It feels like forever ago that Tomas Hertl took the league by storm as a rookie. He’s shown signs of promise since, but never really put it together. Until. Hertl had a hat trick on Tuesday to lead the Sharks over the Penguins. That brings him up to 19+22 in 43 games, both numbers rapidly approaching career highs in mid-January. He is providing no penalty minutes and a below average shot rate which caps his long term ceiling, but he looks to be a guy who is a fringe top 100 player for the next few seasons. I would say if I had to say where I rank him next year, my guess is just outside the top 100 just because the downside is much higher for a guy whose sole value is coming from points and not the side categories. Let’s take a look at what else happened on Tuesday night:
Robin Lehner – 30 saves on 31 shots in the 2-1 OT win over the Blues. Lehner has turned into one of the best signings in the offseason. He’s somehow still available in almost 2/3rds of leagues and that makes zero sense to me. He should be owned in all formats.
Saku Maenalanen – Two goals on four shots. He’s had a nice start in the NHL with 4 goals in 9 games, but I don’t see a ton here. He’s not playing many minutes.
Mika Zibanejad – Two goals and two assists with four shots. Zibanejad has had an excellent season. Sure, the plus-minus is poor, but the shot rate is great, he’s near a point per game, and he has the most PIM of his career already. I expect more of the same for the rest of the season.
Mats Zuccarello – Three assists with two shots. Publicly stating that he’s struggling with his ongoing situation seems to have let him play more freely. The Norwegian Hobbit is back to a solid to slightly better streamer.
Chris Kreider – Two assists with four shots. Kreider remains an easy hold.
Boo Nieves – Two assists. Boo has been playing better this season, but he also has 10 SOG in 14 games. Pass.
Pavel Buchnevich – Two goals on three shots. I’m still a fan of the Butcher long term, but he’s a bottom end streamer for now.
Tony DeAngelo – Two goals on four shots. Tony D. has shown flashes in the past, especially from a fantasy perspective. I think he could be a nice sneaky add for deep dynasty teams who are out of it this season for his long term potential.
Joonas Korpisalo – 29 saves on 30 shots in the 4-1 win over the Devils. Don’t let his record fool you, Korpisalo hasn’t been good this year. He’s a fine streamer in good matchups like this one, but that’s it.
Cam Atkinson – Goal and an assist, as did his linemates Artemi Panarin and Pierre-Luc Dubois. It’s a damn good line that the Devils had no answer for, especially without Hall in the lineup. All three of these guys are elite options on a nightly basis.
Jimmy Howard – 23 saves on 24 shots in the 3-1 win over the Ducks. Howard has been surprisingly decent this season. He’s probably a top #3 goalie who I would use slightly more than half of the time in roto settings, and in H2H more than that.
Danny DeKeyser – Two assists. And there’s your annual DeKeyser update!
Shea Weber – Goal and an assist with three shots. Weber has been very good since coming back from injury this season. I’d call him a #2D, possibly top end #3, going forward.
Antti Niemi – 52 saves on 53 shots in the 5-1 win over the Panthers. That’s three monster starts in a row for Niemi… to get to a .897 sv% and a 3.63 GAA. It’s hard to have any faith in him going forward.
Viktor Arvidsson – Hat trick on six shots. My man Arvy has been terrific this season. It’s a shame he missed so much time due to injury because he’s at a point per game with great numbers in every category. Great find by the Preds in the fourth round.
Nick Bonino – Two goals on four shots. Don’t see much use for him outside of the deepest of leagues.
Ryan Johansen – Two assists with a shot. Johansen has become close to a pure AAGNOF. That’s fine, but disappointing for what he looked like he was going to be five years ago.
Mattias Ekholm – Two assists with two shots. Ekholm has already set a career high in points, has strong PIM, and is +21. There is no doubt that he should be owned in all formats.
Laurent Brossoit – 43 saves on 44 shots in the 4-1 win over Vegas. Brossoit’s numbers are ridiculous. On the season, he’s 10-1-1 with a 2.01/.943. With the Jets in front of him, I’d stream him every time he starts.
Kyle Connor – Two goals and an assist with three shots and two PIM. The top line from earlier in the season is back to together and Vegas had no answer, as Mark Scheifele has a goal and an assist while Blake Wheeler dished two assists. The other two are fantasy superstars, but this really helps Connor.
Andrei Vasilevskiy – 35 save shutout in the 2-0 win over the Stars. Best goalie in fantasy going into the season remains the best goalie in fantasy now.
Evander Kane – Three assists with six shots. Kane continues to be a monster across the board. Here’s to hoping these assists keep up because it will boost his already high value.
Brenden Dillon – Two assists. Fine depth defenseman in real life, nothing for us fantasy players.
Wednesday Streamers
Michael Frolik (6.1%) – Frolik in on fire right now and the Sabres are a hot mess. Seems like plenty of reason to use him on a short slate.
J.T. Compher (16.1%) – I was surprised to see Compher is this highly owned. Regardless, he’s playing big minutes right now on PP1 and the second line, and gets the dream matchup against the Senators. Big fan of this spot for the Avs, including Compher.
Joonas Donskoi (13.6%) – He got through Tuesday’s game just fine so I’ll go back to the well with Donskoi against the Desert Dogs.
That’s all for now guys. I might have a Thursday post, but odds are I’ll be back on Friday recapping the action from the last two nights. As always, feel free to ask any questions, leave any comments, or give any suggestions below. Thanks for reading, take care!
