I certainly won’t be doing any victory laps after the first weekend, but Sam Bennett made me look good on Saturday, scoring a hat trick on six shots in the 5-1 win over the Islanders.  Bennett finds himself in the same role as last season when he blew up after the trade deadline.  Remarkably, he’s still available in 40% of leagues on ESPN.  I assume nobody that reads my posts would be in a league where Bennett is on the waiver wire, but if he is, grab him right now.  Let’s take a look at what else happened over the weekend:

Friday’s Games:

Jack Hughes – Two goals on three shots.  Absolutely wonderful performance from Hughes who had a goal of the year contender in overtime. It’s only one game, but Hughes is must own.

Dougie Hamilton – Goal on three shots with two PIM, +3.  Not a bad debut for Dougie as he scored 17 seconds in.  Maybe this is the year he’ll finally get the credit he deserves.

Patrick Kane – Two assists with seven shots, -3.  We got the fully Kane experience in this one.  Offensive wizard (on the power play this time), brutal defensively.

Tyler Johnson – Two assists with a shot and two PIM.  Johnson is on PP1 right now making him an elite streamer.

J.T. Miller – Goal and two assists with two shots playing almost 24 minutes.  Any questions about Miller’s role have been answered.

Alex Chiasson – Goal and an assist with three shots.  He only played 11 minutes, but was on the first power play unit.  Chiasson is a nice streamer in deep leagues for PPP.

Elias Pettersson – Goal and an assist with six shots playing almost 24 minutes.  Pettersson has been more aggressive shooting the puck in the early going which is a great sign.

Ryan Ellis – Two assists with three shots.  Ellis played over 28 minutes which is a clear indication that Provorov and him are going to play all the minutes they can handle.  I feel better about ranking Ellis as a top 20 defenseman now.

Keith Yandle – Two assists with two shots.  Yandle has deep league value, but he played under 15 minutes so I’m not looking to use him in a 12’er.

Sean Couturier – Two assists.  Couturier is as safe as they come for the non-superstar tier.

Cam Talbot – 28 saves on 29 shots in the 2-1 win over the Ducks.  Big fan of Talbot who should finish as a solid #2 goalie.  There’s a legitimate chance that he ends up as a #1.

Saturday’s Games:

Dustin Tokarski – 20 saves on 21 shots in the 2-1 SO win over the Coyotes.  The Sabres dominated the battle of the projected bottom feeders.  I still want nothing to do with their goalies.

Karel Vejmelka – 32 saves on 33 shots as the tough luck loser.  The 25 year old Czech rookie had a solid debut, but I also don’t want a Coyotes goalie.  Welcome to the Razzball Database!

David Perron – Two goals on four shots.  Perron picked up right where he left off last season.  He’s a quality first liner that still goes under the radar.

Jordan Kyrou – Two assists with a shot.  Really disappointed he only played 14 minutes, but I still believe in a breakout.

Justin Faulk – Goal and an assist with five shots.  He’s probably worth holding as a bottom end guy in standard leagues, but I don’t see a path to a top 25 defenseman season from Faulk barring injury to Krug.

Nazem Kadri – Two assists with a shot and a fight.  Quality start to the season from Kadri.  Nathan MacKinnon is still out as he still hasn’t had a negative COVID test so expect Kadri to keep getting all the minutes he can handle.

J.T. Compher – Goal and an assist with two shots.  Compher played 21 minutes in this game making him an elite short term streamer.

Gustav Forsling – Two assists with a shot.  Forsling is a nice player, but that’s more in real life than fantasy.  He’s a deep league option only.

Sergei Bobrovsky – 29 saves on 30 shots earning the win.  Bob was solid in this game and it was telling that he started for the second straight game over Knight.  Quite frankly, I don’t understand it, but here we are.  Maybe Bob randomly bounces back and is a fantasy league winner?  I’m still expecting Knight to at least split.

Jeremy Swayman – 27 saves on 28 shots in the 3-1 win over the Stars.  Swayman getting the start in Boston’s first game is also telling.  It looks like he’ll be splitting with Ullmark for now making Swayman must own.

Brad Marchand – Two goals on five shots with two PIM.  He’s easy to hate, but Marchand remains a fantasy monster.

Thomas Greiss – 40 saves on 41 shots in the 3-1 win over the Canucks.  Greiss should be a solid streamer in the right matchups.  He was decent last year on a really bad Detroit team; they should be a bit better in front of him this time around.

Igor Shesterkin – 31 saves on 32 shots in the 3-1 win over the Canadiens.  It looks like the Rangers are going to be more dependent on Igor than I originally anticipated.  The good news is that he’s good enough to prop them up.

Mika Zibanejad – Two assists with four shots.  Solid start for Zibanejad with the top line playing the best hockey on the Rangers at the moment.

Patrick Kane – Goal and an assist with three shots.  Kane doing what he does two nights in a row.

Brock McGinn – Goal and an assist with two shots.  McGinn played over 17 minutes with the Penguins decimated by injuries right now, but I don’t see any fantasy value.

Drew O’Connor – Goal and an assist with three shots.  He played only 10:26 in this game so there’s no fantasy value here.  Congrats on the first career goal and welcome to the Razzball Database!

Jack Campbell – 20 saves on 21 shots in the 3-1 win over the Senators.  With Petr Mrazek out at least 14 days, expect Campbell to play almost every game for the time being, solidifying himself as a top 10 goalie for October.

Alex Kerfoot – Goal and an assist.  He’s a middling streamer even with the expanded role because his shot rate is so poor.

Andrei Vasilevskiy – 32 saves on 33 shots in the 2-1 OT win over the Capitals.  The bounce back from Vasilevskiy was inevitable.

Steven Stamkos – Goal and an assist with four shots.  Stammer has started on an absolute tear with seven points in three games.  Just stay healthy!

Elvis Merzlikins – 19 saves on 20 shots in the 2-1 OT win over the Kraken.  Strong start to the season for Elvis, and with Detroit on deck, it could definitely continue.  He looks to be the clear #1 in Columbus.

Ryan Johansen – Goal and an assist with two shots.  At this point in his career, Johansen is only a bottom end streamer.  The opportunity is there, but he hasn’t been good the past two seasons and his shot rate is brutal.

Brett Pesce – Two assists with a shot.  There could be some deep league value, but nothing in standard leagues.

Connor McDavid – Hat trick on eight shots with two PIM.  Leon Draisaitl had three assists with five shots, while Jesse Puljujarvi had a goal and two assists with two PIM.  It comes as no surprise that Calgary was ran over by the Edmonton top line.  The question is whether or not Puljujarvi is a hold.  He played less than 14 minutes which shows that he’s not fully trusted by Tippett.  On the other hand, he was out there with the goalie pulled late so they have some trust in him.  I would stream him Tuesday against the Ducks and see what happens.

Tomas Hertl – Goal and an assist with three shots and two PIM.  Strong start to the season by Hertl without Kane on his wing.  He’s a good enough player that he should be a hold all season regardless of what happens with Kane.

Jasper Weatherby – Goal and an assist in his NHL debut.  Not a bad way to enter the league. Weatherby played only 10:25 so there’s nothing here for now.  He’s worth monitoring for dynasties to see how the Sharks use him after playing at North Dakota the past three years.  Welcome to the Razzball Database!

Anze Kopitar – Goal and an assist with three shots.  Drew Doughty dished two assists.  these guys have turned the clock back to open the season.  I’m still a bit down on Doughty despite the usage, but I’m buying in on Kopitar.

Sunday’s Game

Radek Faksa – Two assists with three shots.  I had high hopes for Faksa in his draft year, but the offense never developed for him to be a fantasy asset.

Michael Raffl – Goal and an assist with two shots and four PIM. Don’t see enough of a role for Raffl to be relevant.

Connor Brown – Three assists with a shot.  Brown had a massive hot streak last season where he was a solid streamer.  I have him more on the lower end for the time being.

Chris Tierney – Two goals on three shots.  Tierney is a bottom end streamer at best.

That’s all for now guys.  With there only being four games on Monday, I’ll be back on Wednesday recapping the action from both Monday and Tuesday.  As always, feel free to ask any questions, leave any comments, or give any suggestions below.  Thanks for reading, take care!

44 Comments
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LG Hockey
LG Hockey
1 year ago

Great round up Viz!

I have very strong skaters and have the following goalies:

Mike Smith
Khudobin
Vanecek

I was offered Grubauer for my 7th round pick. It’s a 10 team league where everyone keeps 6 players so this is equivalent to a 70th overall player and represents my first round pick. Would you make that move or stick with my current tenders? I could also counter with an 8th or 9th round (80th or 90th overall value).

We have 7 skater categories and 4 goalie categories (W, Sv%, GAA%, SO)

Thanks!
LG

JKJ
JKJ
1 year ago
Reply to  LG Hockey

See what he says if you counter, but ultimately yeah I’d take that even if it costs your 1st. All three of your current Gs are volatile in different ways. Grubes beats them all.

Winterfell Wolves
Winterfell Wolves
1 year ago

Great summary, this helps a ton!

G/A/SOG/Hits/PPP and +/-

Lafreniere
Bennett
McCann

Have to cut one and I feel like Lafreniere has a chance at PP1 with Kakko injured, what do you think.

Also, I picked up Knight so my four goalies (10 team league)
Binnington
Sorokin
Bob
Knight

Thinking of just riding these four and always having the Panther goalie and a shot at a win most nights. What do you think? Won’t have to stress over streaming a goalie unless there is an injury.

Shitwolf
Shitwolf
1 year ago

I am also curious about laf someone impatient dropped him already and i grabbed to stream. I gotta drop him or Dach when Brady comes back or i could drop my block only person in Larrson. I feel like its only a matter of time till dach is pp1 also when johnson is so meh and he is already on line 1

thanks razz hockey!

JKJ
JKJ
1 year ago
Reply to  Shitwolf

Would hang onto Laf over Dach if it’s a categories league that counts hits. Laf already has 16 SOG+H on the year. I dig that.

Shitwolf
Shitwolf
1 year ago
Reply to  JKJ

had the 2md most hits last week with no brady does that change anything?

JKJ
JKJ
1 year ago
Reply to  Shitwolf

Nah

JKJ
JKJ
1 year ago

Yeah drop Laf there. Goalies are fine indeed.

Winterfell Wolves
Winterfell Wolves
1 year ago
Reply to  Viz

Thanks guys!

scoboticus
scoboticus
1 year ago

Great update, Viz!

Thanks to your rankings, I find I do great in Goals and Assists and SOG. Where I need streaming help is usually PPP. Who are some of the best PPP streams?

dubjay
dubjay
1 year ago
Reply to  scoboticus

I would just look up line combos. Check all of the teams powerplay 1 combinations. Look for outliers like A.Killorn or JT Compher. Maybe Puljajarvi. Those guys may not be the straw that stirs the drink on their teams PP but will get points anyways just by being on the ice.

JKJ
JKJ
1 year ago
Reply to  scoboticus

PPP streaming is so hit or miss. Like dubjay said, look for outliers on top units. Otherwise it’s just kind of a toss-up for PP2 guys.

LeftWingLock app (iOS only) is a must-own. It’s like $3 for an annual subscription.

Mordacious Levator
Mordacious Levator
1 year ago
Reply to  JKJ

leftwinglock and close to as good dailyfaceoff are both free. leftwinglock you know have to log into an account (that’s different from before) but still free. dailyfaceoff isn’t ever been anything but free. leftwinglock better since it uses indexed different kinds of recent data (like last 3 days the PP line %’s were so and so)

Shitwolf
Shitwolf
1 year ago

yes on Bennet!I can picture Grey talking about Bennet on a podcast being like it was soooo obvious he was going to do well he already broke out last year etc etc haha! I had an interesting trade offer of Guentzel for hyman, but i checked playoff schedule and pitts Only plays on main days and edmonton has the better schedule. i think hyman gets like 3 more starts come that time. Is it dumb to reject that? Only thing that matters is winning the end game right!

dubjay
dubjay
1 year ago
Reply to  Shitwolf

I like Hyman but would take Guentzel there. What kind of league is this?

Shitwolf
Shitwolf
1 year ago
Reply to  dubjay

cats for forwards r nutty G, A, PPG, PPA, PIM, SOG, + / – SHP, FW, hits and blocks

JKJ
JKJ
1 year ago
Reply to  Shitwolf

uh yeah take Guentzel. That’s a stupid offer lol

dubjay
dubjay
1 year ago

Another day another goalie question.
Ive got Varlamov/Boeser on the IR. Picked up 2 G in the meantime to shore up my crease. Swayman and Merzlikins. So when Boeser and Varly get activated, which 1 of Merz, Swayman and Khudobin would you keep? Looks like Holtby is the guy in Dallas right now. Swayman was great last year and seems to be the 1A at the moment. And Merzlikins has played great so far but on a bad team. I could keep 2 but would have to drop Bjorkstrand or Garland

JKJ
JKJ
1 year ago
Reply to  dubjay

I’d let Khudobin go there

Dubjay
Dubjay
1 year ago
Reply to  Viz

So should I just drop both then? To activate Boeser and Varlamov? I essentially need to clear two roster spots. The drop candidates if I keep Swayman are MERZLIKINS, KHUDOBIN, GARLAND, BJORKSTRAND.
I also am carrying Markstrom. But I will obviously hold onto him.

JKJ
JKJ
1 year ago
Reply to  Dubjay

Khudobin and Garland can go imo

Dubjay
Dubjay
1 year ago
Reply to  JKJ

I just cleared up my logjam by sending Merzlikins and bjorkstrand for M.Tkachuk. Pretty happy with that haul. Clears up one spot and then I’ll drop khudobin so I can activate both Boeser and Varlamov

Surfer Dude
Surfer Dude
1 year ago

Hi Viz and JKJ
H2H pts, Would you drop any of these guys: (Toffli, Verhaeghe, J.Hughes) for Bennett?
As always BIG THANKS!!

JKJ
JKJ
1 year ago
Reply to  Surfer Dude

Yeah, see ya later Toffoli

Toolshed
Toolshed
1 year ago

Panarin has played 3 gamee, he has gone w/o a sog in 2 of the 3. Any reason for concern? I know it is early but wanted to ask. Thanks

JKJ
JKJ
1 year ago
Reply to  Toolshed

Nah, Bread Man is the elite of the elite. He’ll come around

Shitwolf
Shitwolf
1 year ago

Kyrou holy! I picked him up is the break out happening or blame arizona haha 😊

JKJ
JKJ
1 year ago
Reply to  Shitwolf

I’m in on Kyrou! He’s got the goods. Stoked about him as a Blues fan. Really loving what Kostin brings to the tables as well, but I don’t think he’s all that relevant outside of streaming.

Shitwolf
Shitwolf
1 year ago
Reply to  JKJ

the stoke is high JKJ! I am a night person so at 3AM i grabbed kyrou and at 3:05 i got a message from my league mate saying they were going to grab him haha. Could i pick ur brain about goalies? Im currently owning knight markstrom and elvis. Allen and Ullmark are on waivers. I usually only run 2 goalies because whoever set the cats in my league hates goalie spammers so they put 11 player cats and 6 goalie cats W, L, svs, sv % gaa and SO. Would you go down to 2 goalies or should i keep 3. Which ones would u keep as well?
Ty

JKJ
JKJ
1 year ago
Reply to  Shitwolf

Haha nice.

I think you’re fine with the three you have tbh.

JP
JP
1 year ago

Hi Viz and JKJ!

G/A/SOG/BLK/PPP and +/-, 8-teamer

Your thoughts on Robertson? Drop Garland for him?

JKJ
JKJ
1 year ago
Reply to  JP

Meh. Don’t feel strongly one way or the other to be honest. I wager there’s plenty of stream material on the wire in 8-teamers, so I’d take advantage of streaming as often as possible.

Joey Jo Jo Jr Shabadoo
Joey Jo Jo Jr Shabadoo
1 year ago

20 teamer dynasty at end of slow draft (prospect elig only, non prospect elig players can just be picked up in FA since the day before season, prospect elig is max 100 season games for skaters/50 for goalies). hits/blocks/PPP/SHP/shots/PIMs/plus/minus/goals/assists. this is about my D men only. i have:

start 6: krug, parayko (i’m STL and need at least 9 STL at all times (prospect/injured count), e.johnson, gudas, dumoulin, c.murphy
these in IR/IR+ or prospect slots: edmundson, severson (back today), perunovich, harley, edvinsson.

somebody dropped n.hague just now, i can use my draft pick on him as he’s prospect elig (barely, 92). doing this would require a 2 drops out of the dumoulin/e.johnson/severson group. this sound doable and who are the drops? i have one more prospect list spot left so could go there too with this pick, but could also just input somebody to it later after draft is over.