Joel Eriksson Ek took a big step forward last season, one of the main reasons the Wild made the playoffs with relative ease. It was more on the defensive end than offensively, but he showed plenty of offense with 19 goals in 56 games. On Tuesday, Eriksson Ek controlled the game for the Wild, scoring a hat trick on seven shots in the 6-5 OT win over the Jets. Eriksson Ek averaged just over two shots per game last season, but he now has twelve shots in three games. The minutes are going to be there so there’s a chance he could push into bottom end hold territory. For now, he’s an elite streamer. Let’s take a look at what else happened over the last two nights:
Carter Hart – 23 saves on 24 shots in the 6-1 win over the Kraken. Obviously this is an encouraging start from Hart, but we have no clue what’s going to happen with him. Hart remains the ultimate wild card.
Derick Brassard – Goal and two assists. He’s a bottom end streamer right now while his role is fairly big.
Justin Braun – Goal and an assist with two shots. And there’s your annual Braun update!
Travis Konecny – Goal and an assist with four shots and two PIM. Very good start for Konecny with a goal and four shots in both games. I lean towards holding him.
Joel Farabee – Goal and an assist. Two multi-point games in a row for Farabee. He’s also a bottom end hold.
Igor Shesterkin – 40 saves on 41 shots in the 2-1 OT win over the Leafs. If there was any doubt whether you should start Igor in every game or not, this should alleviate that.
Mika Zibanejad – Goal and an assist with four shots. The minutes are through the roof right now for Zibanejad with Ryan Strome on the COVID list and Kappo Kakko on IR. That’s five points in the last three games for Zibanejad who looks to have avoided a bad start like last season.
Troy Terry – Four assists with three shots over two games. I like the talent, but Terry has always had a poor shot rate. I see deep league value, but nothing yet for 12’ers or shallower.
Jakob Silfverberg – Three assists with five shots and two PIM over two games. Silfverberg has started off on fire with six points in four games. Maybe last season was just an off year? He was only a middling streamer in the past, but maybe he gets back to that level? He’s worth monitoring.
Kevin Shattenkirk – Two goals and an assist with three shots and four PIM over two games. Shattenkirk has a point in every game so far. If you want to grab him while he’s hot, I don’t hate it.
Jordan Kyrou – Two goals and two assists with four shots. Amazing start for Kyrou with six points in two games. I loved him as a late pick this season and clearly he needs to be held after this start.
Justin Faulk – Goal and an assist with three shots. I added Faulk before this game in a league and while I don’t expect to hold him all season, he’s in a nice position for the time being.
Robert Thomas – Two assists with a shot. I like the minutes that Thomas is playing, but his shot rate is so poor that it’s hard to trust him in fantasy if your league has SOG as a category.
Klim Kostin – Two goals on three shots and two PIM. I’d like to see Kostin get the opportunity to play every night, but that hasn’t happened yet. He’s one to watch for now.
Pavel Buchenvich – Goal and ten PIM. Buchnevich received a two game suspension for headbutting. He has to be held through that though as he looks right at home with the Blues.
Johnny Gaudreau – Two assists with five shots. It will be very interesting to see what happens as the season progresses with Gaudreau a pending UFA.
Shayne Gostisbehere – Three assists with a shot. If your league doesn’t have plus-minus, I can see Gostisbehere carrying some value. Boy, does Arizona suck though.
Phil Kessel – Two assists with two shots. These are the only two shots that Kessel has on goal in three games which is discouraging. He’s a solid streamer, but nothing more for now.
Clayton Keller – Goal and an assist with three shots. Very nice start for Keller with three points in three games and three shots per game. I have him as an elite streamer.
Kyle Okposo – Goal and an assist with four shots and two PIM. This is the best Okposo has looked in six years of being a Sabre, but I still can’t trust him. I see deep league value but that’s it.
Zemgus Girgensons – Goal and an assist with four shots. Same story as Okposo, although if I had to pick one, it would be Okposo over Zemgus.
Colin Miller – Two assists with four shots. Miller has put a ton of pucks on net and has four assists in three games. The hits and blocks are both solid so if you’re in a deep league, you can do worse.
Dylan Cozens – Two assists. I’m a little discouraged by the lack of shots by Cozens, but I do think he’s a solid streamer with upside for much more in the future.
J.T. Compher – Goal and an assist with two shots. Compher played over 20 minutes in this game despite MacKinnon returning to the lineup. There’s a ton of value if you’re in leagues with multiple categories and a solid streamer in standard leagues for now. This could change for the worse quickly though.
Evgeny Kuznetsov – Two goals and an assist with seven shots. That’s his second three point game already on the season. I was a bit bearish on Kuznetsov going into the season, but he’s convinced me that last season is not the new norm.
Tom Wilson – Three assists with three shots and two PIM. We know what we’re getting from Wilson at this point. He should be held in all formats.
Dmitry Orlov – Two assists with a shot and two PIM. At one point, I expected Orlov to become fantasy relevant, but it hasn’t happened and not going to.
Nick Jensen – Goal and an assist with two shots. His role isn’t big enough in Washington to carry fantasy value.
Adin Hill – 21 save shutout in the 5-0 win over the Canadiens. Hill could be held as a third goalie if you’re looking to make a move. I can see a wide variety of outcomes for Hill this season.
Erik Karlsson – Goal and two assists with two shots and two PIM. I thought Karlsson was washed, but maybe the time off will help him. I’m not fully in, but if he is available, he’s worth a spec add.
Timo Meier – Goal and two assists with seven shots. Meier has 15 shots in two games which is extremely encouraging. He’s clearly a hold.
Logan Couture – Two assists with a shot. Nice start for Couture who is right on the fringe.
Jonathan Dahlen – Two goals on four shots. There’s plenty of upside here, but Dahlen hasn’t received the opportunity yet. I’ll be monitoring Dahlen going forward.
Ryan Graves – Two assists. There’s value in deep leagues for hits and blocks, but don’t expect this offense to last.
Braden Holtby – 27 saves on 28 shots in the 2-1 SO win over the Penguins. Holtby has started off very well for Dallas and appears to be the #1 in Dallas for now. I don’t really understand it, but here we are. Holtby needs to be held right now.
Tristan Jarry – 28 saves on 29 shots as the tough luck loser. Jarry has started off the season very well allowing two goals or fewer in every game. Hopefully the bounce back continues.
Spencer Knight – 30 saves on 31 shots in the 4-1 win over the Lightning. Great start to the season for Knight. He probably won’t get the volume that we want, but his starts should be elite.
Aleksander Barkov – Goal and an assist. He’s a machine, plain and simple.
Sam Reinhart – Two assists with two shots and two PIM. The goals haven’t been there yet, but it’s going to happen. I’m still all in on Reinhart going forward.
Anton Lundell – Goal and an assist with three shots and two PIM. Lundell is getting a nice opportunity as a rookie right away. Long term, I assume he’s going to be a second line center. For now, I don’t see any value outside of deep leagues. Welcome to the Razzball Database!
Thomas Greiss – 22 saves on 23 shots in the 4-1 win over the Blue Jackets. Two great starts in a row for Greiss. I still expect Nedeljkovic to be the #1, but Greiss should get enough run to have deep league value. I’d stream him in good spots in 12’ers.
Lucas Raymond – Goal and an assist with three shots. Congrats on Raymond for getting his first career goal. The minutes aren’t there yet to hold or anything, but Raymond is a decent streamer.
Vladislav Namestnikov – Goal and an assist with two PIM. Bottom end streamer.
Adam Erne – Goal and an assist with three shots. It’s nice to see Erne finally get some consistent run. I’m not too excited though because both of his points came with the goalie pulled.
Dylan Larkin – Two assists with three shots. Larkin should be held without much debate.
Ilya Sorokin – 39 saves on 40 shots in the 4-1 win over the Blackhawks. Must start every time Trotz gives him the nod despite the rough start in the two games before this.
Oliver Wahlstrom – Two goals on eight shots. I’m a huge fan of Wahlstrom going forward, but the minutes will be inconsistent. I have him as an elite streamer because of his shot rate.
Juuse Saros – 25 saves on 26 shots in the 2-1 win over the Kings. It was his first win, but Saros has been excellent overall through three games. He should easily be a #1.
Andrew Copp – Goal and two assists with three shots. Copp played on the first line with Blake Wheeler on the COVID list. Copp is must own while Wheeler is out.
Kyle Connor – Two goals and an assist with four shots. Connor doesn’t get mentioned with the elite goal scorers in the league, but he clearly deserves to be.
Mark Scheifele – Two assists with a shot playing over 25 minutes. Scheifele will do his thing and finish right around a point per game.
Neal Pionk – Two assists with five shots and two PIM. Pionk is crushing to start the season with three points, 8 PIM, 11 SOG, 10 hits and six blocks. Pionk should end up as either a #2 or #3.
Mats Zuccarello – Two goals and two assists with four shots. Zucc has been outstanding in Minnesota and despite a low shot rate, I think he’s a hold.
Kirill Kaprizov – Three assists with three shots and four PIM. He’s piling up the assists in the early going, and it’s only a matter of time until Kaprizov finds the back of the net.
Alex Goligoski – Two assists with two shots and two PIM. I don’t see Gogo having standard league value, but there could be something in deep leagues.
Leon Draisaitl – Two goals and two assists with three shots playing almost 26 minutes. Connor McDavid had a goal and two assists. Teams have no chance against them.
Zach Kassian – Two goals on three shots. Kassian’s time with the top players appears to be done. You can stream him in deep leagues if you need hits and PIM, but that’s about it.
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – Two assists with four shots. Solid start for RNH and he’s still getting a ton of minutes. He’s clearly a hold.
Jesse Puljujarvi – Two assists with three shots and two PIM. Puljujarvi looks like a clear hold for the time being. The minutes are through the roof with both McDavid and Draisaitl.
Evan Bouchard – Goal and an assist with six shots and seven blocks. I love Bouchard long term, but there’s not much to see here for the time being.
Three Point Challenge: We’re bringing back The Three Point Challenge! For those that are new or need a refresher, you pick one player to score three points in a game but they can’t be in the top ten in points. We’re going with Thursday night this week and with the Top 10 from last season for the time being. That means you can’t take McDavid, Draisaitl, Marchand, Marner, Kane, Matthews, Rantanen, MacKinnon, Scheifele, or Crosby. I’m going to take Elias Pettersson against the Blackhawks.
That’s all for now guys. I’ll be back on Friday recapping the action from the next two days. JKJ should have a streaming post coming on Thursday. As always, feel free to ask any questions, leave any comments, or give any suggestions below. Thanks for reading, take care!
