The player with the most points this weekend was Connor. No, not McDavid. Kyle Connor continued his terrific season with two amazing games. First, he scored a goal and dished three assists against the Senators. Then, he followed it up on Sunday by scoring two goals and an assist with five shots in the win against the Blackhawks. That brings Connor up to a point per game on the season, 26+30 in 56 games. Connor is developing into one of the unheralded stars in the league. Overshadowed by Scheifele and Laine on his own team, this will be Connor’s third straight 30 goal season at age 23. His shot rate is over three per game now and the penalty minutes have jumped quite a bit. I’m not sure how much higher his ceiling is, if at all, but it doesn’t have to get higher. Connor has established himself as a player whose floor is 30+30 with plenty of upside from there. He’s going to be a top 50 player (conservatively) for a long time, mixing in seasons where he’s a top 25 player overall when he has some good fortune. The Jets are in terrific shape going forward offensively, now they have to do whatever they can to improve their blue line. Let’s take a look at what else happened over the weekend:
Friday’s Games
Jimmy Vesey – Goal and an assist with four shots. He’s getting a chance to play with Jack Eichel (2A) but Vesey is still a bottom end streamer at best.
Mika Zibanejad – Goal and an assist with five shots. Oh, Mika you’re so fine, you’re so fine you blow my mind, hey Mika!
Cam Fowler – Two assists with four shots. Fowler is right on the fringe of 12’ers. He’s boring across the board so if you’re okay with that, you can hold him. If you want a specialist at the bottom of your roster for team needs, Fowler is not that.
Adam Henrique – Goal and an assist with two shots. Bottom end streamer.
Auston Matthews – Goal and three assists with six shots. John Tavares had two goals and an assist with four shots while Mitch Marner dished three assists. Suffice to say that the Ducks had no chance stopping these guys on the power play, or at even strength when they took a rare shift together.
Elvis Merzlikins – 16 save shutout in the 2-0 win over the Red Wings. Doesn’t get easier than this shutout for Elvis.
Jimmy Howard – 42 saves on 43 shots finishing as the tough luck loser. Even when Howard stands on his head, he can’t get a win!
Joel Eriksson Ek – Two goals on four shots. Eriksson Ek just turned 23 so there is still some hope here. I loved him in his draft year and while it looks like he’s going to end up a middle 6’er, there could be some long term value here. It’s a long shot, but sometimes long shots come through.
Saturday’s Games
Philipp Grubauer – 31 saves on 32 shots in the 2-1 win over the Blue Jackets. Three consecutive excellent starts for Grubauer; hopefully he can finish the season on a big run like he did last year.
Patrik Laine – Hat trick on four shots with two PIM. This has easily been the best season of Laine’s career. The assists are already at a career high, the shot rate is elite, and he even has some room to grow with his shooting percentage.
Neal Pionk – Goal and two assists with six shots. Credit to Pionk for establishing himself as the Jets go to offensive defenseman. He needs to be held everywhere, and you can let go of Josh Morrissey in all formats.
Blake Wheeler – Two assists with two shots and five PIM. He’s clearly starting to age, but the dropoff for Wheeler hasn’t been nearly as stark as some others. He should still end up a top 100 player with relative ease.
Patrice Bergeron – Goal and two assists with three shots. Bergeron has had his injury woes, but he hasn’t shown any signs of aging. If anything, he’s getting better as time goes on.
Charlie Coyle – Two goals on three shots. He’s been a bit better lately, but Coyle is still a bottom end streamer.
David Pastrnak – Two assists with two shots. So damn good across the board.
Leon Draisaitl – Two goals on six shots. I’ve ran out of good things to say about Draisaitl. What he is doing is simply ridiculous.
Oscar Klefbom – Two assists with five shots. The plus-minus is getting a bit ugly, but Klefbom has been pretty good otherwise. He should be held everywhere.
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – Two assists with three shots. RNH has had a very nice season. Obviously it doesn’t compare to the big guns on his own team, but 39 points in 49 games after scoring 69 points last season (nice) is very strong. He needs to be held everywhere.
Carey Price – 22 saves on 23 shots in the 2-1 OT win over the Maple Leafs. Nice little run from Price is putting him back into solid #2 territory instead of bottom end #2.
MacKenzie Blackwood – 37 save shutout in the 3-0 win over the Kings. Back to back shutout from Blackwood is quite impressive, even if the second was against the Kings. Their schedule this month is pretty favorable so I’m good with owning Blackwood and seeing what develops. He’s a step above desperation now.
Kyle Palmieri – Goal and an assist with four shots. Palmieri continues to go about his business and be solid or better across the board. Easy hold everywhere.
Nikita Kucherov – Two assists with two shots and two PIM. Two points has been the expectation for Kucherov over the last month. He has two points in eight of his last nine games!
Brayden Point – Goal and an assist with three shots. Point is also on a tear as he’s almost right back to a point per game. He hasn’t been as good as last season, but he’s still been terrific.
Andrei Vasilevskiy – 17 saves on 18 shots in the 3-1 win over the Islanders. Tampa Bay is unstoppable at the moment and Vasilevskiy is back in form. His numbers are creeping towards last season’s. He should be the #1 goalie going forward.
Claude Giroux – Goal and two assists. The goals are at last season’s rate, but the assists have really dried up. We know the upside is there so hopefully Giroux puts together a good stretch.
Sean Couturier – Two goals and an assist with five shots and two PIM. Of course he gets three points the game after I take him for the Three Point Challenge!
Nicolas Aube-Kubel – Gordie Howe hat trick. Not much to see here, but have to acknowledge the Gordie Howe hat trick.
Travis Konecny – Goal and an assist with three shots. Breakout season for Konecny who is an easy hold now. I’d like to see the shot rate go up as that gives him a chance to boost his long term ceiling.
T.J. Oshie – Goal and an assist. Osh dog has been very good across the board per usual.
Kris Letang – Goal and an assist with five shots and two PIM. The numbers are slightly down, but Letang is still a #1 defenseman for his all-around contributions.
Mike Hoffman – Goal and an assist with seven shots. Hoffman has traded a few goals for a few assists, but overall, he’s been damn good once again. It’ll be interesting to see what his free agent market is this offseason, assuming he gets there.
Roope Hintz – Two goals on three shots. Hintz has been solid this season and there’s plenty of upside. For now, he’s a solid streamer.
Colton Parayko – Two goals on three shots. That’s four goals in the last three games, but I still don’t want anything to do with Parayko in fantasy.
Dillon Dube – Goal and two assists with two shots. Dube has been decent in his limited role this season, but that role keeps him from being a streamer. That said, I do like Dube in the long term.
Mikael Backlund – Two assists with three shots and two PIM. The way this season has gone for Backlund, he’s a fairly easy pass.
Milan Lucic – Goal and an assist with two PIM. Yeah, no thanks.
Johnny Gaudreau – Two assists with two shots and two PIM. Unlike last season, being lower on Gaudreau has paid off. This is the downside when he has slightly bad shooting luck, plus his linemates also regress.
Derek Ryan – Goal and an assist. Yep, nope.
Nate Schmidt – Two assists with two shots. He’s approaching AAGNOF status with eight assists in the last eight games. If that’s what you need, then grab Schmidty.
Shea Theodore – Goal and an assist with four shots. I can see myself ranking Theodore quite aggressively next season. Really liking how his game is developing.
Jake Gardiner – Three assists with two shots. He’s been a bit better since Dougie went down. Not using him in 12’ers, but there is value again for deeper leagues.
Erik Haula – Goal and an assist. Haula was ice cold before this with no points in his previous nine games. He’s still a decent streamer with upside but I’m not looking to use him right now.
Sebastian Aho – Goal and an assist with six shots. A five game goal streak for Aho has him back to 30 goals already. It seems like years ago when commentors and the general public were really worried about Aho’s slow start.
Teuvo Teravainen – Goal and an assist. The shot rate has dropped lately, but it’s still a huge step forward from last season overall. Teravainen is showing more upside than I anticipated. He can easily be a top 50 guy if this shot rate is maintained.
Sunday’s Games
Jared Spurgeon – Goal and an assist with five shots and two PIM. I lean towards leaving Spurgeon on the waiver wire as he’s just not hitting any of the categories particularly well.
Kevin Fiala – Goal and an assist with six shots. The heater continues for Fiala, who was elevated to the top line. Elite streamer.
Jonathan Bernier – 39 saves on 40 shots in the 3-1 win over the Bruins. Bernier has been shockingly good in 2020 but I still have no interest in using a Detroit goalie.
Andreas Athanasiou – Two goals on four shots. What a difference a year makes. Athanasiou is a bottom end streamer at best right now.
Igor Shesterkin – 42 saves on 43 shots in the 4-1 win over the Kings. Igor has lived up to the hype so far with six strong starts. The volume isn’t going to be there, but he’s worth streaming in most matchups, and should be owned in all dynasties.
Filip Chytil – Two assists with four shots. His role is limited right now, but I have liked what I’ve seen from Chytil this season as far as his long term prognosis goes. He looks to be a 2C eventually.
Mark Scheifele – Two assists with five shots. The points have been down lately, but we know what to expect from Scheifele.
Andrew Copp – Goal and an assist with six shots. Even with a decent streak, Copp is an easy pass.
Patrik Laine – Goal and an assist. I can feel the heat coming off Laine.
That’s all for now guys. Depending on how much action is there in Monday’s six game slate, I may have a short post up for Tuesday. Otherwise, I’ll be back on Wednesday. As always, feel free to ask any questions, leave any comments, or give any suggestions below. Thanks for reading, take care!
