The Blues are making a real push for the playoffs, and one of their summer offer sheets is making a big push. Dylan Holloway dished three assists on Tuesday, adding three shots in the 4-1 win over the Predators. All of a sudden, Holloway is up to 55 points on the season, with seven points in his last four games and twelve in his last ten. The Oilers could sure use a guy like Holloway right now. Well, maybe not Tuesday night, but the point stands. Worst case, Holloway is an elite streamer, but while he's this hot with some great matchups on the horizon, I would hold him. Let's take a look at what else happened over the last two nights:
Things are shaking out differently than I expected in Detroit. I thought Petr Mrazek was brought in to be the backup to Talbot, but he’s started three consecutive games. After losing to his former team, the Hurricanes, on Friday 4-2 (saved 28/31 shots), he came back with an 18 save shutout victory in the 3-0 win over the Golden Knights. Please, blog, may I have some more?
Going into Wednesday's game against the Sabres, the Red Wings were at the bottom of the cluster of teams battling for a wild card spot in the Eastern Conference. They have the hardest remaining schedule in the NHL, so it was as close to a must win that a game could be for them with five weeks left in the season. After falling down 1-0, they took control of the game, with their future Hall of Famer leading the way. Patrick Kane had three points in the first period and finished with five, totaling two goals and three assists with five shots. I can't lie, I completely whiffed on a potential Kane turnaround. You can split his season into two parts: with Lalonde as coach and McLellan as coach. Since the coaching change, Kane has turned back the clock and found a level that we haven't seen in three years. He's a clear hold in all formats as the Red Wings try to snap the second longest playoff drought in the league. Let's take a look at what else happened over the last two nights:
The big man has caught fire for Washington. Aliaksei Protas had his first career hat trick on Tuesday against the Ducks, scoring three goals on six shots. He has seven points in his last three games, bringing him to 28+3o in 65 games. Even with a poor shot rate, he's a no brainer hold, especially considering his +39 rating. I was absolutely shocked to see that he's available in over 60% of leagues still. Even the shot rate is starting to improve, as Protas has 26 SOG in his last ten games. Protas is still only 24 years old and has greatly increased his stock in dynasties as well. Yes, the shooting percentage has to regress over time. After all, he had only 6 goals last season shooting 5.3%, and now he's well over 20%. Even with that impending regression, he's getting to the right areas and Washington has turned into a powerhouse. Let's take a look at what else happened over the last two nights:
Friday was one of the most eventful trade deadlines in my lifetime. It had plenty of quantity, and an unparalleled amount of quality moved. I'm going to note all of the trades that happened that carry any fantasy relevance, even for the deepest of leagues. Some of them will be irrelevant even in the deepest of leagues, but there will also be blockbusters to discuss. I will be going in the order that they happened, not in order of magnitude. And with that, let's get to it!
Florida Panthers acquire Vitek Vanecek from the San Jose Sharks for Patrick Giles.
Vanecek is the new backup in Florida with Knight in Chicago. He's starting on Saturday night and becomes a viable streamer every time he starts. Giles is AHL depth for San Jose.
It was typical Team Canada to leave Thomas Harley off their team in the first place for an aging Doughty, but at the end of the day, Harley ended up playing and playing extremely well. He's carried that over to the Stars, where he's filling the void left by Heiskanen's injury and then some. Harley had a goal and an assist with two shots on Tuesday, giving him three straight multi-point games, and bringing him to 14 points in 11 games since Heiskanen went down. The shot rate is holding him back a bit, but Harley has a real chance to be a borderline top ten defenseman the rest of the way. He's been doing well at even strength all season, and the Stars power play is starting to get going. Let's take a look at what else happened over the last two nights:
The trade deadline is this Friday, but we saw a couple trades on Saturday, one of which carries some big fantasy ramifications. The Panthers made their annual big swing, acquiring Seth Jones from the Chicago Blackhawks in exchange for Spencer Knight and a first round pick, almost certainly in 2026. Even with Chicago retaining salary, Jones will cost the Panthers seven million a year for the next five years. Long time Razzballers know that I have never been a fan of Jones in real life compared to his reputation. I wouldn't want to commit to him for the next five years for free, let alone giving up a first round pick and Knight. That said, it will certainly help him stepping onto the defending Cup champions. So what can we expect for fantasy?
Well, my bold preseason prediction that Matvei Michkov would score 30+ goals has some hope. Since coming back from the Four Nations break, Michkov has completely torched the Oilers and the Penguins twice. Michkov scored two goals and an assist with four shots on Thursday, giving him eight points in his three games over the past week. Going back to the two games before the break, he also has 24 shots on goal in five games, which is incredibly encouraging going forward. I'm all in on Michkov long term as I've noted throughout the season, but his rough patch in January has left him on the waiver wire on around 50% of leagues. Even if he's just a hot schmotato for now, he's clearly must own right now because of the undeniable upside. If his shot rate gets up to three per game eventually, he's going to be a top 20 player for years. Let's take a look at what else happened on Thursday night:
It’s about that time to update my hold/stream list.
“Every 4-6 weeks during the season, I change things up and post a list of fantasy relevant players. I look at things from the perspective of a 12 player league, and put players into three categories. First, there are holds, who are players that should be on 100% of rosters. Next, there are players on the fringe, who you can make a case for holding depending on team needs, or at the least, they’re the best of the best for streaming. Lastly, there are streamers, who are worth using, but not worth holding. I will list streamers in order of preference (generally, I only want to stream forwards, not defensemen. Also, goalies will be last regardless of preference just to separate them). Assume that I am holding every #1 goalie unless otherwise noted, but I will mention the backups I want to use. If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions, please let me know below.
If you missed Part One covering the Eastern Conference, which came out during the Four Nations break, you can check that out here. The glossary is located at the top of that post as well. Without further adieu, let's get to it!
ANAHEIM DUCKS (3,3,4,3,2) - 2B2B, 3 Light Days
One of the weaker schedules to start with, Anaheim's back to backs aren't until the last two weeks of the season, so one of them could be when your championship is over. To start Week 4, there is a three games in four nights that covers a back to back and two light days. That is the clear highlight here. Otherwise, with just 15 games, not much to see here. And that's just fine because despite their hot streak before the break, it's not a team I'm that interested in.
It's been a while since I've posted because of the NHL hiatus, but I have to say that the Four Nations Tournament has exceeded expectations and then some. It has been an incredible tournament with the big showdown coming on Thursday night between USA and Canada. The regular season starts up again on Saturday, so I'm going to have my updated hold/stream list finally come out on Monday. Before then, I'm going to publish my Playoff Manifesto. For those of you that are new in these parts, I break down every NHL's schedule for the fantasy hockey playoffs i.e. for those of you in head to head leagues. Volume is King, and we want to take advantage of every single edge we can get. Before I get started, I want to explain my process and my abbreviations, plus give a small glossary.
All of the loyal Razzballers know my infatuation with Dylan Guenther in fantasy. It's been a tough month with him on the injured list, but he came back in a big, big way. Guenther tied the game against the Flyers on Tuesday before scoring with one second left in overtime to win the game. He finished with two goals and an assist with six shots and more importantly, 22:37 of ice time. It was great to see him handle that kind of workload right away. Utah still has three games before the Four Nations break, so if you're in one of those leagues without IR spots and Guenther is available, grab him immediately. There's easily top 100 upside here for the rest of the way. Let's take a look at what else happened over the last two nights:
