For most of the year, I've been talking about how good the Winnipeg top 6 is. They keep chugging along, putting up solid performances with the occasional big game. On Wednesday, it was Mark Scheifele's turn to have a big game, scoring two goals with an assist and four shots. The former 7th overall pick is starting to round into form. He now has a solid shot rate, 7+5 in 20 games with a +7 rating and 6 PIM. That's close to a 30 goals and 20 assist pace for the season which is excellent, especially for a 22 year old. In dynasty, I think he's safely in the top 50 going forward. For season long leagues, he's pushing the top 100.
Here's what else I saw in Wednesday and Thursday's games:
As far as fantasy disappointments go for this hockey season, Evgeni Malkin may have been right at the top going into this week. In 17 games, he had 12 points, which is far below his normal standards. On Tuesday, Malkin single-handedly beat the Wild, scoring two goals and adding two assists in the 4-3 win. Now, 16 points in 18 games with 18 PIM and a +5 doesn't look as bad. One more big game and Malkin is back to his normal levels. I assume this game kills the chance to buy low but I'd look to add as many of the top Penguins as possible in trades; you can't keep these superstars down.
Here's what else I saw on Tuesday night:
It's isn't rare for a goalie to steal a game in the NHL. That said, I don't think anyone does it more than Roberto Luongo does. Luongo puts up crazy 35 save performances with regularity and on Monday, Luongo posted a 39 save shutout against the Lightning, winning 1-0 on an Aaron Ekblad goal with 21 seconds left (I told you to target him yesterday!) The Panthers were outshot 39-20, the Corsi was 55-34* Tampa and had only one player have a positive Corsi in the game, yet Luongo shut down the Lightning and stole two points for the Panthers. His numbers on the season are about what you'd expect, winning half the time but with a solid goals against average and an elite save percentage. His owners have to be happy so far with his overall performance and thrilled with the great start to the week.
Here's what else happened on Monday night:
In my preseason defenseman rankings
here, I included a detailed breakdown on why I liked
John Klingberg so much for this season. Almost everything I said has come to fruition. Klingberg is definitely a top 10 defenseman next year and is going forward this year, the Stars power play is amazing, he's well on his way to double last year's 12 power play points (he has 10 already) and with 20 points in 18 games, he's well on his way to getting 60 points. He's also exactly at two shots per game so there's no limit to how good Klingberg can finish this season. On Saturday night, Klingberg was involved in all 3 Stars goals, assisting on both goals in regulation before scoring the winner in overtime. He's the #1 defenseman so far this season based on ESPN's player rater, which isn't perfect by any means, but it illustrates just how good he's been. I'd say the number 10 overall player and 5th best skater is even better than what I thought his best case scenario was. I hope you drafted him on some teams because you won't be able to acquire him now.
Here's what I saw in the games this weekend:
For the past two weeks or so, I've been talking about Jason Zucker as someone to pick up in fantasy hockey. The second line on the Wild was dominating possession and it was only a matter of time until they broke out. On Thursday, despite the Wild being dominated by the Hurricanes, they persevered and won 3-2 in OT behind two goals by Zucker, who also contributed five shots. He's up to 13 points so far in 15 games so if it was for debate, it isn't anymore; he's a must add in all leagues.
Here's what else I saw on the big Thursday night slate:
Petr Mrazek was the goalie waiting in the wings, for the Wings, for a couple years until the end of last season. He took over the job and played well through the playoffs until they lost to the Lightning in 7 games. Now, he's on the better side of the Wings platoon in net and he showed why he should get the majority of the starts on Tuesday, stopping all 38 shots against Washington in the 1-0 win, including a whopping 15 shots from Alex Ovechkin. Ideally, you would still own Jimmy Howard with Mrazek but Mrazek looks to be on the better side of the split right now.
Here's what else I saw on the massive slate on Tuesday:
The Razzball Commenter Hockey Leagues are about a month in and it's about time to look at the standings, what players are pushing the top teams, etc. The standings are a bit skewed because the amount of starts people have made so far is all over the place. In some of the leagues, most people are rolling their rosters every day. Naturally, those people are way ahead for now but it will balance out when the people who are pacing their starts make their games. A reminder that in rotisserie leagues (like the RCLs), you have a set amount of starts for the season so if you don't want to run out of starts by the end of the year and miss out on games from your best players, you can't play every player in every game.
Here's a look at the leagues and I'll close with streamers for Tuesday:
Even the most casual of hockey fans know who Patrick Kane is. Last year, he was well on his way to his best regular season ever until an injury shut him down until the playoffs. This year, he's well on his away again. In two games over the weekend, Kane had two goals, three assists and nine shots, putting him at 23 points in 15 games this season. A big reason for his big year is his new linemate, the rookie Artemi Panarin. Panarin had two goals, two assists and six shots over the weekend bringing him up to 15 points this year. With the injury to Connor McDavid, Panarin is arguably the front runner for the Calder Trophy now. Kane is pushing the top 5 overall for the rest of the season while Panarin has showed no signs of slowing down and is now a top 50 player.
Here's what else happened over the weekend:
As a Sabres fan, it was tough to watch Andrei Vasilevskiy lock the game down Thursday night in the Lightning 4-1 win over Buffalo. After a horrible first period, the Sabres dominated the game but Vasilevskiy took control. Coach Jon Cooper said that Vasilevskiy's going to get a bunch of games in the near future so add him if you can. He's an excellent target in dynasty leagues. After this season, either he gets traded or the Lightning trade Ben Bishop. Either way, you're a winner. In one year leagues, he will have plenty of value in spot starts.
Here's what else I saw Thursday night:
As far as regular season games go, Blues versus the Blackhawks from last night was one of the best games I've seen in years and definitely the best from this year. The Blackhawks were incredible offensively scoring 5 goals in the first only for the Blues to tie it up in the 2nd period at 5! Then Vladimir Tarasenko took care of business in overtime to earn a big two points for St. Louis early in the season. Tarasenko, who ended with a goal, assist, one shot and +3 with a -13 Corsi, was one of 7 Blues and 11 players total in the game who had two points; that's simply absurd.
Let's take a deeper look at this game along with the other three games from Wednesday night:
I've made my fair share of bold predictions and statements this year on Razzball but this one might be the boldest of them all; Tyler Seguin is the best hockey player in the world. No, not Sidney Crosby or Alex Ovechkin. Instead, it's a 23 year old who was drafted by the Bruins second overall only to be shipped to Dallas because they thought he partied too much or they simply don't like guys who have a lot of talent. On Tuesday night, Seguin returned to Boston and scored a hat trick on six shots. He also had an assist and eight shots Monday night in Toronto, the team who could have drafted Seguin but they traded that pick to Boston for Phil Kessel who is no longer in their organization. He's up to 20 points in 13 games, tied for the league lead with his linemate Jamie Benn (Goal, two assists, six shots, two PIM the last two days). He also has 60 shots in 13 games which is at an Ovechkin-like level. Bottom line, he's the number one player for me going forward. Man am I pumped to have the Stars to win the Cup at 66-1!
Here's what else I saw the last two days:
Surprise! I said yesterday that I wasn't going to have an article today but instead of posting my streamers in the comments section, I will post a short, separate article with my top options. I said
here that
Leon Draisaitl was a must-add right now. While his ownership is increasing rapidly, he's still only 36% owned on ESPN. He gets an amazing matchup against Philly and to make it even better, it's at home with Philly on a back to back. He's locked into the top line with
Taylor Hall and
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and the top power play unit. Here's a look at some other guys who are available in most leagues that can help you out tonight:
