Colton Capitalizes

The Avalanche are currently missing four top six quality wingers in Nichushkin, Landeskog, Lehkonen, and Drouin.  With Rantanen being the only one left, opportunity has appeared for other guys, and one has grabbed the bull by the horns.  Ross Colton moved onto the top line and top power play unit three games ago, and it couldn’t be going any better.  Colton scored two goals on five shots playing almost 22 minutes on Friday.  Then, he scored two more goals on four shots on Sunday night.  That brings Colton to six in six games with over four shots per game since he moved onto the top line.  Is it going to last?  Almost certainly not.  Should he be owned in all leagues right now?  Without any doubt.  Who knows, maybe he keeps his spot all season and the Avs load up their middle six.  Again, it’s unlikely, but for as long as Colton keeps this role, he could easily be a top 50 player.  Look at what Big Val has done in the past.  Let’s take a look at what else happened over the weekend:

Friday’s Games

Frederik Andersen – 25 saves on 26 shots in the 4-1 win over the Penguins.  There will be some ugly starts for Andersen just because he won’t face many shots, but if he stays healthy, there’s a real chance he leads the league in GAA.

Martin Necas – Goal and an assist with three shots.  Necas’ ceiling is capped by his low ice time, leaving him on the fringe.

Jesperi Kotkaniemi – Two assists with three shots.  Middling streamer at best.

Tyler Toffoli – Goal and an assist with two shots.  Toffoli has looked very good so far with the Sharks, scoring a goal in four of his five games.  I lean towards bottom end hold with upside from there.

Mikael Granlund – Two assists with two PIM.  Even in a blowout loss, Granlund played over 22 minutes.  He’s on the fringe depending on team needs just because of how massive the workload is.

Vladislav Namestnikov – Goal and three assists.  Cole Perfetti had two goals and two assists with five shots, while Nikolaj Ehlers had two goals and an assist with five shots.  Monster game from the second line.  The first two were pointless before this game though.  Ehlers is obviously a hold, while Perfetti is a solid streamer and Namestnikov a middling one.

Neal Pionk – Goal and three assists with two shots.  Pionk still have a second power play role and contributes in the secondary categories.  In a standard 12’er, he’s fringy, but he’s clearly a hold in all other formats.

Casey Mittelstadt – Goal and an assist with six shots playing almost 22 minutes.  Mittelstadt has been excellent to start the season and with him also being on PP1, he’s a hold for the time being as well.  There’s a chance he stays a hold all season as he’ll be the beneficiary of the team getting healthier.

Nathan MacKinnon – Goal and an assist with nine shots and two PIM.  Mikko Rantanen had three assists with three shots.  They’re both getting all of the minutes that they can handle.  Despite the team’s slow start, both have started the season excellently.

Saturday’s Games

Nikita Kucherov – Goal and an assist with six shots.  Ridiculous start to the season for Kucherov with nine points in four games with 5.5 shots per game.

Anthony Cirelli – Two assists with a shot and six PIM.  Cirelli is a solid streamer, but not sniffing towards being a hold.

Drake Batherson – Two goals and an assist with seven shots playing over 21 minutes.  That’s his second three point game of the early season.  I think there’s enough to be a bottom end hold here.

Jake Sanderson – Three assists with two shots.  It appears the Sanderson offensive breakout is upon us.

Claude Giroux – Two assists with two shots.  Top end streamer, but with five shots on goal in five games, I can’t get Giroux to the fringe anymore.

Andrew Copp – Two goals on three shots.  Copp is firmly in the bottom six and is a bottom end streamer at best.

Jake Oettinger – 30 saves on 31 shots in the 4-1 win over the Oilers.  Very good start to the season for Oettinger, with the Stars looking as good as anyone in the league.

Roope Hintz – Goal and two assists with two shots and two PIM.  Hintz has been solid so far.  It would be amazing to see what he would do with real top line minutes.

Matt Duchene – Two goals on three shots.  In 12’ers, Duchene is on the fringe with a slight lean towards streamer.

Jason Robertson – Goal and an assist with two shots.  Okay start from Robertson, who is in the same boat as Hintz.

Logan Stankoven – Two assists with three shots.  Stankoven has seven assists already and the shots are decent enough.  He’s on the fringe because of the minutes concern.

Tanner Pearson – Goal and an assist with two shots.  Pearson was on the second line in this game, but I have no interest right now.

Nic Roy – Two assists with two shots and two PIM.  Even though he’s on their fourth line, Roy played over 18 minutes with special teams time. Even with that, he’s only for deep leagues.

Sam Reinhart – Goal and two assists with five shots.  Reinhart’s playing as well as anyone in hockey so far.

Aaron Ekblad – Two assists with two shots.  I ended up with Ekblad shares early on, but thankfully soured on him closer to the start of the season because Boqvist was getting PP1 time.  There’s enough to be a bottom end hold, but I’m keeping expectations in check.

Sam Bennett – Goal and an assist with five shots.  I lean towards hold right now for Bennett, although I don’t think it will last.

Anton Lundell – Two assists with three shots.  Same story with Lundell as Bennett, although I do think there’s a better chance of it lasting because we could just be seeing the breakout from the 23 year old.

Filip Gustavsson – 23 saves on 24 shots in the 3-1 win over the Blue Jackets.  Gustavsson’s hot start to the season continues.  The Wild do have Florida and Tampa this week so it will be interesting to see how the Wild hold up.

Kirill Kaprizov – Goal and an assist with six shots. We’ve gotten the superstar Kaprizov so far which is great to see.

Igor Shesterkin – 34 saves on 35 shots in the 4-1 win over the Maple Leafs.  Six goals against in one game, two goals allowed in his other three starts combined.  That’s one way to erase one terrible start.

Chris Kreider – Two goals on four shots, both assisted by Mika Zibanejad and Reilly Smith.  Smith is a middling streamer with upside to be a top end one.  Kreider has been fantastic with five goals in five games, while Zibanejad erased a slow start with five points in his last three.

Andrei Svechnikov – Goal and an assist with eight shots and four PIM.  Imagine if Svech played around 20 minutes every night.  The upside is still there if that happens, as Sebastian Aho (2A, 3 SOG, 2 PIM) seems to be locked in as his center again.

Mathieu Joseph – Goal and an assist.  Fine depth player, but nothing for fantasy.

Jake Neighbours – Goal and an assist with two shots and two PIM.  Neighbours is bouncing around the lineup, but the worrisome thing is that he played under 14 minutes here.  Even with a goal in two straight, he’s back in the middling streamer range.

Kevin Lankinen – 26 save shutout in the 3-0 win over the Flyers.  Tocchet seems to be rolling with Lankinen right now, giving him two straight starts.  Assuming he gets the nod, I’d definitely stream him against Chicago Tuesday.

Cole Caufield – Two goals on three shots, both assisted by Juraj Slafkovsky.  That’s six goals already for Caufield, with at least three shots on goal for every game.  Amazing start.  Slafkovsky was able to play despite a shoulder issue, which could explain why he has only seven shots in six games.

Noah Dobson – Two assists with seven shots, playing almost 30 minutes.  I have no doubts that the points will keep coming for Dobson, especially with his recent jump in shots.  If you’re in a blocks league, he remains a monster there.

J.J. Peterka – Goal and an assist, as did Tage Thompson.  Peterka is clearly a hold with four goals in the last three games.  He played over 20 minutes as the first line was buzzing, making it a no brainer.

Craig Smith – Two goals on five shots, both assisted by Lukas Reichel.  They each played under 10 minutes in this one.  Easy pass.

Tom Wilson – Two goals and an assist with four shots.  Shockingly, Wilson has scored in every game so far, totaling five in four games.  The hits are massive and the shots have been decent enough, so he should be held everywhere for the time being.

Dylan Strome – Goal and two assists with three shots.  Great start for Strome with seven points in four games.  Also a clear hold for the time being.

Trevor van Riemsdyk – Two assists with four shots and four blocks.  There could be some deep league value for TVR, but he’s mostly a cheap DFS punt.

Jakob Chychrun – Two assists with five shots and two PIM.  Chychrun has been very good at even strength so far which is great to see.  He’s a clear hold in all formats as he looks to get back to his Arizona level.

Connor McMichael – Goal and an assist.  Decent start to the season for McMichael, who is in the top six.  He’s a middling streamer without the PP1 time.

Timo Meier – Three assists with two shots.  The move to a line with his compatriot Nico Hischer (2G, A, 6 SOG) seemed to work for both.  I do think we see Meier bounce back in a big way this season.

Stefan Noesen – Two assists with five PIM.  Noesen continues to play extremely well with eight points in eight games, but it doesn’t look sustainable at all.  He’s a middling streamer at best.

Connor Ingram – 22 saves on 23 shots in the 2-1 OT win over the Bruins.  After some high scoring games, it was impressive to see Utah clamp down in a game against quality competition.  It’s been an ugly start to the season for Ingram, but it’s clear for now that he’s the #1 and Vejmelka is more backup than 1B.

Joey Daccord – 20 saves on 21 shots in the 2-1 OT win over the Flames.  Grubauer and Daccord have split the starts.  Neither has been particularly impressive, but Daccord has clearly been better.  I have to think eventually, Disco Dan will give Daccord full reigns.

Sunday’s Games

Lars Eller – Two goals on six shots.  Eller surprisingly has six points in his last four games, but I still don’t see anything more than a bottom end streamer here.

Colin Miller – Two assists with two shots and two PIM.  Miller is actually getting some PP2 time so while I don’t expect much, there could be some deep league value here.

Josh Morrissey – Two assists with a shot.  Morrissey has at least one point in every game so far this season.  The rise from bottom end offensive defenseman to a borderline elite one came out of nowhere for Morrissey, but we love to see it.

Nikolaj Ehlers – Two assists with three shots.  As loyal Razzballers know, I absolutely love Ehlers’ game.  He’s so damn good.

Mason Appleton – Goal and an assist with three shots.  Nice depth piece in real life, but not much for fantasy.

Mikey Anderson – Goal and an assist with two shots.  Very good defenseman in real life, but he’s never topped 20 points in a season.  He probably will this year, but I’m not interested in fantasy.

David Rittich – 14 saves on 15 shots in the 4-1 win over the Ducks.  The Kings defensive system is so good, and with Darcy Kuemper on IR, Rittich should run with the net.  He’s must own for the time being.

Justus Annunen – 25 saves on 26 shots in the 4-1 win over the Sharks.  While I do see the upside with Annunen, I give more of the credit here to the opponent than his ability here.

Cale Makar – Goal and two assists with two shots.  Makar already has twelve points in six games this season.  We could be seeing that insane 100+ point season that I predicted would happen last year.

Nathan MacKinnon – Two assists with three shots.  We’ve reached the point where two points is the expectation for MacKinnon in soft matchups.

Three Point Challenge:  We will bring back the Three Point Challenge with this Tuesday’s games.  For those of you that are new here, you pick a player to get three points in one of the games on Tuesday.  You can’t pick somebody who is Top 10 in the league in points.  For the first 4-6 weeks, we will use last season’s top ten, so you can’t pick Kucherov, MacKinnon, McDavid, Panarin, Pastrnak, Matthews, Draisaitl, Rantanen, Miller, or Nylander.  I’m the only one on the board with Reinhart last Tuesday.  I will go with Hughes against the Lightning for three points.