We’ve seen this story before. Last year, upper management called out Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin for poor play. This year, it was Jim Montgomery. Benn had one goal through 20 games, but he now has three over the last two games. Benn scored two goals and an assist with five shots and two PIM in the 6-1 win over the Canucks. This came after a goal and an assist on four shots against the Oilers. He wasn’t going to shoot 2% forever, but Benn did not look good over the first six weeks of the season. That said, we’ve seen a big hot streak from him before so there is hope he can do it again. The schedule looks fairly good over the short term so I’m expecting Benn to turn this nice stretch into a hot streak. Let’s take a look at what else happened over the last two nights:
John Carlson – Two assists. This game got out of hand so Carlson didn’t even have to play 20 minutes in this one. He’s averaging over an assist a game which is just ridiculous.
Antti Raanta – 31 save shutout against the Kings. He had given up 3+ goals in five straight games before this one, but his save percentage is .922 on the season. I would stream him in most matchups, and I’d use almost everyone against the Kings.
Conor Garland – Goal and an assist with two shots. Garland is a nice streamer, but the lower ice time keeps him from being a hold.
Nick Schmaltz – Two assists. I lean more towards elite streamer due to the low shot rate.
Christian Dvorak – Two assists with two shots and two PIM. Another Coyote in the streamer category, although I prefer the other two above over Dvorak.
Alex Stalock – 30 saves on 31 shots in the 4-1 win over the Sabres. He’s on a decent run, but I wouldn’t be using Stalock except in the best of matchups.
Zach Parise – Two goals on four shots and two PIM. At this point in his career, Parise is a middling streamer.
Jason Zucker – Goal and an assist with two shots. I was really hoping for a Zucker resurgence, but it simply hasn’t happened. At this point, I’m not expecting a bounce back to his previous levels. That leaves him as a decent streamer.
Andre Burakovsky – Two goals. He’s on the first line with Nathan MacKinnon (2A, 5 SOG) which makes him one of the best streamers, if not a hold while he’s in that role.
Philipp Grubauer – 31 saves on 33 shots in the 3-2 win over the Flames. Nice to see Grubauer back in the lineup and not missing a step. Activate him immediately.
Brad Marchand – Three assists. His numbers across the board are simply ridiculous.
David Krejci – Two assists. He’s on the first line for now, although it sounds like Bergeron will be back sooner than later. That’s the only reason I’m not holding him at the moment, but if you need assists, Krejci is your guy.
Matt Grzelcyk – Two goals on three shots. Grzelcyk is a decent hold in the meantime while Krug is out.
David Pastrnak – Two goals on six shots. Nobody is stopping Pastrnak right now. Such an animal.
Tuukka Rask – 25 saves on 26 shots in the 5-1 win over the Devils. Rask has been spectacular in the early going. Generally, his volume keeps him from being a top 3 goalie, but we can’t rule out the possibility. The Bruins are a powerhouse right now.
Nick Leddy – Three assists, two shots, two PIM, +5. If you need assists, you could do worse than Leddy, but the shot rate is pretty terrible.
Brock Nelson – Two assists with an assist with five shots. Four game point streak for Nelson who has cemented himself as a hold at the moment.
Derick Brassard – Two assists with two shots. That’s three straight games with two points for Brassard. He’s a great streamer while he’s a hot schmotato. I don’t necessarily expect it to last, but take advantage of it while you can.
Anthony Beauvillier – Goal and an assist with three shots. Same deal as Brassard, although I slightly prefer Beauvillier.
Evgeni Malkin – Two assists with two shots playing over 21 minutes. It’s clear that Sullivan is going to be giving Malkin and Jake Guentzel (1+1) a huge workload while Crosby is out. Just stay healthy!
Brandon Tanev – Two goals. Great option in hits league, easy pass otherwise.
Sergei Bobrovsky – 35 saves on 37 shots in the 5-2 win over the Flyers. Call me stubborn, but I think Bob turns it around going forward.
Aleksander Barkov – Goal and an assist with three shots. He’s been an animal all season long. Now that the goals are coming through, Barkov could have a top 15 season. He even has 8 PIM!
Brett Connolly – Goal and an assist. Connolly’s start in Florida has gone very well. He’s a very good streamer.
Evgenii Dadonov – Two assists with seven shots. Dadonov’s shooting percentage is certainly going to regress, but it looks like he has a reasonable chance of topping last season’s 70 points.
Pierre-Luc Dubois – Two goals and an assist with four shots. The assists are down a bit, but Dubios’ third campaign has started off fairly well. The best is yet to come as he’s only 21 years old. Huge fan going forward.
Oliver Bjorkstrand – Two assists with a shot. Play him more Torts!
Emil Bemstrom – Goal and an assist with two shots. That’s five straight games with a point for Bemstrom but he’s still only a bottom end streamer.
Anthony Duclair – Two goals and an assist with three shots. It feels like forever ago that Duclair scored 20 goals in Arizona, but Duclair is having a revival in Ottawa. If you need a boost in shots, I’m actually fine with holding Duclair. Never thought I’d say that again after I wrote him up as a sleeper four years ago.
Valtteri Filppula – Goal and an assist with two PIM. And there’s your annual Filppula update!
Filip Hronek – Two assists with four shots playing almost 25 minutes. I pegged Hronek as a great late round pick and he’s been great value so far. It should continue going forward.
Jordan Binnington – 17 saves on 18 shots in the 3-1 win over the Lightning. The Blues sucked the life out of this game and Binnington was the beneficiary. He’s shown no signs of last season being a fluke to this point.
Connor Hellebuyck – 38 saves on 39 shots in the 2-1 win over the Predators. Oh boy, Hellebuyck has played as well as any goalie in the league to this point. I’ve always been a huge fan but hated his situation this season. Hellboy has clearly overcome that and then some.
Patrick Kane – Two assists with four shots and twelve PIM. Nice bonus to his owners with Kane getting a 10 minute misconduct with 18 seconds left. He’s on an insane hot streak right now.
Nino Niederreiter – Goal and an assist with two shots. He only played 13 minutes in this game and the shot rate is rough right now. Nino is a bottom end streamer at the moment, although there is hope for him to turn it around.
Lucas Wallmark – Two assists. Easy pass.
Ben Bishop – 32 saves on 33 shots in the 6-1 win over the Canucks. He’s had a few duds, but Bishop is at 2.20/.928 through 15 games. Pretty, pretty good.
Corey Perry – Goal and an assist with three shots. At this point, I’m not using Perry in any format. Maybe that changes, but there’s just not enough there at the moment.
Justin Dowling – Goal and an assist with two shots. That’s a goal in three of the last four games for Dowling, who has been standing out to me when I’m watching the Stars. That said, his minutes aren’t there right now so he’s a bottom end streamer at best. Welcome to the Razzball Database!
Miro Heiskanen – Goal and an assist. Is there a chance he keeps PP1 when Klingberg comes back? I can’t rule it out.
Jason Spezza – Goal and an assist with two shots. Nice little run for Spezza, but he’s a bottom end option given the small workload. The PP time is nice, but it’s hard to consistently produce when you’re getting 12 minutes a game.
Max Pacioretty – Two assists with two shots. Patches is having the best season of his career to this point. I’d bet on him setting a new career high in points.
Cody Glass – Goal and an assist. Love Glass as a long term option, but he’s a middling streamer for redrafts right now.
Connor McDavid – Goal and an assist with three shots and two PIM. What’s the ceiling for McDavid this season? 150 points? It feels ridiculous to even type that, but would you even be surprised? I certainly wouldn’t be shocked by it.
Oscar Klefbom – Two assists with three shots playing over 31 minutes after Benning was injured early. It looked like Klefbom was on the verge of a breakout after 2016-17, then had a poor season, then a mediocre, injury plagued year. Now, he looks like a strong #2 fantasy option.
Darnell Nurse – Two assists with two shots. Whether or not you’re holding Nurse comes down to team needs.
That’s all for now guys. We’ll be doing the Three Point Challenge picks for Thursday, so feel free to make picks below. You can’t take anyone in the top 10 in points, so that means no Draisaitl, McDavid, Pastrnak, Marchand, Carlson, MacKinnon, Matthews, P. Kane, Huberdeau, or Barkov. I’ll update the standings and add them into this post when I get a chance. For Thursday, I will take Mark Stone against the Sharks. As always, feel free to ask any questions, leave any comments, or give any suggestions below. Thanks for reading, take care!
