On Thursday, the Florida Panthers brought the Rangers back to earth with a 3-1 win in The Garden. Leading the way was Sergei Bobrovsky, who made 24 saves in the win. Bob became the 14th goalie in NHL history to win 400 games, and set the record for the fewest games to reach 400 wins in the process. Assuming health, Bob will make the top ten all-time by the end of the season, and if he plays a couple seasons after this one, he should become the fourth goalie to reach 500 wins. It hadn’t been the best start to this season, but with Tkachuk back and Barkov on the way, it’s only a matter of time until the Panthers get rolling again. When that happens, Bob should get back to the top ten fantasy goalie that we’re used to, with the upside of being the #1 goalie. Let’s take a look at what else happened over the last two nights:
Owen Tippett – Goal and an assist. The Flyers are really struggling right now, and Tippett has been part of those struggles. I’m still holding because of the shot rate, but they really need to start turning things around at even strength.
Jamie Drysdale – Two assists. While the PP time has been good, Drysdale is -10 in seven games and has only five shots on goal. For now, he’s only a deep league guy for the PPP and blocks.
Matvei Michkov – Goal and an assist with three shots and two PIM. Like the rest of the team, Michkov is struggling at even strength, but it’s hard to complain with seven points in seven games.
Pierre-Luc Dubois – Goal and two assists with four shots and four PIM. We know the upside that is here, but we saw how rough it could be last year. Dubois is on the fringe for that upside.
Dylan McIlrath – Two assists and two PIM. Good for McIlrath to get back into the league, but there’s nothing for fantasy.
Rasmus Sandin – Two assists with two shots. We’ve seen Sandin be fantasy relevant before, but for now, I’m leaving him for deep leagues.
Connor McMichael – Two goals. He’s an elite streamer while he’s hotter than a pistol, with seven points in his last four games.
Jordan Binnington – 40 saves on 41 shots in the 5-1 win over the Maple Leafs. It’s going to be a roller coaster ride with Binnington, but he should end up a #2 in 12’ers.
Dylan Holloway – Two goals on four shots. With Robert Thomas out for six weeks, Holloway has a chance to move up the streamer totem pole. The second goal was an empty netter, so for now, it’s middling to bottom end.
Pavel Buchnevich – Two assists with a shot, as did Jordan Kyrou. While the minutes were limited in this one, I’m expecting heavier workloads going forward. Both are easy holds.
Kirill Kaprizov – Two goals and an assist. It’s obviously early in the season, but Kaprizov is playing at a Hart level for the surprising Wild. That’s thirteen points in seven games.
Matt Boldy – Goal and an assist with five shots. With JEEK back in the fold, Boldy is rolling on the second line. That was his fourth multi-point game in seven.
Nico Hischier – Two goals on eight shots. The shot rate has taken a big jump for Hischier, which is great to see. He’s been rewarded with seven goals already.
Patrick Kane – Goal and an assist with three shots and two PIM. Detroit as been getting absolutely caved but stealing wins lately. Kane does have five points in his last five games, so he should be fine, but keep expectations in check.
Alex DeBrincat – Goal and an assist with three shots. The shot rate being at two per game is a bit frustrating for DeBrincat. He should be fine, but with playing on the top line, I’m expecting more overall.
Lucas Raymond – Two assists with two PIM. Raymond is also at two shots per game, but that’s where he was last season. I’m merely pointing that out because it’s more frustrating that DeBrincat doesn’t have more shots given that Raymond is still doing the same as before. Raymond isn’t going to repeat last season’s 31 goals unless that shot rate jumps significantly, but with six assists in seven games, we could see a new career high there.
Matt Duchene – Goal and two assists, as did Tyler Seguin. Both did damage at even strength and on the second power play unit. I have Duchene as a bottom end hold, while Seguin’s hot start has him close to the fringe. I still lean elite streamer because he has only six shots in five games, yet somehow has four goals.
Mason Marchment – Two assists with a shot. The third wheel on that line, Marchment is in the same boat as Seguin. At this point, I put Marchment slightly ahead of him.
Justus Annunen – 25 saves on 26 shots in the 5-1 win over the Kraken. The Avs are back with four wins in a row, and a big part of it is good goaltending from Annunen and Georgiev. With three quality starts in a row, Annunen should be working into a platoon with Georgiev, which I said in the preseason was a good possibility. If you need goaltending help, you can definitely hold him. Otherwise, I’d stream him in almost all matchups right now.
Ross Colton – Goal on three shots before leaving the game with a hand injury. Here’s to hoping it’s nothing serious as the Avalanche were up by a wide margin. Colton has been fantastic to this point.
Casey Mittelstadt – Goal and two assists. I’m holding Mittelstadt in a 10’er right now, which is to say that he should be held everywhere. I’m not sure it’ll last, but take advantage while you can.
Mikko Rantanen – Two assists. Rantanen already has 13 points on the season, which laughably is only a tie for second on the team.
Nikolai Kovalenko – Two assists with a shot. I wasn’t able to watch this game, but it is interesting to see that his assists came with Rantanen on the ice and then Mittelstadt. That means Kovalenko had some top six minutes. Could he stay there if Colton is out? Kovalenko is worth monitoring.
Martin Necas – Goal and an assist with six shots. Necas has been on fire to start the season, with eight points in six games. The minutes are as good as they’re going to be on a Rod team, so Necas should be held.
Nino Niederreiter – Two goals on three shots. Nino has been a force on the third line, especially lately, with four goals in his last three games. The problem is that he played only 12 minutes. He’s stuck as a bottom end streamer, possibly middling, until those minutes go up/
Mark Scheifele – Two assists, as did Kyle Connor. The Jets are playing excellently to start the season, and it’s no surprise that the top line is a big factor. I see no reason to expect that to change.
Neal Pionk – Goal and an assist with seven shots. Incredible start for Pionk, who has nine points already, including eight in the last four games. That’s coming with elite shots for a defenseman, making him a hold everywhere right now. I’m not convinced it will last, but take advantage of the hot schmotato.
Matty Beniers – Two goals and an assist. It’s been an ugly start to the season for Beniers, so it was great to see him have a big game, leading the Kraken comeback to salvage a point. I’m not holding at this point, but you can make the case because of the upside.
Jared McCann – Two assists with three shots. McCann has eleven points already, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he set a career high in points. It looks like his minutes should be up a tick with Disco Dan instead of Hakstol.
Mikael Granlund – Two power play goals on six shots, both assisted by Alex Wennberg and Jack Thompson. Both centers played over 20 minutes in this one as the Sharks really push to get their first win. Granlund has eight points in his last six games, so you can definitely make a case for holding given the workload. I’m out completely on Wennberg. Thompson is a former third round pick of Tampa who went to San Jose for the Duclair deadline move last year. The fact that he was on the first unit puts him on the fantasy radar. Welcome to the Razzball Database!
Warren Foegele – Two goals on four shots. Decent middle sixer in real life, but Foegele is stuck as a bottom end to middling streamer in 12’ers.
Alex Laferriere – Two assists with two shots. It’s been a quality start to the season for Laferriere with seven points in eight games. He’s a solid streamer as long as he stays on the first power play unit.
That’s all for now guys. I’ll be back on Monday recapping the action from the weekend. As always, feel free to ask any questions, leave any comments, or give any suggestions below. Thanks for reading, take care!
Update: my recap will still be coming on Monday, just later than usual. Evan’s post should come out first in the late morning. Viz
