David Perron had a horrible start to the season and was shaping up to being one of the biggest fantasy busts of this year. To say things have turned for the better is an understatement. Perron scored two goals on seven shots against the Predators before scoring a goal on seven shots against Winnipeg. Since Perron went back on the top line, Perron has exploded. He has eight goals and five assists in the last ten games with 35 SOG. It’s good enough across the board that Perron is a clear hold in all formats again. He’s only available in about 25% of leagues, but even in a shallow league, I wouldn’t be cutting Perron to keep a stream spot. The schedule is a little light the next couple weeks, but it really picks up in the last week of March and early April. Let’s take a look at what else happened over the weekend:
Friday’s Games
Jonathan Marchessault – Two assists with six shots. Despite Vegas being in a massive tailspin, Marchessault has been very good lately with twelve points in his last nine games. He’s still a hold.
Jeff Carter – Goal and an assist with three shots. Carter is a solid streamer and pretty locked into that role barring an injury to someone ahead of him.
Bryan Rust – Goal and an assist with three shots. Absolutely bonkers season from Rust that is being overshadowed because of him missing time. It’s borderline top 20 overall on a per-game basis.
Mats Zuccarello – Goal and an assist with two shots. Zucc is only one point off a career high already. He’s found another level in Minnesota playing with Kaprizov.
Josh Bailey – Two goals on six shots with two PIM. Bailey has two points in three straight games, but I just can’t bring myself to care. Bottom end streamer at best.
Brock Nelson – Goal and an assist with three shots. Nelson is an elite streamer that could be a hold depending on league format.
Jean-Gabriel Pageau – Two assists. Pageau has been much better over the last few weeks, but I still have him as a bottom end streamer.
Anthony Beauvillier – Two assists with two shots. Beauvillier has never put together like I had hoped. He’s also a bottom end streamer, although I prefer him to Pageau.
Evgeny Kuznetsov – Hat trick on five shots. That gets Kuznetsov back to a point per game which is quite the bounce back for Kuznetsov. He’s somewhere in the 50th-75th overall range.
John Carlson – Two assists with a shot. Carlson does what he does at this point. There’s something about a guy who is extremely consistent.
Quinn Hughes – Goal and two assists. Hughes is actually having the best season of his career but it’s gone fairly unnoticed because of the incredible performances around the league. If Vancouver had Bruce the whole time, we might have seen a 65+ assist season from Hughes.
J.T. Miller – Two assists. Can’t stop scoring points, it’s insane. 23 points in 11 games!
Bo Horvat – Two goals on four shots. Horvat is on such a tear that I’m leaning towards holding again.
Saturday’s Games
Robert Thomas – Two goals and two assists with three shots. Thomas has been on fire, but unfortunately he missed Sunday’s games. Let’s hope that it’s nothing serious as it seemingly came out of nowhere.
Jordan Kyrou – Three assists. I really have no clue how to rank Kyrou for next season. The jumps he’s made across the board is among the biggest in the league.
Vladimir Tarasenko – Two assists with five shots. He’s starting to heat up, as evidenced by his game on Sunday as well (spoiler alert!)
Brandon Saad – Goal and an assist with four shots. Saad is settled in as a middling streamer even being on the first line.
Torey Krug – Goal and an assist. Krug has been fine in St. Louis, but he hasn’t come close to matching his totals from Boston. He’s an easy hold, but keep expectations in check.
Matt Duchene – Two goals and an assist with five shots. Ryan Johansen moved onto the top line and had a goal and two assists with three shots and four PIM, while Filip Forsberg had a goal and an assist with five shots. Johansen is worth bumping up to a solid streamer bordering on elite, even though his shot rate is terrible.
Frederik Andersen – 28 saves on 29 shots in the 3-1 win over the Flyers. Nice to see Andersen get right back to basics after missing a little more than a week due to injury.
Craig Smith – Two goals. Smith has actually performed better on the third line than he did on the first line. That said, he’s still only a middling streamer.
Charlie Coyle – Goal and an assist with three shots. Before this game, Coyle had five shots on goal in the previous ten games. Moving on…
Trent Frederic – Two assists with two shots and two PIM. The PIM and hits are good enough to have a little value in deep leagues, but that’s it.
Jacob Markstrom – 19 save shutout in the 3-0 win over the Red Wings. That’s Markstrom’s ninth shutout of the season already which is bonkers. He’s playing his way into being a potential Vezina finalist.
Marcus Johansson – Two assists with three shots. Bottom end streamer at best.
Alexander Romanov – Goal and an assist with three shots. Romanov has some decent tools, but it hasn’t turned into any offensive production yet. The hits and blocks are insanely good so he’s a viable streamer in those formats.
Nico Daws – 33 saves on 34 shots in the 2-1 SO win over the Ducks. Daws has actually been pretty decent over the last few weeks. The problem is their schedule is pretty brutal over the next two weeks. I’m okay with holding if you need goaltending help, but it’s risky.
Anthony Stolarz – 39 saves on 40 shots as the tough luck loser. Stolarz has been pretty good this season with a .919, but Gibson is back now. I’d stream him in decent or good matchups.
Patrick Kane – Three assists with a shot. Just when it looks like Kane is slowing down a bit, he has 21 points in the last 9 games. Sure, a six point game goes a long way, but he’s still got it.
Jonathan Toews – Two goals with seven PIM. He’s a middling streamer, but I admittedly don’t have a lot of interest in using Toews.
Jake McCabe – Two assists. Decent in real life. Fantasy, not so much.
Caleb Jones – Two goals. If you had Caleb having more goals than his brother Seth Jones (two assists) in March, I’ll call you a liar. Nothing for Caleb fantasy wise.
Artemi Panarin – Goal and four assists with two shots. The goals are down a bit, but Panarin is pushing towards 75+ assists. Terrific stuff once again.
Dryden Hunt – Three assists with a shot. Hunt is back on the second line with Panarin and Ryan Strome (1+1, 4 SOG) which makes him a middling streamer by default.
K’Andre Miller – Two assists with three shots. Miller has been quite a bit better for the Rangers this season, but it hasn’t turned into offensive production. Very little interest in Miller for fantasy.
John Klingberg – Two assists with a shot. He’s been quite bad at even strength. I wouldn’t cut Klingberg, but a trade would help quite a bit. I’m not sure they’ll risk it with Heiskanen out with mono.
Esa Lindell – Goal and an assist with three shots. I’d hold Lindell in a 12’er or deeper as long as Heiskanen is out.
Roope Hintz – Two assists with three shots and two PIM. Hintz has slowed down a bit, but he’s scoring goals at a better rate than less season despite a lower shooting percentage. Being close to three shots per game will do wonders for Hintz going forward. That puts him as a possible top 50 guy instead of closer to 100th.
Adin Hill – 29 save shutout in his return, a 5-0 win over the Kings. Hill was fabulous in this game through the first 30 minutes before the Sharks pulled away. That said, he’s had a rough go of it this season on the whole. He’s a step above desperation.
Timo Meier – Goal and two assists with four shots and two PIM. Meier cooled off a bit, but his shot rate is still over four per game which is insane. The breakout is real.
Nick Bonino – Two assists with three shots. No value at this point in his career.
Tomas Hertl – Two goals. This week is the moment of truth for Hertl. Does he sign an extension and stay with the Sharks, or get traded at the deadline? Only time will tell, and it’s hard to say what the change will be to his fantasy value, if any. He’d move the needle quite a bit for a contender, or would be key to the Sharks turning things around going forward.
Mikko Koskinen – 31 saves on 32 shots in the 4-1 win over the Lightning. I have no idea what got into Koskinen, but he’s been fairly respectable over the last six weeks. I’m probably holding which I never thought I’d say again.
Connor McDavid – Two goals on seven shots. Leon Draisaitl had a goal and an assist with five shots. When these two are rolling, it’s great to take in. Even the two time defending champions looked pretty hopeless against them.
Kailer Yamamoto – Goal and an assist with four shots. It all depends what line Yamamoto is on. If he sticks in the top six playing 20 minutes a game, he’ll be an elite streamer. If he drops down to the bottom six, he’ll be nearly useless.
Tyson Barrie – Two assists with two shots. Woodcroft seems to like Barrie a lot more than Tippett did. I’m probably holding again, but it;’s tenuous.
Sunday’s Games
Vinnie Hinostroza – Two goals and an assist with five shots and two PIM. Hinostroza was the surprising star of the outdoor game on Sunday. He’s a middling streamer for now. I don’t see that changing even if he’s moved at the deadline, but perhaps it will.
Peyton Krebs – Two goals, +4. Krebs has been quite good with the Sabres already. The shot rate will have to go up for him in the future, but he has elite playmaker written all over him.
Tage Thompson – Goal and an assist with four shots and ten PIM. The elite shot rate has Thompson firmly on the fringe. I’ve been holding him in a 10 teamer based on team needs.
Brian Boyle – Goal and an assist with two shots. Boyle’s days of fantasy relevance are over, although it is nice to see him still contributing in the league.
Chris Wideman – Two assists with two shots and two PIM. Despite some PP1 time, Wideman does so little that I can’t bring myself to use him, even in deep leagues.
Rem Pitlick – Goal and an assist with two shots. Pitlick played 21 minutes in this game which is wild. He scored only because Risto to take a weird dive behind his own net in the last minute up one? Bizarre. Anyways, I’m still not buying it from Pitlick, but I’m still bumping him to middling streamer because of the minutes.
Nick Suzuki – Two goals on four shots. Suzuki is in a great run of form since St. Louis took over, as is Cole Caufield (goal and an assist, 3 shots). Both are easy hold right now.
Kyle Connor – Goal and two assists with five shots. Nikolaj Ehlers and Pierre-Luc Dubois each had a goal and an assist with five shots. With Ehlers moving back to the second line, these guys took take off even more. Connor might be a first round pick in drafts next season, that’s how good he is.
Vladimir Tarasenko – Goal and two assists. That gets Tarasenko back to a point per game. The shoulder looks quite fine which is amazing to see.
Brayden Schenn – Goal and an assist. If you can stomach slightly below average shots, Schenn is an easy hold for his contributions across the board.
Chandler Stephenson – Two assists with two shots. Stephenson is down on the third line, but still on PP1. Nothing is working for Vegas right now which makes it hard to decide what to do with Stephenson. He’s on the fringe but I lean towards elite streamer.
Cole Sillinger – Hat trick on six shots. Not bad for anyone, let alone an 18 year old rookie. He’s a bottom end streamer for now, but long term, there’s a lot of upside.
Oliver Bjorkstrand – Goal and three assists with seven shots. Bjorkstrand is another player on the fringe. If you have hits and not PIM, I’d definitely hold. Otherwise, let your team needs decide.
Max Domi – Two assists with three shots and two PIM. Domi has been a bit better this season, but it’s still only at a middling streamer level.
Dean Kukan – Two assists. I’ve wrote about Kukan more than I ever expected, but he’s still a fantasy afterthought.
Roman Josi – Two goal and two assists with four shots. Eighteen points in the last ten games for Josi should put him back in the Norris discussion with Makar and Hedman.
Nick Cousins – Goal and two assists with two shots. The fourth line went off again with Phillip Tomasino and Michael McCarron each having two points. I have no interest given their workload, but it’s stunning how many games these guys have gone off in.
Filip Forsberg – Two goals and an assist. Forsberg is playing at a 55 goal pace. Not bad timing for the impending UFA.
Kyle Palmieri – Two goals on five shots. Palmieri has turned his season around with points in seven of his last eight games. I’m not holding him or anything, but he’s a viable streaming option once again.
Darcy Kuemper – 46 save shutout in the 3-0 win over the Flames. It’s not that Colorado needed this game, but after losing four of five, it was huge for Kuemper to turn things around. He’s locked into being a solid #1.
Nathan MacKinnon – Two goals on five shots with two PIM. Mikko Rantanen had a goal and an assist with five shots. It comes as no surprise that these two controlled the game from the get go.
Andrei Vasilevskiy – 35 saves on 36 shots in the 2-1 win over the Canucks. Yes, Igor, Andersen, and Markstrom are having incredible seasons, but Vasilevskiy is still right there with these guys in terms of actual ability. Even in a slightly down season for him, he’s the #6 goalie. This is why he’s always ranked as the #1 goalie; the floor is so damn high.
Three Point Challenge: We’ll go with Tuesday’s Games per usual. With a tie in 10th, we have 11 guys you cannot select. They are McDavid, Huberdeau, Draisaitl, Gaudreau, Matthews, Kaprizov, Ovechkin, Kadri, Miller, Connor, or Rantanen. I’ll go with Barkov against the Sharks.
That’s all for now guys. I’ll be back on Wednesday recapping the action from the next two nights. As always, feel free to ask any questions, leave any comments, or give any suggestions below. Thanks for reading, take care!
