This will be the last hold/stream list of the season as we're about a month away from the end of the regular season. My plan is to start working on the Playoff Manifesto on Tuesday with the hopes of having it ready on Friday for everybody. Per usual, there will be notes in the list where necessary. Assume a 12 team league and I'm holding the starting goalie only unless noted. Let's get to it!
2021 Fantasy Hockey
Year In Review: My Ten Bold Predictions
May 14, 2021 | 2021 Fantasy Hockey, Year In Review | 1 Commentby: Viz
For my last scheduled post outside of the bracket challenge for the next few months, I'm going to review my bold predictions from before the season. My goal was to get three or more, did that happen? Let's find out! For those that want to read the entire post, click here.
1) Evgeni Malkin leads the league in points. And a massive whiff to start! Malkin was injured a lot (what else is new) and wasn't as good as usual when he played. Even if he was, he was never catching McJesus.
It's time to look back at both of my posts about undervalued and overvalued players from preseason. I did ten players for both, and I'll break down each player and what went right or what went wrong. I have to say that there were quite a lot of correct predictions, especially in the overvalued. Eight of the ten predictions were clearly correct, but oh boy was there one big miss! I will not hide that prediction in shame because that would serve no purpose. If you want to look back at this posts, you can find them here and here, but it won't be necessary. Let's get to it!
The End Of The Season: Roto Edition
May 10, 2021 | 2021 Fantasy Hockey, Fantasy Hockey Daily Notes | 2 Commentsby: Viz
For all of your that play head to head leagues, I hope that you took down your title over the weekend! For those of you in roto leagues, you are still playing out the rest of the week. This post will be short for that reason, but I want to bring a few things to your attention that could help you in your push to the finish line. As a reminder, over the rest of this week, I will do a post on what went right and wrong with my rankings this season, how my bold predictions went, and then setting up a Bracket Challenge once the bracket is set. After that, my posts will be infrequent during the summer as the fantasy hockey season comes to an end. Let's get to it!
Hellebuyck Clinches Jets Playoff Berth
May 6, 2021 | 2021 Fantasy Hockey, Fantasy Hockey Daily Notes | 7 Commentsby: Viz
Connor Hellebuyck hasn't been as good as in the past, but he's capable of stealing playoff series for the Jets. He'll probably have to do that this year, especially if Ehlers isn't back. He had a peak performance on Wednesday with a 32 save shutout in the 4-0 win over the Flames. Even with Hellebuyck being below expectation, he's still been a bottom end #1 goalie. That's why we take him as a top 5 goalie: safety. As I have preached for years, goalies are voodoo, but Hellebuyck is one of the only exceptions. Here's what else happened the last two nights:
Comebacks Galore On Monday
May 4, 2021 | 2021 Fantasy Hockey, Fantasy Hockey Daily Notes | 6 Commentsby: Viz
With almost the entire league in action on Monday, we were hoping for some entertaining hockey. We got that and then some. We had the Sabres come back from 2-0 down with an ECHL goalie who hasn't played any game in over a year to beat the Islanders. Colorado came back from two down in the third twice to beat the Sharks. Montreal scored in the last minute of the game before winning in OT against the Leafs. The Wild were down 2 with 10 minutes, then tied the game with the goalie pulled and won in regulation against Vegas. Even for teams that didn't finish them off, the Stars came back from two down in the third to get a point. Also, Columbus came back from 3-0 down in the third to tie it and lose in overtime. Nights like Monday are a reminder of why hockey is incredible during the regular season. Let's take a look at what happened in each game on Monday night:
The Last Full Week Of The Season
May 3, 2021 | 2021 Fantasy Hockey, Fantasy Hockey Daily Notes | 3 Commentsby: Viz
We've reached what the NHL planned on being the last week of the regular season. Due to COVID, the season goes into next week, but depending on your league format, this could be the end of your season. I assume for most of you in head to head leagues, your season ends on Saturday, while those of you in roto leagues it goes through the new end of the season next week, but either way, it's time to make your final move. At this point, most of the hard work is done, but everything around the margins matter. I won't be talking about what guys are holds or not at this point because everything is about your current situation. If you have to cut a star player because he's going to miss a game, do it, because volume is what counts. In this post, I'm going to break down the schedule for this week and what we're looking to do as far as streamers go. If you have specific questions, please ask them in the comments section so I can help you out. Let's get to it!
Notes From Around The League Plus Weekend Preview
April 30, 2021 | 2021 Fantasy Hockey, Fantasy Hockey Daily Notes | 4 Commentsby: Viz
We’re rapidly approaching the end of the season with realistically, only one playoff spot still up for grabs. That will have some impact in fantasy as we’re starting to see some guys held out as precautions (mostly in Toronto), and open up some streaming opportunities. Please, blog, may I have some more?
Huberdeau’s Got Five On It
April 28, 2021 | 2021 Fantasy Hockey, Fantasy Hockey Daily Notes | 8 Commentsby: Viz
It's not the first time this season, but Jonathan Huberdeau had five points in Tuesday's 7-4 win over the Predators, scoring twice and adding three assists. I know I'm a broken record with Huberdeau, but there's no superstar that gets less recognition than Huberdeau does. Thankfully, the Panthers clinched a playoff berth with the victory so he'll get back on the big stage. He's playing a 95 point pace again and should be around 25th overall going into next season in standard leagues. If your league doesn't include shots, he'll be even higher. It took longer than anticipated, but Huberdeau has proven to be worth the third overall pick from 10 years ago and then some. Let's take a look at what else happened over the last two nights:
Around The NHL: The Home Stretch
April 26, 2021 | 2021 Fantasy Hockey, Fantasy Hockey Daily Notes | 11 Commentsby: Viz
With only a couple weeks left in the season, it's time to lock down and make that final push. In this post, I'm going to highlight some notable things around the NHL and their fantasy impact, along with looking at the schedule for the week ahead and what we can do with that. Let's get to it!
Alex Nedeljkovic is only three games away from becoming a restricted free agent instead of an unrestricted free agent. It's easier for Carolina to do with Petr Mrazek banged up (he could play if necessary, but Carolina won't push him), so expect Nedeljkovic to start at least three times down the stretch. He's still available in almost 70% of leagues which I do not understand. I would add him immediately if he's available.
Putting On A Marchessault
April 23, 2021 | 2021 Fantasy Hockey, Fantasy Hockey Daily Notes | 4 Commentsby: Viz
While he's not getting the attention that he received in Vegas' inaugural season, Jonathan Marchessault has quietly had a terrific campaign. His best game came on Wednesday, where Marchessault had two goals, two assists, and five shots leading Vegas to a 5-2 victory over the Sharks. This let Vegas become the first team to clinch the playoffs this season, something that has been a formality for months already. Marchessault now had 13 goals and 22 assists in 46 games, along with a +12 rating, 37 PIM, and 147 shots. In other words, he's a plus across the board with elite PIM and a strong shot rate. At 30 years old, Marchessault has shown no signs of slowing down. He's getting easier matchups now which is helping him thrive on the second line. He looks every bit of a top 100 player going forward, with the upside of being top 50 if he has some shooting luck in a season like he did in his one season in Florida. Let's take a look at what else happened over the last two nights:
Price Suffers Concussion
April 21, 2021 | 2021 Fantasy Hockey, Fantasy Hockey Daily Notes | 4 Commentsby: Viz
We're down to the last few weeks of the season, and whether you play in a roto league or H2H league, it's time to be aggressive with your moves. The 150th best player could easily be better than the 50th over a small sample. so we want to be getting volume from our players. This is especially true in net where variance swamps everything. Carey Price suffered a concussion on Monday and is ruled out for at least a week, if not more. Jake Allen has fallen off a bit lately, but his overall numbers are still quite strong. He's available in over 80% of leagues which doesn't make any sense. If you need any goaltending help, go get him now. With Montreal having a back to back with Calgary on the weekend, the expectation is that Cayden Primeau starts one of the games. He's been solid in Laval this season so if you're in a deep league, I'm fine with streaming Primeau given Calgary's struggles. Let's take a look at what else happened over the last two nights:
