Scheifele Shines Early

The Jets are off to a perfect 3-0 start and they have their best players to thank for it.  They’ve only given up two goals in three games (more on that guy later), and Mark Scheifele has been the difference maker in both games over the weekend.  Scheifele tied Friday’s games with just over a minute remaining before scoring the overtime winner against the Blackhawks.  Then, on Sunday, he scored with one second on the clock at the end of the first period before setting up Connor for the overtime winner.  Scheifele has two points in each of the three games so far, and the eleven shots is quite encouraging.  At the end of the day, we should expect Scheifele to be around a point per game, so the shot rate will go a long way between being a top 50 player and being a top 100 player.  Let’s take a look at what else happened over the weekend:

Friday’s Games

Nikita Kucherov – Hat trick and an assist with six shots.  Kucherov really whored his way into this hat trick, goal hanging for two empty netters, but they all count the same for fantasy!  Because of the hurricane, it’s the only game Tampa has played, but it’s great to see Tampa guys thrive in a rough matchup.

Victor Hedman – Three assists with two shots.  I was all the way back in on Hedman this season because of how poor the Tampa Bay depth is.

Jake Guentzel – Two assists with two shots.  I am also all in on Guentzel this season.  I’m expecting a monster season.

Andrei Vasilevskiy – 20 saves on 21 shots in the 4-1 win over the Hurricanes.  Nice to see Vasilevskiy get off on the right foot after his struggles last season.

Connor Hellebuyck – 25 saves on 26 shots getting the win over Chicago.  Hellebuyck has been locked in so far which isn’t any surprise.  He’s the best goalie going right now.

Pavel Buchnevich – Two goals and an assist with four shots.  Buch might get my vote for most underrated player in the league.  He plays an incredibly well-rounded game, providing plenty of offense.

Jordan Kyrou – Two assists with two PIM.  Kyrou has two points in each of the first three games.  Perhaps this is the season that it clicks and he puts up 90 points?

Jack Eichel – Goal and an assist, as did Ivan Barbashev and Shea Theodore.  Eichel has been unbelievable in the early going.  Barbashev has to be bumped to an elite streamer for now while he’s a hot schmotato.  Theodore was close to a point per game last season in his 47 games despite losing PP1 to Hanifin upon return from injury.  Now that he has PP1 back?  The Theodore I’ve been waiting to see for extended stretches could be here.

Mark Stone – Two assists with two shots.  Just stay healthy!

Saturday’s Games

Alex Tuch – Goal and an assist with three shots.  Tuch played over 20 minutes as the Sabres were desperate to get a win on the board.  The good news is they have Pittsburgh, Columbus, and Chicago on their schedule this week.  It’s set up for a good offensive week for the team as a whole, Tuch included.

Aleksander Barkov – Out two to three weeks.  Bump to Evan Rodrigues and Anton Lundell for the time being.

Jeremy Swayman – 33 saves on 34 shots in the 2-1 OT win over the Kings.  Nice to see Swayman bounce back after his struggles against the Canadiens.

Stefan Noesen – Three assists with a shot.  The third line for the Devils has been unbelievable so far.  Erik Haula also had three assists, while Paul Cotter had two goals, bringing him to four on the season so far.  Now, the wingers are only playing around 13 minutes which leaves me keeping them as middling streamers. Haula is a step above that.

Tomas Tatar – Goal and an assist with four shots.  Despite playing on the second line, Tatar is stuck as a middling to bottom end streamer.

John Carlson – Goal and an assist with four shots.  Great to see Carlson off to a good start after his struggles last season.

Dylan Strome – Goal and an assist with four shots.  Strome is in a good position to repeat or better last season’s 67 points.  He’s a bottom end hold in most formats, although it is fringy.

Evgeni Malkin – Two assists with a shot.  It’s been a mess defensively so far, but Malkin does have four assists in three games.

William Nylander – Two goals on four shots.  Max Domi assisted on both of them.  Domi is worth monitoring, although one shot in three games isn’t going to cut it.  With Nylander, we’re just hoping for a repeat of last season.

Clayton Keller – Two goals and an assist with three shots.  The top line continues to dominate for the high scoring Hockey Club, with Nick Schmaltz dishing two assists and Barrett Hayton scoring a goal and an assist.  Hayton is in elite streamer territory while he’s on fire, while the other two are clear holds.

Adam Fox – Three assists.  At this point, we know what we’re getting with Fox.

Artemi Panarin – Two goals on four shots.  It’s safe to say that Panarin is going to get all the minutes he can handle.  He played over 24 minutes in this one.

Will Cuylle – Goal and an assist with three shot and two PIM.  I really like the way the third line is looking so far, with Cuylle being a big factor.  However, the minutes are so low that he’s only a bottom end streamer for the time being.

Samuel Montembeault – 25 saves on 26 shots in the 4-1 win over the Senators.  It can’t be expected to sustain anywhere near this level, but I’m fine rolling Montembeault until he falls off.

Cole Caufield – Two goals on three shots, both assisted by Juraj Slafkovsky.  I was very aggressive in my Caufield ranking because I believe in the talent and his linemates are greatly improving.  I think we see Caufield not only reach 30 goals for the first time, but he gets to 40.

Lane Hutson – Two assists with a shot and two PIM.  Four assists already for Hutson, although we do need that shot rate to go up a bit.

Cam Talbot – 42 save shutout in the 3-0 win over the Predators.  Talbot’s first start for Detroit was masterful, and with Detroit waiving Ville Husso, there’s no doubt that it’s Talbot’s crease now.  I don’t know why Husso even started that game.  He was so bad last season that I didn’t even rank him.

Jordan Eberle – Two goals.  The Kraken have already shuffled the lines, with Eberle being a beneficiary.  He’s a solid streamer.

Andre Burakovsky – Two assists with two shots.  I’m a big believer in the talent, but I need to see Burakovsky string together some consistent performances before he’s back on my radar for non-deep leagues.

Jared McCann – Goal and an assist with four shots.  McCann is the one Seattle forward that I feel comfortable holding in all formats.

Kirill Kaprizov – Goal and two assists with four shots.  Mats Zuccarello had a goal and an assist with five shots, while Marco Rossi had two assists with four shots. JEEK missed this game (he’ll be back in the next one) so the minutes were even higher than normal.  Rossi is already in elite streamer territory.  Matt Boldy is off to a terrific start, putting up a goal and an assist with six shots in the Kraken loss.

Jake Oettinger – 34 save shutout in the 3-0 win over the Islanders.  This could be the year that Oettinger is the #1 goalie.  Despite the slight disappointment of last season, we’ve seen the excellent numbers before.

Tyler Seguin – Two goals, both assisted by Mason Marchment.  Both of them are solid to elite streamers, but without the big minutes, it’s hard to see them pushing into hold territory.

Alexandar Georgiev – 6 saves on 9 shots before being pulled in 22 minutes.  Again, Georgiev was absolutely atrocious.  Annunen hasn’t looked much better, and Bednar already said that he’s starting next game again.  There’s nothing we can really do except hope for a turn around.  I certainly wouldn’t be dropping him.

Nathan MacKinnon – Goal and an assist with three shots and ten PIM.  Safe to say that MacKinnon was furious after the loss as he went after the referees.  Rough start for the Avs.

Ross Colton – Goal and an assist with three shots.  With Jonathan Drouin out, Colton went on the first power play unit.  That makes him a solid streamer with upside.

Cale Makar – Two assists with a shot.  While the Avs have been a mess, Makar does have four assists in two games.

Sean Monahan – Goal and two assists, as did Kirill Marchenko and Yegor Chinakhov.  The makeshift top line was great for Columbus in this one.  Marchenko is definitely my favorite of the group, where he’s in elite streamer territory.  Monahan and Chinakhov are a step below that.  The plus-minus is going to be a concern with these guys.

Lukas Dostal – 30 save shutout in the 2-0 win over the Sharks.  While I love Dostal in dynasties, I still think there will be plenty of growing pains this season.  This says more about the Sharks than anything for me.

Teuvo Teravainen – Two goals and two assists with six shots.  Safe to say Teravainen is liking life with Connor Bedard (1+2).  Teravainen is on the fringe, with a slight lean towards holding for the upside.

Seth Jones – Goal and two assists with three shots and two PIM.  I have no Jones stock this season, although I acknowledge that for for the first time in his Chicago tenure, there’s a path to some fantasy success.

Travis Konecny – Two goals on five shots with two PIM.  Konecny is clearly the most trusted forward for Torts.  He’s had two monster seasons in a row and a third looks likely.

Jonathan Huberdeau – Two goals and two assists.  I wasn’t expecting much from Calgary this season, but they have a ton of respected veterans who are going to battle every night.  The one player who can change their trajectory outside of Wolf is Huberdeau.  While the 115 point season is an anomaly, he was a perennial point per game player.  If he can get back to that level, things get a big interesting.  I’d lean towards holding him right now because of that upside.

Andrei Kuzmenko – Three assists with a shot.  Solid streamer, but the lack of shots drags down Kuzmenko’s value.

Nazem Kadri – Two goals on three shots.  The one forward who is an easy hold for the Flames, Kadri has been terrific so far.  There’s no doubt that Kadri will be gunning and scrapping all season.

MacKenzie Weegar – Goal and an assist.  A power play goal for Weegar is big in the early going.  I had him ranked as a top 20 defenseman despite last season being an outlier because I thought he would run that unit.  Early returns are promising.

Martin Pospisil – Two assists with five PIM.  While the minutes haven’t been great, Pospisil does have at least one point in every games so far.  He’s a middling streamer unless your league has hits.  He’s an absolute monster in hits leagues which makes him a borderline hold at the bottom of your roster.

Sunday’s Games

Casey DeSmith – 25 save shutout in the 2-0 win over the Kraken.  DeSmith’s first game with the Stars went perfectly.  He’s worth streaming in all matchups because of how strong the Stars are defensively.

Dan Vladar – 24 saves on 25 shots in the 4-1 win over the Oilers.  After a rough start against the Canucks, Vladar was solid on Sunday.  It looks to be a split with Wolf in the early going, which puts Vladar on the fringe depending on your league format and team needs.

Rasmus Andersson – Goal and two assists with two shots, +4 in the 4-1 win.  Andersson was the best player on the ice in this one.  He’s been somewhat forgotten, but Andersson is worth holding in most formats.  If your league has blocks, it’s not even a debate.  Before last season, he had 49 and 50 points in the previous two seasons.

Keegan Kolesar – Two assists.  And there’s your annual Kolesar update!

Ilya Samsonov – 22 saves on 23 shots in the 3-1 win over the Ducks.  It wouldn’t be a surprise at all if Samsonov bounces back with the Golden Knights.  I’d stream him in almost all matchups.

Three Point Challenge:  We will bring back the Three Point Challenge with this Tuesday’s games.  For those of you that are new here, you pick a player to get three points in one of the games on Tuesday.  You can’t pick somebody who is Top 10 in the league in points.  For the first 4-6 weeks, we will use last season’s top ten, so you can’t pick Kucherov, MacKinnon, McDavid, Panarin, Pastrnak, Matthews, Draisaitl, Rantanen, Miller, or Nylander.  I’ll go with Reinhart against the Blue Jackets.  Make your picks in the comment section below!

That’s all for now guys, as the first weekend recap is well over 2,000 words.  As always, feel free to ask any questions, leave any comments, or give any suggestions below.  I’ll be back on Wednesday recapping the action from the previous two nights.  Thanks for reading, take care!