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!
Apparently January 10th is Sam Reinhart day. Last year, he scored his first career hat trick on January 10th and he followed it up with another three point night yesterday. Reinhart scored a goal and two assists with four shots in the 4-1 win over the Flyers. It almost feels a bit disappointing because he missed a wide open net that I'd expect a high school player to bury. Regardless, that's 12 points in the last 10 games for Reinhart. I've been preaching for weeks that he's a must own but he's still available in over 2/3rds of leagues. He's not available in RCL's (well done guys!) but for your other leagues, grab him if you've been hesitant. How can you not like a Rein-o on a horse? Jack looks like he's having too much fun. Anyways, let's take a look at what else happened the last two nights around the league.
Reid joins me in person from Razzball Hockey Headquarters for Tuesday's podcast. We run down the recent injuries, notably Patrik Laine who was destroyed by Jake McCabe (McCabe pictured above from this hit and ensuing scrum). After the update, we look at the most impactful developments over the last five days. Among the notables are Patrick Maroon, Michael Grabner and James van Riemsdyk catching fire, the second line for Calgary gets rolling, both Florida teams being a mess and the Islanders losing back to back games to the two worst teams in the league. As always, we close things 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.com!
Brad Marchand was one of the biggest breakout players in 2015-16 scoring 37 goals drastically increasing his shot rate to 3.5 per game while adding 90 PIM. While all of those numbers are taking a slight step back this season, he's improving the weaknesses in his game to become a well rounded player. Marchand returned to his old ways this weekend with three goals on six shots over two games to give him 12+22 on the season. He's only six assists from a career high and we've just reached the halfway point. Marchand also has nine power play points which is already a career high. Instead of being a three or four category stud (depending on plus-minus), he's become a big plus in five categories with the potential for all six if the plus-minus improves. These totals have him 15th in the player rater among forwards and that shouldn't come as a shock coming off a top ten season. It might not be exactly what you wanted but it's been excellent across the board. Here's what else I saw around the league this weekend:
When it comes to determining Patrick Maroon's fantasy value, someone who has no idea about hockey can figure it out. Is he playing on a line with Connor McDavid? If yes, pick him up and hold. If no, leave him on the waiver wire. Maroon received another chance to play with McDavid on Thursday and he took advantage in a big way scoring his first career hat trick on five shots and adding five penalty minutes. That brings his totals to 14 goals and 7 assists on the season with 48 PIM and a +12 rating. Does 30 goals and 100 PIM sound good to you? Maroon is almost on that pace and if he sticks with McDavid, I wouldn't rule out the possibility. He's available in over 80% of leagues at the moment so use whatever waiver priority you need to and grab him. Here's what else I saw around the league the last two nights:
Hey everybody! Reid joins me once again to do a thorough breakdown of the games Monday and Tuesday. Thankfully there was only one injury those two days. Highlights include Cory Schneider's big back to back games, Shea Weber and Alexander Radulov returning to Smashville, the wide open games in Washington and Tampa Bay plus some young talent producing in Vancouver. Yes, Vancouver! After that, we do a breakdown of the Thursday games before we make our picks for The Three Point Challenge. All of that and more in the latest edition of the Razzball Hockey Podcast, brought to you by SeatGeek, No Halftime and fanpicks.com!
Through November, Justin Williams had 4 points in 23 games. For years, he has been a bottom end hold in standard 12 man leagues but that time came to a screeching halt. Until it started again. Williams had himself a day on Tuesday night totaling a goal, two assists, two shots and two PIM. That brings Williams to 15 points in 16 games since the beginning of December. With eight points in his previous five games, Williams must be picked up and held throughout this hot streak, especially since he contributes in penalty minutes and shots on goal in a fairly big way. Nothing like a big resurgence from a 35 year old. Let's take a look at what else happened around the league the last two nights:
Hope everyone had a great New Year! Reid and I are back once again to discuss the latest news around the league. We start off with an injury rundown focusing on P.K. Subban plus the returns of Kris Letang and Nikita Kucherov. From there, we dive into Auston Matthews' amazing run of play and where he will go in 2017-18 drafts, Chris Kreider's hat trick, whether Anthony Mantha is a hold, whether Thomas Greiss will finally emerge and a goaltender who deserves more playing time. From there, we preview Tuesday's games and make picks for The Three Point Challenge. All of that in the latest edition of The Razzball Hockey Podcast, sponsored by SeatGeek, No Halftime and fanpicks.com!
In my preseason rankings, I wrote the following about Chris Kreider: "He’s good for 20+20 with strong penalty minutes but I’m not expecting much more even though he has a ton of potential." What I meant to include was 20+20 at the halfway point! For years, Kreider has been talked about as an elite talent but somebody who hasn't been able to put it together. Like a few other players on the Rangers, Kreider has seemingly put it all together at this point and the results are outstanding. In the 6-2 win over the Avalanche on Saturday, Kreider scored a hat trick on six shots extending his point streak to 4 games (8 total points). In 33 games, Kreider now has 15+14 with 19 PIM and 91 shots. Add in Kreider being +6 and you're looking at a contributor in all categories. At this point, we're looking at a guy who should push towards the top 50 at the end of the season and going forward; he's still only 25 years old. Let's take a look at what happened to close 2016 and the opening day of 2017:
In NHL history, two teams with a 12+ game winning streak have never played each other. That will change on Saturday as the Blue Jackets, winners of 14 straight, go to Minnesota to take on the Wild and their 12 game win streak. Both teams extended their streaks on Thursday in a different manner than usual. Their goalies have been the top 2 goalies to this point and it's not even close but last night, they scored 5 and 6 goals respectively. Their captains led the way with Nick Foligno scoring a goal and two assists with five shots while Mikko Koivu had two assists with a shot finishing +3. Foligno has been a top 10 forward this season bouncing back from a dreadful 2015-16 while Koivu has a solid 23 points and is +18. They're in different tiers at the moment but regardless they both need to be in your lineups night in and night out. I can't wait to watch these teams battle it out on Saturday. Here's what else happened around the league the last two nights:
I hope everyone had a great Holiday weekend! Reid and I are back with the final podcast of 2016 recapping the action from the last week. We start off with our usual injury rundown before we hit a few of the hot topics. Notables among those topics are the dearth of quality fantasy defensemen, Charlie Coyle's big weekend, Evander Kane's hot December, the possible resurgence of John Klingberg and whether or not we should care about Justin Williams. After that, we break down Thursday's big slate of games before we close things with the Three Point Challenge. All of that and more on this week's edition of the Razzball Hockey Podcast!
Evander Kane has been a polarizing player for years. The talent is noticeable on a regular basis but inconsistency and off-ice issues have plagued him during his career. Kane started off the season slowly but right now, he's on quite the hot streak. In Tuesday's game against the Red Wings, Kane scored two goals on four shots and added a fight for good measure. That gives Kane 7 goals and an assist in the last 9 games with elite shots and strong PIM. Given that he's an elite option in PIM and SOG with the potential for strong goals, I ranked Kane in my top 100 going into the season because the player raters always love him for his contributions across all categories. We're starting to see why yet Kane is still available in 59% of leagues. He's carrying the third line for the Sabres right now and the change in role has been a good thing for him. It allows him to have the puck on his stick more often and his linemates do a great job cycling the puck. I'd definitely own him in all 12'ers and I have been rolling him in some 10 man leagues as well. Here's what else happened around the league on Tuesday night:
