On January 3rd, the St. Louis Blues were in last place of the entire NHL. Here we are six weeks later and they’re safely in a playoff position. The Blues have matched the longest winning streak in the NHL this season at 10, winning two games this weekend in convincing fashion. First, Jake Allen shutout the Avalanche, then Jordan Binnington shut out the Wild on a back to back. Right now, Binnington is as hot as it gets in the league. I don’t expect this to continue, but for now, he’s a must start every time out. I still view Allen as somewhat of a desperation play, but with how well the team is playing in front of him, I’m fine with streaming him for the time being. Looks like a coaching change was what they needed to right the ship. Let’s take a look at what else happened over the weekend:
Friday’s Games
Vladislav Namestnikov – Two goals and an assist. He had done nothing the previous eight games. If Names gets moved at the deadline, he could get streamer value again, but for now he’s a pass.
Kevin Hayes – Two assists with a shot. Hayes hasn’t slowed down one bit. He’s a step past the fringe and is someone I don’t even consider dropping.
Pavel Buchnevich – Goal and an assist. I wrote about him last week, but to repeat, I still love him in dynasties but the Butcher is only a bottom end streamer now.
Jeff Skinner – Two goals on three shots. The Sabres are falling apart but Skinner is still rolling. Botterill needs to listen to Teddy KGB and pay that man his money.
Nino Niederreiter – Two goals on four shots, both assisted by Sebastian Aho and Justin Williams. I said Nino was a must add the second he was traded and he’s remained a hold. I still can’t believe the Wild traded him for Rask straight up, just awful management. Williams remains a strong streamer and Aho is a tank.
Curtis McElhinney – 40 saves on 41 shots in the 3-1 win over the Oilers. Very hit or miss but he’s hitting a lot more than missing right now. He’s an easy hold now. Remarkable how McElhinney has developed into a solid goalie after he was the worst goalie in the league for a couple years in Columbus.
Nico Hischier – Goal and an assist with four shots. Nice to see him producing without Hall. It feels like next season could be the big breakout.
Marcus Johansson – Goal and an assist. Decent streamer which could become something better once he’s moved at the deadline.
Kyle Palmieri – Goal and an assist with four shots. Palmieri is one of the most underrated players in hockey. He’s been getting it done for a few seasons now. Easy hold.
Jesper Bratt – Two assists with three shots. He’s really starting to pick it up lately but Bratt doesn’t give PIM and has a poor shot rate. Bottom end streamer.
Ryan Suter – Two assists with three shots. Suter keeps piling up the points while the rest of the team is struggling. He’s a nice bet to set a career high in points at 34.
Mikael Granlund – Goal and an assist with five shots. Decent season from Granlund by his standards. He’s starting to shoot a lot more which could make for a big finish.
Brad Hunt – Goal and an assist. And there’s your annual Hunt update!
Jaroslav Halak – 30 save shutout in the 3-0 win over the Ducks. I’ll keep repeating myself: play every goalie against the Ducks.
Sean Kuraly – Two assists with a shot. Nothing to see here.
Saturday’s Games
Mike Green – Two assists with two shots. I’m holding Green but it’s not exciting. That said, not everyone on your team has to be exciting and he’s a small plus in all categories.
Anthony Mantha – Two goals on six shots. Really disappointing season for Mantha. He’s a bottom end streamer for now but I’d be tempted to try and buy low in dynasties if you were out of it this season.
Tyler Bertuzzi – Goal and an assist with three shots. Nice game in Bertuzzi’s first appearance in a month. He’s back on the top line making him a strong streamer.
Nolan Patrick – Goal and two assists with three shots. We’re starting to see the signs of Patrick putting things together. He’s a fine streamer for now but he could be a hot name going into drafts next season.
Wayne Simmonds – Two assists with a shot. I was down on Simmonds going into the season and said to sell high after his hot start. He’s decent but I’m certainly not holding him in a 12’er. I think whoever trades for him at the deadline is likely to be disappointed.
Sean Couturier – Two assists with three shots. Hotter than a pistol.
Shayne Gostisbehere – Goal and an assist with three shots. We’re starting to see the signs of Gostisbehere getting going again. I’m fine with picking him back up if he’s on the wire.
Travis Konecny – Two goals on three shots with two PIM. He’s an elite streamer while he’s on PP1.
Derek Ryan – Three assists with three shots. Easy pass in all formats.
Evgeni Malkin – Two goals and an assist with five shots. He’s really starting to pile up the points, but boy has he sucked at even strength this season. Malkin being -19 is a shock. The Pens power play is amazing with Sidney Crosby getting 3 PPP in this game and Phil Kessel getting two.
Vladimir Tarasenko – Goal and an assist with seven shots. Tarasenko is the hottest player in the league over the last three weeks.
Josh Bailey – Two assists with two penalty minutes. Solid streamer and you could hold him depending on team needs.
Devon Toews – Two assists with two shots. At this point, nothing to really see here. Welcome to the Razzball Database!
Nikita Kucherov – Goal and an assist with three shots. Steven Stamkos and Ondrej Palat each dished two assists. Kucherov has 94 points already. This is absurd. The big thing here is that Palat is on PP1 and with Stamkos at even strength making him a super elite streamer, if not a hold.
Andrei Vasilevskiy – 20 save shutout in the 3-0 win over the Canadiens. Too easy.
Darcy Kuemper – 22 save shutout in the 2-0 win over the Maple Leafs. Hell of a performance by the Desert Dogs keeping the Leafs to 22 shots. Kuemper is a slight step above desperation.
Matt Duchene – Goal and an assist, as did Mark Stone and Ryan Dzingel. All of the guys who could get traded did well against the Jets, a team that could easily acquire one of these guys. Nothing has changed with these guys until a move is made.
Christian Jaros – Two assists with two shots. Nothing to see here. Welcome to the Razzball Database!
Tyler Myers – Two goals on four shots. He’s been playing well lately but Myers still isn’t 12’er worthy. That said, I feel better about him in 16’ers.
Brandon Tanev – Goal and an assist with two shots and two PIM. Solid player in real life but Tanev doesn’t do much in fantasy.
Petr Mrazek – 33 save shutout in the 3-0 win over the Stars. I could have started the article with Carolina goaltending instead of the Blues. Just replace Binnington with McElhinney and Allen with Mrazek.
Patrick Kane – Goal and an assist with six shots. This season by Kane is remarkable. 87 points in 58 games!
Ryan Murray – Three assists with a shot. He’s okay for deep leagues and the assists are great with a strong plus-minus. No PIM, one goal and a poor shot rate eliminate him in 12’ers. AAGNOF!
Artemi Panarin – Two goals and an assist with five shots. He’s been tearing it up lately which comes as no surprise. Funny to think that people thought Panarin was a passenger with Kane as a rookie.
Pierre-Luc Dubois – Goal and an assist with two shots. Dubois looks like someone who can make a huge leap next season. I can already tell I will be super aggressive with where I rank him.
Joe Pavelski – Goal and an assist, as did Logan Couture and Timo Meier. This line has been killing it since put together. Have to love the Sharks’ chances in the West.
Malcolm Subban – 29 saves on 30 shots in the 5-1 win over the Predators. After being a disaster to start the season, Subban has had four strong starts in a row. I’m back to streaming him in all matchups for the time being.
Max Pacioretty – Two goals on nine shots. Patches is on the fringe now so it comes down to team needs.
Oscar Lindberg – Goal and an assist with five shots. He’s played better this season in Vegas but he’s a bottom end streamer at best.
Alex Tuch – Two assists with six shots. Tuch has been in an awful slump. I still lean hold but it’s close again.
Patrice Bergeron – Goal and an assist with four shots. He doesn’t get talked about with the best players in the league but Bergeron absolutely deserves it.
David Krejci – Two assists with four shots. Krejci is close to a pure AAGNOF but I would slightly lean towards hold while he’s hot.
Jake DeBrusk – Goal and an assist with two shots. DeBrusk is a solid streamer who looks primed for a breakout next season.
Sunday Streamers
Mats Zuccarello – Two goals on eight shots. He’s hotter than hell right now and should be owned in all formats.
Chris Kreider – Two assists with six shots. There’s some potential talk of Kreider being moved at the deadline. If he is, he can make a massive impact on his new team.
Mika Zibanejad – Goal and an assist with five shots and two PIM. Just a massive breakout for Zibanejad. A point per game with three shots per game is a top 75 player with ease.
Kevin Shattenkirk – Two assists with four shots and two PIM. I’m still passing.
Kris Letang – Two goals on four shots. All of the Penguins mentioned above had 2-3 points again in this game. Letang is crushing it across the board again.
Marcus Pettersson – Goal and an assist with three shots. Nothing to see here.
Zach Aston-Reese – Two assists with three shots. He was with Malkin and Kessel in this game. If that holds, ZAR automatically becomes an elite streamer.
Vladimir Tarasenko – Goal and two assists with three shots. He’s made up for his dreadful start.
Ryan O’Reilly – Goal and an assist with four shots. Their trade with Buffalo is looking like a bigger steal every day.
Brayden Schenn – Goal and an assist with three shots. I wrote about Schenn being a possible trade candidate before but with how the Blues are playing, I think we can forget about that. I’m holding him without hesitation.
Alex Pietrangelo – Two assists with three shots and two PIM. Of all of the big name defensemen who struggled, I like Pietrangelo the most right now. He’s finally back on track.
Oskar Lindblom – Two goals, both assisted by Sean Couturier. Don’t see much from Lindblom right now but there could be something there in dynasties.
Carter Hart – 37 saves on 38 shots in the 3-1 win over the Red Wings. Excellent start to Hart’s career, rhyme unintended. He’s looking like a 1G for a decade plus, but you never know with goalies.
Cory Schneider – 34 saves on 35 shots in the 4-1 win over the Sabres. He looked like vintage Schneider in this one but that seems like an anomaly. Easy pass.
Kyle Palmieri – Goal and two assists with four shots. See Palmieri, Kyle above.
Travis Zajac – Two assists. Zajac hasn’t been good in fantasy for a decade.
Andy Greene – Two assists. Is there a more obscure captain than Greene?
Tomas Tatar – Two assists with two shots. Tatar remains right on the fringe but I would lean hold.
Max Domi – Two goals on four shots with two PIM. I wish the shot rate was better than slightly below average. That said, he’s been an incredible value this season.
Aleksander Barkov – Hat trick and an assist with seven shots. How disgusting is this goal?
ARE YOU SERIOUS, @Barkovsasha95?? pic.twitter.com/edyuy2q5Fu
— NHL GIFs (@NHLGIFs) February 18, 2019
Keith Yandle – Two assists with a shot. Yandle keeps doing his thing; we know what to expect.
Mike Hoffman – Two assists with two shots and two PIM. The plus-minus is still ugly but I’m still holding Hoffman without much hesitation.
John Carlson – Goal and an assist with three shots. Carlson’s shot rate has plummeted this season. That drags him back down towards a bottom end #1D instead of a top 5 option.
Braden Holtby – 34 saves on 39 shots in the 5-2 loss to the Ducks. How do you give up five goals and 39 shots to the Ducks!? What a pathetic effort by the Caps.
Adam Henrique – Two goals and an assist with four shots. Easy pass.
Corey Perry – Goal and an assist with five shots and two PIM. I want nothing to do with Perry.
Jakob Silfverberg – Two goals on three shots. Nothing to see here for fantasy right now. Perhaps that changes if he’s moved but I kind of doubt it.
Ryan Getzlaf – Two assists with a shot. Getzlaf is right on the fringe for me, which I assume is somewhat controversial. He’s getting murdered at even strength for the first time in 7 years and nothing is great besides the PIM. I don’t own him anywhere but I think I wouldn’t be holding anymore.
That’s all for now guys. I will probably have a set of daily notes on Tuesday morning recapping the action from Monday night so be on the lookout for that. As always, feel free to ask any questions, leave any comments, or give any suggestions below. Thanks for reading, take care!
