Atkinson from Dubinsky and Jenner. Atkinson from Dubinsky and Jenner! Atkinson from Dubinsky and Jenner!!! That was the theme Monday night in Columbus as Cam Atkinson scored a hat trick on seven shots with Brandon Dubinsky getting the primary assist and Boone Jenner the secondary assist on all three goals. In recent games, the goals haven’t been there but the shots have. He now has 21 shots in the last 5 games and more importantly, he’s up to 16 goals and 14 assists on the season. Dubinsky keeps thriving in his increased role under Torts and almost has 30 points himself along with 39 PIM. Jenner has been the best of the bunch with almost identical stats to Atkinson, only with Dubinsky-level PIM (42). All 3 were already owned in the majority of leagues but if some reason any of these guys are out there, grab them. Here’s what else I saw around the league on Monday night:
Petr Mrazek – 27 saves on 29 shots in the 4-2 win over the Islanders. He’s top 5 in the league in both GAA and SV% at this point which is outstanding. The only thing stopping him from being higher ranked among goalies is the lack of starts. He’s on pace for around 55 starts but with the way he’s playing, I expect Mrazek to get more starts in the second half than he did in the first.
Justin Abdelkaeder – Goal on three shots. Another one of those guys who’s main value is in penalty minutes but chips in enough offensively to be a hold. He’s on pace for around 20+20 with around 90 PIM.
Pavel Datsyuk – Assist with two shots. Nowhere near where he was in his prime offensively but still plenty of value here.
Danny DeKeyser – Goal on his one shot on goal. He’s played really well on the first power play unit with Niklas Kronwall being out. The unfortunate thing is Kronwall is only out for two weeks so with the All-Star Break this weekend, he’ll be back fairly soon. If you need a defenseman for the short term, DeKeyser is a decent option but long term, there isn’t much here.
Brock Nelson – Goal on three shots with two PIM. He’s still available in almost 50% of leagues and I don’t know why. He’s on pace for over 30 goals.
John Tavares – Assist with three shots. He now has 5 points in his last 5 games with at least 3 shots in each game. Great sign for a second hot run streak.
Tuukka Rask – 34 saves on 36 shots in the 3-2 win over the Flyers. He’s looked much better in the last few weeks but even with this run, his numbers are mediocre outside of shutouts. Still don’t want him in redrafts.
Patrice Bergeron – Goal on four shots. He’s the number 6 skater in the ESPN Player Rater based on the RCL stats. That’s insane.
Zdeno Chara – Two assists. He’s bouncing back nicely from a disaster season last year. You usually don’t see that with a guy about to turn 39 years old but Chara is on pace for over 40 points, a good shot rate and solid PIM.
Brad Marchand – Goal on six shots with two PIM. The troll shows no signs of slowing down playing with Bergeron. Marchand is currently in the top 20 overall which is mind-blowing.
Ryan Spooner – Assist with two shots. With David Krejci (assist) back, Spooner moved to left wing staying in the top 6 and continued his form from when Krejci was out. He’s clearly still a hold even with Krejci back.
Shayne Gostisbehere – Assist with two shots. Ghost has been terrific, especially on the power play. Could he be a top 20 defensemen next season? I don’t think it’s out of the realm of possibility.
Wayne Simmonds – Two goals on nine shots with two PIM. He now has six points in his last six games with a whopping 26 shots on goal. Simmonds has been loving life on the first line and I don’t expect him to slow down outside of when he’s in the penalty box.
Mike Condon – 20 saves on 24 shots in the 5-2 loss to Columbus. It’s been horrible for Montreal the last two months and it’s not going to get any better until Carey Price gets back. Condon and Ben Scrivens are horrible.
Brendan Gallagher – Goal and an assist with four shots. He’s played really well since returning from injury. He’s well over three shots per game and would be on pace for 30+35 over 82 games.
P.K. Subban – Goal and an assist with three shots and two PIM. I’ve talked him up for having a big second half and he’s showing signs. Subban still is stuck on four goals despite having 133 shots on goal so more goals should be coming. And there’s tons of value there even with having only 4 goals.
Zach Bogosian – Assist with three shots. He’s held onto his role on the top pair so in deep leagues, there’s some value to be had here.
Jack Eichel – Two assists. He now has 18 points in his 17 games. Man I’m glad my Sabres tanked to get him! He’ll probably be a top 20-25 fantasy player next season and push close to the top 10 come 2017-18. It’s only a matter of time now that he’s finding consistency in his game.
Zemgus Girgensons – Two goals on two shots. He’s been disappointing offensively this year but is currently on Eichel’s wing. Girgs is a good flier to take in deep leagues right now, especially in dynasties. He played at a 20 goal pace last season on one of the worst teams ever; if he plays with Eichel the rest of the year, I expect the offense to come around at that pace, if not better.
Derick Brassard – Two goals, three assists and six shots. Sweet baby Jesus, what a game by Brassard. That’s also his second consecutive game with six shots which is great to see. He has a good chance to best last year’s career high of 60 points and will obliterate his previous career high in goals (19).
Jesper Fast – Two assists with a shot. Got a chance in the top 6 with Rick Nash out due to injury and did well. He’ll be a decent stream while Nash is out.
J.T. Miller – Goal on two shots. He was given credit for the first goal of the game only for it to be taken away from him. Shortly after the scoring change, Miller scored to give the Rangers a 4-3 lead and they didn’t look back. He’s been my go to streamer for a few weeks and he’s delivered. Having watched him closely the last few games, I’m holding him now in some leagues. Miller looks great every game he’s out there.
Derek Stepan – Assist with four shots and two PIM. This season has been a struggle for the U.S. Olympian but I expect him to have a solid second half.
Mats Zuccarello – Goal on five shots playing over 22 minutes. Just like Brassard, the Norwegian Hobbit is on pace to set a career high in points and destroy his previous high in goals. He’s already only one goal off his previous career high.
Jiri Hudler – Assist but no shots. The lack of shots are really hurting Hudler’s value right now. Like I discussed yesterday here, he’s truly on the fringe in 12’ers.
Antti Niemi – 23 saves on 24 shots in the 2-1 win over the Flames. His overall numbers are starting to come around. Nothing has changed for me with the Stars goalies though; I’d strongly prefer to have both of them.
Jamie Benn – Goal on four shots. He’s the number 2 skater by a large margin right now over the field. Benn is crushing all of the categories so far.
John Klingberg – Assist with three shots and two PIM. Starting to turn it around and get back to his early season form. No worries about Klingberg going forward.
Valeri Nichushkin – Assist with a shot and two PIM. Unfortunately there hasn’t been any consistency in his game even though he’s stuck on the second line. He shouldn’t be held in 12’ers right now outside of dynasties.
Tyler Seguin – Two shots going pointless for the fifth straight game. I’m not worried about Seguin; the All-Star break should help him reboot. Even with the slump, he’s still third in the league in points.
Jason Spezza – Goal on two shots with two PIM. Still quietly going about his business piling up the points.
Louis Domingue – 34 saves on 35 shots in the 2-1 shootout win over the Wild. Looked like he’d be a hard luck loser but Antoine Vermette scored the tying goal with just over a minute left, shorthanded no less. My stance is the same on Domingue. I still don’t believe but he needs to be owned right now.
Devan Dubnyk – 23 saves on 24 shots in the loss. He was so damn close to a shutout and instead doesn’t get the win. His numbers are still above average on the season across the board.
Charlie Coyle – Goal on thee shots with two PIM. Another good stream call, holla! Expect a Charlie Coyle sleeper post in the offseason, especially if it looks like he’s going to get more playing time.
Tuesday Streamers – There’s a nine game slate on Tuesday and while you wouldn’t normally look to stream much on Tuesday, you need to take advantage tonight because of the All-Star break coming up starting on Thursday. Hopefully my picks stay as good as they’ve been the last few weeks! Here are my top three options:
Nikolaj Ehlers (17.5%) – I discussed Ehlers here; he has points in 5 of the last 6 and is currently playing with Mark Scheifele and Blake Wheeler putting him in an excellent position to continue his success. The minutes are up and getting a matchup with the Coyotes, who will be on the second of a back to back having just played an overtime game last night, is close to ideal. I think Ehlers should be owned in 12’ers right now but at the least, stream him tonight.
Joonas Donskoi (0.3%) – Talked about him at length yesterday. He’s on a five game point streak, the minutes are up, he’s with a great center in Logan Couture and the Sharks should control the game against the Avalanche.
Jamie McGinn (0.4%) – He’s on a bit of a rough patch but he’s still on the first line and power play unit for the Sabres. The Senators have been a mess defensively and I expect the first line to dominate possession for the Sabres, giving McGinn some good opportunities.
That’s all for now guys. I’ll be back on Wednesday recapping the action around the league tonight. As always, please ask any questions you have or leave any comments below. Take care everyone!
