We had to make up for the time off so Reid joins me once again for the second consecutive day! The show starts with each of us bringing up three different things we took away from Tuesday's games. Among the notables are Columbus' shaky play, how good Brent Burns is, an underrated Shark and Jack Eichel. Afterwards, we start some dynasty talk. Each of us talks about our top two tiers for the long term along with about 10 players that we could see taking a big jump next season. From there, we have a detailed discussion about Thursday's massive 13 game slate before making our Three Point Challenge picks. At the end, there's a quick preview of this weekend's All Star game. All of that and more on this All-Star edition of the Razzball Hockey Podcast brought to you by Draft, SeatGeek and FanPicks!
After a brief haitus, we're back! Reid joins me once again to catch up on everything we've missed over the last 9 days. We start again with injuries, notably Alex Galchenyuk, Kevin Hayes and a bleak update for Aleksander Barkov and Jonathan Huberdeau. After that, we hit the big developments, including a ton of high scoring games, Conor Sheary exploding, the Capitals rolling, Patrick Marleau with a four goal period and the Jets going with a blast from the past in net. Per usual, we wrap things up with The Three Point Challenge. All of that and more in the latest edition of The Razzball Hockey Podcast, brought to you by SeatGeek and FanPicks!
In the first half of Tuesday's game, Jack Eichel couldn't get anything going. The puck was constantly jumping over his stick and was turning the puck over constantly. Things certainly changed in the second half of the game as he willed the Sabres to a third straight overtime victory. Eichel scored twice, including an absurd overtime winner, on four shots.
https://twitter.com/BradyTrett/status/824106676894638080
Eichel's shot rate is currently the best in the league over his 26 games along with 12 goals and 9 assists. Now, it's not a huge sample, but that's a 40 goal, 30 assist pace with over 320 shots. That's why I had him ranked in the top 20 before his preseason injury and while he'll probably be there at the start of next season. We'll be sure to include some dynasty talk on Thursday's podcast; in Eichel's case, we haven't seen his best yet, far from it. Here's what else happened around the league on Tuesday night:
When it comes to the San Jose Sharks, the person playing with the Joes on the first line always gets a nice value boost. Lately, it's been Patrick Marleau making him a solid streamer given his role on the first power play unit. Now that he's settled into this spot, we have to talk about whether or not he's a hold. Marleau had the period of a lifetime scoring four goals in the third period against Colorado. That brings his totals to 16+8 on the season. The shots are right around average and the PIM are low so what's my verdict? It seems like a cop out but it's team dependent. If you need goals and STP, then you can hold Marleau at the bottom of your roster. Otherwise, leave him on the waiver wire to hopefully stream. Also, bonus points for those who know the title reference. Here's what else happened around the league on Monday night:
On the last podcast, Reid and I looked at a bunch of players who were under 50% that I thought were must-own. I made a massive oversight leaving somebody off that list: Conor Sheary. I just looked and saw that he's 45% owned which absolutely blows my mind (I thought he was in the 70's or 80's). Sheary had an excellent weekend scoring twice on three shots on Friday and then getting two goals and an assist with four shots on Sunday. That brings Sheary's totals to 17+17 while being +17 in 39 games. Seventeens are wild! Anyways, Sheary is on pace for 35+35 over 82 games with an excellent plus-minus and decent enough shots. That's closer to a top 50 player than someone who is on the waiver wire. We've seen guys in the past be excellent fantasy values being a passenger on Crosby's line so if you're in one of the leagues where Sheary is available, pick him up immediately (I'd put him ahead of everyone discussed on the podcast). Then come back and read what else happened around the league this weekend!
There have been a lot of bad trades over the last five years in the NHL. It's no surprise that Nino Niederreiter has turned into an excellent player in Minnesota after being traded by the Islanders, the team who drafted him fifth overall. Who knew trading a player who just went in the top five in the draft at 20 years old was a bad idea? Anyways, Nino has been solid for a few years now but he's starting to peak in his age 24 season. Niederreiter scored two goals and an assist with four shots in the 4-3 win over the Coyotes on Thursday. This brought Nino to 30 points (14+16) on the season while being +18. The PIM are below average and the shots are barely above two per game but with his developing power play prowess to supplement his even strength play, Niederreiter is looking like a clear hold at the moment. Hopefully everyone in dynasties held onto him because the best is yet to come. Let's take a look at what else happened over the last two nights:
After an amazing start, Patrick Eaves has slowed down quite a bit lately. Despite being in the league since 2005, Eaves never topped 32 points so it wasn't a surprise. That said, he's been given the best opportunity to produce points he's ever had in his career this season and Eaves has taken advantage on the whole. Eaves had his strongest game in over a month on Tuesday scoring a goal and two assists with three shots. He's been on the first power play unit all season (his goal was on the PP) and Eaves moved back to the first line during this game. It's time to stop dropping Eaves and hold him in 12'ers. I'm okay with using him as a streamer if you don't have the room but Eaves has an outside shot of scoring 30 goals this year. Here's what else happened around the league on Tuesday night:
Reid and I are together once again bringing everyone the latest fantasy hockey news. We run down the latest injuries, mostly to blueliners, before we also discuss a handful of players who returned over the weekend. After that, we touch on the red hot Capitals, the third line in Carolina exploding in back to back games, John Tavares looking like his usual self and an emerging goalie in St. Louis. After that, we each rank nine players who are available in over 50% of leagues that I consider must-own. We know it's difficult to decide who to grab with your last roster spot or two so that's what we're here for. After that, we finish things up with a Tuesday preview and The Three Point Challenge. As always, please leave your picks in the comments section. All of that and more in the latest edition of the Razzball Hockey Podcast brought to you by SeatGeek and FanPicks!
I hope everyone was able to watch the game between Pittsburgh and Washington on Monday night because that was everything that hockey should be. Yes, the defense was lacking at times, but man that was beautiful. Unsurprisingly, the star of the show was the #1 overall skater in fantasy to this point of the season, Evgeni Malkin. Malkin scored a hat trick in the second period and finished the game with those three goals, five shots and two PIM. Nobody can be surprised at how well Malkin is doing; his peak performance is on par with anybody in the league. The surprise is that he's managed to stay healthy to this point . I was lucky enough to have him fall to 24th and 25th overall in two separate drafts this season and took the gamble. Hopefully you guys all did the same because we're currently looking at a 40+55 with 100 PIM season. Here's what else happened around the league on Monday:
Elias Lindholm has had a disappointing start to his NHL career. After being a top 5 pick in 2013, Lindholm has failed to reach 40 points in the first three seasons of his career. It's certainly not the end of the world given that he just turned 22 years old; not everybody is a McJesus or MacKinnon and dominates right out of the gate. Lindholm is currently in the midst of the best streak of his young career. On Friday night against the Sabres, Lindholm dished an assist and added four shots extending his point streak to five games. He followed up it with a massive game scoring a goal and two assists with five shots in the 7-4 win over the Islanders. That brings his point streak to six games and gives him 18 points in 33 games to this point. Obviously this isn't going to last but Lindholm is an elite streamer at the moment and like a few other young forwards on his team, there's some real sleeper potential here for 2017-18. Let's take a look at what else happened around the league over the weekend:
We're changing things up with the lede today, and by we I mean me! Carey Price was definitely the least valuable player of Thursday night. The superstar goaltender was lit up like a Christmas tree by the Wild allowing 7 goals on 24 shots. In his last 6 starts, Price has allowed, 7, 4, 3, 1, 4, and 4 goals. To say it's been a rough two weeks would be like saying repealing Obamacare is a bad idea. No kidding! Sorry, couldn't help myself. Anyways, how high is the panic meter on Price in my eyes from 1 to 10, 10 being highly concerned? Maybe a 3? We know how good of a goalie he is, I'm not overly concerned over a poor stretch. I doubt you'll be able to buy low on him but it's at least worth kicking the tires and finding out. Look for Price to get back on track sooner than later. Let's take a look at what else happened around the league the last two nights:
Don't worry, it's not as bad as the title makes it seem! Reid and I are back again starting off with our usual injury rundown, or in this case, the flu rundown. After that, we look at all of the games from Monday and Tuesday night. Among the highlights are Jeff Skinner and Victor Rask getting back in form, Anders Nilsson posting another massive game, John Gibson finally finding some consistency and a player from off the radar that has emerged over the last week. After that, we preview Thursday's games before making our Three Point Challenge picks. Be sure to make your selection in the comments section below. All of that and more on the latest edition of the Razzball Hockey Podcast!
