Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! Reid and I back with a Black Friday podcast (recorded on Wednesday). Hopefully everyone has the day off to enjoy some hockey! We each talk about three different things that have happened so far this NHL season that have an impact going forward, notably Auston Matthews and Patrice Bergeron slumping, before we talk about the Vegas Golden Knights. Their team name, the dreadful press conference, the logo, everything. As always, we finish things up with The Three Point Challenge for Friday's games. You have the entire day to make your submission as long as it's before that player's game started. All of that and more on the newest edition of the Razzball Hockey Podcast!
A week ago, I said this about Steve Mason: "Michal Neuvirth is out for over a month so it’s going to be Mason’s show. Perhaps the extra starts will help him get into a flow but he’s certainly in the 'desperate for starts' category for now." After Tuesday's big game, it's been three strong starts out of four. Mason made 38 saves in the 3-1 win against the Panthers and if not for a horrible Matt Read turnover with less than two minutes left, he would have been a good bet for a shutout. Since Neuvirth went down, Mason has saved 107 of 115 shots which is more than solid. I picked up Mason for this start in multiple leagues and for now, I'd definitely grab him in 12'ers. He's less than 20% owned at the time of this writing so odds are he's available in your league. It may not be all peaches and cream but the volume alone has its value and the Flyers have played much better in their last five games. Here's what else I saw on the short Tuesday slate:
We're back and based on Reid's quote, you should buckle up! Per usual, we start off by updating the most recent injuries around the league and how it affects players in Tampa Bay and Manhattan. We follow that up by talking about Connor McDavid's first career hat trick, the red hot Jeff Carter and Nathan MacKinnon, Marian Hossa's revival, the future goalie in Tampa posting another shutout and Cam Ward randomly getting hot. We then move on to the Three Point Challenge before we add some other recent news that we skipped over, namely scratches of Shayne Gostisbehere and John Klingberg and Alexander Radulov's excellent play. Better late than never! All of that and more in the latest edition of the Razzball Hockey Podcast!
In the afternoon Monday, there was talk that recent Penguins callup Jake Guentzel was going to play on the second line with Evgeni Malkin and Phil Kessel in his NHL debut. Needless to say that it was a damn good debut, at least from an individual perspective. Guentzel scored a goal one minute into the game and added another one later on in the first period to go up 2-0. He finished the game with two goals on five shots playing over 15 minutes. Yeah, the Rangers came back to win 5-2 but that doesn't take away from Guentzel's debut. So I did some digging on Guentzel. The former third round pick was a stud in college at Nebraska-Omaha (a damn good college hockey school, believe it or not) including putting up 46 points in 35 games his junior year before going pro. He finished off 2015 with Scranton and had 6 points in 11 games before posting 5 goals and 9 assists in 10 playoff games. Guentzel was over a point per game in Scranton this season before getting called up. Basically, this kid can score and getting to play with Malkin and Kessel should do him wonders. In deep leagues, definitely add him where you can. In standard 12'ers, I'll probably look to stream him again on Wednesday to see if this role is legitimate. I don't want to overreact to one game but Guentzel has potential to be a waiver wire darling if he sticks. Here's what else happened around the league on Monday night:
In non-breaking news, Connor McDavid is really good at that hockey game that millions of people enjoy. In this space, we give credit where it's due and McDavid did something on Saturday for the first time in his young NHL career. In the 5-2 win over Dallas, McDavid had his first career hat trick scoring three goals on four shots while adding two penalty minutes. That game gives the wunderkind 22 points (8+14) in 19 games so far this season tying him for the league lead. He's a decent bet to end up leading the league in points and he's still only 19 years old. The future for him is so bright that it's blinding. Here's what else happened around the league this weekend:
It certainly hasn't been consistent on a game to game basis but T.J. Oshie's overall production can't be denied. He had his best game of the season on Wednesday with two goals and two assists (one shorthanded, two power play points) with three shots in Washington's 7-1 beatdown of the Penguins. That brings Oshie's totals on the season to 8 goals, 2 assists, 10 PIM, +10, 6 STP (4 PPP, 2 SHP) and 37 shots in 16 games. The big games have been there; 10 of Oshie's points are in his 4 multi-point games while he was 2 in the other 12. If he starts to put some games together, which I expect with the Capitals power play due for a hot streak, Oshie owners will get a guy who easily settles in the top 75 with the potential to push the top 50 if the plus-minus keeps progressing. Here's what else I saw around the league the last two nights:
EVERYBODY PANIC! Just kidding, you can relax. Reid and I are back discussing a variety of topics. We start off by running down all of the latest injuries around the league before looking at the latest news throughout the NHL, mostly from Tuesday's games. Around the 30 minute mark, we get to the panic meter. We look at around 20 marquee players at various positions and give a rating from 1 to Cedric Daniels' eyes when Prezbo punched out Valchek on how worried we are about the lack of production through the first 20% of the season. It's actually from 1-1o but any excuse to show that picture! As always, we close things out with The Three Point Challenge. Be sure to get your picks in via the comment section below. All of that and more in the latest edition of the Razzball Hockey Podcast!
The first few weeks of the season, Connor Hellebuyck was a polarizing figure in the fantasy hockey world. He made the Jets roster and was clearly the best goalie but Hellboy was struggling and splitting starts. Plenty of people were asking me if he was worth rostering and justifiably so. Well, things no longer look to be a mixed bag after the last week of games. Hellebuyck has won 4 straight starts allowing no more than 2 goals in a game. His best performance came last night recording a 27 save shutout at home against the Blackhawks. Hellebuyck is getting massive offensive support right now and the defense is gradually improving in front of him. At the end of the year, I believe he will finish as a top end #2 goaltender with the expectation that he will be a #1 in 2017-18 and beyond. Here's what else I saw around the league in a very busy Tuesday night slate.
Hello everyone! Reid joins me once again to provide another update around the NHL. We start off by looking at Carolina's big game against the Caps, the Wild's first line dominating while the Stars top line starts doing what we expected from them. After ripping NBC before, we give credit where it's due before we talk about Gary Bettman and the NHL from a big picture point of view. We then ponder what the Las Vegas team name will be, question why Antoine Roussel is still widely available, a red hot Pekka Rinne and Filip Forsberg finally scoring. Finally, around the 35 minute mark, we look at the Sabres and Avalanche, the two worst offenses in the league at this point, before I try to stump Reid giving him "Who am I?" clues. As always, we conclude with the Three Point Challenge. All of that and more in the newest edition of the Razzball Fantasy Hockey Podcast!
First off, I'd just like to apologize to everyone for not having daily notes on Monday morning. I wasn't feeling too well Sunday night; one minute I'm watching the beginning of the Seahawks game and the next thing I know it's 10 AM! Thankfully there was only one game on Monday night so it wasn't the end of the world. Anyways, Sebastian Aho scored his first two NHL goals on Saturday and added an assist in Carolina's 5-1 win over the Capitals. That brings Aho's totals to 2+7 in 14 games which is great for the 19 year old. Unfortunately, that's accompanied by exactly 2 shots per game and only 2 PIM on the season. Add in the fact that the minutes are low (12:13 in this one) and I don't think you can hold onto Aho in standard 12'ers. That said, he's going to remain a great streamer for assists and is a Razzball favorite for dynasties. Let's take a look at what happened over the weekend plus the one Monday night game.
During last season, it looked like Eric Staal's career was on a steep decline. While he's still not close to the player he was in his prime, the 39 point season he had in 83 games in 2015-16 looks to be a thing of the past. Staal moved to Minnesota this offseason on a three year deal to center the first line and it's no surprise that Bruce Boudreau has helped revitalize his career. On Thursday night, Staal led the way for the Wild scoring a goal and two assists with six shots on goal being +3 in the Wild's 4-2 road win over the Penguins. That boosts Staal's totals to 5 goals and 6 assists in 12 games with almost 3 shots per game. He's shown an amazing ability to stay healthy throughout his career leading me to believe he has a pretty good chance to reach 60 points again. As the frequent readers know, I'm a big fan of the Wild's chances of success, at least from a regular season standpoint, and Staal is a big factor in that. For now, Staal should be considered a borderline top 100 player who should remain a clear hold for the entire season; I would not try to sell high on him. Let's take a look at what happened around the league the last two nights:
Reid joins me once again to look at a few different topics. I promise we kept the election talk to a minimum! Partially because we needed a break from things. Anyways, we start off by looking at the Jets explosion against the Stars, Connor McDavid vs. Sidney Crosby and the Kings dismantling the Maple Leafs. Around the 21 minute mark, we focus on a bunch of different players debating whether or not they are holds or simply streamers. We follow that up around the 33 minute mark by looking at the next tier below the questionable holds, namely guys who are debatable streamers. We then do a quick breakdown of head to head goaltending strategy before finishing things up with The Three Point Challenge. A bunch of people have been hitting it lately so we run through them and the current standings (posted below). All of that and more in this week's edition of the Razzball Hockey Podcast!
