Back to back wins for the Devils against the defending champions, both in Florida, is quite the accomplishment. Throughout my preseason rankings, I repeatedly stated that I was basically throwing last season out of the window for all of the Devils, and that has proven to be prudent. All of the injuries and horrific goaltending had no bearing on this season, and they look back to the team from two seasons ago. On Thursday, the Devils won 6-2, with Jesper Bratt scoring a hat trick on five shots. In 20 games, Bratt has 8+16 with almost exactly three shots per game. It’s a bit skewed because the Devils have played the most games in the league to this point, but Bratt is a top five forward on the season. His teammates, Nico Hischier and Jack Hughes, who each dished three assists in the victory, are both pushing top ten forwards. We’ve seen superstars in Toronto play at their best under Keefe, and now we’re seeing it with the Devils. None of this looks fluky. Let’s take a look at what else happened over the last two nights:
John Tavares – Goal and an assist, as did William Nylander and Mitch Marner. All of their top players are stepping up in the absence of Matthews. Tavares is playing much better than last season.
Aliaksei Protas – Goal and an assist with four shots. Protas is up to a top end streamer with 15 points in 15 games. Can we get the man some power play time?
Patrick Kane – Goal and an assist with two shots. Kane is a solid streamer, but the shot rate is down to two per game and the points are only okay. He’s not worth holding at this point.
Karel Vejmelka – 49 saves on 50 shots in the 4-1 win over the Hurricanes. You’re going to be hard pressed to find a goalie steal a game more than Vejmelka did in this one. I’ve long been a fan and predicted big things from him last season, but Ingram took the job. Vejmelka has one brutal start against Colorado (most do), but has been fantastic otherwise. I could see him working his way into at least a 1B situation again.
Nick Bjugstad – Two goals on three shots and two PIM. Bjugstad got to play this game with Keller and delivered. The problem is he played just over 12 minutes in this one. I’m not rushing to stream him, but he’s worth monitoring.
Michael Kesselring – Two assists with a shot. With all of their injuries on the blue line, Kesselring is getting PP2 time. With nine points in 15 games, Kesselring has played his way onto the fringe. Welcome to the Razzball Database!
Shea Theodore – Two assists with three shots. Theodore hasn’t been his usual dominant self at even strength, but he’s still piling up a ton of assists. I think there’s plenty of room for improvement despite 13 points in 15 games.
Brett Leason – Two assists with a shot and two PIM. And there’s your annual Leason update!
Adrian Kempe – Two goals on four shots, both assisted by Anze Kopitar and Trevor Moore. Big boost to Moore’s value, who has a point in five straight games. He’s an elite streamer while the other two are clear holds.
Mikko Rantanen – Hat trick and an assist with seven shots. Nathan MacKinnon had three assists, while Artturi Lehkonen had a goal and an assist with three shots. The minutes are absolutely insane, but the Avs are getting back Jonathan Drouin, Valeri Nichushkin and Miles Wood back tomorrow. I’m sure their minutes will still be massive, but probably not at these crazy levels. Get Big Val back in your lineup immediately.
Brandon Saad – Two goals on four shots. Saad remains in the middling to bottom end streamer range.
Brayden Schenn – Two assists with four shots. Same boat as Saad, although I do marginally prefer Schenn.
Alex Tuch – Goal and an assist with four shots. Tuch stepped up with Tage Thompson out, although Tage should only miss one more game at the most. With seven points in his last six games, Tuch has pushed himself into a bottom end hold.
Ryan McLeod – Goal and an assist. McLeod went up to the first line in Thompson’s place. He’s been a godsend for the Sabres given the struggles of the second line. That said, he’s a deep league only guy because of the dreadful shot rate.
Stefan Noesen – Two goals on three shots and two PIM. Noesen has been fantastic for the Devils. He’s a solid streamer with a ton of deep league value.
Andrei Vasilevskiy – 23 saves on 24 shots in the 4-1 win over the Jets. That’s 300 wins for Vasilevskiy already. We’re not looking at a Hall of Famer, we’re looking at a potential Mount Rushmore goalie.
Jake Guentzel – Two goals and two PIM. Guentzel hasn’t taken a massive leap like I had hoped, but he’s still been very good. I still think there’s room for another step forward.
Travis Sanheim – Goal and two assists with two shots and two PIM playing over 28 minutes. Sanheim has been great for them in real life, but his fantasy value is fringy. I’d definitely hold in blocks leagues though.
Travis Konecny – Goal and an assist with three shots. I didn’t think Konecny had another step forward, but the addition of Michkov has definitely helped Konecny, mostly on the power play.
Anthony Richard – Goal and an assist with two shots. Richard is about to be 28 years old and has done nothing in the NHL before. Welcome to the Razzball Database!
Bobby Brink – Goal and an assist. Bottom end streamer.
Thomas Chabot – Two assists with three shots and two PIM. It hasn’t been Chabot’s best, but I still think there’s enough to hold outside of maybe the shallowest of leagues.
Josh Norris – Goal and an assist with four shots and two PIM. It’s nice to see Norris playing on a regular basis. Solid streamer with upside.
Ridly Greig – Two assists with three shots. Greig is currently on the first line, but I’m not really streaming him yet in 12’ers. There’s plenty of dynasty value though.
Filip Gustavsson – 19 save shutout in the 3-0 win over the Canadiens. Gustavsson has been the #2 overall goalie so far, and while I don’t expect that to last, he does look to be a #1 the rest of the way.
Kirill Kaprizov – Goal and an assist with four shots. He’s opened up a decent cushion to be second in the league in points. Gonna be hard to catch up to MacKinnon the way that he’s rolling though.
Evgenii Dadonov – Two goals on three shots. Bottom end streamer.
Matt Duchene – Goal and an assist with three shots. Mason Marchment also had a goal and an assist with three shots, while Tyler Seguin dished two assists, adding six shots. Duchene is a clear hold, Marchment is playing his way into the bottom end holds or the top of the fringe, with Seguin a small step behind Marchment.
Oskar Back – Goal and an assist. Back is stuck in a fourth line role in Dallas and it’s hard to see that changing any time soon. Welcome to the Razzball Database!
Darnell Nurse – Two goals and an assist. Nurse has become a bit of a laughing stock in real life because of his contract, but he still carries plenty of fantasy value because of his PIM/hits/blocks and decent enough points.
Connor McDavid – Goal and an assist with eight shots. McDavid has already reached 1,000 points at 27 years old. Bonkers stuff.
Leon Draisaitl – Two assists with four shots. It’s crazy when Draisaitl has 12+10 in 17 games, and that’s not even the best that he’s capable of. The shot rate does need to go back up a bit if he wants to reach the heights of two seasons ago.
Joey Daccord – 18 saves on 19 shots in the 3-1 win over the Kraken. Daccord’s numbers are right in line with last season’s breakout. That makes him a solid #2 in 12’ers.
Anders Lee – Goal and an assist with three shots. Lee remains close to the fringe with this recent surge.
Bo Horvat – Two assists with two shots. Horvat looks like a bottom end hold, although it’s close to the fringe.
Grant Hutton – Two assists. The 29 year old is getting NHL time because the Isles are missing three defensemen due to injury. Nothing to see here, but good for him getting the time in the big leagues. Welcome to the Razzball Database!
Jonathan Lekkerimaki – Goal on three shots and two PIM. The former first round pick is getting a chance on the big squad with Boeser injured. The 20 year old earned it tearing up the AHL, and now he’s on the first line and first PP unit. He has great value in dynasties, but he’s an elite streamer while he has this role. One last welcome to the Razzball Database!
That’s all for now guys. I’ll be back on Monday recapping the action from the weekend. Evan will be back as well previewing the week ahead. As always, feel free to ask any questions, leave any comments, or give any suggestions below. Thanks for reading, take care!
