The Blues have cooled off a bit since their hot start, but that doesn’t mean that all of their players have. Pavel Buchnevich tore it up over the weekend, scoring a goal and an assist with three shots and two PIM on Friday before coming back with two goals and an assist with five shots on Saturday. Buch is crushing it across the board on the seasons now with 8+8, 18 PIM and 58 shots in 19 games. Add in a +8 rating and he’s a top 20 forward at the moment. Do I expect that to last? No, but his fit in St. Louis couldn’t be better and now he’s getting plenty of minutes, especially with David Perron out of the lineup. Somehow, he’s still available in over 20% of leagues which is blasphemous. He has a real chance at being a top 50 player this year. Let’s take a look at what else happened over the weekend:
Friday’s Games
Dustin Tokarski – 25 saves on 26 shots in the 4-1 win over Montreal. He’s been playing well lately, but I still can’t bring myself to use Tokarski.
Tage Thompson – Two goals on four shots. Both goals were assisted by Jeff Skinner and Victor Olofsson. This line has been doing the heavy lifting for Buffalo. All three are playing close to a hold level. At the moment, I’d hold Olofsson and Thompson while streaming Skinner, but it’s close.
Cody Eakin – Goal and an assist with three shots. Just… no.
Joe Pavelski – Two goals. The top line from last season is starting to become the top line again in terms of minutes. I’d lean towards grabbing Pavelski now as they find their rhythm, even though the shot rate has dropped quite a bit.
Artemi Panarin – Goal and an assist with two shots and twelve PIM, most of which came from Panarin throwing his glove from the bench at Marchand. And for that, we thank you.
Dryden Hunt – Goal and an assist. He’s playing with Panarin and Ryan Strome (1+1, 3 SOG) at the moment. I’d only stream him in deep leagues. Welcome to the Razzball Database!
Adam Fox – Two assists with two PIM. Fox is blocking a lot more shots for those in blocks leagues which is a nice bonus. He’s also taking a lot more minor penalties.
Seth Jones – Two assists with two shots. The shot rate has dropped a lot lately with nine in the past six games, but Jones is still piling up the assists.
Sebastian Aho – Two goals on seven shots. Aho generally isn’t mentioned in the discussion for best goal scorers in the league, but he ought to be.
Tony DeAngelo -Two assists with a shot. Don’t look now, but Tony Dawgs is the #2 defenseman to this point in the season. Seems like he was worth ranking far higher than anywhere else.
Jesperi Kotkaniemi – Goal and an assist. He’s been scoring a bit lately, but the shot rate is downright dreadful. I couldn’t use Kotkaniemi at this point.
Cam Talbot – 30 saves on 31 shots in the 7-1 win over the Jets. The numbers are marginally worse than last season, but the wins are coming in strong. Talbot looks to be a solid #2 again.
Kirill Kaprizov – Goal and three assists with six shots. It seems like yesterday that people were complaining about Kaprizov’s slow start. Not anymore.
Mats Zuccarello – Two goals. Zucc did miss Sunday’s game so it’s something to keep an eye on.
Kevin Fiala – Two assists with four shots. Lot of rumblings going on about Fiala’s future in Minnesota right now, but the bottom line is that he’s putting up assists at a career high rate and he’s shooting a career low percentage by far. Give me all of the Fiala stock.
Rickard Rakell – Goal and an assist with two shots and two PIM. Rakell has been excellent this season while he’s on the ice. I would hold him now.
Trevor Zegras – Two assists with three shots. Zegras is really starting to come into his own over the last few weeks. He’s also solidified himself as a hold.
Anthony Stolarz – 34 save shutout in the 4-0 win over the Senators. Stolarz barely plays, but he’s probably worth streaming in almost all starts.
Alex Ovechkin – Hat trick on five shots with two PIM. How good is this guy? Ovechkin has been doing most of his damage at even strength too; what happens if he gets rolling on the PP? He has to be the Hart Trophy leader to this point, no offense to Draisaitl and McDavid.
Evgeny Kuznetsov – Three assists playing over 25 minutes. Kuznetsov is easily my biggest mistake in my preseason rankings. He’s been trending in the wrong direction for a few years but he’s completely turned the ship around.
Tom Wilson – Goal and two assists with four shots. Wilson has been on a tear even though he’s not on the first line. Amazing start for Wilson and the rest of the top Capitals.
Aliaksei Protas – Two assists with a shot. Protas, a former third round pick, is currently playing on the first line and first PP unit. That alone makes him an elite streamer while it lasts. He’s also a great DFS punt.
Andreas Johnsson – Goal and an assist with two shots and two PIM. Johnsson is bumping up to solid streamer after his game on Sunday (spoiler alert!).
Roman Josi – Goal and an assist with five shots. Josi has been back to his Norris Trophy form. He’s currently the #1 fantasy defenseman.
Ryan Johansen – Two assists with two shots. I wouldn’t hold Johansen, but he’s piling up assists. If that matters to your team at the bottom of your roster, by all means.
Alexandre Carrier – Goal and an assist with two shots. Not a lot here for fantasy purposes. Welcome to the Razzball Database!
Andrei Vasilevskiy – 17 save shutout in the 3-0 win over the Kraken. Doesn’t get much easier than that for Vasilevskiy. Back to back shutouts has his numbers at its usual elite level.
Gustav Nyquist – Goal and an assist. It’s always tough to remember that Nyquist is the only one who has a u and not a v in his last name. Anyways, his days of being a fantasy hold appear to be well in the past. He’s a bottom end streamer.
Vladislav Gavrikov – Two assists with a shot. Gavrikov has stumbled into more points than I ever would have expected this season. He’s worked his way onto the fringe depending on your categories.
Tristan Jarry – 25 save shutout in the 1-0 win over the Isles, making Ilya Sorokin (29/30) a tough luck loser. Jarry is beyond on fire. He’s given up two goals in his past five starts. Safe to say he’s bounced back from last season’s debacle. Sorokin has been quite good, but the wins haven’t been there. I have faith in the Islanders to turn it around.
Joseph Woll – 34 saves on 35 shots in the 4-1 win over the Sharks. Two straight great starts for Woll. I guess I’d just stream him every time he starts? Toronto is playing so well right now that I think he’s worth it.
William Nylander – Goal and an assist with eight shots. This jump in shot rate from Nylander has been a huge surprise. The upside is through the roof now.
John Tavares – Goal and an assist with two shots. Tavares has not taken the step back I expected this season, mostly because he’s also bumped the shot rate back up.
Evander Kane – Going on waivers; will report to AHL if he clears. Well, I should say after he clears. If you want to keep holding hoping he gets called back up, go ahead, but I’m not optimistic it comes any time soon.
Saturday’s Games
Mikko Rantanen – Hat trick on six shots, plus an assist. No MacKinnon, no problem with Rantanen. He’s absolutely crushing across the board.
Cale Makar – Three assists with a shot. Makar has to be the clear Norris front runner at this point. Sure, he’s missed time, but he has 20 points in 16 games right now.
Nazem Kadri – Two assists with four shots and two PIM. Kadri is going to have some team back up the Brinks truck this offseason now. He’s been fantastic and while I don’t expect him to finish as a top 5 player, we’re definitely getting a career season.
Gabriel Landeskog – Two assists with two shots and 17 PIM. Speaking of crushing across the board, Landeskog has been even better this season than last.
Devon Toews – Two assists with two shots playing over 26 minutes. Toews has been terrific as expected. Like the rest of the Avs, it’s just a matter of health.
Chris Driedger – 33 saves on 34 shots in the 4-1 win over the Panthers. All it took was a revenge game against the best team in the league (so far) for Seattle to finally get good goaltending. The upside is there for both Seattle goalies to be valuable again, but it’s up to them.
Jordan Eberle – Two goals with three shots. Eberle’s goal scoring has been unsustainable. That makes him an elite streamer, but not a hold for me.
Joonas Donskoi – Two assists. Donskoi’s goal scoring has dried up in Seattle. There’s no fantasy value here right now.
Jamie Oleksiak – Goal and an assist with two shots and two PIM. Oleksiak gets a ton of hits and PIM, but that’s it.
Anze Kopitar – Three assists with five shots. The huge jump in shot rate has Kopitar’s ceiling higher than I even projected it, and I had Kopitar ranked much higher than others.
Alex Edler – Two assists with two shots. Edler hasn’t done much to warrant fantasy attention yet.
Carl Grundstrom – Two goals. Grundstrom has five goals already, but I’m not buying in while he’s in his current role.
Tyler Toffoli – Goal and two assists with two shots. His linemates also had three points, with Josh Anderson scoring two goals and an assist with six shots, and Christian Dvorak scoring once and dishing two assists with five shots. It’s clear that this is Montreal’s first line at the moment. I’m still being stubborn with Toffoli as a hold, Anderson as an elite streamer, and Dvorak bumped up to a solid one.
Alexander Romanov – Two assists with four shots. Romanov has only two points in his other 21 games. That should answer any questions about Romanov.
Sidney Crosby – Goal and two assists with five shots. Crosby has started slowly, but it’s only a matter of time.
Jeff Carter – Goal and an assist with four shots. Carter is an elite streamer while he’s taking almost 3.5 shots per game. He was playing at even strength with Crosby and Kasperi Kapanen (two assists) which puts him close to being a hold.
Adam Boqvist – Two goals and an assist with three shots. Boqvist is tearing it up on the power play lately. He’s not doing much else, and the shot rate is dreadful, but if you need PPP, he’s a decent option.
Vladimir Tarasenko – Three assists with two shots. Tarasenko is pushing towards four shots per game along with a point per game. Safe to say he’s okay after his shoulder surgery.
Ivan Barbashev – Two goals on three shots. Barashev has been a pleasant surprise offensively so far, but I only have him as a middling streamer.
Robert Thomas – Two assists with three shots. He actually took three shots! Thomas actually has two or more shots in seven straight games. That’s enough of a run to make him a hold.
Jason Robertson – Goal and an assist with two shots. Robertson has been excellent while on the ice all season. Just stay healthy!
Joe Pavelski – Two assists with a shot. Pavelski has pushed even further to a hold.
Kyle Connor – Two goals on three shots. Connor is over 4.5 shots per game while barely taking a hit in shooting percentage. If that continues, he’s certainly going over 45 goals.
Blake Wheeler – Two assists with three shots. Wheeler has really struggled so far with no goals through 16 games. If you want to be stubborn, I get it, but I’d also be willing to cut him.
Johnny Gaudreau – Two assists with a shot. Johnny Hockey is also going to get the Brinks truck backed up to his house too. Massive bounceback that I didn’t see coming. A lot of players who are shooting the puck a ton more this season which is great to see from the best players.
Sunday’s Games
John Carlson – Goal and two assists with two shots. It’s because of injuries to others, but after a slow start, Carlson has the most points in the league by a defenseman. I’d like the shot rate back up, but it’s hard to complain when Carlson is piling up the assists.
Dmitry Orlov – Goal and an assist. Orlov keeps putting up decent points while crushing at even strength. The PIM have shot up as well. He’s fringy, but I lean towards holding him.
Patrice Bergeron – Two assists with three shots. Bergeron has shown little sign of aging. It’s just a matter of how many games Bergeron can play at 36 years old.
Brad Marchand – Goal and an assist with five shots and two PIM. It’s shocking to see Marchand at even in plus-minus with how dominant he’s been. I assume that’ll turn though. He’s well over a point per game with elite PIM per usual.
James Reimer – 29 save shutout in the 2-0 win over the Blackhawks. Reimer has been a godsend for the Blackhawks. He’s an easy hold, no doubt about it.
Timo Meier – Two goals on six shots, both assisted by Logan Couture. Meier has been absolutely fantastic so far. Couture has played well enough lately to get back to being a hold.
Marc-Andre Fleury – 20 saves on 21 shots as the tough luck loser. MAF has been playing better over the last few weeks. I grabbed him before they played Arizona a while back and haven’t cut him since. I think I’d grab him if he was available in your league, but he’d be on a short leash.
Scott Laughton – Goal and an assist. And there’s your annual Laughton update!
Andreas Johnsson – Two goals and two assists with four shots. That’s ten points in the last nine games for Johnsson. I’m still not looking to hold him yet, but he’s now an elite streamer.
Jesper Bratt – Goal and two assists with three shots. Bratt has also played his way into elite streamer status.
Dougie Hamilton – Goal and an assist with ten shots. The points haven’t been as good as Hamilton so far, but the underlying numbers are still excellent. I’m still fully in on Hamilton as a top five defenseman for the season.
Jack Campbell – 39 saves on 40 shots in the 5-1 win over the Ducks. Campbell has played at a Vezina level to this point which is absolutely insane. They won’t run him into the ground, but that’s probably a good thing. He’s got a real chance to be a top 5 goalie.
Alex Kerfoot – Goal and an assist with two shots. It’s been up and down for Kerfoot leaving him as a middling streamer.
Michael Bunting – Goal and an assist with three shots. Bunting has been on a tear lately with six points in the last four games. I have Bunting as a solid streamer bordering on elite.
Three Point Challenge: This will be the last time we use last season’s point totals. That means no McDavid, Draisaitl, Marchand, Kane, Marner, Matthews, Rantanen, MacKinnon, Scheifele, and Crosby. We’ll be doing Tuesday’s games. Fungazi remains the only one on the leaderboard. I’ll go with Aho against the Stars.
That’s all for now guys. I’ll be back on Wednesday 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!
