carry a huge workload going forward.
Josh Leivo – Assist with a shot. Strong streamer while he’s playing in the top six.
Auston Matthews – Two assists with four shots. Like Laine, it’s been remarkably consistent for a 19 year old.
William Nylander – Goal and an assist with two shots. He’s not setting the world on fire but it’s decent enough everywhere to be a no-brainer hold.
Jake Dotchin – Assist. He’s playing on the second PP unit and first pair right now. It’s a bottom end short term option that’s completely off the radar.
Victor Hedman – Two goals and an assist with six shots. Good to see the bye week didn’t slow him down at all. Look for him to maintain his pace a top 5 defensemen going forward.
Tyler Johnson – Goal and an assist with five shots. If he was dropped in your league during your bye week, I’m fine with picking him up for the upside or leaving him on the wire. Let your position in your league and the rest of your team determine his value to you.
Antoine Roussel – Hat trick on six shots. It’s not the most unlikely hat trick of the year but it’s certainly up there. Despite this game, it’s basically PIM only.
Tyler Seguin – Three assists with two shots. That’s three multi-point games in his last four as gets one point shy of being at a point per game.
Brent Burns – Two goals on four shots. I’m leading the push for Brent Burns for the Hart Trophy. Absolutely amazing season.
Michael Haley – Goal and an assist. This might be the most shocking multi-point game in years. I’m amazed he’s even getting NHL time at this point.
Melker Karlsson – Goal and two assists with four shots. Meh, he’s still on the fourth line so I’m not using him anywhere.
Aaron Dell – 36 saves on 37 shots in the 4-1 win over the Coyotes. Stream him in all of his starts.
James Neal – Assist with three shots and two PIM. If he was dropped in your league, I’d grab him for the upside.
Devan Dubnyk – 37 saves on 39 shots in the 5-2 win over the Preds. Typical Dubnyk performance.
Mikael Granlund – Goal and an assist with two shots. It just keeps getting better and better.
Mikko Koivu – Goal and an assist. Three multi-point games in the last four makes him a clear must-own in all leagues.
Jason Zucker – Two goals and an assist with four shots. There’s a chance that Zucker gets more points this season than he had in the first five seasons (169 games) combined.
Aleksander Barkov – Goal and an assist with two shots. The first line is carrying them through a brutal schedule pulling off 4 straight road wins. He should be a top 50 player the rest of the way.
Roberto Luongo – 33 saves on 35 shots in the 3-2 win over the Kings. It’s been worse than expected but with the team getting healthy, look for a stronger Luongo down the stretch.
Ryan Miller – 35 saves on 36 shots in the 2-1 OT win over the Flames. There is some value here but I don’t think I’d own him in 12’ers unless you were desperate for starts.
Sunday’s Games:
Henrik Lundqvist – 31 saves on 32 shots in the 2-1 win over the Capitals. The overall numbers have been worse than expected but the wins have been terrific. The upside is still there for a big second half as well.
Ryan McDonagh – Goal on four shots. He’s already set a career high in assists and should end up getting there in points as well.
Petr Mrazek – 24 saves on 26 shots in the 5-2 win over the Penguins. Back to back wins over arguably the two best teams in the league. That’s four strong games in a row and we’ve seen his upside in the past. I’d look to grab Mrazek if you need starts.
Steve Ott – Goal and an assist with two PIM. The days of Ott being fantasy relevant are long in the past.
Henrik Zetterberg – Two assists with two shots. Hotter than a pistol.
Dustin Byfuglien – Goal on five shots with four PIM. Big Buff doing Big Buff things!
Patrik Laine – Two assists with two shots. He’ll be in my top 12 next season, I have little doubt over it now.
Mark Scheifele – Two assists. The shots have really dried up lately but he has seven assists in the last four games. Not quite what I’m looking for but still plenty of value regardless.
Connor Hellebuyck – 32 saves on 34 shots in the 3-2 win over the Senators. This game didn’t really change my thoughts above.
Mike Hoffman – Left the game injured. With Stone going down, Bobby Ryan out indefinitely and Tommy Wingels also leaving the game, the Senators depth is gutted. Here’s to hoping it’s nothing serious with Hoffman.
Erik Karlsson – Two assists with five shots. He now has a five game point streak with at least three shots in every game. Look for the team to depend on him offensively even more so than usual with these injuries.
Patrick Kane – Goal and an assist with three shots. When he comes home to Buffalo, just mark him down for a goal.
Artemi Panarin – Two assists with a shot. The consistency isn’t there but Panarin has piled up a ton of multi-point games.
Richard Panik – Assist with five shots and four PIM. He’s heating up again and the minutes are coming up with it. Panik is a top end streamer right now.
Scott Darling – 25 saves on 26 shots in the 5-1 win over the Sabres. Keep streaming him when he starts.
Jack Eichel – Assist with four shots. He’s in a bit of a goal drought but that’s four straight games with an assist. Given the shot volume, look for the goals to follow.
Taylor Hall – Goal and two assists with five shots and two PIM. Despite a great overall stat line, he hasn’t had a prolonged hot streak. I feel like it may be on the horizon.
Kyle Palmieri – Goal and an assist with six shots. He’s the only skater on the team besides Hall that I would own.
Ryan Strome – Two goals and an assist. He’s an okay streamer but Strome is still nowhere near holding level.
James Neal – Two assists with two shots. Another guy that we just need to stay healthy, Neal’s numbers are strong across the board outside of plus-minus.
P.K. Subban – Two assists with a shot. Seven points and eleven penalty minutes in the past five games is obviously great. Hopefully the shots start to come back.
Oliver Bjorkstrand – Goal on six shots. He should be owned in all deep leagues and dynasties now. I’m driving the bandwagon long term.
Seth Jones – Two assists. With six assists in the last four games, Jones’ value is skyrocketing. The shots are really coming down and he doesn’t provide penalty minutes so the points have to be there to make him valuable. The way he’s playing lately, they should be.
Zach Werenski – Goal and two assists with five shots. He’s starting to get rolling again with five points in the past three. I’ll probably rank him as a top #2 next season although it could end up a bottom end #1.
Curtis McElhinney – 37 save shutout in the 4-0 win over the Hurricanes. He’s been excellent but I don’t trust it one bit. He has far too long of a history of being a poor goaltender to change my mind.
Connor Brown – Two goals on five shots. He had been ice cold but the change in lines seemed to help. Brown is a fine streamer.
Jake Gardiner – Goal and two assists, +4. Clear as day hold now.
James van Riemsdyk – Two assists with three shots. Another guy who was sparked by the line changes, JVR has been terrific on the whole this season.
Jonathan Drouin – Goal on three shots with two PIM. The goal was ridiculous:
Hooooooly cow. Jonathan. Drouin. pic.twitter.com/XYOG9uFP45
— Jonathan Arnholz (@JArnholz) February 20, 2017
As I talked about on the podcast, I could see him fully breaking out next season… the talent is overwhelming.
Ben Bishop – 27 saves on 29 shots in the 3-2 OT win over the Avalanche. Don’t look now but that’s four straight wins for Bishop allowing five goals total.
Matt Duchene – Goal and an assist with four shots. He’s heating up just in time for the trade deadline. Obviously a trade would do wonders to his fantasy value ROS.
Tuukka Rask – 29 saves on 30 shots in the 2-1 OT win over the Sharks. His wins and GAA are outstanding but it’ll take a hot streak to fix the sv%.
John Gibson – 24 save shutout in the 1-0 win over the Kings. His save percentage is > .920 now as Gibson has vastly improved after the first six weeks of the season. Easy #1 goalie the rest of the way for me.
Peter Budaj – 28 saves on 29 shots taking the tough luck loss. Rough stretch for the Kings lately has dried up the wins for Budaj but that should fix itself. Keep rolling him.
Shayne Gostisbehere – Three assists with three shots. He still only played 17 minutes but this should stop Ghost from being scratched again. Pick him up if someone in your league lost patience.
Wayne Simmonds – Goal on three shots. He’s starting to pick things up again with a goal in four of the last five games.
Markus Granlund – Goal on two shots. He’s playing with The Cyborgs making him a viable streamer.
Monday Streamers:
Patrik Berglund (15.6%) – He’s slowed down a bit lately but with only two games on the slate, options are limited. Berglund’s top six role and PP time are locked in now so use him tonight.
Nick Ritchie (8.8%) – I want exposure against the Coyotes so give me Ritchie who played over 18 minutes on Sunday, including getting an assist and four shots playing on the first line.
Jussi Jokinen (13.9%) – Jussi J is heating up with four goals and two assists in the past five. That’s plenty good enough on a small slate.
That’s all for now guys. With only two games, my next set of daily notes will be out on Wednesday morning. Look for a podcast to drop Tuesday afternoon as well. As always, feel free to ask any questions or leave any comments below. Thanks for reading, take care!
