Happy Wednesday, Razzball faithful!

If you’re looking for an LW/RW-eligible breakout with goal-scoring potential, a high volume of minutes, and a healthy dose of power-play time, you may not need to look much further than the Columbus Blue Jackets’ first line.

With 10 points in his last 10 games, it’s becoming pretty clear that opposing teams Kent stop, and won’t stop Kent Johnson (2 G, 1 A, +3, 2 SOG, 2 H, 1 BLK).

The 24-year-old forward is in his 5th full season (excluding a 9-game cup of coffee in 2018-2019), and he’s ready to prove last year’s 22 points in 76 games was an outlier in his development path.

I mentioned in Viz’s post on Monday that I had a dynasty league trade offer involving his Johnson (hey-now) for my Quinton Byfield, but that it felt a bit light.

Will I regret turning down that deal? Maybe.

Is this Columbus forward headed for an increase in his “weekly rostered percentage” of 47% this week? Certainly, if he keeps this up.

Should you be looking to add Kent Johnson in straight points leagues? I think that’s a definite yes.

Are we seeing any other point-scoring, statsheet-padding skaters from an 11-game schedule last night? Well…I’m gonna say that’s a yes. Because…

Here’s what else I saw from Tuesday night’s NHL action!

Cam Talbot – 28 saves on 31 shots, and the 4-3 OT win at PHI. That’s two straight wins for Talbot, and while I don’t think we have a legitimate goalie controversy here, Jet Greaves’ starter tag is just a bit less sturdy than it used to be. I don’t trust Talbot in the long term, but crazier things have happened. Monitor this one for now.

Adam Fantilli – 1 G, 1 A, +3, 2 SOG, 3 H, 20:45 TOI. That first line in Columbus is looking like a sneaky good one. They’re gelling well, and adding Matthew Knies alongside both Johnson and Fantilli has proven to be a good move (albeit through just 10 games). 

Zach Werenski – 2 A, +1, 1 SOG, 1 H, 2 BLK, 28:09 TOI. Nearly 30 minutes of ice time doesn’t leave a lot of room for criticism here. This guy is as good as it gets from a blueliner, and my only source of annoyance is a similar one that I have on the baseball side of things. Zac, Zach, Zack. FFs, guy. Just change your name to Jim.

Dan Vladar – 11 saves on 15 shots and the 4-3 OT loss. Lord Vladar? I find your lack of saves concerning.

Trevor Zegras – 1 G, 1 A, 3 SOG, 20:47 TOI. That’s 9 points in his most recent 5 games. If you’re building DFS lineups, ride this hot hand.

Jamie Drysdale – 1 G, 2 SOG, 26:48 TOI. If you’re looking for a “buy-low” option on defense, have a look in your league to see if Drysdale is on a team with an impatient manager. 3 points in 14 games is pretty rough, but this kid is far too talented to not turn it around with the kind of minutes Philly is going to be giving him. Buy.

Semyon Varlamov – 20 saves on 23 shots and the 4-3 SO win at NSH. Having a solid Varlamov to back up an already stellar Ila Sorokin is a boon for Islander fans. If they can improve the offense (21st out of 32 teams), this team will be on cruise control to a playoff berth.

Brayden Schenn – 1 G, 2 PIM, 1 SOG, 3 H, 2 BLK, 19:15 TOI. And he won 5 of 10 faceoffs. Brayden Schenn doing what Brayden Schenn does. Fill the stat sheet for us multi-category leaguers, and fly under the radar as a solid option in deeper, head-to-head leagues.

Bo Horvat – 1 G, 2 SOG, 2 H, 26:04 TOI. It’s no secret that Horvat is the go-to forward on the island. Playing north of 26 minutes, even in an overtime game, is heavy lifting. When a forward’s TOI looks like a defenseman’s, we know we don’t have to worry about the guy not getting enough playing time.

Juuse Saros – 26 saves on 29 shots and the OTL. The 2.81 and .909 save percentage don’t match the 3-2-2 record. You could do a lot worse than rostering Saros as your #2 goalie (or #3 in shallow leagues).

Filip Forsberg – 1 G, 1 A, 2 PIM, 4 SOG, 3 H, 1 BLK, 22:47 TOI. With 13 points in 12 games, the only thing this LW isn’t giving us is faceoff wins.

Connor Hellebuyck – 16 saves on 17 shots and the 5-1 win at DAL. Ding ding! Hell’s Bells is looking like he’s in mid-season form already, and Jersey fans should be happy because this is easily their best goalie since the golden days of Martin Brodeur.

Nico Hischier – 2 G, 3 SOG, 1 H, 1 BLK, 18:08 TOI. 9 points in 12 games, and the only Devil not named “Hughes” with two points on the night.

Jack Hughes and Luke Hughes – Each with 1 G, 1 A, +2. Jack had 6 SOG, and Luke had 2 SOG. It was a sharing-the-puck kind of night in New Jersey, too, as 12 different players had at least one point.

Casey DeSmith – 22 saves on 27 shots and the 5-1 loss. Has anyone told Jake Oettinger how Grant Fuhr used to play 75+ games a year for the 1980s Oilers? Woof.

Justin Hryckowian – 1 G, 1 SOG, 3 BLK. That 1.000 shooting percentage is a lot easier to figure out than the spelling of this guy’s last name.

Jeremy Swayman – 28 saves on 30 shots and the 2-1 loss at CAR. Sway and the Bruins lost the battle at the peak of the NHL mountain, and the Canes stay on top (with a 10-2-2 record).

Pavel Zacha – 1 G, 2 SOG, 20:53 TOI. The pending UFA is going to be in trade rumours all season long, but Don Sweeney would be smart to hold on to what he’s got right now and not mess with a good thing. I still think they sign this guy to an extension before the deadline, but for right now, if there isn’t anything broken…

Pyotr Kochetkov – 14 saves on 16 shots and the 2-1 win vs BOS. It looks like he’s in a straight platoon with Brandon Bussi. Kochetkov’s 8 starts aren’t much more than Bussi’s 6 GS, and you can’t go wrong with either goalie in most fantasy leagues. Monitor this until one guy takes the job and runs with it. Either way, I’d be trying to acquire both in deeper leagues as long as you have another goalie to make up for the volume deficiency (aka, both of these guys can’t play at the same time).

Jackson Blake – 1 G, 4 PIM, 4 SOG, 2 H, 16:47 TOI. Scoring goals and filling in some other categories to boot! Just like his daddy taught him!

Sebastian Aho – 1 G, 2 PIM, 5 SOG, 1 H, 21:18 TOI. 8 goals and 19 points in 14 games? Yep. That’ll play!

Spencer Knight – 25 saves on 26 shots and the 2-1 win vs LA. He’s going to get the lion’s share of starts in Chicago, so if you’re looking for volume, you can find it here. That said, I wouldn’t expect the breakout just yet. Chicago needs at least one more year of growth before they put it all together.

Roman Kantserov – 1 G, 4 SOG, 1 H, 15:52 TOI. There’s a beer joke in here where I say that I most certainly COULD say OV tonight at two different baseball meetings in two different venues, but I don’t know how many of you have the opportunity to enjoy the beauty that is Old Vienna lager, so I’ll just leave it as is.

Patrick Kane and Connor Bedard – 1 A each. Wait, what? No goals from the old Blackhawks sniper AND the newer one? Yikes.

Anton Forsberg – 25 saves on 27 shots and the 2-1 loss at CHI. Well, I guess Chicago didn’t need goals from Kane or Bedard if they won the game anyway. Despite some solid ratios, Forsberg is still winless in 5 games.

Samuel Helenius – 1 G, 1 SOG, 3 H, 7:22 TOI. Not a bad goal-to-time-on-ice ratio, but I was more annoyed that at some point he changed his name from Sami to Samuel. So official.

Jacob Fowler – 46 saves on 46 shots. And the 2-0 shutout. At STL.

 

Ya, that was my reaction when I read it too. 46 for 46 in the saves and shots department? Whoa.

Needless to say, Viz was spitting facts when he said in the comment section on Monday that Fowler is the clear-cut starter in Montreal. I saw this situation as a similar one to Carolina’s crease clog in the preseason, but Fowler has proven he should get more time and has pushed Dobes into a backup role (for now).

Florian Xhekaj – 1 G, 2 SOG, 1 H, 6:19 TOI. Between this guy and Sami Helenius, you almost have the total ice time of a third-liner. I guess they don’t as how long it takes you to score, they just ask how many.

Mike Matheson – 2 A, +2, 2 SOG, 1 H, 2 BLK, 23:25 TOI. Meh. He could score 70 goals and still never be my favorite M. Matheson.

Jordan Binnington – 18 saves on 20 shots and the 2-0 loss to MTL. I want to say something mean like, “See? Just go away and give Hofer some space already!”, but he was just outworked and outdone by his opponent in this one. The only other fun fact from the Blues last night? 15/18 skaters had at least one shot on net. Talk about a well-earned shutout for Jacob Fowler.

Akira Schmid – 24 saves on 25 shots and the 5-1 win at WPG. The .885 save percentage isn’t exciting anyone, but getting almost half a dozen goals to lean back on from a potent offense makes it a lot easier to post a winning record with a backup goalie kind of schedule; that’s for sure.

Carter Verhaeghe – 2 G, 2 PIM, 3 SOG, 2 H, 18:26 TOI. The goals are there (8 G in 13 GP), and he’s putting up power-play points to go with a healthy shot total. Florida needed him to step up when Barkov went down, and so far so good.

Brady Tkachuk – 1 G, 2 A, 1 SOG, 2 H, 16:17 TOI. Whether you enjoyed the Razzing(™) from the crowd when he returned to Ottawa last week or not, he’s been putting up points (15 PT in 13 GP), and boosting a lot of head-to-head league teams along the way.

But…whether you’re a fan of his or not…how can you not enjoy this?

"BRADY SUCKS" CHANTS BEFORE THE ANTHEMS IN OTTAWA…

THIS IS GETTING GOOD 🍿 pic.twitter.com/1VAWeoAPHT

— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) October 21, 2026

Matthew Tkachuk – 4 A, 2 PIM, 1 SOG, 16:45 TOI. Because we can’t have one without the other.

Seth Jones– 3 A, 3 SOG, 2 H, 25:02 TOI. The scoring wasn’t particularly spread out in this one, as only 6 skaters recorded points, but five of those guys had multi-point games.

Clay Stevenson – 19 saves on 24 shots and the 5-1 loss. Okay, maybe people do care about your numbers, Clay. If they’re Jets fans, they’re certainly going to have to start caring sooner rather than later, because Stuart Skinner and Nico Daws aren’t a Helle of a lot better than this anyway.

Jesper Wallstedt – 25 saves on 25 shots and the 3-0 shutout at UTA. (At least I hope it is, as I wrote this up with 1:30 left in the third period). Well, the good news about Filip Gustavsson being out for at least another month because of a hip injury is there’s no chance of a goaltender controversy in Minnesota. Wallstedt has started 12 games, and he’s going to get as much time as he can handle until his partner returns from the IR. EDIT: I cursed it. Utah spoiled the shutout when Logan Cooley scored with 1:21 left in the third period.

Kirill Kaprizov – 1 G, 1 A, 4 SOG, 2 H, 23:23 TOI. Kirill the Thrill!

Quinn Hughes – 2 A, 2 SOG, 3 BLK, 29:54 TOI. That’s 18 points in 14 games. No matter if he signs an extension with Minnesota or hits the open market when his deal expires, this guy is gonna get PAID.

Karel Vejmelka – 27 saves on 30 shots and the 3-1 loss to MIN. When your team doesn’t score for just under 59 minutes of a 60-minute game…it’s tough to pull out a victory.

The “Late” Games

(I’ll start putting the late games in a separate section each week, just so you know these were not finished when I ran through my final edits.)

Leevi Merilainen – 11 saves on 15 shots…and 18 minutes to go in the third period. The Canucks are down 4-1 right now, and Merilainen is probably wondering if there’s a mercy rule in effect.

Zeev Buium – 1 A, 14:03 TOI. Wait. No goals? Shots? PIMs? Hits? Blocked shots? And this guy is a defenseman? Uh…yep.

Lukas Dostal – 15 saves on 16 shots and 17 minutes left in the third period. If the best way to break a three-game losing skid is by playing against the Flyers, the next best thing to build on your confidence must be to face the Canucks right after that.

Leo Carlsson – 1 G, 1 A, 1 SOG. Jeff Malott also had a goal and assist in this one through (just over) two periods. Ashtray needs one more point from Carlsson to spike the three-point challenge for the week!

Beckett Sennecke– 1 G, +2, 2 PIM, 1 SOG, 1 H, 1 BLK. Commenter: Take Flight needs a couple more points from Sennecke in the third to lock down the three -point challenge.

Jackson Lacombe – 2 A, 1 SOG, 1 H, 1 BLK. 

Jonas Johansson – 18 saves on 19 shots in a 1-1 tie through the 18:39 mark in the third period. It was backup o’clock in the NHL last night. This one would be Johansson’s second win in three starts if Ottawa can pull it out.

Shane Pinto – 1 G, 3 SOG, 15:35 TOI (through 2 periods). With 8 points in 13 games, he’s a middling streamer at best (unless you’re in a deep league).

Adin Hill – 18 saves on 19 shots through the 18:00 mark of the third period. He matched Johansson shot for shot in a tight matchup. I’m guessing this one goes to overtime well after my final edits are done.

Braeden Bowman – 1 G, 1 SOG, 9:08 TOI. 6 points in 14 games and an average of 13:00 a game means this guy is an injury replacement at best.

Colten Ellis – 15 saves on 15 shots with 7 minutes left in the second period. I was surprised the Sabres couldn’t get a Hellebuyck deal done, and a lot of friends who are Sabres fans are pining for a goalie upgrade. For now, it’s still a three-headed monster in Buffalo with this guy, Alex Lyon (IR), and Ukka-Pekka Luukkonen all rotating three hats.

Olen Zellweger – 1 G, 2 SOG. Renee’s kid is up to three goals in 11 GP. Show me the money!

Yaroslav Askarov – 25 saves on 26 shots…and there’s still 5 minutes left in the SECOND period?! Askarov might see 40 shots by the time this one is finished.

That’s all for this week! I hope you enjoyed it. If you have any questions or comments, leave them below, and I’ll get back to you ASAP.

Happy Wednesday, and I’ll see you next week!

Follow me @marmosdad on Twitter/X and Bluesky @marmosdad.bsky.social