It wasn’t hard to figure out who to feature in the opening paragraph tonight. Andre Burakovsky started off the weekend with two goals on six shots against the Red Wings and finished it off with a hat trick on six shots against the Panthers. That brings Burakovsky to 12+8 in 24 games on the season, quite the respectable total. He’s still available in 40% of leagues and that needs to change immediately. With Gabriel Landeskog out for two weeks, Burakovsky is playing on the top line and top power play unit. That’s enough to make him must own in all formats, and he showed why on Sunday, getting a hat trick in a tough matchup. It should be an excellent December for Burakovsky and hopefully it continues into the New Year. Let’s take a look at what else happened over the weekend:
Friday’s Games
Alexandar Georgiev – 36 saves on 37 shots in the 2-1 win over the Sabres. He got bailed out by the league blowing an offsides call, but fantasy owners won’t care. Georgiev has played well in Igor’s absence, but there’s no way I’d stream him against Colorado on Tuesday if he gets the start.
Adam Fox – Two assists with two shots. I don’t buy that Fox is going to stay at a point per game, but it’s going to be close.
Filip Hronek – Goal and an assist with four shots. Hronek is on the fringe, but I lean towards holding him. It won’t be great unless Seider misses time, but it’s decent enough across the board.
Devon Toews – Three assists. Toews has been incredible this season. He should firmly be in contention for the Canadian Olympic team. I don’t expect point per game production, but Toews should be a solid #2D.
Cale Makar – Goal and an assist with three shots and two PIM. Makar looks like a good bet to score 30 goals, which would make him the first in over a decade (Mike Green). It would be incredible to see considering the time he missed.
Sidney Crosby – Two assists with two shots. After a slow start, Crosby has 13 points in his last 7 games. It’ll be tougher with Guentzel and Rust out, but I don’t doubt Crosby will push above a point per game.
Michael Matheson – Two assists with a shot. Matheson will randomly have good games, but overall, there’s not a lot here for fantasy.
Alex Ovechkin – Two assists with four shots. The Great Eight is piling up assists at a rate we haven’t seen from him before and he still has 20 goals. Just remarkable stuff.
Roman Josi – Goal and an assist with nine shots. Talk about dominating a game, Mr. Roman Josi. The numbers are off the charts across the board. He’s as good of a bet as any to finish as the top defenseman in fantasy.
Sergei Bobrovsky – 22 saves on 23 shots in the 3-1 win over the Coyotes. Is it bad that my first thought is surprise that Bob actually faced 23 shots against the Coyotes? Bob has been a pleasant surprise and worst case, the wins are going to pile up. Best case, he’s a top five goalie.
Patric Hornqvist – Goal and an assist with two shots and two PIM. Hornqvist is getting PP1 time with Barkov out which makes him an elite streamer.
Sam Reinhart – Goal and an assist with two shots and two PIM. Reinhart is finally blowing up like I expected him to do in Florida. I’d like to see an uptick in shot rate, but it’s great to see the points coming in with Bennett and Huberdeau.
Blake Wheeler – Goal and two assists with seven shots. Finally some life from Wheeler with twelve points in his last seven games. I assume he wasn’t available anyways, but he needs to be held again.
Kyle Connor – Goal and two assists with six shots. Connor has managed to maintain his shooting percentage despite taking more than one extra shot per game than last season. If he stays healthy, he’s a lock for 40 goals with a path to 50.
Nils Hoglander – Two goals on five shots. He’s playing with Bo Horvat on the resurgent Canucks, who are 4-0 under Boudreau. The problem is that Hoglander really isn’t getting PP time. He’s a solid streamer, but I’m not holding.
Keith Yandle – Two assists with two shots and two PIM. The minutes are very low, but Yandle is still running the top power play unit. If you need STP and assists, there’s some value here, but I’m personally looking elsewhere.
Max Pacioretty – Two goals on ten shots with two PIM. Patches has only played ten games, but he’s pushing six shots per game right now! He’s averaging a goal per game with quality assists too. Obviously that won’t last, but I feel great about having him as a top 20 guy in the preseason.
Alex Pietrangelo – Two assists with six shots. Pietrangelo is crushing across the board with a 55 point pace and three shots. Should be a solid #2D.
Saturday’s Games
Anton Forsberg – 25 save shutout in the 4-0 win over the Lightning. Forsberg is 5-4 despite a 3.34/.904. Ottawa is playing better lately, but I still have no interest.
Brady Tkachuk – Hat trick on seven shots. We’re seeing the big breakout from Tkachuk, who is playing at a 41+40 pace with over three shots per game and a whopping 54 PIM and 89 hits. He’s looking like a top 20 player.
Drake Batherson – Three assists with two shots and two PIM. Batherson is well over a point per game with decent enough shots and PIM. He’s a top 100 player with upside to push the top 50.
Thomas Chabot – Two assists with two PIM. Chabot having no goals seems impossible, but the assists are good, he’s actually a plus player on Ottawa, and the shots are strong for a defenseman. I’m holding without much hesitation.
Casey DeSmith – 33 save shutout in the 1-0 win over the Ducks. DeSmith has had three solid starts in a row after three terrible starts to open the season. I’d stream him in only quality matchups.
John Gibson – 15 saves on 16 shots in two periods before leaving the game injured. Anthony Stolarz finished the game and played again on Sunday. If you need a spec add in net, you can do worse than Stolarz, who has played well when given the chance.
Ryan O’Reilly – Two assists with a shot. RoR is a bit behind his usual pace in points, but I expect a surge from him at some point.
Vladimir Tarasenko – Two assists with three shots. Tarasenko has been excellent so far. If anything, he’s been unlucky in the shooting department.
Pavel Buchnevich – Goal and an assist with two shots. Imagine what the Rangers would look like with Buch still in their top six. Good thing they dumped him for a second and Blais. Buchnevich has been an absolute monster across the board.
Logan Brown – Two assists with two shots. Brown has been much better in St. Louis than he ever was in Ottawa. His role isn’t big enough for a consistent fantasy impact, but he’s worth monitoring going forward.
Charlie Lindgren – 22 saves on 23 shots in the 4-1 win over the Canadiens. He’s their top goalie while Binnington and Husso are both out. If you need short term help, you can do worse.
Connor Murphy – Goal and an assist with three shots. Murphy had a goal and an assist in the first 23 games. In other words, no thanks.
Jake McCabe – Goal and an assist. Offense is far from McCabe’s forte.
William Nylander – Goal and two assists with three shots. Nylander is having the best season of his career by a fairly wide margin. I don’t see a top 20 season, but top 50 is a near lock.
John Tavares – Goal and an assist with two shots. Tavares is making me look like a fool for thinking he was going to take a step back this season. Not even close to happening so far.
Auston Matthews – Goal and an assist with five shots. Matthews has started a goal scoring binge lately with 11 goals in his past ten games.
Jean-Gabriel Pageau – Goal and an assist with two shots. With Nelson back in the lineup, Pageau goes back to the third line. He’s a bottom end streamer.
Mathew Barzal – Two assists with two PIM. It’s been a slow start for Barzal just like the Islanders as a whole, but I’m expecting a turn around.
Oliver Wahlstrom – Two assists. I’d like to see what Wahlstrom could do with Barzal, or at least getting quality minutes. Instead, he played under 10 minutes in this one. It’s hard to see him as more than a bottom end streamer because of that.
James van Riemsdyk – Two goals on six shots with two PIM. This says more about Arizona than it does about JVR. He still has only 5+4 in 26 games so it’s going to take a lot more than one game to get him back on my radar.
Travis Konecny – Two assists with three shots. He’s a solid streamer with upside from there if he can stay around the 20 minute mark like he was on Saturday.
Nick Schmaltz – Goal and an assist with five shots. It’s nice to see Schmaltz back in the lineup and producing. On a team full of players who shouldn’t be in the NHL, Schmaltz is a solid second line center, even on a good team. He’s a decent streamer for now with upside.
Cam Dineen – Two assists with five shots. Dineen hasn’t done much scoring in the AHL so I have a hard time seeing him making a fantasy impact as a rookie in the NHL. Welcome to the Razzball Database!
Patrice Bergeron – Two assists with four shots. Like Ovechkin, Bergeron has shown no signs of slowing down at age 36. He’s pushing a point per game and four shots per.
Brad Marchand – Goal and an assist with five shots and four PIM. Business as usual for Marchand who will be a top ten player if he stays in the lineup.
Trent Frederic – Two assists with two shots. And there’s your annual Frederic update!
Rasmus Andersson – Two assists with two shots playing over 25 minutes. The assists are quite good but Andersson still has no goals. Whether you hold him or not comes down to team needs.
Sebastian Aho – Two goals and an assist with five shots. Aho missed Sunday’s game with a non-Covid illness, which is brutal because he’s on a massive heater right now.
Teuvo Teravainen – Two assists with a shot. Teravainen is fairly close to his usual point rates. I assume he’ll get back there once his shooting regresses.
Frederik Andersen – 22 saves on 23 shots in the 3-1 win over the Oilers. Dominant performance by the Hurricanes limiting Edmonton’s chances. Andersen’s numbers are off the charts right now with a 1.92/.930. If he can stay healthy, he’ll be a slam dunk #1 goalie even with some regression.
Max Domi – Two goals and an assist with four shots. Domi has been excellent and I like the look of Columbus’s second line. The problem is that the minutes aren’t great. I have him as an elite streamer because of the production, but I can’t quite get to a hold.
Jake Bean – Goal and an assist with four shots. With Boqvist out of the lineup, Bean is seeing a large workload. He’s a solid short term option.
Jonathan Quick – 30 saves on 31 shots in the 2-1 win over the Wild. Quick playing well is something that I never saw coming. More proof that goalies are voodoo. Do I expect Quick to maintain a .933 sv%? Hell no. Does he need to be held? Hell yes.
James Reimer – 34 saves on 35 shots in the 2-1 win over the Stars. Reimer has been nothing short of fabulous playing his way into the 1A role for the Sharks. He’s also a no-brainer hold.
Timo Meier – Two assists with four shots. Meier is playing extremely well on a nightly basis. He’s even cut out the dumb penalties and somehow has 0 PIM after being in the 50’s earlier in his career. He’s still only 25 years old so Meier looks to be entering his prime now. He’s looking like a top 50 player.
Alexander Barabanov – Two assists. Playing with Meier helps, but Barabanov is only a bottom end streamer.
Sunday’s Games
Carter Verhaeghe – Two assists. It’s nice to see Verhaeghe produce even with Barkov out of the lineup. The shot rate has dropped quite a bit to under two per game which really hurts his value. It comes down to team needs for Verhaeghe as the assists are quite good.
Mikko Rantanen – Three assists with a shot and two PIM. Rantanen isn’t far off last season’s absurd pace. Nathan MacKinnon (two assists, six shots) gets most of the attention and with good reason. Makar is next which makes Rantanen somehow a bit under the radar despite playing like a 90+ point player for a few years now, and well over 100 point pace the last two years.
Juuse Saros – 32 save shutout in the 1-0 win over the Rangers. Saros has been even better than last season’s big breakout. He’s going to be up there for most starts in the league and is a good bet to finish as a top 5 goalie.
Troy Terry – Two goals on six shots. Right as he starts to slow down a bit, Terry puts 15 shots on net over the past three games and scores two goals. It’s not a strong hold, but Terry has been so good to start the season that he gets the benefit of the doubt for now.
Brayden Schenn – Two assists with two shots. Schenn is a decent streamer but he’s not near the holding level right now.
Nathan Walker – Goal and an assist with three shots. Walker has done very little in the NHL in Washington or St. Louis, so after three goals in the first 25 games of his career, Walker gets a hat trick in his season debut and then scores again on Sunday. Am I buying it? Hell no. The minutes did go up to 15:31 Sunday which is a big jump from where he was. Maybe he’ll be an okay streamer in deep leagues? For now, I’m just monitoring. Welcome to the Razzball Database!
Jared Spurgeon – Three assists with three shots and two PIM. Spurgeon is on the fringe for me depending on team needs. I lean towards passing, but I see the case for holding.
Chandler Stephenson – Four assists with a shot in his return to the lineup. Now that he’s on the first power play unit, Stephenson is worthy of being held.
Max Pacioretty – Goal and two assists with four shots. Can’t stop, won’t stop!
Mark Stone – Goal and two assists. After a slow start, Stone has a point in eight straight games (13 in those games). Safe to say that the Captain is back in business.
Evgenii Dadonov – Goal and an assist with three shots and two PIM. Dad is playing on the first PP unit which makes him an elite streamer.
Zach Whitecloud – Two goals on five shots with two PIM. This game is a big outlier for Whitecloud offensively. That said, the block rate is massive and the hits are strong making Whitecloud a viable option in leagues with extra categories.
Thatcher Demko – 28 saves on 29 shots in the 2-1 win over the Hurricanes. Safe to say that Demko has backed up my thoughts on him that I highlighted in one of last week’s posts here.
Three Point Challenge: Fungazi opens up a lead with two correct picks. We will do Tuesday’s games, and the new top ten is McDavid, Draisaitl, Ovechkin, Kadri, Stamkos, Aho, Connor, Panarin, Kaprizov, Matthews, Tavares, and Huberdeau. I’ll go with Ehlers against the Sabres.
That’s all for now guys. I’ll be back on Wednesay recapping the action from the one game tonight and the massive slate on Tuesday. As always, feel free to ask any questions, leave any comments, or give any suggestions below. Thanks for reading, take care!
