In Wednesday’s daily notes, I said that if I could, I would be looking to buy low on all of the elite goalies. Obviously some at different levels than others, but everyone knows my love for Devan Dubnyk and the Wild as a regular season team. I own plenty of Dubnyk stock again this year and it’s been nowhere near as fun as last season when he took the league by storm. Dubnyk was a monster on Thursday night stopping all 41 shots he faced in the 3-0 win over the Canadiens. Four of Dubnyk’s last eight starts (yes, one has bad against Toronto Wednesday but that’s Toronto) have been strong so perhaps there’s something building here. Expect things for Dubnyk, and the Wild in general, to keep improving sooner than later. Let’s take a look at what else happened over the last two nights:
Connor Brown – Goal and an assist. He has a goal in four of the past five games although it’s completely unsustainable. Brown has 17 shots in 17 games so it’s bound to slow down. I’m okay streaming him but it’s bottom end.
Frederik Andersen – 35 saves on 37 shots in the 4-2 win over the Wild. I don’t see the story changing for wins: great wins, poor numbers even if he plays well.
Eric Staal – Three assists with six shots over two games. Everything is starting to come together for Staal, who is up to 3 shots per game on the season. Solid contributions across the board.
Jason Zucker – Five goals on twelve shots with two PIM over two games. I could have easily given Zucker the intro paragraph but I already started to write it about Dubnyk before Zucker finished off a hat trick with an empty netter (and all three goals in the third). And I’m not wasting words already typed! Anyways, I said pick up Zucker when the injuries were mounting up and even with Nino back, I’m still holding Zucker as long as he’s with Staal.
Patrice Bergeron – Goal and an assist as did his linemate David Pastrnak. Two studs in fantasy and real life, not much else to say. Look for them to keep rolling with a back to back against Toronto this weekend.
Henrik Lundqvist – 31 saves on 33 shots in the 4-2 win over Boston. Don’t look now but the Rangers are on a hot streak. I’d put him a tier above Andersen at this point in that the GAA and sv% shouldn’t be quite as bad and the wins shouldn’t be far off.
Ryan McDonagh – Two assists. The shot rate has fallen off quite a bit but McDonagh has 13 assists now in 18 games. AAGNOF!
Jimmy Vesey – Two goals. Hard pass.
Pavel Buchnevich – Goal and an assist with four shots and two PIM. Hard peni… woah Viz, settle down. Okay, that’s enough in the third person. You guys know how much I like Buchnevich (not that much, sickos) and I’ve been clamoring for him to be owned everywhere for a while. Hopefully it’s not too late if you haven’t done so already.
Steven Stamkos – Three assists with two shots on Wednesday, goal and an assist with four shots and two PIM on Thursday. Is 30 points in 17 games any good?
Vladislav Namestnikov – Two goals and an assist on Wednesday, goal on seven shots with two PIM on Thursday. It’s been easy for Namestnikov to find consistency this year when he’s playing with the two hottest players in the world.
Nikita Kucherov – Goal and two assists with four shots on Wednesday, goal and two assists with five shots on Thursday. What a disgusting human being Kucherov is.
Yanni Gourde – Two assists with a shot and two PIM on Wednesday, assist with two shots and two PIM Thursday. Five game point streak for The Gourde who has played his way into streamer status.
Andrei Vasilevskiy – 32 saves on 33 shots in the 5-1 win over the Sharks. Vasilevskiy has been terrific to this point sitting as the #2 overall goalie. I see no reason why he can’t keep it up.
Brian Boyle – Goal on two shots. Just want to give Boyle some congratulations for scoring his first goal since returning from cancer treatment. Well done, man who looks like Guy Fawkes.
Milan Lucic – Goal and an assist. Lucic is fine for what he is; he’s strictly a team dependent play.
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – Two assists with six shots. I’ve been very impressed with RNH’s play this year, especially since his quality of linemate has dropped off with Eberle gone.
Brian Elliott – 38 saves on 39 shots in the 3-1 win over the Blackhawks. It’s bottom end for sure but at least the wins are coming in.
Claude Giroux – Goal and two assists as did his linemate Jakub Voracek. Props to Giroux for embracing the move to the wing because it’s greatly helped these two and Sean Couturier (goal on three shots).
Brendan Perlini – Two goals on four shots. Perlini should develop into a nice fantasy asset but for now, leave him on the waiver wire outside of deeper dynasties.
Anthony Mantha – Goal and two assists with three shots and two penalty minutes. 8+8 in 17 games with 10 PIM, +3 and a solid shot rate. Yeah, my Mantha sleeper post is looking pretty, pretty, pretty good right now.
Frans Nielsen – Goal and an assist with four shots. Meh, I’d rather look elsewhere in almost all formats since he doesn’t excel in any category.
Johnny Gaudreau – Two goals and an assist with six shots. Monster start for Gaudreau who has his shot almost to three per game, key for him to becoming a top 25 player. We know the points should be very good and the PIM are going to be dreadful so his shot rate is going to make or break Gaudreau reaching ADP value.
Jaromir Jagr – Goal and an assist with two shots in his second game back from injury. He’s a solid stream in most leagues.
Sean Monahan – Two assists with two shots. That’s a nice six game point streak for Boring Sean Monahan. Sean says that he’s happy he’s scoring lately.
Mikael Backlund – Two assists with two shots. Solid streamer but I wouldn’t hold Backlund now in standard 12’ers.
Brett Kulak – Two assists. In eight games, he now has 3 SOG, 4 hits and 2 blocked shots, so I don’t see any format that Kulak has value in.
Ryan Miller – 13 saves on 14 shots in 51:24 before leaving the game injured in the 4-1 win over the Canucks. Reto Berra, come on down! John Gibson did pass his concussion tests so he should be back sooner than later.
Rickard Rakell – Three assists with two shots. Look for Rakell to start getting more minutes and potentially get on a big streak.
Jakob Silfverberg – Two goals. I wouldn’t mind making a speculative add of Silfverberg given that somebody has to play big minutes for Anaheim and he’s the best candidate.
Friday Streamers:
Anders Bjork (8.9%) – Bjork is playing on the top line with Marchand out and Toronto is allowing all of the shots and goals.
William Karlsson (11.1%) – He’s not a big help in the extra categories but the points are coming in for Karlsson. Winnipeg has been stout defensively but I think Vegas comes out firing in this first game home after a long east coast trip. Karlsson is playing big minutes so look for him to get involved.
Benoit Pouliot (0.6%) – Deep league call here. The Panthers have been a mess defensively giving up a ton of shots and goals. Benny has played extremely well lately since sticking on the new second line in Buffalo so I’m expecting to keep up his fine form.
That’s all for now guys. I’ll be back on Monday recapping all of the weekend’s action. As always, feel free to ask any questions or leave any comments below; I’m playing a big tournament tomorrow so I’ll get to questions on breaks which is about every two hours. Thanks for reading, enjoy your weekend!
