I was extremely bullish on Jakob Chychrun last season after his move to Washington, and was a bit above consensus this season. He’s now blowing my expectations out of the water. Chychrun scored two more goals on Thursday, helping the Capitals beat the Maple Leafs 4-0. He now has a fantastic 14 goals on the season and has firmly played his way into the Olympic picture. He’s the #2 overall defenseman on the season for fantasy purposes, and while I wouldn’t rank him there for the rest of the season, Chychrun is crushing across the board. He’s a clear #1 in all formats. Let’s take a look at what else happened on Thursday night:
Kirill Kaprizov – Goal and two assists, as did Matt Boldy. I had Kaprizov as a clear top 10 player going into the season, and Boldy in the top 20. If there was any doubt, the arrival of Hughes eliminates that.
Joel Eriksson Ek – Goal and an assist with two shots. It’s not fancy, but JEEK is a hold everywhere.
Zach Werenski – Two goals on eight shots. I’ve run out of superlatives for Werenski. What a monster.
Logan Thompson – 22 save shutout for the Caps. He’s clearly the best Canadian goalie, so I look forward to him being left of the roster for Binnington because of politics.
John Carlson – Goal and two assists with two shots. Chychrun is hoggin the headlines, but Carlson is having a big bounceback. He’s pushing towards a top 10 defenseman again.
Justin Sourdif – Two assists. The Caps gave up a lot for him out of nowhere. He’s been a fine fourth liner, but doesn’t matter for fantasy.
Anton Forsberg – 31 saves on 32 shots in the 2-1 win over Tampa. Despite this big game, Forsberg remains a risky streamer.
Adrian Kempe – Two goals with four PIM. Shockingly, it was his first multi-goal game of the season. Even with that, Kempe is crushing across the board.
Linus Ullmark – 24 save shutout in the 4-0 win over the Pens. The regression fairies are finding Pittsburgh really quickly. Ullmark’s numbers are ugly, but we’re holding for a turnaround.
Brady Tkachuk – Two goals on five shots, both assisted by Drake Batherson. The Sens are thankful their captain is back in the fold, and so am I for fantasy.
Jakub Dobes – 14 saves on 15 shots in the 4-1 win over Chicago. Dobes is on the fringe for wins, but this game shows more about what Chicago is without Bedard. Woof.
Lane Hutson – Three assists with a shot. All the assists, all the time.
Nick Suzuki – Goal and an assist with two shots. It sure looks like he’ll be on Team Canada, and to be frank, it would be a joke if he’s not. He’s a solid defensive player who pushes 90 points now. Call him a superstar.
Zachary Bolduc – Two goals. Middling streamer.
Tristan Jarry – 12 saves on 13 shots before leaving injured. I didn’t understand this trade to begin with, but this injury only means one thing.  Calvin Pickard is your short term answer.
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – Goal and an assist with three shots, as did Connor McDavid. This isn’t fantasy related, but if I had to pick a dark horse Team Canada option, it’s RNH. He can play the fourth line and both special teams, or move onto a wing with McDavid.
Igor Shesterkin – 26 saves on 27 shots in the 2-1 win over the Blues. The Rangers are a mess, but Igor’s floor is still a top 10 goalie.
Rasmus Andersson – Three assists with three shots. It’s a rally from Andersson I didn’t see happening. A trade probably hurts, but right now, he’s a clear hold everywhere.
Mikael Backlund – Two goals on four shots. Bottom end to middling streamer at this point.
Nazem Kadri – Goal and an assist with five shots. I can’t help but wonder if Kadri waives his no trade clause to move on. For now, he’s a clear hold in all formats.
Collin Graf – Two goals on four shots, both assisted by Macklin Celebrini (8 SOG). As long as Graf is with Celebrini, he’s a solid streamer. Graf has eight points in his last seven games.
Esa Lindell – Two assists with a shot. He stumbles into points with his minutes, but there’s not much here for fantasy.
Wyatt Johnston – Two goals on four shots.  Roope Hintz had a goal and an assist, while Mikko Rantanen dished two assists. Hard to top the studs on Dallas right now outside of Colorado.
Bobby Brink – Two assists with a shot and two PIM. Middling streamer.
Mattias Samuelsson – Two assists with a shot and two PIM. Sammy going from a buyout candidate to a great defenseman in real life is stunning. For fantasy, he has real deep league value. For 12’ers, he’s a bottom end streamer.
Zach Benson – Two assists with four shots. He’s great in real life, but in fantasy, Benson isn’t converting enough to have big value. He’s a solid streamer because of the assists. AAGNOF!
I think somebody picked Boldy in the 3 pt challenge. Hughes let me down.
So Barzal has felt like a disappointment so far this season. Landeskog, Doan, and Svechnikov are all available (8 team league). Would you rather have any of those guys over him?
I agree he’s been a bit disappointing, but I think he’s still a step ahead of those guys. Maybe Svechnikov can pass him so he’d be the one I’d grab if you want to make a move.
Grats to Y2B on the Boldy call in the 3-point Challenge last night, too!
I read that Team Canada is down to 5 players still in the mix for final spots. Have to think Geekie is one of them too, no?
Bang!!!
Well done Y2B!
Meh, he’s been great but I’d personally be stunned if he made the team. I think the last couple spots are between guys like Bedard, Scheifele, Wilson, Horvat, maybe Cirelli? That he’s done well enough to even be in discussion says a lot, but I think they look for better defensive players for the 4th line since goals shouldn’t be an issue.
Ya I just figured the Bedard separated shoulder might up Geekie’s chances by a bit. But I assume those other guys are ahead of him either way and the defensive awareness of others usually take precedent on that 4th line (like you said).
I dont know if Billy G can pull it off but it seems like Kadri would be a good fit in Minnesota… thoughts?
Hmm… I don’t hate it if they can pull it off. He fits a lot of teams well though so I’m sure that price would be a lot. Dallas seems like a decent fit with the cap space they have with Seguin’s injury, just for a team that Minnesota is in direct competition with.
Any thoughts on Yurov, Bowman, and Graf? Three youngsters who have been given new opportunity recently. Bowman’s deployment kind of fading but he’s now on PP1 with Eichel out. Of the three, who do you like more both short term and for potential ROS?
I’d say short term, I would lean towards Bowman just being on Vegas’ PP1, which is deadly even without Eichel and Theodore. Long term, I lean towards Yurov, and it could be Yurov in the short term if the Wild don’t stack the top line with all 3 studs. Graf has impressed me so far and he seems pretty locked into playing with Celebrini. The question for him is can he get the shot rate up like he has recently? We can’t do much with someone barely over a shot per game
Think there’s any legs to this Lyon to EDM story Viz ?
Shame to see him go he’s been one of the bright spots for the Sabres this year I feel
It sounds like it could be. Kind of assumed they’d just waive Ellis once he’s cleared concussion protocol, he hasn’t shown enough to be worth the roster spot. I’d just roll Lyon / UPL for the rest of this season and then move one in the summer and let Levi step in.