Before Tuesday night, in the past 25 Coyotes games, Max Domi had scored in exactly one game, a meeting with the Sabres on December 4th where he scored twice. I had a question in the comments in my Monday article about whether Domi was still worth holding in 12’ers and justifiably so. Well, Domi showed his upside and why he should be held in fantasy leagues scoring a hat trick on five shots in the 4-3 overtime win against the Oilers. With this one game, he’s back on a 60 point pace ( ~25+35) and should be owned everywhere. In dynasty leagues, he’s going to pay massive dividends going forward as the Coyotes are loaded with young talent and have a lot more coming led by Dylan Strome. Here’s what else I saw the last two nights around the league:
Henrik Lundqvist – 32 saves on 33 shots in the 2-1 win over Boston. Here comes another patented hot streak from The King. Your buy low opportunity is probably out the window now.
Derick Brassard – Goal on three shots. On pace for close to a 30+30 season and being separated from Rick Nash (3 shots) hasn’t slowed him down one bit.
Keith Yandle – Assist with a shot. Starting to gain some traction offensively and has put together a nice little point streak. Hopefully the minutes trend in the right direction.
Tuukka Rask – 28 saves on 30 shots in the loss. Still not a fan for redraft leagues; still like him a lot in dynasties.
Ryan Spooner – Assist with three shots. Loving life in the top six and the top power play unit.
Karri Ramo – 13 saves on 18 shots in the 5-4 loss to the Sharks. Yikes. This is right up there for worst start of the season so far. This won’t stop Bob Hartley from going back to him though. Not in the slightest.
Sam Bennett – Goal on three shots and five PIM. It’s about damn time. He’s clearly my biggest whiff in my rankings this year as he’s only on pace for 30 points. That said, I still love him in dynasties and would like to trade for him if you’re out of the picture for this season. He’s still only 19 years old and should blossom sooner than later. I smell a sleeper post for him next year; I’m a sucker!
Mikael Backlund – Two assists with six shots and two PIM. Getting fairly big minutes right now but too inconsistent to be anything more than a streamer.
Michael Ferland – Goal and an assist with two shots playing an insane 21 minutes on the first line. His goal was on the power play giving even more to like. In leagues that count hits, I’m picking him up immediately. In other leagues, I’m picking him up immediately! That’s only to stream though in their matchup tonight to see if Monday was an aberration or a sign of things to come. The return of Jiri Hudler could make this a one game wonder but I’m intrigued.
Johnny Gaudreau – Two assists with three shots. Can’t stop, won’t stop. Back over a point per game continuing his insane season. And he’s only 22 years old.
Mark Giordano – Assist with a shot. Still hotter than a pistol.
Sean Monahan – Goal on five shots. It seems like he’s been a massive disappointment this year yet he’s on pace for 26+30. It’s a slight step back from last year but there’s no reason why he can’t pick up the pace a bit and match last year’s totals. And he’s only 21 years old. Damn, the Flames future is bright. And it’s not because fire is bright! Get it? I’ll see myself out…
Brent Burns – Goal and two assists with four shots and two PIM in two games. He’s up to 18 goals and 22 assists in 41 games and has been + in 4 straight. That’s a 36 goal and 44 assist pace. From a defenseman. Brent Burns you beautiful bastard!
Logan Couture – Goal and an assist with five shots. He’s on the third line for now but as long as he’s on the first power play unit, the points will be outstanding.
Joe Pavelski – Goal and an assist with three shots. He’s above a point per game pace; he’s on track for a 42+40 season. That’s silly.
Joe Thornton – Two goals and an assist with two shots. There’s no slowing down Jumbo Joe even at 36 years old.
Joel Ward – Two goals on five shots. He’s off the potent first power play unit but has stuck on the second line and is now on the second unit. If you could sell him for someone who’s posted similar stats to Ward so far (13+14), I would. Otherwise, I’d just hold for now.
Roberto Luongo – 27 saves on 30 shots in the 3-2 OT loss in Vancouver snapping the Panthers win streak. It was his worst start in a while and it wasn’t even that bad. Don’t sell high; hold Bobby Lu and let the good times keep rolling.
Aleksander Barkov – Assist with two shots. You can’t call this a heater anymore, it’s just time to say Barkov is this good. Which is scary because he’s 20 years old.
Jonathan Huberdeau – Goal on two shots. The goals are starting to come in; you can’t stop regression to the mean!
Jacob Markstrom – 26 saves on 28 shots in the win. At the least, he’s going to be platooning for the rest of the season. Best case, he runs away with the job. Either way, there’s no reason he should be available right now.
Sven Baertschi – Assist and a shot. That’s a three game point streak and his minutes are starting to increase. In dynasties, grab him; in redrafts, he’s a streamer due to the lack of shots and PIM right now.
Bo Horvat – Assist and two shots. Bo knows. Since I don’t have him anywhere (I wouldn’t own him in redrafts yet outside of deep leagues), I’m rooting for him to slow down. I don’t want him to blow his sleeper status for next season!
Daniel Sedin – Two goals on five shots. Shockingly, both goals were assisted by his brother Henrik #notshocked. I really want to know what the Panthers said to them that sparked their post game brawl. I didn’t think the Cyborgs had emotions to set them and their team off!
Pavel Datsyuk – Two assists with two shots. Can’t keep a good man down. I’d still buy low if you can because the power play points should certainly increase.
Darren Helm – Two assists with four shots. Too inconsistent to depend on outside of deep leagues that count hits but if he keeps playing 18+ minutes, he could find last year’s form again.
Tomas Tatar – Goal on his own shot with two PIM. Really starting to heat up.
Anze Kopitar – Goal and three assists with four shots and two PIM. That’s the game of a superstar right there. He’s now close to a 70 point pace with an elite plus-minus.
Milan Lucic – Two assists. The shot rate sucks but everything else is very good or better.
Tyler Toffoli – Goal on three shots. Absolutely loving life on the first line.
Brock Nelson – Hat trick with an assist, four shots and two PIM. Despite being off the first line and first power play unit for weeks now, Nelson now has 17 goals on the season. He’s only owned in 25.3% of leagues and should be owned in all 12’ers. You don’t find guys on pace for over 30 goals available on the waiver wire often this far into the season.
Sidney Crosby – Two assists with three shots. Maybe not making the All-Star Game pissed him off. He’s starting to catch fire.
Kris Letang – Goal on two shots. Over three shots per game, a penalty minute per game and a 60+ point pace. This is what I envisioned when I ranked him in the top 40 overall and #3 overall defenseman.
Elias Lindholm – Three assists with three shots and two PIM. He’s playing big minutes, the first line is starting to click (more on the other two guys next) and he has six points in the last three games. He’s working his way into a hold but is still a streamer for now.
Eric Staal – Goal and an assist with five shots. If Staal starts to get some power play points, he could creep towards 60 points.
Kris Versteeg – Goal and an assist with two shots. He’s at the same point as Lindholm in redraft leagues; obviously Lindholm has much more value in dynasties.
Lee Stempniak – Goal on four shots with two PIM. He’s really slowed down with Mike Cammalleri out injured. He’s borderline between holding and dropping right now.
Brian Elliott – 22 saves on 24 shots in the 5-2 win over the Devils. Worth repeating; he’s must-own as long as Jake Allen is out injured.
David Backes – Goal on four shots. He’s a bit behind his normal totals but he’s on pace for over 20+20 with 75 PIM. There’s plenty of value there.
Patrik Berglund – Two goals on three shots with two PIM. It’s nice to see him back healthy; the problem is I don’t see much value there when Paul Stastny returns, which should be any game now.
Robby Fabbri – Assist. It will be interesting to see if he sticks on the first line when Stastny returns or if the Blues shuffle the lines. This will largely determine his value.
Alex Steen – Two assists with a shot. He’s doing the only thing he had to do in order to be a massive value on draft day: stay healthy. He’s on pace for about 25+45 with elite special teams points.
Linus Ullmark – 28 saves on 30 shots in the 3-2 win over the Wild. He started back to back games for the first time in a month and played great in both games. He’s making things difficult for the Sabres with Robin Lehner‘s impending return. It seemed like a foregone conclusion Ullmark would go to Rochester so he gets playing time but he’s making things complicated.
Brian Gionta – Goal and an assist with three shots. He’s horrendous at this point in his career; it’s a miracle that he scored multiple points in a game.
Rasmus Ristolainen – Goal on two shots. What a beast. All that he’s missing is the penalty minutes to be an absolute stud. And he just turned 21 years old.
Thomas Vanek – Goal on five shots with two PIM. He looked great against his old team and easily could have had multiple goals. Vanek has bounced back nicely after a disappointing season last year.
Ryan Suter – Goal and an assist with three shots. He’s having his best season in years and is a top 10 fantasy defenseman right now.
Nikolaj Ehlers – Goa on three shots. He’s showing signs of his early form yet the minutes are at a low point. With the Jets falling out of the playoff race, there’s a good chance Ehlers gets a minutes boost late in the season.
Filip Forsberg – Goal on three shots. Life has been good for Forsberg recently, especially since the blockbuster trade.
Ryan Johansen – Assist with six shots and two PIM playing almost 23 minutes. This is exactly what Johansen owners have been waiting months for. Expect a top 25 second half from Johansen with the minutes he’s getting.
Mike Ribiero – Goal and an assist with a shot. The power play points should increase with the addition of Johansen but he’s still somebody I don’t want unless I’m desperate.
Corey Crawford – 41 saves on 43 shots in the 3-2 win leading the Blackhawks to their eighth consecutive victory. Life is good as the Blackhawks goalie.
Marian Hossa – Two assists with three shots. The first line for Chicago is really starting to heat up.
Andrew Shaw – Two goals on six shots with two PIM. He’s a top end streamer with the form Hossa and Jonathan Toews (assist with a shot) right now. Shaw has very little offensive ability but almost anyone can produce with those two in their current form.
Ben Bishop – 21 save shutout against the Avalanche. Sometimes it’s just that easy. Bishop’s goals against average is right at 2 now which is outstanding.
Victor Hedman – Two assists with four shots and two PIM. He started off incredibly slow but he’s not far off a 50 point pace now.
Vladislav Namestnikov – Two assists with two shots. Even with a healthy set of forwards for the first time all season for Tampa, Namestnikov is still on the first line with the next two guys. The lack of shots keeps him from being a hold but he’s locked up his status as one of my go to streamers. He also should have a sleeper post come next offseason.
Ondrej Palat – Goal and two assists with three shots. The shots have been great since he returned and Palat took full advantage of playing on the first line Tuesday night. He was great last season and should be again with the opportunity so pick him up where he’s available.
Steven Stamkos – Two goals on seven shots. After his shot rate reached an all-time low months into the year, Stamkos has at least three shots per game in 11 straight. There never really was any doubt but the goals should keep coming in.
Leon Draisaitl – Goal and an assist with three shots. Shockingly, it was his first goal in over a month yet he’s still over a point per game with the assists he’s been getting. Despite not scoring, the shots have been increasing as well. Things are looking up.
Jordan Eberle – Three assists with three shots. Eberle is primed for a big second half because of how poor he was on the power play earlier in the year; the two power play assists he had last night were his first two of the season.
Benoit Pouliot – Goal and an assist with two shots. He’s worked his way into a hold at this point.
Oliver Ekman-Larsson – Goal and three assists with five shots playing over 32 minutes. He now has 13+23 in 43 games with 34 PIM and 18 STP while only being -4. That’s borderline top 5 defenseman status.
Michael Stone – Two assists with a shot. I think he’s worked his way into a hold as a last defenseman in 12’ers. He’s on pace for 40 points with over 50 PIM and he’s now on the first power play unit.
Wednesday Streamers: It’s another really short slate on Wednesday. Come on NHL, why the lack of games this week? Anyways, here are my top three options for streaming tonight:
Jimmy Hayes (4.7%) – He has five goals in the last six games and was playing on the first line at the end of last game.
Alexander Wennberg (1.5%) – Wennberg is centering the first line right now getting big minutes and gets to go against the Leafs.
Michael Ferland (0.0%) – See above. It’s worth seeing how tonight goes because he can have a lot of value going forward.
That’s all for now guys. With another short slate, I’ll be back with daily notes on Friday. That said, I will still have a post on Thursday morning with a recap on how the RCL’s are shaping up and with streamers for Thursday nights games. As always, please ask any questions and leave any comments below. There has been a nice increase in comments lately with Monday’s post having the most comments of anything I have wrote this season which is great to see. It’s nice to see the foundation of something strong being built here and you guys are a big part of it, and for that, I thank you. Take care everyone!
