Elliotte Friedman dropped a bomb on Friday, reporting that Nikita Kucherov requested a trade from Tampa Bay, telling them that he won’t sign an extension. The Tampa Bay GM said that they will not be trading him, but this is still massive news. The reports are that Tampa offered him four years at 15 million per year, which is an absurd lowball given the current market. This is playing out very similarly to Stamkos’ end in Tampa, although Kucherov is a much better player right now than Stammer was at that point. That was evident on Saturday, as Kucherov had three assists and a shot against the Predators. For now, this doesn’t change anything in fantasy, as Kucherov’s agent is adamant that it won’t turn into a holdout. That said, this could have a massive impact on the Tampa franchise in the next year, if not sooner. Could they pivot into a quick rebuild, as they have a ton of players who could return them a ton of value? Do they stay on their current track and hope to stay in contention? Time will tell, but it could end up hurting a bunch of Tampa guys in dynasties if one of the best playmakers of all time ends up leaving. There’s not a dull day in the NHL right now. Let’s take a look at what happened on the ice over the weekend:
Dylan Larkin is sitting out until he’s traded. Who knows how long that will be, but I would guess it happens sooner than later, so we have to hold him. Friedman said on HNIC that he expects Larkin to adjust his list in the next day or two, so perhaps a surprise team swoops in for him. Montreal? Buffalo?
Friday’s Games:
Jack Hughes – Two goals on seven shots. Just stay healthy!
Arseny Gritsyuk – Two goals on eight shots. Gritysuk has eight goals in his last ten games as he plays on a line with Hughes and Bratt. He’s worked his way onto the fringe and has a case to be held as a hot schmotato.
Mitch Marner – Two assists wiwth a shot and two PIM. Marner is averaging an assist game, which is biding time for Marner’s shooting to positively regress.
Seth Jones – Goal and two assists. Jones is absolutely dialed in right now. It’s arguably the best hockey he’s played in his career. He’s playing like a #1 at the moment, and while I don’t expect that to last, I think he’s going to be a solid #2.
Anton Lundell – Hat trick on eight shots with two PIM. On a different team, Lundell could be a fantasy star. On the third line and PP2 in Florida, he’s stuck as a middling streamer, especially with Barkov’s return on the horizon.
Sam Reinhart – Goal and an assist with four shots. Reinhart is putting three shots on goal per game, putting him on pace for 42 goals. Business as usual.
Eetu Luostarinen – Two assists with a shot. Bottom end to middling streamer. Luostarinen is much better in real life than fantasy.
Mackie Samoskevich – Goal and an assist with four shots. The minutes are starting to creep up for Samoskevich, bumping him up into solid streamer range.
Matt Coronato – Goal and three assists. Coronato is actually over a point per game at the moment, putting him on the fringe. Calgary looks much better than anticipated.
Joel Farabee – Goal and two assists. Same as Coronato. Their numbers are shockingly similar.
Morgan Frost – Goal and an assist. Middling to solid streamer.
Matvei Gridin – Goal and an assist with five shots. Despite being behind the first two Flames in points, Gridin has been the guy who has stood out to me the most. I see him as an elite streamer.
Saturday’s Games:
Justin Barron – Goal and an assist. Decent start to the season for Barron, but I don’t see much fantasy value here.
Jimmy Snuggerud – Goal and an assist. The goals are great, but the secondary contributions are lacking for Snuggerud. I see him more as elite streamer than hold, but it is on the fringe.
Lucas Raymond – Goal and an assist with four shots. Raymond is shooting a ton recently, which is great to see. He has ten points in his last six games.
Connor Bedard – Goal and an assist with six shots and two PIM. Despite the team largely struggling around him, Bedard is doing exactly what we expect.
Anton Frondell – Two goals on nine shots. The long term upside is huge. Right now, it’s been mostly bad with the occasional huge game. Frondell looks to be a solid streamer, but in a year or two, he’ll be an easy hold everywhere.
Charlie McAvoy – Two assists with three shots. Very good start for McAvoy since returning from suspension.
J.J. Peterka – Two assists with four shots. I was bullish on a Peterka bounce back, and while it’s not all the way there, he has been quite good so far. He’s on the fringe.
John Carlson – Goal and an assist with five shots. It’s mind blowing to me that D’Astous has taken Carlson’s top role, but I’m still holding Carlson everywhere.
Filip Forsberg – Two assists with two shots. Terrific work from Forsberg and the rest of the top Preds so far.
Nick Perbix – Two assists with two shots. I bet you didn’t have the Perbix revenge game on your bingo card, did you!? He had no points this season before Saturday, and has eight shots on goal in thirteen games. Moving on…
Tristan Jarry – 18 save shutout in the 4-0 win over the Islanders. I have Levi and Andersen in my big dynasty, and I still haven’t brought myself to pick up Jarry. I know that the moment I do, he’s going to get shelled. He’s the guy right now, so if you want to risk getting burned, feel free to ride Jarry.
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – Two goals and two PIM. Seven points in five games for NHL, solidifying himself as a clear hold in all formats.
Samuel Ersson – 22 saves on 23 shots in the 5-1 win over the Sharks. There’s no way that I would ever use Ersson. I don’t care how good Ottawa is defensively. He’s been atrocious for years.
Dylan Cozens – Goal and an assist with five shots. Tim Stutzle also had a goal and an assist but with seven shots. Cozens has broken out playing with Stutzle, putting up seven points in his last four games. He’s probably worth holding again.
Shane Pinto – Goal and an assist. Pinto is in elite streamer range, but in banger leagues that include faceoffs, I’d hold.
Jake Sanderson – Two assists, +4. The shots are down a bit, but Sanderson is over a point per game in the early going, so I have no complaints.
Tage Thompson – Two goals on eight shots with two PIM. The Sabres power play finally looked good, with two of their three goals coming there. Tage is at 4.5 shots per game which is absolutely ridiculous.
Rasmus Dahlin – Two assists with two shots and four PIM. Dahlin hasn’t been at his best so far, but he’s still sitting at nine points in eleven games. He’s also over three shots per game, which just goes to show you how high his floor is.
Jack Quinn – Goal and an assist with two shots. Quinn has been a godsend so far this season. Luckily for the Sabres, Chevy turned down the Sabres offer in June for Hellebuyck that included Quinn. He’s an easy hold everywhere.
Zach Benson – Two assists with four shots. Massive heater for Benson, who has seven points in his last four games, and twelve in his last nine. The shot rate is also up significantly lately. He’s on the fringe, and the only reason I wouldn’t hold right now is the Sabres only have two games before next Sunday.
Teddy Blueger – Goal and an assist with two shots. And there’s your annual Blueger update!
William Nylander – Goal and an assist with two shots and two PIM. Nylander continues to be one of the best players in the league through the first month of the season.
Sidney Crosby – Goal and two assists with two shots and two PIM. It’s been a slow start for Crosby, driven by his speed bursts dropping quite a bit. That said, I still think he’s an easy hold.
Erik Karlsson – Goal and two assists with four shots. The shots are down for Karlsson, but he’s well over a point per game right now, so there can’t be any complaints.
Rickard Rakell – Goal and an assist with two shots. After a slow start, Rakell has a goal in four of his last five games. He’s on the fringe.
Tommy Novak – Goal and an assist with three shots. Novak is currently on PP1 and the first line with Crosby and Rakell. That is a huge workload for him. I have Novak in elite streamer territory now.
Josh Anderson – Two goals and an assist. Pretty good start to the season for Anderson, with six goals in 14 games. He’s a solid streamer again in hits leagues.
Chris Kreider – Goal and an assist with five shots, +4. Montreal’s second line dominated as did Pittsburgh’s first line. Even with Suzuki and Demidov out, Kreider isn’t on PP1. Pretty bizarre choice, but I’m not in charge. Kreider is in middling streamer range.
Lane Hutson – Two assists with a shot. Hutson isn’t far off two shots per game, which is the level he needs to get to in order to be a true #1 in fantasy.
Jake Oettinger – 24 saves on 25 shots in the 3-1 win over Columbus. Could this be the year Oettinger really puts it together. His numbers so far are obscene.
Miro Heiskanen – Two assists with a shot. He’s slightly behind last season’s huge bounce back, but Heiskanen still looks every bit of a #2 in 12’ers.
Arttu Hyry – Goal and an assist with four shots. Nothing to see here right now.
Cale Makar – Four assists with three shots. Watching Colorado a lot, Makar hasn’t been his best, but then you see 15 points in 13 games while pushing three shots per game and it just shows you how good he is.
Nathan MacKinnon – Goal and an assist with five shots. MacKinnon is doing what he usually does, and that’s be a top five fantasy player.
Artturi Lehkonen – Two goals on four shots. Lehkonen has twelve goals already, making him an easy hold everywhere.
Devon Toews – Two assists with a shot. Toews is falling into enough points again that he’s an easy hold.
Martin Necas – Goal and an assist with two shots, +4. Necas is back on the top PP unit, so he should get back to being a top 20 player again. He has 18 points in 14 games already. We just need the shot rate to go back up.
Sunday’s Games
Pyotr Kochetkov – 26 save shutout in the 7-0 win over the Jets. He’s the clear #1 in Carolina right now, so as long as he stays healthy, Kochetkov should be a #1 in 12’ers.
Logan Stankoven – Goal and two assists with three shots. I’ve had Stankoven on the fringe so far, but he’s definitely a hold now. He’s picked up where he left off in the playoffs.
Sean Walker – Two goals on five shots. Walker stumbles into enough points that he’s on the fringe of 12’ers.
Jesper Wallstedt – 26 saves on 27 shots in the 5-1 win over the Capitals. Wallstedt has been as good as I hoped for when I ranked him as the #5 overall goalie.
Joel Eriksson Ek – Two assists with three shots. JEEK has been on fire and is still due for some more positive regression in the goal department. Easy hold everywhere.
Bobby Brink – Two assists with four shots and two PIM. Brink is on the second line and PP2, but hasn’t done a ton. He’s a middling streamer.
Nick Schmaltz – Two assists with three shots. Schmaltz has been great so far, playing even better than he did last season when he set career highs in goals and points.
Logan Cooley – Goal and an assist with two shots and two PIM. Apparently Cooley is going to keep shooting over 30%. I don’t want to sell him either though. I’ve always been a huge fan and Cooley is making a huge jump.
Clayton Keller – Two assists with four shots. He hasn’t done that well at even strength, but Keller is crushing on the power play so much that he’s well over a point per game.
Jamie Drysdale – Three assists with two PIM and a +5 rating. He has six points in the last five games, so perhaps Drysdale is finally putting it together. I see him more as a deep league option so far though.
Travis Konecny – Goal and an assist with two PIM and four hits. Good to see Konecny have a nice game in his first game back from injury.
Matt Tomkins – 27 saves on 28 shots in the 4-1 win over the Rangers. I don’t expect him to get another start with the Oilers, and I wouldn’t really want to roll the dice with him anyways.
Evan Bouchard – Goal and two assists with three shots. Connor McDavid had a goal and an assist, while Leon Draisaitl dished two assists. Apparently this trio is going to obliterate points records from this century.
Colton Dach – Two goals on four shots. And there’s your annual Dach update!
Claude Giroux – Goal and an assist with three shots. Giroux is a middling to solid streamer at this point in his career. The shot rate is down in the depths.
Jake Sanderson – Two assists with a shot and two PIM. Fantastic start to the year for Sanderson.
Cutter Gauthier – Hat trick on five shots. Gauthier has moved past his slow start very quickly. Absolute heater at the moment.
Leo Carlsson – Three assists with two shots. Carlsson’s shot rate is horrible right now, but the assists are insane.
Judd Caulfield – Two goals and an assist with three shots. He bumped onto Carlsson’s line while being on the point on PP2. That puts him in the middling streamer category, with a bump to solid stremaer in hits leagues.
Tristan Luneau – Two assists with a shot. He’s on the outside looking in for 12’ers, but he’s probably worth owning in anything deeper?
Three Point Challenge: We will do Tuesday’s games per usual. We will do one more week with last year’s points leaders. Therefore, you can’t select McDavid, Kucherov, MacKinnon, Celebrini, Scheifele, Suzuki, Necas, Pastrnak, Draisaitl, or Robertson. Fungazi 2.0, Surfer Dude, ashtray, and Ranah all have a correct pick already, with nobody getting a correct pick last time out. Give me Stone in Pittsburgh.
That’s all for now guys. We’re still on the normal schedule now, which means MarmosDad will be back on Wednesday, and I’ll be back on Friday. As always, feel free to ask any questions, leave any comments, or give any suggestions below. Thanks for reading, take care!
