In my preseason rankings, I had a bunch of players much higher or lower than their ADP. I will recap these players on both sides of the spectrum at the end of the season but Mike Hoffman appears to be my biggest hit at this point. I had him ranked in the top 100 (97th to be exact) and said “I’d be absolutely thrilled to get Hoffman because if he gets top power play time, he could be a top 50 player.” Well, he’s getting that time and he’s crushing it so far this year. After his two goal,one assist, seven shots and two PIM effort on Thursday, Hoffman has 13 goals and 12 assists in 21 games. Depending on the website, his ADP was 20-40 spots later my ranking so hopefully you all are reaping the benefits. Here’s what else happened on Thursday night:
Semyon Varlamov – 24 saves on 25 shots in the 2-1 win over the Rangers. He’s one of the biggest disappointments as far as goalies go this year and with how thin the Avalanche roster is, that’s probably not going to change.
Matt Duchene – Goal on two shots. En fuego right now.
Oscar Lindberg – Goal on five shots. He looks great when he’s on the ice but until he starts getting more minutes, it’s hard to count on him producing at this level.
Keith Kinkaid – 30 saves on 31 shots in the 5-1 win over the Hurricanes. He’s only going to spot start for Cory Schneider but he’s played his way into being a solid streamer when he does play.
Michael Cammalleri – Two goals on his two shots plus an assist. What an incredible year for Cammalleri so far. Just like his team, he’s one of the biggest surprises across the NHL. I have no idea how that team is 13-10-2 with the roster they have.
Adam Henrique – Goal on two shots. He’s up to 19 points in 24 games and that’s with only two power play points; this pace is completely sustainable.
Justin Faulk – Three shots, seven PIM, +1. Even when the rest of his team plays horrible, Faulk put up a solid line. It’s scary to think about how bad the Canes would be without him.
Braden Holtby – 33 saves on 35 shots in the 3-2 win over the Canadiens. Firmly the #2 fantasy goalie at this point behind The King.
T.J. Oshie – Two goals on three shots. His production has slowed down quite a bit after his fast start but it should only be a matter of time until he starts rolling again playing with Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom (assist each).
Alex Galchenyuk – Assist and four shots. That’s six points in the last five games. The 21 year old former third overall pick may finally be coming into his own. I said preseason that I expected the big breakout next season but it’s possible it’s starting right now.
Artem Anisimov – Goal and an assist with two shots. He’s thriving in Chicago and showing the offensive potential that made him a center piece in a trade for Rick Nash and then Brandon Saad. It helps playing with the front runner for the Hart Trophy and co-front runner for the Calder right now. More on those two now!
Patrick Kane – Goal and two assists with three shots. This is just ridiculous; I don’t know what else to say.
Artemi Panarin – Goal and two assists with four shots. He was on a bit of a cold streak lately despite Kane’s amazing play so it was nice to see him get back on the score sheet in a big way tonight.
Erik Karlsson – Three assists and two shots. After the slow start he’s up to 26 points in 24 games. The shots have fallen off a bit but no complaints here, especially having 18 PIM to this point.
Bobby Ryan – Goal and two assists with three shots. Ryan is probably up there with my biggest whiffs in my rankings. I had him lower than almost everywhere and he’s up to 22 points in 24 games.
Jimmy Howard – 26 saves on 27 shots in the 5-1 win over the Coyotes. The good thing about drafting the Detroit timeshare is that their coach announces who is going to start a couple days in advance so you can plan accordingly instead of scrambling last minute. Howard and Petr Mrazek together have put up #1 goaltender stats.
Pavel Datsyuk – Two assists with a shot. Played 21:36 despite the lopsided win so the points will keep coming playing that often.
Darren Helm – Goal and an assist with four shots. He had a huge year last season but this was his first goal in 22 games this season. That said, he was playing on the second line last night with Datsyuk so the offense could be coming. It’s worth keeping an eye on.
Gustav Nyqvist – Goal on five shots. He’s heating up.
Henrik Zetterberg – Seven shots. I’ve talked about Zetterberg’s steep decline in his shot rate multiple times this year so it was nice to see despite going pointless.
Roberto Luongo – 32 saves on 33 shots. He’s pretty much doing what was expected preseason; great percentages but only 9 wins in 20 starts. That’s still a very solid goaltender, probably pushing a #1.
Aleksander Barkov – Assist and a shot. The shot rate has fallen off a bit since he came back from injury but with 12 points in 15 games, nobody can be playing after taking Barkov with a late pick.
Jonathan Huberdeau – Goal on two shots. This was only his second goal on the season which is very disappointing after his torrid finish to last season. His shot rate is pretty much the same as last year where he scored 15 goals in 79 games and tallied 54 points so perhaps he’ll start to pick it up.
James Reimer – 27 saves on 28 shots in the 1-0 loss to Minnesota. Pretty much sums up the last month or so for Reimer; great numbers, no win.
Devan Dubnyk – 28 save shutout. After the slow start, he’s dug out of the hole with a 2.36 GAA and .916 sv% with 13 wins in 22 games. By the end of this year, I expect him to be closer to last year’s numbers than he is right now. The Wild play incredible defense in front of him and he’s starting to find his groove.
Alex Goligoski – Two assists and five shots. He’s bottom end in 12’ers at this point. He’s okay across the board but doesn’t do anything above average. Possibly his plus-minus but it’s hard to predict that. If he’s your last defenseman in a 12’er, that’s fine. Otherwise, grab him if one of your guys gets injured.
Valeri Nichushkin – Goal and an assist with a shot. The best thing to see was that he played 17:05. If he gets the minutes, he’s going to produce, whether it’s on the first or second line.
Tyler Seguin – Goal on eight shots. Pretty standard for him in a good matchup.
Patrick Sharp – Goal on three shots. Starting to pick up the pace.
Jason Spezza – Goal on four shots. In a surprising turn of events, Spezza’s assists have taken a big dropoff but he’s up to 11 goals in 26 games and well over 3 shots per game. He’s on pace for 35 goals which is outstanding.
Jannik Hansen – Goal on three shots. Roll him as long as he’s on the top line with the Sedin twins.
Daniel Sedin – Assist with three shots and two PIM. There’s no slowing down a Cyborg.
Henrik Sedin – Two assists with a shot. There’s no slowing down a Cyborg. Only fitting to write the same thing about the Sedins; they’re inseparable.
Friday Streamers: There are seven games on Friday so that leaves us plenty of options on who to stream. Here are my top three picks:
Sam Reinhart (0.6% owned) – He’s playing amazing on the first line with Evander Kane and Ryan O’Reilly getting close to 20 minutes a game. Add in going against the Coyotes at home with Arizona on the second of a back to back and Reinhart will be in prime position to get a point or more.
Cody Eakin (10.2% owned) – He’s played very well the last two weeks, he’s currently on the second power play unit and it doesn’t get much better than going against the Oilers, even with the Stars on a back to back.
David Jones (0.1% owned) – This is a gamble and probably should only be used in the deepest of leagues. That said, all indications are that Jones is going to play on the first line tonight with Johnny Gaudreau and Sean Monahan against a Boston team playing wide open so this is the best opportunity Jones has had since his days in Colorado.
That’s all for now guys. I’ll be back on Monday with a recap of the weekend; there are a ton of games this weekend (25 to be exact) so enjoy some hockey! Also, expect the next article in Matt’s series and a buy-sell article from Marv and Pesos at the quarter point of the season to come out early next week. Should be a bunch of good stuff for everyone to read. As always, feel free to ask any questions or post any comments below. Take care everyone!
