We're very accustomed to Vegas making a big trade every season at this point. Surprisingly, we got their big move on Sunday already. Since they were willing to acquire Rasmus Andersson without a contract extension, the Flames sent him to the desert, acquiring Zach Whitecloud, a first round pick, a second round pick (turns to another first if Vegas wins the Cup), and a prospect that projects to be an AHL'er. It's a good return for Calgary, taking advantage of Andersson bouncing back from a dreadful 24-25 season. For Vegas, the fit is kind of weird to me. It's a team that doesn't even play a forward on their top power play unit, so are they really going to jam Andersson with Theodore on the second unit? Probably to make him happy, at least with their current injuries, but I don't see a lot of gain there. Scoring goals hasn't been a problem, and Andersson has still been bad defensively. He should play with Hanifin which maybe helps a bit? Overall, I think this is a net negative for Andersson's fantasy value, but I'm still holding him for the time being to see how it looks for the next couple weeks. For Calgary, Weegar takes over the top power play unit by default. He's on the fringe. Whitecloud could gain some deep league value. My assumption is he gets a top four role, and with that, some quality hits and blocks. Let's take a look at what else happened over the weekend:
As a Buffalo fan, I experienced plenty of pain in my sports fandom. For the first time this millennium, the Sabres and Bills are doing well at the same time, and while it might only last a few more days (I feel good about the Bills Saturday though!), I'm certainly going to enjoy it while it lasts. I'm a hockey fan first, having gone to games 3, 4, 5 (in Philly), and 6 the last time that the Sabres were in the playoffs. I was in college and wasn't even able to buy a beer at the games! Here we are, almost fifteen years later, and the Sabres are finally looking like a real time. Their best forward led the charge the last two days. Tage Thompson dished two assists and added two shots in the 5-2 win over the Flyers on Wednesday. He followed it up with one of the games of the season on Thursday, scoring a hat trick with two assists in the 5-3 win over the Canadiens. Tage is up to 25 goals and 24 assists in 46 games with a 3.5 shots per game pace. He's now tied for fifth in the league in goals, and second in even strength goals behind MacKinnon. This is after leading the league in even strength goals last season. Now, if only the Sabres power play can ever sustasin some success, and Tage could push for a Rocket Richard. As is, we're looking at a premier goal scorer and a top 20 fantasy forward, which makes him a top 25 player. Let's take a look at what else happened over the last two nights:
It's not that often that you see a team score 10 goals in a game. In fact, it didn't happen all of last season. It did on Saturday, with the Bruins smashing the Rangers 10-2 in the afternoon. It's no surprise that the two highest game scores of the season were Bruins in this game. It's definitely not a surprise that one was David Pastrnak, who dished a whopping six assists in the game, adding five shots on goal. The huge surprise was Marat Khusnutdinov, who scored four goals and an assist, finishing +6. While he didn't record any stats in Boston's game on Sunday, Khusnutdinov did have three assists in his previous four games. He's currently on the first line with Pasta, so he's worth bumping into the middling streamer range. There's some upside here, but he only had seven shots in his previous eight games combined, so that will need to drastically change for anything more. Let's take a look at what else happened over the weekend:
Patrick Kane hit the next milestone in his illustrious career on Thursday night, scoring two goals to reach the 500 goal mark for his career. He became the fifth American and 50th player ever to score 500 goals. Kane has been very good for the surprising Red Wings, totaling 8+18 in 30 games with an above average shot rate. He's firmly on the fringe, meaning whether or not you hold him comes down to team needs. If anything, he's been a bit unlucky with his shooting percentage, so there's a bit more upside here. Just don't expect any more empty net goals, as the only reason he was on the ice with one in this game was to get him to 500. Let's take a look at what else happened over the last two nights:
Like most of the Rangers, Mika Zibanejad has been extremely frustrating this season. Before Friday's outdoor game in Miami, he had one shot on goal in the previous five games combined! So naturally, he had one of the games of the season so far, scoring a hat trick on six shots and adding two assists in the 5-1 win over the Panthers. The top line for the Rangers was dangerous throughout, and just like that, Zibanejad is ahead of last season's points pace. He's just shy of a 30+40 pace now and the shot rate is back up towards three per game. It's not exciting, and it's definitely close to the fringe, but I lean towards bottom end hold still. The minutes are through the roof at the moment and with their lack of depth, I can't imagine that changing any time soon. Let's take a look at what else happened over the weekend:
I celebrated the end of 2025 in the best way imaginable: watching hockey for the entire day. There were a lot of highlights, starting with my Sabres winning their tenth game in a row. Yes, Billy Bob, 10! More on that later. The most incredible performance though was another Avalanche beatdown. Not that it was surprising at all against the Blues, but that they scored four goals (and have a fifth disallowed) before the Blues even had a shot on goal! What a powerhouse. Nathan MacKinnon had his usual 2+2 with seven shots, but the notable performance for a non-superstar was Valeri Nichushkin. Big Val had a hat trick on six shots in the 6-1 win. He now has 11+15 in 31 games with a very good shot rate. He's still available in almost two-thirds of leagues, and that simply needs to change. Nichushkin is back on PP1 so if there was any doubt, he's must own everywhere. Sure, he could get injured again, but you have to ride him until that happens. Let's take a look at what else happened over the last two nights:
Version 3.0 of this season’s hold/stream list is below. For those of you new to these parts, this is pretty straightforward. This is for standard 12 man leagues so none of the additional categories like faceoff wins, etc. If a player is in the hold category, they are a slam dunk hold, don’t even think about. If they’re on the fringe, you can make a case either way depending on team needs. If they’re a streamer, then you can pick them up when you need starts and potentially hold them for a bit if they get hot, but don’t anticipate keeping them on your roster long term. Also, assume that every starting goalie is a hold unless otherwise noted. If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions, leave them below. Let’s get to it!
I liked the acquisition of Mason Marchment by the Kraken in the summer, but for whatever reason, it just wasn't working out. They shipped him to Columbus, and Marchment looks like the player we are used to from his time with Dallas. Marchment scored two power play goals on Monday, putting four shots on goal. He has three goals in two games with Columbus now, and he's gone right onto the top line with Fantilli and Marchenko. I don't expect him to get to hold status, but Marchment is an elite streamer while he's on fire. Let's take a look at what else happened over the last two nights. Also, apologies for not having my usual Monday post, but I am back home now and will be on my usual schedule going forward.
I was extremely bullish on Jakob Chychrun last season after his move to Washington, and was a bit above consensus this season. He's now blowing my expectations out of the water. Chychrun scored two more goals on Thursday, helping the Capitals beat the Maple Leafs 4-0. He now has a fantastic 14 goals on the season and has firmly played his way into the Olympic picture. He's the #2 overall defenseman on the season for fantasy purposes, and while I wouldn't rank him there for the rest of the season, Chychrun is crushing across the board. He's a clear #1 in all formats. Let's take a look at what else happened on Thursday night:
Move over Ryan Suter, there's a new best defenseman in Wild history. Bill Guerin pulled off one of the biggest trades in recent memory, acquiring Quinn Hughes from the Vancouver Canucks in exchange for Zeev Buium, Marco Rossi, Liam Ohgren, and a first round pick. Wow. It's time for a quick breakdown of what this means for both teams and their players, in the short and long term. Let's get to it!
There's not much that a slam dunk Hall of Famer can do to surprise you, but with how poorly the last two seasons have gone for Steven Stamkos, last night qualified. Stammer scored four goals by the end of the second period on Thursday, finishing with nine shots on goal in the 7-2 win over the Blues. Look, it couldn't be going worse in Smashville overall. That said, he's getting some trade buzz, and a game like yesterday is going to do wonders for the chances of someone taking on his contract. He did have six points (4+2) in the seven games before Thursday, so it didn't come completely out of the blue. For now, he's in elite streamer range while he's hot. Let's take a look at what else happened on Thursday night:
First off, I just wanted to apologize to everyone for not having the usual Monday morning post this week, but after traveling this weekend, I wasn't able to carve out the time to do a proper summary of things around the NHL. The good news is I'm here now, and it's time to heap some more praise on the #1 goalie in fantasy right now, Logan Thompson. Thompson recorded his 100th win on Sunday, getting a 39 save shutout in the 2-0 win over Columbus. Thompson is sitting with an outrageous 1.96/.925 on the season, proving last season wasn't a fluke. There's just no way Hockey Canada keeps him off the Olympic team now, right? No matter how much politicking kept him off the Four Nations team because McPhee was butthurt about Thompson being mad he had to backup for Hill, he's clearly one of the three best Canadian goalies. Do I think he'll finish as the #1 overall goalie? Probably not, but I'd be stunned if he's not in the top 5. He's in elite form and the team in front of him is playing very well. Let's take a look at what else happened over the last couple of nights:
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