Jonathan Quick was already out. Now Jack Campbell is out 4-6 weeks with a knee injury. That makes Cal Petersen the starter in Los Angeles for the time being. Petersen was a 5th round pick for the Sabres that blossomed at Notre Dame and signed with the Kings after he became a free agent due to waiting out his time at Notre Dame. He is a very good prospect, and now he’s jumped into the show. In his two starts over the weekend, Petersen made 34 saves on 35 shots against the Blackhawks before stopping 38 of 42 shots against the Predators. Obviously the Kings are a bad team, but their schedule is decent for the next two weeks, so I don’t mind taking a gamble on Petersen if you need goaltending help. Let’s take a look at what else happened over the weekend:
Friday’s Games
Tuukka Rask – 36 saves on 37 shots in the 1-0 OT loss to Dallas. Tough luck for Rask, but nice to see him back on the ice. I would still like to buy low on Rask if possible.
Ben Bishop – 23 save shutout earning the win. Very strong start to the season for Bishop; he’s a middling to bottom end #1.
Carter Hutton – 25 saves on 26 shots in the 2-1 SO win over the Jets. Hutton was remarkable in this game, especially in the first half of it to keep the Sabres in the game. He’s had a couple stinkers, but overall Hutton has been strong.
Laurent Brossoit – 31 saves on 32 shots as the tough luck loser. I’m good with using Brossoit as a streamer in almost all matchups.
Corey Crawford – 31 saves on 32 shots in the 2-1 SO loss to the Kings. Crawford has been fantastic this year; nice to see the vertigo issues behind him.
Nicklas Backstrom – Goal and an assist with two shots and two PIM. Backstrom has been his usual steady self. Everything is looking great.
Tom Wilson – Two assists with three shots. Your league format determines whether Wilson is a hold, assuming he sticks on the Ovechkin line.
Garrett Sparks – 38 saves on 39 shots in the 2-1 win over the Ducks. Sparks isn’t good, but streaming against the Ducks is a great option.
Ryan O’Reilly – Two goals on five shots, both assisted by Jaden Schwartz and Vladimir Tarasenko. I’ve gotten a lot of questions about Schwartz, who should be a hold on the top line, but now has an undisclosed injury and missed Saturday’s game. It’s a shame he can’t stay healthy. The other two have been great.
Jake Allen – 32 saves on 33 shots in the 4-1 win over Vegas. Allen has been dreadful all season; a .891 sv% despite two straight games allowing one goal says it all. He’s a desperation play.
Saturday’s Games
Tyler Bertuzzi – Two assists with a shot. He’s a bottom end streamer at best because of the shot rate.
Adam Erne – Goal and two assists. Erne is a decent prospect but he doesn’t get the playing time to be fantasy relevant.
Nikita Kucherov – Two assists with two shots. Kucherov has 23 points in 20 games which is almost expected, but he’s gone from 3.5 shots per game to 2.5 shots per game. I don’t really know why, and I hope it gets back towards previous levels, because otherwise his goal total is going to drop.
Brayden Point – Two goals on three shots. Point has been incredible with 14+!0 with 12 PIM and 2.5 shots per game. He’s not going to keep shooting 28% but career highs across the board look likely.
James van Riemsdyk – Goal and two assists with three shots and two PIM in his second game back. Get him back in your lineups immediately.
Travis Konecny – Two goals on eight shots with two PIM. Solid streamer, especially since PP2 will improve with JVR back. Still a bit away from hold consideration.
Sean Couturier – Goal and an assist with five shots. He’s finally picking up as expected. Look for the top guys to get a roll soon, as Claude Giroux and Shayne Gostisbehere also had two points each.
Rasmus Dahlin – Goal and an assist with three shots. Dahlin looked incredible in this game with plenty of flash but also steady defensive play. He should be playing 25 minutes a night at this point; hopefully it happens soon.
Jake McCabe – Goal and an assist with five shots. He’s been surprisingly good offensively this season, especially when with Dahlin. He’s definitely in play in deep leagues, but I’m still passing in 12’ers unless he gets PP time.
Jason Pominville – Goal and an assist with two shots. After playing most of the last two games on a different line, he went back on the top line and scored with 1:30 left. Stream him when he’s on the top line and leave him on the wire when he’s not. Nice and simple.
Jack Eichel – Two assists with five shots and two PIM. Eichel has been spectacular and I think he’ll get better. He’s taking four shots per game yet is only shooting 5%. If he keeps that rate up, he’s going to score 30 goals.
Cam Atkinson – Hat trick and an assist with five shots. Call him Hatkinson. Just kidding, that’s terrible and I’m embarrassed I typed it. The top line remains among the league’s best with Artemi Panarin dishing three assists and Pierre-Luc Dubois having two of his own.
Sergei Bobrovsky – 30 saves on 31 shots in the 4-1 win over Carolina. Safe to say that Bob is back in full force.
Mike Hoffman – Goal and an assist with four shots. Hoffman is hotter than a pistol right now bringing his total to over a point per game and over three shots per contest. Aggressive ranking paying off!
Chris Kreider – Goal and two assists with two shots. Kreider has been fantastic to the point where I’m debating whether he can finish as a top 50 player, not whether he should be held. I don’t think he quite gets to that level, but he looks great in almost every game.
Evgeni Malkin – Two assists as did Phil Kessel. Sidney Crosby was out so these two played well over 20 minutes. Expect the same tonight against Buffalo making them elite DFS options.
Matt Duchene – Two goals and an assist. Duchene has been amazing this season at the perfect time as he approaches unrestricted free agency for the first time in his career.
Mark Stone – Two goals on four shots. He’s also going to get a massive deal. I think Stone has a better chance of keeping this up, but this Sens team has been a revelation offensively.
Mikkel Boedker – Two assists with no shots as did Ryan Dzingel. Boedker is a bottom end streamer at best. Dzingel is an elite streamer bordering on a hold. If I had the spot, I think I’d hold him right now, but it’s close.
Drake Batherson – Two assists with two PIM. The 20 year old former 4th round pick has three points in his first two games. For now, leave him on the waiver wire until we get a better idea of his role.
Jonathan Drouin – Goal and an assist. A nice streak has Drouin up to 17 points in 20 games. I would lean towards hold for now but he’ll probably drop back to an elite streamer at some point.
Jaroslav Halak – 32 saves on 33 shots in the 2-1 win over the Coyotes. There’s just no slowing down for Halak at this point. He has to be held and played every time he starts until he regresses.
Anze Kopitar – Goal and an assist with three shots. It’s been an awfully start to the season for Kopitar with only 8 points in 18 games. I was lower on him than most, but it has to get much better than this. I wouldn’t sell low but I’m not sure I’d want to buy either unless the price was very low.
Calle Jarnkrok – Hat trick on four shots. Another random Predators hat trick; seems to happen a few times a season. I like Jarnkrok as a player, but he’s not a fantasy guy.
Ryan Ellis – Two assists with five shots as did Roman Josi. They’re already holds, but they get big boosts in the short term with P.K. Subban out (he’s DTD but on IR). They’re great DFS options, as is Mattias Ekholm, who should be held until Subban gets back.
Colton Sissons – Two assists with three shots playing over 20 minutes. Bottom end streamer, plain and simple.
Travis Hamonic – Two assists with five shots. There was a time where Hamonic was fantasy relevant. That time is not now.
Noah Hanifin – Two assists with three shots. There’s still time since he’s only 21, but I’m a bit worried Hanifin never pans out to be the offensive player people projected as the 5th overall pick. He’s not close to being a hold right now, and while he might get there one day, that doesn’t matter at this point.
Elias Lindholm – Two goals on four shots. He has been everything Calgary could have hoped for and then some after trading for him in the offseason. Hopefully you took a late round flier on him or streamed him to start the season and never let go. Life with Sean Monahan (1+1) and Johnny Gaudreau (1A) is good.
Aaron Dell – 30 save shutout in the 4-0 win over the Blues. Dell has been a strong backup for the Sharks the past two seasons. That should continue this year, making him a viable streamer in almost all matchups.
Erik Karlsson – Goal and an assist with four shots. His long overdue first goal for the Sharks. It feels like he’s going to take off and have a big hot streak sooner than later.
Logan Couture – Three assists with four shots and two PIM. He was in a mini-slump, but after this game Couture is up to 20 points in 21 games. Hopefully he can come close to maintaining this assist rate because a new career high in points would be a certainty.
Joe Pavelski – Two goals. He’s caught fire with nine points in his past four games following a tough start. I assume some of these goals are going to turn into assists, but it’s nice that Pavelski alleviated any doubt about him falling off at age 34.
Evander Kane – Goal and an assist with four shots. Great start for Kane as expected.
Timo Meier – Two assists with three shots. Meier has been fantastic across the board breaking out in every way imaginable. He’s going to regress some, but a borderline top 50 player for years to come looks to be his most likely path.
Sunday’s Games
Alexander Radulov – Two goals and an assist with four shots. The big guns for the Stars dominated the game with Tyler Seguin and Jamie Benn also getting three points. Fingers crossed that Radulov can stay healthy because they’ve been unstoppable together.
Jason Spezza – Two assists with a shot. He’s a bottom end streamer at this point of his career.
Esa Lindell – Two goals on five shots with two PIM. While he’s not on PP1 with Klingberg down, Lindell is still getting big minutes. He’s fringe but I kind of like taking the gamble if you need defensive help.
Curtis McElhinney – 33 saves on 34 shots in the 2-1 win over the Devils. His overall numbers are bad this season, albeit in only 5 games. I think he’ll be better, but I would only use McElhinney in the best matchups.
Jonathan Toews – Goal and an assist with two PIM. I like Toews a lot more now than he’s playing with Patrick Kane (two assists, two shots). Same goes with Brandon Saad as the third wheel (goal on four shots). Saad is an elite streamer while Toews gets a big boost.
Corey Crawford – 39 saves on 40 shots in the 3-1 win over the Wild. Brick wall right now.
Jonathan Marchessault – Two goals and an assist with five shots, as the top guys for Vegas dominated Edmonton. Reilly Smith had a goal and two assists while William Karlsson had a goal and an assist with three shots. Everyone who reads me regularly knows I love me some Marchessault and he hasn’t disappointed. Karlsson has been a bottom end hold, although I think he’ll be a bit better. Smith has been awful, but I’d still look to stream him for the upside.
Colin Miller – Three assists with two shots. Miller has had a rough go of it to start, and is no longer a hold.
Shea Theodore – Two assists with two shots. Theodore has been poor as well. If I had to pick between the two, I guess I would go Theodore over Miller for the PPP, but I don’t feel good about it.
Leon Draisaitl – Goal and an assist with three shots. He’s been killing it with McJesus, no surprise.
Drake Caggiula – Two assists with three shots and two PIM. Caggiula is playing with Draisaitl and McJesus right now making him a solid streamer.
Nathan MacKinnon – Goal and two assists with seven shots playing over 25 minutes. Mikko Rantanen scored a goal and two assists with three shots playing 24 minutes, while Gabriel Landeskog had a goal and an assist with five shots and two PIM playing 25:24. Still torn whether or not they’re the best line in hockey, but it looks more like it by the day.
Brandon Montour – Goal and two assists with two shots and two PIM. He’s been awful to start the season and I’m not buying into this game.
Ryan Getzlaf – Goal and an assist with three shots. Solid, yet unspectacular start for Getzlaf. It is nice to see the shot rate up though.
Monday Streamers:
Frank Vatrano (0.4%) – He’s playing on the second line in Florida right now and has a prime matchup with the Senators.
Lars Eller (1.9%) – He’s getting big minutes on the first line and first PP unit with Kuznetsov out. Getting to play with Ovechkin is worth it alone.
Robby Fabbri (0.0%) – Fabbri hasn’t done anything yet this year, but he has great offensive upside and a matchup with the Kings is a great one to exploit.
That’s all for now guys. I’ll be back on Wednesday recapping Monday and Tuesday’s action. As always, feel free to ask any questions or comments below. It might take me a while to get to them, as I have the final table of a poker tournament tomorrow (you can follow here if you’re interested), but I promise I will answer them all when I get a chance. Thanks for reading, take care!
