Out of the three players moved in the big Columbus-Winnipeg blockbuster, the extra player is the one who has been the best on his new team and it’s not even close. Jack Roslovic has been outstanding since moving to his home town team. He scored two goals on four shots in the 6-5 win over Chicago. That brings him to 4+5 in 9 games with the Blue Jackets. The shot rate is poor to this point, but he also has nine shots in the past three games so it’s looking up. I really liked Roslovic as a prospect, but it never clicked in Winnipeg for whatever reason. Now, he’s playing center, which appears to be his better position, and Torts is utilizing him as a #1 center. Roslovic is widely available and should be added in all leagues. There’s no guarantee it lasts, but he’s hot right now and there’s real upside to be had. Let’s take a look at what else happened over the last two nights:
Brendan Lemieux – Two assists with a shot. He was a solid prospect, but the offense never came around for Lemieux. He’s a solid streamer in deep leagues for PIM and hits, but that’s about it.
Jake Muzzin – Three assists with a shot. Muzzin is solid enough across the board that he’s a bottom end hold in all formats. He’s stumbling into enough points just playing 20 minutes on the Leafs.
John Tavares – Two assists with three shots. Solid start for Tavares who sits right at a point per game. His shot rate is below three per game, which does hurt a bit. He’s been trending in the wrong direction there since his great first season in Toronto. That said, all that does is keep him outside of the top 20 players, Tavares will end up just fine.
Zach Hyman – Goal and an assist with three shots and two PIM. Hyman is firmly entrenched as Toronto’s first line LW and needs to be held while he’s playing this well hitting all of the categories.
Bryan Rust – Goal and an assist with six shots. I’ve gotten a few questions about Rust’s slow start. I’m not overly concerned. The shot rate has been outstanding and there’s only a matter of time until they start going in, especially playing with Crosby. Be patient.
Steven Stamkos – Missed Thursday’s game with a lower body injury, day to day. It doesn’t sound serious, but still very annoying that Stammer is missing time. Guy has no luck in the health department.
Brayden Point – Two goals on four shots playing over 23 minutes. I expect Point to get a massive workload while Stamkos is out, especially if Cooper sticks with 11F/7D.
Victor Hedman – Two assists with three shots playing over 27 minutes. Just an absolute monster.
Alex Wennberg – Goal and an assist. The good news is that Wennberg is the clear 2C right now. The bad news is that despite that, he hasn’t been scoring despite Hornqvist and Huberdeau performing well. Wennberg is a bottom end streamer at best because the shot rate is downright dreadful.
Aaron Ekblad – Goal and an assist. Very nice start from Ekblad across the board.
Cam Atkinson – Goal and three assists with four shots. Things are starting to click with the new first line of Atkinson, Roslovic, and Patrik Laine (A, 2 SOG). Atkinson is right on the fringe, but I’m leaning towards holding him to see if he gets back on track. It wasn’t that long ago that he scored 41 goals, and while Laine and Roslovic aren’t Panarin, we could see a bounceback from last season’s disappointment.
Michael Del Zotto – Goal and an assist with five shots. He played 20 minutes which was a small boost, partly because of the Jackets being down for a large chunk of the game. With Werenski out, MDZ is a deep league option.
Kevin Stenlund – Goal and an assist with three shots and two PIM. He’s played four games and has five points, and Stenlund scored the winner with 1:16 left. I’m not streaming him yet in standard leagues, but he’s worth monitoring.
Patrick Kane – Goal and two assists with two shots. He’s been on an absolute tear with Alex DeBrincat (1+2, 4 SOG). Amazingly, the Blackhawks are still getting outperformed with Kane on the ice, but it doesn’t matter to us in fantasy. With how much Colliton plays them, I don’t see them slowing down.
Nicolas Beaudin – Goal and an assist, the first goal of his career. Nothing to see here for now, but long term, the former first round pick could be a factor in fantasy.
Kevin Lankinen – 37 saves on 43 shots in the loss. I cursed him starting the post two days ago with him! Or maybe the regression fairies finally found their way to Chicago.
Mike Smith – 38 save shutout in the 3-0 win over the Canadiens. Quite the start for Smith’s season allowing one goal in two games. Mikko Koskinen is on the COVID list so if you need a goalie, grab Smith. There’s real downside, but maybe he’ll stay hot.
Roman Josi – Two assists with three shots, as did Filip Forsberg. The big guys delivered against Detroit which is to be expected. A bit annoyed that Forsberg played only 14:32 in this game with how great he’s played this season.
Connor Hellebuyck – 41 saves on 42 shots in the 5-1 win over the Senators. The Sens played well in this game, especially in the first period, but couldn’t buy a goal until late. Vintage Hellebuyck performance.
Paul Stastny – Goal and an assist with two shots. A bunch of line shifting helped Stastny play over 20 minutes. He’s a solid streamer again with upside if these changes stick.
Mark Scheifele – Two assists with a shot. You couldn’t get one more point for the Three Point Challenge!?
Nikolaj Ehlers – Goal and an assist. Don’t like that Ehlers playing just under 15 minutes, but he’s been so good that Ehlers should get back to his usual 18+ soon enough.
Jordan Staal – Goal and an assist. I didn’t see this offensive start coming from Staal. The shot rate is poor, but while he’s on the first power play unit, he’s an elite streamer.
Vincent Trocheck – Two assists with three shots in his return. Nice to see Trocheck pick back up right where he left off.
Brett Pesce – Two assists with two shots. That’s seven points in the last six games for Pesce. That said, I’m still only using him in deeper leagues that don’t include hits. Somehow, Pesce has zero hits this year!
Denis Gurianov – Two assists with two shots. Gurianov has been outstanding this season. The jump in shot rate gives me much more hope going forward in terms of Gurianov’s fantasy ceiling.
Jason Robertson – Two assists with two shots. At the moment, Robertson is playing with Gurianov and Hintz, but not getting every shift. The 21 year old second round pick has some long term upside, but for now, leave him on the waiver wire.
Tomas Hertl – Two goals on four shots. Hertl had been ice cold so it was nice to see him bounce back despite the Sharks getting destroyed on Thursday. I’m still holding, but it’s not a slam dunk.
Drew Doughty – Three assists. Doughty is becoming the poster boy of “better in fantasy than real life” at this point in his career. The Kings have a 39% expected goal rate when he’s on the ice aka they’re getting caved in. That said, we don’t care for fantasy and Doughty has performed admirably.
Anze Kopitar – Goal and an assist with two shots. Kopitar has been so damn good once again. It’s a shame he’ll probably be aging out by the time the Kings have their next contender, but maybe Kopitar can defy the odds.
Carl Grundstrom – Goal and an assist with two shots. Nothing to see here at the moment.
Jaret Anderson-Dolan – Goal and an assist. Maybe there’s something here eventually, but easy pass for now.
Jacob Markstrom – 33 saves on 34 shots in the 3-1 win over the Canucks. Revenge game again for Markstrom who has been up and down, but certainly up against Vancouver. There’s a bunch of Ottawa games coming up soon as well which bodes well.
Mark Giordano – Goal and an assist with two shots. It’ll be boring, but Giordano will remain a bottom end hold without much debate.
Sean Monahan – Two assists with two PIM and two shots. The goals haven’t been there, partially on bad luck and partially on a mediocre shot rate. The good news is that Monahan has nine assists in 13 games. They don’t call him Boring Sean Monahan for nothing.
John Gibson – 21 save shutout in the 1-0 win over the Golden Knights. Didn’t expect Gibson to face that few shots against a powerhouse like Vegas. Some of that was no Shea Theodore (D2D), part of that was the Ducks playing a very nice defensive game. Gibson has been great and looks like he’s showing last season was a fluke.
Marc-Andre Fleury – 27 saves on 28 shots as the tough luck loser. Robin Lehner was scratched at the last minute and is day to day, so if Fleury is available in your league, grab him now.
That’s all for now guys. I’ll be back on Monday recapping the action from the weekend. As always, feel free to ask any questions, leave any comments, or give any suggestions below. Thanks for reading, take care!
