I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! Well, everyone who celebrated last Thursday, you Canadians had theirs last month! In this post, I’m going to focus on some notable top 50 players from the last week along with some players who returned from injury. The biggest story is Jonathan Marchessault. The best bargain in the NHL (salary of $750k this season), Marchessault has a goal and two assists in each of the last three games. Just like that, he’s a top 50 player on the season despite missing a few games! Marchessault now has an absurd stat line of 8/13/+5/16/66/5 in 19 games (for those unfamiliar with my normal format, that’s G/A/+/- / PIM / SOG / STP. And somehow he’s still available in over 60% of leagues! If you’re lucky enough to be in one of those, grab him immediately. Let’s take a look at the other players on fire lately:
Henrik Lundqvist is the #1 player over the last week. The King stay The King! Two monster starts earlier in the week and another decent outing on Sunday gave him three straight wins saving 101 of 106 shots. Just like that, he’s a borderline #1G again. All of this without Ryan McDonagh, who has a mild abdomen strain. Things are looking up for Hank.
Those fortunate enough to gamble on Pekka Rinne in drafts this season have been handsomely rewarded in the opening two months. Rinne had three more wins this week allowing five goals across three games, including a shutout. I’m not sure how much I’m buying in going forward given his historic streakiness but Rinne could sustain it given the quality of Nashville’s roster.
My guy William Karlsson won’t slow down! Slick Billy scored four goals and two assists in three games this week boosting him up to a point per game (13+9). Sure, he has 0 PIM and is barely over two shots per game, but Karlsson is a must own in all formats.
Mikael Granlund wore out the patience of some of his owners in the early going but he’s rewarded them lately. Granlund scored four goals and two assists in four games this week. Just like that, he’s on pace for 68 points which is only one off his total from last season. If you’re in a shallow league and Granlund was dropped, grab him.
Mikko Koivu is pushing three shots per game and piling up the assists. He’s right on the fringe again and I’d actually lean towards holding him in standard 12’ers.
Taylor Hall simply can’t be contained. Who would have thought this trade would backfire on Edmonton? <checks past Taylor Hall posts> Oh, me! Hall had 6 points in 4 games last week to push him to a whopping 26 points in 23 games. Pretty, pretty good.
Carey Price returned on Saturday against the Sabres and stood on his head posting a 36 save shutout. The Sabres played very well but couldn’t find a way to beat Price. I doubt you’d be able to buy low now given the shutout and that Price owners held him throughout his injury but it can’t hurt to try.
Tomas Hertl‘s recent hot streak gives him 8 points in his past 8 games with a solid shot rate. I wouldn’t hold him in 12’ers but he’s definitely an elite streamer.
Nino Niederreiter has scored seven goals in his last seven games yet is still available in over 1/3 of leagues. If you’re fortunate enough to be in one of those, pick up El Nino.
Tyler Seguin had an excellent week, especially in his last outing against the Flames. Seguin scored a hat trick on ten shots against the Flames pushing him to a point per game on the season with almost four shots per game. This is why he’s a top 10 pick in fantasy drafts.
Josh Bailey has become the King of AAGNOF! Bailey had four more assists last week along with a goal in three games. He’s not really helping you outside of assists but Bailey is averaging an assist a game so he needs to be owned everywhere. His teammate Nick Leddy is also on fire with 13 points in his past 10. Hopefully you were patient with his slow start and haven’t missed out.
Brock Boeser has been dominant this season putting himself at the forefront of the Calder race. Boeser had four goals last week to go along with an assist. He’s clearly a must-start whenever he plays now, even if it’s on a busy night where you have to sit guys.
Sean Monahan has been flying under the radar yet is on pace to blow all of his previous career highs out of the water. He’s taken his game to a level that quite frankly, I didn’t think he was capable of. It’s not a fluke either; that top line is dominant.
Mathew Barzal has a six game point streak and had 15 points in his past 10 games. The minutes are climbing up and yet he’s still available in almost 50% of leagues. Clear as day must-own in all formats.
Antti Raanta had been playing great but he suffered an upper-body injury against the Sharks. He missed games against the Kings and Canucks over the weekend. We saw the Coyotes be a train wreck when Raanta was out earlier in the season so don’t use Scott Wedgewood in the mean time.
Malcolm Subban returned in relief against the Sharks getting the win and also beat the Coyotes in his first start. I think he’s about to take over as the #1 as he’s simply a better option than Legace. I would pick him up everywhere right now for the short term upside.
Of course the year I don’t rank Nathan MacKinnon much higher than my peers he fully breaks out! MacKinnon had 6 points last week and now has 26 points in 22 games. The kid has all of the talent in the world so it doesn’t surprise, just wasn’t convinced it was coming this year. Thrilled for him and the Avs. Also props to Mikko Rantanen who has 20 points in 22 games.
The second line in Winnipeg is heating up, especially Nikolaj Ehlers and Bryan Little. Each of them had four points in four games last week. Ehlers is obviously a must own while Little is back on the streaming radar.
Charlie Coyle returned scoring a goal and an assist in four games. I wouldn’t be rushing to pick him up but he was a hold for the majority of last season so keep an eye on how Coyle does in the short term.
Monday Streamers:
Nick Schmaltz (10.5%) – The minutes are up quite a bit right now as he remains in the top six. The Ducks are banged up so use Schmaltz at home.
Riley Sheahan (0.4%) – With Evgeni Malkin out, Sheahan has moved up to the second line. He has a point in five of the last six Pittsburgh games so I like Sheahan quite a bit tonight against the Flyers, including as a cheap DFS option.
Nick Bjugstad (2.9%) – With a couple injuries for Florida, Bjugstad has been getting at least 15 minutes a game and solid PP time. They could have a sneaky open game against the Devils so I don’t mind taking a shot on the American tonight.
That’s all for now guys. I’ll be back tomorrow recapping all of Tuesday’s action. As always, feel free to answer any questions or leave any comments below, I’ll be sure to get to them in a timely manner now that I’m back home. Thanks for reading, take care!
