Aleksander Barkov is in a dead heat with McJesus for the most time on ice per game as a forward in the NHL. Barkov has been making those minutes count in October and he continued to do so on Monday. Barkov finished the month with a bang scoring a goal and three assists with two shots against the Lightning. The bad news for Barkov is that his team was still electrocuted by the Lightning losing 8-5. The good news for us fantasy owners is that it doesn’t affect us. Barkov has been outstanding and if these minutes last, a top 50 season is a near lock. Let’s take a look at what else happened around the league on Monday night:
Alex Tuch – Goal and an assist. The overall minutes aren’t great but he’s getting a ton of power play time. I’m a big fan in dynasties and he’s currently a solid streamer.
Colin Miller – Goal and an assist with three shots. Miller has been incredible so far, especially on the power play. I’m fine with grabbing him for the short term but I still have reservations about long term value.
Brad Hunt – Two assists with three shots. He has seven assists in the past six games so if you need an AAGNOF, Hunt is a solid option.
Oscar Dansk – 17 saves on 19 shots before leaving the game with an injury. This is just getting ridiculous. Maxime Legace came in and was a disaster so Vegas might start down their downslide right now.
Josh Bailey – Three assists. Bailey has been outstanding with 14 points (3+11) with a +9 rating in 12 games. The problem is that he has 0 PIM and only 15 SOG. Can you say AAGNOF?
John Tavares – Two goals on seven shots with two PIM. Is 12 points in 5 games good? Asking for a friend and his name is John Tavares.
Anders Lee – Two assists with three shots and two penalty minutes. Lee has performed admirably and I’m not surprised at all.
Nick Leddy – Two assists and a shot. The power play time is massive so Leddy should be owned everywhere.
Dennis Seidenberg – Two assists with four PIM. He’s no longer getting any power play time so Seidenberg should be left for the deepest of leagues.
Niklas Hjalmarsson – Two assists as the Coyotes finally won a game! They gave up two goals in the last minute to blow the game but hey, a win in overtime is a win. Hammer doesn’t have much fantasy value.
Alex Goligoski – Goal and an assist with two shots. He’s not good enough to stomach the poor plus-minus right now.
Sean Couturier – Two goals on four shots and two PIM. Man, I didn’t think Couturier had this in him. He’s been incredible and honestly, I think he can keep this up (not point per game but being a hold all year).
Claude Giroux – Two assists with a shot. The bounce back is real.
Ivan Provorov – Three assists with seven shots. Provorov should be elite while Shayne Gostisbehere is out. If he’s available, grab him immediately.
Patrice Bergeron – Goal and an assist with four shots. It’s amazing how Boston keeps suffering from the same problem: amazing first line and nothing behind them.
David Pastrnak – Three assists with two shots. The plus-minus is ugly but everything else is great. I feel safe saying the plus-minus fixes itself.
Markus Nutivaara – Two assists with a shot. Nothing really here but I just wanted to type Nutivaara and add him into the Razzball Hockey Database.
Boone Jenner – Goal on five shots. He’s right on the fence but I think I’d grab him for now given the massive minutes.
Josh Anderson – Assist with two shots and five PIM. A preseason favorite of mine, Anderson is starting to round into form after his season started late following a contract dispute. I would definitely grab him in 14’ers and deeper or 12’ers that include hits. In standard leagues, Anderson is an elite streamer for now that could become a hold sooner than later.
Brendan Gallagher – Goal and an assist for some streamer success. Gally is right on the borderline; if the minutes go up it becomes a no-brainer.
Tomas Plekanec – Goal and an assist with three shots. Turtleneck is borderline useless at this point in his career.
Charles Hudon – Two goals and an assist with three shots and two PIM. There could be something here long term and the shot rate is already excellent. I’m not using him yet but monitoring Hudon going forward.
Artturi Lehkonen – Two goals on five shots. Firmly in the streamer category.
Shea Weber – Three assists with a shot. The massive minutes give Weber an incredibly high floor.
Christopher DiDomenico – Goal and an assist. I said there was nothing to see here yesterday so he gets two more points. Nice call Viz! But seriously, I don’t see anything here.
Mike Hoffman – Two assists with two shots and two PIM. Hoffman is certainly among the most underrated players in the league.
Craig Anderson – 9 saves on 15 shots in 2 periods before getting pulled in the 8-3 loss to Montreal. All of Montreal’s positive regression in shooting percentage came in this game. Brutal for Anderson owners who almost assuredly lost goaltending categories for the week already.
Ondrej Palat – Goal and an assist as did his linemates Brayden Point and Yanni Gourde. All three of these guys are getting great power play time on the second unit as well. Right now, I would say Point and Palat are holds while Gourde is a streamer.
Steven Stamkos – Two goals and an assist with three shots. Just stay healthy because this is absolutely ridiculous.
Nikita Kucherov – Goal and an assist with four shots. Yeah, he seems pretty good at hockey.
Vladislav Namestnikov – Goal and an assist with two shots. He should be owned everywhere at this point given what that line is doing.
Victor Hedman – Two assists with two shots. The best is yet to come for Hedman with the minutes he’s receiving and the way the forwards on Tampa are playing.
Jonathan Huberdeau – Goal and two assists with two shots as did his linemate Evgeny Dadonov. They haven’t really been mentioned nationally but this first line is playing as well as any line in hockey outside of the Stamkos line.
James Reimer – 14 saves on 19 shots before being pulled. Reimer is someone you should be selective with who he starts against. Then again, that might be an overreaction: who would you feel comfortable starting against Tampa right now? I might bench every goalie that goes against them.
Jaden Schwartz – Goal and an assist with three shots giving him an absurd 8+9 in 13 games. The rejuvenation of Schwartz has gone a long way towards the Blues having the most points in the league. Obviously the shooting percentage will regress but I love the way he’s playing right now.
Vladimir Tarasenko – Goal and an assist with three shots. Dude just goes about his business consistently scoring at an elite level.
Alexander Radulov – Goal and an assist with four shots and two PIM. He was buzzing all game and was rewarded with the game winner in overtime. Radulov has been what everyone hoped and expected in his first month for Dallas.
Ben Bishop – 38 saves on 39 shots in the 2-1 OT win over the Canucks. Excellent game from Bishop who stole this game from the Canucks. Look for Bishop to build off this one.
Tim Heed – Goal and an assist with three shots. The 26 year old Swede finally came over to the US last year and put up a point per game in the AHL. He’s currently playing on the first power play unit so I’d grab Heed if I need defensive help.
Tuesday Streamers:
Pavel Buchnevich (6.1%) – Going back to the well here with The Butcher on a three game point streak. With Vegas down to its fourth string goalie on a back to back, look for the Rangers to roll. Honestly, all of the Rangers in the top 9 are in play.
Andreas Athanasiou (8.9%) – On this small slate, I’m going back to guys I constantly used in the past. Now that Athanasiou is back, it’s a great spot to use him against the Coyotes who are on the second of a back to back and the last game of a road trip.
Kyle Connor (5.4%) – As you all know by now, I’m all in on Connor. He’s still in the top six getting regular minutes so continue to use him.
That’s all for now guys. With only three games on the slate, I’ll have my next set of notes on Thursday morning. That said, there will be new content on Wednesday with a new podcast along with streamers for the day in the bottom of the post so be sure to check that out! As always, feel free to ask any questions or leave any comments below. Thanks for reading, take care!
