There were plenty of wild games on Thursday night. The Sabres won a wild 7-6 game against the Ducks. The Senators came from 5-1 down to get a point before ultimately losing in overtime. However, the Mammoth game against the Penguins took the cake. Kindel scored with 24 seconds left, just for Logan Cooley, a Pittsburgh native, to complete his hat trick with one second remaining in the game. Sergachev went on to win the game in overtime. Cooley now has seven goals and eight assists in 14 games. Yes, the shot rate is quite poor, but we can’t complain about those results. His shot rate is up quite a bit lately, so perhaps it could get better. Cooley does seem like he’s on the path of a Robert Thomas type of season, but if he does get to two shots per game or even higher, we could be getting a top 50 season. Let’s take a look at what else happened the last two nights:
Wednesday’s Games:
Dylan Strome – Three assists with two shots. Strome is loving life right now with Alex Tuch and Jordan Kyrou, who each scored two goals in this one. Now that Kyrou is back into form, all three are easy holds.
Pierre-Luc Dubois – Two assists with a shot and two PIM. Dubois is on the fringe, but I lean towards holding for the all-around contributions.
Jack St. Ivany – Two assists with a shot. Zero fantasy value here.
Tristan Jarry – 24 save shutout in the 4-0 win over the Flames. Levi and Andersen are out right now, so Jarry is the guy. Play him at your own risk.
Connor McDavid – Two assists with three shots. That lowers his points per game by a lot.
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – Two assists with two shots. The way that the Oilers power play is rolling at the moment, RNH needs to be held everywhere.
Connor Brown – Two goals. Brown’s role is minimalized with all of the depth that the Devils have added, so he should be left for deep leagues.
Brent Burns – Two assists with four shots and two PIM. I’d leave Burns for deep leagues right now.
Nazem Kadri – Goal and an assist with two shots. Kadri is an easy hold, given that his shot rate is excellent and he’s been unlucky.
Jaden Schwartz – Goal and an assist with three shots. Schwartz has provided nice depth so far. He’s a middling streamer who carries more deep league value.
Sam Malinski – Two assists with three shots. It’s been a slow start for Malinski so far. I would probably leave him on the waiver wire, but we saw the upside last season, so if you want to hold, I’m not arguing.
Auston Matthews – Goal and two assists with four shots. Just a matter of health for Matthews as this is the best he’s looked in a couple years.
Gavin McKenna – Two goals and an assist with three shots and two PIM. He’s been a bit of a PP merchant so far, but McKenna is still worth holding. Hopefully the minutes go up as time goes on.
Darren Raddysh – Two assists with a shot. Raddysh has zero goals so far, but he’s over two shots per game, so it’s only a matter of time.
Jack Roslovic – Goal and an assist. I’m not counting on this lasting, but Roslovic needs to be held right now. He’s on the top line with Matthews and even is PP1 with Tavares out.
Chandler Stephenson – Goal and an assist. The assists are shockingly good right now, but I just can’t have any interest in someone with nine shots on goal in 13 games.
Matty Beniers – Two assists. The offense just hasn’t panned out for Beniers. Middling streamer at best.
Mackie Samoskevich – Two assists. Also a middling streamer.
Thursday’s Games:
Mark Scheifele – Three assists. The Jets are falling apart after a slow start, and Scheifele was pointless in the previous four games. We’re obviously holding, but my original pessimism could be coming to fruition.
Kyle Connor – Goal and an assist with three shots. Unlike Scheifele, Connor has continued to dominate.
Neal Pionk – Two goals on four shots. Easy hold everywhere as long as Morrissey is out.
Cole Perfetti – Two assists with three shots. Perfetti is also an easy hold while he’s on the top line.
Dylan Samberg – Goal and an assist with three shots. Nice player in real life, but Samberg doesn’t provide any fantasy value.
Pontus Holmberg – Goal and three assists. Despite having ten points in twelve games, I just have zero interst in Holmberg. The offense is completely unsustainable.
Anthony Cirelli – Goal and two assists, as did Brandon Hagel. Cirelli has cooled off to the point that he’s a solid streamer, but I’m not considering him as a hold. Hagel has been a top ten player so far, which doesn’t come to a surprise for me as I had him a top 20 player. Most people had Hagel outside the top 40 though, so it’s worked out nicely for me.
Evgeni Malkin – Two assists with four shots. Great start from Malkin once again.
Ben Kindel – Goal and an assist with three shots. It’s great to see Kindel back on the ice already. For now, he’s a middling streamer, but I see plenty of long term upside.
Seth Jarvis – Two assists with three shots. Very good start from Jarvis since returning from shoulder surgery.
John Gibson – 18 saves on 19 shots in the 4-1 win over Chicago. This says more about the Blackhawks than anything else. Gibson is in the desperation tier.
Viktor Arvidsson – Hat trick and an assist with six shots. Arvidsson is on a massive tear at the moment. I’d hold him everywhere while he’s on fire and Dylan Larkin is suspended.
Alex DeBrincat – Two assists with four shots. It’s been business as usual for DeBrincat so far, and that’s a great thing.
Matthew Schaefer – Two goals and an assist with six shots. He’s so damn good already. He’ll be a top ten fantasy player sooner than later.
Quinn Hughes – Goal and an assist with four shots. Hughes played almost 34 minutes in this game. It’s become normal for him, but it’s jaw dropping at the same time.
Aliaskei Protas – Two assists. The elder Protas has started horribly, so even with three points in his last two games, he’s in bottom end streamer territory right now.
Cole Hutson – Two goals. I think Hutson is a pretty easy hold right now, even if it’s bottom end.
Roman Josi – Three assists with six shots. We’re getting a throw back Josi season so far, which is excellent. He’s over a point per game while pushing towards three shots per game.
Filip Forsberg – Two goals on three shots. Seven points in the last three games for Forsberg, as their top players are the only thing keeping the Preds afloat.
Joel Hofer – 31 saves on 32 shots in the 4-1 win over the Bruins. I was bullish on Hofer going into the season, and he’s been even better than I hoped. He looks every bit of a top twelve goalie.
Robert Thomas – Goal and two assists with two shots and two PIM. Slow start from Thomas, who I would put on the fringe, but I’d lean towards holding for his track record.
Philip Broberg – Goal and two assists. Broberg is doing exactly what I hoped, and that puts him as an easy hold.
Cole Caufield – Two goals on three shots. The assists are down, but I think that will naturally fix itself. The important thing is Caufield’s goals and shots are right where they need to be.
Phillip Danault – Goal and an assist with two shots. His days of fantasy relevance are a thing of the past.
Noah Dobson – Two assists with four shots. It’s been a very rough start for Dobson. I kind of lean towards holding him still, but it’s dicier than I expected.
Alex Newhook – Two goals. Bottom end streamer, as Newhook’s shot rate is around one per game.
Mikko Rantanen – Two assists with a shot and two PIM. The shot rate is poor right now, but Rantanen has 16 points in 13 games, so it’s hard to complain.
Wyatt Johnston – Goal and an assist with two shots. It was a slow start, but Johnston has 1+1 in three of his last four games. Love to see it.
Tage Thompson – Hat trick and two assists with four shots. Just an insane performance from Tage full of highlight reel plays. The new top line with Zach Benson (1+2) and Peyton Krebs (3A) clearly worked. Tage being over four shots per game is a wonderful site because we know the goals will come with it.
Rasmus Dahlin – Two assists with four shots. While the points are slightly down, Dahlin is over three shots per game, so good things are coming.
Leo Carlsson – Three assists with five shots. The top power play crushed for the Ducks, leading to all of their studs going off. Jackson LaCombe dished two assists, Cutter Gauthier scored two goals on ten shots, while Beckett Sennecke had a goal and an assist. Gauthier is the one guy who has started slow, so it was great to see him constantly shooting in this one. I’m bullish on all of these guys even if the Ducks are much worse than last season.
Will Smith – Two goals on three shots. It hasn’t been the best start for Smith, but I remain bullish on him going forward.
Mason Marchment – Goal and an assist with three shots. It’s been a rough start for Marchment, but I do see the upside if things start to click. For now, he’s a middling streamer.
Drake Batherson – Goal and two assists with three shots. He’s gone a bit under the radar because of Tim Stutzle (three assists), but Batherson has been absolutely fantastic.
Dylan Cozens – Two goals and an assist. Cozens has started horribly, but he does have five points in his last three games. I wouldn’t hold right now, but the upside is there if you chose to be more bullish than me.
Drew Doughty – Three assists. He hasn’t been my cup of tea for years. Doughty certainly isn’t now.
Artemi Panarin – Goal and an assist with seven shots. The assists are surprisingly down, but the goals and shots are great. I’m sure the assists will come, especially playing over 20 minutes every night.
Quinton Byfield – Goal and an assist with five shots. Byfield has been one of the most disappointing players in the league for me. He’s starting to shoot the puck a lot, and the minutes are there for him to turn it around. Honestly, the Kings don’t have a choice but to roll him and hope for the best. In fantasy, I’m really torn. In a roto league, I’m sit him on my bench and hope he turns it around. In head to head, if you want to cut bait, I totally understand.
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!
